Environment, Geographical Location, and its Affects on The Early River-Valley Essay

Food, shelter, fertile land, and trade were essential for early river-valley civilizations. Without food, shelter, fertile land, and trade early river-valleys where doomed for any future success in the land. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley are examples of some early river-valley civilizations that relied heavily on its geographies and Mother Nature. For early river-valley civilizations in Egypt the Nile River played a crucial role. Without the Nile, Egypt would be a bleak and hospitable desert filled with mountains, and rocks. The Nile provided water for the people of Egypt. With the Nile being really the only source of water for all of Egypt, I would imagine that these civilizations cherished the Nile heavily. The Nile also, helped the farming in Egypt improve. Every September, the Nile, overflowed its banks, spreading water out into the bordering depressed basins. When the waters receded, they left behind a fertile layer of mineral-rich silt, and the farmers could easily plant their crops in the moist soil. The early river-valley civilizations of Mesopotamia relied greatly on the Tigris, and the Euphrates Rivers. Mesopotamia means, â€Å"Land between the rivers.† Mesopotamian civilization developed in the plain alongside and between the Tigris and Euphrates, which originate in the mountains of eastern Anatolia and empty into the Persian Gulf. Without the rivers, the civilizations would have struggled greatly to survive. Reed plants, which grew on the riverbanks and in the marshy southern delta, could easily be woven into mats, baskets, huts, and boats. Also, fish from the rivers and marshes were an important part of the people’s diet [http://search.targetwords.com/u.search?x=5977%7C1%7C%7C%7C%7Cdiet%7CAA1VDw]. Another benefit that the rivers gave to the early civilizations was that, herds of sheep, and goat which grazed on the fallow land provided wool, and milk. Finally, the early river-valley civilizations in the Indus Valley relied significantly on the Indus River. Twice a year the river overflows its banks and spreads for as much as 10 miles. In March and April melting snow would melt and feed the rivers. Then, in August, the great monsoon would blow off the ocean to bring rains that swell streams flowing into the Indus. As a result, farmers in this region of little rainfall were able to plant and harvest two crops a year. With a bad environment and a bad geographical location an early river-valley civilization didn’t have much of a chance surviving. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley were some of the lucky locations where their environment and geographical location benefited them greatly. Egypt would have had barely any water, Mesopotamia wouldn’t have been able to trade, and the Indus Valley would have had been deserted without each locations geographical gift.

Marriage vs Civil Unions Essay

Gay marriage is a controversial and often heated topic in American society and often so elsewhere throughout the world. Homosexual behavior is not new. Homosexual behavior and the homosexual lifestyle have been around throughout recorded history, certainly for thousands of years, in fact, was socially condoned in some societies. In Ancient armies, it was often accepted because a man was more apt to fight for a lover than for a casual acquaintance. For example, unlike today’s military, in Ancient Greece, homosexual relationships between soldiers were viewed as a means to intensify the fighting spirit of the soldiers and strengthen the bond between them. (Burg et al. , 2002) Only recently did interest in issues of sexual orientation move from the realm of the social sciences into other areas of science. Freud believed that there was some degree of bisexuality in all humans (Bell and Weinberg, 1978). He and other psychologists of his time believed that homosexuality could be explained by the experiences a person had while growing up, thus focusing on environmental explanations for homosexual behavior. Psychologists once pursued the study of homosexuality in an effort to prove that it was an abnormal behavior, but such studies have now led researchers to conclude that homosexuality is somehow linked to the individual experiences and environment a person has while growing up. While this may be the general view of homosexuality in psychology, my experiences with homosexuals are not consistent with this view. The few individuals I’ve known who were homosexual coexisted in the same environment as everyone around them, but their homosexual tendencies were obvious throughout their lives. Today we realize that if environment plays a role in homosexual tendencies, environment is not the entire explanation. Now we know that genetics and biology also play a role. No matter what biological and genetic studies show, there can be little doubt that opponents of gay marriage and the gay lifestyle will only accept that the gay marriage is some kind of sickness or perverted behavior. While homosexual behavior is obviously out of the norm, there is no scientific research or evidence to suggest that is it either perverted or abnormal. Despite what opponents might claim, our view of homosexuals and our denying them the right to marry is no more than a form of discrimination—irrational, illegal, biased and illogical. Regardless as to how a person views same sex marriage, there is no rational or logical reason to ban it or to discriminate against it except for personal preference/choice. Genetic Studies, Biology and Environment It is important to consider the biology and genetics behind homosexual behavior. If people insist that homosexual behavior is a matter of personal choice when evidence exists to demonstrate genetic and biological factors are involved, their insistence shows and irrational bias against homosexuals based on prejudice and discrimination. Today, most researchers view that a person’s sexual orientation is dictated by a combination of environmental, biological and psychological factors. Recent studies suggest that both biology and genetics play a role in homosexual behavior. Studies suggest that a genetic factor passed from mother to son might contribute to homosexuality in men and that male homosexuality might have a very different genetic influence from female homosexuality. (Pattatucci et al, 1995, Bailey et al. , 2000) Studies of homosexuality in families and between twins suggest that male and female sexual orientation may not have the same genetic influences. (Bailey et al. , 2000) Animal studies reveal that sexual orientation can be influenced by altering the hypothalamus. (Cherry & Baum, 1990), Much of the available genetic data on homosexual behavior suggests that biological and genetic factors are involved. Some studies have focused on X chromosome since males have an XY chromosome and females have an XX chromosome. One study concluded that the gene that influences homosexual behavior is carried by the mother. Heterosexual females appear to pass the Xq28 gene sequence on the X chromosome to their sons. (see below, Hamer et al, 1993) This study focused on homosexual males, and thus, their findings may not be a reflection on homosexual females. When the results of genetics studies are taken together, the most reasonable conclusion is that genetics can account for at least 50 percent of a person’s sexual orientation. In general, genetic studies of homosexuality demonstrate that homosexual behavior and the homosexual condition is a result of genes. When male homosexuals were studied, the data of one study demonstrated that most of the homosexual men arose from a genetic factor that was passed down from mother to son. (Hamer et al, 1993) Dean Hamer of the National Cancer Institute in Washington, D. C. discovered that homosexual brothers are more than heterosexual brothers to inherit the same genetic sequence, referred to as Xq28, on a region of the X chromosome. This suggests that genetics are involved in homosexual behavior although only a region on a gene, not a specific gene, has been identified. The degree of gene influence is unclear. Studies of twins and also of the adoptive brothers of homosexual men reveal a relationship between genetics and homosexual behavior. (Bailey and Pillard, 1991) Thus, the evidence suggests that genetics and biology rather than environment or personal choice gives rise to homosexual behavior and the homosexual condition. Other studies have demonstrated anatomical differences between components of the brain structures of heterosexual and homosexual males. (LeVay, 1991) These are important considerations when we begin to look at the legal questions surrounding homosexual behavior. Thus, discriminating against gay individuals is just as irrational, irresponsible and illegal (or should be just as illegal) as discriminating against an individual on the basis of the color of his or her skin. Furthermore, it should be easier to decide the legality of mistreating people on the basis of the sexual preference than on the basis of their religious preference since religious preference is a matter of personal choice rather than genes. Why, then, is it illegal to discriminate against an individual on the basis of their religion while the legal issues surrounding homosexual behavior are often viewed as unclear? While there may be compelling reasons to favor heterosexual unions over gay marriages, there is actually no unbiased reason to forbid gay marriages. In fact, even favoring heterosexual marriages is a form of discrimination similar to favoring whites over other races. Certainly, the heterosexual situation constitutes the â€Å"normal† or â€Å"typical† interaction between sexes, but considering that biological and genetic studies demonstrate that homosexual situations are dictated by actual biological and genetic factors, there is no rational reason to view such unions as â€Å"unnatural† or â€Å"abnormal†. We cannot even say with certainty that they are an abnormality as much as a biologically dictated variation, not necessarily even rare, just different. While we can â€Å"prefer† heterosexual marriage over gay marriage as a society, there is no rational reason to deny gay marriage or to restrict homosexual individuals to civil unions while denying them a typical marriage (as will be discussed) other than bias. Although theories exist to suggest that environment contributes to and influences the gay lifestyle, it is not clear how this could be true. For example, if biology and genetics contribute to â€Å"at least 50 percent† of gay behavior, why is it that a homosexual male or female raised in the same environment with a heterosexual male or female gives rise to one homosexual individual and one or more (generally a host) of heterosexual individuals? If the environment helped to cause the homosexual behavior, why aren’t there more homosexuals in that environment? To my knowledge, this question has never been addressed or even asked. Likewise with Freud’s idea that childhood experiences contribute to homosexual behavior. While no two individuals have the same childhood experiences, in part because everyone responds differently to the same experiences and environment, two individuals treated the same and raised in the same environment does not lead one to conclude that the differences in their behavior is caused by their childhood experiences or their environment. Biological factors, genetics and internal psychological factors must play a significantly more crucial role in their behavior than do environment and/or childhood experiences. Marriage vs. Civil Union Now that we have briefly reviewed the biological and genetic data to suggest that homosexuality is a genetic and biological condition, at least in part, rather than a matter of personal choice, we are more prepared to consider the legal factors involved with this issue. In states where marriage is allowed between same sex couples, the individuals involved are generally placed on an uneven playing field. Even though they may be allowed to join in a legal union, they are restricted to a civil union rather than a legally recognized marriage. What is the difference and why is this distinction yet another example of social discrimination? Today, gay couples may unite in civil unions but such unions differ from the marriage granted to heterosexuals in a number of crucial ways. Although a civil union grants many rights that would be denied without it, it fails to grant hundreds of others. Furthermore, marriage is universally recognized everywhere while civil unions are not. Civil unions fail to resolve many financial matters, tax issues, insurance concerns, pension protection, Medicaid and even matters such as filing and filling our forms. Another concern arises if those joined in a civil union desire to dissolve their union. They have no means to legally terminate their union unless they live in a state that recognizes it. In fact, at present, only Vermont qualifies for this termination. A Vermont law states that â€Å"Parties to a civil union shall have all the same benefits, protections and responsibilities under law, whether they derive from statute, administrative or court rule, policy, common law or any other source of civil law, as are granted to spouses in a marriage. † One must wonder why there is a need to make such a statement. If there is no discrimination based on sexual orientation, there certainly is no need for this added point of clarification in the law, so obviously, something is amiss. Much of the controversy about and distinction between â€Å"marriage† and â€Å"civil union† boils down to religious issues. In general, Christians are against gay marriage. Therefore, at some level, the issue also involves religious issues and the separation between church and state, religion and politics. While gay marriage is an issue that Christians feel goes against the principles of the Bible, other religions use other holy books and, as a result, do not base their opinions on or form their ideas from the Bible. Although the legal view is that there are no substantial differences in the treatment of a marriage and a civil union, each represents a separate legal category with significant, sometimes glaring differences that only become of concern when they matter the most. While the U. S. Constitution requires legal equality for all regardless of sexual orientation, among other factors, that legal equality exists largely on paper rather than in fact. Clearly, those individuals forced into civil unions rather than typical marriages are not on even playing ground. Civil Unions are a step forward, but they fall short of being satisfactory. Our present approach to force gay couples into civil unions rather than true marriage, perhaps, is as unjust as the former laws that denied interracial marriage. In order to give gay couples true rights, laws must eliminate the idea of civil unions and allow gay couples to form true marriage so as to give them all of the rights and privileges recognized in marriage. We cannot continue to tolerate â€Å"civil unions† as the satisfactory answer to granting unions between individuals who desire to live as a couple. Just as we moved away from banning interracial marriage, we need to move away from banning gay marriage. We have only emotional and no rational reasons to do otherwise. We have pointed out above that if the biological factors, genetics and internal psychological factors play any role at all in homosexual behavior, that role must be relatively trivial. Therefore, discriminating against gay individuals in any manner such as by relegating them to civil unions rather than allowing them to unite in true marriage, for example, is nothing more than unjustified discrimination and bias just as unjust as denying interracial marriage. We must move away from this and other unfair treatments and practices. Continuing to insist that homosexual behavior arises from environment, childhood experiences or personal choice with that belief but no supporting evidence even though there is clear evidence to the contrary is nothing more than further bias and discrimination against homosexuals. While homosexual behavior is clearly different from the norm, there is no real evidence that it is abnormal any more than being black in a society that is 12 percent black and 88 percent white and other means that blacks are abnormal. Faulty logic in the absence of supporting evidence does not justify, prove or support an incorrect conclusion.

African American Booker T Washington

Booker T. Washington was a man beyond words. He rose up from slavery, delivering speech after speech expressing his views on how to help raise America's view of the African American. He felt that knowledge was power, not just knowledge of â€Å"books†, but knowledge of agricultural and industrial trades. He felt that the African American would rise to be an equal in American society through hard work. Washington founded a school on these principles, and it became the world's leader in agricultural and industrial education for the Negro. He put his heart and soul into his school, Tuskegee Institute, and gained great respect from both the white and black communities. Many of the country's white leaders agreed with his principals, and so he had a great deal of support. Booker T. Washington cleared the way for the black community too fully enter the American society. Washington was born into slavery on April 5, 1856, in Franklin County, Virginia, on a small tobacco plantation. His only true relative was his mother, Jane, who was the plantation's cook. His father was thought to have been the white son of one of their neighbors. Washington spent his early years on the plantation. He did the small jobs, such as carrying water to the field hands and taking corn to the local mill for grinding. This hard work at an early age filled him the values he would teach for the rest of his life. Washington and his mom were freed after the civil war. His stepfather had escaped earlier, and had gotten a job in Malden, West Virginia, at a salt furnace, so Washington and his mother went to live with him. Life was tough in Malden. â€Å"Drinking, gambling, quarrels, fights, and shockingly immoral practices were frequent.† Washington himself got a job in the salt furnace and often had to go to work at four in the morning. Washington really wanted an education. A school for African Americans opened in Malden, but his stepfather would not let him leave work to attend. Washington wanted an education so bad that he arranged with the teachers to give him classes at night. Booker did not have a last name until he went to school. When he realized that all of the other children at the school had a ‘second' name, and the teacher asked him his, he invented the name Washington. Booker heard of a big school for African Americans in Hampton, Virginia, and he decided to go there. In 1872, he set out on the 500-mile journey to Hampton, traveling most of the way by foot. He was only 16 at this time too. When he finally arrived, he had to take an entrance exam that consisted of him sweeping the floor. He graduated with honors and returned to Malden. He then was asked to come back to Hampton to be an instructor. Then, soon after, the principal of Hampton received a letter from a group in Tuskegee, Alabama, asking for help in starting a school for African Americans there. They were expecting a white man, but when they got Washington, they were quite pleased with him. Washington founded The Tuskegee Institute in 1885. The school opened with 30 students. Tuskegee Institute and its facilities grew, and so did its courses in agricultural and engineering subjects. The Institute survived its early years only through the perseverance of Washington. Washington believed in the â€Å"dignity of labor.† He emphasized the teaching of â€Å"practical skills,† like brick making, carpentry and dairying for the boys, and cooking and sewing for the girls. He believed that African Americans must make economic progress, and learn how to make a living first. Booker is remembered and admired for his accomplishments. Of course his most famous being the Tuskegee Institute. Booker T. Washington is a perfect example that even if you came from nothing, you can accomplish great things if you try hard enough and are willing to make the sacrifice.

The issues, procedures, and techniques involved in IT resource Research Paper

The issues, procedures, and techniques involved in IT resource contingency planning - Research Paper Example In this regard, a study of a sampled organization which has implemented a range of technologies is to be accomplished. The primary purpose of the investigation is to evaluate the policies, approaches, procedures, and teams which are associated to incident response and recovery. A secondary purpose of the investigation is to develop a set of the effective measures to ensure that the organization achieves business continuity after incidences with minimum incurrence of costs. As per the hypothetical case study, currently there is no business continuity, disaster recovery and incident response plans. In order to do so, there are many factors that can be taken into consideration. The first objective is to establish a risk management framework. The risk assessment framework will incorporate asset identification and classification. Asset identification can also be called as asset inventory. Asset inventory comprises of all assets that are deemed critical, important or general. After establi shing asset inventory, asset classification is carried out. Likewise, the classification scheme will be drawn, as defined by the data, system or application owners, as they are the relevant people to determine the levels for each asset. After defining the asset inventory and asset classification, our next objective is to carry out risk management. Likewise, risk management comprises of two components i.e. Risk assessment and Risk management. Risk assessment incorporates cost benefit analysis that justifies the total cost of the asset and the total cost required to protect and ensure redundancy. However, it is essential to make a balance or the total cost of an asset may not exceed the total cost required for securing it or providing redundancy. Critical questions that need to be answered for conducting a successful risk management are: Which information asset is the most critical to the success of the organization? Which information asset generates the most revenue? Which informatio n asset generates the highest profitability? Which information asset is the most expensive to replace? Which information asset is the most expensive to protect? Which information asset’s loss or compromise would be the most embarrassing or cause the greatest liability? After the completion of risk assessment, risks can be prioritized and can be managed with associated or allocated cost and their impact levels on the business. Moreover, for establishing a comprehensive business continuity plan, following factors are mandatory: Business Continuity Planning Governance Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Procedures and activities for business continuity Instant procedures Quality assurance The disaster recovery sites must ensure to meet the Recovery Time Objectives, Recovery Point Objectives Service Delivery Objectives, Crisis Opening (Disaster Declaration) and Crisis end. Figure 3 illustrates the formulation of designing and validating a BCP plan based on these parameters. Figure 3 I mage Retrieved from (Sheth, McHugh, & Jones, 2008) Furthermore, for establishing incident response functions, Computer security incident response teams are required with trained staff. Through a sampling methodology, a convenient sample will be attained from organizations which have heavily employed technology in their operations and have been affected by security incidences and breaches. Therefore a primary research methodology will be conducted to gather data and information on the approaches which the organizations selected in the sample employ in the achievement of effective response and recovery

Chapter 1-3 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chapter 1-3 questions - Assignment Example Historians show that immediately after the end of the threat to England, the English nationalists obtained freedom and began growing and enforcing their roots. Accordingly, a section of the Englishmen who liked the queen threw their support for the Church of England but hated Catholics, majority of whom were from Spain. However, later attempts to stop the expansion of the English only served to promote the establishment of the English culture and pride (Brands et al., 2012). The Puritans decided to leave England and migrate to North America because they wanted to settle in a place where they could be free to practice their religion without interference. This is because they were strongly opposed to the liturgy and rituals of the Catholicism that was being imposed on them by the Church of England (Brands et al., 2012). The chaos that was experienced during the New Jersey settlement occurred due to two main factors. Firstly, the chaos emerged due to rivalry between Swedes and the Dutch over the fur trade. Secondly, the chaos erupted during the settlement following the New York governors move to assign lands to many Puritan groups unaware of the existence of Carteret and Berkeley proprietorship (Brands et al., 2012). The Barbadians background as agriculturalists contributed significantly to the development of the Carolinas. The Barbadians introduced the concept of sugarcane plantation to the Carolinas, which not only employed many of the residents, but also acted as a source of livelihood for the Carolinas (Brands et al., 2012). Life for women in the 17th century New England was difficult are required perseverance. Historians show that women of the time lived in deplorable conditions characterized by poor diet, illnesses and that childbearing was constant as women were expected only to bear children., Women of the time were also had to do hard work all day long. At the same time, women of the time had no right to choose a husband for themselves.

Cigarette warning labels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cigarette warning labels - Essay Example Currently, the habit is practiced by men and women, even one as young as two years old in China. (Two) In 1898, the Tennessee Supreme Court maintains a total ban on cigarettes, saying that its use is toxic to one’s health. In 1965, after the Surgeon General of the United States reported about the dangers of cigarette smoking, the U.S. Congress passed the Cigarette Labelling and Advertising Act which stated that every cigarette pack must have a warning label claiming â€Å"Cigarettes may be hazardous to your health.† (History) Later on, Congress ordered companies to change their warning labels every three months and created four different labels to be used. These steps, however, did little to discourage the public from smoking. With the new cigarette health warning labels, consumers will not only be reading words that, as history has shown, have been easily ignored. The new labels are very visual. They would easily catch the attention of the consumers. Moreover, the pictures are extremely explicit in showing the dangers of smoking that would-be smokers may have second thoughts. The habit of smoking is too extensive and common to be stopped instantaneously and forcing smokers to stop infringes on their human rights. The new cigarette health warning labels are by far the best approach to making people realize smoking is hazardous and should be

The Ideas about Masculinity and Femininity in Studying Empire and Essay

The Ideas about Masculinity and Femininity in Studying Empire and British Society - Essay Example The ideas of the survival of the fittest were proclaimed by Herbert Spencer2 and they are relevant to the context of the British Empire development, where males were the privileged class. The most relevant features of masculinity were competition, athleticism, and militant domination. It was a new kind of masculinity, or a colonial masculinity. A Kshatriyan model of masculinity was dominant over Brahmanic masculinity. The British Empire substituted local rituals with colonial traditions in  sub-Saharan Africa and India. They intended to civilize Africans and Indians. In British India female madness was one of the most striking issues. Thomas August refers to the British Colonial woman as to a â€Å"male mad-person"3. The male population was privileged in India by the British Empire. Maccracken-Flesher talks about the greatest social contrast naming them as a "gentlemanly colonial power" to a "feminine Orient."4The colonial India faced with gender differences and the middle Bengali s' were portrayed by the Britons as effeminate and thus politically inacceptable figures. As a result of these social changes introduced by the British Empire, there is no wonder that domestic and exotic issues went hand in hand. The ideas of family belonging and obedience in Indian society were undermined by the British social norms of development. The issues of sex and intimacy play the crucial role in comprehending the peculiarities of the nations’ development. Racial status and the role of the nation were often contrasted. The powers of the nation were challenged by retaining the powers of the national family, the exotic becomes more necessary and exciting than ever and the role of exotic males and females played a crucial role in the development of the British society. Roy Anindio underlines that when the limits and influence of nations were questioned, fears of population movement occurred5. There were many marriages between the Britons and Hindu women, known as Anglo-I ndians, or Eurasians. Nearly 90% of the British in India created such marriages. It is possible to claim that the British society in such a way expanded not only their territory, but also religion. In the end of the eighteenth century Anglo-Indians males were prohibited from military service and it was a great impact caused on the British Empire society. Anglo-Indian community became endogamous and stabilized in 1835. British males in the new world were strong fighters and bachelor settlers. In the East the majority of British men found different opportunities for assimilation and adaptation to the alien societies. They were interested in the native language and native communities6. The wives played a role of companions for their husbands. Their husbands were fighting men and it was necessary to cope with difficulties and to accompany them in difficult trips in the East. When British women had their seven years old children, they sent them to Britain, where education was better. The y often separated themselves from their children in order to prevent their husbands’ romantic relations with the Indian women. In Africa British women lived under dreadful conditions. The British males very often had their black-skinned female lovers and it was a great shock for the British women. The life of the British women in Cape was less difficult. They were served by a large number of servants. The women started playing different roles in the South African

Discussion Board 6-1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Discussion Board 6-1 - Assignment Example According to Kail and Cavanaugh (2013), adolescents face serious hormonal fluctuations that may results to depression, stress, joy or antisocial behaviors. In case that such changes result to depression or stress, the affected person may be have negative socio-emotions that may cause them develop withdrawal attitudes. Such occurrences have the impact of widening the gap between an individual adolescent and the family members. In some cases, an adolescent may have the tendency to discriminate between the family members with they relate closely. The given adolescent may have negative view of the distant or disliked family members and infer lies or make false accusations. This can result to disagreements, disharmony and conflict between the family members that the given adolescent enjoys close relationship and those they have distant relationships. A good manifestation of impact of negative socio-emotional changes of adolescents on family system involved one of my friends whose condition resulted to disagreements between the parents. As an adolescent boy who lived mostly with the mother as the father worked far from home but paid regular visits to the family, the mother handled the boy softly. The boy became hot tempered and preferred violence and aggression in solving his problems. Later, the father transferred to a work place near home so that he lived with the family. On realizing the behavior of the boy, the father began disciplining the friend so that he might change and know how to manage his problems effectively. Discipline involved punishments and talks, which the mother interpreted as inappropriate (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2013). Conflict caused by difference in views of the parents concerning the boy’s condition led to divorce and the adolescent moved to live with the mother. In another instance, an adolescent girl who was also the only child from a neighboring family

Peer Response Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Peer Response - Article Example I personally commend your use of easy to understand language, which made it possible for me to understand some of the laws and the various Acts that cover them. This makes it possible for even the most of average people to read and find your post motivating and educative. By making the government Acts available in your post, you provided enough evidence to support your strong arguments. In my opinion, there was no misrepresentation of any evidence through the post because any and all your sources of information are recorded and sufficient. The practicality of what you researched on can be seen in what is happening in some of the states in America. Some criminal acts are often treated differently if the perpetrators are based in certain states. For my part, I would say that the your interpretation of the laws present provided me, and other readers, with the much needed insight into what happens when one breaks laws with regards to computer and information security. This insight may wo rk toward guiding us as we deal with the ever-changing face of the technological

Planning to Live Your Life Your Way Essay Example for Free

Planning to Live Your Life Your Way Essay Goal setting is a formal process for personal planning. By setting goals on a routine basis you decide what you want to achieve, and then move step by-step towards the achievement of these goals. The process of setting goals and targets allows you to choose where you want to go in life. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on to do it. You also know what is merely a distraction. Goal setting is a standard technique used by top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in all fields. It gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. It focuses your acquisition of knowledge and helps you to organize your resources. By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals. You can see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By setting goals, you will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize your ability and competence in achieving the goals that you have set. The process of achieving goals and seeing this achievement gives you confidence that you will be able to achieve higher and more difficult goals. Goals are set on a number of different levels: First you decide what you want to do with your life and what large-scale goals you want to achieve. Second, you break these down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit so that you reach your lifetime goals. Finally, once you have your plan, you start working towards achieving it. Starting to Set Personal Goals This section explains how to set personal goals. It starts with your lifetime goals, and then works through a series of lower level plans culminating in a daily to-do list. By setting up this structure of plans you can break even the biggest life goal down into a number of small tasks that you need to do each day to reach the lifetime goals. Your Lifetime Goals The first step in setting personal goals is to consider what you want to achieve in your lifetime, as setting Lifetime goals gives you the overall perspective that shapes all other aspects of your decision making. How to Start to Achieve Your LifetimeGoals Once you have set your lifetime goals, set a 25 year plan of smaller goals that you should complete if you are to reach your lifetime plan. Then set a 5 year plan, 1 year plan, 6 month plan, and 1 month plan of progressively smaller goals that you should reach to achieve your lifetime goals. Each of these should be based on the previous plan. Finally set a daily to-do list of things that you should do today to work towards your lifetime goals. At an early stage these goals may be to read books and gather information on the achievement of your goals. This will help you to improve the quality and realism of your goal setting. Finally review your plans, and make sure that they fit the way in which you want to live your life.

Effect of Cultural Differences in Global Marketplace

Effect of Cultural Differences in Global Marketplace Abstract This paper proposes a study on the threat the new entrants in global markets encounter mainly about the trouble arising from cross-cultural differences. This proposal investigates some of the applicable background work on the topic and sets some of the aims, objectives and research methodology that help for the better understanding of the topic. The main emphasis in this research is focus on the cross-cultural threats most businesses face during their plans to enter into the international markets. The expanding of business operations into external markets is very important in this competitive world. But this expansion into international markets is associated with high degree of risk. This research considers two countries Europe, Middle East and North America and the mode of internationalization are the Export business. Background: Business who enter new markets face many problems and this threats faced by new entrants is faced from many years. This is extensively considered in the literature but unlike nuances from this topic can be analysed. If there is risk connected to the reality that a business enters a new international market, huge levels of uncertainty could be associated when business go into new markets in different countries, this due to the existence of cultural aspects may weaken the achievement of the new business. In a situation in which Globalisation plays a most important role in home economies, the focus of going into new international markets is an additional and more pertinent. Apart from this in some of the industries the national market is not sufficient to cover up every aspect of the production of the business, and consequently, there is a need for such business to enter into new markets, for example, find the financial support for growth and development. Thus, the entry in international markets in this perspective may not be a choice but relatively it is an obligation. Business decisions are extremely surrounded in a sociological framework where culture plays an important role. To that degree, the significant threat of entering international markets can be differences in the culture that may weaken the progression of entering the new market of the achievement of the international project. For every business to decision of entering into a new international market requires huge resources, more often than not there are resources that require to be assigned to the decision of global entry, and that managers need to execute to the procedure of entry. But large investments into the new ventures in international markets does not in reality give success to the firm, the crucial lies only if the business enters the new markets before its competitors as these cultural aspects of the new markets can hinder performance in the beginning and to understand the culture, manage peoples preferences and to be successful requires a long-term process (Mascarenhas 1998). Moreover, the study also demonstrates that new entrants typically require placing smaller amount of capital in the procedure of entering the new market, and consequently this plan can be pursued by business with few resources if they are initial entrants. There are quite a lot of patterns that business can choose when entering in new trade places, and the pattern or the procedure the business adopt during entry may describes the success of the decision. In addition to this the pattern of entry also has an significant impact on the consequence of the new project. This framework identifies three underlying constructs that influence the entry mode decision. These constructs are linked to considerations that have been previously discussed in the literature. It is argued that a businesss choice of entry mode depends on the strategic relationship the business envisages between operations in different countries. A particular entry decision cannot be viewed in isolation. It must be considered in relation to the overall strategic posture of the business. Further, the paper argues that different variables often suggest different entry modes, and that resolving these differences involves accepting trade-offs. Hill et al. (2006: p. 117) Different types of entry refer to the procedure the business decides to enter the market. There are different types of expanding its business globally like Export its good to the new markets international also is a form of international business, these Exports may be Direct or Indirect, business can even start its global business through Contracts like licensing and franchising; and Foreign Direct Investment this includes funding of business in other countries either as a whole or a part of the business (Armstrong and Sweeney 1994). There is also a significant feature that the business needs when going globally, learning. The importance of organizational learning for a companys survival and effective performance has been emphasized in the literature (Barkema and Vermeulen, 1998; Barlett and Ghoshal, 1987a, 1987b; Hitt, Hoskisson and Ireland, 1994; Huber, 1991). According to Zahra et al. (2000) New ventures competing in international markets, for instance, draw from multiple knowledge bases in their different business operations and learn new skills that augment current capabilities. This viewpoint serves to emphasize the reality that later the primary experiences in terms of new ventures in international markets, helps gives the business an opportunity to learn, and with the help of this knowledge which the business gains in the process of learning can help them to be confident and which in turn helps them to reduce the level of risk associated with international business. Yet, a key problem the new entrants fac e is the distance of culture among the countries. Within each of the management disciplines there is a Significant literature which assumes that each nation has a distinctive, influential, and describable culture it shapes everything' (Hickson and Pugh, 1995: 90) A very important aspect of the process of internationalization is the distance between certain cultures. This issue is very central to the international Business literature, as it can be conbusinessed by Sousa and Bradley (2006: p. 49) Cultural distance and psychic distance are two factors that are widely used in the international business literature. A large number of studies use both concepts interchangeably with no clear distinction between them. The authors propose a new model to assess cultural distance and psychic distance separately. Through the use of survey data of more than 300 managers, this article shows that both concepts are conceptually different and that psychic distance is determined by cultural distance and the individual values of the managers. Hofstede is a pioneer in explaining the cultural distances among the countries with his work cultural consequences in 1984. He worked on the employees of IBM in different countries and identified four cultural dimensions, even though the scope of his research is limited as there no IBM offices in some countries, but his work is widely accepted in the study of national cultural differences among countries . The existence of cultural problems can be to some extent eliminated by adopting a evolutionary process by business during the process of entry into international markets. Hashai and Almor (2004: p. 465) demonstrate this gradual process of entering the market that can be used as an argument in favour of the actual difficulties in entering international markets, since three levels of entry are referred. Results show [à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦] the following internationalization sequence over time: (1) exports are employed initially in order to serve customers in psychically close international markets; (2) subsequently, greenfield marketing subsidiaries are established in these markets; (3) finally, businesss engage in mergers and acquisitions, create subsidiaries that incorporate several value-adding activities and penetrate psychically distant international markets. Hofstede (1989), states that the main risk in internationalization is: signifying that in spite of the existence of a few cultural gaps, which may not be very troublesome or are even opposite, differences among two cultures in terms of uncertainty avoidance can turn into a possible foundation of problems for business who are looking for international markets due to the linked gap in acceptance of the level of risk, formalization, and the approximating. This viewpoint is very significant, and it can be linked with the resource- based viewpoint. In order to spend in global markets, business requires also investing in their information and adjustment to the host countries culture. However, as a consequence of the internationalisation process, business are expected to obtain awareness regarding global sites, organizational features and other country specific information (Barkema et al., 1996) as there should be more open to communication with fresh cultures. Ultimately, as an instance of threats of entry into international markets, there are five factors which are identified with the export of goods among the countries. From the analysis of the prior experiential literature, five common export threats have been identified. The prior among them are the non-exporting business tends to recognize obstacles in a different way from export trade. They put additional importance on factors inhibiting the commencement of export actions, while exporting trade stress operational, practical and market associated troubles. Next, the character, as well as the level complexity of export impediments varies not only among export stages, but also between businesses at the equal stage of export growth process. Next, the outside environmental aspects widespread in every nation mainly control perceived export problems. Next, industry-specific aspects are often accountable for variations in the supposed level of export threats across industry. Lastly, the level of the industry frequently determines the characteristics and pressure on export threats, with minor business feeling their inhibiting impact more powerfully. Smit h et al. (2006: p. 54-55) Aims The main aim of this piece of research is to find out the processes which national business adapt while entering into new international markets and to calculate the degree of which cross-cultural characteristics of the host country can contribute to the decision making. Therefore, in this research it will be required to find a connection between the cultural distance of the two countries and the power of their global business. In other expression, one can aim to study whether: are the firms more expected to invest in nations that are culturally closer? As a result, the intention of this research is to estimate the degree to which the cultural distance plays an significant part on the choice of participating in the economy of a certain country. To that extent, this research is evaluating, finally, if the cultural closeness of certain countries is a feature of magnetism by business for a venture. In order to find out the part of cultural closeness, one will calculate the cultural threats business encounter in going into global markets. The centre of this research is businesses who are the first time entrants into the new international markets. For that motive the problem of cultural distance is understood so closely. This is also based that business going into new markets with a little experience in global ventures are less affected by the risk when entering into a new global market. The basic theory in this research is that cultural distance plays a significant role for the first time entrants when compared to other business. In order to believe in this objective, a viewpoint on the resources that are necessary to enter a global venture will be the base for the explanations sought after. The main hypothesis is that, venturing into new markets where there is a high degree of cultural distance embodies high degree of risk and, consequently, huge investments is required to understand and bridge a gap between these cultural distance among countries. Research Methods: Data As the main focus of the research is to find out the relation between the cultural differences among nations and course of internationalisation of the company, different sources of statistics and information will be used. In order to know the relation we need to under the cultural differences among the countries, as this will enable the research with better understand of the concept. To get this information, Hofstede (1984) work is used to get the information on cultural distance. The model developed by Hofstede (2001) provides a set of variables that permit the relationship of cultures with respect to various business approaches. The study of cultural consequences of Hofstede is performed using data gathered from IBM workforce in different countries around the world. In spite of being a good method for understanding the cultural distance among countries, the model itself has some draw backs, as the staff of IBM are not only influenced by the national cultural but also are influenced by the organizational culture and hence this study may not reveal the pure information on the national culture, as the employees are also inclined by IBM policies and procedures. But however the framework depicts the cultural difference among the countries in five dimensions: They are The first among them is the power distance: this depicts the distance between individual of different ranks. The next is Individualism this reflects the extent to which an individual relies on a group or collective approach to issues, or the extent to which the individuals takes individuals initiative to solve problems. Uncertainty avoidance, which reflects on peoples attitudes on ambiguity in a society or country. The third is Masculinity, the gender differences, in more masculinity, results in assertiveness, competitiveness and need to achieve results; low masculinity suggests co-operation and more caring approaches. Lastly, the fifth dimension which is the result of the work of Hofstede, with the Chinese cultural connection group (1987) which resulted in another dimension called the Long term orientation, more Asian culture prefer long term bond and oppose short term contracts. The subsequent resource of information is associated with the exports. Information will be collected from the World Trade Organization (2008) and contain data about the selected countries for the research, North America, Middle East and Europe. Ultimately, the information required is different sources of information about the flows of foreign direct investment among each pair of groups of countries. The data for this dataset will be gathered for each pair of countries in isolation and thus different sources will be used. To understand the proximity of the relationship among the pair of countries can be understood from the information gathered about the cultural distance with the help of Hofstede framework. This understanding of the closeness of the culture will help to answer the question whether business are only ready to trade with those countries which are narrow in terms of cultural distance. The methods used for analysing are: In order to assess the level to which the aspect of cultural distance plays a significant part on the business decision on the new ventures with certain nation, can be analyzed with the help of analysis of the pair of countries from the selected parts of the world. This examination will integrate assess of the comparative distance of the two countries, and an evaluation of the relative influence of the exports and of Foreign Direct Investment in the total exports and Foreign Direct Investment of each country. The information will provide a chance to spotlight on the connection between the cultural distance and the actual international link of business in the two groups of countries, with numerical techniques. This examination will be complimented with relative details of the culture of the both the countries. 5. Expected Outcome It is expected that countries with similarities in terms of culture verify higher levels of international trade, not only in terms of exports, but also in what regards to international trade. The theory on the resources applied in the participation of a new joint venture can also provide a contribution in this respect. Countries with higher similarities may embody a lower risk of investment and therefore, businesss will be seeking to invest firstly in countries in which they know what to expect. However, it is also certain that after having invested in a number of countries to which cultural similarities are found, a business may be seeking to expand to other countries, culturally more distant. This may be due to two reasons: the first one is related to the need of expansion, and once all countries to which cultural proximity is found already have the presence of the business; the second one is related to the international experience and the confidence of investment the business has gained in the countries it has invested previously, and is now ready to take a step further and to operate at a higher risk.