Compare the influence of the revolutionary leadership on the french Essay

Compare the influence of the revolutionary leadership on the french and Russian revolutions - Essay Example This discourse seeks to compare the influence of revolutionary leadership on French and Russian Revolutions. An analysis of the French Revolution clearly shows that the revolution occurred mainly as a result of poor leadership though the economy also played a part in its establishment. In this respect, historians reveal that in the 1780s just before the beginning of the French Revolution, the leaders of the country made a terrible mistake by allocating a large portion of the budget to finance the lavish estate of King Louis XVI at Versailles (Lucas 1973, p. 86). Surprisingly they did this despite the fact that many French citizens were suffering as the majority were not able to put food on the table. At the same time, the leaders allowed the country to operate without a central bank and paper currency and utilized antiquated tax system that only taxed the poor who had no money with which to buy even food. The continued poor leadership demonstrated by the top leaders of the country angered the French poor comprising mainly of the peasants who started to protest against poor leadership. The angered peasants reportedly invaded the Bastille in search of guns to use against the oppressive leaders. The invasion of Bastille resulted in a revolt against the king all over France. The revolt continued throughout 1789, resulting in the overthrow of King Louis (Lefebvre 2005, p. 34). It was after his toppling that the French established a democratic government. The Declaration of the Rights of Man doctrine was established after that, serving as the ground for the revolutionary French leaders. The French Revolution also resulted in the establishment of a government consisting of three arms, namely the executive, judiciary, and legislature. Under the new system of government, the executive was still headed by the King though the King only served as a figurehead with no real power. Similarly, the chaotic Russian

Profile of Senator Barack Obama Essay Example for Free

Profile of Senator Barack Obama Essay Barack Obama is one of the top candidates for the democratic nomination in the 2008 presidential election. His political experience has not been as long as some of his competitors, but Obama has served eleven meaningful years as a senator from the state of Illinois. As the son of parents from both the state of Kansas and the country of Kenya, Obama’s diverse background is one of the many desirable qualities that he brings into the presidential race.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obama has now turned his sights on the presidential race, where he is running as a democrat. He is currently one of the leaders in that race, and is thought by many to hold a slight lead over Senator Hilary Clinton, He was recently endorsed by powerful talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who has lent her support in private for a long time now. Though Obama does not have the long political record that some of the other candidates have, he makes up for that by providing a fresh outlook and exciting perspective in a race that greatly needs such attributes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obama has taken some hard line stances on many of the biggest issues of this year’s campaign. The senator has consistently supported the woman’s right to choose in regards to abortion. His pro-choice mentality is something that sets him apart from many of the candidates in the race. One of the issues that Obama has concentrated on is immigration reform. According to the senator’s official website, â€Å"Barack Obama has played a leading role in crafting comprehensive immigration reform. Obama believes the immigration issue has been exploited by politicians to divide the nation rather than find real solutions† (Obama).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the most important issues in this election is the war in Iraq. On that, Obama has consistently stood by his pledge to bring the soldiers home and work to end the conflict. His ideas on foreign policy have been the subject much speculation over the last couple of months. An Associated Press article stated that â€Å"Obama, closing the three-hour policy forum, said a president should be unafraid to meet with tyrants, and must restore the nations moral authority by ending torture, closing Guantanamo Bays military prison and helping fight global poverty and AIDS† (Babington).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obama has fought with competitor Hilary Clinton on a number of issues in debates and in the press on a number of issues, but none has been more common than health care. According to Timothy Noah of The Slate, â€Å"Obamas plan creates various mechanisms to make both private and public health insurance more readily available† (Noah). This plan puts the responsibility on the American people to make their own choices about healthcare, while many universal healthcare plans make the decision for the people. This is one of the issues where Obama has received high marks from prospective voters.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus far, Barack Obama has performed very well in debates, both formal and off of the stage. Though poll numbers have fluctuated based upon whom one asked, Obama has stayed mostly strong through the duration of his campaign. As the campaign has progressed, Obama’s positions have continually been challenged on a number of issues and he has consistently had to defend them against challengers. With the endorsement form Oprah in his back pocket and the primaries on the horizon, Obama looks to have taken momentum into a very important part of the campaign. Works Cited Obama, Barack. Obama ’08: Official Website. â€Å"Immigration and the Border†. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/immigration_and_the_border/ Babington, Charles. (AP) Obama Touts new Diplomatic Approaches. 28 November 2007. http://www.wkrn.com/nashville/news/ap-obama-touts-new-diplomatic-approaches/130230.htm Noah, Timothy. Obama vs. Clinton on Universality. 30 November 2007. http://www.slate.com/id/2178896/fr/rss/

Failed Revolutions and Tyrants in Animal Farm Essay -- Animal Farm Ess

Failed Revolutions and Tyrants in Animal Farm Animal Farm, by George Orwell was published in 1945, a crucial time in history because of Stalin’s takeover of the Soviet Union and his exploitation of the centralized communist government. This was in direct contradiction to the expected results of the Russian Revolution. Orwell felt that revolutions fail because the end result is a change of tyrants and not of government. Orwell exemplifies this failure through the goals of the revolution and their failure to meet them, the malfunction of Napoleon and Snowball’s rule together, and Napoleon’s disastrous reign. The goals of the Revolution and the failure to meet them, is one way Orwell exemplifies his philosophy. Before the Revolution, the inhabitants of Animal Farm are ruled by the tyrannical Jones. The animals get fed up with the treatment they are receiving and, at the meeting, Old Major provides a solution, Revolution. Even at this meeting the pigs, including Napoleon, sit close to the front, showing the social classes that already exist. The Revolution plans to overthrow Jones and set up an animal government. Their goals are to be completely self sufficient and not have to rely on humans in any way. These goals are seemingly idealistic but the animals do not achieve these for more than about six months. The reason for this is the pigs becoming corrupt and wanting to break the commandments for their own pleasure. Shortly after the meeting with Old Major, the Revolutio...

Peru Research Paper Essay

Madison Spence 17 February 2013 Spanish 2312 Professor Elsa Coronado-Salinas Santa Rosa de Lima The country of Peru is home to many holidays and festivals each year. From the New Year’s Day celebration to the Christmas day celebration, Peru has set aside an abundance of days to observe the country’s many historic events. A very popular holiday in the country is Santa Rosa de Lima which takes place each year on August 30. The holiday dates back to the 17th century and celebrates the death of the patroness of Lima, Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa was born on April 20, 1586 by the name of Isabel, but was later nick-named Rosa because of her looks and her rosy cheeks. She spent a majority of her childhood in the small town of Quive, in the hills of Lima. As Rosa grew up, she became extremely religious and started practicing very extreme forms of religion. She grew up to be a very very beautiful woman, but she came to resent her looks. She did everything to ‘undo’ her beauty. She fasted herself, cut her hair, and wore a thorn crown to divert attention away from her beautiful looks and towards God. Rosa wanted to join a monastery but her family was too poor to afford it so she moved away from her family and into a cottage she built herself. Rosa’s days consisted of praying and feeding and caring for the sick and poor people in her town. She sold flowers and needlework to support herself and her family. At the age of 20, Rosa was let into the â€Å"Third Order† without having to pay for it. Her religious practices took on a new extreme as she gave up all normal food and lived off of bread and water as well as herbs and juices from plants that she grew in her own garden. She constantly wore a metal crown around her head and an iron chain around her waist. After keeping up with this behavior for fourteen years, Rosa died at the young age of 31 on August 24, 1617. She was worshipped by so many people that all of the religious groups and public authorities attended her funeral. She was originally buried at the Dominican Convent but her remains were soon moved to the Church of Santo Domingo. She was later named the first saint in the New World by Pope Clemente X. Her shrine is still located inside the St. Dominic Convent in Lima. The holiday is a very celebrated day across the country, but has more of an emphasis in the city of Santa Rosa de Quives which lies in the Lima Highlands. Worshippers group together in a shelter in the middle of the city and is known as a day of feast in Peru. It is also tradition to drop a letter of good will into the tree that Santa Rosa tossed her key. Even though she died on August 24, her death is celebrated by feasting on August 30 because a Saint was already celebrated on the day of her actual death Easy, Lima, ed. â€Å"Santa Rosa De Lima.† Lima City Travel Guide. LimaEasy SAC, 03/009/2011. Web. 28 Jun 2012. http://www.limaeasy.com/index.php â€Å"Peru Celebrates Santa Rosa de Lima.† A Global World. A Global World, 2012. Web. 28 Jun 2012. .

Operations Management and the Demise of Best Buy Essay

BEST BUY This project will discuss the inventory methods, customer service, and overall operations of Best Buy and how through better operations management the company can be operated. We will use examples from the text book, class discussion and group discussion. We will also consult with trade journals and internet articles. Overview: Best buy was founded in 1996 in Richfield, Minnesota by Richard Schulze as an electronic specialty store. The company has gained 19% of the consumer electronics sales market. Best buy operates over 1150 stores worldwide and has several different brands and subsidiaries including Geek Squad, Magnolia audio video and Best express. Best buy has generated over 40 billion dollars in revenues in North America, 3 billion in Europe and 1.5 billion in China. Best buy experienced great revenues when its rival Circuit city went out of business and did very well up until the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009. Problems and current situation: The company continues have to have fierce competition from Verizon, ATT, Apple Wal-Mart and most importantly â€Å"Amazon†. The completion for customers is only getting fiercer with the online retailers like Amazon continues to take more and more market share away room Best Buy. Downfall of Best Buy: Why is best buy going out of business now? In one sense Best Buy is its own worst enemy; there has been number of issues with best buy. Some of the stated issues are: 1. Poor product knowledge and lack of product availability: For example at the beginning of the semester I wanted to buy a new laptop. I went to the Best Buy closest to the school and I knew what I wanted and how much I was willing to pay. I had research the Best Buy website and found it  online but did not have time or patience to wait. So I went to the store and they did not have the laptop I wanted. I found a similar laptop that performed just as well but it’s not what I wanted. 2. Higher prices: Best Buy cannot compete on price any longer and the customers know this full and well. For example if you found the attest technology gadget in best buy for 100 dollars and online for 75 dollars, where would you buy all thing being equal. Of the answer is you would buy it online. Especially if it’s a product you are familiar with. This only makes Best Buys show rooming problem even worse. 3. Poor Customer satisfaction: Satisfying a customer is a major key to make business, but best buy seems loosing this key. Some recent surveys show that Best Buy has been doing its best to leave the troops unhappy. Major factors for this are the higher prices, poor customer service, and lack to inventory management. In this era of Cut-Throat Competition, Best buy is losing its grip in the electronic market. Corporation like Amazon, eBay are spreading its business very fast leaving no scope of mistake for its competitors. Best buy has lacks product for display in there show rooms, says my personal experience. Entering the stores and unable to spot the latest products of high end American brands like apple, doesn’t impress anyone. Specially, when you have the access to all kind of electronic product on websites like Amazon that too with all kind of technical details. Best Buy need to develop its inventory management so as to display and deliver products to their customers on time. Focusing the blunders where company made apologies to thousands of customers for not delivering products for Christmas which were orders on thanks giving, Best buy’s reputation is in jeopardy Another trouble which Best Buy is facing is – it is unable to provide a free home delivery unlike Amazon and EBay. Also these online websites provides facilities like picking the product from the customer’s place if the customer wishes to return the order. This has deprived Best Buy from a huge crowd to potential customers. There is a severe need that best buy should make some strategies to develop a system of free home delivery. One more factor which bothers most to a lay man is paying high prices. Best Buy must work out some plans to compete online websites and also some emerging electronic store which intend to sell  products keeping low margin money. Serving the customer in better way seems like a past policy of Best Buy. When a company’s customer experience starts to drop, it’s time to sell the stock. I’m afraid that may have happened at Best Buy, especially when I look at their new customer satisfaction surveys. Moments when the customer representative have no clue to the technical aspect of the product has become common. May be some training sessions for the CR’s may come out fruitful. Dominant trends are consistently conspiring against their business model; Best Buy must accept this fact. Out of which buying products from your house sitting on a couch, interests every customer. Moreover the innovative high graphic design and sophisticated virtual display of product is making things work better for online sellers and buyers but a hard nut for companies like best buy. Best buy has been trying aggressively to flourish its market in places like UK, China and may be, this has led Best Buy to get distracted from its home ground of performance. Seems like its high time for Best buy to re-engineer its business module and work hard on customer satisfaction sector. (Sources: American Customer Satisfaction Index and Devil’s Advocate Group analysis) Many store focus on customer service, but Best Buy does not care. According to â€Å"http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Best_Buy† Best Buy one of the lowest customer rating on customer service. I myself had a bad experience when I bought a Dell laptop on Best Buy online. The laptop will crash (blue screen) when I use more than 30 minutes. First, I thought the software I tried to find the problem, but not found anything. When it crashed too many times, I decided to restore the Windows. It still crashed then I decided to exchange the laptop at Best Buy Saugus (close to my house). I met a lady there then explained the problem. After that she took my laptop to test. When she came back she refused to accept laptop return. She told me there was nothing wrong on that laptop. I told her I cannot use that laptop it crashed if I use more than 30 minutes. I had used that laptop for 5 days and the return policy is 15 days (now change to 30 days), so I can exchange. She replied if I want to return and exchange I have to pay 15 percent restocking fees. I asked her why, she replied because I returned a good laptop. I kept explaining her about the laptop problem, but she did not listen to me then she called another customer â€Å"Next customer†. I was very  angry. 4. Lack of Employee’s Knowledge and the use of technology: Best Buy has sufficient number of employees to serve the crowd of customers. Majority of the best buy’s employee does not have the best convincing power at first glance. They employees do not have sufficient knowledge about the product and are not updated with the updating of technology. From my personal experience I found that some of the employees do not have sufficient knowledge about the products. I went there to buy an Apple Mac Book Pro. I had used apple products since a long time so I asked them some technical queries. And out of my 7 queries they were able to solve only 4 of my queries, and on asking about the rest they replied me that we are extremely sorry but we do not have an answer for this. Then I went to apple store and placed the same 7 queries on their desk and I got the solution for all my 7 queries. The department also faces problems of over stock and out of stock of materials. Best buy is also not updated with the technology of automatic request of placing orders. There are problems when the materials go out of stock and the customer is in need to that particular material only. Being a competitive world the customer won’t wait for couple of days to get that material from best buy instead would go to any other store and get that material. These problems can be solved if technologies are used to a good extent. Comparing Wal-Mart and best buy Wal-Mart uses an automatic re-order technique for all its materials. For example: 100 counts of chips are ordered and the details are placed in their database. As the counts of the chips from their database go below 30 the system automatic places a re-order of 100 counts of chips. Using this way they never face an over stock and out of stock problems. The database is up to date with the latest entries of the inventories. 5. Inventory management: On the management side of the company it has big problems with its inventory management as well as its compensation policy. Best buy was very slow to enter the online market and has not done well in making its website very good. The company inventory system should change to a more perpetual inventory similar to Wal-Mart. And it should have a compensation system based on good sales as well as good service. A better Human resource policy based on production would better serve the company. The company must  also find a way to capture the customer in the store and not has the customer use the store as testing center to later buy over the internet. The company has failed to make this happen; better sales training as well as customer service training could offset this. Additionally Best has got to rid of selling DVD’s, and CD’s. They are taking up way to much space in the stores and they are selling fast enough due to them being obsolete. The company has tried to change this buy opening Best Buy mobile stores in shopping malls similar to cell phone providers. This has reduced cost associated with operating the big box store that best buy has been known for. This also reduces square footage to help in making the company more profitable. If they can continue to use this placement strategy they might be able to save the company. All in all this improvements may help the company in the short term. In the long term Amazon will prevail and put Best Buy out of business. 6. Online- a bad decision: Nowadays, the numbers of customers shopping online increase significantly. It is more convenience save time and money. Many retailers are focusing on Online shopping including Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Sear, Home Depot, Loews, Amazon, Newegg, and so on. Many Online stores do much better than Best Buy. Best Buy Online has many weaknesses including: shipping fees, price management, inventory management, and customer service. Best Buy does not care much about shipping fees. The shipping fees is too expensive if compare to other stores. For example, If I want to buy Number Hunt (baby toy), it cost $10.50, plus shipping $6.14, and plus tax $0.65. Total cost would be: $10.50 + $6.14 + $0.65 = $17.29 If I buy three Number Hunt, Best Buy will charge the shipping fee three times ($6.14 x 3 = $18.42). The total for three Number Hunt would be $51.87. If I buy from Amazon it costs $9.99 plus $4.99 shipping. Total $9.99 + $4.99 = $14.98. If I buy three Number Hunt, Amazon will not charge shipping free because the total over $25.00. The total for three Number Hunt would be $9.99 x 3 = $29.97. This example ( $51.87 VS $29.97) show me that Best Buy online store cannot compete with big online stores like Amazon.com or Newegg.com at all. Best Buy should talk to shipping companies to get the same shipping deal like Amazon or Newegg otherwise Best Buy will become a showroom. Another problem, Best Buy Online  has to compete with other retail store like Wal-Mart, Target, Sear, Kmart, Home depot, Loews and so on. The small stuff like toy customers most likely would buy from Walmart.com, because the price always cheaper than Best Buy and Wal-Mart charge flat rate shipping. It means whether customers buy one or five items they pay the shipping for the first item only. Whey Best Buy charge every single item? Best Buy has price match policy to compete with other stores, but the policy does not work on Best Buy Online. Best Buy has small AT&T in side and an Apple retail store. If customers want to buy I-phone 5 in store, Best Buy will sell to contract customers only. On other hand, customer can buy an I-Phone 5 without contract on Best Buy Online. It costs $699.00 ($50 more expensive that Apple Store). Why Best Buy sell $50 more expensive than Apple store? On customer point of view, it does not make any scene to buy an I-Phone 5 without contract form Best Buy Online at all. That problem make customers decide to shop at Apple directly rather than via Best Buy Apple store. Best Buy Online does not have a good inventory management to manage the inventory. Many customers could not receive what they order, because Best Buy Online does not have in their warehouse to ship. Here a quote from resellerratings.com â€Å"awful. Service was bad, rude, and nasty. Didn’t have the product I wanted and told me they did. I had to wait 2 weeks to get it. I called and they said, there was nothing they could do. The entire district was out. That is awful inventory management to let 15 stores go out of a product. Will not be shopping here again† Sometimes there are plenty order items in the local Best Buy Store, but Best Buy local stores could not ship the item that was order on Best Buy Online. It is not a good business practices. Best Buy should allow local store to ship the item if Best Buy Online warehouse run out of stock to keep the customers happy and get the item that they ordered. Another alternative solution, Best Buy could adopt just on time inventory management to manage the inventory. If Best Buy wants to survive and be a best place to buy electronic product online, they should implement the shipping fees, price management, inventory management, and customer service. Best Buy Online has lost many customers. If the customers keep leaving Best Buy Online like that Best Buy Online would be out of business like Circuit City. It is not too late, but the implementation should take an action soon. Conclusion: In conclusion we feel that Best Buy would have to make a huge investment in operations management, training, inventory management and customer service to turn around the company. We feel collectively the end of Best buy is coming soon due to the above factors and more importantly the online retailers. Because of the deficiencies in Best Buy the company will not be able to recover from its flaws. We feel that the consumer will continue to use the Best Buy for showroom purposes and then buy online. The investment in time and dollars needed to change the company will not be worth it in the long run References: www.amazon.com www.newegg.com www.walmart.com http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Best_Buy www.bestbuy.com www.seekingalpha.com http://www.customerthink.com http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/01/18/best-buy http://www.heartofthecustomer.com http://storefrontbacktalk.com/e-commerce

Dont Name Your Character Mary Sue

Dont Name Your Character Mary Sue Don’t Name Your Character Mary Sue Don’t Name Your Character Mary Sue By Mark Nichol Are your lead characters a menagerie of Mary Sues? A Mary Sue is a walking clichà ©, unrealistically flawless and therefore flat and boring a hero in your story, but a villain in your efforts to create well-rounded characters. The label for this trope is from a character in a fan-fiction Star Trek parody featuring a winsome but tiresome teenage hero by that name. The story poked fun at the adolescent (or adolescent-minded) authors of fan fiction who create characters often idealized self-representations notably lacking in personality flaws and seemingly incapable of making mistakes. The result, invariably, is a dull Dudley (or Dolly) Do-Right. But wait, you protest some of the most memorable characters in storytelling traditions have been Mary Sues! What about all the heroes of folk tales and fairytales? What about the central figures in Horatio Alger Hiss rags-to-riches stories and the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries? What about icons of the small and big screens like Captain Kirk and Luke Skywalker? There’s no law against coaxing a Mary Sue to life in any creative medium. But recognize that the presence of a gosh-and-golly go-getter is an element that marks the framing narrative as pulp fiction. If you want to produce pulp, have at it; the demand for it is insatiable. But if you wish to be taken seriously as a writer, understand that realistic characters those with hopes and dreams and desires, yes, but also with doubts and faults and weaknesses are full of depth and dimension. Characters who always know what to do and what to say, who always do the right thing, are less appealing, because we are less likely to see our own imperfect selves reflected in them. A faultless character is, like a story free of conflict, a flimsy basis for a good story. Tales appeal to us because we empathize with people who fail but then get up, dust themselves off, and try again, because that’s what we do every day, and that’s what builds our character. If your name is Mary Sue, you never fall and you (and the story that surrounds you) can therefore never truly be admired. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comparative Forms of AdjectivesBody Parts as Tools of Measurement10 Tips About How to Write a Caption

The Line-Item Veto essays

The Line-Item Veto essays The line item veto came into effect January 1st, 1997 after being passed in an overwhelmingly Republican House, and the Senate, (with many objections by Senator Robert Byrd). However, the republican bill did not live for long, although it took a very long time to pass it, it was struck down in 1998 by a Supreme Court ruling. Although it was declared unconstitutional, President Bush still asks for it to this day, and it is likely that many more Republican presidents will. The implications of the bill, and the reasons around its end, form an ongoing challenge between Republican and Democratic views of the presidential power of the veto. The basics around the Line Item Veto stand as thus; its short lived glory under the administration of Clinton was an effective aid to his policy, as he made use of it 82 times in the one year that it lasted. Also it was a powerful tool in ridding the policy of federal expenses that only existed on bills to attract interest groups. Of course this anger ed Democrats, and so they thought, if outlawed, then bills that were mostly liked by presidents would still pass with the little lobbying amendments. As the Line Item Veto did not last long, there is not much history or usages of it to be described, such as many other bills that created famous cases. However, it is a bill that has been desired by many past presidents, predominantly Republicans, and so it is likely that in them, the legacy and desire for the Line Item Veto will go on. In history every president since Abraham Lincoln has asked for the power of the line item veto. It has been coveted mostly by the big time Republicans such as Reagan and Bush Senior. Despite the constant requests from almost every president, it was not passed until 1997, making Clinton the first president to ever have the power already given to forty-three governors, the power of the line item veto. The conservatives placed the line item veto on the policy agenda in an atte...

Using PrepScholar to Boost Academic Motivation

Using PrepScholar to Boost Academic Motivation SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Many parents have experienced the frustration of high schoolers who seem academically unmotivated. We think we’re a great answer to that problemread on to find out why. Teaching and learning are very complex processes that very few people understand. We at PrepScholar are at the cutting edge of modern educational tools, and that is partly due to our intimate knowledge of teaching and learning. In this post we break down some of the most important factors in motivating your student. Supervision Matters. Studies show that students are inherently motivated by the attention of parents and teachers to their progress. Online SAT and ACT prep might at first seem like a far cry from the intimacy of a 1-on-1 teacher-student relationship, but PrepScholar actually offers more personalized content and feedback than our classroom competitors. Most importantly, all of the information is sent to both students and parents, so you are notified immediately if your student isn’t putting the hours in. We also keep track of your student’s schedule and the time being spent on test prep. With PrepScholar, every week your student enters his or her planned study schedule, aiming ideally to complete ten weekly lessons (or about 5 hours). The study schedule the student enters is sent to the student, parents and PrepScholar so everyone is on the same page. We at PrepScholar believe that one thing affects SAT and ACT score increases the most: the number of hours a student spends preparing. To this end, we send weekly progress reports to students and parents that summarize the number of hours spent studying and the lessons that have been completed that week. Tutoring gives even more detailed feedback. With PrepScholar tutoring, an experienced tutor helps your student navigate through the hardest parts of his or her lessons, paying special attention to skills that appear more often on the test or to the sections that are more important to the schools the student hopes to attend. The tutor also sends session followup emails to parents and students after every tutoring session, discussing the topics covered and any special circumstances parents might like to know about. College Matters. Too many test prep companies focus on the test as an end in itself; we never forget that SAT and ACT prep is a means to an end: the best possible college education for your student. Our prep has a definite and specific goal that motivates students by connecting to real life rewards. We are college admissions experts, and so we never lose sight of the ultimate goal. Going a step further, our strategy lessons help students target the right schools for them and the right scores to get in. We also offer college counseling as part of our tutoring package. Difficulty Matters. Our extensive teaching experience, not to mention contemporary educational theory, shows that students are very easily demotivated by discouragement. We want to avoid the â€Å"I just can’t do it† attitude, so the lessons each student receives are based on his or her scores on our diagnostic testif your student’s skills in Geometry are weak, he or she will receive the most basic Geometry information first. If your student doesn’t master the skill in a given lesson, depending on his or her score on the lesson’s Practice Quiz, the skill will reappear periodically for the student to try againunlike classroom prep, we don’t move on until your student does. Encouragement Matters. With PrepScholar, students get positive reinforcement for progress and hours studying. The weekly emails and interactive feedback are 100% encouraging, designed to cheer students on to the next level of achievement. When students don’t complete their weekly 5 hours, we remind them of the relationship between hours studying and score improvement, encouraging them to try again next week. Encouragement is also one of the main reasons we offer tutoring at PrepScholarfor some students, there’s no substitute for an educator’s friendly face and positive feedback after successes. Our weekly Skype tutoring sessions provide an intimate space for students to ask about their problems and get recognition for their achievements. Fun Matters. Our current program gives students visual information about their progress, tracking all the lessons they did and when so they can view the history of their test prep accomplishments. The site is easy to use, and we will soon be adding more fun features that make the prep experience more like a game to be won than a chore to be completed. Because, really, getting into college is a sort of game, and SAT and ACT prep is one of the most important strategies to win. If you found this article useful, please consider joining our email list at right. Your information will never be shared or sold.

The Criminal Justice System of England and Wales Essay

The Criminal Justice System of England and Wales - Essay Example This is because the acts of the Parliament can override common law provisions. Moreover, its membership in the European Union requires it to follow the European community law. The World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems also said that the legal system in England and Wales is "adversarial" in all courts, including the juvenile courts. Its criminal justice is the "historical pioneer" of the common law type of legal system. More often than not, the law evolves through the decisions made in previous individual cases while decisions in court influence certain perceptions and rules. Such practices might have originated from the fifth century while it was after 1066 when general perceptions regarding common law principles increased. Also, the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems added that England and Wales' common legal systems were derived from the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542. Moreover, the late 19th and 20th centuries have witnessed a boost in the number and scale of statutes and of delegated legislation in British law. Just like in most countries, crime in England and Wales is classified and distinguished mostly on the basis of its seriousness. In addition, an offense may vary according to the procedure it is brought into trial. For example, if it's through a magistrates' court only, by indictment, or by the higher Crown court. It may also vary according to the sanction. Criminal responsibility in England and Wales is 10, so those between ages 10 and 17 are forced to face a youth court if they are charged with a criminal offense. Its difference with the court for adults is that parents of the child offender may be charged with fines which they must pay and supervise their child's behavior. In terms of drug use, the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971 covers the terms and conditions. It listed drugs into classes A, B, or C. This act was intended to regulate the use and flow of drugs, according to the World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems. And as in many countries all over the world, it is unlawful to produce, supply, possess, prepare, cultivate, and import or export and such substances. World Factbook of Criminal Justice Systems said that 1994 data shows that there were 5.3 million recorded offenses in England and Wales, this would include indictable offenses and summary offenses, 26 percent of which were cleared. About 729 of the cases were homicide charges and 220,000 offenses of violence against persons. Meanwhile, only 19,600.of these offenses were classified to be serious. During the same year, 5,039 rape cases were recorded which accounted to only one percent of the total recorded offenses. Meanwhile, an astounding 93 percent of the overall offenses were against property, including burglary, theft, criminal damages, and fraud. As for drug offenses, 17,569 cases were reported. Not surprisingly, about half of the total recorded offenses were to be found in metropolitan police areas while rural areas had the lowest crime rates. Judicial System According to The Criminal Justice System Review, the criminal justice system of England and Wales has changed drastically. This is because before the introduction of the due process, those

Liability Issues - Limited Liability Company Essay

Liability Issues - Limited Liability Company - Essay Example In this case, though, it appears that the â€Å"sole trader† concept is not appropriate for these three individuals. This is because the sole trader is an individual who sets up an entity. Thus, whatever entity they set up will not be a sole trader. Thus, it could either be a limited liability company or a business partnership. A limited liability company is one in which the three individuals can form by pooling their resources in the form of acquiring shares in the company to be formed. The acquisition of shares creates a separate entity that will have a limited liability. On the other hand, if the three individuals in question decide to form a partnership, they will be a collection of individual sole traders who will contribute their resources according to a ratio. Based on the ratio of contributions, they will bear responsibility for issues that come up and also get to split profits on the basis of the ratio. However, partnerships often do not have a limited liability. The concept of â€Å"limited liability† is steeped in the idea that a firm is separated from its owners. This is steeped in the case of Salomon V Salomon (1897) in which a man created an entity with 20,007 shares. He took 20,001 shares and sold one share each to six of his family members. The business went into liquidation and the creditor sued for the recovery of money from the owner with 20,001 shares. The court held that once it was incorporated as a company, the liability was limited and the liability for issues and matters was only limited to the assets and shares owned by the business itself. Based on this, it is deduced that a business that has a limited liability is separate and different from its owners (James and Tilley, 2009). In doing this business, there are risks and there is a possibility that the computers of the firm could encounter some forms of risks.  In that case, there is the need to protect the entity from having its liability spread from the organisation they will form to the owners of the business.  Ã‚  

Family Conditions And Child Treatment Research Paper

Family Conditions And Child Treatment - Research Paper Example Other than parental monitoring, there are also several other aspects of family functioning that influence the behaviour and thinking of the child and they are family relation characteristics like beliefs, cohesion and organisational structure. Studies have shown that low emotional warmth, lack of proper organisational structure, low beliefs and low cohesion levels are associated with delinquent behaviour (Gorman-Smith, p.170). More often than not, juvenile delinquents are individuals who come from broken home background (Siegel, p.74). These children either reside in single-parent households or in any other household in which their biological parents are not there. Intact family may be defined as a nuclear family arrangement in which both biological parents reside in the household with their biological children (Kierkus & Baer, 2002; cited in Murray, p.88). Two-parent arrangement in which a step parent is present, single-parent arrangements, extended family member arrangements and fo ster family arrangements do not fall under intact family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Association between broken homes and juvenile delinquency was studied as early as 1932 by Shaw and McKay (cited in Murray, p.88). These researchers reviewed literature pertaining to type of homes and delinquents and compared delinquents from intact homes and disrupted homes. In their review they opined that most of the studies pertaining to these had several limitations and that several other factors other than intactness of homes influenced development of juvenile behaviour.... Intact family may be defined as a nuclear family arrangement in which both biological parents reside in the household with their biological children (Kierkus & Baer, 2002; cited in Murray, p.88). Two-parent arrangement in which a step parent is present, single-parent arrangements, extended family member arrangements and foster family arrangements do not fall under intact family. Association between broken homes and juvenile delinquency was studied as early as 1932 by Shaw and McKay (cited in Murray, p.88). These researchers reviewed literature pertaining to type of homes and delinquents and compared delinquents from intact homes and disrupted homes. In their review they opined that most of the studies pertaining to these had several limitations and that several other factors other than intactness of homes influenced development of juvenile behaviour. Research from that period has questioned the influence of family intactness on development of juvenile delinquency. According to a rece nt study by Demuth and Brown (2000, cited in Murray, p.88), though broken homes are strongly associated with juvenile delinquency, the family arrangement are not just the broken home issue. This is because; there is enough evidence to suggest that the risk of juvenile delinquency is higher among teenagers residing with single fathers when compared to those residing in a 2-parent household. This probably is because of the decreased parental involvement in the former case. The researchers opined that the main factors which contributed to delinquency were lack of supervision from parent's side and absence of close relationship between the adolescent and his or her parents. Geismar and Wood (1986;

Training Objective Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Training Objective - Assignment Example The first stage is about trust and mistrust children make distinction between themselves and others. Autonomy versus doubt marks the second stage where children develop firm trust and attempt to explore the next stage is of initiative versus guilt where children exercise initiative inn activities by interaction with other children. Children conjure their imaginations as being wrong and make choices that may not result to guilt. The fourth stage is of inferiority versus industry. Parental influence does not mark limitations to children (Wijeyesinghe 2012). The sense of industry develops and doubt because of lack of encouragement from peers. The watershed stage marks the fifth stage in the Erikson’s model where identity versus identity diffusion is exhibited. There is a representation of childhood and adulthood definition of individuality children seek an integration of internal and external recognition derived from the initial stages thereby developing the sense of self. The la ck of the sense of self leads to identity diffusion. This is preceded by the isolation versus intimacy stage. A command relationship is developed. Lack of the sense of identity may cause emotional stress. ... James Marcia’s view on identity relies on the model developed by Erikson and the way young peel solve crisis through decision-making. Exploration refers tom crisis which may include seek for trust of others. Making conscious decisions require solidifies commitments. In marking the identity of self, the supportive environment must be nourished. Another theory that may be used in the explanation of Student individual identity development is the Checkering’s theory of identity development that includes seven vectors that lead to identity formation. The factors bare direction and magnitude, leading o the name, vectors. The rates of progression through the vectors differed among individuals and do not necessarily proceed linearly. The vector includes developing competence, management of emotions and movement from autonomy to independence. Other vectors include interpersonal relationship maturation, identity establishment, as well as purpose and integrity development. The tea ching must include active learning that sees a positive student-faculty relationship and timely feedback on every activity. There should be an understanding and respect for the learning differences that exists for every individual. Idea integration through active thinking becomes achievable through the strategic cognitive development consideration in teaching (Evans et al. 2010, p. 215). The key bodies of ecological aspects include, human, developmental and campus ecology may be used to explain development. Human ecology highlights n the family and other social structures that maybe altered for survival. Microsystems also have a role in the development process through noting the roles and interpersonal relations

BUSINESS LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

BUSINESS LAW - Essay Example In these reports, they show their financial, social and environmental investment to mitigate the losses and harms caused by their corporate activities. These few pages provides a way to these companies to marketize their public image, avoid regulation, access to markets and gaining legitimacy for their corporate objectives. In this paper, corporate social responsibility is defined with emphasis on innovation, and subsequently companies publishing CSR are critically analyzed and discussed in a way to reach at a reasonable conclusion. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby companies integrate environmental and social concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (European Commission). Additionally, CSR has various definitions (Margolis and Walsh, 2003). Also, Wood (1991) provides that CSR is also called as corporate social performance, sustainable responsible business (SRB) , corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship or responsible business. ... The definition of CSR describes a wide range of stakeholders. Interestingly, each stakeholder does not have the same kind of interests in a company rather different. And these interests vary, as the currency of environmental and social issues revolves over a period of time ((Clarkson, 1995; Davis, 1973; Moskowitz, 1975; Wartick &Cochran, 1985). In the CSR reports, the companies incorporate their current corporate activities that harm environment and society. Besides, such reports contain the positive and negative effects of commercial activities. And, in such reports, the companies mention their current level of financial and non-financial investment in order to minimize the impacts of their commercial activities. As employees, suppliers, creditors, customers, social and environmental groups, governments, local communities can be stakeholders; the companies prepare their CSR reports with regard to the concerns of the related stakeholders. As a result, mostly they are identified as th e stakeholders. However, some companies have been publishing CSR for many years. And, their websites are filled with the material showing their policy to tackle the environmental and social concerns. For example, on the Seventh Generation website, it is mentioned they have been environmentally and socially playing their role and working with innovations to live better life. Environmentally, the company provides its Greenhouse Gas Accounting, carbon footprint reports and their strategies to minimize them. Socially, the website maintains that it has Seventh Generation supports the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) (7genreport, web). Additionally, Wal-Mart also publishes its sustainability reporting with

Literature Review on Learning Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Literature Review on Learning - Dissertation Example It has been estimated that around 1 billion people around the world use English everyday (Crystal, 1996). These same individuals would be speaking or writing the language in a wide variety of settings such as the business world or the academe. Such a scenario reinforces the fact that teaching English can be a very daunting task. Prospective teachers must not only deal with the sheer complexity of the language itself but also due to its global nature, the differences in each pupil’s capabilities and learning preferences that are becoming broader. Over the years, various scholars of different nationalities have attempted to formulate their own methods to improve instruction in a native language or to introduce a second language. A careful study and comparison of their works especially the researches on improving English instruction, may aid in the formulation of a successful teaching program.James Asher (1966) was known for his studies which became known as the Total Physical Response experiments. This proceeded with students listening to commands being given in a specific target language, where the whole class including the instructor, would immediately respond by performing the appropriate physical action. When these commands become familiar, the teacher would remain seated and only the students will continue responding to the given commands. Sometimes, a few unfamiliar utterances may also be given. Verbal responses by the students would only be initiated when the students feel they are ready. Many of the grammatical featur es in a language can be introduced through this method with almost any grammatical constituent being able to get taught.

BUSINESS LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

BUSINESS LAW - Essay Example In these reports, they show their financial, social and environmental investment to mitigate the losses and harms caused by their corporate activities. These few pages provides a way to these companies to marketize their public image, avoid regulation, access to markets and gaining legitimacy for their corporate objectives. In this paper, corporate social responsibility is defined with emphasis on innovation, and subsequently companies publishing CSR are critically analyzed and discussed in a way to reach at a reasonable conclusion. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept whereby companies integrate environmental and social concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (European Commission). Additionally, CSR has various definitions (Margolis and Walsh, 2003). Also, Wood (1991) provides that CSR is also called as corporate social performance, sustainable responsible business (SRB) , corporate responsibility, corporate citizenship or responsible business. ... The definition of CSR describes a wide range of stakeholders. Interestingly, each stakeholder does not have the same kind of interests in a company rather different. And these interests vary, as the currency of environmental and social issues revolves over a period of time ((Clarkson, 1995; Davis, 1973; Moskowitz, 1975; Wartick &Cochran, 1985). In the CSR reports, the companies incorporate their current corporate activities that harm environment and society. Besides, such reports contain the positive and negative effects of commercial activities. And, in such reports, the companies mention their current level of financial and non-financial investment in order to minimize the impacts of their commercial activities. As employees, suppliers, creditors, customers, social and environmental groups, governments, local communities can be stakeholders; the companies prepare their CSR reports with regard to the concerns of the related stakeholders. As a result, mostly they are identified as th e stakeholders. However, some companies have been publishing CSR for many years. And, their websites are filled with the material showing their policy to tackle the environmental and social concerns. For example, on the Seventh Generation website, it is mentioned they have been environmentally and socially playing their role and working with innovations to live better life. Environmentally, the company provides its Greenhouse Gas Accounting, carbon footprint reports and their strategies to minimize them. Socially, the website maintains that it has Seventh Generation supports the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (OCRF) (7genreport, web). Additionally, Wal-Mart also publishes its sustainability reporting with

Critique of Research Studies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Critique of Research Studies - Assignment Example The researcher introduces the scope of the research by stating that all health care workers are required to comply with hand-hygiene guidelines and provides the rational for this practice and thus, the study. However, the researcher does not provide an outline of how the issues relating to compliance are going to be addressed within the report. Creedon (2006) states the main research problem as the â€Å"health care workers’ observance of the hand-hygiene rules during patient care in an ICU in Ireland before and after execution of a multifaceted hand-hygiene program,† in addition to the attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs of health workers in relation to the hand-hygiene program. The researcher is very precise in stating the research questions relating to this particular study. The first research question relates to what effects the multifaceted approach would have on the compliance to hand washing guidelines by health care workers. Additionally Creedon (2006) questions the effects that a multifaceted hand-hygiene program might have on the beliefs, knowledge, and attitudes of health care workers. The literature review has been arranged in a logical order. The researcher has gone from the general idea of how hand washing relates to infection, to giving data on how many persons are affected and the costs of treatment. However, the review is not balanced as the researcher only focuses on the reasons and consequences of non-compliance, without giving information existing compliance rates. Additionally, most of the reviewed materials are relatively old, with some being published in the 1980s. The research identifies its theoretical framework as lifting the standards of health interventions by encouraging behavioral change among health care professionals (Creedon, 2006). However, although the framework is appropriate for this study, it does not provide an adequate description of how the behavior change will be implemented in order

Personal statement for MSA Essay Example for Free

Personal statement for MSA Essay If to use a single word describing myself, I would say, integrity, which means a mixture of various qualities and views from different cultures and working experiences. My hometown, **, which was a harbor and now the booming coastal metropolis, brought me a grant view of how fast the speed of globalization is. Meanwhile, the dramatic economic growth of the city enlightened me for seeking and digging qualities that would match its future. As a result, I went to the other hemisphere of the world, United States, which was described as the most developed country, to ursue my Bachelors degree in business finance. Through the Joyful college life with diligent study in coursework and a verity of academic club taking, on a sunny day, Aug 28th, 2011, I obtained my Bachelors degree from Ohio State University with Magna Cum Laude. Moreover, my 3. 86 specialization GPA makes me a competitive individual among my schoolmates. Seeking a Job is not a fun thing, especially for a recent graduate and in the economic downturn, though, I still keep myself with the optimistic attitude and enough confidence in this whole process. Before my first official Job was offered, I gathered a erious of experiences from different positions: work as a part-time tax processor in a credited accounting firm, ***as a par-time bookkeeper in an entertainment company, Prime Social Group; and, even work as a sales associate in the subsidy of Gap, Inc, Old Navvy. These experiences, which supposed not decent enough for an honor graduate, told me how hard life could be, and made me more perseverant. After scatted out hundreds of my resume, and Joined tens something interview, I got my first official Job offer: financial analyst in ***, a healthcare financial consulting firm. My frank peers introduced me with some models and methodologies the company uses for a number of hospitals and nursing homes. Though some of the analysis sounds hard at the first glance, I still believe my personal qualities and skills, for example, I am a profound thinker that is knowledgeable of computer language Access SQL and Excel, could help me to conquer them. I penetrated myself in calculating and analyzing those Key Performance Indexes and valuation models. After I submitted my first report, though its not perfect, my supervisor, ***, comment this as, Its amazing or a recent graduate with little analysis experiences to create the model and fgure such a lot of crucial points out. Besides, even the principle of the team,***, who used to be a professor in ***, appreciated my work ethic. Those words did stimulate me for a while. Experiences in ** extended my view of what consulting firms could help for clients. Consulting are not limit in investment finance taking care of stocks and bonds, IPO issuing, etc, more than that, lots of consulting firms are doing analysis on a corporate base, thus, much accounting knowledge involved. I also remember Andrew said to me wou d be essential tor getting a senior level position in financial consulting firm, and, a Master of Accounting would be a plus.

Report On Pakistan Tobacco Industry

Report On Pakistan Tobacco Industry This project is based on analysis of the tobacco industry because Tobacco in Pakistan holds an economic significance in Pakistan economy. Pakistan is second largest cigarette consumer in south Asia. It is a great source of revenue for major players and for Pakistan economy. It gives the highest revenue to government in terms of taxes. Pakistan tobacco company is dominated by two major players Pakistan tobacco company and philip Morrris. They have brands which hold the maximum share in the cigarratte market few are dunhill, gold leaf, capstan, gold flake, benson and hedges, Marlboro, embassy, and red and white. They have high demand for these brands. The increase in demand and supply may be due to more brands offered by the cigarettes manufactures and in the late 1990s tobacco companies were allowed to advertise their brands. However the consumption of cigarettes is more than the official data mainly due to no record of smuggling and unregistered cigarettes manufacturers. The demand s upply also vary because of seasonal fluctuations, holy month of Ramadan, inflation and increase in population. The companies have enough capacity but they do not utilize that capacity because currently smuggling is practiced in a country at high level. There is an availability of raw material in different regions of the country but NWFP and Punjab are the major producer of the raw material. Tobacco duty structure in Pakistan divided into complicated 3 levels. Lower, lower mid and premium. There are few issues related to the industry the main issue is the smuggling which affects the market badly other are the advertisement, health before trade, increase taxes, close down duty free, tax evasion. These issues have risen because no action taken by the government. They should control smuggling by tracing the distributors which would also helpful in a way to control tax evasion, companies should use modern technologies and should have timely control to have more yield. Table of Contents OVERVIEW Tobacco in Pakistan holds an economic significance in Pakistan economy. Tobacco is grown throughout the country but major source of tobacco raw material is in the Khyber Pakhtoon khowa. In Pakistan, although tobacco cultivation occupies a relatively small area of 0.27% of the total irrigated land in the country and about 3% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pakistan was a net importer of tobacco in 1948 but became self sufficient in tobacco production in 1969. It was mainly due increase in productivity and new method used for tobacco cultivation. Pakistan tobacco exports and imports countries are prominent. Pakistan within 30 years of Independence became 5th largest tobacco producer in the world and 4th highest in yield. Currently tobacco industry in Pakistan is dominated by two multinational firms Pakistan Tobacco Company LTD and Phillip Morris Pakistan LTD. Though there are others firms but their influence on tobacco industry is not significant. Other companies are: Sarhad Cigarette Industry, Walton Tobacco Company, International Cigarette Industry, Khyber Tobacco Company, Imperial Cigarette Industry, Universal Tobacco Company, Saleem Cigarette Industry, Souvenir Tobacco Company. Cigarette industry contributes nearly 3.5 percent of total FBR revenue currently the major challenge for Tobacco industry is the increasing trend of smuggling. Overview of the market share of tobacco industry in Pakistan Economic Significance This crop possesses immense economic significance and its impact on the fiscal and monetary policies of Pakistan. Tobacco possesses great source of revenue, employment and foreign exchange earnings to the country. It give the highest revenue to government in terms of taxes. Tobacco industry currently employs about 80,000 workers in cultivation, 50,000 are employed in 21 factories of the tobacco industry and it also provides 1 million indirect employments. It is also an important source of foreign exchange earnings for the country approximately US$ 61.349 million during the fiscal year of 2010-2011.Pakistan Tobacco board have played an important role in developing the production of tobacco crop on scientific methods, if it had not been developed the country would have been importing raw material worth Rs.8-10 billion per annum (2009-2010). Exports Year Quantity exported Value Total Value Tobacco Cigarettes Cigars Tobacco Cigarettes Cigars (M.Rs) (M.US$) (M.Kgs) (M.Nos) M.Nos (M.Rs) (M.Rs) M.Rs 1999-2000 3.90 16.060 273.13 7.440 280.57 5.420 2000-2001 5.98 11.770 578.05 6.220 586.18 10.032 2001-2002 3.20 108.240 231.11 49.180 286.41 4.659 2002-2003 5.49 74.23 316.75 45.62 362.37 6.25 2003-2004 8.27 163.96 642.74 124.35 767.09 13.23 2004-2005 7.17 44.73 626.67 46.94 673.61 11.23 2005-2006 3.83 21.00 332.80 66.70 339.47 5.66 2006-2007 5.77 26.12 0.77 543.85 24.64 1.69 570.18 9.50 2007-2008 4.72 3.97 0.13 449.82 4.17 0.16 454.15 5.68 2008-2009 4.77 10.97 0.02 963.27 14.84 0.03 978.14 13.973 2009-2010 5.17 13.94 11.10 1201.08 24.22 16.41 1241.71 15.521 2010-2011 8.39 23.49 2294.53 39.75 - 2334.28 24.571 Pakistan main exporter for tobacco is US because it does not produce quality unmanufactured tobacco. The value increase by 85% during 2000-2001 fiscal yea. However the value decline by 53% from 10.032 to 4.659 in 2001-2002. The main reason for decline was the aftermath of 9/11 which resulted in exports orders cancelled. Foreign business people were advise to take security clearance. Year 2003-2004 saw a 100% increase in value from pervious year. In 2005-2006 year tobacco industry experienced a fall of around 50% in value and the trend remained till 2007-2008 year. During the last fiscal year Pakistan tobacco industry achieved the highest value of exports at around 24.571 million. FLOW CHART/ MANUFACTURING PROCESS Processing and manufacturing After harvesting and curing, the cured leaf is processed through a Green Leaf threshing plant. The main purpose of this processing is to: Remove sand, dust and other particles Separate the lamina from the stem (threshing) Drive down the moisture content to safe storage levels. Manufacturing At Tobacco factories, the matured tobacco is checked for quality and then carefully mixed with other ingredients to make different forms of tobacco, such as flavorings or pre-processed tobacco. Technical tools are used to keep track of various types of tobacco; computers are increasingly used to keep track of the process. Moisture content is an important part of tobacco process. Too dry and the tobacco leaf will crumble; too moist and it may spoil during storage. Right amount of steam is required to treat the blended tobacco and exact amount of water to make it elastic and then cut into the form in which it appears in the cigarette. Excess moisture is then removed so the cut tobacco can be given a final blending and quality check. Traditionally Cigarette making was done by hand but nowadays it is almost fully automated, with the cut tobacco, cigarette paper and filters continuously fed into cigarette-making machines. The technology has advanced dramatically over the years which have not wear down the quality; each cigarette is automatically quality controlled to ensure that it meets every benchmark for its specification. STRUCTURAL COMPOSITION Product Mix Since Pakistan tobacco industry is dominated by two multinational companies Philip Morris and Pakistan Tobacco Company. Both companies have many brands in cigarettes which are produced to cater different income class. Pakistan Tobacco Company Brands available in Pakistan Super Premium Duhill High and Premium John Player Gold Leaf Benson Hedges Medium Category Gold Flake Wills Kings Capstan Low category Embassy Super Premium Marlboro High and Premium Red and white Medium Category Moven gold Low category K-2 Diplomat Philip Morris Pakistan Brands available in Pakistan Cigarette market in Pakistan is dominated by lower mid-priced cigarettes which are almost 90 percent of the market. Market for Premium category is only 10%. John Player Gold Leaf has a market share of 9.83 percent in the country whereas world leading brand Marlboro which is in the premium category have insignificant share ranging from 0.1 to 0.25% of the total market. In the middle category, Gold Flake has major market share of 38.64 percent followed by Morven Gold which caters to the 37 percent of the market need. Capstan has started losing its share as Pakistan Tobacco Company has introduced another brand as Capstan by Pall Mall, which has started capturing its share in the market. In the lower class Embassy has a market share of almost 4.5 percent whereas Diplomat has a market share of about 2.5 percent followed by K-2 with the market share of 1.5 percent of the total sales. At present, consumer price of a pack of 20 of most sold brand in the country is Rs 28.80 (US $0.33) which i s almost lowest in the world. Installed capacity Installed capacity for cigarettes sticks in billions 2010-2011 Average Industry 126 Pakistan Tobacco Company 45.1 Philip Morris Pakistan 50.1 Others 31 Average installed capacity for cigarettes manufacturing company in tobacco industry is 126 billion stick per year. Pakistan Tobacco Company Ltd which holds the largest market share in industry has an annual capacity of 45.1 billion cigarettes. Philip Morris Pakistan which is the second largest producer of Cigarettes has an annual capacity of 50.1 billion Capacity utilization Capacity utilization increased from 49.6 billion sticks in 2002-2003 to 75.8 billion sticks 2010-2011. Average 68 billion sticks are produced annually. Pakistan Tobacco Company produced 40.5 billion sticks out of a capacity of 45.1 billion during 2010-2011. Philip Morris produced 22.4 billion sticks from capacity of 50.1 billion during the same year. The reason for under utilization of capacity for Philip Morris is due to smuggling and illegal trade which will be discuss later in the report. Capacity utilization of Cigarettes sticks in Billion 2010-2011 Average industry utilization 68 Pakistan Tobacco Company 40.5 Phillip Morris Pakistan 22.4 RAW MATERIAL AVAILABILITY tobzones.jpg The map shows different types of raw materials available all over Pakistan. The major portion of raw material comes from NWFP and Punjab. Pakistan gets the majority of different types of raw material from NWFP mainly due to fertility of soil and suitable weather. NWFP produces around three-fourths of the tobacco leaf grown in the country. The specific raw materials that come from NWFP are Virginia flue-cured, Burley, Nicotiana rustica (country sum-cured/White Patta). Flue Cured Virginia tobacco is now the most widely grown and widely used type of cigarette tobacco in Pakistan and the total production of this high value commodity have increased from 23.8 million kgs in 1967-68 to 66 million kgs in 2007. Punjab is second largest in terms of raw material availability. Punjab is famous for the production of dark air-cured and hookah type tobaccos. Apart from these two raw material Kala Patta (snuff) is also cultivated in Punjab region. Sindh and Balochistan produces Nicotiana Rustica and Country air-cured (Snuff) respectively. Virginia and Burley is procured mostly from local farmers on contract basis Tobacco raw material is available extensively all over Pakistan is a major strength for Tobacco industry mainly. Pakistan is now the 7th largest producer of flue-cured tobacco. Deep researches and development have been carried out by Pakistan Tobacco Board in collaboration with tobacco companies in order to reduce dependence on the import of good quality tobacco leaf such as suitable climatic conditions have been explored in areas of Mansehra, Buner, Swat and Dir districts to meet the quality requirements of cigarettes for domestic use. Forms of Tobacco Intake Raw material is used for to make different form of tobacco such as Chilumhuqqah, chewing tobacco in pan, snuff and niswar. Experts divide tobacco use into two broad categories -smoking and smokeless tobacco. According to a survey conducted by PMRC apart from cigarettes moist dry snuff and chewing tobacco is commonly used in Pakistan. Huqqah and Chilum, are the oldest means of tobacco intake in this region. Production Of Different Types Of Tobacco In Pakistan (Million Kgs) Year Flue-cured Virginia Dark air-cured White Patta Burley Others Total 2000-2001 50.96 1.17 9.65 0.58 23.38 85.74 2001-2002 59.61 1.94 9.38 0.95 20.70 92.58 2002-2003 51.31 1.42 10.83 2.15 22.55 88.26 2003-2004 50.29 0.69 10.98 1.60 22.63 86.19 2004-2005 65.78 0.86 9.91 1.64 *22.63 100.82 2005-2006 73.7 1.6 13.2 0.9 23.12 89.47 2006-2007 65.75 0.80 11.62 0.8 24.27 78.97 2007-2008 69.54 0.96 14.98 0.35 21.93 85.83 2008-2009 71.32 1.38 25.98 - - 98.68 2009-2010 79.79 2.83 26.64 - 109.26 2010-2011 64.670 13.540 - 78.210 Annual estimated requirement of tobacco crop in 2012 Type of Tobacco (MillionKgs) Flue-cured Virginia 66.680 Dark Air-cured 1.085 White Patta 2.190 Burley 0.100 Sun Cured 1.100 Rustica 1.800 Total 72.955 Current production till April/may 2012 White PattaType of Tobacco (MillionKgs) Flue-cured Virginia 75.94 Dark Air-cured 1.41 7.40 Minimum price of raw material Rs.121 Current Market price Rs.140 Prices of raw material Duty Structure Tobacco duty structure in Pakistan divided into complicated 3 levels. Lower, lower mid and premium. In lower level there is an excise duty of Rs.9.5 for a pack of 20 cigarettes below retail price of Rs.20 excluding sales tax. Excise duty is 46% on most sold consumer brand, 56% excise duty on premium brand and 50% on cheapest brand. The excise duty is very low and difficult to understand. The Total revenue potential of the cigarette industry is around Rs 80 billion per year and around Rs.50.2818 billion taxes was collected during 2011-2012 from two multinationals and some other manufacturers. The difference shows that tax evasion in tobacco industry is high. Approximately Rs.9-10 billion tax is evaded annually. The main reason for this evasion is because of the complex tax structure and it is reported that multinationals and federal board of Revenue (FBR) have intentionally made tax difficult so that less amount can be charged thus benefiting cigarettes manufactures tax collection has also been affected due to inefficient check and balance. DEMAND AND SUPPLY ANALYSIS Estimated demand The demand/consumption for cigarettes has seen a steady growth over the years. domestic cnosumption by year.bmp consumption table 2.bmpconsumtion table.bmp The data above shows that consumption of cigarettes has been increasing since 1960 onwards. The data reveals that there have been massive increases in consumption pattern of cigarettes since 1996 mainly due to availability of more brands offered by cigarettes manufactured. Around 200 million cigarette sticks were consumed in 2011. There are about 22 million smokers in the country and 55% of the house households have at least one individual who smokes cigarettes. This consumption trend makes Pakistan an attractive market for cigarettes manufactures. Demographic cigarettes consumption trend 29% of men and 3.4% of women smoke cigarettes regularly according to national health survey Heavy consumption of smoking (20 or more cigarettes per day) is most common and among men 25-44 years of age in Pakistan. 37% of heavy smoking is done in urban areas in contrast to 26% in rural areas. Total cigarettes consumption in South Asia. total consumtion pie chart1.bmp The data shows that Pakistan is second largest cigarette consumer in south Asia. India is biggest consumer of cigarettes in south asia mainly due to highest population in the south asian region. Estimated supply tobacco3.bmp The table has been taken from Pakistan economic survey 2010-2011. Te table shows that since 1990 the supply/ production of cigarettes have been increasing. This table illustrates that production of cigarettes increased during 1995-1996. During 2008-2009 fiscal year supply reached its peak of 75,609 millions. Demand and Supply analysis There are certain points that we can derive from demand and supply of tobacco industry. Firstly there was a huge increase in consumption and production of Cigarettes in 199. The increase in demand and supply may be due to more brands offered by the cigarettes manufactures and in the late 1990s tobacco companies were allowed to advertise their brands. However the consumption of cigarettes is more than the official data mainly due to no record of smuggling and unregistered cigarettes manufacturers accurate. Some common factors for demand and supply fluctuation are discussed below Seasonal Fluctuations in demand Seasonal do play a part in consumption of cigarettes. During winter the demand for cigarettes increases. Demographics are also important, northern areas of Pakistan generally have a higher demand for cigarettes. Religious month of Ramdan Ramdan effects the consumption of cigarettes. During the month of Ramadan consumption of cigarettes decreases as people only smoke after fast or those who dont smoke tend to avoid smoking in front of people as it is unwelcomed by the society. Increase in population and availability of brands Increase in the population of Pakistan along with more availability of cigarettes brands by manufacturers have contributed in increasing the demand and supply of cigarettes. Moreover increasing trend of smoking being considered as fashionable has also contributed towards the increase in consumption. Different varieties means more choice for consumer. A Daily Times survey revealed that wholesale dealers supply fake and smuggled cigarettes to about 20,000 retailers of Lahore, who sell them to ignorant consumers who can either not tell the difference or sent their children or servants to buy cigarettes Natural disasters Natural calamities is another factor for fluctuation in demand and supply of Cigarettes. The worst floods in 2010 since 1974 damaged fertile tobacco-producing land such as in NWFP Taxation and inflation Changes in tax structure and inflation affect the production and consumption of cigarettes. An increase in tax results in decrease in production and increase in price thus reducing the demand for cigarettes. Inflation level in Pakistan is always increasing, the increase in price level make it worse for manufacturers and government as people shift to smuggled brands which are available at cheaper price. This act result in loss of revenue to government in terms of taxes and loss of sales for manufacturersporter.jpg Porters five Forces Model By using Porters Five Forces Framework we will discuss five basic competitive forces within the tobacco industry. The threat of potential new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, the threat of substitutes, and the extent of competitive rivalry. Threat of new Entrants The barriers to entry in the Pakistan tobacco industry are low mainly due to less competition in the industry and local companies can easily enter the market however the barriers to enter the market nationally are very high. The reason for high barriers at national level is due to high manufacturing, distribution and marketing cost which makes it difficult for local companies to sustain themselves at national stage. High investment cost is required to build production facilities that can mass-produce tobacco products at the national level. Moreover packaging cost of cigarettes countrywide is very high which cannot be afforded by the new local firm. Brand identity is another barrier to entry in Pakistan Tobacco industry. Brand awareness is very important in any industry. In Pakistan government has imposed restriction on advertising. The ban on cigarettes adverstising is acting as a barrier to entry because advertising and communication is required to product strength in the mind of consumers. This ban is also effecting existing companies in a way that they cannot reinforce their current brands and will find difficulty in launching new brands. High brand loyalty in Tobacco industry is another entry barrier for new firms. Example Benson Hedges users will not shift to a new product because of high emotional attached to it. Bargaining power of Suppliers In Pakistan tobacco industry raw material for cigarettes is provided by farmers to manufacturers. Apart from Green Revolution agricultural products have been exploited in all decades this as resulted in low prices of agricultural products but throughout Pakistan history policies have been favoring industries, finished goods are sold at higher price whereas raw material are bought at lower prices. In Tobacco sector supplier has less bargaining power because of less competitors in tobacco industry. Many of the tobacco farmers are located in NWFP, Punjab. Even though government has imposed minimum price but it has been ineffective due to dominance of multinational firms in the tobacco sector. Multinational have bargaining power because they control more than 70% of the market thus illustrating that the farmers have little bargaining power due to the government interaction. Bargaining power of Buyers Economy plays an important role in buying cigarettes in tobacco industry. As we know Pakistan economy is uncertain with high unemployment, increasing inflation and political instability. These factors affect the buying power of consumers. Buyer power in tobacco industry also depends on disposable income. A decline in buyers disposable income results in buying cheaper brands of cigarettes and if a buyers disposable income increases, then they are more likely to buy more expensive brands. By looking at the current scenario Pakistan Tobacco Company launched a low price brand Capstan which became very popular among consumer and captured 14% of market share which effected the market share of Philip Morris brand Moven gold. A recent example of Pakistan Tobacco Company increased the price of Dunhill which resulted in decrease of their market share as consumers shifted towards low price brand Capstan. Consumers in the United States are now increasingly becoming more concerned with health issues. Consumer health awareness has hurt the market for tobacco sellers and has also led to the increase for government regulation. But in Pakistan which has more population than United States serves as an attractive market. Moreover less government regulation results in cigarettes manufacturers exploiting consumers. Threat of Substitutes The biggest substitute for tobacco users is to just quit using any type of tobacco product. many companies are trying to make product which is beneficial for the smokers to quit smoking, for this purpose they started campaign promoting awareness regarding health isssues. There are many services to help people using tobacco. As health issues and diseases increases day by day so people themselves willing to quit smoking for this purpose they started using different product or services like they started workout which would be the motivating factor or them to quit smoking. There are also some government websites which teaches different method to quit smoking and live a healthier life. Some people prefer to consult doctor and they provide them with prescription tablets or pills which would make them able to forget about smoking and it would be a source for them to live normal life, this also be one of the substitute for tobacco products. . There are many benefits which motivates the consumer of tobacco to quit like smokers will to live the heather life would be the motivating factor other than this the cost involves in getting cigarette is very high and due to inflation and rising prices of the cigarette consumer could not afford to have additional items into their daily routine so they started involved in different methods to quit smoking and Buyer propensity toward tobacco substitutes seems to have increased over time with the evidence that smoking can lead to health risks such as lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, pregnancy complications, and other health problems. Competitive rivalry Competitive rivalry in tobacco sector is medium to high because more than 70% of the tobacco market is controlled by Pakistan Tobacco Company and Phillip Morris Pakistan. Both firms are involved in intensive price wars in order to get a market share. Dominant firm like PTC is continuously decreasing its in order to maintain its market leadership. Pakistan Tobacco Company reduced the price of its medium-price to sustain market share. This triggered threat to Philip Morris Pakistan as they also had to reduce their prices. Pakistan Tobacco Company controls the largest market share at around 60%. Pakistan tobacco company brand gold flake contributes largest revenue for the company. Both companies have divided their brands into different segments to cater different income class people. Even though the volume of cigarettes have been steady for the past few years the revenue continue to increase, thus making cigarettes manufacturers financial position stronger Rivalry in the low and medium sector of cigarettes has been a strong focus of the leading companies in recent years. The market for low and medium category is increasing in country mainly because of the income level in Pakistan. Pakistan Tobacco Company leads in this sector by having around 3 brands for medium and 1 brand to cater low income class. With the potential growth in middle and low category Pakistan Tobacco Company introduced another brand by name Capstan by mall pall even though it had Capstan brand. Philip Morris are also introducing new brands under medium and low category to extract the profitability. By using the Porters Five Forces Framework we were able to discuss the five basic competitive forces within the tobacco industry. The level of difficulty for new entrants; the lack of bargaining power of suppliers; the bargaining power of buyers between different brands; the high level of potential substitutes; and the competition rivalry, as well as domestic growth areas; were all analyzed within the tobacco industry using the Porters Five Forces Framework. Dominant forces such as government regulation and health awareness influence change in the tobacco industry. The potential impact that theses forces could play on the tobacco industry could be harsh if companies dont adjust and change with them. MAJOR PLAYERS Pakistan Tobacco Company LTD In 1947 Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited was established. The company congratulate itself for being the first multi-national company to start its business in Pakistan. Pakistan Tobacco Company is the subsidiary company of British American Tobacco which started its operations for over 100 years now and dealt in over 180 countries. The Company has international reputation for manufacturing and marketing high quality brands for the adults. PTC is one of the leading companies in Pakistan. PTC has two art factories in two different states and has more than 1,700 people working there and more than a million people working in various aspects of the business indirectly. PTC is the market leader. PTC has a vision of being the leaders of growth, champions of productivity, responsibility and a leading organization PerformanceClipboard01gross turnover of ptc.bmp The gross revenue was increased of about 67 million in year 2011 from 60 million in year 2010 because of the successful introduction of brand capstan which occupied 14% of the market share. In 2011, the growth was initiated by new performance of its brand Capstan established in July 2010. PTC captures a market share of about 49.4 percent in the overall market. At the beginning of 2012, the companys brands have performed well against the competition. The 77 percent increase in such marketing, distribution and selling activities during the period, the operating margins decreased to 9.76 percent in 2012 from 10.27 percent in 2011. The operating margin declined, but still the Company was able to control costs during the period. The gross profit increased to 30.71 percent in 2012 from 25.75 percent last year as

Burnning Notebooks as Therapy Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

Burnning Notebooks as Therapy For many people, the purpose of journaling is a sort of catharsis. With pen on paper, they are able to work through problems and issues. These problems are overcome simply by allowing time to process these tribulations enough to form sentences about them. I too use writing for this purpose. However, I often do not allow writing to be the last step in my emotional eradication. I was seventeen the first time I held a match to a completed page, but lighting the fire is the last step. Before a notebook can be burned, it must first be filled; this isn't an easy task. A Mead composition notebook contains one hundred sheets--or two hundred pages. The goal in essence is to write. As each word flows onto the paper through the pen, some event must set the precedent; be it long narrations of break-ups or pained descriptions of breakdowns, copious amounts of material must pave the way--the emotionally passive life cannot be translated onto paper. However, for those who can complete the task, the reward comes when the back cover is closed. It is then that the... Burnning Notebooks as Therapy Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing Burnning Notebooks as Therapy For many people, the purpose of journaling is a sort of catharsis. With pen on paper, they are able to work through problems and issues. These problems are overcome simply by allowing time to process these tribulations enough to form sentences about them. I too use writing for this purpose. However, I often do not allow writing to be the last step in my emotional eradication. I was seventeen the first time I held a match to a completed page, but lighting the fire is the last step. Before a notebook can be burned, it must first be filled; this isn't an easy task. A Mead composition notebook contains one hundred sheets--or two hundred pages. The goal in essence is to write. As each word flows onto the paper through the pen, some event must set the precedent; be it long narrations of break-ups or pained descriptions of breakdowns, copious amounts of material must pave the way--the emotionally passive life cannot be translated onto paper. However, for those who can complete the task, the reward comes when the back cover is closed. It is then that the...

Holy War Inc Book Review

In Peter Bergen’s Holy War, Inc, the reader is ushered through a head-spinning trip around the globe that serves to highlight the far-reaching effects of Al Qaeda, a terrorist organization that Bergen likens to a Multi-national holding company. While Bergen makes reference to similarities between the management of a Multi-national Corporation and that of al-Qaeda, it is seemingly not the primary focus of the book nor does it serve as a particularly suitable metaphor, especially in light of the events that have transpired since the book was released. Despite the title of the book, Bergen does a fine job setting a backdrop to the organization and illustrating how it operates in an increasingly technologically intertwined world system, as well as outlining factors contributed by the West. It seems there are few people on the planet who are as qualified as Peter Bergen to tackle as complex a task as explaining al-Qaeda to the masses. It is a feat he has clearly accomplished though, evidenced by the fact that the book became a New York Times best seller, was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2001 by The Washington Post, and has been translated into eighteen different languages. Bergen has traveled extensively through Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to report on bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. In 1997 Bergen brought the Western world bin Laden's first television interview as a producer for CNN. It was in this interview that Western audiences first heard bin Laden’s declaration of war against the United States (1). Due to his extensive travel and research, Bergen displays an understanding and empathy, if not flat out admiration and sympathy for the Muslim struggle. He spends virtually no effort in further vilifying the terrorists, but concentrates rather on explaining the history and motivation behind the attacks with vocabulary that is, at times, nearly poetic. This ranges from the description of the â€Å"hopelessly brave warriors who†¦suffered so much for their faith† during the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, to the moving experience of watching Muslim men at prayer. He reflects on how â€Å"the act of collective worship woven into the fabric of daily life is something we have almost entirely lost in the West (2). My personal favorite however, is his description of Pakistan during Ramadan where the â€Å"mornings were chilly, but by midday the sun had warmed the velvet breezes that blew the turning leaves off the trees† (3). Apart from the eloquence employed in his writing, it is still most surprising the great lengths Bergen went through to assemble a case of innocence for Khaled al-Fawwaz, the man who had first arranged CNN’s meeting with bin Laden and who was incidentally arrested by British authorities while Bergen was in London. Khaled is still being held in Britain fighting extradition to the U. S. for his involvement in the bombings of the two U. S. embassies in East Africa despite Bergen’s construct of innocence (4). Bergen does not excuse the terrorist acts performed by al-Qaeda and the Taliban, but certainly works to explain to the Western world the factors and policies that have contributed to their justification for violence. He is critical of the U. S. Government from the outset of the book where he examines U. S. ulpability for placing extremists in power and for providing an arsenal of weapons still employed by Afghan extremists today. During the brutal Afghan war, the U. S. provided political and financial support as well as stinger missiles (via the Pakistani government) to the Hizb party headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, an Islamic extremist who â€Å"consistently placed the long-term goal of Islamic revolution over resistance to the Soviets†(5). Bergen identifies Ahmed Shah Massoud, a moderate Islamic general as having been a better choice of leaders, but as they say, hindsight is 20/20. More importantly, Bergen seeks to establish the ignorance on which the United States’ policies have been formed. An Army Supervisor told Bergen that in his eight years in the Middle East that he had heard daily of how U. S. policy was â€Å"dead wrong†. Though these are not Bergen’s own words, it seems this is the overriding message he seeks to convey. He makes it abundantly clear that the Muslim world has not made war on our culture, but rather on our politics, particularly pertaining to the occupation of Saudi Arabia. He explains the fundamental difference between U. S. and Islamic thought: the concept of the ability to separate the sacred and secular. In a land where the â€Å"separation of church and state† is held as a value, it is difficult to conceive a system where politics and religion are one in the same. As difficult as it is for us to imagine policy being dictated by religion, it is equally as difficult for them to perceive an occupation as anything less than an attack directly on Islam itself. In fact, our policies are rarely grounded on moral principal, much less religion, unless there are first grounded in national interest. In the eyes of al-Qaeda, U. S. occupation of Saudi Arabia, a most holy place in the Islamic faith, is akin to â€Å"sending Jihad to the Vatican† (6). Every military move the West has made in light of the Saudi occupation only furthers the belief that the U. S. seeks to dominate the Muslim world. This includes military activity in Somalia and other predominantly Muslim countries in Africa, to the support of Israel, to the ongoing occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq. A little more than a year after this book was released, the U. S. and Saudi Arabia agreed that it was in both nations’ best interest for U. S. forces to leave the area. It does not seem, however, that this is having the effect on bin Laden that Bergen and U. S. policy makers had hoped for. According to the BBC's Arab affairs analyst Magdi Abdelhadi, bin Laden will not be satisfied until all Muslim societies are â€Å"liberated from foreign troops and what they see as ungodly secular rulers† (7). Bergen further discourages American occupation by making note of Afghan history, marked by numerous foreign invasions that have consistently, and brutally been averted by Afghan warriors to the demise of their attackers. Bergen states that the â€Å"British came to realize that to occupy Afghanistan was to invite disaster (8)†, a sentiment echoed last year by Saudi Prince Turki Al-Faisal in his assessment of the Obama Administration’s goal to extract U. S. troops from Afghanistan. He states, â€Å"Nobody, throughout history, has ever succeeded in [conquering Afghanistan]. Go back to Alexandrian times and more recently to Soviet times. Afghanistan has always been the deathbed of invading armies. â€Å"(9). Support is given to these ideas rather than to the title, which I imagine was cooked up by Bergen’s publisher as a means to sell books to its target market, the capitalist West. There is no doubt that bin Laden and his family have been extraordinarily successful in their business ventures, funneling a great amount of the resulting wealth into terrorist organizations. To say, however, that al-Qaeda acts as a â€Å"multi-national holding company† is a stretch, at best. Bergen himself defines the structure of a holding company as â€Å"controlling partial or complete interests in other companies†(10). Even this limited definition does not seem to apply to al-Qaeda’s methods, but when the definition is extended out further, it seems to become even less applicable. A holding company provides a means of concentrating control of several companies with a minimum of investment and risk to the holding company. This would suggest that the product, which in this case would be varying brands of Jihad, are simply managed and controlled by al-Qaeda, when in fact they are the organization doing the exporting of a particular brand of Jihad. Bergen contradicts his own thesis in his discussion about the nature of the organization in regards to intelligence gathering. He states, â€Å"The bin Laden network is by contrast a loosely affiliated transnational group with a more diffuse organizational structure that makes it hard to penetrate†(11). Bin Laden knows business and has surely employed many of his organizational management skills to al-Quaeda, but that does not a business make. It is true that al-Quaeda is â€Å"as globally minded as any other national company† (12) and has attracted a â€Å"polyglot† of followers (a word Bergen employs multiple times) but what this really speaks to his observation that â€Å"bin Laden’s organization†¦is as much a creation of globalization as a response to it† (13). Bergen acknowledges that umma the world community of Muslims, is a value long held by the Islamic faith. Globalization has simply shored up that value. If al-Quaeda were the top-down corporation that Bergen suggests, it would be a machine whose components could be easily disabled. In 2009, Bergen gave testimony before the U. S. house of representatives that â€Å"Al Qaeda has sustained and can continue to sustain enormous blows that would put other organizations out of business because the members of the group firmly believe that they are doing God's work and tactical setbacks do not matter in the short run. 14)† Perhaps the organization is approaching the point that Bergen predicted in the closing of the book, where our victory in the war on terror is defined by a reversion of terrorist threats similar to the â€Å"status-quo of pre-9/11, where terrorism was an irritant for American Policy Makers, but not the major national security concern†(15). Or perhaps as he suggests it is â€Å"devolving into local franchises† (16), though it seems this metaphor would have be en more fitting from the beginning. In fact, in Bergen’s Senate testimony he says of the organization: Indeed, it is my assessment that the al Qaeda organization today no longer poses a direct national security threat to the United States itself, but rather poses a second-order threat in which the worst case scenario would be an al Qaeda- trained or -inspired terrorist managing to pull off an attack on the scale of something in between the 1993 Trade Center attack, which killed six, and the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, which killed 168. While this, of course, would be tragic, it would not constitute a mass casualty attack sufficiently large in scale to reorient American national security policy completely as the 9/11 attacks did (17). This suggests al-Quaeda as something less of a franchise but rather more of an inspiring business model. While there are still terrorists who have been directly trained by al-Qaeda, or employees if you will, the preeminent threat stems from those who are inspired by the group’s successes. To carry the corporate metaphor out further, these are the people who decide to open their own shoe store after learning about the successes of Nordstrom. I would most certainly suggest this book to others, particularly Americans who tend to be apathetic toward foreign policy. A move toward understanding the collective psychology of the group is infinitely more productive that blind defiance. It is a superbly written book especially in light of the intertwined cast of characters who were often difficult to keep track of, given their travel in and out of regions and with lengthy names consisting of strings of consonants unfamiliar to the English-speaking world. It would be difficult to put these globe-trotting, name-dropping narratives could together in any less complicated manner though, unless one were to rename individuals such as â€Å"Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman† as â€Å"Abe† for instance, but I suppose that would wholly undermine the book’s authenticity. When certain individuals reemerge in the plot, Bergen is often kind enough to remind the reader that of where they had first appeared, such as the case of Ramzi Yousef who was mentioned briefly in two chapters. Bergen reminds that reader that he was the fellow who had an early mishap with some explosives he was experimenting with, resulting in smoke pouring from his Manila apartment (18). Given all the Arab names in the book, the Oh-I-remember-that-guy-now tactic proves rather helpful. Bergen leaves the reader with quite a lot to chew on and digest in regards to foreign policy and trade by expressing a liberally optimistic worldview. Any hope seems to lie in closing the gap of ignorance in the West toward Islam as well as the Islamic world’s blissful denial of the damage done to the West by Islamic radicalism. For instance, the results of the poll of Muslim countries cited by Bergen found that the U. S. attacks on Afghanistan were perceived as unjustified. It was a bit more revealing that the same poll showed that the terror attacks on the U. S. were perceived as equally unjustified and that 61 percent did not even believe that Arab terrorists carried out the 9/11 attacks (19). Bergen seems confident though that the Democratic Islamic Movement holds potential stating that, â€Å"any number of political models are possible in an Islamic environment† (20) and that as long as governments are stabilized, extremism will hold less appeal. I don’t know that Bergen would have written this book has he thought the West could not have a positive role in creating that stabilization. He admonishes the U. S. government and Middle Eastern countries for working in cooperation against al-Quaeda and for establishing trade policies that benefit unstable regions. This type of cooperation is paramount in his view. Bergen closes along the real thesis of the book, which has nothing to do with terrorism as a multinational corporation, and everything to do with explaining Muslim sensibilities and how deeply the U. S. continues to offend them. His exhortation is for the U. S. to behave in a manner that looks toward peace rather than ignorantly and haughtily labeling the entire region as an â€Å"axis of evil†. Readers of this book will hopefully walk away with an understanding of the motivation behind al-Quaeda as well as our own national propensity toward the pride that has motivated unthinkable offenses toward the Muslim people. Bibliography (1) â€Å"Biography. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (2) Bergen, Peter. Holy War, Inc. . New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2002. p. 153. (3) Holy War, Inc. p. 150. (4) â€Å"US Most Wanted Terrorist Suspect in New Extradition Fight in Britain – Telegraph. † Telegraph. co. uk: News, Business, Sport, the Daily Telegraph Newspaper, Sunday Telegraph – Telegraph. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. . (5) Holy War, Inc. p. 72. (6) Holy War, Inc. p. 101. (7) â€Å"BBC NEWS | Middle East | US Pulls out of Saudi Arabia. † BBC NEWS | News Front Page. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. . (8) Holy War, Inc. p. 53. Bibliography (Cont. ) (9) â€Å"Cornell Chronicle: Saudi Prince on U. S. -Saudi Relations. † Cornell Chronicle Online. Web. 17 Mar. 2010. http://www. news. cornell. edu/stories/April09/PrinceTurkiCover. gl. html (10) Holy War, Inc. p. 32. (11) Holy War, Inc. p. 120. (12) Holy War, Inc. p. 83. (13) Holy War, Inc. p. 200. (14) â€Å"Articles – Congressional Testimony: Reassessing the Evolving Al Qaeda Threat to the Homeland. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (15) Holy War, Inc. p. 245. 16) Holy War, Inc. p. 238. Bibliography (Cont. ) (17) â€Å"Articles – Congressional Testimony: Reassessing the Evolving Al Qaeda Threat to the Homeland. † PeterBergen. com. Web. 18 Mar. 2010. . (18) Holy War, Inc. p. 222. (19) Holy War, Inc. p. 227. (20) Holy War, Inc. p. 238. http://www. peterbergen. com/articles/details. aspx? id=411 Cornell University, Chronicle Online. April 24, 2009. Saudi Prince Hopes Obama Wi ll End Region's conflicts. George Lowery http://www. news. cornell. edu/stories/April09/PrinceTurkiCover. gl. html 2