The Relationship between Logistics, Operations and the Environment in Research Paper

The Relationship between Logistics, Operations and the Environment in International Manufacturing Organizations from an Environmental Perspective - Research Paper Example The paper tells that the environmental impacts of the activities of the manufacturing companies have been a major concern for the environmental activists. In this respect, the customers and the organizations have also become more conscious about the negative effects of the manufacturing operations on the ecology of the planet. The operations and logistics of international manufacturing organizations may impact the environment through the type of raw materials used, the production and procurement processes, waste management, and pollutant emissions. The authors have stated that the essence of operations strategy lies in the pattern of decisions which affect the ability of the organization to attain the long-term objectives of the business, manufacturing tasks, and the requirements of the market. One of these decisions is the decision related to the compliance of the activities of the organization to the environmental laws and requirements. The customers, suppliers and other stakeholde rs demand that the manufacturing companies try to minimize the negative effects of their production, operations, and other processes on the environment. This has brought about the increasing concern of the manufacturing organizations about the sustainability of their operations and supply chain through the adoption of the â€Å"green factor† in the supply chains and taking effective steps to conduct their operations and manage their logistics in an environmentally sustainable manner. The pressures on the manufacturing organizations from their stakeholders have made it necessary for these organizations to modify and develop their supply chain and other operational aspects to suit the environment and benefit the society as a whole. The manufacturing industry is an important industry in the advanced and developed world. The focus of the revenue generation in different economies has shifted from agricultural industries to manufacturing industries.

International entreprenureship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

International entreprenureship - Essay Example The study will give details regarding the background and the gradual development of Hewett Packard as a company and Carly Fiorina as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). A background analysis of the company and the CEO would be given to highlight the varied situation managed by the CEO. It is observed that Carly Fiorina might have exhibited certain leadership skills in certain situations but her sole focus on attainment of goals reflects her aggressive behaviour. The organizational climate within a company becomes an essential part of the value system of an individual which helps him / her to achieve corporate goals. The author of the study will highlight the present scenario of Hewett Packard under the managerial control of Carly Fiorina and its impact on the business activities. Finally, the study will conclude with various facets of leadership that have evolved from the observation of the leadership skills exhibited by Craly Fiorina by the author. Background Analysis of Hewett Packa rd & Carly Fiorina Hewlett Packard (HP) is an American multinational company, which is headquartered in California, United States (Hewett Packard, 2013a). The company specializes in manufacturing products, technologies, services, solutions and software to individual and corporate customers in the government, education and health sectors. Hewett Packard is known as the world’s largest IT generation and technological company in the world especially after the launch of EcoPod. The inception of the company was in one car garage by William Hewlett and Dave Packard. It is regarded as one of the largest PC manufacturer of the world since 2007 and it specializes in manufacturing computing, data storage, networking hardware, delivering services. The major product lines include computing devices, enterprise and industry standard internet servers. The main objective of the company is to innovate high quality IT innovative products and create a niche for itself in the market. At present the CEO of the company is Carly Fiorina, who has been serving the tenure of this post since the past few years. Carly Fiorina started her career as a secretary in a small business organization and was one of the first women to lead a Fortune 500 company, Hewett Packard during the tenure 1999 to 2005. She had earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and MBA degree from Maryland University and Masters of Science from Massachusetts University. Her tenure at HP led to reinvention of the company with state of art innovation facilities, achievement of market leadership, transformation of the cost structure and acceleration of growth. In spite of opposition from management, Carly had successfully acquired Compaq computers, which was known as one of the biggest mergers in the company history. During her tenure, the company’s revenue had doubled to $88 billion and had almost generated 11 patents in a single day, which improved the profitability and cash flow of the com pany. Presently, the CEO serves as the chairman of Good360, which is regarded as the world’s largest philanthropy organization. Carly was politically active and has

The interpretation of images

The interpretation of images Does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? The relationship between a person and/or people controlling a piece of work, and thus its meaning, are closely inter-related. Photographers, for example, hold multiple theories. One photographer may concur with the notion of inter-relation, whilst another may hold an idea contradictory – theories that support a negative interpretation of, in this case, an image. Throughout this essay I will be looking into different photographers views on meanings of a piece of work and authorship. I will be doing this by comparing the photographers’ views, concluding the questions answer s and then explaining my opinion and summarising the essay. I believe most photographers agree that they have full control of the meaning or interpretation of an image, when we look at an image and read then read the concept behind it we are led to believe that, that is the intended meaning of that piece of work. However, sometimes when we are looking into contradicting and deceiving images that is when the public eye notice that the concept may not be what the photographer intended to show through his photographs. It is common practice for photographers to use various methods to analyse the meaning and interpretation of an image. They have a choice as to the method employed, which can give results ranging from the qualitative, to the quantitative. Kevin Carter’s Pulitzer Prize, given for an award-winning image of a malnourished Sudanese child, is one particular example of how the intended meaning of an image can actually be interpreted. The image signified no celebration – a child barely surviving, and a vulture eager for carrion. However, this image which epitomised Sudan’s famine would go on to win Kevin Carter fame, from previous hopes of a career built on hounding the news, free-lancing in war-ravaged countries, and waiting anxiously for assignments amid dire finances; he would stay in the line of fire for that one great image. The photograph was sold to ‘The New York Times’ where it appeared on 26 March 1993, as a ‘metaphor for Africa’s despair’. Overnight, hundreds contacted the newspaper to ask if the child has survived. As a result, the newspaper ran an unusual special editors’ note explaining to the public that the girl did have enough strength to get away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Journalists within Sudan were requested not to touch victims of famine due to the risk of disease transmission. Despite this, Carter came under aggressive criticism for not helping the girl. The‘St. Petersburg Times’in Florida wrote â€Å"The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene.’’[1] The approach that public opinion doomed on Carter was not only that of taking the image instead of immediately chasing the vulture away, but also the element that he did not help the small girl afterwards who clearly needed help. Then again, as Carter explained later that he left her in such a weak condition to continue the march by herself towards the feeding centre. Kevin Carter committed suicide two years after receiving the Pulitzer Prize. We are led to believe that Kevin Carter’s suicide note is as followed: â€Å"Im really, really sorry. The pain of life overrides the joy to the point that joy does not exist depressed without phone money for rent money for child support money for debts money!!! I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners I have gone to joinKenif I am that lucky.†[6] Joanne Cauciella Bonica, Massapequa, New York expressed her feelings to the world by saying â€Å"It is ironic that Kevin Carter won the Pulitzer for a photograph which to me is a photograph of his own soul and exemplifies his own life. Kevin is that small child huddled up against the world, and the vulture is what we could call ‘the angel of death’. I just wish someone would have chased that evil from his life. Im sure that little child surrendered to death just as Kevin did. Both must have suffered significantly.†[7] This is a prime example of whether the photographer, the producer of the image, has ultimate control over the meaning and interpretation of their work. An analysis into Kevin Carter’s ‘vulture stalking a child’ image reveals that his intentions were only to show a bird spreading its wings. On the contrary, the result was much more haunting – on the most basic level, it is interpreted as an image of a predator and its prey, by the viewers. Following such observations and information requests to The New York Times, the viewers altered the meaning of the image, from one that should have shown a vulture spreading its wings, to one which displays a cruel, heart-breaking, and cultural issues image. â€Å"He heard a soft, high-pitched sobbing and saw a tiny girl trying to make her way to the feeding centre. As he crouched to photograph her, a vulture landed in sight. Trying careful not to disturb the bird, he positioned himself for the best possible image. He later then said he waited patiently for about 20 minutes, hoping the vulture would spread its wings. However it did not, and after he took his photographs, he claimed to chase the bird away, yet still watched as the little girl continued her struggle to the feeding centre.†[2] Therefore, when we look back at the question, does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? We can look at this question in many different ways when we begin to deconstruct the image bit by bit, so we can observe many different individual parts of this image to interpret. When we look at this image whole, what we are pushed to believe that the image is representing a malnourished Sudanese child that is crying for help, you could say the image is showing awareness of what is happening in different areas of the world. However, if we were to deconstruct this image, the concept of the photograph is completely changed to a wild animal looking for its pray to pounce on. Which then relates to wildlife/documentary photography. Then again, if we were to deconstruct the image the other way around we would see a raising awareness image of the people of Sudan needing help, instead of the journalist photography that Kevin Carter is so highly known for. ‘’The rule of thirds is applied by aligning a subject with the guidelines and their intersection points, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line, or allowing linear features in the image to flow from section to section.’’[3] When looking into the rules of thirds we frame the photograph and imagine it divided into 9 individual parts of the image, as a photographer when using the rule of thirds properly we try to position the main parts of the photograph near the lines and intersections of the grid. Therefore, when we look at Kevin Carters image using this method, we see that the vulture and child meet the criteria of the rule of thirds rules, the main aspects of the image line up with the main centre lines of the grid. This could be known as a perfect picture, if you will. However, we are told that Carter’s intentions of this image was to take a picture of the bird ‘spreading its wings’ and flying away. Carter must have been set up in a position where if he did take the image it would be seen as a perfect image, then again because this was the image he produced instead, this one turned out to be ‘The perfect image in photography rules.’ Stephen Bull Discourses are infamously tricky to evaluate. Ever since the 1970’s this idea of disclosure has perfected, absorbed and if you will replaced the theory of ideology. Its use in the analysis of photographs, ideology generally devises from the writings of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. However in summary of Foucault’s work the definition of disclosure is known as ‘a groups statements which structure the way a thing is thought, and the way we act on the basis of that thinking,’[4]. All of the elements around a certain photographs or photographic practice’ are its wide-ranging perspective that is produced and then how it is thought about. Therefore to illustrate this idea, it is useful to scrutinise thoroughly many different theories such as Martin Parr’s conservative ‘Midsummer Madness’ party has been expressed through a number of discourses, the originally meaning has been re-interpreted, sometimes subtly, other times significantly in its process. The cost of Living conservative Midsummer Madness is part of the documentary discourse – where ‘things as they are’ are shown. Many writers such as John Tagg would have been more likely to argue that the arranging of the photographs in this particular imagery is within the disclosure of documentary, which produces the idea that they portray the reality of the middle class consumerism in the 1980’s in Britain. Then again Parr’s work is involved in a development of the discourse documentary where the photographer allows more of a personal, independent viewpoint throughout their image of choice. (Bull, 2010). Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright Many images produce meanings, however meanings of a piece of work do not are not, strictly speaking, fully interpreted in the work itself, this is where the producer of the piece of work has placed its individual elements for the viewer to uncover them. The meanings and interpretations of work are based besides the image itself and the producer of the image. Then again, images have what we call the ‘dominant’ better known as a shared meaning. The image can also be interpreted and seen in many ways that do not adapt to its originally meaning. However, it is important to realise that not all work of arts and media productions do not speak to all viewers the same, rather, a piece of art speaks to specific viewers who are drawn into the image when being viewed. For example, style, content, the world it builds and the issues it raises. When a viewer is interested in a photograph they say the image speaks to them, perhaps because they can relate to it or know of someone who they can relate it to. ‘Just as viewers create meaning from images, images also construct audiences.’[5] Normally most images we view have some sort of concept behind them that their producers have tried to show throughout the image this could be a small or large aspect of the image. For example, advertisers look into audience research to ensure that the product they are advertising to sell is directly focused at the right age group or gender for the best selling point. Artists, graphic designers, filmmakers and many other people in this industry use images that the viewer will read interpret to their satisfaction. (Sturken, Cartwright, 2001). To conclude, does the person (or people) who produce a work (image, film, artwork etc.) ultimately control its meaning and interpretation? After looking into different online and library book resources such as ‘Stephen Bull PHOTOGRAPHY’ who expresses how an individual photograph is thought about and portrayed, I have found that all the recourses I have read through have one thing in common, the theory of a viewer creates meaning from images and the image creates the audience. Even though I have mentioned throughout my essay that the producer of the work attempts to show the meaning he intends to give throughout his/her image/images the main aspect in my opinion is the viewer and their opinion of the image and how they are drawn into it, how they interpret the image and relate to it. I believe from the research I have found that the person/people who produce the work do not have full control of the image. The producer attempts to show meaning throughout the image/images, process but how it is seen is the main element of this question. In summary, if the producer had full control there would be no need to have a research team in all advertisement of artist, graphic design and photography industries. The producer would not need to look into his target audience or age category, he/she would just take the picture and broadcast it. However this is something that is vital throughout the photographic industry. We direct our work to a specific audience to what the images concept illustrates. Therefore, â€Å"the audience will change the images interpretation†[8]. Bibliography Kevin Carter. (2011). Manic Street Preachers. Available: http://www.learningfromlyrics.org/KevinCarter.html. Last accessed 09/03/2015. Kevin Carter. (2011). Manic Street Preachers. Everything must go. 7 (4), 34. Pete Williams. (1999). Rule of Thirds. Available: http://www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds. Last accessed 11/03/2015. Stephen Bull (2010). PHOTOGRAPHY. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 43. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright. (2001). Viewers Make Meaning. In: Practices of looking. United States, New York: Oxford University Press. 45. Macleod Scott. (12 December 1994). The life and death of Kevin Carter. Available: http://content.time.com/time. Last accessed 20/03/2015. Joanne Cauciella Bonica. (10th august 2005). The ultimate in the unfair. Available: http://flatrock.org.nz/. Last accessed 20/03/2015. Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright. (2001).Practices of looking. New York: Oxford University Press. 45.

Psychology of Homophobia/Sexual Prejudice Essay -- Homophobia Sex Prej

Psychology of Homophobia/Sexual Prejudice Society began to rethink homosexuality in the 1960’s when heterosexual psychologist George Weinberg coined the term â€Å"homophobia.† Weinberg used the term to label heterosexuals’ fear of being in contact of homosexuals as well as the self-loathing of homosexuals, meaning that homosexuals hated themselves for being gay. As of the new millennium, there has been a new special term that has been born to define the fear, hate and disgust that people show towards anyone’s sexual orientation called â€Å"sexual prejudice.† Like other types of prejudice, there are three main principals that surround sexual prejudice: it is an attitude, it is directed at social groups and its members, and it is negative as involving hostility or dislike. As time goes by there has been differing perspectives on sexual prejudice (homophobia).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In an interview with Karen Franklin, a forensic psychologist and former criminal investigator, which was conducted by PBS’s program â€Å"FRONTLINE,† reveals her interest and perspective on anti-gay hate crimes that relate to homophobia. Franklin has interviewed multiple perpetrators of anti-gay hate crimes and with San Francisco Bay Area College students that has lead to the production of important data of the nature and extent to the negative reactions to gays.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Karen Franklin was asked, â€Å"What makes a person become a gay basher?† she answered, â€Å"there is no simple answer to that question.† Franklin explains that for a person to commit any violent act one must have had something influence them to be violent and the fact that a gay person is being targeted is another motivation. She explains that there are several motivations for these acts. The first motivation is â€Å"peer dynamics,† in which a person tries to prove masculinity, or to prove heterosexuality, or just not to back down and let one’s peers down. The next most common motivation she found was what she called â€Å"anti-gay ideology† in which their reasons for their anti-gay feelings are based on morals or religion. Another common motivation was that a person might be thrill-seeking and trying to have a good time at someone else’s expense. Franklin states that, in general, â€Å"people are trying to endors e a cultural message that gay people are second class citizens and are not worthy of respect. Franklin feels that this sexual prejudice is a c... ...use whether we know it or not, we all contribute in even the smallest ways to this problem. For instance, when we go up to our male youth and ask them if they like any girls in their class or when we ask a female if she has a boyfriend, we are contributing to the problem in a subliminal and subconscious manner. We are sending a subliminal message to society; we are trying to tell them who they are supposed to be. It is quite ironic to find that men hate gay men, although, at the same time they love and desire gay women and it is acceptable. Sexual prejudice is very complex, confusing, wrong, misunderstood, and very harmful to society. References 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Internalized Homophobia http://www.lgcsc.org/internalized.html 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Psychological Perspective – Henry Adams http://www.rtis.com/reg/bcs/pol/touchstone/november96/muehlen.htm 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Mind of A Gay Basher – Karen Franklin http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/assault/interviews/franklin.html 4.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bigots and Buggers – Peter Tatcheell http://www.petertatchell.net/homophobia/bigots%20are%20buggers.htm 5.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  American Psychological Association – Henry Adams http://www.apa.org/releases/homophob.html

Starbucks updates on annual meeting of shareholders Essay

Comparing capital expenditure Introduction                   Certain companies are considered as the front runners in their respective industries judging from their spending and the annual profits they get in their operations. For example, in the search engines industry, Google is well thought –out to be the trailblazer having billions of users. However, there are small companies which try to thrive in the same industries. The small companies possess some unique features which help them to survive in those industries. They distinguish themselves by differentiating their products brand and surroundings to meet their target market needs. Capital expenditure has been used to determine a company’s worth. It focusses on the properties, buildings and the equipment that a company considers as assets. The funds needed to buy, maintain and refurbish these assets are the ones referred to as capital expenditure.                   Centred on the profit margins of a company, the capital expenditure is conjectured as a percentage of the gross profit during equivalent distribution. This paper will contrast the capital expenditure of Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin Brands in the coffee industry of the United States. Starbuck being the frontrunner in the industry and Dunkin as its leading competitor. The paper will focus on the capital expenditure of the two companies for the past three years.                   Dunkin’ Brands Corporation has for years thrived as a competing franchise in the coffee industry. It is the sole owner of two restaurants in the United States, that is, Baskin- Robbins and Dunkin’ donuts. Since it acts as the franchise for these two restaurants, the capital requirements has been lower making it easy to open up the restaurants. Dunkin’ Donuts derives its income from the franchises through royalties and fees. A fraction of the total capital expenditure is incurred by Dunkin’ Brands from these franchisees. It owns a global market share of roughly 23 percent while Starbucks owns around 32.6 percent, leading in the list as far as coffee market is concerned.                   In 2011, the capital expenditure for Dunkin’ Brands mounted to $19 million due to the addition of other outlets in the states. In the same year, the company had incurred huge expenses due to some few factors. These factors include, costs from giving out new stock for public sale from a firm which has already made its preliminary public offering. , loss on debt when the creditor accepts a higher security, and written off goodwill charges from a corporation with South Korea. In the year 2012, the company had incurred capital expenditures of $23.4 million which is considered as restrained bearing in mind the number of site launches.                   In 2013, the capital expenditure for Dunkin’ Brands elevated to $31.1 million. This shows that the value of the expenditure was consistent throughout the three years. The company’s price- earnings ratio had been so low but due to the establishment of new stores the P/E ratio is expected to rise over the next fiscal year. The initial public offering that the company issued, raised funds to settle the long term debt creating a progressive cash flow. In the calculation of capital expenditure of Dunkin’ Brands, the net amount of fixed assets recorded in the financial statements for the previous year is subtracted from the net amount of fixed assets recorded for the year just ended. The amount of depreciation is also done the same and the result is added to the net change of the fixed assets. The final answer is the amount of capital expenditure of the company.                   Starbuck Corporation as the juggernaut in the coffee industry has continued to show growth especially towards the Asian countries ( Byrd,2013). Sales have increased steadily due to their market strategy enabling an equal increase in capital expenditure. The expansion to these Asian countries which include, Chinese/Asian/Pacific division, has been considered as one of the factors that has contributed to the faster growth of the corporation.                   Starbuck Corporation continues to be successful due to the low interest rate that persuade the management to enlarge its capital expenditure. However this may upsurge the total quantity of liabilities on the balance sheet of the corporation. China/ Asian/ Pacific Division has an extraordinary economic growth with interest rates at its lowest making it an enormous and worthwhile investment opportunity caused by the increase in the company’s liabilities.                   The need to increase these liabilities of the company is to capitalize on the returns in that new market environment. Starbuck has incurred some debt which has been getting lower considerably throughout the years. Its financial debt to total debt ratio in 2010 was 11% to 31% in 2013. Initially the decision for Starbuck Corporation to increase its capital expenditure, did not lower the profit margin which was the expectation of many. However, since 2010 to 2013, the profit margins heightened significantly. The company is expected to improve the income GDP per capita worldwide from 2010 which was at $7329 ( Byrd, 2013). This will in turn increase the visits the consumer makes to the stores resulting in growth with foreign revenue by additional 45% in the next 10 years.                   In the company’s annual financial statements, the capital expenditures in the investing activities column shows that in the year 2011 was at $531.9 million. In the year 2012 the amount rose to $856.2 million and $1.15 billion in 2013. The capital expenditure has been consistent over the three years like the Dunkin’ Corporation. This was due to the opening of new stores across the country. Depreciation has grown in the years as a result of increased capital spending and procurements. 2012 has been Starbucks development phase since it increased the new stores to up to 1300. Most of the stores were located in China. The capital expenditure value has been derived from getting the net fixed assets of the preceding year and subtracted it from the net fixed assets of the year just ended. The value is then added to the depreciation amount gotten from the difference between the depreciation value from the year just ended and the preceding year.                   The focus on the company’s capital expenditure has been used to acquire the desired information to determine and predict its future earnings according to financial and accounting models. Managers counter information from the private operation about the future costs and demands over and done with their investment judgements.                   In the quick food service industry, Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin’ Brands are the key participants. They try to counter the rising consumer demands for fast food products. However they are somewhat different since Starbuck Corporation principal concentration is on the expensive coffee, but has trailed on other product lines such as teas and juices. Conversely, Dunkin’ Brands has focussed primarily on marketing their products to everyone by combining coffee and donuts. The rate of growth for Dunkin’ has been considered to be moderately strong by financial analysts, but Starbucks has been a stronger growth with very minimum amount of debt.                   Capital expenditure is the most commonly used determiner for how well a company operates since the funds are used to upgrade an existing business asset or purchasing a new asset for example a new building. The cost or the value of the business assets is always adjusted for tax purposes. Capital expenditure is measured to be deductible for tax determinations, because it signifies an improvement to the industry. The following table represents the capital expenditure comparisons between Starbuck Corporation and Dunkin’ Brands a franchise to the Dunkin’ donuts and Baskin Robbins.(2013). SBUX DNKN Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy): 0.11 0.06 Gross Margin (ttm): 0.57 0.79 Operating Margin (ttm): 0.14 0.39 Net Income (ttm): 1.51B 106.11M P/E (ttm): 33.59 44.29 P/S (ttm): 3.47 6.61 Employees: 160,000 1,104 Revenue (ttm): 14.02B 667.67M EBITDA (ttm): 2.59B 313.12M EPS (ttm): 1.97 0.94 PEG (5 yr expected): 1.61 1.72 Market Cap: 49.50B 4.42B References Starbucks updates on annual meeting of shareholders. (2013). Entertainment Close – Up, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/940899804?accountid=32521 Mergent database in the Ashford University Library. Mergent Online Quick Tips [accessed Nov 14th, 2014] Byrd, J., Hickman, K., & McPherson, M. (2013). Managerial Finance. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education Inc. Source document

Elwyn Company Essay

In the Elwyn Company, the relationship between output (Q) and the number of hours of skilled labor (S) and unskilled labor (U) is Q 300S 200U – 0.2S2 – 0.3U2 The hourly wage of skilled labor is 10, and the hourly wage of unskilled labor is 5. The firm can hire as much labor as it wants at these wage rates. Elwyns chief engineer recommends that the firm hire 400 hours of skilled labor and 100 hours of unskilled labor. Evaluate this recommendation. If the Elwyn Company decides to spend a total of 5,000 on skilled and unskilled labor, how many hours of each type of labor should it hire If the price of a unit of output is 10 (and does not vary with output), how many hours of unskilled labor should the company hire (Chapter 5 problem 1. see answer on webct assignment 2) The Smith Company made and sold 10,000 metal tables last year. When output was between 5,000 and 10,000 tables, its average variable cost was 24. In this output range, each table contributed 60 percent of its revenue to fixed costs and profits. What was the price per table If the Smith Company increases its price by 10 percent, how many tables will it have to sell next year to obtain the same profit as last year If the Smith Company increases its price by 10 percent, and if its average variable cost increases by 8 percent as a result of wage increases, how many tables will it have to sell next year to obtain the same profit as last year Chapter 6 problem 12. see answer on webct assignment 2) Raleigh Company is a monopolist, producing and selling the product with the demand curve P 30 – 6Q where P is price (in thousands of dollars) and Q is the firms output (in thousands of units). The firms total cost function is TC 14 3Q 3Q2 where TC is total cost (in millions of dollars) What is the firms marginal revenue (MR) and marginal cost (MC) At what level of output does the firm maximize its profit What is the profit maximizing price (P) of the firm Is the price higher than marginal cost (MC) What is the profit of the firm (Chapter 8 problem page 267) 4. James Pizzo is president of a firm that is the price leader in the industry that is, it sets the price and the other firms sell all they wa nt at that price. In other words, the other firms act as perfect competitors. The demand curve for the industrys product is P 300 – Q, where P is the price of the product, and Q is the total quantity demanded. The total amount supplied by the other firms is equal to Qr, where Qr 49P.

Hunger and Death essays

Hunger and Death essays Malnutrition, disease and starvation are stalking more than 16 million people in the 'breadbasket of Africa.' If the world doesn't respond, 300,000 people could die before March. Star-Telegram Nov 24th 2002. Malnutrition is a problem that southern Africa face for many year and they dont seem to find the solution. The causes of this Huge crises can be found in some of the social issues below. AIDS. This is the first food crisis in history in which AIDS is a major factor. The virus has decimated work forces, strained already overburdened health systems and left a new generation of orphans. Cuts in socialized health programs in the 1990s. The cuts were often made at the insistence of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Global and regional economic volatility. Thousands of Swazi and Lesotho miners have stopped sending money home to their families because of huge layoffs in neighboring South Africa's gold and diamond mines. Debt. Large national debts eat up money needed to combat hunger. The spread of market capitalism. In the 1990s, market capitalism slashed or privatized southern Africa's socialized agricultural programs and left many poor farmers vulnerable to the vagaries of the free market. Land seizures. The government of Zimbabwe has seized hundreds of white-owned farms, the backbone of the economy. Food is being used as a political weapon, and price controls and foreign-exchange restrictions have worsened the crisis. Mistrust of the West. Doubts about the West's biotechnology have prompted Zambia to reject U.S. aid shipments of genetically modified corn. Civil wars. In Angola, a brutal, 27-year civil war that destroyed large areas of crops is sputtering to an end, spurring a mass return of refugees to their shattered homes and causing food shortages. The help is coming, but its too slow to combat the speed the hunger spread through out the nation. Corruption is a fa ...

Managerial Finance essayEssay Writing Service

Managerial Finance essayEssay Writing Service Managerial Finance essay Managerial Finance essayIn actuality, the activity based costing is one of the widely-spread accounting methods. At the same time, in spite of its popularity, this method still evokes criticism from the part of opponents of this method, who believe the activity based costing to be unreliable accounting method. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of the application of the activity based costing in the accounting depends on the nature of business and organisations. At any rate, the empirical study shows that the activity based accounting may be successfully applied in some organisations, although it may fail in others. Therefore, the activity based costing is applicable but its efficiency differs depending on the particular organisation, the essence of its business, industry, business environment and other factors that may affect the efficiency of the activity based costing.In its essence, the activity based costing (ABC) is the accounting method that involves the assessment of activities performed by a company and on the ground of such assessment indirect costs are assigned to products of the company. In such a way, companies conduct the assessment of their indirect costs on the ground of the analysis of costs of different activities which are directly or indirectly related to the production of certain products or services. As a result, the ABC involves the analysis of all activities within the organisation that ultimately affect the costs of the production of the organisation.At the same time, it is worth mentioning the fact that the analysis of all costs implies the analysis of all activities, which is not always directly related to the production process or manufacturing of particular products. The ABC orients on activities of organisations and their costs rather than on the direct costs of certain products or costs of their production. In such a way, ABC method uses the indirect analysis of costs of products or, to put it more precisely, it involves the analysi s of indirect costs of products and their production.The major advantage of the ABC method is the recognition of the close relationships between costs, activities and products. In such a way, the revelation of indirect costs with the help of ABC can help to assess indirect costs related to specific products. The analysis of indirect costs is very important for organisations, especially in case of companies that have a complex organisational structure, such as multinational corporations (Mocciaro, Destri, Picone Min, 2012: 94). Large companies have the complex organisational structure that means that they have multiple costs which are not directly related to the production process or to specific products. As a result, companies have difficulties with the adequate assessment of their costs and, therefore, costs of specific products.At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that, if companies cannot define accurately the costs of the particular product, including indirect costs, they cannot set absolutely fair price. In other words, companies may set either too high price that would be unfair in relation to customers and put the companies into a disadvantageous position compared to rivals, who may sell the similar product at the lower price. Or, on the contrary, companies may set the price at the too low level. In such a case, sales of the product will not cover the costs of its production, including indirect costs, to the full extent. As a result, the company will suffer financial losses and deteriorate its marketing position in a long-run perspective.However, critics of the ABC method of accounting (Sapp, Crawford Rebishcke, 1990: 1223) argue that it is not always possible to assign certain costs to specific products. For instance, it may be difficult to trace the correlation between managerial costs and a particular product manufactured by the company. In fact, if a company cannot trace accurately the correlation between specific activities and their co sts and relate them indirectly to the costs of specific products, the company may face difficulties with the adequate and accurate assessment of the costs of production and specific products (Drucker, 2009: 129). In such a situation, companies face the high risk of errors in the course of the accounting based on the use of the ABC method. As a result, many companies prefer other methods, including traditional ones, to calculate their costs and conduct their accounting, being uncertain in the reliability of the ABC method.Therefore, being good in its intention to reveal the close correlation between costs, activities and products, the ABC method is still imperfect and the criticism of this method is, to a significant extent reasonable. In this respect, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that errors in accounting may be intentional and unintentional. In this regard, the ABC creates the risk of the emergence of intentional errors in accounting, when companies want to increas e or decrease their costs pursuing their business goals, for instance, to attract investors. Moreover, top executives of companies may manipulate with accounting using the complexity of the ABC assessment of indirect costs of specific products. As a result, such top executives can create schemes with the help of which they can increase or decrease indirect costs to hide substantial financial losses of their company, for instance. In such a way, drawbacks of the ABC can create the ground for manipulations and intentional errors in accounting. At the same time, there is a risk of unintentional errors in accounting, when companies just fail to assess accurately indirect costs of products and correlate them to diverse activities conducted within the companies.On the other hand, the criticism of the ABC method does not necessarily mean that this method cannot or should not be applied successfully. On the contrary, today, the ABC method has become particularly popular in the manufacturing sector, where it is easier to trace the direct relationship between costs, activities and specific products manufactured. In actuality, many companies operating in the manufacturing sector use the ABC successfully and conduct the accurate assessment of indirect costs of their products. The popularity of the ABC method in the manufacturing sector is the result of the specificity of the manufacturing sector and the ABC method. To put it more precisely, the manufacturing sectors involves activities which are all directed at the production process. As a result, the assessment of costs of those activities almost always lead to the revelation of indirect costs of specific products because there are no alternative activities that are not related somehow to the production process and to the manufacturing of the specific product.At the same time, limitations of the ABC method prevent its wide use in the service sector and some other sectors, where it is difficult to trace the direct correla tion between specific activities, their costs and services or products provided by the company for customers (Velmurugan, 2010: 12). The unwillingness of companies operating in the service sector to use the ABC method is also the result of the specificity of the sector and the ABC method. Unlike the manufacturing sector, the service sector cannot always provide accountants with the accurate information on various activities performed by companies which are directly or indirectly related to the costs of particular products. As a result, accountants face difficulties with the identification of all indirect costs and all activities related to the production of specific services or products. In such a way, companies operating in the service sector and some other sectors prefer refusing from the ABC and using traditional methods of accounting to ensure the high accuracy of accounting and prevent the risk of errors.Thus, the activity based costing is an effective and popular method of acc ounting, which though cannot always be applied successfully. In actuality, the ABC method is very popular in the manufacturing sector but companies operating in the service sector, for instance, prefer using traditional methods instead of the ABC because they consider those methods more reliable. Such disparity in the use of the ABC in different sectors is the result of the specificity of the accounting method because the ABC method focuses on the analysis of indirect costs of products through analysis of costs of activities performed by the company which are directly or indirectly related to specific products. The more difficult it is to trace such correlation the less accurate the ABC method becomes. In the manufacturing sector it is easier to trace such correlation compared to the service sector, for instance. Hence, the ABC method is popular in this sector.

Animals in our life

Animals play an extremely important part in the lives of humans. We may not realize how much impact animals have on our lives. They have played various roles; that of a friend, companion, protector, comforter, and more. Addressing people who are not animal lovers, I would say it is very difficult to explain what joy an animal can bring to ones life. Pets impact human lives on a face-to-face basis by being our companions, whether its a cat or a dog. Nothing is more comforting than having a dog greet you at the door, or a cat curl up in your lap. Pets help us in our daily life in terms of giving us the emotional support and ,personally, I find it most important. Also having a pet is a great way to teach a child caretaking skills. A pet must be fed and watered daily, on some days given a bath, and trained. In order to help children get used to the responsibilities involved in looking after a real pet, some parents buy them virtual pets. But if you ask me, this kind of toys is useless. If we talk about pets, we should clear up what is it to be a pet owner. Nowadays we are used to meet eccentric owners on the streets or in public places. Its their choice and right to celebrate their pets birthday with a party, or to talk to their pets on the phone, or even to permit their pets to enjoy the leftovers from the owner meal in a restaurant. But lets face the fact that some people are really animal crackers. I may be wrong, but keeping unusual pets or large amount of pets in little flat is absolutely insane action. Tigers, panthers and lions are ferocious, wild animals. They are not suited for domestic life and should never be kept as pets. Also if a large dog is not obedient to its owner, then it is a potential danger too. If youre going to take on a pup, you should respect other people and their privacy, think about the size of your apartment and about your free time, would it be enough for your pet?! Pet animals are often used for rehabilitation. Certain dogs, with special certification, are allowed to visit the residents in nursing homes. A recent survey has shown that animals enhance the lives of others. The sick and the elderly look forward to spending time with animals. Just petting an animal can have a calming effect. Animals have helped throughout history by working for humans. Many farmers use animals for their livelihood. Farmers raise cattle, lamb, sheep, goats and other animals simply to make a living. Many of these animals are used for meat or for milk. Dogs too can work on a farm helping the farmer with the sheep or cattle. Animals raised on farms are often our food and fur sources. Animals save our lives in many ways. For example, they guard our properties and perform heroic feats. Dogs are very smart and can be taught to do almost anything. Whether that is to find drugs, find a missing person or even find a bomb, they are amazing animals. People trained animals for handicapped individuals. Guide dogs for the blind people cant replace their eyes, but they can be an enormous help in making day-to-day life much easier and happier. Guide dogs assist their owners in their daily activities, from carrying large objects to directing a blind person through traffic. Furthermore, animals give their lives for the advancement of science. Lab rats are poked, prodded, injected with chemical substances and operated upon, all so that we may find new cures for the many diseases that threaten our quality of life. Animals affect everyones life, whether youre an animal-lover, animal-hater, animal-eater or animal-saver. Whether animals are house pets, working animals or used for experimentation they are very important to us and we need them as much as they need us.

World War II Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

World War II - Essay Example The war mainly caused many economic consequences that resulted in some affected countries lagging behind in development to the extent of not regaining their economic power even many years after the war. The main origin of this war was the creation of the German-Japanese-Italian alliance in the early 1930s. The formation of this alliance was with sole intention of expanding their boundaries by conquering their weaker neighbors. The older colonial powers such as Britain, Holland, and France were not impressed by this move from their rivals. Italy and German had entered into the colonial scramble like their rivals but because they developed late, they lacked the best territories that were strategically placed. The little territories they managed to acquire did not satisfy their increasing demands to expand their boundaries due to the little economic significance that the territories possessed. Tension arouse as the Triple Alliance, Germany, Italy, Japan and Hungary wanted to expand their territories by any means possible even if it was by conquering the Triple Entente’s, Britain, France and Russia, territories. The Triple Alliance wanted to conquer these territories due economi c reasons. Most of these territories were rich in minerals such as gold, diamond, and silver. These territories also had rich and fertile lands that the Triple Alliance realized would be useful to cultivate crops that would provide raw materials for their factories (McDonough, 1997). After the First World War, there was a critical breakdown in the international payments system. The production levels in many countries fell, thus affecting the international trade. Rich minerals such as gold was only concentrated in the hands of the capitalists nations such as Britain, USA, France and their allies. Despite the fact that they possessed plenty of gold, these specific nations were also in control of major resources and raw materials all over the world. This economic factor led to a

History And Crime Module In The Criminal Justice Assignment

History And Crime Module In The Criminal Justice - Assignment Example The social scientific knowledge and theory had developed not only within the minds of individuals but also in particular institutional domains, which have gained shapes from their surroundings. The development of the surroundings has been developed based on certain factors like the organizational pattern of the institute, division, and subdivision of the institute, emergence of disputes, funding of research studies and also the publication and usage of the findings. These values play a big role in shaping up the academic background of the institutes and also these values should be taken into consideration by the students while selecting their field of studies. In studying criminology the understanding of these institutional domains are especially important for the students, which would, in turn, help them in shaping up their knowledge base. This is useful not only in the academic world but also in the application world as well. The book Crime and Society in England: 1750 – 190 0 by Clive Emsley has clearly synthesized the recent works on crime and English society from the mid-18th century to close to the 19th century. The book cites the references of crimes in the Wales where the legal system was indistinguishable from the rest of England. The book also has the references of criminal justice systems of Scotland, which had a different legal system and Ireland that had rural and nationalist rebels together with the para-military police. There will be four key questions to be discussed in this essay.

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management - Essay Example That is the goal of crisis management, which can be defined as a set of activities aimed at minimizing the potential, or responding to an existing crisis effectively. As such, an effective crisis management plan may provide a company with an opportunity to effectively take urgent actions for minimizing the harm caused by a crisis and, in such a way, save the future of the organization. Furthermore, relevant crisis and issue management activities may even help the company to avoid a crisis and, as a result, save valuable resources to be invested into further growth and development. In is especially true considering the fact that news in the contemporary world spread within hours. Therefore, urgent actions for rescuing the company should be taken immediately after an issue arises. At the same time, good and well-structured relationships with the media may help an organization to decrease the level of crisis’ impact on the company’s future. Therefore, the given paper will try to draw up a basic crisis management plan for Shuanghui Business Group, a food business group that majors in processing pork. The company has already had some experience managing crisis. However, the presented plant will help it to forecast and assess potential future crisis, recommend specific crisis management processes and team structures, as well as provide a list of materials to be to be produced as part of the crisis toolkit. In addition, business continuity considerations will be addressed and a proposal for testing and refining the crisis plan will be presented. All this information will help the company to prepare for a potential crisis and, furthermore, get an opportunity to avoid it and save money. Forecasting and assessing a potential crisis the organization could face. On the 15th of March, 2011, Shuanghui Business Group was suspected of using clenbuterol pigs. As a result, the stock of the company dropped to the trading limit causing a loss of CNY 5.2 billion in th e capital market. Furthermore, the company had to withdraw its products form all the major supermarkets, while some marketplaces even stopped selling the products of the Business Group or refused to continue working with the company. The organization took back all of its products circulating in market and closed manufacturing down to be rectified (Zhang, 2011). Nevertheless, what Shuanghui Business Group experienced is the crisis of consumers’ trust or, if defined more precisely, a product-harm crisis (Dawar & Pillutla, 2000, p. 215), since it involved recalling products from all of the distribution networks due to safety concerns (Chen, Ganesan, & Liu, 2009, p. 214). As a result, the brand’s equity and company’s reputation got damaged, customers’ loyalty decreased, and revenues and market shares – lost (Laufer & Coombs, 2006, p. 379). So, in order for the Business Group not to experience such a disastrous situation again, continuous forecasting an d assessing a potential crisis the organization can face should be conducted. The very first condition for forecasting a crisis is noting both internal and external inputs. People’s perceptions of information differ – what one may consider to be a potential threat will be missed by another. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the organization does not miss any internal or external issues that might indicate a potential crisis (Harvard Business School, 2004, p. 12). For this reason clear and open communication channels should be determined and

Economic race and gander Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic race and gander - Essay Example Other concern is whether they can fully rely on or trust their partners. Divorce rates were going up. Religious beliefs and broad social attitude were also among the reasons. The main reason for divorce is financial instability and insecurity of future etc., Unanticipated events, sudden job loss and liberalized state divorce loss were also reasons for increased rate of divorces. The divorce rates stood at 2.2 divorces per thousand population in 1960 and increased to 3.5 to 5.2 divorces per thousand population in 1980. Births to unmarried mothers is also on the raise because of economic independence and social security available to mothers. Co-habitation or living together has been accepted by the society. Individuals who never married co-habit prior to first marriage or after they have been divorced. Co-habitation often ends in marriage or breakup. Co-habitation between gay and lesbian couples are also on the increase. Whether to have children or how many to have is decided on the ec onomic opportunities. The changing economic opportunities affect the fertility decisions. As the women's wage raises the opportunity cost of the time they spend with children also increases. However, the preoccupation with their employment and social activities force them to postpone the pregnancies. The fertility rate at the year 1955 was much higher compared to the year 1955 was much higher compared to the year 1974. However, because of economic independence and better opportunities in employment there were marked increases in fertility rate of unmarried mothers starting in 1970s from 11 percent of all births to 28 percent in 1990. At 2005, 37 percent all births in US were to unmarried women. Dual earner families increase from 45 to 58 percent of all married couple families. Dual earner family or female headed family became more common rapidly replacing the traditional married couple family or the breadwinner husband and home-maker wife. Dual earner earns more income on average th an the single earner family. However, the maternal employment during first year of the child may negatively affect children's cognitive developments. The specific finding about single parent family report that the children raised by single parent have a higher high-school drop out and higher rate of teen births than those raised by double parent family. Chapter 11 titled as "Polices affecting paid work and the family" focus on polices to alleviate poverty, government tax policies etc., This chapter examines major changes that occurred during last few years in the US welfare system. The expansion of EITC has played an important role in reducing poverty. In contracts to many tax credits which can benefit only households with income high enough to pay taxes in EITC the refundable feature of tax credit means that government provides a refund if the amount of the credit exceeds tax owed. The EITC transfers income to low income household. The employment outlook for welfare recipients tend s to be especially bleak because as a rule they have little education and fewer job skills. Following the effects in developing countries such as Grameen Bank in Bangladesh micro enterprises assistance programs have been developed in US funded by government and private foundations. Child support award for never married mothers continue to raise children under age 15 may receive federally funded health care

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts Essay - 40

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts - Essay Example Analysis of the archeological site is done through key stages. The archeological sites entail the places where proof of past human presence can be collected. The evidence includes skeleton remains of the human ancestors, artifacts objects, and ecofacts elements. Sites are developed through formation processes. For example, dead bodies can be ceremonially buried, and tools can be lost. Site preservation is done by the natural process. The ash from a volcano or the silt from flood water can cover objects, and thus preserve them for several years. Sites can also be found by the natural process of erosion. The Olduvai Gorge located in Tanzania was exposed through erosion (Gilman, 2012). Archaeologists apply several techniques. The archeologists apply experimental replication to analyze tool artifacts. The process aims at authentically redeveloping the ancient artifacts, and hence determines the process of making the tool. The date of the specimen or archaeological site is done through ra dioactive decay technique. The technique analyses the radioactive isotopes of common elements like carbon, uranium and potassium. Identifying the sex skeleton is done by the sex dimorphism technique. For instance, the male human skeleton is always larger, rougher and denser than the female skeletal bones. The Upper Paleolithic period is illustrated through drastic changes in the human culture, especially in the Europe, Asia and African regions. Greatly, the changes are developmental as illustrated by the anatomically modern man of Africa. Superior tools were identified in Africa. One example involves the stone blade tools aged 90,000 years, which were found in Katanga, Zaire. Polished bone tools aged 77,000 years were found inside the Blombos Cave, South Africa (Robert & Wendy 2011). The tools illustrate technology explosion in the area of stone and bone tool  development.

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Management - Essay Example That is the goal of crisis management, which can be defined as a set of activities aimed at minimizing the potential, or responding to an existing crisis effectively. As such, an effective crisis management plan may provide a company with an opportunity to effectively take urgent actions for minimizing the harm caused by a crisis and, in such a way, save the future of the organization. Furthermore, relevant crisis and issue management activities may even help the company to avoid a crisis and, as a result, save valuable resources to be invested into further growth and development. In is especially true considering the fact that news in the contemporary world spread within hours. Therefore, urgent actions for rescuing the company should be taken immediately after an issue arises. At the same time, good and well-structured relationships with the media may help an organization to decrease the level of crisis’ impact on the company’s future. Therefore, the given paper will try to draw up a basic crisis management plan for Shuanghui Business Group, a food business group that majors in processing pork. The company has already had some experience managing crisis. However, the presented plant will help it to forecast and assess potential future crisis, recommend specific crisis management processes and team structures, as well as provide a list of materials to be to be produced as part of the crisis toolkit. In addition, business continuity considerations will be addressed and a proposal for testing and refining the crisis plan will be presented. All this information will help the company to prepare for a potential crisis and, furthermore, get an opportunity to avoid it and save money. Forecasting and assessing a potential crisis the organization could face. On the 15th of March, 2011, Shuanghui Business Group was suspected of using clenbuterol pigs. As a result, the stock of the company dropped to the trading limit causing a loss of CNY 5.2 billion in th e capital market. Furthermore, the company had to withdraw its products form all the major supermarkets, while some marketplaces even stopped selling the products of the Business Group or refused to continue working with the company. The organization took back all of its products circulating in market and closed manufacturing down to be rectified (Zhang, 2011). Nevertheless, what Shuanghui Business Group experienced is the crisis of consumers’ trust or, if defined more precisely, a product-harm crisis (Dawar & Pillutla, 2000, p. 215), since it involved recalling products from all of the distribution networks due to safety concerns (Chen, Ganesan, & Liu, 2009, p. 214). As a result, the brand’s equity and company’s reputation got damaged, customers’ loyalty decreased, and revenues and market shares – lost (Laufer & Coombs, 2006, p. 379). So, in order for the Business Group not to experience such a disastrous situation again, continuous forecasting an d assessing a potential crisis the organization can face should be conducted. The very first condition for forecasting a crisis is noting both internal and external inputs. People’s perceptions of information differ – what one may consider to be a potential threat will be missed by another. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the organization does not miss any internal or external issues that might indicate a potential crisis (Harvard Business School, 2004, p. 12). For this reason clear and open communication channels should be determined and

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts Essay - 40

Archeological Features, Artifacts and Ecofacts - Essay Example Analysis of the archeological site is done through key stages. The archeological sites entail the places where proof of past human presence can be collected. The evidence includes skeleton remains of the human ancestors, artifacts objects, and ecofacts elements. Sites are developed through formation processes. For example, dead bodies can be ceremonially buried, and tools can be lost. Site preservation is done by the natural process. The ash from a volcano or the silt from flood water can cover objects, and thus preserve them for several years. Sites can also be found by the natural process of erosion. The Olduvai Gorge located in Tanzania was exposed through erosion (Gilman, 2012). Archaeologists apply several techniques. The archeologists apply experimental replication to analyze tool artifacts. The process aims at authentically redeveloping the ancient artifacts, and hence determines the process of making the tool. The date of the specimen or archaeological site is done through ra dioactive decay technique. The technique analyses the radioactive isotopes of common elements like carbon, uranium and potassium. Identifying the sex skeleton is done by the sex dimorphism technique. For instance, the male human skeleton is always larger, rougher and denser than the female skeletal bones. The Upper Paleolithic period is illustrated through drastic changes in the human culture, especially in the Europe, Asia and African regions. Greatly, the changes are developmental as illustrated by the anatomically modern man of Africa. Superior tools were identified in Africa. One example involves the stone blade tools aged 90,000 years, which were found in Katanga, Zaire. Polished bone tools aged 77,000 years were found inside the Blombos Cave, South Africa (Robert & Wendy 2011). The tools illustrate technology explosion in the area of stone and bone tool  development.

Government Functions Essay Example for Free

Government Functions Essay In the economic system of any country, the government is the authority governing the day to day transactions and dealings between individuals whether private or public. Other functions are enforcement of rules and regulations, overseeing the making and execution of contracts and setting of standards to be followed. To do this, resources are required hence collection of taxes. The functions aside, the government itself owns firms within the economy hence a player. The role played by the state/government has been under close support and criticism simultaneously. In some countries, the government’s role is welcome whilst in others it detested. The main object of government in both scenarios though is the allocation of scarce resources and creating an environment suitable for such resources to be exploited. This is achieved through ensuring that law and order is maintained. External costs incurred by businesses that are not factored in the business transactions are also taken into account by the government. This is in order to protect them from exploitation which may otherwise lead to bankruptcy and collapse. The government’s role shouldn’t be solely that of creation of a good environment for business via maintenance of law and order. Rather, it should go beyond this by being a key player in the economy. Law and order though facilitates stability as well as reduces corruption hence encouraging investment. Using the opportunity cost principle, the uses to which scarce resources can be put are many and the real costs are those which are forgone. These are incurred in cases where corruption is existent. Examples of such costs according to Sowell include delay in performance of certain economic activities given an unviable corrupt economic environment this results to non-development of basic infrastructure that would have been used to carry out the economic activity. In turn, planned investments do not occur hence existing output levels are not increased due to lack of expansion. The final results are normally unemployment accompanied by brain drain as the environment is similarly not viable to work in. Simply put, higher corruption levels are accompanied by low economic growths and low per capita incomes. Other effects of corruption are discrimination in the employment sector and profiling of workers. Contributing to slow economic growth are also long bureaucratic processes. All these contribute to driving away investors. Corruption doesn’t necessarily come in the form of direct bribes. It may also be in the form of nepotism and tribalism which is currently prevalent in most countries. The law being a set of rules and principles that are used in the day to day running of a country ought to have the following characteristics;- reliability; uniformity in application i. e. they must portray a sense of fairness and equality; rigidity i. e. they should not change from time to time. Rigidity brings about stability. Countries with laws that have these characteristics are prone to boost investor confidence as well as encouraging skilled labor to immigrate into the country in search of job opportunities. Such skilled labor may not have been available locally. This set of rules and principles should be impartial but discriminatory at the same time. The discriminatory aspect of some laws has at times proven to boost economic growth. However the statement holds only when the discriminating facet is known by the parties involved well in advance. If the discriminating nature of the law is known, the economic environment will be more stable as compared to where the justice system is discriminatory in interpretation and application of the law. The law may be discriminatory on the basis of aspects such as religion and race. However, if the economy grows, the growth will be felt across the board and not just by those for whom the law discriminates. Even though some laws have discriminatory aspects, they should not in any way allow for the exploitation of one by another nor allow for the interference of one’s activities by another with malicious intentions. A country’s economy is majorly dependent on the existence of a government. Nonetheless, this dependability also takes into consideration the government’s effectiveness in law enforcement. Geographically, some regions within the same country will have laws being more enforced than others. However, extra costs incurred by businesses in ensuring that goods and services reach the consumers are always transferred to the same consumers. This reduces demand due to high prices. Property Rights On property rights, focus should be placed not just on the owners of such but more so on the general effect the existence and exercise of such rights has on the economy. The exercise of property rights may result to economic effects which impact negatively on the populace as there maybe no single individual to blame. As a result, property rights should be closely monitored but even more emphasis ought to be placed on automatic self-monitoring by individuals as a solution. The mere fact that the property rights do exist creates a sense of self-monitoring on the individual which is more effective and less costly as compared to government monitoring. This self-productivity results to increased productivity and lower commodity prices as there is less wastage. However, negligence may also result on the part of the property owners and class stratification. However, given that property rights do have a greater economic efficiency, the general population will have higher living standards when the economic growth that results trickles down. However, restrictions such as setting of minimum standards and creation of Boards to oversee the use of certain property should be put in place. These will help prevent exploitation. Stringent laws need also be put into place by governments and respective authorities. In creation and application of restrictions to property rights, one has to have in mind that property rights do have intentions and effects. Economic incentives by the government do play a big role and such rights need to be looked at from the economic angle i. e. the incentives that are brought about by them. One should also ask what the effects of changing them or completely doing without them are. Social order is a function of existence of laws, government institutions to ensure the maintenance of law and order and acknowledgement of such by the citizens. The degree of social order differs from one country to another as well as from one individual to another. It is the existence or inexistence of a social order and its level that determines how business dealings are conducted between individuals. Social order should be upheld in all aspects of government. This may in turn extend to the rest of the community hence doing away with corruption thus bringing down transaction costs. If the social order is inexistent or at a low level, enterprises tend to be small scale. This translates to lower production and by the economies of scale, the end user experiences higher prices. A good social order thus attracts investment. The government can boost this by encouraging honesty within its administration, indirectly supporting or detesting cultures that are pro-honesty. The same can also be achieved via school curricula. Another factor that can either undermine or develop the social order are the nature of a country’s law. However, the market has a way of creating its own social order. External costs and benefits do exist in business and they occur outside the parties that are part to an actual transaction. These are however not accounted for in the market place and it is for this reason that the government has to come in to make decisions regarding external costs and benefits via legislation and regulations. Some benefits are indivisible. They are either a whole or nothing at all. To decide any aspect about them is thus better left to government. External costs on their part are felt either directly or indirectly by individuals. The individuals thus decide basing on how the external costs impact them and their activities. In countries with popularly elected governments, most of the decisions made by are not put into much economic consideration. Focus is actually mainly placed on making the people happy and not necessarily on economic improvement. Most of such decisions are political and not economically beneficial to the country. CHAPTER 18: GOVERNMENT FINANCE Like any other enterprise whether profit making or non-profit making, resources are needed to enable a business e a continuing venture. On the part of the government, its spending aspect if a factor of revenue collection. Revenue is raised via tax collection. How this tax is collected greatly affects how much will in effect be collected as it impacts on the citizen’s view on taxation policies. Any change in taxation policy by the government will automatically result in behavioral change by the tax payer in terms of expenditure and savings. This change is however in no scale predictable and may go at length to affect the performance of the economy at large. No rule can be said to be applied by government to predict this change. The net tax paid by an individual is a factor of the number of taxes that are applicable on a said person and their position economically. Value Added Tax (VAT) takes a bigger share from the poor than it does from the rich as spending on consumer goods makes up a greater percentage of the poor person’s budget whilst saving or re-investment makes up a greater percentage of the rich’s budget. However, tax paid by individuals is a mixture of both regressive and progressive taxes. However, the official legal indicator of incidence of tax does not necessarily show who bears the incidence of tax. Before a government makes decisions on whether or not to increase a particular tax, factors to be considered are how the tax is collected. This determines whether the tax is being felt by the individual or not. Increasing or decreasing the tax may thus not necessarily result to behavioral change by the consumer. One way through which government raises income is through sale of bonds. It is this level of sale of government bonds that determines the national debt. The impact the national debt will have on the economy is a dependent on what percentage it is of the country’s GDP. However, both GDP and national debt increase over time as a result of increased population size. The vice versa is also true. Sale of bonds is considered a future investment by the government and who bears the cost of the national debt is worth considering i. e. whether it is the government or the tax payer. To the government, accrued interest over time is one cost. This interest may affect investor confidence both in the short and long term. As bonds are sold and re-sold over time, their interest rate has to be increased lest they lose their value. This however lowers investor confidence in the long run. The rise in government interest rates may bring about a ripple effect increase on other interest rates as investors look for money with which to purchase the bonds. Influence of government may however make product prices independent of their costs despite the above ripple effect they may have at the same time. In an economy, there always are unmet needs which the government must satisfy. However resource distribution by government takes into account not the maximization of their use but rather merely re-distribution. It is this that explains why government may undertake projects that are not economically profitable or necessary as well as why some public utilities are offered at prices which are way below their actual market value or at no value at all. Spending by the government is mainly a factor of whether or not there is the need to spend whilst the principles behind such spending are outlined by the law. Through its expenditure, the government is able to influence the economy’s net purchasing power. Increased government spending implies more money will be in the economy thus leaving more at the hands of households for spending on other commodities other than those for which the government has already paid for. Costs as a result of government spending can either be to the government or the economy. It should be clear who is bearing the cost and the nature of the cost. As utility varies from individual to individual, the desire to purchase due to price disparity can thus be controlled via price controls or subsidies. The latter have however proven more fruitful than the former since subsidies transfer the total cost of an item to the entire population rather than letting a single individual to incur it. Here the cost is thus on the economy, not the government. From this, one can deduce that government finance comes in to bring a solution to the price-utility problem by creating an even bigger problem or rather shifting the cost from the government to the economy. The pattern of government expenditure is majorly a political function. Projects that prove politically building are more likely to be undertaken. Any government has got its obligations and current and future expenditure make up the government’s obligations regarding expenditure. Future obligations may seem not that costly until it reaches a point where they must be incurred. Their costs are accounted for but not incurred until the need arises. Incentives can be either political or economical. Incentives such as government pensions are majorly dependent on the size of the working and the retired population. A good balance enables pension payment. On the private side however, payment of insurance benefits is dependent on the currently existing subscribers to the insurance. CHAPTER 20: INTERNATIONAL TRADE Some have argued that in international trade, while one country gains, another loses. But both parties should be gaining in a way otherwise there wouldn’t be a reason to trade. A country may gain via for example economic growth. This has been the general effect of international trade. However, terms used in international trade such as trade deficit and surplus do not necessarily reflect a country’s economic wellness. To determine this, one has to look past the figures involved in international trade. A country may have quite a number of reasons why it should or should not engage itself in international trade. Reasons for however outweigh those against. Those for include absolute advantage, comparative advantage and economies of scale. In terms of absolute advantage, one country can produce particular commodities at prices cheaper than those of another or products of a higher quality. This may encourage it to pursue international trade. As for comparative advantage, the opportunity cost of one country A to produce a certain commodity at the expense of another is much lower than that of country B. Comparative advantage is thus all about efficiency of one country as compared to another. The costs forgone in producing a product should be lower and income generated from the production line opted for ought to be higher hence making them economically viable. The returns should also be in surplus enough for the country to purchase the commodity it forgo to produce. In terms of economies of scale, some ventures are viable only if there is enough market to consume the output. Such markets can be created through exports of commodities hence maximizing advantages brought about due to economies of scale or large scale production. Apart from enabling countries to achieve economies of scale, international trade also facilitates countries to fully utilize their comparative and absolute advantages. However, economies of scale have also resulted in the downfall of some infant industries where protectionist policies are inexistent. In as much as many countries may engage in international trade, some succeed whilst others do not. Reasons for the downfall of others may be the restrictions that exist in International Trade. These include emphasis that has been placed on efficiency of the production process. Another effect of such restrictions are collapse of domestic industries where protectionism does not exist. However international trade itself brings about government interference with trade due to policies such as protectionism while it may result to creation of monopolistic markets and unfair competition finally. Arguments for International Trade restrictions Different arguments have been put forward for international trade to have restrictions. The high wage fallacy argues that commodities produced by highly paid workers cannot compete with those produced by low paid ones. This does not hold since the argument does not distinguish between wage rates and labor costs and between labor costs and total costs. Wage rates may therefore be higher yet the total costs are lower due to economies of scale hence higher profits. Restrictions may also exist so as to save jobs domestically. However, just as free trade results to growth in the economies of all countries engaged simultaneously so do trade restrictions result to reduced economic growth or even reversed economic growth. Restricting trade thus does not result in increased employment. Rather, there will be less spending in the economy. The infant industry argument posits that local developing industries ought to be given time to grow to a level at which they can compete with other industries. However, survival of an industry is not a factor of its growth in terms of production and sales. Political muscle plays a key role in determining the fate of an industry. The National defense argument tries to explain why countries opt to have suppliers of things that are essential for their own national survival lest the external supplier turn enemy. Examples of such commodities are ammunition. Last on the list of reasons for protectionism is the dumping argument which is however restricted given the uncertainties of determining production costs. Here economies of scale may come into play and a supplier selling his/her commodities at lower prices abroad may actually be mistaken for dumping. These restrictions to trade may come in the form of tariffs which are taxes on imports and aim to raise their prices. The restrictions may also be in the form of import quotas which bring about uneven competition beside achieving the same objective of raising import prices. CHAPTER 21: INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF WEALTH International wealth transfers may take the forms of either direct or indirect foreign investments or remittances from citizens whose domicile is abroad. Rich countries always tend to invest in fellow rich counties due to fear of not getting a return on their investment if done in a poor country. Political and economic stability, corruption levels, level of honesty amongst the country’s populace as well as movement of capital within a said country’s economy are factors affecting the decision of whether to or not to invest. International trade takes into account only goods exchanged between countries leaving behind service output. It is for this that International trade has to be at a balance despite the fact that measures used in international trade may not be true reflectors of the trade. An economy that has concentrated in service production rather than goods will tend to export more services and import more commodities. The decision of whether a trade deficit is harmful or not is best done by comparing the deficit with the performance of the whole economy. As a result, the Balance of Payment measure is a better reflector of international trade than the Balance of Payments. Economic transactions are not zero-sum activities where only the buyer and the seller gain, rather it is a wealth creator to both the parties directly involved and to the â€Å"spectators. † Immigration and emigration which are key factors in international trade result to knowledge transfer, new ideas and businesses being created, job creation amongst others. However, on the dark side of the same are diseases, brain drain, increase in crime, collapsing economies and terrorism. Imperialism which implies the domination and exploitation of one country by another is also a means of wealth transfer. However, international investments have been argued to be equal to imperial looting as the subject country loses more than it gains. This explains the class strata of first, second and third world countries. Ceteris paribus, imperialism is more of a moral than an economic argument. Foreign aid, which entails wealth transfer from richer to poorer countries or from one government to another, may or may not be used for intended purposes. The use of foreign aid in government investments has more often than not resulted to mismanagement due to corruption. Some foreign aid comes with strings attached in the form of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). Such aid has proven to deter rather than encourage development. World over, the inexistence of a body to oversee the giving of aid to poorer countries has resulted to exploitation of the recipient. Aid may be in the form of cash grants or goods and services to the recipient country. However, the under-utilization of most of the resources in the recipient country is what leads it to have a need for foreign aid. CHAPTER 23: MYTHS ABOUT MARKETS The name â€Å"market† in itself is a myth as a market is viewed as a thing rather than the people in the market themselves who are engaging in business activity. This has led to rigidity of the market. In a market, variation of prices from one seller to another is always notable. This, economists would say defy the laws of supply and demand but in actual sense they do not. Rather, supply and demand should be looked at from the point of view of different consumers. Each consumer will have a different of demand and supply curve intersections due to utility. Prices in the market ought to be ‘affordable’ and ‘reasonable’ is a notion that is not realistic. It implies that prices should be independent of the market forces of demand and supply as well as production cost but should instead favor the purchasing power of the consumer. The third myth about markets is that some firms may tend to sell their products at below normal prices so as to drive away competition. This myth has not been proven though hence is not that realistic. Fourth is the issue of branding. Despite its advantages of making suppliers and manufacturers to emphasize on quality, the products being sold are more or less the same. What will actually be different is the pricing products or services with brand names that are widely known will definitely cost or charge more. A business, no matter how small is linked to the economy as a whole. Te role different enterprises play in the economy is a factor of whether they are classified as profit and loss or as non-profit making enterprises. However, there exist differences between the two in that profit and loss organizations will always tend to emphasize on quality in order to maximize profits whilst in non-profit making organizations, the customers themselves will not be in a position to emphasize on quality since they are already paying far less than the true value of the commodity or service they are getting. It is the nature of the organization that finally determines what name will be given to the extra amounts remaining after costs as well as how it will be used. In some its called profit whilst in others it is revenue. The ‘Trickle down theory|; is more of a political than an economic theory. The theory posits that those opposed to equality in resource distribution tend to believe that resources should be bestowed on the rich so that it may in effect trickle down to the rest of the populace. The theory is a myth since economically one has to spend first so as to make an income. This spending comes in the form of say purchase of goods and services for sale as well as payments made for their delivery. The economic reality is thus exactly the opposite of the ‘Trickle Down effect. † CHAPTER 24: NON-ECONOMIC VALUES Economics is not a value in itself. Rather it compares values. The market on its part is a reflector of the people’s attitudes and actions as well as beliefs. The issue of the market with respect to moral and social values arises when the market is looked at from the angle of the impact it has on such issues. The society’s moral standards will determine how transactions are conducted in the market. Non-economic values in the market tend to introduce morality into business by defining words such as greed alongside maximization of profit for example and others. These non-economic values however put aside economic concepts like the laws of demand and supply that are used in price determination. These non-economic values are also one-sided since they tend to lean on the consumer’s side mostly whilst forgoing the seller’s side. However, greed cannot be termed to be a product of any particular economic system. Rather it is an intricate trait in all humans and which all have to cope with. The difference however comes with regard to how this greed manifests itself in the different economic systems and how it is controlled. The term greed is however neither adequate or fair in explaining the desire of the seller to make as much profit as possible out of the buyer nor the wish of the buyer to purchase the product with the highest quality at the lowest price. Greed is thus a two way concept which only looks at who is on the gaining end. Exploitation is another term that crops up whenever non-market values are mentioned. It can simply be said to be that which is beyond the acceptable as per the society’s moral standards. Exploitation is thus based on emotion and not the facts existing on the real world. The disparity between greed and exploitation comes in that whilst the former occurs in almost all types of economic systems, exploitation mostly occurs in monopolistic markets where no free competition exists and the buyer has no wide choice of commodities given the factor of the sole supplier. To regulate the above, the government may put in place regulations such as trade barriers, tariffs and quotas as well as value added tax or corporate taxes. Taxation by the government may however be considered as both greed and exploitation. Greed since even the poorest of persons in the economy pays taxes whether in the form of VAT or income tax and exploitation as the government enjoys a monopoly of taxing the people yet one may argue that the quality of services is not guaranteed. The market however takes into consideration many factors before pricing decisions are made. At times the employer for instance may be at the receiving end when the employee has a greater bargaining power or where the demand for services he/she can render is higher than what the market can supply. Here, both greed and exploitation come into play. In as much as governments try to control or maintain at a low the levels of exploitation and greed, the measures put in place might actually serve to make even worse the life of the consumers in cases where exploitation and greed did not exist before. The principle of fairness when looked at from the non-market values point of view carries with it two assumptions. First is that all individuals are playing by the same rules and secondly that all players have the same potential. However, these two may not hold as different individuals have different desires, priorities and thus derive different levels of utility from the same activity, commodity or service. Fairness doe not have a specific definition hence it is majorly those in power who are left to define what is and what is not fair. However, vested interests may underlie the making of such decision. Some groups may also be completely ignored in deciding what fairness is. Economics being majorly concerned with the distribution of resources and values tends to critic â€Å"unmet needs† of the society. Here, the decision of whether a government should carry out a project or not is a function of what has to be sacrificed in order to satisfy the unmet need. However, the existence or identification of an unmet need is not a justification of it to be met. CHAPTER 25: PARTING THOUGHTS The economic concepts and principles cannot all be listed given the imaginative nature of the human mind. However, in as much as new concepts and principles are being developed whilst older ones continue to be refined and refuted, the bottom line should be that they all ought to divorce from emotions which vary from human being to human being. Rather there ought to be basic concepts and principles that are followed by both new and old economic ideas. The above fallacies ought to carry precision in the use of words as well as clarity in order to ensure their true or intended ideology is achieved. A common feature of most economic fallacies is that they focus on the initial consequences of particular policies and not the long term effects of the same. Confusion thus results as focus is placed not on the benefits or effects of policies but rather on the objectives of such policies. The importance of economic principles supersedes their use in only economic factors. If keenly looked at, most things do have economic aspects in which economic principles ca be applied. Instead of focusing on the objectives of goals, of main concern should be the activities that will be pursued t achieve such goals, what the particular legislation or goal encourages and discourages, the regulations that will follow the attainment of the goal, the long term effects of activities aimed towards attaining the goal. Last but not least, we ought to look at similar goals that were attained in the past and the impact they had. In as much as economics carries many fallacies, a distinction should be made between what is practical and what is indeed a fallacy.

Features of Information Technology

Features of Information Technology The Internet also known as the Net and is also a worldwide network of computers. It is made up of thousands of interconnected computer networks (a network is a group of computers connected together). A network in the Internet can be large (consisting of thousands of computers), medium (consisting of hundreds of computers) or small (consisting of just a few computers). Similarly, the computers in the network can be mainframes, minicomputers or microcomputers. All computers in the Internet cooperate and work together to provide a variety of useful services to the users. Computers in the Internet fall into two basic categories: host (servers) and terminals (browser). Users connect to the internet by subscribing to an Internet Service Provider commonly known as an (ISP). An ISP is an organisation that provides bandwidth services at some cost to clients who wish to have internet connections in their homes or offices. NetZero, ATT and Microsoft Network (MSN) are ISPs. Individuals also connect to the Internet through business firms, universities, or research centres that have designated Internet domains. Connection is done by: Traditional telephone lines and modem Broadband services which are provided by Digital subscriber line (DSL), cable satellite connections and T lines. T1 and T3 are international telephone standards for digital communications. They leased dedicated lines suitable for business or government agencies to secure guaranteed service levels. The Internet is based on the TCP/IP networking protocol suite. Every computer on the net is assigned a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. The Internet also consists of domain naming system which stands for DNS. The (DNS) converts IP addresses to domain names . Features that define the internet The World Wide Web (WWW) EMAIL NEWS TELNET File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Internet Relay Chat (IRC) The World Wide Web (WWW) The World Wide Web Know as WWW is part of the internet that supports hypertext documents allowing users to access and navigate different types of data. It is also a web document that is encoded with HTML tags. These HTML tags allow designers to link contents via hyperlinks. Every web page has an address which is a Uniform Resource Locator which stands for (URL). Currently the Web is viewed mainly as a tool for allowing access to a large amount of published information. EMAIL This is also known as Electronic Mail and it is the reason most people stay on the internet. With the inception of the email facility people can create, send and receive email messages to one another around the globe using an email program with an email account on the internet mail server. Email clients usually contain user interfaces to display and edit text. NEWS News is another major feature of the internet. It includes hundreds of newsgroup each newsgroup hosts discussion on a specific topic. A newsgroups name indicates its users special topic of interest such as clothes, shoes, food etc. When participating in a news program you need to have a news reader program that lets you read articles that have been posted on a news server. Articles can be posted for people to read and respond to. is the worlds biggest electronic discussion forum. It provides a way for messages to be sent among computers across the entire Internet. People from all over the world participate in discussions on thousands of specific areas of interest called newsgroups What is Telnet? The Telnet protocol is often thought of as simply providing a facility for remote logins to computer via the Internet. Telnet follows a Client / Server Model. You run a piece of software on your own PC (the client) to use the resources of a distant Server Computer (host computer) Some practical uses of Telnet include: Telnet is a Protocol that lets you use the power of the Internet to connect you to databases, library catalogs, and other information resources around the world. Telnet lets you connect directly to another computer on the Internet and run programs on the computer (provided you have access permission (Username and Password). Theoretically you have a lot of power at your fingertips. Your dumb terminal or very old PC can run programs on the worlds most powerful computers. How is the Internet governed? The Internet is a democratic setup. No single organization owns or manages all the resources in the Internet. Rather, it is collectively owned and managed by thousands of organizations from around the world. Each organization owns and manages its own network, but provides services to other networks as well as receives services from them. There is no master or slave relation in the Net all users have equal standing. The Internet data traffic is carried over transcontinental high-speed backbone networks that operate in a range of 45Mbps to 2.5 Gbps. Trunk lines are owned by long-distance telephone companies called Network Service Providers or by National Government. Local connection lines are owned by regional telephone and cable television companies in the United States that connect retail users in homes and business to internet. The regional networks lease access to Internet Service Providers (ISPs), private companies, and government institutions. Each organisation pays for its own networks and its own local Internet connection services, a part of which is paid to the long-distance trunk line. Individual internet users pays ISPs for using their services and they generally pay a flat subscription fee no matter how much or how little they use the internet. The internet is not owned by any state or organisation and it has no formal management. However the internet policies are established by a number of professional organisations and government bodies including the (IAB) Internet Architecture Board that helps define the overall structure of the NET, the Internet Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), assigns IP addresses and the World Wide Web Consortium which sets Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) and other programming standards for the web. These organisations influence government agencies, network owners, ISPs and software developers with the goal of keeping the Internet operating. The Internet must also conform to the laws of the nation-states in which it operates as well as the technical infrastructure that exist within the nation-states.