Mattel Case

#07 – Teaching Case Study Hazardous Toy Recalls at Mattel, Inc. Key words: Chinese manufacturing, outsourcing, product recalls, global supply chain risk Type of submission: teaching case study Hazardous Toy Recalls at Mattel, Inc. [? ] Abstract In 2006 and 2007 Mattel, Inc. was faced with massive recalls of Chinese-made toys due to potentially dangerous levels of lead in various toy model surface paints and small magnets in toys which could fall off and be swallowed.This case describes the events leading up to the recalls, the response by Mattel, the legal, health, reputation and financial implications of the recalls, and the impacts of the recalls on Mattel’s global supply chain. Readers are asked to assess the situation and to decide what should have been done differently, if anything. The case is appropriate for undergraduate and graduate business students analyzing various purchasing, risk, and supply chain design issues. The 2006/2007 Mattel Toy RecallsIn some resp ects, the period from March 2006 to October 2007 was a very troublesome time for Mattel and their Chinese toy suppliers. On a number of occasions during this period, Mattel recalled a total of about 14 million Chinese-made toys in the U. S. and Canada for the same two serious problems. Millions more were recalled in other foreign markets. These two problems were indeed significant; not only for Mattel, but for their distributors, retailers, Chinese suppliers and finally the families around the world buying their toys.Over 2 million of the recalled toys had either been sprayed with lead-tainted paint or contained potentially hazardous levels of lead within the materials, while the remaining toys contained small magnets which could come off and be swallowed. Table I summarizes these recalls. Table IMattel’s Chinese-Made Toy Recalls in the US and Canada, 2006 – 2007* |Date |Toy and Problem Description |No.Units Recalled | |03/30/2006 |American Girl jewelry containing high levels of lead | 180,000 | |11/21/2006 |Polly Pocket toys with small loose magnets | 2,400,000 | |08/02/2007 |Various Fisher Price toys with lead in surface paint | 1,000,000 | |08/14/2007 |Batman, One Piece, Barbie, Tanner, Doggie Day Care, and Polly Pocket toy | 9,350,000 | | |sets with small loose magnets | | |08/14/2007 |Sarge toy cars with lead in surface paint | 250,000 | |09/04/2007 |Geo Trax, Barbie, and Fisher-Price Bongo Band toys with lead in surface | 750,000 | | |paint | | |10/25/2007 |Fisher Price Go Diego Go toy with lead in surface paint | 40,000 | | Total | 13,970,000 | *Source – U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, www. cpsc. gov On March 30, 2006 approximately 180,000 of Mattel’s American Girl jewelry pieces in the U. S. were recalled because the Chinese-made jewelry contained high levels of lead. On November 21, 2006, following 170 reports of loose magnets on Polly PocketTM play sets, Mattel recalled over 2. 4 million Polly Pocket play sets in the U. S. and Canada and another 2 million worldwide.In at least three of the cases, children who had swallowed magnets suffered serious intestinal perforations requiring surgery and hospitalization. Then nine months later on August 2, 2007, Mattel recalled almost 1 million Fisher-Price toys for using paint exceeding the lead content limit set by the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Two weeks later, the CPSC announced five separate recalls of hundreds of thousands of Mattel die cast toy cars for potentially hazardous levels of lead paint and over 9 million play sets in the U. S. and Canada, following hundreds of reports of small magnets falling out of the toys. In early September, Mattel announced another major recall—over 700,000 units of 11 different toy models for having paint containing excess lead.Finally, on October 25, 2007, another recall was announced by the CPSC for yet more Chinese-manufactured toys containing paint with lead. In late August 2007, Mattel announced that some of the lead-tainted toys had been painted by a third-party subcontractor working for one of Mattel’s primary Asian toy suppliers, Hong Kong-based Early Light Industrial Co. , a toy maker for many of the world’s biggest toy companies. Hong Li Da, the Chinese subcontractor used by Early Light, was supposed to use Mattel-approved paint, however it instead used less costly paint from an unapproved supplier. Today, Mattel continues to use the Early Light Co. , a trusted supplier of theirs for more than 15 years.Another Chinese subcontractor, Lee Der Industrial Co. , also used an unauthorized paint supplier when making many of the toys included in the August 2 recall. [? ] Mattel typically performs monthly audits of manufacturers’ toys, which sometimes includes testing random units and other times involves reviewing manufacturers’ testing records. Mr. Jim Walter, Mattel’s senior vice president of worldwide quality assurance exp lained, â€Å"They didn’t perform the testing they should have, and the audit we performed didn’t catch it. †[? ] Mattel’s Response In late August 2007, Mattel CEO Robert Eckert filmed a video apology to parents which was placed on the company’s website and on Yahoo’s website. I can’t change what has happened in the past, but I can change how we work in the future,† he said, adding that he had four children of his own. Mattel also pledged to increase the frequency of its paint inspections, testing every batch delivered to every supplier. The firm also purchased full-page ads in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. [? ] Following the third quarter 2007 recalls, Mattel slowed down the shipments coming out of Asia to conduct product testing and safety reviews. Similarly, Mattel’s shipments to global markets were curtailed while various regulatory authorities reviewed Mattel’s safety procedures. Ultimately, Matt el was able to prevent more than two-thirds of the recalled toys from reaching consumers by contacting distribution centers and retailers. [? Most of the export/import issues were resolved by the end of 2007. Today, Mattel’s first-tier suppliers must conduct quality tests on all incoming materials as well as finished toys made by subcontractors. Also as a result of the recalls, Mattel created a Corporate Responsibility organization, which has accountability internally and externally for adherence to company safety and compliance procedures. [? ] On September 5, 2007, Mattel representatives told an American congressional committee that the problem with toys containing unsafe magnets was the result of a flawed toy design, and not due to poor adherence to manufacturing requirements in China.According to Chairman and CEO Robert Ekert, more than 50,000 hours had been spent investigating the issues surrounding the toy recalls. â€Å"We apologise again to everyone affected and prom ise that we will continue to focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our toys,† he said. [? ] Finally, on September 21 in a meeting in Beijing with Mr. Li Changjiang, the chief Chinese quality official along with a group of reporters, Mr. Thomas Debrowski, a senior Mattel executive, offered an apology to the Chinese people—â€Å"Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys†. [? Li also told reporters that the Chinese government shut down operations and revoked the business license of Lee Der Industrial, one of the subcontractors producing the defective Mattel toys (a co-owner of Lee Der Industrial committed suicide shortly after the August recall announcement). [? ] With regard to the unsafe magnet problem, Mattel made several manufacturing changes to better retain magnets in their toys, including longer cure times for adhesives, the use of additional ad hesive, and the use of injection molding to better encapsulate magnets inside toys. The Chinese Manufacturing and Regulatory Environments Companies operating in China are subjected to very few regulations, and have little legal recourse.Foreign firms operating in China try to cover themselves by securing guarantees from their Chinese suppliers that they will follow specific procedures, but they are almost impossible to enforce. In September 2007 Mr. Yan Jiangying of the Chinese State Food and Drug Association admitted that â€Å"†¦supervisory foundations are still very weak†. The oversight of food safety for instance, is split between five ministries resulting in unclear responsibilities. There also tends to be no history of regulatory compliance for Chinese businesses, causing many safety and quality shortcuts to be taken when suppliers are pressured by their customers to reduce prices. With regards to lead paint use, China has laws banning lead paint from consumer prod ucts, but lax regulatory enforcement means these laws are routinely ignored.In a test conducted by the University of Cincinnati from 2004-2007 for example, 38 paint samples from China representing 11 brands were tested and more than 25 percent were found to contain lead levels exceeding the U. S. safe limit of 0. 06 percent. McDonald’s, one of the world’s largest toy buyers, says the problem of lead paint in China is so widespread that their company must monitor paint quality all the way back to the original paint suppliers. Their toy makers must agree to use only McDonald’s approved paint. [? ] Ironically, Chinese cultural norms are often at odds with the way companies are managed, as described earlier with regards to the suicide of Lee Der Industrial’s co-owner.For a number of years, Mattel has used the International Center for Corporate Accountability (ICCA), a non-profit research organization, to conduct audits of its company-managed and third-party C hinese manufacturers to insure compliance with Mattel’s Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP). Mattel’s GMP is shown in Table II. Chinese plant managers are required to complete compliance reports prior to actual field audits. Audits consist of the firm’s accounting practices, confidential one-on-one interviews with employees, an examination of the plant’s policies, procedures and practices with regard to environment, health and safety issues, and inspections of the general maintenance of the manufacturing facilities, storage, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste materials, hygiene issues, and dormitories and recreational facilities.The ICCA provides the audit reports to Mattel, whereby corrective actions are determined in response to the findings. [? ] Mattel’s Ethical and Legal Considerations The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) can exclude from the U. S. market, products failing to comply with applicable regulations or that otherwi se create a substantial risk of injury, including articles containing excessive amounts of hazardous substances. The CPSC may also require the recall, repurchase, replacement, or repair of articles. [? ] Additionally, U. S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) ensures that goods entering the U. S. are safe for consumers. The CBP has authority detain and exclude any products based on instructions from the CPSC.On August 20, 2007, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Mattel with regards to the toys with excessive lead paint. This lawsuit sought to have Mattel establish a fund so that parents could be reimbursed for testing their children for lead poisoning (the cost to test for lead poisoning is about $50 per person). A second class-action lawsuit was filed against Mattel on September 27, 2007 in California seeking damages for injuries suffered from swallowing magnets improperly attached to Mattel toy sets. On September 4, 2007, the CPSC began inv estigating whether Mattel knowingly withheld information regarding any safety risks posed by the millions of toys recalled in August.Mattel could be substantially fined if they are found in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1972, which stipulates that companies must inform the CPSC within 24 hours when they obtain product defect information which could create a health hazard. [? ] The Chinese Toy Industry Today By the end of 2007, the Chinese toy industry was struggling. In Foshan, a major Chinese toy manufacturing hub in Guangdong province, some companies were tightening standards and increasing testing to reassure Western buyers. Others were closing down or looking for less regulated markets. â€Å"It’s very difficult to do business now,† says Ms. Deng Xiling, sales manager at a factory making plastic components for toys.Her company closed its painted-toy division following the Mattel toy recalls and laid-off almost one-third of its workforce, because t hey couldn’t afford the types of product testing Western buyers started requiring. Table IIMattel’s Global Manufacturing Principles[? ] Mattel’s Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) apply to all parties that manufacture, assemble, license or distribute any product or package bearing any of the Mattel logos. GMP provides guidance and minimum standards for all manufacturing plants, assembly operations and distribution centers that manufacture or distribute Mattel products. GMP requires safe and fair treatment of employees and that facilities protect the environment while respecting the cultural, ethnic and philosophical differences of the countries where Mattel operates.GMP also requires internal and periodic independent monitoring of our performance and our partners performance to the standards. Mattel is committed to executing GMP in all areas of its business and will only engage business partners who share our commitment to GMP. Mattel expects all its business partners to adhere to GMP, and will assist them in meeting GMP requirements. However, Mattel is prepared to end partnerships with those who do not comply. Mattel and its partners will operate their facilities in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Mattel has defined the following overarching principles to which all facilities and partners are required to comply.These principles are dynamic and evolving to continually improve our efforts to ensure on-going protection of employees and the environment. In addition, Mattel has developed a comprehensive and detailed set of underlying procedures and standards that enable us to apply and administer our GMP in the countries where we operate. The procedures and standards are updated and refined on an ongoing basis. 1. Management Systems — Facilities must have systems in place to address labor, social, environmental, health and safety issues. 2. Wages and Working Hours — Employees must be paid for all hours worked. Wages for regular and overtime work must be compensated at the legally mandated rates. Wages must be paid in legal tender and at least monthly.Working hours must be in compliance with country and Mattel requirements. Regular and overtime working hours must be documented, verifiable and accurately reflect all hours worked by employees. Overtime work must be voluntary. Employees must be provided with rest days in compliance with country and Mattel Requirements. Payroll deductions must comply with applicable country and Mattel requirements. 3. Age Requirements — All employees must meet the minimum age for employment as specified by country and Mattel requirements. 4. Forced Labor – Employees must be employed of their own free will. Forced or prison labor must not be used to manufacture, assemble or distribute any Mattel products. 5.Discrimination – The facility must have policies on hiring, promotion, employee rights and disciplinary practices that address discrim ination. 6. Freedom of Expression and Association — The facility must recognize all employees’ rights to choose to engage in, or refrain from, lawful union activity and lawful collective bargaining through representatives selected according to applicable law. Management must create formal channels to encourage communications among all levels of management and employees on issues that impact their working and living conditions. 7. Living Conditions — Dormitories must be separated from production and warehouse buildings.Dormitories and canteens must be safe, sanitary and meet the basic needs of employees. 8. Workplace Safety — The facility must have programs in place to address health and safety issues that exist in the workplace. 9. Health — First aid and medical treatment must be available to all employees. Monitoring programs must be in place to ensure employees are not exposed to harmful working conditions. 10. Emergency Planning — The fac ility must have programs and systems in place for dealing with emergencies such as fires, spills and natural disasters. Emergency exit doors must be kept unlocked at all times when the building is occupied. Emergency exits must be clearly marked and free of obstructions. 11.Environmental Protection — Facilities must have environmental programs in place to minimize their impact on the environment. Discussion Questions 1. Was Mattel’s response to the toy recalls appropriate? Why or why not? How could the company have responded differently? 2. What should Mattel’s responsibility be to their Chinese supplier-partners? 3. Read Mattel’s Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) shown in Table II. Should anything else be added to their GMP? 4. What are the ethical, legal and reputation issues that need to be addressed by Mattel? Was Mattel acting correctly to publicly apologize and take responsibility for the design errors and lack of oversight? 1] This case was pre pared solely to provide material for student discussion and does not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The author may have disguised certain names and other information to protect confidentiality. [i] Zamiska, N. and N. Casey, â€Å"Toy Makers Face Dilemma Over Supplier,† Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2007, p. A10. [ii] Spencer, J. and N. Casey, â€Å"Toy Recall Shows Challenge China Poses to Partners,† Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2007, p. A1. [iii] Casey, N. and N. Zamiska, â€Å"Mattel Does Damage Control After New Recall,† Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2007, p. B1. [iv] Schuman, J. , â€Å"The Morning Brief: Lead Paint + Elmo = Bad News for China,† Wall Street Journal Online, August 3, 2007. [v] 2007 Mattel, Inc. Annual Report. [vi] Steverman, B. â€Å"Mattel: More Tribulations in Toyland,† Business Week Online, September 6, 2007, p. 12. [vii] â€Å"Business: Plenty of Blame to Go Ar ound; Chinese Manufacturing,† The Economist, V. 382, No. 8548, 2007, pp. 78. [viii] Lindner, M. , â€Å"Mattel Takes Its Lumps for toxic Toys,† Forbes. com, September 21, 2007. [ix] Spencer, J. and N. Casey. [x] 2007 Mattel, Inc. website www. mattel. com/about us/corporate responsibility. [xi] 2007 Mattel, Inc. Annual Report. [xii] Luk, S. and E. Wong, â€Å"Risks Faced by China-based Toy Manufacturers,† China Law & Practice, November 2007, p. 1. [xiii] 2007 Mattel, Inc. website www. mattel. com/about us/corporate responsibility.

Parents held responsible for childrens crime Essay

Parents hold a lot of responsibility when raising children. They are there to teach them right from wrong and how to behave in order to raise them into successful men and women that today’s society can relate to; rather than juvenile delinquents that this world discriminates upon. It is the parent’s responsibility to instill values into their young children because as the children grow it becomes their responsibility to make their own decisions since one day they will have to face the real world on their own. So I believe parents should not be held accountable for their children’s actions because blaming parents is not going to help children learn from their mistakes. Advocates who subscribe to full parental accountability stated, â€Å"They believe parents should know about and control their children’s actions and accept their obligation to bear the consequences of their children’s mistakes.† By this comment they’re stating that parents basically deserve every punishment their children commit. However, parents shouldn’t be incarcerated for their children’s wrong doings, the child themselves are responsible for the crimes they committed. They deserve to pay the price for the actions they take. If children did the crime then the most reasonable explanation would be that they pay the price. Blaming parents isn’t going to help the children learn from their mistakes, it’s just going to make it that much easier for them to commit the crime again without getting any punishment sent their way. When it comes to parents some may be the best when it comes to raising their children, however their child decide to go down a different path with the wrong crowd and completely misbehave. That doesn’t mean that the parents should be punished for the child’s mistakes. Parents instill rules upon their children and have high expectations for them. However, many children in today’s society are easily influenced by people in their surroundings. So, by attacking the parents the problem isn’t going to change and the situation isn’t going to get any easier. The vicious dog analogy that states, â€Å"Parents should control a child just as an owner should control a dog† is not a reasonable statement. I fully agree with the author Sylvia Miller. Children are not animals nor should they be treated like animals. They don’t deserve to be controlled like a pet. By controlling a child and keeping them enclosed like a pet, is only going to make matters worse and the child is going to rebel. A parent has to lay down supervision and care for their children, but aren’t responsible for every  action the child makes. If we continue to blame parents for their children’s crimes, then we will see no positive outcomes in the child’s future. Parents can’t control their children only influence them. If a parent continues to try to participate in a child’s life and that child continues to rebel. It is therefore not the parents fault of the crime that child commits. It is up to the children to follow the rules that their parents established for them in order to live a successful life.

Analysis: In School Days

In School Life is a melancholy poem written by John Greenleaf Whittier. In the poem an old man reflects back upon his life and remembers his childhood days. One incident in particular stands out, when he experiences his first love. As one grows older they learn to appreciate what the true treasures in life are and that those moments will stay in their hearts forever. Whittier sets the scene by an old schoolhouse by a road. It is his schoolhouse, where he grew up and his education began. And blackberry-vines are creeping. / Within the masters desk is seen, / Deep-scarred by raps official. He gives the audience a feeling a darkness and sadness. This is being emphasized by Whittier with the word creeping in the forth line. The point of view is that of a young boy. As the school day ends everyone leaves, except for a little boy and girl. They meet after school and the girl tells the boy she loves him. I hate to go above you, / Because, —the brown eyes lower fell,— / Because, you see, I love you! At first she is talking to him to apologize for making him look bad in class. She than tells him that she is sorry because she loves him. Whittier uses the dash marks around the phrase the brown eyes lower fell to emphasize the change in mood from a little dark and sad to an embarrassing moment in time that changes the whole feeling of the poem, to love and warmth. After the speaker tells of how he met his first love he returns to the present time. Still memory to a gray-haired man / That sweet child-face is showing. He is an old man now but he still vividly remembers down to the last detail, how he met her. This is one of those things that he will never forget as long as he lives. Dear girl! The grasses on her grave / Have forty years been growing. The narrator is saying that even though years have passed, love is one of those things that is not just forgotten; it remains with the person forever.

Ethics Unit Mini Case

This case takes place in a large computer operations company. The stakeholders in this case are as follows: Joe, who has been recently promoted to the position of District Manager of Computer Operation. Mary is the Divisional Manager of Information Systems and Joe reports directly to her. John is the President and CEO of the company and the immediate boss to Mary. The other stakeholders are the general employees of this big company and among them anonymous letter writer. Since this is a computer company, the other stake holders are the customers and the community at large. The Division Manager Mary has received information that the CEO has an anonymous letter from an employee stating that a recently installed expensive system is not performing as expected and has not achieved the expected results. With this information Mary confronts Joe the District Manager about this letter. Earlier on, Joe has already communicated the outlined problems to Mary. Mary being the original supporters of the system has ignored the concerns; instead she had informed the CEO that the machine was operating as expected. Since the John the CEO, has requested a letter from Joe explaining the content of the anonymous letter, Mary instructed Joe to draft a letter and lie that the system is operating as projected and that all savings portrayed in the original justification documents are being achieved. Legal Analysis In this case what Mary is asking Joe to do is illegal since she is asking him to falsify information that has to be represented to the CEO. When she says that the savings portrayed are true she is falsifying information. In this case it does not appear that the company has violated any laws but on the other hand, Mary being the representative of the company is doing an illegal act by asking Joe to falsify the information. Ethical Analysis So far we have learnt that ethics can be described as the study of moral development and moral decision making. Business ethics then refers to the study of moral decision making within the business content which encompasses the survey of good versus bad of right versus wrong. Joe is faced with this dilemma as he has to make a decision that tests his moral ethics. When Mary asks him to lie on his reports, she is putting him in a very hard position. Based on the Categorical Imperative Theory, if Joe’s motive is pure, then his means can be justified. In this case Mary’s demands and ultimatum can make Joe think that he is justified to lie for Mary because if at the end of all this he keeps his position that he has worked had to earn then it is okay. The Utilitarian Theory states that an act is ethical if it produces a greater benefit than the cost. Joe has to analyze if his actions would benefit him or not. For example, he has to look at all angles because if the CEO is to find out that he lied then it could cause him to in a worse position. The Rights Theory according to John Locke (1632-1704) states that individuals had the right to make free choices without governmental interference. These rights are God given. If Joe decides not to listen to Mary and write this draft and tell the truth to the CEO instead it would be his right and the most ethical decision to make. My recommendation for the company is that Mary should own up to the problems that are at hand and tell the CEO that the machine has not operated as she expected and that maybe it was time to look at other alternatives. This is the ethical thing to do as it eliminates dragging Joe into a situation that he did not create. John, the president and CEO, should be able to handle it in a professional way without penalizing but may be asking for solutions from his subordinates. According to Constance Bagley her decision tree provides business leaders with a helpful tool for evaluating the legal and ethical aspects of their decisions. I think Mary and Joe should adopt this strategy because it says for every decision each manager should first ask themselves whether the proposed action is legal and then after that if it is ethical or whether it would be unethical to act to not act.

Movie Review the Return of the Titans

JC Life of Pi: A Movie Review The movie â€Å"Life of Pi† is a story of survival. In order to survive, the protagonist, â€Å"Pi†, draws his inner strength from his spirituality and practicality. A scientist once said, [i]â€Å"A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with. A man is what he makes himself. † As Pi tried to survive in the ocean, he became a soldier in his own right. What Pi’s character portrayed is very similar to what a good soldier should be. On Military Professionalism At the beginning of the story, the pureness, innocence and compassion of Pi’s heart became the foundation of how his character and values were molded.Just like any soldier, very evident to Pi is his portrayal of the standards of loyalty, competence, ethics and morals. Pi has a high standard of loyalty. Pi expressed in words and in deeds his strong support to his family especially to his father. He knew that his father as the head of the family ha s the authority to lead the family. Even though it is against his will to sail to the Pacific and leave India, he knew who has authority and who demands obedience. There is competence as Pi possesses the knowledge, skills, physical attributes and character traits that are necessary in order to survive.From childhood, his quest for information, logic and eagerness to know how things should be done harnessed his whole being through the years. Pi has ethics. He knew how to observe and conform to the accepted principles of right conduct being part of not just his family, but also his family as part of the whole community. His ethics governed his behavior towards the tiger even in a most undesirable situation of being cast away. He is honest, just, truthful and very much concerned about the things that surround him. What differs Pi, from the tiger named Richard Parker, is his being a rational being.It means Pi has morals because of his discernment from knowing what is right from wrong. H is transparency in his acts and openness with his feelings dictated his morals and his morals defined him as a person. On AFP Core Values/Philosophy/Creed At the end of the story, Pi’s total character is revealed. For one who strived to survive, it was inevitable for him to have lived with the same Core Values of a soldier. These values are the love of country, honor, loyalty, valor, duty, and solidarity. His love of country becomes evident with the way he talked about India.He even argued with his father about leaving India when Christopher Columbus sailed the Pacific to find India. He also talked about the cultures and traditions of India with pride and respect. It is respect in the sense that though some traditions and customs (for him) are questionable, he respects it anyway. His honor is equated with his integrity. Growing up in a family who valued honor, with great reputation and credibility, it became easy for him to aspire to live a decent life. His loyalty was displa yed when he acknowledged who the ‘boss’ is or who should demand his obedience.This loyalty enhanced his dedication to establish communication with the tiger. It was tedious and difficult but Pi never stopped trying. So when he won the cooperation of tiger he then showed his sincere concern for the well being of that ‘Richard Parker’. Taming Richard Parker and surviving alone in the Pacific for 221 days is seemingly impossible, but for Pi, he was able to survive. There is valor because he had the ability to overcome his fears and he endured all kinds of pain and hardship just to accomplish his bold will to survive.But what is more glaring is the spiritual side of valor that is shown by his composure, calmness and presence of mind. Even in times of danger, he tried and fought so hard not to be taken by surprise. Despite the difficult moments and the danger of storms, Pi’s values, obedience and discipline remained intact. He took it as a responsibility to survive, so he can take care of Richard Parker. He rendered service by hunting for food and saving rain water to keep the tiger alive. That willingness to sacrifice for others even if it means giving up his life in the process was not just simply courage, but being true to his duty as well.Lastly, solidarity is not just about being bound together. It is also the sustainment of that bind, considering the presence of the one who leads and the ones being led. In the movie, sometimes the tiger is the leader because he has the control over the situation, and sometimes it is Pi. The leadership that is within defines their solidarity. Thoughts on Correlation There is a saying that, [ii]â€Å"From a pure heart, anything can be accomplished. If you ask what the universe is doing, it is eavesdropping on your every desire†.The difference between a civilian and a citizen is that a citizen has the courage to make the safety of his community a personal responsibility. Pi, is not just an ordinary civilian, he is a citizen. As to the difference between a citizen and a soldier, it is more of a question of understanding how the individual's heart, intent and focus are aligned. If one will look into the verbs used in the roles of Army Core Values, it is â€Å"as protectors of†¦, guardians of†¦, and dynamic proponents for development†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . These contexts are all geared towards doing good for others.May it be a soldier or a warrior, a civilian or a citizen, as individuals, the values, creeds and philosophies are applicable to everyone. In everyday life, it all depends on where a person learns these values from, how he enhances them, when to apply them, why he exercises them and to whom are they for. But these values are always best use for the protection of what he or she finds important and worth protecting. [iii] â€Å"Ethical conduct is not just about uniforms. It is about taking personal responsibility. † ————â⠂¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ [i] Alexander Graham Bell [ii] Deepak Chopra [iii] Anonymous

Sports Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sports Industry - Essay Example Different sports have become to be associated with the life of the people. Take the example of football game. Champion league has grown to be a famous sports event for many people all over the world which is bringing in millions of pounds to Europe. In England, the premier league is dear to the English people and attracts funs all over the world. Sports in England have grown to be a big business. (Bourke, 2003) With this growth, there have been many transactions that are going on. To promote honesty in the industry, it must be protected by laws that are enacted in the constitution of the individual countries. The industry has been streamlined by legal enactments which ensure that there are honesty deals going on in the industry. Football game has been one of the games that have been guarded by legislation that has enabled judgment of legal cases that has threatened to crumble the industry. Transfer of players from one club to another has been dodged by controversies which are always settled in the court. Match fixing scandals in have also been taken to courts. In Italy match fixing scandals has attracted the attention of the world and has consequently led to review of laws that govern sports in most countries. There has been other transaction in the industry which calls for legal enactment to protect them. Take example of intellectual property. Intellectual properties like trademarks, logo s, domain names, copyright and patents owned by individual and clubs needs to be protected. There has to be legal structures that support these intellectual properties. (Ben, 2006) Another aspect of the industry that has attracted legal enactments is contracts signed between different players in the industry. Clubs enter into contract with individual and sign them as part of their squads. Individual sport person enter into legal contracts with their promoters. The provisions of these contracts must be protected by the law of the land to make sure that none of the party exploits the other and no one bleaches the contract. Legal enactments have been crucial in ensuring that the industry is run smoothly in terms of signing of contracts between different individuals with individuals and clubs. To comply with the rising need for legal legislation in the sport industry, each individual authority overseeing a specific sport has move to draft laws that defines the operation in the industry. FIFA is the world body that governs football and has moved fast draft legislation that governs the football industry. The Judo association in the UK, the British Judo Association has its own legislation that governs the sport. Other legislations are meant to protect the identity of sport bodies in the United Kingdom. For example, The British Olympic Association has legislation that protects the use of five rings which are meant for Olympic. The use of the ring and other insignias is protected under the law where the association has exclusive rights of using these symbols. The association was give this right in 1995 through an act of parliament after a long debate. Another area in sports that is governed in the UK is the collective sale of sports and TV rights. This has been featured in the UK legislation. This legislation was meant of make the industry self sustaining by collecting fee from the sales in all major events. This has seen the emergence of British

Dongfan Greg Chung in a California Courtroom Research Paper

Dongfan Greg Chung in a California Courtroom - Research Paper Example This essay tells that facing charges in a California courtroom, Greg Chung is alleged to have passed along private and classified information to China for more than three decades without having been detected. His case represents the first in which a person is tried under the Economic Espionage Act which was passed in 1996. The charges he faces are severe and vary from conspiracy to economic espionage to obstruction of justice, lying to federal agents and being a foreign agent himself. Each charge is a hefty criminal matter with strong ethical implications. Did Mr. Chung knowingly deceive and lie for more than three decades while passing along private information to China, an economic adversary and a country which has had strained relations with the United States for more than a half century? Are deceit and mistrust the only ethical dilemmas faced by Mr. Chung? The following will explore the important ethical values raised by this case and the important ethical principles currently be en debated in the trial of Mr. Chung. From a purely ethical standpoint, the case of Dongfan "Greg" Chung raises important questions about a man, an employee and a naturalized American citizen. As an individual facing an onslaught of questions surrounding his character over a thirty year period, Mr. Chung is being questioned about his truthfulness and honesty. These are important individual values which are being brought into question by the charges leveled by a Santa Ana prosecutor. From a purely business standpoint, Greg Chung is accused of breaching the business ethics of trust, particularly as it pertains to sensitive, perhaps even classified Boeing documents â€Å"critical to the US space program†.

Article on Demand and Supply Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Article on Demand and Supply Model - Essay Example Nevertheless, one of the major reasons behind these frequent price hikes is increase in global cotton demand by textile firms (after improvement in global economic outlook), which is not matched due to shortfalls in supply after reduction in global cotton production. The cotton (and yarn) prices at New York cotton market have been increasing due to this demand / supply imbalance that subsequently lead to increase in prices of finished products (readymade garments, unstitched cloth, towels etc.). It is worth mentioning that there are three major cotton growing nations / producers in the world namely Pakistan, India and China. The flooding in Pakistan followed by bad weather in China and India led to depletion of cotton crops. Consequently, the cumulative global production figures came down, while the demand side recorded strong recovery since this is considered as the beginning to the end-of-recession. The high demand then pushes prices upward in New York market, where prices of cotto n futures have already touched record peaks. Indeed, the upward trend in prices started from July 2010 and over 80% increment was recorded till November 2010.

Rising china or peaceful rise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Rising china or peaceful rise - Essay Example China's rise can directly be linked to the opening up of its economy, which has resulted in a transformation of every aspect of China's interaction with the world. From exclusion from the United Nations to participation in over 150 international organisations, including the China sponsored and driven Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; from a closed economy to $ 300 billion in foreign direct investment; and from self-isolation and suspicion to one of openness and integration. All this has resulted in the Chinese economy becoming the world's fourth largest economy in 2006, with many experts predicting that, " the Chinese economy will be second only to the United States by 2020 and possibly surpass it by 2050".1 What does the future hold for China and the world Will a resilient economy enable China to ease itself benignly into the international power equation, being called a 'Peaceful Rise' by Chinese leaders keen to play down the obvious ramifications of China's growing economic clout Or are there any threats - both internal and external - to Rising China that can undermine the whole process, and the stated Chinese aim of becoming an intermediate developed nation by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China China's eventual rise to global power status and the path it then adopts to achieve its national goals is difficult to predict given the inscrutable nature of the Chinese character. Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment has this to say, "Will China's rise trigger regional counterbalancing The answer is "yes." The long answer is "yes, possibly"; and the real answer is "yes, possibly, but we can't be entirely sure."2 Pei seems to challenge the accepte d hype over China being both the world's largest manufacturer as well as the world's biggest market simultaneously. Pei feels that China's current policies, " [are] spawning a dangerous mix of crony capitalism, rampant corruption and widening inequality [and that policies]adopted to generate high economic growth are compounding the political and social ills that threaten its long term survival".3 Be that as it may, it may be surmised that latent impulses to become a global power and a direct challenge to the supremacy of the United States would emerge as a consequence of its Comprehensive National Power, driven by its rapidly expanding economy, backed by a modern military machine. Internal Challenges to China's Peaceful Rise China is conscious of the fact that its geo-political power is directly tied to its economic growth, which requires a stable internal and external environment. Since the present global balance of power is not in its favour, and since this balance is unlikely to change in the mid-term, it has limited its geo-political ambitions while it goes about quietly building up its Comprehensive National Power. While other countries would seek to contain China's attempts to become the sole power in Asia, there are several domestic liabilities that China must address before its can aspire to that exalted status. These liabilities according to some analysts have reached, or are at the point of reaching critical mass, and under such circumstances, China might not be able to withstand a crisis situation

Are Trade Unions still relevant Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Are Trade Unions still relevant - Essay Example While trade unions have ceased being as aggressive as they were in the past, some of them still manage to carry out their mandate today. For instance, during collective bargaining, trade unions are quite useful to respective employees because of the fact that they act as a go between the employee and the employer. A union representative is supposed to be present whenever there is need for collective bargaining. In other words, trade unions and employers are bound by collective agreements which ensure that the needs of respective employees are adequately met. It should also be noted that there are some trade unions within the UK that have been very active in promoting workers' rights. One such example is REACH. (Wadsworth, 2007) This Trade Union largely focuses on the protection of worker's rights when dealing with hazardous substances or chemicals. Through the efforts of such an organisation, it can be seen that trade unions are still needed in the workplace. (Low Pay Commission, 2007) Trade Unions are still relevant in the UK because the latter country interacts with so many others in the world, since these countries have different labour laws, it is necessary to ensure that employee rights are not infringed by those respective individuals. For example, the TUC was very active in fighting against the UK based Primark t-shirt manufacturer. According to the TUC, Primark was sourcing their raw materials from Bangladesh where their supplier was employing sweatshop labour. Through the activities of this trade union, Primark ceased working with that particular supplier thus protecting employees' rights. (Kent, 2007) How Trade Unions have lost their relevance Trade Unions in Britain were quiet useful in the nineteenth Century because at that time, industries were just coming up. There was a need to set up standards in the workplace because the economy had not yet been exposed to such a kind of arrangement. Issues such as establishment of safety rules, fair working hours, and fair wages were top on their agenda because most employers were still curving out trends and patterns. Trade Unions were the voices that ensured worker's rights were duly protected. This is actually the reason why a trade union may defined as an association of workers that is centred on the need to protect worker's rights. Issues such as fair wage were all part of the endeavour to protect their rights. (Bain, P. & Taylor, 2008) It should also be noted that during those times, strikes, lock downs, injuries and blood shedding were a common scenario for trade unions trying to fight for workers' rights. This actually made some of them highly unpopular with employers. Britain's history is characterised by large strikes that literary paralysed certain public systems. One of the greatest achievements made by trade unions at that time was the institution of legal mechanisms for protecting workers' rights. Through their tireless efforts, now managers are answerable to the law upon infringing worker's rights to hampering their freedoms. However, the UK labour system has changed drastically over the past few years. The steel industry, auto industry, rail industry and many others are now characterised by decent working hours. Additionally, enumeration policies have adversely improved in today's production sector. Consequently, trade unions are left with little else to do. Their

Economic Opportunities Available for African American Women Essay

Economic Opportunities Available for African American Women - Essay Example Both males and females of African ancestry often face discrimination in different aspects of their lives, ranging from educational opportunities to provision of healthcare services and employment in the labor market. Extensive research has been conducted to shed more light on various impacts of racial and gender discrimination, such as low self-esteem, poor performance of students at schools and employees at the workplace, as well as and low economic growth and development. Blacks also have greater health issues such as prolonged depression, increased suicides, more AIDS and a reduced sense of personal achievement, along with a much higher death rate for many of the leading causes of premature demise (Williams 2001). Many research studies have also been conducted to determine the best possible solutions to solve problems related to these effects of discrimination. However, very little research has ever been conducted to determine how racial and gender discrimination has adversely aff ected the economic capabilities of African-American women. With this in mind, this research study hypothesizes that gender and race are the major sources of discrimination and have the most difficult effects on the economic capabilities of African-American women. ... A new aim of recent research studies by economists studying the labor market has been to determine the implications of racial discrimination for victims and other members of that particular race. For example, racial discrimination against African-Americans is known to reduce possibilities of employment in many multinational organizations. Furthermore, previous studies have found that discrimination mostly results from gender differences, amongst other factors. However, these past research studies have failed to determine the various effects of racial and gender discrimination on economic opportunities available to African-American women. Therefore, there is a great need to study the adverse effects of discrimination on economic opportunities available to African-American women. Sellers and Shelton (2008) argue that African-American women are at greater risk of gender discrimination due to social stereotypes, unequal income distribution, limited rights to productive inputs, such as cr edit facilities or financial loans, property ownership, and management of earned income as well as other race-related biases. By definition, racial discrimination refers to an act of maltreating an individual or a group of individuals based on their race. For example, an African-American woman may not be warmly welcomed in activities of a local church that is dominated by white Americans due to her skin color. Puhl et al.’s (2008) definition of racial discrimination usually includes distinction, restriction, or preference of an individual based on his or her skin color, race, or ethnic origin. This paper aims to examine what the effects of discrimination based on gender and race is like for

Individual Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual Report - Essay Example Money management is the process of being a custodian of one’s finances by knowing where today’s finances are being spent, and drawing a well thought out plan showing where one wants this money to go. Therefore, it calls for one to be well organized; have set goals, which would gear this investment to success; have a track of one’s spending by putting in place a realistic budget, and above all have a well thought-out savings strategy (Ryan and Deci 2004). Before this course, I was particularly naive and could not have understood how to effectively make an investment decision or understand the significance of making various investment considerations that I have learnt so far. Having known how to make various considerations that affect performance of an investment portfolio, I can now comfortably put up an investment plan (Milevsky 2001). One of the most important principles of investment I have learnt is how to diversify and manage risks. I have become conscious of the essence of the old adage goes â€Å"do not put all your eggs in the same basket†, I have realized how risky it can be to concentrate on a single or a few investments especially those whose rate of return is very high in the short-term but very risky. For example, in my individual investment, I combined risky high return stocks with low return but less risky stocks such that it becomes hard to loss substantially when some of the investments perform poorly in the future (Little 2012). In my portfolio, even though Microsoft generated negative returns, I was still able to realize a positive annualized return of 11.52%, primarily because Berkshire Hathaway performed well and watered down that loss (Kapur and Orszag 1999). The idea here is, since investment involves risk, one way of managing this risk is by spreading one’s portfolio across an array of stocks, with different characteristics. The preliminary portfolio that I had selected included a number of companies tha t operate in different industries, markets and regions as well as dealing with different products; such that each company possessed a distinctive level and nature of risk. Selecting of portfolio from such a diversified field is a way of ensuring the investment plan is well-balanced. In the same measure, I found it important to define the amount of each stock one should buy and hold depending on the company’s current performance, the level of risk and future expectations (Smith 2009). Ideally, in the analysis that I did as well as the one we did as groups, some stocks were clearly generating negative returns. Examples include Microsoft and Kazakhmy among many others. At first, I thought it is completely useless to hold stocks that have negative returns currently, but I have come to change this view because I have learnt to put my eye on the long-term cash flows. Short-term mindset coupled with a lot of trading and market timing is a strategy I would not like to undertake in th e future. I have come to realize that I can make profits progressively by focusing on many years to come and by sticking on my stock investment goals. More long-term financial strategies, along proper diversification can be a surprise to an investor because I have come to realize that, even though a certain stock could be generating losses in the short-term, things may change in future hence leading to huge returns. I have actually become more focused on forecasting a company’

Reinforcement Theory-Reinforcement Theory is one of the most Essay

Reinforcement Theory-Reinforcement Theory is one of the most misunderstood of the Decisional Process Theories - Essay Example Therefore, the goal of this essay is to enlighten the managers or trainers on the correct use of reinforcement theory on several decisional process theories that they can use reinforce their employees in occasion such as motivation. Reinforcement theory refers to a behavioral construction by controlling the consequences of behavior and is achieved through manipulation. A manager or trainer can be able to influence the behavior of employees in an organization by changing the consequence of their behavior. Reinforcement can be meant to correct, motivate, punish or extinct employee’s behavior an action known as behavior modification. For example, while correcting a behavior of an employee by removing unpleasant behavior in employee’s negative reinforcement is applied. Motivation is done to increase the frequency of pleasant behavior by following pleasurable consequence such as promotion to next higher grade. This is positive reinforcement. Moreover, extinction reinforcement is suitable to decrease the frequency of unpleasant behavior of employees by removing the consequence. Lastly, punishment by introducing instant consequence on the unpleasant behavior done by employees is advisable to decrease the frequency of such behaviors (Stephen 83).A manager has a very great influence to the behavior of the employees and by recognizing an individual’s physical and intellectual capacity for every employee to perform various mental and physical tasks in a specific job. For example, placing employees in accordance to their specialization during the division of labor. This will help to boost attitude of employees towards work hence providing the best for the organization. Moreover, manger should uphold personality of every worker in the organization is respecting their values and beliefs as it will help to achieve the goals of an organization (Bartlett 7-8). Reinforcement theory should portray how the organization and employees correlate to provide a healthy

Position arguments on immigration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Position arguments on immigration - Essay Example Given the socio-cultural implications of this phenomenon, a critical assessment of the positive consequences of the immigration phenomenon must be done in relation to the host country and home country of the immigrants must be carefully done. As such, this paper aims to focus on the advantages of immigration by: firstly, elucidating the nature of immigration from a socio-cultural standpoint, and secondly, going through the specific advantages of immigration. From a more general perspective, immigration can help improve the economic status of the original country through the money being sent by migrants to their families. In this regard, disparity in wealth between developed and developing countries could be resolved. In addition to this, immigration can also enrich the host country’s cultural orientations through the influx of new ideologies and perspectives, thus, strengthening its social capital. The arrival of people with different socio-cultural backgrounds can indeed help people from the host country to analyze certain societal issues in a much wider perspective. This paper, therefore, wishes to zero in on these aforementioned benefits in order to bolster its thesis that promoting immigration is tantamount to recognizing the need to develop a more unified and open-minded global community. As highlighted in an online article entitled Immigration, one of the biggest benefits of immigration is tied with wealth distribution (Shah 1). For one, with the migrants’ perspective of getting any job that could allow them to earn a living, human capital of the host country is said to be reinforced. In fact, the migrants’ willingness to take on whatever job is available helps the host country fill up the areas that badly need workforce. In this regard, undermanned job functions are usually filled in by these migrants, thereby increasing the productivity of the industries involved. From a managerial

Writting paper- Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Writting paper- - Essay Example The Signs and symptoms of the early stages of cervical cancer may be completely asymptomatic. Vaginal bleeding, contact bleeding or a vaginal mass may indicate the presence of malignancy. Also, moderate pain during sexual intercourse and vaginal discharge are symptoms of cervical cancer. In advanced disease, metastases may be present in the abdomen, lungs or elsewhere. Symptoms of advanced cervical cancer may include: loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, pelvic pain, back pain, leg pain, and single swollen leg, heavy bleeding from the vagina, leaking of urine from the vagina and bone fractures (Kumar et al. 2007). Numerous studies of the epidemiology of cervical cancer have shown strong associations with religious, marital and sexual patterns. Although it is well established that women with multiple partners and early ages at first intercourse are at high risk, less is known about how these factors interact or how risk is affected by specific sexual characteristics. Recent studies indicate that number of steady partners and frequent intercourse at early ages may further enhance risk, supporting hypotheses regarding a vulnerable period of the cervix and a need for repeated exposure to an infectious agent. It is now widely accepted that HPV is the major infectious etiological agent, but whether other infectious agents play supportive or interactive roles is unclear. Other speculative risk factors for cervical cancer include cigarette smoking, oral contraceptive usage and certain nutritional deficiencies, but again it is not clear whether these factors operate independently from HPV. Although cervical cancer incidence trends correlate with the population prevalence of various venereally transmitted agents, it is not certain how disease rates are affected by other potential risk factors which have changed during recent time (e.g., exposure to HPV, sexual behavior, cigarette smoking). In addition, a number of recent

Causes and Effects of Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Causes and Effects of Divorce - Essay Example Most of the marriage counselors highlight excessive intolerance, high temperaments, and poor communication to be the major causes of a failed marriage which are discussed in this paper along with the broad range of socioeconomic and psychological effects produced on both men and women by a failed marriage. Research done on poorly working marital relationships between husbands and wives presents the fact that women are emotionally much better groomed than men and they think that emotional handling is hugely important for appropriate maintenance of the marriage. They like to talk things over with their husbands and naturally demand suitable responses from them as well. On the other hand, most of the husbands are found completely oblivious to the difference in the emotional realities existing between men and women. Though, they do communicate with their wives at the beginning of the marriage as a way of maintaining a sense of closeness with their wives, they become less and less communicative with the passing time due to which the wives helplessly develop an inner void that is completely inescapable. The growing silence on the part of husbands also leads the wives to develop fake illusions like they may have lost charm due to which their men no more find them attractive and worth talking -to. Obviously, women squabble about the state of their marriages much passionately than men so and as they are more vocal about various problems which they encounter, the reduced responsiveness of their men proves to be an infuriating culprit which causes divorce. Incompatibility between partners, in terms of emotional and intellectual grooming, is also a major cause of divorce. Abusive relationship between husband and wife also leads them to destroy each other’s mental well being which leads them to initiate divorce settlement. (Rowd).

2 Questions paraphrased Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

2 Questions paraphrased - Essay Example A federal state can be defined as one that involves the sharing of sovereignty across a number of levels of government whereas a unitary state, on the other hand, involves the concentration of sovereignty at the level of a single central government. These states may be centralized, decentralized, or regionalized. Federalism may be found in unitary states such as France and Italy The unitary form of government was introduced after the French revolution while federal governance was first experimented in US after the American Revolution. This was followed by the confederate form of government. Unitary form of government constituted nationalization which meant that the people of those nations were to be kept united under one common flag and one political government. There was also the involvement of a centralized government to ensure that there was order in the states. On the other hand the federal state is one formed by the association of various states which are usually formed for a common purpose. This will ensures that the member states maintain a huge measure of autonomy and independence. This implies therefore, both unitary and federal systems differ on the basis of autonomy. There is no much autonomy in unitary form of governance as compared to the federal form of governance, where there is considerable intensity of autonomy. However, the unitary and federal form of governments exists in varying forms and therefore they revolve in the extent of central regulation of affairs. The unitary form of government has sub-national governments that exist having strict functions of welfare governance regulated by the center. Both forms of governance involve a field over which they take shifts and since both are not wholly separated, a few states are regarded as being between complete federalism and complete unitary form of governance. The two forms of

Case5.1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case5.1 - Essay Example 1. What’s your opinion regarding forced ranking performance appraisals? Forced ranking, generally defined as a curve that leadership creates by assigning credit with â€Å"certain proportions of the production to proportions of a producing population† (â€Å"Wikipedia†), would most likely be of great benefit to a floundering company. After one or two years of culling the very bottom (i.e. least productive) employees from the pack, the company ought to see substantial improvement in productivity and efficacy. Such a move, if conducted properly, should certainly be enough to set the company right and enable its continued existence. However, forced ranking is not advisable as a long-term solution. Quite simply, this is because once you have sifted all of the chaff from the wheat, all you’re left with is wheat. That is to say, if you cull effectively, eventually all you’re left with is the good stuff. By continuing to dismiss employees based on forced r anking, eventually the company would be eliminating effective, productive employees, because that would be all that was left.

Effect of Electronic Media on Children Essay Example for Free

Effect of Electronic Media on Children Essay The media has demonstrated otentially profound effects, both positive and negative, on childrens cognitive, social, and behavioral development. Considering the increasing exposure of children to newer forms of media, we decided to review the current literature on the effects of media on child health both in the Western countries and India. It is widely accepted that media has profound influence on child health, including violence, obesity, tobacco and alcohol use, and risky sexual behaviors. Simultaneously, media may have some positive effects on child health. We need to find ways to optimize the role of edia in our society, taking advantage of their positive attributes and minimizing their negative ones. We need to understand better how to reverse the negative impact of media and make it more positive. Key words: Media, Child, India. ne of the notable changes in our social environment in the 21st century has been the saturation of our culture and daily lives by the mass media.

Values of society Essay Example for Free

Values of society Essay This in itself is interesting and is perhaps representative of the modern day fear of corruption from foreign sources for example, Donna goes to That London for a job interview and returns a slightly deranged, career driven woman, so concerned with herself and her work that she fails to notice both that one best friend has gone into labour and the other has gone off with Gaz, Donnas boyfriend. This does however hark back to the values of the pre-90s sitcoms like Steptoe and Son and The Good Life that family (and in this context this refers to the close knit group of friends) comes first. A lot of the humour in the traditional British sitcoms is derived from class distinction and the contrasts between these two classes this is particularly evident in The Good Life, in which Tom and Barbara Good decide to give up working for a living and instead enjoy a self-sustained lifestyle. This is in great contrast to their neighbours and friends, the Leadbetters, who are very upper class and disparaging of Tom and Barbaras new lifestyle choice. The majority of disequilibrium (as relating to Todorovs theory) came from a problem the Goods faced in maintaining their self-sufficiency whether it be a lapse back into middle-class for Barbara or Toms pigheadedness causing a minor problem to develop. They are continually challenged by Margot Leadbetter, who is a stereotypical snob with no sense of humour, who tolerates but doesnt understand their choice at all. While The Good Life was being produced in the 1970s, a revival of sorts was taking place concerning self-sufficiency and the growing snobbery of the middle class. The show was hailed as a great support to the cause as it showed it in a very positive light Tom and Barbara face a great deal of adversity in turning their South London home into a small farm, however they always overcome these issues and equilibrium is restored. Margots complete misunderstanding when it comes to self-sufficiency is representative of the snobbery of the middle-class towards those beneath them why should you do the work by, for example, growing your own food, when you can just drive to the shops and buy it? However Tom and Barbara get a good deal of joy from producing their own goods with varying degrees of success, and despite Margots disapproval, they are happy its a very positive message, that you dont need material worth to have a good life. The character of Margot can be seen as a precursor to the character of Hyacinth Bucket on Keeping Up Appearances, a caricature of a middle class social climber. It again employed class distinction as the main source of comedy, that is between Hyacinth and her unemployed sister Daisy, her husband Onslow and younger sister Rose who are an exaggeration of the working class, in that they dont do any work at all and instead spend all day in front of the television. The driving point of Keeping Up Appearances is that Hyacinth, forever striving to be higher in the community, is never happy, while Daisy, Onslow, Rose and Daddy are quite literally happy as pigs in muck. This is further explored in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, where the main cast (with the possible exception of Donna) have no ambition whatsoever and are completely happy to just continue with their working class lifestyle. British sitcoms tend to be very character driven a prime example of this is My Family, an exploration of the life of long-suffering dentist Ben Harper and his equally long-suffering family. Propps character theory can be applied thus Ben, the protagonist and hero, his wife Susan, the secondary hero, his son Nick, the idiot who provides comic relief, his daughter Janey the princess, and his son Michael, who acts as the donor, often providing Ben with the means to achieve his goals at a price. Each family member also periodically acts as the villain, the antagonist to Ben. The sitcom, then, is very formulaic the hero wants something (usually peace and quiet, in My Family), the antagonist has it or the ability to make it happen. This formula acts as something of a comfort blanket to the audience they are aware that whatever happens to the characters, it will be resolved and the status quo restored by the end of the episode these are the audience expectations of the sitcom genre regardless of the era it was produced in, therefore the basic structure of the sitcom has not been changed more than a slight amount to reflect society. The idea of a nuclear family in sitcoms is not a new one, in recent years however it has become more common to challenge this view Jam and Jerusalem is one such example. In the first episode the village doctor Mike Vine dies and leaves his wife Sal as a single parent. Sals children are grown up but her nature and role as village nurse, along with her inception into the village chapter of the Womens Institute, means she effectively acts as a parent to much of the community. Jam and Jerusalem also challenges social ideals by including a character afflicted by a mental illness Rosie Bales, a middle aged woman with the mentality of a child, has an angry and violent alter ego known as Margaret. This inclusion is an attempt to challenge the stigma of mental illness as a weakness and presents Rosie as a functioning member of society, even holding down a job at the local cheese factory and being a member of the WI. Jam and Jerusalem is considered a very down to earth sitcom, in that it doesnt utilise situations unusual to the surroundings it doesnt attempt to jump the shark, a phrase coined to describe the growing desperation of the producers of the sitcom Happy Days who created ever more bizarre plotlines in an attempt to eke out further profits. Set in the rural Cornish town of Clatterford, disequilibrium is caused by everyday situations such as the death of a family member or a bad harvest affecting the income of farmers. By doing so the producers have appealed to a wider audience, not merely interested in watching a programme which is, in effect, the same format every episode, but realistic situations and a life they can relate to. This is a reflection of the growing maturity of sitcom audiences and the need to approach the genre in a more sensitive manner. The strength of Sal Vine as a single mother is a response to the feministic values explored in AbFab however Eddie failed as a single mother, leaving her daughter to her own devices and even, in effect, becoming the child in the relationship herself. These views are challenged by My Family, in that My Family represents the nuclear family both parents are shown to be a part of the upbringing of the children, however with various degrees of success showing the strengths and weaknesses of both the mother and father. Class distinction is also explored in Jam and Jerusalem, with Sals daughter Tash being a hippy and living on a commune with her illegitimate son at the beginning of the programme. Tashs alternative lifestyle is a focal point in the second series with her impending wedding to Spike a traditional wedding proves too expensive and complicated so the whole village, including the other members of the WI, pull together to create a home-grown gypsy wedding, showing that the differences between classes can be overcome by a common goal. Each sitcom studied reflects some aspect of society the class distinction and its associated friction in Fawlty Towers, family life in My Family and lifestyle choices in The Good Life and Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Ultimately the sitcoms that we see today are echoes of the ones that have gone before. Whilst their setting and even content may have changed the underlying structure remains the same whilst the traditional family may have been replaced in such programmes as Two Pints, the essential format has remained the same. The reason for this development and renewal is that sitcoms need to change and evolve as society does a perfect family such as The Brady Bunch holds no real appeal to a modern audience as Two Pints or My Family because dysfunctional families are commonplace in modern life, and make plotlines about family life much easier to write. Sitcoms have a close link with the social and economic milieu from which they emerge, however, they are ultimately about people, and people do not change. Bibliography 1) http://www. mediaculture-online. e/fileadmin/bibliothek/stafford_sitcoms/stafford_sitcoms.pdf 2) Image and Representation Key Concepts in Media Studies Nick Lacey 1998 3) Narrative and Genre Key Concepts in Media Studies Nick Lacey 2000. 4) The Media Studies Reader Tim OSullivan and Yvonne Jewkes 1997 5) Exploring the Media Text, Industry, Audience Barbara Connell 2008 6) Media Studies AS and A2 Jacquie Bennett 2005 7) Media Studies Second Edition Stuart Price 1998 1 http://www. mediaculture-online. de/fileadmin/bibliothek/stafford_sitcoms/stafford_sitcoms. pdf 2 http://www. mediaculture-online. de/fileadmin/bibliothek/stafford_sitcoms/stafford_sitcoms. pdf.

Discussing Total Quality Management standards

Discussing Total Quality Management standards Many authors have discussed TQM Standards. Samuel K. M. Ho in the article Is the ISO 9000 Series for Total Quality Management? wrote that the philosophy of Total Quality Management is that of promoting continuous improvement in an organization and focuses primarily on total satisfaction for both the internal and external customers, within a management environment that seeks continuous improvement of all systems and processes. He added that the philosophy is based on an intense desire to achieve victory. Achieving victory is a challenge for todays companies. Competition is intense and senior managers and CEOs thrive to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage over their competitors. Though some people see TQM as something necessary to reach competitiveness and emphasize the relation between TQM and success (eg U/s GAO, 1991; Becker, 1993; Ghobadian and Gallear, 1996), others claim TQM to be merely a management fad and point out that many companies have failed to implement TQM (eg B inney, 1992; Harari, 1993; Hachman and Wageman, 1995) (Ulrika Hellsten and Bengt Klefsjo) As Hellsten and Klefsjo mentioned in their article there are different opinions of TQM. The goal of this assignment is to analyze the different views of TQM and identify whether TQM standards do help companies promote quality. It also analyzes whether TQM standards vote for the satisfaction for both the internal and external customers as said by Samuel K. M. Ho, or else they are diminishing the real scope of quality by constraining innovation and creativity in todays businesses. Studies by different authors both for and against TQM will be analyzed to understand whether TQM standards improve or lessen quality of products and services. It is important to add that various authors discussing TQM mentioned that there exists different descriptions of TQM and also (Boon O K, Atumugam V, Hwa T S (2005) said that surprisingly, a limited amount of rigorous research has been done towards identifying the effects of soft TQM practices on employees work-related attitudes. To start with it is vital to understand what is meant by TQM and its purpose. Definition of Total Quality Management In order to define quality one has to first consider who the customer is, and subsequently consider what the requirements of each different customer group are at any one time. (Leicester 2007:1.3) The Total Quality Management book of Leicester says that it is important to remember that when the level of quality the customer expects is perceived by him as being exceeded by the level of quality he has received, then an opinion of good quality is formed. Vice versa the level of quality is said to be poor when the customers expectations of the level of quality he should receive exceed the level of quality the customer perceives he has actually received. Therefore for companies to succeed it is important to understand the level of quality that the customer is expecting. There are various definitions which have been identified by different authors such as; Fitness for purpose Conformance to requirements Zero Defects Though the above phrases of quality all have different meanings in general they all have common characteristics such as; aim of satisfying the customer, provide best quality at the lowest possible price and should be companywide strategy. A definition which gathers the meaning of TQM has been defined in a website of Lean Manufacturing Concepts. TQM is a process and philosophy of achieving best possible outcomes from the inputs, by using them effectively and efficiently in order to deliver best value for the customer, while achieving long term objectives of the organization Anon (2009). This sounds an appropriate definition of TQM since it emphasizes on the value received by the customer and in return the organization attains its objectives. TQM Standards and BS EN ISO 9000 TQM started in 1927 with Elton Mayos Hawthorne experiments through 1932. Later in the 1950s Edward Deming taught statistical methods and Dr Juran taught quality management techniques to the Japanese. Many of the Total Quality Management theories were originated by Armand Feigenbaun. TQM continued evolving. New methods were introduced to support TQM such as Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma. Broughton (2009) Also organizations can become certified to ISO 9000. Various ISOs have been developed for different sectors such as ISO ISO9001, ISO9002 and ISO9003. ISO standards have been set up to focus on business planning, quality management and continuous improvement. Broughton (2009) Broughton said that the key concepts of TQM are; Structured system for exceeding customer expectations System that empowers employees Drives higher profits Drives lower costs Continuous improvement Management centered approach on improving quality As mentioned above the concepts of TQM are all centered for the benefit of the company and to satisfy the needs of the customer and ensure customer satisfaction. However, what are the impacts of TQM standards on creativity and innovation? Do TQM standards really focus on processes rather than employees thus affecting business innovation? In the next section some arguments for and against TQM standards will be discussed. Literature Review Arguments For and Against TQM standards As Wood and Peccei (1995) stated, TQM is widely agreed as a way of managing organizations with the notion to enhance employees attitudes. Quality practitioners such as Deming (1986), Crosby (1979), Juran (1991) and Feigenbaum (1983) have written much on the idea of TQM philosophies and methods. Surprisingly, a limited amount of rigorous research has been done towards identifying the effects of soft TQM practices on employees work-related attitudes. (Boon O K, Atumugam V, Hwa T S (2005) In an article namely Does soft TQM predicts employees attitudes? it is mentioned that a survey of the literature reveals that several TQM proponents believe that the soft aspects of TQM are essential to the success of TQM (Juran, 1964; Ishikawa, 1985; Deming, 1986; Aubrey and Felkins, 1998; Dale et al., 1992; Cruickshank, 2000). Powell (1995, p. 15) concluded that organizations that acquire the soft elements of TQM can outperform competitors without the accompanying TQM ideology. Evidence from the grow ing literature on TQM failure emphasizes the neglect of the soft side of quality management wherein the HR and organizational behaviour aspects of quality management are not given their deserved emphasis (Lowery et al., 2000;Wilkinson et al., 1998; Cruickshank, 2000). TQM, which has been adopted by leading industrial companies, is a participative system empowering all employees to take responsibility for improving quality within the organization. Instead of using traditional bureaucratic rule enforcement, TQM calls for a change in the corporate culture, where the new work climate has the following characteristics: An open, problem-solving atmosphere; Participatory design making. Trust among all employees (staff, line, workers, managers). A sense of ownership and responsibility for goal achievement and problems solving. Self-motivation and self-control by all employees. TQM requires that management, and eventually every member of the organization, commit to the need for continual improvement in the way work is accomplished. Business plans, strategies, and management actions require continual rethinking in order to develop a culture that reinforces the TQM perspective. The challenge is to develop a robust culture where the idea of quality improvement is not only widely understood across departments, but becomes a fundamental, deep-seated value within each function area as well. Anon (2009) On the other hand Crawford (1998) argues that one of the main reasons for the present economic stalemate being experienced in Japan is the obstacle to innovation which is presented by the mindset of continuous improvement. He considers that this mentality reflects, in the main, a wish to avoid the embarrassment resulting from potential failures associated with radical change. The point is also made that a strategy of continuous improvement does not necessarily work in markets which constitute high risk investment, such as pharmaceuticals and microprocessors. These types of arguments tend to imply that TQM is not a valid paradigm in a world where changes are becoming increasingly frequent and need to be made at a faster pace. Martinez Lorent A.R, Dewhurst F, Dale B G (1999) It continues that though TQM is seen as business innovation it does not necessarily mean that it promotes business innovation. Martinez Laurent, Dewhurst and Dale said that TQM tends to lessen business innovation such as improving processes and improving the way in which people are managed with the aim of adapting to the changing environment. On the other hand Curry and Clayton (1992), Imai (1986) and Miller (1995) said that progressive business innovation can be achieved by TQM through continuous improvement. In the article TQM and business innovation it is also mentioned that Companies following TQM approach can more easily assimilate innovations imported from other situations due to the willingness of its employees to accept new ideas as a result of the continuous improvement ethos promoted by TQM Martinez Lorent A.R, Dewhurst F, Dale B G (1999) It is evident from the literature reviewed that TQM is becoming a major requirement for organisations to be successful and gain a competitive advantage. As time goes by customers are becoming more demanding and companies have to focus on identifying customer needs to achieve customer satisfaction. In an article of TQM on the web it says that the views of todays companies of TQM include characteristics such as an open problem solving atmosphere and participatory decision making. Anon (2009) This is an evidence that it is not true that TQM focuses on processes and neglects the people aspect. To adapt to the changing of customers needs and this changing environment TQM promotes employee involvement and as mentioned above participatory decision making. This would also lead to employee satisfaction and motivation. Though it is claimed that TQM has various benefits various companies have claimed that TQM implementation resulted in a failure. Thus it is necessary that companies manage TQM efficiently and effectively. The next chapter of this assignment will outline some of the aspects which need to be considered for the successful implementation of TQM. Successful implementation of TQM Before applying any TQM standards a company should have a well defined strategy and mission in place. Having a strategy in place means that the company has pre defined set of objectives to achieve. The operational and management structure should be adopted to achieve the set strategy. The mission statement should reflect the values and beliefs which underpin all corporate activities. (Leciester 2007:4.5) A mission statement has to be well communicated to the employees and has to inspire people with the aim of achieving the goals set by the company. Last but not least a company should set value statements. Value statements should guide the way people within the organization function and as such should be a substantial influence on the development of a total quality culture. (Leicester 2007:4.8) Helsten and Klefsjo believe that before applying any TQM standards a company has to start with core values and only then the techniques and tools are selected as shown in the diagram below. Increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources. Techniques Core Values Tools The techniques and tools selected will then have to be adopted. For instance an example mentioned by Hellsten and Klefsjo, the core value Let everybody be committed can be implemented by techniques such as improvement groups and quality circles. The tools might be Ishikawa diagram, Pareto diagram and histograms. Core values characterize the organization and as these change overtime the techniques and tools will have to fit these values. Robert Dunn says that most importantly before implementing BS EN 9000 one has to be thinking about quality in the company and in all its activities. It is useless implementing the standard just for the sake because purchasers want the certification. (Dunn R 1995:11) Today, developing quality across the entire firm can be an important function of the human resource management (HRM) department. A failure on HRMs part to recognize this opportunity and act on it may result in the loss of TQM implementation responsibilities to other departments with less expertise in training and development. The ultimate consequence of this loss is an ineffective implementation of the TQM strategy. Thus, HRM should act as the pivotal change agent necessary for the successful implementation of TQM. Based on this customer first orientation, organizational members are constantly seeking to improve products or services. Employees are encouraged to work together across organizational boundaries. Underlying these cooperative efforts are two crucial ideas. One is that the initial contact with the customer is critical and influences all future association with that customer. The other idea is that it is more costly to acquire new customers than to keep the customers you already have. Exemplifying TQM here would mean that the HR department would need to train itself, focusing on being customer-driven toward other departments.   Anon (2009) The effective use of quality improvement teams, and the TQM system as a whole, can be reinforced by applying basic principles of motivation. In particular, the recognition of team accomplishments as opposed to those of individuals, and the effective use of goal setting for group efforts, are important in driving the TQM system. The HR department is in a position to help institutionalize team approaches to TQM by designing appraisal and reward systems that focus on team performance.    For many companies, the philosophy of TQM represents a major culture shift away from a traditional production-driven atmosphere. In the face of such radical operational makeovers, a determined implementation effort is vital to prevent TQM from becoming simply just another management fad. Senior management must take the lead in overt support of TQM.  Anon (2009) Part of HRMs functional expertise is its ability to monitor and survey employee attitudes. This expertise can be particularly important for a TQM program, since getting off to a good start means having information about current performance. Thus, a preparatory step is to administer an employee survey targeting two primary concerns. One involves identifying troublesome areas in current operations, where improvements in quality can have the most impact on company performance. The other focuses on determining existing employee perceptions and attitudes toward quality as a necessary goal, so that the implementation program itself can be fine-tuned for effectiveness. Beyond communicating the TQM philosophy, the specific training and development needs for making TQM a practical reality must be assessed. Basically HR professionals must decide the following: What knowledge and skills must be taught? How? What performance (behaviours) will be recognized, and how will we reward them? HRM has faced these questions before and can best confront them in the TQM process. Training and development that does not fit within the realm of these questions will more than likely encounter heavy resistance. However, training and development does fall within the realm of these questions probably will be accepted more readily. Testimonies from Various Companies TQM standards help you clarify and identify customers requirements. Furthermore TQM help a company deliver what the customers order and on time, spot product deficiencies and improve processes and also improve competitiveness. Alan Davis from Ind Coope Burton Brewery highly believes that the company is committed to a total quality culture. He adds that with this approach all parts of the company are involved in continuous improvement in return this gives the assurance of quality to the customer. He also added that the company will soon be ready to seek registration of its quality system to BS 5750. (Moritiboys Oakland J 1994:35). Acorns Nurseries of Cardiff which is a child care centre claimed that by seeking registration under BS EN ISO 9002 they would be able to demonstrate the quality of their service thus would inspire confidence in their customers. Acorns said that the advantages of having a documented system are; Ensure standards are throughout amongst all their sites. Well kept records, stock control ensures consumables are available and parents concerns are replied quickly. Most importantly the efficient management system allows the nursery nurses to get on with what they are best at looking after children. (Dunn R 1995:7) Below are some of the benefits of TQM standards by Robert Dunn; Motivate staff to improve performance Define key roles in the company Consistent in orders and delivery Good management of customer complaints Continuous improvement Glossop Carton a company which achieved certification in 1992 says that since the certification gross profit has risen and when things go wrong, they can now pin point where they have gone wrong. Therefore then they can adjust accordingly and learn from mistakes thus promoting a better quality product for the customer. Conclusion In the book of Leicester in an article by Moritiboys Oakland it is mentioned that The International Standards Organisation (ISO) Standard 9000 Series sets out the methods by which management system, incorporating all the activities associated with quality, can be implemented in an organization to ensure that all the specified performance requirements and needs of the customer are fully met. In the article Implementing BS EN ISO 9000 it is said that the standard is flexible and companies big or small can adapt it to their needs and be compliant. A proof of this is the write up by Pat Martin founder of Stelmax a business employing 12 people. I used to think BS EN ISO 9000 was just for the big fish in the sea. She emphasizes that quality is important to all firms no matter the size. She says that the quality of the products improved which is highly required factor in this increasingly competitive market. (Dunn R 1995:6) It is evident from the literature reviewed that TQM standards are important for organizations and as time passes its popularity is increasing considerably. TQM standards are also required to outcompete competitors in this increasing market. However for a successful implementation and to promote innovation and creativity it is necessary that organizations primarily identify the core values and also do not neglect the human resources aspect. Training and development, setting up TQM focus teams, support from senior managers, involvement in decision making, communication and rewards are the essence of successful TQM implementation. These all lead to employee satisfaction and in return will ensure customer satisfaction which is the fad of TQM. Last, TQM is necessary because it works. The pioneering firms in TQM include American Express, IBM, Xerox, 3M, Toyota, Ricoh, Canon, Hewlett-Packard, Nissan and many others. Samuel K.M (1993)

Strategies for a Countrys Development

Strategies for a Countrys Development Aspects that make a country develop. Abstract. The objective of this research paper is to explain how a developing country can achieving development, explaining of the three most important aspects that contribute to development such as Economy, Technology and Education. The Economy can be improving with methods like manage resources properly, focusing on production to avoid buying from other countries or how to put people in financial positions. We can see that the only way education can improve is by completely changing the current system and implementing a system where creativity is the main feature. And lastly we will talk about the use of technology that has meant throughout history, a very important tool in development. Thanks to technology have been able to meet many needs and solve many problems. If a country remains focused on solving these situations, it will succeed in achieving development. Keywords: developing country, Technology, Education, Economy, solve problems, relation. Aspects that make a country develops. Many countries are called developing countries, these countries should found solutions for situations that dont allow full development. To consider a developed country, the needs of the inhabitants must be met and they must have a good quality of life. The most part of developing countries depends of developed countries and for this reason these countries donÂÂ ´t have a good economy, because basically all their economy goes to big countries. There are many aspects that need to be taken into account in a developing country: there are not many sources of work, that there is a high index of poor people or that their income comes mostly from the services sector. (S, S, 2015). These situations are some of those that must be solved quickly to be able to demonstrate true development. To achieve these solutions these countries should focus on three of the most important aspects that will help achieve development; improving the economy, implementing a new education system or simply try to improve the current one and focusing on technological development. Economy. A developing country should focus on improving its economy and for this it must undergo various changes. One of the aspects that must be changed is knowing how to use their own resources for production, since most of these countries depend on the production of developed countries. On the other hand, it is desirable that in these countries the people who hold the financial positions are properly chosen, because in their hands is the management of money. They must be properly prepared to keep accounts because it isnt a simple family account on the contrary is managing accounts of an entire country. Another aspect that could contribute to the economic development of a country is to improve tourism. Some developing countries have unimaginable landscapes that many people would pay to observe. A clear example is Ecuador. Much of its income is attributed to tourism. In the article Tourism generated over 1,487 million dollars for Ecuador in 2014 taken of the website Andes, (2015) it is affirmed that tourism generated 1,487 million dollars in 2014; therefore, it represents a great economic potential for the country, because it is the third source of non-oil income preceded by shrimp and other services. Improving the economy is the most important aspect in which the government of a country should focus as this could make better investments in the fields of education and technology. Education. Another way to fully achieve development is to improve the education system. Often we observe in these developing countries the same obsolete system of education that is based on memorization. Unfortunately, the following quote is completely true: Doesnt matter where you go. Youd think it would be otherwise, but it isnt. At the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and at the bottom are the arts (Robinson, K, nd). In the same way, we are accustomed to living with the same system, without realizing that creativity must developing from childhood and the only method to achieve this is to completely change the system. It is necessary to implement an innovative educational system whose aim is for students to develop their creativity. According to Alexandra Ossola (2014), in her article Scientists Are More Creative Than You Might Imagine all humans have innate creativity, but to observe result, creativity must be cultivated and put into practice. We must start with ourselves for improve our own education. For example in Kambwambwa there is a case of a young innovator whose story was written by Sarah Childress (2007) in her article A Young Tinkerer Builds a Windmill, Electrifying a Nation this young man built A windmill to supply electricity to his house and his village. He did not go to school. He did not go to school but he was able to build the windmill because he educated himself. He took the fact initiative and became a hero to his people thanks to that he was innovative and used his creativity and his desire to get ahead to build something new. We must understand that education is the basis of development, if a country has a good education system over time, subject will have good professionals and they will be responsible for generating new sources of work and therefore the development process will be faster. Technology. Technology is another area that potentially helps the development of a country. Thanks to this tool it has attained meet many needs. Lets start talking about the industry, technology has played a very important role in the development of the industry and production, through the creation of new machines and devices allowing to minimize production time has been achieved undermine expenses since machines replacing workforce and therefore potentially the economy increases. Second, talk about a developed country is talk about of a country that have a good economy, a good education and a good quality of life. Throughout history, we can see how the use of technology has facilitated the lives of humans, for example, the discovery of electricity permitted a great advance in the world, thanks to this invention we have light every day, Can use all the electronic devices and this allows to develop new discoveries day by day. Another way in which technology contributes to development is communication, thanks to the technology has been able to have a communication between all the countries of the world of instantaneous way. Before, to communicate with a relative on the other side of the world had to wait weeks, even months, now, thanks to the technology with just a click we can even see our family in real time through a screen. We can see that before it was almost impossible to diagnose diseases, such as cancer or simply to know if a bone was broken, now thanks to all electronic devices the diagnosis of diseases is almost immediate. The use of X-rays, blood tests or radiation has saved too many lives, and this also means development because the goal of a developed country is to improve the quality of life of its inhabitants. Conclusion. In conclusion, it is important to be clear on the aspects that a country should focus on in order to accelerate its development. A developed country is characterized because its inhabitants have a good quality of life, for this reason, improving the economy is the first step for development, because having good income will allow investing in education and technology. We must find new methods such as the correct use of resources, and how to find people prepared to carry out the financial charges. Improving education is another path to development, if students learn with a new study vision, many changes will be achieved. Implementing creativity in classrooms is the key to training professionals with new visions and creating new sources of work and opportunities for other people. Finally, the use of technology has meant a remarkable development in many respects. This tool has been able to satisfy many needs and has been able to help all industries by creating new devices and solving var ious problems. If a country begins to solve problems that do not allow it to improve its economy,education and technology, insurance can achieve full development in all areas. References: ANDES. (15 de June de 2015). Obtenido de http://www.andes.info.ec/es/node/45718 Childress, S. (12 de december de 2007). Ayoung tinkerer builds a windmill, electrifying a nation. Obtenido de http://www.msj.com/articles/SB119742696302722641 Ossola, A. (12 de november de 2014). Scientist are more creative than you might imagine. Atlantic. Robinson, K. (s.f.). Do schools kill creativity? S, S. (2015, julio 18). Key Differences. Retrieved from http://keydifferences.edu/difference-between-developed-countries-and-developing-countries.html