Monday, September 30, 2019

Envirofit Company Essay

1. It is appropriate to consider Envirofit to be a social enterprise because their main focus is innovation, risk taking, and large-scale transformation to solve social problems. Envirofit is doing so by bringing sustainable clean energy solution to solve health and energy challenges on a global level at the lowest possible cost. They are combining resources while exploring and exploiting opportunities to create social value by stimulating social change or meeting social needs. They are meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet that need. In this case the need is clean air. Envirofit’s approach to shared value is to make a difference by focusing on energy and pollution reduction, and health and economic improvement. They wanted to create and economical value and also create value for society by addressing its needs and challenges. Envirofit hoped to reduce pollution by developing commercializing a retrofit kit that dramatic ally reduced emissions in dirty two-stroke carbureted motorcycle engines. Their approach was to transform their business thinking, recognizing societal weaknesses and create a way of solving both. The social problem Envirofit is attempting to solve is air pollution while increasing the income of the drivers through increased fuel mileage. Envirofit offer it’s investors a good reputation and a triple bottom line by giving them the chance to go beyond the traditional measures of profit but also include environmental and social dimensions. They would be more focused on profits, people, and the planet instead of just profits. 2. The Envirofit’s two stroke motorcycle engine conversion kit described as being targeted at the â€Å"base of the pyramid† because the taxi drivers are considered micro-entrepreneurs; using the small amount of money they earn to support their families. They typically earn $3-$5 per day after all their expenses. These drivers are in the largest and poorest socioeconomic group. The impact this has on Envirofit’s business model is that it would be challenging to find ways so that the drivers can purchase the kit at a reasonable price. It would be challenging to come up with a business model that would meet their triple bottom line objectives, allow for scalability, and provide the ability to raise start-up capital. The factors that they need to take into consideration include: the market, the customer, and the competition. 3. One of the biggest obstacles to be overcome would be  developing a business model that would enable them to sell to customers in base of the pyramid markets and meet their triple bottom line objectives. Finding a way that motorcycle drivers could afford the projected price of the kit ($220), which is a significant money to the drivers because they make less than five dollars a day, little money saved, and little access to commercial credit. They would also need to learn the market, manufacturing, finance, regulatory, and cultural issues that the venture would face. Another obstacle is to provide a kit that would be commercially available, durable, and reliable. It also needs to have less power draw on the motorcycle and easy and inexpensive to install. 4. If I was offered the opportunity to join the venture as one of its key members, I would evaluate the long term impact of the venture. If it’s something that has the potential to make significant changes in the environment especially in third-world countries, I would definitely accept the offer. From what I read, it all sounds like a great plan but it needs lots of work and effort and I would definitely make the sacrifice because I think it would pay off in the long run. 5. I would look for start-up capital among the members of the ventures before looking anywhere else. It is very important for the members to invest first that way they can show potential investors that they are serious about their venture. I would also turn to nonprofit organizations and large corporations that are interested in making profits as well as helping the environment.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Animal Protection Decision Essay

In â€Å"Why Do Species Matter? †, Lilly-Marlene Russow argues that humans have a moral obligation to protect and to ensure the continued existence of things of aesthetic value which includes some but not necessarily all animals. In this paper, I will argue that the subjectivity involved in determining aesthetic value makes it an insufficient element for determining moral obligation to the protection and preservation of some animals. Russow begins the argument by separating humanity’s obligations toward species from obligations to individual members of a species. This is to allow consistency with the disapproval of speciesism. Russow admits that by protecting individual animals we may, as a byproduct, protect some endangered species but members of the endangered species should be treated no differently than those of a flourishing one. She states that the concept of having interests, as it relates to determining value, cannot be applied to species but rather only to individual animals. Russow then uses several test cases to draw some conclusions about humanity’s confusion around what a species really is and what it is about certain species that we are trying to preserve or, in some cases, we do not care to preserve. Next, Russow provides objections to three traditional arguments for why species do matter. The first is the argument for stewardship which Russow dismisses due to its assumption that species are valuable. The second is the argument for extrinsic value of species regarding their contribution to big picture of life. Russow objects to three different extrinsic value perspectives by 1) stating that we cannot use a specie’s declination as a sign that humans are doing something wrong because that cannot account for unforeseen events, 2) stating that not every species is required for ecological stability, and 3) denying the evolutionary chain argument because extinction and development of species are both part of evolution. The third argument objected to by Russow is the argument for intrinsic value. Ironically, Russow’s main objection to this argument is the same objection that debunks her own argument. What gives intrinsic value? How much intrinsic value does something have? Drilling into intrinsic value further, Russow objects the biodiversity view claiming if diversity is virtuous than we would be obligated to create as many new species as possible, however useless they may be. She also objects to the aesthetic value view of species in that other benefits, such as economic, may override aesthetic value of a species. However, Russow does believe that the aesthetic value view is correct but must be applied more granularly to individual members of species. Russow argues that humans value the aesthetics presented by a single member of a species, not the species itself giving the example of valuing the beauty of a specific Bengal tiger we might encounter but not the species Panthera tigris. She also argues that we value the continued existence of â€Å"individuals like that† which sounds very similar to species. This is odd since the argument for aesthetic value related to species was previously objected by Russow. I argue that aesthetic value is a very subjective concept that is incapable of providing information that would be useful in determining the fate of some animals. Furthermore, aesthetic value is not an appropriate measure for making any relative comparisons to other individuals’ aesthetic value or other worldly good things or benefits in order to make logical decisions concerning the individuals in question. Much like the case of inherent value, there is not a reliable method for determining what has aesthetic value or not. Russow uses the rarity of encountering a member of a species and the desire to see a member of a species again as possible qualifiers for assigning aesthetic value. Other factors include beauty, intriguing environmental adaptations, and awesomeness. However, not all humans are going to consider these factors equally when determining aesthetic value of an animal. For instance, using Russow’s Case 1 as an example, one person may admire the survival techniques of the snail darter enough to protest the building of the dam while another person may not care at all about the snail darter’s existence because they are disgusting and unnecessary. One objection to my argument concerning the subjectivity of aesthetic value may be an appeal to the majority. Opponents may draw a comparison to the case of moral good and evil. A heavy majority of people believe that murder is wrong. Society determines murderers are immoral and governs accordingly. Therefore, if many people find something to be beautiful that a minority finds ugly, the case might be made that the minority is incorrect or somehow lacks the proper aesthetic judgment to make a proper determination of the thing’s value. To tackle this argument, I look no further than my own home. My wife is ophidiophobic, i. e. she has an irrational fear of snakes. I on the other hand greatly admire the beauty and intrigue of snakes. If there were a vote to be made on whether to annihilate a rare species of snakes in order to develop the land which they reside, I would most likely vote against. Conversely, my wife would rally supporters and be first in line to vote for eradicating the snakes; simply for the fact the snakes would be gone. Even if it was known that these snakes ate some kind of potentially harmful insect that would not matter to her. A 2001 study from Gallup, Inc. suggests up to 50% of Americans may possess a fear of snakes so I feel she would not be alone in this decision. We cannot determine who is right or wrong in this situation. I can’t say my wife is wrong because no snake will ever have a drop of aesthetic value to her. Meanwhile, to argue against a case for preserving a snake population to aid in eliminating a harmful insect population doesn’t seem correct either. This leads back to my original objection which is that there is simply too much subjectivity involved in determining aesthetic value for the idea to be relevant in decision making related to the protection of animals.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Psychodynamic Counseling Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychodynamic Counseling Theories - Essay Example In this regard, one can come across a huge number of theories that indicate attempts of various individuals who worked to propose efficient understanding of human existence, and in such a pool, psychodynamic theories are playing a crucial role in better understanding of human life that has resulted in their significant importance in the field of counseling. In specific, this paper is an attempt that will include endeavors for better understanding of theories that will enable the societies to deal with the human problems effectively. While scrutinizing human life, it is merely impossible to avoid the significance of human mind that stands as the fundamental basis of human existence. Still in midst of huge advancements in the field of information technology, theorists (Kottler, pp. 79-84, 2010) are enjoying great significance due to their attempts to analyze and explain different aspects of mind, the most complex organ. In psychology, ‘psychodynamics refers to the study of differ ent aspects of human mind in terms of their interrelationships with each other’ (Velicer, pp. 31-34, 2003). In psychotherapy, theorists (Mitchell, pp. 51-57, 1996) have been dealing with different areas of human mind while relating them with psychological and mental development of humans. In addition, analysis has indicated that unconsciousness is one of the major areas of human mind that have received greater focus of psychologists and theorists. One of the major examples of such focus is the psychodynamic model of the human mind by Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis who contributed extensively to the field of psychology and psychotherapy by his different theories and propositions. In the area of personality, Sigmund Freud contributed expansively that enabled experts (Jacobs, pp. 20-25, 2004) to understand different factors that play crucial role in the human personality. In this regard, Freud’s contributions have been tremendous in the field of psychotherapy as his findings allowed the experts to progress in the field. Although his theory does not enjoy the same significance today, however, Sigmund Freud will remain as the founder of psychodynamics and psychological scrutiny of the human mind. In particular, the paper will include some of the areas of his work involving unconscious mind, three components of the human mind, etc, as well as works of theorists, such as Donald Winnicott, etc that will help in better understanding of psychodynamic theories of counseling. In particular, to understand mechanism of Freud’s psychodynamic model of the human mind, it is necessary to have an understanding of psychosexual development theory (Jacobs, pp. 36-39, 2004) by Freud that will create a fundamental basis for the analysis. Study of the works has indicated that according to Freud, until the period of adolescent, an individual passes through various stages that determine the healthiness or unhealthy condition of his/her personality, and spec ifically, Freud’s model of the human mind revolves around the same stages of the human life. In particular, Freud divided the human mind in three parts, id, ego, and the superego (Huffman, pp. 20-39, 2008). In addition, besides identification of these three components, Freud emphasized on the importance of conscious, preconscious, as well as unconscious stages of the mind. Due to lack of technological advancements, Freud was unable to prove his division physically; however, he indicated these divisions as psychological existence of the human mind. Firstly, ‘id’ is the basic constituent of the human mind that works during the birth of an

Friday, September 27, 2019

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 24

Case Study Example The type of chemical reaction that was taking place in T2 laboratories reaction chambers was an exothermic reaction. An exothermic reaction is a type of chemical reaction where energy is produced during the reaction (Atkins & Paula, 2001). In a typical reaction, for a product to be formed then energy has to be supplied in order to break the bonds of the reactants, however during the formation of products, energy is released. In case of an exothermic reaction, the energy released during the formation of products is higher than the one needed to break the bonds of the reactants. In connection to this, the excess energy is released in form of heat (Atkins & Paula, 2001). In order to show the change in energy as a reaction progress, most chemists prefer using potential energy diagrams. A potential energy diagram has the y-axis representing the potential energy and the x-axis showing the change in potential energy as shown in figure 1 (Atkins & Paula, 2001). Although, just like any other form of reaction, energy is conserved and the excess energy that is not used up is released to the environment in form of kinetic energy, light or heat as shown in figure 3 (Atkins & Paula, 2001). T2 laboratories manufactured {Methylcyclopentadienyl)-manganese(I)tricarbonyl}, a gasoline additive. The chemical reactions used to produce the product were exothermic in nature. Therefore, it is important that the company knows the maximum amount of energy that can be released by the reactants in order to prevent vessels from bursting. It is important that training activities and materials incorporate all aspects of chemical hazards. In addition, all employees especially those in the processing section should be made aware of the consequences of not following the laid down procedures (EPA, 2005). In regards to T2 laboratories, the owners of T2 laboratories were trained on chemistry and chemical engineering. However, it seems they were not trained on chemical reactivity

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Research methods psychology Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research methods psychology - Lab Report Example Although exercises promise vast number of health benefits, addiction may disturb the natural flow of life and create health problems. Scientists suggest chemical compounds such as endogenous opioids and catecholamines produced during strenuous exercise are responsible for auto addiction (Adams & Kirkby, 2002). Some researchers believe exercise addiction is a result of psychological condition related with body image and composition. Anorectic or bulimic individual may develop exercise addiction to reduce their body weight instead of vomiting. People in special professions such as long distance athletes, models, dancers etc., in which the thinness is much appreciated, are more vulnerable for exercise addiction (Cumella, 2005). Since exercises are highly encouraged for healthy living and commonly accepted by the society addiction cannot be identified easily (Cox & Orford, 2004) In our society males and females have opposite views on their body image. Thinness is preferred by most of the females while masculinity is preferred by most of males. Therefore both genders engage in exercises to obtain their desired body image in addition to health benefits. Like some other psychological conditions addiction to exercise may have a gender specific tendency. However research evidence are lacking in this area. Therefore it is important to identify any gender difference in exercise addiction. Apparently healthy 100 males and 100 females who are regular members of a gym and between 20 to 30 years of age are selected randomly from the membership registry. Members who are athletes and who have medical conditions (heart disease, pregnancy, hypertension etc.) which limit the exercises and who are known to have any psychological disorders are excluded. Questionnaire: consisted of personal details such as age, occupation etc. and several psychological questions to identify exercise addiction. These questions have a marking scale and according to the final score and the

Macro and Microeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macro and Microeconomics - Essay Example The exchange rate is 5.5francs/dollar meaning that one dollar is equivalent to 5.5 francs. Therefore, a Chrysler Neon costing 14,300 dollars will have the frank price calculate below: 1dollar = 5.5 francs 14,300 dollars= Franc price of Neon Using the principle of cross-multiplication, Price of Chrysler Neon = (14,300 dollars x 5.5 francs)/1dollar = 78,650 francs Question three Given that the franc depreciates by 9% and the initial exchange rate was 5.5 francs/dollar, the franc price of the shirt and dollar price of Chrysler Neon will be affected by the depreciation. If the franc depreciates by 9% from its previous dollar value, the dollar price of the shirt will also change as depicted in the following calculations. Depreciation = 9% Taking the original exchange rate, 5.5 francs/dollar, to be 100%, then the value after depreciation must be higher than the initial value by exactly the same amount as depreciation. New value = (100 + 9) % = 109% Therefore, the new exchange rate = (109/1 00) x 5.5 francs/dollar = 5.995 francs/dollar Hence, the new price of the shirt = (220 francs x 1 dollar)/5.995 = 37 dollars. ... The reason is that as the products become cheaper, the domestic and foreign demand of the products will increase. As currency devaluation increases competitiveness, demand for the country’s export increases, resulting in an increase in aggregate demand. According to macroeconomic principles, an increase in aggregate demand will cause an increase in GDP (Boyes & Melvin, 2011, pg.273). On another monetary perspective, France receipt from foreigners might increase due to currency devaluation and exceed the outgoing payments hence leading to an improved balance of payments. The fact that increased supply of foreign money leads to low supply of domestic currency highlights that an upward pressure will be placed on the domestic currency. Together with expensive imports due to currency devaluation, this pressure results in high price levels as well as higher GDP and employment levels. On the other hand, the depreciation in French franc will decrease the aggregate demand in United Sta tes. The currency devaluation means that the dollar will be stronger against the franc. As a result, the US imports from France will increase as the products in the country become cheaper. Comparatively, US products will be expensive and unpopular in the domestic and foreign markets. Aggregate demand which is dependent on price levels will decrease as more people will be opting to buy from France (Boyes & Melvin, 2011, pg.273). In the meantime, the gross domestic production will decrease as demand decreases. In addition, the franc depreciation will lead to a fixed exchange rate that is lower than the equilibrium exchange rate. This makes it cheaper for Americans to buy French goods and expensive for French people to

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Course Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Course - Assignment Example Just due to personal choice, the researcher has selected evolution of Information Technology (IT) as the predictor for productivity. Horzella (37-53) pointed out that integration of IT has increased the productivity through four way mechanisms, 1- bring order to data management and streamlined the process flow, 2- increase the efficiency of communicating of information to stakeholders, 3- minimizing the possibility of committing human errors and human intervention and 4- due to exposure of technology, consumer surplus or perceived value of consumers has increased and companies have started giving importance in increasing production quality to satisfy the value perceptions of consumers. Horzella (37-53) pointed out that productivity of a system is dependent on three factors such as gathering the input, processing the input and producing the output. IT has integrated information of these three steps simultaneously and such integration is the key reason behind increase in productivity. Question 2 Sulek, Marucheck and Lind (711-27) stated that process flow in restaurant is directly related to steps in the operation process. The transformation model in restaurant can be depicted in the following fashion. In case of restaurants, inputs are the raw food materials, vegetables, meat, papers for creating menu card, lights, decoration materials etc. Restaurant itself is a product and architectures, ambience, decoration; seating arrangement is part of the service mix of restaurants. In case of transformation, three types of resources are being processed in restaurant such as, 1- material resources and physical raw material inputs, 2- information about the product quality or service delivery is being processed and 3- requirement of customers also gets processed through the service cycle. In case of restaurants, outputs include food service, catering, visual treatment and goods such as food and beverages. In restaurants, feedback information is being used to control quality of the operational system. For example, a customer might complain about the hardness of potato to waiter and the waiter sends the feedback to chef and based on the feedback, the chef might change the potato in order to offer better dining experience to patron. Question 3 Sulek, Marucheck and Lind (711-27) and other researchers pointed out that the service and manufacturing industry is going through the transition phase and companies are trying to integrate all the data points in cost effective manner. Converting the manual process into more efficient through system automation is not only becoming a trend but also giving options to companies to bank on it order to increase productivity. In such context, I believe that IT is reaching its maturity stage in terms of affecting global and national productivity. Careful consideration of the research works of Horzella (37-53) reveals the fact that conjoint implementation of IT and online transformation can influence the productivity up to a great extent. Hence, according to me, three verticals such as system automation, online transformation and data management & big data analytics are going to be the â€Å"next big thing† in the field of productivity management. Companies are developing complex production systems which run on information and data feeding and in many cases, data set for running the productivity system becomes so large and complex that normal computer program

Monday, September 23, 2019

Compare and contrast nazi and communist sport Essay

Compare and contrast nazi and communist sport - Essay Example For this conclusion to be arrived at before the introduction of the DRL, sporting skills were prior made a criterion for certain events, including school graduations and were also considered necessary qualification for certain other jobs as well as being necessary for admission to universities. In Europe too, emerged one other independent body governing sporting activities elsewhere in the region. This was the communism sport. The communist sports policy in Europe had dominated some of the largest parts of Europe especially during the cold war. However, this is no longer the case. It slowly collapsed giving rise to independent bodies that governed sorts throughout the countries of Europe. Communism sports however lives on in countries like China, Cuba and North Korea. Communism sport was not everywhere recognized or either practiced, in most of the national priorities of less advanced communist nations. Nations all around the world tend to recognize communist sport and more to it, ad apting it. This in view of the research was mostly facilitated by its prior success soon after its establishment: this was particularly at the Olympics games that drew a considerably high level of attention worldwide. One particular and considerably remarkable but far-reaching aspect of the question at at hand, these referring to the communist sport was the evolution of an introduced model of sports that aimed at modernizing community. These too were intended at employing sports for utilarian purposes in view to promote health, defense, and hygiene issues among others. This newly introduced model that placed some attraction for nations in parts of Africa, Asia as well as Latin America was important. In majority of communist states, sports carried with it a huge revolutionary role of being an agent of social change with the state carrying the piloting role (Murray 73). Shifting sides to highlight the Nazi Sports, German sports in general, came to a clear rise in the sporting body, ca me up in the 1930s. This would have been prompted by several issues, among them a myth of Aryan racial superiority and physical power. The Olympics games then, being the first ever in history to cover live television. These provided an ideal setting that displayed a Nazi regime and more to that, what Hitler deemed to be his intended exploit. It would later be quoted that German sports had only one main objective, to strengthen the character of the Germans. This was to be by all means, from imbuing the country with a fighting spirit, termed to be necessary in the struggle for its existence. The Government then resulted to harnessed support for sport as part of its own drive to strengthen a particular race, to exercise political control over its citizens, in preparation of the youths for what they referred to as war. Close to all communist states faced problems of political stability. These would have its own consequences to Nation building at large, but in one way or another, had spo rts to be involved. As stated earlier, sports when facilitated by a common and stable value, experienced success repeatedly. With its involvement in Olympics gave a considerably high boost to this. Since a huge percentage of communist states were born in war torn situations, adverse poverty and the like. Sports

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Building Identity Without Voice Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Building Identity Without Voice - Research Paper Example There are several points where the idea of self – realization becomes a reflection of identity and the place in which one holds in society as a minority. One is the ideology of the no name woman, represented from the beginning of the book. The representation which is set by Kingston is to not have an identity or place within society. One loses their name as well as their ability to live, specifically because of the idea of marginalization that is within society. The no name woman is one which is not accepted into society because of the belief that she is pregnant outside of marriage. This is reflective of the same concept of self – identity which the narrator states and which is seen in society. â€Å"On nights when my mother and father talked about their life back home, sometimes they mentioned an ‘outcast table’ whose business they still seemed to be settling, their voices tight†¦. They could have sold her, mortgaged her, stoned her. But they had se nt her back to her own mother and father, a mysterious act hinting at graces not told me† (Kingston, 4). This example shows the relationship between self – identity and society in several ways. The mother and father’s perception is based on the instant marginalization or outcasts that are within society. This is combined with the self – representation of how one responds to society by the acts which are performed. In this instance, they disgraced themselves and the family by sending their aunt back to her family.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Interracial Marriage Essay Example for Free

Interracial Marriage Essay Interracial marriage is used to describe marriages that take place between people who are from different linguistic, religious, or nations or ethnic groups. There are substantial increases in the number of individuals engaging in interracial. Relationships between people from different ethnic and cultural groups are becoming increasingly common because of globalization and improvement of technology. Internet technology has brought together the world in that people can enter into a relationship with anyone from any countries. In some countries, it is against the law to marry someone of a different race. These countries include Germany during the Nazi period, South Africa under apartheid, and some states in the United States before a 1969 ruling. In some Arab countries, it is forbidden for an Arab to marry outside their race because of the law and traditional customs. If an Arab person marries someone out of their race, their civil rights are taken away from them. In 2008, Pakistani senators allowed women to be buried alive if they married someone outside their race. People Most Attracted to Intercultural Relationships/ Marriages To begin the series on intercultural marriage, beginning with a discussion about who exactly tends to be most attracted to intercultural relationships/marriages in the first place seems like a good place to start. It’s certainly not for everyone, as mixed marriages are full of unique challenges that married people from the same culture may never face. In Romano’s book â€Å"Intercultural Marriage,† she lists 5 common types of people who tend to be involved in intercultural relationships. The first type is the Romantic type: those who see people from other cultures as exotic, fascinating, and thrilling. These people may find people from their own culture boring and predictable, and thrive in the mystique of people from far away and foreign lands. The second type is the Compensator. These people often feel like something is missing from their lives and believe they have found it in another person or culture, as they believe elements from that person/culture fulfills what is missing from their own. Romano notes that this type is found even in couples who marry from their own cultures, who are simply looking for someone to fulfill what they lacked growing up. Rebels are slightly different from the compensators in that they dislike much about their own culture and are intent on finding someone from somewhere else. Sometimes they have a specific target culture in mind; other times they simply take whatever fate brings them. Internationals, the next type of people drawn to intercultural marriage, are those who lived outside their native countries for most of their lives, and are typically children of missionaries, diplomats, military personnel, and so on. These people often do not feel as though they completely belong to one particular culture, as they tend to have been influenced by several cultures and therefore have a wide appreciation and love for differences. The final category is comprised of others. These people may not fit into their society and often are ostracized from it. Finding love in a different culture is a way to find a place to fit in and be accepted. Some of them are not considered to be attractive in their native culture, and have better luck in another culture. Others are part of a minority and find acceptance in another culture. Still others live in poverty and marry as a way to improve their quality of life. Barriers Oftentimes, couples in intercultural marriages face barriers that most married couples of the same culture are not exposed to. Intercultural marriages are often influenced by external factors that can create dissonance and disagreement in relationships. Different cultures endure vastly diverse moral, ethical and value foundations that influence their perceptions of individual, family and societal lifestyle. When these foundations are operating alongside the foundation of different cultural roots, as in intercultural marriages, problems and disagreement oftentimes occur. 1. Family and Society The most common external factors influencing intercultural relationships and marriages are the acceptance of the family and the society in which the couple lives. Sometimes, the families of the partners display rejection, resistance, hostility and lack of acceptance for their kin’s partner. Specific issues regarding the family; including generational gaps in ideology, and how the wedding will be held; which ties into how tradition will or will not be practiced. Many intercultural couples report conflict arising over issues of how to carry out child raising and religious worship as well. 2. Language In a mixed marriage where the partners do not share the same mother tongue, the language in which they decide to communicate at home can be symbolic of the extent to which each partner is prepared to forego his or her cultural background and incorporate new elements. There may also be elements of control and dependence in the choice of language when one partner refuses to learn the other’s language. There is a case-study of a so-called bought bride from Asia. The German husband had no knowledge of her language, while she could speak some English, but no German. Communication in such a relationship proved to be extremely difficult, and all decisions and dealings with the outside world where necessarily undertaken by the German husband. The wife could not find any but the most menial jobs where the necessity of understanding was limited, which further increased her economic dependence on him. 3. Communication Style Intercultural couples may possess differing communication styles. Individuals from a high context culture are not verbally explicit in their communication behaviors. These cultures typically consist of eastern world countries where collectivism and relational harmony underlie communication behavior. By contrast, individuals from a low context culture use direct and obvious communication styles to convey information. In situations where marriage occurs between two people from differing communication contextual backgrounds, conflict may arise from relational challenges posed by the underlying assumptions of high/low context cultures. Challenges posed by differing communication styles are common among intercultural marriage couples. The longer the two individuals have existed in the current culture the less likely this is to pose an issue. If one or more partners within the marriage is relatively new to the dominant culture, the likelihood for conflict to unfold o n these bases increases. Solution/ Suggestions 1. Learn How to Appreciate One of the ways to deal with interracial dating issues is acceptance of partner the way he or she is. Most issues arise when one or both partners want to have their way in everything that they do. It is therefore important to ensure that they appreciate their wife or husband with all his or her cultural practices. Since they come different regions, differences in the way of life are bound to happen. They must desist from criticizing each other based on cultural grounds or race. As a matter of fact they must never stereotype or generalize happenings as this can be the cause of interracial conflicts. If they are willing to love, understand and respect each other’s differences, you’re on the right track. 2. Learn More about the Culture Another thing they need to do in order to solve issues with interracial relationships is to study each other well before engaging. Discuss the symbolism or significance of each other’s important cultural traditions. Understanding the significance of these traditions will help to understand them. This will help them to have a more natural, familiar feeling toward the others traditions, accept and embrace the culture of the other. After some time, they will even feel the desire to incorporate culture into their own family traditions. Besides, they need to know what values their partner stands for and to establish whether they can accommodate them. When they understand their partner in advance, it becomes easier for them to solve any interracial dating concerns. One advantage of being married to someone from another country is to get travel from time to time. When they can travel, make sure to visit the spouses family and learn about their culture firsthand. Furthermore this prepares them for the future thus allowing them to solve situations better. 3. Maintain Contact with Family It is essential that foreign spouse keeps in contact with his or her family, especially as they are probably a long way from each other. With time, he or she will feel of longing for their family, homesickness, and even possible loneliness and depression. It is necessary that he or she can keep contact to his or her family. Today, the Internet and sites like Facebook and Twitter make this type of contact much easier, and your spouse happier. Help your spouse to develop friendships with people from his or her country or families that speak their language somehow so that they will know more people and may feel at home

Friday, September 20, 2019

Development Of Ecommerce In China Information Technology Essay

Development Of Ecommerce In China Information Technology Essay E-commerce usually indicates that the traditional sales channel is moved to the Internet by the means of electronic techniques. E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. (Coppel, 2000)With the development of e-commerce, the buyers and sellers conduct various business activities on the basis of the application of browser and server. E-commerce is a new type of commercial business model, which can achieve the consumer online shopping, transaction activities, financial activities and activities related to integrated services. However, e-commerce could break the national and regional barriers and make the enterprises realize globalization. E-commerce is a process that optimizes various activities continuously by adopting digital information technology. E-commerce covers a wide range. Generally speaking, e-commerce can be divided into two forms, including Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer. Recently, new models of e-commerce are in a growth stage, including Consumer-to-Consumer, Business-to-Manager, Business-to-Marketing and Manager-to-Consumer. (Kohavi, 2001) With the increase of domestic Internet users, online shopping and bank card payment consumption in Internet are becoming more popular. At the same time, market share is rapidly growing and e-commerce web sites become more and more. The most common security system of e-commerce has two types, including SSL (Secure Socket Layer) and SET (Secure Electronic Transaction). E-commerce is an evolving concept. IBM Corporation, as the pioneer of e-commerce, proposed the concept of Electronic Commerce E-commerce owns three stages in the whole development. The first stage is the electronic mail stage. This stage started from 1970s and the average communications capacity grew at the speed of several times every year. The second stage is the information promulgation stage. Since 1995, the information promulgation system grew rapidly. Web technology is an obvious representation. At present, the information promulgation system becomes the main application technology of the Internet. The third stage is electronic commerce. Electronic commerce just developed in U.S.A. The ultimate objective of Internet is the commercial purpose, which is electronic commerce. (Yannis, 2001) From the three stages of e-commerce, it can be seen that the application of Internet plays a critical role in the development of e-commerce. 2.1.2 Development of E-commerce in China The e-commerce in China began in 1997. If the e-commerce in U.S.A is business push model, e-commerce in China relies more on technology pull push. This is a large difference between Chinese e-commerce and American e-commerce. In the U.S.A, the practice of e-commerce originated from the concept of e-commerce. The business demands of enterprises push the advancement of network and e-commerce technology, finally contributing to the formation of the concept of e-commerce.  When the Internet age comes, the United States has owned a more advanced and developed e-commerce foundation.  In China, the concept of e-commerce emerged earlier than the application and development of e-commerce. Torchbearer of e-commerce is IBM and other IT vendors. (Scott, 2006) The network and e-commerce technology requires continuously to pulling the business demands of enterprises, thereby causing the application and development of Chinese e-commerce.  It is very important to know the difference and this i s a major feature of e-commerce development in China. Meanwhile, knowing the difference between Chinese e-commerce and American e-commerce is also a key to understand the development of Chinese e-commerce. In 1997 and 1998, the main body of Chinese e-commerce is the IT vendors and the media. The IT vendors and media implemented the elementary education concerning e-commerce. As a result, this could inspire and guide peoples understanding, interests and needs towards e-commerce.  After this stage, in 1999 and 2000, the e-commerce service merchants that feature the websites became the first application under the involvement of venture capital. With the deepening application and development of e-commerce, the website e-commerce began to fall into the bottom. At the same time, enterprises, especially large-scale traditional enterprises, started to enter e-commerce field. Since 2001, Chinese e-commerce entered the third stages. Since then, the enterprises e-commerce becomes a new subject in China. In recent years, Chinese e-commerce has the rapid development. In 2007, the total volume of national e-commerce transactions achieved RMB 2.17 trillion yuan, increasing 90% than the past year. The online shipping in China also has a rapid development. By the end of June 2008, online shopping users reached 63.29 million subscribers and increased by 36.4% within six months. Till December 2008, the entire users of e-commerce websites have been covered from 90,000,000 to 98,000,000.  (Gregory, 2008) 2.1.3 Developed Stages of E-commerce in China Generally speaking, e-commerce in China can be divided into six stages. These six stages are starting stage, adjusting stage, resuscitating stage, rapid developing stage, upgrade stage and maturity stage. Starting Stage This stage lasted from 1997 to 1999. The first scale of e-commerce websites were established within these three years in China. At that time, the concept of new Internet encouraged the first scale of business owners. These business owners thought the traditional business would reply on the Internet to communicate. (Angelov, 2001) Therefore, they believed that the e-commerce would have a large potential in the future. From 1997 to 1999, some famous e-commerce websites emerged. Of the current e-commerce websites, 5.2% were established in 1990s. Adjusting Stage The adjusting stage lasted from 2000 to 2002. Under the background of Internet bubble, the development of e-commerce suffered large shock. Under this circumstance, the confidence of business owners experienced serious challenge. Within these three years, few business owners established new e-commerce websites. Resuscitating Stage The resuscitating stage lasted from 2003 to 2005. Since 2003, the e-commerce in China has resuscitated. However, parts of e-commerce websites were more careful to treat the profit model and reduce the operation cost. According to the investigation by B2B researching center, 30.1% of e-commerce websites were built from 2003 to 2005. During this period, the enterprise members who adopt the e-commerce enhanced increasingly. Rapid Developing Stage The rapid developing stage lasted from 2006 to 2007. The improvement of Internet environment and popularization of e-commerce in China brought large opportunities to the e-commerce. In this stage, the members of various e-commerce platforms increased sharply. Most of B2B e-commerce websites realized the profits. The dream of IPO, good competition in the industry and investment emotion stimulates the e-commerce industry in China to enter in rapid development stage. (Kenneth, 2003) Within two years, the numbers of e-commerce websites increased largely. It is investigated that the e-commerce websites built in 2007 exceeded 30.3% of current websites. Upgrade Stage The upgrade stage lasted from 2008 to 2009. Between 2008 and 2009, global financial crisis influenced many industries. Under the guidance of expanding domestic demand and reducing the costs, B2B gained more development. However, C2C field made online users own more choice spaces. It is researched by B2B researching center that the e-commerce websites in this stage took up the 22.3% of current total quantities. Maturity Stage Maturity stage started since 2009. After 2009, e-commerce in China will meet new development. With the economic development and technology development, e-commerce will deeply change the consumer behavior in future. 2.2 Online Shopping 2.2.1 Introduction of Online Shopping Online shopping  is the process that the consumers purchase the products by the Internet without any intermediary. In this situation, the consumers do not go to the shopping centers and spend much time. An online shop, e-shop, e-store, internet shop, web-shop, webstore, online store, or virtual store evokes the physical analogy of buying  products  or  services  at a  bricks-and-mortar  retailer  or in a  shopping mall. (Bigne, 2005) This process is known as Business-to-Consumer (B2C) online shopping. Business-to-Business (B2B) online shopping is formed when a business purchases from another business. Both B2C online shopping and B2B online shopping are the main forms of e-commerce. History In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser. (Jarvenpaa, 2007) In 1991, the commercial use has been created and was applied to the business. With the technological development, more improvement in Internet was adopted in the business. For example, online banking was opened and brought the convenience to the consumers. Pizza Hut opened an online pizza shop. In 1994, Netscape fetched in a secure system to maintain the online shopping, which is called SSL encryption of data transferred online. In 1995, e-Bay emerged in the online shopping. During the same year, Amazon enlarged the online shopping. Recently, Overstock has also become one of the worlds largest and reliable online shopping stores. (Davis, 2001) As a result, online shopping is in a continuous developing process. Web-shop The emergence of web-shop appears with the development of online shopping. The web-shop refers to an online retailer. Web development, hosting and other activities related with web are known as web-shops. (Falk, 2005) The growth of online shopping is mostly because transportation costs went up and telecom costs went down. (Chaudhury, 2001) Therefore, as time goes past, the Internet is a commonplace. Online shopping provides consumers with large ranges of selection and thus consumers could choose the goods and services with an optimal price. However, online shopping has the limitations that consumers can not see the actual goods what they want to buy. Sometimes there are some differences between the pictures shown on the Internet and the goods consumers finally receive. Customers Online shopping is very popular in recent years. Online shopping usually caters to the middle and upper class. (Bucklin, 2002) The premise of online shopping is that one must be access to a computer, a bank account and a debit card. Online shopping can not leave with the advanced technology. According to research which focused on the demographic characteristics of the in-home shopper, in general, the higher the level of education, income, and occupation of the head of the household, the more favorable the perception of non-store shopping. (Moe, 2003) Initially, the main target audience of online shopping was young men with a high level of income and education. In the process of social development, women became more independent in the value. Today, the online shopping was used by both men and women in the middle class. 2.2.2Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Shopping Nowadays as the rapid change of technology, e-commerce has developed fast. Unlike with the bricks and mortar retailing, online shopping has only virtual stores. Due to the development of e-commerce, online shopping has become a new business and gone to maturity. It is necessary for the marketers to know the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping respectively. Advantages No Space and Time Limit Traditional retailing business is based on fixed locations and time. It is few that the stores could do business in the whole 24 hours. However, online shopping business is no time limit, operating 24 hours a day. Its time is decided by the online users who are consumers. Therefore, online shopping business has the advantage of the new space-time, which could be an even greater extent on the wider internet to meet the needs of users and consumers. In addition, online sales can be carried out in the world with the internet, and there are no geographical barriers. In the face of the global market, without having to spend exorbitant costs of international marketing conditions, it may create an international brand, launching the least costs or services to the world. (Andy, 2004) Services of All-round Display of Product For the common daily use product, there are no advantages for e-commerce. But for other durable goods or complex and industrial goods, online shopping will be able to use on-line multi-media performance to display products appearance, performance and quality. Meanwhile, online shopping could determine the function of internal structure in order to help consumers fully understand the goods or services, then buying it. Specific Information and Convenient Comparison Internet provides comprehensive, specific, effective and strong information and reliable low-cost. It is easy to use search technology and fast transmission of the process to make consumers acquire access to information simply. 4) Close Relationship with Consumers and a Better Understanding of Consumers As the Internets interactive communication, there is no outside interference about expressing their feelings. It makes consumers to express more evaluation about product or service. This kind of the evaluation, on the one hand, let on-line retailers can be better understanding of the internal needs of internet consumers; on the other hand, consumers interactive communication with online retailers could promote their close relationship. Cheaper Products As the online shopping retailers are virtual intermediary agencies, they do not need stores, decorating, and the display of goods on the shelves, attendants and so on. It leads the costs of their products to be cheaper. Therefore, their price is lower that the products price in the traditional stores. It is also an advantage that can attract more consumers. Disadvantages 1) A Lack of Feeling and Human Communication In traditional shopping, consumers judge and choose products through looking, hearing, smelling, touching and other sensor. But in the process of online shopping, it only offers two waysto look or hear. For a number of people, the feeling of shopping is a social practice and a kind of social contact with the opportunity to enjoy a kind (Christopher, 2005). Online shopping has lost the fun of wandering the streets, meanwhile, the fun of shopping process will greatly discounted. 2 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °Lack of Psychological Satisfaction In traditional shopping, as the relationship between population, people like to display their personality and life situation in costume and make-up to enjoy and appreciate other peoples envy. In the way of online shopping, no one know the consumers appearance, dress, wealth, so that shoppings psychological satisfaction can not be attained. 3) The Limited Scope of Application Although in theory, any product can be on-line transactions, in actual operation, there is still not suitable for many products sales. This involves products attributes and characteristics. Some products are easy to be damaged in the process of transportation. For these products, consumers would not purchase online. 2.2.3 Online Shopping Development in China With the application of Internet, online shopping gradually becomes one of online activities for Chinese. The online shopping development in China can be divided into four stages, including flush stage, growth stage, rapid developing stage and maturity stage. Flush Stage Before 1999, the prophets of Chinese Internet began to establish the B2C websites, which contributed to promote the online shopping. However, this action was questioned by the economic field at that time. The questions were sourced from three aspects. Firstly, economic filed thought there were no enough consumers to select the online shopping. It was investigated that the Internet users only reached 8.9 million till 2000 in China and most of people have not formed the habit of online shopping. Therefore, many economists thought the online shopping would not have large market in China. Secondly, they believed that online shopping could not solve the logistics problem at that time. The online shopping requires national logistics distribution system. But the express industry in China before 1999 was just in a starting stage. Thirdly, online shopping could not solve the Internet payment problems. Before 1999, Chinese were used to cash transactions and did not form the habit of bank card. As a result, online shopping was really difficult to develop in China before 1999. Growth Stage The growth stage lasted from 2003 to 2005. In 2003, SARS shocked China seriously. However, SARS explored a new era of online shopping in China. Attacked by SARS, most people trapped in the house. If they wanted to go out to buy things, they needed to rely on the network. Even people with a strong sense against online shopping began to try.  Then more and more people realized the convenience of online ordering, home delivery. (Frieden, 2006) At the same time, more and more people would like to accept online shopping.  After SARS in 2003, consumers in China increasingly participated in online shopping.  Online shopping business has gradually established the market in China and entered into the growth phase. Rapid Developing Stage This stage lasted from 2006 to 2007. Going through the growth stage, online shopping in China entered into the rapid developing phase. Many people experienced the online shopping and the entire e-commerce environment was broke. After 1999, some problems related to the online shipping were improved continuously, including the logistics distribution, payment and so on. In 2006, logistics distribution system was already mature and became a critical role in the Chinese online shopping. The online payment also made the large advancement. The third party payment tool could ensure the payment safety of consumers. During this time, the original stumbling block to online shopping did not exist. (Miller, 2002) According to the official statistics, in 2006, the market size of online shopping in China reached over RMB 20 billion. 2007 is the year when online shopping developed the most rapid. In 2007, the market size of B2C online shopping achieved RMB 4.3billion. Meanwhile, the market size of B 2B online shopping reached RMB 51.8 billion. Above statistics meant the online shopping in China has been very optimistic from 2006 to 2007. Maturity Stage Since 2008, the online shopping entered into a maturity stage. With the promotion of Olympic Games, the online market kept 95% of increasing rate. From 2008 to now, the online shopping is in a stable increasing process. In the future five years, the market size of online shopping will expand stable. 2.3 Consumer Behavior 2.3.1 Introduction 2.3.2 Characteristics of Consumer Behavior 2.3.3 Factors that Impact on Consumer Behavior 2.4 Cultural Factor 2.4.1 Introduction 2.4.2 How Cultural Factors impact on Consumer Behavior