My Autography

My name is Md. Tanvir Rahman Mazumder and I was born in Comilla in 1990. I have a nice family and they live in Comilla. At present I live in Dhaka with my Brother, he has an employee of the multinational company for almost 5 years. I am currently attending North South University in an effort to obtain my Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree. My family is the most important part of my life as well as my success.It is influenced that I have on my family as well as my personal goals that have driven me to want to excel in all I do and try to be good rule models for my family along with others I come into contact a well. My life is so far is comprised of a wonderful family, great friends, a small successful classic car restoration business and a sincere dedication to my family, education and work. My elementary school experience is very interesting and memorable. In my elementary school I am a very stubborn and sporty boy. I am totally into sports. I love to play cricket and basketball.I also love to make friends and hangout with them. I pass my leisure time by listening to music and a small chat with friends on the phone. Sometimes I really miss my elementary school experience. I am currently attending the north south university in an effort to obtain my bachelor degree in business management. I am attending this university because it is the ranked 1 university in Bangladesh. It has a big campus. All of the faculty members are highly qualified and they gain their PhD degree from abroad. Now my university days were awesome. I had lot of fun there with my friends.I also played for my university cricket team and I was the best cricketer in my university. I feel very proud for attending this university. Course CodeClass Name/SubjectTeacher’s Name MIS105Introduction to computersAfz MGT210Principles of ManagementJNA BUS172Introduction to StatisticsABS MKT202Introduction to MarketingZTK Outside university whenever I get enough time I used to go to my v illage. I always give away my old clothes to the poor people. Every Friday my friends and I go to the rural area and I also help my friends to cook food for the poor people.My friends and me organized a charity show for those who were live in under the poverty line. Sometimes I go to many historical places in the Dhaka city and outside the city. By the year 2015 I hope to be in a good job as top management position. The outlook for my future is a good one due to my family and education. I can see myself becoming more versed in compliance services and in the future possibly starting a related company. I see my future as being a top quality manager in a position of importance involving critical decision-making that drives a company to competition and wins.I can also see in the future where I will be taking time to reward my family for their support and accomplishments, possibly in the long vacation outside the country. I can also see in my future where my wife and myself will be able to continue to pass on our experiences to both our children and grandchildren helping them to achieve their goals. I believe that only future holds on what I put into it. To this point in my life I have worked hard to achieve my educational goals from graduating high school to shortly obtaining my degree in business management through the North South University.I think I will get more opportunities to achieve my goal. As I stated in the beginning, I have always placed a great importance on my education and have had a drive to learn more and excel in life. I would hope that through all of my experiences in my personal as well as educational life that this will provide the foundation on which I can succeed and as a professional to help my future company I would work for. I hope you have enjoyed my autobiography, I think you can see that my life has been based on hard work, education and responsibility. It is there principles that I believed could have the greatest effect on anyoneâ₠¬â„¢s success.

Lincoln: One of America’s Best Film

Both President Clinton and House Speaker Newt Gingrich have referred to Lincoln Electric as an example of an American firm that is one of the best in the world. This statement may be bold, though holds truth in many respects and Lincoln managers like George Willis, who was the CEO in the late 1980s and early 1990s adds to this statement: â€Å"†¦ I believe that we are the best manufacturing company in the world. Lincoln Electric is best known for its productivity incentive program, which has been widely cited over the years, and has attracted thousands of managers to company†s headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio to learn about one of the country†s oldest and most radical pay-for-performance systems. Founded in 1895 by John Cromwell Lincoln to manufacture electric motors and generators, The Lincoln Electric Company shifted its resources into manufacturing arc-welding products in 1911. Today, welding products account for more than 90 percent of net sales and range from basic units for light manufacturing to highly sophisticated machines used in robotics applications and high-production welding and fabrication. The remaining income is generated by electric motors and oxy-fuel and plasma cutting tools. The company is also the leading producer of self-shielded cored-wire electrodes and currently holds ninety percent of the world market in this area. With its over a 100 year existence, Lincoln Electric has had a successful past with a few downtimes, like the one during the 1991 recession because of an ill-conceived foreign-acquisition spree. Even during this time, the company kept its promise to its U. S. workers to pay their bonuses and went to extremes such as borrowing $100 million in 1992 and 1993, even though it lost $84 million in those years. The retired CEO Donald F. Hastings quoted saying: â€Å"We can†t break our trust with this group because of management mistakes and recessions elsewhere. From this unique example, we can understand the company†s genuine commitment to its compensation system. However, some argue that, after the 1995 sale of 40% of the company†s equity to public, this traditional close-knit relationship between management and the workers got affected. Lincoln Electric employs 5,700 workers worldwide and operates 16 manufacturing sites and 17 distribution centers in 11 countries. In 1995, the company celebrated its centennial year by posting record sales of $1. 03 billion. With increasing sales every year after 1995 – $1. 09 in 1996, $1,159 in 1997, the company is holding its leadership position in the manufacture of arc welding equipment and consumables. Lincoln†s longstanding commitments to linking pay to both individual productivity and the profitability of the corporation makes it an ideal case study for any business student. In this paper, I will explain the unique pay-for-performance compensation system of Lincoln Electric as well as investigating this system in our class context, also explaining the international expansion of the company. Incentive Performance System: its strength and weaknesses It was James E. Lincoln, John Lincoln†s younger brother, whose philosophies and beliefs about workplace relations shaped Lincoln Electric†s unique culture during his long term as head of the company from 1914 to 1965. The firm has had only a handful of leaders in a century of operation, which are mostly promoted within the company. Likewise, jobs at Lincoln Electric plants are highly prized and employee turnover is low. I think it is impressive that no one has been laid off since 1948, and the turnover rate is less than 4% among those with at least 180 days on the job. â€Å"There isn†t any other place to work like Lincoln Electric, they take care of you. † says Kathleen Hoenigman, an 18-year veteran. In today†s competitive markets, it is important to have dependable highly skilled workers and Lincoln Electric clearly is a great employer according to some employees like Mrs. Hoenigman. Companies like Lincoln Electric can afford to provide consistent employment, no matter what, by working and managing better. Thinking ahead and having creative solutions for when there is a downturn is what management is all about,† Hastings said. It really makes sense when one thinks about this statement: if no one worried about losing their job, then employees would create change instead and this kind of an ideology would definitely have a great impact on productivity. High wages, high productivity, and a high level of trust between management and workers characterize the laborer-employee relationship and this culture at Lincoln. Policies such as the â€Å"open-door† policy helps build this trust and while encouraging the employees to bring suggestions for improvement also helps the management to have non edited, raw data from their workers. It is true that millions of American workers, from sales representatives to truckers, are paid on a commission basis or according to their output. Many others collect annual bonuses tied to their employers† profits and revenues. But Lincoln is nearly unique among large American companies, paying all shop-floor workers according to a formula based on how much they produce and how much the company earns. Lincoln Electric†s compensation package for factory workers consists of a piecework system for base wages and a year-end bonus. The piecework system however is probably the major part of the total incentive system at Lincoln Electric. With this system, a worker can make more per day or per week or per month during the year with or without a bonus. The workers are paid on the quality of what they produce. Thus, in a way, Lincoln†s 3,400 U. S. employees are supposed to be self-managing entrepreneurs. Each employee is accountable for the quality of his or her own works and is rated twice a year on quality, output, dependability, cooperation and ideas. The ratings determine how much of the total corporate bonus pool each worker will get, which comes on top of his or her hourly wage. There†s minimal supervision and employers only get paid when they work, and there is no sick or holiday pay, which created some problems for Lincoln Electric in their foreign subsidiaries. â€Å"How much money you make is in your own hands,† says Thomas Gadomski, a painting-crew leader. All 3,400 Lincoln Electric shop-floor workers do well, with wages averaging $58,000 in 1995 (the last year for which company would provide data), not counting the value of their decent package of medical, vacation and retirement benefits. On the other hand, the programs developed 40 years ago at Lincoln to boost the production are helping contain workers compensation costs. Gil Frey, director of employee benefits and relations, said the company saves about $44,000 per month as a result of its return-to-work strategies. Despite all the incentives and high salaries, the company, which is publicly traded in NYSE, hardly operates as a charity. 1997†³s net income of $85 million represented a 20 percent return on shareholder equity in a very competitive industry. Donald Hastings who is strong defender of the piecework system argues against the people, who consider the piecework system as a type of 19th Century pay system that was designed to take advantage of the worker, and he adds that it is what killed the piecework system in the U. S. Thus, he believes that the piecework system at Lincoln has fairly set rates. However, very few manufacturers have taken the pay-for-performance route, and the reasons are not actually hard to comprehend. For one thing, it is difficult to sustain large differences in pay for the same job category also measuring individual productivity in industrial settings can be a challenge all by itself, unless if you have a well established system like Lincoln. Yet I am sure that, at times inevitably there is ambiguity at Lincoln too, but clearly it is very minimum. These are some of the reasons why it would be difficult to replicate Lincoln†s success, because it also requires highly disciplined and motivated labor. Moreover, in addition to piecework bonus system, guaranteed employment up to 30 hours and the annual bonus system where employees are paid once a year up to an average of 50% to 60% -recent years† average- of the base pay created a sense of ownership among the employees. Lastly, as a result of all these incentive systems, the high productivity and high output rate with less defects, and innovation gives Lincoln Electric the competitive edge in the market. One manufacturing manager explained it perfectly: â€Å"We strive for high productivity based on employee effort, continuous improvement in production processes, and a seven-day-a-week utilization of equipment. By passing on cost savings to our customers, we generate very high demand that allows you to send everything you make straight out the door. † These are the main strengths of Lincoln Electric, but just like any other organization, Lincoln Electric have some weaknesses too. Unfortunately, the Lincoln incentive model is not quite the smashing success it once was. Problems started with the recession in 1991, and in 1995, after management stumbles forced the family-controlled manufacturer to sell more shares to the public. From that point on, Lincoln started looking more like a public company. With new shareholders, and new board members came new ideas, which had impacts on some of the core values of the company, and the worker bonuses has started getting smaller. At the same time, management was readying itself for an expansion to remain globally competitive, putting even more pressure on the balance sheet. Even though that very same year, the company celebrated its centennial year by posting record sales of over $1 billion and record earnings, this was a year of change for the workers. All those factors I listed above crimped bonuses. For workers who expect high bonuses if they deliver in output, this shift must have hurt their morale. As new global markets are emerging for Lincoln†s business, the company has started questioning and reviewing their one-of-a-kind pay system. The company is by no means ready to completely change or get rid of the incentive plan, which once paid employees 100% of their annual wages in annual performance linked bonuses. But now with the new markets that the company is in too, the executives are considering ways to move toward a more traditional pay scheme and away from the regular percentage-bonus formula, or may be a mixture of the two. â€Å"The bonus program is a good program, and it has worked well, but it†s got to be modified some,† says director David C. Lincoln, whose father John C. Lincoln founded Lincoln Electric. So, the question is for how long more Lincoln†s pay plan can survive rapid growth of the company and globalization? Also the wide range of wages cause some problems within the company. The average Lincoln factory worker earns $16. 54 an hour, vs. the $14. 25 average manufacturing wage in the Cleveland area. With a 56% average bonus in 1995 – the lowest in years – production employees came out ahead of workers elsewhere even after paying for health-care benefits. But unlike at other companies, Lincoln has huge variations in production-worker pay: from roughly $32,000 to more than $100,000 for the most hard-driving. There is also a tremendous pressure to produce, but an employee board meets regularly with the top management to report workers† concerns. And Lincoln guarantees work to employees with three years† experience. Still, it gets harder and harder everyday to live up to the old deal. Even though, the company has bounced back from stumbling overseas, it has yet more problems to overcome. During this period, Lincoln had financially weakened. To make better acquisitions and expand further, Lincoln made its first public offering in July 1995, pushing outsiders† stake to 40%. It also slashed total debt by 40% to $130 million, and paid a lower bonus per person, though the total bonus pool was a record $64 million. Naturally, slimmer bonuses somewhat changed employees† attitude towards the system and the company. In November of 1995, some employees protested outside headquarters after they learned of the bonus size. Also again during this period, the turnover among the new hires was high, and the disparate pay upset the veteran Lincoln employees. â€Å"If an individual shows he can handle the workload, he should be rewarded with full pay† commented Joseph Tuck, an inspector with 18 years at Lincoln. Because of the protests, CEO Hastings eliminated the two-tier wage on December 1, 1995. This was a dilemma for both the company and the workers, both of which had never experienced this kind of a situation before. To edit the pay system without causing any resentment, the company set up a committee to study the bonus program and had even hired Price Waterhouse to study productivity. Even though, Hastings pledged at the time that the incentive system would remain the same, over time, he wants employees to focus on the overall earnings, not just the percentage bonus they receive. And that should be a tough job to do, to implement this kind of an ideology in employees† mind, who has worked so many number of years in a fixed, particular system. Lincoln Electric†s International Expansion On other hand, as I have mentioned earlier in the paper, because of both legal and cultural issues, Lincoln†s basic systems like the incentive system and annual bonus pay system did not work in many of the overseas operations in the long run, even though at the beginning it was successful. And, I think Lincoln Electric had especially a hard time understanding that operating and international business calls for a lot more than just technological skill. Also, I believe that the company didn†t truly understand the cultures of those countries where it expanded. The general assumptions made, such as the belief that everybody in the world would be willing to work a little harder to enhance their lives and their families and their homes didn†t turn out to be true for everyone. It was an inaccurate assumption and this was one of the main reasons why the company had to pull out of Germany. The underlying reason for this was mainly because Lincoln Electric executives didn†t know how to manage an international operation, nor did they have the international experience. Furthermore, the way Lincoln had gone about expanding internationally was too rapid an unstructured. Also, there were other barriers such as high tariffs, high manufacturing costs, highly unionization and misconception of Lincoln Electric†s incentive system. After closing down plants in Germany, Brazil, Japan and Venezuela, and reporting losses from these operations in 1992 and 1993, I am sure Lincoln Electric is going to be very careful about not starting another acquisition spree. During these losses however, the company expanded the number of employees in the United States, but I am sure that the firm will be going back to overseas in the future. This time though, they want to be very careful in selecting the region for the new facility, as well as the managers and the workers. One of these new markets that Lincoln has interest in is the Asia-Pacific area, including mainland China, and the company is already in the process of getting some alliances in Indonesia and Malaysia. These new interest regions may shape the future of Lincoln Electric. If we were to make a cost-benefit analysis for Lincoln Electric, we would find out that the company has a lot of pluses. Even after all these charges against it, Lincoln†s pay system is likely to remain innovative than most. But as it tries to hire more outsiders, expand further abroad and modernize, â€Å"we†re getting to be a more normal company,† says Director Frank L. Steingass. That may not be quite what eager visitors to the headquarters in Cleveland, who want to learn the secret of incentive system expect to hear. But if Lincoln can adapt to new times without sacrificing employee good will, another model pay plan may yet emerge out of this company. The over century long history and tradition, along with great organizational and pay systems, Lincoln Electric has a very strong organizational culture, especially in the United States. However, with the new emerging markets around the world today, Lincoln Electric can not afford to stay out of the global competition. Finally, I believe that its employees will always move Lincoln Electric to greater heights, no matter what. The former CEO Donald Hastings states this idea in a very profound way: â€Å"It†s a two-way street at Lincoln. We look after our people and they look after us. â€Å"

The Allegory of the Cave

The Allegory of the Cave How does Plato’s allegory represents the activity of philosophy? 9/23/2010 HZT4Ua Diana MS. The Allegory of the Cave The Allegory of the Cave is a metaphor that can be seen to describe many aspects and situations in life that one had no control or choice over. The reason Plato uses many metaphors in his allegory is to think or ‘philosophize’ about the world around us because in fact our understanding of the world is very limited.This is due to the fact that we live in a world of shadows and not reality to whom very little is actually known about by everyone. The metaphors are seen to actually represent a society with all its people, truths, hidden meanings, problems, solutions etc†¦ The meanings transferred in the allegory of the cave apply to philosophy because it shows the philosophers position in society. It gives the philosopher the opportunity to philosophize/think about what exists/reality and what does not exist in our surround ing environment.To society, the allegory of the cave contemplates many issues related to man in his society. Such issues include human’s ability to be ignorant or knowledgeable, free or imprisoned, stubborn, lazy, active, etc†¦ by choosing either to or not to search for answers to many of the issues that arise continuously. Moreover, The Allegory of the Cave is about ignorance and learning because the men in the cave are ignorant or unaware of the outside world that exists except for the shadows that they saw passing by on the walls.The man who is freed engages in the process of learning from the moment he is released from the cave and is forced to adapt to the new conditions and situations that now surround him. In addition, the chains are used to symbolize the limited amount of information that a person has about reality. For whatever reason, this limited amount of information can be considered to be a type of ignorance.Last but not least, as humans in this world, many of us are really ignorant about many important issues that surround us in or everyday lives. We are unfamiliar of many things in life and are either unaware of it or simply choose not to bother with it. The world that many of us choose to live in is in fact very different from reality itself. However, many of us choose to live in such ignorance or denial when it comes to certain issues and this is due to many factors.

Building Relationships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Building Relationships - Essay Example Since it is our mission to provide the best foundation for life-long learning of the students, the school will provide premiere services and exhaust all efforts to ensure that the best environment can be offered to children. It is very important that parents are aware of their health benefits as well as their rights and responsibilities. The school can be of good help to those families that are not well educated with their health care coverage and the laws governing this benefit. This health information can be made available to parents or families of the students by conducting an annual seminar regarding designed to educate families on their rights and responsibilities. Health care coverage plan such as HMO, PPO and PO plan are available for families. Thus it is important that school has good relationship with hospitals, clinics and health agencies that can provide and educate parents about their health benefits. Available hospitals, clinics and agencies within the area are the follo wing: ___________________________. The delivery of educational service of the school must also include the equitable opportunities to students with disabilities. As this school is committed to providing the best education to children without any preferences and discrimination to education, the assistance to children with disabilities must be made available to families and parents of the student by including the services to educational handbook and annual report by the school to the parents. As a second home of the students, the school can provide a really good help to children suffering from domestic violence. The school can offer important benefits â€Å"including safety, predictability, a sense of normalcy, adult and peer support, meals, basic medical and mental health services and extracurricular activities† (Domestic Violence, p.1, n.d.). This help and information can be made known to families and students by including this information to bulletin boards especially in the guidance counsellor’s office. What should be emphasized upon extending this to the students and families is the maintenance of confidentiality of these cases. The school must establish relationship with agencies in the community that handles domestic violence survivors and their children (Domestic Violence, p.3, n.d.). Available agencies in the community that handles domestic violence and relevant cases are _____________________. A healthy school environment is important because it is where children learn and do their best to acquire the needed knowledge for their success in the future. The school is responsible in offering the opportunities for the children to build individual and collective confidence through their daily confidence (Jane-Llopis, & Braddick, 2008). According to Jane-Llopis and Braddick (2008), â€Å"mental health is a basic human right, and is fundamental to all human and social progress. It is a prerequisite to a happy and fulfilled life for individual ci tizens, for effectively functioning families and for societal cohesion.† As Bettina Schwarzmayer, President of European Youth Forum, quoted â€Å"Mental health lies at the heart of a young person’s social, professional and personal development yet youth is particularly vulnerable to mental health problems. Education plays a paramount role in building the foun ­dation of the mental health and well being of youth.†

Ancient Egyptian Cosmetic and Style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Ancient Egyptian Cosmetic and Style - Essay Example The ancient Egyptian community was highly recognized and appreciated fro their high level of cleanliness and their concern to personal appearance for instance: It was a pre-requisite for he priests to be clean since they were considered to be a connection between the gods and the community. Additionally, in the ancient times, the Egyptians applied various methods in order to improve the level of their personal cleanliness, these methods were inclusive of: Shaving various body parts such as armpits, the genital area, beards and the head. Taking several baths a day was also considered pertinent in that it ensured that persons remain clean through out the day. Other methods such as the use of Ground Carob Pellets were also used to rub the skin in order to reduce body odor. Consequently, the use of cosmetics was extended to areas such as preparation of dead bodies for burial. Special body creams were used to cleanse the body before mummification an example is the burial of some three women from the Tuthmosis III Court in 1400 BC who were buried after being cleansed by using a very expensive cream made from a combination of oil and lime juice. There were various ancient Egyptian cosmetics that were used on different parts of the body ranging from facial to other body parts. These varieties included: Oil, lime juice, red ochre, henna, and kohl, white and black make-ups. Different techniques were applied to produce a variety of cosmetics. To begin with, the production of oil involved pressing the finest fruits or seeds such as the Moringa nuts which were combined with inorganic and organic materials that were grounded and used as pigments. Additionally, the production of Kohl; an eye paint was carried out through grinding some green malachite, cerussite, lead carbonate (white in color), galena (lead ore) and occasionally minimum amounts of laurinite and phosgenite. These materials were then ground into powder and mixed with

Technology and education.What if we didn't depend on technology in the Essay

Technology and education.What if we didn't depend on technology in the classroom as much as we do - Essay Example Education reform continues to be a question of grave concern for educators and policy makers. Braithwaite’s (2002) novel To Sir With Love which was set in the 1960s informs that education reform is nothing new. Students are particularly vulnerable to failure both at school and after school. Braithwaite’s (2002) novel cautions that students are resistant to traditional teaching methods and require training which goes beyond mere academic learning. In today’s world, President Barak Obama cautions a student body that regardless of what career choices they make, they will require some level of computer literacy (Obama 2011). Essentially, we are learning that education reform places a greater degree of pressure on teachers as they attempt to improve teaching techniques and outcomes. As it is, educators and policy-makers are concerned about the high drop-out rate among high school students across the US (Obama 2011). In other words, keeping students engaged becomes mor e challenging when teachers are required to integrate technology into the curriculum. On the other hand, integrating technology into the curriculum can be one method of responding to the drop-out rate. Research studies reveal that academic performance and being held back are not the only contributing factors to the school drop-out rate. In fact, these studies also reveal that a student’s attitude toward school student’s experience at also contributes to the school drop-out rate (Lamb 2011, p. 370).... As Lamb (2011) informs, research studies indicate that students are at a greater risk of dropping out of school when their academic performance is poor. It therefore follows that non-conventional teaching can improve engagement and as such can improve retention. Arguably, engagement is tied to academic performance. This explains why there is so much emphasis on education reform and the significance of quality teaching. Braithwaite’s (2002) teacher did not have the science and technology at his disposal to introduce innovative and non-conventional methods of teaching. He was forced to be creative and by doing so engaged his East London students who were by no stretch of the imagination, conventional students. The result was, these children’s attitudes toward school changed and the students were for the most part successful. Bennett (2011) reveals the extent to which teaching occupies the minds of policy-makers. This is a result of the poor academic outcomes. According to Bennett (2011), the National Assessment of Educational Progress revealed that 40 percent of American high school seniors scored 36 percent below average in math and 26 percent below average in reading. The results for American history are even more disappointing with high school seniors scoring over 50 percent below average (Bennett 2011). Bennett (2011) explains that while these poor outcomes can be accounted for by a number of issues, one thing is certain: quality teaching can turn this around. This brings us to the question of technology in the classroom. Technology has the potential to improve teaching by bringing into the classroom a significant part of the student’s daily life and future job prospects. Therefore technology in

Deficit Spending Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Deficit Spending - Essay Example Deficit financing has many advantages that benefit the economy in times of economic trouble but it has many disadvantages and overemphasis on it may turn hazardous for the economy. In a modern economy, budget deficit often evolve due to some common reasons like increase in government expenditure, fall in aggregate income level, inefficiency in the tax collection mechanism, subsidies granted by government in diverse sectors of the economy and so on. All these results in diminished pool of the state exchequer causing budget deficit wherein the mechanism of budget deficit by the government make its intervention coming with its own set of advantages. As discussed earlier, with two major tools like borrowing and printing new currency, the economy experiences development in infrastructure with capital infusion which in turn propels productivity boom in essential sectors like education, medicine and real estate to name a few. Money supply within the economy increases that as a spillover effect increase price level (although inflation acts as a predicament) of the economy that fetches gains to the producers in the supply side luring investments. One of the major advan tages of deficit financing is that it increases the aggregate demand within the economy increasing employment opportunities, income and thus more investments (Hajela, 2010, p. 348). After analyzing the advantages of deficit financing, it can be stated that there are some disadvantages of it as well. Inflation is one of the most prominent disadvantage or evil effects of deficit financing. If deficit financing cannot be controlled in a proper manner then inflationary pressure will increase. As for instance, in case of production owing to excess capacity deficiency, discrepancies between demand and supply of goods within the market and shortage of complementary factors coupled with increase in money supply accelerates inflationary pressure. Apart from that some

California Clinics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

California Clinics - Essay Example This will in turn increase the required rate of return. ii) Time Preference for Consumption: If people choose to consume their income now rather to save, this will reduce the supply of investment capital oblivious to the demand of investment capital at that time. In this conditions, the firm's will find lesser sources lending investment capital and they try to attract more investment capital by offering them higher interest rate and this will again increase the required rate of return from the investment following the higher rate of interest that these firms will be offering. Similarly, if people decide to save now and spend later, this will lead excess supply of investment capital in the market. The firms here will be able to obtain investment capital at lower rates and will enjoy decreased interest expenses. Some projects that were not feasible because of high interest rates in the market will now become feasible and firms will borrow more. However, due to excess investment capital available in the market, the interest rate will decrea se and so as the required rate of return. iii) Risk: Risk requires compensation and likewise it will affect the interest rate of capital of investment. If the risk of an investment is high, then the investors will only be willing to invest in that project at very high interest rates. ... iii) Risk: Risk requires compensation and likewise it will affect the interest rate of capital of investment. If the risk of an investment is high, then the investors will only be willing to invest in that project at very high interest rates. If the risk of a certain project is low, then the investors will be investing in that project at lower rates of return and interest rate. Hence, we can develop a relationship between interest rates and the risk of a project. These two variables are directly related with risk being the independent variable and interest being the variable depended upon risk factor of a project. Any increase in the risk factor is going to increase the interest rate or required rate of return of a project. Similarly, if the risk factor of an investment is low, so will be the interest rate. This clearly shows that risk requires compensation and interest rates vary depending on the risk factor of a project. A logical explanation to this is the fact that very few peopl e are interested in investing in highly risky project fearing that they may lose out their money. As a result, the supply on investment capital is very low for these projects and vice versa. Inflation: Inflation reduces the purchasing power of money. It erodes the purchasing power of people if their money is not invested into projects yielding interest rates which are at least equal to the going rate of inflation. If the interest rate earned is less that inflation, then you are losing out the real value of your money. This means that it won't be able to buy in the future, as much as it buying now. This is a dangerous situation for investors as they are faced with a situation in which the real value of their assets is decreasing. In times of inflations,

Critically appraise the extent to which an understanding of cultural Essay

Critically appraise the extent to which an understanding of cultural differences can assist in managing people in the workplace - Essay Example This paper will critically appraise the extent to which an understanding of cultural differences can assist in managing people in the workplace. There has been a good definition of culture in the above first chapter. It is important to note that culture is either generic culture or local culture (Alatas, 2009). Generic culture consists of shared culture among people in the world, whereas local culture entails schemas that are shared by the only specific social group in this world (Alatas, 2009). Globalization has made this world a global village. In broader terms, globalization has brought people in this world closer. That said, people from different parts of the world have found themselves working together in the same corporations. This is very interesting because it seems hard to deal with people from different cultures. It requires deeper understanding of cultural diversities such as things not to say to people from different cultures, and the ways of communication (Calveley, 2015). A good understanding of cultural diversities by managers will make it easy for them to motivate employees, structuring strategies, and implementing important strategies. As noted in a study by Connaughton (2007), there are many levels where culture works. The first level is national level. Here, the unconscious values of people bring the difference in national culture. These values are taught when people are young. National culture is normally stable but changes afterward in the practices, but the unconscious values do not change (Connaughton, 2007). The second level is organizational level. Here, the level of practices is the one that brings the difference and are often manageable. Organizational cultures usually differ from one company to another, but the firms need to be operating in the same country (Connaughton, 2007). The third is occupational level. This lies between organizational and national cultures. For example, entering an occupation such as service in the

Evolution of thoughts in Scientific Management Essay Example for Free

Evolution of thoughts in Scientific Management Essay At the first stage where groups of people were insignificant, management in all spheres was carried out by one person the leader of this group. Further, in process of group growth and complication of functions carried out by them, the necessity of labour division and group differentiation has appeared. But it couldnt happen at once, it required centuries. The Egyptian pyramids build in 3000 2000 B.C. are a good example not only ancient Egyptians culture, but also their administrative art. Construction of huge pyramids demanded, first of all, precise planning. While the practice of management can be traced back to 3000 B.C., it was not given serious attention until 1800 when large organisations emerged. Industrial revolution has given a push to development of theoretical researches and management practices. However, till an epoch of capitalism function of management was carried out by the owner himself and a small group of the persons approached to him. The role of the specially trained managers developed during an epoch of monocapitalism. Having been faced with a competition, changeable environment, managers developed knowledge system of how it is better to use resources. During all history of management development we distinguish two approaches: classical and modern. Classical approach allows to allocate four patterns of management thought: 1898 Scientific management 1916 Administrative management 1920 Bureaucracy 1927 Human relations SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT Occurrence of scientific management takes place at the beginning of 20th century and is connected to F.W.Taylors name, Henri L.Gantt, Frank and Lilian Gilbreth. Scientific management focuses on worker and machine relationship. Organisational productivity can be increased by increasing the efficiency of production process. In 1911, Frederick Taylor, known as the Father of scientific management, published Principles of Scientific Management in which he proposed to design  work methods to increase productivity. One of his famous experiments was performed at Bethlehem Steel Company in Pittsburgh. He examined the time and movements, developed a better method for performing that job and trained the worker. In addition, Taylor offered a piece rate that increased as workers produced more. Taylors studies were followed by Gibreths, a husband and a wife, who also helped to find more efficient ways for workers to produce output. Frank Gilbreth made his contribution in the field of brick lying by changing an 18 step process into 5 step that led to increased productivity by about 200 percent. The Gibreths believed that were was one best way to perform an operation. However this one best way could be replaced when a better way was introduced. Other representative of Scientific Management was Henri Gantt. He developed a Gantt chart, which is used for scheduling multiple task over a time period. He developed a pay system with a guaranteed minimum wage and bonus systems for people on fixed wages and brought in a significant contribution to the leadership theory development. ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGEMENT Unlike Scientific Management which focused its attention on productivity, Administrative Management have engaged in development of management in the organisation as a whole and was concerned about administrative part of the organisation. The ancestor of this school was Henri Fayol. He worked as a mining engineer and came to realise that managing an enterprise required a lots of skills apart from technical ones. Henri Fayol was the first to identify the four management functions: Planning Organising Leading Controlling He also developed guidelines for managers to follow. These guidelines form fourteen principles for effective management. Other contributor to Administrative Management was Mary Parker Follet. She pointed out that all managers want flexibility, and she also distinguished between the motivation of individuals and groups. BUREAUCRACY Max Weber, known as a father of Modern Sociology, concentrated on how to structure an organisation for success. Weber outlined key elements of an ideal form of structure, which he believed would develop efficiency and called it bureaucracy. The bureaucratic structure had a number of important advantages for large organisations. The division of labour increased efficiently due to the continued repetition of the task. Hierarchy allowed developing a chain of command. Format selection meant that employees were hired on knowledge and experience and no other criteria would be used. Career orientation ensured that career professionals would give the organisation a degree of continuity in operations. Rules and procedures controlled employee performance. The impersonality of the organisation ensured that rules were applied across the board without personality or other influence getting in the way. HUMAN RELATIONS During the 1920s, an emphasis on the human side of the workplace began to influence management thinking. They started to realise that people are social and self-actualising. People at work are seemed to seek satisfying social relationships, respond to group pressures, and search for personal fulfilment. The human relations movement began with the Hawthorne Studies that were conducted at the Western Electric Company in Cicero 1924 -1933. The intention of these studies was to determine the effect of working conditions on productivity. The illumination experiments tried to determine whether better lighting would lead to increased productivity. Both the control group and the experimental group of female employees produced more whether the lights were turned up or down. It was discovered that this increased productivity was a result of the attention received by the group. In the relay assembly group experiments, six female employees worked in a special, separate area. They were given breaks and had the freedom to talk and were continuously observed by a researcher who served as the supervisor. Once again researches failed to find any direct relationship between changes in physical working conditions and output. Productivity increased regardless of the changes made. Two factors were set up as having special importance. One was the group atmosphere; the workers shared pleasant social relations with one another and wanted to do a good job. The other was more participative supervision. The workers were made to feel important, were given a lot of information, and were frequently asked for their opinions. It was not the case in their regular jobs. The final Hawthorne Study was conducted in the bank wiring room and centred on the role of the work group. A surprise finding here was that people would restrict their output in order to avoid the displeasure of the group. It was recognised that group can have strong negative, as well as positive influences on individual productivity. Two writers who helped advance the human relation movement were Abraham Maslow and Douglas McGregor. In 1943, Maslow advanced a theory suggesting that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs. Which are physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation needs. People try to satisfy the five needs in sequence. They progress step by step from the lowest up to the highest. Meanwhile Douglas McGregor represents Theory X and Theory Y. According to McGregor, managers holding Theory X believe that those who work for them generally dislike work, lack ambitions, are irresponsible and prefer to be led rather than to lead. While in the Theory Y managers believe that people willing to work are capable of self-control, are willing to accept responsibility, are imaginative and creative. CONCLUSIONS Scientific Management Analysis of the past allows a better understanding of the present to predict the future Scientific Management improved peoples productivity at work by reducing number of motions choosing one best way to perform the task. However, Scientific Management was not without its critics. Taylor assumed that people were motivated only by money and ignored social and psychological factors. Also, Scientific Management techniques often resulted in lay-offs and it led to job losses. Relationship between the organisation and environment wasnt taken to attention. Despite these criticisms, we use some of scientific techniques nowadays. For instance, on factory that produces mobile phones, the whole production mechanism is broken down to small tasks. The workers are guided by carefully calculated standards. They know how many details they should approximately produce per hour. Each movement is chosen carefully in order to reduce excess motions. I have been working in a hotel industry for three years. The scientific management techniques have been used in my department as well. To make checking in and out more efficient everyone had his or her own best way of performing the task. Administrative Management. Nowadays Faylols five main functions gained widespread recognition. Lets take a hotel, for instance. Managers have to make plans for the future, organise short-term plans, co-ordinate recourses and finances, and control plans get their goals. In the Royal Bayswater Hotel, where I worked, managers aim was to get a Service Excellence Award. They planed to increase service by: training the staff; paying more attention to internal customers because happy staff is happy customers and by trying to exceed customers expectations. During all this process managers were controlling if everything was following the plans. And as a result to everybodys effort the hotel has been awarded with Best Excellence Service Award Bureaucracy While the term Bureaucracy has a negative meaning some of its elements are still relevant. In the earlier mentioned hotel, for example, staff is selected and promoted on ability to perform the task. Workers are career orientated. In order to obtain the organisational objectives procedures are measured and performed according to the organisational rules and standards. Standards and rules applied without personal influence. Human Relations Until the late 20th human relationship hasnt been taken to serious consideration. It has only been  after Hawthorne Experiments, the improvement of relations between all levels has been accepted as a very important element in the development and improvement of any organisation . This is still have a great importance  nowadays. The job of the manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to encourage, teach, control, motivate and lead people. But that easier said than done. At my place of work there were different people with different needs. While some of them were satisfied with physiological and safety needs, the others there seeking for recognition from others, self-control and actualisation. So managers couldnt expect a good performance at work if an individuals needs havent been satisfied. We also had two types of managers. 1 Those who followed Theory X assumption 2 Those who followed Theory Y assumption As for me it was more difficult to work who doesnt give you much freedom for your thoughts, and things that supervision is a necessity. On the other hand, it was a pleasure to work with someone who allows more flexibility, and thinks that control and punishment are not the only ways to make people work. As a result they got more commitment to the organisation. LIST OF REFERENCES 1 ManagementStephen P. Robbinsons, Mary Coulter, 7 edition 2 Management John R. Schermerhorn, JR. 8 edition 3 Management John R. Schermerhorn, JR. 7 edition 4Management Ricky W. Griffin 7 edition 5 Modern Management Siobhan D. Tiernan, Michael J. Morley, Edel Foley www.sfsu.edu/~erich/slides2/-5k www.ee.uwa.edu.au/~ccroft/em333/leca02.html-12k www.evolutionevent.co.uk/-2k

Stackelberg Leader Follower Models For Strategic Decision Making Engineering Essay

Stackelberg Leader Follower Models For Strategic Decision Making Engineering Essay This paper reviews some Stackelberg Leader-Follower models used for strategic decision making. The simple Stackelberg duopoly is looked at first, and a generalisation of the Stackelberg duopoly problem is given. By studying the models by Murphy et al. (1983) and Smeers and Wolf (1997), the paper reviews Stackelberg model from its classical form to the recent stochastic versions. The paper looks at the mathematical formulation of both a nonlinear mathematical programming model and a nonlinear stochastic programming model. Towards the end of this paper, a simple numeric example is given and practical applications of Stackelberg Leader-Follower models are discussed. Chapter 1: Introduction In economics, an oligopoly is considered to be the most interesting and complex market structure (amongst other structures like monopolies and perfect competition). Most industries in the UK and world- from retailing to fast food, mobile phone networks to professional services- are oligopolistic. Given the current financial climate, it is imperative for firms to be sure that they make decisions accurately, maximising not only their profit, but also their chances of remaining competitive. Many mathematicians and economists have attempted to model the decision making process and profit maximizing strategies of oligopolistic firms. For example, A. A. Cournot was one of the first mathematicians to model the behaviours of monopolies and duopolies in 1838. In Cournots model both firms choose their output simultaneously assuming that the other firm does not alter its output (Gibbons, 1992). Later, in 1934, H. V. Stackelberg proposed a different model where one of the duopoly firms makes its output decision first and the other firm observes this decision and sets its output level (Stackelberg, 1934). The classical Stackelberg model has been extended to model a variety of strategic decision making. For example, Murphy et al. (1983) model the output decision making process in an oligopoly. Later works by Smeers and Wolf (1997) extend this model to include a stochastic element. More interestingly, in a model by He et al. (2009), the Stackelberg theory is used to model the interaction between a manufacturer and a retailer when making decisions about cooperative advertising policies and wholesale prices. The objective of this paper is to review the Stackelberg models from its classic form to the more recent stochastic versions. In chapter 2, the simple Stackelberg duopoly is reviewed and a generalisation of the Stackelberg duopoly problem is given. In chapter 3, more complicated and recent models are reviewed. The mathematical formulation of Murphy et al.s (1983) and Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model is given. At the end of chapter 3, a numerical example is applied to Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model. In chapter 4, practical applications of Stackelberg leader-follower models are discussed. Chapter 4 also looks at the drawbacks of and possible extensions to Stackelberg models. Appendix 1 explains the Oligopoly market structure and economics involved in profit maximisation. Chapter 2: Classical Stackelberg Leader-Follower Model 2.1 Duopoly Behaviour Stackelberg (1934) discussed price formation under oligopoly by looking at the special case of a duopoly. He argued that firms in a duopoly can behave either as dependent on or independent of the rival firms behaviour: Referring to the two firms as firm 1 and firm 2, respectively, firm 1s behaviour can be generalised as follows: Firm 1 views the behaviour of firm 2 as being independent of firm 1s behaviour. Firm 1 would regard firm 2s supply as a given variable and adapts itself to this supply. Thus, the behaviour of firm 1 is dependent on that of firm 2 (Stackelberg, 1934). Firm 1 can view the behaviour of firm 2 as being dependent on firm 1s behaviour. Thus, firm 2 always adapts itself to the formers behaviour (firm 2 views firm 1s behaviour as a given situation) (Stackelberg, 1934). However, according to Stackelberg (1934), there is a difference in the firms actual positions; each of the firms could adapt to either of these two positions, making price formation imperfect. Stackelberg (1934) describes three cases that arise from this situation: Bowler (1924) first described a situation when both firms in the duopoly strive for market dominance. According to Bowler (1924), for this to happen the first firm supplies the quantity it would if it dominated the market with the second firm as a follower. This supply is referred to as the independent supply. By supplying this output level the first firm tries to convince the second firm to view its behaviour as a given variable. However, the second firm also supplies the independent supply since it is also striving for market dominance. This duopoly is referred to as the Bowler duopoly with total supply of the duopoly equalling the sum of two independent supply. According to Stackelberg (1934), the price formation under the Bowler duopoly is unstable because neither of the firms tries to maximise profit under the given circumstance. The second case described by Stackelberg (1934) is a situation where both firms favour being dependent on the other firms behaviour. The first firm would have to match (in a profit maximising manner) its output level to the each output in the second firms feasible set of output. The second firm does the same and both firms are thus followers. This is a Cournot duopoly, first described by A. A Cournot in 1838. According to Stackelberg 1934, the price formation here is unstable because neither of the firms tries to achieve the largest profit under the given circumstance. The third case is a situation where one firm strives for independence and the other favour being dependent. In this case both firms are better off doing what the other firm would like. Both firms adapt their behaviour to maximising profit under the given circumstance. This situation is referred to as the asymmetric duopoly or more commonly as the Stackelberg duopoly. The price formation is more stable in this case because, according to Stackelberg (1934), no one has an interest in modifying the actual price formation. The Stackelberg model is based on the third case of a Stackelberg duopoly. 2.2 The Model In the Stackelberg duopoly the leader (Stackelberg firm) moves first and the follower moves second. As opposed to other models like the Bertrand model and Cournot model where firms make decisions about price or output simultaneously, firms in the Stackelberg duopoly make decisions sequentially. The Stackelberg equilibrium is determined using backwards induction (first determine the follower firms best response to an arbitrary output level by the Stackelberg firm). According to Gibbons (1992), information is an important element of the model. The information in question is the Stackelberg firms level of output (or price, Dastidar (2004) looks at Stackelberg equilibrium in price). The follower firm would know this output once the Stackelberg firm moves first and, as importantly, the Stackelberg firm knows that the follower firm will know the output level and respond to it accordingly. Inspired by the work of Gibbons (1992), Murphy et al. (1983) and Dastidar (2004), a general solution to the Stackelberg game (duopoly) is derived in the parts that follow. 2.2.1 Price function, cost functions, and profit functions Suppose that two firms in a duopoly supply a homogeneous product. Denote the demand function of this market as, where is the total level of output supplied by the duopoly (is the Stackelberg firms output level and is the follower firms output level). The price function can be re-written as. Denote the cost functions (Appendix 1) as for the Stackelberg firm, and for the follower firm. The profit function of the Stackelberg firm is given by: Similarly, the profit function of the follower firm is given by: 2.2.2 Backward induction to derive the best response functions and Stackelberg equilibrium According to Gibbons (1992), the best response for the follower will be one that maximises its profit given the output decision of the Stackelberg firm. The followers profit maximisation problem can be written as: This can be solved by differentiating the objective function and equating the differential to zero (as seen in Appendix 1). Using chain rule to differentiate equation [2] and setting the differential to zero, the following result is obtained: Note that this is a partial differentiation of the profit function since the function depends on the demand function which depends on two variables. Equation [4] gives the followers best response function. For a given the best response quantity satisfies equation [4]. As a result, the Stackelberg firms profit maximisation problem becomes: By differentiating the objective function in equation [5] and equating the differential to zero, the following result which maximises the Stackelberg firms profit is obtained: By solving equation [6] with the follower firms best response profit maximising output, is obtained by the Stackelberg firm given the followers best response. Gibbons (1992) describes as the Stackelberg equilibrium (or the Nash equilibrium of the Stackelberg game). 2.2.3 Example Gibbons (1992) considers a simple duopoly selling homogeneous products. He assumes that both firms are identical and the marginal cost of production is constant at. He also assumes that the market faces a linear downward sloping demand curve. The profit function of the firms is given by: where, with representing the Stackelberg firm and representing the follower firm. Using backward induction, the follower firms best response function is calculated: Solving equation [8]: The Stackelberg firm anticipates that its output will be met by the followers response. Thus the Stackelberg firm maximises profit by setting output to: Solving equation [10]: Substituting this in equation [9]: Equations [11] and [12] give the Stackelberg equilibrium. The total output in this Stackelberg duopoly is. Note: Gibbons (1992) worked out the total output in a Cournot duopoly to be (using this example) which is less than the output in the Stackelberg duopoly; the market price is higher in the Cournot duopoly and lower in the Stackelberg duopoly. Each firm in the Cournot duopoly produces; the follower is worse off in the Stackelberg model than in the Cournot model because it would supply a lower quantity at a lower market price. Clear, there exists a first mover advantage in this case. In general, according to Dastidar (2004), first advantage is possible if firms are identical and if the demand is concave and costs are convex. Gal-or (1985) showed that first mover advantage exists if the firms are identical and have identical downward sloping best response functions. Chapter 3: Recent Stackelberg Leader-Follower Models The classical Stackelberg model has been an inspiration for many economists and mathematicians. Murphy et al. (1983) extend the Stackelberg model to an oligopoly. Later, Smeers and Wolf (1997) extended Murphy et al.s model to a stochastic version where demand is unknown when the Stackelberg firm makes its decision. In a more recent report by DeMiguel and Xu (2009) the Stackelberg problem is extended to an oligopoly with multi-leaders. In this section the models proposed by Murphy et al. (1983) and Smeers and Wolf (1997) are reviewed. 3.1 A Nonlinear Mathematical Programming Version The model proposed by Murphy et al (1983), is a nonlinear mathematical programming version of the Stackelberg model. In their model, they consider the supply side of an oligopoly that supplies homogeneous product. The model is designed to model output decisions in a non-cooperative oligopoly. There are followers in this market who are referred to as Cournot firms (note that from now onwards the follower firms are referred to as Cournot firm as opposed to just follower firms) and leader who is referred to as the Stackelberg firm (as before). The Stackelberg firm considers the reaction of the Cournot firms in its output decision and sets its output level in a profit maximising manner. The Cournot firms, on the other hand, observe the Stackelberg firms decision and maximise their individual profits by setting output under the Cournot assumption of zero conjectural variations (Carlton and Perloff, 2005, define conjectural variation are expectations made by firms in an oligopolistic market about reactions of the other firm). It is assumed that all the firms have complete knowledge about the other firms. 3.1.1 Notations and assumptions For each Cournot firm, let represent the output level. For the Stackelberg firm, let represent the output level (note that is used here instead of, as seen earlier, to distinguish the Stackelberg firm from the Cournot firms). is the total cost function of level of output by Cournot firms and is the total cost function of level of output by the Stackelberg firm. Let represents the inverse market demand curve (that is, is the price at which consumers are willing and able to purchase units of output). In addition to the Cournot assumption and assumption of complete knowledge, Murphy et al. (1983) make the following assumption: and are both convex and twice differentiable. is a strictly decreasing function and twice differentiable which satisfies the following inequality, There exists a quantity (the maximum level of output any firm is willing to supply) such that, For referencing, these set of assumption will be referred to as Assumption A. Assumption 2 implies that the industrys marginal revenue (Appendix 1) decreases as industry supply increases. A proof of this statement can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). Assumption 3 implies that at output levels the marginal cost is greater than the price. 3.1.2 Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium The Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium is derived at in a similar way to the Stackelberg equilibrium seen in chapter 2. Using backward induction, Murphy et al. (1983) first maximise the Cournot firms profit under the assumption of zero conjectural variation and for a given. For each Cournot firm let the set of output levels be such that, for a given and assuming are fixed, solves the following Cournot problem: According to Murphy et al. (1983), the objective function in equation [15] is a strictly convex profit function over the closed, convex and compact interval. This implies that a unique optimum exists. The functions can be referred to as the joint reaction functions of the Cournot firms. Murphy et al. (1983) define the aggregate reaction curve as: The Stackelberg problem can be written as: If solves, then the set of output levels is the SNC equilibrium with To get this equilibrium, the output levels need to be determined. Murphy et al. (1983) use the Equilibrating program (a family of mathematical programs designed to reconcile the supply-side and demand-side of a market to equilibrium) to determine: Let the Lagrange multiplier associated with the maximisation problem [19] be. Murphy et al.s (1983) approach here is to determine for which the optimal. The following result, obtained from Murphy et al. (1983), defines the optimal solution to problem [19]: Theorem 1: For a fixed, consider Problem suppose that satisfy Assumption A. Denote by the unique optimal solution to and let be the corresponding optimal Lagrange Multiplier associated with problem [19]. (In case since alternative optimal multipliers associated with problem [19] exist, let be the minimum non-negative optimal Lagrange Multiplier.) Then, is a continuous function of for. is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of. Moreover, there exist output levels and such that and . A set of output levels optimal to Problem, where, satisfy the Cournot Problem [15] if and only if, whence, for. (This theorem is taken from Murphy et al. (1983) with a few alterations to the notation) The proof of this result can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). This theorem provides an efficient way of finding for each fixed. For example, one can simple conduct a univariate bisection search to find the unique root of. 3.1.3 Properties of and Murphy et al. (1983) describes the aggregate Cournot reaction curve as follows: is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of. If the right hand derivative of with respect to is denoted as (the rate of increase of with an increase in ), then for each : The proof to these two properties can be found in the report by Murphy et al. (1983). Murphy et al. (1983) state that if solves the Stackelberg problem [17], then the profit made by the Stackelberg firm is greater than or equal to the profit it would have made as a Cournot firm. Suppose that is a Nash-Cournot equilibrium for the firm oligopoly. is the output the Stackelberg firm would supply if it was a Cournot firm. solves: But since solves the Stackelberg problem [17], the following must hold: In fact, is the lower bound of. The proof to this can be found in Murphy et al. (1983) From assumption 3 in Assumption A, it is clear that. Thus, it is clear that is an upper bound. However, according to Murphy et al. (1983) another upper bound exists. In a paper by Sherali et al. (1980) on the Interaction between Oligopolistic firms and Competitive Fringe (a price taking firm in an oligopoly that competes with dominant firms) a different follower-follower model is discussed. In this model, the competitive fringe is content at equilibrium to have adjusted its output to the level for which marginal cost equals price. Murphy et al. (1983) summarise this model as follows: For fixed and suppose is a set of output levels such that for each firm solves: and For the Stackelberg firm, let satisfy: In addition to Assumption A, if is strictly convex, then a unique solution exists and satisfies conditions [23] and [24]. The Equilibrating Program with a fringe becomes: Theorem 1 holds for with and which implies that. In fact, if is strictly convex, is the upper bound of. Collectively, is bounded as follows: 3.1.4 Existence and uniqueness of the Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot equilibrium Murphy et al. (1983) prove the existence and uniqueness of the Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SCN) equilibrium. Their approach to the proof is summarised below: Existence For the SNC equilibrium to exist, and for should satisfy Assumption A. Since is bounded and is continuous (as is continuous), the Stackelberg problem [17] involves the maximisation of a continuous objective function over the compact set. This implies that an optimal solution exists. From Theorem 1 it is seen that a unique set of output levels, which simultaneously solves the Cournot problem [15], exists. As a result the SNC equilibrium exists. Uniqueness If is convex, then the equilibrium is unique. Since is convex, the objective function of the Stackelberg problem [17] becomes strictly concave on. This has been proven by Murphy et al. (1983) and the proof can be found in their report. This implies the equilibrium is unique. 3.1.5 Algorithm to solve the Stackelberg problem Murphy et al. (1983) provide an algorithm in their report to solve the Stackelberg problem. This algorithm is summarised as follows: To start with the Stackelberg firm needs the following information about the market and the Cournot firms: Cost functions of the Cournot firms, satisfying Assumption A. The upper bound as per Assumption A. The inverse demand function for the industry, which also satisfies Assumption A. With this information, the Stackelberg firm need to determine the lower bound and split the interval into grid points with, where and (from [26]). A piecewise linear approximation of is made as follows: Here, is an approximation to and from equation [20] it follows that: Note that at each grid point the approximation agrees with. The Stackelberg problem [17], thus, becomes: can be re-written as: Where and Thus problem [30] becomes: The objective function is strictly concave and solvable. Let be the objective function of the Stackelberg problem [17] and the objective function of the piecewise Stackelberg problem [32], then: Suppose is the optimum level of output. First, suppose that is an endpoint of the interval, then. Now suppose that, that is, . Then needs to be evaluated in order to determine. Theorem 1 can be used here. Recall that is a continuous, decreasing function of. To find the point where (part iii of Theorem 1), the following method is suggested by Murphy et al. (1983): Figure : Method for determining Source: Smeers and Wolf (1997) (alterations made to the notation) First determine using the bounds. Next, determine using the bounds. Then determine using the bounds.Next, determine using the bounds and so on. If then evaluate using the bounds. Having evaluated for some grid points, the game can either be terminated with the best of these grid points as an optimal solution or the grid can be redefined at an appropriate region to improve accuracy. Murphy et al. (1983) go on to determine the maximum error from the estimated optimal Stackelberg solution. This is summarised below: Let be the derivative of with respect to , then: Let be the marginal profit made by the Stackelberg firm for supplying units of output, Let be the actual optimal objective function value in the interval with the estimate being . Then the error of this estimate is defined as: satisfies the following: This concludes the review of Murphy et al.s (1983) nonlinear mathematical programing model of the Stackelberg problem in an oligopoly. 3.2 A Stochastic Version Smeers and Wolf (1997) provide an extension to the nonlinear mathematical programming version of the Stackelberg model by Murphy et al. (1983) discussed in subsection 3.1. In the same way as Murphy et al.s (1983) model, the Stackelberg game in this version is played in two stages. In the first stage, the Stackelberg firm makes a decision about its output level. In the second stage, the Cournot firms, having observed the Stackelberg firms decision, react according to the Cournot assumption of zero conjectural variation. However, Smeers and Wolf (1997) add the element of uncertainty to this process. When the Stackelberg firm makes its decision the market demand is uncertain, but demand is known when the Cournot firms make their decision. This makes the Smeers and Wolfs (1997) version of the Stackelberg model stochastic. Smeers and Wolf (1997) assume that this uncertainty can be modelled my demand scenarios. 3.2.1 Notations and Assumption For the costs functions, the same notations are used. is the total cost function of level of output by Cournot firms and is the total cost function of level of output by the Stackelberg firm. The demand function is changed slightly to take into account the uncertainty. is a set of demand scenarios with corresponding probabilities of occurrence As such, is the price at which customers are willing and able to purchase units of output in demand scenario . has a probability of occurrence. The same Assumption set A discussed in subsection 3.1.1 apply here with alterations made to conditions [13] and [14]. Assumption set A can be re-written as: and are both convex and twice differentiable, as before. is a strictly decreasing function and twice differentiable which satisfies the following inequality, There exists a quantity (the maximum level of output any firm is willing to supply in each demand scenario) such that, For referencing, these set of assumption will be referred to as Assumption B. 3.2.2 Stochastic Stackelberg-Nash-Cournot (SSNC) equilibrium Smeers and Wolf (1997) use the same approach seen before to derive the SSNC equilibrium. The Cournot problem [15]can be re-written as follows: For each Cournot firm and each demand scenario, let the set of output levels be such that, for a given and assuming are fixed, solves the following Cournot problem: Note that is the output level of Cournot firm when the demand scenario is . For each, according to Murphy et al. (1983), the objective function in equation [40] is a strictly convex profit function over the closed, convex and compact interval. The functions can be referred to as the joint reaction functions of the Cournot firms for a demand scenario. The aggregate reaction curve becomes: The Stackelberg problem with demand uncertainty can be written as: Note the Stackelberg problem defined problem [42] differs from that defined in [17]. This is because of the element of uncertainty. The Cournot problem [40] is similar to the Cournot problem [15] because the demand is known when the Cournot firms make their decision. In the Stackelberg problem [42] note the element. This is the estimated mean price, that is, the Stackelberg firm considers the reaction of the Cournot firm under each demand scenario and works out the market price in each scenario, and it then multiplies it by the probability of each scenario. The summation of this represents the estimated mean price. If solves the stochastic, then the set of output levels is the SSNC equilibrium for demand scenario. To get this equilibrium, the output levels need to be determined. Smeers and Wolf (1997) use the same approach as Murphy et al. (1983) in doing so. The Equilibrating program is the same as that in [19], with changes made to the Cournot output and demand function: For each demand scenario , Theorem 1 lays out a foundation on how to solve the Equilibrating program in problem [19] and can also be used to solve [44]. Smeers and Wolf (1997) Summarise Theorem 1 as follows: Theorem 2: For each fixed, An optimal solution for the problem satisfies the Cournot problem [40] if and only if the Lagrange multiplier,, associated with the Equilibrating program [44], is equal to zero. This multiplier is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of . Moreover, there exists and such that: (This theorem is taken from Smeers and Wolf (1997), with a few alteration to the notations) The properties of are the same as those discussed in subsection 3.1.3. The existence and uniqueness of the SSNC equilibrium is shown in the same ways as the SNC equilibrium of Murphy et al.s (1983) model discussed in subsection 3.1.4. 3.2.3 Algorithm to solve the Stackelberg problem The Stackelberg problem here is solved in the same way Murphy et al. (1983) proposed (discussed in subsection 3.1.5). In their report, Smeers and Wolf (1997) do not specify the upper and lower bound of, thus, it is assumed that is bounded by.The interval can be split into grid points with, where and . The piecewise linear approximation of in [27] can be re-written as follows: Here, has the same properties as [29]. The Stackelberg problem [42], thus, becomes: Hereafter, the algorithm summarised in subsection 3.1.5 can be used to solve this problem. 3.3 Numerical Example In Murphy et al.s (1983) report a simple example of the Stackelberg model is given. They consider the case of a linear demand curve and quadratic cost functions: It is assumed that the Stackelberg firm and Cournot firms are identical. The Cournot problem [15] becomes as follow, with as the optimal solution: Solving this problem yields: Note the upper bound of is found by setting. The working to get equation [51] is shown in Appendix 2. The aggregate reaction curve can be written as: Using this information, this example is now extended to Smeers and Wolfs (1997) model with numerical values. Note that the functions listed in equations [49], [50], [51] and [52] satisfy Assumptions A B and other properties discussed in previous sections. Suppose and. And suppose demand is unknown when the Stackelberg firm makes its decision. The cost functions of the firms will be as follows: Figure : Different Demand Scenarios The tables below describe the possible demand scenarios, probability of each scenario occurring, the joint reaction curve and aggregate reaction curve for, and: Scenario, Demand, Probability, = Demand falls, = Demand remains unchanged, = Demand Increases, Scenario, Joint reaction curve, Aggregate reaction curve, Using this information, the Stackelberg problem [42] can be solved. First, the estimated price element can be calculated as follows: Substituting this result back into the Stackelberg problem [42] gives: This problem can easily be solved by differentiating the objective function and finding the value of for which the differential is equal to zero. The working to obtain the following optimal solution is shown in Appendix 2. Using this result, the following result is obtained for each demand scenario: Figure : Optimal Output, Price and Profit 1 260.870 98.02 652.96 147.04 2 260.870 134.39 798.42 201.58 3 260.870 170.75 943.87 256.13 Stackelberg firm Profit, Cournot firm Profit, Industry Profit, 1 21,243.87 12,010.81 69,387.12 2 35,573.12 22,574.95 125,872.92 3 49,802.37 36,444.87 195,581.87 The tables in figure 3 state the SSNC equilibriums for each scenario, and the profits made by each firm in this oligopoly and the total industry profit in each scenario. Note that since is strictly convex, the equilibrium obtained for each scenario is unique. Also note that in all three scenarios, the Stackelberg Output and profit is greater than that of the Cournot firms, illustrating the first mover advantage. Chapter 4: Discussion In this section, the practical applications, drawbacks and possible extensions to Stackelberg models are discussed. 4.1 Practical Applications of Stackelberg models Stackelberg models are widely used by firms to aid decision making. Some examples include: Manufacturer-Retailer Supply Chain He et al. (2009) present a stochastic Stackelberg problem to model the interaction between a manufacturer and a retailer. The manufacturer would announce its cooperative advertising policy (percentage of retailers advertising expenses it will cover-participation rate) and the wholesale price. The retailer, in response, chooses its optimal advertising and pricing policies. When the retailers advertising and pricing is an importan

Origin Of The Term Identity Politics Cultural Studies Essay

Origin Of The Term Identity Politics Cultural Studies Essay A Contested Term. The origin of the term identity politics is sometimes traced to the 1960s Civil Rights Movement but it was articulated by women of colour in their 1977 Combahee River Collective Statement. The term refers to collective group identities like race, ethnicity, sex, religion, caste, sexual orientation, physical disability as the basis for political analysis and action. Its main objective is to empower individuals to articulate their discrimination and invisibility through consciousness raising and action. Identities and Movements It is important to debate this term and its politics as it has been the basis for several movements as well as an ideological challenge to existing analytical frameworks and explanations. In the 1980s, there was a cultural and religious revivalism in the form of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, Hindu communalism in India and global Islamist fundamentalism. In the 1990s, there was the violence and tragedy of former Yugoslavia, movements based on tribal identities in Rwanda and Sudan. Many countries especially in the European Union saw right wing movements in the context of immigration and nationalism with debates on Britishness or the banning of headscarves in France. Currently, scholars have seen its re-appearance in the Presidential contest between Obama and Hillary Clinton in the USA i.e. pitching their campaigns around the first woman president or the first black president. Making of an Identity Some identities come with birth like the black, caste or religious ones. Or they can be acquired like national ones, sexual preferences or interest groups. Identities are fluid, multiple and unstable. They may be blurred or erased over a period of time. That they may be created as the identity of being Indian was propagated after Independence from British colonialism. Multiple identities mean that they are competing with each other often resulting in conflicting loyalties like a woman may during a communal riot have to choose between her religious group identity and that of her gender. Often there is strong societal resistance to crossing identity boundaries like in the case of sexual identities. Social norms and institutions do not allow people to step out of their prescribed identity. Causes for Identity Mobilisations Why have identity movements emerged during this conjuncture of history? Theoretical explanations bring together the cultural, political and economic. The global flight of capital has spread industrialisation all over the world. World wide trade and communication has created a homogenization of culture and politics. Young people in most parts of the world are familiar with the Coke and Jean culture, American films and TV serials. However the impact of the economic process has been uneven. There is a polarisation between the rich and the poor in a country and between nations of the North and the South. Gender relations are also changing as more women are joining the workforce often when men are unemployed creating resentment and competition. Women are more mobile and visible. And the patriarchal family structure is weakening. Bitter Sweet There is a section of people who are benefiting from the globalised world market. But the aspirations and hopes of many are belied. Descending social and economic groups resent their loss of privileges. So there is a public outburst in UK that Indian doctors are taking over the British medical system or that outsiders are taking over jobs which should rightfully belong to Marathi speaking people in Mumbai. The onslaught of Westernisation and its values due to globalisation has created a reaction of orthodoxy. Right wing Muslim, Hindu and Christian groups have called for cultural re-assertion and pride in ones identity. Parallel to the sweeping cultural, political and economic changes and identity based movements was the rise of post modernism in academia. As a critique of Marxist dominance in theory, post modernists gave culture a significant place in analysis and shifted the focus to power relations, identities, construction of gender, class, race etc. The Rise of Identity Movements [ Used in Womens Movement] Identities are powerful sources of consciousness and mobilization as they make an individual conscious of his/her identity and bring them together for political protest and demands through violent or other means. At present there are large mobilisations based on identities like: World wide Islamist Movements Hindu right wing movements Regional self determination movements like Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, Kashmir and North East in India, Kurds in Turkey Sexual preferences like the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered [LGBT] movement Trade Union Movements There is a tendency to see id based movements as regressive because they are usually associated with right wing movements. But the sexuality movements have challenged conservative notions of sex and sexual activities. 6. The Other Exclusion and Inclusion are critical criteria for identity formation. The we of a certain group can only be identified versus they of the other group. The process of defining and controlling these boundaries of difference has been coined as Other-ing. This process of creating sameness and otherness amongst people, has been used to justify all manners of oppression and violence against marginalized, weaker, less powerful groups. Across history these have included Women, Blacks, Jews, Homosexuals, Dalits, Tribals, lower classes, People with Disabilities etc. The Ideal Woman Identity Movements, which are right wing, have given a special place to women. For example, both Muslim fundamentalism and Hindu communalism project an ideal woman as indispensible for society. These ideals are related to womens dress, behaviour, sexual activity and motherhood. Nazi Germany glorified the blond Aryan woman, who bears children, accepts secondary status to her husband and the State. Muslim fundamentalism advocates a return to tradition as Islam is in danger, reinforces Muslim identity by rejecting Westernisation and especially by propagating the veil for women, role of a homemaker, and the return to or imposition of the Sharia Laws or Muslim Personal Laws. Roots of tradition are in the past and is not open to interpretation. Life and Laws flow from the holy book, and its meanings are fixed and non debatable. Women are regarded as guardians of Muslim culture and honoured as long as they perform their duties to be good mothers and raise their sons as warriors of Islam. 8. Sita not Draupadi Hindu communalists idealise Sita, the wife of the mythological god, Ram. The qualities of Sita are that of a chaste pati vrata or ideal wife who follows her husband to the forest, bears him sons and immolates herself when her fidelity is in suspicion. Draupadi on the other hand was an articulate, assertive and proud woman who has 5 husbands, who she continually challenges and even seeks revenge. Women have been part of the internalisation process since their childhood. They too believe in many of these values and strive to maintain the roles propagated by fundamentalists. And for doing so, they are honoured and given status by their men and fundamentalist leaders. Many educated, professional and Westernised women have turned to their religion because it also offers them mental and physical security. Crisis in Feminism The womens movement and feminist theory went into a crisis with the advent of post modernism and identity based movements. The former contested the category woman as also all universalisms. Women could not be considered a homogenous group and the using of we was politically incorrect. The slogans of women of colour were picked up by Jewish women, indigenous and later Third World women. Global sisterhood was laid to rest. These voices of other feminists introduced the notions of feminisms, rather than simply feminism. In addition, these feminisms brought in the notion of multiple oppressions, multiple patriarchies and womens movements. Feminist analysis shifted from standpoint feminism to various postmodernist feminisms. Studies on womens subordination across cultures, societies, and historical periods shifted to micro-narratives of class/race/and gender. 10. Crisis in Feminist Politics The clash of multiple identities and allegiances which surround them came out into the public. The womens movement in India and the feminist groups are not that large or popular to have reached the masses of women to shore up a gender based identity. In the absence of a popular secular movement, the majority of women align with their caste or religious identities. Large numbers of them participated during the Mumbai Riots of 1992-93 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid against Muslims and in support of the sati of Roop Kanwar [1987] against feminist groups and progressive movements asking for a ban. In the Shah Bano Case [1985], women supported a maintenance law formulated by the govt and Muslim leaders against their own interests. Sometimes women are pulled into battles not of their making as in the case of the Cauvery River riots. Both Tamil and Kannadiga women had no knowledge of river water issues but were subjected to rape and molestation by the rival community. Domestic violence becomes invisible in the face of other state wide violence like in Kashmir, North East and Sri Lanka. Women would like to address domestic violence but sacrifice their individual rights as women to community rights for self determination. 10. Strategies One of the main problems with identity politics is that its assumptions can lead to an almost infinite number of small, atomised identity groups. Taken forward this logic comes to mean that ultimately each individual is her own group. Identity politics makes it difficult to bring together large groups to protest and collectively act for radical social change. In an oblique way, it supports conservatism and status quo and works against collective struggle. On the other hand, identity politics has introduced important elements and lessons within the womens movement. It has changed its lexicon, challenged its assumptions and visibilised many sections of women and transgendered people. Sexual minorities, religious minorities, women with disabilities and race and caste based womens groups have come into their own with vibrant movements. The lessons for the womens movement in general is that it has to respect and build bridges with different identity groups, take on board their agendas and issues and together move towards transformative strategies for a just society.

Analysis of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Essay -- Marlow Heart o

Analysis of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness is a story about Marlow’s journey to discover his inner self. Along the way, Marlow faces his fears of failure, insanity, death, and cultural contamination on his trek to the inner station. Marlow, who goes on his journey to meet Kurtz, already has a fascination with Kurtz after listening to many people along the way. Conrad tries to show us that Marlow is what Kurtz had been, and Kurtz is what Marlow could become. Marlow says about himself, "I was getting savage," meaning that he was becoming more like Kurtz. Along the trip into the wilderness, they discover their true selves through contact with the native people. On one occasion, the steamer is attacked by a party of natives, killing the helmsmen and frightening the crew. This event triggers a change in Marlow, who takes off his shoes, which were covered in his friend’s blood. This taking off of clothes is a return to nature, bringing about a more primitive Marlow. Even as Marlow ventures further up the Congo, he feels like he is traveling ba...

Eye Witness Identification Essays -- essays research papers

Although the phrase â€Å"they all look alike to me† is widely known and used as a joke (Goldstein & Chance, 1985) the implications that the phrase yields may not be as widely understood as they should be. In the criminal justice system, eyewitness identifications can play a major role in the decisions made by jurors even though it has been shown that jurors have little awareness of factors that affect the reliability of eyewitness accounts (Cutler, Penrod, & Dexter, 1990). One such factor is identifications made by people identifying someone of a different race, (when describing race as Caucasian, of African descent, of Asian descent, or Latino), which can be referred to as other-race identification or other-race recognition (Lavrakas, Buri, & Mayzner, 1976). If the phrase â€Å"they all look alike to me†, which states that people of another group appear homogenous, is true for most people then it is possible that other-race identifications should be considered less reliable than within-race identifications. It has in fact been shown that people are more accurate at identifying others of their own race than at identifying others of a different race (Penrod, Shapiro 1986). Since it has been established that the other-race recognition is not always as accurate as within-race recognition, finding the cause for this effect is important. One possible cause is the quantity of experience a person has with another race. People are less accurate at identifying faces of a different racial group than at identifying faces of their own racial group because they have less experience with the other race. We would expect that as the amount of experience a person has with a different racial group decreases the less accurate they will be at identifying faces of that race. It would also be expected that if you raise someone’s level of experience with a different racial group, possibly through training, the ability to identify faces in that racial group should increase. The amount of experience a person has with another racial group should determine how accurate they will be at identifying people of that race. Those who report having large amounts of contact with another race should show better accuracy in identifying people of that race than those reporting small amounts of contact with the other race. In a study done by John ... ...vents the drawing of a firm conclusion. REFERENCES Brigham, John C., & Malpass Roy S., (1985) The role of Experience and Contact in the Recognition of Faces Of Own- and Other-Race Persons. Journal of Social Issues, 41, 139-155. Lavrackas, Paul J., Buri John R., & Mayzner Mark S., (1976) A Perspective on the Recognition of Other-Race Faces. Perception & Psychophysics, 20, 475-481. Shepherd, John, Deregowski, Jan B., & Ellis, Hadyn D., (1974) A Cross-Cultural Study of Recognition Memory For Faces. International Journal of Psychology, 9, 205-211.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Goldstein, Alvin G., & Chance, June, (1985) Effects of Training on Japanese Face Recognition: Reduction of the Other-Race Effect. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 23, 211-214. Anthony, Tara, Copper, Carolyn, & Mullen, Brian, (1992) Cross-Racial Facial Identification: A Social Cognitive Integration. PSPB, 18, 296-301. Shapiro, Peter N., Penrod, Steven D., (1986) Meta-Analysis of Facial Identification Studies. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 139-156. Cutler, B. L., Penrod, Steven D., (1990) Juror Sensitivity to to Eyewitness Identification Evidence. Law and Human Behavior, 14, 185-192.

Colombian Immigration to America

Colombian Immigration to America Nicole University Of Phoenix ETH/125 Katherine Ruberto In the early nineteenth century the first known Colombian immigrants settled in New York City. Among these immigrants were nurses, accountants, lab technicians, and pharmacists. The Colombian Civil War called â€Å"La Violencia† of 1948 where more than 250,000 people were killed in total after the popular presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitan was assassinated forced many to flee Colombia and settle in America. The ongoing struggle with Colombia’s government and the recession also pushed many Colombians to migrate. Between 1960 and 1977 about 116,000 Colombians came to America. Because of the signing of the Immigration Act of 1965, Colombians as well as other potential immigrants of other countries were brought to a halt when there was a limit placed on how many visas were handed out. The fact that visas were limited to only 20,000 visas per country a year along with the high unemployment rate in Colombia put pressure on many families. Colombians that were able to come to America on a temporary based visa became illegal because they stayed beyond the allotted time. As a result the rate of undocumented immigration soared: estimates of those living in the country without permanent residency status ranged from 250,00 to 350,000 in the mid 1970s† (Sturner, n. d. ). The Immigration Act of 1965 was later revised to allow more visas to be issued. Colombians settled throughout the country in areas such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, and Washington D. C. The late 70s and early 80s brought many Colombians to Miami, Fl. that is a city that thrives on Hispanic cultures and is very accepting of immigrants. Miami is a city that most people will speak Spanish before they even speak English, so for immigrants this allowed them to communicate and learn skills easier than in other parts of the country. The 80’s and the 90s proved to be a tough time for Colombians. America became more advanced technology wise, therefore the work immigrants performed was no longer needed. Another factor hitting Colombians hard was the recession of 1981. Americans felt that immigrants were a financial burden on the country and it became a pressing issue. As the Guerilla violence escalated in Colombia more Colombians fled to America. During that time, my mother had been traveling to New York to visit her father and I was born there practically by accident because I was suppose to be born in Colombia. My family suffered a tragedy when two of my uncles were murdered and we received threats not to go to the police or they would take every family member out. I am the only one from my family that was born a U. S. citizen, but I recall when my mother would have to tell people that I was an American Citizen in order to receive my health care and other things. It was like people looked at me differently because I had a Colombian last name. When I was young my mother made it a point that I learn English since I was about four years old because she knew that America was very discriminating against those that do not speak English. My mother knew first hand how limiting it is to have a degree in another country that is not worth anything here. My grandmother was a detective in Colombia, yet when we came here she had to clean houses because that career was worthless here. Because we came during the escalating drug war that was going on, we did feel that people stereotyped us. Even today when I tell people where I am from, they say an ignorant comment about my country and the drug that it is mostly connected to. People do not know how many lives and families were innocently ruined because of a war that is uncontrollable and is still going strong today. Because of the resentment from the American Society felt towards immigrants Proposition 187 was passed which denied health care, education, and other services to undocumented immigrants. In 1999 the federal court ruled that Proposition 187 was unconstitutional and their decision was not appealed by the state of California. I would say that I culturally identify with my Hispanic roots because it is attached to my family. We all want to preserve our family roots and values so that we can pass them on to our future generation. When my family comes together we cook Hispanic food and listen to Spanish music. Colombians are known to speak the best form of Spanish, which is known as â€Å"Castellano† and we have a heavy accent. For my family it has always been important that we preserve the language since we are around many other Hispanics and we tend to pick up their form of Spanish. In â€Å"Castellano† the words that we use are very different from the Spanish that a Cuban or Dominican would use. I love the American mainstream culture because I have spent the majority of my life here and grew up listening to Britney Spears, and watching Boy Meets World, and Full House. America is a great country for opportunity and although I was born here, whenever anyone asks me where I am from, I always smile proudly and say, â€Å"I am Colombian. Reference Page †¢Berube, Myriam. (November 2005). (Online) Migration Information Source. Available http://www. migrationinformation. org/Profiles/display. cfm? ID=344 (Retrieved Dec 4, 2011) †¢Sturner, Pamela n. d. (Online) Colombian Americans. Available http://www. everyculture. com/multi/Bu-Dr/Colombian-Americans. html#b †¢(Retrieved Dec 4,2011) †¢Colombia’s Civil War (Online) PBS. Available http://www. pbs. org/newshour/bb/latin_america/colombia/timeline. html (Retrieved Dec 4, 2011)