Psychodynamic approach Essay

P1 – Explain the principle psychological perspectives. M1 – Assess different psychological approaches to study. Sigmund Freud developed an approach which was the first psychological approach that elucidated behaviour. Freud discovered the psychoanalysis, which is a technique for curing mental illness and also a theory which explains human behaviour. Psychoanalysis is recognised as the talking cure. Normally, Freud would inspire his patients to talk freely (on his famous couch) concerning their symptoms and to explain precisely what was on their mind. He also states ‘The iceberg which has 3 levels known as the conscious mind, preconscious and unconscious mind. Freud compared himself to an archaeologist digging away layers of the human mind, and found three discrete parts of the mind. He was the earliest philosophers to get public awareness the concept that we are not conscious of all our features all the time. He proposed that what we are conscious of is represented on our conscious mind but that most of our memories, feelings and mind he named as ‘unconscious’. We don’t have access to the contents of our unconscious, but they occasionally ‘leak out’ in dreams and slips of the tongue. Freud’s first elucidated behaviour by his iceberg analogy. He suggested that the conscious mind was like the tip of an iceberg –merely a small part being accessible to consciousness. Part of the unconscious that we can easily access he named it the preconscious. This can be used in health and social care as health carers can identify what is happening in the client’s conscious mind and identify any faults there might be such as depression and schizophrenia and possibly phobias. Sigmund Freud proposed that we have inborn drives that stimulates our conducts in the form of the mind. These are known as the ego, superego and the id. The id occurs at birth and is the base of our unconscious inclination. It works on the gratification concept to get instant pleasure, so it prevents pain and therefore it is very egocentric. The id is the origin of a supernatural known as Libido. The superego  develops throughout the age of five years and entails principles and values. It is the child’s ego and moral sense which constructs the paragon of what the child wishes to be. Our ego is developed throughout our childhood and it enables the child to learn that getting instant gratification is not always feasible and that a lot of the time pain cannot be prevented The ego operates on the actuality principle because it decides what actions are most convenient and what to avoid from the id. It also tries to balance the requirements of the id and superego with the actualit y of life so we can do what normal individuals do by using the defence mechanisms. Depending on Sigmund our defence mechanisms are used in order to manage unconscious dispute amongst ego, superego and id. These disputes might be unconscious or conscious and the defence mechanisms work in an unconscious manner to wards of any disagreeable feelings and make things better for the person. There are four key defence systems that are used by the ego. An example is displacement. Displacement is when people’s emotional state towards the actual goal cannot be expressed and where accepting faults cause concern and worry that causes moods to be interchanged on to other objects. For instance an individual blaming their parents for their performance as of them not raising them properly instead of blaming their self. Denial is another ego defence mechanism that is where someone cannot accept a specific truth. Individuals might object to believe occurrence or acknowledge emotions as of worry and concern, thus specific awareness is not dealt with. For instance, someone who is unwell might reject to believe this. Repression†¯is another well-known defence mechanism. Repression acts to keep information out of†¯conscious†¯recognition. Though, these memories don’t just vanish; they endure to impact our behaviour. For example, a person who has repressed memories of abuse suffered as a child might later have troubles making relationships. The final ego defence mechanism is regression. This is where people act out behaviours from the†¯stage of psychosexual development†¯in which they are fixated. For instance, someone fixated at an earlier developmental stage may cry or sulk as of hearing dissatisfying news upon. Behaviours related to regression can differ significantly depending  upon which stage the individual is fixated at. Someone fixated at the†¯oral stage†¯may start eating or smoking immoderately or may become verbally violent. A fixation at the†¯anal stage†¯might result in immoderate tidiness or messiness. Sigmund also developed the psychosexual stages of development. He supposed that character is chiefly started throughout the age of five years because early experiences play a great role in the development of character and endure to impact behaviour in the future. He believed that our character develop in stages in which pleasure-seeking drives of the id commence to focus on erogenous places. The driving power behind our performance was elucidated by psychosexual energy known as the libido. Through completing the stages successfully the person can develop a good character. Though, if the stages are not completed appropriately and specific matters at the stage are not sorted out. Then, it results in fixation. Fixation is where there is a continuous focus on an earlier psychosexual stage as of unsorted dispute. The person will continue to be stuck at this stage if the dispute is not resolved. There are five stages to the psychosexual that Freud suggested. The first stage is the oral stage, at this stage the child is 0-1 years of age and the chief source of libido is the mouth. Here the child will relish consuming food along with placing objects into their mouth. The essential impact at this stage is the mother because the child will link the mother and food with love. If they are neglected from food or are fed involuntarily then it may well cause matters in the future. If a child is weaning from liquid to solid foods they need to learn to be patient for food to be cooked instead of having food instantly. The second stage is the anal stage. At this stage the child is one to three years of age and the child will feel a sense of pleasure in the anus. The child will feel gratification from expelling or holding in excrement. The essential effect at this stage is being taught on how to use the toilet. The child will learn when and where they are intended to release excrement which will prevent fixation. Added to that, the child  would be capable to sway their parents by their bowel movements, because their parent’s devotion and approbation depends on whether or not they release excrement when they ask to be able to go to the toilet. Though, being too stern on the child being permitted to toilet training could possibly lead to fixation, also because the child might develop to become anal impetuous. The third stage is the phallic stage where the child is three to five years of age. The key source of libido here is the child’s penis or vagina and pleasure is obtained from masturbation. At this stage the child will encounter Electra complex and associate with their mother if they are female, whereas if the child is a male they will encounter Oedipus complex where he will associate with his father. Through being affected by this information positively, the superego is developed and they include the morals of the self-same sex parent along with association of gender and sex duties. If they do not associate with the self-same sex parent then they will become fixated at this level and this could possibly lead to homosexuality. The fourth stage is the latency period. At this period the child is six years of age. The latent period is a time of investigation in which the sexual drive is still present, but it is directed into other areas like intellectual pursuits and social interactions. They have reached puberty and the key source of gratification is playing with peers of both sexes. During this stage the child is active with playing with their peers that not much befalls in terms of sexuality. If fixation befalls here the child will not feel content with members of the incompatible sex because they grow up and will find it to build heterosexual relationships. This stage is essential in the development of social and communication skills and self-confidence. The final stage is the genital stage which arises from puberty and the key source of libido/gratification here is having sexual intercourse with others. At this stage the persons interests and feelings towards others benefit will develop and they try to create a balance among their discrete lifestyles. If fixation has arose throughout any other stage, it will become  obvious at this psychosexual stage. Though, a different concept was suggested by Erik Erikson which approved with Freud’s theory to a degree. This was Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development. He thought like Freud that everyone grows in stages, however these stages endure during our life and rather than having a greater focus on the lust for indulgence we must deem our need to be tolerated also. Erikson suggested eight psychosocial stages of development. Stage one is where the child is aged from zero to one years of age and the focal point is how the infant is raised. If they are raised in the right way, then they will form trust, but if the infant isn’t raised in the right way, then the infant will begin to not trust parents/guardians and their surroundings. Stage two is where the child is aged from one to three years of age and the focal point is being permitted to freedom. If this is done appropriately the child will develop some sort of autonomy. If they are continuously criticised the child will interrogate their own aptitude. Stage three is where the child is three to six years of age and begin to interact with the everyone. If the child is persuaded to endeavour different things and develop different skills and qualities, it will enable them to develop capabilities and self-assurance. However, if the child is continuously criticised and made culpable, then it will cause low confidence. Stage four is where the child is six to twelve years of age and focuses on the knowledge of how things operate. If the child begins to accomplish practical jobs they will form some kind of hard work however, if they are being pressured on specific tasks that they cannot accomplish will cause subservient and make them feel incapable. Stage five is where the person is twelve to eighteen years of age and the main focus at this stage is developing some sort of individuality by experimentation. Through being permitted to do the experiment, the child could then possibly develop a secure identity. However, not experimenting means they do not create a secure identity and causes misperception and negative identity. Stage six is where the person is aged eighteen to forty years of age and will focus on discovering new relationships to lead to long term commitments with each other. By creating these secure and committed relationships the sense of safety and be associated to devotion leads to a sense of love. Though,  through ignoring closeness and having phobia of commitment can cause the person to isolate them-selves and this little amount of love and could cause depression. Stage seven is where the person is aged forty to sixty five and the main focus is creating a career and having a family. Through having a career and giving back to society by parenting children and participating in community services, the person receives a sense of love and care. However, not getting participating with society could possibly cause a feeling of wasting life and being unfruitful. Stage eight is the final stage and here the person is over the age f sixty five. The person’s focal point at this stage is working less actively and intensely and think about their accomplishments during the course of their life. Through, performing this successfully, the person develops the merit of understanding that enables them to look back on their life with a feeling of accomplishment. This way the person is then able to can accept passing deprived of being afraid. Though, if the person has feelings of culpability about their life or has an insufficient achievement which will cause feelings of lead to feelings of desolation and frequently depression and as a result phobia of death. A benefit of the psychodynamic approach is that it is developed in stages. These stages make it easier to examine and give back up due to the fact that the stages are simple and easy to follow and acknowledge, therefore, making it easier to gather support for. On top of this, the stages developed by Erikson have more logic than Freud’s psychosexual stages because they make sense and are easy to acknowledge. This means that it can be easily implemented in health and social care practises. For instance in the counselling and treatment centre the health and social care workers are then able to use their insight of the eight stages of Erikson’s concept to detect why the person is feeling dejected has insufficient autonomy and tried to give most appropriate remedy. Though, some issues can be discovered with the psychodynamic approach. A problem is that the approach doesn’t use scientific methodology which means that it is based on opinions. This makes it hard to depend on the results because they are not a dependable source. This insufficient facts means the  approach is can be proven false. On top of this, a lot of the backing research originates from case studies. Though, these enable us to get in detailed information about one person. They might not be the most convenient when it comes to application to other people because the results can’t be generalised to the overall populace. A well-known case study that has been implement by Freud was the case of Little Hans, which was used as assistance for his psychodynamic approach. Little Hans had a fear of horses because he thought that they would hurt him or cause chaos. Little Han’s dad after being consulted by Freud, interpreted his fear through saying that the horses looked like his dad and that the phobia of being bitten signifies the fact that Little Hans was encountering the Oedipus complex and had a phobia of being castrated by his dad as of his feelings about his mum Little Han’s father and played a role his analyst and interpreted his sexual desires and associated these back to the Oedipus complex. Though, there are numerous factors to the Little Han’s case study that have been neglected. For instance, Little Han’s was more petrified of his mum because she threatened to cut off his penis because he was persistently fiddling with it. Also, after Freud spent some time with Little Han’s his parents split up. This means that Little Han’s phobia might be as of the reason that his parents ended their marriage and not be as of Oedipus complex. On top of this, his mum was also spiteful to her baby daughter, therefore it can possibly be that the ‘row’ he was scared of was the crying of his baby sister. Additionally, Freud analyse Little Han’s fear him-self. It was his dad who used Freud’s instructions in order to cure Little Han’s phobia. This means that, as his dad is not an expert analyst, he didn’t get the ideal remedy and the interpretations made might have possible been wrong, and so leading to inadequate remedies . This case study indicates that there are numerous different factors that Freud didn’t deem which could have been the motive of Little Han’s’ phobia. His phobia might have been better elucidated through operant conditioning. Little Han’s had witnessed a falling horse before, therefore, it might be that he related his fear at that instant with the falling horse and therefore develop the phobia.   However, Freud was capable to gather an adequate amount of data about Little Han’s which helped him in the explanation of his fear. However, his case studies are subject to partiality as most of his case studies focused on middle-class Victorian female, however some of his cases focused on males. This indicates that his results are sex bias and might not be relevant to the opposite sex. Also, his explanation are opinion based which means that they might vary to another psychoanalyst’s explanation. This could possible lead to issues to the welfare of the person who will not get remedies as of dissimilar information they are getting. Another problem with the psychodynamic approach is that the therapies people get entails time and dedication. This means that the client needs to be dedicated in the remedy in order for them to recover. Another therapy like medicine might possibly be quicker, however psychoanalysis has a more long term effect on the person. Where remedies can lead to deterioration, psychoanalysis will alter the client’s perception and lead to long term modifications. This is beneficial for the patient because at the therapy and counselling centre, they will be aware that the dedication and time will be useful, also will identify long term modification after some time.

Customer Service Provided

Customer service provided by Co-operative travel and Thomas Cook * Individuals * Groups * People of different cultures * Non-English speakers * People with specific needs * Business men and women. * Internal Thomas Cook: Individuals Thomas Cook needs to provide excellent customer service to a wide range of customers with different expectations and needs, by providing the right holiday for all customers. They also arrange singles holidays where individuals can enjoy the company of many other individuals on their holiday.Most of the customers that book individual holidays are business men and women who may require accommodation with services such as telephone/modem link, wake up calls and newspapers. Groups Thomas Cook provides discounts for group holidays if a group has 9 or more travelling. This discount is normally provided by the tour operators therefore the holiday must be booked directly with the organisers of that particular holiday.Any holidays booked for a group that consists of families will have to take into consideration the different ages and gender of the people travelling because they will require a range of activities to suite everyone. Thomas Cook have to make sure they are meeting the individual needs as well as the needs of the group. Group discounts will also be given to educational bookings e. g. euro Disney provide educational weekends which can be booked through travel agents. People of different culturesThomas Cook have to make sure they accommodate for people of all cultures e. g. some religions don't eat beef, so for their in-flight meals they will have to make sure the food contains no beef at all. Also they have to make sure that they do not use any offensive or inappropriate language, attitude and moral behaviour. It is also the responsibility of Thomas cook to tell customers about the culture of the country that the customer is travelling to e. g. when my auntie went to Egypt she was told to cover her body, as in some parts of Egypt she may be harassed.

How democratic was Andrew Jackson? Essay

Andrew Jackson may have been the most popular president in the history of United States. Andrew Jackson was elected as a president for his democracy and he was still getting votes from electors fifteen years after he died. But was Andrew Jackson democratic at all? He didn’t democratically act in a lot of circumstances like being partial to the poor, not paying attention to the Native Americans or not listening to Van Buren that caused a big scandal in society. Jackson was born in 1767 on the border between North and South Carolina. He was a kid with a wild streak that grew up in a poor family. His childhood was so dramatic and full of events that they made him be brave and experienced in situations. Jackson was voted for the presidency in 1828 and was reelected in 1832. He was said to create a new era of real democracy in America. But like other men, Jackson was not democratic at all and he was also claimed as behaving more like the king. First of all, Andrew Jackson was not democratic because he gave more power to the poor and seemed to be partial to them. While it was democratic that he tried to balance the power between the rich and the poor but in this circumstance, he totally took down the rich. In Document 3 which is a political cartoon, Jackson holds a veto in the left hand and a scepter in the right and tramples on the Federal Constitution and The United States Bank. It was said that Jackson was fear on the rich and powerful who may cheat the acts of government to their own selfish benefits so he vetoes the Congress’s bill to recharger the Bank in July in 1832 and removes the deposit. In fact, Jackson was doing more damage to the bank and he biased against the wealthy men in command. He may have little or no trust in what the Congress and government had deemed to be in the country best interest. In Document 5, Jackson â€Å"inflame the poor against the rich†, The rich and powerful are also People but Jackson didn’t listen to and follow their wishes. That was not democratic. In Document 2, Daniel Webster compliments that Andrew Jackson was democratic. It seemed to be contrary to his reply to Andrew’s Bank veto that Daniel totally criticizes Andrew for turning against the rich. But we can see that Webster claimed that: â€Å"Jackson was the hero of the dirt farmer.† It supported that Andrew Jackson is so partial to the poor and just stand for their sides. Jackson did have democratic ideas but his ideas didn’t actually benefit all people. This was undemocratic as it didn’t benefit all people that he took the rich down and just cared for the low class. Additionally, Jackson also acts undemocratically that he didn’t include the Native Americans. In Document 3, Andrew looks like a king although he is president because of not taking care of the Native Americans and some tribes. Since a president takes to care for all people, Jackson just cares of part of them and abuse for his power and acts only in his best interests. Based on Document 8, Jackson persuaded the Native American but actually forced them and some tribes to west of the Mississippi. It means that he kicked them out of U.S. Jackson was not democratic because he moves them to such useless land as the land was ruined and poor. Despite looking to the citizens of U.S. well, Jackson wasn’t paying attention to the suffering that he was inflicting on Native Americans. This one side shows that Jackson was not a democratic president as many people think he was. The pinnacle of being undemocratic of Jackson was in Document 7, â€Å"Jackson refused to listen. He liked Swartwout because he had been an early supporter.† Jackson appointed Samuel to the office of the collector of Port of New York instead of Buren because Swartwout was offered by people more than Van. It is contrary to his democracy of following people’s wishes that he didn’t listen to Buren. Andrew went against all reason and showed a great lack of good judgment when he appointed one of his homies who is a notorious thief. Since Samuel was in office, there was a scandal that â€Å" Swartwout absconded with $1222705.09. It was a monumental theft†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This ended up hurting the country economically and totally affected the common goods. This selfish act was a foolish one. Although Andrew Jackson, as I stated, was an undemocratic president, he was still kind and compassionate and still has little democracy. Based on Document 11, Jackson adopted a child and took care of him. He wrote letters to his wife that he would adopt an Indian son, Lynconya, â€Å"I send him to my little Andrew and I hope he will adopt him as one of our family. And the letter on December 28th, 1823, Jackson wrote that â€Å"Tell Lyncoya to read his book and be a good boy and obey you in all things.† We can see, Jackson was still democratic as he adopted an Indian boy and also buried him in the family cemetery when he died at age 14. Throughout Jackson’s life and his presidency and with the above evidence, Andrew Jackson was not a democratic president at all. He unfairly acted in several circumstances but he was also democratic and kind of adopting an Indian boy. I conclude Andrew Jackson was not as democratic as many people thought he was. His action towards people didn’t benefit everyone.

Health and Safety Requirements and Hydrogen

Hydrogen production by methane-steam formation posses great challenges of hundreds of hazards related to its employees, as well, as machineries. The paper will try to identify and analyze different hazards and risks that are associated with the production of hydrogen element through methane steam formation. Moreover, the paper will present implications and measures for the safety of the machineries, as well as, employees working in these production facilities. In the methane storage, it has been observed that the storage tank often breaks up and cracks can be observed in the tank, which may expose methane steam resulting in the environmental risk. In this regard, an effective step that can overcome this problem is the designing of drainage systems can tolerate total capacity of the tank, which may reduce the leftover in the environment. Sometimes, storage tank of the methane catches up fire, which is a very dangerous hazard for the employees that are working in the surrounding environment, as well as, for the machineries and equipments that are built at the location. In this regard, designing of the tank should be created in such a way that fire exposure may be tolerated for at least two hours, which may allow the rescue and fire brigade services to overcome the fire problem. (NRC, pp. 40-42, 2003) Secondly, such production facilities should be employed with flame arrestor that may help in identifying flame at the beginning. Moreover, storage tanks must have double walls, which may result in avoidance of their cracking, as well as, avoid the risks of any fire in the tank. Thirdly, MSR Unit during the production of hydrogen with the help of methane steam forming confronts leakage of methane or water that reacts with the hot oil system built in the vaporizer. In the result, materials and equipments are damaged with the confrontation of methane with the hot oil, which may result in heavy losses of the equipments, and burning risks for the employees. In this regard, quantity of the water, as well as, methane should be checked at regular intervals. In addition, quality of these compounds should also be verified by the experts that may help in the reduction of such risk during the production of hydrogen. Lastly, atmosphere confronts leakage of different gases like H2, CO, CO2, etc. during the production of hydrogen, which may result in the exposure of toxicity with the employees and workers in the installation facilities. Some of the major hazards of these gases leakage are fire, burning, environmental hazards, health risks, etc. In this regard, the abovementioned is one of the most dangerous hazards that are linked with the production of hydrogen. In extreme cases, such leakages end up in explosions that may cause human lives. Such extreme cases have been noted in the plants that are built under a container. Therefore, it should be noted that segmentation valve should be built in isolation, and away from the other processes of the hydrogen production. Different equipments should be built for the detection of gases leakage, especially the CO leakage that plays the major role in the adverse effects. Furthermore, depressurization process should be performed at a faster pace, which may take less time, and result in the less risks. (ICE, pp. 23-25, 2006) During the hydrogen production by the reformation of methane, it has been observed that reformers are often exposed with ruptures due to the development of a hotspot in the tubes of reformers. One of the major reasons of development of a hotspot is the catalyst of reformer that is deactivated due to the poisoning by methane element. Such ruptures and breakages result in the damages of equipments, materials, and the environment. Such breakage is often observed in the production unit of such procedure. After the detailed analysis of safety requirements in such process, it has been observed that supplier of the methane should be provided with complete requirements of the compound in terms of its quality. Secondly, upstream reformer should be pre-reformed in this production unit, which may result in the reduction of chances of development of any hotspots in the reformers. (Johansson, pp. 56-58, 1993) Another risk that has been associated with the production of hydrogen with the methane steam formation is the leakage of flammable gases that causes human lives, as well as, damages of the equipments in the facilities. Such hazards become extreme when the plant is manufactured in the container, which results in the more adverse effects. In this regard, safety-related bodies have advised that equipments for the detection of gas leakages should be installed at the production plant. Such equipments help in the opening of ventilations during emergencies, as well as, close the segmentation valves automatically. Thus, these detection products play a crucial role in saving human lives and damage losses of the machineries. Secondly, it should be noted that segmentation valves are built outside the container, in order to acquire ventilation naturally, as it has been observed that the valves built inside the container are more vulnerable to the abovementioned hazards. Fletcher, pp. 68-70, 1998) Moreover, installation area should be cordoned off at the time of unloading of the methane from the truck, and only required personnel should stay at the location, which may result in the risk of less number of human lives. Furthermore, external impact can be avoided by the accurate designing of filling hose, which may result in the ad verse results. In addition, it should be taken into consideration that rupture valves should be checked on a regular basis. It should be noted that a warning system in case of any exposure should be evaluated by the production facilities at regular intervals. All these steps and measures can result in the reduction and elimination of hazards and risks that are associated with the production of hydrogen with the utilization of methane compound. During the production of hydrogen with the utilization of methane steam formation, the experiments have shown that when the storage tank is filled with methane, toxic heavy gas is exposed in the surroundings due to leak in the filling hose of methane compound. This leakage does not occur every time, but it poses great hazards for the employees working in this processing unit. It has been observed that employees working around these installations often end up in adverse health, and awful death in extreme cases. In this regard, some of the measures that can be taken for avoiding this hazard during the compound filling from the truck are that pressurized methane compound should be avoided at the time of its transportation, and refrigerated liquefied compound should be used that may poses less risk of any toxic exposure in the surroundings. (Vincoli, pp. 44-47, 1997) Sometimes, faults of valves or humans effects the ruptures in the pipe due to the pressure explosion during the production. Such effects results in the damages of equipments, as well as, workers that are employed in the surroundings. In this regard, appropriate material should be selected for the manufacturing of production plant, which may reduce the risks. Secondly, designing of the steam and cooler should be improved with the help of detailed analysis. Moreover, requirements of control system should be provided to the suppliers in details according to the regulations that may help in the effective production of hydrogen with fewer chances of hazardous risks. (OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, pp. 55-57, 2001) Conclusion Conclusively, significant hazards and risks associated with the production of hydrogen by the utilization of methane steam formation have been identified, discussed, and analyzed in this paper. In addition, safety requirements that should be imposed against the discussed hazards have been provided in the paper. More information can be attained by performing detailed analysis of these risks. Some of the common hazards that have been noted in the hydrogen production through methane steam formation are gas leakages due to high pressures and different ruptures in the equipments and machineries. In this regard, manufacturers of the hydrogen-producing machineries confront great challenges in terms of the discussed hazards in this paper. Lastly, further research is required in the subject that may facilitate the hydrogen producers in overcoming and reduction of the hazards and risks associated with the production of hydrogen. It is hoped that the paper will be beneficial for students, teachers, and professionals in the better understanding of hazards associated with the hydrogen production through methane steam formation, as well as, safety requirements and implications that have been advised by the safety-related organizations.

Hitler and Mussolini Essay

Benito Mussolini during his rule from 1922 to 1943 faced many domestic problems within Italy that he had to deal with. Mainly the internal problems had to do with economic policies and struggle, which Mussolini attempted to deal with through his autarky policy. He also had to deal with political problems, which were derived from the interference of the church. Finally Mussolini also had to contend with social problems such as unification, and increase of popularity. Through his rule Mussolini had to deal with economic, social and political problems, however he was to a great extent not successful in dealing with these problems. One of Mussolini’s greatest internal problems was his economic problem. Mussolini wanted to make Italy a great economy, one that could compete with the great economies of World War I such as Britain and France. In order to this Mussolini wanted an autarky, which was economic self-sufficiency in food and raw materials. He wanted Italy through autarky to become a powerful and large empire. In order to achieve this Mussolini instigated what historians such as MacDonald refer to as a ‘series of battles’. These battles were a struggle for the economy that Mussolini envisioned. A series of four battles were fought however only one can be regarded as a partial success while the other three were seen by most historians as failed attempts. The first battle was known as the Battle for Grain, which was to a great extent a failure. This battle started in 1925 because there was a poor harvest that year, and the grain for the most part was being imported. In order to become a self-sufficient economy Mussolini wanted Italy to be able to produce the grain on its own. By the 1930’s Italy was able to become a self-sufficient grain growing economy by controlling imports and increasing the production of cereal crops. However despite being able to achieve grain production, Italy as a whole suffered due to this battle. By encouraging the production of grain, farmers had to stop growing fruits and vegetables, which were cheaper to produce. Therefore exports of fruits and vegetables also decreased, which caused the economy to become weaker because revenue from exports decreased. Also due to an emphasis on making grain the use of sheep’s and cattle decreased, causing the decline of these animals. It also caused the country to go into debt since the government had to give subsidies to farmers and there were huge tariffs associated with the production of grain. Also the price of grain in Italy rose causing the price of bread to increase. This affected the working class and poor since the core of their diet was made up of bread. The masses of Italy suffered especially the poor and the farmers, although the industrialists did not suffer as much. Since grain production increased the demand for fertilizers and tractors increased, which increased the business of the industrialists. However the industrialists are a smaller proportion of the population of Italy than the masses, therefore to the most part the Battle for Grain was a failure. The second battle was the ‘Battle for Lira’ whose main aim was to reinstate the purchasing power of the currency. Sine Mussolini wanted a powerful Italy; he thought that the weak currency added to weakness of the economy. Therefore in 1926, Mussolini revalued the Lira so that one pound was 90 liras. This battle also proved to be a failure since the price of exports increased. Due to this unemployment increased and firms and industries were not able to sell their goods as efficiently. This also caused the aim to increase economic influence to decrease since it had a negative effect of exports and unemployment. The ‘Battle for Land’ was the third battle fought in order to increase economic power. This battle had mixed responses and could be seen as a success and failure. The Battle for Land attempted to control the migration to cities from the countryside’s, which helped control unemployment. The Battle for Land was a success because of the Pointe Marshe in 1935 which served as good propaganda, helped decrease unemployment and also allowed for the control of subsidies to farmers. Pointe Marshe provided small farms and also increased public work, which called for employment. However it was also known as a failure because small plots of land were inefficiently utilized for a lot of wheat production. Also it did not help decrease the poverty of poor people. The economic problems in Italy that Mussolini tried to deal with through autarky were mainly a failure due to the failures of the battles. Another internal problem that Mussolini had to deal with was political problems. Mussolini wanted to obtain totalitarianism, however in order to this Mussolini had to deal with the Roman Catholic Church. This to an extent was a success, however tension between the Church and the state was never completely eradicated. In order to make relations with the Church better Mussolini allowed religious studies in education and also allowed the crucifix to be displayed in courts and classrooms. Also in order to gain support from the Church Mussolini had his children baptized and also had a church wedding in 1925 in order too show that he believed in the Church. The Church also accepted Mussolini’s policy on abortions and contraception, in order to increase population. Mussolini also officially ended the tension by forming the Latern Pacts, which made the Vatican state independent, made Catholism the official religion of the state and also made education of cat holism mandatory in schools. This pact decreased tension between the church and Mussolini and allowed Mussolini to gain more power of the state. However despite the pact and decreased tension, conflict always remained between the Church and Mussolini’s state. Mussolini’s continued interference in catholic education in schools continued to be a problem between the church and the state and the Pope threatened to censure fascism. Another conflict between the state and the Church was relations with Nazi Germany in 1938, having to do with the views on anti-Semitism. The continued tension with the Church never allowed Mussolini to have full control over Italy, which added to his internal problems. The last internal problem that Italy had to deal with was social problems. Mussolini attempted to unify Italy and increase his popularity through propaganda since he did not have full control and poulatiry over the Italian people. Mussolini was most successful in dealing with social problems through L’inquadramento and the idea of a corporative state. L’inqadramento was an illusion that Mussolini created in order to unify Italy. Through this movement Mussolini increased their popularity and membership by providing support and financial aid during after the Depression from 1931 to 1937. â€Å"This recovery from the deep depression of the postwar was remarkable and greatly aided the Fascists in winning favor and in establishing power.†, was the view of historian Clough. They also increased employment by inflicting a forty-hour workweek and allowing family compensations. These helpful acts during the Depression helped Mussolini gain support from more people, and allowed him to control more of the state. Also schemes such as the Pointe Marshe helped increase employment, which also helped Mussolini, gain support. Mussolini used propaganda through a policy called Corporative state, which also helped him gain support. The Corporative state advertised a state where there was no class system and all labors worked together. It also strived to make working conditions better and sought to help all laborers when they were in trouble by allowing them to share their concerns with their employers’ representatives who then shared them with Mussolini.

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Globalisation - Essay Example During the past era globalization was discussed as a process that draws different cultures and nation into greater interaction and communication. This made globalization to be seen as fact that we all increasingly live in the world, groups; individuals become ever more interdependent. Economy or economic system includes the production of goods and services, distribution or trade of commodity and the final utilization of the produced goods and services by different consumers in a given geographical location (Steger, 2013). The economic negotiators can be individuals, organizations, businesses or governments. For a better economy, a transaction must be occurring between two parties who agree on the price of a transacted service or product, commonly expressed as a currency or worth of that product. Media (communication) is a tool applied to deliver and store data or information regarding any news and can be seen as a communication instrument. The primary vehicle of the phenomena of global media is the multinational corporation that is used to collect information from one area to another and deliver it globally all over the world. Media globalization has supported in both the distribution and production of information. Examples of media aided globalization technology include radio, music, satellite among others (Steger, 2013). Political ideology to set of norms, beliefs or doctrines that are shared by the members of a specific social group that forms the basis of economic factors, political or another system. Political ideology in globalization involves media facilitation on the exchange of cultural or political factors that affect the career of a politician. Politics has been globalized since the views of one politician can be analyzed by another one from different regions as information is conveyed from one area to another, which has led to

Plastic Surgery Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Plastic Surgery - Essay Example This ideal person is usually someone of a mid-20ish age, slender, with specific measurements and a certain good-looking charm. This limited view automatically rejects anyone with a larger bone structure or other ‘defect’ from being socially acceptable. Those who can both afford to purchase the ‘right’ look and who are fortunate enough to be a candidate for surgery are seen to have the ideal life. Their outward appearance automatically indicates they also have wealth, happiness and freedom. However, even for these people, this restricted view of the ideal has several negative effects on the individual as well as society. With so much attention given to the way a person looks on the outside as being the only social measure, there is very little room for internal characteristics to receive their rightful attention. People also spend so much time obsessing about the way they look that there is little time or energy for personal development. This shallow, obsessi ve view can be especially seen in the alarming numbers of teenagers, both male and female, seeking plastic surgery, because it can be potentially harmful to the individual’s psychological nature and physical health, and as it is perpetuated by their role models and peers and encouraged or supported by their parents and elders. As it becomes more socially acceptable, more people are turning to cosmetic surgery to enhance their bodies while they’re still attending high school. They are working to construct the ideal form without giving their bodies a chance to finish growing. Many adolescents (and the parents that allow them to seek these types of surgery) don’t seem to realize that plastic surgery is still surgery. Surgery of any type can have significant physical and physiological risks, especially when performed on bodies that have not yet completed their growth cycle. Although some parents might argue that a child has definitely finished growing, doctors have reported sending

The Root Crop Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Root Crop Industry - Essay Example Statistics show that around half the world’s production of root crops is consumed as food. These statistics vary from one country to another. Our ancestors found the first root crops when they were still hunter gatherers, and history is witness to the fact that what these first cultivators found in the wild was what they first experimented with as cultivators. The earliest agricultural system in parts of Africa was based on root crops. Recent studies have shown that the ancient Mayan civilization grew crops such as sweet potato, yams and cassava; so too did some African tribes like the Bantu. Early civilizations in Asia, Africa and South America seem to have been the first to sow and harvest root crops that had previously been gathered in the wild. â€Å"A healthy diet is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle,† says Dr.Weil. Root vegetables have been described as â€Å"some of the most overlooked and underappreciated foodstuffs ......nutritional storehouses, hidden treasures worthy of notice† ( Dr. Weil, drweil.com, n.d.) A large proportion of the world’s food supply today consists of root crops that are also used as animal feed. Industrial products such as starch and distilled spirits as well as a wide range of other minor products also are made from root crops. Around half of the supply of root crops grown globally is used for human consumption. This utilization pattern varies from one country to another, with developing nations using a greater percentage of these crops for food, while the developed nations use a larger percentage for animal feed and industrial use. Agro climatic factors define where different root crops are produced. Potatoes seem to have first been cultivated in the Andes, but today are grown at lower altitudes and in warmer climates. Sweet potatoes too are grown in a wide variety of climates and altitudes, but yams are mostly grown in Africa. The fact that these root crops that were cultivated by our early ancestors survive as an

Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Article Critique - Essay Example While the article is helpful as a general information piece, it lacks any substantive depth, and does not draw any conclusions. The author writes of "millions of new jobs" and "a demand for green jobs, which could provide meaningful work", but offers no specifics or details. The author was further challenged by the topic as he could not even offer a definition for the term green job. Due to the immense scope of the topic, and the relative of the issue in the national spotlight, it would be impractical to devise any research based on empirical data or a quantitative study. Research could best be accomplished by a review of the existing literature on the topic and consulting the writings of industry experts. I would examine the experiences that other countries have had with green technology and how it has impacted their employment and economic outlook. In addition, I would make some conjectures and predictions on the impact of energy on the economy if we do nothing. Solar panel technology for residential housing is an area of green technology that has vast potential. At the current cost of solar cells, they are economically impractical without a government subsidy. Currently the federal subsidy is 30 percent, with some states adding an additional amount ("Northern Arizona Wind & Sun"). If the subsidy were 70 percent, it would take the homeowner just 6 years to recover the cost of a system that has a life span of 20 years ("Northern Arizona Wind & Sun"). As the technology gets more developed and manufacturing reaches scale, the price will drop dramatically and the subsidies could be cut back. The long term effect would be to significantly lower the cost of utilities in America and there would be more money in the economy to spend on cars and houses. Closing the coal fired electric plants and replacing them with nuclear facilities would greatly reduce green house gas emissions and create a

English writting and reading experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English writting and reading experience - Essay Example Their childish actions left me feeling depressed and mad. The United States is noted for being a globally diverse country and accepting of cultural diversity as it assimilates into their own culture. However, the way I was being treated and what I saw in the actions of my classmates turned out to be the exact opposite of this idealistic dream. I was not treated with respect at all considering that I was a new foreign student at their school. Later on I realized that I was being ridiculed precisely because of that. I was a foreign student who could not express myself in English fluently. I came from another country whose culture and traditions these students did not understand nor obviously respect. My family has always valued the importance of a good education. We have always given emphasis to reading, comprehension, and writing skills in our learning activities due to its importance in our daily lives and interaction with people. As far back as I can remember, I have always been interested in learning about anything and everything that I could see, hear, or feel. During my educational lifetime, I have met many teachers whose influence on my learning abilities have varied from positive to negative. I have had teachers who influenced and encouraged me to learn as much as I could about certain things, and I had teachers whose strictness and unfriendliness caused me to retreat from learning about certain things altogether. I believe a lot of people have the experience of ridicule at some point in their lives by people who could negatively affect their learning process. People judge and stereotype others based upon their education, property, race and looks, making it difficult for them to control their words and deeds. My parents had been ridiculed during their time as well but they learned from those people who judged them or made fun of them. What my father taught me was that a

An evaluation of the training programme and how it effects performance Literature review

An evaluation of the training programme and how it effects performance at debenhams -westfield - Literature review Example The study relates the concept of performance management and training implementation to Debenhams, in regards to the manner in which it applies the training methods and how it affects the company's competency and performance rate. Performance is defined as being able to finish a task that is measured against certain standards such as completeness, accuracy, speed and cost. In a contractual agreement, performance can be regarded as a completion or fulfillment of an obligation, which unbinds the person from the liabilities within the signed agreement (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2008). Most define performance as the act of accomplishing a task and producing an outcome in line with the objective. Others believe that as long as a result is presented, it is an acceptable performance as it is; and if the objectives are not met, the rate of performance is not at par as projected. Performance cannot be evaluated through the outcome alone, as results are triggered by actions that cause it. Asid e from the efforts made to produce a result, other aspects that can affect the outcome can be both external and internal factors (Institutional Management in Higher Education, 2009). Assessing performance by means of the results alone is not appropriate. There are several objectives imposed by the management that can be utilized as constructive means to evaluate the result, but appraising a performance solely on results reflects a company’s poor policy. Other variables that either have an indirect or direct effect towards the result must also be accounted for; as such influences can have severe impacts on the outcome (Torrington, et al, 2008). Performance Management Performance management includes two different kinds of management. One aspect of evaluating performance is through the expert opinion of an analyst, who would be responsible in monitoring the performance of the company as a whole. The other method in which career efficiency can be assessed is through the constant appraisal the managers of its employees in meeting the company’s objectives. This includes assisting employees in reaching goals and expectations, thus ensuring that the company would perform better as a whole (Porter, Bingham & Simmonds, 2008). The organization of the employees’ performance varies per individual. In general, it comprises planning and establishing objectives, and presenting feedbacks and reviews. Proper management also includes commendations through rewards for high performers, and opportunities for one to become skilled at one’s chosen discipline. Management of employee performance is more ideal if the goals are reliable and consistent (Bloisi, 2007). This implies that the management must present a clear way in disseminating information regarding the expected quality of work at present and in the future. Planning the objectives also constitutes classifying the employer’s prospect of his personnel, so as not to seem broadsided during the course of assessing criteria in performance development (Porter, et al, 2008). Planning and setting objectives and goals in a company is one of the critical components of performance management, as it offers an a fair and proper evaluations system in which employees can undergo proper training, workshops and seminars necessitate to increase one’s aptitude and proficiency (Porter, et al, 2008). An ideal performance manag

Planning Function of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Planning Function of Management - Essay Example The overall focus of planning process however based upon establishing a company which can be market leader in the long distance calls market niche. Apart from this, planning function was a top down approach wherein higher management was mostly responsible for all the management planning function at the organization. Plan came from the top and lower level management actually followed the plans without actually providing effective feedback to the higher management. This aspect of planning therefore made it relatively rigid to adapt itself to the different external scenarios wherein top management actually failed to realize overall market movements. It is also important to note that there was a lack of alternative plans for the organization to deal with any contingency. When the overall crisis hit the organization, there was generally lack of alternative plans available to deal with the contingency. Lack of effective plans to deal with the contingencies suggested that the firm was unable to defend itself against any bankruptcy proceedings and the only way out for the firm was to file for bankruptcy. Influence of Issues Considering the overall nature of the fraud committed by WorldCom, it is relatively obvious that the firm had not been influenced by the legal as well as ethical issues. It also failed to follow the corporate social responsibility codes and procedures also while reporting its overall financial state of the affairs.

Champion of the world by maya Angelou chapter 19 Essay

Champion of the world by maya Angelou chapter 19 - Essay Example Chapter 19 gives a full description of small southern town of Stamp residents who are present in Momma’s store. These people are fully engaged to the ongoing championship boxing in the radio. This fight is between Carnera, who is Caucasian and Joe Louis representing the African American. In the event of the fight, Louis almost loses the fight but at the end of the fight he manages to win the fight. The win for the world champion title triumphs both the fighter and the whole race. In this respect, there is an indication that people can be united by a common belief or desires in the major events like this one. The fully crouched bodies in the store listening attentively to the prize fight indicate the coincidental placing of individuals with a common goal (Angelou 133). The reason behind the occurrence of the story is to create hope. The strong hope is then shaken when Louis indicates a sign of losing. Despair is uttered by the abrupt switch of confidence and hope. The author also uses the story to induce a sense of desperation where he points the fear of retreating to slavery for the African American people in the case of Joe losing the fight (Angelou 135). Another factor contributing to the happening of the story is the induction of the mood of greatness after the depression point uplift. In the story, Angelou plans the story events to empower rejoice mood in contrast with the desperation mood. The whole chapter narrates a story in the target for the deliverance theme immediately after the change of scene from the cool air in the night (Dungy and Whitaker 76). The story unfolds at the store full of people keenly listening to the main fight for Joe Louis on the radio. Joe is fighting the white man hence wins majority of the supporters in the store due to the black identity. Joe’s victory determines many factors amongst the black race. In accordance to the African American, Louis win gives supporters a

International Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

International Finance - Essay Example The first section highlights how General Electric suffered adversely because of the 2011 crisis in Japan that involved an earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear radiation. The second section of the paper involves calculations on covered interest arbitrage in order to investigate the amount of profit achieved and the amount of loss achieved by a corporate foreign investor.This paper stresses that The common characteristics of multinational enterprises include huge capital outlay, which contribute to the massive investments usually made by the MNEs. MNEs also have wide market presence in form of retail stores in numerous countries or subsidiary companies in numerous countries, a big workforce, and huge sales volume because of the wide market presence, wide and highly decentralized organisational structure. Lastly, MNEs have cultural diversity within their organisational setting. General Electric decides to venture into Japan through other subsidiaries such as Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Limite d because of the country’s robust economy, which is ranked third Worldwide in terms of gross domestic product after the United States and China. This essay has identified that for a foreign company to decide to venture into another local market or country, the local market has to be endowed with various factors that make it a conducive business environment. Such an environment is most likely to favour the business operations of the foreign company, give it an opportunity to growth further, and increase it profitability level.

Twentith-century british history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Twentith-century british history - Essay Example In addition, Great Britain saw its popular culture change a great deal, as musical acts like the Beatles helped to share the British culture with the rest of the world. Unfortunately, it is this popular culture movement that makes it very difficult to distinguish between American culture and British culture during this time period. In fact, even though this pop culture movement is sometimes referred to as the British Invasion, it could also be seen as the Americanization of British culture. Overall, the 1960s should be remembered as a time that brought about great political change in Great Britain because the people began to see that left wing political ideologies were not necessarily associated with communism and a time where the people began to stand up against the establishment for the greater good of democracy. In 1964, the Labour Party took power in Great Britain, which is significant because it was the first time a leftist government had power in the country. This was a significant change in the political culture of Great Britain because up until this point, the country had been exclusively left wing. As the United States carried on the Cold War with the Soviet Union, all of the United States’ allies were forced to exclude these left of centre ideologies from their political spectrums. Electing the Labour Party was significant because it showed that Great Britain was evolving as a country and was open to new ideologies. It is also symbolic of the country’s more liberal stance on things like drug use, sex, and rock and roll, especially among the younger members of society. It also finalized the country’s desire to get away from its imperial past, as the Labour Party was decidedly anti-Imperialist. During this time period, the number of British citizens living in other countries declined significantly and this was the time period when the British empire finally came to an official end. This was

Strategic HR Management - Job Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Strategic HR Management - Job Analysis - Essay Example and objectives so as to enhance business performance and build up organizational culture that promote innovation, competitive advantage and flexibility† (Becker, & Huselid, 2006). In the organizational setting SHRM strategy is adopted in order to augment the existing HR policies and initiatives as a strategic component by many organizations. Thus in the formation and implementation of the organization’s strategies through HR activities such as selecting, recruiting, rewarding workers for their performances and training them, the management focuses on the labor productivity. Many writers in the 1980s began to focus on a more strategic approach for the management of human resources rather than the traditional concept of people management or industrial relations. SHRM concentrates on human resource programs with long-term goals. Rather than concentrating on internal human resources, the emphasis is on looking at and solving problems that affect people management programs on a global scale and in the long run. As such the main objective of strategic human resources is to enhance people productivity by concentrating on business obstacles that take place outside of human resources. The main activities of a strategic human resource manager should be to find out key HR areas where strategies could be implemented in the long run so as to enhance the overall employee productivity and motivation. Communication between top management and HR of a firm is important as co-operation is not possible without active participation (Fine, & Cronshaw, 1999). The key feature s of SHRM are; Job analysis can be defined as â€Å"A job analysis is the process used to collect information about the duties, responsibilities, necessary skills, outcomes, and work environment of a particular job. You need as much data as possible to put together a job description, which is the frequent outcome of the job analysis. Additional outcomes include recruiting plans, position postings and

Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers Case Study

Forensic Accountants as Fraud Buggers - Case Study Example A forensic accountant must be equipped with investigative skills. These skills are important in gathering, evaluating and analyzing accounting data and audited information from business organizations (Ramaswamy, 2010). It is through these skills that a forensic accountant will be able to determine possible discrepancies and loopholes within audited accounting data and information (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001; DiGabriele, 2008). The effectiveness of a forensic accountant is measured by the ability to apply investigative skills to interpret accounting information and financial evidence to back misappropriation of resources within a business organization or company (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Fraudsters within companies and business organizations often devise methods of embezzlement or fraud that are hard to detect. It is in this regard that a forensic accountant must have effective investigative skills to detect accounting problems which would not be determined by ordina ry auditing and accounting approaches (Bawaneh, 2011). Investigative skills also allow a forensic accountant to adhere to the ethics and regulations that govern investigations of criminal cases. Computing or technical skills are required for an effective forensic accountant. This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008).... This is due to the fact that contemporary companies and business environments have adopted and implemented information technology methods in accounting and finance (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Through computing skills, a forensic accountant is able to retrieve, analyzed and report financial evidence in electronic formats (Topping, 2008). More importantly a forensic accountant must be able to apply computer software and applications and other computer assisted tools to detect fraud or embezzlement of resources within companies (Fleming, Pearson, Riley & Richard, 2008). Modern business organizations are characterized by what is referred to as white collar crime in which technology is used to defraud or embezzle resources and hide evidence. It is in this sense that computing skills of a forensic accountant become significant (Carnes & Gierlasinski, 2001). Litigation skills area also required for effective forensic accountants. These skills are significant in the role of a forensic accountant as an arbitrator or mediator in legal accounting problems. These skills are also important because they enable forensic accountants to be effective experts and credible consultants who could be used by companies to detect and report fraud or embezzlement of resources. Through litigation skills, forensic accountants are able to evaluate damages and losses and find ways of resolving disputes among the disputants (Topping, 2008). Other important skills of a forensic accountant include analytical and forensic skills. Effective forensic accountants must have analytical skills that will empower them to determine the importance of the gathered financial evidence in reporting fraud (DiGabriele, 2008). Through analytical skills, forensic accountants analyze and professionally

Approaches to Adjustment and Deviance Case Study

Approaches to Adjustment and Deviance - Case Study Example Jason is the third child and has one older brother. Family conflicts arise when Jason attempts to emulate the activities of his 17-year-old brother. As a middle child, there have never been any clear boundaries set for Jason and he has often been emotionally neglected. He has struggled for his mother's attention and has taken on a rivalry with his father. His father has been stern, believing in 'tough love', without the emotional support or communication required to carry it out successfully. Jason's mother has made excuses for her son and has covered up and allowed his inappropriate behavior, possibly due to her own guilt. The conflict between the mother and father are at the core of the family problems and Jason reacts negatively to this conflict. It was advised that the family enter family counseling based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Through questioning, it was found that the mother and father rarely effectively communicate the important issues surrounding Jason's behavior and often have vastly different perceptions of what is acceptable to the family. Through role playing, the family was taught to communicate more effectively.

The Choice of Family or Love Essay Example for Free

The Choice of Family or Love Essay Romeo and Juliet is a tragic play that conveys the importance of choices made because of true love. One of the major choices, which is also a theme, it is the decision of choosing family or true love. During William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Romeo and Juliet make choices that lead up to them ending their lives. During this play Romeo and Juliet, the children of feuding families (the Capulets and Montagues), fall in love and are forced to chose between their families or true love. After they meet at the ball, Romeo makes the choice to trespass on Capulet property to see Juliet again. Shortly after they agree to go and be married. Juliet, who was supposed to marry County Paris but is now secretly married to Romeo, makes the decision to pretend to die so she will not have to marry Paris and can run away with Romeo. Romeo and Juliet make choices that favor each other over love their own lives. The first choice leading to death is Romeo sneaking onto Capulet property to see Juliet after the ball. This choice signifies Romeo’s rebellion on his family because he trespasses on his family’s enemy’s property to see their daughter. Neither Romeo nor Juliet care that their families are enemies for Juliet says, â€Å"Tis but thy name that is my enemy. / Thou art thyself, though not a Monague. / What’s Monague? It is nor hand, nor foot, / nor arm, nor face, nor any other part / Belonging to a man†¦That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet† (Shakespeare 2.2.40-44) to which Romeo replies, â€Å"I take thee at thy word. / Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized; / Henceforth I never will be called Romeo† (Shakespeare 2.2.49-51). Juliet makes a truthful opinion when she says that Montague is just a name and that Romeo, or any other person, is more than a just name. She also states that a name does not describe a person’s personality or appearance; that a name does not change who a person truly is. Romeo is in love and agrees with Juliet; he states, that if she wanted, he would not be called Romeo or a Monatgue any more (Shakespeare 2.2.61). As Romeo and  Juliet fall deeper in love they begin to make more choices that deny their families and put their own lives in danger. Subsequently, the next choice Romeo and Juliet make may have sealed their fate. Shortly after they first meet Romeo and Juliet agree to be secretly married by Friar Lawrence. Juliet has been arranged to marry County Paris, but she loves Romeo so she agrees to marry him in secret with only two other people knowing: Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s nurse. At first Juliet was resistant to be married but after going into her house for a moment she quickly reaches a decision; she says â€Å"Thy purpose marriage, send me word tomorrow†¦ / Where and what time thou wilt preform the rite†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Shakespeare 2.2.144-146). Juliet talks to her nurse while she is in her house and after she return she agrees to be married to Romeo, which he was unprepared for because she had early said, â€Å"I have no joy of this contract tonight† (Shakespeare 2.2. 117). The next day they meet in Friar Lawrence’s cell to be wed, for it is a short, secret wedding. After being married, Romeo and Juliet preserved their fate forever, never to be changed because of the love they feel for each other. The final decision that culminates to Romeo and Juliet both dying is when Juliet takes a potion from Friar Lawrence to make he look dead. Romeo had been banished from Verona and Juliet was due to marry Paris, so in her despair Juliet went to Friar Lawrence. Friar Lawrence came up with a plan: Juliet was to take a sleeping draught that would make her look like she was dead; then Friar Lawrence would send a letter to Romeo telling him to come and see her awaken from the draught. Juliet took the draught but the letter never got to Romeo; one of his servants told him that Juliet was dead. In his misery Romeo returned to Verona. He arrived at Juliet’s tomb and got into a fight with Paris, in which Paris lost and died. Then seeing Juliet dead, Romeo took a poison and committed suicide. Juliet finally awoke to find Romeo dead; and in her pain she tries to poison herself, too. When she hears people arriving Juliet realizes that by the time the poison would kill her it would be to late, so she stabbed herself with Romeo’s dagger (Shakespeare 5.3.169). In conclusion Romeo and Juliet’s love for each other ends up killing them both. William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet is a tragic love story. True love is a virtue every person should experience but in this play it turns into a murderer. Romeo and Juliet’s choices force them to end their lives with suicide whether it was intended or not. In the end Romeo and Juliet’s deaths were good because they can live together, forever; and the feud of the Capulet and Montague families ended. Though true love ended up killing them, Romeo and Juliet made the right choice in picking love over their families because their families were not very loyal in encouraging them making their own choices and having their own life to live and fall in love with whoever they choose.

Girls dancing Essay Example for Free

Girls dancing Essay The failure of Parris to determine a cause for the girls dancing leads to another key character, Reverend Hale of Beverly. From the moment he enters the act, he is portrayed as a man of arrogance and over confidence. Yet, he seems embarrassed when Proctor praises him, contradicting his exterior demeanor. In the early course of the play, Hale is a force behind the conviction of so-called witches and he is continually probing people to confess. Like most of the other characters in the play, Hale himself is also afraid of the unknown, despite his experience with incidents of this kind in the past. He remarks that no matter what religious status an individual may occupy, they may still be accused of dealing with the devil. In a clear contrast to the beginning of the play he appears uncertain if the girls are telling the truth, but is reluctant to show his suspicions until the very end of the play. Tragically, his suspicions are told too late, as the trials no longer remain in his hands. His reluctance to speak what he actually believed in condemned many more people, which means that Hale is a key figure in showing how innocent people can be convicted and murdered so easily by the girls. John Proctor plays the most prominent role in the play, as Arthur Miller gradually brings him into the affray as more and more people become convicted, one of whom is his wife, Elizabeth. Proctor is regarded as a strong figure in the society of Salem, yet his past life continues to haunt him however, as he has committed the sin of adultery with none other than Abigail Williams herself before the play. Once the trials begin, Proctor realises he can stop Abigails rampage through Salem, if he confesses to his sin of adultery. This would ruin his reputation in the society, so he is reluctant to confess. This likens Proctor to Reverend Parris at this stage, as he they are both intent on keeping their good reputations. Towards the end of the play however, this changes as Proctor is prepared to lose his reputation by confessing to adultery and finding the truth. His confession arrives too late however, as the matters in the court have gone too far. This now likens him to Reverend Hale, as both of them form an invisible alliance in the courtroom, as both know that Abigail is manipulating the judges and is clearly lying. Proctor is also portrayed as an un-Christian being in the mind of the court when Hale questions him about his Christianity. This lack of religious belief in him is a key factor in the court proceedings once Proctor is brought before them. However Miller creates sympathy with the 20th century audience for Proctor by creating hostility towards other characters. The sympathy is also shown at the end of the play when Proctor refuses to give up his name in order to establish the truth. This gives the audience the impression that Proctor is a man of integrity and is willing to give up everything for the truth. Judge Danforth is the key figure in the condemnation of the accused persons. He is, like Parris, portrayed as a man intent on keeping his reputation rather than finding the truth. He enters the play as the trials begin, having no background knowledge of what has gone on in the society before the trials involving Proctor and Abigail, and has no knowledge of peoples ways of thinking and attitudes towards others. These factors ultimately are the main reasons why people are convicted in Danforths court, and not because of witchcraft. During the court case in act three involving Proctor and Abigail, all the truthful evidence that Proctor gives against Abigail is ignored by Danforth, as he is easily distracted by Abigails lies. This shows that Danforth and the courts justice is flawed. The flawed justice of the court is another clear reason of how Salems society is able to convict people so easily. He also expects people to side with the court by saying: A person is either with this court or against it. This shows that if you were against the court then you would be persecuted. During the case, his justice is frequently questioned, which angers him, as he is not used to having his justice questioned.. Danforths belief in the truth fluctuates, as there are points where he begins to doubt Abigails story such as where he studies Abigail for a minute. However, to wash away all of Danforths doubts Abigail pretends to have visions. This works on every occasion, and therefore proves that the courts justice is again flawed if it can be manipulated so easily by a mere 17-year-old Christian girl on a quest for love. The cause many people would believe of the outpouring of accusations and convictions in Salem would be Abigail Williams, but the detail that surrounds the events is immense. There are many different key figures surrounding the deaths and all play a large part in the events that took place after the dancin occurred.

Technology Used By Drug Dealers Information Technology Essay

Technology Used By Drug Dealers Information Technology Essay The Report discuss about the case of an arrested drug dealer who is suspected of the operations which are running with the help of laptop. In the first part of the report it gives the details about main technologies which the suspect makes use in order to communicate with his co-conspirators, it also points out the problems posed by the technologies in carrying out the forensic investigation. In the second part the report discuss about the possible sources of evidence which could be obtained from the laptops file system. 2. Computer Forensics: Computer forensics is a branch of forensic science permitting to legal evidence found in computers and digital storage media, it is also known as digital forensics. The goal of computer forensics is to explain the current state of a digital artefact; where as the term digital artefact can includes computer system, storage medium and an electronic document. The subject of computer forensics has evolved into major field in the legal systems around the world, in the year 2002 the FBI stated that fifty percent of the cases the FBI now opens involve a computer[1].similar to the pathological forensic which is called the forensic medicine where as the body temperature cuts and marks etc are looked for, clues and marks are looked within the system memory to get the detail description which effects to the relationship of the crime, these are looked by the digital forensic. We can make a challenge for the digital forensic which involves retrieving the data from the existing or from the deleted files. The challenge of the digital forensic examiner is to To determine what type of pasts have been produced the evidence before us. To understand what type of pasts could not have produced the evidence before us. Able to give a demonstration on the value of the assessment to the third parties which it should be understanding to them. 3. Technology used by drug dealers: According to the current analysis we have to find the answers for the questions that are critical which are the possible key technologies that the drug dealer could possible uses it, There are three questions: Qno1: what is the need for the illicit drug dealers to turn on the computer technologies to run their business? Qno2: What are the attractive technologies that a drug dealer uses to perform his communication with co-conspirators without being caught by the police? Qno3: How and what possible conclusions can be obtained from the analysis? 4. about the new technology: Ans1: answer to the first one is twofold. Ans2: the latest communication technologies used by the drug dealers are To reach the larger audience and to expand the base of the business To run the operations as secretly as possible And not to leave any evidence to the police. According to the current situation the dealings and the business runs by using the mobile phones, mobile phones are the most widely used by the drug dealers for the communication but this trend is changing because now a days the mobiles can be tapped on the network and even if the phone is misplaced or lost then the contacts of all the drug dealers can be revealed and by using the mobile phones they cant communicate in the crowded places. Hence the selection of the new ways of communication is imminent. The advent of modern network technologies like computer to computer communication technologies and social networking websites had made the communication strong and had opened the new ways to communicate through the various places for the each individual. The technologies adopted by the drug dealers for the communication is Spamming net drug dealer gets 30years in prison revealed by CNET news in the year 2007 2nd august Italian drug dealers as early adapters of innovative communications technology revealed by Experiential in the year 2008 23rd august. Google site used by drug gang revealed by BBC news in the year 2005 22nd July. 5. Key technologies used for communications by drug dealers: Listed below are some of the key communication technologies that a drug dealer is believed to be using to perform his operations. 1. Instant messenger programmes 2. Social networking websites 3. VOIP programs 4. Email encryption programs and spamming. 5. Content sharing websites. 6. Private online chat rooms. 7. Blogging and micro blogging websites. Instant messenger Programmes: Instant messenger programmes had been the main source because these are fast and easy and they are available in the market for a quite while now, popular programmes like Google talk, yahoo messenger, windows live messenger, meebo and many other are used by a large number of users. These instant messenger programmes can be linked with free instant messenger chat encryption software which is used to available easily in the internet. IM ENCRYPTO is one such software which can be used in conjunction with the yahoo messenger and establish the secure connections which can only be deciphered by the computer which is having the correct encryption key. Having installed the program need to be generated a key pair which is used for the encryption and decryption, this type of operation is performed on the second stage of IM Crypto configuration wizard, and one more important point about the software is that the others cannot see the chat messages and they only see the garbled set of characters, but this software must be installed by the two parties where the communication is done. Social networking websites: There are so many social networking websites like face book, orkut, Hi5, Friendster MySpace, net log etc, The social networking sites also serve the qualitative purpose of the drug market as majority of the consumers of illegal drugs happen to be teenagers who are also largest spenders of time on the social networking websites and hence they have a great probability of being contacted by a drug dealer. The drug dealer could also use these social networking sites to keep in contact, exchange information, advertise his products, recruit new drug peddlers, and get information on events and student gatherings all at the easy and privacy offered by these websites. Orkut is one such popular website which it is to be operated by the Google which it is on the news on the recent days for the wrong reasons. Criminals such as the drug peddlers establish members-only groups on popular social networking websites and then exchange messages and information with other members. And also the advent of 3G mobile communications ensured mobility and faster connectivity to the internet. Hence the drug dealers can communicate through social networking websites right from their mobile phones using unsecure wifi hot spots and hence get away un-detected. Similar to Instant messenger programmes, the social networkings websites can also used on the 3G phones and hence pose a danger of highly secure communication channel to the drug peddlers. VOIP programmes: VoIP programmes could very well be the most popular and useful communication between the drug dealers because softwares like Skype is so useful in the communication because it offers with the less cost and even it is the secured communication Skype has been the most used software in the VoIP programmes which are followed by windows messenger and yahoo messenger. These VoIP programmes is that which it helps the drug dealers to communicate by the voice and by the video with their customers through the internet, it is the most secure communication to the drug dealers and these conversations cannot be intercepted by the police. According to the Reports in BBC website, officers in milian say organised crime, arms and drug traffickers, and prostitution rings are turning to Skype in order to frustrate investigators. www.bbc.com stated that on 20/05/2010 that the Italy police warn of Skype threat Skype programme is secure because it uses the encryption system and it is easily available in the market where as the encryption system the company keeps the issue confidential and even it does not discloses to the law enforcement agencies. So according to the sources available in VoIP programmes the drug dealers uses this communication to perform their operations. Email encryption programmes and spamming: Data encryption is the source where it is done in a process because nobody can read the data or message expects the person whom the data is addressed. Drug dealers will very well make use of the different email encryptions like pipeline exchange, certified mail, read notify, which these encryptions work with the e-mail clients like Microsoft-outlook. Drug dealers send the spam messages to the people through email about their business, they use the email communication as the source to their advertisements in free off costs we have seen so many spam messages appear in Google mail accounts. Recently a famous website named www.pcworld.idg.com stated on 17/05/2010 that drug dealing spammers hits the Gmail accounts Encryption is a technique that it changes the data into a gibberish value by using the mathematical algorithms this helps the drug dealers to communicate the data to the addressed person, and no other can read the data, gibberish value means the data will be written in technical word or in the meaningless sentences, if the recipient has the confidential key needed to decrypt the message the date will be changed back to the original message. The increasing phenomenon taking place in the internet is that if the criminals hiring the spammers and the specialists in IT, because the can promote the website where the drugs can be sold illegally. But these types of spammed websites can be quickly discovered, but the drug tracking dealers use the different multiple layers. 5. Content sharing websites: Content sharing websites like mega upload, rapid share, Z Share etc are used by the drug dealers for communication and also torrent sharing websites are used for the communication. Websites like p2p sharing programmes and client softwares are also used by the drug dealers for the communication. Drug dealers use this because these types of websites can share the more content and can uses to upload or download for minimum of 10mb for free off cost. Whereas the lime wire, bit torrent, u torrent helps to upload or download the torrent files in the internet which these comes under the p2p sharing programmes. But compared to the other communications used by the drug dealers this is little bit slower but is secured. 6. Private online chat rooms: Private online chat rooms offer drug dealers and other criminals such as terrorists with secure communication channels where exchange of information can only be understood by the communicating end users this is a form of synchronous conferencing which it exchanges text messages on the internet. Encryption technologies like SSL are applied by the private chat rooms because to make it impossible to access their conversations to any interceptor and even makes impossible to build evidence. 7. Blogging and micro blogging websites: Similar to the social networking websites the drug dealers uses the websites like twitter they form the members in groups, where they can make messages and information and this information can be made updated daily and it can reach all the members and in the groups in that network, this way of communication is secure and fast. Which it provides a most secure and fast mode of communication to the drug dealers, and no large chunks of data will be transferred as in a VoIP call or no packet sniffers can be used to intercept keywords in emails and in instant messages. Drug dealers places their advertisements in the famous websites like they simply put an option to click if the button is clicked it directly goes to the websites of the drug dealers and it is accessed , using these type blogs by drug dealers develop their drug business. 6. Conclusions: As per the above analysis the most secure and used communication by the drug dealers is the VoIP programme softwares because this uses the Skype software and it is used with free of cost and secure of all the communication because it provides video calling and then the drug dealers can be sure that they are talking to the right person and the information that they are transmitting is reaching the right person and the Skype software is easy to access and is easy for the installation. The most important plus point in Skype is the impenetrable security aspect which the drug dealers can understand very well and hence use the system without putting their identities and information. Another key observation from the above analysis is that the drug dealers mainly follows the encryption techniques as the mode of communication, because they largely dependent on the encryption techniques .Be it the encrypted email, encrypted instant messenger programmes etc. All these technologies use method of encryption system that makes the flowing information gibberish to anyone other than the person with the right key to decrypt the message. Hence the computer forensics experts can easily find out the cracks and codes for those type of encryption and decryption methods and nab the criminals and can mount an evidence against them. 7. Analysis of possible sources evidence in the laptop file system: Extraction of evidence from a computer file system and from other digital devices like mobile phones and PDAs usually deals with the extraction of the contents of the files and the folders which are available in the laptop file system. It also deals with the extracted content from the files and folders as the interpreted data where as the interpreted data can be used for the process of the ongoing investigation to complete the digital forensic. Even though it reveals all the data, it is difficult and hard to the digital forensic expert to find out and it poses the real challenge. This section of the report deals with the discussion on the possible places where evidence may be found on the laptop file system. It also deals in finding the relative importance of the evidence by classifying it on the basis of the evidence obtained and the sources of the evidence obtained. 8 .Sources of evidence in the laptop file system: In order to understand the possible places in the file system we have to understand the file system and the technologies used for it They should have a technical knowledge on Software packages present on the laptop The operating system of the laptop The file systems in the laptop The type data organization that is available in the laptop. The forensic analysis on the seized laptop of the drug dealer would certainly contain thousands if not millions of files. Each of these files can be broadly classified into either user created files system files There may be a number of locations to look for on the file systems and therefore it is important to make a note. Possible locations of finding digital evidence: Email files. Calendars. Address books. Documents or text files. Bookmarks and favourites Text and document files. Image or graphic files Compressed files. Hidden files. Audio files Video files. Spread sheet files. Shared files. Downloaded files Uploaded files. The possible locations under the system created files are Log files Swap files History files Temporary files Back up files System files Cookies Printer files Hidden files Configuration files Storage files Large files Data files Drive files Apart from the user created files and the system files there are number of other places to look for evidences such as Computer date Computer time Computer password Deleted files Slack space Free space Bad clusters Unallocated space System areas Lost clusters Meta data. Deleted files Reserved areas Software registration Other partitions Software information The most popular types of file systems are two types FAT type NTFS system FAT stands for file allocation table, an understanding of the file system is important for the effective forensic analysis. NTFS system allows the file encryption and folder encryption where as it is not possible in the FAT32 system. The disk organisation is also an important concept to be understand for the effective analysis File allocation tables, adding and deleting files, partitions and master boot records and the patterns behind them can give a very useful insight to the investigation. The recovery of deleted files is another aspect of digital forensic investigation. The recovery of deleted files can be obtained by using debugging. 9. Conclusions: As discussed earlier even though a large amount of data can be obtained from a digital device such as laptop and from a PDA that is seized from drug dealer. But the problem for the forensic expert is to find the authentic evidence which can be presentable in the court. The common and known challenges to authenticity of digital evidence are Authenticating content. Alterations Authorship. Authenticating content: So many several cases have considered that to authenticate at the same time what foundation is necessary for the contents and appearance of a website. Web pages which are having URL and having date stamp are not self-authenticating. So, according to the analysis courts require testimony of a person with knowledge of the websites appearance to authenticate images of that website Alterations: As per the analysis the computer electronic records are easy to alter, even the opposing parties often allege that computer records lack the authenticity. Courts have rejected arguments that electronic evidence is inherently unreliable because of its potential for manipulation. Authorship: Although handwritten records may be penned in a distinctive handwriting style, computer-stored records do not necessarily identify their author; there is a particular problem with the internet communications. For example internet technologies permit users to send effectively anonymous emails, and internet relay chat channels permit users for communication without revealing their real names.

Domestic and Cross-Border Merger and Acquisition Factor

Domestic and Cross-Border Merger and Acquisition Factor Determinants Of Domestic And Cross-Border Merger And Acquisition Activities In Banking Sector Abstract Global announced mergers and acquisitions (MAs) in banking sector rose to a new high record in 2007. Although now MA activity has been hit notably because of the global financial crisis, it will have different performance in the time of post-crisis. Both China and UK will be the most active MA areas in the future, especially in the financial service industry. To secure the success in future MA wave, identifying the right potential targets is crucial. The purpose of the study is to identify the determinants of banks domestic and cross-border acquisitions in China and UK over the two specific periods which are before global financial crisis (2005-2007) and during crisis (2008-August 2009). This study will help bank managers to identify the right targets for future acquisitions and also help policy makers to understand which factors can increase the likelihood of bank acquisitions. Three aspects are examined by employing Logit analysis for the likelihood of domestic bank acquisitions which include banks characteristics, market features and regulatory factors. Additional geographic factors will also be considered into cross-border bank acquisitions by using the same model. The result of this study reveals the determinants of likelihood of being acquired for UK and Chinese banking industry respectively. It also shows the difference of determinants between domestic and cross-border acquisitions, and between the two specific time periods as well for two banking industries respectively. Detailed analysis is also provided for comparing the difference of determinants between China and UK, these two significantly different banking markets. Introduction ABN AMRO, which created as of result of the 1991 merger between Amsterdam Rotterdam (AMRO) and ABN whose history dated back to 1824 and was one of the largest banks in Europe, was acquired by RFS Holdings B.V., a company jointly owned by RBS, Fortis N.V. and Banco Santander S.A. for a consequent amount of 71 billion Euros in October 2007 (Financial Times, 2007). This was the biggest banking takeover in history and together with other deals made global mergers and acquisitions (MAs) rose to a new high of US $ 4.8 trillion in 2007 (Francis and Hasan, 2008). However, the following global credit crunch has created a new international financing and banking network where MAs may be mainly involved as a survival solution for many entities. This study will examine the determinants of banks domestic and cross-border acquisitions both in UK and China, the most active and representative country in developed financial market and emerging market respectively. Therefore, this chapter will give the overview of UK and Chinese banking industry, then focus on MA activities, and illustrate objectives and the value of this study. Background Global Banking Industry Overview The global banking industry experienced strong growth before the end of 2007. Assets of the largest 1,000 banks in the world grew 16.3% during 2007 to a record $74.2 trillion (Figure 1). This growth rate is 5.4% higher than the previous year. Worldwide assets of banking industry The Banker database) EU banks held the largest share, 53% in 2006/2007, up from 43% in 1999/2000. And among this, the share of UK banks is always on the top of other EU countries. US banks share in term of assets remained relatively stable at the level around 14%. The left shares are from other Asian and European countries (IFSL, 2008a). However, the global credit crunch which originated in the US sub-prime market impacted the whole financial system world widely. And it came close to collapse in the autumn of 2008, following the failure of Lehman Brothers and the ‘breaking the buck of a large US money market mutual fund (MMMF). The subsequent panic was then across global financial markets especially the western world. Although in recent months, market conditions have picked up which improves the outlook for banking systems, there has been a dramatic shift based on market capitalization in global banking industries (Bank of England, 2009). In 2007, the average level of world top 20 financial institutions market capitalization was peaked around $125bn, and banks from US and UK dominated the main financial market. However, in 2009, the market capitalization decreased by more than 50% for all financial institutions, and the top three largest ones are all Chinese banks. HSBS, which based on emerging markets at heart , is UKs sole representative in the list (Figure 2) (Financial Times, 2009a). Banking industry in both UK and China experienced great change through the global financial crisis. Financial Times UK Banking Industry The UK banking industry is a vital and essential part of the UK economy. It has experienced a deep level of restructure since the 1980s which includes regulatory change and banking system reform etc. Four major changes are associated with this restructure: increasing level of competition, both in market and out-of-market; deregulation; increased diversification and acquisitions (Drake, 2001). In 2007, UK banking industry reached a new high record for its assets and contribution percentage to UK economy comparing to other sectors. Assets of UK banking sector reached  £6,964bn at the end of 2007, up 11% on 2007. And there were 331 banks authorized to conduct business in UK. The 254 foreign banks physically located in the UK which is more than in any other country (IFSL, 2008a). Banking industry accounted for 7.6% of UK GDP in 2007, increased from 5.7% in 1997 (IFSL, 2008b). However, the following global financial crisis impacted the UK banking industry materially. During 2008, the return on the major UK banks total assets turned negative and the impact of this on return on equity was amplified by banks high level of gearing (Figure 3). Meanwhile, the mark-to-market losses of major UK banks book assets roughly doubled between October 2008 and January 2009, exceeding fresh capital raising over that period which partly reflected increase in expected losses (Figure 4) (Bank of England, 2009). But in recent months, market conditions have been improved, and it can be expected that UK banking industry which experienced restructuring and changed policies on bank regulations during the crisis will seek substantial domestic and cross-border business opportunities afterwards to strength its position in global financial market which gives great potential for MA activities (Economics Outlook, 2009). Bank Of England, Bloomberg) Chinese Banking Industry Chinas economy has been growing about 8% per year in real terms over the last decade. Even during the financial crisis, the Chinese economy continued to grow in a steady way (Peoples Bank of China, 2008). This rapid growth may be largely linked to the globalization of trade, but China has yet to ‘globalize its banking sector. The Chinese banking industry was dominated by four large state-owned banks with about 80% of industry assets, and very few foreign banks before WTO entry in December 2001. After 2001, the existing regulations and laws such as the Central Bank Law and Commercial Bank Law were revised to be aligned with the WTO agreement. There will be more liberalization of interest rates, more fair treatment of tax rates, less restrictions on ownership of takeovers and MAs, and great freedom of operational and geographical scope in the Chinese banking industry (Berger et al., 2009). In 2003, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) updated guidelines to encourage foreign share purchases. Foreigners then can own up to 25% of any domestic bank, with the ownership from any one investor allowed between 5% and 20%. This led to a historical high level of cross-border MA activities in Chinese banking industry later on (CBRC, 2005). At the end of 2007, total assets of banking institutions increased by 19.6 8% to RMB 52.6 trillion than 2006. And the reform and opening up of Chinese banking industry continued to advance, the assets share of large state-owned commercial banks decreased from around 80% in 2001 into 53.25% while others includes foreign banks increased into 15.98% (Figure 5). This indicated that Chinese banking industry encouraged foreign investors more than before which gave big potential for further cross-border MAs in China. Peoples Bank Of China) Even in 2008s special context, Chinese banking industry followed the reform strategy and promoted the reform and opening up policy of banking industry, and its total bank assets amounted to RMB 62.4 trillion, 18.7% higher than in 2007 while most banks in western world decreased their bank assets by more than 50%. The Chinese banking industry took the financial crisis as an opportunity for further reforms, development and finally achieving globalization in banking sector (CBRC, 2009). This growth trend also provides great potential for both domestic and cross-border MAs in China which can help strength the market position and substantial development for Chinese banks. The Merger And Acquisition Market There are two primary mechanisms by which ownership and control of a public corporation can change: merger and acquisition. In both cases, the acquiring entity must purchase the stock or existing assets of the target either for cash or for something equivalent value (such as shares in the acquiring or newly merged corporation). Mergers and acquisitions (MAs) are part of what is often referred to as ‘the market for corporate control (Berk and DeMarzo, 2007). The global merger and acquisition market is highly active, averaging more than $1 trillion per year in transaction value. Global announced mergers and acquisitions (MAs) rose to a new high of US $4.8 trillion in 2007, up 23% from US $3.9 trillion in 2006. Since the increasingly fierce competitions in banking sector during this time, banks conducted large-scaled MA within and across the border in aim to expand operation and enhance competitiveness. In 2007, MAs in banking increased 32.5% from US $543 billion in 2006, was again the most active sector for MAs (Francis and Hasan, 2008). But MA activities correlate with bull markets and are often greater during economic expansions than during contractions. During the past year when global banking industry was suffered by the credit crunch which originated in the US sub-prime market, MA activities were hit notably in financial service sector. The worldwide MA volume decreased significantly during the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. But, against all the negative factors, the trend of selective MA still exists as ‘acquirers take advantage of the lower market valuations to strengthen their business with synergistic deals and ‘the ongoing strength of emerging market (Financial Times, 2009b). From August 2008 by monthly comparison, the MA volume increased again increased gradually and kept vibrating. On average, the announced deal number is around 3,000 and total rank value is about $160,000 million per month (Figure 6). Thomson ONE Banker Database) MA Activities In UK Banking Industry Banking industry is the most active sector in MA market. And UK, despite of US, is more involved in MA process than any other EU country in financial service industry (Ahammad and Glaister, 2008). During 1999 to 2007, the number of UK incorporated banks which include commercial banks, investment banks, foreign owned banks and banks operated by retail companies declined from 200 to 157 mostly due to the severely competition and MAs in its banking industry (IFSL, 2008). Also, the rapid economic expansions during this period drive peaks in both domestic and cross-border MA activities in UK banking industry (Harford, 2008). At the end of 2007, the total announced MA deals in UK financial industry was 1,806, which represented as 38.3% of all MA deals announced in this year. And among 1806 ones, UK banking industry contributed significant amount of deal values comparing to other financial sectors. However, the following global financial crisis hit the UK banking industry significantly. Although the number of MA activity is less during economic contractions than expansions, it still has its market due to various business strategies. There were 79 MA deals totally in UK banking industry for 2008, and the number for 2009 as so far is 35. According to Economics Outlook, the post-crisis restructuring, recapitalization and seeking for re-strengthening business positions in UK banking industry will provide substantial opportunities for MA activities both domestically and internationally. This will produce an urgent demand for identifying right potential merger and acquisition targets which gives great practical value for this study. MA Activities In Chinese Banking Industry While the economic market get more international and worldwide, to be globalization has become an irreversible trend for all nations in the world, especially for developing countries (Bonin and Hasan, 2005). Although Chinese banking industry has achieved sustainable development during these years even in the global financial crisis, its still far away from globalization. Entry to WTO in 2001 and new policy for foreign investment in Chinese banking industry in 2003 brought momentums for encouraging Chinese banks to participate in global competitions. To strength their own positions in global financial market, most Chinese banks took actions of within or cross border MA activities which led by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) acquiring 20% share of South Africas Standard bank for $5.6 billion, the largest MA deal in Chinese banking industry in 2007 (Munroe, 2008). Further opening up in Chinese banking industry also attract strategic foreign investors invest in Chinese domestic banks through MAs. At the end of 2007, foreign financial institutions invested in 25 domestic banks totally through partially acquisition (Peoples Bank of China, 2008). With the rapid development and increased opening-up of Chinese banking sector, banks MA activities will be increasingly active. According to Peoples Bank of China, effort will be made to vigorously support qualified commercial banks to conduct MA and create favourable policy environment based on international experiences to encourage cross-border MAs in China. Moreover, the ongoing strength of Chinese economic will help to fund or attract domestic and overseas acquisitions in China (Wilson, 2008). It can be expected that China will be the most active MA area in the emerging market in future. To sum up, both UK and Chinese banking industry have the great potential for future MA activities. To secure the successful performance in the present and future MA waves in order to obtain sustainable business growth, identifying the right potential acquisition targets is crucial (Rossi and Volpin, 2004). However, investigating the relationship between bank and the features of market where banks are within and the likelihood of being a right potential acquisition targets in banking industry is relatively under-researched(Pasiouras et al., 2007). And it will be interesting to investigate and compare the determinants of potential MA targets between UK and Chinas banking industries which have significant differences in characteristics, and also for two special periods which are before and during the global financial crisis. Research Objectives And Value The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of banks domestic and cross-border acquisitions in China and UK, and detailed analysis will also be provided for the difference of determinants between China and UK, the two relatively different banking sectors. Moreover, it will compare the difference between two time periods which are before global financial crisis (2005-2007) and on crisis (2008- August 2009). Three aspects will be examined for the likelihood of domestic bank MAs which included banks characteristics, market characteristics and management incentives. Another two aspects which are geographic factors and regulatory barriers will be also considered in cross-border bank MAs. Same Logit analysis model will be employed to analyze the domestic and cross-border MAs for the purpose that the comparisons have the same base. This study has the value for bank managers in China and UK to identify the most suitable targets or to check if their own bank has developed a profile that similar to typical target. And also, its meaningful for policy makers to understand which factors would increase the possibility for bank acquisitions (Scott, 2007). The study has the originality in three aspects. First, it combines all the important factors that will influence the likelihood of acquisitions in banking industry and distinguishes the domestic and cross-border acquisitions according to the gaps in the literatures. Second, this study investigates and compares two important banking sectors (China and UK) which havent done by any researchers before. Last but not the least, this research focus on bank acquisitions over a most recent time period, from 2005 to August 2009, which is the period includes prior global financial crisis when MAs rose to a new high record and on-crisis period. This differs from the prior studies that focused on earlier time periods and will reflect the new trend for MAs. According to Hagendorff et al. (2008), the more recent MAs may be qualitatively different from those in earlier periods which suggests that studies focusing on more recent MAs may provide more relevance to likely future takeovers. Literarure Review The relationship between the bank and features of the market where banks are within and the probability that a bank will be a potential target remains an open question (Cyree et al., 2000; Wheelock and Wilson, 2000). Few studies in the literature have examined the major features of banks which are acquired by other organizations (Hannan and Rhoades, 1987; Moore, 1996; Hadlock et al., 1999; Wheelock and Wilson, 2000, 2004) are focused on the US market, while Pasiouras et al.(2006), Shen and Lin (2007) and Hernando et al.(2009) have studied the Greece, Asia and EU banking industry respectively. Gaps In Previous Studies Hanna and Rhoades (1987) examined the likelihood of an acquisition based on the banks performance using a sample which was consisted 1046 acquired and non-acquired banks in Texas between 1970 and 1982. The results showed that market concentration and high capital asset ratios have negative relationship with the probability of banks acquisition. Moore (1996) also investigated the characteristics of US banks acquired between 1993 and 1996 using multinomial logit analysis. However, both studies mainly focused on financial characteristics of banks, but ignoring the external factors such as regulations. Based on these, some other studies focused on the search of the best predictive variables included bank characteristics, market features and regulatory factors (Bartley and Boardman, 1997; walter, 1998; Cudd and Duggal, 2000). Hadlock et al. (1999) researched a sample of 84 acquired and non-acquired US banks during 1982 and 1992 by employing both univariate and multivariate methods to identify the determinants of acquisitions. However, the variables they analyzed mainly focused on the management incentives. In more recent studies for US banking sector, Wheelock and Wilson (2000, 2004) used proportional hazard models and a two-part hurdle model by collecting massive amount of available data and employing relatively comprehensive variables included financial, market and regulatory factors to investigate the determinants of likelihood of banks acquisitions. They found that regulatory approval process and market concentration are negatively related to the likelihood of MA activities, while management incentives, location, banks size, and capital strength are positively related. However, they didnt identify the difference of determinants between domestic and cross-border acquisitions. More recently, Pasiouras et al.(2006) investigated the Greece banking industry to analyze the determinants of bank acquisitions, but they ignored the management incentives and corporate governance factors due to lack of data available. In a later study, Parisouras and Gaganis (2007) also investigated the financial characteristics of bank acquisitions covering the 5 principal EU banking sectors (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK). However, they didnt distinguish domestic from cross-border takeovers in their studies. Shen and Lin (2007) studied the determinants of financial institutions which engaged in cross-border MA activity before and after the 1997 Asia financial crisis. They found that regulation barrier and market opportunities have less impact on the takeovers after crisis while geographic factors are important determinants both prior to and post Asian crisis. Hernando et al. (2009) analyzed the determinants of bank acquisitions both within and across 25 members of the European Union during the period 1997 to 2004. Their results suggested that determinants of domestic and cross-border takeovers appear to be different in several aspects such as market concentration and profitability of banks performance. However, they examined all the variables according to the experiential model which generated from the US banking sector. The model can be argued if it is applicable to the EU banking industry. Other studies about the determinants of bank acquisitions mainly focused on the search of the most effective empirical method for the development of the prediction models (Cheh et al., 1999; Doumpos et al., 2004; Espahbodi, 2003). This study is based on previous research, and will cover the above identified gaps which include examining domestic and cross-border MAs respectively by using the same Logit analysis model, studying the two typical and representative banking markets in UK and China, and analyzing all the various factors typically found to be the most likely determinants of bank MA activities in the literature. And these factors will be detailed in the following section related to previous studies. Possible Determinants Of Banking MAs In Literature Bank Characteristics Seven factors of bank features are mainly analyzed in the literature which are related to the likelihood of being acquired. Bank Performance The main motive underlying acquisitions is the target bank is underperforming. The inefficient management hypothesis (Manne, 1965) argues that if management cant maximize the shareholders wealth by using the resource it has, then the firm is more likely to be acquired so the inefficient management will be replaced. Then there will be the space for the acquirer to improve the performance and efficiency of target and increase total profitability. Therefore, indicators of bank performance should contain explanatory power on the likelihood of being required. But the empirical results are mixed. Hannan and Rhoades (1987) found no evidence to support this hypothesis while Moore (1996), Focarelli et al. (1999), Wheelock and Wilson (2000), Pasiouras et al. (2006) and Hannan at el.(2007) found that less efficient and profitable banks are more likely to be acquired. Loan Activities However, while underperforming banks may provide greater opportunities for further improvement of profitability, they are also more risky, especially if the source of the underperformance is a high level of loans (Hernando et al, 2009). Hannan and Rhoades (1987) demonstrated that a high level of loans would indicate the aggressive business strategy of target bank and a penetrated and strong established client networking which will make it more attractive as a target while a bank with a low level of loans due to its conservative management may also be attractive to the acquirers since acquirers can use more aggressive way to increase returns of the target. And they found loan activity was negatively related to acquisition likelihood but not ‘statistically significant. But Moore (1996) found a negative and significant relationship for both in-market and out-of-market acquisitions. Moreover, the results of Wheelock and Wilsons studies (2000, 2004) were mixed. They found it depende d on the specification of the estimated model, in some cases it was negatively related but in others, it was positively related with not always statistically significance. Liquidity As stated by Pasiouras et al. (2007), liquidity is an additional factor that can affect the attractiveness of banks as targets since ‘the process of managing assets and cash flow to maintain the ability to meet current liabilities as they come due is an important decision for managers. This argument is supported by Wheelock and Wilson (2000) in their study. But it is also possible that some banks be acquired because they have liquidity issues and turn to help to acquirers. In the study of Pasiouras et al.(2007), it found no significant correlation between liquidity and likelihood of being acquired. Capital Strength Another important bank characteristic for likelihood of being acquired is the capital strength while there are different hypotheses associated with this (Hernando et al, 2009). Several hypotheses predict a positive relationship between banks capitalization and the likelihood of involving into acquisitions. One is that if high capitalization indicates inefficiency of a bank to diversify its assets, then better diversified acquirers will be attracted by such banks. Another one is that if acquirers face regulatory pressure of capital requirement, they may seek highly capitalized targets. Finally, banks with high capital ratios may be operated further below their potential profit due to less pressure to managers. While on the other hand, some hypotheses predict a negative relationship. One of them is an acquisition by a well capitalized acquirer might be stimulated by the supervisor if the target has low level of capitalization. And Hanna and Prilloff (2007) also argue that ‘acquir ers prefer low capitalized targets because it enables them to maximize the magnitude of post-acquisition performance gains relative to the cost of achieving those gains. The empirical results for this are mixed as well. Akhigbe et al. (2004) found a positive relationship between capitalization and the likelihood of being a target in study of publicly traded banks in the U.S. While most studies found the relationship is negatively related (Hanna and Pilloff, 2007; Lanine and Vander, 2007; and Pasiouras et al., 2007). Size Banks size is another characteristic which may influence the likelihood of being acquired. Smaller banks may be more attractive to the acquirers since its easy to finance and even integrate after the acquisition. However, if the acquirer is seeking economies of scale or market power through acquisition, especially for the cross-border acquisitions, size may have a positive influence on the likelihood of being acquired. Hannan and Rhaodes (1987) and Moore (1996) have not found a significant relationship between bank size and the probability of being a target while Wheelock and Wilson (2000), Focarelli and Pozzolo (2001) and Hannan and Pilloff (2007) find that larger banks are more likely to be acquired when they estimate their model using full samples. Lanine and Vander (2007) and Pasiouras et al. (2007) also have positive results in their studies. But Hanna and Pilloff (2007) also point out that for the acquisitions by smaller banks, larger banks are less likely to be acquired due to the difficulty of post-acquisition integration. Market Share Market share is an additional variable for the reasons of MA activities. Bodie et al. (2008) argues that market share is one of the most important factors which impact the acquirers decision in domestic and cross-border acquisitions in banking industry. It is similar to the variable of banks size, but provides a relative standard to evaluate the target comparing with others in the same industry. In the banking industry, a bank with small share is likely to be acquired since only banks with substantial market share can compete effectively and the assets of banks with smaller shares will be more valuable after being acquired by the large bank. But regulatory concerns about anti-monopoly for banks with large market share will give the negative effect on the likelihood of being acquired and high market share. The empirical results for this factor are mixed as well. Moore (1996) and Pasiouras et al. (2007) found that it is significantly and negatively related with the probability of acqui sition in in-market MAs while Hanna and Rhoades (1987) found it has positive impact on the acquisition probability. Future Growth Finally, prospects of banks future growth can affect the acquirers MA decision as well. Banks which experience high growth may be more attractive to the acquirers as potential gains raised from the expanding markets after acquisition can be expected more than before. Consistent with this hypothesis, Hannan and Rhoades (1987) and Cheng et al. (1989) find that the likelihood of acquisition is positively related to the potential growth rate of the assets of the target banks in their studies of U.S. banks in 1980s. However, Moore (1996) argues that slower growing banks may attract a buyer who is looking to increase the targets growth rate through efficient management. Together with Moore (1996), Pasiouras et al. (2007) find a negative relationship between banks growth rate and the acquisition probability. But Hanna and Pilloff (2007) and Lanine and Vander (2007) do not include this variable into their studies. Market Features Three main independent factors are discussed in literature about market characteristics which may influence the acquisition probability of a particular bank. First one is market concentration. Through the impact on bank competition, the degree of bank market concentration potentially affects the likelihood of acquisitions. Increased concentration may increase the attractiveness of the target banks in that market. But buyers that would want to increase the concentration further may face the pressure from anti-monopoly authorities (Hernando et al, 2009). Hanna and Rhoades (1987) found there is a negative relationship between market concentration and the takeover probability for out-of-market acquisitions while it is significantly positive for in-market acquisitions. Moore (1996) found no statistically significant relationship between them for in-market takeovers but a positive sign for out-of-market ones. Hannan and Pilloff (2007) also fail to find any statistically significant evidence that market concentration is a determinant of takeover targets. However, Pasiouras et al. (2007) stated a significantly negative coefficient on the five lar ge banks concentration ratio in their sample of European takeovers. Harford (2008) argues that there is a correlation between industry profitability and MA activities within this industry. MA deals are often greater in more profitable industries than those less profitable ones. According to Thomson ONE Banker database, there are less MA deals in UK banking industry in 2008 than ones in 2007 when the whole banking industry was experienced the global financial crisis. This also gives the evidence that the level of industrial profitability has the positive relationship with the likelihood of acquisitions. However, Ali-Yrkko (2002) points out that in the beginning of 1990s, the entire banking was restructured due to the extremely deep bank crisis with large bankrupts. Low profitability may be one of the main reasons which lead to higher level of acquisitions in banking in