How China and Japan reacted to the war on terror Essay

How China and Japan reacted to the war on terror - Essay Example The attack in US surprised the entire planet while simultaneously triggering some paradigm shifts throughout the globe, but the latest shift has not resulted in a situation that can be equated to that of the cold war period when the US paradigm was the model that was used by other nations (Seidler, 2013, p. 72). Tokyo’s population has been wondering whether a prolonged war on terrorism might obligate the prime minister to utilize his political capital to take part in the coalition to fight terrorism, thus leaving limited resources to address the nation’s economic issues. Recently, scholars at a seminar considered newer roles for four nations: the US, Japan, Russia and China, with all of them contributing through military and politically towards the war on terror (Borgu, 2004, p. 52). It is likely that the degree of meaningful cooperation between the nations in this strategic alliance will escalate out of necessity. The importance of China will increase and as a member o f the WTO and the UN Security Council as well as a GDP of 7 percent annually and experience in dealing with terrorism, China will most definitely be a strong partner. Additionally, the close relationships that China has with Pakistan will assist in keeping the Islamic nation in the coalition that is led by the US. The economy of China will benefit from the accession to WTO as resources will be allocated in a more efficient manner moving into the labor-intensive industries of China.

The Role of the HR Function Regarding the Management of People Within Assignment - 1

The Role of the HR Function Regarding the Management of People Within an Organization - Assignment Example All of these functions fall into the domain of management. First line managers in an organization are the most directly related to the workers as compared to top managers and middle managers. Quality of work is reflected in the performance of workers that are practically involved in the work, and work at the lowest level. It is the duty of first-line managers to manage their assigned groups of such lowest level workers. First line managers check the workers’ attendance, arrange transport for them, arrange for their lunch, and such other aspects. By fulfilling their responsibility of managing workers directly involved in the work, first line managers play a cardinal role in the management of people. The Director of Human Resources ensures the implementation of all HR policies and practices within an organization. The DHR provides expert advice over several matters related to HRM that include but are not limited to managing workers’ issues, developing and implementing HR policies and practices, facilitating the hiring of talented candidates, identifying training needs and taking measures to address them. Being the Director of HR, he assumes the prime responsibility of getting the HR policies and practices implemented. The DHR gets the job done by assigning specific tasks to particular Human Resources Managers (HRM) all of which make part of the implementation process of HR policies and practices. The Human Resource Manager (HRM) is responsible for the performance of employees within an organization. The process of performance management of employees comprises planning of the goals for individual employees and establishing expectations for them, supervising employee performance, improving their job conditions, reviewing and commenting on their performance, rewarding them for display of good performance and penalizing them for display of poor performance (Vitez). All of these functions fall in the domain of performance management of  employees.

Final Paper Essay Example for Free

Final Paper Essay Target corporation is one of the biggest retailers there is out there, bringing in an estimate of $74 million dollars a year in revenue. Majority of Target revenue is earned during the busiest time of the year, which are Black Friday and holidays. Target has had a huge positive reputation because of the â€Å"Expect More Pay Less† promise and giving 5% back to the community. However, Target has been going through some hard times because of the Target breach that occurred during the holidays of 2013. This research paper will focus first on introducing the Target breach and how it has affected the company and what the company has done to fix the problem. Moving forward, I will focus on internal controls that Target could have applied and summarizing everything towards the end. Target Breach Internal Controls Target Corporation is a well known and respected retail store out there. Target is a corporation that buys goods from manufactures at a purchase discount price and reselling it to consumers in a higher price to make a profit. Target has brought in revenue of $74 million dollars a year and continues to grow every year. However, Target has gone through some hard times with the Target breach that just occurred during the holidays of 2013. Consumers have had a hard time trusting their card readers and loyalty and sales have been dropping ever since. The question that is now in the air is what internal controls that company had during this breach and what could they have done to avoid this breach that just occurred. To begin with, the company was running perfectly and driving outstanding sales until the company and guest found out that they had a breach, also known to the community as the â€Å"Target Breach. Target corporation confirmed that a major data breach occurred between Black Friday and December 15, 2013, which includes many of the most important shopping days of the year† (Edelson, 2013). Ever since the Target breach, the company’s reputation was hurt, consumers were not confident about shopping, and are afraid of using the card readers at the stores. Later in time, after the breach was announced, the company had given further information on how the breach affected the people. It is believed that the breach affected roughly 40,000 card devices at store registers, which could mean that millions of cardholders could be vulnerable, according to the people familiar with the incident† (Sidel, 2013). On top of the 40,000 card devices being affected, 40 million people’s credit card and debit card information was stolen. The CEO of Target Corporation later released to the press and announced that personal information such as address, names, phone numbers, and e-mail address were also taken from the Target system. After reading about the Target breach, being an assistant manager for Target, and hearing about the tragic that has been caused, I remember feeling upset because of the way the company was going to be affected. However, it also reminded of the internal control concept that was thought in class. There was a lot of fraud involved with the Target breach, which is something that occurs when it comes to intern control. â€Å"Fraud refers to any act by the management or employees of business involving an internal deception for personal gain. Fraud may include, among other acts, embezzlement of business cash, theft of assets, filing false insurance claims, filing false health claims, and financial statement fraud† (Ferris, Wallace, Christensen, 2014, pg. 314). With the Target breach, you are able to see the fraud triangle concepts, which consist of pressure, opportunity, and rationalization. Being employed by Target, that concept came into mine when reading the article because there was an e-mail sent to management about believing that an employee that worked with the POS (point on sale) system had a lot of inside information within the system. The pressure was there to get information from the POS system and rationalization was involved when they knew that they can get credit card information. The opportunity occurred when they knew the busiest time of the year was going to be Black Friday and majority of the sales are driven in that day. From all that has occurred it is not clear what internal controls Target had in order to avoid this situation. Internal controls are important when it comes to businesses in order to avoid situation like the Target breach. There are two parts that I believe that important when it comes to internal controls, which are prevention control and detection control. A â€Å"prevention control is intended to deter a problem or fraud before it can arise† (Ferris, Wallace, Christensen, 2014, pg. 316). Target should have followed the prevention control with the POS system in order to avoid the Target breach. A â€Å"detection control, on the other hand, is designed to discover any problems or fraud shortly it arises† (Ferris, Wallace, Christensen, 2014, pg. 316). Target followed the detection control after the problem of the breach was brought and took justice in their own hands in order to fix the problem. The first thing Target did was post a prominent message on its Web site, â€Å"Important notice: unauthorized access to payment card data in the U. S. stores. † The message linked to a letter alerting customers that a breach occurred and outlining steps Target is taking to a voice a recurrence† (Edelson, 2013). Another step that Target has taken is bringing justice for the information was that was stolen out of their systems. Target had invested $5 million dollars into a multi-year campaign in order to stop phishing scams (Target, 2013). â€Å"Target has longstanding history of commitment to our communities, and cyber security is one of the most pressing issues facing consumers today,† said Steinhafel. â€Å"We are proud to be working with three trusted organizations-the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Better Business Bureau (BBB)- to advance public education around cyber security† (Target, 2013). Target has gone to long measures to protect the information of the guest and reinsure loyalty by offering ProtectMyID, which keeps track of credit reports, monitoring, and identity theft (Target, 2013). As an apology to the guest, Target offered a 10% off discount to all guests which were a huge success for the company but numbers of transactions was cash paid. Being an employee for Target, we are still determine to follow our core roles, continue delivering the â€Å"Expect More Pay Less† promise, and delivering an excellent shopping experience for our guest in order to continue driving profitable sales and guest loyalty. In order to avoid this situation and detect the problem ahead of time, Target should have incorporated the following elements that are designed for prevention and detection controls. The first element is establish clear lines of authority and responsibility, which is giving authority to a supervisor or manager but also evaluation their consequently to companies policies and rules. Implement segregation of duties, â€Å"requires that when allocating various duties within the accounting system, management should make sure that no employee is assigned too many different responsibilities† (Ferris, Wallace, Christensen, 2014, pg.317). Hire competent personnel, which the company sees if that person has the education and qualified skills to perform that job. Use control number on all business documents, which is having all important documents with control numbers. Develop plans and budgets, which is having a plan and budget in order to bring the company forward. For example, the $5 m illion dollars that were invested in the anti fraud software in order to bring guest loyalty back. Maintain adequate accounting records, which is making sure that the company has the most recent accounting records. For example, the number of fraud claims that were reported under guest bank statements in order to reinvers their money back. Provide physical and electronic controls, is locking their doors or important files to prevent theft, which should have happened with the POS system. Conduct internal audit, â€Å"is a company function that provided independent appraisals of the company’s financial statement, its internal control, and its operations† (Ferris, Wallace, Christensen, 2014, pg. 319). In conclusion, we are able to see how the company was impacted from the breach that had occurred and the actions that the company has taken in order to fix the problem. People information had been stolen and finances have been tampered through it. We are able to see how internal controls play an important part when it comes to finances, accounting, and to businesses such as Target. If the proper elements and procedures had been applied with internal control I am sure that all of this could have been avoided or reduced.

Federalists Essay Example for Free

Federalists Essay Linda Kerber described the predicaments of the Federalists, a political party whose members feared that popular democracy might spin out of control. Although they both fostered economic development, the Federalists were aware that an urban grassroots would result. The believers of the Federalist Party believed that Jefferson’s approach to politics was naive. The early stages of industrialization and urban growth were providing the ingredients of a working class; already existing was an unpredictable class of permanently poor who might well be available for mob action. The God or the religious beliefs of the Federalists often appeared to behave like a fourth branch of Government. They believed that religious obligation would reinforce moral obligation and would make popular government orderly and stable. On the other hand the Jeffersonian supporters felt they should break down the barrier of habitual morality (religion), with the interruption of education, habit and superstitions they were confident they would have a more positive vice. Drew R. McCoy spoke of â€Å"The Fears of the Jeffersonian Republicans†. Jefferson and his supporters predicted the challenges for the future of the United States. They were fearful of creating a dependent class; he envisioned huge tracts of land being farmed by righteous residents of the young republic. In keeping their independence from the British they encouraged production â€Å"within our families†, but for the finer manufactures, they would continue to rely on importations from abroad. New forms of employment needed to be created in order to keep the moral and political advantages of America up. The largest fears were of an uprising of the working class people and independent revolutions. Ben Franklin recognized that corruption could result from both natural and artificial causes. Jefferson was always faced with the reality of his plan failing constantly reminded by the thought of the decline of the Roman Empire. I found this Chapter to be the hardest to read, I researched other sources to understand and get through the politics of this chapter. I found the internet website www. answers. com/topic/republicans-jeffersonian to be most helpful. The reading and rational was made for the freshman U.  S. History student. I was able to acknowledge the fact that the Federalists Convention was the process of breaking free from the British Empire. By the mid-eighteenth century a large proportion of adult white males in the colonies possessed the suffrage while also enjoying the privileges of a free press and some freedom of religious worship The colonies in other words, had grown apart from the mother country, their inhabitants had begun to think of themselves as Americans, and, not surprisingly, they proved unreceptive to attempts to bring them to strengthen.

An introduction to the Discount House in Nigeria

An introduction to the Discount House in Nigeria In selecting an industry, the Discount House, a sub sector of the Nigerian financial sector was selected because they are peculiar in their own special way in that they offer unique financial services which put them in almost the same pedestal as the regular banks in Nigeria but they are not banks. They could also be referred to as specialised banks. In carrying out an analysis of its competitiveness, the PESTLE model was used to analyse how the Discount House sub sector is affected by environmental factors while the Porters Five Forces was used to analyse the various threats and challenges that beset the Discount House sub sector. Discount houses are specialised financial Institutions created by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to assist its management of liquidity in the economy (Consolidated Discount Limited, 2009). They are composite but specialised financial services solution provider (Associated Discount House Limited, 2009) whose primary function is to provide safe and secured short-term investment opportunities within the banking system. (Express Discount Limited, 2009). The Structure Of The Nigerian Financial System The Nigerian financial system is made up of two sub sectors; the formal and the informal sub sectors. The formal sub sector comprises of the regulatory bodies, money market, capital market, foreign exchange markets, insurance companies, brokerage firms, deposit money banks (DMBs), development finance and other financial institutions. As at the end of March 2010, there were 24 deposit money banks(DMBs), 5discount houses(DHs), 941 microfinance banks(MFBs), 107 finance companies(FCs), 101 primary mortgage institutions(PMIs), 13 pension fund administrators(PFAs), 5 pension fund custodians(PFCs), 1 stock exchange, 1 commodity exchange, 1621 bureau-de-change operators(BDCs), 690 securities brokerage firms, 5 development finance institutions(DFIs) and 73 insurance companies. The informal sub sector includes self-help groups, financial cooperatives and credit associations. It is imperative to know that there is a weak relationship between the informal sub sector and the formal sub sector (financial stability report, 2010) Discount House Sub Sector Overview: Discount Houses in Nigeria were first established in 1993. They were licensed to commence operations with just three discount houses as players. Their number later increased to five and their foundation can be linked to Great Britain, which is generally regarded as the origin of discount houses. These institutions evolved to provide a link between the banks and the Bank of England by serving as a channel for the interchange of banks funds as well as providing access to the Bank of England as a lender of last resort (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, ) and in like manner discount houses in Nigeria are to act as intermediaries or mediators between the Central Bank of Nigeria and other licensed banks in Nigeria in Open Market Operations transactions (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). There are five discount houses in Nigeria wholly owned by consortiums of banks and other financial institutions as allowed in the Discount House guidelines 2004 by the Central Bank of Nigeria. However the maximum allowable equity holding for any investor in a discount house is 40% (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004).These Discount Houses are named as follows: Associated Discount House Limited (ADHL), Consolidated Discount Limited (CDL), Express Discount House Limited (EDL), First Securities Discount House Limited (FSDH) and Kakawa Discount House Limited (KDHL).They fall under a common umbrella referred to as Nigerian Discount Market Association. They are presently not listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Discount House sub sector is highly monitored, guided and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria requiring of them their daily, weekly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports showing the state of their affairs. Their daily operational activities include the injection and the withdrawal of funds by the Central bank of Nigeria from the money market through them (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010) of which they must invest 60% of their deposit liabilities in government securities at any point in time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). By this a balance is maintained in the economy thereby guarding liquidity. Apart from this function, the discount houses also facilitate the issuance and sale of short term government securities, provide discount/re-discount facilities for treasury bills, government securities and other eligible financial instruments, accept short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors and lastly provide short term financial accommodation to banks (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). The Discount House Sub-Sector Environment: The discount house sector is greatly influenced and controlled by environmental forces; global and domestic. The global economic environment shows that the global economic crisis appeared to have eased off in the latter part of 2009 but general optimism is being replaced with pessimism of a double dip recession, as fears grow that governments and policy makers around the world might be forced (due to pressure or mistakes) to remove monetary and fiscal props, too soon. So even though developed economies are gradually beginning to come out of the general recession, the situation is still delicate (First Securities Discount House, 2009). In emerging market economies, growth has been robust but inflationary pressures are strong and on the rise. The negative impact of the political crises in the oil-producing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on oil prices and the disruptions and destructions associated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have added to uncertainty about the sustainability of global economic recovery and growth%( Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). This has great implications on the discount houses with Nigeria being a developing and emerging economy and the effect of the global crises is strongly felt with a probability of increases in the international interest rate. The domestic economic environment is being characterised by a fluctuating inflation rate which has significant impact on interest and lending rates. It has been a herculean task trying to bring down the inflation rate to a single digit as proposed and rather the rate rose from 11.1% as at March, 2011 to 12.8% in April, 2011(Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, 2011). This inflationary rise still has a tendency to heighten further as a result of the general increase in global and food prices. The operating economic environment is full of challenges as there are array of issues. In March 2011, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank increased MPR from 6.5% to 7.5% maintaining interest rate corridor of +/-2% around the MPR. By this, the Standing Lending Facility Rate (rate at which CBN lends to Banks and Discount Houses as bank of last resort) became 9.5% and has remained so. On the other hand, the Standing Deposit Rate (rate at which Banks and Discount Houses place excess funds with the Central Bank of Nigeria) remained at 4 %. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had a projection of an increase by 7.43% in the first quarter of the year 2011, giving a generally good outlook to the Nigerian economy. This projection arose as a result of the expectation for a perk up in the oil sector and also the increasing emphasis on the development and improvement of the other sectors in the economy (Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). Finally on the political scene, the year 2011 being an election year for Nigeria, there are a lot uncertainties associated with the electoral process and the election results and this could affect the discount house sub sector and the Nigerian economy as a whole and it is projected that the effect of these uncertainties will result in higher exchange rate risks with lower reserves and high spending-currency devaluation possible and that Inflation will remain over 10% with implications for demand, input costs and projects(Resource and Trust Company Limited, 2011). Competitiveness In The Discount House Sub- Sector The discount house sub sector is just a small sector in a large financial sector with just a few players who are almost of equal standing; hence, there is strong competition among the services providers which have led to innovation, efficiency and the upgrade of competitive advantage by the players. The provision of specialised personalised services allowable within the scope of the discount house guidelines. Example is the personal pension plan developed by Consolidated Discount Limited which was created as a way of preparing clients to be less vulnerable to loss of earning capacity after retirement (Consolidated Discount Limited, 2009). Also Associated Discount House Limited in conjunction with the Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria organized an awareness seminar on 12 February, 2009 to enkindle the interest of retail investors both local, international and in the diasporas in Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds (Associated Discount House Limited, 2009). Opportunities In The Discount House Sub- Sector Without gainsaying, there are opportunities in Discount Houses businesses (if not many) which gives them an edge over banks and other specialised banks. As earlier inferred, discount houses are allowed to offer certain unique financial services which puts them almost in the same stand as banks and even much more but they cannot be referred to as banks and one of the reasons is because there is minimum paid up capital imposed on the regular banks which amounts to N25,000,000,000.00(Twenty five billion naira) only at any point in time. For the discount houses sub sector, the minimum paid up capital shall be N1,000,000,000.00(One billion naira) only or as may be prescribed by Central Bank of Nigeria from time to time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2008). There is a revised Guideline for year 2008 which also relaxes the ownership of Discount Houses to now include non-financial institutions and individuals. This revision provides the opportunity for Discount Houses to grow their capital base to enable them to explore new areas of business and boost their profitability (Kakawa Discount House, 2009). Discount Houses have sizable support from the Central Bank of Nigeria as they often have the privilege of being able to gain access to cheap funds by using the government securities in their custody to borrow. Discount Houses are tightly regulated therefore there can be little room for carrying out activities outside their stipulated guidelines. Discount Houses are proactive in monitoring and managing money market trends to the benefit of their clients. Unlike other deposit taking institutions, the financial assets acquired by Discount Houses are of the finest quality with little or no credit risk (Express Discount House Limited, 2009). Threats To The Discount House Sub- Sector Naturally the discount house sub sector is faced with its own threats and challenges as from inception, discount houses operated in an environment that could termed as unusual or abnormal. There was a distress situation in the banking sector which was at its peak and most banks patronized discount houses in order to ensure the safety of their funds, but with the return of orderliness and calm, discount houses patronage by banks reduced. Rather, the interbank and foreign exchange markets seem to have provided more attractive trading options for the banks, to the detriment of the discount houses. Licensing of additional discount houses to make the total number of discount houses 5 proved to be a challenge as it had an adverse effect on the total turnover of the discount house sub sector, following the initial boom from the year of operations of 1993 where total asset stood at N9,600,000,000.00(Nine billion, six hundred million naira) only which dropped significantly to N3,400,000,000.00(Three billion, four hundred million naira) only in 1995 following the entrance of a new entrant into the market. With these happenings, licensing of new discount houses might still impact on the sub-sector further negatively. Their narrow scope of operations has also proven to be a major challenge for the Discount House sub sector being a specialised bank is inhibiting a lot of opportunities for expansion (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, 2010). Finally, from the inception, discount houses had the exclusive right to conduct Open Market Operations transactions (OMO). Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply. It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market; these instruments being Nigerian treasury bills (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010). With the Central Bank of Nigeria opening up the window to banks as well, the discount house sub sector lost the sole right of Open market Operations. Conclusion In spite of all the challenges and threats faced by the Discount House sub sector, the Discount Houses are still are very vital part of Nigeria as an emerging economy and just the existing players in the market are not enough to keep a balanced financial sector and the economy as a whole. In the light of the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria as the major regulator keeps on revisiting and revising the guidelines of the Discount House sub sector, there is hope yet still for growth, expansion, innovation and maximum output which should encourage new players to participate. Part 2 Strategy Overview Strategy is a plan or blueprint of what an organisation intends to achieve and how to go about it. Artto, Kujala, Dietrich and Martinsuo (2008) define strategy as a firms goal to attain a desired position in its competitive external environment. This is in line with Kenneth Andrew (1987) school of thought that views strategy from the corporate angle where he views corporate strategy as the nature of decisions a company takes which reveals its short and long term goals, how it plans to go about achieving these goals and how its outcome will affect all stakeholders and community at large. There is a popular belief that an organization that fails to plan or strategise, plans to fail and Goold (1996) goes on further to share his own view when he says that matured businesses can easily become staid and resistant to change. Usually this behaviour leads them to a decline and the only way it can regain its position is through strategy or change in strategy. This resolve usually involve the p ursuit, accomplishment, and maintenance of competitive advantage in its industry (Varadarajan and Clark cited in Morgana and Strong, 2003). Whittington (2001:10) summarises it all when he says strategy is all about thinking better and thinking differently and claims that a good strategy means doing something different from every other person. But there are pitfalls to strategy as Mintzberg (1994) puts forward the question; is a climate conducive to strategic planning necessarily one conducive to effective strategic thinking and acting? He claims that there are underlying issues which affects the ability of plans to make head way and emphasizes that these issues are neither technical nor analytical but rather human (Abel and Hammond cited in Mintzberg, 1994). But Smith and Reese (1999) argue that as long as there is a fit or alignment between operational elements and business then there should be no pitfalls where he defines fit as the degree to which operational elements match the business strategy. Alternative Approaches to Strategy: Similarities and Differences There are various approaches to strategy but Whittington (2000) classifies strategy into four approaches: the Classical, Evolutionary, Processualist and Systemic. He further analyses each approach as follows: The classical approach sees strategy as a process of rational deliberation, calculation and analysis, intended to achieve long-term benefit and that good planning is what it takes to master internal and external environments. The Evolutionary approach analyses strategy from the point of view that rational long term planning is often irrelevant and that strategies that turn out to be successful only turn out so because it was inevitable. The Processualist approach sees long term planning as basically pointless, but they are not so doubtful or cynical about the fate of businesses that do not take full advantage of environmental opportunities as they do not their see inability or failure to think up and strategise is going to lead to any serious competitive disadvantage. Finally the Systemic approach to strategy sees organizations strategic planning as basically being influenced and controlled by the social system in which they operate. Meaning the demographic setting of the organizations environment needs to be taken into consideration when strategizing. In analyzing the similarities and differences of these approaches, their style or processes and their end result is paramount. In comparing the classical and evolutionary approaches to strategy, Whittington (2001:2) posits profit maximization as the natural outcome of strategy-making. This he made in reference from the point of view of their end result which is profit or return on capital. These approaches associate profitability with strategy and believe the higher the level of strategy employed, the higher and better the profit generated. This view is shared by (Friedman and Baumol cited in Vining and Meredith, 2000) where they argue that the only appropriate goal or strategy in any organisation is to maximize profit and that any other goal is considered inappropriate. As much the classical and evolutionary approaches are similar in terms of profit maximization being their goal; they differ in style and processes. The classical approach adopts a style of rational planning (Whittington, 2000:11) whereas the evolutionary approach lacks confidence in rational planning where they argue that no matter the level or intensity of strategy, the outcome is usually driven by market dictates and how well a manager is able to perform and that investing in long term strategies can be counter productive (Whittington, 2000: 19). In this instance, the evolutionary approach can be compared with the Processualist approach to strategy in that they also do not believe in rational planning. This view is shared by Peppard 1995, who argues that in a claim to gaining competitive advantage, management develop strategies with seemingly superiority above others which is just a way of them being seen to be doing something and not necessarily hope to achieve anything by their strategies. By this claim, peppard tries to show that rational planning is just an act which is not necessarily relevant to the overall performance of the organisation but it is something that is done for the corporate image. His view is supported by Cyert and March ( cited in Whittington 2000:22) who argue that firms can plan in such a way that major strategy sessions could be cut off and yet still deliver just enough to keep everyone satisfied. Although the processualist approach is similar to the evolutionary approach in terms of processes and style, that where all their similarity ends because in terms of outcome. The Processualist approach can be compared with the systemic approach of strategy whose school of thought sees not only profit maximization but other outcomes as a an end result of strategy (Whittington 2000: 21 27). Werther Jr and Chandler (2005) argue that firms are continuously appraised in terms of both the financial and social benefits that result from their corporate actions or strategies. The systemic approach proposes that firms differ according to the social and economic systems in which they are embedded (Whittington, 2000:27) thereby viewing strategy as being guided and controlled by the environmental forces in which they operate. In the same spirit, the processualist advice against striving after unattainable ideal of rational fluid action, but to accept and work with the world as it is (Whittington, 2000:21). Finally, the systemic approach can be compared with the classical approach in that they both believe in rational planning and do retain faith in the capacity of organizations to plan forward and to act effectively within their environment'(Whittington 2000:26). This view is shared by Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, (2010) when they opined that strategy is a high-order choice that has profound implications on competitive outcomesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and strategy should contain provisions against a range of environmental contingencies, whether they take place or not and Stallwood (1996) maintains that strategy is necessary but insists that whatever strategy is used must be appropriate and simple enough for it to become adopted by an organization without necessarily having to change after its initial usage. Conclusion Strategy can be seen as a means of avoiding [perhaps] costly and damaging warfare (University of Leicester, 2009:90) and it is quite clear that all the approaches of strategy have their own benefits even though they are similar and also dissimilar in their own unique ways. Therefore which ever method adopted should be seen to add to an organizations performance and must be duly analysed and deliberated on ensuring it is in alignment with the organizations goals and objectives before adoption.

The Endocrine System Essay -- Biology, Pituitary Gland

The endocrine system is a group of glands distributed throughout the human body. This group of glands secretes substances called hormones. These hormones discharge into the bloodstream (Shier, Butler & Lewis, 2009). The endocrine system does not have a single anatomic location. It is dispersed throughout the human body. The final purpose of this system is to control, regulate, and coà ¶rdinate the functioning of the human body (p.291). Some body functions can be activated or inhibited by hormones, which are secreted in very small quantities. Hormone related diseases may be due to hyper secretion or hypo secretion. The hormones secreted by the endocrine glands regulate the growth, development and function of many tissues, and coà ¶rdinate the body's metabolic processes (pp. 294-296). An inadequate secretion of hormones may cause disorders in the body, which on occasion may result in serious health consequences. The major endocrine glands are the pituitary gland, thyroid gland, parat hyroid glands, adrenal glands, pancreas, pineal gland, thymus gland, and reproductive glands (Shier et al., 2009). The pituitary gland is situated at the base of the brain and it secretes hormones that control the operation of the major endocrine glands (pp. 295-299). In reaction to excess or deficiency of pituitary hormones, the glands affected by these hormones can cause an excess or a deficiency of their own hormones. On the other hand the pituitary gland acts on the stimulation of the thyroid gland to secrete hormones that regulate the body's metabolism, energy, and nervous system activity (p. 295).The thyroid is a small gland in the neck, in front of the trachea and below the larynx. Thyroid hormones control metabolism, which is the body's ability to br... ...docrine system, immune system and nervous system fail to function gradually. This gradual failure might occur at different moments, leading to imbalances between them, and increased risk of disease for the elderly. Thyroid functions decline with aging and thyroid disorders are more common in older adults. For example, hypothyroidism is associated with acceleration of aging (Haywood and Getchell, p.81, 2009).In conclusion, the endocrine system maintains homeostasis of the human body through its contribution to each of the functions involved. There are lifestyles that help ensure a healthy endocrine system and in this way avoid developing diabetes mellitus Type 2, such as engaging in daily physical exercise and maintaining healthy eating habits. A good endocrine health improves performance of activities of daily living, work, leisure and social participation.

Terrorism: We Must Fight ISIS :: Terrorism, ISIS

The world is at a rough point. ISIS has been taking over Iraq and Syria and no one there has been able to resist the spread. Some people from other countries wish to go fight lethally or non-lethally against the terrorist threat. There are also some that go to fight for ISIS. Allowing foreign volunteers to fight for the enemy should be recognized as a terrorist action. What should stop them from going to train with terrorists only to go back to their home country and spread terrorism there? The real issue is how countries view what is a terrorist country. A country may revoke a right of citizenship if someone wishes to go fight in a terrorist country. It could also be that the country considers a foreign volunteer to be a samaritan for a cause that they feel passionate enough that they would want to fight and possibly die for. The other part is the human element. It is natural for a human to go to a place and possibly fight for someone else because they feel that they need to help fellow humans with their cause. This reason is why the world sees so many foreigners fighting in countries like Syria and Iraq. This is also why some people go to fight for ISIS. ISIS is a major problem for Iran. Because we are neighbors to Iraq, we have a greater danger of being invaded. When it comes to volunteers, we have been sending over personnel to train Shia militants to fight ISIS. This effort, however, might not be enough. ISIS keeps growing stronger with its numerous amount of recruits. While others may go to Syria to fight against ISIS, the number is still not enough. Some people may think that we are a source of terrorism, we are not and are trying to fight it. The Sunni jihadists are after us, and we need Shias to fight with us (Byman). What we need are fighters from other countries to help assist in fighting against ISIS. There have been too many foreigners going to ISIS, women included. In October 2014, there were 4 women alone who tried to go fight for Syria but were arrested (Erlanger). Our problem is that we need the use of foreign volunteers in these armed conflicts because ISIS in Syria and Iraq are both way too close to home, and fearing an attack from them is quite possible.