The Canadian And Us Banking System Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3733 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Did you like this example? The Canadian banking system began as a nationwide system, which encompassed a miniscule number of banks with numerous branches and allowed for diversification on a larger level. In contrast, American banks were prohibited from nationwide branch banking and from diversifying their portfolios. Many Canadian and American observers have come to view the two systems as distinct and believe that stability is a valid reason as to why the American system should adopt a nationwide banking system as well. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Canadian And Us Banking System Finance Essay" essay for you Create order While the Canadian Banking system has proven to be economically stable, it is associated with high barriers to entry and a costly charter that holds an excessive amount of economic power. Regardless of their distinct government regulations and differing response to situations brought about by financial crises, there has been little attempt to compare both systems over a long period. This paper will examine the differences between the United States and the Canadian banking systems. In particular, it will discuss the forces, which spurned the creation of these economic entities; as well as evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of each system to stand firmly during periods of economic depression. Early banking in Canada suffered from the rippling effects of the Mississippi and South Seas Bubble, which convinced Canadians that paper currency was worthless and could not be trusted. As discussed in class, prior to 1763 paper money issued by the French government in Quebec was not valued; the fall of Quebec in 1759 pushed the situation over top. Staying true to their nature, British aristocrats and seigneurs in Quebec were intolerant of merchants and traders alike and were uninterested in finance or trade.Canada demonstrated little interest towards the idea of a central bank for the half of the 19th century following Confederation. Before Confederation, branch banks were established with little funds and very little skill than required for independent banks. Branch banks served the nations needs for more than a century and Chartered banks printed money required for circulation and met the needs of seasonal or unpredictable demand. The new Dominion Government was granted authority over banking, currency, interest and other related matters under the British North America Act of 1867. A comprehensive act was drafted to replace the expired bank charters of the four original provinces in 1871. The Minister of Finance John Rose, under the Macdonald government, desired a banking system that mirrored the American free banking system. Such a system would allow provinces to hold more power than the federal government, something Macdonald did not want. According to Joe Martin The political goal was financial stability, and the managerial challenge was to create the institutional and regulatory framework to carry it out. (Martin, 2011, p. 22) The first bank of United States - championed by Alexander Hamilton in 1791 in Philadelphia and was built on the view that in order to have a prosperous and powerful nation, an established banking system was necessary. The structure mirrored that of the bank of England and served as both a commercial and central bank. The establishment of the first bank was significant as it served as a model for the Canadian Banking System and mimicked each word and section of the from the banks charter. The constitution on 1787 failed to address whether banking was governed under federal or provincial legislation; this eventually became the deciding factor between the American and Canadian banking system. The constitution did address the right to issue and regulate silver and gold coinage to the Federal government but specifically prohibited the printing and circulation of paper money. The agrarian forces aligned against Hamilton were bankers in New York and Boston who were against the location of t he bank and were suspicious of the northeast elite. Thomas Jefferson was particularly against the notion of a bank and preferred that the United States refrain from navigation or commerce. (Martin, 2011, p. 27) Apart from incorporating the First bank of the U.S., the act also provided a route the government utilize to retain control of the state charted banks. When Jefferson and his supporters came into power, they refused to renew the bank charter in 1811, partly because the bank had accomplished so much. The Second bank of the United States was established in 1816, but was allowed to die after its twenty-year charter had expired. With the absence of a central bank, Americans failed to inject liquidity into the banking system and in turn, failed to combat the economic crisis of the early 1900s. At the time, J.P Morgan, one of the leading financiers of the Era, took on the role of the central bank and single-handedly rescued the nation. Jefferson and his supporters established the F ederal Reserve in 1913 after realizing that a country with such a large economy would not stand on its own without a central bank. According to author Charles Freedman, the Canadian financial system was constructed around five principal pillars: trust and loan companies, the co-operative credit movement, life insurance, securities dealers and chartered banks. (Freedman, 1998) These pillars were characterized by core business activities and government jurisdiction, under which they were incorporated and supervised. Additionally, different institutional types were traditionally separated by functionality, which increased penetration into each others primary focus of business. Trust and loan institutions tend to specialize in residential mortgages and term deposits, whereas Canadian life insurance companies were headed by the federal jurisdiction; meaning that they invested the proceeds of life-insurance in mortgage portfolios and financial assets, such as bonds and equities. (Freedman, 1998) On the other hand, Canadian securities dealers operated under the jurisdiction of provincial legislation. Incorporated and s upervised under federal legislation, Canadas chartered banks remained the dominant deposit taking institution with long involvement in commercial lending. Another major difference between the Canadian and U.S banking system encompasses the sunset clause. The sunset clause is clause that requires the Canadian government to conduct periodic assessments and updates of laws governing its banking system. This re-assessment done once every decade, builds on the present Act by improving the framework to ensure that the objectives of promoting competition more efficiently and effectively are met. (OECD Economic Surveys, 2010) The Sunset Clause gave birth to important legislative amendments in 1980, 1987, 1992, 1997, and 2002. (Allen and Engart, 2007) Consequently, this has led to the creation of more diversified and market oriented activities on the part of Canadian Banks, such as the entry of foreign banks into Canada. Initially, entry by foreign markets into Canada was limited by strict regulations. By allowing foreign banks into Canada, there would be a requirement to implement new regulations and procedures, which may be misaligned with Ca nadas system. This is a distinct phenomenon particularly because a safe and efficient financial system is important for the development and longer-run growth of the economy. (Allen and Engart, 2007) A third distinction in the Canadian banking system is the lack of interest rates on deposits. In Canadian banks, there was an absence of ceiling on interest rates and deposits as well as the elimination of ceiling rates on loans. Having established controls on interest rates, any financial deposits into the United States banking system escaped. As Canadian banks did not have such controls, any deposits made toward the Canadian financial system remained within the country. By the twenty first century, the amount of U.S debt financed outside the country outweighed the internal debt within the traditional financial system. Majority of financing which spawned from short-term deposits could easily turn tail and flee at the first sign of deteriorating investor confidence. (Doren, 2011) The United States has restrictions on the rates of interests that could be paid on deposits. According to Bordo, Rockoff and Reddish, although working to increase profit rates , U.S banks were made sensitive to the dangers of losing deposits when market rates rose which forced them to maintain more reserves. (Bordo, Redish Rokoff, 1994) The low risk of failure in Canada made it possible for the Canadian banks to hold smaller amounts of non-interest bearing assets and to precede to higher asset equity ratios. In addition, Canadian mortgages have fixed rates for a maximum of only five years thus eliminating the problems inherent in linking shorter-term deposits with long term loans. (Doren, 2011) In essence, interest rates paid on deposits were generally higher in Canada, interest income received on securities was slightly higher, interest rates charged on loans were similar and net rates of return to equity were higher in Canada than in the United States. (Bordo, Redish Rokoff, 1994) In contrast, the United States banking system has been fragmented for most of its history; directly pertaining to a Supreme Court case in 1839, which restricted the establishment of bank branches across America. This fragmentation did not support the needs of national corporations or industrialization and was instead reinforced by unregulated financial and commercial paper markets. There are numerous issues surrounding the United States and the limitations surrounding its nationwide banking arrangement. The first reason concerns the fragility of individual banks, in that their portfolios were too small and lacked diversity. This made it difficult to transfer funds across the country. As a result, the system would usually fail during difficult economic times when rural banks attempted to protect themselves by withdrawing funds from their correspondents, which would in turn discourage the crisis. Prior to World War I, the United States experiences major economic crises. These occurrenc es were essentially accredited to the usage of reserved holdings and heavy reliance on securities market to finance investments. (Bordo, Redish and Rokoff, 2008) In the nineteenth century, many communities in the United States became one-bank or few-bank towns because of branching restrictions and consequently, charged monopoly loan rates. (Bordo, Redish and Rokoff, 1994) This was a disadvantage to customers because of the higher costs association. On the other hand, the individual banks were benefiting large sums of money from its inefficient banking arrangement. The nation was in dire need for branch banking arrangements particularly in the interest of the consumers. Both the legislative and regulatory environment heavily influences the banking structure of Canada and the U.S. These characteristics play a part in determining the efficiency and stability of a banking system; in fact, from the 1920s to the 1980s many economists argue that Canadas banking system was more proficient in both stability and efficiency when compared to the United States. This belief was largely due to the prohibition of nationwide (interstate) branch banking in the U.S., which has destroyed the nations ability to successfully combat major issues without experiencing bank failures.ÂÂ   Tailored to nationwide service Canadian banks proceeded to establish an oligopolistic financial system with limited entry. Because of this, Canadian broker-dealer and securities market systems were limited in expansion, as banks possessed the financials capable of sustaining industrial development. Although many economists refer to the mid-1800s as a period of free banking in the U.S, this is somewhat of a misnomer, as the reference was less literal and more towards several banking systems founded on free banking regulations. Banks were prohibited from establishing branch networks and had to either purchase or yield eligible securities from banking authorities in order to secure notes. The depreciation of securities, including authorized government bonds were deemed the source of bank failures during this period. This restriction on nationwide branch banking gave way to discounted bank notes at fluctuating rates the further they travelled from their sources. In summary, the defective banks and their supply of paper money proved the imminent danger of unauthorized and romantic ideas of regulation. Current regulation outlined by the McFadden Act of 1927, the Banking Act of 1933 and the Bank Holding Act of 1956 permits individual states to create its own policies regarding the allowance of outer state banks to operate within its borders. Prior to the 1907, as a contingency tool branch banking was used to minimize the occurrence of future economic downturns but lost to the establishment of a central bank. The 1907 post-panic debate involved three distinct parties: New York banks, Midwestern city banks and country banks; of these three groups, only the Midwestern banks were in favor of positive structural reform. (Horowitz Selgin, 1987) This group dominated the American Banking Association (ABA) and proposed deregulation through reform and interstate branch banking. The goal of New York banks was to maintain the status quo and aimed to accomplish this by preventing a transfer of power to midwestern banks. On the other hand, country banks were adamant on prohibiting any branch ban king scheme that would have them competing with the city banks; in turn they ironically aligned themselves with Wall Street which preened any reform actions proposed by the ABA. Supporters of branch banking promoted economists and authors who believed that the panic of 1907 was preventable if interstate banking was allowed. Many highlighted the successful avoidance of crises in Canadian systems, where nationwide banking was encouraged. Thought regulations approved in 1913 favored Federal Reserve Banks, central banking was a compromise erected in response to the New York banks desire for continued hegemony. (Horowitz Selgin, 1987) This became evident when the depression of the 1930s unveiled the instability of the banking system. In 1933, during a nationwide commercial bank failure and the Great Depression Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry SteagallÂÂ  championed the Glass- Steagall Act. (ValueClick Inc, 2003) This act divided and forestalled commercial and investment banking activities in order to prevent future economic crises. During this period, the stock market crashed due to improper banking activities carried out by commercial banks and their excessive involvement in the stock market. Commercial banks became greedy and took big risks by investing large amounts of capital into assets; buying new issues and reselling them to the public. Banks granted fallacious loans to companies with which they owned a stake and clients were encouraged to invest in those stocks. As a solution, a regulatory firewall was established, separating commercial and investment banks by controlling their activities. Banks had to make a choice between specializing in commercial or investment banking and only ten pe rcent of commercial banks total income could stem from securities. (ValueClick Inc, 2003) Directly targeted and forced to reduce their services, numerous financial giants such as J.P Morgan and Company, lost their main source of income. Over a period of extended prosperity in the early 1900s, a significant percentage of unit banks failed due to declining agriculture prices. Although Canada practiced branch banking and its financial structure for commercial banking mirrored that of the United States, the nation did not encounter significant bank failures. Glass eventually concluded that little banks were hazardous to stable banking and contributed to the condemnation of depositors. Glass also desired an integrated banking system supervised by the Federal Reserve and claimed that the dual system (shared by state and federal authorities) was an abomination to the nation. As part of Federal Reserve Act, all national banks were required to become members of the Federal Reserve System, wh ereas commercial banks had the option to join in or opt out. (Wessel, 2009, p. 97) This was to minimize the competing views of regulators governing the affiliated and unaffiliated banks. In addition, the Act was delayed until Glass adjusted the legislation to prohibit nationwide branch banking within states that encourage this. Proposals made by larger banks were considered attempts to sabotage the state banking system that provided financial services to small towns. This resulted from the anxiety to preserve the dual banking system between the state and federal authorities. Unfortunately, these small towns accounted for ninety percent of failures in the U.S and deposit insurance arose as a hasty alternative to branch banking, which would ensure the safety of the banking system. (Wessel, 2009, p. 50) Deposit insurance was not a new concept and had been around since the panic in 1907; however, in each case problems quickly arose following its introduction to several states. First, by asking banks to deposit their assets into a fund, an incentive problem emerged. Banks began to hold more risky portfolios because they held only a fraction of risks contributing to failures. Second, deposit insurance could contribute very little to save banks when the economy took a turn for the worst. Despite the negativity ass ociated with deposit insurance plans, unit banks claim that there is a possibility for effectiveness when handled properly. Now that we have highlighted several differences within each system and discussed the forces behind this historic establishment, we will now examine the efficiency and effectiveness of both systems to combat economic depression and inflation. As previously mentioned, the structures of both the United States and Canadian banking systems substantially differ. However, an efficient banking system is important in order to maintain long-term growth and productivity within the economy. The Canadian banking system has remained relative stabile throughout history despite the concentration of the overall banking industry. In contrast, the relative fragmentation historically rooted in the United States banking industry, has led to a sharp decline of commercial banks by approximately forty five percent over the last eighty-five years. (Mayer, 2004, p. 57) However, the fact that the United States is more market concentrated than Canada, means that U.S banks do not heavily influence the nations f inancial industry. There are numerous opinions on both the economic and political reasons, some generally shared, about why the financial crisis occurred. Governments failed to properly regulate markets and minimize a financial meltdown. Many observers suggested that various government policies aided the emergence of the crisis and credits fours main factors to this: (1) accessibility of credit resulting from artificially low rates, (2) government policies favored housing and in turn prompted subprime risk-taking, (3) government regulations related to corporate policies in large financial institutions and (4) failure to supervise the economy. (Roberge, 2010) Like other countries, Canada was impacted on some level by the global financial crisis over the past few years. Thanks to the equilibrium of systems within the financial service sector and the nature of its policies, Canada managed to emerge in good shape. As mentioned earlier, Canada financial structure is divided into several jurisdictions. The Federal government is in charge of banks; securities and investment firms as well as trust companies are under provincial authority; insurance is governed by both jurisdictions. The late 1900s and onwards brought with it drastic change to the Canadian system. A system once operated according to pillars was dismantled in 1987, allowing banks to own firms in investment, insurance and trust. As a result, large five banks dominated across all pillars due to changed policies. Under federal jurisdiction, there was a simultaneous centralization of political, supervisory and regulatory authority within Canadian banks. (Roberge, 2010) The 1980s witne ssed the last bank failure in Canada and the system has remained stable ever since, thanks to the oligopolistic banking system in Canada. Canadas response to this crisis was threefold. First, both definitive and pragmatic measures were established to ease the credit crunch. The government purchased $125,000,000 worth of mortgage bonds to increase their lending capacity. Second, the Federal government amended the Bank Act of Canada, which provided banks more power to manage the financial crises. Regulating investment contracts with guaranteed rates and guarantying investors that no money would be lost on their assets, was also part of the effort. Third, the Canadian government seized the opportunity and established a national securities board. Canada remained under control whereas other countries, such as the U.S., required major bailouts. Canadas resilience to this event is largely attributed to the structure and workings of their policy network within the financial sector. This policy networks mode of operation in the financial sector has remained generally small and obstinate, despite the networks expansion. The Fina ncial Institutions Supervisory Committee (FISC) is compromised of all important government personnel and ensures that lines of communication that exist across sectors remain clear. The Canadian system has one potential weakness, the absence of a definite authoritative figure overlooking the stability of the financial services sector. The tenacity of the Canadas policy network becomes increasingly evident when compared to the United States. Because of such cohesiveness and stability Canadas only experience with controls occurred in the late 1970s as a response to relatively high inflation rates. Controls are any type of government policy, which influences the overall pricing and wage structure in the economy. These controls place extensive restrictions on the maximum rate of which wages and prices can increase during various periods. Two characteristics that distinguish price controls from other types of government controls are: (1) these policies are adopted for the sole purpose of controlling inflation, not to accomplish economic efficiency or equity; (2) they influence numerous economic sectors rather than focusing on primarily one market. The anti-inflation act created by the Federal government spelled out a three-year control system. (Wirick, 2012) Firms with 500 plus employees were restricted by wage guidelines; these guidelines also applied to federal as well as a majority of public-sector employees. Price restri ction and cost markups were restricted by controls placed on large corporations. Overall, the controls program helped to restrict high inflation and keep it below certain levels. The historic background of Wall Street has demonstrated the obscure relationship between the government and the financial markets in the U.S., particularly the relationship between Washington and Wall Street. With division among regulatory and supervisory authority, an opportunity to pit one regulator against another showed itself. Following the Wall Street Crash of October, 1929, the United States entered into, what is now called The Great Depression. This period was marked by a series of bank failures and high unemployment, reaching as high as 25% in 1932. (Woodward, 2000, p. 72) In response to this great economic crisis, the newly elected Roosevelt administration began The New Deal, a series of economic programs, reforms, and regulations enacted between 1933 and 1938. Some of these programs included the Social Security Act, the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, which provided millions of dollars in relief operations, and the Works Progress Administration, which made the fed eral government the single largest employer at the time. The bursting of the U.S. housing bubble in 2006 and current ongoing global recession has led to the worst financial crisis in the United States since The Great Depression. Under the Bush administration, the United States government issued a limited bailout of the housing market, giving out close to a trillion dollars in loans with over half going to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Wessel, 2009, p. 178) Moreover, the United States has experienced a recessionary period every twenty years

The Survival Rates Of Breast Cancer - 1373 Words

Breast Cancer is the most common misfortune in women and second leading cause of death by cancer. Today, woman with breast cancer have a 90% chance of surviving for five years post-diagnosis. However, African American women have a national survival rate of 79%. Socioeconomic barriers and lack of access to health services have crippled African American women in breast cancer advancements. Studies have show that African American women tend to be diagnosed with a higher-stage of cancer because of the delay of being tested until it is late in the stage. African American women in contrast to their white counterparts generally have a more aggressive stage of breast cancer and therefore a shorter survival rate. These startling statistics bring†¦show more content†¦Much advancement has been made for the treatment of breast cancer, yet the object of the matter is its utilization. â€Å" Lack of recommendation for screening mammography, poor access to health care and cultural beliefs discouraging women from seeking care for a potential breast problem have each been linked to disparate breast cancer outcomes between African American and White women.† (American Association for Cancer Research) Even though race-based disparities have been explored in breast cancer outcomes, direct evidence linking these disparities to social injustice is deficient. Few studies have been reported examining the correlation between breast cancer disparities and racial discrimination. Yet, there are evident reasons to suspect that racial prejudice contributes to the African American disparities in breast cancer mortality. Studies have suggested that social injustice maybe be linked to unequal access of breast cancer treatment. Caplan et al. reported that, â€Å"African American women had greater difficulty scheduling follow-up appointments than did White women, which resulted in delays in breast cancer diagnosis.† (AACR) This utilization of treatments illustrates a drasti c and distant mortality rate overtime between White and African American women.

Sterilization Of Water Using Bleaching Powder free essay sample

STERILIZATION OF WATER USING BLEACHING POWDER A CHEMISTRY INVESTIGATORY PROjECT ANSHUL KUMAR PANDEY XII B [THIS PROJECT LOOKS AT THE TECHNIQUE CALLED STERILIZATION OF WATER USING BLEACHING POWDER WHICH IS USED TO PURIFY WATER AND MAKES IT FIT FOR DRINKING. ] INDEX I. Introduction -Need of Water -Purification of Water -Need for a stable purification technique II. Theory -History of Water purification -Bleaching powder and its preparation -Use of Bleaching powder in Sterilization of water III. Experiment -Aim -Pre-Requisite Knowledge -Requirements -Procedure IV. Result V. Bibliography I. Introduction Need of water Water is an important and essential ingredient in our quest for survival on this planet. It is very essential for carrying out various metabolic processes in our body and also to carry out Hemoglobin throughout the body. A daily average of 1 gallon per man is sufficient for drinking and cooking purposes. A horse, bullock, or mule drinks about 11 gallons at a time. standing up, an average allowance of 5 gallons should be given for a man, and 10 gallons for a horse or a camel. An elephant drinks 25 gallons, each mule or ox drinks 6 to 8 gallons, each sheep or pig 6 to 8 pints. These are minimum quantities. One cubic foot of water = 6 gallons (a gallon = 10 lbs. ). In order to fulfill such a huge demand of water, it needs to be purified and supplied in a orderly and systematic way. But with the increasing world population, the demand for drinking water has also increased dramatically and therefore it is very essential to identify resources of water from which we can use water for drinking purposes. Many available resources of water do not have it in drinkable form. Either the water contains excess of Calcium or Magnesium salts or any other organic impurity or it simply contains foreign particles which make it unfit and unsafe for Drinking. Purification of Water There are many methods for the purification of water. Some of them are: 1. Boiling 2. Filtration 3. Bleaching powder treatment 4. SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) And the list goes on†¦. Boiling is perhaps the most commonly used water purification technique in use today. While in normal households it is an efficient technique; it cannot be used for industrial and large scale purposes. It is because in normal households, the water to be purified is very small in quantity and hence the water loss due to evaporation is almost negligible. But in Industrial or large scale purification of water the water loss due to evaporation will be quite high and the amount of purified water obtained will be very less. Filtration is also used for removing foreign particles from water. One major drawback of this purification process is that it cannot be used for removing foreign chemicals and impurities that are miscible with water. SODIS or Solar Water Disinfection is recommended by the United Nations for disinfection of water using soft drink bottles, sunlight, and a black surface– at least in hot nations with regularly intense sunlight. Water-filled transparent bottles placed in a horizontal position atop a flat surface in strong sunlight for around five hours will kill microbes in the water. The process is made even more safe and effective if the bottom half of the bottle or the surface it’s lying on is blackened, and/or the flat surface is made of plastic or metal. It’s the combination of heat and ultraviolet light which kills the organisms. The major drawback of this purification technique is that it cannot be used in countries with cold weather. Also, the time consumed for Purification process is more and it also needs a ‘blackened’ surface, much like solar cookers. Need for a stable purification technique Therefore we need a purification technique which can be used anytime and anywhere, does not require the use of any third party content and which is also economically feasible on both normal scale and large scale. Hence we look at the method of purification of water using the technique of treatment by bleaching powder commonly known as â€Å"Chlorination†. II. Theory History of water purification in different parts of the world. In 1854 it was discovered that a cholera epidemic spread through water. The outbreak seemed less severe in areas where sand filters were installed. British scientist John Snow found that the direct cause of the outbreak was water pump contamination by sewage water. He applied chlorine to purify the water, and this paved the way for water disinfection. Since the water in the pump had tasted and smelled normal, the conclusion was finally drawn that good taste and smell alone do not guarantee safe drinking water. This discovery led to governments starting to install municipal water filters (sand filters and chlorination), and hence the first government regulation of public water. In the 1890s America started building large sand filters to protect public health. These turned out to be a success. Instead of slow sand filtration, rapid sand filtration was now applied. Filter capacity was improved by cleaning it with powerful jet steam. Subsequently, Dr. Fuller found that rapid sand filtration worked much better when it was preceded by coagulation and sedimentation techniques. Meanwhile, such waterborne illnesses as cholera and typhoid became less and less common as water chlorination won terrain throughout the world. But the victory obtained by the invention of chlorination did not last long. After some time the negative effects of this element were discovered. Chlorine vaporizes much faster than water, and it was linked to the aggravation and cause of respiratory disease. Water experts started looking for alternative water disinfectants. In 1902 calcium hypo chlorite and ferric chloride were mixed in a drinking water supply in Belgium, resulting in both coagulation and disinfection. The treatment and distribution of water for safe use is one of the greatest achievements of the twentieth century. Before cities began routinely treating drinking water with chlorine (starting with Chicago and Jersey City in US in 1908), cholera, typhoid fever, dysentery and hepatitis A killed thousands of U. S. residents annually. Drinking water chlorination and filtration have helped to virtually eliminate these diseases in the U. S. and other developed countries. Meeting the goal of clean, safe drinking water requires a multi-barrier approach that includes: protecting source water from contamination, appropriately treating raw water, and ensuring safe distribution of treated water to consumers’ taps. During the treatment process, chlorine is added to drinking water as elemental chlorine (chlorine gas), sodium hypochlorite solution or dry calcium hypochlorite. When applied to water, each of these forms â€Å"free chlorine,† which destroys pathogenic (disease-causing) organisms. Almost all systems that disinfect their water use some type of chlorine-based process, either alone or in combination with other disinfectants. In addition to controlling disease-causing organisms, chlorination offers a number of benefits including: Reduces many disagreeable tastes and odors Eliminates slime bacteria, molds and algae that commonly grow in water supply reservoirs, on the walls of water mains and in storage tanks Removes chemical compounds that have unpleasant tastes and hinder disinfection and Helps remove iron and manganese from raw water. As importantly, only chlorine-based chemicals provide â€Å"residual disinfectant† levels that prevent microbial re-growth and help protect treated water throughout the distribution system. For more than a century, the safety of drinking water supplies has been greatly improved by the addition of bleaching powder. Disinfecting our drinking water ensures it is free of the microorganisms that can cause serious and life-threatening diseases, such as cholera and typhoid fever. To this day, bleaching powder remains the most commonly used drinking water disinfectant, and the disinfectant for which we have the most scientific information. Bleaching powder is added as part of the drinking water treatment process. However, bleaching powder also reacts with the organic matter, naturally present in water, such as decaying leaves. This chemical reaction forms a group of chemicals known as disinfection by-products. Current scientific data shows that the benefits of bleaching our drinking water (less disease) are much greater than any health risks from THMs and other by-products. Although other disinfectants are available, bleaching powder remains the choice of water treatment experts. When used with modern water filtration methods, chlorine is effective against virtually all microorganisms. Bleaching powder is easy to apply and small amounts of the chemical remain in the water as it travels in the distribution system from the treatment plant to the consumer’s tap, this level of effectiveness ensures that microorganisms cannot recontaminate the water after it leaves the treatment. But what is bleaching powder and how is it prepared? Bleaching powder or Calcium hypochlorite is a chemical compound with formula Ca(ClO) 2. It is widely used for water treatment and as a bleaching agent bleaching powder). This chemical is considered to be relatively stable and has greater available chlorine than sodium hypochlorite (liquid bleach). It is prepared by either calcium process or sodium process. Calcium Process 2 Ca(OH)2 + 2 Cl2 Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O Sodium Process 2 Ca(OH)2 + 3 Cl2 + 2 NaOH Ca(ClO)2 + CaCl2 + 2 H2O + 2 NaCl But how can this chemical be used to sterilize water? This chemical can be used for sterilizing water by Using 5 drops of bleach per each half gallon of water to be purified, and allowing it to sit undisturbed for half an hour to make it safe for drinking. Letting it sit several hours more will help reduce the chlorine taste, as the chlorine will slowly evaporate out. A different reference advises when using household bleach for purification; add a single drop of bleach per quart of water which is visibly clear, or three drops per quart of water where the water is NOT visibly clear. Then allow the water to sit undisturbed for half an hour. What are the actual processes involved in disinfecting and purifying water? The combination of following processes is used for municipal drinking water treatment worldwide: 1. Pre-chlorination – for algae control and arresting any biological growth 2. Aeration – along with pre-chlorination for removal of dissolved iron and manganese 3. Coagulation – for flocculation 4. Coagulant aids also known as polyelectrolyte’s – to improve coagulation and for thicker floc formation 5. Sedimentation – for solids separation, that is, removal of suspended solids trapped in the floc 6. Filtration – for removal of carried over floc 7. Disinfection – for killing bacteria Out of these processes, the role of Bleaching powder is only in the last step i. e. for Disinfection of water. III. Experiment Aim To Determine the dosage of bleaching powder required for sterilization or disinfection of different samples of water. Requirements Burette, titration flask, 100ml graduated cylinder, 250ml measuring flask, weight box, glazed tile, glass wool. Bleaching Powder, Glass wool, 0. 1 N Na2S2O3 solution, 10% KI solution, different samples of water, starch solution. Pre-Requisite Knowledge 1. A known mass of the given sample of bleaching powder is dissolved in water to prepare a solution of known concentration. This solution contains dissolved chlorine, liberated by the action of bleaching powder with water. CaOCl2+H20 I Ca(OH)2+Cl2 2. The amount of Chlorine present in the above solution is determined by treating a known volume of the above solution with excess of 10% potassium iodide solution, when equivalent amount of Iodine is liberated. The Iodine, thus liberated is then estimated by titrating it against a standard solution of Sodium thiosulphate, using starch solution as indicator. Cl2+2KI i 2KCl+I2 I2+2Na2S2O3 i Na2S4O6+2NaI A known Volume of one of the given samples of water is treated with a known volume of bleaching powder solution. The amount of residual chlorine is determined by adding excess potassium iodide solution and then titrating against standard sodium thiosulphate solution. From the readings in 2 and 3, the amount of chlorine and hence bleaching powder required for the disinfection of a given volume of the given sample of water can be calculated. Procedure 1. Preparation of bleaching powder solution. Weigh accurately 2. 5g of the given sample of bleaching powder and transfer it to a 250ml conical flask. Add about 100-150ml of distilled water. Stopper the flask and shake it vigorously. The suspension thus obtained is filtered through glass wool and the filtrate is diluted with water (in a measuring flask) to make the volume 250ml. The solution obtained is 1% bleaching powder solution. 2. Take 20ml of bleaching powder solution in a stoppered conical flask and add it to 20ml of 10% KI solution. Stopper the flask and shake it vigorously. Titrate this solution against 0. 1N Na2S2O3 solution taken in the burette. When the solution in the conical flask becomes light yellow in color, add about 2ml starch solution. The solution now becomes blue in color. Continue titrating till the blue color just disappears. Repeat the titration to get a set of three concordant readings. 3. Take 100ml of the water sample in a 250ml stoppered conical flask and add it to 10ml of bleching powder solution. Then add 20ml of KI solution and stopper the flask. Shake vigorously and titrate against 0. 1N Na2S2O3 solution using starch solution as indicator as described in step 2. 4. Repeat the step 3 with other samples of water and record the observations.

Ludwig Van Beethoven free essay sample

1770-1827 Musicis the go-between between the religious and the animal life. Braunvon Braunthal met him in an hostel a twelvemonth subsequently ( 1826 ) . Beethoven was sitting in acorner with closed eyes, smoking a long pipe a wont which grew on him moreand more as he approached decease. A friend spoke to him. He smiled unhappily, drewfrom his pocket a small note-tablet, and in a thin voice which oftensounded chapped notes, asked him to compose down his petition? RomainRolland Beethoven He had a life full of agony andcalamity? Hewas a boy of nature, intended to love and to be loved? Thepower, the Jupiter Tonans, Prometheus of Music? Boardshoulders, athletic physique organic structure, ever really disheveled wild black hair,melancholically sad eyes. Shakespearian King Leer Beethovenwas a maestro symphonist the maestro symphonist in the eyes of most instrumentalistsand hearers. His composings for orchestra were radical in his twenty-four hours ;while he adhered to Classical musical signifiers, his tunes and orchestrationwere of such unprecedented power and beauty that they astonished even the mosthardened hearers. Oneof his the most celebrated motivations the subject of his 5th symphonic music is known, in hisain words, as Fate, strike harding at the door. It seems fate truly wasstrike harding at the door for all of his life. Fromhis first old ages his life was non happy for him. Sing the extended musicalendowment of immature Ludwig, his male parent, a music partisan, but an highly petroleumand violent individual, wanted to do him a following Mozart. Ludwig was merely fourold ages old when his male parent started to coerce him to play the cembalo and fiddlefor hours a twenty-four hours, closing him entirely in his room. But boy did non come to detestmusic. He was non every bit gifted as Mozart was, but he was remarkably talented,larning the piano, organ and fiddle at an early age. Oneof his first teachers, and the most important in his life was a tribunalorganist and noteworthy instrumentalist of the clip, Christian Gottlob Neefe. Under hisdirection, at the age of 10 Beethoven published his first composings ( Ninefluctuations in C Minor ) . If I of all time go anybody, Beethoven wrote toNeefe in October, 26 1873, I shall owe it to you . ***At thirteen his instructor got him a salariedoccupation in the tribunal orchestra, where Ludwig obtained his profound cognition ofinstrumentality. Atthe age of 17 he left for Vienna with the hope of analyzing with Mozart.Harmonizing to some beginnings Mozart took small notice of him, to others he wasimpressed by Beethoven s improvisatory accomplishments and said: Watch this immatureadult male ; he will yet do a noise in the universe, but because of his female parent sdecease Beethoven returned to Germany. In 1792, when he came back, neer toreturn to his fatherland for the remainder of his life, Mozart was non alive anymore. But he became a student of other celebrated instrumentalists: Joseph Haydn gave himcomposing lessons, Johann Alberchtsberger lessons of Counterpoint andFugue, Salieri trained him in vocal authorship. YoungBeethoven was accepted as the most of import executing piano player of his clip,giving concertos at the places of music frequenters. But his straight character couldnon unrecorded in frivolous Vienna. In 1809 he was given a wage from three richestLords with merely one status to stay in Austria and compose. Despitehis disfavor of Vienna, Beethoven rejected the place of tribunal instrumentalist forthe King of Westphalia and became the first free composer in music history. Butdestiny was already strike harding at his door: his hearing became bit by bit weaker. Theforemost symptoms appeared in 1796. For several old ages he kept secret to himself,avoiding company so as non to be noticed in his imposition. In 1801 he could nolonger fell and in the missive to his friends he wrote: Your Beethoven isreally unhappy. You must cognize that the best portion of me, my hearing, has becamereally weak? How sad is my life? I m deaf. Had my profession been any other, thingsmight still be endurable: but if it is, my state of affairs is awful? Thetragic unhappiness was expressed in some of his work in this period: in the Largoof the Piano Sonata in D, opus 10 ( 1798 ) , in the Sonata Pathetique, Op.13 ( 1799 ) .It is of import to detect that merely opus 1 of his work was written before 1796,the following musical composition the first three Piano Sonatas appeared in March 1796. So,about all Beethoven s plants are that of a deaf adult male. Anothersort of agony was added to that: his was rejected by his dearest love,Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom in 1802 he dedicated his Piano sonata in hundred # . ***In some old ages he met Theresa von Brunswick a adult females, who played a really important function in his life, whom he will loveuntil the terminal of his life, and to whom he will compose the celebrated missive,overfill with stamp and love Immortal beloved ( it is hardto state why they were non married. Preferably, the chief ground was thedifference in those societal places ) . Beethovenpassed a awful crisis, his hearing loss was more and more important and thelast hopes of retrieving his wellness disappeared. At that clip he wrote a missivefor his brothers, Carl and Johann, known as HeiligenstadtTestement , with the undermentioned way: To be read and carried outafter my decease . He was on the brink of self-destruction. How broken Ihold felt if person standing beside me heard the sound of a flute in thedistance and I heard nil If non for my music, little more of this and Iwould hold ended my life I have been stranger to the shake of joy for solong. When, O God, when shall I experience joy one time more? But his powerfulnature could non give up under the weight of his agony: My physicalbeneath improves ever with the growing of my rational force? Yes, I canfell that my young person is merely merely get downing O, if I were merely free from myhearing loss I would encompass the universe! ? No remainder! At least, none that I know ofexcept slumber ; ? I will pay war against fate. Upto about this twelvemonth ( 1802 ) the first period of his originative work finished. heproduced 6 threading fours, 10 piano sonatas, and 2 symphonic musics. He continued to keep the basic Classical traditions of signifier yet his usage of tune, beat maintain the basic Classical traditions of signifier yet his usage of tune, beatand harmoniousness expands upon the musical vocabulary of other composers of the clip. and harmony expands upon the musical vocabulary of other composers of the clip. This2nd phase of Beethoven s musical development was stirred in portion by thepolitical agitation of the period. The democratic announcements of the GallicRevolution was altering the face of Europe. The Symphony # 3 Eroica was written for and around Napoleon Bonaparte. *** Beethovenprofoundly believed in the ideals of autonomy, equality and brotherhood for all work forces.He felt himself to be equal, if non superior, to the Lords to whom he wasindebted and to whom he was expected to bow down. Bettina Brentano, who saw himat that clip, says no male monarch or emperor was of all time so witting of hispower. Anarrative is told that as he and the great German poet, Goethe, were walking throughthe street a Imperial household. Duke Rudolph raised his chapeau to me, theEmpress bowing to me foremost? wrote Beethoven the twenty-four hours after, Iamused myself in watching the emanation base on balls by Goethe. He remained on theroadside bowing low, hat in manus. I talk him to task for it pretty badly anddid non save him at all . Some after Goeater said: Beethoven is,unluckily, possessed of a wild and coarse temperament ; he is non incorrect inhis happening the word detestable, but that is non the manner to do it pleasantfor himself or for others. We must pardon and commiseration him for his deaf , andignored him wholly. Muchof Beethoven s music from this period reflects his radical spirit. It wasthe period, when in effort to happen his ain manner, he broke regulations of classicalcomposing. Webster s lexicon says, that term authoritative denotes primary the rules and feature of Greek and Romanliterature and art ; considered as incarnating formal elegance, simpleness,self-respect and rightness of manner . The 2nd period of Beethoven creativework can non be considered as a strictly authoritative. It was the beginning of hisromanticism. E.T.A. Hoffmann, an of import critic and originative author of theclip, wrote: Beethoven s music sets in gesture the lever of fright, of awe,of horror, of agony, and awakens merely that space yearning which is thekernel of Romanticism. He is consequently a wholly Romantic composer . Thefist two symphonic musics, in C and D, belong to school of Mozart and Haydn. In 1802Beethoven said: I am non satisfied with my work up to present clip. Fromtoday I mean to take a new route . The 3rd symphonic music was truly an illustrationof that new route. Some characteristics can be noticed: the connecting of the 2ndsubject with the first, the 2nd motion is of unusual signifier a funeral March,remarkably long 3rd motion, which used to be the shortest and now raised tothe degree with others, the extraordinary importance of the finale, with thedebut of a new subject in it. The separating element one can happen: histunes are much more emotional, the 1s of his predecessors. A great sumof music was produced during this portion of his life: 1 opera, 3 threading fours,2 piano concertos, 5 symphonic musics, overtures and incidental music and legionpiano sonatas. Inabout 1816, the 3rd period of Beethoven s music began. His hearing loss becamecomplete. Beethoven began to imbibe to a great extent doing terrible redness of hisdigestive piece of land and liver harm which was finally to be the cause of hisdecease. Afterthe fall of 1815 he could merely pass on with his friends by composing, bythis clip dates the alteration of manner in his music, get downing with Sonata op.101.He continued his earlier experiments, but with a new attack to thedevelopment of melodious subjects. Before, short motivations of three or four noteswould be used in assorted ways ; now, full tunes would be worked, reworkedand varied. Hebesides blurred the spliting lines of the subdivisions within motions, developing aapparently more complex signifier, and broke off from classical signifiers by composing asonata in 2 motion and a twine four in 7 motions. Atthat period he wrote two the most monolithic of his plants: 9th Symphony ( Choral )and Messa Solemnis. InSymphony # 9 in D Minor, his last symphonic work, he adds a solo four andchorus. Never before had any composer added voices to a symphonic music. Many were tofollow Beethoven s lead in the hereafter. In this last large work he set Schiller sOde to Joy to music, a verse form which describes the ageless brotherhood of adult male. On7 May, 1824, wholly deaf, he conducted this symphonic music. He heard nil whenthe audience was claping to him, and even did non surmise, until he sawthem, clapping their custodies and relinquishing chapeaus. OnMarch 26 the Viennese celestial spheres were split with lightning and growled withboom. It was about as the metropolis was giving voice of heartache. A peal boomrumbled in Beethoven s decease room. Ever the Rebel, Beethoven feebly raised anoncompliant fist toward the celestial spheres. Then he fell back, and died . This narrativehas become portion of his literature. The medical decision about the grounds ofhis decease looked like the list of diseases. It was non easy to state what ishealthy. Martin Cooper in his monograph gave a item lettering ofBeethoven s medical history: hearing loss, cirrhosis of liver, perchance venerealdisease ( syphilis? ) . And as a reasoning phrase of his work he wrote: Heneer did believe much of us ; possibly we should go forth him in peace ? Beethovenlast words were: Plaudite, amici, commedia finita Eastern Time Friends applaud, the Comedy is over . Notthe comedy, but the calamity. # 1057 ; # 1087 ; # 1080 ; # 1089 ; # 1086 ; # 1082 ; # 1083 ; # 1080 ; # 1090 ; # 1077 ; # 1088 ; # 1072 ; # 1090 ; # 1091 ; # 1088 ; # 1099 ; Ñà ¯Ãƒ ¨Ãƒ ±Ãƒ ®Ãƒ ª à «Ãƒ ¨Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ¥Ãƒ °Ãƒ  Ãƒ ²Ãƒ ³Ãƒ °Ãƒ » RomainRolland Beethoven . GouldingPhil Classical music. The 50 Greatest Composers and at that place 1000 Greatest Works. Indy,Vincent Beethoven ; a critical life Cooper,Martin. Beethoven: The Last Decade. 1817-1827. Grove,George Beethoven and his nine symphonic musics Landon,H. C. Robbins Beethoven: his life, work and universe. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.dixie.edu/academics/courses/mus101/Beet.htm hypertext transfer protocol: //www.cp-tel.net/miller/billee/quotes/Beethoven.html Ludwig Van Beethoven free essay sample During he Classical period it became more and more possible for the public to enjoy and participate in leisure activities. The people wanted an end to tax exemptions and special privileges given to the nobility. So, in the music world, people born with statues now werent the only one who could afford to go to concerts. This was a rise to the middle class. Musicians responded to this opportunity. Music became more popular, there was widening Of styles and taste. Music was composed for all different sorts of occasions.However for mom composers like Mozart, Beethoven is one if the most famous classical composers of the western world. He is remembered for his powerful and stormy compositions, and for continuing to compose and conduct even after he began to go deaf at age 28. Beethoven was a perfectionist; he would work years on perfecting a single symphony. Beethovens work brought about the classical period and also effectively initiated the romantic era in music. We will write a custom essay sample on Ludwig Van Beethoven or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He is one of the few artists who genuinely may be considered revolutionary.Born in 1770, Beethoven came of age as an artist and composer when the consequences of revolutions had to be confronted and when the work of patronage had already shifted to the less reliable mechanisms of the commercial sphere such as publications and concerts proceeds, supplemented by few noble patronage. It is in this world of change that we find Beethoven one of the most perplexing composers. Beethovens total output is usually divided into three periods: early, middle and end.Mozart and Haydn influenced Beethovens early music, his pieces included a simple, and slow moving harmony and structures were sonata form. But some of his other early pieces also show his own personal style. He built on the principles of sonata form and mitotic development that he had inherited from Haydn and Mozart, but greatly extended them, writing longer and more ambitious movements. The Middle period began shortly after Beethovens personal crisis centering around deafness. Napoleon became first consul Of France during this period of time; it was also this time that Beethovens music changed to a heroic tone. Although Beethoven was almost deaf, he was yet to produce some of his most profound works, such as some of his symphonies, which were his huge works. His works in the Middle period were very dramatic and strong and also show triumph. Beethovens late period began around 181 6 and lasted until Beethoven ceased to compose in 1826. During this late period, he also showed characteristics of Romanticism. Ludwig Van Beethoven free essay sample Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in December 16, 1770 in Germany. His father, Ionian van Beethoven, was his first music teacher. It is reported that Beethovens father was a very strict and hard music teacher. Beethoven knew how to play the piano, viola, and the organ, and was on his way to showing the public his talent at the early age of 7. His most important music teacher in Germany was Christian Gotten Neff, who helped him publish his first composition at the age of 10, which was a set of nine keyboard variations In C minor.Beethovens biggest influence was Mozart, which he met In Vienna In 1787. He anted to study under Mozart but was not able to due to his mothers death, which forced him to go back to Germany. In 1792, at the age of 22, Beethoven made his second attempt to move to Vienna where he studied with Joseph Haydn. We will write a custom essay sample on Ludwig Van Beethoven or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the first year In Vienna It was very hard for Beethoven since there were not many opportunities for him, but his talent grew stronger and he started to get noticed. By 1793, Beethoven established a reputation In Vienna as a Plano virtuoso.In 1 795 while he was still in Vienna he was asked to compose and perform a ancestor for the annual charity concert for Widows and Orphans of the Society of Musicians. He put this job off and did not start composing until two-days before his deadline. Beethoven knew his procrastination might cost him this performance and so he started to frantically write out the score as four copyists stood by in his apartment snatching pages from him as he completed them and rushed to make orchestral parts. The premiere of the Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Pop. 19 was on March 2, 1 795 and it was a great success. It was written in only two days because f Beethovens procrastination but surprisingly it became a masterpiece. It even shocked Czech composer and pianist Vocal Tomatoes. It was noted by many that the piece was unlike anything they have heard before, they claimed that it had daring deviations that no other composer or performer has ever done before.Although the criticism was good, Beethoven was not happy with the piece and revised it many times. The final version of this piece, the one everyone hears today was first heard in 1798. The structure of this piece resembles Mozart piano concertos, but the style Is trickily Beethoven, no one was as daring as Beethoven. The movement of this piece Is vibrant with contrasts loud and soft, forceful and pliant, staccato and legato but all In a spirit of elegance and sophistication. This piece really made him stand out In Vienna and showed that Beethoven was here to stay and more of these daring pieces were yet to come. Today, Beethoven Is known as one of the greatest composers. Beethoven composed In various genres, Including: symphonies, concertos, Plano sonatas, other sonatas (Including for violin), string quartets and other chamber music, masses, an pear, and Lieder. Beethoven Is viewed as one of the most Important transitional figures between the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history. He has had much Influence on musicians and music as a whole and will continue to do so; he Is a music legend and icon and will always be remembered as one of the greatest. Tussahs of nine keyboard variations in C minor. Beethovens biggest influence was Mozart, which he met in Vienna in 1787. He Anted to study under Mozart but was not able to due to his mothers death, which {ear in Vienna it was very hard for Beethoven since there were not many 793, Beethoven established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso.

The Fierce Warrior-Slaves Known as the Mamluks

The Fierce Warrior-Slaves Known as the Mamluks The Mamluks were a class of warrior-slaves, mostly of Turkic or Caucasian ethnicity, who served between the 9th and 19th century in the Islamic world. Despite their origins as slaves, the Mamluks often had higher social standing than free-born people. In fact, individual rulers of Mamluk background reigned in various countries, including the famous Mahmud of Ghazni in Afghanistan and India, and every ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517). Slaves of High Standing The term mamluk means slave in Arabic, and comes from the root malaka, meaning to possess. Thus, a mamluk was a person who was owned.  It is interesting to compare Turkish Mamluks with Japanese geisha or Korean gisaeng, in that they were technically considered women of pleasure, yet they could hold a very high status in society. No geisha ever became Empress of Japan, however. Rulers valued their slave-warrior armies because the soldiers often were raised in barracks, away from their homes and even separated from their original ethnic groups.  Thus, they had no separate family or clan affiliation to compete with their military esprit de corps. However, the intense loyalty within the Mamluk regiments sometimes allowed them to band together and bring down the rulers themselves, installing one of their own as sultan instead. The Mamluks Role in History Its not a surprise that the Mamluks were key players in several important historical events.  In 1249, for example, the French king Louis IX launched a Crusade against the Muslim world.  He landed at Damietta, Egypt, and essentially blundered up and down the Nile for several months, until he decided to besiege the town of Mansoura.  Instead of taking the city, however, the Crusaders ended up running out of supplies and starving themselves  The Mamluks wiped out Louiss weakened army shortly thereafter at the Battle of Fariskur on April 6, 1250.  They seized the French king and ransomed him off for a tidy sum. A decade later, the Mamluks faced a new foe.  On September 3, 1260, they triumphed over the Mongols of the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ayn Jalut.  This was a rare defeat for the Mongol Empire and marked the south-western border of the Mongols conquests.  Some scholars have suggested that the Mamluks saved the Muslim world from being erased at Ayn Jalut; whether or not that is the case, the Ilkhanates themselves soon converted to Islam. Egypts Fighting Elite More than 500 years after these events, the Mamluks were still Egypts fighting elite when Napoleon Bonaparte of France launched his 1798 invasion.  Bonaparte had dreams of driving overland through the Middle East and seizing British India, but the British navy cut off his supply routes to Egypt and like Louis IXs earlier French invasion, Napoleons failed.  However, by this time the Mamluks were outmatched and outgunned.  They were not nearly as decisive a factor in Napoleons defeat as they had been in earlier battles.  As an institution, the Mamluks days were numbered. The Mamluks End The Mamluks finally ceased to be in the later years of the Ottoman Empire. Within Turkey itself, by the 18th century, the sultans no longer had the power to collect young Christian boys from Circassia as slaves, a process called, and train them as Janissaries. Mamluk corps survived longer in some of the outlying Ottoman provinces, including Iraq and Egypt, where the tradition continued through the 1800s.

A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh

A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh With the first publication of the childrens book Winnie-the-Pooh on October 14, 1926, the world was introduced to some of the most popular fictional characters of the twentieth century - Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore. The second collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, The House at Pooh Corner, appeared on bookshelves just two years later and introduced the character Tigger. Since then, the books have been published worldwide in over 20 languages. The Inspiration for Winnie the Pooh The author of the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh stories, A. A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne), found his inspiration for these stories in his son and his sons stuffed animals. The little boy who talks to the animals in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories is called Christopher Robin, which is the name of A. A. Milnes real-life son, who was born in 1920. On August 21, 1921, the real-life Christopher Robin Milne received a stuffed bear from Harrods for his first birthday, which he named Edward Bear. The Name Winnie Although the real-life Christopher Robin loved his stuffed bear, he also fell in love with an American black bear that he often visited the London Zoo (he sometimes even went into the cage with the bear!). This bear was named Winnie which was short for Winnipeg, the hometown of the man who raised the bear as a cub and later brought the bear to the zoo. How the real-life bears name also became the name of Christopher Robins stuffed bear is an interesting story. As A. A. Milne states in the introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh, Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And so he was. The Pooh part of the name came from a swan of that name. Thus, the name of the famous, lazy bear in the stories became Winnie-the-Pooh even though traditionally Winnie is a girls name and Winnie-the-Pooh is definitely a boy bear. Other Characters Many of the other characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories were also based on Christopher Robins stuffed animals, including Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo. However, Owl and Rabbit were added without stuffed counterparts in order to round out the characters. If so inclined, you can actually visit the stuffed animals that Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Kanga were based on by visiting the Central Childrens Room at the Donnell Library Center in New York. (Stuffed Roo was lost during the 1930s in an apple orchard.) The Illustrations While A. A. Milne hand-wrote the entire original manuscript for both books, the man who shaped the famous look and feel of these characters was Ernest H. Shepard, who drew all the illustrations for both Winnie-the-Pooh books. To inspire him, Shepard traveled to the Hundred Acre Wood or at least its real-life counterpart, which is located in the Ashdown Forest near Hartfield in East Sussex (England). The Disney Pooh Shepards drawings of the fictional Winnie-the-Pooh world and characters were how most children envisioned them until Walt Disney bought the film rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1961. Now in stores, people can see both the Disney-styled Pooh and the Classic Pooh stuffed animals and see how they differ.

Popular culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Popular culture - Essay Example The main character is ostensibly Jeff Winger (played by Joel McHale), a handsome, conniving lawyer who has to go to a community college when he is revealed to have a fake degree. However, the key character is actually Abed Nadir, a young Arab-American who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. This plays on the audience’s assumption that the handsome white man is always the hero and the most important character. For the first few episodes, the audience is led to believe that the show is about Jeff and his pursuit of the beautiful blonde Britta while a group of co-stars provide comic relief; later we see that the show is actually about Abed and his attempts to understand other people. Because of his Asperger’s syndrome, Abed is fixated on television and movies, and comparing everything in his life to TV and movies is his only way to relate to the people around him. Every episode either references the plot of specific movies and shows, or parodies a particular genre of movies. As the viewer watches for several episodes, it becomes apparent that the entire show is filtered through Abed’s perspective. This is different from other shows. With nearly all other TV shows, there is an unspoken agreement between the makers of the show and the audience that the audience will suspend their disbelief and pretend for an hour or a half an hour each week that the events in the show are true. Community betrays this agreement by subtly suggesting to the audience that the events in the show might not be real. Of course the audience knows this, but everyone is supposed to pretend that that’s not the case. It then makes the audience unsure of what is real within the world of the show. Is Abed real? Is he imagining everything, or just modifying reality a little bit? If we could see the show from outside of Abed’s perspective, would the characters even really be Abed’s friends, and would any of the events we’ve seen them ena ct have actually happened? The humor in the show requires the audience to have a base of knowledge about pop-culture in order to get the jokes. The show doesn’t assume that the audience is stupid and needs everything to be simple or have everything explained to them, but instead assumes a certain amount of shared cultural experience. The assumption is that enough people have seen The Breakfast Club, for example, or perhaps Pulp Fiction, that when an episode references one of those movies, most of the audience will get it. According to Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You, this is a recent phenomenon in television. TV used to be much simpler and did not require the same amount of memory or mental work to understand. This points to an increase in the demand by audiences for more intelligent and challenging humor (85-87). Community also does not give the same clear-cut moral messages that other TV shows did in the past. Most television shows from previous era s held to the same moral and political values. They preached against racism and in favor of diversity, paid lip-service to feminism while still mostly showing women in traditional roles, and spoke in favor of traditional â€Å"family values.† Community portrays a world where things are not that simple. For example, it shows rather than tells us that race and diversity is a confusing topic and that things do not fit perfectly into a â€Å"

The Nursing Shortage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Nursing Shortage - Essay Example It is vital to know that recruitment is not enough to assure an adequate supply of nurses. American Nurses Association has created a national initiative to deal with the issues that have galvanized the profession. Every hospital in the country must focus on both retention and recruitment as future cornerstones of an adequate workforce. A nursing shortage as defined by IOM â€Å"is a condition whereby there are not enough of professional nurses to provide quality of care of patients† (as cited in Quinn, 2002, p.2). National studies and reports have identified factors that have led to a profound nursing shortage: the aging of society (Martin et al., 2001); an aging nursing workforce (Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach, 2000a; Minnick 2000) a decline in nursing enrollments (American Association of Colleges or Nursing [AACN], 2001); this shortage is uniquely serious in that it is connected to both an increased demand for, and also a decreased supply of nurses. There have been lots of articles published in both nursing journals and public newspaper across the country about the worldwide nursing shortage. First and foremost is aging of the nursing workforce. The average age of nurses in the United States is 46 (Buerhaus, 2000). There has also been declining enrollment in nursing programs over the past decade, as women are able to move into other science focused roles besides nursing (Buerhaus, 2000). Also, highschool counselors tend not to recommend nursing to male or female students interested in science. The salary structures in many health care facilities keep experienced registered nurses at lower salaries compared to other industries. A decreasing emphasis on retention of working nurses by many hospitals has caused nurses to feel that their concerns about stress and patient safety are not being heard or acted upon. Poorly trained managers or brusque, unkind preceptors often leave staff nurses feeling undervalued and not appreciated. The

The High Blood Pressure Essay Example for Free

The High Blood Pressure Essay The double whammy for people with hypertension is that the extra adrenalin required by being overweight or obese: constricts our arteries and blood vessels to raise our blood pressure and give us an energy boost ready to defend ourselves or to escape a dangerous situation; and it could also lead to type 2 diabetes! The good news is that losing weight need not be difficult or involve unappetizing diets. Losing weight is a natural way to reduce our high blood pressure. Here are my tips on how to lose weight healthily: # 1. Exercise: Take regular moderate cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking. Just 30 minutes brisk walking each day will improve our general health. Our heart and lungs will be strengthened; and, we will lose weight if we are burning more calories than we consume. We will also lower our high blood pressure. # 2. Diet: Adopt a healthy, calorie controlled diet that is rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, and is low in fat and salt. Avoid adding salt to your food at the table. Try to eat five different fruits and vegetables each day, of which at least one should be a green vegetable. Choose lean cuts of meat and try to have two portions of oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, each a week. Some of the most successful weight loss diet plans advocate having six small healthy meals a day in stead of the usual two or three large meals. Try out the principles of food combining which lends itself to having several small meals a day. # 3. Drink plenty of water: Try to drink at least two litres of water a day; not all at once, of course, but aim to have eight glasses of water spread out through the day. Doing this will help you feel fuller for longer, reducing the temptation for us to cheat on our healthy calorie controlled diet. Our bodies will also be properly hydrated. Dehydration can cause high blood pressure.

Art And Mathematics:Escher And Tessellations Essay -- Math Artistic Pa

Art And Mathematics:Escher And Tessellations On first thought, mathematics and art seem to be totally opposite fields of study with absolutely no connections. However, after careful consideration, the great degree of relation between these two subjects is amazing. Mathematics is the central ingredient in many artworks. Through the exploration of many artists and their works, common mathematical themes can be discovered. For instance, the art of tessellations, or tilings, relies on geometry. M.C. Escher used his knowledge of geometry, and mathematics in general, to create his tessellations, some of his most well admired works. It is well known that in the past, Renaissance artists received their training in an atmosphere of artists and mathematicians studying and learning together (Emmer 2). People also suggest that the art of the future will depend on new technologies, computer graphics in particular (Emmer 1). There are many mathematical advantages to using computer graphics. They can help to visualize phenomena and to understand how to solve new problems (Emmer 2). â€Å"The use of ‘visual computers’ gives rise to new challenges for mathematicians. At the same time, computer graphics might in the future be the unifying language between art and science† (Emmer 3). However, one must remember that art is by no means the same as mathematics. â€Å"It employs virtually none of the resources implicit in the term pure mathematics.† Many people object that art has nothing to do with mathematics; that mathematics is unemotional and injurious to art, which is purely a matter of feeling. In The Introduction to the Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics, Max Bill refutes this argument by stati... ...d Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 5-9. Emmer, Michele. â€Å"Intoduction to the Visual Mind:Art and Mathematics.† The Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 1-3. Escher, M.C. Escher on Escher- Exploring the Infinite. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986.whattess.html. â€Å"Math Forum: What is a Tessellation?† Available Online.http://forum.swarthmore.edu/sum95/suzanne/whattess.html.Accessed 10/5/99. â€Å"Maurits Cornelius Escher.† Available Online. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Escher.html. Accessed 10/16/99. †M.C. Escher- Interlocking Shapes and Tessellations.† Available Online. http://www.znet.com/~wchow/escher.htm. Accessed 10/7/99. Schattschneider, Doris. â€Å"The Fascination of Tiling.† The Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 157-164.

07.03 Immigration

Graphic Organizer: Immigrant Journals| Lee Chew| Mary Antin| What is the main idea expressed in the author’s journal? | Â  Mistreatment of the Chinese| Â  The equality and freedom in America| Is the author happy or unhappy with his/her experience in America? | Â  Unhappy| Â  Happy| Explain one experience the author had that reflects his/her view of America. | Â  He talks about how he is unable to bring his wife to America over from China or marry an American woman, but how the Irish, Germans, Englishmen, and Italians are treated much nicer than the Chinese. She talks about how she was able to go to school without fees, examinations, machinations, rulings, and no questions asked. She was able to get education for free. | List at least three words from the journal entries that reflect the author’s point of view toward America. | Â  Mean, Misfortune, and Ignorant| Â  Hope, Delight, and Treasure | Two of the writers, Emma and Mary, thought of America as a place of fr eedom and hope, while the third writer, Lee saw that America as an injustice place to live.Mary’s journal excerpt was her experience of coming at living in America for the first time. Her story was a story of hope and happiness, of a little Russian girl able to receive free education with no tests, papers, or anything really in return. Emma’s poem was also very hopeful and happy. Instead of writing about her story of coming to America, she wrote about the symbolism that the Statue of Liberty held.She saw the Statue of Liberty as a place Americas welcoming to the homeless, jobless, and the poor. Were all those people could have a second chance of life and a first chance of freedom, but Lee’s point of view differs with these two writers. He believes that America is an unfair to his race and culture, while other immigrants get treated better. He feels discriminated and that nobody will do or does anything to help him and the rest of his Chinese culture.In my opinio n, I believe our attitudes, as Americans, toward immigrants are very different from the sentiments stated on the Statue of Liberty. Most Americans would not want to welcome the homeless and poor. Also many Americans feel that immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens; especially now in that we are in a recession. So most Americans would probably have a ver changed opinion from the sentiments of the Statue of Liberty.

Business Report of Lenovo Essay

Introduction Lenovo was found in 1984 in Beijing and it is the world’s second-largest PC vendor. According to the last official statistic, Lenovo consolidated turnover of 146.6 billion Yuan and Lenovo employs nearly 40,000 people. Lenovo is a well-known national brand in China and Lenovo is serving customers in more than 160 countries. In order to expand overseas business and access to world-class brand, Lenovo carried out an acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division in 2005. IBM was founded in 1911 in the United States and it is the largest information technology and business solutions company in the world, currently has more than 30 million employees in the world, with operations in over 160 countries and regions. The problems experienced by Lenovo concerns the construction of cross-cultural teams. Most of the merger and acquisition fail in the post-merger cultural integration. Lenovo set up work teams for designing the future of IBM and developing the new view after acquisition. The results had been shown it uneasy and can lead to the failure of the Lenovo’s acquisition strategy. At the beginning of the acquisition, cultural differences had not been enough anticipated in the acquisition process. And Lenovo wants to remedy the problem as soon as possible to make IBM acquisition profitable in the next strategy. The report part of the business plan Summary This report is intended to identify, describe and propose some solutions to Lenovo to solve the problems about teams and groups in the acquisition of the IBM. This report will describe problems associated with team building, provides some possible solutions and evaluates each of these. And, this report will describe the impact of cultural differences on the establishment of work groups. Actually, Lenovo had taken some measures, but it with little success. According to the current state of Lenovo, this report will give some suggestions and solutions to overcome or avoid the conflict caused by cultural differences and set up effective cross-cultural teams. Especially, these solutions are based on literature on the issue. It concludes that it is necessary for the company to establish effective and appropriate measures to eliminate the barriers in cross-cultural teams, as absence of this may threaten the company’s long-term development. To overcome the problem, Lenovo should take the follow action for IBM survival: * Obtain the core values between Chinese employees and American employees through an internal survey. * Design an international training program for all the employees and especially for managers. * Incorporate both corporate cultures of Lenovo and IBM to create a new corporate culture. * Every cross-culture team should organise monthly meeting or weekly meeting to evaluate the progress of communications and work. * Organise some internally non-working activities to create more opportunities for the communication among employees with different cultural context. * Set up the special teams to deal with the problem caused by cultural difference in every cross-cultural team. Introduction This section of business plan will introduce the problems caused by cultural differences in cross-cultural teams and give some suggestions to overcome the problems. In the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo accepted more than 10,000 employees and it also means that Lenovo accepted a very different culture. Lenovo is not only facing the differences between western and eastern culture, but also Lenovo facing the problems of how to integrate the teams with different organisationally cultural context. In this report, the recommendations to overcome the problems in cross-cultural teams and groups are based on the literature on team building and cross-cultural team management. Body At the beginning of the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo had taken some measures. For example, in order to both sides can communicate better, the new Lenovo use the international common language – English as the official language of the company. But cultural integration is a long-term process, which requires companies to devote their time and patience and the communication, compromise between both of high level, and staff in the acquisition. It must not be too hasty. Base on the fact of Lenovo, there are three aspects should be noticed and improved. Firstly, IBM has a long history and IBM has very high brand awareness. In addition to the brand, employees can get the respect for personal values ​​and a comfortable working environment can be provided for employees by the human resources services and the improvement of the system. In contrast, Lenovo has a big gap no matter the position in IT industry and the strength of themselves. If some team members uphold the cultural superiority or group superiority that their own cultural value system better than those members from other cultures or groups, their behavior maybe resulting in the failure of team building because they will be possible to take hate and boycott from other members, even lead to conflict. Because the conflicts caused by cultural differences between team members and individual differences under thus influence, analysis and identification of cultural differences is necessary. Secondly, communication is the process of exchange and transmission of information among people or groups. Because of the multi-cultural background, language and non-language barrier, people lack of understanding of each other’s political, economic, legal, social and cultural environment, and the understanding of the customs, values, etc. are different. They are often based on their own perspective to make an analysis and judgment on each other’s information, and thus the misunderstanding and conflict are often obtained. Because of these, design a multi-cultural training and hold a monthly meeting or weekly meeting is necessary. Thirdly, a company has an acquisition of another company means an integration of two different corporate cultures. When the employees of a cross-cultural group are conscious of the different of personal cultural awareness with others, it will be cause the group lost their purpose. Based on the possibility, establish a common business concept and corporate culture is a good solution to this problem. Establish a new joint management concept and a strong culture based on the environmental requirements and the principle of the company’s strategic development, so that reducing cultural conflict and that each employee’s thinking and behavior can combine with the company’s operations and purpose. Adopting these recommendations and the actions in summary can make internal and external combination of the teams more closely, establish a good reputation in the international market and enhance multinational cultural adaptability. This is the ultimate goal of why Lenovo needs solve the cross-cultural issues of teams and group in the acquisition of IBM. (1077 words) Section 2 1. What the literature says â€Å"teams and groups† The importance of teams and groups for an organisation In modern society, one person’s power, information and resources are limited. Most time people need cooperate with others no matter working or others as Handy (1993) said â€Å"On average, managers spend 50% of their working day in one sort of group or other. Senior managers can spend 80%†. Although there is no clear and single definition of a â€Å"teams and groups†, there is a basic limited definition by Bennett (1991) â€Å"a collection of two or more people who possess a common purpose†. The formation of an organisation groups in order to achieve the purpose of work more efficiently. An organisation can produce some different kinds of groups, for example: formal and informal, LOCO, HICO, teams, etc. An organisation needs to be aware of their differences and use them as efficiently as possible. There are a lot satisfying reasons why an organisation should create work groups. For example, organising effective groups can have some uses for the distribution of work, the management and control of work, problem-solving and decision-making, information processing, information and idea collection, testing and ratifying decisions, co-ordination and liaison, increased commitment and involvement, negotiation and conflict resolution, inquest or inquiry into the past. (Handy, 1993) No matter what kind of a group there is a bottom line is â€Å"A strong group is †¦ usually more powerful than a strong individual and can have a considerable effect on organizational policy and practice.†(Thomson, 2002) This literature review will pay attention on teams mainly. In a team, everyone plays different role and they have specific function and they working with an important principle â€Å"voluntarily co-ordinate their work in order to achieve group objectives†(Bennett, 1991). Building a team People hope they can define their identity through their membership of certain groups like people belong to local political and pressure groups, for example, because they experience a shared set of values with the other people in the group which reinforces their own values. But, according to Thomson (1997), one reason why people belong to group is â€Å"social needs†. As Thomson & Mabey said â€Å"some †¦ groups will be family or friendship groups, which are formed to meet a diverse range of needs such as affection, security, support, belonging or identity. Some may be committees, where members usually represent different interest groups who come together to discuss their differing perspectives on matters of interest†, people should build a team for the work that is highly complex problems, need for consensus decisions and there is uncertainty when a broad range of competences are required. A company is a big group of a lot of people working together, so the managers are responsible to build effective teams or workgroups. After collecting more individual talents, building a team has the ability to use the talents on a united effort and success is very important (Woodcock, 1979). Consequently, the managers should know how to effectively build a team. In general, the managers must have the knowledge about the five development stages (forming, storming, norming, performing and mourning) in a team or workgroup and they should have an appropriate leading method for themselves (Thomson & Mabey, 1994). Of course, this is not enough for managing a team. The managers need realise everyone’s advantages and dis advantages in the team and especially the differences of their culture context. Teams and cross-cultural context In modern society, business environment developed quickly international. Different cultural members mixed in a team so that the team has powerful ability to solve complex problem. But, individuals from different cultural context must show a different behavior and values in the team. This is because the people’s cognition, thinking, needs, values, code of conduct, customs, etc. are formed in the years of life, work and education. The individual differences caused by cultural differences led to the conflict of the team in the cross-cultural context (Sun, 2012). So, how to make a cross-cultural team working effective is the main responsibility of managers. In a cross-cultural team, there is an important factor is a clear understanding of every one culture and values, and a process of acculturation. The acculturation process is a mutual exchange of cultural pattern (Olie, 1995). Related to the case of Lenovo, the best recommendation for acculturation is integration. It different with one culture dominate the others, integration is a process of acculturation (Nahavandi & Malekzadeh, 1995). Interest for Lenovo In the case of Lenovo, Chinese and American must accept each other for working effectively. But the main problem in the cross-cultural groups is communication. The managers of Lenovo must make everyone in the group understands and adapt to the different culture with some training or actions. And more important is design a politic cooperatively cultural pattern. 2. What does the literature say about different cultural contexts and its influence on teams and groups What are culture and its importance According to Hofstede(2003), culture is â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. It related to a group. With a large-scale research study of IBM branches around the world by Geert Hofstede, the culture is considered a compositive project. Geert Hofstede creates a new way to describe culture through five variables: power distance, individualism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. All theories have limitations. Although this method created by Geert Hofstede is not absolutely right, it does not affect the theory of Hofstede can analyse one country’s culture as a valuable tool. Contract with the case of Lenovo, the most important effect by culture is â€Å"Currently only 25% of international mergers and acquisitions in Europe are successful. The price of failure is high. Cultural misunderstanding lead to loss of face, loss of money and, in extreme case, even loss of life† (Gibson cited in Naysmith, 2006). If managers do not pay enough attention on the culture, it possibly can cause the failure of the acquisition of IBM. Organisational culture Culture is not only exists in the countries, but also culture exists in any organisation constituted by people. Based on Handy (1993) said, â€Å"The role organisation will succeed as long as it can operate in a stable environment†. A steady cultural environment is necessary for an organization get success. At the same time, organisational culture is manageable and it can affects the approach of management, the accepted goals and customer of the society determine and influence that what managers strive for and the rule observed by managers (Stewart cited in Naysmith, 2006). So, the organisation also based on the cultural context of the country. The organisational culture can also measured by the five variables created by Hofstede.(Geert Hofstede, 2001) Influence of culture on â€Å"teams and groups† If a company formed by people comes from different cultural country, this company will own a special energy. It is a competitive advantage from a cross-cultural context. But, exerting the competitive advantage effectively is the most important challenge for the cross-cultural group. Because in a cross-cultural group the members have different working purpose and processes will be revealed. (Maznevski & Peterson, 1997) The effectiveness of work group will be decreased by the ethnocentrism, stereotypes, different expectations and difference in values. And these negative emotions will produce the anxiety and misunderstanding in-group, even diminishing the workers dedication to the company and destroying the group ardor. Interenst for Lenovo Cross-border mergers and acquisitions not only include the corporate cultural differences of both sides, but also include the cultural differences between the countries of the two sides. Organise some activities or cultural training to make more opportunities for every understanding different culture can eliminate the negative affects effectively. 3. Conclusion This literature review introduces some keys briefly for understanding teams and groups in a cross-cultural context. Firstly, teams and groups are particular important for an organisation. But there are some problems should be solved in a cross-cultural group. The managers is not only should know everyone’s skill and talent, but also they should know their difference caused by different cultural context. And some actions can make a good communication between each other for understanding the differences are necessary. Secondly, based on enough knowledge to understand the importance of culture, the managers should eliminate the negative affects of cross-cultural context through some activities or training. And the most important is creating an appropriate organisational culture. It can give the cross-cultural group an approach, so the cross-cultural group can exerts the competitive advantages completely. Bibliography Bennett, R., (1991), Organisational Behavior, London: M&E/Pitman, pp.145, 154. Geert Hofstede, (2001), Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Geert Hofstede, (2003), Cultures and Organisations, Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival, Soft ware of the Mind, London: Profile Books Ltd. Handy, C, (1993), Understanding Organisations (4th ed.), London: Penguin, pp.150-2. Maznevski, M. & Peterson, M.F., (1997), Societal Values, Social Interpretation, and Multinational Teams. In C. Skromme Granrose & S. Oskamp (Eds.), Cross-Cultural Work Groups, pp. 61-89, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A.R., (1995), Acculturation in mergers and acquisitions, In Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 328-341, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Olie, R., (1995), Culture and integration problem in international mergers and acquisitions, In T. Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 308-325, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Sun Ziwen, (2012, April 13), Case analysis of the cultural integration in cross-border mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises, People’s Forum, 356(2), 7. Thomson, R., (2002), Managing people (3rd ed.), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp.92, 95. Thomson, R. & Mabey, C., (1994), Developing Human Resources, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann in association with the Institute of Management, pp.177. Woodcock, M., (1979), Team Development Manual, Aldershot: Gower Press Teakfield Limited, pp.177.

The Art of Writing the Perfect Formal Letter

The Art of Writing the Perfect Formal Letter Sometimes it seems like letter writing is a lost art form. Formal letters are becoming a rarity and have been replaced by all sorts of modern communication- from informal emails to texts to Snapchat. Even though we have come a long way technologically in communicating with each other, its still important to know the basics of writing a formal letter just in case there is an occasion for one. Learning the basics of writing a formal letter can also help us improve communication in the other, more modern ways of writing to each other. Here are some things to remember when you start to write your own formal letter.Why you would need to write a formal letterIn this day and age, you may be wondering why you would even need to write a formal letter. Though it may be a rare occasion in this digital era with its emphasis on abbreviations and getting everything into 140 characters or less, there are still a few times when letter-writing skills can come in handy. For example, in addition to cov er letters there are also grants and applications to universities or even certain jobs that may require a formal written letter, so you want to be prepared when those pop up.You could also write a letter if you have been using a product or service for many years and all of a sudden the product has changed and you become dissatisfied. Though social media is a quick way to get a companys attention, it may not have lasting imprint on them to affect change in the way you want.Another good reason to write a formal letter is if you read an article online or in a newspaper that you disagree with and want to let the editor know your thoughts. This formal letter is called a letter to the editor and often they get published in the publication, so you definitely want to ensure that it is well written and your thoughts are easily understandable.Lastly, you could also make your grandmas whole year by writing her a traditional letter and sending it in the mail, which is another very good reason t o know how to write one.Be professional in toneThe very first thing you need to keep in mind when writing a formal letter is to always be professional. Though you can be a little lax about spelling and grammar in emails or social media posts to friends, when you write a formal letter you want to make sure that everything is precise and accurate. Avoid using Internet jargon like LOL or idk. Always be respectful in your language, even if youre trying to convey disagreement or complain about a service or product. Using antagonistic language will never get your point across effectively and may tarnish any chance you have to work together with the person or company to fix the problem.Though its important to be professional, its also important to use language thats relatable. Just because a letter is formal doesnt mean that you need to use overly complicated words that are uncommon. You dont want your letter receiver to have to use a dictionary while reading it because your point may get lost in the midst. Be formal, but not too formal.The basics of the heading and salutationWhen you are writing a formal letter, the first thing you need to do is figure out who you are addressing. If you are writing a letter to the editor, for example, you need to address your letter to the editor-in-chief of the paper. If you are writing a cover letter, then you will need to address the hiring manager that was listed in the advertisement for the job.It is always best to do address a letter with the recipients name. In some cases you may find that you dont have a name to address to- especially in the case of applying blindly to a job advertisement where theres not much info about the hiring manager online. However, you should exhaust all efforts to find the recipients name so that your letter can appear more personal.Once you establish who you are writing the letter to, then you will need to set up a correct heading. Though getting the right heading may not seem all that important, i t establishes a rapport with your letter recipient. They know that youve taken the extra steps to get their information correct and will be more likely to read on in the body of the letter.Start out your heading with the senders address, but dont include your name. Below the two lines of your address, put todays date. After you have written out the senders address, put a space of one line and then enter the inside address, or the address of the person or company you are writing to. The inside address will include the recipients name, his or her title, company, and then address. If you are unsure if your recipient is a Miss or a Mrs., then it is always best to use Ms to avoid any embarrassing incidents. If you know that your recipient is a medical doctor or holds a PhD, then be sure to use Dr. before their name.After you have written the inside address, then you will need to write a formal salutation to start off the letter. It is standard to use Dear followed by the recipients name. Typically, if you are writing to someone you havent met then its appropriate to write their personal title (Miss, Ms., or Mr.) followed by their last name and then a colon. If you are unsure of a persons gender, then use their first and last name in both the inside address and the salutation.Heres an example of a heading with a proper salutation.Be concise in the body of the letterWhen you write a formal letter, write with purpose. It is likely that your recipient is a very busy person who doesnt have time to read a meandering letter. Know what purpose your letter serves and write about that and that only.After your salutation, skip a line and then start the body. In the first paragraph, give a brief introduction to who you are and why you are writing. After you have established those first important details, the rest of the letter body should be spent explaining what your business is and why they should know or care about it. Using facts and convincing language will undoubtedly be appreciated by your recipient. Be concise, use good language, and be sure to proofread and fact check everything you send in.Closing your letterOnce you have written the body of the letter and you feel you have gotten your business established and your point across with the recipient, then you will need to close it out. After the last body paragraph, skip one line to write the closing. There are many ways to do this, but the generally accepted lines are:Sincerely Yours,Best,Yours Sincerely,Looking forward to hearing from you,Respectfully,After the closing line, skip four lines and then write your full name to sign the letter.Small details to rememberIn addition to making sure your heading, salutation, body, closing, and signature are correct in your formal letter, you should also get the overall look of your letter to be professional as well. Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman, and a standard size, such as 12 point, for formal letters. Anything bigger will make it look li ke you are trying to take up space and anything smaller will make it difficult on your recipient to read.You should also make sure that your margins are a standard size (around 1 inch) and that you arent using double spaces between lines. Most business letters are left justified and use single spacing throughout, so be mindful of these aesthetic choices in your letter writing.Letter exampleThe following is an example of a formal letter, complete with heading and salutations.6872 Elm Ave.Toledo, OH 43601December 4, 2016Ms. Persephone JohnsonEditor-in-ChiefToledo Daily News456 Editor AvenueToledo, OH 43601Dear Ms. Johnson:I am writing to you today in response to the op-ed piece, Why You Should Absolutely Declaw Your Cat in Thursdays issue of the Daily News. As a longtime cat owner, I was very disturbed by the writers opinion of this delicate subject.Though declawing your cat may seem like the easiest way to prevent your home from being torn to shreds by your kittys claws, the truth is that this is an inhumane practice that many vets are starting to shy away from. To declaw a cat is to remove your kittys naturally given tools. This would be the equivalent of cutting off a humans fingers just so they wouldnt get into too much trouble.Cats without claws are unable to defend themselves against other animals and the surgery provides absolutely no medical benefit to them. The Humane Society is staunchly against declawing cats, except in the cases of medical emergencies such as tumors.Instead of declawing, cat owners should be patient with their feline companions when it comes to unwanted scratching. The truth is that scratching is a very natural behavior of cats, and should not be eradicated from their activities. The owner needs to instead redirect scratching from things like furniture or wood floors to toys and scratching posts. Cats typically scratch when they are bored, so as cat owners we need to make sure they are getting everything they need to live happy, fulf illed lives.This reader thinks that the writer of this piece should have more thoroughly checked her sources on declawing and the harm that it creates for cats.Respectfully,Gina DavisThe importance of letter writingWhether you are writing a letter to your prospective new boss, you are trying to get a donation for your business or nonprofit, or you are writing a letter to the editor at your local paper, its important to be accurate and confident in your writing. Paying attention to small details like getting the heading correct or using the right salutation will make your letter more credible in the eyes of the recipient. They will automatically assume that you are competent and professional, which will hopefully make them more receptive to what you have to say in the body of your letter.Before you send your letter off to your recipient, have someone look it over. Whether its a friend, colleague, a copy editor, or a teacher, its worth getting someone to proofread, provide suggestions on how to improve, and to get feedback on what you have written. Though the formal letter may not be as fun to write as a novel or an op-ed, its am important genre of writing that can accomplish a lot in just a few paragraphs.