The Things They Carried Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

The Things They Carried - Essay Example The burdens that the characters carry manifest themselves even before they arrive in Vietnam. In the story â€Å"On a Rainy River,† the narrator O’Brien explains the events that led him to Vietnam in the first place: â€Å"In June of 1968, a month after graduating from Macalester College, I was drafted to fight a war I hated† (44). As a pacifist, he did not believe in going to war, so he contemplated running away to Canada. With his opposition to the war, O’Brien felt that he could not carry the burden of participating in Vietnam; however, these personal burdens were not the only ones that were weighing upon him. He felt that by becoming a deserter, he would become a burden upon his family: â€Å"They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing. Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to. It was what had brought them to the war in the first place, nothing positive, no dreams of glory or honor, just to avoid t he blush of dishonor. They died so as not to die of embarrassment†(16). These motivations run contrary to the traditional motivations for going to war; he at no point considers going to war for patriotic reasons or for dedication to the ideals and causes of his country. Wanting to not disappoint his family, O’Brien decides that the burden of going to Vietnam contrary to his political beliefs was less of a burden than the ramifications of his draft dodging. Vietnam weighed heavily upon O’Brien, and he had not even been to the country yet. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wrist watches, dog tags, mosquito repellent, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military payment Certificates, C rations, and two or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed

Americana Group Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Americana Group - Research Paper Example Marketing Analysis Marketing environment analysis Marketing environment has major influence on a business. Trend in marketing environment is one of the most important factors to consider for a business or marketer. There are some important factors of marketing environment of business. These are political, economical, social and technological. So, detailed analysis of each of these environmental factors is needed to assess the current overview of marketing environment of Americana Group. Marketing environment has major influence on American group and changes of each of these areas leads to change in the strategic decision with respect to marketing of the products and brands operated by the company in Middle East and North Africa region. Therefore, PEST analysis would provide detailed overview of this market. Political Factors American Group deals with the franchisee business of leading international restaurant chains and manufacturing consumer food products. Generally, political and g overnmental factors impact on food business in any country in a higher extent because food business deals with the most important needs of human beings. This business also has higher risk with respect to hygiene factor. Governments of Middle East countries have several food policies applicable for food businesses and they need to strictly adhere to policies. Apart from the specific food policy, there are several rules and regulations imposed by different countries for domestic as well international business. It is very important for any company operates in this market to comply all concerned rules and regulations of different governmental agencies for successful operation of business... The paper stresses that the company needs to buy stake of the foreign businesses or make partnership with the foreign franchise holders of leading food brands like KFC, Pizza Hut etc to enter into target market. Then it should do partnership business for limited period of time to understand the market potential and the consumption trend of the customers of those businesses. Finally, the company can select the best potential market among the targeted markets and start both manufacturing and selling their own products along with the franchisee business. This would be the best cost effective strategy for the company to diversify into foreign markets. Risk of foreign investment would be minimized through this market testing strategy. Development of effective marketing strategy is also very essential with new product development. So, it needs to invest good amount for promotion of each of new product development. The company can also redesign its old products and introduce them with the n ew product. it can push a new product with the existing popular product line up to minimize the risk of lower demand. This report makes a conclusion that market development strategy will help the company to boost its product development strategy through new product launch in a new market. Economies of scale will also increase through new product launch in the existing market as cost of production and cost of promotion will not much increase. Therefore, both the strategies will be most beneficial for future growth of Americana Group.

Business Term Paper on Google Inc. in China Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business on Google Inc. in China - Term Paper Example However, the company took a considerable time and effort in order to understand how its search technology could work effectively in China and thus made adjustments accordingly. The author has the perspective that even though the company appeased censors in China, but it maintained the personal information associated with the web blogs and emails outside the Chinese territory, which was different strategy of the company in comparison to its competitors. However, it might create the bias as it is better to provide access to information to users rather than make them completely devoid. 2. My Perspective :  ¶ The knowledge of the motto of the motto of Google Inc. ‘not to be evil’ and the mission of the company which is to organize the information of the world and make it universally useful and accessible is violated in terms of the decision of the company to comply with the filtering regulations of Chinese authorities. The possible bias from the author’s perspective could be overlooking the motto of the company to gain a market share in the growing market of China by compromising with the ethical perspective of freedom of expression. B. Bracketing:  ¶ ‘Previously acquired information about the corporate image of the company and how it is superior to its competitors in terms of putting user benefits first.’ This previous information is set for bracketing so as not affect the analysis. II. The Situation A. Facts:  ¶ Informal corporate motto of Google ‘don’t be evil’. 2002: Blocking of google.com and very slow speed of the search engine due to non-compliance with Chinese censorship laws. 2006: China’s attempt to move away from the communist model and declaring its commitment to outside reforms and Google’s initiative to look more at its global strategy. Establishment of strong surveillance system by Chinese government. Making the internet service providers in China comply with censorship rules fo r getting license. Offering google.cn, a local version that complied with censorship issues Criticism worldwide for giving in to the bullying of the Chinese government. B. Historical context:  ¶ 2001: China joined WTO abolishing market impediments and giving positive signals to the world. 2004: IPO by Google leading the shareholders to have a more say in activities of the company. Governmental and self censorship by the Chinese authorities for internet service providers in China. Google’s non compliance with censorship laws in 2000 that made the website shut down for 2 weeks in 2002. Announcement of launching google.cn that complied with censorship laws. C. Quotations:  ¶ â€Å"While many companies claim to put their customers first, few are able to resist the temptation to make small sacrifices to increase shareholder value. Google has steadfastly refused to make any change that does not offer a benefit to the users who come to the site† (Martin 5). This shows bia s of the author he mentions the previous conduct of the company to relate to presented case scenario. III. Analysis A. Situational Analysis: 1.  ¶ Key principal parties involved in the case are Google Inc. Director of International Business, Tom Mclean, and Chinese authorities. McLean headed the development of Chinese version of its search engine in order to cater to the needs of its users in China by first developing the US based technology wherein it did not require complying with scrutiny and internet filtering regulations of the Chinese autho

Today's Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Today's Youth - Essay Example This includes the following: connectivity, interactivity and access (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008). Interactivity pertains â€Å"to the dynamic, user-controlled, nonlinear, non-sequential, complex information behavior and representation in or† associated to print materials and other media (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Connectivity on the other hand â€Å"refers to the sense of community or construction of social worlds† which develops from changing ideas (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). Access refers to the disintegrating of long-standing information barriers which creates an entrance â€Å"to a wide diversity of formerly inaccessible† opportunity and opinion (Sipe & Pantaleo, 2008, p.41). In this context, when the theory is applied to explain the behavior of the digital age youth, the following changes could be made clear: (1) changes in their perceptions (2) changes in how they analyze and learn (3) changes in the information and ideas to which they have access. Two Te xt Based Today’s youths are described to be fearless. They are not afraid in voicing out their ideas and concerns; they speak their mind (Anon., 2001). They are never tired asking questions (Anon., 2001). Stated otherwise, the youths of today are very courageous and idealistic. They are not afraid of public scrutiny. It seems that what is important for them is that they are able to express their idea and be heard by everyone. It is contended that the digital age has triggered this kind of attitude. The youths have mastered the use of many types of digital equipment which could show and relay their beliefs and ideas. Nonetheless, their being too vocal has a known disadvantage. Some would perceive their boldness as being disrespectful (Anon., 2001). The adults believe that there are topics which are ought to be discussed privately and not publicly. Nevertheless, they have not admonished the youths regarding this matter. According to Momma Hawks, the adults are afraid of the eff ects of such action (Anon., 2001). They are specifically afraid of the sanctions that the government would impose against them (Anon., 2001). To note, when the parents admonish their son or daughter, there is a possibility that their child will report such action in a negative way to a government agency. According to Connor and Crane (2008, p.155), the younger generation of today has been raised to adhere to the idea on individualism. They have been thought to think of themselves first before anything else. In this sense, they learn to disregard even the advices of the people surrounding them. Sometimes, they even defy the authority. This attitude has led some of them to be an activist. One Web-based Nigel Davies has expressed his amazement on how the youths of today adopt to new technologies. He observed that the youths use the technologies with speed and ease (Davies, 2010). Some of the youths could even â€Å"type their names long before they could write† (Davies, 2010). I t seems that they find it easy to learn the basic functions of these technologies especially computers. This is due to the fact that these new technologies are usually user-friendly. Being user-friendly means that a technology could easily be used by anyone. This presupposes that the use of such technology is founded on simple and understandable instructions. Relevance to Gramsci’s Notion on Hegemony Gramsci actually believes that hegemony is an organising principle, one that is permeated by socialisation process into every aspect of daily life

What Makes Friends Stick Together Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

What Makes Friends Stick Together - Essay Example They both like good food and thus eat out quite often. Even though they are the best of friends, a lot between them is not in common. Their similarities, therefore, are very few yet they cling on to each other because they adore each other’s company. Also, they like to associate as either Alan’s pal or as Zack’s mate. There are however very few similarities between the two which is surprising to state. Both like to be at their best when it comes to wit and humor, which is another similarity. Their differences are in terms of their dressing sense where Alan is more formal and classy while Zack believes in informal attire. Alan likes to pray at night while Zack sleeps early. Alan is good at studies while Zack hardly does so. The differences are endless yet both of them stay with each other for quite a long time, both at school and in the neighborhood. What is even more surprising is the fact that one of them (Alan) loves sports and indulges in different games as well but Zack likes to enjoy through collecting stamps and old currency notes. One can easily think that both Alan and Zack are not friends but this is not the case at all. In the end, it can be stated here that both Alan and Zack like to accompany one another and thus enjoy the warmth that their friendship brings for them in the long run. Even though they have more differences than similarities, they hold fast on to one another.

Phase 2 Discussion Board Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Phase 2 Discussion Board - Assignment Example cue efforts even though it was difficult because of the harsh terrain, which made it difficult to get to a close proximity to the earthquake epicentre (Chen & Booth, 2011, p. 199). An earthquake relief team that included about 184 people from Beijing military command and Armed police General Hospital came to help in rescue efforts by providing tents, medical supplies, food and also drinking water. The Red Cross Society in China sent over eighty men to carry supplies by foot to the affected areas since the roads had been damaged completely by landslides. Humanitarian rescue efforts were crucial because the lack of road transport saw helicopters being deployed to rescue people and also provide supplies to the stranded villages. The injured were evacuated from the earthquake-stricken areas on the same day that the earthquake occurred (Chen & Booth, 2011, p. 199). The humanitarian efforts played a great role because of their efforts many lives were saved on the day of the earthquake, who would have died without the fast response. From these efforts, a commander of the armed forces in China announced that over 3,000 survivors had been rescued by the second day of t he earthquake. On the morning of May 14, a team of 15 Special Operations Troops that carried relief supplies and various communication gear managed to use a parachute and land in the inaccessible area of Mao County in the northeast of Wenchuan. In May 25, an additional 90 helicopters were deployed to assist in rescue efforts, and this maximized the number of people that were evacuated from the affected areas. Many injured and hungry were treated and given food and evacuated to safe places. On May 13th, the first outside humanitarian team from Taiwan joined China by sending a chartered flight that carried some 100 tons of various supplies. On 16th May, other humanitarian and rescue teams from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Russia and even the United States sent aircrafts with tents, medical supplies,

Invisible racial discrimination in the UK hotel industry Essay

Invisible racial discrimination in the UK hotel industry - Essay Example Among many other calamities, this has resulted in increasingly strict immigration conditions. Although some initiatives have been taken to upgrade the relations with the minorities, the racial discrimination inherent in the social mindset and practices persists. â€Å"The U.K. has one of the highest levels of racially-motivated violence and harassment in Western Europe, and the  problem is getting worse.† (Human Rights, 1997 cited in Shah, 2010). This paper discusses the experience of ethnic minority workers in the hotel and catering industry. Research provides evidence of racism faced by the ethnic minority in Britain in various walks of life in general and the hotel and catering industry in particular. The hotel and restaurant industry is known for its harsh working environment, specifically for the employees who are from ethnic minorities or migrant community, in terms of oral contracts, minimal training, long working hours, late-night working, unpaid overtime, unpaid official leave, delayed salary payments, discriminated recruitment, biased promotions, job insecurity, bullying, insult and abuse. Racism, as practiced in the British society, can take both visible and invisible forms. â€Å"Indirect discrimination is where there is a requirement, condition, provision, criterion or practice which has an adverse impact on  one group disproportionately.   However, such discrimination is not unlawful if it can be justified by the employer.† (PJH Law, 2009). Indirect discrimination can be regarded as invisible racism. It occurs as a result of regulations or practices which have a detrimental effect on people from a certain race. One example of invisible racism is the condition by a hotel HR department to hire only those employees residing within a one-mile radius with the hotel in the center, knowing that the majority of ethnic minority resides outside the defined limits, indirectly avoiding applications from the ethnic