Fairy Tales as Moral Lessons free essay sample

Tales as Moral Lessons When most people think of fairy tales, they usually imagine a beautiful princess that needs to be rescued, a valiant prince that rescues her and a happily ever after involving a wedding between the prince and princess. People imagine monsters and witches, but sometimes, when they read a fairy tale they may notice an underlying moral to the story that teaches us to do good deeds rather than bad. I read The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen several years ago and was amazed at how different it is from the Disney version we all know. In the Disney version, as with all Disney movies, there is a happy ending where the girl gets the prince. This is not so in the original version by Hans Christian Andersen. His happily ever is when the little mermaid gets a soul and gets to go to heaven because of her good deeds not marrying the prince and living happily ever after. We will write a custom essay sample on Fairy Tales as Moral Lessons or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Hans Christian Andersen’s story tells of six mermaid princesses and centers on the youngest, much like the Disney version, but that is nearly the only thing that is the same. She is different from her sisters; she is quiet and thoughtful. Her garden is different from her sisters in that it is shaped like the sun and features a statue of a handsome boy, foretelling her love of the surface world and a human boy. She sees a handsome prince celebrating his birthday on a ship. Later that night a storm capsizes the ship and she saves him from drowning. She places him on the shore near a religious house where he will be found and taken care of. Later we are told that she hears sailors speaking of â€Å"so many good things about the doings of the young prince, that she was glad she had saved him. †(Andersen, par. 16) She learns where the prince’s castle is and spends every night watching him and falling more deeply in love with him. After hearing from her grandmother that mermaids have no soul and are simply turned into sea foam when they die, unless they marry a human that loves them more than their parents, she makes up her mind that she must marry a uman so that she may obtain a soul. Since she is already in love with the prince, she goes to the evil sorceress who mixes a potion that will give her legs so that she can go on land and try to win the prince’s heart, but the sorceress’ price is the little mermaid’s voice. The sorceress cuts out the little mermaids tongue and gives her the potion. The little mermaid goes to the shore, drinks the potion and gets her legs, but, like the sorcere ss said, it is incredibly painful to walk on her legs. She is discovered by the prince after she has drunk the potion and obtained legs, but she cannot talk after having her tongue cut out by the sorceress. Regardless of the fact that she cannot talk, she wins over the prince with her beauty and grace, but the prince believes that a girl at the religious house was the one who saved him and is in love with her. The little mermaid thinks she can still marry the prince because the girl he thinks rescued him and is in love with is in a religious house studying to be a nun. We see this example of teaching people to do good rather than evil most clearly at the end when the little mermaid dies. She joins the â€Å"Daughters of the Air† and is told that she has been given a soul and may go to heaven after 300 years. Not only does she obtain a soul and a chance to go to heaven, but she will have her 300 years reduced by one year every time she finds a good child who brings joy to his or her parents. On the other side, every time she sheds a tear from seeing a child do something bad, she will have one day added to her 300 years. Just like other fairy tales, the girl gets a reward at the end, but in The Little Mermaid, it is the reward of a soul and heaven because of her good deeds that make the happy ending, not marrying a prince and living happily ever after. This story is clearly influencing people that their good deeds will be rewarded, not that they will have a happily ever after, but they will win peoples’ hearts and go to heaven if they do good. It also invites children to be good with the thought that they would be helping a mermaid get to heaven. Andersen originally ended the tale with the mermaid dissolving, but then later added the daughters of air coda, stating that it was his original intention and, in fact, the working title of the story. The daughters of the air say they can earn souls simply by doing three hundred years worth of good deeds, but Andersen later revised it to state that all this depends upon whether children are good or bad. Good behavior takes a year off the maidens time of service while bad behavior makes them weep and a day is added for every tear they shed. This has come under much criticism from scholars and reviewers, stating that, This final message is more frightening than any other presented in the tale. The story descends into the Victorian moral tales written for children to scare them into good behavior. P. L. Travers, author of Mary Poppins and noted folklore commentator, says, But a year taken off when a child behaves and a tear shed and a day added whenever a child is naughty? Andersen, this is blackmail. And the children know it and say nothing. Theres magnanimity for you (Travers 1979). We see too in other parts of the story examples of approved behavior being rewarded. When the little mermaid, who is the most beautiful girl in the world, hears sailors always saying good things about the prince she saved from drowning, it makes her glad all the more that she rescued him and fell in love with him. This is another example of good deeds being rewarded, because the prince wins the heart of the little mermaid with his good deeds. There is the integral element of an evil being in the story; the sorceress that gives the little mermaid a potion that will give her legs so that she can be with the prince she loves. The sorceress cuts out her tongue in payment for the potion, which is a very tragic thing to happen especially because the little mermaid has the most beautiful voice of all. The little mermaid suffers the loss of her tongue and the pain that accompanies her magically created legs with the utmost grace. She ignores the pain in her feet and legs, because it is better for her to suffer in silence and be with the prince she loves than to eliminate the cause of suffering and be unable to be with her prince. Here, again, we see an example of virtue. In Disney’s version of The Little Mermaid, it is completely different. They change the end so that the little mermaid marries the prince. This version does not teach people to do good, it only teaches young girls that they should look for Prince Charming to sweep them off their feet and take them away to a castle to live happily ever after. Conclusion After reading The Little Mermaid and all the fairy tales in our text book, Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, and having grown up watching Disney movies, it is my belief that most fairy tales were written with the intention of impressing upon people the importance of being good and virtuous. We see this clearly in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid where we are taught how great a reward you will receive for good works and the penalty for bad deeds. Works Cited Andersen, Hans C. The Little Mermaid. Copenhagen: 1837. Print The Little Mermaid. Dir. Ron Clements. Perf. Jodi Benson, Samuel Wright. Disney, 1989 Travers, P. L. Mary Poppins. London: 1934. Print Behrens, Laurence and Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum 12th Edition. London: 2012. Print

buy custom The Racial Achievement and Suspension Gaps essay

buy custom The Racial Achievement and Suspension Gaps essay According to research, the achievement gap is the performance between a few students whose parents earn low-income compared to that of their counterparts on standardized tests. The minority and low-income children do not perform well as their fellows on the tests (Murphy, 2009). Other studies define racial achievement gap as the differences between the performance of groups of students particularly groups defined by race, gender and social class status. The observation of the achievement gap could be through various different measures such as standardized test scores, drop out rates, and grade point average, as well as, admission in and completion from college rates. A good number of schools have tried so hard to reduce or eliminate the minority achievement gap. In most cases, schools put children falling behind in remedial classes to assist them catch up. Although, some schools are getting that grouping students by ability or tracking leads to even more problems other than solving t hem. Therefore, despite the fact, there is an increasing number in cultural diversity, in most schools, the policies, practices, and procedures of the dominant culture remain the accepted method to learning. This thus provides learning advantage to students of the dominant culture over learners of the other races and ethnicities. According to Murphy (2009), culturally competent instructors learn means by which they could effectively communicate with their learners from different races, cultures, and social class. This is always done in respect of the different cultures. These instructors are also aware of their attitudes toward members of different races and cultures with whom they may be working. Achievement and suspension gaps affect negatively educational results for poor children and children of colour on a consistent basis when analyzed in terms of race and ethnicity. According to studies, the achievement and suspension, this is detected, through standardized tests in elementary schools starts as early as in kindergarten. Some researches had the views that during the first years of children in school, about half the test score gap between black and white students is already evident. Several different tests at kindergarten entry have demonstrated evidence of such a gap. Therefore, this makes it difficult for such students to catch up with others later on since the early gap in performance is extremely critical. For instance, learners who perform poorly in tests of cognitive skills before joining kindergarten are most likely to perform extremely poorly in the entire of their school life. The use of suspension as the main discipline strategy always has a disproportionate impact on students of colour since most schools depend highly on suspension from classroom. Therefore, the application of suspension as a disciplinary practice may lead to the well documented racial gaps in academic achievement. This therefore, implies that there is a significant need for scholarly attention to the racial gap if efforts dealing with the achievement gap are to have a higher likelihood of success. However, some researchers argue that the achievement and suspension gaps are not as a result of race, but are issues of class. For instance, such arguments reveal that the gap in test scores does not show any signs of race, but rather it is because of the socioeconomic status of the family where the child is coming. These researchers demonstrate that the poorly performing students do so because they lack adequate financial resources. The financial resources could enable them compete favourably with their counterparts. Therefore, this perspective implies that the actual gap is brought about by the children who come from wealthy families and neighbourhoods versus those who come from poor families and neighbourhoods. Nevertheless, despite all these arguments made by various researchers, it is significant that the educational diversity focuses on whether the school community is serious and believes that all students can learn despite their races, ethnicity, social background and cultures among others. This is because effective school instructors promote cultures that are of value. There is the formation of healthy the processes of encouraging, acknowledging, understanding, and cultivating diverse values in schools. Causes of the racial achievement and suspension gaps Studies show that frequent suspensions of students from classrooms are the greatest cause of poor academic performance. In addition, suspensions may cause a student to drop out of school or to cause a delay in the graduation process. For instance, school discipline practices resulting in suspension from school may cause severe damage to the learning process of a student and in other ways, as well. This may happen because most of the time the suspended students become less attached to school, less invested in school rules and school assignments, as well as, less motivated to achieve academic success (Chubb, 2002). Such students not bonded to school are more likely to change into law breakers. For instance, they may start participating in law breaking practices hence becoming less motivate to achieve academic success. Therefore, from the previous research, it is revealed that school suspensions increase the risk of antisocial behaviour that the nations face. In overall, disproportionat e school discipline encountered by some racial and ethnic group has significant implications for academic outcomes. Some demographic characteristics that are common among some racial and ethnic groups have been used as the main explanation for the racial achievement and suspension gaps. For instance, low income learners with histories of low achievement who live in high crime or high poverty neighbourhoods may be at a higher risk for involving themselves in acts leading to office disciplinary referrals and school suspensions. Therefore, sociocultural factors are the foremost causes of the achievements and suspension gap. For instance, the cultural attitudes and racism plays the key role in the achievement gap. This is seen when the minority students holds the attitude that the majority cultures sees them as people who are less capable. Thus, expects little from them. It is difficult for the minority students with such attitudes to try to perform better in school because they believe that they will not succeed. Some studies illustrate that minority learners try to keep their low levels of achievement intentionally. This is in order not to behave like the white students and get the approval of their friends. To make matters worse, the instructors have low expectations of these students hence making them to have low expectations for them. Other researchers demonstrate that the achievement and suspension gaps exist as a result of homes and communities. For instance, students may not be able to perform well if they are not coming from stable home environment with the support needed in order to succeed in school, even though there are enough alignment standards, as well as, setting flexible curriculums within the school. Therefore, the researchers try to make a follow up on what happens in the homes of the students in order to know the cause of the achievement gap. Thus, through such researches, it has been revealed that, in most cases, parents or guardian do not get involved in the education of the student, there is the lack of discipline for children in homes, and communities, and attitudes of indifferences and low expectations for the child`s educational achievement. This implies that the tutors and the school only have the ability of instructing, but they cannot reinforce the behaviours at home or ensure that a child `s` assignment is accomplished. Moreover, they cannot ensure that the child has someone to assist with his or her studies. Thus, the problem could only be solved starting form home by correcting those issues first. According to suggestions from other studies, academic achievement is exceedingly closely tied to race and socioeconomic status. For instance, being brought up in a low income family may imply having few educational materials together with poor nutrition and limited access to health care services, all of which could lead to poor and low performances academically (Orfield, 2008). Achievement gap is also caused by biological differences like brain structure and development. For instance, this is seen in the way in which one gender may perform better than the other especially in certain subjects. Statistics show that different parts of the brain grow differently in female compared to males. Therefore, the rate of brain maturation between boys and girls influences how gender process data and could have effects in their performance at academic, work. This thus shows that the average variations in genetic and level of intelligence are the main causes of racial differences in academic achievement. Another cause for achievement and suspension gap includes the cultural and environmental factors. This implies that the culture and environment where children are brought in may play a significant part in the achievement and suspension gap. For instance, the black parents in most cases do not motivate their children or do not promote early education to their children. This is because they do no see the personal advantages of gaining exceptional academic skills. Thus, the African Americans tend to start school with little vocabularies than their white counterparts as the result of the cultural differences. Nevertheless, poverty is known to play a crucial part, and the differences assumed to occur from racial factors may be as a result of socioeconomic circumstances. This means that the majority of poor students despite their race, are from homes that are unstable, lack enough care, inadequate nutrition, and health care thus causing depression environmentally hence affecting the young childrens growth and development. Thus as a result, this causes more effect on the achievement and suspension gaps. For example, because of lack of enough resources, a child may choose to participate in acts such as theft in order to meet some of his or her wants. Such acts may in the end cause suspension from schools hence; cause achievement and suspension gap between African Americans. Because of environmental and cultural differences between the whites and the black students, the black children in most cases join the school with low level of knowledge that can influence their skills in languages, their book experiences and develops difference in perceptions and expectations in the school context. Moreover, racial achievement and suspension gaps are due to low achievement. For instance, research shows that there is a persistent pattern that Asian and white students score greater grades on achievement tests compared with white students, Latinos and American Indian students. In such circumstances, most students may become frustrated disaffected as well as develop low self confidence due to repeated academic difficulties and underperforming which may lead to a higher rate of school disruption. Remedies for achievement and suspension gaps In order for the school, community, and students, to achieve or overcome the achievement and suspension gap, remedies such as teacher focused reforms should be advocated for in school institutions. Studies show that, teachers are the most significant in-school factor influencing the academic achievement of students. This reform should be enhanced from both up down in line of greater standards for teacher education and preparation. Furthermore, it should consist of a bottom up through programs focusing on addressing educational inequity by recruiting and training teachers particularly to work in high needs learning institutions. Another remedy recommended includes the idea of investing in early childhood education. Throughh this remedy, the school institution may be able to reduce or at least eliminate the achievement gap starting at its young stages. Economists explain that the process of investing in early childhood education both more effective and cost effective than interventions in later stages of the life of a child. For instance, there are various education programs for pre-kindergarten children that are set aside to help the low income families as away of creating equality for these children before they join schools. Furthermore, adding to the increased access, there should be an increased national focus on raising quality standards for teachers and ensure that the pre-kindergarten programs are funded to meet to the needs of the low income families and their children. In addition, the early childhood education care providers should undergo serious training and professional development in order to make them achieve the necessary skills and knowledge needed to meeting the needs of these young children without struggle. There has been some recent evidence of the advantages of enhancing childhood education in early stages as a remedy of overcoming the achievement and suspension gaps. Therefore, this is a clear implication that pre-kindergarten programs create positive and long-lasting effects on the students academic achievement of the low income and minority learners. In addition, some studies argue that by reducing the gap between the white-black tests score gap would help a terrific deal in moving the United States toward racial equality than any political plausible alternatives. Therefore, through the reduction of the gap it will also lead to significant, positive social and economic effects which also help in reducing the rates of school expulsions hence overcoming the achievement gap. Furthermore, in order to a dress the issue of achievement and suspension gap, some interventions in both the district and state level should be encouraged. For instance, such interventions should include reduction in the size of the class, invest in young schools, and change in curriculum schedule, reinforcement of early childhood education through school standards and needs and advanced teacher education programs. The use of after school tutoring sessions and remedial programs help in achieving or meeting the achievement and suspension gaps within school institutions in order to create equality among all races whether white, black, or an Asian (Cheryl, 2007). With such remedies in place, the learning process of the minority students will be accelerated to extreme levels higher than a years development in one years time to enable them catch up to their counterparts. Therefore, all schools have to start de-tracking their learners in order to offer the same quality education for all st udents despite the race. Another remedy recommended includes providing the necessary incentive for the students particularly the students from the low income earning parents. The main goal of this is to enhance the achievement of students academically hence close the achievement and suspension gaps between the high and low performing schools. The parents should devote their time to checking and helping their children with education assignments to ensure that what they are doing is right. In addition, frequent check ups gives the child the motivation and encouragement she or he needs in accomplishing the course works and preparing for the final exams. Through this, there are high possibilities of closing the achievement and suspension gaps in students hence high academic performances. Research shows that children able to perform better in academic work if their parents offers or takes time in assisting them with coursework and assignments. Promoting remedies such as increasing awareness to teachers and administrators of the existing bias at the time of providing referrals for discipline to the students should be emphasized. The black students experience high rates of suspension compared to their white counterparts. It is advisable that suspensions and classrooms exclusions and schools should always be the last alternative measure of disciplinary rather than being put first (Myra, 2007). Teachers should always try to get the knowledge of what is leading cause of the problem leading to the unwanted behaviour of the student. This will help in reconnecting the learners with the educational mission of school at the time of disciplinary practices. Therefore, by applying these remedies to responsible offices institutions will ensure that the right procedures are adhered to hence closing the racial achievement gap and suspension gaps among student. This will obviously lead to high and better performance of students in schools. Conclusion The achievement gap is the performance between poor students compared to that of their peers on standardized tests. The minority and low-income children do not perform well as their fellows on the tests. Other studies define racial achievement gap as the disparity seen on rate of learning approaches between the achievement of students particularly groups defined by race, religion, and class status. The observation of the achievement gap could be through various different measures such as standardized test scores, drop out rates, and grade point average, as well as, admission in and completion from college rates. There are a considerable number of factors that cause achievement and suspension gaps. These include the cultural and environmental factors. This implies that the culture and environment where children are brought in may play a vital part in the achievement and suspension gap. Other factors include socioeconomic factors among others just as discussed above. However, the achie vement and suspension gaps could be overcome through several remedies such as reducing the test score gaps between the black and white students, setting up educational programs and investing in early childhood education programs in order to close the gap between the students in terms of race. Buy custom The Racial Achievement and Suspension Gaps essay

Michael jackson's Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Michael jackson's - Essay Example Three songs that best exemplify Michael Jackson’s work were off of his 1991 Dangerous album of which were Will you be there, Give it to me, and jam. By listening to his virtuosic rhythms as well as rich harmony; the signature bass lines and the detailed layers of unusual sounds, which went beyond the typical classics, as well as song play (Vogel, 2012). In addition, the song transitions made from New Jack Swing, R&B, as well as rock. His music was without barriers or borders, and echoed globally. These three songs although not that great in regards to Jackson’s musical stardom can be viewed as risks songs he took as well as experimental ones of which ended up being huge successes among many others from the dangerous album. The reason behind this is that Jackson wanted songs that were a cleaner, more calculated and colder version of some of the songs that were on the thriller album and partially the bad album as well. The end result of the risk songs were a sharper and h arder song production, which were meant to hit the streets (jam was a street song), as well as touch the hearts of the middle class listeners (with will you be there) and appeal to the rock fans and general fans with the hard hitting fusion of rock and R&B (with give it to me). These three song cut across everybody’s music taste in one way or another. Michael Jackson’s position in a musical pantheon was very opinionated. These entire artist had one thing in common, they were music geniuses in their own right and during their times. But what sets Michael Jackson apart is that his music broke cultural and racial grounds which are something that lacked in the likes of Mozart and Beethoven. Furthermore, he commanded and entertained millions of fans globally. The bottom line of the various opinions was founded on racial grounds especially black artist who were considered to be lacking in substance in

Public Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Public Policy - Essay Example ulted to the enactment of the Marijuana tax act, and later the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 that contained CSA establishing the ban for marijuana use, not even for medical reasons. In the late 1990s, states began legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes, which challenged the congress to develop other accommodating laws over the issue of medical marijuana. The last one decade has been a struggle, with every amendment being rejected, at most five times in the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment (2003-2007) of the federal drug enforcement administration (DEA). Towards the end of the decade, some light has been shed for marijuana use through the approved reforms, showing a congress relaxation trend towards medical marijuana. Marijuana has been known as a pain reliever for intensively suffering patients, but the use has raised so much controversy in the public and occupational domains, due to issues of legitimacy and morality in the society. According to historical records, the cannabis sativa plant (marijuana) has been used for healing purposes, for a wide range of ailments more than 2000 years ago, within America and beyond its boundaries. People could grow and use marijuana under the legal federal and state laws in America between the 18th century and early 1930s, from which it declined following the development of other alternative drugs (aspirin, morphine, and opium derived medication) in pain treatment (Eddy, 2010, p. 1). However, even after the congress and legal federal law classified marijuana as an unsafe drug, medical practitioners have held its benefits that are high in pain treatment, leading to several states having to legalize marijuana only for medical purposes. Initially, state of California was the first to legalize its use, from which others followed bravely. Although there are cases of illegal users of the drug taking advantage of the medical marijuana law, the patients with conditions or symptoms such as chronic pain, cancer,

Youth Detention as a Measure to Deter Crime Essay

Youth Detention as a Measure to Deter Crime - Essay Example The detention centers perform a number of functions with the main one being to deter criminal activities. Initially, these facilities were not meant for non violent offenders but trends are fast changing to include minors on very minor offenses. These statistics may give a sense of falsehood since these youth who are detained there, may develop deliquescent behaviors by the time they live the detention and pose a larger risk to the community. The unnecessary use of detention centers may expose some of the troubled youths into conditions that resemble penitentiary conditions which instead of solving their problems aggravates them further (Foley, 2001). It is the aim of this paper to argue against youth detention as a deterrence measure since it rarely solves the underlying problems besides compounding it. Detention of youths that have crime tendencies together in large secure holding facilities has been shown to have a very small positive effect in future deterrence of the same. This in fact forms a fertile ground for recidivism aggravation among those minors that are detained together. Studies carried in different states show that 60% of the youth that had been detained in juvenile detention centers returned later in the same facilities for correction purposes. Many factors have been blamed for this observation but the key one is reinforcement of deliquescent behaviors since these youth are detained together. ... within detention centers, their will to control prior offenses goes down and they are more vulnerable than those that had not graced the detention facilities. Most of these studies have been carried in instances where other factors have been held constant such as race and age. Most of the outcome show increased probability of petition before the judicial system which deeply entrenches deliquesce tendencies in them. This is in total contrast of the studies that involve youths that have been committed to community based corrections which stand at 14% less likely to be incarcerated than first time offenders. It therefore helps to have a form of community based correction as opposed to detentions that have similar conditions to those found in jails and prisons (Hughes, 2002; Sheldon, 1999; Steinberg, 2009). Instead of deterring crime, detention deters or interrupts the process of aging out of deliquescence behaviors which should happen naturally. It is a common phenomenon for children wh en growing to show mild tendencies of crime which goes out with time. It has actually been shown that as much as a third of children engage in antisocial behavior that is crime related but they eventually outgrow it. This behavior is usually high in males than females but also the rate of desistance is also unusually high which compensates for the disparities between the genders. The most interesting thing is that desistance happens on its own time with no outside interference and therefore detention in a large way interferes with it. The best way that has been prescribed to help in aging out deliquescence behavior is having a mentorship program that can guide and help the youth to focus in life. The only mentorship that is available in detention is fellow crime offenders which cannot help

Impacts of globalisation on Walt Disney

Impacts of globalisation on Walt Disney Globalization is a process where there is increasing of connectivity and mobility of the worlds markets as well as businesses where they are expanding from domestic to international ones. Since the last two decades, advancement of technology has speed up the process to make travelling, communicating and business globally much more easily. The two major driving forces of globalisation are advances in telecommunications infrastructure and internet. As economies are more connected to each other, opportunities increase as well as competitions. Nowadays, most of the company in the world adapted globalisation to secure their position within the competitive market, for example, The Walt Disney Company (TWDC), yet there are still negative impacts on the company. http://www.investorwords.com/2182/globalization.html Walt Disney  is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world in term of revenue which is originally known as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studious. It is founded by Walter Elias Disney on October 16, 1923 and his brother Roy Disney. It is the leading diversified entertainment and media multinational enterprise with five business segments worldwide which are media networks, parks and resorts, studios entertainment, consumer products and interactive media. The companys key products and services are as follow: http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/index.html Media networks: Domestic broadcast television network Television production and distribution Domestic television stations Cable and satellite networks and international broadcast operations Domestic broadcast radio networks and stations Internet operations Parks and Resorts: Walt Disney  World Resort Disney Cruise  Line Disneyland Resort ESPN Zone Disneyland Resort Hong Kong Disneyland Tokyo Walt Disney Resort Disney Imagineering Studio Entertainment: Theatrical distribution Home entertainment distribution Television distribution Audio products and music publishing Consumer Products: Character merchandise and publications licensing Books and magazines Buena Vista games The Disney Store Disney Catalog and disneydirect.com Interactive Media: Disney Interactive Studios Disney Online In this assignment, we will be concentrated more on Disney Theme Parks and Resorts and touch a little bit on its other business segments: Disneyland Resort in Anaheim California. Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando Florida. Tokyo Disney Resort in Tokyo. Disneyland Resort Paris in Paris. (Formerly EURO-Disney) Hong Kong Disneyland Resort in Hong Kong. In order to expand its business, Disney chooses countries with high Disney awareness and affinity, large population centres with stable economies and people having disposable income to spend on leisure. The most important are the market size where it has to be large to guarantee a steady flow of visitors, and level of real income of consumers to have a certain spending power to enjoy leisure activities. The availability of infrastructures as well as skill levels in the host economy and other resources must take into account too follow by other aspects like political, trade policies and macroeconomic stability. To see whether a theme park operation is successful or not, it is highly depends on the stability of political and economical circumstances in the host country to avoid any negative impacts on its business. The characteristics of globalisation are there is an increase in foreign sales, foreign direct investment, expanding market size, communications, global competition, rapid increase and expansion of technology, liberalisation of cross border movement, development of supporting services, etc. Foreign Direct Investment Globalisation leads to increases foreign direct investment of a company from its country of origin into other countries. According to Stephanie Rohac (2006), foreign direct investment is the international flow of capital by creating or expanding a subsidiary in another country. It may be made through established a new enterprise or acquisition of an existing entity. A firm becomes multinational in the case of establishing in two or more countries business enterprises through FDI. Foreign direct investment provides job opportunities, and increase in transfer of skills as well as technology. The headquarter of The Walt Disney Company is located in United States, in order to expand its theme park and resort businesses, Disney develops its foreign markets by doing foreign direct investment in California, Tokyo, France and Hong Kong. After the success of its first venture of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) continue to expand into Asian fields with Tokyo Disney in Tokyo. Nearly twenty years later, the company decided to do its expansion into the European market and here come Euro Disney which is now known as Disneyland Resort Paris. The theme park Euro Disney was expected to bring $600 million in foreign investment into France every year and it is the largest single Foreign Direct Investment ever in France. Lastly, back to Asia again, followed by Hong Kong Disneyland. http://books.google.com.my/books?id=9PqwNoOJagoCprintsec=frontcoverdq=foreign+direct+investment+of+disneysource=blots=Yap4ZathyBsig=Dkmc0vKm5ajWEuErX5x_E93osq0hl=enei=hCP_TJjSCcLirAfyyt2ACAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=10ved=0CFQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepageqf=false Mergers and Acquisitions According to QuickMBA.com, merger is the combination of assets and also liabilities of two companies to form a single entity while acquisition is when a larger firm took over the small ones. http://www.quickmba.com/finance/mergers-acquisitions/ According to Paul R. La Monica (2006), Disney bought over Pixar which is owned by Apple and led by Steve Job, a deal that worth $7.4 billion. The deals included Steve Job becoming one of the board members of Disney and 2.3 shares of Disneys will be issued for each Pixar share. Merger of these two companies will bring higher quality of films to the people around the world as well as generates higher profit. http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/disney_pixar_deal/ Actual Impacts of globalisation on Walt Disney Political Positive impacts According to Stephanie Rohac (2006), France government has reduced 18.6% of value-added tax on Euro Disneylands ticket sales to only 7%. Besides that, 20 years loan of $960 million at low and subsidized interest rates of 7.85% is provided too. Variety of investment incentives are offered by the host governments to encourage foreign investors to invest into their country. The main issue of France government facing at the time was its unemployment rates increased by 10%. The opening of Euro Disneyland can actually solve the problem where it creates more than 30,000 new construction jobs, 12,000 on-site positions and 30,000 jobs in off-site serving. Economical Positive impacts Brand recognition worldwide The Walt Disney Company markets itself worldwide, creating huge revenues and further establishing itself as a global brand. As the business globalised, Disney brand is known by people globally and merchandising has played an important role in establishing the Disney brand. Market size Due to globalisation, company increases its market size from domestic to international market. By investing into various countries of its theme park and resort business as well as exporting its products to other countries, Disney has enlarged its market size at the same time. According to James Ketterer (2010), the very first Disney Store was opened 28th March 1984 in Glendale, California. The Disney stores are located worldwide, throughout the US, UK, Spain Italy, Japan, and France. Since May 1st 2008, the Walt Disney Company owns all Disney stores in America, Canada and Europe, however the stores in Japan are owned by the Oriental Land Company, for example, Disneyland Tokyo. In the year 2004 alone, merchandise has made $2.5 billion for the company, a figure that shows how globally successful Disney really is. http://www.suite101.com/content/disney-and-globalisation-a196391 Financial Revenues by country of origin: The US and Canada,  Walt Disneys largest geographical market, accounted for 76% of the total revenues in the year 2009. Revenues are generated through other countries of origin: Europe  (17%), Asia Pacific (5%) and Latin America and other (2%). Revenues Operating Income (in millions) 2009 2008 2007 2009 2008 2007 Country of origin: United States and Canada $ 27,508 $ 28,506 $ 27,286 $ 4,923 $ 6,500 $ 6,052 Europe $ 6,012 $ 6,805 $ 5,898 $ 1,158 $ 1,423 $ 1,192 Asia Pacific $ 1,860 $ 1,811 $ 1,732 $ 430 $ 386 $ 437 Latin America and Other $ 769 $ 721 $ 594 $ 161 $ 175 $ 156 Total $ 36,149 $ 37,843 $ 35,510 $ 6,672 $ 8,484 $ 7,837 The data above is obtained from Walt Disney 20009 annual reports. Regardless the financial performance of Walt Disney, try to imagine what would be the revenues and operating income of Disney if it has never globalise. Globalisation helps Disney to gain its revenues from all over the world instead of only from its host countries, United States. The total revenue in year 2007 was $35,510 million. The total revenues increased by 6.6% to $37,843 million in 2008. However, the total revenues dropped by 4.5% to $36,149 million in 2009. Negative impacts Global Recession According to Jason Garcia (2009), during the global recession in year 2009, despite the favourable timing of the busy Easter holiday, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts suffering from downfall of its operating profit and total revenues by 19% and 9% respectively. Disneys profit and revenues in United States have declined by 26% and 7% to $954 million and $8.6 billion respectively. Although Walt Disney World is having the same amount of visitor compared with the previous year and 10% more guests in Disneyland, Disney does not make any profit as it gives out discounts and special deals to uphold the attendance level of visitors. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-07-31/news/disney_1_walt-disney-disney-world-disney-parks Financial Crisis According to Wu Jin (2009), during 2009 global financial crisis, Hong Kong Disneyland left with no choice and plan to raise its entrance ticket prices by nearly twenty percent. The decision was made after numbers of market surveys have been conducted where the tourist visits are not affected by prices but seasonal factors. However, Hong Kong Disney have been threatened and boycotted by local travel agencies and public dismay, hence, it adjusted its price strategy again. http://www.china.org.cn/travel/news/2009-02/05/content_17226206.htm Global competitions A company at first have its own competitors in its domestic market, however, due to globalisation, there are more competitors as it has to face global competitions with international competitors. Company tends to strive to be better in order to compete with its competitors. Walt Disney Company has its own competitors in each and every one of its business segments locally and internationally. However, its major competitors are CBS Corporation (CBS), News Corporation (NWS) and Time Warner Incorporation (TWX). They compete directly with Disney in various business lines which is shown in the chart below: Disney CBS News Corp. Time Warner Films Theme parks Cable networks Broadcast networks Television stations Radio Internet Social Positive impacts Consumer Spending Source: http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/11/why_the_focus_o.html The table above shows where United States people spent their money. And it shows that most of their spending is on entertainment: publishing industries, motion picture and sound recording industries, broadcasting and telecommunications as well as amusements, gambling and recreation. This is favourable to Disney as it business focuses on those entertainments. Negative impacts Cultural Differences As every country have different cultural practices, Disney need to add local attractions to attract local consumers. For example, in Hong Kong Disneyland, a Mickey Mouse mascot is wearing a bright red Mao suit while Minnie Mouse mascot is wearing a cherry blossom red dress. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/arts/22arts-ACHINESEMAKE_BRF.html Besides that, employees in the theme parks have to know different languages in different Disneyland theme parks, in Hong Kong Disney land, they speak both English and local dialects like Cantonese and Standard Mandarin. Their brochures and maps are printed in those languages too with additional Japanese language. And the most special one, they actually included sharks fin soup in their menu. http://www.springerlink.com/content/h6335466636hw877/ Technology Positive impacts Nowadays, technology has become a very increasingly important tool to compete with rival companies and industries. The development of technology like video editing software, high definition and 3D have a strong impact on film producer like Walt Disney to helps them in producing the film efficiently. According to Bloomberg (2010), the latest Walt Disney animation movie which is named Alice in the Wonderland which comes with 3D resolution have hit 210.3 million ticket sales in worldwide and 116.3 million in United States. The improvement of technology brings better sales to Walt Disney. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-03-07/disney-s-alice-in-wonderland-makes-116-million-sets-records.html Negative impacts Before the existence of internet in year 1955, consumers purchased entertainment products such as music CDs from entertainment outlets. As technology advances, entertainment industry has been affected with the existence of Peer-to-peer (P2P) architecture which implemented worldwide. According to Sammy Khayat (2004), P2P is the distributed computing network where people directly shares files or resources from computer with others without going through central server, for example Napster. Hence, people no longer buy CDs from the shops anymore. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, the number of CDs shipped in United States feel 15% from 940 million to 800 million between year 2000 and 2002 which brought to dropped in sales about $2.5 billion. Copyright infringement is expanding as people often do file sharing over internet which allows them to download free music and then send to their friends which is a great threat to Disneys entertainment business. Other than t hat, pirated CDs, DVDs and soft toys give big impacts to Disney as well. http://www.personal.psu.edu/sbk142/disney.htm Environment Negative impacts Bad weathers like rain and thunderstorm decreases entrance tickets sales of Disney theme parks as consumers will be taking the consideration under the hazardous weather. Take Gold Coast theme parks as example, the wet weather at south-eastern Queensland had affected the revenue of the company to fall. http://www.smh.com.au/business/wet-weather-means-less-fun-for-theme-park-profits-20101102-17cd3.html Legal All Disneys cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse are trademarked, hence other people cannot use them without authorization. There was a case back in year 1989 where there were three day-care centres in Florida painted Mickey Mouse and other Disney cartoon characters on their wall and Disney took legal action against them. The rival, Universal Studios replaced with its cartoon characters after Disneys were removed. http://www.snopes.com/disney/wdco/daycare.asp Besides that, technology advancement has led to pirated products such as soft toys which cannot be controlled by the company as it goes worldwide in huge numbers. Potential impacts of Globalisation on Walt Disney Lifestyle influences Nowadays, people are so stressful to face their problems at workplace, school and even at home. Tensed lifestyle is favourable to Disneys business which is concentrate on entertainment sector as people tend to spend their money on entertainments just to make themselves feel more comfortable and relax. This can actually lead to increase in Disneys sales and revenues. Technology advancement As the technology advances, Disney can cut its labour costs. For example, in Disney theme parks, people can buy their tickets from ticket machines where there is no need ticket booths that require workers to sell the entrance tickets. Operators are no longer requires if the theme park is fully computerized, where the roller coasters, marry-go-round, etc, will automatically run when consumers are ready to go. Besides that, future technology can makes Disney films more interesting, maybe it will be in 4D or 5D where people can experience new things and they are willing to spend their money for new kind of entertainment. Disney can also be innovative in their theme parks and come out with new kind of games, gadgets and amusement rides to attract more consumers. In this way, Disney can generate more revenue due to its new technology. Strategy China is having a population of 1.26 billion people which is equivalent to 20 percent of the worlds total population. With the humongous population and established relationship with Chinese Government, its foreseen by the Walt Disney Company that there is high demand for entertainment and the fourth Disney theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland can generates revenue by entering the country. Besides that, the labour cost in China is two third lower than Disneys other theme parks where lower costs generate higher profit. Disney can actually expand more of its businesses into China as it is having very huge and potential market. With one child policy in China, the grandparents as well as parents are pampering their child and they are willing to spend money on entertainment that their child wanted like theme parks and movies. The adults who are facing problems simply need entertainments just to relax themselves. The demand for entertainment is very high in China, however, due to their lower incomes, they may not afford to pay for it. Disney should have brought down its selling prices and hence generates more sales. Besides that, Disney has to understand their cultural practices and try to adapt local custom by doing more market researchers, interview and questionnaires, so that the company can roughly have an idea on what the local people prefer. There are a lot advantages for China if Disney to expand its businesses at China where the business can helps to raise its technology level, provide job opportunities for its people and increase its economic growth. In my opinion, the barrier for Disney to enter China should not be a problem. Source: http://www.indexmundi.com/china/unemployment_rate.html The table above shows the unemployment rate in China from year 2004 to 2010, the data is for urban areas only, including migrants may boost total unemployment to 9%, substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas. If Disney further expands its business in China, it can help to reduce China unemployment like how it helps Frances. The Walt Disney Company is having a strong brand name and reputation in this world, it should keep it up and achieve its mission all the time which is to make everyone happy. I believe that Disney will never fail in its business and always stay at the top level.

Essay --

Have you ever thought about what career you would land in? The career of a veterinarian has pulled me in. A definition of a veterinarian’s job is some one who â€Å"diagnoses and controls animal diseases, treats sick and injured animals medically and surgically, prevents transmission of animal disease, and advises owners on proper care of pets and livestock†. Veterinarians have to have an unconditional love for animals,wildlife, and science and have a drive to improve the health and well-fare of society as a whole. I posses the quality of a love for animals having experience with many pets at home. In addition vets have to be well rounded as a person. They have to be smart, and have people skills which I do. My stronger subjects are science and math where being a vet, going into medicine has a lot to do with science particularly biology which I did very well in and have a great interest for. This career is special to me because I would be able to improve society, by he lping other people’s animals, as well as possibly finding new cures too, which is why I can definitely see myself being a...

Crime and Corruption Essay

Honesty is a character trait that is difficult to uphold when faced with moral dilemmas in the workplace. This is the challenge of Frank Serpico in the film Serpico. An analysis of the film â€Å"Serpico† leads to the realization that â€Å"All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely† is completely valid. The movie â€Å"Serpico† demonstrates that the merit system and an outside agency are necessary to prevent systemic corruption within the Justice System. Systemic corruption appears to be facilitated, encouraged and protected by the â€Å"code of silence†. For example, officers are taught by fellow officers how to use the authority given to them to advance the sub-culture of crime. This fact is a matter of debate. The question of crime in police departments is often blamed on unethical officers rather than the truth of the officers who are taught by superiors and veteran officers the means of crime. The bad apples or bad system debate is expressed in Serpico, indicating the confirmation that a bad system needs an outside agency to correct it. This movie begs the question â€Å"Who was keeping an eye on the keepers of the peace among the New York Police Department? The instrument of change in the movie is Frank Serpico making him the antagonist. The protagonists are the dark and corrupted of officers, and the supervisors who by omission participate in crime. The ideology that has perpetuated this systematic corruption is the promoting within the ranks based on who you are not what you do. In Serpico, it seems that the supervisors were very astute in the process of looking the other way. For this ability, they moved up among the chain of command. The distinct officer â€Å"code of silence† provided the cohesion that veils the subculture of crime perpetuated by the officers. In the film, Frank Serpico’s only flaw was being an honest cop. In â€Å"Serpico† the minimization and neutralization of corruption becomes the justification for the actions of the officers who are unethical. This is the attempt to rationalize the acceptance of the blanket loss of ethics among the officers. Frank Serpico does not participate in the corruption and refuses to take the money offered to him. His complaints are ignored as he goes higher and higher up the chain of command. The result of the complaints by Frank Serpico created an even more hostile work relationship with the other officers. The officers ostracize, threaten and fail to protect Frank to the point that leads to his injury. The atonement for the deeds of the police appears to be around the corner with every complaint lodged against the department, yet Serpico becomes placated in each meeting and by every supervisor, including the mayor. Political tolerance to corruption with no legal controls in place to prevent the un-ethical police sub-culture is unacceptable. The epiphany of Serpico is that the systemic corruption creates the need to go to an outside agency. This action of going to an outside agency is not taken lightly in the film. Frank Serpico knows and displays regret for the violation of the â€Å"code of silence†. He is aware it is a trespass on the brotherhood. He has two other officers collaborate his story. Serpico feels that he must go to an outside agency to correct the corrupt and ethically bankrupt police department. This exposure allows for the creation of the Knapp Commission, which is evidenced at the end of the film Regoli and Hewitt reveal in Exploring Criminal Justice that the New York Times series on police corruption prompted Mayor Lindsay to appoint five people to investigate corruption in the NYPD. Five people were appointed to and composed the Knapp Commission including Attorney Whitman Knapp who headed the Knapp Commission. The findings of the Knapp Commission suggested the organized corruption. Police Administrators accompanied and progressed with the breach of ethics by active cooperation and participation in the crimes or passively omitted to control the officers (Hewitt, 2007). Pervasive organized corruption is organized crime. New York’s history of ties to the mafia would leave the citizen caught struggling to seek any justice. The mafia is controlling the civilian sub-culture and the corrupt police controlling the police sub-culture leaving the citizens at the mercy of criminals, and no one is watching. Serpico stood against this systemic organized corruption in long-suffering, personal sacrifice with hardship. Vindication for Frank appears in the finality of the film with him testifying to the Knapp Commission. According to Gaines and Kappeler, the result of the Knapp Commission was the convicting of the 20 officers charged with felony crimes that included armed robbery, assault and murder. To protect and serve aspect of policing does not include murder. This is a grievous trespass on the public trust given to officers, as are any violations of the law by the officers against the citizens who submit the authority to the law. The Knapp Commission exposed the corruption and sought out the officers for criminal prosecution. The results of Serpico have been far reaching. For instance, according to Gaines and Kappeler in Policing in America â€Å"Twenty years after the Knapp Commission’s findings, the issue of systemic police corruption was revisited by the Mollen Commission. Although NYCPD commissioner Kelly denied systemic corruption, the commission uncovered substantial evidence of this form of organized corruption† (Kappeler, 2008). These commissions are necessary to investigate and dissolve the corruption within police organizations. The anthropological perspective of police behavior can be used to explain the immoral behavior found in the police culture. Officers become shaped and influenced by the police culture. The rookie officers learn from the older corrupt officers. This in turn can demonstrate the values of the whole department, although there may be a distinct subculture that is not made privy to the department as a whole or to the public. Empirical research from the Knapp and Mollen Commission agree with the anthropological perspective of police behavior. In Exploring Criminal Justice by Regoli and Hewitt it is stated that the â€Å"Police supervisors must admit when corruption exists and confront the problem, Furthermore, they must recognize that corruption often begins at the top and drifts downward through the ranks†. This research is indicating that criminal behavior drifts downward to the new officers. If the corrupt officer’s argument is correct, then all of the corrupt officers selected policing to exploit it. Where is the honor in this? The authoritative personality is attracted to policing, not the ethically challenged personality. The corruption seeps in due to the influence of peer officers, and once it takes hold the distinction of ethically correct and the immoral becomes dissipated. The majority of the NYCPD was corrupt in the 1970’s. That is a huge number of unethical people entering the field to become officers. If it were not a hero like action to stand against corruption then this movie would not have been made. Trends suggest that police departments have corruption in three ways. The rotten apples and rotten pockets type of department deals with the individual officer’s corruption (Kappeler, 2008). This is not the case in â€Å"Serpico† – the movie is demonstrating the third type of department corruption; Pervasive Organized Corruption. Pervasive is defined as existing in, or spreading through every part of something. The term organized is referring to the hierarchical and limited or exclusive membership of the corruption. The corruption constitutes a unique subculture, perpetuates itself by violation of law, and exhibits a willingness to use illegal violence. In the naming of such findings alone as Pervasive Organized Corruption is a stinging finding of fault on the behalf of the NYPD and the discovery of such corruption brought shame to the department. The finding of such corruption exacerbated the public’s distrust and served as a means to strengthen the conflict theory. The passive assistance the administration is giving to corruption by looking the other way is complementing and reinforcing the corruption throughout the department. The Knapp commission created in 1970 found that Pervasive Organized Corruption was in the New York Police Department. A new officer entering the department with high ideals on being ethical and a hero will soon lose this identity and assimilate the new identity of the corrupt police culture. Officers who do not conform to corruption will become the outliers among the median of a corrupt department. Overall, â€Å"Serpico† is the true story of a New York City cop who ratted on crooked officers and suffered grim consequences. Serpico was an eccentric who, by virtue of being a good guy in an evil department, is himself a bit of an outlaw. This also will set them up for being ostracized and alone. Policing attracts people who want to be heroes; the culture of corruption found in certain departments creates the adherence to unethical practices and behavior. All in all, this creates the need for an outside agency’s oversight to protect civil liberties and whistleblowers. Frank Serpico has become equivalent not with the term â€Å"whistleblower†, but with the term â€Å"Lamplighter†. This is an insightful suggestion due to the negative connotations of the term â€Å"whistleblower† as it takes honor and courage to place a light on the darkness of corruption. With administration that cultivates this good intent and an outside agency that supports and investigates the law, the ethically sound officer will have the ability to flourish and do the job with respect and honor. The result of this positive and ethical environment is public support and trust. There must be an outside agency that keeps an eye on the keeper.

WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES Essays

WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES Essays WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES Essay WHY PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES Essay Crime is any action that is termed as an offense and any person who commits crime is liable to punishment by law. There are many reason that make people to commit crimes but people always associate situations such as poverty, lack of enough parental care or neglect, drug abuse and lack of self-esteem as major reasons to why people commit crimes. However, there are major factors that places individuals at risk of committing crimes, the factors can be categorized into four major categories that will examine and explain how biological, socio cultural, psychological, economic and social cultural factors affect the behaviors of individuals and how the factors make them to commit crimes. Biological factors influence people behaviors in different ways, but depending on the factors a person is exposed to, it can incline an individual to committing criminal activities. According to Akers (2013), biology, genetics and evolution are primarily responsible for a persons behavior. Factors such as physical body of a person, inherited genes, structure of the brain, hormonal behavior and factors of evolution influences how a person behaves and it might incline a person to commit criminal activities for example, people with malnutrition as a result of poor diet might cause them to steal (Clinard, Quinney Wildeman, 2014).Conversely, people with neurological deficits, mental illness, low serotonin activity and environmental contaminants rewards for aggressive criminal conduct. Additionally, there are specific types of genes that are associated with crimes hence people with such kinds of genes tend to commit crimes. The society, culture, and ecological system of individuals defines how they behave or make choices especially in the way they do things. A society where there are no strong regulations on crime will encourage individuals to commit crimes (Akers, 2013).People who live in environments with a lot of danger tend to commit crimes. Similarly, overcrowded places increases rates of hostility hence creating opportunities for crimes. Felson and Boba (2010) argues that the ecological system including interaction with people and the type of environment determines peoples behavior and how they commit crimes. According to Levitt and Lamba-Nieves (2011) the routine activities of people in a given society have effects on how crime activities occur for example a society with a lot of crime offenders and little guardianship will have increased number of people committing crimes because people will get motivated by the able offenders of crime. The social environment that a person gets exposed to and cultural activities that a person engage in determines how he/she will behave and increases the chances of getting involved in criminal activities. According to Clinard, Quinney and Wildeman (2014), people tend to grow inspiration to commit crimes and gain skills for committing crimes through the people they associate with for instance a neighborhood with unravelling social structures such as poor schools or vandalized buildings is likely to have high crime rates. According to Levitt and Lamba-Nieves (2011), a place where there is high population of unemployed people and a mixture of both commercial and residential property will motivate individuals to commit crimes for example stealing through robbery. Felson and Boba (2010) argues that when people have a certain culture for example drug abuse, many will be at risk of committing crimes because they are liable to engage in violence. Conversely, the fact that people are of diffe rent cultural backgrounds, there are some actions that are not considered as crimes in some cultures but according to the law they are crimes and people from a certain culture might commit offenses without their consent. Economic crisis situations for example rise in prices of goods and services, decrease in wages rates, increase in interest rates and high rates of inflation can trigger crimes. Economic stress has been seen to encourage criminal behavior because during such times many people become broke hence encouraging many people to steal coveted properties (Rosenfeld Messner, 2010). According toFelson and Boba (2010), during better economic times, people tend to engage in criminal activities because they have enough money for buying drugs and alcohol which in most cases leads to violence. Similarly, better economic times calls for high rates of robberies as those who are not well off will get tempted to steal from the rich. It is evident that both economic crisis and better economic times calls for high rates of crimes because the poor are greedy of what the rich have which eventually leads to robberies through stealing. Psychological factors of a person that includes the development of an individual characteristics and the role the parents played in upbringing a child might make one to commit criminal activities. According to Felson and Boba (2010), inappropriate practices of child-rearing, neglect of parents, parents criminal behaviors, abuse from parents or relatives and lack of supervision can influence the psychology of a person and it might increase the chances of him/her engaging in criminal activities. Additionally, when people live in an anti-social environment they will be affected psychologically and they will tend to make inappropriate choices such as stealing. From the above it is evident that a number of reasons contributes to occurrence of crimes. People commit crimes because of biological factors that include; genes, hormonal behavior, mental illness, neurological deficiencies, low serotonin activities and the environmental contaminants. The sociocultural factors that make people to commit crimes include; a society with weak regulations and the type of activities that people get involved with. The social and cultural factors that lead people to committing crimes include, the social lives of individuals and the cultural environment they live in. The economic factors include both bad and better economic situations which make people to engage in criminal activities. Finally, psychological factors that include; poor development, parents neglect, abuse, lack of supervision and anti-social environment increases the chances of people engaging in criminal activities. References Akers, R. L. (2013).Criminological theories: Introduction and evaluation. Routledge. Clinard, M. R., Quinney, R., Wildeman, J. (2014).Criminal behavior systems: A typology. Routledge. Felson, M., Boba, R. L. (Eds.). (2010).Crime and everyday life. Sage. Levitt, P., Lamba-Nieves, D. (2011). Social remittances revisited.Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies,37(1), 1-22. Rosenfeld, R., Messner, S. F. (2010). The normal crime rate, the economy, and mass incarceration.Criminology and public policy: Putting theory to work, 45-65.

Determining What Makes A Career Criminal essays

Determining What Makes A Career Criminal essays Determining What Makes A Career Criminal The career criminal, or, more pointedly, those individuals who participate in criminal acts on a regular basis for both a central and constant source of income has, generally, a specific set of identifying factors which, while conclusive in laymen's terms, fail to meet the criteria necessary for scientific inquiry. While definitions exist as to what a career criminal is, the research methods employed in determining these definitions are a large point of contention for criminal justice theorists, especially due to their potential and virtually imminent inclusion to modern hypothesis on the subject. These research methods include longitudinal data collection and compilation, cross-sectional data collection and compilation, and, as at least one group of theorists argue, the most efficient method, informative interviewing. The longitudinal research method employs a data collection technique which focuses on the duration of a particular actin this case, the so-called criminal careerbased not upon specific incidents, but the length of time measured between such acts (Blumstein, Cohen, and Farrington, 1988). That is, an individual's propensity for criminal conduct in a so-called career mode would be measured first by the original act as an origin, then with the succeeding acts, until a final point became evident. Therefore, such a research method would logically conclude that an individual who performed or participated in criminal conduct on two occasions several years apart would be considered a career criminal. It is for this reason, that criminal justice theorists differ as to the applicability and relevance of the longitudinal research method (Blumstein, Cohen, and Farrington, 1988). Since the longitudinal research method could construe two independentor even two interdependantcriminal acts as the foundational make-up of a career criminal, theorists may hypothesize incorrectly as to ...

Analyse the 2 articles about Amazon, consider how strategy is Case Study

Analyse the 2 articles about Amazon, consider how strategy is developed and implemented from an emergent and deliberate perspect - Case Study Example Article 1 essentially revolves around the work culture of Amazon. The article deals with the recruitment, selection and absorption process of the organisation. The company after setting its office in Rugely, started recruiting in huge numbers. The company hired Randstad as its major recruiting agency. The hired workers were known as associates and were kept under a training period of minimum three months before they were absorbed by the company. The main objective behind this strategy was to find the top performing temporary associates for the available permanent vacancy. The company achieved creative advantage by following the kaizan approach to increase the efficiency of workforce. Every warehouse was appointed with a continuous improvement manager whose job was to look for any kind of hindrance or delay, and solve them. The company also appointed mobile problem solvers who continuously patrolled the warehouse to look for issues slowing down the operational process and fix them. Am azon started its operations as an online bookseller. Once the company became a prominent leader in the online book selling category, it started diversifying its operations into other sectors. From article 2, it is clear that product differentiation and diversification has provided a competitive advantage to the company (Ehmke, 2010). The company has also invested in technology to remain competitive in the market. The products of Amazon are essentially simple and easy to operate, which increases the customer preference. The company’s continuous investment in new and creative areas such as technology, cloud computing etc., has provided a competitive edge to the company. Strategy Development and Implementation A strategy can be defined as a scope and direction for the organisation, which is profitable to the organisation in the long run, makes the best and most efficient use of the resources, meet the needs and demands of the market and satisfy the stakeholder expectations (Anon ymous, 2006). Different strategies are applied in different stages of business, such as corporate strategy, business strategy and operational strategy. Amazon is one the prominent leaders in the retail business. Article 1 reflects the overall operational strategy of the organisation. An operational strategy aims in efficient management of each operational unit of the company and to efficiently utilise the tangible and intangible resources of the company to generate maximum profits (Datta and Roy, 2011). To maximise the efficiency of its operational processes, the company has applied many strategies. The recruitment and selection process of the company is strict and rigorous. To optimise the efficiency of workforce and increase the cost-effectiveness, the company follows the strategy of recruiting and maintaining the best talent among the temporary job positions. Amazon’s efficient software helps workers to reach the target destination in least time and distance covered. To fu rther monitor the work flow in the warehouse, kaizan strategy has been applied extensively. In kaizan approach every warehouse was appointed with a continuous improvement manager whose job was to look for any kind of hindrance or delay, and solve them. The company also appointed mobile problem solvers who continuously patrolled the warehouse to look for issues slowing down the operational proces

Marketing Strategies of Dominos Pizza and Pizza Hut Essay

Marketing Strategies of Dominos Pizza and Pizza Hut - Essay Example McDonalds is the biggest player in the industry that controls 18% of the market (King, 2013). For the previous two decades, Dominos and Pizza hut have created a reputation for excellence that has yielded respect from the customers and other industry experts. Over the past five years, Dominos and Pizza hut have obtained profits due to their marketing efforts. For the period between 2010 and 2014 Dominos profits were  £251M,  £280M,  £305M,  £399M and  £405M respectively (Market Watch, 2015). On the other hand, Pizza hut’s profits were  £400M,  £450M,  £600M,  £700M and  £760M (Novak & Creed, 2015). Notably, marketing itself is a strategy that organizations employ to communicate with the consumers to make them knowledgeable of the services and products offered (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014). Marketing is particularly essential as it gives the company an edge against the rival firms (Boone & Kurtz, 2015). A marketing strategy engrosses the products offered, the pricing of such products, the promotion of the products and their distribution. This report will give the marketing milestones that Pizza hut and Dominos have achieved and the differences in their marketing strategies within the United Kingdom. Since its incorporation in 1995, Dominos has endeavored to be the world’s best pizza delivery company. The company strives to bring accessibility, pleasure and happiness to its consumers through delivering pizza at their door steps (Farrell, 2014). The company also strives to introduce products that best satisfy the needs of its customers. Though it’s an international company, the company acts locally within the UK by offering delicious local tastes. The company’s slogan such as â€Å"fun meal† has been famous among the customers. Consequently, Dominos delights in a high market share of 9% in the UK market (King, 2013). On the other hand,