Public Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Public Relations - Essay Example Enabling linkages: The board of trustees, small team of employees, the government and the regulators constitute important publics for Telethon through the enabling linkage. The Telethon trust comprises a board of nine trustees who meet periodically to oversee the functions of Telethon. His Excellency Malcolm McCusker AO QC and Prof Fiona Stanley AC are the patrons of the trust. People who work assiduously for Telethon includes Steve Mummery, the general manager; Danielle Toolin, the events and marketing manager; Adriana Filippou, the accounts and phone room manager; Lauren Castledine, the administration and events coordinator and Fat Cat, the furry lovable cat of Telethon. Diffused linkages: The Sunday Times that provides editorial support round the year, local community, Golden West Network that beams the Telethon program across Australia, and Channel Seven Perth that sets aside $600,000 to air the Telethon weekend are important media publics. Functional linkages (Input): Scores of volunteers who lend a hand to Telethon to raise funds for the kids of Western Australia, donors like JWH Group that builds the Telethon Metropolitan and Regional Homes, In-Vogue and Country Builders that assist JWH Group, Satterley Group and Peet who provide land to set up the buildings, BankWest facilitates in collection of donations, AV Partners, Perth Expo Hire and Cliftons provide infrastructure for Telethon weekend. In addition to this numerous individuals and community groups including schools, clubs and local businesses which help in Telethon’s fundraising right through the year are important publics associated with Telethon due to functional linkages. Finally corporate houses are important publics as they help Telethon with sponsorships. Lexus Of Perth which organizes the Lexus Ball for Telethon year on year is a case in point. Functional linkages (Output): Numerous hospitals, research institutions, and other beneficiaries that get financial assistance from

The Salafi Movement In Global Context Theology Religion Essay

The Salafi Movement In Global Context Theology Religion Essay Salafism (al-Salafiyyah) is a contemporary Islamic global movement, which is concerned with a search for the pure teachings of Islam as prescribed in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammads tradition (sunnah) by rejecting any external influences and human involvement in the interpretation of religious texts. The proponents of Salafism define themselves to be the inheritors of the pre-modern Ahl al-Hadits (people of the Prophet tradition). In their view, this school of thought was the only group that remained faithful to the pure teachings of Islam as prescribed in the Quran and the Sunnah so that it was considered the saved sect. They base their claim on a hadith (the Prophet Muhammad sayings) that the Prophet Muhammad was reported to have said that there would always be a group of his people who remained committed to the truth, whom the Salafis identify as the Ahl al-Hadith (Duderija, 2011). By claiming to be the inheritors of the Ahl al-Hadith and followers of its footsteps, the propon ents of contemporary Salafi movement attempt to assert that they have privilege and take pride to be the guardians of the pure Islam in modern period. The proponents of contemporary Salafism identify themselves, and are proud to be, as salafi (plural: salafiyyin), the followers of al-salaf al-shalih(the righteous ancestors). For them, the term salaf refers to the first three Muslim generations in the early Islam, who were considered as the best Islamic generations as they were directly guided by the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. This self-ascription is based on their belief that their understanding and practicing Islam is in complete accordance with the footsteps and methodology of the salaf (manhaj al-salaf). Abdullah ibn Baz, one of the main Salafi authorities, said that Salafi ideology is derived from the Quran, Sunnah and Consensus (ijma`) which govern the method of acquiring din [religion] and understanding the Quran and Sunnah according to the principles agreed upon by the righteous predecessors (salaf) (Cited in Duderija, 2011:54). Due to this strong emphasis on the Salaf as the only model of understanding and practic ing Islam, Salafism can be said as a movement of return to the forefather (Marshallsay, 2004). Major Authorities of the Contemporary Salafi Movement Within contemporary Salafi movement, the most influential proponents are the Middle Eastern Muslim scholars with Saudi nationality or Saudi-educated, university educated, many gained PhDs in Islamic sciences from Saudi universities. These include Nashir al-Din al-Albani (d.1999), Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz (d. 1999), Muhammad ibn Shalih al-Uthaymin (d. 2001), Muqbil ibn Hadi al-Wadii (d. 2001), Rabi ibn Hadi al-Madkhali (b. 1931), Yahya al-Hajuri, and Shalih al-Fawzan. The dominance of Saudi Arabian or Saudi-educated religious scholars (ulama) asserts the centrality of Saudi Arabia as the birth of modern Salafism. As the main representative of the Salafi movement, these ulama become major references that Salafi leaders and ordinary followers in the Muslim world turn to for guidance and advice in their lives. Outside the Middle East, leading personalities of Salafism in Western countries such as Jamal Zarabozo and Bilal Philips (Duderija, 2011) mostly become the mouthpiece of these Middle East authorities, translating their Salafi messages for the Western Salafi followers. The same is true for the leaders of the Salafi movement in Indonesia. Most of them went to Saudi and Yemen universities or Islamic religious learning institutions (mahad) to study Islamic knowledge. These include Abu Nida, Ahmad Faiz, Yusuf Baisa, Jafar Umar Thalib, Ayip Syafrudin, Luqman Baabduh and Muhammad Umar Sewed (Hasan, 2007; 2009). Compared to their locally trained Salafi proponents, these Middle East graduates commonly enjoy more authority and recognition from their followers due to their highly-esteemed learning in Mecca or Medinah, two holy cities of Islam. Yet, all of these Salafi exponents make the Saudi and Yemeni Salafi authorities as major, and to some extent, the only references in learning and preachi ng Salafi ideas among Indonesian Muslims. The Middle East Salafi authorities write treatises on Salafi ideas exclusively in Arabic. But, this is not a major barrier for Salafi followers from non-Arabic speaking countries to understand the messages of these Salafi ulama. The Salafi followers and sympathizers have attempted to translate the works of these Salafi ulama into local languages. For this purpose, in Western countries, they have established publishing houses, including Tarbiyyah Publications in Toronto, Invitation to Islam and Al-Khilafat Publications in London, and Salafi Publications and Maktabah Darussalam in Birmingham. Mobilizing the information and communication technologies, they have created websites such as www.salafipublications.com, www.tarbiyyahbookstore.com, http://sunna.com, www.salaf.com, and www.fatwa-online.com. Individual Salafi authorities websites have been also established by the Salafi supporters, such as www.binbaz.com (on the works of Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz), www.rabee.net (on the works of Rabi i bn Hadi al-Madkhali), and www.ibnothaimeen.com (on the works of Muhammad ibn al-Uthaymin) (Duderija, 2011). The Puzzle of the Origin and Meaning of Salafism For decades, there has been conviction among Western and Western-educated scholars that history of Salafism is a history of Islamic modernism; that Salafi ideas are regarded as similar to those of Islamic modernist movement; and the Salafis are representatives of Muslim modernist. It is believed that Salafism dates back to the 19th Islamic modernism, which was associated with Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d. 1897), Muhammad Abduh (d. 1905), and Rashid Ridha (d. 1935), whose principles and ideas include rejection of taqlid (blind following), promotion of ijtihad (independent interpretation), and support of progress and rationality in its responses to the decline of the Muslim world. As Lauziere (2010) identifies, this conception can be seen in the standard academic works of Islamic thought such as Brills Encyclopedia of Islam, Malcolm Kerrs Islamic Reform (1966), M. A. Zaki Badawis The Reformers of Egypt (1978), and Daniel Browns Rethinking Tradition in Modern Islamic Thought (1996). Some recent studies by scholars of contemporary Islam, such as Ali Hassan Zaidi (2006) and Dumber and Tayob (2011), also connect Salafi orientations with Muslim reformists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, this conception is problematic in some respects. First, there is no convincing evidence to the claim of the connection among Salafism, al-Afghani, and Abduh. According to Lauziere (2010), there are no primary sources including al-Urwat al-Wuthqa, a flagship journal of al-Afghani and Abduh, that substantially prove the claim that al-Afghani and Abduh coined the term Salafism and used it to identify themselves and their reform movement in the 19th century. It is true that Abduh mentioned the term al-Salafiyyin (the Salafis) in Al-Manar (Al-Manar 5, 1902 cited in Lauziere 2010) to designate Sunni Muslims who were against Ashariyyah, a 10th century school of speculative Islamic theology,  [1]  in terms of theological issues based on their strict adherence to the creed of the forefathers (Lauziere, 2010). But, Abduh clearly did not claim to be a Salafi nor identified his followers as Salafis. He simply referred al-Salafiyyin in the context of theological debates as Sunni Musl ims who differed from Asharites based on their strict adherence to aqidat al-salaf (the creed of the forefather) (Lauziere, 2010). Moreover, Rasyid Ridha, one of Muhammad Abduhs main disciples, recognized the fundamental differences between Salafism and Islamic modernist school, which his mentor promoted. According to Ridha, following the Salafi creed did not necessarily make one committed to Islamic modernist school. During his time, Ridha identified Salafism as Wahhabism to which he called al-Wahhabiyyah al-Salafiyyah. Later, in 1928 he and some of his disciples declared their passage to becoming Salafis not only with respect to Islamic theology but also in fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence (Lauziere, 2010). Second, the unconfirmed claim of ideological connection between contemporary Salafism and the early 20th century Islamic modernism can be seen in the issue of how each defines the term Salaf. While the two movements shared the idea of the importance of the pious ancestors, they differ in the issue of to what extent the Salaf is defined and how it should be modelled. The proponents of Islamic modernism conceived that the term Salaf includes virtually the Muslim scholars of all schools of thought in the medieval period whose success and achievements should be contextually propagated and imitated within modern Muslim contexts. The early 20th century Salafism understood the Salaf as Muslim scholars in religious science as well as in secular science of the golden age of Islam in the medieval period that should be contextually followed. In contrast, the proponents of contemporary Salafism restrict the Salaf to the first three generations in the early Islam, namely the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (al-shahabat), those after them (al-tabiin) and the next generation after them (atba`u al-tabiin). They also include religious scholars (ulama`) in the first and second centuries of Islam who were considered to adhere to the way of these first three Muslim generations, particularly Ahmad bin Hanbal and the followers of his textual school. These Salaf generations and Salafi ulama` were considered rightly guided forefathers and, hence, role models to whom Muslims are obliged to follow their ways in any circumstances. In addition, when the proponents of contemporary Salafism speak about the Salaf, they use it in its narrow religious sense. Practically, they exclude, show suspicion and hostility towards social, cultural and scientific heritage of the Muslim forefathers. In their view, the perfect method of modelling the S alaf in the contemporary Muslim societies is preserving and imitating their footsteps without contextualizing them in the present contexts. Third, the issue of the unconfirmed ideological connection between Salafism and the late 19th century Islamic modernism can be discerned in differences between them with respect to methodology and objectives. In response to the decline of the Islamic world, the Islamic modernism of al-Aghani and Abduh was committed to islah (reform) in Muslim society through promotion of itidal (moderation and balance) by which Muslims were expected to conduct conciliation between Islam and Western civilization. It encouraged the appreciation and adoption of social, political and scientific achievements of Western civilization and at the same rooted firmly in Islamic principles and civilization. In other words, al-Afghani and Abduhs Islamic modernism was a moderate approach to Islam and Western civilization in that it was able to balance between revelation and reason, and between strict Islamic conservatism and blind following of the West (Lauziere, 2010). Contemporary Salafism, in contrast, aims to revive the golden age of Islam by adhering strictly to the ways of the first three Muslim generations in the early Islam understood and practiced Islam to protect its purity from forbidden religious innovation. From this perspective, the making of the Salaf as a perfect model requires strict applying the Salaf method in social and cultural vacuum, without contextualizing their ideas and practices within present contexts of the Muslim world. Subsequently, this movement regards revealed texts as the only primary sources so that its proponents tend to be anti-rationalistic approach to revelation. The proponents of contemporary Salafism are also suspicious of anything not textually written in the scripture, taught or done by the Prophet Muhammad, his companions and religious scholars adhered to their ways. Conservatism, or even ultra conservatism, is highly represented in contemporary Salafi movement. As a result, there is no adequate evidence to claim ideological connection between the late 19th and early 20th centurys Islamic modernism and the contemporary Salafi movement. There is no support that Al-Afghani and Abduh proclaimed they were Salafis or exponents of the Salafi movement or their ideas were in accordance with contemporary Salafism. The modernist conception of Salafism substantially differs from the contemporary Salafisms understanding of the same term. Within contemporary Salafi movement, salafism is conceived first and foremost as label by Sunni purist-literalist-traditionalists to designate their particular approach to Islam. Conceptual History of Salafism Undoubtedly, the uncertainty of the origin and meaning of Salafism within modern scholarship has caused the substance of Salafism remain puzzling. Fortunately, a recent study by Henri Lauziere (2010) is helpful in solving this puzzle and gaining relative certainty in the issues of the origin and meaning of Salafism. He argues that the puzzle of the meaning and origins of Salafism is attributable to the faulty scholarship and the fact that there is little scholarly attention to the examination of the history of knowledge production of Salafism (Lauziere, 2010:369). The First Use of the Term Salafism Historically speaking, Salafism as a religious orientation is not purely a modern phenomenon. Rather, it rooted in the Islamic scholarship in pre-modern history of Islam. The early use of the term Salafism (Salafiyyah) as an approach to religious texts is found in a number of religious scholars works in the medieval period. For example, Ibn Taymiyya (d. 1238) writes in his al-Fatawa al-Kubra: As for the Salafiyya it is as [Hamd ibn Muhammad] al-Khattabi and Abu Bakr al-Khatib [al-Bagdadi] and other have stated: The way of the Salaf is to interpret literally the Quran verses and hadiths that relate to the Divine attributes (ijra ayat al-sifat wa ahadits al-sifat ala zahiriha), and without indicating modality and without attributing to Him anthropomorphic qualities. So that one is not to state that the meaning of hand is power or that of hearing is knowledge (Cited in Haykel, 2009:38). However, as Haykel (2009) and Dumbe Tayob (2011) suggest, the historical precedent of the Salafi orientations even dates back earlier to the 9th century theological and juridical debates between the Ahl al-Ray (people of opinion), which was associated with the Mutazilah,  [2]  and Ahl al-Hadith (people of the Prophet Muhammads tradition), which was related to Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), the inspirer of the Hanbali school of law (Hanbaliyyah).  [3]  Particularly, the early use of the term Salaf and its derivatives in this period can be traced back to the Ahl al Hadits. It is reported that Ibn Hanbal said: It has been transmitted from more than one of our ancestors (salafina) that they said the Quran is the speech of God and is uncreated, and this is what I endorse. I do not engage in speculative theology and I hold that there is nothing to be said other than what is in Gods Book (Quran), the traditions of His messenger or those of his companions and their followers- may God have mercy on them. It is not praiseworthy to engage in theological discussion in matters not contained therein (Cited in Haykel, 2009:38). These statements not only refer to the early use of the terms Salaf and Salafism within Islamic scholarship, but also points out the way of thinking that the early Salafis advocated in regard to theological issues such as the nature of the Quran as Gods messages revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. With respect to the approach to the interpretation of religious texts, the Ahl al-Ra`y represented Muslims scholars who sought explanations from personal opinions and borrowings from other cultures and intellectual traditions, while the Ahl al-Hadits sufficed themselves with literal meanings of the texts and tradition of the Prophet and his companions believed as pure and original sources of Islam. Another corresponding term, madhhab al-salaf (the school of forefathers), is found in the literature of Muslim scholars of medieval period. As Lauziere (2010:372) suggests, written sources also indicate that medieval Muslims scholars used this term primarily in the theological debates within early schools of theology in Islam. The notion of madhhab al-salaf was used to designate those who hold a theological purity in a time when early Muslims were not faced yet with speculative theology (ilm al-kalam) resulted from the encounter of Islam and other world civilizations. The proponents of madhhab al-salaf showed hostility towards Islamic speculative theology (ilm al-kalam) which was influenced by Greek inspiration and rationalism such ilm al-mantiq (syllogistic logic) and falsafah (philosophy). Contrary to Islamic theologians (mutakalimin) such as Mutazilis and Asharites, the people of the madhhab al-salaf distanced themselves from intellectualizing the divine issues, such as al asma` w al sifat (the divine names and attributes). However, the word Salafi or Salafism was not commonly used by medieval purist Muslims to refer to themselves and their approach to Islam. Instead, the common epithets used to refer to the purists at the period were not derived from the word salaf, but rather from the terms associated with the Prophet Muhammads tradition, such as Ahl al-Sunnah (people of the prophetic tradition), Ahl al-Hadist (people of prophetic sayings and sayings) or al-Atsari (the follower of the prophetic report) (Lauziere, 2010:373). The Origin of the Confusion of Salafism: Louis Massignon and the Salafyah Review A recent study by Lauziere (2010) revealed the origin of the confusion between Salafism and Islamic modernism in scholarly literature. He argues that puzzle of Salafism lies in the fact Massignon and scholars who quoted him were not aware of the complex development of the Salafi epithets within Muslim scholars in the Middle East. They simply relied on al-Majallah al-Salafiyyah, a monthly reformist journal published by Salafiyya Bookstore in Egypt -whose key role in Salafi discourses will be examined in the following section- that reached overseas including Paris. Being established in 1917, the journal was edited by Abd al-Fattah Qatlan and rendered by him into English as Salafyah Review. The journal was purported to serve as a marketing vehicle for reaching a wider readership of the Salafiyyah Bookstore. More importantly, the journal was created in the period in which the reform spirit overwhelmed the Salafiyyah Bookstore before the coming of the Saudi-Wahhabi influence on the type o f literature it published. So, in line with the reform spirit, the journal aimed to spread the achievements of the pious ancestors (al-salaf) in a wide range of scientific, cultural and intellectual fields. In line with this spirit, the content of the journal encompassed various themes such as literature, linguistics, and astronomy in addition to religious topics (Lauziere, 2010:379). It was through this journal that the term Salafism caught the attention of Western scholars (Lauziere, 2010). Louis Massignon, a well-known French orientalist and the major contributor to the leading journal Revue du monde musulman, subscribed to Arabic journals including al-Majallah al-Salafiyyah. When the first issue of the journal reached his journal office, Massignon provided explanation of the Majallah al-Salafiyyah to the readers of his journal. He said that the Salafiyyah was an intellectual movement that emerged in early 19th century India at the time of Sayyid Ahmad Barelwi (d. 1931) [and] Siddiq Hasan Khan (d. 1890), the founder of the Ahl-i Hadith movement, had later rehashed its ideas (Cited in Lauziere, 2010:380). Then, he added that from there, [the Salafiyyah] was spread by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Syaikh Abduh and established itself in Baghdad, Damascus, Cairo and even in the Maghrib and Java (Revue du monde musulman 34, 1916-18 in Lauziere, 2010:380). But, later M assignon abolished the connection of the Salafiyyah with the 19th century Indian movement and focused more on its link with al-Afghani and Abduh. Then, he associated Salafiyyah with a relatively transnational Islamic modernism in the 19th century, whose proponents were committed to reform in Islam and Muslim societies (Lauziere, 2010). However, Massignons claim of Salafism is problematic as it raised questions with respect to conceptual and historical foundations of Salafism he based on. It is not clear how he came to this claim though it is known that he studied Islam in Baghdad and made contacts with some reform-oriented Muslim scholars like Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi. Due to this, it can be said that Massignon misinterpreted the term Salafiyyah and inadequately made Salafism and Islamic modernism of al-Afghani and Abduh synonymous (Lauziere, 2010). Nevertheless, as Lauziere (2010:381) shows, some leading scholars welcomed Massignons definition of Salafism and even took its validity for granted despite its factual limitations. The famous The New World of Islam, published in 1921, repeated this misinterpretation when made reference to Salafiyyah. In 1922, the leading journal The Moslem World published by Hartford Seminary did the same when it translated an article of Massignon from the Revue du monde musulman. This is further misinterpreted by Henri Laoust, a scholar who spread Massignons ideas in French, when in his seminal article in 1932 defined Salafism based on Massignons conception. Even influential scholar Sir Hamilton Gibb took Massignons claim of Salafism for granted in his famous Modern Trends in Islam. Hence, it is through this intellectual transmission that the term Salafism with the sense of Islamic modernist movement was created within Western scholarly literature on Islam. The Evolution of Salafism If there is no connection with al-Afghani and Abduhs Islamic modernism of the late 19th century, who first used the Salafi label as understood today? And how was it defined? As Lauziere (2010) argues, to remedy this puzzle requires considering the origin and development of the term Salafism from the perspective of conceptual history. According to Lauziere (2010, the growing popularity of Salafi epithets as well as overlap between Salafism and Islamic modernism can be attributed to a key role played by the Salafiyah Bookstore (al-Maktabat al-Salafiyyah). It was established in 1909 in Cairo by Muhib al-Din al-Khatib (1886-1969), a Syrian activist, well-known figure in the Egyptian publishing business, and pupil of Salafis-cum-modernists ulama`, Jamal al-Din al-Qasimi (d. 1914) and Tahir al-Jazairi (d. 1920). Al-Khatibs involvement in cultural and political affairs opened the opportunity to establish the bookstore aimed at spreading his interests in Islamic scholarship and reformist ideas under the label Salafiyyah (Salafism). The name Salafiyyah for the bookstore was inspired by al-Khatibs mentor, Tahir al-Jazairi, who had inclinations to the madhhab al-salaf (school of the forefathers) with respect to Islamic theology. But, it seemed that al-Khatib misinterpreted the term Salafiyyah or understood it in a broader sense than al-Jazairi meant (Lauziere, 2010). This is reflected in the way he and his partner, Abdul Fattah Qatlan (d. 1931), operated the Salafiyyah Bookstore, particularly in terms of the type of literature they published. Being motivated by desires to encourage educated Arab readers to rediscover the glory of their religious, social and cultural heritage for the advancement of their society, al-Khatib and Qatlan were not confined themselves in printing and selling books on the Salafi theology. Rather, they published works on progressive nature of Islams golden age as well as a wide range of issues not connected to religious reform. They used the Salafi epithets to refer virtually to any Islamic intellectual heritage in medieval period, not in a narrow sense of a particular school of theology. In addition to treatises on religion, the Salafiyyah Bookstore published works on Arabic literat ure, Arabic grammar, and work of medieval Muslim philosophers such al-Farabi (d.950) and Ibn Sina (d.1037). In short, the literature that the Salafiyyah Bookstore published and sold in the 1910s was in accordance with the spirit and concerns of Islamic modernism (Lauziere, 2010:378). The selection and publication of this type of literature suggest that al-Khatib and Qatlan attempted to revive the works of the great Muslim scholars and underline the Muslimss contribution to modernity in the West of modern age. Under the label Salafism, they sought to emphasize the compatibility between revelation and modernity as shown by the works of great and pious forefathers (Salaf) in the past by which Muslims in the modern age should model for the revival and advancement of the Islamic world. In turn, all this resulted in turning Salafiyyah into a common and popular term among producers and consumers of Arabic literature in the Middle East and other Muslim regions (Lauziere, 2010:382). More importantly, an impression built up that the Salafiyyah Bookstore intertwined the term Salafism with Islamic modernism projected to the revival of Arabs and Muslims in the modern period. The label Salafism it used was then considered as to represent the success and greatness of the Islami c past. The bookstore expanded the scope of the term Salafism beyond its initial theological meanings and gradually created the association between Salafism and the project of Islamic modernism (Lauziere, 2010:377). The later development of the Salafiyyah Bookstore, however, determined the association of Islamic modernism and Salafism and brought about decisive changes in the nature and development of Salafism after the establishment of the Saudi Kingdom in the early 1920s. The bookstore experienced a shift with respect to choices of works for publication. This began with the change in the choice of works for publication. In the early 1920s, al-Khatib and Qatlan began to print works that appeared contradictive to the progressive and rationalist ideas of the Islamic reform movement though they kept promoting Islamic modernism. For example, the Salafiyyah Bookstore published works of those who strongly opposed the secular and controversial works of Ali Abd al-Raziq and Taha Husayn. It also published anti-rationalist treatises by Hanbali and his school followers ordered by Saudis. This shift in the choice of publications was more clearly discernable in the establishment of the Saudi branch of the S alafiyyah Bookstore in Mecca in the late 1920 initiated by Qatlan in partnership with a Hijazi Muhammad Salih Nasif (d.1971). In 1928, to suit the local needs, this Saudi branch began to publish works on Ahmad ibn Hanbal and his supporters as well pro-Wahhabi books such a theological treatise by Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya (1292-1350), which was printed with the request and fund from Ibn Saud (d. 1932), the first monarch of Saudi Arabia (Lauziere, 2010:383). This shift within the Salafiyya Bookstores choice of publications, according to Lauziere (2010), should be seen in the context of political change in the Muslim world in the mid 1920s. The fall of the Ottoman Empire and the abolition of Islamic caliphate in the early 1920s brought about political and cultural turbulence within the Muslim world. At the same time, however, the rise of the Saudi Kingdom in Hejaz offered Muslim ummah (global Muslim community) a great hope of social and political renaissance in the Muslim world. Therefore, many Muslims intellectuals and religious scholars, including Rasyid Ridha, supported the young Saudi state and turned toward religious conservatism, particularly Wahhabism,  [4]  founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), and endorsed as an official school of Islam and promoted by the state. Al-Khatib showed the same response to these circumstances. He opted to support the young Saudi state and showed respect to the Wahhabism and its propone nts. These religio-political stances influenced the activities of his Salafiyyah Bookstore. This was reflected in the change of choices of editing and publishing when it began to publish the Wahhabi treatises and pro-Saudi works. Although Lauziere missed to capture the complexity of social and political transformation in the Muslim world in the first quarter of twentieth century, his argument was sufficient to overcome to the puzzle of Salafism by making sense of the evolution of Salafism. By publishing pro-Wahhabi works to cater the religious and political needs of the Saudi elite and proponents of Wahhabism, the Salafiyyah Bookstore brought its commercial label Salafism closer to Wahhabism. Though the Cairo Salafiyyah Bookstore still published modernist themes, the popularization and commodification of the Salafi epithets by the Saudi branch of the Salafiyyah Bookstore had brought the Wahhabi religious orientation to the fore. The unfounded intellectual association between Salafism (Salafiyyah) and al-Afghani and Abduhs Islamic reform as well as the absence of the monopoly over Salafism as a marketing brand that al-Khatib and Qatlan might have opened opportunity to the proponents of the Wahhabi-oriented pur ist movement kept using Salafiyyah as the label of their publications ignoring any modernist agenda as initiated by the original Salafi Bookstore in Cairo (Lauziere, 2010). It can be added that given that they shared the strong reference to the pious forefather (al-salaf al-shalih) with respect to theological issues with the Salafiyyah Bookstore, at least in its early years of operation, the proponents of Wahhabism had no difficulties in taking the advantage of using Salafism as their label of spreading the purist ideas of Ibn al-Wahhab. Through these religious-political processes, consequently, the Salafi epithets experienced re-definition and counter-definitions. More importantly, this gradually created the impression that the term Salafism and Wahhabism of Saudi Arabia were synonymous. The opening of the Saudi-connected Salafiyyah bookstores outside Saudi Arabia, such as in Syria and Pakistan, enforced this impression (Lauziere, 2010). Undoubtedly, this evolution of Salafism explains the state of the contemporary development of the Salafi movement with Saudi Arabia as its major supporter. Due to the fact that it is a contemporary phenomenon that assigns the epistemological value to traditions, Adis Duderija (2007:2011) labels the proponents of this contemporary Salafism as Neo-Traditional Salafis. In its later development, in the 1960s Wahhabi-inspired Salafism encountered with religious-political ideas brought by the Islamic activists who fled from their ruling governments repression and persecution found Saudi Arabia safe haven. This has to do with the Saudi Arabias policy under King Faisal (d. 1975) to support Islamic solidarity in its attempts to oppose Egypts pan-Arabism promoted by President Jamal Abdel Nasser (d. 1970), which was regarded as a threat to the existence of the kingdom (Lacroix, 2010). Among these refugees were the members of al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun (the Muslim Brotherhood), a religious-political movement that first emerged in Egypt in 1928 and then spread to the Muslim world. The political aspects of the ideology of al-Ikhwan al Muslimun encountered with the puritanical ideas of Wahhabism (Wahhabiyyah) brought about an intellectual hybrid identified as al-Sahwa al-Islamiyya (th

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The year 1968 can be recognized by the mass-youth appeal in late twentieth-century political and intellectual culture. It's most frequently remembered for the assassination of Martin Luther King, the May uprisings by students and workers in France, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the riots in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, the massacre of government protesters in Mexico City during the weeks leading up to the Olympics, and the election of Richard Nixon--to name just a few of the more infamous events. It was a year marked by the beginning of America's decline as the single dominant economic power to emerge at the end of World War II. Many social changes that were addressed in the 1960s are still the issues being confronted today. The ‘60s was a decade of social and political upheaval. In spite of all the turmoil, there were some positive results: the civil rights revolution, John F. Kennedy’s bold vision of a new frontier, and the breathtaking ad vances in space helped bring about progress and prosperity. However, much was negative: student and anti-war protest movements, political assassinations, and ghetto riots excited American people and resulted in lack of respect for authority and the law. Edward Sanders' book-long poem entitled 1968: A History in Verse depicts all areas of the year 1968 from January 1st through the end of December. Sanders avoids depicting the year 1968 as either the last great hope for historical redemption in America or as the beginning of a reactionary turn in the culture. The book recaps the year in which he played an important socio-cultural activist, role model, musician, and poet. The poem continues to cite specific details centered mostly on where his rock band, the fugs, traveled to and whom and what he encountered along the way. â€Å"To me this was the last mote of proof in 1968 that the Nation was lost† (189). After witnessing the riots in Chicago, the "Nation" Sander’s referred to is an imaginary society in which community responsibility is shared equally between both government and citizens, and economic resources are distributed more rightfully among its members, when it is actually an existing set of political formations run by the government. The book continues to address 1968 as a rebellious era of the youth of America. The Yippies, or members of the anti-political association The Youth International Party, were active across America voicing their opinion and opposing the war.

The Painted Veil – Presentation Note

Lift Not The Painted Veil Which Those Who Live Lift not the painted veil which those who live Call Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there, And it but mimic all we would believe With colours idly spread,–behind, lurk Fear And Hope, twin Destinies; who ever weave Their shadows, o'er the chasm, sightless and drear. I knew one who had lifted it–he sought, For his lost heart was tender, things to love, But found them not, alas! nor was there aught The world contains, the which he could approve. Through the unheeding many he did move, A splendour among shadows, a bright blot Upon this gloomy scene, a Spirit that stroveFor truth, and like the Preacher found it not. Percy Bysshe Shelley Charlie Townsend Post: married British vice consul = smart, sensible and he knows very well of what’s going on evidence – after walter walked away when he first found them in Kitty’s room, kitty was so panic but townsend knows that Dr. Fane will do nth. To cause any sc andal – when he’s discussing about the dealing with strikes(walkouts)/ boycotts in Shanghai with businessmen in the Colony Club, he banned the suggestion of seeking help from Chiang Kai-Shek as he knew that he’s a nationalist that must stand on the side of Chinese, he will not help them suppressing the strike. mature and experienced woman-hunter , very dissolute person and he’s unfaithful to his wife Evidence –flirted kitty from the very first moment they’ve met when they’re watching the Chinese opera ?Telling kitty what happened to the actor in the opera which he thinks that it may be similar to Kitty (she weeps for the lively, vivacious girl she once was? the lonely woman she has become; she weeps for the love she’ll never feel, for the love she’ll never give) to flirt Kitty ? made Kitty believes that he understands her, admire her ? Charlie Townsend found it so easy to get hold of her As described by Waddington: he ha d his little flirtations +As described by Dorothy: the women who fell for her husband were so consistently second-rate ? even his wife knows that her husband is a gallant/licentious/dissolute person that flirts many women +having an affair with Kitty? adultery, he only sees Kitty as his mistress to satisfy his physical needs (attachment: lever) Dorothy is more important to him because â€Å"whatever happens, we must try to keep Dorothy out of it† ? did not want to hurt Dorothy and nth in the world could induce him to divorce herWomen are always under the impression that men love them more that they really do. Film language – = selfish, vain and incapable of caring for anyone but himself Care for his reputation/ job/ post: â€Å"do you have any idea of the importance of my station here? † – at that time, there’ll be many rumors that ruin the reputation of a man if anyone divorce his wife and marry another woman. Therefore he cares more about his rep utation, his position than what will happen on Kitty if he does not marry her, as Kitty is just someone means very little to him.Film language – =a person who made false promise Evidence – sent kitty a ring as a gift – RING: symbolize love, faith and commitment. He proclaimed that he loves Kitty when he was having sex with Kitty, actually he does not love her, it’s just a way to flirt Kitty and make Kitty willing to continue the affair with him. – promised that he would help solve the problem when Kitty was forced to be divorced. After 5 years, at last, he still did nth, not even a letter to show his concern. â€Å"I should have written†Film language – Why Townsend treat Kitty as close as 5 years ago when he later met her in London? =the only one that failed to change in the film He never learn from any experience or errors that he has made; Besides, he does not think that he had done sth wrong? does not feel sorry /guilty for breakin g Kitty’s marriage He tried to date Kitty again in his later few weeks in London (to see if there’re any more chances for him to flirt kitty again, like 5 years ago) – described by Kitty – â€Å"no one important† 0th century that artists began to use it fully; a pipe would stand for thoughtfulness and calm; the cigarette symbolized modernity, strength and youth, but also nervous anxiety; the cigar was a sign of authority, wealth and power. The decades following World War II, during the apex of smoking when the practice had still not come under fire by the growing anti-smoking movement, a cigarette casually tucked between the lips represented the young rebel, epitomized in actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean or mainstays of advertising like the Marlboro Man.It was not until the 1970s when the negative aspects of smoking began to appear; the unhealthy lower-class loser, reeking of cigarette smoke and lack of motivation and drive, especially in a rt inspired or commissioned by anti-smoking campaigns. [ Literature Just as in other types of fiction, smoking has had an important place in literature and smokers are often portrayed as characters with great individuality, or outright eccentrics, something typically personified in one of the most iconic smoking literary figures of all, Sherlock Holmes.Other than being a frequent part of short stories and novels, smoking has spawned endless eulogies, praising its qualities and affirming the author's identity as a devoted smoker. Especially during the late 19th century and early 20th century, a panoply of books with titles like Tobacco: Its History and associations (1876), Cigarettes in Fact and Fancy (1906) and Pipe and Pouch: The Smokers Own Book of Poetry (1905) were written in the UK and the US.The titles were written by men for other men and contained general tidbits and poetic musings about the love for tobacco and all things related to it, and frequently praised the refined ba chelor's life. The Fragrant Weed: Some of the Good Things Which Have been Said or Sung about Tobacco, published in 1907, contained, among many others, the following lines from the poem A Bachelor's Views by Tom Hall that were typical of the attitude in many of the books: The cover of My Lady Nicotine: A Study in Smoke (1896) by J. M. Barrie, otherwise best known for his play Peter Pan. â€Å"So let us drinkTo her, – but think Of him who has to keep her; And sans a wife Let's spend our life In bachelordom, – it's cheaper. † —Eugene Umberger[68] These works were all published in an era before the cigarette had become the dominant form of tobacco consumption and pipes, cigars and chewing tobacco were still commonplace. Many of the books were published in novel packaging that would attract the learned smoking gentleman. Pipe and Pouch came in a leather bag resembling a tobacco pouch and Cigarettes in Fact and Fancy (1901) came bound in leather, packaged in an imitation cardboard cigar box.By the late 1920s, the publication of this type of literature largely abated and was only sporadically revived in the later 20th century. [69] Cigarettes in old films were early forms of ‘product placement' 5. Cigarettes as Phallic Symbols Back during the Hays Code days, cigarettes were clever devices used as metaphoric hints at sexual activity. When characters shared cigarettes, such as in Now, Voyager, To Have and Have Not and Rope, it implied a sex act. When Marlene Dietrich held a cigarette in any of her films, the prop was a phallic symbol implicit in projecting an image of bisexuality.And ironically, in a film as explicit as 9 ? Weeks, a cigarette may have been a required stand-in for Mickey Rourke’s penis during a strip-tease scene, because male nudity continues to be a taboo while the naked female body is common on the big screen. However, not all cigarettes in films represent sex and/or phallus, but due to the heavy employment of the prop in such a way for so many years, it’s hard for moviegoers (particularly those of us with film studies degrees) to think of them as anything but sex symbols.Fortunately, Hollywood is being forced to censor out cigarettes from their movies (for even featuring a pack of cigarettes), and meanwhile they continue to break sexual taboos at the same time. So this cliche is likely to go way very soon. Friendship Since friendship is not a very important issue in the Painted Veil, Compared to love and death, I’ll just talk about the more significant one. = kitty and Waddington At the very first beginning: Then: At the end: = Dr Fane and Colonel Yu When Colonel Yu met Walter, Then, after At the end: =Kitty and sung chingAt first, Sung Ching was appointed by Colonel Yu to protect Kitty due to the anti-foreigner atmosphere in china, kitty felt like she was guard as a prisoner Then, she started to reject Sun Ching’s protection and treat him badly when she was finding Mr. Waddington for mailing the letter, tell him to go away and she does not need him At the climax of the anti-foreigner movement, Sun Ching saved Kitty and Walter from the crowd, on the next day, kitty then ask Sun Ching to come with her friendly. Mei-tan-fu Background info = a village mad up by the author, not a real village (at first ? lanned to build a new village of Mei-tan-fu in Guangxi, however, the cost is too huge and overwhelming ? sent a scout to find a village for the film ? found a completely untouched village = Huang Yao – 800 years history; untouched because there’s no telegraph poles or anything else to contact people in other places? perfect for shooting The rivers and mountains shoots are taken from Huang Yao, it’s from Guangxi ~> on-location (means the film is shot at the actual place where the action occurs) Mei-tan fu is a place with many significance in the film, please pick one to and explain why.Significances: = new home of the Fanes = the place where death rest – Chinese villagers/ walter/ kitty seeing two corpses + colour of lights 1st: the corpse of a villager pass along the same road of Kitty and Walter’s sadden chairs 2nd: the hut where kitty and walter stays – the doll on the bed of kitty’s room Walter: â€Å"I won’t touch that if I were you, they may have died in that bed† 3rd: the corpse of a villager on the side of the road when Kitty walked out from Mr, Waddington’s house 4th: the bodies are buried too close to the river th: the death of Sister Maryse 6th: the soldiers removing corpses from the villagers’ house 7th:the death of walter =a place for reunion -kitty and walter=a place where they fall in love again Before the union, Walter and Kitty were separated spiritually due to the affair . /. kitty and charlie How – after kitty had heard from the nuns about Walter helping the orphans? stating to know that he is a good man and wants to impro ve their relationship.After Walter had seen Kitty playing with the orphans, he started to have better feelings for Kitty After the union, their relationship has been recovered, they even have sex after drinking with Mr. Waddington and XX. Then they travel on the boat to let Kitty visit the water XX. =changes brought by cholera(+ve and -ve) – kitty(+ve)/ walter(+ve &-ve)/ colonel yu(+ve) Described by Kitty- no place for a woman; madness for me to go Described by Dr. Fane – small town on a tributary of Yangtze River, in the interior Film language: colour of light, long shot,

A great fraction of Tecumseh’s life Essay

The first Pontiac refers to the Ottawa chief whose influence is said to have extended to as far as Seneca, Shawnee and Delaware at a period of 1763- 1766. At the time of the French Indian war, a lot of land recessions were wrung from the English in the form of treaties that neither of the sides lacked the goodwill to adhere to. This was clearly proven when there was the permanent desisting from the side of the Amherst from the buying of the peace through the use of gifts back in 1760. On the other hand, Tecumseh (1768- 1813), otherwise known as Tekamthi or Tecumtha was a famous leaders to the American natives known as the Shawnee. A great fraction of Tecumseh’s life was spent on rallying diverse Indian tribes so that they could defend their land. This led to Tecumseh’s death in 1812 (in the War of 1812). MotivationsThere are several reasons that acted as motivations behind the War of 1812. The most important of all these is the issue of land. With the incursion of the white race into the American soil, land for the indigenous American Indians started to diminish as the invaders also started to take up land progressively, both for settlement and commercialism. O’Brien (2001 p 451) postulates that with this state of affair persisting, the new settlers did not only take interests in taking massive tracts of land, but land that was accredited for its fertility in agriculture and richness in mineral materials. This condition led to the indigenous Indian communities to be contained in smaller areas. At the same time, land that was unproductive, barren and unresourceful became a preserve for the aboriginal Amerindian communities. All the above happened merely because the new invaders had superior caches of weapons, skilled and seasoned military skills and superior animals such as horses. This development led to the formation of groups that wanted to reverse the situation- groups that were merely military rag tags. All of the groups were quasi- social and religious groups such as the Tenskwatawa, a group that had been known as the Lowawluwaysica. Indeed, it is also imperative to note that there were also reasons that led to the war, though these reasons still are pegged on the land issue. For instance, the Tenskwatawa were against the inculcation of the culture of the white man and thus, opposed Conversely, there are other social ills that Tecumseh and his group, the Tenskwatawa were up against. For instance, the massive cases of raping of the indigenous women by the white masters were rife. With the surge in a number of cases touching on human rights abuses, nothing much could be done to placate the anger of the Amerindians, save justice- an element that the new invader, the white man was not interested in delivering. Occurrence According to Cook (2004 p 90), the War of 1812 is known to have taken place in 1812, under the enablement of the religious movement, Tenskwatawa who were interested in disbanding the cultural cords of the white men. However, this was an artifice to ensure that the aboriginals did not cede more land to the whites. However, a Shawnee leader known as Black Hoof posed an antithetical stance to Tenskwatawa, being interested in the forging of the diplomatic relations with the whites.   Real trouble started when in 1809, Governor William H. Harrison who was in charge of Indian Territory formed the Treaty of Fort Wayne with a delegation of partially starved Indians so that the latter could cede 12,000 kilometers squared land. After enacting this treaty, William Harrison did not honor the Indians, a development that was vehemently opposed by Tecumseh. After trying in vain in 1811 to resolve the situation by talking to Harrison at Grouseland, Tecumseh was sent 1,000 soldiers in an attempt by Harrison to frighten him. However, Tenskwatawa instead ordered the attack of this contingency in the Battle of Tippecanoe which saw Harrison’s men retreat. Nevertheless, the war severed Tenskwatawa, making him to forfeit confidence and the prestige of his brother who secretly build an alliance with the British later. It is by this virtue that in the War of 1812, America finds herself, not just at war with the aboriginal Amerindians, but with the British as well. Outcomes There were massive cases of properties and lives being lost as the British supply systems were extirpated. On the other hand, the British incinerated all the public buildings in Detroit as they themselves retreated to Thames valley that is adjacent to   Apart from the conclusive defeat of the Tenskwatawa army, Tecumseh lost his life. This defeat was mainly due to the poor communication, organization and logistics that had been set in place by the rather new British Commander, Henry Proctor as the Major General. This same general did not have enough skills and as such, differed with Tecumseh over tactics that were to be employed. This failure was brought into its sad and tragic conclusion when Procter failed to show up in Ontario at Chatham as previously agreed upon between him and Tecumseh. This gave Harrison an easy ride to victory (Hatch 2003 p 199). Having seen that American history is seriously pegged on massive cases of human rights abuses, it is therefore incumbent that debates on making the reparations to the ethno linguistic groups that had been shortchanged at the time be revisited anew. This demands intellectualism from all disciplines and spheres of development. It is only through this that internal acrimony will be eradicated for the realization of national cohesion. Work cited Cook, Darius. The Amerindians. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 2004. Hatch, William. Embracing the past: A history of the 1812 War. New York: Prentice Hall. 2003. O’Brien, Sharon. Governments of the American Indian Tribes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2001.

Multiple Submissions of Freelance Material

Multiple Submissions of Freelance Material A reader asked me to address this topic. She had an article to query to publications and didnt want to wait for one answer at a time. Could she pitch to several markets at once, she asked. The answer isnt a simple Yes or No. Its actually Yes AND No. And I have my own personal anecdote for this lesson. Back in my earlier freelance days, I proposed articles on writers and grants to Writers Digest as well as The Writer. Each was a unique pitch, written differently, but on the same subject. Id just gone full time  as a freelancer and knew the odds of both nationally-recognized magazines accepting my pieces was slim to none. One of the publications accepted within a month but never stated when the story would come out. The other didnt get in touch for almost a year but told me when the article would appear. They both came out in the same month. I received a contributors copy feeling completely ecstatic. Then I opened the other envelope in the mail and saw where the other publication sent me their contributors copy. The thrill of opening one was replaced with dread and despair. Sure enough, one of the editors contacted me seething. The other never said a word. I was afraid to pitch either of them for years. When is it okay to pitch the same article to different publications? 1) When the publications are not in a competing market OR 2) When you mention in the query that you have also pitched the piece elsewhere. For instance, if you pitch a story on how to maintain grass in a cemetery (yes, I actually published that piece), it can be simultaneously pitched to a turfgrass magazine and a genealogy magazine since they are not competing publications. However, when one accepts, it behooves you to let the other know. Sure, they may kill your piece, but you dont want to burn the bridge to future gigs. Even if you write completely different articles, if they are about the same topic consider them too similar to pitch to competing markets, but understand that noncompeting markets may not care, with both accepting your piece. And while were talking freelancing, I want to mention a remarkable guide book on becoming a freelance writer.  Writers Digest Guide to Magazine Article Writing  is your practical guide to selling pitches, crafting strong articles, and earning more I stand solidly behind  this book, written

Short essay on camparison of Araby and Young Goodman Brown

Short essay on camparison of Araby and Young Goodman Brown The short stories "Araby" by James Joyce and "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne are both stories about change; however both characters change in very different ways. Organized religion imposes a rebut of prescribed behavior on natural curiosity and growth and in turn causes one to seek it out on there own. In "Araby" an unnamed young boy of about twelve or thirteen depicts his personal coming of age. Due to strong religious obligations, sexuality was greatly repressed during the time of this story. "Young Goodman Brown" tells the tale of a young Puritan man drawn into a covenant with the Devil. Brown's illusions about the goodness of his society are crushed when he discovers that many of his fellow townspeople, including religious leaders and his wife, are attending a Black Mass. Allusions Goodman Brown had witnessed may have or not been real, but changed his life completely.Asian Brown Tortoise / Burmese Star TortoiseThe character in "Araby" was fascinated by what love was like. He read "The Abbot" by Walter Scott, which was a popular romance. The Devout Communicant was also noted as one of his favorite books. This book was a Catholic religious manual that set forth guidelines for his faith. The fact that Joyce mentioned both of these books aids in foreshadowing and revelation of his dilemma. He is a young boy coming to an age of confusion of the opposite sex. The boy seems to create a sexual image of the girl each time he sees her, describing the "white border of a petticoat, just visible as she stood at ease." This idea was vividly sketched in the paragraph which states, "All my senses seemed to desire to veil themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip from them, I pressed the...

What is Black Economy

What is Black Economy What Is the Black Economy? If you need a similar essay feel free to  ask our writers for help! The Black Economy is a significant but difficult to measure part of almost every economy in the world. Depending on the source, â€Å"black economy† is taken to mean that part of the economy that involves illegal and criminal activity, such as the trade in drugs or smuggled goods. However, the term is also used interchangeably with terms such as shadow economy, informal economy, or underground economy. Whether it involves illicit activity or not, the black economy has four key characteristics: It is a cash-based economy and is isolated from the banking system. It may feature its own sophisticated system of credit. It exists outside a country’s business regulation framework. It is usually difficult if not impossible for the government to track, and therefore is untaxable. It is not reflected in the country’s GDP or GNI statistics, though it may be a very large part of the economy. How large is the black economy? For years, the International Monetary Fund has estimated that around 30% of the global economy is â€Å"informal†; the figure is higher in poor and developing countries, and lower – but still exists at a significant level – in first-world countries. More recent studies, in particular, one done by a researcher at Bogazici University (Turkey) in 2012 using several sophisticated statistical models, give slightly lower estimates of about 22%. The black economy is largest in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, accounting for between 38 and 40 percent of those economies, and smallest in the OECD countries at slightly less than 18%. The black economy is also said to be counter-cyclical, that is, growing when the formal economy shrinks; since 1960 the size of the black economy gradually declined in most of the world but began to grow rapidly again from 2008, after the onset of the global financial crisis. The Link Between the Black Economy and Poverty The black economy is obviously larger in poorer, less-developed countries, and the link between poverty and the â€Å"informal† economy was established in two important reports published by the International Labour Organisation in 1972-1973, which characterized the development of a black economy as an outcome of survival strategies by impoverished people, most often those migrating into cities in search of economic opportunities. The ILO drew the significant (for that time) conclusion that the black economy should be considered an integral rather than complementary or marginal part of the economy but considered the existence of a large black economy as still being evidence of poverty. You may be interested in: From Boom to Bust: Financial Crisis of 2008 Currency Exchange Rates and Management What is Fiat Money? Financial Rewards Are the Only Way to Gain Employee Loyalty Money Makes the World Go Around The reasoning behind this assertion is that while a black economy can grow and actually provide fairly stable livelihoods for a lot of people, its extralegal nature prevents small entrepreneurs from growing beyond a certain point, and keeps individual workers from entering the formal job market and financial system. The ILO prescription for correcting the problem of the black economy growing in countries where unemployment and low economic output persisted was to address what the organization saw as its root causes: Excess labor supply, undercapitalization of the business sector, and a lack of skills and accessible technology. By providing educational, financial, and technical resources, it was thought, much of the black economy could be transferred to the formal economy. That was a nice idea, but in most countries, it did not work. In his 2000 book The Mystery of Capital, author Hernando de Soto explains that the ILO misread the real problems that led to the growth of a black economy. In most countries, according to de Soto’s research, the informal economic sector actually has a great amount of technical, financial, and skill resources, and the evidence of it should be instantly recognizable. After all, the full spectrum of economic activity, even if only in rough forms, is represented in the black economy, which would not be possible without the existence of the very resources the ILO believed were lacking. In de Soto’s view, simply providing more resources through training programs, housing assistance, conditional cash transfer programs, health care, and similar initiatives simply adds wealth to the black economy system and allows it to flourish, making it even harder to ‘correct’. The real solution, de Soto asserts, is n ot to provide resources but to correct institutional and regulatory structures that keep black economy resources isolated from the mainstream economy by introducing legal reforms that encourage contract enforcement, statutory and tax legalization of businesses, and strong protections of property rights. To some degree, this direction is already being followed in many parts of the world. The growth of microfinance programs, particularly in South Asia and Latin America, have in the past couple decades given more people access to the mainstream financial system by providing credit and savings. Microfinance programs also have an added advantage for governments, in that they permit at least some of the people in the black economy to be tracked, accounted for in economic calculations, and taxed. Another initiative that has grown in some parts of the black economy, particularly among agricultural workers and their families, is the growth of cooperatives. While an individual small farmer or sharecropper might only produce barely above a subsistence level of output and find himself marginalized from opportunities to formalize his business, gathering many of these people together into a cooperative gives them access to a formal business structure, and as a result, credit and other resources t o help them expand their economic activity. Despite progress in some areas, however, as the growth of the world’s black economy after 2008 showed, it is still a persistent and widespread part of global society, one which is highly sensitive to changes in economic conditions. Part of its longevity can be attributed to its attractiveness; living and working under circumstances where one is not troubled by pesky laws or taxes is not an unappealing concept. So while governments will continue to strive to reduce the black economy, it is unlikely it will ever disappear entirely. Read more about it:  Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

The main factor that contributed to the hospital infrastructure Research Proposal

The main factor that contributed to the hospital infrastructure projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) running over the budget and delivered late during the last decade - Research Proposal Example 259). It also assumes the referral system which provides curative care to all the members of the society from the general practitioners level that operate at the local health centres to the advanced technology specialist curative services through a wide foundation of general and specialist hospitals (Knapp, Madden and Fowler-Kerry, 2012, p. 162). The Ministry of health is the chief agency as far as planning, financing and controlling the healthcare centres is concerned (Kimberly, Pouvourville and Daunno, 2008, p. 128). It is also mandated with conducting overall supervision and the follow up of activities that are related to healthcare which are implemented by the private sector, which makes it a national health service that serves that whole population of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Chai, 2005, p. 178). The healthcare industry in the Gulf is an industry that is growing very fast as the government in this region continually seek to make improvements to what has been a low standard of service which forced many nationals to go overseas when they need specialized medical attention (Kloep, 2012, p. 107). This industry has also attracted foreign investors who are keen on taking advantage of the rapid expansion that it is experiencing. Investment that is directed at the health sector in the United Arab Emirates has increased considerably, tripling in the last five years and ii is expected that it will rise from USD3.2billion to USD11.9billion in 2015, which will be a contribution of more than 6 percent of gross domestic product that will not be associated with oil. Saudi Arabia also started a countrywide healthcare plan intended to give services to the whole kingdom. This includes more than 420 health projects and over 127 health facilities that are worth more than USD3.2billion. The projects include 19 medical complexes and hospitals intended to have a capacity of more

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency Assignment

The role of nurses in improving hospital quality and efficiency - Assignment Example The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has created a chance for the medically underserved populations to access health care across the United States. The legislation has made health insurance accessible by forming health insurance marketplace where people can access it through the internet. It has also provided civilians with incentives such as reducing insurance cost. Moreover, the legislation has led to the redefining of the health care system by introducing changes that have improved the quality, accountability and efficiency of the health care system; hence, helping reduce costs of providing health care to Americans (Rosenbaum, 2011). The government should play the following roles in the delivery of health care in the United States. Firstly, the government should regulate the health care markets. The health care markets are made up of both private and government hospitals, health care centers, and pharmaceuticals. The government should ensure quality services and medicines are sold to its people. Secondly, the government should play the bigger part of providing health care in the country. This will help protect the people from low-quality services while extending health care access to all Americans in the United States (Tang, Eisenberg, & Meyer, 2004). Nurses can play individual roles in strengthening and improving the health care system in the United States. A nurse can contribute to the quality improvement in the health system by participating in nursing leadership forums in the hospitals.

Writing a policy about Human Resources Security Assignment

Writing a policy about Human Resources Security - Assignment Example Cloud computing is today becoming business modernization’s fresh standards (Alali & Chia-Lun, 2012). The goal of the policy on external computing services is to secure human resources information. The policy also seeks to provide many enticing opportunities in the technology industry with several technology solutions being offered at very low costs. The policy on external cloud computing services will also make the foundation of pivotal improvements in the human resource information technology effectiveness. Given external cloud computing services are significant for human resource security (CHOI, 2013). The policy on external services is significant to the organization in terms of securing human resources information. It will assist in backing up confidential information from hackers and other unauthorized users. Retrieving information will also be easy as a result of implementing this policy. The objective of this policy is gain from external cloud computing services in terms of flexibility, efficiency, flexibility, and reduction in cost currently (Cross, 2012). As models of businesses change to be at par with the advancement in technology as well as the associated market shifts, organizations strive to build their strategies of cloud computing out of flexible components requiring interoperability among vendors (Cross, 2012). Another objective of the policy on external cloud computing services is to open opportunities by making technology and applications more accessible and minimizes the risk of having a significant data breach. Cloud computing is vital in safeguarding information. Many institutions have contributed to the marketing and development of platforms based on external cloud computing services policy. Some of the organizations already using external cloud computing services include Verizon, Oracle, Apple, VMWare, IBM, Google, Sony, Amazon, NetSuite, and Microsoft. Many other organizations are establishing all forms of

Colonization and its impact on historical geography of north america Essay

Colonization and its impact on historical geography of north america - Essay Example American colonies also moved in and resolved on sharing the fishery with France, and after the cross-island railroad was built in the 1800’s, fishing had become the only industry in Newfoundland. Fishery impacted the island in many ways: economically, geographically, on the population, industry sector, transport and communication as well as its education sector during this historical time. The geography and ecosystem of Newfoundland has been credited to be a major contributor in the prosperity of fishery. Its climatic conditions had great impact on the marine ecosystem, especially around its central Grand Bank in comparison to other areas, such as the northeast Atlantic. The southward extension of the Island is covered with the Labrador currents that are responsible for the transportation of cold water in the southward direction from the Hudson Bay, Davis Strait and the Canadian Archipelago. The cold water offer conducive fishery conditions in these areas. The median extents s outherly of the sea ice towards the Grand bank with the temperatures at the water bottom falling bellow 0 degrees Celsius for most of the period. The cold conditions that extent southerly are implicated by the frequent polar cod presence along the Newfoundland coast. The fishery activity in the Newfoundland became so dominant that it impacted the geographical considitions of the Island in many adverse ways. This paper is going to look at how European fishery impacted the ecosystem, population and demography and climate of Newfoundland. Road Map 1. Impact on Ecosystem 2. Impact on Climate 3. Population and Demography 4. Conclusion Impact on Ecosystem Before the European interest in the Island, the ecosystem of Canada in general was characterized by very few species, and this was the case at Newfoundland. Among these few species, very few of them were in high abundance. The most dominant fish species included capelin and lance mostly found in the area around the Grand Bank plateau and the polar cod around the north (Lear 50). Herring species was only found in the adjacent waters or in some cases in the bays. The named species fed mostly on crustaceans and calanoid copepods. The fishery activities led to the discovery of more species that later became dominant and important in the Island. Such species include: Greenland halibut, Atlantic code and American plaice. Northern shrimp and snow crab were also later discovered and dominated benthic crustaceans (Lear 62). These species were not enough, considering fishery had turn out to be the main activity on the Island. This called for the need for species in the fishery changing the historical ecosystem of the area. The main introductions included hooded seals and harp seals that come from the north, but this was seasonal. The other species to be introduced were the whales that came into the Island from the south. This species was also seasonal. The most important species that were not naturally found in the Island in clude minke, humpback, pilot whales, fin, sei and sperm (NAFO 333). In addition to the fish species, there were other immigrants that came to the Island following the fishery activity, and they include: squid with short fins, bluefin tuna, mackerel and birds like sooty shearwater and greater shear water (NAFO 333). Overfishing was observed to have great impact on the ecosystem

Financial Management Master Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Management Master - Research Paper Example It also has a secondary listing on the Irish Stock Exchange with the name TESCO PLC. Its market capitalization (as on 11/5/2008) is 33.09 billion pound, revenue is 47.3 billion pound (2008), operating income is 2.97 billion pound(2008) and net income 2.13 billion pound (2008). All figures below are for the Tesco's financial years, which run for 52 or 53 week periods to late February. The figures in the table below include 52 weeks/12 months of turnover for both sides of the business as this provides the best comparative. Total Shareholder Return (TSR) shows the return on investment a shareholder receives over a specified time frame and takes into consideration the share price appreciation/depreciation and dividends received. The TSR is calculated by adding the dividend per share to the capital gain/loss and dividing this by the share price and is expressed as a percentage change over time. I have extracted the data for 4 years for Tesco and Sainsbury and have taken the dividend comprising of the interim and final dividend paid by Tesco along with the stock prices appearing as on the close of every financial year as well as in the beginning of the year for the financial years from 2004-05 till 2007-08. TSR ANALYSIS FOR TESCO : As it is quite clear from the calculat... racted the data for 4 years for Tesco and Sainsbury and have taken the dividend comprising of the interim and final dividend paid by Tesco along with the stock prices appearing as on the close of every financial year as well as in the beginning of the year for the financial years from 2004-05 till 2007-08. PARTCULARS OF DIVIDEND PAID BY TESCO DIVIDEND IN PENCE/SHARE PARTCULARS OF SHARE PRICES AS ON PARTICULAR DATE - TESCO SHARE PRICE TSR FOR TESCO Interim - 10/10/07 3.20 As on 23/02/2008 - End 400 Final - 23/04/08 7.70 As on 24/02/2007 - Beginning 446 Total 10.90 Difference in prices - 46 [(-46+10.9)/ 446]*100 = 7.87% Interim - 11/10/06 2.81 As on 24/02/2007 - End 446 Final - 25/04/07 6.83 As on 25/02/2006 - Beginning 335 Total 9.64 Difference in prices 111 [(111+9.64)/ 335]*100 = 36.01% Interim - 28/09/05 2.53 As on 25/02/2006 - End 335 Final - 03/05/06 6.10 As on 26/02/2005 - Beginning 308 Total 8.63 Difference in prices 27 [(27+8.63)/ 308]*100 = 11.57% Interim - 29/09/04 2.29 As on 26/02/2005 - End 308 Final - 20/04/05 5.27 As on 27/02/2004 - Beginning 258 Total 7.56 Difference in prices 50 [(50+7.56)/ 258]*100 = 22.31% TSR ANALYSIS FOR TESCO : As it is quite clear from the calculations that the Total Shareholder Return for the Company has been quite volatile in nature and has been variable for the four years period and the same was negative for the current financial year 2007-08. This is on account of the fluctuating share price although the dividend per share has been on a constant rising scale. Moreover the performance of the stock has been quite volatile for TESCO and for the current financial year 07-08, it showed a downward trend. (ii) Market Value Added(MVA) A calculation that shows the difference between the

Intro to business Past exam paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Intro to business Past exam paper - Coursework Example It includes variables like suppliers, customers, competitors and public. On the other hand, macro factors are those that have an indirect impact on the business, also known as PESTEL. It includes factors that create opportunities and threats to business and is categorized as the far environment. These include variables such as political, environmental, socio-cultural, technological, economic and legal. (ii) The purpose of macro environment analysis is to determine the opportunities and threats to the farming industry as a whole and those outside the control of the company. External factors that affected the agricultural industry includes economic, technological, socio-cultural, environmental and political. All factors were considered as they play a part in determining the overall business environment. Economic factors include inflation rate, growth in spending power, exchange rates and economic growth. Opportunities can be that higher national income growth may boost demand for a fir m's products and chances for expansion increases. On the other hand, a strong currency may make exporting more difficult as prices in terms of foreign currency rises. Also inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs. With respect to technological factors, internet played a crucial role and gave way to online orders and delivery systems. Opportunities in the future may include complex operational systems installation that may cut down on labor costs, improve quality and lead to new innovations and make it attractive as a segment. Threats can be the probable advancement of technology making prior systems obsolete. Socio- cultural factors played an equally important role in farming industry. Change in trends where consumers demand for fresh products provided business opportunities to farmers and provide scope for innovation. Entertainment dimension added onto the development of this industry. However, trends changes and there exist a niche market that deman ds such products which might get concentrated. This can thus pose as a threat to agricultural industry. In Environmental factors, Physical factors of climate relief and soils affected the business positively. With major climate changes and greater environmental awareness this external factor is becomes a significant issue for firms to consider. However, going for environmental friendly products and processes can create business opportunities now and in the future as well. Threats can be Laws on waste disposal, energy consumption, pollution monitoring etc. that would add to the cost of the businesses operating. 2. (i) Two main sources of U.K. laws include Legislation (Statue Law), Common Law (Judge-made Law) and the European Communities law. Legislation are most authoritative and passed by parliament whereas common law includes cases where there was no judicial precedent but which were known to exist since time memorial. Company law, or corporate law, of U.K. can be broken down into two main fields. Corporate governance in the UK mediates the rights and duties among shareholders, employees, creditors and directors. Corporate finance concerns the two money raising options of incorporators the above mention laws can directly affect the operations of Ford Company in UK. (ii) There are broadly four types of business ownership. The most basic form is sole proprietorship. It is owned by one person who is the in charge of day-to-day activities of the business and owns all the assets and bears

Financial Management Master Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial Management Master - Research Paper Example It also has a secondary listing on the Irish Stock Exchange with the name TESCO PLC. Its market capitalization (as on 11/5/2008) is 33.09 billion pound, revenue is 47.3 billion pound (2008), operating income is 2.97 billion pound(2008) and net income 2.13 billion pound (2008). All figures below are for the Tesco's financial years, which run for 52 or 53 week periods to late February. The figures in the table below include 52 weeks/12 months of turnover for both sides of the business as this provides the best comparative. Total Shareholder Return (TSR) shows the return on investment a shareholder receives over a specified time frame and takes into consideration the share price appreciation/depreciation and dividends received. The TSR is calculated by adding the dividend per share to the capital gain/loss and dividing this by the share price and is expressed as a percentage change over time. I have extracted the data for 4 years for Tesco and Sainsbury and have taken the dividend comprising of the interim and final dividend paid by Tesco along with the stock prices appearing as on the close of every financial year as well as in the beginning of the year for the financial years from 2004-05 till 2007-08. TSR ANALYSIS FOR TESCO : As it is quite clear from the calculat... racted the data for 4 years for Tesco and Sainsbury and have taken the dividend comprising of the interim and final dividend paid by Tesco along with the stock prices appearing as on the close of every financial year as well as in the beginning of the year for the financial years from 2004-05 till 2007-08. PARTCULARS OF DIVIDEND PAID BY TESCO DIVIDEND IN PENCE/SHARE PARTCULARS OF SHARE PRICES AS ON PARTICULAR DATE - TESCO SHARE PRICE TSR FOR TESCO Interim - 10/10/07 3.20 As on 23/02/2008 - End 400 Final - 23/04/08 7.70 As on 24/02/2007 - Beginning 446 Total 10.90 Difference in prices - 46 [(-46+10.9)/ 446]*100 = 7.87% Interim - 11/10/06 2.81 As on 24/02/2007 - End 446 Final - 25/04/07 6.83 As on 25/02/2006 - Beginning 335 Total 9.64 Difference in prices 111 [(111+9.64)/ 335]*100 = 36.01% Interim - 28/09/05 2.53 As on 25/02/2006 - End 335 Final - 03/05/06 6.10 As on 26/02/2005 - Beginning 308 Total 8.63 Difference in prices 27 [(27+8.63)/ 308]*100 = 11.57% Interim - 29/09/04 2.29 As on 26/02/2005 - End 308 Final - 20/04/05 5.27 As on 27/02/2004 - Beginning 258 Total 7.56 Difference in prices 50 [(50+7.56)/ 258]*100 = 22.31% TSR ANALYSIS FOR TESCO : As it is quite clear from the calculations that the Total Shareholder Return for the Company has been quite volatile in nature and has been variable for the four years period and the same was negative for the current financial year 2007-08. This is on account of the fluctuating share price although the dividend per share has been on a constant rising scale. Moreover the performance of the stock has been quite volatile for TESCO and for the current financial year 07-08, it showed a downward trend. (ii) Market Value Added(MVA) A calculation that shows the difference between the

Teaching Third Grade Students Art Appreciation Essay

Teaching Third Grade Students Art Appreciation - Essay Example Jerrold Levinson in his book The Pleasures of Aesthetics proposes the characterization of aesthetic pleasure as "pleasure in an object is aesthetic when it derives from apprehension of and reflection on the object's individual character and content, both for itself and in relation to the structural base on which it rests" (Levinson, 1996, p. 6). In other words, learning to appreciate a piece of art aesthetically is to appreciate its forms, quality, value and meaning while at the same time observing the way it relates to its surrounding environment. In order to appreciate art and experience the aesthetic pleasure associated with it, students of the third grade should be taught the elements and principles of art. Elements of art comprise line, shape, form, color, value, texture, and space. Line is a moving point which creates an identifiable path. It is one-dimensional, varies in length, width and direction and is used to define the edge of forms. Lines can be vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, wide or narrow. Shape is two-dimensional having height and width whereas form is three-dimensional having height, width and depth. Form can be depicted in art by use of lines and shading. Color is the light reflected off objects. The brightness or darkness of color used by artists to create various moods is called value. Texture refers to the surface quality of an object. This is achieved visually in two-dimensional pictures by the use of forms and colors so that the viewer comprehends the way the object would feel in real life. Spac e in art creates an illusion of depth. This is achieved by using perspective drawing techniques and shading (The Elements of Art, 2008). Third grade students are familiar with lines, shapes and form. They enjoy drawing basic shapes and lines and using it in their own creations. Mixing colors to get new ones can be taught so that they can experiment with primary secondary, tertiary colors, shades and tints. The value of the color, texture and space can be introduced to children at this level. The basic principles of art can also be successfully taught in the third grade. The principles are movement, unity, variety, balance, emphasis, contrast, proportion, and pattern (Elements of Art, 2008). Emphasis refers to the points of interest in the picture while balance is a sense of stability achieved by repetition of shapes. Contrast is combining different elements to create points of interest. Variety in a piece of art is introduced by using various shapes and textures. Movement is the creation of action using the elements of art in such a manner as to guide the viewer's eye throughout the picture. Pattern or rhythm is a type of movement created in the picture by repeating shapes and colors. Using dark and light colors alternately can also create rhythm. The relationship between the sizes of various objects in the picture is called proportion. Unity or harmony gives the picture a complete and uncomplicated look (Rider). Third graders can be guided to recognize these principles in the works of renowned painters and apply them in their work. Methods for Teaching Third Grade Students Appreciation of Art Children can be taught to appreciate art using various methods. However, the methods used should be interesting and simple so that the curiosity to experiment with art is aroused in the child. Children should also be able to relate their experiences with art to daily life and academic studies.

Tools And Techniques In Environmental Analysis Commerce Essay

Tools And Techniques In Environmental Analysis Commerce Essay Strategic management is also called institutional management. It is the art and science of making, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decision making that helps an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. In this process the organizations mission, vision and objectives are discussed and developed. After these objectives are developed, the policies, plans, with respect to projects and programs, are designed, and then resources are allocated or budgeted to implement them and achieve the objectives. (wikipedia n.d.) Strategic management consists of a set of activities that come under setting goals and over the process of putting together tactics to achieve these goals and objectives. How strategic management is carried out depends on the organizational structure of the company. The Board of Directors, the management team as well as other stake holders of the company can be involved in these activities that fall under strategic management. Strategy can be defined as unified, comprehensive and integrated plan that relates to the strategic advantages of the firm to the challenges of the environment. It is designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved through the proper execution by the organization. (Jauch and Glueck 1988) Formulating a strategy for achieving an objective or a set of objectives is a combines three main processes which are: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ By analyzing the situation, self-evaluation and competitor analysis: both internal and external, both micro-environmental and macro-environmental. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ After this assessment, objectives are set. These objectives should be parallel to a time-line; some are in the short-term and others on the long-term. This involves creating vision statements (which is the long term view of a possible future), mission statements (which is the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), and tactical objectives. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ These objectives should be studied along with the results of the situation analysis and a strategic plan can be formulated. The plan provides the details of how to achieve these objectives. Environmental analysis is a process that begins from identification of environmental factors, assessing their nature and impact, auditing them to find their impact to the business, and making various profiles for positioning. All the decisions taken by the organization and the impact of these decisions depend on the organizations internal and external environmental factors. These environmental factors should be carefully analyzed before taking any decisions. Environmental analysis is made up of the processes of scanning, monitoring, analyzing, and forecasting the business situations and variables of the environment. Scanning is done to get information from the environment. Monitoring is done to check the nature of the environmental factors. Analyzing requires data collection and the use of tools and techniques. Forecasting is a method to find the future possibilities based on the past results and present scenario. (Business Environment Analysis n.d.) Different types of methods, tools, and techniques are used for environmental analysis. Some of the major methods of analysis are Scenario Building, Benchmarking, and Network methods. Scenario building gives an overall picture of the total system with the factors which affect it. Benchmarking is to find the best standard in an industry and to compare the ones strengths and weakness with the standard. Network method is to assess organizational systems and its outside environment to find the strength and weakness, opportunity and threats of an organization. Some of the techniques of primary information collection can be Delphi, Brainstorming, Survey, and Historical enquiry. Delphi technique collects independent information from the experts without mixing them. Brainstorming is information collection technique being open minded without criticizing others. Survey is to design questions and to ask them to the participants whereas the historical enquiry is a kind of case analysis of past period. Analysis tools can be statistical such general descriptive tools as mean, median, mode, frequency or tools can be inferential as ANOVA, correlation, regression, factor, cluster, and multiple regression analysis. (BADU 2002) SWOT Analysis A scan of the internal and external environment is an important part of the strategic planning process. Environmental factors internal to the firm usually can be classified as strengths (S) or weaknesses (W), and those external to the firm can be classified as opportunities (O) or threats (T). This is called SWOT analysis. (QuickMBA n.d.) The SWOT analysis provides information that is helpful in matching the firms resources and capabilities to the environment in which it operates. The SWOT Matrix A matrix of these factors can be constructed. This matrix will be helpful in developing the strategies for the firm. The SWOT matrix (also known as a TOWS Matrix) is shown in the next page: SWOT / TOWS Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies S-O strategies pursue opportunities that are a good fit to the companys strengths. W-O strategies overcome weaknesses to pursue opportunities. S-T strategies identify ways that the firm can use its strengths to reduce its vulnerability to external threats. W-T strategies establish a defensive plan to prevent the firms weaknesses from making it highly susceptible to external threats. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS OR EXTERNAL AUDIT The organizations should adapt themselves and their strategy to the external environment which is constantly changing. The external environment is also called macro environment. These forces of the external environment cannot be controlled and can be analyzed using a variety of tools and techniques such as Environmental Scanning and PEST analysis. Environmental Scanning Environmental scanning is defined as the process that seeks information about events and relationships in a firms environment, the knowledge of which help top management chart the firms future. In this process, the external environment is divided into sectors or areas such as political, economic, cultural, technological and further analysis such as Pest analysis can be done after scanning the environment. Information is collected by monitoring and forecasting any changes that occur to the variables of the environment that have been identified earlier. This collection of information helps the organizations to find out where they are lacking and what exactly they need which helps them in formulating the strategies. (Acar 1995) Environmental scanning is used to gather information from the environment. PEST Analysis A PEST analysis looks at the Political, Economic, Social and Technological drivers or the external forces that affect the organization. It is most useful when used together with other tools such as the SWOT analysis. Political Factors These factors may have direct or indirect impact on the organizations operation. Decisions made by the government may have an effect on the business. The political arena has a big influence on how organization operates. Economic Factors Economic factors such as the market prices and market cycles affect the purchasing power and behavior of the consumers. Sociological Factors These factors include the demography, lifestyle, cultural aspects of the consumers. These factors have a big influence on the consumer needs and wants. Sociological factors also affect the size of potential markets. Technological Factors Technological changes play an important role in shaping how organizations operate. Technological factor is very important to gain competitive advantage. Technological innovation can also improve the production efficiency, quality and speed. New technology is changing how organizations operate. Porters Five Forces Analysis Porter identified the following five forces model of competitive strategy: The threat of new entrants and the appearance of new competitors The degree of rivalry among existing competitors in the market The bargaining power of buyers The bargaining power of suppliers The threat of substitute products or services which could shrink the market The strength of each of these forces varies from industry to industry, but taken together they determine long-term profitability. These five factors affect the strategy of the organization. It is important to analyze and study these five forces to be able to craft a successful strategy. To be successful, the organization must respond effectively to the pressures of these five forces. INTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS The resources, strengths, behaviors, weakness and distinctive competences are major components of the internal environment of an organization. An organization uses different types of resources which help them achieve their objectives and the way in which they utilize their resources can be the source of their strengths or weaknesses. This can also be defined as organizational capability which is used to develop the strategies and objectives which the organization can achieve and these should not unrealistic according to its capabilities. Some of the components of the internal environment of an organization are: Organizational Resources These are all the tangible and intangible inputs used in the organization to create outputs in the firm of product or services through a transformation process. Organizational Behavior The behavior of an organization demonstrates is the result of forces operating internally which will determine the ability or constraints in the usage of resources. Competency Competency of an organization is the ability to do what its competitors cannot do or the ability to do better than what they can do. This concept is used for strategy formulation. CONCLUSION It can be seen that the analysis of the environment is critical to the success of the decisions that managers have to make which have widespread impact on the functions and processes of the business.

Queen Elizabeths Use of Imagery and Language in The Doubt of Future Fo

Queen Elizabeth's Use of Imagery and Language in The Doubt of Future Foes Queen Elizabeth persuades her subjects to be faithful and discourages her foes from the pursuit of her throne in the stark imagery of â€Å"The Doubt of Future Foes.† Elizabeth uses the three appeals of successful argument to evoke fear and respect in those that may attempt to challenge her position as Queen. The Queen captivates her audience with solid logical arguments and dramatic threatening language while establishing her credibility as a fearless powerful leader, utilizing the logos, pathos, and ethos methods of persuasion. Queen Elizabeth uses an authoritative courageous voice to evoke emotion in her audience, all the while presenting a solid logical persuasive argument to discourage the encroachment of her territory by power hungry foes. By establishing a stark authoritative tone Elizabeth persuades her audience to obey her, thus effectively employing the pathos method of persuasion. The Queen targets her audience’s emotions in hopes of discouraging any future foes from challenging her position on the throne. Elizabeth speaks to her prideful and ambitious audience of potential rivals from a pedestal making haughty threats and criticisms to breed fear and submission. In the last two lines of the poem Elizabeth makes the most staggering threat of all, â€Å"My rusty sword through rest shall first his edge employ/ To poll their tops that seek such change of gape for future joy.† Although not normally prone to violence, Elizabeth proclaims her thirst for the blood of those that seek to challenge her. The Queen uses courageous, combatant language like that of rusty sword blades and headless enemies, to spawn feelings of fear and frighten her foes into accor... ...ower is futile. The same joy that clouds the mind of eager men turns sour and forces them into repentance. Hollow pride and ambition is short lived and only brings heartache and woe. Elizabeth presents an argument with a logical flow: men covet power, coveting is punishable; men who covet will be punished. The poet uses her intelligence and royal position to express her disgust towards covetous subjects in an argument that displays solid logos, pathos, and ethos aspects. Queen Elizabeth makes harsh emotional appeals through her use of imagery and language. Paired with beautiful poetic language and solid logic is the voice of a powerful queen struggling to cement her position as ruler of her loyal subjects. It is the well-developed, concise arguments and persuasive tools that make â€Å"The Doubt of Future Foes† as harrowing today as it was during Elizabeth’s reign.