Thursday, October 31, 2019

Choose one country explain negative and positive aspects of Essay

Choose one country explain negative and positive aspects of globalisation on that country - Essay Example The fruits of globalization are very sweet for countries like United States however; the process of globalization renders certain negative impacts for United States as well. Globalization is the increased integration and engagement of countries across the world. Globalization is the phenomenon that depicts an on-going procedure that is linking and integrating the national economies, regional societies, different cultures, and people by an enormous and extensive mode of global communication and implementation (Bhagwati, pp. 11-13, 2004). The term globalization usually implies to the globalization of different economical countries. Economical globalization is a phenomenon where national or regional economies of different countries across the globe links together and desegregate into an international economy through various factors like international trade, investment abroad, monetary flows, migrating to other countries, effective communication, and technological advancement. The process of globalization as determined by its factors seems like an inevitable and unbeatable procession. However, the process of globalization has its own advantages and merits, and disadvantages and demerits. The benefits attained by the process of globalization for United States includes lesser trade limitations and constraints, and lowered regional restrictions in order to integrate with the economies of rest of the world. This phenomenon gives rise to the concept of international market, where the fruits are inevitable for developed countries like United States. The lesser limitations and barriers for international trade render the opportunity to open up trade markets around the world those results in increased trade of the country. This in turn, results in economical development caused by the functioning of international trade markets throughout the world (Bhagwati, pp. 14, 2004). Another benefit of the globalization is the increased capability of

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

PROBLEMS WITH THE PAROLE AND PROBATION SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES Research Paper

PROBLEMS WITH THE PAROLE AND PROBATION SYSTEM IN THE UNITED STATES - Research Paper Example This specific problem is one which can be attributed to the system with the probation programs because of the inability to meet the needs of those that are adjusting back into society. Problem within Probation Programs The criminal offender conduct is the main concept that is focused on with probation programs. Those who are working with criminals who have just been released from prison are focused on changing mannerisms and ensuring that the prisoner is able to work within society as a citizen. Getting steady employment, staying away from further crime and developing new habits within society are some of the associated concepts that are a part of probation programs. Supervising those individuals and working with counseling programs are also some of the attributes that are a part of probation programs. However, there is a noticeable re-entry crisis that occurs among criminals. The inability to change the focus out of the habits from past crimes and the inability to provide criminals with the ability to move into a completely correctional system are causing many criminals to go through probation periods then move back into the same crimes as in the past (Johnson et al, 2006). The problem with those who are in parole systems is one which is showing a high return rate that is not decreasing with the systems that are in place. In 2006, an average of 35% of all inmates returned to prison during or after the probation period. This was a result of parole violations, as opposed to new crimes that were committed. The state of California held the highest of parole violations, which was inclusive of two-thirds of inmates returning to prison because of the same violations. The problems with probation include the first problem of too many inmates being supervised with too little supervision. In 2006, 4 million offenders were placed into probation. The officers were primarily responsible for the movement back into society with other court orders that were associated with thi s. It was found that the restrictions with probation, such as not being able to find employment because of a criminal record, led to many being forced into breaking the probation rules to try to integrate into society (Lawrence, 2008). The parole systems, while known to assist with the integration back into society, are causing the reverse problem to occur. Those who are within the system and are going through parole are aware that there is difficulty in getting past probation systems and staying in society. There are many who have created the mentality that they will go back into prison during their probation period, adding in a psychological response to the known statistics and rates of those who are going in and out of the justice system. Those who are going back into prison work as an example of the difficulties within the probation and parole system, making the trend arise among those who are a part of the probation system and which are trying to work back into an integrated so ciety. The psychological responses, trends and the large amount of criminals that go back into prison add into the complexity of those who are going through the parole system (Johnson et al, 2006). Theories of Criminal Justice Practice There are several theories that apply to the criminal justice practice and the way in which individuals integrate into society. Historically, those who had committed a crime were only required to serve

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Implied PPP of the Dollar and Actual Exchange Rate

Implied PPP of the Dollar and Actual Exchange Rate Ques.: The Economist publishes every year the prices of a standard BigMac around the world. Find the BigMac prices for the USA, France, and South Korea and the corresponding (average annual) nominal exchange rates in 2006 and 2009. Calculate for each of these countries the implied PPP of the dollar 2006 and 2009 and compare this to the actual exchange rates. Can you explain the differences in implied PPP of the dollar and the nominal exchange rates? The Economists Big Mac index is an informal index sometimes used to judge whether current exchange rates between different currencies are justified and currencies are at their correct exchange rate, though it is not intended to be a precise predictor of currency movements. Now commonly known as burgernomics, it is based on the theory of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). PPP is the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount of goods in all countries. It suggests that a long term equilibrium will adjust exchange rates such that the purchasing power or cost of traded goods and services in different countries will be the same. It is based on thelaw of one price: in ideally efficient markets, identical goods should have only one price. The Big Mac index uses the prices of McDonalds Big Mac hamburger, which is produced in about 120 countries. It assumes that the Big Mac is a similar product in each economy, wherever produced, and it is made with identical specification, thus it should have the same price everywhere. The following tables compare the Big Mac prices, nominal exchange rates and the Implied PPP for USA, France and South Korea for the year 2006 and 2009. Comparing actual exchange rates with PPPs indicates whether a currency is under- or over- valued. A countrys currency is said to be overvalued if the implied PPP is greater than the market exchange rate and it is said to be undervalued if the implied PPP is less that the market exchange rate. In accordance with the above explanation, Euro is overvalued both in 2006 and 2009 i.e. the implied PPP is more than the nominal exchange rate. The Euro has appreciated in 2009 as compared to 2006, but the nominal exchange rate should come down by about 28%(for 2009) and 19%(for 2006)to equalise with the implied PPP and thus holding the law of one price true. Whereas, the South Korean Won is undervalued both in 2006 and 2009, as implied PPP is less than the nominal exchange rate. We notice that the Won has depreciated in 2009 as compared to 2006, but the nominal exchange rate should go up by 26%(for 2009) and 17%(for 2006)to equalise with the implied PPP. The under/over valuation of Euro and South Korean Won for 2006 and 2009 is shown below: There is a difference between the nominal exchange rate and the implied PPP of the dollar as calculated using Big Mac prices. This difference can be attributed to several factors. The difference can arise largely due to factors affecting either: The implied PPP by Big Mac index Or Nominal Exchange Rate Firstly, the difference arises because the actual prices of Big Macs are not same everywhere. Many of the inputs of a Big Mac cannot be traded internationally, thus the prices of these goods may diverge substantially between countries. This effects the PPP but not the nominal exchange rate because comparisons on a purchasing-power parity (PPP) basis take account of the variations in prices of the same goods in different countries. Unlike comparisons at market exchange rates, PPP reflects the real purchasing power of each countrys residents. The Big Mac index is most useful for assessing the exchange rates of countries with similar incomes per head. It is quite natural for average prices to be lower in poorer countries than in developed ones. Non tradable inputs like labour services and property rent generally differ and are particularly cheap in poorer countries. This gives a big cost advantage in production of these goods and services. PPPs are therefore a more reliable way to derive exchange rate than market exchange rates, because cheaper prices mean that money goes further. The prevailing rates of taxes also lead to a difference in input prices and the selling price of a same commodity in different regions. The PPP model assumes that the real value placed on goods is same in different countries. But in reality, what is considered a luxury in some places might be a necessity in others. The PPP method does not take this into consideration. On the other hand, the factors which effect the nominal exchange rate are price level of the two countries in question, inflation rates, the real exchange rate etc. There factors might not always affect the PPP, thus there is a difference between the two. The above points explain the differences between implied PPP and nominal exchange rate. The believers of PPP have based their views largely on arguments relating to international goods arbitrage, which leads to equilibrium but this is not always the case. Thus Big Mac index is not a perfect measure of exchange rate. References: www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory www.economist.com/markets/bigmac Big Mac IndexA Dictionary of Finance and Banking. Ed Jonathan Law and John Smullen. Oxford University Press, 2008.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Big Mac IndexA Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2009.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. purchasing power parityA Dictionary of Business and Management. Ed. Jonathan Law. Oxford University Press, 2009.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. purchasing power parity theory of exchange ratesThe Handbook of International Financial Terms. Peter Moles and Nicholas Terry. Oxford University Press 1997.Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Economist; 7/18/2009, Vol. 392 Issue 8640, p74 Economist; 5/27/2006, Vol. 379 Issue 8479, p74 Economist; 6/23/2007, Vol. 383 Issue 8534, p86-86. Economist; 6/5/2004, Vol. 371 Issue 8378, p98-98. Economist; 04/11/98, Vol. 346 Issue 8063. Strauss, Jack. Southern Economic Journal.Stillwater: Yr 1995. Vol. 61, Iss. 4 Mankiw and Taylor (2008), Macroeconomics

Friday, October 25, 2019

macbeth translation Essay -- essays research papers

Scene i: Play opens on eerie, macabre note in "an open place," where we see the three witches, the "weird sisters." In a dozen lines, they announce their evil nature by saying "Fair is foul,and foul is fair/Hover through the fog and the filthy air," and their intention to meet with Macbeth once the "hurly-burly" of a battle between the forces loyal to the King Duncan (led by Macbeth) and a rebels army (led by the current Thane of Cawdor) comes to an end. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene i) Scene ii: At the camp of the Scottish King Duncan, a wounded officer tells the king and his son, Malcolm, about the heroism of Macbeth and his friend Banquo in the fight against the rebels. News shortly arrives that the battle has now been won. Duncan orders the execution of the captured Thane of Cawdor and then transfers this title and estate to Macbeth, the new Thane of Cawdor.(Jump to the text of Act I, Scene ii) Scene iii: Set on a heath, the three witches coven together again. They brag about their unnatural deeds and their powers over the supernatural world. Macbeth and Banquo appear on what Macbeth describes as an unusually, "foul and fair" day. The three witches predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and ultimately king of Scotland, and that his cohort Banquo will never rule. Macbeth pleads with them for more information about his future, but they vanish. Two of the king's men (Rosse and Angus) tell Macbeth about his elevation to the position of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo are taken aback by the accuracy of the witches' prediction. For his part, Macbeth is by now inclined to believe that it is his fortune to become king. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene iii) Scene iv: At Duncan's castle, the king, Malcolm and another of the king's sons, Donalbain, greet Macbeth and Banquo. Duncan announces that he will visit Macbeth at the new Thane's castle near Inverness, and then names his oldest son Malcolm as successor to the throne. Macbeth says that he will go to Inverness in advance to prepare for the king's arrival. But in a stage aside, Macbeth speculates that Malcolm is an additional obstacle to his attainment of the throne as prophesied by the witches. (Jump to the text of Act I, Scene iv) Scene v: At Macbeth's Inverness castle, Lady Macbeth reads a letter from her husband, in which he convey... ...ane. Macbeth realizes what this means in terms of the prophecies, but vows to fight on, still assured that no man born of woman can kill him. (Jump to the text of Act V, Scene v) Scene vi: Malcolm, Macduff and a lord of their party, Siward, prepare to assault the walls of Macbeth's castle. (Jump to the text of Act V, Scene vi) Scene vii: Macbeth appears in armor and kills Siward. He encounters Macduff and the two duel throughout the remainder of the scene. (Jump to the text of Act V, Scene vii) Scene viii: As the fight between them continues, Macduff tells Macbeth that he is not a "natural" product of his mother's womb, that he was prematurely ripped from it and (technically) is "not of woman born." Macbeth faces the challenge bravely, telling his foe to "Lay on, Macduff." Macduff does just that and kills Macbeth. Macduff appears carrying Macbeth's severed head and hails Malcolm as the new king of Scotland. Malcolm says that when he is crowned, he will make Macduff and his supporters Earls of the realm as they all celebrate the triumph over Macbeth, Lady Macbeth and the evil that they wrought in Scotland. (Jump to the text of Act V, Scene viii)

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Articles of Confederation Essay

When the Revolutionary War was over and the Americans had won their independence, the revolutionists and republicans leading the new country were quite convinced that their government should differ from that of Britain and have a limited amount of power. Clearly, these men took these ideals more seriously than they should have. They created a constitution for the 13 states known as the Articles of Confederation, which put the majority of power in the hands of these individual states. They were adopted in 1777 after the war and enacted in 1781. The Articles of Confederation were quite a success pertaining to western lands, but proved unbeneficial for the economy of our new country. Once the war was over, many Americans hoped to expand in the west, and they could successfully do so under the Articles of Confederation through the Northwest Ordinances and the Treaty of Paris, which tripled the size of the new country. For example, the Ordinance of 1784 divided the Western territory into self-governing districts that could each make a constitution and petition Congress for statehood after certain requirements were completed. The Ordinance of 1785 that followed created a system that allowed the land to be surveyed and sold to the public. The greatest accomplishment pertaining to western lands and the Articles of Confederation was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, as it created one Northwest Territory and solved the problem caused by the ordinance of 1785, land speculation. This ordinance also brought stability and organization to the process of western settlement and built the framework for settlement in the Northwest Territory. These enactments also proved beneficial to the ideal citizen of the time, the yeomen farmer. In the area of western lands and settlement, the Articles of Confederation were quite successful. When politicians gathered to create the Articles, it is quite evident how afraid both they and the American people were of the government having too much power like that which they suffered under Great Britain. So, they made sure this wouldn’t happen by giving the government very little power over the citizens, also giving the states the power to create their own constitutions, have their own forms of executive and legislature, and coin  their own money. This proved terrible for the economy of the new country, for it was already in an enormous post-war debt. Congress could not enforce laws, regulate interstate trade (resulting in various tariffs between the states), or tax people directly, and the only way to change any of these rules was if all states approved of such a change. Each state had its own currency, causing havoc for trade in a country that was already forced to borrow money from others. Some states such as Massachusetts issued very high taxes, trying to collect specie even from the war veterans and farmers who could not be paid due to Congress’s inability to tax people directly, ending up in tragedy such as Shays’ Rebellion. This led to fears of anarchy and a â€Å"mobocracy.† The state governments and Congress were forced to print a huge amount of paper money, leading to the worst inflation in U.S. history between 1778 and 1783. America’s trade deficit was also astoundingly high during this period of time. It is very evident that the U.S. economy suffered under the Articles of Confederation. It is also safe to say that the Articles had both their successes and failures in each of their aspects. For example, the Ordinance of 1785 resulted in the problem known as land speculation, which occurred when the land of people such as yeomen farmers was foreclosed, benefitting merchants and the rest of the gentry as they bought the land to make their own profits. Although this problem was eliminated through the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, this newer enactment caused a big problem with the Native Americans living in the Western lands, even though the law specified that their land would not be taken from them and they would be treated with â€Å"the upmost, good faith.† And, throughout all of this the British were still residing in the Ohio River Valley, causing more havoc. Although there were no shorthand benefits in the economic status of the country under the Articles of Confederation, the only benefit overall was the tragedy itself! The repeated economic failures under the Articles heavily impacted the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the need for a new Constitution. Though the Articles of Confederation can be called a failure, they were very commendable. The Americans were a new people who fought for their freedom and created a new government from scratch with both its successes and  failures, just like any other country. Throughout their creation of the Articles and even the later modified version, the U.S. Constitution, the Americans stuck with their belief that the majority of power belonged to the people even though they learned that the government needs power as well in order to regulate and ensure the success of America. The Articles led to what would be the Northwest part of the nation, and can be forgiven for their failure on the economic conditions as they enticed people such as James Madison to gather and improve the constitution.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Starbucks Customer Satisfaction

There are numerous factors that paved the way for Starbucks’ success during the early nineties. I believe that one of their strengths was good knowledge of who their potential customers were and how to please them with their profile, assortment and services. One also has to take notice of their clear vision of becoming America’s third place, this tells me that they’ve had an aggressive vision from the start. And of course they’ve matched this with their strategy, from 1992-2002 the company opened about 3500 stores all across America.This gives the company a yearly growth rate of around 350 stores, an impressive number. They also licensed out another 1500 stores. This allowed them to become a household name for the regular American, and the strong brand name was created with all the advantages that comes along with it. They enjoyed plenty of first-mover advantages. All this was financed by boldly taking the company public, despite doubts from most analysts regarding the company concept. And who was the power behind this decision, if not Howard Schulz?Responsible for much of the success, Howard Schulz and his team have proven that their aggressive strategy’s have been key in the success of the company. In other words the management is a big contributor. I’d also like to bring up the human capital of the company, or as the employees are called, the company â€Å"partners†. Since the Starbucks concept of creating an experience for the customer goes hand in hand with partner satisfaction, management have been quite generous to their employees. They’ve for instance provided them with health insurance and stock options.For Starbucks it is key to create long lasting relationships with customers (these customers have proven to be very profitable for the company), demanding good relationships between baristas and customers. Keeping a low employee turnover rate both with baristas and managers has definitely contribut ed to the company’s success. The live coffee mantra meant, in short, that the company wants to create life surrounding the coffee drinking experience. To create a space outside of the office and the own home where people could drink coffee and enjoy themselves, was something very appealing to consumers, a refuge from the routine of their day.They created value around the consumption of coffee. The main brand image that was created was a premium coffee bean and coffee beverage brand but it’s not the total brand image. They also added attributes of the company to this image such as â€Å"customer intimacy†, â€Å"great ambience† and â€Å"highest quality coffee in the world†. These attributes are all derived from the three main components of the branding strategy: coffee, service and atmosphere. Together this was the brand image of Starbucks created during the period. 2.The reasons because the customer satisfaction scores are down could, in my view, be linked to the fact that the typical Starbucks customer has changed because the customer base has expanded. Their perceptions of the brand are different and because the company really doesn’t know who the typical customer is at the moment, they can’t cater to them as well as they could before. There are examples of this change for instance in the case of stores in southern California where they now have huge numbers of (sometimes lower educated) Hispanic customers instead of the affluent, well-educated white collar 24-44 aged white men and women (mostly women).In exhibit 10 we see that on the scale of what attributes the customers find most important in order to be satisfied, that places 3-7 all are based on one staff members performance that single time. What I mean by this is that the performance level of this will vary from customer to customer and because of that you need a bigger base for the survey than the â€Å"customer snapshot†. This means that itâ⠂¬â„¢s not sufficient in correctly measuring the true customer satisfaction.But seeing as this method, supposedly, has been kept constant all the time we can overlook that for a second and see that there has been a decline using the same system of measurement. I then contribute that change to the changing customer, as I wrote in the paragraph above. 3. Starbucks’ main difference between the periods is its size. With the change in size a lot of different attributes naturally follow, some of which are a bit contradictory to the goals Starbucks set out to achieve back in the day.The main concept of creating value for the coffee drinker still exists but they now struggle to keep up their customer intimacy. This is even more enhanced by the perception that Starbucks is simply a money hungry company only interested in revenues and further growth. The product sales also vary between the periods, the coffee connoisseur that bought a lot of coffee beans has been somewhat replaced by t he on-the-go customer who just wants the beverage. We also mentioned before that the customer has changed in North America, but even more important, Starbucks have grown internationally with over 1300 stores in total.Both nationally and internationally service innovations have taken place, examples of this are the SVC’s and the wireless internet service. 4. The frequent and loyal customer is the most profitable for Starbucks. Exhibit 8 shows us in quite a clear way that customers with a history of Starbucks purchases that go back 5 years or more, tend to shop 4 more cups of coffee than the average customer that visited Starbucks for the first time last year. In exhibit 9 we’re also shown the clear correlation between customer satisfaction, purchase size and customer life span.The satisfied customer has more visits/month, spends more money each time and stays as a customer of Starbucks for more years than the unsatisfied. So the highly satisfied customer is vital to the business and is always what management strive to acquire. I strongly think Starbucks have shown this strive in a number of ways to keep customers satisfied. First of all a regular customers likes to recognize the salesperson and if this person recognizes them and remembers their drink this is a quality sign for the company. Starbucks are clearly aware of this since they have a lot of â€Å"soft skills† training for new employees.They teach them how to interact and create a lasting bond with the customer. Something that’s of course also key in keeping up this relationship is a low employee turnover, something I mentioned before that they are excellent in doing. Secondly the customers come for the product, this is an area Starbucks still enjoy a great lead in comparison to competitors and they also add another product every season in order to keep the assortment wide and interesting for customers. And lastly the customers need to enjoy a great ambience while at the stor e and be served quickly.This is something that’s always measured and they try to maintain a great ambience and in regards to the quick service this is something we’re considering in the last question on how to improve. 5. The main goals would be to reduce service time and get closer to the customer by allowing each store to add 20 more hours of labor per week. It is also a way for the company to express their commitment to their customers (lose their image of greed) and show them that despite a loss of short term profit they are willing to sacrifice that in order to keep customer satisfaction high.Would this investment increase customer intimacy, is it even possible for a mega-brand to have customer intimacy? With more time it is obvious that the closeness would improve. A combination of more time for the barista and less waiting time for the customer would result in more time to practice soft skills and build up a rapport with the customer for the barista. The custome r would of course build a relationship with the particular barista and a bond would be created that would make the coming visits feel more intimate.To some extent it is possible, since the intimacy mainly is based on the staff and their rapport with customers as I previously stated. But then again it is a faceless organization, they can’t really see and talk to the leaders and internationally not many customer know of Howard Schulz for instance. It’s also quite easy for the customer to feel less important if they’re just one of 20 million served which is the case here. Would this investment yield long term profits for Starbucks? Would it be worth the $40 million? 0 million unique customers are served every day at Starbucks, 21% of those (4. 2 million) are customers with 8 or more visits every month. A staggering 42 % (8. 4 million) only visit 1-2 times per month. These numbers could be related to those shown in exhibit 9, 21 % of customer show the pattern of hig hly satisfied customers and 42 % show similarity’s to unsatisfied customers. Exhibit 10 tells us that fast service, friendly staff and being treated as a valuable customer are considered highly important factors for customers to be satisfied.All of these factors would most likely be directly affected by the investment in a positive way. If we only turned one unsatisfied customer into a highly satisfied customer this would result in an increased turnover of $247,494 ((7,2*4,42*8,3)-(3,9*3,88*1,1)). We would have to convert roughly 160. 000 customers using this calculation and over a course of 8,3 years the investment would pay off financially. But in regards to spillover effects such as brand reputation and new business generated by this I believe the number would be even smaller, so definitely I would suggest that they do this.