Death Penalty Essays (1165 words) - Penology, Torture,

Death Penalty Thirty eight states in the United States enforce the death penalty. Some people are in favor of the death penalty, but that may be because they have not been directly involved with it. Sometimes people can change their views about an issue when that issue all of a sudden becomes a part of their lives. Death is not something to be played with. Someone's life should not be put in the hands of another person or the government. These are the five ways people are murdered by the government: Lethal injection is the most common form of execution. This is when a prisoner is strapped to a gurney, while two needles are placed in each arm. Two different types of chemicals are released putting the inmate to sleep. A third chemical, a muscle relaxer, is released causing the prisoner to stop breathing within minutes. Approximately five states use the gas chamber as a method of execution. A prisoner is strapped down in a chamber where acid is released into a pan. Tablets are then dropped in the pan causing a chemical reaction that causes a deadly poisonous gas to knock the prisoner unconscious. Death occurs within minutes. Gas masked men decontaminate the body with bleach so as not to harm themselves while removing the body. Only a few states still use two of the oldest forms of execution today. Firing squads and hanging are still methods of executing criminals in the United States. Five or more men shoot a prisoner, sometimes killing him/her right away, when states kill by firing squads. When states use the hanging method, they try to set the noose just right so as not to allow suffocation, and to snap the neck and kill the inmate instantly. However, if done incorrectly, suffocation and suffering sometimes occur. Probably the most cruel and unusual method of execution is death by the electric chair. When a prisoner is strapped into this chair, his/her organs are burned. The inmate's flesh may catch on fire, and he/she may vomit blood. He/she may also violently twitch or leap forward as his/her insides are being electrocuted. One may be able to handle the fact that a criminal is being put to death. They might think that a criminal has done wrong, so they deserve to die. What they might not be thinking about is that criminal may be someone's son or daughter, mom or dad, niece or nephew, brother or sister, husband or wife. A human life is very precious. People need to learn from their mistakes and a corpse cannot learn anything. The government should not take someone's life that has done wrong, but rather teach them the right way, and help them learn from their mistakes. The eight amendment protects Americans from cruel and unusual punishment. Death is very cruel and could be perceived as unusual, depending on the individual. Cruel and unusual are such vague adjectives, that they can be defined in several ways. What one person believes to be cruel, another person may believe is fair. This country is so diverse, with many different types of cultures and up-bringings, that deciding on one meaning for these two terms fairly for all people of the United States is nearly impossible. Therefore, the eighth amendment should be reworded, or the death penalty should be illegal. Ingesting poisonous gas, being burned from the inside out, suffocating from a noose, receiving poisonous chemicals through the veins, and being shot could all be defined as cruel and unusual. This cruelty's purpose is to teach a lesson. When judges and juries try to correct crime by putting a prisoner to death, the only lesson they are teaching to American citizens is hypocrisy. If murder was the crime, they are saying killing another human being is wrong, but it is right if judges and juries do it. In the book, Capital Revenge, Roy Meader thinks judges and juries are hypocrites, stating that when people sentence criminals to death they should look in the mirror. He wonders if they should ask themselves, "Should old commandments be revised to meet modern circumstances - Thou shalt not kill, except in some cases?" (Meader 3). People should not be allowed to kill people whether by law or otherwise. When criminals are sentenced to death, they are taken away the freedom to learn from their mistakes. Meader also looks at capital punishment as a way of revenge. He thinks that America does not help citizens, but avenges them for their crimes. When a criminal is put to

Foreign Direct Investment The WritePass Journal

Foreign Direct Investment Foreign Direct Investment IntroductionPolitical Perspectives  Theories of Foreign Direct Investment Impacts of FDI on Host Country EconomiesImportance of FDI Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies Examples of Foreign Direct Investment ConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction Foreign direct investment (FDI) occurs when a foreign investor exerts direct control over domestic assets. It normally consists of an international capital flow from the home country to a host country for the purpose of acquiring partial or full ownership of tangible business activity. Technically, it is the book value of the equity held by the foreign investor that is attached to the asset. In most cases, the asset is a firm in a developed country, such as the United States, and the equity consists of two components: ordinary (common stock) and retained earnings. If both foreign and domestic investors own the common stock, then only a portion held by foreign investors is considered to be FDI, and if only a threshold percentage is attained, that is deemed to give the foreign investor control of the business. In the United States, this threshold is 10%, but some countries establish a higher minimum level of stock ownership, usually 25% (Aliber 2003, pp. 91). Foreign investment can take place in two ways: Foreign investors can establish new firms overseas, which they control, or foreign investors can acquire controlling interests in the previously established domestic firms, or spin-offs of such firms. FDI as a vehicle of transnationalization is a major contributor of economic development. Transnational corporations (TNCs) act as significant transmitters of economic, social, cultural, and political change into different countries, sectors, and motivations. TNCs take advantage of geographical differences in the distribution of factors of production (natural resources, capital, labor, etc.) and local policies (taxes, trade incentives, subsidies, etc.). Other than FDI, TNCs engage in various kinds of collaborative ventures by which they coordinate and control transactions within geographically dispersed production networks (Borensztein et al. 2008, pp. 115). Resulting from these ventures, the global economy is envisaged as linking together t wo sets of networks: (1) Organizational (in the form of production circuits and networks) and (2) Geographical (which include localized clusters of economic activity). Political Perspectives Since FDI requires the flow of capital across national borders, it has always been intertwined with politics. Viewed in this way, three different political perspectives to FDI can be identified: radical view, free market view, and pragmatic nationalism. The radical view, which can be traced back to Marxism, treats FDI as a vehicle for exploitation of domestic resources, industries and people. Those governments who hold a radical view are hostile to FDI and therefore are in favor of nationalizing foreign firm assets or putting into place mechanisms to discourage inbound foreign firms operations (Braconier et al. 2005, pp 313). The free market view, on the other hand, is more in favor of FDI and promotes its rationale not least because it enables countries to tap into their absolute or comparative advantages by specializing in the production of certain goods and services. According to the free market view, FDI can be regarded as a win-win situation for both home and host countries. Whi le prior to and during the 1980s the radical-based view FDI was more common in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America, the free market-based FDI is now more influential across the world and in particular in emerging economies such as Brazil, India, and China (Braunerhjelm 2005, pp. 119). Finally, the third view, which reflects the current dominant perspective toward FDI and is practiced by most countries around the world, is called pragmatic nationalism. Based on a pragmatic nationalism political view, FDI is only approved when its benefits outweigh its costs. For example, this view holds that FDI in the Chinese auto industry should only take the form of a joint venture (JV). By adopting such restrictive policies, the Chinese government helps the domestic auto industry learn from their foreign counterparts (Buckley and Hashai 2004, pp. 61).    Theories of Foreign Direct Investment There are several theories that attempt to account for foreign aid. The prevailing ones include Dunnings eclectic approach and the product cycle. John Dunnings eclectic paradigm emphasizes the critical role of geographical location in understanding the complex nature of TNC behavior. The location aspect, as encapsulated in this theory, suggests three primary motivations: (1) foreign-market-seeking FDI, (2) Efficiency (cost reduction)-seeking FDI, and (3) resource-seeking or strategic-asset-seeking FDI. In general, a firms motivations to be transnational can be classified into two categories: (1) Market orientation, which pertains to marketing, sales, or production designed to serve a specific geographical market, and (2) Asset orientation, when most of the assets required by a firm to produce and sell specific goods and services have an uneven geographic distribution, especially in the natural resources industry. For a TNC to invest successfully abroad, it must possess advantages that no other firm has, the country it wishes to invest in should offer location advantages, and it must be capable of internalizing operations. Internalization tends to become synonymous with the ability of firms to exercise control over operations essential for the exploitation of ownership and location advantages (Yeung 2007, pp. 1). Raymond Vernon introduced the â€Å"locational† aspect to the product life cycle concept, which in the original form had no spatial connotation. First advanced in the mid 1960s, it emanated from the premise that the United States possessed comparative advantage in product innovation. To maximize production flexibility and minimize uncertainties in the early stages of a products life cycle, firms develop innovations for and introduce them to large high-income domestic markets but eventually set up foreign production facilities in other advanced economies to defend their monopolistic advantages resulting from an innovational lead. This also happens because, as products become more standardized, they get more price sensitive and firms turn to low-cost less developed countries (LDCs) to maximize profits. Vernon describes the phases as revolving around product development, product growth, product maturation, and product standardization. Impacts of FDI on Host Country Economies However, not all FDI is always in the best interest of the host country. Some nations have been increasingly viewing TNCs as a threat to economic autonomy. At times, they tend to be responsible for exerting negative influences on the host economy, for example, crowding out domestic firms and suppressing domestic enterprises. Profit maximization is inherently linked with maximization of efficiency and not necessarily with national, economic, and social goals. From the perspective of TNCs, various decisions have to be taken that can affect their effective working in the country- mainly since they operate in different economic, political, social, and cultural environments (Trevino and Upadhyaya 2003, pp. 45). A lot is said as to why firms choose to transnationalize rather than simply export their products. Two of the reasons commonly cited are that (1) Competition is extremely global and volatile and (2) It creates an environment wherein advantages are rapidly created and eroded. Firms increasingly compete not with rivals on a national level but across the globe. Higher sales and profits result from foreign subsidiaries because domestic markets, where the company started, tend to get saturated over time and it is fruitful to conquer foreign markets with more potential consumers than in the home country. The information technology revolution, which began in the United States in the 1980s, was an important source of structural change in the international economic and business environment affecting FDI. There was a sudden upsurge in asset-seeking direct investment in the United States. Foreign companies, chiefly European, were responsible for a gamut of mergers and acquisitions with U.S. companies- primarily with those possessing advanced technology or marketing prowess. The size and growth of the U.S. and Chinese markets have made these countries primary destinations for foreign companies using FDI as a stimulus for profits (Graham Marchick 2006, pp. 277). Importance of FDI FDI has been known to provide a longer-term contribution to GDP and income growth, as against bank loans and portfolio investments. The long-term perspective of FDI makes it relatively less volatile. FDI is considered to be an important carrier facilitating the spread of technology and is said to contribute to growth in a much wider way than domestic investment. The contribution of FDI is enhanced due to the interactions with human capital in the host country (Dunning Gugler 2008, pp. 113). Furthermore, FDI is said to expand the level of know-how in the host country through training and skill acquisition. Summarily, the four basic reasons why companies establish subsidiaries in foreign countries are (1) Gaining access to natural resources, (2) Protecting or expanding sales in lucrative markets, (3) Seeking low-cost production, and (4) Acquiring strategic assets. The United Nations, the European Union, and Japan have been the main sources and recipients of FDI for the past several decades. From 1998 to 2000, these three units together accounted for 75% of global FDI inflows. In totality, a countrys climate for FDI is built by factors such as relatively accommodative government policies- covering trade barriers and regulation of capital inflows; quality of governance; political stability; presence of laws and regulations; macroeconomic, fiscal, monetary, and industrial policies; and quality of infrastructure. Foreign Direct Investment in Emerging Economies The United States continues to be the largest FDI host country, with about US$2791.3 billion in 2007. The outward investment position increased to US$336.6 billion. Among the outward investments, about US$16.1 billion (3.1%) went to Ireland and US$4.2 billion (3%) to Singapore. Chart 1.1 China’s total foreign investments inflows According to U.S.-China Business Council, among emerging economies, Chinas role as an investor country has been highlighted in the past few years. By 2004, China was the eighth most favored FDI source among developing countries. The liberalization of Chinese FDI policy in 1992 led to increased Chinese outward direct investment (ODI). The growth in Chinese ODI policy developments was driven by cautious internalization, government encouragement, expansion and regulation, implementation of a â€Å"go global† policy, and heightened domestic competitive pressures, which led to the opening up of protected industries and markets to foreign and domestic competitors (2008, pp. 81). A comparative advantage as a manufacturing hub and a firm-specific advantage such as state-ownership of a large part of an industry further stimulate this growth. Chinese ODI has been positively associated with Chinese exports to the host country (the former promoting the latter), a moderate demand of inflation, and rising levels of political risk in the host country. A distinctive feature that remains with China as against other emerging economies is that many of its multinational enterprises remain in state hands, although corporatized to focus on commercial objectives. Table 1.2 Top 10 FDI inflows. Chinas overall FDI inflows stood at US$82.7 billion, an increase from US$69.47 billion. The top 10 FDI inflows were mainly from Hong Kong, the British islands, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and the United States, amounting to about US$3 billion in 2006 and about US$2.62 billion in 2007. According to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the Peoples Republic of China, the outbound nonfinancial FDI for the first half of 2007 reached US$7.8 billion, while for the full year in 2006; it was US$21.2 billion. Of this, 86% was provided by central government sources. Most of Chinas ODI flowed to 172 destinations, which included Latin America and Asia. In India, the overall record of macroeconomic stability, a sizable domestic market, and a relatively high degree of political stability has attracted large volumes of FDI. The foreign investment in India during 2007–2008 was driven by FDI and portfolio investment inflows. FDI inflows in India increased from US$9.17 billion in 2005–2006 to US$22.95 billion in 2006–2007 and US$34.92 billion in 2007–2008. India emerged as the second most favored FDI destination after China in 2005 and 2006. During these years, investments through Mauritius remained the largest component, followed by Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Inflows from the United States stood at the sixth position at US$3.46 billion in 2005–2006, US$7.06 billion in 2006–2007, and US$4.86 billion in 2007–2008. Sectorwise, these inflows were mainly directed to financial services, construction, and manufacturing. On the other hand, ODIs from India increased from US$13.5 billion during 2006–2007 to US$17.9 billion during 2007–2008 and flowed mainly into the manufacturing sector (Dicken 2007, pp. 191). Within the European Union, Ireland is fast emerging as the most FDI-intensive economy in Europe and a global competitor to RD investment. Since the 1990s, Irelands economic development policies, which have encouraged Greenfield investments by foreign companies in manufacturing and service sectors so as to produce output for export markets, and the establishment of upstream linkages between foreign and indigenous companies and the creation of industrial clusters with them have stimulated an export-led growth of the manufacturing sector. In Singapore, another emerging FDI destination, the total ODI was recorded at US$406.7 billion in 2005 and US$484.1 billion in 2006. Financial services and manufacturing have been major draws for Singapore companies venturing abroad. In 2005 and 2006, Singapore invested about US$9.8 billion and US$8.5 billion in the U.S. market. The FDI inflow in Singapore was at US$323.8 billion and US$363.9 billion, the FDI inflow from the United States alone constit uting about 10% of this inflow. The current scale, proliferation, and importance of collaborative ventures between firms across boundaries have brought out the significance of transnational strategic alliances between firms (especially competing firms). Strategic alliances are formal agreements between firms to pursue specific strategic objectives in order to enable them to achieve specific goals. It involves sharing of risks and rewards. For RD ventures, for example, cooperation is limited to research into new products and technologies, while manufacturing and marketing remain the responsibility of individual firms (Cohen 2007, pp. 171). Globalization, technological advances, and the emergence of new players have propelled a change in FDI movement. Globalization, by removing most of the natural and artificial barriers to cross-border information flows and transactions, has widened locational choice options for firms. By lowering transport, communication, and distribution costs, technological advances have helped overcome many obstacles to overcome space. Examples of Foreign Direct Investment Venture capital, seed capital, and other types of direct investment play an important role in the development of nanotechnology by providing the funding for entrepreneurs to develop commercial products based on the nanotechnology, and establish themselves as for-profit businesses. As of June 2009 the Website www.nanotech-now.com listed over 100 funding sources for nanotechnology businesses. An example of a seed capital firm is MMEI (Molecular Manufacturing Enterprises Incorporated), a privately held corporation that provides funding at the early stages of product development in molecular nanotechnology: for example, in developing a laboratory-bench model into a working prototype that could be used to attract venture capital. A different type of service is provided by Silicon Valley Nano Ventures: they help make connections between investors and businesses and charge fees for successful transactions that may include a percentage of the transaction and/or stock or options in the compan y. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is increasingly important in the global economy, but the term denotes more than simply a direct investment made by a foreign investor. Specifically, FDI refers to a case of a company in one country establishing an enterprise in another country- such as Coca-Cola opening a plant in Mexico, Volkswagen opening a factory in Detroit, Intel opening a chip fabrication plant in Taiwan, and so on. Foreign direct investment is a vital part of the economic relationships between countries, and in particular can be a key to attract for developing or industrializing countries. Though the largest amounts of capital are involved in direct foreign investment among the industrialized countries (or â€Å"Global North†), direct foreign investment from industrialized countries to developing countries (or â€Å"Global South†) is a matter of constant discussion among international bodies like the World Trade Organization, and is seen as (at least potentially) a beneficial arrangement for both sides (Aliber 2003, pp. 94). Typically, the subsidiary established by a foreign direct investor is a factory or other manifestation of the foreign companys global presence, but it can include real estate holdings (and often does, in the case of businesses in the hotel and hospitality industry) and businesses unrelated to the foreign companys ordinary business. Foreign ownership may not always be apparent to the public. In the United States, the public is generally not aware that national supermarket chains and major breweries are owned by foreign-based multinational corporations. Because foreign direct investment involves money coming into a nations economy from outside, there are often incentives offered by the local government to encourage it, particularly when the FDI does not pose a competitive threat to domestic industry. There may be tax incentives, special regulatory exceptions, or subsidies provided for job training in order to create domestic jobs and disincentives the importation of foreign employees or infrastructure subsidies (Cohen 2007, pp. 176). Singapore provides a good example of a government successfully attracting FDI to develop commercial nanotechnology. Singapore is a small and densely populated Asian nation with a strong central government and a high standard of living, but has not historically been known as a center of scientific innovation. In order to overcome this handicap and create a biotechnology industry able to compete with the United States and Europe, the Singapore government has been involved in establishing biomedical science centers since the 1980s, including the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, whose current research projects include developing nanocomposite materials for solar cell applications and nanofoams to be used in human bone replacement and repair. Singapore has been successful in attracting foreign investment in these centers, in part through the provision of financial incentives, a strong infrastructure, regulatory policies that favor business and the availability of a well-edu cated workforce. Among the companies who have invested in the biomedical industry in Singapore are GlaxoSmith-Kline, Schering-Plough, Merck, Genencor, AstraZeneca, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Conclusion Foreign direct investments is a long-term capital flow or investment in which a non-resident entity has significant management control of voting stock (10% or more) over an enterprise in a foreign or host country. Unlike short-term capital flows, foreign direct investment (FDI) is not immediately susceptible to reversibility. The bulk of FDI activities in developing countries are undertaken by multinational or transnational corporations. A transnational corporation is a firm that is head quartered in a home country but controls assets of enterprises that are central to its profitability in foreign or host countries. References Aliber, R. (2003), the multinational paradigm. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 91-98 Borensztein, E., De Gregorio, J. , and Lee, J.-W. (2008), How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? Journal of International Economics vol. 45 pp. 115–135 Braconier, H., Norback, P., and Urban D. (2005), â€Å"Multinational Enterprises and Wage Costs: Vertical FDI Revisited,† Journal of International Economics v.67/2 , pp 313 Braunerhjelm, P., Oxelheim L., and Thulin P., (2005), â€Å"The Relationship between Domestic and Outward Foreign Direct Investment,† International Business Review v.14, pp. 119-131 Cohen, S. (2007). Multinational corporations and foreign direct investment: Avoiding simplicity, embracing complexity. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 171-77 Dicken, P. (2007). Global shift: Mapping the changing contours of the world economy. New York: Guilford Press, pp. 191-204 Dunning, J., Gugler, P. (2008), Foreign direct investment, location and competitiveness, Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 113-119 Graham, E. , Marchick, D. (2006). US national security and foreign direct investment, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics, 277 P. Buckley and N. Hashai (2004), â€Å"A Global System View of Firm Boundaries,† Journal of International Business Studies v.35, pp. 61-69 Trevino, L. and Upadhyaya, K. (2003), Foreign aid, FDI and economic growth: Evidence from Asian countries. Transnational Corporations vol. 12 pp. 45–72 U.S.-China Business Council, (2008), foreign investment in China, Washington, DC: Author, pp. 81 Yeung, H. (2007), from followers to market leaders: Asian electronic firms in the global economy, Asia Pacific Viewpoint vol. 48 pp. 1–25.

Management Brief Essay Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The CEO Management - Research Paper Example Only a few decades ago, the people at the top of companies were called Managing Directors, now they have morphed into C.E.Os, and are expected to perform on a global stage. There is relentless scrutiny on what they do from shareholders, media and government (Tarpin 2006, p56). The change in the environment in which CEOs have to perform has necessitated a re-think of the whole experience of management and all the tenets that go into the successful running of a corporation. Among these are the decision-making process, managing information technology and picking up good examples from others and integrating them within the organization. In an age with so many pressures, is it realistic to have one person to be the face of a company or the one making all the decisions? There is no clear answer to this question. Different approaches have to be applied. In recent times, organizations have become ‘too big to fail’ it is unrealistic that all the important decisions must be made b y a single individual. It should be the case that an organization has several other people in its middle and upper ranks who are as knowledgeable as the leader of the organization so as to spread the burden of decision making. One of the renowned investors of worldwide, Warren Buffett once said that ‘every quarter a CEO is expected to land a 747 on a runway and have it come naturally to a stop six inches from a dime’. That is enough to demonstrate the high expectations CEOs are expected to fulfill. On the other hand, the case for iconic organizations being led by iconic individuals cannot be disputed. Steve Jobs is a good example. He alone is credited with making Apple the largest consumer electronic goods manufacturer. Ken Hopper in his book The Puritan Gift states that decisions are best made collectively. He refers to the collectivization of decision making as forming a kind of ‘fellowship’. The leader makes the ultimate call, but they have to come down and seek the opinion of members of the ‘fellowship’ before arriving at the final solution. (Hopper 2005, p64) As a result, organizations need no more be pyramidic structures but more of networks. The leader at the top of an organization does not have to be accountable for all the good and all the bad of the organization. Leaders should use the collective wisdom of the company, and even be ready to admit they do not know what a situation demands. They should collectively think and collectively approach an issue (Schermerhorn 2004, p40). This is a concept that traditional management could run a mile from, but as recent failure has shown us, new and radical approaches to management need to be explored. The decision-making process is not the only aspect of management that a leader of an organization engages. In today’s computer age, there is a torrent of information, all of which is demanding the organization’s leader attention. Vast organizations are being bu ilt on information to the extent that a few individuals view it as a currency or as a building block for a new economy. So, is too much information a promise or a threat? Well, that is part of what the leader of the organization has to determine. The catchphrase ‘information technology’ has really caught on, but it’s a fairly recent phenomenon.

BATNA Basics Assignment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

BATNA Basics Assignment - Research Paper Example It is, therefore, before this stage that an individual takes time to think about all other possible options available, including the possible no-deal options (NMR 1). If the individual think and explore best options, then he or she has higher chances of proper and satisfying outcomes. Evaluate your alternatives. After listing all the possible options available, an individual moves to give the options a close examination and calculates the value attached to each of them before pursuance of each. Establish your BATNA. At this step, the individual must be careful to choose only courses of action that are viable in terms of yielding the expected value. The individual pursues the BATNA if the ongoing negotiation fails. It must have high chances of providing a positive solution. Calculate your value of reservation. In this step, the individual calculates his or her reservation value. The lowest proposed value deal that would be acceptable to the individual must not be lower than the reservation value chosen. If the proposed reservation value is lower than his reservation value, then the individual better rejects and subsequently pursues the original BATNA. However, if the reservation offer has higher value than the calculated reservation value, then accept it. Forgoing options after investing your resources in it creates a feeling of wastage. It thus requires that the individual find way of counterbalancing the situation (NMR 1). In addition, negotiations that are more costly during strong BATNA development may deter an individual’s efforts and behavior. The other hazard is that the negotiating individual may feel disappointed and exposed if all the details he reveals fail to yield expected outcomes. Prior investments have high likelihood of compromising ethical standards and emerging from sunk cost shadow cast become

Security Assessment and Recommendations Essay Example for Free

Security Assessment and Recommendations Essay Company Overview Aircraft Solutions (AS) is a recognized leader in the design and fabrication of component products and services for companies in the electronics, commercial, defense, and aerospace industry. Located in Southern California, AS has a dedicated, trained workforce and maintains a large capacity plant and extensive equipment to meet customer requirements. Much of the equipment is automated to increase production while reducing costs. The companys workforce has a large skill base: design engineers, programmers, machinists, and assembly personnel to work its highly-automated production systems. The mission of AS is to provide customer success through machined products and related services, and to meet cost, quality, and schedule requirements. The company strategy is to offer low-cost design and computer-aided modeling packages to customers to reduce their development expenses. AS will help the customer through all phases of new product deployment, from initial prototypes through final large-volume production and assembly. By involving itself in all phases of customer product development, AS hopes to establish long-term relationships and secure repeated follow-on business with its customers. In addition, AS continues to invest heavily in workforce education and training, so as to improve capability to serve its customers. Company Geographic Layout Aircraft Solutions headquarters is in San Diego, California. The Commercial Division (CD) is 40 miles east in San Diego County. The Defense Division (DD) is located in Orange County in the city of Santa Ana, California. These geographic locations are close to intermodal transport hubs that have global reach. Products can be easily shipped anywhere in the world by combined truck, rail, ship, and air transportation methods. The system administrators are members of an information technology (IT) group within the organization. They are responsible for selecting and installing hardware, software and related upgrades, implementing information security measures, and maintaining support to ensure the manufacturing execution system is working properly. They also are heavily involved in training the workforce to use and interact with the information systems. Their duties include planning for and responding to emergency events such as power outages, attempts at cyber-attack, and natural disasters. The users at AS are employees, customers, suppliers, and contractors who need to access the company network. System access by users at different levels of the network is set strictly on a need-to-know basis. Controls are in place to secure confidential and proprietary information from unauthorized access. Users are responsible for entering and processing data and information, such as generating reports to be used for decision-making. Business Process AS uses Business Process Management (BPM) to handle end-to-end processes that span multiple systems and organizations. The BPM system is designed to connect customers, vendors, and suppliers to share information and maintain a timely business dialogue. BPM also aligns internal business operations with IT support to maintain production in support of customer requirements. Business process effectiveness begins with the IT organization. Customer data such as project information, computer-aided design and development models are sorted and stored in designated servers. The Design Engineering department is responsible for reviewing the electronic models, interacting with the customer and making necessary modifications with customer approval, then placing them in an Engineering Release (ER) directory for programming. As soon as these electronic models are released, programmers use them to create production programs. All final programs must be thoroughly verified for accuracy before releasing to the Proof For Production (PFP) directory for manufacturing to make the production first article. From the production floor, machinists download PFP programs directly to their DCNC (Direct Computer Numerical Control) machines for execution. After any further processing, completed products are inspected for verification to customer requirements, then they are moved to the Shipping department for delivery. A continuous improvement and feedback loop system is in used to correct any deficiencies in the production process. The BPM system is capable of handling multiple projects simultaneously across every department of the company. BPM is set up to manage all aspects of business operations, including accounting, human resources, sales and marketing, and compliance activities concurrently. Current IT Architecture The figures shown below depict the current IT architecture and present network infrastructure of Aircraft Solutions. Security Controls in Place The current security controls include independent anti-virus software on every workstation and server, host-based intrusion detection systems on the servers in the corporate office. Security policy requires that all firewalls and router rule sets are evaluated every two years and that all local servers are backed up to network attached storage devices maintained at the server location. Scenario Two Company Overview Quality Web Design (QWD) is an organization that specializes in Web site and Web content design for all types of businesses. QWDs mission is to provide top quality Web design that will increase consumer generated revenue to QWDs customer Web sites. QWDs database contains over 250,000 proprietary images and graphical designs that will enhance most Web sites appeal to a target demographic. Business Processes Quality Web Design has several mission critical business processes. First is the use of the repository of Web site templates, custom written scripts and/or custom applications. This repository is stored in a Microsoft Visual Studio Team Foundation Service (TFS) server. This application is used to monitor the project development lifecycle of custom Visual Studio applications from inception to deployment, including the quality assurance testing phase. Other critical business processes are QWDs accounting, payroll and Marketing operations all of which are supported by IT assets. There are strict technology-based access controls associated with each of these systems to ensure that only authorized personnel can access them. Security Controls There is a published corporate security manual that covers the following security practices. Username standard including having a separate account for any elevated privileges. Password length, complexity, rotation and history requirements. Data classification levels depend upon what type of data each system contains and security group accounts control access to each data classification level. Security training is also describe and required communications quarterly and annual training classes.

The Importance of Sound in William Shakespeares Macbeth Essays

The Importance of Sound in Macbeth      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth, the shortest and perhaps darkest play by Shakespeare, is a tale of over-riding ambition, human nature, and supernatural meddling. Macbeth is the main character in the play, and although he begins the story a loyal subject and brave hero, the power bestowed on him poisens and corrupts him until he eventually turns evil and seeks more, to his downfall. As the central figure of the play, Macbeth sets in motion a sequence of events that brings about the destruction and eventual rebirth of Scotland, giving the play an essentially dark tone. There are, however, varying degrees of evil, subtly different in texture and context. One way Shakespeare indicates the styles of evil throughout the play Macbeth is through the use of sounds. Sounds in the play fall under four categories: nature, man-made, the sounds of battle, and human cries.    The first category of sounds used are that of nature, which symbolize evil deeds and death. Animal sounds most prevalent throughout the play are those of birds, specifically those of owls and ravens. Traditionally, owls symbolize death and to hear the call of one is considered ill omened. In Act II, Lady Macbeth - a creature of evil herself- comments, "Hark! Peace! / It was the owl that shrieked, the fatal bellman, / which gives the stern'st goodnight" (II, ii, 3-5). The goodnight referred to, somewhat ironically, is that of eternal sleep, as she knows King Duncan has just been murdered, perhaps at the very moment the owl called. This omen could have been interpreted as either good or ill by her, since her designs were evil and the owl could have represented the Darkness' acceptance of her, or as a foreshadowing of her own sinking into darkne... ...ird) like all together." And so it is, and always shall fair be foul and foul be fair.    Works Cited: De Quincy, Thomas. "From On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth." Elements of Literature, Sixth Course. Eds. Robert Probst, et. Al. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 1997: 330-331 Evans, G. Blackemore. "Macbeth." In The Riverside Shakespeare. Ed. G. Blackemore Evans. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company. 1974: 1307- 1311 "Imagery in Macbeth." Anonymous. September 15, 2014. Http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=3880 "Imagery of Disease and Corruption." Anonymous 2. September 15, 2014. Http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id "Importance of the Last Two Scenes in Macbeth." Anonymous 5. September 15, 2014. Http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=7195 "Macbeth." Anonymous. September 15, 2014. Http://www.sevarg.net/school/booknotes/Macbeth.txt

Critisism on Curleys Wife Essay

For Of Mice and Men is a Tragedy, a tragedy not in the narrow modern sense of a mere ‘sad story’ (though it certainly is that), but a tragedy in the classic Aristotelian/Shakespearean sense of showing humanity’s achievement of greatness through and in spite of defeat. Some people seem to believe that the function of literature is to provide vicarious â€Å"happy endings,† to provide in words a sugary sweetness we would like to have but cannot always get in real life. To such people, true literary tragedy is distasteful. But the greatest writers and the best readers know that literature is not always only mere sugar candy; it can sometimes be a strong medicine: sour perhaps — at least to the untrained taste — but necessary for continued health[.] Some readers may object to the book’s presentation of low class characters, vulgar language, scenes suggestive of improper sexual conduct, and an implied criticism of the social system. But none of this is presented indecently, or beyond the ordinary norms of contemporary literature. Compared to many modern works, (or to movies and TV) this book is tame indeed. Furthermore, these features are necessary in this book in two ways. First, they are part of the accurate precise reporting of the reality of a particular time and place and environment. Part of Steinbeck’s literary point is that this is true to life. As such, the dirty details are part of Steinbeck’s enlargement of the realm of Tragedy, the democratization of the tragic world. Traditionally, the subjects of Tragedies have been Kings and other Great Ones: Job, Oedipus, Lear. But Steinbeck’s point — a truly American point — is that all men are created equal: Tragedy exists even among the lowly of the earth; even the least of us — even a Lennie or a George — has the human potential for tragic nobility. Of Mice and Men is a tragedy in the modern tradition of The Hairy Ape and Death of a Salesman. Second, the grossness is a way of presenting briefly the complex turmoil of life. This book is not stereotype melodrama. It is not a simpleminded book. There are no purely bad people in it. Conversely, there are no purely good people in it either. All the characters are complex mixtures of good and bad, or rather of bad results from good intentions. They are all — in their ability and in their outlook — limited. And they live in a gross and dirty world. Given their position in that world, they are not able to achieve much. But they are trying to do the best they can; they are trying to be good people and to have good lives. They have good intentions. They have noble aims. The tragedy is that, limited as the characters are, the world they live in is even more limited; it is a world in which the simplest dream of the simplest man — poor dumb big Lennie — cannot come true. â€Å"The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft a-glae [go oft a-stray],† wrote Robert Burns in the poem which provides the book’s title and its theme. And Steinbeck’s story shows why: The best laid plans go oft ast ray because they come in conflict with one another. The simplest good intention — simply to stay alive — of a simple mouse, a simple pup, a simple young woman, is thwarted by Lennie’s urge to pet something soft and beautiful. Lennie’s drive to touch beauty kills the things he loves. But his problem is the same problem that bothers Curley, the Boss’s son, the closest thing to a villain in the book. Like Lennie, Curley doesn’t know how to hold on to what he finds important: his young wife, his status as the Boss’s son, his reputation as a man. He loses each by trying to hold on too tightly. Curley’s aim to be a respected husband/boss/man is foiled by his own limited abilities. The similar but simpler aim of Lennie and George to have a small place of their own where they can â€Å"live offa the fatta the lan † is doomed to frustration also by their own limitations and the tragic chain of circumstance and coincidence that ends with Lennie dead by George’s hand. The point, of course, is that they all — we all — live in a too limited world, a world in which not all our dreams can come true, a world in which we — all of us some of the time and some of us all the time — are doomed to disappointment. The tragic dilemma is that for our basic humanity, for the goodness of our aims, we all deserve better than we get. But because of our human limitations, by our weaknesses of character, none of us is ever good enough to earn what we deserve. Some philosophers, seeing this dilemma, pronounce profound pessimism for humanity. Some religions promise for this world’s disappointments supernatural intercession and other-worldly compensations. The tragic viewpoint (the view of Shakespeare, the Greek tragedians, the Old Testament Job, and John Steinbeck) finds in it the chance for nobility of soul: even in the blackest of disappointments, a human can achieve individual greatness. One may be defeated physically — but one need not be crushed spiritually. One can remain true to one’s dream and true to one’s friend. We humans may die, but we can love one another. Friendship. Love. That too is what Of Mice and Men is all about. Lennie and George, disparate types, are, against all good reason, friends. They share a good dream. They love one another. They are too limited, too inarticulate, to know how to say it, but they do show it — or rather Steinbeck shows it to us readers. So the book treats the great themes of Dreams and Death and Love with simple powerful clarity. It does so with a classically elegant structure — another reason for using the book as a teaching tool: it allows a reader — especially an untrained or beginning reader of literature — to see (or be shown) how structure supports and presents content. Of Mice and Men has the classic situation/complication/twist/and/resolution plot structure uncluttered by diversions, distractions, or subplots. There is inevitableness, a starkness th at makes the point of the story unavoidable. The story has the classic unities of time and place and action. It begins in a small spot of beautiful nature, a secluded camp in the woods by a stream; it moves to the buildings of a California ranch, and ends back in the woods by the stream. The style is simple: clear, direct sentences of description and action, direct quotation of the speech of simple people. Few long words, no hard words. The action is simple: two poor and vagrant workers, big, dumb Lennie and small, clever George, take jobs at a large ranch. Lennie has trouble with the Boss’s son, Curley. Lennie accidentally — more or less — kills Curley’s wife. George kills Lennie to save him from the horrors of a lynch mob led by Curley, bent on revenge. The settings are simple in detail, and simply powerfully symbolic. The secluded spot in the woods by the stream is the uncomplicated world of Nature; the bunkhouse is the bleak home of hired working men trying to make sense of their lives and gain comfort in a limited environment; the barn is the place of working life, of seed and harvest, birth and death; the harness room with Crook’s bunk symbolizes social constraints; the â€Å"little place of our own† about which George and Lennie dream and all too vaguely plan is the Paradise on earth we all hope for. The characters, too, are simple yet significant. â€Å"Begin with an individual, and before you know it you find you have created a type,† wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald; â€Å"begin with a type, and you find that you have created — nothing.† Steinbeck begins with individuals: clearly and sharply crafted characters, a whole set of individuals who are so clearly realized that each — without surrendering individuality — becomes a type, an archetype, a univ ersal character: There is Candy, the old, one-armed worker with no place to go, as useless as his toothless dog; there is Carlson, gruffly and deliberately â€Å"unfeeling,† who can coolly kill old Candy’s ancient dog simply because â€Å"he stinks† and â€Å"he ain’t no good to you†; and there is Crooks, the dignified proud and aloof but helpless and lonely victim of racial discrimination. There is Slim, calm, reasonable, compassionate, the real leader of men. And there is Curley, the arrogant but inept Boss’s son. The man who could lead well does not have the position; the one who has the position and the authority is not a true leader. Curley hides his insecurities behind a mask of macho toughness. His competitive bravado makes him push too far and Lennie, after enduring much, is given permission by George to â€Å"get him.† Lennie in self-protection crushes Curley’s fist in his own big hand, crippling Curley somewhat as Candy and Crooks have been crippled by the punitive harshness of life. Curley is also the one man who has a woman. But clearly he does not — does not know how to — relate to her as a person. She is to him a thing, a possession, a sex-object and a status symbol. For the men, in braggadocio, he flaunts the sexuality of the relationship; and yet, out of his own self-doubts he is intensely jealous of the men’s awareness of her. The young woman has no name — she is merely â€Å"Curley’s wife.† She knows she wants — and somehow deserves — something better than this. â€Å"I don’t like Curley,† she says of her husband. She has grandiose ambitions of being a Hollywood star â€Å"in the pitchers.† She is a lost little girl in a world of men whose knowledge of women is largely limited to memories of kind old ladies and rumors of casual prostitution. All these men are afraid of Curley’s wife, afraid and aware that her innocent animal appeal may lead them into temptation and trouble. In self-protection they avoid her. Only Lennie, in naive goodness, actually relates to her as a person to a person. She talks to him. For a little time they share in their aesthetic sense; they both admi re beauty. Unfortunately, she is too naive, and Lennie is too strong and clumsy. In trying — at her invitation — to pet her lovely hair he is panicked by her quick resistance, and ends by killing her. Just as he had earlier killed a puppy and a mouse. Curley’s wife, a naive Romantic, wants love and tenderness in a harsh crude Naturalistic world; Lennie, big and ignorant, tries to give love. But he is too weak in the mind, too strong in the body. His tenderness is too powerful for weaker, unsuspecting creatures. We readers can identify with Lennie. We sympathize; we empathize. We care. We have — most of us — been in his position; not quite able to cope with the complexities of the world around us, wanting only security, peace, comfort, and something soft and beautiful to pet and love. Perhaps one reason that this book has evoked controversy and censorious action is that it is so simple and clear and easy to understand — and so painful! It hurts to read this book. And some people don’t like their books to hurt them; they want soothing. But great Tragedy is meant to hurt. One needn’t subscribe wholly to the Aristotelian doctrine of ‘catharsis’ by Art to see that one function of literature is to help us deal with the pain of real life by practicing with the vicarious pains of tragic art. Of course Of Mice and Men contains unpleasant attitudes; there is brutality, racism, sexism, economic exploitation. But the book does not advocate them; rather it shows that these too-narrow conceptions of human life are part of the cause of human tragedy. They are forces which frustrate human aspiration. Lennie and George have a noble dream. They are personally too limited to make it come true, but they do try. They try to help each other, and they even enlarge their dream to include old one-handed Candy and crippled black Crooks. Theirs is the American Dream: that there is somehow, somewhere, sometime, the possibility that we can make our Paradise on earth, that we can have our own self-sufficient little place where we can live off the fat of the land as peaceful friends. What is sad, what is tragic, what is horrible, is that the Dream may not come true because we are — each and all of us — too limited, too selfish, too much in conflict with one another. â€Å"Maybe ever’-body in the whole damn world is scared of each other,† says Slim. And George expresses the effects of loneliness, â€Å"Guys that go around alone don’t have no fun. After a long time they get mean. They get wantin’ to fight all the time.† What is ennobling in this tragedy of mice and men is the Revelation of a way beyond that loneliness and meanness and fighting, a way to rise above our human limitations: Two men — Lennie and George — who have nothing else, do have each other. â€Å"We kinda look after each other.† says George. And they do have their Dream. And the Dream is there even in the final defeat. For in the end the one thing George can do for Lennie is to make sure he’s happy as he dies. He has Lennie â€Å"look acrost the river you can almost see [the place].† And as Lennie says, â€Å"Let’s get that place now,† George kills him mercifully. It’s a horrible thing to do, and George knows that. And we know that. But in this limited world in this limited way it is all that George can do for his friend. And he does it. That is the horror and the nobility which together make up Tragedy. The Tragic pattern closes. There is a sense of completeness, of both defeat and satisfaction. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck has shown us something about the pain of living in a complex human world and created something beautiful from it. In true great literature the pain of Life is transmuted into the beauty of Art. The book is worth reading for a glimpse of that beauty — and worth teaching as a way to show others how such beauty works.