Introduction to Organizational Politics Essay

This piece consists heavily of quotations from and adaptations of material from several sources (see references at the end). There still may be some unreferenced quotations because I have lost track of their genesis over many years of moving content through various notes. I don’t claim originality, other than the choice and organizing of material – Rex Mitchell. Pfeffer (1992, p. 30) defined politics as â€Å"the processes, the actions, the behaviors through which potential power is utilized and realized†. Another author (Dubrin, 2001 , p. 92) defined organizational politics as â€Å"informal approaches to gaining power through means other than merit or luck†. It could be argued that politics are used primarily to achieve power, either directly or indirectly, e. g. , by being promoted, receiving a larger budget or other resources, or gaining desirable assignments. Many people regard organizational politics as something negative (e. g. , pursuing selflnterests at the expense of others) and something to be minimized. Consequently, although most people know that organizational politics are common, they avoid saying so when it concerns one=s own ehavior. It is more common to talk about politics when complaining about a loss to a friend than it is in the context of one’s own political maneuvering. When we win on an issue, we call it leadership; when we lose, we call it politics. In many organizations, politics is a taboo subject, which makes it difficult for individuals to deal with this crucially important aspect of organizational reality. I believe a leader must skillfully use organizational politics to acquire and retain power and to accomplish major goals. Therefore, it would be a mistake to pretend that politics does not exist or to antasize that a leader can be effective without appropriate (and ethical, I would add) use of politics. As Pericles wrote over 2500 years ago, â€Å"Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you. † I regard organizational politics as neither good nor bad, per se, although it is important for us to distinguish between ethical and unethical political behavior.

Coco Chanel Essay

Coco Chanel Coco Chanel was one of the most prominent fashion designers of the 20th century. Her contribution in the development of fashion can hardly be underestimated. In fact, she revolutionized fashion in a way, since she was one of the first fashion designers who made women think of themselves first rather than think how they look for their men, which was a traditional view on female fashion at the epoch. In actuality, the significance and her great contribution in the development of fashion as well as 20th century culture at large was marked by her contemporaries as well as modern specialists. For instance, she was the only person in the field of fashion design to be named on TME Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century (Charles-Roux, 145). In such a way, she gained a public approval and popularity which made her name one of the most recognizable in the fashion world. At the same time, her life was quite difficult, especially during her early years and war time periods. In fact, she witnessed two world wars but she kept working regardless of all the problems and challenges she faced in her life. In fact, her work was her true passion she remained devoted to from her early life until the end. Gabrielle Bonheur â€Å"Coco† Chanel was born on August 19, 1883. She was a second daughter of travelling salesman Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle in a small city of Saumur, France (Orecklin, 49). In fact, her family was poor and she was raised in poverty stricken neighborhood along with her five siblings. Remarkably, when she got her birth certificate her name misspelled â€Å"Chasnel† because nobody knew how to spell Chanel correctly. As a result, the mayor of the city had to improvise and added the letter â€Å"S† in her name, which later became a serious problem for her biographers, who could not trace her origin and define genealogical tree because of such an error in her name (Orecklin, 51). However, the misspelling of her name was definitely not the biggest misfortune that happened to her in her early life. She lived in poverty and was practically of an opportunity to get a good education. Moreover, when she was twelve, her mother died of tuberculosis that provoked a serious psychological trauma for the child. At the same time, her father could not stay with the children all the time. He had to work to earn for living and to maintain the family, in which he was the only breadwinner. This is why Coco Chanel was sent to the orphanage of the Catholic monastery of Aubazine, where she spent seven years and where she received her basic education. In fact, it is in the monastery she learned the trade of seamstress. However, she did not spend all the time in the monastery. During the vacations she went to her relatives in a provincial city, where her female relatives taught her to sew with more flourish than the nuns in the monastery were able to demonstrate. In such a way, her interest, her passion to design had started to develop since her childhood as she learned to sew and gradually she became very skilful in this field. At this point, it should be said that she was apparently a gifted person since she managed to develop her skills and abilities to the extent that she became able not only to create traditional wear, but she proved to be able to experiment and find new, original solutions, which were unusual for her time (Dwight, 119). However, at the early started to demonstrate her talent, which though was immature at the epoch. Nevertheless, her professional knowledge, to a significant extent, defined her further life, as her first job was the work at a local tailor, where she was employed at the age of eighteen as she left the orphanage. In fact, it was her first step in her professional career insignificant it seems to be, but still it was very important in regard to her future professional career since she could have hardly find a different work. Moreover, it was the only work where she could realize her full potential and implement her creative ideas while developing new wear. At the same time, it should be said that she could not afford working at a tailor for a long time because she needed to realize her ideas and she wanted to create clothes of her own. However, she could hardly start her own business, if she had failed to meet Etienne Balsan at the tailor’s shop where Coco Chanel worked. In fact, it was an occasional encounter which though outgrew into a love affair which opened Chanel the way to a new, different and better life. Etienne Balsan was rich and quite influential. It is during her life with Balsan, Coco Chanel started to design hats. At first, it was just a hobby which gradually transformed into a true passion for designing new clothe items, especially hats, where she grew more and more skillful. Her early works were characterized by high originality since they were quite different from traditional hats. At the same time, the high quality of her products attracted a lot of customers, while her acquaintance with Balsan allowed her to engage customers representing the upper-class of the French society (Charles-Roux, 210). Nevertheless, her love affair with Balsan failed to evolve into a true love. At any rate, their relationships did not last for a long period of time and Coco Chanel left Balsan, moved to Paris and took over his apartment in the French capital. In 1913, she opened her first shop, where she sold fashionable raincoats and jackets. Remarkably, the originality and quality of her wear contributed to the huge success of her shop which allowed her to maintain relatively high standards of life and she became very popular in Paris, which, at the epoch, was one of the world’s centers of the fashion industry. However, the development of her business in Paris was overshadowed by the outbreak of World War I, which started in 1914 and affected the life of the entire country dramatically (Charles-Roux, 219). Nevertheless, Coco Chanel had never stopped working and continued designing new products which still remained popular and the demand for her wear was traditionally high. But she had to stop her business in Paris because she was deprived of all her properties. Nevertheless, Coco Chanel was not discouraged and carried on her professional work and designing became an essential part of her life. On the other hand, she could live with her ideas only. She needed money to earn to maintain living. In this regard, the assistance of Balsan’s friend, Arthur â€Å"Boy† Capel proved to be very helpful for Coco Chanel. Their friendship evolved into a love affair which made them very close and Capel helped Coco Chanel to open a new shop in Brittany, France, which, similarly to the shop in Paris, became very popular among local customers (Weber, 35). It is worth mentioning the fact that celebrated French actresses buy wear in Chanels’ shop which was very important for the promotional campaign of her shop. In fact, the interest of celebrities to her shop contributed to the growing popularity of her products and her design in France that contributed to her professional recognition, while the popularity allowed her to expand her business steadily. Due to her popularity, she managed to introduce new women’s sportswear at her new boutique in Deauville. In such a way, she could expand her business, but, what was even more important, Coco Chanel changed the philosophy of women’s wear. To put it more precisely, her new design and new wear made women confident of the fact that they were supposed to dress for themselves but not for their men. In fact, it was a revolutionary philosophy for France as well as the entire world at the epoch of World War I, when the ominance of men was unchallengeable, while the development of feminism was still insignificant (Charles-Roux, 248). Nevertheless, the design and new philosophy of Chanel produced a significant impact on the development of fashion and the 20th century culture at large. Remarkably, as Coco Chanel grew more and more popular she attempted to change some facts from her past. For instance, she pretended to be born in 1893, instead of 1883, while she insisted that she lo st her mother at the age of six, instead of twelve. In such a way, she created a kind of tragic image of an orphan girl, who managed to achieve a tremendous success due her talent and hard work. At the same time, such manipulations with her past evoked numerous controversies which were insurmountable for her biographers. This is why some details of her biography are still quite controversial and unclear. The 1920s were the epoch of the fast progress of Coco Chanel as a designer and her business developed successfully. Her design was really unique and her wear was very popular in France as well as in other countries. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that her acquaintance with Vera Bate Lombardi, a daughter of Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge and Duke of Teck, became of a paramount importance for Chanel’s empire. In fact, Vera Lombardi became Chanel’s muse and public relations liaison to a number of European royal families, including the British royal family. Her acquaintance with representatives of royal families and upper-classes contributed to her empire growth in power. As a result, before World War II, Chanel’s was one of the most influential designers in Europe as well as the world, because Europe, especially Paris, where Coco Chanel resided in the Hotel Ritz Paris, was the heart of the world’s fashion design (Barringer, 28). However, World War II forced Coco Chanel to stop her work and business. Nevertheless, she remained in Paris even during the German occupation. This period in her life was probably the most controversial because, after the war, she was repeatedly accused of collaborationism. For instance, she was suspected of having a love affair with a German officer and Nazi soy Hans Gunther von Dinklage. Moreover, she was even arrested after the war but she escaped the t rial after the interference of the British royal family, but she was forced to move to Switzerland where she lived until 1954. In 1954, she returned to Paris where she renewed her work and her business, but her new collection did not have much success with the Parisians and French because they believe Chanel to be a collaborationist, which produced a negative impact on her public image. Nevertheless, in spite of the failure in France, Chanel had open a new market, the USA, where her wear became extremely popular and the USA became her main market in the post-World War II period. On the other hand, even though the USA was the main market for Chanel’s Empire, Coco Chanel, herself, had never left Paris and stayed in this city until her death on 10 January 1971. She died at the age of 88 in her private suit in the Ritz Hotel Paris and she was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland (Charles-Roux, 341). Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that Coco Chanel was a very influential fashion designer. She had changed the traditional view on women’s wear and she had changed the women’s philosophy in regard to the wear. She was one of the first designers who made women think of themselves above all, instead of thinking of their men when they choose the clothes. At the same time, her personality is still quite controversial because, in spite of a huge popularity before World War II, she failed to regain the popularity in France after the war.

Strategic Intent Essay

This article serves a purpose to illustrate some of the flaws that are currently used by western organizations in regards to strategic planning. In this article we see are shown the detriment of the methods in practice at the time of the article, and examples of alternative strategic approaches in use by Japanese firms which have allowed them to have sustained success. Strategic Intent and Characteristics As indicated in the article, Japanese companies â€Å"began with ambitions that were out of all proportion to their resources and capabilities†, but â€Å"created an obsession with winning at all levels of the organization and then sustained that obsession over the 10- to 20-year quest for global leadership†. Inspired by this obsession, the concept of â€Å"strategic intent† is introduced to the world of strategy. Strategic intent captures the essence of winning, is stable over time, and sets target that deserves personal effort and commitment. It comes with an ambition in the pursuit of global leadership that used to be outside the range of traditional strategic planning. By implementing strategic intent, a company can create long term objectives despite of considerable resources, whereas thinking in a traditional way, decisions should be made on the degree of fit between existing resources and current opportunities. Description The key points to this article refer to the differences in strategic approach that the Japanese firms use, in contrast to the approaches used by western organizations. Japanese firms use four main techniques when constructing their strategy: Building layers of advantage Searching for â€Å"loose bricks† Changing the terms of engagement Competing through collaboration Applications Strategic Intent is a breakthrough concept in the field of Strategic Management. It has strongly influenced how strategy is defined, and is  responsible for main changes in the functioning style of many organizations. Key ideas brought together with â€Å"strategic intent† such as â€Å"core competence† and â€Å"stretch†, have been introduced to every company. With the same amount of resources and capacity, many companies have become much more successful than they were before under the inspiration of this strategy. One example that emerges from the article is when Canon changed the terms of engagement in an effort to compete against Xerox. Xerox had created many advantages where other competing firms (most notably Kodak and IBM) were not able to directly compete against Xerox. Canon changed the terms of engagement by: standardizing their components, distributing through office supply stores instead of their own sales force, sold instead of leased, and appealed to secretaries and administrative positions within companies. All of these factors helped Canon change the terms of engagement, and not directly compete against Xerox who already held a sizable advantage. Questions and concerns In the article Making Strategic Planning Work there is reference that ineffective planning may be a result of failure to develop clear policies, where those policies would guide decision making. However, in Strategic Intent, a global executive describes how they look for competitors who operate on a portfolio system (where businesses may be sold if a certain market share is reached). Therefore, could having a strategic policy hurt decision making? Connection to Prior Thoughts In Making Strategic Planning Work, the author talks about some requisites for strategic planning. Strategic intent share the same way. It requires the management to conduct internal self-appraisal and future environment assessment to ensure the strategy is on the right track. The main reason for failure could be the same – lack of commitment for planning. In Crafting Strategy, it mentions how detecting the subtle discontinuities that may undermine a business in the future is crucial. This opinion is also shared in Strategic Intent, where it references the problem how managers operating on a 3-5 year window can cause damage as they are not looking out for the long term interest for the company. While both articles share the same  thoughts, why aren’t more companies willing to pay for those managers with several years’ experience—instead of hiring outside the company?

Critically evaluate the role of creative therapies in work with Essay

Critically evaluate the role of creative therapies in work with children - Essay Example For this reason, there have been a growing number of programs designed to work with troubled children through venues other than shelters and governmental organizations (Groves, 2002b). Many of these programs attempt to discover more effective means of reaching the child in a trusting, comforting environment that speaks to the child’s level but without ‘talking down’ to them. Group interventions are one means of addressing the problem while still letting children know they are not alone and have little to be ashamed of (Peled & Edleson, 1995). These types of group meetings, often held in shelters or other community center-type settings, tend to benefit children in the 6 to 15 year age range and work to group children together in age spans of less than 2 to 3 years (Peled & Edleson, 1995). This treatment technique is not recommended for children of preschool or younger age, however, because of their natural lack of focus and reduced dependence upon peer relationships to help them cope with issues and more impulsive natures. Very small children do not respond well to sit-down sessions so require alternate forms of therapy to be developed that meet their specific needs. Regardless of the therapy approach selected, the goal is always the same. â€Å"The therapist seeks to stabilize the child’s life situation, to help the child integrate the experiences of the violent events in an adaptive manner, and to work with the child to manage the symptoms that resulted from the trauma† (Groves, 2002b). There are a number of other therapies currently being studied that may be more successful than these approaches in bringing the discussion to the level of the child in a non-threatening, non-invasive way. Several alternative and less-threatening forms of therapy have b een devised that allow children to be treated in a less-threatening environment which matches the

CV Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

CV - Essay Example Actively solicit new accounts and relationships in the Steel Industry; negotiate long term contracts, prices, terms and conditions (for Coking Coal, Iron Ore, Manganese Ore + Alloys); research, analyze and assess customer needs, usage levels, budget and supply programs. Utilize superior networking and communications abilities, continually building strong customer relations, achieving outstanding customer satisfaction. Assist senior management in all areas of operations. Researched market conditions in regional and national areas to determine potential sales of consumer products. Evaluated effectiveness of surveys, opinion polls and questionnaires. Assisted in assessing market position and developing guidelines and recommendations. Performed accounting and audit procedures on cash accounts and subsequent events. Monitored routine operations, filing, answering credit statements and memos. Examined invoices for appropriate authorization and classification. Researched, analyzed and summarized a variety of financial transactions and reports. Interacted efficiently as team worker. Effective marketing strategies were developed with my assistance. Analyzed current client needs industry capacity, competitive intelligence and potential positioning. Established research methodology; designed format for data gathering. Statistical data were examined and future marketing trends were forecasted. Gathered data on competitors and analyzed prices, sales and methods of

A Bright New Boise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Bright New Boise - Essay Example The play’s main character is Will, a staunch believer in Christian dogma. He interprets each word in the Christian Bibles as the literal truth and, therefore, believes that there will be â€Å"rapture† and God will come to redeem His people while the non-believers will be left to suffer. The play’s title suggests that, Boise, which is the capital city of Idaho, is bound to be a renewed and better place after the rapture that Will anticipates. This title also draws one’s attention to this fundamentalist belief of a future utopia, where there will no longer be any form of suffering. The dramatist and the director of â€Å"A Bright New Boise† settled for a suitable time to show people’s yearning for a better life and shift toward religious beliefs in the event of problems. This is because; the modern American society is presently characterized by numerous difficulties, especially economically, forcing many to believe the possibility of intervent ion or redemption by a higher deity. Hunter’s play shows how people’s beliefs vary and how we all seek refuge in diverse ideas about life in order to cope with hardships and tedium of life. Discussion During the introduction of the play, one is able to learn that the title’s connection to Idaho is due to Hunter’s background as a resident of the state. This perhaps gives the dramatist adequate knowledge about beliefs of Christian fundamentalists. The play begins just as the main character, Will, is hired in a Hobby Lobby store that deals with crafts and other works of art. Will, a middle-aged man who seems soft-spoken in nature, has left his home following a scandal that implicated his fundamentalist church. He has come to the Hobby Lobby store not only to escape his past, but also to try and regain a connection with his adolescent son Alex. Will apparently gave up baby Alex to adoptive parents and wants to reconnect with him before the rapture takes place . Tom Ross includes other characters like Pauline, the store’s manager; Leroy, a worker and Alex’s brother, as well as, Anna, another worker, to build themes portrayed by the play. The play, which adopts  a comic, yet somewhat dark nature, gives insight into family, religious faith, as well as, the significance of establishing connections with others. The play is set in the break room of a Hobby Lobby store. The room is painted with dull colors, like a dull shade of blue for the door and gray for the floors, lockers and walls. The tables are white with grayish supports, while the chairs are brown with legs similar to the tables. The hard edges of the rectangular door and window further accentuate the stereotype of discomfort and unaccommodating nature of modern corporate workplaces. This stereotype is also fostered by the harsh instructions and commands unleashed by the store’s manager. Ross also manages to incorporate other features of a contemporary workplac e like employees’ lockers and a working coffee maker. Further, the employees wear blue vests and badges on their chests, to signify their affiliation to the store. These elements emphasize the mundane or routinely nature of work, in America’s blue collar job environment. The break room at the Hobby Lobby is also lit by fluorescent lights that produce a harsh and irritating light. The television in the room does not play its purpose of relaxing the employees because of its white light and equally irritating noise. On the other side of the stage is an empty highway with big streetlights. As the play progresses, the audience hears loud traffic noises characteristic of a highway during late hours of the night. These features further emphasize the uncomfortable nature of the work environment and the long hours they have to

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 10

Philosophy - Essay Example It believed that since the source of unhappiness was the body itself, happiness could be derived only when the body became devoid of any kind of pain or suffering, and their psyches relieved from the traumas of the world. Epicurus advocated a rational approach to life to circumvent the fear of gods and fear of death. They feel confident that both god and death are not concerned with human beings. Both have a wide variety of tentacles to grapple or monitor in addition to human beings. The Epicurean outlook on death is quite a poetic truth that envisages: death can not inflict pain on us since we would be no more after death; and we need not fear any pain of death as death do not capture us when we are alive. According to this ideology, there is no need to fear death, since by the time of death, the body ceases to bear sensation and therefore, the pangs of death may not be experienced. Thus, humans need not fear what they cannot feel, or endure, which is death. Again, according to Epicurean theory, unhappiness is the outer manifestation of inner anxieties and fears caused by material longings. The physical pain and sufferings one endures is also a part of this unhappiness. According to him, absence of unhappiness could be rendered by man’s constant engagement in working for peace and harmony within himself. Leading a pleasurable life, enjoying the company of philosophical friends/ associates and not worrying too much about worldly affairs could also lead to happiness. (Lecture 9: From Polis to Cosmopolis: Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World: 323-30BC: Hellenistic Philosophy). Epicurean philosophy delineates that happiness and tranquility are not attainable by man otherwise than by obtaining what is desired with propensity of not falling prey to it. The Epicurean philosophy deals much with the laws of physics. It does not spell anything

How the idea of family has changed Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How the idea of family has changed - Essay Example These factors have made the reliance on a single source of income a progressively more risky approach for family sustenance. Consequently, encouraging public policies on informal care of the ageing population by family members replaces traditional community responsibility on caring for the aged (Lewis & Lewis, 1996). Personally, these changes in the family concept have made me to develop a broader outlook on how present-day families function. Even though women maintain the majority of work in family care, changes have emerged in the readiness of men to adjust work for family and family participation, especially amongst young generations. The overall social workforce now comprises of men and women with the obligation for caring and economically supporting families while seeking a balance between their private life and social work. On the other hand, globalization and technological development have produced changes in employing organizations and the nature of social work. Hence, there exist unclear limits between work and leisure time. Moreover, developments in technology have eradicated the need for several routine jobs. The choices of where and when to work have become more practical as a result of technology such as mobile phone and computer. In this regard, work spills over and intrudes into private or family time. Similarly, employing organizations have reduced their workforce size while empowering teams or individual employees to become more accountable, autonomous and responsible. It would be evident that restructuring may make available opportunities for more flexibility in enabling employees to manage their leisure and work life. From this viewpoint, changes in the family have traditional assumptions have become more obsolete in relation to the distinction between family and work. Subsequently, the concept of a working mother enlightens social policy on the realities of current family life diversity. Nevertheless, the

Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian Woman's Rights in Their Own Country Essay

Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian Woman's Rights in Their Own Country - Essay Example In most of the Islamic countries, women are not allowed to drive; this is for the sole reason that they are not supposed to be bare faced- they are expected to cover the parts of their body that are awrah (meant not to be seen) (Alsarraf 56). Following this situation, only the hand and the eyes are not considered awrah and are supposed to be concealed to the public. This has made the women who profess Islamic culture to avoid driving since with the cloak cloath called abaya and the face-veil, niqab it is impossible to engage in driving. Kuwait though has rescinded over this law and have let their women drive just like any other person without the discrimination of gender. It will be noted that most of the Islamic countries are hinged on patriarchal and men are the central authority in everything and are given first priority.Whereas in other Islamic countries there is strict regulation on the right of the women to vote in the elections, women in Kuwait enjoys the right to vote followi ng the repeal of the sections that barred women from such constitutional rights. Following the 2005 amendments, Kuwaiti women have the rights to equally vie for the elective position; parliamentary and local elections. Following the precedent set by the 2005 ruling, in 2009 the Kuwait’s constitutional court also ruled that the women, just like men could possess passport without the approval of their husbands. Initially, women were not allowed to get hold of the passport without the approval of their husbands.

Mathematics, the Connection Between Art and Science Essay Example for Free

Mathematics, the Connection Between Art and Science Essay Although there are many differences that set art and science apart, they share one undeniable commonality. This bond that is present between what is otherwise considered as polar opposites is mathematics. As shown in Professor Vesna’s lecture, mathematics is imperative to the development of art. Through math, artists have come to understand perspective, proportion, and geometrics. In terms of science, mathematics is the foundation which every theory stands upon. Nature, humans, and the digital world would have been impossible to comprehend without numbers to bridge the gap between the unknown and the understood. Truly, mathematics is ubiquitous and continues to prove its importance to this day. A novel amalgamation that consists of mathematics, art, and science is music. Milkman, an artist of the mash-up genre, is a musician that samples different songs and digitally combines them to form a brand new track. In a way, his work is described as an example of cross synthesis or convultion which according to Burk is some aspect of one sound superimposed on another. To harmoniously combine two different songs, one must fully understand every possible correlation in terms of rhythm, melody, and lyrics. And with mathematics and science making the technology available, the art of mashing up songs has become readily accessible and requires only creativity to create the next hit single. Mathematics has almost an infinite range of applications in society today. For example, Robert Lang presents mathematics as part of the core that drives origami, the art of folding paper. Lang shows that complexity is irrelevant; with mathematics to dictate origami, anything can be shaped. Because of its practicality of compacting large things, origami is used in various sectors of science which include telescope lens packing and heart stents. Another example of math’s prevalence is Theo Jansen’s presentation on his kinetic sculptures. His biological art, able to move independently, essentially redefines the wheel. Not only is it artistic but also it is a masterpiece of engineering; just a simple push can propel a massively heavy structure across difficult terrain. It is evident that math not only facilitates the evolution of artistic creations but also helps apply them as potential solutions to problems of today.

Desert Flower by Cathleen Miller and Waris Dirie

Desert Flower by Cathleen Miller and Waris Dirie Last year, I watched the adapted movie of the book, Desert Flower in the cinema. That movie has fascinated, motivated and likewise evoke interest in me. In my opinion it is incredible how people can live under those bad conditions in Africa. For that reason, I wanted to read the book. In the following essay I will focus on the ancient customs and the culture of the nomads. There are several questions to think about when discussing about the role of women in Somalia. In particular, I will find out about the importance, meaning and purpose of the female genital mutilation. After writing my thesis I would like to research in what way the women in Somalia are treated and if they are put under pressure by their men and whether there is egalitarianism in their society. In addition, during those researches, I want to develop my own point of view. Introduction Desert Flower is the true Story based on the life of Waris Dirie. All actions, mentioned in the text are factual. The author of the book, Desert Flower, Waris Dirie, is a very hardworking girl. She is one of the children born into a traditional family of tribal desert nomads of Somalia in East Africa. With her family, she has experienced a very closed and formative culture, whose habits and rituals, in the truest sense of the word, left scars behind. She has a very good relationship with her family. However, Waris Dirie is adversely affected by the practice of the painful female circumcision. Later, she is going to report about the genital mutilation due to her family tradition and to draw attention to what happens with the girls in her home land. Efficient Examination with my topic 1. Characteristic Lives of Nomads in Somalia To begin with, in the extraordinary journey of a desert nomad Dirie speaks from her own daily experiences in a traditional living nomad family during her epitaxial growth. Therefore, the reader gets to know about the parents, teaching their children all the skills they need to survive. They neither learn how to read nor to write because the family cannot afford to pay for their children education. Her mother teaches Dirie to care about her younger siblings and how to provide her family with enough food, whereas her father teaches her how to take care of their animals. Usually nomads are uneducated. They just live very simple and know about things that have been passed on throughout generations. At times, there is not enough food for the whole family. The priority is to feed the smallest children, then the older ones. Waris Dirie cannot remember ever seeing her mother eat. Her mother always has waived her rights. Somalia remains a very deeply troubled country because everyone lives th e way their ancestors had for thousands of years. Like most of Somalis, Diries family lives the lifestyle of herdsman. That means Somali nomads never stay at a place longer than four weeks. They always look for another place where new water resources are available and move there. That is why they do not have a certain habitation. (p. 40- 41) The father of every family is the head and protector. He makes all the decisions which concern the whole family. At many times, Waris Dirie has to feel the brutal beat of her father because he wants to remind her of taking her work seriously. Being nomads, the family of Dirie does not have any material prosperity like automobiles, electricity or telephones. They do not have any artificial time constructions like clocks and calendars. That is why Dirie do not really know how old she is, she can only guess. Dirie (1998) argues that In Africa there was no hurry, no stress. African time is very, very slow, very calm. (p. 42) I believe that nomads have a much different perspective of life. Generally speaking, their routine of the day is incomparable. They decide every morning anew what they have to do and therefore they are living by the seasons and the sun. In particular, Waris talks about children in Somalia who are not allowed to attend to her parents affairs. She just has to obey all the time, regarding her parents with great respect, following their wishes. In addition, it is usual for the man having multiple wives. The man wants to have a lot of children but after a while, the women are either physically not able to carry out children anymore or are mentally against another birth due to pain during pregnancies or for other emotional reasons. As a result, the man leaves and looks for another wife that is willing to carry out children. (p. 41- 43) According to Dirie (1998), The nomads life is a harsh one, but it is also full of beauty- a life so connected to nature that the two are inseparable (page 58). A better way for nomads to put this is that water is a very important but an infrequently and scarce resource in life because they do not have any water- taps. They have a deep respect for water and they love it. Dirie (1998) describes the source of water as such an uninhibited feeling of freedom and joy. (p.322) People have to pray for rain and if there are not any raindrops, they have to go on a long search for it. Simply looking at it gives me great joy. (Dirie, 1998, p. 60) This quotation shows that people in Somalia appreciate the simple things they have in their lives. Furthermore Dirie tells about their celebrations where they thank God for having such a precious and beautiful life where all are praying, singing, dancing and eating together. (p. 43, 47- 61) The infancy of Waris Dirie: Growing up with animals For Waris Dirie, her family, nature and the animals (compare App. p. 12, figure 2) are the main elements of life. We grew up with animals, prospered when they prospered, suffered when they suffered, died when they died (Dirie, 1998, p. 17). Animals are very vital and helpful for nomads and they probably have the first priority, because they keep the tribes alive. (p. 16- 17) People in Somalia have large herds of cattle, sheep, goats and camels. When Dirie was a young girl, she had been responsible for these herds of her family. Every morning she had to get up very early to move the herds to a fresh area. While the animals were grazing, she had to watch for other predators, like hyenas. A loss of the herd meant for Somali nomads the worse. A very important animal for the Somali nomads is the camel. No animal is such as suitable und valuable for living in the wilderness like camels. In addition, the camels have a special significance for the culture of the Somalia-nomads who always write poems and songs about their camels. Even the children know about the value of the protection of the camels. From the time I was a baby, I knew of the great importance of these animals, because theyre absolutely gold in our society. (Dirie, 1998, p. 18) A camel is never killed to be eaten. The qualities of a camel are too valuable, so that the death of these animals would s how only one big loss. The camels are inalienable components and indispensable for the life of the Somali nomads in the desert. They make their lives considerably easier and have a cultural meaning for them. (p. 18- 25) Anyhow, she has not experienced a typical childhood. At the age of four, she is raped by a friend of her father. She just feels something hard pressing into her vagina and she even does not understand what has happened to her in that moment. Later, when she runs away from home she is nearly raped a second time. She asks a trucker if he is able to pick her up. But then, he takes his pants down and Dirie (1998) states that His erect penis bobbed at me as he grabbed my legs and tried to force them apart, (p. 13). Unlike me, he was experienced, no doubt raping many women; I was simply about to become the next one. (Dirie, 1998, p. 13) With all her strength, she jumps off the truck and then, runs away. (p. 11- 14) 2. Nomads rituals: female circumcision in Somalia It belongs to the culture of Somalis that every girl must experience the female genital mutilation (FGM) at the pubescent age which achieve the status of a Somali woman and therefore being able to marry. The curtailment of her sisters and later also her own, were carried out by a gypsy. In the society of the Somali nomads, she takes a high value and a high position, because she belongs to one of the least ones which know how to do the practice. Moreover, she gets a huge pay of the family because of the curtailment. (p. 64- 65) When Waris goes through this practice at the age of five, it has changed her life because she trespasses the boarder of her childhood into her womanhood. Her younger sister and two cousins died fom this procedure. She describes this ancient ritual as very painful, but she is very jealous of her oldest sister because after the circumcision she becomes a women. When I hears the old gypsy was coming to circumcise Aman, I wanted to be circumcised, too. (Dirie, 1998, p. 64) Because of this big desire for the circumcision, she screames: Mama, do both of us at the same time. Come on, Mama, do both of us tomorrow!. (Dirie, 1998, p. 64) Besides, it concerns removing the female genitals. The next thing I felt was my flesh, my genitals, being cut away. (Dirie, 1998, p. 70). During the execution, Waris losts also her consciousness. After removing the female genitals the girls have just one small opening left, in the size of a match head, for urinating and the monthly period. Waris suffered durin g her period always from strong pains, because the blood cannot flow naturally through the tiny hole. The prevailing wisdom in Somalia is that there are bad things between a girls legs, parts of our bodies that were born with, yet are unclean. (Dirie, 1998, p. 63). Also she had problems while urinating what mostly lasted several minutes. Moreover, this is a sign for the future man that she is still purely, so a virgin. (p. 62- 72) After the execution of the genital mutilation, it is the traditional custom of the Somalis to built a hut for the girls until her physical scars left accured. This hut which is built out of staves and branches is placed far away from the trunk. Because of this expended distance the tribes could not hear the yelling of the pain. For the same reason, the curtailment is curried out in the early morning if still the other members of the family sleep. Because of the painful procedure, girls are lying helpless and unable to run. After the curtailment, merely food is brought to her in the lodging. Furthermore there is always danger of dying after the practice due to infections. If the woman has entered then into marriage, her husband either has the possibility to use a sharp object or just press his genitals into the women until it bursts again. As tools for the operation of this genital mutilation mostly arbitrary, filthy- sharp objects are used because the possibilities of suitable equipm ent are impossible in such regions and also no medical institutions exist. The disastrous results with themselves which end in many cases with the death bring the use such of immoderate utensils. The Somalis look at this tradition as an inalienable one, because girls with unscathed genitals are considered as inexpedient about the marriage, dirtily, repellent and slovenly. (p. 73- 78) There are also a lot of unforgettable consequences which are closely connected with acute pain. In the conditions under which female circumcision is generally performed in Africa, even the less extensive types of genital cutting can lead to potentially fatal complications, such as hemorrhage, infection and shock à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.(compare App. p. 11, figure 1)(Althaus, 1997) Becoming a women-the Marriage contract If a girl is cut, she is ready to be married. She must remain a virgin up to her wedding which her father always predicts her: Youre supposed to be a virgin when you marry. Girls know they will marry as a virgin, and will marry only one man, and thats it. Thats your life. (Dirie, 1998, p. 81) She would marry even once in her life and spend her whole life with her husband. However, men have the right to have several women at the same time. The choice of the future husband is always made by the father and often against the will of the daughter. Besides, the choice mostly falls on that man which offers most camels. However, the wedding is one of the least and most important holidays in the life of the Somali nomads which is celebrated also accordingly traditional like Dirie (1998) reports in her journey that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾When a girl marries, the women from her tribe go out into the desert and collect these flowers. They dry them, then add water to them and make a paste to spread on th e brides face that gives her a golden glow. (p. 58) Dirie (1998) also reports that In my culture, a woman earns a badge of respect when she becomes a mother. (p. 347) For a girl or a woman the wedding means the beginning of a new life, regardless and independent of her family and the foundation of an own family. (p. 81- 89) A few years after her curtailment, at the age of about twelve years, Waris should be also married. It is hard for her father to found a man who advertises around them or offers an adequate price of the hand of his daughter. He is sixty years old but her father arranges his daughter a marriage. He offers five camels for Dirie. This is a high price for the marriage with this little girl. She denies and do not want to marry him. Dirie (1998) defends the argument that As a girl in Somalia, I never thought about marriage or sex. In my family- in our culture- nobody ever talked about any of that. It never, ever, came to mind. (p. 80) However, she defends herself not to marry this old man and to spend the rest of her life with this man. Dirie has always her own will and objections. This behavior pattern is not typically for a properly traditional educated Somali nomad. Somali men estimate women who obey and do not contradict. She has only two possibilities, either she would obey and marry t he old man or to run away. She decides to leave her family, like her sister Aman did before and so she flees in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu. (p. 90- 95) 3. Flashback to her childhood and aims for the future In spite of criticising the practice of the female genital mutilation, Waris Dirie reports very positvie about her culture and she is still completely proud to be a nomad, born in Africa. From Diries point of view, her mothercountry probably is not comparable to other countries because the families have a strong solidarity like nowhere else. From the beginning, I had the instinct for survival; I learned joy and pain at the same time. I learned that happiness is not what you have, because I never had anything, and I was so happy. (Dirie, W. 1998, p.363) The growing up has changed the personality of Dirie (1998), because she reports that Today, I cherish the value of the simple things. (p. 364) On account of the horrible circumcision, Dirie is very angry, feels sad and often much pain. She cannot imagine that anybody would accept the practice and just because at the thought of the mutilation to other girls who all have to accept their fates. (p. 239- 242) As Dirie (1998) has grown older, she realizes that Well, these are my legs, and theyre a result of who I am and where Im from (p. 286). That means she is very proud of her legs and her traditional past because they are the symbol for her origin and her family background. And everywhere she goes in the world, Dirie can remember the days with her family and her culture. At the end of the journey, Waris Dirie (1998) comes to the conclusion that the most important priorities in the world are nature, personal goodness, family, and friendship. (p.294) Dirie wants to do something for all the women, which have to be circumcised. Apparently, there are millions of girls who also plague health problem because of the violent practice. Dirie (1998) is of the opinion that Because of a ritual ignorance, most of the women on the continent of Africa live their lives in pain. (p.349) On account of have been born female, Dirie is very worried and saw herself responsible to speak up about the female circumcision and to help the women in Africa. For all the women in her country who are silence, Dirie arranges the Waris Dirie Foundation which organizes a lot of worldwide projects and they are about to fight against the FGM. (Dirie, W. 2001) I have started the Desert Dawn Foundation to raise money for schools and clinics in Somali. They want to protect the women in Somalia and to stop the ignorant selfish men who demand their wives be circumcised. And the legacy of pain, suffering, and death that results from it is more than enough reason for it to stop. (Dirie, W. 1998, p. 360) That is the reason why Waris Dirie fights for the restraining order of the female genital mutilation. (p. 362- 369) 4. Conclusion Waris Dirie who shows an amazing strength, experienced an inconceivably heavy life with difficult circumstances, customs, traditions and cultures depending on animals, the nature and the vegetation in the desert of Somalia. She suffered from dry weathers, famines, illnesses and at the age of about five years the curtailment. These are all situations which are foreign for the most of our society. Only because of her traditional culture she got a very strong and self- confident ability. That is why she got her life under control. Dirie persuades me with showing her lifelong strong will power. The development and the discussion with the life of the nomads in the desert of Somalia, has shown me other sides of life by illustrating to me another culture. During further researches, I found out that even after the time of the clarification, there are tribes that still practice this FGM. I recommend her untiring fight against the genital curtailment (compare App. p. 13, figure 4). In my opinion, Waris Dirie has succeeded delivering her message with help of the book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Desert of Flower. She had drawn the attention and the interest of many people towards her homeland, their cultures, traditions and especially on the female genital mutilation or the compulsive marriage. She has also visualized under which circumstances the Somali nomads must live and how they master this life in a very unique way. I can definitely agree with Mire (2002) that Women in Somalia are hard workers, and keep themselves engaged in a variety of roles from morning to night. The womans role is very important and when not fulfilled, the whole family suffers. While writing my essay, I realized that women in Somalia are very much oppressed by their men in the everyday life. I am convinced that women in Somalia have no rights and they are not allowed in any decision making. They have to do everything their man tells them. I want to emphasize that they have neither influence on their agonizing circumcision nor on their marriage. Let me end by saying that the role of women in Somalia is not comparable with the relation between women and men in our society. References Books Dirie,W. (1998). Desert Flower, New York, NY Web- sources Althaus, F. (1997) Female Circumcision: Rite of Passage or Violation of Rights. Guttmacher Institute. Retrieved from http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2313097.html (21/02/2010) Dirie, W. (2001) What is the Waris Dirie Foundation? Waris Dirie Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.waris-dirie-foundation.com/en/network/wp-content/myphotos/wuestenblume-szenenbilder-ii/Szenenbild_02jpeg_1400x937.jpg (02/03/2010) Gibson, H. (2002) Somalias Desert Flower. Time in partnership with CNN. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901020715-300618,00.html (03/03/2010) Mire, A. (2002) A Look at Women in Somalia. Taking it global. Retrieved from http://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=865 (03/03/2010)

A Case Study Of Uninor

A Case Study Of Uninor As the centre of economic activity shifts towards east, Multinational corporations are increasingly adopting the inorganic route to growth in these markets. Mergers Acquisitions, Joint ventures and strategic alliances are becoming the vehicle for establishing presence in markets like India, China and South Africa. Fascinating as they may seem, Mergers Acquisitions and Joint Ventures have also been the most complex transactions involving financial, business and cultural issues. Through this project, we intend to understand the motives which drive such transactions. Also, we intend to understand the parameters which are crucial to make any JV work. We have chosen to study the fiercely competitive Indian Telecom market for our study as it has seen numerous International players entering the lucrative market through Joint Ventures. Our company for the study is Uninor, which is also one of the fastest growing new entrants in the sector. What makes the case of Uninor more interesting is the unique combination of Indias second largest real estate company, Unitech Ltd and Norway-based Telenor, the 6th largest mobile communications group in the world. The top management is drawn from Telenors global telecom specialists as well as Indians who have local expertise in developing telecom services in India. In this context, the cultural dimension to decision making in Uninor assumes enormous importance. Through the course of this study, we shall first look at mergers and acquisitions as a means to expand for companies. The key drivers, the specific motives as well as the examples related to situations which may mandate an MA transaction instead of growing organically. In the next section, we shall look at the Indian telecom industry and its future potential for growth, major trends and the government regulations which have defined the industry and catalyzed Joint Ventures among foreign and Indian firms. Then, we shall move over to the analysis of India according to Porters Diamond model and the cultural synchrony between India and Norway according to Hofstedes cultural dimensions. These analyses shall enable us to evaluate the paradigms of this Joint Venture. Subsequently, we shall analyze key components of Uninors Strategy in India and also its performance in the past year. We shall also look at its future growth strategy and the hurdles to achieving its targets. We shall conclude our study by looking at the transformative effect of strategic alliances and the Uninor case in India. Introduction The phrase mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without having to create another business entity. An acquisition is also known as a takeover or buyout, in which one company buys the other (target company). When two companies come together and form a new company altogether, it is known as merger. On the contrary, an acquisition can be friendly or hostile depending on the size of the players involved. Acquisition usually refers to the takeover of a smaller firm by a larger firm. However, one can notice sometimes an acquisition of a larger company by a smaller one. This phenomenon is known as a reverse takeover. The acquisition process is very complex with many dimensions influencing its outcome. There are many reasons why a company seeks acquisition. One is that some vital resource may be otherwise difficult to obtain for the firm, especially if the resource is necessary to adapt and function successfully within the local environment. The following list, not an exhaustive one, gives few motives for company seeking International expansion. Geographic and Industrial Diversification Accelerating Growth Industry Consolidation Utilization of Lower Raw Material and Labor Costs Leveraging Intangible Assets Minimizing Tax Liabilities Avoiding Entry Barriers Fluctuating Exchange Rates Following Customers For instance, an existing company may have personnel that the investor cannot easily hire at a good price on its own. By buying an existing company, the buyer gets not only labor and management but also the organizational structure of the target company. In addition, a company can also gain the good will and brand identification the local company has which is important for marketing mass consumer products, especially in a new market. One can also find financial considerations in few cases. For example, if a company depends substantially on local financing rather than on the transfer of capital may find it easier to gain access to local capital through an acquisition. Local suppliers find it relatively easy and are more comfortable interacting with an already existing company rather than a foreign enterprise. In few cases, companies find acquisitions as a means to reduce costs and risks compared to setting up a fully owned subsidiary. A company may be able to buy facilities, particularly those which are performing poor for less than the cost of new construction. This saves a lot of money to the company. If an investor has a fear that a market does not justify added capacity, the risk of depressed prices and lower unit sales per producer occurs if it adds one more producer to the market is avoided by acquisition. A company may choose to build if No desired company is available for acquisition Acquisition will lead to carry over problems Acquisition is harder to finance Strategic Alliances Alliances can be described based on their objectives and where they fit in a firms value chain. In terms of objectives, one can assume that scale alliances aim at providing efficiency through risk pooling i.e. pooling of similar assets so that individual partners can carry out business activities in which they already have good experience. On the other hand, link alliances make use of complementary resources to expand into new business areas. Each organization entering into a cross-border alliance has its own objectives for operating internationally. Further some alliances take place between partner entities functioning on a different level of value chain, known as vertical alliance, and sometimes on the same level of value chain known as horizontal alliance. On a broader scale, the objectives for cross-border mergers can be divided into the following three categories which were refined earlier. Sales expansion Resource acquisition Risk minimization The following section describes in detail the influence of each of these objectives on the decision of a merger. General Motives: To Spread and reduce costs: To manufacture or sell in foreign countries, any company must incur certain fixed costs. If the volume of business is small, it is cheaper for the company to outsource the work to a specialist rather than handle it internally. The outsourcing agent can spread the costs to more than one company and thus reap the benefits of economies of scale. If the business increases, then the company can rethink its plan of outsourcing and produce everything internally. The company handling the production or sales can lower its average costs by covering its fixed costs more fully. On the other hand, the outsourcing company does not have to incur the fixed costs that otherwise be charged to a small amount of production volume thus overburdening the customers in turn. To Specialize in Competencies: Each company has a unique combination of competencies. It is better for a company to concentrate on those activities that best fits its competencies and improve its performance and leaving out the other activities in which the core competency of the firm does not lie. This concentration can be horizontal as well as vertical. To Avoid or Counter Competition: It is not common to notice few markets that are not large enough to hold many competitors. ITC, for example, observed this phenomenon and pre-empted the competition to emerge as a big player in the Indian industry. Any potential threat should be nipped in the bud itself. Sometimes companies also combine resources to fight a market leader and share the profits jointly. For example, Coca-Cola and Danones joint effort to challenge PepsiCo and Nestle can be viewed as one such strategic move. To secure Vertical and Horizontal Links: It is clear that there are numerous potential cost savings and supply assurances in case of a vertical integration. However, sometimes companies lack the competency or the resources necessary to manage the complete value and supply chain. In these instances it is common to notice a merger. For example, LUKOIL has abundant oil reserves but as it lacked final distribution skills, in addition to making acquisitions abroad, it also made arrangements in countries that ensure a good market for its petroleum. Horizontal links provide finished products and components. For such kind of finished products, economies of scope can be achieved in distribution by having a full line of products to sell thus increasing the sales per fixed cost of a visit to potential customer. To Gain Knowledge: In the present competitive world innovating new ideas to develop products and deliver them is necessary to gain an edge over the rival. Many companies go for a merger to learn about a partners technology, operating methods so their own competencies will broaden and deepen, making them more competitive in the future. We can consider the example of Chinese government that allows foreign companies to tap the Chinese market in exchange for their transfer of technology. Specific Motives To gain Location-specific Assets: The following factors create barriers for companies that want to operate abroad. Cultural Political Competitive Economic differences Going for a merger or an acquisition equips the company to handle these differences and thus providing profitability. For example, Walmart first tried to enter Japanese market but withdrew its operations only to return with a Japanese partner, Seiyu, which is more familiar with local tastes and rules for opening new stores. To Overcome Governmental Constraints: Few nations require compulsory presence of a domestic player as a partner in the operations of a foreign company while few dont. In this case a merger is more favorable. The legal factors which constraint may be Direct prohibitions against certain operating firms Indirect prohibitions (regulations affecting profitability) Mergers and Acquisitions that take place across countries allow for greater spreading of assets among the partner nations. To Diversify Geographically: Operations in many countries (diversification geographically) can smoothen the companys sales and earnings as the business cycles occur at different times within different countries. Though this might not be the actual reason for diversification this does play a minor role in decision making. Mainly, if a product conditions favor a diversification rather than a concentration strategy, due to product life cycle etc, then there exists a strong reason for establishing foreign presence by collaborative arrangements, mergers. The higher the risk managers perceive in a foreign market, the greater their desire to form collaborative arrangements in that market. Problems with Mergers and other alliances Having discussed in detail the reasons why a company goes for a cross-border merger, it also makes sense to highlight the difficulties that arise while collaborating with another company. Each of the above factors is very important while considering a decision to acquire or merge with another company. The stake involved, the management attention, cultural differences, contribution to the merger etc play a key role in its success. Telecom industry in India Introduction Telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India and also one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Telecom Industry is evaluated with the following parameters: Number of subscribers: According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of telephone subscriber base in the country reached 653.92 million as on May 31, 2010 Growth rate: An increase of 2.49 per cent from 638.05 million in April 2010.   Teledensity (Telephones per 100 people): Overall teledensity in India has reached 55.38 Some major investments The attractiveness of the telecom market has resulted in high investments from across the world which was the reason for entry of numerous foreign players and introduction of new services. Recent bidding for 3G network spectrum allocation was one of the most followed biddings due to the high stakes involved for some of the best players in telecom industry. According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the telecommunications sector which includes radio paging, mobile services and basic telephone services attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 2,554 million during 2009-10. The cumulative flow of FDI in the sector during April 2000 and March 2010 is US$ 8,930.61 million. The Merger and Acquisition deals in telecom industry were worth US$ 22.73 billion during April-June 2010, which represented 67.19 per cent of the total valuation of the deals across all the sectors during the period analyzed.   Some of the recent Mergers and Acquisitions include: Reliance Communication Ltd that merged GTL infrastructure Ltd, its telecom tower business, for US$ 11 billion Other major MA deals included acquiring of Kuwait-based Zain telecoms African business for US$ 10.7 billion by BhartiAirtel   Acquisition of Infotel broadband for US$ 1032.26 million by Reliance Industries Norway-based telecom operator Telenor has bought a further 7 per cent in Unitech Wireless for a little over US$ 431.3 million. Telenor now has 67.25 per cent hold of the company New trends- The Gamechangers 3G services Public sector companies namely BSNL and MTNL have already launched their 3G services across India in all 22 circles. The other companies (All of them were private entities) took part in a 3G auction process that was held to give 3G licenses in all the 22 circles. The bidding started after numerous political interventions stopped it for almost 2 years. The process started with a lot of media attention mainly due to the delay in the process and the amount of investments that were expected, especially for all India license. The process was completed using an e-bidding process that was held simultaneously with broadband wireless auctions for a period of 34 days. The auction prices went beyond expectations. A pan-India bid for third generation spectrum stood at US$ 3.6 billion. However no operator could bid and obtain the pan India license. The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication bagged the highest number of 13 circles at a cost of US$ 1.9 billion, followed by BhartiAirtel in 12, Idea in 11 and Vodafone and the Tatas in nine circles each, according to the Department of Telecommunications. Rural telephony One concern that remains in the telecom industry is the penetration to rural India that has not been up to the expected levels till now. Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh opined, Although the growth in the last few years has been truly impressive and our tariffs are among the lowest in the world, vast stretches of our rural population have little or no telecom penetration. Rural tele-density is still in single digits. I had heard of plans for a Phone in Every Village some twenty years ago. We have not yet reached that goal. This is why we have emphasized telecom connectivity in our Bharat Nirman programme. TRAI suggested the following in 2008-09 report: It has been observed that despite several attempts over the last ten years, telecom infrastructure in rural areas is lagging behind the expected levels. There has been a phenomenal spurt in the growth of tele-density in the country with the evolution of new wireless technologies, but the gap between the urban and rural teledensity has been increasing. As can be seen in the figure the growth of telecom in rural India has been lagging and hence the government and TRAI are giving stricter guidelines to telecom companies about the rural penetration. Hence telecom penetration would play a vital role in telecom operators strategy for the coming years. Mergers and Acquisitions in Telecom in India As already discussed there are many reasons for a company to pursue the path of Mergers and Acquisitions. In telecom industry in India some of the reasons why companies take up M A are: General motives To spread and reduce costs To specialize in competencies To gain knowledge Specific motives To gain location-specific assets To overcome governmental constraints To diversify geographically One reason that stands out the most in these set of factors is the governmental constraints. The governmental constraints in telecom industry are laid out through Department of Telecom and they are monitored by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The constraints on foreign investment in India are as follows: FDI upto 100% in Telecom manufacturing ISPs without gateways Infrastructure provider (IP) I Call Centres IT enabled services FDI upto 74% in ISPs with gateways IP II Radio Paging FDI upto 49% in other telecom services Cellular Basic NLD and other services Expected strategy path in Telecom sector in India Following graph shows the Price sensitivity of the market versus the cost leadership that a company should achieve: India Price Sensitivity Cost leadership Differentiation Any company that wants to enter the Indian market should look at attaining cost leadership as the market is highly price sensitive. Cost leadership can be achieved through economies of scale if the partnering firm is an existing telecom player with established network resources. Motives for going Global for any company Uninors motives for going Global Spreading costs Achieving specialization Avoiding competition in domestic market Securing Vertical and Horizontal links Gaining technical expertise Increase revenue to sustain growth Tapping new markets due to saturation of domestic market Diversifying geographically i.e. International presence Hofstede cultural dimension differences between India and Norway Country PDI IDV MAS UAI India 77 48 56 40 Norway 31 69 8 50 PDI Power Distance Index IDV Individualism MAS Masculinity UAI Uncertainty Avoidance Index Source: Greet Hofstede Scores -ITIM International Hofstedes cultural Dimension INDIA NORWAY Power Distance Very High. In India the level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as well as the leaders Low. The inequality in power distribution in Norway is very less Individualism Moderately high. Collectivism is expected to the levels of family ties to a very large extent and has no political sense Very High. The relationships between individuals are weak limited to his/her immediate family Masculinity High. More preference is given to the materialistic gains in India Low. In Norway feminine values such as quality of life are given more preference Uncertainty Avoidance Low. Opinions are subjected to change. More oriented towards the acceptance of uncertainty Moderately High. People in Norway are less likely to accept uncertainty According to the survey conducted by Hofstede among IBM employees India has power distance index as the where as in Norway Individualism is ranked higher than the other cultural dimensions. From the above figure it is clearly evident that there are significant cultural differences between India and Norway. The western management theories and practices that are successful in Norway may not work well in India. Indians hold different cultural core values than their western counter parts. The Indian culture is hierarchical where the cultural norms have changed the way of thinking which affects various management operations, which Norwegian firms may find it difficult to understand. There is a huge difference between Indian and Norwegian work culture. In India a little authority is given to the middle management or lower management in decision making, in general top management beholds the full authority to make decisions. Whereas in Norway decision making process in a conflict situation involving individuals of different levels of seniority. The management style in India is less aggressive in comparison with Norwegian style. Indians prefer male values such as competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition and the accumulation of wealth and materialistic possessions whereas in Norway people prefer female values such as relationships and quality of life. In Norway people are more oriented to develop and display their individual personalities and to choose their own affiliations than in India. Porters Diamond Model for India Demand: India consists of a population of 1.14 billion, 17.31% of the worlds population. It has around 300 million population of highly consumable middle class status. India is ranked second in the world in terms of having the largest telecommunication network, after china with more than 653 million subscribers. The telecom market in India has been growing by 20 to 40 percent every year since past 3 years. And is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11% in the coming next 10 years. The Indian telecom market is estimated to be $8 billion in 2010. 83% of market share comprises of basic service providers and only 17% value added service providers. Emerging technologies like 3G and penetration of internet in telecom sector are going to be growth drivers in the Indian telecom industry because of increase in demand for latest technologies. Supporting Industries: The Indian telecom industry has vast range of state of the art telecom equipment manufacturers. The production of telecom equipment is valued at $12.3billion in 2010. Indian imports of telecom equipment accounted for 21% of US equipment production in 2009. Further Indian mobile companies strengthened their market position by launching various handsets. Indian mobile phone brands consists of 14% markets share. Telecommunication equipment major Nokia Siemens is planning source components worth $28.5 billion from India in 2010-11. In 2009 it sourced components worth $20 billion. Indian telecom equipment production is estimated grow at a CAGR of 17.1% to reach $25 billion by 2014. India is fast emerging as a hub for global telecom Manufacturing and the production and exports of telecom equipment in the country have been on a steady rise. Leading global players have made significant investments in setting up manufacturing and RD facilities in India, with many more being planned. Resource Endowment India is a knowledge pool with cheap labor. Indian telecom industry has skilled labor available at low cost. With abundant skills availability, there are large swathes of lower tier vendors who can still compete on costs. Industry Structure and Firm Strategy Indian telecom industry is the worlds cheapest service provider. Indian telecom market has viewed a tremendous average growth rate of 40% for the last 3 years. It has become very competitive recently with advent of global players after the government made a policy change allowing FDI up to 74% in telecom industry. Major players are rapidly increasing their market share by continuously improving their network coverage, technology, customer relations by offering their services at significantly lower prices. New entrants like Virgin mobile, Aircel etc. are trying to position themselves as low cost value added service providers focusing on emerging technologies. Telenor is the worlds 7th largest telecommunications service provider and it aims to be a leading global mobile operator by leveraging on its international experience and technological expertise. It wants to achieve its goal by focusing on three regions Consolidation of its position in the voice market through global expansions, acquisitions, mergers and JVs/partnerships Mobile to Mobile communications and financial services Telecom/media/IT convergence, primarily through third-party applications and services UNINOR- The Genesis Unitech Wireless won a wireless services licence for all 22 Indian telecom circles in2008. In early 2009, Unitech Group and Telenor agreed on a majority take-over by Telenor of Unitechs wireless business. Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in the company in March, May and November 2009, respectively. In September, the mobile operation changed its name to Uninor. On October 19 2009, the Cabinet Committee (CCEA) announced approved Telenors acquisition of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless. UNINOR Presence Uninor launched its service in India in December in 8 telecom circles. It turned out to be the speediest telecom roll-out in India. Within 5 months, it entered five more circles including the metros of Mumbai and Kolkata. Uninor has its headquarters at Gurgaon and 11 regional headquarters in the following cities: Kolkata Kolkata, West Bengal Orissa Circle Delhi / Noida (NCR) Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Rajasthan Circle Patna Bihar Jharkhand Circle Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Gujarat Lucknow Guwahati Chandigarh Indore Ahmedabad Chennai Chennai, Tamil Nadu Bangalore Karnataka Circle Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Circle Kochi- Kerala Circle Uninors Strategic Alliances Uninor has outsourced its major operational functions to established players with proven expertise. The operational model is based on low-cost operations with a gradual network-build up, infrastructure sharing, comparatively cheap GSM equipment sourced from international markets, and IT-outsourcing. Uninor has entered into network and base station service agreements with partners with expertise in given areas like- Wireless-TT Info Service Limited for Tower sharing agreements Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technologies India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson Telecommunications for network and radio equipment. Wipro Technologies for integrated IT services. UNINORs Strategy in India Uninor based its growth model in the fiercely competitive Indian market by providing value to the customers through a new tariff, called Dynamic Pricing. Dynamic Pricing is an innovative pricing strategy that Uninor has pioneered in which the customer is charged different charges depending on the location and the network to which the call is made. Going by the maximum discount offered by the company, a one-minute call could cost as low as 24 paise compared to 60 paise charged by other operators. UNINOR- Performance in India In the month of June, Uninor topped the list of new mobile operators by adding maximum connections to the tune of 1.01 million. The new mobile service providers together accounted for 1.65 million which was 13.5% of the total mobile subscriber additions during this period. Source: Share Khan Brokerage report on Telecom sector, 16th July 2010 Uninor had added just 2.1m active subscribers i.e. just 50% of the reported 4.3m as of Mar-10. The company defines active subscribers as those that used network during last 30 days. Even on active subscribers, ARPU at ~Rs 86 suggests low usage especially given that mobile revenues could have a higher contribution from activation fee during the launch period. The tariff cuts aimed at increasing the user might be a reason for the low ARPU. The new mobile operators including Etisalat DB, Loop , Uninor, Videocon, and STel added just 1.7 million new users in June 2010. Uninor added 10 lakh subscribers during this period. It is around 15 per cent of 12.29 million new subscriber base added during this duration by the industry. As a result, barring Uninor, none of the other players has managed to get even 1% market share of the 456-million subscriber GSM mobile market. According to the TRAI licence conditions, new operators are required to complete roll out in all the circles within three years and that deadline is fast approaching. CAPEX Guidance Lowered by TELENOR Telenor cut back its India capex guidance by 25% i.e. Rs5.5bn for FY10. Uninor reasoned this to a combination of lack of spectrum, the stringent security clearance process for equipments and the need to adjust roll-out speed for distributors. Uninor may find it tough to retain traffic beyond 1-2 quarters given the low level of tariffs already. Uninor has rolled out 18,000 cell sites (which was around 13,300 at end-Dec 2009). Uninor is currently operating in 13 circles with subscriber base of 43 lakhs (which was 1.2 million at December end 2009). Conclusion Through the course of the study, we assessed the reasons which make MA and other means of inorganic growth, the preferred route to enter a market for international corporations. We tried to list down the motives and the vision behind such cross border transactions. We realized that a diverse range of parameters drive MAs globally. They can range from getting around government regulations to gaining a first mover advantage in a growing market. As more global corporations try to establish their foothold over the emerging markets, we witness interesting new trends. Their entry into emerging markets is increasingly by partnering with the local companies. This is perhaps also catalyzed by government regulations which stipulate maximum FDI limits for multinational corporations from abroad. We also looked at factors which contribute to the decision to enter/not enter a particular market for a corporation including the competitive advantage to the corporation and the cultural synergies between the parent market of the company and the new prospective market. We chose the extremely dynamic telecom sector for our analysis as it has seen numerous international players enter through the JV route. We analysed the dynamics of the telecom sector and the fallout of the recent 3G spectrum allocations on the sector. Uninor is the case we took for analyzing the actual details of an existing JV. We chose Uninor as its unique in the way that unitech wireless had no pri

Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Over the past four years, we have grown from insecure, immature freshmen to successful, focused and confident young adults. This incredible transformation has been the result of our entire high school experience. Everything from that first homecoming game, to late night cramming, to the last dance at prom. These experiences have pulled us together as a class and we have learned to love and respect our fellow classmates. As much as this class has grown together, every one of us has also grown as a unique individual. We have found our talents and interests. These interests have drawn us to different activities and in turn helped shape our lives. Some of us have excelled academically while others have helped improve Summer High School by participating in activities such as Link Crew or ASB. Some of us acted in plays while others shared their musical talents by singing in the choir or performing with our outstanding band. Many of us have preferred to be involved in community service with a group like KEY Club. In addition to these school activities, many of us have invested time in jobs and other community activities. These many choices have shaped who we are today: the people we met, the experiences we encountered, the lessons we learned. They have all made an impact on our lives and, in turn, we have also made a difference in the lives of others. The people sitting out in this audience tonight have also greatly impacted our lives. Every person in this enormous stadium has given us encouraging words, helpful advice or tough criticism. The support our family, friends and teachers have shared with us is invaluable. Their caring and dedication have helped us get here today.

Essay --

Kelly Cowart 2-21-14 POLS 2301 Dr. Glazier Inequality in America Income inequality has been all over the news as of late and has been pushed to the forefront of the political sphere. Our president even made this issue a major part of his last state of the union address. It is no surprise to most Americans that income inequality is a very real thing that has been steadily increasing since the 1970’s. While the country has been making slow but steady progress on social inequalities, the income inequality has only grown. How can this be? We are one of the richest nations on this planet and the disparity between the rich and the poor is staggering. But is a measure of income inequality an accurate way to assess how well the country as a whole is doing? And is the income gap as bad as it looks on paper? Will an increase in the minimum wage help lift people out of poverty? There are several arguments to this and in this paper I will explore the issues surrounding income inequality and also add in the important factor of social mobility. When we think of income inequality we usually think of big corporations versus the rest of us. We do not typically think that small businesses contribute to this problem as well. But indeed this gap is present in all forms of business big and small because, let’s face it, most business models are based on the capitalist system. Business wants to get the most production for the least amount of cost to increase the profit margin. Most would agree that this is the way America works. This model is great in theory and in practice has obviously worked. But where does it put the workers? Are they able to sustain a living free from dependency on social programs while working for these businesses? Are the b... ...ion of the Affordable Care Act, health insurance for the working poor and the impoverished is now a welcome reality. There are solutions out there to help with the problem of income inequality. Education needs to be more affordable with more opportunity for students and advisors to search out public and private grants and scholarships to help offset the costs of a higher education. Reduction in tax breaks and increases in tax to the top earners would help bridge the income gap. Increases of credits such as the EITC to the working poor to help subsidize income would also help. And finally, political campaign finance reform would help give the poor a loud and relevant enough voice to be heard by all. There are myriad of solutions to the problem of income inequality and these are just a few ideas that could help change the course of this country and its economy.

Killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person

According to the Utilitarian Philosopher, Peter Singer’s final paragraph in his article entitled, â€Å"Moral Maze†, â€Å"Killing a†¦person. Very†¦at all† (Singer, 2001). In support to his aforementioned claim, he argues that:First of all, he utilizes kids who suffer from a condition technically referred to as â€Å"Severe Spina Bifida† as an example, and reiterates that even if a surgery may be carried out later in the life of these children, it still does not change the fact that these patients are extremely unhappy because they would have to go through exceedingly painful and uneasy life experiences (Singer, 2001). This resulted in Singer’s belief that since a child will only live such an unhappy life, then it is not worth living at all, thus, the child should not suffer further and should be allowed to die instead (Singer, 2001). Again, for Singer, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is done to save the child from living an exceedingly unhappy life (Singer, 2001).Secondly, Singer upholds â€Å"utilitarianism† by encouraging the principle which states that an act is right if carried out to attain the greatest happiness and will benefit the greatest number as well (Will.., n.d.). He again picked another medical condition, which is technically known as â€Å"hemophilia† to restate his conviction (Singer, 2001). He says that killing the disabled infant will result in another newborn child with the possibility that the child will be happier, the parents would not have to worry about another child who suffers from â€Å"hemophilia† (Singer, 2001).Explaining further, without the child with hemophilia, the parents will not have to attend to painful bleedings which are difficult to clot if not impossible (Singer, 2001). When Singer says that greatest happiness, he means, the ch ildren will be attended to equally and adequately because there is no other child with hemophilia to share their parents’ time with; and at the same time, the parents will also be happy because they will not have to think endlessly about their sick child (Singer, 2001).In addition to that, when Singer says â€Å"greatest number†, he apparently refers to the unaffected normal children, the hemophiliac who no longer has to live a painful life, as well as, the parents who never have to worry (Singer, 2001). Again, for Singer, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is done with the intention to attain the greatest happiness and to benefit the greatest number (Singer, 2001).Third, Singer believes that killing an infant who’s â€Å"physically challenged† is not killing an individual and that it is not an act which can be labeled as wrong bec ause here an abortion is carried out to hamper delivery of a child who according to prenatal diagnosis has â€Å"hemophilia† or â€Å"Down’s Syndrome† (Singer, 2001). In addition to that, he says that there should be fairness and equality in the sense that if fetuses’ lives are taken away through an abortion, then it should also be allowable that newborns who have â€Å"hemophilia† or â€Å"Down Syndrome† etc (Singer, 2001). Also, he adds that just like fetuses, newborns may also be restored or replaced (Singer, 2001). Again, for Singer, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is done to hamper the delivery of a â€Å"physically challenged† child, to institute fairness between fetuses and newborns, as well as, establish the fetuses and newborns’ ability to be replaced (Singer, 2001).Fourth, Singer’s co nviction is that killing a disabled or â€Å"physically challenged† infant is not wrong because he considers an infant as â€Å"still not human† (Singer, 2001). He says that since an infant does not yet have the ability to think critically, still very much dependent on the people surrounding him or her, and is not yet aware of the occurrences around him or her, thus, the infant is not yet qualified to be labeled as a human being (Singer, 2001). The aforementioned characteristics are extremely crucial for Singer since he pushes that, parents should be given the right to decide if it would be better for the child’s life to be taken away (Singer, 2001). Again, for Singer, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is done to help parents realize the characteristics the infant have and that they should be given the right to decide for their children because infants are not yet aware, still dependent, and cannot yet think and decide for themselves (Singer, 2001).Last but not least, Singer believes that killing a â€Å"physically challenged† infant is alright to prevent an infant to be born with hemophilia (Singer, 2001). His example is a case wherein a pregnant mother will have to wait for three months so as not to have a baby with hemophilia (Singer, 2001). Again, for Singer, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is done to make sure that such kind of waiting is worthy enough because it will produce a child without any medical condition (Singer, 2001).Meanwhile, I beg to disagree with one of Peter Singer’s convictions. If for him, letting an infant who is â€Å"physically challenged† die is not at all similar to killing an individual and that it is not at all a wrong act because it is d one to save the child from living an exceedingly unhappy life, then he might as well re-think about it (Singer, 2001). For example, even if the best reply to my objection is the fact that â€Å"Severe Spina Bifida† is incurable at the moment, this should not result in a final decision that the child be killed.In the first place, there are available therapies to manage such a condition, for instance, certain rehabilitations to motivate progress and hamper speedy worsening of the condition. Besides, there are several new researches that are ongoing with regards to how it may be managed. Besides, who’s to say that a disabled or â€Å"physically challenged† child will be exceedingly unhappy? Countless agreeable things can happen, but only if we resort and stick to current research, positive thinking, and our morals. On a final note, to assume that a disabled child will turn out to be very unhappy if he or she lives with such a condition is really unreasonable, thus, to kill a disabled infant for that simple reason is way wrong as well.ReferencesSinger, P. (2001). Moral Maze. Retrieved March 4, 2007 fromhttp://www.utilitarian.net/singer/by/20010211.htmWill Durant Foundation. (n.d.). A Will Durant Glossary of Philosophical and ForeignWords. Retrieved March 4, 2007 from http://www.willdurant.com/glossary.htm

Positive and Negative Advances in Biotechnology Essay

Biotechnology and the research associated with it have become an issue in which people either support, or are against. Technological advances in this day and age have given scientists the ability to do things that were only dreamed about in the past. Research has given them the ability to find cures for diseases, to allow people to live longer with new medications, and also to solve crimes that may have been unsolved due to a lack in technology. Biotechnology has given humanity a great deal of advances with new discoveries, but some may think it’s a privilege that is being abused. I believe that biotechnology is one of the greatest discoveries that mankind has achieved this past decade. It has led the way to maintain and improve the quality of life we live. Biotechnology has very positive effects and is encourage by many people, although there are many laboratories who have taken the power of science and used it for purposes that are selfish, unethical and unnecessary. Biotechnology has proved to change the lives of many people, it has given those suffering from diseases a chance to live their life without the fear they are going to die. Eliminating a disease or at least controlling its symptoms is the greatest breakthrough that we have yet seen. Medical biotechnology has helped those with cancer combat it and live worry free, it has prolonged the lives of those who may have already had death wishes. Currently the use of plastic artificial body parts, a fairly new concept, has allowed people to maintain their lifestyle without interruptions or fear of death. Its given doctors the ability to get a heart beating again once it has stopped. The fact of genetic testing has eased many minds in hopes they will not have any lifelong health problems. Although testing can reveal problems and then worry them more. I believe that the worry is worth it because you are now aware of possible health risks and can live your life accordingly. In reading â€Å"Tinkering with Destiny,† there was a statement that I thought was very bothersome relating to the issue of genetic testing. Eleni, the mother of the family suffering from cancer had said, â€Å"If I had  known I carried the disease, I never would have gotten married and had children† (517). People who think this way have limited knowledge of life and would rather make their life pointless and worthless than try to overcome an obstacle they are presented with. How would she feel if her mother never had her? HIV and AIDS are still the greatest threat affecting many in the gay community, as well many heterosexuals. I understand the fear people may have in getting tested because when I first decided to get tested I worried for days until I got the results and was very happy in knowing I was perfectly healthy. Even if I had been infected I would still want to be aware to prevent passing it to others and change my life accordingly. Research in this field has come a long way in lengthening the lives of these ill-fated individuals who unfortunately know they eventually will die because of this disease. Although there is no cure yet, biogenetic research will play a large part in solving this horrible epidemic. Many of these medical advances are results of researchers who should be applauded for the work they do. Improving and maintaining a person’s life is the greatest gift someone could receive, it would not be possible without research. It is not only the medical field or improving human life that biotechnology is greatly appreciated for, but also in the use of crime solving and forensic work. Blood and other bodily fluids has been a great help in solving crimes which the offenders may believe is a â€Å"perfect crime,† where they won’t be caught. It has not only helped solving crimes, but solving crimes from the past where the technology was not available to do DNA testing. In reading William Tucker’s story, â€Å"DNA in court,† he mentions â€Å"From its inception, DNA profiling has implicated the guilty and exonerated the innocent in a way that was previously unthinkable† (579). Imagine how thankful an innocent person sitting in jail is to the person who had the idea to test DNA samples found at the crime scene. As well the guilty can now be properly punished for crimes they commit. Watching many court cases, I have learned that a crime is always traceable with the use of techno logy, its amazing how a crime can be solved because of skin cells found under the victims fingernails, which lead investigators to the offender. We have seen all the good that biotechnology can offer but there are individuals and laboratories that take advantage of modern science and use it for purposes that should be outlawed or at least strictly regulated. The big controversy has been with cloning and altering the genetics of babies, also called â€Å"designer babies.† It is my opinion that the parents that go along and encourage such research are acting in their own selfishness and vanity. Birth is a natural process and should not be altered in any means except if it is to treat the child for any problems. What is the purpose of cloning and choosing your child’s characteristics? Isn’t the whole joy of childbirth to see what two people made? Imagine all the heartbreak parents would have if their baby came out all disfigured? Also, if the idea of making your own baby was possible, would the parents be held liable if the child’s characteristics are not what he/she wanted? Could the child then sue for such an improper selection? The whole idea is absurd and the government should forbid it. It is these researchers who will later be responsible for any wrongdoing as a result of this sort of experimentation. The researchers believe in fact they are doing a good thing for mankind, they get so caught up in their work that they believe they are providing a need for humanity. This was especially seen in â€Å"Brave New World† when Huxley wrote about the director of the research facility who believed his work was very important. He said, â€Å"You should see the way a negro ovary responds to pituitary! It’s quite astonishing, when you’re used to working with European material.† Reading this passage gave me the feeling this person believes they are of a high status and how he must be so involved in his work that he can become upset when someone mentions something other than what he believes. The idea of living forever is something we sometimes see in movies, but it is now being researched to see if such a thing is possible. Imagine that, living forever, again messing with nature and the creation of God. If should a thing were possible we could stop the evolution of humans and prevent any future for anyone or us. Scientific research for ideas such as these and the government funding they receive is wrong. Government money should be used for important purposes such as healing the sick and improving and  maintaining human life. Biotechnology is a fairly new concept and I believe it should be fully encouraged for meaningful purposes but not because of vanity and selfishness. We should not tinker around with the greatest gift that god gave us, life. Perhaps some of the biotechnological advances not related with medicine or crimes are okay, but they should be strictly regulated. There should be some sort of ethical code of conduct of what should be allowed by law and what is not. We are in an age for many great advances, before its too late we should consider what is necessary to research. What is the difference if a child has blue eyes versus brown eyes anyway?