Decline of Education and the Rise of Mediocrity

According to â€Å"A Nation at Risk†, the American education system has declined due to a â€Å"rising tide of mediocrity† in our schools. States such as New York have responded to the findings and recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the â€Å"Regents Action Plan† and the â€Å"New Compact for Learning†. In the early 1980†³s, President Regan ordered a national commission to study our education system. The findings of this commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of education that many other countries have developed. At one time, America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive market in the world with regard to education. The report in some respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations, with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect the need for change. Our education system at this time is regulated by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals nd have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all students across the country. The commission findings generated recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving N. Y. State responded to these recommendations by first mplementing the Regents Action Plan; an eight year plan designed to raise the standards of education. This plan changed the requirements for graduation by raising the number of credits needed for graduation, raising the number of required core curriculum classes such as social studies, and introduced technology and computer science. The plan also introduced the Regents Minimum Competency Tests, which requires a student to pass tests in five major categories; math, science, reading, writing, and two areas of social studies. Although the plan achieved many of its goals in raising standards of education in N. Y. State, the general consensus is that we need to continue to improve our education system rather than being satisfied with the achievements Therefore, N. Y. adopted â€Å"The New Compact for Learning†. This plan is based on the principles that all children can learn. The focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. Education should be provided for all children and authority with accountability should be given to educators and success should be rewarded with necessary changes being made to reduce failures. This plan calls for curriculum to be devised n order to meet the needs of students so that they will be fully functional in society upon graduation, rather than just being able to graduate. Districts within the state have been given the authority to devise their own curriculum, but are held accountable by the state so that each district meets the states goals that have been established. Teachers are encouraged to challenge students to reach their full potential, rather than minimum competency. In this regard, tracking of students is being eliminated so that all students will be challenged, rather than just those who are gifted. Similarly, success hould be rewarded with recognition and incentives to further encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while others who are not as accomplished are provided remedial training or resources in order to help them achieve success. It is difficult to determine whether our country on the whole has responded to the concerns that â€Å"A Nation at Risk† presented. Clearly though, N. Y. State has taken measures over the last ten years to improve its own education system. In many respects the state has accomplished much of what it set out to do, but the need to continue to improve is still present. Certainly, if America is determined to regain its superiority in the world, education, the foundation of our future, needs to be priority number one. Teachers often develop academic expectations of students based on characteristics that are unrelated to academic progress. These expectations can affect the way educators present themselves toward the student, causing an alteration in the way our students learn, and thus causing an overall degeneration in the potential Expectations affect students in many ways, not just academically, but in the form of mental and social deprivation which causes a lack of self-esteem. When educators receive information about students, mostly even before the student walks into their classroom, from past test scores, IEP†s, and past teachers, it tends to alter the way we look at the students potential for growth. This foundation of expectation is then transformed on to our method of One basic fallout from these expectations is the amount of time educators spend in communicating with students. We tend to speak more directly to students who excel, talking in more matures tone of voice, treating them more like a grown-up than we do to the students who are already labeled underachievers. This can give the student an added incentive to either progress or regress due to the amount of As educators we tend to take the exceptional students â€Å"under our wing†. We tend to offer knowledge in situations to help push the good students, in comparison to moving on to the next task for the others. We also tend to critique the work of our god students more positively than the others, offering challenges to the answers they The most obvious characteristic that educators present to the students is in the area of body language and facial expression. We tend to present ourselves in a more professional manner to our good tudents, speaking more clearly and with a stronger tone of voice. We tend to stand more upright, in a more powerful stance, than to the slouching effect we give to the underachievers. The head shakes, glancing with our eyes, hand gestures, and posture all contribute to the way we look at certain students based on our first impressions which came before we even knew the student. One major way we can avoid these pitfalls and eliminate unfair expectations that help produce failure in our students is to restrict the past information on the students to a need to know basis. Instead f telling the teacher how the student did on past examinations, just present them with the curricula that the student must learn during the time they spend in that class. This enables the educator to formulate their own opinions of that student. Also, instead of doing the IEP meetings during the middle of the year, we should wait till the end of the semester to inform the educators of certain aspects of the student instead of giving them all the information earlier in the year. Finally, it is up to the educator himself to evaluate their own teaching methods to be able to recognize, and change, the way they resent themselves to the entire class. To be able to know what we are doing, and how we are doing it, at different times in the day is crucial to the aura we present to the students. Schools are often blamed for the ills of society, yet society has a major impact on our education system. The problems that schools are facing today are certainly connected to the problems that are society faces, including drugs, violence, and the changing of our family structure. There are many methods that schools have begun to use in order to deal with the problems they are faced with and still offer the best possible education to our youth. The use of drugs in the general population has become a very serious problem in society and within the school system. There are two aspects to drug use that teachers are having to deal with now. The first is in trying to teach the new generation of crack babies that are now entering the schools. These students have extremely low attention spans and can be very disruptive in class. Early intervention programs designed to target these children and focus on behavior management within the school setting have been effective in preparing these students for school. Educators have also identified rug use among students as one of the most significant problems that our schools face today. According to the text, the rate of drug use among students has declined in last few years, but recently there has been an increase in alcohol abuse among teenagers. Intervention programs such as APPLE, (a school based rehabilitation facility) have been implemented in many schools with the cooperation of school counselors and community agencies to treat drug using teenagers. Other programs, such as D. A. R. E have been implemented in many elementary schools to provide education about drugs to young students. Violence, both in society and in the school system has also been identified as a serious problem. The influx of weapons in schools creates a dangerous situation for teachers, administrators and other students. One remedy for this problem has been introduced in many public city schools; the use of metal detectors. While this method is not foolproof it does send the message that violence will not be tolerated in schools and that severe measures will be implemented in order to curb it. Educators are also being trained to identify those students who may be violent and to provide non-violent risis intervention. It is an undeniable fact that our society has a serious problem concerning violence and that the violence on the streets is certainly connected to the violence in the schools. It seems questionable that even these measures will significantly reduce the problem in schools, but certainly the process of teaching can continue in a less stressful atmosphere by having these measures in Unfortunately, there are other problems such as the changing family structure that do not have such clear cut solutions. Some of the problems that teachers are faced with concerning the family nclude poverty, single parent homes, abuse and/or neglect and Statistics state that 41% of single, female headed households live below the poverty level and that students who live in single parent homes score lower on achievement tests, particularly boys whose mothers are the head of the household. Obviously, single parent families are a fact in our society today, given the rising rate of divorce and single women having children, and it is true that this change is having a severe effect on students today, but this should not effect the quality of education that is provided, but rather, ncourage educators to be more aware of the difficulties these students face in order to adapt their teaching style, as well as the Similarly, child abuse and/or neglect has become a major issue in society and schools. It is not clear whether there is a rise in the occurrences of abuse or whether better awareness has increased the statistics, but it cannot be argued that this a significant problem and one that effects those educators who have to help students who are either abused or neglected. Strict regulations concerning the accountability of teachers regarding the reporting of child abuse or eglect are in effect. Teachers are required to be trained on the ability to identify abuse. Community agencies, shelters and child welfare agencies have begun working in conjunction with schools in order to deal with the problem with as little disruption in the Homelessness is another major problem in our society. The rate of homeless people has grown significantly since the early 1980†³s deinstitutionalization movement and more recently due to the rising unemployment rate have led to more families and children being homeless than ever before. This social problem has become a significant problem for educators. Low achievement, which may be in part due to low attendance as a result of a transient lifestyle, physical problems associated with living on the streets and child abuse are all issues that educators are confronted with when working with students who are homeless. Unfortunately, because of the lack of government funds, this problem continues to grow in America. On the other hand, schools have begun to deal with this problem by hiring additional counselors, some who work specifically to coordinate service with shelters in order provide assistance to these families and more precisely to the children. This effort clearly demonstrates that educators are genuinely concerned about providing education to Clearly our schools and society face the same problems. It has become necessary for all people, not just educators, to be more aware of the problems. Although some intervention programs have been implemented and in some cases are very successful, it is becoming more apparent that these problems are going to continue and will have a direct consequence on our future in this country. Unfortunately, we as a society tend to look for the â€Å"quick fix† to our problems without realizing the consequences for the future. Decline of Education and the Rise of Mediocrity According to â€Å"A Nation at Risk†, the American education system has declined due to a â€Å"rising tide of mediocrity† in our schools. States such as New York have responded to the findings and recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the â€Å"Regents Action Plan† and the â€Å"New Compact for Learning†. In the early 1980†³s, President Regan ordered a national commission to study our education system. The findings of this commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of education that many other countries have developed. At one time, America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive market in the world with regard to education. The report in some respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations, with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect the need for change. Our education system at this time is regulated by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals nd have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all students across the country. The commission findings generated recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving N. Y. State responded to these recommendations by first mplementing the Regents Action Plan; an eight year plan designed to raise the standards of education. This plan changed the requirements for graduation by raising the number of credits needed for graduation, raising the number of required core curriculum classes such as social studies, and introduced technology and computer science. The plan also introduced the Regents Minimum Competency Tests, which requires a student to pass tests in five major categories; math, science, reading, writing, and two areas of social studies. Although the plan achieved many of its goals in raising standards of education in N. Y. State, the general consensus is that we need to continue to improve our education system rather than being satisfied with the achievements Therefore, N. Y. adopted â€Å"The New Compact for Learning†. This plan is based on the principles that all children can learn. The focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. Education should be provided for all children and authority with accountability should be given to educators and success should be rewarded with necessary changes being made to reduce failures. This plan calls for curriculum to be devised n order to meet the needs of students so that they will be fully functional in society upon graduation, rather than just being able to graduate. Districts within the state have been given the authority to devise their own curriculum, but are held accountable by the state so that each district meets the states goals that have been established. Teachers are encouraged to challenge students to reach their full potential, rather than minimum competency. In this regard, tracking of students is being eliminated so that all students will be challenged, rather than just those who are gifted. Similarly, success hould be rewarded with recognition and incentives to further encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while others who are not as accomplished are provided remedial training or resources in order to help them achieve success. It is difficult to determine whether our country on the whole has responded to the concerns that â€Å"A Nation at Risk† presented. Clearly though, N. Y. State has taken measures over the last ten years to improve its own education system. In many respects the state has accomplished much of what it set out to do, but the need to continue to improve is still present. Certainly, if America is determined to regain its superiority in the world, education, the foundation of our future, needs to be priority number one. Teachers often develop academic expectations of students based on characteristics that are unrelated to academic progress. These expectations can affect the way educators present themselves toward the student, causing an alteration in the way our students learn, and thus causing an overall degeneration in the potential Expectations affect students in many ways, not just academically, but in the form of mental and social deprivation which causes a lack of self-esteem. When educators receive information about students, mostly even before the student walks into their classroom, from past test scores, IEP†s, and past teachers, it tends to alter the way we look at the students potential for growth. This foundation of expectation is then transformed on to our method of One basic fallout from these expectations is the amount of time educators spend in communicating with students. We tend to speak more directly to students who excel, talking in more matures tone of voice, treating them more like a grown-up than we do to the students who are already labeled underachievers. This can give the student an added incentive to either progress or regress due to the amount of As educators we tend to take the exceptional students â€Å"under our wing†. We tend to offer knowledge in situations to help push the good students, in comparison to moving on to the next task for the others. We also tend to critique the work of our god students more positively than the others, offering challenges to the answers they The most obvious characteristic that educators present to the students is in the area of body language and facial expression. We tend to present ourselves in a more professional manner to our good tudents, speaking more clearly and with a stronger tone of voice. We tend to stand more upright, in a more powerful stance, than to the slouching effect we give to the underachievers. The head shakes, glancing with our eyes, hand gestures, and posture all contribute to the way we look at certain students based on our first impressions which came before we even knew the student. One major way we can avoid these pitfalls and eliminate unfair expectations that help produce failure in our students is to restrict the past information on the students to a need to know basis. Instead f telling the teacher how the student did on past examinations, just present them with the curricula that the student must learn during the time they spend in that class. This enables the educator to formulate their own opinions of that student. Also, instead of doing the IEP meetings during the middle of the year, we should wait till the end of the semester to inform the educators of certain aspects of the student instead of giving them all the information earlier in the year. Finally, it is up to the educator himself to evaluate their own teaching methods to be able to recognize, and change, the way they resent themselves to the entire class. To be able to know what we are doing, and how we are doing it, at different times in the day is crucial to the aura we present to the students. Schools are often blamed for the ills of society, yet society has a major impact on our education system. The problems that schools are facing today are certainly connected to the problems that are society faces, including drugs, violence, and the changing of our family structure. There are many methods that schools have begun to use in order to deal with the problems they are faced with and still offer the best possible education to our youth. The use of drugs in the general population has become a very serious problem in society and within the school system. There are two aspects to drug use that teachers are having to deal with now. The first is in trying to teach the new generation of crack babies that are now entering the schools. These students have extremely low attention spans and can be very disruptive in class. Early intervention programs designed to target these children and focus on behavior management within the school setting have been effective in preparing these students for school. Educators have also identified rug use among students as one of the most significant problems that our schools face today. According to the text, the rate of drug use among students has declined in last few years, but recently there has been an increase in alcohol abuse among teenagers. Intervention programs such as APPLE, (a school based rehabilitation facility) have been implemented in many schools with the cooperation of school counselors and community agencies to treat drug using teenagers. Other programs, such as D. A. R. E have been implemented in many elementary schools to provide education about drugs to young students. Violence, both in society and in the school system has also been identified as a serious problem. The influx of weapons in schools creates a dangerous situation for teachers, administrators and other students. One remedy for this problem has been introduced in many public city schools; the use of metal detectors. While this method is not foolproof it does send the message that violence will not be tolerated in schools and that severe measures will be implemented in order to curb it. Educators are also being trained to identify those students who may be violent and to provide non-violent risis intervention. It is an undeniable fact that our society has a serious problem concerning violence and that the violence on the streets is certainly connected to the violence in the schools. It seems questionable that even these measures will significantly reduce the problem in schools, but certainly the process of teaching can continue in a less stressful atmosphere by having these measures in Unfortunately, there are other problems such as the changing family structure that do not have such clear cut solutions. Some of the problems that teachers are faced with concerning the family nclude poverty, single parent homes, abuse and/or neglect and Statistics state that 41% of single, female headed households live below the poverty level and that students who live in single parent homes score lower on achievement tests, particularly boys whose mothers are the head of the household. Obviously, single parent families are a fact in our society today, given the rising rate of divorce and single women having children, and it is true that this change is having a severe effect on students today, but this should not effect the quality of education that is provided, but rather, ncourage educators to be more aware of the difficulties these students face in order to adapt their teaching style, as well as the Similarly, child abuse and/or neglect has become a major issue in society and schools. It is not clear whether there is a rise in the occurrences of abuse or whether better awareness has increased the statistics, but it cannot be argued that this a significant problem and one that effects those educators who have to help students who are either abused or neglected. Strict regulations concerning the accountability of teachers regarding the reporting of child abuse or eglect are in effect. Teachers are required to be trained on the ability to identify abuse. Community agencies, shelters and child welfare agencies have begun working in conjunction with schools in order to deal with the problem with as little disruption in the Homelessness is another major problem in our society. The rate of homeless people has grown significantly since the early 1980†³s deinstitutionalization movement and more recently due to the rising unemployment rate have led to more families and children being homeless than ever before. This social problem has become a significant problem for educators. Low achievement, which may be in part due to low attendance as a result of a transient lifestyle, physical problems associated with living on the streets and child abuse are all issues that educators are confronted with when working with students who are homeless. Unfortunately, because of the lack of government funds, this problem continues to grow in America. On the other hand, schools have begun to deal with this problem by hiring additional counselors, some who work specifically to coordinate service with shelters in order provide assistance to these families and more precisely to the children. This effort clearly demonstrates that educators are genuinely concerned about providing education to Clearly our schools and society face the same problems. It has become necessary for all people, not just educators, to be more aware of the problems. Although some intervention programs have been implemented and in some cases are very successful, it is becoming more apparent that these problems are going to continue and will have a direct consequence on our future in this country. Unfortunately, we as a society tend to look for the â€Å"quick fix† to our problems without realizing the consequences for the future.

Thought Leaders and Organizational Change

Thought Leaders and Organizational Change To remain competitive, any organization should constantly develop and evolve. Organizational change is one of the key elements of success and personnel’s training is one of the central components of the change. However, employees are often reluctant to adjust to new settings. Employees also tend to pay little attention to the information associated with the change. This is when a thought leader can inspire the employees to get involved into the process of the change.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Thought Leaders and Organizational Change specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the first place, it is necessary to engage a thought leader. This should be an active and creative employee (a HR professional). The thought leader should be aware of the goals of the change and all the details related to it (Crow, 2012). Once the goals are set, the thought leader is ready to take the next step. Spiro (2011) stresses that leaders should always bring together key players to enable the entire staff to get involved. Thus, the thought leader should know which employees are the most active and engaged. These people should be flexible and ready to change. The thought leader should be able to listen carefully to the key players’ expectations and possible fears (Crow, 2012). These expectation and fears are usually shared by all the members of the staff. The thought leader should create the necessity, i.e. he/she should explain the benefits of the change and set the goals. The leader should be consistent and persistent while outlining peculiarities of the change to the group of the key players. Finally, the leader along with the group of key players is ready to develop a training program for the employees. Of course, the training should not be confined to a lecture on the aspects of the upcoming change. There should be a number of training sessions. These sessions should be really dynamic and the thoug ht leader should engage each member of the staff (TED, 2009). Of course, the training sessions should not take too much time and employers should not be distracted from doing their job all the time. It is possible to launch discussions and even games or role plays to make the employees understand all the details related to the change. Admittedly, the news concerning the change is often accepted negatively. People are often afraid of changes. Therefore, the thought leader should first create the need in the change. Therefore, the training sessions may start with discussing existing problems and analyzing some hazardous situations. The thought leader should point out that next sessions will help the employees come up with solutions.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More More so, each employee can get a home assignment (to solve some issues related to the work and the upcom ing change). The assignments cannot be in a form of a report, some creative tasks should be provided. Thus, the employees will be encouraged to attend the following sessions as they will be expecting to get the right solutions. This strategy addresses one more problem, i.e. employees’ reluctance to attend the training sessions. Of course, there should be assessment, but it can be held in a form of a game or during outdoor teambuilding activities. To sum up, the thought leader can help the organization evolve. The thought leader can introduce specific changes and run training sessions. However, it is important to take certain steps, i.e. form a group of key players, create the necessity among the employees and develop creative training and assessment. This will enable the employees to accept the change and contribute to the organization’s development. Reference List Crow, T. (2012, January 3). Keys to engaging thought leaders. Education Week Teacher. Web. Spiro, J. (201 1). Leading change step-by-step: Tactics, tools, and tales. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. TED. (2009, February). Bill Gates: Mosquitos, malaria and education. Web.

440 Different Topics for Essays and Speeches

440 Different Topics for Essays and Speeches If getting started is the hardest part of the writing process, close behind it (and closely related to it) may be the challenge of finding a ​good topic to write about. Of course, sometimes an instructor will solve that problem for you by assigning a topic. But at other times youll have the opportunity to choose a topic on your own. And you really should think of it as an opportunity- a chance to write about something you care about and know well. So relax. Dont worry if a great topic doesnt immediately spring to mind. Be ready to play with a number of ideas until you settle on one that truly interests you. To help get you thinking, weve prepared some writing suggestions- more than 400 of them, in fact. But they are only suggestions. Along with some freewriting and brainstorming (and maybe a good long walk), they should inspire you to come up with plenty of fresh ideas of your own. 440 Topics You Could Write About Weve organized the suggested topics into 11 broad categories, loosely based on some of the common ways of developing paragraphs and essays. But dont feel limited by these categories. Youll find that many of the topics can be adapted to suit almost any kind of writing assignment. Now follow the links to find more than 400 topic suggestions and see where they take you. Describing People, Places, and Things: 40 Writing Topics:Â  Descriptive writing calls for close attention to details- details of sight and sound, sometimes even of smell, touch, and taste. Weve come up with 40 topic suggestions for a descriptive paragraph or essay. It shouldnt take you long to discover at least 40 more on your own.Narrating Events: 50 Writing Topics:Â  Another word for narration is storytelling- though often the stories we tell actually happened. Narratives can serve to illustrate an idea, report an experience, explain a problem, argue a point, or simply entertain our readers. Here are 50 ideas for a narrative paragraph or essay. But dont feel that you have to tell one of our stories- not when you have so many of your own tales to tell.Explaining a Process Step by Step: 50 Writing Topics:Â  Process analysis means explaining how something is done or how to do something- one step after another. These 50 topics should start you thinking. But again, dont let our ideas get in the way of yours. Comparing and Contrasting: 40 Writing Topics:Â  Think about the last time you had to make a decision: right there is a topic for comparison and contrast. And right here youll find 40 more ideas that might be explored in a composition developed by comparison and contrast.Drawing Analogies: 30 Writing Topics:Â  A good analogy can help your readers understand a complicated subject or view a common experience in a new way. To discover original analogies that can be explored in paragraphs and essays, apply the as if attitude to any one of these 30 topics.Classifying and Dividing: 50 Writing Topics:Â  Are you ready to get organized? If so, youll probably be applying the principle of classification- perhaps to one of our 50 topics or to a brand new topic of your own.Examining Causes and Effects: 50 Writing Topics:Â  We cant tell you exactly what causes global warming, but maybe you can tell us. If not, these 50 other topic suggestions should start you thinking about why? and so what?Dev eloping Extended Definitions: 60 Writing Topics:Â  Abstract and controversial ideas can often be clarified through extended definitions. The 60 concepts listed here can be defined in various ways and from different points of view. Arguing and Persuading: 40 Writing Topics:Â  These 40 statements may be either defended or attacked in an argument essay. But you dont have to depend on our suggestions: lets see what issues really matter to you.Composing a Persuasive Essay or Speech: 30 Writing Topics:Â  Any one of these 30 issues may serve as the basis for a persuasive essay or speech.

Supplemental Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Supplemental Exercise - Essay Example Visitor’s browser downloads the CSS file just once and re-used the same file for other pages on a site. Dividing style from content makes life very comfortable for visitors who opt to view just the content of a webpage, or to change the content. These could be low sighted people who may use a screen reader to translate a page. Best practice for the use of CSS is creating you HTML first. Most designers develop their CSS all at once they create the HTML. Though it appears logical to develop both at the same time, but in reality you will save more time if you generate the entire HTML prototype first. The reason for using this method is that we recognize all the elements of our website site layout, but we do not know what CSS we’ll need with our design. Developing the HTML layout firstly allows us to visualize the entire webpage as completely, and permits you to think of your CSS in a top-down fashion (Biundo & Enge,

Investigate a given organisation to analyse its current position, Essay

Investigate a given organisation to analyse its current position, evaluate the strategic options available, and recommend the strategic route - Essay Example Besides the technology advancement, competition is rapidly increasing in almost every industry, and this could send some businesses into oblivion. In line with that, this paper seeks to analyse the current position, evaluate the strategic options and recommend the most appropriate strategic route for the Dyson Company. Founded in 1993 by James Dyson, Dyson Company is a UK-based firm, which specialises in the designing and subsequent manufacturing of heaters, bladeless fans, dryers and vacuum cleaners. Though based in the UK, the company extends it services to 80 other countries around the globe, and as of December 2013 the firm’s profit stood at a staggering  £800,000,000. It currently provides employment to over 5,000 people around the world 1.Innovation has been the key driver of this company as evidenced by the creation of Ballbarrow, an alternative wheel for wheelbarrows that James Dyson invented after finding it hard to use the then ordinary wheelbarrow. A business current position is judged through its various parameters including its values, unique selling point (USP) and market share. A business has to remain distinct among other competitors in order to remain not just afloat, but also ensure it achieves its goals. By offering a unique product, a firm sets itself above others; with values that correspond to the needs of people a firm attracts a list of clientele 2. Identifying the market where a firm belongs helps it in focusing on the same to ensure the clients are served properly. In the case of Dyson, the current position is that it is well positioned despite the presence of other players in the market. The above assertions are informed by the recent statistics, which show the firm’s growth increasing each year. For instance, in 2011 the firm’s profits increased by 8% followed by 30% in 2012 and there has no announcement of loss in the last two years either 1. Besides the profits increasing annually, the firm’s market share

Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Globalisation - Essay Example Globalization is the process of moving towards a single-world society which has led to an increase in the economic activity in the world. For the purpose of this paper globalization would mean economic globalization which has been defined as the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), through the flow of workers and flows of technology Bhagwati, 2004). Debates ensue but the benefits of globalization are established; however while globalization has many benefits it also has many negative effects as reflected in the poor standard of living in some nations. Globalization has also been viewed as the dominance of western economic and cultural interests over the rest of the world, as the perpetuation of inequality between the rich and the poor countries and region (Brinkman and Brinkman, 2002). This is because corporate power by the MNCs has been utilized for maximizing profits without social responsibility. Frankel ( 2006) agrees that globalization has intensified competition thereby reducing costs and enhancing quality; it has led to liberalization, deregulation and privatization and opened up capital markets. Frankel emphasizes that at the same time, globalization has undermined the economic prospects for millions around the world. The gap between the poor and the rich has increased as the benefits and costs of globalization are unevenly distributed across the world. Bhagwati believes that charges of hypocrisy, unfair trade practices and double standards against the rich nations are baseless and instigated by NGOs such as OXFAM. Such charges instigate protectionism by the developing countries which can only hurt their own prosperity. Bhagwati fails to recognize that nations that have opened up their economy and have not been protectionists may have registered high growth rates but this does not necessarily translate into poverty reduction, as stated by Akoum(2008). Growth and poverty reduction are the ultimate goals of efforts geared towards development but policies that concentrate on growth may only be looking at a part of the development problem. For instance, Latin America can be cited as a model of trade openness but in terms of standards of living, the results are abysmal. This conforms to the standard economic model, as pointed out by Singer (2004, p92) which suggests that no one’s economic welfare can be improved without reducing the welfare of at least one another person. Unconstrained globalization can no doubt lead to economic efficiencies but the ruling elite have to ensure overall welfare. At the same time due to cost efficiencies, when world production shifts to countries that do the poorest jobs, efficiency is adversely affected. This occurred when the US shifted jobs to Mexico as a result of free trade; this resulted in increase in salaries in Mexico but adversely affected incomes in the United States (Singer, 2004, p78). The drivers of globalizati on include efforts to reduce transportation and communication costs by the private sector and efforts towards reduction of trade and policy barriers by the public sector (Frankel, 2006). Finding a strong connection between poverty and globalization, Singer (2004) asserts that technological upgradation has taken place in developing nations but

Effects of Climate Change on the Middle East

Effects of Climate Change on the Middle East The Effects of Climate Change on the Middle East The Middle East is going to experience a very tough patch in the coming years, with Climate Change threatening basic life, political tensions dividing countries and the economy relying on depleting oil reserves. Of course this is not true for the whole region but mealy a vague overview and this is what this essay aims to look at in more depth. Global climate change is predicted to have many effects across the face of the earth, some of which can be seen right now. The Middle East is one of the most water scarce places on Earth. A person living in this region only has access to â€Å"1,200 cubic meters of water per year, compared with the average of about 7,000 cubic meters worldwide†. As temperatures rise due to anthropogenic climate change, evaporation rates will also rise, leading to reduced output from any surface water storages (reservoirs and rivers). The first effect will be water shortages hitting agriculture as there will be lack of water to feed crops, then ordinary lower class civilians with basic jobs will also feel the impact of water shortages. The result would cause crop failure and lead to starvation as basic local food becomes scarce (Saudi Arabia is nearly self sufficient in wheat but without water crops will be lost). Food prices will rocket as they have to import more to meet the demand. This has already been seen as two recent droughts in Iraq 1999/00 and 2000/01 caused non-irrigated wheat production to decrease by 90%. Exports of agricultural products will cease and over sea revenue will dwindle excluding the oil industry. This will lead to increased poverty across the region. Lack of available jobs and poverty mixed together with food and water scarcity may push people to extreme political groups as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, thus making stable regions ticking time bombs. The lack of available drinking water would embark on people finding other sources which could distort their health increasing cholera and other water born diseases, as countries in the Middle East do not have well developed sewerage systems outside of main cities and that people relieve themselves where ever possible⠁ ´. This pressure puts immense strain on services such as the health service, but also on the government as citizens will be demanding action, raising political tensions. The government could respond by importing more water at a financial cost but also an environmental one. By importing water you require transport. Pipe lines are expensive and time consuming to build, so short term solutions will include the transportation of water by either lorry or ship, into the country either from Asia or Europe. This method releases even more COâ‚‚ and acts as a positive feedback towards climate change, so is not a suitable method as it leads to even greater water scarcity. Aquifer sources are already under serious depletion in this region⠁ ¸ and as the demand increases it will require more to be abstracted, which means improvements in technology will be made so that more water can be pumped to the surface at a faster rate. However it will have devastating consequences such as subsidence or saline water intrusion which will be just as serious. Subsidence is already occurring in western Saudi Arabia due to over abstraction of groundwaterand that the majority of the water supplies are retrieved from non-renewable water with only a small percentage coming from internally renewable sources. The West Bank and Gaza are in a much more comfortable situation compared to Saudi as they have much more internally renewable water but that does not exempt them from a water crisis. Of Gazas available sources of water, only 5-10% is potable due to contamination. The diagram above shows that the Middle East (especially Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria) has a very high stress for water availability. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in desalination plants with money from the oil industry but is still struggling to cope with demand. The country is now abstracting from â€Å"underground supplies in its east province reducing the agriculture and water availability of Qatar and Bahrain†Ã¢  ¸ and the annual recharge rate is a mere 0-5mm⠁ µ. This climate in Saudi Arabia is predominantly arid and semi arid but temperature extremes can be found at the Najd high Plateau with very hot summers and bitter cold winters. The coastal region experiences a slightly less harsh climate due to the Red Sea. The mean annual rainfall for this region is very worrying already (see diagram below) without the predicted impacts of climate change. The diagram also highlights that large areas are unable to cultivate crops without heavy irrigation which leads back to the political tensions arising over abstraction of underground water supplies and reduced output of crops. As you can see Turkey and the North West of Iran have much wetter climates but this could all change. Precipitation is expected to shift in the negative direction around the Middle East as shown in diagram from the IPCC Technical Paper leading to a decline in soil moisture content which increases daytime temperatures⠁ ´. Countries on the northern side, for example Turkey, are expected to bit hit hard due to their reliance on rivers and surface water storages. Turkeys average annual rainfall fluctuates depending on the area. Coastal regions experience 668mm per year, but central regions can get as low as 382mm per year. Large drops in annual rainfall could cause serious droughts as rivers and surface storages dry up leading to consequences highlighted earlier in this essay. Precipitation extremes will become more frequent due to climate change in this area, which would vastly increase the chances of flooding around the Jordan River as well as leading to serious soil erosion by rain splash. The sheer volume of precipitation will cause channels Climate Change and Water and gullies to form, washing the soil and sediments into water bodies. In turn it could reduce potable water even more so due to contamination as synthetic fertilisers and nutrients are washed out of soilsas well as having the effect of increasing turbidity. Predicted increases of runoff in the northern region of the Middle East will not help matters. Eutrophication is a major consequence leading to a decline in aquatic life as the excess nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) enter a water body and cause an algae bloom. This blocks sunlight from reaching bottom dwelling photosynthesising organisms which results in them dying. Zooplankton which feed on algae also live and hide amongst the lower photosynthesising organisms so their population will decline rapidly promoting algae growth to increase further (predator prey relationship). The algae have a high turnover rate (high growth and high death rates) and the dead algae are decomposed by respiring organisms which uses the oxygen up. This has been noted in the Keban Dam in eastern Anatolia. Pollutants like those leaked from the oil industry would have detrimental effects on the surrounding plant and wildlife with increased runoff, ultimately leading to decreasing biodiversity and the loss of environmentally sensitive areas along the Red Sea coast line. Coastal regions are also becoming under immense stress and are extremely vulnerable to increases in sea level. The table taken from The Impact of Sea Level indicates the overall effects of increases in 1m sea level changes across the Middle East and North Africa. A 1m increase would cause 24,000 sq km to be impacted which is a huge amount but the only country to be largely affected by this is Qatar. Around 13% is predicted to be impacted with a 5m increase ²Ã‚ ². This will cause mass displacement of people, forcing migration of people living close to the coast. Their quality of life will be directly affected as would the standard of living unless governments intervened and relocated them in permanent locations. If not, refugee camps will be a large regional problem. A Comparative Analysis 5% of UAEs population will experience the consequences of a 1m rise but 10-15% will be exposed to further increases. Qatars GDP will suffer greatly (10%) leading to further money deficit problems, and unable to counter the consequences of climate change and increased sea level ²Ã‚ ². The country will fall to outside help but whether it receives it is another matter. The population and economy are not the only victims of climate change. Precious wetlands will be lost in the Middle East around coastal countries like Qatar, Kuwait and UAE. With a 1m rise in sea level over 20% of Qatars wetlands will be affected which is alarming as they are essential for bird and invertebrate diversity. Populations are very small and are very vulnerable to slight changes. The red sea is home to a large variety of coral reefs. The increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is not only causing increasing temperatures and sea levels, but also the sea to become more acidic. These three effects are having direct impacts of precious coral reefs around the world. Coral structures are being weakened by carbonic acids reacting with their skeletons due to the acidification of the sea, making them more prone to damage. What is more alarming is corals chose a habitat with a very limited tidal range. With increasing sea levels There will be catastrophic social and economic consequences due to anthropogenic climate change. The social classes are already distorted in the third world oil exporting countries. The poor do not benefit from the oil revenues directly and it often has the effect of bringing about authoritarian and repressive regimes. Saudi Arabia owns 20% of the worlds oil reserves and is also the main producer of crude oil, with an estimated production of 10.72 million barrels a day. This is a huge over sea revenue generator and without it Middle Eastern countries like Saudi, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates would find it very difficult to develop as huge investments in infrastructure are needed. With increasing worry about serious climate change, many things are bound to happen in the near future. The first prediction is that MEDCs stop buying oil completely due to worldwide cooperation against climate change (which is extremely unlikely as no main alternative for the transport sector has been fully developed and applied on a large scale⠁ ´ let alone countries committing to such ‘risky deals). Alternatively large COâ‚‚ cuts may be sanctioned and oil will fall to this. The UK has agreed to 80% emission cuts by 2050. The hypothetical reason behind this is that as climate change becomes more rooted in politics, more action will be taken. Eventually oil will run out anyway and some governments in the coming century may take the first leap for their countries and find ways to live entirely on renewable resources. This would be devastating for Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as oil exports are their biggest revenue generator. Saudi Arabias eco nomy revolves around oil, â€Å"the petroleum sector accounts for roughly 80% of budget revenues, 45% of GDP, and 90% of export earnings. About 40% of GDP comes from the private sector. Roughly 6.4 million foreign workers play an important role in the Saudi economy, particularly in the oil and service sectors†, the countries with their biggest reliance on oil in their economy is highlighted in the diagram above, and out of the top five, four of them are situated in the Middle East with nearly 97% related to oil. If countries stop buying this oil, then the demand will dramatically drop leading to a vast decrease in the price of a barrel of oil (simple supply and demand economics), a decrease in $1 per barrel would lose $3.4billion in revenue. This will lead to decreased public spending on projects like motorways, airports and hospitals, but the whole crude oil industry could be vulnerable to total collapse if a worldwide embargo was set to stop the use of crude oil. Saudi citi zens benefit from not paying taxes due to the shear flow of capital from the oil industry but without it, life will become much harder. It would have direct effects on employment; although oil exporting countries are trying to diversify their economy before it is too late, showing that there is a concern over the coming future. As the public spending dwindles, development will start to cease. The infrastructure will not improve as large amounts of revenue needed cannot be found and unemployment rates will sky rocket, even though unemployment rates are the highest in the world already at 13.2%. Standard of life will drop significantly as well as quality of living. This is where the most social consequences will be seen as education will be in jeopardy as will health and well being. If schools cannot be built then children are denied of learning which vastly decreases the chances of a higher skilled job and lowers literacy rates. As road building slows down, trade will be limited as i t requires vast networks which are not fully installed in the more rural areas. In result foreign investors will be put off, and agricultural trade will be limited to local markets⠁ ´. Tourism will be greatly affected by the changing climate, political tensions and rising concerns over food and water security. â€Å"The Middle East totalled 46 million international tourist arrivals and continues to be one of the tourism success stories of the decade so far, despite ongoing tensions and threats† in 2007. This is leading to a vast increase in pressure but is also fuelling the diversification of the economy. Hotels are struggling to cope with numbersand the indication of extreme events does not seem to be slowing the average annual growth of 9.3% ³Ã¢  ´. The tourism industry will be ruined by any such event mentioned previously due to the reputation of the area; but does deeply depend on how the governments handle the situations. If the countries in this region act now by carefully managing scare non-renewable water supplies as well as energy usage and keeping cooperation between countries going they stand a good chance of adapting to the effects of anthropo genic climate change. Investing in the local economy would benefit the region as a whole, by providing more jobs and help areas to develop which would otherwise be left on their own to cope with the changes. In conclusion it is clear that climate change will have enormous effects on this region of the world, ranging from the social distortion from dwindling unemployment rates to the increase in precipitation extremes leading to soil desertification. 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