Hrm Change Model

Understanding this model and Its underlying concepts therefore helps us understand why the other change models are effective in overcoming resistance to change, and in creating an environment that is conducive to permanent change. The refreezing process happens once the desired state has been reached. When the desired state Is reached, the forces that are holding this new state In equilibrium are again identified, and now reinforced or â€Å"frozen† into place through a variety of actions. 2) Action Research Model The Action Research Model has two major phases.A preliminary or preparatory phase, and then a cycle phase. * In the preliminary phase, the problem Is first Identified. It refers to the fact that something which needs to be changed, Is identified. * Consultation is then held with a behavioral science expert, for example an ODD consultant, an organizational psychologist, or someone similar who can shed light on typical causes and solutions for such a problem, based on certain existing models. This consultation leads to the planning of a method for diagnosis. Data is then gathered and analyzed, and a preliminary diagnosis is done.Therefore it does not need a 1 OFF expectation that things could be better. * The first step is therefore simply initiating an enquiry. Often, this enquiry will not be very specific. It could be a team wanting to improve in some area, or it could be an organization identifying that it needs to improve something, e. G. Profitability or market share – but it might not be sure what to change. * The services of an expert, together with research of the organization and other organizations are utilized to identify the things that the organization has done really well, in the past.It could be compared to a story telling process where organization members tell stories of the things they'd done really well. * These success stories are then analyzed to identify the organization's major strengths. Themes of strengths are then discovered. * Based on these strengths, the organization designs for itself an ideal future. The organization then designs ways to achieve that future, and implements those plans 4) General Model of Planned Change a) Entering and Contracting: The first set of activities in planned change concerns entering and contracting.Those events help managers decide whether they want to engage further in a planned change program and to commit resources to such a process. Entering an organization involves gathering initial data to understand the problems facing the organization or the positive opportunities for inquiry. Once this information is collected, the problems or opportunities are discussed with managers and other organization members to develop a contract or agreement to engage in planned change.The contract spells out future change activities, the resources that will be committed to the process, and how ODD practitioners and organization members will be involved. B) Diagnosing: In thi s stage of planned change, the client system is carefully studied. Diagnoses can . Focus on understanding organizational problems, including their causes and consequences, or on identifying the organization's positive attributes. The diagnostic process is one of the most important activities in ODD. C) Planning and Implementing Change:

College exam Essay

There has always been an arousing debate on whether all students are required to take college entrance exams in order to be accepted into a desired university. The standardized tests are currently used all over the United States in order to enroll or decline certain students based on a minimum score according to the college. The most common tests taken by high school students is the ACT and the SAT, both covering basic curriculum involving all major subjects studied throughout grade school, in order to test overall knowledge. Because of the benefits that oppose strictly relying on grade point averages as opposed to having the college entrance exams used in order to accept students, they are a good idea and should continue being used because they are much more routine and fair. Although the tests have proven successful, some might say that the tests don’t accurately score students ability to be successful in college universities. The people that refer to the exams as an insufficient way of accepting and declining hopeful students into college have many reasons to believe so. The first issue with these tests is that some people would argue that they don’t cover certain material that students may possibly excel in, or further a career in. Fields such as the arts, music, sciences, and other specialty subjects are all not included on these entrance exams. Not including these areas takes away from students being recognized for their true talents that could be of further use to the university, but the college registers could never get the chance to see those talents. Another reason why one would argue that the tests are a negative thing would be that not all the tests are equal in difficulty, being a reason why some students could score significantly better than another. Since the exams are not the same in content, it isn’t fair for one person to be accepted into a college, and another not be accepted. The final reason why people prefer for them to not be mandatory is because of the discrimination for people who score badly on the test, but have very good grades throughout high school. Some people aren’t good test takers, and their good GPA reflects their skills more accurately. These views against students being required to take college entrance exams all are very valid points, but the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to this. There are many reasons why colleges currently require students to take college entrance exams. The positives definitely contribute to the success in this method of accepting students into college based on their scores. One reason why the tests are a good idea is because of how fair standard the process is when the determining who’s admitted into college. There isn’t an issue between accepting certain students because their scores on the ACT or SAT are self explanatory. Another reason the test scores are necessary is because grades cannot be a main decider. This is because a lot of students in high school are not honorable when it comes to work ethic and doing their own hard work, in other words cheating is an issue. If a college is looking to admit a student based on GPA this could be a mistake, the good grades won’t reflect work ethic and test taking skills that are essential to success in college. The final reason that ties to why the college exams are a good method is because these tests cover all important subjects that will be studied in college. The core subjects are really important to be tested over because it shows pure intelligence in a students learning throughout grade school. When choosing students to admit, they will obviously choose the person that scored the highest on an exam that covers basic studies. There are debating topics on whether college entrance exams are a good idea or not. When deciding students to admit into further schooling, there has to be a standard and fair way to determine. Exams like the ACT and SAT all cover core classes and knowledge that was studied all through grade school. This way, the deciding is based on the required minimum scores of students so the elimination process has moral reasoning and fairness. Although there are negative views on the limited material being tested, the fact that not all the tests are equal in difficulty and that people who do poorly on the test are automatically discriminated and declined. These may be real issues, but the reasons why it’s a good idea definitely shine through. The fairness and standardization makes it easy to analyze the students, grades are not a good reference for intelligence and potential success in college, and finally the tests show a prediction of how knowledgeable students are with core subjects and test taking skills that are used every day in college. Standardized college entrance exams should continue being used to decide whether or not one should be admitted into a certain college.

Nepal Economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nepal Economy - Essay Example Mica, hydropower and forest products are the other sources of income for this country. The only Hindu nation in the world is a picturesque unit of living for visitors and dwellers as well. An estimation done last year shows a population of about 29,331,000 people with the annual growth rate of 2.2 per cent. The country has its capital Katmandu, a very historic city. The people of this country, commonly called Nepalese speak Nepali and English for their communication. The country follows several political aspects adopted from India. The currency of this country is Rupees. Population: about 29,331,000 (2009 estimate) The geographical location of Nepal is at southern Asia. It shares its boarders with India and China. This roughly trapezoidal shaped country’s troposphere is uncommonly diverse. The total area of land mass is 147,181 Sq. Kms. It spreads a long line of 800 kms with a width of 200 Kms. Nepal can be seen as three physiographic areas; the Mountain Hill, Siwalik region and Terai regions. This diversity accounts for the abundant river water in the country. This environmental unevenness intersects Nepal’s north to south flowing river systems. Nepal is surely a very poor country. Lack of exploitation methodology implemented on natural resources accounts for the failure of increase in living standards of the people. Even today, about half of its population live below the international poverty line(IPL) of US$1.25 a day. The country’s telecommunication system is under rated at the world standards of the current point of international usage of phones. An alarming figure of over 19 people is estimated to use one phone. Jaggedness of the landscapes add to the failure of installation of land line telephones. They are limited to the use of city and town centers only. Nepal’s economy stands at 115th position in the world level. Over 70 percent of the work force in the country contributes to 40 per cent of its GDP. Rest of the work force and

Strategies for Implementing Accounting Software Systems in Small to Essay

Strategies for Implementing Accounting Software Systems in Small to Medium Enterprises - Essay Example However, formulating and executing implementation strategies for accounting software are important in maximizing the accounting efficiency of an SME. Problem to be Solved and Worth - In this highly developed economy, there is an influx of accounting software packages tailored to the needs of various customers. This wide array of choices leads to the dilemma of picking out the 'right' software system for small to medium business operations which in turn, brings the more difficult issue of crafting implementation strategies for the accounting software. This problem requires intensive research as it provides better understanding of the relationship between accounting efficiency and strategies of software implementation. Idea for Action and Data Outline - First, the researcher will conduct interviews with 10 to 15 SMEs to gather the required data for the study. The interview is expected to generate a list of implementation strategies employed by these companies. Then, the effectiveness of strategies will be evaluated and compared by measuring the SMEs' accounting efficiency based on the data gathered in the interview. For that purpose, the researcher will devise a measuring system with the help of secondary data gathered in the review of literature. ... The result of analysis will be utilized in the final report to recommend implementation strategies which should be executed and should be eliminated in the accounting processes of the SMEs. Context: Setting, Background and Scope The proposed project will be based in the analysis of the accounting efficiency of SMEs contacted for the research. SMEs to be interviewed will come from various industries in the economy. Although time constraints will not allow contacting a large number of SMEs for the research to come up with a more statistically accurate result, the project will be able to identify the most general trends in accounting software strategies. These trends will be processed and analyzed as factors influencing the accounting performance of SMEs, i.e. by looking on their effectiveness. The measuring system developed in this project will particularly reveal the differences in accounting efficiency as a result of the execution of different implementation strategies. Project Strategic IT Value and Intention The result of the proposed research will be presented in the form of a report which analyzes the software strategies employed by SMEs including the recommendations developed during the research. This set of recommendations will be a useful contribution to the general theory of software implementation strategies as it will aid SMEs to develop strategic approaches in choosing suitable accounting software and devising implementation strategies to enhance accounting efficiency. It can be noted that theoretical frameworks have been mainly concentrating in the general benefits of strategic approach to software implementation. For example, Jones (2005) advises small

Chinese history paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Chinese history paper - Essay Example Nonetheless, these twin goals complemented one another because in both cases, there was some form of oppression of one party by a dominant party that needed to be eliminated. In addition, the twin goals were finally achieved and the success of these goals had a great impact on China as a country and has continued to shape it even today. The novel â€Å"The Dragon’s Village† provides an account of the experiences of a young woman who goes out to a remote village in 1950s revolutionary China to participate in implementing land reform program as one of the goals of the Communists. The novel also addresses the role and place of women in China during this period. During her assignment in the village of Longxiang, Ling-ling experiences the positive and negative effects that the revolutionary policies of the Communists had on the cultural practices and attitudes of the people in the village. The cultural practices and beliefs of the people in China at his period of time seemed to have supported the level of oppression of peasants and the subordination of women in the society. However, the Communists are seen to play a critical role as far as these two aspects are concerned. The revolution in China had two major goals, and these can be considered to be liberating in nature. First, there was the goal of initiating land reforms. This was important and had liberation at its centre because the peasants in China at this time were oppressed by the landlords. When Ling-ling visited the village of Longxiang to initialize land reforms in the area, she addressed the villagers and let them know that she had come to help them carry out land reforms. She noted that the villagers worked on the land day and night throughout the year, yet they are always dressed in rags and experience famine (77). Although the peasants worked hard, it was

How African-Americans have put an end of segregation, discrimination, Research Paper

How African-Americans have put an end of segregation, discrimination, isolation to attain civil rights and equity - Research Paper Example How African-Americans have put an end of segregation, discrimination, isolation to attain civil rights and equity? African Americans transformed their ways of viewing. They decided to cooperate fully in nation building because they knew that they had a duty to play in their nation for them to be considered patriots. They worked hard in school in order to be employed in large companies by the whites and not to be considered irresponsible people to their nations. These helped to improve their situation, as well as, improved their health standards since many people who had decent jobs were relocated to live in lavished houses. Africans remained loyal to the white land owners despite the intimidation and racial discrimination. African Americans were faced with many incidences of violation and intimidation. With this, they sought ways to object and make their wants voiced out. Black Africans formed and supported organizations that dealt with racial issues such as the NAACP, which refers to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which was spearheaded by W.E.B Dubois. Initially in America, women were demeaned and had no control over their husbands, they were subjected to household chores and nurturing children. This took place mainly in the 19th century. This barbaric act came to an end when a woman by the name Chelly Dawance came out protesting against this inhuman act on women, and advocating together with the likes of Kate Chopins and Charlote Pekinns Gilman. For example, in the book written by Kate Pekinns that is narrating her marriage to a black man. She speaks of denied freedom of expression in her house. After their successful strike against stereotyping of women to promote equality between husbands and their wives in marriages, balance was achieved because the people realized that both parents had a collective responsibility in the family planning and in building their country (Meyer, 2001 P. 77). Through this equality, women became entrepreneurs and engaged in trade reducing the high number of people leaving in poverty, therefore, reduci ng the high death rates in youth and old age who usually succumb to illnesses such as malnutrition. Abolishment of slavery, segregation and racism For decades, African Americans fought for their rights because all through they had been subjected to cruel treatment by the whites. Men, women and their families were taken from Africa and brutally chained while ferried to America to work on plantations for years. Jim Crow laws that were enacted between 1876 and 1968 that mandated racial segregation undermined the status of blacks. This demonstrated what they were undergoing by deny of access to many things, which were supposed to be shared by people equally irrespective of the race or colour (Thurber, 2009 P. 93). The Jim Crow originated in the nineteenth century minstrel show song. Step by step, these acts came to be implemented, and the people who subjected African Americans

Survey Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Survey - Research Paper Example g to the survey, more than half of the respondents applauded the efforts made by the service provider as a step in the right direction especially for the young population, who constitute the largest bulk of the fast food clients. Among the sample of four hundred students, a hundred were optimistic that the proposed small sustainable lifestyle changes would indeed go a long way in improving their general wellness and fitness. One of the key determinants of the success of a program is gathering the right information. Out of those surveyed, at least fifty of them reported that they had no concrete information on the program and how it would affect their fitness and health. Great hindrance to the same being lack of interest on matters health, the general stereotype as pertain fast foods. Diet plays an important role in fitness and health, and the need for a well-balanced nutrition is key. Service providers such as KCAL’s with calorie-controlled, refreshingly wholesome tasty and affordable fast foods have made this possible. There was an admission by the majority of not having the right information pertaining the right components of the various foods.There was an admission by at least a hundred out those surveyed that the first key consideration was cost, rather than the nutrition component. The high demand for fast and tasty foods among the young population is a great attraction for most of the respondents, with at least half of the population admitting to the same. The efforts to provide rich flavors,tantalizing tastes and health promoting nutrients dishes by KCAL was a reason for most admitting that they would seek to try out the program and that it would actually help them achieve their envisioned goal of a better

Synthesis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Synthesis Paper - Essay Example The advancement in telecommunication technologies presents greater opportunities for the growth and expansion of the education system in countries among other major sectors of the economy. Online platforms have undoubtedly contributed to improved student lives (Josh "Studies Explore Whether the Internet Makes Students Better Writers"). While most of the influences of the advancing technologies remain positive, the society continues to experience negative effects of the advancing technologies as the discussion below portrays. Culture is a social feature that influences the behavior of the people and the nature of their interactions in a society. Culture influences essential features of the society including attire, dietary and religions among many other equally important features of life. the four articles admits that the advancing telecommunication technologies continue to influence changes in different cultures thus succeeding in the development of such contemporary social features as popular culture. The dynamic nature of culture implies that culture changes. Whenever two or more groups of people interact, they are likely to borrow specific cultural features they consider better while abandoning their cultural features they consider retrogressive. The developments of new telecommunication technologies enhance interaction among people a feature that thus creates an effective platform for the sharing of cultural features. The invention of the internet was among the most iconic inventions globally. The internet provides effective and equally efficient platforms for communication enabling people to exchange ideas and information in real time. The development and subsequent use of smart phones thus increased traffic on the internet as more people currently access different sites on the internet through their smart phones. Stanford is an example of a university which has

Gimme an A (I Insist) by Abigail Sullivan Moore Article

Gimme an A (I Insist) by Abigail Sullivan Moore - Article Example In order to study the extent of it a survey was conducted in about 400 colleges and universities, interviewing the students and the outcome is the feeling that Something is amiss†. It was seen that those who received A were about fifty percent, about 18% high since 1968. It is the outcome of heavy pressures put on the teachers by pupils and parents. They have only one desire, and that is to get admission in the reputed colleges. This is an alarming situation because no one is aware of what is at stake. They seem to be ignorant of future challenges. Apart from the pressures, being put by the students and parents, on the teachers for getting a higher grade, the students also resort to other ways of presenting themselves as good. Cheating has become common. The availability of information and knowledge through the internet has been tempting students to download them easily and submit them to the teachers as their own work. Then the habit of outsourcing the assignments are on the rise. It has been noticed, says Sullivan, that while the senior’s grade climbed the SAT score remains unchanged. This trend, he found, started increasing since the 199s. The reasons for this could be the rise in the people from the middle-income group becoming aware of the â€Å"hard-to-get† colleges. They try to send their wards to such reputed places. Also, their â€Å"discretionary income† enables them to pay more. He quotes the board’s vice president, Wayne J. Camara, who said that ‘‘Everyone cant get As†. The author believes that the days of the grading system is over. Learning is going to be high and constant. Grades or no grades, the students constantly make advancement in their knowledge.  

Evaluate the success of European monetary union to date Essay

Evaluate the success of European monetary union to date - Essay Example In the years that it has been in existence, the euro has widely grown to be recognized as an international currency, and thus, it has enjoyed benefits of the world’s stable market and endured the times of instability. The first idea that gave birth to embryo of the European Monetary Union can be traced back to R. Mundell’s theory of optimum currency areas of 1961 and that of R. McKinnon of 1963. However, it was until 1978 that an idea on the European Monetary System was proposed (Overturf, 1997 p. 14). The proposed European Monetary System (EMS) had various components that included; financial support mechanism (FSM), European Monetary Cooperation Fund (EMCF), exchange rate mechanism (ERM), and the European currency union (UCU). From the inception, the implementation of the European monetary Union in itself was a major triumph. As the ambitious program began to be operational, the countries that were under the union realized many benefits and costs, and in some instances, experienced serious flaws. In a real sense, unification of the currency helped to enhance the condition of the single market since it permitted all transactions to be conducted in one single currency. In that case, application of a single currency helped to improve competition among the member countries and also made the entire European economy to be more compatible with the global market. Because competition among the member states was enhanced, the consumers benefitted immensely because they had a wider range of choice, better quality, and reduced prices. The use of a single currency also helped to attract foreign investment, particularly in areas that were least developed. The use of a single currency within the European countries has ensured stability and positive inflation in most of the years that it has been under operation. The concept of money, as a means of measurement, can assist in

Stirling Sports Essay Example for Free

Stirling Sports Essay Stirling Sports opened their first Store on Dominion Road in Auckland in 1964. The first Stirling Sports franchises were awarded in 1983 after Stirling Sports had invested almost 20 years in developing the best sports retail stores in New Zealand. Stirling Sports Dunedin’s mission statements asserts, ‘The Dunedin community speaks positively about their Stirling Sport experience’. Their logo is ‘We love our sport’, an apt summary of the passion held by management and staff for their products, service and the specialist knowledge they provide. Stirling Sports is the one of the New Zealand leading retailers of sporting goods. Stirling Sports has a huge range of sports clothing and mens and womens shoes, supporter gear and more. In 2004, Russell and Sue became aware of an opportunity to purchase the Stirling Sports Dunedin area franchise and made the decision to buy within a week. Since they originated from the Otago region, this was an opportunity ‘to come home’. After some negotiation they successfully acquired the franchise and began to determine how best to manage the two operations. After some deliberation, the  decision was made that Sue would move to Dunedin and manage that store, while Russell continued to manage the Kapiti store. Russell and Sue decided to buy the franchise with the existing staff at the Dunedin store. The store had to become profitable, so changes needed to be made. However, the change in structure and process did not suit everyone and staff left. Previously, the store had been managed from Auckland, so some having the manager on-site was very different from the previous management style. Stirling Sports adopts marketing strategies based on the seasonal nature of  various sports, student population migration during semester and holiday periods, public holidays and festive seasons Christmas is one of the biggest financial periods with equipment, clothing and shoes being in demand for Christmas gifts. In-store specials, glossy flyers, and newspaper and radio advertising are all useful means of marketing their products to all of their customer segments. The March/April period is the second-largest cash-flow period with the beginning of winter sports, such as rugby, soccer, netball, volleyball and basketball, traditionally boosting sales. September/October is also a peak period, with the focus particularly on fitness and getting ‘back into shape’ after the ravages of winter lifestyle choices. Sports such as cricket, tennis and softball also begin which may require the purchase of new equipment, uniforms and speciality footwear. Many sports are now played all year round, which is beneficial in maintaining an acceptable level of monthly sales in addition to seasonal cash-flow peaks. RETRIEVED FROM HTTP://STIRLINGSPORTS. CO. NZ Rebel Sport is a well known brand name throughout New Zealand and Australia. Until 2006, Rebel had no big-box sports competitor, prompting the use of the well-known slogan No ones got more sports gear. However, Lane Walker Rudkin, owners of sports franchise Stirling Sports, have announced plans to launch several large format stores across the country, beginning with a store in Christchurch, which opened in mid-2006. This followed the collapse of a deal between Briscoe Group and LWR a year earlier, which would have seen Briscoe buyout the Stirling franchise. Since Stirlings big box launch, Rebel has dropped their original slogan, which has been replaced with Lets Play, backed by a new  marketing campaign which targets a wider audience from the traditional club-orientated team sport audience. The company is also continuing their aggressive expansion programme, launching several smaller-format stores such as Napier and Taupo to allow branches to reach further into provincial areas. Briscoe Group. (n. d. ). Retrieved March 15, 2014 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Briscoe_Group The latest retail customer satisfaction report for New Zealand from research organisation Roy Morgan Research reveals that Rebel Sport has emerged as the  sports store with the highest percentage of satisfied customers. Rebel came in at at 82. 0 percent for the 12 months to December 2009 (up 4. 4 percent points from the 12 months to December ‘08). Stirling Sports was third with 77. 5 percent (down 2. 9 percent from the same period). â€Å"The category as a whole has performed below the average for all non-food stores. It seems all sports stores need to close the gap in improving their levels of satisfaction. † Sports Link. Sporting Goods Outdoor Retailing. (May 17, 2010). Retrieved from http://www. mysportslink. net/rebel-sport-leads-the-way-cms-837.

Multiple Point Competition and Competitive Signaling Essay Example for Free

Multiple Point Competition and Competitive Signaling Essay This paper is the pre-assignment number 5 for course TU-91.2040 Global Strategic Management. The task was to answer three questions based on articles by Karnani, A. Wenerfelt B. (Multiple Point Competition, 1985) and Heil, O. Robertson, T. (Toward a Theory of Competitive Market Signaling: A Research Agenda, 1991). The questions are as follows: 1) How would you define multiple market competition? 2) What are pros and cons of the four alternatives to respond to a competitive attack? 3) Why engage in competitive signaling? Multiple market competition means a situation where two companies compete with each other not only in one place with one product but in several locations and possibly with similar products which are substitutes to each other. A simple example would be two companies of the same industry operating in two countries with the same products. As Karnani and Wenerfelt put it: â€Å"The more obvious examples of multiple point competition refer to situations where firms compete simultaneously in different product markets or in different geographical markets for the same product.† Multiple market competition is characterized by four different situations: peace, limited war, mutual foothold and total war. Total peace is extremely rare if two companies operate in the same market. The more likely situation is limited competition where two companies for example suppress the prices of a single product but do not challenge the competitors on other areas, leading the competition to being limited and not total. Mutual foothold equilibrium means a situation where both companies have a small market share on each other’s home/core markets but their core markets are separate and they are not in a total war situation. Total war means a competition in (nearly) every market. This is often a result of an escalation from mutual foothold equilibrium. Total war is usually very costly for both companies and can also lead to weakening and destruction of both companies. If company A comes under a competitive attack by company B, there are basically four ways how company A can react. Say that B lowers the price of product P on a mutual market. The first option is to do nothing. This naturally leads to B getting what it wanted: market share on the product P. The positive side is that there is no competition but the downside is that B won. Doing nothing also indicates weakness which might lead B to attack A on other markets also. The second option is to defend by also lowering the price of product P. This way there is limited competition equilibrium when both companies try to gain market share by suppressing prices. However, this might lead eventually to unprofitability in this product-segment and thus do harm to both companies. The third option for company A is to counterattack by lowering the price of product Q which is also produced by company B. Another example would be that the companies gain new products and penetrate new markets with them to start competing with each other. This way both companies have a foothold in each other’s core markets and the situation is thus called mutual foothold equilibrium. Mutual foothold is quite stable as both companies can easily counterattack if another makes a move toward the other. If this happens, the companies are very near to total war which is the fourth option for company A. If the companies end up in total war the companies start to imitate each other with their product portfolio and market presence. The prices and costs are cut in all product lines which leads to lower profits for both companies. The only good thing resulting from a total war is for customers: the momentary price cut. However, a long lasting total war drains the companies’ cash and resources for RD which might make the products inferior and the companies vulnerable for new entrants with high-quality technology. Companies can also indicate their future intentions by signaling to other companies. There are basically two reasons for companies to engage in competitive signaling: conveying information or gaining information based on the reactions of the signal-receiving companies. Often the information delivered through different public signals would be illegal to directly communicate to competitors (e.g. a coming price increase) but the signals enable companies to exchange this kind of information. The usual reason for competitive market signaling is for the signal sender to get a pre-emption and to discourage the competitors for following. The message needs to be both clear and packed with a high level of perceived commitment in order for the target companies to take it seriously. The message could be for example an intention of increasing production capacity or expanding to other market. This way the signaling company can gain pre-emptions and read their competitors’ reactions and countersignals. Through competitive signaling, companies can exchange information that would otherwise be illegal to convey. One example of such information would be making agreements on price increases. According to Heil and Robertson, this has been evident in airline industry where competing companies agreed on certain types of tickets’ pricing by changing their own prices on these tickets. This way other companies could get clear indications for other companies’ intension and willingness to raise prices. Exchanging this kind of information would lead to sanctions if the companies were to get caught in it. This kind of information is referred to as competitive norms of conduct. To conclude this, by competitive market signaling, companies might gain important competitor information, pre-emption, mislead competitors or agree on norms of conduct with its competitors.

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects

Asian Currency Crisis Causes and Effects Introduction One of the key characteristics of money is stability, however a currency crisis is said to occur when the value of a countrys currency becomes unstable and changes rapidly thereby undermining its ability to effectively serve as a medium of exchange. The Asian currency crisis was a period of financial meltdown which began in July 1997 and gripped the major proportion of East Asia. It remains one of the most talked about region-wide crisis in the 1990s, the sharpest to hit the developing countries, which resulted in a massive downward spiral of Asian economies hitherto seen as miracle economies and prompted the largest financial bailouts in history.(Radelet and Sachs 1998) This paper will examine the origin of the crisis, its impact on the economies of the countries involved and the measures that have been adopted to avoid a recurrence of a similar crisis. ORIGIN OF THE CRISIS Upon mutual agreement, based on the plaza accord (1985) between the US, Germany and Japan, the US dollar was devalued by about 60% to the Yen in real terms in order to alleviate the increasing US current account deficit. Japanese firms facing export competitiveness due to the appreciation of the Yen began to move production to south East Asian countries whose currencies were pegged to the dollar. This provided an ideal location for the Japanese firms in terms of international price competiveness. This inflow of investment from Japan to the South East Asian countries accelerated a pattern that led to large inflow of capital from other Asian and foreign countries into the East Asian countries. The fixed exchange rate system gave the south East Asian economies strong exports, low import prices and expected financial stability. For years, East Asian Countries were held up as economic icons. Their typical blend of high savings and investment rates, autocratic political systems, export-oriented businesses, restricted domestic markets, government capital allocation, and controlled financial systems were hailed as the ideal recipe for strong economic growth of developing countries (Shapiro 1999). Asian economies like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Thailand enjoyed overall average growth rates of 5.6 percent, 6.6 percent, 7 percent, 6.9 percent and 4.6 percent respectively for several decades. Indonesia and Malaysia too enjoyed good economic performance during most of the 1970s and 1980s. (Rao, 1998) However, these miracle economies were brought down in July 1997 when a brewing currency crisis started from Thailand. This seed of the Asian currency crisis of 1997 were actually sown during the previous decades when these countries were experiencing unprecedented economic growth. For long, exports had long been the engine of economic growth in these countries and as such many Asian states were regarded as Export Power Houses. The increased foreign capital inflow into these economies also propelled capital expenditure which led to an investment boom in commercial and residential properties, industrial assets and infrastructure. These capital expenditures were financed by heavy borrowings from banks which had excess liquidity but no strong regulatory frameworks. Thus, by the mid 1990s, South East Asia was experiencing an unprecedented investment boom, much of it financed with foreign investments and borrowings. The case was made worse as much of the foreign borrowings had been in US d ollars as opposed to local currencies. At the time, this had seemed like a smart move (i.e. regional local currencies were pegged to the dollar and interest rates on dollar borrowings were generally lower than rates on borrowings in domestic currency, and it made economic sense to borrow in dollars if the option was available); but, many of the investments made with these funds were on the basis of projections about future demand conditions that were unrealistic. Soon, there were indications of macroeconomic imbalances in the Thai economy; the real exchange rate had risen to an apparently unsustainable level and the current account was also in constant huge deficit. Rao (1998). Also, Asian Countries started to see their ballooned volume of investments during the 1990s declining significantly. Paul krugman (1999) stated the Asian countries attracted so much foreign capital that their economic growth was fuelled more by sheer volume of investment rather than by the productivity of those individual investments. Therefore the governments in the region could not maintain their dollar peg and their currencies started to depreciate against the dollar, this increased the size of the debt burden that needed to be serviced when measured in local currency. This started the debt boom. A final complicating factor was that by 1996, there became a slackening of export growth which was much noticeable in Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, while in Thailand there became a decline in the dollar value of exports. This decline in export did not stop growing import and this disparity saw many south Asian countries shifting strongly into the red during the mid 1990s. By 1995, Indonesia was running a current account deficit that was equivalent to 3.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Malaysias was 5.9% and Thailands was 8.1%. With deficits like these starting to pile up, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the governments of these countries to maintain the peg of their currencies against the U.S dollar. Thus by 1997, the first obvious indication of the crisis started with the Thai economy. Thailand could no longer defend their currency and therefore floated the baht on the 2nd of July 1997. (Rao, 1998). Prompted by these developments in Thailand, investors saw basically the same issues facing Thailand surfacing in other neighbouring countries. As a result, investors panicked; their fears were not allayed especially because of lack of transparency regarding issues such as the extent of government and private debt, the health of the financial sectors and no trust in the government to take pre-emptive corrective actions. This led to massive capital flight. The withdrawal of foreign currency led to dramatic depreciation in exchange rate and higher interest rates. This led to an increase in the number of non-performing loans, causing an erosion of the market value capital of most of the countries. Thus, the scene was now set for a potential rapid economic breakdown. There is no consensus on the exact origin of the currency crisis in East Asia; while some schools of thought believe that the crisis was caused by the initial financial turmoil in some Asian countries, followed by regional contagion (Radelet and Sachs, 1998; Marshall, 1998; and Chang and Velasco, 1999), others believe it occurred as a result of policy and structural distortions (Corsetti, Pensetti and Roubini; 1998). However, most of the East Asian economies were interdependent, hence it was only logical that a crisis in one would have a domino-effect and inadvertently cause a crisis in other East Asian Economies that were linked to it. Warning Signals during the 24 Months prior to the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Months of Lead Time, and Performance Measures. Number of Warning Signals and Months of Lead Time (in parenthesis) Optimal threshold percentile Indonesia Korea Malaysia Philippine Thailand Singapore Noise to signal ratio Conditional crisis probability (%) Share of crisis predicted (%) Overall Composite Index 88 7(11) 9(10) 13(13) 10(11) 10(10) 0(10) 0.137 77 83 Current Account 90 7(11) 11(16 13(13) 11(11) 16(16) 0(0) 0.136 77 83 Capital Account 90 1(23) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.288 62 63 Financial Sector 90 0(0) 0(0) 2(3) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.313 60 67 Real Sector 90 2(2) 9(14) 0(0) 2(10) 4(13) 0(0) 0.322 53 31 Global Economy 80 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 75 Fiscal Sector 87 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0(0) 0.540 46 46 Source: ERD Working Paper No.26 Using a Signalling approach based EWS model, it shows that persistent warning signals prior to the 1997 crisis was not just in a few but all of the five countries most affected by the crisis. The findings of this model supports the fact weaknesses in economic and financial fundamentals in these countries triggered the crisis. The Impact of the crisis on the Economics of the countries involved. As Thailand floated the baht on July 2 and allowed the currency to fall, wave after wave of speculation hit other Asian currencies, a de-facto devaluation of the Philippine Peso followed on July 11. Korean Won too lost. Malaysia let its currency, the ringgit float on July 14th 1997, as foreign exchange reserves had gone down to $ 28 billion. Singapore followed on July 17th and the Singapore dollar (S $) quickly dropped in value from $1 = S $ 1.495 prior to the devaluation to $1 = 2.68 a few days later. A month later on August 14, Indonesia floated the rupiah. This was the beginning of a precipitous decline in the value of the Indonesian currency as a fall was seen from $1 = 2,400 Rupiah in August 1997 to $1 = 10,000 Rupiah on January 6th, 1998, a loss of 75% (Rao, 1998). Source: DataStream The Chart (above) shows the monthly evolution of the currencies of the eight South-East Asian countries during the crisis from July 1997 to April 1998. The Five countries where the crisis where particularly serious (Figure 1A) saw more decline in their currencies than countries in Figure 1B even though all countries shown were affected.ÂÂ   The economy of Thailand where the crisis started from suffered a real sharp decline. Total export earnings declined and a trade deficit rose to $ 16 billion. With the deficit standing at over 8 percent of GDP and its financing largely coming from short term funds; the external debt of Thailand rose to $68.1 billion. The non-performing loans of banks and finance companies in Thailand were estimated to be around 12 percent of total loans in mid 1997. The Thailand economy was also plagued by a deteriorating external sector, a stock market decline (the stock market index fell from 1683 in 1993 to below 500 in1997) and most importantly dwindling forex reserves. A decline in investment saw the closure of investment houses which resulted in immediate unemployment rates of between 6 and 10 percent (Rao, 1998). The Indonesian economy also suffered a set-back which included growing current account deficits due to lack-luster export growth and mounting debt service. Loss of confidence in Indonesia led to a series of attacks on the currency. In the second half of 1997, the rupiah fell by 72 percent against the dollar which had an adverse effect on the Japanese, European and US banks that lent billions of dollars to Indonesian companies. According to Witcher (1998), the Indonesias financial system started to stagger under escalating bad loans. Indonesia sought help from the IMF, they agreed to provide them with loans estimated at $40billion and in return demanded that Indonesia keeps interest rates high and immediately close 16 banks. The news of bank closures led to panicked withdrawals by depositors and investors. As Stiglitz(1998) and Yellen(1998) discussed; due to limited information, investors were unable to distinguish which banks were healthy or not so they shied away from them all; this caused more havoc to the economy. The crisis quickly spread to the real sector. The real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 13% in 1998 and remained stagnant in 1999. Real output declined by approximately 14% in 1998. The Indonesian economy thus went into a recession with falling GDP in 1998. It also had a weak economy that was composed of falling domestic demand and company closures which meant rising poverty and unemployment. . Unemployment which was historically no more than 3 to 4 percent hit a 10 percent level in 1998 with around 8.7 million people jobless. The impact of the crisis on welfare and the economy as a whole was mostly reflected in the poverty rate which rose from 15% in 1997 to 33% in 1998. The contagion effect soon caught up with South Korea, a country whose economic performance was spectacular compared to other Asian countries. However, the won began to depreciate from late August 1997 and gathered momentum by October. From about 900 won to the dollar in early August, the exchange rate plummeted to about 1200 by the end of November. The ratio of debt reserves rose during 1992 1997 (Rao, 1998). In January 1997, Hanbo Steel collapsed under a $6 billion debt. This was the first Korean Chaebol to go bankrupt in 10 years (Chang,1998). In the wake of this, the Korean shares declined in value by 25.2% at the end of 1997. Balance in trade declined from a surplus of $7.6billion in 1987 to a deficit of $20.6billion in 1998. GDP per capita fell and Unemployment rate naturally rose to 5.9 percent in February 1998 and started to climb up from there (Rao, 1998). The Philippines Economy faced a significant currency crisis, the peso fell significantly from 26/US $ to even 55/US $. The GDP growth rate dropped from 5.1% in 1997 to -0.5% in 1998. GNP hovered at 0.1% in 1998 compared to 7.2% in 1996 and by the fourth quarter of 1998, growth of investments had declined to -23.9%. In Hong Kong, the economy saw the collapse of the Hong Kongs stock market (with a 40 percent loss in October). On October 27 1997, the market rout on Wall Street was preceded by a 5.8 percent plunge in the Hong Kong stock market which snowballed through the worlds developed and emerging stock markets. Most markets in the Asia-Pacific region tumbled in sympathy, with Australia down 3.4 percent and Tokyo down 1.9 percent. Below is a graph showing the evolution of the Asian stock markets during the financial crisis of 1997- 1998. Source: Morgan Stanley International Capital (MSCI). Figures 2A and 2B (above) show the monthly evolution of national stock price indices (expressed in US dollars) for these same eight countries and during the same period of time. The finding shows a consistent close relationship between exchange rate depreciations and stock returns during the crisis. (Bailey, Chan and Chung (2001).) Japan was also affected because its economy is prominent in the region. Asian countries usually run a trade deficit with Japan because the latters economy was more than twice the size of the rest of Asia together; about 40 percent of Japans export go to Asia. However, even with this, the Japanese was finally shaken as their yen fell to 147 when mass selling began; Also, with the collapse in the value of the Japanese stock market, the value of assets also plummeted, leaving the institutions with a diminished asset base and an increased portfolio of non-performing loans. The GDP real growth rate slowed dramatically in 1997, from 5% to 1.6% and even sank into recession in 1998. In a relatively short period of time, the crisis currency crisis shock was spread even beyond Asia. The USA market (the Dow Jones industrial) plunged 554 points or 7.2%. The New York Stock Exchange briefly suspended trading; this was accompanied by plunges of 15 percent in Brazil, 13.7 percent in Argentina and 13.3 percent in Mexico. Europe also had the impact of contagion effects, Markets like London fell 2.6 percent, while Germany, France and Italy all shed 2.8 percent. Smaller markets like Finland plunged 5.7 percent, while Spain skidded 4.1 percent. Russia became the major non-Asian victim of the financial contagion. By mid 1998, investors began to perceive systematic weaknesses of the Russian economy which was similar to Asia; therefore they began a steady withdrawal of their capital from the economy. By midsummer 1998, it became apparent that Russia was struggling to maintain an exchange of roughly 6 rubles to 1 dollar at the time. Their central bank reserves began to dwindle. Despite the loan package and the pro-market administration, the international investment community lost faith in Russia and rushed for the exits. On August 15th 1998, the rubble was allowed to float and the Russian stock market lost 25% of its value. The Measures that have since been adopted to avoid recurrence of a similar crisis. After the slow down of the Asian Currency Crisis of 1997, the regions former economic tigers had to mete out some conditions and policies towards a sustainable Asian economy that would be able to withstand any financial turmoil and consequently avoid the recurrence of a similar crisis. These regionss heavy weight also had to accept the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions in order to stay afloat although the IMF had never dealt with a crisis of this magnitude and was met with stiff hostilities; the IMF prescribed tough conditions and measures that contributed immensely to considerable long term gains for the Asian Economics (Lakhan, 2007) One of these conditions were policies involving the Macro-economy. The tightening of monetary policy (at different stages in different countries) was necessary to stem exchange fluctuation, to prevent currency depreciation from leading into a spiral of inflation and into the eventual collapse of the exchange rate. Some countries like Thailand, South Korea, Philippines and Indonesia switched to improved credible policies that involved their exchange rate system. These countries adopted the inflation targeting policy which implied greater transparency and accountability instead of exchange rate as an anchor for monetary policy. Inflation targeting also allowed for the attainment of stable development of their economy through the establishment of credible and reputable central bank; as these central banks set inflation targets and implemented monetary policies committed to the achievement of targets. They also made monetary policy decisions based on overall judgement of the economy by k eeping constant watch not only on immediate price movements but also on trends of demand and supply factors in the domestic economy, exchange rate movements and overall movement of the international economy. The effects from this policy adopted inflation targeting contributed largely to stabilizing the monetary and economic environment after the currency crisis (Tomoko, 2002). A typical example could be seen in South Korea. After the Crisis, South Korea revised the Bank of Korea act to introduce inflation targeting in 1998. Since its introduction, South Koreas inflation targeting has played an appreciable role in stabilizing the countrys economy. In particular, the introduction of inflation targeting has secured the independence of the Bank of Korea in monetary policy and drastically enhanced the transparency of monetary policy. Affected countries of the crisis also embarked on their financial system stabilization to avoid any similar recurrence of the debilitating financial crisis. These measures ventured into the areas of liquidity support for troubled banks in question, deposit protection measures through a deposit insurance co-operation to prevent systemic risk arising from the spread of credit uneasiness, boosting capital base through capital injections from public funds and prompt disposal of non-performing loans by a third party organization (Resolution and Collection Company in the case of Japan and asset management companies (AMC) in the case of Asian countries). The four countries where the financial crisis was particularly serious (Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia and Indonesia) injected public funds into financial institutions often with government assistance. They also went into the act of promoting the consolidation of financial institutions by closing or suspending operations of banks with do ubtful chances of survival, temporarily nationalizing them or merging them. They established an asset management company to purchase non-performing loans Thai Asset Management Corporation (TAMC) in Thailand, Danaharta in Malaysia, Korea Asset Management Company (KAMCO) in South Korea, and Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) in Indonesia (Lindgren et al, 2000) Although the system of the companies or organizations varied from one country to another, they all similarly purchased non-performing loans at about market prices and disposed the assets selling by tender or by means of securitization. At present, they have disposed of about 50~70% of the assets. Thailand for example, had finance companies (non-banks) that had been suffering from business difficulties even before the currency crisis and the Thai government had been providing liquidity support to them. After the crisis, the government improved its classification standard for non-performing loans to conform to the international standard and strengthened write-off standards. It also nationalized commercial banks, injected capital and reorganized them. As a result, the number of commercial banks decreased. Thai commercial banks non-performing loan also later decreased dramatically due to agreements on debt restructuring as well as transfer of non-performing loans to the TAMC and write-of fs. As a result, the non-performing loan ratio dropped to 19.2% as of the end of March 2001 and capital adequacy ratio stood at 12.01% as of December 2000 (A ratio higher than the BIS standard) (Montes, 1998). Structural reforms were also adopted in the areas of banking supervision and regulation in order to forestall the kind of financial system instability caused by the crisis and to minimize the effect. These reforms were also necessary to address the weaknesses in the financial and corporate sector as these features had become impediments to growth such as monopolies, trade barriers and non transparent corporate practices. Based on this recognition, the IMF and the World Bank jointly began monitoring the international standardization and observance of standards to maintain the soundness of financial systems by introducing the Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in 1999. Under FSAP, the IMF and the World Bank assess the observance of banking supervision and regulations implemented by each countrys financial supervisory authorities, promote observance of international standards, and recommend the best practices. These acts which have been entrenched in continue to globalize the A sian economy (Lindgren et al, 2000). Rehabilitative measures were also extended to private corporations and financial institutions in the Asian countries as these institutions were also hit by the currency crisis largely because they had a superficial understanding of the need for exchange risk hedge, as their currencies were virtually pegged to the dollar. It was for this reason that the debt burdens caused by the mismatch of currencies increased during the crisis, bringing a serious impact on the economy as a whole. Thus after the currency crisis, there was a shift to a floating exchange rate system and this pushed private corporations into recognizing the importance of hedging against exchange risks. In South Korea, the government conducted a campaign appealing for the need for exchange risk hedges. Some other countries established a financial supervision system to check if foreign currency-denominated debts are hedged against exchange risks. Thanks to these policy efforts, the number of private corporations hedging against exchange risks increased drastically and the response capabilities of the economy as a whole to exchange fluctuations have been strengthened (Lindgren et al, 2000). A stronger and unified Regional Financial and Multilateral Co-operation in East Asia was also adopted and this has proven to be an effective buffering against the occurrence of future crisis Although regional financial cooperation in East Asia did exist even before the crisis, such as Executives Meeting of East-Asia Pacific Central Banks(EMEAP), a forum of central banks and monetary authorities in the East Asia and Pacific region established in 1991; the event of the Asian currency crisis proved more glaring that the countries in East Asia had a much more economic interdependency than was previously realized. This forced a fostering of a much stronger regional financial and multilateral cooperation. This co-operation in Asia was promoted in various forms, such as the New Miyazawa Initiative incorporating a comprehensive support measures, including a 30 billion dollar financial support scheme, announced in October 1998; the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI), a swap arrangement mechanism to support those countries in potential danger of a currency crisis and the Asian Bond Market Initiative (ABMI) to avoid high dependence on the external financial market and use regional resources more efficiently (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000) In addition to the development of a regional crisis-prevention mechanism, Asian countries started to co-operate especially in trade relations. This inadvertently resulted in a much more stable policy for exchange rates between the Asian currencies. With the increased unification that came as a result of the push for a stronger and unified regional financial and multilateral co-operation in East Asia, there became a rising sense of Asian identity culminating into the speculation of an introduction of a regional common currency in the future (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). The finance ministers of China, Japan, and Korea agreed at the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers Meeting in 2006 to conduct joint research on monetary integration in East Asia. The motion put forward in 2006 helped to create grounds for the much talked about Chinas global strategy approach which started making head way in 2010. Now, China is beginning to emerge as the new and dominant world power, buttressing this, is the recent widespread awareness and circulation of the Chinese currency (renminbi). These co-operation measures adopted in Asia also extended as a forum for economic co-operation (such economic co-operation was seen to be displayed in the widely acceptance of the Chinese currency renminbi by the other Asian countries). This economic co-operation by these Asian countries arguably challenges the American hegemony. It also proves a strong force towards the elimination of any future financial crisis that might occur as the initiatives and discussions on intensifying monetary and fi nancial cooperation has reached a far end spectrum (Naoyuki Yoshino et al, 2000). From 1996 2000, there have been a resurgence of economic growth across the Asian region. Countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and the Philippines have averaged almost 5%. CHARTS SHOWING THE EFFECT ON THE AFFECTED COUNTRIES AFTER THE MEASURES HAVE BEEN ADOPTED. From the chart above, it can been seen that after the rehabilitative measures were meted out, corporate balance sheets in Asia improved as debt-to-equity ratios have been reduced sharply and foreign currency borrowing is no longer a large component of the corporate sources of funding. From the chart above, it can be seen that low loan-to-deposit ratios together with little off-balance-sheet financing, have helped banks avoid liquidity and funding stress in the current credit turmoil. Thus, Banks are stronger with current account surpluses and large foreign reserves. Compared to United States and many European countries, Asian economies have relative modest property price appreciation (see Chart 5). Asian countries have taken measures to cool property markets in recent years whenever prices threatened to become a bubble. As a result, property price crashes in the wake of slowing economic growth and financial market turmoil have been less of a risk. Conclusion: Although, the Asian currency crisis was fuelled by sheer weak economic and financial fundamentals including macro- economic imbalances, which created a contagion effect for the other countries involved. However, with the measures now adopted, it is obvious that the Asian economies have now been strengthened and would continue on that path.

The Digitial Millenium Copyright Act Essay -- Copyrights Copyrighting

The Digitial Millenium Copyright Act As current lawsuits unfold and the history of the Internet progresses, the debate over the future of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act thrives. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, signed into law by President Clinton on October 28, 1998, was written in an attempt to strike a balance between the rights of a work’s creator to receive adequate compensation and society’s fundamental right to freedom of information. The bottom line is that the objective of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is to prohibit all Internet users from accessing copyrighted materials on the Internet. The most renowned case where this is currently happening is A&M Records, Inc v. Napster Inc (Downing 2). The reason the DMCA creates such controversy is that many people believe that the Act puts all of the control into the creator’s hands, which, in truth, is not a balance at all. However, one cannot blame this lack of balance entirely on artists because the reality is that most artists do not own the right to their work, but the company with which they signed their contract owns the rights. The question remains as to how to word the DMCA in a way that will not only promote the rise of Internet business, but will protect people’s fundamental rights. The Act, as is, will not suffice, rather changes must be made before society allows their rights to be controlled by the big-money corporations that own most copyrights to influence the government with their money. If society remains ignorant about the provisions of this law, then not only are we allowing the very people who profit from the Internet to restrict who views it, but we are sitting idly by as the government strips us of our rights. "Eliminate it" or "Lea... ...It will also help the service meet the needs of its expanding user base in a manner that is consistent with Napster’s values and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (napster.com). There has to be a way that people can have access to copyrighted information on the Internet. There is an incredible wealth of information to be learned in this world, and it should not be denied as a result of a fear of losing a profit. We cannot develop stringent copyright laws on the Internet until such time that the entire world is ready to accept and follow these laws as well. It is useless to make law in one country when it could easily be broken in the next. Until the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is provide a solution that works for both the people and the creators, and is suitable for worldwide application, then it is useless to write a law just for the sake of having one.

Language as Freedom in Sartres Philosophy :: Argumentative Communication Imagination Papers

Language as Freedom in Sartre's Philosophy I argue that Sartre posits language as a medium of communication that is capable of safeguarding the development of subjectivity and freedom. Language does this in a twofold manner: on the one hand, it is an action that does not phenomenally alter being, but that has the capacity of altering consciousness; on the other hand, language, more particularly written text, is a mode of communication that is delayed, hence that occurs outside the present, i.e. in a different space and a deferred time. As such, it preserves the subjectivity of both writer and reader. The argument is as follows: first, I present Sartre’s definition of freedom and subjectivity in terms of his definition of consciousness of the For-itself and In-itself in Being and Nothingness; second, I draw on examples from La Nausà ©e to illustrate the link between language, consciousness and the expression of freedom and subjectivity; third, I refer to The Psychology of Imagination and What is Literature? to illustra te further the importance that Sartre places on writing and reading as means to establish a lasting impression of personal freedom and subjectivity in a manner that defies space and time. In this paper I shall argue that Sartre posits language as a medium of communication that is capable of safeguarding subjectivity and freedom. Language does this in a two-fold manner: on the one hand it is an action which does not phenomenally alter being, but which has the capacity of altering consciousness; on the other hand, language, more particularly written text, is a mode of communication that is delayed, hence that occurs out with the present, i.e. in a different space and a deferred time, and as such it preserves the subjectivity of both writer and reader. I present this argument in the following manner: first, I present Sartre's definition of freedom and subjectivity in terms of his definition of consciousness of the For-itself and In-self in Being & Nothingness; second, I draw on examples from La Nausà ©e to illustrate the link between language, consciousness and the expression of freedom and subjectivity; third, I refer to The Psychology of Imagination and What is Litera ture? to illustrate further the importance that Sartre places on writing and reading as means both to freedom and subjectivity. 1 In Existentialism and Humanism (1946), Sartre states that "if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it.

Characteristics Of A Comedy Essay -- essays research papers

Characteristics of Comedy There are many characteristics that make up a comedy. Characteristics such as mistaken identity, battle of the sexes, and jumping to conclusions are what set the comedic story apart from the tragedy. Within a comedy, no matter how much fault, and dismay may appear within the story, there always seems to be the classic ending of â€Å"†¦and they all lived happily ever after†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Comedies capture the viewer with a sense of compassion and love for the characters in the story. Each character has their own essence, to which they pertain a flaw of some sorts, which the audience can relate to. With the relation to characters there is defiantly a certain interest that is grabbed by the actors, which sucks the audience into the show.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Within the comedic play Much To Do About Nothing, Shakespeare portrays many of the characteristics of a comedy. One of these characteristics is mistaken identity. When it is thought that the lady Hero is dead, the offer for Claudio to marry Hero’s cousin is presented, yet Hero is playing a fictional character of her cousin. Claudio had mistaken her identity for that of her cousins. The plan is not known at all until it all unwraps at the end of the play when the supposed cousin takes off her veil. In a modern comedy, mistaken identity is usually more settle, and less drastic then a wedding. Such as in the movie Clerks, when the employee running the store (Dante) steps away from the counter, and asks his friend to watch the store. Then the Dante’s ex-girlfriend comes into the store and asks for him. Dante has been sweating her for so long and wants to get back together, and so does she. His friend (Randal) being ignorant tells her he went home to chan ge or he’s in the back. She goes into the back of the store not to return until a few scenes later. Then she comes out from the dark back bathroom fulfilled, and out of breath to find Dante standing there talking to Randal. When she asks Dante how he got to the front of the store so fast, he replies what are u talking about. It ended up that she was in the bathroom with another man who had gone into the bathroom earlier. She had made love with this stranger thinking it was Dante. Mistaken identity can be quite drastic at times, and then again can be a dream come true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It seems within every comedy there is a batt... ...e jumps to the wrongful conclusion of this tragedy. Even though it seems like Claudio has much fault in the scandal, it is not at all his fault. Within modern day life it is not uncommon to find someone jumping to conclusions about someone, or a situation. Within the comedic sense it shows the ignorance of man, and how impatient we are to find out the truth. It seems as though through this characteristic of comedy, there is the reflection of man’s impatience, and how we grab the first possible answer without looking into it just to get an answer; the easiest answer.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  All aspects and characteristics of comedy from the past can relate into characteristics of comedy form the present. Although stories and plots are different, the general formula to have a comedy remains the same throughout the ages. Relating these characteristics of the comedy Much To Do About Nothing, by Shakespeare, to comedies from the present is simple because every comedic story contains the same characteristics of a comedy. To be a comedy, a story must contain comedic characteristics. Without these characteristics, there would be no comedy, and with no comedy the world would frown.

Relationship Between Iman, Ibadah and Akhlak Essay

Praise be to Allah S.W.T. the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful, as the believers praise Him and may He send blessings and peace upon our prophet, Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. and upon all of his forefathers, his brethren of prophets and messengers, his family and his companions. Worship is not simply the observation of ritualistic acts. It is a sincere kind of religious experience. In fact, it comprises of physical and spiritual expression of the human personality on a higher level of consciousness. The Al-Quran says, â€Å"Prostrate yourself in adoration and bring yourself closer (to God).† (96:19) The prophet, Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. was once asked, â€Å"What is the essence of ibadah?† He replied, â€Å"The worship of God as though you are seeing Him. Or, if you are not seeing Him, He is seeing you.† All acts in our daily life are considered as worship whether it is hidden or on the eyes of the public. Worship in Islam hold to a concept which looks an individual as a whole not only personal contact or relationship with God. Therefore, this is how worship is said related to akhlak (morality) and iman (faith). Allah S.W.T. instructed prophet Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. in Al-Quran, â€Å"Say: ‘Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. No partner hath, He: This, am I commanded and I am the first of those who how to His will.† (Surah An-Nisa’, 6:162-163) As an individual worships Allah S.W.T., he or she must take care of his or her manners in the best possible manners that one can show and practice. In other words, the combination of a loyal worship and sincere in morality or ethics are a way to gain strong faith. Islam is a simple way of life. In fact, in Islam, there is no enforcement to Muslim on worship and on how to act in public. Muslim is free to do what they want to do as long as it does not against the hukum in Islam. In seeking t he pleasure of Allah S.W.T., an individual must have the right attitude in ethics and worship in order to posses a strong faith. THE CONCEPT OF IBADAH (WORSHIP) IN ISLAM Ibadah or worship in Islam is an all-inclusive term for all that Allah S.W.T. loves of a person, both internally, in the form of thoughts and intentions as well as externally, in the form of sayings and actions. In other words, worship is everything that an individual intends, says or does for the pleasure of Allah S.W.T. It includes ritualistic acts, for instance, prayers, fasting, pilgrimage and charity. It also extends to beliefs, social activities and personal contributions to the welfare of society. Generally, there are two types of worship according to the concept of Islam. First kind of worship is a worship that has been prescribed at a specified time- prayers, fasting, pilgrimage and almsgiving. This form of devotions is called as the five pillars of Islam. Other than that, there are also unspecified terms of worship or ibadah which consist of zikir and fikr, meaning to remember Allah S.W.T. with feelings of fear and love. The second form of worship or ibadah aims for the mental activation of human soul so that an individual will be able to see Allah S.W.T. signs in every thing the individual across in daily life. This is the worship or ibadah which is obligatory for every Muslim throug hout and individual’s life. Another important component in the concept of worship or ibadah in Islam is the realisation that Allah S.W.T. pleasure is earned through the performance of ritualistic acts as well as the morality when dealing with the situation in daily life. Islam does not think much of mere ritualistic acts when they are performed mechanically and have no influence to an individual’s inner self. â€Å"It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East or the West but righteousness is to believe in Allah and the Resurrections Day, and the Angels, and the books, and the Prophets, and out of His love, spend one’s choice wealth for relatives and orphans, for the needy and the wayfarer, for beggars and for the ransom of slaves, and establish the prayers and pay the almsgiving, and to fulfil the pledges that you have made, and to patiently persevere in pain and in adversity and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth and such are the Allah-fearing.† (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:171) THE CONCEPT OF IMAN (FAITH) IN ISLAM Allah S.W.T. the Almighty says, â€Å"O you who have faith! Respond to God and the Messenger when He calls you to unto that which gives you life, and know that God comes in between a man and his heart, and that to Him you shall be mustered.† (Surah Al†Anfal, 8:24) And says, â€Å"Those who have faith, and have not confounded their faith with evildoing – to them belongs the true security, they are rightly guided.† (Surah Al-An`am, 6:82). And He says, â€Å"But whosoever turns away from My remembrance, his shall be a life of narrowness, and on the Resurrection Day, We shall raise him blind.’ He shall say, ‘O my Lord, why have you raised me blind, and I was wont to see?’ God shall say, ‘Even so it is. Our signs came unto you, and you forgot them, and so today you are forgotten.† (Surah Ta Ha, 20:124–126), And says: â€Å"By the soul, and Him who shaped it, inspiring it with its lewdness and its God† consciousness. Prosperous is he who purifies it, and a failure is he who stunts it.† (Al-Shams, 91:7–10) The technical meaning of faith is firm belief in something real, based on evidence. Experts in this subject have defined faith as being ‘to believe with the heart and proclaim with the tongue’ some have added ‘to act with the body.’ Or, in the words of Abu `Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Salam: ‘Faith is to have sincere devotion to God with the heart, to testify this with the tongue, and to act on it with the body.’ An individual who accepts faith will enter the fold of Islam. Faith is not simply a recitation of kalimah, creed of Islam. According to the Al-Quran, it is a ma’arifah that is, realisation. Thus, realisation of truth is the door to Islam. When an individual discovers that Islam is truly God’s religion and it is the same trut h and individual has been seeking all along, an individual will undergo a unique experience of realisation. This is a ma’arifah. Making any kind of discovery revolutionises an individual’s life but when this discovery is of the truth, this intellectual revolution becomes synonymous with the emergence of a new life in the individual. This kind of intellectual is not a simple event, it turns man into superman and gives and individual the greatest mission of the individual’s life. It regulates the individual’s life in such a way that no part of it remains unaffected. The individual will begin to see all of humanity as the individual’s family and the entire universe as his abode. Such discoverer becomes a maker of history rather than a product of history. This is the miracle of faith or iman. It was this faith or iman which enabled the prophet Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. and his companions to produce the miraculous of all miracles. Faith or iman refers to the inner aspect of the religion and denotes a believer’s faith in the metaphysical realities of Islam. The term faith mention in both Al-Quran and a hadith of Gabriel A.S. Allah mentions, â€Å"The messenger has believed in what revealed to him front His lord and the believers. All of them believe has believed in Allah and His Angels and His Books and His Messengers.† (Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 285) THE CONCEPT OF AKHLAK (MORALITY) IN ISLAM The word ‘morality’ comes from the Latin word ‘moralitas’ meaning ‘manner, character, and proper behaviour’. Morality generally refers to a code of conduct, that an individual, group or society holds as commanding, in distinguishing right from wrong. Such an ideal code of conduct is often promoted in preference to other alternatives. Islam as a comprehensive way of life encompasses a complete moral system that is an important aspect of its world-view. We live in an age where good and evil are often looked at as relative concepts. Islam however, holds that moral positions are not relative, and instead, defines a universal standard by which actions may be deemed moral or immoral. Islam’s moral system is striking in that it not only defines morality, but also guides the human race in how to achieve it, at both an individual as well as a collective level. It is to live among one’s fellow men according to the moral teachings of Islam. T he essence of Islamic morality or akhlak is thus set forth and given in a hadith, â€Å"Behave with others as you would like them to behave towards you.† (Sahih Bukhari) By nature, everyone knows what sort of conduct he approves of and of what sort he disapproves. So, to follow this generally accepted moral criterion in relation to others is essentially in Islamic morality. Islam differentiates between social manners and social character. Social manners are based on the principle ‘do as they do’ but Islamic morality or akhlak is based on the formula of unilateral and unconditional positive conduct. â€Å"Do good to others even if they are not doing good to you.† (At-Tabrani) So great an importance has been attached in Islam to moral character that it has been set up as a criterion by which to judge all other Islamic virtues. If an individual is good in relation to other human beings, he or she will also serve as the evidence that an individual also is good in relation to Allah S.W.T. According to the Al-Quran there are three sources of it, and all the three are imbedded in human nature. They are, 1. The Commanding Self (Nafs-e-Ammara) is the self, which stimulates the human being towards evil. We read in the Al-Quran, â€Å"Yet I do not hold myself to be free from weakness, for the Commanding Self (the animal self) is surely prone to enjoin evil, except on whom my Lord has mercy.† (12:53) There are various natural and moral states of human being. According to the Al-Quran the state arising out of the human beings animal self, Nafs-e-Ammara (the Commanding Self) is the first source of morality if the weapon of reason is applied. The reasoning faculty in the human being is sufficiently well developed to analyse his behaviour critically and to perceive the immediate and remote consequences of his actions. It is the result of the critical exercise of reason that comes into play on inappropriate occasions and animal like actions, functioning as a control. This exercise of reason and control take then the hue of moral states. In other words, the foundation of good morals lies in our natural emotions and instincts, and good morals are nothing more than appropriate and controlled exercise of these naturally endowed powers and instincts. Hunger and sexuality are the basic commanding needs of humans and animals. Now if these basic commanding forces are brought under control through fasting and marriage, they become virtues. The Al-Quran has not only discussed in detail the basic human emotions and instincts, but also has gone further by investigating the underlying causes for arousal of these emotions, the need for such an arousal and has also explained how to channel and sublimate these emotion towards morality. 2. The Self-Accusing Spirit (Nafs-e-Lawwama) is the second source of morality, the one judging the excellence of morals. It is the voice of the conscience which becomes loud when an act of lewdness is being done. Every human being is gifted with this voice. We read, â€Å"And I swear by (and bring to witness) the Self-accusing Soul (Nafs-e-Lawwama – the innate self reproaching spirit, at the doing of an evil deed as an evidence).† (75:2) Nafs-e-Lawwama is thus what we call the living perception of one’s psychological condition or the call of the inner voice. One aspect of getting a ruling from the voice of the conscience and from one’s heart is that when we are about to commit any action we should first imagine to apply such an action to ourselves. If we are not adversely affected by this action and if it proves to be good and effective for us, such an action would also be beneficial and good for others. And if we cannot accept it for ourselves, then it must be assumed that it is neither appropriate for others. All those who act unfairly towards others, should put their own persons in place of others and see how they would like such an act to be perpetrated against them. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, â€Å"When wanting to decide whether something is good or bad, ask your heart and innersoles, and take it that the deed, the commission of which gives you a feeling of satisfaction to the heart and innersoles, is a virtuous deed and the deed which rankles in the heart and produces perturbation and hesitancy in the mind is a sinful deed, even though the people may tell you that it is a lawful deed.† The question that arises at this juncture is that if this Nafs-e-Lawwamah, the self ac cusing spirit is present in every person, and every person is endowed with a voice of the conscience, why is it that a lot of persons still commit immoral acts? The answer to this is simple. Though our conscience does raise its voice of protest and the commission of such an act, people mostly do not pay heed to it. Secondly, immorality is a poison. Repeated doses of this poison blunt or destroy the conscience. 3. Love and Faith in the All-Mighty is the third and the ultimate source of morals. Once a Muslim Sufi was asked, how can we free ourselves from unlawful prohibited things and from afflictions and find peace and tranquillity? He replied, through a firm faith in Allah, for one gets free of all weaknesses and calamities through such a faith. Faith in God is the foundation stone of the Qur’anic Code of Ethics, not only in the sense that the Divine Attributes are like milestones on the way to good morals, but also from the angle that our faith in God strengthens our heart t o achieve the good and shun the evil. The â€Å"angels† of God guide such a person and he starts to live a life of peace and security, freeing himself of the filth of vice and sin. It is through this channel the human soul finds its ultimate peace and tranquillity which is called in the Al-Quran Nafs-e Mutma’innah – the Soul at Peace. â€Å"(As for the person who has been blessed with a contented and peaceful mind He will say to him,) ‘O you soul at peace! Come back to your Lord well-pleased with Him and He well-pleased with you. Enter the fold of My chosen servants, and enter the Garden made by Me.† (89:27-30) It is wrong to say that a disbelief in God does not produce any defect or diminishing effect on one’s morals, and confirmation of the existence of God does not strengthen one’s moral powers. Among the principles proposed by the Al-Quran for faith in God is the principle of Retribution and Recompense for one’s deeds and this is an important principle in the laws of nature. A person who is merely adhering to a moral code only uses his own person or the society at his personal discretion, and by doing so he thinks that he is becoming better civilized and serving the society. He has no motivation of getting any reward. But when the Al-Quran motivates us towards higher morals, it simultaneously tells us that by adopting higher morals we not only improve and reform society, but we are also making our next life better. â€Å"Verily, those who say, â€Å"Allah is our Lord,† and then remain steadfast (and follow the straight path), the angels will descend upon them (saying), â€Å"Have no fear nor grieve rather rejoice at the glad tidings of receiving the Gardens (of Paradise) which you have been promised.† (41:30) The existence of moral forces within the human personality emanates from and is subservient to the inborn faculties of a human being and there exists a natural impulse towards morality in the human makeup. The human faculties which are inherent in human nature in its inner aspect as opposed to the outer and physical aspect are denoted by the word Khulq. Khulq is the term which describes that habitual and firm disposition in a human by virtue from which moral actions flow spontaneously and effortlessly. All the moral principles that exist are nothing else but a manifestation of natural human emotions and nature is the source of them all. A person becomes laudable only when his natural faculties and personal disposition take on a moral hue through training. If such actions are good and laudable when judged by common sense and the Law, such a disposition is called a vi rtuous disposition, and if such actions are bad and condemnable, such a disposition is called an evil disposition (Ahya Al-Alum by Imam Ghazali). â€Å"Thus the source of all morals is within the nature of a human being – his disposition and his various natural states. If human faculties are the source of morals, and sometimes we see immoral actions emanating from human beings, are we to understand that some of these emotions and faculties are evil in themselves? The Al-Quran has answered this question in the negative, telling us that the headwaters of human birth are not mudded, nor is sin and immoral behaviour an intrinsic part of his nature. The human being is simple and pure by nature. Its true nature is endowed with guidance and Divine inspiration; he has been created in the finest make and endowed with righteousness: We have surely created the human being in the finest make and the best proportions (with enormous capabilities for an all round advancement through the process of evolution). Then (according to Our law of cause and consequence) We degrade him to as the lowest of the low (if he does evil deeds). Different, however, is the case of those who believe and do deeds of righteousness. There awaits them a never ending reward.† (94:3-6) â€Å"Thus, the evil in the human beings is something which evolves later as a consequence of their training.† (94:5) Similarly The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, â€Å"No infant is born except with an inborn sense of natural goodness, and then his parents make him into a Jew, Christian or a Muslim.† (Sahih Bukhari). â€Å"In other words, a human being is born innocent and unblemished in his nature.† (94:4), and he does not enter this world carrying a load of original sin. Those who think that a human being is sinful by birth have erred. Similarly it is a wrong assumption that a human being is the product of some earlier life and his present birth is an outcome of some previous birth, and that he is caught up in the ramifications of his actions in some previous existence, as is believed by some. That is why in the Al-Quran there is no mention of ‘original sin’, ‘atonement’ or ‘transmigration of soul’ as these are the products of human fantasy with no evidence at all for their support. It must be understood that there is a difference of quality and quantity of natural powers in various indivi duals. There is a difference between emotional origins and practical manifestations of emotions and these differences give rise to a vast sea of moral values, and this sea has been enclosed in the small canvas of Qur’anic moral code. THE HIKMAH OF INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN IMAN IBADAH AND AKHLAK The relationship between faith and worship will result a maintained and stabilised worship that will ensure the faith in an individual’s heart thicken and stronger. Meanwhile, the relationship between worship and morality is the complete way of life in Islam as they maintain good behaviour and manners where ever they are and whatever they do, in the same time maintaining a good worship or ibadah to Allah S.W.T. by following the five pillars of Islam and also the Sunnah of our prophet Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. Therefore, the connection between faith, worship and morality are closely consistent and if one is lost then it is incomplete. Imagine it like a house wall as faith, pillar of a house as worship and roof as morality. If one feature is gone, the house will be incomplete or in other words will crash down. CONCLUSION Praise be to Allah S.W.T. the Most Compassionate and the Most Merciful, as the believers praise Him and may He send blessings and peace upon our prophet, Muhammad Rasulullah S.A.W. and upon all of his forefathers, his brethren of prophets and messengers, his family and his companions. Worship, faith and morality is connected to each other as they are the basis in Islam for seeking the pleasure from Allah S.W.T. Worship is all acts in our daily life regardless of its status, hidden or on the eyes of the public. Faith is to have sincere devotion to Allah S.W.T. with the heart, to testify this with the tongue, and to act on it with the body while morality or akhlak can be defined as the manners or good behaviour in our daily life. These three components are important things in the completion of an individual’s human soul need to seek pleasure from Allah S.W.T. To conclude, an individual must perform the ritualistic acts to Allah S.W.T. not only by personal means but consider to r epresent the individual’s whole life to Allah S.W.T. as well as practicing good behaviour or manners in daily life to ensure the possession of stronger faith. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Al-Quran 2. Muhammad Al-Ghazali (1991). Akhlak Seorang Muslim. Kuala Lumpur: Victory Agencie. 3. Ahmad M. Saefuddin (1984). Ibadah dalam Islam. Jakarta: Lembaga Islam untuk Penelitian Masyarakat. 4. Profesor Dr. Hamka (1982). Iman dan Amal Shaleh. Jakarta: Pustaka Panjimas. 5. Habib Ali al-Jifri (2012). The Concept of Faith in Islam. Jordan: The Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. 6. The Essence of Islam. http://www.cpsglobal.org/content/essence-islam

Textbook Analysis

University of Latvia Faculty of Humanities branch of slope Studies Text countersign Analysis tertiary year, group B student Kristaps Briedis capital of Latvia 2013 Introduction The Focus on travel English C. A. E. is written by treat OConnell and starting epoch published in Pearson Education Limited at the Edinburgh Gate, Harlow in year 1999, and the rendering at overturn is the thirteenth impression printed in two hundred6. The standard is oriented for students preparing for the Cambridge Certificate in mature English question.Further, the psychoanalysis of syllabus get out be base on the stuff overtaken in the revised and updated edition of the ripe English C. A. E. The substantial schoolbook book consists of 240 foliates. It includes quartetteen wholes, which ar split up according to several(prenominal)(prenominal)(predicate) topics (e. g. Severe Weather, quantify Eaters, Stress etc. ). Each whole of the groundbreaking English C. A. E. is utilize to the culture of entirely lecture skills recital, authorship, earr apiece, harangue. Moreover, on that point ar grammar and phrase chores in each unit. whizz unit from the Advanced English C. A.E. ( social unit 12 Living Dangerously) was chosen for the analysis of the whole book, beca lend geniusself each unit is devoted to the causement of all run-in skills and thus, it is tolerable to analyze only wholeness of them in redact to chthonianstand how the whole book cyphers. Reading Reading earth-closet be defined as the address of constructing meaning from written school textual matters (Online 1). Thus, short-changeing accepting skills means judgement the text what wizard reads. But wherefore do we assume to understand what we read? match to Harmer (2001200), there atomic number 18 two eccentric persons of causes for rendition.The first is implemental reason, which means that people read because it jocks him/her to succeed particular goal (e. g. people read road signs in methodicalness to contri savee it off where to go). The other type is called pleasurable. That means that the reason for tuition near particular text is to get pleasure (e. g. reading illustrated cartoon). Thus, it does non matter what reason the student has, it is eventful for him/her to rehearse reading skills. social unit 12 of the Advanced English C. A. E. offers the students two reading exercises.The first text is the magazine member called Living Dangerously. It contains slightly 400 run-in and is carve up into 8 separates. thither is a pre-reading exercise, which students should do before reading the of import text. The pre-reading exercises motivate the students and encourage their involution in the topic and theme of the text (Online 2). afterward doing a pre-reading and a turn-reading activity, students be asked to read the gaps in the article choosing the proper paragraph (from A-G) inclined after the text.In order to earn a general understanding of a text, the students do extensive reading, which includes interpretning (a readily reading, foc employ on locating particularized in nameation) and skimming (a quick reading to love how the passage is organized and to get an sen snipnt of the intention of the writer) (Online 3). Finally, the post-reading exercise is given to slow down how the students have understood the text and to develop their critical thinking. In this exercise the students be asked to find given registerions in the text and work out the meaning of them from the linguistic context (e. g. ested interest might mean a personal stake or involvement in an under victorious or smear). As the plunk for childbed, a newspapers article You be caught in a fire indeed what? is given. It is about two times eight-day than previous article (about 800 words). Firstly, students argon asked to s bay window the text (to read it quickly) in order to be able to answer few questions in p re-reading activity (e. g. Who devised the Survival coarse-grained and why? ). Then, students should read the article more(prenominal) c befully in order to do the interest post-reading exercise. This type of exercise is diametric from the first genius.In the second case students have to answer eightfold choice questions. there ar 6 questions with 4 answers in each. Some advantages of this type of exercises atomic number 18 the following ten-fold choice exercises require slight time than approximately written tasks, it is con grimacered to be more objective than a vulgar written task, and it will allow assessing onenesss experience without taking into estimate all the irrelevant factors (Online 4). pen Writing is said to be a regularity of representing talking to in visual or tactile form (Online 5). And more of import it is a skill of marking pellucid words on paper and makeup text (Online 6).There are m whatsoever reasons why constitution is historic, for example, the aptitude to express ones thoughts and ideas, communicative competence (letters), besides it serves as a record, as in expressing ones ideas for future references (Online 6). There are different types of theme pen to inform, educational opus, writing to entertain, persuasive writing and motivational writing (Online 7). To improve writing skills there are more or less intrinsic instructions that need to be performed research, think, organize, write, edit, revise, slack (Online 7).Two writing exercises are included into the unit 12 of the Advanced English C. A. E. The first exercise is writing an article (250 words) about an interesting adventure. The text edition has a substantially approach to the writing tasks as it provides a Task Checklist, where there are several road map questions concerning format and approach, meaning and organization, direction and the target reader, for example, Who are the magazine readers? or What wrangle features are needed fo r this content? .Also the text provides a Writing appoint, where the features of different types of writing formal and light letters, articles, reports, reviews and so on are shown. The second part of the exercise is the involvement of some structures in the article in order to emphasize or add some dramatic effect, for example, writing sentences using eversion (a reversal of normal word order) or cleft structure (A construction in which some element in a sentence is moved from its normal daub into a separate clause to give it greater emphasis) (Online 8).The second exercise on writing consists of writing a memo (50 words) and a report (200 words) about the security in collage. The innate part in this task is to use the information that is already given, but using ones own words. The task as well as has a Task Checklist with the guideline questions and indication to the Writing buck and as well includes the explanation and tips on writing a memo. Advanced English C. A. E. aim is based on covering different types of writing.The Unit 12 included persuasive writing (writing a memo), which improves the skills of argumentation (Online 7), and informative writing (writing an article). The tasks are well organized and aristocratic to understand, they provide comprehensible instructions and too some tips for writing the given type of the text. Additionally there is a supplement, where the features of the different types of texts are enclosed, so it is easy for a student to rapidly find the obligatory information. Listening Listening is the baron to accurately receive messages in the communication treat (Online 9).Listening is non an easy process because the attendee should concentrate and understand everything what he/she hears on the spot. It is impossible for the listener to adjust the whole step of speech, listen again or stopover an unknown word. In addition, comprehend is not the same as hearing as sense of hearing means paying charge to not only what is being told, but also to the manner how it is being told. harmonize to the statistics, adults spend approximately 70% of time communicating, while approximately 45% of the time spent on communication is listening (Online 9).After a short explanation on what is listening and why it is so important in everyday communication, it is essential to compute how listening is taught in schools. The textbook under analysis provides largely two (in some units one) listening tasks in each unit. According to Rost (2002), listening tasks idler be divided into three phases pre-listening, while-listening and post-listening. This division is not always present in the textbook because in quite many of the tasks pre-listening or post-listening is missing.Pre-listening and post-listening are very important because pre-listening is like a warm-up for while-reading as it activates the background noesis andintegratesthe directions of listening (Helgesen, 1998), while post-reading al lows the learner to sort mental representations and develop shortterm second language memory, and increase motivation for listening a second time (Rost, 2002). The textbook presents much(prenominal) pre-reading tasks as questions on the theme and vocabulary related exercises. In Unit 12 two vocabulary related exercises are offered as lead-in tasks into the following istening tasks as well as into the whole unit and theme. All while-listening tasks are divided into quaternion different types or parts (as they are called in the book). In parts 1 and 2 a monologue or sometimes a dialogue mountain be heard. The task type apply in these parts is mostly choice in the gaps. The students are tested for aptitude of hearing specific information (or bottom-up listening), which, according to Helgesen (1998), is similar to scanning. He writes that listening to specific information is difficult as students try to catch everything, often taking the time to mentally translate it into their father tongue (Helgesen, 1998).A longer recording of a password or conversation can be heard in the part 3. The students ability of understanding the text as a whole (or top-down listening), including the gist and specific information, is tested in this part. The task types are fill up in the gaps, sentence completion and four-option multiple choice questions. In part 4 five short extracts can be heard. Students are asked to identify the situation or topic, the manner and the attitude of speech production, the goal of the gibberer or specific information. The task types are multiple matching or three-option multiple choice questions.The while-listening texts are in the form of formal and informal conversations, public announcements and cloak-and-dagger messages. The while-listening tasks in Unit 12 are of parts 1 and 3. Both exercises are filling in the gaps, and the recording can be heard twice in each of them. The few post-reading tasks are mostly questions on the theme, for example, the task in Unit 12 asks to create mentally yourself in the situation connected with the previously heard text and discuss what you would do yourself, which is quite yeasty and interesting post-reading exercise.Most of the tasks are one-way as all input grapples from an outside point of reference (like a videotape) to the learner not from outside, for example, a speaking furnish (Rost, 2002). In addition, the listening sub-skills, such as skimming, scanning, note-taking, understanding attitudinal and abstract meanings, understanding unfamiliar lexical items through and through context, understanding relationships within the sentence, also are taught in the textbook (Online 10). intercommunicate Speaking isthe delivery of language through the sass (Online 11). Speaking skills enable learners to enter the corporation of the target language (Kramina, 2000 86).This vocalized form of language usually requires at least one listener (of course, some people talk to themsel ves ) speech can flow naturally from one person to another in the form of dialogue, or it can also be planned and rehearsed, as in the delivery of a speech or presentation (Online 11). According to Kramina (2000), to act as a speaker participating in the communicative process, the learner must be able to carry out a sequence of skilled actions which comprise cognitive, linguistic, and phonic skills. There are speaking tasks throughout the textbook under analysis that help practice and enhance those skills.There are four parts to the speaking tasks in Advanced English C. A. E. each focusing on different speaking skills and sub-skills. plane section 1 focuses on general social language general social English and the ability to interact with other people in English. segment 2 focuses on transactional language ability to give information clearly. Part 3 practices negotiation and collaboration skills, and Part 4 is knowing to test the ability to report, explain, summarise and to develop a sermon naturally. Pictures and other visual prompts are utilise in Parts 2 and 3 to cue various tasks.Unit 12 of the textbook under analysis includes four speaking tasks three of them concerning Parts 3 and 4, and one on Part 2. According to Kramina (2000) the exploitation of communicative ability requires a divagate of sufficient classroom activities that should provide learners with a degree of communicative urgency so that they have something interesting to regularise and a reason to communicate with their partners. Learners may be motivated to communicate by the economic consumption of playing a game, the challenge and rapture in solving a riddle or completing a project.Tasks 1 through 3 focus specifically on problem solving. In task 1 the learners are faced with an roughhewn statement and five possible variants to terminate it the learners are to engage in a discussion and give well-founded answers to the put through questions. The correct answers can the n be found on the answer page of the book. Task 2 consists of parts a and b. Part a is a work in pairs, where each of the participants are to imagine themselves in a particular arguable/ difficult situation and have to come up with a sound solution, or choose one from the already given visual prompts.In part b, the participants have to soon explain to the rest of the class the decisions they came to with their partners, and say how far they agree or disaccord with the opinions of others. Task 3 is a discussion of points concerning the topic of the unit. Several questions are given, designed to encourage the learners to use their existing knowledge on the subject, brainstorm for new solutions and express personal opinions. Next to these three tasks, tips are given on how to develop the discussions raise by listening and responding to what your partner says and allowing the partner to comment on what you say.The last speaking exercise of the unit concentrates on twain presenting information clearly and listening guardedly to the information given by a partner. Students have to work in pairs and each gets a picture to look at the pictures are of the same scene but there are several differences in the midst of them. First, Student A is to describe the left side of his picture in detail, while Student B listens carefully and notes any differences (without interrupting), and when A has finished, B should mentions any differences noticed.Then frailty versa, Student B describes the right-hand side of the picture, while Student A studies for differences. When students are done with both parts of the task, they are to look at the two pictures unitedly and compare their answers to the list given on a different page. This textbook is, however, lacking tasks that would help with the phonetic skills development, so it would be up to the teacher to help students learn the skills to articulate the utterance appropriately. (Kramina 2000 65)Conclusions Although Focu s on Advanced English C. A. E. is a textbook designed specifically as an coordinated course for students preparing for the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English examination, it covers all the essential language skills for foreign language learning and is suitable for English language acquisition, and is generally a good material for the preparation of several other English examinations, e. g. , the English examination of Secondary education in Latvia.The textbook offers 14 units covering a capacious variety of stimulating topics, authentic reading texts from a range of sources, thorough practice of all language skills, a Grammar filing cabinet with detailed information of all points cover in the units, and a Writing File with model text types and useful language, all coming from the experienced teacher, teacher flight simulator and examiner Sue OConnell. References 1. Harmer J. (2001) English verbiage teaching. England Pearson Education Ltd. 2. Helgesen, M. 1998) ESL Magazi ne. 1 (4) 24-25. uncommitted from http//www. mgu. ac. jp/ic/helgesen/marc. article2. htm Accessed treat 5, 2013. 3. Rost, M. (2002) Listening Tasks and Language Acquisition. available from http//jalt-publications. org/archive/proceedings/2002/018. pdf Accessed demonstrate 5, 2013. 4. Kramina, I. (2000) Linguo-didactic Theories Underlying Multi-purpose Language Acquisition. Riga University of Latvia. Online Sources 1. lendable from http//lrs. ed. uiuc. edu/students/jblanton/read/readingdef. tm Accessed March 6, 2013. 2. addressable from http//tlc. cet. ac. il/ShowItem. aspx? ItemID=ccd2b528-84f5-4078-a76f-d6b1243f26e9&lang=EN Accessed March 6, 2013. 3. on tap(predicate) from http//fis. ucalgary. ca/Brian/611/readingtype. html Accessed March 6, 2013. 4. Available from http//www. multiplechoicequestionsservice. com/multiple-choice-questions-advantages/ Accessed March 6, 2013. 5. 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