CASE STUDY QUESTIONS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS - Essay Example Economists assume that price is the most important influence on the amounts of any products or services purchased. Apart from price, economists explained that there are many other factors like consumers’ taste, numbers of consumers in the market, consumers’ income, price of related goods etc that also influence the amounts of goods or services purchased (McConnell and Brue, 2004, p. 42- 43). These factors are generally referred as determinants of demand. A person’s taste, preferences and opinions of the product or service consumed are some of the basic determinants of how much a consumer buys them. At higher price of the product or service, the consumer generally economizes and reduces quantity purchased. Similarly, as consumers’ income increases, the consumer is generally found to be buying more of many products and services in the market (Pugel, 2003, p. 19). When it comes to the case of tourism of Guam, 85% of the total tourists are from Japan and the n umbers of visits to Guam from Japan have been decreased in recent years. Demand for tourism can also be a function of consumers’ income, price of the service or price of competing goods. ... 81). As far as consumers’ income is considered to be a main determinant of the tourism to Guam, the price of tourism in relation to three different components are to be analyzed. These three components are cost of transportation, living cost in Guam and exchange rate. When more consumers are to travel to Guam, their relative spending on transportation and living would likely to increase. Similarly, they may have to spend more on exchanging currency too. In order to attract more customers to Guam and increase travelling to Guam, it is recommended that cost of transportation between Guam and Japan must be discounted or the government has to promote tourism through some seasonal programs. As a government policy maker, it is also recommended that cost of living, especially for those who visit Guam from Japan has to be adjusted in order to attract more visitors from Japan. If government fixes a specific fixed exchange rate between US Dollar and Japan’s Yen for the Japanese t ravelers to Guam, the expenditure issues that Japanese concern in relation to the exchange rate can also be solved and thus to increase numbers of travelers from Japan to Guam. A number of political and social factors have also caused decrease in travelling to Guam. The downward trend in Guam’s tourism has been caused by Japan’s sluggish economy and some political events like Gulf War in 1991, Typhoon Omar and Earthquake rated 8.1 in 1993, Korean airline crash in 1997, Asian crisis in 1998 etc (Dougan, 2007, p. 80). Japanese were choosing Guam for tourism for several reasons like beautiful beaches and safety in Guam. Safety in beaches, resorts and hotels should be

The Broadway show Chicago Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Broadway show Chicago - Personal Statement Example The most exhilarating shows in Chicago's lively Downtown Theater District contributed significantly to my appreciation of the aesthetic experience of the mind and the stages of the Ford Center for the Performing Arts/Oriental Theatre, the Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Bank of America Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre and the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place are some of the most notable stages that brought to my mind a really high opinion about stage show Chicago. The Addams Family and Jersey Boys are two of the most incredible shows in the Broadway show in Chicago. Significantly, the former is a splendid new show created by Jersey Boys authors Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice at the Oriental Theater, Ford Center, while the latter is a multi-award winning show. "The weird and wonderful family created by cartoonist Charles Addams comes to devilishly delightful life in a new Broadway Musical The Addams Family Jersey Boys, the mutli-award winning Broadway show about the rise to fame of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons is breaking box office records at the Bank of America Theater in Chicago." (The Best Shows in Chicago) Therefore, my experience in the Broadway show in Chicago has given me an essential opportunity to understand and appreciate aesthetic value of the stage show in Chicago, in which I realized the importance of costume, dance, choreography, musical elements of the show. It is fundamental to note that the Broadway show in Chicago is an absolute beauty, incorporating dance, choreography, music, performances, etc. and the various stages in the show bring before the audience a memorable experience that no one ever forget all through his life. One of the main attractions of the shows here is the costumes used for various performances, dance programs, and musical shows. Significantly, Broadway costumes offer accuracy and professionalism to any performance staged in Chicago. The great wealth of theatrical costumes enhances the beauty of every show presented here, and I was particularly attracted to the theatrical costumes of the Pirates of Penzance and Phantom of the Opera. Another fundamental attraction of the Broadway show in Chicago is, undoubtedly, the pulse-racing revival of the musical 'Chicago' which also incorporates some of the sexiest and most sophisticated dancing on Broadway show. As Ben Brantley maintains, "this new incarnation, directed by Wa lter Bobbie and choreographed by Ann Reinking (who also stars), makes an exhilarating case both for 'Chicago' as a musical for the ages and for the essential legacy of Fosse, whose ghost has never been livelier than it is here." (Brantley) Therefore, the costumes, musical, dancing, and choreography in the Broadway show in Chicago attract a number of theatre-goers today. The Broadway show in Chicago has offered me a great opportunity to recognize my ability to appreciate aesthetic elements of every artistic form. The costumes of the show attracted me very much and the dancers and choreographers seemed amazing to me. Significantly, the stage show in Chicago helped me in realizing the excitement of Chicago tourism and every show I witnessed here will live in my loveliest memories all through my life. The striking revival of Chicago musical and dancing reminded me of the glorious days of the show.

Aqua Fish Canada Inc Essay Example for Free

Aqua Fish Canada Inc Essay May 2007 to April 2009 Update Over the past two years, AFC has faced more intense competition, particularly from aquaculturists in Chile. In addition, Chilean output has increased the supply of salmon and the Canadian dollar has strengthened in relation to the U. S. dollar. As a result, AFC has been unable to meet its budgeted revenue targets. Stocks of unsold harvestable fish have increased, as well as the corresponding cost of maintaining the fish, and the company barely made a profit in fiscal 2009. In January 2009, AFC lost one of its largest retail customers, SF Seafood, to a new salmon aquaculture firm, Nu-Farm Inc. This new competitor uses a sophisticated, computerized system for supply chain and product distribution functions. The system allows Nu-Farm to establish web links with customers, such as SF Seafood, and to manage orders and deliveries directly for each of the customer’s retail outlets. This has eliminated the need for customers to make separate arrangements to receive and warehouse fresh fish, and to ultimately distribute the fish to their retail locations. In February 2009, 2,000 kilograms of fish from Site 4 were rejected by three important customers, two of which are located in the United States. An internal investigation revealed that two employees at Site 4 had neglected to follow established procedures and failed to reject some fish that did not meet quality standards and were not certified by the staff veterinarian. In April 2009, employees neglected to secure some of the net-pens at Site 3. During a storm, more than 300,000 kilograms of young fish escaped from these net-pens and most were subsequently lost to predators. Although the company’s property and liability insurance covers criminal theft of fish, it does not cover the loss of fish from disease, parasites, escape, or predators. In addition, there is no liability coverage with respect to food poisoning or diseases caused by the salmon, or environmental damage caused by the farm’s operations. The lost salmon had a book inventory value of $690,000, which was written off in fiscal 2009. The ultimate sales value of the lost fish had they grown to harvestable weight is approximately $1. 5 million. It will cost $200,000 to repair the damaged pens. Domestic and Export Markets Guy Mills is dissatisfied with the company’s geographic sales distribution, which has not changed since 2006, and would like to increase overseas sales. He has requested Juliette Maise to investigate the possibility of opening an overseas sales office. Experts predict that demand for all forms of salmon will grow at a record pace in overseas markets, particularly in developing countries. It is expected that Canada’s international reputation for salmon and other fish will remain high. A market analysis by a respected source, published in May 2009, indicates that the market for fresh salmon is maturing very rapidly in Canada and the U. S. , as consumer tastes become more sophisticated and demand begins to shift to shellfish and various exotic, imported fish. New packaging methods have been developed for mussels, which has enabled live fresh mussels to be exported to markets at greater distances from the farms. The wholesale market price for Canadian mussels has remained stable at about $1. 40 per kg, but is expected to increase to $1. 0 over the next few years. In the past few years, global supplies of American oysters have decreased after hurricanes destroyed a significant percentage of the oyster farms in the southern U. S. At the same time, the popularity of these oysters by consumers in North America and Europe has been increasing. As a result, the market price for American oysters farmed in Canada significantly increased from $1. 80 per kg in 2006 to $2. 70 per kg in 2009. The re-established farms in the southern U. S. are expected to have their first new harvests in another year or two. New Strategic Goals The board of directors met in May 2009 after receiving the financial statements for 2009. Guy Mills provided the board with a summary of selected site and segment data (see Appendix 1), and reported that the decreased profits in 2009 were caused by the Site 3 problems, the decrease in market value, the strengthening Canadian dollar versus the U. S. dollar, and the increased feed costs. He also indicated that he expected the four sites to yield an average of 3. 8 million kilograms (950,000 kilograms per site) of harvested fish per year, assuming that no further unusual losses were incurred. Given the current market conditions and the risk of having to decrease prices or lose export sales to the U. S. , the board decided that the company should move into other markets and diversify into shellfish farming. No dividends would be paid for the next year or two to free up some cash to invest in new projects. The board directed Mills to investigate establishing shellfish aquaculture sites and develop a business strategy for increasing the profitability of the current salmon operations. They indicated that any proposed investment should generate a minimum after-tax return of 10% within five years. Shellfish Aquaculture Opportunity Mills explored opportunities for diversifying into shellfish aquaculture. He found two potential opportunities (a mussel farm and an oyster farm) and wondered which one should be pursued or whether both should be pursued. A summary of the costs and yields for establishing these farms is provided in Appendix 2. Project Blue Wave Over the past two years, Dr. Lily Stern has been investigating what makes some salmon in an aquaculture environment grow more quickly than others, have better disease resistance, and develop higher-quality flesh. Her studies have led her to submit a proposal for Project Blue Wave (see Appendix 3), which would use leading-edge genetic engineering to develop a strain of Atlantic salmon with superior qualities specifically suited to aquaculture. Dr. Stern insists that this is a new approach to finfish aquaculture and feels that it would revolutionize the industry. Executive Meeting – June 15, 2008 Mills suggested that AFC could increase revenues by pursuing overseas markets more aggressively. He also indicated that the company should find ways to decrease operating costs. He presented the two options for expanding into shellfish aquaculture and Dr. Stern’s Project Blue Wave proposal for discussion and asked for any new ideas to achieve the board’s goals. Mills also reported that residents in the vicinity of Site 3 were investigating the possibility of launching a lawsuit against AFC if they could gather enough evidence to prove that the escaped fish were causing environmental damage and contaminating the wild fish. In the past, similar lawsuits have had a 10% success rate with damages amounting to $10 million. Vanic questioned the wisdom of establishing a mussel farm in PEI. He indicated that many such farms become infested with an invasive parasite that attaches itself to the growing mussels. The parasites do not have a significant impact on the growth period or meat yields of mussels; however, maintenance, harvest and distribution costs are significantly increased (20% more variable production, 10% more fixed production, and 14% more variable distribution costs). Employees also dislike handling mussels infested with the parasite. Egin indicated that only about 25% of mussel farms get infected with the parasite. He was more interested in the Project Blue Wave proposal and suggested that it had a very good chance of realizing greater than market returns. He indicated that the RD department had been conducting some preliminary research on genetic engineering and the scientists believe they are on the brink of delivering results, if supported with a little more investment. Jacques Dubois wondered whether the chances of successfully developing a fastergrowing salmon were much lower than Egin or Dr.  Stern realized and that a much larger aquaculture organization, or the government, would be doing this research if it were a project worth pursuing. He felt that too much money had already been spent on RD and not enough on operational efficiencies, supply chain management, and technologies. Dubois also wondered whether AFC should consider adopting IFRSs for financial reporting and, if so, what the major implications of the conversion would be. After the meeting, Mills directed Adam Rice, Controller, to review the company’s strategic options and operational issues. Other Information Rice began by interviewing various staff members, and made the following notes: 1. The variability of the fishing industry has made banks very cautious. Consequently, the Eastern Bank of Canada would be willing to provide a loan of no more than $3 million at an annual interest rate of 8%, on the condition that AFC maintain a gross profit margin of at least 20%. 2. Maise has determined that Paris, France would be an ideal location for an overseas sales office. Space could be leased for CDN$5,000 per month and a local salesperson could be hired for an annual base salary of CDN$20,000 plus a four percent sales commission. Maise estimates that this office could generate annual sales of up to 500,000 kilograms of fresh whole salmon. She also indicated that there is a strong market for oysters in France, if they could be transported in an economical manner. 3. Rob Vanic predicts that world fuel prices will continue to increase and that the risk of spoilage of fresh seafood shipped overseas will double. In fiscal 2009, two percent of overseas shipments of salmon were lost or spoiled before reaching the customers. 4. An investigation of the variable cost variances at Sites 3 and 4 revealed that the employees were overfeeding the fish, resulting in an excess amount of feed falling to the ocean floor. At Sites 1 and 2, the employees are well trained and experienced. 5. In June 2009, an important, high-potential overseas customer asked an AFC salesperson to ship crates of fish purchased for US$6,000 with documentation that stated the value as US$2,000. Apparently, this request was for customs purposes. The salesperson consulted Maise, who indicated that the company’s policy to please the customer applied in this and all other cases. The salesperson brought the matter to Rice’s attention. 6. Costs of preliminary research on genetic engineering have been expensed in the year incurred. 7. Genetic engineering is a common practice in the agriculture and livestock industries. Proponents of organic and natural foods have increasingly complained about the ethical issues surrounding genetic tampering. 8. A discount rate of 10% after taxes is used for evaluating capital investments.

Building Social Capital and Expanding Networks

Building Social Capital and Expanding Networks In 2005 MySpace was the most popular website on the internet, even more than Google. Samy Kamkar, a 19 years old computer enthusiast in attempt to find an exploit on the social website inserted some code to allow him to be added as a friend if someone visited his profile account, furthermore the code would replicate on the visitors account and those visiting the infected account would also add him as a friend. In just nine hours Samy reached 480 accounts. In thirteen hours he was up to 8800. And in just over eighteen hours he had spread to about a million accounts, which was almost 1/30 of the total accounts on MySpace at the time. In an attempt to get rid of the worm he deleted his account. However, when he successfully deleted his profile the whole MySpace went down too. Samy was convicted of computer hacking and ordered to not touch the internet for the next following three years. What this really tells us is just how connected we all are. This concept was well known even before MySpace was conceptualized. In 1929 the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy wrote a story called Chains. In Chains one of the characters challenges another character to find on Earth a person who he cannot connect with in less than five intermediaries. This is where the six degrees of separation originated from. The theory states that we are as connected to Donald Trump as much as we are to the fishmonger on the southern Japanese coast. This means that picking up two random people on the globe they are linked to each other in just six steps. In 1960 a Harvard psychologist, Stanley Milgram, tested an experiment called the small world experiment, named after the phenomenon that happens at parties when you meet someone you dont know but share a peer in common and say it is such a small world. Stanley Milgram examined the average length between American citizens.   What he did was sending three hundred packages to people in Boston and Nebraska with the goal to reach a common target person in Boston, but they were not allowed to send the package directly to him but through an intermediate who might know him or forward it to a further person that had a better chance to know him and progress the same way. Of the three hundred packages sent, only 64 made it and the average path was 5.2 steps. And that was all the experimental confirmation the six degrees of separation had at the time. Few years before Milgrams work, mathematician Paul Erdos experimented the same principle over similar networks and found out that when the number of links per node is small, the network is fragmented, however when exceeded one connection per node, the behaviour of the network changes and form a giant cluster where all the nodes seem kinked to each other. This cluster is what we might define as a small world network. While these tests prove the Trump-Japanese fishmonger thesis stated above, on the counterpart true social networks work slightly different. In 1994 Brian Turtle and two colleagues at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania created a game called Six Degrees of Kavin Bacon, the game, inspired by Karynthys theory, it consists in naming a celebrity and find a movie path to Bacon in as few steps as possible. Brian and his fellows came to conclusion that Kevin Bacon was the true centre of the movie universe. The movie network consists of actors who are connected by virtue of having acted together in one or more feature films. We are not just talking about Hollywood, but any movie made anywhere, anytime at all. According tothe Internet Movie Database (IMDB), between the years 1898 and 2000, roughly half a million people have acted in over two hundred thousand feature films. If you have acted in a movie with Kevin Bacon, you have a Bacon number of one (Bacon himself has bacon number of zero). Since Kevin Bacon has acted in quite a lot of movies and at last count had acted with 1550 people, it follows that 1550 actors have a Ba con number of one. This might sound a lot, and certainly Bacon has acted with many more people than the average, but it is still less than 1 percent of the total population of movie actors. Moving outward from Bacon, if you havent ever acted with him, but you have acted with somebody else who has, then you have a Bacon number of two. For example, Marilyn Monroe was in Niagara (1953) with George Ives, and George Ives was in Stir of Echoes (1999) with Kevin Bacon, so Marilyn has a Bacon number of two. In general, the object of the game is to determine an actors Bacon degree by figuring out his shortest to the great man. The small steps linking every actor to the next resembles a small world network, but unlike random network real social networks show a certain level of clustering in some points. The key component in real social networks is not only to have a high degree of clustering that means that friends of mine have other friends that are friends to each other, but also to have some few random acquaintances in order to reach distant other social networks. In 1970, a researcher named Granovetter published a paper called The Strength of Weak Ties where he stated that you as an individual are more likely to get a job through those random acquaintances than your close friends. In fact close groups of individuals are very likely to know the same people and share the same information, but are the random acquaintances that allow you to reach new jobs, places and be exposed to the outside world. Since the advent of social networks the rate of six degrees of separation have significantly dropped in between four and five steps. In 2011 Facebook stated that 92% of their users were connected through just 5 steps and at the present trend it is very likely to drop even further in the following years.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Thus, it is clear how the weaker the tie the better opportunities we have access to. Lets explain this with a clear example: me, Simone, as an Italian immigrant, I moved to the United Kingdom as an undergraduate student and I knew only one person, so my social network was two including myself,   I was trying to find a job and I could find any, so one of my housemates told me his older sister is a supervisor into the local Hilton hotel and she might be able to give me a part time job as a waiter, I started working in hospitality and this gave me a lot of exposure and access to a lot wealthy people, including very successful individuals. I kept on studying Film editing and working in hospitality while deciding what to do with my life and along came this man on his 30s talking about while he was staying in Cardiff overnight, apparently he had some work to do at BBC Wales, I shared a couple of thoughts and told him I was interested in getting an entry position in post production so he asked me for my contact details. About a month later I received a call from a di fferent person at BBC Wales where I was asked if I would be interested to attend a two weeks work placement at the Film Editing department. YOUTUBE VIDEO LAWHence, new information came into my network that was not previously there, this opportunity ended up being much more fulfilling than what I had in mind originally. So, if I had not built this network of ties that opportunity would have never been presented to me, if I was not willing to go out my comfort zone and pursued interest in those people that had something for me I would perhaps gave up and never started postgraduate studies at the Bournemouth University. This path of ties is defined as Social Capital. Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (1983) defined Social Capital as: The aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition. He explains that much like money, the more friends, acquaintances and professional ties one has, the more knowledge one has, the more likely one is to be successful in a specific pursuit. What is more important during university is building weak ties, interpersonal ties, each relation we tie with someone is different. Granovetter (1973) explains that there mainly three kinds of ties: weak, strong and absent. The strength of each can be correlated to an amount of time one spends with another, the emotional intensity of that tie, the level of intimacy involved, and the level reciprocity. Ideally, weak ties are low-time, low emotion, low-intimacy, high reciprocity ties formed for the purpose of transmitting information. What we want to achieve is to build weak ties that allow us to bring brand new information and social capital inside our network. Weak ties are not only used to accumulate social capital, but also help us reduce our dependency from primary groups e.g. family, weak ties are Large-scale groups that give us social capital to inject back into our primary groups. A way to build social capital through weak ties is using Online Social Networks (OSN) are what help us build weak ties and they are defined as purposeful online outreach programs with the aim of creating weak ties to bring new information (Social Capital) to an individual or primary group. BOOK LIBRARY FIRSTSocial Capital:features of social life networks, norms, and trust that enables participants to act together more effectively to pursue shared objectivesSocial capital, in short, refers to social connections and the attendant norms and trust. Putnam, 1995, pp. 664-5 There is often confusion about what social capital is. At first glance has something to do with community. Civil society and the social fabric its about how people are connected with one another.   P. 1 Up today, it is not clear what should be counted as social capital and what should be excluded from the concept. Societies are not composed of isolated individuals. People are connected with one another through intermediate social structures webs of association and shared understandings of how to behave. This social fabric greatly affects with whom, and how, we interact and co-operate. It is this everyday fabric of connection and tacit co-operation that the concept of social capital is intended to capture. Social capital is the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintances and recognition. Acknowledging that capital can take a variety of forms is indispensable to explain the structure and dynamics of differentiated societies. (Bordieu and Wacquant, 1992, p. 119) A number of critics have argued for a clearer distinction between the subcomponents of social capital. Putnam framed the concept in terms of its public goods aspects, explicitly including reference to the facilitation of co-operation. Social capital is composed of forms that have three basic components: network, norms, values and expectancies that are shared by group members; and sanctions. These three components should be recognizable in almost any form of social association. They can be compared to one of the most familiar and ubiquitous forms of social capital the traditional, locally embedded community, or neighbourhood. The first component is the social network. These relationships may vary from simple recognition to deep friendships. The second component is the social norms. These are the rules, values and expectancies that characterize the community members. Living in a neighbourhood, and our relationships with our neighbours, are characterized by certain rules or social norms. Many of these rules are unwritten. Some of these norms have a behavioural component and others may be more affective in nature. In the modern neighbourhood, these norms might include: helping our neighbours where possible; being courteous and considerate and feeling positive and supportive towards our neighbourhood. These norms may also include more specific habits of reciprocity. The thi rd component is sanctions. Sanctions are not just formal such as punishment for breaking the law. Most are very informal, but nonetheless effective in maintaining social norms (Luzzati, 2000). Neighbourhood living is associated with certain kinds of association on good and bad behaviour. These often appear very mild in form but are still very effective. Neighbours find ways of communicating their disapproval of acts that violate the unwritten codes of the neighbourhood. The sanction may be though someone being told directly, such as through a disapprovance glance, an angry exchange of words or even the threat of action. More commonly, however, the sanction is indirect and subtle, such as though gossip and reputation. The sanction can also be positive, such as praise for a helpful act. Recent theoretical work has sought to break the notion of social capital down into different sub-types. Perhaps the most important of this distinction is between bonding and bridging social capital. In terms of networking Mark Granovetter made a distinction between weak and strong ties (M.S. Granovetter, 1973, 1985). Weak ties, he noted, such as with acquaintances and various contacts, were extremely useful to people in terms of getting information, opportunities and jobs. Strong ties, such as with family and close friends, provided a more intense, multi-stranded form of support, and as such might be expected to play a greater role in emotional well-being. In short different forms of social network, characterized by different forms of personal ties, seem to have different advantages and benefits. NETWORK STRUCTURE, JENGOLBECK it is really important to think about the considerations that have to take into account when considering a network. Networks consist of nodes and edges.   If we consider Facebook network, the nodes represent the friends and the edges the friendships on Facebook.   However, in real life we need to be very clear about what the edges are. Do the edges indicate social relationships between the people? Do they connect people to the classes? Is it both? Going back to the Facebook example, nodes represent people, however edges might represent not only friendship, which is absolutely fine, but an edge can connect two people who like the same music band or who went to same college. To the same extent, a LinkedIn network might reveal a different network of people according to the company they work for or people who have a similar level of expertise or certification to use professional software. So if you consider a network based on friendship, what does it mean to have a high between this? In that case it means that the person contains a lot of information and really stands between different groups of people. While a high degree centrality can represent people who have a lot of connections. So, lets consider building a network of the MAPPE framework at Bournemouth University. Step one is going to be to define the nodes. What are they and what are the criteria for being included. Which people get included as nodes? Is it just the students? Is it teachers? Is it janitors, or the librarians? Generally youll want some mix, possibly between having just students and having all the teachers. If we only include students will lose a lot of tangential people who actually do contribute.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Once defines who the nodes are the next stop is to define the edges. What does an edge represent and what is the criteria for adding one, so if we continue with the same example of the MAPPE framework, we might want to add an edge if two people know each other but   what if they only know one of another? So, what if the two students are in two different courses of the framework and they never interact with each other and they never actually meet but they do know that each o ther exist? Their relationship could still be important. I had been living between Wales and England for just five years and was beginning to feel like I had a new home with new friends, but still felt closely connected to my old ones. It occurred to me, however, that if you asked the average College student how close he or she felt to a random person in the United Kingdom, the answer would probably be not very. After all, most of my friends in Italy had never met another British before, and few of my British friends knew any Italian. The two countries are on virtually distant, and despite a certain cultural similarity and a good deal of mutual fascination, are viewed by most of their inhabitants as being almost impossibly distant, even exotic. Nevertheless, at least some small group of Italians and some small group of British actually were very close to each other, although they might not have known it, by virtue if a single common friend-me. A similar state of affairs applied on a smaller scale between my different groups of friends at University of Bournemouth. I belong to the Department of Media and communication, which is a average size graduate department in which there are more foreign students than British. I spent an awful lot of time in this department and got to know the other graduate students pretty well. But I also worked as supervisor in a local Italian restaurant and the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff, and most of the friends from Cardiff were fellow media students in various related disciplines. Finally, I had lived in students houses and had made some good friends there. My classmates know each other, my housemates know each other, and my restaurant colleagues know each other. But the different groups were all quite, well, different, without me to come and visit, my housemates, for example, would have precious little reason ever to have a meal into my restaurant. That two people can share a mutual friend whom each regard as close, but still perceive each other as being far away is a facet of social life at once commonplace and also quite mysterious. However, it is enough saying that we dont just have friends, rather we have group of friends, each of which is defined by the particular set of circumstances that led to our getting acquainted. Within each group there will tend to be a high density of interpersonal ties, but ties between different groups will typically be sparse. The groups, however, are connected by virtue of individuals who belong to more than one group. In time, these overlaps between groups may grow stronger, and the boundaries between them blur, as people from one group start to interact with people from another via the intermediation of a mutual friend. Over the years I spent at University of South Wales, my different groups of friends eventually met each other and occasionally became friends themselves. Even some of my Italian friends came to visit, and although they didnt stay long enough to form any lasting relationships, the boundary between the two countries is now, in some small way, less distinct than it was. According to Duncan J. Watts (2003) there are four major factors to consider when examining networks: First, social networks consist of many small overlapping groups that are densely internally connected and that overlap by virtue of individuals having multiple affiliations. Second, social networks are not static objects. New relationships are continually being forged and old ones abandoned. Third, not all potential relationships are equally likely. Those who I meet tomorrow depend by those who I know today. Finally, we occasionally do things that derive from our instinct, personal preferences, characteristics, and such actions may lead us to meet new individuals which we have no connection with. My decision to move to the United Kingdom was driven solely by my desire to go to graduate school, and I didnt know a soul when I got there, nor did anyone else that I knew. In other words, we do what we do in part because of the position we occupy in our surrounding social structure and in part because of our innate preferences and characteristics. In sociology, these two factors are called structure and agency, and the evolution of a social network is driven by a trade-off between the two. Because agency is the part of an individuals decision making process that is not constrained by his or her structural position, actions derived from agency appear as random events to the rest of the world. Of course, decisions like moving to another country or going to graduate school are derived from a complicated mixture of personal history and psychology and so are not random at all. Once these apparently random affiliations have been made, however structure reenters the picture and the newly created overlaps become the bridges over which other individuals can cross and form additional affiliations of their own. The dynamic evolution of relationships in a social n etwork, therefore, is driven by a balance of conflicting forces. On the one hand, individuals make what seems like random decisions to launch themselves into new social orbits. And on the other, they are constrained and enabled by their current friendships to reinforce the group structure that already exists.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Check 73 for finale The use of Social Network Sites for the Employment Seeking Process Tom Sander Phoey Lee Teh The Internet increases network density and constantly provide new opportunities for the individual. The job seeking process is heavily influenced by it. Companies and applicants can access information and resources instantaneously. The impact of Social Network platforms on the employment seeking individuals and the social [emailprotected]@@ While the importance of networking when seeking for employment has been widely explored in many articles (Granovetter) Social networks are arising new conditions for the society. Social Networks are increasingly becoming important in job hunting. A group of at least three individuals connected to each other with a tie is considered a social network. Social Networks over the Internet have a similar structure, the exchange of resources is web based, the size and speed of information is much faster than traditional networks. Each social individual lives in social networks. Social networks can be split in three categories: the ones within the individual participate and contribute; those which existence is known to the individual finally those which the individual is unaware of. The first two are considered the most relevant individual as provide suitable positions and influence the daily life of the individual. (Olugin Olguin at al. 2009). Those who seek employment gain valuable information from social networks, and while the support of social networks has been studied by many scholars the capital coming from web based social networks needs further investigation. Social networks connect individuals to each other and enable collective actions and the sharing of information and resources. The members of a network are connected through relationships of various kind; this connections represent the mechanism which keeps the network connected and functional. Each connection can be more or less important to the individual.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   P.100   THE NETWORK STRUCTURE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL Networks can be considered as a market where the individual can exchange, access, and share a great variety of goods and resources in pursuit of his/her interest. Certain individuals or groups of people receive higher returns in quicker period of time; some have higher positions and other lowers, and some reach their goals quicker than other. Human capital, as described by @@@, refers that the people who do better are those who are more capable and skilled than the others. Social capital is the contextual complement of human capital. The social capital says that those who do better are those who are more connected. Some people or groups are connected to others, sharing trust, supporting each other interests or being dependent on exchange to others. Being involved in one of relations is an advantage that goes under the name of Social Capital. BORDIEU, COLEMAN DEFINITION IL LAVORO DEL RUNNER As a former runner and assistant I must admit the life of a runner is no easy task and definitely not the most glorious in the film industry, but it is an essential step towards bigger and farer achievements. Essentially, a runner provides vital assistance to a senior figure in a company. The word runner is not coincidence that refers to the mansion to make sure everything runs smoothly. For many, working as a runner is the most valuable experience to get a foot in the door of TV or Film industry. Typically it is expected to perform a great variety of tasks, from carry people and equipment around to serve coffees or picking up lunch for the entire crew. However what is most valuable about being a runner is networking. While performing the tasks you are assigned you are exposed to many professional figures and building relations to those individuals is much more worth it than anything you may learn during your time as a runner. Linking with higher positions may be the necessary step to move forward in career and move from runner to assistant. Being nice, willing and having a good attitude it is a better business card than your name and phone number on a piece of paper. You never know when an assistant vacancy will be open and As Rees (1966) and Granovetter (1974) suggest, several job opportunities are accessible through social networks, for instance contacting friends, relatives or personal contacts. Because seeking employment can be costly in terms of resources and time, job seekers who access their social network tend to receive better and faster information compared to those who rely on more formal strategies such as job ads or private employment services. According to Granovetter (1974, 1995) better information travel through social networks and provide better options and positive effects such as increased wages or greater job satisfaction. According to Montgomery (1992) we derive that not only obtaining a job via networks, but also just engaging in search through networks can lead to higher wages and cost effectiveness in job search.Granovetters model assumes that social networks provide more job offers than formal job search methods. Furthermore Montgomery (1992) points out that if a job seeker received a job offer from formal methods, this does not exclude the chance to receive additional job offers from social networks that could offer a higher wage. In addition to Montgomerys study, Franzen and Hangartner (2006) assume the existence of what they call job adequacy distribution according which those who seek employment through social networks are more likely to access satisfying position as network contacts have better information on specific job characteristics as well as better information on the preferences of the job seeker. Considering the population of graduates, in addition to the obvious characteristic of having low level of human capital, this group contains or will in the near future a very limited number of employed people. This situation presents a disadvantage because of lack of employed individuals which represent a major source of information in employment seek (Jackson, 2004). If the unemployed are not exposed to this kind of source there is very limited advantage into belonging to such network. The strength of weak ties thesis emphasizes the informational advantages provided by networks (Granovetter, 1973). In particular, it remarks the chances of accessing non-redundant information about employment opportunities. The reason behind this assumption derives by the fact that weak ties help injecting different and unfamiliar pool of information inside primary networks. Furthermore, Ensel (1981) and Villemez (1986) argue that job seekers with advantaged social resources, including networks, tend to obtain better labour market outcomes. Weak ties are considered better resources and facilitate access to unfamiliar information, hence considered to supply better offers.

Harold E. Stearns’ Critique of American Culture in the Book, Civilization in the United States :: American America History

Harold E. Stearns’ Critique of American Culture in the Book, Civilization in the United States Harold E. Stearns and his colleagues set out on a mission to enlighten and inform the American society of the 1920’s in their book entitled Civilization in the United States. Thirty-three authors with the aid of an editor, Stearns, instead produced a highly controversial and inadequate account of certain aspects of life in American society. According to critic Arthur Schlesinger the writers of Civilization in the United States fell short of their goal of producing a critical depiction of American society and instead wrote "supercilious reflections" (167). There are three main themes presented in each essay included in Civilization. They are as follows: Americans are hypocritical, American civilization is not Anglo-Saxon nor nationalistic, and finally American social life lacks emotion. Stearns chose his writers very carefully. He wanted each of them to be blunt and straight to the point in their essays, especially when writing on these three themes. In his preface, Stearns himself states: "If these main contentions seem severe or pessimistic, the answer must be: we do not write to please; we strive only to understand and to state as clearly as we can" (vii). It is obvious that Harold Stearns wanted to voice his ideas and those of his counterparts in an open, bold fashion and that is why each essay touches on the main themes mentioned above. Critic Arthur Schlesinger, however mentions in his critique of Civilization that if there are any common themes in these essays at all, that they certainly are not the ones Harold Stearns mentions. Rather, Schlesinger hints that the theme is that Americans are "cocksure but bewildered children in a world [they] cannot understand" which is new and constantly changing (168). He feels that overall, each author wrote his or her own opinion and didn't follow a common theme in the true sense of the word. It is apparent to me that the critic has a valid point and his opinion coincides with my own opinion. Stearns may have had a common theme in mind when he organized the writing of Civilization, but it seems as if the authors went a bit off track. Some of the topics discussed in Civilization in the United States were "The Intellectual Life," "The City," "Economic Opinion," "History," "Business," "Engineering," "Politics," "Journalism," and "Philosophy" to name a few. As critic Arthur Schlesinger notes in his review of the book, the topics and authors included in this account of

Taoism and Western Moral Philosophy Essay -- Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzu

Taoism presents a moral philosophy that at first seems very different from most western moral philosophies which, though very different, usually understand morality as a set of restraints on behavior or a common set of principles (common virtues). Western moral philosophy, in general, emphasizes constraining behavior that stems from desire. Taosim's emphasis is dealing directly with controlling ones desire by eliminating them. Taoism and western moral philosophy deal with desire but Taoism deals with it directly and western morality often only tries to stem the effect of desire. Both systems see in man that he does not naturally desire the good and true or the Way. Desire is the root of evil. Only when we desire something bad do we act bad. Thus, as in western moral philosophy, we can provide an incentive to not act on ones desire or, as in the case of Taoism, desire can be eliminated. The result of both moral systems is the same--moral behavior. Both systems of morality try to encou rage man to act better than he naturally is. Whether you call it the Way, the Ten Commandments, or the categorical imperative they deal with the same thing. Man's inherent state is fallen, whether he has fallen from grace or lost his Way, all great societies have realized that man is in need of help. This is true for Black Elk who was given a vision to help man and Socrates who felt that man needed to be saved from his own ignorance. Moral systems, by their very nature, have observed and concluded that when man is left to fulfill his individual desires, without respect to others and the greater good, nothing good can come from it. All societies have functioned around this principle from the beginning of civilization. Further, unlike many other moral ph... ...nctions about what need and want mean and are thereby able to relate it properly to the texts of the mentioned philosophers. These distinctions have allowed us to understand how need and want bear on Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzu's moral philosophy and how, under these moral guidelines, we should behave. References Kant, Immanuel. 1993. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, On a Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns, 3rd Edition. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Mill, John Stuart. 1979. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Lao Tzu. 1983. The Way of Life . New York, New York: Mentor, Penguin Group Confucius. 1989. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc. George Orwell. 1946. Politics and the English Language . Found on WWW. Taoism and Western Moral Philosophy Essay -- Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzu Taoism presents a moral philosophy that at first seems very different from most western moral philosophies which, though very different, usually understand morality as a set of restraints on behavior or a common set of principles (common virtues). Western moral philosophy, in general, emphasizes constraining behavior that stems from desire. Taosim's emphasis is dealing directly with controlling ones desire by eliminating them. Taoism and western moral philosophy deal with desire but Taoism deals with it directly and western morality often only tries to stem the effect of desire. Both systems see in man that he does not naturally desire the good and true or the Way. Desire is the root of evil. Only when we desire something bad do we act bad. Thus, as in western moral philosophy, we can provide an incentive to not act on ones desire or, as in the case of Taoism, desire can be eliminated. The result of both moral systems is the same--moral behavior. Both systems of morality try to encou rage man to act better than he naturally is. Whether you call it the Way, the Ten Commandments, or the categorical imperative they deal with the same thing. Man's inherent state is fallen, whether he has fallen from grace or lost his Way, all great societies have realized that man is in need of help. This is true for Black Elk who was given a vision to help man and Socrates who felt that man needed to be saved from his own ignorance. Moral systems, by their very nature, have observed and concluded that when man is left to fulfill his individual desires, without respect to others and the greater good, nothing good can come from it. All societies have functioned around this principle from the beginning of civilization. Further, unlike many other moral ph... ...nctions about what need and want mean and are thereby able to relate it properly to the texts of the mentioned philosophers. These distinctions have allowed us to understand how need and want bear on Kant, Mill, and Lao Tzu's moral philosophy and how, under these moral guidelines, we should behave. References Kant, Immanuel. 1993. Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, On a Supposed Right to Lie because of Philanthropic Concerns, 3rd Edition. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Mill, John Stuart. 1979. Utilitarianism. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Lao Tzu. 1983. The Way of Life . New York, New York: Mentor, Penguin Group Confucius. 1989. The Analects of Confucius. New York: Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc. George Orwell. 1946. Politics and the English Language . Found on WWW.

Chapter 10 summary of Guns, Germs, and Steel Essay

In the Fertile Crescent, plants and animals spread quickly into Europe and North Africa. Innovations such as written language and wheels spread similarity quickly as well. People used domesticated crops rather than those that grew naturally. This shows that people easily adapted the Fertile Crescent’s food production. Chapter 10: Eurasia has covered the largest East to West area of any continent. Diamond believes that this is yet another r advantage for Eurasia. Eurasia had â€Å"amber fields of grain and spacious skies†. With the New world not having these advantages, it slowed diffusion. In the Fertile Crescent, plants and animals spread quickly into Europe and North Africa. Innovations such as written language and wheels spread similarity quickly as well. People used domesticated crops rather than those that grew naturally. This shows that people easily adapted the Fertile Crescent’s food production. Chapter 10: Eurasia has covered the largest East to West area of any continent. Diamond believes that this is yet another r advantage for Eurasia. Eurasia had â€Å"amber fields of grain and spacious skies†. With the New world not having these advantages, it slowed diffusion. In the Fertile Crescent, plants and animals spread quickly into Europe and North Africa. Innovations such as written language and wheels spread similarity quickly as well. People used domesticated crops rather than those that grew naturally. This shows that people easily adapted the Fertile Crescent’s food production. Chapter 10: Eurasia has covered the largest East to West area of any continent. Diamond believes that this is yet another r advantage for Eurasia. Eurasia had â€Å"amber fields of grain and spacious skies†. With the New world not having these advantages, it slowed diffusion. In the Fertile Crescent, plants and animals spread quickly into Europe and North Africa. Innovations such as written language and wheels spread similarity quickly as well. People used domesticated crops rather than those that grew naturally. This shows that people easily adapted the Fertile Crescent’s food production.