Associates Capstone Essay Example for Free

Associates Capstone Essay Executive Summary In going through some of things regarding buying the business I think Mike should make sure that the coffee shop is up to code. He should talk to officials about required standards, for running a coffee shop, licenses; the different laws for having the shop in Sunnydale, Illinois, all of will be needed and will help to keep the restaurant running properly inside and out. It is also important that he reviews each file for all employees making sure all documents that are needed for hire are there, reading through and seeing the difference in their duties and the performance prior to him buying the shop and respond accordingly and whatever decisions he makes with each one or if hiring new document all that is done to cover himself within the law. Going through the business files and reading the comments given by customers is important for this will help to give him proper information on what is liked and dislike about the coffee shop and making a plan to change things or get new things to keep them satisfied and coming back, for ex: as accepting credit cards for payments as well as cash. Going more into the business files checking on the finances and accounting is important to be sure all is accounted for, profits are being make and what the next plan would be according to what is found. This will also help in what they are spending for supplies and necessities and where he can save money and use it for other things needed, also go over the income part to see where they can change prices and get better ideas compare the coffee shop to the competitors place and prices. Also make sure all appliances are up to date and properly handle according to code. After reviewing all of these things an going forward making a proper business plan and procedures of moving forward will give Mike a properly ran business with happy customers coming in and employees glad to keep it running and making profits. Regulations In reviewing some of the personnel files on the employees it seems you will have to definitely put together a company/employee/personnel manual. This will help with the government regulations for the State in which the coffee shop is in and it will also spell out what the Company will expect of the employees and what they expect in terms of benefits and other topics related to employment. (The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, page 203). Be sure that when creating this manual you have included all the necessary rules that you want and intend to enforce, (no drinking on the job, no smoking in the workplace, excessive tardiness, or absenteeism, no sexual harassment, no discrimination in the workplace, no stealing and all other rules that will be enforced, then have a meeting with the current employees and any new employee to review before getting started and have them each sign it to keep in their personnel files. This will let them know that you intend to en force these rules and if not followed the consequences could be termination. Management First thing I would do is create a business plan, Mike is considered the Strategic Manager for the coffee shop and he will need to create a plan, organize it, lead it and control the outcome of all that will happen within the business. He will need to focus on the long term goals of the shop and once he has these can move forward in communicating with the employees. He will then need to meet with each of the employees individually to go over their files, be sure to update them with all proper paperwork and they are legal to work. When discussing things with them do not bring up personal topics: marital status, race, religion, etc. for this would be a violation and is not permitted during any type of interview or meeting with an existing employee or new employee. You can let them know the good things about working for you at the shop and even some things that are not so good, make sure the employee knows what work they will be doing and agrees to it and they will be able to perform these duties, you can also see if they have questions regarding the manual and take care of it at that moment have them sign indicating they have read and understand it. I think he should also review the break room and clean it up putting up the proper documents on the board and take down all that unnecessary stuff on it. He needs to have posted the proper documents of the law with minimum wage and health. The only other thing up there could be the schedule and notes of reminders of what needs to be done. He then should take care of the stock room and office to have them both properly cleaned up things in right places. Once all these things have been accomplished it will make for a better organized area and easier for him to control and lead his employees and have a well established running coffee shop. Finance and Accounting Reviewing the finances is important; it seems they have a very high salary expense (for a coffee shop) and supplies expense that needs attending to. This means checking with other suppliers and their prices. As for the salaries we would need to go over everyone’s positions held and the salary they are being paid and make sure it fits with their positions and pay scale. As I continued going through the files I noticed the income tax/employment tax and other forms were still from 2006, need to get all those updated from previous owner or get them taken care of and all financial and payroll taxes to date. Not filing properly for state taxes/employment/unemployment is a violation and subject to penalties. I would also review the loan that was taken out on the freezer and be sure all payments had been made previously on time and see what the payoff is, he may be able to save monies on paying it off then paying the extra interest each month. Once all of these are reviewed and items that need attention either corrected or forms filled out and all things brought to date, Mike will have a better understanding of the numbers and all within in the business to get him started and ready to go. Make the decisions on what actions need to be taken to achieve these goals. This is part of the strategic planning of the long term goals for the company; it covers major portions of the company. Organizing, Joe will have to get organize the departments, get the right people in place, create the proper systems needed to properly run the company, bring together all resources needed to have it run properly. Now he will have to take these and lead his employees under him to want to be there and work and give there all, with motivation and communication. He will maintain good contact with them to give them what they need to keep the company running properly with all he has organized. Proper leading of employees will help to give more of themselves to produce quality work by giving guidance and inspiration to them. Leading takes place in many areas of the business not just from the top, also from teams, divisions and departments. He will also set values and mission with his leading. Now the last part of the management function is controlling, taking all of the planning, organizing and leading and controlling it to keep it functional. All the other functions isn’t the success of the company it is the monitoring the performance and make changes where necessary. He needs to make sure the plans are being used and goals are being met within the company, also needs feedback in all areas so that he can make changes, to processes, procedures where needed. Financial Statements Checking to be sure all the financial statements have been done and balanced is very important. In checking the business files it seems they balanced but not all were completed, this will help to know where the business stands and where changes could be made. There are 4 parts to the financial statements, income statement, balance sheet, cash flows and owner’s equity. I only noticed 2 of the 4 mentioned in the business files each one of these statements has its own meaning that should be understood even if Mike plans to have someone else handle it, income statement will let him know whether or not the business is profitable, it totals the revenue and then subtracts the expenses associated with making that revenue; results being the pretax profit and after taxes are paid net income. These statements can be done monthly, yearly, quarterly or year to date, I think for Mike monthly would be good for it will show how much he has sold and what it cost to create the sales each month. The balance sheet is a snapshot of how things are at a particular moment, shows the amount of assets and liabilities at a particular point and time, where his income statement shows the flow of money in and out of the company in a specific time frame. His cash flow statement could be the most important for it will tell him whether or not he has enough cash to pay the bills. This statement will reflect investments, borrowing, etc. and other balance sheet changes. The key challenge is that he will need to keep more cash coming in than going out especially with just starting out. His owner’s equity will be the portion of the balance sheet which shows what is left over when all liabilities are subtracted from all assets. This is the number he wants to maximize because it can reflect th e book value of his company. Once Mike has reviewed all of these and are updated he will know what changes will need to be made within the coffee shop from many points. Problem Solving Problem solving and decision making are very important factors in every managers or persons within their business, even in the Coffee Shop for Mike. He will have things that happen or a daily basis and even on an hourly basis in which his skills as the owner and manger are in demand. He may at first with many as a reaction to things react against it, which can cause a downward spiral. He may look at the past and use the old way to fix a current problem and that usually doesn’t work. Mike will need to have a planned approach and then execute it. By doing this he will avoid having the same problem over and over again and use doesn’t continually solve a different problem the same way as the other. There are a few approaches he can take, he can define the problem, look at the potential causes, find different ways to solving the problem, choose which solution is best, make the action plan and then monitor and verify the solution. By doing these things it will help to ensure all is working properly as it should after the solution has been decided. Mike can use these basic steps in his new role as Owner/Manager of the Coffee Shop, making this plan to solve a problem and the decision will make for a better team in the Coffee Shop. Reference(s) Management, Bateman and Snell, Chapter 1 and Chapter 4, 2010 http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Level-of-Managementid=20181389 The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business, Fourth Edition by Edward Paulson http://www.brighthub.com/office/project-management/article/87158.aspx

Concepts Of The Underdevelopment And Dependencies Politics Essay

Concepts Of The Underdevelopment And Dependencies Politics Essay To explain the theory of Underdevelopment and Dependency, a distinction between what really constitutes development and underdevelopment is to be made for better understanding of the entire concept. This paper will therefore be started with a brief analysis of how globalization started and what impact it had on the world process both in domestic and international functioning of the countries. The analysis of globalization is important since the dependency theorists in a way see underdevelopment as an impact of globalization. The paper shall be proceeded with a distinction or rather an explanation of what development means and what underdevelopment stands for in a globalized context; and then move on with the debates on dependency and underdevelopment. Globalization as a process consists of change and transformation of the relationship shared by countries at the domestic and international level. Forming networks of processes and structures of governance, establishing interdependence among countries, globalization changed the very nature of governance; it created a borderless world, where the economic and political interests of countries got bound up. This process of globalization have through the years of economic engagement have let to the division of countries, consisting of the economically well off countries known as the developed countries and on the other hand a group of countries who still have not reached that level of economic prosperity known as the developing countries. Through the analysis of the social, political and economic activities that the developed and the developing countries engage in is seen to lead to underdevelopment. And globalization as understood as the globalization of capital, underdevelopment in turn is seen to be associated with the development of capitalism on a world scale. Studies on the issues of development, underdevelopment has been a consequence of the development of capitalism. In the contemporary globalized world, the countries that constitute the underdeveloped category are the ones referred to as the Third World, basically parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. As globalization refers to changes and transformations, the Third World as underdeveloped connotes its backwardness, stagnation and therefore known as traditional societies 1 Globalization involves political, economic and social interaction of nations with each other. In terms of development, globalization offers assistance or a cooperative functioning of ins titutions between the so called developed and the developing nations. It is asserted that the interaction basically consists of involvement of external forces or agents which are really the agents of the developed nations, within the internal structure or dynamics of the developing nation. The motive for the involvement of such external forces is to help with the process of development of that region or nation. This in turn proves what has already been mentioned that the analysis of development and underdevelopment cannot be separated, such an involvement instead of fostering development leads to underdevelopment, which holds contradictory meanings. Underdevelopment is a distinctive historical process linked to the expansion of developing capitalism. (C. Furtado; 1964) Three phases mainly in the development of the underdeveloped structures, firstly, the development in Western Europe, characterized by pre-capitalist artisan economy and progressive absorption at a higher level of productivity of the factors released. Second phase, is the development of the European industrial economy. And the third phase was the expansion of this European Industrial Economy to other regions. Such an expansion was done through trade and also via encouragement to the regions to produce raw materials. Such production of raw materials was in order to feed the industries which would generate capital. Through this process of encouragement and interaction, the factors to be analyzed are the labor required, the level of real wages, the involvement of the capitalistic enterprise that involves itself in the development process of less developed regions do not itself guarantee development, labor employment is only given to a few and also wage is paid according to the living conditions in the country and not the amount of work done. The nature of the capitalist economy is generally viewed in terms of the role played by the entrepreneurial class. Bernstein, Henry, Underdevelopment and Development: The Third World Today. Introduction: Development and the Social Sciences. Pp.26. DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT: To the dependency theorists, the process of globalization has created distinction between the countries into the developed and the underdeveloped countries. Though there is a category of countries that belong to neither of the category, though they play an important role in the global economy still they lack certain capacities which stops them from making it to the level of developed countries, and on the other hand they are doing better than most of the developing countries which keeps them above the level of the underdeveloped countries. To understand this situation, first an understanding of development is to be brought about. Development stands for changes in the society; progressive transformation of society. Development entails certain value judgments such as the desirability of overcoming malnutrition, poverty and disease which have adverse effects on human suffering; this is a sociological dimension of development. The social development is inseparable from economic development. And also there exists a difference in economic growth and development; the former is seen as a quantitative process, involving principally the extension of an already established structure of production, whereas development suggests qualitative changes, like the creation of new economic and non-economic structures. Globalization was considered a process that turned the very nature of governance in the world; with states no longer the center of analysis, market was also included as an important mechanism for facilitating the world economic process. Globalization was considered to be a facilitator of development by some and some considered globalization as the cause of underdevelopment. Both development and underdevelopment are seen as historical processes. There are various approaches to the study of development, of which modernization theory considers development to be a multidimensional process in which psychological, intellectual, demographic, social, economic and political changes are related one to another (Samuel P. Huntington) 2. Modernization theory also believes that political modernization involves assertion of the external sovereignty of the nation-state against transnational influences and the internal sovereignty of the national government against local and regional powers. Modernization theory shows a high inclination towards the state as having an important role in selecting the transnational influences, which even the dependency theorists assert. Globalization has brought about development, but the kind of development it has brought is capitalist development. This is what dependency theory is critical of; it believes that such a capitalist development has brought about a kind of unbalanced and un-integrated economy Sautter, Hermann, Underdevelopment through Isolationism? Dependency Theory in Retrospect. Intereconomics, July/August pp.184. characterized by the coexistence of a dynamic modern sector of production, typically export oriented and a traditional sector of subsistence agriculture inhibiting the development of the integral market. (C. Furtado) This modern sector is referred to the developed countries or the North as it is known, consisting of countries such as the United States, Europe and also Japan. Though Asia and Africa mostly come under developing countries, however Japan has established itself as a developed country thereby separating it from most of its Asian counterparts. And the traditional sector basically refers to the sectors where no or the least development has taken place. With this respect the third world countries are referred to as the traditional societies; traditional in respect of its backwardness in terms of economy and therefore the society. This backwardness of the third world was considered to be a result of the weak internal economic and non-economic structures of the countries, this was what modernization theory asserted and so this backwardness was expected to be diagnosed with the involvement of certain external forces like the involvement of powerful developed countries like United States and others. External forces were to involve themselves and assist the development in such developing countries. Globalization brought about a development of capitalism with its roots in the European countries which brought about industrial development which helped countries develop. So in order for a developing country to foster their own development, they were to look up to the developed countries for assistance. The principles of globalization interdependence, global interaction increased the flow of capital; goods fostered everything on international lines. Everything that was analyzed was done so on a wider level. As said by Leslie Sklair Globalization as a process involves the study of contemporary problems not at the level of individual states or its inter-national relations, but in terms of global processes, this shows that whatever goes on at the domestic level is bound to have an impact on other countries and anything happening outside will definitely impact upon the domestic processes of a country. This is what the dependency or the underdevelopment theorists were against. To them, this global process of interdependence and interaction has led to the exploitation of the poorer countries. UNDERDEVELOPMENT AND DEPENDENCY: The concept of underdevelopment and dependency are associated with the studying of the third world countries and this theory is concerned with the position of the third world countries in the global arena as developing or underdeveloped countries and the reason why it is so. They basically assert that in the name of development when developed countries through their market mechanisms get involved in the domestic or internal dynamics of the third world countries, it only gives impetus to underdevelopment and no development could be possible this way. There were two consequences of the globalization and its interdependence aspect: Firstly, to the dependency theorists, the interdependence among the countries have led to the division of countries mainly into the wealthy developed countries also known as the First World or the North and on the other hand there is the poorer countries known as the Third World Countries or the South, with wide economic disparities among them. And secondly they also assert that the interdependence criteria consist of exploitation of the poor by the rich developed countries thereby leading to the underdevelopment of the former. For the underdevelopment and dependency theorists (UDT), exploitation took up a prominent place in their analysis. For them there were two ways in which the dependence of the countries could lead to exploitation: direct and indirect exploitation. Direct exploitation referred to the open or covert transfer of profits by foreign investors in developing countries thereby decapitalizing them and indirect exploitation was related to the deterioration in terms of trade of developing countries and unequal exchange between developed and underdeveloped economies. Few names associated with the Underdevelopment and dependency theory are namely: Andre Gunder Frank, Paul Baran, Samir Amin, Theodore Dos Santos, Cardoso and Immanuel Wallerstein. There exists a division in the theories of dependency itself. Frank, Baran, Amin and Santos are more radical dependency theorist who asserted that dependency for development would only lead more to underdevelopment of the developing countries. On the other hand Cardoso and Wallerstein formed a second category of dependency theorist who consider that dependency and development can co-exist; i.e. for them dependency could be helpful in fostering development. To Theodore Dos Santos Dependency is a conditioning situation in which the economies of one group of countries are conditioned by the development and expansion of others. A relationship of interdependence between two or more economies when some countries expand through self-impulsion and others being in a dependent position can only expand as a reflection of the expansion of the dominant countries; which may have positive or negative effects on development Classical dependency theory and the new dependency theory share certain similarities, both the groups have third world development as their focus, both focus on national level analysis, and the key concept that they follow is the core, semi-periphery and the periphery. And both the groups imply that dependency is harmful to development. The core, semi-periphery and periphery are the model that the dependency theorists adopt in order to explain the development pattern and the underdeveloped condition of the third world countries. They mostly focus on the core and the periphery, where the core consists of the central forces of the economy i.e. the industrialized capitalist countries- the developed countries; and the periphery consists of the underdeveloped or undeveloped countries i.e. the third world countries. All these categorizations of the countries into the developed/developing, core/periphery, North/South and First World/Third World all relate to the categorization on countries based on their economic wealth and their capacity to generate such wealth. Thus the capacity to generate wealth is what the third world countries lack. However the interest with which the developed countries interfered in the affairs of the developing countries was because the developing countries had unscrupulous amount of resources and raw materials that lay unused and unexploited. The developed countries who already had achieved much in terms of development their resources and raw materials were depleted. So in terms of the involvement of the developed countries in developing countries it leads to underdevelopment. One result of globalization has been that the State no longer is seen as the only unit of analysis; contemporary issues are analyzed beyond what is national but as a transnational, across borders phenomenon and therefore in terms of a global process. So now the countries all over the world are to be seen as one Total system. Here what the dependency theorists assert is this total system gets divided into the core-periphery groups and so with increase in globalization process the core states become more dependent on the peripheral states for development and the position of the peripheral states become vulnerable and no development would be feasible since interdependence have led to a situation where an increase in the wealth of the first world could be brought about only when there would be a decrease in the wealth of the third world. So developing countries were at the losing end. MECHANISMS OF INVOLVEMENT: The emphasis shifted to the involvement of transnational corporations (TNCs) and multinational corporations (MNCs). These MNCs are firms of any nationality; partially or wholly owned or doing business in one or more country or economy. MNCs or TNCs are considered to be one of the mechanisms through which one country seems to get involved in the economy of another country; they are engaged in facilitating the movement of capital and production. These corporations are mostly headed by the developed countries. What the dependency theorists argued was that such involvement of TNCs were mainly under US, Japan and European countries and trade mainly went on among these economic powers. Globalization is seen to change the very nature of the state centric approach that existed earlier. The introduction of TNCs and also the social movements spread ideas about universal human rights, global environmental responsibility have reduced the emphasis on states as the main unit of analysis. On an economic level, with the introduction of TNCs, globalization has changed the very nature of global economy, the idea of a new global culture is what has emerged. Globalization has impacted on the local, national and regional economies. Two main focus of globalization researchers have been: first, the ways in which the transnational corporations (TNCs) have facilitated the globalization of capital and production. Second, the transformations in the global scope of particular types of TNCs, those who own and control the mass media which impacts upon the spread of ideas and particular patterns of consumption and a culture and ideology of consumerism at the global level. The TNCs have imm ense economic power, besides countries, the TNCs have come to be known as global economic power, for instance to name a few General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, PepsiCo have more economic power at their disposal than the majority of the countries in the world.3 The impact of globalization is the reduction in the importance of the state and privatization of most sectors of the economy. The TNCs are not only headquartered in the first world countries but most TNCs have headquarters in the third world, such as the national oil companies of Brazil, India, Mexico, Taiwan and Venezuela. Sklair also points out that the TNCs mostly under the US, Japan do not always express national interests; they are more interested in the interests of those who own and control them. Two laws under which MNCs are said to function: first is the law of capitalism of increasing the firms size and scope and therefore creating hierarchies. Second is the law of uneven development. The size, mobility and power of the MNCs lead to exploitation in the name of development of the already developed powers. Such involvements of MNCs lead to the development of North and underdevelopment of South. The uneven development of North and South, MNCs have a role in maintaining this unequal status. Globalization for development is seen to be important however such globalizing process have very desirable and undesirable effects on countries and the latter is explained by the dependency theorists. Dependency theorists suggested many reforms that they felt would help facilitate the development process of the third world countries. One such changes and the most important reform proposed by them is the delinking of the developing or underdeveloped countries from the world market and the global system of economic exchange of capital and goods for development. They proposed to focus more on the internal dynamics and development rather than external factors. For development initially it was external factors and assistance from developed countries was what was focused on; however, now what the dependency theorists proposed was to become independent of such external help and assistance. They asserted that Sklair, Leslie, Competing Conceptions of Globalization, pp.146, Journal of World Systems Research,vol.2, Summer 1999, pp.143-163. the developing countries ought to be self-reliant, self-dependent for development. The core principle here is self-development. However delinking in this sense can be seen to be somewhat a complex notion, since globalization has increased interdependence in the world binding economic, social, political relations of the world together and so isolation from the world economic system would only give impetus to underdevelopment. The entire theory of dependency and underdevelopment is based on this principle of delinking. Andre Gunder Frank on speaking of the underdeveloped conditions of the third world countries also spoke of delinking from the world market to be important for a country to develop. He blamed external factors like historical colonialism for the underdeveloped status of the third world countries. The dependency theorists saw that globalization in a way strengthened colonialism, though different from the kind of colonialism that existed long time back, this colonialism was basically an economic criterion via which all other structures of the country would be taken over. However this assertion of colonialism leading to nothing but underdevelopment could be proved wrong if examples of Taiwan and South Korea are cited. Both countries followed independent development however they both still followed the strategy of world market. These two countries today stand on a different platform when compared to its other Asian counterparts. The reason not being a self-reliant development path, but bot h developed on the lines of its colonizer, Japan. The Japanese encouraged strategies like co-operative style organizations in rural areas and agricultural lands. Both Taiwan and South Korea heavily depended upon imports of capital goods. Both these countries were influenced by the Japanese occupation in the initial years after independence and after which United States played a dominant role in their development especially in that of South Korea. As such dependency in any way could not be avoided, maybe direct dependency could be however there still would be a kind of structural dependency that would be inevitable as seen with the case of Taiwan and South Korea. Another theorist of dependency is Samir Amin, who talks in terms of the core-periphery formula. The core as already mentioned refers to the group of autonomous developed states, however the periphery for Amin was not underdeveloped but for him it was an overdeveloped export sector which produced goods for feeding foreign industries rather than producing for themselves and stimulating regional development and growth. This leads to unequal exchanges which are also branded as a consequence of globalization which thereby leads to the domination of the poor countries by the rich countries. Dependence of the countries based on unequal exchanges has led to the richer countries getting richer and the poorer countries getting poorer. The raw materials of the developing countries are exploited in the name of development, with a kind of assurance that with the resources of the developing countries utilized in feeding the industries of the developed countries would in turn help the development o f the developing or the underdeveloped countries. Such dependency have led to a great disparity in terms of wealth and power and the obstacles which the developing countries faced has only led to a great reaction by the countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America against the dependency of their countries. The belief was that the underdevelopment of third world economies was caused by the predominance of the external influences transmitted to poor countries by the international capitalist system. Dependency theory emphasizes the international power relationships that underlie the functioning of the world economy. For them the internal inequalities and the misery was the impact of external factors. Therefore they turned their attention to internal barriers to change and development and trying to do away with the overreliance on external influences. Dependency theory is said to have through its approach made many leaders of the developing countries realize their strength and their weaknesses. Immanuel Wallerstein is one theorist of dependency who like Samir Amin explain the underdeveloped nature and the process of economic exchange that characterize the relation between and among the nations of the world according to the core-periphery formula. He belongs to the category of the new dependency theorists who not only looked at the interdependence and its impact in accordance to the economic perspective but also keep in mind the socio-political aspects. For Wallerstein, the world system was a world economy integrated through the market rather than a political center; in which two or more regions are interdependent with respect to necessities like food, fuel and protection; and two or more polities compete for domination without emergence of one single center forever (Gold frank)4 Wallerstein defined the world system as a multicultural territorial division of labor in which production and exchange of basic goods and raw materials is necessary for the everyday life of the inhabitants. The core-periphery according to him were geographically and culturally different, the former focusing on labor intensive and the other focusing on capital intensive production. It was a structural relationship, a structure of power hierarchy existed between them in which the powerful i.e. the core societies dominated and exploited the weaker or poorer countries. According to him, the semi-periphery states acted as a buffer zone between core and periphery, they were basically neutral states. India and Korea could be cited as an example of the semi-peripheral states. For Wallerstein, nation-states did not lose importance, for him the states were powerful elements within the system; in the core countries the states were used by class forces to pursue their interest. Two notions are basically involved in the world systems theory as propounded by Wallerstein, and these were the notion of imperialism and hegemony: the former referring to the domination of the weak peripheral regions by strong core states and the latter referring to Carlos A. Martinez-Vela, World Systems Theory, ESD.83, Fall 2001. the existence of one core state temporarily overpowering the rest. Therefore for Wallerstein, the global world system comprises of a global class struggle. Wallersteins world system is based on three important sources; the Annales school which focused on geo-ecological regions as units of analysis and paying attention to rural history and reliance on empirical materials. Second source of his theory was Marx; from Marx he understood the reality of social conflict, the dialectical sense of motion through conflict and contradiction. And the third source of the theory is dependency theory itself. As this theory helped in understanding the periphery by looking at the core-periphery relations and it is from this dependency theory that contemporary critiques to global capitalism has arisen. Global capitalism has also received criticism from the think global act local groups, they disrupt the capacity of TNCs and global financial institutions to accumulate private profits at the expense of their workforces, however economic globalization with their increased dispersal of the manufacturing process and their dependence on variety of forces have generated a different advantage for themselves. Globalizing capital has defeated labor and the global organizations like the TNCs and its allied globalizing government agencies and the World Bank have proved too powerful for the local organization of labor and communities. The powerful status of the TNCs mostly because it is run by the developed industrialized countries which possesses the capacity and the ability to generate capital generally seem to have control over the third world economy and society. Since the relation is guided by an international division of labor, the third world cannot escape the influence of the developed countries since even they depend on foreign capital for structuring their internal economy, interdependence causes a change in the international arena to impact upon the national arena and vice versa. So any delinking even if possible might just deprive the developing countries from the facilities that the foreign market could provide. From a certain aspect, the reform path of development as suggested by the underdevelopment and dependency theorists i.e. a change in focus from development towards outside to development towards the interior; referring to a focus on the internal dynamics of a country rather than focusing on the external forces could also prove to be complex. For delinking in such a way has not decreased dependency but has increased dependency since foreign currency was now used to purchase inputs for national industries which earlier were used for imported products for luxury consumption. Interdependence among national economies became dependence in case of underdeveloped countries and was subordinated to the power of those who control the world market and the most advanced techniques and means of production. Dependency theory can also be critiqued by using the idea of comparative advantage. Comparative advantage as we know refers to the utilization of the best available resources for producing good quality products at lower cost. As such when third world countries adopts the strategy of internal structures for utilizing its raw materials as a result of comparative advantage, still such third world countries after being subjected to decades of foreign power would hardly be able to work on its own since it would require a high degree of factor mobility, entrepreneurial vision and political stability which only the dominant colonial power would possess, therefore, there would still be a kind of dependency that would exist- this is termed as structural dependency; so complete isolation or delinking would not be possible.5 An inward looking strategy as proposed by the dependency theorists have been adopted by many developing countries but Burma has been cited as an extreme example by Hermann Sautter in the article Underdevelopment through isolationism? Dependency Theory in Retrospect. Burma restricted all forms of interaction with the outside world and kept it to the minimum. Burma turned everything into a state owned enterprise; private enterprises were limited, public ownership was increased. However in such a state of isolationism or protectionism what occurs is the export of primary goods declines. So rice being the main export of the country, in 1944/1945, its export declined, and export was restricted so Burmas agricultural sector experienced great loss. The agricultural sector was to supply their produce to the national government at lower prices rather than exporting it to other countries and generating much more capital. Therefore this shows that a policy of delinking or isolation pushes the s tatus of underdevelopment to a further extent. Dependency theories is seen to uphold the policy of protectionism, restricting the domestic market to the interior and refraining the outside market from participating in the internal dynamics of the developing countries. So definitely, a criticism of such a dependency theory has come from the proponents of free trade or free market policy. Peter Bauer and Martin Wolf were two such free trade theorists who were critical of the policy of isolation as proposed by the underdevelopment-dependency theorist (UDT). Bauer and Wolf suggested that the State owned enterprises and industries were more prone to corruption than privately owned enterprises since the former would not be obliged to the rules of economic and political sanctions that world economic systems offer in case of any mismanagement since in a globalized interdependent world a mismanagement in one country would definitely have effects on other interdependent country as well as such this interdependence could act as a check. Also the State led administration experienced high degree of mismanagement, corruption and wastage in the bureaucracy further limiting development like in Latin America Sautter, Hermann, Underdevelopment through Isolationism? Dependency Theory in Retrospect. Intereconomics, July/August pp.182. where the peoples movements led to the rise of military coups and this aligned with the US for benefits. Similarly in Burma, powerful military rulers grew into a state class who were very little inclined towards the interests and ne

The Uses of Salt Essay -- Chemistry Salts Essays

The Uses of Salt Mineral halite, best known as common salt, has been one of the most abundant and used minerals over the centuries. It is essential for the human diet and is an important commercial chemical. Pure salt consists of two elements, which are sodium and chlorine [chloride]. Its chemical name is sodium chloride (NaCl). â€Å"In chemistry, common salt is one of a large number of electrolytic compounds classified as salts. The compound occurs as a mineral in the form of crystals and the forms of the crystals are generally cubic and are transparent.† (Encyclopedia Americana 163) Halite (sodium chloride) comes from the Greek â€Å"halos†, meaning salt and â€Å"lithos† meaning rock, and is better known as â€Å"rock salt†. Salt is produced by the evaporation of seawater, but the greatest proportion of salt produced is derived from rock salt and salt domes. Two ways to obtain these rocks are by mining techniques or by â€Å"solution mining, in which fresh water is pumped down into the dome and the dissolved salt solution pumped back up to the surface recovery.† (The Encyclopedia Americana 164) Salt plays many important roles in the human body system. Each human being needs approximately from four to eight ounces of salt. If this amount is not consumed or gained in some way, the human being could experience muscle cramps, exhaustion, convulsions, dizziness, and even, death in sever deficiency. Also, the digestion of food in the human body needs salt in order to function corre...

Working as a Housekeeper Essay -- essays research papers

Today's workers and families are overworked and stressed. After working through a 9-to-5 job, feeding and putting the children to bed, the last thing anyone wants to worry about is cleaning the house. Weekends are spent running errands and spending quality time with friends and family members. Therefore, many families are looking for outside assistance with housekeeping. In the past, housekeepers were thought of as the "hired help" and were thus treated like 18th century scullery maids. This is no longer the case. Housekeepers have reached a well-deserved level of respectability for their highly appreciated services. Starting a house cleaning business is an easy job for most people because there is very little start up cost involved. To help you get started, here is a step-by-step set of instructions to send you on your way to engaging in this highly profitable business. The first thing that you need to do before seeking out your clientele is to develop a business plan and policy. For starters, you need a name. Choose a name that denotes an air of sophistication. You don't want a name like, Tim's Cleaning Service or A-1 Cleaners. Those names are much too common and do not reflect any sort of professionalism. Try something original such as, Homestead Helpers. Such a name stands out from the many "fly-by-night" and unreliable services. Once you've chosen a name for your business, the next important step to take is to insure your business. As a house cleaner you are a sole-proprietor. This entitles you to the status of an independent contractor. This means that your profession is no different than that of a plumber, electrician, or a freelance writer. Insurance is a must have. For one thing, it eases the minds of your future clientele. Put yourself in their shoes; would you want an uninsured person coming into your home, handling your personal articles, and perhaps doing so while unattended in your home? Probably not. Having insurance will put you on top of the list for jobs, as most house cleaners do not carry insurance. The insurance will also give you piece of mind. You will not have to worry about your personal assets being seized in a lawsuit because someone accused you of stealing a family heirloom. Unfortunately, as with many service professions, dishonest people have tarnished the respectability of independent contractors, so you'l... ...ou money on graphics and design. A business card display ad catches people’s attention far quicker than a worded classified ad. Given the independent contractor status, and depending on the tax laws of your state, you are eligible for various tax deductions. For example if you own your own home, you can set up a small office space and take deductions for the square footage of the space, utilities, a computer, office supplies, phone calls, and cleaning supplies that you might purchase. Also, advertising and insurance costs are tax deductible. Many of the same deductions can be used for people who rent their home or apartment. Check with your local state's laws of taxation to see which deductions you can use. House cleaning is a highly profitable profession, with some house cleaners making $15-17 an hour, so be sure to report all of your income to the IRS. As an independent contractor, you can open an IRA account and start saving toward your retirement. In conclusion, I feel housekeeping is a respectable profession. The payment can be benevolent, and you can pick up habits for your own home, to keep a respectable looking residence. Also, no special talents or education is required. Working as a Housekeeper Essay -- essays research papers Today's workers and families are overworked and stressed. After working through a 9-to-5 job, feeding and putting the children to bed, the last thing anyone wants to worry about is cleaning the house. Weekends are spent running errands and spending quality time with friends and family members. Therefore, many families are looking for outside assistance with housekeeping. In the past, housekeepers were thought of as the "hired help" and were thus treated like 18th century scullery maids. This is no longer the case. Housekeepers have reached a well-deserved level of respectability for their highly appreciated services. Starting a house cleaning business is an easy job for most people because there is very little start up cost involved. To help you get started, here is a step-by-step set of instructions to send you on your way to engaging in this highly profitable business. The first thing that you need to do before seeking out your clientele is to develop a business plan and policy. For starters, you need a name. Choose a name that denotes an air of sophistication. You don't want a name like, Tim's Cleaning Service or A-1 Cleaners. Those names are much too common and do not reflect any sort of professionalism. Try something original such as, Homestead Helpers. Such a name stands out from the many "fly-by-night" and unreliable services. Once you've chosen a name for your business, the next important step to take is to insure your business. As a house cleaner you are a sole-proprietor. This entitles you to the status of an independent contractor. This means that your profession is no different than that of a plumber, electrician, or a freelance writer. Insurance is a must have. For one thing, it eases the minds of your future clientele. Put yourself in their shoes; would you want an uninsured person coming into your home, handling your personal articles, and perhaps doing so while unattended in your home? Probably not. Having insurance will put you on top of the list for jobs, as most house cleaners do not carry insurance. The insurance will also give you piece of mind. You will not have to worry about your personal assets being seized in a lawsuit because someone accused you of stealing a family heirloom. Unfortunately, as with many service professions, dishonest people have tarnished the respectability of independent contractors, so you'l... ...ou money on graphics and design. A business card display ad catches people’s attention far quicker than a worded classified ad. Given the independent contractor status, and depending on the tax laws of your state, you are eligible for various tax deductions. For example if you own your own home, you can set up a small office space and take deductions for the square footage of the space, utilities, a computer, office supplies, phone calls, and cleaning supplies that you might purchase. Also, advertising and insurance costs are tax deductible. Many of the same deductions can be used for people who rent their home or apartment. Check with your local state's laws of taxation to see which deductions you can use. House cleaning is a highly profitable profession, with some house cleaners making $15-17 an hour, so be sure to report all of your income to the IRS. As an independent contractor, you can open an IRA account and start saving toward your retirement. In conclusion, I feel housekeeping is a respectable profession. The payment can be benevolent, and you can pick up habits for your own home, to keep a respectable looking residence. Also, no special talents or education is required.

Looking for God :: Papers

Looking for God Where are you supposed to look for God? How are you to look for God, and does it help to decide what sort of thing you are looking for first? What kind of thing is God? Looking from the perspective of someone with no previous faith, looking for general revelation, I would have to say you have to perceive what you think is God-like first. If you ask the majority of people with a faith what God is like, they would probably say 'all good and all-powerful'. So are you looking for general signs of goodness, beauty, power and awe? If you are then you can rule out finding God in evil, ugliness, weakness and un-impressiveness. Or can you? I know that black isn't white, but people thought Hitler was 'good'; beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so an 'ugly' person to me might be stunningly 'beautiful' to someone else; the queen bee is supreme over mere drones, however it looks a bit pathetic in comparison to even simple humans; and David Beckham's match and free kick against Greece last year left thousands of footy fans awe-struck, yet my brother just couldn't see what the fuss was about. God is deeply personal, so will be found in different places for everyone. If you thought that 'The Miracle Of life' was completely un-earthly, and could only be explained with a super-human being, then I bet I could find half a dozen more that just think we are here accidentally. [IMAGE][IMAGE][IMAGE]If you are solely looking for good, you can still find it in atrocities. In Sept. 11 you could find God in the 'power' and 'awe' of it all, but also in those brave people whose spirit never wavered, in those volunteers determined to help, in those fore-fighters who gave their life to save others, those selfless rescuers, counsellors, vicars, children. Osama tried to devastate American spirit and attitude as well as massacre, but he failed in crushing the love and goodness in people's heats and minds.

History and Politics of the Mexican Revolution Essay

The Mexican revolution was one of the most significant catastrophe in the twentieth century, which involved four momentous leader by the name of Madero , Diaz , Zapata and Obrengo. According to Alan Knight, author of the article â€Å"The Mexican Revolution†, â€Å"the Mexican revolution started as a protest of the middle class against the dictatorship of Porfrio Diaz†. A small minority of people were control of most of the country’s power and wealth, while the major of the population worked in poverty. According to Dan la Botz, author of article â€Å"The Mexican revolution part1, 1910-1920, â€Å"Tens of thousand of men and women fought in battles in many region of the country to end the dictatorship and overthrow the leader†. The attempt to mold a new generation that would continue the revolution’s efforts for the people into the future. Their campaign included programs for land reform, work protection, widespread literacy, and mandatory schools. The nation fund a mental economic, institution were transformed as a basic Agriculture production unit and the foreign own oil industry nationalized. In the 1910s a politician and military struggle arrived among various rival politicians, economic and social groups, the working class and the peasantry were defeated and subordinated to new master. The revolution began as an attempt to overthrow Porfrio Diaz who was a dictator of Mexico. According to Dan La Batz , author of â€Å"Mexican Revolution part 1 ,1910-1920† , â€Å"Mexico’s liberal who wanted a free market capitalist county like England and United States, battle consecutive who wanted a count more like Spain with its monarchy, powerful catholic church and feudal hierarchy (Botz 26). Diaz revived and expanded the nation economy, generally raising the levels of prosperity in the nation. The administration introduce changes that commercialized agriculture, modernized mining, financed industries, initiated railroads and enticed consumer. During the Porfrio ratio, as railroad construction dominated popular attention, city resident also witnesses the introduction of additional technology such as gas lighting, tramlines and other advances. Railroad transported raw material to the United States and Europe. Ordinary people who supplied the labor and raw materials were tricked to increase the country’s economy and Diaz later exploited domestic workers. Diaz fought alongside Mexican president benito Juarez and then against intervention. Diaz then emerged as a leading general and became president in 1876. Diaz served 34 years as the president of Mexico. Diaz took land from villages until most peasants had been reducing from small proprietors to day laborers. Diaz existence caused destruction upon the economy and social lives of Mexicans. He fought against his opponents and wag war. Diaz promised a free election against Francisco Madero another leader of Mexico who ran for election, after it became obvious he might not win. According to Beezley Williams H author of â€Å"Mexicans in Revolution 1910-1946: An introduction† â€Å"Francisco Madero became a revolutionary by accident, his entire life, his family, his education, his marriage and his early business efforts-marked him as a member of the elite (Williams 36). Madero’s family believed that his campaign was foolhardy if not suicidal. He campaign across the nation of Mexico with the aim of no presidential election. Madero’s movement was soon swelled with people who saw his campaign not only a chance for the politicial democracy but also the opportunity to struggle for more fundamental social change. Madero campaign threatened Diaz which forced him to get Madero arrested on felony charges and jailed in San Luis Potosi under house arrest in the summer 1910. In July 1910 with the help of his wealthy and politically connected family,Madero fled from San Luis Potosi to San Antonio, Texas and transformed the Anti reelection political organization for revolution to begin November 20. Madero issued his manifesto, the plan of San Luis, The plan laid out his vision of polotican democracy emphasizing the no presidential reelection. Madero slogans was â€Å"Effective Suffrage (that is honest voting) No reelection (prevent Diaz pattern of holding office) and Municipoo Libre( local control of issue such as taxes). Madero was elected president and assumed power in November 1911. By November 911 Zapata, another Mexican leader and his troops were at war with Madero’s Government. Zapata movement focuses on four main issues which was lands; which should be given to those who work for it, secondly labor unions; which had been suspended under Diaz, fought for their rights to organize and to strike and demand protective legislation for workers, thirdly education; for the country last battle with Catholic Church, the demand for free public education and finally ownership of oil nd mineral; all natural resources of Mexico should belong to is people. Zapata army was driven out of Mexico in the early 1916 by Carranza’s troop who was a Mexican leader that fought against Zapata. After this shift by Carranza’s troops, Zapata had no hope of fighting back Carranza because he didn’t have as much army as Zapata. According to Micheal Mathes author of article â€Å"Frontier Settlement in Mexican California† , with the help of chief advisor , Gildardo Magana he started an alliance for anyone who will want to fight Carranza (Mathes 503). Venustiano Carranza was the son of a middle class and who had been educated in Mexico to become part of the political elite. Carranza joined Madero’s rebellion and became president after the death of Madero. Carranza and his followers attempted to remodel cities, not by pulling down statues, wrecking monuments, or destroying the house of the old regime, but by creating a new society. The Mexican revolution was then divided into two rival bourgeois and plebian. According to WM. O.  OWEN, author of â€Å"The Mexican Revolution, Its progress , cause , purpose and probable result† Carranza’s constructional forces aimed to create a new nationalist state which could provide stability for Mexican born and foreign investors, while Connectionist led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, desire to carry out the democratic and social reforms demanded by the country peasants and workers. The Constitutionalist would win the civil war because they understand the significant of the labor movement. Carranza’s armies had been successful in defeating the forces of Villa and Zapata. Carranza and his advisors produce a new constitution which settled in law and the principle issue of the revolution. These laws were divided into four articles. Article 27 provided the break up of the haciendas and distribution of land to peasant and indigenous community. Article 123 gave workers the right to organize unions and strike and create legislation. Article 3 ended the Catholic Church’s control of education, creating the free, lay public schools and finally, Article 130 banned the church from Mexican politics and society. Carranza’s forces continue to fight opposition leaders which he eventually assassinating Emiliano Zapata. On may 21 1920 the rebel forces captured and killed Carranza and the general Obrengon took power. Obrengon became president holding office from 1920-1924and Huerta revolt against President Obrengo in 1923. In conclusion lands were given to the working class and peasant, housing and farming territory and also ranching was easier to get. During the decades from 1917 to 1946 revolutionaries initiated a variety of campaign to bring revolution to people. At the same time the revolutionaries initiate campaign that proved to be only partially successful, to remake the symbols of Profrio rian regime in the image of the revolution.

Cost Accounting – Acct 3334 Chapter 9 Solutions

Chapter 9 solutions (P9-28, -29, -40)   9-28 (10 min. ) CDenominator-level problem 1. Budgeted fixed manufacturing overhead costs rates: Budgeted Fixed Budgeted Fixed Denominator Manufacturing Budgeted Manufacturing Level Capacity Overhead per Capacity Overhead CostConceptPeriodLevelRate Theoretical$4, 560, 0003, 600 $ 1, 266. 67Practical4,560,0002,4001,900. 00 Normal4,560,0001,2003,800. 00 Master-budget4,560,0001,4403,166. 67 The rates are different because of varying denominator-level concepts. Theoretical and practical capacity levels are driven by supply-side concepts, i. e. , â€Å"how much can produce? † Normal and master-budget capacity levels are driven by demand-side concepts, i. e. , â€Å"how much can we sell? † (or â€Å"how much should we produce? †) 2. In order to incorporate fixed manufacturing costs into unit product costs, fixed manufacturing costs have to be unitized for inventory costing.Absorption costing is the method used for tax reporting and for financial reporting using generally accepted accounting principles. The choice of a denominator level becomes relevant under absorption costing because fixed costs are accounted for along with variable costs at the individual product level. Variable and throughput costing account for fixed costs as a lump sum, expensed in the period incurred. 3. The variances that arise from use of the theoretical or practical level concepts will signal that there is a divergence between the supply of capacity and the demand for capacity.This is useful input to managers. As a general rule, however, it is important not to place undue reliance on the production volume variance as a measure of the economic costs of unused capacity. 4. Under a cost-based pricing system, the choice of a master-budget level denominator will lead to high prices when demand is low (more fixed costs allocated to the individual product level), further eroding demand; conversely it will lead to low prices when demand is high, forgoing profits.This has been referred to as the downward demand spiral—the continuing reduction in demand that occurs when the prices of competitors are not met and demand drops, resulting in even higher unit costs and even more reluctance to meet the prices of competitors. The positive aspect of the master-budget denominator level is that it indicates the price at which all costs per unit would be recovered to enable the company to make a profit. Master-budget denominator level is also a good benchmark against which to evaluate performance. -40(20 min. )Cost allocation, downward demand spiral. 1. = = Budgeted denominator level=2,920,000 meals WHM is using budgeted usage as its denominator level for calculating the budgeted fixed costs per meal in 2007. 2. Alternative denominator levels include: a. Capacity available. The data in the problem note that the facility can serve 3,650,000 meals a year. With this denominator level, there will be budgeted unused capacity, which could be recorded as a separate line in the cost report for the Santa Monica facility. . Budgeted usage of capacity. With the 2007 budgeted usage of 2,920,000 meals, the fixed costs charge is $1. 80 per meal. The marketplace is signalling that WHM’s own central food-catering facility is not providing value for the costs charged. If Cheung decides to raise prices to recover fixed costs from a declining demand base, he will likely encounter the downward demand spiral: Budgeted Denominator(1)| Variable Cost per Meal(2)| Fixed Cost per Meal$5,256,000 ? 1)(3)| Total Cost per Meal(4)| 3,650,000| $4. 56| $1. 44| $6. 00| 2,920,000| 4. 56| 1. 80| 6. 36| 2,550,000| 4. 56| 2. 06| 6. 62| 2,000,000| 4. 56| 2. 63| 7. 19| Cheung might adopt a contribution margin approach, which means viewing the $4. 56 variable cost as the only per-unit cost and the $5,256,000 as a fixed cost. Alternatively, Cheung could use practical capacity to cost the meals and work to reduce costs of unused capa city. 3. Three factors managers should consider in pricing decisions: a. Customers.Cheung is facing customers who are dissatisfied with both the cost and the quality of the meal service. Three of the 10 hospitals have already elected to use an outside canteen service. b. Competitors. For the three hospitals terminating use of the Santa Monica facility, at least one competitor is more cost-effective. The seven remaining hospitals likely will be very interested in how this competitor performs at the three hospitals. c. Costs. Jenkins should consider ways to reduce both the variable costs per meal and the fixed costs.