A Prince By Lao Tzu - 1754 Words

Rattling the Cages The actions of individuals are controlled essentially by one thing, the mind of that individual. The citizens of this world are able to partake in any actions they desire. People should forget the thought of limits and restraints and everything should govern itself. Doing nothing will allow everything to harmonize with each other. These ideas come from the writer Lao-tzu in the piece called â€Å"Thoughts from the Tao-te Ching.† Lao-tzu presents many idealist ways in his writing. The main focus is on the idea that people are able to govern themselves and partake in the actions they desire without restraint. As he wisely states, â€Å"Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place (206, Lao-tzu).† This advice is†¦show more content†¦Restraint is an aspect that is required today in order to have a successful government and society. Without limiting certain elements of culture, such as military and pollution, society would slowly decay. Society should incorporate both the idealistic ways of Lao-tzu and the realistic ways of Machiavelli in restraint in order to maintain civility. The advice given by Lao-tzu is idealistic and revolves around the idea of practicing nothing. First is the idea that civilians of this world are able to govern themselves; limits and restraint must not exisit. The government would still exist, but not present itself in the daily lives of the people; the ability to carry out actions more freely would increase. The government should be able to rule and the citizens not be aware of its existence. Freedom on all levels allows true happiness to prevail. People would be content in their own ways and not want to leave the country and travel. Ultimately, by practicing nothing, all the elements of the world would simply fall into place and maintain themselves. Sadly, the outcome of pure happiness would not prevail. With no limits or laws, individuals are free to do as they please. This would not res ult in perfect harmony between people, but would create more chaos. Not all humans possess good morals to discourage them from violent and criminal behavior. Laws and restraints are crucial to have

Balance Sheet Free Essays

The AMR Corporation has the highest debt to equity ratio (Google, 2010). The company with the lower debt to equity ratio in the meantime is Southwest Airlines. AMR Corporation might have chosen to have a high debt to equity ratio because it believes that it can manage to experience rapid growth and sales in their business. We will write a custom essay sample on Balance Sheet or any similar topic only for you Order Now They took on such a huge amount of debt because they believed that the interest rate would prove to be manageable and reasonable given the level of sales they will experience. AMR Corporation is very optimistic with its outlook in short. The amount of debt the company has taken is very dangerous. It is imperative that they pay it off immediately to lower the chances of getting bankrupted in case they can’t manage the monthly payments. The opposite can be said of Southwest airlines. The company is expecting lower sales volume or profit margin that is why they keep their debt levels to a minimum (Welsh, 1996). The company is well known for its cheap and no frills flight that is why they know they will have a lower profit margin. The company is trying to protect itself from any potential danger. In the event their sales level would drop even more, the increased obligation to pay their debts would not be as heavy. This strategy is suitable for Southwest Airlines because they are providing economical flights for their passenger. The company relies on volume to make their sales and not on a high profit margin. The company does not want their thin profit margin to be eaten up by huge debt interest rates (Harvey, 1995). We can infer from the financial ratio that they intend to grow organically and not by outside financing. The debt level they have is perceived to be very manageable. They are merely taking advantage of debt to provide a measure of added income generating assets. The bulk of their growth and capital needs would all be derived from their sales. The Continental Airlines is somewhat in between the two extreme types of companies. They are aggressive enough to take considerable debt but not too optimistic as to reach 4. 25 in their long term debt obligation to equity. Their long term debt to equity ratio is merely 1. 8 which seems small enough compared to AMR corporation. It can be inferred that the continental corporation has a moderate outlook compared to the two others. Continental is optimistic enough to take advantage of loans to increase their coverage and business operations (Gold, 2006). They are not overly optimistic however to borrow more than twice the amount of their own equity. The economic situation has to be favorable for them to be able to pay their debts. They are not in a dangerous position however, like AMR Corporation with extreme amounts of debts. The AMR Corporation in contrast has to experience several years of extremely profitable operations in order to pay off their debt obligations. The debt ratios of the three companies are basically indicating the same thing. The only difference with the debt ratio from debt to equity ratio is the base figure used in the denominator. The debt to equity ratio is more accurate in describing the situation of the company because it uses the actual equity invested by investors (Revsine, 2004). The ratio does not take into account the liabilities as part of the assets to be used for the computation. Naturally, the ratio for debt to equity will be bigger than the ratio using just the plain asset figure. The interpretation of the ratios remains fundamentally the same. The meaning of the ratio is still the capability of the company to pay off its debts relative to its assets. In case of bankruptcy, the ratio indicates whether the company is capable of paying off the debt amount by selling all of its assets. References: Google, (2010), â€Å"Southwest Airlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=southwest+airlines Google, (2010), â€Å"AMR Airlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=NYSE:AMR Google, (2010), â€Å"Continental Airlines† http://www. google. com/finance? q=NYSE:CALfstype=ii Damodaran, A. , (2005), Finding the Right Financing Mix: The Capital Structure Decision, http://pages. stern. nyu. edu/~adamodar/pdfiles/cfovhds/capstr. pdf Welsh, I. , (1996), A Primer on Capital Structure, The John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management, University of California, Los Angeles Gold, J. , (2006), Reducing a Company’s Beta- A Novel Way to Increase Shareholders Value, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, , Vol. 18, No. 4 (Fall) Harvey, C. , (1995), The Capital Structure and Payout Policy, WWWFinance, http://www. duke. edu/~charvey/Classes/ba350/capstruc/capstruc. htm Revsine, (2004), â€Å"Financial Analysis and Reporting†, New York, Pearson Hall How to cite Balance Sheet, Papers

The Development of Scientific Management free essay sample

The Development of Scientific Management BY 51067685 With the development of scientific management, technology, and productive power, the products concerning the metal Magnesium have been developed in a diversified way involving MGM particle, MGM alloys, MGM powder, MGM ingot, MGM stick, MGM sacrificial anode and high performance sacrificial anode etc. The metal MGM, 2/3 density of the metal Aluminum, is one of the lightest metals. The potential application of the metal MGM is of great importance especially under todays situation that energy has been greatly lacked of and environmental protection greatly emphasized. Having rich deposits under the earth, the metal MGM is of very good qualities like high anti-seismic capability, anti-corrosive capability and intensity etc. , which makes it possible being the basic material for alloy industry and thereby wins itself great attention in the application of the national defense industry. MGM is easy to burn and give strong light in the air. We will write a custom essay sample on The Development of Scientific Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page MGM powder is used as the raw material of combustion and lighting bomb for defense. The metal MGM of national standard is not only sold well in domestic market but also exported to Japan, USA, Germany, India, Taiwan and Honking. In the international market, more than 80 tons of MGM has been used in the disorientation of steel and iron each year. China is the main country in producing steel and iron, and it has been predicted by experts that China needs 300,000?500,000 tons of MGM for industrial processing from now on to the year 2005. The consumption of the metal MGM has increased with an average rate of 6. 6% each year during asses. Additionally, 109,000 tons of MGM has been consumed in making various foundry products used in automobiles, motorcycles, and electric crust etc. Some spare parts that can be fitted o automobiles like wheel hub, instrument board, chair frame, gear box, direction system, cylinder, air inlet tube and brake pedal frame have been put into use in a wild areas. The consumption of the alloy MGM in automobile-making industry will account for 14% among the total amount of MGM consumption in the following seven to eight years. After the Chinas entry into the WTFO, the market can see a very bright future for the MGM products since the major object in the antiquating proposal issued by the U. S. ND the EX. is MGM ingot, whereas there is no requirement on the intensively-processed products. Some key enterprises in China are at the beginning stage in processing the metal MGM, therefore this is the right opportunity for their development. MGM processing is referred to as the promising industry by the experts in the 21st Century. At present, two major raw materials that can be used to produce the metal MGM have been found rich in Equinox City , Shania Province, China. They are dolomite ore and silicon iron. The local dolomite ore has a very good quality with the utilization rate being higher than 96%. Nearby the company there are several rockroses producing silicon iron and rich dolomite ore deposit, which can not only guarantee the supply for producing the metal MGM but also reduce the cost of raw materials purchasing in an effective way. The funds that have been gathered up by the company will be mainly used in: 1. Plant construction and equipment purchase in order to keep pace with the market development; 2. Setting up the Central Institute for the purpose of market expansion and scientific research; 3 Setting up the sales network; 4. Developing new products, promoting technologies and improving the old product system.

The Stock Market Essay Example For Students

The Stock Market Essay The Stock MarketHave you ever noticed how everyone thinks they know what is best for you? Everyone telling you what to do when you are the only one who knows what is the best for you. You maybe wondering what this is about, would you believe me if I told you it is about the stock market. Well it is, you may have thought that this had nothing to do with the stock market, but actually it is everything about the stock market. Why trust everybody else when you can invest yourself ? Develop your own system of trading and get started. This may raise another question, How can I find the right stock and buy them with out the assistance of a stock broker? In the following information I will take you through the process of finding hot stock picks and turning them into tremendous profits. Eventually you will even develop a trading system. First of all lets get the basic steps down before we move to the more advanced steps. The two main ways to make money in the stock market is from dived ends a nd buying low and selling high. To make great outrageous profits you will have to riley on buying low and selling high. This is very easy to say but very difficult to do. With dived ends you will receive a small percentage gain every quarter of the year, this helps with your profits but not much. To buy low and sell high you first have to find some stocks or funds. With this information and your motivation with stocks you can rule the world! O.K. maybe not the world but definitely your own portfolio. Morgan 2Now that you have the main concepts down we can move on and try to find some hot stocks. You never want to buy over bought stocks, because over bought stocks means that they are over valued. If you bought a over valued stock chances are that you bought high, and this may force you into selling low and take a loss. An easy way to get a round about feel for a stock to see if it is over or under valued is to look at its PE ratio. To calculate a PE ratio you take the price per share and divide it by the earnings per share and this will give you the PE ratio. Most of the time you dont even have to find out the p.e. ratio because It will be calculated before hand , so all you have to do is look at it. Many analysts like PE ratios under 60 or so, but it depends on the industry PE ratio also ( another figure that is pre calculated) (Frailey ,50). This is one of the most important figures of a stock. Try to avoid buying stocks with high PE ratios for long term holdings, even if its a good company. For example Cisco Systems is a fantastic company, it has split nine times in the last ten years, it has never disappointed Wall Street with earnings but with a PE ratio of 125 this stock is over valued. I would buy this stock at about fifty dollars a share with a PE ratio of about 60. Even the best companies get over valued. Buy stocks like Cisco on short term pull backs and sell them when they become over valued. We will write a custom essay on The Stock Market specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now It is important to develop some type of trading system that will protect your capital and extend your gains. I do not think there is one trading system out there that will apply to every stock, so what you must do is modify other systems and develop your own ( cut and paste ). The pyramid system is the most practical and useful trading system in the world. In this particular system you start off with about ten or so individual Morgan 3stocks that you think will do very well. There is no way around it, some stock will go up and some go down, face it. In this particular system you will sell your stocks that decline by ten percent. Now that you have liquidated some of your stocks you must have a place to put the money. You will then put that money into your stocks that are going up. Typically the stocks that start to do well will continue to do so and the ones that do bad willalso continue (Snell 4). You now have started your pyramid system. Selling your stocks is one of the most diffic ult things to do and often trading systems do not hold the correct answers to the question of when to sell your stock. This is where the modification comes in to play. If you followed this system you would sell when your stock declined by ten percent. This is a good time to sell if something fundamentally went wrong with the company, but if your stock was over sold it would have been a bad time to sell. For example, if you bought into Digital Equipment just before Compaq announced they were going to buy them out, you would have lost about ten percent. If you followed the trading system you would have sold and accepted a loss of ten percent. If you had realized that this particular stock was being over sold because this announcement was really nothing to worry about you would have held on to the stock. Well as a result of being over sold the stock shot up almost 100 percent in the next month, alone (Shimo 44). .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .postImageUrl , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:hover , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:visited , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:active { border:0!important; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:active , .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0 .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u4dd69449a6183eeb28190b4ccdaf76a0:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Are Political Parties in Decline? EssayTo find these sold great companies you have to know what to look for in a stock. I believe that good companies will buy their own stock, so I like to look at the percentage of institutional shareholders of a company before I buy(Sheimo 26). When a company announces a stock buy back plan it often gives the stock a boost because it attracts other Morgan 4buyers as well as the employees of the company. A low PE ratio is always nice to see when looking for a stock to buy because it can mean that this particular stock has more room to the upside than a stock with a high PE ratio. When a stock has good earnings it will typically perform wel l through out the positive earning announcements. If you stay with the stocks that have good earnings it will lower your risk of loosing your capital and increase your chances of expanding your gains. If a stock has had a real nice performance in the last few quarters there is a chance that the stock might split. When a stock splits 2-for-1 the price is cut in half and the amount of shares you own will double. A stock split is almost all the time positive for stocks because this will often attract new buyers into the stock (Sheimo 89). When stocks get upgraded from brokerage firms with target prices to go along with them you will often find a sharp price run up. Some brokerage firms often project the companys earnings for the next year or so and this is a nice figure to go buy when researching for new stocks. A 25 percent of growth in a company is a nice growth percentage to see in a years time and it would make for a nice core holding in any portfolio. Now that you know what to loo k for in a stock lets learn about what is good to avoid in a stock. I become some what nervous when dealing with high PE ratio stocks for long term holdings. Stay away from stocks with PE ratios in the triple digits, it seems like it can be very easy to get burnt from these stocks especially on the long term aspect. I try to avoid stocks without earnings, but if there is profitability in the near future and revenue is strong I probably would not let that stand in my way of buying a stock. Never buy a cheap stock just because it is cheap (Sheimo 75), this is one mistake many Morgan 5beginning investors make. Just because you find a cheap stock does not mean that it is a good value. When looking for penny stocks you must do more research that just looking at the price, treat it as you would treat any other stock. Avoid heavy positions in thinly traded stocks(Sheimo 103). A thinly traded stock is considered to be a stock that has a volume of 10,000 or less a day. If you have stocks tha t are thinly traded there is a possibility that they might not trade every day and this might cause you to be forced to delay a sell and increase your losses in that particular stock. Be very careful when dealing with penny stocks, they are extremely volatile especially thinly traded stocks. If you have a serious interest in the stock market consider trading your own stocks and save a little bit of money. Remember the most basic rule buy low and sell high. To effectively use this very simple rule you must not panic, but you must spend endless time researching and looking for the next big stock while its still small. Never forget the basic rules of investing, because those rules are the rules that make the difference between the losers and the winners. Never follow a trading system to the point where you never consider exceptions and special situations. It is a good idea to research different trading systems to get a good feel of how to trade stocks on your own. Research a lot of different stocks and apply the basic rules of the stock market. .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .postImageUrl , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:hover , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:visited , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:active { border:0!important; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:active , .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34 .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u18b778a03d22fbe74a32e96551b73e34:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Gender Bias in the courtroom EssayBibliographyWorks CitedFrailey, Fred. The King of Wired Investing. Kiplingers. April 2000: 50-51. Sheimo, Michael. Stock Market Rules. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Snell, JR. How To Uncover and Trade Winning Stocks. Traders Depot. Available: 9 April 2000Business Essays

Protectionism in International Trade

Protectionism in International Trade Introduction In the growing debate over globalisation and free trade, it is difficult to focus on real policies under discussion. There are varied issues that focus on environmental destruction, markets, and exploitation among others, but one must relate globalisation to free trade in order to understand global trade policies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Protectionism in International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Globalisation reflects the adoption of free trade policies for international markets by liberalisation of policies (Bhagwati, 2004). On this regard, countries liberalise their trade policies with other countries through elimination of policies that could deter trade or act as trade barriers. Some elements of trade barriers include â€Å"tariffs (high taxes on imported goods, which make them expensive) and subsidies from governments to domestic firms† (Spruiell, 2006). Both policies inhib it foreign firms from selling their products and services in local markets because of high prices (Friedman, 2000). The concept of trade policy is easy to grasp. That is, it reflects subsidies or tariffs, which governments adopt to protect foreign firms from selling in their countries. There are also other approaches to trade barriers, such as expensive trade license for foreigners, quotas, and a total ban on foreign goods among others. Protectionism refers to policy agendas, which aim to increase the number of tariffs and subsidies that governments use to prevent or minimise trades or exploitation that result from free trade in the international market. This essay focuses on protectionist measures, major arguments used by countries to justify protectionist measures, and challenges and opportunities protectionism presents to companies that wish to expand to foreign markets. Major arguments used by countries to justify protectionist measures Governments use several arguments to justi fy their protectionist policies. First, infant industries require government subsidies and strong protectionist laws to protect them from fierce competition from well-established firms in the global market (Bhagwati, 1988). Such budding firms may not be strong enough to endure challenges posed by competitors. Therefore, by protecting such domestic firms from external competition, the government allows them to thrive in the domestic market. Second, dumping also has facilitated the increment in protectionist laws. Dumping takes place when imported goods have significantly lower prices in foreign markets than the normal price in the country of origin.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Antidumping policies protect domestic market prices by ensuring that imports do not have ‘too low’ prices below the cost of production or have fair market prices. The US has u sed antidumping policies to protect domestic markets from cheap imports from China. Free trade could facilitate dumping, particularly in non-industrialised countries. Third, in some instances, governments have introduced protectionist laws because of national security issues. Such governments aim to reduce reliance on other countries to supply critical resources and services, which may not be available in periods of dispute. Although it is difficult to identify all industries that are vital for national security of a country, some governments aim to protect their IT and energy firms from foreign ownership. Fourth, some countries have relative cheap labour. Consequently, they produce goods at low costs, which result in lower prices in the international market. Such countries may create unfair competition in the market. However, countries with cheap labour like China have attracted investments than those with high costs of labour. Consumers want cheap products. Thus, if a country has expensive products because of labour cost, the domestic firms will lose market share to foreign firms. Fifth, some governments argue that protectionist laws enhance equality in income through protection of local jobs. These are the essence of high tariffs and subsidies for the domestic firms. From this argument, one can deduce that the US, which has an expensive steel industry, may not compete against the steel industry of Brazil, which is relative cheap. In such situations, the US steel industry may lay off workers in order to cut costs and remain competitive. Consequently, workers who depend on the industry will slip into poverty. From such competition, the steel industry in the US may collapse altogether after several years. Consequently, the US will rely on foreign suppliers of steel. If the US engages in diplomatic disputes or wars with Brazil or other countries with steel firms, it may not be able to get that vital resource for its domestic operation. Thus, the result could be devastating to the US economy. Another different reason for protectionism bears no economic advantages to any country. In this argument, countries note that their protectionist laws should reciprocate laws of their peers. That is, trade barriers should be high to reflect practices by other countries. China has applied this theory against the US in which it uses subsidies and tariffs as bargaining chip when negotiating international contracts. The bargaining chip theory does not support or oppose trade, but it considers protectionist law as a two-way approach. For instance, the US may lower steel tariffs for Brazil only if the latter agrees to lower its tariffs on other exports from the US.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Protectionism in International Trade specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Countries that use the bargaining chip approach focus on enhancing trade opportunities, but strive to protect their domestic ma rkets as much as possible. Hence, they maximise exports and reduce harmful imports (Spruiell, 2006). Challenges and opportunities protectionism presents to companies that wish to expand to international markets Although the arguments for protectionism are compelling, trade protection could hurt economies of countries, which impose them too. Some countries are fond of retaliation. For instance, some reports had indicated that there were many discriminatory trade policies than liberalising ones (Miller, 2009). Miller notes â€Å"governments are applying protectionist measures at the rate of 60 per quarter, and more than 90% of goods traded in the world have been affected by some kind of protectionist measures† (Miller, 2009). Trade policies could result into few goods and high prices, which hurt economies and consumers. This may not be suitable for any firm that intends to expand in countries, which tend to retaliate against trade policies. Foreign firms may not be able to comp ete against inefficient protected domestic firms. Governments that impose tariffs in order to protect their emerging firms create unfair competition in free trade. However, consumers will face higher prices and poor quality of services and products. In other words, firms with quality products may not expand to countries with high tariffs and subsidies because of possible unfair competition or expensive trade licence. Protectionist policies lower efficiency. Some economists claim that free trade may lead to loss of jobs in the importing country. However, economists have argued that competition created by foreign firms could enhance efficiency of local industries, quality of goods, and lead to sales growth and employment. Arguments for protectionist laws are compelling, particularly in saving domestic jobs. A government may be right in protecting local jobs in a local steel industry, preventing the industry from bankruptcy and mismanagement by imposing relatively higher tariffs on imp orts (Griswold, 2001). On the other hand, a government may fail to account for individuals who work in other firms supported by steel products. Other foreign factories can buy steel at world prices and manufacture steel products lower costs. Consumers will buy such products from other foreign countries with lower prices.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This implies that American firms, which manufacture steel products, will experience declines in sales and may lay off a significant number of employees. They may also go out of business or seek for additional capital from investors. This was the case when President Bush enacted high tariffs on steel in the year 2002. On this note, one must ask whether it is important to save some jobs at the expense of others or government should leave economic forces and efficiency to control markets. This point illustrates that protectionist policies have costs to the imposing country. In most cases, one may fail to notice such costs associated with protectionist measures. This happens because one can observe any changes in a given industry, but fail to notice the overall impacts because such impacts are widely distributed, affect many industries and customers. Countries argue in favour of protectionist measures to protect domestic firms and avoid relying on foreign industries. Thus, if a country leaves its industries unprotected from global forces, they may collapse and cause reliance on foreign products. However, this situation may not be bad because free trade does not operate in that manner for both developed and emerging economies. For developed economies, competition from foreign firms should allow domestic firms to re-examine and re-engineer their processes and enact the needed reforms so that they can become stronger and compete effectively with foreign firms. Moreover, it is also unlikely that domestic firms can lose all capacity to manufacture products for the local market. It is also imperative to understand whether industries in emerging economies require protection. Many emerging economies believe that they require protection from well-established multinational firms. However, this is a folly argument. Since some countries gained their independence from former colonial masters, they considered any imports as â€Å"other forms of colonialism and dependence on fo rmer masters† (Spruiell, 2006). Consequently, many countries adopted import substitution policies. Under the import substitution policy, governments controlled how their countries utilised available resources in attempts to manufacture all products they previously imported. This strategy did not lead to any economic growth. Instead, a number of emerging economies fell into deep debt crises while struggling to manufacture all products. On the contrary, East Asia has shown that developing countries can â€Å"export all products they can easily and cheaply manufacture and import products they cannot produce locally without high economic costs† (Spruiell, 2006). Globalisation has improved because many countries have noted that it is sound to maximise the production and export of products and services they can produce cheaply and easily. On the other hand, such countries also maximise importation of products they cannot manufacture. This results into a rapid economic growth. In this manner, countries rely on their comparative advantages and strategies to create value in the global market. According to Spruiell, â€Å"the principle of comparative advantage means that every nation, no matter how undeveloped or poor, has a comparative advantage in producing some goods† (Spruiell, 2006). However, many countries may not adopt open market policies because protectionism is a ‘bargaining chip’. Hence, the argument for protectionism under this theory still holds because nations may only reduce their trade barriers and tariffs if they can get some values from other countries. Otherwise, they claim that domestic firms will have to compete in the global market against other firms, which have protection and government subsidies. Proponents of protectionist measures and bargaining chip strategy question why a domestic industry should face competition from other industries, which get subsidies from their governments. Government subsidies allow ind ustries to produce and sell products at lower costs than costs of production. Thus, proponents of protectionism justify their position as attempts to eliminate unfair competition. However, when one focuses on comparative advantages, they must recognise that the concept requires countries to open their domestic markets and focus on exports to boost their economies. Protectionist laws deny consumers to buy cheap products. Moreover, such laws only protect a few selected business interests to the detriment of the entire economy. Foreign firms may find it difficult to establish their operations in countries, which protect their domestic industries from competition. Generally, countries experience economic growth when they are free to trade with other countries without many trade barriers. Countries with open borders are likely to facilitate foreign investments and trade as investors will find few trade barriers while consumers will buy products at lower prices. Thus, even subsidies may o nly favour open market countries because producers are likely to export their products to such countries. In addition, countries with open markets are likely to import products at low costs (Schiff and Schiff, 2010). Consequently, they will focus on developing their productive industries and enhancing their economic strength. Therefore, protectionism presents challenges to foreign firms that seek to expand in international markets in terms of several trade barriers, unfair competition with protected domestic firms, and expensive trade licences among other challenges. Such firms should seek for investment opportunities in open market countries with liberalised trade policies. This would lead to economic success through high volumes of trade because open markets facilitate trade. It is also important to understand the major beneficiaries of protectionism. Generally, when governments introduce protectionist policies, they aim to protect some industries but not others. On this note, gov ernments would consider industries, which could have significant influences on domestic politics (Hazlitt, 1988). For instance, in the US, governments have selected their influential steel, agribusiness, textile, and lately IT industries for protection against any foreign competition or acquisition. However, other unprotected industries have faced fierce competition from foreign firms, as well as higher prices of products from the protected domestic industries. One may focus on the protected industries and note that they are highly important for the government. However, industries have deep relations when viewed from economic principles. One must acknowledge that arguments for protectionist laws have some merits. For instance, governments save jobs, avoid financial ruins through subsidies, and could be critical in seeking for trade partnership in the global market. However, for every benefit of protectionist laws, governments must make subjective decisions on industry protection and identify industries that will incur costs of domestic protection (Lindsey, 2001). Governments should not select industries for protection based on their political influences, and they should apply economic principles and treat all industries in the same way. Protectionism comes with economic costs, which are not easy to ignore. Thus, fundamental issues should not be about potential costs. Instead, the focus should be on industries, which will bear such costs. While governments can provide responses to such questions, people also have economic freedom to choose their products. Recent trends The most common trade barriers exist between the US and China. These two countries show how protectionist laws work in a global market. However, apart from the US and China trade wars, other countries have trade barriers too. Miller noted that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) released a report, which indicated that many countries were yet to refrain from protectionism (Miller, 2009). The WTO me mber countries had â€Å"130 protectionist measures to implement† (Miller, 2009). Some of these protectionist measures included â€Å"state aid funds, higher tariffs, immigration restrictions and export subsidies† (Miller, 2009). For instance, in 2009, Russia focused on a comprehensive increment of all tariffs, Japan concentrated on reviewing its sanitation laws to restrict food imports while South Africa embarked on reviewing its spending patterns to favour firms owned by the blacks at the expense of white-owned firms. From the above figure, â€Å"China has been the main target for most governments’ protectionist laws† (Miller, 2009). China faces trade barriers from 55 countries, which have enacted measures to restrict Chinese exports (Miller, 2009). The US and Japan have 49 and 46 protectionist measures respectively. On the other hand, the growing economy of Brazil has attracted Chinese imports. Consequently, Brazilian government has introduced some â €Å"non-tariff trade barriers and protectionist measures, particularly in the automotive and light manufacturing sectors† (Deloitte, 2012) to protect domestic industries. Impacts of protectionist measures First domestic firms, which depend on government protection and subsidies, may not be able to compete well in the export global market. Import barriers are responsible for high prices due to high costs for intermediate needs. Consequently, export products become highly priced than the global market prices. This may force such domestic industries to lose market share to foreign firms. Moreover, there are also possibilities of retaliation from other countries. Second, protectionism affects the entire economy of a country as any rise in the cost of product leads to a drop in the gross domestic product (GDP). Third, protectionist measures also affect the global economy negatively as world exports and incomes drop. Finally, protectionist laws slow down economic growth for all nat ions. In other words, the global market requires complete liberalisation to improve actual incomes for emerging economies. Therefore, for any foreign firm seeking to expand its operation in the international market, it should choose countries without several trade barriers, protected industries, and government interference. Conclusion The concept of protectionism emanated to control trade issues that resulted from international trade. However, not all market issues require protectionist laws like some economists had believed. Today, some economists have argued and demonstrated that protectionist laws are ineffective and inappropriate ways of fixing market failures. One major challenge is that protectionist laws protect few individuals and leave majorities to bear the ultimate costs. Not even the poor masses who work in such industries should bear the costs. However, in most cases, protectionist measures place huge responsibilities on individuals who least deserve them. That is, only few individuals benefit from protectionist laws. Overall, protectionist laws are major obstacles to economic growth as this essay has shown. Thus, an open economic strategy can facilitate economic growth and eliminate trade barriers. Reference List Bhagwati, J 1988, Protectionism, MIT Press, Cambridge. Bhagwati, J 2004, In Defense of Globalization, Oxford University Press, New York. Deloitte 2012, Competitive Brazil: Challenges and strategies for the manufacturing industry, Intergraf Ind. Grfica Ltda, Brazil. Friedman, T 2000, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. Griswold, D 2001, Walls of Steel, Carlton Press Corporation, New York, NY. Hazlitt, H 1988, Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics, Three Rivers Press, New York. Lindsey, B 2001, Against the Dead Hand: The Uncertain Struggle for Global Capitalism, Wiley, New York. Miller, J W 2009, Protectionist Measures Expected to Rise, Report Warns. Web. Schiff, P and Schiff, A 2010, How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes, Wiley, New York. Spruiell, S 2006, Protectionism Tariffs, Subsidies, and Trade Policy. Web.

Unbeknownst

Unbeknownst Unbeknownst Unbeknownst By Maeve Maddox A British reader questions what he sees as a recent use of unbeknownst: Curious about the current (British/Irish English only?) replacement of unknown to him by unbeknown/unbeknownst to him (university students work attests to it in yoof-speak, and BBC documentaries to it in them elder lemons what should beknow better). Is this also creeping into American English? Partial paraphrase of the reader’s comment: The writing of university students offers evidence that â€Å"unbeknownst to him† is current in youth slang, and the phrase occurs in BBC documentaries written by old-timers who should know better than to use it. Although some speakers feel that unbeknownst â€Å"sounds medieval,† it is a fairly recent coinage, although not as recent as the reader seems to think: it dates from the 19th century. The first OED citation is from a letter written by novelist Mrs. Gaskell: You dont see me, but I often am sitting in the rocking-chair unbeknownst to you. (1848) The phrase â€Å"unbeknown to,† on the other hand, is documented as early as 1636. How the -st became attached to the word is- well- unknown. A Google search indicates that the phrases â€Å"unbeknown to him† and â€Å"unbeknownst to him† are in use, but they rank far behind the more conventional â€Å"unknown to him†: 1. â€Å"unbeknown to him† About 151,000 results   2. â€Å"unbeknownst to him† About 391,000 results   3. â€Å"unknown to him† About 12,800,000 results On the Ngram Viewer, Number One does not even show; Number Two makes a slight showing, and Number Three shows a marked decline in 1900, but remains well ahead of â€Å"unbeknownst to him.† As for the phrase’s â€Å"creeping into American English,† it did that eighty-four years after Mrs. Gaskell used it- in Light in August by William Faulkner: â€Å"Interfering with his work unbeknownst to him.† The use of unbeknownst in modern English is probably best described as â€Å"jocular† or â€Å"colloquial,† although it can be found in professional contexts: Description of a car accident, NBC News Unbeknownst to the first people who tried to help the victim of the crash, an adult male, the water was electrified. Report of an experiment, Chicago Booth, publication of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business Unbeknownst to them, the first part of the experiment served simply to expose them, in the form of a celebrity-trivia quiz, to pictures of high-profile, successful individuals. Article about deception, Wired. Unbeknownst to the subject, the boy is wearing a radio receiver in his ear, and every word he says is transmitted to him by a 37-year-old university professor sitting in a nearby room. Article about stress of modern life, The New Republic Unbeknownst to her at the time, a shooting had occurred the previous day in the same neighborhood.   Feature about racism among children, PBS Frontline Unbeknownst to his parents, he had started a blog, which they only learned about when another parent called to warn them. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good WithWork of Art TitlesEnglish Grammar 101: Prepositions

Cross Cultural Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Cross Cultural Managment - Essay Example In this context, therefore, cultural intelligence can be described as the ability of individuals in the working place to develop a sensible working condition despite their affiliations (Ang & Livermore, pp.38; Earley, Ang & Tan, pp.3). This essay shall aim at analyzing two articles in an attempt to find out which article is the most applicable to proving the importance of ‘Cultural Intelligence’ (CQ) to the manager of Global Alliances. The essay shall incorporate both theoretical and practical justifications on the importance of ‘Cultural Intelligence’ (CQ) in any organization. According to Triandis, just like in Peterson, (pp.177) and Lundby (pp.301), cultural intelligence is vital for survival of any organization. In his work, he indicates that no flourishing interaction can exist without the staff embracing the aspects of cultural intelligence. Triandis (pp.20) indicates that if the organization has to be successful in inculcating feelings of cultural int elligence among the workers, they have to be keen to detect any kind of flaws that might be existent in the workplace that might harbor successful incorporation of basics that can inculcate roots of cultural intelligence among the workers. ... This entails the ability of the individuals to understand the perceptions and behaviors of the concerned parties in regard to their cultural backgrounds. Of essence, he emphasizes that in the case of varying cultures, individuals must be quick to focus more on the context of their workforce unlike content of what they might have communicated. At times individuals are likely to behave according to the way other people behave in varying cultures, a factor Triandis (pp.20) refers to as ideocentrism. He also explains the concept allocentrism that may alter thriving of cultural intelligence in the workplace. On a practical aspect, in the case of a manager, it would be beneficial if one assesses all kinds of information given by the concerned parties, before making a judgment especially if disputes exist between sections of employees. Collecting tangible evidence unlike insinuations or clues would be beneficial to the manager. Secondly, culturally intelligent persons must be keen to identi fy behaviors that exist in the tough situations in the workplace (Livermore, pp.53). This interprets that, in the course of coexisting in the working environment, there are higher chances that individuals may conflict as a result of interactions in the society. Triandis (pp.22) indicates that chances are probable that individuals are likely to conflict in the quest to make their opinions heard in the workplace. Practically, the managers may consider gathering all kinds of information that would allow them make judgments that are biased, but for the good of the entire workplace. On another view point, a culturally intelligent person is one that is able to handle circumstances that emanate from cultural variances. Triandis