Import & Export Financing

IMPORT FINANCING Background Like other developing countries, Pakistan’s import bill exceeds exports. Therefore, it faces scarcity of foreign exchange to meet its import requirements. According to daily â€Å"DAWN† dated 18th November 2012, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves were USD 13. 84 Billion at the week ended as on 9th November 2012. Gap between the import and export bills is partially covered by regulations, controls and measures exercised by State Bank of Pakistan and partially by the international credit, aid, loan agencies like International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB).State Bank of Pakistan keeps control at a time, over this imbalance by imposing cash margin restrictions on import of general items from time to time. This is done in order to restrict imports and to allow import of only necessary items to fulfill genuine requirements and to discourage import of non-commercial and luxury items. CASE STUDY: On 1st Februa ry 2012, restriction on import of CNG cylinders and kits was imposed by Government of Pakistan in view of government policy to discourage use of CNG as a fuel due to its short supply and ever rising demand.No importer is allowed to import CNG cylinders & kits up till now which is being restricted by SBP & custom authority. Foreign trade involves many risks because of different locations /countries of importer and exporter. Both the parties are doing their businesses in different countries where different laws & regulations apply and it is difficult to settle any dispute regarding goods quality and payment settlement between importer and exporter. For safeguarding interest of both importer and exporter, banks involve in these transactions for smooth settlement between the parties. IMPORTERSAny body who imports the required goods into the country is called an importer. The importer has to pay the exporter for the value of goods in foreign exchange. Importers are classified into three categories: i) Commercial sector importer i-e. a firm, institution, organization, person or group of persons registered as an importer is called commercial importer. ii) Industrial sector importer i-e. any industrial unit which is registered as importer comes under this category. iii) Public sector importers i-e. the organizations owned by the government which import capital / consumer commodities as per their requirement.Usually, these organizations are not registered as regular importer and their requests for opening letter of credit is routed through SBP. Letter of Credit (L/C) Letter of Credit is a written undertaking by a bank given to the seller/exporter (beneficiary) at the request and instructions of the buyer/importer (applicant) to pay at sight or at a determinable future date a stated sum of money against the required documents. The documents include commercial invoice, certificate of origin, transport document relating to the mode of transport used (Airway Bill, Bill of Lading, Railway Receipt, Truck Receipt, etc. and other documents required as per terms of letter of credit. Parties to Letter of Credit In documentary credit operations, maximum number of parties involved are as under: i) Applicant (Opener of L/C): The applicant of a credit is an importer or buyer who requests his bank to issue documentary credit in favor of the seller /exporter. ii) Issuing Bank (Opening Bank): The issuing bank is also called importer’s bank. At the request of the applicant, this bank issues the credit in accordance with the instructions of the applicant in favor of the exporter. The letter of credit is sent to the bank in the exporter/seller’s country. ii) Advising Bank: Advising bank is also known as transmitting or correspondent bank in the seller’s country. Issuing bank forwards the advice of the credit by mail or by any means of tele-transmission (i-e. cable, telex, SWIFT, etc. ) to a correspondent bank where the beneficiary business exist s. Normally, all L/Cs are sent via SWIFT i-e. Society for Worldwide International Financial Transactions. iv) Beneficiary (Seller or Exporter): The person or body receiving the letter of credit from the importer and/or in whose favor letter of credit is issued is called beneficiary. v) Confirming Bank:Confirming bank is the bank which at the specific request of the issuing bank adds its confirmation to a letter of credit. Adding confirmation constitutes a definite undertaking of the confirming bank, in addition to that of the issuing bank. vi) Negotiating Bank: Negotiating Bank is the bank which receives the documents against letter of credit as authorized bank. This bank has to give value for drafts and/or documents under L/C conditions. Negotiating Bank may or may not be the Advising Bank. This bank examines the documents against L/C, and if found in order, negotiates the documents and makes payment to the seller.The negotiating bank dispatches the documents to the Issuing Bank cl aiming reimbursement from the bank as mentioned in the L/C and as agreed between the two banks. The Negotiating Bank should ensure before lodgment of reimbursement claim that all terms of letter of credit have been complied with. vii) Reimbursing Bank: Reimbursing bank is the bank which, on behalf of the opening bank, honors the reimbursement claim lodged by the Negotiating Bank. MODES OF PAYMENT OF L/Cs There are four modes of payments of letters of credit as detailed under: (i) L/C available by Negotiation:If L/C provides for negotiation to pay without recourse to drawers and/or bonafide holders in terms of credit. Negotiation means the payment of value for draft(s) and/or documents by the bank authorized to negotiate complying with the terms of L/C. (ii) L/C available by Acceptance: In case the credit calls for a usance draft and is available by acceptance on the issuing bank, and the seller submits all the documents including usance bill of exchange to a nominated or another ban k complying all the terms and conditions of the credit, the seller receives acceptance of the payment at maturity date.However, under a separate arrangement, he may get his usance draft discounted by the bank in order to meet his cash flow requirements. In such case, seller has to bear discount charges. (iii) L/C available by Sight Payment: If the beneficiary of letter of credit is to obtain payment immediately on presentation of stipulated documents, it is the sight letter of credit. In this case the exporter draws a sight or demand draft payable at the counters of the advising bank or the bank specified in the letter of credit.The draft is paid on presentation provided that all the other terms of L/C have been complied with. (iv) L/C available by Deferred Payment: In this case, L/C opening bank has to effect payment after a period specified in the L/C, calculated as to the number of days after the date of presentation of documents or after the date of shipment. Such L/C does not r equire drafts to be drawn or presented alongwith other documents. RETIREMENT OF DOCUMENTS When the documents are received from foreign bank, L/C opening bank affixes â€Å"Dak Received† stamp and enters the same in â€Å"Dak Received Register†.The duplicate set of documents, received by the bank, is kept with original set of documents and duplicate should be separate from the original. The bank verifies that all the documents are received as specified in the forwarding schedule of the negotiating/exporter’s bank. While scrutinizing the documents, it is also ensured that all the documents have been received as per terms of L/C. The retirement of documents can be made by the following means: †¢ Through debit to the customer’s account †¢ Through Trust Receipt Facility (FTR) offered by the bank. †¢ Through Finance against Imported Merchandise (FIM)THROUGH DEBIT TO CUSTOMER’S ACCOUNT In case customer/importer has sufficient funds to settl e the bill, Cost Memo is prepared and amount in foreign currency is converted into Pak Rupees at Selling TT & OD rate of exchange. Any foreign correspondent charges and service charges are added to it. Customer issues cheque / authority letter to debit his account for bill amount plus mark-up and other charges. After receiving the amount, title documents are endorsed by two authorized signatories and the same are delivered to customer against proper acknowledgement.In case, importer has not sufficient funds to settle the bill, he can avail finance from bank to settle the claim. Credit facilities available to the importer are explained hereunder: A. FUND BASED FACILITIES 1. FINANCE AGAINST TRUST RECEIPT (FATR) If customer desires to retire the documents through Trust Receipt facility, a request letter to this effect is obtained from him. In this case, bank releases documents of the goods to importer so that he may clear the goods from custom authorities. Payment is settled by the ban k and reimbursement is made to foreign bank.The bank has lien on receivables in this case and importer repays the bank finance after sale of the goods. Trust Receipt should not be allowed against Usance L/C unless specific approval from the authority is held. Following documents are obtained before releasing the documents on Finance Against Trust Receipt: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Bill of Exchange duly accepted by the party ? Demand Promissory Note ? Trust Receipt ? Collateral (if any) as per limit approval ? Invoice ? Agreement of Mark-up The Trust Receipt facility can only be extended upto 45/60 days or as per terms of sanction. . FINANCE AGAINST IMPORTED MERCHANDISE (FIM) This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the bank and the importer. The sale price consists of value of goods or documents of title to goods and margin of profit. The sale price is payable by the buyer on deferred payment basis either in part or in lump sum. Thi s facility is granted for a period of 60 days or as per sanction advice. Following documents are obtained from the party: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Demand Promissory Note ? Letter of Indemnity for clearance of consignment ?Letter of Pledge ? Agreement of Mark-up This type of facility is against pledge of imported stocks and its process / transaction flow is similar to that of Self-Liquidating Inventory Finance. TRANSACTION FLOW: Goods imported through L/C, when reach the port in importer’s country, there is a process of releasing the goods from custom authorities. For this purpose Clearing Agents on the panel of bank. The clearing agent after clearing the goods, transports the same via Goods Transport Companies to the destination of the importer. At importer’s business premises / factory, etc.Bank Muccadam is available to take over the custody of the goods as soon as these are received at the site. These goods are kept under pledge arrangement and bank takes effective control & possession of the imported goods. B. NON-FUND BASED FACILITIES 3. USANCE LETTER OF CREDIT This type of letter of credit is issued with a condition that payment will be made after some specified period of time i-e. 180 days, 365 days, etc. The bank undertakes to pay the exporter for the value of goods at some later date in order to facilitate the importer to arrange funds for settlement of the transaction.Usance letter of credit is very useful facility in which importer not only avails the opportunity of time available to pay his liabilities but also he saves borrowing costs due to difference of LIBOR and KIBOR. At present KIBOR is upto 10% whereas LIBOR is ranging from 0. 5% to 1% for the last two to three years. In case of Usance L/C, the importer will have to pay the value of goods alongwith some additional profit/surcharge levied by the exporter (which is included in the Invoice Value) for allowing repayment period to importer.Exporter will calc ulate this additional profit on transaction on the basis of LIBOR (0. 70%) instead of KIBOR (10%). In case importer avails the credit lines to settle the import bill from his local bank, he will bear the borrowing/financing cost on the basis of KIBOR which is far above than LIBOR. 4. SHIPPING GUARANTEE The shipping guarantee is issued in favor of the local shipping agents for obtaining delivery order to clear goods from port / customer authorities in the absence of original shipping documents of L/Cs. This guarantee is issued on prescribed from provided by the shipping company.This guarantee is signed by the importer and counter-signed by the bank. Following documents are required from the customer at the time of issuance of shipping guarantee: ? Letter of Request from the customer / importer ? Copy of Invoice ? Copy of Bill of Lading / transport document ? Format of the shipping guarantee to be issued ? Counter guarantee in favor of the bank duly signed by the customer ? Letter of undertaking regarding exchange rate fluctuation ? Undertaking to accept the draft in case of usance L/C ? Undertaking to accept all discrepancies in the documentsLiability under the shipping guarantee shall be reversed only after the surrender of the original bill of lading against which guarantee has been issued and the receipt of original guarantee from the shipping company. On receipt of original bill of lading, this is forwarded to the shipping company alongwith request to return the original guarantee. This facility is very short term nature normally 30 days. B. EXPORT FINANCE In order to strengthen its position in the international markets, Pakistan has to strive for improving its balance of trade by increasing its exports.As such exports have been the top priority of the government’s agenda to improve the position of foreign exchange earning of the country. Banks have a very important role to play in trade activities of the country. Banks act as agents for both the imp orters and exporters and play important role in the development of country’s trade. While handling export transactions, Credit Manager and/or Export staff of the bank must always keep into consideration the following: ? Export Policy Order of the government for the financial year ?Guidelines/instructions of Export Promotion Bureau ? State Bank of Pakistan Foreign Exchange Circulars ? Bank’s Foreign Exchange Regulations and FEX circulars ADVISING OF EXPORT LETTERS OF CREDIT Letters of credit received from foreign banks are advised to the beneficiaries in Pakistan through L/Cs advising departments of the bank. All L/Cs received are carefully scrutinized for their authenticity adhering to the terms & conditions and complying with our Foreign Exchange Regulations and International laws & publications (UCP 500). FORM â€Å"E†No person can export any goods from Pakistan unless he is duly registered as an exporter with Export Promotion Bureau under the registration â⠂¬Å"Importer & Exporter Order 1952†. Blank â€Å"E† Forms are issued to exporters, against written request, free of any charges. In order to export, the exporter will provide details on â€Å"E† form in respect of goods, quantity, invoice value of goods, terms of sale, destination and name & address of the importer. This â€Å"E† form is the main document to calculate value of goods exported and is used to control the export of any item from Pakistan.CASE STUDY: During October 2012, Government of Pakistan allowed export of 200,000 tons of sugar from Pakistan with a condition that one sugar mill can export maximum upto 10,000 tons of sugar. This maximum quantity of sugar (10,000 tons) exported by any single sugar mill to be controlled by the â€Å"E† Form submitted by the exporting sugar mill. In case of any effort of sugar mill to exceed export from 10,000 tons, SBP can very easily trace this from the record of â€Å"E† form available in its record. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the types of financing available to exporter. . FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS PURCHASED AGAINST L/Cs This type of financing is referred to as Foreign Bills Purchased (FBP). Only those documents are purchased which are negotiable and which conform to the terms of letters of credit. The documents are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and payment is received through bank’s foreign correspondents maintaining NOSTRO account in various currencies. Following documents are submitted by the exporter for negotiation: ? Original Letter of Credit (L/C) ? Documents of title to goods (Bill of lading, Airway bill, etc. ? Bill of Exchange (B/E) ? Commercial Invoice ? Certificate of Origin ? Packing List ? Insurance Policy ? Any other document as per terms of L/C FBP is practical example of â€Å"Factoring† in which bank purchases the receivable of the client/exporter after making payment and takes the responsibility of collection of the receivable at its own end. The exporter transfers all rights of ownership of the documents to the bank and authorization to claim reimbursement from the L/C opening bank. This transaction is to be handled with extreme care, vigilance and diligence.All the financial and commercial documents are scrutinized as per terms & conditions of L/C. Documents after careful scrutiny are forwarded to the L/C opening bank and claim of reimbursement is made as well. On realization of the bill, FBP is settled /adjusted. 2. FOREIGN DOCUMENTARY BILLS FOR COLLECTION Financing against foreign bills is made on export bills which are drawn under Letter of credit and are sent for payment under documentary collection. This is a sale transaction at a price mutually agreed upon between the buyer (bank) and seller (exporter).The documents are sold to the bank and sale proceeds will be credited in the account of seller (exporter). This type of export finance is termed as â€Å"Finance against Foreign Billsâ €  (FAFB). All other procedures of FAFB are similar to FBP except that under FAFB in the event of non-payment of the bill by L/C opening bank or importer, the exporter undertakes to repurchase the same documents at bank’s marked up price. FAFB is the practical example of â€Å"Lien on Receivables†. 3. FINANCE AGAINST PACKING CREDIT (FAPC)Packing Credit is a sort of pre-shipment or pre-export finance, extended to prime & valued customers (exporters) against valid letter of credit / firm contract order. The finance is provided to the exporter for the following: ? Purchase of goods ? Freight charges ? Clearing forwarding charges ? Export duty, etc. ? Packing requirements Finance against packing credit is granted for 180 days or upto the period the shipment of goods is affected whichever is earlier. Lien is marked on the Letter of Credit / Firm Contract in order to prevent negotiation of documents.

Is Hunting Ethical

The difference between hunting and killing â€Å"It is 4:00 in the morning as a father and son prepare for a day of elk hunting, Whenever October comes around this father and son know that it is an important month because it is hunting season and they have a chance to provide meat for their family. The day brings success to the hunters as they harvest a male elk and take it back home to share not only the meat but also the memories that were provided by the hunt. Many people in this world have opinions about hunting saying it is â€Å"unethical† or that it is a cruel form of killing for fun. Hunting is portrayed as an activity that allows humans the right to go out into the wild and harvest an animal or animals just as our ancestors did many years ago, that is a good picture of it but there are many reasons why people hunt other than to get meat shoot a gun or hang out with friends in the outdoors Benefits of hunting Hunting isn’t what most people think, it doesnâ€⠄¢t just help the hunters who are getting meat but it helps the population of animals as well.In Colorado alone there are an estimated two thousand elk and 1500 deer taken a year, this seems cruel but hear me out. If a herd of elk gets to big then there will be scarce amounts of food because there many mouths to feed but only so many acres of edible grass and plants to feed them. This problem causes fights and the weaker elk get run out of the herd because of over population, these elk that are disowned by the herd usually die off from starvation or predators. Matt Forsyth a local area hunter says â€Å"my family and I can live for a year on one animal harvested from our hunting trips†.That means that one animal out of the thousands in Colorado can support a family and save an estimated 400 dollars that is usually spent on beef pork and chicken bought from the store. My family relies on meat from my father and I every year, if we are not successful it is a devastating blow on our bank accounts. STATISTICS ABOUT HUNTING 12. 5 million people 16 years old and older enjoyed hunting a variety of animals within the United States. They hunted 220 million days and took 185 million trips. Hunting expenditures totaled $22. 9 billion. An estimated 10. million hunters pursued big game, such as deer and elk, on 164 million days. There were 4. 8 million hunters of small game including squirrels and rabbits. They hunted small game on 52 million days and spent $2. 4 billion on small game hunting trips and equipment. 2. 3 million hunted migratory birds such as doves or waterfowl 1. 1 million hunted other animals such as woodchucks and raccoons. As the above figures state hunting is a very much enjoyed sport that Colorado residents take a very great passion in and I believe it always will be. DISADVANTAGES ABOUT HUNTINGMany animals die yearly from accidental death from hunters, accidental death occurs when a hunter mistakes and shoots an animal or the target species he w as pursuing. I have seen many accidental deaths as a hunter and it is very sad because I hate to take a life from an animal that did not deserve it, I am not saying all animals deserve to die but if I cannot benefit from the death of an animal then why does it deserve to die? Poaching is also a huge problem in America. I do not like this one part of hunting and I wish it could be eliminated, poaching is when a human illegally harvests an animal without a license.Over 1500 animals are poached each year and many of those animals had their lives taken only for their horns or ivory teeth and tusks. Many people will say that hunting is not right because the animals are helpless and innocent, I say otherwise. At the beginning of time hunting was a major part of life and was a necessity, being the only means of survival. It was a source of food, clothing, and sometimes tools. Hunted animals were know as game animals. The earliest tools used to hunt were bow and arrow and spears, where now in the present we hunt with more powerful weapons like the compound bow and rifle.Having these newer and updated tools man can now hunt with out having to work as hard at killing their prey. Just because it is easier to hunt with the new and improved rifles and bows does not mean that it is easy. I give a lot of credit to the Native Americans because they had it worse than us, they had to run and chase their animals till it was down where as now days you can use an all terrain vehicle or a truck to get deep in the forest. I feel like people do not look past the blood of hunting because it is such a gory part of the process and they feel justified to say that hunters are messed up in the ead because would we want to be shot and bleed to death, I wouldn’t but still hunting has evolved from the early ages so humans were just taught that hunting was a way of living. I have been hunting since I was nine and I will admit that there were some parts of the sport that I wish I didnâ⠂¬â„¢t see. I hate to see an animal suffer and I have seen my fair share of that, but my plan was not to kill for the thrill or pride of taking down an animal. I did it because it was the meat that my family ate for a whole year and without it we would pay more than five hundred dollars for meat in 6 months because of my large family size.There is always a downside to everything and as much as I love hunting I have to say that there is parts that I do not like. â€Å"What we see is the aftermath of people going out and killing trophy animals and removing those trophy parts, which would be the antlers or the horns and leaving the carcasses to rot,† â€Å"It is so disrespectful to the wildlife and gives hunting a bad name. † (Sarason) Antlers are valuable. They can earn poachers hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per mount. (Forsyth) â€Å"Some people do it purely as a business. They've detached from their activity.It's just pure dollars and cents. They don't see wildlife as anything other than something you can buy and make a buck,† (Sarason) â€Å"it is 4:00 in the morning as a man and his hunting guide sit in a cozy cabin drinking coffee and going over the game plan for the day, this man has paid his guide an estimated 3,000 dollars for this hunt. The day starts off in the truck as they drive to a hillside to see if spotting a herd will bring them luck, sure enough out of the tree’s comes a beautiful male elk with an astoundingly big set of antlers.This is where the 3,000 dollars comes in because this man is on a guided elk hunt that has been set up on a high fenced ranch (the animals have no way to escape or be free), the elk are given special grass and food to grow big antlers. The man shoots the elk takes pictures and leaves the meat with the guides who will charge him an additional 500 bucks to get it cut and delivered to his house† People from around the world come to have supposedly the hunt of a lifetime and par take in an event that our ancestors have done but it is far from what actually happens.Many guided hunts are just slaughter of animals because they have no place to be free and live a life, they shoot the animals and the guide hauls it cuts it and prepares it and all you have to do is pay 3,500 dollars for it which is a deal right? Real hunting is when you pay 300 dollars a year to chase fair game through beautiful mountains and enjoy cutting the meat hauling it and doing all of the stuff that makes hunting what it truly is today.HOW ARE ORGANIZATIONS GETTING INVOLVED Many people have a jaded opinion about hunting because they see tv shows about it and the people always shoot the big animals and it all looks so easy but in reality it is not all that easy, real hunting requires patience love and respect for not only the pastime of it but the animals as well. No person will ever be right about wether it is ethical or if it isn’t but everybody can have a say in what they think i s right or what they believe in. unting is such a controversial subject to many people because just like anything, if you don’t know anything about it you are either really interested or very skeptical and I have found that many people are skeptical. Because of all the modern PETA campaigns many people are upset about hunters going out and harvesting an animal because it is an â€Å"innocent† animal that has been killed for pleasure or thrill. But hunting is an art form and a blessed opportunity for humans to provide their family with meat as well as learn more about the outdoors and life.Many campaigns have been run to stop hunting in many states. These campaigns are put together by PETA a non-profit organization that try’s to outlaw the abuse and neglect of animals, also called animal cruelty. Organizations like PETA are against hunting because they are under the impression that hunting is a cruel form of killing helpless innocent animals which is true somewha t. What they do not understand is that while many animals die every year but true hunters will never kill for the fun of shooting a gun or killing.With a lot of the gun laws that the president is trying to pass maybe all of these animal cruelty organizations wont have to keep fighting hunters because if such laws pass then many Americans will not be able to hunt anymore. Rumor has it that PETA is trying to get all gun laws passed just because of the way that it could help save many animals every year. Hunting is a very controversial subject because it is so important to some people and many families rely on an animal to be harvested every year. Good hunting ethics are not usually covered by written laws. Ethics are a personal code which dictates how we act.It is conduct that is morally right, safe, proper and fair. According to Aldo Leopold, regarded as the â€Å"father† of wildlife management, â€Å"ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- eve n when doing the wrong thing is legal. † T. D. Carroll, the Father of Texas Hunter Education, once said: â€Å"There are written and unwritten laws. The written laws tell us what we can and cannot do while the unwritten laws tell us what we should and should not do. † HOW WOULD ANIMALS BE AFFECTED IF WE DID NOT HUNT If we didn't hunt animals they would die of starvation and disease.That is why we have regulations on hunting. And that is why bag limits and seasons change yearly. Take for instance the Snow Goose, It is so overpopulated right now that it takes food from animals and fish that are low in population thus the overpopulation of this bird could cause other animals to go extinct. It would not be the hunters causing the extinction. This year there was a conservation order in effect issued by the Colorado Fish and Wildlife Department to hunt as many as you can-no bag limit which seems like a killing frenzy for all of the geese but given the options it really helps all animals.Another instance is with exotic species (species that don't naturally occur in a particular area). For instance here in Colorado, the Mountain Lion does not belong here but It flourishes and if it keeps its pace then it could totally wipe out the population of native species of animals. Thus, the state says you can hunt and kill the Mountain Lion whenever you want and as many as you want, you just have to tell the state where you shot it. Look at the wild pig. Not natural to the United States and now we have a major problem on our hands. They destroy crops and take the food of our natural species.If deer hunting became illegal we would have so many deer in this country no one would be able to drive down the highway without fear of hitting one at 70mph possibly killing the passengers of the vehicle. Or there would be so many deer the food would eventually run out for them causing them to starve to death. Many in Colorado are interested in living a healthy lifestyle, which often includes consuming organically-grown food. â€Å"Locally grown† is becoming an increasingly popular way to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables and backyard gardens are seeing a resurgence.One of the driving forces for the â€Å"going organic† movement is related to concerns about chemicals and pesticides associated with mass production of our food. Meat from hunting does not go through the chemical-related processes of grocery-store domestic meats. Hunting and eating wild game provides a lean, â€Å"free-range† protein product similar to that of organic food stores. Moreover, for those who hunt, fresh meat procured through hunting offers a â€Å"do-it-yourself† pride and satisfaction similar to that of growing your own garden. Hunting provides healthier food for the hunter and his/her family.I have nothing against farmers, I support them 100%, but there's more protein in the meat of a wild animal than there is a cow, pig, etc. So, more protein means a healthier cut of meat. It only takes one male to reproduce so anybody that says population control isn't a â€Å"valid† reason to hunt isn’t well equipped with the facts of hunting. Since it only takes one male animal, then there's no reason to have older animals that are not healthy reproduce because that would be passing along weaker genes, and that will make that generation of animals weaker.A lot of people say that hunters only shoot the males animals but that shows just how un-educated they are on this subject. I know many people who will kill a female over a male any day. There's no benefit to just harvesting males and not the females. Each sex needs a specific number harvested to keep the population healthy. Back to the example I used about an older male animal breeding. Same thing goes with female animals. The older they get, the weaker their offspring will be. The less milk they'll produce. The older the animal (males and females), the weaker the state of the ir body/health.Inbreeding DOES happen where animal populations have exploded. You need a good mix of male and females of different ‘lines' so that you will get healthy offspring. Not only for that aspect of population control- if there are too many animals in a given area no matter if they are mostly males or mostly females, the animals will deplete the area of resources- food, water, cover. So, not only will the animals be at a higher risk for diseases/illnesses like rabies or CWD in deer, the land will be greatly affected by it too.The difference between hunting and killing â€Å"It is 4:00 in the morning as a father and son prepare for a day of elk hunting, Whenever October comes around this father and son know that it is an important month because it is hunting season and they have a chance to provide meat for their family. The day brings success to the hunters as they harvest a male elk and take it back home to share not only the meat but also the memories that were prov ided by the hunt. Many people in this world have opinions about hunting saying it is â€Å"unethical† or that it is a cruel form of killing for fun. Hunting is portrayed as an activity that allows humans the right to go out into the wild and harvest an animal or animals just as our ancestors did many years ago, that is a good picture of it but there are many reasons why people hunt other than to get meat shoot a gun or hang out with friends in the outdoors Benefits of hunting Hunting isn’t what most people think, it doesn’t just help the hunters who are getting meat but it helps the population of animals as well.In Colorado alone there are an estimated two thousand elk and 1500 deer taken a year, this seems cruel but hear me out. If a herd of elk gets to big then there will be scarce amounts of food because there many mouths to feed but only so many acres of edible grass and plants to feed them. This problem causes fights and the weaker elk get run out of the he rd because of over population, these elk that are disowned by the herd usually die off from starvation or predators. Matt Forsyth a local area hunter says â€Å"my family and I can live for a year on one animal harvested from our hunting trips†.That means that one animal out of the thousands in Colorado can support a family and save an estimated 400 dollars that is usually spent on beef pork and chicken bought from the store. My family relies on meat from my father and I every year, if we are not successful it is a devastating blow on our bank accounts. STATISTICS ABOUT HUNTING 12. 5 million people 16 years old and older enjoyed hunting a variety of animals within the United States. They hunted 220 million days and took 185 million trips. Hunting expenditures totaled $22. 9 billion.An estimated 10. 7 million hunters pursued big game, such as deer and elk, on 164 million days. There were 4. 8 million hunters of small game including squirrels and rabbits. They hunted small game on 52 million days and spent $2. 4 billion on small game hunting trips and equipment. 2. 3 million hunted migratory birds such as doves or waterfowl 1. 1 million hunted other animals such as woodchucks and raccoons. As the above figures state hunting is a very much enjoyed sport that Colorado residents take a very great passion in and I believe it always will be.DISADVANTAGES ABOUT HUNTING Many animals die yearly from accidental death from hunters, accidental death occurs when a hunter mistakes and shoots an animal or the target species he was pursuing. I have seen many accidental deaths as a hunter and it is very sad because I hate to take a life from an animal that did not deserve it, I am not saying all animals deserve to die but if I cannot benefit from the death of an animal then why does it deserve to die? Poaching is also a huge problem in America.I do not like this one part of hunting and I wish it could be eliminated, poaching is when a human illegally harvests an animal w ithout a license. Over 1500 animals are poached each year and many of those animals had their lives taken only for their horns or ivory teeth and tusks. Many people will say that hunting is not right because the animals are helpless and innocent, I say otherwise. At the beginning of time hunting was a major part of life and was a necessity, being the only means of survival. It was a source of food, clothing, and sometimes tools. Hunted animals were know as game animals.The earliest tools used to hunt were bow and arrow and spears, where now in the present we hunt with more powerful weapons like the compound bow and rifle. Having these newer and updated tools man can now hunt with out having to work as hard at killing their prey. Just because it is easier to hunt with the new and improved rifles and bows does not mean that it is easy. I give a lot of credit to the Native Americans because they had it worse than us, they had to run and chase their animals till it was down where as now days you can use an all terrain vehicle or a truck to get deep in the forest.I feel like people do not look past the blood of hunting because it is such a gory part of the process and they feel justified to say that hunters are messed up in the head because would we want to be shot and bleed to death, I wouldn’t but still hunting has evolved from the early ages so humans were just taught that hunting was a way of living. I have been hunting since I was nine and I will admit that there were some parts of the sport that I wish I didn’t see. I hate to see an animal suffer and I have seen my fair share of that, but my plan was not to kill for the thrill or pride of taking down an animal.I did it because it was the meat that my family ate for a whole year and without it we would pay more than five hundred dollars for meat in 6 months because of my large family size. There is always a downside to everything and as much as I love hunting I have to say that there is parts tha t I do not like. â€Å"What we see is the aftermath of people going out and killing trophy animals and removing those trophy parts, which would be the antlers or the horns and leaving the carcasses to rot,† â€Å"It is so disrespectful to the wildlife and gives hunting a bad name. (Sarason) Antlers are valuable. They can earn poachers hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars per mount. (Forsyth) â€Å"Some people do it purely as a business. They've detached from their activity. It's just pure dollars and cents. They don't see wildlife as anything other than something you can buy and make a buck,† (Sarason) â€Å"it is 4:00 in the morning as a man and his hunting guide sit in a cozy cabin drinking coffee and going over the game plan for the day, this man has paid his guide an estimated 3,000 dollars for this hunt.The day starts off in the truck as they drive to a hillside to see if spotting a herd will bring them luck, sure enough out of the tree’s comes a beau tiful male elk with an astoundingly big set of antlers. This is where the 3,000 dollars comes in because this man is on a guided elk hunt that has been set up on a high fenced ranch (the animals have no way to escape or be free), the elk are given special grass and food to grow big antlers.The man shoots the elk takes pictures and leaves the meat with the guides who will charge him an additional 500 bucks to get it cut and delivered to his house† People from around the world come to have supposedly the hunt of a lifetime and partake in an event that our ancestors have done but it is far from what actually happens. Many guided hunts are just slaughter of animals because they have no place to be free and live a life, they shoot the animals and the guide hauls it cuts it and prepares it and all you have to do is pay 3,500 dollars for it which is a deal right?Real hunting is when you pay 300 dollars a year to chase fair game through beautiful mountains and enjoy cutting the meat h auling it and doing all of the stuff that makes hunting what it truly is today. HOW ARE ORGANIZATIONS GETTING INVOLVED Many people have a jaded opinion about hunting because they see tv shows about it and the people always shoot the big animals and it all looks so easy but in reality it is not all that easy, real hunting requires patience love and respect for not only the pastime of it but the animals as well.No person will ever be right about wether it is ethical or if it isn’t but everybody can have a say in what they think is right or what they believe in. hunting is such a controversial subject to many people because just like anything, if you don’t know anything about it you are either really interested or very skeptical and I have found that many people are skeptical. Because of all the modern PETA campaigns many people are upset about hunters going out and harvesting an animal because it is an â€Å"innocent† animal that has been killed for pleasure or th rill.But hunting is an art form and a blessed opportunity for humans to provide their family with meat as well as learn more about the outdoors and life. Many campaigns have been run to stop hunting in many states. These campaigns are put together by PETA a non-profit organization that try’s to outlaw the abuse and neglect of animals, also called animal cruelty. Organizations like PETA are against hunting because they are under the impression that hunting is a cruel form of killing helpless innocent animals which is true somewhat.What they do not understand is that while many animals die every year but true hunters will never kill for the fun of shooting a gun or killing. With a lot of the gun laws that the president is trying to pass maybe all of these animal cruelty organizations wont have to keep fighting hunters because if such laws pass then many Americans will not be able to hunt anymore. Rumor has it that PETA is trying to get all gun laws passed just because of the wa y that it could help save many animals every year.Hunting is a very controversial subject because it is so important to some people and many families rely on an animal to be harvested every year. Good hunting ethics are not usually covered by written laws. Ethics are a personal code which dictates how we act. It is conduct that is morally right, safe, proper and fair. According to Aldo Leopold, regarded as the â€Å"father† of wildlife management, â€Å"ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching- even when doing the wrong thing is legal. † T. D. Carroll, the Father of Texas Hunter Education, once said: â€Å"There are written and unwritten laws.The written laws tell us what we can and cannot do while the unwritten laws tell us what we should and should not do. † HOW WOULD ANIMALS BE AFFECTED IF WE DID NOT HUNT If we didn't hunt animals they would die of starvation and disease. That is why we have regulations on hunting. And that is wh y bag limits and seasons change yearly. Take for instance the Snow Goose, It is so overpopulated right now that it takes food from animals and fish that are low in population thus the overpopulation of this bird could cause other animals to go extinct.It would not be the hunters causing the extinction. This year there was a conservation order in effect issued by the Colorado Fish and Wildlife Department to hunt as many as you can-no bag limit which seems like a killing frenzy for all of the geese but given the options it really helps all animals. Another instance is with exotic species (species that don't naturally occur in a particular area). For instance here in Colorado, the Mountain Lion does not belong here but It flourishes and if it keeps its pace then it could totally wipe out the population of native species of animals.Thus, the state says you can hunt and kill the Mountain Lion whenever you want and as many as you want, you just have to tell the state where you shot it. Lo ok at the wild pig. Not natural to the United States and now we have a major problem on our hands. They destroy crops and take the food of our natural species. If deer hunting became illegal we would have so many deer in this country no one would be able to drive down the highway without fear of hitting one at 70mph possibly killing the passengers of the vehicle.Or there would be so many deer the food would eventually run out for them causing them to starve to death. Many in Colorado are interested in living a healthy lifestyle, which often includes consuming organically-grown food. â€Å"Locally grown† is becoming an increasingly popular way to enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables and backyard gardens are seeing a resurgence. One of the driving forces for the â€Å"going organic† movement is related to concerns about chemicals and pesticides associated with mass production of our food.Meat from hunting does not go through the chemical-related processes of grocery-store do mestic meats. Hunting and eating wild game provides a lean, â€Å"free-range† protein product similar to that of organic food stores. Moreover, for those who hunt, fresh meat procured through hunting offers a â€Å"do-it-yourself† pride and satisfaction similar to that of growing your own garden. Hunting provides healthier food for the hunter and his/her family. I have nothing against farmers, I support them 100%, but there's more protein in the meat of a wild animal than there is a cow, pig, etc.So, more protein means a healthier cut of meat. It only takes one male to reproduce so anybody that says population control isn't a â€Å"valid† reason to hunt isn’t well equipped with the facts of hunting. Since it only takes one male animal, then there's no reason to have older animals that are not healthy reproduce because that would be passing along weaker genes, and that will make that generation of animals weaker. A lot of people say that hunters only shoot the males animals but that shows just how un-educated they are on this subject.I know many people who will kill a female over a male any day. There's no benefit to just harvesting males and not the females. Each sex needs a specific number harvested to keep the population healthy. Back to the example I used about an older male animal breeding. Same thing goes with female animals. The older they get, the weaker their offspring will be. The less milk they'll produce. The older the animal (males and females), the weaker the state of their body/health.Inbreeding DOES happen where animal populations have exploded. You need a good mix of male and females of different ‘lines' so that you will get healthy offspring. Not only for that aspect of population control- if there are too many animals in a given area no matter if they are mostly males or mostly females, the animals will deplete the area of resources- food, water, cover. So, not only will the animals be at a higher risk for di seases/illnesses like rabies or CWD in deer, the land will be greatly affected by it too.

Education authority staff Essay

By you consistently adhering to the writing guidelines By meeting agreed timescales and deadlines Through regular monitoring of output by your team leader. Through joint meetings with other writers to set and maintain the standard Through feedback from the engagement process Finally, sign off for outputs will be agreed by the Program Director following advice from a final validation panel comprising members of all four partner organisations. A checklist for writing outcomes Does the outcome conform to the following criteria? 1. Is it written in clear English, appropriate as far as possible to the level? 2. Does the outcome: Specify what may be: i. learned – knowledge, understanding or skill? ii. Experienced? iii. Indicate or direct the selection of learning activities? iv. Allow evaluation of the outcome: v. By the young person? vi. By the teacher? vii. Does the outcome include an appropriate ‘action verb’? viii. Does the outcome demand more of the young person than consider features of outcomes at the earlier level? Technology in K-12 education [8] Generation Y is an innovative curriculum and resource solution for grades 3-12 that promotes school wide technology infusion. It is a technology program with a twist. Gen Y students develop technological fluency while learning how to share their knowledge with others. Each student is paired with a classroom teacher who needs help integrating technology into their practice. Each student/teacher team decides on a curriculum component or lesson to enhance with technology. Students learn about pedagogy and lesson plan design while developing their communication, planning and project management skills. The partner teacher receives support for their technology projects when and where they need it – in their classroom. The result is authentic project-based learning for the students and sustainable technology professional development for the teachers. This powerful model has been refined and proven in real classrooms around the world. The students are empowered to see themselves as valuable members of the educational community. They take this responsibility very seriously, becoming invaluable resources and helping teachers and their schools throughout their school career. For six years, Generation Y has been delivered in almost any conceivable school setting. From Native American villages in Alaska and Washington to all secondary schools in the Virgin Islands, to remote towns in Wyoming to urban schools in empowerment zones in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington DC. â€Å"Through this technology infusion, participating educators receive individualized support as they strengthen their use and integration of new technologies. Students learn technology, communication, collaboration, and project management skills in an authentic, personally meaningful context, and many go on to further extend their skills through advanced school or community service projects. † Generation Y is one of most researched educational technology programs in the United States. Since the start of the Technology Innovation Challenge Grant (TICG) program, the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory (NWREL) has served as an independent external evaluator. Feedback from every stakeholder group was woven back into the curriculum materials, the online support tools and the assessment design. The resulting program is a strong model that supports a wide variety of uses and classroom profiles. Test for the effectiveness of curriculum towards meeting its aims and objectives [6] Is it possible to anticipate whether or not the curriculum meets its aims? One simple test to apply makes use of the set of guiding principles of good education proposed by the American Association of Higher Education. According to these a good curriculum should: Encourage staff/student contact Encourage co-operation between students Encourage active learning Provide prompt feedback on performance of both teacher and taught Emphasise `time on the task’ Respect the diverse talents and ways of learning brought to the course by the students Evaluate itself Display a clarity of aims and objectives. Make use of the educational literature Conclusion One telling criticism that can continue to be made of any approach is that there is no social vision or program to guide the process of curriculum construction. Designing a curriculum not a simple matter and there is no single ‘best’ answer either in the form of the curriculum or even the methodology adopted for its design. A final question we might ask is whether or not it is possible to determine if the result is any good. One way is by always including a careful student of the course once it has been given. Evaluation of this sort is essential and should always be treated seriously, allowing sufficient time in class for any survey questionnaire to be filled out and with the results carefully summarised. It is good practice to post a notice giving the results of the evaluation and providing an instructor’s commentary. References 1. p 10, Kelly 1983, Kelly 1999 2. v50 n6 p488-496 Mar 2007, Stansberry, Susan L. ; Kymes, Angel D. , Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 3. p 23, Blenkin et al 1992: 23 4. p 11, Grundy 1987, Curriculum: Product or Praxis, Lewes 5.77, Stenhouse 1974. 6. David J. Unwin, (1997). Curriculum Design for GIS, NCGIA Core Curriculum in GIScience, 7. http://www. ncgia. ucsb. edu/giscc/units/u159/u159. html, posted January 08, 1998. 8. http://www. newhorizons. org/strategies/technology/martinez. htm 9. Generation Y Evaluation Studies http://www. genyes. org/products/geny/genyresearch 10. Tyler, R. W. (1949) Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, Chicago 11. Wragg, T. (1997) The Cubic Curriculum, London 12. Aristotle (1976) The Nicomachean Ethics (‘Ethics’), Harmondsworth: Penguin. 13. Barnes, J. (1976) ‘Introduction’ to Aristotle The Nicomachean Ethics (‘Ethics’), Harmondsworth: Penguin. 14. Barrow, R. (1984) Giving Teaching back to Teachers. A critical introduction to curriculum theory, Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books. 15. Blenkin, G. M. et al (1992) Change and the Curricula, London: Paul Chapman. 16. Bobbitt, F. (1918) The Curriculum, Boston: Houghton Mifflin 17. Bobbitt, F. (1928) How to Make a Curriculum, Boston: Houghton Mifflin 18. Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. (1986) Becoming Critical. Education, knowledge and action research, Lewes: Falmer Press 19. Cornbleth, C. (1990) Curriculum in Context, Basingstoke: Falmer Press. 20. Curzon, L. B. (1985) Teaching in Further Education. An outline of principles and practice 3e, London: Cassell. 21. Dewey, J. (1902) The Child and the Curriculum, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 22. Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and Education, New York: Macmillan. 23. Eisner, E. W. (1985) The Art of Educational Evaluation, Lewes: Falmer Press. 24. Foreman, A. (1990) ‘Personality and curriculum’ in T. Jeffs. & M. Smith (eds. ) (1990) Using Informal Education. An alternative to casework, teaching and control? Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Harmondsworth: Penguin. 25. Grundy, S. (1987) Curriculum: product or praxis? Lewes: Falmer Press. 26. Jackson, P. W. (1968) Life in Classrooms, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. 27. Jeffs, T. & Smith, M. (eds. ) (1990) Using Informal Education. An alternative to casework, teaching and control? Milton Keynes: Open University Press. 28. Jeffs, T. J. and Smith, M. K. (1999) Informal Education. Conversation, democracy and learning, Ticknall: Education Now. 29. Kelly, A. V. (1983; 1999) The Curriculum. Theory and practice 4e, London: Paul Chapman. 30. Stenhouse, L. (1975) An introduction to Curriculum Research and Development, London: Heineman. 31. Newman, E. & G. Ingram (1989) The Youth Work Curriculum, London: Further Education Unit (FEU). 32. Taba, H. (1962) Curriculum Development: Theory and practice, New York: Harcourt Brace and World. 33. Tyler, R. W. (1949) Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 34. Usher, R. & I. Bryant (1989) Adult Education as Theory, Practice and Research. The captive triangle, London: Routledge.

The future of virtual reality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The future of virtual reality - Essay Example The virtual reality has provided a better way of detecting design problems at an early stage of development, which allows for correction before it is too late (Lu, 2007). The future for virtual reality is currently getting bigger. Plans are underway to establish virtual offices to carry out business transaction. Starting a business will not be limited to processing physical locations to carrying out business. The whole business environment would be virtual making it cost effective and very efficient (Lu, 2007). The virtual reality has generated to the establishment of virtual worlds. There are companies that favor virtual world and use it to hold their meetings. The virtual world brings people based in various locations into a single virtual place. It has provided a minimum cost solution to the alternative physical movements from one place to another. Virtual reality will take over the business environment according to its way of development currently. According to the current, to the innovations on going, it would be difficult to carry out business out side the virtual reality. In conclusion, the virtual reality is the future of conducting business (Lu,

Organizational Culture and Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organizational Culture and Ethics - Essay Example Critically evaluate this case in the context of the organization’s culture. How were Enron's business ethics and business operations influenced by the organization’s culture? Specifically, what went wrong? The company, i.e. Enron, experienced a sharp decline which ultimately resulted in its collapse. Senior executives of Enron, namely Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling and Andrew Fastow, were repeatedly found to appear in the cover story of various business magazines. Kenneth Lay was the earliest Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Enron who was quite well known for introducing an effective innovative structure in Enron, which helped it to survive in the initial years (Scribd Inc., 2012). The visitors entering the head office of the company situated at Smith Street in downtown Houston often were attracted by a striking poster in front of the office. The banner related to the company’s R.I.C.E principle, i.e. Respect, Integrity, Communication and Excellence. It was often believed by the visitors that the principles of the company reflected its corporate culture. However, in reality Enron hardly shared any association with the stated principles. In 1985, Enron was formed by the merger of two natural gas companies situated in Houston. This union was mainly debt-financed, which implies that Enron initiated its corporate life with a large amount of debt. Therefore, from the beginning, Enron was considered as a company which exemplified high risk. Enron operated under high business risks which were mainly encountered from the highly competitive and deregulated natural gas market. Subsequently, the company also witnessed a high financial risk owing to the merger which was persuaded by heavy debt loads (Macmillan, 2005). The business functions of Enron were operated by freshly hired business management graduates from the leading business schools of the United States. These skilled employees promised the company instant earning of profits as well as carried out the business under advanced form of operations. The Performance Review Committee (PRC) developed and sustained Enron’s corporate culture (Scribd Inc., 2012). Enron Corporation was a leading American energy company situated in Houston, Texas. The company operated with 21,000 workers and was one of the largest international providers of natural gas, electricity, pulp & paper along with communication. Enron performed quite well in the market and earned $110.9 million in 2000. The company enjoyed a high value or price for its shares along with gaining an effective position in the market. The various workers and staff of the company were quite satisfied and it was also found that qualified and skilled individuals preferred to work with Enron. Enron earned a higher degree of success which further gave rise to grave issues within the organizational operations. Enron made the decision of transforming their organizational structure by recruiting new employees in the higher positi ons, who were entitled to make big decisions regarding the company’s business operations, which entailed the chances of directly

Advanced research methods in business Dissertation

Advanced research methods in business - Dissertation Example An intensive analysis of the concept of cross-cultural training is done using the works of different people including academicians, researchers etc. The aim of the research is identified to be to examine the different methods of cross-cultural training; to evaluate and find out the effect of CCT on the performance of foreign employees recruited by US company in China; to identify the problems faced and adjustment made by the foreign employees in China; and to identify the best method of cross-cultural training. The research will employ a quantitative method to achieve the objectives. The techniques that will be used include a quantitative performance appraisal and adjustment questionnaire that will be sending to participants via email. The participants will include 200 foreign employees- either US citizens or foreigners- who will be divided into group A and group B. Both the groups will be given different cross-cultural training. The research will be done as a comparative research an d for this the performance appraisal and adjustment made by the participants will be taken twice- before and after training. Thesis Statement: To analyze the impact of two different forms of cross-cultural trainings on the overall performance and adjustment of foreigner employees in an American multi-national company that has opened a new subsidiary in China. Introduction: Cross-cultural training is an important concept and activity adopted in almost every international business in the present world. Cross-cultural training is always included in the business plan while entering an international market. The cross-cultural training is often given to a foreigner who is being recruited to the country where the business is started by the organization. The cross-cultural training includes different types of training which makes the employee eligible to work in the host country. In this world of globalization and liberalization, the scope for international business have raised and touched the sky thereby making room for more extensive cross-cultural training programs together with the increase in expatriate recruitment. The business corporate when extend their business at international level they face the problem of efficient and qualified employees. As a solution to this problem expatriate recruitment was adopted. The need for cross-cultural training has been identified since the inception of the process of expatriate recruitment. The cross-cultural training helps the employees to understand the cultural differences and to develop the ability to deal and interact effectively according to the culture and environment of the host country. Thus the cross-cultural training as a concept includes a variety of training programs which are a classified under various heads. All the training programs or training courses have the similar aim of developing awareness among the employees about the culture of the host country. The training is given according to the nature or culture of the country. The cross-cultural training which possess an important place in the business world is been interpreted variously by various people. â€Å"Cross-cultural training is defined as any planned intervention designed to increase the knowledge and skills of expatriates to live and work effectively and achieve general life satisfaction in an unfamiliar host culture (Wil Harzing & Ruysseveldt, 2004, p. 284). Paula Caligiuri et. al had identified the objectives of cross-cultural training from the works of different people like Brewster & Pickard, Black & Mendenhall, Kealey &

Black quarterbacks in the NFL Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Black quarterbacks in the NFL - Research Paper Example B. The four different queries are: 1. Black quarterbacks in the NFL 2. Black quarterbacks currently in the NFL 3. Black quarterbacks active in the NFL 4. Black quarterbacks playing in the NFL These queries should bring up different information but with the same focus on black quarterbacks. We will see the black quarterbacks that have entered and exited the NFL, as well as their history. C. The search engines that will be used are Yahoo, Google, Bing and Dogpile, which is a meta-search engine. These search engines were chosen because they are some of the most widely used engines and should produce good results. D. As can be seen from the results, not all results from the searches are relevant to the topic. Some of the results actually go off on a tangent into something completely unrelated. The table below shows which results were relevant. E. Table 1. The first column shows the first ten hits that were received. It also shows how many times the web page was referenced when using all 4 queries. As shown in the table, the BQB site received the most hits throughout the entire search. F. The next table shows how each of the sets are ranked according to the precision formula. Table 2 Chart 1 The meta-search engine (Dogpile) provided results pulled from all of the other engines. G. There were some pages that showed up more than once no matter which query we used. The results are below. Table 3 H. Google uses a page rank system which means that the various parts of the webpage are ranked according to relevance. This then determines which page shows up in what position on the results page. Dogpile (the meta-search engine) seems to use a feed method that pulls information from other search engines based on how popular they are. Bing and Yahoo seem to use the same type of method which can be considered to be a Boolean method (CCH Incorporated, 2011). It is noticed that Yahoo and Bing both provided results where some of the words were found and then in other cases only on e word was found. Yahoo and Bing ranked their results according to how many words of the original search were found within the pages returned as results. I. One thing to notice about the results is that the meta-search engine (Dogpile) produced fewer relevant results when the search criteria were entered into the search box. This poses a question about what methods they actually use to retrieve information relevant to various searches. It was not determined that any of the search engines used the Boolean method. The only searchable information that was added was the exact phrase that was being researched and no other words such as AND, NOT, or IF were entered. J. The Kendall's tau (t) coefficient (also known as the Kendall rank correlation coefficient) is a statistic used to measure how two measured quantities are associated. Set Theory involves a non-parametric hypothesis test that makes use of the coefficient to test for statistical dependence. The Kendall's tau = \frac{(\text{num ber of concordant pairs}) - (\text{number of discordant pairs})}{\frac{1}{2} n (n-1) } K. Chart 2. Precision of 10 bar-chart L. The best search engine for this particular topic is Google. Google used a different method but their results were still relevant. We saw some of the same pages but overall Google provided something different for

Is it possible to be Muslim feminist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Is it possible to be Muslim feminist - Essay Example This is especially due to the rise of women’s rights awareness throughout the world. However, what is neglected when feminist related issues are discussed regarding Islamic oppression of women is the situation of women throughout the world in contemporary times which led to the need for a separate feminist movement. Simultaneously, the situation of women in the past and in the pre-Islamic era also needs to be given sufficient weightage in order to understand the notions of modern day feminism and the teachings of Islam. Firstly, let us take a look at the situation of women in Pre-Islamic Arabia. The women at the time were not considered a part of society. Rather they were considered assets, possessions and ornaments to embellish, use and discard as a source of masculine power. The culture which was largely prevalent at the time was a tribal. But not a kind of tribal culture which is visible in our current day world situation, as for instance, in war-torn Afghanistan. The tribal culture’s motto was to put first, and foremost, the unity and brotherhood of the tribe. The tribe was an entity in its own right. However, it did not have the infrastructure that any highly developed society of modern times would have. Individual rights and properties were not maintained rigidly since the clan consisted of all blood relatives. The property, which included women, remained within the bonds of the tribe and its authority figures who were known as the ‘sheikhs’. Female infanticide was a common practice of the time. Female children were considered disgraceful and unwanted. Male children represented a form of power, wealth, and richness in fertility. As the sole heir of the family they were given full property rights as daughters were being swiped off from the face of the earth. But the main reasons behind killing female infants were relevant to poverty, pride, and the avoidance of

Rosetta Stone Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Rosetta Stone - Essay Example The Rosetta Stone contains a priestly decree in honour of Ptolemy V which was set up in a major temple. (Wilson, 2004, p. 31) It is said that European archaeology in Egypt began during the French expedition when French soldiers accidentally discovered the Rosetta Stone, however the greatest contribution to the stone was made by Jean-Francis Champollion who after twenty-three years of struggle and work out on studying hieroglyphs was able to uncover the secrets behind 'Rosetta stone' in 1822. Champollion was the one who is held responsible for opening the doors to modern Egyptology. According to Reid (2002) "The French expedition is solely responsible for finding Rosetta Stone as without their expedition there would have been no description of ancient Egypt. It is the stone who brought before us the decipherment of hieroglyphics, otherwise it would have been delayed and, until the decipherment, most pharaoh history would have remained missing. Therefore, the onus is on the stone who revealed modern Egypt and Egyptology". (Reid, 2002, p. 14) The French soldiers after discovering the Rosetta Stone while digging fortifications, left Egypt on the threshold of Anglo-French geopolitical rivalry. This situation fatally weakened the Mamluks (slave soldiers), thereby paving the way for Muhammad Ali. In this context the stone was responsible for a major change occurrence economically, politically and culturally through Muhammad Ali's reign. In archaeology, the French expedition and Muhammad Ali's reign ushered in a new era where the emphasis was given to decipher 'Rosetta Stone'. However the stone paved the way to the decipherment of hieroglyphics and the birth of modern Egyptology, and the Description advanced the documentation of pharaoh art, architecture, and topography. (Reid, 2002, p. 32) Most notably, the 1799 discovery of the Rosetta Stone, a trebly-inscribed stone fragment unearthed by his army during Napoleon's Egyptian campaigns, presented the general as the heroic person likely to unlock the mysteries of ancient Egypt by translating hieroglyphs. Linguistic Significance: Rosetta stone is actually the surviving fragment of granite is inscribed with the decree to guarantee lands and endowments to the temples of Egypt. What is carved on the stone is called the Ptolemaic decrees, written in praise of the then pharaoh. The written text on the Rosetta Stone revealed that the same text on the stone is written in three different languages: Greek (for the ruling administration of the day), Egyptian hieroglyphs (for the gods), and Egyptian Demotic (for a common man). The range of languages reflects the strata of Egyptian society at this time and the lines of communication. Even though the Rosetta Stone was handed over to the British as part of the spoils of the Napoleonic War, the texts had by then been copied and were later sent all over the world. The process of decipherment required several stages as each of the principles behind the script was discovered. With hindsight, it seems as if it were a step-by-step progression, but in fact often one person would have a good idea, but would continue to use other incorrect assumptions at the same time. So, the final triumph came from deciding which of the many permutations

President Andrew Jackson Essay Example for Free

President Andrew Jackson Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson, Andrew, the seventh President of the United States. His election in 1828 marked the end of the aristocratic tradition in the Presidency that had prevailed since the nation’s beginning. Jackson, a self- made man, frontiersman, and military hero, was the first President from west of the Appalachians. He was identified with a new kind of democracya democracy embracing the entire population rather than only those who were wealthy or owned property.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson was neither an original nor a profound thinker, and did not always follow or understand the principles of the â€Å"Jacksonian democracy† that bears his name. However, he did know how to interpret the aspirations and viewpoints of the common people who were clamoring for a voice in government. Jackson was skilled and astute politician, who molded a faction, composed mostly of Southerners and Westerners into the Democratic Party.   Although politically conservative and a believer in states’ rights, he expanded the powers of the Presidency and was fervently committed to the preservation of the Union.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson had a domineering personality. He was proud, ambitious, and aggressive. Throughout his life, his temper frequently caused him to act hastily or injudiciously, and he was often swayed by personal prejudices. However, his fearlessness, honesty, and loyalty endeared him to wide sections of the populace. His influence was felt well beyond his two terms, and the period from his election to that of Abraham Lincoln is often referred to as the â€Å"Age of Jackson†. Discussions Early Life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson was born March 15, 1767, in a backwoods settlement called Waxhaw on the border between North Carolina and South Carolina. Jackson said South Carolina was his birth place, but there has been much controversy on the subject. His father, mother, and two brothers had arrived there in 1765 from Northern Ireland. His parents had been linen drapers. His father, for whom he was named, died in an accident shortly before Andrew was born.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson had attended school for a while before British troops began operating in the Carolinas during the Revolutionary War. Though only 13, Jackson joined a local militia company along with his brother Robert in 1780. Their older brother Hugh had already been killed in the war. After a skirmish with the British in 1781, Jackson and his brother were captured. When a British officer ordered Andrew to polish his boots, he refused and demanded to be treated as a prisoner of war. The angry officer slashed Jackson with his saber, leaving him scarred for life   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The brothers were sent to a military prison, where they contracted smallpox. Their mother won their release. But Robert died on the way home. Not long after, Mrs. Jackson died while nursing two of Andrew’s cousins, who were soldiers imprisoned by the British. Andrew was left alone at the age of 14. â€Å"Old Hickory†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson lived at the Hermitage managing his business holdings until the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he volunteered his services and was commissioned a major general of U.S Volunteers. In 1813 Creek Indians massacred the inhabitants of Fort Mims in what is now Alabama. In 1814, Jackson led his troops against the Creeks, routing them at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. His endurance in the field won Jackson the nickname â€Å"Old Hickory,† after one of his soldiers remarked that he was â€Å"tough as hickory†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shortly after being commissioned a major general in the United States Army, Jackson expelled the British from Florida. Then with a motley force that included Jean Lafitte’s pirates, he repulsed a British attack on New Orleans. Ironically, the peace treaty had been signed before the battle was fought on January 8, 1815. Jackson’s victory made him a national hero. In 1818, invades Florida and defeats Seminole Indians. In 1821, was appointed military governor of Florida while also resigned within the year. 1823, he was again elected to U.S Senate from Tennessee and resigns in 1825. Then on 1828 he was elected President of the United States. First Administration (1829- 1833)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson chose his cabinet from among his and Calhoun’s supporters without much regard for their ability. He made little use of the cabinet, except for Secretary of State Martin Van Buren and Secretary of War John. H. Eaton. Instead, he often sought advice from personal friends, who came to be called his â€Å"kitchen cabinet†. Jackson’s replacement of his incumbent officeholders with his friends and allies gave rise to the term â€Å"spoils system†. Jackson did not originate this practice, however, but merely carried it out on a larger scale than previous Presidents had done. During his eight years as President, Jackson replaced about one- fifth of all federal officeholders.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The first crisis of the new administration was caused by the so- called â€Å"petticoat war†. The wives of other cabinet members snubbed Margaret O’ Neal Eaton, wife of Secretary of war Eaton, because she had reputedly had an affair with Eaton while married to her fist husband and because she was a travernkeeper’s daughter. Jackson, remembering the attacks against his wife, angrily came to Mrs. Eaton’s defense. Cabinet members took sides over the issue, with Van Buren aligning himself with Jackson and Eaton in opposition to Calhoun and his supporters. This led to political conflict that continued until Jackson reorganized the cabinet in 1831. The protective tariff, opposed by the agricultural South, was a major issued during Jackson’s first term. Vice President Calhoun contended that South Carolina should nullify or set aside the tariff of 1828, the Tariff of Abominations, because it violated states’ rights. The South Carolina nullificationists were confident that Jackson, a Southerner, would support them, but he was a moderate on the tariff issue, holding some protection necessary. He also believed nullification would lead to dissolution of the Union. In July, 1838, Congress passed a more moderate tariff bill, but it was still considered oppressive by South Carolina. In November, a state convention declared the law null and void. Jackson reacted by sending a warship and revenue cutters to Charleston, warning that â€Å"Disunion by armed force is treason.’ The crisis was resolved when Henry Clay secured passage of a compromise tariff in 1833. This bill satisfied South Carolina, which then repealed the nullification ordinance. Jackson’s early administration had been marked by intense rivalry between Vice President Calhoun and Secretary of State Van Buren, both of whom hoped to succeed him. As Jackson’s first term ended, it became apparent that Van Buren had the upper hand. Calhoun, at odds with the President on nullification, resigned the Vice Presidency in 1832. Jackson had long disapproved of the Bank of the United States, which he regarded as an agency of monopoly and special privilege. When it was proposed to renew the bank’s charter in 1832, four years before its expiration date, he vetoed the measure. Henry Clay made this veto an issue in the 1832 Presidential campaign. The voters supported Jackson, however, and he defeated Clay by 219 electoral votes to 49 and a popular vote of 687, 502 to 530, 189. Van Buren was Jackson’s running mate on the ticker of the Democratic Party. This was the first election in which all candidates were nominated by national conventions. Second Administration   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Reassured by his heavy election majority in 1832, Jackson indicated early in his second term that the Bank of the United States would no longer be a depository for public funds and ordered them deposited instead in certain state banks called pet banks by Jackson’s enemies. This act eventually destroyed the Bank of the United States, but it also contributed to a financial panic.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1835, for the first time in the history of the nation, the national debt was paid off. The government had a surplus of $37,000,000, much of it deposited in the â€Å"pet† banks. The following year Congress voted to divide the federal surplus among the states. The â€Å"pet† banks faced a crisis when the government began to withdraw its funds, leading to the financial and commercial panic of 1837, which occurred after Jackson had left office. Another cause of this panic was Jackson’s Specie Circular of 1836, which ordered that payment for government land be made in gold or silver rather than in paper money. This act was intended to curb land speculation but hurt the Western banks. In foreign relations, Jackson faced few major problems. Relations with Great Britain went smoothly. A long- standing claim against France for damages to American shipping during the Napoleonic Wars caused a crisis in 1835-36 but was settled favorably. Texas won independence from Mexico in 1836, but the United States was not yet involved in its affairs, although Jackson recognized its independence on his last day of office. III. Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jackson was a few days short of 70 years of age when he left office-the oldest President until Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was more popular when he retired than when he took office as President. Although in ill health, he remained active in party affairs. An opposition party-the Whigshad been formed during his Presidency, and from that point on the two- party system remained in effect. Jackson died on June 8, 1845. References: Latner, R. B. The Presidency of Andrew Jackson (University of Georgia, 1979). Remini, R.V. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Empire, 1767-1821(Harper Row, 1977). Remini, R.V. Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833- 1845(Harper Row, 1984). Sabin, Louis. Andrew Jackson: Frontier Patriot (Troll, 1985). Schlesinger, A. M. The Age of Jackson (Little, Brown, 1945).

The Problem Solving Techniques Philosophy Essay

The Problem Solving Techniques Philosophy Essay From the dawn of the age of the Man, solutions to a number of problems were sought after for generations, everywhere under the blue sky and above great heavens. But have we really looked into that one place where we truly can find them; the Human Mind? From the moment you were born, you encountered a number of problems of which, survival was of utmost importance. You may not recall, but there came a moment when you could no longer stay within the safety of your mothers womb. So after being propelled through a birth canal, you encountered the need to fill your lungs with sufficient amounts of air keep the oxygen supply to the streaming blood. By instinct you made your first cry and took your very first breath; the mysterious problem of need to breath was solved. After a number of years, here you are, trying to understand why you need to learn how to solve problems. So whats there to learn about solving problems? What makes it important to learn about solving problems? Is this going to be a waste of time? All these questions will be answered by the end of this paper. But, just so that we know where exactly we are heading, I would like to bring your attention to the following statement. The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. -Albert Einstein- (1879 -1955) Therefore we are going to take a journey towards understanding what a problem is, how to understand the details of a problem properly, how to approach in solving a problem and finally how do we proceed beyond that. By the end of this tutorial, you will have gained the following skills. Understanding what a problem is. Approaching a problem with an investigative narrative. Using various techniques to address a problem and come to an agreeable solution. Leading up on a solution to a given problem. What is a problem? In the simplest terms, a problem is a challenge that is posed on an individual or a group of people with the intention of overcoming it. Such a challenge creates a state in the environment that requires resolution. So when you come across a problem, always think in terms that this is a state that needs be resolved. Never ever think of it in terms of being a hazard that needs to be tackled and thrown off of your head as soon as possible. Problems and Confidence: Any problem can be addressed in a number of ways and some of them may fail while others would bring agreeable results. There could be situations where the only way to reach to an agreeable solution is to make some compromises. Never the less, taking a positive attitude towards problems covers the most important factor needed in solving a problem; confidence. But you must also understand that just like under confidence gets in the way of solving a problem successfully, so would over confidence. It is by striking a balance you will reach a state of mind best suited to addressing a problem. When you wish to solve a problem, having faith on yourself itself will not take you anywhere. Instead, you should strengthen yourself with a number of techniques and tools that will help you build that confidence. The purpose of teaching you this particular module is to give you a starting point on such techniques, tricks and tools. Then you may use these tools at your disposal and become a successful problem solver. Problem Investigation Techniques: Just like any complex endeavor, problem solving itself consists of a number of interrelated tasks that must be addressed in a gradual, step-by-step manner. This approach makes understanding, planning and understanding a problem better, allowing you to come to a solution that is agreeable enough. In the simplest terms, we are trying to understand a problem so that we can plan ahead and face it well. This is what we are trying to achieve by analyzing a problem. Given below are a set of steps you may take in getting a better grasp at the root of a problem. State the problem you are about to solve in a well detailed manner: Try to be precise as well as detailed. Even though you already know the problem well enough, by making sure that you actually note it down, you will have the advantage of your visuals sensory system coupled with part of your brain trying to come to a better interpretation of the problem. In preparing a problem statement, you may ask the following questions from yourself. Is it a question you must answer? Is it an obstacle you must overcome? Is it a person you must persuade? Is it a decision you must make? Is it an opponent you must defeat? Is it a goal you must achieve? Is it a goal you must set? Is it a problem you must define? Has the problem being defined for you? State the parts of the problem that can be addressed separately: The great emperor Julies Caesar is attributed to the saying Divide et Impera in Latin which translates to Divide and Conquer in English. We will be taking the same approach in dividing a relatively complex problem into a smaller and comparatively less complex set of problems that can each be addressed individually. During this step, you may ask following questions from yourself. Is the problem really a collection of many problems? Can you divide the problem by defining terms? Are there any implicit terms to define? Can abstract terms be restated in concrete terms? Can the problem be solved in steps? Are half-way solutions possible? Can the problem be substantially solved? Is a partial solution better than none? State the problem in the broadest terms: There is an inherent deficiency in most forms of human communication in delivering sub-textual messages via common communication methods. Same could have happened with the problem you are trying to solve when it was introduced to you. Therefore, instead of looking at the problems face value, you may take an effort to take a look at the big picture. In doing so you may ask following questions from yourself. Is the problem part of a larger one? Is it geographically broader? Is it an effect of a larger problem? Is it only a sign or symptom? Can concrete terms be restated in abstract terms? Is a general solution possible? Is a political solution possible? Is a group solution possible? State your role in solving the problem: Identifying what your role in solving a given problem is very important. Some problems are posed on an individual, and some are on a group. Just like one must know how to play his role in a group so that an agreeable solution can be reached, the same is true with an individual trying to solve a problem. One must understand what type of a role he will be playing (i.e. evasive, neutral, hasty, etc.) to better position himself in the contextual environment of a problem that needs to be solved. You may ask following question from yourself in undertaking this step. Was the problem presented to you? Do you accept the challenge? Should you volunteer yourself to solve the problem? Are your emotions dependency factors in reaching a particular solution? Will you be assuming a certain role in solving a problem? State the names and interests of others who are involved: Knowing what role you will be playing in solving is never complete without knowing what other parties are taking an interest in the same problem, problem solving process, or the outcomes of the final solution. Close attention must be paid to observing their interests and roles they play in any given problem, let it be friendly or hostile. Ask yourself the following questions in completing this task. Has this problem being presented to others? Can you delegate the problem? Can you delegate selected parts of the problem or the problem solving process? Who else is interested in the problem itself or the solution to the problem? Who else is directly affected by the solution? Who else is indirectly affected by the solution? State solutions to a similar problem found in the past: There is a very popular term not only in the academia, but also in various other fields, that one should never reinvent the wheel. It is in fact figurative speech used in order to say that one should never waste resources in perfecting an entity that is already perfect for a given purpose. In the same manner, it would be a waste to solve a problem that has already been solved before in an agreeable manner. You may simply use such solutions as references and either apply them directly or adapt them to the specifics of a given problem. Take some time and ask yourself the following questions. Were you able to identify any problems from the past that are already of the same nature? What similarities were you able to identify? What dissimilarities were you able to identify? Can solutions to such problems be applied to the problem at hand? Has your research provided with any agreeable enough solutions to your problem? State the affects of time factor over the problem and the solution: Even though a number of factors are needed to be managed precisely, none of them precede the importance of managing time in most of the situations. In time-critical problems late solutions are the same as no solutions at all. Therefore in solving a problem, ask yourself the following questions and try to understand how exactly the time factor affects the end solution. How will the problem evolve over time? Is there a deadline for the problem to be solved? What are the possibilities of postponing the solving process for a given problem? State your proposed solution to a given problem: It is not enough that you understand the problem itself and previous solutions; you must also come to the point of proposing a solution that is agreeable enough as well. First step to clarifying the problem is listing down the solution clearly enough that no part of it is misunderstood, leading to further unexpected problems. During this stage, ask yourself the following questions. What actions must be taken? Who must take each and every action? When must each action be taken exactly? What steps must be taken in the case of a failure or setback? State if the proposed solution is feasible enough to be used in the context: Once a problem is properly analyzed, understood and solution provided, the flow is not completed until you take initiation in doing a figurative postmortem of your own solution. Here you will try to understand how feasible a solution actually is compared to the stakes of the problem itself. What are the dependencies the provided solution has? Is the solution resource conserving? Does the solution meet various budgetary constraints? Is the solution legally acceptable? Is the solution morally acceptable? Now that you have completed a tiresome set of tasks that will actually help you understand a problem properly, address various steps in solving a problem, now you are ready to actually solve the problem. Pat yourself in the back and repeat the following words after meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ GET SET READY GO!

Wooden Furniture Industry In Malaysia

Wooden Furniture Industry In Malaysia Being one of the worlds top tropical timber producers, Malaysia has been the choices of the world demand on wood products. Seals with different types of wooden products, the consumers market have been eyeing this country for its establishment in such field. From office furniture to home furniture, this sector plays a vital role in building up the countrys economy. The value of the product produced and the number of employment held within this industry is significant that the government of Malaysia has come out with various incentives to assist this industry where it is part of the small-medium industries (SMIs). Although this industry deals with low technology involvement and high intensive labour skills, its yet to be recognized as the leading raw woods producers which driven by the demand all over the world. Taking advantage of the Malaysia Industrial Master Plan (1986-1995), foreign investors investing in furniture industry have shown a good performance where these investors spurred the money flow into the industry as the rise in demand was accelerating despite having to transfer the technologies to local entrepreneurs. Malaysia is not only the main tropical timber production especially for wooden products like furniture. The country is even competing with 5 worlds leading exporters like China, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Year 1990s was a glory for Malaysia as the country managed to catered demands from Singapore, Japan and USA which then contributed to the total export value of RM3, 776.8 million by the year 2000. This significant achievement was due to the fact that Malaysia is rich with the resources and unskilled labour which led to lower cost of production and production can be increased to meet the demand. Malaysia furniture industry however, facing numerous internal and external factors that eventually affect its development including such threats from competitors, technologies, quality, branding and more. Thus theres a need for a better improvement in strategy adopted by all the furniture producers despite to implement better and improved marketing strategy to capture more clienteles. T he high value of their comparative advantage also is needed to bring Malaysia one step ahead as the world leading furniture exporter. Background of Study As the saying once a new technology rolls over you, if youre not part of the steamroller, youre part of the road by Steward Brand, this show how improvement in technology is essential in recognizing the prospect of being efficient in production. Efficient production lead to better quality product thus can cater more demand either current or new demand. Thus, this paper will prove why substantial technology improvement is needed in order to bring the furniture industry in Malaysia to a higher level and then beat the other worlds leading exporters. Apart from technological advancement, comprehensive marketing strategy also considers as the crucial part in determining the level of acceptance of Malaysias furniture products locally and abroad. This marketing strategy will cover all aspect from the internal and external factor on the basis of marketing principles which are price, product, place and promotion. Moreover, the comprehensive marketing strategy develop should also be taken into consideration the Malaysia Industrial Master Plan introduced by the government since 1986. The continuous improvement made the government have given the industry a huge opportunity for growth in the mentioned industry. Moreover, the success rate of the Malaysia furniture industry was also driven by rigorous moves introduced by the government of Malaysia. The implementation of Industry Master Plan started from year 1986 was a total success. In the Industry Master Plan has outlined several ideas on how to improve the whole Malaysia industries especially furniture industry. This master plan is also being implemented until now to safeguard and path for continuation if the furniture industry. Apart from the Industrial Master Plan, the new economic policy or DEB is also was created to channel the growth flow of the furniture industry to a higher level above the major competitors like Indonesia. However, the discussion on furniture industry is much more comprehensive in Industry Master Plan Malaysia thus this paper will discuss how this Industry Master Plan can assist the sustainability of the industry. 1.3 Problem Statement The furniture industry in Malaysia plays a vital role in stabilizing the economy. The growth rate of this industry was significant that Malaysia has recorded a high growth ever since the industry was introduced commercially in Malaysia. Malaysia even became one of the major competitors after Indonesia and Thailand and furniture products produced by Malaysia were exported around the world. Thus from this situation, we would like to analyzed the growth probability involving furniture industry in Malaysia for the past edges. This wills include the process of examining the technology involved in the industry that caused the acceleration of the industry growth. In technology, the flow of capital is crucial in determining the technology know-how used to develop the furniture industry in Malaysia from traditional production onto advance tech machines. Either than that, this paper will also show why Malaysia furniture industry is well accepted around the world as for its quality or for its low cost. The market share will be also examined as to proof the industry is in a good shape. Apart from these views, few suitable marketing strategies for the industry will also be outlined to improve the awareness of consumers around the world on Malaysia furniture. A good and comprehensive marketing strategies are crucial to drive the performance of the industry especially when it comes to capturing new market share or increasing the market share. Meanwhile, the current strategies are included as for discussion purposes and to outweigh the effectiveness of the strategies implemented currently. 1.4 Objective of the Study To study the advancement of technologies used that driven the industry performance in export and import To investigate the current marketing strategies used and new comprehensive strategies that can be used to accelerate the performance to a better level as at the par with other competitors. To review the importance of the Industry Master Plan (IMP) introduced by the government of Malaysia in playing a vital role to validate the current growth rate of the furniture industry. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW There are four major sectors in Malaysian wood-based industry which are sawn timber, veneer and panel products that include plywood and other reconstituted panel products such as fireboard, moldings and builders joinery and carpentry (BJC). The wood-based industry is fully owned by Malaysian and it is calculated that 80 to 90 % of the businesses comprise small and medium size establishments. The manufacturers of Malaysian furniture produce an extensive range of furniture for households as well as for office use. Before 1995, the activities of Malaysian industry are were mostly in logging, sawmilling and plywood manufacturing. During the period of the 2nd Industrial Master Plan (IMP) (1996 2005), the industry more emphasized value-added processing such as furniture, MDF, panel products and veneer. During this period, the wood based industry has achieved a 5% growth rate. The highest export value is furniture, followed by plywood, sawn timber, logs and fiberboard. The star performer was the burgeoning furniture sub-sector which brought in an impressive double digit return of 11% growth or in real earnings RM 5.8 billion. The 3rd IMP (2006 2020) has earmarked a growth rate of 6.4 per annum for the wood-based industry to achieve RM 53 billion of export value by 2020. The main contributors of this planned growth and export value is to come from furniture and panel products mainly from MDF and plywood. This chapter consists of literature review regard to the wooden furniture export from Malaysia to existing world market. It covers the various aspects of the wood based industry in Malaysia and export of wood based products including wooden furniture to the world countries. The method used in this study to analyze the data was also included to provide a better understanding about the process of analyzing data. According to (MTIB 1994) Malaysia is one of the largest exporters of tropical hardwoods tropical sawn timber, plywood and hardwood moulding. The rapid development as well as the establishment of other primary wood processing industry were supported by large amount of log supply coming from forestland. Once in a while, the wood based sector is dominated by primary processing activities such as sawmilling, veneer and plywood production. However, in recent years, downstream processing activities such as the manufacture of mouldings, furniture and joinery have increased significant ly (Anon, 1 996). According to Lew (1977), the timber industry in Malaysia is an export oriented industry. Malaysias export of major wood based products has increased gradually over the last decade. Even though there is a considerable increase in wood based export, Malaysia is still a small producer in the global market for wood based downstream products. This means that there is a considerable room for expansion in the value added products category. To ensure the continued development of the industry in future, Malaysia is actively pursuing a program of promoting the wood based downstream industry. Many plans and activities have been organized to help the industries in all kind of sectors. These activities including globalization strategy, the knowledge-driven strategy, strengthen cluster development and others. Comparative advantage involves the concept of opportunity cost either in producing or exporting a particular good (Mohd Arif, 2008). According to Mohd Arif (2008), the comparative advantage of one country against others may reflect from the difference of the domestic cost and the world price. The higher the cost differential, the higher is the advantage for the country in producing that good. Some other factors such as abundant resources, technology, telecommunication, subsidized fuel and road development (including low transportation cost) could play their role in the comparative advantage. Additionally, Hunt and Morgan (1995) believed that the efficient use of existing resources and innovation in the production may lead to the comparative advantage of the products. Reduction in trade cost and facilitation of goods and services between places can be done by improving the road infrastructure (Bhattacharyay, 2009). In 1998, Malaysia ranked fifth and seventh in the world ranking of wooden furniture export leaders for office and other wooden furniture, respectively. The United States (US), Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom (UK) were among the largest destination for Malaysian wooden furniture. Export value of wooden furniture in 1996 was RM 1.6 billion, which placed Malaysia as the second largest exporter in this region, after Taiwan, whilst the 15th in the world (Anon., 2000c). The export value has been increasing every year and it reached RM 3.8 billion in year 2000. However, since early 80s export of Malaysia wooden furniture was mainly to the US and Japan where it accounted more that 50% of the total exports (Anon., 2001) As timber industry in Malaysia traditionally is an export oriented industry, hence the export market is vital in enabling the timber industry in Malaysia to reach its desired growth, despite the continuation from domestic market. During the 70s, major output of the industry which was logs, sawn timber and plywood were largely exported. The export of processed products such as molding has experienced a sudden increase during 80s due to growing demand from overseas market and also governments drive for export which charted out in the Industrial Master Plans (IMP), 1986-1995. The export of molding, furniture and joinery there on continued to increase. The international marketing research, found that there was several dimensions used by the researcher indicate marketing strategy. Previous researchers acknowledged firm strategy (Aaby and Slater, 1989), export marketing strategy (Julian, 2003 ; Akyol and Akehurst, 2003; Zou and Stan, 1998; Cavusgil and Zou, 1994; Koh, 1991), export strategy ( Aulakh et al.,2000;Chetty and Hamilton,1993), business strategy (Baldauf et. Al,2000) or strategy (Cicic et al.,2002; Thirkell and Dau,1998). The International Tropical Timber Organization (2008), Have ranked Malaysia as the biggest exporter of tropical logs amounting to 35% market share. There is an overall of RM22.5 billion worth of Malayasia Timber and related products being exported in 2008. Europe is one of the biggest markets of Malaysia wood products since many decades ago. From ( Boon-Kwee, Ng* and Thiruchelvam, K., 2001) in his statement, Malaysias furniture industry is largely wooden and cane based. The industry is highly fragmented, and the large number of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the industry is very prevalent. As one of the manufacturing sectors, the industry has adopted the standard definitions of SME that have been approved by the Central Bank of Malaysia in year 2005, that is, firms with total number of fulltime employees less than 150 people, or total annual sales turnover less than MYR 25 million. According to the Department of Statistics (2009), the total establishments in the furniture industry were mostly constitute by SME. However, However, SME and large enterprise have equal share in terms of value of gross output, value added, employment salary and value of asset. Ratnasingam (2004) views the value of furniture is based on perception, as it is sold based on a perceived value, rather than on an actual value. This shows that the creation of value-added furniture is not about producing it using high quality equipment neither state-of-the-art technologies, but rather it is about expressing a way of life creatively and innovatively. The uniqueness of thus furniture determines its value, while the scientific aspects ease the production method. Similar view of the value of furniture has been advanced by Ettema (1981), who argued that furniture is an important tool of self-presentation, and thus sensitive to the way it is displayed. He states that technology had caused degradation of style furniture industry. In general, machines have allowed furniture production to increase, but they have also failed to crate variation in style, because machines are incapable of producing inexpensive copies of an expensive-looking pattern As stated by (Z. Noor Aini, 2009), Malaysia is one of the developing countries in Southeast Asia which experienced extraordinary economic growth especially in industrialization in the past few decades. Exports of the natural resources and related products as well as manufactured goods have contributed to the development of Malaysian economy. Besides that, with the fact that 60 percent of Malaysia is covered with natural forest, it is difficult to ignore that forest product industry plays an important role in further developing the economy. Malaysia is currently one of the worlds top tropical timber producers. This work supports the idea of Uusivuori and Tervo (2002) that a country which has richer forest assets will have larger net exports of forest products. Furthermore, the country with a larger forest endowment exhibits the comparative advantages in their exports as in comparison to countries with lesser forest endowments. According to (Shabboo,2011), challenges of maintaining sustainability could be various depending on different factors such as the type of product, knowledge of established principles, consumers expectations, manufacturers policies and facilities, legislation, local resources, etc. In Malaysian furniture industry, a survey that is conducted in 2009 revealed that the adoption of green manufacturing practices is limited among wooden furniture producers. Another study in 2008 discovered that the readiness to adopt chain of custody certification among wooden furniture manufacturers was low. This certification has the objective to ensure the wood products really come from an environmentally certified source. Although the number of studies on the environmental aspect of furniture industry is still small in the country, all results demonstrate the poor implementation of sustainability. In addition, integrating sustainability into furniture industry has not been studied from design perspectiv e yet. Ratnasingam and Thomas (2008) argue that the level of technology employed by the Malaysian furniture industry is on same level with other countries which manufacture furniture, if not higher. The MTC (1998) has stated that most of the countrys furniture manufacturers have invested very much in machinery and equipment. Ratnasingam (2000) states that the machine-operated process is the most important value-addition operation in furniture production, as it convert the raw materials into the sophisticated finished product. The quality of the machine had contributed to smooth and effective production process. However, most of the machinery purchased is special function machinery which is aimed at reducing used of man labor in the manufacturing outfit, with the aim of reducing the manufacturing cost or unit cost. This is to be expected, as the industry is labor intensive in nature, and there is an increasing reliance on foreign-contract workers within the industry (Ratnasingam, 2005). Procedures adopted are also in place in order to meet the increasingly high business standards in terms of price-cutting, quality and material properties. A periodic review of the existing polices is necessary to ensure that the industries will remain competitive. However, the critical problem faces by industries is mismanagement of land utilization, provided the insufficiency of readily available land for the cultivation of plantation forests. Research and development (RD) is hence important for introducing not only new products and new processes that will increase the industrys competitiveness, but also new technology that will reduce the land intensity of rubber tree growing, i.e. clones with shorter gestation and richer wood.( Professor Mohamed Ariff, 2011). According to (Professor Mohamed Ariff, 2011), to counterbalance the decline in rubber wood supply and the lack of possible alternative wood sources, in order to support the ongoing development of the WBI, one solution can be taken include the importation of logs from abroad and increase of plantation forests at home. However, logs importation face problems like log bans from neighboring countries as well as its high transportation cost. Thus, forests plantation within the country are thought to be a better option. Several countries have successfully adopted this approach, which has encouraged the development of substantial downstream industries in forest products. This, in turn, has led to the growth of clusters of supplementary industries. While the Malaysian WBI is predominantly rubberwood-based now, other species including Acacia, Sesendok, Albizia, may well prove equally suitable in future. A study by Bojei et al., (2002) on global marketing strategies in the Malaysian wooden furniture industry, the marketing strategies used by the wooden furniture companies, either original equipment manufacturing (OEM), own design manufacturing (ODM) or own brand name (OBM), the most important factors influencing the success of those strategies were firms primary characteristics, decision makers expectation of exporting and global marketing strategy. Lastly, since export marketing strategy has been considered as one of the key determinants on export performance (Cavusgil and Zou, 1994), though not all of the marketing strategy elements will affect the export performance simultaneously. Study by Koh (1991) found that the relationships among organizational characteristics, marketing strategy and export performance has found that only export pricing, direct buyer, and channel strategies of marketing strategy variations have effects on export performance. However, adapting marketing mix variables cater the specific needs of developed country markets would enhance export marketing performance (Aulakh et al., 2000). In contrast, a study by Julian (2003) to identify the key factors influencing export marketing performance found that export marketing strategy has no effect on the Thai firms export marketing performance. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.0 Research Methodology The research methodology requires collecting data from the secondary sources, which is overview of Malaysian Furniture Industry: Malaysian furniture export, import and destination that are located in the Annual Report from 2007 to 2011 of the Malaysian Furniture Promotion Council (MFPC) that is being published at its website. There are 10 countries being selected based on the complete data and information of the chosen countries. The data is being analyzed using the Shift Share Analysis. Table 3.1 shows the values of Malaysian Furniture Export from the 2006 to 2011 in (RM million). The initial period consists of year 2006 to 2008, while the terminal period consists of year 2009 to 2011. The data is being analyzed using Microsoft Excel. FINDING,ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Actual Change Let Vj,t represents the values of Malaysia furniture export for country j at the terminal time period t, Vj,t-1 represents the values of Malaysia furniture export for country j at the initial time period t-1, and  Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Vj be the actual change in market j over the specified period of time. Therefore, The formula of Actual change, = 0 , the Malaysian Furniture Export to the particular country remain unchanged > 0 , the Malaysian Furniture Export to the particular country is increasing According to table 4.0, it shows that the value of Malaysia furniture export to 8 out of 10 countries are declining, excluding Singapore which has an increase of RM 442.2 million, and Japan by RM 150.72. B. Total Growth Rate K = Total Value of Malaysia furniture export for terminal period Total Value of Malaysia furniture export for initial period = RM16600.9 million RM17950.45 million = 0.924818041 (92.4818041%) According to Table 4.0 , the total value of Malaysia furniture export for terminal period was RM16600.9 million, and total value of Malaysia furniture export for initial period RM17950.45 million. Therefore, on average, the Malaysia furniture export is declining by 7.5181959% (1-0.924818041). C. Expected Value E(Vj.t )= K(Vj,t-1) The expected export value of Malaysian furniture in each countries at the terminal period, E(Vj.t ), is the actual export value of initial period(Vj,t-1) multiply with the total growth rate (K). D. Expected Change Expected Change is the difference between the expected value at terminal period E ( Vj,t) and actual value for the market at the end of the initial time period, Vj,t-1. Let E( Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Vj) represents the expected change. Thus, E ( Vj) = E ( Vj,t) Vj,t-1 = Vj,t-1 (K-1) E. Net Shift The difference between the actual change and the expected change of a given market is the net shift. This difference is denoted as Nj. Thus, The sum of the net shift values for all markets should be zero: Each country is experiencing 0 growth in Malaysia furniture export. Therefore, there is no relative gain or loss in the value of Malaysia furniture export to these countries in the given time period. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Based on the results, it showed that the sum of the percentage net shift of Malaysian furniture industry to these 10 countries is equal to 0. Therefore, there is no relative gain or loss in furniture export. Therefore, the producers of furniture in Malaysia, particularly wood based furniture segment, have to be alert and adapt to changes in preferences of the importers on these aspects: price, product, place(distribution), and promotion, so that it will be favourable to them. Despite the strong competition from lower priced Chinese and Vietnamese furniture, Malaysian furniture quality is far more superior. The initiative of the government to expand the export market of Malaysian furniture can be seen by penetrating into the Algeria and Greece in the near future. The government also has set an annual growth rate target of 6.5 % for wood based furniture, which estimates to reach up to RM53 billion by year 2020.