Course Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Course Project - Research Paper Example Organizations main aim is to achieve their objective goals. They usually meet challenges and they must beat them to achieve these goals as a team. Challenges create different conflicts among members of the organisation both within and the general environment in which the firm is based. Most people believe that conflict will lead to unfavourable results but this is not true. Conflict has both good and bad impacts. There are different strategies and styles that have been created to solve the problem of conflict in the organisation. Misunderstanding in an organisation usually comes about due to differences in viewpoints, competition, different ideas and this usually has different effects. This is something common that occurs in organisation now days. Some of the effects that conflict can bring include change in the organisation. This is achieved by modification of policies to manage and resolve conflict. It also leads to new innovations, improve goal congruence, results to sub optimization and lastly it wastes a lot of time. How an individual responds and manages conflict usually determines the success of the organisation. According to Bar-Siman-Tov and Yaacov conflict arises due to differences in ideas. It has a great impact on employee turnover, morale and litigation (57-9). This usually affects the success and development of organization. The main objective of conflict management and resolution is to promote learning team results. Suggestions by Tidwell and Alan say that efficiency and effectiveness in the company’s setting (24-6). This will usually lead to good outcomes. There are five ways which have been suggested to avoid conflict if it arises (Dana 61). Collaboration is one way of solving conflict. Here it emphasizes that every affected part idea is regarded. The basic idea here is that considering every individual opinion will

Motor Speed Control Essay Example for Free

Motor Speed Control Essay Introduction and Objectives In this lab you will control the speed of a motor. Figure 1 shows the hardware setup, which is the same as for Week 1 of Lab 4. You will use the potentiometer on your evaluation board to set the desired speed of the motor, and you will control the speed through the PWM output of the HCS12. You will measure the speed of the motor using an input capture pin, and display the desired and actual speeds on the terminal. . 1. The Lab It is up to you how you design the system to accomplish the goal of this lab, nonetheless, here are some guidelines to assist you in ensuring proper operation of the system. 1. Build the circuit shown in Figure 1. 2. Design a real-time routine that gets executed every 8ms. Develop a method to verify the timing of that routine, e.g., increment LEDs. 3. Program the A/D converter to read the value from the pot either the one on the microcontroller board or an external one. In the routine developed in Part 1, read the A/D converter (use 8-bit mode). Again develop a method to display the results and verify the operation of the A/D converter as you change the input voltage. 4. Set up the PWM to generate a 50 kHz PWM signal on one of the four PWM channels. Set it up for high polarity. It will be easiest to set PWPERx to 255. Verify that the PWM works. In the real-time routine, write the eight most significant bits to the A/D value you read to PWDTYx. The motor speed should change as you use the pot to vary the voltage on the A/D. 5. Measure the speed of the motor by determining the time between two falling edges of the optical encoder. In your main program display this time on the LCD display. You can use floating point arithmetic to convert this time into RPM. Display the RPM value on the LCD display. What is the maximum motor speed? 6. Measure the speed for several different  duty cycles by varying the voltage with the pot. Plot speed vs. duty cycle. EE 308 New Mexico Tech Spring 2011 Figure 1: Using a PWM signal to adjust the speed of a motor. 7. Implement closed-loop speed control. The desired speed Sd should be Sd = (0.2 + 0.8 ·(AD/ADmax))  ·Smax where Smax is the motor speed at 100% duty cycle, AD is the A/D converter reading and ADmax is the maximum A/D converter reading. In this way you will be able to vary the speed between 20% and 100% of Smax. EE 308 New Mexico Tech Spring 2011 To set the motor at the desired speed you can use a simple equation (integral control) such as: DCnew = DCold + k ·(Sd − Sm) where Sm is the measured speed. Do this calculation inside the real-time routine, and write the new value to PWDTYx. Try different values of k to see how the motor responds. If k is too small, it will take a long time for the motor to get to its steady-state speed. If k is too large, the motor will be jerky as it tries to settle down to its steady-state speed. It will be much easier to do these calculations using floating point numbers rather than using integers. 8. Set the power voltage to 15V. Measure the motor speed for various values of input voltage to the A/D converter. Take about 10 equally-spaced measurements for input voltage between 0 and 5 V. Use the LCD display to show the raw A/D value and the raw counts between edges on the first line, and show the desired and actual speeds on the second line. 9. With the pot  set at about mid-range, vary the voltage of the voltage powering the motor (say between 8V and 14V). With closed-loop control the speed of the motor should stay the same. Verify that this is the case. 10. Using the data from Part 8, plot the speed in RPM vs. the input voltage from the pot ,i.e., convert the speed measurement in time difference between two falling edges to speed in RPM. 11. It is much more effective if you have the data from the previous part recorded automatically, this way you can observe the behavior of the controller and how long it takes to make the motor settle at the right speed. To do that change the BAUD rate to 115,200 then once every 8ms send the input capture difference to the serial port. Set Hyperterm to use 115,200 baud rate, capture the serial data and plot in MATLAB. Set the power voltage back to 15V. Rather than varying the PWM based on the pot, set it manually inside your code for a while and then change it to different value, this will create a step change in the desired set value, and can be used to determine the effectiveness of the controller. 12. Another type of controller that may be used is known as proportional controller. This type of controller, and unlike the integral type control, only uses the current measurements to set the output rather than accumulating any history. This is accomplished by DCnew = k ·(Sd − Sm) EE 308 New Mexico Tech Spring 2011 Similar to the previous step, collect the data due to a step change in the desired speed, and plot in MATLAB. Compare this proportional controller to the integral controller.

The Unladylike Lady in Macbeth :: Macbeth essays

The Unladylike Lady in Macbeth      Ã‚   William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth presents in the role of the leading lady an intimidating and selfish Lady Macbeth. Let us in this paper get to the bottom of her character.    L.C. Knights in the essay "Macbeth" describes the unnaturalness of Lady Macbeth's words and actions:    Thus the sense of the unnaturalness of evil is evoked not only be repeated explicit references ("nature's mischief," "nature seems dead," " 'Tis unnatural, even like the deed that's done," and so on) but by the expression of unnatural sentiments and an unnatural violence of tone in such things as Lady Macbeth's invocation of the "spirits" who will "unsex" her, and her affirmation that she would murder the babe at her breast if she had sworn to do it. (95)    Samuel Johnson in The Plays of Shakespeare underscores how ambition by the protagonists leads to detestation on the part of the readers:    The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that, in Shakespeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions. The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall. (133)    In "Macbeth as the Imitation of an Action" Francis Fergusson specifies the fears within Lady Macbeth:      I do not need to remind you of the great scenes preceding the murder, in which Macbeth and his Lady pull themselves together for their desperate effort. If you think over these scenes, you will notice that the Macbeths understand the action which begins here as a competition and a stunt, against reason and against nature. Lady Macbeth fears her husband's human nature, as well as her own female nature, and therefore she fears the light of reason and the common dayllight world. As for Macbeth, he knows from the first that he is engaged in an irrational stunt: "I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only / Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself / And falls on the other." In this sequence there is also the theme of outwitting or transcending time, an aspect of nature's order as we know it: catching up the consequences, jumping the life to come, and the like.

Fat Burner Supplements

Author's Letter Writing this essay I learned a lot about fat burner supplements. I use to think they were not harmful to my body, but I realize that they are. Before I would walk In to supplement stores and when I would see a fat burner ad on display I would buy it. The ad would get my attention because it would show a muscular and defined body, and that's something I desired as an athlete. Furthermore, the employees would not mention to me the side affects the pills contain, so I was unaware of what I was in aging and putting inside my body.As time progressed I started to realize that my workouts were not the same without these pills. I also notice my performance In the ring was not the same. Therefore, I felt like I could not perform without these pills because the lack of energy my body did not produce anymore. I would go back to supplement store and purchase more fat burners. After a few months my physic changed, I notice an increased in muscle size and my body was defining, but little did I know the side effects would kick in right after.Consequently, I started to feel anxiety and my heart rate would Increase for no reason when I was In my comfort mode. My doctor at the time told me I was suffering from anxiety. He prescribed medication, In which I took for a few months before my anxiety started fading. Now, my anxiety is under control, but it's not permanently out of my system; it comes and goes. If I would have known what side effects these pills contained, I would've thought twice before consuming them.I took the supplement as directed and read warning label, but I was unaware that the symptoms would last a lifetime. I wrote this essay to educate those who read It about the dangers fat burner supplements produce. In conclusion. At the end of the day It Is someone's decision to consume these pills Into their system, but if they learn more about these pills history individuals will think twice about purchasing; and maybe they will not consume nor abuse th e supplement.

The Chinese Fireworks Industry

THE CHINESE FIREWORKS INDUSTRY – REVISED Ruihua Jiang wrote this case under the supervision of Professor Paul W. Beamish solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying information to protect confidentiality. Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmission without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization.To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail [email  protected] uwo. ca. Copyright  © 2011, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2011-09-21 In February 2009, Jerry Yu was spending the Chinese New Year holidays in Liuyang (lee-ou-yang), a city known as â€Å"the home of firecrackers and fireworks,† located in Hunan Province in China.Jerry was an ABC (America-Born-Chinese). With an MBA, he was running a small family-owned chain of gift stores in Brooklyn, New York. Liuyang was his mother’s hometown. During his visit, his relatives invited him to invest in a fireworks factory that was owned by a village. Mr. Yu had been impressed by the extravagant fireworks shows he had seen during the festival; however, he wanted to assess how attractive the Chinese fireworks industry was before he even looked at the financial details of the factory. HISTORY OF FIREWORKS AND FIRECRACKERSFireworks referred to any devices designed to produce visual or audible effects through combustion or explosion. The art of making fireworks was formally known as pyrotechnics. Firecrackers were a specific kind of fireworks, usually in the form of a noisemaking cylinder. Firecrackers were often strung together and fused consecutively, a staple of Chinese New Year celebrations, weddings, grand openings, births, deaths and other ceremonial occasions. The main ingredients of fireworks had remained almost the same over the past thousand years: 75 parts-byweight potassium nitrate, 15 parts charcoal and 0 parts sulfur. It burned briskly when lighted, but did not erupt or make any noise. When it was found that a projectile could be thrust out of a barrel by keeping the powder at one end and igniting it, black powder became known as gunpowder. Today, smokeless powder has replaced black powder as the propellant in modern weaponry, but black powder remains a main ingredient in fireworks, both as a propellant and as a bursting charge. It was generally believed that the Chinese were the first makers of fireworks.The Chinese made war rockets and explosives as early as the sixth century. One legend said that a Chinese cook, while toili ng in a field kitchen, happened to mix together sulfur, charcoal and saltpetre, and noticed that the pile burned with a combustible force when ignited. He further discovered that when these ingredients were enclosed in a length of bamboo sealed at both ends, it would explode rather than burn, producing a loud crack. This was the origin of firecrackers. In fact, the Chinese word for firecrackers — bao-zhu — literally means â€Å"exploded bamboo. † Page 2 9B11M006The loud reports and burning fires of firecrackers and fireworks were found to be perfect for frightening off evil spirits and celebrating good news at various occasions. For more than a thousand years, the Chinese had been seeing off past years and welcoming in new ones by firing firecrackers. Fireworks made their way first to Arabia in the seventh century, then to Europe sometime in the middle of the 13th century. By the 15th century, fireworks were widely used for religious festivals and public enterta inment. Most of the early pyrotechnicians in Europe were Italians.Even today, the best-known names in the European and American fireworks industry were Italian in origin. From the 16th to the 18th century, Italy and Germany were the two best known areas in the European continent for fireworks displays. In 1777, the United States used fireworks in its first Independence Day celebration, and fireworks have become closely associated with July Fourth celebrations ever since. Up until the 1830s, the colors of the early fireworks were limited, but by 2009, there were six basic colors used in fireworks.LIUYANG — THE HOMETOWN OF FIRECRACKERS AND FIREWORKS According to historical records in China, firecrackers and fireworks â€Å"emerged during the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD), flourished during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), and originated in Liuyang. † For more than 1,000 years, Liuyang had been known as the â€Å"hometown of firecrackers and fireworks of China,† a title that was officially conferred to Liuyang by the State Council of China in 1995. As early as 1723, Liuyang fireworks were chosen as official tributes to the imperial family and were sold all over the country.Exports started early: by 1875, firecrackers and fireworks were being shipped to Japan, Korea, India, Iran, Russia, Australia, England, the U. S. , and other countries. In China, the name Liuyang had become almost synonymous with firecrackers and fireworks. Liuyang-made firecrackers and fireworks won numerous awards over its long history of fireworks making. The long history and tradition had made fireworks more than just a livelihood for the Liuyang people. Almost every native person in the area knew something about fireworks making, or had actually made firecrackers or fireworks in their lifetime.As a result, Liuyang claimed an impressive pool of skilled labor. Firecrackers and fireworks had become the pillar industry of Liuyang, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of all jobs o r about one-third of the total population in the Liuyang District (including Liuyang City and the surrounding counties). In 2008, Liuyang claimed 2,702 fireworks manufacturers with an additional 2,144 in the surrounding area. In total, there were 6,458 fireworks producers in China. While there has been some trend towards consolidation in the industry, most factories were still owned either by villages or families.Among them, about a dozen or so were medium to large factories with employment between 100 to 500 workers. The rest were small workshops employing anywhere from 10 to 50 people, depending on market demand. Liuyang was the top fireworks exporter in the world, making up 60 per cent of global production. The trademarked brand â€Å"Red Lantern† had become well known to fireworks-lovers around the world. China now accounted for 89 per cent of worldwide fireworks exports with the vast majority of that coming from Liuyang.In addition, over the past ten years, China had bec ome the largest market for fireworks. The ratio of domestic use to exports was 6:4, and Chinese imports of fireworks were negligible. Page 3 9B11M006 The increase in demand in the Chinese market had only intensified the competition. All new demand was more than met by the Chinese fireworks industry. Thus, instead of seeing increased margins, the profit margins for many small manufacturers had shrunk over the past decade. In order to make up the difference, manufacturers were cutting corners.However, some of these cost cutting efforts came at the expense of safety. A 2007 factory explosion that left 11 workers dead was blamed primarily on decreased safety standards, which were blamed on a lack of money due to cut throat competition. In response, the government and company officials from Luiyang and surrounding areas agreed to regulate the price of fireworks with the hope of increasing profit margins. With higher profit margins, company officials vowed to increase workers safety. The Product Fireworks could be classified into two categories: display fireworks and consumer fireworks.The display fireworks, such as aerial shells, maroons, and large Roman candles, were meant for professional (usually licensed) pyrotechnicians to fire during large public display shows. They were devices that were designed to produce certain visual or audio effect at a greater height above the ground than the consumer fireworks, which the general public could purchase in convenience stores and enjoy in their own backyards. Display fireworks were known as Explosives 1. 3 (Class B prior to 1991) in the U. S. The consumer fireworks belonged to Explosives 1. 4 (Class C prior to 1991).The difference lay mainly in the amount of explosive components contained in the product. Canada had a similar classification system. In the U. K. , it was more carefully divided into four categories: indoor fireworks; garden fireworks; display fireworks; and display fireworks for professionals only. There we re many varieties of fireworks. Liuyang made 13 different types with more than 3,000 varieties. The major types included fountains, rockets, hand-held novelties, nail and hanging wheels, groundspinning novelties, jumping novelties, floral shells, parachutes and firecrackers.Historically, firecrackers made up 90 per cent of the total production and sales. Over the past 50 years or so, however, there had been a shift away from firecrackers to fireworks. In 2009, firecrackers made up less than 20 per cent of the total sales. The skill levels of fireworks-making had been greatly improved. For instance, the old-day fireworks could reach no more than 20 metres into the sky, while the new ones could go as high as 400 metres. Not much had changed in fireworks-making. Over the last few decades, numerous novelties were added to the fireworks family.However, innovation had never reached beyond product variations. The ingredients had remained more or less the same. The process technology had no t changed much either, although some manual processes, such as cutting the paper, rolling the cylinders, mixing powder, and stringing the cylinders could now be done by machines. Safety Issues The fact that fireworks were made with gunpowder and listed under explosives brought about the issue of safety. Numerous accidents related with fireworks had resulted in tragic human injuries and considerable property damages.As a result, fireworks had become heavily regulated in most countries. Page 4 9B11M006 According to the manufacturers, fireworks were the most dangerous during the production process. Powder mixing and powder filling, in turn, were the two most dangerous procedures. The workers had to abide by strict safety measures. Even a tiny spark caused by the dropping of a tool on the floor or the dragging of a chair could start a major explosion. The quality of the ingredients was also of significant importance. Impure ingredients could greatly increase the possibility of accidents .In Liuyang, almost every year, there would be one or more accidents that resulted in deaths and damages. With an ever increasing number of firms entering the industry, safety was an ongoing concern. Once the fireworks were made, they were relatively safe to transport and store. Even in firing, good quality fireworks rarely caused any problems if everything was done properly. Most of the fireworks-related accidents occurred during private parties or street displays, and quite often involved children playing with fireworks that needed to be handled by adults, or adults firing shells that required professional expertise.Most accidents were linked to consumer backyard events rather than to public displays. According to the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission’s (CPSC) data, injuries related to fireworks had declined substantially, even though their use had increased (see Exhibit 2). For 2009, there were an estimated 5,244 fireworks-related injuries, 30 per cent of w hich were caused by firecrackers and bottle rockets. Of all the injuries related to firecrackers and fireworks, most were treated in the emergency department. Eight per cent of patients had to be admitted to hospital, and 7 people died due to sustained injuries.Children from ages five to 14 were the most frequently involved in fireworks-related injuries. However, fireworks were not the only consumer product that might cause injuries to this age group. According to a 2008 CPSC Injury Surveillance Report, fireworks were actually safer than swing sets and baseballs. However, fireworks-related injuries were usually the most dramatic and the most widely publicized accidents, which partly explained the fact that fireworks was the only category among the products listed in Exhibit 3, for which prohibition, instead of education and adult supervision, was often urged.In the United States, multiple government agencies were involved in regulating fireworks. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Fi rearms (BATF) controlled the manufacture, storage, sales and distribution of explosives, i. e. , Class B fireworks. The CPSC regulated Class C consumer fireworks, and the Department of Transportation dealt with the transportation of fireworks. Although at the federal level, fireworks and firecrackers were allowed as long as the safety features were up to the standard, local governments would have their own different regulations regarding fireworks consumption.Out of the 50 states, one would allow only novelty fireworks, 5 had banned all consumer fireworks but allowed professional pyrotechnics, and 4 allowed customers only wire or wood stick sparklers and other novelty items. However, the remaining 40 would allow essentially all consumer fireworks. For display fireworks, permits would have to be obtained from federal and local authorities and fire departments. All legal consumer fireworks offered for sale in the United States had been tested for stability by the Bureau of Explosives and approved for transportation by the U. S. Department of Transportation.Because of the limited amount of pyrotechnic composition permitted in each individual unit, consumer fireworks would not ignite spontaneously during storage, nor would they mass-explode during a fire. Therefore, no special storage was required. In most of Europe, similar regulations were in place for safety considerations, only the requirements were regarded as less stringent. In Canada, however, regulations were extremely restrictive. However, over the past decade Chinese fireworks companies had made great strides in the Canadian market. In 1999, there Page 5 9B11M006 were no Chinese companies allowed to sell fireworks in Canada.By 2009, over 75% of all fireworks imports to Canada were from China. THE FIRECRACKERS AND FIREWORKS INDUSTRY IN CHINA The firecrackers and fireworks industry in China was dominated by small family-owned-and-operated workshops. It was essentially a low-tech, highly labor-intensive ind ustry. After 1949, government-run factories replaced the family-owned workshops. The increased scale and government funds made possible the automation of some processes. However, the key processes like installing powder, mixing color ingredients, and putting in fuses, were still manually done by skilled workers.The factories themselves were made up of small workshops that stood away from each other, so that in case of an accident the whole factory would not explode. For the same safety consideration, the workshops were usually located near a water source and in sparsely populated rural areas, to reduce the noise and explosion hazard. After the reform towards a market economy started in 1979, most of the factories were broken up and became family-run units of production again. It was hoped that this privatization might help to motivate people to increase their productivity and raise output.However, this move also served to restrict further technological innovations. There were hardly any research and development (R&D) facilities, nor human and capital resources allocated to R&D in most fireworks companies. The few resources that were available were all spent on product varieties. Even in Liuyang, out of the 400,000 or so people working in the industry, very few were engineers with advanced professional training. In response, the Hunan and other local governments began initiatives aimed at upgrading the traditional fireworks industry. Substantial amounts of money were spent on R&D.The Liuyang Firecrackers and Fireworks Authority reported that they had spent RMB 2,000 million in projects with the Beijing University of Technology and the Nanjing University of Science. Among these initiatives were environmentally friendly fireworks, which used cold flame fireworks technology. The majority of the manufacturing workers were regular farmers who had learned how to make fireworks just by watching and following their elders. They would come to work in fireworks workshops when there were jobs to be done, and return to till their fields if there were none. In Liuyang, for instance, few factories operated year-round.Most workshops would operate as orders came in. Since the fireworksmaking communities were very concentrated geographically and had lasted for generations, only a few places (like Liuyang) could claim a large pool of skilled fireworks-makers. Although Liuyang was by far the most well-known place for making fireworks in China, it faced increasing competition within the country. Also located in Hunan Province, Liling was another major manufacturing community of fireworks. Liling fireworks did not enjoy the same reputation and variety as Liuyang products, but they were fierce in price competition.In the neighboring Jiangxi Province, Pingxiang and Wanzai fireworks had become strong competitors both in price and quality, especially on the low- and medium-priced market. In the high-end product market, especially in large-type display fireworks a nd export market, Dongguan in Guangdong Province, had taken advantage of its closeness to Hong Kong and more sophisticated management and marketing practices, and snatched market share from Liuyang. By 2009, however, more than one third of all firms and 60 per cent of Chinese production remained in Luiyang.Page 6 9B11M006 The initial capital requirement for starting a fireworks-manufacturing facility was relatively low. To set up a factory with the necessary equipment for making large display shells would require around RMB1,250,000. 1 However, setting up a small family workshop making consumer firecrackers and fireworks would require less than RMB125,000. Consequently, the number of small manufacturers mushroomed after the government started to encourage private business ventures. While labor costs in the area were still low, they were steadily increasing.As a result of Chinese economic growth, wages had almost doubled over the past 5 years. This was in part because many workers we re moving into less dangerous occupations. Skilled workers engaged in major processes would earn an average of RMB1,200 to RMB1,800 per month. A non-skilled worker would be paid only RMB500 to RMB700 every month. In larger factories, labor costs were between 20 and 30 per cent of total costs. The main raw materials for fireworks were gunpowder, color ingredients, paper, fuse and clay soil. None would be difficult to procure.However, because of the growth in the Chinese domestic fireworks market, costs of raw materials were steadily rising. Another possible problem in supply was quality. Major manufacturers would usually establish long-term relationships with their suppliers to guarantee the quality of the materials. The small workshops would often go with the lowest prices, sometimes at the cost of quality, which could lead to fatal results. The number of small companies intensified competition. The private workshops were flexible and quick in responding to market demand. They did n ot entail much administrative cost.Compared to governmentowned or some collectively-owned factories, they did incur the costs of providing health care, retirement benefits and housing. They usually did not do any product research or design. Oblivious to intellectual property protection, they would copy any popular product design and sell it for much less. The resulting price drop had become a serious problem for the whole industry. As the profit margin kept shrinking, some workshops would hire cheap unskilled workers, and use cheap equipment and raw materials to cut down on cost. The results could be disastrous. THE DOMESTIC MARKETFirecrackers and fireworks had long been an integral part of any ceremonies held in China. Until recently, demand had been stable, but had risen in the past three decades because of increased economic development and living standards. Economically, market reform and unprecedented growth had given rise to the daily appearance of multitudes of new companies and new stores. As people’s income level and living standards kept rising, fancier and pricier fireworks and firecrackers were desired over the cheap simple firecrackers, thereby creating more profit opportunities for fireworks manufacturers.Almost every household would spend at least a couple of hundred RMB on firecrackers and fireworks during the Spring Festival. However, during the 1990s, increased concerns over environmental pollution and safety of human life and property led more and more cities to regulate the consumption of fireworks and firecrackers. Every year, high profile fireworks-related accidents were reported and emphasized on mass media before and after the traditional Spring Festival. Some articles even condemned firecrackers and fireworks as an old, uncivilized convention that created only noise, pollution and accidents.In a wave of regulations, city after city passed administrative laws regarding the use of fireworks. By 1998, one-third of the cities in Chi na had completely banned the use of firecrackers and fireworks. Another one-third only allowed fireworks in designated places. This led to a decline in domestic market demand. 1 In 2009, the exchange rate was around 6. 60 yuan per US$1. 00. Page 7 9B11M006 However, all this began to change in the mid 2000s. Demand began to soar when Beijing lifted a 12-year ban on fireworks in 2005. Other cities followed suit.In 2005, 106 cities eased restrictions on fireworks; in 2006 another 54 cities eased restrictions. This was followed by 40 cities in 2007 and another 79 cities in 2009. All this lead to an explosion in the Chinese domestic fireworks market. In the meantime, domestic competition grew intensely. The reform towards a market economy made it possible for numerous family-run workshops to appear. They competed mainly on price. Almost every province had some fireworks-making workshops or factories, many set up and run with the help of skilled workers who had migrated from Liuyang.These small establishments usually were located in rural, underdeveloped areas where labor cost was low. The manufacturing was done manually, sometimes without safety measures, using cheap raw materials and simplified techniques. The products were sold locally at low prices, making it difficult for Liuyang fireworks to sell in those areas. To make things worse, these products would often copy any new or popular product designs coming out of Liuyang or other traditional fireworks communities, even using their very brand names. In the past, fireworks were sold through the government-run general merchandise companies.Eventually, private dealers took over a large part of the business. Overall, the distribution system was rather fragmented. The old government-run channels were not very effective, especially for general merchandise. In the new distribution channels, wholesale dealers would get shipments directly from the manufacturers, and then resell to street peddlers and convenience stores. In the countryside, wholesale markets would appear in focal townships, with wholesale dealers and agents of the manufacturers setting up booths promoting their products.Small peddlers in the surrounding areas would get supplies from the market and then sell them in small towns or villages. The wholesale markets in China were important outlets for distributing general merchandise like fireworks. In the display fireworks market, the buyers were often central and local governments, who would purchase the product for public shows on national holidays or special celebrations. Obviously, a local company would have advantages in supplying to local government in its area. Large fireworks shows usually would use invited bidding to decide on suppliers.The amount of fireworks used could range from RMB100,000 to several million yuan, depending on the scale of a fireworks show. Account receivables and bad debt control was a problem not just for fireworks manufacturers, but for all businesses in China. Bad debts and lack of respect for business contracts had created a credit crisis in China. The bad debt problem greatly increased transaction costs, slowed down the cash turnover, and had become a headache for fireworks manufacturers. Some had chosen to withdraw from selling in the domestic market, although the profit margin was higher than in the export market.Legal restrictions, local protectionism, cutthroat price competition, hard-to-penetrate distribution channels and bad debt were impacting negatively on the domestic sales of Liuyang fireworks. In 1997, seeing the decline of its fireworks sales, Liuyang Firecrackers and Fireworks Industry Department, the government agency in charge of the overall development of the pillar industry, decided to start an offensive strategy. First, it opened local offices in most of the 29 provinces, major cities and regions to promote Liuyang fireworks.Second, it regulated the prices that Liuyang fireworks companies could quote and sell i n export sales. Third, it resorted to a government-to-government relationship in order to secure contracts for large public fireworks displays in each province. One year after introducing the offensive strategy, Liuyang fireworks sales had increased. By 2009, they controlled an estimated 60 per cent of the global market. Page 8 9B11M006 Over the next ten years, many legal restrictions were lifted. One of the most notable legal restrictions to be eased was foreign direct investment.With huge growth in both the Chinese domestic market and with China nearing a virtual lock on export market, the Chinese Fireworks industry had become a magnet for foreign investors. Liuyang remained the center of the Chinese fireworks industry and an attractive region for foreigners and foreign firms looking at controlling the entire fireworks value chain. THE EXPORT MARKET Since the opening of the Chinese economy in 1979, exporting had become a major market for the Chinese fireworks industry. As one of t he most celebrated products out of China, export sales of fireworks had risen dramatically between 1978 and 2009.According to independent research, the recorded exports of firecrackers and fireworks reached US$675 million in 2009. This was up from an estimated US$143 million in 1994. The products from China were rich in variety and low in price, but also had a lower reputation in quality control, packaging and timing control, compared to the products made in Japan and Korea. China-made fireworks also would wholesale for much lower prices, usually 80 per cent lower than similar products made in Japan or Korea. There had been little overall co-ordination of export sales.As more and more companies were allowed to export directly, competition kept intensifying and the profit margins on export sales kept slipping. As a result, underpricing each other became a common practice. Therefore, despite its dominant share of the world market, the Chinese fireworks export industry enjoyed limited profitability. The export price of Chinese fireworks was between one-fifth and one-third the wholesale price in the United States. The importers enjoyed a high markup even after paying the 2. 4 per cent U. S. import duty.Of course, the importers had to absorb the cost of getting permits, shipping, storing and carrying the inventory for three to four months before making the sales. This gap pushed both domestic and foreign companies to find ways to control more of the value chain from production to retail. Besides suffering from low profit margin, the Chinese fireworks makers were also risking losing their brand identities. Given the low cost and reasonably good quality of the Chinese fireworks, many large fireworks manufacturers and dealers in the West started to outsource the making of their brand-name fireworks.Failing to see the importance of brand equity, the Chinese fireworks manufacturers were sometimes reduced to mere manufacturing outfits for foreign companies, gradually los ing their own brands. There were also fireworks merchants in Korea, Japan or Spain, who would buy the products from China, and then repackage them, or replace the fuses with better quality ones, then resell them for much higher prices. The export market was usually divided into five blocks: Southeast Asia, North America, Europe, South America and the rest of the world.The most popular market had been Europe, where the regulations on fireworks were less stringent, and orders were of larger quantities and better prices. The United States was considered a tough market because of complex regulations and high competition, nevertheless a necessary one if a company wanted to remain a viable world-player. While in the past, the Canadian market was virtually closed to the Chinese fireworks due to its regulations, by 2009 Chinese imports dominated the entire Canadian market. Page 9 9B11M006 The foreign importers were powerful buyers for several reasons.First, they were very well informed, bot h through past dealings with China and the Internet. Second, they were able to hire agents who were very familiar with the industry in China. Third, they could deal directly with the factories that were willing to offer lower prices. Fourth, there were basically no switching costs, so they could play the suppliers against each other. The diversity of the cultures in the destination countries greatly reduced the seasonality of the fireworks production and sales. As a result, orders evened out throughout the year. However, the peak season was still towards the end of the year.For the U. S. , it was before July 4. Usually, the importers would receive the shipment two or three months beforehand. While the U. S. was still China’s major export market for fireworks, other countries were also importing large quantities of Chinese made fireworks (see Exhibit 4). The Internet had become a marketing outlet for Chinese fireworks. 20 per cent to 25 per cent of the worldwide sales were thr ough the Internet. However, export sales were still made mainly through foreign trade companies or agents. In recent years, foreign investments were also funneled into the fireworks industry.In Liuyang, four of the large fireworks factories had foreign investments, made mainly by the fireworks trading companies in Hong Kong. In 2009, the Liuyang Fireworks Company was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), a first for a Chinese fireworks manufacturer. The Future of the Fireworks Industry in China The managers of the Chinese fireworks companies that Jerry talked to expressed mixed feelings towards the future outlook of their industry. One pessimistic view was that fierce competition and more stringent safety regulations were killing the industry.As the Chinese economy advanced, the government was forcing more manufacturing regulations onto firms that were driving up costs. Moreover, as people became more environmentally-conscious and more distracted by the endless diversities of modern entertainment, traditional celebrations using firecrackers and fireworks would die a gradual death. As to the function of attracting public attention for promotional purposes, fireworks also faced challenges from new technologies, such as laser beams combined with sound effects. In fact, â€Å"make-believe firecrackers† already appeared as substitutes in China.These were made of red plastic tubes strung together like firecrackers with electric bulbs installed inside the tubes. When the power was turned on, the lights would emit sparks, accompanied by crackling reports that sounded like firecrackers. These were being used at weddings and grand openings in cities where firecrackers and fireworks were banned. More interesting substitutes were spotted at some weddings in Beijing, where people paved the road with little red balloons, and made the limousine carrying the bride and groom run over the balloons to make explosive cracking sounds as well as leave behind red bits a nd pieces of debris.Also, more and more young couples were getting married in western styles, in a church or a scenic green meadow outdoors, where serene and quiet happiness prevailed over the traditional noisy way of celebrating. Therefore, some managers believed that firecrackers and fireworks were doomed to fade off into history. The more optimistic view, however, was that the industry would not die at all. If the right moves were made by the industry, it could even grow. Some said that tradition would not die so easily. It was in their national character for the Chinese to celebrate with an atmosphere of noisy happiness.Moreover, even in the West, the popularity of fireworks was not suffering from all the regulations. No real substitutes could Page 10 9B11M006 replace fireworks, which combined the sensual pleasures of visual, audio and emotional stimuli. For instance, the U. S. Congressional resolution in 1963 to use bells to replace fireworks in celebrating Independence Day nev er really caught on. Fireworks were also being combined with modern technologies like laser beams, computerized firing and musical accompaniment to make the appeal of fireworks more irresistible.The safety problem was not really as serious as people were made to believe, and would only improve with new technological innovations like smokeless fireworks. With the success of the fireworks displays at the Beijing Olympics, China’s brand as a world class fireworks producer was on the rise. With better management practices, perhaps margins could be increased. However, both sides agreed that the Chinese fireworks industry would have to change its strategy, especially in international competition, to stay a viable and profitable player. THE DECISIONWhile the Liuyang fireworks industry dominated the worldwide industry, Jerry had to decide whether he should invest in the industry. If he did invest, what was the best way to capitalize on the potential that remained unexploited in this industry? He wondered whether he could apply the industry analysis framework he had studied in his MBA program. Page 11 9B11M006 Exhibit 1 CHINA & LIUYANG FIRECRACKERS AND FIREWORKS: TOTAL REVENUE (US$000) 2007 2009 Total Revenue Domestic (estimated) All China 742,395 1,009,757 Liuyang 450,000 757,500 Total Revenue ExportsAll China 494,930 673,171 Liuyang 300,000 505,000 Total Revenue (estimated) All China 1,237,325 1,682,928 Liuyang 750,000 1,262,500 Sources: International Fireworks Association; ICON Group Ltd â€Å"The World Market for Fireworks: A 2009 Global Trade Perspective Notes: 1. Domestic Revenue estimate based on a 6:4 domestic to export ratio as reported by http://www. articlesbase. com. 2. Alternative sources put the Chinese domestic market much higher. 3. 2009 data and 2007 data are from different sources. Caution should be used when making comparisons.Growth rates of 15 to 18 per cent per year have been reported by other news sources (especially: http://www. newsreel network. com) Page 12 9B11M006 Exhibit 2 TOTAL FIREWORKS CONSUMPTION AND ESTIMATED FIREWORKS-RELATED INJURIES IN U. S. : 2000 TO 2008 Year Fireworks Consumption, Millions of Pounds Estimated Fireworks-Related Injuries Injuries per 100,000 Pounds 2000 152. 6 11,000 7. 2 2001 161. 6 9,500 5. 8 2002 190. 1 8,800 4. 6 2003 220. 8 9,700 4. 4 2004 236. 2 9,600 4. 1 2005 281. 5 10,800 3. 8 2006 278. 2 9,200 3. 3 2007 265. 5 9,800 3. 7 2008 213. 7,000 3. 3 Source: American Pyrotechnics Association. Exhibit 3 ESTIMATED EMERGENCY ROOM TREATMENT PER 100,000 YOUTHS (AGES 5 TO 14) FROM OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES (JUNE 22 TO JULY 22, 2008) Source: American Pyrotechnics Association As cited from the CPSC National Injury Information Clearinghouse 5,244 13,501 14,258 6,349 21,040 15,268 18,365 21,032 68,553 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 Fireworks Skateboards Fishing Swing Sets Swimming 4 wheel ATVs Sof tball Baseball Bicycles Page 13 9B11M006 Exhibit 4 FIREWORKS EXPORTS FROM CHIN A, 2009Country of Destination Rank Value (000 US$) % Share Cumulative % United States 1 301,500 44. 8 44. 8 Germany 2 83,553 12. 4 57. 2 United Kingdom 3 33,645 5. 0 62. 2 The Netherlands 4 32,586 4. 8 67. 0 Japan 5 26,764 4. 0 71. 0 Russia 6 16,157 2. 4 73. 4 Italy 7 15,967 2. 4 75. 8 France 8 13,574 2. 0 77. 8 Spain 9 13,009 1. 9 79. 7 Denmark 10 9,935 1. 5 81. 2 Canada 11 9,817 1. 5 82. 7 Poland 12 9,580 1. 4 84. 1 Taiwan 13 8,130 1. 2 85. 3 Finland 14 6,002 0. 9 86. 2 South Africa 15 5,623 0. 8 87. 0 Austria 16 5,488 0. 8 87. 8 Ukraine 17 5,445 0. 88. 7 Sweden 18 4,868 0. 7 89. 4 Albania 19 4,835 0. 7 90. 1 Argentina 20 4,793 0. 7 90. 8 Turkey 21 4,592 0. 7 91. 5 Belgium 22 4,583 0. 7 92. 2 Norway 23 4,336 0. 6 92. 8 Czech Republic 24 4,312 0. 6 93. 5 Venezuela 25 4,257 0. 6 94. 1 New Zealand 26 4,024 0. 6 94. 7 Switzerland 27 3,316 0. 5 95. 2 South Korea 28 3,104 0. 5 95. 6 Thailand 29 2,720 0. 4 96. 0 Indonesia 30 1,925 0. 3 96. 3 Other 31 24,731 3. 7 100. 0 Total 673,171 100. 00 100. 00 Source: Professor Philip M. Parker, INSEAD, copyright  © 2009, www. icongrouponline. com

The Significance of Language in Indigenous Culture essay

The Significance of Language in Indigenous Culture essay The Significance of Language in Indigenous Culture essay The Significance of Language in Indigenous Culture essayThe issue regarding the significance of language in various social movements has been widely discussed in both the academic literature and the media. The role of language in indigenous culture deserves special attention because language and culture are two interrelated things. Actually, the concept of culture refers to â€Å"knowledge, experience, meanings, beliefs, values, attitudes, and religions, concepts of self, the universe and self-universe, relationships, hierarchies of status, role expectations, spatial relations, and time concepts† collected and utilized by a particular group of people over many generations.1 In other words culture is reflected in various language patterns, influencing the process of communication. Indigenous culture involves a set of activities that are deeply rooted in the past. Besides, â€Å"indigenous culture affects the development of language,† promoting science knowledge and socia l growth.2 Because of the rapid decline in language diversity of indigenous people, there is the considerable decline in cultural diversity. Undoubtedly, these changes are caused by historical developments, such as imperialism and colonialism, intensive global economic development, and the growth of militarism. Besides, cultural beliefs affect the use of language by indigenous peoples. Thesis statement: Language plays an important role in indigenous culture as it is part of culture and cannot exist without culture.Analysis of the relationship between language and indigenous cultureThe relationship between language and indigenous culture has been analyzed in recent research. It has been found that â€Å"in Indigenous American beliefs we see that language is the embodiment of life, the spirit, providing sacred teachings within it and through it.†3 It is very important for Indigenous people to preserve their native language, promoting its spiritual effects and maintaining its cu ltural aspects.In many countries, Indigenous people fail to enjoy the basic indigenous rights, which are considered to be crucial in establishing a context for the proper autonomous development, contributing to the survival of indigenous culture. The right to use one’s own language forms the basis of effective social development. Since colonization, this right has been denied by the dominated nations. They considered that language could become â€Å"an obstacle to assimilation and national homogenization.†4Recent research, which was conducted in the form of observation, shows the ways in which language is embedded in culture, cultural heritage and social context of an indigenous community. Special attention in the informal observation was paid to the role of history and its impact on cultural heritage, including the impact of legends, music, songs, dancing, and various cultural practices, which highlight the role of social change on language. The participants brought t heir experiences of language and culture based on their own cultural heritage. The observation was focused on exploration of the experiences from different indigenous communities, which enabled the participants to take into consideration both basic denominators in the role of language and cultural relationship and the proper strategies aimed at addressing language and cultural revitalization. The observation was held in indigenous communities: Maya community in the U.S. and Ngarrindjeri community in Australia. It has been found that the preservation of indigenous language and culture contributes to each country’s history. The following responses to the set questions regarding the significant role of language in indigenous culture include:Participant 1: â€Å"For Indigenous people in the U.S., languages are linked to their culture, beliefs, values and spiritual identity. Indigenous language reflects the history of indigenous people.†Participant 2: â€Å"Over half of th e 250 Indigenous languages in Australia are no longer used. It is very important to preserve those languages that remain. Many of the existing indigenous languages are used only by Elders. This fact means these languages are facing extinction. The proper steps should be taken to record them.†Participant 3: â€Å"No efforts are made in the community to revive the oldest languages. We should encourage the younger generation to use indigenous languages.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, 90% of the participants support the idea of preserving indigenous language in order to maintain indigenous culture.   The informal observation provided much information that helps to analyze the relationship between language and indigenous culture.Some social problems that have negative impacton the role of language in indigenous culture  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are serious social problems that may have negative impact on the role of language in i ndigenous culture. In fact, â€Å"institutionalized racism toward Indigenous Americans has occurred both on and off reservations, in government and in Christian institutions.†5 In other word eradication of native languages may lead to eradication of indigenous cultures. The U.S. Indian Reservations have suffered considerably because of improper policies aimed at eradication of native languages. Many social problems, such as poverty, drug/alcohol abuse, high school dropout rates, unemployment, the spread of various diseases and other factors, had negative impact on the role of language in the development of indigenous culture.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major problem that affects the role of language in the development of indigenous culture is the culture of Christian Churches. It is known that some Christian Churches see language as the â€Å"threat to the culture of their churches.†6 Many Churches do not support the idea to allow indigenous people teach their language at schools. This conflict may lead to serious problems concerning the promotion of the identity of Indigenous communities.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nevertheless, many Indigenous people in the U.S. and Canada continue to teach their children native language, â€Å"the language of their grandparents and ancestors.†7 Researchers highlight the problems of eradication of native languages. In 1950s, indigenous children were forbidden to speak their native languages, such as Navajo language. If they made attempts to speak their native language, they were punished. As a matter of fact, â€Å"a policy† that forbade Native language use existed in Canada, the United States, including Guam, the U.S. territory in Micronesia.8 There are some positive outcomes of the implemented strategies that address the significance of indigenous language and lead to its revival.   Actually, â€Å"the Kaurna language once thrived and was spoken by the or iginal inhabitants of Adelaide, but it began to disappear from daily use in South Australia as early as the 1860s.†9 Today, this language is alive because indigenous people are allowed to use it in communication.Conclusion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Thus, it is necessary to conclude that language can be perceived as culture. Language plays a significant role in the development of Indigenous culture. This research points out to the fact that language can be used as a tool to preserve Indigenous cultures. For many Indigenous people, language is considered to be sacred. In other words, language cannot be separated from the culture it represents. It has been found that cross-cultural communication, effective cooperation, and mutual understanding can help Indigenous people to maintain their indigenous culture, language and identity. Diversity as one of the major concerns that requires using the proper strategies aimed at making a difference in this world.

Calculating How Many People Share Your Birthday

Calculating How Many People Share Your Birthday Birthdays are special days to each of us, but every so often we run into someone who shares our birthday. Its not an uncommon experience, but doesnt it make you wonder how many people do share your birthday? What Are the Odds? All things being equal, if your birthday is any day except February 29, the odds of you sharing your birthday with anyone should be approximately 1/365 in any population (0.274%). Since the world population as of this writing is estimated at 7 billion, you should share your birthday with over 19 million people around the world (19,178,082). If you are lucky enough to have been born on February 29, you should share your birthday with 1/1461 (because 366365365365 equals 1461) of the population (0.068%) and so worldwide, you should only share your birthday with a mere 4,791,239 people! Wait- I Should Share My Birthday? However, even though it would seem logical to think that the odds of being born on any given date are one in 365.25, birth rates arent driven by random forces. A lot of things affect when babies are born. In the American tradition, for example, a high percentage of marriages are scheduled for June: and so you might expect at least a small bubble of births to take place in February or March. Further, it seems likely that people conceive children when theyre rested and relaxed. Theres even an old urban legend, debunked by a Duke University study reported on the Snopes.com site, that claimed that nine months after the 1965 New York City blackout, there was a dramatic increase in babies born nine months later. That turns out not to have been true, but it is interesting that people would perceive it to be true. Show Me the Numbers! In 2006, The New York Times published a simple table titled How Common is Your Birthday? The table provided data compiled by Amitabh Chandra of Harvard University, on how often babies are born in the United States on each day from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. According to Chandras table, including birth records between 1973 and 1999, babies are far more likely to be born in the summers, followed by fall, and then spring and winter. Sept. 16 was the most popular birthday, and the top ten most popular birthdays all fall in September. Not surprisingly, February 29th was the 366th most common day to be born on. Not counting that rare day, the 10 least popular days reported by Chandra to be born on fall on holidays: the 4th of July, late November (26, 27, 28, and 30, near Thanksgiving) and over Christmas (Dec. 24, 25, 26) and New Years (Dec. 29, Jan. 1, 2, and 3). That would seem to suggest that mothers have some say in when babies are born. New Data In 2017, Matt Stiles writing in the Daily Viz reported new data from United States births between for 1994-2014. The data was compiled from U.S. health records by the FiveThirtyEight statistics site- the original report is no longer on FiveThirtyEight. According to that set of data, the least popular birthdays are still around the holidays: July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. That data shows that those holidays even beat out February 29th, only the 347th least common day to be born on, which is pretty remarkable, statistically speaking. The most popular days to be born in the United States in this latest set of statistics? The top ten days fall in September: except for one, July 7th. If you were born in September, you were likely conceived over the Christmas holidays. What Does Science Say? Since the 1990s, several scientific studies have shown that there are, in fact, overall seasonal differences in conception rates. Birth rates in the northern hemisphere typically peak between March and May and are at their lowest between October to December. But scientists also point out that those numbers vary widely according to the age, education, and socioeconomic status and marital status of the parents. In addition, the health of a mother affects fertility and conception rates. Environmental stress does too:  conception rates plummet in war-torn regions and during famines. During very hot summers, conception rates are often suppressed. Sources Bobak, Martin, and Arjan Gjonca. The Seasonality of Live Birth Is Strongly Influenced by Socio-Demographic Factors. Human Reproduction 16.7 (2001): 1512-17. Print.Bronson, F. H. Seasonal Variation in Human Reproduction: Environmental Factors. The Quarterly Review of Biology 70.2 (1995): 141-64. Print.Chandra, Amitabh. How Common Is Your Birthday? The New York Times December 19, 2006. Print.Mikkelson, David Blackout Baby Boom. Snopes.com. Published July 31, 2009.  Stiles, Matt. How Common is Your Birthday? This Visualization Might Surprise You. Daily Viz September 17, 2017.

The Queen Annes Revenge - Blackbeards Pirate Ship

The Queen Anne's Revenge - Blackbeard's Pirate Ship The Queen Annes Revenge was a massive pirate ship commanded by Edward Blackbeard Teach in 1717-18. Originally a French slaving vessel that Blackbeard captured and modified, it was one of the most formidable pirate ships ever, carrying 40 cannons and enough room for plenty of men and loot. The Queen Annes Revenge was capable of fighting off nearly any Navy warship afloat at the time. It sank in 1718, and many believe that Blackbeard scuttled it on purpose. The wreck has been found and has turned up a treasure trove of pirate artifacts. From Concorde to Queen Annes Revenge On November 17, 1717, Blackbeard captured La Concorde, a French slaving vessel. He realized that it would make a perfect pirate ship. It was large yet fast and big enough to mount 40 cannons on board. He renamed it Queen Annes Revenge: the name referred to Anne, Queen of England and Scotland (1665-1714). Many pirates, including Blackbeard, were Jacobites: this meant that they favored the return of the throne of Great Britain from the House of Hanover to the House of Stuart. It had changed hands after Annes death. The Ultimate Pirate Ship Blackbeard preferred to intimidate his victims into surrendering, as fights were costly. For several months in 1717-18, Blackbeard used the Queen Annes Revenge to effectively terrorize shipping in the Atlantic. Between the massive frigate and his own fearsome appearance and reputation, Blackbeards victims rarely put up a fight and handed over their cargoes peacefully.  He plundered the shipping lanes at will. He was even able to blockade the port of Charleston for a week in April of 1718, looting several ships. The town gave him a valuable chest full of medicines to make him go away. The Queen Annes Revenge Sinks In June of 1718, the Queen Annes Revenge hit a sandbar off of North Carolina and had to be abandoned. Blackbeard took the opportunity to make off with all of the loot and a select few of his favorite pirates, leaving the others (including hapless pirate Stede Bonnet) to fend for themselves. Because Blackbeard went legit (sort of) for a little while after that, many thought he scuttled his flagship on purpose. Within a few months, Blackbeard would return to piracy and on November 22, 1718, he was killed by pirate hunters in a pitched battle off of North Carolina. The Wreck of the Queen Anne’s Revenge In 1996, a shipwreck believed to be that of the Queen Annes Revenge was discovered off of North Carolina. For 15 years it was excavated and studied, and in 2011 it was confirmed to be Blackbeards ship. The shipwreck has yielded many interesting artifacts, including weapons, cannons, medical gear and a massive anchor. Juha Flinkman, SubZone OY / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons Many of the artifacts are on display at North Carolinas Maritime museum and can be viewed by the public. The opening of the exhibit drew record crowds, a testament to Blackbeards lasting reputation and popularity. Sources Cordingly, David. Under the Black Flag New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 1996Defoe, Daniel (Captain Charles Johnson). A General History of the Pyrates. Edited by Manuel Schonhorn. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1972/1999.Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: the Lyons Press, 2009Konstam, Angus. The Pirate Ship 1660-1730. New York: Osprey, 2003.

Minor in Entrepreneurship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Minor in Entrepreneurship - Assignment Example Here are some of the issues you need to understand when launching and building a new business: 1. Industry Characteristics 2. Competitive Rivalry 3. Influence of Suppliers 4. Substitute Products Most successful entrepreneurs develop an intimate knowledge of these factors by working in the industry in which they start their business. If they haven’t held a job in the industry they are serious and frequent product consumers. Personal experience in the industry provides excellent exposure to the products, services, suppliers, important contacts, competitors, strength and weaknesses of competitors, key customers, channels of distribution, and marketing strategies. In nearly every success story we have collected, extensive experience in the industry revealed the missing piece that led to the business opportunity. Successful entrepreneurs continue to experience their industry first hand after they launch their new venture. All organizations exist in geographical space; the center is the furthest away from customers; the boundary is the place where customers, products, and competitors all interface. Thriving business builders spend a great deal of time in the boundary of their organization rather than inside an office: they interact with customers, work with front-line employees, and study their competitors’ products and services. Living in the boundary provides personal and up-to-date information about new innovations, reactions from consumers, tactics of competitors, changing conditions, and new business opportunities. Abraham Lincoln, one of our greatest American presidents, is a superb example of â€Å"living in the boundary† in the political arena. According to Lincoln, the best way to assess an opportunity was to gather data personally. During his first few years in office, Lincoln spent more days out of the White House than he did in it. He inspected every state regiment that passed through Washington, D.C., he met with his generals in the field, he spent time with the troops in their encampments, he visited the wounded in hospitals, he spent many days in the telegraph office at the War Department to obtain real-time information, he studied new weaponry, and even took charge of several battles, coming under fire on more than one occasion. This approach gave Lincoln first-hand information for quick decisions and effective strategies without having to rely on second- or third-hand information from others (Donald Phillips, Lincoln on Leadership, New York: Warner Books, 1992). In like manner, successful entrepreneurs spend a considerable amount of time on the edge of their organization, rather than in the center. This gives them a broad and deep understanding of their industry and provides valuable information for decision making and strategic planning. By contrast, company founders who fail often create ideas in a vacuum, and then try to push them into unfamiliar territory. In this scenario, the learning curve is long an d steep, and the fragile venture quickly burns through the capital, passion, goodwill, and team members.

Macroeconomics- methods of Economic growth for Singapore and Hong Kong Essay

Macroeconomics- methods of Economic growth for Singapore and Hong Kong - Essay Example The prices of goods offered by the economy have determination in a free price system (McEachern, 2012). The nations should look for the products and services that people are interested and focus on building them. Today, large nations that control the world’s trade depend on market economy since it is where they control and participate in both exports and exports. Singapore and Hong Kong are some of the new nations that have come of age and adopting the market economy to not only increase their competitiveness but also give it an economic advantage. Additionally, taxation laws are another way both Hong Kong and Singapore can use to encourage economic growth. If the economies do not give enough tax, they will not be able to supply the infrastructure and services they need to keep existing businesses or attract new ones. Investment in infrastructure and human capital – safe and modern infrastructure guarantees investments in the country. Any country with a high number of investors leads to more exports from the country. Better investments, thus result in the growth of the economy of the nations (McEachern, 2012). The roads in Singapore and Hong Kong are of high quality thus offer quick and efficient transport system for the goods and services. Besides, improved infrastructures attract investors and reduce the cost of production. Availability of cheap electricity and enhanced road network is paramount to opening interior areas as they have potential when reach. Some of the newly industrialized nations managed to reach the stage because of the developed infrastructure. Similarly, availability of human capital is vital is any economy because it determines the input required towards higher production. For instance, any nation that wants to attract investors must ensure that it provides personnel that assist in the daily running of the institutions as well as firms that have been

Causes of Homophobia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Causes of Homophobia - Essay Example I hope this research will provide insights with regard to the underlying causes of homophobia. Why some people fear homosexuality and others not? The answer might seem straightforward at first and it is easy to put blame on the stereotypical gender roles produced by what Judith Butler called hegemonic heterosexual matrix. However, it is important to understand homophobic psyche without any bias so that underlying roots of their fears could be revealed. I think it is essential to grasp their views in order to assuage their homophobic fears, if such thing is possible. Why homosexuality arouses such a strong response and hatred in some people? What are they truly afraid of? This annotated bibliography aims to explore the explanatory frameworks for homophobic people’s reactions. It is very difficult to understand why some people hate gays to the extent that they wish them dead or even attempt to kill them. I would like to dig the deeper causes of their homophobic fears. Furthermor e, I also hope to find out if there is a gender differentiation with regard to homophobia and whether males are more prone to homophobia than females, and whether lesbianism is more acceptable than its male counterpart. This research also aims to examine the possible links between homosexuality and sexuality of homophobic people. I would like to know if their fears are related with their own sexuality and if it is linked with their own oedipal struggles. Adams, Henry A., Lester W. Wright and Bethany A. Lohr. â€Å"Is Homophobia Associated With Homosexual Arousal?† Journal of Abnormal Psychology 105, No. 3 (1996): 440-445. Henry Adams and his colleagues conduct a survey with the participation of a group of homophobic men and a group of non-homophobic men in order to investigate the role of homosexual arousal in homophobic people. They find a positive correlation and reveal that the group of homophobic men shows increased penile erection to male homosexual tapes. Their finding is consistent with the psychoanalytical theories which conceptualize homophobia as latent homosexuality. The article is very useful in a sense that it shows what homophobes are truly afraid of: their own homosexual tendencies. However, the research does not answer why they fear their own sexuality. Nevertheless, it is also not clear that why homophobes represses their homosexual tendencies while homosexuals don’t, it might be related with the gender matrix theory or with their deeper differences vis-a-vis the oedipal struggles. Bleich, David. â€Å"Homophobia and Sexism as Popular Values†. Feminist Teacher 4, no 2/3 (1989): 21-28 In his article, David Bleach argues that sexism is the oldest form of social domination and tries to prove Lerner's claim about the primordiality of sexism. He conducts a survey with the participation of 115 first -year students at Indiana University and examines their essays on homosexuality. He notes that almost %20 of the students (both men and women) gave utterly homophobic responses, including a passive participation in a gay-bashing incident, and they expressed their homophobic feelings under the cover of Christianity. Bleich also quotes the essays of his students who compared homosexuality with the apocalypse and approved that gays should be stoned or killed, or they just â€Å"don’t deserve to live†. Bleich also notes that there was one man in the class who is courageous enough to confess that every heterosexual young men in the class including

Law case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Law case study - Essay Example Once offer and acceptance are found to exist, the courts will then look to determine whether or not there is consideration. Consideration was defined by Lush LJ in the following terms: While Daniel offered to sell his guitar to Marina for the sum of 500 pounds, Marina did not accept the offer outright. Her offer was no more than a conditional acceptance, in that she would purchase the guitar if she could raise the sum offered. It is commonly felt that in order for the acceptance of an order to be legally binding it must follow the essential substance of the offer made.4 By saying what she could only purchase the guitar if she could raise the funds, Marina was no accepting the offer but merely indicating that she would if and when she had the necessary consideration. Therefore the offer and acceptance would not have been completed until such time as Marina communicated to Daniel a firm intention to purchase the guitar. Since this never happened there was no binding agreement between them. The fact that Daniel sold the guitar to a third party on Wednesday despite having promised Marina that he would not sell the guitar before Friday is of no consequence. There is nothing preventing Daniel withdrawing his offer at anytime before the prescribed period which was stated to Friday. Either party is at liberty to change their minds before the agreement is complete.5 In any event, Marina has a more onerous task establishing that the offer and acceptance goes beyond a mere gratuitous exchange of promises. These kinds of promises, in the absence of an executed deed of contract and/or consideration will not be enforced by the courts. In order to substantiate an effective claim against Anthea for breach of contract, Marina will have to show that there was some consideration.6 Consideration is defined by Patterson J as: Since Marina did not suffer a detriment pursuant to the offer made and withdrawn

Criminal justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 14

Criminal justice - Essay Example (socyberty.com/social-sciences 2011). Police presence in any situation, in most cases, is a crime prevention measure. While the police do fight crime, the media does not always depict the police in a realistic light. The police are shown as being in a position to sacrifice their lives to uphold and enforce the law; however, this label is real but an over-emphasized depiction. As police go through the day to day deed of fighting crime, the media does not report the ordinary times between events. (Dantzker, 2003). Events that occur without inflated incident will be less likely to be noted by the media due to lack of interest or drama involved on viewers. (socyberty.com/ 2011). Television plays an important role in the myths associated with police crime fighters. According to Dr. Podlas the overall pattern of television programs that viewers are exposed to cultivates a common perception of reality. (Podlas 2006). â€Å"The â€Å"reality† tends to mirror what viewers see on the TV screen.† He contends that people who watch a great deal of television will see the real world as a match to television. (Podlas 2006). The news media do, in fact, overdramatize crime. (C. Michael, 2009). Examples of over-dramatization are such things as racial and ethnic crimes. Television news stories about drugs show blacks 50 percent of the time and white 32 percent of the time. However, statistics show that only 15 percent of illegal drug users in the US are black and 70 percent are white. Newspapers also focus their attention to white crime victims even though most violent crimes are interracial. (C.Michael 2009). The media manipulates reports through misleading information or bias. They randomly select people to interview who support the reporter’s view. Also, vital information, such as history and background information, is purposely deleted from a crime story. (C.Michael, 2009).

Law case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Law case study - Essay Example Once offer and acceptance are found to exist, the courts will then look to determine whether or not there is consideration. Consideration was defined by Lush LJ in the following terms: While Daniel offered to sell his guitar to Marina for the sum of 500 pounds, Marina did not accept the offer outright. Her offer was no more than a conditional acceptance, in that she would purchase the guitar if she could raise the sum offered. It is commonly felt that in order for the acceptance of an order to be legally binding it must follow the essential substance of the offer made.4 By saying what she could only purchase the guitar if she could raise the funds, Marina was no accepting the offer but merely indicating that she would if and when she had the necessary consideration. Therefore the offer and acceptance would not have been completed until such time as Marina communicated to Daniel a firm intention to purchase the guitar. Since this never happened there was no binding agreement between them. The fact that Daniel sold the guitar to a third party on Wednesday despite having promised Marina that he would not sell the guitar before Friday is of no consequence. There is nothing preventing Daniel withdrawing his offer at anytime before the prescribed period which was stated to Friday. Either party is at liberty to change their minds before the agreement is complete.5 In any event, Marina has a more onerous task establishing that the offer and acceptance goes beyond a mere gratuitous exchange of promises. These kinds of promises, in the absence of an executed deed of contract and/or consideration will not be enforced by the courts. In order to substantiate an effective claim against Anthea for breach of contract, Marina will have to show that there was some consideration.6 Consideration is defined by Patterson J as: Since Marina did not suffer a detriment pursuant to the offer made and withdrawn

Contract law course work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Contract law course work - Essay Example given in webster’s Third New International Dictionary, which can be applicable is â€Å"a public administrative agency or corporation having quasi-governmental powers and authorized to administer a revenue – producing public enterprise†. This dictionary meaning of the word â€Å"authority† is clearly wide enough to include all bodies created by statute on which powers are conferred to carry out governmental or quasi governmental functions. But Sec-6(3) is a bit ambiguous on this point. According to the text of the judgment in the House of Lords case ‘YL v Birmingham City Council [2007] UKHL 27’ â€Å" Section 6(3)(b) extends the definition of public authority to cover bodies which are not public authorities but certain of whose functions are of a public nature, and it is therefore likely to include bodies which are not amenable to judicial review. Section 6(1) of the Act said that â€Å"it [was] unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which [was] incompatible with †¦Ã¢â‚¬  any of these rights. The section did not contain any comprehensive definition of â€Å"public authority† but subsection (3)(b) said that a â€Å"public authority† included â€Å"any person certain of whose functions are functions of a public nature†. However subsection (5) said that: The effect of all this is that an act (or an omission) of a private person or company that is incompatible with a Convention right is not unlawful under the 1998 Act (it may, of course, be unlawful under ordinary domestic law) unless the person or company has at least some â€Å"functions of a public nature†; but even if that condition is satisfied the private person or company will not have any liability under the 1998 Act if the nature of the act complained of was private. The argument is based on the alleged similarity of the nature of the function carried on by a local authority in running its own care home and that of a private person running a privately owned care home proves too much. If every contracting

Position paper Essay Example for Free

Position paper Essay For my own opinion, Why is it important economics in my life, Economics is about freedom as well in our economy, youre free to do what you want economically speaking because the market itself will decide what to produce and how to produce. In order to do what you want lets say, to buy what you want at the quantity you want you have to have the money. So another factor of economics that affects your everyday life is the distribution of the total income. Example Let’s say your income. Your income is not unlimited. With that limited income, you want to buy a lot of things. You have to choose what product to buy, at which price and how much quantity. Now let’s say that you have 200pesos last in your pocket. With that money you can either buy a ticket for a movie or buy food and drinks and watch the TV-show. What you do is what gives you more pleasure or as we say what maximize your utility. You make an economic choice. Economics basically the study of scarcity of resources and their allocation in society Everyday life is a never ending competition for scarce resources. For example: for me I need to earn money a scarce resource for which you provide labor another scarce resource so you can afford to purchase all the things you need in order to live gas, car, home, food, clothing, all scarce resources at the lowest price you can find. Also economics is about your income itself. The level of your income depends on the overall status of the economy. In my own example, if we have a recession, then the income for most of us will be less. If we have growth then the income will rise. If we have growth then I would have a job. If we have recession, then I might be unemployed. As you can see economics affects almost everything. And also it is important for me to embark the study of economics due to its strong relation in our daily lives. Economics help students to understand more about the modern world in making the decision for the future. It also helps us to understand the problems caused by the limited resources and helps students, as consumers to make rational choices when making decisions. Besides that, students are able to understand the function and role of banks and financial institutions, more over able to understand the information related to the economics. One of the most basic concepts in our daily life is wants/needs. Basically every human has different needs and wants. It is impossible to please every need and wants due to the limited resource or known as scarce. Scarcity is as well another basic concept of economics known as the limited resource of unlimited wants due to the incapability to provide one’s need they desired for. University Of Mindanao Roxas Extension, Digos City Position Paper Eco 1 Submitted By : Ken Joy B. Pugoy Submitted To : Adrian Raphael C. Aballe October 16, 2013

The Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church The Roman Catholic Church is ruled by the Pope in Vatican City, Rome. He rules over all Catholic Churches in the world and many Catholics make it their life-long dream to visit Vatican City one day and to attend Mass with the Pope. The origin of this Christian denomination leads all the way back to apostolic times. The rituals that the Roman Catholic Church has are very similar to Christian rituals which include baptism and confirmation. Most Catholics who attend the Roman Catholic Church follow and obey the Bible and the way in which their church interprets it. The Roman Catholic Church is very similar but also very different in certain areas to Protestant beliefs but overall it is up to personal opinion as to what religion an individual will follow and how they will act upon it. Rituals that the Roman Catholic Church follows are baptism, first communion, confirmation, marriage, the last rites and becoming a priest or a nun. Baptism is where the baby is taken to the front of the church to be sprinkled or poured over with water while a bible passage from Matthew 28:19 is being read. This is to show everyone that the baby and his or her family confess their faith in Jesus and will continue to in future life. Many families like to dress their child in a gown that becomes a keepsake for later life. First communion is a persons first reception of the sacrament of the Eucharist (central focuses of the Catholic Church). Confirmation shows that the child is still practicing their faith and will continue on from then on. It is usually required that the child be baptised before they can be confirmed to continue practicing their beliefs. Marriage is a sign between a man and woman who are mutually in love to God that they have eternal love. Divorce is not recognised in t his religion but annulments may be granted. The last rite is also known as Anointing of the Sick. This is where a seriously ill person is given three sacraments; Penance, Eucharist and Viaticum. The last ritual is becoming a nun or priest. This is where the person takes vows to commit him or her to a spiritual life. It also means that they must follow and live their life praying and if a woman, must also live in a monastery or convent. The Roman Catholic Church has many beliefs, some of which are common to the Protestant but some are totally different and may not be accepted by either belief system. Examples of characteristics that are similar: both religions believe in the Holy Spirit and good people go to heaven. There are very little similarities because of the fact that they may agree on one issue but the underlying way that the conclusion was made are different from each other. Both religions believe that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son. This is one common belief that both belief systems hold. The idea that good people go to heaven can be debated as being a difference between the two because of the fact as to how believers go to heaven. The Roman Catholic Church believes that those who go to heaven have been following all their life and have not done any wrong in life will be allowed to heaven. Protestants believe that if you have shown your faith to God and shown that you give your l ife to him, you will be saved and brought up to heaven and have a life with God. These are just the similarities between these two religions, there many more differences which is what sets these two beliefs apart from each other What sets the Catholics apart from the Protestants are the beliefs in the areas of free will, predestination, the interpretation of the Bible, marriage and divorce and the significance of Eucharist. Free will is the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies. For the Catholics this statement is good for them as they are free to do good or evil. But for Protestants, this is not the case. They are only free to do good things. Predestination is being determined in advance where God chooses what will happen to you in life and what happens to you in the after-life. Catholics believe that your predestination is based on Gods foreknowledge of you and your actions while Protestants believe that your predestination is related to Gods decrees. The interpretation of the Bible is different as the Catholic interpretation includes apocrypha which are books of the Bible that are added in to the Old Testament. While Protestants omit these 14 books of the Bible. These are just a few differences between the Protestants and the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church. Marriage is accepted in both religions and shows the unity of two people and shows their beliefs and sacrifices for God. Divorce on the other hand, is accepted by Protestants but discouraged and is accepted as evidence of human weakness. While with Catholics, divorce is looked down upon unless there is some canonical obstruction in which an annulment may be granted in this situation. Eucharist is the sacrament of the Holy Communion. These two religions have different opinions as to this issue. To the Roman Catholics, the Eucharist is known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This is opposed to the Protestants, who believe that along with Baptism, The Eucharist is a symbol of grace and that is it. The sacrificial nature of The Eucharist is also rejected. In conclusion, the Roman Catholic Church is another religion that people believe in and is ruled by the Pope. It is all up to personal opinion as to what an individual believes in and how they act upon it. Protestants have very different beliefs to Catholics but they all look up to the same person; God. No one can judge you on your religion and actions. These beliefs and actions just determine your future in some peoples opinions but it is all up to personal opinion and personal views.

Feminism Essay -- essays research papers

Feminism Feminism is the belief that women should have economic political and social equality with men. This term also refers to a political movement that works to gain equality within a male and female relationship. In a male and female relationship both the roles of the male and female should be equal. Equal in many ways ten one: they should trust each other, share responsibilities, listen to one another, respect each other, and of course love one another equally. This type of relationship is not found now a days because of the many traditions which imply that women are inferior to men. They also imply that women should stay home all day watching soap operas, taking care of the children, and making the food for their tired husbands coming home from a long day of work. Many cultures think this is how a family should be. In other cultures the woman is thought to be so inferior to the man that the woman can not even go outside of the house without having her face covered with some type of cloth so another man (other then the husband) will be able to see the woman’s beautiful face. Some people were brought up to think that the woman is inferior to the man whether it be from the traditions in the culture to the many sitcoms people watch everyday or even years ago. Some of these normal sitcoms show the wife watching TV and eating junk food all day and when the husband comes home from a hard day of work and the wife nags the husband’s ear off (Married With Children). Even tho...

Trade Secrets

Case study LG Display workers charged with stealing Samsung OLED  secrets Executive summary This report is related to confidentiality argument for the protection of trade secrets. The report investigates the conflict between Samsung and LG. Samsung claims that LG stole its display technology and blame its own Samsung employees. Samsung accused eleven people, including six of its own employees of stealing its trade secrets and it claims that LG has stole its display technology. IntroductionTrade secrets are any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge. Trade secrets can be manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. It can be in form of ingredients/chemical composition of a product or the details of a manufacturing process. Trade secrets are the information that is kept secret by the companies to give them an advantage over their competitors. History and background Samsung Group is a  South Korean  multinational   compan y.It was founded by  Lee Byung-chull  in 1938 as a trading company. Its headquarter is in Samsung Town,  Seoul Korea. It comprises numerous subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, most of them united under the  Samsung  brand, and are the largest South Korean  company. It is worldwide famous brand. According to the founder of Samsung Group, the meaning of the  word  Samsung is â€Å"tristar† or â€Å"three stars†. The word â€Å"three† represents something â€Å"big, numerous and powerful†; the â€Å"stars† mean  eternity. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s. You can read also Thin Film Solar CellIn 1938,  Lee Byung-chull  who belongs to large landowning family founded  Samsung Sanghoe, a small trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong. It dealt in groceries produced in and around the city and produced its own noodles. After that Lee started sugar refinery and woolen mill. It was the largest ever in the country and the company took on the aspect of a major company. In 1948, the Hyosung group’s founder joined Samsung group and invested in a new company called Samsung Mulsan Gongsa or the Samsung Trading Corporation, ith the Samsung Group. The trading firm grew to become the present-day Samsung C&T Corporation. But after some years these two companies Samsung and Hyosung separated due to differences in management between them. In the late 1960s, Samsung Group entered into the electronics industry. It formed several electronics-related divisions, such as Samsung Electronics Devices Co. , Samsung Electro-Mechanics C o. , Samsung Corning Co. , and Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications Co. , and made the facility in  Suwon which lies about 30 km south of Seoul.Its first electronic product was a black-and-white television set. In 1980, Samsung entered the telecommunications hardware industry. Its early products were switchboards. Then it started to developed the telephone and fax manufacturing systems and became the centre of Samsung's mobile phone manufacturing which is one of the top mobile company in the world now. They have produced over 800 million mobile phones till now. Samsung diversified into many areas established Samsung as an industry  leader in a wide range of enterprises, moving into businesses such as insurance, securities, and retail..Samsung started to rise as an international corporation in the 1990s. Samsung became the largest producer of memory chips in the world in 1992, and is the world's second-largest chipmaker after  Intel. In 1995, it created its first  liqui d-crystal display  screen. Ten years later, Samsung grew to be the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display panels. Sony, which had not invested in large-size  TFT-LCDs, contacted Samsung to cooperate, and, in 2006,  S-LCD  was established as a joint venture between Samsung and Sony in order to provide a stable supply of LCD panels for both manufacturers.S-LCD  was owned by Samsung 51% share and Sony 49% share. As on 26 December 2011 it was announced that Samsung had acquired the stake of Sony in this joint venture. In the first quarter of 2012, Samsung Electronics became the  world's largest mobile phone maker  by unit sales, overtaking  Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1998. LG Corporation  is a South Korean  multinational  conglomerate corporation formed by Koo In-Hwoi in 1947. It is the fourth-largest company South Korea, after Samsung Group, Hyundai Motors Group and SK group.Its headquarters are situated in the LG Twin Towers bui lding in Seoul. LG is specialized in making  electronics, chemicals, and telecom products. The LG Group was a merger of two Korean companies, Lucky and GoldStar, from which the abbreviation of  LG  was derived. The current â€Å"Life's Good† slogan is a backronym. Before the corporate name change to  LG, household products were sold under the brand name ofLucky, while electronic products were sold under the brand name of  GoldStar  . In January 2009 LG was able to buy the domain nameLG. om, for a price reportedly to be more than $100 million, placing it among the companies who own their two letter brand's domain name. [7] In 1994 GoldStar gained sponsorship from The 3DO Company to make the first 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. In 1995, GoldStar was renamed LG Electronics, and acquired Zenith Electronics of the United States. LG Solar Energy is a subsidiary formed in 2007 to allow  LG Chem  to supply polysilicon to LG Electronics for production of solar cells. In 2008, LG took its first dive into the solar-panel manufacturing pool, as it announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy.Under the deal, set to be completed by year's end, LG would acquire a 75 percent stake in Conergy's Frankfurt solar-panel plant. LG has produced camcorders called ARTCAM and DSLRs. LG Electronics has about 75 subsidiaries worldwide with around 91,045 employees. LG Electronics owns  Zenith (subsidiary)  and controls 37. 9 percent of  LG Display. LG Electronics' products includes computers, television, mobie phones, home appliances and semiconductors like DRAM, SDRAM and flash memory. LG Electronics introduced their first  Internet TV  in 2007, originally branded as â€Å"NetCast Entertainment Access† devices.They later renamed the 2011 Internet TV's to â€Å"LG  Smart TV† when more  interactive television  features were added, that enables the audience to receive information from the Internet while at the same time watching conventional TV programming. include  computers,  televisions,  mobilephones,  home appliances  and  semiconductors  (DRAM,  SDRAM  andflash mem a http://bgr. com/2012/07/17/lg-display-samsung-oled-technology-theft/ http://www. samsung. com/uk/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/history06. html Trade Secrets Case study LG Display workers charged with stealing Samsung OLED  secrets Executive summary This report is related to confidentiality argument for the protection of trade secrets. The report investigates the conflict between Samsung and LG. Samsung claims that LG stole its display technology and blame its own Samsung employees. Samsung accused eleven people, including six of its own employees of stealing its trade secrets and it claims that LG has stole its display technology. IntroductionTrade secrets are any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge. Trade secrets can be manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. It can be in form of ingredients/chemical composition of a product or the details of a manufacturing process. Trade secrets are the information that is kept secret by the companies to give them an advantage over their competitors. History and background Samsung Group is a  South Korean  multinational   compan y.It was founded by  Lee Byung-chull  in 1938 as a trading company. Its headquarter is in Samsung Town,  Seoul Korea. It comprises numerous subsidiaries and affiliated businesses, most of them united under the  Samsung  brand, and are the largest South Korean  company. It is worldwide famous brand. According to the founder of Samsung Group, the meaning of the  word  Samsung is â€Å"tristar† or â€Å"three stars†. The word â€Å"three† represents something â€Å"big, numerous and powerful†; the â€Å"stars† mean  eternity. Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s. You can read also Thin Film Solar CellIn 1938,  Lee Byung-chull  who belongs to large landowning family founded  Samsung Sanghoe, a small trading company with forty employees located in Su-dong. It dealt in groceries produced in and around the city and produced its own noodles. After that Lee started sugar refinery and woolen mill. It was the largest ever in the country and the company took on the aspect of a major company. In 1948, the Hyosung group’s founder joined Samsung group and invested in a new company called Samsung Mulsan Gongsa or the Samsung Trading Corporation, ith the Samsung Group. The trading firm grew to become the present-day Samsung C&T Corporation. But after some years these two companies Samsung and Hyosung separated due to differences in management between them. In the late 1960s, Samsung Group entered into the electronics industry. It formed several electronics-related divisions, such as Samsung Electronics Devices Co. , Samsung Electro-Mechanics C o. , Samsung Corning Co. , and Samsung Semiconductor & Telecommunications Co. , and made the facility in  Suwon which lies about 30 km south of Seoul.Its first electronic product was a black-and-white television set. In 1980, Samsung entered the telecommunications hardware industry. Its early products were switchboards. Then it started to developed the telephone and fax manufacturing systems and became the centre of Samsung's mobile phone manufacturing which is one of the top mobile company in the world now. They have produced over 800 million mobile phones till now. Samsung diversified into many areas established Samsung as an industry  leader in a wide range of enterprises, moving into businesses such as insurance, securities, and retail..Samsung started to rise as an international corporation in the 1990s. Samsung became the largest producer of memory chips in the world in 1992, and is the world's second-largest chipmaker after  Intel. In 1995, it created its first  liqui d-crystal display  screen. Ten years later, Samsung grew to be the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-crystal display panels. Sony, which had not invested in large-size  TFT-LCDs, contacted Samsung to cooperate, and, in 2006,  S-LCD  was established as a joint venture between Samsung and Sony in order to provide a stable supply of LCD panels for both manufacturers.S-LCD  was owned by Samsung 51% share and Sony 49% share. As on 26 December 2011 it was announced that Samsung had acquired the stake of Sony in this joint venture. In the first quarter of 2012, Samsung Electronics became the  world's largest mobile phone maker  by unit sales, overtaking  Nokia, which had been the market leader since 1998. LG Corporation  is a South Korean  multinational  conglomerate corporation formed by Koo In-Hwoi in 1947. It is the fourth-largest company South Korea, after Samsung Group, Hyundai Motors Group and SK group.Its headquarters are situated in the LG Twin Towers bui lding in Seoul. LG is specialized in making  electronics, chemicals, and telecom products. The LG Group was a merger of two Korean companies, Lucky and GoldStar, from which the abbreviation of  LG  was derived. The current â€Å"Life's Good† slogan is a backronym. Before the corporate name change to  LG, household products were sold under the brand name ofLucky, while electronic products were sold under the brand name of  GoldStar  . In January 2009 LG was able to buy the domain nameLG. om, for a price reportedly to be more than $100 million, placing it among the companies who own their two letter brand's domain name. [7] In 1994 GoldStar gained sponsorship from The 3DO Company to make the first 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. In 1995, GoldStar was renamed LG Electronics, and acquired Zenith Electronics of the United States. LG Solar Energy is a subsidiary formed in 2007 to allow  LG Chem  to supply polysilicon to LG Electronics for production of solar cells. In 2008, LG took its first dive into the solar-panel manufacturing pool, as it announced a preliminary deal to form a joint venture with Conergy.Under the deal, set to be completed by year's end, LG would acquire a 75 percent stake in Conergy's Frankfurt solar-panel plant. LG has produced camcorders called ARTCAM and DSLRs. LG Electronics has about 75 subsidiaries worldwide with around 91,045 employees. LG Electronics owns  Zenith (subsidiary)  and controls 37. 9 percent of  LG Display. LG Electronics' products includes computers, television, mobie phones, home appliances and semiconductors like DRAM, SDRAM and flash memory. LG Electronics introduced their first  Internet TV  in 2007, originally branded as â€Å"NetCast Entertainment Access† devices.They later renamed the 2011 Internet TV's to â€Å"LG  Smart TV† when more  interactive television  features were added, that enables the audience to receive information from the Internet while at the same time watching conventional TV programming. include  computers,  televisions,  mobilephones,  home appliances  and  semiconductors  (DRAM,  SDRAM  andflash mem a http://bgr. com/2012/07/17/lg-display-samsung-oled-technology-theft/ http://www. samsung. com/uk/aboutsamsung/corporateprofile/history06. html