Thursday, November 28, 2019

10 Smart Ways to Market Your Freelance Writing Biz

No matter what season it is or whether theres a holiday coming up, as a freelance writer, you want to make sure that when you step away from the computer, youll still have a presence online. What do I mean by this? Well, for starters, you dont want people to all of a sudden forget about you. Do you want to be the freelance writer who  takes the entire summer off without touching their laptop, updating a social media profile, writing a blog post or connecting with their email subscribers? I hope not. Because if you are, then making a living writing is going to be tough for you. Youre going to have hustle hard, pitch constantly and work your little tail off   to find work once you get back from vacation or finally get your motivation back. But, you know what? There are some easy ways to make your presence felt online every day – whether youre taking the weekend off to go camping or youre super swamped with a huge project that leaves you with  no time to be online. And no, Im not going to tell you that you have to guest post or develop a pitching process or even solidify your brand to stay current and on the radar of prospects. No. the best way to have the illusion of always being online is to have an effective marketing strategy. Eww.. I know. For a lot of us, marketing is an icky word. I mean, were writers, not sales people. Well, my friend, Im sorry to tell you, but if you truly want to be a successful freelance writer – you know the one that can work wherever they want, with whomever they want and whenever they want – youre going to have to make marketing your new BFF. Think of Marketing as a Way to Connect When I think of marketing my services, I sort of think its my way of connecting with others. Its like I have a business card and whenever I see someone online, I hand them my business card. We connect and over time we nurture a relationship. So, even if you pooh-pooh marketing and think its not for you, there are some easy – and smart – ways to market your freelance writing biz. Some of these marketing strategies may take more time than others, while some of these might mean you have to step out of your comfort zone  to see any results. I created a video about these tips if you like watching instead of reading! And I would LOVE it if you subscribed to my YouTube channel! 1. Use an Email Signature One things for sure – when youre a freelance writer youre going to be doing a lot of emailing. I get almost 100 emails a day during the week. Thats freakin a lot! Not all of them are inquiries, but many of them can be potential leads for writing work or to take my course. And an easy way to promote your services is to create an email signature. Heres what mine looks like: Its nothing fancy, but I have all the necessary links and contact information I want to share. For your email signature you can even include things like: A phone number to reach you Your Skype address Your lead magnet or opt-in freebie Your headshot 2. Have Different Places to House Your Portfolio The online world is big and vast so you want to inhabit as much of it as you can  online. And for freelance writers, this means having different places to house  your portfolio. If youre not sure what I mean, a portfolio showcases your work as a writer. Typically, its the best pieces you want to show and its pieces in your niche. There are many different places to have a portfolio, like on your website, on your LinkedIn profile or on a portfolio site like Contently. I say, use all of them! For the longest time I only had my portfolio on my website, but once I started my LinkedIn profile I slowly started updating my resume with all my new client work. I recently also started housing my portfolio on Contently. Whats nice about Contently is that once you upload your samples (you can even upload PDFs) it tracks the social media shares giving prospects a bit of a metric on how engaging your writing is. One other place you can house your portfolio is on Pinterest. I recently removed mine since Im currently sharing my Pinterest profile with two blogs, but a lot of freelance writers are now using Pinterest to market their services. For example, heres Carrie Smiths (from Careful Cents) writing portfolio on Pinterest. The goal is to expose  your work to as many different potential clients as possible. So using platforms like LinkedIn, Contently and Pinterest just helps you reach more people. And the great thing? They are all free to use 🙂 3. Start a Blog I know. Ive been preaching this for ever now – especially to new freelance writers – but having your own blog is one of the best ways to stay current and in the eyes of potential clients. Oh, and its a great way to acquire business. Posting content in your niche shows prospects you know your stuff. For example, I have a blog, Twins Mommy, where I share tips to help moms make money. I get inquiries on this blog for freelance writing. Or, you can use your freelance writing site to  blog about topics you want to get paid to write. This is what a course participant, Heather, did on her freelance writing site. Shes a tech freelance writer and her blog shows her expert knowledge in this industry. This is a built-in way  to always have samples available in your niche. Or, you can go another route like what I did. I just started a blog about freelance writing and blogging. And while its not entirely in my digital marketing niche, it does show how engaging my writing is in terms of capturing visitors and converting them into subscribers (which is what a lot of my clients want my writing to do for them). So no matter what you really blog about, if its highly engaging, well-written, formatted correctly and you promote it strategically on social media, prospects will find you. If you need help setting up your blog for your business, check out my easy tech-free tutorial! It includes a video also! 4. Say Youre For Hire In Your Author Bio One neat trick I started doing early on was saying I was for hire in my author bio. This immediately tells potential clients that Im available and its just a great marketing strategy when youre guest posting. For example, heres my author bio for my guest posts over on Tweak Your Biz. Its not necessary for every author bio, but its best to place for hire on those guest posts that your target clients read. 5. Stay In Your Niche Ahh, your niche. For many new freelance writers this can be a challenging thing to solidify. Once you choose your niche, theres no law saying that you have to stay with that niche. Take the time to discover what you really like to write about and whether or not you can make a living from it. I started with parenting and natural health as my niches, but quickly learned I couldnt really make a profit from writing in those industries. It wasnt until later I started reading about how to market my services that I loved all things about digital marketing. So, once you find your groove and a niche that you love writing in, stay with it. Start to build your portfolio in that niche. Im working on building my digital marketing niche portfolio. For the longest time I either was ghostwriting in this niche or providing content to sites that havent been created yet. Its just recently that I picked up some awesome clients in email marketing and digital marketing. Now, Im able to build my digital marketing portfolio  and am finding that the inquiries that come my way are all in that niche. So, aside from building your authority in your niche, its a great marketing strategy since prospects who are looking for writers will quickly find you (based on your niche). 6. Be Associated With Other Freelance Writers In one of my recent posts I mentioned that a secret to being a well-paid freelance writer is not what you know, its WHO you know. And being associated with other certain freelance writers can help you land a gig. How do I know this? One of my course participants landed a writing gig over on Blogging Wizard (one of my clients). And she was able to do that because she took my course, which, for the client, meant I vouched for her – by proxy. BOOM! 7. Hobnob with Influencers One of the great things about social media is that you can connect with absolutely anyone, even if they are famous or an influencer. And its super easy to. You know how I do it? By commenting on their blogs. Heres my comment on QuickSprout – one of Neil Patels blogs and his response. Then this lead to my reaching out to him on LinkedIn where we messaged each other and eventually I asked him if he would want to contribute to an upcoming Huffington Post of mine. He said sure. Fo realz. Its that easy. So, go ahead and follow influencers in your industry or the blogging industry in general, comment on their blog posts and connect with them! They may hire you or ask you to guest post so get out that and e-meet everyone 🙂 8. Pin Your Ad on Social Media Another thing you can do to market your freelance writing biz is just to pin it on Twitter or Facebook. This means it stays at the top of your feed so that more people wont miss this important information. You can pin a testimonial like I did: @MaraniMichael Thanks for that testimonial! Elna Cain (@ecainwrites) January 23, 2016 Social proof is a big indicator that other people like your services and writing. This can help prospects realize quicker that you would be a good fit for their business. You can also just pin a little ad of your services and site. This is what Lorraine Reguly of Wording Well did: Learn about Wording Well: Freelance #Writing, #Editing, Author Consulting https://t.co/ckplN2n3sJ via @lorrainereguly Lorraine Reguly (@lorrainereguly) March 19, 2016 9. Comment on Blogs You Want to Write For Yes, its that easy. Go to blogs you admire or want to write for and start commenting on their posts. Most blog owners read their comments and will respond to them. This is how I landed my gig over on Blogging Wizard. I left a no-fluff comment and Adam responded back to me. We made a connection. From there I probably shared his content and he took a look at my site and my blog. Heres my Hire Me page and how I send people to my blog: From there he contacted me and he ended up hiring me. 10. Tell A Fellow Freelance Writer You Have a Spot Open Finally, one way to market your biz is to just let another freelance writer know you have a spot open on your content schedule. A lot of established freelance writers often have more work than they can handle. And we are always open to handing work off to other writers who ask. By telling others you need work, work will eventually find its way to you. Its happened to me numerous times and it will happen to you.   What Are You Waiting For? Being a freelance writer is more than knowing how to write. Its being a savvy marketer. But, you dont have to have years of sales experience to promote your services. You just need to know how to do it the smart way. These ten ways will totally help you get the word out that you are a freelance writer looking for work. Over to you – which marketing strategy are you going to try out first? If youre ready to really earn a living from writing, you can get your step-by-step profitable freelance writing blueprint by joining Write Your Way to Your First $1k.   It walks you through the exact action steps you need to take to land clients, tweak your website to increase conversions and get paid to write.

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Definition and Examples of Narratio in Rhetoric

Definition and Examples of Narratio in Rhetoric In classical rhetoric, narratio is the part of an argument in which a speaker or writer provides a narrative account of what has happened and explains the nature of the case. Also called narration. Narratio was one of the classical rhetorical exercises known as the progymnasmata. Quintilian believed that narratio should be the first exercise introduced by the teacher of rhetoric. Instead of conveying knowledge, says Franklin Ankersmit, the historical narratio is essentially a proposal to look at the past from a certain point of view. (See Narratio in Historiography in Examples and Observations, below.) Examples and Observations The narratio follows the exordium and gives background information. It relates events that have occurred which provide the occasion for the speech. A narrative based on the persons should present a lively style and diverse traits of character and have three qualities: brevity, clarity, and plausibility.(John Carlson Stube, A Graeco-Roman Rhetorical Reading of the Farewell Discourse. TT Clark, 2006)[I]n a piece of deliberative rhetoric, narratio is only supposed to include the facts that are germane to the presentation the speaker wants to make to his audience, not saying more than the case demands [Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, 4.2.43].(Ben Witherington, III, Grace In Galatia. TT Clark, 2004)Cicero on the NarratioAs to the rule which exacts brevity from the narration, if brevity be understood to mean no superfluous word, then the orations of L. Crassus are brief; but if by brevity be meant such stringency of language as allows not one word more than is absolutely necessary to conv ey the bare meaningthis, though occasionally useful, would often be extremely hurtful, especially to the narration, not only by causing obscurity, but by doing away with that gentle persuasiveness and insinuation which constitute its chief excellence. . .The same perspicuity ought to distinguish the narration as the rest of the speech, and is all the more imperatively demanded there, because less easily attained than in the exordium, confirmation, refutation, or peroration; and also because this part of the discourse is much more imperiled by the slightest obscurity than any other, elsewhere this defect does not extend beyond itself, but a misty and confused narration casts its dark shadow over the whole discourse; and if anything be not very clearly expressed in any other portion of the address, it can be restated in plainer terms elsewhere; but the narration is confined to one place, and cannot be repeated. The great end of perspicuity will be attained if the narration be given in ordinary language, and the occurrences related in regular and uninterrupted succession.(Cicero, De Oratore, 55 BC) Colin Powells Report to the U.N. on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq (2003)Saddam Hussein is determined to get his hands on a nuclear bomb. He is so determined that he has made repeated covert attempts to acquire high-specification aluminum tubes from 11 different countries, even after inspections resumed. These tubes are controlled by the Nuclear Suppliers Group precisely because they can be used as centrifuges for enriching uranium. . .Most U.S. experts think they are intended to serve as rotors in centrifuges used to enrich uranium. Other experts and the Iraqis themselves argue that they are really to produce the rocket bodies for a conventional weapon, a multiple rocket launcher.I am no expert on centrifuge tubes, but just as an old Army trooper, I can tell you a couple of things: First, it strikes me as quite odd that these tubes are manufactured to a tolerance that far exceeds U.S. requirements for comparable rockets. Maybe Iraqis just manufacture their conventional weapons to a higher standard than we do, but I dont think so.Second, we actually have examined tubes from several different batches that were seized clandestinely before they reached Baghdad. What we notice in these different batches is a progression to higher and higher levels of specification, including, in the latest batch, an anodized coating on extremely smooth inner and outer surfaces. Why would they continue refining the specifications, go to all that trouble for something that, if it was a rocket, would soon be blown into shrapnel when it went off?(Secretary of State Colin Powell, address to the U.N. Security Council, Feb. 5, 2003) Narratio in HistoriographyEach attempt to define (part of) historical reality may satisfy some historians but never all of them. In other words, the link between languagei.e. the narratioand reality can never be fixed in a way acceptable to all historians, thus becoming the knowledge of a generalized knowing subject. The fact that debate and discussion have a much more prominent place in historiography [which] in other disciplines and that historiographical debate rarely, if ever, results in conceptions shared once and for all by all historians should not be seen as a sad deficiency of historiography that has to be remedied, but as a necessary consequence of the linguistic instruments used by historians.(Franklin Ankersmit, The Use of Language in the Writing of History. Working With Language: A Multidisciplinary Consideration of Language Use in Work Contexts. Walter de Gruyter, 1989)

Sunday, November 24, 2019

5 Things to Say to Your Boss if You Want to be Successful

5 Things to Say to Your Boss if You Want to be Successful Are you super professional and a little bit frightened of screwing up in front of your boss? That’s totally natural. But being meek and respectful and never challenging your employer can sometimes  backfire. Some bosses prefer input and feedback from their employees. Make sure you’re giving it! Here are 5 things you should start incorporating into your interactions with your boss to form a more constructive relationship for the two of you.1. â€Å"You’re wrong†While you would never say this in a snide way, it is always important to be honest. If you can practice saying this with enough respect, you might just be able to prove your smarts and talents to your boss when she misses something and you see how you might save the day. If you just let her make an error, that’s on you. Be confident enough to point out what you see. That’s why you were hired! (Not to be a robot.)2. â€Å"No†Nobody wants a doormat. If something is a bad idea or you know you can’t deliver a project under the parameters set, then it is preferable to say â€Å"no† early rather than fail needlessly. Some bosses really like this, provided it clearly comes from a place of respect. Similarly, if you’re asked to do lots of things outside of office hours and you can’t keep it up, stand up for your work-life balance!As long as you’re doing your job and doing it well, setting boundaries for yourself is always a good idea. You’ll gain more respect that way than not.3. â€Å"I’m fixing it†So you screwed up. Nobody likes to greet their boss with that bad news. But a good boss would rather be alerted to problem early on- particularly if you can say, in that same breath, that you’re already on top of it and there should be very little fallout. It shows you’re trustworthy and good at coming up with solutions, even under fire: all great boss-impressing traits!4. â€Å"My mistake†On e of the hardest things to do is admit you’ve made an error- and not to make a million excuses immediately to let yourself off the hook. But if you can go to your boss, explain what you’ve done, and cop to it’s being a mistake? This shows your character and can actually lead you to a valuable learning experience. You may even expose a gap in the training for your position. Plus, you’re likely to not make the same mistake again.5. â€Å"I have an idea†In some ways, this is a magic phrase. Most CEOs are starving for good ideas. If you have one, speak up! Don’t be shy. Especially if your idea would save the company money, time, or other resources and streamline things. Be part of the progress!It might be scary to approach your boss and go off the script you learned at your first internship, but showing up this way as a grown-up and self-possessed employee can have major gains over the course of your big-kid career.

Saturday, November 23, 2019

40 Common English Idioms

40 Common English Idioms Learning English isn’t as easy as some might think. First, grammar muddies the waters (makes things unclear), and idiomatic expressions only add fuel to the fire (make things worse). If you’re taking the TOEFL or the TOEIC, or just want to know more common idioms,  study this list of 40 common idiomatic expressions before you take the test. They may just help your English language acquisition soar (get much better). Common English Idioms 24/7: Twenty-four hours a day; seven days a week; all the time; constantly. My little sister irritates me 24/7!A short fuse: A quick temper. Jamie is known for his short fuse; just a few days ago he screamed at his coach for not letting him play.A taste of your own medicine: Bad treatment deservedly received for treating other people badly.  After constantly being prank-called, Julian decided to give Juan a taste of his own medicine and ordered twenty-seven pizzas to be delivered to Juan’s house.Butterflies in my stomach: To be nervous.  Liam had butterflies in his stomach before he went on stage to play the violin.By the skin of your teeth:  To just barely get by or make it.  Lester made the dance team by the skin of his teeth; you can tell he hasnt been dancing jazz for very long.  Cat got your tongue?: Can’t you speak? (Usually said to embarrass the other person).  I just saw you kissing my boyfriend. What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?Crying w olf:  To ask for help when you dont need it.  You have cried wolf so many times that no one believes you when youre really hurt.   Cut someone some slack:  To not judge someone too harshly.  Hey. Cut me some slack. I was really busy with my frog hunting business last week and forgot to call. Im sorry!Down for the count: Tired; giving up; unable or unwilling to participate any longer.  No, you can’t take my dog for a walk- she’s down for the count after chasing cats all day.Draw the line: To stop; to know the point where something goes from okay to not okay.  Now I draw the line at speaking in front of 34,000 people.Easier said than done: Not as easy as it appears to be.  You want me to come to work at 6:00 AM? Easier said than done!Every cloud has a silver lining: You can find good in every bad situation.  Even though you just got fired, remember that every cloud has a silver lining- at least you don’t have to work for that grouchy boss anymore!Finding a needle in a haystack: Virtually impossible to find.  Trying to get a new job these days is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.Fish out of water: To be out of place.  Tom felt like a fish out of water at the Star Trek convention his new girlfriend begged him to attend. Get something off your chest: To talk about something that has been bothering you for a long time; to admit something you have done wrong.  I have to get this off my chest- I copied your answers on the SAT. Thanks for the 15th percentile score, by the way.  Give it a whirl: To try something.  I’ve never gone kite-boarding, but I’m prepared to give it a whirl!Go down in flames:  To fail suddenly and spectacularly.  The football players career went down in flames after the media learned hed been losing on purpose to settle gambling debts.  Go the extra mile:  To make an extra effort.  My dentist always goes the extra mile, offering free back massages at the end of a stressful tooth extraction.  Hang in there:  Be patient. Wait it out.  I know youre struggling right now in school but just hang in there. Itll get easier. I promise.  In the fast lane: A life filled with excitement.  When Curtis turned forty, he decided he needed to live life in the fast lane, so he quit his job as a dentist and decided to tour Europe by motorcycle. In the nick of time: Almost too late.  You gave me that main idea help in the nick of time- my teacher just gave us a quiz on that reading skill and I passed it!Let the cat out of the bag: Tell a secret.  Brady’s surprise party is going to be great if you don’t let the cat out of the bag.Let the chips fall where they may:  To let something happen, no matter if its good or bad.  Look. Im going to just try out for the cheerleading squad and let the chips fall where they may.  Lose your marbles: To go crazy; insane.  Mom  has really lost her marbles; shes making me practice writing the ACT Essay seven times this week!Once in a blue moon: Rarely.  In Florida, the temperature drops below freezing only once in a blue moon.Plain as day: Obvious; clear.  It’s plain as day that you’re in love with her, so just admit it.Play second fiddle: To be less important.  I hate playing second fiddle to my sister; she always does things better than I do!Pu t your foot in your mouth: Saying something you shouldn’t have.  Jessica really put her foot in her mouth when she asked about John’s job right after he lost it. Pull yourself together:  Calm down and behave normally.  Pull yourself together, man! Sure, your girlfriend just dumped you and then you got hit by a car, but you cant let those things get you down.  Sick and tired: To be bothered or annoyed by.  She is sick and tired of her dog chewing up her shoes every day.Sleep on it: To think about something for a while before making a decision.  Don’t tell me whether you’ll move to Texas with me or not today. Sleep on it, and get back to me tomorrow.Snug as a bug in a rug: Warm and cozy; content.  That baby looks as snug as a bug in a rug cuddled up next to his mother.Step up your game:  To start performing better.  Listen, Jen. Youd better step up your game if you want to get all As in Miss Finchs Physics class. She isnt easy!Stick your nose into something: To interfere.  Sharon always sticks her nose into everyone else’s business.Straight from the horse’s mouth: Directly from the person involved.à ‚  Listen to the news straight from the horse’s mouth; we’re all getting bonuses this week! Take it easy: Relax.  I know you’re not feeling well, so try to take it easy today.Tip of the iceberg: The small easily visible part of a larger problem.  The fact that Carrie is dating a member of the mafia is just the tip of the iceberg; she’s also smuggling contraband into the country.To not see the wood for the trees: To be so involved with the details that you don’t get the most important facts.  She always argues about the silliest things; it’s like she can’t see the wood for the trees.Up a creek without a paddle: In an unlucky/bad situation.  If you don’t have any money to pay for the repairs we just made to your car, I guess you’re up a creek without a paddle because you can’t have your car back.You rock!: You are great.  Dude. You rock. Thanks for offering to watch my pet iguana all week.   These are just a few of the thousands of idioms in the English language. Get your feet wet (start) with these, and then move on to the idioms that will knock your socks off (astound you).

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Practical Application Of Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Practical Application Of Ethics - Essay Example In the utilitarian view, this may be beneficial for human in providing freedom. However, human freedom is not the substantial qualification for cloning as a practicing right because it prohibits human rights in production which are not restricted but has many options rather than it.Morality refers to codes of conduct put together and accepted by the society. These codes of conducts give conditions that would be adhered to by all rational persons. The concept of morality refers to the adherence to already existing codes of conduct in the society and applies to all human beings in the universe. Morality is inherent in the manner that it is a personal idea. It is a man-made concept that is defined by the society in which we live. It is also what a person regards as wrong or right. What a person decides as morally right or wrong is determined by person idea and principles. For example; Vegans hold a moral view that exploiting sentient animals for any purpose either food, clothing, entert ainment or scientific is immoral and archaic. Ethics is objective components of morals. Morality encompasses both moral and ethical concepts. If morality consisted exclusively of social system principles that are imposed then there would be no space for personal interpretation; this makes it ethical hence objective. Ethics and morality entail the principle of justice and sustainability which states that equals should be treated equally unless there is sufficient reason for unequal treatment to anyone.

Minimizing the risk of cold stress and thermoregulation in neonatal Essay

Minimizing the risk of cold stress and thermoregulation in neonatal children - Essay Example Any deviation from the normal values will influence the biochemical processes and will disturb the natural homeostasis presents within the cells of the human organism. The temperature of the body is divided in two parts: the temperature of the internal organs, known as the core temperature, and skin temperature. The temperature of the internal organs remains almost exactly constant, within a variation of 0.6 0C. Nevertheless, many healthy people whose temperature has been measured orally have shown a range of normal temperatures, varying from under 36 0C to over 37.5 0C. The average normal temperature of the internal organs is considered to be within the range of 36.6 to 37.5 0C if it's measured orally and 1 0C if it's measured rectally. Since the temperature regulatory systems of the body are not perfect, the body temperature varies in different situations, such as extreme exercise and extremes of temperature of surroundings. For example, during exercise, when excessive heat is produced, the temperature of the body can rise temporarily to as high as 38.5 to 40 0C. On the other hand, when the body is subjected to extreme cold, the temperature of t he body can often fall below 36 0C. The skin temperature, on the other hand, constantly varies, depending on the surroundings. This temperature is important when we take into account the ability of the skin to lose heat to the surroundings. As was stated before, the body's perfect functioning is dependent on maintain the balance, or homeostasis, in the organism. The control of body temperature is no different; in essence, it represents a balance between heat production of the body and heat loss. Logically, the rate of heat production that increases more than the loss of heat leads to elevated temperature of the body. If the loss of heat is greater, lowering of body temperature occurs. Heat production represents the principal by-product of metabolism. There are various factors that determine the rate of heat production, and these factors combined are named the metabolic rate of the body. According to Guyton and Hall (2000, p.822) the most important factors are the following: 1) Basal rate of metabolism of all the cells of the body 2) Extra rate of metabolism as a result of muscle contraction (this includes muscle contractions caused by shivering) 3) Extra metabolism caused by the effect of thyroxin (and to a smaller extend other hormones like growth hormone and testosterone) 4) Extra metabolism caused by the effect of epinephrine, norepinephrine and the sympathetic stimulation of the cells. 5) Extra metabolism caused by increased chemical activity in the cells, especially when the cell temperature increases. The main generators of heat in the body represent the internal organs, especially the liver, brain and heart, and in the skeletal muscles during exercise. From these organs the heat is transferred to the skin, where it is lost to the air and other surroundings. According to Guyton and Hall (2000, p.822) the rate at which the body heat is lost is determined by two factors: 1) How rapidly heat can be conducted from where it is produced in the body core to the skin 2) How rapidly heat can then be transferred from the skin to the surroundings. The insulator system of the body, that prevents the heat from

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Plays of William Shakespeare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Plays of William Shakespeare - Essay Example Everything in life had its place and every individual was expected to respect the social hierarchy. The Elizabethan age had its own unique rules about the social structures in the society and people were bound by the social rules. The main objectives of these rules were to ensure that the society followed a certain social values and that the class structured is maintained in the society. In his plays – Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Tempest, Richard III, and Othello Shakespeare certainly addresses the idea of an ordered society as well. In all the plays these characters both uphold and break down assumptions about the ordered world in Shakespeare’s time by conforming to the society’s values and at the same time breaking the social order. In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice is the slave of a pert tongue. She is extremely intellect, wild and strong. Unlike the other female characters in the play, she does not want to bow down to the patriarchal rule. In the p atriarchal society of the play, the women are governed by values of the society imposed by the men. Men in turn are governed by their expectations in their women. Male superiority and the subordination of women are seen throughout the play. This is mainly because of the fact that during that period men were considered to be superior in the society. The character of Beatrice does not conform to the typical characterization of the Elizabethan time, but it must also be kept in mind that this may be done to portray the strong characters in a farcical way. Beatrice is portrayed as a strong character who speaks her mind. Her pert tongue and her quick thinking can be seen when with her sharp reply to Benedick, â€Å"It is so indeed, he is no less than a stuffed man, but for the stuffing - well, we are all mortal" (Shakespeare). She often uses her wit and play with words to win an argument. This type of attitude and wit in a woman is rarely portrayed in Elizabethan era where women were tre ated as second class citizens. By portraying Beatrice as a witty, clever and strong character, Shakespeare breaks the social order of the women’s role in a society. In the play The Tempest, Shakespeare dissolves the society and embraces a new social order. In the play, Caliban is portrayed as the offspring’s of the devil and a witch, but at the same time he represents the creature of the earth. Throughout the play, he is referred many times as "natural man†, this is in sharp contrast to the Elizabethan social order. Like the character portrayal of Beatrice in â€Å"Much Ado about nothing† Caliban is given a place in a society which breaks the rigid social stratification. Caliban does not follow the social hierarchy by refusing to be under anyone’s control. Caliban acts on his own instincts and cannot be suppressed by Prospero as he loves his freedom. He made it very clear that he is the rightful owner of the Island, â€Å"I must eat my dinner. This island's mine, by Sycorax my mother, which thou tak'st from me. When thou cam'st first† (Shakespeare). This breaks down the social hierarchy as any land belongs to the king and cannot be claimed by people of lower status. But, then again, we also see the obvious social implications regarding the hierarchy, with the representations of Caliban’s character. In Shakespearean time, the social classification was rigid and he illustrates this rigid social structure throughout the play. He exemplifies how men of a certain

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now - Essay Example Both the works tend to depict the way civilization finds itself alienated in the wilderness. In broad terms, the main similarity between the works is seen in the way the so-called civilized people have got an uncivilized primitive in them that comes out when they reach the wilderness even for a short period of time. For example, in the Heart of Darkness, Marlow first sees the shores of Africa with a sense of fear and dislike. As Marlow travels into the jungle, he develops the feeling that he was getting savage. Thus, as Kesselring states, one gets the idea that the man still possesses the primordial urge to be the same barbaric humans of the jungle; for example, Marlow describes a Kurtz who is free from any restraints, and who unleashes his primordial urge to kill and to enjoy total freedom. There Marlow sees a large number of heads displayed on posts that shows the kind of primitive life Kurtz lived (24-25). Here, it is worth trying to identify the reason behind the madness of both the Kurtz, and there comes the startling realization that it is the result of their inability to come into terms with the native culture and lifestyle. For example, in the movie, one can see a Kurtz telling Willard about the Special Forces going into the village inoculating the children for polio, followed by the visit of communists who cut children’s inoculated hands off. This basic and barbaric wilderness makes Kurtz insane, and soon, he becomes a savage himself. In total, one can say that in both the cases, there is the tendency to show that the European-African and American-Vietnam conflicts symbolize the conflict between the civilized and the savage. In both the cases, there is the realization that civilization is the result of the complex web of rules, regulations and codes of conduct that the modern societies have developed. In addition is the acceptance that there is a savage in every civilized human being. Thirdly, in

Monday, November 18, 2019

Financial Market Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Market Homework - Essay Example Financial markets are usually divided into capital markets and money markets. The capital market involves exchange of long term finance (Robert, 2009). This includes stock market, which facilitates financing through issuing stocks and also exchange of stock ownership and the money market which facilitates debt financing and investment (Rose, 1994). Currently the financial sector has additional markets to facilitate financing such as commodity markets derivatives market, futures markets and foreign markets. Financial markets provide borrowers with funds to facilitate their investments (such as corporations and government institutions to obtain funds in order to finance their current operations or to finance expansion and growth) (Wurgler, 2000). It also provides the lenders a platform to channel their surplus funds in productive way (such as financial institutions that have excess funds to lend on short term and long term basis), facilitates credit creation (usually done by commercial banks through issuance of loans), provides liquidity to institutions and government organizations and promotes savings culture (the commercial banks provides financial savings services) In Qatar, the financial market is controlled by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA). This is the serves as the state’s sovereign wealth fund that specializes in both local and international investments. Usually QIA manages the financial surpluses from oil and natural gas companies (which run into millions of dollars) Additionally, Qatar Holding, a branch of QIA that is in charge of international investment, receives more than $30 billion from the state. These funds are invested internationally in Europe, Asia Pacific, and United states It is estimated that QIA has assets worth over $170 billion (Hall, Kerr & Hammond, 2013). This value is expected to increase as the country continues to invest in expansion

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Rise in Standards of Living Essay Example for Free

Rise in Standards of Living Essay Australian business centers, stock markets, economic revenues and different economic sectors from the latter centuries have always been striving to improving the economy channeling as well the improvements of society’s standards of living; however, with the current progression of such trends, standards of living have gone so far ahead from the average people coping up to the demands of the prevailing society. Consequently, imbalance, strain and economic disproportion occur as the primary results of the high standards of living and the coping average public. b. Australia: Economic Overview . Due to the great transition of United States, Canadian and Australian economies from the agricultural-based setup of 19th and 20th centuries to an economy based on industries in the current 21st century, living standards have indeed increased. Consequently, the shift of living standards have greatly affected crucial economic and societal elements, such as (a) laborers, (b) supply-demand chains, (c) purchasing power of the market, (d) social class and standards of living, and (e) general economy equilibrium . High labor costs, high taxation fees, crowded population, strict-regulatory boards on business establishments and small domestic market have consequently become the adverse effects of Australia’s high standards of living . Last 2004, Australian standards of living was ranked third place by the United Nations surveillance report. Currently, Australian economy, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), is experiencing GDP growth of 2. 7% quarterly as of 2008, GDP rate of approximately $1 trillion Australian dollar and GDP per capita of $33,000 as of 2006 statistics. Markedly, economic growth of Australia is slowly beginning its decline due to various economic components (e. g. high wage employment versus high standards of living, expensive supply versus average-earning market, etc. ) . Economic advancements may well influence the standards of living positively; however, high standards of living may negatively result to social tensions in areas of income balances . Australian economy is now experiencing a series of imbalances, especially in the relationships of market and suppliers, income generation and employment brought by high living standards. II. Discussion a. Living Standards of Australian Economy . Australians have always enjoyed the benefits of their country’s growing economy and high standard of living; however, continuous increase in the area of living stands may threaten the stability of their economy. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate obtained by a given economy commonly evaluates the country’s economic performance and growth. GDP assesses the level of supply-demand conditions, economic output capacity and welfare growth. GDP, together with household surveys on income – expenses, consumption-production and other associated components, measures the condition of economic welfare, which is viewed as an important indicator of standards of living . Currently, Australian GDP according to the Internal Monetary Fund has reached from the 2007 estimate of U. S. $ 718. 4 billion to U. S$ 1. 04 trillion nominally this year. In addition, annual GDP growth has always been maintained from 0. 4% to 1. 3% according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS); although, nominal records this year show a huge drop on GDP growth from 1. 2% in 2006 down to 0. 5%, which can still progress downward (max: approximately 0. 25% GDP growth) due to seasonal variations. On the other hand, according to ABS, employment statistics have increased dramatically from 10. 5 million in 2007 to 10. 73 million employed in 2008, while decreasing as well the unemployment rate from 4. 3% in 2007 to 4. 2% this year . . . Economic trends of Australia are in no question boosting and improving more evidently compared to the United States. These statistics relevantly show the increasing economic welfare of the country, which eventually may further increase in the standards of living. In the study of Gregory (2007), following the increase of living standards in the 1970s evidenced by the approximate 30% increase in Australia’s employment wages is the latter drop (approximately 25%) on employment earnings and rapid rise of employment offering low compensations . Evidently, the similar impact is slowly but progressively occurring based on the statistical input of Australian employment, inflation and household surveys under ABC statistical surveillance . Based from statistics, full-time employment earnings have dropped from 2003 to 2005 record of 1. 8% to 0. 9% only last May, while private sector earning trend has changed from 2% in 2005 down to 1% this year and public sector declines from 1. 5% last 2005 to 0. 5% for this year. Nonetheless, employment-earning trends are currently recovering from its great downfall last May 2006 to early 2007. On the other hand, salary sacrifices of Australian surveyed households have also increased from U. S $580 weekly in 2005 to U. S. $644 weekly last 2006 due to increased taxes, increased in Consumer Price Index and most factors attributed to high standards of living (e. g. costs of supplies, increase costs of services, etc. ). With the increasing level of living standards, initial employment decline in response to high level of living standards is motivated by higher compensations. Continuing employment with higher compensation results to increase in employment rates, which consequently reduces level of average earnings of these employed. Meanwhile, as the rise of living standards continues, another important consideration is effect of inflation rates towards the purchasing power of the people living in the high standard Australian environment . According to the general inflation rate of Australian economy, rate has indeed increased from 0. 7 to 0. 8% in 2005 to 1. 5% last June 2008, which consequently results to an average of 4. 5% price increase on all groups of products and services. Based on ABS inflation breakdowns, products and services most commonly affected by high living standards are also affected by the high inflation rates, such the increase of deposit and loan facilities to 9. 5%, rise of rents to 2. 2%, increase in health care costs of 4%, house purchases by 3. 1% and one of Australian delicacies, spirits, which increased to 6. 1%. High standards of living implicated by economic growth and expansion of economic welfare do not always provide significant benefits for majority of the economy’s recipients. With this analysis, the most affected individuals are the average employees striving hard to cope-up with the increasing prices of commodities brought by the rise of living standards b. Impacts of High Standards of Living Considering the high living standards of the Australian economy, an average household earning an income increasing only to 0. 9% per quarterly may not be able to accommodate the inflation increased commodities and supplies, which, if applied to the general average population, dramatically implies huge reduction of purchasing power among the average members of society . Following the rise of society’s standards of living is the extensive rise of financial expenses among households due to the market value increases brought by increased standards of available supplies offered (e. g. education fees, food expenses, etc. ) . The impact of price variations and economic adjustments are assumingly experienced more prominently by the average people living the high standard society. As the basic commodities and services increase due to inflation rise, average people employed with an average job may commonly find their earnings sufficient for their daily requirements. However, if economic welfare continuously grows and expand, as shown by the increasing trends of GDP from International Monetary Fund statistics, these average-working groups, despite of their high compensations, may find their income insufficient to supply their needs and cope up with the increasing requirements of their society. Relationships between employment – working members of society – and the actual high standard society are more direct compared to other economic elements; since, these average people are the general population acting as the prime recipients of the economic change . As supported by the survey study of Gaston (2002), employment levels have progressed downward during the early 21st century; hence, economic growth has surged to cope up leading the restoration of employment level . However, the advent of employment surge brings forth increase in manpower supply enabling reduction in levels of manpower, while increasing manufacturing levels. In the end, economic growth shall continue to progress leaving the average working people coping with the increasing living standards of the Australian society   c. Implications and Potential Problems Associated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If the economic trends on Australian employment continue in relation to the high living standards of the society, average working groups may fail to cope up reducing the markets purchasing power; thereby, affecting chains of economic elements, such as inflation rates, consumer price index, etc . If these economic elements change, imbalance in the economic growth might occur unless wage increase is implemented to cope with the increasing living standards. Economic investments and purchasing power of the available market are considered at-risked if these trends continue. Since reduction on the living standards is not a considerable option, the best resolution is to keep track on all the changes in these elements and implement balanced raise and reduction depending on the economic variations and adjustments   III. Conclusion Economic trends in a high standard living society must be well monitored and tracked due to the many risks associated to the variations, element adjustments and fluctuations. As economic elements, such as GDP, GDP growth and overall economic welfare, increase, living standards in a given society are also expected to increase. If this happens, the demographics most commonly affected are the average people earning only the average income. If economic trends, such as employment rates, compensation levels, inflation rates, etc. , are not carefully monitored, this can immediately result to an imbalance in both economic growth and the capacity of employed recipients to cope up with the high living standards being imposed by the society. Consequently, long-term results, such as increase in poverty levels, etc, may occur affecting dramatically as well the living standards of the area. IV. Bibliography Anderso, K. and Pomfret, R. â€Å"Living Standards during Transition to a Market Economy: The Kyrgyz Republic in 1993 and 1996,† Journal of Comparative Economics 28, no. 3 (2000): 502-523 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2008), Statistics, retrieved October 2, 2008 from: http://www. abs. gov. au/ausstats/[emailprotected] nsf/web+pages/statistics? opendocument Brown, C. American standards of living, 1918-1988: 1918-1988. New York, London: HarperCollins. 1994 2-3 Campbell, I. and Burgess, J. â€Å"Casual Employment in Australia and Temporary Employment in Europe: Developing a Cross-National Comparison,† Work, Employment and Society 15, (2001): 171-184 Easterlin, R. A. â€Å"The Worldwide Standard of Living Since 1800,† Journal of Economic Perspectives 14, no. 1 (2000): 7-26 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gaston, N. â€Å"The Impact of International Trade and Protection on Australian Manufacturing Employment,† Australian Economic Papers 37, no. 2 (2002): 119 – 136 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Harding, A. â€Å"The Suffering Middle: Trends in Income Inequality in Australia, 1982 to 1993–94,† Australian Economic Review 30, no. 4 (2002): 341 358 Maglen, L. â€Å"Globalisation of the World Economy and Its Impact upon Employment and Training in Australia,† Australian Bulletin of Labour 20, no. 4 (1994): 298-319 McLean, I. W. , â€Å"Australian Economic Growth in Historical Perspective,† Economic Record 250, no. 80 (2004): 330-345 Mishra, R. , Kuhnle, S. , Gilbert, N. , and Chung, K. , Modernizing the Korean Welfare State: Towards the Productive Welfare Model. S. Korea, New York: Transaction Publishers. 2001 11 Nolan, J. , Hinkelman, E. G. and Shippey, K. C. Australia Business: The Portable Encyclopedia for Doing Business with Australia. New York, Australia: World Trade Press. 1996 8 Pusey, M. and Wilson, S. The Experience of Middle Australia: The Dark Side of Economic Reform. Cambridge, U. K: Cambridge University Press. 2003 8 R. G. Gregory, â€Å"Aspects of Australian and US Living Standards: The Disappointing Decades 1970–1990,†Economic Society of Australia 69, no. 1 (2007): 61-76 Simpson, M. , Dawkins, P. and Madden, G. â€Å"Casual Employment in Australia: Incidence and Determinants,† Australian Economic Papers 36, no. 68 (2008): 194-204 Sinn, E. The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas. Hong Kong; Hong Kong University Press. 1998 356 Travers, P. and Richardson, S. â€Å"Living Decently,† Australian Economic Review 25, no. 3 (2008): 29-42

Friday, November 15, 2019

Bangladesh and Vietnam: Factors of Inflation

Bangladesh and Vietnam: Factors of Inflation Question 2(a) Discuss and analysis the factors of inflation in your selected countries Bangladesh and Vietnam are our selected countries. Inflation is a continuous increase in the general price level of goods and services in the economy. Inflation has three types which are creeping inflation, mild inflation and hyperinflation Bangladesh Inflation in Bangladesh has a lot of factors. There are wages in the major employment, increase in the supply of money, oil price, low production and higher price of imported commodities. Based on the factor for increase in wage rate in the major employment, wages in Bangladesh has been increasing for more than the last two decades due to both strong or moderately strong labor union. Due to political, social and cultural tradition and for a humanitarian reason, the Government cannot make a distinction between productive, unproductive, and moderately productive sector in their attempt to increase the wages. Wages increase without any production increase, easily transferred to higher cost of production and higher prices of consumer goods, allowing for sustained inflation. Under the assumption of little or no improvement of workers’ productivity growth, wage inflation at such high level is an indication of cost escalation over time. Money supply is an important determinat of inflation. Production in agriculture and fisheries sectors in Bangladesh is still subject to the whims of nature to a notable extent. Therefore supply of money in Bangladesh is increasing every year in order to get it. It has been claimed that one of the main causes of the high food inflation throughout the FY05 was poor harvest of aus, aman and wheat crops.6. The yearly production of these three crops went down by 18.12, 14.76 and 22.11 percent respectively in FY05 over the FY04.7. An instance of price hike due to this fall of production is that the price of aman rice rose within the range of BDT 16 to 19 in FY05 from the range of BDT 14 to 16 in FY04. This excessive rise in the total supply of money may contribute to the cause of high inflationary pressure in Bangladesh. Oil price is a factor of inflation in countries include international. Oil is a fundamental input of production, it constitutes a significant portion of production cost in every sector of the economy. Although there are some recent adjustments in the administered price of energy products, much of the increased cost of imported fuel has not been passed on to end users, especially on diesel and kerosene. Iraq has the second largest oil field. Oil production in Iraq has been cut by 5,00,000 barrels per day since the U.S. invasion in Iraq for more than three years. Crude and refined oil is used in all sphere of life including manufacturing and production of consumption and material goods. Once increased oil prices, it have increased the cost of production world-wide. The firms and suppliers have no other choices except to raise the price of goods and materials. Therefore it has caused a cost-push inflation. In Bangladesh the output growth rate is always lower than the population growth rate. This low productions is not only for reason of human resources, weather is also included. As an example, the production of wheat in Bangladesh has declined drastically over the years. Further, except for the Boro, the areas of rice cultivation have declined in recent years. The production of pulses and oilseeds has also declined significantly. Erratic weather in Bangladesh had caused crop failures. Therefore Bangladesh often faced with problem of food shortages. As the net domestic production of food is not sufficient to meet demand such as oil, supply gap of cereals and food items, Bangladesh forced to import these from external markets. Therefore the greater percentage of increase in the populaion has brought about a scarcity of goods. As a result, excess demand occurs that contributes to rise in prices. Bangladesh has to import huge capital goods, necessary consumer goods and even huge quantity of food grain. The most of the essential food items are imported like sugar, rice, wheat, onion and edible oil and also included machineries, intermediate goods and raw materials used in production. Huge import will increase the price of import. The inflation in foreign countries causes a rise in prices in Bangladesh through the importation of commodities from those countries. When the relationships between import price index and non-food inflation in urban and rural are insignificant, the former is found to have economically as well as statistically highly significant association with the categories of food inflation. In a short word, the reasons for increase in import price are twofold which is exchange rate depreciation and increase in international commodity prices. Vietnam Inflation in Vietnam has also a lot of factors. There are excessive service spending and bias allocation in the market, supply and demand mismatch, governement’s increased wages policy, boom of foreign direct investment (FDI) and unbalance money used for economic development and society. The monetary factor is excessive service spending and bias allocation in the market. Inflation can be caused if government doesn’t plan and manage amount of money circulation which include in society and commodity. As an example if government allocates too much money to society like education loan, there will caused a loss of money to contribute to eonomy. Excess cash will happen if the number of commodity production is sustaining and has not increased. It will increase consumer purchasing pressure and leads to hyperinflation. In Vietnam supply and demand mismatch is a problem or cause of inflation pressure in the country. The evident is the signs of overheating the economy such as severe electricity shortage and congested roads and ports, a tight labor market with skilled and semi-skilled labor supply falling far behind demand and a sharp widening of trade and current account deficit. But even year to year core inflation which excludes food and fuel is stimated to have increased by 18% as Benedict Bingham, senior representative of International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted. Because of the output gap in Vietnam willn’t overcome easily, so he dominant effects of demand effects will persist to the next years. Within this context is important to underline, that persistent excess liquidity in the domestic markets can stoke inflationary expectations over time. In Vietnam, government has been provided an increased wages policy. Analysis of the movements of nominal wage rate inflation generally gives an idea about the labor cost scenario. In Vietnam, government encourages workers’ salary income can be increased if their performance is improved. Due to increase in salary income, workers have higher chance to spend more on consumption. Demand excess supply. If promotion of distributors and manufactures is helding, it will stimulate the market to increase buying power and creates leverage for a result of demand exceeds supply. After that inflation will happen. Booming of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam will have a high rate due to Vietnam often do FDI projects that can pull up their investors’ population. As an evidence, there were more than 16,300 active FDI projects in Vietnam that have collectively pulled in a total of $238 billion. These investors came from 100 countries and territories, and many of them are some of the world’s leading multinational corporations. In 2013, FDI inflow exceeded $22 billion, an increase of more than 35% from 2012. The figures indicate that Vietnam has become a destination of choice for foreign investors Vietnam often do FDI projects that can pull up their investors’ population. Therefore high influx of foreign exchange will often happens into the economy. It will increase money supply and if too high influx of foreign exchange, it will be a reason of inflation. Demand will also rise due to influx of foreign exchange. When a rise in demand cannot meet same level by import wil l push up the price of product until inflation. In Vietnam, unbalance money used for economic development and society will always be conducted. Because of wars against French-American in the past, government need to spend enormous money to restore the economy. Therefore money which used for economic development such as subsidiares to help suppliers is less and make a situation of demand exceed supply. The product prices will increase and It leads to the inflation. Therefore the government didn’t use monetary effectively means don’t lead consumers to a way nof controling the production and consumption of the society. Then, national budget will be reduced due to the lack of income or money. Government always lived beyond its means they must use government funds either from local or foreign country to compensate for the expenses. In conclusion, Bangladesh and Vietnam are easily face the situation of inflation based on those factors above. Who Should Own Indigenous Lands? Who Should Own Indigenous Lands? Christopher Wood F469950 Evaluate the claim that the governance of indigenous lands is best left to local communities. Due to the expansion of globalisation, concerns over the management of resources has grown from local issues to worldwide issues on how people should engage with the sustainable development and administration of global resource systems or commons. Common resources can be overseen and governed by a mixture of institutional arrangements that can be generally represented as governmental, private or communal. This essay will look at the merits of both private ownership of resources as endorsed by Ronald Coase and common property regimes often employed by communities, a solution advocated by the economist Elinor Ostrom, whilst using further evidence of these two competing ideas, by examining the plight of the indigenous group of people known as the Dongria Khondh in their battle against the powerful private multinational company Vedanta. One of the issues that arise with common resources, is the question of ownership and who has the right to manage and divide these resources, especially as the marketplace expands and the resources of the planet begin to be depleted (Shipman, 2015, p.119).   Ronald Coase investigated this problem of exhaustible resources and suggests a solution to protect resources by arguing that ownership of the commons by assigning property rights would by its action promote a positive outcome. The assignment of exclusive property rights and the potential for bargaining results in behaviour that is changed or altered to account for the negative impact our choices have on others, regardless of which party is initially assigned property rights. Private ownership and the resulting economic benefit for both parties encourages an equitable solution to rights, ensuring resources are used in a way that prevents overuse and preserves sustainability (Shipman, 2015, p125). A clear example of Coases ar guments can be seen by comparing a public communal space surrounding a residential area to that of the grounds surrounding a private residence where the owners have to pay a service charge to maintain the grounds. Public areas tend to be unkempt and abused, private grounds are generally better kept and preserved, this action suggests that individual ownership and financial incentive motivate an innate positive outcome (Shipman, 2015, p.130). Further evidence of the positive outcome of using property rights can be seen in the real-life case study of the collaboration between the Vietnamese government and the World Bank. The Land Administration Project, assigned land rights to citizens, enabling them to grow crops and feed their families, along with having the extra benefits of allowing family members to gain access to education and the owners to leverage this land to get finance, so they could expand and increase their wealth, this, in, turn, would encourage growth within the family unit, regionally and then nationally (The Open University, 2016a). However, assigning property rights doesnt always have a positive outcome, especially when the rights of the smaller landowners clash with the development of large real estate projects. In this case, the same Vietnamese government decided to seize inherited land from citizens, leading to violence and arrests. Free market economic policies of larger private concerns dominating the individual citizens claims and rights to land (The Open University, 2016b). An alternative to managing common resources can be found in the theories of  prominent economist Elinor Ostrom. Ostrom suggests that many issues surrounding  rights, ownership and depletion of resources, are better-taken care of by  cooperation, assigning rights to collectives and not individuals (Shipman, 2015, p.133). This is especially useful when dealing with resources such as the fish rich waters off Alanya in Turkey. Here the Fisherman became aware that unregulated fishing would lead to permanently exhausting stocks of fish. Using principles such as: Rules are well matched to local needs and conditions. Individuals affected by these rules can usually participate in modifying them. A system for self-monitoring members behaviour has been established. A graduated system of sanctions (against rule-breakers) is available. The fishermen devised a plan following these guidelines that provided a flexible arrangement for the community to gain rights and access to fishing stocks, whilst gathering approval from the government in the form of the Aquatic Resources Act, which recognised the communities right to administer their own rules. (Open University, 2016c) Despite this success, Ostrom recognises accomplishing a positive result in the management of common resource pools tends to have more success in smaller communities. Globalisation has presented problems concerning resources that need the varying parties to agree on a specified agency and a set of actions, which on this larger scale may prove to be difficult (The Open University, 2016d). A clear example highlighting the potential problems involving power imbalances between private commercial companies and local communities can be seen by examining the plight of the indigenous people Dongria Khondh and their battle with the mining company Vedanta. The dispute centred around the land surrounding the Lanjigarth region and holy mountain of Niyamgiri. This land held great spiritual importance and familial ties to the Dongria Khondh, being rich in biodiversity and holding a prime place within the local community. On the other hand, the mountain was also known to be rich in the mineral Bauxite, a valuable resource to a company such a Vedanta (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.150). Because of the inherent power imbalance between the two competing actors, it was necessary for outside agencies to become involved, to aid mediating in the dispute. These expert groups consisted of namely the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) along with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MO EF), these two groups visited the area and gathered information from Vedanta and representatives of the local communities (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.151). Prior to this Vedanta had established mining facilities, assuming terra nullius or no mans land assuming that this land belonged to no one, the invisible cultural significance to the indigenous people wasnt recognised (Bhagwat, Jones and Mohan, 2015, p.151). Conflicts between homogeneous cultures and private entities are fraught with difficulties, especially in jurisprudential precedents. This issue of jurisprudence concerning governance presents complex problems, despite formal international rights as set out by the UN, there is very little political will to enforce them. Consequently, access to valuable resources where there isnt clear governance, can leave the productive potential of such lands greatly underused and can be a barrier to economic progress, whilst confusion reigns for the indigenous peoples perceived inher ent right to keep resources that are vital for their survival. Using the examples above it is clear to see that governance of common resources can have different outcomes depending on the scale and complexity of the situation. Personal and local situations can be governed quite simply by cooperation and economic incentives based on private property rights. On the other hand interactions between governmental institutions, international private companies and local communities has proven to be difficult. The most important lesson to draw attention to, is that advocating a particular course of action for solving problems relating to the governance of common resources may work in some settings but fail in others. Further, policies also have to be adaptable to recognise the informal cultural setting and arrangements of those who depend on these diverse ecosystems. Cooperation between individuals, communities and governments along with flexible arrangements between the different actors is vital to ensure equitable access to common resources. Word Count: 1201 References Bhangwat, S. Jones, N. and Mohan, G. (2015) Indigenous lands and territories: mapping the commons, in Drake, DH. Morris, A. Shipman, A. and Wheeler, K.(ed.) Investigating The Social World 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Shipman, A. (2015) Putting a price on common resources, in Drake, DH. Morris, A. Shipman, A. and Wheeler, K.(ed.) Investigating The Social World 2, Milton Keynes, The Open University. The Open University   (2016a). 5: Vietnam: Securing the Future through the Formalization of Land-Use Rights [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=5 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016b). 5.3: Violence Erupts in Vietnam over Land Seizure [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=5.3 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016c). 6.1: Fisheries in Alanya   DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=6.1 (Accessed: 2/17/2017) The Open University   (2016d). 6.3: Ostrom: Could this Approach be Scaled up to Global Problems?   [Video] DD103 Investigating the social world. Available at: https://learn2.open.ac.uk/mod/oucontent/view.php?id=842096section=6.3 (Accessed: 2/17/2017)

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Jean-Louis David and Jean-Jacques Rousseau Essay -- History Art Artwor

Jean-Louis David + Jean-Jacques Rousseau Question : In what ways and to what extent is an understanding of historical context important in approaching the works of (a) David and (b) Rousseau? "The Lictors Returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons", is a painting by the French artist Jean-Louis David in 1789. Having led the fight which overthrew the monarchy and established the Roman Republic. Brutus tragically saw his sons participate in a plot to restore the monarchy. As a judge, he was called upon to render the verdict, and without hesitation condemned his two sons to death. The full title of this work is "Brutus Returning Home after having Sentenced his Sons for Plotting a Tarquinian Restoration and Conspiring against Roman Freedom; the Lictors brint there Bodies to be Buried." In 1789, for Jean-Louis David to bring up such a subject was majorly controversial and reveals how deeply committed the artist was to the new ideas and enlightement principals. Indeed, had the revolution not occured, this picture could never have been exhibited publicly. After the fall of the bastille, David's pictures were seen as a republican manifesto, and greatly raised David's reputation In order to fully understand David's artwork, it is important to posess a certain amount of historical knowledge on the various events that took place during the artists career, mainly the French Revolution. Behind each of his paintings is a story of historical importance. However, it is also very likely that David's paintings were often misinterpreted simply due to the fact that someone didn't fully grasp the significance of the artwork. Like "The Lictors Returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons", as recorded by the Roman historian Livy, David's paintings covered many different historical era's. "The Death of Marat", 1793, is more simplistic and intense. David was in active sympathy with the Revolution, his majestic historical paintings, ("The Oath of Horatii", "Death of Socrates", and "Brutus's sons") were hailed as artistic demands for political action. He orchestrated the great festival of the people on 14 July 1790, and designed uniforms, banners, triumphal arches, and inspirational props for the Jacobin club's propaganda. David was president of the Jacobin club on the day that his good friend and fellow Jacobin, Jean-Paul Marat was killed by a young Royalist who... ...y as Jean-Louis David and his paintings. Both these influential people helped to ignite a passion amongst the French general public and change French politics. Looking at Rousseau's idea for government seems unacceptable or impossible to us, however, his idea, which was prominent in the revolution, that sovereignty resides with the people, that "man is born free". Both Rousseau and democracy preserve the idea that government is legitimate only if it emerges from us. Jean-Louis David's form of neoclassical paintings which are difficult to seperate from their political and social context, were very different from the traditional paintings of the era. When looking at David's artwork one must acknowledge how artistic concerns were bound up with broader social issues. Many of his paintings bear strong symbolic political references. In order to read, think like Rousseau or understand the true meaning behind David's artwork one must possess, from a historical context, knowledge on the French Revolution, how different French society and culture was and information regarding each artists background, for example, who they were, and what they meant to the general public of that time.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dangerous Animals of the Great Barrier Reef :: Ecology Nature Zoology Essays

Dangerous Animals of the Great Barrier Reef According to Dennis Fulkerson, one of the Australia Explorers (1996), the Great Barrier Reef is "God's underwater playground." Indeed, everyone in the group seemed to have a fabulous time exploring the reef. However, many of the group expressed some amount of fear about snorkelling on the reef, far away from the mainland. I began to wonder if there was really that much to be afraid of. We were only told that it was not box jellyfish season, and, more importantly, not to touch anything. According to Ryan (p 167), "In general, animals of the reef are benign; only a hungry shark or a mentally defective barracuda is likely to attack unprovoked." Nevertheless, there are a few creatures of which to be aware. Sea snakes, jellyfish, and certain varieties of sea urchins, coral, worms, starfish, mollusks, and fish possess defense and/or feeding mechanisms which can render them harmful if handled by humans. Bristle Worms Bristle worms possess numerous razor-sharp calcium carbonate bristles (setae) which the animal may raise if threatened. These bristles penetrate the skin easily and cause intense itching and sometimes infections. Bristles should be removed with forceps and a local anesthetic and ointment may be applied. The worm may also bite (Ryan, p 170). Sea Urchins Sea urchins, along with heart urchins and sand dollars, belong to the class Echinoidea, which is in the phylum Echinodermata. Echinoids possess numerous spines, which are used for locomotion and defense, and pedicellariae, tiny, pincer-like structures which are used in feeding. The spines, interestingly, consist of a single crystal of calcium carbonate "that would be as brittle as chalk if not for certain glycoproteins in it" (Harris, p 718). Some urchins have venomous spines which can cause severe pain. For example, according to Lutz (p 679), "Some sea urchins, especially those living on coral reefs, have hollow spines that contain a poison; the pacific Asthenoma has needle-sharp spines that can easily penetrate the skin, break off, and release a poison that is extremely painful and dangerous to humans." The flower urchin, Toxopneustes pileolus, (Figure 1) has poisonous pedicellariae which can potentially kill a human. Toxic material can also be contained in the layer of skin coveri ng the spines, so injection of a spine itself is enough to cause intense pain (Endean, p256). As for treatment, Ryan (p170) recommends removing all spines from affected area with forceps, as long as this can be accomplished without breaking the spine and thus releasing more of the poison.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Knowledge Value Chain

The model consists of knowledge infrastructure (knowledge worker acquirement, knowledge storage capacity, customer/supplier relationship and COOK and management), the process of KM (knowledge acquisition, knowledge innovation, knowledge protection, knowledge integration, and knowledge dissemination), and the interaction among those components resulting in knowledge performance. Further to the discussion of knowledge value chain (C.V.), the following viewpoint was proposed: KM guides the way a corporation performs individual knowledge activities and organizes its entire C.V..It was suggested that competitive advantage grows out of he way corporations organize and perform discrete activities in knowledge value chain which should be measured by the core competence of corporation. This article also provides a cross-reference for e-commerce researchers and practitioners. Knowledge and knowledge management Knowledge vs. information Knowledge refers to an observer's distinction of ‘ à ¢â‚¬Ëœobjects† through which he brings forth from the background of experience a coherent and self-consistent set of coordinated actions (Selene, 1987).Through the process of distinction, individual pieces of data and information become connected with one another in a network of elation. Knowledge then is contained in the overall organizational pattern of the network and not in any of the components. Knowledge is more than information. Information is data organized into meaningful patterns. Information is transformed into knowledge when a person reads, understands, interprets, and applies the information to a specific work function. Knowledge becomes visible when experienced persons put into practice lessons learned over time.One person's knowledge can be another person's information. If a person cannot understand and apply the information to anything, it remains Just information. However, another individual can take that same information, understand it and interpret it in the context of previous experience, and apply the newly acquired knowledge to make business decisions or redefine a laboratory procedure. Yet a third person may take the same pieces of information, and through his unique personal experiences or lessons learned, apply knowledge in ways that the second person may never have even considered.Information is a component part but not the whole of knowledge (Michael, 1982). Knowledge itself is a much more all-encompassing term that incorporates the concept of beliefs based on information (Dressed, 1981). It also depends on the commitment and understanding of the individual holding these beliefs, which are affected by people's interaction and the development of judgment, behavior and attitude (Berger and Lackawanna, 1967). Journal of Management Development, Volvo. 19 NO. 9, 2000, up. 783-793. MAC university press, 0262-1711 Journal of Management Development 19,9 784 Tacit vs. explicit Tacit knowledge is that knowledge which cannot be explicated fully even by an expert and can be transferred from one person to another only through a long process of apprenticeship (Poland, 1962). Payola's famous dictum, ‘We know more than we can ell†, points to the phenomenon in which much that constitutes human skill remains unarticulated and known only to the person who has that skill. Tacit knowledge is the skills and ‘know-how† we have inside each of us that cannot be easily shared (Limit, 1999).In fact, both of the definitions have the same meaning. In contrast, explicit knowledge is relatively easily to articulate and communicate and, thus, transfer between individuals and organizations. Explicit knowledge resides in formulae, textbooks, or technical documents. Analogous to the tacit and explicit dichotomy, Goff (1989) sakes a distinction between embodied or action-centered, skills and intellective skills. Action-centered skills are developed through actual performance (learning by doing).In contrast, intellect ive skills combine abstraction, explicit reference, and procedural reasoning, which makes them easily representatives as symbols and, therefore, easily transferable. The conceptual distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge also appears in Reed et al. ‘s (1996) discussion of causally ambiguous competencies. They describe tactics as residing in the inability of even a skilled individual to spell out explicitly the session rules and protocols that form the basis of performance. Obduracy (1991) conceives of tacit knowledge as existing in individuals or groups of individuals.He refers to such knowledge in individuals and social groups as embedded knowledge. Similar distinctions between explicit and largely tacit knowledge in organizations have been made by Scribner's (1986), Monika (1988), Huddled (1994), and Bonn (1994). Explicit knowledge is the knowledge that can be easily captured artificially through manuals and standard operations, and then shared with others either th rough Hough courses or through books for slandering. In an organization, tangible knowledge takes the form of Job procedures as well as the company's philosophy and strategy.Knowledge management Information is becoming ever more important in our economy, and most corporations see that knowledge can confer competitive advantage. But corporations are already flooded with information, and most of us have more of it than we can handle. Knowledge management (KM) tries to resolve the troublesome paradox (Anthem, 1998). A common definition of KM is: ‘The collection of processes that govern the creation, assimilation and leveraging of knowledge to fulfill organizational objectives†.KM is an emerging set of organizational design and operational principles, processes, organizational structures, applications and technologies that helps knowledge workers dramatically leverage their creativity and ability to deliver business value. In fact, KM is about people and the processes they u se to share information and build knowledge (Hanley, 1999). Marshall (1997) considered that KM refers to the harnessing of ‘ ‘intellectual capital† within an organization.KM theory discusses accessing and using all information within an institution, enabling individuals to apply pertinent information to what they already know, in order to create knowledge. The theory recognizes that knowledge, not simply information, is the greatest asset to an institution. It includes the strategies and processes for identifying, capturing, sharing, and leveraging the knowledge required to survive and compete successfully into the twenty-first century (Gatchis, 1999). KM focuses on ‘doing the right thing† instead of ‘ ‘doing things right†.In our thinking, KM is a framework within which the organization views all its processes as knowledge processes. Knowledge value chain model Differences among competitor value chains are a key source of competitive a dvantage. In competitive terms, value is the amount customers are willing to pay for what a corporation provides them. Value is measured by total revenue, a reflection of the price a corporation's product commands and the units it can sell. A firm is profitable if the value it commands exceeds the costs involved in creating the product (Porter, 1985).Creating value for customers that exceeds the cost of doing so is the goal of any competitive strategy. Value, instead of cost, must be used in analyzing nominative position since corporations often deliberately raise their cost in order to command a premium price via differentiation. Employing Porter's value chain analysis approach, we developed a knowledge value chain model. Knowledge value chain consists of KM infrastructure and the KM process's activities and knowledge performance. These infrastructure components and activities are the building blocks by which a corporation creates a product or provides service valuable to its custo mers.Knowledge performance can be measured in two categories (van Burden, 1999). One is financial performance. However, financial assessments such as ROI are particularly difficult to make for KM activities. The other is non-financial measures including operating performance outcomes and direct measures of learning. Examples of operating performance measures include lead times, customer satisfaction, and employee productivity. Learning measures include such items as the number of participants in communities of practice, employees trained, and customers affected by the use of knowledge.All the non-financial measures can be regarded as the reflection of core competence of corporation. The KM process's activities are listed along the bottom of Figure 1 . In any corporation, the KM process can be divided into the five categories shown in Figure 1. KM infrastructure supports the KM process activities. The dotted lines reflect the fact that customer/supplier relationship, knowledge storag e capacity, and knowledge worker recruitment can be associated with 785 786 Figure 1. Model specific KM process activities as well as support the entire chain.COOK and management are not associated with particular KM process activities but support the entire chain. Components of KM infrastructure Knowledge worker recruitment The term knowledge worker refers to the worker who possesses competencies, knowledge, and skills in the organization such as computer engineers, accountants, etc. If a person leaves the organization, their knowledge goes with them. Knowledge is acquirable and renewable. It is the source of innovation and creativity. This is the traditional focus of many training and education programs.In the knowledge economy, knowledge permeates through everything important Ð’Â ± people, products organizations. There have always been people who worked with their minds rather than their hands. In knowledge era, these are the majority of the workforce. Already, almost 60 per cent of American workers are knowledge workers. Recruiting knowledge workers in organizations is a key activity in the long term. Knowledge storage capacity Knowledge storage capacity is organizational memory and capabilities for people to store and reuse information and knowledge.It involves the organization's routine operations and structures that support employees' quests for optimum intellectual performance and, therefore, overall business performance. An individual can have a high level of knowledge, but if the organization has poor systems and procedures by which to track his or her actions, the overall knowledge resource will not reach its fullest potential. Knowledge storage capacity is owned by the organization. It is retained by the organization when employees leave. There exist two organizational structures, formal and informal.In formal organizations, people easily access explicit knowledge. Informal organizations are rich in tacit knowledge, which usually is the source of innovation. It is difficult to articulate in writing and is acquired through personal experience. It is shared by intensive face-to-face communication. To keep the costs of knowledge transfer low, angers try to turn inherently tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge. There are different approaches to implement KM, it depends on what kind of knowledge your people rely on to solve problem.When employees rely on explicit knowledge to do their work, the people-documents approach makes the most sense. When people use tacit knowledge most often to solve problems, the person-to-person approach works best. Customer/supplier relationship Customer/supplier relationship refers to the organization's relationships with its customers/suppliers. It might include customer/supplier loyalty for services or reduces, the purchasing/sale patterns of different customer/supplier groups, customer/supplier service reputation, warranties and undertakings by customer/ supplier, and database for customer/su pplier.The relationship between a corporation and its suppliers is very important and can be regarded as a intangible and agile asset of the corporation. It enables corporation to meet the needs of customers at a lower cost. Owning more stable and closer relationship with suppliers than its competitors means that the corporation has gained a superior competitive position over its competitors. In other words, the applier relationship is mainly for cost control purposes. Understanding better than anyone else what customers want in a product or a service is what makes someone a business leader as opposed to a follower.Turning knowledge into new customized products and services will maximize a corporation's market value. COOK and management As a corporation undertakes a KM program, the position of chief knowledge officer (COOK) is emerging to coordinate the KM infrastructure components and KM activities. The COOK is entrusted with the role of transforming intellectual property into a bu siness value. In other words, The COOK is responsible for the overall knowledge assets of a company and for defining the area in which the knowledge capabilities of the organization should evolve, based on its ongoing mission and vision.The COOK has the ultimate corporation-wide responsibility for the controlled vocabulary and knowledge directory and tackles the difficult issues associated with cross-department or cross-corporation processes that have unique knowledge-sharing requirements. The COOK also is responsible for ensuring that an appropriate technology infrastructure is in place for effective KM. The COOK has two principle design competencies: He is a technologist or environmentalist. Breadth of career experience, familiarity with his organization, and infectious enthusiasm for his mission are characteristic of the COOK. 87 788 In this research, both the COOK and management can be considered as support not only for the other three infrastructure components, but also for the entire process of Process of knowledge management As noted in Figure 1, the process of KM consists of five activities Ð’Â ± knowledge acquisition, integration, innovation, protection, and dissemination. Knowledge acquisition In order to do something we need to track down and analyze all the information and explicit knowledge that is available.This will lead to beginning the process of knowledge acquisition via knowledge management infrastructure. We will discuss two processes through which organizations acquire information or knowledge: searching and organizational learning. Organizational information acquisition through searching can be viewed as occurring in three forms (Huber, 1991): (1) scanning; (2) focused search; and (3) performance monitoring. Scanning refers to the relatively wide-ranging sensing of the organization's external environment.Focused searching occurs when organizational members or units actively search in a narrow segment of the organization's internal or external environment, often in response to actual or suspected problems or opportunities. Performance monitoring is used to mean both focused and withdrawing sensing of the organization's effectiveness in fulfilling its own practicalities goals or the requirements of stakeholders. Noticing is the unintended acquisition of information about the organization's external environment, internal conditions, or performance.Organizational learning plays a vital role in knowledge acquisition. The need for organizations to change continuously, which was emphasized by Trucker, has long been the central concern of organizational learning theorists. Just as with individuals, organizations must always confront novel aspects of their circumstances (Cohen, 1991). It is widely agreed that learning consists of two kinds of activity. The first kind of learning is obtaining know-how in order to solve specific problems based upon existing premises.The second kind of learning is establishing new premises (paradigms, schemata, mental models, or perspectives) to override the existing ones. These two kinds of learning have been referred to as ‘ ‘Learning l† and â€Å"Learning II† (Battens, 1972) or ‘single-loop learning† and ‘double-loop learning† (Argils and Chon, 1978). From our viewpoint, knowledge acquisition and knowledge innovation certainly involve interaction between these two kinds of learning, which forms a kind of dynamic spiral. Sense (1990) recognized that many organizations suffer from ‘learning disabilities†.To cure the diseases and enhance the organization's capacity to learn, he proposed the ‘ ‘learning organization† as a practical model. He argued that the learning organization has the capacity for both generative learning (I. E. Active) and adaptive learning (I. E. Passive) as the sustainable sources of competitive advantage. Knowledge innovation In a strict sense, knowledge is created onl y by individuals. An organization cannot create knowledge without individuals. The organization supports creative individuals or provides contexts for them to create knowledge.Organizational knowledge innovation, therefore, should be understood as a process that ‘ ‘organizationally† amplifies the knowledge created by individuals and crystallizes it as a part of the knowledge network of the organization. There are actually three levels of knowledge- creating entities including individual, group, and organization. On the other hand, the conversion of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge is a key process in creating new knowledge. A knowledge-innovation spiral emerges when the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge is elevated dynamically from a lower level knowledgeableness entity to higher levels.The assumption that knowledge is created through the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge leads to four different modes of knowledge conversion. The four modes actually are four realizations: (1) from tacit knowledge to tacit knowledge, which is called colonization; (2) from tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge, or sterilization; (3) from explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge, or combination; and (4) from explicit knowledge to tacit knowledge, or naturalization. Knowledge protection Protection of knowledge is important because it protects creativity and the interests of knowledge-owners.In legal systems protection of knowledge means protection of Intellectual Property Rights (PR) such as copyrights and patents, which includes revision for a right of legal action against infringes of PR and provisions detailing persons or corporations empowered to authorize the commercial use of PR and allowing the owner of PR to charge fees for such commercial uses. In a sophisticated information technology (IT) system, knowledge will be protected by filename, by surname, by password, etc. So that knowledge can be reused when it receives a r equest and checks against the standard file-sharing users and group table to determine what rights the user has. In addition to legal and IT protection, corporations should contract with employees guarding confidential information and their tenure in case of they 789 790 leave, and should also develop other protocols and policy guidelines which recognize and promote rights of knowledge, and then implement them by staff awareness and education campaigns.Knowledge integration Latest advances of information technology can facilitate the processes such as acquiring and disseminating knowledge; however, the final burden is on people deciding how to translate this raw knowledge into actionable knowledge by means of an acute understanding of their business context. This is a internal knowledge integration process. Corporations have always had some process to synthesize their experience and integrate it with knowledge acquired from outside sources (e. G. Inventions, purchased patents).A cor poration acquires knowledge from years of experience in such things as manufacturing, sales, and service. This cumulative experience from different departments, together with information gathered from outside sources, can be integrated into the C.V. of the organization, which is a inter- sub-C.V. integration process, eventually being the base of KM infrastructure. Knowledge dissemination The most effective way to disseminate knowledge and best practice is through systematic transfer. That is, to create a knowledge-sharing environment.It is no coincidence that IT has blossomed at the same time that knowledge is becoming recognized as the most valuable of a corporation's assets. Explicit knowledge can be shared through an IT system. However, tacit knowledge is best shared through people. The more ‘valuable† the knowledge, the less sophisticated the technology that supports it. Dissemination of tacit knowledge is a social process. People must contribute knowledge to become part of a knowledge network. IT alone will not remove significant KM barriers.IT will not change people's behaviors, increase management's commitment, nor create a shared understanding of its strategy or its implementation. To show its commitment for sharing knowledge, an organization should foster the employee's willingness to share and contribute to the knowledge base. This may be the most difficult obstacle to overcome. Current performance and rewards systems exemplify an individual's personal achievement and rarely take into account an individual's contribution to or participation in formal collaboration efforts.Reward structures and performance metrics need to be created which benefit those individuals who contribute to and use a shared knowledge base. Those who excel at knowledge sharing should be recognized in public forums such as newsletters and e- mails. By effective communication, the knowledge disseminated flows to the acquirers who are searching for and learning knowled ge or information they need. Employees must be made to understand that the success and advancement in their career will be based on KM principles.KM skills must be seen to be as important to career advancement as continuing education and communication skills. C.V., business value chain, and competitive strategy As the value chain itself implies, each element of activity can create value and then all the value flows to the endpoint of the business value chain and Joins together, forming the overall value of business, which is usually expressed as a margin (see Figure 2). Probing deeply, we can find that the added value comes from the competence of element activity itself, which in turn comes from specific suburb of itself.For example, sub-C.V. in inbound logistics (IL) activity enables business to gain the inbound logistics competence, and then the added value follows. The same process occurs in other activities including operations (POP), outbound logistics (OLL), marketing and sale s (MS), and service (SE). Finally, all 791 Figure 2. Relationship between business value chain and C.V. 792 the sub-Kvass are integrated together into the whole C.V.. In the process of knowledge integration, the competence of knowledge infrastructure is gradually forming. In the end, corporation competence follows C.V..By analyzing the above, we might note that competence is after all the measurement of each sub-C.V.. That is the reason why we feel that the core competence of the corporation should be employed as the key non- uncial measure of knowledge performance. In the whole process of KM, the innovation activity fits the product differentiation strategy, which can enable corporation gains the competitive advantage, as mentioned before (see Figure 3), while reusing knowledge fits low cost strategy, by which competitive advantage gained again.In consulting corporations, it's Just like building with bricks: consultants reuse existing bricks while applying their skills to construct something new. The reuse of knowledge saves work, reduces communication costs, and allows a company to take on more projects. A case study of KM by Hansen et al. (1999) noted that, as a consequence, corporations such as Andersen Consulting and Ernst & Young have been able to grow at rates of 20 per cent or more in recent years. Ernst & Young worldwide consulting revenues, for example, increased from $1. Billion in 1995 to $2. 7 billion in 1997. Generally, managing knowledge assets should, like patents, trademarks and licenses, even add knowledge to the balance sheet. Conclusion and further discussion Knowledge is information plus causal links that help to make sense of this information. KM is a process that transforms information into knowledge. KM guides the way a corporation performs individual knowledge activities and organizes its entire knowledge value chain.It is suggested that competitive advantage grows out of the way corporations organize and perform discrete activities in the knowledge value chain, which should be measured by the core competence of the corporation. In the end, we would raise another assumption for further discussion, so that for KM to ‘ ‘open the black box† of a corporation and examine its intricate details. We assumed that the corporation should be treated more or less as a box of tricks reducing the predictable outputs of knowledge-based products and services from specific inputs of information or/and knowledge.