International businesses look to locate foreign operations in Essay

International businesses look to locate foreign operations in countries which are stable. Outline and critically discuss the criteria by which they judge whether or not a country is stable - Essay Example Even so, international expansion is a complicated matter and companies intending to enter a new country should take into consideration a lot factors. They include the economic and political environment, the individual strengths and weaknesses of the company, the opportunities and threats seen there, business and marketing strategies, and even the cultural factors that is peculiar to a particular region. This paper looks at these factors and will provide a detailed review with regard to its importance and relevance in international expansion strategies. It will establish a system by which companies can assess whether a market is attractive and stable. The focus will be on two countries namely China and Dubai, to provide specific applications of theory and literature on this area. Specific factors influencing international target markets: The increase in globalization and free trade has now resulted in more and more companies looking to expand to overseas markets. Domestic competition is another factor the drives these companies to look for new markets. There are many factors (as mentioned above) that influence decision making by companies as to which market they should enter. â€Å"While only a few decades ago these external aspects were seen as centring on the home country of the business, the environmental horizon of business has widened to take in a host of international forces, which interact with national and local factors† (Morrison 2002, p 2). Morrison has provided a broad overview of the factors that influence international business as follows. The organization is pictured at the core of the diagram which shows the various forces that act on it in a domestic and international environment. The additional forces that act on it in an international setting are the nation-state, region, and world ones. It can be seen that economic, socio/cultural, legal, technical and political forces are common to both domestic and international

Overrepresentation of aboriginal youth in the canadian criminal Thesis

Overrepresentation of aboriginal youth in the canadian criminal justice system - Thesis Example uths depend on social aid, statistics indicate that on-reserve Aboriginal individuals that rely relying on social assistance comprise of 35% of the entire Aboriginal youths; this is a high rate in relation to the 5% of the Canadian population which depends on social support (Sprott and Doob 28). This statistic is a direct reflection of the high levels of on-reserve Aboriginal youths that depend on the social securities. This describes the high crime rates experienced among the on-reserve Aboriginal youth in relation to the off-reserve aboriginal youth. This aspect continues to contribute to the overrepresentation of the Aboriginal youths in the Canadian Criminal Justice System. In addition, there is a likelihood of readmitting an aboriginal youth-delinquent to a federal custody more than a non-Aboriginal youth. The overrepresentation of the Aboriginal youths is also reinforced by the fact there have been inadequate improvement of the general circumstances of the indigenous youths in the past two decades despite various partnerships, reports, reviews and various strategies. As a result, Canada continues to witness the overrepresentation of the Canadian Criminal Justice System. Additionally, the growth rate of the aboriginal population has grown significantly in relation to that of the non-Aboriginal between 1995 and 2006 (Munch 41). This reflects the current high number of the Aboriginal youths experiencing unemployment and engagement in drug abuse. Statistically, the Aboriginal population grew by 45% in relation to that of eight-percent among the non-indigenous group (Munch 33). For instance, the Metris growth number was approximately 389,000 while that of Inuit was about 50,000. On the other hand, the First Nations’ growth number was approximated at 698,000 (Sprott and Doob, 34). These figures represent the present number of aboriginal youths; as a result of high levels of social inequity between the aboriginal and non-aboriginal youths, the high number of

Gender Differences Within The Education System

Gender Differences Within The Education System The Education System consists of all school types, from pre-schools to universities all over the world. There are many different types of gender differences within the education system including: academic, social, emotional and behavioural. Academic gender differences are one of the most highly researched topics within the educational system. Within this essay I will discuss the widening gap between gender and achievement, and try to explain why these differences may be apparent, and how to change them. Research shows that academic gender differences are evident from 3years of age. Statistics from the Foundation Stage Profile Results for England for 2007-08 show that girls outperform boys in all 13 assessment scales. The main gap areas are social development (10% difference between genders) emotional development (11%) linking sounds and letters (11%) writing (18%) reading (11%) creative development (14%) (Steve Maynard, Gender differences in school, 2008) During the 70s when academic achievement was being investigated research was showing that girls where underachieving, they did less well in GCE exams, left school earlier than boys and were less likely to go to university. The main view was that gender differences were natural and unalterable, known as the Biological Deterministic approach. This may suggest why boys and girls were treated differently within the education system, as their adult roles were different I.e. men go out to work and women are home-makers, therefore not needing qualifications. However, if this is the case it is important to address why research within the past decade, evidently shows an increasing gender achievement gap with male students lagging behind females on a number of important indicators of school success. (Clark. M, Flower. K, Walton. J, Oakley. E., 2008). It could be argued that this is down to the changing views of society, along with the introduction of a compulsory national curriculum where both girls and boys where required to take foreign languages, English, sciences and maths. According to Wilkinson (1994) the Genderquake has a major part to play in the success of women within education today. He states that fundamental changes in attitudes towards female roles in society, have lead women to have a more positive attitude towards education as a means of improving their chances of success at work. A report from the Rowntree Foundation (2007) found that academic gender differences can continue up to age 16, showing that boys outnumber girls by 20% as low achievers at GCSE. Van Houtte (2004) suggests this may be due to the fact that males have a less study orientated culture that females. This would explain why achievement is higher in vocational and technical courses such as business studies, IT, geography (where more boys enter) and in separate sciences a more hands on approach to learning in males than females. Berg and Klinger (2009) found that subject performance is often associated with gender-specific stereotypes, and self-perceptions such as reading for girls and maths for boys. This may explain why one of the only academic subjects males seem to have out performed girls in is mathematics. Many studies show that mathematical achievement is a male dominated subject. A study in 2008, (Van de gaer, Pustjens, Van Damme. De Munter.) amongst Flemish students showed that boys performance in maths is linked to their participation within that subject boys participate in maths classes more than girls. Further support for the above points comes from (Kyong Hee Chee, 2005) whose analysis indicated that women are more likely to possess an academic ethic than men. They also found that women tend to have higher Grade Point Averages (GPAs). They found GPAs to be positively associated with active participation in extra-curricular groups and clubs, and GPA was negatively related to employment for men. These results pose the question in why there is such a large gap in achievement between genders? Experts say that the reason for this may be down to the difference in nature and nurturing between girls and boys. Genetic theories state that females excel in language based subjects due to their greater verbal and reasoning abilities, where as males have a high level of innate spatial ability, increasing their understanding of shape and form. As girls start to talk, read (read more often) and develop fine motor skills earlier than boys, they also progress quicker and develop more positive attitudes, they are generally better equipped for the start of formal schooling than boys. Once in school, girls tend to be more task-focused more methodical and conscientious, and far better at tackling coursework. Boys tend to be action-oriented impatient, imaginative, and inclined to take risks. They develop fine motor skills later than girls, and their learning and motivational skills are different. (Duffy, M. 2002) There have been many discussions about how to close the gap between gender and achievement. This has included changing the ways that children learn, and it has been suggested that more male teachers in primary schools could help boys within their achievement. It has been argued that women teachers talk to much causing boys to switch-off. Celia Lashlie, author of Hell Be Okay states that women teachers need to talk in lower pitches when teaching and use more non-verbal cues like males do. Male can be seen as positive role models towards education teachers can break down assumptions such as reading is for girls.(Times Educational Supplement) There are many campaigns in place to encourage boys to read, such as Welsh rugby players promoting reading within schools and libraries. Maloney (2002) states that boys like to read books that reflect themselves and who they aspire to be and appeal to their sense of humour. Interestingly,boys enjoy looking at newspapers, magazines and comic books but do not consider this reading, as these materials arent valued in school. It is therefore important that to encourage reading and literacy skills, schools need to provide enough material for boys to want to read. The most recent idea, that supports previous research findings is too change assessments to suit each of the genders needs. AQA, the UKs largest school exam board, propose developing gender-specific alternatives, that are tailor made for girls and boys, to GCSEs. It has been suggested that these new key-stage 4 qualifications in English, Maths and Science could be taught as early as 2011, with coursework options for girls and more traditional exams aimed at boys. AQAs director of curriculum and assessment, said: We could offer a route for boys that is very different to a route for girls. Girls tend to perform better with coursework while boys do better with end-of-year exams. So we are pursuing that in science to see if we could have an option in science where we might have a straightforward examination for boys but a possibility of having a coursework option for girls. (Bill Alexander 2010, TES). Even though the research within this essay often has a large sample size, and seems to have the same effect across cultures, It has been argued that, although research has shown that by the age of seven, some boys are almost two and a half years behind their brightest female class mates, gender is only a small part of academic gender gap, and factors such as poverty, ethnicity and birth season have a larger effect on a childs academic achievement. The analysis conducted in 2000, revealed that the most disadvantaged pupils are male from a poor, ethnic-minority background, born in the summer, never went to nursery and spent their primary years moving from school to school. These children were more than two years behind more socially-advantaged, winter-born, female classmates. (Birminghams Education Authority) Also, biological theories for gender differences within education, can be strongly criticised. Genetic explanation can not explain how gender differences have narrowed between mathematics and science based subjects since the 1980s. Arguably, if these differences were genetic they would be expected to remain constant. Kelly (1982) suggests that the types of toys children play with can be attributed to the differences in spatiality ability. Further support for this point comes from Sharpe (1976), who argues that childhood socialization plays a large part in masculine and feminine identity roles. This may suggest why women tended to stick to feminine subjects such as home economics, and art other than science and technology, which are seen masculine. This provides further support for the views of the Gender-quake and the changing roles of women within society, henceforth the success of females academic achievement over males. In conclusion, there are many reasons for academic gender differences within the education system, including the stereotypes and the views of gender roles within society. In order to close the gap that seems to be continuously growing, changing ways in which teaching is approached seems to be a logical solution. This includes the encouraging boys to read, as it has been suggested that due to a lack of reading boys are held back in their writing skills. changing the ways in which assessment is carried out, may be more beneficial. (Times Educational Supplement) As well as tailoring assessments to suit the needs of each gender, especially as boys seem to better in exams, especially those that are multiple choice due to their nature of risk-taking behaviour (Ramos, and Lambating, 1996) where as girls are more likely to excel in coursework . Another option is also allowing more hands on and vocational subjects onto the curriculum. In order to see if these options take effect, it is important for researchers to keep up to date with the current operations of the educational system and keep carrying out their research. Words: 1607.

Chinese Education Essay -- China Educating School History Essays

Chinese Education   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Education system in China although different than America’s has many good qualities. The view of Education in China has changed dramatically over the last forty years; it has gone from there being no real system to one that is held up to be one of the best in the world. In this paper I will go through the history of Chinese education and show how much it truly has changed. I will also look at how it is now and what China can expect for its future.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1949 The People’s Republic of China was formed by the Communist party. This happened after much struggle between the communists and the nationalists. The leader of the communist party and the new People’s Republic was Mao Zedong. When the communists took over China they implemented many new ideas that were supposed to bring China up to speed in regards to the industrial development. He started the five year plan in which the people and government of China was to focus on the development of industry and to challenge the old ways of thinking. The old ways were called â€Å"the four olds† these were habits, ideas, customs, and cultures. After three years Mao asked for feedback of all of the changes that had been occurring, this was called â€Å"The Hundred Flowers Campaign†. The people didn’t all like what had been happening; especially the educated and they gave bad feedback to Mao. He decided to purge the society of these †Å"poisonous weeds† as he called the educated because they challenged his authority. At this time all education was focused on redness which is the communist ideology. This is when the battle of the government verses the educated began and continued for many years. For many years the different plans that Mao thought of were not as successful as he had hoped. In 1959 Mao Zedong stepped down as the nation’s leader but remained as the communist’s party leader. He did this in order to take responsibility for the failures of the Great Leap Forward, and the other problems that had been caused under his leadership. Then in 1965 Mao took control of the government once again and this is when he established the Proletariat Cultural Revolution. Mao believed that the educated people were to blame for the many problems of China, he thought they hindered Marxism. So from 1966 to 1976 the entire education system was closed down in order to fix the problems caused and to focus m... ...tem different than the American Education system are mostly small things but there are some larger differences as well. Some of the small differences are that in China the students attend school six days a week, and that they have vacations in July and August. Some of the larger differences are that standardized tests are considered more important than grades when being considered for colleges, and that children are not supposed to ask questions in class they are only supposed to listen to lectures. In America questions are considered to be one of the major keys to understanding what you are learning. Questions are encouraged to broaden the thoughts of not only the students but also possibly the teachers as well. There are reasons that the Chinese education system is the way that it is and that is their choice to keep it that way. The government has major control over what is taught in schools and this effects what happens in them and what is learned. In America a school’s curriculum are made up by the local government and so it can vary from state to state. This is not to say that American education is right and China’s education is wrong I am just pointing out the differences.

Creating a database of computer games Essay

I am creating a database of computer games. It is intended to both aid the customer in choosing which game to purchase, if any. It is also intended to aid the staff of the store by easily providing them with any information that they need for whatever reason (for example helping a customer with an enquiry). They have the problems of there being a lot of different computer games available on a number of different ‘platforms’ (different hardware systems), this means that it will either take a long time for a customer to search through all of the games available to them and to find the look of one that they like, or they cannot see all the games that are in stock, for instance there could be some in the stock room that they do not know about. These problems all currently exist in the shop and there is no way of customers to know the information they require, they just have to ask members of staff. This database will help them, as it will display all the games in the shop and the stock room. It will also display the rating given to the game by a reputable independent magazine for that format (CUBE in this case). It will also display a hyperlink to a review for the game, so that they can find out if the game is suitable to their tastes. In this case it takes them to totalgames. net, an affiliate of CUBE magazine, so the reviews are reliable and coincide with the rating. I chose to use a database software package called Microsoft Access because it allows me to satisfy all the requirements of the product I am working on. It allows me to easily enter the data that I have collected in the form Of a table, it then allows me to create queries so that the user can easily sift through all the data and find the information that they require. It also allows forms to be made, which provide an easy and simple user interface, so that all the functions that the user will require are available to them, and they need not go into any other part of the program. It also allows you to create reports and they can then be printed easily. These are all functions that can be performed in a database but not other software such as a spreadsheet or a Word Processor. Analysis I collected my data from a number of different sources; these include a magazine, which has a directory in the back to allow me to collect a lot of the data which I require (see pages and ) . I also used the website http://www. totalgames. net which has a large database of reviews for games, which allowed me to both provide a direct link to a full and comprehensive review for most of the games listed in my database, as well as allowing me to obtain another review score so as to be able to get an average. I also collected data such as prices for the games (which I could not obtain from the other sources) in the database from shops such as GAME(r). I collected the data from the shops using my data capture form, of which a blank example can be found on page and the completed example may be found on page. I validated my data in a number of ways. I created a couple of input masks so that information could not be entered incorrectly; fig 1. 2 displays an error that was displayed if you entered text in a numeric field. Another one was to just check all entries by proof reading them, both as I entered them and then reading through again after entering them. The second was to run a spell check, to pick up on any spelling anomalies and allow me to check the manually. This picked up on a couple of mistakes which I was able to edit (see fig 1. 1 below).

Deception Point Page 6

As the PaveHawk settled onto the runway beside the President's plane, Rachel now understood the references to Air Force One being the commander-in-chief's â€Å"portable home court advantage.† The machine was an intimidating sight. When the President flew to other countries to meet heads of state, he often requested – for security purposes – that the meeting take place on the runway aboard his jet. Although some of the motives were security, certainly another incentive was to gain a negotiating edge through raw intimidation. A visit to Air Force One was far more intimidating than any trip to the White House. The six-foot-high letters along the fuselage trumpeted â€Å"UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.† A female English cabinet member had once accused President Nixon of â€Å"waving his manhood in her face† when he asked her to join him aboard Air Force One. Later the crew jokingly nicknamed the plane â€Å"Big Dick.† â€Å"Ms. Sexton?† A blazer-clad Secret Serviceman materialized outside the chopper and opened the door for her. â€Å"The President is waiting for you.† Rachel got out of the chopper and gazed up the steep gangway at the bulging hull. Into the flying phallus. She had once heard the flying â€Å"Oval Office† had over four thousand square feet of interior floor space, including four separate private sleeping quarters, berths for a twenty-six-member flight crew, and two galleys capable of providing food for fifty people. Climbing the stairway, Rachel felt the Secret Serviceman on her heels, urging her upward. High above, the cabin door stood open like a tiny puncture wound on the side of a gargantuan silver whale. She moved toward the darkened entryway and felt her confidence starting to ebb. Easy, Rachel. It's just a plane. On the landing, the Secret Serviceman politely took her arm and guided her into a surprisingly narrow corridor. They turned right, walked a short distance, and emerged into a luxurious and spacious cabin. Rachel immediately recognized it from photographs. â€Å"Wait here,† the serviceman said, and he disappeared. Rachel stood alone in Air Force One's famous wood-paneled fore cabin. This was the room used for meetings, entertaining dignitaries, and, apparently, for scaring the hell out of first-time passengers. The room spanned the entire width of the plane, as did its thick tan carpeting. The furnishings were impeccable – cordovan leather armchairs around a bird's-eye maple meeting table, burnished brass floor lamps beside a continental sofa, and hand-etched crystal glassware on a mahogany wet bar. Supposedly, Boeing designers had carefully laid out this fore cabin to provide passengers with â€Å"a sense of order mixed with tranquility.† Tranquility, however, was the last thing Rachel Sexton was feeling at the moment. The only thing she could think of was the number of world leaders who had sat in this very room and made decisions that shaped the world. Everything about this room said power, from the faint aroma of fine pipe tobacco to the ubiquitous presidential seal. The eagle clasping the arrows and olive branches was embroidered on throw pillows, carved into the ice bucket, and even printed on the cork coasters on the bar. Rachel picked up a coaster and examined it. â€Å"Stealing souvenirs already?† a deep voice asked behind her. Startled, Rachel wheeled, dropping the coaster on the floor. She knelt awkwardly to retrieve it. As she grasped the coaster, she turned to see the President of the United States gazing down at her with an amused grin. â€Å"I'm not royalty, Ms. Sexton. There's really no need to kneel.† 7 Senator Sedgewick Sexton savored the privacy of his Lincoln stretch limousine as it snaked through Washington's morning traffic toward his office. Across from him, Gabrielle Ashe, his twenty-four-year-old personal assistant, read him his daily schedule. Sexton was barely listening. I love Washington, he thought, admiring the assistant's perfect shape beneath her cashmere sweater. Power is the greatest aphrodisiac of all†¦ and it brings women like this to D.C. in droves. Gabrielle was a New York Ivy Leaguer with dreams of being a senator herself one day. She'll make it too, Sexton thought. She was incredible-looking and sharp as a whip. Above all, she understood the rules of the game. Gabrielle Ashe was black, but her tawny coloring was more of a deep cinnamon or mahogany, the kind of comfortable in-between that Sexton knew bleeding heart â€Å"whites† could endorse without feeling like they were giving away the farm. Sexton described Gabrielle to his cronies as Halle Berry's looks with Hillary Clinton's brains and ambition, although sometimes he thought even that was an understatement. Gabrielle had been a tremendous asset to his campaign since he'd promoted her to his personal campaign assistant three months ago. And to top it all off, she was working for free. Her compensation for a sixteen-hour workday was learning the ropes in the trenches with a seasoned politician. Of course, Sexton gloated, I've persuaded her to do a bit more than just work. After promoting Gabrielle, Sexton had invited her to a late night â€Å"orientation session† in his private office. As expected, his young assistant arrived starstruck and eager to please. With a slow-moving patience mastered over decades, Sexton worked his magic†¦ building up Gabrielle's trust, carefully stripping away her inhibitions, exhibiting tantalizing control, and finally seducing her right there in his office. Sexton had little doubt the encounter had been one of the most sexually gratifying experiences of the young woman's life, and yet, in the light of the day, Gabrielle clearly regretted the indiscretion. Embarrassed, she offered to resign. Sexton refused. Gabrielle stayed on, but she made her intentions very clear. The relationship had been strictly business ever since. Gabrielle's pouty lips were still moving. â€Å"†¦ don't want you to be lackadaisical going into this CNN debate this afternoon. We still don't know who the White House is sending as opposition. You'll want to peruse these notes I typed.† She handed him a folder. Sexton took the folder, savoring the scent of her perfume mixed with the plush leather seats. â€Å"You aren't listening,† she said. â€Å"Certainly am.† He grinned. â€Å"Forget about this CNN debate. Worst case scenario, the White House snubs me by sending some low-level campaign intern. Best case scenario, they send a bigwig, and I eat him for lunch.† Gabrielle frowned. â€Å"Fine. I've included a list of the most probable hostile topics in your notes.† â€Å"The usual suspects no doubt.† â€Å"With one new entry. I think you might face some hostile backlash from the gay community for your comments last night on Larry King.† Sexton shrugged, barely listening. â€Å"Right. The same-sex marriage thing.† Gabrielle gave him a disapproving look. â€Å"You did come out against it pretty strongly.† Same-sex marriages, Sexton thought in disgust. If it were up to me, the faggots wouldn't even have the right to vote. â€Å"Okay, I'll turn it down a notch.† â€Å"Good. You've been pushing the envelope a bit on some of these hot topics lately. Don't get cocky. The public can turn in an instant. You're gaining now, and you have momentum. Just ride it out. There's no need to hit the ball out of the park today. Just keep it in play.† â€Å"Any news from the White House?† Gabrielle looked pleasantly baffled. â€Å"Continued silence. It's official; your opponent has become the ‘Invisible Man.'† Sexton could barely believe his good fortune lately. For months, the President had been working hard on the campaign trail. Then suddenly, a week ago, he had locked himself in the Oval Office, and nobody had seen or heard from him since. It was as if the President simply could not face Sexton's groundswell of voter support.