International business activities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International business activities - Essay Example ic transaction processes and when they unfold on the international, cross-cultural level, they become even more challenging (Neslin and Greenhalgh, 1983; Gulbro and Herbig, 1994; Gilsdorf, 1997; Foroughi, 1998; Kumar, Markeset and Kumar, 2005). This is largely because, within the context of IB, negotiations move from the level of reaching an agreement between individuals who have comparable world views to reaching a compromise between cultures whose representatives may have divergent world views, including conflicting values (Bjerke, 2006). The implication here is that IB paradigms must be culturally sensitive and adaptable, on the one hand, and culturally-informed, on the other (Bjerke, 2006). Turning to TQM, one finds that it embrace cultural sensitivity as a direct outcome of its consumer focus (Collins, 2005). The paradigm itself is premised on the supposition that if corporations are to succeed in diverse cultural environments and to successfully engage in cross-cultural negotia tions, they have to embrace the culture of the environment in question, be it of their consumers or their business partners, and redefine themselves as insiders, rather than outsiders (Collins, 2005; Bjerke, 2006). Its embrace of sociology, therefore, marks TQM as highly well-suited to international businesses and, as a root discipline, is fundamental to the success of IB. As international business unfolds within the context of a global, as opposed to a national economy, international economics emerges as another fundamental root discipline. IB scholars acknowledge the presence of a synergetic and dynamic relationship between international economics and international business. On the one hand, IB is inextricably dependant on the health of the global economy for its own development,... International business activities International business, which has both been facilitated by and imposed upon firms by the advent of globalization, may be briefly defined as the global exchange of goods and services, or cross border economic transactions. As a number of scholars have quite rightly pointed out, international business is the internationalization and the concomitant expansion of the scope of traditional business activities. Within this context, it may also be defined as a natural evolution in the development of the scope of business activities, from the intra-tribal to the inter-tribal, from the intra-township to the inter-township and from the national to the international (Wiles and Wiles, 2005; Carbaugh, 2005; Marx, 2006; Sundaram and Black, 2007). The implication here is that while international business is founded upon the same precepts and principles of traditional/national business and, accordingly, withstands adherence to the same management paradigms, the significant expansion of its parameters and sphere of activities necessitates the embrace of sociology, international economics, politics and linguistics, to name but a few disciplines. On the basis of the foregoing discussion, TQM emerged as an ideal international business paradigm, largely because it embraces and addresses IB’s concerns. This was demonstrated through reference to three of its root disciplines, international economics, sociology and organizational theory.

Depression Essay Example for Free

Depression Essay While similar, unipolar depression and bipolar disorder cause different struggles in individuals who have them. Unipolar depression is characterized only by bouts of depression symptoms, while people with bipolar disorder experience the same symptoms in combination with cycles of mania. There are many biological and psychological theories of the causes of unipolar depression, but bipolar disorder has for the most part been studied biologically. Finally, unipolar depression can be treated with medication, therapy, or a combination of both, but bipolar disorder cannot be successfully be treated with psychotherapy alone. Unipolar depression has many possible underlying causes. First, stressful events often occur before an individual experiences unipolar depression. Biological factors include genetics, biochemical factors, brain anatomy, and brain circuits. Upon examination of the family tree of individuals who suffer from unipolar disorder, researchers found that up to 20% of their family struggled with it as well in comparison to 10% of the general population, showing a genetic relationship. Twin studies have shown a 46% incidence of unipolar depression in an identical twin whose sibling suffered from unipolar depression, and only a 20% incidence in fraternal twins, and several genes have been associated with the occurrence of the disorder. The first biochemical factor playing a part in unipolar depression is low activity of the neurotransmitter chemicals norepinephrine and serotonin. Overproduction of the hormone cortisol, normally produced during stressful situations, has also been linked to unipolar depression, along with some tentative theories about chemical deficiencies within neurons. The brain anatomy factors beginning to be seen as influencing unipolar depression are the dysfunction of brain circuits involving the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and Brodmann Area 25. First of the psychological factors influencing unipolar depression is that influenced by Freud and Abraham: it occurs when relationships leave an individual feeling unsafe and insecure. Next, the dwindling of positive rewards in life may reduce constructive behaviors, causing a circle that may be a factor in unipolar depression. Third, viewing events in negative ways may lead to having this disorder. Finally, gender, cultural, and ethnic background may also play a part in the development of unipolar depression. Much of the research into the causes for bipolar disorder is biological. Low serotonin combined with low norepinephrine is thought to cause unipolar depression, but low serotonin and norepinephrine over activity has been linked to bipolar disorder. Transportation of ions in the brain happening too quickly and slowly is theorized to cause depression and mania, and abnormal brain structures such as a small basal ganglia or cerebellum has been connected to bipolar disorder. Finally, family pedigree and genetic linkage studies have shown a relationship between genetics and a predisposition to developing bipolar disorder. Unipolar depression and bipolar disorder are both mood disorders, however individuals suffering from them exhibit different symptoms. Unipolar depression is when an individual only suffers from depression, and they return to a nearly normal mood when it lifts. Symptoms can range from moderate to severe, although the moderate symptoms may still not allow the individual to experience much pleasure. Crying spells often result from unipolar depression because of the feelings of being miserable, empty, and humiliated. Sense of humor reduces and it becomes difficult to experience pleasure, sometimes becoming incapable of experiencing pleasure at all. Unipolar depression can also cause anxiety, anger, and agitation. Motivational symptoms include lack of desire to complete everyday tasks, and a reduced interest in life and desire to commit suicide are common. Depressed people may additionally become less active and productive, stay in bed, speak more slowly, spend more time alone, and hold extremely negative views of themselves. Unipolar depression can cause physical symptoms, the most common being a reduction of appetite and sleep. Those with bipolar disorder experience the same symptoms as unipolar depression during their depressive periods, but also experience manic periods bring a whole new set of symptoms. The first symptom of mania is having feelings that are not proportional to the triggering event. Next, manic episodes bring about a need for excitement. Many projects may get started with little of them finished, and there is no awareness of the overwhelming nature of social style. Behavior during a manic episode often involves quick movements, loud speech, and odd behavior such as giving money to strangers or getting involved in dangerous activities. Finally, mania also causes poor judgment and planning, inflated self-esteem, and extreme energy. Biological treatments for unipolar depression include electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, antidepressant drugs, and brain stimulation. ECT delivers volts of electricity through the brain, causing brain seizures that can be therapeutic. MAO inhibitors are an example of antidepressant drugs used to treat unipolar depression; they block the breakdown of norepinephrine, increasing its activity and reducing symptoms. Tricyclics block the neuron reuptake process, increasing neurotransmitter activity, and SSRI’s can increase serotonin and norepinephrine activity. Vagus nerve stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and deep brain stimulation are all brain stimulation techniques also used to treat unipolar depression. Psychodynamic treatments for unipolar depression include various methods of free association, and behavior treatments add pleasurable activities to a client’s life, rewards pleasurable events, and trains clients in social skills. Cognitive treatment is a cognitive-behavioral therapy, using behavioral methods in combination with trying to change negative thinking. Finally, sociocultural treatments include interpersonal therapy, couple therapy, and cultural-sensitive approaches. Treatment for bipolar disorder includes the use of lithium, other mood stabilizers, and adjunctive psychotherapy. Lithium and other mood stabilizers are more effective in treating manic episodes, though they also treat depressive episodes. However, exactly how they work is not fully known. Antidepressants can be used in combination with the mood stabilizers, but there is â€Å"an unfavorable cost/benefit ratio for antidepressant treatment of bipolar depression† when used alone. (S, Rosenquist, Ko, Baldassano, 2004). Psychotherapy is used in addition to mood stabilizing medication to increase the likelihood of their success, but it is rarely effective as a treatment on its own. In conclusion, bipolar disorder is like an extended version of unipolar depression, as those with bipolar disorder experience depressive symptoms in addition to their episodes of manic symptoms. There is not one blanket cause for either disorder; rather each individual case must be evaluated separately and receive its own treatment plan. Unipolar depression has more treatment options because therapy or medication is not always required, but a combination of medication and therapy is usually most successful in treating both bipolar disorder and unipolar depression.

The Controversy at No Gun Ri :: Korean War No Gun Ri Essays

The sensitive subject of whether the 7th Calvary killed innocent men, women, and children at No Gun Ri arose years after the end of the Korean War. Some sources argue that the killings were unprovoked, while others claim that the Communist enemy was mixed within the refugee lines. One source claims the killings numbered over 350 innocent people and others claim it was a mere 35. Although there is a major discrepancy in the number of civilians killed, the fact that innocent men, women, and children were murdered does not disappear. Therefore, whether the casualties were 35 or 350, the United States army engaged in a massacre of innocent Korean refugees. Therefore, the killings at No Gun Ri can not be denied, whether they casualty count is high or low. Some people can not fathom how the United States military could engage in such an action. However â€Å"Experts cite an absence of discipline and experience among the Americans, who had been badly shocked by the North Korean assault,† (Thompson, par. 7) as an explanation of why this could happen. This is not an uncommon theme when speaking of the soldier of the Korean War. Rudy Tomedi cites several examples of people who were never in the infantry being forced to become an infantryman. He uses the example of Bob Roy who states â€Å"Nine months before I’d been in the Military Police. M Company was originally an MP unit. Then one day they came around and said, ‘All right, you’re all in the infantry’† (Tomedi, 3). If this type of assignment was not uncommon during the Korean War, it is highly possible that those at No Gun Ri were just as unprepared to fight as Bob Roy was. If they were unprepared it is also quite possible that the soldiers panicked. General Ridgeway, who rose to be in command of the entire UN forces, claims that the United States’ forces were outnumbered, with low morale, and spread extremely thin. He claims â€Å"Every command post I visited game me the same sense of lost confidence and lack of spirit†¦It was not their doing that had brought them far understrength to this unfortunate country with major shortages in weaponry and insufficient clothing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ridgeway, 87). With a military force in such bad shape the possibilities of it acting irrationally is very high.

Helping Students Find a Purpose for Their Education Essay

It has been my observation that many of my best students became intrinsically motivated to put more effort into their education after they have decided on a career purpose. A work or career purpose or mission answers the following question: How do I want my career to benefit others? It is also important to identify who (the population) we want to benefit. An example of a work purpose statement is, â€Å"I want to help those who are sick or injured to heal and rehabilitate. † This statement does not contain a career title, but it provides guidance for exploring a variety of careers that can fulfill this purpose. For example a student with this purpose could explore a variety of careers such as nurse, doctor, physical therapist, nutritionist, athletic trainer, fitness trainer, engineer or inventor of products for persons with disabilities, etc. The career that they choose will depend on their capability and willingness to acquire the necessary skills, education, training and credentials. Ideally the career choice will be one that uses their best talents and is one they will enjoy doing. Do you ever share with students why you chose to work in the field of education? Students need to learn about different careers from adults who work in different career fields and to hear what motivated them to make their career choices. I teach college success courses and I used to wait until the end of my courses to get into career development, exploration and planning. Students did not think about a career purpose until the last week or two of my courses. Recently I started covering these ideas in the second week of my courses so that students would have a clear direction for their education much sooner. Having a career purpose can make their education relevant and is likely to generate the intrinsic motivation to study and learn. Students need to be provided with opportunities for career guidance from counselors, teachers and professors in high school and college. You do not need to be teaching college or career success courses to do this, but can weave in a few questions and ideas into other courses. Here are a few questions you can ask your students so that they can begin a process of self-reflection about their career purpose: 1. What purpose do you want to accomplish in your career? 2. What benefits do you want others to receive as a result of the work you do? 3. What specific populations of people do you want to help? 4. How do you want to contribute and make a positive difference for others? 5. If you were wealthy and chose to work what would you do? 6. What problem or need in the world would you most like to fill or solve? 7. If you knew you could not fail what type of work would you do? 8. What are some natural talents you would like to develop and use in a career to fulfill your work purpose? When we expect students who lack self-knowledge and a work purpose to choose a major and career, we are putting the cart before the horse. Identifying a purpose first will guide students into best career choices. If we help students to determine an appropriate career goal then they will also have a purpose for pursuing a good education

Contact Information Essay

Charlotte, NC (January 1, 2013) – Johnson C. Smith University is having a Whitney Houston tribute on February 20, 2013. The school choir along with President Carter is organizing a beautiful tribute on campus. The tribute will be held in Biddle auditorium on that Wednesday. President Carter emailed students to find out who wanted to volunteer for the event and receive community service hours. Johnson C. Smith University will be selling tickets as well. The prices are 2$ for JCSU students, and 5$ for everyone else. Special guests will be Mariah Carey, Brand, and Chris Brown. The event has been posted in local charlotte area newspapers and it will also be discussed on the local news. President Carter said â€Å"This event is a must see, I think myself and everyone who helped did an awesome job. I suggest everyone come out and see this tribute†. After the event Johnson C. Smith University will have food sponsored by FDY food services. The food is free after admission and drinks are free as well. There will also be an autograph signing from the special guests after the event. Special guest Mariah Carey says â€Å"It’s always a pleasure doing events like this. Anytime I can help, and give back, I’m always willing to†.

Frank Gehry, Controversial Canadian-American Architect

Frank Gehry, Controversial Canadian-American Architect Inventive and irreverent architect Frank O. Gehry (born February 28, 1929) changed the face of architecture with his artistic designs realized with high-tech software. Gehry has been surrounded by controversy for most of his career. Using unorthodox materials like corrugated metal, chain link, and titanium, Gehry has created unexpected, twisted forms that break conventions of building design. His work has been called radical, playful, organic, and sensual. Fast Facts: Frank Gehry Known For: Award-winning, controversial architectAlso Known As: Owen Gehry, Ephraim Owen Goldberg, Frank O. GehryBorn: February 28, 1929 in Toronto, Ontario, CanadaParents: Sadie Thelma (nà ©e Kaplanski/Caplan) and Irving GoldbergEducation: University of Southern Californias School of Architecture, Harvard UniversityAwards and Honors:  Presidential Medal of Freedom, J. Paul Getty Medal, Harvard Arts Medal, Order of Charlemagne; honorary degrees from many universities, including Oxford, Yale, and PrincetonSpouse(s): Anita Snyder,  Berta Isabel AguileraChildren: Alejandro, Samuel, Leslie, BrinaNotable Quote: For me, every day is a new thing. I approach each project with a new insecurity, almost like the first project I ever did. And I get the sweats. I go in and start working, Im not sure where Im going. If I knew where I was going I wouldnt do it. Early Life As a teenager in 1947, Goldberg moved from Canada to Southern California with his Polish-Russian parents. He chose U.S. citizenship when he turned 21. He was traditionally educated at Los Angeles City College and the University of Southern California (USC), with an architecture degree completed in 1954. Frank Goldberg changed his name to Frank Gehry in 1954. This move was encouraged by his first wife, who believed a less-Jewish-sounding name would be easier for their children and better for his career. Gehry served in the U.S. Army from 1954–1956. He then studied city planning on the G.I Bill for one year at Harvard Graduate School of Design before returning to southern California with his family. He went on to reestablish a working relationship with Austria-born architect Victor Gruen, with whom Gehry had worked at USC. After a stint in Paris, Gehry again returned to California and established his Los Angeles-area practice in 1962. From 1952–1966, the architect was married to Anita Snyder, with whom he has two daughters. Gehry divorced Snyder and married Berta Isabel Aguilera in 1975. The Santa Monica house he remodeled for Berta and their two sons has become the stuff of legends. Career Beginnings Early in his career, Frank Gehry designed houses inspired by modern architects such as Richard Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright. Gehrys admiration of Louis Kahns work influenced his 1965 box-like design of the Danziger House, a studio/residence for designer Lou Danziger. With this work, Gehry started to get noticed as an architect. The 1967 Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, was the first Gehry structure reviewed by The New York Times. The 1978 remodeling of a 1920s-era bungalow in Santa Monica put Gehry and his new familys private home on the map. As his career expanded, Gehry became known for massive, iconoclastic projects that attracted attention and controversy. The Gehry architecture portfolio includes unique structures such as the 1991 Chiat/Day Binoculars Building in Venice, California, and the 2014 Louis Vuitton Foundation Museum in Paris, France. His most famous museum is the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain, the 1997 spectacle that gave Gehrys career its final boost.  The iconic Bilbao architecture was constructed with thin sheets of titanium, and it continues to draw fascinated tourists. Color has been added to Gehrys metal exteriors, exemplified by the 2000 Experience Music Project (EMP), now called the Museum of Pop Culture, in Seattle, Washington. Gehrys projects build on one another, and after the Bilbao museum opened to great acclaim, his clients wanted that same look. His most famous concert hall is arguably the 2004 Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, California. He began visualizing with a stone facade in 1989, but the success of the Guggenheim in Spain inspired the California patrons to want what Bilbao had. Gehry is a great fan of music and he has taken on a number of different concert hall projects. Examples include the small Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in 2001 at Annandale-on-Hudson in New York, the open-air Jay Pritzker Music Pavillion in 2004 in Chicago, Illinois, and the rather sedate 2011 New World Symphony Center in Miami Beach, Florida. Notable Work Many of Gehrys buildings have become tourist attractions, drawing visitors from around the world. University buildings by Gehry include the 2004 MIT Stata Complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the 2015 Dr. Chau Chak Wing Building at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Gehrys first building in Australia. Commercial buildings in New York City include the 2007 IAC Building and the 2011 residential tower called New York By Gehry. Health-related projects include the 2010 Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Nevada, as well as the 2003 Maggies Centre in Dundee, Scotland. Furniture: Gehry had success in the 1970s with his line of Easy Edges chairs made from bent laminated cardboard. By 1991, Gehry was using bent laminated maple to produce the Power Play Armchair. These designs are part of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) collection in New York City. In 1989, Gehry designed the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, his first European architectural work. The museums focus is on modern furniture and interior designs. Also in Germany is Gehrys 2005 MARTa Museum in Herford, a town known in the furniture industry. Gehry Designs: Because architecture takes so long to become realized, Gehry often turns to the quick fix of designing smaller products, including jewelry, trophies, and even liquor bottles. From 2003 to 2006, Gehrys partnership with Tiffany Co. released the exclusive jewelry collection that included the sterling silver Torque Ring. In 2004, the Canada-born Gehry designed a trophy for the international World Cup of Hockey tournament. Also in 2004, Gehry designed a twisty vodka bottle for Wyborowa Exquisite. In the summer of 2008, Gehry took on the annual Serpentine Gallery Pavilion at Kensington Gardens in London. Career Highs and Lows Between 1999 and 2003, Gehry designed a new museum for Biloxi, Mississippi, the Ohr-OKeefe Museum of Art. The project was under construction when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and pushed a casino barge into the glittering steel walls. The slow process of rebuilding began years later. Gehrys most famous low, however, may have been the burning reflection from the completed Disney Concert Hall, which impacted both neighbors and passers-by. Gehry fixed it but claimed it was not his fault. Throughout his long career, Frank O. Gehry has been honored with countless awards and honoraria for individual buildings and for him as an architect. Architectures highest honor, the Pritzker Architecture Prize, was awarded to Gehry in 1989. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) recognized his work in 1999 with the AIA Gold Medal. Former President Barack Obama presented Gehry with the highest civilian award of the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 2016. Style of Gehrys Architecture In 1988, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City used Gehrys Santa Monica house as an example of a new, modern architecture they called deconstructivism. This style breaks down the parts of a piece so their organization appears disorganized and chaotic. Unexpected details and building materials tend to create visual disorientation and disharmony. Gehry on Architecture In Barbara Isenbergs book, Conversations With Frank Gehry,  Gehry talked about the approach he takes to his work: Building a building is like berthing the Queen Mary in a small slip at a marina. There are lots of wheels and turbines and thousands of people involved, and the architect is the guy at the helm who has to visualize everything going on and organize it all in his head. Architecture is anticipating, working with and understanding all of the craftsmen, what they can do and what they cant do, and making it all come together. I think of the final product as a dream image, and its always elusive. You can have a sense of what the building should look like and you can try to capture it. But you never quite do. But history has acknowledged that Bernini was an artist as well as an architect, and so was Michelangelo. Its possible that an architect can also be an artist....Im not comfortable using the word sculpture. Ive used it before, but I dont think its really the right word. Its a building. The words sculpture, art, and architecture are loaded, and when we use them, they have a lot of different meanings. So Id rather just say Im an architect. Legacy Frank Gehrys work has had a profound impact on postmodernist architecture. His unique use of materials, line, and technology have inspired architects and changed the way architects and engineers think about structures. His most significant structures, such as the Bilbao Guggenheim, have, as Salon’s Karen Templer  wrote, ...changed the way people think about the field of architecture. Gehry has proven that people will travel halfway around the world to look at a building as well as its contents. It stands as evidence that a building  can  put a town on the map. Sources Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. â€Å"Frank Gehry.†Ã‚  Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 24 Feb. 2019.Frank O. Gehry.†Ã‚  Academy of Achievement.Isenberg, Barbara. Conversations With Frank Gehry by Barbara Isenberg. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012.The Museum of Modern Art. Deconstructivist Architecture. June 1988. Sokol, David. â€Å"31 Spectacular Buildings Designed by Frank Gehry.†Ã‚  Architectural Digest, 25 Nov. 2018.

North South Economy Civil War essays

North South Economy Civil War essays How Economy Differences between the North and the South and the Pattern of Railroad Construction Fed Sectional Tensions before the Civil War. As the U.S. economy advanced and grew in size, each region of the country developed its own characteristics. The move toward industry made the regional differences between the North and South more pronounced and kept these sections of the United States further apart. While both sections favored canals and railroads to keep the new country moving, it was the Souths commitment to slavery that kept that section from aggressively trying to keep pace with the North. The economy of the Southern U.S. was agricultural with cotton as its main product. One third of the southern population was a slave. Since cotton was in high demand in Europe as well as in the Northern U.S., the South continued to concentrate on this main product. The invention of the cotton gin expanded the institution of slavery forcing the Southern economy to become even more dependent on slavery and less interested in developing their own manufacturing which maintained their rural atmosphere. With the majority of the wealth of the South invested in land and slaves, there was little left to devote to the expansion of industry, let alone a marketing strategy or transportation system to enable them to further promote their cotton. Consequently, the middlemen (mostly Northerners) made more money off the cotton than the Southerners did. The Southern people were not dependent upon one another due to the self-sufficient nature of plantations. The very nature of slavery affecte d the white population since southerners who were poor thought that working for another was a kind of servitude. Slavery also brought with it the societal effects of continued dominance of males and forced plantation owners to be vigil to the possibility of an uprising by the slaves. The South economy was stagnant, inefficient, and undeveloped a...