Doing Business Abroad Essay Example for Free

Doing Business Abroad Essay Companies around the world are expanding in order to meet a larger market. However, this is no easy task even for people who have been doing business for decades for there is always this thing called cultural diversity. This thing is put into consideration not only of companies and managers that establish businesses in other countries but also of those who engage into joint ventures and alliances. Setting a company globally requires not only good managers but thorough study as well. A market research would be very helpful especially to determine the needs and wants of the people in the locality. A bunch of factors affect the preference of people like religion, beliefs and environment. Should the product be modified to fit the desires of the people? For instance, burgers with beef patty are modified in order to be accepted and sold in Hindu-dominated countries. There are also cross-cultural trainings for managers that would be sent abroad. These are usually conducted by business schools with the aim of providing global managers who have the ability to cope with different challenges that they may encounter, especially those that are brought about by diversity in culture. However, as much as these trainings would help, they are not yet enough to suffice for the thorough understanding and settlement of cultural differences that might yield success to a business that spread its wings. Problems still remain due to this cultural diversity. Even with the repute of English in conducting business globally, language remains a problem. Language, as defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary, is words with their pronunciation and the methods of combining them to be used and understood by a community. Words are not enough. Pronunciation and accent are essential, and at this part is where problem usually occurs. As Edward Burman cited in his article entitled Managing Cultural Diversity in a Global World, linguistic confidence can be perceived as quasi-colonial arrogance and this may eventually lead to conflicts. Similarly, jokes and stories which are essential in building harmonious relationship among workers are affected, not just because of the way they were delivered but more importantly by the context that they were formulated. Some humorous acts might be insulting to others, which again might lead to discord. Another problem that may arise due to cultural diversity is the way the human resource personnel determines the appropriate candidate for a job. Whether be it an expatriate or a native of the location of the headquarter, the measure to the achievements of an applicant varies from the school where he acquired his degree and skill to the society where he belong. These qualities may not be well-reflected in his application forms or the result of his examination or interview. Although it may be known to the resource manager that different cultures respond differently to various situations, the challenge is still to determine the best person whose culture and skill perfectly fits the job. Also, developing the trust with people from other culture opens another difficulty especially if a company will merge or ally with a local company of other country. Research can be done to be able to identify possible reasons to trust but it remains a thorny job for the managers in the negotiation table. Everything will matter, from the physical appearance to the gestures. Aside from these problems cited by Edward Burman, the way to designate a manager to a place is something to be thoroughly thought of. According to an interview with Robert J. Freeman, Americans are a bit resistant to exotic destinations. The question then is how these Americans would be assigned to a location beyond his desire. Or since there are expatriates of more than sixty nationalities, which should be chosen and what type of compromise would the company give to convince the manager. Nevertheless, these problems can be addressed if global managers have several skills as discussed by Josephine Song in her article Transcending Borders. The first is technical skills. Aside from the field that he is expected to master in order to efficiently perform his task, he must also be able to utilize the means that globalization brings for the betterment of doing things. He must be able to maximize opportunities and resources that might be useful for the accomplishment of his job. Likewise, he must also have good communication skills which comprise not only of knowledge of words but their proper pronunciation and usage as well, most especially English which is the basic medium for conducting business globally. Communication is not only via speaking, but also via reading, writing or listening. More importantly, global managers must take caution in their words and actions so that misunderstandings would be avoided. They must also be innovative and resourceful to improve their businesses according to the locality. With increase in expatriates all over the globe, I think it would be unfair to say that they or the locals could better cope with the changes. They might have an advantage with regards to having dealt with different cultures already that they might not find it anymore difficult to relate with another set of people. Their presence in the top management could also bring global perspective. But, their knowledge of the culture of the country where the company is located might be very limited as compared to the locals. Yes, they may be able to learn and adapt but still, the culture instilled in them would always be a part of them and their decisions and reservations. I think, it would be better to have a mix of expatriate and local managers in a global business for as Burman concluded, management remains culture-bound, be it local or expatriate.

Guajilote Case Study Essay -- Business Management Strategy Formulation

Guajilote Case Study This essay examines the case study of the Guajilote co-operative, a co-operative with a licence to collect and sell fallen timber in the Honduras. The paper is in five sections; giving an impression of the co-operative as a business venture, conducting a SWOT analysis of the company, looking at any competitive advantage or strategy. Describing the value chain and considering strategic alternatives open to the co-operative. Solution 1. The business is certainly located in rural areas and considerations of how this may affect tribal people should be considered. The use of natural resources can be profitable but environmental considertaions such as the impact of deforestation on the global climate needs are vital. Mahogany is a rare wood and the tree does take a long time to grow. This business venture should plant so many trees for each Mahogany tree it finds felled. 2. SWOT Strengths: 1. Setting up hand sawmills at the fallen trees. 2. Developing a knowledge of markets and business practices. Weaknesses: 1. Massive funding required to drive operations. 2. Size and growth of the company is limited by the amount of mahogany produced. 3. Hard to find and process the trees. 4. Lack of adequate transportation. Opportunities: 1. Contributing to Honduras' economic growth. 2. Establish a good working relationship with distributors like Santos Munguia. 3. Establishing direct links with local furniture makers. Threats: 1. Deforrestation and impacts on the environment. 2. Pressure groups like Greenpeace and CITES. 3. Natural disasters like forest fires. 4. Decline in numbers of trees. 5. Treacherous terrain and wet weather. 6. Lack of co-operation from Honduran authorities. 7. Corrupt distributors not paying the workers for the wood worth. 3. This comapny does have a competitive advantage in that it can develop its links with local furniture manufacturers. It is possible to operate within the constraints of Cites, if transport costs are met by local buyers. Help provided to these local manufacturers may be achieved by setting up IT systems that monitor input and output of wood. Guajilote's strategy is weak in dealing with deforestation issues. It should engage in planting more mahogany trees. Greenhouses could be set up to cultivate the seedlings. The local population ne... ...lso destroy their seeds. Mahogany could therefore be quickly eliminated from a site. Each year, Guajilote lost more area from which it could take mahogany. To make matters worse, many Hondurans considered the area around La Muralla National Park to be a frontier open to settlement by landless campesinos (peasant farmers). In fleeing poverty and desertification, people were migrating to the Olancho province in large numbers. Not only did they clear the forests for cultivation, but they also cut wood for fuel and for use in building their homes. Most of the new settlements were being established in the area's best mahogany growing habitats. Another concern was that of potential restrictions by CITIES (the international convention on trade in endangered species). Although trade in mahogany was still permitted, it was supposed to be monitored very closely. If the populations of the twelve mahogany species continued to decrease, it was possible that mahogany would be given even greater protection under the CITIES framework. This could include even tighter restrictions on the trade in mahogany, or could even result in an outright ban similar to the worldwide ban on ivory trading.

Cognitive science Essay

Sir William Haley once said, â€Å"Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don’t know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it†. If students were guaranteed to leave school with knowing of what they don’t know and the desire to continue learning, the method of learning will be correct. Today’s education system does not give students the opportunity to enjoy what they are learning. The banking method, where students are empty vessels which educators must deposit knowledge into, deprives them of creativity and the desire to learn. No child is given the chance to shine and be unique. Students today are simply being placed on a conveyer belt, sorted, and then labeled according to their so called intelligence. We need an education system that provides a slower learning method, a method where you focus on what is being learned instead of zipping through it, and the freedom to make mistakes as this will electrify and stimulate students to fulfill their potential. We must recognize students as individuals and keep in mind their diverse backgrounds. In â€Å"Lives on the Boundary,† Rose states, â€Å"The canon has intended to push to the margins much of the literature of our nation: from American Indian songs and chants to immigrant fiction to working-class narratives† (100). The messages that are received from the text are crucial. The students need to be able to relate to what they have before them. One of the problems with today’s education system is we are given material to read, memorize, and expected to repeat it back at the snap of a finger. But without the ability to relate and connect with the material, the learning doesn’t take place. Everything that is read or being said is just going through one ear and out the other. By adding relatable texts, you add life to learning. In â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life,† Jon Spayde states, â€Å"people cannot learn what they do not love† (69). When students are reading or learning about a subject they love, they are inspired and motivated to learn more. This alone can benefit the learning process for students. It becomes much easier to grasp concepts learned in class. Today’s education system does not allow all students to thrive in their own way. It is fast paced with limited space for creativeness. We are given large amounts of information at a time and attempt to move as quickly as possible through all that we can. There is never â€Å"time† to stay longer on a topic. The instructors try their hardest to keep the pace, but this way of teaching does not benefit any student. In â€Å"Learning in the Key of Life†, Jon Spayde states, â€Å"†¦we are focusing far too much of our energy and resources on fast knowledge, ignoring all the richness and meaning slow knowledge adds to our lives† (68). When the focus is on just getting through the material, we are skipping over the value and richness of slow knowledge. Instead of zipping through a lesson because it needs to be done by a certain day to move onto the next, the focus needs to be on what is being learned than making a time requirement. Spayde also states, â€Å"You can figure out what you can do pretty quickly, but the ethical understanding of what you ought to do comes slowly†. We need to adopt the slow learning method, without it we are missing out on more than we think. There is so much more to learning than getting through the material, the purpose of it is to benefit and gain from it. With slow knowledge we will achieve this. One of the most important changes that needs to be done is the view on mistakes. In the article, â€Å"How to Make Mistakes,† Dennett states, â€Å"Mistakes are not just golden opportunities for learning; they are, in an important sense, the only opportunity for learning something truly new†. When fear is being put into a student to never make a mistake, their education is stunted. They lose the ability to explore and take the chance of being wrong because they are repeatedly punished for being incorrect. When a mistake is made, students will learn where they went wrong and will then grow from it. The key to progress is making mistakes. The reason we are in school is to learn, but with this opportunity taken away from students their ability to learn is ripped from their grasp. Daniel C. Dennett also states, â€Å"You should seek out opportunities to make grand mistakes, just so you can then recover from them†. Instead of using all of their energy to attempt to be perfect and run from being inaccurate, every student should look for every opportunity to be wrong. Without errors, the students can not accomplish much. If you look at Todays’ education system is in desperate need of change. No student is given the opportunity to show what they are fully capable of. Instead they are told what they can do. They are simply labeled and placed where they â€Å"should be†. But when students begin to pursue their mistakes and soak in the richness of slow knowledge, they will begin to truly learn. Maria Montessori once said, â€Å"If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to be hoped from it in the bettering of man’s future. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual’s total development lags behind? †. If many students are having difficulty learning in the method we have created ages ago, why not change it? The time is now and there is no time to waste. We must refocus this outdated system to insure that the students will have a secure future and keep the standard of living that we have today.

A Summary of a Mothers’s Newborn Baby

Twana PSY 210 Mrs. Stone March 7, 2013 On March 9, 2010 I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She weighed six pounds, eleven ounces and was 21 inches long. Her beauty took my breath away. Once the doctor spanked her bottom and I heard her cry it was like music to my ears. As they placed her in my arms all of the pain I felt from my 14 hour delivery vanished. I felt as if I had just won an Olympic race and I came in 1st place. My trophy was this beautiful bundle of joy. My husband and I decided to name her Adrianna Renee. The emotional bond or attachment that I felt for my daughter had me speechless.Then the nurse told me they had to take her briefly to do some type of test on her called Apgar score. She explained to me that the test was a standard scoring system that allows the doctor to evaluate Adrianna’s condition quickly and objectively. At first I was skeptical because my daughter looked perfect in my eyes. So the nurse takes her from me to go have the test done and whil e they are gone the other nurses tend to my needs. It seemed like forever but it only took 10 minutes and they were done with the Apgar score. Adrianna had done great scoring a 10 the highest an infant can get meaning she was perfect like I knew she would be.Our stay in the hospital was short and before I knew it my husband was taking us home. Once we arrived home Adrianna surprised me how well she adapted to her new surroundings. She acted as if she was home and that was where she was supposed to be. Since I was a new mother I wanted to breastfeed my baby. The nurses told me that my milk was healthier for her, so that’s what I wanted. Unfortunately Adrianna was not having my big ole floppy boob in her face and she screamed bloody murder. So my husband had to go out and purchase a breast pump.Personally I have to say that the rejection hurt my feelings at first, but I found other ways to bond with my daughter, such as skin to skin contact. She absolutely loved skin to skin co ntact. I guess it soothed her and she knew she was safe. Once my husband returned from Wal-Mart with the breast pump I immediately began to pump. Adrianna was hungry because she was trying to eat her little fingers and suck her thumb. The dr. told me those were survival reflexes and they had swung into action when we were at the hospital. Well Adrianna sucked that breast milk down and wanted more.I burped her after three ounces and then my husband wanted to feed her. So since she was still hungry, I let her daddy feed her another two ounces. I told my husband don’t forget to burp her, because if he didn’t he was going to wear some regurgitated breast milk. Ha I love picking with him. Since I had about 10 minutes to spare, I took this time to pump more milk and store it in the fridge and freezer. Adrianna burped again and was now sound asleep. I took advantage of this time to shower and nap with her while her father did the laundry and cooked dinner. Adrianna was a wond erful infant.She only cried when she was hungry or when her diaper needed changing, other than that she just slept. At night she would only wake once approximately about 3 a. m. for a bottle and to be changed. She would stay awake till 4 a. m. looking around and looking at me as I talked to her. Adrianna would slowly drift back to sleep in my arms, then I would lay her down in her crib. I stood over her crib and watch as she made the cutest little faces. She would smile huge smiles while sleeping. My mother always told me when a baby smiles like that in their sleep the angels are playing with them.I would silently go back to my room to get more sleep before my hubby came home from work. It seemed like once he got here he’d wake us both up. He had to have daddy time with the baby. So for the first three months of Adrianna’s life this was our routine schedule. By the time Adrianna was four months old she was more alert throughout the day and was sleeping through the nigh t waking at 6 a. m. , just in time for her daddy to get home. She had discovered her hands and feet. She would put her foot in her mouth and drool all over the place because she was teething.She was always in a good mood smiling and making cooing sounds. Adrianna was now 14 pounds and 9 ounces. She had more than doubled her weight and her body was a ? inch longer. 5 to 8 Months During the 5 to 8 months she felt like she could do things without support. If I sat her down she would sit without falling over. When I put her on tummy for tummy time she would get up on her hands and knees and go back and forth. It was the cutest little movement I had ever seen. So by the time she was 6 months she was crawling. She would babble on and on dada dada. Her first word was dada.I really don’t understand how her first word could be dada, when I’m here with her more than dada, but oh well that’s just how it goes I guess. Everything that she picked up off of the floor went into her mouth. So one day as usual she saw something on the floor and picked it up and to her mouth it went. I stick my finger in there to fish whatever it was out and low and behold she clamped down and I felt it. There was a tooth at the bottom of her mouth. I found Adrianna’s first tooth on September 18, 2010. I was so excited. I called her father when he was at work to tell him the good news, then I called my mother.At 8 months Adrianna was pulling herself up and taking few steps holding on to the coffee table. Finally she said mama, but I don’t think that she knew what she was saying, but I was sure glad to hear it. She could also say baba and she knew what that meant because she would pick up her bottle and say baba. Another tooth had come in at the bottom and one was coming in at the top. She loved playing peek a boo with her daddy. When we played together our game was patty cake and she had good coordination because she would clap her hands and feet at the same ti me.We made a video for my in laws because they were in another state. They were amazed just like we were because her coordination was so great. 9 to 12 Months On December 9 Adrianna was now 9 months old and had tripled her weight since birth. She now weighed 18 ? pounds and she was 23 inches long. She would still pull herself up and walk around the coffee table holding on for dear life. When she was 10 months old she would stand alone and be very hesitant about taking her first step. When she would stand by herself she would clap her hands and I would say â€Å"Yay†!At 11 months she finally trusted herself and her surroundings and took her first steps. Unfortunately her daddy was at work so he missed this event. When he got home Adrianna walked 4 steps to him. My husband was so surprised and happy his little girl was now taking steps. On March 9, 2011 Adrianna turned a year old. My goodness it doesn’t seem like it has been a year already. It feels like yesterday I was bringing her home form the hospital. Adrianna was now walking with ease as if it came natural to her. She had a new perspective of her world. Learning how to walk had given her a new freedom.She was more active and exploring everything. Also she was feeding herself little finger foods from Gerber graduates and Cheerios. She absolutely loved drinking from her sippy cup. At first I thought she was going to reject the cup because she was so attached to her bottle, but she surprised me. She transitioned from the bottle to cup with no problems. We had her birthday party at the park in Bay Minette and the weather was wonderful. We sang Happy Birthday to her and put the cake in front so she could dig in. Oh my Lord what a mess! Adrianna got cake everywhere. She even had cake in her diaper.We let her have her way after all it was her day. I stood back taking pictures and watching her cute facial expressions. I started thinking about all of her milestones she had accomplished since birth and I just could not believe that my baby girl was 1year old already. 13 to 18 months During this time the things she already learned had improved a great deal. When she would feed herself she acted as if it was easier and she no longer had to concentrate on picking up the cheerios and putting them in her mouth. She really enjoyed being a big girl. Her vocabulary had increased tremendously.She now spoke eight to ten words and her favorite was hello. Everywhere we went she told everyone hello. She was my little social butterfly. She was not shy at all. I could tell that her personality was out going just by the way she interacted with people. I thought it was so cute watching her interact with other people. She just never met a stranger unless they were creepy looking and that scared me too. My favorite was when she would imitate me, my mother, or her daddy. I talked to my mother on a daily basis even though we live 10 minutes away from each other.Well mom and I would talk on the phone and I noticed that Adrianna would get out her play phone and talk to whomever and when I would laugh at my mom Adrianna would do the same. When she reached 18 months old she weighed 24 pounds and she could maneuver her body so she could climb out of her play pen. So I’m in the kitchen preparing dinner and I look up and I see Adrianna standing on her toy jack in the box. She then throws her leg over the rail, balancing herself perfectly. All of a sudden her little feet hit the floor and she was gone.Watching her perform that task totally blew my mind. She was right on schedule with normal toddler activity. She was stacking three blocks on top of each other and scribbling with a crayon. Instead of scribbling on paper Adrianna preferred the walls or table. I was so happy the crayons were not permanent and could be washed off with soapy water. Adrianna did not like wearing clothes, so instead of dressing herself she would undress. She loved taking her clothes off so keeping cloth es on her was a chore. Every chance that I got I would video her doing her strip tease of the day.She was a normal toddler in every aspect and she was enjoying every minute of it. 19 to 24 Months I know now what my mother meant when she told me to cherish the days when Adrianna was a baby. I no longer had an infant anymore, she was my big girl. Her second birthday was approaching fast and I wanted to turn back the hands of time. Adrianna weighed 27 pounds and she carried her weight well. She was into everything so we toddler proofed the house. I always heard people talk about â€Å"The Terrible Twos† I know what they were talking about now and she wasn’t even two yet.She could jump in place with both feet and go up and down the stairs without assistance. I could not stand to watch her go up and down the stairs because it scared me so bad. All I could think about was her falling and hurting herself. I knew that I had to let her explore her physical world so she could en hance her developmental skills, but it was a very hard thing to do. She showed high interest in her surroundings. On the day of her second birthday we had her party at McDonalds with about six other toddlers her age. Oh my God talk about nerves wrecked.I think the staff at McDonalds was happy to see us leave. After that we went to the park with her playmate Chloe. Adrianna and Chloe were born 2 weeks apart so they always played together on play dates. As we played ball I noticed Adrianna could throw the ball further than Chloe, but Chloe could kick the ball really better than Adrianna. I guess all kids are different and some do things better than others. Well as time continued its rapid pace. Adrianna continued her rapid pace of exploring and learning. Now that she was two she could do a lot of tasks. So ow when I gave her crayons and paper she would scribble and be amazed at what she did. In her little mind I guess she thought it was a master piece of art. Every master piece she sc ribbled we would put it on the refrigerator or hang it in her room. She was much better at stacking blocks too. She could stack seven blocks without them falling over. She could even match shapes now. She could put the square block through the square hole and vice versa with the circle and triangle. Wow she was really smart and in my eyes she was the smartest toddler ever. Adrianna’s language seemed to advance overnight.She woke up one morning and said â€Å"Mommy I want cereal† and I said â€Å"Oh you do†. She had made her first complete sentence with no babbling. She was actually making sense to me. I was one proud mama that day. Adrianna was such a joy to be around and I wanted her to be around children her age so she could learn social skills. So we decided to put her in in daycare part time. The first 2 weeks it was hard because she was not use to sharing, but she adjusted. She did surprisingly well with daycare and before I knew it she was ready to be pott y trained. She came home from daycare and told me she wanted to be a big girl.So we got started using the potty and within a month she was potty trained. Yay! No more pull ups! It was just before her third birthday too. Today is March 6, 2013 and Adrianna birthday is in three days. She is so excited about her birthday because we are having a pizza party this time. My baby girl is a thriving toddler and she is healthy as a horse. I thank God for her every day, because she is truly a blessing. I look forward to the bright future she will have growing up and I pray that I live to see her all grown up and independent with a family of her own.

Compliment vs Complement

Compliment vs Complement Compliment vs Complement Compliment vs Complement By Ali Hale I had an email at work recently which read â€Å"This new software will compliment the existing system.† Can you spot what’s wrong with that sentence? If you get confused by the difference between compliment and complement, or if you’re unsure which to use when, read on. Compliment Merriam-Webster defines a compliment as â€Å"an expression of esteem, respect, affection, or admiration; especially : an admiring remark†. It comes from Middle French, via the Italian complimento, and the Spanish cumplimiento, which originates from the Latin verb cumplir: to be courteous. For example: I was trying to pay that girl a compliment, but she ignored me. Sometimes he blushes when you offer him a compliment. In the plural, compliments can also mean best wishes. It is often used as â€Å"with compliments† such as on a compliments slip (a small piece of letter-headed paper, often used by companies for a quick note to a customer or client when a full sheet would be too large.) You also see the phrase â€Å"with compliments of the season† in greetings cards. The verb â€Å"to compliment† is very similar, meaning â€Å"to pay a compliment to†. Note that it is a transitive verb so must have an object. For example: Are you trying to compliment me, or trying to insult me? When he complimented the girl on her dress, his friends laughed at him. Complimentary The adjective complimentary is closely related to the word compliment, and in this context it can mean either â€Å"expressing or containing a compliment† or â€Å"favourable† (Merriam-Webster): My mother made some very complimentary remarks about my choice of shoes. The new restaurant has a very complimentary write-up in the local newspaper. Complimentary also has the meaning â€Å"free†, when something is given as a courtesy or favour: Please accept these complimentary tickets. I thought that the mini-bar was complimentary, but we were charged for our drinks. Complement The word complement comes from the same root as complete. It has nothing to do with being courteous, and comes directly from Middle English, from the Latin word complementum. Merriam-Webster’s first definition is â€Å"something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect†, and it can also be used to mean â€Å"the quantity, number, or assortment required to make a thing complete†, though can sound a little odd or old-fashioned in this context: We had the full complement of pots and pans. Our store does not have enough employees to work the required complement of hours. Complement is often used in scientific, technical or academic areas of discourse, where the complement of X supplies what X is missing, thus making a complete whole. Examples of this usage are: Complement good (economics) Complementary colour (art) You can find a fuller list in Wikipedias entry for the term Complement. In everyday writing, complement is more often used as a verb. Again, it is a transitive verb: The illustrations complement the text. Our new software will complement the existing product. So, my email correspondent should have written that â€Å"This new software will complement the existing system.† But I suspect she wouldn’t have replied to compliment me if I’d written back to point out the mistake†¦ Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Types of Language"Replacement for" and "replacement of"Types of Plots

Chains and Sustainable Development Essay Example for Free

Chains and Sustainable Development Essay Those of us who preach the gospel of agriculture with evangelical zeal find the text compelling and convincing. We are regularly possessed by the spirit only to look around and see out colleagues, in other sectors, in country management, or even our senior management doubting, yawning or subtly edging towards the door. We face the implicit query, â€Å"If agriculture can do such great things, why have they not yet happened? †1 The past decade has been one of agro-pessimism. The promises that agricultural development seem to hold did not materialise. This pessimism seemed to coincide with pessimism about Sub-Saharan Africa. Especially for Sub-Saharan Africa the hope was that economic development would be brought about by agricultural development. After the success of the green revolution in Asia, the hope was that a similar agricultural miracle would transform African economies. But this hope never materialised, agricultural productivity did not increase much in SSA (figure 1), and worse, the negative effects of the green revolution in Asia became more apparent, such as pesticide overuse and subsequent pollution. Also in Asia the yield increases tapered off. The sceptics put forward several arguments why agriculture is no longer an engine of growth2. For instance, the liberalisation of the 1990s and greater openness to trade has lead to a reduction in the economic potential of the rural sector: cheap imported Chinese plastic buckets out compete the locally produced pottery. On the other hand, it does mean cheaper (imported) supplies. With rapid global technical change and increasingly integrated markets, prices fall faster than yields rise. So, rural incomes fall despite increased productivity if they are net producers3. The integration of rural with urban areas means that healthy young people move out of agriculture, head to town, leaving behind the old, the sick and the dependent. It is often also the men who move to urban areas, leaving women in charge of the farm. This has resulted in the increased sophistication of agricultural markets (and value chains) which excludes traditional smallholders, who are poorly equipped to meet the demanding product specifications and timeliness of delivery required by expanding supermarkets. The natural resource base on which agriculture depends is poor and deteriorating. Productivity growth is therefore increasingly more difficult to achieve. Finally, multiplier effects occur when a change in spending causes a disproportionate change in aggregate demand. Thus an increase in spending produces an increase in national income and consumption greater than the initial amount spent. But as GDP rises and the share of agriculture typically decreases, the question is how important these multiplier effects are, especially when significant levels of poverty remain in rural areas, which is the case in middleincome countries. The disappointment with agriculture led many donor organisations to turn away from agriculture, looking instead to areas that would increase the well-being of poor people, such as health and education. Those organisations that still focused on agriculture, such as the CGIAR, were put under pressure to focus more on reducing poverty, besides increasing agricultural productivity. However, since the beginning of the new century, there seems to be a renewed interest in agriculture. A review of major policy documents5, including the well-publicised Sachs report and the Kofi Annan report, show that agriculture is back on the agenda again. The most influential report, however, has been the World Development Report 2008 of the World Bank6. This report argues that growth in the agricultural sector 1 contributes proportionally more to poverty reduction than growth in any other economic sector and that therefore alone, the focus should be on the agricultural sector when achieving to reach MDG 1. A reassessment of the role of agriculture in development seems to be required. This policy paper addresses several timely though complex questions: †¢ First, how can or does agriculture contribute to economic development, and in particular how does it relate to poverty? †¢ Second, the agricultural sector has changed considerably in the past decades: what are the main drivers of this change? †¢ Third, what is the relationship between economic or agricultural growth and pro-poor development? †¢ Fourth, how does agriculture relate to other sectors in the economy? †¢ Fifth, who is included and who is excluded in agricultural development, specifically focusing on small farms? †¢ And finally, if agricultural development is indeed important to economic development, then why, despite all the efforts and investments, has this not led to more successes? 2. Agriculture and economic growth This section presents a number of factual observations describing how the agricultural sector changed in terms of productivity, contribution to economic growth, and indicating the relevance of the agricultural sector for poverty alleviation in different regions. Background: some facts In the discussion of the role of agriculture in economic development, a leading question is how agriculture contributes to economic growth, and especially to pro-poor growth. There seems to be a paradox in the role of agriculture in economic development. The share of agriculture contributing to GDP is declining over the years (see figure 1). At the same time, the productivity of for instance cereal yields has been increasing (see figure 2). It seems that as agriculture becomes more successful, its importance declines in the overall economy. Of course, other sectors in the economy can be even more successful, such as the Asian Tigers. Chains and Sustainable Development. (2016, Sep 07).

Examine an interaction or event from your clinical placement, which Essay - 1

Examine an interaction or event from your clinical placement, which has required you to demonstrate professional conduct (NMC 2008) - Essay Example The author employed a variation of the Thornwaite-type technique, as well as correlated AET and Deficit supported by tree species distribution. The data used is primary because it was collected and analyzed by the authors, and not mined from some other sources. Temporal analysis is used on a moderate scale, and the analytical method used is plots (Lutz, Wagtendonk, & Franklin, 2010). The author uses plots to analyze the data and to represent the data sets. The author plots the data sets as graphs depicting the correlation between multiple sets of data. The authors computed species climatic envelopes in wide ranges of climatic gradients. They also distinguished tree species using Deficit and AET. For all species, modeled Deficits grew by an average of 5% from past and present, while forecasted growth in Deficit from present and future were found to be 23% in all plots (Lutz, Wagtendonk & Franklin, 2010). The authors have answered the hypothesis by providing sound analyses and evidence to meet the aims (Lutz, Wagtendonk & Franklin, 2010). The authors also discuss further studies in the areas of topographic scale distributions of aquatic balance, potential impacts of climate change situations, the scale of vegetation change, sensitivity of plant and animal species, and the downscaling problem (Lutz, Wagtendonk & Franklin, 2010). What I find most interesting is the analyses conducted on AET and