Intern for Contrabandit.com

For the past 10 weeks of the Fall 2004 quarter, I've had the opportunity to work as intern for Contrabandit.com. Contrabandit ran by West Coast political and cultural editor of the Source Ryan Ford aims to provide an uninhabited voice for the hip-hop community as well as inform most of the Minority readers of politics, social and educational news and issues that occur in the world. As a History major, with my interest in Film and Television journalism, Contrabandit has allowed me to study contemporary and cultural history through the medium of Hip-Hop music. I looked at this internship as a starting point to acquiring work experience and possibly advancing into working within the field of entertainment journalism. But as an African-American student at UCLA, Contrabandit has allowed me to chronicle events within hip-hop as they happen and apply the broader historical significance as they occur. Being an African-American student, I view hip-hop as not only just a musical art form, but also as a voice and representation of an entire community. Unlike Jazz and R&B, Hip-Hop was a genre truly formed out of the African-American community after the post-civil rights movement and really feels uncorrupted by mainstream pop culture, where it sets the trend, instead of following the pack. When covering the medium of Hip-Hop music, I discovered how far reaching and expansive it has become and with my education at UCLA I've been able to view hip-hop from scholarly approach. The main theme I've noticed throughout my internship has been Hip-Hop music's growth and the changes that become of it as it has become an acceptable musical genre generating billions of dollars for the recording industry studios. The three biggest new stories that I was able to cover were the Eminem-Michael Jackson confrontation, Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's Presidential voter registration campaign, and the violent incident that occurred at the Vibe Awards. On the surface there just current events that needed to be covered to feel up space on the website, but with little probing they actually had far reaching and historical impact on the website, Hip-Hop music and with me in developing my critical writing skills and applying historical analysis from my UCLA course and history major. Jackson boots Eminem off BET (published October 12, 2004) That article resulted in an immediate phone call from my editor, as well as a lecture from him on the role and responsibility of a journalist. He proclaimed my article was blatantly bias and that I was leading the reader to take one point of view or side on the issue, but my job instead was to report the facts in a news story. Which, as my editor expressed to me, is something that's continues to occur since he beginning of entertainment, and its should not be allowed despite the fact Eminem makes a very good living off of doing â€Å"Black Music† much like Elvis, but again, difference being, Elvis never insulted a African-American musical icon like Michael Jackson, like Eminem has. I'm sure this issue will be glanced over, much like the controversy of the tapes being made public by Hip-Hop magazine â€Å"the Source†, where what occurred was an investigation into why Eminem recorded these racist lyrics, but the Source was attacked for bringing this issue to the public. I must admit, just looking on the surface of the controversy I was quick to pass judgment upon BET for what I saw as its hypocrisy by stating it would not air videos disrespectful of any celebrity. Considering that's how they made their notoriety during the whole east coast-west coast beef that many attribute to the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Christopher â€Å"Biggie† Wallace. But my editor expressed to me that I needed take it into context along with Eminem's previously uncovered studio recording where he's referring to African-American men as â€Å"niggers† and African-American women as â€Å"black bitches† in a derogatory manner, is not possible to let this pass as artistic and playful expression. Again he's shown disrespect to a community that he continues to make million of dollars off of through doing their music, and can be argued is allowed to get away with such offensive behavior because he is a white. Not just with the African-American community, he's c ome under fire for his anti-gay remarks from the Gay and Lesbian community, but continues to get way with or at least not suffer any ill effects, whereas if a comparable black celerity had done similar offenses, they would find it difficult to maintain the type of celerity that Eminem enjoys. Working alongside Ryan with Contrabandit, I was able to view the controversy as bigger than Eminem just poking fun and having a laugh at Michael Jackson's expense, but greater historical, racial, and industry-wide ramification that this cause. The images of Eminem done up in â€Å"Black face† and portraying Jackson as buffoon and monster have long term consequences upon not only his image but that of African-Americans as they see one of their longest musical icons ridiculed in a way not only personally but racially offensive. And even more importantly with no consequences or accountability from Eminem. Russell Simmons; HSAN proclaims 21 million registered youth/minority voters for 2004 election(published November 4, 2004) In the aftermath of the national presidential election, it brought into prospective the efforts of voter registration among young, minority voters. The day after the election, a press release went out from Russell Simmons Hip-Hop Summit Action Network proclaiming that 21 million registered voters from 18-35 voted in the 2004 election, up from the 18 million that had voted in the 2000 election. Although that's encouraging it was disappointing to know that the voter registration campaign and awareness of the importance of this Presidential election that still George Bush was re-elected. But looking at the numbers and statistics shows a deeper issue and problem arising in America. Working with Contrabandit got me access to covering Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Co-sponsored by Sony Playstation, the fundraiser was an entertainment industry party to bring awareness as well as funding to the organization for needed increased minority voter registration and education. Despite their efforts, the hip-hop community that was being courted by Simmons' HSAN paled in comparison to those of the voters in the Midwestern states. I always felt it was flawed to try to reach out to the hip-hop community as despite the growing numbers of minorities, who will soon grow to be an almost equal number to the majority of White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) constituents, some of those minorities are turning towards the conservative ideology. Also there is no unity among this minority group. With more WASP senior citizens living longer, that aging Considering that ultimately the Presidential election was determined by the Midwest, as the Democratic Party hasn't carried southern states in years, where as California and New York (with a combined 86 electoral votes) are perennial Democratic strongholds. Interestingly, the Midwest won the election for Bush and to me it was a shame that the backlash of gay marriages and abortion (as reported by news affiliates as the determining reason for voting for Bush) were more important than the situation in Iraq, terrorism, and the turbulent economy. I never want to question anyone's beliefs or morals, but gay marriages and abortion should be an individual's choice. Most important to take from this election is hopefully maintaining the interest of registered voters beyond this Presidential election, as there are more issues that will arise within the coming years before the 2008 election. In California on the ballot was the repealing of Proposition 187, the 3 strikes law. I understand the â€Å"spirit† of 3 strikes, incarcerating repeat violent offenders from 25 to life sentence in jails, but continually in the years since passage as laws, many third strike offenders have been non-violent repeat offenders. Some argue the old adage don't commit the crime, won't do the time, but there's a bigger issue of privatized prisons making hundreds of millions of dollars off the incarceration of young prisoners and the prison system being made up of predominately African-American and Latino men. Conservative republican fan base are carrying the votes. Melee breaks out at the Vibe Awards(published November 17,2004) Lastly there was the violent altercation that occurred at the, the Vibe awards On November 16. During the four hour taping inside the hangar at the Santa Monica Airport an incident broke as Quincy Jones and Snoop Dogg were presenting an award to Hip-Hop producer Dr. Dre. An unidentified man attacked Dr. Dre, who was later assaulted y several members of his entourage and left him stabbed, later identified as rapper Young Buck by authorities. With the Vibe awards, it is yet another black eye on Hip-Hop as well as on black-themed award shows. The incident alone won't spell the end of Hip-Hop or these musical award shows, but my over all perspective is the necessity of these award shows. Within the entertainment industry its become a joke that there are too many awards shows. Yet when it comes to black themed award shows, they are usually relegated to lesser channels like UPN and BET, and more often than not are taped delayed events. Such events as the NAACP Image Awards, BET Awards, Soul Train Awards and Soul Train Lady of Soul, Vibe Awards, and the Source Awards all fall into this category. And incidents like this further perpetuate the stereotypes of the safety issue that constantly trouble hip-hop events. Amazingly events like the Rock the Bells concerts a week earlier at Anaheim Stadium that I covered for Contrabandit(and the Source)doesn't garner the positive press as when chaos ensues at televised events. At that event, despite some illegal drug use, the show went off without any violent altercation or incident, in front of a mostly diverse White, Latino, and Asian audience. Myself being the only amazed at this diversity and more so shows how far hip-hop music and their artist have developed with such a diverse crowd and the artist being so comfortable in front of them. But dealing with the coverage of black themed awards shows their two sides to the argument. Those that feel that its alright that the awards shows are tape delayed and marginally watched by non-blacks because its for Blacks and its best that we have a awards show tape delayed then none at all. As a matter of fact, the NAACP dubs its annual awards â€Å"Black America's answer to the Oscars, Emmy's, Grammy's, and Pulitzer, as it continues to honor overlook performances by African-American entertainers that the mainstream Hollywood community pass over. But on the other hand there is the argument that by not being a live broadcast somehow relegates it as meaningless shows that don't really count. For starters, with most of the United States having access to the numerous channels available through cable and satellite television, and at least 5-10 music themed channels, viewing music, film and television entertainers is a lot more accessible then in any era prior to the 1990's. Before then, it was rare being able to view entertainers outside of movies, therefore making movie and television award shows the only place to see them. Likewise for most, seeing their favorite musical artist perform â€Å"live† at awards show provided a free experience to catch them performing if they were unable to go to a concert to see them performing and this is remembering that MTV didn't debut till 25 years ago in 1981. But with the emergence of MTV, BET, VH1, and even E!, it has provided a near 24 hour access to view these entertainers and even more so, know them beyond their music or the characters they portray on screen and films. Awards was more than just a night of honoring actors and musician, but that rare opportunity to view them live and has human. Speaking with my editor Ryan, he allowed me to go further with this topic and try to give our readers some prospective and insight behind awards show and why they exist. Working for the Source, he gave me some inside information about the motives behind events such as the Vibe, Source, BET, and Blockbuster Awards shows: MONEY! By organizing one awards event for on night, the sponsorship and advertising for the event generates more money in one night then the magazines do for the entire year. Even the awards presentations are staged, as more then likely the winner is determined by the artist that will appear, more than who deserves to win. When you look at the BET, Source, and Vibe awards, what they provide great revenue and backlash towards to the mainstream (white) award show are not able to properly honor the hip-hop artists that were annually disregarded for their work. Honestly for the most part the Grammy's and American Music Awards do base their nomination, and I'm sure, there awards recipient on mainstream success. But whereas the NAACP Image awards and Soul Train music awards were created to make up for these lack honors to Black performers, these proliferation of the other awards show, seems to be purely done as promotion. The experience that I take from my time working with Contrabandit, has been invaluable in applying the classroom knowledge I acquired from UCLA towards real world situations. Without the historical significance and ramification of events as they occurred and relating them to past events, I would not have been able to elaborate upon them in my writing for the website or convey the importance to my audience at the site.

The Fourth Amendment

Abstract This paper will investigate the fourth amendment, unlawful search and seizure, and will explain what is considered to be unlawful and what is not. This paper will also discuss the right of privacy that Americans are entitled to as citizens of the United States. Events that have marked history in regards to the fourth amendment will also be explored, explaining the nature of searches and the key components that coincide. The court ruling in the historic case of Arizona vs. Gant will be explored in detail.This court case set out to establish what was actually considered unlawful, and what guidelines must be followed to be considered lawful. The case suggests that because of probable case that a search would then in fact be lawful. But in this case it is discussed that even when probable cause is present, there is still factors that must be considered. Unlawful Search and Seizure Imagine being pulled over while driving on a suspended license; you are handcuffed, and placed in t he backseat of a squad car, while the officer searches your car, without your consent.There you are sweating profusely, nervous of what may and will be found, and then it is found, in the glove box a gun and drugs. What should be said in defense? What should be done? Was this in fact a situation where unlawful search and seizure had taken place? Did this go against your constitutional rights as a citizen? There was no consent, but there was probable cause because of the suspended license. Imagine driving with friends and you are speeding. You are then pulled over, the officer smells marijuana, and arrest everyone inside of the vehicle.He then returns to the vehicle, and searches it finding cocaine in a jacket coat pocket. Was this too an act of unlawful search and seizure? Did this go against your reasonable expectation of privacy? The Bill of Rights Many of us may struggle when it comes to knowledge about laws, and our constitutional rights as citizens. We want to protect ourselves from situations that may be unconstitutional, but may not be aware of our rights when unconstitutional behavior occurs. When The U. S.Constitution was ratified in 1788 and 1799 there were not many laws set in place in regards to the criminal justice system. â€Å"The Fourth Amendment was adopted as a response to the abusive search and seizure practices used by the British government during the American colonial period. The colonists were particularly concerned about broad, particularized searches performed under the authority of general warrants. General warrants authorized searches for persons or papers not named specifically in the warrant† (Josephson, 1996). The U. S.Constitution did not set forth the rights of individuals in enough detail; so ten amendments were added in 1791, and were called the Bill of Rights (Cole & Smith, 2011). According to Cole and Smith (2011), The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments that were added to the U. S. Constitution to provide spe cific rights for individuals, including criminal justice rights concerning searches, trials, and punishments. Unlawful search and seizure is the fourth amendment, which is a part of the first ten amendments. Unlawful Search and SeizureThe Fourth Amendment states: the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no Warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath and affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Cole & Smith, 2011). Unlawful search and seizure was made to limit the capability of law enforcement officers to search a person or property in order to obtain evidence.It is believed that law enforcement should not be able to pursue criminals at all cost. A search is a court document that gives law enforcement the authority to examine and hunt for evidence in or on a person or place in a manner th at intrudes on reasonable expectations of privacy (Cole & Smith, 2011). The reasonable expectation of privacy, that was developed by the courts, is normally from the government; but if there is probable cause law enforcement can receive an search warrant from a judge and search wherever the warrant states.A seizure is a situation in which police officers use their authority to deprive people of their liberty or property and which must not be â€Å"unreasonable† according to the Fourth Amendment (Cole & Smith, 2011). All types of things can be seized such as a person’s freedom, which is also called an arrest, and also even property. Law enforcement must ensure that there is probable cause because if not that is an infringement of that person’s right. Being unconstitutional can lead to fines, and law enforcement officers even losing their jobs, depending on the severity of the situation.Requirements of the Fourth Amendment There are requirements that law enforceme nt are expected to be knowledgeable of and have to follow, even while trying to catch criminals. The requirements are probable cause, affidavit, and describing the place being searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Cole & Smith, 2011). Probable cause is the amount of reliable information indicating that it is more likely than not that evidence will be found in a specific location or that a specific person is guilty of a crime (Cole & Smith, 2011).In order for search and seizure to take place there has to be probable cause. Affidavit is a written statement, which is supported by oath or affirmation, submitted to judicial officers to fulfill the requirements of probable cause for obtaining a warrant. The place or person to be searched or seized has to be described in detail to help establish if probable cause is reasonable. There are however, exceptions to the probable cause and warrant requirements.Some exceptions are investigatory detentions, warrantless arrest, searches incidents to a valid arrest, seizures of items in plain view, exigent circumstances, consent searches, vehicle searches, container searches, border searches, searchers at sea, administrative searches, and searches in which the special needs of law enforcement make the probable cause requirement impractical (Calsyn et al. , 1998). A warrantless search can be conducted if law enforcement believes that the evidence is imminent danger of being moved or destroyed.Also if there is belief that law enforcement may be in danger they may enter a dwelling and conduct a full warrantless search (Calsyn et al. , 1998). The Fourth Amendment does not require law enforcement to have a warrant when searching vehicles when they have probable cause. The â€Å"automobile exception† to the warrant requirement stems from both the inherent mobility of vehicles, which often creates exigent circumstances that make obtaining a warrant impractical, and the reduce expectation of privacy due to configurat ion, use, and regulation of automobiles (Calsyn et al. 1998). â€Å"In certain circumstances, law enforcement officers may lawfully arrest persons without an arrest warrant. Such arrests are permitted for any offense committed by the arrestee in the presence of a law enforcement officer and for any felony that an officer has probable cause to believe the arrestee has committed. After making a warrantless arrest, an officer must promptly secure a judicial determination of probable cause. The probable cause required to make a lawful warrantless arrest is identical to the probable cause required to secure an arrest warrant (Calsyn et al. 1998). According to Nolo (2012), the fourth amendment only applies to a search if a person has a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place or thing searched. If not, the Fourth Amendment offers no protection because there are, by definition, no privacy issues. For example, when the police look for and find a weapon on the front seat of a car, it is not considered a search under the fourth amendment because it is very unlikely that the person would think that the front seat of the car is a private place and expectation of privacy is unlikely.Even if the individual did, society is not willing to extend the protections of privacy to that particular location. On the opposing side, a person who uses a public restroom expects not to be spied upon and most people, including judges and juries would consider that expectation of privacy to be reasonable Therefore, the installation of a hidden video camera by the police in a public restroom will be considered a search and would be subject to the fourth amendment's requirement of reasonableness. However, the fourth amendment does permit searches and seizures that are considered reasonable.In practice, this means that the police may override your privacy concerns and conduct a search of you, your home, barn, car, boat, office, personal or business documents, bank account records, trash barrel, or whatever, if the police have probable cause to believe they can find evidence that you committed a crime, and a judge issues a search warrant, or the particular circumstances justify the search without a warrant first being issued (Nolo 2012). The Supreme Court has ruled that warrantless police conduct may comply with the Fourth Amendment so long as it is reasonable under the circumstances.The exceptions made to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement reflect the Court's reluctance to unduly impede the job of law enforcement officials. The Court has attempted to strike a balance between the practical realities of daily police work and the privacy and freedom interests of the public (FindLaw 2012). A warrant is a document issued by the courts allowing law enforcement to search your private property. All that is needed to obtain a warrant is probable cause, meaning there must be sufficient reason based upon known facts to believe a crime has been committed or that certai n property is connected with a crime.Also, as explained by The Lecture Law Library (1995-2012), the fourth amendment provides no protection for what a person knowingly exposes to the public. For instance a man's facial characteristics, or handwriting, his voice is repeatedly produced for others to hear. No person can have a reasonable expectation that others will not know the sound of his voice, any more than he can reasonably expect that his face will be a mystery to the world. These are simply a fraction of the examples as to when the fourth amendment of unlawful search and seizure does not apply.Courts use a two-part test established by the U. S. Supreme Court to determine whether, at the time of the search, a defendant had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the place or things searched. Evaluating whether or not the person actually expected some degree of privacy and if the person's expectation is one that society is willing to recognize? Also, if upon review, a court finds that an unreasonable search occurred, any evidence seized as a result of the search cannot be used as direct evidence against the defendant in a criminal prosecution, state or federal. This rule, established by the U. S.Supreme Court in 1961, has come to be known as the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of the United States Constitution. Many commentators criticize the exclusionary rule on the ground that it unfairly lets the criminal go free simply due to error. Adversely, the rule's supporters argue that excluding illegally seized evidence is necessary to deter police from conducting illegal searches. According to this deterrence argument, the police won't conduct improper searches if the resulting evidence can't be used to convict the defendant.In addition to being excluded as evidence against the defendant, evidence resulting from an illegal search may not be used to discover other evidence, under a le gal rule colorfully known as the â€Å"fruit of the poisonous tree† doctrine. The â€Å"tree† is the evidence that the police illegally seize in the first place; the â€Å"fruit† is the second-generation product of the illegally seized evidence; both tree and fruit are inadmissible at trial (Nolo 2012). Moreover, when the fourth amendment is broken there are consequences that are handled by the courts. The Knock-and-Announce RequirementThis requirement is meant to protect the security, privacy, and property interest of people in their homes (Josephson, 1996). â€Å"The knock-and-announce rule requires that police officers give notion of both their authority and purpose to the occupants of a residence to be searched. Before breaking and entering the premises to search, officers must also give the occupants a reasonable opportunity to voluntarily allow the police to enter† (Josephson, 1996). This rule has to be follow even if officers do have a warrant. Thi s rule also serves for protection for the officers that are entering a home owner home.Citizens have an expectation to privacy and with this rule it allows the occupants to give consent to enter. Arizona v. Gant This case was taken all the way to the U. S. Supreme Court, and is used as a guideline for what is considered constitutional in regards to Unlawful Search and Seizure. The facts of the case states that Gant was arrested for driving with a suspended license. He then was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of an officer car. While under arrest the officers searches his car. The officers find cocaine in a jacket pocket (The Daily Record, 2009, p. 1).Gant’s motion to dismiss the evidence was denied and he was convicted of drug charges. â€Å"Reversing, the State Supreme Court distinguished New York v. Belton, which held that police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle and any containers therein as a contemporaneous incident of recent occupants lawful arres t on grounds that it concerned the scope of a search incident to arrest but did not answer the question whether officers may conduct such a search once the scene has been secured† (Justia. com, 2009). One major concern was of the officer’s safety if the occupant was allowed to be within the reach of the area being searched.This could be absolutely dangers for the officer and could endanger the public. Under the Gant ruling, if an officer wishes to search the vehicle of an arrested suspect, he or she may delay handcuffing the suspect until after the search is complete (NJ. com, 2009). This allows the occupant to be able to access his car while being searched. Conclusion The Fourth Amendment is the primary, essential limit on the power of governments in the U. S. to inquire into people's lives, arrest them, and take their property. It is also what prevents governments and their agents from invading citizens' privacy.In a society that both deplores crime and values liberty , there will always be a tension between law enforcement interests and the privacy of individuals. The tools and system of the fourth amendment are as followed: Is it governmental conduct? Does the defendant have a legitimate expectation of privacy? Will society protect the defendant’s expectation as objectively reasonable? And was a warrant issued? If any of the stated reason within the system of unlawful search and seizure hold true then there I no violation of the fourth amendment. The fourth amendment to the U. S. onstitution places limits on the power of the police to make arrests, search people and their property, and seize objects and contraband, such as illegal drugs or weapons. The amendment of unlawful search and seizure is one of ten amendments within The Bill of Rights and reads as follows: â€Å"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants sh all issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized (Nolo 2012). † ReferencesArizona v. Gant. (2009). Retrieved November 22, 2012, from http://supreme. justia. com/cases/federal/us/556/07-542/ Calsyn, J. D. , Hale, B. C. , Kranz, H. , Grossman, M. R. , & Kim, N. E. (1998). Warrantless searches and seizures. Georgetown Law Journal, 86, 1214-1288. Cole, G. F. , & Smith C. E. , (2011) Criminal Justice (6th ed. ). Belmont, California: Wadsworth. Josephson, M. (1996). Fourth amendment–must police knock and announce themselves before e. g. Microsoft Corporation (1995-2012). The Fourth Amendment [U. S. Constitution]. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www. lectlaw. com/def/f081. htm. (2012). The Fourth Amendment

A Logger’s Lament

The article talks about the life of our loggers and how they should be seen in a larger picture.Loggers are always considered as people who cut trees, leaving them bare and causing discomfort for other species in the forest.But looking into it more closely, loggers do not have any difference from the endangered species that most of the environmentalist groups are rallying for protection.They are just like the farmers that we all know, gathering produce when wheat and other crops are all ready to be picked, the only difference is that loggers are harvesting large products compared to wheat, but the concept are all the same. These loggers are cutting trees and planting trees for replacement.They spend more than thirty years taking care of their trees, keeping in mind that eventually they will be able to yield what they have been spending their time with. If one could analyze it, they are spending almost half of their lifetime for just one tree to be harvested in the end. Yet, these log gers are losing in numbers, because they are not being provided with the right market for them to progress.Tree-cutting is not awful against the environment if only you replace what you have removed. Every tree being cut should be replaced with another tree to keep everything in balance, and that is what our loggers our doing. Yet, some groups restrict this cutting of trees because they are to take care of animals in the forests that might lose their natural habitats.We need our loggers for our wood products such as paper and furniture. We need them for the preservation of the forests out there. But what are we doing to preserve these people?Work CitedKysar, Leila L. â€Å"A Logger’s lament.† Newsweek. 22 October 1990.

Financial System in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Financial System in China - Essay Example The financial markets and banking system in China is indeed a vast topic and will be quiet different from developed, developing, transitional and emerging countries. The focus will be on the role of financial institutions as intermediaries for their users, which includes investors, firms and government - and not to try to construct a detailed description of the contracts and operations in which they engage and the legislation in place. China's current financial system is dominated by a big banking sector that is quite inefficient. In order to reform the Chinese financial system sooner, there has to be a drastic reduction in the number of non-performing loans amongst the major banks to a normal level. This is a vital objective for the success of any reformation. Although the growth of the stock market in China has been rapid, its role of allocation of resources has been ineffective and limited in the country's economy. Further development of China's financial markets happens to be the most important long-term object. For sustainable stable economic growth, China should strive to halt or prevent any damaging financial crises, as well as a banking sector crisis, a "twin crisis" in the currency market and banking sector and a stock market or real estate crash. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FINANCIAL AND CORPORATE SECTORS OF THE CHINESE ECONOMY In the financial market sector, speculation and insider information has characterized the Chinese Financial markets and has not been very successful in the effective allocation of resources as the banking sector. The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SHSE hereafter) and Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE hereafter) all established in 1990, are China's two main financial markets, and have been growing at a tremendous rate. But they have not been working a rate that can bring in some improvements in the Chinese financial market sector. Is all due to encumbrances and poor regulation that characterizes the regulatory environment particularly in the corporate and trading laws, the legal protection of investors, and as well as institutions that are responsible for the governing of enforcement of contracts have all been poorly developed.The poor and ineffective functioning of these markets is also linked to the fact that a reasonable amount of large blocks of shares are held by various government entiti es in listed companies (including state-owned banks). To greatly improve the functioning of the financial market, there should be a planned reduction of these government owned entities, and that is achievable by selling them off slowly over time. Lack of trained professionals has plagued market such as investment bankers, (business) lawyers and accountants. There is lack of incentive to effectively motivate financial intermediaries who should act as institutional investors for the smooth and efficient running of the market. They are just totally unavailable especially when one considers the role they play in improving the efficiency of the markets and strengthening the corporate governance of

Nokia Mobil Phone Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Nokia Mobil Phone - Research Paper Example A set of possible solutions that the company could have adopted have also been set down as recommendations for the company during 2006. The recommendations set down have been well thought out and is based on the performance of the company, the factors that impacted the business during that stage and also keeping the future in mind. Firstly, it is important to identify and discuss here the stage of the life cycle model that the company was in during 2006 in the US. The year 2006 was indeed recognised to be the peek for Nokia Corporation in the US. The company had grown to sell as much as 440 million handsets which contributed to almost 40% of the overall global cell phone sales. The company was then at the pinnacle of success and every product of the company, i.e. the mobile phones as well as the MP3s were all in high demand. The company had seen an increase of 25% for the demand of the phones in the emerging markets (Kharif). The company made a net profit of almost 1.2 billion Euros. The company has also seen a major increase in the revenues in the year 2006. On the whole, the company was part of the growth stage and the company has seen intense growth and development throughout the year throughout the world except in America (Kharif). In the case of America, Nokia has moved from the growth stage and to a great extent has moved closer towards the decline stage. There has been a massive jump in the company’s position in terms of the pro duct life cycle. The years prior to 2006, have clearly been very eventful and successful for the company however, the year 2006 led the company to be left way behind competitors like Motorola. Nokia lacked the style and new trends in the mobile designs and carried on focusing solely on the bar shaped cell phones (Kharif). There was clearly little or no attention paid to the customer

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 12

Economics - Essay Example The second step entails getting training that may help an entrepreneur to identify the most suitable sources of business financing (U.S.Small Business Administration, 2013). Therefore, Sonny Erriccsson phone was identified as a product of study, whereby, its life cycle and future market scope has been discussed under the following subheadings. a). Specifically identify the product; its life cycle and the initial and future scope of the market intend to serve. The product in this case entails Sonny Erriccsson phone, this product falls under electronic and communication industry. Sonny Erriccsson phone entails five phases of product life cycle development namely; development phase, introduction phase, growth phase, maturity phase and finally, decline phase. The introduction phases focuses at creating awareness to both new and existing customers about the existence of Sonny Erriccsson phones. However, this stage tends to experience numerous challenges such as low sales volumes, low prof its, higher marketing and advertising expenses. On the contrary, is the growth phase, this phase involves creation of brand preference and market share. In addition, sales and profits tend to be higher in this phase as compared to the introduction stage (Grieves & Michael, 2006). In the fourth phase (maturity phase), marketers focuses at maintaining the already established market share through modification of Sonny Erriccsson phones to make its product more competitive. The final phase is declining phase whereby, the market has become saturated and the product start losing customer causing a decline in sales volume and profitability to decline significantly. Therefore, marketing managers may respond to this stage by either selling the business to a market niche or carryout phase withdraw before incurring losses (Grieves & Michael, 2006). b). Recognize and evaluate the market structure, degree of competition and the availability of substitutes initially and in the future, locally and globally for the proposed product. Sonny Erriccsson mobile is a wholly owned subsidiary of the parent company known as Sonny Corporation. Sonny mobile become part of Sonny Company through acquisition of Telefonaktiebolagate shares on 15th February 2012. The market structure for Sonny Erriccsson has been highly restructured with an aim of increasing future operational efficiency. For example, Sonny moved its operation structure from Sweden to Tokyo Japan. Additionally, the company CEO announced that sonny his company had integrated all its subsidiaries located in different regions to increase market share as well as to reduce operating cost. The CEO further issued a notification that to the Sony authorities in Sweden that the company was aiming to enhance efficiency by eliminating redundancy in the entire company (Sony Inc, 2012). The degree of competition in this market tend to be very stiff due to globalization and new scientific innovation hence, making different phone manufactur ers such Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola among other competitors who are continuously modify their products by adding more features to make their products more attractive before the eyes of the customers. In addition, there are numerous substitutes available in the market that can serve the same purpose as Sonny Erriccsson phones. For example; I pads, I phones and Samsung galaxy phones may act as a good substitute. The above substitute may not only serve the local meets but also

Freedom of speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Freedom of speech - Essay Example Freedom of speech Freedom of speech is one of the most valued rights of every citizen in the world. The following types of speech are not protected under the First Amendment: those that damage the reputation of another, those that stimulate illegal action, those directed to another person and would inflict injury or a fight and those that are found obscene according to the Miller test. In Miller vs. California, the court gave three points to use on deciding whether something could be described as obscene. These points were applied in the two cases which are the subjects of this paper. Both courts found that the first and second parts of the Miller test were fulfilled. As what had been stated in Skywalker vs. Navarro, Florida laws are very specific on what it considers as obscene. Although this writer agrees with Luke Records that since the judge referred to Florida’s criminal law description as to what is obscene proof beyond reasonable doubt, a requisite in a criminal case, should be presented , the writer also understands the first court’s opinion that the proceeding is not a criminal one and as such aspects of a criminal case is not necessary. The court only needs to review if the material meets Florida laws, as identified in the Miller test. This writer also agrees with the appellate court that the judge’s background in relation to the community referred to in the case is enough to satisfy the first part of the Miller test.... Lastly, as stated earlier, this writer is of the mind that the first court was correct in finding the material, as a whole, lacking of artistic value. True, the music is of hip-hop and rap, two of the most influential and popular kinds of music of the current generation. However, the object of the case in Skywalker vs. Navarro was not the music was a whole but the lyrics or the words in the songs as a whole. As such, â€Å"work, taken as a whole,† as stated in part three of the Miller test should be associated with only the entire lyrics found in As Nasty As They Can Be and not the songs which denotes music combined with lyrics. This writer believes that the appellants knew their album would be tagged as obscene because of the words that can be found there which is why they spent time and money recording and coming out with a â€Å"clean† version and even put a clear warning on the album. The only notable difference between the â€Å"clean† version and the versio n in question were the lyrics, which was really the main focus of the first case. The appellants’ witness who testified about the lyrics claimed that these are examples of musical and literary conventions even. This may be so. Nevertheless, this writer believes that given that because the appellants actually invested on creating a more wholesome version of the album in question, they are only using the First Amendment to protect themselves from further losing on the income they could still get from the album, which had already earned four times more than the album’s cleaner version. Works Cited: Luke Records, Inc. V. Navarro. 960 F. 2d. 134. United States Court of Appeals, 1992. Web. 23 November 2012. Skywalker Records, Inc. v. Navarro. 738

Explain how migration experiences shape gender relations among Essay

Explain how migration experiences shape gender relations among migrants - Essay Example In the context of social relations, gender is not a replacement of the term sex but rather a collective description of sexual differences that do not concern biological determinism (Wright, 2011). Gender relations are the rules of interaction and participation in society of men and women that have been generally accepted as appropriate within society and social roles as well as the division of labour (Chant, 2007). These rules differ in nature and extent depending on the culture of the persons concerned. Gender is therefore in this context perceived as an organising principle due to the socio-cultural attachment that the society accredits the participants of the particular gender. Argument The main bodies of literature on the subject of migration have a common trend that is geared toward the feminization of migration motivated by concepts such as single female breadwinners, single female breadwinners as well as low skilled women from urban backgrounds (Momsen, 2010). The issue of gen der violence motivated migration has seen women flee to areas of friendlier societal values and attributes. Migration serves to pollute in various ways the properly constructed social relations by introducing different roles motivated by the different cultures and social origins. It also causes an imbalance in the composition of society reducing the number of individuals available to perform a particular allocated social role (Momsen, 2010). Most of the migrants result to moving in response to socio-economic and political pressures and incentives. These pressures and incentives are motivated by inequalities in the countries concerned that create a need for or a promise of money or a better life. As such migration is mostly voluntary and in other cases involuntary if the migration is as a result of trafficking and response to political instability, natural disaster or armed conflict. It is still not clear as to who on behalf of the family makes the decision to migrate to different co untries. The interaction between the family hierarchies and the decision to migrate is a highly interactive relationship that determines where the family migrates to and for how long (Bouta, Frerks & Bannon, 2004). In other cases forced migration has nothing to do with the family relations. An English boy who flees his home to avoid harassment and sexual abuse or a Somali girl who crosses the border at night due to the hostility in their country do not have the time to consider the strictures of family attachments and relations. In cases of political and social hostilities such as the case of the Somali migrants the women suffer immensely through the migration journey from the harsh conditions of little food and water and extreme temperatures(Bouta, Frerks, & Bannon, 2004). The interaction with the potentially dangerous and harmful conditions as well as the use of false identification documents leads to imprisonment of the women and children or restriction to refugee camps that have extremely poor social arrangements. Further the proportion of women and children who are not recruited and used as soldiers are left to endure multiple rapes and associated injuries and infections incurred during war (Afshar & Eade, 2005). Gender relations are built on the foundation of proper social

Critically evaluate how the recession has affected Natwest's Essay

Critically evaluate how the recession has affected Natwest's motivational methods - Essay Example Motivation theories such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s dichotomy of hygiene factors and motivating factors, McGregor’s theory ‘X’ and theory ‘Y’ people, Edgar Schein’s assumptions based approach, Tailor’s scientific management approach, Elton Mayo’s theory, Adams equity theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory have been in used for long time. These models propose circumstances under which employees will be internally motivated to do their tasks effectively according to Hackman and Oldham (1976). However practical situations in the organizational setting can be an admixture of some or all of these theories. There was a time when employees were assumed as only another input into the process of manufacturing of goods and services. According to Lindner (1998) what probably changed this notion was research, known as the Hawthorne Studies, performed by Elton Mayo in between 1924 to 1932. Maslow (1998) used a pyramidal hierarchical structure to depict the needs of employees at the work place. According to him self-actualization occupies the top-most rung in the hierarchy of needs. Secondly self-esteem needs come as of importance. Thirdly needs of love and affection come and fourthly safety related needs are of importance to the employee. Finally at the base of the pyramid there are those physiological needs. Individual employees who are more likely to need self-actualization benefits would display some individual characteristics. For example acceptance and realism are associated with such employees. This is due to the fact that such employees regard themselves as more realistic and accordingly adjust themselves to the work environment with a degree of ease. Secondly their problem solving behavior endears them to many higher officials outside their own work environment. Their motivation basically comes from a

Prison Gangs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Prison Gangs - Essay Example The violence might be the cause of this gender based bias. Men tend to be more violent in prison than women. The need to join a gang for protection becomes a necessity in a male prison due to the excessive violence. In the end, prison gangs are dictated by race, class, and gender. Gangs emerged on the street during the sixties and seventies. At first gangs were like formed like the Guardian Angels in New York City. Gangs developed out of the Civil Rights Movement ironically. Black Panthers and other minority groups formed gangs to patrol their neighborhoods against corrupt officers that would lynch and kill in the aftermath of the African American’s victory of the Civil Rights Movement. White bikers formed clubs (gangs) after returning from the Vietnam War, they wanted to get together drink and forget the war. When the drug trade was introduced in the late seventies and early eighties, gangs became the gun toting, drug dealing and violent criminals that are known today. Despite law enforcements gang unit and suppression measures, gangs are still a major problem across the United States. One problem of trying to suppress gangs is the availability of new recruits. One scholarly paper suggests: Another consequence of suppression efforts is that such efforts may promote substitution effects, whereby the removed gang member is simply replaced by another gang associate or recruit. Still yet, the use of suppression efforts may lead to an over-reliance on these measures and may mask other appropriate but less intensive alternatives to deal with gang members. (Trulson, Marquart, and Kawucha 2008) Gang units arrest gang members, normally resulting in long prison terms. The gang members taken off the street continue to live the gang lifestyle in prison. Thus law enforcement has to have strategies on the streets and behind prison walls. Race is the number one factor in male prison gangs. Gang membership is considered on a race basis. The Aryan

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

International trade - Essay Example China and the south East Asian countries such as Singapore have been in focus for their export based economies (Rivera-Batiz & Oliva, 2003). External trade is usually heavily controlled by countries by applying duty against imports and subsidizing exports. Free trade means the government does not discriminate against national and foreign producers of goods. The price of goods is determined through the equilibrium of supply and demand. A country which allows free trade does not impose high import duties and neither does it subsidize its exports through schemes and promotions. Body 2)Advantages of International Trade The major advantages of international trade are – It enhances the competitiveness of local industries as they come into contact with international best practices and technological knowhow. It helps the country to overcome the shortage in natural resources. One example is the import of crude oil by many countries to overcome the natural deficiency. International trad e allows consumers to buy products at low cost. An example of this has been the proliferation of manufacturing industries to China. Manufacturing goods produced in China are low cost and thus leads to benefits to the end users. International trade can be a vehicle for poverty reduction. China has increased its GDP rapidly in the last 20 years by becoming an export hub for international companies. This has reduced poverty and created employment for a billion Chinese (Rivera-Batiz & Oliva, 2003). Disadvantages of International Trade Some of the main disadvantages are – International trade can lead to destruction of local industries if they are not able to compete with the cheap products imported from abroad. International trade can lead to jobless growth of the economy. This can cause social unrest among the population. India is a country whose exports largely consist of services such as Information technology. However IT is a capital intensive sector which creates very few job s leading to large scale unemployment in the country. International trade can also lead to depletion of natural resources such as coal, iron-ore etc. if they are exported to other countries (Rivera-Batiz & Oliva, 2003). International trade has also caused various environmental and human rights concern. It is alleged that the factories in China and Mexico do not follow the strict environmental guidelines followed in developed world. They are also accused of employing child labour to reduce the cost of products (Rivera-Batiz & Oliva, 2003). 3)Major Trading Partners of UAE The major trading partners of UAE are Japan, China, European Union and India. Japan is UAE’s biggest export partner (17.27% share) and China is the biggest import partner (15.03% share) (Oxford Business Group, 2010). 4)Most Important Exports OF UAE The most important exports from UAE are crude oil, natural gas, fish, dates and products which are re-exported after processing (Zaman, 2011). 5)Trade Policy of UAE UAE signed the General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) in 1994 and became a WTO member in

Arturo Escobar Essay Example for Free

Arturo Escobar Essay Lectua â€Å"na ecologia de la diferencia: igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado† Dia 14 Mes 08 Ano 12 Docente Claudia Patricia Rodriguez CALIFICACION UNA ECOLOGIA DE LA DIFERENCIA: IGUALDAD Y CONFLICTO EN UN MUNDO GLOCALIZADO Arturo Escobar, es un antropologo colombiano, nacido en Manizales, interesado en la ecologia politica, el desarrollo y movimientos sociales en Colombia. Especificamente, Escobar se cuestiono los problemas de hambre y pobreza de grandes sectores de la poblacion colombiana, Pero sus intereses se dirigieron cada vez mas hacia el area de las ciencias sociales y la antropologia del desarrollo, de ahi que viajo a continuar estudios de postgrado en la Cornell University y en la Universidad de California, Berkeley, donde hizo su doctorado en 1987. Entre sus especialidades figuran la ecologia politica y la antropologia del desarrollo, los movimientos sociales y las nuevas tecnologias. (Penuela, M, 2005, http://www. javeriana. edu. co/Facultades/C_Sociales/universitas/62/penuela. pdf) Adicionalmente ha sido profesor de muchas universidades en Colombia y especialmente Estados Unidos. Este autor refleja en una de sus obras y ensayos uno de los mas importantes y cuestionados temas a nivel mundial: la igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado. Se habla de la diferencia que existe entre los individuos que hoy hacen parte de la globalizacion, esta diferencia es pocas veces dirigida hacia una igualdad para todos, ya que la relacion que existe entre la globalizacion, la cultura de un lugar especifico y el desarrollo benefician mas unos que a otros. He aqui el gran conflicto, es cada vez mas comun ver como la globalizacion, es decir, un mundo global, que busca una homogeneidad se impone. Se da entonces un acceso a excluir a unos y dominar otros, ya que aquellos que dominan son los que tienen el acceso a las oportunidades y los recursos como lo referencia el autor. Se excluye entonces lo local, para pasar a ser lo global lo mas importante y lo que se impone; es el capitalismo, los medios masivos y las mercancias lo que brinda las mejores oportunidades, ya no se habla de biodiversidad sino por el contrario de la biotecnologia que se vuelve un recurso aun mas importante que la propia diversidad ya existente. Aun mas alla de las nuevas tendencias, existe un tema que referencia el autor como uno de los grandes conflictos y es la adaptacion de la diversidad cultural a conductas globales. â€Å"El mundo no es solo global continua siendo local† (Escobar, 2005), es necesario entonces pensar que existen condiciones de pluralismo cultural, diferentes percepciones acerca del mundo en general. Las principales condiciones que niegan la igualdad entre individuos son la parte economica, cultural y ambiental. Los grandes economistas hablan del valor que tienen cada uno de los recursos, los precios y derechos de propiedad son los que valen dentro del sector economico, sin embargo, las comunidades definen las practicas que determinan la valoracion de los recursos especificamente naturales de manera distinta a la valoracion economica; mas que un precio o valor monetario, el entorno natural y sus recursos tienen un valor intrinseco, no se puede calcular este valor ya que cada cultura percibe los recursos naturales de una manera distinta. Por otro lado, la relacion de las personas con el mundo natural, le da al entorno un valor para cada territorio, no todos quieren compartir de igual manera la diversidad natural de un lugar porque las comunidades le estan dando su verdadero significado. Fundamentalmente lo ambiental y cultural se reune de algun modo para diferenciar y darle pluralismo al mundo que hoy se une a la globalizacion, pero se elude aun la sostenibilidad cultural y ambiental. Es en gran medida esta falta de sostenibilidad un conflicto, que se traduce en la distribucion cultural, las diferencias culturales propagan desigualdad ya que algunos imponen la dominacion y se convierten en propietarios de lo que es de una comunidad en su conjunto. Se quiere cada dia, dar paso a la hegemonia entre culturas pero sigue marcando diferencias los comportamientos, sus derechos colectivos y tradiciones. El Estado tambien juega un papel muy importante, este lucha por conservar su practica cultural y defender lo que es de un territorio. En el caso colombiano se da un ejemplo de las culturas negras riberenas en la selva del Pacifico las cuales desde 1990 se unieron para defender un territorio, su biodiversidad y lo que era suyo, se defienden entonces modelos locales que perduran en la cultura colombiana aun y los cuales se mantienen en movimientos sociales. Aun cuando lo global trata de imponerse, la diversidad cultural, la economia y el medio ambiente son niveles diferenciadores para la globalizacion. Finalmente, si es necesaria le equidad de la distribucion economica, estrechar la diferencia de dominacion entre comunidades para permitir el desarrollo e intercambio equitativo. Aun cuando las culturas sean diferentes, se pueden entremezclar para establecer una igualdad. BIBLIOGRAFIA Escobar, A. (2005), â€Å"Una ecologia de la diferencia: igualdad y conflicto en un mundo glocalizado† [Documento digital PDF]. Arturo Escobar, En: WEB, 2005, [en linea] disponible en: http://www. javeriana. edu. co/Facultades/C_Sociales/universitas/62/penuela. pdf. [consulta: agosto 12 de 2012].

Identifying The Vision Statement Qantas Tourism Essay

Identifying The Vision Statement Qantas Tourism Essay To overcome these issues, Qantas must modify aircraft sizes and engines to become more fuel efficient and reduce CO2 emissions over coming years. During the next two years, Qantas should plan to reduce industrial conflict by reorganizing the communication system and its organizational structure, making it more flexible and adaptive, thus empowering employees with project management responsibilities. Grievance procedures must be improved with a formal process to resolve work conflicts. Qantas must maintain and increase its corporate customer market share in order to remain profitable and successful. Qantas has undertaken significant changes over the last decade to cope with internal and external factors such as the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 which effectively reduced the demand for international travel. Qantas initially reduced its international travel flying capacity by 11%.    The factors that had caused Qantas to change were that Qantas had to become: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ A more competitive, efficient and profitable business with less competition in the domestic markets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Qantas had to pay taxes and levies paid by other business in Australia   à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Qantas had to make an increased profit and pay a dividend to its shareholders which increased over the years of management. The main factors, which caused Qantas to change was that, the business was under government ownership until 1995, with a classical/scientific management structure Over the next 5 years Qantas aims to hedge fuel prices and use more efficient aircraft to limit further fuel costs improve employee/employer relationships by reducing the number of employment relations disputes and retain corporate market share by enhancing facilities and lounges to appeal to corporate travellers.   Ã‚   IDENTIFYING THE VISION STATEMENT The Qantas story began in March 1919, when former Australian Flying Corps officers W Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness heard of a  £10,000 ($20,000) prize offered by the Federal Government for the first Australians to fly from England to Australia within 30 days.   McGinness travelled to Yanko in western New South Wales to see Sir Samuel McCaughey to ask if he would fund their entry in the race. In Palestine the two young lieutenants had flown a Bristol fighter presented to No.1 Squadron by the millionaire industrialist. Sir Samuel agreed to finance their venture, but died before a suitable aircraft was found. The Qantas story is inextricably linked with the development of civil aviation in Australia. It begins with fragile biplanes carrying one or two passengers in open cockpits and progresses to the new Airbus A380s flying some 450 people half way around the world in a day. A few determined individuals overcame formidable obstacles to establish the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd (QANTAS). Supported by committed staff and loyal customers, the airline persevered through war and peace to serve the nation and build an enterprise. Today, Qantas is widely regarded as the worlds leading long distance airline and one of the strongest brands in Australia. Qantas continues to provide outstanding service to its customers and is at the forefront of the international civil aviation industry. The future holds many challenges for Qantas maintaining safe operations and world class product standards while building a viable and competitive position long term for the airline.As Qantas doesnt have any formal mission statement it pays more importance only on its vision. The Qantas Groups long term vision is to operate the worlds best premium airline, Qantas, and the worlds best low fares carrier, Jetstar. To achieve this vision, the Group is focused on five key elements: Safety is first priority A firm commitment to worlds best safety practices and reporting Right aircraft, right routes Fleet renewal delivering one of the worlds most effective fleets flying on an optimal route network Customer service excellence Consistent customer service excellence as the basis of the business Operational efficiency Achieving simplicity and further productivity across the business Two strong complementary brands Qantas and Jetstar as the best premium and low fares brands respectively The Kangaroo Symbol The original Kangaroo symbol appearing on Qantas aircraft was adapted from the Australian one penny coin. The winged kangaroo symbol was created by Sydney designer Gert Sellheim, and first appeared in January 1947The Flying Kangaroo was later placed in a circle in 1974. In June 1984 Qantas unveiled an updated logo conceived by Tony Lunn of the Lunn Design Group, Sydney. The Flying Kangaroo lost its wings once again and was refined to a more slender, stylised presentation. PEST ANALYSIS The PEST analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that are needed to be analyzed from the industrys external environment. It is important to cover this to further understand the condition of the airline industry in Australia. Political factors The liberal policy environment has also favoured new entrants. While the domestic airline industry is largely deregulated, Australias airline industry remains quite regulated at the commonwealth level. Australias international aviation policy has been multiple designation The industry deregulation in 1990s has given way to a more restrained form competition between Qantas and Virgin. One of the political issues that concern the airline industry is the effects deregulation. Deregulation was based on the contestable market theory (  1982) which suggested that governments should seek to promote contests for markets, even those where large firm size and limited competitors existed. Regulation was believed to encourage competition based on service quality rather than price, limit operational flexibility, and create no incentives for improving efficiency and productivity. However, it has been argued that deregulation has shifted competition from service to price (1998). On the other hand, among the airline companies around the world, one significant political issue taking place is the emergence of global alliances. Economic factors The past events like volcano eruption and SARS has affected flight security in the eyes of the customer. Every environmental issue including the impact of increase of fuel , which either affects basic costs of flights or affects the likeability of customers to book a flight. Some industry participants have argued that financially distressed carriers have cut prices in an effort to raise short-term cash, depressing market prices below efficient levels and threatening the financial security of healthy carriers. Another economic concern is the fact that the airline economy of the US is in a huge upset after the September 11 attack. Some of the companies declared bankruptcy while others are still struggling to survive (2003). . There is substantial evidence that entry, particularly by low-cost, low-fare airlines, has a substantial effect in constraining fare levels in markets served by the new carriers. Social factors The labour market is tight ,especially in skilled fields requiring more motivation and knowledge The demand for personnel in distant countries will increase the need for foreign-language training. Consumers are more demanding Today, consumers are more demanding especially in terms of service quality. Fortunately, the airline industry can be considered as the pioneer of customer relationship management as they are the first sector to introduce the frequent-flyers program to increase the loyalty of customers (2002). Airline industry also needs very skilled people as their workforce. Technological factors The growth of the information industries is creating a knowledge-dependent global society and information will be the primary commodity of more and more such industries New and larger airplane designs with remote access technology would enable airline companies to achieve better economies of scale. Technological factors include head to head competition in the technological innovations in the industry. Larger planes or aircrafts with remote access technology could provide significant cost savings by allowing the engineers, who were responsible for maintaining the aircraft, to access essential information on the companys systems from wherever they were in the world, using remote web access. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE The Airline is one of the major industries in the world today and is majorly affected by Michael Porters Five Forces model. The following write up conducts an analysis on how the model affects the airline industry today. Threat of New Entrants.   One of the forces that Porter describes is Entry into the industry. In the world today, the airline industry is so saturated that there is hardly space for a newcomer even to squeeze its way in. The biggest for this is the cost of entry. The airline industry is one of the most expensive industries, due to the cost of buying and leasing aircrafts, safety and security measures, customer service and manpower. Another major barrier to entry is the brand name of existing airlines and it is really difficult to lure customers out of their existing brands. On the other hand, a newcomer could enter this saturated market easier with a completely new concept and technology. Bargaining Power of Suppliers.   The airline supply business is mainly dominated by Boeing and Airbus. For this reason, there isnt a lot of cutthroat competition among suppliers. Also, the likelihood of a supplier integrating vertically isnt very likely. In other words, we probably wont see suppliers starting to offer flight service on top of building airlines. 3 Bargaining Power of Buyers.   The bargaining power of buyers in the airline industry is quite low. Obviously, there are high costs involved with switching airplanes, but also take a look at the ability to compete on service.  Is the seat in one airline more comfortable than another? Probably not unless we are analyzing a luxury liner like the Concord Jet.   4 Availability of Substitutes.   What is the likelihood that someone will drive or take a train to  his or her  destination? For regional airlines, the threat might be a little higher than international carriers. When determining this we consider time, money, personal preference and convenience in the air travel industry. Competitive Rivalry.   Highly competitive industries generally earn low returns because the cost of competition is high. This can spell disaster when times get tough in the economy.  In case of the Airline industry, this is the most important force today, especially since the market is completely saturated. There are more service providers than needed in both local as well as international markets. The various airlines are competing for the same customer, which also results in strengthening the buyer power, another of Porters forces. Moreover, a lot of airlines such as Qantas Airways and Emirates have a brand name which they have to defend so they compete in doing so. The airlines are continually competing against each other in terms of prices, technology, in-flight entertainment, customer services and many more areas. SWOT ANALYSIS QANTAS STRENGTH How the Qantas Group responds Improving Margins As economic showing a significant progress, Qantas margins are also improving. Diversified Business Qantas range of subsidiary business operates in different sector but all of them supporting airlines industrys activity, such as catering, baggage handling and engineer. This also helped them to control supplier and aircraft maintenance cost. Oneworld Alliance Oneworld Alliance is a management company founded by Qantas, American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Purpose of this centralized management company is to helping each other with nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ core business activity such as marketing, engineering/maintenance, and online ticketing to reduce cost thus give the company allowance to cut ticket price. Members of the alliance are also possible to transfer passenger for connecting flight. Efficient Use of Resources Qantas have a home ground advantage as Australia national airlines. Its subsidiary company also provide great resources for Qantas core business. QUANTAS WEAKNESS How the Qantas Group responds Reliability Concerns Qantas has been involved to some incident with some of their aircrafts in 2008/09. Although nothing ended in major accident, its affected companys safety image. Problems with the staff A staff problem action, often referred to as a wildcat strike, is a strike action taken by workers without the authorization of their trade union officials. It has been hit with worst strike in the company history in 2009, caused a major delay that also affected other flights. QANTAS OPPORTUNITY How the Qantas Group responds Maintaining the highest standards of safety Commitment to safety as first priority, underpinned by industry-leading policies, systems and training Adapting business strategy to manage changing economic conditions Two flying brands strategy to adjust capacity, pricing and market segmentation as the market moves up or down Remaining competitive in a challenging and volatile industry context Fleet renewal to reduce longterm costs and grow revenues Strong alliance relationships and strategic investments to spread risk and opportunity across markets and provide network depth Qantas: innovations to drive higher satisfaction and improved customer advocacy; focus on the end-to-end customer experience; improvements in product consistency across the fleet including aircraft reconfiguration; brand renewal; pursuit of efficiencies to lower the cost base; Customer Charter established Jetstar: effective capacity management; strong promotional campaigns; ground-breaking strategic alliance relationships (eg AirAsia); Pursuing growth opportunities in emerging markets Qantas alliance relationships with carriers in emerging markets Jetstar pan-Asian strategy including Jetstar Pacific (Vietnam) and Jetstar Asia(Singapore) New technologies Breakthrough product and service innovations such as Next Generation Check-in Commitment to technologically advanced aircraft (eg Airbus A380, Boeing 787) Operating in an environmentally sustainable manner and managing carbon risk Fuel efficiency program, investment in advanced technologies and fuel efficient aircraft, air traffic management leadership, sustainable aviation fuel development -Carbon offset schemes, partnerships with environmental organisations and engagement with employees QANTAS THREATS How the Qantas Group responds Responding to unexpected shocks and crises Purpose-built Crisis Management Centre with detailed crisis management plans Scenario planning supplemented by simulated crisis training exercises Managing currency and fuel price fluctuations Award-winning Treasury function Hedging, including options, to enable participation when oil prices are low and protection when oil prices are high Shrinking Aviation Industry Aviation industry got hit real hard as a result of global financial crisis. IATA traffic data showed a 4.6% drop in international passenger traffic and 13.5% drop in international cargo and stated that the worldwide aviation industry shrinking by all measures. Intense Competition The competition in this industry is super fierce.. Qantas are currently head to head with every major airlines in the world. CORE COMPETENCIES AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Strong brand: Qantas is a globally recognized brand that enjoys excellent brand equity and outstanding customer loyalty (with over 4.6 million members of its frequent flyer program); Qantas connects Australia to most major destinations in the world in every continent. Moreover, Qantas has a well regarded management team which has helped the company to gain the brand value. World class in flight entertainment: Qantas is one of the oldest airlines in the world that has an excellent and well updated in flight entertainment system . As a result, Qantas is universally known for its comfort and timeless travelling experience. Qantas Airlines offers a wide range of in flight features and amenities  for each of the different traveling classes. Qantas prides itself on offering each passenger a pleasant and comfortable flight, with top notch costumer service. Comprehensive experience and expertise: Qantas has long experience and abundant expertise in   1) both domestic and international flights; 2) both a full service airline(Qantas) and low cost carrier(Jetstar); 3) all levels of passengers (premium segment, economic segment, and budget segment) Differentiating Factor Jetstars quick rise to be one of the worlds most successful low-cost carriers places the Qantas Group well in terms of product offering and differentiation. Its strong fleet order book of A380s and B787 Dream liners gives it a significant competitive advantage over other airlines. Qantas ability to re deploy Jetstar planes on lower yielding routes will be a good competitive advantage while demand is weak. FINANCIAL RATIOS ANALYSIS Current Ratio The Current Ratio is one of the measures of financial strength.It reflects whether that company has enough assets to pay its liabilities. In 2008 the Current Ratio was 0.73 In 2009 the Current Ratio was 0.88 It shows that Qanats Current Assets has increased, which is a positive result and mark of success. Return on asset ratio The Return on Asset Ratio measures how efficiently profits are being generated from the assets employed in the business when compared with the ratios of firms in a similar business. In 2008 it was 0.071 In 2009 it was 0.009 It shows that return on the assets has decreased by almost 80%. The reason behind this is again recession. Gross margin ratio In 2008 it was 0.3 In 2009 it was 0.2 It shows that Gross profit has decreased a bit in 2009 due to economic downturn, but it is still better as compared to other airlines STRATEGY RECOMMENDATIONS Introduce all business class flights The major source of profit for Qantas is from the business class. Keeping this in mind Qantas should introduce few new aircrafts which includes only business class passengers. Economy class seats shouldnt be there in such flights. This will help the company to generate more revenue and will also give a different and high class experience to business class passengers. Allow to use luxury lounge for economy class Qantas should allow its economy class passengers to use the luxury lounge at the airports on payment basis. Customer should be allowed to use luxury lounge if they are willing to do so, for which they only need to pay little extra. This will help the company to generate money without making any investment. And not only this, it will also benefit the passengers of economy class they comfort is the 1st priority of every human in this modern world. so nobody would mind to pay a little amount for this comfort and relaxing experience. Introduce segways at big airports Qantas can introduce segways at the huge airports like Frankfurt International,   London (Heathrow). This will help the passengers to commute easily at the airport with more comfort and less tiredness. Provide organic food and herbal food Qantas can provide organic and herbal food to its passengers. Everybody is too concerned about their health, keeping this in mind organic food would be a good option for them. POTENTIAL FALLOUTS It is because of the bilateral agreements in the aviation industry, the competition has been reached to its final stage and now it is become very tough for Qantas Airline to maintain high standards and survive in the competition. The airline is facing challenges not only in international, but in the domestic market where it was a market leader earleier. Companies like, Virgin Blue and Tiger Airways are picking up fast and taking the market share of Qantas. REFERENCES Bea, F.X. Haas, J. (2001). Strategisches Management. Tuebingen: Vahlen. Hamel, G. Prahalad, C.K. (1996). Competing for the Future. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kotler, P. Keller, K. (2006). Marketing Management. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airlines/company/global/en http://www.investopedia.com/features/industryhandbook/airline.asp http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/01/qantas-airline-known-and-considered-to-be-the-leading-long-distance-airline-in-the-world.html Competitve Analysis Presentation from lovebaby193

History of the Barcode and Its Applications

History of the Barcode and Its Applications INTRODUCTION The innovation of barcodes has really emerged as one of the biggest innovation and it has been very influential for the inventory handlers. Especially if we look at the supermarkets it is a very tough business because it involves a lot of inventory handling. Maintaining inventory which is not too much and not too less is a very critical issue for the owners. But with the advent of this automatic readable technology things are quite easy and speedy nowadays. This paper tells us that how initially supermarkets had to manually count and keep track of their inventories and not only supermarkets but all the industries who involve handling of large amount of inventories had to come across high costs and it also took a lot of time, but the emergence of this remarkable innovation has speed up the processes which has eventually helped lowering costs, saving time and last but not the least in satisfying customers. This paper also focuses on the different types and dimensions of innovation and explains that how the innovation of barcodes fit into those dimensions. 2 BARCODES Standardized tags are the most prevalent of the programmed information passage strategies. It is an example of parallel bars and spaces of variable widths orchestrated in a particular decided example to speak to a comparing number, letter, or image. The data in a standardized tag is held in the relative thickness and relative position of the lines and spaces inside the particular information characters. Scanners change over the bars and spaces into usable data for information passage. HISTORY While it may appear as though standardized tags have been with us everlastingly, standardized tags didnt generally have an effect until the 1970s. It wasnt until 1974 that the first standardized identification scanner was utilized and the first item bar coded. Be that as it may the thought had been around for a short time. In 1932, Wallace Flint proposed that a mechanized retail checkout framework may be practical. While His idea was considered unworkable, Flint kept on supporting the thought of computerized checkout all through his vocation. Actually, Flint, who happened to turn into the VP of the relationship of evolved ways of life around 40 years after the fact, was instrumental in the improvement of the UPC (Universal Product Code). Throughout the 40s, 50s and 60s few code organizations were created including a bulls-eye code, numeral codes, and different arrangements. Retail applications drove the early innovative improvements of bar coding, yet mechanical applications soon emu lated. 3 Initial Uses of Bar Codes In 1948, a nearby natural pecking order store holder approached Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia getting some information about exploration into a system for consequently perusing item data throughout checkout. Bernard Silver, a graduate understudy at Drexel Institute, alongside individual graduate learner Norman Joseph Woodland, teamed together to create an answer. Forest initially proposed utilizing ultraviolet light delicate ink. A working model was manufactured yet dismisses as being excessively unsteady and lavish. On October 20, 1949, Woodland and Silver succeeded in building a working model depicting their development as article arrangement†¦ through the medium of distinguishing examples. On October 7, 1952, they were allowed a patent for their Characterizing Apparatus and Method. Deliberations to create a working framework quickened in the 1960s.bar coding was initially utilized industrially as a part of 1966, yet to make the framework satisfactory to the b usiness overall there would need to be an industry standard. By 1970, Logicon Inc. had created the Universal Grocery Products Identification Code (UGPIC). The main organization to deliver standardized identification supplies for retail exchange (utilizing UGPIC) was the American organization Monarch Marking (1970), and for modern utilize, the British organization Plessey Telecommunications (1970).in 1972, a Kroger store in Cincinnati started utilizing a bulls-eye code. Throughout that same time period, an advisory group was structured inside the staple business to choose a standard code to be utilized as a part of the business. IBM proposed a configuration, based upon the UGPIC work and like todays UPC code. On April 3, 1973, the board chose the UPC image (focused around the IBM proposal) as the business standard. The accomplishment of the framework from that point forward has prodded on the improvement of other coding frameworks. George J. Laurer is viewed as the designer of U.p.c. alternately Uniform Product Code. In June of 1974, the first U.p.c. scanner was introduced at a Marshs general store in Troy, Ohio. The main item to have a standardized tag was Wrigleys Gum. 4 Today Today, standardized tags are all over the place. Rental auto organizations stay informed concerning their armada by method for standardized tags on the auto guard. Aerial transports track traveler gear, lessening the possibility of misfortune. NASA depends on standardized identifications to screen the many high temperature tiles that need to be supplanted after every space shuttle excursion, and the development of atomic waste is followed with a scanner tag stock framework. Standardized identifications even show up on people! Style fashioners stamp standardized tags on their models to help direction design shows. (The codes store data about what equips each one model ought to be wearing and when they are expected on the runway). New era of Bar Codes opens potential outcomes for new applications, for instance Data Matrix permits a lot of data to be put away in a little space. This is for instance is utilized within health awareness division. Scanner tags are as of now the best known a nd most generally utilized programmed ID engineering. Future The eventual fate of programmed ID, on the other hand, is likely in radio recurrence (RFID). Modest transmitters implanted in things dont oblige a viewable pathway to the scanner, nor are they subject to corruption by presentation. Effectively being used in retail locations to help forestall shoplifting and on toll streets to speed activity, the essential obstruction to more extensive utilization of RFID has been the expense of the silicon chips needed. Today, the five-penny chip is close nearby. On the off chance that the expense might be lessened to short of what one penny a chip, later on your breakfast oat box will be a radio transmitter. 5 THEORIES OF INNOVATION Developing a new product is not that easy as it may seem to be, it requires a lot of continuous effort and determination on the end of the producer. An innovative product is of great benefit not only to its users but it is of great value to the innovating firm as it generates higher value for the firm and allows the firm to enjoy a better competitive position in the market. But it should be kept in mind that developing an innovative does not means that the struggle has ended. When an innovative product enters a market it creates a lot of hype but as the time passes it may start to lose its uniqueness and its exciting features may start to fade, this might be due to competitors copying the product or the simply the users get bore of using it. Therefore, the companies have to strive continuously to maintain their innovation for a longer period of time. Similarly innovation can be in the form of better services which provide better quality and customer satisfaction at a price lower than the competitors. Financial markets involve service innovation as the try their level best to facilitate and satisfy their customers. But the innovative edge and this level of high satisfaction among the customers remains until the innovation is not imitated by the competitor. There remains a lot of pressure on the innovators to innovate continuously to maintain their strategic edge over the other firms and in order to do so some firms may look to bring some changes to the product design, some ponder over the quality, some try to wipe out their enemies by controlling and lowering the cost and some of the innovating firms look to bring changes into their processes. 6 So, the only way of maintaining your strategic advantage is to innovate continuously and there are several theories for it. S-curve The S-curve measures the adoption rate of an innovation. At x-axis we measure the time and the percentage of market penetration is measured at the y-axis. At its early stages the adoption rate of an innovation is at the lower side and only the innovators are accustomed to the product, afterwards some early adopters emerge as they try using the new product and finally the late majority and laggards come into act, all this pattern is visually shown by the S-shape curve. The process of innovation basically starts with a new idea. The stage is very crucial as there are very key questions to be answered by the innovating firm which include funding and testing of the new product as early adopters are ready to give a try to the new technology or new product or service. After the early adopters firm makes decisions on its target market and it is the point when the new product moves from specific segments to more diverse segments and the company starts shifting towards mass production which ultimately leads to standardization. Due to standardization market tends to mature. At the latter stage people who avoid risk or simply you can say late adopters join the party and start using the product. At this stage the only room left for innovation is in the form of design, quality and economies of scale which is known as incremental innovation. 7 Technology Push: A technology push is a situation when the firms are forced to carry out an innovative process due to some emerging technology or due to a new combination of existing technologies. Sometimes in order to stay in the market race and to maintain a good strategic advantage companies have to carry out an innovative process unwillingly, for instance if your competitor deploys new quality which enhances quality of the final product and increases its chances to be praised highly by the end users then you are forced to innovate and bring some new and exciting to match or surpass your competitor. On the other hand sometimes technological opportunities may provoke or push firms to innovate. Market pull: The ultimate goal of an organization is to maximize its profit and it is only possible if caters its market in an efficient manner. Sometimes need for a new product or solution to a problem may be demanded by the customers themselves. The need is identified by potential customers or market research. This situation is referred to as Market pull. Disruptive innovation The theory of disruptive innovation involves introduction of a product which is primarily aimed at providing simplicity, convenience, accessibility and affordability in an environment where 8 intricacy and high costs are the dominant factors. Initially disruptive information is applied to niche market but eventually the new concept or technology transforms the whole industry. Disruptive innovators are not regarded as breakthrough forces but they are considered a positive force they may not help in making a product or service better but they surely contribute a lot to make sure better accessibility and availability of the product or service. Breakthrough innovation As the name suggests breakthrough innovation is something like ‘’out of the box’’ solution for any problem which cannot be compared to existing technologies or methodologies. Mostly the research and development departments are responsible for this innovation and the process is carried out in the labs as it requires constant research. The innovators looking for breakthrough do not have customers in mind because this innovation is initially focused at the supply side of the supply chain and then if required the technology is pushed on to the customers. APPLICATION OF THEORIES The innovation of barcode according to me should be termed as process innovation as it totally changed the way the inventories were managed before, specially the cumbersome job of the supermarkets has seen a great relief by the advent of this automatic readable technology. Barcodes have reduced time and saved a lot of costs, initially supermarkets owners had to count all the items on their shelves to stay updates with the inventory status and they had to employ several people for this task which obviously resulted in higher costs and it suck a lot of time also. 9 This for companies has not only reduced costs or decreased the time but it has also been influential in satisfying customers, the customers do not have to wait for long for the bills on the counter, the barcode reader is flashed on the barcode which is on the product and the price of the product emerges in seconds on the cashier’s computer screen. According to S-curve initially the users of bar-coding system were limited as the early adopters of this remarkable innovation were the supermarket owners who actually initiated or felt the need for such a product but as this technology started getting recognition it was seen as a big hit and it was deployed by each and every industry which had to deal with bulks of inventory. The innovation of a barcode is a technological development as it completely revolutionized the way the inventories were handled. Barcode is a pure case of market pull as it was initiated from the market as a president of a supermarket felt the desperate need of this remarkable innovation. Apart from that it is also disruptive innovation as it has made the handling of inventory more convenient, accessible, time saving and less costly as it was ever before. Barcode can also easily be termed as breakthrough innovation because it has been a real out of the box thing, no one at the time of its introduction would have thought even for a second that something as remarkable as barcodes will come and ease up the complex lives of the inventory handlers. 10 Bibliography Brown, S. A. (April 2001). A History of the Bar Code. Herstatt, P. D. (August 2000). Management of â€Å"technology push† development projects. Ryan, V. (2013). WHAT IS MARKET PULL. Seideman, T. (n.d.). Barcodes Sweep the WorldTony Seideman. Tumati, P. (n.d.). Types of Innovations.

Henry Ford :: essays research papers fc

Henry Ford was one of the most important and influential inventors and businessmen in the short history of America. He revolutionized the business world and he changed forever the efficiency of factories around the world. One of the reasons that Henry Ford can be considered such an important man is that his ideas and concepts are still used today. Boron on July 30, in the year of 1863, Henry Ford was the oldest child of the family. His parents, William and Mary Ford, were â€Å"prosperous farmers† in his hometown of Dearborn. While they we’re well off for farmers, Ford certainly wasn’t spoiled and fed from silver spoons. Ford was just like any other typical young boy during the rural nineteenth century. From early on there we’re signs that Henry was going to be something more than a farmer. He looked with interest upon the machinery that his father and himself used for their farming, and looked with disdain at the rigorous chores of a farmer. In the year 1879, Henry being a meager 16 years old, he moved to the city of Detroit where he would work as an apprentice machinist. Henry would remain in Detroit working and learning about all varieties of machines. Although he occasionally came back to visit Dearborn, he mostly stayed in Detroit, picking up more and more valuable knowledge. This apprenticeship allowed him to work in the factories of Detroit and learn what a hard working blue-collar job was like. When he did return to Dearborn he was always tearing apart and rebuilding his fathers machines, along with the dreaded farm chores. Henry Ford was a hard worker and that was proven by him getting fired from one of his jobs in Detroit because the older employees we’re mad at him because he was finishing his repairs in a half hour rather than the usual five hours. Clara Bryant would represent the next step in now twenty-five year old Henry Ford’s life. The two lovers we’re married in 1888 and would endure good times as well as bad. In order to support his new wife Henry was forced to work the land as he ran a sawmill that was given to him by his father. His father actually attempted to bribe Henry to stay in the farming business as he gave him the land only under the condition that he would continue on as a farmer.

Israel and Syria :: Threats to World Peace

Next week's peace talks between Israel and Syria are expected to focus on the future of the Golan Heights -- strategic land that Israel captured from its Arab neighbor in the 1967 Middle East war. Israeli and Syrian leaders agreed Wednesday to resume their negotiations, which broke off in 1996. The talks are to pick up where they left off nearly four years ago. Analysts say Syria and Israel were close to agreement then. During the renewed negotiations, Israel is expected to insist on security guarantees in its northern territory in exchange for the return of the Golan Heights. Syria might be called upon to demilitarize the area to ensure that goal. U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the resumption of talks at a news conference Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa plan to meet for two days next week in Washington, before returning to the Middle East for more negotiations. The breakthrough came after U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Tuesday with Syrian President Hafez Assad in the Syrian capital of Damascus; she met Wednesday with Barak in Jerusalem. VIDEO Watch U.S. President Bill Clinton give his opening remarks at his Wednesday news conference (December 8) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K AUDIO Listen to Clinton's statement on the Mideast peace process 2.5 MB/4.07 min. AIFF or WAV sound ALSO Albright takes work break to stroll in Manger Square MESSAGE BOARD Mideast peace Major issues in dispute between Israel and Syria: How much territory Israel will relinguish. Syria demands all of the Golan Heights, a high ground overlooking northeastern Israel that Syria lost in the 1967 war. Syria also is seeking territory stretching to the Sea of Galilee. Whether Syria will agree to normal diplomatic relations with Israel, including an exchange of ambassadors. The timing of the Israel pullback and whether it will be undertaken in stages. Security arrangements after a pullback. The Golan Heights have served as a protective barrier for Israel and it is seeking substitute arrangements, including an early warning system of imminent attack. From The Associated Press . . .