Beggars and Thieves Literature Essay Sample

Beggars and Thieves Literature Essay Sample The Book Beggars and Thieves Literature Essay Example The Book Beggars and Thieves Literature Essay Example Modern world is highly competitive and people are in a constant race for enrichment and money because income affects quality of life, health, and social well-being. Even working hard does not guarantee social success and acknowledgement because some people have more opportunities and live in more prosperous environments than others. Crime thrives in poor areas and infects people with adjusting social deviations, making theft and beggary a common and trivial sign of modern highly industrialized urban cities. The problem is not new and it originates in poverty and approaches of officials to combating this evil. There are people who have hardly enough money to provide food and water for themselves and their families and there are people who possess endless bank accounts and can afford more than they want. High rates of income discrimination have become a serious threat to the world stability in the twenty first century and have led to development and thrive of street gang crime. It has become one of the most dangerous and latent forms of offence. Depending on delinquency prevention conditions, societies form psychological climate in the country and attitude to the state authorities and criminal justice. Street criminals are usually young people with antisocial behavior, formed on the background of the use of alcohol or drugs or leading a parasitic way of life. The problem originates in the crisis in economic, cultural, spiritual, and legal spheres of society and modern polarized world. The inability of social adaptation and marginalization make people get and return behind the bars again and again. Mark S. Fleisher discusses dimensions and roots of the problem in his book Beggars and Thieves: Lives of Urban Street Criminals issued in 1995. He investigates peculiarities and evils of ramshackle areas in Seattle and carries out a research based on personal experience of living in the street and in a real jail. Street Ethnography Being a social scientist, anthropologist Mark S. Fleisher (1995) tries to perceive the problem of thieves and beggars from inside and applies some modifications of traditional research methods. He wins confidence of felons and law offenders by establishment of equal and trustful relationships with them. He puts an aim to weave into the criminal social network by means of authoritative inmates (Fleisher, 1995). This way, he can perceive the problem of theft and beggary through the prism of criminals’ vision. Stylistics of the author is far from scientific writing. He adheres to numerous descriptions, reflections, and stylistic devices while depicting lively and characteristic signs of the street life. He writes in the first person singular and tries to use the same language as criminals because his first purpose is to weave into illegal social networks and be able to communicate positively with the outlaws. The primary method is an interview. Fleisher adapts questions to rules of the criminal world to make the interview relevant and lively. For example, simple questions about family background and marriage status can sound offensive because of socio-cultural non-adaptation and frustration. In cases with criminals, Fleisher has first obtained reference of some meaningful people to prove his liability. He invites people into a conversation through common dining and drinking bear. He does not conceal his intentions and tells sincerely about his purposes. Some criminals understand and some reject. However, in all cases the author underlines the necessity to be the same and non-conspicuous with his real social status and relevant social success. The essence of conditions created by Fleisher consists in sincere revelation of free and profitless ideas and evidences of those who just want to share their story and to relief their soul and conciseness. The collected database shows not only statistical information, but contains a lot of reflections and assumptions of the misdemeanants on the problem of poverty and possibility to combat it, conditions of first abuse, and acquaintance with drugs and substances. In his research, Fleisher (1995) feels sympathetic with criminals and tries to understand motives of their behavior. The author foresees possible conclusions about his empathy to the offenders. His free statements about the scope of drug traffic and consumption can lead to a thought that he has personal addiction to drugs and in such way only justifies his own weaknesses. The author does not give a direct answer about his own addictions. However, he admits that behaving like a criminal imposes certain destructive habits just by definition. He uses rude lexical units and behaves blatantly and offensively, as well as not shaving daily, as it is accepted in the middle class society. â€Å"Illegal behavior, to some degree, is required of researchers studying criminals† (Fleisher, 1995, p. 69). Fleisher sees that police officers and criminal authorities follow definite unspoken rules and support each other in providing order and its maintenance. The author started establishing connection with the criminal world through the local police. He wanted to study and analyze the street ethnography before entering jail conditions. Local cops turned out to be the most helpful and instructive guides. According to the Fleisher’s research (1995), the street is unsafe in certain areas, which are under control of criminal authorities and the police. There are representatives of various cultures and minorities, which often becomes a reason of discrimination and polarization of certain marginal groups. Thieves and beggars do not want to be homeless and vulnerable to abuse. However, they often fail to see the essence of their problem and discuss it with representatives of other ethnic group. The concept of connections seems to be crucial in establishment of relationships with criminals. Fleisher addressed the police in order to direct him in his street ethnography. He met Popcorn who became his green card into the world of drug dealers and hustlers. The man was a character whom Fleisher observed as being free and then in jail (Fleisher, 1995). Fleisher (1995) shows the connection between street crimes, ordinary thieves and beggars, and organized groups and syndicates. He explains gang signs seen on jail tattoos. By the way, he starts his interviews from the explanation of tattoo meanings and criminals are willing to discuss the topic. The scientist underlines that the international organized crime is flourishing in the United States despite strong legislation and political will to deal with this problem. The root can be in the division of responsibility between local law enforcement agencies, state, and federal authorities because they are fully exploited by criminal groups. Since the mid 60s, the US has expanded the arsenal of tools to fight organized crime and gangsters. The first law in this area became a universal law of 1968 on combating crime and ensuring safety on streets. It was passed against organized crime and included a large number of legal institutions. In particular, it established special investigation agen cies, which provided a guarantee of immunity to witnesses. They introduced a special penal provision for the punishment of participants of criminal organizations. Moreover, supporting programs for the most vulnerable and poor layers of the population were adopted and implemented. In the episode where the policemen ask Popcorn to show Fleisher how he plays his game, all men appear as allies. The episode evidently shows that the police and criminals know about each other much more than they reveal or report. â€Å"As long as a cop plays by street rules, local gang boys do not hold a grudge against him† (Fleisher, 1995, p. 30). Street gangs and bands represent branches of the organized criminal world. They prefer to involve young people and unite them in a typical way of clothing and behavior. The youth follow the general group trend in violence and appearance. It happens because in many situations streets of large and small settlements create a psychological climate for the population living there. It helps in evaluation of the criminal situation in a particular locality and region. It stipulates a social favorable or unfavorable effect on the formation of public opinion about activities not only of criminal justice, but also of the government in general. The study of regional aspects of street crime conducted by Fleisher reflects regional peculiarities and determinants of specific criminal manifestations in Seattle and other urban regions of the American gang world. In most cases, street gangs display aggression and offence and try to violate social norms. Distorted Families Mark Fleisher researches early memories of thieves and beggars in a natural trustful conversation. All interviewed criminals reveal signs of early violence experiences and abuse. The author underlines effects of parents’ negligence and evil environment on further aggression and illegal activities. He puts questions of what can and should be done for delinquents’ prevention from offensive forms of behavior. He comes to a non-consoling conclusion that it is too late to change their fate at that time of their life. In the last chapter, Fleisher (1995) underlines that thieves and beggars are much better settled in jails than in life outside the bars. They have food and shelter and have the job to be done. They have time for rest and different facilities such as ping-pong and library. Outlaws can meet and communicate with relatives if they have any. Description of a Seattle jail includes two televisions. The author shows that the convicted feel much more realized in jail tha n in the real social environment they originate from (Fleisher, 1995). Such situation shows absence of a necessity to rehabilitate and socialize in the modern highly competitive world. People do not strive to change and improve anything in their lives. They accept as a fact that their fate is to go with the flow and do not look for some opportunities or promotion in life. The government gives up, facing this challenge of criminals’ self-rejection. They do not offend the social order and do not die of hunger or cold and here the official mission is completed. Fleisher reveals this in dialogues with misdemeanants and reveals their perception that little can contribute to the improvement of their self-esteem and social rehabilitation. He sees special mission in preventing children from imprinting addictive and destructive forms of behavior and, especially, home violence. Fleisher’s main suggestion is fencing of the new generation from evil aggressive misdemeanors. He underlines that parents and local authorities should detect cases of home violence and abuse with more accuracy and attention. Causes of domestic violence are numerous. According to Fleisher, the phenomenon has a socio-cultural nature and is an integral part of stereotyped notions about the nature of family relationships perceived through early childhood impressions. It represents the only possible model of behavior. The abuse may be the result of personal life experience of individuals and, thereby, they create moral and psychological grounds to consider this type of relationship as versatile. Another group of causes is associated with childhood trauma, which is an early devastating experience that makes the individual develop his/her childs c omplexes (Fleisher, 1995). Fleisher gives examples how domestic violence results into offensive and abusive behaviors in adult life of the observed criminals. Social and psychological frustration caused by external influences exceeds limits of personal resilience of individuals, forcing them to seek compensation and revenge. The author has found a special role in the growth of violence in such mental factors as weakening control instincts, frustration, aggression, alcoholism, and psychopathology. Violence is closely associated with social stress in the family. Among many problems that can raise the level of tension and lead to violence are differences in parenting, sex deviations, pregnancy, money problems, unemployment, or the need for long-term medical care. Constant parents’ irritation can partly be explained by chronic anxiety about unresolved issues, which creates a mismatch between desires and capabilities. Non-participation in social activities and limited availability of social support increase the risk of violence. Fleisher’s studies have shown that alcohol and drugs are not the same. Even a small amount of alcohol can affect aggressiveness and lead to aggression. In cases with a drug dose, people, on the contrary, soften and differentiate. People do not display violence because they have taken drugs, but because they cannot accept them. Therefore, some cases of violence appear in an attempt to get money from relatives for buying drugs. In cases of abuse of the elderly, a major psychological factor is the role change and dependence of adult children on parents. At the same time, certain characteristics of the victim, such as constant claims and complaints, can also contribute to violence. Adolescent Survival According to Fleisher’s observations (1995), the problem of juvenile offence can originate from family and social environment of adolescents. For example, poor relationships with parents can become the main reason of aggression and offence of the youth. In families where parents experience difficulties with personal social adaptation, children tend to be neglected, stressful, and frustrated. They are apt to using drugs, alcohol, or other addictive substances as their parents do. When parents fail in establishment of friendly and trustful relationships with their children, there can appear hostility and disbelief in young hearts. The lack of moral and financial encouragement can lead to poor learning skills development and illiteracy. Children need happy, confident, and successful parents, i.e. a positive example and trust in the world. If adults in a family need corrections themselves, they should be treated and rehabilitated together with their children. They have to be taught about modern principles of non-violence and abuse avoidance by specially trained people or in specially organized groups. Problems of trust deficiency in a family and absence of support make young people vulnerable to numerous addictions of the twenty-first century such as alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs. They start neglecting social rules and norms and look for protection and self-realization by joining certain youth sub-cultures and deviant groups. It is not a secret that nowadays the youth adhere to processes of differentiation. Differentiating factors appear more visibly than integrating ones. Under conditions of a radical transformation in the society, there have appeared profound changes in its stratification. Social polarization reflects trends relating to disengagement of traditionally preserved connections and values (Fleisher, 1995). Social crisis has spawned break of principles and norms of public morality: what was good has suddenly become obsolete and devoid of practical significance. Various marginal flows have poured into subcultures of the young generation, hence ensuring total rejection of traditional cultural values. Delinquency, rejection, and denial of any rules and regulations have started flourishing on that fertile soil. When gathering in gangs, teens can despise the law and morality or show wanton vandalism. What makes them act this way? What underlies these protests? Fleisher believes that antisocial sub-cultural groups and gangs arose in response to differences in initial conditions of the native environment. A subculture is a kind of reaction of the society, especially its younger generation, to the inability to become owners of decent life, namely to get good education and job or become rich, successful, and acknowledged. Subculture has appeared as an answer to the contradiction. Young people could achieve goals, sometimes illegally, while maintaining their own self and ensuring acquisition of their unique nature. As with other categories of social science, rejection is a form of perception of social reality. In Fleisher’s view, human development is moving towards increasing freedom that not every person can adequately take advantage of (Fleisher, 1995). It can cause a number of negative experiences and mental states, which lead to alienation. As a result of exhausting struggle, young people sometimes lose themselves, social stability, trust of relatives and step into the way of crime. Attention to problems of thieves and beggars is crucial because of their uncontrollable affects on the future generation and well-being of whole human settlements, especially in large urban regions. Fleisher generates a set of circumstances that form the distinctive shape of crime in big cities. It becomes evident not only in the quantitative characteristics prevailing in the criminological situation, but also in qualitative changes of the concepts of crime in the broadest sense. The author implies that in many cases criminals adhere to unspoken rules and behavior, which are effective and relevant to the current situation of addiction and abuses. The perception of justice and crime has acquired new features in the growing generation and the signs of aggressive reactions and rejection of social norms and rules point out evident drawbacks and lacunas in the system of education and upbringing. Fleisher reveals numerous examples of cruelty and cases where the imperturbable crowd watches a violent crime on the streets of a big city without calling the police. These are symptoms of indifference and insensitivity, developing under the influence of the general structure of a modern large city. The anonymity of city streets facilitates crime and fleeing of criminals. There is a vicious circle in which, on the one hand, the fear of crime is driving people off the streets, out of parks and squares. On the other hand, the emptiness of streets and parks promotes growth of street crime, which reinforces the fear. Architecture of modern large cities, including land, streets, parks, and squares does not enhance primary informal social control, but has a rather destructive effect, which in turn increases social isolation and fear of street crime among urban residents. The book of Mark S. Fleisher (1995) raises crucial problems of the increasing amount of delinquents in modern global connections and communication. Modern thieves and beggars shift their evil habits from the street to the Internet. The lack of morals and a desire for quick and easy enrichment make them scammers and cyber crime abusers. Formation of a thief or beggar remains conditioned by those social ties to the environment from which the person originates and grows. Antisocial attitudes, aspirations, inclinations, and other negative traits of an individual are undoubtedly a product of assimilation of similar views and orientation based on the surrounding social environment. Young people are in a constant and direct communication with other people, as well as in a range of roles and relationships that they perform every day. It affects strategies of stating and achieving goals. According to Fleisher (1995), the personality of a street criminal is characterized by such features as high sensitivity in interpersonal relationships, adherence to oppressive and violent methods in various conflicts, poor knowledge of the requirements of legal and ethical standards, and alienation from the society and its values. These features form a specific typology of thieves and beggars for whom offenses are a norm and a usual way of behavior. People repeatedly commit crimes because they have not seen other forms of communication and getting what they want in their past. The inability to resist adverse circumstances leads to reinforcement of negative and offensive activities. Personal characteristics of law perpetrators make them avoid negative effects and they fail to look for possible success. Attempts of the government to change the situation have not led to any sufficient results. On the contrary, it should be noted that the offensive psychology acquired in the street criminal experience now appears in other spheres of social media activity. For half a century, the police have persecuted, accused, imprisoned, and even ruined criminals. They have a professionally organized, well-trained service for investigation of organized crime and a disclosure set of intricate conspiracy involving dangerous criminals. They spend billions of dollars on ceasing the drug trade borders, eradicating union extortionists, and checking taxes paid by speculators and gamblers. However, the organized crime continues to conduct business as usual and involves millions of new victims every year.

James Bond History Essays

James Bond History Essays James Bond History Essay James Bond History Essay defeated only by two John Wayne films: The Longest Day and How the West Was Won (filmsite. org, 2010). By the time it had been viewed by moviegoers around the world, it had earned $59,000,000 (Chapman, 2000). The following year, due to the unexpected success of the first film, EON Films released the second Bond film, From Russia with Love. It, too, would finish out the year at #3. The movies that beat it were Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, starring a who’s-who of Hollywood stars (filmsite. org, 2010). In 1964, EON Films released Goldfinger. Sadly, Ian Fleming would die of heart failure during production. He died just at the beginning of the phenomenon known as â€Å"Bondmania†. To release the Bond films on American soil, EON Films teamed up with United Artists. Unlike the first two films, United Artist decided to release Goldfinger as its major Christmas release. When it opened on the 22nd of December of 1964, it had its premieres at prestigious theaters like Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood (Winder, 2006). One reporter wrote, â€Å"lines of eager ticket buyers formed for blocks on opening day and afterward, this enthusiastic reception being duplicated all over the country† (Chapman, 2000). â€Å"The success of Goldfinger was such that in New York one showing followed another day and night, and the management imposed an interval only to sweep away from the auditorium the remains of popcorn which had reached a depth of several inches,† wrote another (Chapman, 2000). Goldfinger was the film that that established James Bond in America. American studios took notice. Spy-Fi fever had hit the U. S. and American filmmakers tried to capitalize on the popularity of the secret agent. Donald Hamilton had written a series of novels chronicling the adventures of another secret agent named Matt Helm. In Hamilton’s books, Matt Helm was a remorseless, no nonsense U. S. government operative. In the Seventies, ABC would produce a short-lived television series simply titled Matt Helm with Tony Franciosa playing Helm as a run-of-the-mill private investigator. But at the height of â€Å"Bondmania† in the mid-sixties, Columbia Pictures had something else in mind. They produced four Matt Helm comedies, beginning in 1966 with The Silencers. The movies were made to spoof the spy craze and starred Dean Martin as a perpetually intoxicated American secret agent. They turned out to be a major hit and a fifth was planned but was never made (Biederman, 2004). As recently as 2008, Steven Spielberg has been rumored to be working on a new Matt Helm movie. An even more obvious parody of the James Bond character was Derek Flint. Twentieth Century Fox released Our Man Flint, also in 1966. It starred James Coburn as Derek Flint, an agent for the super-secret spy organization known as Z. O. W. I. E (Zonal Organization for World Intelligence and Espionage). The movie contains several references to the James Bond character including the Walther PPK (Bond’s preferred handgun) which is rejected by Flint and a fight scene with Agent 0008 (Bond was 007). The film was successful enough to spawn a sequel the following year titled In Like Flint (Biederman, 2004). Television studios were not blind to the success the spy-fi genre was experiencing on the silver screen. In 1965, NBC ran a secret agent series called I Spy. It starred Robert Culp and Bill Cosby as secret agents working for the Pentagon. The series ran for three seasons. It was most recently made into a movie in 2002 starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson in the lead roles (Biederman, 2004). NBC followed I Spy with Get Smart. Created by comedy legend Mel Brooks and writer Buck Henry, it follows the adventures of Maxwell Smart, a bumbling secret agent who works for a secret government agency known as CONTROL (not an acronym). According to Buck Henry, the show was created to â€Å"capitalize on the two biggest things in entertainment today: James Bond and Inspector Clouseau,† Mel Brooks is quoted as saying, â€Å"It’s an insane combination of James bond and Mel Brooks’ comedy† (latimes. com, 2008). It was most recently made into a film in 2008 starring Steve Carell and Dwayne â€Å"The Rock† Johnson. NBC would soon conclude its affair with the spy-fi genre with The Man From U. N. C. L. E, a television series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum. The two starred as agents for U. N. C. L. E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). Due to lackluster viewership, it was cancelled in the middle of its third season (Biederman, 2004). While other American spy projects seemed to be meeting their ends, James Bond was going strong as EON Films continued to produce movie after movie starring Agent 007. All in all, EON Films has produced 22 movies starring James Bond. In addition, 1967 brought the world a James Bond spoof titled Casino Royale with David Niven portraying Sir James Bond. Ironically, Niven was Ian Fleming’s first choice to play Bond (Chapman, 2000). EON Films, however, chose Sean Connery. An odd twist of fate and legal technicality found Connery portraying James Bond for the last time in Never Say Never Again. This movie is not considered an official James Bond film as it was not produced by EON Films. Released in 1983, it was the only time two Bond films were in theaters simultaneously as Roger Moore was starring as James Bond in EON Films’ production of Octopussy (Winder, 2006). Roger Moore is the third man to portray 007 in an EON Films production. After Sean Connery’s five film run, George Lazenby was given the role in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969. Connery returned to the role in 1973’s Diamonds Are Forever. From 1973 to 1985, Roger Moore continued as James Bond until the role was given to Timothy Dalton in The Living Daylights. After two films starring Dalton, the role was given to Pierce Brosnan in 1995’s Goldeneye which was later made into a highly successful first-person-shooter video game on the Nintendo 64 gaming platform. In 2006, EON Films, partnered with MGM, took Bond in an entirely new direction. It was decided that audiences wanted a less campy and more no-nonsense James Bond. Daniel Craig took up the role and for the first time, James Bond was James â€Å"blonde†! Controversy ensued, but if box office receipts are any indication, the audience didn’t mind as his became the highest grossing Bond film to date. In 2006, he starred in Casino Royale, which, unlike the earlier film of the same name, was actually based on Fleming’s first Bond novel. At the time, it made the James Bond Franchise the highest grossing film series of all time, even eclipsing the popular Star Wars films (guardian. o. uk). The record stood unchallenged until another mysterious character out of Great Britain surpassed it. As of 2007, the Harry Potter series has taken the lead with $4. 5 Billion compared to Bond’s $4. 4 billion (guardian. co. uk). The good news is that Bond has a chance to regain the title as Daniel Craig is currently slated to star in the as of yet unnamed 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise. Granted, there are two more Harry Potter films yet to be released, but, that will be all since the books are finished. There is no end, however, in sight for the James Bond franchise. The influence James Bond has had on popular culture is certainly not limited to the books and films. One staple of all Bond films is the music. None of which is more important than the â€Å"James Bond Theme†, written by Monty Norman. The â€Å"dum-de-dum-dum† of the famous tune which is heard in all of the Bond films has been the inspiration for many other spy-fi projects. Even toddlers are familiar with the sound as evidenced by the opening sequence for the Disney Channel’s popular pre-school kids’ show Special Agent Oso. The opening credits are accompanied by songs sung by well-known singers including Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow and Tom Jones. Paul and Linda McCartney had their Bond song performed with their band Wings, â€Å"Live and Let Die†, nominated for an Academy Award as did Bill Conti and Michael Leeson’s song â€Å"For Your Eyes Only† performed by Sheena Easton. She actually appeared in the title sequence singing the song. The only singer to actually appear as a character in the film is Madonna in Die Another Day. Duran Duran’s song, â€Å"A View to a Kill† from the film of the same name made it to number one on the U. S. pop charts in 1985 (Chapman, 2000). James Bond has appeared in video games, comic books, and even as an action figure. Countless books, essays and articles have been written about him and songs have been sung in his honor. He’s starred in movies and on television. Ian Fleming’s secret agent has managed to infiltrate just about every aspect of the media in hundreds of languages in countries around the world. With no end in sight, is it any wonder that the American Film Institute has his most famous quotation recorded as the 22nd greatest in cinema history (afi. com 2010)? And with another Bond film on the horizon, we can no doubt be sure that some time in the near future, we will once again be reintroduced to the man known as Agent 007 and will hear the immortal introduction of, â€Å"My name is Bond, James Bond. † Bibliography All Time U. S. A. Top Box Office Leaders by Decade and Year (2010). Retrieved April 11, 2010, from filmsite. org/boxoffice2. html. Amis, Kingsley (1966). The James Bond Dossier. London, Jonathan Cape. Bennett, T. and Woollacott, J. (1987). Bond and Beyond: The Political Career of a Popular Hero. London. Benson, Raymond (1984). The James Bond Bedside Companion. New York, Dodd, Mead and Company. Biederman, Danny (2004). The Incredible World of Spy-Fi. Chronicle Books, Llc. Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London, John Murray. Chapman, James (2000). Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films. New York, Columbia University Press. â€Å"Frankly, My Dear, I Don’t Give a Damn† Tops AFI’s List of 100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time (2010). Retrieved April 11, 2010 from afi. com/tvevents/100years/quotes. aspx. Harry Potter Becomes Highest Grossing Film Franchise (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2010, from guardian. co. uk/film/2007/sep/11/jkjoannekathleenrowling. Lycett, Andrew (1995). Ian Fleming: The Man Behind James Bond. London: Turner Pub. QA with Mel Brooks. Los Angeles Times. May 19, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2010 from latimes. com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-brooks20-2008may20,0,4126646. story. Sandbrook, Dominic (2005). Never Had It So Good. London, Little Brown. Winder, Simon (2006). The Man Who Saved Britain: A Personal Journey Into the Disturbing World of James Bond. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Annotated Bibliography For The Topic Affect Of Fast Food Restaurant

For The Topic Affect Of Fast Food Restaurant - Annotated Bibliography Example Angell, Sonia Y., et al. "Change in trans fatty acid content of fast-food purchases associated with New York City's restaurant regulation: A pre–post study." Annals of internal medicine 157.2 (2012): 81-86. The article evaluates the connection between the consumption of fast food and metabolic syndrome and its components in young people in adolescence stage and children. The article finds out that there is no major connection between fast food consumption and other components of metabolic syndrome. However, fast food consumption can lead to metabolic syndrome, abdominal obesity, and hypertriglyceridemia. The article is critical for this research as it explains the effect of fast food restaurants such as abdominal obesity among others. The investigation shows the influence of visual information cues and fat content on the choice of food in fast food restaurants. The study examines the connection between fast-food restaurants that are near schools and obesity students who study in California schools. The study reveals that students' exposure to fast food can affect adolescents regarding eating patterns and weight. The study shows that there is a need for policy intervention to limit the nearness of fast-food restaurants to schools. The article is relevant to this research since it reveals the effect of fast food on the weight of primary and secondary students. The article makes a connection between the consumption of fast food items and their effect on health. It reveals that fast food may lead to negative health outcomes such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. The article is very relevant to the research as it looks at the effect of the various contents of fast food on human beings.

Critique of a Political Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Critique of a Political Speech - Essay Example As I analyzed his delivery, I noticed a disconnect between the words that were on the page and the way he was delivering them. Although a gifted orator, he lack the emotional connection that would make one believe that he not only wrote his own speech, which he probably did not, but that he actually believed in what he was asking the people and congress to believe in. President Obama came to the White House with very little known about his work experience by the public. He was only a fresh senator with only 2 years of legislative work under his belt at the time he began his presidential campaign. Even with all his political shortcomings in terms of work experience and the like, those who covered him during the campaign were all wowed by his most remarkable asset. They all agreed that he was a gifted orator who knew how to truly engage his audience and sway them towards his beliefs by the time that he came to the end of his speech. Sadly, serving as our president did not seem to culti vate that aspect of his oratorical talent. His previous American Job Act speech left many wanting, for his speech was full of words but short in substance. He began his speech with what I believe to be the most self serving opening in the history of speeches: Tonight we meet at an urgent time for our country. We continue to face an economic crisis that has left millions of our neighbors jobless, and a political crisis that has made things worse. This past week, reporters have been asking "What will this speech mean for the President? What will it mean for Congress? How will it affect their polls, and the next election?" His ethos in the previous paragraph was supposed to show us his authority over Congress and make us believe that he is in the best position to help the public interests because he understands the social situation and knows how to solve it. He is after all, the president of the country. Its penultimate leader and father to all those residing in this great land. Instea d, his opening paragraph shows us that he was thinking more about political survival more than anything else. The ethos of his speech veers more on the intrinsic side as we all know that he is not, and will never be one of those common-folk who shall be extremely affected by high gas prices, mortgage problems, or even, loss of jobs, he won't even have a dwindling 401k portfolio. He is obviously conscious of that fact as he never mentions those pressing problems faced by normal people. He chose to open his speech talking about his re-election instead. An opening which, in my honest opinion, weakened the ethos of his whole speech. His speech however, offers a strong argument in terms of pathos that the listeners and others affected by our current socio-political climate can get behind and support. He presented the following argument in support of his American Job Act Bill towards the middle part of his speech: The next election is fourteen months away. And the people who sent us here – the people who hired us to work for them – they don't have the luxury of waiting fourteen months. Some of them are living week to week; paycheck to paycheck; even day to day. They need help, and they need it now. The people who helped draft Pres. Obama's speech were very conscious of the fact that the American public is now very restless and clamoring for change and action from the government. From those who are in power right now. The speech, at

Personal finance project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Personal finance project - Essay Example All these make it extremely confusing for a layman to choose the best options for management of his money. The aim of business portfolio management course was to make one understand different financial products that are available to an individual and the desired mix of assets that shall assure certain amount of returns and ways of conducting a better financial management of one’s portfolio. The paper is a study of management of personal finance under a mock scenario, where the student has to manage a portfolio of stock market, metals in the international market as well as bank deposits in banks that belong to Non Islamic category in Qatar. The case provides the student with a startup capital of QR 1,000,000 million along with the freedom to make investments in various investment options available. The investments are made as per discretion of the investor, inclusive of his personal investment strategy and rationale. The paper also highlights objective of the investment scenario, along with a clear presentation of the strategic investment portfolio. The risk return trade off considered by the investor is emphasized and the paper concludes with an estimation of return of the individual at end of the investment period. The rationale of this project is to determine the level of investment understanding of students, after the course of finance. The project is an assessment and a practical understanding of the investment management course undertaken as a part of this course. The project is also a presentation of a mock investment portfolio based on past data of the markets, which portrays a practical view of the real investment scenario and portfolio management case for a finance manager. The project provides insights into the broader real case scenario with help of a hypothetical situation that is presented to the investor. The investor shall invest in a minimum of 3 stocks at a time and maintain portfolios in

Nikes Competitive Advantages: Strategies in China

Nikes Competitive Advantages: Strategies in China With widely globalization movement, managers in MNCs have to be continually involved into the challenges that mainly include competitive and collaborative challenge. Facing the challenges, Nike has always been a leading sports product organization. Thus, it is meaningful to analyze Nikes global success which will benefit from obtaining relevant international management issues. The aim of this project is to reveal Nikes competitive advantages in global market and especially focus on company strategies in Chinese market. In order to achieve practical guidance, some theoretical tools will be adopted. The project will firstly introduce a literature review which provides the underpinning and explanation of these analysis tools. In the following, Nike company analysis will be discussed into four aspects. The first aspect will examine the national business environment of Nike in the USA by using Porters diamond. In the second and third section, Bartlett and Ghoshals theory will be used to analyze both the competitive challenge and the collaborative challenge of Nike in China. Hofstede culture dimensions will be adopted to analyze the cultural challenge Nike is confronted. Finally, it comes to the conclusion. 1.2 Company overview Through an investment of $500 each by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, the company (then called Blue Ribbon SportsBLS) was founded in 1964. It has evolved from an importer and distributor of running shoes to the world biggest leader of athletic footwear. Our business model today is basically the same as our model in 1964.It is that we invest our money in design, development, marketing and sales and then contract with other companies to manufacture our products. Knight developed Nikes business model when he was attending Stanford Business School in the early 1960s.He realized that most leading footwear companies were still producing their own shoes in higher-cost countries like the United States and Germany while he US consumer appliance and electronic markets, were starting to be taken over by lower-cost, high-quality Japanese producers. Knight believed that Blue Ribbon Sports could sell in a lower price by distributing its production to Japanese producers to break into this market. So Blue Ribbon Sports began to import high-tech sports shoes from Onitsuka Tiger of Japan. BLS began to have its own branches of shoes, as sales increased to almost $2 million in the early 1970s. The company officially changed its name to Nike, Inc. in 1978.At the beginning time Nike developed a strong working relationship with two Japanese shoe manufacturers, Nippon Rubber and Nihon-Koyo, but as a combination of a tighter labor market, the impact of the first Oil. Crisis on Japans economy, and a shift in the dollar/yen exchange rate in the 1970s, Nike began to search for other producers. Nike established its ow n shoe factories in Maine and New Hampshire to develop a reliable and high-quality production to supply its growing domestic market during these same years. The company also began to contact potential suppliers in Korea, Thailand, China and Taiwan. As costs continued to increase in both Japan and the United States, by the early 1980s, and the Korean government created many incentives to develop Koreas footwear industry, Nike closed its US factories and sourced almost all of its production from Asia. In 1982, 86% of Nikes athletic footwear came from Korea and Taiwan. However, costs also began to increase in the two countries. Nike had to urge its suppliers to re-locate search for other owner-cost countries to relocate their operations. Then the company opened up their factories in Indonesia, China and Vietnam. Nike was able to help its lead vendors establish an extensive network of footwear factories throughout Southeast Asia by guaranteeing a number of important orders and by placing Nike employees at these new factories. At the present, Nikes products are manufactured in more than 700 factories, employing over 500,000 workers in 51 countries of which only 22658 are directs employees, the majority working in the United States. Over the years, Nike has broadened its product range. Whereas in 1980, Nike sold 175 different styles of shoes, it offered many different styles in its spring collection. The company has also focused on apparel and sports equipment and expanded its sales to Europe, Latin America and Asia. Last year, Nike made about $9.5 billion in revenues, of which 59% came from footwear sales and 29% from apparel. 2 Literature Review 2.1 Porters national competitive advantage Michael Porter (1990) meticulously introduced a model that intended to answer the questions, why do some nations succeed and others fail in international competition? and â€Å"why some industries within nations are more competitive than others are† in his book The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Porter (1990) states that the sources of competitive advantage can be found in the â€Å"national diamond,† comprising four major economic attributes: factors conditions, demand conditions, supporting industries and firm strategy and structure. Porter believed that the four elements have bilateral impacts, forming a diamond system. Besides, there are two variables: the Government role and opportunities. The opportunity is beyond control, and the impact of government policies can not be ignored. All the determinants comprise a diagram as follow. Factor conditions Factor conditions can be categorized into two forms: â€Å"Home-Grown† resources and highly specialized resources. The first one referred to the original resources from one nation. And the latter one pointed out that a country creates its own important factors such as skilled resources and technological base. In the actual competition, Porter (1990) stated that sufficient in natural resources or low cost factors often result in inefficient allocation of resources. By contraries, local insufficient in factors of production could lead to innovation. Also, resource constraints may encourage development of substitute capabilities. For example, Japans relative lack of raw materials has stimulated miniaturization and zero-defect manufacturing (Grant, 1991). Demand conditions According to Porter (1990), demand conditions in the domestic market provide the primary driver of growth, innovation and quality improvement. A strong domestic market could be seen as stimulation to the firm from being a startup to a slightly expanded and bigger organization. For example, the worlds famous automobile companies like Mercedes, BMW, and Porsche in the case of German have dominated the world when it comes to the high-performance segment of the world automobile industry. However, in German, automobiles with a cheaper price in the market have little competitive advantage. The reasons could be attributed to the demand conditions in domestic market. The Germany market traditionally demanded a high level of engineering performance. Also, the transport infrastructure of Germany such as Autobahns does tend to favor high-performance automobiles. Related and supporting industries The third determinant of national advantage is the presence in the nation of related and supporting industries that are internationally competitive. Based on Porters view, when local supporting industries are competitive, related company will enjoy more cost effective and innovative inputs. Secondly, this effect is strengthened when the suppliers themselves are strong global competitors. Firm strategy, structure, and rivalry Inevitably, the strategies and the structure of the firms play a key role to influence the national performance in particular sectors. Also, competition indeed has a great impact on driving innovation and the subsequent up gradation of competitive advantage. Obviously, domestic competition is more direct compared with the impact of foreign competitors. So the stimulus provided by home national competition is higher in terms of innovation and efficiency. As an example, in the Japanese electronic industry, there are many local competitors (Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and so on) providing intense competition in the domestic market, as well as the foreign markets in which they compete. Governments role Despite the impact from Government policies and regulations do not belongs to the major determinant of national advantage, to some extent, they play an important role on influencing the national system. Porter (1990) pointed out â€Å"Governments proper role is as a catalyst and challenger. At first, government can provide a basic environment for industry development, since it could invest on infrastructure development, opening up capital channels, training information integration and so on. Also, governments can create new opportunities and pressures through intervene activity. In addition, governmental sourcing could enlarge product demand. What is most important, the government could ensure that the domestic market is under lively competition, avoiding Trust status. Opportunities Opportunities can not be met rectifiable, and one opportunity could influence the four elements to change. Porter (1990) pointed out that, in terms of the enterprise development, there are several circumstances when chances are brought: the basis of scientific and technological inventions, fault emerging in traditional technologies, a sudden increase the cost of production caused by external factors (such as the oil crisis), financial markets or major changes in the exchange rate, market demand surge, the governments major policy decisions and war. In fact, the opportunity is a two-way. It is quite often that new competitors gain an advantage accompanying with an advantage concession of other competitors. And only when enterprise could continually meet the new needs of manufacturers, â€Å"opportunities† will be developed. Flaws in Porters diamond Although Porters model is widely used, it also has a number of critics. Firstly, Dunning (1993) pointed out that there is nothing new in Porters diamond analysis. Dunning commented that a countrys competitive advantages were under the impact of globalization of production and markets. He also pointed out that value generating assets of a country has been taking the form of created assets like human capital instead of the natural assets like land and untrained labor. Thus, Dunning considered that Porters diamond of national competitive advantages was required to be transnational since widespread globalization of the world economy. Secondly, Rugman and DCrusz (1993) stated that Porters diamond underestimated the importance of foreign investment. This model could not adequately explain the competitive advantages of developing countries which heavily depend on foreign direct investment. (Lee, 1998) And they also commented that this model is incomplete for small economics which are not pa rts of the trial nations and is only applicable to triad nations. Thus, they thought Porter only thought over the exports and outward FDI of domestic industries and further neglected the sales abroad by foreign subsidiaries. Whats more, Bosh and Proijen (1992) stated that Porter paid too much attention on the importance of culture while evaluating the international competitive advantages. Meanwhile, Ball and McCulloch (1999) implied that this models evidence is anecdotal without empirical evidence. And it is an ex-post model and has no predictive powers since the number of variables lead to weaken any predictions, in particular inclusion of chance into the equation. To sum up, Porters diamond still is a useful tool to examine competitive advantages although it has insufficient application. 2.2 Competitive challenge MNEs need to create and sustain competitive advantages to overwhelm the competitive challenges from the global competitors. There are a great many of varied prescriptions about selecting strategies to develop advantages. It is argued that one of the successful strategies is to produce products standardized and sell them throughout the market via the same ways (Levitt 1983). On the contrary, some scholars suggest that, rather than single product, a relatively broader product portfolio with products diversity can enable the share of investment (Hamel and Prahalad 1985). In addition, Porter et al (1982) indicted that, to implement global strategy effectively, it needs a number of approaches including exploiting economics of scale via global volume and managing interdependently to achieve synergies across different activities. Two basic types of competitive advantage which are lower cost and differentiation are suggested by Porter (1990) as well. Porter points out that, to achieve competitive advantage, it is necessary for a firm to provide customers with values more efficiently (low cost) or to create greater values and charge a premium price in a more special way (differentiation) than its rivals. By contrary of the above statements, to build up competitive advantage sustainably, MNEs are suggested to achieve three strategic objectives which are global efficiency, multinational flexibility and worldwide learning (Bartlett et al. 2008). However, it challenges almost all MNEs to achieve all of these objectives at the same time. Efficiency can be considered as the ratio of the value of a firms output to the value of its input while Flexibility means the â€Å"the ability of a company to manage the risks and exploit the opportunities that arise from the volatility of a global environment† (Bartlett et al., 2008, p.200). The last objective refers to the ability of a firm to learn from its exposure and opportunities internationally, and to apply the learning in a global environment. For the purpose of building up global competitive advantage, it is suggested three fundamental tools: â€Å"exploiting differences in sources in sourcing and market potential across countries, exploiting economies of scope and exploiting economies of scale† (Bartlett et al. 2008, p.201). Factors which may lead to competitive advantage are indicated by every goals-means intersection indicates (Bartlett et al., 2008). Table 1 shows the varied goals and means to achieve competitive advantage throughout the world. Table 1: Worldwide Advantage: Goals and Means StrategicObjectives Sources of Competitive Advantage National Differences Scale Economies Scope Economies Achieving efficiency in current operations Benefiting from differences in facto costs-wages and cost of capital Expanding and exploiting potential scale economies in each activity Sharing of investments and costs across markets and business Managing risks through multinational flexibility Managing different kinds of risks arising from market-or policy-induced changes in comparative advantages of different countries Balancing scale with strategic and operational flexibility Portfolio diversification of risks and creation of options and side bets Innovation, teaming, and adaptation Learning from societal differences in organizational and managerial processes and systems Benefiting from experience- cost reduction and innovation Shared learning across organizational components in different products, markets, or businesses Source: Bartlett et al. (2008), p203 There are four strategies which can enable exploiting competitive advantage through different goal-means combinations (Bartlett et al., 2008): Multinational strategy achieves most strategic goals by emphasizing national differences. The firms which have adopted this strategy tend to operate business based on local environment. They are flexible and responsive to local environment, but there is a lack of capability to learn globally within these firms owing to the fact that almost all national units operate independently. Based on the worldwide environment, international companies apply all the approaches to create and exploit innovations. This approach is helpful to strengthen the ability of developing innovations and leveraging knowledge on a worldwide basis; however it is challenged by the problem of deficiencies in both respects of efficiency and flexibility. All the means are applied by MNEs which adopt global strategy to realize global efficiency. However, flexibility and worldwide learning this kind of approach may be negatively influenced by this kind of approach. What is more, high sourcing risks may be resulted from the focus of activities of achieving scale economies. The three traditional strategies discussed above respectively possess unique assumptions about how to build up worldwide competitive advantage. Multinational companies emphasize differentiation, international companies focus on innovations, and global companies concentrate on building the best-cost position. It is indicated that a global industry can be more successful than a multinational one in some industries (Yip 1989). Additionally, Yip (1989) also suggested that a balance between overglobalizing and underglobalizing can be found in most successful strategies. Nevertheless, Bartlett et al. (2008) believed that the best strategy should be consisted of syntheses of all these approaches. It suggests that MNEs should adopt the transnational strategies which â€Å"focus on exploiting each and every goal-means combination to develop layers of competitive advantage by exploiting efficiency, flexibility, and learning simultaneously† (Bartlett et al., 2008). Strategic orientation and configuration of assets and capabilities vary with the four types of companies, which is shown by table 2. Table 2: Strategic Orientation and Configuration of Assets and Capabilities in Multinational, International, Global, and Transnational Companies Multinational International Global Transnational Strategic orientation Building flexibility to respond to national differences through strong, resourceful, and entrepreneurial national operations Exploiting parent-company knowledge, capabilities through worldwide diffusion and adaptation Building cost advantages through centralized, global-scale operations Developing global efficiency flexibility, worldwide learning capability simultaneously Configuration Of assets and capabilities Decentralized and nationally self-sufficient Sources of core competencies centralized, others decentralized Centralized and globally scaled Dispersed, interdependent, and specialized Source: Bartlett et al (2008), p206 2.3 Collaborative challenge A number of organizations tend to cooperate with other parties such as their suppliers, distributors and competitors, when they believe that it is difficult to develop and enhance the global competitive advantages in the increasingly complex global environment (Bartlett et al. 2008). The strategic alliance is viewed as the most important collaborative strategy, which is to set the cooperative relationships between MNEs and their rivals (Bartlett et al. 2008). Bartlett (2008) stated that â€Å"strategic alliances had become central components of most MNE strategies† The strategic alliances is divided into two categories namely scale alliances and link alliances (Daniels et al., 2007). Moreover, Griffin and Pustay (2005) identified two broad types of the strategic alliance, which includes the comprehensive and functional alliance. The latter one includes production alliance, marketing alliances, financial alliances and RD alliances. The alliances assist of some types such as cooperation agreement, franchising and joint venture (Bartlett et al., 2008). There are some differences between the traditional joint venture and the new forms of strategic alliances. The traditional form seems to be used for a senior multinational firm in an industrialized country and a junior local partner in a less-developed or less-industrialized country. The new strategic alliances tend to serve the organization in industrialized countries. At the same time, the modern alliances concentrate on the development and innovation of new products and technologies rather than t he distribution of existing ones. What is more, the present-day strategic alliances seem not to survive for a long time to contribute for the companies. There are some main reasons that the companies need to set the collaborative arrangement. Daniels et al. (2007) identified two groups of motivations. In the first place, the companies need to consider the general reasons, which involve spread and reduce costs, specialize in competencies, avoid or counter competition, secure vertical and horizontal links, and learn from other companies. The second one is the specific reasons, including gain location-specific assets, overcome legal constraints, diversify geographically, and minimize exposure in risky environments. However, Bartlett et al. (2008) outlined that there are five significant motivated issues to support the building of strategic alliances: technology exchange, global competition, industry convergence, economies of scale and reduction of risk, and alliances as an alternative to merger. Bartlett et al. (2008) also identified the risks and costs of collaboration. The collaborative alliances could create the opportunities for one or both cooperators to enhance the competitive advantages better than other, and there is the risk that â€Å"collaborating with a competitor might be a precursor to a takeover by one of the final† (Bartlett et al. 2008). Therefore, the organizations need to have the capability to manage the cooperated relationship in order to reduce the collaborative risks. There are three dominating challenges namely managing the boundary, managing knowledge flows, and providing strategic directions. However, there are some principles set to estimate which companies benefit most from competitive collaborations. These principles include as: collaboration is competition in a different form; harmony is not the most important measure of success; cooperation has limits; learning from partners is paramount. 2.4 Cultural challenge Understanding culture differences and diversifications is vital for MNCs managers in international business and foreign affairs. In this context, the major task for MNCs is to adapt different culture in different countries effectively and efficiently. 2.4.1 Hofstedes cultural dimensions Hofstede (1980) created five dimensions to distinct countries with their respective culture backgrounds, which are Individualism-Collectivism, Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity-Femininity and Long term-Short term orientation. Power distance Power distance is â€Å"the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept that power distributed unequally (Hofstede and Bond, 1984).† Leaders from high power distance countries, for example, Belgium and France, are more likely to enquire the low-level employees to obey their orders blindly. What the subordinates think or achieve for the company is not important. So the authoritarian and paternalistic leadership style could be accepted in these countries. On the contrary, low power distance countries for instance, the US and UK, leaders from these countries should be resourceful democrat. And subordinates expect to be consulted and their advices to be taken seriously. They also consider hierarchy in organizations as exploitation (Yates, 2008). Therefore in these countries participative leadership style could be useful. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty avoidance is â€Å"the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid this (Hofstede, 1980). In high uncertainty avoidance countries, such as Belgium and Japan, leaders generally do not like uncertainties. They trust on experts and their knowledge, institute many rules to fulfill the high need for security and nearly have no tolerant for deviant ideas (Hodgetts, 2006). Thus, authoritarian and paternalistic leadership style could work in these countries. Conversely, in low uncertainty avoidance countries such as The United States and The United Kingdom, leaders are more of risk takers. Fewer rules are set in the organizations and deviant ideas are to some extent welcomed by the leaders. Therefore, participative leadership style could be popular in these countries. Masculinity Masculinity is defined by Hofstede (1980) to describe â€Å"a situation in which the dominant values in society are success, money, and things.† The other side versus the masculinity is femininity which is also defined by Hofstede (1980) as, â€Å"a situation in which the dominant values in society are caring for others and the quality of life.† Japan has a highly masculinity orientation. (Hodgetts et al, 2006). Leaders with this kind of cultural background are expected to be decisive, firm, assertive, aggressive and competitive culture heroes. Few of them are female. On the contrary, Russia and most of the socialist nations scores low for this dimension, such as China and France (Brandley, 1999). To support the needs of the workers and their families is the most important role of the manager with in these countries. They are employees like others. Individualism Individualism is â€Å"the tendency of people to look after themselves and their immediate family only†. (Hodgetts et al, 2006) The opposite side versus individualism is collectivism which is â€Å"the tendency of people to belong to groups or collectives and to look after each other in exchange for loyalty (Hodgetts et al, 2006). Most high individualism countries are wealthy countries with high GNP. However, Japan is an exception, Leaders from collectivism countries pays more attention on work in a union. Japan is a typical collective country. For example, the president of Sony Corporation, Akio Morita once said his firm likes a ship; each employee shares the same fate. All staff would suffer if one went wrong (Lee, 1982). In the contrast, individualism focuses on individuals. As an example, the USA leaders usually appraise the performance of the substance individually, because it was found by Earleys study (1989) that, American performed well when they are told their achievement would be measured individually. Long-term orientation Leaders from LTO countries are persistent, ordering relationships by status and observing this order, thrift and having a sense of shame. In the contrast, STO countries leaders are with personal steadiness and stability and reciprocation of greetings, favors, and gifts (Hofstede, 1991). Therefore, authoritarian and paternalistic leadership style could increase the efficiency of management in the LTO countries. On the contrast Participative leadership style could be efficacious in STO countries. In the background of global economics, multinational enterprises are growing rapidly. It has become a common phenomenon that a manager enter into a new countries to lead a group of people with diverse cultural background. Nike is one typical MNC among them. In the following parts, this essay will use the Nike case as an example which manifests that different countries with their respective culture backgrounds require different leadership styles. 2.4.3 Criticism Hofstede derived his data from questionnaires that were distributed among employees of IBM. However, this theory may hide certain dimensions, or values may be wrongly derived because of certain situational influences on the respondents. As a result, Hofstedes research has been criticized by other theorists. Firstly, Tayeb (1996) pointed out that this research was based on attitude-survey questionnaire which could not effectively reflect underlying values of culture. Secondly, IBM as the only sample is not representative. (Robinson, 1983) This is because IBM mainly is comprised of middle-class employees and it has a powerful US-derived organization culture, namely, the respondents may not reflect local national cultures. Thirdly, Hofstede and his associates come from Europe and America and may have cultural bias. (Roberts and Boyacigiller, 1984) Fourthly, Mead (1994) stated that Hofstedes research has been outdated whose research was conducted between 1967 and 1973. Young people have being influenced deeply by the development of globalization and they tend to share a common set of values recently. Generally speaking, despite Hofstedes model has many limitations, it is still a simple and easily comprehensible model to research nations cultural differences. 3 Company analysis 3.1 Sports products Industry relate to American National Diamond 3.1.1 Factor Conditions From the factor conditions view, there is a good home base for sports products companies in US. Firstly,

Harley_davidson: The American Legend :: essays research papers

Harley Davidson: The American Legend The first thought of motorcycles as a means of transportation began in the year 1900. The pioneers’ of this field were William S. Harley and his lifelong friend Arthur Davidson. They were both born and raised in Milwaukee, WI. It took them almost three years to build their first production ready motorcycle which was a single cylinder, 10 cubic inch engine. It was bolted directly to a bicycle chassis driven by a pulley system with a leather belt. We are going to look at the development, racing, and the people who made the Harley Davidson an American Legend.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1907 they were experimenting with a two-cylinder model, which was essentially the same engine they started with. The only difference was that they had bolted one more cylinder at a 45 degree angle to the first. There were only two configurations possible. The side-by side twin would have been too wide and bulky. The v-configuration was the necessary choice. According to Harry Sucher, author of â€Å"Harley Davidson; The Milwaukee marvel†, engine power would nearly double while adding far less than double the weight.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bill Harley engineered the engine. He figured that he would need to make the cylinders reach the top of their stroke near simultaneous to take advantage of low range torque, and make the engine more dependable according to Rand Leffingwell, â€Å"Harley-Davidson; History & Mystique.† This created two lasting effects: The vibration and the exhaust sound for which Harley-Davidsons because famous.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the first 15 years, Harley-Davidson had established themselves as a fore-runner in the motorcycle market. The other prominent companies were Indian, Thor, and Excelsior. At the beginning of WWI, they were overwhelmed with orders from governments around the globe for bikes for the war effort. This allowed Harley-Davidson to almost triple the size of their manufacturing plant, which is still located in the same place in Milwaukee. These orders brought greater economic prosperity to all the motorcycle companies of the time but especially Harley-Davidson.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Harley-Davidson became very involved with racing between 1915 and 1925. They have continued to stay involved in racing ever since, but with much less success since they had to start competing with Japanese companies. The Harley-Davidson always placed in the top five at every event, and sometimes all five seats were taken by Harley-Davidsons. These early races were very well organized but usually very dangerous. This scared a majority of the public but the young were entranced by it and sought for sponsorship from major companies such as Harley-Davidson.

Origins and History of the Passions of War Essay

Ever since from the ancient times, war has been a great part of out history, many tribes and nations have engaged in war to seclude their territories, protect their culture and fellowmen and extend their domain. Many writers have tried to define war from its origin to enlighten the society about it; one of them is the renowned Barbara Ehrenreich, a social critic and a Time Magazine essayist. In her book Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War, Barbara Ehrenreich, focused on war and it close relation to religion. She turned her attention into anthropology and investigating into the causes of man’s ancient interest in war; in this book, she blamed the social scientists in their lack of sufficient knowledge about war. She sought ethnological evidences to support her arguments and the evolution of war from the ancient times to the present. Ehrenreich didn’t look for the exact explanation for war but instead; she looked for the emotional responses that the people have brought to the killings making it sacred. Furthermore, she said that war had been sacralized by the society for them to shift from being the preys into predators. According to her, war and religion are almost the same in terms of ritual sacrifice, although she believed that killing the enemies are less noble than offering one’s life in a community-sanctioned matrix; because of this, war becomes impenetrable to moral reprimand. She said that war deludes people’s minds that make them worship war as a tool for survival, war seems to revivify in every millennia, making it harder to regress. War, even though quite risky is used by men to acquire their collective interests for the improvement of their lives. War has been merely accepted by the modern era and is used by some nations to gain something from the other mostly for the material needs. War is too complex and affects a person so much that it becomes his passion; the passion of war envelopes a person and kindles the fire of violence within an individual. The book was basically about the uncanny human attraction to violence, the story was entitled to show the violence in war that started from the ancient times to the present, Barbara Ehrenreich was able to raise issues about war and its emotional and moral effects on the society. It is a major socio-economic condition that widely affects the modern society. Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War showed the big scale domestic and international violence and civil turbulence, it also informs the readers about the roots of violence to help them understand the existence of war in the modern day. It was a journey from the human sacrifices in the ancient world to the total wars in the twentieth century. Blood Rites is an eye-opener for the readers because it discusses why the shedding of blood seems to attract humans and performs a great significance in the improvement of the society. Although many wars have resulted various improvements in the political, moral and social conditions, war remains unwanted. Today, countries that engage in competitive arms race, is a source of great concern. Ehrenriech also emphasizes that mankind must concentrate all known resources on ensuring the greater welfare and socio-economic progress of all the countries in the world and insist that war must not serve as a means for setting international disputes. Barbara Ehrenriech displayed a good assessment towards war and religion in her book although she sounds quite provocative and persuasive sometimes. Also, she raised arguments about various social issues including her dismay towards the social scientists whom she addressed to lack appropriate knowledge about war. Unfortunately, she missed or either failed in examining other relevant social science literature making the book a little bit one-sided; but paying more attention and examining the pertinent literature could then easily fix this flaw. Works Cited Content Cafe. 2004. Blood Rites: Origin and History of the Passions of War. 01 November 2008. .

Foreign Direct Investment Advantages and Disadvantages

Foreign Direct Investment Advantages and Disadvantages Executive summary Foreign Direct investment has both positive and negative effects on the economy of a country. The effects, however, differ from one country to another. When a country embraces FDI, it has an opportunity to gain a significant foothold in the world’s economy since it is accessible to a wider global market.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Foreign Direct Investment Advantages and Disadvantages specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It also introduces the host country to top level technology. Because of the competition it creates; FDI stirs local companies to adopt quality as a requisite to stay in the market. It can, therefore, be concluded that FDI improves the quality of products. Because of exposing and training workers, FDI enhances the value of human resources in a host country. Moreover, other benefits connected with FDI include; creation of employment, sources of valuable technology and knowhow, physical capital and labor, among others. There is, however, some negative effect connected to FDI. It has been argued that foreign investors are not genuinely interested in growing the economy of the host country (Balasubramanayam, 1996). Rather, they are interested in accumulating profits and investing in their own countries. This is especially when there is political instability or any signs of a collapsing economy in a host country. Similarly, some governments look at Foreign Direct Investments as a form of modern day economic colonialism. Hence, they are skeptical about any foreigners who want to make investments in their countries. Local firms in the host countries face competition unfairly from the foreign investors. This puts a strain on the private sector and displaces its investments Introduction Foreign direct investment can simply be defined as a company making a physical investment in a country other than its own, which then goes into building a factory or investment i n that country (Aitken and Harrison, 1999). The direct investment could be in the form of buildings, equipment and machinery, mines and land, which is acquired through mergers acquisitions. It can also be defined as a measure of foreign ownership of domestic productive assets (Agarwal, 1996). Foreign direct investment is different from making a portfolio, which is defined as an indirect investment (Aitken and Harrison, 1999). Foreign direct investment benefits the company that is making the investment with means of marketing, new products and technologies and cheaper facilities for use in production. The host country may also be a beneficiary of information, expertise, and job opportunities among others. For a long time, Foreign Direct Investment has been directed at developing nations. Statistics indicate that the stock and flow of FDI is increasing and shifting towards these developing nations. Developed countries, however, still account for the biggest share of FDI inflows (Agar wal, 1996).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Various forms of FDI exist. Horizontal FDI comes to being when a firm or a company exports its activities or services to another country at the same value chain. A good example is â€Å"Toyota building an auto manufacturing plant in Kenya†. Horizontal FDI helps a country to save on transport costs and tariffs (Borensztein, 1998). Vertical FDI occurs when an investor expands the activities of an industry. The expansion can be geared towards marketing the finished product or investing in the raw materials that make the product. Vertical FDI is advantageous in that it allows firms to exploit cross country differences in factor prices. FDI can also be classified into inward FDI and outward FDI. This paper defines the term Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). It also explores the advantages and disadvantages brought about b y the term in a host country. It is argued that FDI creates a series of opportunities for the host country through activities such as creating employment, advancing technology, investing in human capital and encouraging fair competition with local investors. Despite the benefits it brings, FDI can negatively impact the economy of a nation. These effects are illustrated in biases and skewed investment, exploitation of cheap labor, environmental pollution and political interference. Positive Effects of FDI on host country economies FDI provides valuable benefits on host country development efforts. Balasubramanayam et al (1996) argues the benefits connected to FDI assist the host country towards achieving higher per capita growth, hence improving the economy. In addition to creating employment in a host country, FDI provides the host country with technological know-how, promotes physical capital and labor, builds human capital and enhances Greenfield and brown-field effect among other benefits. Employment FDI contributes to the economic growth of a host country by creating direct and indirect job opportunities. This is achieved through introducing new industries and establishing new firms in a host country. Besides, foreign firms may purchase inputs of goods and services from local firms, thus supporting local people. According to Agarwal (1996), FDI introduces new and efficient quality inputs to be used in production of upstream local firms, making them more competitive and enable them to expand production and employment. Additionally, the inflows accruing from FDI increases the competitiveness of a host country.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Foreign Direct Investment Advantages and Disadvantages specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This is achieved by combing firm and country-specific assets. The combinations make a host country access foreign markets and embrace new technology, whereas utilizin g cheap labor. Such a combination of firm and country specific assets with the product and labor market ultimately improves and expands existing industries, introduces production in new industries and creates more job opportunities. Source of valuable technology and know-how Appropriable technology can be defined as any tangible or intangible resource that can produce economic rent in the host country. This is in terms of improving total factor productivity. Borensztein et al states that traditional appropriable technology can be termed as the personalized or disembodied knowledge about production and distribution (1998). Foreign direct investments help the host countrys economy directly by injecting direct capital, giving advanced/ valuable technology and know-how and establishing linkages with the local firms. If the parent countries have a better or advanced technology, they influence the technologies in the host countries and make them better. Balasubramanayam et al (1996) alleg es that contagion can be in two ways namely replication of processes and increased competition. These can drive other firms to take up new technologies and modernize their systems. However, in recent surveys Borensztein (1998) argue that evidence that FDI generates positive results for host countries is weak. Haddad and Harrison (1993), after a review of micro data spill-over’s from both foreign and domestically owned firms, conclude that the effects are mostly negative. Physical capital and labor Borensztein (1998) cite that FDI is known to generate an inflow of human and physical capital to the host country. The rate of increase of physical capital stock of the host country is directly proportional to the capacity of production. Physical capital and labor can, however, not be used as a perennial determinant of per capita growth. Accumulation of physical capital cannot act as a permanent source of growth in the long-run. Its growth enhancing effect of growing stocks of physi cal capital eventually ends. Physical capital thus, becomes a short term effect of FDI as the economy of the host country transit towards a steady state.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Haddad and Harrison (1993) after using a growth accounting framework, came to the conclusion that investing in physical capital is in a way not decisive in explaining long run economic growth. This was because technological progress gives an account for most of the cross-country disparity in growth. Aitken (1999), however, does not seem to agree with Xu (2000). He argues that their modeling framework is excessively restrictive and hence their conclusion is not true. He says that an inflow from FDI is not likely to produce a large labor inflow into the country in which foreign investments are made (Xu, 2000). From this argument, an inflow from FDI is unlikely to alter the economic growth of a country by changes in the size of labour. Greenfield and brown-field FDI Greenfield FDI means that the Multinational Enterprise, MNE, builds new production facilities, distribution facilities or research facilities in the host country. This leads to a substantial growth of physical stock (Haddad and Harrison, 1993). In brown-field investment, investors are interested in existing business that has potential to grow. This leads only to a small or limited growth of stock of physical capital. The mode of FDI is, therefore, significantly beneficial for the effects on economic growth in the host country. Investments in Human Capital Technology is personified not only in equipment, machinery, technicians, expatriates and patent rights, but also in the human capital of the affiliate’s local employees. Employers facilitate this acquisition of human capital by training, either directly or indirectly, the employees (Haddad and Harrison, 1993). The employees end up paying for this through the low wages they receive. According to Balasubramanayam et al (1996), the diverse skills gained while working for foreign-owned affiliates may, in turn, generate spill over benefits for the host countrys economy. This is because trained employees transfer to local owned firms. In other cases , they form their own businesses using the skills and knowledge gained to improve their productivity in other organizations. For example, China, in an effort to increase the quality of their workers has taken an interest in training their workers to increase their quality. This is important because the status of human resources in a country is a critical factor in FDI in overseas countries. Negative Effects of FDI on host country economies Although FDI has provided a window for growth and development in host countries, many authors argue that it has created more negative effects. Balasubramanayam et al (1996) provides some effects such as environmental degradation as a significant negative effect of FDI. The FDI has contributed to environmental pollution, especially where they are involved in resource extraction. Other negative effects of FDI cited include; biases and skewed investment of their activities, exploitation of labor force and disparity in wages. Environmental Pollution A s investors look around the globe for the highest possible returns, they are often attracted to places endowed with many natural resources but do not have strong environmental laws to control their explorations (Xu, 2000). Foreign investors may engage in economic activities that harm the surrounding communities. For example, timber companies may clear forests to pave the way for constructions. Given that vegetative cover is important for the hydrological cycle; such activities affect the environment negatively. Similarly, FDI promotes western-style consumerism, boosting car ownership and paper use. This negatively affects the natural world, the stable nature of the earth’s climate, and food security (Xu, 2000). Biases and Skewed Investment It is not entirely true that FDI benefits the host country. Many foreign investors are not keen to invest in countries without a success story. They invest in countries that are either growing or showing a significant potential for growth, have a sizeable purchasing power and are politically stable. If there is any sign of the political instability of unrest in some countries, foreign investors are quick to withdraw to their own countries with their savings. This makes FDI unreliable, just like portfolio investments. This has been termed by critics as dependent, or restricted, development enhancing bias and skewed investment. The most influential determinants of foreign direct investment are the size and the ability of the economy to grow in the host country. It is, in most cases, assumed that if the host country has a vast market, it will have higher chances of quickly growing economy and hence investors would be able to make the most of their investments in the country of investment. Host countries with large dimensions provide opportunities for bigger economies of scale and spillover effects, and this is particularly helpful when the FDI is based on export. On the other hand, if the host country has less market and dimensions, investors have a tendency of avoiding it. Hence, FDI, in this case is anchored on discrimination. This is a critical challenge to countries which face political instability and unrest. Besides, the population of a country plays a vital and undeniable role in attracting foreign investors to a country. Here, the investors are attracted by the hope of a vast customer base (UNCTAD, 2001). If the country has a high per capita income or has citizens belonging to either upper or middle class, then it would give foreign investors a high prospect of success. Therefore, a country with a low population growth is disadvantaged in attracting FDI because it has low per capita income, a small labor force and fewer spenders. Wage differences Most foreign owned companies focus their investments on machinery and intellectual property but not on wages. They source their workers from across continents. This move prevents the local people from enjoying the benefits of FDI. According to Bala subramanayam et al (1996), only skilled laborers get a decent pay. Short-term and unskilled workers are exploited because of the poor wages they receive. This is a negative picture of FDIs in host economies. In order to maximize their profits, just like any other investment entity (UNCTAD, 2001). FDIs may enter the host country for different and unique reasons, but, the ultimate goal is to generate returns on investments. Although foreign investors pay a premium on top of local wages, the premium does not benefit the host economy (Caves, 1974). Premiums slightly increase the earnings of workers but on the other side, it disrupts the local employment or labor market. This disruption easily leads to unemployment because other local jobs no longer match with the created jobs. Unfair Competition with Local firms It has been argued that FDI does not by design translate to net foreign exchange inflows. Some investors do not self-finance their investments but instead they get loans from th e local governments at local rates, which are more favorable, to fund their investments. This puts a lot of pressure to the domestic sectors because of the unfair competition. According to Agarwal (1996), local firms in most countries lack the expertise in terms of technology, capital and other resources needed for growth and expansion. Hence, because foreign firms have all the needed resources to jump-start and expand their business interests, it establishes unhealthy competition. Conclusion Different countries experience different effects of FDI on their economic growths. Attitudes and policies towards FDI have changed drastically over time. Some countries started with being skeptical of the whole foreign domestic investors. Upon observing other nations some confidence was developed that FDI was a positive course towards building their economies. Before making an FDI, an investor needs to assess the viability of the venture in order to have a competitive standpoint. One needs to f actor in the company’s competitors, availability of internal resources in the host country, market analysis and market expectations. Agarwal (1996) alleges that most investors have utilized this information and have contributed to the growth and development of host countries economies. This has been achieved through the creation of employment opportunities, investing in technologies and improving human capital through trainings among others. However, though these positive contributions are evident in a host country, FDI has established other undesirable effects on a host country. Clear evidence is seen through the exploitation of the labor force, biases and skewed investment, environmental pollution, and wage differences among other undesirable effects. References Agarwal, J P 1996, Impact of â€Å"Europe agreements† on FDI in developing countries, International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 23, no. 10/11, pp. 150 163 Aitken, B J and Harrison, A 1999, â€Å"Do Do mestic Firms Benefit from Direct Foreign Investment? Evidence from Venezuela.† American Economic Review, Vol. 89, pp. 605- 618. Balasubramanayam, V N Salisu, M and Spasford, D 1996, â€Å"Foreign Direct investment and Growth in EP and IS Countries.† Economic Journal , Vol.106, pp. 92-105. Borensztein, E, De Gregorio, J and Lee J-W 1998, â€Å"How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect Economic Growth?† Journal of International Economics, Vol. 45, pp. 115-35. Caves, R 1974, â€Å"Multinational Firms, Competition and Productivity in the Host Country.† Economics, Vol. 41, pp. 176-193. Haddad, M and Harrison, A 1993, â€Å"Are There Positive Spillovers from Direct Foreign Investment?† Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 42, pp. 51-74. UNCTAD, 2001, Trade and Investment Report. New York: The United Nations Xu, B 200, â€Å"Multinational Enterprises, Technology Diffusion, and Host Country Productivity Growth.† Journal of Development Economics, Vo l. 62, pp. 477- 493

Facebook Author Pages Is It Still Worth Your Time

Facebook Author Pages Is It Still Worth Your Time A Facebook Author Page, Still Worth It? Facebook’s decision a few years ago to limit page owners’ â€Å"organic reach†- and force them to pay to reach their followers- saw many authors getting frustrated at the dwindling number of fans who saw their posts. Several decided to shut down their Facebook author page altogether and switch to an â€Å"author profile†, a dangerous tactic as Facebook has strict rules about profiles and in particular profile names.As indie author Jerry Stoute puts it: â€Å"First you work your tail off to get followers, then Facebook bleeds you to reach them through boosting. How about Facebook allow all your posts to be seen by your followers?†Is Facebook being unfair? Should you really bother growing a fanbase there if you have to pay to reach it afterward? The short answer is yes. For the long answer, we actually did a bit of research on different Facebook writing groups, asking authors how and why they keep a Facebook author page.But I'll only reach 10% of my fans†¦You might not reach everyone of your fans when you post something on your Facebook author page, but this is the same on other big social networks. Your tweets are seen by only a fraction of your Twitter following - not that Twitter hides them, but they soon get buried under hundreds of other tweets in your followers’ feeds. The same goes for Pinterest, or Instagram.So, sure, say you’ll only reach 10% of your Facebook followers, that’s still something you can take advantage of. The way Facebook’s algorithms work to show users content is through analyzing what content you interact with. The more a given user will like, comment or share your updates, the more they will keep seeing them.This means that these 10% you will reach will be your true, core Facebook fans. You definitely want to stay in touch with those, as contemporary romance author Christine Claire MacKenzie explained to us: â€Å"FB is the number one place I connect with fans. FB is where readers reach out to me. It's a slow process to build a valid reader base of rabid fans, but it's well worth the effort.†How can I increase my  Facebook Author Page reach?How about, instead of reaching 10% of your fans when posting, you reached 50%? You don’t necessarily need to pay for that, you just need to make Facebook happy. In the end, Facebook works pretty much like Amazon. If it detects that users have a positive interaction with your content, it will reward you by showing it to more. So, though the standard â€Å"reach percentage† is around 10%, you can multiply it quite easily by consistently posting text, images, videos and links that you know your audience is going to enjoy and share.Let’s take the example of author Rebecca Howard. Her Facebook author page has close to 4,000 people on it and she tells me each post is now seen by about 50% of those folks. â€Å"If I can encourage comments on it or get a discussion going then that number rises. It just takes time to learn how to adapt to the changes and make them work for you. This post of mine, for instance, has been shared 99 times and seen by more than 14,000 people. Didn't pay to boost it.† As with any way to reach or interact with readers, Facebook posting is a trial and error thing. Of course, there are some basic tips and guidelines for maximizing engagement, like posting images, keeping descriptions short and sweet, asking questions to spur a discussion, sharing useful links, keeping self-promotion to a minimum, etc. There are even professional studies out there on what types of posts (image, link, video, text) have a higher average reach percentage.Though you should certainly strive to follow this advice, in the end it is all about finding what your audience wants to see. And there is no other way to do that but to try as many things as possible: offer a giveaway, host an author QA event, post an excerpt or a short story, post a picture with a quote, organize a poll for your fans to choose your next character’s name, etc. There are countless things you can do! Of course, if you fall into the routine of posting the same stuff every day, then your reach will p rogressively decrease because no one will engage with your posts. I like this example Joanna Penn gives in her last podcast interview:â€Å"I just did just a normal post on Facebook and I posted some pictures. I went to a cemetery, Highgate Cemetery, last weekend. I got the most engagement ever on my fiction Facebook author page with these pictures of graves. And I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness. My audience likes graveyards and cemeteries.’†More often than not, your audience will have very similar likes and dislikes to yours - after all, they’re your readers, right? But you might have to think â€Å"outside the box† to find those.  I imagine that sounds like a lot of effort to go through to reach even 50% of followers that you acquired. And if you want to reach more, yes, you have to pay.I thought social media were free†¦Surely, giving money to Facebook can’t be fair? Maybe not, but if you look at the alternatives, you won’t find any better. Here’s what author Alexis Dubief wrote me when I asked her that question:"As writers we're supposed to avoid cliche, but when it comes to connecting with readers, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Email is, and deserves to be, the gold standard of connecting with readers. But email costs money (Mailchimp and Aweber both start charging when your list grows above 2,000 people) and even then, only 30% of your subscribers will open your email messages. So perhaps we need to let go of the idea of 'free' and focus instead on 'cheap and effective.'" This â€Å"business† mindset is one that many independent authors have adopted, shifting the focus from â€Å"cost† to â€Å"return on investment†. As we have seen in previous interviews with Nick Stephenson and Mark Dawson, Facebook provides an advertising platform like none other, mostly because of how granular you can get in your targeting.So, sure, you have to pay a bit if you want your posts to reach all your followers. But you can also pay to reach many more potential readers, and attract traffic to your website for amounts as low as $.01 per click.Below is a screenshot of one of Alexis’ campaigns to support a post. It was seen by over 40k people and she only paid for clicks. She set it both for the post to reach her current fans and to reach people who fit her target criteria but were not fans of her Facebook author page. Have a look at the cost per clicks†¦ As she  puts it: â€Å"Do you know where else I can get highly targeted traffic that cheaply? Yeah, neither do I.†Of course, we’re not saying that every author should keep a Facebook author page, post regularly, and pay to boost some of their posts. Nor that everyone will have  the same  costs per click as Alexis. It vastly depends on your target audience, how active they are on Facebook, and how much testing and iteration you do.The point here, however, is that you shouldn’t shy away from a platform just because it changes its rules, or suddenly seems â€Å"unfair†. Keep a cold head, do the math, and see if they work in your favour. More often than not, on Facebook, they will.Do you use your Facebook author page as a marketing tool? Have you been discouraged by Facebook's "pay to play" change? Or do you pay to reach your audience? Leave us your thoughts in the comments below!