Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Assignment 1 - Essay Example The driver continued to drive and the officer discharged his firearm to which the driver stopped and the officer fell off the hood. The taxi driver was taken to the ground and handcuffed (Holmes, 2015). A severe action was taken against the police officer and the driver filed a civil case for the recovery of the damages that he suffered. He suffered injuries on his cheek, left elbow, and rib-cage, had a bleeding nose and mouth, and also filed for the loss of future income and general damages. The driver was released a while later and there was an independent investigation to be carried out in order to find out details about the incident (Lawrence, 2014). Actions were to be taken after the investigation reports had been given out by the Coquitlam RCMP’s Serious Crime Unit. The investigation gave its findings one year later stating that there were no charges against any of the parties. The authorities held that the police officers were acting only in the course of their duties and rights as members of RCMP. The police officers had those powers as peace officers and provincial constables. The response also concluded that if there were damaged caused to the driver, it was due to his role in failing to listen to the police officer and assaulting a peace officer. The investigation reported that the police officers opened fire on the driver after being struck by the car. The civil claim was filed against the officer about a year later and the court held that the police officer merely acted in self defense (Holmes, 2015). The three problem solving methods namely SARA, CAPRA and PARE are used by authorities in order to solve conflicts. The SARA model stands for scanning, analysis, response, assessment which could have been used in this situation as the situation had to be scanned, analyzed, responses would be collected, and then the assessment of the action taken would

Monday, October 28, 2019

Business Law Essay Example for Free

Business Law Essay What is Business Law? Businesses interact in many and varied ways. To name just a few types of business transactions, there are contracts, mergers and acquisitions, leasing, etc. How these transactions are carried out is overseen by Business Law. Additionally, how businesses are formed is a large part of Business law. This area of law is very wide-ranging, although it deals primarily with defining the rights and responsibilities of businesses, rather than enforcing these laws. Because of its extensive scope, Business law has spawned a large number of legal practice area subcategories, which include Sales and Secured Transactions, Banking, Landlord-Tenant, Mortgages, Real Estate Transactions, Debtor and Creditor, Bankruptcy, Consumer Credit, Negotiable Instruments, and Contracts. Business law and Commercial law are very closely related, so much so that the terms are often used interchangeably and the legal issues they address frequently overlap. The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) is the principal presiding authority over commercial transactions. * Business.gov Business.gov helps small businesses understand their legal requirements and locate government services from federal, state and local agencies. Business.gov is an official site of the U.S. Small Business Administration. * Commercial Law / Business Law Definition Commercial law (sometimes known as business law) is the body of law that governs business and commercial transactions. It is often considered to be a branch of civil law and deals with issues of both private law and public law. Commercial law includes within its compass such titles as principal and agent; carriage by land and sea; merchant shipping; guarantee; marine, fire, life, and accident insurance; bills of exchange and partnership. It can also be understood to regulate corporate contracts, hiring practices, and the manufacture and sales of consumer goods. * Compliance with Business Laws Most aspects of running a business have some legal consequences. Whether your business is just starting up, expanding, or winding down, you must comply with the federal, state, and local laws that govern your business activities. * Employment Law for Businesses A great many common law rulings, statutes, administrative rules and legislation make up the practice and interpretation of employment law. Its governance falls under the umbrella of both federal and state statutes, as well as administrative regulation and judicial precedent. When workers file claims for employment discrimination, unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation, these claims fall under employment law. Likewise, overseeing workplace safety and standards, fair wages, retirement and pensions, employee benefits, and much more, are part of this wide-ranging legal area. Employment law deals with both the employer and the employee’s actions, rights and responsibilities, as well as their relationship with one another. A well-known, prevalent administrative regulatory body for employment law is the Department of Labor, which exists on both the federal and the state level.The elaws Advisors are interactive e-tools that provide easy-to-understand information about a number of federal employment laws. Each Advisor simulates the interaction you might have with an employment law expert. It asks questions and provides answers based on responses given. * Self-Employment Assistance Self-Employment Assistance offers dislocated workers the opportunity for early re-employment. The program is designed to encourage and enable unemployed workers to create their own jobs by starting their own small businesses. Under these programs, States can pay a self-employed allowance, instead of regular unemployment insurance benefits, to help unemployed workers while they are establishing businesses and becoming self-employed. Participants receive weekly allowances while they are getting their businesses off the ground. * Model Business Corporation Act A corporation is a legal entity created through the laws of its state of incorporation. Individual states have the power to promulgate laws relating to the creation, organization and dissolution of corporations. Many states follow the Model Business Corporation Act.State corporation laws require articles of incorporation to document the corporations creation and to provide provisions regarding the management of internal affairs. Most state corporation statutes also operate under the assumption that each corporation will adopt bylaws to define the rights and obligations of officers, persons and groups within its structure. States also have registration laws requiring corporations that incorporate in other states to request permission to do in-state business.There has also been a significant component of Federal corporations law since Congress passed the Securities Act of 1933, which regulates how corporate securities are issued and sold. Federal securities law also governs requirement s of fiduciary conduct such as requiring corporations to make full disclosures to shareholders and investors. The law treats a corporation as a legal person that has standing to sue and be sued, distinct from its stockholders. The legal independence of a corporation prevents shareholders from being personally liable for corporate debts. It also allows stockholders to sue the corporation through a derivative suit and makes ownership in the company (shares) easily transferable. The legal person status of corporations gives the business perpetual life; deaths of officials or stockholders do not alter the corporations structure.Corporations are taxable entities that fall under a different scheme from individuals. Although corporations have a double tax problem both corporate profits and shareholder dividends are taxed corporate profits are taxed at a lower rate than the rates for individuals.Corporate law has important intersections with contracts and commercial transactions law. * Securities law A generic term for shares of stock, bonds, and debentures issued by corporations and governments to evidence ownership and terms of payment of dividends or final payoff. They are called securities because the assets or profits of the corporation or the credit of the government stand as security for payment. However, unlike secured transactions in which specific property is pledged, securities are only as good as the future profitability of the corporation or the management of the governmental agency. Most securities are traded on various stock or bond markets. Securities law exists because of unique informational needs of investors. Securities are not inherently valuable; their worth comes only from the claims they entitle their owner to make upon the assets and earnings of the issuer or the voting power that accompanies such claims. The value of securities depends on the issuers financial condition, products and markets, management, and the competitive and regulatory climate. Securities laws and regulations aim at ensuring that investors receive accurate and necessary information regarding the type and value of the interest under consideration for purchase. Securities exist in the form of notes, stocks, treasury stocks, bonds, certificates of interest or participation in profit sharing agreements, collateral trust certificates, preorganization certificates or subscriptions, transferable shares, investment contracts, voting trust certificates, certificates of deposit for a security, and a fractional undivided interest in gas, oil, or other mineral rights. Certain types of notes, such as a note secured by a home mortgage or a note secured by accounts receivable or other business assets, are not securities. * The Setting for Buying and Trading Two principle settings for buying and selling securities exist issuer transactions and trading transactions. On the one hand, issuer transactions are the means by which businesses raise capital. These transactions involve the sale of securities by the issuer to investors. On the other hand, trading transactions refers to the purchasing and selling of outstanding securities among investors. Investors trade outstanding securities through securities markets that can be either stock exchanges or over-the-counter. Stock exchanges provide a place, rules, and procedures for buying and selling securities, and the government heavily regulates them. Generally, to have their securities sold and bought on a stock exchange, a company must list its securities on a given exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) must approve the stock exchanges rules before they take effect. Transactions that do not take place on a stock exchange occur in the the residual securities market, known as the over-the-counter market. Only dealers and brokers registered with the SEC may engage in securities business both on stock exchanges and in over-the-counter markets. Most of the broker-dealers serving the public used to be members of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which served the NASDAQ stock market, but in 2007, the NASD merged with the dealers from the New York Stock Exchange to form the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) a national securities association registered with SEC. * Securities Regulation Securities regulations focus mainly on the market for common stocks. Both federal and state laws regulate securities. On the heels of the Great Depression, Congress enacted the first of the federal securities laws, the Federal Securities Act of 1933, which regulates the public offering and sale of securities in interstate commerce. This Act also prohibits the offer or sale of a security not registered with the Securities Exchange Commission and requires the disclosure of certain information to the prospective securities purchaser. Then, needing an agency to enforce those regulations, Congress established the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which created the SEC. Since then, Congress has charged the SEC with administering federal securities laws. The 1933 Acts registration requirements aimed to enable purchasers to make reasoned decisions by requiring companies to provide reliable information. The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 also regulates officers, directors, and principal share holders in an attempt to maintain fair and honest markets. The Act requires that issuers, subject to certain exemptions, register with the SEC if they want to have their securities traded on a national exchange. Issuers of securities registered under the 1934 Act must file various reports with the SEC in order to provide the public with adequate information about companies with publicly traded stocks. The 1934 Act permits the SEC to promulgate rules and regulations to protect the public and investors by prohibiting manipulative devices and contrivances via the mail system or other means of interstate commerce * Partnership Law A partnership is a for-profit business association of two or more persons. Because the business component is defined broadly by state laws and because persons can include individuals, groups of individuals, companies, and corporations, partnerships are highly adaptable in form and vary in complexity. Each partner shares directly in the organizations profits and shares control of the business operation. The consequence of this profit sharing is that partners are jointly and independently liable for the partnerships debts.Creation, organization, and dissolution of partnerships are governed by state law. Many states have adopted the Uniform Partnership Act. A partner relationship is generally the result of a contract either express or implied with no formal requirements (such as a signed document). This is not the case of a limited partnership where one or more general partners manage business operations and assume personally liable for partnership debts while other contributing/profit sharing partners take no part in running the business and incur no liability beyond contribution obligations.) Limited partnerships are governed in many states by the Uniform Limited Partnership Act . State property law also impacts partnerships by defining ownership in a partnership and determining how the death of a partner changes the partnership structure. Federal law plays a minimal role in partnership law except in the context of a diversity action, or in instances where a partnership agreement contains an effective choice-of-law provision designating the application of federal law. Federal law also governs whether a partnership exists for federal tax purposes. For state and federal tax purposes, a partnership is not a taxable entity. Partnership income is taxable to the partners in proport ion to their share in the companys profits. * Small Business Advocacy Despite their importance to the economy, small businesses are heavily burdened by the costs of government regulation and excessive paperwork. Advocacy research shows that firms with fewer than 20 employees annually spend 45 percent more per employee than larger firms do to comply with federal regulations. Advocacy is an independent voice for small business within the federal government and is the watchdog for the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA). Advocacy advances the views and concerns of small business before Congress, the White House, the federal agencies, the federal courts and state policy makers. * Mortgage Law An arrangement under which a borrower puts up the title to real estate as security (collateral) for a loan to buy the real estate. The borrower typically agrees to make regular payments of principal and interest to repay the loan. If the borrower falls behind (defaults) on the payments, the lender can foreclose on the real estate and have it sold to pay off the loan. A mortgage involves the transfer of an interest in land as security for a loan or other obligation. It is the most common method of financing real estate transactions. The mortgagor is the party transferring the interest in land. The mortgagee, usually a financial institution, is the provider of the loan or other interest given in exchange for the security interest. Normally, a mortgage is paid in installments that include both interest and a payment on the principle amount that was borrowed. Failure to make payments results in the foreclosure of the mortgage. Foreclosure allows the mortgagee to declare that the entire m ortgage debt is due and must be paid immediately. This is accomplished through an acceleration clause in the mortgage. Failure to pay the mortgage debt once foreclosure of the land occurs leads to seizure of the security interest and its sale to pay for any remaining mortgage debt. The foreclosure process depends on state law and the terms of the mortgage. The most common processes are court proceedings (judicial foreclosure) or grants of power to the mortgagee to sell the property (power of sale foreclosure). Many states regulate acceleration clauses and allow late payments to avoid foreclosure. Some states use instruments called deeds of trust instead of traditional mortgages. Three theories exist regarding who has legal title to a mortgaged property. Under the title theory title to the security interest rests with the mortgagee. Most states, however, follow the lien theory under which the legal title remains with the mortgagor unless there is foreclosure. Finally, the intermediate theory applies the lien theory until there is a default on the mortgage whereupon the title theory applies. The mortgagor and the mortgagee generally have the right to transfer their interest in the mortgage. Some states hold that even when the purchaser of a property subject to a mortgage does not explicitly take over the mortgage the transfer is assumed. Mortgages employ due-on-sale and due-on-encumbrance clauses to prevent the transfer of mortgages. These clauses allow acceleration (having the principal and interest become due immediately) of the mortgage. The law of contracts and property govern the transfer of the mortgages interest. If the mortgage being foreclosed is not the only lien on the property then state law determines the priority of the property interests. For example, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code governs conflicts between mortgages on real property and liens on fixtures (personal property attached to a piece of real estate). When a mortgage is a negotiable instrument it is governed by Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code. A mortgage may be used as a security interest by the mortgage. * Strangely enough, the word mortgage comes from the French word â€Å"mort† which means â€Å"dead† and â€Å"gage† from Old English, which means pledge. The term came from the doubtfulness of whether or not the mortgagor would pay the debt. In the 1500’s, if the mortgagor did not pay, then the land pledged as security for the debt was taken away. The land was then considered â€Å"dead† to the mortgagor. Nowadays, the term mortgage is used as a term for purchasing a property. We no longer associate anyone’s death with it. Although a few lucky people may be in a position to pay all cash for a property, home mortgages are required to purchase a home. Mortgages all have a term (typically 15, 20 or 30 years) representing the length of time before your home is paid off and a rate which determines the principal and interest payment that will be required to be paid during this term. * Bankruptcy Bankruptcy law provides for the development of a plan that allows a debtor, who is unable to pay his creditors, to resolve his debts through the division of his assets among his creditors. This supervised division also allows the interests of all creditors to be treated with some measure of equality. Certain bankruptcy proceedings allow a debtor to stay in business and use revenue generated to resolve his or her debts. An additional purpose of bankruptcy law is to allow certain debtors to free themselves (to be discharged) of the financial obligations they have accumulated, after their assets are distributed, even if their debts have not been paid in full. Bankruptcy law is federal statutory law contained in Title 11 of the United States Code. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Code under its Constitutional grant of authority to establish uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcy throughout the United States.States may not regulate bankruptcy though they may pass laws that govern other a spects of the debtor-creditor relationship. There are two basic types of Bankruptcy proceedings. A filing under Chapter 7 is called liquidation. It is the most common type of bankruptcy proceeding. Liquidation involves the appointment of a trustee who collects the non-exempt property of the debtor, sells it and distributes the proceeds to the creditors. Bankruptcy involve the rehabilitation of the debtor to allow him or her to use future earnings to pay off creditors. Under Chapter 7, 12, 13, and some 11 proceedings, a trustee is appointed to supervise the assets of the debtor. A bankruptcy proceeding can either be entered into voluntarily by a debtor or initiated by creditors. After a bankruptcy proceeding is filed, creditors, for the most part, may not seek to collect their debts outside of the proceeding. The debtor is not allowed to transfer property that has been declared part of the estate subject to proceedings. Furthermore, certain pre-proceeding transfers of property, secured interests, and liens may be delayed or invalidated. Various provisions of the Bankruptcy Code a lso establish the priority of creditors interests. * Small Business Financing Loans and Grants Federal, state and local governments offer a wide range of financing programs to help small businesses start and grow their operations. These programs include low-interest loans, venture capital, and scientific and economic development grants. * Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC or the Code), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been promulgated in conjunction with efforts to harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions in all 50 states within the United States of America. The goal of harmonizing state law is important because of the prevalence of commercial transactions that extend beyond one state. The UCC therefore achieved the goal of substantial uniformity in commercial laws and, at the same time, allowed the states the flexibility to meet local circumstances. The UCC deals primarily with transactions involving personal property (movable property), not real property (immovable property). * US Department of Commerce The U.S. Department of Commerce has a broad mandate to advance economic growth and jobs and opportunities for the American people. It has cross cutting responsibilities in the areas of trade, technology, economic development, environmental stewardship and statistical research and analysis. The products and services the department provides touch the lives of Americans and American companies in many ways, including weather forecasts, the decennial census, and patent and trademark protection for inventors and businesses. What is the UCC? The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), a comprehensive code addressing most aspects of commercial law, is generally viewed as one of the most important developments in American law. The UCC text and draft revisions are written by experts in commercial law and submitted as drafts for approval to the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (now referred to as the Uniform Law Commissioners), in collaboration with the American Law Institute. The Commissioners are all attorneys, qualified to practice law, including state and federal judges, legislators and law professors from the United States and its territories. These quasi-public organizations meet and decide whether to endorse these drafts or to send them back to the experts for revision. The revision process may result in several different revisions of the original draft. Once a draft is endorsed, the Uniform Law Commissioners recommend that the states adopt these rules. The UCC is a model code, so it does not have leg al effect in a jurisdiction unless UCC provisions are enacted by the individual legislatures as statutes. Currently, the UCC (in whole or in part) has been enacted, with some local variation, in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE Act 174 of 1962 AN ACT to enact the uniform commercial code, relating to certain commercial transactions in or regarding personal property and contracts and other documents concerning them, including sales, commercial paper,bank deposits and collections, letters of credit, bulk transfers, warehouse receipts, bills of lading, other documents of title, investment securities, leases, and secured transactions, including certain sales of accounts and contract rights; to provide for public notice to third parties in certain circumstances; to regulate procedure, evidence and damages in certain court actions involving such transactions, contracts or documents; to make uniform the law with respect there to; to make an appropriation; to provide penalties; and to repeal certain acts and parts of acts. * 1-101. Short Titles. (a) This [Act] may be cited as the Uniform Commercial Code. * 1-102. Scope of Article. This article applies to a transaction to the extent that it is governed by another article of [the Uniform Commercial Code]. * 1-103. Construction of [Uniform Commercial Code] to Promote its Purposes and Policies: Applicability of Supplemental Principles of Law. (a) [The Uniform Commercial Code] must be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes and policies, which are: (1)to simplify, clarify, and modernize the law governing commercial transactions; (2) to permit the continued expansion of commercial practices through custom, usage, and agreement of the parties; and (3) to make uniform the law among the various jurisdictions. (b) Unless displaced by the particular provisions of [the Uniform Commercial Code], the principles of law and equity, including the law merchant and the law relative to capacity to contract, principal and agent, fraud, misrepresentation,mistake, bankruptcy, and other validating or invalidating cause supplement its provisions. * 1-104. Construction Against Implied Repeal. [The Uniform Commercial Code] being a general act intended as a unified coverage of its subject matter, no part of it shall be deemed to be impliedly repealed by subsequent legislation if such construction can reasonably be avoided. * 1-105. Severability. If any provision or clause of [the Uniform Commercial Code] or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of [the Uniform Commercial Code] which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of [the Uniform Commercial Code] are severable. * 1-106. Use of Singular and Plural; Gender. In [the Uniform Commercial Code], unless the statutory context otherwise requires: (1) words in the singular number include the plural, and those in the plural include the singular; and (2) words of any gender also refer to any other gender. * 1-107. Section Captions. Section captions are part of [the Uniform Commercial Code]. * 1-108. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act. This article modifies, limits, and supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq., except that nothing in this article modifies, limits, or supersedes Section 7001(c) of that Act or authorizes electronic delivery of any of the notices described in Section 7003(b) of that Act. * 1-201. General Definitions. (a) Unless the context otherwise requires, words or phrases defined in this section, or in the additional definitions contained in other articles of [the Uniform Commercial Code] that apply to particular articles or parts thereof, have the meanings stated. (b) Subject to definitions contained in other articles of [the Uniform Commercial Code] that apply to particular articles or parts thereof: (1) Action, in the sense of a judicial proceeding, includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are determined. (2) Aggrieved party means a party entitled to pursue a remedy. (3) Agreement, as distinguished from contract, means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their language or inferred from other circumstances, including course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as provided in Section 1-303. (4) Bank means a person engaged in the business of banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan association , credit union, and trust company. (5) Bearer means a person in possession of a negotiable instrument, document of title, or certificated security that is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank. (6) Bill of lading means a document evidencing the receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in the business of transporting or forwarding goods. (7) Branch includes a separately incorporated foreign branch of a bank. (8) Burden of establishing a fact means the burden of persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is more probable than its nonexistence. (9) Buyer in ordinary course of business means a person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods, and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind. A person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the person comports with the usual or customary practices in the kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the sellers own usual or customary practices. A person that sells oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or minehead is a person in the busine ss of selling goods of that kind. A buyer in ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession of the goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller under Article 2 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business. (10) Conspicuous, with reference to a term, means so written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person against which it is to operate ought to have noticed it. Whether a term is conspicuous or not is a decision for the court. Conspicuous terms include the following: (A) a heading in capitals equal to or greater in size than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size; and (B) language in the body of a record or display in larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or other marks that call attention to the language. (11) Consumer means an individual who enters into a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes. (12) Contract, as distinguished from agreement, means the total legal obligation that results from the parties agreement as determined by [the Uniform Commercial Code] as supplemented by any other applicable laws. (13) Creditor includes a general creditor, a secured creditor, and any representative of creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors, a receiver in equity, and an executor or administrator of an insolvent debtors or assignors estate. (14) Defendant includes a person in the position of defendant in a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim. (15) Delivery, with respect to an instrument, document of title, or chattel paper, means voluntary transfer of possession. * International trade law Includes the appropriate rules and customs for handling trade between countries. However, it is also used in legal writings as trade between private sectors, which is not right. This branch of law is now an independent field of study as most governments has become part of the world trade, as members of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Since the transaction between private sectors of different countries is important part of the WTO activities, this latter branch of law is now very important part of the academic works and is under study in many universities across the world. International trade law should be distinguished from the broader field of international economic law. The latter could be said to encompass not only WTO law, but also law governing the international monetary system and currency regulation, as well as the law of international development. The body of rules for transnational trade in the 21st century derives from medieval commercial laws called the lex mercatoria and lex maritima — respectively, the law for merchants on land and the law for merchants on sea. Modern trade law (extending beyond bilateral treaties) began shortly after the Second World War, with the negotiation of a multilateral treaty to deal with trade in goods: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). International trade law is based on theories of economic liberalism developed in Europe and later the United States from the 18th century onwards. International Trade Law is an aggregate of legal rules of â€Å"international legislation† and new lex mercatoria, regulating relations in international trade. â€Å"International legislation† – international treaties and acts of international intergovernmental organizations regulating relations in international trade. lex mercatoria the law for merchants on land. Alok Narayan defines lex mercatoria as any law relating to businesses which was criticised by Professor Julius Stone. and lex maritima the law for merchants on sea. Alok in his recent article criticised this definition to be too narrow and merely-creative. Professor Dodd and Professor Malcolm Shaw of Leeds University supported this proposition. Contract: the elements of a contract The first step in a contract question is always to make sure that a contract actually exists. There are certain elements that must be present for a legally binding contract to be in place. The first two are the most obvious: * An offer: an expression of willingness to contract on a specific set of terms, made by the offeror with the intention that, if the offer is accepted, he or she will be bound by a contract. * Acceptance: an expression of absolute and unconditional agreement to all the terms set out in the offer. It can be oral or in writing. The acceptance must exactly mirror the original offer made. * A counter-offer is not the same as an acceptance. A counter-offer extinguishes the original offer: you can’t make a counter-offer and then decide to accept the original offer! But†¦ * A request for information is not a counter-offer. If you ask the offeror for information or clarification about the offer, that doesn’t extinguish the offer; you’re still free to accept it if you want. It is very important to distinguish an offer from an invitation to treat – that is, an invitation for other people to submit offers. Some everyday situations which we might think are offers are in fact invitations to treat: * Goods displayed in a shop window or on a shelf. * When a book is placed in a shop window priced at  £7.99, the bookshop owner has made an invitation to treat. * When I pick up that book and take it to the till, I make the offer to buy the book for  £7.99. * When the person at the till takes my money, the shop accepts my offer, and a contract comes into being. * Adverts basically work in the same way as the scenario above. Advertising something is like putting it in a shop window. * Auctions: * The original advertising of the auction is just an invitation to treat. * When I make a bid, I am making an offer. * When the hammer falls, the winning ‘offer’ has been accepted. The seller now has a legally binding contract with the winning bidder (so long as there is no reserve price that hasn’t been reached) An offer can be revoked at any time before it is accepted, so long as you inform the person you made the offer to that the offer no longer stands. * Consideration: each party to the contract must receive something of value.Consideration is the price paid for the other’s promise. There are four legal maxims that apply to consideration: * Consideration must move from the promisor; * Consideration need not move to the promisee; * Past consideration is not good consideration; * The consideration given must be sufficient, but it need not be adequate. Arrangements of a social nature are presumed not to be legally binding, whilse commercial arrangements are presumed to be intended as binding contracts. Of course, these presumptions can always be rebutted in court by producing evidence to the contrary. * Importance of Business Law It is essential to know about business law before starting a business, as it will help you operate your business without the hindrances of ignorance. It is better to seek the expert guidance of an accountant and an attorney to learn about the latest business laws that will affect your business.. There are different laws for different business entities. Be certain you learn about the business laws that govern the kind of business entity that you choose to start. The major types of businesses are C, S and closed corporations, limited liability companies, and sole proprietorships. Zoning Laws: It is essential to know about zoning laws, as certain zones are restricted in certain areas. It deals with the kind or type of business allowed in certain areas, how the land surrounding a business is used, signboards, advertisements, and parking. Licensing Laws: In order to operate a business certain licenses are required and there are some important business laws you need to know. If a business operates without these licenses, it is illegal and the business may be dissolved or forced to close. Trademark and Patent Laws: These are laws that deal with ownership; intellectual property rights, and inventions. They are necessary to protect the business. Employment Laws: These are laws regarding the hiring and firing of employees, their rights, compensation, safety, work place discrimination, child labor laws, overtime pay structure, disability laws and unemployment laws. Tax Laws: This section deals with filing of tax returns and depends on the kind of business entity and the state the business operates in, sales tax. These include franchise tax, income tax and other state and federal tax requirements of a business. These are very important business laws you need to know before starting a business. Environmental Laws: The government enforces the environmental laws for the discharge of hazardous waste and the recycling laws pertaining to the business. Health Department Permits: This is necessary if your business deals with food products. You must get health department permits to operate your business. Fire Department Permits and Air and Water Pollution Control Permits: There are laws that certain kinds of business entities must get permits from these departments to operate. The list above contains basic business laws you need to know before starting a company. It is necessary to take precautions that you are not violating any law by operating your business. You must obtain all the necessary permits and licenses from the appropriate authority.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

A Psychological Analysis of My Writing :: Writing Education Teaching Essays

A Psychological Analysis of My Writing "God! I've always hated this stupid shrink's office. Everything is placed so god damned precisely. Everything is so god damn clean. It's as if the bastard is striving for perfection. Strive. That's all he can do. Thinks he knows everything. Thinks he knows how I think, when even I don't know how I think..." "Man, this fellow's office is immaculate. I can't see a speck of dust anywhere. Christ, this guy is really anal. Holy Ghost! Now, I'm starting to sound like freakin' Freud. The man's got me thinking like a shrink. This isn't good. No, not at all..." "Hey! What's that!?! It's my flippin' file. The anal-retentive bastard left out my flippin' file. Well, it's about me...and I have a right to see what he's saying about me--don't I? Heck yes!" "Let's see here. What's this? Oh, it's that stupid exercise he had me do. Geez! I wrote that over twelve weeks ago. I don't know why I had to do that moronic exercise. It's like he's going to find out anything about me in a two page piece of exposition using an extended metaphor for my conception of life at a university. Jesus, I can't even remember what metaphor I used. I hope I compared the university to a colon, because of all the crap I have to deal with. Alright, maybe school isn't that bad. Well, since the shrink is usually fashionably late, I might as well read the damn thing..." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last summer, a few of my friends and I went on a canoe trip in the Quetico. I had never been on a canoe trip prior to this excursion, so I only had a vague idea of what I would be subjected to on such a trip. I naively believed that the whole affair would be something like a vacation absent the amenities, but, as I soon discovered, it was anything but a vacation. At the end of our first day of paddling, I was wet and exhausted. From this rather inauspicious beginning, my vacation devolved quickly into a hellacious "forced march." You see, my friend, who planned the trip, had set a destination that he thought that we should reach by the end of the third day and that if we didn't reach this destination we couldn't claim to be men. Initially, I thought that the whole trip was a waste of time and money; I couldn't believe that anyone, masochists excluded, would want to participate in such an affair.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

“Dialogue with Trypho” by Justin Martyr Essay

In his work â€Å"Dialogue with Trypho† Justin Martyr in a form of a dialogue presents the views quite contrary to what it is usually taught. A well-known idea of Jews being the chosen nation favored by God is rejected. Justin Martyr is trying to find logic underneath God’s wrath, and his line of argumentation, based on analysis of the Old Testament, does emphasize the idea that Jews were punished by Mosaic rules for improper behavior. Jews are the chosen nation not because God likes them, but rather because they have to be punished for disobedience. The starting point of Martyr’s analysis is the presupposition that God is the only – both for Judaism and Christianity- God is eternal, â€Å"who created and formed the universe†. The second presupposition necessary for his line of argumentation is that God has â€Å"foreknowledge of future events†, however God â€Å"doesn’t prepare beforehand what everyone deserves†. I find a contradiction in this interpretation of God, since if God participates in human life, He performs some actions, and being able to forecast the events – He knows ahead what He will do, since the events on earth are directly influenced by his actions, therefore God, being the just one, has to prepare what we deserve, because if not – then God is unjust and performs spontaneous actions, God is capricious – a feature usually attributed to God by Muslims, but denied by Christians. So, either God is just and active in human life, then our life is pre-determined, and the whole argumentation of Martyr falls to pieces, or God is unjust, capricious – this doesn’t go together with the image of God in Christianity, or God doesn’t know the future, but acts justly in the current situation – then we are responsibly for own actions, and only in this case Jews can be punished by God through laws, mandatory customs, and sacrifices. Even though Martyr gives a different definition to God which I find illogical with his line of argumentation – he goes on discussing sins committed by Jews in front of God’s face for which they consequently were punished by Him. The greatest sin of Jews is that they â€Å"murdered the Just One†, Jesus Christ, they violated the Law not once, but continue to do so â€Å"have persecuted Christ in the past and still do, and do not repent†. The genuinely chosen nation is the followers of Christ – saved by faith alone – who don’t have to  follow all the traditions (Sabbath day, circumcision, limits in food), as these customs are imposed on Jews only for their sins and hardness of heart. I would like to stress the logic of Martyr underneath the idea of irrelevance of circumcision for a true Christian. Martyr gives two arguments to prove that circumcision was given to â€Å"mark you (Jews) off for the suffering†. The first point is that â€Å"God what not have created Adam uncircumcised† if circumcision would be necessary for salvation, however God created us imperfect in order to be able to choose between right and wrong so that we would experience genuine love to God and would be able to act according to our will. In such way, circumcision can be just another step, payment or a way to show genuine love to God, lack of circumcision can be one of those imperfect signs in Adam and Eve as means to achieve holiness and find peace with God, a painful stage one has to pass. The second argument of Martyr is â€Å"the fact that females cannot receive circumcision of the flesh shows that circumcision was given as a sign, not as an act of justification† and at the same time women have the â€Å"capability of performing every good and righteous act†, so Martyrs’ idea is that if women cannot be circumcised – they cannot receive salvation, which they actually do receive. However, since women equally can be forgiven, they are also equally guilty, then why is it that God punishes by circumcision only Jewish men, but women stay uncircumcised? In such was, if God according to Martyr has to equally distribute salvation to both men and women, he also has to equally distribute punishmen t being just be definition, however in case of only Jewish men, but not women, being circumcised, God doesn’t do that. These two arguments of Martyr don’t prove anything. Martyr goes even further then this stating that the Jewish scriptures belong to Christians, but not to Jews. He presents events in the OT in a different shade, being symbolic for Gentiles and predicting the coming of Jesus Christ. â€Å"The mystery of the lamb which God ordered you to sacrifice as the Passover was truly a type of Christ†, â€Å"prophet Moses remained until evening in the form of the cross†¦ happened in the likeness of this sign†. These explanations of parts of the OT purposively provide additional support to Gentiles being favored by God rather then Jews, however OT scriptures were written over a vast period of time, combined in a stranger manner having 4 –  J, P, DH, E sources. And every source brought additional changes to the scripture adjusting the text to those currently in force, East and West, and Aaronic and Mosaic priesthood. There exists a view, that prophecy about coming of Jesus were added only after the coming of Christ and the fact that the majority weren’t well educated only contributes to the fact that using this understanding of Bible as a support is more then relative and has to have a deeper argumentation. Moreover, there are a lot of references in the Bible, where it is directly stated, that the scriptures belongs to Jews, that they are the chosen nation and that God will protect them throughout their life-time and the life-time of their descendants. Martyr presents guidance for life to Jews through explanation of who, in his opinion, would be saved. Martyr says that a Jew could hold up to the rules given in the OT, but still every Jew has to accept Christ as a savior, through faith, however he denies that the OT laws are actually necessary even for a Jew. In such way, Martyr doesn’t give a solution of the problem, as he neither rejects, nor accepts the OT, he cannot give a definite answer on what actually should be changed in traditions of a Jew, as he neither bold enough to deny the scripture, nor bold enough to re-affirm it. Generally, â€Å"Dialogue with Trypho† by Justin Martyr is an interesting work because of its uncommon world view, however it is written in a kind of free style without the argumentation being presented from the opposite side. It is useful to read, but I just cannot agree with his views, as all of his positions will hardly stand up to strong contra-argumentation. Frankly speaking, I doubt that a person will ever manage to figure out the reasoning of God, who had chosen the Jews either for punishment or praise, because this is what Martyr is attempting to do – rationally prove and explain the motives of God for the punishment of Jews, which is impossible.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Negro Speaks of Rivers Analysis

Proud to have endured some of the most powerful challenges mankind has ever witnessed, he Negro spirit has grown through time with its people. In Langston Hughes’s poem, â€Å"The Negro Speaks of Rivers†, the speaker uses devices such as anaphora and allusion to convey pride in the Negro spirit. The anaphora present in the poem is seen in phrases such as, â€Å"I bathed,† â€Å"I built,† â€Å"I looked,†   and â€Å"I heard† . Each of these phrases has a declarative feeling, in which the speaker is strongly affirming that he, himself, has performed the actions.They dictate events in history, which give the Negro spirit its sense of valiance and pride. When the speaker proclaims, â€Å"I looked upon the Congo and raised the pyramids above it,† he is alluding to his ancestors’ past experiences as slaves. In which they lived in harsh conditions, and performed demanding tasks such as building the pyramids. After this, the Negro sp irit reminisces a time when Abraham Lincoln sailed down the Mississippi by recalling, â€Å"I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset†.With the use of this allusion, the spirit mentions how the hard work throughout history has paid off, and that it is something to be proud of. The spirit has â€Å"[known] ancient dusky rivers,† in which African ancestors have lived as slaves, been mistreated and had to earn their freedom. The Negro spirit is proud of his honorable acts, in which he rose from deep within the â€Å"dusky rivers† and climbed his way to a golden sunset.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Macbeth Essays - English-language Films, British Films, Free Essays

Macbeth Essays - English-language Films, British Films, Free Essays Macbeth Macbeth: a Tragic Hero A tragic hero is a person whos life is determined by four elements: fate, weakness (in Macbeths case, fear), poor decision making, and the realization of flaws with inability to prevent the oncoming tragedy. First of all, fate is defined as the power or force held to predetermine events. Fate makes its first appearance in the play when Lady Mac receives Macbeths letter which tells of the witches prophecies. At this point, Lady Mac is stricken with fear because she is afraid that Macbeth will not utilize his opportunity to seize the crown, Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem to have thee crowns withal (1.5 29-30). In the end, Macbeth will have to come face to face with his fate and deal with it accordingly. Secondly, Macbeths weakness (fear) is another element in his being a tragic hero. This weakness is portrayed often in the character of Macbeth. Oftentimes, tragic heroes must contain the element of fear, because it is a very humanizing element, so therefore without it, they would be some sort of superior human, which they are not. They are still human, even though they are heroes. In the case of Macbeth, his fear was created by himself due to the situations which he has involved himself with. Eventually it is this self-induces, self-produced fear which eats Macbeth from the inside out. In the end, Macbeths fear becomes a totally all-inclusive, all- consuming creature which takes his life and virtually rapes him of his unlawfully obtained position of king. Bibliography 1) Aspects of Macbeth, Kenneth Muir, Philip Edwards, Cambridge University Press1978 2) The New Varioum Shakespeare, Macbeth, Horace Howard Furness, New York American Scholar, 1963. 3) Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Macbeth, John Russell Brown, Barons Educational Series, Inc. 1963. 4) Double Profit in Macbeth, H. L. Rogers, Melbourne University Press 1964. 5) Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary, Lippincott & Crowell, Publishers 1980

Monday, October 21, 2019

Administrative Salary Hiring Trends for 2017

Administrative Salary Hiring Trends for 2017 If you work in the office or administrative support sector, you’re in luck. These occupations are poised to see about a million and a half new job openings by 2022. Companies are filling vacancies and making new ones at a rapid pace, seeking employees who have experience in the industry, a proven track record for collaboration and initiative, excellent communication skills, technological savvy, a positive attitude, and are keen to advance.1Here are some trends to watch out for this year.1. Job Title ChangesAdmin professionals are being tasked with different- and more- job responsibilities. This is starting to reflect in titles like Chief Executive Administrator, Director of First Impressions, Administrative Chief of Staff, Director of Administration, and Administrative Services Manager.2. Job Description ObsolescenceYour job description doesn’t match your day-to-day work at all. You’re doing so much more and such bigger tasks that you hardly recognize the job you were hired to do. It’s time to revamp your job description. Ask your manager if you can sit down and create an updated version. This helps hold both of you accountable, and will help to show your performance more accurately when review (and raise) time comes along.3. Salary BumpsGood news! Salaries are improving by an average of 3% or more- especially for certain senior and HR positions. If you speak another language, or you have a Certified Administrative Professional designation, or you’re a specialist in the MS Office Suite, you’re likely to be in line for more money.4. Diversifying RolesIn this new global world, different skills and experience will be more in demand. Bilingualism, customer service skills, financial savvy, etc. Start thinking about what you offer outside the box in the new economy.5. TechnologyGone are the days of getting jobs just because of lightning fast typing speed. New technology happens fast- and administrative professionals have to k eep up. Educate yourself and specialize in multi-skilled roles involving online marketing, web development, customer service, and other online aspects of your job, and you’ll go far. You’ll want to focus less on the old standards of spreadsheets and data entry and more on new things like web conferencing, IT hardware, and other software systems.6. EducationThere will be a trend toward employers requiring an associates degree- at minimum- for their administrative hires. Get yourself on the cutting edge and get your associate’s- or even your bachelor’s- to stay ahead of the curve.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Help for Humanities, Liberal Arts Students Custom MLA Format Example

Help for Humanities, Liberal Arts Students Custom MLA Format Example MLA refers to a set of rules and formatting guidelines that are used by researchers within the humanities and liberal arts. These standards are described in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (8th edition), which is a 300-page manual, detailing every aspect of MLA paper writing. MLA ESSAY EXAMPLE Update: There was a recent update to the MLA handbook, issued in spring 2016. While basic requirements remain the same, there are numerous minor updates to the essay writing process. Take a look at the list of recent updates. You can also download an MLA format template. It allows you to skip the formatting part and insert your information to a pre-formatted file. MLA Format: Paper Use standard white 8.5Ãâ€"11 inches paper. MLA Format: Title Page Unless this is a specific requirement set by your instructor, a title page is not needed. An example of MLA essay cover page is below: MLA Format: Font Use legible 12 pt. font. While MLA has no specific requirements regarding fonts, we recommend using Times New Roman if unsure. Georgia, Courier New Arial are good alternatives as well. MLA Format: Formatting Use 1†³ margins on all sides Use 1/2†³ margins from top to your name Put your title in the center, do not italicize it If your quotation is longer than four lines, indent that paragraph 1†³. Do not use quotation marks! MLA Format: Numbering Use Arabic numerals (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc.) and number your pages consecutively. Re-check whether your instructor wants to see the number on the first page. Page numbers are placed in the upper right-hand corner of your paper. MLA Format: Spacing Use double-spacing throughout your paper Put one space after punctuation marks (commas, full stops, etc.). MLA Format: Indentation Indent all paragraphs 1/2†³. MLA recommends that you hit TAB once, as opposed to pressing the spacebar five times. MLA Format: Heading Headers should be capitalized – the same way as you would capitalize words in titles. Center your headings and do not italicize, bold or underline them. MLA Format: Citation MLA is known as the â€Å"author page† style. It means that whenever making an MLA style reference, always indicate the author’s last name and a page you took the quote from. In-text citation in its most basic form defaults to this: (Name, 1). MLA Format: Citation examples The values are a representation of maximum loads, which can be exerted on the material without causing deformation (Ashby 23). The climate is changing, but the biologists do not agree that it will threaten animals and plants with extinction (Stampf Traufetter 132). MLA Format: References The references page should be at the end of your paper It should start with a new page, have a centered â€Å"† title Double-space all citations Create a hanging indent, to do so, indent second and subsequent lines of quotations by 0.5 inches. Proofreading referencing is a time-consuming assignment that can be outsourced to a professional writing service, like . We have completed hundreds of academic papers and know what it takes to write an excellent project. If you need assistance with your academic writing, feel free to contact our friendly support team. We will gladly answer all your questions in a matter of minutes. Or place an order on the website directly, and our professionals will start writing an excellent paper for you right away.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Short essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Short - Essay Example These countries portray in their films a lot about their festivals and ceremonies (Pickowicz 8). This tells us how festive these countries are. Chinese films also show the heroic struggle of the Chinese soldiers who reached their destination in the 1930s after the long march. An example of this is the Chinese movie named â€Å"The Long March†. The way Chinese films are made tells us that China has a strong film industry with talented actors. Russian films, like â€Å"Faust† by Alexander Sokurov, talk more about battles and wars, and portray the Russian history. Arabian films have their own special portrayal of beauty and culture. Arabian films, like â€Å"The Only Way Out† by director Haifaa Mainsour, talk about domestic problems of Arabian people. However, the way Arabian films are made shows that this country lacks a formal film industry, which is surely due to the conditions of Islam. Moreover, if we talk about German films, most of them portray the humorous n ature of the Germans which they are famous for. German comedy movies, like â€Å"Miss Congeniality 2 - Armed and Fabulous† and â€Å"The Edukators†, show the sense of humor Germans possess. Talking about Hollywood as another good example, films of USA show that a female is more like a sex symbol (Hollinger 281). Females are considered as the weaker and corrupt gender. Films like â€Å"Fatal Attraction† released in 1987 show that the real place of women is at home. Hollywood movies also talk about racism, which shows that the society of USA is affected by the harmful aspect of racism. Films, like â€Å"Crash† by Paul Haggis portray the issues of race and gender. Crash revolves around characters of different races falling into each other and realizing at the end that racial discrimination should be ended. Hollywood films are also famous for their action-adventure and catastrophe movies like â€Å"2012†. 2012 is a final action-adventure and a thrilled journey of human

Friday, October 18, 2019

Rights and Remedies within the Tort Laws Term Paper

Rights and Remedies within the Tort Laws - Term Paper Example In order to ensure there is better protection of consumer’s interests, the consumer protection bill of 1987 was introduced. The main objective during the introduction of the consumer protection bill was to provide better protection of consumer interests. Howells and Weatherill contend â€Å"the move also aimed at creating provisions for the introduction of consumer councils and other institutions that would assist in settling consumer disputes and other issues of concern.†2 In brief, the consumer protection bill seeks to promote and protect the following consumer rights; the right to get protection against products that are harmful to humans and property; right to get information regarding the quality, quantity, price, standard, purity, and potency of products for the purpose of protecting consumers against unlawful trade practices; the right to receive audience and get a guarantee that consumer interests will get due attention at appropriate forums; the right to go for a redress against unjust trade practices or corrupt exploitation of consumers; and the right to receive consumer education. From the outlined rights, it is clear that the consumer is the main beneficiary of this legislation. However, this legislation provides a chance to forward looking firms to realize that it is their interest to bring to an end unfair competition from firms that neglect consumer rights. Therefore, the Act is relevant to everyone interested in the safety of goods and services getting into the market. The first part of the Act came into action in 1988. The first part applies in Great Britain alone, but there is a similar provision for Northern Ireland. The second part of the consumer protection Act contains provisions on consumer safety. This section came into place in 1987 and applies throughout the UK.      

International Financial Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Financial Markets - Essay Example They lend such surplus fund to the borrowers like households, businesses, governments who want to finance their personal expenditures like purchase of houses, cars and furniture. This kind of flow of funds form the lenders to the borrowers follows two ways known as direct finance and indirect finance. In the former concept the borrowers have access to the finance from the lenders directly. They do this by selling their fiscal tools which represent a claim on the potential proceeds and assets of the borrower. Financial instruments are assets for individuals who buy them and are liabilities for individuals who sell them. Through this process of buying and selling of securities the flow of money is occurs in the economy which is very vital for the economy. Hence financial markets are the medium through which such transactions happen. The financial markets comprises of equity market, debt market, derivative market and foreign exchange market. Each of this market acts as the medium of flo w of fund in the economy. This report will analyse the importance of the financial markets and the role which they play in the development of international trade and economic development. Discussion Financial System Structure The financial system of an economy comprises of three components Financial markets Financial institutions Financial regulators Each of the above components has a specific role in the economy. The financial institutions are important players in the financial markets since they perform the role of an intermediary and hence they determine the flow of funds. The financial regulator’s role is to monitor and regulate the participants of the monetary system. At the heart of this is the fiscal market. It facilitates in the flow of funds in the economy (Cho, 1989, pp. 88-92). Figure 1: Structure of Financial System The financial institutions use financial instruments to regulate the flow of funds in the economy. Financial assets or financial instruments are intan gible assets that are expected to provide future benefits to the owner of the instrument in the form of future cash. Some financial instruments are known as securities which include bonds and stocks (Fry and Maxwell, 1995, p. 282). Financial markets and their economic importance Financial market is a place where there is exchange or trading of financial instruments. The major economic functions of the financial markets are Liquidity Price discovery Reduction of transaction costs. Liquidity The financial markets provide an opportunity to the investors to sell their financial instruments. Liquidity means the ability of an investor to sell an asset in the market at its fair market value anytime he wants. Without this liquidity, an investor had to hold on to the financial instrument till the conditions arise to sell it or the issuer of the asset is contractually obligated to clear the obligation (Stiglitz, 1989, pp. 55-61). The liquidity of an equity instrument is until the company is l iquidated voluntarily or involuntarily. For a debt instrument liquidity comes when it matures. All international financial markets provide some liquidity to the investors though they have different degrees of liquidity associated with it (King, Robert and Ross, 1993, pp. 717-723). Price discovery It denotes to the determination of the price of a traded asset in a financial market by means of transactions between

Thursday, October 17, 2019

REFUTE letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

REFUTE letter - Essay Example take a position on the debate: is Bill Cosby’s criticism justified or, as William Ryan might ask, is he blaming the victim?† My response to this question was to formulate the essay as a rhetorical argument, and took the stance that all writing is persuasive writing. As a result, the responses to the arguments in the reading set were structured using the same logic Cosby, West, Dyson, and Ryan used; this means that rhetorical flourishes were used instead of the strict argumentative form that would be found in legal writing. You will notice that Cosby, West, Dyson, and even Ryan are guilty of using rhetoric to establish their arguments. Indeed, Dyson even refers to Cosby’s argument as, â€Å"classist, elitist, and rooted in generational warfare.† Furthermore, by referring to William Ryan’s ‘blaming the victim’ in the essay prompt, I took the statement ‘blaming the victim’ to be indicative of not only Ryan’s argument, bu t of the entire reading set that opposed Cosby. When considering the Cosby argument, one grader noted that the essay did not fully grasp Cosby’s arguments. I must respectfully disagree and point the grader’s attention to the Boondocks comic in which the boy’s father chastises him for needing to pull up his pants and refers to the boy as ‘dirty laundry’. This comic is a satire on those that would take Cosby’s argument literally. In the essay, I set out to defend Cosby’s argument on the grounds that, â€Å"Cosby is not a social scientist and his message is not meant to be judged by these standards; rather, he is a respected and influential leader whose statements need to be understood for their rhetorical efficacy. In attacking Cosby, Dyson is willfully committing a socially irresponsible form of ignorance. While this example may seem a fairly basic formulation of a complex social problem†¦Cosby’s comments aren’t meant to be interpreted as the literal proscriptive formulation of a policy maker, but as a rhetorically

Biology1project2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Biology1project2 - Essay Example DNA molecules make individual copies of themselves by replication. Before a cell divides, each strand of genetic information makes a duplicate. During cell division the duplicates separate, so each cell has a complete set of genetic information. That single cell then divided many, many times to turn into the 50 trillion or so cells that make up a human being. Almost all of the cells in human body share the same DNA as was found in that first cell. DNA contains all of the information needed. This information is stored in the over 20,000 human genes found in almost all your cells. To get at the information, a gene must be turned on (expressed) and the information turned into something useful, a protein. Once made, that protein goes out into the cell and performs some set of specific tasks. For a cell to work, 1000s of these proteins must be made, each doing its particular job. The traits of a living thing depend on the complex mixture of interacting components inside it. Proteins do mu ch of the chemical work inside cells, so they largely determine what those traits are. But those proteins owe their existence to the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA consists of four different sugars that interact with each other in specific ways. A much longer piece of DNA can therefore be the equivalent of different words connected to make a sentence, or gene that describes how to build a protein. And a still longer piece of DNA could contain information about when that protein should be made. The entire DNA in a cell gives us enough words and sentences to serve as a master description or blueprint for a human. Active stretches of DNA must be copied as a similar message molecule called RNA. The words in the RNA then need to be "read" to produce the proteins, which are they stretches of words made up of a different alphabet, the amino acid alphabet. "Central Dogma" of heredity--that the DNA code turns into RNA message that has the ability to organize 20

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

REFUTE letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

REFUTE letter - Essay Example take a position on the debate: is Bill Cosby’s criticism justified or, as William Ryan might ask, is he blaming the victim?† My response to this question was to formulate the essay as a rhetorical argument, and took the stance that all writing is persuasive writing. As a result, the responses to the arguments in the reading set were structured using the same logic Cosby, West, Dyson, and Ryan used; this means that rhetorical flourishes were used instead of the strict argumentative form that would be found in legal writing. You will notice that Cosby, West, Dyson, and even Ryan are guilty of using rhetoric to establish their arguments. Indeed, Dyson even refers to Cosby’s argument as, â€Å"classist, elitist, and rooted in generational warfare.† Furthermore, by referring to William Ryan’s ‘blaming the victim’ in the essay prompt, I took the statement ‘blaming the victim’ to be indicative of not only Ryan’s argument, bu t of the entire reading set that opposed Cosby. When considering the Cosby argument, one grader noted that the essay did not fully grasp Cosby’s arguments. I must respectfully disagree and point the grader’s attention to the Boondocks comic in which the boy’s father chastises him for needing to pull up his pants and refers to the boy as ‘dirty laundry’. This comic is a satire on those that would take Cosby’s argument literally. In the essay, I set out to defend Cosby’s argument on the grounds that, â€Å"Cosby is not a social scientist and his message is not meant to be judged by these standards; rather, he is a respected and influential leader whose statements need to be understood for their rhetorical efficacy. In attacking Cosby, Dyson is willfully committing a socially irresponsible form of ignorance. While this example may seem a fairly basic formulation of a complex social problem†¦Cosby’s comments aren’t meant to be interpreted as the literal proscriptive formulation of a policy maker, but as a rhetorically

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

About animal extinction Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

About animal extinction - Research Paper Example Presently, most of the species that are endangered such as the Black Rhino and the South China Tiger can blame the humans for their situation (World Wildlife Fund). This is because climate change, which has been affecting most species, was caused by humans. Currently, the planet is at the stage of mass extinction where many species are dying off. According to scientists, the planet is currently losing the largest number of species since the time of the dinosaurs, which is 65 years ago. In addition, between 30 and 50 species might become extinct by mid-century (The Extinction Crisis). When taking the issue of extinction into consideration, the dying-off of one species leads to other species also becoming extinct. This is because of the ecosystem balance, which changes when a certain species is wiped out of the system as species depend on each other for survival. Therefore, extinction of one species leads to another’s extinction. Generally, when a species cannot survive in its original inhabitant and cannot re-locate or adapt in the conditions of a new environment, it dies off. According to statistical data, the average lifespan of a species is approximately 10 million years (The Extinction Crisis). Extinction may occur suddenly e specially when another species that facilitated its existence becomes extinct or gradually over a long period. This can be referred to as the extinction debt where a species becomes extinct a very long time after an event that put its extinction process in motion. Within the previous 500 years, extinction of approximately 1,000 species has been experienced (The Extinction Crisis). However, this this does not account for the many species that have gone extinct even before scientists and researchers got the chance to fully understand and describe them. Specifically, not even the scientists have the exact figure of species that have gone extinct or those that are endangered. As estimation data

Monday, October 14, 2019

Medieval University Essay Example for Free

Medieval University Essay Everything that is going on around us was developed in some point during history. We can assume that all ideas had to come from some prior idea. As students of history, it is in our ability to wonder what cultural and social constructions are still present today from the any other time in historical period. What particular concepts still exist within the world or specifically the United States? An idea that is still very present in America is the university. When did the idea of schools first come into full importance? What was taught and when did the concept expand into colleges and universities? The first universities were commenced in Paris during the Early Middle Ages. This is where the first concepts of higher learning were instituted and based off. In chapter seven of Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence Volume 1, the book explains the history of colleges and universities, they were simpler than modern schools but took hold of what general is taught today. In Europe during the medieval period, most education was handled in the small schools, where they taught Latin to male children. Students who would go to become clergymen were taught more advance subjects in cathedral schools. When the schooling community grew too large, colleges were set in place for student housing. Most modern university or college has housing for students. Student housing was strict and much regulated in the middle ages. These students, most of them, were to go on and become part of the clergy. Those who ran the colleges wanted to keep watch of the behavior being displayed by students of their institution. Compared to the rules of most residence halls in American universities, these restrictions seem preposterous. Rules included no one shall have loud shoes or clothing by which scandal might be generated in any way also no fellow shall presume to sleep outside of the house in town, and if he did so for reason, he shall take pains to submit his excise to the bearer of the roll†¦ also no women of any sort shall eat in the private rooms. If anyone violates this rule, he shall pay assessed penalty, namely, sixpence. You can see how important the curriculum was important during college in medieval life. There was no trace of extra activities and such like there are today. Clubs and leagues are western concepts that came later. Residence halls now are still very strict but some can be lenient towards student desires. Then learning was the highest priority. In source 11, a description of student life in Paris during the Middle Ages is explained more clearly. It says, Almost all the students at Paris, foreigners and natives, did absolutely nothing except learn or hear something new. Clearly now, the college of the university is not just the resident halls. Colleges are considered an institution in which a liberal arts degree can be acquired. The difference between a college and a university is that a college just presents a set of degrees in specific areas while a university is a collection of colleges. Content and teaching styles varied during the middle ages, as they do now. Degrees for teaching were given out to people who could right acquire them, Believing that the chancellor often either granted the right teach to unqualified parties or simply sold licenses outright, they began to require that prospective teachers pass an examination set by the university besides getting the chancellors approval. Many of these instructors had their own style teaching. In source five of the chapter sevens content, one teacher lays out his expectations like how modern day professors give out syllabi, he says, All writings belonging to this class are to be read with full freedom to criticize, and with no obligation to accept unquestioningly; otherwise the way would be blocked to all discussion, and posterity be deprived of the excellent intellectual exercise of debating difficult questions of language and presentation. The content of school was not very far off from what most places teach today. James Hannam of the University of Cambridge says, A great deal of the business of natural philosophy, mathematics and medicine during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period took place in the setting of the universities What almost all universities had in common was that they were self governing corporations that were supported by both church and state. Their major purpose was to train men to be lawyers, theologians and physicians but they were also  increasingly used by the gentry to educate their sons in the cultural skills necessary for courtly life. Some universities like the University of Bologna specialized in certain categories of learning. The University of Bologna would be considered a law school. The university is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law; indeed, it was set up in large part with the aim of studying the Digest, a central text in Roman law, which had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070, and the university was central in the development of medieval Roman law. says universities Wikipedia page. The differences between universities of the middle Ages in Europe and modern day universities in America are quite apparent but their similarities suggest that some customs were brought to the west. These universities like Cambridge, Bologna, Paris, and Oxford are the models of what higher education is today. They are what came before what we have today. That is why it is important to study history as a whole thus we can see what aspects are being used in society today. [ 1 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 2 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 158-9. [ 3 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 166. [ 4 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 5 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 160 [ 6 ]. http://www. hps. cam. ac. uk/research/memu. html [ 7 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/University_of_Bologna.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

A Case Study Of Uninor

A Case Study Of Uninor As the centre of economic activity shifts towards east, Multinational corporations are increasingly adopting the inorganic route to growth in these markets. Mergers Acquisitions, Joint ventures and strategic alliances are becoming the vehicle for establishing presence in markets like India, China and South Africa. Fascinating as they may seem, Mergers Acquisitions and Joint Ventures have also been the most complex transactions involving financial, business and cultural issues. Through this project, we intend to understand the motives which drive such transactions. Also, we intend to understand the parameters which are crucial to make any JV work. We have chosen to study the fiercely competitive Indian Telecom market for our study as it has seen numerous International players entering the lucrative market through Joint Ventures. Our company for the study is Uninor, which is also one of the fastest growing new entrants in the sector. What makes the case of Uninor more interesting is the unique combination of Indias second largest real estate company, Unitech Ltd and Norway-based Telenor, the 6th largest mobile communications group in the world. The top management is drawn from Telenors global telecom specialists as well as Indians who have local expertise in developing telecom services in India. In this context, the cultural dimension to decision making in Uninor assumes enormous importance. Through the course of this study, we shall first look at mergers and acquisitions as a means to expand for companies. The key drivers, the specific motives as well as the examples related to situations which may mandate an MA transaction instead of growing organically. In the next section, we shall look at the Indian telecom industry and its future potential for growth, major trends and the government regulations which have defined the industry and catalyzed Joint Ventures among foreign and Indian firms. Then, we shall move over to the analysis of India according to Porters Diamond model and the cultural synchrony between India and Norway according to Hofstedes cultural dimensions. These analyses shall enable us to evaluate the paradigms of this Joint Venture. Subsequently, we shall analyze key components of Uninors Strategy in India and also its performance in the past year. We shall also look at its future growth strategy and the hurdles to achieving its targets. We shall conclude our study by looking at the transformative effect of strategic alliances and the Uninor case in India. Introduction The phrase mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling and combining of different companies that can aid, finance, or help a growing company in a given industry grow rapidly without having to create another business entity. An acquisition is also known as a takeover or buyout, in which one company buys the other (target company). When two companies come together and form a new company altogether, it is known as merger. On the contrary, an acquisition can be friendly or hostile depending on the size of the players involved. Acquisition usually refers to the takeover of a smaller firm by a larger firm. However, one can notice sometimes an acquisition of a larger company by a smaller one. This phenomenon is known as a reverse takeover. The acquisition process is very complex with many dimensions influencing its outcome. There are many reasons why a company seeks acquisition. One is that some vital resource may be otherwise difficult to obtain for the firm, especially if the resource is necessary to adapt and function successfully within the local environment. The following list, not an exhaustive one, gives few motives for company seeking International expansion. Geographic and Industrial Diversification Accelerating Growth Industry Consolidation Utilization of Lower Raw Material and Labor Costs Leveraging Intangible Assets Minimizing Tax Liabilities Avoiding Entry Barriers Fluctuating Exchange Rates Following Customers For instance, an existing company may have personnel that the investor cannot easily hire at a good price on its own. By buying an existing company, the buyer gets not only labor and management but also the organizational structure of the target company. In addition, a company can also gain the good will and brand identification the local company has which is important for marketing mass consumer products, especially in a new market. One can also find financial considerations in few cases. For example, if a company depends substantially on local financing rather than on the transfer of capital may find it easier to gain access to local capital through an acquisition. Local suppliers find it relatively easy and are more comfortable interacting with an already existing company rather than a foreign enterprise. In few cases, companies find acquisitions as a means to reduce costs and risks compared to setting up a fully owned subsidiary. A company may be able to buy facilities, particularly those which are performing poor for less than the cost of new construction. This saves a lot of money to the company. If an investor has a fear that a market does not justify added capacity, the risk of depressed prices and lower unit sales per producer occurs if it adds one more producer to the market is avoided by acquisition. A company may choose to build if No desired company is available for acquisition Acquisition will lead to carry over problems Acquisition is harder to finance Strategic Alliances Alliances can be described based on their objectives and where they fit in a firms value chain. In terms of objectives, one can assume that scale alliances aim at providing efficiency through risk pooling i.e. pooling of similar assets so that individual partners can carry out business activities in which they already have good experience. On the other hand, link alliances make use of complementary resources to expand into new business areas. Each organization entering into a cross-border alliance has its own objectives for operating internationally. Further some alliances take place between partner entities functioning on a different level of value chain, known as vertical alliance, and sometimes on the same level of value chain known as horizontal alliance. On a broader scale, the objectives for cross-border mergers can be divided into the following three categories which were refined earlier. Sales expansion Resource acquisition Risk minimization The following section describes in detail the influence of each of these objectives on the decision of a merger. General Motives: To Spread and reduce costs: To manufacture or sell in foreign countries, any company must incur certain fixed costs. If the volume of business is small, it is cheaper for the company to outsource the work to a specialist rather than handle it internally. The outsourcing agent can spread the costs to more than one company and thus reap the benefits of economies of scale. If the business increases, then the company can rethink its plan of outsourcing and produce everything internally. The company handling the production or sales can lower its average costs by covering its fixed costs more fully. On the other hand, the outsourcing company does not have to incur the fixed costs that otherwise be charged to a small amount of production volume thus overburdening the customers in turn. To Specialize in Competencies: Each company has a unique combination of competencies. It is better for a company to concentrate on those activities that best fits its competencies and improve its performance and leaving out the other activities in which the core competency of the firm does not lie. This concentration can be horizontal as well as vertical. To Avoid or Counter Competition: It is not common to notice few markets that are not large enough to hold many competitors. ITC, for example, observed this phenomenon and pre-empted the competition to emerge as a big player in the Indian industry. Any potential threat should be nipped in the bud itself. Sometimes companies also combine resources to fight a market leader and share the profits jointly. For example, Coca-Cola and Danones joint effort to challenge PepsiCo and Nestle can be viewed as one such strategic move. To secure Vertical and Horizontal Links: It is clear that there are numerous potential cost savings and supply assurances in case of a vertical integration. However, sometimes companies lack the competency or the resources necessary to manage the complete value and supply chain. In these instances it is common to notice a merger. For example, LUKOIL has abundant oil reserves but as it lacked final distribution skills, in addition to making acquisitions abroad, it also made arrangements in countries that ensure a good market for its petroleum. Horizontal links provide finished products and components. For such kind of finished products, economies of scope can be achieved in distribution by having a full line of products to sell thus increasing the sales per fixed cost of a visit to potential customer. To Gain Knowledge: In the present competitive world innovating new ideas to develop products and deliver them is necessary to gain an edge over the rival. Many companies go for a merger to learn about a partners technology, operating methods so their own competencies will broaden and deepen, making them more competitive in the future. We can consider the example of Chinese government that allows foreign companies to tap the Chinese market in exchange for their transfer of technology. Specific Motives To gain Location-specific Assets: The following factors create barriers for companies that want to operate abroad. Cultural Political Competitive Economic differences Going for a merger or an acquisition equips the company to handle these differences and thus providing profitability. For example, Walmart first tried to enter Japanese market but withdrew its operations only to return with a Japanese partner, Seiyu, which is more familiar with local tastes and rules for opening new stores. To Overcome Governmental Constraints: Few nations require compulsory presence of a domestic player as a partner in the operations of a foreign company while few dont. In this case a merger is more favorable. The legal factors which constraint may be Direct prohibitions against certain operating firms Indirect prohibitions (regulations affecting profitability) Mergers and Acquisitions that take place across countries allow for greater spreading of assets among the partner nations. To Diversify Geographically: Operations in many countries (diversification geographically) can smoothen the companys sales and earnings as the business cycles occur at different times within different countries. Though this might not be the actual reason for diversification this does play a minor role in decision making. Mainly, if a product conditions favor a diversification rather than a concentration strategy, due to product life cycle etc, then there exists a strong reason for establishing foreign presence by collaborative arrangements, mergers. The higher the risk managers perceive in a foreign market, the greater their desire to form collaborative arrangements in that market. Problems with Mergers and other alliances Having discussed in detail the reasons why a company goes for a cross-border merger, it also makes sense to highlight the difficulties that arise while collaborating with another company. Each of the above factors is very important while considering a decision to acquire or merge with another company. The stake involved, the management attention, cultural differences, contribution to the merger etc play a key role in its success. Telecom industry in India Introduction Telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing industries in India and also one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. Telecom Industry is evaluated with the following parameters: Number of subscribers: According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of telephone subscriber base in the country reached 653.92 million as on May 31, 2010 Growth rate: An increase of 2.49 per cent from 638.05 million in April 2010.   Teledensity (Telephones per 100 people): Overall teledensity in India has reached 55.38 Some major investments The attractiveness of the telecom market has resulted in high investments from across the world which was the reason for entry of numerous foreign players and introduction of new services. Recent bidding for 3G network spectrum allocation was one of the most followed biddings due to the high stakes involved for some of the best players in telecom industry. According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the telecommunications sector which includes radio paging, mobile services and basic telephone services attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) worth US$ 2,554 million during 2009-10. The cumulative flow of FDI in the sector during April 2000 and March 2010 is US$ 8,930.61 million. The Merger and Acquisition deals in telecom industry were worth US$ 22.73 billion during April-June 2010, which represented 67.19 per cent of the total valuation of the deals across all the sectors during the period analyzed.   Some of the recent Mergers and Acquisitions include: Reliance Communication Ltd that merged GTL infrastructure Ltd, its telecom tower business, for US$ 11 billion Other major MA deals included acquiring of Kuwait-based Zain telecoms African business for US$ 10.7 billion by BhartiAirtel   Acquisition of Infotel broadband for US$ 1032.26 million by Reliance Industries Norway-based telecom operator Telenor has bought a further 7 per cent in Unitech Wireless for a little over US$ 431.3 million. Telenor now has 67.25 per cent hold of the company New trends- The Gamechangers 3G services Public sector companies namely BSNL and MTNL have already launched their 3G services across India in all 22 circles. The other companies (All of them were private entities) took part in a 3G auction process that was held to give 3G licenses in all the 22 circles. The bidding started after numerous political interventions stopped it for almost 2 years. The process started with a lot of media attention mainly due to the delay in the process and the amount of investments that were expected, especially for all India license. The process was completed using an e-bidding process that was held simultaneously with broadband wireless auctions for a period of 34 days. The auction prices went beyond expectations. A pan-India bid for third generation spectrum stood at US$ 3.6 billion. However no operator could bid and obtain the pan India license. The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communication bagged the highest number of 13 circles at a cost of US$ 1.9 billion, followed by BhartiAirtel in 12, Idea in 11 and Vodafone and the Tatas in nine circles each, according to the Department of Telecommunications. Rural telephony One concern that remains in the telecom industry is the penetration to rural India that has not been up to the expected levels till now. Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh opined, Although the growth in the last few years has been truly impressive and our tariffs are among the lowest in the world, vast stretches of our rural population have little or no telecom penetration. Rural tele-density is still in single digits. I had heard of plans for a Phone in Every Village some twenty years ago. We have not yet reached that goal. This is why we have emphasized telecom connectivity in our Bharat Nirman programme. TRAI suggested the following in 2008-09 report: It has been observed that despite several attempts over the last ten years, telecom infrastructure in rural areas is lagging behind the expected levels. There has been a phenomenal spurt in the growth of tele-density in the country with the evolution of new wireless technologies, but the gap between the urban and rural teledensity has been increasing. As can be seen in the figure the growth of telecom in rural India has been lagging and hence the government and TRAI are giving stricter guidelines to telecom companies about the rural penetration. Hence telecom penetration would play a vital role in telecom operators strategy for the coming years. Mergers and Acquisitions in Telecom in India As already discussed there are many reasons for a company to pursue the path of Mergers and Acquisitions. In telecom industry in India some of the reasons why companies take up M A are: General motives To spread and reduce costs To specialize in competencies To gain knowledge Specific motives To gain location-specific assets To overcome governmental constraints To diversify geographically One reason that stands out the most in these set of factors is the governmental constraints. The governmental constraints in telecom industry are laid out through Department of Telecom and they are monitored by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. The constraints on foreign investment in India are as follows: FDI upto 100% in Telecom manufacturing ISPs without gateways Infrastructure provider (IP) I Call Centres IT enabled services FDI upto 74% in ISPs with gateways IP II Radio Paging FDI upto 49% in other telecom services Cellular Basic NLD and other services Expected strategy path in Telecom sector in India Following graph shows the Price sensitivity of the market versus the cost leadership that a company should achieve: India Price Sensitivity Cost leadership Differentiation Any company that wants to enter the Indian market should look at attaining cost leadership as the market is highly price sensitive. Cost leadership can be achieved through economies of scale if the partnering firm is an existing telecom player with established network resources. Motives for going Global for any company Uninors motives for going Global Spreading costs Achieving specialization Avoiding competition in domestic market Securing Vertical and Horizontal links Gaining technical expertise Increase revenue to sustain growth Tapping new markets due to saturation of domestic market Diversifying geographically i.e. International presence Hofstede cultural dimension differences between India and Norway Country PDI IDV MAS UAI India 77 48 56 40 Norway 31 69 8 50 PDI Power Distance Index IDV Individualism MAS Masculinity UAI Uncertainty Avoidance Index Source: Greet Hofstede Scores -ITIM International Hofstedes cultural Dimension INDIA NORWAY Power Distance Very High. In India the level of inequality is endorsed by the followers as well as the leaders Low. The inequality in power distribution in Norway is very less Individualism Moderately high. Collectivism is expected to the levels of family ties to a very large extent and has no political sense Very High. The relationships between individuals are weak limited to his/her immediate family Masculinity High. More preference is given to the materialistic gains in India Low. In Norway feminine values such as quality of life are given more preference Uncertainty Avoidance Low. Opinions are subjected to change. More oriented towards the acceptance of uncertainty Moderately High. People in Norway are less likely to accept uncertainty According to the survey conducted by Hofstede among IBM employees India has power distance index as the where as in Norway Individualism is ranked higher than the other cultural dimensions. From the above figure it is clearly evident that there are significant cultural differences between India and Norway. The western management theories and practices that are successful in Norway may not work well in India. Indians hold different cultural core values than their western counter parts. The Indian culture is hierarchical where the cultural norms have changed the way of thinking which affects various management operations, which Norwegian firms may find it difficult to understand. There is a huge difference between Indian and Norwegian work culture. In India a little authority is given to the middle management or lower management in decision making, in general top management beholds the full authority to make decisions. Whereas in Norway decision making process in a conflict situation involving individuals of different levels of seniority. The management style in India is less aggressive in comparison with Norwegian style. Indians prefer male values such as competitiveness, assertiveness, ambition and the accumulation of wealth and materialistic possessions whereas in Norway people prefer female values such as relationships and quality of life. In Norway people are more oriented to develop and display their individual personalities and to choose their own affiliations than in India. Porters Diamond Model for India Demand: India consists of a population of 1.14 billion, 17.31% of the worlds population. It has around 300 million population of highly consumable middle class status. India is ranked second in the world in terms of having the largest telecommunication network, after china with more than 653 million subscribers. The telecom market in India has been growing by 20 to 40 percent every year since past 3 years. And is expected to grow with a CAGR of 11% in the coming next 10 years. The Indian telecom market is estimated to be $8 billion in 2010. 83% of market share comprises of basic service providers and only 17% value added service providers. Emerging technologies like 3G and penetration of internet in telecom sector are going to be growth drivers in the Indian telecom industry because of increase in demand for latest technologies. Supporting Industries: The Indian telecom industry has vast range of state of the art telecom equipment manufacturers. The production of telecom equipment is valued at $12.3billion in 2010. Indian imports of telecom equipment accounted for 21% of US equipment production in 2009. Further Indian mobile companies strengthened their market position by launching various handsets. Indian mobile phone brands consists of 14% markets share. Telecommunication equipment major Nokia Siemens is planning source components worth $28.5 billion from India in 2010-11. In 2009 it sourced components worth $20 billion. Indian telecom equipment production is estimated grow at a CAGR of 17.1% to reach $25 billion by 2014. India is fast emerging as a hub for global telecom Manufacturing and the production and exports of telecom equipment in the country have been on a steady rise. Leading global players have made significant investments in setting up manufacturing and RD facilities in India, with many more being planned. Resource Endowment India is a knowledge pool with cheap labor. Indian telecom industry has skilled labor available at low cost. With abundant skills availability, there are large swathes of lower tier vendors who can still compete on costs. Industry Structure and Firm Strategy Indian telecom industry is the worlds cheapest service provider. Indian telecom market has viewed a tremendous average growth rate of 40% for the last 3 years. It has become very competitive recently with advent of global players after the government made a policy change allowing FDI up to 74% in telecom industry. Major players are rapidly increasing their market share by continuously improving their network coverage, technology, customer relations by offering their services at significantly lower prices. New entrants like Virgin mobile, Aircel etc. are trying to position themselves as low cost value added service providers focusing on emerging technologies. Telenor is the worlds 7th largest telecommunications service provider and it aims to be a leading global mobile operator by leveraging on its international experience and technological expertise. It wants to achieve its goal by focusing on three regions Consolidation of its position in the voice market through global expansions, acquisitions, mergers and JVs/partnerships Mobile to Mobile communications and financial services Telecom/media/IT convergence, primarily through third-party applications and services UNINOR- The Genesis Unitech Wireless won a wireless services licence for all 22 Indian telecom circles in2008. In early 2009, Unitech Group and Telenor agreed on a majority take-over by Telenor of Unitechs wireless business. Telenor acquired a 33%, 49% and 60% stake in the company in March, May and November 2009, respectively. In September, the mobile operation changed its name to Uninor. On October 19 2009, the Cabinet Committee (CCEA) announced approved Telenors acquisition of up to 74% in Unitech Wireless. UNINOR Presence Uninor launched its service in India in December in 8 telecom circles. It turned out to be the speediest telecom roll-out in India. Within 5 months, it entered five more circles including the metros of Mumbai and Kolkata. Uninor has its headquarters at Gurgaon and 11 regional headquarters in the following cities: Kolkata Kolkata, West Bengal Orissa Circle Delhi / Noida (NCR) Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand Rajasthan Circle Patna Bihar Jharkhand Circle Mumbai Mumbai, Maharashtra Gujarat Lucknow Guwahati Chandigarh Indore Ahmedabad Chennai Chennai, Tamil Nadu Bangalore Karnataka Circle Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh Circle Kochi- Kerala Circle Uninors Strategic Alliances Uninor has outsourced its major operational functions to established players with proven expertise. The operational model is based on low-cost operations with a gradual network-build up, infrastructure sharing, comparatively cheap GSM equipment sourced from international markets, and IT-outsourcing. Uninor has entered into network and base station service agreements with partners with expertise in given areas like- Wireless-TT Info Service Limited for Tower sharing agreements Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technologies India, Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson Telecommunications for network and radio equipment. Wipro Technologies for integrated IT services. UNINORs Strategy in India Uninor based its growth model in the fiercely competitive Indian market by providing value to the customers through a new tariff, called Dynamic Pricing. Dynamic Pricing is an innovative pricing strategy that Uninor has pioneered in which the customer is charged different charges depending on the location and the network to which the call is made. Going by the maximum discount offered by the company, a one-minute call could cost as low as 24 paise compared to 60 paise charged by other operators. UNINOR- Performance in India In the month of June, Uninor topped the list of new mobile operators by adding maximum connections to the tune of 1.01 million. The new mobile service providers together accounted for 1.65 million which was 13.5% of the total mobile subscriber additions during this period. Source: Share Khan Brokerage report on Telecom sector, 16th July 2010 Uninor had added just 2.1m active subscribers i.e. just 50% of the reported 4.3m as of Mar-10. The company defines active subscribers as those that used network during last 30 days. Even on active subscribers, ARPU at ~Rs 86 suggests low usage especially given that mobile revenues could have a higher contribution from activation fee during the launch period. The tariff cuts aimed at increasing the user might be a reason for the low ARPU. The new mobile operators including Etisalat DB, Loop , Uninor, Videocon, and STel added just 1.7 million new users in June 2010. Uninor added 10 lakh subscribers during this period. It is around 15 per cent of 12.29 million new subscriber base added during this duration by the industry. As a result, barring Uninor, none of the other players has managed to get even 1% market share of the 456-million subscriber GSM mobile market. According to the TRAI licence conditions, new operators are required to complete roll out in all the circles within three years and that deadline is fast approaching. CAPEX Guidance Lowered by TELENOR Telenor cut back its India capex guidance by 25% i.e. Rs5.5bn for FY10. Uninor reasoned this to a combination of lack of spectrum, the stringent security clearance process for equipments and the need to adjust roll-out speed for distributors. Uninor may find it tough to retain traffic beyond 1-2 quarters given the low level of tariffs already. Uninor has rolled out 18,000 cell sites (which was around 13,300 at end-Dec 2009). Uninor is currently operating in 13 circles with subscriber base of 43 lakhs (which was 1.2 million at December end 2009). Conclusion Through the course of the study, we assessed the reasons which make MA and other means of inorganic growth, the preferred route to enter a market for international corporations. We tried to list down the motives and the vision behind such cross border transactions. We realized that a diverse range of parameters drive MAs globally. They can range from getting around government regulations to gaining a first mover advantage in a growing market. As more global corporations try to establish their foothold over the emerging markets, we witness interesting new trends. Their entry into emerging markets is increasingly by partnering with the local companies. This is perhaps also catalyzed by government regulations which stipulate maximum FDI limits for multinational corporations from abroad. We also looked at factors which contribute to the decision to enter/not enter a particular market for a corporation including the competitive advantage to the corporation and the cultural synergies between the parent market of the company and the new prospective market. We chose the extremely dynamic telecom sector for our analysis as it has seen numerous international players enter through the JV route. We analysed the dynamics of the telecom sector and the fallout of the recent 3G spectrum allocations on the sector. Uninor is the case we took for analyzing the actual details of an existing JV. We chose Uninor as its unique in the way that unitech wireless had no pri