Eating Disorders: Anorexia

It has been stated that nearly half of all Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder. This paper will show the danger and effects of Anorexia Nervosa. A study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that ten percent of anorexics die within ten years after contracting the disease. Anorexia has four primary symptoms Resistance to maintaining body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height. Intense fear of weight gain or being â€Å"fat,† even though underweight. Disturbance in the experience of body weight or shape, undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of low body weight, loss of menstrual periods in girls and women post-puberty. Eighteen to twenty percent of anorexics will be dead after twenty years and only forty percent ever full recover. Treatment of an eating disorder in the US ranges from %500 per day to about $2,00 per day. The average cost for a month of inpatient treatment s about $30,00. It is estimated that individuals with eating disorders need anywhere from three o six months of inpatient care. Health insurance companies for several reasons do not typically cover the cost of treating eating disorders. Do you ever think that right now, one percent of all women are starving themselves, some literally starving and exercising themselves to death? Eating disorders are becoming an epidemic; they are confusing, complex diseases that many people know little about. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia nervosa may starve themselves or exercise excessively. Anorexia Nervosa is described as â€Å"one of the least understood and most intractable of all mental illnesses† (Schindehette, Sandler, Nelson and Seaman, 2003, p. 136). Many of the victims of this disease will battle it for the rest of their lives. However, if Anorexia Nervosa is diagnosed early, during the teen years, it is possible to cure it with appropriate treatment (Cooper, 2001). Over time, the weight loss becomes a sign of mastery and control. The drive to become thinner is actually secondary to concerns about control and/or fears relating to one's body. Therefore, women struggling with Anorexia Nervosa need effective treatment, and after four decades of research, there is an increasing number of treatment options ranging from counseling, to nutritional therapy, to medication. Yet, some researchers and victims still advocate that there is a need for further research in this area (Kaplan, 2002; Hendricks, 2003). In order to formally diagnose an individual with Anorexia nervosa, clinicians turn to the fourth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV, 1994). The DMS-IV lists four criteria that an individual must meet in order to be diagnosed as anorexic, generally: A. The individual maintains a body weight that is about 15% below normal for age, height and body type. B. The individual has an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though they are underweight. Paradoxically losing weight can make the fear of gaining even worse. C. The individual has a distorted body image. Some may feel fat all over, others recognize that they are generally thin but see specific body parts as being too fat. Their self worth is based on their body size and shape. They deny that their low body weight is serious cause for concern. D. In women, there is an absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles. A woman also meets these criteria if her period occurs only while she is taking a hormone pill (Orstoff, M & Hall, L. 1999). Recognizing symptoms, such as strict dieting, weight loss, binge eating or fasting, feeling dizzy, weak, and/or depressed, in addition to insomnia; family members should seek out the advice of a health care provider. The health care provider will take a complete medical history as well as do a physical examination (Cooper, 2001). After this process is complete, then the doctor can begin treating the patient with Anorexia Nervosa, which may include referrals to specialists in counseling, nutrition and other medical fields. One traditional forms of treatment is counseling, the goal of psychotherapy is to work with the patient so that through therapy she or he will be able to control eating and maintain body weight. There are two primary types of psychotherapy, and they are individual therapy and family therapy. Individual therapy counsels one on one with the patient. Sometimes there is a team of medical specialists, yet the therapy sessions are between the patient and her doctor(s). This type of therapy has mixed results. According to an article in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1999), individual therapy is superior when used in treating older adolescents and those who have late-onset Anorexia Nervosa (Robin et al. ), and a 2003 publication in The American Journal of Psychiatry concurs with this finding (Pike, Walsh, Vitousek, Wilson and Bauer). However, both articles’ findings state that individual therapy is not the best treatment for young adolescents or those with early-onset Anorexia Nervosa. While individual therapy does not work well with young adolescents or patients with early-onset Anorexia, family therapy seems to have made significant strides in treating this group of patients. In fact the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry stated, â€Å"without the involvement of the parents and family as therapeutic allies, weight gain is extremely difficult to achieve† (Geist, Heinmaa, Stephens, Davis and Katzman, 2000). Family therapy may not only employ the assistance of parents and other family members, it can also call on schools and friends as part of the treatment strategy. One such strategy is a program called the Maudsley Method. This radically new treatment option was developed in the 1980’s at the Institute of Psychiatry and Maudsley Hospital in London. This method â€Å"coaches parents to help their kids gain weight by whatever means necessary—by preparing their favorite foods, with 24-hour monitoring to prevent purging and hours of cajoling at the dinner table† (Schindehette, Sandler, Nelson and Seaman, 2003, p. 36). Many studies report significantly greater success with family based therapy. People magazine (2003) reports that while the mortality rates for AN still average around 5 to 20 percent, the Maudsley Method is reporting success rates as high as 90 percent five years after treatment was initially sought. Other studies agree that family therapy is one of the b est treatments for young adolescents and those with early-onset AN (Robin et al. , 1999; Geist, Heinmaa, Stephens, Davis and Katzman, 2000). While individual and family therapy two of the more traditional methods of treating Anorexia Nervosa, nutritional therapy, which is called psychoeducational therapy, is also commonly used. The aim of psychoeducation is the process of giving information about the nature of the disease in hopes to cultivate behavioral and attitudinal changes in the patient. Furthermore, a study has reported that family based psychoeducation produces the same results as family therapy while costing less (Geist, Heinmaa, Stephens, Davis and Katzman, 2000). However, these results may not be replicated with a group of older adolescents (Pike, Walsh, Vitousek, Wilson and Bauer, 2003). Medication Medication is another method used to treat AN. Using medication, pharmacological therapy, to treat AN also has some promising results. According to European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, â€Å"recent evidence suggests a role for medication in the relapse prevention stage of the illness† (Kotler and Walsh, 2000). Medication is commonly used along with another form of treatment, as are many of the treatments, too. This is referred to as a multidisciplinary approach. Pharmacological therapy uses medicines that help the patient reduce the fear of becoming fat, depression and anxiety as well as weight gain (Cooper, 2001). While each of these treatments reports success in various groups or when combined with other treatments, there are still individuals who do not feel that the treatments are effective. One such person is Jennifer Hendricks who authored Slim to None, which is a book that chronicles her daily struggle with AN. Many times throughout the text Hendricks stated that she did not feel that the treatments she was receiving were of any benefit. Christopher Athas, President of the American Institute of Anorexia Nervosa, stated in the foreword of Slim to None, â€Å"There is a glaring inadequacy of the mental health system to treat and fully understand this disease† (2003, p. ix). Eventually Jennifer lost her battle and died. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry also states that there is a significant need to find â€Å"effective management that truly impacts on long-term outcome† (Kaplan, 2002, p. 236). Anorexia is not about feeling thin, proud or beautiful; take the time to listen to an anorexic and hear that they are feeling fat, unattractive and inadequate.

Methods of Government, explained by Mr. Lao Tzu

Mr. Lao Tzu,  I am glad to write this letter to you and I wish you to stay in good health. Being myself interested in the art of state governance I could not fail to be moved by your outstanding writings. Philosophers with such profound views as you have are rare, so, desiring to further dispute certain ideas about government and administration I have found nothing better than to write this letter to you and thusly invite you to discussion. Please accept this letter calmly as it is due to a philosopher, for I have not wished to contest your wisdom, but only to share some views which I have obtained via long years of struggles and dangers. My most sincere desire is to have an advice with you because truth is sprout in discussion. Thereto let me pass to my argument.In your famous Tao Te Ching you write:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself[1].†Ã‚  I admire this argument but I put it in a little other way for I think that it is better to be adventurous than cautious, because fortune is a woman, and she needs to be beaten and dominated[2]. That what you call â€Å"Tao† I use to call Fortune. Fortune is something what we can not control, but we can benefit from it. Every ruler has a Fortune, but not all of them are fortunate, because some of them are able to benefit from fortune and others are not. And to benefit from Fortune one has to feel it and take effort to obtain every possible necessary result from lucky events. That’s why I say that Fortune loves young. The young can better feel it and they are faster in using it. Using your terms I can say, that Tao flows by itself outside of our will. The one who feels the flow of Tao and moves with it will win[3]. But in order to win he has to move in the direction he needs only using Tao because in case he moves with Tao he will lose his aim of sight and will be a pr isoner of circumstances.Another piece of your writing which attracted my attention is:â€Å"If a country is governed with tolerance, the people are comfortable and honest. If a country is governed with repression, the people are depressed and crafty. When the will to power is in charge, the higher the ideals, the lower the results. Try to make people happy, and you lay the groundwork for misery. Try to make people moral, and you lay the groundwork for vice.[4]†I agree with you entirely that a ruler is always an example for his subjects, however, I would like to notice, that ruling only by example is a much too vague basis for power. There are always people who do not accept any virtues and who are willing to overthrow even the most perfect ruler, at least to take his place. So I think that except for example a ruler is to inspire love and fear to the people, and at that fear is more important than love, because love is changeful and does not depend on ruler’s will, and fear is an instrument which is always available for a ruler[5].   Moreover, I believe that a ruler is to incur evil and forget about virtues in some cases. I mean those vices without which he might hardly save the state; because, if one considers everything well, one will find that something that appears a virtue, if followed, would be his ruin, and that some other thing that appears a vice, if followed, results in his security and well-being[6].You speak about love and fear not as of methods of ruling, but as of ruler’s qualities when you write that â€Å"When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised.†[7]As I have already mentioned, I believe, that fear is a better foundation for power than love, but now I would like to speak exactly of the ruler’s qualities. To my opinion a ruler is not to be good or bad, he is to be reasonable. What works go od once can be not so good next time. Fortune, or Tao as you call it, may change, so the best ruler is the one who skillfully adapts to the situation and never freezes in his qualities. The ruler has to deal with different people who have different desires and so it is hardly possible for him to be same for all. A ruler has not to follow an ideal, but he is to be realistic[8].You call upon princes to let things happen as they happen when you say:â€Å"Center your country in the Tao and evil will have no power. Not that it isn't there, but you'll be able to step out of its way.[9]†Let me used a term which I am used to and call Fortune that what you call Tao. I believe that this argument is weak, because it assumes that the country is ideal. And what about the countries which are not ideal and which are not in conformity with fortune? I would compare her to one of those raging rivers, which when in flood overflows the plains, sweeping away trees and buildings, bearing away the soil from place to place; everything flies before it, all yield to its violence, without being able in any way to withstand it; and yet, though its nature be such, it does not follow therefore that men, when the weather becomes fair, shall not make provision, both with defenses and barriers, in such a manner that, rising again, the waters may pass away by canal, and their force be neither so unrestrained nor so dangerous. So it happens with Fortune, who shows her power where valour has not prepared to resist her, and thither she turns her forces where she knows that barriers and defences have not been raised to constrain her[10]. So a ruler does have to act in order to bring his principality to perfectness and make it protected even from Fortune itself.Let me conclude my modest letter by this. Hope you were not bored while reading it and you will find it possible to answer my most humble writing.Cordially yours humble servant,Niccolà ² di Bernardo dei MachiavelliWorks Cited:1. Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, 25th-Anniversary Edition, Vintage, 19972. Machiavelli.   The Prince. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 19983. Mary G. Dietz, Trapping The Prince: Machiavelli and the Politics of Deception, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), pp. 777-7994. David Hall, Commentary on the Lao Tzu by Wang Pi by Ariane Rump, Wing-tsit Chan, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 97-98[1] Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 25th-Anniversary Edition, Vintage, 1997. Verse 57 [2] Niccolo Machiavelli.   The Prince. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, p.- 83 [3] Lao Tzu dows not speak so directly, but it is usually mentioned by commentators. For example see: David Hall, Commentary on the Lao Tzu by Wang Pi by Ariane Rump, Wing-tsit Chan, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 97-98 [4] Lao Tzu, 58 [5]   See: Niccolo Machiavelli, chap. XVII [6] Lao Tzu, 58 [7] Lao Tzu, 17 [8] For this Machiavelli’s argument see: Mary G. Dietz, Trapping The Prince: Machiavelli and the Politics of Deception, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 80, No. 3 (Sep., 1986), pp. 777-799 [9] Lao Tzu, 60 [10] Niccolo Machiavelli, p.- 119

An Introduction To The Operations Management Concepts Business Essay

An Introduction To The Operations Management Concepts Business Essay Operations Management has been defined by Krajewski, et al. (2007) as the control and direction of the processes of the organization that changes its input materials to products and/or services for its customers. This report will compare how Mercedes-Benz and Honda manage their operations. The comparison might be useful because it would help identify various ways an organisation could be run in order to meet its goals and objectives. The report will give a brief background of the two organizations mentioned above and then would move on to the comparison of their marketing strategies and competitive priorities. Finally, the importance of frameworks such as capacity planning, inventory management, supply chain design, Total quality management and performance measures, would be discussed and how they could be useful in helping an organisation function efficiently and effectively. A) COMPANY BACKGROUND OF MERCEDEZ BENZ [MERCEDEZ-BENZ U.S. INTERNATIONAL, inc. (MBUSI)] and HONDA [HONDA MA NUFACTURING OF ALABAMA, LLC. (HMA)]. MERCEDEZ-BENZ (MBUSI) Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. (http://www.mbusi.com) was established for the main purpose of manufacturing the M-Class. The M-class was such a huge success that they decided in August 2000 to expand the facility not only to manufacture more units of It, but also to include the R and GL-classes to its product list. The expansion not only doubled the plant size but also the labor force. The plant consists of a body shop, paint shop and two assembly shops. MBUSI receives orders from their 135 worldwide markets. MBUSI uses the â€Å"Just-in-Time† (JIT) philosophy which implies that they do not stockpile large amounts of the inventory they use to assemble their cars. HONDA (HMA) HMA (http://www.hondaalabama.com) manufactures the odyssey, ridgeline and pilot models for the world wide market. HMA’s investment in Alabama is over $1.4billion with the construction of a new Honda Engineering facility, on-site con solidation center and steel blanking operation. One of their goals is to be able to produce goods with high quality and sell at a reasonable price. HMA can be referred to as a Zero Landfill Facility due to the fact that they are committed to the principle of â€Å"Reduce, Reuse and Recycle†. They have made efforts in curbing energy use during their production processes, and this has earned them an energy star award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). A.1) OPERATION/TRANSFORMATION PROCESS OF THE ORGANIZATIONS MERCEDEZ-BENZ (MBUSI) The manufacturing process for both models begins in the Body Shop where the components that comprise the metal body are welded together. From the body shop, they are taken to the ultra-clean Paint Shop where the cars are painted. Finally, they end up in the Assembly where it becomes a new Mercedes-Benz M, R, or GL-Class ready for shipping. From beginning to end, these vehicles are created with style, functionality, and quality in min d (http://www.mbusi.com). HONDA (HMA) Honda Manufacturing of Alabama (HMA) has the largest output for Honda light trucks. It has the capacity to create over 300,000 odyssey minivans, pilot sport utility vehicles, Ridgeline pick-up trucks and V-6 engines annually (http://www.hondaalabama.com).

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Impact of telecommunications in the work setting Research Paper

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OPM300 - Intro. to Operations Mgmt. CA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

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Feminist and Virtue theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

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Cultural turnaround at Club Med Essay Analysis Political actions against over-consumption restrictions by government (prohibition, taxes..) Economical cost reduction rise of off-trade because of sales/discounts in supermarkets rise prices of packaging economy crisis Social health and fitness customers drink more wine then before beers demand Technology innovation in beer production, new brands, flavors increase in efficiency Environmental acquisition and mergers lower pollution, green enterprise Legal restrictions in advertising age restrictions drink driving Action Political Governments are campaigning strongly against drunken driving Economical The off-trade is increasingly dominated by large supermarket chains such as Tesco or Carrefour, which often use cut-price offers on beer in order to lure people into their shops, and Heineken complained of an 11 per centrise in packaging costs. Heineken complained of an 11 per centrise in packaging costs Heineken complained of an 11 per centrise in packaging costs Social Environment America and Australia to reduce agriculture subsidies could result in a change in the industrys raw material supply base would increase the costs of raw materials Legal the 1989 Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) to have a control over the mergers and the take-overs taking place in the United Kingdom FIVE FORCES Analysis Threat of entry low threat capital intensive loyal customers Threat of substitutes wine and licker, soft drinks Power of buyer loyal customers switch to substitute Power of suppliers packaging suppliers energy suppliers Competitive rivalry low product differentiation big competitive rivalry Action Threat of entry This strategy would prevent competitors from countries like Japan and the USA to come in the industry and compete with firms from the region. Threat of substitutes When the government passed regulations on drinking alcohol drinks in public many people switched from beer to wine and other drinks like coca- cola which have become substitute of beer Power of buyer the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customers sensitivity to price changes.

Slavery in America Essay Example for Free

Slavery in America Essay Short Lecture on the Origins of Slavery in America During the century and a half between the arrival of twenty blacks in Jamestown in 1619 and the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776, slavery—something that had never existed in England itself—spread throughout the English colonies, from Virginia it would make its way south into the Carolinas and then out to the frontier, and it would also make its way north into the midAtlantic states and into the farthest reaches of New England. It grew slowly, almost imperceptibly, until it had become so embedded into the American way of life and commerce that colonists eager for wealth imported hundreds of thousands of Africans to work in their fields. During the eighteenth century, slavery became an entrenched and for many colonies, central component of society. But slaves were brought to America to work. First and foremost, it was a system of labor. Colonial America was overwhelmingly agricultural. Many early English colonists had hoped to become fabulously wealth without having to work—much like the Spanish conquistadors who came a century before them, they had great hopes of finding gold, or if not that, then perhaps they would discover the Northwest Passage to the Pacific Ocean, thereby gaining access to the riches of the East Indies. It soon became quite clear that forget about wealth, survival itself was going to be a challenge, and was going to depend on working the land. The New World may not have held the abundant riches colonist dreamed of, but one thing was abundant: land. For the first generation of settlers, feeding themselves took up most of their energy, but in 1617, it was discovered that tobacco seeds, transported from the West Indies, thrived in the soil of the Chesapeake region. (Incidentally, it was Pocahontas’ husband, John Rolfe who successfully planted the first tobacco crop.) Over the course of the seventeenth century, tobacco became a major commodity fad, and would rival tea and alcohol in popularity throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Initial inflated prices for the tobacco would help fuel the development of Virginia. But first, the settlers faced a problem: they had a crop (tobacco), and there was plenty of land to grow it, but what was missing? Labor. Labor is THE problem of colonial America. Who does the labor? Conditions were so dismal in the colony that planters realized the only way they could get people to work for them would  be to force them. That may seem like a less than obvious choice. But these colonists came from a society in England that was highly stratified—the rich and powerful took it as their right to exploit the poor and powerless. In many ways, the early colonists came from a world that was pre-modern—without concepts of cruel and unusual punishment, equal rights, exploitation. In fact, it was a world that took inequality for granted. So there was nothing particularly problematic about the idea of forced labor. And the colonists didn’t particularly care what this forced labor looked like. They needed labor, period. Some seventeenth century colonists were willing to pay freely hired workers, but they also experimented with two sources of unfree labor: Indians and Europeans, before it occurred to them to import Africans on a widespread scale. For a variety of reasons, Indian slavery was never successful. Many Indians simply refused to perform agricultural labor, which they viewed as women’s work. Indians also happened to know the terrain a lot better than the Europeans did, and there was always the risk of Indians escaping and conspiring against their captors. Finally, as we have talked about this semester, the Indians had already disastrously encountered Europeans before the English ever got there, and by the early seventeenth century, there simply were not enough Indians left to meet the labor needs of the colonists—between the outright killing of Indians, and the massive epidemics of Europeans diseases like smallpox and measles, that killed many, and in some areas most, of the Indian population. For these reasons, it was far more common to try to find European laborers. In fact the basis of the seventeenth-century workforce in the southern part of the English colonies were European laborers. Most came as indentured servants. The practice of indenturing, or apprenticing, children and teenagers, and less often adults, to masters was widely practiced in seventeenth-century England as a form of welfare for the poor and way to provide job training. In the colonies however, indentured servitude was primarily used as a way to help European immigrants who wanted to come to  America but couldn’t afford it. By selling themselves into a sort of temporary slavery, in exchange they got a free trip across the Atlantic. For the many indentured servants who ended up in the South where they basically represented cheap labor for eager planters, they found themselves in a form of labor that looked radically different from England—it was much harsher, and much more exploitative. Further, while most servants came to American voluntarily, some arrived after being kidnapped or sentenced for criminal behavior. Most adults would be indentured for four or five years, but children often served seven years or more. During their indenture, servants were essentially slaves, under the complete and unchallenged authority of their masters. Masters could whip their servants, could prevent them from marrying, and even sell them to others. Initially, indentured servitude boomed in the colonies because it met the needs of planters as well as the needs of Europeans eager to migrate to the colonies. One of the great advantages for landowners was that they were granted land based on how many servants they held, thereby increasing their landholdings—fifty acres for every person they transported to the colonies. So for example, when Virginia planter John Carter imported eighty indentured servants in 1665 to work for him, he received four thousand acres. For the growing class of colonial landowners, indentured servitude was a win-win situation—cheap labor, more land, and an elevated social status by virtue of the fact that they had authority over other human beings. Of course, we have to ask what was in it for the indentured servants. During this time in England, a civil war had disrupted the whole social and economic order. Indentured servitude provided a way out of hardship—an escape from poverty, hunger, unemployment, prison—and a chance to start over in a new place, and perhaps even prosper. The people who volunteered to ship out were overwhelming young and male—they came from the bottom half of society, and had little hope of anything if they stayed in England. For roughly ten-percent of those who came to America as indentured servants, things worked out basically as they had anticipated—they were able to work off their indenture, and managed to find some economic prosperity of their own. But for that other ninety-percent, things turned out pretty badly. Most  indentured servants ended up working in the tobacco fields of Virginia and Maryland. They worked for men who were desperate for wealth, and were going to get as much work out of their servants as possible before their terms of service were up. Many servants ran away—if they were caught, they faced whippings, or brandings or even physical mutilation, and their terms of service would often be extended. Many others died—as many as half of all servants in the seventeenth century Chesapeake died while in service. Some who survived might become independent craftsmen or even landowners, but that was rare. Add to this that there were far fewer women in these colonies than men, most male servants were unable to find wives and so they remained single. You ended up with a very large class of men who had no family, no roots, no stability, no money, a sort of permanent underclass of discontent laborers. Black slaves had been introduced to the Chesapeake region in 1619, when a Dutch captain sold twenty Africans in Virginia. But it was not entirely clear at first that the status of black laborers in America would be fundamentally different from that of white indentured servants. In the rugged conditions of the seventeenth century south, it was often difficult for Europeans and Africans to maintain strictly separate roles. In some areas—South Carolina for example, where the number of African arrivals increased more quickly than anywhere else—whites and blacks lived and worked together on terms of relative equality. Some blacks were treated much like white hired servants, and some were freed after a set term of service. A few Africans themselves became landowners, and some apparently owned slaves of their own. But as a whole, in these early days of the American colonies, the cost of African slaves remained out of reach for most people. Not only did slaves cost more money u p front than did indentured servants, there was always the risk of a slave dying, and then your entire investment would be lost. So, although blacks continued to trickle into the colonies throughout the seventeenth century, up until the 1680s, the non-Indian population of the British colonies remained overwhelmingly white. As long as a steady supply of indentured labor continued to come, colonists saw little reason to go to  the expense and trouble of importing large numbers of Africans, who, unlike English laborers, would have to go through a longer period of adjustment—to a new culture, a new language, new customs—before they would become productive members of the workforce. But everything changed in the 1680s.   The problem with indentured labor was that it was temporary—at some point, servants had to be freed. That meant not only did you continually lose your workforce, but as the population increased in the colonies, there was a greater and greater demand for labor. You would need more and more indentured immigrants to meet this growing need. But as it happened, in the 1680s, there was a sharp decline in the number of English migrants arriving in America under indenture. Part of the reason is that the political situation in England had stabilized, and the economy was improving, so there was less of an incentive to leave. At the same time, as immigrants looked across the ocean at America, it didn’t seem quite as attractive as it once did. With more people settling in the colonies, it became harder and harder to get land. And since land was the way to get rich in early America, without land you had little hope of climbing the economic la dder. So for these reasons, fewer ships arrived carrying new immigrant laborers. By the end of the century, it became clear that indentured Europeans could no longer meet the labor needs in the Southern colonies. In another twist of history, at the same time that the number of new indentured Europeans arrivals declined, the price of African slaves suddenly dropped. Colonial planters didn’t care where the labor came from, or what the laborers looked like, they were simply desperate for it. Indians slave labor obviously hadn’t panned out, European indentured servants were harder to come by. But by the mid to late seventeenth century, some colonists, especially those in the Virginia and Maryland colonies, were becoming enormously wealthy off of the tobacco trade, and as the prices of African slaves dropped, these wealthier colonists started thinking that perhaps African slaves were the answer to their labor problem. Another turn of events sealed the fate of slavery in America. As we noted,  the problem with indentured servants is that at some point, you had to free them. These ex-servants were often male, young, poor, without roots, without much hope of ever owning land or practicing a trade. So as terms of service came up, a growing class of young, rowdy, unskilled, impoverished men were let loose into a society that had no place for them. And this made these young men angry, and violent. So they led rebellions in 1663. And in 1675. And 1683. People were killed, chaos ensued. And this of course troubled the planters. How do you stop ex-servants from running amok in the countryside and causing trouble? Well, one solution is that you don’t let them go free. But the idea of holding European servants in permanent bondage was inconceivable. As unjust, and at times horrific, as things might have been for indentured servants, they were still protected by certain legal rights that the English government had ensured. Among those rights of course, is that they could not be held in permanent bondage. Here again, African slaves provided an answer to the problem. As captives from a foreign land, they had no rights, no protection. As slaves, they would expect to be held in permanent bondage. What other advantages might African slaves provide? Compared to Indian slaves or European servants, they posed a greatly reduced risk of successful escape. They often did not know the geography of the region, and would have had little knowledge of where to go. Further, and most obviously, their skin color gave them away. It was a lot more difficult for a black runaway slave to blend into the population than it was for a white indentured servant, or an Indian slave. By the end of the seventeenth century, only about one in ten of the residents of the colonies was African. But because Africans were so heavily concentrated in a few southern colonies, they were already beginning to outnumber Europeans in some areas. The high ratio of men to women among African immigrants (two men for every one woman in most areas) impeded the natural increase of the black population. But in the Chesapeake at least, more new slaves were being born by 1700 than were being imported from Africa. In South Carolina, by contrast, the difficult conditions of rice  cultivation—and the high death rates of those who worked in the rice fields—ensured that the black population would barely be able to sustain itself through natural increase until much later. Between 1700 and 1760, the number of Africans in the colonies increased ten times to about a 250,000. A relatively small number lived in New England; there were slightly more in the middle colonies. The vast m ajority, however, continue to live in the south. By then the flow of white laborers to that region had all but stopped, and Africans had becomes securely established as the basis of the southern work force. But the most important thing to note about the shift from indentured labor to slave labor is that American colonists first turned to African slavery not because of any particular idea about race, or some kind of ideological desire to enslave black people, but for a very practical reason: the flow of indentured white labor had dried up. English people already had certain stereotypes of Africans that helped them feel more comfortable with their enslavement. First, Africans were â€Å"black† in contrast to the English people’s own sense of themselves as white. Europeans had numerous word associations with colors—white was associated with purity, cleanliness, godliness, while black could mean anything from dirty to evil. Secondly, English people perceived Africans as savage and uncivilized. English people saw African culture as very different from their own, and if it was different, it must also be inferior. Finally, English people saw Africans as heathens—and at a time in Europe when wars were being fought over exactly what kind of Christian you were, to be not Christian at all was deeply suspect. Unquestionably, English people definitely saw themselves as very different from Africans, and no doubt their negative stereotypes of Africans helped to shape ideas of race during the early years of slavery. But as much as the English were struck by differences between themselves and Africans, throughout much of the seventeenth century, enslaved black laborers were treated nearly the same as other lower class laborers. There were few lines between blacks and lower-class whites during the first decades of  settlement. Indentured servants had many of the same constraints as slaves, and the two groups often lived together, worked together, played together, sometimes slept together, and ran away together. In terms of our idea of slavery and racism in America, seventeenth-century race relations were remarkably flexible. There were no impenetrable barriers that separated races. Although almost all blacks came to the colonies as slaves, most whites came as unfree laborers as well, and the two groups had a lot in common. But two things separated white unfree laborers from blacks. First, white laborers could eventually earn their freedom, while for the most part, black slaves served for life. But more importantly, the majority of white laborers came to America voluntarily. None of the Africans did. Involuntary would become the most important thing that would lead to a permanent separation between white and black workers. Desire to attract white immigration put limits on how harshly indentured servants could be treated. Gradually, the status and treatment of European migrants improved. An increasing number of new immigrants were literate and possessed skills that enabled them to take advantage of opportunities that the growing colonial economy offered. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, very few white servants in the South still worked in agricultural labor. Agricultural labor was left almost entirely to blacks, who as involuntary migrants could not be lured away by the same economic opportunities offered to whites. The status of white migrants rose in inverse proportion to the status of black laborers, whose own status became more clearly defined. By the eighteenth century a rigid distinction had become established between black and white. Colonial assemblies began to pass â€Å"slave codes† limiting the rights of blacks in law and ensuring almost absolute authority to white masters. One factor, and one factor only determined whether a person was subject to the slave codes: color. In contrast to the colonial societies of Spanish America, where people of mixed race had a different and higher status than pure Africans, English America recognized no such distinctions. Any African ancestry was enough to classify a person as black. Over the next century, white Americans would come to the conclusion that black people were biologically and inherently suited for slavery. By the  middle of the eighteenth century, racism would become hardened, whites and blacks sharply separated, slavery entrenched as THE labor system of the southern colonies, as well as legally established in the northern colonies. Whether slave or free, blacks would be kept at the bottom of society for generations to come. In the decades preceding the American Revolution, slavery spread throughout all of the colonies. In the North, where labor was less dependent on slaves, slavery became a luxury more than anything else. But in the Chesapeake colonies, slavery formed the backbone of an economy that became almost entirely based on tobacco. Throughout the colonial period, Virginia had the highest population of the colonies, and more importantly, the highest value of exports. On the eve of the American Revolution, slaves made up about two-fifths of the entire population in Virginia, but in the tobacco-producing areas along the Chesapeake, they made up at least half the population. In South Carolina, they constituted a majority of the population. In Georgia they made up close to half of that colony’s population. At the same time, demand for slaves in the North began to decline. And as the Revolution approached, many northerners began to sense a disconnect between the language of liberty and democracy on the one hand, and the practice of slavery on the other. Although only faint at the end of the eighteenth century, a line began to be emerge between the South, where slavery was solidly entrenched, and the North, where it was not.

Benefits Of Ict In Smes Information Technology Essay

Benefits Of Ict In Smes Information Technology Essay Introduction Research indicates that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers promising opportunities for organizations to meet the challenges of an ever-changing environment (Kapurubandara and Lawson, 2006). ICTs are recognized as key tools in management processes, having a remarkable potential to contribute to sustained competitive advantage for businesses (Ion and Andreea, 2008). In Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), ICT can be used as a business tool to reduce costs, create stronger links with customers, innovate and facilitate market niche (Kutlu and Ozturan, 2009). Although there are difficulties associated with the use ICT in SMEs, however this study highlights the benefits associated with the use of ICT a Nigerian SMEs and identifies some problems facing the Nigerian SME sector. Significance of SMEs The importance of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) cannot be overlooked in the economic development of any country since SMEs play a critical role in every countrys economic development and Nigeria is no exception. SMEs have been fully recognized both in developed and developing countries as the main engine of economic growth and a major factor in promoting private sector development and partnership (Okongwu, 2001). SMEs are often seen as vital for the growth and innovation of dynamic economies as they create employment (Mutula and Brakel, 2006). They are flexible and can adapt quickly to changing market demands as supply situations help diversify economic activity that has significant contribution to imports and exports (Ongori, 2009). Thus, SMEs contribute more and more to the national and international economies of the world. According to Wattanapruttipaisan (2003), the significance of SMEs for growth, productivity and competitiveness of the economies in both developed and developing countries is universally recognized since SMEs contribute to improved living standards, bring about substantial local capital formation and achieve high level of productivity and capability. They are recognized as the principal means of achieving equitable and sustainable industrial diversification and dispersal. The contributions of SMEs to the Nigerian economy are not contestable as about 10% of the total manufacturing output and 70% of the industrial employment are by SMEs. SMEs also promote industrial and economic development through the utilization of local resources, production of intermediate goods and the transformation of rural technology (Aina, 2007). Nigerian SMEs do not only provide employment and income for majority of its citizens but also, SMEs are acknowledged as the breeding ground for domestic entrepreneurial capabilities, technical skills, technological innovativeness and managerial competencies for the private sector development (SMEDAN, 2005, Aina, 2007). The benefits of SMEs to any economy are easily noticeable as SMEs are known to contribute to the development of several economies in terms of output of goods and services, creation of jobs at relatively low capital cost, especially in the fast growing service sector and they provide a vehicle for the reduction of income disparities thus developing a pool of skilled or semi-skilled workers as a basis for the future industrial expansion (Aina, 2007). SMEs also improve forward and backward linkages between economically, socially and geographically diverse sectors of many economies and provide opportunities for development (SMEDAN, 2005). Therefore, the development of SMEs is an essential element in the growth strategy of most economies and holds particular significance for Nigeria. SMEs have been defined by SMEDAN as: Size Category Employment Assets (N million) excluding land and building 1 Micro Enterprises Less than 10 Less than 5 2 Small enterprises 10-49 5- less than 50 3 Medium enterprises 50-199 50- less than 500 (SMEDAN, 2005) In Nigeria, SMEs cover the entire range of economic activity within all sectors and share a number of common problems. These problems as identified by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and other similar studies include low market access to credit, poor information flow, discriminatory legislation, poor access to land, weak linkages among different sectors, weak operating capabilities in terms of skills, lack of knowledge and attitudes, lack of infrastructural facilities among others. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) refers to a wide range of computerized technologies. ICT is any technology that enables communication and the electronic capturing, processing and transmission of information. These technologies include products and services such as desktop computers, laptops, handheld devices, wired or wireless intranet, business productivity software such as text editor and spreadsheet, enterprise software, data storage and security, network security and so on (Ashrafi and Murtaza, 2008). In Nigeria, commonly used ICTs include Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), mobile phones, and smart cards. The Role of ICT in SMEs In the present knowledge-based economy, it is important for SMEs to adopt processes that would enable them provide services that would bring about competitive advantage. ICT has a significant positive impact on organizational performance (Maldeni and Jayasena, 2009). ICT is crucial to SMEs as it is a major catalyst and enabler of organizational change (Hazbo et al, 2008). Modern businesses are not possible without the use of ICT which is having a significant impact on the operations of SMEs and it is claimed to be essential for the survival and growth of economies in general (Berisha-Namanil, 2009). ICTs provide opportunities for business transformations (Chibelushi, 2008). It also provides SMEs the opportunity to conduct business anywhere (Jennex et al, 2004). It is commonly accepted that ICT provides many potential benefits to organizations so as to make them more efficient, effective and competitive (Fink and Disterer, 2006). ICT increases richness and reach (Evans and Wurster, 19 97). This refers to the way companies communicate, collaborate, conduct transactions internally with their customers, suppliers and distributors via the internet and the ability for local SMEs to participate in the digital economy (Golding, et al, 2008). According to Erumban and de Jong (2006), ICT has created a revolution by making the world seemingly smaller and improving potential economic growth. Pavic et al (2007) argue that SMEs have the opportunity to achieve a competitive advantage from the advances in ICT through innovation, marketing, efficiency gains, better quality and customer responsiveness. Also, Levy et al (2002) found some evidence which shows that SMEs act proactively in relation to the use of ICT. The European Commission (2008) state that SMEs could use ICT in order to grow and to become more innovative. The use of ICT in SMEs should be encouraged as it can help to improve technical and managerial skills, making available e-business solutions for SMEs and addressing the high cost of ownership of ICT equipment. Also, Love et al (2004) ascertains that the use of ICT provides many benefits to SMEs at different levels (operational level, tactical level and strategic level). In addition, Ongori (2009) states that the use of ICT would help change the way businesses operate in this era of globalization by changing business structures and increasing competition, creating competitive advantage for businesses and by changing business operations. Therefore, SMEs must have an ability to compete and dynamically respond to rapidly changing markets as it plays a significant role in an organizations growth and success. According to Kapurubandara and Lawson (2006), for survival in a competitive global economy and staying abreast, it is apparent that SMEs embrace ICT as it is becoming imperative for SMEs to gain competitive advantage and for stability in international markets. This implies that there are several benefits associated with the use of ICT. Benefits of ICT in SMEs The benefit of ICT cuts across all sectors of the economy and all the fields of human activities (Udo and Edoho, 2000). ICT can improve the standard of living and enhance business operations as well as organizational efficiency (Udo and Edoho, 2000). Appropriate use of ICT can assist SMEs to gain competitive advantage by reducing costs and improving core business processes. According to Brynjolfsson and Hitt (2000), the use of ICT can help to cut down the costs of coordination, communication, information processing and also enable efficient service provision at lower cost. ICT is a strategic tool that enables users to be efficient and effective (Sewanyana, 2009). The diffusion of ICT in many countries by different sectors of the economy have been found to have direct positive impact on the organizations efficiency and have led to more rapid acceleration of development in these countries (Achimugu et al, 2009). In Nigeria, preliminary investigations show that only few SMEs presently u se ICT. However, there has not been a formal study to ascertain the impact of ICT in these organizations. According to Fullanteli and Allegra (2003), ICT offer enterprises a wide range of possibilities for improving their competitiveness. They provide mechanisms for getting access to new market opportunities and specialized information services such as distance consulting, continuous training, new advisory modes, and so on. Organizations can exchange real-time information and build closer relationships with their customers, suppliers and business partners; customer can receive immediate feedback that allows companies to react fast to changing customer demands and recognising new market niches. This means that organizations that are able to exploit the potentials offered by ICT can handle innovative processes such as Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Knowledge Management (KM) more effectively (Fullanteli and Allegra, 2003). Since, ICT has been described as critical to the competitiveness and growth of SMEs (Apulu and Latham, 2009), it is important for it to be applied in the relevant manner in order to reap the far-reaching payoffs of ICT. Shiels et al (2003) state that technology would not lead to business growth except it is aligned with a business strategy. This means that having the right technology in the right place and at the right time would assist to improve business performance and also aid competitiveness and sustainability (Swift, 2009). Once ICT is integrated into a business process, it becomes a useful tool in many stages of the value chain (Swift, 2009). The use of ICT in SMEs helps to improve communication ability to exchange data, teamwork, customer relations services, market share and so on. It allows companies to obtain, process, accumulate and exchange information (Ion and Andreea, 2008). Another benefit of using ICT in SMEs is the fact that high efficiency is obtained in business transactions due to a fast and accurate processing of information (Ion and Andreea, 2008). Lal (2005) further states that web-enabled services increase the competitiveness of SMEs because they change the relationship with customers by creating a stronger link between firms and clients. The use of ICT in SMEs facilitates cooperation within the company, between the company and other firms. Similarly, Swift (2009) states that SMEs benefit from the use of ICT as it increases productivity, efficiency of internal business and operation and connects SMEs more easily and cheaply to external contact. Other benefits include increasing business competitiveness; vertical integration with other related initiatives, meeting stakeholders of various institutions; networking with other parties; creating of an enabling environment and the development of an internal competence in capturing market opportunities (Swift, 2009). Hence, the investment in ICT will result in increasing SMEs rates of sales and share of market, improve their Return on Investments (ROI), reduce cost and assist them to develop new products and/or markets. Chowdhury and Wolf (2003) argue that SMEs use ICTs both as input in the production process and in the transaction process selling their products or acquiring inputs. ICT enhances enterprise performance through indirect cost savings such as labour costs, increased labour productivity and direct cost reduction of firms input (Chowdhury and Wolf, 2003; Love et al, 2006). On top of these short-run impacts of ICT in the production process, the use of ICTs in the transaction process can foster input and output market expansion. However, in the long run ICT may have a bigger impact as it can completely restructure the production process and transaction methods and also increase flexibility and improve outputs (Chowdhury and Wolf, 2003). In order words, it can be concluded that ICTs can influence the performance of an enterprise in multifaceted ways. In addition, ICT has been widely perceived as major tools for kick-starting ailing economies and consequently in assisting developing societies to catch up with the developed world. ICT can assist groups that have lost out of the mainstream of development (Obijiofor et al, 2005). ICTs have valuable potentials for developing SMEs through more effective use and better integration in their business processes. This will bring about a change among SMEs and make them more competitive, innovative and also generate growth (Obijiofor et al, 2005). Nevertheless, several factors hinder SMEs from fully realizing these benefits. According to Liedholm (2002); Ducombe and Molla, (2009), SMEs especially in Africa suffer from many constraints related to an unfriendly policy and regulatory environment, lack of finance, lack of skills, access to markets and market information, lack of infrastructure among others and Nigerian SMEs is no exception. Problems of SMEs in Nigeria Several problems are militating against the development of SMEs in Nigeria. As a developing economy, one of the most worrying among these constraints is the issue of funding (Aina, 2007). This is because most banks are afraid of funding SMEs for the reason that they want to minimize their risk profile. Also, the Nigerian economic situation is not very attractive to investors (Aina, 2007). This forms a major constraint to SMEs growth in the country. In Nigeria, there is the problem of inadequate and inefficient infrastructural facilities, which tend to escalate costs of operation as SMEs are forced to resort to private provisioning of utilities such as water supply, electricity, and so on (Udechukwu, 2003). Other problems include lack of adequate credit for SMEs traceable to the reluctance of banks to extend credit as well as inadequate collateral by SME operators, weak demand for products arising from low and declining consumer purchasing power and lack of patronage of locally produced goods by those in authority (Onugu, 2005). All these problems hinder the effective use of ICT in Nigerian SMEs. Electricity constraint is a major factor that affects the use of ICT in Nigerian SMEs. In many rural areas, there are no electricity supplies; while in the towns and cities where there is electricity, its presence is limited. Electricity generation and distribution therefore negatively affect the diffusion levels of ICT in the country (Akpan-Obong, 2007). Nigerian population lacks access to electricity. Therefore unless power supply is stabilized, as well as expanded to the rural areas, electricity is likely to remain a key factor hindering the development of SMEs in Nigeria. There is also the problem of multiplicity of regulatory agencies and taxes which has always resulted in high cost of doing business, poor management practices and low entrepreneurial skill arising from inadequate educational and technical background of many SME owners (Udechukwu, 2003). Similarly, developmental policies weigh in favour of large firms and sometimes foreign owned firms leaving SMEs in a distressed and vulnerable position. Corruption, lack of transparency, very high bureaucratic costs and lack of government interest in supporting the roles of SMEs in national economic development and competitiveness. The most worrying of all among these challenges is funding. Most SMEs enterprises are not attractive prospects for banks as they want to minimize their risk profile. Also, In Nigeria, provision of public infrastructure is grossly inadequate and poor (Posu, 2006). Necessary telecommunication services, as public infrastructure, needed for meaningful investment are very expensive and inadequate. Research Method Case studies are the most common qualitative method used in information systems research (Cassell and Symon, 2004; Burns, 2000; Yin, 1993; Orlikowski and Baroudi, 1991). Sauer (1993) is of the opinion that research in information systems is best done by case study. A case study research is useful when a phenomenon and context are not clearly evident (Yin, 2003). It also allows us to study a phenomenon within its natural context (Yin, 2009). Therefore given the exploratory nature of this study, the qualitative case study approach is adopted. According to Yin (1994), case study methodology offers a means of testing existing theories while providing a probable analytic generalization. This study is based on primary research from interviews and secondary research including internal documents and academic sources. The case study was selected based on the size of the company, in accordance with the definition of SMEs in Nigeria and also based upon the post-ICT experience in the company. Semi-structured interviews were used to gather details of the SME. Questions related to the business aspects of the company, drivers for ICT adoption, barriers to ICT adoption, use of ICT, ICT infrastructure, competition and benefits of ICT were asked at some point in the interview. In terms of the analysis of the interviews, notes were compiled during each interview which gave an accurate reflection of the information gathered. In addition, some company documents were reviewed. Furthermore, extensive amount of secondary data was collected and reviewed from various sources which included books and academic journals. A general introduction to the organization involved is provided below , followed by a discussion on the benefits of ICT within the organization. The company in this paper has been given pseudonyms and some details of the company have been shrouded to maintain company confidentiality. Case Study MACO is a small manufacturing company located in Port-Harcourt, Nigeria and was established in 2003. Presently, the company has fourty employees all of which are full time workers. The companys goal is to satisfy its present and future customers by developing level of services superior to those of its competitors. MACOs vision is to satisfy customer needs by providing promt and efficient services and to create a secured and viable engineering solution to its customers. In 2005, the company decided to implement an ICT system called ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) due to the competitive nature of the market and the need to stand out from the crowd. Another reason behind the companys decision to use the new system was as a result of the challenges MACO was facing with its customers in terms of tendering and purchase processes and in the production capacity planning. The ERP system helps in the companys production capacity planning and control, so that the scheduling and resource allo cation for different projects can be planned ahead before the project begins. The ERP system has given MECO a huge opportunity. The company can now easily target new customers, survive and grow in this competitive climate and also build long term relationships with its customers. Discussion SMEs have been recognized for playing very important roles towards the economic growth, development and stability of several economies. SMEs play a vital role in employment generation and immensely contribute to the Gross Domestic Products (GDPs) of several countries (OECD, 2000). With reference to the case study presented above, it can be said that there are several benefits associated with the use of ICT. ICT offers SMEs a competitive edge over its competitors (for example increase in production capacity planning and control) hence, it is vital for Nigerian SMEs to use ICT. It should be regarded as a critical tool for SMEs competitiveness. Based on the literature review, some major factors that affect Nigerian SMEs are lack of infrastructural facilities and lack of electricity. Furthermore, lack of resources is another major factor. Hence, the Nigerian government should set up different agencies to look into the various problems associated with SMEs in Nigeria. The government can provide an enabling environment in which ICT can realize its full potential. They can help to address the problems and challenges of awareness and infrastructure under- development (Payne, 2001). Nowadays several organizations have moved from manual paper-based to ICTs for internal processing of information, and from telephony to ICTs for external communication. Thus access to ICT has provided people with a foundation for building up and applying knowledge globally and particularly in developing nations (Ani et al, 2007). Through the use of ICT, modern society has been described as an information age and the knowledge economy. In the present knowledge based economy, the use of ICT can to bring the same competitive advantage to small and medium sized enterprises as brought to large enterprises. ICTs are also making it possible for developing countries to participate in the world economy in ways that simply were not possible in the past. Hence, information and communication technologies should be regarded as a strategic tool in SMEs. The use of ICTs in SMEs should therefore, be considered as part of the wider informal to formal transition process for information systems. There is need for SMEs to undertake continuous improvement of their existing processes, products and services. They need to introduce products and services with extended capabilities to create more value for their customers (Hanif and Sajjad, 2009). On one hand, ICT provides all enterprises with a lot of opportunities for their business activities. On the other hand, SMEs have always been considered to be the major economic players and strong sources of economic growth. Therefore, it is apparent that the use of ICT in SMEs is critical in every economy including Nigeria. As a result of Nigerian SMEs not being fully ICT-enabled they are unable to keep up with the pace of globalization. Thus they are deprived of ways by which ICTs can improve it their business processes. ICTs have the potential to improve SMEs business processes as it brings about better insights. Hence, the government needs to address these issues to encourage ICT enabled SMEs. Nigeria can as well leapfrog from its present status of  under development to a fully developed global giant, as it cannot afford to stand alone (Elebeke, 2009). Todays business world has been deeply influenced by ICT and its application among business is widespread. ICT are rapidly changing global production, work and business methods and trade and consumption patterns in and between enterprises and consumers (Alam and Noor, 2009). Also, SMEs are often seen as a vital source of growth and innovation in a dynamic economy and consequently small businesses help to diversify the economy and at the same time create employment (Machacha, 2002, Banda et al, 2004). Therefore, the ability for SMEs to survive in an increasingly competitive global environment is largely dependent upon their capacity to leverage technologies. Conclusion and Recommendations The use of ICT can provide a platform for future growth of SMEs however; the use of ICT in Nigerian SMEs is relatively low due to many factors militating against their growth. For Nigerian SMEs to effectively use ICT, technological infrastrucures should be put in place by the government to support ICT use. Based on the literature review and case study, it is certain that there are several benefits associated with the use of ICT. Hence, effective use of ICT in Nigeria SMEs would bring about enormous opportunities for these SMEs. Therefore, for an SME to set itself apart from its competitors and also have a sustainable competitive advantage there is a need to invest in ICT. There is also a need for the government to intensify the efforts of promoting the use of ICT in Nigerian SMEs since ICT is known to improve managerial practices in SMEs and also assist SMEs to grow and become more innovative. Finally, the Nigerian government must invest largely in the SME sector by making more funds available to SMEs and putting structures in place to ensure a successful investment. The integration of ICT in Nigerian SMEs would help integrate these SMEs into the world IT village.

George Washington Carver :: Essays Papers

George Washington Carver " 'It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank, that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.'-"-George Washington Carver. George Washington Carver paved the way for agriculturists to come. He always went for the best throughout his whole life. He didn't just keep the best for himself; he gave it away freely for the benefit of mankind. Not only did he achieve his goal as the world's greatest agriculturist, but also he achieved the equality and respect of all. George Washington Carver was born near Diamond Grove, Missouri in 1864. He was born on a farm owned by Moses and Susan Carver. He was born a sick, weak baby and was unable to work on the farm. His weak condition started when a raiding party kidnapped him with his mom. He was returned to the Carver's farm with whooping cough. His mother had disappeared and the identity of his father was unknown, so the Carver's were left to care for him and his brother James. Here on the farm is where George first fell in love with plants and Mother Nature. He had his own little garden in the nearby woods where he would talk to the plants. He soon earned the nickname, "The Plant Doctor," and was producing his own medicines right on the farm. George's formal education started when he was twelve. He had, however, tried to get into schools in the past but was denied on the basis of race. No black school was available locally so he was forced to move. He said "Good-bye" to his adopted parents, Susan and Moses, and headed to Newton County in southwest Missouri. Here is where the path of his education began. He studied in a one-room schoolhouse and worked on a farm to pay for it. He ended up, shortly after, moving with another family to Fort Scott in Kansas. In Kansas, he worked as a baker in a kitchen while he attended the High School. He paid for his schooling with the money he earned from winning bake-off contests. From there he moved all over bouncing from school to school. "College entrance was a struggle again because of racial barriers."2 At the age of thirty he gained acceptance to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

Gene Therapy :: essays research papers

In the world today, medicine brings together science, faith, and values most clearly in its complexity and necessity. An example would include homosexuality. Science has developed over the years and is now starting to manipulate the human mind, body and spirit. Scientists that are now working with DNA and gene therapy have identified the genes for homosexuality and have also discovered a way to eliminate it from fetuses by altering genes before birth so that homosexuality can be eradicated from humans eventually and permanently. Many different religions see homosexuality as a sin, psychologists see it as abnormal behavior and many governments have declared it illegal and punishable. I myself do not believe in changing the human genes to eradicate a sexual preference. I would not advocate this procedure for members of my family or friends who are having babies, and/or for a society as a whole. There are many reasons as to why I do not agree to the procedure of gene therapy eradicating homosexuality from humans eventually and permanently. One reason that I do not agree with the procedure is because I believe it would eliminate the freedom of sexual preference throughout our society. As Thomas Jefferson stated in "The Declaration of Independence," "We hold these truths to be self- evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"(314). If we are told that we have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then we should have the right to live with the homosexuality gene and have the right to sexual preference. No one should have to give up that freedom. A freedom that homosexuals would most likely consider a source of happiness. Homosexuals are happy with their sexual preference and should not be condemned fo r it. Sexual preference is not showing good or evil. It is a way of life. Another reason is that by finding a gene for homosexuality and eliminating it from fetuses and from humans is a way of tampering with nature. I believe that if the gene was put in a human, it was put there for a reason. God and nature placed it there. By taking the gene out you are changing life from the way God made it. I think that this is morally wrong.

Ontomorph: Mind Meets The World :: Philosophy Science Papers

Ontomorph: Mind Meets The World Chunking of the world as done by the mind depends on how the world is. The world is one object, but not a simple one. Morphological content is just right to allow organisms which move in the world to perform the appropriate dynamical chunking, which from the perspective of the higher cognition may appear to consist of several separate objects. Embracing nonreductionism is desirable because organisms are part of the world. At bottom, there is nothing else other than physical stuff. But it is possible, and indeed it is true, that the physical stuff is very richly structured. One kind of physical stuff are things such as minds. The intricate structure of minds, particularly the complicated topography of their multidimensional space is ultimately responsible for qualitative experiences and consequently for the hard problems of consciousness. As the space of morphological content is itself a part of the physical world, it can begin to throw light on this problem and primarily at the quali tative states — as products of encounter of one form of physical stuff, organisms, with the rest of the physical stuff around them. Some surfaces of the world are moulded and shaped in their encounter other surfaces in the world. But the world has many dimensions; some surfaces are richer than others. The purpose of the shaping is the tacit expectation of further encounters with surfaces in the world. I. Bringing Ontology Of The World And Cognition Together The issues of ontology and cognition are tackled in a separate manner. "As I try to think about the issues in cognition, I try to exclude the issues about how the world is" is an often adopted attitude. This does not mean that investigation of the mind would be extraneous to ontological questions. Quite to the contrary. A respectable contemporary philosopher would normally adopt physicalism as a hypothesis about the mind, thus embracing a materialist ontology. A materialist treats organisms possessing mind as parts of the physical world. The way how the problem is posited then generates a question about the persisting explanatory gap, or about the reductionist hard problem: All in being treated as a part of the world, organisms possessing mind still differ from the World in that they have consciousness consisting of qualitative experiences which are not reducible to the physical World. So one may wish to be a nonreductionist concerning the ontology of mind.

People attend college or university for many different reasons Essay

People attend college or university for many different reasons (for example, new experiences, career preparation, increased knowledge). Why do you think people attend college or university? Use specific reasons and details to support your answer. People attend college or university for many different reasons. However, in my opinion, I think that people attend college or university because they want to prepare for their career and to increase knowledge. Now I elaborate the two reasons why I think this way. The first reason why I think people attend college or university is because they want to prepare for their career. These days, a lot of people try to go to famous or high quality colleges. By entering the college, it proves that the person had worked hard to enter the college and has absorbed high quality knowledge from the college, which helps the person to get the career the person wants. Because a lot of companies want the best worker they can get to enhance the value of the company. Therefore, by attending college or university, people can get careers easier. This is the first reason why I think that people attend college or universities to prepare for their career. The second reason why I think people enter college or university is because they want to increase their knowledge. Colleges and universities provide the best information and knowledge for the students to learn. By taking high quality classes from college, they will get more intelligent. Plus, students will learn life lessons and experiences which will help them next time when they are in a same situation in the future. Students will be wiser than they were before, taking a step closer to getting a career they want, and another step closer to success in life. Therefore, people attend college or university to gain more knowledge. There are various reasons why people enter college or university. However, the two reasons above clearly states that I believe people attend to college to enhance their knowledge and to prepare for their career.

Huffington Post

I will admit that I am rather new to the discussion on bigotry, privilege, and the various -isms. I was speaking with a female friend of mine a few months ago, and I remarked that women, on average, are less able to compartmentalize their emotions than men. She was Oustiflably) irate, and I qualified myself. You see, I had never been explicitly exposed to the socially-propagated idea that women are emotionally unstable. When I found out, I felt rather embarrassed in not only being sexist, but in being so trite and un-profound in doing so.I am simply an bserver of humanity, and although some people might suggest that I have internalized institutional misogyny, herein lies the purpose of my short essay. Imagine you're a mad scientist in a laboratory, and the U. S. government has charged you with the task of creating a perfectly average white man. You split white men down into their fundamental characteristics: hair color, body hair length, belly-button protrusion, etc, and then you tak e measurements and find the average of each of them. Because of the outliers, what will result will probably resemble Frankenstein's onster.This is an analogy I find useful when discussing prejudice. The essence of the previous paragraph was that prejudice arises from two factors: perception of the average as informed by personal experience, and institutionalized power dynamics. These two are inextricably linked, and as one feeds the other, it is very difficult to isolate the effects. However, I will arbitrarily make the choice to begin by discussing perceptions of the average and see where that leads us. My econometrics professor last term proposed that while girls on average tend to do ust as well as boys on standardized math exams, the variance for boys is higher.This is not to say that there are not girls who are incredibly gifted in math, but that there are fewer of them. But naturally, our life experiences are such that we will not be acquainted with the whole of a population, and that is where our prejudices arise. The vast majority of my friends at college are math or computer science majors, so the girls who I do interact with tend to be exceptional at math, and since I have no oint of comparison, I don't regard them as any more exceptional than the boys with comparable acuity because they are girls.However, as in my opening anecdote, sometimes our sampling of the population isn't so flattering. In those cases, we come to believe that the institutionalized power dynamics are an accurate depiction of the entire world, and we consciously draw â€Å"privilege† from them. The most common â€Å"privilege† in public discourse is white privilege, but institutionalized prejudice extends to things like male privilege, cis- privilege, and thin privilege. Sometimes it even leads to active bigotry.In the ideal world, if we all were statisticians, had perfect data, and approached eve rything objectively, we would distill the portion ot stereotypes th at were actually real and omit the portion that are societal caricatures. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Observers of humanity like myself will continue to notice patterns in human behavior across heterogeneous groups, but I will make a conscious effort to not let that sully my daily interactions with my friends.I will approach each individual as a erson, because they are Just that: the politics of their identity are too complex for a feeble mind like my own to accurately discern. But do notice that I assert that parts of the stereotypes are real. You cannot form an asset bubble on zero information, and similarly, building a stereotype out of nothing would require heavy orchestration, nothing short of state-sponsored propaganda. Unfortunately, it doesn't take very much real information to form a cascade, and if we could distill our stereotypes, the actual remaining substance would be, in most cases, statistically insignificant.

Greed and the Seven Deadly Sins

Greed is one of the most deadly sins and there are three forms greed. Greed is the most committed sin in the world we see everyday a person wanting more money, power, or goods. This sin is one of the most commonly depicted sin in the world the make movie, TV shows, and songs about this sin. Shows like American Greed describe people that commit this sin almost everyday people like Henry Jones, Albert Gonzalez, and Scott Rothstein these people committed this sin everyday of their life to so many people and hurt them so much that they are now in a hole they will never climb out of in their lifetime. Greed for Power This type of greed if for power over something or someone in the upmost way of any form of ruling. The kings of a country would be a prime example of this kind of greed; King George III would be a great example of this type of greed. He was king during the American Revolution; he fought so hard to keep control over the American colonies that drove him insane. The American people fought back to gain the power to govern their own country. We see in history that almost every country in history fought for power to govern themselves. In this since of greed everyone in history has the greed of power everyone wants the power that no one ever keeps. Greed for Money This form of greed is the most commonly seen through history; every period in history you will see a person that has this greed of money in many forms. Bill Gates is a prime example for this type of greed; he in his life would buy a program and then would take this program and turn it in to what we know as Window DOS and then in to the Windows operating systems. This idea that Bill had made him millions; he turned a deal he made for $50,000 in to millions making him one of the riches people on earth. But, still he wants more money to fund his lifestyle that he is so use to living. Greed for Goods This type of greed is a need to own goods to feel powerful. China as a country is a prime example; they feel if they provide the world with cheap items they can run the world’s economy. China provides around 65 percent of the items in the United States stores in this day and age, they run most of our economy as is it stands. China can make these items for a cheaper rate then we can make the item in this country so we go and buy these items from China instead of making it our self. The US doing this is fueling China greed for power over goods. This is Greed Greed alone is one of the most committed sin in this world; we do it almost every day in some since of the word. The three types of greed make no difference when you say whether or not you committed the sin of greed or not. Whether you are power hunger, money hunger or in the need for greed of goods, you still are a greedy person. Greed is greed whether you want to say it or not America is a very greedy country. This world is a greedy world we live in, everywhere you go all you see is greed.

Important People

Franklin D. Roosevelt- He was the first president who understood how to use media and the radio. He made speeches on the radio called Fireside chats. He made about 28- 33 of these. He was elected to office four times. In one of his speeches he talked about how there was more employment now than 4 years ago. He used radio to give his own points of view and defend the New Deal. Used radio because it was intimate. Superman/ Clark Kent- Cartoon (sept. 18, 1942) superman takes the war to the enemy in a time that we could not do it. He did something that they were incapable of doing, defeating the enemy. he was fighting the military (not TERRERISM) not blowing business building just military items. He represents our country. Clark Kent is supermans alter ego who is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. Herman Goering- (1893 – 1946). He was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. Among many offices, he was Hitler's designated successor, and commander of the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). He was a veteran of WWI as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Merite (â€Å"The Blue Max†). He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader I, the air squadron of Manfred Von Richthofen â€Å"The Red Baron†. After the WWII he was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials. He was sentenced to death by hanging, but committed suicide by cyanide ingestion the night before he was due to be hanged. Max Fleischer- (1883 – 1972) He was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios. He brought such animated characters as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen and was responsible for a number of technological innovations like the idea of the rotoscope which was a concept to simplify the process of animating movement by tracing frames of live action film. Lois Lane- she is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. She represents our individual attitudes. She is willing to die for what she believes in and is a hero. She represents American stubbornness and she’s a hero because she never once calls for help. Iva Toguri- (1916 –2006) She was an American citizen who participated in English-language propaganda broadcast transmitted by Radio Tokyo to Allied soldiers in the South Pacific during World War II. Although on the â€Å"Zero Hour† radio show, Toguri called herself â€Å"Orphan Ann,† she quickly became identified with the moniker â€Å"Tokyo Rose†, a name that was coined by Allied soldiers and that predated her broadcasts. William Joyce- (1906 – 1946) He was nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw and was a fascist politician and Nazi propaganda broadcaster to the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He was hanged for treason by the British government as a result of his wartime activities. Joseph Goebbels- (1897 –h 1945) was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of German dictator Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism. He was the chief architect of the Kristallnacht attack on the German Jews, which historians consider to be the commencement of the Nazi violence culminating in the Holocaust. From our notes: he said to Hitler that he needed to sell his ideas and form an enemy. Neville Chamberlain (1869 – 1940) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. When Adolf Hitler continued his aggression, Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of World War II. Hughes flying Boat H-4 (hk-1) Hercules (â€Å"Spruce Goose†)- was a prototype heavy transport aircraft designed and built by the Hughes Aircraft company. The aircraft made its only flight on November 2, 1947. Built from wood because of wartime raw material restrictions on the use of aluminum, it was nicknamed the â€Å"Spruce Goose† by its critics. The Hercules is the largest flying boat ever built, and has the largest wingspan and height of any aircraft in history. It survives in good condition at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, USA.