Anxiety and Victor Frankenstein Essay

Anxiety Disorder is a condition that is diagnosed as the disability to cope with any form of stress. Since it is one of the most common disorders in the U. S. , there are a large amount of people that have and will need to control this illness. As one of the many people in the world, Victor, the main character in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, had such a severe case of anxiety that he was almost driven to insanity. During the story, you follow his battle with this disorder. He had a constant obsession with trying to get away from the creature, and was overly stressed about this monster that he had created that ultimately he couldn’t deal with his actual problem at hand. Anxiety disorder is extremely difficult to deal with, but if the proper steps are taken, it is treatable. This illness was first recognized by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900’s but was only diagnosed as a diagnostic entity in 1980 (Overview of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Snow). Freud found the illness while he was working with a companion, Wilhelm Fliess, at the very start of his psychoanalytic work, which is discovering repressed conflict inside the head (enotes. com). This discovery the two made has explained the feelings that many people feel on a daily basis. There are an abundance of symptoms associated with Anxiety Disorder. Though the most common effects are insomnia, appetite changes, depression, and a feeling of being unsettled or disconnected. Insomnia is a disorder that makes it difficult to fall asleep or to stay asleep after falling asleep (Medical-Dictionary. com). One appetite change issue can include overeating, also known as bingeing. Since those diagnosed with this disorder can get easily stressed, many just eat to hide their pain or nervousness. This also applies when people under-eat. Their fears can get in their way of their appetite. Depression and Anxiety often go hand in hand (ADAA. org). Many people who suffer from anxiety disorder tend to regularly feel overwhelmed (anxietycentre. com). This means that the slightest problem can become a huge deal for them. They often become stressed and can lead to other feelings of unsettledness or being disconnected. It is possible for these victims to visit a doctor more often and also feel uncomfortable in many social situations (anxietycentre. com). Anxiety Disorder is listed as the most common disorder in the United States (ADAA. org). It affects over 40 million adults in the U. S. (18% present of the population), but only 1/3 of those people are actually being treated (ADAA. org). Out of those even being treated, only 400,000 will be treated properly (ADAA. org). 22. 8% of those diagnosed are said to have a â€Å"severe† case (NIMH. NIH. gov). People who are diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder have a higher chance of drug abuse or using alcohol as coping method (anxietycentre. com). It was tested and results showed that women are 60% more likely to be diagnosed with Anxiety over men (NIMH. NIH. gov). Those who are diagnosed have a number of possible treatments. They range from different prescription drugs, antidepressants, anti-anxiety medication and beta-blockers are the most common listed (NIMH. NIH. gov). Antidepressants have some side effects, for example, blurred vision, headaches or nausea. Psychotherapy is also used to help treat Anxiety Disorder. A lot of people diagnosed could be hospitalized or go to regular counseling for help with coping with the stress. But the success of treatment may vary; some people might take weeks while others take months or years. For this reason, treatment must be tailored to the specific patient. There are a couple of risk factors that also come with Anxiety Disorder. The affected person might develop extremely low self-esteem which later could lead to depression. As humans, we rely on the thoughts of other people to determine how we feel about ourselves. Since it is not necessarily â€Å"social acceptable† to have an Anxiety disorder, many people feel left out or alone in the case that they do have the disorder. Those who are higher accepted with people generally have a higher self-esteem (gad. about. com). Extremely low self image problems can often lead to depression (psycologytoday. com). Also, since many people use alcohol to cope, alcoholism is also a common result of anxiety. A study was formed in South Carolina with people who suffer from severe anxiety. They were all tested to see when they mostly drank alcohol. The study found that a significant amount of people used the alcohol to cope in larger social situations. Also, they found out that drinking lowers the rate of anxiety and relieved many of those tested from their discomfort (nih. gov). As stated by the National Library of Medicine, panic attacks are when you have common attacks with the fear that something bad will happen. These are commonly found in those who suffer from Anxiety Disorder. All of these factors could be treated and controlled with the proper care. In the book Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein created a creature that he himself was too terrified of. This creature had caused Victor to show symptoms of Anxiety Disorder. He experiences fevers and severe illness because is stressing out about the creature and the things it has been doing. â€Å"With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet. It was already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. (Frankenstein, chapter 5) Victor is clearly in a great amount of pain from the stress and fear that he is feeling at that moment. He also states that it is one in the morning, showing that he could possibly have one of the symptoms of Anxiety Disorder, insomnia. The story also says, â€Å"I trembled excessively; I could not endure to think of, and f ar less to allude to, the occurrences of the preceding night. I walked with a quick pace, and we soon arrived at my college. I then reflected, and the thought made me shiver, that the creature whom I had left in my apartment might still be there, alive, and walking about. I dreaded to behold this monster; but I feared still more that Henry should see him. Entreating him, therefore, to remain a few minutes at the bottom of the stairs, I darted up towards my own room. My hand was already on the lock of the door before I recollected myself I then paused; and a cold shivering came over me. I threw the door forcibly open, as children are accustomed to do when they expect a spectre o stand in waiting for them on the other side; but nothing appeared. † (Frankenstein, chapter five) It is showing that Victor become so nervous that the creature would be in his room that he began to shiver and make Henry Clerval wait downstairs, just incase. He shows a great fear in seeing the monster in his home, where he had even left it. This disorder is easily recognized by his constant obsession and worry about the creatur e. He had run away from the monster, ignored it when it had killed most of his family and then ended up hunting it down until his death. Thus, Anxiety is a very common illness around the United Stated and it might be difficult to deal with at the time, but it can be treated easily with the correct forms of therapy or medications. Anxiety often causes many other disorders if not properly treated and can affect your daily life. This disorder was even expressed in Frankenstein with Victor’s constant fear of his self-created creature. If you or anyone you know could be suffering from this terrible disorder, I suggest you find help relatively soon before it begins to spiral into other harder to treat disorders.

Macbeth vs. Lady Macbeth

In William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the tragic hero or the great and virtuous character, Macbeth is destined for downfall as he brings suffering and defeat upon himself. However, this statement can be widely debatable, as many would assume that Lady Macbeth also plays an immense role in the murder of Duncan, the beginning of the tragedy. Early in the play, Macbeth encounters three witches or supernatural beings that foretell his future as the new King of Scotland. Intrigued by their prophecies, Macbeth places faith in their words.Macbeth’s wife, Lady Macbeth, is instrumental in his ambition, manipulating him, as they both scheme for greatness. Driven by the will to become King, Macbeth commits the murder of the current King Duncan and continuously murders those that suspect him. He is led to his own destruction as Macduff, a Scottish noble, later kills him. Moreover, although both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth can be considered guilty for the downfall of Macbeth or the tragedy of the play, Macbeth is more to blame as a result of his ruthlessness, his ambitious desires, and his naive character, which allow him to betray his own conscience.Macbeth’s ambitious character and his insatiable lust for power drives him to change his nature towards evil commencing his tragic downfall. Upon hearing the prophecies of the witches, Macbeth immediately ponders about the predictions and creates an idea to murder the King. Macbeth states that the image of Duncan, the current King’s death â€Å"doth unfix my hair† (I. ii. 148) meaning that this image was too horrid to even imagine. Early in the play, the witches only predicted that he would become King but it was Macbeth’s ambitious character that takes it to the next step as he now thrives on the will to become King.Although the King’s death was never mentioned in the prophecies, Macbeth plants the idea in his head that the only way for him to become King, as the predictions stated was to kill Duncan, which creates and displays his lust for power. Macbeth also mentions, â€Å"let not light see my black and deep desires† (I. iv. 58). This is another example in which he now admits this dark character inside him, demonstrating that his valiant, brave character displayed in the beginning of the play is slowly fading away or deteriorating as his ambitious character takes over.Furthermore, by virtue of his honest character, Macbeth admits to himself of his â€Å"vaulting ambition† as he states, â€Å"I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o’er leaps itself. † (I. vii. 25-27) These lines portray that Macbeth has no other reason to kill Duncan except for his strong desires of wanting to become King. Macbeth’s character as ambitious appears again as even to the eyes of his wife, is seen clearly as lustful for power. Lady Macbeth states â€Å"art not without ambition† proclaiming of his am bitious character.Macbeth’s ambitions is the root cause of his tragic downfall as his lust for power drives him to murder which is the misdeed that places his life at risk and begins his fall from glory. Macbeth as a man with solid morals and a well-established conscience allows himself to be manipulated by other significant characters of the play such as the witches and Lady Macbeth. The witches make two significant appearances in the play, each in which they use equivocation to confuse and manipulate or spark the characters in the play to lead a life of evil.Their first appearance was in front of Banquo and Macbeth in which they praise him as they predict his future as the next King. They know that by calling him â€Å"King hereafter† (i. iii. 53) that it will create desires in his heart and they use these quick phrases or these words placed in paradox to manipulate Macbeth to do something that would earn him that title. Macbeth who has a conscience of his own, allow s himself to create unwanted desires in his heart knowing well that patience is an attribute that only the noble obtain.Macbeth, by the end of his first soliloquy, makes the final decision to not murder the King because in his point of view, â€Å"Duncan both born his faculties so meek† (i. vii. 16-17) and it would be injustice to kill a righteous person but later on changes his mind as he allows his conscience to be moved again by his wife, Lady Macbeth who questions his manhood to achieve the power that they would get if they kill Duncan. She states â€Å"If you durst do it, then you were a man† (i. vii. 56-57) as she tries to convince her husband to go along with Duncan’s murder.Foolishly, Macbeth allows her to change his mind when he could have easily refused proving that he had a mind of his own. The witches near the end of the play manipulate Macbeth once more, but this time it was Macbeth who sought their help therefore getting himself into more trouble. A wise person would make the right decision not to ask the troublesome witches for help, but in Macbeth’s case, he deals with this situation differently as he is again easily manipulated into developing hubris, which leads to his downfall and his tragic ending.Therefore, although Macbeth had a conscience of his own and had the right to make his own decisions, he allowed himself to be manipulated by others, which eventually leads to his own death. Macbeth makes further errors in judgment following his misdeed of killing Duncan as he commits other major crimes, which all precipitate his downfall. For example, the murder of his friend, Banquo. Acting completely on his fear that Banquo’s sons will become King and himself remaining unrecognized, Macbeth decides to kill both Banquo and his son, Fleance.Macbeth knew that he was under suspicion for Duncan’s murder therefore concludes with these two reasons to kill an innocent man and his son. This is proven through Macb eth’s statement made in Act 3. Scene 2. Lines 41-42. Macbeth establishes his fear as he says that he is â€Å"full of scorpions in his mind†. Therefore, this murder was another factor or crime that leads him directly to his downfall. Another crime that Macbeth commits that is unforgivable was when he murdered a mother and a child.To take advantage of the situation, Macbeth kills Macduff’s family, which was a tragic scene as Macduff’s son dies creating pathos in the audience’s heart and depicts Macbeth’s character as mad or insane. These murders portray his downfall as extreme for all the serious sins Macbeth has committed. Macbeth’s desire for power, his ignorance towards his own conscience, and the further crimes he commits portray him as more to blame over Lady Macbeth for his own downfall and death.Throughout the whole play, although Lady Macbeth may seem as the masculine character and the brain behind the murder of Duncan, she pla ys a minor part in Macbeth’s own desires and the further crimes he independently commits that end in his downfall. Lady Macbeth is a significant character but is not more to blame for every tragic hero brings his fate upon himself. Therefore to conclude, Macbeth is more to blame for his own defeat and suffering.

Education Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Education - Research Paper Example The subject school that is being documented tends to display a similar trend. The school in focus is an elementary school so the ages of the student population tend to be under 12 years of age. The Hispanic background of most student’s means that they come from families where Spanish is spoken and understood. This often occurs at the expense of learning English and a significant amount of students in class tend not to speak any English at all. Yet another significant amount of students in class tend to speak some English though there is a large need to improve the spoken English skills. Only a minor amount of students can fully communicate in and comprehend English. On average the typical Grade 4 student has trouble coping with speaking a few words of English. In this situation, expecting these children to write words and sentences in English is unrealistic because they can hardly comprehend English. Most children can however follow cue and produce some sensible words while on ly a small amount of children can produce understandable sentences. In terms of behavior, a large majority of children are inclined to create disturbance in the classroom. The imposition of order in the classroom is a separate task in itself. However, it has been felt that if these children’s behaviors are reinforced with more positive values, a significant difference could be created. This onus would fall to the school as these children hail from a relatively low socio-economic status. In most of the children’s families, either both parents are working or the mother has too many children to take care of. This indicates that the children are not given a lot of time by parents for their grooming especially as per behavior and education. In addition the language barrier that exists between the teachers and the students means that not all instructions are being carried forward as intended. Rework and repetition of the same tasks in class is common since most children fail to comprehend instructions the first time. Since most children are essentially English language learners, so there is dire need to look into the lingual skills of these children before any other form of learning is introduced. The lack of proper communication between teachers and students is a major facet of the school environment. The interaction between teachers and students is limited by the fact that both parties are unable to understand each other completely unless the teacher has a Hispanic background as well. A few Caucasian students are present in class as well but interaction with them alone cannot be taken as a guarantee for other children to learn English. In terms of teaching, the language barrier poses problems on different fronts. For one thing, the instructions passed onto children are not clear the first time and there is often the need to repeat instructions. This tends to slow down the overall pace of work significantly. Furthermore, this issue creates an evaluati on based problem as well. The limited interaction available with the students makes it hard to evaluate if a student has learning disabilities or if the student is being bogged down in translation. Language also plays a defining role in how the community tends to view itself. It is typical to see Hispanic children sitting together in class, socializing together and forming cults. This exclusion tends to take place because these children do not have the necessary language skills to

Foundations of Behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Foundations of Behavior - Essay Example F Skinner. The theory believes that behavioral development happens through classical and operant conditioning. There is a strong relation between stimuli and behavioral response. In this case development is seen as a continuous process where learnt responses keep accumulating and new ones increase with age. Several studies were conducted to reinforce the theory that responses in behavior are a result of external stimuli and that the external factors are more important as compared to internal factors. To take an example, John Watson experimented with an infant's responses to a rat and stimuli coupled with it. The infant was not afraid of the rat. However, he developed fear of the rat after a series of sharp sounds were made whenever the rat was shown. Behaviorists conclude that environment is more influential in shaping behavior. Also, behaviors can be modified using external stimuli. In context of psychodynamic theories, famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and his theory of psychoanalysis come to mind. Psychodynamics refers to theories of Freud, his followers' or theories based on his ideas. Anna Freud, Alfred Adler Carl Jung and Erik Erickson are some of the most popular contributors from the field of psychodynamics. The theories are have been derived from sessions with patients, case studies and use of projective techniques to understand the workings of human mind. Psychodynamics strives to make connections between thoughts, motives, subconscious mind and how people perceive the world. The prime focus in psychodynamics is the interrelation between emotional states of id, ego, and superego and their impact on early developments and processes. Psychodynamics also believes that early experiences are conserved in the unconscious mind. Later in life, these conserved experiences, thoughts and emotions either remain buried in the unconscious or find way to the conscio us mind. These buried experiences are at times the cause of mental disturbances. Various psychodynamic theorists have devised their own stages of development from infancy through adulthood. However, the underlining concept is that at each stage, an individual is confronted with conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. The way to resolve these conflicts differs at each stage. Individuals constantly strive to strike a balance between personal needs and social expectations. In contrast to behaviorism school of thought, psychodynamic theory focuses on drives and forces working consciously or unconsciously within a human mind. While behaviorist theory lays stress on continuous development, psychodynamic theory believes that development happens in stages. In psychodynamics, nature and nurture both play an important role in development because the inner impulses are channeled through environmental experiences. The cognitive theory looks at humans as active participants in building knowledge. The most influential theory was propounded by Jean Piaget. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, children acquire 'schemes', which are the building blocks of knowledge. According to this theory, there are four stages in

Aging aircraft wiring problems and solutions Essay

Aging aircraft wiring problems and solutions - Essay Example Aging aircraft wiring has been a cause of significant threat to both invaluable human life and material. It is almost certain that a smart wiring alone will not be the solution to this problem considering the working conditions of an aircraft. Keeping this scenario in mind this paper is trying to consider a few of the most pressing safety problems in aviation today. The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) later determined the cause of the TWA 800 accident to have been a wiring failure that led to an ignition spark in the fuel tank. The Swissair disaster is believed to have been caused by electrical arcing originating from an in-flight entertainment cable. These disasters provided the initial impetus to begin reshaping commercial wiring policies' (Kevin R. Wheeler and Dogan A. Timucin 2007).A TWA747, flight 800, heading for Paris and Rome with 230 from JFK international airport on the night of July 17, 1996, exploded shortly after take off and during initial climb out. The hug e aircraft was blown up killing all the passengers and crew aboard. One of the most extensive aircraft investigations in the history was initiated following the crash. After many findings the initial fear of a terrorist missile attack was vanished. Enormous efforts were vested on the recovery process along with the FBI and NTSB investigations. The search was supported by FAA, US Navy Boeing and hundreds of contractors. Finally, the remains of the aircraft were recovered from Atlantic. To the continuing frustration of conspiracy theorists, investigators determined that the aircraft was not downed by a bomb or missile, but rather fell victim to a much more insidious enemy - faulty wiring. Hot or chafed wire is believed to have ignited the fuel vapors in the empty center wing tank, creating a massive explosion and in-flight breakup of the aircraft. The similar incidents occurred in the aviation industry at regular intervals. Obviously the wire and connector fault detection and prognosis problem is difficult and each agency is doing the best that it can with the resources given (J.S. Barrett and M.A. Green 1994). Thus, developing the appropriate theoretical approach, using simulations and data collection for development and eventually leading to requirements definition for all aspects of the wiring fault detection problem seem to be a huge task. The terrific crashes remind us that the aircraft electrical system malfunctioning can lead to tragic eventualities in terms of human life and monetary loss. Wiring problems often lead to troubleshooting nightmares, and canceled missions. With miles of wire bundles running through barely accessible compartments, inspecting and repairing wiring problems can eat up your maintenance budget and resources in a very short time. To help maintenance managers address these types of issues, we investigated the tools and techniques that can be used to minimize down time and improve safety. Jim sparks (2004) felt that 'wiring in aircraft has been installed without much thought given to the overall life. The concept has been one of "fit and forget." Various failure modes and their severity may not have been considered during the design or modification process. Maintenance programs often did not address the impact of insulation breakdown and resulting arcing, nor was consideration given to the probability of splices

The Power of The Vote Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Power of The Vote - Essay Example As the discussion explores the people who are elected have a tremendous impact on our daily lives. These are our representatives, and they enact thousands of statutes that affect us. They determine how to spend tax and how the tax burden will be shared, and they define state policy in thousands of problems and issues. This paper declares that leadership refers to an exceptionally wide range of roles that have great influence. A leader needs to have the qualities and the ability to protect the nation at all times and hence it is essential that they have strong ethics and values. The leader has to impress as a role model in ethical values, intellectual caliber, professional expertise and solid achievements if he/she is to stir up the ready and willing cooperation of others. As a leader he is duty bound to fix responsibility and take corrective measures, but this he should do in a constructive and positive spirit, without leaving a trail of bitterness and acrimony. In any case, he should regard genuine and honest errors of judgment as the inevitable price of learning and growth, and not as something to be condemned or punished. Leaders come with various temperaments and traits. They may be all types: Aggressive, gruff, reserved, blustery, bluff, forthcoming, formal and so on. Not all leaders are made for all kinds of situations and enterprises, since their capabilities are not identical. A war leader, like Winston Churchill, may be a misfit in peacetime.

Gulf Cooperation Council's Foreign Policy Essay

Gulf Cooperation Council's Foreign Policy - Essay Example This paper aims to examine the GCC’s changing foreign policies towards leading players in the region, especially, the GCC’s primary mandate being to promote, protect and pursue the interests of its member states. The Gulf Cooperation Council is an alliance of countries with similar political and economic interests, whose primary focus is to foster the political and economic development of its member states.1 The GCC seeks to strengthen the regional relations through increased collaborations between national states in the gulf; unity in political and economic associations between national states within the region is just a means to an end for the member states- the end itself is political and economic prosperity that is backed with strong currencies and a host of natural resources. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as a political and economic alliance, has been in existence for over 30 years now since its inception; the alliance dates back in history to 30 years ago when it was founded in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 1981.2 The GCC alliance has been operational since then up to date, and the founder countries converged based on two main strategic reasons- promotion of political stability and economic prosperity. In other words, the alliance was formed purely out of the need by member states to join efforts to becoming politically and economically stable; the alliance was thus a strategic move to strengthen the political and economic stability of the region. The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of six Middle Eastern countries that are found in the gulf region; these six countries include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar.3 Being a regional alliance, all the member countries have a number of things in common, and are subject to similar socio-economic, political, environmental and

Declaration of Independence, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Declaration of Independence, - Essay Example In many respects, the King was perceived as promoting excessive taxation, essentially stepping on the backs of hard-working colonists to earn money for Britain. The colonists realized that an independent system of taxation, when used for the benefit of sustaining the local economy, would prevent Britain from taking resources away from the American colonists for use to sustain a stronger Great Britain. Secondly, the colonists believed that the king was maintaining a strong military presence in early America, which essentially made the colonists feel as though they were constantly under the threat of military action on behalf of the king of Britain. This is evident in the passage stating, "He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature" (Ushistory.org). While the colonists continued to work to build the foundation of a successful American economy, Britain maintained a close military watch over them to ensure that no revolution against Britain was begun and to constantly show the threat that England could provide against any revolutionaries. as tobacco) to other nations willing to pay for the items, the King of Britain refused such exportation in order to ensure that the monies associated with American-produced products would be distributed not locally, but to the King of Britain himself. This is evident in the Declaration of Independence where it states, "For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world" (Ushistory.org). At a time where the local economy needed export dollars to build a strong, local infrastructure, refusing to allow exportation of colonial goods continued to keep a strong British presence in the colonies and prevent early America from becoming a nation of wealth (likely to prevent any revolution against England). All of these reasons, and many more, were spelled out in the Declaration

The process of International Assignments Essay Example for Free

The process of International Assignments Essay Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization’s most valued assets: the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives. â€Å"HRM aims to help the organization to achieve success through people. As Ulrich and Lake (1990) remark, ’HRM systems can be the source of organizational capabilities that allow firms to learn and capitalize on new opportunities’. HRM is concerned with both meeting human capital requirements and the development of process capabilities: in other words, the ability to get things done effectively†1. These strategic goals and objectives are most important and mandatory in a world which becomes more and more global. To be successful, companies have to keep up with their competitors, which usually mean that getting things done effectively is crucial in everything they do. Globalization has brought remarkable developments in the diversity and complexity of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) and management of the global workforce is a critical dimension of companies’ international business. 2 1. 2 Objective of the term paper According to Harvey and Moeller3 there are currently 850,000 subsidiaries of multinational corporations operating globally. Furthermore, 65 per cent of Multinational Companies (MNCs) surveyed in a GMAC global relocation survey are expecting expatriate manager numbers to rise steadily over the next decade. Expatriate managers continue to be a viable means for exercising control over foreign operations and they can therefore have a direct impact on organizational performance. 4 Furthermore, international assignments are also the single most expensive per-person investment a company makes in globalizing its workforce, and unfortunately, most firms are getting anaemic returns on this investment. To improve their return, managers must understand the best practices, thinking, and scientific research on international assignments. 5 According to the above fact and the current worldwide growth of the expatriation missions worldwide, this term paper should give an overview of the Process of International Assignments and its importance for internationally operating Companies – with special focus on the Repatriation of Expatriates. 1. 3 Approach First of all, the question is answered on who should be recruited and how the best person possible for the job can be acquired. If a company is not able to find the right candidate internally, personnel are often recruited externally. But this brings along some other problems which should not be left behind, as insufficient commitment or lack of corporate identity and boundaries to the parent company. 6 Once some appropriate candidates for the vacant position are found, companies have to sort out according to the required characteristics and qualifications as well as the official job description, if available. Next, a number of objectives must be incorporated in the design of expatriates’ pay packages when it comes to negotiating and setting up contractual conditions for the future employee. Chapter three therefore deals with elements a contract should consist of as well as compensation itself. If the contract is finally set up and signed, training for the respective employee and proper preparation regarding the international assignment is fundamental. This can ensure the employee’s success as creating a global mind, overall understandings of the expatriates’ coming tasks as well as differences in local and domestic culture are only some of the toughest tasks an expatriate has to face during his international assignment. Preparation and support given by the company are therefore urgently needed, not only in giving information about host country, upcoming tasks and the stay itself but also in regards to questions related to family, friends, home-flights and all other social questions arising. The last stage of a foreign assignment is the process of repatriation. This phase is the most difficult and unpredictable one. The expatriate not only has to arrive and settle down at home, but also in headquarter where things, positions and people might have changed. â€Å"Often when they return home, expatriates face an organization that does not know what they have done for the past several years, does not know how to use their knowledge and does not care†7. As the process of international assignments is very complex and this term paper limited, each chapter only gives a short and simple overview of the single topics summing up important facts and figures submitting general conspectus. 2. Personnel recruitment and selection 2. 1 International staffing strategies Key question to international staffing regards the selection of one of the four different staffing strategies: ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric or regiocentric. 8 Choosing the right strategy generally depends on different influencing factors like the characteristics of the parent company or foreign company, conditions in the host country as well as individual characteristics of the employee. 2. 1. 1 Ethnocentric staffing The ethnocentric approach usually indicates that companies are satisfied and happy with the strategy of the headquarter and they now try to implement their domestic standards also in the host country. 9 Home personnel are educated to lead worldwide. This means that key positions in domestic and foreign operations are held by Parent Country Nationals (PCNs). 2. 1. 2 Polycentric staffing The polycentric orientation stands in direct contrast to the ethnocentric orientation, being more variable and independent. Evaluation and control is determined locally and therefore a high level of autonomy can be found in those subsidiaries. 10 Local personnel, Host Country Nationals (HCNs), are educated to lead locally. 11 2. 1. 3 Geocentric staffing Following the geocentric staffing approach organizations are generally complex and interdependent worldwide like McDonalds or Apple. Universal standards for evaluation and control apply and nationality does not matter in favour of ability. The best talent educated to lead worldwide. 12 This also implicates working with Third Country Nationals (TCNs). 2. 1. 4 Regiocentric staffing The fourth staffing strategy is a mixture of the polycentric and the geocentric approach. Managers are generally selected on the basis of being the best in the region, with international transfers generally being restricted to regions. This kind of strategy has become more and more popular during the last years with many MNCs choosing to organize operations regionally. 13 2. 2 Personnel recruitment General target of personnel recruitment is to find an appropriate candidate for the right job. This process may be either conducted from outside or inside the company. Both ways of recruitment possess of advantages and disadvantages, but these can only be named exactly in a concrete recruitment case. 2. 2. 1 Internal recruitment There are different ways of internal recruitment. Personnel may be transferred or promoted to the job as an example. Another form is an apprenticeship of young people, having the advantage to shape future personnel right from scratch. Employees may also perform an on-the-job training for their future position or responsibility. 14 According to Scherm recruitment for international assignments within the company is mostly done by above-mentioned promotions or relocation of staff from one facility to another. 15 The advantages of internal recruitment are on hand. Companies know their potential expatriate longer, are used to their behaviour, thinking, skills and company as well as product specific knowledge. This reduces the risk of selecting the wrong candidate. According to the Global Relocation Trends Survey 200916, only 11 % of the expatriates expected to go abroad have been newly recruited externally. Due to the high selection risks, internal recruiting dominates. As basis for the recruitment decision performance measurements, personal reports, interviews with the employee as well as career plans are taken into account. 17 2. 2. 2 External recruitment If qualified personnel cannot be found internally, recruitment is done outside the company. This is also the case if the company is not able to qualify their personnel within a set time frame or due to lack of experienced staff. It is most important that companies know the relevant job market if they want to succeed in recruiting employees externally as well as doing this in an economically way. External recruitment can then be divided into two segments, passive and active external recruitment. Whereas active external recruitment means addressing potential candidates through e. g. different institutions, media or by using social networks, passive external recruiting companies set their emphasis on spontaneous, speculative applications of respective candidates or mouth-to-mouth propaganda of their great company image. 18 In case recruitment for an international assignment is done externally the risk for selecting the wrong candidate is often minimized by outsourcing the task to an external consultant or agency as they generally have more experience. 19 Nevertheless, the traditional ways of searching for the right candidate, e. g. simply advertising the vacancies in the local newspapers or online, employment centres or job fairs, are still applicable. Candidates from outside the company may bring in new ideas and may have a wider range of experience due to their former tasks but the selection process might take longer, might require extensive personnel resources and might be more expensive (e. g. advertising and interview process, personnel consulter). 2. 3 Personnel selection For an international assignment to become a great success for both, company and expatriate, selecting the right candidate out of several is one of the most important steps of the whole process. Several selection strategies are used and quite common but failure situations in individual assignment cases are widely spread in MNCs. 20 In order to make sure that the candidate possesses the right characteristics, qualifications, and skills a detailed job description and information about coming management tasks can be very helpful during this process. Unfortunately, these proper specifications are often not available or only give a rough overview of upcoming challenges. 21 2. 3. 1 Selection criteria A first impression about the population of expatriates provides the demographic data study of the Bookfield Global Relocation Trend Surveys. 22 For 2009 it is stated that 75 % of all expatriates have been aged between 30 and 49 whereas 80 % of them have been male. Only 9 % have had prior experience as international expatriates. 27 % have been single and therefore sent without partner and almost half of them have been sent off together with their kids. 23 Usually the HR Manager selects the expatriate according to the following criteria: A specific or subject-related qualification as the expatriate often has no other specialist on site. Personal characteristics like motivation, discipline, patience, endurance, and readiness to take on responsibility. Cultural openness, willingness to learn and experience new things, open-minded, no resistance to change. Family-related criteria The single criteria may overlap to a certain point. In literature different weightings for all of these criteria exist but they all agree to the fact that Family and Cultural openness should be most taken into account. 24 2. 3. 2 Final selection process and instruments Generally, there are no other specific selection processes or criteria used for finding a candidate for an international assignment than the ones used in national context. Among selection process and criteria four are widely known, starting with the general application documents. Job requirements and the matching candidate personal profile decide in first instance who is to be invited to a personal interview. If it is decided to recruit a candidate internally, generally the previous career and the internal development of the employee are taken into account. Often, prior to an invitation to a personal interview, candidates have to successfully take part in an assessment centre focusing more and more on intercultural competences like empathy, cultural understanding, behaviour etc. 25 It is seen as an advantage of the external assessment of intercultural competence in intercultural assessment centres that the requirement regarding the behaviour and orientation are high and the candidates will be evaluated by several observers over a longer period. 26 In addition to this, personal interviews, together with wife or husband of the respective expatriate are increasing as it is important that they support and understand situation and coming tasks. They can help the expatriate to stay grounded and sometimes they even move with the expatriate to the new country. Last, tests can be used as a selection technique ranging from general mental ability tests to psychological tests. Finally, neither in literature nor in practice a general opinion which of the above mentioned selection processes and criteria are most appropriate or useful in regards to international assignments or the identification of intercultural competent employees exist. 27 3. Contractual conditions of the employment abroad 3. 1 Objectives of a contract No matter if a company operates nationally or internationally, the contract of an employee should be compliant with labour law standards, offer transparency and motivate staff in order to decrease fluctuation. Further, it should provide the legal and financial frame work of the working relation and last but not least should be economical and cost effective for the company. Protection of human life, health, and comfort by creating a strong and cohesive culture as well as safe working environment should been given highest priority and objective of contracts. 3. 2 Compensation Depending on the international orientation of the company as well as kind and duration of the international assignment there are three different compensation policies which can be differentiated, following below. 3. 2. 1 Ethnocentric compensation policy The Ethnocentric compensation policy is often used in combination with the Balance Sheet Approach: During a short-term assignment (delegation, 1 to 5 years)28, the employee retains his residence in the home country. His family usually stays back there, as moving those with the expatriate would exceed costs. The salary is paid by the parent company in the currency of the country of origin and charges can be passed on to the foreign company if applicable. The employee remains employee of the parent company and retains his employment contract. A supplementary agreement to this contract is set up for all specialties such as tasks, duration, home flights, remuneration vacation etc. 29 About 60 % of German companies are using this compensation policy for their assignments. 30 Advantages are on hand: The expatriate can maintain home country living standards and generally receives a surplus for the additional future challenges and efforts. Therefore, this approach is accepted by most employees. Disadvantages for the company are sometimes massive compensation differences within a country e. g. the salary of a PCN might be considerably higher as that of a HCN. This fact might de-motivate local employees. Furthermore, the ethnocentric compensation policy is complex in administration. 31 3. 2. 2 Regiocentric compensation policy The Regiocentric compensation policy is often used in combination with the Going Rate Approach: During long-term assignment (relocation, 1 to 5 years)32 compensation is based on the Host Country. As the term ‘relocation’ already says, the employee gets directly involved in the foreign company. Usually, the family moves with the expatriate to the hospitable country and the salary is paid in the local currency directly by the foreign company. However, there are ways to still pay out a part of the salary in the currency of the home country, if desired. The existing contract with the parent company is brought to rest. The employment relationship however is not cancelled just like during military service or parental leave. At the termination of employment abroad the contractual ties between employee and parent company come back to life again. 33 Currently, approximately 11 % of German companies are using this compensation policy for their assignments. 34 Advantages are quite obvious: As the salary of the expatriates is linked to the salary structure of the host country salaries might be less costly in low-wage countries. Further the approach encourages equality between locals and expatriates and the identification with the host country. Due to an expected change in the living standards as well as huge variation between the expatriates’ salaries in different countries this approach is often very low accepted by expatriates. 35 3. 2. 3 Global compensation policy The global compensation policy neither considers the standards of the parent country nor those of the host country. Compensation is set globally and independently from other countries. This approach should provide the basis for an international remuneration policy. It should fit into corporate identity and should give international expatriates of MNC the opportunity to gain international experiences on the same level, offering transparency and the same salaries worldwide. Although corporate guidelines for a compensation policy often exist, they can hardly be found in the above described pure form but are being mixed up as due to costs and laws in the host countries compensation policies often require adjustment. 36 4. Preparation and support In order to make the international assignment a huge success for both the candidate and the company there are several measures which can be taken to prepare and support the expatriate. Support is an on-going process and done by superiors, responsible persons or agencies. It does only end after repatriation whereas the preparation phase should start directly after recruitment and ends with the expatriate departing. According to Festing, training and support have to take the process of cultural adjustment into account, and can therefore be divided into the phases described below37. 4. 1 â€Å"Pre-Departure† Training Preparation and training can help to improve the ability to interact effectively and adequately with foreigners in working and non-working environments38. An ideal pre-departure preparation is therefore quite necessary. This preparation should enhance knowledge about cultural, political, legal, economic, and social conditions of the host country and provides the expatriate with all general information. If the expatriate is not fluent in the host country language, foreign language instructions and trainings should be offered. Other practices of pre-departure training include look-and-see-trips, orientation by lectures and briefings, cross-cultural trainings in order to understand why foreign partners think and behave in different ways as well as briefings by returnees who can give the expatriate valuable and important insider information. These pre-departure trainings should be extended to the expatriates’ family wherever possible and necessary. 39 4. 2 â€Å"Start-upâ€Å" Training After departure of the expatriate, the start-up training in the host country begins. The parent company helps the expatriate and his or her family in different forms (coping with the adaptation to a foreign environment, accommodation, school for children, safeguarding the interests of the expatriate in the parent company etc. ) and continues to be present. The intensity of the support varies depending on the resources and systems the different MNCs have implemented. A mentor system is most common and should ensure that each expatriate has been assigned a senior executive at home or on-site, who has a â€Å"parent† function. 40 Furthermore, a detailed employee orientation plan for the new position in the host country can be helpful for the expatriate to find his or her way around. The continuous and direct contact to the headquarter during this stage is crucial as the expatriates should still feel connected to the company and not be left behind. Often expatriates continue to learn the language of the new country in local courses, receive specific further trainings or coaching either by experts from the parent company or by local trainers. 4. 3 â€Å"Cultural shock preventionâ€Å" Training As adoption of new thoughts and behaviours of a new culture and situation requires more time than any cross-cultural training program can offer the expatriate in advance during this stage the expatriate requires extensive support. As expatriates tend to see everything more from a touristic point of view first, they finally arrive in the host country. They easily get frustrated or disappointed by a variety of things (language barriers, behavioural differences, climate etc. ) during this stage and the experience of unpredictability in combination with the feeling of abandonment and isolation possibly comes over the expatriate and his or her family. Helpful during this stage is the assigned mentor. The expatriate can talk with the mentor about his or her feelings and share information and experience. An information exchange with other expatriates is also advantageous as they often understand problems, feelings, and thoughts better as the mentor. If the expatriate is accompanied by his or her family and the spouse does not work during the international assignment, cultural adaptation difficulties are quite more problematic and more intense than the expatriates’. 41 5. Repatriation 5. 1 Reintegration Generals â€Å"When the expatriate is sent abroad he expects the new, unknown situation and the problems involved. But when he returns to his home country, he encounters it completely unexpected†42. This statement of Adler still describes the situation an expatriate often has to face when returning to the home country very well. They have left with a special task or order to complete but when they return they often do not exactly know how their position in the headquarter and their life will look like. Further problems are often connected to the duration of the assignment, the expatriates personal experiences made in the host country, cultural differences on-site and abroad, the expatriates personal situation as well as the repatriation support. 43 Therefore, it is hard to find a general recipe for successful reintegration planning. Individual solutions have to be found and every international assignment and expatriate has to be looked after individually. â€Å"The repatriation of staff into the parent company already starts with the selection and preparation decisions for the foreign assignment. The reintegration does not end with the return to the parent company and is not completed until the staff has been introduced to its new position in the company’s headquarters, performs effectively and feels comfortable with his job†44. In order for the expatriate to reintegrate successfully and not to quit the company after the assignment and a consequent loss for the mother company of investment and expertise (human capital), the reintegration process should be divided into the three stages following below. 5. 2 Before expatriation Already before the international assignment has taken place it should be discussed with the expatriate what he or she expects of a future position, how the expatriate would like to develop, how the expatriate sees the future career as well as tasks. This is often done by the mentor of the expatriate for the international assignment. As the expatriation program is very expensive and time consuming for a company, failure rate or the possibility of the expatriate leaving the company after the assignment should be eliminated. Generally, an employee, who is willing to work and live for probably years in a foreign country, with all personal consequences, should be integrated into an internal performance program, right at the beginning of the assignment. Setting up an agreement outlining the type of position expatriates will be placed in upon repatriation, the compensation and a general idea of their future job description should be arranged prior to going abroad. 45 Another possibility to limit reintegration problems is the idea to limit the assignment in its duration in advance to about 3-5 years. This limitation should prevent the expatriate from getting too attached to the way of living, behaviour, values, and culture of the host country and facilitate repatriation upon return. 46 It is seen as advantageous that the expatriate is able to foresee a concrete end to the assignment. 47 5. 3 During expatriation During the assignment, it is important that the expatriate has continuous contact and an on-going information exchange with the home office. This can be done by the mentoring program itself, regular home flights, company newsletters, information exchange platforms, and media like intranet or weekly telephone conferences with superiors and colleagues. 48 The expatriate should feel as a part of the company and should also be able to develop a worldwide network, learn to think global, and actively exchange information, knowledge and experience with other colleagues and expatriates. There should never come up the feeling to be forgotten or left behind. 5. 4 After expatriation As indicated by Johnston, from the repatriate’s perspective problems associated with reintegrating into the home country are loss of status, loss of autonomy, loss of career direction, and a feeling that the company undervalues international experience. 49 In order to avoid these problems, most MNCs offer a reorientation program where their repatriates take part in. These reorientation programs can provide immediate help in most of the work-related questions arising after expatriation. The repatriate is given information on new products, organizational changes, personnel, corporate culture, market and new strategies and developments. Sometimes also an experience exchange with former expatriates takes place in order to facilitate reintegration and manage the reverse culture shock as well as sudden change in lifestyle. The former expatriates can help the repatriates to cope with their new experiences as they have been mainly through the same. Additionally, repatriates are often used to train and coach colleagues that are about to begin their assignments to share their experience and give the expatriate the perception that their work and international expertise is valued, recognized, and needed. This should avoid professional disappointment and under-utilization of newly developed global skills of the expatriates. The new position of the repatriate should fit to newly developed skills and experience or the former position should be extended but not restricted to nine-to-five work. Career deficits upon returning should be compensated by HR training methods. Social repatriation measures also include support in the adjustment back to social lifestyle, status, housing, financial counselling, and tax assistance, school systems and children’s education as well as spouses new job search, if applicable. 50 6. Conclusion 6. 1 Target achievement â€Å"Expatriation is an important step towards becoming a global leader†51. Furthermore, an international assignment is a powerful experience in shaping the perspective and capabilities of effective global leaders. People are the key to success; they are the ones behind the strategy. Developing and retaining human capital becomes more and more important nowadays. â€Å"During expatriation, managers find the opportunity to acquire and/or master their coping, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution, negotiation, networking, and coaching skills. They also develop business, technical, and managerial competencies while overseas, where they have to adapt to a variety of roles such as integrator, balancer, change agent, mentor/motivator, and talent developer. If international assignments are important to global leadership development, then this opportunity should be given early in a manager’s life†52. Additionally to give mangers and/or employees the opportunity to international assignments they have to be prepared and supported to become successful. This term paper points out that cross-cultural training, support, preparation, and repatriation training can make a difference in the history of successes of international assignments of MNCs, although it is mainly underestimated. Employees are hired everywhere in the world, wherever the necessary skills, training and experience can be found. Due to time pressure, employees are often sent to foreign countries on very short notice. Furthermore, there is still a prevalent belief that intercultural knowledge and skills are not really essential to success when collaboration with foreigners. In addition to this ignorance, there are doubts about the training effectiveness. Managers are frequently not convinced that cross-cultural training is really an effective means for gaining control of the complex issues of international cooperation. These facts make it somehow quite difficult to progress in the international assignment process. 53 6. 2 Prospects Today, an international assignment is more than only vacation abroad. The learning-by-doing approach had become outdated. In order to keep up with internationalization, companies should focus on developing global leaders and therefore structure their IHRM process quite well. This includes a strategic expatriation and repatriation policy as losing repatriates to the competition will sooner or later create a huge competitive risk and already costs the company quite a lot of money. In order to progress and ameliorate the international assignment process however, companies have to conduct further research in some fields. This starts with selecting the right candidate for the job. How does the job look like in detail and which requirements are set? How long should the assignment exactly take and what are the specific goals? A concrete job description is one step forward to a structured IHRM process. If the expatriate e. g. is accompanied by the spouse, which possibilities does the company have to find an adequate job for both in the same region (dual career couples)? If it would be possible to enhance satisfaction of the spouse of the expatriate, this might also reduce the risk of failure of the assignment. The same question is to be asked upon their return. Furthermore, research is also needed with regard to the question of how the allocation of the position the expatriate will receive upon return can be planned and implemented in the long run. The expatriate should have the impression that career planning is well structured and thought-out. Another question could be how expatriates are able to successfully pass on their knowledge generated abroad, in their home company. Organisational learning should be most important as otherwise the expensive purchased knowledge is lost and worthless. The above named questions are only several which could arise during each company’s individual research and amelioration process. List of references Adler, N. J. (1986): International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, Boston 1986 Armstrong, M. (2003): A handbook of human resource management practice, 9th edition, Kogan Page Limited, London 2003 Bergemann, N. , Sourisseaux, A. L. (2003): Internationale Personalauswahl, in: Interkulturelles Management, pp. 181-235, Berlin, Heidelberg 2003 Black, J. S. , Mendenhall, M. (1990): Cross-cultural training effectiveness: A review and a theoretical framework for future research, in: Academy of Management Review 1990, 15. Jg. , Nr. 1, pp. 113-136 Brynningsen, G. (2009): Managing Expatriates on International Assignments, Otago Management Graduate Review 2009, 7. Jg. , pp. 1-17 Caligiuri, P. , Lazarova, M. (2001): Strategic repatriation policies to enhance global leadership in: M. Mendenhall, T. Kuhlmann and G. Stahl (Hrsg. ): Developing global business leaders: Policies, processes, and innovations, Westport 2001, pp. 243-256 Collings, D. G. , Scullion, H. (2004): Approaches to international staf? ng, Global staffing, New York 2004 De Cieri, H. , Dowling, P. J. (2006): Strategic international human resource management in multinational enterprises: Developments and directions, in: Stahl, G. K. , Bjorkmann, I. (Hrsg. ): Handbook of research in international human resource management, Glos (UK) 2006, pp. 15-35 Deshpande, S. P. , Viswesvaran, C. (1992): Is cross-cultural training of expatriate managers effective: A meta analysis, in: International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1992, 16. Jg. , Nr. 3, pp. 295-310 Dowling, P. , Weber, W. , Engle, A. D. (2010): Internationales Personalmanagement, Berlin 2010 Feldman, D. , Thomas, D. (1992): Career management Issues Facing Expatriates, in: Journal of International Business Studies, 1992, Vol. 23, No. 2, 2nd Qtr. , pp. 271-293 Festing, M. , Dowling, P. J. , Weber, W. , Engle, A. D. (2011): Internationales Personalmanagement, 3. Auflage, Wiesbaden 2011 Gaugler, E. (1989): Repatriierung von Stammhausdelegierten, in: Macharzina, K. , Welge, M. K. (Hrsg): in: Handworterbuch: Export und internationale Unternehmung, Stuttgart 1989, Sp. 1937-1951 Gregersen, H. B. , Mendenhall, M. E. , Stroh, L. K. (1999): Globalizing people through international assignments, New Jersey 1999 Harvey, M. , Novicevic, M. (2006): The evolution from repatriation of managers in MNEs to ‘patriation’ in global organizations, in: Stahl, G. K. , Bjorkmann, I. (Hrsg. ): Handbook of research in international human resource management, Glos (UK) 2006, pp. 323-346 Harvey, M. , Moeller, M. (2009): Expatriate mangers: A historical review, in: International Journal of management reviews, 2009, 11. Jg. , Nr. 3, pp. 275-296 Hays, R. D. (1974): Expatriate selection: Insuring success and avoiding failure, in: Journal of International Business Studies, 1974, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 25-37 Johnston, J. (1991): An Empirical Study of Repatriation of Managers in UK Multinationals, in: Human Resource Management Journal, 1991, 1. Jg. , Nr. 4, pp. 102-109 Kealey, D. J. , Protheroe, D. R. (1996): The effectiveness of cross-cultural training for expatriates: An assessment of the literature on the issue, in: International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1996, 20. Jg. , Nr. 2, pp. 141-165 Kuhlmann, T. M. , Stahl, G. K. (1998): Diagnose interkultureller Kompetenz und Examinierung eines Assessment Centers, in: Barmeyer, C. I. , Bolten, J. (Hrsg. ): Interkulturelle Personalorganisation, Berlin 1998 Mendenhall, M. E. , Kuhlmann, T. M. , Stahl, G. K. (Eds. ). (2001): Developing global business leaders: Policies, processes, and innovations, Porthsmouth 2001 Mendenhall, M. E. , Kuhlmann, T. M. , Stahl, G. K. , Osland, J. S. (2002): Employee Devopment and Expatriate Assignments, in: Gannon, M. J. , Newman, K. L. (Hrsg. ): The Blackwell handbook of cross-cultural management, Oxford 2002, pp. 155-183 Mertesacker, M. (2010): Die Interkulturelle Kompetenz im Internationalen Human Resource Management: Eine konfirmatorische Evaluation, Lohmar 2010 Pellico, M. T. , Stroh, L. K. (1997): Spousal assistance programs: An integral component of the international assignment, in: Aycam, Z. (Hrsg. ): New approaches to employee management, Expatriate Management: Theory and research, Vol. 4, Philadelphia 1997, pp. 227-243 Peltonen, T. , Ladwig, D. (2005): Repatriierung und Identitatsbildung: Eine neue Betrachtungsweise der Reintegration nach einem Auslandseinsatz, in: Stahl, G. K. , Mayrhofer, W. , Kuhlmann, T. M. (Hrsg. ): Internationales Personalmanagement, neue Aufgaben, neue Losungen, Munchen und Mering 2005, pp. 325-346 Scherm, E. (1999): Internationales Personalmanagement, 2. Auflage, Munchen 1999 Scherm, E. , Su? , S. (2009): Internationales Management III, Personal und Controlling, 2. Auflage, Hagen 2009 Scherm, E. , Su? , S. (2011): Personalmanagement, Munchen 2011 Solomon, C. (1995): Repatriation, Up, Down, or Out? â€Å", in: Personnel Journal, 1995, Vol. 74, No. 1, p. 28 Stahl, G. K. , Miller, E. L. , Tung, R. L. (2002): Toward the boundaryless career: a closer look at the expatriate career concept and the perceived implications of an international assignment, in: Journal of World Business, 2002, 37. Jg. , Nr. 3, pp. 216-227 Trends Survey 2009: Toronto et al. : Brookfield Global Relocation Services Wagner, D. , Zander, E. , Hauke, C. (1992): Handbuch der Personalleitung: Funktionen und Konzeptionen der Personalarbeit im Unternehmen, Munchen 1992 Weber, W. , Festing, M. , Dowling, P. , Schuler, R. (2001): Internationales Personal-Management, 2. Auflage, Wiesbaden 2001 Declaration in lieu of oath I hereby declare that I produced the submitted paper with no assistance from any other party and without the use of any unauthorized aids and, in particular, that I have marked as quotations all passages, which are reproduced verbatim or nearby-verbatim from publications. Also, I declare that the submitted print version of this term paper is identical with its digital version. Further, I declare that this term paper has never been submitted before to any other examination board in either its present form or in any other similar version. I herewith agree that this term paper may be published. I herewith consent that this term paper may be uploaded to the server of external contractors for the purpose of submitting it to the contractors’ plagiarism detection systems. Uploading this term paper for the purpose of submitting it to plagiarism detection systems is not a form of publication.

Oregon Wines Essay Example for Free

Oregon Wines Essay Although winemaking dates back to 1840’s, in Oregon, commercial production began in 1960’s (Hall). Having a relatively short history of 50 years, today, Oregon is the third largest wine producer state of United States. As of 2009, the state hosts to 453 wineries which are mostly small and family-owned (Wine Communications Group). History of the Oregon Wine Industry The first grape plantation in the region was made by horticulturist Henderson Luelling, in Willamette Valley by 1847. By the 1850’s Peter Britt started growing wine grapes in his Valley View Vineyard, today’s Applegate Valley. According to the census; in 1860, wine production was 11,800 litres (2,600 gallons) in Oregon (Hall). By the 1880’s, Edward and John von Pessls planted Zinfandel, Riesling, and an unkown variety of Sauvignon in southern Oregon. At the same times in the north, in Willamette Valley, Ernest Reuter has been growing Klevner wines which brought him a gold medal at St. Louis World’s Fair of 1904 (Hall). The wine industry in Oregon closed down in 1919 because of the Prohibition. It revived by the late 1930’s as a fruit wine-based producer region. At that time there were only two producers, Louis Herbold and Adolph Doener growing grapes. Oregon’s wine industry was also damaged by the success of California winemakers (Hall). The rebirth of Oregon wines dates back to 1961, when Richard Sommer founded Hill Crest Vineyard near Roseburg. Although the production was based on Riesling, he also planted some Gewurztraminer, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 1965, David Lett, the owner of Eyrie Vineyard, planted his first Pinot Noir near Convallis and after 1966, continued the production at Willamette Valley in the Dundee hills. This was the beginning of the era of Pinot Noir which Oregon is nowadays famous for (Hall). By the 1970’s many winemakers immigrated to Oregon from California. Some of them where David and Ginny Adelsheim, Dick Erath, Dick and Nancy Ponzi, Jerry and Ann Preston, Pat and Joe Campbell, Susan and Bill Sokol Blosser and Myron Redford. However, David Lett was the one who placed Oregon on the world’s wine map. In 1980, 1975 Eyrie Vineyard’s South Block Reserve Pinot Noir came second in the grand tasting of wines sponsored by the French Gault Millau guide and this called the attention of press to Oregon as a wine producer state (Hall). In 1990, Oregon was hosted to 70 wineries and 320 growers in 5,682 acres vineyard. In the early 1990s, Oregon wine industry got into the danger of Phylloxera infestation which was prevented quickly by the use of resistant rootstocks. Some beneficial laws for winemakers were enacted by the Oregon Legislature in 1995. For instance, direct in-state shipment from wineries to customers and in-store tasting were legalized (Chemeketa Community College). In 2000, the number of wineries had increased to 135 and 500 growers had been engaged in grapery in 10,500 acres vineyard. In the 2000’s producers have began giving importance to green wine production in Oregon (Chemeketa Community College). An Oregon non-profit organization, Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc. , has been certifying wineries for meeting certain environmental standards (Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc. ) In 2005, there were 314 wineries and 519 vineyards in Oregon (Chemeketa Community College). Grape Varietals Grown in Oregon Red Wine Varieties| White Grape Varieties| Baco Noir| Chardonnay| Barbera| Chenin Blanc| Black Muscat| Early Muscat| Cabarnet Franc| Gewurtztraminer| Cabarnet Sauvignon| Huxelrebe| Carmine| Melon| Dolcetto| Muller Thrugau| Gamay Noir| Muscat Canelli| Grenache| Pinot Blanc|. Leon Millot| Pinot Gris| Malbec| Riesling| Marechal Foch| Sauvignon Blanc| Merlot| Scheurebe| Petit Verdot| Semillon| Pinot Meunier| Viognier| Pinor Noir| | Sangiovese| | Syrah| | Zinfandel| | (Bernard’s Wine Gallery) Types of Wine Produced in Oregon In Oregon, wine production is mostly based on Pinot Noir and the state is one of the first Pinot-producing regions in the world. Apart from the list below indicating the wine varieties, the state also produces sparkling wine, late harvest wine, ice wine, and dessert wine (Hall). Red Wine Varieties| White Wine Varieties|. Produced in great amount| Cabarnet Sauvignon| Gewurtztraminer| Pinot Noir| Muller Thurgau| Syrah| Pinot Blanc| | Sauvignon Blanc| | Semillon| Produced in smaller amount| Baco Noir| Arneis| Cabarnet Franc| Chenin Blanc| Dolcetto| Viognier| Gamay Noir| | Grenache| | Marechal Foch| | Malbec| | Muscat| | Nebbiolo| | Petit Syrah| | Sangiovese| | Tempranillo| | Zinfandel| | Viticultural Area of Oregon Willamette Valley â€Å"Willamette Valley is the largest AVA of Oregon, running from the Columbia River in Portland south through Salem to the Calapooya Mountains outside Eugene†. The valley is 150 miles long and almost 60 miles wide (Oregon Wine Board). In the valley, summers are generally warm and arid and the winters are cool and rainy. It is ideal for cool climate grapes due to its temperate climate and coastal marine influences. During the growing season, the valley has more daylight hours than other areas of Oregon (Oregon Wine Board). â€Å"The Willamette Valley is an old volcanic and sedimentary seabed that has been overlaid with gravel, silt, rock and boulders brought by the Missoula Floods from Montana and Washington between thousands of years ago. Red Jory soil is the most common volcanic type in the region and provides excellent drainage for superior quality wine grapes. † (Oregon Wine Board) â€Å"The valley is surrounded by the Coast Range to the west, the Cascades to the east and a series of hill chains to the north† (Oregon Wine Board). The Willamette River runs through the middle of the valley. Most of the vineyards are concentrated on the west of this river, on the slopes of the Coast Range, or among the valleys and they are mostly located a few hundred feet above sea level (Oregon Wine Board). Columbia Valley Although the Columbia Valley AVA is an 11 million acre growing region, only a small section with 185 miles wide and 200 miles long lies in Oregon (Oregon Wine Board). The valley has a mostly continental high desert climate. The hot days and cool nights provide slow, even ripening and helps grapes keep their natural acidity. Annually, the area only receives 6 to 8 inches of rainfall which makes supplemental irrigation essential in the entire region (Oregon Wine Board). The area is covered with silt and sand which was deposited about 15,000 years ago. The deposited silt and sand came to the region 15,000 years ago because of a series of massive ice age floods and wind-blown loess sediment. Today the region is mostly covered by loess (fine grained calcerous silt) which is well drained and ideal for grapevines (Oregon Wine Board). The Columbia Valley mostly lies on the Columbia River Plateau. The valley is bordered by the mountain ranges on the west and north, by the Columbia River on the south and by the Snake River near Idaho on the east (Oregon Wine Board). Walla Walla Valley. As a sub-appellation of the Columbia Valley AVA, The Walla Walla Valley AVA is in the northeast of Oregon. Although most of the wineries of Walla Walla Valley are located in Washington, almost half of the vines are produced in the Oregon side (Oregon Wine Board). The region has long sunshine-filled days and cool evening temperatures. Annual rainfall is 12. 5 inches due to the Cascade Mountain Range. Therefore, irrigation is necessary for grape growing (Oregon Wine Board). The soils of the region consist of varying combinations of well-drained loam, cobbles, silt and loess (Oregon Wine Board). The valley is located at the foot of the Blue Mountains, with vineyard elevations varying from 650 to 1,500 feet. Cascade Mountain Range borders the western side of the valley (Oregon Wine Board). Umpqua Valley The Umpqua Valley AVA is surrounded by the Coast Range from the west, the Cascade Range from the east, the Willamette Valley AVA from the north and the Rogue Valley AVA from the south. The valley is 65 miles long and 25 miles wide. Umpqua River runs nearby the valley (Oregon Wine Board). There are three different climatic sub-zones in the valley. First one is the northern area around the town of Elkton which has a cool, marine-influenced climate suitable for cool-climate grape varieties. Annual rainfall is around 50 inches; therefore, the viticulturists only benefit from the rain to grow their vines. Second is the central area to the northwest of Roseburg which has an intermediate climate allowing both cool and warm varieties to grow. Last area is located on the south of Roseburg. It is suitable for warm-climate varieties, such as Tempranillo, Syrah and Merlot. This area is more arid which makes irrigation necessary (Oregon Wine Board). The Valley has diverse soils with more than 150 soil types. â€Å"The valley floor levels have mostly deep alluvial or heavy clay materials, while the hillsides and bench locations have mixed alluvial, silt or clay structures† (Oregon Wine Board). The Umpqua Valley is made up of a series of interconnecting small mountain ranges and valleys. The complex topography of the valley is a result of the collision of the Klamath Mountains, the Coast Range and the Cascades (Oregon Wine Board). Rogue Valley The Rogue Valley AVA is located in the border of California. It is 70 miles wide by 60 miles long. Rogue Valley has the highest elevations of Oregons winegrowing regions on the east. However, it is also the warmest and the driest, allowing the winemakers to grow warm-weather varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc. Cool-weather varieties, including Pinot noir do well here due to the mountain and ocean influences (Oregon Wine Board). Rogue Valley has various soil types, ranging from sandy loam to hard clay (Oregon Wine Board). Vineyards are generally located 1,200 to 2,000 feet above the sea level and planted on hillsides. The Klamath Mountains, the Coastal Range and the Cascades converging in Rogue Valley lead to a diverse landscape. Besides, the namesake river and its tributaries, the Applegate, Illinois and Bear Creek Rivers run though the valley (Oregon Wine Board). Viticultural Practices in Oregon In Oregon, viticulturists mainly use vertical shoot position (VSP) training. However, combination of Scott Henry and Lyre is also used, with lesser amounts of GDC and hanging. Standard rootstocks used in Oregon are 101-14 and 3309, with a lot of 5C and SO4. Low to moderate vigor sites are being developed to keep the canopies small. Although some meter by meter plantings exist, majority of the vineyards are falling into the 84 to 95 range for quality. Creative viticultural practices are being used in Oregon, for example, â€Å"Joel Myer, a local vineyard consultant, uses a sensible linear feet of trellis formula to determine yields. He suggests that a pound of fruit per foot of trellis will give optimal fruit quality. At Bethel Heights Vineyard, Ted Casteel thins all Pinot Noir to one cluster per shoot. He is also experimenting with planting vines side by side, about a foot apart, and training to single guyot, to increase vine competition and slow vigor. He is also taking one of his most successful Pinot Noir fields on vertical shoot position (VSP) training and converting it to Scott Henry, just to see if opening the canopy will help enhance the ripening process and flavor development (Chien). † â€Å"Oregon has been committed to sustainable winegrowing and earth-friendly practices. Numerous vineyards of the state are certified sustainable, organic, or biodynamic† (Voorhees). Two main organizations that certify Oregon’s vineyards and wineries as sustainable are LIVE and OCSW. Low Input Viticulture Enology (LIVE). LIVE is an organization that provides education and independent third-party certification approving that the vineyards and wineries use international standards of sustainable viticulture and enology practices. They have been certifying vineyards and wineries in Oregon since 1999, in Washington since 2006 and nowadays in all of the Pacific Northwest. LIVE cooperates with Salmon-Safe in order to point out the watershed impacts and administers the Carbon Reduction Challenge, an organization helping wineries achieve energy efficiencies (Voorhees). Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine (OCSW). Founded in 2008, OCSW highlights the commitment of Oregon wineries to the responsible grape growing and winemaking. The organization certifies wine growers who meet both agricultural and winemaking requirements on sustainability and provides them a certification logo to be easily recognized by customers. To meet the agricultural requirements, 97% of the grape must be certified by LIVE, USDA Organic, Demeter Biodynamic, or Food Alliance and Salmon-Safe. On the other hand, to meet the winemaking requirements, the winery must be certified by LIVE, USDA Organic, Demeter Biodynamic, or Food Alliance (Voorhees). Producers within Oregon Valley View Winery Valley View Winery, owned by Wisnovsky family, is located in the Applegate Valley AVA, Southern Oregon. Valley View was founded in 1972 and it is one of the oldest wineries in Oregon. Valley View is famous for its pioneering efforts in producing Bordeaux varieties and blends. They mainly use grapes from the Applegate and Bear Creek Valleys of Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley and produce Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Viognier, Sauvignon blanc, Rousanne, Chardonnay and Syrah (Valley View Winery). The Eyrie Vineyards. The Eyrie Vineyards was founded by David Lett in 1966. It is composed of 49 acres in several different vineyards in Dundee Hills, Oregon which is a sub-American Viticultural Area (AVA) of Willamette Valley AVA. David Lett produced the first Pinot gris in the United States and first Pinot Noir in the Willamette Valley. The Eyrie Vineyards divide their production into three as Estate Reserve wines, Estate wines, and Limited Bottlings. All grapes for their Estate Reserve wines; Pinot noir and Chardonnay, come from Eyrie’s original planting. This is the oldest plating in the Willamette Valley at 40 years. The grapes for Eyrie’s Estate wines come mostly from their three other vineyards; Stonehedge, Sisters, and Rolling Green Farm which were planted in the 1980’s. They grow Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay. Finally, their small production, limited bottling wines include Muscat Ottonel, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier (The Eyrie Vineyards). Abacela Vineyard and Winery In 1992, Earl and Hilda Jones bought a 19th century homestead in southern part of the Umpqua Valley to produce Tempranillo wines which they fell in love to in Spain. In 1994 they built the winery and began planting the Tempranillos they purchased from California. They chose the Umpqua Valley because of its similar climate to the one of Spain’s Rioja and Ribera del Duero regions where Tempranillo grapes are grown. Today, in addition to the eight different Tempranillo clones at Abacela, they grow grapes and produce wine from Spains white variety, Albarino, as well as other Iberian varieties including Graciano, Tinta roriz and Bastardo (used in the production of port-style wines) and French varieties such as Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Petit verdot and Viognier (Wines Northwest). Bibliography Abacela Vine Wine Center in Oregons Umpqua Valley Wine Region. Wines Northwest. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. http://www. winesnw. com/abacela. htm. About The Eyrie Vineyards. The Eyrie Vineyards. N. p. , n. d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. http://www. eyrievineyards. com/journal/? page_id=4. Chien, Mark L. The Oregon Wine Community and Its Viticulture. Pennsylvannia Wine Grape Network. Penn State Cooperative Extension, n. d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. http://www. pawinegrape. com/uploads/PDF%20files/Documents/Travelogues/Other%20Locals/The%20Oregon%20Wine%20Industry%20and%20its%20Viticulture. pdf. Hall, Lisa Shara. History of the Oregon Wine Industry. History of the Oregon Wine Industry. Ed. Mitchell Beazley. N. p. , n. d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. http://avalonwine. com/Oregon-Wine-history. php. History of Oregon Wine. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 May 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History_of_Oregon_wine. Low Input Viticulture and Enology, Inc. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. http://www. liveinc. org/. Northwest Viticultural Center: Oregon Wine Historical Milestones. Discover Chemeketa Community College. Chemeketa.

Analysis Of The Teenage Magazine Market Sector

Analysis Of The Teenage Magazine Market Sector The following section of the plan provides a brief analysis of the teenage magazine market sector. In particular, total volume and value of sales is investigated and critically discussed. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide an assessment and analysis of the key competitors in the market sector and the target group of consumers. Advertising expenditures are also explored in this section. In addition, it will be relevant to scan the external environment of the industry which includes political, economic, social and technological factors unified under PEST framework. Thus, this section will attempt to make a contribution to the identification of the potential opportunities, which may be used for a new brand. The following graph illustrates the total yearly subscriptions for the UK magazines by sector. As it may be seen from the histogram, children and teenage magazines constitute the most numerous and dominant sector. They account for as much as 32.7% of the whole magazine market. The second largest sector is womens traditional magazines. Its market share is equal to 12.9%. Other sectors with the market shares ranging from 10% to 11% are TV listings, mens monthlies, sports and music and the remaining sectors. The least popular type of magazines is home interest as they were found to account for only 4.2% of the market. These findings reveal that children and teenage magazines are most popular among the UK readers. The next graph reveals that the total volume of sales of teenage magazines in the UK has fallen in the recent past. It may be observed that in 2008, as many as 47,535,000 units of magazines were sold. The indicator decreased to the level of 41,794,000 units in 2009. Moreover, in 2010, the total volume of sales constituted only 38,040,000. Hence, the market for teenage magazines in the UK has been going down. This reduction of sales may be explained by the growing popularity of on-line media and portals for teenagers. Printed magazines are often substituted by social networking and entertaining web applications. This tendency may be discussed in the light of the standard product life cycle (PLC) curve. As presented by the following graph, the PLC curve consists of the four main stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. These stages imply different changes in the volume of sales. The recent fall of the volume of sales of the UK teenage magazines indicates that the product passes through the decline stage. It means that the producers of the UK teenage magazines will not achieve the maximum volume of sales unless the product is improved or changed. Correspondingly, the total value of sales of teenage magazines has reduced recently. In 2008, the value of sales constituted  £99,039,000. The indicator decreased to the level of  £88,245,000 in 2009. In 2010, the reduction of sales value continued and the indicator reached  £86,138,000. The fall of volume and value occurred during the period 2008-2010. Hence, it may be concluded that the UK market for teenage magazines has been shrinking and narrowing. Among the major competitors in the UK market for teenage magazines it is valid to mention Elle Girl, Glamour, GQ, Grazia Magazine, Heat, New!, OK! and Yours. Their relative market shares are reported in the following figure. As it may be seen from the histogram, New!, Ok! and Glamour are the most popular teenage magazine brands in the UK. Their market shares are equal to 15.7%, 15.4% and 13.5% respectively. The market share of Heat constitutes as much as 12.4%. Such brands as Grazia, Yours, Elle Girl and GQ occupy 6.7%, 6.5%, 5.1% and 3.1% of the market. Other brands, which are less popular, account for 21.6% of the market. Critical analysis of these brands may reveal that GQ is the worst performing magazine. Its market share is the smallest among major magazines. This may be explained by the narrow specialisation of the magazine. The target audience of the magazine are males from 16 to 24 years old. Teen girls are more inclined to reading magazines than teen boys. The researchers reported that girls read more screen and confession magazines . On the contrary, the most successful teenage magazine brands are New! and Ok! (these magazines have the largest market share in the UK market). This success can be explained by the proper and suitable content. The teenage magazines include celebrity interviews, dating tips, fashion tips and descriptions and samples of the popular cosmetic products. Such content is highly appreciated by the target audience. Another advantage over the rivals in the market segment is availability of the magazines. Teenage magazines have relatively low prices in comparison with other glossies. Furthermore, these magazines are universal. They are read by teenage girls as well as medium-aged women. Brand positioning of the major teenage magazines in the UK can be presented as follows. Kumar developed a special framework, which differentiates between economy brands, bargain brands, cowboy brands and premium brands. The differentiation is based on the two dimensions: quality and price of the production. The brand positioning framework can be graphically presented as shown below. None of the mentioned magazines refers to the category of economy brands. The major teenage magazines do not combine the two qualities, i.e. low quality and low price, at once. However, New! and Ok! can be classified as bargain brands. They belong to the moderate price category, but have very rich and diversified contents. Grazia Magazine, Yours and Heat are of lower quality, but more expensive. Hence, it allows for classifying them as cowboy brands. Finally, Elle Girl, Glamour and GQ are positioned as premium brands. It has already been mentioned that girls read teenage magazines more often than boys. Hence, the major target audience are teenage girls. The following graph provides a comparison of the percentage of teenage girls and teenage boys reading magazines. It may be observed that 55% of male teenagers are found to enjoy reading magazines. However, the female readers of teenage magazines are even more numerous and constitute 63% of all female teenagers. These findings reveal that the target group for the majority of the magazine producers are female teenagers. Another fact, which proves these findings, is that male teenagers are also inclined to reading other specialised magazines besides teenage publications. The alternatives include sports magazines, technical magazines, PC and IT magazines and others. In accordance with Kaiser Family Foundation all magazines discussed above are targeted at clearly specified groups of consumers. For instance, Elle Girl is targeted at younger sisters of the readers of Elle. Furthermore, it has been revealed that girls from 12 to 17 years old comprise up to 26% of the total number of females reading different magazines. Nevertheless, these magazines can hardly be segmented by their contents. The point is that all of them contain articles about celebrities, fashion, relationships, etc. In addition, it can be stated that the market could not be segmented according to the social classes of the teenage reader. It may be explained by the fact that teenage readers have mostly the same interests at this age regardless of the social background of their family. It is argued by Form (1995) that segmentation theory deals with the problems of coordinating huge entities like institutions, sectors, strata, or society; it holds that individual groups generally place their inter ests above those of the groups with which they interact, creating problems of intergroup coordination (Form, 1995). Relying on this statement, it may be argued that there are no many conflicts between the segments of the teenage magazine market in the UK. The point is that the difference between the demands and interests of teenage girls is not very large. It has been mentioned that they have similar interests. Hence, the majority of magazines can be easily substituted with other types. As it may be seen from the following graph, the publishers of teenage magazines use different media for advertising their production. Newspaper advertisement comprises as much as 29%. It may be stated that such a considerable percentage of newspaper ads cannot be justified since teenagers are expected to spend more time in the Internet than reading newspapers. However, if their parents subscribe to newspapers, teenagers can see the advertisement in the papers. Radio ads, TV ads and internet ads comprise 22%, 22% and 18% respectively. Outdoor advertisement constitutes only 9% of all advertising. The costs of advertising are summarised in the graph below. The figure has reported that the total teenage magazine advertising expenditure has been reduced recently. In 2008, the UK publishers of the teenage magazines spent about  £14,593,000 on advertising of their production. In 2009, the indicator decreased to the level of  £12,043,000. However, the advertising expenditure was equal to  £11,452,000 in 2010. The reduction of the total advertising expenditure may be explained by the overall decline in the market. It has already been stated that the total number of units of magazines produced yearly decreased too. Furthermore, the influence of the global financial crisis could have additional pressure on companies and make them reduce advertising costs. The advertising to sales ratio constituted 0.28 in 2005. In other words, the UK magazine publishers spent on average  £0.28 on advertising a  £1 worth magazine. It is understandable that premium brands and cowboy brands had different advertising budgets. Nevertheless, the indicator illustrates the average ratio. As it may be seen from the graph, the main types of retail outlets where teenage magazines are sold are supermarkets, other multiples and independents. Another important thing, which should be grasped from the histogram, is that the percentage of sales in each type of outlets has changed recently. In 1997, supermarkets were the least popular outlet for selling teenage magazines. Only 19% of all teenage magazines were sold there. Nevertheless, in 2007, supermarkets contributed to the sales of up to 32% of all teenage magazines. The percentage of teenage magazines sold in other multiples in 1997 and 2007 changed insignificantly. The indicator had fallen from 34% to 33% by 2007. However, the sales by independents had reduced from 42% to 37% by 2007. Delivery to retail outlets is the final stage of the teenage magazine supply chain. Today, supermarkets are becoming more and more popular as teenage magazine retailers as the graph above has revealed. However, supply chain of teenage magazines is much more complex than it may seem from the first sight. The timing of the average teenage magazine supply chain is presented in Appendix.

The Debate Concerning Stem Cell Research :: stem cell argumentative persuasive argument

"Stem cell research is the key to developing cures for degenerative conditions like Parkinson's and motor neuron disease from which I and many others suffer." -- Stephen Hawking As college students, it is important that we know and care about the issue of stem cell research. Stem cell research is currently legal in most countries. The United States, normally a leader in new frontiers, is one of the last to explore this territory. As it is slowly being pushed forward, we are going to have to know about it. If it keeps progressing, we as citizens will have to vote on it. It affects most of our lives in a personal way. Most of you know at least one person with diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or Parkinson’s. Perhaps even you will face one of these illnesses at some point in your life. It is important to know about issues like stem cell research, which can help many people in our society. Stem cell research is becoming an issue that is one of the most profound of our time. The issue of research involving stem cells derived from human embryos is increasingly the subject of dinner table discussions and a national debate. The issue is confronted every day in laboratories as scientists ponder the ethical consequences of their work. It is agonized over by parents and many couples as they try to have children, or save children already born. The issue is debated within the church, with people of different faiths, even many of the same faith coming to different conclusions. Many people are finding that the more they know about stem cell research, the less certain they are about the right ethical and moral conclusions. What is stem cell research? It starts with an embryo. An embryo is created when a male sperm and a female egg are joined. A large number of embryos already exist outside the natural environment. They are the product of a process called in vitro fertilization, which helps many couples conceive children. When doctors match sperm and egg to create life outside the womb, they usually produce more embryos than are planted in the mother. Once a couple successfully has children, or if they are unsuccessful, the additional embryos remain frozen in laboratories. Some will not survive during long storage; others are destroyed. A number have been donated to science and used to create privately funded stem cell lines.

Ethical Theories :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays

Ethical Theories Hedonism and self-realization are ethical theories that take roots in the works of Greek philosophers and that developed many branches throughout the human history. Hedonism is based on the recognition of pleasure (or happiness) and avoidance of pain as an ultimate goal of any human being and thus establish a moral ground for one’s acting in striving to be happy. In early stages, hedonism took individualistic forms of Cyrenaic and Epicurean theories. In order to lead a good life, the Cyrenaics propose to actively seek intense momentary pleasure (of any duration) from our everyday life maintaining that pleasures of our senses and the body are preferable to pleasures derived from the mind. In contrast to Cyrenaics, the Epicurean theory denies active seeking of pleasure in favor of avoidance of pain (in fact, Epicurean view defines pleasure as avoidance of pain) and stresses the importance of long-run mental contentment in life. While Cyrenaics and Epicureans sought pleasure only for themselves exercising individualistic hedonism, Stuart Mill’s theory is an example of universalistic hedonism which takes into account not only the pleasure people can gain for themselves but also how those pleasure-seeking actions affect other individuals and society in general and whose ultimate goal is to increase the amount of happiness for humankind as a whole. Specifically, Stuart Mill adhered to the theory of utilitarianism (a social hedonism) that states that moral actions are right if they produce â€Å"the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of persons.† The significance of his work is in introduction of the qualitative aspect of pleasure into utilitarianism. According to Mill, there are different kinds of pleasure and the more desirable of any two kinds is the one that is agreed to be more valuable or desirable for the majority of people who experienced both. The intellectual pleasure d erived from art, music, etc. is considered to be higher than physical pleasure derived from sex, eating, etc. Based on the classification of different kinds of pleasure performed by experts the moral values of the society can be developed and then followed by everyone. To avoid immoral actions that can be justified as means of maximizing happiness, Mill adheres to rule-utilitarian view which states that an action is right if it is based on a rule that maximizes happiness of the affected population as opposed to act-utilitarianism that evaluates the action itself. For example, a rule of helping others maximizes happiness in general so we should follow this rule. Ethical Theories :: Philosophy Philosophical Essays Ethical Theories Hedonism and self-realization are ethical theories that take roots in the works of Greek philosophers and that developed many branches throughout the human history. Hedonism is based on the recognition of pleasure (or happiness) and avoidance of pain as an ultimate goal of any human being and thus establish a moral ground for one’s acting in striving to be happy. In early stages, hedonism took individualistic forms of Cyrenaic and Epicurean theories. In order to lead a good life, the Cyrenaics propose to actively seek intense momentary pleasure (of any duration) from our everyday life maintaining that pleasures of our senses and the body are preferable to pleasures derived from the mind. In contrast to Cyrenaics, the Epicurean theory denies active seeking of pleasure in favor of avoidance of pain (in fact, Epicurean view defines pleasure as avoidance of pain) and stresses the importance of long-run mental contentment in life. While Cyrenaics and Epicureans sought pleasure only for themselves exercising individualistic hedonism, Stuart Mill’s theory is an example of universalistic hedonism which takes into account not only the pleasure people can gain for themselves but also how those pleasure-seeking actions affect other individuals and society in general and whose ultimate goal is to increase the amount of happiness for humankind as a whole. Specifically, Stuart Mill adhered to the theory of utilitarianism (a social hedonism) that states that moral actions are right if they produce â€Å"the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of persons.† The significance of his work is in introduction of the qualitative aspect of pleasure into utilitarianism. According to Mill, there are different kinds of pleasure and the more desirable of any two kinds is the one that is agreed to be more valuable or desirable for the majority of people who experienced both. The intellectual pleasure d erived from art, music, etc. is considered to be higher than physical pleasure derived from sex, eating, etc. Based on the classification of different kinds of pleasure performed by experts the moral values of the society can be developed and then followed by everyone. To avoid immoral actions that can be justified as means of maximizing happiness, Mill adheres to rule-utilitarian view which states that an action is right if it is based on a rule that maximizes happiness of the affected population as opposed to act-utilitarianism that evaluates the action itself. For example, a rule of helping others maximizes happiness in general so we should follow this rule.