Michael Porter. Procurement is Vital for Businesses

Introduction In an article titled, Competitive Advantage, which was published in 1985, Porter dismissed the role of procurement/purchasing and articulated that it played a supportive role in an organization. While that was the case then, the role of procurement in contemporary business environment has changed.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Michael Porter. Procurement is Vital for Businesses specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Indeed, Porter agrees with the assertion by saying that procurement process is one of the areas where companies can create value for the shareholders and the society. According to Porter Kramer (2011, p. 62), companies have possessed a narrow perspective of increasing the profitability of their organizations at the expense of the society. To rectify these imbalances, a myriad of companies have embarked on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a way of taking care of the stakehold ers in the periphery. Porter Kramer (2011, p. 66) introduce the concept shared value within the value chain. Particularly, they point out that companies could create value through the procurement process where all stakeholders stand to benefit. This paper seeks to agree with Porter’s assertion that procurement is vital for businesses and is one of the pillars for improved performance. Procurement: Pillar in the Success of a Project Previously, procurement served a diminutive function in an organization. Although it used to be a common aspect of many companies, it entailed simple buying of common goods and raw materials especially those that the production department recommended. Chadwick Rojogopal (1995, p. 234) explain that the procurement skills were still in their bookkeeping stages and were applicable in all operations of organizations.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More For instance, after the manager received a list of requisitions, his or her main role entailed looking out whether the information presented was accurate and sufficient to allow the purchasing process to begin. Ideally, many companies had pre-established their respective suppliers and agreed on prices. However, these terms would be renegotiable to allow for further bargains in prices and the dates of delivery. In large organizations, buyers were so much engrossed in making numerous purchasing orders and bargaining for supplies of virtually all organizational departments (Dobler 1994, p. 45). To that end, purchasing department was perceived to belong to skilled and dexterous employees due to the high number of orders, complexities in delivery dates and resolving misunderstandings and queries. However, these activities did not allow an organization the required time to strategize on the most efficient way to procure goods and supplies. Porter Kramer (2011, p. 71) say that different firms across the world have begun to perceive procurement as major driver of success. Despite previous failure to notice the importance of the process, many firms have begun to source for supplies in competitive areas. Countless companies have become global organizations. As such, they have begun to shift and change their procurement processes to suit their new stature. Companies have also recognized that locating their activities and operations in areas perceived to have low wages for workers is not enough for a company that seeks to create shared value.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Michael Porter. Procurement is Vital for Businesses specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To this end, companies have embarked on synergized procurement process where different units work together in the process of procurement. Synergy does not only apply to the internal environment of a company but also to the external environment (Farmer 1997, p. 87). This implies that similar companies at the global market environment will synergize their procurement operations to derive value for all stakeholders. Companies are realizing that synergizing operations has costs that challenge the achievement of their objectives and plans. Hence, organizations have appreciated ‘time to market’ and efficiency strategies that require procurement function of an organization to play a focal role. This was contrary to the initial strategies by organization that entailed expanding their operations with the hope of increasing their profits and revenues. Synergy in procurement and dynamic nature of organizations have both worked together to increase the role of purchasing within an organization (Farmer 1997, p. 97). Further, it is important to mention that procurement is an avenue for value creation in an organization. Porter Kramer (2011, p. 72) argue that procurement should be a strategic tool tha t an organization uses to increase the well-being of all stakeholders. This is contrary to the previously held notion that an organization can improve the wellness of a community in which it operates only through CSR. Shared value means that every member or stakeholder of a company should derive benefit from the company (Day 2002, p. 84). For instance, construction companies aiming to increase their presence in a new market should seek to increase the efficiency of their suppliers to stand a chance of success.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Day (2002, p. 84) asserts that this may be possible through providing financial incentives for the suppliers to increase their productivity through acquisition of new technology to produce construction materials in demand. Simultaneously, the suppliers’ capability increases in terms of volumes produced and efficiency in production. In addition, strategic procurement process allows a company to create value by identifying areas for potential savings. This is possible by increasing the importance of innovation-driven models when purchasing and procuring supplies in order to review their structures of costs (Lamming 2002, p. 17). For instance, companies have begun to adopt procurement models that turn conventional fixed costs into variable costs. Although procurement does not influence all costs that an organization incurs, Chadwick Rojogopal (1995, p. 234) say that procurement influences over 75 percent of total costs incurred by a company. To that end, it is apparent that whe n companies evaluate their disposable resources, procurement function of a company can support it in attaining critical efficiency improvement (Chadwick Rojogopal 1995, p. 124). To achieve this, it is important to look into the major purchase levers of price and volumes that the company intends to purchase. Due to synergy in procurement process, the support of other companies is important to allow the procurement function to evaluate and bargain the prices with the suppliers across the market in search of the most competitive prices (Turner 2003, p. 108). On the other hand, volumes that a company intends to purchase can influence the negotiating power of the procurement function of an organization. To that end, it is noticeable that the role of procurement has changed immensely overtime. As such, strategic procurement is an important function of an organization as well as a driver of success. Another factor that could have led Porter’s change of perception of procurement is the increase in appreciation of change in business environment. Today, procurement has taken many dimensions. Particularly, Porter was oblivious of the importance of strategic procurement. It involves the application of the right sourcing strategies for all units involved in the process of procurement (Kraljic 1983, p. 112). Contrary to the initial short-term focus of expanding and focusing on profit maximization, companies are adopting long-term strategies such as strategic procurement (Gardiner 2005, p. 27). The rationale is that the process also involves buy-in from all the units of an organization and increased negotiating and analytical skills of the human resource. Strategic procurement addresses the question of the best and most feasible outsourcing strategy that could lead to increased efficiency for an organization. Although there is no specific strategy that is right for all companies and organizations, strategic procurement promises to provide the purchaser a wide array o f approaches when choosing the correct sourcing strategy. Besides, the process considers the organization’s strategy and the financial importance of the goods to be sourced (Turner 2003, p. 123). Strategic procurement facilitates the company to comprehend the market conditions faced by suppliers of the specific goods. Therefore, the process of purchasing has become an integral component of strategic plans that an organization and it contributes importantly to the success of the company. Turner (2003, p. 45) asserts that companies have continued to integrate procurement internally with other functions. Although internal integration of units has been overlooked, companies are finding it important to integrate their units, as is the case with suppliers and customers. Integration is a necessity in order for the organization to benefit from information sharing. In addition to gaining from decisions of procurement, an organization will also benefit from effectiveness from other uni ts that attempt to meet their cost saving objectives. At this level, Gardiner (2005, p. 37) says that procurement has begun to serve the role of increasing the commitment level of senior management team by demonstrating its importance in the organization and aligning its strategies to the organization’s objectives. This continued appreciation of procurement as an important driver of success has led to the expansion of procurement department into analyzing other drivers of expenses within an organization. This implies that procurement has become a critical function of an organization in examining costs of such functions as sales and administration (Kraljic 1983, p. 111). To illustrate the changes that procurement has undergone to become a major factor in the success or failure of an organization, it is important to look into various aspects of an organization. Kraljic (1983, p. 112) points out that procurement functions have expanded their remit into the management of risk and business propensity in the supply chain. This is particularly important due to the increase of companies operating in the global market. Besides, procurement functions of different companies have comprehended the complexities that emanate from the volatility of supply chain (Arjan 2010, p. 93). For instance, due to the constant fluctuations of exchange rates across the world, procurement departments have constantly been able to understand the financial market and maximize on them. Instead of the potential costs that an organization would stand to incur when purchasing using a poorly performing currency, the procurement’s comprehension of the dynamics will facilitate the maximization of profits. Porter Kramer (2011, pp. 67-85) articulate that organizations have enabled their procurement functions to evolve and be able to manage risks such as disruptions in supply and shortages that may pose challenges to the suppliers. Further, organizations have continued to forge strong an d meaningful relationships with their suppliers. This implies that relationships between procurement and suppliers has changed and evolved overtime contrary to the perception held by Porter. Organizations are working together with their respective suppliers implying that they have adopted collaborative approaches. This allows companies to share risk and returns in addition to increasing the level of innovation between them. The collaborative approach between the procurement function of an organization and the suppliers is important in the sense that it allows the sustainability of the company (Lamming 2002, p. 19). This is in the way the two actors initiate environmentally friendly solutions especially in packaging in addition to ensuring that the global supply chain is typical of favorable conditions for workers. All these changes in the procurement function have contributed significantly to the adoption of high-end outsourcing and sourcing strategies in an organization. To that en d, it is imperative to assert that the changes that have taken place since Porter’s claim regarding procurement have made him to rethink his stand on procurement process. In the contemporary world, procurement has changed its role and increased focus on devising ways that companies are able to manage their inputs (Gardiner 2005, p. 40). This is in the way an organization transforms the inputs into products. As aforementioned, the role of procurement has changed over the last few decades. This implies that the department of procurement in every organization has continued to take in increased roles and responsibilities. This leads to increased value of the organization as well as improved skills required to operate the procurement function (Arjan 2010, p. 102). Indeed, trained and skilled employees within the department have shifted their focus to development and implementation of initiatives that lead to increased creation of value for all stakeholders. This is in addition to ensuring that the company’s objectives and targets are met in terms of increasing sustainability of the organization and acquiring new technology. Despite the increasing demands in the procurement function of an organization, Arjan (2010, p. 105) articulates that there exists apparent disparities in the demand and supply of such personnel. To this end, companies have recognized the need to retain their employees within the procurement department for consistency and efficiency. Besides, companies have invested heavily in ‘on job’ trainings that seek to develop the skills of newly acquired talent in order to augment their productivity and performance. Essentially, companies have increased their ability to attract and retain talented and skilled professionals who are able to uptake many roles within the organization. Considering the amount of resources that contemporary organizations are putting in procurement, it is obvious that the roles of procurement have increa sed. This is in the way they drive an organization into success. Conclusion In summary, Porter’s perception that procurement was until 1985 a supportive function of an organization has changed. The rationale is that organizations across the world have evolved overtime and continued to place emphasis on procurement. At the outset, many companies have changed and evolved into global enterprises that require them to change their procurement processes to suit their stature. Companies have also understood some volatility aspects of the supply chain especially regarding the fluctuations in exchange rates. Additionally, it is important to mention that integration of internal business units, establishment of strong relationships with suppliers and retention of procurement professionals have typified the modern business organizations. The companies have also appreciated the importance of value creation as opposed to CSRs. The roles of procurement have increased due to the apparent evo lution of companies. Indeed, it has become a driver of success according to Porter Kramer (2011, p. 70). References Arjan,W 2010, Purchasing Supply Chain Management, Analysis, Strategy, Planning and practice, Cengage Learning, Boston. Chadwick, T Rajagopal, S 1995, Strategic Supply Management, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Day, M 2002, Handbook of Purchasing Management, Gower, Aldershot, UK. Dobler, D 1994, ‘Letter from America: A new venture aptly timed’, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, vol. 1 no. 1, pp. 82-123. Farmer, D 1997, ‘Purchasing myopia – revisited’, European Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, vol. 3 no. 1, pp. 35-231. Gardiner, P 2005, Project Management – A Strategic Planning Approach, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK. Kraljic, P 1983, ‘Purchasing must become supply management’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 61 no. 1, pp. 109-117. Lamming, R 2002, Purchasing and organizationa l design, Gower Publishers, Aldershot, England. Porter, E. Kramer, R 2011, ‘Big Idea: Creating Share Value’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 1 no. 1, pp. 62-77. Turner, J 2003, Contracting for Project Management, Gower, Aldershot UK. This research paper on Michael Porter. Procurement is Vital for Businesses was written and submitted by user Kristen W. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

A Guide to Plankton

A Guide to Plankton Plankton is a general term for the floaters, the organisms in the ocean that drift with the currents. This includes zooplankton (animal plankton), phytoplankton (plankton that is capable of photosynthesis), and bacterioplankton (bacteria). Origin of the Word Plankton The word plankton comes from the Greek word planktos, which means wanderer or drifter. Plankton is the plural form. The singular form is plankter. Can Plankton Move? Plankton are at the mercy of the wind and the waves, but not all are completely immobile. Some types of plankton can swim, but only weakly or vertically in the water column. And not all plankton are tiny - jellyfish (sea jellies) are considered plankton. Types of Plankton Some marine life goes through a planktonic stage (called meroplankton) before they become frees of animals that have a meroplankton stage are corals, sea stars (starfish), mussels and lobster. Holoplankton are organisms that are plankton their entire lives. Examples include diatoms, dinoflagellates, salps, and krill. Plankton Size Groups Although most people think of plankton as microscopic animals, there are larger plankton. With their limited swimming capability, jellyfish are often referred to as the largest type of plankton. In addition to being categorized by life stages, plankton can be categorized into different groups based on size. These groups include: Femtoplankton - Organisms under 0.2 micrometers in size, e.g., virusesPicoplankton - Organisms 0.2 micrometer to 2 micrometers, e.g., bacteriaNanoplankton - Organisms 2-20 micrometers, e.g. phytoplankton and small zooplanktonMicroplankton - Organisms 20-200 micrometers, e.g., phytoplankton and small zooplanktonMesoplankton - Organisms 200 micrometers to 2 centimeters, e.g., phytoplankton and zooplankton such as copepods. At this size, the plankton are visible to the naked eye.Macroplankton - Organisms 2 centimeters to 20 centimeters, e.g., like ctenophores, salps, and amphipods.Megaplankton - Organisms over 20 centimeters, like jellyfish, ctenophores, and amphipods. The categories for the smallest plankton sizes were needed more recently than some others. It wasnt until the late 1970s that scientists had the equipment available to help them see the great number of planktonic bacteria and viruses in the ocean. Plankton and the Food Chain A plankton species place in the food chain depends on what type of plankton it is. Phytoplankton are autotrophs, so they make their own food and are producers. They are eaten by zooplankton, which are consumers.   Where Do Plankton Live? Plankton live in both freshwater and marine environments. Those that live in the ocean are found in both coastal and pelagic zones, and in a range of water temperatures, from tropical to polar waters. Plankton, As Used in a Sentence The copepod is a type of zooplankton and is a primary food for right whales. References and Further Information: Australian Museum. What Is Plankton?  Accessed October 31, 2015.Bigelow Laboratory. Cycling Through the Food Web.  Accessed October 31, 2015.Microbial Grazers Lab. Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole. Accessed October 31, 2015.

Types of Chemical Reactions (With Examples)

Types of Chemical Reactions (With Examples) A chemical reaction is a process generally characterized by a chemical change in which the starting materials (reactants) are different from the products. Chemical reactions tend to involve the motion of electrons, leading to the formation and breaking of chemical bonds. There are several different types of chemical reactions and more than one way of classifying them. Here are some common reaction types:   Oxidation-Reduction or Redox Reaction In a redox reaction, the oxidation numbers of atoms are changed. Redox reactions may involve the transfer of electrons between chemical species.The reaction that occurs when In which I2 is reduced to I- and S2O32- (thiosulfate anion) is oxidized to S4O62- provides an example of a redox reaction:2 S2O32−(aq) I2(aq) → S4O62−(aq) 2 I−(aq) Direct Combination or Synthesis Reaction In a synthesis reaction, two or more chemical species combine to form a more complex product.A B → ABThe combination of iron and sulfur to form iron (II) sulfide is an example of a synthesis reaction:8 Fe S8 → 8 FeS Chemical Decomposition or Analysis Reaction In a decomposition reaction, a compound is broken into smaller chemical species.AB → A BThe electrolysis of water into oxygen and hydrogen gas is an example of a decomposition reaction:2 H2O → 2 H2 O2 Single Displacement or Substitution Reaction A substitution or single displacement reaction is characterized by one element being displaced from a compound by another element.A BC → AC BAn example of a substitution reaction occurs when zinc combines with hydrochloric acid. The zinc replaces the hydrogen:Zn 2 HCl → ZnCl2 H2 Metathesis or Double Displacement Reaction In a double displacement or metathesis reaction two compounds exchange bonds or ions in order to form different compounds.AB CD → AD CBAn example of a double displacement reaction occurs between sodium chloride and silver nitrate to form sodium nitrate and silver chloride.NaCl(aq) AgNO3(aq) → NaNO3(aq) AgCl(s) Acid-Base Reaction An acid-base reaction is a type of double displacement reaction that occurs between an acid and a base. The H ion in the acid reacts with the OH- ion in the base to form water and an ionic salt:HA BOH → H2O BAThe reaction between hydrobromic acid (HBr) and sodium hydroxide is an example of an acid-base reaction:HBr NaOH → NaBr H2O Combustion A combustion reaction is a type of redox reaction in which a combustible material combines with an oxidizer to form oxidized products and generate heat (exothermic reaction). Usually, in a combustion reaction oxygen combines with another compound to form carbon dioxide and water. An example of a combustion reaction is the burning of naphthalene:C10H8 12 O2 → 10 CO2 4 H2O Isomerization In an isomerization reaction, the structural arrangement of a compound is changed but its net atomic composition remains the same. Hydrolysis Reaction A hydrolysis reaction involves water. The general form for a hydrolysis reaction is:X-(aq) H2O(l) ↔  HX(aq) OH-(aq) The Main Reaction Types There are hundreds or even thousands of types of chemical reactions! If you are asked to name the main 4, 5 or 6 types of  chemical reactions, here is how they are  categorized. The main four types of reactions are direct combination, analysis reaction, single displacement, and double displacement. If youre asked the five main types of reactions, it is these four and then either acid-base or redox (depending who you ask). Keep in mind, a specific chemical reaction may fall into more than one category.

Technology in My Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technology in My Life - Essay Example Similarly, I use kitchen appliances for cooking and baking. I also make use of mobile phone to communicate with my friends and relatives. I get information about new technologies through internet research and buy the products, which I consider useful for me. For example, a couple of weeks ago, I planned to buy some new television technology to enjoy good pixel quality. I explored internet sources and came to know about light emitting diode (LED) sets, which provide excellent picture quality and enhanced view of dark scenes. Therefore, I bought a LED set, which proved to be a good choice for me to view movies and other programs. In my professional life, I make use of a range of technologies, which include laptop, iPad, fax machine, scanner, printer, and mobile phone. My company has provided all of these products to me to make me show improved productivity and efficiency. I believe that in the present age, use of technology has become critical for the success of a person in his/her professional life. Therefore, I try to make a great use of all of available technologies to show improvement in my job efficiency and

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury Research Paper

The LE-PEST C Analysis of Sainsbury - Research Paper Example This paper illustrates that the food industry in the U.K has not been spared by the world financial crises and the changing economic times, with this in mind that most businesses have to re-evaluate and do their LE-PEST C analyzes. An example of such analysis is that of the J Sainsbury plc. The commercial sector is experiencing a worst financial crisis globally and all business ventures with interests in financial sector like the J Sainsbury plc are affected by the problem. J Sainsbury plc is the topmost food retailer in the United Kingdom, consisting of a series of diversified business venture units that include; supermarkets, JB Beamount, Jacksons stores and an online Sainsbury's business and bank. The major organizations objective is to provide customers with a variety of products and services that meet the diversified customer requirements while at the same time giving the investors good and consistent financial returns on their investments. The business diversity has been aiming at exploiting different aspects of production and different opportunities so as to develop individual capabilities that payback in terms of business success. The company is working had to establish its policy as a tradition to meet the customer requirement bearing in mind that achieving this is of mutual benefit, plus working together with the suppliers to keep up the productions lines running and maintain their presence in the market. It is estimated that J Sainsbury plc employs over 14.8 thousand workers committed to serving their customers. The LE-PEST C is an acronym for analysis of business environmental factors under the following; L- Legal environment, E- Economic environment, P- Political environment, E- Ecological environment, S- Socio-cultural environment, T- Technological aspects, and C- Competitive environmental factors. For the J Sainsbury plc LE-PEST C analysis, it's very critical that recommendations should be drawn based on the conclusion made in the evaluation of t he environmental factors that influence business operation. The British government is said to be planning a change in its financial policies that would reduce problems in liquidity of financial institutions as well as taking care of potential market abuse in the financial services industry. The law in the United Kingdom provides tough regulations on the packaging and labeling of food products. The regulations are government's policies and that any violation of them is punishable by the law.

Contract Laws In China and America Essay Example for Free

Contract Laws In China and America Essay I.Concepts and Features of Contract and Contract Law I.Concepts A.Concept and Features of Contract 1. Concept of Contract According to the provision of Article 2 of the Contract Law of Peoples Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as Contract Law), contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations. Contract was once divided into agreement and contract. Agreement refers to the civil legal act established by both parties consensus with regard to opposite intentions, such as sales agreement. Contract refers to the civil legal act established by two or above three parties’ consensus with regard to collateral intentions, such as partnership contract. However, such division can no longer be seen in our current laws and the two are collectively referred to as contract. Contract has its broad and narrow meanings. In the broad sense, contract refers to all agreements generating rights and obligations, such as labor contract, administrative contract, civil contract, etc. Furthermore, civil contract may also be divided into creditor’s right contract, real right contract, intellectual property contract, identity contract, personality right contract, etc. In the narrow sense, contract refers to the agreement for involved parties with equal status to establish, alter and/or terminate civil rights and obligations. The contract adjusted by the contract law is generally confined to the contract of creditor’s right, real right and/or intellectual property, etc. 2. Features of Contract It can be seen from the concept of contract contract is the agreement in which natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal status declare a common intention to establish, alter and terminate civil rights and obligations that, contract has the following legal features: Contract is a kind of civil legal act implemented by natural persons, legal persons and/or other organizations with equal status. As the most important legal fact, civil legal act is the lawful act implemented by civil subjects, which can generate, alter or terminate civil right and obligations. Since contract is a kind of civil legal act, it is different from fact behavior in nature. Fact behavior refers to the act which does not take the declaration of intention as an essential condition and cannot generate the legal effect expected by the party involved, such as infringing act, picking up lost property, etc. In nature, contract as the civil legal act belongs to lawful act. That is to say, only under the circumstance that the declaration of intention made by the contracting parties is lawful, the contract is legally binding and protected by national laws. On the contrary, in case contracting parties make illicit declaration of intention, the agreement, even already reached, may not have the effect as a contract. As contract is a kind of civil legal act, general regulations of civil law concerning civil legal acts, such as essential condition of civil legal act, the ineffectiveness and revocation of civil act, are all applicable to contract. 3 Contract is the civil legal act in which two or more parties declare a common intention. The establishment of a contract shall have two or more parties who declare intention to each other and achieve a consensus. If such declared intentions are not consistent, no contract will be formed. Even though â€Å"one party cheats or threats or take advantage of the other party’s precarious situation to make such other party to conclude a contract which violates its real intention†, the party suffering damages is entitled to request people’s court or arbitration agency to alter or revoke the contract (Article 54.2 of the Contract Law. For similar notes cited in the following text, Contract Law will be omitted). Contract is the civil legal act with a view to establishing, altering and terminating civil rights and obligations. Establishing civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, civil rights and obligations thus emerge between; altering civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the previous civil rights and obligations between them is changed and new civil rights and obligations are formed; terminating civil rights and obligations refers to that after parties involved conclude the contract pursuant to the law, the civil rights and obligations previously existing between them are abolished. â‘ £Contract is a civil legal relationship generated on an equal and voluntary basis by parties involved. That is to say, the subjects concluding the contract have equal legal status and no party may impose its will on the other party. â€Å"Parties of a contract have equal legal status and one party may not impose its will on the other party† (Article 3); â€Å"Parties have the right to conclude a contract voluntarily according to law and no unit or individual may intervene illegally† (Article 4). â‘ ¤Contract is the civil legal act which is legally binding. â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is legally binding upon parties involved. Parties shall perform their obligations as agreed and may not alter or terminate the contract with no consent†; â€Å"The contract concluded according to law is protected by law† (Article 8). Unless otherwise specified by law such as force majeure, the party who fails to perform the contract or whose performance of obligations does not conform to that prescribed in the contract shall assume the liabilities for breach of the contract to continue to perform the contract, adopt remedial measures or compensate losses. B. Concept and Features of Contract Law 1. Concept of Contract Law Generally speaking, the concept of contract law may be comprehended in the broad and narrow sense. In the narrow sense, given contract is the consensus of parties to the contract in nature, contract law is deemed as the law implementing the promise and agreement of parties involved. â€Å"The core of contract law is the exchange of promise†. However, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense confines the contract law to normalizing the establishment, effectiveness, performance and default liability of the contract, but excluding the non-establishment, ineffectiveness and revocation thereof. Therefore, the scope contained is not comprehensive. Just as Bayless stated, â€Å"The contract law pays attention not only to enforceable contracts and   agreements, but to adjusting the result of no contract or agreement concluded†. Therefore, the concept of contract law in the narrow sense is not suitable to apply. The concept of contract law in the broad sense proceeds from the object normalized thereby, namely the transaction relation, and defines the contract law as â€Å"the law relating to the individual transfer of property or labor service†. Most scholars in our country also consider that contract law is the law adjusting the dynamic property relations. Both contract law and real right law adjust the property relations, however, â€Å"the real right law stipulates and adjusts the static state of property relation while the contract law stipulates and adjusts the dynamic state of property relation†. Given that the contract law comprehensively adjusts the transaction relation and the establishment of a contract equals to the formation of a transaction, the performance, alteration, cancellation and termination of the contract constitute the transaction process. Consequently, it’s necessary for the contract law to stipulate the procedures to conclude the contract by parties involved, ineffectiveness and revocation of the contract, remedies upon the failure or part failure to perform the contract, various specific contracts, etc. In a word, any and all transaction relations may be adjusted by the contract law. The definition of contract law as the law adjusting the transaction relation precisely summarizes the nature and fu nctions of the contract law. 2. Features of Contract Law The contract law takes adjusting the transaction relation as its content and is applicable to various civil contracts, which determines the contract law has the features different from those in other departments of civil law (such as personality right law). These features are: Contract law has strong randomicity. Under the condition of market economy, the transaction development and property growth require the market subjects to be independent and fully express their wills. Laws shall leave broad space for the transaction activities of market subject and the intervention of government in economic activities shall be limited to the extent prescribed in the contract. The requirements put forward by the market economy against the law which endow parties with freedom to act as far as possible are thoroughly expressed in the contract. Therefore, the contract law mainly regulates the transaction through random norms rather than mandatory norms. For example, though the contract law stipulates various contracts with certain titles, it does not necessarily require parties to design the contract content precisely in accordance with the provisions prescribed in law concerning the contract with certain title, but parties may negotiate to determine the contract articles freely. As long as the articles negotiated by parties don’t violate the prohibitive regulations of laws, social public interest or public morality, the effect of the contract is acknowledged by law. Notwithstanding law stipulates the contracts with certain titles, parties are not prohibited from creating new contract forms. Although the form to establish a contract is stipulated by law, unless otherwise specially prescribed about the contract form, parties are allowed to freely choose the contract form in principle. In short, a majority of norms of the contract law may be altered by parties through agreements. The contract law also takes the freedom of contract as its basic principle; therefore, the contract law can be called as law at will in this connection. â‘ ¡Contract law emphasized the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value The object normalized by the contract law is transaction relation, which requires the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value in nature. Just as Marx indicated, the commodity is â€Å"equal by nature†. In the exchange of commodities, â€Å"only the owners of commodities with equal status stand at opposite sides, and the means of occupying others’ commodities may only be used to alienate their own commodities.† The exchange of commodities inevitably requires conforming to the law of value so as to carry out the exchange of equivalent labor, which determines that the contract law attaches more importance to the principle of consultation on an equal footing and compensation of equal value than other laws of civil law. â‘ ¢Contract law is a uniform property law. Market economy is an open economy, which demands for the integration of domestic market with international market, domestic trade and international trade. As the basic law of the market economy, the contract law should not only reflect the requirements for a uniform market with a set of uniform rules, but also integrate with international conventions. â‘ £Contract law is the law producing social wealth. Market economy is a developed credit economy, with all credit systems established on the basis of contract relations. A developed credit economy needs promise and agreement. At the same time, the more solid and universal the promise and agreement are, the more developed the credit economy is. II. Comparison of Development History and Textural Difference between Chinese and American Contract Laws A. Different Development Histories of Contract Legal Systems in China and US 1. Emergence of Contract and Contract Law Contract is the result of commodity economy, which emerges along with the emergence of commodity economy and develops along with the development of commodity economy. The contract law is accompanied with the emergence and development of the contract. In later period of clan society, due to the emergence and accumulation of private property, the exchange of products among people was becoming increasingly extensive and certain rules came into shape gradually. In the beginning, these rules were guaranteed by oaths, customs and other ways. When the oaths, customs and other ways were incapable to guarantee the implementation of trading rules, the social community emerging as the times required (organ of state power) thus formulated legal norms to supersede the foregoing. The earliest contract law of human society was developed from customs, so it’s called as customary law. However, the continuous development of society, especially the development and change of social   imbalance, made the customs different in various regions and groups, which resulted in customs here and now being inconsistent with those there and then, thus leading to transaction disputes. This determined that the written law would gradually substitute the customary law. The Code of Hammurabi promulgated by ancient Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC is the most ancient and most well-preserved written law discovered so far in the whole world, which has 282 articles in total, among which over 120 stipulates contract norms directly. The Twelve Tables and Corpus Juris Civilis promulgated by ancient Rome have more complete legal norms about contract, acting as the most complete and typical law reflecting the production and exchange of commodities among ancient laws and playing an important role in the legislation of capitalist countries in later ages. The French Civil Code in 1804 was based on Roman law. The civil laws in European countries, except Britain, mostly originated from Roman law and formed the so-called â€Å"Roman Law System†. Along with the colonial expansion of these countries, the impact of Roman law was further extended to more regions of the world. After the Second World War, the contract law of early modern period was properly modified to become the modern contract law. 2. Development History of China’s Contract Law The ancient laws in our country had some regulations about the contract. According to the records of Rites of Zhou, there appeared written contracts such as â€Å"panshu (bamboo or wooden slips on which the texts of borrow and loan are written)†, â€Å"zhiji (sales contract)†, â€Å"fubie (borrow and loan contract)† in Zhou Dynasty. â€Å"Where any party asks for the government authority to deal with any dispute arising from debt borrow and loan, the case may only be accepted with the â€Å"panshu† previously co ncluded present†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a borrow and loan contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make a judgment according to the articles specified in fubie†. â€Å"Where any dispute arises from a sales contract, the official in charge of trying such dispute should make an award according to the articles specified in zhiji†. All these written contracts were main basis for government authorities to judge right and wrong and determine the debt liabilities. In the following dynasties of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing, laws had several regulations about contract and contract system. However, in ancient times, our country was always with the agricultural economy which was self-sufficient and self-supporting, and the commodity economy was not developed. As a result, the norms of contract law centering on trading rules was also not developed, with no specialized civil code. Even in the collection of various laws such as Tang Code and Great Qing Legal Code, articles pertaining to contract and contract system are also rarely seen. Since the founding of the Peoples Republic of China, the contract law of our country has achieved significant development. In the initial stage of new China, the Financial and Economic Committee of the Government Administration Council under Central People’s Government promulgated the Interim Measures for Organs, State-owned Enterprises and Cooperative societies to Conclude Contracts or Agreements on September 27, 1950, and the Trade Department formulated the Decision Pertaining to Earnestly Concluding Contracts and Strictly Implementing Contracts as well as the norms relating to various specific contracts such as sales contract and contract labor agreement of capital construction in the same year, all of which ascertain the legal norms of contract system and contract in the new China. Needless to say, due to the impact of wrong course and wrong trend of thought, the legal nihilism was rampant and the contract system was once cancelled in late 50s. Especially in the period of the â€Å"Great Cultural Revolution†, all the contract systems, relevant laws and regulations were discarded. In the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the wrong policy of â€Å"taking the class struggle as the outline† was abandoned, the focus of work of the Party and the nation was shifted to developing economy, and the strategic decision of reform and opening up to the outside world was made in the session. All of these opened up a promising prospect for the development of contract legislation . The Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law were successively approved by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on December 13, 1981, March 21, 1985 and June 23, 1987. It is especially worth mentioning that the General Principles of the Civil Law approved in the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People’s Congress explicitly regulates the system of civil rights and the system of civil liabilities, playing a very important role in perfecting the system of contract laws in our country. Through more than a decade’s legislation, our country has formed the legal system of contract laws which is guided by the General Principles of the Civil Law, backboned with Economic Contract Law, Economic Contract Law Involving Foreign Interest and Technology Contract Law, and based on the contract norms in specialized laws such as Maritime Law, Civil Aviation Law and Copyright Law and a set of administ rative laws and regulations normalizing contracts. All these laws have greatly promoted the economic development and the establishment and development of socialist market economy in our country. However, along with the establishment and development of socialist market economy, this legal system gradually presented new defects. In order to adapt to the requirements of economic construction and development, it’s necessary to proceed from the actual situations of our country, summarize the experience of ten years’ contract legislation and borrow general international practices to formulate a uniform and relatively complete contract law. On October 1993, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress embarked on drafting the contract law on the basis of the legislation program approved in the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. According to the advice from all sources, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress further modified the draft for many times to form the Contract Law of People’s Republic of China (Draft) and submitted it to the Second Session of the Ninth National People’s Congress for deliberation. Through serious and earnest deliberation by people’s representatives, this important law was finally approved on March 15, 1999, which is a glorious page in the legislation history of the Republic, marking that the legislation of our country’s socialist market economy is ushering a new phase. 3. Development History of American Contract Law As a whole, the American laws are developed on the basis of inheriting British laws. Although American laws are influenced by British laws at different levels in different fields, the contract rules formed in the British common law and equity law have a significant impact on American contract law. Therefore, when investigating the historical evolution of American contract law, it’s necessary to review the early development history of British contract law. a. Lawsuit of Promise in Early Britain In the medieval period, British law had not formed the concept of contract. The earliest to emerge was the so-called lawsuit of promise, namely, when the promisor violated his/her promise, the promisee might file a lawsuit with the court to force the promisor to implement the promise. The principle pursued by common court when trying such lawsuit was: only making a promise cannot generate a right of action; under normal conditions, promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory ex ecution, exceptional situations excluded. In contrast to the practice of common court as mentioned above, other courts showed more active attitude towards accepting the lawsuit of promise. First of all, ecclesiastical court regarded the promise with oath as an irreversible one according to canon law and rendered the implementation. Secondly, in the court of equity, the Chancellor decided that since one party suffered loss because of the other party’ failure to perform his/her promise, such party shall obtain the compensation. However, till the 16th century AD, common court won the battle with the court of equity and ecclesiastical court striving for jurisdiction. In this process, the jurisdiction of common court was increasingly enlarged and the common law became the main part of British law. The opportunity for the contract law to develop through the judgments of ecclesiastical court and court of equity was always limited. From the 15th to the 16th century, along with the development of the relations of commodity production within the feudal society, to develop a kind of general basis for enforceable promise within the previous lawsuit procedures of common law was the urgent task to be resolved which was confronted by common court. At the beginning, common court just confirmed more exceptional situations under which the promise may be executed mandatorily. However, this didn’t change the basic principle that promise doesn’t have the effect of compulsory execution under normal conditions. Since the second half of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the enforceable effect of sealed covenant, which was a kind of written promise with a seal on. Some people considered, if common court could loosen its requirements about the form of this written document, such document may also be mandatorily executed even with no seal on. The existence of such covenant might become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise, while till the 14th century, this possibility disappeared. Common court considered, the seal not only proved that one party had already made a promise, but also indicated that the promisor had seriously expressed that he/she would perform the promise for the promisee. Therefore, a covenant which was not sealed couldn’t be compulsorily executed. At the end of the 12th century, common court started to confirm the debt of a borrow and loan relation as the cause of action: In case one person borrowed an   amount of money from another person, the borrower should pay back the money to the lender. If not, the lender might file a lawsuit with the court to force the borrower to pay back money. Later on, common court further expanded the scope of lawsuit of debt repayment: Once a person granted a kind of material interest to another person, such person might lodge a lawsuit of debt r epayment against the latter one, no matter the interest provided was a valuable thing or personal service. However, the existence of such debt also didn’t become the general basis of the compulsory execution of promise for this debt was only confined to the interest which was already granted to others. If a promisee just accepted a promise from the promisor while obtained no actual interest from the promisor, he still couldn’t lodge a lawsuit of debt repayment. In the beginning of the 15th century, common court developed such a principle in its judgment: If someone made a promise of undertaking some kind of obligation to another one, and the promisee suffered damages in the process of the promisor’s performance of the obligation, the promisee might lodge a lawsuit to require the promisor to compensate. This is called the Action of Assumpsit for Misfeasance, whose basis was the theory of law of torts then already approved. In this kind of lawsuit, if the promisor didn’t perform the obligation it undertook, the promisee couldn’t obtain the remedy. In the second half of the 15th century, the judges of common court realized that, in order to win the battle for jurisdiction with other courts, the scope of lawsuit of commitment must be expanded. New legal precedent rule in this period was: If the promisor changed his status due to his dependence on the promise and the non-performance of the promisor made the promisee suffer damages, the promisee might also obtain the remedy. Till the 16th century, the previous scope of lawsuit of commitment was newly expanded, namely, when two persons made promises to each other and the promise of one party constituted the transaction object promised by the other person, even if no party of the two performed his obligation, the promise to be carried out shall have the effect of compulsory execution. The reason to adopt such rule was that, once the promise was made, the promisee has an expectation for the implementation of the promise, which should be protected, even if the promisee didnt perform the corresponding obligation, nor suffered â€Å"damages†. Generally speaking, the 17th and the 18th centuries were the period during which British contract law slowly developed. b. Evolution of American Contract Law in Modern Society The American historian Henry Maine said in 1861 that, â€Å"till now, the movement of this developing society has always been a movement from identity to contract.† This sentence indicates the profound revolution undergone by western society from the feudal times of middle ages to the times of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†: In the feudal society, human relation was determined by their identity; in the period of â€Å"laissez-faire capitalism†, human relation was determined by the agreement reached between them. The whole 19th c entury is regarded as the century of contract by western historians. The United States, just independent from the colonial domination of the Great Britain, entered in such a century soon after its establishment. In this period, main systems of British and American contract laws were both confirmed. With regard to the main body, American contract law remained consistent with British contract law. In this period, the consistency of American contract law with that of western countries was: The contract concluded by parties involved was generally considered as having the effect of compulsory execution. Once confirmed, such effect shall become absolute, and may not be changed by state will. In the second half of the 19th century, as the laissez-faire economy developed toward an extreme orientation, to safeguard individuals right to freely conclude contracts had become the primary goal of laws. In the eyes of Americans at that time, â€Å"in nature, justice is to safeguard lawful contracts†. The freedom of contract in the 19th century gave a full display of personal â€Å"independent will† and made private economy taking the â€Å"struggle for existence† as the motive power obtain rapid development with no government restraint and intervention. However, in late 19th century and early 20th century, the defects caused by this unlimited freedom of contract had fully appeared. In this period, contract laws of western countries underwent a new round of modification. The result was, the previous social movement â€Å"from identity to contract† started to turn to the social movement â€Å"from contract to identity†. In the US, since this century, especially since the Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 30’s, personal freedom of contract has received more and more restrictions. Today, the â€Å"identity† is playing an important role in determining the relation of rights and obligations among people for the second time: Workers are protected by â€Å"workers compensation law† due to their identity, and the article of employment contract preventing the employer from undertaking the compensation liability for industrial accidents is no longer legally binding. Similarly, the lessee of rental agreement, the insurer of insurance contract and the demanders of various contracts of public service are all protected by certain laws due to their special identities. It can be seen from the aforementioned change that, in modern American contract law, to provide special legal protection for the vulnerable party of a transaction has already become a consistent policy. Another feature displayed by American contract law in the process of its modern development and evolution is that, the impact of traditional British common law and systems and principles of other laws is decreasing, which is fully reflected from the fact that the Uniform Commercial Code abandoned and modified the traditional system of British contract law. B. Textual Difference and its Reasons between Chinese and American Contract Law Systems Given the development history of contract and the difference between Chinese and American political systems, there are following features when comparing Chinese contract law with American contract law: First, the contract law in our country is a uniform contract law applicable to all regions of China, whether in capital Beijing or western provinces. Second, this contract law is drafted with a round axis structure. Basic principles  are firstly stipulated, and then some specific contracts, such as sales contract, lease contract, etc. In this way, the basic principles are regarded as the axis, and many specific contracts are radiated to satisfy different transaction requirements. For example, the transport contract has the problem which cannot be covered by basic principles. This problem can be resolved by combining the axis and the excircle. American political system is different from Chinese political system, and the development history of American contract law is also different. In America, it’s impossible for the legislative body to approve a law with the two features as mentioned above. America has no uniform contract law, nor state contract law. The international contract laws, such as the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and New York Arbitration Treaty are commonly used in all used in the whole United States. However, with regard to the contract among American individuals, no law is promulgated by the federation. Consequently, there is no federal legislation with a round axis structure in America. Basically, each state has its own contract law and is responsible for developing basic principles of such law. The contract law of one state is not only applicable to the court of the state, but also binding on the federal court sometimes. In other words, as long as the state contract law exists, the federal court shall apply it. Of course, when 50 different contract laws are adjusting the same legal fact, the court will be confronted with a problem, namely, how to achieve the consistency of application of law? It’s also necessary to notice that American contract law is developed by the court rather than the legislative organ. You must be familiar with the concept of common law, which was formed in Britain and then introduced to America. The contract concept of the common law is formed th rough a long time. Their judges make the judgment and give opinions on the judgment. Now, in this connection, the greatest exception is the UCC. American UCC is a uniform law. In America, every state has its own laws, but these laws cannot cover all transactions. Some are involved with transaction of several properties, such as the transaction and lease of products and some are related to bank business, security trading, e-commerce, etc. However, the construction contract and real estate contract are adjusted by commercial law. Since different state laws may result in different court judgments, if the Congress can approve a law with the round axis structure, these problems will be soon resolved, because doing that can get all transactions under the adjustment of one law. C. Summary The development histories of Chinese and American contract law systems are different. Chinese culture has a long history and the contract law system was born very early. On the contrary, the US is a new country breaking away from the colonization. Although American economy is developing rapidly, its legal systems are mainly inherited from the Britain; especially the American contract law is significantly influenced by the contract rules formed in Britain common law and equity law. In short, China has a uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation, while America has no uniform contract code other than international contract laws. In addition, the difference of Chinese and American political systems leads to a great difference in the textural structures of Chinese and American contract law   systems: Chinese contract law system is based on basic principles which guides various specific contract law systems so as to form a complete set, while America has neither guidance of basic principles in the contract law nor uniform contract law applicable to the whole nation. All in all, the development history and political system of a country influence its legal system. III. Conclusion The economic globalization and political polarization are two trends of the world development. Since China has joined the WTO, how to coordinate our laws is the central issue in the field of law. Nowadays, the world has ushered in the era of knowledge economy and the advancement of science and technology is crucial to the economic development. However, the development of economy as well as the development, transfer and application of technology will inevitably require reforming the traditional contract law system. Some countries have already been reforming the current contract law systems quietly. The birth of China’s new Contract Law is confronted with the era of knowledge economy rather than that of planned economy or the transitional period from planned economy to market economy. The development of science and technology in the era of knowledge economy is so vigorous that it’s probable that difficulties in application will soon emerge after the implementation of new contract law, or even some regulations are already outdated. This situation may be considered as normal because law is the superstructure, which is always behind the economic development. Therefore, any law has to be continuously reformed and perfected. Bibliography 1. http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com 2. Wilmot et al, 2009, Contract Law, Third Edition, Oxford University Press 3. Ewan McKendrick, Contract Law Text, Cases and Materials (2005) Oxford University Press 4. P.S. Atiyah, The Rise and Fall of Freedom of Contract (1979) Clarendon Press 5. Randy E. Barnett, Contracts (2003) Aspen Publishers 6. Scott Fruehwald, Reciprocal Altruism as the Basis for Contract, 47 University of Louisville Law Review 489 (2009).

American Media Influence on Global Culture Essay -- Television Enterta

American Media Influence on Global Culture Pop culture is a term coined by sociologists to define American media influence today. Society is bombarded with themes that define pop culture: progress, material gain, individual freedom and wealth. Media, in particular television commercials, movies, newspapers and radio stations, encourages Americans how to think, what to buy and where to live. According to a study done by graduate students at Harvard, as technology expands and media corporations seek audiences in foreign countries, fear of global cultural homogenization by American pop culture increases.[1] However, many barriers prevent American influence from producing cultural changes. Although American media companies develop overseas, their influence is not as powerful or acceptable as it is in the United States. Media Expansion It’s no surprise seeing CNN, MTV or the faces of Hollywood movie stars on European television. American media has increased in exports so much that the goal of every major media giant is to set up new markets outside the United States. Books, magazines, movies, T.V. programs and computer software have surpassed agricultural and traditional factory products as the United States largest category of exports.[2] Exporting entertainment products in 1996 totaled $60.2 billion and has been drastically increasing every year. In Turkey and Greece, recent state-owned monopolies have been replaced by private-owned industries under pressure from the United States government, the IMF and the World Bank, making access to foreign media more common and easy. Since then, particularly in broadcasting, American corporations have intensified their reach to foreign countries.[3] Media Giants... ...p://countrystudies.us/turkey/86.htm> [14] Peterson, Laura. CNN Meets the Turkish High Council. American Journalism Review. July 2000, Page 1. [15] Peterson, Laura. CNN Meets the Turkish High Council. Page 4. [16] Inside VOA. [17] Vernon, Wes. Voice of America Uses Eminem and Britney to Represent U.S. NewsMax, 10 October 2002, Page 1. [18] Vernon, Wes. Page 2. [19] Tardieu, Jerry. Fear of US Pop Culture Dominance Drives Anti-Globalization Sentiment. 7 February 2000.

Medieval Medicine – comparing Muslim and Catholic knowledge and treatment of disease and infection

The Muslim faith have helped the treatments of disease and infection for many years now some of their herbal remedies are even used today the way they have helped everyone through the years They have an interest in care that comes from the Koran which states that it is good to help someone In need. The Catholic church has this but the Catholic church is more of a hotel than a hospital because only 10% of their hospitals actually care for the sick Also in their culture to be a good knight you had to be able to read and write and some knight’s created library’s. At this time in England to be a good knight you had to be able to joust and be good at fighting. But 1 of the most important things the Muslims did that the Catholics didn’t do is collect Greek texts from writers like Hippocrates and Galen. The reason this is so good is because not all the anatomy stuff was right that the Greeks wrote but a lot of their herbal remedies and cures were right. At the same time we were carving crosses in people’s heads the Muslims were curing people with actual cures. Question 2 out of 2 Both the religions Catholic and Muslim have been a great influence to the treatments of disease and infection because even though in the Catholic hospitals it was monks and nun’s curing the patients they did have some good herbal cures that had been passed down from generation to generation. The Catholic did have its bad side because it was monks and nurses curing the sick most of their cures were supernatural and only 10% of Catholics hospitals were actually built to cure the sick 47% housed the poor and elderly(they provided no medical care)31% of Catholic hospitals were leper hospitals (which provided no medical care) and the other 12% of hospitals gave shelter to poor travellers and pilgrims. The hospitals back then were not the same as hospitals today. There were a lot of good things about Muslim hospitals that were not in Catholic hospitals for example their hospitals gave a high proportion of hospital care also the hospitals were more purposefully built for example some of the bigger Muslim hospitals in cities like Cairo and Baghdad had hospitals with a big ward, libraries, rooms for resting, and a proper kitchen so they could give their patients a proper diet.The most important thing the Muslims did that the Catholics didn’t do was they had proper doctors at the hospital and in the bigger hospitals they even had lecture’s so they could train medics. Also both the religions did have some similarities like both of their religions disallowed dissection and because of that surgery was not considered a useful skill to have. Also both of the religions thought that theories were more important than practical procedures but one very bad thing both the religions did wrong was allow no criticism of Galen. Many doctors throughout the years of Galen’s rule over medical knowledge tried to demonstrate new theories and some of their theories were actually right, but those doctors were shut down and thought of as lunatics because no one was allowed to question Galen and his methods. In conclusion I think that the religion that had the most impact on the treatments of infection and disease was the Muslim religion because they used more actual cures and remedies unlike the Christian church that mostly used supernatural remedies.

Native American Hardships Essay

Native Americans have been struggling in society since the Europeans had migrated to the United States of America. Native Americans have always tried to get along with the Europeans yet the Europeans wanted dominance over the Native American population. In American schools children learn about how the Native American were savages and how they were the cause of the tension between the Europeans and the Native Americans. Native Americans still haven’t assimilated into American culture or Society. Native Americans and Europeans have been in contact for centuries and there are stories depicting first encounters. There is one story by Sarah Winnemucca describing her life among the Piute’s tribe. In this tale there were prophecies describing White men to come to the Native American tribes and being their brothers. When the Europeans came in contact with the Native Americans the Native Americans perceived them to be their brothers because of the prophecy. Due to the prophecy the Native Americans did not take any precautions when meeting the Europeans. The Europeans wouldn’t be friends with the Native Americans and kept them at a distant. The Native Americans than had to migrate just so the White men would not cause violence to their tribes. They were skirmishes between the Native Americans and American colonizers which made more conflict between the Native Americans and Colonists. (Winnemucca 507-17) There were many wars and battles fought between the Native Americans and Colonists of America during the 1800’s. Many of these wars were ended by treaties that the Native Americans and American Government agreed upon. When reading the articles in Norton Anthology of American literature volume C, I found that the Native Americans referred to treaties quite often and they would be footnotes describing the name and details of the treaties. I found this quite interesting so I decided to look for a journal relating to Native American treaties. The article stated that there had been two million square miles of land transferred from the sovereignty of Native Americans to the United States of America. The president use to deal with the Native people directly but in 1871 the congress stripped that right. 2. 5million Native Americans living in the present-day United States and the U. S. government officially recognizes 565 tribes and Alaska Native peoples . They are concentrated in California, Oklahoma, and the Southwest. There were many treaties offered to the Native Americans and this chart displays all these different treaties even small ones that weren’t accepted. Only a portion of wars involving Native Americans were actually full fledge wars with start and finish dates as well as real planned battles such as Red Clouds War. The other type of war were small sporadic attacks such as Third Seminole War (1855–58) involved very small numbers of Indian warriors with the conflict itself small attacks on Florida settlers with less than 200 Native American Attackers. Many treaties came after wars such as all treaties do such as the Treaty of Fort Laramie which was established after Red Clouds War. A lot of treaties were followed up by Indian Removal System where the Indians would be transferred to a piece of land they could call their own but wasn’t anything close to what they deserved these pieces of land were called reservations. This article was a bit shocking considering that they didn’t mention what I actually wanted to see in a treaty article which was how the Native Americans were usually lied to and their treaties would fall apart. In the story they mentioned the treaty of Fort Laramie which the Native American in the story described how the treaty wasn’t upheld because there was gold in the black Hills, and they moved the Native Americans and also they didn’t give them supplies. I looked at several stories that were dealing with treaties and I couldn’t find a journal dealing with how the Native Americans were mistreated by treaties signed by the United States of America. (Spirling 84-97) It disappoints me greatly that as an American citizen that my government would treat Native Americans this way and blatantly lie. American citizens did make reparations. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act require federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding to return Native American â€Å"cultural items† to their respective tribes. The Native Americans definitely deserve these reparations but it also disappoints me how people are misinformed about Native Americans. Most people assume since there are Native American Casinos that Native Americans are rich which is not true at all most native Americans don’t receive any money from casinos most of the money if their tribe even owns a casino goes to the high ranking members of the tribe. Native Americans have many problems in their culture and society. Some problems are alcohol problems along with poverty. America as a whole should step up and help these people just as we do for other people such as the money raised for Haiti and Japan. If we are willing to help other countries we should be willing to help people in our own country even if they are a sovereign nation. People don’t realize the problems locally because Native Americans are not associated when describing American culture and society. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s young Native Americans were sent to schools where they were being trained to be assimilate into American culture and leave all their culture behind which was not the right way to handle the situation. The young Native Americans should have been taught American culture while still being able to hold onto their own culture. There was one story that exemplifies this exact situation and it was written by Gertrude Simmons Bonnin. Their were stories of Zitkala Sa called â€Å"Impressions of an Indian childhood† and â€Å"The school days of an Indian girl† by Gertrude Simmons Bonnin and are quite sad but show a triumph when overcoming hardships. The short selections described Zitkala’s life and dealt with assimilation. There was symbolism in these stories in several different ways. She seemed miserable after attending the eastern school. She went through that school and then attended college all so she could obtain knowledge. Zitkala Sa is a young Native American girl part of the Sioux tribe. Her and her family were made to relocate and lost members of the family due to this relocation. The stories don’t blatantly state this but to my knowledge the relocation is due to when Andrew Jackson was president he made many Native Americans relocate to reservations called the trail of tears. Many presidents after Jackson continued to move the Native Americans to pieces of land that the European Americans did not want. This relocation led to her uncle and sister dying due to illness. Many native Americans dealt with death during these relocations because they would receive little or no food on the trip and travel by walking or wagons. This did not affect Zitkala as much as her mother who had a distain for the â€Å"palefaces† or European Americans. Due to these deaths in their family her mother did not want Zitkala to go with the missionaries to the school in the east where she would receive an education. There were a lot of differences shown between the European Americans and Native American values in this story. (Bonnin 1087-1094) The story allows the reader to see how a young Native American girl would have to go this school in the East and learn traditions of the European Americans. Native Americans during this time did try at the schools in the east so they could obtain knowledge and help their people assimilate into American Society. The education in the east made a gap between the older generations and the younger generations of Native Americans. In the story this young girl had to give up her traditions such as her long hair just to meet with America’s culture and lose her culture. This story exemplifies her triumph over her hardships such as many other Native Americans had to go through. Also the story talks about the trail of tears which involved Native Americans having to relocate to parts of America other colonists didn’t already live or want to live. Many people died on the relocation trips, so intern many Native American families were destroyed by these events and a bigger rift came between the Native Americans and American Government. There was a story by John M. Oskison which went to describe how an older Native American wanted to assimilate into Christianity. The story was called The problem of Old Harjo and dealt with a man named Harjo. Harjo was around missionaries a lot and wanted to become a Christian. He went to many services and was ready to convert to Christianity. The problem he had was that he had two wives and in Christianity you’re only allowed to have one. So the young missionary told the man he would have to get rid of one but they both meant a lot to him and after you read the story you realize they all like the situation and want to stay together. The young missionary sees this and does not ask him to become a Christian anymore but to be happy with his situation. (Oskison 1036-41) This story shows another way that a Native American cannot become part of American culture or society just because he cannot convert to Christianity. Religion seems to be a big part of American culture even in today’s society. This man Harjo wanted to become Christian but because of his old cultural traditions such as having more than one wife he can’t convert. This shows how two cultures even in the same country can be completely different. Native Americans have trouble trying to assimilate when their cultural traditions are so different. I had many reactions to the stories I read and the topic as a whole. I feel like Native Americans should be seen as Americans even if they have their own traditions and even if they are to be their own sovereign nation, they should still receive help from America. Americans have caused most of the problems to Native Americans just by stealing their lands and making their own country. Even though Americans have made reparations with the Native Americans we still owe them a lot and should be willing to help them out. The American government has treated them unfairly and lied to them on many occasions and even in legal documents such as the treaties discussed earlier. Native Americans have gone through enough hardships they could use the government and citizen’s help even if it is by not discriminating or judging them. This paper was written to describe how Native Americans have struggled in society and haven’t become assimilated yet still exist in American society just by being in America itself. Native Americans have gone through a lot due to the early colonization of America and wars during the 1800’s and even though most of the problems were caused by the European Americans, the blame goes onto the Native Americans. Native Americans should get to be seen in a higher light and in the American educational system they should be honest and tell student how the history really occurred. One example I could use is how in elementary school everyone learned that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves but in high school or college you learn that Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves because he was losing the war and need the Emancipation Proclamation to help him win. The same thing happens when discussing Native Americans many young students end up seeing the Native Americans as savages and brutes, they get described as they did in old westerns and they weren’t savages or brutes. The Native Americans deserve to be treated equally especially after the hardships which they managed to triumph through.

Health Policy in Chad

Health Policy in Chad People make decisions regarding health every day so they need principal rules that will guide the decisions to produce a rational outcome. These sets of rules are called health policies. In Chad, immunization policies are needed in order to increase the turn outs so that people can prevent polio, measles, meningitis and cholera. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Health Policy in Chad specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To expand immunization rate, this policies must handle the problems of secure refrigeration of vaccines in remote areas, inefficiency of trained healthcare workers, and community resistance to vaccination among other reasons. These policies should also encourage participation by donors and the government. The effect of government exception in this process is that there would be no one to safeguard the interest of the people. Donors also provide monitory support since Chad is a country with low income leve ls. Failure to include them would mean no support. Third world countries need to do more on health and education. Report from World Bank in 1993 proved that developing countries are prone to crippling diseases than developed countries. It is estimated that 12 million children under the age of 5 die of diseases that could be prevented because of poverty every year. Investments in various countries are good sources of income to the members. Due to the fact that economic isolation has become impossible, a nation that cannot impact on the global market assures its citizen of a decline in economic growth. A healthy nation holds the promise of improved economic status. Education policies can be of great importance in people’s effort to expand immunization rate. Chad has an adult literacy rate of 34%. People should be educated on the importance of immunization and so this would create awareness across the country. While politics is playing a big role in allocation of schools in var ious places, the life of the young generation is compromised. If the program is launched to improve the results in the remote areas then the schools should as well be improved. Learning should be supervised and the curriculum given room for immunization studies so that people can consider it important and stop the kind of resistance created. Education campaigns, therefore, become very important and every individual should support it in order to meet the targeted health security.Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Volunteer programs should be carried out. Those who are willing should be invited to conduct training to the health care staff. Additionally, the volunteers can also help in immunization and creation of awareness to the communities that live in the remote areas where low turn outs are recorded. The donors can come in and provide support to the volunteers by of fering funds to cover their transport fee to and from home so as to encourage them to keep doing the work. The World Health Organization also has a duty to ensure that all vaccines are safely stored so that they are of good quality. The National Regulatory Authority, though independent, should also work together with the United Nations to ensure the laboratories used to store the vaccines are in good state. Conclusion The hope that oil revenue will help improve the situation in Chad may not be a reality if the same culture of resisting immunization continues. Education, especially in the remote areas, should take a center stage in this war because it is the only weapon at the disposal of Chadians. The government should, therefore, improve the education system in this country.

Worldbuilding Resources for Historical Fiction Writers

Worldbuilding Resources for Historical Fiction Writers Worldbuilding Resources for Historical Fiction Writers Amy Arden is a history enthusiast. She holds a graduate degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury where some of her happiest moments involved unfurling parchment at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.  In this article, she talks about the challenge of worldbuilding in historical fiction - and how attention to detail can make or break a reader's experience and the authenticity of a story. Luckily, she has also provided  a list of resources where authors can go to research such details. Beta readers with some knowledge of the period you are writing about can be a tremendous help.Lastly, Goodreads and Quora  are also useful for finding someone with the expertise to answer your questions. In fact, Goodreads gave me the answer to when and how a Regency hostess would â€Å"turn the table† - which is a signal to guests that they should talk with the person on their opposite side. Understanding this old custom allowed me to create opportunities for Kate to have pivotal conversations.These resources are only a few of the many available to historical novelists. As with any research, use discretion when assessing the credibility of your sources. With a little luck and a little searching, you can make amazing discoveries that will bring your story, and the world that it takes place in, to life.Amy  is actively seeking representation for The Admiral’s Wife. Visit her  website  to read an excerpt!Worldbuilding can be a fine line of imagination and accurac y. As Amy says, the world you write about needs to make sense so that the reader can become immersed without distraction. Do you have any thoughts or questions for Amy? Leave them in the comments below!

Flesh Eating Bacteria Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Flesh Eating Bacteria - Research Paper Example Apparently, the name flesh eating bacteria is linked to the idea that infected parts of a human body looks like gnawed. Streptococcus pyogenes' also known as group A -hemolytic streptococcus, GAS, and Strep A exoenzymes or endotoxins cause the disease or illness known as necrotizing fasciitis. Fasciitis is characterized by the swelling of the fascia (Stoppler, 2009; Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). Fascias are the dense fibrous connective tissues that wrap the human body below the layers of cells that compose the skin. Fascias are also the tissues that enfold individual muscle fiber and envelope together individual muscles to form bundles. Similar dense fibrous connective tissues form tendons that attach muscles to bones, attach bones to bones, hold organs in place, and bind the different organs to form a stable system (Miller and Levine, 2003). The exoenzymes which are termed poisonous and lethal compounds are the primary complexes that cause the necrosis or death of vulnerable dense fibrous connective cells and tissues. One identified exoenzymes causing cell death are the proteases (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007). The dense fibrous connective cells and tissues are basically protein, so the cells and tissues are composed of individual units called amino acids joined together by peptide bonds. The exoenzymes as well are basically proteins. However, exoenzymes as enzymes are catalysts (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007; Mader, 2001). The exoenzymes which are protease catalyses the breakdown of peptide bonds that joins the amino acids of the protein component of dense fibrous connective cells and tissues (Mosby's Pocket Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Allied Health, 2002). This collapse of peptide bonds results to the disintegration of the basic units of the cells and tissues which means death of the cells and tissues. So, the layer of cells and tissues below the skin called fascia as well as those in the other locations of the body die the same way when there is enough exoenzymes produced by the Streptococcus pyogenes' that can be circulated by the blood throughout the entire human body. Apparently, the amino acids are utilized by the microorganisms for their sustenance, multiplication, growth, and development as facultative intracellular pathogens (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007).Contaminated people are the most probable reservoirs of the microorganisms which may transmit the same to other people by direct or indirect contacts or through respiratory droplet infection. At present, S. pyrogenes has been found to be sensitive to bacitracin (Engelkirk and Burton, 2007, DHHSCDCP, 2009). Necrotizing fasciitis symptoms: tumor, fever, cellulites, swelling, pain, soft tissues, black and dry skin, foul-smelling-thick-gray drippings (Smith, 2002). Treatment: removal of dead tissues, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole, adequate IV fluids, sterile operating room, local anesthetic, surgery if not flushing the area with copious amounts of sterile irrigating fluid (Smith, 2002). Conversely, Staphylococcus aureus produce exoenzymes or exotoxin or epidermolytic toxins called catalase causing the