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Chapter 7 Counties are facing many issues that are becoming more demanding by the day. One such issue is problems with struct

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Chapter 7.

Counties are facing many issues that are becoming more demanding by the day. One such issue is problems with structural finances. Property taxes are going down when the growing cost of services is increasing, and the infrastructure in place is aging. These warrant repairs and maintenance of infrastructure under local governments such as roadways, sidewalks, water and sewer lines as well as municipal facilities. The growth of metropolitan areas is also causing increasing stress on roadways meaning these part of infrastructure requires attention as well. On top of these, counties have to deal with the economic impacts of climate change that bring about water scarcity and extreme weather. Technology is also bringing about regulatory problems to local governments as vocal parties demand that these advanced technologies be bound by regulation in ways that ensure existing industries are protected.

Declining county funding is a very significant problem for county governments. In addition to this, state governments are limiting the counties’ capacity to raise revenue. Forty-five states have put some limitations on the abilities of counties to raise money through property tax. Counties are forced to cut funding from crucial areas such as public safety to cover the deficits. States are increasing mandates for counties to implement without providing the funding required to do so.

To deal with the fragmentation of programs and services, county governments should engage nonprofits and social enterprises to generate a hybrid model of public services and one driven by profit. The need for public trash collection, habilitation of people dependent on drugs, safe housing options, and so forth have been answered by private entities. Citizens are given some degree of power to resolve their own issues that would otherwise burden these governments. Citizen engagement is thus essential, and the use of technology can help further this initiative. Citizen engagement means collaborative work that aides in building on past developments and incorporating new services.

A weak mayor kind of government uses a mayor-council method where he/she is subordinate to the council in terms of the mandate for policymaking and administration powers. The council employs a city manager and appoints the mayor as opposed to being elected. The council-manager is appointed by the council in which the mayor is a member. The mayor is elected by the citizens. A strong mayor or the mayor-council form of government has the mayor as the chief executive officer of the city and does not employ as city manager, maybe an admin to help run daily affairs. The strong-mayor form of government is the most desirable for me because, as a mayor, one would like to do things his way. The issues one promised the electorate deal with once elected will be easily executed without needing approval and without including limitations.

Chapter 8.

Despite the Supreme Court being the least understood branch of government, it is the most trusted. Democrats in Texas believe that supreme court judges follow the law and not political ideas when rendering their decisions on issues. Texas Democrats believe that Supreme Court judges base their decision solely on the law. There have been partisan battles recently over the highest court in the land. However, a majority of people, including Texas Democrats, believe that the court holds a moderate position in this liberal-conservative continuum. This opinion about the supreme court by Texas Democrats increases with more knowledge on the court and the decision of judges. In essence, the Supreme Court is especially capable of commanding respect, especially when compared against other government branches, and most of all, those citizens that are aware of the roles of justices under the constitution.

Trust in the executive, particularly Trump, is strongly related to party support. Almost all Republicans have trust in the president because he is, of course, conservative as they are. Republicans trust the Supreme court more than they distrust it but not as much as they trust the president. Some believe that the Supreme Court sometimes leans to the liberal side. A good example is a decision made by the supreme court in the last few terms. The decision to stop President Trump’s addition of work as an eligibility requirement for Medicaid is one that may be considered by liberals as to lean towards the liberal direction because it was President Obama who expanded this program. Independents do not support the Supreme court as much as they do the president because they believe that the Supreme Court may be leaning to one side of this partisan continuum. Unlike the president who has the right to have biased ideas, the Supreme Court should be strictly unbiased, and when a little biasness is perceived, independents would rather side with the side that is not selling out. Independents in Texas might have supported Trump despite them being on no side, which means they have trust in him.

Chapter 9.

The Texas voter ID laws require voters to have with them a government-issued ID such as an identification certificate, a driver’s license, a US passport or a military ID. Such requirements disenfranchise minority voters who face significant limitations when applying for these IDS. The laws accept a license to carry a gun but decline a government or school-issued ID, which is just absurd. It is known that white people in Texas are the minority with licenses to carry handguns. Minorities face huge barriers to obtain a gun license; that is why these laws can be perceived to be discriminatory. Other states permit various forms of ID that are excluded from Texas laws, which keep a lot of people from voting. These laws, according to Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos from the US District Court of Southern District of Texas, had a discriminatory effect. These laws affect voter turnout by targeting particular races and enacting restrictions that most certainly appear to keep them away from the ballot. These patterns of requirements under these laws cannot be explained by grounds other than race.

Barriers should not accompany the right to vote. The voter ID laws keep many away from the ballot, deprive them of their constitutional right to vote, and directly oppose the country’s progress towards including more Americans in the democratic process. Many Americans do not have access to the forms of identification included in these laws. These voters are disproportionally low-income, from racial minority groups, and other vulnerable demographics. These voters have a hard time obtaining ID because either they cannot afford to obtain the documents required to obtain a photo ID card issued by the government. A study by GAO indicates that voter ID laws reduce voter turnout by about 2 to 3 percentage points, which means tens of thousands of Texas residents cannot vote.

I oppose these laws because almost 11 percent of Americans do not have a government-issued photo ID (ACLU). Again, obtaining this ID requires money, an expense that low-income Americans cannot foot. This includes the combined cost of document fees, waiting time, and the cost incurred during travel. When these costs are combined, they come to between $75 to $175. The elderly and people with disabilities cannot be able to travel as well as those people coming from rural areas. People from Rural Texas travel up to 170 miles to the next ID office.

The discriminatory aspect of these laws mostly influences my stand against this law. Minority voters do not have the IDs required for voting as compared to white people. A quarter of African-Americans across the nation of voting age do not have photo IDs from the government in which is quite disproportional, considering only 8 percent of whites lack these photo IDs. Besides, allowing permits for handguns to vote and disallowing other forms of ID such as student IDs is straight-up discriminatory. Again, the majority of minorities do not have handgun permits, which are also hard to obtain when one is from either of these groups.

Chapter 10.

The media is central to the proper function of a democratic nation. The media usually plays a watchful role. They conduct autonomous scrutiny and discuss the strengths and shortcomings of candidates, bodies that oversee elections, the government, and informs the public of the extent these agencies have carried out their mandate as required and join them in holding them accountable. The media also ensure public participation in elections by educating them on how to exercise this democratic right. They also provide reports on how the election is progressing. The media give candidates as well as their affiliated parties a platform to communicate with the electorate. It also allows the public to communicate their ideas, concerns and needs to the authorities and to people seeking to join the administration and provide a platform for them to interact on these issues.

The media so far has played most of its part as the backbone of this democratic nation. It has informed, criticized, and stimulated debate on various crucial occasions. The credibility of the media has, however, been in question. Its effectiveness is based on its responsibility to get its facts right, which I believe it has done. The media has dug deep, collected opinions from different people, and countercheck their facts thoroughly. It has not held back in rooting out deception and exposing liars, hypocrites, and the corrupt using counterchecked facts.

Where the media does not show much merit is avoiding to cause panic by exaggerating facts. It appears that the media these days is reliant on the information that cause havoc in order to draw public attention. The press is yet to lose the respect of the people and the nation at large, but there have been instances of irresponsibility, exaggeration, and mongering to influence sales.

Minority party candidates are a long way from ousting the Republican and Democratic hegemony that has characterized American politics for way over 150 years. Republicans and Democrats still reinforce archaic laws that ensure voters have only two choices at the ballot. When these two parties came to power during the early years, each with its turn, they created restrictions that bar outsiders from participating fully in the state as well as national elections.

In Arizona, for instance, Republicans and Democrats need to collect 6,000 valid signatures in order to be included in the ballot. However, this number is six times higher for independents who are required to bring them in the form of valid petitions. In reality, an independent would need to collect around 50,000 signature to make sure that they have 37,000 that are valid (Galen). Only candidates that are able to fund themselves or have independent notoriety can be able to make these targets. It is clear that these two dominant parties have no interest in entertaining further competition. Even if independents join the Green or Libertarian parties, which are considered traditional failures, they solve the ballot problem, but still, they suffer from the wasted-vote theory where voters see them as fringe groups with no likelihood of winning.

Chapter 11

Texas like any other states has been one of the hottest political hotbeds between the Democrats as well as the republicans. In Texas, political parties provide opportunities to the Texans to be able to contribute on their thoughts and the policies that they would love to see in place. Political parties are an important connection between the government and the electorate. Texas for the longest time voted for Republican candidates between 1848 and 1972 with the exception of the year 1928 when Al Smith was elected under Democrat ticket. This may be because during the 19th century looking at the history of Texas and the settlers, Texas was a state that was heavily dominated by White Americans. However, in South Texas, Democrats led in poll especially in congress representation. The South as compared to the North during this period were able to get funding from the government thus they got to invest on their various infrastructures.

A shift in voting by electorate in Texas happened between the year 1902-1965 when the blacks, Latinos and poor whites though they were disenfranchised by the system. Most stopped voting and blacks became excluded from politics including voter turnout leading to decline in Republican party in Texas since their support was based on the free Black communities. Through the various legislations including the Civil Right Acts of 1964 mostly supported by democrats and passing of the voting rights in Us allowing minorities to vote a shift occurred in Texas partisan politics. By around 1970s, the Republican was more of established party in Texas than Republicans. Most Democrats Presidential candidates rarely win in Texas and since Jimmy Carter, there has been no presidential democratic candidate that has won in Texas. Previous to Bill Clinton winning, a democrat was likely to win election if they in Texas state but in 1992, Bill Clinton won while still losing Texas electoral votes.

Political policies and reforms have however been an impact in the 21st century in determining the popular party. People have learnt to vote based on policies that parties have such as healthcare, judicial reforms, immigration issues, pharmaceutical issues among others. My idea of government and policies I support align with Democratic party for example on the judicial reforms. Democrats have the policies they believe on judicial system and reforms that need to implemented. Several issues they have outlined include bail reforms and reducing barriers to justice especially on race. Democrats believe the biases that exist leading to prosecution of people of color and the poor ought to be amended. On medicine, they believe in Universal Health Care for all and also need for gun controls.

Chapter 12

Interest groups are defined as any formal association of individuals or organizations that try to influence the government decision making and or the making of public policy. The influence of the interest group is usually exercised by a lobbyist or a lobbying firm. A Lobbyist can therefore be defined as an individual that represent the interest organization before the government and the lobbyist receives a compensation by representing the interest group before the government. In this case the Lobbyist should be registered with the Texas State. Lobbyist’s primary goal is to influence policy. Majority of the interest groups in Texas take part in the lobbying activities in a bid to achieve their core objectives. Interest groups is a term that encompasses several organized groups which may be; public interest groups, business and economic groups as well as the government unites and political action committees.

By ensuring that you are part of an interest group that has the right size and adequate resources will dictate whether your interest will be represented in the congress. A greater size of an interest group is essential because the group will have the numbers to influence policy also it will certainly comprise of members with appropriate knowledge, status and aims. Being in a politically active interest group is essential because it has the capacity to influence members of the legislature to vote in their favor. Interest groups work by protecting people’s way of life, promote new economic opportunities and reduce the impact of adverse influences. CITATION Kei16 l 1033 (Miller). Being on an interest group promotes definite freedom of expression because the sharing of ideas and expressions give an individual the opportunity to pursue topics of interest that influence their lives in one way or the other. Interest groups are key because group efforts are often utilized as platform that steer and advocate for change. When one is not in an interest group they may write to the government but the cost of such kind of lobbying is so high and one individual cannot afford and hence the cost is shared among the members in an interest group.

Chapter 13

Policy Process is a cycle that is divided into a series of stages from a notional starting point at which policymakers begin to think about policy. Agenda setting is the first step in the policy process. It is the stage where the many problems present in the state are identified and the responsible parties fight as they try to get the problems to make it into the public policy agenda. An Individual therefore, plays a critical role by identifying the issues and by the affiliations to prominent interest groups that have the power to influence whether the issue will move to the policy. Citizens can also voice their preference at the Issue identification and the agenda building stage by ensuring that the issues that solely and primarily affect them get into the public spotlight and it will definitely go through the process once it has received a public outcry and serious attention from the public. The media therefore plays a critical role in accomplishing such a task.

The policy evaluation is another stage where one can contribute and cause substantial influence. The stage enables the evaluation of policies according to the stipulated standards. The evaluation is mainly done through, careful, honest feedback from the members of the public who are directly affected by the policies. For a successful evaluation to be undertake it may at times call for research which may provide concrete evidence on the effectiveness of the policy. Hence, it is at the policy evaluation stage that one can contribute by checking on the effectiveness of the policies and giving appropriate feedback that will facilitate the amendments to be made. As a citizen one can participate in the evaluation by also appropriately responding to the policies and the news regarding the policies through political participation. CITATION Cal15 l 1033 (Jillson). Policy making is a cyclical process and revisions are usually made at the evaluation stage and the recommendations may cause the policy process to go back to the agenda setting phase, or the policy formulation stage or the policy implementation stages. The citizens play a critical role in the evaluation and the agenda setting phases.

Works Cited

ACLU. “Oppose Voter ID Legislation – Fact Sheet.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2017, www.aclu.org/other/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet.

Galen, R. “Opinion | Reed Galen: Here’s How to End America’s Ballot Box Duopoly.” NBC News, 17 Apr. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/how-republicans-democrats-prevent-independent-candidates-getting-ballot-ncna866466.

Multinational Corporations (MNC)

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MNC

Different organizations aim at attaining a global competitive advantage through implementing different unique strategies. Multinational corporations find it difficult operating under a collection of nationally independent subsidiaries forcing them to link their strategic activities across different locations globally. The global strategy requires an institution centralizes its operations to a specific location that gives other subsidiaries mandate to produce. The concept of global subsidiary mandate, therefore, involves firms developing strategies aimed at winning the global competition through giving mandate to specific subsidiaries located at different locations of in the world. For example, an organization operating branches in different countries across the world would decide to give mandate to one subsidiary in each continent to manage operations of all other branches.

Multinational Corporations (MNC) makes use of the global subsidiary mandate concept in achieving the three main international marketing goals. Firstly, managing operations in a central headquarter provides MNC with an opportunity to manage their global operations efficiently, hence achieving the goal of global scale efficiency. MNCs are capable of making a complete follow-up of events across the world in a central location avoiding instances of inefficiencies created by lack of accountability occurring through utilizing different management points. Secondly, the concept promotes multinational flexibility because ideas are generated from a central area and distributed to different subsidiaries across the globe. Availability of different subsidiaries across the globe gives MNC chances of investing in different areas promoting flexibility. Finally, the global subsidiary concept helps in achieving the worldwide learning goal among MNCs. Integration with different firms through global competition provides an opportunity for MNC to learn new ideas and strategies that they utilize in winning the global competition. In addition, global competition introduces innovations enabling the organization to prepare for future changes.

Multinational corporations documentary

Multinational Corporations

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Multinational corporationsAbstractA company is assigned as a lawful person under law. What sort of person would it be? Answer: A sociopath. While this may strike a few as self-evident, others will discover The Corporation a genuine eye-opener as it dives into the attitude and character of corporate America. This astute documentary comes to us from Mark Achbar Jennifer Abbott and Joel Bakan, whose book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power serves as the premise for the film. Through meetings with left-wing staples activists and informants; and highlighting particular instances of corporate misdirection, the three-hour scaled down arrangement paints a kind of the unflattering picture of multinationals. The absolute most dooming confirmation originates from Fox News CEO Ray Anderson, who was forced to execute a story that laid open connections to malignancy in an engineered Monsanto cow-like milk hormone. The Corporation addresses three separate subjects. In the first program, the Pathology of Commerce, movie producers look at the neurotic eagerness toward oneself of the current business. Planet Inc. takes a gander at the extent of business and the advanced, even clandestine, strategies advertiser’s utilization to get their brands into homes (John, 2011).

The last program, Reckoning, analyzes how companies cut arrangements with any style of government from Nazi Germany to tyrannical states today that permit or even support sweatshops, as long as deals go up. The Corporation accepted basic recognition at the Toronto International Film Festival and has quite recently been named as one of the Festival’s “Canada’s Top Ten 2003” movies. The Corporation additionally collected the Joris Ivens Special Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival in November and will be screened at the Sundance Film Festival in January.The documentary shows the improvement of the contemporary business enterprise, from a legitimate element that started as an administration sanctioned foundation intended to influence particular open capacities, to the ascent of the advanced business company qualified for the greater part of the lawful privileges of an individual. The documentary thinks for the most part upon North American companies, mainly those in the United States. One topic is its appraisal as an “identity,” as a consequence of the 1886 case in the United States Supreme Court in which an announcement by Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite prompted companies as “persons” having the same rights as individuals, taking into account the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.Points tended to incorporate the Business Plot, where in 1933; General Medley Butler uncovered a claimed corporate plot against then U.s. Through vignettes and meetings, and The Corporation analyzes and scrutinizes corporate business drills. The film’s evaluation is effected through the demonstrative criteria in the DSM-IV; The Corporation endeavors to analyze the way companies are methodically forced to act with what it claims are the DSM-IV’s side effects of psychopath, e.g. hard carelessness for the sentiments of other individuals, the insufficiency to keep up personal connections, careless dismissal for the wellbeing of others, misdirection, the inadequacy to meet the blame, and the disappointment to comply with social standards and admiration the law. Then again, the DSM has never incorporated a psychopath finding, rather proposing withdrawn identity issue (ASPD) with the DSM-IV. ASPD and psychopath, while imparting some demonstrative criteria, are not synonym (Drucker, 1993).This documentary points at nothing short of what a full-scale picture of the most prevailing business on the planet Earth in our lifetime- -a sensation all the more excellent, if not out and out startling, when you consider that the business as we know it has been around for just about 150 years. It used to be that enterprises were, by definition, brief and limited in motivation. In the event that a town required a scaffold constructed, an organization was set up to back and complete the task; when the extension was a refined truth, the partnership stopped to be. At that point came the nineteenth century criminal nobles, and the courts were influenced to characterize companies, not as get-the-occupation done instruments however as persons under the fourteenth Amendment with full social liberties to life, freedom, and the quest for bliss forever.The Corporation characterizes this interminably changing life-structure in exhaustive point of interest; measuring the many ways it has come to rule as well as to distort lives (Post et al. 2002). The film performs a running analysis of this element with the qualities of a prototypical insane person: an insensitive unconcern for the sentiments and security of others, an insufficiency to meet coerce an imbued propensity of lying for the help. We are cleared away on an insane odyssey through a modified universe, in which manufactured chemicals are made for the benefit and, of course, help a malignancy scourge; in which the people who brought us Agent Orange devise a milk-expanding medication for a world in which there is as of now an overabundance of milk; in which an American machine organization rented its frameworks to the Nazis- -and overhauled them on a month to month premise -so that the Holocaust could go ahead as an efficient procedure.The film collects a clothing arrangement of corporate sins: Bovine Growth Hormone, Agent Orange, and advertising research on the most proficient method to leave kids to bother their guardians to purchase items. It is in the light of a legitimate concern for companies to offer items, and along these lines in their enthusiasm to have those items guaranteed as sheltered, attractive and bravo. Nobody who knows anything about the sequential construction system preparation of chickens would consume a non-natural chicken. Dairy animals, which are vegans, have been bolstered transformed creature protein, prompting the enchanting probability that they can pass along frantic cow infection.

The opposition to globalization development or counter-globalization movement is a social development disparaging of the globalization of corporate free enterprise. The development is likewise ordinarily alluded to as the worldwide equity movement; adjust globalization development, hostile to globalist development, against corporate globalization movement or development against neoliberal globalization. Members build their reactions in light of various related ideas. What is imparted is that members restrict what they see as huge, multi-national organizations having unregulated political force, practiced through exchange understandings and deregulated budgetary markets. Particularly, partnerships are blamed for looking to augment benefit at the cost of work security conditions and guidelines, work employing and recompense measures, ecological protection standards, and the trustworthiness of national administrative power, autonomy and sway.Individuals are contradicting globalization accept that global assertions and worldwide money related foundations, for example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization undermine neighborhood choice making (Bakan, 2004). Organizations that utilize these foundations to support their own particular corporate and fiscal investment can practice benefits that people and little businesses cannon, including the capability to: move openly crosswise over outskirts, extract wanted characteristic assets, and use a wide assortment of personal property. The expansion points for an end to the lawful status of “corporate personhood” and the disintegration of free market fundamentalism and the radical financial privatization measures of the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Trade Organization.

Activists are particularly restricted to the different misuses which they think are propagated by globalization and the global companies that, they say, elevate neoliberals without respect to moral measures or natural protection. Common targets incorporate the World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) and facilitated commerce bargains like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Trans Pacific Trade Agreement (TPPA), the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In the light of the investment hole between rich and poor countries, disciples of the development assert that the unhindered commerce without measures to ensure nature and the wellbeing and wellbeing of laborers will only expand the influence of industrialized countries. Advocates of this line of thought allude to the methodology as polarization and contend that current neo-liberal budgetary approaches have given wealthier states leeway over creating countries, empowering their misuse and prompting an augmenting of the global riches hole (Hessen, 1981).A report by Jean Ziegler, UN Special Reporter on the right to sustenance, notes that “a huge number of agriculturists are losing their occupations in the creating countries, yet little ranchers in the northern countries are likewise enduring” and reasons that “the current inequities of the global exchanging framework are constantly sustained instead of determined under the WTO, given the unequal equalization of force between part countries.” Activists point to the unequal balance and power between created and creating countries inside the WTO and as for global exchange, most particularly in connection to the protectionist arrangements towards farming authorized in numerously created countries (Martin, 2010). These activists additionally bring up that overwhelming sponsorship of created countries’ agriculture and the forceful utilization of fare subsidies by some created countries to make their agrarian items more alluring on the global business are a real reasons for decreases in the rural areas of many creating countries.I have been contemplating the GMO talk about, and particularly how progressives have received an expansive against GM stance that on the substance of it gives off the impression of being precisely like the progressive hostile to a dangerous atmospheric deviation stance. Both are fundamentally unreceptive to science. At the same time you raise a deeper point: the opposition to GM backers is precisely the crude milk, neighborhood, natural, aged supporters as well. So here we have the underhandedness enterprise Monsanto against the beneficent new companies that try to upset business as usual. But then on the other side we have enthusiastic GM new companies like the gleaming plant Kick.

ReferencesJohn Hilary, (2011). The poverty of capitalism: economic meltdown and the struggle for what comes next.Martin Wolf, (2010). In defense of globalization JagdishBhagwatiWhy Globalization works.

Drucker, P. F. (1993). Concept of the corporation. New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A: Transaction Publishers.

Bakan, J. (2004). The corporation: The pathological pursuit of profit and power. New York: Free Press.

Post, J. E., Preston, L. E., & Sauter-Sachs, S. (2002). Redefining the corporation: Stakeholder management and organizational wealth. Stanford, Calif: Stanford Business Books.

Hessen, R. (1981). In defense of the corporation. Stanford, Calif: Hoover Institution Press. Stanford University.

Chapter 7 Ethics

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Chapter 7: Ethics

Section seven of the book “A Text with Readings” by Manuel Velasquez centers on ethics. According to Kant, ethics is about how individuals are to be worthy of happiness rather than being a doctrine concerning how to make themselves happy. In their daily activities, individuals are faced with moral questions that need to be addressed by values they have selected for themselves. In broader terms, ethics consists mainly of studying morality. It thus tries to define the things that are morally good in life as well as the actions that tend to be ethically correct. Ethics centers on morality, but it is not morality itself. Morality comprises of the standards that a person or a group possess concerning what is good and evil or what exists to be right and wrong.

The chapter further discusses ethics in terms of relativity and introduces two crucial words, and that is descriptive relativism and ethical relativism. Descriptive relativism articulates that societies typically differ in their moral standards. On the other hand, ethical relativism is the perception that the things that are morally right or wrong depend on an individual’s culture or society. Moreover, it further argues that there is no correct set of moral standards that are outlined for individuals to follow, but they should follow the norms that are accepted by their societies and culture. Therefore the author maintains that the ethical relativist should not assert that their moral standards are mistaken nor those of another culture.

Ethical relativism outlines that individual’s need to respectful and tolerant of other cultures moral beliefs and rejects the perception that their moral beliefs are the correct ones. However, they can criticize their own moral beliefs as well as those of others by rationally evaluating them. According to several traditional beliefs, individuals need to decide on what is morally right and wrong by observing the consequences of their actions. This leads to the consequentialist theory that holds that if one’s actions are right, then the act is correct and otherwise. However, there are those individuals who have adopted hedonism which is the outlook that only happiness or pleasure is inherently moral and it is only unhappiness or pain that is intrinsically immoral.

The chapter also discusses ethical egoism which asserts that morally right action is the one that initiates good and less bad consequences for an individual compared to any other activity. According to Harry Browne who is an American author, individuals should put their happiness ahead of others since the other individuals are doing the same. This is what is called ethical egoism. However, ethical egoism tends to have some disadvantages. Several philosophers maintain that ethical egoism is not impartial since it tends to favor an individual’s interests first and hence it is not morally dependable. In discussing the issue of ethics, rules, and consequences, Velasquez manages to answer the question of whether these issues makes an action right and whether they define morality. The author emphasizes on Act Utilitarianism and Rule Utilitarianism. Act utilitarianism holds that individuals should always act in a way that their actions generate the utmost happiness for every individual. Rule utilitarianism maintains that individuals should follow the rules that produce causes maximum pleasure.

The nonconsequentialist theories argue that the morality of an action critically depends on other factors rather than consequences and the issue leads to the Divine command theory as well as Buddhism. The Divine command concept tends to be a nonconsequentialist theory, and it commands individuals to abide by laws of God while Buddhism stresses on deliberate action, and it links morality to wisdom. The chapter closes by discussing that ethics are grounded on an individual’s character and emphasizing on the application of theories such as the normative ones to address issues such as abortion and euthanasia.

Works Cited

Velasquez, Manuel. Philosophy: A text with readings. Cengage Learning, 2016.

Chapter 7. Local Governments in Texas

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Chapter 7. Local Governments in Texas

Challenges Facing County Governments

To deal with the fragmentation of programs and services, county governments should engage nonprofits an social enterprises to generate a hybrid model of public services and one driven by profit. The need for public trash collection, habilitation of people dependent on drugs, safe housing options, and so forth have been answered by private entities. Citizens are given some degree of power to resolve their own issues that would otherwise burden these governments. Citizen engagement is thus essential, and the use of technology can help further this initiative. Citizen engagement means collaborative work that aides in building on past developments and incorporating new services.

Differences Between Strong-Mayor, Weak-Mayor and Council-Manager

Chapter 8. Public Opinion and the Media in Texas

Why Texas Democrats Trust the Supreme Court more than Other Government Branches

Despite the Supreme Court being the least understood branch of government, it is the most trusted. Democrats in Texas believe that supreme court judges follow the law and not political ideas when rendering their decisions on issues. Texas Democrats believe that Supreme Court judges base their decision solely on the law. There have been partisan battles recently over the highest court in the land. However, a majority of people, including Texas Democrats, believe that the court holds a moderate position in this liberal-conservative continuum. This opinion about the supreme court by Texas Democrats increases with more knowledge on the court and the decision of judges. In essence, the Supreme Court is specially capable of commanding respect, especially when compared against other government branches, and most of all, those citizens that are aware of the roles of justices under the constitution.

Why Republicans and Independents in Texas Trust Trump more than the Supreme Court

Chapter 9. Voting and Political Participation in Texas

Effects of voter ID laws on Turnout in Texas

The Texas voter ID laws require voters to have with them a government-issued ID such as an identification certificate, a driver’s license, a US passport or a military ID. Such requirements disenfranchise minority voters who face significant limitations when applying for these IDS. The laws accept a license to carry a gun but decline a government or school-issued ID, which is just absurd. It is known that white people in Texas are the minority with licenses to carry handguns. Minorities face huge barriers to obtain a gun license; that is why these laws can be perceived to be discriminatory. Other states permit various forms of ID that are excluded from Texas laws, which keep a lot of people from voting. These laws, according to Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos from the US District Court of Southern District of Texas, had a discriminatory effect. These laws affect voter turn out by targeting particular races and enacting restrictions that most certainly appear to keep them away from the ballot. These patterns of requirements under these laws cannot be explained by grounds other than race.

Barriers should not accompany the right to vote. The voter ID laws keep many away from the ballot, deprive them of their constitutional right to vote, and directly oppose the country’s progress towards including more Americans in the democratic process. Many Americans do not have access to the forms of identification included in these laws. These voters are disproportionally low-income, from racial minority groups, and other vulnerable demographics. These voters have a hard time obtaining ID because either they cannot afford to obtain the documents required to obtain a photo ID card issued by the government. A study by GAO indicates that voter ID laws reduce voter turn out by about 2 to 3 percentage points, which means tens of thousands of Texas residents cannot vote.

Why I oppose these laws

Chapter 10. Campaigns and Elections in Texas

The Role of the Media in elections

Challenges that hinder minor party candidates from succeeding in statewide

Works Cited

ACLU. “Oppose Voter ID Legislation – Fact Sheet.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2017, www.aclu.org/other/oppose-voter-id-legislation-fact-sheet.

Multinational Enterprises

Table of Contents

Executive Summary—————————————————————————–3

Introduction————————————————————————————–4

MNE Analysis———————————————————————————–5

Industry/Sector Analysis———————————————————————–6

Country Analysis——————————————————————————–7

Analysis of Regional Organization———————————————————–8

FMSS/ Mode of Entry analysis and recommendation————————————-9

Conclusion—————————————————————————————15

Works Cited————————————————————————————-17

Executive Summary

Multinational enterprises are firms that have grown due to the availability of open market entries in many nations. Countries have opened their markets for foreign direct investments, which have encouraged companies to invest in those countries. The reason for this liberalization of markets is because foreign direct investments come with economic development as many locals get employed in addition to improved infrastructure among other benefits (Cantwell). This article touches on multinational business management. It first begins by introducing multinational businesses and their management. It then goes ahead to pick an MNE, Pv Crystalox, and analyzes it. The analysis is based on the current area of operations of the company. The analysis leads to the identification of a new target market are for the business. The identified market for Pv Crystalox is Brazil. Brazil is also analyzed to check inform the mode of entry for the business. After the analysis, it is found that Brazil is a low market region with moderate potential of growth in market. The possible methods for Pv Crystalox to enter into Brazil are analyzed. This is termed FMMS analysis (Eroglu).

There are five identified methods, which include no entry, sole venture, joint venture, exporting, and licensing. Each of these methods is examined and after a considerable deliberation of Brazil’s economic situation and government policies, sole venture is chosen as the mode of entry for Pv Crystalox. Sole venture is chosen because is seen as the most appropriate method for business that wants to exercise full control of their activities. The method offers Pv Crystalox high level of control for its businesses in Brazil. Moreover, it encourages it to apply experience gained in other countries in Brazil. Another thing that motivated this choice was that Pv Crystalox will integrate itself into the economic system of Brazil and develop at a fast pace and generally maximize profits. It is concluded that sole venture is the best methods of entry for Pv Crystalox and was to be adopted by the firm. The paper recommends Pv Crystalox to adopt sole venture in its mover strategy to Brazil. After this analysis, that summarizes the content of the article. Lastly, the various works cited in the articled are referenced.

Introduction

Multinational enterprises are businesses that operate in many nations. Most multinational enterprises operate in neighboring countries within a single continent. However, some large multinational enterprises exist in more than one continent. These enterprises get into new economies at a fast pace and grow depending on the government policies of the concerned nations. The main reason for the spread of multinational enterprises all over the world is the liberalization in many countries. Many nations have opened their markets for foreign direct investments. This implies that companies can move from one nation to another and establish their businesses. One thing that encourages many companies to invest in other nations is the availability of grace periods and the equal government duties and subsidies for new businesses (Dunning and Sarianna). This paper explores a multinational enterprise, Pv Crystalox. It assesses the strengths and the weaknesses of the company, examines its area of operation, and identifies a country that the MNE is supposed to extend its operations. After identifying the nation, it goes ahead and analyses the existing market of the country and business feasibility in the region. It then recommends the best move that the enterprise can use to get into the nation. Brazil has been chosen as the area of expansion for Pv Crystalox (Willeke).

MNE analysis

Pv Crystalox is a multinational enterprise based in the United Kingdom. The company produces and supplies multicrystalline silicon wafers. It provides the silicon wafers to several main photovoltaic producers all over the world. The company utilizes silicon feedstock to come up with multicrystaline silicon wafers and ingots. The production facilities for the silicon ingots is situated in Oxfordshire, UK, while the production services for the silicon wafers is situated in Erfurt, Germany. The company has fully owned subsidiary, solar silicon GmbH, is charged with production of silicon for the enterprise in the Bitterfeld. The company has other branches in Germany, Italy, Japan, USA, and China. Pv Crystalox is currently the leading supplier of photovoltaic silicon wafers (Pvcrystalox.com. 2013).

One of the strengths enjoyed by the company is a large market share. The company is currently commanding a half the world’s market in the production of silicon. The company has branches in several nations (Solar Power Feed-in Tariffs).

However, the company does not have any headquarters or industries in Australia and Latin America. These nations experience sunny weather over a half of the year. This gives reason for the production of solar panels in such nations. Competitors such as Sharp electronics, Kaneka Corporation, SolarWorld AG, Swiss Wafers AG, and ReneSolar Ltd have expanded their operations into many nations and established industries, as well as solar panel offices. However, in Latin America, none of these offices exist so far (Sharp-solar.com. 2013).

Strength of the company is that it has invested hugely on its research and demand sector. Its research and demand departments worldwide keep updating the business with any developing information, and projection future market demands that guide the decision makers and leaders in coming up with sound decisions with regard to the handling of its products. The other strength is that the company has focused on supply chain management. This helps in improving their productivity, speeding delivery, and reducing operations costs (Gatto).

Industry or Sector Analysis

The current environment in which Pv Crystalox operates predominantly is in the United Kingdom. The future of solar PV in this region is very vital to the subsidy level offered. Installation of big PV units in the past had been more profitable and numerous. Further installation of these units in the region would take up a large proportion of the residual budget while not meeting the aim of increasing household distribution generation of for households.

There are many estimates on the capacity of PV in the UK by 2020. DECC projects that 2.7 GW of PV will be available. The national grid projects that 1.5 GW may be installed, which was a revision from their earlier 3.5 GW estimate.

The market for PV can be broken into two—downstream and upstream. Upstream involves the marching of raw materials, like silicon, and the fabrication of inverters and PV modules. Downstream market touches on financing and installation of PV.

The United Kingdom is has little involvement in the upstream of PV. The upstream of UK capacity includes two manufacturing plants for PV units; Sharp’s Wrexham and Crystalox plant. The two combine to deliver 570 MW–a figure more than 90% of the total production capacity in UK by 2009 (IEA). Another company that manufactures in the UK is Romag.

Downstream services involve domestic businesses. It contributes up to a half of the quality established in the market of Solar PV. There is slight public information on how the downstream market unfolds. Collection of information about these values is very challenging. Majority of these units fitted in the UK are small in electrical capacity and volume.

Currently, the government supports the operation of Pv Crystalox in the UK. It does so through Feed –In Tariffs and involvement in the Renewables Obligation.

Country Analysis

The country that Pv Crystalox will venture into is Brazil. Brazil is a country found in the Latin. America. Brazil is a situated in a region that sunshine is not a problem. This implies that the production and sell of silicon wafers and ingots will be handy in Brazil. Many people will most likely buy Solar panels due to the sunny nature of Brazil.

In Brazil, there is low GDP and the GDP is projected to reduce at a rate of 4.32% due to the rise in inflation. Additionally, Brazil in the year 2012 earned revenue of $ 201.9 billion from exports. The and lower and the middle class in Brazil is composed of 67% of the total population. This creates a huge pool of demand for the solar products. Moreover, external analysis of Brazil technology shows that Brazil is constantly progressing towards a better future.

Moreover, the government of Brazil has good policies that touch on foreign direct investments and multinational enterprises. The country offers subsidies to new businesses. Its market is open to foreign direct investments. New businesses are given a six-year grace period after their founding before they start paying taxes to the government. This is hard to come by anywhere. Moreover, the tax rates levied by the government industries are same for both local and foreign countries. This means that companies have the chance of easily settling in Brazil, as there is no bias by the government.

Analysis of regional organization

The region that the country will establish its business is a large industrial region. Brazil has go many industries that are situated in collections forming families of industries. They industries enhance each other in so many ways. Some industries depend on each other for labor, market, source of raw materials and much more. The specific region that Pv Crystalox will be situated will be an area with good road networks. Brazil has good road networks linking industries to their main markets. Photovoltaic solar panels, being international products, can be exported to other neighboring countries in the Latin America. Therefore, the availability of good road networks makes it easy for the products to reach the market. Another important thing that Brazil emphasizes on is education for its populace. The level of literacy is high in Brazil. Many people have gone to school and therefore there is enough pool of labor for the business. The business will not have to import expats (Athukorala).

The establishment of Pv Crystalox in Brazil will also benefit the local population due to improved infrastructure. The establishment of an industry comes with the need for social amenities, such as water, electricity, and roads. This not only profits the organization but also brings many advantages to the local population. People will be able to water, electricity and good roads due to repairs that come with industries. Corporate social responsibility is another area that Pv Crystalox might consider while if Brazil.

FMSS/Mode of Entry Analysis and Recommendation

The method of entry for any firm into a foreign market is always determined by several factors. Firms do not just wake up one day and decide to venture into a market. There needs to be a study of the chosen market before deciding on the most appropriate mode of entry. Various modes of entry exist for MNEs to choose from before getting into new markets. The most typical entry modes available include exporting mode, joint venture mode, a sole venture ode, and a licensing mode. The choice of these methods depends on a number of factors that are based on a tradeoff between returns and risks (Gilroy).

There are three main determinant factors for the choice of an entry mode. They include location advantage of the firm, ownership advantage of the firm, and internalization advantages of incorporating transactions within the firm in a given nation. Ownership advantage involves the ability of a firm to come up with differentiated products, the size of the firm and its multinational experience. Location advantage entails the market potential and the investment risks resent in the new market. Internalization advantages involves contractual risks that are concerned with the cost of drafting and enforcing contacts, the risk of decline in value of services , and the risk of knowledge dissipation in a given area (Heinecke).

The choice of the most appropriate method of investment depends on the above three mentioned factors. It is through striking a balance in the above factors that a firm is able to effectively invest in a market and draw maximum profits from it. Most firms prefer investment modes that have both high market potentials and multinational experience. This is because the two factors aid in the growth of the business as the business adapts and develops at a fast rate. The development is owed to the fact that the firm has prior knowledge and skills and there is market for its activities. However, it is difficult to come by nations that offer both advantages. Most countries have these advantages but in limited scales. Some could offer high market potential but no multination experience on the firm and vice versa (Kleinert). Moreover, nations usually have policies that govern businesses. In some countries, policies for foreign direct investments are different from those of local investments. However, some nations treat all businesses equally. Restrictive policies for foreign direct investments usually curtail MNEs from venturing in certain markets. Changes in government policies also affect the way in which businesses operate in certain markets. This is because a change in the policies of a nation may bring repatriation of business earnings. Worse still, it can cause expropriation of a company’s assets (Jäger-Waldau).

Exporting as a mode of entry has its advantages and its misgivings. Companies normally choose exporting as a mode of entry due many factors. One such factor is limited resource availability. Exporting is chosen by businesses that lack the requisite capital to invest in new economies. Others prefer exporting when there are restrictive policies in the host nation while other prefers it when the host nation has a high investment risk. Exporting is normally characterized by low resource investment and this implies that the firm incurs low risk alternatives, as well as earns low return alternatives. However, the method does not come with market control, which is indispensable for many market-oriented firms. Firms do not get full control of investment activities in the host country and have no effect on decisions made that pertain to their operations (Lymbersky).

Another investment mode adopted by MNEs if the joint venture mode. This mode implies that a multinational firm collaborates with a business that is already established in the host nation. The two are commonly businesses in the same production line. There are usually signed covenants concerning risk/return sharing. Joint ventures are usually characterized by relatively low investment. They provide returns, controls, and risks that are in tandem with the extent of equity participation of the firm concerned. The motivations behind many firms investing in this mode are usually not in harmony with those of the partner firm in the host nation (Mababaya). However, the mode comes with a competitive advantage. This competitiveness is brought about by the integration of the two companies, which gives them a wider view of the market than that which can be spotted by individual businesses. The firm has the advantage of moving resources across national boundaries with ease. They can also use the experience gotten in one nation in another country whenever needed.

Sole venture is another mode of entry that is most commonly used by large firms with enough resources and skills to utilize in host countries. This is the most appropriate method for firms that require full control of their activities. The method is characterized by high resource investment and hgh return or risk alternative. The mode also offers a high level of control for businesses. Moreover, a firm can utilize the experience gained in one country in another country when need arises. The entry modes entails that a firm gets into a country and begins its operations from zero. This gives it a chance to integrate itself into the country’s economic system and develop depending on its financial position and the other environmental factors in the host nation. Most firms chose this mode because they prefer full control of their resources foreign countries. Full control comes with general profit maximization and hence firms should remain subordinate parents to their foreign venture (McIntyre, Ivanaj, and Ivanaj. ).

Licensing is another mode of entry for firms. It is characterized by low resource investment. It also comes with low risk or return alternatives and low control. This is the most unpopular means of venturing in foreign nations by firms. Mostly small firms that are at the initial stages of growth adopt the method. There no big businesses that always claim their growth from this method. However, most big firms say that firms normally use this method as a litmus test to the feasibility of their operations in the target market (Quaschning).

Low control levels usually come with higher costs compared with the integration of assets and skills within firms whenever managers cannot predict future contingencies. A high level of uncertainties makes the cost for drafting and enforcing contracts very expensive. Low modes of control profit many businesses. This is because it allows them to benefit from the economies of scale in the market. They do not encourage bureaucratic disadvantages that come with sole ventures and joint ventures. This is because firms are not tied up by changes in local policies (Rugman). Moreover, if so, they always have the liberty to opt out any time they want. Nations that experience lower market potential are projected to possess a lower rate of attracting foreign investments. Businesses always want to grow and develop. A number of factors apart from capital determine this development. The market for the products of a company determines whether a company grows or not. Therefore, when there is no possibility of growth in the market potential, then there is no need for investment. This point explains the above case. However, ventures with branches all over the world are not hindered by such factors. Most of them could have interest in those nations because of the need to enjoy slow profit objectives and growth. Brazil and India are two third world countries that do not have some good market potential for investment, but their potential is moderate. They may not be as lucrative as developed countries, but may still harbor the market potential and strategic importance that warrants consideration for MNEs (van). Additionally, these countries act as potential markets for MNEs as they come with an extra benefit—they have a higher propensity of better returns owing to greater market instabilities.

When firms decide to venture into low markets such a Brazil and India, they normally do so with a high likelihood of adopting the sole venture entry mode. This satisfies their need for managing and monitoring their resources and services all over the world.

Joint venture and exporting are appropriate methods of entry in low potential markets. This is because there is a reduced risk view. However, these methods do not come with flexibility, control, and change required by firms to hold on to long-term competitiveness. Joint venture usually creates hindrances for strategic coordination. Therefore, larger companies with high multinational experience will most likely go for sole venture mode as an entry mode into lower market potential countries.

Joint ventures are commonly chosen by smaller firms with lower multinational experience as entry modes especially in nations with higher projected market capital. This is normally due to the greater possibility of the firms to grow in such markets. Moreover, returns in such areas are better. Joint venture allows firms to share risk and costs, as well as complementary assets and skills with the partner company in the host country. This is advantageous, as the firm does not incur all the death alone. Furthermore, the venture allows for more investments as risks are spread across a wide pool. This method cuts the long-term doubt at a reduced cost compared to ideal market approaches.

Firms that have a higher propensity of coming up with differentiated products have the capability of choosing sole venture entry mode in countries with high investment risk. However, MNEs with high multinational experience harbor lower possibilities of choosing sole entry mode in those nations.

The availability of increased market potential encourages firms to invest in foreign nations while low market growth rate implies that firms will most likely avoid entry. High levels of investment contingencies hinder firms from venturing into countries while low investment risks attract MNEs. In nations with high market potential coupled with high contingency investments, MNEs may opt for exporting modes or joint ventures. Therefore, companies should strive to strike a balance between all the above factors (Wustenhagen, Rolf, and Wuebker).

Based on the above-discussed factors, it is evident that the best method for Pv Crystalox to venture into the Brazilian market is through the sole venture entry method. Pv Crystalox is a company that has branches all over the world. It has the necessary capital to invest in a country like Brazil. Moreover, Pv Crystalox has a high market experience in many nations that will help it advance well in a nation like Brazil. Brazil has no restrictive measures for foreign direct investments. In fact, its foreign policies are very favorable. The country encourages foreign direct investments by offering subsides to MNEs. The country is a democratic country that is developing on a daily basis. There is stability in the nation. The nation has sunny weathers throughout the year. This weather, coupled with the large pool of its populace makes it a vantage point for Pv Crystalox to venture into. Sole venture for Pv Crystalox will be aided by the fact that Brazil offers subsidies to industries that promise common good for the entire population.

Pv Crystalox has ownership advantage. This is evidence by its capacity to offer differentiated products and its multinational experience. The company has many firms in nations all over the world. Going into Brazil will be a walk in the park for the MNE. This is because all the company needs is permission. Another thing that gives Pv Crystalox an ownership advantage is its size. The company is so large and has networks throughout the world this is something essential for sole mode of entry. The firm will benefit from profit maximization and grow at a fast rate.

Moreover, the investment risks in Brazil are moderate given the current state of its economy. This is advantageous to Pv Crystalox as it gives it the advantage of profiting from the unstable market of Brazil. The company may adopt a fast mover strategy and solidify its operations within a very short time. Sole mode of entry is best for emerging markets because of the inconsistent markets.

Conclusion

The paper has touched on management of international business by exploring a Multinational Enterprise, Pv Crystalox. The document began by giving an overview of multinational business and introducing us to the main purpose of this document, which was to identifying an MNE and going all the way to establishing ways of extending its operations in a new market. The current state of Pv Crystalox has been analyzed followed by a country analysis of its current area of operation. The paper also explores the target country of venture and gives a regional analysis of the country. It further goes ahead to give the possible entry modes that Pv Crystalox can adopt and selects the best mode of entry for the company after analysis its potentials. The various modes of entry discussed in the paper include no entry, exporting, joint venture, sole venture, and licensing. The method chosen for Pv Crystalox was sole venture which is so far the best method that will for its in Brazil considering regional conditions. Briefly, the aim of the project has been realized.

Works Cited

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Jäger-Waldau, Arnulf. Pv Status Report 2008: Research, Solar Cell Production and Market Implementation of Photovoltaics. Luxembourg: Office of Official Publications of the European Communities, 2008. Print.

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Lymbersky, Christoph. Market Entry Strategies: Text, Cases and Readings in Market Entry Management. Hamburg: Management Laboratory Press, 2008. Print.

Mababaya, M P. International Business Success in a Strange Cultural Environment. USA: Universal Publishers, 2003. Print.

McIntyre, John R, Silvester Ivanaj, and Vera Ivanaj. Multinational Enterprises and the Challenge of Sustainable Development. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2009. Internet resource.

Quaschning, Volker. Renewable Energy and Climate Change. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K: Wiley, 2010. Internet resource.

Rugman, Alan M. The Theory of Multinational Enterprises: The Selected Scientific Papers of Alan M. Rugman. Brookfield, VT: E. Elgar, 1997. Print.

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van, de K. A. Strategies of Multinational Corporations in the Emerging Markets China and India. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH, 2008. Internet resource.

Willeke, Gerhard P, and Eicke R. Weber. Advances in Photovoltaics: Volume 1. San Diego, Calif: Elsevier, 2012. Internet resource.

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Multinational financial management theory and practice

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Foreign exchange rate policies during a financial panic

In order to avoid further down-turn, the central bank should carry out the following payment mechanisms that will keep the economy intact. First and foremost, the central bank should prevent panic sparked off by bad companies from getting to good banks. This implies that the central bank must give sufficient reserves to good banks to meet the withdrawal of deposits but not enough for them to extend new loans to help speculation against currency. Another step is for the central bank to ensure that customers, especially exporters, for the banks which have failed continue to receive credit so as to keep the production going on. This means that the functions of failed banks must be kept alive by the central bank as it restructures the balance sheet for their final sale. The central bank should allow for currency depreciation by floating the currency so as to avoid capital inflow. If the amount of working credit remains unchanged, domestic firms will take an advantage of the depreciating currency and increase their exports CITATION Par01 l 1033 (Park, 2001). The resulting increase in exports will bring about a recovery from the economic down-turn. The growth will restore confidence in the economy, prompting domestic firms to repatriate their capital from abroad. The result will be an appreciation in the value of currency from its depreciated state, although not often to the pre-crisis state CITATION Lee11 l 1033 (Lee & Lee, 2011).

Asian financial crisis in Thailand

Thailand reduced its liquid foreign exchange reserve in a bid to protect its currency. When the Thai baht fell against the dollar in value, regional currencies increased in value, causing the cost of foreign debt to skyrocket. This triggered the financial crisis whereby most countries of the South East Asia were rendered bankrupt. Therefore, these countries could not be able to pay their financial debt and required a lot of financial aid from multination financial aid organizations such as the IMF. Thailand’s baht lost 52 percent of its pre-crisis value against the dollar CITATION Bat08 l 1033 (Batum Corporation, 2008). IMF provided financial support to these countries with the aim of restoring investor confidence and removing Thailand from the hook of the crisis. However, the funds seemed to exacerbate the flight instead of reducing its effects. This is because it served to emphasize domestic financial weakness hence diminishing investor confidence. The economies that suffered the economic crisis are now teaming up to self insure themselves against the consequences of balance of payments difficulties experience earlier. The country has managed to reserve foreign currency so as to avoid another financial turmoil. The regional policy makers and firms were avoiding unbridled financial liberalization and therefore issued few external bonds.

Thailand was praised by the World Bank for being receptive to foreign investment, having market friendly philosophy and being outward looking. Its reception of foreign investment made it a home for many Japanese manufacturing companies. However, this was the main contributor to its collapse when the financial crisis hit Asia. The bank of Thailand tried to maintain the baht-U.S dollar peg by buying currencies that were being traded. This was done by use of official foreign reserves. By the end of July, 1997 the remaining option for Thailand was to replace the fixed exchange rate with a managed float since it could tap no more reserves. A request for loan by Thai’s finance minister was turned down which led to his call for IMF’s assistance. This had been fifteen years since the last call on IMF for assistance. The government was forced to set as its economic objective a budget surplus of 1% of its GDP CITATION Man03 l 1033 (Manuer & Ayatolla, 2003). This was as a result of the restrictions imposed by IMF following their financial aid. The expected revenue was expected to fall to a certain value which forced the Thailand to cut its spending and increase taxes. This further brought down the economy. This saw a decrease in the decrease in employee salary and even laying off of workers. There was a nationwide decrease in retail sales by four percent in the first three-quarters of 1997. Import for consumer goods reduced by one percent during the same period. The investment by private institutions shrank considerably by during the year. The heavy depreciation of baht led to an increase in the amount of export by 26%. The increase in exports was seen as a possible turn from the downturn of the financial crises CITATION Lin10 l 1033 (Lindsay, 2010).

The stiffening of the monetary policy in order to raise interest rates to curtail further currency depreciation, the sudden closure of poorly performing financial institutions, a significant cut in budget outlays and the increase of prudential ratios created a huge credit crunch that deepened the financial crisis in Thailand. To honor its exchange rate commitment, Thailand depleted its foreign exchange rate reserve. The move was to defend its overvalued currency. With the fall in reserves, foreign creditor companies panic and demand an immediate repayment of their loans. It is evident that the Asian financial crisis brought the economy of Thailand to its knees CITATION The07 l 1033 (The Economist, 2007). Multinational companies in Thailand were not spared in its wake. The measures that the country took to control the crisis served to worsen it as its economy deteriorated further. The call for aid from the IMF to cushion their down-turn attracted stiffer restrictions from IMF. The limit by IMF was to see a cut in their financial budget by a certain percentage. This further depreciated baht hence leading to a further financial turmoil. Multination companies in Thailand suffered a big blow as most of them registered a loss. It is estimated that a single multinational company registered an abnormal (-1.43%) loss in its monthly income. Currency derivatives use and potential working hedging strategies did not protect firms from the Asian financial crisis. IMF ordered the closure of up to 58 companies in Thailand. Multinationals were not spared. This is probably due to the magnitude of the panic and the resultant lack of liquidity in the market of the derivatives during and after the crisis CITATION Mor12 l 1033 (Morodum Inc., 2012).

The measures taken by Thailand are not very attractive taking into consideration that it is still grappling with the then financial crisis. It has never returned to its initial state. The financial bailout from IMF was a good turn for them which saw them bend their knees further. This serves as a lesson to Thailand and other countries. The slow recovery of Thailand from the turmoil is reflected easily by the slow growth of the multinational companies still present CITATION Wes02 l 1033 (Weston & Allayannis, 2002).

Asian financial crisis in Malaysia

The Malaysian experience from the crisis shows that Asian countries have liberalized their financial sector and still contain their financial flows through selective capital regulations or control in order to prevent speculation. Malaysia resorted to a controversial capital control as a result of the crisis. Domestic coalitions between the private and the public sector in Malaysia have had a significant contribution to the economic growth of the country between 1998 and 2007. When financial crisis hit South East Asia, Malaysia responded promptly by embracing IMF-like measures (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). Tight monetary and fiscal policies were implemented in order to defend the Ringgit, limit interest rate hikes and slow credit growth. The first policy, macroeconomic, implemented by the government under the guide of the then Deputy prime-minister Anwar Ibrahim failed to exude confidence in investors and hence exacerbated the crisis. Owing to the worsening crisis, the tight fiscal policies transformed to an expansionary one with higher capital spending and tax reductions in the month of August 2008. The shift was not enough and the country embarked on the controversial exchange and capital controls. The main aim of this was to remove speculations against Ringgit, limit capital flight and gain monetary independence for Malaysia (Hansen & Guan, 2009). The measures taken were: the Ringgit was pegged at RM 3.8 per US dollar, investors were refrained from withdrawing their financial investments in Malaysia for at least one year, Ringgit trading outside the country was prohibited so as to cut down on offshore Ringgit trading market, the transfer of funds outside the country was subject to approval, trade settlements in Ringgit, as well as international lending and borrowing were prohibited, and export and export of Ringgit banknotes were restricted CITATION Nau74 l 1033 (Nauman-Etienne, 1974).

This decision was contrary to international financial market’s expectations. In fact, rating agencies downgraded Malaysia, its sovereign bonds were increased relative to those of Korea and Thailand and Malaysia was gotten rid of from major investment indices. This was as a result of the measure it had taken which brought uncertainty on their influence on direct foreign investment. Initially, financial sector regulation was better established in Malaysia than most of its neighbors. This was because of the central financial reforms Malaysia had undertaken CITATION Sha02 l 1033 (Shapiro, 2002).

Capital controls in Malaysia was met with a lot of resentments as multinational companies and other foreign investors thought that Malaysia was going to experience extreme slowdown and hence would not be able to recover from the financial crisis. However, after its absorption in September 1998, Malaysia experienced a strong and fast recover y from the economic meltdown. The ban of offshore trading brought a stop to capital flight which allowed a decrease in interest rates and business expansions (Field, 2009).

The capital control policy by Malaysian government greatly impacted on the business of multinational companies. The uncertainty in the measures taken by the government led many multinational companies withdraw their investment in Malaysia. This was brought about by the fear for any further economic melt-down. The declines in exports, as well as consumer confidence were among the biggest setbacks for multinational companies as their product could not gain the wider market and hence registering huge losses. The financial crisis led to many workers being laid off. This negatively impacted on multinational companies because the government policy preferred the laying off of a foreign worker to a local worker (Moss, 2007). However, the reduced interest rates attracted other multinational companies. Investors were attracted by the cuts on their investment charges. The country did this in order to regain its image economically as investors would bring an economic through reduction of unemployment and payment of taxes to the government. Portfolio investors who had been denied the chance to withdraw their finances were worst hit because reinvestment on their part could not be realized. This meant that they had to wait for a year or more in order to make huge investments from their finances in the Malaysian banks CITATION Bha00 l 1033 (Bhalla, 2000). Multinational companies which also had their finances banked with Malaysian banks could not invest in other better performing economies as they were financially tied. In a general perspective, multinational companies were negatively affected by the financial crisis. The companies made huge losses, laid off most of its workforce and others opted out of Malaysia immediately CITATION Lip11 l 1033 (Lipson, 2011). It is of importance to note that Malaysia recovered fast from the turmoil and hence those multinational companies present then also experienced a strong economic growth too CITATION Zum08 l 1033 (Zumkehr & Edo, 2008).

Multinational companies in Eastern Asia generally faced negative and significant effects from the credit crunch. The response strategy by Malaysian government was the best choice in the case for it speeded up the recovery of the state from its state of bankruptcy. For multinationals in Malaysia, the experience was the same. The recovery of the country brought a simultaneous recovery in the multinational companies. The companies’ growth was significant, although they were not reinstated. Malaysia is one of the economies to emulate in South East Asia as it took a very different approach towards managing the crisis. Unlike other countries, it did not subscribe to borrowing from IMF. It adopted a capital policy which saw it rise faster than other countries like Korea and Thailand CITATION Ril12 l 1033 (Riley, 2012).

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Manuer, F., & Ayatolla, G. (2003). Financial crisis in Thailand. Thailand and Financial Turmoil .

Morodum Inc. (2012). The Financial crisis in South Eastern Asia. Joiurnal of Morodum Inc.

Moss, H. k. (2007). Improving Service Quality with the Theory of Constraints. Journal of Academy of Business and Economics .

Nauman-Etienne, R. (1974). A framework for Financial Decisions in Multinational Corporations- A summary of recent research. Financial and Quantitative Analysis .

Park, Y. (2001). Financial Management. An Overview of Financial Management .

Riley, J. (2012). Introduction to financial Management. finance and Accounting .

Shapiro, A. c. (2002). Multinational Financial Management. Prentice Hall of India pvt. Ltd .

The Economist. (2007). How Asia shrugged off its economic crisis. Ten Years On .

Weston, J., & Allayannis, G. (2002). The impact of Asian financial crisis on U.S. multinationals. Intenational Finance Review .

Zumkehr, H. J., & Edo, A. (2008). Malaysia and South Korea: A Decade after. Chulalongkorn Journal of Economics .

Advertising as a communicational and promotional implement has to turn out to be a long path through the generations to becom

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Advertising as a communicational and promotional implement has to turn out to be a long path through the generations to become so significant and essential in our current society. The history of advertisement became a major force in capitalist economies in the middle 19th century. Many years ago, before America was colonized, the business thrived in the old world where several means were used to promote trade. Actors strutted in the streets, trying to attract bystanders into auditoria. Notice boards put outside households showed things that could be found within. Individuals selling wine gave free samples in the streets. The advertising idea is ancient, and the ways of persuading others into exchange relations were in its development (Zhang & Ze Gao 17). When it commenced, advertising thrived in the United States to compete with other nations in economic and prevalence significance. Between the years 1919 and 2007, advertising was an average of 2.2 percent of the gross domestic product in the United States. The first US newspaper was printed in 1704 in Boston. The newspaper was known as ‘The Boston Newsletter.’ It had some information about the reward given for catching bandit of a certain male clothing (Moir et al., 60). The period of 1870 and 1900 had a great influence and had a large significance on the US’s advertising progress. After a certain period of time, the US turned out to be an agricultural state with the European scheme of product supply and the support into a big industrial nation with entirely innovative product distribution and promotion methods. As a result, advertising got into a new phase in history. The United States has a long history of growth. However, the largest impact on its current status is due to the economic growth and the development of mass communication technologies.

The advertising industry has undergone a huge transformation ever since antiquity times. Some of the famous ads that have proved to be effective include ‘I want you’ in 1916, ‘Guinness is good for you’ in 1929, ‘Sunkist orange juice’ in 1907, and ‘Coca-Cola the pause that refreshes’ in 1931. In the ‘I want you’ poster that was advertised many years back, an individual in the poster known as Uncle Sam motivated young Americans sent off to combat in World War I. The image of James Montgomery Flagg’s was used as a sketch of uncle Sam. It proved to be so popular that it was printed in the form of a poster that turned out to be ubiquitous at that time. According to records, the corporation printed more than four million copies in one year. The image was used to encourage noncombatant support for the U.S.’s entry into World War I and to encourage men to enlist in the military. Alternatively, the ‘Guinness is good for you’ advertisement was a beloved Irish beer that doctors thought was a healthy drink (Moir et al., 77). They used the tagline to promote the product. Actually, doctors would pour some for new mothers in the maternity some hours after giving birth. ‘Sunkist orange juice’ advertisement also did so well. It was done to rebrand the California orange growers and educate individuals on how to squeeze the juice out of the oranges. It aided them to popularize a new use for the fruit, and these days, the product is an instrumental part of breakfast across the United States.

There are many types of advertisements. All of them run on different channels, different mediums and have various objectives in mind for their corporation. Individuals may advertise anyplace, and the medium keeps changing as time goes. I am going to analyze six different ads and their companies. I will consider them because of the impact they had on the brand’s growth, and they can hit on several worldwide reality that permits us to recall these ads ages after they initially commenced. I will analyze the following ads: Think small by Volkswagen Company, It’s Unbelievable by Toyota motors company, Enjoy the ride by Nissan Company, Official Truck of Real People (Chevrolet company), among others.

The Volkswagen “Think Small” ad was made by a renowned marketing group Bernbach and Doyle Dane. The company created this campaign to answer how to transform an individual’s perception of their product. Back then, people had some fallacies that individuals who have Volkswagens are wicked because Volkswagen is a vehicle corporation formed by the Nazi party (Welch, James, 15). The company’s campaign was that merely because the Nazi Party made the Volkswagen does not signify the Volkswagen Group these days promote the values or ideals of Nazism. The US constantly liked to purchase big, and 15 years after world war II, they were still not purchasing small German vehicles (Welch, James 30). This company has not even attempted to be something there were not, which is what individuals still up to today love about the brand – actuality about their product. Think small ad was one of the greatest advertising campaigns for this company. It was written by Julian Koenig and directed by Helmut Krone. The campaign is ranked as the best advertising campaign of the twentieth century in the survey of North American advertisements. The campaign has been considered best because it makes a lifetime of brand loyalty and boosts sales. For this ad, half of the vehicles sold were white, silver, black, and grey. Black was the leading model among CarMax buyers while white was following.

Toyota has launched the “It’s Unbelievable Campaign” in celebration of 20 years of ground-breaking firsts. To connected first-time and appeal to young buyers, the company made the ad request users modify their dream 2014 Corolla while conversing with their allies in a Google+ Hangout. The campaign comprises a pair of ads and “To the Top,” which costars Team Toyota athlete and Olympic gold medalist Chole Kim (Hibino 122). They made the campaign in the ad that permits individuals to take virtual test drives and schedule real ones. The company advertisement used Post ads to turn a Google+ post into an interactive display ad and promoted that ad with Google AdWords. According to analysis, the ad doubled the time users spent with the new car customization tool and made a fifty percent higher engagement rate than industry averages.

Enjoy the ride was the Ad launched by Nissan company in its effort. It is a $200 million budget that was four times the preceding expense. This ad was made as a brand identity campaign. It was for the spot, and Nissan is known as “Toys.” The model was a boisterous, stop-motion vibrant commercial that included action figure dolls taking a remote control 300ZX for a spin and coming to life (Zhang et al 14). “You Really Got Me” played as the soundtrack for the Ad. The running time was thirty seconds with black and white vehicles. The cars that were promoted in the ad include Jeep’s “Ground Hog Day, Hummer’s “Happy Jack,” Audi’s “Prom, and Honda’s “Cog.”

Chevrolet company posted an ad on a certain Monday on YouTube, which was almost had the same tone as their launching ad. The company aired the Ad, which targets individuals all over but more Hispanic buyers, representing twenty percent on the market. It embraces the spirit of inventiveness in their DNA ever since the commencement, and according to them, it will remain as guidance to every aspect of their corporate moving forward. Their vehicle localization from the satellite imagery had myriad use, according to the ad. The commercial ad campaign stated that the company was driving through many nations with the street view car to bring imagery that promotes buyers’ experience and helps discover the best riding experience. After an imaginative justification evaluation, this company has chosen a newly created corporation, Commonwealth, as its original worldwide advertising firm, in charge of the growth of artistic Ads all over the podiums for Chevrolet worldwide advertising.

Hyundai uses the Ad strategy for ‘Back to the New Normal’ to advertise their products. The corporation uses a combination of first and third-party information to generate six modified parts to influence their target audience: Corporate Finance, Energy, and Fuel Content Readers, Millennials, Experian Mosaic lifestyle groups, Roy Morgan Helix Personas, and entrepreneurs. Majorly, the company has been the official car sponsor of the NFL in the United States since 2015 and the US PGA patron since 2011. In the Ad, Hyundai has introduced a vehicle purchasing experience that Is made to assist car buyers in making their buying process much pleasant and saving time (Shafiulla 49). Lastly, the Mazda company uses an ad called driving matters to reach its targeted audience. Their advertising column is glossy, energetic, and aims to reverse a persistent slump in car and truck sales and elucidate its image. The company all innovative Driving Matters Ad will demonstrate several features that make the driving skill very significant. Through the Ad campaign, clients will get information on why driving matters is a big concern to Mazda and the reason they have concern over each aspect in making their cars

Studying advertising has really given me a different perspective on this profession. From the understanding, I realize that it creates awareness, increases knowledge about marketing, and aids in building a brand campaign. Recognizing the client is very significant for any corporation. Advertising is essential in attracting more customers hence should be promoted at all levels.

Works Cited

Hibino, Shozo, Koichiro Noguchi, and Gerhard Plenert. Toyota’s Global Marketing Strategy: Innovation through Breakthrough Thinking and Kaizen. Taylor & Francis, 2017.

Jira-alongkorn, Pananya, and Suthiluck Vungsuntitum. “Thai Consumers’ Behavior on Online Marketing Communications of Mazda Brand.” Communication and Media in Asia Pacific (CMAP) 3.2 (2020): 35-55.

Madoh, Abdullah, et al. “Case Study on Market Mix Strategies of Toyota Motor Corporation.” Asia Pacific Journal of Management and Education 2.3 (2019): 70-78.

Moir, Alistair, Eve Read, and Sophie Towne. “The history of advertising trust archive.” Journal of Historical Research in Marketing (2017).

Nunes, Fabiano, Guilherme Luís Roehe Vaccaro, and José Antônio Valle Antunes Júnior. “The development of the Hyundai production system: The historical evolution.” Journal of Manufacturing Systems 43 (2017): 47-57.

Shafiulla, B. “Tata Zica to Tata Tiago: Digital Marketing Strategy of Tata Motors for Rebranding.” IUP Journal of Marketing Management 18.3 (2019): 40-59.

Siano, Alfonso, et al. ““More than words”: Expanding the taxonomy of greenwashing after the Volkswagen scandal.” Journal of Business Research 71 (2017): 27-37.

Weisner, Sholem, and Shmuel Nemanov. “Physical location history with advertising.” U.S. Patent No. 10,394,904. 27 Aug. 2019.

Welch, James. “The Volkswagen recovery: leaving scandal in the dust.” Journal of Business Strategy (2019).

Zhang, Jianqiang, and Xiuli He. “Targeted advertising by asymmetric firms.” Omega 89 (2019): 136-150.

Zhang, Jiaqi, and Ze Gao. “Dongfeng Nissan Marketing Strategy Research.” International Conference on Application of Intelligent Systems in Multi-modal Information Analytics. Springer, Cham, 2019.

chapter 6; Topic 1

Measuring the RSSI of NDP messages from an AP

NDP message advertisement messages are transmitted using the band’s lowest data rate, regardless of whether or not the data rate has been enabled for use. The lowest data rate to send NDP messages allows it to be intelligent in noisy environments and further away from the AP. These advertisements are sent to multicast addresses recognized by other Cisco APs. The highest power is allowed to transmit the message in the channel and band so that the RMM can determine the signal strength effectively as it leaves the AP’s antennae. When sending AP, advertisements contain the following information; Radio ID, Group ID, and Encryption.

Measuring the RSSI of NDP messages from an AP; Internet source

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-3/b_RRM_White_Paper/rf-grouping.html

Every Radio or AP Channel sends the Neighbour Discovery Portal every 60 seconds or less. Neighbor messages are sent to a unique Multicast address of 01:0B:85:00:00:00. These messages are sent under two conditions; at the lowest data rate supported in the band and at the highest power allowed for the Channel/Band. Upon hearing an NDP message, the AP Validates that the message is from a member of its RF Group and forwards valid messages along with the RSSI and the received channel to the controller. Two distinct measurements are developed after the information has been transmitted successfully; the TX Neighbors and the RX Neighbors.

Multicultural Education

America has long been called “The Melting Pot” due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to America searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over multiculturalism. Some of the issues under fire are who is benefiting from a multicultural education, and how to best present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount of people. There are many variations to these themes as will be discussed later in this paper.

In the 1930s, several educators called for programs of cultural diversity that encouraged ethnic and minority students to study their respective heritages. This is not a simple feat due to the fact that there is much diversity within individual cultures. “A look at the 1990 census shows that the American population has changed more noticeably in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century, with one out of every four Americans identifying themselves as black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander or American Indian,” (Gould, 1995, p.198). The number of foreign born residents also reached an all-time high of twenty million, easily passing the 1980 record of fourteen million. Most people, from educators to philosophers, agree that an important first step in successfully joining multiple cultures is to develop an understanding of each other’s background. However, the similarities stop there.

One problem is in defining the term “multiculturalism”. When it is looked at simply as meaning the existence of a culturally integrated society, many people have no problems. However, when you go beyond that and try to suggest a different way of arriving at that culturally integrated society, everyone seems to have a different opinion on what will work. In 1980, Stanford University came up with a program – later known as the “Stanford-style multicultural curriculum” which aimed to familiarize the students with traditions, philosophy, literature, and history of the West. The program consisted of fifteen required books by writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Aquinas, Marx, and Freud. By 1987, a group called the Rainbow Coalition argued the fact that the books were all written by DWEM’s or Dead White European Males. They felt that this type of teaching denied students the knowledge of contributions by people of color, women, and other oppressed groups. In 1987, the faculty voted 39 to 4 to change the curriculum by doing away with the fifteen book requirement as well as the term “Western” in order to give proper attention to the issues of race and gender (Gould, p.199). This debate was very important because its publicity provided grounds for the argument that America is a pluralistic society and to study only one people would not accurately portray what really makes up this country. Proponents of multicultural education argue that it offers students a balanced appreciation and critique of other cultures as well as their own (Stotsky, 1992, p.64).

While it is common sense that one could not have a true understanding of a subject by only possessing knowledge of one side of it, this brings up the fact that there would never be enough time in our current school year to equally cover the contribution of each individual nationality. This leaves teachers with two options. The first would be to lengthen the school year, which is highly unlikely because of the political and economic aspects surrounding the situation. The other choice is to modify the curriculum to only include what the instructor (or school) feels are the most important contributions, which again leaves them open to criticism from groups that feel they are not being equally treated. A national standard is out of the question because of the fact that different parts of the country contain certain concentrations of nationalities. An example of this is the high concentration of Cubans in Florida or Latinos in the west.

Nonetheless, teachers are at the top of the agenda when it comes to multiculturalism. They can do the most for the children during the early years of learning, when the kids are the most impressionable. By engaging students in activities that follow the lines of their multicultural curriculum, teachers can broaden young minds while making learning hands on and fun. In one first grade classroom, an inventive teacher utilized the Spanish speaking students to her advantage by making them her helpers as she taught the rest of the class some simple Spanish words and customs (Pyszkowski, 1997, p.154). This newly acquired vocabulary formed a common bond among the children thus instilling a sense of respect and understanding for each other.

Another exciting idea is to put children in the setting of the culture they are learning about. By surrounding children in the ideas and customs of other cultures, they can better understand what it is like to be removed from their society altogether, if only for one day. As seen in the film “Clare’s Classroom,” having the students dress up in foreign clothing, sample foods, sing songs, learn a new language, and listen to guest speakers from a different country, not only reaches out to the multiple intelligences, but makes learning fun and interesting for the students. A simple idea that helps to engage students in the learning process is for teachers to continually propose questions to the class in order to let students speak for themselves. By asking students how they feel about each other and why, could potentially help dispel stereotypes that might be created in the home. By asking questions of each other, students can get firsthand answers about the beliefs and customs of other cultures, along with some insight as to why people feel the way they do, something that can never be adequately accomplished through a textbook. Students are not the only ones who can benefit from this type of learning. Teachers certainly pick up on educational aspects from other countries. If, for instance, a teacher has a minority student from a different country every year, he or she can develop a well-rounded teaching style that would in turn benefit and include all students. Teachers can also keep abreast of ever changing teaching and learning styles by regularly attending workshops as well as getting parents involved so they can reinforce what is being taught in the classroom at home.

The New York State Social Studies Review and Development Committee (1992) has come up with six guidelines that they think teachers should emphasize in order to help break down ethnic barriers. These steps are as follows: First, from the very beginning, social studies should be taught from a global perspective. We are all equal owners of the earth, none of us are more entitled than others to share in its many wealth’s or misfortunes. The uniqueness of each individual is what adds variety to our everyday life. Second, social studies will continue to serve nation building purposes. By pointing out the things we share in common, it will be easier to examine the individual things that make us different. Third, the curriculum must strive to be informed by the most up to date scholarship. The administrators must know that in the past, we have learned from our mistakes, and we will continue to do so in the future. By keeping an open mind, we will take in new knowledge and different viewpoints as they are brought up. Fourth, students need to see themselves as active makers and changers of culture and society. If given the skills to judge people and their thoughts fairly and the knowledge that they can make a difference, students will take better control of their lives. Fifth, the program should be committed to the honoring and continuing examination of democratic values as an essential basis for social organization and nation building. Although the democratic system is far from perfect, it has proven in the past that it can be effective if we continue to put effort into maintaining it while leaving it open for change. Sixth, social studies should be taught not solely as information, but rather through the critical examination of ideas and events rooted in time and place responding to social interests. The subject needs to be taught with excitement that sparks kids interest and motivates them to want to take place in the shaping of the future of our country (NYSSSRADC, p.145-47).

In order to give a well-rounded multicultural discussion, as James Banks (1998) explains, teachers need to let students know how knowledge reflects the social, political, and economic context in which it is created. Knowledge explained by powerful groups in society differs greatly from that of its less powerful counterparts (Banks, 1991, p.11). For example, it should be pointed out how early Americans are most often called “pioneers” or “settlers” in social studies texts, while foreigners are called “immigrants”. Students need to realize that to the Lakota Sioux the settlers were not heroic pioneers but invaders, and since the “pioneers” later went on to write the textbooks, it is not presented that way (Banks, 1998, p. 17). By simply looking at the term “western culture” it is obvious that this is a viewpoint of people from a certain area. If students are aware that to the Alaskans, the west was actually the south, they can realize the bearings of how the elite in society determine exactly what is taught. By not falling victim to these same misconceptions, students can better make unprejudiced decisions about those around them.

Another important aspect is that students need to realize that knowledge alone isn’t enough to shape a society. The members have to be willing to put forth the effort, time as well as show a valid interest in shaping their society, in order for it to benefit all people. While generally opposed to the idea of multicultural education, Francis Ryan (1993) points out that “multicultural education programs indeed may be helpful for all students in developing perspective-taking skills and an appreciation for how ethnic and minority traditions have evolved and changed as each came into contact with other groups” (Ryan, p.137). It would certainly give people a sense of ethnic pride to know how their Fore Fathers contributed to the building of the American society that exists today.

Some opponents feel that the idea of multiculturalism will, instead of uniting cultures, actually divide them. Many critics feel that Americans should think of themselves as a whole, rather than people from many different places all living together. Some go even further to say that it actually goes against our democratic tradition, the cornerstone of American society (Stotsky, 1992, p.64). Paul Gagnon (1991, p.8) brings up an interesting point that “education in the origins, evolution, advances and defeats of democracy must, by its nature, be heavily Western and also demand great attention to political history.” Since both modern democracy and its alternatives are derived mostly from European past, and since most of its participants were white males who are now dead, the choices are certainly limited. If we try to avoid these truths or sidestep them in any way, we cannot honestly say we are giving an accurate description of our history.

Robert Hassinger (1992) agrees with Gagnon and adds that we cannot ignore the contributions of DWEM’s for the simple fact that they are just that. He thinks that we should study such things as the rise of capitalism or ongoing nationalism in other countries, and should not be swayed in our critical thinking by the fact that some people will not feel equally treated or may even feel disrespected (Hassinger, p.11). There certainly must be reasons why many influential people in our history have been DWEM’s, and we should explore these reasons without using race and sex alone as reasons for excluding them from the curriculum. When conflicts arise in the current curriculum, the reasoning behind why it was done this way should first be explored before compromising the curriculum in order to protect a certain group’s feelings. Francis Ryan (1993) warns that trying to push the idea of multiculturalism would actually be a hindrance if it interferes with a student’s participation in other groups, or worse yet, holds the child back from expressing his or her own individuality. Ryan gives the firsthand example of one of his African American students who was afraid to publicly admit his dislike for rap music because he felt ethnically obligated as part of his black heritage (Ryan, p.137).

While a teacher can be a great help in providing information about other cultures, by the same note, that information can be just as harmful if it is incomplete. In order for students to be in control of their own identity, they must have some idea of how other cultures depict the qualities that they themselves hold dear. Children must be taught to resolve inner-conflicts about their identity, so that the features that make each of us unique will be brought out in the open where they can be enjoyed by all, instead of hidden in fear of facing rejection from peers. Teachers need to spend an equal amount of time developing each student’s individuality so they don’t end up feeling obligated to their own racial group more than they feel necessary to express their diversity that makes America unique.

As Harlan Cleveland (1995) points out that many countries still feel that the predominant race must be the one in power. For instance, try to imagine a Turkish leader in Germany, or anyone but a Japanese in control of Japan (Cleveland, p.26). Only in America is there such a diverse array of people in power from county officials all the way up to the Supreme Court. However, although we have made many advances culturally, we still have yet to see an African American, Latino, or for that matter, a woman as head of our country. With increasing awareness of other cultures, these once unheard of ideas are making their way even closer to reality.

Another way to look at the issue is that, “most non-Western cultures have few achievements equal to Western culture either in the past or present” (Duigan, 1995, p.492). The modern achievements that put America ahead of other countries are unique to America because they were often developed here. Many third-world countries still practice things that America has evolved from many years ago such as slavery, wife beatings and planned marriages. Americans are also given many freedoms that are often unheard of in other countries. For example, homosexuality is severely punished in other lands, while we have grown to realize that it is a part of the genetic makeup of many people and they cannot control it. Fortunately, America prides itself on keeping an open mind and strives to ensure equality to all its citizens, but since America is shared by all that live here, it is nearly impossible to give every citizen an equal amount of attention. Therefore, Americans and immigrants alike must be willing to overlook some parts of their heritage in favor of a multicultural curriculum, the first step to a fully integrated America.

There certainly is no easy answer to the debate over the integration of a multicultural education in America. Proponents will continue to argue the benefits that unfortunately seem to be too far out of reach for our imperfect society. The hard truth is that it is impossible for our school system to fairly cater to the hundreds of nationalities that already exist, let alone the hundreds more that are projected to arrive during the next century. In order for us to live together on the same soil, we must be willing to overlook parts of our past in exchange for a new hope in the future. Our only chance is to continue to debate the topic with hopes for a “middle of the road” compromise.

In conclusion, in order for us to function as a whole, we need to start thinking of America in terms of a whole. With a basic understanding of other cultures, and more importantly, the tools and background to think critically about other cultures, students will gain a deeper understanding of their own cultures. Students need to be taught to not make decisions about people based on their color, sex, religion, or national origin, but rather on the information that they accurately attained through the critical thinking skills taught in school. In doing this students will be better equipped to work at achieving harmony in this varied racial country through the implementation of an ever-growing and ever-changing multicultural education system.

Bibliography:

Banks, James A. (1991). Multicultural literacy and curriculum reform. The Education Digest, 13, 10-13.

Banks, James A. (1998). Multiculturalism’s five dimensions. NEA Today, 17(1), 17-21.

Cleveland, Harlan. (1995). The limits to cultural diversity. The Futurist, 3, 23-26.

Duignan, Peter. (1995). The dangers of multiculturalism. Vital Speeches of the Day, 22, 492-493.

Gagnon, Paul. (1991). Balancing multicultural and civic education will take more than social stew. The Education Digest, 12, 7-9.

Gould, Ketayun H. (1995). The misconstruing of multiculturalism: The Stanford debate. Social Work, 8, 198-204.

Hassinger, Robert. (1992). True multiculturalism. Commonwealth, 10, 10-11.

New York State Social Studies Review and Development Committee. (1992). Multicultural education benefits all students. Education in America – Opposing Viewpoints, 144-150.

Pyszkowski, Irene S. (1997). Education for the nineties. Education, 114, 151-157.

Ryan, Francis J. (1993). The perils of multiculturalism: Schooling for the group. Educational Horizons, 7, 134-138.

Stotsky, Sandra. (1992). Academic versus ideological education in the classroom. The Education Digest, 19, 64-66.