Compare and contrast the development strategies of Mao Zedong and Deng Essay

Compare and contrast the development strategies of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. Examine the successes and failures of each strategy - Essay Example The focus on economic and agricultural reform is what made the two leaders very similar. That is, they were both concerned about improving their country through agricultural and economic reform. More so, they were both communists looking forward to lead China in that direction. They both started many social, cultural and economic reforms in which some failed and some were successful. According to Deng, socialism was a means to economic development (Ash, Howe and Kueh 2013, p.15). Deng Xiaoping has been identified as a good leader whose actions led to the improvement of the Chinese society. On the other hand, Mao’s actions resulted in more damage than good for the Chinese citizens. Notably, Mao Zedong suggested many strategies in the establishment of Chinese socialism. Some of these included large-scale land reforms and collectivization of agriculture, which were meant to recover the economy and modernize China. In addition, he transformed the living standards of individuals in rural areas by improving healthcare and introducing middle-school education (Bramall 2008, p.549). The land reforms were marked with the enactment of the Agrarian Reform Law of 1950, which aimed at dismantling China’s feudal system (Shen 2000, p.3). After land reforms, individuals were able to produce more and the increased production provided enough raw materials for industrial development. Thereafter in 1958, Mao introduced the Great Leap Forward under which high targets were created for industry and agriculture. Mao hoped that China could catch up with Britain in steel and other industries, and so he introduced the collectivization of agriculture under which individuals were t o leave their land and join cooperatives. However, this policy failed and had catastrophic impacts as individual’s working incentives declined leading to food shortage. About fifteen million Chinese people lost their lives due to

Impact Of Virtual Reality On The Society Media Essay

Impact Of Virtual Reality On The Society Media Essay Despite the disagreement Virtual Reality has awakened the world in enormous ways and the society should not stay dubious of the tremendous potentials it has to bring in an optimistic way a large technological development. The word virtual shares its root with virtue, a word whose original meaning denoted strength. More recently, virtual has come to describe something that possesses essence and effect without possessing form, something not quite physical, but with a measurable impact on the real. Thats certainly true of virtual worlds. Virtual reality is turning out to be the topic with many opposing viewpoints. It has become the focal point of discussion among the general public for several reasons. Conceivably, this is mostly because of all the potentials which virtual reality develops (Hoffman, 2004). However, despite the disagreement this new technology has awakened, society should not stay dubious. Virtual reality if used in an optimistic way can bring a large technological development. Military and space technology, the entertainment industry, and the physical sciences contributed to the drive to make advanced computers user friendly. Initially, complex simulators presented low-definition displays through binocular headsets. Addition of position sensors introduced motion parallax, with depth cues that created the illusion of being within a three-dimensional graphical display. The invention of a `DataGlove, whose movements could be sensed by the computer and then reconstructed in the display, enabled the observer and computer to interact with instructions given by the observer via simple hand movements such as pointing. The overall effect was that the observer experienced a computer-generated artificial or virtual reality (VR), whose credibility depended largely on the agreement between the simulated imagery and the familiar sensible world (Zimmer, 2004). Societal Impacts of VR Virtual reality applications are finding their way into the mainstream of society. Initially, the use of VR (virtual reality) was seen as valuable only to scientists and engineers whose highly specialized needs more than overcame the poor quality of the computer generated 3D images. For example, scientists can engage in molecular research by moving within molecules to examine their structures. Doctors and other medical personnel can practice elaborate or dangerous procedures before attempting them on human subjects. With special imaging software, the experience can take place on a virtual done of the patient awaiting surgery in the next room. Doctors can control a microscopic, mechanical, seeing-eye arm, through the body which can lead to better diagnoses even on patients thousands of miles away (Zimmer, 2004). Immersive virtual reality pain distraction was originated and developed by Hoffman Patterson at the Univ. of Washington Seattle and Harborview Burn Center. Source: (Hoffman H. ) Formerly, virtual reality was known as nothing but a diminutive stride ahead of video games. However, it is now understandable that this technology can be used for more realistic purposes. These purposes embrace national defense, medicinal and surgical measures and a variety of other functions. Society has not completely recognized the benefits of virtual reality as of yet because it is still under progress. The basis for virtual reality enduring in its growth for so long is mostly due to its intricacy (Riva, Mantovani, Capideville, 2007). Oddly, even though much has been printed about the possible societal impact of other rising technologies, such as genetic production and cyborgization, comparatively very less has been penned down about the impact of VR on the society (Calvert, 2002). In my point of view this may be because people may believe they already have witnessed VR, through portrayal of VR on television and cinema; the worlds of genetic production and cyborgization are less common, and yet seem proficient to transform the very concept of  ¿Ã‚ ½humans ¿Ã‚ ½ (Lang, 1996). If this is why researchers have given reduced attention to VR, this position has resulted from erroneous philosophy (Zimmer, 2004). Virtual reality has the prospective to intensely modify human society, not by destabilizing our corporeal corpse (as genetic production or cyborgization may), but by changing our insight and relations. Other medical breakthroughs have occurred when humans use specially designed hardware in virtual worlds. Two of the hardware pieces specifically are a data glove and a body suit. The data glove fits the hand and has tiny sensors that record and transmit data about even the smallest movements of the fingers, hand, and wrist (Riva, 2005). Doctors have been able to use this information to identify and evaluate neuromuscular diseases of the hands. The data suit collects information about the human torso or even the entire body. With it, scientists can help individuals who have experienced leg traumas to learn to walk again. One researcher has even noted that disabled kids may someday engage in virtual rugby (Anderson Bushman, 2001). The menu of VR-experiences from which a patient might choose is limited by the capacity of the computer to generate accurate representations, by the skill of the designer, and by the preferences of the supervising clinician. Although the patient may choose from within that menu, choice is necessarily more constrained than in daily life. Restriction of choice in this way carries considerable potential for abuse. At one level VR becomes a terrifying instrument of torture, at another a powerful means of education (Wiederhold Wiederhold, 2005). Fundamentally, the experiences generated are limited to those that man can design; the meanings a patient might attribute to them need not agree with those presumed by the VR designer. It would be irresponsible to introduce patients to a world that contains no more significance or deeper meaning than that which man can construct. For patients seeking to understand, as many do, the purpose of their suffering, VR is as unlikely as hallucinogenic dr ug use to provide access to a deeper reality in their search for meaning (Anderson Bushman, 2001). Another early application of VR was in training people for hazardous real-life occupations. Firefighters, for example, can practice fighting fires and searching for trapped victims. Even more cutting edge is wearing a body suit that controls the movements of a robotic firefighter who can travel into severe heat and see through dense smoke to rescue an unconscious person. Exploring volcanoes is a third example of how virtual reality is changing our world. For obvious reasons, it is not safe to send trained volcanic experts into live volcanoes. However, it is possible to send a virtually controlled robot into the danger to send back digital images for further study (Wiederhold Wiederhold, 2005). In a virtual world, lifelike avatars can study and perhaps interact with the holographic display of a humanoid robot More recently, VR has worked its way even beyond these initial applications into the workplace, school, and home. Commercial applications include product design that is more efficient, requires less travel time, and less money to develop. Entire buildings can be created and displayed for preconstruction walk-through. On a larger scale, the University of Washington has even created a virtual Seattle. Developers can examine and evaluate fuel flows in a rocket booster tank during a simulated launch (Zimmer, 2004). The aircraft industry can create new models and virtually experience instrumentation layout, seating arrangements, and emergency pathways. Now advertising agencies have developed virtual tours and objects to promote their products. Tourist attractions can share parts of their offerings from clear snorkeling waters to high-speed roller coasters to help entice travelers at home or in a travel agency. Auto manufacturers can put the prospective buyer in their automobiles on the World Wide Web while the customer is still at home (Hoffman, 2004). Virtual 3-D factories facilitate experimentation with manufacturing processes and can expedite the training of workers Government entities which previously might have used virtual reality only to simulate military maneuvers now might promote national treasures. Tank and submarine commanders benefit particularly from VR because the head mounted displays are very similar to looking through a periscope. Recently, the Smithsonian Institutions Museum of Natural History created a virtual museum tour on the Internet with the help of a team of educators at Mississippi State University. Schools have benefited from virtual reality field trips and experiments (Riva, Mantovani, Capideville, 2007). Whether the students are learning in public, private, or home school environments, they can engage in learning as never before. They can feel the effects of gravity as they walk on the moon, explore deep sea caverns, get face to face with beasts on a safari, or even touch the delicate rain forests creatures and vegetation. Students can also travel through virtual time. They can sit in on the signing of the Declaration of Independence, march through Atlanta with Dr. Martin Luther King, or trade flaming arrows with King Arthur (Cassidy Rimbeaux, 1994). Entertainment is drastically changing with virtual reality. Video games are more sophisticated and true to life from competing in the giant slalom at the Olympic Games with Tommy Moe or Picabo Street to driving in the Indianapolis 500 with the Unser family to competing for Top Gun with Tom Cruise (Gross Levenson, 1995). Several years ago, Juggling for the Complete Klutz; was published. It helped some people, but not everyone who wanted to be a clown. The missing element, now available with VR, was to slow down the action by reducing the effects of gravity. Later as the user becomes proficient, the gravity levels can be increased until they are back to Earth levels. My personal favorite though is Dreamality Technologies Inc.s Dream Glider (Gross Levenson, 1995). Ive always wanted to hang glide, but my wife has refused to allow me to do so because of the perceived dangers. Now, just by shelling out a few bucks and strapping on a harness, I can enter a simulator and glide anywhere within a virtual environment. Each interactive ride is different because the skill of the rider determines the course and length of the flight (Zimmer, 2004). Almost as fascinating as the applications of VR, is the psychology of life in a virtual world. The behavior of humans will be quite interesting to monitor as they begin to experience a phenomena known as reality confusion. Parents will have concerns about their children at school and at home participating in digital experiences. As with most new technologies that people and the press do not understand, the prospective evils are highlighted in discussions. However, concerns like isolationism and pornography, while valid, will eventually give way to the overwhelming benefits of virtual reality to our society. Therefore the way a few of us live now might be the way a larger population will live, decades hence (Hoffman, 2004). A common question is How close is virtual reality to true reality? It is true that there is a lot more that needs to be improved and developed. To truly bring a user to a point where one is unable to distinguish between reality and virtual reality, the hardware and software must encompass more of the senses. More powerful hardware will lead to better response times for the entire experience (Lang, 1996). Visually, resolutions must be high enough to match the capabilities of the human eye. Three-dimensional sound must replace stereo sound. The sense of touch must encounter force. Perhaps taste and smell will eventually work their way into virtual environments. In reality, the applications of virtual reality will stem from human needs, not out of technological capabilities (Lang, 1996). There is a huge amount of attention being given to the psychology of those who make use of the Internet, and to the Internet ¿Ã‚ ½s superior communal insinuation. Surely, VR and its possible societal and psychosomatic penalties ought to have this type of concentration, and much more. What will VR do to humanity, and to individual psychological understanding? Answers will be given to these conjectural questions in connection to communal domains. Although the social order knows a lot about VR there is still so much that it does not contemplate. Perhaps in future, new technology will come out and public will find out more about this virtual world (Zimmer, 2004). However, until that time, the questions will stay many and doubtful however the potential is limitless. People also argue about the probable societal effects of having most individual connections happen online, in the virtual or cyber world. Supporters of VR and online world say that prospect VR and technology could modify the stature of communication, thus drawing people more close to each other (Cassidy Rimbeaux, 1994). Noted by Lang (1996):  ¿Ã‚ ½The developers of the virtual worlds have limitless opportunities to shape the scale and appearance of the world, the capabilities of its avatars, the methods of communication, and even the laws of physics (e.g., space exploration over galactic distances). It is possible to explore new experiences that are not possible in any other medium ¿Ã‚ ½ (Lang, 1996). In 1999, Burger King conducted a focus group to tour a new store concepta 3,300-square-foot 50s-style diner. What made it unusual was that the group never left their seats, and the store didnt exist. The technology that made it possible-3-D computer-assisted design (CAD) brings a new dimension to standard CAD applications, which designers have used for more than a decade to sketch store plans electronically. 3-D takes that process a step further by offering a new perspective, thus making it easier to picture shelf sets and giving clients more input at an earlier stage in the design process (Zimmer, 2004). 3-D helps designers communicate better with store owners. Frequently, building owners arent comfortable with reading 2-D construction documents and may not fully understand the design. This causes costly changes late in the design or construction process. Using 3-D also helps identify errors, such as interferences between ductwork and the buildings structure, early in the design process, which eliminates costly change orders in construction and speeds the time to successful project completion (Zimmer, 2004). Electronic renderings force designers to be more objective and think about perspective. Additionally, mistakes are a matter of a mouse click. Once youve done a hand rendering, theres nothing you can do to change it. Its not a particularly responsive tool in terms of speed and revision. If somebody can see how something is going to work, they may choose a design theyd otherwise avoid. The same is true for materials. Conclusion The technology is turning out to be so complicated that public will no longer be able to differentiate whether they are in virtual or actual reality. Technology most certainly has the capability to go haywire. It is likely that VR will turn out to be a technological advancement which humans will be unable to control and will take over all of humanity. If this were the case, culture and the populace within it would turn out to be unsure if they were in virtual or actual reality. If society is clever enough to create such a technology it should be clever enough to decide and manage its penalties (Zimmer, 2004). Often times in the history, society in its entirety has been subject to decisions made by those of the inventors of new expertise. Without the direction and authority of society upon VR it could go to squander, or even turn out to be society ¿Ã‚ ½s enemy of sorts. However, in case of medical field exercises, Medical paternalism might lead to premature and ill-judged clinical applications of VR. Without professional self-regulation, abuse by experimentalists and inept therapists seems only too likely. A VR machine may be developed, for clinically justifiable purposes, to treat phobias or help establish adaptive coping behaviors in response to stress. No matter how much humanity is responsive of virtual reality, the individual mind still has instincts that cannot be forbidden. That is one of the disadvantages of VR. That no one is convinced what to anticipate. Just as the case may be with any other ability, the only way to find out the results of VR is to test the limits to which it can go. Knowing the virtual reality has the capability to influence so many people in such a big number of ways, there is a substantial need to have some kind of restraints (Gross Levenson, 1995). This brings up one more input argument as to who should be in charge of restraining this virtual world. If the government is in power it could possibly be ill-treated and mishandled. However, if society entirely is left to consider its uses, the affects could be also good or bad.

The Effects of Scandinavian Immigration on Culture and Economy in Washi

Through research this document will examine how Scandinavians have affected the economy and culture of Washington. Exploration will explain why Scandinavian immigrants sought out life in the Northwest, particularly Washington. This paper will take in hand integration of the Scandinavian culture into the existing one. Research will show how the government and especially the railroad worked to endorse the influx of Scandinavian immigrants. They did this by using newspapers, promoters, and even return passage. Furthermore, this essay will look into some of the issues deriving from the loss of culture and language even though it was minimal and how it affected the success of integration. This essay will look into Scandinavian culture, letters from Scandinavian immigrants from around the Pacific Northwest. This paper will touch on Skiing, Fishing, Crabbing, and Dancing. Finally it will address how even immigrants arriving in Washington the late 1950’s have had an effect on th e culture of Washington today. The principal groups of immigrants into Washington State during the time period of 1895 to 1910 were Scandinavian immigrants, which includes Swedish, Danish and Norwegian people. Washington State by 1910 had greater numbers of immigrants than any other state of the union during 1910. At this time Washington had more immigrants than any other state; fifty percent of the state at that time was Scandinavian immigrants. The Scandinavians that came to Washington wanted to become Americanized. They worked hard at combining the best of their culture with the new culture. This also made the transition and culture shock that many emigrants experience was very minimal. (Dahlie, 1980) Washington from 1895 to 1910 had received more S... ...thers have been because it in the immigrants own words. The weakness is also that it is in their own words so the opinions may be biased. One can learn through these letters of the events that helped shaped the culture and economy of the PNW. Forssblad, M. (2001, August 15). HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. HistoryLink.org- the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History. Retrieved October 22, 2011, from http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=3476 This essay discusses the influx of Norwegian immigrants as well as their role is skiing logging boating and fishing. This resource is based on the archives in the Nordic Heritage Museum. The weakness with this resource is that it is just a short easy although it strength is it covers many aspects of how Norwegians helped develop Seattle.

Current Generational Differences in Attitudes Toward the Role of Religion in America Essay

In the United States, its citizens are categorized by their date of birth into four commonly known generations. The individuals born anytime before 1946 are considered Pre-Boomers, individuals born between 1946 and 1964 are known as Boomers, individuals born between 1965 and 1976 are known as Generation X, and last but not least is Generation Y, which are individuals born anytime after 1977. The individuals categorized in each of these generations tend to share similar values and views on things such as religion, culture and politics. These segregated differences in views are also known as generational gaps. â€Å"A generation gap is commonly perceived to refer to differences between generations that cause conflict and complicate communication, creating a gap. † (Adcox, 2012) Research shows that there are many other differences between each generation in America, however the generational differences in attitudes toward religion tend to be very apparent. During this study of the generational differences in attitudes toward religion, the research center made three statements giving Americans the option to agree or completely agree with each one. The three statements included: â€Å"Prayer is an important part of my daily life, We will all be called before God at the Judgment Day to answer for our sins, and I never doubt the existence of God. † (Pew Research Center Publications, 2007) In past years, eight out of ten Americans agreed with these three statements and the agreement of these three statements between the generations rose dramatically during the 1990’s. Then , the majority of Americans believed that religion and personal beliefs were extremely important and a vast majority belonged to a religious affiliation. However, the percentage of generational agreement has started to fall within recent years as the new generations start to come about. During the years of 1987 through 2007, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press also conducted a study in hopes of comparing the religious attitudes of each generation. The study showed that while the majority of Americans have remained religious throughout the years in both their practices and beliefs, the percentage of Americans that expressed strong religious beliefs have dwindled down drastically since the 1990’s. Not surprisingly, the percentage of individuals who chose not to be affiliated with any one religion has increased with each new generation, showing a decrease in religious commitment. The study showed that between the years 2006 and 2007, 19% of Generation Y, 14% of Generation X, 11% of Boomers, and 5% of Pre-Boomers were either atheist, agnostic, or had no religion. There have always been and will always be differences between each generation and their views on certain hot topics, such as religion. As new generations come about, I feel that the attitude towards religion in America will continue to decrease on a level of importance as well as the level of beliefs. The newer generations will of course outlast the older generations which will then in turn outlast their beliefs regarding religion and its importance. The newer generations will instill their values of religious importance on to the next generation and slowly, I believe religion may no longer be of any importance to the majority of Americans. References: Looking at the Generation Gap: Identifying Generational Differences and Their Causes. Adcox, Susan. (2012). Retrieved on July 5, 2012, from: About. com: http://grandparents. about. com/od/grandparentingtoday/a/GenerationGap. htm Trends in Attitudes Toward Religion and Social Issues: 1987-2007. Pew Research Center Publications. (2007). Retrieved on July 5, 2012, from: Pew Research Center: Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World: http://pewresearch. org/pubs/614/religion-social-issues

The African American Achievement Gap:

The African American Achievement Gap: Why is it There and What Can be Done Are Black Americans Dumber than White Americans? Can it unequivocally be stated that European Americans hold more intelligence then African Americans? Are African Americans genetically wired to have a lesser mental capacity then European Americans? For a long time this was the explanation to a burning problem. African Americans score lower than White Americans on vocabulary, reading, and mathematics tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure scholastic aptitude and intelligence. This gap appears before children enter kindergarten and it persists into adulthood. The typical American black still scores below 75 percent of American whites on most standardized tests. On some tests the typical American black scores below more than 85 percent of whites. † (CHRISTOPHER, JENCKS) This test score gap is not an inevitable fact of nature. It is true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white child ren attend the same schools. It is also true that the gap shrinks only a little when black and white families have the same amount of schooling, the same income, and the same wealth.However, after extensive research, no one has found any evidence saying that blacks have less intellectual ability than whites. So what causes this gap in test scores? Some attribute it to the culture of African Americans. They say that African Americans are uninterested in learning and don’t seek to pursue academic excellence. Some attribute the gap to testing conditions. Some attribute it to concepts such as â€Å"White Guilt† and â€Å"Stereotype Threat. †(Will be explained later) I however cannot attribute it to any one thing. This whole issue cannot be explained by one concept.Rather then trying to describe the achievement gap with one concept, I attribute it to a combination of many. The reason for the perceived gap in test scores is an intricate combination of things such as S tereotype threat, White Guilt, and Culture. On this issue, Thomas Sowell takes the position that this gap has nothing to do with racism or race. Sowell says, â€Å"For much of the first half of the 20th century, these differences were attributed to race-that is, to an assumption that blacks just did not have it in their genes to do as well as white people.The tide began to turn in the second half of the 20th Century, when the assumption developed that black-white differences were due to racism on the part of whites. † (Sowell, Thomas) However, his research showed something different. With his study at Harvard, he noticed that most of the black alumni were either from â€Å"the West Indies or Africa, or were the children of West Indian or African immigrants. These people are the same race as American blacks, who greatly outnumber either or both. † (Sowell, Thomas) This completely dispels the idea of race being a factor. So what does cause the gap?Sowell believes Culture does. His main argument is that the culture from so-called â€Å"rednecks† from Europe caused this uneducated culture seen in blacks. He says, â€Å"The culture of the people who were called â€Å"rednecks† and â€Å"crackers† before they ever got on the boats to cross the Atlantic was a culture that produce far lower levels of intellectual and economic achievement, as well as high levels of violence and sexual promiscuity. † (Sowell, Thomas) Now the most important points raised are that only a third of whites lived in this culture while 90% of blacks live in it.Of course culture fades away eventually but, it has very slow within the black community; especially in the worst black ghettos in the country. This is a culture of counter productivity and self-destruction. Sowell says all blacks are regarded this way. However, the question has to be asked; can this really be applied to all blacks? It really can’t. Culture can be a valid explanation for t his particular group of black people but it does not prove anything for all blacks. Not all blacks are from the ghetto.Some actually come from prominent, stable homes. Some actually come from the same environment as successful whites and Langston Hughes takes a look at some of these people. Hughes also takes the view of culture but he examines it from the view of blacks that are not stuck in the ghetto but have stable backgrounds. Hughes takes the view that blacks are actually hindering themselves. He says that there is a huge obstacle standing in the way of every black person. He actually makes a reference about artist but it can be viewed as any black person.He says the obstacle is, â€Å"this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible. † (Hughes, Langston) His example is a poet. This poet subconsciously wants to be white because he feels it will make him a better poet. This poet comes from a strong background in the middle class. According to Hughes, they attend church; the father has a steady job; the mother works on occasion; and the children attend mixed schools.However, the problem comes with how the parents treat their children. The mother says things like, â€Å"Don’t be like niggers† when the children are bad. In turn the father says things like, â€Å"Look how well a white man does things. † So in this home and many others, black is not praised or celebrated it is taught to be ashamed of. They are taught to want to be white. It is staggering what blacks do to themselves because of this. Fist Hughes says the more predominant don’t support their own people.His example is that, A â€Å"Negro clubwoman in Philadelphia paid eleven dollars to hear Raquel Meller sing Andalusian popular songs. But she told me a few weeks before she would not think of going to hear â€Å"that woman. â⠂¬  Clara Smith, a great artist, sing Negro folk songs. † (Hughes, Langston) This is the problem with many blacks. They don’t support their own people in anything because they don’t feel it will be accepted by whites and, that is ultimately what they want. Hughes also alludes to how blacks don’t’ support their own until whites do.His example is â€Å"a young colored writer who had been writing well for the colored magazines for some years, but it was not until he recently broke into the white publications and his first book was accepted by a prominent New York publisher that the â€Å"best† Negros in his city took the trouble to discover that he lived there. † (Hughes, Langston) The key here is â€Å"white. † Blacks are afraid to be who they are because white is seen as the ultimate goal. Black is seen as inferior. So can this be applied to test taking? It certainly can. If blacks are feeling inferior then their test performanc e cannot be as good as whites.Hughes is saying that being black is a hindrance that was built by blacks ourselves. But can this still be applied to all blacks. No it can’t because not all blacks come from households where white power is subconsciously feed to them. Some come from homes where black is celebrated. But for some reason the gap is still there but why? Shelby Steele’s position on the matter is based on the theory of White Guilt. White Guilt is a â€Å"vacuum of moral authority in matters of race, equality and opportunity that comes from the association of mere white skin with America’s historical racism.It is the stigmatization of whites and, more importantly, American institutions with the sin of racism. † (Steele, Shelby) Simply meaning that all white institutions are doing whatever they have to do not to appear racist. According to Steele this started right after the civil-rights movement. Where he believes that blacks made, â€Å"the great est miscalculation in black American history. † (Steele, Shelby) He says, we allowed ourselves to see a greater power in America’s liability for our oppression than we saw in ourselves. (Steele, Shelby) This meaning blacks saw an opportunity to get lazy because they thought they could get more out of taking what whites give rather then working to take their own. According to Steele, blacks have been living in an age of white guilt for about a few decades now. So Steele is taking the position that the achievement gap is where it is at because blacks do not have to work as much as they did before. Steele uses the example of a University. There is no way that they would admit students just based on academia because chances are there would be little to no black faces at the University.This university would be called racist and scrutinized heavily. In Modern time, it is politically correct to include blacks in all walks of life. During the Civil Rights Movement, being black was terrible thing. You were punished for it. Today blacks are rewarded for it in many ways. It is good but bad also. This age of white guilt is a time where the black person â€Å"lives in a society that needs his race for the good it wants to do more than it needs his individual self. His race makes him popular with the white institutions and unifies him with blacks. † (Steele, Shelby) This however limits him as a person.This gives him less desire to work hard. What’s the point when things will just be put in his hand anyway? Steele uses Dr. Cornel West as an example. Dr. West was promoted to a full professorship at Harvard, which is a very high honor. However Steele says, â€Å"It was never Cornel West-the individual- that Harvard wanted; it was the defanged protest identity that he carried, which redounded to the university as racial innocence itself. How could anyone charge this university with racism when it promoted Cornel West to its higher reaches? † (S teele, Shelby) So there lies the main point. Dr.West achieved high position by doing less work. This is Steele’s explanation as to why the achievement gap is there. Blacks simply do not have to work as hard as they once did to succeed because the whites are â€Å"too eager for the moral authority black skin offers them. † (Steele, Shelby) Can this explanation be applied to all blacks? Again some blacks are exempt from this. Some take the easy way out and take full advantage of things like affirmative action. However, some do actually work at what they do. But, for some reason, there is still a gap within this group that is working hard. Why is that? Claude M.Steele offers the concept of Stereotype Threat as the reason this gap exists. Stereotype threat is â€Å"the threat of being viewed through the lens of a negative stereotype, or the fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype. † (Steele, Claude M) Stereotype threat can be used to explain the reason that hard working goal oriented black Americans contribute to the achievement gap. When it comes to matters of race, it is assumed that a particular situation is experienced in much the same way by different groups of people. This is especially assumed to be true in test taking.However, this is often times not true for blacks. Steele says, â€Å"But for black students, difficulty with the test makes the negative stereotype relevant as an interpretation of their performance, and of them. They know that they are especially likely to be seen as having limited ability. † (Steele, Claude M) It is not that blacks are in anyway inferior its just a certain pressure is always put on them when doing things like taking test. This is because tests are often given as a test to measure ability, so because of the negative stereotype blacks feel an added pressure and succumb to it.From one experiment- focusing on vocabulary- Steele performed on black and white students, h is conclusion came to be that, â€Å" When black students were told that the test would measure ability, they completed the fragments with significantly more stereotype-related words that when they were told that it was not a measure of ability. † Now the thing about stereotype threat is that it is not like the â€Å"self –filling prophecy. † They don’t think they will perform inadequately and then in-turn score low. Steele says Stereotype threat, â€Å"is something different something external: the situational threat of being negatively stereotyped. So Stereotype threat can be applied to hard working black Americans because it only exist if they care that the negative stereotype is there. So these students actually work so hard to disprove the stereotype that they actually hinder themselves. For one of Steele’s experiments he noticed this to be true. He says, â€Å" Black students taking the test under stereotype threat seemed to be trying to ha rd rather than not hard enough. They reread the question, reread the multiple choice, and recheck their answers, more then when they were not under stereotype threat. (Steele, Claude M) So what this did was make the test takers inefficient. If you think to long on standardized to you are automatically hindering a very good score. So the reason hard working black Americans contribute to the gap is evident. But, like it was previously stated, not all black Americans actually work hard so this cannot be the only reason the gap exist. I believe the gap exist because of a combination of a few of the afore mentioned arguments. Yes Sowell’s point is valid but the culture argument cannot be applied to all blacks.Yes Langston Hughes point is valid but his aspect of culture cannot be applied to all blacks. The same goes for both Shelby and Claude Steele. Applying one of these theories to an entire race of people to explain the gap in test scores will just not suffice. I can honestly sa y that throughout my life experiences that I have seen every theory for myself. I have seen and lived among the people that these theories apply to and I believe that it all culminates to create the observed gap between African Americans and other ethnic groups.Sowell is absolutely correct when he says there is a self destructive, counterproductive culture in the nations ghettos. Everyone I know from these areas thinks that way. They do not like learning; they hate hard work and are content being at the lower rungs of life. So when the children do go to school and take there standardized test, more often then not, they don’t try. They have a â€Å"whatever† attitude towards it. And for the few that do try, they just aren’t prepared because the people around them and raising them have this disdain towards learning.I have a close connection with people who embody the â€Å"White Guilt† theory and the â€Å"Stereotype threat† idea. I have lived with i t all of my life and I can say it has affected me. In high school and even in college I have seen an abundance of students who are whole-heartedly living in the age of white guilt. It’s not that they don’t’ try it’s just they do enough to get by because they know if they make it to a certain point, aids like affirmative action and minority quotas will take them where they need to go. So when it comes to test taking they do try, but won’t stress themselves out over it.Although they are just as smart as their white counterparts, they just don’t see the need to put in the extra effort. Students that experience stereotype threat are just as prevalent. I can say that I fit into this mold. These students do in fact try to hard. They try so hard to prove the stereotype wrong they actually end of proving it. They try so hard not to make mistakes on the test that they do. They try so hard not to contribute to the gap, they actually do. So the reason the gap exist is a combination of many different people that come from different demographics and situations.All of these added together make the achievement gap in test scores. It is clear to see that this gap cannot be explained by one theory. Too many blacks come from to many different situations for this to be the case. So we can see that when these are added up it amounts to the gap in test scores among other things. So how can it be fixed? Just like there is not one factor contributing to the gap, there is not one way to fix the gap. The solution would be more of a chain reaction effect. The problem starts in the inner city where the lazy â€Å"I don’t care† attitude is prevalent.These are the people that create the negative stereotype black people have. So the blacks that are doing better than these people and are trying to do better in life have to bear the burden that the â€Å"ghetto† blacks place on them. The people that apply to Hughes theory are ash amed of them. The people in Shelby Steele’s theory are lazy because the world is trying to integrate them (the ghetto blacks). And the people in Claude Steele’s theory are working so hard to overcome the stereotype the â€Å"ghetto† blacks have placed on them.Until the blacks from the inner city change nothing will. The blacks in the higher rungs of life can’t change their ways, in this case test taking ways, until the burden placed on them is lifted. So until the inner city mentality changes, the gap will forever be there. Works Cited CHRISTOPHER, JENCKS. â€Å"The Black-White Test Score Gap. † The New York Times. 1998. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Hughes, Langston. â€Å"†The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain† (1926). † Welcome to English  « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. 926. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Sowell, Thomas. â€Å"Thomas Sowell — Crippled by Their Culture. † OrthodoxyToday. org | Home. 26 Apr. 2005. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Steele, Shelby. â€Å"The Age of White Guilt: and the Disappearance of the Black Individual. † CIR Home. Nov. 2002. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. . Steele, Claude M. â€Å"Thin Ice: â€Å"Stereotype Threat† and Black College Students – 99. 08. † The Atlantic — News and Analysis on Politics, Business, Culture, Technology, National, International, and Food a? â€Å" TheAtlantic. com. 1999. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. .

Investment Analysis And Strategy The WritePass Journal

Investment Analysis And Strategy Introduction Investment Analysis And Strategy Introduction Part APart D  References            Ã‚  Related Introduction Part A of this paper describes the reasons for selecting corporate bonds as opposed to other types of bonds. Part D defines the benchmarks for each portfolio to compare results at the end of the investment period. Part A Investing in bonds is one of the most challenging investment decisions that investors have to make. This is due to the wide variety of bonds that exist on the market in the financial services. This therefore gives the investor not only a wide range of choices but also one of which has many risks. Corporate bonds are good investment areas for financial institutions but also have inherent risks associated with them and the investor must evaluate this first before buying them (Choudhry, 2011, p. 57). In choosing the particular corporate bonds, we were guided by a number of factors. One of them is that the corporate bonds we selected have higher yields within a short time when compared to others like government bonds.   Given the time period that we intend to invest in these bonds, the high risks which are always associated with high yielding bonds can be offset during the short period. We also needed a lump sum and dependable income that is steady and allows us to preserve our princip al investment. All the corporate bonds we selected from financial institutions have higher rating which makes the safety of our investment guaranteed as seen through the likelihood of repayment of our principal investments and the expected annualized interest. Moreover, we chose corporate bonds as opposed to government bonds because of the diversification of sectors, the quality of credit, and the structure of bonds which are almost in tandem with our objectives for investments (Choudhry, 2004, p.33). The diversity of corporate bonds means that we have more options to choose the most dependable bonds that give better repayment of our principal investment of 20 million pounds while allowing us to market the bonds easily at the end of the one year period. Unlike the government bonds which require longer time to market, corporate bonds can be marketed easily because of their small size and the liquidity of corporate bonds in the market (Ramaswamy, 2004, p. 22). Part D A benchmark index is a standard which is used to evaluate the performance of a security performance or investment.   Several benchmark indexes are used in the financial investments including the SP 500, the Russell 2000 Index, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average among many other indexes. Benchmark indexes are important because they help the investor to track the performance of the bonds or stocks on selected markets. The selected benchmark index will assist us in evaluating each of our portfolios on the bond market by allowing us to track the changing values to indicate a stronger or weaker performance and thus enable us to measure our bond portfolios. Because of the variety of industries in which we have bought our bonds, we will have different benchmark indexes used in each of the industry to enable us to discern the broader performance of the market. Our result at the end of the investment period will be evaluated against the benchmark indexes set by the European Central Bank, the UK Central Bank, and the US Federal Bank. Occasionally, bond investors are supposed to choose a market index or a combination of market indexes which act as the portfolio benchmarks and helps in tracking the performance of the bonds in a given market segment (Maginn, Tuttle McLeavey, 2010, p. 36). With our investment, there are different market segments ranging from finance to housing and will help in tracking the returns on a buy-and-hold basis. Moreover, our benchmark indexes does not attempt to determine the most attractive securities so that we are able to compare actively managed performance portfolio among the selected bonds. Several factors may cause each of the portfolios to perform differently from the benchmark in what is known as tracking error. However, the tracking error is always positive and is equal to the annualized standard variance of monthly surplus returns (Fabozzi, Martellini Priaulet, 2006, p. 45). The tracking error will help us to identify investment choices in the future in case we decide to invest in bonds after the period of one year. The benchmark indexes used in our portfolio management have sufficient securities for easier buying. The benchmarks we have selected for each portfolio to present an unambiguous and transparent approach, gives clear weights of securities constituted in the benchmark. It is also considered that the benchmark indexes have securities that can be purchased in the market or reflect the performance of the markets in that sector. We have also considered that the benchmark indexes selected are priced on a daily basis to allow comparison of our performance on a daily basis in the one year maturation period. Moreover, the availability of historical data relates to each of the benchmark index selected for the portfolio is important because it will help us at estimate the returns we anticipate from our investment. We also anticipate that the selected benchmark indexes have a low turnover so that it is not difficult for us to base the allocation of portfolios on the index whose composition changes frequently. More importantly are the frequent updates from the benchmark provider detailing the risk characteristics to enable the comparison of the active and passive benchmark risks facing the investment portfolios (Fabozzi, Martellini Priaulet, 2006, p. 45). In selecting each of the benchmark indexes for the portfolio we have evaluated the volatility tolerance and risks associated with one year investment bonds and thus all the benchmarks have high long-term returns and therefore present absolute returns for a shorter period of one year. We have also considered the liquidity of our portfolios and selected benchmark indexes with short duration while avoiding benchmarks with greater risks even with less liquidity and higher interest rates. The selected benchmarks meet the liquidity profile of our investment and thus serve as essential tools which will be useful during our investment period. Another consideration for selecting each of the benchmark has been the range and diversity of our securities and bonds. The benchmark indexes are wide enough to allow the contribution of the portfolio’s overall performance by actively managing the market forces which are likely to have negative impacts on the interest rates anticipated at the end of the year (Maginn, Tuttle McLeavey, 2010, p. 56).   References            Ã‚   Choudhry, M. (2004).Corporate Bonds and Structured Financial Products. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Choudhry, M. (2011). Corporate Bond Markets:  Instruments and Applications. Hoboken; John Wiley Sons. Fabozzi, F. J., Martellini, L.    Priaulet, P. (2006), Advanced Bond Portfolio Management:  Best Practices in Modeling and Strategies. Hoboken; John Wiley Sons. Maginn, J. L., Tuttle, D. L. McLeavey, D. W. (2010), Managing Investment Portfolios:  A Dynamic Process. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons Ramaswamy, S. (2004), Managing Credit Risk in Corporate Bond Portfolios:  A Practitioners Guide. Hoboken: John Wiley Sons.

Figurative Language Essay Example

Figurative Language Essay Example Figurative Language Essay Figurative Language Essay Essay Topic: The Count Of Monte Cristo Zoe Zettel Mr. Warren Period 8 12 September, 2012 Figurative Language Essay In this passage from The Count of Monte Cristo the author uses similes, metaphors, and descriptive details to establish the mood. The mood of this passage is that of a dark, disturbing scene of an execution. The author wants the reader to feel as though they are witnessing a terrifyingly grotesque death. The authors’ use of similes in this passage can be found throughout. Instead of describing Albert’s face as simply pale, he describes his face as: â€Å"as white as his shirt† (line 80). Thus, the reader is able to picture Albert’s face as pure white, thereby creating a mood of nausea and fear. The authors’ use of metaphors in the passage can be found throughout. The author describes the streets as crowded by saying that: â€Å"All the rest of the square was paved with heads† (Line 40). He means this to show how many people are actually at the execution. He gives the reader a sense of false security and a hint at what is to come. The author uses descriptive details in this passage to let the reader better visualize the scene. Dumas’ describes The Count by saying that: â€Å"His nostrils dilated like those of a wild beast that scents its prey, and his lips, half opened, disclosed his white teeth, small and sharp like those of a jackal. And yet his features wore an expression of smiling tenderness† (line 85-95). : He gives the reader a sense of animalistic terror and shows that the count is rather enjoying the execution and wishes for it to continue quickly. The author uses figurative language; similes, metaphors, descriptive details, to set up the mood of the overall scene. This overall passage is very dark and Dumas’ is able to show the reader that through his descriptions. Dumas’ is very good at painting a picture for the reader and it is very easy to visualize the scene.

Language Functions in English

Language Functions in English A language function explains why someone says something. For example, if you are teaching a class youll have to give instructions. Giving Instructions is the language function. Language functions then require certain  grammar. To use our example, giving instructions requires the use of the imperative. Open your books.Insert the DVD into the drive.Purchase your ticket online. There is a wide range of language functions. Here are examples of guessing, expressing wishes and persuading- all language functions.   Guessing He might be busy today.She must be at work if shes not at home.Maybe shes got a new boyfriend! Expressing Wishes I wish I had five million dollars!If I could choose, Id buy the blue car.  Id like to have a steak, please.   Persuading I think youll find our product is the best you can buy.Come on, lets go have some fun! What can it hurt?If you give me a moment, I can explain why we should do this deal. Thinking about which language function youd like to use helps you learn phrases used to accomplish these tasks. For example, if you want to make a suggestion youll use these phrases: How about ...Lets ...Why dont we ...Id suggest we ... Using Language Function in Your Learning Its important to learn correct grammar such as the tenses, and when to use relative clauses. However, if you think about it, its probably just as important to know why you want to say something. What is the purpose? What is the language function? Teaching Language Functions Teaching language functions can lead to confusion at times as its common to use a wide range of grammatical structures for each function. For example, when expressing wishes students might use the present simple (I want ...), conditional sentences (If I had the money, I could ...), the verb wish for past and present wishes (I wish I had a new car / I wish she had come to the party), and so on. When teaching, its best to mix language functions with grammar. Provide functional language as students are ready to learn. In the example above, using I wish I could go to the party will likely confuse lower level students. On the other hand, Id like to go to the party or I want to go to the party is appropriate for lower level classes.   Generally speaking, the more advanced a student becomes the more they will be able to explore language and improve increasingly subtle functional demands. Heres a short overview of some of the most important language functions by level. Students should be able to accomplish each task by the end of the course. Naturally, students should also master language functions of lower levels: Beginning Level Expressing likesDescribing people, places, and thingsAsking yes / no and information questionsComparing people, places, and thingsOrdering food in a restaurantExpressing abilities Intermediate Level Making predictionsComparing and contrasting people, places, and thingsDescribing spatial and time relationsRelating past eventsExpressing opinionsShowing preferences  Making suggestionsAsking for and giving adviceDisagreeing  Asking for a favor Advanced Level Persuading someoneGeneralizing about topicsInterpreting dataHypothesizing and speculatingSummarizing  Sequencing a presentation or speech Grammar-Based Learning or Function-Based Learning? Some courses try to focus on only functional based English. However, I find these courses fall short as the focus is often on NOT speaking about grammar. Unfortunately, students need explanations. Focusing only on function can turn into an exercise of just memorizing specific phrases for specific situations. Mixing the two gradually as students improve their understanding of the underlying grammar will help students put appropriate phrases into use to obtain their functional goals.

Motivation and Marketing Mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Motivation and Marketing Mix - Essay Example In the same way, Maslow’s theory was based on two key ideologies; they are classification of human needs and consideration of the relationship between the classes. Taylor held a fundamental and straightforward idea of what motivated people at work—money. According to his opinion, each worker should get a fair days’ pay for a fair day’s work, and the pay should be on the basis of amount produced using the piece-rates method. Thus, his theory explains that employees who do not delver a fair day’s work should be paid less or nothing and those who deliver more than a fair day’s work, going beyond the target should be paid higher. However, according to Maslow, an employee’s career begins at the bottom of the hierarchy, where he would primarily try to meet his basic needs. Moving higher on the hierarchy, he secondly searches for his psychological needs and safety needs at the next level. When these needs are met, they are no longer motivator s for him, so he would then want to satisfy his social needs, which the employer must use as a motivator. Finally, the esteem needs of an employee acts as a motivator such as, given appreciation for a job well done, awarding a promotion, etc. For example, as noted down by Oyedele (2011), a multi-national company in Nigeria watched their production increasing by more than fifteen percent after they had installed a ‘cold water tap’ and a ‘color television’ in the junior staff waiting room; the employees felt a sense of belonging in the organization and worked hard. Apart from these, the apparent weakness of Taylor’s ideology is that it leaves out the significant differences between different kinds of people. It is hard to make sure that a â€Å"best way† is going to suit everyone. In the same course, the Maslow model seems impracticable with the real-life practice as individual behavior may respond to not just one, but several needs at the same time. 2. Benefits of having a motivated work force In fact, employee motivation is one of the significant factors which help the organization to improve employees and thereby organizational performances, and hence, having a motivated workforce helps to achieve the competitive advantage that the organization tries to accomplish. There are many advantages of having a motivated workforce to the organization. First of all, an enhanced employee performance and efficiency helps the organizations to acquire higher productivity. According to Calrk (2003, p2-3), an organization having a motivated workforce can reduce their costs as the employees would not only work faster, but utilize their inventiveness to propose developments to the course of action which can lead the organization to save millions of dollars of overall cost . In the same way, motivated manpower will increase the quality of products produced by the organization (PSP Metrics, n.d). A team working efficiently will bring out t he best quality products and thereby reduce the cost of resources for work. This process helps to boost up the product value in the market making sure that the product release cycle is reduced to its minimum. Moreover,

Discuss the main components that you need to write a wireless LAN Essay

Discuss the main components that you need to write a wireless LAN security policy. How such a policy would be different from a - Essay Example A sample Wireless information security policy can be found in this link http://www.sans.org/security-resources/policies/Wireless_Communication_Policy.pdf . II. Essential Components of a Wireless Security Policy Essential components of the Wireless Security Policy are the mandatory change of password for the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). The Wireless Security Policy also includes a list of standard devices allowed to connect to the wireless local area network. Since it would be easier to diagnose a problem including the implementation of solutions when there are less variables to consider. Wired local area network IP addresses in some instances can be dynamic for each of the devices connected to the local area network. However, in the wireless local area network static IP are assigned to MAC address to ensure that only authorized devices connects to the local area network. Since the possibility of security breaches or infiltration are higher using the wireless local area network the s ecurity policy normally do not allow devices intending to connect to the wireless local area network to access beyond a finite area. Most often this area is not accessible to normal human traffic from outside the perimeter of the organization’s property. ... This is to ensure that no rider or malicious codes accompany the authentication process of the wireless device as it connects to the wireless local area network. In some instances the organization’s wireless security policy only allows the devices supplied by the organization to connect to its wireless local area network. The security policy also mandates that the local virus protection system of the wireless devices is up to date. III. The Difference of Wireless and Wired LAN Security Policy The policy governing wireless communication in a local area network is different in the sense that. Wireless devices that can attach to a network are mobile or can be taken out of the premises of the organization while devices that are wired to the Local Area Network of the organization cannot be taken out of the office without arousing any suspicion. Wired connection can easily be inventoried and accounted for using network management software. Devices that are connected to the wireless devices of the local area network are dynamic connections that can move around and be at certain locations that are within the range of the wireless router. The possibility of infiltration and data theft is not only probable but very likely since the shortest effective range of a wireless router can include areas that are beyond the visual range of security forces of the organization. While the devices connected to the wired local area network are secure and static within the company premises. The manners in which devices connect to the wired local area network are managed and administered are entirely different with the way devices connect to the wireless

Market Segments and Targets Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Market Segments and Targets - Assignment Example Market segments are crucial to business success owing to a number of reasons. An understanding of the market segment one serves helps them to understand the needs and wants of their target market thereby increasing their marketing opportunities. The business is also able to create a solid customer base since the customers realize their value to the firm and appreciate the fact that their needs fit consideration. Segmentation also helps a business focus on the little differences in the market that give them a competitive advantage over their competitors. They are also able to profile their customers and understand the market landscape (Kotler & Keller 2012). In this age of technological advancement, businesses need to stay updated so as to keep up with the upcoming trends in terms of technology. The internet is useful for marketing. It may also be a particularly useful tool for businesses that wish to launch a new product. The global net has made the world a global village, hence very useful in marketing. However, in marketing by use of the internet one ought to take special care and ensure the target market is in mind when choosing the target market. One cannot use the internet to advertise goods to a remote village with no electricity. The market targeted by an entity will have a significant effect on the outlook of its website. When developing a website the business will consider its target market. One cannot design a sophisticated and complex site when targeting the elderly. When dealing with the erratic teens, the site needs to be colorful and fun. An entity will also decide on the content of the site depending on the market.  

Martial Arts In Renaissance Europe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Martial Arts In Renaissance Europe - Essay Example The gathered evidences are either in the form of scriptures of paintings. It is important to mention the event of Gladiator, this event occurred in 260 BC in Rome. The gathered evidences depict the wrestling techniques which were practiced during old ages, and with specific tools for self-defence and offend were designed and used. As per historic record, the groups practiced special martial arts during crucial combats. The pictorial display of historic combats have indicated the compilation of drafts i.e. Bayeux Tapestry and Morgan Bible, which has exclusively listed the details of technique necessary for combat alongside the design of the tools. As per European history, a specific manual has been discovered which depicts the learning of martial arts, "extant dedicated martial arts manual is the MS I.33 (ca. 1300), detailing sword and buckler combat". The book has mentioned that during high and late middle ages, common martial arts included jousting, fencing system. It was unfolded t hat during the period of late Middle Ages, different books on martial arts and fighting i.e. Fechubucher were compiled, regarded as "instructional treatises" (Mangan, 2001). The history of affiliation between the Europe and martial arts is significant and bonded. The literal meaning of Martial means the arts of Mars, which Mars is the reference to the Roman god of battle. It is therefore justifiable to link the history of martial arts with Ancient Greece. The literature of martial arts has been gathered and compiled by the European historians, have originated from the tradition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe, the compilation is in the form of treatise which included details of the combat techniques. The Europe has history of political and local struggle against injustice and mutiny, therefore on several accounts the mention of martial arts have been observed, which in actual was intended to communicate the fundamentals of defence to the forces and public (Jane, 1995). The conte mporary martial arts have its origination from the tradition of Mediaeval and Renaissance Europe. Several schools have been identified which have identified specified nature of practices relevant to martial arts, out of these some schools have been categorised as Italian, Spanish, German and English style; however some schools have focused upon weapons combat, mainly related to sword. The important institute linked to the promulgation and promotion of martial arts inside Europe includes the Academy of European Swordsmanship, this school has researched upon traditional swordsmanship. The book has given the details of the classified information relevant to this specific practice of martial arts includes strikes, locks and breaks, throws, wrestling, and disarms. The nature of these martial arts is limited to weapon and self combat, however the nature of martial arts practiced during Renaissance focused much upon hand-to-hand combat. The martial arts practices which originated during pe riod of Renaissance have transformed into boxing and fencing. The core values of the martial arts related to the European period of Renaissance focused primarily upon defensive and combat techniques, specially "learning to defend against knives, empty hand, ground fighting, pole weapons and swords" (Mangan, 2001). Discussion There growing misconception among the public is regarded the origination of martial art

Cognitive science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cognitive science - Essay Example The modern evolutionary theory depicts human beings as agents that now pursue their interests, which eventually make genes to change. This idea leads to the concept of robotic rebellion when human beings act in ways that do not cohere with original intentions of the genes. However, it is unclear how the rebellion started and motivations of the rebellion. The target example here is the rebellion that human beings are shaping against the genes. Human beings are continually doing things that address their own desires but not in the interest of the genes. People have attuned to the environmental forces to shape what they learn for survival. With the modern evolutionary theory, it is not the genes that determine the things human begins do. Environment plays important roles in triggering human beings who then resort to learning things that comfort and promise them good life. The base example is the learning theory that will help in understanding the motivation and process of development of the modern evolutionary theory. The learning theory posits that human beings have empty brains called tabular rasa (Chance and Mark 274). People gain knowledge through interaction with the environment and consisting elements. The robotic rebellion as confers to human being as vehicles and genes as the controllers is evident through critical analysis of the observational learning. Observational learning relies on the cognition of individuals. According to the observational learning process, human beings learn through what they observe happening within their immediate environments (Chance and Mark 276). It is with gained knowledge that human beings determine lifestyles and strategies to survive in the environment. In the traditional setting of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, genes special memes used to shape knowledge and characteristics that are in the interest of the genes. With observation,

Foucaults Discipline and Punishment Theory Essay

Foucaults Discipline and Punishment Theory - Essay Example Relative to calls for equal protection of laws has idealized the non-usurpation of pain infliction that questioned forms of punishment in stark contrast to ethical beliefs that crime can be prevented at its root cause. An alternative approach to reform and behavioral modification has given rise to the discussion of multi-disciplinary approach and theories to that prevent the incidence of criminal deviation. This approach has gained wider acceptance as a preventive means in stark contrast to the allowance a certain crime to happen before society takes action and incur varying degrees of physical punishment to the individual. Several believed that a variety of factors is believed to enhance the incidence of the violence in mankind that tends specifically recruit others to form a stronger criminal group. Recognizing the increasing scope, intensity and sophistication of crimes brought about by globalization as a mattress for drug operations, trafficking of arms and humans and laundering, countries have acknowledged the true nature of crime prevention. Efficient criminal justice systems have set standards and protocols that require cooperation to counter international syndicates. Certain preventive theories have equated crime prevention in the individual capacity to control and restrain urges; Foucault as an anthropologist has decried this philosophy with an apparent affront to discipline and punishment. He has equated prisons as a form of discipline that utilizes technological power. His argument against public spectacle of torture is equated with forms to entertain and satisfy the perverse need of the society to play God. Playing revenge against the convict or a felon has given law the authority to act as an extension of the sovereign's body who is allowed to inflict harm as payment for a felonious and criminal act. Hence Foucault provides the unintended consequences that the convict's body is used either to gain sympathy or admiration that fulfills a crowd's curiosity. Totally radical against public executions, Foucault notes that such theatrics often leads to riots in support of the prisoner. Its political cost was often high and is interpreted as the an tithesis to modern society. Stance against Violence Violence, is seen in Foucault's theory of power (1975) in a two-fold dimension. First, it recognizes that violence cannot be seen simply as a destructive force existing alone, since the damaging effects are considered as consequences of an attempt to analyze and understand the meaning and origins of people's identities and their attributes whether in groups and societies which are continuously invented and transformed. Secondly, it sees the trans-humanist forces widen the boundaries of knowledge to create a non-progressive series of historically distinct patterns of human and social response. In relation to violence, it is then possible that policy options in the present will always be restricted to the confines of the prevailing repertoire of violence, and therefore that any system of response is in fact a reflection not so much of the will of the people who set it in place. In place here was remotely discussed in mort of Foucault's discourses as the unpredictable play of power. Fo ucault's theoretical perspective offers a useful

Cognitive science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cognitive science - Essay Example The modern evolutionary theory depicts human beings as agents that now pursue their interests, which eventually make genes to change. This idea leads to the concept of robotic rebellion when human beings act in ways that do not cohere with original intentions of the genes. However, it is unclear how the rebellion started and motivations of the rebellion. The target example here is the rebellion that human beings are shaping against the genes. Human beings are continually doing things that address their own desires but not in the interest of the genes. People have attuned to the environmental forces to shape what they learn for survival. With the modern evolutionary theory, it is not the genes that determine the things human begins do. Environment plays important roles in triggering human beings who then resort to learning things that comfort and promise them good life. The base example is the learning theory that will help in understanding the motivation and process of development of the modern evolutionary theory. The learning theory posits that human beings have empty brains called tabular rasa (Chance and Mark 274). People gain knowledge through interaction with the environment and consisting elements. The robotic rebellion as confers to human being as vehicles and genes as the controllers is evident through critical analysis of the observational learning. Observational learning relies on the cognition of individuals. According to the observational learning process, human beings learn through what they observe happening within their immediate environments (Chance and Mark 276). It is with gained knowledge that human beings determine lifestyles and strategies to survive in the environment. In the traditional setting of the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin, genes special memes used to shape knowledge and characteristics that are in the interest of the genes. With observation,

Analysis of Work Placement Vacancy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis of Work Placement Vacancy - Essay Example In product development, an employer would be exposed to the global trends embraced by the organization in regards to product production. Skills required for the placement are based on the ability to develop communication and technological techniques (Ford Motor Company, 2014). The IT placement requires one to bear the ability to develop IT tools and solutions to enhance business productivity (Ford Motor Company, 2014). In the marketing placement, one is required to possess consumer appreciation skills as well as the ability to develop fresh and trendy marketing ideas. In the quality placement, a person is required to have ideas on how to connect quality to product production and manufacturing. From my academic experience, I was able to acquire the skills required for the placement. I have exceptional skills in teamwork, total quality assurance, marketing and IT. However, the requirements by ford are more demanding that my prior experience in school. The skills I lack will be provided by the employer in the training experience. Moreover, I will develop skills as required by the employer to increase my work placement effectiveness. In addition, I would enhance the skills I lack by consulting with other employees in the

How Do Financially Distressed Companies Overcome Decline Economics Essay

How Do Financially Distressed Companies Overcome Decline Economics Essay The present paper analyzes the recovery process of 526 US firms facing an initial financial distress situation in order to determine the variables of influence on their final survival status. The proposed model of this recovery process implies that severity and reaction capability should be understood as initial conditions that will impose restrictions in the selection of strategies which will drive the performance during recovery, thus, determining the final resolution of long term financial distress process. We found that these variables have an impact on i) the ability of a company to overcome decline; ii) the efficiency of the selected strategies and iii) the results of these strategies on post-distress fit position. Keywords: Recovery process, financial distress, severity, Data Envelopment Analysis Introduction Every organization is inevitably exposed to ups and downs during its lifecycle (Krueger and Willard, 1991; Burbank, 2005) and failure is not a sudden event (Agarwal and Taffler, 2008). The ecological theory of organizations states that in a continuous process of firms, those who survive are better capable to compete. Kahl (2001) defines fittest firms as the ones that have greater chance to survive. In this way, the financial distress process should be understood as a selection mechanism by means of which good performers survive and bad performers do not. In this same line, Sheppard and Chowdhury (2005) consider that failure is a firms misalignment with its environment. Failure is a reversible process and not necessarily degenerative if the company is able to detect signs of underperformance and to achieve an effort in its economic performance. Firms facing a distressed financial situation usually share a series of common patterns which make it difficult to estimate a possible outcome of this situation (Barniv et al., 2002). Among the distressed firms, there are little divergences in the financial weakness indicators in the different failure processes (Ooghe and Prijcker, 2008). The dissimilarities between the failure stages and the turnaround effectiveness as well, become evident on the how quickly the indicators evolve and on the ability of the management to react when distress signals are detected. Ignoring these alert signals may lead to a continuous decline process which may end up in failure without even trying any recovery strategy (Burbank, 2005). Managing a crisis situation is a fundamental issue as it is not a spontaneous process. Moulton and Thomas (1993) affirm that the reorganizations during a financial distress situation are not a simple matter and the probability of a successful exit is very low. However, the percentage of firms that succeed in getting through decline cannot be disregarded. Barniv et al. (2002) found that 50% of the sample firms which filed bankruptcy from the Office of the General Council of SEC resolved their situation as emerged firms. One third of the financially distressed firms in Kahls (2001) study survived as independent companies. Moreover, Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj (2011) found that 22.5% of sample firms presenting a strong crisis situation were still active in the market 10 years later. Yet, we should consider that the exit from a difficult condition, as Moulton and Thomas (1993) sustain, is only the beginning of the story. Not all the successfully exiting firms manage to keep the new situa tion stable. For some firms, operating in a crisis situation constitutes their normal state of environment with crisis periods that can attenuate or loose up. Anyway, being able to maintain this kind of condition is also a manner to survive. In this sense, Kahl (2002) states that the financial distress should be considered a long term process that makes firms end up debilitated even after having recovered from decline. This weakness is observed in poor performance that inevitably may again drag the firms to a new financial distress situation. Hotchkiss (1995) attested that during the first five years after exiting a bankruptcy, 35 to 40% of firms show negative operating income and up to one third of the firms that manage to ease their distress through debt restructuring re-enter a financial distress situation a few years later. Several studies have shown that different factors may determine the exit from a crisis situation. These factors may have a direct influence on the recovery process or on the capacity of the company to develop appropriate redirection strategies. The initial severity degree is considered an important hurdle in implementing successful actions. In this line, Smith and Graves (2005) found that, among all variables of the study, severity and firm size were the only variables significantly important during a turnaround process. Other authors (Robbins and Pearce, 1992; Pearce and Robins, 1993; Harker and Harker, 1998) state that strategies oriented towards cost reduction and efficiency improvement were safe bets for a favorable outcome. However, Castrogiovani and Bruton (2000), Sudarsanam and Lai (2001) or Smith and Graves (2005) affirm that no positive relation could be found between certain strategies and successful outcome. These results indicate that severity, through its influence on th e selected strategy, could be an indirect factor in the turnaround process (Robbins and Pearce, 1992). More consensual results were obtained when stating that the performance in-distress is fundamental for the outcome of the difficult situation. In particular, it is observed that successful companies show better returns when compared to unsuccessful firms (Routledge and Gadene, 2000; Pearce and Doh, 2002; Kahl, 2001). The present paper analyzes the recovery process of 526 US firms facing an initial financial distress situation in order to determine the variables of influence on their final survival status. The proposed model of this recovery process states that severity and reaction capability should be understood as initial conditions that will impose restrictions in the selection of strategies which will drive the performance during recovery, thus, determining the final resolution of long term financial distress process. These variables have an impact on i) the ability of a company to overcome the difficult situation; ii) the efficiency of the selected strategies and iii) the results of these strategies on post-distress healthy position. The proposed model considers that final survival status measures the welfare quality of a firm based on its risk to re-enter in distress, so it discriminates well performers and best performers during the management of a crisis process. Overcoming a financial distress: Determinant factors Even though some weak crisis situations tend to show a natural evolution throughout the exit and may be solved by simply making routine decisions (Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj, 2011), recovery process is not a spontaneous event. The distressed firms will face a long term scenario involving a continuous effort of adaptation to the diverse situations through which a firm passes during the upturn. The effort invested in this process will allow the reestablishment of stakeholders trust, while the variables related to solvency and profitability gain stability (Burbank, 2005). Companies that do not have a long term orientation and just adopt patch strategies do not usually reach successful exits (Pretorius, 2008). However, certain initial conditions may affect the reaction capacity as well as the effectiveness of the measures taken by managers. Severity Similar to a disease process, the gravity of the initial crisis position not only conditions the measures to take but also their success possibilities. Firms that face worse starting situation need to make greater efforts. In this sense, Robbins and Pearce (1992) affirm that there exists a relationship between retrenchment strategies and performance in firms having a severe starting situation while this relationship is not observed in firms facing a weak crisis state. Although Smith and Graves (2005) indicate that the gravity of the starting situation is strongly associated with the probability of recovery, Kahl (2002) sustains that the financial distress diagnosis is an imperfect indicator of the economic feasibility of a firm. In the same line, Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj (2011) affirm that the severity of the initial situation, observed in widely accepted indicators, does not have to be a crucial factor in the outcome of the crisis. Perhaps, following Moulton and Thomas (1993), th e initial gravity status has an influence over the process of recovery more than on the final resolution. Thus, severity determines the rate of recuperation, so that the harder the severity, the greater the effort to react and the slower the process of healing the levels of solvency and profitability. This effort during the process, and not the starting situation, may be the main determinant of the final outcome. Moreover, solvency and profitability indicators such as continuous negative results, inability to generate income by means of operating activity, continuous solvency and/or liquidity problems or incapacity to generate cash flow which reflect problems in the health of the company, are widely accepted as measures of severity degree (Mutchler and Williams, 1990; Gilbert, Menon and Schwarz, 1990; Ponemon and Shick, 1991; Poston, Harmon and Gramlich, 1994; Geiger, Raghunandan and Rama, 1995; Raghunandan and Rama, 1995; Davydenko, 2007). Reaction capability The possible effect of severity on the initial state may be mitigated if the firm counts on appropriate resources which increase the probability of a successful recovery. The structural reaction capability may ease the recovery process to a safe position cushioning the possible actions to implement. The capacity to obtain additional funds or generate additional incomes to implement treatment strategies can soothe the prior pressure imposed by a deteriorated financial distress position. In this sense, Barker and Duhaime (1997) associate successful turnaround processes with increases in sales that make companies have more options to undertake change strategies. Similarly, Pearce and Doh (2002) affirm that firms in distress that used debt and supported their sales to improve profitability successfully solved their difficult situation. They also state that changes in activity and in leverage level are associated with different phases of a turnaround process. In turn, Jostarndt (2006) ide ntifies three factors which could be helpful to measure the risk of becoming financially troubled. An excessive leverage level, a poor firm performance, and an industry downturn may inhibit firms from obtaining the right amount of cash flow to operate normally. Firm operating performance trend dominates as the reason causing financial distress showing that a firm may fail but not only for financial reasons. This allows the author to consider an association between financial distress and economic distress. These results are comparable to the patterns evidenced by Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj (2011) when distressed firms with remarkable financial reaction capacity and/or a solid financial structure evolve mainly toward a healthy zone. However, concerning debt structure Kahl (2001) did not find evidence on if the debt level or the debt structure of a firm influences the final outcome of a crisis situation. Severity Status and Reaction Capability, as initial restrictions, could be moderated by firm size when considering the exit from a crisis situation (Moulton and Thomas, 1993; Barniv et al., 2002; Schutjens, 2002). Altman and Hotchkiss (2006) found that one of the most obvious factor that discriminates between firms that successfully restructure and those that liquidate, after being classified inside Chapter 11, was the firms size. Nevertheless, other works observe that this variable did not present any clear relation with the survival chance (Kahl, 2001; Ooghe and Prijcker, 2008). Possibly, firms size does not determine the final resolution of a distress situation but it influences the reaction capability to confront it, moderating /strengthening the drawbacks when additional support should be guaranteed and restructuring decision must be made. Performance in-distress Regardless of the initial state restrictions, the adopted strategies and the behavior of companies during a financial crisis are crucial for the exit process (Sun and Li, 2007). An inappropriate diagnosis of the firms weaknesses in order to act and react quickly may lead to a fast deterioration of the financial indicators (Barker and Duhaime, 1997). Beaver (1966) already stated that if a difficult situation was properly detected, measures that lead to an improved position could be taken, avoiding so a state of ultimate failure. A series of strategies and action plans should be implemented aiming to reduce the detected weaknesses of the company (Smith and Graves, 2005; Krueger and Willard, 1991, Robbins and Pearce, 1992; Pearce and Robbins, 1993; Arogyaswamy et al., 1995; Castrogiovanni and Bruton, 2000, Pearce and Doh, 2002 and Pretorius, 2008). The operating performance during the recovery process drives a successful evolutionary route towards a new healthy scenario (Kahl, 2001; Routledge and Gadenne, 2000). Improving efficiency through some actions like cost cutting and/or asset reduction is crucial in this sense, having a positive impact on firms performance despite the underlying weaknesses (Robbins and Pearce, 1992; Pearce and Robbins, 1993; Harker and Harker, 1998). Firms facing a distress situation and carrying out a retrenchment strategy are more likely to survive, even though the performance was statistically not greater than that of not retrenched firms (Castrogiovanni and Bruton, 2000). In this sense, Sudarsanam and Lai (2001) showed that the strategies applied by firms successfully recovering were not that different from the strategies applied by firms that did not recover. So, the implementation efficacy was the cause of these differences, even though more intensive restructuration was done by firms that could n ot redirect their situation. The effectiveness of efficiency oriented strategies is supported by the results showing that firms resolving a situation of financial distress are statistically more profitable than those who did not settle (Campbell, 1996; Routledge and Gadenne, 2000; Pearce and Doh, 2002). These authors found that operating efficiency was the only variable used in distinguishing successful turnarounds from unsuccessful ones that significantly persisted during the recovery process. Kahl (2001) also stated that, in-distress, operating performance has a strong positive relation with the survival prospect. In particular, the author shows that an improvement in the standard deviation of ROA during a crisis period can increase the survival probability up to 0.62. In the same line, Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj (2011) found evidence that the companies positioned in a safety zone, starting from a situation of failure status, are characterized by a strong managerial action measured by ROA ratio, generating fu rthermore higher operating cash flow. However, other authors such as Barniv et al. (2002) or Laitinen (1993) found that the ROA coefficients were statistically not significant in predicting the outcome of a crisis situation. The post-distress status The main objective of a firm facing a distress situation is to heal the crisis state. Some researches, oriented to modeling the variables that influence a recovery process, identify the final stage of this process when a firm objectively exits a failure situation emerging as an independent firm, leaving Chapter 11 classification or keeping a defined period of positive income (Smith and Graves, 2006; Barniv et al., 2002; Altman and Hotchkiss, 2006; Kahl, 2001). However, the accomplishment of this objective should have one necessary quality condition. The new post-failure position should be achieved in suitable conditions that would permit an appropriate and continuous growth and performance rate. A financial distress process could place a firm in a weak position, even if it had managed to solve its difficulties, inciting a poor performance that inevitably makes it enter again in an emergency situation (Kahl, 2002). If a firm does not emerge profitably in the restructuring phase, in order to achieve a long term success, the probability of a successful exit process is very low (Burbank, 2005). In this sense, Hotchkiss (1995) showed that up to one third of the firms that relieve their conditions by means of debt restructuring tend to go into a financial distress situation few years afterwards. With regard to post-distress position, Robbins and Pearce (1992) affirm that industry indicator variations should be considered in order to better identify the good performers or the exceptional good performers during turnaround. Despite of the assessment of Altman and Hotchkiss (2006) stating that the firms overcoming a Chapter 11 situation perform below firms of the same industry that di d not pass through that same situation, Kahl (2001) found that the post-distress operating performance of firms getting through a crisis situation is similar to the industry performance. The model of recovery When a firm is facing a distress situation and considering all the above analyzed dimensions, severity and reaction capability should be understood as initial conditions that will impose restrictions in selecting the strategies which will drive the performance during recovery, thus, determining the final resolution of long term financial distress process as shown in Figure 1. (Figure 1 here) The left side of the diagram gathers the initial determining factors to initiate the recovery process, outlining the firms ability to improve its future and overcome the difficult situation. Severity Status offers valuable information about the initial degree of gravity of a firms situation. This degree will condition the actions to be taken in a deteriorated situation and the possible outcome as well. Reaction Capability measures the firms capacity to apply such actions through: i) the possibility to obtain further resources without worsening its position, ii) the capacity of debt negotiation or iii) the ability to generate additional incomes which may facilitate the application of strategy changes. The right side of the above Figure 1 defines the final subsequent status of firms, once specific actions have been taken. Post-distress Status shows the effectiveness of the management effort in a crisis situation, not only because the firm solves the initial state, but also since the new position is reached evidencing a well performance to set a suitable continuity in the new balanced situation. Accordingly, Post-distress status assesses the quality of firms welfare accounting for the risk to re-entry into distress discriminating well performers and best performers in a crisis management process. In a distress context, a well-performer just achieves the objective (i.e. exiting the crisis situation) while best-performers are located in a new healthy scenario minimizing the likelihood to reenter in distress. Hence, considering the above model, the following hypotheses will be tested: H1: Severity degree of financially distressed firms is likely associated with the post distress status. H2: Reaction Capability of distressed firms is positively related to a fit final position after recovery process. H3: Performance in-distress is positively related with the welfare of the post distress status. H4: Retrenchment strategies have a positive influence on the outcome of a distressed situation. H5: Size of financially distressed companies is associated with the final position after recovery process. Methodology, sample and variables To test the hypothesis we use the financial data of US firms derived from the Compustat Database in an eight year period: 1993-2000 which is considered to be economically appropriate for the analysis. Smith and Graves (2005) affirm that in an economic expansion context distressed firms could easily perform a successful turnaround. Particularly, the US economy experienced an economic expansion during the analyzed period. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (2001), a peak in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in March 2001. A peak marks the end of an expansion and the beginning of a recession  [1]  . So, the year 2001 was marked by events like the Dot-Com Bubble, Stock Market Crash, the loss of investors confidence in the Stock Market or the emergence of corporate fraud and corporate governance. The September 11, 2001 attacks also, may have been an important factor in turning this decline in the economy into a recession. The financial data for the year s after 2000 would be, to a greater or lesser extent, influenced by all these external factors. From a total of 1721 companies that offer complete data in their financial statements during all years, only the ones that presented a crisis situation in the first year of analysis, 1993, were selected. We consider a crisis status as a variety of enterprise adversity situations that threaten the future viability of the company (Turetsky and Mcwewn, 2001; Graveline and Kikalari, 2008), which show some incapacity to generate resources and/or to fulfill the payment of debts in time. This incapacity can be transitory and of a major or minor gravity and it can be observed through a series of symptoms alerting that the health and the future of the company are at risk. Considering this general approach and following Gonzà ¡lez-Bravo and Mecaj (2011), we classify a firm as financially distressed if, in the first year of our analysis, it presented one or more of the following criteria: Negative Net Income, Negative Operating Income, Negative Retained Earnings, Negative Working Capital, Negative Cash Flow, Negative Operating Cash Flow and Negative Shareholders Equity. In agreement with Gilbert, Menon and Schwartz (1990), to prevent the selection of firms that only had a poor performance in t he starting year firms presenting merely a Negative Net Income for the year 1993 were not selected. This criterion made possible that poor performers were selected only when they also showed a continued instable situation such as losses in previous years or solvency problems. As a result, our study is performed on a total of 526 companies that satisfied all the previous conditions. Table 1 shows the principal features of the analyzed sample. (Table 1 here) The number of observed symptoms permits an objective a priori classification based on the gravity of the starting situation. A firm would experience a weak crisis if it presents three or less criteria and, on the contrary, a strong crisis if it shows 4 or more. Following this further, in the first year of the analysis 77.38% of the firms encounter a weak crisis while 22.62% are facing a situation of strong crisis. Variables Severity Status, Reaction Capability and Fitness Status, as representative indicators of post-distress position, in the above proposed model (Figure 1) are built by gathering information given by some individual variable-indicators according to the features evaluated. The complete picture integrating the model and variables is showed in Figure 2. (Figure 2 here) Severity status (SEV_STAT) should be understood as an index assessing the degree of severity distress by seven financial ratios. These ratios correspond to the 7 symptom-indicators used to classify a firm as being in financial distress previously described, all divided by Total Assets in order to eliminate the size effect. Ratios such as: Net Income/Total Assets, EBIT/Total Assets and Retained Earnings/Total assets, representatives of the economic performance, are also commonly used to determine the existence of a decline phase in turnaround and recovery research (Pearce and Robins, 1993; Arogyaswamy et al., 1995; Smith and Graves, 2005). Negative Operating Cash Flow is also an indicator of liquidity deterioration and of financial distress probability (Anandarajan et al. 2001; Bell and Tabor, 1991; John, 1993). These seven indicators should be considered in a negative direction with respect to financial distress. That is, the lower value of the indicators, the worse the starting situ ation of the firm. In the same way, the more the number of negative indicators in a firm, the higher the crisis severity degree will be. Reaction capability is evaluated through three indicators: Sales/Total Assets (TURNOV), Shareholders Equity/Total Liabilities (FIN_AUT) and Current Assets/Current Liabilities (SOLV). The first one reflects the capacity of the company to enhance profitability while the other two indicators are linked to the financial structure of a firm and enable us to value its self-sufficiency and solvency. Together, these three variables measure the capacity of a firm to obtain external and additional funds or to reorganize its debts, the short term response capacity and the ability to generate resources. Fitness status (FIT_STAT) is defined as an index measuring the final health position on an objective and on a quality base as well, by means of 4 variables. Final Position is a categorical variable which indicates the existence or not of a crisis situation, when the firm still presents any symptom of distress. This variable takes value 0 if the firm exits successfully and doesnt present distress signals or value 1 otherwise. Additionally, to measure the health quality of this position, we follow the approach of Jostarndt (2006) when he identifies three factors that could cause financial distress: excessive leverage, a poor firm-specific operating performance and an industry downturn. These factors could be interpreted as indicators of the incapacity of a firm to generate cash flow which may influence a continuous economic and financial deterioration. The variables are defined as follows: (For further details on all variables calculation refer to Appendix B): Debt payment level: it permits the evaluation of the effects that a higher debt level of a firm has on cash flow generation, with respect to the industry where it operates. It indicates the level of interest payment the firm is paying compared to the median of the sector. If the level is above the median, the firm is paying more than other firms, so it should reduce it. Firm Performance: It measures the effects that a poor performance, lower than the median of the industry, has on cash flow generation. It measures the operating income of a firm compared to the median of the sector. It indicates if the firm is performing above or below the median of the sector. Sector performance: it allows analyzing to what extent the trend of the performance of the sector where the firm operates influences its capacity to generate cash flow if it behaved as the industry average. This item measures the improvement or the deterioration of a sectors performance, compared to its performance the year before. These three variables measure the risk of distress which could be the consequence of leverage problems or economic issues, including the downturn of the industry. The former three defined ratio-indicators should be understood in a negative sense, thus, the higher the three ratios are, the worse the quality position of the firm and the greater the probability of financial distress. Therefore, Fitness Status variable measures the position of a firm t years after the financial distress has been detected, allowing to evaluate the performance in managing a difficult situation. Severity Status and Fitness Status indexes could be interpreted as two composite indicators gathering the information of 7 and 3 individual ratios, respectively. To overcome some of the drawbacks of aggregated indexes, such as the degree of subjectivity in attribution of weights to each individual component (Munda, 2005; Messer et al., 2006; Munda and Nardo, 2009; Ramzan et al., 2008), we decided to use Data Envelopment analysis to summarize the complex information in just one index (Nardo et al., 2005a; Cherchye et al. 2008; Dyckhoff and Allen, 2001). DEA is a non-parametric performance measurement technique, based on a productivity approach, widely used to evaluate the relative efficiency of Decision Making Units (Cooper et al., 1999; Seiford, 1997; Gattoufi et al. 2004; Sherman and Zhu, 2006). However, this methodology has also been used to create indexes combining different components by means of an optimization process, when the structure of weights of these components is not kn own, and without making any assumption concerning the internal operations of a DMU (Cherchye et al., 2006; Zhu, 2000 and 2001; Puig-Junoy, 1998; Sexton and Lewis, 2003). Thus, both Severity Status and Fitness Status scores are obtained applying a DEA model without explicit inputs, called DEA-WEI models by Liu et al. (2011). This formulation, discussed by Lovell and Pastor (1999), considering a model with only outputs and a single constant input, has been used by Chen (2002) and Cooper et al. (2009), and it is similar to other approaches as DEA-R (Despic et al., 2007) or DEA-Index composite (Cherchye et al. 2008). Fitness Status use as DEA variables a series of indicators that measure negative features of a firm and they are also linked to the possibility of presenting a marked financial distress situation. This consideration is in agreement with the called pessimistic DEA approach, where the efficiency frontier contains, using Azizi and Ajirlu (2011) terminology, the worst-practisers as efficient in being poor-performers. In this way, DMUs scoring unity or close to unity levels will be the ones with higher degree of severity in their financial distressed situation. Furthermore, Fitness Score DEA manages a categorical variable Final Status indicating the existence or not of distress symptoms. In this sense we follow the approach of Banker and Morey (1986) concerning the treatment of exogenously fixed data. To measure the strategies and the behavior of firms during distress, profitability and downsizing actions have been included in the analysis. With regard to profitability, we use ROA in the last year of the analysis (ROA) and the average of its variations in the previous years (ROA_AVG) to measure the impact of efficiency oriented strategies to the final post-distress position. Concerning downsizing actions, variations in total assets during previous year are included to measure the impact of retrenchment strategies (RET_STG) Finally, to control the size effect (SIZE), natural logarithm of sales [ln(sales)] is included in the analysis in order to assess the influence of size on the possibility to return on a healthy scenario. Methodology The DEA score Fitness Status will be treated as a dependent variable in order to analyze to what extent post-failure position could be explained by issues such as severity, reaction capability or certain strategies implemented by the firms. Many different approaches can be found in the literature when a DEA score is used as a dependent variable of a regression to relate efficiency to the factors and study their influence on the former. The consideration of the DEA score as a censored variable (showing values between zero and unity) has been the argument for using regression censored models such as Tobit. On the other hand, Mancebà ³n and Molinero (2000) do not share this opinion and affirm that efficiency takes natural limits of zero and one and they estimate a model of the log type to explain inefficiency. In the same line, Puig-Junoy (1998) considers that DEA scores do not fit the theory of sampling censoring for Tobit models explaining inefficiency by a multiplicativ