Health Care a Right or a Privilege free essay sample

Yet, in the United States it is considered more like a privilege for people who cannot afford to pay a health insurance due to its’ high costs. So, should all citizens have the right to health insurance? Or is it best to keep it as it is for the sake of our economy. Either a right or a privilege, both options will have consequences that may put the US in a serious situation in the long run. The big picture show that equality for all US citizens will never be reached in regards to this problem. Healthcare in the United States has been a debatable issue and will always be until a fair solution for all economic classes is found. According to Mary S. Koithan (1992) who is the president of the Nevada Nurses Association, â€Å"today more than 60 million people, or about 22 percent of the entire U. S. population, are either uninsured or underinsured, this fact alone cries out for health care reform† (para. We will write a custom essay sample on Health Care a Right or a Privilege or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 1). Looking at these numbers makes you think about how serious this issue really is. Yet, in other countries like Australia, Canada, and United Kingdom healthcare is provided to its’ citizens for free. However, funds to cover the highly costs of healthcare have to come out of somewhere; and all the citizens of that country must pay for it. The United States does not provide healthcare for free, thus making it seem as it is not a right for us but a privilege. Considering the government assistance provided for free in the United States to low income people is being abused; if healthcare is provided as well for free then it most likely will also be abused. According to Rachel Sheffield (2010), 1 out of 6 US citizens receive some form of government assistance; fifty million US citizens are on Medicaid, forty million citizens receive Food Stamps, 4. 4 million receive direct cash assistance, and 10 million receive unemployment benefits. If healthcare is provided for all citizens in general regardless of their economic status the money must come out of somewhere. The only way this right will be granted for all citizens in general is by increasing our taxes in order to fulfill the healthcare costs for all citizens.

Beautyism and Friends

Beautyism and Friends Beautyism and Friends Beautyism and Friends By Maeve Maddox It’s not in my two main dictionaries yet, but beautyism has found a place in the catalogue of English words ending in -ism: Beautyism in the Workplace: Disguised Discrimination Jawahar and Mattsson (2005) investigated sexism and beautyism effects in employment processes using experimental research. The suffix -ism has been a prolific source of English nouns since the Middle Ages, but this newest use, to form words that denote perceived superiority or discrimination, is fairly recent and has produced the following nouns: ageism: Prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a persons age; age discrimination, especially against the elderly. racism: prejudice and antagonism towards people of other races, especially those felt to be a threat to ones cultural or racial integrity or economic well-being. sexism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex. beautyism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination on the basis of physical attractiveness or lack of it. On the Ngram chart, the word racism begins a dramatic rise in the 1930s. Sexism and ageism begin their rise at the end of the 1960s. Beautyism barely shows in comparison with the others, but is on the graph beginning in 1971. The OED added these additional definitions for the use of the suffix -ism in 2004: a. Forming nouns with the sense ‘belief in the superiority of one [something] over another’; as racism, sexism, speciesism, etc. b. Forming nouns with the sense ‘discrimination or prejudice against on the basis of [something]; as ageism, bodyism, heightism, faceism, lookism, sizeism, weightism, etc. Some other uses of -ism To form nouns that name the process or completed action of a verb in -ize: baptize/baptism criticize/criticism, exorcize/exorcism plagiarize/plagiarism ostracize/ostracism To form nouns that name the action or conduct of a class of persons: hero/heroism patriot/patriotism despot/despotism To form the name of a system of theory or practice, sometimes on the name of the subject or object, and sometimes on the name of its founder: Arianism Buddhism Conservatism Puritanism Platonism Feminism To form a noun denoting a peculiarity or characteristic, especially of language: Americanism Gallicism archaism colloquialism solecism sophism witticism Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light10 Types of TransitionsQuiet or Quite?

Problem of evil Essay Example

Problem of evil Essay Example Problem of evil Paper Problem of evil Paper A) Objections Arising from Evil in the World, explain what is meant by this claim The word evil is a word which can be used very loosely, usually used to describe something we think to be morally wrong, something that when in inflicted on a person causes pain and suffering. However, if an evil act is committed by someone who has been in all other aspects good, does this act make this person evil? There are many different situations where evil acts could be done all with different circumstances and consequences. For example; at Auschwitz, so many guards were involved in the slaughter of massive amounts of Jews but it seems unlikely that all of them were evil. The actions may be considered evil but they were normalised by the sense of responsibility felt by the guards. In their eyes, they were carrying out a duty so the question of whether they are to be labelled evil is indefinite. There are two recognised categories which evil can fall under: Moral evil and Natural evil. Richard Swimburne, a modern day philosopher describes moral evil as including all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do, and also the evil constituted by such deliberate acts or negligent failure. It is the result of a human action which is morally wrong, such as murder or war. Natural evil is the result of apparent malfunctioning in the natural world, it is according to John Hick the evil that originates independently of human actions. It is in disease, in bacilli, in earthquakes, in storms, and in droughts. The fact that evil, or suffering is an undeniable factor in our lives presents an array of problems in todays world where there is a strong belief by many of a higher power which should in theory, be able to eradicate it from the world or in fact never have let it come to exist in the first place. For believers in the God of Classical Theism, this problem of evil as it is often referred to, creates a serious dilemma. Moral evil is an easier problem to tackle for a theist than that of Natural evil, as it can be said that it occurs from the misuse of freewill, but they are still faced with justifying the existence of Natural evil. If God created the world from nothing, then there is nothing beyond His control so for whatever reason, God must be the creator of evil and suffering. A theist can sometimes be faced with justifying both types of evil as natural evils like tsunamis and hurricanes are often the cause of people committing moral evils like looting. The problem is not easily justifiable and is illustrated in The Inconsistent Triad, which states the points: God is omnipotent and omniscient (A), God is all-loving (B), and evil exists (C). These three statements cannot all be true so it would seem that one of them is false, but since we know evil and suffering exist the inconsistency must lie in one of the other 2 points. The conclusions drawn from this are that either God is not omnipotent and cannot stop evil from existing, or that God is not all-loving and chooses not to stop evil existing, or that in fact God does not exist. This can be used as an argument for the non-existence of God. A quote from Swimburne on the Problem of Evil, There is a problem about why God allows evil, and if the theist doesnt have (in a cool moment) a satisfactory answer to it, then his belief in God is less than rational and there is no reason why the atheist should share it. An example of the problem being used in this way is in Humes combat of Thomas Aquinas Design Argument (Summa Thelogica) where he labels the Problem of Evil as The Rock of Atheism. However, whilst being a problem for theists in that it challenges the nature of God, it also poses problems in other ways. It presents itself as a philosophical problem as it compels the believer to accept conflicting claims that are logically impossible to reconcile. It is also a diverse problem; evil manifests itself in many different ways, demanding separate explanations. The problem of evil has proved itself to be a challenging problem, as it is not just going to disappear, evil and suffering are objective realities which are almost impossible to deny. B) Unpack two theodicies and analyse which how successful these are As I said, the justification of Gods allowance for the existence of evil is not easy, but there are many theodicies which have developed that provide strong arguments. A theodicy is a theory that justifies why God allows evil without qualifying the attributes of the God of Classical Theism. Two of which are those of Augustine and Irenaeus. Augustines theodicy has had considerable influence over many scholars since it was developed and attempts to provide justification for both moral and natural evil. According to Augustine, the perfect God created a flawless world where evil and suffering did not exist, and that God is not responsible for the existence of evil as it is not a substance, but in fact a deprivation of good. He uses an analogy of blindness to illustrate his meaning, as blindness itself is not an entity but an absence of sight. Augustine claims that evil comes from angels and humans who have deliberately turned against God and abused his gift of freewill. He states that evil is necessary in a created world as only the uncreated creator can be perfect, his creations are susceptible to change. Augustines idea on the existence of Natural evil is that it exists as a punishment for the Original Sin, which we are all guilty of as we were all seminally present in Adam at the time it was committed. Natural evil punishes us for the destruction of the natural order by human action. For these reasons God is right not to intervene and the fact that he does save some through Christ emphasises His mercy. God would be justified in sending everyone to hell for being guilty of the Original Sin, the fact that some go to heaven shows Gods goodness. Augustines theodicy has some substantial strengths, as is proved by its popularity. Brian Davies is an example of a scholar who supports his claim that evil is only a deprivation of good rather than having a proper existence, he said it is a gap between what there is and what there ought to be. To criticise would be to say that God should have created more than he did which doesnt make sense; how is anyone to know how much more should have been created. Augustines views on evil being a product of freewill have also been upheld. Despite its strengths, Augustines theodicy has many holes in it to be addressed, it contains logical, scientific, and moral difficulties. Augustines concept of Hell comes under scrutiny; Hell is part of Gods design of the universe, so it was created before the worlds flaws began to appear, which means that God must have anticipated and accepted that the world would go wrong. F.D.E Schleiermacher expresses his logical contradiction to Augustines views on the origin of evil and a perfect world going wrong, Schleiermacher informs us that whether evil is a deprivation or not it is still real and it is therefore logically impossible for it to just come out of nothing. This means that evil must be connected to God and he either never created the world perfect or he made it so it was able to falter. Another logical difficulty of this theodicy comes of the capacity to do evil in a perfect world and disobey God, as in a perfect world no knowledge of good and evil should exist. The knowledge of them could only come from God. Scientific difficulties stem from the modern worlds concept of evolution; the idea of a perfect world being damaged by humans does not allow for evolution. Moreover, Augustine refers to the Garden of Eden in his theodicy, and this paradise is hard to accept on the basis of evolution. A final difficulty lies with the concept of us all being seminally present in Adams loins, this is biologically impossible so we cannot all be responsible for the Original Sin. From comparing the strengths with the criticisms we can see that Augustines theodicy ultimately fails. The theodicy of Irenaeus is another which provides a formidable answer to the question of why God allows evils existence. As said by Irenaeus, Gods aim when creating the world was to make humans in his likeness, but to do this, humans could not be made perfect but had to develop through free will. It was therefore necessary for God to give us free will and therefore necessary to give us the potential to turn against him. If he didnt enable this, we could never attain Gods likeness as according to Ireneaus it requires willing co-operation. The natural order had to be designed in a way where humans could cause harm, which they did resulting in suffering, but God still cannot compromise our freedom by removing evil. Ireneaus claims that the evil and suffering will eventually be overcome and everyone will attain Gods likeness and reside in Heaven. This justifies temporary evil, which if complying with Ireneaus thought enables the understanding of good. Many philosophers have added to Ireneaus theodicy including John Hick (who claims that good developed from free will is better than ready-made goodness), and Peter Vardy who used an analogy of a king to illustrate this where a king falls in love with a peasant girl but rather than imposing his power on her and forcing him to marry her, he wins her over. They both believe that without development our goodness would be without value, we would be automatons. According to this theodicy, humans had to be created imperfect to be able to go against God, and they had to be created at a distance from God so they could decide for themselves to believe in him. If we were sure he was there, there would be no free will, John Hick called this the epistemic distance. If God wasnt separated from humans we would know he was real and would live a good, moral life because we would know that it is in our best interests, it wouldnt be real goodness. Humans also couldnt be created in a paradise or else qualities such as courage would not be attainable and there would be no development as good and evil would be indistinguishable. The theodicy justifies natural evil as it makes the world well adapted to soul making (John Hick). The Modern Additions to this theodicy claim that heaven is the eventual goal for everyone for three reasons; a future in heaven is the only justification for the suffering of the world. Secondly, if life were to end in death Gods purpose would be unfulfilled since we would not be reaching our goal of becoming Gods likeness. Lastly, nobody can be overlooked as evil acts are carried out in different circumstances for different people. For example, someone who was abused while being raised is much more likely to be abusive as an adult, it is something they are used to and have become desensitised to. There are solid criticisms of Irenaeus theodicy as well as Augustines: For example, everyone going to heaven defies religious texts as well as making it pointless to live a moral life, why bother if you are going to heaven anyway? It also takes away the incentive to develop into Gods likeness which Irenaeus regarded of utmost importance. Another critique is of the level of suffering needed to make the world adapted for soul making, e.g. Was the Holocaust really necessary? Finally, it can be said that love can never be expressed through suffering, supported by D.Z Philips who said it is not justifiable to hurt someone to help them. To conclude, neither of these theodicies can be considered perfect by any means, but Ireneaus is the stronger of the two. Where Augustine fails to provide room for belief in evolution, Ireneaus manages it and while Augustine cannot provide a logical explanation for the origin of evil, Irenaeus provides a stable reason for it. It is also popular, like Augustines for its views on free will.

Making Six-Figures as an Indie Author

Making Six-Figures as an Indie Author It may seem like a pipe dream, but indie authors can make serious cash. I know quite a few who bring in six-figures, and After much research and observation, I’ve come up with seven key things needed to bring in the big bucks. 1.  Ã‚     Treat writing like a job. If you want the money, you have to put in the time. All of the authors I know making six-figures have many books in their backlist. Most have thirty books or more. To get there, you need to be writing every day. Make a daily word count goal and make yourself accountable to it. It might seem impossible to publish as much as they have, but don’t cut yourself short. Writing is a skill. The more you do it, the faster and better you’ll get at it. 2.  Ã‚     Stay positive. It’s going to take a lot of motivation to publish thirty books. Just remember, with every book you publish, you’re adding to your monthly paycheck. Don’t expect to get rich on one book. Take a more measured strategy and go for the long tail. There are many authors getting large checks each month who haven’t hit the NYT’s bestseller list with a book. Keep a steady goal in mind and push yourself to get there. 3.  Ã‚     Research the market. It won’t do you any good to publish thirty books if no one is buying them. Go to Amazon and look at the indie books making bank in your genre. What do they have in common? Buy at least ten and read them. List similarities and tropes that are pulling the readers in. Find common themes. Then find a way to weave similar things into your own books, in your own world. This is called writing to market. Don’t treat it like it’s a dirty thing. It’s another tool in your writing toolbox. Buy books on how to write to market as an indie author and use that tool. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever write a book just for the love of writing. You can do both. 4.  Ã‚     Hone your craft. Don’t ever think you’re done learning how to write. Go to conferences and take classes and workshops. Work with a critique group. Read all the top books on writing in your genre. Even if you’ve read it all, keep going. You might just find something new click into place. 5.  Ã‚     Make yourself look professional. Hire a cover designer and an editor. The last thing you want to do is put your book in a poorly designed package. If you’re not a graphic designer, hire one. Pay an editor. Don’t skimp out on these things or your pocketbook will suffer. 6.  Ã‚     Hang out with other successful authors. No need to re-invent the wheel. Surround yourself with indie authors who have all these things figured out and listen to them. Join an author Facebook group and read the posts. Authors are a sharing bunch. They’ll tell you what ads are working and what to avoid. They talk about what books to read or what YouTube videos to watch. If you’re not doing this, you’re going to get left in the dust. (I recommend 20Booksto50K.) 7.  Ã‚     Don’t be afraid to give your work away. I admit I owe much of my success to giving out ARC’s and making my books free on Amazon. It’s a marketing strategy. Watch the lucrative authors and see how they do it successfully. There’s no guarantee your books will sell well. However, looking at what high-dollar indie authors do and following in their footsteps will give you a better chance to succeed. It’s not an impossible dream. Set those goals and go write.

Everyman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Everyman - Essay Example cularly reflected at the beginning of the text when God laments that the attention of human beings has been turned away from what they should pay attention to. â€Å"I perceive, here in my majesty/How that all creatures be to me unkind/Living without dread in worldly prosperity./Drowned in sin, they know me not for their God† (Donaldson 2121)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is an irony that the material wealth, which God said has come between him and his creatures, is not able to buy salvation for Everyman. Material wealth is also unable to win his friends over to his side even to the point of death. Of course, he must have affected the lives of fellowship, kindred, cousin, material goods and knowledge who all neglect him when he needs them the most. In spite of the fact that â€Å"money maketh all right that is wrong† (Donaldson 2131), Material Goods is unable to buy everyman salvation. Only good deed stays with him. Hence, the impression one gets is that the best money can do for any individual is to enable them make friends that will not stay during their time of trials and tribulations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, it is not the case that material wealth is depicted in no good light in the text because the reader, through the character of Everyman, is made to realize that Knowledge about what to do and what not to do will help one from making the kind of mistake that almost leads to the doom of the eponymous character. When one gets knowledge, others like discretion, strength, his five wits, and beauty will come.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   At the end of the entire play, despite the fact that Everyman could have been followed by others, only Good Deeds follow him into the heavenly expanse. The bottom-line that is presented in the Morality Play, â€Å"Everyman†, is that all things might desert one (even wealth), only good deed will remain. Therefore, humans are encouraged not to give premium to material wealth over and above good deeds. This is despite the fact that

Introduction to Brand Management (Cadbury Dairy Milk) Coursework

Introduction to Brand Management (Cadbury Dairy Milk) - Coursework Example Being unique is the ultimate goal of branding. Cadbury Dairy Milk offers a wide range of products in different countries all over the world. These products range from chocolate bars of different flavors to additives that can be used in beverages. This ensures the company to cater to a wider base of consumers who have different tastes. For a brand to be competitive and successful a company should customize its products according to the needs of its consumers and make it appealing to them (Ahonen 2008). Cadbury has used brighter colors on its chocolate bars and beverage additives so at to assist consumers to spot their favorite bars on the shelf and make their products attractive to capture more consumers. To stand out as the leading organization in the confectionery industry, Cadbury maintain uniformity and consistency. Uniformity ensures that its products all over the world have the same taste and quality. Consistency is to ensure that ingredients of the products do not vary a lot, for instance, a situation where similar products tend to differ in the sugar levels, color, among others. Having a flawless brand enables consumers to have a good perception of the products, and they will tend to purchase them whenever they are out for shopping. Cadbury Dairy Milk has risen to greater heights through its quality branding, and this has made their consumers develop trust towards the company’s products, ensuring repeated purchases of their products by their consumers. In addition, individuals who have never used their products can also buy their products due to the trust they have developed from its quality branding as they are sure even their products will satisfy them (Laforet & Saunders 2005). Brand Awareness is the magnitude to which a service or product is known by prospective consumers and is appropriately related to a specific product. It is associated with the functions of brand identities in the

Principles of International Insurance Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Principles of International Insurance Law - Essay Example Did it operate as an inducement to the insurer to enter into the policy In order to be entitled to avoid a contract of insurance or reinsurance on the ground of non-disclosure the insurer must show both that the fact not disclosed was material, and that its non-disclosure induced the contract. To be material a fact did not have to have a decisive influence on the mind of the prudent underwriter. The test is as stated in subsections 18(2) and 20(2) which relate to non-disclosure and misrepresentation respectively and which set out the common law principles relevant to non-marine (as well as marine) insurance. The material non-disclosure or misrepresentation must induce the contract. It is not sufficient that the non-disclosure or misrepresentation is material. ". . . there is to be implied in the Act of 1906 a qualification that a material representation will not entitle the underwriter to avoid the policy unless the misrepresentation induced the making of the contract, using "induced " in the sense in which it is used in the general law of contract" and "in practice the line between misrepresentation and non-disclosure is often imperceptible." The claimants insured their yacht with the defendants for a value as certified by an independent valuer. The defendants claimed he had misrepresented the value in the proposal. The words 'sum insured' indicated a ceiling on a claim on an unvalued policy. There was no indication from the insurers on the proposal form that they would agree the value, but rather they asked only for the value to be insured. The policy was therefore an unvalued policy. HIH Casualty and General Insurance Ltd and Others -v- Chase Manhattan Bank and Others [2001] 1 Lloyd's Rep 30 19 Sep 2000 QBD Aikens J Insurance, Media Casemap 1 Citers As a contract for speculation, a duty of utmost good faith is not implied in a contract insurance. The duty of disclosure by an insured can be limited by the contract as can the freedom of the insurance company to avoid liability. If the wording is clear enough, even a deliberate non-disclosure amounting concealment might be excused. Nevertheless the contract might be rescindable at the option of the insurer. Court: California Appellate Districts Topic: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Injury And Tort Law, Insurance Law Title: Wilson v. 21st Century Ins. Co. Date: 01/30/06 Case Number: B180323 Summary: Summary judgment for defendant-insurer in an action for breach of contract and tortious bad faith in adjusting plaintiff's underinsured motorist claim is reversed where triable issues of fact existed as to whether defendant failed to thoroughly investigate and evaluate plaintiff's claim, and plaintiff was entitled to additional discovery. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/viewcase.plcourt=0&subject=Insurance+Law&casenum=&party=&date1=&date3=&date2=&search=Search The insured purchased a house, converted it to two apartments and left Cape Breton to find work in British Columbia. The house remained vacant

Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 39

Case study - Essay Example It must be noted that at the present moment my career as well as family life are in harmony. On the one hand, I am able to pay sufficient amount of attention towards matter that contribute to my development as a professional. On the other hand, I feel that I always have to spend with my family and I can hardly recall any instances when I had to experience any difficulties because of work in terms of my work life balance. Nevertheless, if I think about the issue in question in the long run, I might point out that the mindset of corporate America does not really suit me when it comes to harmonizing work and family. I see that the government has taken a rather radical position with regard to maternity leave. I do acknowledge the fact that capitalism and free market by far constitute the fundamental beliefs of the American way of life; however, similar to many people, I am strongly convinced that the government is able to do better when it comes to caring after its citizens. If 160 other countries in the world were able to adopt a similar practice and did not collapse, then the United States might follow the suit as well (Shaw & Barry, 2015, 451). The question whether the United States should require companies to provide paid maternity leave is extremely controversial. On the one hand, this is exactly what people want it to. In spite of the fact that there are numerous generations of families who raised their children without paid maternity leave, the majority of the public feels that this might be a valuable contribution to their welfare. On the other hand, there is a considerable number of people who dislike socialism and would oppose to any elements of it being introduced into the capitalistic American society. That is why the government should not require companies to provide paid maternity leave as it would distort the economic environment within the country. In addition to that, if a company

Boots Plc and Sainsbury Plc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Boots Plc and Sainsbury Plc - Essay Example At the end of the report, the financial and non-financial factors that are critical to the future performance of both the companies are presented. Both the companies, Boots and Sainsbury are well-known names in retail industry. United Kingdom is the centre of the companies’ major business operations and although both the companies run their business outside the country also, but most of the companies’ sales are from the UK segment. The Boots Plc Group’s major activities include retailing of chemists’ merchandise, the provision of opticians’ and other healthcare services, the development, manufacture and marketing of healthcare and consumer products. The group’s major business segments include Boots The Chemists, Boots Opticians, Boots Healthcare International and Boots Retail International (Boots Plc Annual Reports, accessed 23/11/2005) Boots the Chemist operates over 1,400 stores, where in nearly every store there is a pharmacist to offer guidance and help on healthcare matters. J Sainsbury Plc is a leading UK food retailer with interests in financial services. It consists of Sainsbury's Supermarkets, Sainsbury's Local, Bells Stores, Jacksons Stores and JB Beaumont, Sainsbury's to You and Sainsbury's Bank. It employs 153,000 people A large Sainsbury's Supermarket offers around 30,000 products, 50% of these are Sainsbury's own brand including fresh produce. In addition to a wide rang e of quality food and grocery products, many stores offer delicatessen, meat and fish counters, pharmacies, coffee shops, restaurants and petrol stations (Company Overview, accessed 24/11/2005) The comparison and analysis of these two companies' financial performance and position has been broken down into sections so as to be useful for various users of the company's financial statements. It will be of assistance to the companies' management in assessing their performance over the recent year and making plans to overcome any future risks and failures. The companies' investors would find this comparison beneficial in order to decide on which company to choose for investment and which company offers better investment potential. The lenders would benefit from this report in terms of being aware of the companies' solvency and liquidity position. PART B: FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Analysis From Management's Viewpoint A company's management is concerned with the financial results of its performance over the year that shows the management's capability and efficiency to generate sales and profit for the business effectively. The following ratios would be helpful in analysing both the companies from the management's viewpoint: Return on Capital Employed Boots Plc Sainsbury Plc 18.83% 1.64% The Return on Capital Employed ratio shows how much a company earns on the investment made in the assets. Boots Plc's return on capital employed ratio reveals a much profitable snapshot of the company's performance whereas Sainsbury Plc's financial results exhibit a much weaker position of the company in utilising its assets towards profit generation as compared to Boots Plc. Gross Profit Ratio Boots Plc Sainsbury Plc 46.13% 4.12% The Gross Profit ratio analyses the company's profit margin before accounting for various operating costs. Therefore, it represents the profit margin after accounting for cost of sales. Here, Boots Plc's financial results show that company is getting more profit on its sales after accounting

The Federalist Papers, James Madison Essay Example for Free

The Federalist Papers, James Madison Essay In the Federalist Papers, James Madison and others outline their logic both in favor of and against ratification of the Constitution.   One of the largest parts of these arguments was the discussion of separation of powers and functions.   James Madison outlined one problem inherent in having a multi-branched government—namely the idea of encroachment. He viewed this as a problem with several sources and proposed several solutions.   The Constitution redresses the problem of encroachment in several ways.   He also feels that in the views of today, we must evaluate if Madison was correct in perceiving encroachment as a problem.    We must also evaluate if Madison’s source was correct.   Madison also felt that the new Constitution did not violate a basic political maxim of having the political departments separate and distinct. First of all, we must define what Madison means by â€Å"encroachment.†Ã‚   In Federalist 47, Madison uses the British government’s constitution as a basis for his definition.   At its core, encroachment is where each branch of government encroaches upon the powers and duties of the other branches of government. Under the British system, he says, â€Å"the executive magistrate forms an integral part of the legislative authority.   He alone has the perogative of making treaties with foreign sovereigns, which, when made, have, under certain limitations, the force of legislative acts (Madison, 1788).†Ã‚   Additionally, â€Å"all the members of the judiciary department are appointed by him, can be removed by him on the address of the two Houses of Parliament, and form, when he pleases to consult them, one of his constitutional councils (Madison, 1788).† Also in Federalist 47, Madison identifies the sources of encroachment.   To whit, the sources of encroachment are the very states themselves.   He gives several examples, but points out that in each case, there is an â€Å"eye to the danger of improperly blending the different departments (Madison, 1788).†Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Complete distinction of the various branches, while an ideal goal to aspire to, was nearly impossible to gain simply because the nature of governance made each branch dependent upon each other. Madison viewed this as a problem because he felt that â€Å"the nature of a free government will admit; or as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the whole fabric of the constitution in one dissoluble bond of unity and amity (Madison, 1788).†Ã‚   In other words, laws are made and executed by the same body, tyranny will almost certainly result.   Additionally, he felt that the governing bodies would misunderstand that pre-established limits and would not work within them, thus expanding their powers when making decisions and intentionally or not encroaching upon the different branches of government. Madison proposed several things that would help control encroachment.   One of the proposals was adopted at the Constitutional Convention.   That is, to have a lack of a hereditary monarch.   This would help usurp tyranny because placing limitations on the length and extent of the executive’s power and tenure would also control encroachment. Of all the departments, Madison was most fearful of the legislative.   Its far-reaching powers would lead most definitely to encroachment.   Additionally, he said that the assembly would seek to â€Å"indulge all their jealousy and exhaust all their precautions (Madison 1788).†Ã‚   In other words, the assembly would be more prone to encroachment because it had power over who would fill the positions in other departments—from cabinet positions to judgeships, the legislature encroaches on nearly every aspect of every department. The next solution Madison proposed was the appealing to the people through a convention.   This concept was brought forth in Federalist 49.   His idea was to call a convention whenever two of the three branches â€Å"shall concur in opinion, each by the voices of two-thirds of their whole number (Madison, 1788).† This convention would be a â€Å"convention †¦ necessary for altering the Constitution or correcting breaches of it (Madison, 1788).†   Madison thought this was the ultimate solution in correcting encroachments into each of the different departments.   He states quite forcefully in Federalist 50 that PERIODICAL appeals are the proper and adequate means of PREVENTING AND CORRECTING INFRACTIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION (Madison, 1788).† Finally, Madison proposed giving each department a constitutional means to resist encroachment.   This would definitely end the encroachment problem as Madison saw it, because each department would be armed to deal with any encroachments.   He saw the largest chance of encroachment to come from the legislative branch and to keep it from becoming too powerful, he proposed dividing the legislature into branches with a different election schedule and different functions, and therefore they are as little connected as possible (Madison, 1788). The Constitution redresses the idea of encroachment very easily.   It simply divides the three branches of government and assigns certain powers to each.   For example, the legislative branch does exactly that, legislates, but in order to completely do its job, it requires the executive branch to sign the bills into laws and provide a budget.   The other check on legislative power is the judicial branch.   The judicial branch makes sure that the legislative branch does not overstep its authority by passing laws detrimental to the American people. We must evaluate in our twenty first century vision if Madison did indeed get this problem right.   Is encroachment as big a problem as Madison thought, or is it simply a necessary evil?   Is encroachment as it exists, and its sources as Madison saw them, correct?   Do his solutions work in a twenty first century context or do they simply stonewall an already slow and arduous process?   These are the questions that we need to answer in order to apply Madison’s ideas to our modern governance. Encroachment as Madison saw it is a problem, but a necessary evil.   Because of our delicate democracy, we must have some level of encroachment among the departments.   The whole concept of checks and balances revolves around the idea that each department must necessarily encroach upon the power of another to keep it from moving outside its constitutional powers.   The sources as Madison saw them were indeed correct.   The traditions created by the writers of the state constitutions created the problem of encroachment.   Since the problem was so entrenched, divorcing encroachment in the states from encroachment in the federal government is nearly impossible. Tradition is a very hard thing to get rid of, and Madison was right to see it, but wrong to try to eliminate it from the federal mà ©lange.   Madison’s solutions are somewhat beneficial, as some are already in place, but others would be too difficult to implement and would stonewall an already slow and arduous process.   The limitation of the extent and duration keeps the executive from becoming too powerful.   The legislature already limits encroachment due to its expansive lawmaking abilities and duties. How did Madison not feel the new Constitution not violate that political maxim of not blending the three branches of government?   The answer is that they did not blend.   Each department is separate and distinct, with its own set of duties and responsibilities, yet each is dependent on the others so each does not gain too much power. Madison also feels that there are â€Å"means and personal motives (1788)† that will help maintain the separation of powers as defined in the Constitution.   By this, Madison means that the people that run the department should have constitutional means at their disposal in order to be able to resist the encroachments of the other branches.   He feels that human nature is such that people would make a grab for power, and such means should be in place â€Å"to control the abuses of government (Madison, 1788).†Ã‚   Constitutional restrictions would keep such grabs from happening, and control the machinations of people intent on tyranny. The Jeffersonian strict separation of powers would not work in a flexible and dynamic government.   It would be a recipe for tyranny.   By having strict separation of powers, there would be no checks on the powers of each branch, and each branch would be allowed to become almost as powerful as it wanted. The legislative branch could push through legislation of its choosing with no regards for the power of the presidency and the judicial.   The judicial could kill any legislation it did not like and pass law from the bench, and the presidency could overrun the other two branches.   This would set up a situation of tyranny that would never be able to be rectified.   However, Madison (1788) tells us that â€Å"in republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.†Ã‚   His solution was to divide the legislature into parts, thus emasculating it to keep it from overrunning the other two branches. Madison got the idea of encroachment right.   From his perspective, encroachment was a problem with easy solutions.   Even though it was entrenched in our society from colonial days, the establishment of the three branches of government along with assigned powers assured that there would be no encroachment of one branch onto another.   Some of his solutions were easy, while others were more difficult.   Madison would be proud of what has been accomplished and would be a welcomed visitor in our time.   He would be a sage advisor and would be able to give us insight into how our constitution was designed to work and would give us direction on where to go next.   We need to continue to look at his words for insight and input in order to make our Constitution a more living, breathing document. Works Cited Madison, James. Method of Guarding Against the Encroachments of Any One Department of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Government by Appealing to the People Through a Convention. The Federalist Papers   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   No. 49, 01 Feb 1788   6 Mar 2009 http://wwwfounding fathers.info/federalistpapers. Madison, James. The Particular Structure of the New Government and The Distribution of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Power Among Its Different Parts. The Federalist Papers No. 47, 01 Feb 1788   6 Mar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009 http://wwwfoundingfathers.info/federalistpapers. Madison, James. Periodical Appeals to the People Considered. The Federalist Papers No. 50, 05 Feb 1788   6 Mar   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2009 http://wwwfoundingfathers.info/federalistpapers. Madison, James. The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Balances Between the Different Departments. The Federalist Papers No. 51 08, Feb   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   1788   6 Mar 2009 http://wwwfoundingfathers.info/federalistpapers. Madison, James. These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Constitutional Control Over Each Other. The Federalist Papers No. 48, 05 Feb 1788   6   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mar 2009 http://wwwfoundingfathers.info/federalistpapers.

Sector Analysis of the Nigerian Clothing Market

Sector Analysis of the Nigerian Clothing Market INTRODUCTION This section of the report is divided into segments and Im going to look into the sector analysis of the Nigerian clothing market through online databases, company reports, magazines, journal and newsletters. Kotler Gartner (2002) claim that PEST analysis is a functional considered tool for understanding market growth or decline, industry position, potential and direction for operations. In this report PEST analysis of the macro environment will be carried out to explore the factors that influence company policies; and Porters five forces will be used to understand the competitive environment of the industry. PEST analysis illustrate the political issues of a country which has to do the rules and regulation governing; economic forces which encompass the bargaining power and consumer purchasing patterns, interest rates and taxes. Next is technology which comprises of product development, innovation and inventions in the industry, online advert and new distribution methods. Finally social forces consist of change in life style, religion, fashion and roles models. Macro-environment This consists of the companys business suppliers, market intermediaries, buyer markets, competitors and the public (Kotler 2004.p:107). The most general layers of these environments are industry or sector and organisation which are again referred to as macro-environment. Thus, this consists of broad environmental factors that impact to a greater or lesser extent on an organisation. It is important to build up an understanding of how changes in the macro environment are likely to impact on a sector. These symbolize the uncontrollable factors of a business and how these factors (PEST) affect the Nigerian clothing industry is discussed below. Political Force Political forces play a vital role in business and it can be refer to the total sum of political, consumer protection, environmental regulations, employment law, competitive regulations, political trends, legal and regulatory forces which are enforced by the courts and regulatory agencies and are capable of controlling a companys marketing decisions and strategies (Dibb S. et al 1997). In Nigeria precisely, there are three main forces that make up the political environment and they are: Executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. It is necessary and mandatory for an organisation to stick to political rules and regulation governing their day to day business activities of the country (Brassington F. 2006) Nigeria today has an extended list of prohibited items. According to Business day (2009), Nigerian has up to 80 banned items in its prohibition list while countries like Sierra Leone, Congo and Guinea have none. Furthermore, Senegal has 4, Ghana 19, Republic of Benin 10, Cameroon 13 and Gambia 1. In Nigerias import prohibition list items such as sugar, sweet, soap, fruit juice, textile fabrics, shoes, tooth paste, envelopes, mosquito nets and biscuits. This is in short supply apparently because of inadequate capacity accounted for by the harsh operating environment. In the case of textiles, the most strong of them all, Nigerian had over 120 textile factories in 1980 and this period was refer to as the era of textile boom in Nigerian. But recently the figure has dropped to 45 as a result of productive capacity of the sector which is so low to the point that about 90 percent of textiles/fabrics needs of the country are being fed through importation (Business day 2009). According to the (Mail and Guardian 2009), Anyanwu, founder of the Ogodo label, said the industry began stirring only when Olusegun Obasanjo banned importation of foreign clothes in the late 1990s. Anyanwu further stressed that, this forced designers to look inwards and discovered their capabilities, and that the company Ogodo, meaning Igbo for clothing of â€Å"good quality† was founded and premiered at Nigerias fashion week in 2006 (mail and guardian 2009). The Nigerian government has banned the importation of printed fabric/textile products from entering into the country in other to guard its own ailing industries in Nigeria (BBC 2002). In spite of the outlaw on importation of fabric or clothing by the Nigerian government ever since the new democratic dispensation, there is still an increase in the purchase of foreign products like clothing by Nigerian consumers. Furthermore the law was implemented to enable the local industries to thrive in the very competitive clothing market and to discard increasing demand of foreign goods in the Nigerian market (BBC 2002). The Nigerian market is proliferated with the importation of foreign labels which already have global recognition, Okechukwu (1999). Importation of clothing goods into Nigeria often poses threat to the local manufacturers whose products are relatively unidentified in the country. However, there is no efficient regulatory body that governs designers. In the West and Southern part of Africa, stakeholders in any specialized industry form regulatory bodies whose primary tasks include: providing resources for members, engaging in public guidance principle and governmental relations with the regulation of makers of clothes, and establishing suitable industry practices to stay competitive both locally and abroad. Although, banning the importation of textiles/fabrics was meant to provide leverage for Nigeria in its dealings with its trading partners. In fact, the 1977 ban, for example, was the result of what the government deemed a self-sufficient Clothing and Textile industry. The government, arguably, got it right. As of 1980, Nigeria was ranked the third largest textile industry in Africa after Egypt and South Africa (Uduak 2009). Enforcing increased of government regulation in the Nigeria economy today, the rising price of oil, communication advancements and travel options have all led towards a growing market for brand names products in Nigeria. Moreover clothes is a prime product since it was geared toward customers in third world country where the per capital income was extremely low. From the continent of Africa, there was a war in Abeokuta, involving the Yorubas in western Nigeria. This war was the result of them [Yoruba] rejecting to wear items brought from the British Colonists and their preference to locally made Nigerian clothes and Yoruba outfits with the reason that it represented their culture and custom (Jean 2004:p.256). Bayfield cited in Jean (2004) argues that their act visibly illustrated to colonial authorities those elite were not only setting themselves apart from colonial authorities and values but also showing commitment both political and cultural to being Yoruba. Precisely, in Yoruba community, the types and quality of clothes they wear are significant and a Yoruba wardrobe includes imported textiles, Such as velvet and locally woven (Jean 2004:p.256). Economic force It is important for every firm to know the economy of the country were they operate in other for the business to expand. The factor of Economic forces make up marketing environment and it consists of issues ranging from effects of the present day economic situation in a country which are caused by the forces of buying power, consumption, supply and demand, and spending patterns. The factors mentioned determine the success and growth of any organisations marketing strategies but which are uncontrollable by the organisation (Dibb S. et al 1997). The Nigerian economy has been experiencing growth for the past 10 years which has brought light to Nigerian (GMID 2005). The Nigerian consumers are becoming fashion conscious due to the new fashion trends and development in the society today. A majority of adult and middle-aged consumers have developed tastes which are comparable to those of their counterparts in developed countries, as a result of the advent of satellite communication and internet which has further made the diffusion of information and knowledge easy to reach out to the Nigerian population. This reason partly accounts for the elevated spending on clothing as indicated in a study that was carried out by (GMID 2005). Again, GMIDs study in 2005 about the Nigerian consumers spending pattern revealed that a greater proportion of their total income is spent on clothing, which is ranked third, (5.36%) after food and shelter with 56.42% and 8.89% respectively. Realistically, Nigerian [locally] made clothes are cheaper as opposed to the imported ones as the cost of labour is comparatively low and the materials used are internal. Also, considering the cost of importing foreign good, and its associated duties at the countrys ports undoubtedly makes foreign goods including clothing deer to that of the traditionally made ones. One important factor which could influence the consumption pattern of the Nigerian consumers in the clothing industry is the income levels. As a developing country, with a per capita of $2,300 (Siakhenn, 2008), coupled with the current global economic crises, which has crippled employment, and making more redundant, Nigerian consumers might be Sceptical about spending, especially on more fashionable cloths, but which will be affected the most, local or imported? The Nigeria financial system is based on crude oil, agriculture and trades due to the transformation of colonial rules in late 19th century. The necessitate to pay taxes to the colonial government forced Nigerian farmers to restore food-producing crops with cash-producing crops, the Nigerian government decided to reduce their prices in other to resolve profit. Although the Nigerian petroleum industry developed in 1960 and 1970 has brought a massive increased exporting agriculture products, infrastructure, earnings, social service and huge investment in industry. In respect of this situation many large investments often joint venture with private corporations. The Nigerian gross domestic product was improving in 2007 with $165 billion. In respectively the gross domestic product has a wide range, most times depending on the oil market at that period because it varies like in 1985 it was $81 billion, $33.2 billion in 1994, $40.5 billion in 1995 this was increasing yearly and the total GDP per capital was $1,118.20 which was among the lowest in the world. The less privileged experience hard slap due to the Nigeria economic problems and importation of goods were expensive (Stock 2009). Company in Nigeria today are expending due to the fact that Nigerian consumer now patronize locally made clothes, this clothes are relative cheap and affordable which have good values for money, In respect of this the Nigeria consumer barging power of consumer have increase over time. Furthermore, the interest rate has an effect on different magnitude on each of the monetary total. Examples if there are high interest rates in different country of origin it will affect the Nigeria economic and price rates of product will be expensive, due to the fact that these goods are imported into Nigeria. Social force Social force is very necessary in business and it encompasses factors like culture, customer demographics, attitudes and how opinions are being formed (Brassington F. 2006). Thus, this social force has help marketer to study consumer buying pattern, motivation and consumer behaviour. In Nigeria Clothing symbolizes religious affiliation, in spite of the Nigerian limited disposable income; consumers are able to spend most of their income on amusement, holiday and fashion which are the things that are significant to working class. At this phase of their lives, they have no responsibilities and little or no savings. Thus, they can consequently spend all the income they earn. The young adults group in Nigeria has a relatively low purchasing power because most of them are just starting-off on their own. As a result, they tend to spend their income on more tangible goods such as cars, apartments and clothes. Though they are mindful of fashion, they are more conscious spenders than the studying age consumers. The middle-aged adults have higher purchasing power as they are more established in their careers and have attained some level of financial success. This group consequently are able to afford more luxurious clothing items (GMID 2007). These classifications will be u seful for evaluating the discrepancies between the various age segments. Generally in African fashion it is well known and it is treated more like as a cultural experience. The Nigerian society has frowned on fashion design as a serious profession. In reality norms and attitudes reveal a degrading â€Å"you cant be serious† attitude towards fashion. Clothing industrial in Nigerian society is blooming especially foreign label clothes because it differentiates the rich from the poor, due to the exposure of the western culture most consumers that go to other country of origin for schooling, working or business preferred their lifestyles and the ways they dress because it makes them expose (GMID 2007) The consumers buying pattern has change over time, they younger adults in Nigeria prefer to wear be best outfit and latest shoes due to the kinds of events and occasion they are attending, this reasons usually influence younger consumer to purchase. Furthermore most of the consumers in Nigeria are being influence by lifestyle trends and role models because in the society there are always news trends and development, this consumer want to meet up to standard by dress according to roles models. Technological Technology plays vital roles in an organisation and it is constant to change in nature, it is necessary for and establishment to follow the trends of technology so that the organisation will not be lacking behind. Technology has being so benefits to firms it terms of advertising, innovation processes and quality control. Technology has helped the fashion industry to improve tremendously. Since 1960 the Nigerian internet sector has suffered delay by the countries immature infrastructure, but recently things are changing as rivalry intensifies and new internet technology has been able to convey wireless broadband access across different state in Nigerian. Thus, Nigeria has experienced a large increase in Internet and broadband use over the past 10 years. And Improvements in technology has made broadband more available and faster through the use of communication industrial like mobile telecommunication network MTN, Nigerian mobile communication M-Tel and Globacom Glo which has increase the use of information search engines and has made it easier for consumers to search through different web sites and this makes it easier to reach customers as well as making it easier for customer to access competition. Therefore the technology has improved and the system and usage of communication in Nigeria. Statistics show that in 2000 the estimate population of Nigeria was 142,895,600 but the internet users were only 200,000. In the year 2006 there was a vast increase on internet usage and population growth in Nigerian. Thus, the population was 159,404,137 and the internet users rose to 5,000,000 (GMID 2005) which was a huge development. Technology is fast improving in the Nigerian economic with the effect of broad brand and wireless internet various purchase has being made and customer has also use this median to check what is happening in the fashion industrial and the new fashion trends. Furthermore companies like Collectibles in the fashion industry of Nigeria have been able to use the internet technology to publicize and advertise their different brands of Nigerian products and this has created awareness in the country. Thus, various consumer has made has made order for different verity of clothes through online because it is ease to access. Majority of the fashion industrial in Nigeria has an online shop in other to prevent query and crowd. An examples like during sales in Nigeria most consumer purchase their product online in other to reduce querying up in shop. Moreover, the impart of technology to the society of Nigerian has help the fashion industrials and other business in the countries in term of high volumes of production rates which has made establishment to grow and also companies has use the median of technology to advertise their various goods and service to the public which has created awareness and high volumes of sales. Thus, the impart of technology has made industrial to know the numbers of manpower to employ and be utilize per day. Competitive Environment The clothing Industries in Nigerian are faced with lot of competition. There are a lot of locally made fabrics that are popular in the market and also other retail sellers travel outside Nigeria to other countries to like china to shop. This is because they can get cheaper goods and other option when they come back they make their products cheap, affordable and enlighten in order to satisfy customer needs and wants. Thus, Nigeria likes fashion and there are lots of boutiques in the country meaning competition is quite high, though the quality of these goods does not match that of Collectibles the best fashion industry in Nigeria. Abe is huge market in Nigeria which is known for fashionable clothes outfits and accessories their product are usually called â€Å"Made in Nigeria goods†. In Nigeria, the community of Abe everyone has a sewing machine which the used in sewing clothing and consumer patronize them. A lot of shops in Nigeria get their clothing items from Abe, which is a local fashion market in Nigeria and they resell them in the other shops, these are Nigerian made clothes. There are also a large range of bigger Fashion outlets which has various branches across Nigeria such as Collectibles, Marbella culture, Charlotte Andrews collection, Bibis couture, De javu essence, Dee top choice, Wranglers and yeside fashion store. This means the level of competition in the fashion industry in Nigeria is very high. In analysing the competitive environment of clothing industry, Porters Five Forces model will be used. This model will help us have a better understanding of the competitive environment because the Porters five forces model does not just agree that competition is about direct competitors but it encompasses the entire possibility of all future indirect competitors (Brassington F 2006). Which are based on five factors and they include intensity of rivalry, new entrants, suppliers, buyers and substitutes (Jobber 2007). Intensity of rivalry in the Nigerian clothing sector In traditional economic model, Competition among rival firms drives profit to zero. The intensity of rivalry is a necessary factor when analysing the competitive environment because it deal with number of factors that companies have to understand before going into the industry for business and they include: structure of the competition, structure of costs, degree of differentiation, switching costs, strategic objectives and exit barriers. This made firms strive for competitive advantages over their rivals and this can be achieved through creation of relationships between quality, supplier and clothing industry. The intensity of the rivalry in the clothing sector in Nigeria market is really fierce. As theres free movement of goods to Nigeria from the African union, and also with the influx of Asian clothing shops, the competition for market share is intense (GMID2008). Collectibles has a number of rivals in clothing sector like Yeside fashion, Marbella culture, Charlotte Andrews collection, and De javu essence. Wranglers are seemed to be in serious competition with collectibles fashion industry. A wrangler has been able to attract consumers by creating its own brand clothing labels and stylish shoes which collectible has taken the lead in it. Through this median companies are obeying the laws passed on them by the government. This has increased the intensity of rivalry in the industry because most of the company are working towards common goals to become a market leader. Threat of new entrants New entrants in business have a way of raising the level of competition in a particular industry and in turn reduce its attractiveness. When an industry has too many companies competing against each other, this can be the reason for its unattractiveness and this can be as a result of the low entry barriers that some industries have which makes entry easy (Jobber D. 2004). Furthermore, Kotler 2004 in his writing stated that new entrants to industry bring new capacity and new ideas, the aspiration to gain market share. As a result of this the new entrants in industry the competition will be the higher and this could change major determents market environment like price, customer loyalty and market share. Furthermore, within the Nigerian clothing market, the possibility existing or new laws restricting new entrants seems bleak especially with current globalisation and the African Union enabling free movement of goods. Aside from external forces, there is also possibility that local investors will invade the clothing market, due to the lucrative nature of the sector (the collectible fashion). This is well explained by the rapid growth of Chinese products in Africa and more importantly, in Nigeria. A BBC (2005) article titled â€Å"should Africa embrace china†, confirmed that developing countries are gradually becoming the real victims of Chinas economic progress with goods, especially clothing, being imported into counties including Nigeria. Collectible has a strong attendance in the Nigeria market and has gained the attention of large population of Nigeria consumer which make it very difficult for new entrants to break into. Threat of substitute products According to five porters models substitute refer to products in other industrials and when an establishment has lot of substitutes it makes it unappealing to the consumer because they can easily switches from one product to another. The main factor behind substitutes in clothing market is the price and the style. Majority of consumer are attracted and motivated by the price of the products in the shops because most of the shops frequently have offers and sales promotions on products which attracts customers. The current price war among various shops in Nigeria has left smaller retailers having a difficulty in setting prices to be as low as leading retailers like collectible. Most shoppers are motivated by price and will substitute their regular shop for the next which offers a more attractive price list. The free entry and exit within the Nigerian clothing market, coupled with the greater importation of foreign clothes and the greater number of local clothes traders gives the consumer a number of choices. Threats of substitutes are really high and this has a significant impact on the prices and more importantly the power the consumer has. More substitutes mean that the customer has options, which, as noted by Porter, means that one producer cannot influence the market by ruling prices. In order to match each others competition strategies, due to the threats posed by substitutes, shop owners resort to various promotional strategies, which are normally ‘prices wars. The bargaining power of suppliers Supplier power is a reflection of buyer power and it represent a vital roles in industry competitive environment because if the bargaining power of suppliers is high then this will have an effect on the firms profitability this is as a result of increase the in cost of raw materials and subsequently the cost of finished products(Jobber D. 2004). Clothing market are increasing the standard of quality on their products which they get from suppliers and this has affected the relationship between retail companies and their various suppliers who have not been able to keep up with the new quality standard they require. The bargaining power of suppliers in Nigeria is really low. As noted by Porter (1979) when the bargain power of the suppliers is high, prices go up. This is the opposite of the Nigerian clothing sector. This is because though suppliers may be limited in number; most clothing retailers have their own manufacturers which are an integral part of their business. Thus most retailers use own brand/label, and this further echoes why the customers have such a high bargain power. Buyers According kippenberger (1998) states that it is often useful to distinguish potential buyer power from the buyers willingness or incentive to use that power, willingness that derives mainly from the â€Å"risk of failure† associated with a products use. Thus, Buyers refer to customer who patronise an organization and usually have more buyers bargaining power. (Lynch 2006). The size and concentration of customer is very vital and also buyer powers are very necessary because it influence the factor in clothing market as a result of high level of substitution of retailers. With the huge daily influx of clothes as explained above from overseas and with the existence of locally made ones, the bargain power of the Nigerian customer is really high. This is again backed by the fact that the number of choices available to the customers tends to drive the cost of clothes down in the country. Conclusion of sector analysis The sector analysis comprises of pest analysis and porters five forces theory which been use in this framework and it has help to analyses the Nigerian clothing market and also able to check the barriers and limitation of the market. In this analysis, secondary data was used to find out more information of the industrial and the perception of consumers towards foreign and locally made clothes which has giving the research more ideas to carried on to the next chapter which is the literature review.

Pain - Original Writing :: Papers

Pain - Original Writing Her eyes became watery as she dragged the razor blade across her arm, the pain invaded her body. She sat back against the wall, her arm rested on her leg. The blood poured out, her eyes clinged on the ceiling. She sighed, her eyes were red and her soul was empty. She could here their laughter, their fingers pointing at her as her tray slipped from her hands and made a mess on the cafeteria floor. "You are such a dopey idiot" they shouted from the queue, she glanced up to find them all looking at her as if they were in a freak show and she was the principal act. A lady from behind the counter came out with a mop and bucket and told her to clean up the mess, she felt humiliated and stupid. "Quiet everyone", suddenly the director came into the cafeteria, everybody went back to there seats and continued with there meal. The director walked up to Layla, she could see his shinny black shoes. His laces were perfectly done and his trousers were perfectly ironed and tucked in at the end of his leg, the man reeked of perfection. "What's going on here" he said, his voice sounded firm and scary. Layla continued picking up the food splattered on the floor while she mumbled "nothing sir, just an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.". "Look at me when I'm speaking to you", he shouted as he grabbed her arm and pulled her up. She looked up at his smooth shaved face, her eyes were full of tears. Her lips trembled "just an accident, sir" she said nervously. "I don't want cry babies here, clean up your act girl", he said still pinning on to her arm. She nodded her head and got back on her knees to finish cleaning up. "Nobody give this girl any food, I repeat, nobody or there will be detention", the director looked around the cafeteria "And I mean nobody" and pointed at the kitchen staff. He then took a last look at Layla who was still on her knees and walked away with his hands on his

Mecca Cola :: essays research papers

MECCA-COLA: A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE There is no denying that Mecca-Cola is a political product. Commercially, it’s capitalizing on the growing anti-American sentiment. The interesting part, which probably no one has ever done before, is the fact that the founder is making a political statement as well as embracing others with the same attitude through a consumer product. At some level it looks ironic that an anti-American movement takes form in the very byproduct of American culture; however, this is also saying that not all about America is bad. It’s not the culture that is being fought, but rather the politics. And Mecca-Cola fights by trying to provide conscience to its consumers, to provide meaning in consumerism (â€Å"buvez engagà ©Ã¢â‚¬ ). Mecca-Cola was born as a reaction to the anti-American sentiments, and it primarily appeals to consumers who support American brands boycott campaign. Entry consumers are primarily Muslims, with the product first being distributed in â€Å"small ethnic shops in Muslim areas†. While Mecca-Cola may continue to appeal to Muslim consumers, its policy to give profits for charity may appeal to other â€Å"engaged consumers†. By positioning itself as the non-American alternative of a cola, Mecca-Cola directly challenged Coca-Cola and Pepsi as the â€Å"American products†. However, as in Mathlouthi idealism, Mecca-Cola will keep the focus on providing an alternative cola drinks, not directly challenge those big players as competitors. Now that Mecca-Cola has successfully initiated a new segment of â€Å"alternative cola†, its real competitors are the other alternative cola that position themselves as a product for Muslims while also offering corporate social responsibility like Mecca Cola. Among the major competitors are ZamZam Cola, Qibla-Cola, Muslim Up and Arab Cola. The launch of Mecca-Cola was a success, perhaps because it is providing a fresh alternative to common consumerism, while using political and social charity leveraging advantages. Nevertheless, Mecca-Cola is vulnerable to competition (specific target base, low entry barrier for me-too products), and its positioning appeal may wear out if world politics change. Mecca-Cola could be a sustainable business if it emphasizes on universal values that appeal to a broader, sustainable consumer base, rather than just another Anti-America alternative product.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mathlouthi and Mecca Cola Taufik Mathlouthi is a Muslim, Tunisian-born French entrepreneur. His exceptional entrepreneurship mindset, along with his involvement in social issues and a sense of pride for his origins, forms the right chemistry that led to the birth of Mecca Cola. Mathlouthi is by nature an involved and exploring individual.

The Kentucky Fried Chicken Original Writing

There I was, stumbling through the lashing wet, windy weather on my way back from the Kentucky Fried Chicken after purchasing a large bucket of chicken at a great expense. As I passed the local bakery, the delicious smell of freshly baked bread filled my nostrils, which was soon to be replaced by cooking oil from the fish and chips shop next door. My stomach felt sickly with the combined aromas, but lengthy queues in both stores indicated that not everyone had the same opinion as I did about the smell. I noticed a black bag in a spotlight of colourful neon lights on the side of the kerb shuffling around in the breeze like a newborn baby. Unsure of the contents, I panicked. My eyes gazed at the streetlights that glistened like a Christmas tree. They were reflected in the shop windows that displayed mouth-watering cakes, bread, groceries, a variety of continental fruits and vegetables, as well as colourful fashionable clothes. On the corner of the road, there was a brightly lit car showroom full of gleaming new Mercedes, which drew me to the window. As I gazed enviously through the window, I was startled by the deafening wail of a siren which had blue flashing lights rotating rapidly on top of a huge red vehicle that raced past me. Car horns beeped, windscreen wipers swishing back and forth, as cars accelerated above the speed limit; the drivers and their passengers all had the same thought in mind: getting home from this dreadful weather. Traffic built up and ground to a standstill as the traffic lights appeared to have a malfunction, causing major delays. Engines revved with impatience. I witnessed two drivers exchanging furious words over a parking space, while passengers waited patiently for their local bus to take them home. Some pedestrians got splashed with dirty water as thoughtless drivers sped through puddles. Commuters appeared from nowhere as if there had been a riot in the area. I realized as I heard the mournful sound of the train horn coming from the station close to home that this was the reason for this strange mass of people. Some people were running desperately for shelter, as they were inadequately dressed for the inclement weather. An old drunken man, dressed in rough, ragged clothes, staggered along the street. He approached an apprehensive passer-by I had seen earlier on in the vicinity requesting spare change. I did not wait to hear the passer-by's response as my clothes were completely drenched from the rain. The relentless rain pelted down heavily, so I decided to pick up the pace because I could smell the sweet spices of chicken wafting from the chicken bucket I carried, which probably began to get cold. I remembered that my mother was waiting for her meal and I was feeling quite peckish myself. As I approached a narrow, dark alleyway, I was striving through the sharp, cold, icy, wind beating against my face. An enormous clap of thunder quickly followed with a strike of lightning from the heavens. I dropped the bucket of chicken in fear into a pool of mud. A sensation of fear and panic tingled through my body and my heart skipped a beat. I heard a dog barking continuously from a neighbouring garden over a red brick wall. I picked up my bucket, checked to see what state it was in, in discovering that the contents were still in good condition, I continued on my journey. The anxiety and fear I had experienced earlier had disappeared within me and transformed to happiness and warmth, as I drew nearer to my home. I sighed with relief and jingled my keys with delight at the front door to my house. I turned my key in the lock, and the door swung open, revealing my Mother's angry face. I had delayed her dinner!

Barriers to Effective Pain Management Essay

Nurses have a unique role in alleviating the pain experienced by their patients. With their professional knowledge and regular close contacts with patients, they are ideally placed to listen and respond to any concerns. Taking time to assess the individual will allow for the development of a thrusting relationship between the nurse and patient. Accurate assessment and documentation can help to chart the multi- dimensional nature of the pain, aiding decision making and patient care planning (Mcguie 1992). Adequate control of pain is only achieved in 50% of patients in Western societies. This emphasizes that pain control is a serious problem for a great number of patients. Health care professionals, patients and the health care system itself all contribute to this problem. Other factors that add to this undesirable situation include the following: – Poor decision making on part of health care professionals – myths and misconceptions about pain and opoids – patients non compliance with treatment and their reluctance to report pain – Problems within the organization of health care Pain assessment and management is an integral part of the daily nursing routine. Health care professionals must strive to overcome the barriers to effective pain management in practice. The tendency to under medicate older adults may be related to several factors, including misguided beliefs, fears regarding complications, and a failure to assess ant treat confused older adults. It is imperative that nurses don’t act upon false misconceptions in delivering patient care. The management of pain in the elderly represents a considerable nursing challenge. This is because the elderly are more likely to experience both acute and chronic pain than their younger counterparts. Age related factors may also complicate the assessment and management of the individual’s pain. Failing sight and hearing, cognitive impairment, confusion and dementia create communication difficulties and therefore pose significant barriers to pain assessment particularly in the use of the measurement tools. Lack of knowledge of the Doctor and nurse / poor communication: An individuals pain is complex, the management should not rely on one professional clinical judgment and action. The pain control process should be interwoven between numerous health care professionals. The nurse must strive to exercise their communication skills in discussing aspects of patient care with the MDT team. A lack of confidence and knowledge are the common reasons for poor communication and teamwork. There is ample evidence to demonstrate that both nurses and doctors have poor knowledge about pain and its management. It is also known that contemporary nursing and medical education programs do not equip health care professionals with significant information on the nature of pain, the methods of pain assessments and the principles of pain management. With a lack of knowledge and basic fundamental management skills, nurses may feel unprepared to care for patients suffering from pain, and consequently make incorrect decisions regarding the management of patient’s pain. Poor decision making on behalf of the nurse can reflect on the following: âž ¢ Underestimation of the severity of the illness âž ¢ Overestimation of the effectiveness of the interventions âž ¢ Reluctance to administer parental analgesia âž ¢ Administering a low dose of opoid rather than the required dose needed to control the severity of patient’s pain. âž ¢ Nurses rarely employing non pharmacological strategies In addition, the lack of knowledge and confidence of the nurse may interfere with his or her ability to effectively communicate aspects of patient care to other health care professionals. The under educated nurse has a tendency to underestimate the MDT and doctor’s involvement in pain assessment and management. However, it is imperative that the doctor carriers out a physical examination of the patient on admission to identify the pathological causes of the patients pain. This is an imperative part of pain management and is much needed to facilitate the planning of care. The more experienced the nurse is the more inclined they are to underestimate severe pain. The less experienced nurse is more inclined to overestimate an individuals pain. The doctor’s lack of confidence and knowledge may result in him or her avoiding discussions relating to analgesia and changing the drug or dose of the opoid, irrespective of the nurse’s belief that it for the best interest of the patient. Doctors that are lacking in knowledge have a tendency to prescribe analgesia below the therapeutic level of the pain and are often reluctant to act upon the nurse. This is a serious issue that must be addressed as the nurse is often the person who knows the most information about the patient as they provide a 24 hour round the clock care to the patient. It is clear that these poor practices arise from a number of inter- related reasons. However the lack of knowledge and effective team work seems to be the central issue. In order to assure effective communication is brought to the clinical practice, efforts to increase group learning and confidence of health care professions is much needed. Role play may improve health care professional’s knowledge and collaboration skills. Interpersonal education may be effective at allowing health care professionals understand each others roles in practice. Regular education sessions in the hospital with numerous health care professions from different specialties may be a great opportunity for nurses and other health care professionals to learn together. Communication Barriers The collection of information at assessment is dependent on the nurse’s ability to communicate effectively. However, nurses commonly lack the skills required in this area. Health care professionals often expect the patients to complain spontaneously of pain and patients often assume the nurse will enquire about their pain. This is one significant issue within communication that is commonly demonstrated in practice. Certain nurses don’t even ask the patient if they are experiencing pain. This is a serious issue as patients may be reluctant to report their pain because they don’t want to appear unpopular or don’t want to distract the health care professionals from treating their condition. The omission of verbal assessment may result in these patients suffering unnecessary pain for a prolonged period of time. This can have devastating long term consequences to an individual’s health. A quantity of nurses may employ some form of verbal communication to the patient’s pain assessment. However, they usually confine the assessment to asking one question only, such as, are you experiencing any pain at present? This can be misinterpreting as the patient may be pain free lying still in bed, yet the patient may be experiencing pain on activity. In order to improve the management of pain in practice, continuous education of improving communication skills must be enforced into the clinical setting. A number of communication barriers such as deafness, blindness, and disorientated, confused and cognitive impaired persons can further complicate the assessment process. It is important to compensate for the auditory and visual impairments that the individual may have. While assessing and monitoring the patient, the nurse must position her/his face in view of the patient, speak in a slow and normal tone of voice, use large print size, and provide written instructions and aids such as glasses or hearing aids. Pain assessment should be considered a greater challenge amongst the elderly as these patients more commonly present with communication barriers. Such barriers include deafness, blindness, and cognitive impaired, unconscious and disorientated individual. Pain assessment tools are designed to suit patients with various communication barriers. Health care professionals must choose the appropriate assessment tool that would best suit the individual in pain. For example, a visual analogue scale may be more suitable for a deaf individual. The abbey scale is specially designed for the cognitive impaired individual. The nurse must validate the pain and believe that the pain is as bad as the patient reports it to be. Nurses have a tendency not to validate the patient’s pain. They tend to overestimate lower levels of pain and underestimate more severe pain. If the nurse places him or herself in the role of the family member, they may become more sensitive to the patients needs and his or her experience of pain. Commonly the nurses distance themselves from the patient which results in the nurses failing to recognize the patient’s needs. Nurses have a tendency to block communication with patients who are terminally ill or patients who have chronic pain. This is because they believe they cannot do much for the patient. Efforts to improve professionals collaboration skills with the terminally ill patients and chronically ill is fundamental. Clearly continuing education that integrates helping nurses become more sensitive to patient pain may have an important role in facilitating nurses to develop better assessment skills. Health care professional’s poor pain assessment A good assessment is the cornerstone of good control of distressing symptoms. Yet, current pain assessment practices leave much to be desired. The underestimation of the patient’s pain seems to be problematic in current practice. Nurses have developed a tendency to interfere about a person’s pain on a basis of what they observe. This may be acceptable if they confirm the validity of the interferences with the patient, however this is not happening. Poor use of verbal cues Health care professionals frequently observe patients behaviors and activities when assessing pain and consider non verbal cues as being reliable indicators of pain intensity. However, it is easy to misinterpret non verbal cues. For example the nurse tends to only regard pain as intense or severe if the patients show real intense behavioral signs. The nurse assumes the patient is pain free if such intense behavior signals are absent. Nurses need to take into account that each patient will have a unique response to pain which will be influenced by many factors including cultural beliefs and religious morals. Such patients will exhibit expressive pain behaviors such as crying and moaning, where others may adapt a stoical approach and will not express their suffering outwardly. The presence of pain is therefore not always obvious from the patient’s facial expression and non verbal cues should not be regarded as reliable indicators of pain. If health care professionals place emphasizes on non verbal cues and make interferences on the basis of what they observe, it is not surprising that they yet tend to underestimate the intensity of patients pain and over estimate the effectiveness of interventions. The use of measurement tools which provide patients with a means of quantifying their pain experience is one way of overcoming this problem in practice. However, the under use of assessment tools is a problem that needs to be addressed. Interviewing the patient who is experiencing pain is a critical component of assessment since it provides patients with an opportunity to express not only intensity of their pain but also what it means to them and the effect it has on their lives. Constraints to developing a therapeutic relationship with the patient Pain assessment should be viewed as a unique opportunity for the nurse to use effective communication skills and spend time to build a relationship with the patient. This may encourage patients to express their fears or concerns, enhancing patient assessment and therefore improving the overall goals of care. However, staff shortages and time constraints often make it difficult for the nurse to spent time with the patient and hence it is difficult to build a thrusting relationship with the patient. The fact that there is a high turnover of patients in the hospital means that nurses have little opportunity to establish and sustain a good therapeutic relationship with the patient and family.

Claudine Ly

International OrganizationAfter the inception of the United Nations, the world viewed the United Nations as the impetus of a new global order. Nations states succumbed to peaceful concessions rather than having allowed interstate problems to culminate into a third world war. The United Nations was different from the League of Nations in that it reintegrated WWII victors as well as losers and formed them into a coalition that worked towards global peace and security.However, as decolonization began to manifest in the 1960’s, the increase in the number of sovereign states expanded membership in the United Nations.  Ã‚   As the numbers of member nations grew, the United Nations reflected more diversified interests.   The major shift in interests was notably observed in one of the principal organs of the United Nations, the General Assembly.   It granted all member nations the right to one equal vote and resolutions could be passed with a two-thirds majority.   With this i n mind, the United Nations widened its scope to reflect the interests of smaller nation states such as in the areas of economic development and health.However, small state ambitions have coincided with the interests of the great power states.   For example, countries such as Rwanda or Burkina Faso would have preferred to form U.N. initiatives to aid their countries’ sustainable development rather than having spent the U.N. budget to support the U.S. aim to counter the war on terrorism.   In addition, because of this growing disparity between national interests, the United Nations has not been able to adhere to its proposed principles. In recent years, one has observed one of the greatest human rights violators, Libya, elected to chair the Human Rights Commission.   Another deplorable undertaking was Syria, a global supporter of terrorism, elected to Security Council.Today, the image of UN has suffered greatly due to repeated scandals that left the image of a corrupted a nd dysfunctional organization, incapable of performing its attributions in the new world order.UN is facing a new world order to which it must adapt in order to maintain its position and its role on the international arena. Recent years’ crisis have found UN incapable of having a firm and prompt reaction and somehow stuck in the attitudes adopted in its beginnings. UN seems unable to rise to the expectations and unable to assume a leading role in world politics. Instead of having the means to impose its position in the world, UN is faced recently with on of its worst periods, when its position on different subjects has no importance or influence.The distribution of power in today’s international order is inclining more and more towards the West, especially towards the only world power remaining – the US. The relations between UN and US are more and more deteriorated due to the differences in opinion over the war in Iraq and this inconsistency in the relation wit h US had a great cost on UN. However, UN is still seen by Washington as having an important role in the international arena on both security and humanitarian levels.This is why the US is trying to find out solutions for a reform of UN by trying to involve the organization in the ongoing crisis in the world. The challenge is therefore even greater with UN having to face a new leadership starting in 2007, and having to face the nuclear crisis in Iran and North Korea. Perhaps the only reason why UN is still supported by US is that it is still seen as â€Å"a valuable forum and tool for advancing U.S. interests on the international stage† (Gardiner, 2007). Despite the shown support for UN reform, there is little trust in US that it might succeed.UN, although seen as a strong organization that regulates upon the world order, no longer has the power to enforce its sanctions and dictate in crisis. It is very unlikely that UN will be able to impose its sanctions on Iran or North Kore a in what regards the nuclear crisis, so the role of the organization is becoming more and more insignificant. This is why the gap between the capabilities of UN and its position is getting wider.The most important role of UN has been played in the past decades in humanitarian actions, as the involvement of UN in third world crisis has gained a very valuable reputation. In contemporary humanitarian crisis UN seems unable to perform its role and intervene in such a serious matter as the genocide in Sudan. Due to this incapability, the role of UN is more and more contested at the international level, as the UN proves to be as incapable of dealing with humanitarian crisis as it was with Rwanda and Bosnia. This is why there is a need for reform in the UN Human Rights Council (Gardiner, 2007).  The challenge that lies ahead of UN through the nuclear crisis in Iran and North Korea is going to define the future of the organization and its role in the international arena. This is why it i s so important for UN to regain its position and influence. But in order to do so, UN must go through institutional and managerial reforms that will reinforce the organization’s role in world politics.In the actual shift in power in the international arena, UN’s decisions seem unlikely to have much influence on particular actors. Countries such as Iran or North Korea are very unlikely to be affected too much by the sanctions imposed by UN as the power of the organization is rapidly decreasing.There is an increasing opinion that UN is an illegitimate organization, incapable of facing the current international order and no longer able to impose its position in the international arena. This situation was caused by several scandals and crisis that the organization faced in the past twelve years (Gardiner, 2007). UN’s poor interfere in Rwanda, Bosnia, or Sudan, as well as cases of corruption exposed inside the UN have affected the image of the organization greatly, m aking it unable to stand up for its cause in international crisis. If UN is no longer respected and seen as the moral protector of human rights and of peace, then it cannot perform its role. As UN proved unable or unwilling to stand up for its humanitarian believes in genocides or against dictatorship, its influence and its role decreased considerably.UN’s actions have been intensively critiqued and its credibility suffered greatly after 2005, when UNESCO gave the Josà © Martà ­ International Prize to Venezuelan president Hugo Chà ¡vez, awarding the Latin American leader for his â€Å"struggle for liberty† (Gardiner, 2007). This award was clearly against the position held by the world powers and it stands as a proof of the gap created between the formal rules of UN and the international powers.Perhaps the only way in which the UN can save its credibility and perform the role it was created for is by not expanding the membership in the Security Council. In the new in ternational military context, the role of UN can be significant and by paying its cards right the organization has a chance of regaining its influential role.In order for UN to continue its work and re-impose itself it must adapt to the new world order – it must follow the leadership of US and Western forces. By increasing the number of members in the Security Council, UN would be forced to take stands against the US as the vote will likely be against US on key issues. An enlarged Security Council would be against the US, which would widen the gap between UN and world leadership (Gardiner, 2007).One of the reasons for UN’s inability to respond promptly and efficiently to world crisis such as the war in Iraq is that its operational system is far too slow and ineffective. The members of the Security Council have far too different views in order to reach an efficient agreement in time. This institutional framework of the UN proves to be inefficient in today’s chang ing world order. UN’s ability to respond in crisis will only decrease in a larger Security Council, since it already faces serious difficulty.If UN wants to reinforce its position in the international arena, it must face some very much needed reforms that are intended to shape up the organization and make it reinstate a leading role. But such reforms are very unlikely to be achieved as the influence of opposing members is quite considerable.A significant number of member states, especially those leading the G-77 group of developing countries view the reform of UN as threatening to their influence in the organization and therefore they use all their power to prevent the reform of UN. Particularly this kind of influence that some member states have upon the UN decision making process is the kind of influence that is widening the gap between the actual world powers and UN (Schaefer, 2006).In order for UN to actively participate in international relations, it must reform its inst itutional framework. But in order for UN to reform, it must have the vote of several countries that are against reformation and strengthening the role of the West. This vicious circle is the one that is stopping UN from evolving and adapting.The influence of today’s great powers in the UN decision making process is low and this is one of the reasons why UN is losing its legitimacy. Instead of being an important actor in security matters, the institutional framework of UN makes it impossible for the organization to reach a consensus in an effective time framework, leading the organization not interfering or not taking a strong enough position in important issues.Today’s international actors seem to ignore the UN and seem to take decisions disregarding the position of UN particularly because the influence of UN has decreased severely in the past decade or so. More and more voices see the UN as a future failure that will follow its predecessor, the League of Nations.In re cent years, the role of UN is more and more challenged and its decisions have less and less impact in the international arena. Designed to promote peace and worldwide security, the UN proves to be a failure 62 years later due to its incapability to evolve and develop in time. UN’s incapability to adapt to the new world order and its inability to promote its goals makes the organization seem dysfunctional and illegitimate. The major change that is needed for the future of UN lays in its ability to face the challenges of today and to aggressively take action in the matters concerning today’s threats.Bibliography:1.Gardiner, Nile, The Decline and Fall of the United Nations: Why the U.N. Has Failed and How It Can Be Reformed, February 7, 2007, available at http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternationalOrganizations/hl991.cfm;