Thursday, October 31, 2019

Football Hooliganism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Football Hooliganism - Essay Example ..... it is a sure-fire sign that the hooligan element is present and that their senseless fury is about to be unleashed"( Chaudhary, 2002). Though hooliganism in football originated in Britain, it is today by no means isolated to the UK, and is in fact a major source of concern and much sociological and psychological research across Europe and other nations. It is today an accepted fact that hooliganism has had its presence in various countries across the last century, a fact which has been systematically established with concrete evidence: By now, most students of sports violence recognise the spurious nature of the claim that soccer hooliganism is a "British disease".....In content analyses of media Williams et al. (1984) unearthed over 70 reports of spectator disorder at soccer matches in 30 different countries in which English fans were not involved between 1904 and 1983.(Coakley, Dunning, 2000) The exact date of origin of this phenomenon in soccer cannot be easily ascertained . It came to the notice of the public and government authorities in the sixties, but in fact the first recorded instances of football hooliganism hark back to a much earlier date. " During a match in 1846 in Derby the riot act was read and two troops of dragoons called in to deal with a disorderly crowd, whilst pitch invasions became increasingly common from the 1880's onwards"( Pearson, 2001). Indeed, violence has always been associated with a majority of sporting activity, and more specifically with soccer, which is "in both the pejorative and non-pejorative sense, an intrinsically aggressive event which sanctions some violence in attempts to win, and retain, possession of the ball". (Bonny, Giulianotti, Hepworth, 1994) But it was during the Swinging Sixties that football became more of a fashion than a sport, a part of youth culture, and developed a relationship with fashion, style, image and even music. This was in part because football clubs became more organised, the limits to a footballer's weekly earnings were abolished, and last, but not the least, the hosting of the 1966 World Cup finals in UK, which got widespread media coverage. Also important was the establishment of fan followings for different football clubs, and the concepts of "ends" in the stadia, which the supporters of the home and away group respectively marked as their territory, and the defence of which became paramount, attaining almost a cult status. "The most important feature of contemporary hooliganism is the taking and holding of 'ends'. Away supporters, especially those from clubs with 'hooligan' reputations, try to drive home supporters from their traditional end"( Holt, 1992). In this decade, male youth gradually became a community on its own, distinct from the patriarchal concepts of family and society, and football became a mode of independent expression. There are manifest continuities between the rites of violence in contemporary Britain and earlier periods. But the specific forms of hooliganism are new; football crowds were not segregated by age before the 1960s; youth did not congregate around parts of football clubs as their territory--they had a larger territory and community which they shared with their older male relatives. ( Holt,1992) Hooliganism became a growing

Monday, October 28, 2019

Financial loss Essay Example for Free

Financial loss Essay This article is about crime and poverty and it also looks at the crimes that happen to the super rich and why a super rich person would risk everything for more money. There is no clear definition of what crime is but crime can be looked at in many different ways. In his book, what is a crime; Henry states that it has got multiple dimensions since there are the crimes that happen in the society and also those that happen nationally. Crime is harmful acts in the society which cause pain to their victims. (150) Poverty is a state of not being able to provide oneself with basic needs due to lack of money and resources. (Henry 150) It is a state where one feels deprived by circumstances of their most needs and not being able to live comfortably in their day to day activities due to lack of resources and other needs upon which are very basic. (Henry 150) Crime and poverty are intertwined in that due to lack of provision of needed basics poverty pushes people to crime. Crime According to the book by (Stuart Henry 2001), there are offenses which are committed and are contrary to the rules and laws set in the society. A crime is an offences which is considered immoral as well as illegal in the society. It is the deviation from the social norms as well as values. (154) Crime is a behavior which is unacceptable and it is done by its perpetrators by choice but it is also outlawed by the state. Crimes are also detrimental to the community. These acts of harm should be determined according to the circumstances in which they occurred. (Henry 158) Poverty (Henry Stuart 2001) states that this is the shortage of basic needs and common things which a person needs for the day to day survival such as food, water, shelter, clothing and which all determine ones quality of life. (135) It comes with lack of basics which are needed also to enhance a good life for someone. Good education needs to be supplemented with a good income and hence an eventual good life. Poverty suppresses comfort in life where one is not able to make ends meet. Poverty also deprives one services, goods and pleasures which are enjoyed by others who are not poor. In fact poor people are in a class of their own and those that have in abundant may take for granted some of the needs that the poor have. (Henry 136) Crime and poverty Crime and poverty are interrelated. It is enhanced by the social mobility of a country or a nation. If the social mobility of a country is stagnant then we have poverty and crime as we don’t have any development whatsoever. (Henry 138) There are social ills of a society that make people poor like poor infrastructure lack of adequate housing , unemployment and others that make people in the society poor materially and spiritually. According to the book what is Crime (2001) for crime to be eliminated in the society then poverty has to be eliminated first. Crime is also cause by forces of the social breakdown. For one to be eliminated, however the other has to first be eliminated. (Henry 149) Lack of education leads to one not getting a good job and becomes poor, desperate and angry and also depressed. The idleness leads to the formation of gangs and thoughts of how to commit crime. This is primarily due to lack of opportunities. (Henry 155) According to (Henry Stuart 2001) money is very tempting to the poor and once offered it forced one to engage in any sort of crime in order to supplement income. Poverty makes people needy and hence exploitation where the poor are enticed into crime for money especially where there is no any government intervention. (174) Rich countries experience this since the cost of living keeps rising, while wages remain stagnant hence the gap between the rich and the poor widens and thus the poor become poorer while the rich get richer. Only the intervention of the government can arrest this by doing more for a nation on order for the people to be able to uplift themselves and consequently their standards of living. (Henry 172) Why a Super Rich Person Would Risk Everything For More Money According to Ferdinand Lundberg, the super rich people are the people who have a social class in the society and it consists of those with power as well as wealth. They are entrepreneurs, investors and that is where their income comes from and hence they benefit from capital gains. (69) They have a status in the society and they must keep up with the maintenance of this status. It is very expensive to maintain this status and hence they would risk everything for more money. Maintenance They prefer to live in expensive homes and they own many homes. The costs of maintaining these homes are very high since they come with luxury like pools, guest houses as well as tennis courts and hence they have to need loads of money for the maintenance of this. (Lundberg 68) Staff The super rich require a lot of staff who run their homes. This comes with their status since they are super rich they have people who run their homes and for them to maintain their status they need money for the upkeep to these staff. (Irvin 159) Cost In his book Irvin states that since the lifestyle of the super rich is luxurious they are not able to cut costs since they deal with high costs including the best and the most expensive things. They have to continue with this tend of only having the most expensive and they need more and more money for them to keep this status up. (163) Friends (Lundberg 76) states in his book that they are in a social class and their circle of friends is in their same status. The super rich would not risk not having more money as this would make their friends look down on them. For them to maintain the friends in their social class and also fro them to remain on top and maintain their status they need more money and they would risk anything for more money. (Lundberg 77) Financial loss In his book (Irvin 168) the super rich fear to suffer from financial loss since the same characteristics that give them the ability to achieving wealth are the same that may cause loss of financial freedom and this can cause devastation to the super rich so they would risk everything for more money. Pressure created by wealth There is much that is expected from the super rich. This makes it hard for them to just sit back and enjoy what they already have but they have to keep proving that they are still wealthy and so they would risk for more money. (Irvin 169) Pressure Created By Wealth According to (Irvin 150) there is much that is expected from the super rich. This makes it hard for them to just sit back and enjoy what they already have but they have to keep proving that they are still wealthy and so they would risk for more money. They are under a lot of pressure from the society to keep making more and more money and hence they keep doing more for more money as they look at the success of those around them as well as their friends in the same social status. (Irvin 152) Crimes That Happen To The Super Rich Blackmail (Lundberg 82) states that the super rich are protective of their lavish lifestyle and they also wish to maintain their image as clean and they don’t like exposure in the society f their misgivings. One of the crime they suffer from is blackmail where someone threatens them with revealing some true information about them to the public, any other person that they may not wish for them to know their particular it of information or even to a business partner. (Lundberg 82) The said information could cause them embarrassment or could damage them socially if revealed and people wishing to blackmail the super rich know that they would be willing to meet any demand made upon the victim in order fro this information not to be revealed. Kidnapping According to the book the Rich and the Super Rich Lundberg states that this is a crime of taking someone away against their will to further another crime or for a ransom. The super rich suffer this crime where their family member, wife, husband, child is kidnapped and the kidnapers ask for a ransom of money from the family to secure the release of that person. The person is taken against his will and is falsely imprisoned until the said amount of money is paid to secure their release. (80) The super rich are known to be willing to do this as they have a lot of money and they can be able to honor the kidnappers demands in exchange of the false imprisonment of the person. (Lundberg 80) Credit Card Fraud In his book Super Rich Irvin feels that this is the information and data of the said super rich person is obtained and compromised this information on a credit card thus carrying out the transaction using the said card pausing as the real card holder. (146) Since the super rich are believed to have a lot of money this credit card is used to obtain goods or even to get funds from an account hence this is done fraudulently. (Irvin 147) Conclusion According to (Henry 136) Crime is the cause of harm and pain to the one that it is directed to while poverty is the state of not being able to provider for basic necessities. Crime and poverty are inter related and one cannot e eliminated before the other, since poverty leads people to lack good jobs and hence are not able to earn good money or provide for themselves ultimately. They therefore turn into crime due to stress and also as powerful people lure them into crime for money which they need desperately due to poverty. (Henry 136) The super rich suffer from crimes directed to them due to the strong believe that they have a lot of money. (Irvin 145) However the status of the super rich is luxurious and high and due to this social status it is important for them to maintain it and hence they would risk everything for more money. References:- Ferdinand Lundberg. The Rich and the Super rich. New York: Nelson Publishers, 1998. George Irvin. Super Rich. U. K: Polity Publishers, 2008. Stuart Henry. What is Crime. Washington: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2001.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Jesusville and Catholic Boys: Silent Suffering in the Novel Essay

Philip Cioffari, in both works, Jesusville and Catholic Boys, puts forth the idea of the â€Å"silent sufferer.† Used in different ways in each of the novels, the â€Å"silent sufferer† is characterized by guilt and shame. This discussion looks at Vee in Jesusville, whose character undergoes punishment as a way of being possessed and alleviating the lost and lonely feeling within her and Arthur and Donald in Catholic Boys, who are punished for the guilt of others’ sins. These characters â€Å"suffer silently,† each one reinforcing major themes in â€Å"their† novels through their punishment. To begin, the discussion focuses on Vicki’s character in Jesusville. When first introduced to Vicki, Cioffari describes her as having a startling beauty, dressed with a look that seemed to be â€Å"a threat to her safety† (Cioffari 14). Shortly into the novel, we see Vicki’s uneasiness and her need for validation—that is a confirmation of self and of the existence of another. Cioffari writes, â€Å"With her rigid glaze she seemed almost catatonic. She wanted him there, but it was as if nothing existed but herself and maybe not even that† (Cioffari 21). Vicki realizes her need to be validated; though, she is unaware of how she is to obtain it. Vicki then asks Trace, â€Å"Did you ever think when you look at yourself like this in the mirror that what you’re seeing isn’t really you† (Cioffari 22)? She continues, stating, â€Å"I’m not Vicki anymore. From now on I want you to call me Vee. Okay† (Cioffari 22)? It is at this point in the novel that Vee becomes aware of her own isolation—to Trace and to others. Her loneliness eats away at her and makes it impossible for her to have a fulfilling relationship. Vicki’s shift into the personage of Vee is her validation of the person that s... ... example of the silent sufferer. On the cross, Christ cries out in pain, but never against the men beating him. In none of the biblical accounts does ask them to stop and think about what they are doing. Instead he looks to his Father, resigning himself to God’s will, knowing that he must be the sacrifice, and like Vee, bear the weight of crimes. As silent sufferers and pictures of Christ, Vee, Arthur, and Donald absolve their sins through their resignation to suffering. Vee is able to alleviate the brokenness within her, resolving her â€Å"faith crisis.† Arthur gives up his fleshly body order to gain a spiritual body through death. Through this process they demonstrate major themes in novel including: redemption, sin, consequences, and resolution—ideas that can be seen not just in the stories of these three characters, but in the majority of Cioffari’s characters.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Network Security Essay examples -- essays research papers

Network Security In today’s world, with so many ways to gain unauthorized access to someone’s computer system, network security is very important. Almost every company has been a victim of a virus attack, hackers, or some other form of unauthorized access to their network. In this paper, I will discuss various methods that those who want this access use and ways they can be prevented. Many people feel that because they use passwords their files are secure and can’t be hacked. They unknowingly leave their networks open to attack without protection thinking everything is fine. Hackers can easily get into password protected files once they have access to a computer system. One way to prevent this is to use a firewall. A firewall prevents unauthorized users from gaining access to a system by restricting access to the entire system, not just the files on the system. Firewalls prevent access to data by using symmetric or asymmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption uses the same password to decrypt the data that it does to encrypt the data. This method allows users to be able to share the same password to gain access to the data and make any needed changes. Asymmetric encryption is different in that there are different passwords used to encrypt the data and decrypt the data. Asymmetric is considered a little more secure as passwords don’t have to be shared in order to allow someone access to the data. Each individual has his or her own password to access it. Asymmetric encryption uses public/private keys to encrypt/decrypt data. Public keys use the same encryption data to access the data that the data was encrypted with. Private, or secret, keys allow the originator of the data to encrypt it and not have to share his password with anyone. They can use their own private key to unlock the data. Digital certificates are certificates that are guaranteed to be authentic by a Certificate Authority. The certificate authority digitally ‘signs’ the data stating that it is authentic. An alternative to this is Public Key Infrastructure, or PKI. PKI uses private keys to certify the data is correct and authentic. PKI is a fast growing, although time consuming, method of securely transmitting data. Network security became necessary when hackers and other neer-do-wells discovered flaws, or holes, in the various layers of the OSI model that would allow... ...  Ã‚  Ã‚  Site located in-theater  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Off-site system replication OPSEC and low profile to prevent hostile targeting  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Network monitoring systems  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hardened sites Based on just the information contained in the CACI table, it’s obvious that Network Security is mandatory requirement for all networks. As information accessibility grows, so will the need to protect it. By protecting your network from the onset, you can help prevent the problems caused by those who want unauthorized access to your network. References http://www.certmag.com/articles/templates/cmag_feature.asp?articleid=580&zoneid=9 http://www.caci.com/business/ia/threats.html http://www.medword.com/MedwordStore/CSoft/encryption_white_paper.html http://www.iam.unibe.ch/~mseeberg/key/theory.html http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/46871/46871.html?Ad=1 http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/46871/46871.html?Ad=1 http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/8843/8843.html http://www.windowsecurity.com/pages/article_p.asp?id=1142 http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/15314/15314.html

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Exam Review Guide

Exam 3 Review Guide This guide lists the areas that you should concentrate on when reviewing for Exam 3. To adequately prepare for the test, you should first read the General Tso, Meet Steven Covey article to get comfortable with it. Then, as you review the items listed below, think in terms of how the theories discussed in class relate to the particular scenario described in the article. The exam will consist of multiple essay questions. Please don’t forget to bring a copy of the article with you, so that you will be able to have it available for your reference.You may highlight the article but you cannot write anything on your copy. Be prepared to identify issues, sources of the issues, and formulate/justify your recommendations. Should you have any questions in the course of your preparation, please do not hesitate to e-mail or call me. Good luck! Language, Culture, and Communication †¢ the context of language-based communication †¢ low-context cultures and explic it communication †¢ high-context cultures favor a more diffuse communication style †¢ communication on the Internet †¢ ethnocentrism †¢ stereotypesIntercultural Marketing Communications I †¢ clarifying the brand identity †¢ achieving visibility through identity-building brand exposure †¢ involving the consumer in brand-building experiences Intercultural Marketing Communications II †¢ service essentials †¢ the five lessons pertaining to services Great Leaps, Persistence, and Innovation: The Evolving Story of Hyundai †¢ Hyundai’s three-fold strategy †¢ the three pillars of Hyundai’s philosophy The Art and Science of Managing the New Global Corporation†¢ Napoleon’s words of wisdom †¢ being part of the solution vs. eing part of the problem †¢ the differences between managing a privately held business and managing a publicly held business †¢ the leadership model of the Carlson Industries (i. e . , the various components of the circle) Marketing the Arts: The Secret Weapon †¢ the importance of mission for not-for-profit organizations †¢ the important issue of economic nature and the influence of innovation on achieving productivity gains †¢ the third challenge in running arts organizations †¢ the mantra of running a successful arts organization †¢ the two types of marketing according to Michael Kaiser †¢ the two audiences that art organizations cater to

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Russia essays

Russia essays It seems like only yesterday that Russia was a strong, proud nation. It was also revered as one of the only two world superpowers, with the United States being the other. However, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, marking the failure of Communism. Today, Russia is on the brink of becoming a third-world nation. Russias population is collapsing, environmental problems are widespread, diseases, both communicable and non-communicable, are spreading like wildfire, crime is rampant, people are turning to drugs in an effort to ease their pains, and the economy has been plummeting since the conversion from Communism to capitalism from over a decade ago. While Russia was still known as the Soviet Union, its population reached approximately 287 million, 40 million more than the United States at this time (Dillin 4). Since this time, its population has dwindled down to almost half of this (146 million). This can be attributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which saw Russia lose about one-third of its population, and one-fourth of its territory. Some experts estimate that Russia is losing nearly 400 thousand people a year, which may lead to its population sinking to around 125 million by the year 2015 (Dillin 5). Officially, Russias population is declining by one thousand every day. A major contributing factor to the major loss of population may be the lack of childbirth. Sexually transmitted diseases have left millions of women infertile and, with abortion legal, abortions outnumber live births by an astonishing 2-to-1 average (Dillin 2). It is estimated that the birth rate in Russia has fallen to 9.1 births per one thousand people, compared to 15.7 in the United State (Powell 1). This means that one in four married couples is childless (Powell 2). If these trends do not end soon, Russias population could fall below that of countries such as Mexico, Vietnam, and Iran by the year 2025 (Dillin 6). In conclusion, a...

Monday, October 21, 2019

Book Review on Anna Karenina Essay Essays

Book Review on Anna Karenina Essay Essays Book Review on Anna Karenina Essay Paper Book Review on Anna Karenina Essay Paper Essay Topic: Anna Karenina Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. published in consecutive installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger. Widely regarded as a pinnacle in realist fiction. Tolstoy considered Anna Karenina his first true novel. The character of Anna was probably inspired. in portion. by Maria Hartung. the senior girl of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. Although Russian critics dismissed the novel on its publication as a â€Å"trifling love affair of high life† . Fyodor Dostoevsky declared it to be â€Å"flawless as a work of art† . His sentiment was shared by Vladimir Nabokov. who particularly admired â€Å"the unflawed thaumaturgy of Tolstoy’s style† . and by William Faulkner. who described the novel as â€Å"the best of all time written† . The novel is divided into eight parts. Its epigraph is â€Å"Vengeance is mine. I will repay† . Tolstoy’s linguistic communication has a galling consequence on readers coming to it for the first clip ; it takes clip to synch with his beat. The fresh Begins with one of its most quoted lines: â€Å"Happy households are all likewise ; every unhappy household is unhappy in its ain manner. Anna Karenina is the calamity of married blue blood and socialite Anna Karenina and her matter with the flush Count Vronsky. The narrative starts when she arrives in the thick of a household broken up by her brother’s unchecked philandering – something that prefigures her ain ulterior state of affairs. though with less tolerance for her by others. A unmarried man. Vronsky is willing to get married her if she would hold to go forth her hubby Karenin. a authorities functionary. but she is vulnerable to the force per unit areas of Russian societal norms. her ain insecurities and Karenin’s indecisiveness. Although Vronsky finally takes Anna to Europe where they can be together. they have problem in doing friends. She is shunned. going farther isolated and dying. Despite Vronsky’s reassurances she grows progressively genitive and paranoid about his imagined unfaithfulness. frights losing control and finally takes her ain life. A parallel narrative within the novel is of Levin. a state landholder who desires to get married Kitty. sister to Dolly and sister-in-law to Anna’s brother Oblonsky. Levin has to suggest twice earlier Kitty accepts. The novel inside informations Levin’s troubles pull offing his estate. his eventual matrimony. and personal issues. until the birth of Levin’s first kid. Tolstoy’s manner in Anna Karenina is considered by many critics to be transitional. organizing a span between the realist and modernist novel. The novel is narrated from a third-person-omniscient position. switching the narrator’s attending to several major characters. though most often concentrating on the opposing life styles and attitudes of its cardinal supporters of Anna and Levin. There is an inordinate usage of watercourse of consciousness. Tolstoy has used existent events in his narrative. to impart greater verisimilitude to the fictional events of his narrative. Characters speak of the important sociopolitical issues impacting Russia in the latter half of the 19th century. like the topographic point and function of the Russian provincial in society. instruction reform. and women’s rights. Tolstoy communicates his ain political beliefs through this novel. He includes in the transcript. his ain analysis of the political orientations. behaviours. and thoughts running through modern-day Russia through the ideas of Levin. The wide array of state of affairss and thoughts depicted in Anna Karenina allows Tolstoy to show a treatise on his Russian epoch. and. by virtuousness of its very comprehensiveness and deepness. all of human society. This stylistic technique. every bit good as the novel’s usage of position. greatly contributes to the thematic construction of Anna Karenina. The novel is fundamentally a twit on Russian nobility although Tolstoy himself was a portion of it. It emphasizes on the impressions of lip service. green-eyed monster. religion. fidelity. household. matrimony. contrivance. society. advancement. animal desire and passion. and the agricultural connexion to land in contrast to the life styles of the metropolis. There is a point raised on the extramarital affairs and the lower status composite for talking French alternatively of Russian linguistic communication. in the Russian Aristocratic society. Tolstoy allows his subjects to emerge of course from the â€Å"vast view of Russian life. The fresh sends a message that â€Å"no one can construct one’s felicity on another’s hurting. † Anna karenina implicitly shows the â€Å"respect† and â€Å"honour† given to adult females in western society which debates on Human Rights. Western society is non an exclusion. adult females largely considered to be the marionettes irrespective of the societies. This is why Allama Iqbal negotiations about the hollowness of the western society. Islam takes a moderated attack for adult females. There are limitations but her function is besides justified in the society.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Mans Fate Book Report essays

Man's Fate Book Report essays Andr Malraux was a French writer, explorer and statesman, who was born in Paris on 3 November 1901. He was self-taught through his love of books and paintings and his early acquaintance with avant-garde poets and artist. (Winegarten 268) He learned Oriental languages that came in handy during his time in Asia. Where he became extremely critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina, helping to organize the Young Annam League and founded the newspaper Indochina in Chains. On his return to France he published his first novel, The Temptation of the West (1926). This was trailed by The Conquerors (1928), The Royal Way (1930) and Mans Fate (French: La Condition Humaine) (1934), an influential novel about the overcome of a collective government in Shangai and the options the losers have to face. He used his experiences in Asia as background for his first novels, counting Mans Fate (1933), which won the Prix Goncourt [of literature]. (Bertram 53) Malrauxs career begins in mystery with the expedition to Indochina, the obscure affair of the missing statues, a short term of imprisonment, and a plunge into Eastern politics. The details of these matters are still unknown to us, but it is their resonance that counts. With all their shadow and uncertainty they nevertheless suggest a purity of adventure. Malraux entered the European consciousness not as a writer but as an event, as a symbolic figure somehow combining the magical qualities of youth and heroism with a sense of unlimited promise. (William Righter in The Rhetorical Hero, 1964) kirjasto.sci.fi/malraux.htm Mans Fate was first published in the year 1933, as a fictional story of the early days of the Chinese Revolution. This novel remains an n influential term of psychological insight into the strength of political revolution. From the opening scene, in which Chinese terrorist Chen Ta...

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Desertion critic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Desertion critic - Essay Example The study was conducted with a population that was made up of at-risk adolescent girls in the age group of 11 to 18. The rationale for selecting this group was in the fact that most of these girls do not have what it takes to make decisions for themselves and so what the messages they get from such multimedia platforms such as music video formed the basis of their actions (Morse & Richards, 2002). Through qualitative data collection, insights were drawn on how the population uses music videos as their source of entertainment, education and information. Part 2: Evaluation of Chapter 2 Literature Review Generally, the literature review was precise and skillfully conducted. The extensiveness of the literature review can be guaranteed in the way and manner in which the researcher drew up themes from the specific objectives of the study to cover all aspects of the research problem. This is said because the research objectives were constructed out of the research problem. Performing a lite rature review that covers all the research objectives therefore guarantees extensive coverage of research (Buckingham & Sefton-Green, 2001). What is more, on the depth and breadth of the topic, it could be said again that using the themes of the research objectives helped in this form of coverage. Indeed, the depth and breadth of the topic were rightly covered without the need to go outside the scope of the study was the research objectives continually served as a guide on areas to cover. This notwithstanding, issues of the authoritativeness of the literature review could be raised. For instance even though the researcher makes use of a good number of literature sources, there were several cases that the review would be noticed as being subjective rather than objective, based on the findings of the literature works being used. Even though the research work was performed in 2005, there were several sources used in the literature review that were way older than the current type of wri ting the work. In some cases, some of the sources were over a decade old as there were sources quoted from works produced in 1992. This notwithstanding, the researcher was careful with the section of sources and content from the sources such as that highly relevant contents that were related to the study were used. This made the overall literature review very relevant to the research problem that was at hand. Coupled with the relevance of the literature review, the researcher was careful to properly cite every borrowed material that was not part of her own ingenuity or making. This was done using the APA system of citation where the surname or surnames of authors and the date of publication were produced. A search through the reference list also showed that for every source that was cited in the literature review, this was properly reflected in the reference list. Whiles writing the list of references also, the researcher was careful to follow the APA style. Part 3: Evaluation of Ch apter 3 Methods The overall idea that one gets about the methods section is that the researcher was on top of the data collection process. Ahead of the research methods, the researcher had given a clear hypothesis or personalized reasoning based on which the data collecti

Friday, October 18, 2019

Women's rights in Iraq Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Women's rights in Iraq - Essay Example Girl’s school initiated a series of modifications and deep-seated progress in the lifestyle of literate urban Jewish women throughout the earlier part of the twentieth century. These encouraging changes integrated Jewish women, primarily in the central urban cities; nevertheless, they did not revolutionize the social status of Jewish women as a self-aware, united, and completely formed group (Sehayek, 2004). Moreover, these women fell short to interpret their personal accomplishments into a well worked out and important social occurrence, nor could they change the standpoint of male society surrounding them, or gain acknowledgment as an independent and equal social entity (ibid). The modifications in the life of Babylonian Jewish women should be investigated against the perspective of the subordinate and restricted status of their Muslim, or non-Jewish counterparts. One must take into account the factors that affected their lives and formed their self-identity, namely the domestic tradition and customs and social conditions of the Jewish and non-Jewish context (Reinhart, 2004). There is a dearth in literature discussing about the lives of Iraqi Jewish women. This was because of their imprisonment to domestic responsibilities or household chores, and to insufficient familiarization to the outside world. Travel brochures and journals relate extremely insignificant information about the rights and status of women in the Middle East, and even less about Jewish women. By bringing together information that rests scattered in books, several newspapers and key documents, one must attempt to structure the social and cultural development undertaken by the Jewish female groups in Iraq (ibid). Since the beginning of the history of the people of Israel, the representation of Jewish women was formed in harmony with holy laws, and a

Business ethics research paper Annotated Bibliography

Business ethics research paper - Annotated Bibliography Example This paper explores a maximization ratio of the expected return to the standard deviation of return for the portfolio. This paper highlights a full optimization of three possible portfolios. The modern portfolio theory defines an asset as a function that is normally distributed, and risk as the return’s standard deviation. In the case of Exxon and McDonald’s, there are three optimal portfolios. These are; Whenever an investor is given the tree portfolios, the investor is likely to prefer the portfolio with smaller risk. An investor will pursue a high-risk portfolio in a case where he is compensated by returns that are high. On the other hand, an investor in need of high returns will have to accept increased risks. In this respect, the objective would be to maximize the reward to risk ratio (Neubman, 2008). In order to establish the most preferred portfolio from the three, one should find out the number of expected risks and returns that an investor would be willing and able to accept. The expected returns in a portfolio could be given by W1E(r1) + W2 E(r2), where w1 weights in asset A1 and W† are weights in assets A2. E(r1) is the return expected in asset A1. The table below highlights the three portfolios with their risk and return. The efficient portfolio will have any amount of combined assets. The efficient asset allocation, in this case, would be examined using the two risky assets. For instance if a proportion worth $1000 is invested in the two companies, Portfolio 1 explains that 50% of $1000 ($500) would be invested in Exxon, and 50% of $1000 ($500) would be invested in McDonald’s. The return that is expected on this portfolio is an average that is weighted of the return expected on the asset components (Enrick, 2006). The second portfolio explains that 80% of $1000 ($800) would be invested in Exxon and 2o% of 1000 ($200) would be invested in

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Project Management for Construction Assignment

Project Management for Construction - Assignment Example As per my observations, I have proposed a number of actions that could be taken by the company in the near future. The findings of my analysis are explained one by one. The project as per contract No.205 is for a total sum of 10,000,000 and has been prepared under the JCT 98 format. Initially, the company had calculated the internal budget for the project and had projected it at 9,500,000, out of which 750,000 was allocated for package contracts. the project is still ongoing and has been facing some problems of late, which will be discussed in the forthcoming paragraphs. From the existing financial records, the total cost of the project incurred by the company has so far been close to 6,750,000, out of which 6,200,000 was spent on paying the package contractors and suppliers. However, the amount that has been obtained from the client since the commencement of the project has been to the tune of only 5,850,000, which means that the company has spent an extra amount of 900,000 on this project. In fact, it can be seen that the spending of the company has been more directed towards the package contracts and has in fact been more than the income that has been obtained from this project so far. This suggests that the company has not been efficient enough in monitoring the deficit, which has resulted in an extra investment of nearly a million pounds into the project that is yet to be cleared by the client. Apart from this, I have calculated the ... Apart from this, I have calculated the retention ratio at 10%, which is usually deemed quite less, especially for bigger projects such as these. At present, the company owes around 300,000 to the package contractors, out of which around 100,000 meant for a contractor has become insolvent. This leaves the existing dues to the package contractors at 200,000. I would like to note here that the situation on the part of the client has not been encouraging in terms of their financial performance during the past year. The shares of Rus Ting plc have not been performing well and their value has dropped by as much as half of their value. The poor performance of the client can be further reflected by the fact that they are yet to pay their certified installment due last month. To make matters worse, bad weather over the past few months has been constantly hampering the smooth flow of work at the construction site. The major concern of the company at the present moment is with regards to the time of completion of the project. By taking various factors into account, it has been estimated that the project would be completed three weeks behind schedule. Under such a situation, the company would have to pay up to 90,000 under Liquidated and ascertained damages to the client. Thus, it can be seen that apart from the outstanding costs that have been incurred by the company, another danger still looms large if no immediate steps are taken to bring about a change in the company's strategy and practices.Apart from these problems that the project is facing at the moment, there have been various other problems that have been hampering the progress of the project from time to time.

The cardiovascular system Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The cardiovascular system - Assignment Example Consequently, blood goes to both directions in the body for each pump. The four major chambers of the heart are; the left atrium, left ventricle right atrium, and right ventricle. The deoxygenated blood that is from the body is usually pumped into the right ventricle and the right atrium through to the lungs (Evans & Sutton 2012, p. 13). On the other hand, from the lungs, the oxygenated blood is pumped into the left ventricle and the left atrium into the body. Both left and the right parts of the heart functions together to ensure the flow of blood all over the body. From the right part of the heart, blood enters the heart via the main vena cava and the inferior vena cover hence emptying the deoxygenated blood coming from the body into the right atrium. While the right atrium contracts, blood flows from the right atrium to the left ventricle via an opening called the tricuspid valve. However, when the ventricle is filled with blood, the valve shuts hence prevents the backward flow of blood into the atria as the ventricle contracts. Due to the contraction of the ventricle, the heart releases blood via the pulmonic valve then to the pulmonary artery and eventually to the lungs where it gets oxygenated (Evans & Sutton 2012, p. 34). On the left side of the heart, pulmonary vein empties the blood rich in oxygen from the lungs to the left atrium. Due to contraction of the left atrium, blood flows from the left atrium then into the left ventricl e via an opening called mitral valve. The valve then shuts once the ventricle is filled preventing the flow of blood backward. With the contraction of the ventricle, blood flows out of the heart via the aortic valve through aorta then into the body. The rhythmic contraction of the heart occurs spontaneously, even though the rate of contraction may be changed by the hormonal or nervous influences. For instance, the

Select 2 or 3 even 4 movies to conduct a comparison Movie Review

Select 2 or 3 even 4 movies to conduct a comparison - Movie Review Example ory of two men (Dieyi and Xiaolou) against the historical backdrop of a country in upheaval and how their lives are affected by the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s and the victory of the Communists in 1949. The two meet at troupe and become very close friends. They, craving freedom, escape from the troupe but later return (Farewell my concubine, 2006). Douzi and Shitou grow on to be stars of Beijing opera and assume the stage names Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou. Dieyi falls in love with Xiaolou while a patron, Yuan Shiqing, makes advances at Dieyi. Xiaolou develops affection for Juxian and they later get engaged. Dieyi and Xiaolou have a falling out. Dieyi takes up with Master Yuan who gives him Zhangs sword. Master Guan shames them into re-forming the troupe. The relationships of the three main characters are tested in the political upheavals that follow. Xiao and Douzi disagree on Xiao’s training and punishment after which Xiao threatens vengeance. He makes good on the threat by usurping Dieyis role as the Concubine. Deiyi becomes an opium addict but is aided to the path of recovery by Xiaolou and Juxian. On the eve of the Cultural Revolution, after a few drinks, they rekindle their relationship. Under pressure, Shitou admits that Douzi performed for the Japanese and may have had a relationship with Yuan Shiqing. Douzi, angered by the revelation, tells the mob that Juxian was a prostitute. Shitou is forced to admit that he indeed married a prostitute but swears that he doesnt love her and will never see her again. Juxian is hurt by these words and commits suicide from a crushed heart. Xiao is caught by the Communist cadre in a gym elated by taking Douzi’s position and practicing Concubine Yus role (Farewell my concubine, 2 006). The grandmaster, starring Tony Leung as Ip Man, is a 2013 Hong Kong- Chinese martial arts film directed and written by Wong Kar-Wai and tells about the life of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man from the 1930s in Foshan, his

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Fire extinguishers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fire extinguishers - Essay Example personnel to have adequate training in fire suppression, familiarize with the location of fire extinguishers and demonstrate competency towards the task. It is important for individuals to keep one or several fire extinguishers in their households. They play a crucial role within the household because by minimizing property damage and safeguarding life (Burke, 2007). Apparently, power interruptions can have detrimental effects on numerous households. The situation necessitates the need to have at least one fire extinguisher in the house because it will assist greatly in minimizing damage. Households that depend on firefighters to control fire incidents suffer increased risks because they may take a while to arrive at the scene. The situation implies that more damage will occur than when an individual would otherwise have tried to contain the situation with a fire extinguisher. They assist in controlling fire before it gets out of control thereby minimizing the resultant damage. It does not make sense in having a fire extinguisher at home and yet lack the technique and skills necessary to operate it. Therefore, it is imperative for individuals to have adequate knowledge on the use of fire extinguishers as well as the safety measures. An individual trained to suppress a fire incident is aware on how to hold the equipment with the nozzle pointing away from the individual and aiming low. Essentially, learning on how to use fire extinguishers equips an individual with essential skills on how to use the equipment correctly in case of any fire incident. Burke (2007) affirms that learning how to control the fire before it gets out of control will play a vital role in safeguarding lives and minimizing the amount of property destroyed. Knowledge on refilling fire extinguishers ensures that an individual is well prepared to offset fire incidents as opposed to waiting for fire fighters who might take time to arrive at the scene. The response time for fire fighters is

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Select 2 or 3 even 4 movies to conduct a comparison Movie Review

Select 2 or 3 even 4 movies to conduct a comparison - Movie Review Example ory of two men (Dieyi and Xiaolou) against the historical backdrop of a country in upheaval and how their lives are affected by the Japanese invasion of China in the 1930s and the victory of the Communists in 1949. The two meet at troupe and become very close friends. They, craving freedom, escape from the troupe but later return (Farewell my concubine, 2006). Douzi and Shitou grow on to be stars of Beijing opera and assume the stage names Cheng Dieyi and Duan Xiaolou. Dieyi falls in love with Xiaolou while a patron, Yuan Shiqing, makes advances at Dieyi. Xiaolou develops affection for Juxian and they later get engaged. Dieyi and Xiaolou have a falling out. Dieyi takes up with Master Yuan who gives him Zhangs sword. Master Guan shames them into re-forming the troupe. The relationships of the three main characters are tested in the political upheavals that follow. Xiao and Douzi disagree on Xiao’s training and punishment after which Xiao threatens vengeance. He makes good on the threat by usurping Dieyis role as the Concubine. Deiyi becomes an opium addict but is aided to the path of recovery by Xiaolou and Juxian. On the eve of the Cultural Revolution, after a few drinks, they rekindle their relationship. Under pressure, Shitou admits that Douzi performed for the Japanese and may have had a relationship with Yuan Shiqing. Douzi, angered by the revelation, tells the mob that Juxian was a prostitute. Shitou is forced to admit that he indeed married a prostitute but swears that he doesnt love her and will never see her again. Juxian is hurt by these words and commits suicide from a crushed heart. Xiao is caught by the Communist cadre in a gym elated by taking Douzi’s position and practicing Concubine Yus role (Farewell my concubine, 2 006). The grandmaster, starring Tony Leung as Ip Man, is a 2013 Hong Kong- Chinese martial arts film directed and written by Wong Kar-Wai and tells about the life of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man from the 1930s in Foshan, his

Organization transformation Essay Example for Free

Organization transformation Essay The need for a change is almost there on a daily basis in corporations. This is accentuated by particularly by the advent of new technology like the internet and new management methods and new technologies (Wallace, 2007). This brings in new ways of doing jobs within the company and thus the workers are affected. Companies which initially used to have the traditional organization model have increasingly adopted they are better and more efficient and modern transformed organizational models. An organization provides a mean of utilizing individual capabilities within a team to accomplish what cannot be achieved by the aggregate attempts of team members working in isolation. The aims of forming corporations and organizations are to deliver goods or services to consumers in a way that at the conclusion of the deal profits and not losses can be realized. Organizational change is geared at achieving this and thus winning the hearts and minds of the target population while concurrently bringing about a changed behavior and work culture to the partakers. In response to this Organizational transformation, roles, skills, job descriptions and structure of the workforce need to be re-designed. The Southwest Gas Corporation Such a company that has embraced organizational change from the traditional one to the modern organization transformation is the southern gas corporation of Nevada. Having realized that all organizations and corporations are unique due to unique environment in which they operate and their mode and ways of operations they should be structured to accommodate unique problems and opportunities Southwest Gas Corporation is a company engaged in the business of purchasing, distributing and transporting natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers in Nevada state of the southwestern United States. The Gas Corporation has employed about 2,500 workers who serve at least 1. 8million customers in Arizona, Nevada and parts of California states. The company is an investor owned utility whose shares are traded in the New York Stock Exchange and the pacific stock exchange (South West Gas Corporation, 2007). The company has been implementing a five year organizational transformation with an aim of offering better services to the customers and improving the quality of he workers. With respect to transformation certain areas should be prioritized for instance in redefining the business model, integrating acquisitions, building infrastructure, reframing markets and managing talents. The southern gas corporation has taken comprehensive plan to change from the traditional to the transformed organizational model studies done on this company indicated that a positive correlation between the working conditions and the productivity of the workers exists . the results of the studies revealed that innate forces of human behavior may have a greater influence on organizations than do mechanistic incentive systems. In response to that study southern gas corporation have done an almost complete overhaul in areas to do with transport, billing, the accounting system, meter reading systems and the whole organization structure of the company since 2002. Effects Having undergone the organizational change to a more better and modern one saw a number of transformations in the work force. Every member of the workforce was subjected to month long refreshment training as a way of crating a new working atmosphere and as a way of orientating them to the new working tools. The remuneration package was revised to increase the morale of the workers. On the part of the infrastructure the offices and other working areas were renovated. The total reorganization of the offices this was to cater for the psychological aspect of the workers The Organizations adopted a vertical division of labor practice involving the administrators then below them the managers and supervisors and lastly at the base we have the workers. The principal function of top level administrators or executives generally is to plan long-term strategy and administer the middle managers whose work is to guide the day to day activities of the corporations and oversee implementation of the top level strategy. Low-level supervisors and laborers put the made strategy into action and carry out the immediate tasks needed to keep the corporation running. Thus, the South west gas corporation has become a formal with reference to the extent of formalization of rules that have been adopted within the organization structure. In formal organizations, a mild impersonal relationship between the workers and the company is viewed as the best environment suitable for achievements of organization’s objectives by the managerial staff. Here subordinates duties more clearly defined and workforce with different applicable skills are dispensed duties to their areas of specialization in the corporation. It is the duties of workers at the bottom level to perform the essential duties of the corporation with supervisory assistance from the managers. Subordinate staff deals generally with supply and production chain of the corporation . The managerial needs of the whole business process is overseen by the higher cadre staff that includes the supervisors and the administrators. Two important implications into the change in the organization procedure there was equity due to just fair and impartial treatment of all workers, the organization was more orderly since employees were arranged where they would be of most value to the corporation. Initiative was fostered by encouraging the employees to act on their own. Similarly the employees cultivated more attributes and etiquettes (South West Gas Corporation, 2007). Motivation should come from different incentives rather than letting monetary rewards be the sole motivators. The spirit of comradeship among the workers fostered devotion to a common cause. The behavioral change by the managers that allowed greater latitudes stimulated the workers. In general, transformation made workers to become more productive. Having been provided with the best working conditions the workers employees have become capable of effective self-direction yielding self-actualization and this was among the biggest rewards that organizations has provided to its employees. Similar the shares of the southern gas company at the New York stock exchange gained value. Use of improved service delivery systems for instance the better gas safety management systems reduced the number of gas accident cases recorded prior to the five year period. Due to a liberalized approach towards the workers in the by the management they were able to create their labour organization to looks for their own interests, thus enhancing growth of the labour union organizations. This amounted to increase in vocal power of the workers to demand their rights. Conclusion In the world today organizations are operating in an increasingly complex platform. Changing multiple dimensions and high rates globalization trends and the implications of the post-industrial information age are driving these corporations to revolutinalize themselves (Wallace, 2007). The end product of this transformation is a successful company with competent work force. However, organizational transformation should not stop with the end of the project duration. During the benefit realizations stage of the lifecycle, emphasis should be continued on the need to encourage the workers and the community to adapt to the new ways of working and get the most from the system change.

Monday, October 14, 2019

IT Impact on Organizational Performance in Banking

IT Impact on Organizational Performance in Banking Information technology and permeated almost every aspect of business operations and communications technologies. So it is a one of the most exciting research has been focusing on the wide interest in all parts of the world through the decades, but little was devoted to study the impact of information technology to banks in Bahrain. This study examines the impact of information technology on organizational performance in the banking sector during the period from 2005 to 2009. The dependent variable used is return on equity ( ROE) while the independent variables are Hard ware, Soft Ware, System Development Operations, I .T Maintenance, I.T Training , I .T Insurance , I.T Communication, I .T Implementation, I .T Consultancy , I .T Sites and Business Continuity Planning (BCP). Preliminary data collected through in-depth interviews, official documents and surveys of the field through the top 8 banks in Bahrain, this data has been tested by applying different statistical methods and finance. The research results led to the conclusion that information technology has a positive impact on organizational performance in the banking sector. CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION As an emerged business trend, the use of information technology (I.T) in the economic organizations are immense and measureless. Systems of organization and functions are now considered effortless and unproblematic because of I.T. information technology passes to be the most important one for each financial institution and the banks, particularly, they are one of the greater investors in I. T, Ahli united bank one of these banks that costs them around $ 13 millions. It is an enormous cost of this technology for local and international market. The existing studies generally have concluded two positive effects concerning the relationship between IT and the financial performance of banks. â€Å"First, it can reduce operational costs of banks (the cost advantage). For example, the Internet helps banks to conduct standardized, low value transactions (e.g. send the bill payments, balance inquiries, account transfers) through the online channel, while focusing its resources on specialized, high value added transactions (eg small business loans, personal trust services, investment banking) through branches. Second, can facilitate transactions between customers within the same network(the network effect). As an example, let us consider the case of automated teller machines (ATMs) by banks. If ATMs are geographically dispersed areas available largely over, the advantage of using an atmosphere will increase as customers can access their accounts from any geographic location they want. This would imply that the value of the ATM network increases with number of locations available in the atmosphere, and the value of the network of the a bank to a customer is determined in part by the final size of the network effect banks network is important in the adoption of the atmosphere. IT has drawn the attention of many researchers, commissioned to study the impact of IT in the functioning of the bank and that is a goal of many organizations. Some researchers have found positive relationships between IT investment and organizational performance and some of it found it negative. Problem Statement IT investments and its impact on the banking industry is a very important point for both banking managers and IT managers to be able to deal with and justify wither increased spending for investment in IT will lead to increase performance of Bank or not. That will put increasing pressure on managers to asses its business value. In this study we will examine the key components of IT investments (Hard ware, Soft Ware, System Development Operations, I .T Maintenance, I.T Training , I .T Insurance , I.T Communication, I .T Implementation, I .T Consultancy , I .T Sites and Business Continuity Planning (BCP) to see if spending in different IT areas as an impacts on bank performances. Significance and Importance The importance of this project lies in its ability to shed a light on the Impact of Information Technology on The Financial Performance of Bank sector in kingdom of Bahrain. Furthermore, this study would encourage other Banks in the area to benefit from Bahraini Banks experience and therefore follow their lead. Purposes The goal of this study is to: To determine which type of information system leads to high financial performance of the banks. Evaluate in what specific ways and to what extent do information systems could eventually lead to high financial performance. To find out what issues emerges when implementing IT at the bank. Research Hypothesis The main Hypotheses There is no significant relationship between investing in I.T and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H01: There is no significant relationship between investing in HW and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H02: There is no significant relationship between investing in SW and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H03: There is no significant relationship between investing in SDO and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H04: There is no significant relationship between investing in Main and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H05: There is no significant relationship between investing in Trn and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H06: There is no significant relationship between investing in Insu and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H07: There is no significant relationship between investing in Comm and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H08: There is no significant relationship between investing in Imp and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H09: There is no significant relationship between investing in Con and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H010: There is no significant relationship between investing in Sit and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H011: There is no significant relationship between investing in BCP and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. Key Words Information technology (I.T): any technology that helps to produce, manipulate process, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. Information system (IS): is any combination of information technology and peoples activities using that technology to support operations, management, and decision-making. I.T Investment : Banks of Bahrain: Its a financial institution located in Bahrain that deals in money and its substitutes and provides other financial services. ATM: automated teller machine, which allows customers to complete basic transactions without the aid of a branch representative or teller. Financial Performance: is the overall profitability of the insurance firm. Study Outline The paper proceeds as follows: Chapter 2 focuses on the literature review where the work of other researchers and some previous theoretical and empirical studies are mentioned. Chapter 3 is about the methodology used in this study. Chapter 4 discusses the empirical results and findings of the research. Finally, conclusions and recommendations are made in chapter 5. CHAPTER TWO BACKGROUND CHAPTER TWO BACKGROUND Introduction This chapter will specify some aspects of Bahrains economy and what attracts foreign and local investors to invest their capital in this country; along with some important features and statistical data regarding the banking industry, we will try to know why It is necessary for the management of the organizations to measure and to evaluate the organization performance. Finally, the literature review will discuss a number of some previous studies related to this topic. An Overview of Bahrains Economy The economy of Bahrain is mainly defined by oil production and refining and production, ship repair, iron pelletization, fertilizers, offshore banking, insurance. The country is trying hard to privatize its economy so that it can reduce the dependence on oil production and that prompted the government to develop other industries as well. For example, in 1970, the government established Aluminum Bahrain (ALBA), an aluminum smelting industry which still remains an important industry. In a further effort at diversification, the government has also promoted tourism. The government controls the oil and gas, most heavy industry, and the bulk transport and communications, but has made efforts to privatize the economy, bank transfer, light manufacturing, and trade in private hands. Listen Read phonetically Dictionary View detailed dictionary Translate any website El Confidencial-Spain Tom.com-China News.de-Germany Nord-Cinema-France Zamalek Fans-Arabic Gotujmy.pl-Polish Vogue-France Arte Toreo-Spain LExpress-France Onet.pl-Polish Pà ºblico.es-Spain Zeit Online-Germany Bahrains economy is strong and always improving their sectors to look for a bright future. It was called the fastest growing financial center in the Arab world by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in January 2006 by the City of London global financial centers index in 2008. In 2004 it signed a free trade an agreement with United States will reduce the trading Which Barriers between the two countries. Bahrain Was the first Arabian Gulf state to sign such a trading mutual agreement with the United States. http://www.mapsofworld.com/country-profile/bahrain1.html https://www.cia.gov Banking Sector in Bahrain Bahrain is the home of more than 400 the authorized financial institutions, what represents a rich mix of international, regional and local names. They cover all the range of financial products, with private concentrations in sure, wholesale banking and funds / asset management. The financial sector is now the major sector of the economy represents more than the 27% of the GDP. The financial sector is also the major employer in Bahrain for more than the 80% of the labor. The sector is regulated and supervised by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) (www.cbb.gov.bh), which since 2002 has functioned as a regulator of the entire financial system. Bahrains banking system consists of both conventional and Islamic banks and is the main component of the financial system, which represent over 85% of total financial assets. The conventional segment includes 19 retail banks, 69 wholesale banks, 2 specialized banks and 36 representative offices of foreign banks. The Islamic segment, offering a series of Sharia Conformity of their products and services include 6 retail and 18 wholesale banks, and the numbers are increasing steadily. The banking sector has played a central role in the development of Bahrain as major financial center in the region. As in December 2006, banking sector assets amounted to over U.S. $ 180 billion, more than twelve times annual gross domestic product. The recent increase in the sector has been supported willingly fortune of the industry of the petroleum and the corresponding increases of liquidity. The banks are playing thus a central role in surplus to reinvest the petroleum incomes as well as complying the opportunities of financing in other segments of the economy. http://www.bahrain1.com/banking.html Performance Measures The performance as declared by Wheelen and hunger (2000) is the final result of an activity and a performance organizacional accumulates turned out final of all the organization process and activities. It is necessary for the management of the organizations to measure and to evaluate the organization performance to utilize organizations resources in better form and to win good organization honorableness. Managers measure and to control organization performance, since conducts to a better management of assets, to a greater capacity to provide value of the client, for improve the measures of organization Knowledge and measure of performance organizacional have an impact on an organization reputation. Literature review Many studies had been done in order provide a clear picture of the financial performance of banks. Gupta, Uma and Collins (1997) investigate the impact of information systems on the efficiency of banks. They were centered in determining the relation among the investments in I.T and bank efficiency; they identified an efficiency measures assembly commonly utilized by the banks and they asked to their respondents to specify if these measures were utilized to evaluate the performance of I.T an investment. They found that the companies ensure that the investments in technology are deliberately and in a significant way aligned with achieving the strategic, tactical one, and the operational goals of the business is probable that to see a narrower link among I.T investments and improvements of productivity of the organization. Thus I.T performs an important and valuable role in helping to reach objectives organizational, to enlarge the productivity to improve service to the client, and to utilize fully existing system. Lunardi, Becker and Macada (2003), they evaluated the strategic impact of IT in Brazilian, American, Argentinean, Uruguayan and Chilean banks as perceived by their executives. In order to externally validate the questionnaire, results were analyzed considering, as isolated samples, (a) Brazil, (b) the United States, (c) Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, and, then, (d) as one group merging all data. The results indicate that (1) Competition, Products and Services, and Borrowers (customers) are the main strategic variables affected by IT; (2) there are no differences between executives of IT and other functional executives regarding their perception of the impacts of IT in strategic variables; and (3) the impact of IT in Competitiveness is significantly related with the impact of IT in Borrowers, Government and Country Requirements, Products and Services, and Cost Structure and Capacity. This study supported banking executives to plan IT strategies, their implementation and to evaluate their use. Another research had been done by Elena Becalli. (2005) Who investigated whether investment in Information Technology (IT) hardware, software and other IT services influences the performance of banks by Using a sample of 737 European banks over the period 1993-2000 . The study found that the impact of different types of IT investment (hardware, software and services) on banks performance is heterogeneous. Investment in IT services from external providers (consulting services, implementation Services, training and education, support services) appears to have a positive influence on accounting profits and profit efficiency, while the acquisition of hardware and software seems to reduce banks performance. Shaukat and Zafarullah. (2009) made a study examined the impact of IT on organizational performance in quantitative terms of Pakistans manufacturing and banking sectors over period of 1994-2005 and come with the following result. I.T changed the character of so much work for the industries and enlarges its performance. This positive impact has shown in indicators of qualitative performance. Significant improvements with regard to the different qualitative variables as customer satisfaction, client/suppliers links, image of the business, employees interest work, shareholders, confidence and among office links/communication they have been observed in both the sectors and banking in Particular . Akram and Allam. (2010), explored the impression on improving the performance of two forms of matrix. The first is matrix of financial performance which comprises Market Value-Added (MVA), Return on Investment (ROI) and Earning per Share (EPR) and the second is matrix of operational performance, which includes the Net Profit Margin (NPM), Operating Return on Assets (ORA) and the profit value of the employee (PE). Utilizing IT by Jordanian banks which measured by testing the level of investment in Hardware, Software, Internet Banking, Phone banking, number of ATMs, use of Cyber branches and Banking via SMS. The results of measurements indicated that there was an impact on the use of MIS in Jordanian banks in the market value added (MVA), Earnings Per Share (EPS), Return on Assets (ROA), Net Profit Margin (NMP). Keramati, Azadeh and Mehran (2009), discussed and tested empirical to moderate environmental effects of dynamism and branch strategy on the impact of the investment and other efficient variables (number of employees and fixed assets) in the branches. The study sample was comprised of 102 branch offices of the bank Parsian and the empirical results, on the base of a model moderate of decline. Concretely, IT investment seems to have a greater positive impact on performance of the banks when there are greater environmental changes and more proactiva strategy branch. According to their conclusions, the banks considering that the investment should evaluate their performance environmental contexts and the strategic orientation. Another investigation has been carried out for Mallick and Shirley (2006). They examined the effects of the information technology (IT) in the banking industry of United States. They found that IT can improve banks performance in two ways: IT can reduce operational cost (cost effect), and facilitate transactions among customers the clients inside the same network (effect network). They characterized the conditions to identify these two effects and the conditions for the two seemingly positive effects to turn negative in the equilibrium. The results were tested on a panel of 68 US banks over 20 years, and they found that the bank profits decline due to adoption and diffusion of IT investment, reflecting negative network effects in banking Industry. In this study I will use the same factors used by Akram and Allam (2010) to explain the Impact of Information Technology on The Financial Performance of Bank sector in kingdom of Bahrain. CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY Introduction In this part of the study, we build the methodology of the study that is characterized in terms of tools and method of measurement and tests for the problem of the study, taking advantage of methods and tools of previous studies, in order to guarantee the access to the methodology to obtain the information more I need and better results. The key variables will be measured in an intent of practice to identify dependent and independent variables and to explain how the independent variable affects the dependent variable. Finally, It will also provide a study model and some specifications of the model used to conduct the research. Population and Sampling Data Collection The data was collected through in-depth interviews with the senior managers of finance , and some mangers from I.T Department of Banks in sample and from official documents plus We used several academic journals and articles which have been downloaded online from various websites to collect data for this study. Updating numerical data about the Banking sector and Banks have been collected from the annual reports of each Banks which are submitted on their official websites. Population The research population is all locally Banks in Bahrain Ahli United Bank National Bank of Bahrain Bahrain Islamic Bank (BisB) Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait B.S.C . Bank Muscat International (BMI) Standard Chartered Kuwait Finance House Bahrain Citibank Bahrain HSBC Bank Middle East Limited Arab Bank Table 3.1 : Population Source: The Researcher Sample Ahli United Bank (AUB) Bank Muscat International (BMI) were selected as research sample to represent this sector. However these Banks were selected because I found that it was easy for me to collect any information needed for this research from these tow Banks since I am working in Ahli united Bank and I Know Manger of IT in Bank Muscat International (BMI) . Ahli United Bank . Bank Muscat International (BMI) Table 3.2 : Sample Source: The Researcher The first bank is Ahli United Bank, Bahrain (AUB): Ahli United Bank BSC (AUB) formed after the 2001 merger of Al-Ahli Commercial Bank and Commercial Bank of Bahrain, It is a full fledged commercial and investment banking group providing Services of 1. Wealth management 2. Retail, corporate 3. Treasury 4. offshore 5. Islamic banking 6. Real estate fund management 7. Structured finance and private banking services. The Groups businesses consist of the operations in Bahrain, a wholly owned subsidiary in the UK and associates in Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Iraq and Libya. Source: http://www.cbb.gov.bh/page.php?p=banking The second bank is Bank Muscat International (BMI) : BMI Bank (previously known as Bank Muscat International), an associate of Bank Muscat the largest financial services provider in Oman today, is a Retail Bank, registered in Bahrain and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain offering a full range of retail and commercial banking services. BMI Bank operates in Bahrain through a network of 8 branches and 26 ATMs with net banking for easy access to services. Source: http://www.bmi.com.bh/AnnualReport/images Period covered in this research This research covers the period from 2005 to 2009. Analysis Plan Use Regression method to specify the relationship between the independent variables (HW, SW, SDO, MAIN, TRN, Insu, Comm, Imp, Cons, Sit, BCP) and the dependent variable which is the (ROE). Research Model Model Specification This economic model is used to examine the relationship between Independent Variables and Banks performance. Defining Study Variables The independent variables Hard ware: Which includes spending on data storage devices, terminals, memory, peripherals, workstations, personal computers and data communications devices, So It is the net investment bank in the computer hardware and equipment in the period. (Akram Allam 2010) Soft Ware: which includes spending on packaged software, application Solutions software, application tools, and systems infrastructure software? It is the net investment bank in the software during the period. (Akram Allam 2010) System Development Operations: Which includes spending on Specific activities related to system development and other expenses for operations management during the period like the network, processing services, backup and archiving. ( Elena Becalli. 2005) I .T Maintenance :On going operational support of either hardware or software IT assets of an organization. This can be both preventative as well as reactive support. I.T Training: Includes education used to enhance general knowledge and expand the abilities to use IT during the period. (Elena Becalli 2005) I .T Insurance: The insurer provides protection of IT assets against fire, theft, flood and accidental damage and protects the firms investment from claims arising out of professional negligence or system failure . I.T Communication: Providing effective ways for inter application, inter entity communication. Effective IT communication provides the backbone for the working of any next generation application due to centralized and cloud based roadmap towards Information Technology. I .T Implementation: Which includes spending on a new or changed application systems are needed in order to support the processes, these must first be procured or developed and implemented. I .T Consultancy: Includes all what they spend to provide product-specific consulting during the period. It is one of the independent variables. (Elena Becalli. 2005) I .T Sites: Physical controlled infrastructure support for IT related hardware / data centers. This can be segregated between production and disasters recover sites Business Continuity Planning (BCP): It is the cost of Planning that identifies to the organization, exposition to external and internal threats and synthesizes soft and hard assets to provide an efficient prevention and the recovery of the organization, during the period. It is one of the independent variables. The independent variables ROE: Return on equity  measures a corporations profitability  by revealing how much  profit a company generates  with the money shareholders have invested. So it is the amount of the net incomes returned like a percentage of the capital stock.   Each banks ROE has been obtained for its annual reports and calculated as: Return on Equity = Net Income/Shareholders Equity CHAPTER FOUR ANALYSIS TESTING HYPOTHESIS Introduction This Section includes tow main topics, the first is about descriptive Analysis of the study variables through various descriptive statistical measures, such as: Central tendency measures, Dispersion measures, Mean, Median, Range and Standard Deviation; to describe the study variables. The Second topic represents testing the study hypotheses, and computing the regression model information. First topic, Descriptive Analysis Descriptive Analysis The descriptive analysis table in the appendix shows the following: From Table 4.1, which illustrates the use of Bahrain banks for I.T, we notes that average cost of H W in Bahrain banks reached the highest average in year 2009 (3,332,204) and this year was the lowest in the standard deviation (323,436), as well as the year that contains the largest cost for investment (3,103,500), which refers to the rise in investment H W by Bahrain banks. The second independent factor is the S W, its mean (medium) started with (1,085,277) and we notice that they are on the increase from year to year until it reaches in 2009 to (3,117,740) While the standard deviation of S W started with 940,060 then decrease to (865,657) and increase later in 2007 and again decreased to (805,459) in 2008 and lowest amount (236,654) in 2009. The minimum S W during the research period was (420,554) while the maximum was (2,950,400). We marked that the third factor which is the S D O had a mean started with ( 627,493 ) and ended with( 525,001 ) and noted that investment in S D O reached the highest value in the years 2005 ( ,000,000) and 2007 ( 720,000 ) while the lowest value was in the year 2008 ( 245,907 ) and the standard deviation started high in first year 2005 ( 526,804 ) and decreased to the lowest in the last year 2009 ( 35,281) . The M A I N mean (medium) started with (930,182) in 2005 and ended with (1,519,138) in 2009. While the standard deviation started with (805,844) and ended with (957,440). The minimum M A I N during the research period was (360,365) and the largest amount was (2,196,150). The fifth factor which is the T R N had a mean (medium) of (133,498), (142,611), (180,363), (147,626) and (94,051) the standard deviation started with 94,048 and ended with (36,697), the minimum T R N during the research period was (66,996) while the maximum was (280,000). The I N S U mean (medium) started with 48,220 in 2005 and ended with 99,966 in 2009 while the standard deviation started with 37,873 and ended with 13,918 the minimum I N S U during the research period was 21,440 while the largest was 109,808. From the previous table we note that the seventh variable COMM, the average cost in Bahrain banks started with 1,124,045 and continue increased upto (1,737,626). In 2009, the standard deviation started with 955,944 and ended with (1,148,871), the minimum rate during the period reached to the lowest of 448,091 and highest was 2,550,000 in 2009. The I M P mean (medium) started with (243,621) in 2005 and ended with (562,749) in 2009. The standard deviation started with (188,627) and ended with the (60,303); the minimum rate during the period was (110,241), while the maximum was (60,303). The ninth factor which is the C O N S had a mean (medium) of (63,192), (32,123), (38,552), (55,051) and (95,053) and the standard deviation started with (52,055) and ended with (35,281), the minimum C O N S during the research period was (14,245) while the maximum was (120,000). The S I T mean (medium) in the beginning 3 years were the same 65,307 years and in the last 2 years increased to (104,500) while the standard deviation started with 49,063 and ended with (21,920). The minimum S I T during the research period was 30,614 while the maximum reached to (89,000). The BCP mean (medium) in the beginning year started with (295,011) and ended in the last year with (430,744). While the standard deviation was beginning with (247,472) and decreased in the last year to (198,759). We note the minimum BCP during the research period was (120,022) and the maximum was (571,288). The dependent variable is the ROE which was marked by the year 2006 the highest revenue between the years of the sample, as it reaches the highest return of 19.230% while the standard deviation was started with 3.606% and decreased later to .495 % in 2009. The year 2009 marked the lowest return on equity, amounting to 9.600%. Regression Analysis I used Pooled Data Regression method because Ive tie series data (2005-2009) and cross-sectional data (2 Banks). I have mathematical model of the study is developed as follows: I used E views program to analyze the data, I also used pooled regression and multi-regression because we have more than one independent variable verses only one variable which is the R O E. The confidence interval is ( 95 %). Testing Hypothesis As stated in the first chapter, these are the null hypothesis for this research The main Hypotheses There is no significant relationship between investing in I.T and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H01: There is no significant relationship between investing in HW and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H02: There is no significant relationship between investing in SW and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H03: There is no significant relationship between investing in SDO and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H04: There is no significant relationship between investing in Main and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H05: There is no significant relationship between investing in Trn and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H06: There is no significant relationship between investing in Insu and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H07: There is no significant relationship between investing in Comm and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H08: There is no significant relationship between investing in Imp and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H09: There is no significant relationship between investing in Con and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H010: There is no significant relationship between investing in Sit and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. H011: There is no significant relationship between investing in BCP and the financial performance of Banks of Bahrain. The above hypothesi

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Godfather Essay -- essays research papers

The Godfather is the story of a Mafia family. It follows the rise of Michael Corleone within the family. Michael was once a war hero and did not want to be involved in the family business. When his father is shot though, Michael takes revenge on the people who did it and becomes a part of the Mafia lifestyle. When his older brother is murdered, Michael ascends to become the boss of the family, and proves to be more ruthless than his father and brother combined. The scene that I am analyzing is one where Michael is becoming his nephew’s godfather at his baptism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Godfather is a traditionally edited movie. This particular scene however uses Eisenstein’s method of montage editing. Francis Ford Coppola uses hard cutting in order to show a stark contrast in the main character Michael Corleone. The scene begins with a shot of Michael’s godson. In the Catholic religion, a newborn baby is born with original sin. At the moment of its baptism, it is the most pure thing on earth; it has no sin. The godfather is the baby’s guardian into life. The scene cuts to all the different assassins Michael has deployed to take out his enemies. It cuts back to the baptism and the priest asks Michael if he believes in god, Jesus, and the church. Michael replies yes. The scene cuts back to the assassins. The voice of the priest is heard giving the ceremony as the assassins prepare to kill. The scene cuts back to Michael and the priest asks Michael if he rejects Satan ...

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Humorous Wedding Speech †Reasons I Admire the Groom -- Wedding Toasts

Humorous Wedding Speech – Reasons I Admire the Groom Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen - I’m not an experienced public speaker, so I find it easier just to read the speech word for word. In fact, I’ve practiced it almost daily for about a week and a half now, so that I know it very well. It’s a tip that I read in a book about public speaking. I’ve also been drinking profusely to help calm my pre-speech nerves. I made that tip up myself. Laughter Yes, I am a little nervous about being the best man. But I am more bothered with the title of 'best man'. Saying that I'm the best man is saying quite a bit. If I'm the best man, why is Maria marrying Karl? So I'm just happy saying that I am a pretty good man, because today Karl is the best man. And he’s a man I admire for the following reasons: 1) His generous nature – what with him donating his body to science when he started at ...

Friday, October 11, 2019

Comparing the Electoral and Party Systems of China and Russia Essay

The collapse of the international socialist network changed the world at the turn of the century. The failure of the many socialist regimes ended the confrontation between East and West and provided an opportunity to restructure the international order. The individual states of East Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union took differing paths and chose differing restructuring strategies, which themselves led to different courses of transformation. The former hard-line socialist regimes of Russia and China had to face the challenges brought by the new world order specifically on altering its political structures. This paper would compare the government and politics of China and Russia focusing on the electoral laws and their impacts on the party system. Moreover, this would try to recommend some possible measures to ensure the development of democracy for both countries and to address some of their problems. Russia is a vast country with an imperial and authoritarian past. By area, Russia is the largest country in the world, almost twice the size of the United States. The population includes numerous minorities, with 36 national groups containing more than 100,000 people, Russia’s rulers have in the past been autocratic empire builders, basing their imperial expansion on control of the serf society and a rural community. Russia’s experience in communism represented a culmination of a authoritarianism. The Union Soviet Socialist Republics encompassing 15 European and Asian Republics, formed the former Russian Empire. The politics of Russia take place in a framework of a federal presidential republic. According to the Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is head of state, and of a multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed by the President by the parliament’s approbation. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, while the President and the government issue numerous legally binding by-laws. Although Russia has traditionally been ruled by absolute monarchs and dictators, it currently has a democratic system of government. Since gaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991, Russia has faced serious challenges in its efforts to forge a political system to follow nearly seventy-five years of Soviet rule. With a new constitution and a new parliament representing diverse parties and factions, Russia’s political structure subsequently showed signs of stabilization. As the transition period extended into the mid-1990s, the power of the national government continued to wane as Russia’s regions gained political and economic concessions from Moscow. Although the struggle between executive and legislative branches was partially resolved by the new constitution, the two branches continued to represent fundamentally opposing visions of Russia’s future. One of the world’s oldest civilization consisting states and cultures dating back thousands of years ago is China. It is a cultural region, ancient civilization, and nation in East Asia. The deadlock of the last Chinese Civil War has resulted in two political entities using the name China: the People’s Republic of China (PRC), administering mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau; and the Republic of China (ROC), administering Taiwan and its surrounding islands. It has the world’s longest continuously used written language system, and the source of some of the world’s great inventions including paper, compass, gunpowder, and printing. The People’s Republic of China is working within the framework of a single-party socialist republic. The will of Chinese citizens is expressed through the legislative bodies of the People’s Congress system. People’s Congress members at the county level are elected by voters. These county level People’s Congresses have the responsibility of oversight of local government, and elect members to the Provincial People’s Congress. The provincial People’s Congress in turn elects members to the National People’s Congress that meets each year in March in Beijing. Current political concerns in China include lessening the growing gap between rich and poor, and fighting corruption within the government leadership. The support that the Communist Party of China has among the Chinese population in general is unclear because national elections are mostly CPC dominated, as there are no opposition political parties and independent candidates elected into office are too scattered and disorganized to challenge CPC rule. According to Hague and Harrop, â€Å"Party systems are the interaction between the significant political parties. In a democracy, parties respond to each other’s initiatives in a competitive interplay. The party system also reflects legal regulation applying to all parties. In China, a dominant party system is in place wherein one party is a constant component of the executive, governing either alone or in coalition. The dominant party system was more common in the twentieth century than it is today and China is one rare example. The dominant party of the PRC is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The leadership of the CCP is enshrined in the PRC Constitution. State power within the PRC is exercised through the CCP, the Central People’s Government and their provincial and local counterparts. Under the dual leadership system, each local bureau or office is under the theoretically co-equal authority of the local leader and the leader of the corresponding office, bureau or ministry at the next higher level. The ruling Communist Party committee at each level plays a large role in the selection of appropriate candidates for election to the local congress and to the next higher level. China is a country that accepts involvement from multiple political parties. Apart from the CPC, the ruling party, there are eight political parties. They are China Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang, China Democratic League, China Democratic National Construction Association, China Association for the Promotion of Democracy, Chinese Peasants’ and Workers’ Democratic Party, China Zhi Gong Dang, Jiusan Society, and the Taiwan Democratic Self-government League. Most of them were founded during the anti-Japanese war and the national liberation war. They support the political leadership of the CPC, which has become their historical choice during the long years of cooperation with the CPC and through common struggles. Although there are other political parties present in China, these parties are not opposition parties, but parties participating in the discussion and administration of State affairs. Moreover, these parties serve to endorse CCP’s policies. Meanwhile, Russia is working on a multi-party system wherein the legislature comprises several minority parties, resulting in coalitions or minority government by the leading party. The multi-party system in Russia resulted to the rise of not just one political party unlike the case of China. Although, United Russia occupies the majority seats of the Duma, the seats obtained by the Russian Communist Party, as well as other parties, are significant in producing checks and balances to the Russian Assembly. Electoral systems were made to answer the question of how to convert votes into seats. In elections to the legislature, the main questions is whether an electoral system ensures that the seats obtained by a party are directly proportional to the votes received (Hague and Harrop 146). In China, the people do not directly elect delegates for the National People’s Congress (NPC). China practices democratic centralism wherein direct democracy is only practiced at the local levels and the elected delegates in the local people’s congresses in turn elect their representative at the NPC. Delegates for the local people’s congresses are elected using the first-past-the-post system (FPTP). FPTP is a type of non-proportional system wherein parties are not rewarded in proportion to the share of the votes obtained. Specifically, FPTP takes the plurality form of non-proportional representation where a candidate only needs a plurality of votes to win a seat and a majority of votes is not required. In Russia, seats in the Duma were formerly elected half by proportional representation (with at least 5% of the vote to qualify for seats) and half by single member districts. However, President Putin passed a decree that all seats are to be elected by proportional representation (with at least 7% of the vote to qualify for seats) to take effect in the December 2007 elections. Particularly, Russia is adapting the list system to confer delegates for the Duma. The list system is the most common method of proportional representation in which parties submit a list of their candidates and then the votes they obtain determines the percent of seats they get. In proportional representation, the goal is to represent parties rather than territories. For China, the adoption of the list system is recommended to develop a genuine opposition party. For many decades now, the rule of the CCP did not face any significant challenger in China. There have also been secessionist movements due to some ethnic and cultural cleavages such as the Tibetans who are lobbying from independence from China. The adoption of the list system would allow the voice of the minority to be heard in the NPC thus ensuring the democratic rights of the people. It will also make China less prone to violence, just like what happened in the Tiananmen Massacre were students on protest were open fired by Chinese military, since grievances can be acknowledge in government institutions such as the NPC. It is necessary to abolish democratic centralism since government processes are easily manipulated by local bureaucrats to advance their own selfish gains. Political reform in China is a matter of opening the ‘nominally open’ elections to other political parties. For Russia, the current electoral system is well on its way to democratize the Russian political system. However, the recent decree of Putin would make it difficult for smaller parties to obtain a seat in the Duma. Seven percent is such a high threshold and may cause the marginalization of the smaller parties and the domination of the more established ones. A lower threshold is hereby recommended and that Putin’s decree for the December 2007 elections should be repealed because it is a hindrance for the continuous democratization of Russia. These formerly hard-line socialist regimes have adopted measures to cope up with the new international order. However, not both were able to give way to democratization due to the electoral and party systems that they adapted.