Geely Automobile

International Business Environment Analysis for Geely plc. 1 International Business Environment II Module title: International Business Environment (P13KL9) Module convener: Lei Li Title: Critical Analysis of International Business Environment in UK and Malaysia : A Project of Geely plc‘s Foreign Expansion Group Name List GROUP NO. ID NO. 6501184 6501425 6501559 6501825 6501972 6500420 6501843 NAME Chen Yiduo Wang Hao Yin Xiaoyun Wang Zheng Zhu Weixing Zhu Leizhen Wu Gaoying Number of Words: 4201 Submission Time/Date: 14th May, 2010 2 International Business Environment II Covering Note: Yiduo, Chen(6501184), Leader: ASEAN, Leverage the multinational institutions—ASEAN, UNNC Gaoying, Wu (6501843): WTO, UNNC Hao, Wang (6501425): EU, Leverage the multinational institutions—EU, UNNC Leizhen, Zhu (6500420): Income profile, Culture, Marketing analysis—Income profile, UNNC Introduction, Econography, Political risk, Assessment, Conclusion, UNNC Weixin, Zhu (6501972): Xiaoyun, Yin (6501559): Legal System, Exchange rate, Geely‘s Reacts, Recommendations, UNNC Zheng, Wang (6501825): Tax regime, Restrictions, Marketing analysis—legal system, UNNC 3 International Business Environment II Table of contents Pages 1. Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 2. ECLIPTER facotrs analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 2. 1Econography 2. 2 Culture 2. 3 Legal system 2. 4Income profile 2. 5 Political risk 2. 6 Tax Regime 2. 7 Exchange rate 2. 8 Restrictions Institutions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. 13 3. 1 WTO 3. 2 EU 3. 3 ASEAN 3. 4. Assessment of Geely’s overall international expansion strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 15 5. Marketing analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 16 5. 1 Legal system 5. 2 Income profile 6. Geely’s reacts to the impact of the ECLIPTER†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 7. Leverage the multilateral institutions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 19 7. 1 ASEAN 7. 2 EU 8. Implications and Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 20 9. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 10. References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 11. Appendix (Interview)†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦28 4 International Business Environment II 1. Introduction Geely, the China-based auto company and one of the newly-emerged multinationals in the world auto market, exerts tremendous influences on the auto industry. This essay will conduct a critical analysis of the international business environment that the company faces. In the first part, the ECLIPTER factors including econography, culture, legal system, income profile, political risk, tax regime, exchange rate and restrictions, together with the multilateral institutions such as WTO, EU and ASEAN will be examined by using UK and Malaysia as examples. Then based on this analysis, it will provide an assessment of the company‘s overall international expansion strategy and process. In the second part, legal system and income profile, the two most important ECLIPTER factors on Geely‘ overseas operations, will be evaluated. Furthermore, the scheme which Geely used to deal with the impact of these two factors and leverage the multilateral institutions will be shown. Finally, this report will analyze whether the company‘s international adaptation of the business function is effective, and then give some recommendations and lessons. 2. ECLIPTER Factors Analysis 2. 1 Econography Econography refers to physical and human assets including distance from major markets, and natural resources of nations that affect industry performance. In the first, the close distance between parent company and foreign subsidiary can help the company to reduce the transport costs and overhead expenses; it also can improve the connection between them. If the parent company is in China, it is better to build a subsidiary in Asia such as Malaysia. Secondly, the natural resources used for making cars mainly include steel, copper, and aluminum. If the country owns rich mineral resources, it can greatly provide benefit in the production of automobiles. One of the major purposes for many multinational corporations establishing overseas subsidiaries is to exploit the foreign natural resources. This is good for companies to 5 International Business Environment II reduce production costs and get competitive advantages. As World Steel Association reported in 2009 that the crude steel production of United Kingdom is 13. 5 in 2008, whereas the crude steel production of Malaysia is 6. 1 in 2008. 2. 2 Culture This paragraph will analyze the effects of culture on auto industry through power distance index and saving rate. Firstly, power distance index measures the degree of inequality exists in a society (Hofstede, 1997). The power distance index is 80 in Malaysia whereas it is only 35 in UK (Hofstede, 2008). The unequal distribution of wealth makes most Malaysian citizens prefer to hold a commercial auto. So the inexpensive Geely auto could be a good option for them. Secondly, saving rate could be a standard to show the attitude of citizens. The saving rate of Malaysia was 47 per cent in the year 1998 which ranks second in Asia (Azia, 2004). In contrast, the saving rate in UK was significantly low, which was less than 10 percent in the past ten years. For instance, the saving rate of UK household in 2008 was only 1. 7 percent (chart 1)(Presser, 2008). So UK citizens are apt to consume a relatively high price car. Chart 1 Resource from Posser (2008) 6 International Business Environment II 2. 3 Legal system The auto industry has been affected by laws and government regulations since the 1960's. The first safety act passed in 1966 by Congress and was called the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (Highfill, 2004). This act forced manufacturers to improve the safety for the passengers, the driver visibility, and the braking of the car. Not only safety, but also environment is being growingly concerned even before the oil crisis. The Vehicle Air Pollution and Control Act passed in 1965 was the first act to set standards for automobile pollution. Then in the 1970's, Congress passed the Clean Air Act that led to a 90% decrease in automobile emission within the next six years (ibid). In the 1970's the oil crisis led to the approval of The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 which stated that all automobiles must meet a certain mileage per gallon. The act required that all automobiles had to meet a standard of 20mpg by the 1980 model and then 27. 5 mpg for the 1985 model (ibid). EU 2020 growth strategy also emphasizes the importance of low carbon automobile (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, 2010). There are also many special laws for auto industry in different countries, such as Malaysia, which has built a free trade area for production and assembly of products for export-oriented enterprises. Companies can enjoy the minimum tariffs, raw materials and simplified mechanical equipment import formalities. Nevertheless, the Malaysia government regulates that more than 80% products should export to other countries (Daily News, 2006). Furthermore, the UK Byers Acts Measures to cut the average price of a car by ? 1,100 and save private car buyers around ? 1 billion a year. Although it may lower the profitability of auto industry, the number of consumers will increase gradually (DTI, 2000). 2. 4 Income profile Since automobile is not inferior goods, the demand of automobile would rise when income increases. In the economic aspect, income could be an indicator of the purchasing power of individuals and nations. Data from UK national statistics office (2010) demonstrated that despite the contracted 4. 9 percent of GDP in the whole year, the GDP increased 0. 4 percent in 7 International Business Environment II the fourth quarter of 2009. Furthermore, Household expenditure also rose 0. percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 in UK (chart2). For Malaysia, the GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 was 4. 5 though the figure was negative in the whole year (chart 3) (Malaysia statistics, 2010). It can be observed that the economy of both UK and Malaysia seem to recover from the global financial crisis. This positive signal predicts the growing demand and diste nsible market for Geely in both countries. Chart 2 Resource from UK statistics 2010 Chart3 Resource from Malaysia statistics 2010 8 International Business Environment II The core competitiveness of Geely automobile relies on its high performance-price ratio. Per capital GNI (Gross national income) in Malaysia was 25784 RM in 2008. By analyzing the 2004 United Nations Human Development (UNHDP) report, except the 20% population of richest and poorest class, Geely will be a better choice for the rest citizens in Malaysia(chart 4) (Lumpur, 2004). In comparison, the young people account for a great amount of population in UK. A source from HMRC shows the average income of under 20 years is ? 9,570 and 20-24 years is ? 13,200 which is below the average (chart 5). It implies that when young generation decide to buy a car, price is the first consideration factor. For medium quality car manufacture companies, young population in UK could be a potential group of customers. Chart 4 9 International Business Environment II Chart5 Median Age Band Under 20 years 20 – 24 ? 11,800 years 25 – 29 ? 17,000 years 30 -34 ? 19,500 years 35 – 39 ? 20,100 years 40-44 ? 20,200 years 45 – 49 ? 20,300 years Resource from Lumpur (2004) ? 28,600 ? 24,800 ? 35,400 ? 15,200 ? 20,100 ? 28,100 ? 24,600 ? 34,600 ? 14,900 ? 19,800 ? 26,800 ? 23,600 ? 31,700 ? 15,500 ? 20,100 ? 23,900 ? 21,600 ? 26,700 ? 16,400 ? 20,100 ? 19,300 ? 17,800 ? 20,600 ? 15,900 ? 17,800 ? 3,200 ? 12,400 ? 13,800 ? 11,200 ? 12,300 ? 8,130 ? 9,570 ? 8,490 ? 9,810 ? 7,990 ? 9,250 Median Income Mean Income Income (Men) (Men) (Women) (Women) Income Income Income Mean Median Mean 2. 5 Political risk According to Guinger (2001), political risk describes the stability of government institutions. It can be measured in a variety of ways such as likelihood of foreign aggressio n and civil insurrection. The Transparency International (2009) showed that UK and Malaysia both face some problems of political corruption, which adversely affects the efficiency of economic operation. World Bank estimates that corruption could cost Malaysia as much as RM10 10 International Business Environment II billion a year – an amount equivalent to 1 or 2 per cent of GDP. The corruption in the UK is lighter than Malaysia, which ranked 17, whereas Malaysia ranked 56 in world in 2009 based on Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. But the corruption in UK is not unheard. Surveys by Control Risks and Simmons & Simmons show that the awareness of UK laws against foreign bribery may be decreasing over time. In 2002, after the act came into force, 68 percent of respondents said they were familiar with its main points. But in 2006, 48 percent people said that they have totally ignored it (Global Corruption Report, 2009). 2. 6 Tax Regime Tax regime refers to the tax instruments that governments use to raise revenues from multinational firms, such as corporate taxes. The tax of Malaysia is transparent, the multinational corporate must be taxed 30% of the corporate income which is just the same as Malaysia companies Marketing directory, 2005) According to the tax incentive treaties, auto ( . ndustry may be eligible for pioneer status which is given by the way of an abatement of 70% of the profits for five years (ibid). The remaining 30% of the profits will be taxed at the prevailing corporate income tax rate. The profits abated are exempt from tax and will be available for distribution as tax-free dividends. In UK the resident corporate tax is the lowest in Europe, even the tax is zero for t he small companies in 2002(Lawandtax-news, 2010). According to the tax treaties, multinational corporate which set up, purchase or control the companies in UK can follow the resident tax (Navstar, 2009). In the ordinary course of events, foreign companies cannot follow the low corporate tax, but with regard to double taxation and the agreement between UK and China, Chinese multinational corporates in UK now pay the low tax (ibid). 2. 7 Exchange rate Stable trade policies are extremely important for both the economic welfare of the countries and the multilateral trading system. Unfortunately, the liberalization measures were adopted by many countries. As Dornbusch‘s 1976 analysis has pointed out that when the exchange rate is used to provide protection for domestic firms, it is through undervaluation. An undervalued 11 International Business Environment II exchange rate protects domestic firms from imports and gives domestic firms greater incentives to export. For example, the Balance of Payments Committee of the WTO has received 39 requests from member countries for derogations from their international obligations and for a temporary increase in temporary protection. Moreover, several developing countries, such as Malaysia, have recently increased tariffs in response to financial crises even though the higher rates remain below the rates these countries bounded in the WTO. Moreover the analysis said China has become a great auto exporter, as a result of the huge subsidies, an undervalued exchange rate and dirt-cheap credit (Swaminathan, 2009). 2. 8 Restrictions Restrictions refer to the taxes and limitations that host governments place on foreign products and services or on foreign firms themselves when they enter or leave the host economy. Because of the policy of protecting their national automobile industry, the import tax of automobile is relatively high in Malaysia. Since 2004, Malaysia began to reduce the automobile import tax: for the import components the tax is reduce from 25% to 10%, and for the whole automobile the import tax is drop from 130% to 30% for the companies outside of Southeast Asia (MEI, 2009). In 2010, according to the agreement of ASEAN, the automobile import tax will be zero to all the regions of ASEAN. UK is a member of EU, it followed the economic agreement of EU which sets no import or export tax between members of EU and they must charge the same tax when they have business with the third country (European competitiveness, 2009). 12 International Business Environment II Scoring Analysis of UK and Malaysia Country Score Econography Culture Legal System Income Profile Political Risk Tax Regime Exchange Rate Restrictions Total (10) (10) (20) (20) (10) (10) (10) (10) (100) 8 7 18 8 8 8 7 7 71 7 6 16 15 5 9 8 9 75 UK Malaysia 3. Institutions 3. 1 WTO The major objectives of WTO‘s roles are ? the creation of a common automobile market through the elimination of barriers to intra-Community trade; the maintenance and expansion of a competitive world automobile industry; the use of voluntary import restrictions to prevent cheap imports and to maintain competitiveness? European Commission, 2006). For example, in 2006, WTO announced the establishment of a panel to examine whether China's tariffs on imported auto parts violate WTO trade rules, following a joint complaint made by the United States, the European Union and Canada, who accused China for its discriminatory charges on imported auto parts. After examining Ch ina‘s related regulations, WTO panel declared that China's regulations are inconsistent with China's WTO obligations. China has agreed to make the necessary regulatory changes by September 2009 (Herd, 2006). 13 International Business Environment II WTO facilitates Geely‘s international expansion since the elimination of trade barriers has cleared its path to world market and made it integrated to the world economy. In 2002, after China joined into WTO, 100 automobiles of Geely exported to Syria (Luo, 2005). 3. 2 EU EU functions as a rule-imposer. It sets strict requirements and institute rules and regulations to improve vehicle safety. Besides the vehicle crash tests executed by Euro NCAP (European New Car Assessment Program backed by European Commission), there are also some regulations set to protect the environment. First, in order to respond to the gradual aggravation of greenhouse effect, the European commission developed a mandatory emission standard to limit the emission of one major kind of greenhouse gas, CO2. The regulation set a fleet-average CO2 emission target for passenger cars, which is 120 g/km to be reached by 2015 (European Commission, 2010). The vehicle manufacturers must reach the CO2 emission target of 130g/km, with an additional reduction of 10 g/km to be provided by supplementary measures, such as the use of hydrogen fuel. A long-term target of 95 g/km to be reached by 2020 is also stablished by the regulation (ibid). This regulation will take effect in 2012. From 2012 onwards, vehicle manufacturers who do not meet this target will have to pay penalty for their excess emissions. According to DieselNet (2010), from 2012 to 2018, the penalties are â‚ ¬5 per vehicle for the first g/km of CO2; â‚ ¬15 for the second gram; â‚ ¬25 for the third gram; â‚ ¬95 from the four th gram onwards. From 2019, manufacturers will pay â‚ ¬95 for each g/km exceeding the target. Another congressional mandate imposed by European Commission requires tire pressure monitoring systems on all new cars in 2012. According to Europe‘s Information Society (2010), many road accidents resulting in fatalities and physical injuries are linked to tire defects. Furthermore, under-inflated tires can result in severely inefficient use of fuel and cause an extra two million tons of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere per year. So this mandate enhances vehicle safety and protects the environment. 14 International Business Environment II These regulations have incurred a rise in car prices since vehicle manufacturers are forced to increase price to offset the cost of upgrading. These regulations put Geely in an unfavorable position. Since Geely is better known for making low-tech and cheap cars, making eco-friendly cars is not included in the competencies of the company and huge R&D spending is inevitable for nurturing this competence. They set a high bar for the competition and limit Geely‘s ability to expand market in Europe. 3. 3 ASEAN ASEAN – Association of South East Asia Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia. China and ASEAN are both newly-emerged, rapidly-developing auto markets. Cooperation in auto industry between China and ASEAN will bring a win-win situation for the two sides and make their cars more competitive in a global competition. For instance, according to Xinhua News Agency (2006), a report released by the Ministry of Commerce Indonesia has announced that compared to the expensive Japanese sedans, the China-made ones gradually gain popularity for more favourable price-performance ratio. ASEAN country also needs investment from Chinese carmakers to expand local employment and for more price-favourable cars, said a Germany auto expert at the China-ASEAN Expo, 2006. Consequently, in general, ASEAN opens its gate to Chinese car companies including Geely to achieve a win-win situation. 4. Assessment of Geely’s overall international expansion strategy Geely‘s current international strategy is to produce affordable automobile, so the market size and consume power of a foreign market are highly valued by Geely. Malaysia automobile market resembles China more than UK, in the aspects such as the people‘s income, the similar culture, and the similar geographical position, etc. As by now most cars have been exported to some developing countries like South-East Asia, Ukraine, Russia, and Mexico, Malaysia will be good choice. Meanwhile, although UK does not represent a neighboring or ? home‘ market, 15 International Business Environment II as markets in South-East Asia do, UK could be seen as an interesting market with a potential for higher margins, higher price levels and a more mature market for branding, technology, etc, as the UK‘s income per capita, and the automobile sales volume are higher than that of Malaysia. Considering the future international development, Geely should focus on UK. Therefore, at first, it is better for Geely to develop its ? producing automobile which most of people can buy‘ strategy in Malaysia, and when Geely is able to enter high-end automobile market, UK will be a better choice. In terms of multilateral institution, after evaluating the influence of international organizations, we suggest that Malaysia is a better choice for Chinese car companies to exploit new markets. Firstly, a win-win situation guarantees a favourably corporate relationship between Geely and ASEAN (Eichengreen, 2006). Secondly, there are various quality-related requirements and constraints in EU and probably NAFTA, which puts up a strong challenge for those Asian auto makers. Moreover, by far, there is no evidence to prove the acquisition of Manganese Bronze and Volvo have considerably increased Geely‘s sale in developed nations. Thus considering the opportunities and threats faced by Geely, it is recommended that the company emphasizes on developing nations‘ markets, rather than the developed markets. 5. Marketing analysis 5. 1 Legal system According to Alistair Darling‘s pre-budget report, UK will bring new opportunities for the low-carbon industries. Through the Innovation Investment Fund and the Carbon Trust's Venture Capital scheme, UK will invest at least ? 160m in low carbon projects (Guardian, 2009). They will also invest ? 90m in the European Investment Bank's new 2020 fund, which will put 6. 5 billion Euros of finance in green infrastructure projects. In this report, there are alterations to the climate change levy, company car tax, and fuel benefit charge (ibid). This is good news for Geely because now it dedicates itself to produce high-tech and eco-friendly automobile. In 16 International Business Environment II UK the amount of car tax depends on the price and the discharge amount for carbon, which is from 9% for electric motor car to 10%-35% for petrochemical car. UK also has a successful car scrappage scheme, which gives consumers a ? 2,000 discount off. If they scrap their old vehicle, it will help up to 125,000 families replace their inefficient boilers with new models (Julia, 2009). Through the government‘s support of low-carbon industry, Geely has more opportunities to innovate high-tech and eco-friendly automobile. Furthermore, because of the low tax and car scrappage scheme, customer is inclined to buy or change an electric motor car,. In 22nd March 2006, Malaysia published the new automobile policy (MEI, 2009). Since that day, the import taxes of CBU (Complete Built Unit) are reduced from 20% to 5% for the ASEAN members and 50% to 30% for other countries. The import taxes of CKD (Completely Knock Down) are 10%. In 28th October 2009, Mustafa Mohamed announced many new policies for auto industry which will give much more preferences and subsidies for the new energy automobile companies (ibid). . 2 Income profile It is known that the success of Geely relies mostly on keeping low cost and offering the affordable cars. For instance, Geely's best-selling four-door sedan, the King Kong, has been sold 6127 in April 2010 and the retail price is between 47,800RMB – 58,800RMB (Jiang, 2010). Geely sold 329,014 passenger cars in 2009, making it is the third largest domestic car producer (Zheng, 201 0). However, Geely's winning formula is under pressure in china because Chinese consumers are becoming wealthier; the higher-end models will gradually be affordable for them. Meanwhile, brands such as the Chery QQ, Ford Fiesta, and Honda Civic are threatening Geely‘s current market position. Geeky‘s winning formula is also challenged at the oversea markets like UK and Malaysia. Date from HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs) indicates that nearly 50% of the population in UK earns ? 16400 annually which is much higher than the middle class income of Malaysia. This group of population could be a dominant power in the automobile market in UK. It is not a wise choice to sell its inexpensive cars in UK considering that low price would not be 17 International Business Environment II attractive for these relatively rich citizens. The similar situation also happened in Malaysia which made Geely‘s low price cars less competitive. This is because that the predicted real GDP growth in 2010, 2011 and 2015 are 4. 7%, 5. 0% and 5. 0%, Malaysian people are becoming richer than before(IMF, 2010). Their increasing incomes will directly affect their car buying choice. People nowadays prefer the higher-end models and the market share of Geely‘s lower-end models are estimated to reduce gradually. 6. Geely’s reacts to the impact of the ECLIPTER First, since the middle of 2009, the sales of car exports decreased from 37940 in 2008 to 6297. Furthermore, although Geely exports to more than 50 countries, most of them are developing countries which are not so effective in the promotion of the brand image. In order to get rid of low-end image, Geely changed its strategy from ? produce automobile which most of people can buy‘ to ? do not produce cars which price is below 40000 Yuan‘ (Fang, 2009). Besides, Geely take over Volvo which also expressed its desire to promote the brand image. Geely‘s strategy changes starts in May 2007, which is focus on transforming its competitive advantage from price to technology. In 2007, Geely used three new motorcycle type—Yuan Jing, King Kong and Zi You Jian, which have relatively higher value added to substitute the Haoqing, Meiri and You Liou. For doing that, Geely scraped its old molds, jigs and production line which worth up to 8 billion Yuan. In 2008, the sales of these three new auto types grew 12% without discount marketing strategy (Geely annual report, 2009). Furthermore, in 2010, Geely will market 21 new auto types, and some of them were designed by Fabrizio Giugiaro, the Italy‘s famous auto manufacturer. Moreover, the new energy auto will also be produced in 2010, which will include Panda and DiHao (Wenqing, 2010). These new energy auto types have been showed in the Beijing car exhibition 2010 (Phoenix auto, 2010). In order to deal with these two factors, Geely also has a complementary strategy: cooperate or takeover other well-known international auto manufacturers. It will not only help Geely to promote its auto manufacture technology, but also improve its brand image. Geely has already cooperated with 18 International Business Environment II Britain‘s Manganese Bronze to produce luxurious brand-named taxi (China car Times, 2010) and assembled cars with Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd (IGC) in Malaysia, 2006 (Tan, 2006). 7. Leverage the multilateral institutions 7. 1 ASEAN One of the stunning news in 2005 was the political barriers Geely met in Malaysia, which was considered as the biggest challenge for its overseas expansion so far. Geely‘s President Li Shufu described Malaysia as ? an unexpected trap? because of Malaysia government‘s rejection on fulfilling the contract. After examining the ECLIPTER factors of Malaysia market, Li Shufu and his team regarded Malaysia as the first pillbox and cornerstone of its expansion to ASEAN countries. He believed the learning in Malaysia could be helpful. Therefore, in May 2005, Geely has made a joint contract with Malaysia IGC group for building CKD factory in Malaysia. However, Malaysia government denied the contract after a new document on automobile being published. According to the document, all cars made by foreign automobile manufacturers were prohibited to sell in Malaysia. Then the situation in Malaysia went against its expection of getting a huge sale. However, according to Geely officials, to some extent, ASEAN agreements have made Geely to reconsider the importance of Malaysia (Harwit). In South East Asia nations, there are some strict tariff-related regulations for automobile industry. Contrarily, tariff among ASEAN countries is in a minimum rate. According to an inner-ASEAN agreement, from 2003 to 2009, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore and Vietnam exempted auto import tariff for each other. From 2010, all ASEAN countries will implement zero auto import tariff for each other. At the same time, Indonesia, Thailand and some other ASEAN nations‘ demand of cars is increasing considerably (JAMA, 2008). Especially after an impressive increase in 2007, the car-sale in Indonesia becomes significantly dazzle. Therefore Geely 19 International Business Environment II planed to only manufacture cars in Malaysia and then export cars to other ASEAN countries, which seems like a forward-looking plan in a long-term development. Finally, Geely decided to move its Malaysia CKD manufacture center to Indonesia. However, its vision of leveraging ASEAN to pursue a sale performance in all ASEAN nations has not changed. 7. 2 EU In terms of EU regulations, since Geely has acquired 100% ownership of Volvo, the Sweden‘s company, Geely is no longer an outsider of European market. According to the EU Single market concept (European Commission, 2010), a free circulation of capital, labor, goods and services between EU members is granted. Geely now have got over tariff barriers and competes as an insider. . Implications and Recommendations One of the strategies of Geely is to promote new energy automobile, there are two advantages for this strategy: Firstly, Geely can get powerful support from government since the development of new energy is encouraged by the government. Secondly, since new energy automobile is environmental friendly goods, it not only reduces the carbon emissions, but also decreases the expenses o n routine maintenance (Bond newspaper, 2010). However, there are also drawbacks, such as the inadequate facilities. Acquiring other world famous bands is the other strategy of Geely, which facilitates the company‘s global expansion. For instance, Volvo is well-known by its safety, which could provide Geely with a competitive advantage on its brand trust. It also provides a valuable, more upscale user image. Therefore, through merger or acquisition of international well-known brands, Geely can get greater international fame and advanced technology, integrate into the world market and attract more consumers. However, certain risks should be considered when Geely acquires Volvo. The first risk is that the culture conflicts between two countries. It has been reported that one of the hindering factors is that the union of Volvo in Sweden disagrees the acquisition for their reduced 20 International Business Environment II welfare and unemployment (Gasgoo, 2009). The second risk is that the value of acquired equity. It has been said that Volvo‘s vaunted reputation for safety has been challenged by other manufacturers which can also provide automobiles with same safety standard. In this case Volvo‘s ? safe? advantage may not be as competitive as before. 9. Conclusion To sum up, this essay has analyzed the ECLIPTER factors of Geely‘s two overseas markets, Britain and Malaysia, and examined influence of the related multilateral institutions. According to this matrix analysis, legal system and income profile have the most important impact on the auto industry. For multilateral institutions, ASEAN and WTO generally promote the Geely‘s international expansion strategy, while EU regulations are less favored in its expansion. Considering both ECLIPTER factors and related multilateral institutions, it is suitable for Geely to enter developing nations to acquire market share at its initial development. But for long-term development, Geely need to pay attention to research and develop higher-end models. With the development of Geely Company and the overall auto industry, Geely‘s focus will shift from developing countries to developed countries. Currently, Geely‘s low price strategy is challenged by the legal system and income profile of developed countries. Therefore, Geely is increasing its efforts in releasing new model cars and tapping into developed countries through merger or acquisition. Geely intends to promote its brand image and enlarge its market share through these strategic moves, although it has to face the risk of culture conflicts and the uncertainty of acquisition value. 21 International Business Environment II 10. References: Azia, A. Z. (2004) Malaysia-Encouraging Saving in a Dynamic Economy [Online]. Available at:< http://www. bis. org/review/r040115c. pdf> [17 April 2010] Bond newspaper (2010) (There are many advantages of new energy automobile but it needs improve) [online]. Available at: [6 May 2010] China Car Times. 2010) London Taxi‘s should now be renamed Hangzhou Cabs. [Online] A vailable at: [11 April 2010] Daily News (2006) 10 ,80% (Geely will produce automobiles in Malaysia, 80% should not sell to other countries)[online]. Available at: [25 April 2010] DEPATMENT OF STATISTICS MALAYSIA Official Website (2009) Population [Online]. Available at: [12 April 2010] DieselNet (2010) Cars: Greenhouse Gas Emissions [online]. Available at: [15 Ap ril 2010] DTI (2000) Byers Acts to Reduce Car Price [online]. Available at: [27 April 2010] 22 International Business Environment II Eichengreen, B. 2006) China, Asia, and the World Economy: The Implications of an Emerging Asian Core and Periphery China & World Economy / 1 – 18, Vol. 14, No. 3, 2006 [Online]. Available at: [24 April 2010] European Commission (2010) A Single Market for goods [Online]. Available at:[ 20 April 2010] European Commission (2006) A Competitive Automotive Regulatory System for the 21st century [Online]. Available at:[ 20 April 2010] European competitiveness (2009) Tariff Barriers [online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] Europe‘s Information Society (2010) Tyre Pressure Monitoring System [online]. Available at : [21 April 2010] Fang, Wen (2009) Vs (The Difference Between BYD and Geely) [online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] Gasgoo. (2009) Volvo union meets Geely, no detail on financing. [Online] Available at: [11 April 2010] 23 International Business Environment II Geely (2009) Annual Report and Financial Statement [online]. Available at: [5 May 2010] Guardian (2009) Alistair Darling’s pre-budget report-full text [Online]. Available at: [20 April 2010] Harwit, E. (2006) Chinese Overseas Investment: Cases in the Automobile and Telecommunications Sectors [Online] Available at: [20 April 2010] Herd, J. (2006) Modern Global Automobile Industry [Online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] Highfill, D. , Baki,M. , Copus, S. , Green, M. , Smith,J. and Whineland. M (2004) Automotive Industry Analysis-GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, Ford, Honda [online]. Available at: [28 April 2010] HMRC (2004) Rates and allowances – Income Tax [Online]. Available at: [17 April 2010] Hofstede (1997) Culture [Online]. Available at: [17 April 2010] Hofstede(2008) Wolrd map of Power Distance Index-Hofstede [Online]. Available at : [17 April 2010] Hofstede (2008), World Map of Uncertainty Avoidance – Hofstede [Online]. Available at : [17 April 2010] 24 International Business Environment II Ifeng (2010) (Analyzing Geely’s current position from the proportion change of ranking and sales) [Online] Available at: [12 April 2010] International Monetary Fund (2010) World Economic Outlook [Online] Available at: [11 April 2010] JAMA (2008) 1996-2007 ASEAN 5 Countries Sales Statistics [Online]. Available at: [24 April 2010] Julia, K. (2009) Scrappage Scheme Bosst Continues As New Car Sales Up 31% On Last Year [Online]. Available at: [20 April 2010] Lawandtax-news (2010) Corporate Taxation for Multinationals [online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] Lumpur, K. 2004) 2002 WORLD SUMMIT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT [Online]. Available at: [15 April 2010] Luo, J. (2005) The Growth of Independent Chinese Automotive Companies [online]. Available at: [15 April 2010] Malaysia statistics (2010) Gross Domestic Product [Online]. Available at: [15 April 2010] 25 International Business Environment II Marketing directory (2005) (the Summary of Investment Environment of Malaysia)[online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] MEI (2009) (the New Policy of Automobiles in Malaysia) [online]. Available at: [20th April 2010] Navstar (2009) the detail of the corporate tax in UK) [online]. Available at: [21 April 2010] Office for National Statistic (2009) National Projections UK population to exceed 65m by 2018 [Online]. Available at: [11 April 2010] Phoenix auto website (2010) ( the new energy car showed in Beijing car exhibition) [online]. Available at: [5 May 2010] Posser, D. (2008) UK saving rate sinks to 49-year low as growth falters[Online]. Available at : [17 April 2010] Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (2010) EU 2020 growth strategy emphasises significance of low carbon automotive [online]. Available at: < http://www. eemsonline. co. uk/press_releases/08-03-10_3> [1 May 2010] Swaminathan S Anklesaria Alyar. TNN(2009) How India beat China in auto exports [online]. Available at [3 May 2010] 26 International Business Environment II Swee-Hock, S. (2007) The population of Peninsular Malaysia. [Online] Available at: [13 April 2010] TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL (2009) Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 [Online]. Available at: [11 April 2010] UK statistics (2010) GDP Growth [Online]. Available at: [15 Apr 2010] Wenqing F. (2010) 21 Geely will market 21 new types of automobile, new energy car also will produce)[online]. Available at: [24 April 2010] World Steel Association (2009) WORLD STEEL IN FIGURES 2009 [Online]. Available at: [11 April 2010] World Bank (2008) Gross National Income Per Capita 2008,Atlas Method and PPP [Online]. Available at: [15 April 2010] Xinhua News Agency (2006) China Eyes ASEAN for Car Assembly, Export [Online] Available at: [18 April 2010] 27 Internati onal Business Environment II 11. Appendix An interview with the Geely official Distinguished guest: Mr. Zhao Jie, Vice President of Geely Holding Group, In charge of Geely‘s international business. Time: 28 April 2010 Location: Mr. Zhao Jie‘s office Selected Q&A: Q: How does Geely react to the EU’s high standard of safety and emission? A: The high standard in Europe is indeed a big challenge for us late-movers. However, we have investigated a lot on the R&D and have made some success. As our new motto cited, we will ? devote ourselves to produce the safest, most energy-saving and environmental-friendly cars in affordable prices?. In spite of the European standard, we will also investigate on those aspects. Besides, we have acquired Volvo, a company with best reputation on its safety and reliability. Volvo will bring us the experience and advanced technology in pursuing safety. Moreover, developing new energy is not only the trend of all car companies, but also all those energy-based industries. Under the support of our government, we are confident in making a breakthrough in this area. Q: Have you got any type or design which could achieve the standard? A: Yes we have. Most of the automotive types in our series-EC were produced based on the EU standard. Q: We know Geely acquired Manganese Bronze. How can you successfully acquire Volvo from Sweden and DSI from Australia? 28 International Business Environment II A: Firstly, I am grateful to the lead of our Party and the flourishing Chinese economy. China now attracts the whole world‘s attentions. As one of the best Chinese companies, Volvo has its own advantage. As we have emphasized, you could not acquire Volvo only by money. That‘s like a free marriage, not an obligatory acquisition. They have already accepted us. As a fast developing China-based company, we could give Volvo continuous capital support. Also, our promotion will make Volvo more famous in China. In terms of DSI, there are several parades of their employees due to the downsizing. The company is on the edge of bankrupt. People clap their hands to welcome us, because they see the hope. Besides, we have developed the technology of gearbox for about 6, 7 years, we are able to understand and accept the technology of DSI. Q: Will there be any problems caused by culture collision after the acquisition of them? A: I don‘t think it is a problem for us. Firstly, Volvo is an international company who will make decisions with a global vision. Although everybody loves their country, the asset of an international company is complex, especially after becoming a listed company. It depends on the structure of the asset. For instance, who do you think Toyota belongs to? The asset structure is global, in which Japanese capital accounts for only a small part. However, the culture of Toyota is still Japanese. We think the situation is similar to Volvo, whose culture will not be changed by us. Our relationship is more likely a brotherhood, rather than hierarchical relationship. What we need to do is communication, respecting and taking care of each other. Q: Will Geely transfer the entire Volvo product line to China? A: Automobile needs indigenous producing, R&D and sale, and more importantly, the maximum indigenous complement. So the current factories in Sweden and Belgian will be remained permanently. Q: What’s your opinion on the Malaysia event, I mean the broken of your corporation? 29 International Business Environment II A: Based on the evaluation of all aspects, including the demand, competition, income and wage level, even the political aspect itself; we believed Malaysia was our best choice to enter ASEAN. Malaysia had already accepted our contract; we even signed the contract witnessed by both governments‘ staff. You know Wu Bangguo, chairman of National People's Congress and Malaysia‘s head of Parliament have attended the ceremony. I don‘t know why and how they allowed themselves to make such a decision. They denied the unilateral contract which goes against WTO regulation. I don‘t want to talk about it anymore. Q: The Geely Panda is transformed to â€Å"Tobe† and being sold in Taiwan, it is said that the real purpose is the ASEAN markets. Can you explain it a little bit? A: Sure. Firstly, Taiwan has an advanced system in sales and service. We could improve our service, especially after-sale service. Secondly, Yulon Motor has abundant experience in overseas sales. This ? Tobe? has already being sold in Vietnam, and will be sold in Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippine. Q: What’s your future plan? A: Except ASEAN, we have run our business well in many markets. For instance, AIS Company from Ukraine, our best agency, sold out 8000 units for us in Ukraine and made ? Exterior? the most famous autotype in Ukraine. Considering the geographic advantage that Ukraine possesses, we will build CKD factory there, in order to expand to Russia and Eastern Europe. We also have signed a contract with a Mexico partner to build a 130-million-dollar all-around industrial centre. Our plan is, by 2015, build 15 produce centers abroad, and sell 2 million cars, in which 1. 3 million will be sold in overseas markets. Contacts: Address: Suite 15E, West Tower, 668 East Beijing Rd, Shanghai, 200001China Tel: 86-21-53086111 53086126 Fax:86-21-53085062E-mail:[email  protected] com 30 International Business Environment II

DNA the Master Code for All Living Things

Bacteria, zebras, mosquitoes, anacondas, essentially all living things have one thing in common which makes them what they are. It is DNA. It is one of the greatest biological discoveries in the history of mankind. It is not only related to biology but is tied to the study of chemistry as well because of the convoluted molecular structure. DNA is short for the molecule deoxyribonucleic acid. RNA or ribonucleic acid is another nucleic acid derived from DNA and used as a template to make proteins, the product of the genetic code. In an article, â€Å"What is DNA? † written by James Randerson, DNA is described as, â€Å"†¦ he master code for life †¦ the instruction book that each organism uses to run its body and govern its behavior, a book that each creature hands on to its offspring, either in full or in part. † In other words it describes how at times not the whole book (DNA) is passed down from parent to progeny. A father and mother both contribute their DNA making the son similar but not identical to his father and mother. Also, because DNA stores all genetic information including diseases, which can be passed down from generation to generation. These diseases are the effect of a mutation in the DNA structure. In 1868, a Swiss physician and biologist extracted a phosphorus containing substance. He called it nuclein because he found it in the nuclei of several cells. He managed to extract this substance from discarded surgical bandages, specifically by examining the pus cells (pus cells are white blood cells). James Watson, an American geneticist, and Francis Crick, a British physicist studying in the University of Cambridge, began examining x-ray images made by Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. In 1953, James and Francis constructed the first three-dimensional model of the DNA structure. The model showed all nitrogenous bases, pentoses (sugar), and phosphate groups. Several years later, James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Before the three-dimensional model, Erwin Chargaff discovered a pattern between the base pairs. He discovered that the amount of adenine is the same amount of thymine. the same is true for the other base pair guanine and cytosine. Chargaff’s discovery led him to understand the basic pairing rules. You might wonder what makes our DNA different from the DNA of a sheep, sea urchin, or a turtle. Based on the studies of Chargaff and the rest of his colleagues at Columbia University, the four nitrogenous bases occur in different ratios in the DNAs of different organisms and that the bases have a numerical relationship. For example, The base composition (mol percentage) of Homo Sapiens is 30. 9 % adenine, 19. 9% guanine, 19. 8% cytosine, and 29. 4% thymine. This shows that Chargaff’s study was very helpful for James Watson and Francis Crick’s three-dimensional model of a DNA molecule. I chose to research DNA because it is a very interesting topic to discuss. It makes me who I am, my hair, eye, and skin color, my height and weight, overall health, metabolism, etc. I find both biology and chemistry my favorite subjects and DNA because it is a key molecuel that defines health. In the future I plan to become a M. D. (Medical Doctor). I will definitely have to be familiar with this molecule and what DNA sequences mean in case I needed to diagnose a patient with a certain genetic disease. By examining his or her genetic code I could determine possible diseases. I really enjoy any type of problem solving. I could utilize this knowledge to explore disease in my own family, specifically my dad’s side. From my grandfather to my own father and uncles, everyone has minor cardiovascular diseases caused by high cholesterol. I want to discover what mutation in my family’s DNA that causes this condition and develop treatments to improve their health. DNA molecules are located in the nucleus of a cell. When they are tightly packed together they are known as chromosomes. The structure of DNA is very complicated. DNA is a double helix molecule. The structure looks like a twisted ladder. A double helix is the molecular structure created from double-stranded molecules of nucleic acids held together by hy drogen bonding between nucleotides. Nucleotides contain three characteristic components: (1) a nitrogenous base, (2) a pentose (sugar), and (3) phosphate group. Four nitrogenous bases make up DNAs support of the double helix: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). These bases are split into two groups. (A) and (G) are in the purine base group and (C) and (T) are in the pyrimidine base groups. In the structure of DNA base pairs are formed between the four bases. A base pair is when two nitrogenous bases (a purine to a pyrimidine or vice versa) are linked by weak hydrogen bonds. Adenine (A) and thymine (T) form a base pair and guanine (G) and cytosine C) form a base pair. In the structure of DNA (A) and (T) are held together by two hydrogen bonds, while (C) and (G) are held together by three hydrogen bonds. The next components of DNA form the backbone of the two spiraling strands. The backbones consist of alternating phosphate and pentose (sugar). Two kinds of pentoses are found in nucleic acids, deoxyribose and ribose. Deoxyribose is basically the same as ribose but it has one less oxygen atom in it’s structure. The phosphate group is connected to the pentose (deoxyribose or ribose) on the backbone of the DNA structure. They are both held together by covalent bonds. The pentose is also connected to the nitrogenous base. When a pentose (sugar) and a base combine it is called a nucleoside. An example of a nucleoside, is when the base thymine bonds with the pentose (sugar) deoxyribose, deoxythymidine forms. The nucleoside then combines with the phosphate to make the nucleoside a nucleotide. In the article â€Å"How DNA Works,† Craig Freudenrich explains how the â€Å"hydrogen bonds between phosphates cause the DNA strand to twist. The nitrogenous bases point inward on the ladder and form pairs with bases on the other side. This makes DNA look somewhat like a spiraling staircase. DNA functions to store the complete genetic information required to specify the structure of all the proteins of each species of organism, to program in time and space the orderly biosynthesis (the process of converting simple nutrients like: sugars, lipids, and amino acids into complex products like, proteins and vitamins) that make cell and tissue, and organs which determine the activities of an organism throughout its life cycle, and determine the distinctiveness of the given organism. DNA also has another function. It is meant to be replicated so copies can be passed down from cell to cell and generation to generation. The National Human Genome Research Institute describes the transfer occurs â€Å"In sexual reproduction, organisms inherit half of their nuclear DNA from the male parent and half from the female parent. However, organisms inherit all of their mitochondrial DNA from the mother. This occurs because only egg cells, and not sperm cells, keep their mitochondria during fertilization. To complete these instructions, DNA sequences are transcribed into messages made of RNA and ultimately translated into sequences of amino acids to produce proteins. DNA genetic information is composed of specific long sequences of A, T, G, and C. The process begins with the sequences being transferred to a single strand RNA molecule. RNA is only slightly different from DNA. The important difference between them is that one of the pyrimidine bases are not the same. Thymine is a principal pyrimidine in DNA, while uracil is a principal pyrimidine in RNA. The new RNA (mRNA) molecule is a messenger containing transcribed code from the DNA molecule. The mRNA travels out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm. According to The National Human Genome Research Institute, in the cytoplasm â€Å"the information contained in the mRNA molecule is translated into the â€Å"language† of amino acids, which are the building blocks of proteins. This language tells the cell's protein-making machinery the precise order in which to link the amino acids to produce a specific protein. This is a major task because there are 20 types of amino acids, which can be placed in many different orders to form a wide variety of proteins. † Proteins do most of the work in our bodies; they move molecules in our bodies, they help us move by making our muscles, they help create our immune system that helps protect from any infections in our body or illnesses, and much more. DNA is one of the greatest discoveries my man. It was not discovered by a single human being but several. DNA is what makes a female human to give birth to a baby girl not to a baby giraffe or cub. DNA is passed down from generation to generation by sexual reproduction. Half of the father’s genes and half of the mother’s go to their son or daughter. Your DNA is not the same as your brother’s because sometimes you get more from your mom’s side or more from your dad’s side, it all depends. It is extraordinary how we are made from a string of DNA molecules that construct our body and make us who we are. DNA is now at a point where we use it for many reasons, not just for research. DNA forensics is one of the most practical ways of using DNA. Forensics is the application of many sciences to discover aspects about a crime. A government website describing DNA forensics, lists many examples of DNA uses for Forensic Identification. They include: â€Å"identification of potential suspects whose DNA may match evidence left at crime scenes; exoneration of persons wrongly accused of crimes; identification of crime and catastrophe victims; establishment of paternity and other family relationships; identification of endangered and protected species as an aid to wildlife officials (could be used for prosecuting poachers); detection of acteria and other organisms that may pollute air, water, soil, and food; Matching organ donors with recipients in transplant programs; determination of pedigree for seed or livestock breeds; and authentication of consumables such as caviar and wine. † It is great that DNA has been incorporated into forensics. Hopefully, in the near future, DNA technologies will be incorporated in a variety of ot her applications.

Controversial History of the House of the Seven Gables

Africa, by David Diop David Mandessi Diop (19271960) was a revolutionary African poet born in France but with parents of West African descent. His poems highlighted problems of Africa brought about by colonialism and gave a message to Africans to bring about change and freedom. He was known for his involvement in the negritude movement in France, a movement started by Black writers and artists protesting against French colonialism and its effects of African culture and values. His views and feelings were published in â€Å"Presence Africaine† and in his book of poems â€Å"Coups de pillon† which was published in 1956.Diop died at the age of 33 in a plane crash. Africa my Africa Africa of proud warriors in ancestral savannahs Africa of whom my grandmother sings On the banks of the distant river The poem starts by Diop reminiscing about Africa, a land he has not seen but only heard about from his grandmother's songs. His choice of words like â€Å"distant† symbolis e how far he is from his country, a feeling based on his real life as he lived in France throughout his childhood and only visited Africa in the 1950s.Despite this, he paints a vivid scene of Africa and the proud warriors who walk on its â€Å"ancestral savannahs† You can sense how much he misses his homeland by his stress on the word Africa, and he continues to call it â€Å"My Africa† to emphasise it is his land and his feelings of patriotism towards it. I have never known you But your blood flows in my veins Your beautiful black blood that irrigates the fields The blood of your sweat The sweat of your work The work of your slavery He continues to say that he has never known Africa, but despite the distance he cannot deny how much it is a part of him.The â€Å"beautiful black blood† which flows in his veins describes his African descent and shows how much Africa is a part of him and his love for it and its people. The next verses are angry and accusatory as he stresses that it is the blood and sweat of his people which is irrigating the fields for the benefit of other people. By this he is pointing a finger at the colonialists who exploited Black people and used them as slaves to profit from their hard labour. Africa, tell me Africa Is this your back that is unbent This back that never breaks under the weight of humiliationThis back trembling with red scars And saying no to the whip under the midday sun. In these verses he urges the Black people to stand up to the pain and the humiliation that they are suffering in their own land. He reminds them of the strength Telephone Conversation by Wole Soyinka Nigerian poet Wole Soyinka uses irony to depict the absurdity of racism in his poem, â€Å"Telephone Conversation. IRONY the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, â€Å"How nice! † when I said I had to work all weekend. technique of indicating, as through character or pl ot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated. (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc. , esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion. Irony, sarcasm, satire indicate mockery of something or someone. The essential feature of irony is the indirect presentation of a contradiction between an action or expression and the context in which it occurs.In the figure of speech, emphasis is placed on the opposition between the literal and intended meaning of a statement; one thing is said and its opposite implied, as in the comment, â€Å"Beautiful weather, isn't it? † made when it is raining or nasty. Irony differs from sarcasm in greater subtlety and wit. In sarcasm ridicule or mockery is used harshly, often crudely and contemptuously, for destructive purposes. It may be used in an indirect manne r, and have the form of irony, as in â€Å"What a fine musician you turned out to be! or it may be used in the form of a direct statement, â€Å"You couldn't play one piece correctly if you had two assistants. † The distinctive quality of sarcasm is present in the spoken word and manifested chiefly by vocal inflection, whereas satire and irony, arising originally as literary and rhetorical forms, are exhibited in the organization or structuring of either language or literary material. Satire usually implies the use of irony or sarcasm for censorious or critical purposes and is often directed at public figures or institutions, conventional behavior, political situations, etc. Some examples:When something bad has happened: â€Å"This is just great,† or â€Å"That was just perfect. † In response to a bad joke: â€Å"That's just so funny,† or obviously feigned (and often weak) laughter â€Å"Ha. Ha. Ha. NOT. † When a boring statement has been made: â €Å"Wow, great! † When someone has thoroughly botched something: â€Å"Great job! † or â€Å"Congratulations! † When somebody accuses another of something bad/wrong: â€Å"Do I get bonus points if I act like I care? † Used when writing: I love school The speaker of the poem, a dark West African man searching for a new apartment, tells the story of a telephone call he made to a potential landlady.Instead of discussing price, location, amenities, and other information significant to the apartment, they discussed the speaker's skin color. The landlady is described as a polite, well-bred woman, even though she is shown to be shallowly racist. The speaker is described as being genuinely apologetic for his skin color, even though he has no reason to be sorry for something which he was born with and has no control over. In this short poem, we can see that the speaker is an intelligent person by his use of high diction and quick wit, not the savage that the landl ady assumes he is because of his skin color.All of these discrepancies between what appears to be and what really is create a sense of verbal irony that helps the poem display the ridiculousness of racism. â€Å"The price seemed reasonable, location / Indifferent† The first sentence of the poem includes a pun that introduces the theme of the following poem and also informs us that things are not going to be as straightforward as they appear. â€Å"The price seemed reasonable, location / Indifferent† If we read over these lines quickly, we would assume that the speaker meant â€Å"Being neither good nor bad† by the use of the word indifferent .But, indifferent is also defined as â€Å"Characterized by a lack of partiality; unbiased. † This other definition gives the sentence an entirely different meaning. Instead of the apartment's location being neither good or bad, we read that the apartment's location is unbiased and impartial. However, we quickly learn in the following lines of the poem that the location of the apartment is the exact opposite of unbiased and impartial. The speaker is rudely denied the ability to rent the property because of bias towards his skin color.This opening pun quickly grabs our attention and suggests that we as readers be on the lookout for more subtle uses of language that will alter the meaning of the poem. â€Å"Caught I was, foully† After this introduction, the speaker begins his â€Å"self-confession† about his skin color (line 4). It is ironic that this is called a self-confession since the speaker has nothing that he should have to confess since he has done nothing wrong. He warns the landlady that he is African, instead of just informing her. â€Å"Caught I was, foully† he says after listening to the silence the landlady had responded with. I hate a wasted journey—I am AfricanAgain, the word caught connotes that some wrong had been done, that the speaker was a criminal caught committing his crime. By making the speaker actually seem sorry for his skin color, Soyinka shows how ridiculous it really is for someone to apologize for his race. To modern Western thinkers, it seems almost comical that anyone should be so submissive when he has committed no wrongdoing. ARE YOU DARK? OR VERY LIGHT? Her goodness is seemingly confirmed later on when the speaker says that she was â€Å"considerate† in rephrasing her question (line 17). Her response to the caller's question included only â€Å"light / Impersonality† (lines 20-21).Although she was described as being a wealthy woman, she was seemingly considerate and only slightly impersonal. The speaker seems almost grateful for her demeanor. Of course, these kind descriptions of the woman are teeming with verbal irony. We know that she is being very shallowly judgmental even while she is seeming to be so pleasant. The landlady, on the other hand, is described with nothing but positive terms. The s peaker mentions her â€Å"good-breeding,† â€Å"lipstick coated† voice, â€Å"long gold-rolled/Cigarette holder,† all possessions that should make her a respectable lady (lines 7-9).These words describing her wealth are neutral in regard to her personal character, but allow that she could be a good person. â€Å"How dark? ,† After recording the all-important question, â€Å"How dark? ,† the poem pauses for a moment and describes the surroundings to give a sense of reality that shows that the ridiculous question had really been asked (line 10). The speaker describes the buttons in the phone booth, the foul smell that seems to always coexist with public spaces, and a bus driving by outside. His description gives us an image of where the speaker is located: a public phone booth, probably somewhere in the United Kingdom.The â€Å"Red booth,† â€Å"Red pillar-box,† and â€Å"Red double-tiered / Omnibus† are all things that one might find in Leeds, the British city in which Soyinka had been studying prior to writing this poem). In addition to the literal images that this description creates, a sense of the anger running through the speaker's mind is portrayed by the repeated use of the word red. This technique is the closest that that the speaker ever comes to openly showing anger in the poem. Although it is hidden with seemingly polite language, a glimpse of the speaker's anger appears in this quick pause in the conversation.In the end, the landlady repeats her question and the speaker is forced to reveal how dark he is. â€Å"West African sepia,† he says, citing his passport . She claims not to know what that means. She wants a quantifiable expression of his darkness. His response, feigning simplicity is that his face is â€Å"brunette,† his hands and feet â€Å"peroxide blonde† and his bottom â€Å"raven black†. He knows that she just wants a measure of his overall skin-color so t hat she can categorize him, but he refuses to give it to her. Instead he details the different colors of different parts of his body. wouldn't you rather / See for yourself? † As it was meant to, this greatly annoys the landlady and she hangs up on him. In closing, he asks the then empty telephone line, â€Å"wouldn't you rather / See for yourself? † The speaker, still playing his ignorance of what the lady was truly asking, sounds as though he is asking whether the landlady would like to meet him in person to judge his skin color for herself. The irony in this question, though, lies in the fact that we know the speaker is actually referring to his black bottom when he asks the woman if she wants to see it for herself.Still feigning politeness, the speaker offers to show his backside to the racist landlady. Throughout the poem, yet another form of irony is created by the speaker's use of high diction, which shows his education. Although the landlady refuses to rent an a partment to him because of his African heritage and the supposed savagery that accompanies it, the speaker is clearly a well educated individual. Words like â€Å"pipped,† â€Å"rancid,† and â€Å"spectroscopic† are not words that a savage brute would have in his vocabulary (lines 9, 12, 23).The speaker's intelligence is further shown through his use of sarcasm and wit in response to the landlady's questions. Although he pretends politeness the entire time, he includes subtle meanings in his speech. The fact that a black man could outwit and make a white woman seem foolish shows the irony in judging people based on their skin color. Wole Soyinka's â€Å"Telephone Conversation† is packed with subtleties. The puns, irony, and sarcasm employed help him to show the ridiculousness of racism. The conversation we observe is comical, as is the entire notion that a man can be judged based on the color of his skin.Night Rain John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo was born at Kiagbodo in the Ijaw country in 1935. For a while he worked as a newspaper editor, before going to Princeton University in the United States where he was a Parvin Fellow. On his return to Nigeria he became a Research Fellow at the University of lbadan. He spent ten years as editor of the highly influential literary magazine Black Orpheus. He then moved to the University of Lagos, as Professor and Head of Department. He took voluntary retirement in 1980 to allow time for his research and creative endeavours.He set up the first Repertory Theatre in the country, PEC Repertory Theatre. A poet, playwright and essayist, Clark-Bekederemo has been a prolific author. His writings include a book of critical essays, America their America, a collection of literary essays, The Example of Shakespeare, and a highly acclaimed translation of the Ozidi Saga. He has published numerous volumes of poetry including A Reed in the Tide, which is said to have been the first by a single African poet to be p ublished internationally (rather than in an anthology. His poetry is inspired a great deal by his cultural roots among the Ijaw people of Nigeria. Other volumes of poetry include Casualties, which came out in 1970 just after the Nigerian Civil War, A Decade of Tongues, State of the Union, and a sixth book of poems, Mandela and other poems. JP Clark remains a controversial figure in some respects, but there is no doubting his prowess as a poet. Nigerian poet and playwright; he originally published under the name of J. P. Clark. Poetry is the genre in which he is probably most successful as an artist.His poetic works are Poems (1961), a group of forty lyrics that treat heterogeneous themes; A Reed in the Tide (1965), occasional poems that focus on the poet's indigenous African background and his travel experience in America and other places; Casualties: Poems 1966-68 (1970), which illustrates the horrendous events of the Nigeria-Biafra war; A Decade of Tongues (1981), a collection of seventy-four poems, all except ‘Epilogue to Casualties' (dedicated to Michael Echeruo) His poetic career spans three literary pedigrees: the apprenticeship stage of trial and experimentation, exemplified by such juvenilia as ‘Darkness and Light' and ‘Iddo Bridge'; the imitative stage, in which he appropriates such Western poetic conventions as the couplet measure and the sonnet sequence, exemplified in such lyrics as ‘To a Fallen Soldier' and ‘Of Faith', and the individualized stage, in which he attains the maturity and originality of form of such poems as ‘Night Rain', ‘Out of the Tower', and ‘Song'. While his poetic themes centre on violence and protest (Casualties), institutional corruption (State of the Union), the beauty of nature and the landscape (A Reed in the Tide), European colonialism (‘Ivbie' in Poems), and humanity's inhumanity (Mandela and Other Poems), he draws his imagery from the indigenous African background and the Western literary tradition, interweaving them to dazzling effect. Although he is fascinated by the poetic styles of Western authors, particularly G. M. Hopkins, T. S. Eliot, W. B. Yeats, and W. H. Auden, he has cultivated an eloquent, penetrating, and descriptive voice of his own.Bekederemo's dramas include Song of a Goat (1961), a tragedy cast in the Greek classical mode in which the impotence of Zifa, the protagonist, causes his wife Ebiere and his brother Tonye to indulge in an illicit love relationship that results in suicide. As one of Africa's pre-eminent and distinguished authors, he has, since his retirement, continued to play an active role in literary affairs, a role in which he is increasingly gaining deserved international recognition. In 1991, for example, he received the Nigerian National Merit Award for literary excellence and saw publication, by Howard University, of his two definitive volumes, The Ozidi Saga and Collected Plays and Poems 1958-1988. Chinua Acheb e's â€Å"Refugee Mother and Child†The Mother has always held a supreme position in all religions. In Islam, she holds the first,second and third places. In Hinduism, the Mother and Motherland are deemed greater than heaven. In Christianity, the privilege of â€Å"giving birth divinely† was also handed over to a woman. The image of Madonna with her child is supposed to be the highest paradigm of motherhood one can envisage . Here ,Chinua Achebe states that even that image could not surpass the picture of a mother expressing tenderness for a son she would soon have to forget. It is the most poignant impression one's imagination and memory can ever perceive. The prescribed poem is titled â€Å"Refugee Mother and Child†.The adjective ‘refugee' assumes different meanings in this context. One, the mother in question may be a refugee. Besides, one who flees from danger, and is in a secure and protective circle is also called a ‘refugee'. In this regard, th e baby is a refugee, and his refuge is his mother's womb till he comes out to this cruel world. Another interpretation would be the mother finding refuge from the reality of the death of her son in a make-believe world. The air held a nausea of unwashed children with traces of diarrhea,and the stench of the emanations post-delivery. The rawness of the struggle to attain motherhood is depicted as the poet states: The air was heavy with odors f diarrhea of unwashed children with washed-out ribs and dried-up bottoms struggling in labored steps behind blown empty bellies. Mothers there had long ceased to care, as the poignancy of the situation of the refugees had reached their saturation point. But this one still held her own. She donned a ghost smile. The situation is scary because the new-born is dead and the smile seems ghastly. The term ‘ghost smile' may also signify that the lady held a ‘ghost' of a smile that once was real. Now that the genuine reason for the smile is lost, it may be termed as a ‘ghost of a smile. ‘ Her eyes also looked super-focussed as it held the ghost of a mother's pride.She combs ,with maternal affection, the hair on his ‘skull'. Note that it is ‘skull' and not ‘head' as the baby is impoverished, and dead. Her eyes appeared to sing a lullaby, as she parts the son's hair. In an otherwise situation, this act would be of little consequence; another everyday affair before breakfast or school. Here,however, it happens to stand for the last display of maternal affection and is therefore equivalent to â€Å"putting flowers on a tiny grave. † If You Want to Know Me By Noemia de Sousa My apologies for the long drought without a FUUO poet of the week. Noemia de Sousa (aka Vera Micaia) was born in 1927 in Maputo, Mozambique.She lived in Lisbon working as a translator from 1951 to 1964 and then she left for Paris where she worked for the local consulate of Morocco. She went back to Lisbon in 1975 and became member of the ANOP. In the early years of the liberation struggle she was very active. She later left and lived in exile. Noemia racial background was Portuguese and Bantu and in much of her poetry she explores the idea of Africa and her heritage. Her poem below is phenomenal. It’s angry and inspired and that final stanza—where she proffers her body as a medium for Africa’s struggle for freedom–wow, powerful. And she ends her poem without a period, perhaps because her last word is ‘hope’ and what is more hopeful than an undefined end? 1926–2002), Mozambican poet and writer. Carolina Noemia Abranches de Sousa was born in the Mozambican capital, Lourenco Marques (now Maputo), the child of two mixed-race parents, roughly fifty years before her country's liberation from Portugal. She was proud that her background included German, Portuguese, and Goan (Indian) ancestors as well as Ronga and Makua from Mozambique. Her early education was in Maputo, though after her father died she was not able to attend an academic high school. She trained at a commercial school, learning to type and do stenography, but she also pursued more traditional academic subjects and studied English and French.De Sousa's first job was working at a local business as a secretary, employment she took in order to support her mother. She published her first poem, â€Å"O irmao negro† (The Black Brother), in the local literary magazine Mocidade (Youth) when she was nineteen. She was then known as Carolina Abranches , so she disguised her identity by publishing under the initials N. S. E. , referring to her unused names of Noemia de Sousa. She soon began working for the Associacao Africana (African Association), a political group that included the renowned Mozambican poet Jose Craveirinha , and she was responsible for reviving the association's militant newspaper, O Brado Africano (The African Call).She wrote several well-received and m uch anthologized poems through the late 1940s, though after 1951 she no longer wrote poetry, with the exception of a commemorative poem following the death of independent Mozambique's first president, Samora Machel , in an airplane crash in 1986. Her early poems are often cited as representative of the Negritude school of writing, extolling black African culture and history, though she was writing in isolation from the better-known French school of Negritude. Her poems celebrated Mozambican culture and history. One of the most often cited is a poem about migrant workers in South Africa's gold and diamond mines, â€Å"Magaica† (â€Å"Migrant Laborer†) which concludes: † Youth and health, the lost illusions which will shine like stars on some Lady's neck in some City's night. â€Å"Her celebration of â€Å"my mother Africa† (in the poem â€Å"Sangue negro† [â€Å"Black Blood†] is continued in â€Å"Se me quiseres conhecer †¦ ,† [â €Å"If You Want to Know Me†], which has a catalog of Mozambican lives: † If you want to understand me come, bend over this soul of Africa in the black dockworker's groans the Chope's frenzied dances the Changanas’ rebellion [ †¦ ] † And she was appreciated for her cries for liberation, as with these closing lines from â€Å"Poema de Joao† (â€Å"The Poem of Joao†): â€Å"who can take the multitude and lock it in a cage? † In 1951 she moved to Portugal to escape the vigilance of the Portuguese secret police, who were interested in her work at O Brado Africano. In Portugal she met and married her husband, Gaspar Soares, in 1962. The couple moved to France, where de Sousa worked as a journalist under the pen name Vera Micaia.She returned to Portugal and was living there when she died in 2002. I Thank You God Bernard Binlin Dadie Bernard Binlin Dadie (or sometimes Bernard Dadie) (born 1916 near Abidjan) is a prolific Ivorian novelist, playwright, poet, and ex-administrator. Among many other senior positions, starting in 1957, he held the post of Minister of Culture in the government of Cote d'Ivoire from 1977 to 1986. He worked for the French government in Dakar, Senegal, but on returning to his homeland in 1947, became part of its movement for independence. Before Cote d'Ivoire's independence in 1960, he was detained for sixteen months for taking part in demonstrations which opposed the French colonial government.In his writing, influenced by his experiences of colonialism as a child, Dadie attempts to connect the messages of traditional African folktales with the contemporary world. With Germain Coffi Gadeau and F. J. Amon d'Aby, he founded the Cercle Culturel et Folklorique de la Cote d'Ivoire (CCFCI) in 1953. [1] His humanism and desire for the equality and independence of Africans and their culture is also prevalent. Famous for his work I Thank You, God â€Å"I thank you God for creating me black, For havin g made me the total of all sorrows, and set upon my head The World. I wear the lively of the Centaur And I carry the world since the first morning. White is a colour improvised for an occasion Black, the colour of all days And I carry the World since the first evening.I am happy with the shape of my head fashioned to carry the World, satisfied With the shape of my nose, which should breathe all the air of the World, happy With the form of my legs prepared to run through all the stages of the World. I thank you God for creating me black For making of me Porter of all sorrows.. Still I am Glad to carry the World, Glad of my short arms Of my long arms Of the thickness of my lips.. I thank you God for creating me black White is a colour for special occasions Black the colour for every day And i have carried the World since the dawn of time And my laugh over the World, through the night, creates the Day. I thank you, God for creating me blackGabriel Okara's â€Å"Once Upon a Time† â€Å"Once Upon a Time† has been published in the Edexcel GCSE anthology. In â€Å"Once Upon a Time†, Gabriel Okara speaks of a time when Africans were rooted in the simplicity of tradition and minimalism of sophistication; and how different they have turned out to be with the advent of colonialism. The very title â€Å"Once Upon a Time† points to a fairy tale existence long ago that is almost deemed unbelievable â€Å"Once Upon a Time† they used to laugh with their hearts and eyes in complete sincerity. A smile, if natural, first reaches the eyes. Therefore Okara portrays fake, unfelt smiles. A smile is the first greeting a person is received with.If the greeting itself is deceptive; the rest is to be regarded with great suspicion. â€Å"Once Upon a Time† they were children in the lap of nature . However, now they have turned into processed products of the pseudo modern existence. They now laugh mechanically with their teeth and ice-block cold ey es. The term ‘ice-block cold eyes' is very suggestive of death and stagnation. It also denotes lack of communication. Pictorial vehemence suggests the lurking hypocrisy. The people only ‘search behind' the speaker's shadow. Okara means to say that every action is analyzed and every motive criticized. Also, they are satisfied with the shadow of the person in question, and do not seek the identity of the persona.This points to the current media policy that project the shells of various personalities without delving to their depth. They fail to comprehend the enigma behind each unique individual. The poet moves from expression to action. Now they shake hands ‘without hearts' as their left hand probes the speakers' pockets. People do not go out of their way to help others now-a-days. Instead, influenced by the Western formula of success, they take advantage of others to reach their end. The poet asserts that immersed in the crowd, he has also become a cog in the wheel of society. Like Kamala Das echoes in her poem â€Å"Fancy-Dress Show†, the poet claims that he has learnt to adorn different faces to suit the situation- homeface, officeface, streetface, hostface, ocktailface, with all their conforming smiles like a fixed portrait smile. The third stanza portrays the hiatus between words uttered and bitter reality. The divorce between the intention and remark is explicit. The poet has also learnt o say â€Å"Good bye† when he means â€Å"Good Riddance† The shut door stands for modern insularity: it foregrounds the alienation of the individual from tradition, tribe and clan. . The speaker tells his son that he wants to relearn everything and be like him. He seems to echo that :†Child is the father of man†. Okara ,in other words, would like to go down to his roots. The man distrusts even his mirror image, his reflection: for my laugh in the mirror hows only my teeth like a snake's bare fangs! The poisonous erudition is implicit in his own state of being. The poet opines that unpolluted simplicity and innocence can only be found in childhood, and relived in the same. The Call of the River Nun is a similar celebration of lost innocence David Rubadiri's â€Å"A Negro Labourer in Liverpool† An analysis of David Rubadiri's â€Å"A Negro Labourer in Liverpool† The poem strives to highlight the plight of a Negro labourer in Liverpool. The indefinite article ‘a’ points to the lack of a specific identity. They are just one among a group, one of the community, who do not necessarily possess any individual identity.They are labeled according to their work(labourer)or corresponding to their geographical location. The poet himself hints at the indifference of society as a whole to the plight of the labourer as he states that he ‘passes’ him. He slouches on dark backstreet pavements. His ‘marginalization’ is evident in his position ’slouchingâ€℠¢. Further, it is also emphasized in his being side-stepped on the pavements. Again the pavement is qualified by the phrase ’dark backstreet’. The head is ‘bowed’ when it would have preferred to be straight. He is overcome with fatigue and totally exhausted. He is a dark shadow amongst other shadows. He has no unique identity, his life is not colourful.The poet asserts that he has lifted his face to his, as in acknowledgement. Their eyes met but on his dark Negro face. The poet probably refers to the reflection of the speaker’s eyes in the eyes of the labourer. The eyes are foregrounded on his dark face. There is no sunny smile as he wears a forlorn expression. The sun is an important and recurrent motif in African poetry. A wise man once said that a man is poor if he does not have a penny; he is poor if he does not possess a dream. The labourer here neither has hope nor longing. Only the mechanical ‘cowed dart of eyes’ that is more mec hanized than the impassive activity of the people. People in their ‘impassive’ fast-forward life fail to notice the labourer.He painfully searches for a face to comprehend his predicament, acknowledge his suffering. It expresses his utter solitude and utter desperation. Capitalism & Women Academy. Mises. org Feminists Should Thank Capitalists. Mises Academy Course. Enroll Today! Ads by Google Notice that the poet shifts from the indefinite article ‘a’ to the definite article ‘the’ in addressing the Negro labourer in the second stanza. It is to assert and affirm his existence in society that the poet does the same. David Rubadiri goes on to describe him in terms of his motherland; and in terms of his emotions: ’a heart heavy’. He bears a century’s oppression that had sought after an identity.He strives to attain the fire of manhood. But ironically, even in the Land of the free (England), he is unable to attain the same. Neve rtheless, the free here are also dead, in a state of decay and stagnation, for they too grope for a light, a ray of hope. The speaker puts forward the question: Will the sun That greeted him from his mother’s womb Ever shine again? Not here- Here his hope is the shovel. And his fulfillment resignation He awaits a new dawn, as fresh as that promised as he arose from his mother’s womb. He longs for the rays of hope of a sun that will never set for him. Presently his hope is his shovel-his hard work, and he discovers content in its fulfillment.

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Movie review topic Extinguishing the ecstasy of anger - Essay Example Despite of the hardships, they still push through the objectives and the vision of their organization. The focus of the paper would be on the reasoning rendered by the review about The Interrupters. The main argument is related to the quality of the review and the supporting details would be used to verify the strength of the argument presented. Later on a conclusion would be made to prove that the supporting details really strengthened the argument. Roger Eberts said that â€Å"The Interrupters" is the closest thing to a real-life superhero origins story that any of us might ever experience. This film is exactly that: a superhero origins documentary. It might be the most powerful movie I have ever seen.† He wanted to convince the audience that the documentary movie was the greatest film ever as it reflected the heroic acts that can be compared to heroic deeds that are seen only on fantasies. Eberts concluded that people in the movie â€Å"identifies a problem, and seeks to fix it, with, or without any fanfare. The characters in our story are nothing more or less than what they are: humans with delicate hearts, seeking a few rays of hope.† The Interrupters is a good piece of a film as its quality is great catching the scenes that proves the existence and real impacts of the works of the organization CeaseFire. Their group may have some vigilante factor but the strength of their motivation adds help to the peace mai ntenance in their place. The movie The Interrupters shows the story about real-life superheroes as the characters in the movie are real people and not actors (Ebert Paragraph 1). They are captured while doing the real thing. Just like superheroes they face adversities even if danger is present and they risk their lives to save people. Dozens of Chicago killings rise and children are the usual victims. They are ignored and majority of people are busy on other events such as football games (Ebert

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CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP - Essay Example CSM has a global nature which is quite relevant nowadays. Thus CSM doesn’t consider any special aspect of management; it concerns all spheres of management. Diverse perspectives, numerous issues, interpretations of gained management knowledge are important distinctive features of CSM. A period signified by occurrence of CSM is also known as a period of â€Å"post-modernism† and â€Å"post-structuralism† (Rosenau, 1992). This can be explained by changes emerged in Western societies. Thus there is a tendency to flexibility, hybridism and globalization (Sheppard, 2002).The main idea of post-modernism is an excess of instrumentalism in bureaucratic society. As a result creative thinking and perspectives are oppressed. Post-structuralism criticizes oppression of creative imagination as well. Post-modernistic ideas of CSM are directed on the search of diversity and respect of all kinds of beliefs, traditions and nations. Diverse values of modern society should be all equal. The same principles are relevant to post-modern organizations. On the example of post-modern organizations, the main principles of generally accepted managerial and leadership practices are discussed. Moreover, Weber’s theory and his considerations about organization’s st ructures and kinds of leadership are projected on modern practices of the business world. In order to show crucial role of CSM in modern business world, it is relevant to choose a certain theory which is of great importance for historical and modern critics and which is popular nowadays. Max Weber’s Theory is chosen to draw parallels between relevance of his principles in old and current days. In the middle of twentieth century Weber propagated prevalence of knowledge in the process of bureaucratic administration. â€Å"For the sociologist, power is principally exemplified within organizations by the process of control† (Weber, 1947). Max Weber’s theory

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Leisure Tourism in Switzerland Project for Microeconomics - Term Paper Example ntry remains active in the United Nations and other international organizations and yet manages to retain strong commitments towards being a neutral entity. Here are some important facts about the country (Cowan, 2005: 7). Gross Domestic Product $659.3 billion (2011) Gross Domestic Product Growth Rate 1.10% (2011) Population 7.912 million (2011) Life Expectance 82.70 years (2011) Median 41.3 Land Area 40,000.0 Unemployment Rate 3.10% Economic Performance The per capita GDP growth in Switzerland was 1.6 in 2011, according to a report published by the World Bank in 2012. The annual percentage of the per capita GDP growth rate has been calculated based on the stable local currency (Frank, 1964:21). Figure 1. Per capita GDP growth (annual %) in Switzerland (Source: World Bank) The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Switzerland has increased by 1.10 % in the first quarter of 2013, as compared to the same quarter of the last year. The annual real GDP growth rate in the country has been r eported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. From 1981 to 2013, the real GDP growth rate has been averaged at 1.66 percent. An all-time record high of 7.30 percent was reached in March of 1990. Here it should also be mentioned that a record all-time low of -3.70 was reached in June 2009. In the country, the annual growth rate in GDP shows the change in the value of the services and goods produced by the economy of the nation during the period of a year (Henry, 2008:51). Figure 2: Real GDP Annual Growth Rate of Switzerland (Source: State Secretariat for Economic Affairs) Although labor productivity continues to be the preferred choice, various economists also tend to think in terms of the total factor productivity, or TFP. The total factor productivity of the country has gone down... This paper presents a comprehensive economic analysis of the structure of Swiss economy and assesses the influence of the tourism industry performance on overall economic indicators. The real gross domestic product (GDP) in Switzerland has increased by 1.10 % in the first quarter of 2013, as compared to the same quarter of the last year. The annual real GDP growth rate in the country has been reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs. From 1981 to 2013, the real GDP growth rate has been averaged at 1.66 percent Although labor productivity continues to be the preferred choice, various economists also tend to think in terms of the total factor productivity, or TFP. The total factor productivity of the country has gone down in the last year or so. Since the major recession, there was a downward and upward trend in 2009. The majority of exported goods are shipped to a number of countries from where the imported goods come in. Most of the import trade partners of the country are the industrialized countries such as Italy, Germany, France, Netherlands, USA, Great Brittan, Japan, According to a report published by the International Monetary Fund, the gross fixed investment of the country in 2012 was 20.6%. A part from this the expenditure of the foreign guests in the country has the same effect on the balance of payment of the nation as the export of goods and services. Tourism industry contributes 6% to the country’s GDP. This is the very reason due to which sometimes tourism is referred to as an invisible export.