ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The term globalization has become recently popular in the modern world describing a wide range of economic, social and political trends. Globalization can be described as the integration of societies, economies and cultures through a worldwide network developed from communication, trade and transportation. Although there are many description of the term, it has generally been accepted that globalization is a term that best describes the contemporary world that exists now. Globalization has extensive implications for almost every aspect of human life. This has sparked numerous debates about the impacts of globalization and whether it has caused more harm than good. Considering the various developments in the recent world, it is evident that globalization offers more advantages than disadvantages economically or otherwise. Globalization is mainly used to describe the integration of worldwide economies through foreign investments, trade and technological exchange. Globalization has led to the development of a global market whose foundation is the freedom of exchange. Countries that were once cut off from the world can now access goods and services easily from foreign countries. Companies are also able to reduce their cost of production by locating their companies in countries with cheap labor cost. This has led to cheaper goods that can be accessed by different people from all over the world. Globalization has also enabled the transfer of skills. Third world countries and developing countries can learn from multinational companies and in the process develop their own economies from the acquired knowledge. Critics of globalization argue that globalization has led to loss of jobs through outsourcing. Critics also argue that globalization has led to the spread of sweatshops and exploitation of workers from third world countries. While these claims may be true, it should be noted that cases of unemployment are very high in third world countries and through globalization these workers may get a chance to get a livelihood. Companies mainly invest in these countries for cheap labor, and the moral dilemma that arises due to “unfair” wages is unfounded as without these foreign companies, the workers are stuck in poverty without a way out. Globalization has also led to integration of military power and political alliances. This has led to the development of a common international legal framework that seeks to protect human rights and promote peace throughout the world. Through globalization, crime importation has become possible and cooperation of law agencies all over the world has enabled the improvement of international crime fighting efforts. Globalization also led to the formation of the international criminal court that has enabled political and human rights criminals to be tried fairly and justly, which would otherwise be impossible in their home countries. Globalization has also led to military cooperation aimed at fighting impunity, promoting democracy and elimination of terrorism threats. This is one of the major advantages of globalization as countries that were once oppressed
Kuwait is among the countries that have been affected by the current economic crisis. Most of its sectors are now counting losses as some of them have opted to close down. Kuwait’s investment industry has suffered a similar effect but its situation has been worse than in other industries. This is because it depends so much on the financial status to carry out its operations. Investment Dar otherwise known as TID and KMFIC are some of the major investment companies that have suffered losses due to the current crisis and are now relying on their assets to settle their debts and to also pay their employees as they hope that the situation will improve shortly. Introduction Kuwait’s investment industry is among the sensitive sectors that have been affected by the economic crisis currently prevailing globally. Banks take the largest representation of Kuwait’s investment industry and they have cut on their returns since people are not able to invest as before. However, not all investment companies have suffered negative effects from the economic crisis since some have been found to adjust accordingly by employing competent practices through which they manage risks resulting from the economic crisis. Economics experts in Kuwait have suggested that the appropriate way to protect the value of an investment company during an economic crisis is by investing in long-term sustainability. Among the companies that have been considerably affected are Investment Dar and KMEFIC which is an investment company operating in Kuwait and the whole of Middle East. Roberts (2009 p 12) An Analysis of the Investment Industry in Kuwait Today The government of Kuwait has influenced appropriate adjustments in the country’s investment industry where the first steps have been economic regulation through the implementation of monetary policy. This policy involves control of money supply, interest rate, as well as money availability, and its implementation is being carried out by Kuwait’s Central Bank. In December the year two thousand and eight, the investment market made some confessions which were a reflection of the extent to which the financial crisis has affected Kuwait’s investment industry. One of the confessions was that the investment authority of Kuwait otherwise known as (KIA) would not be in a position to provide financial support that would assist in the restoration of confidence that was already diminishing in Kuwait’s investment industry. Investment banks were also reflected in the confessions and their failure was predicted despite intervention efforts employed by the Kuwait government to support them. Another area that would not be controlled was an investment in oil companies where oil prices had fluctuated to a point that the oil cartel would no longer control it. After observing the situation in the current financial crisis, most speculators based in Kuwait had a strong belief that companies in the investment industry would suffer greatly though none of them would dare think that the house of Global investment otherwise known as Global would also fall. This would meet Kuwait citizens with shock
Firms have embarked on strategies that help catch up with the stiff competition in the market. As a result, they partner with other firms to form strategic networks that constitute many members. This arrangement enables them attain strategic renewal through sharing resources, participation in joint technological activities and drawing similar marketing strategies. It is evident that this helps in strengthening the firm’s competitiveness; as a result, most governments and business related regulatory agencies support its implementation especially for small businesses. Another reason why many governments’ support this concept is because it assists firms to build independent entities that will help them address their deficiencies. Most importantly, to ensure the networks accomplish their goals, it is essential to establish a network board that will foresee their operations. This board might come in handy in situations where companies that have formed a network are experiencing problems related to insufficient resources (Thorgren, Wincent and Anokhin 131). The network board consists of firm’s representatives, experts in the industry or representatives of different related public agencies. Most importantly, the main responsibility of the network board is to augment network authenticity. Additionally, it heartens, harmonizes and offers support for joint activities among the networked firms. Basing on the roles played by this network board, it is essential that they are compensated so as to motivate them. It is obvious that the administrative structure that governs the operations of this board is different from the normal organization structure. This is because the board foresees the operations of more than one firm and each of them has its own administrative structure. Thus, the process of compensating the network board is far different from that of an organization’s board. As evident, this board acts as agents that link different organizations. Research has incorporated agency theory with stewardship theory to suggest that unforeseen events shape the affiliation linking networking firms and network board members in a way that can add weight to the effects of board compensation on network performance (Thorgren et al. 132). Analysis In this article, the author portrays the importance of the small businesses coming together and establishing an empire that will sustain them presently and in the future. In order for these businesses to succeed, they must form a board to foresee their operations. Additionally, this board must be compensated as a means of motivating it to perform its duties well. It is noteworthy that the author’s qualification is certain as he brings out the most important facts concerning the avenue that leads to small businesses prosperity. Establishment of a strategic network by firms as presented by the author seems to be a practicable fact. However, the administrative structure that links these companies in a way to facilitate the compensation of this board does not seem
Photography is visual communication or literacy, which involves sending and receiving images with the aim of constructing a meaningful message. The skills required to form meaningful images in this process entail exploitation, critical assessment, and reflection. In the multimedia world of photography, various combined abilities are required, skills that call for one’s capacity to read visual information. Most visual communication techniques are for capturing people’s attention, reinforcing knowledge, and encompassing the audience’s extra responses. The audience, on the other hand, needs the ability to interpret images within a certain period in the present, past, and future. The various forms of visual communication include gestures, signs and, symbols in various fields, but mainly in films, dance, fashion, photography, advertisement, monuments, designs, or lighting, among others. Visual literature requires one to have the ability to analyze, interpret, and understand images with the aim of acquiring meaning through the cultural context in which the image exists. Significant skills include the ability to analyze the syntax and techniques of the image, including style and composition, for image production. The ability to evaluate the synthetic merit, purpose, anticipated audience, synergy, interaction, innovation, effectiveness, and feeling of any visual image also requires some expertise skills. Photography has the capacity to communicate instantly and universally; indeed, “Photographs may have placed greater importance on the visual over the written literature.” Since a picture is worth a hundred words, most sensory learning is visual, but the viewer should be in a position to interpret the idea in order to understand the message. According to Oring (58), the need to learn this interpretation skill is urgent because photography touches on all levels of society. The level of visual literacy in a person determines his or her ability to read images in a meaningful manner as a vital aspect of enriching life. Images today, especially photographs, have become part of the principal structure of communication. From the technological world where users interface graphically via computers to various other media platforms, the need for visual representation over text seems to increase day by day. The cu
Introduction Ethanol, as an alternative energy source, is largely used as a fuel in motor vehicles. Increasing global warming, caused by excessive use of petroleum-based fuels, has caused many countries to consider the viability of ethanol as an alternative source of energy. Furthermore, the need to take charge of the country’s energy sources has made it a viable option. It is a product of fermentation, where glucose or sugar is converted into ethanol. The substrates used to carry out this process included corn, wood, beets, vegetable waste, cheese, or several other agricultural products. How ethanol is used as an alternative source of energy Transportation or motor vehicle use is one of the most significant uses of energy in any economy. Ethanol comes into play either as a direct fuel or as an additive. In the former situation, engineers combine the product with gasoline. In other circumstances, individuals prefer to use it as a raw material for the production of ether additives. Manufacturing technology has not reached a level where motor vehicles can use one hundred percent of the commodity for fuel. The extent to which consumers use this product is quite promising. Auto dealers recommend ethanol blends for their engine knocking abilities, their ability to provide high gas mileage as well as their acceleration qualities. In fact, auto dealers are practicing what they preach by using the product. In the United States, approximately nine-tenth of auto dealers rely on ethanol blends for their cars. Furthermore, some of the top car manufacturing organizations, such as Ford and General Motors, also support the use of the fuel owing to its environmental friendliness. Ethanol blends are much cleaner than pure gasoline; the most common one is E10 unleaded, which consists of a ten percent blend of ethanol and gasoline. Furthermore it has high performance qualities. The fuel has the backing of some of the influential figures in the automobile industry (Herwick 4). A number of characteristics make ethanol a lucrative source of energy, and this explains why motor vehicle stakeholders are using the product currently. First, the product is an effective cleaning agent. It works by loosening contaminants in old vehicles and by prevention of the same in newer vehicles. Additionally, the product minimizes the need for an anti-freeze during cold weather. Ethanol has the capacity to absorb water in the engine such that one eliminates the need for addition of such a device during the winter. The product is also favorable because of its ease of use in different types of cars. Old cars only require a minor addition of a lead substitute, but they can work just as w
Introduction Best Buy was founded by Richard Schulze in 1969. The company was first established as a car audio and a single room store and later developed into an international retailer of electronics, entertainment products and home office products. In 2001, Best Buy Company was considered as the best company that supplied electronics in the Western countries. In the same year, the company was considered as the largest and most successful retail store of electronics worldwide. Best Buy is one of the companies in the United States which has managed to enter into the markets of Canada, United Kingdom, Mexico, Turkey and China (Cheng, 2009, p.52). Best Buy employs direct investment strategy for global market development. The company entered the international market of China by forming a joint venture with the China’s Five Star Appliance Limited. By acquiring Five Star Appliance, the company gained popularity in China and expanded its business by opening nine stores. The nine stores of the company were located in Hangzhou, Beijing and Suzhou. This paper seeks to explain the mode of entry that Best Buy used to enter into the Chinese market and why it failed. To explain this issue, the paper examines the macro and micro environment of the Chinese market as well as the segmentation, positioning and brand name of Best Buy Company (Ehrmann, 2009, p.10). Macro and micro environment Micro environment consists of the following factors; marketing intermediaries, suppliers, the company and the competitors. In the fiscal year 2009, twenty five suppliers of electronics accounted for over sixty six percent of the merchandise purchased whereby Sony, Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba and Apple accounted for one-third. Best Buy enters in short-term agreements with its suppliers since it usually gets its products from the Asian manufacturers (Hollensen, 2012, p.50). The strategy of obtaining products directly from the manufacturers has enabled Best Buy to offer private-label products, which harmonizes the existing product line. The suppliers of Best Buy products have a high bargaining power since there are only a few suppliers in the electronic industry. Many retail shops in the industry like Best Buy have no power to bargain on the prices given, but only buy from the manufacturers like LG, Samsung and Sony in order to satisfy the needs of their clients (Lee & Carter, 2012, p.94). Dool & Lowe (2012, p.68) indicate that the bargaining power of the suppliers is lowered by some of the factors like competition among suppliers and the need to ensure that the products manufactured get out of the shelves in order to reach the end user. Manufacturers rely heavily on retail shops to make their sales. In this case, Best Buy has a bargaining power since it is recognized as the leading retail shop of electronics across the world. Be
People’s consciousness is the most complicated and strange part of science which is studied constantly but the secret how it works is not decided yet. Scientists continue to provide different experiments in order to understand how it functions and how many secrets it comprises. People usually do not notice how actions they do and the things they see influence their world perception. Such experiment may be introduced on the example of the concept of a perceptual set. The experiment, we are going to provide, is going to illustrate how people’s perception of some things influence their perceptions of the others. It is better to start with describing the notion of perceptional set. Personal set is “a state of readiness to perceive certain kinds of stimuli rather than others” (Hayes, 2000, p. 61). A good example is introduced in the book by Nevid, who shows that people who saw letters before saw in B letter B, and those who saw numbers were sure to see 13 (Nevid, 2008). The experiment, which is going to be conducted by us proofs the concept of perception set by contradiction. The main idea of the experiment is as follows. Three friends of mine were invited in the room, which was unfamiliar for them, and their task was to observe the room and pay attention to the objects of blue color. One minute was given for them to observe the room and then their eyes were tied. Before the experiment my friends were told that they should do what they would be said. To the point, my friends tried to remember as much blue objects as they could as they thought that the main idea of the experiment was to evaluate their memory, and it was really a surprise, when they were asked to name the green objects which were in the room. The results of the experiment showed that my friends were ready to tell about blue objects, but it was really hard for them to tell about green one. But still my friends managed to remember the green objects which size was big of the number was numerous or which just strike attention, such as a wedding photo in a green frame, a big floor vase with flowers, 10 green glasses on the table with a jug. Such objects as green children’s van, a small napkin on the TV-set, green shoes and a lot of other subjects were left behind the scope of their attention. The imagination of my friends tried to recollect the other objects and sometimes they just imagine what green could be in that room. He experiment was conducted exactly as it was expected. The results were even better than I thought, as my frien
The problem of global warming has been in existence for quite long, yet it has only recently gained enough attention to warrant a change in global policies and regulations. Nonetheless, the issue remains urgent despite the numerous attempts at building awareness and promoting a global change. Therefore, there is the need to change the current environmental policies to encourage a more sensible approach toward the use of the available resources. At present, there is a vast environmental crisis approaching the global community. The impact that people have had on the climate and the current changes in it are profound and mostly irreversible (European Commission, 2016). Specifically, the rise in the levels of CO2 emission, as well as the subsequent greenhouse effect, should be seen as the key outcomes of the human activity on the environment. The specified change has had a profound impact on a range of processes within the Earth’s biosphere, thus causing vast alterations. Despite the drastic levels tha
In the labor market, employers face different challenges when handling their employees. Some employees have unrealistic demands that influence their colleagues hence making it difficult for employers to handle them. Similarly, employees go through some challenges caused by their employers. For instance, some employers exploit their employees for their selfish gains. This makes it necessary for stakeholders in the labor market to intervene and enact labor laws that protect both the employers and the employees. The railroad labor act was passed in 1926 with the intention of ensuring that interstate commerce is not interrupted by disputes between carriers and workers. The act has provisions that provide ways of resolving disputes. Another labor act, Norris-LaGuardia labor Act was enacted in 1932 to ensure that employers do not mistreat employees. It ensures that the rights of employees are not violated. The Wagner act was passed in 1935 and ensures that workers are given their rights to form unions. Landrum-Griffin Act prevents corruption in unions while the Taft-Hartley Labor Act prevents disputes from occurring in unions. Body The Railroad Labor Act, popularly known as the RLA was passed in 1926. It was jointly enacted by rail labor and management. In 1934 and 1966, slight amendments which led to the inclusion of aircrafts in 1936 were made on the act. The National Mediation Board, an independent federal agency is concerned with administering the policy. One of the functions of RLA is to ensure that interstate commerce is not interrupted by solving disputes between carriers and their workers immediately. It also gives employees an opportunity to organize and conduct a collective bargain. It does this by compelling carriers and employees to pay duty intended at creating and maintaining agreements of collective bargaining. Moreover, it settles all disputes that arising from the application of such agreements. In addition, RLA provides procedures of resolving mandatory disputes hence preventing strikes that arise from union representation and disputes related to grievances. The impact of this act in organizations is that it enables smooth running as well as making it possible for unions to serve employees well (Cihon, 2010). The Norris-LaGuardia act was enacted in 1932, towards the end of the administration of Hoover. This was the first act among several laws that had been passed by the congress. The act enables labor unions to stage mass action and use other accepted ways of dealing with the management. In its first provision, it abolishes the yellow dog agreements or contracts that were enforced by federal courts. Under the yellow dog agreement, employees were required to accept that they would never join any labor organization. The second provision of the act takes away the jurisdiction of issuing injunctions on non-violent strikes, patrols, assemblies or making public facts on labor disputes that the federal courts