ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
In his works, Daniel Miller develops a theory of materiality according to which individuals tend to express their values or attitudes through the acquisition and manipulation of material objects (Miller ac cited in Borgerson 2005, p. 440). Normally, they do it by buying the so-called iconic brands that are a part of a certain culture. In other words, products do not serve only functional purposes; they also help customers express their identities and maintain relations with other people (Borgerson 2005, p. 440). In this paper, I would like to speak about such a brand as Lenovo that can also be regarded as iconic brand in Chinese culture. In particular, I intend to discuss this product is related to the behavior of my relatives and friends. It seems that such a discussion can throw light on the behavior of many consumers. At first, it is necessary to explain such a concept as iconic brand. One can say these material objects are recognizable within a certain culture and they are usually favored by consumers who live in a particular country or region (Clark & Clanton 2012, p. 141). The consumption of such goods signifies that a person belongs to a specific community or culture (Kravets & Orge 2010). According to Douglas Holt (2002) such goods become a part a person’s identity. Furthermore, such products have to reflect cultural ideology of the country at a certain time (Holt 2004 p. 109; Simon 2011, p. 189). These are the most important attributes of iconic brands. This discussion of iconic brands partly confirms Daniel Miller’s theory of materiality, especially the belief that goods or products are closely tied to a person’s social relations and self-expression. Lenovo is one of the material goods which are recognized by people, who live in China, and there are several reasons for this popularity. In particular, one can speak about the high quality of their products like, especially tablet or laptop computers. One can say that they offer a good ratio of price, quality, and functionality. To a great extent, brands like Lenovo show that Chinese companies can successfully integrate into the world market and compete with the most advanced companies (Cooke, Parrili, & Curbelo 2012, p. 227). Moreover, such technological products illustrate the creativity and efficiency of the Chinese people. These are some of the reasons why Lenovo can be regarded as an iconic brand. It has to be admitted that Chinese customers can also buy products of other manufacturers. Nonetheless, technological solutions offered by Lenovo also enjoy significant demand in the country. At this point, it is necessary to discuss the materiality of this brand. According to Daniel Miller, the primary cause of individual cons
Self-actualization is one of the most important human needs which help me to understand myself and find my ‘unique place in society. Self-actualization is defined as: “the process of growth beyond meeting deprivation needs in which a person begins to fully realize his or her unique potential” (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004, p. 56). Self-actualization is achieved only after a person has received sufficient security, love, and acceptance from others. It further expects that an individual will joyfully offer the distinctive contributions that only she or he can make in return. Maslow points out that there is a level beyond these that can give us more life, greater fulfillment, more humanness (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004). He calls this level self-actualization. In describing self-actualization he uses the following words: “self -fulfillment, emotional maturity, individuation, productiveness, authenticity, full humanness” (Knapp and Vangelisti 2004, p. 57). Self-actualization is very important for me because it helps me to understand ‘who I am and my role in life. Maslow believes that self-actualization is basically a process through which a person develops his or her own inner nature. In sharp contrast to both traditional Christian thought, which (on the whole) tends to see our inner nature as sinful, and modern psychoanalytic theory, which tends to see it as essentially amoral and instinctual, Maslow sees the inner core of the person as essentially good. It is a positive potential that must be developed if we are to live creative, vital lives. Part of the process of self-actualization depends on our ability to transcend —to stand over and against—our society, our peers, our friends and loved ones, and indeed ourselves and our own personal beliefs and values. This sounds logically impossible at first. It is something that most of us have experienced (Wood 2003). Self-actualization describes the growth of human beings from the point of view of an individual seeking to achieve greater authenticity. I suppose that this need is very important for me right now because my life has changed and I find new friends and new interests. They influence my perception of the world and people around me, my personal values, and life expectations. The idea that we can “change our mind” about something or someone who is particularly important to us points to this capacity in a simple way. The experience of being caught up in the beauty of the sunset does so in yet another way (Wood 2003). When we become aware of our experiences of living we readily recognize that we are not what others think we are, that we are not even what we think we are. Our experience of ourselves and our world is richer, fuller, more expansive than any beliefs or expectations we may have about either. If it were not so, we could not change our minds or play with a raindrop or love another unique human being. In self-actualization, we increase our capacity to do these things in the midst of all the problems that come to our attention and call for our concern. Abraha
Introduction China is the most populous country in the world, with a population of close to 1.3 billion. The nation has experienced tremendous economic growth over the last couple of decades to join the league of the world’s superpowers. How often does one see an item branded ‘made in China’? The country’s GDP is rising at a high rate and many pundits are foreseeing that in the near future China will overtake the US as the world’s superpower. So what has caused china’s recent change of fortunes? Success of the Chinese economy is largely attributable to its expansionary policy. Unlike the West, China is investing heavily in Africa and other third world countries and this has spurred growth. The scramble for Africa in the 1900’s was predominantly a European affair. The Europeans seemingly underestimated Africa potential as an investment destination. China, on the other hand, has made successful forays into African countries and now commands a heavy presence in most African states. The question that lingers, therefore, is why Africa? This paper looks at the African countries that the Chinese have heavily invested in order to understand why they prefer Africa as an investment destination unlike western and European countries. The profitability and riskiness of African markets is the subject of this study to derive a comprehensive conclusion of Africa’s viability as an investment destination to the Chinese. Chinese Presence in Africa “ African countries present a haven of opportunities to the Chinese. Africa is rich in natural resource such as oil and copper, that provides raw material to manufacturing industries. Being a third world continent, most parts of Africa are underdeveloped and depend on IMF funding for loans to fund development projects. IMF normally imposes stringent requirements and unfavourable payment terms to borrowing countries hindering the acquisition of finances from this global financier. China provides an alternative to African countries by offering foreign aid and loans to finance projects at favourable terms. Statistics show that by the year 2006, China had given aid to Africa amounting to 5.5 billion and had provided loans amounting to 800 million to fund projects across Africa. Most of these projects are projects that western donors have ignored over the years therefore this creates goodwill between China and African states (Haley 2006). Main Imports and Exports China has grown to be an industrial powerhouse, its exports are scattered all over the world. Most multinationals have manufacturing franchises located in China mainly because of the low production costs and availability of resources. China’s main exports to Africa include apparels, machinery, equipments, and textile, footwear and transport equipments. The main destinations of Chinas exports in Africa are the states of Angola, Zambia, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. In return Africa exports numerous raw materials to China, this are predominantly crude oil, iron ore, diamonds, logs and cotton. Angola has replaced Saudi Arabia as the largest source of crude oil to China. Sudan, Equatorial Guinea, Chad and Congo also supply crude oil to
Genetic engineering is a technology of genetic modification. It allows scientists to alter the arrangement of genes by manipulating the protein sequence of the gene. This technology started to gain momentum in the middle of the twentieth century, although the concept first appeared in the 1920s. With the structure of DNA being revealed in 1953, genetic engineering received a solid foundation and attracted more and more enthusiasts. The rapid progression of research caused by such interest also led to some conflicts. The use of genetic engineering in the field of food production, for instance, divided scientists and consumers into two sides, where the first group argued about the immense benefits of cheaper, more resilient crops, and the second was concerned about possible health outcomes for people who consumed genetically modified foods. As the science of genetic engineering progressed, so did the debate about its ethics. Currently, the main point of contention is the issue of human genes’ modification. This sphere of innovation usually includes two major topics – reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. While the latter is mostly used for research and medical experiments, the former deals with replication of animals, crops, and, theoretically, human beings. In this case, the ethics of human cloning and human genes’ alteration are at the center of the most heated debates. One side supports the modification of genes, while another argues against it on the grounds of morality and artificiality. It is clear that genetic engineering of humans is ethically flawed and should be heavily regulated to avoid harmful and society-damaging results. The first reason to oppose the idea of manipulation of human genes lies in the morality of the process. While
Abstract The study seeks to offer an attentive examination of the supply chain design in the auto-industry taking BMW as the case. In addition, this study will explore how supply chain design increases the competitive advantage to the firms within the auto-industry. With the use of theoretical and empirical studies, the paper will further explore the supply chain design that is appropriate for firms such as BMW. The conclusion drawn in the study is that appropriate design for the firms supply and distribution processes increases its competitive advantage. The study recommends further plan for potential studies in this field. Introduction: BMW BMW is one of the largest automobile products manufactures around the globe. BMW claims larger market share in the automobile industry. Over the years, the company has managed to generate growth in profitability through establishing within the premium segment of the automotive market. To meet the needs of the market, the company has diversified its products. Besides, the company has managed its supply chain to ensure its products take the least time to reach the customers. the company realized that proper management of its supply chain is one of the capabilities the company can utilize to remain competitive and increase its market share. Despite the fluctuations that have occurred in the automobiles market, BMW has continued to register immense growth in production volumes as well as sales. In addition, to achieve growth and development, BMW has embraced the commercialization of sophisticated environmental expertise as well as reforming its organization to earn revenue. Further, the company undertakes actions aimed at reinforcing its market share particularly on the fast developing economies. BMW have also focused on delivering inexpensive quality automobiles to its clients as well as offering products with low harmful discharges in the environment. BMW recognizes the need for close cooperation with suppliers in the provision of its products. As a result, it has established worldwide connections with suppliers to accomplish its pledge of providing quality and superior automobile product presentation. In addition, the firm has cultivated trust with its business partners through sustaining equity in their relations by valuing the existing rules and guidelines. Further, BMW recognizes that all its partners as well as its suppliers should be offered equal prospects in business transactions. Moreover, the firm has been able to work with other partners in coming with standard prices hence achieving synergies in their operations to increase its growth potential. BMW’s customer services operations have achieved immense gains in the realization of the best services to its customers globally. The firm has achieved this by giving customer satisfaction a priority in its operations. Further, the firm has approved a strategy of providing affordable, reliable as well as developing the efficiency in the production. The company also undertakes various measures aimed at creating an environment where customers are able to address issues concerning the fulfillments they receive from the services. T
For a business to remain relevant in today’s changing environment and achieve profitability, the business operations have to undergo continuous improvements to ensure the goals for profitability and relevance are achieved. Process improvements to operations are the techniques that are used by a business to enable it achieve optimized results in its core activities. Companies that are involved in improvement activities have to first define their goals and objectives as well as their visions and mission in the market place. After which the processes that are in need of improvements or changes are identified. Process improvement in an organization’s business operations is an important concept as it allows for the organizations functional activities to be effectively managed. It also improves the performance of the business in terms of its operations and employee performance. The need to improve process operations comes about because business operations are seen to be important for ensuring that an organization achieves profitability and maintains its competitiveness within the market. Google decided to perform process improvement operations on its Google Search engine by introducing Google Instant despite the website performing beyond expectations. The improvement saw the Google feature becoming not only just a search tool but also as a process that allows the user to refine their search questions without touching the search button on Google’s webpage. Basically the website predicts the search terms that the user is going to type. The term instant was used for the new improvements so as to make the search process much faster. Google statistics show that it takes an average person using the search engine more than 9 seconds to type in a search word. It takes the Google search engine 300 milliseconds to respond to the search query typed in by the user. With the Google instant search, the company will expect the amount of time people search for results to be reduced to 3.5 billion seconds (Copeland, 2010). The reason for the improvements has mostly been to deal with competitors such as Yahoo and Microsoft who are also reinventing themselves to meet the increasing search process industry. The improvements were also necessary to fasten the search process for the user thereby saving sometime. Google Instant has combined the use of interface designs and background processes so as to keep the webpage relevant to users and advertisers. The Instant feature is not meant to change anything for the advertisers as the method of ranking ads in the website has not been changed. What will change however is the number of searches Google users get to perform in a limited amount of time (Copeland, 2010). According to the Google designers and management, the websites new improvements have received positive responses with users ranking the Google Instant Search engine as the number one search tool in the Internet. Users have found typing only one letter of what they are looking for as a much faster techniques than typing the whole word or sentence. While the searching software has undergone some changes, t
Human geography regularly referred as the cultural geography encompasses all the human aspects of why certain things happen in certain places. These human aspects may involve demographics, farming, health, culture and industry. Human geography shows the interaction of human beings with their habitats and resources and the outcome of their lifestyles due to this interactions and relationships. The process of globalization as an aspect of human geography influences all elements of the social relationships such as policies in trade, counties’ development, attitude to the climate change and the use of resources (Agnew 1996, p.26). The present essay analyses the language as a peculiarity of human geography. Obviously, the process of globalization influences the current position of the languages, when the weak one can be lost due to the high level of English language’s integration. Globalization is one of the major aspects of human geography. In globalization, one can discuss economy, finance, culture, consumption, emerging communication trends and religion. However, this process has its benefits and its effects. On one hand, globalization is the central issue in the world today. This can be illustrated by the emerging business trends globally, for example, the use of the internet to advertise and make sale of goods and services. On the other hand, globalization has affected the economies of various countries, whereby, some countries brain wash others so as to exploit their resources and benefit themselves and their citizens financially. Moreover, globalization has brought heated debates on whether it is more beneficial or hazardous (Aitken 2006, p.10). In case of language, globalization also has its good and bad sides. As the ethnographic setting, language is closely related to the social processes within its nation or country. Therefore, the survival of language is depended on the other human sources (“Language and Globalization”). Today, we can be a witness of the competition between the instruments with the same characteristics and functions. All languages serve for the population of speakers. Naturally, English has more benefits of globalization than other world languages. It is the result of the current world economical and political development. English affects all relevant parts of the modern society (“Language and Globalization”). The increasing use of this language in the business and education demonstrates a confident progress. However, we should not forget about the other widely distributed languages. Thus, the continental European languages still show its vitality and functionality. The official meetings of the European Union do not use one official language. It is wrong to suppose that English can be considered as the possible official language within the European Union. Although the current world political and social situation demonstrates the tendency of linguistic unification, an example of multilingual Switzerland can be explored from the position of the linguistic cooperation and integration within a domestic area. In this country, the major
The company under evaluation is Raytheon Company which deals with the provision of products and services in the areas of defence and commercial electronics business and special mission aircraft for both government and commercial customers. The products include the ground-based air defence missile systems, the ground-based phased array radar and the command, control and communication systems. Other products include the Bunker Buster bombs, Tomahawk and Patriot missiles. The current share price is $59.26594 within a days range and the volume of traded shares are three million seven hundred and seventy-six thousand two hundred and seventy-seven. The change in the traded shares currently as compared to the previous close is approximately 1.89%. The market capitalization is twenty-four billion US dollars while the price to earnings ratio (P/E) is nine point five points. The current earning per share (EPS) which is the amount of profit that can be attributed to each share out of the sum total of the profits that the company has made is 5.97. The earning per share is vital because it shows the investors willing to pay for a specific stock in terms of dollar earnings. The current Price to Earnings ratio also called the P/E ratio currently can be computed by dividing the share price by the earning per share, that is, share price/earning per share. Hence the current Price to earnings ratio is 59.26/5.97 = $9.93.The Price to Earnings Ratio (P/E) is a valuation of the company’s share price currently as compared to its earnings per share. The two ratios are quite important in the company as they assist in fundamental stock analysis because they indicate when the stocks are to be bought and the time when it is to be bought. The company will also use the figures from the two ratios to arrive at a decision as to when to sell its stock. The price/earnings ratio (P/E) which is also called the multiple is a fundamentalist toolbox and the figure is the most popular used in the analysis of the stock market. The ratio is helpful in the company as it indicates whether the stock is a bargain or it is overpriced. The current year dividend per share is 1.12 which is the profits and earnings of a corporation that is appropriated and distributed among the shareholders and the dividend yield is 1.90%. The target estimation is 70.92 for a period of one year. The next year’s forecast for dividend per share is 1.26 while the subsequent year dividend per share is projected to be 1.38. However, in spite of the forecast offered by the statistics my forecast will be the average of the current dividend per share and pr