Organizational Reward System illustrated in the movie “Oceans Eleven”

Organizational reward system based on personal power is described and partially tested. It is a person-based system that is characterized by highly valued rewards combined with personalistic criteria for reward distribution. (Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 15, No. 3). It is high-degree organization because there is something given or received in compensate for worthy behavior.And it is a systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances; especially, a system of assumption; accepted principles, and rules of procedure devised to analyze, predict, or otherwise explain the nature of behavior of a specified set of phenomena. Extrinsic (financial, material, or social) and intrinsic (self-granted an, psychic) rewards are the special services in the system. Which are of good state when the performances being acted upon the organization firmly focused on the cooperation, risk-taking, or when the entire group plotted teamwork.Through this, hi ghly noticed success and incentives is given as payment for the satisfying accomplishments. An organizational will greatly rely on the visions and perceptions the members are sensing. Just like Danny Oceans, or Rusty Ryan, or Linus Caldwell, or any other members of the â€Å"Oceans Eleven† Gang who’s been not responsive to conflicts that rise but so responsive to every possibility things could offer as they go on operating with their scheme. On the movie we can see the forces formed by the eleven involved casts.The relations they built even if it has been tested by some ethical values and judgments in the organization since they don’t belong to one culture. They infact gathered all forces and created one productive system. We can assume to this kind of observation on their financial, social, or intellectual effort and involvement. Danny Ocean as played by George Clooney is the Leader of the Gang. He plays and directs or supervises their systematic plan of action . Ex-husband of Tess (Julia Roberts) who’s been seeing Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia), owner of the Casino they are robbing and who steal his ex-wife while he was in New Jersey jail.Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt) is one of the main leaders who played as a great con-artist and who did a fine act in front of the gang. He has to change plan when Ocean had shown grudge to Tess’ current boyfriend. Both Ocean and Ryan do the psychic/intelligence for the whole operation to work. They do the systematic planning, analysis on the rules and steps, discuss tactics and distribute works to the rest of the team. Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon) is another con-artist who made a living off of pulling off cool ways of pick-pocketing the public.Aside of getting information on their targets (casino and the people who runs it) without getting caught, he’s also tasked to seduce by giving a little ‘love-drug’ (but not that deadly, just to seduce) to the high intelligent right hand of Be nedict. Frank Catton (Bernie Mac) is a con-artist and was hired as a casino black jack dealer during Oceans stay in jail. He obviously has blue-print to the entire casino. He’s been spying its businesses, and Benedict’s moves. Yen (Shaobo Qin) is an acrobatic extraordinaire and who doesn’t talk much English until the end.Since he’s the only among the group to so body-bending effortless. His part is to get in the bag, be in the vault wearing a small camera for the rest of the team to see what’s inside it, where the money is placed, how can they crash on and unlock systemized keys/drawers. Virgil and Turk Malloy (Casey Affleck and Scott Caan) are other con-artists. They’re tasked to watch, monitor, and help dig holes through the inside. Act playfully but functional. Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle) plays as the hilarious English-accented explosive specialist.He creates explosives to-open-whatever-door/hall/barrier may come across their way in. Living ston Dell (Eddie Jemison) is the computer/electronics specialist, and who performed clever tricks he need to overpass security cameras with the skills he’s trained on well. Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould) portrays as the rich guy who finances the entire operation. And Saul bloom (Carl Reiner) is a great con-artist who can play a guy in his age, of different culture. And the big time client on the day the casino is to be robbed.At the start, they lived on different kinds of lifestyle. Do gamble situations to earn a living. But we can see that their lives were quite extraordinary from the others. Coping up American life with their extra profits, apart to the salary they could get from legal job. So, the â€Å"Oceans Eleven† is built. Danny Ocean though is the leader of the Gang resolute that everyone would be getting fair share of the $160 M by the end of their collaborative robbery to Terry Benedict’s Casino. The equal sharing on the rewards is to be either of the two conditions: 1.the money that they’ve agreed is not really that $160M divided by eleven men since Reuben Tishkoff will have to get a refund for the money he has put so that the operation will work. 2. the sharing will be $160M divided by eleven of them since Tishkoff do non of the performance. He financed gang to operate and by the end of the scheme, he will be getting $ 14. 55M more or less. And the rest of the gang will have same amount too. Oceans Eleven Gang used their individual assets in getting in the casino unnoticed. Up to the very heart of it- the vault where the $160M amount of money is stored.They played different characteristics, created aliases (excluding Ocean because the people of the casino knew him of being Tess ex-husband), whish perfectly made him as a pass for his team to get inside quite unchecked by the security. The involvements of the eleven different personalities make up a very challenging and systematic plan of action. Though, they have their c lassified identity from each other, however, it did not create a hole in focusing to their desired outcome Instead, it helped a lot to them to get motivated to perform each one’s capability, role, tactics/clever tricks and all.Because they do teamwork, they got employment, also the chance to learn and respect each one’s culture, developed leadership and simultaneously established performance management. They undergone interviews during their recruitment period and examined if everyone can sustain and retain the tactics each one will be performing. Slipping off to Benedict’s vault was really a very hilarious job, very impossible not to be noticed because the entire casino is covered and monitored with highly-profiled cameras.The place is well-equipped with armoured guns, powered lasers. Security measures are very much ordered, too tight in dealing with the casino’s Clients. During their actual operation, though there are little discomforts and failures but still they have back u[s to support in order to continue to function even without getting laid off. Their desire outcomes are to perform their individual task well, to be in the vault, get the money, and leave before the defenders notice their existence.Such behaviors are quite effective in winning their goal. Calculated their moves/steps with accuracy, watched time, studied everyone’s reaction, controlled the plans and give hands at the time of robbing. The system has been illustrated in a way that all were involved from the beginning, got job with equal benefits out of it. To add more, the most challenging personal-power they had been awarded from was to adapt every personality, different culture, made involved to each other’s personal-power.Each one gave different efforts: manual (physical), financial (material), social capabilities, offered intelligence/perceptions, and support to everyone’s work. This made and benefited the team. Deal with small problems e ncountered, having knowledgeable even to the slightest events of the plan. Thus, the movie demonstrated the kind of organization that has developed/utilized skills, faced those hard challenges and surpassed them and gained equal incentives/compensate at the end.

My First Time Peering Through a Telescope Essay

When I was eight years old, I peered through a telescope for the first time in my life. It was a small device, no more than two metres long, and yet it let me glimpse a brilliant view of Jupiter: it was the size of a marble, magnificently striated in hues of brown, red and orange. Then, when I was 13, I went to the Birla Planetarium in Hyderabad, where I revisited my five-year old fascination with Jupiter as I sat spellbound in the arena as a cosmic dance played out in the canvas stretched above my head: stars flew around, tumbling in and out of the horizon, the rings of Saturn floating serenely in space, moons rising and setting through a mà ©lange of blues, yellows and greens. It was a performance I haven’t forgotten to this day, remembering it as an eternally unfolding story, a few hundred pages in the epic saga of the universe. It could have been the charismatic voice of the narrator, it could have been the undisturbed loneliness on the night of my stargazing, it could even have been my mindless interest thereafter to find out more and more about the travellers in the heavens, but today, those memories are the seeds of my passion for astroparticle physics. Many people – even science graduates – hear the name and think it’s a â€Å"big deal†. It is not. Astroparticle physics is the study of the stuff that stars are made of, and by extension, as Carl Sagan said, the stuff that we are made of. It is the search for and the understanding of the smallest particles that make up this universe one elegant phenomenon at a time. And just as my curiosity toward it was aroused one cloudless night in a small town in South India, so has it sustained: not within classrooms, not under the guidance of pedantic lecturers, but in my room, in the books I bought to teach myself more about it, in problems I solved, the simulations I ran and the experiments I conducted, in my mind where I could never rest without knowing how the universe worked. In the last 15 years, I have learned where the stars come from that fascinate little children as little, bright spots in the sky, I have learned what the comets that streak Hollywood’s most romantic scenes really are, and I have learn all about our sun and the significance of human life. Most  importantly, I have painted a glittering picture of the world for myself having met a wide range of people – young and old – simply by learning what I don’t know about and teaching what I do to anyone who is willing to listen. It is not a passion that I ever see fading because it has been an integral part of my growing years, a symbol of my parents’ support and my friends’ patience, and my own strengths, weaknesses and perseverance.

Bris Milah (Circumcision)

Bris Milah (Circumcision) Essay The Covenant of CircumcisionAnd G-d said unto Avroham: And as for you, you shall keep Mycovenant, you, and your seed after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you andyour seed after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. Andyou shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be atoken of a covenant between Me and you. And he that is eight days oldshall be circumcised among you, every male throughout yourgenerations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of anyforeigner, that is not of your seedand My covenant shall be in yourflesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male who isnot circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut offfrom his people; he has broken My covenant. Genesis 17:9-14Within the Jewish community, the topic of bris milah, ritualcircumcision, has never been more controversial. Many liberal Jews are nowrethinking its function in Jewish life, some even choosing not to perform it ontheir sons. They argue that circumcision is no longer of value now that thespread of infection can be halted by good hygiene and modern medicine. Some fear that the removal of the healthy part of an organ is a purelyarbitrary act which may cause permanent psychological and physicaldamage. It is true that circumcision alone is neither medically necessary noremotionally beneficial. Still, the bris milah is an essential ceremonyintended to formally usher the Jewish male into a covenant with G-d. Although the removal of the foreskin has been practiced by Jews sinceAvroham, the actual ceremony as it is today developed some time around themiddle-ages. Thus, communities in North Africa, Europe, and the Middle-Eastall evolved unique customs for welcoming new baby boys . There are stillcertain elements that are typical of all ceremonies. The following descriptionof a German bris is typical of the milah ritual and lacks many of the detailsthat would distinguish it from ceremonies originating in other regions. The mohel, ritual circumcisor, calls in the kvater (from German forfather, or G-dfather), the man who delivers the baby into the sanctuary. The mother, who will not witness the ceremony, hands her eight-day-old soninto the care of his grandmothers who pass him over to the kvater. Thekvater carries the baby into the next room and lays him into a beautiful chairwhich the mohel will declare as the Throne of Elijah before reciting a fewbiblical verses. The kvterin, G-dmother, lifts the baby from the Throne ofElijah and places him into the lap of the Sandak, the man (usually the father,grandfather, close friend, or well respected Torah scholar) in whose lap theceremony will take place. The mohel asks the fathers permission to act asproxy for the mitzvah, commandment, of circumcision. The fatherrelinquishes his right to perform the circumcision and appoints the mohel,who is more familiar with the religious law as well as the medical andhygienic requirements of circumcision, to do the mitzv ah instead. The mohelrecites the benediction, Blessed are You haShem our G-d, Master of theuniverse who sanctifies us with the mitzvot and commands us to performcircumcision, before removing the babys foreskin. When the actual cuttinghas been complete, the father also makes a benediction: Blessed are YouhaShem our G-d, Master of the universe who has sanctified us with Hiscommandments and has commanded us to bring him the baby into thecovenant of Avroham, our Father. Everyone in the audience then declares,Just as he has been brought into the covenant, so too he should enter Torahstudy, the wedding canopy, and the doing of good deeds (Klein 426). It isduring this ceremony that the boys name is publicly announced for the firsttime (Robinson132). Bris Milah literally means covenant circumcision. Ashkenazic,Northern- and Eastern-European Jewish, communities refer to the entireceremony as a Bris which means simply the covenant. Rabbi MosheSchapiro emphasizes that the circumcision must be coupled with theintention to forge a blood pact between G-d and the Jewish people. Thatbris milah is frequently translated only as circumcision is unfortunatebecause it leads people to believe that the removal of the foreskin is themost important element of the mitzvah. This is in conflict with Jewishthinking. Indeed, someone who is circumcised without the intent of fulfillingthis specific commandment must undergo a subsequent, relatively painless,procedure in which a drop of blood is drawn from the reproductive organ inthe name of the bris. This procedure is most commonly performed on maleconverts to Judaism who underwent medical circumcisions as children. The commandment is often seen as barbaric in the modern day. AsRabbi Shraga Simmons points out, there is no logical argument for cuttinga piece of flesh off a helpless baby. Three years ago Israeli courts heldhearings to discuss the famous case number 5780/98 which would outlawcircumcision as a form of genital mutilation. Indeed, to remove a healthypart of an organ is ridiculous in a secular context, and yet it has beenpracticed on Jewish males for nearly 4,000 years. The great question is why. One must first realize that Judaism is not a practical guide to livingbut a theological guide to spirituality. Many people have claimed over theyears that circumcision was practiced by the Jews for hygienic reasonshowever, this explanation is foreign to Jewish thinking and is absent from theearliest commentaries and oral laws of torah. The Jews were never regardedas healthier than their non-Jewish, uncircumcised neighbors. They did notperform milah on their sons because they hoped to prevent i nfection, butbecause they felt that it was a religious obligation. The Jews do not conformto religious obligations because they believe it is physically healthy to do so(if there are any medical benefits, these are considered secondary) butbecause they believe it is spiritually healthy to do so. To disobey the Laws ofhaShem, G-d, is looked upon as spiritual mutilation. According to Jewish mysticism, or kabbalah, the foreskin symbolizes abarrier which prevents growth (Simmons). Deuteronomy 10:16 calls uponus to remove the foreskin of our hearts. Orlah, the Hebrew termtranslated as foreskin literally means barrier. The foreskin is seen as abarrier to the spiritual growth of the uncircumcised individual. In anotherkabbalistic example, we are taught that when Avram circumcised himself, atage 99, G-d changed his name to Avroham. He added only one letter to hisname: heh. The letter heh is found twice in one of the most holy ofhaShems names signifying that through the bris milah a dimensio n ofspirituality is brought to the physical body. So, why on the eighth day?The answer is twofold. Schapiro believes that the number eight has aspecial metaphysical significance. He notes that the number six alludes tothe physical world: there are six directions (north, south, east, west, up anddown); there are six days to the work week, and according to the Chumashthere were six days of creation. The number seven, he adds brings a senseof spirituality to this physical world: the seventh day of the week, Shabbos, isa Jewish holy day, and many Jewish festivals, including Sukkos last for sevendays. The number eight however, transcends the physical altogether. Forexample, the festival of Chanukah, which commemorates a great miraclelasts eight days. READ: The True Tragic Hero in Antigone EssayThe second reason is one that might be considered a practical benefitwhich is supported by medical data. According to Simmons, prothrombin andvitamin K, two blood clotting agents, are at peak levels on the eighth day oflife. Prothrombin levels are normal at birth but drop dramatically during thenext few days. However, at the end of the first week, levels of prothrombinreturn to normal and are often at 110 percent of normal before stabilizing bythe ninth or tenth day. Still, the most logical reason to perform a ritualcircumcision is, in the religious context, simply to act as the sign of thecovenant G-d made with Avroham because this is the reason that we aretaught through Torah. Aside from the de-emphasis of physical matters involved in theprocedure, traditional Jews avoid reference to health benefits because, forthe most part, medicine doesnt appear to be on our side (Fink). WriterMordechai Housman insists that there has never been a re ported case ofhealth danger to a child circumcised by an Orthodox mohel, but mother, LisaBraver Moss claims that there are two known bris milah related deaths inmodern times: one in 1957 and another in 1978. Moss admits that nosystematic data on deaths or serious complications from bris milah have everbeen compiled but believes this may be due to the fact that circumcisiondeath can occur from secondary causes such as liver failure, pneumonia, andblood poisoning which health professionals may fail to link to theiroriginal cause. Nonfatal complications are equally unlikely to be associatedwith circumcision. Although the majority of modern Jews argue that the rite is harmless,historically Jews were not so certain of the safety of the procedure. Talmudiclaw exempts a Jewish male from infant circumcision if two of his olderbrothers lost their lives to the ritual. Though, as the Orthodox will argue, thiscase was hypothetical and not based on an actual incident, there are still twoBiblical examples of a parents failure to perform milah on his son due toconcerns over his health. Exodus 4: 24-26 relates the story of thecircumcision of Eliezar son of Moses. The Bibles rendering of the story isshort, cryptic and confusing: It was on the way, in the lodging, that haShem encountered him andsought to kill him. So Tzipporah took a sharp stone and cut off theforeskin of her son and touched it to his feet; and she said, Youcaused my bridegrooms bloodshed! So He released him; then shesaid, A bridegrooms bloodshed was because of circumcision.The great Torah commentator Rabbi Schlomo Yitzach (Rashi), say sthat Mosess great sin was in delaying the milah of his son. Moses felt thatthe trip he was about to embark upon would be dangerous for the newbornwho, he felt, should be allowed three days to recuperate after circumcisionbefore he embarked upon his journey (Shmos 24). In an earlier example,Midrash tells us that Yitzach did not circumcise his son Esav because hefeared for his health. Esav, unlike his twin Yaakov, was born with bright redskin. Yitzach worried that this was due to illness and that to perform milahon him would be dangerous. Esav was given a second opportunity for brismilah when he became bar mitzvah (the age of majority) but he refused it(Beraishis 140). These biblical examples provide us with some vital information aboutthe importance of bris milah. On the surface we can see quiet clearly thatthe conservatives are wrong: circumcision is potentially dangerous, andTorah recognizes this. More importantly though, we learn how vitallynecessary bris milah is to the Jews. Moses almost lost his life because hedelayed his sons circumcision too long. And Esav lost his status as a Jewishpatriarch because he refused to let anyone perform milah on him even afterit was clearly a safe endeavor. The ramifications of spiritual disobedience aresignificant. And just as the punishment for neglecting the mitzvah is severe,so the merit for properly attending to it is tremendous. READ: The Life Story of Nikita Khrushchev EssayThe devotion of the Jewish people to the rite of milah even duringtimes of difficulty is a testimony to its importance in Jewish life. When milahwas outlawed by the Greeks during the era of the Maccabean leadership,many Jewish mothers risked their lives to circumcise their sons. Even in themodern era Jews have undergone heroic acts for the preservation of themitzvah. Holocaust survivor Aviel Binyomin Colquette remembers thefollowing story:They were rounding up the young children and mothers and they putus onto a train car. There was one womanshe did not cover herhairwho looked particularly distressed. She asked all of thepassengers in our car for a knife. But we were all women and children. No knives. She then started to look around for any sharp object. Shewanted a shard of glass, or a sharp rockanything you might cut with. The other passengers tried to dissuade her. They scolded her for herweakness and begged her not to kill herself . Finally a soldier camethrough and she saw the outline of a knife in his pocket. Shedemanded he hand it over to her. In shock he complied. Then, to ourastonishment, she pulled from her bag a small infant boy. She saidthe blessings and performed the milah on him. She handed her childover to the officer and spoke to G-d, You gave me a healthy boy andnow I return him to You in purity and obedience to Torah.Similarly, many Jews in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) were notcircumcised due to secular laws and a general lack of interest in religiouspractice. However, the desire for bris milah was never completely eradicatedand when Western Jews were finally allowed to enter the FSU they weregreeted by large numbers of adult males who wished to undergo bris milah. Mohel Alexander Fink recalled his surprise at the large number of Jews whocame to see him at his arrival in the Ukraine:I was sure theyd all come to see the rabbi. Theyd heard his tapesbefore we came and had seemed really impressed. There were somany of them. From age eleven to eighty. At least a hundred men. And they were there to see me! I couldnt believe theyd be so excitedabout milah. More interested in receiving milah than in seeing therabbi. They wanted to be circumcised more than they wanted to belearned. The idea of a covenant is a rather difficult concept for the outsider tocomprehend. The relationship between the Jews and haShem, their G-d, isunderstood as a straightforward contract, I will be your G-d, and you will beMy people. The Jews will obey haShem and He will see that their needs aremet. The milah is the most visible sign of the covenant as it is inscribed on apersons body and serves as a daily reminder to the Jewish male of his statusas a servant of haShem and mankind. Until very recently, even the most liberal Jews felt that circumcisionthough not necessarily the briswas essential to Jewish practice. The status of an uncircumcised male in Jewish culture wasundefined. He was in a strange state of being both Jewish and non-Jewish. A Jew trapped in a non-Jewish body. A bizarre spiritual circumstance thatcould not be redeemed until the man took matters into his own hands andunderwent a circumcision. Indeed, Yeshiva student Joshua Konig, suggeststhat the gates of heaven will no t open up for an uncircumcised Jewish male. A Jews obligation is to serve HaShem and observe the Torah his entire life,even under the most desperate circumstances (Scheinbaum 204). Works CitedColquette, Aviel Binyomin. Personal interview. 18 Nov. 2001. Fink, Alexander. Personal Interview. 10 Oct. 2001. Housman, Mordechai. Circumcision and Your Childs Health. 5 Nov. 2001. . Klein, Isaac. A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice. New York: The Jewish TheologicalSemianry of America, 1979. Konig, Joshua. Personal interview. 28 Nov. 2001. Moss, Lisa Braver.Circumcision: A Jewish Inquiry. Midstream magazine. 5 Nov. 2001. . Robinson, George. Essential Judaism: A Complete Guide to the Beliefes, Customs, andRituals. Ch. 3. New York: Pocket Books, 2000. Schapiro, Rabbi Moshe. What is Circumcision? Aish HaTorah. 15 Oct. 2001. . Scheinbaum, Rabbi A. Leib. Peninim On The Torah. Cleveland, Ohio: KisveiPublications, 2000. Simmons, Rabbi Shraga. Bris Milah: Beautiful or Barbaric? Aish HaTorah. 15 Oct. 2001. . Weissman, Rabbi Moshe. The Little Midrash Says: The Book of Beraishis. Brooklyn, New York: Bnay Yaakov Publications, 1986. Weissman, Rabbi Moshe. The Little Midrash Says: The Book of Shmos. Brooklyn, New York: Bnay Yaakov Publications, 1987.Words/ Pages : 2,623 / 24

Dells Online Competitve Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Dells Online Competitve Strategy - Essay Example The objective of this paper is used Dell computers as a case study to explain how information systems can be used as a competitive strategy to respond to competitive forces, to improve its competitiveness, to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. The literature review is divided into 3 parts. The first part explains Porters competitive forces model. The second explains briefly the competitive strategies. The third part is used Porters value chain, model. The threat of new entrants depends on the degree of the barriers to entry. If the barriers to entry are high, the threat of entry will be low and vice versa. Consequently, in order to deter new entrants from coming into an industry, firms cultivate unique or capital-intensive resources that new firms cannot easily duplicate (Shin, 2001). The threat of substitute goods depends on the availability of alternative goods or services in the market. The more alternative goods or services in the market, the higher the threat of substitute good and the lower the market share and total revenue ascertained by the firms in the industry and vice versa. Therefore, in order to increase revenue and market, products will have to be unique and well differentiated. This force determines the level of control a supplier has over the price of its product. Since, the more alternative suppliers in the market, the lower the bargaining power of the suppliers and vice versa. Thus, in a market with few suppliers, a supplier is able to achieve the desired level of profit due to a significant

Loke (second treatiseof government, and machiavelli Essay

Loke (second treatiseof government, and machiavelli - Essay Example In a nutshell, emergency involves making preparations before an event. Emergency planning also aims at creating preparedness (Perry 7). It has an influence on response and recovery. Emergency plans guide operational decisions during the management of agent-generated and response-generated demands (Phelan, 2008). On the other hand, emergency operations majorly focus on performance (Phelan 16). Such operations require the use of a set of guidelines presented in terms of a plan. Every decision made during an emergency operation should be based on the guidelines outlined in the plan guide. The success of emergency operations depends on the availability of resources for use and frequent assessment of demands by responders as needs arise. Responders must be alert in order to identify any arising demands and should be creative when addressing such demands. The success of emergency operations also relies on the use of pre-event lists checklists. However, such checklists do not guarantee maxi mum success. Personnel must improvise them in order to achieve higher accomplishments. Actions taken by response personnel and emergency managers are what constitute an emergency operation. 2. Planning Process It is noted with concern that the emergency planning process is more important than the emergency plan itself. Emergency planning ensures that communities achieve disaster preparedness. As a process planning involves consultation, training, equipping, and critiques (Perry 28). The end result of such a process is an improvement in the ability of a community to handle risks. A significant number of individuals think that written plans are used in defining preparedness. I agree with such a line of thinking but the same people should be careful not to equate a plan with preparedness. The process is more important than the plan because it is practical. The plan is only but a picture presentation of the planning process at a specific time and does not guarantee the presence of a haz ard. On the other hand, the process of emergency planning involves practical steps such as ongoing monitoring, personnel training, and system exercising hence providing a definition for preparedness. It is important that organizations and jurisdictions adopt a continuous planning process because preparedness is dynamic in nature. Such a process should include continual monitoring of the environment so as to identify threats and discover new technology that can be used in handling such threats. Resources, threats, and even organizational structure may change over time. Moreover, lack of continuous training may result in the disappearing of performance skills. Such eventualities can only be addressed by ensuring that organization and jurisdictions establish a continuous emergency planning process. Despite the usefulness of the emergency planning process, the process may face some resistance. One main reason for such resistance is apathy. Apathy arises when individuals do not like to t hink about disasters (Phelan 22). Therefore, they develop the idea that emergency planning takes resources hence they end up not supporting the process of emergency planning. 3. Preparedness Exercises Organizations and j

Performance Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Performance Analysis - Essay Example Coaching is a systematic approach to individual development that integrates a five step model involving observation, analysis, evaluation, feedback and planning. Coaches are obviously human beings and are thus limited by the constraints of inadequate retention and inability to spot and evaluate all significant factors. Even with special training in observation studies have proved that coaches can only recall 30-50% of the observed information. It is therefore an intricate task for a coach to perceive and preserve all key events that occurred during the training sessions or in the competition arena, only with their knowledge supremacy and instinctive observational abilities, it is here where performance analysis holds the key. Performance Analysis utilizes technology and digital photography in providing pre and post event study that helps in offering an accurate insight, a key tool in improving future performance. It creates a valid and consistent record of activities that aid not only the players but even the coaches in addressing the key areas of trouble and drafting a strategic plan that seeks performance enhancement as its sole aim. Feedback is at the core of analysis and without a practical response the advan... rformance Analysis utilizes technology and digital photography in providing pre and post event study that helps in offering an accurate insight, a key tool in improving future performance. It creates a valid and consistent record of activities that aid not only the players but even the coaches in addressing the key areas of trouble and drafting a strategic plan that seeks performance enhancement as its sole aim. Feedback is at the core of analysis and without a practical response the advantages of performance analysis will not be reaped. The accuracy of information available through performance analysis not only facilitates an effective opinion but also assists a coach in making imperative decisions about team structure and orientation. Performance Analysis practices depends on the application of two discrete disciplines that allow a coach to scrutinize team/performer activities from all key aspects. Notational/Match study, which uses ways to record features of team play Biomechanics, which analyzes the sporting effect of body actions. The two sciences rely on Information Technology, which develops accuracy of information, and both incorporate similar techniques of data collection. Their importance stems from the fact that they quantify performance in a reliable, suitable and precise manner. Need Analysis Despite the unified aim of performance analysis, its principles are uniquely applied to each sport so as to achieve the perceived goals of improvement and development. To access these distinctions in principles and tools of performance analysis, the popular sport of cricket was selected and evaluated to deduce the factors that affect the performance of the cricketers. Since the first match played between Australia and England in the late 19th century the

Strategic Analysis Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Analysis Case Study - Essay Example Current paper focuses on the examination of the performance of a specific British firm, O2; this firm has achieved to keep its position in its market and further expand its activities through the continuous review and update of its strategies. The specific issue is analytically examined in the sections that follow; the position of the firm in its industry will be identified and evaluated taking into account the response of the firm to the challenges set by the global political and financial crisis. The position of competitors will be also examined while specific suggestions are going to be made regarding the potential improvement of specific parts of the corporate strategy. Appropriate theoretical models (like PESTEL analysis and ANSOFF matrix) will be used in this paper in order to show the changes in the firm’s performance through the years; in this way the choice of this firm as a ‘model’ for business analysis will be justified. In Stakeholder analysis all people or groups of people influencing the firm’s performance have to be identified. In order to understand and evaluate the role of various stakeholders in the performance of O2, it is necessary primarily to identify the firm’s stakeholders; at a next level, their role in the firm’s performance within its industry is going to be appropriately evaluated. The firm’s stakeholders can be listed as follows (a numeric scale from 0-10 [10 is the highest grade] has been used in order to identify the impact/ importance of stakeholders for the performance of O2 and their influence on the firm’s success). The influence of the above listed stakeholders on the performance of O2 has to be further assessed and evaluated taking into account the conditions of the British market but also the conditions of the international market. It is clear from the list presented above that the firm’s customers have a significant influence on the firm’s success within the British market (given the rank 9);

Affects of Supply and Demand on Business Term Paper

Affects of Supply and Demand on Business - Term Paper Example d making the management to take the necessary course of action.Analysis of the market forces helps departmental decision making in that each and every section of the business optimizes resource allocation to minimize costs and maximize productivity in a bid to meet the demand in the market.Table of Contents Introduction Basic Laws and Principles of Demand and Supply Demand Side Supply Side Equilibrium Discussion Conclusion Works Cited Introduction Demand can be viewed as the quantity of goods and services that the market, consumers,is willing to purchase and consume within a given period of time and at a certain price. Demand varies from time to time due to rationality of the consumers; changes of preference and tastes,changes of their economic levels and statuses,and other market conditions such as changes of cost of production that influence price fluctuations.Supply on the other hand refers to the resource and or the quantity availed to the market by the producers within a given p eriod of time dictated by the prevailing market conditions. ... d services; a factor of manufacturing costs, competition, market conditions and the quality of the product, and the buyers determine the quantity of the product/ service they are willing to purchase and consume at the price level presented by the suppliers/ producers (Brennan and Rowan 6-9; Nasrin 1-20). In monopolistic markets forces of demand and supply may not influence the price of the product/ service and vice versa thus in this paper we shall evaluate and analyze the effects of supply and demand on a business in a competitive market (Reuvid 2-6). Basic Laws and Principles of Demand and Supply To understand how demand and supply impacts on a business, we need to evaluate their market mechanisms in relation to price so as to understand how they influence actions of the business at given times within the production cycles, which can be analyzed by understanding the their interaction aspects. Whenever the demand increases but the supply remains the same or unchanged, there is short age of goods and services in the market leading to a higher equilibrium price. Whenever demand decreases and the supply remain unchanged, there is surplus supply of goods and services which lead to lower equilibrium price. Whenever supply increases and demand remain unchanged, there is a surplus leading to a lower equilibrium price Whenever supply decreases and the demand is unchanged, there is a shortage of supply leading to a higher in equilibrium price Demand Side To understand how the demand of goods impact on a business venture we shall evaluate the demand schedule and relate it to the immediate decisions that the management make and the course of adjustments. As discussed earlier the demand of a given commodity will vary with time depending on factors such as price; changes of income,

Tax File Memorandam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tax File Memorandam - Assignment Example According to Section 165(c) (3): Reg. Â §1.165-7, losses which can be in partial or complete damage of properties that are contributed due to storm, shipwreck or fire, or any other casualty are considered to be deductible casualty losses. Again, IRS Publication 547: Casualties, Disasters, and Theft [2013] demands that, any damage associated with any automobile accident becomes considered under a deductible casualty loss. It is when the automobile is used for either business or for personal use as stated in Reg. Â §1. 165-7(a) (3). However, it is required that for a taxpayer to be able to claim the casualty deductible, the event that causes the casualty must be determined as sudden [see Rev. Rul. 72-592, 1972-2 CB 101]. A sudden event is required to be swift and happens very fast at ones. It is different from an even which is progressive and takes time gradually. We would consider that Georges automobile submerged into the frozen lake at ones and not gradually since it occurred with in a short period. The event is qualified to be a swift, hence a sudden one. George can only be denied the deduction if the court carries out its research well and finds out that it is through Georges negligence, (W.H. Carpenter v Commr, 25 TCM 1186, Dec.28.148 (M)), that his automobile was submerged and destroyed (Reg. Â §1. 165-7(a)(3)(i)). However, under the circumstance of sudden destruction of the automobile, including looting, fire or theft, George and any other taxpayer will be allowed a deduction. It is, therefore, determined that, in Georges case, the damage to the automobile was more likely than not, caused by a causality. The determination could only occur if George were not aware of the possibility that the frozen lake could submerge. However, if it could be determined that George was aware of the possibility that the frozen lake could possibly submerge, and he went ahead to park his car on it, then the deduction could be denied due to

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 69

Summary - Essay Example India has made well-publicized progress especially in technical education, and we also see that China has not held back.  These two countries have a breathtaking level and pace of investment. As clearly observed, China reforms led to the creation of 22 million new businesses employing 135 million people who would have remained peasants. This has greatly been facilitated through creation of Special Economic Zones where foreign companies which are willing to build modern factories hire cheap labor, and are exempted from taxes, leaving it to the government to build roads and other infrastructure needed (Faigley & Jack 394). The â€Å"big elephant phenomenon† has been mainly due to the removal of barriers to the flow of capital from abroad. This has led to the rise of very effective and internationally competitive softwares and IT, together with the influx of multinational corporations like Starbucks and MacDonald’s, which have several branches in these two countries, thus elevating the country from the crisis of 77% living on 2$ a day.   These two countries have embraced the fact that technology is only one dimension of international competitiveness, and that low labor cost is one more.  We are individualists in our personal ambitions but we either follow or fail as one people in our search for economic progress (Faigley & Jack

The impact of globalisation on business Essay Example for Free

The impact of globalisation on business Essay 1. INTRODUCTION. Advancement in transportation and information technologies has opened up the world to lucrative business opportunities. Many companies no longer confine their business domestically but reach out globally in search of better profits. When a company conducts business across national boundaries, it is participating in international business. International business paves the way for globalisation. Ball et al. (2004) found that globalisation can be defined in many ways but broadly globalisation occurs when an entity (government, company, NGOs, etc.) carries out an activity (economic, political, technological, etc. ) in a host country. Globalisation has impacted the way many companies performed their business. New strategies are required to identify the opportunities presented by globalisation. Companies need to understand the forces that drive them towards globalisation. Most importantly, the companies must be prepared to meet the challenges of globalisation. This report presents globalisation in the context of a global strategy. It assesses the impact of the global strategy on the Texchem Group of Companies (Texchem), a company based in Penang. Texchem is founded in 1973 by its current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dato Seri Fumihiko Konishi. Today, Texchem is well diversified into the business of trading, manufacturing and services with divisions in the packaging, industrial, food, family care and venture industries ( 2003). Currently, Texchems globalisation efforts are concentrated around the Association of South East Asia Nations (ASEAN) countries and China (Chiew 2004). The organizational structure of Texchem is shown below. The groups investment holding company is Texchem Resources Berhad.  (source: Texchem Resources Bhd, www.trbgroup.com/business_act_corporate_structure.htm) FIGURE 1: Texchem organizational structure 2. FORCES DRIVING TEXCHEM TO GLOBALISE. Normally, a companys decision to globalise is influenced by a combination of several factors. These factors are the forces that drive a company to expand abroad. Each company has its own unique reasons to carry out oversea business activities since declining trade barrier and technological changes seem to underlie the trend towards greater globalisation (Hill 2003, p. 8) today. Texchem has mainly operated domestically apart from venturing into Singapore a year after its inception. It was not until 18 years later that Texchem started its globalisation exercise aggressively after building up its strength and reputation. Starting with Thailand in 1992, Texchem continued with Vietnam (1994), Myanmar (1997, Indonesia (2002) and China (2002). Now, Texchem is well represented in the ASEAN region (Texchem Annual Report 2002). Like any other companies, there were also unique forces that drove Texchem to globalise. Chief among them were: * Be a US$1 billion company. It cannot be denied that all companies are profit driven. After all the very existence of a company rest on the profits it makes. Texchem is no different in this aspect. However, Texchem is not only trying to make a profit but striving to be a US$1 billion company by 2010. This is Texchem Vision 2010 which is to be achieved with annual sales revenue of US$1 billion (Konishi 2002). Texchem 5 year performance chart below shows that there is still much to do and globalisation is the answer to bigger market opportunities. (source: Texchem Resources Bhd., www.texchemgroup.com) FIGURE 2: Texchem financial performance In order to realise this Vision 2010: Texchem has identified and capitalised on global market opportunities and allowed its growth to be determined by market trends and customers demands. Then it responded to such opportunities with top quality products and services that deliver real value www.texchemgroup.com/aboutus/history.html 2003, p. 1). Furthermore, Texchem has to survive through economic crisis in order to sustain a steady and resilient performance. One way is to prudently invest in growth industries with different market cycles like the food industry (  history.html 2003). * Loss Of Trade Preference. Konishi said Malaysia is treated by Europe under the general system of preferences which imposed an import duty of 14% on Malaysian products entering Europe. Texchem will not enjoy this status when import duty goes up to 20% in 2005 (Tan 2004). In 2003, Konishi said Texchem has estimated a US$25 million export market to Europe, Japan and Australia for its surimi and fishmeal products by 2006 (The Star 2003). The loss of this preference will affect Texchems profit. It may not be feasible to market seafood products in Europe due to price disadvantage. Therefore, to continue capturing the European market, Emmanuel (2004) wrote that Texchem is setting up a RM50 million seafood processing plant in Europe in 2005. Tan (2004) reported that Konishi said, Raw material will be imported from Myanmar as import duty on raw material going into Europe is only 3.5%. Production cost will then be lower giving Texchem the  competitive edge again. * Be close to clients / customers. Interdependency among companies is a norm. When a client is satisfied with the companys products and services, loyalty is attained. Therefore, when a client sets up shop overseas or penetrates a foreign market, it is not surprising that the company normally tags along. Many international companies wanting to market and distribute products in ASEAN have appointed Texchem for the task due to its reputation and international networking. Taking customer support a step further, Texchem even located its operation to be close to its local and multinational clients ( 2003 ; www.texchemgroup.com/stakeholders/customers.html 2004). For instance, Texchem-Pack (Thailand) was established to serve its major Texchem customers like Seagate, Mektec, IBM, etc. in Thailand (Konishi 2003). Its production facilities are located near customers operations to give immediate respond to their needs and to any changes in the local market. This also shorten delivery timings and to provide just-in-time delivery. Reduction in logistics and transportation charges is a cost savings to customers ( 2003). Another example is Texchem-Pack (Wuxi) which was established to serve the hard disc drive industry, the semiconductor industry, the electronics industry and the telecommunications industry in Jiangsu Province and Shanghai, China ( 2003). The establishment in China enables Texchem to be close to and provide more effective and efficient services to its customers in China. * Acquire Technology. Many companies brought along their technologies when setting up shop abroad. As the world become more and more accessible, it becomes possible to team up with these companies in the host country to acquire their technologies. Although Texchem has invested heavily in research and development and use leading edge, in-house facilities both for product enhancement and for new products (www.texchemgroup/business/packaging.html 2003, p. 1), it is continuously seeking out new technologies to gain competitive edge. As such Texchem joint ventures with international leader and creates new subsidiaries often through technology transfer arrangements that enable both parties to net a bigger catch ( www.texchemgroup.com/business/texchem-eng.html 2003a ;  group.com/stakeholders/associates.html 2003). To illustrate, Eye Graphic (Vietnam), a Texchem joint venture with Eye Corporate Planning Co Ltd of Japan, is equipped with advance digital propress system and flexo photopolymer printing plate making equipment ( * Demand. In any business activities, there must be demand. Without demand, a companys product will eventually be rendered obsolete. One of the reasons Texchem chose to expanded into ASEAN and China was because there was a huge demand for its products. And, Texchem is prepared to set up more manufacturing plants to meet the increasing demands of the ASEAN market ( 2003, p. 1). With greater demands from the Chinese market, Texchem now intends to expand its Wuxi plant into thermoforming for the high-tech industry and injection moulding for the computer and semi-conductor industry (Konishi 2003a, p. 2). Also, in line with increasing global demand for surimi, Texchem has set up a manufacturing plant in Myeik, Myanmar (Konishi 2003a, p. 3). Texchem expansion into Indonesia, with its largest manufacturing plant in Kerawang (near Jakarta), is to cater for the need of 206 million people. The  brand name of Fumakillas mosquito coil in Indonesia is distributed under the name Domestos Nomos, a successful household name ( 2003a). Yap (2003) reported Konishi as saying, so far, we have shipped over 400,000 cartons in the first 6 months of operation, equivalent to the total volume that Texchem sold in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines in the same period. A comparison of the population in ASEAN countries in presented below in order to appreciate the magnitude of the demands in ASEAN. FIGURE 3: ASEAN population breakdown. From the table it is understandable why Texchem has been aggressive in penetrating the ASEAN market to capture the demand. ASEAN has a combined population of 500 million. 3. GLOBALISATION EFFECTS ON TEXCHEM INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STRATEGY. Before a company expands abroad, it must have a strategy. According to Ball et al. (2004) there are several strategies that could be adopted such as the global strategy, multidomestic strategy, transnational strategy and international strategy. Globalisation has an influence on which strategy to adopt. Careful assessment of the various internal and external business environments is a prerequisite before any decision can be made. In crossing national boundaries, globalisation affects Texchem international business strategies in terms of the following: * Standardisation. Texchem operations are standardised in all the host countries. All packaging plants provide: One stop total packaging solutions equip with state-of- the-art facilities. Furthermore, all Texchem plants support customers through excellent logistics, warehousing and inventory management. This is done via a nationwide network of branches and sales offices ( www.texchemgroup.com/business/texchem-pack.html 2003c, p. 2; www. texchemgroup.com/business/texchem-mat.html 2003a, p. 1; www.texchemgroup. com/business/familycare.html 2003, p. 3). With globalised operations, Texchem would be able to take advantage of business opportunities occurring anywhere in the world and would not be constrained to specific sectors (Khambata and Ajami 1992, p. 43). As product preference and requirements are becoming increasingly alike globally, product standardisation across all cultures would enable companies to manufacture and sell low-cost reliable products around the world without being adapted to individual country preferences (Khambata and Ajami 1992, p. 43). To capitalise on this, Texchem products are also standardised globally. It manufactures and distributes household insecticide such as the Fumakilla mosquito coils under different brand names in Indonesia (Domestos Nomos), Thailand (Chang) and Myanmar (Jumbo) ( 2003b). * Global Decision Making. With globalisation, Texchem decision making covers a wider scope now compared to when it did domestically. Texchem has centralised its decision making in its Penang corporate office. This is where Texchem makes decision on strategies issues such as policy, capital, technology and products. Decisions are global minded taking into consideration the local factors of the host countries. Texchem Design Centre is centralised to tailor-make packaging solutions in the fastest possible time for all its plants across ASEAN countries and China to meet customers demand around the world ( 2003). * Market scope. Globalisation opens up the world as a very big market. Domestic markets, however large, are limited in size and growth and are targeted by domestic competitors (Khambata and Ajami 1992). To continue growing, Texchem sees the world as one market to sell its products. Khambata and Ajami (1992, p. 283) said that: Apart from the fact that the existence of a new, larger customer base would help boost sales, overseas markets often confer additional advantages such as competition from overseas markets may not be strong. When the local market is large and the demand is consistent enough to justify investment in the plant and equipment needed to set up a manufacturing operation, production economies can occur (Khambata and Ajami 1992, p. 284). Also, Texchem can tap the Chinese market to derive economies of scale and scope (Konishi, Texchem annual report 2002). Operational economies of scale allow Texchem to keep prices competitive and deliver exceptional value ( 2003). * Develop skills. Part of the globalisation process concerns developing skills especially multicultural and bilingual ones. Texchem encourages such skills development to communicate and establish rapport with its global clients, staff and customers. Not surprising, Texhem only recruits staff of outstanding caliber and provides training for them ( 2003). In order to develop skills, Texchem formed strategic alliances with agents around ASEAN region with strong domestic knowledge in sales and distribution ( 2003b, p. 1). Texchem has approached globalisation with a global strategy because the above effects have the essence of a global strategy. Ball et al. (2004, p. 6) defined the global strategy as a strategy that attempts to standardise and integrate operations worldwide in all functional areas. Texchem has adopted precisely this strategy. 4. MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES CREATED FOR TEXCHEM. As the world shrinks into a global village because of accessibility, abundant opportunities are available to business organisations. Companies are quick to take advantage of these golden opportunities to further their interests. In other words, globalisation provided avenues for companies to spread their wings into foreign markets. Globalisation presented many major opportunities for Texchem too as it did for others. Texchem management was quick to see these opportunities and swiftly took advantage of them. The major opportunities created for Texchem were: * Tariff Reduction. Tariffs are taxes levied on foreign goods entering the country. Sometimes it can be levied on goods leaving the country as well. According to Hill (2003), tariffs protect domestic products against foreign ones. It is a form of government intervention to shield local companies from international  competitors who have superior technologies to make higher quality products at lower cost. By levying taxes on such goods, it brings up their prices to be on par with local goods. With the exception of Singapore, all ASEAN countries have imposed tariffs on imports. However, ASEAN initiated the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 1992, detailing a regional progressive tariff reduction plan. To be implemented in stages, tariffs on goods with 40% ASEAN content shall be progressively reduced to between 0 5% by 2003. There were some exemptions to the implementation year for Vietnam (2006), Laos and Myanmar (2008) and Cambodia (2010) ( 2003). With the reduction in tariffs coupled with the huge population in ASEAN countries, the trading opportunities are very attractive. Texchem acknowledged this fact. It noted that with AFTA in place, the regional exchange in business is expected to further boost various industries ( 2003a, p. 1). Texchem has been anticipating AFTA since 1990s. Knowing the opportunities AFTA presented, it has ventured into ASEAN countries to position itself first while waiting in full anticipation for the implementation of AFTA. This strategy gave Texchem a head start to study the market opportunities of the host country better, build up its reputation, find solutions to lower production costs and sell competitively. This foresight has paid off handsomely as Texchem registered improved sales in all its division for the year 2003 (Konishi 2003b). As quoted in the Texchem investor newsletter (2003, p. 4), the increase in revenue for the Packaging Division was mainly contributed by the successful penetration into new market AFTA region, namely Thailand. This is because: Thailand experienced a substantial increase in revenue from the trade of plastic resins, a direct benefit of reduces impact duties effective Jan 2003, in line with the implementation of AFTA (Texchem investor newsletter 2003b, p. 2). As Konishi (2003b, p. 5) mentioned: Texchem Resources Bhd Group will continue to make the 100% AFTA proof objective its priority. Texchem is indeed in a position to take full  advantage of AFTA as it expands further into the global market. * Strategic Location. Geographical location is another opportunity that can be taken advantage of. According to Ball et al. (2004, p. 263), geographical proximity is often the major reason for trade between nations. Apart from close proximity, the location of a nation also offers other suitable operational advantages for foreign companies. For instance, if the country has sea frontage, companies can make use of ports in the country to export their products. This was what Texchem was looking for when it ventured into Myanmar. Texchem was searching for an advantage in Myanmars location and found it in a town called Myeik (please see map for location). (source: design printing services, www.dpsmap.com) FIGURE 4: Map of Myanmar. The Myeik Archipelago, which includes over 800 pleasant and enchanting islands, lies in the Andaman Sea along the south Tanintharyi coast. Myeik is the port city of this archipelago. It has the potential for industrialisation of marine base products because the Andaman Sea has abundant fish. Texchem joint ventured with Mascot Industries Co Ltd of Myanmar to set up ASK Andaman (Lee 2003). The strategic location of ASK Andaman at a fishing port complement the abundant fresh fish from the Andaman sea has set it as the most idealistic plant for surimi and fishmeal processing ( www.texchemgroup.com/  business/andaman.html 2003, p. 1). The fishing port facilitated the export of Texchems products from Myeik to Japan, Australia and Europe. It also provided an infrastructure for Texchem geographical reach so that it is the ideal partner for multinationals that have operations spread across the region ( 2003, p. 2). * Abundant Raw Materials. Sourcing for cheap raw materials is an important task in any operation. This is where competitive advantage can be sustained. Therefore, many foreign companies flock into ASEAN in search of raw material because they are in abundance. Konishi said Texchem globalisation into Myanmar enables it to tap the countrys natural resources and obtain a reliable supply of good quality and more cost effective raw material (The Star, 2003). ASK Andaman manufactures and market surimi and fishmeal products and provides Seapack Food with a reliable supply of reasonably priced, good quality surimi raw material ( 2003a, p. 1). It requires fresh fish to manufacture and process surimi and fishmeal products. The Andaman Sea has abundant supply of fresh fish to provide ASK Andaman. * Low Labour Cost. Labour cost in ASEAN countries is generally low with the exception of Singapore and Malaysia. Many foreign investors take this opportunity to relocate their operations here so that their production cost can be reduced. The table below provides a comparison of labour cost among ASEAN countries. Texchem has set up manufacturing plants in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar because the labour cost is lower than Malaysia. It practices stringent cost controls ( 2003, p. 2) and taking advantage of this opportunity is a prudent strategy. The setting up of manufacturing operations in competitive labour cost countries (Texchem investor newsletter 2003a, p. 2) provided Texchem with a competitive advantage over other domestic competitors. Konishi (2003b, p. 4) was please to note that: The year 2003 was spent building a solid base for Texchem operations in Myanmar and with its competitive labour and abundant natural resources, great returns beckons as Texchem begins exporting its marine products globally. Myanmar Sometimes a company is attracted by just one or two opportunities offered by the host country. However since Myanmar offers all the above opportunities for Texchem, it is only appropriate to provide an opinion of the country in this report. Myanmar has rich natural and human resources. The government is encouraging direct foreign investments to take advantage of these resources. With a market oriented economic system aimed to liberalise its economy, foreign investors would be given the right to enjoy appropriate economic benefits. They would also be safe guarded by the Government against nationalisation of their business. There are tremendous investment opportunities in natural resources such as teak forests, minerals and gems. Historical and cultural attractions offer vast potential for tourism. The labour force is highly literate and trainable. Myanmar has a long coastline rich in fish and other marine life. An estimated one million metric tons of sustainable fishery resources could be exploited annually. Investment opportunities in the fishery industry include setting up of cold storage facilities, fishmeal plants, canning plants and shrimp farms and / or hatcheries ( n.d.). 5. CHALLENGES FOR TEXCHEM AND MEETING THEM. Converting business opportunities into profits is usually never plain sailing. There are challenges to overcome first. These challenges come in many forms i.e. trade barriers, high taxes, corruption, unskilled workers, poor infrastructure etc. Although globalisation created many opportunities, Texchem must overcome the many challenges that came with these opportunities before reaping in the profits. Among the many challenges Texchem has or shall encounter in globalisation are: * Building Brand. Branding is a very important exercise for companies going global. Foreign markets must be made aware of the existence of their products. Irrespective of the large population, if the product is not known then there shall be no demand. When Texchem ventured into Indonesia to market its mosquito coils through Fumakilla, it realised the difficulty in building its mosquito coil brand. Fumakilla is relatively unknown to millions of Indonesian and without awareness the product will be just another product on the shelves. As a solution, Fumakilla has embarked on a RM12 million branding exercise to expose its mosquito coils to the Indonesian market under the brand name Domestos Nomos. Advertising and promotions activities were carried out via PT Technopia Lever (Texchem investor newsletter 2003b). Since the expansion of the Family Care business to Indonesia in September 2002, Domestos Nomos has: Achieved a market share of 6.5% as of Sept 2003. Sales in the 2nd half of 2003 improve due to seasonal trend of the household insecticides market in ASEAN. It has also become the top brand with an average market share of 40% in modern retail outlets located within Jakarta and Medan (Texchem investor newsletter 2003, p.4 2003a, p.3). With such a large market, Fumakillas top priority for 2003 was to build the Domestos Nomos brand so as to achieve further significant market penetration into Indonesia. With a population 206 million, industry  potential in massive (Tan, GH 2002, pp. 30-31). * Sustaining Market. Market penetration is just the first step to a successful globalisation. After penetrating a foreign market another challenge shall present itself. This challenge is sustaining the market. Sustaining a market is difficult because there is no such thing as a perpetual sustainable market. Products come and go frequently because of competition. Texchem success depends on: Keeping its fingers on the pulse of an ever-changing market and on its resourcefulness in responding to customer needs. By constantly updating knowledge of market trends and sharing knowledge with suppliers, Texchem is able to rapidly develop and introduce new products that exceed its customers expectations (  industrial.html 2003, p. 1). Texchem is focused on maintaining its market leadership and is confident of attracting potential partners for help because of more competitive products from China (Texchem investor newsletter 2003b, p. 2). Therefore, Texchem is very selective in its choice of partners, choosing only those whose needs can genuinely be met and who are committed to long term brand building ( 2003, p. 3). * Financial Limitation. Insufficient financial capability is a hindrance to globalisation. Funds are required to invest in foreign soil. Additional plants and equipment have to be procure and employees paid. Normally, capital expenditure can only be recouped after a few years of operation. Sourcing for funds to globalise is a major task for Texchem. One of the ways to overcome the shortage of funds is to list the company in Securities Exchanges. In September 2003, Texchem announced: The listing of its Packaging business on the Main Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST). Texchem is currently awaiting approvals from SGX-ST and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to list Texpack Holdings on the SGX-ST (Texchem investor newsletter 2003b, p. 3). The access to funds shall pave the way for Texchem to take advantage of viable investment opportunities in the international capital market. It also broadens its fund raising capabilities to expand and grow its Packaging Division within the region and on the global arena (Texchem investor newsletter 2003a). * Risk. There are no risk free investments. The same goes for globalisation. In fact, risk assessment for globalisation is considered a delicate task. Unexpected global events such as epidemic, natural disaster and war are some of the risks that are difficult to account for. These unexpected events affect company performance. Texchem Food Division performance could have been better if not for the SARS epidemic and war in the Middle East (Nishida 2003, p. 28). To demonstrate the impact, Kim (2003, p. 18) said that Texchem-Pack (Wuxi) in China suffered losses due to the indirect effect of the SARS epidemic during the first half of 2003 because Texchem sales and marketing team was prevented from servicing the clients due to the outbreak. However, Texchem was able to overcome this challenge with the support from its clients, new business partners, the dedication of the team and the support form the Penang head office'(Kim 2003, p. 18). Apart from that, the risk of lack of basic infrastructure and communications  is another prevailing issue when entering third world countries. Texchem can attest to that because the initial stage of establishing in Myanmar was difficult because of the lack of infrastructure and communication problems (Nishida 2003, p. 28). Nevertheless, Texchem was able to grow and expand its operation in Myanmar due to strategic acquisitions, meticulous planning and the synergizing of all Texchem plants (Nishida 2003, p. 28). 6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION. Globalisation has changed the way business is being conducted. From being a domestic company in the 1970s and 1980s, Texchem is now a successful global company. Ever since Texchem started globalising its performance has been growing steadily. Apart from a slight drop in revenue in 2001, Texchem has registered an increase in sales and operating profit for the past five years. (source: Texchem Resources Bhd, www.texchemgroup.com) FIGURE 5: Texchem financial performance For the year 2003, Texchems gross dividend payout was a remarkable 8%, much to the delight of its shareholders. Globalisation has also generated sufficient profit for Texchem to be transferred to the Main Board of the Bursa Malaysia (formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange) in 2001 after being listed in the Second Board in 1993. This milestone signified the growth of Texchem into a major listed conglomerate in Malaysia. Texchem is now a household name in family care products and its packaging division is well represented in ASEAN. Its food division is also making inroads into Europe, starting with Italy. Overall, globalisation has indeed changed the corporate profile of Texchem. It has provided Texchem a vast market for its products and Texchem has seized the opportunities created well. With six more years to go, Vision 2010 may sound a little ambitious. It is not that Vision 2010 cannot be achieved but it should be scaled down to allow for any unforeseeable economic crisis such as workers strike, war, epidemic or even natural disaster. Also, Texchem should continue spreading its influence in the relatively untapped Chinese market. Aggressive branding exercise is required here to capture a lion share of its 1 billion market opportunity. With AFTA already in full implementation for certain ASEAN countries it may be prudent for Texchem to invest more in Research Development so that it can continuously reinvent itself to stay relevant. Competition is getting keener with more and more companies expanding in ASEAN to take advantage of AFTA. Finally, Texchem may consider a multidomestic strategy in the near future as it strengthens its foothold globally. This strategy is flexible and allows participation from the locals. Furthermore this strategy allows global companies to look beyond costs and product standardisation to think in new ways about world competition (Hamel and Prahalad 1985, p. 139). REFERENCES: 1. Associates 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, holders/associates.html, p. 1. 2. Ball, DA, McCulloch, Jr, WH, Frants, PL, Geringer, JM Minor, MS 2004, International business: The challenge of global competition, 9th edn, McGraw Hill, USA, pp. 4-6, 263. 3. Chiew, CH 2004, A yen for Malaysia, Asia Inc., 1 May. 4. Customers 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, holders/customers.html, p. 1. 5. Emmanuel, M 2004, Texchem eyes Europe as seafood processing plant site, The New Straits Times, 28 May. 6. Employment and labour-based technology (n.d.), viewed on 9 August 2004, . 7. Family care division 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, business/familycare.html, pp. 1-3. 2003a, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 8. Food division 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 2003a, viewed on 14 July 2004, html, p. 1. 9. Hamel, G Prahalad, CK 1985, Do you really have a global strategy?, Harvard Business Review, July August 1985, p. 139. 10. Hill, CW 2003, International business: Competing in the global marketplace, 4th edn, McGRaw Hill, USA, p. 8, 173. 11. History 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, history.html, p. 1. 12. History and business 2003, viewed on 20 July 2004, care.com/, p. 1. 13. Industrial division 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, business/industrial.html, pp. 1-2. 2003a, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 2003b, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 14. Khambata, D Ajami, R 1992, International business: Theory and practice, Macmillan, Singapore, pp. 43, 283-284. 15. Kim, LK 2003, Countering obstacleschallenging the competition, Texchem Annual Report 2003, p. 18. 16. Konishi, F 2002, Chairmans Statement, Texchem Annual Report 2002, p. 11 17. Konishi, F 2003, Presidents message towards globalisation, Texview, September, viewed 4 August 2004, detailpage.php?Id=147, p. 1. 2003a, Presidents message, Texchem investor newsletter, Inaugural issue 2003, pp. 2-3. 2003b, Chairmans Statement, Texchem Annual Report 200, pp. 2-5. 18. Lee, KF 2003, Texchem gets shareholders approval to buy Sushi Kin, The New Straits Times, 11 December. 19. Nishida, Y 2003, The journey of continued success, Texchem Annual Report 2003, p. 28. 20. Our ASEAN expansion 2003a, viewed on 23 July 2004, care.com/, p. 1. 21. Our ASEAN presence 2003b, viewed on 23 July 2004, care.com/, p. 1. 22. Our history 2003, viewed on 20 July 2004, history.html, p. 1. 23. Our strength 2003, viewed on 20 July 2004, strengths.html, p. 1. 24. Packaging division 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, business/packaging.html, p. 1. 2003a, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 2003b, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 1. 2003c, viewed on 14 July 2004, , p. 2. 25. Staff 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, holders/staff.html, p. 1. 26. Tan, D 2004, Texchem plans Euro processing facility, The Star, 28 May. 27. Tan, GH 2002, Reaching home, Texchem Annual Report 2002, pp. 30-31. 28. The ASEAN free trade area and other areas of ASEAN economic coorperation 2003, viewed on 20 July 2004, , pp. 1-2. 29. The Star 2004, Texchem setting up aquaculture products plant in Myanmar, 21 March. 30. Texchem Annual Report 2002 2002, Corporate History, p. 2. 31. Texchem Investor Newsletter 2003, Higher contribution from packaging, consumer and industrial divisions in first half, inaugural issue, pp. 2-5. 2003a, Q3: Focus on streamlining operations to further improve profitability, 3rd quarter, pp. 2-5. 2003b, Q4: Food division set to spearhead growth for Texchem, 4th quarter, pp. 2-3. 32. To set up business in Myanmar (n.d.), viewed on 6 August 2004, myanmar.com/gov/trade/setup.htm, pp. 1-2. 33. Wages and productivity (n.d.), viewed on 6 August 2004, wdi2000/tab2_6.pdf. 34. Welcome 2003, viewed on 14 July 2004, html, p. 1. 35. Yap, D 2003, Texchem on expansion path, The Star, 7 June.

What Is English As A Lingua Franca?

What Is English As A Lingua Franca? Over the last few decades, with global spread and use of English, some researchers have shown an increased interest in English as a Lingua Franca. The issue of ELF has eventually become an important focus of research in applied Linguistics. McKay (2003) emphasizes that local context and learners needs should play an important role in the teaching of English. Kirkpatrick (2007) claims that we, as English language teachers, should reconsider which model of English should be adopted for the language classroom in countries where English is used mainly for international communication. This paper seeks to the following things. Firstly, the paper will explore what is meant by English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) and followed by the discussion the importance of relevant issues, such as choosing the right teaching model, cross-cultural intelligibility and strategies, accommodation and open-minded attitudes towards different English varieties. Secondly, with respect to Chinese context, the author will discuss the choice of appropriate teaching models. As an English language teacher in China, the author claims that the choosing of teaching models should be based on the local context and learners needs. Finally, the author will discuss the development of China English in Chinese context. 2. What is English as a Lingua Franca? 2.1 The Spread of English Nowadays, there is no doubt that English is an international Language. It is widely used as a communication medium in the fields of politics, economics, culture, technology etc. Crystal (2003) points out that the number of non-native speakers (NNSs) of English is far more than native speakers (NSs) and claims that roughly only one of every four users of English in the world is an English native speaker. 2.2 World Englishes With the spread of English in the world, there are now many varieties. Jenkins (2004) refers to these as world Englishes. In other words, English no longer has one single base of authority, prestige and normativity (Mesthrie Bhatt, 2008). The three circles model proposed by Kachru (1992) has been very influential and gives us a good understanding of the spread of English and world Englishes. These three circles, based on geography and history, include the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle. The Inner Circle comprises the countries in which people speak English as a native language (ENL), known as Norm-providing, such as USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The Outer Circle includes the countries where English is spoken as a second Language (ESL), most of which used to be the colonies of UK, US, and regarded as Norm-developing. Jenkins (2009) points out that one of the main characteristics of the Outer Circle countries is that the variations of English in ESL have become institutionalised and are developing their own standards. The Expanding Circle means EFL countries, such as China, Japan, Korea and Thailand, known as norm-dependent. The main reason for defining the Expanding Circle is that English has no official status and can be seen as dependent on the norms of the inner circle countries (Jenkins, 2009). 2.3 English as a Lingua Franca However, language is always developing and changing. With the spread of English, Kachrus three circles model (Kachru, 1992 )is criticized by some scholars (Jenkins, 2005; Seidhofer, 2004) because it pays more attention to the interaction between native and non native speaker, and has not recognized that one of the most important functions of world-wide English today is to provide a lingua franca between all three circles. In particular, the interaction takes place within the Expanding Circle (Mollin, 2006). Therefore the term ELF is proposed under this circumstance In the first place, it was widely accepted that ELF does not include native speakers. House (1999) defines ELF interactions between members of two or more different linguacultures in English, for none of whom English is the mother tongue. In other words, from Houses point of view, ELF means English is spoken by speakers whose first language is not English. Jenkins, however, claims that the term English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) refers to the English that is used as a contact language among speakers who come from different first language and cultural background (Jenkins, 2005). In other words, despite the fact that native speakers are not like non-native speakers which represent a large percentage of the totality of the worlds ELF users, they are still included in ELF, But their interactions are not collected in Jenkins ELF data, and when they take part in ELF interactions, they do not represent a linguistics reference point (Jenkins, 2007). ELF is characterized by the following: (1) ELF is used in different contexts in which speakers have different L1 and cultural background, but they need it as a tool to achieve their communication goal. During this communication process, they need to be open-minded, tolerate and accommodate each other (Politeness, schema theory and so on). (2) ELF is different from EFL which the main purpose is to communicate with native speakers and the interaction needs to adhere to ENL linguacultural norms. (3) Linguistically, ELF involves innovations, performativity and creativity that differ from ENL (Seidlhofer, 2011). When Speakers negotiate meaning with each other in English, they may change the ENL norms. For example: Use of 3rd person singular zero. She/he go to school. More details please see the appendix one (Jenkins, 2009). Obviously, the term ELF well represents English as it is used today. In addition, the ownership of English does not only belong to native-speakers, it belongs to all who communicate with each other in English (Nelson, 2011). With the global use of English, Cross-cultural Intelligibility, certain communication strategies are needed in ELF interaction, such as accommodation and code switching, the awareness of noticing the specific communication context. The discussion will be explored in the next session. 3. ELF and relevant issues for the classroom 3.1 The teaching models Seidlhofer (2006) points out that, with global use of English, a problem is raised to choose the teaching model: what English should be taught in a specific context? What norms of English should be adopted? People make different choices based on their needs and context of learning English. Three models are proposed by Kirkpatrick (2007: 184-197): exonormative native speaker model, endonormative nativised model, and a lingua Franca approach. Most people in Expanding Circle Countries would like to choose the exonormative native speaker model, because most of them learn the standard British and American English and their respective standard accents, RP(Received Pronunciation) and GA (General American),despite the fact that they know learning English is not only to communicate with native-speakers(Jenkins, 2009). But in fact, the term standard English deals with grammar and vocabulary (dialect) but does not include pronunciation (accent) (Trudgill Hannah, 1982). Shepherd (2000) claims t hat which model is chosen depending on the learners needs and should use the learner-centred approach. In the meantime, it is very hard for speakers who are in expanding circle countries to achieve native-like English. On the contrast, it will not motivate the learners and makes them lose confidence in learning it (Seidlhofer, 2011). 3.2 Cross-cultural intelligibility and strategies As English continues to grow as a lingua Franca, there are a lot of variations of English. How should we achieve the cross-cultural communication? Smith (1976) pointes out the view below: 1) There is no need for learners to internalize the culture norms of native speakers of the language; 2) the ownership of an international language becomes denationalized and 3) the primary goal of learning language is to make learners to communicate their ideas and culture to others. For example, generally speaking, Nelson points out that (2011) we will identify who people are, where he or she comes from by his or her lexical choice or accent before we communicate with other person from different background with us. However English is currently used as a Lingua Franca, the goal of communication is to make each other understood. International Intelligibility is getting more and more important and become a concern in recent days, especially understanding each other in multiple contexts (Nelson, 2011). Therefore developing the students listening and comprehensibility and speaking skills are very crucial in order to understand people and make other people understood who come from different backgrounds with different accents. Since the purpose of learning Language is to achieve communication, so how to get the meaning of language through different pronunciation or accents when people speak English is becoming a main issue in ELF. Learning linguistic features and knowing different cultures might be helpful to understand different variations. Therefore understanding your speaker linguistically and culturally will lead to successful communicate in a super diversity context, In short, Knowing how, when, and why to say what to whom. Furthermore, in order to achieve the international intelligibility and effective communication, raising the awareness of the strategies of lingua franca communication is becoming more and more important in the interaction. Promoting multi- competence among native and non-native language users (Cook, 2007), the accommodation theory, the schema theory, the speech act theory, cultural information, cross-cultural negotiation and strategies, language technology, cultural awareness and so on 3.3 ELF: attitude and identities Now English is becoming a Lingua Franca, hence the norms of native speakers countries are not only one standard, in the meantime, non-native speaker countries have got the ownership of English. So not only non-native speakers need to accept the native-speaker norms, they have got their own particular norms. At the same time, Jenkins (2007, 2009) claims that native speakers should accept non-native speakers norms .Because in the current situation the expanding circle is potentially rather different from typical situations in which powerful NS groups impose their linguistic norms on less powerful, often minority, NNS groups. In particular, many groups of English speakers in parts of Europe, Latin America, and East Asia (especially China) are both economically powerful and numerically large, and this may ultimately prove to be decisive in the fight for the recognition of ELF, in turn, it may affect the ELF identity landscape in ways that are at present only dimly discernible (Jenkins, 2 009; Seidlhofer, 2011). Widdowson (1993: 385) claims that it is a matter of considerable pride and satisfaction for native speakers of English that their language is the international means of communication. However, it is very hard for native or even non-native speakers to accept the worlds Lingua Franca which has its own lexicogrammar and accent characterises and should have its own right to develop its own Lingua Franca forms. For instance: China English, Japan English. Even these features did not cause intelligibility problems and can achieve the goal of communication (Jenkins, 2004). For more details, please see the appendance one. Identity is becoming an interesting issue in English language use nowadays. Recent literature (B. Kachru and Nelson.2001; De Kadt, 2004) point out that the use of English plays an important role in showing groups and individuals identities. Because non-native speakers use English with their own characters show their own identities. Especially people use English to communicate with people who came from different background, For example, the interaction between a Chinese English and Korea English speaker, and they may be identified by each others pronunciation and accent. In most of cases, English language teachers and learners desire native-like English identity in Expanding Countries, Especially for non-native English teachers. In their mind, native-like English accents are helpful for them achieve the success in the career development. 4. Rethinking ELF in China Kirkpatrick (2006) points out that context should be considered before making the decision to choose the teaching model, and the context includes learners needs and the relative possibility of adopting nativized model. Next, the role of English based on Chinese context and learners needs are discussed in more detail, then the teaching model in China is described, and the development of China English is explored. English in China Nowadays With the spread of English, English is seen as extremely important and strongly promoted in China. The motivation for learning English for Chinese learners are discussed in more details based on Chinese context, and the uses of English in China is always changing over time. With economic reform and open door policy of China in 1979, and the motivation of learning English is to acquisition Western knowledge (Kachru, 1992: 165) and international understanding. English is a compulsory subject in primary, secondary and universities in China, they need to pass the examinations. Students in secondary need to pass the National Examination to access to university, students in the majority of Universities need to pass CET band 4 to get the degree. Some students who want to study abroad need to pass IELTS and TOEFL. Here, the role of English is as a medium to access to science, technology, political, business, culture information around the world. However, nowadays more and more teachers and learners notice that learning English is to international communication. Especially, since China entered WTO in 2001 and held 2008 Olympic Games, these make China get involved in globalization. For example, many companies in USA and some European countries found that they can cut the costs and make more profit if they send their jobs in China, it is well known as outsourcing. People in China who want to work in these companies need to have a high proficiency of English. In addition, with the development of China, more and more people study abroad, travel and immigrate around the world, and they are exposed to English with different accents. They not only need to communicate with people in the inner Circle countries. ¼Ã‹â€ America and UK ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °, but also need to interact with people in some Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle(Singapore, India, Malaysia, Japan and Korea). Finally, with China emerging as an economic superpower, Chinese government found that China not only needs to learn the knowledge from the world, but also need to let the world know about China, Confucius Institutes have founded all over the world since 2004, which provide opportunities for people to know Chinese Language and culture. For mandarin Chinese teachers, they need to translate Chinese Language and culture into English. However, sometimes it is very hard to find the word in English vocabulary to express Chinese language and culture. Therefore, direct translations from Chinese into English take place(Kirkpatrick,2007), such as taichi, kung fu, fengshui, iron rice bowl, one country, two systems, open-door policy. 4.2 Teaching models in China As mentioned earlier, Kirkpatrick (2007) points out that there are three potential models which can be used in outer and expanding circle countries, and they are an exonormative native speaker model, endonormative nativised model and a lingua franca approach. China is one of such expanding countries, and the exonormative native speaker model has been accepted and promoted as the standard pedagogic model for English language teaching in China. However, there are still a lot of changes during the period of development of English in China. In the past, only native-speaker varieties and norms are used and other varieties of English are ignored in China. British English is regarded as standard English in the beginning; with the economic development of America, American English dominated in the ELT of China, mixed with a little British English; in the last two decades, with the economic development of China, more and more foreigners from different countries in the world go to China to do b usiness, study and travelling, and some Chinese people are exposed to different varieties of English and they found it hard to communicate with foreigners with different accents. This raises their awareness of the importance of other varieties of English. Therefore, nowadays, other varieties of English are taken into account in English curriculum. Including Canada English, China English, India English, Nigeria English, Japan English, and so on. English teaching materials have reflected these changes and tend to incorporate the principle of English as a Lingua Franca in terms of cultural knowledge. In the English teaching materials, not only the culture of native speaking-English countries is introduced, but also the culture from the inner and expending counties is presented inside. Kirkpatrick (2006) points out the advantages of adopting the exonormative native speaker model in the Outer and Expending Circle countries. Firstly, this model has been codified in the dictionary and grammar books; Secondly, this model is regards as standard varieties of English; thirdly, this model has got power. Fourthly, this model has got historical authority (ibid: 72). The above reasons also can explain why the learners in China want to learn American and British English, and why they regard American and British English as Standard English. However, with the global development of English, other varieties of English have already started to be drawn attention in the field of ELT in China. Kirkpatrick and Xu(2002) points out that the reason for learning English should be clarified before choosing the right English teaching model, if learning English is to communicate with native speakers, then the exonormative native speaker model will serve a good role, however, in fact, In China, the purpose of learning English is not only to communicate well with native speakers, but also communicate with non-native speakers, and the number of non-native speakers has already exceeded the number of native speakers, in the meantime, the number of non-native speakers are still growing at the fast speed. Therefore, they argue and suggest that the development of China English with Chinese characteristics may be an inevitable result (ibid: 277). 4.3 China English The concept of China English has been attracting growing attention from scholars over the past 20 years (Du and Jiang, 2001; Kirkpatrick and Xu, 2002; Hu, 2004; Bolton, 2003,). This concept is different from the older terms Chinese English and Chinglish, because Chinese English and Chinglish are ungrammatical or nonsensical English and are not standard variety. Chinese English refers to a variety of English used by Chinese learners and bears trace of L1 interference (Kirkpatrick and Xu, 2002).while Chinglish refers to the combination of English and Chinese in ones sentence. China English was first defined by Ge in 1980 (Du and Jiang, 2001), and it is described as it is understood as a standard variety and used by Chinese People in China, and it has Chinese characteristics in lexis, sentence structure and discourse and reflects Chinese culture norms (Li, 1993;Du and Jiang, 2001). Undoubtedly, English is a lingua Franca now and English should be learnt with the culture of the target language to a certain extent in order to learn English language. In the meantime, in the Chinese context, China English should be developed to make it part of the main English. For example, during the period of learning Mandarin Chinese, many students are interested in Chinese culture, i.e. Acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, traditional wedding, traditional Chinese musical instruments, the ancient Chinese works, Chinese food etc. But it is hard to find English words to describe these special things with respect to Chinese knowledge and culture. This is a big problem and challenge for Chinese people to communicate with foreigners in English. The emergence of China English contributes to the development and enrichment of English and spread the Chinese culture around the world, so it is necessary to develop China English with Chinese characteristics in lexis, sentence structure an d discourse and become one part of the worlds Lingua Franca. and China English needed to be codified to appear in dictionaries and reference books, of course, there is a long way to go before China English become one standard variety, this not only needs official support, but also needs to change peoples attitudes towards China English, and further research needs to be done to investigate China English with respect to phonology, lexis, discourse and culture. Kachru (1992) emphasizes that giving the rights to develop the variety of norms would not lead to a lack of intelligibility among varieties of English. 5. Conclusion In this paper, this author has discussed the understanding of ELF from narrow and wide view. Secondly, this paper has explored the implications of ELF for classroom issues: Choosing the teaching model should be based on students context and needs; In order to achieve the Cross-cultural Intelligibility, we should raise the students awareness of effective communication strategies; as long as non-native speakers features such as lexicogrammar and pronunciation do not cause Intelligibility problems and can achieve the goal of communication, we should be open-minded and accommodate each other (Cogo Dewey, 2006; Dewey, 2007). More importantly, some people would like to keep their own identity when communicating with each other in English. Finally, this author focused on the discussion of teaching model in China based on Chinese context, and then the author discussed China English and advocated China should develop China English along with learning native-speaking culture and this may be n ext big trend on teaching English in China. Nanoparticles: Applications and Impact on Science Nanoparticles: Applications and Impact on Science Nanoparticles (NPs) functionalised with cores composed of inorganic and organic materials like noble element, magnetic metals, their alloys and oxides, and semiconductors are ehaustively studied and have huge potential for application in various areas. The spectrum of applications are endless and embraces nano-biomedicine, nanoprobes for diagnostics to treatment of diseases, nanobots for early detection of neoplastic cell, nano drug delivery systems, Nanosuspension, SPION, nanolithography for nanoelectronics industry, electrochemical sensing supported by gold nanoparticles impregnated halloysite nanotube composites and latent fingerprint detection for forensic investigations are to call a few. The effects of nanoparticles ought to be predictable and controllable, and bear the specified result with minimum cytotoxicity. These criteria are met by the careful craft of the core shell, allowing stabilization, specific targeting and recognition of biochemical species. This review is focuse d on the synthesis and functionalisation of a wide range of nanoparticles for various applications. Keywords: nanoparticles, SPION, nanobots, halloysite, nanodrug delivery system forensic investigators, nanoelectronics. 1.INTRODUCTION: The incredible accomplishments created within the discipline of material science and nanotechnologies over the past decade have had a significant impact on the biological, physical, and, chemical sciences. Recent developments in the life sciences rely profoundly on the supply of latest state of the art experimental tools and devices that modify and manipulates biomolecules and avail the study of complex biological processes at the molecular and cellular levels. Significant progress created inside the synthesis of fluorescent semiconductor Nanocrystals (NCs), further brought up as quantum dots (QDs), aboard an extra robust understanding of their nonlinear photo physical properties and then the event of biocompatible surface chemistries for their solubilization, have provided new imaging probes with monumental potential for scientists in the biological domain [1-3]. The distinctive optical properties of these semiconductor Nanocrystals make them exceptional fluorescent biological marke rs. The leptons in QDs are confined in all three dimensions, resulting in a powerful size dependency of optical behavior like absorption, transmission and, consequently, emissive energies [4]. The radiative recombination of the charge carriers that ends in fluorescence emission once the lepton falls into the valence band is greatly inflated by quantum confinement, compared with their bulk semiconductor [5-8]. Thus, by reducing the dimensions of certain semiconductors to a couple of nanometers, new fluorescent probes may be obtained entirely different from their bulk counterpart. Additionally, by varying the nanometric size a greater control over the fluorescent properties of these probes like their emission wavelength can also be achieved to utilise its complete spectral potential [1]. Nanoparticles are constructs that possess distinctive physical and chemical properties associated to their size domain of 1–100 nm or a minimum of one dimension need to fall in the regime of 1-100 nm. NPs consist of a spread of materials as; metallic nanoparticles of noble metals of Gold / Aurum (Au) [9], Silver/ argentous (Ag) [10,11], atomic number 46 (Pd) [12], atomic number 78 (Pt) [13],magnetic compounds (viz. Co [14], Fe3O4 [15,16], FePt [12], CoFe2O4 [17], CoPt [18]), semiconductors (viz. CdS [19], CdSe [20], InGaAsP [21], GaAs [22], GaAsP [23], ZnS [24], TiO2 [25], Lead Sulphide (PbS) [26], Indium Phosphide (InP) [26], Silicon (Si) [27]), core shell (viz. CdS/CdSe [28], CdSe/ZnS [29], CdS/ZnS [30], CdSe/AgS [31], HgS/CdS [32], PbS/CdS [33, 34], CdS/HgS [35], ZnS/CdSe [36], ZnSe/CdSe [37]) and different nanocomposites nanomaterials (viz. Co/WC and Fe/TiC). Therefore, as for the NPs to be useful in biomedicine, they need to satisfy certain criteria. For in-vitro applicat ions like fluorescent staining of proteins and TEM imaging, NPs ought to trounce the traditional agents whereas having minimal toxicity. In-vivo, NPs got to be compelled to avoid non-specific interactions with plasma proteins (opsonisation) and either evade or allow uptake by the reticulo endothelial System (RES) hoping on the applying, to attain their meant target efficiently. They need to in addition maintain homogeneity and stability under physiological conditions, ideally within a good spectrum of pH. NPs carrying a payload, like drug molecules or de-oxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for cistron treatment ought to avoid premature release, at the same time should precisely deliver the load to the desired site. To accomplish these phenomenon Surface Chemistry of the NPs should be well known and modified accordingly for specific interactions with biological moieties of interest. Nanoparticles-based drug delivery system provides many blessings, like enhancing targeted drug delivery, resulting in drug-therapeutic efficiency, reduction in dosage quantity, and pharmacological characteristics. Moreover, nanoparticles additionally improve the solubility of sparingly soluble drugs,dramatically alter pharmacokinetics mechanism, enhances drug half-life by reducing immunogenicity, increases specificity towards the target cell or tissue (therefore reducing facet effects),improve bioavailability, diminishing drug metabolism, providing controllable release of therapeutic compounds and in addition the delivery of two or more drugs at an equivalent time for combination medical aid [38,39].In the field of qualitative analysis, UV, FTIR-ATR [5] shows a stimulating spectral improvement in peaks of sample analytes rendering a quicker analysis even from a trace evidences. DC magnetron sputtering of nanoparticles on noble metals like Gold and Silver on samples of forensic eviden ces viz: blood, semen, spittle and latent fingerprints shows an enhanced and improved spectrum under ultraviolet light, FTIR-ATR and UV/VIS spectrum measurement devices. The spectral improvement is a result of Quantum confinement effect [40] of nanoparticles. This article is split into three sections of: Pharmaceutical applications, Engineering and Technology and additionally the foremost expected field of forensic investigation. The article in addition presents current and futuristic market potential for Nanomedicine and numerous different nanoelectronic devices and its impetus impact on humanity. 2. Pharmaceutical Applications of nanoparticles The potential application of nanoparticles is in the field of Nanomedicine. Nanomedicine as the name indicates is the branch of nanotechnology that deals with medical application of engineered nanotechnology. Though, the definition of nanotechnology and Nanomedicine continues to be an open debatable field, contention and brain storming among academicians and industrialists; we might wish to advocate wide accepted definitions by variety of the reputed regulatory authorities, research institutes and government agencies across the world. United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) outline nanotechnology as: Technology which allows scientists to create, explores, envision, and manipulate materials scaled in nanometers (10-9 m). Such engineered materials can have an entirely different set of properties (physical, chemical and biological) that dissent from those of their larger counterparts [41]. National Institute of health in its ‘National Institutes of Health Roadmap for Medical research in Nanomedicine programme’ defines Nanomedicine as: â€Å"An offshoot of nanotechnology, [which] refers to highly specific medical interventions at the molecular scale for curing disease or repairing damaged tissues, such as bone, muscle, or nerve† [42]. European Science Foundation’s (ESF) Forward Look Nanomedicine program has given comprehensive definition of Nanomedicine as: Nanomedicine uses a set of nano-sized tools for the diagnosing, preventing and treating of disease and to gain insight and in-depth understanding of some of the complex underlying patho-physiology of disease. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality-of-life [43]. Since last two decades Nanotechnology has evolved as the most promising engineering technology in novel drug delivery systems and in diagnostic techniques. The very fact may be determined by the number of promising Nanomedicine candidates approved by completely different regulatory authorities across the world for these applications. The Nanomedicine here represents umbrella term that covers the molecules at a lower place the scale of one thousand nm in at least one dimension and has potential applications among the subsequent fields: Advanced and targeted drug delivery Real time imaging and diagnosis Regenerative drugs. 2.1  Nanoparticles for site dependent and targeted Drug Delivery The size confluence of nanoparticles with proteins is the major reason that nanoparticles are widely used in therapeutic applications [63]. Their huge surface area provides a binding site for displaying surface functional groups like ligand. Moreover, they possess a speedy absorption and unleash behavior provided by high skills of their diffusion and surface modification. Nanoparticles in its synthesized form are rarely used in biomedical application on account of its inherent properties viz: cytotoxicity and high surface charge. Their high toxicity destroys healthy cells and enormous surface charge renders them highly unstable prohibiting its medical application. Therefore, the particle size and surface characteristics of nanoparticles are in general tailored or controlled to suite user needs and medical interests. Some distinguished examples of surface modification of nanoparticles are covalent binding between surface and functional molecules or polymers, electrochemical sensors: a dded gold NPs and halloysite nanocomposites [44] and layer-by-layer (L-b-L) self assembly. Whereas organic, inorganic or organic/inorganic hybrid materials are used for the fabrication of nanoparticles, polymeric nanoparticles have in