Whats Your Openion Example

Whats Your Openion Example Whats Your Openion – Article Example Food/agriculture and Population The increase in population is one of the key factors that have contributed to the decline inthe production of food. Although other factors such as bad weather, high cost of production and energy related costs have generally affected food production, the increase in population has put pressure on the major agricultural resources- water and land. The land OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2011-2020 reveals that agricultural land in many areas in highly constrained, and this has led to a decline in food production. Although some have argued that the use of modern technology and approaches to farming will guarantee increased food production, it is clear that the increase in population might render such technologies useless as there would be no land to farm. In a short YouTube video by GeoBeats News (www.youtube.com/watch?v=axfP6d60CEE), the idea of food scarcity amid the growing population is well covered. This short video shows that as the population continu es to increase, the production of the most staple foods such as rice, soybean and corn has significantly reduced. One of the fundamental problems faced by many societies today is the inability to produce more food without destroying natural habitats. There are two major issues that arise when food production and population are considered. First, as the population continues to grow, key natural resources such as forests are overexploited with the aim of producing more food, and this leads to other problems such as reduction in water supply. This then further complicates the problem. Secondly, as the population continues to increase, more people are moving into towns and cities. As a result, more people demand for food without having land to farm, and this further makes it difficult to produce enough food to serve the increasing population. GeoBeats News. "World Food Supply Is Lower Than Demand While Population Grows." YouTube. YouTube, 03 July 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

kurt vonnegut research paper essays

kurt vonnegut research paper essays Kurt Vonnegut has been called a genius, a fraud, a psychotic, and even a guru throughout his achievement filled life by many different people from all different walks of life. His works have been discussed, read, praised, and criticized throughout the natural world. While some people regard his books as masterpieces, and cult classics, others categorize them as trash. Dozens of books he has written are considered ahead of their time. Kurt Vonnegut is a revolutionary thinker and author who expresses avant-garde ideas and views about society and life, which have made a lasting impression on the way people see the many different aspects of the world today. Vonnegut was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on Nov. 11th, 1922. His father, Kurt Sr. and his mother, Edith Lieber Vonnegut, raised him and his siblings, Bernard In Vonneguts life there were many influential people including friends, teachers, and most of all his father. When his father died, he was heartbroken, but he later said that this experience gave him more passion for his writing (Vonnegut 53). When Vonneguts brother in-law and sister died, both within 48 hours, Vonnegut was devastated (Vonnegut 51). This was a major loss for him and almost too much to bear. But, with the love and support he received from close friends and remaining family, he was able to endure the trauma. This also gave him more to write about because his works revolved around personal life experiences (Vonnegut 48). By incorporating personal perspectives ...

Reflection on Ellen White Readings Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reflection on Ellen White Readings - Essay Example Followers of the Christian and Catholic faiths should abide by the law that God had declared. The observance of the Sabbath Day is part of the Ten Commandments that were given by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Not all Christians or Catholics follow this commandment anymore. Even the calendar that is being used during the past centuries has their weeks starting on what should be considered as the Sabbath day which is Sunday. The Sabbath Day should be observed by those people who believe not just in the scriptures but also in the whole religious belief. God himself laid out the first week as for man to pattern the succeeding weeks that will come. A statement from White in The Desire of Ages, â€Å"Six days were employed in the work of creation; upon the seventh, God rested, and He then blessed this day and set it apart as a day of rest for man.†2 Many urged that Sundaykeeping had been an established doctrine and a widespread custom of the church for many centuries. Against this argument it was shown that the Sabbath and its observance were more ancient and widespread, even as old as the world itself, and bearing the sanction both of angels and of God.3 Sabbath has been barely observed by people especially during the latter decades of the 20th century and even during the first decades of the 21st century. It would be either people are too busy having their leisure vacations or others may have shifts at work. Because of worldly reasons, people have started to ignore the observance of the Sabbath and stating reasons or justifications that God will understand the fact that they need to work or enjoy at least a day after weeks or months filled with strenuous work. There has been an increasing number in the population who fails to observe the Sabbath Day. Could this be a reason why even when people continuously work hard day and night, they still fail to achieve the contentment in different life aspects? White stated that, â€Å"The true joy of life is

Strategic Leadership in a Changing World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Strategic Leadership in a Changing World - Essay Example As the research stresses internal factors refer to the internally based resources the organization own for instance assets, skilled labor personnel and financial outlay that give it the organization efficiency in operation. Strategic position enables the management to implement appropriate strategy that guides the credibility of decisions made to steer the company or organization maximum business output. According to the report findings strategic position analysis should be the relationship between three crucial factors that the management considers in making strategic decisions for an organization. These are the external environment, resource base and competences and stakeholders influence and ethical and cultural values of the organization, however arguments have been put forward to link effective strategic position analysis to incline more to external environment factors more than the organization’s internal resources. External environment has been emphasized because it evaluates macro market influence and micro market influence; macro market influence factors are such as technological factors, economic, political and social factors and micro market influences are industry related factors for instance customers satisfaction, suppliers, barriers to entry and competition. To understand the importance of strategic positioning analysis to an organization, the several three key factors are important; external environment, internally based resources and competencies and stakeholders influence and ethical cultural values of the organization.

Corporate Finance and Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Corporate Finance and Governance - Essay Example "It has long been recognised that the recognition of risk is an important component in capital budgeting decisions. The future is uncertain and investment appraisal techniques that fail to recognise this fact will almost certainly lead to incorrect conclusions and erroneous recommendations." (Brookfield, 1995) "In a longitudinal survey of capital budgeting practices of large UK companies between 1975 and 1992, substantial increase in the usage of discounted cash flow (DCF) and risk appraisal techniques were reported. Despite the increased usage of the more theoretically sound discounting techniques, several writers in both the UK and US have claimed that companies are underinvesting because they misapply or misinterpret DCF techniques. It has been asserted by several writers that firms are guilty of rejecting worthwhile investments because of the improper treatment of inflation in the financial appraisal. Many firms are understating NPVs and IRRs because of the incorrect treatment of inflation and the use of excessively high discount rates. Concern has also been expressed by various commentators that many companies are failing to invest in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) as fully as they should. Financial appraisal techniques have been cited as a major reason for the under-invest ment in new manufacturing technology. DCF procedures should not be ignored or relegated in importance merely because they might be used incorrectly. Instead, decision-makers should recognize potential problems and be careful to ensure that the financial appraisal is performed correctly." (Colin and Mike, 1986) "In a world in which information is not costlessly and symmetrically available to all economic agents, corporate project choices do not abide by the golden rule that all positive NPV projects should be accepted. In a sense, this is somewhat unsettling because it is difficult to prescribe simple rules for managers, and there has been little normative research into optimal capital allocation policies in different types of informationally constrained environments. However, the contemporary research highlights the pitfalls of policy-oriented discussions about corporate investment behaviour and managerial compensation packages that rely on the prescriptions of the traditional, symmetric-information paradigm of capital budgeting and financing. The research done to date indicates that many interesting things can happen under asymmetric information, none of which may be irrational, but some of which could be deleterious to the shareholders' welfare." (Thakur, 1993) Given these observations about investment appraisal techniques and DCF techniques, in particular, this report aims to assess the feasibility of using traditional investment appraisal techniques, while incorporating real-time variables such as risk and uncertainties. In particular, the report focuses on NPV as a basis for capital budgeting and evaluates how the concepts of risk-adjusted discount rates and sensitivity analysis can bolster traditional NPV estimation and thus provide business managers with realistic and flexible options when it comes to assessing the suitability and profitability of a particular investment or project. Accordingly, the  management approach should not be limited to using a fixed number of investment appraisal techniques; rather they should be more flexible while appraising the gains from a particular investment.     

Segmentation Essay Example for Free

Segmentation Essay Market segmentation is where marketers split the market into groups with similarities that would make it easy to target their product to the consumers, if they do not do this then they could waste money and time on targeting the wrong people. The company would be trying to maximise their sales so that they can gain as much money as possible. Using market segmentation could mean a business could gain a commercial advantage as they would be advertising to a specific audience, they would be matching target audience and the product effectively. Demographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of their Gender, age, race/nationality, family size, occupation and education. For example McDonalds advertise happy meals to children because they would keep bugging their parents to take them to get them it. Geographic’s are where the companies target market would be to a group because of where they live, for example an expensive store wouldn’t come to Burnley because most of the residents are working class and don’t have a lot of money. Psychographics are where the companies target market would be to a group because of personality, lifestyle and interests. For example subway would advertise to people with a healthy lifestyle. These segmentation methods are used to split up the market so business can find the perfect target market, if companies didn’t use these methods then the companies wouldn’t have a good understanding of the people they are trying to advertise to. ACORN or A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods, is used to segment the market into different classifications, the classifications are split up into 5 categories, which are: †¢ Wealthy Achievers – wealthy people who already have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Urban Prosperity – wealthy people who are aspiring to have good, well-paid jobs, †¢ Comfortably Off – people aren’t particularly wealthy but have a decent sized house etc. †¢ Hard Pressed lower classed people, who are live in high rise flats etc. Moderate Means – working class people, live in terraces. Another method of segmentation the public are is a system created by Experian called Mosaic, this assigns people to groups based on their post code, neighbourhood etc. and it makes assumptions about peoples likes, dislikes and lifestyles based on their postcode area. †¢ A Career professionals living in sought after locations †¢ B Younger families living in newer h omes †¢ C Older families living in suburbia D Close-knit, inner city and manufacturing town communities †¢ E Educated, young, single people living in areas of transient populations †¢ F People living in social housing with uncertain employment in deprived areas †¢ G Low income families living in estate based social housing †¢ H Upwardly mobile families living in homes bought from social landlords †¢ I Older people living in social housing with high care needs †¢ J Independent older people with relatively active lifestyles †¢ K People living in rural areas far from urbanisation McDonalds target markets are happy meals, saver menu, portion sizes, fillet o’Fish, breakfast and hot drinks; the happy meal is targeted towards children as they will use pester power to make their parents take them to McDonalds. They sell small portions that contain a healthy snack and you get a free toy in them, the toy is themed towards a children’s cartoon film, they normally advertise on nickelodeon, cartoon network and Disney channel because that’s what most children watch. They advertise after 3 o’clock because that’s when most children get home from school as if they advertised before 3 o’clock then not a lot of children would see it; the happy meal would also suit the elderly as they won’t be able to eat a big meal. The saver menu would suit students and people who don’t have a lot of money; it would suit students as they won’t have to spend a lot of money on the larger meals and they can spend it more important things or going out at the weekend. It would suit people who don’t have a lot of money as they are relatively small portions and it is only 99p for a burger so it is a cheap. The portion sizes would be good for when people who aren’t particularly hungry or they are really hungry, as if they aren’t hungry they can get a medium meal, If they are really hungry they can get the large meals. This is good as it creates more of a target market for McDonalds to attract. The Fillet o’Fish as people who don’t like eating meat can get this instead of just getting chips, this is good as well as it McDonalds look like they are family orientated and they don’t miss anyone out. The McDonalds breakfast suits people who have to get up early as they do normal breakfast meals instead of a burger they could get sausage or something else. The hot drinks are good for when it is winter as people won’t want cold drinks as they would want warm drinks like coffee or hot chocolate etc. McDonalds will have a variety of different targets for their products and services. 4 examples can look at: Families: Families are targets as when families go out, they normally go to places that the kids will enjoy as if the kids aren’t happy, then parents will not be happy as they will be seeing their children unsatisfied with where they are. McDonalds will advertise all they can to make it look more appealing to all generations of families, These services aim towards providing friendly environments for the customers to have fun at and enjoy meals at affordable prices. They will be close families, as they will be visiting places with the idea of where is best suitable for the kids and themselves to enjoy themselves. The gender is not again specific as families could be of mixed gender. The age range will be from 1+ as a nice little outing to McDonald’s with the family is always nice. Parents with Children: parents with children will take their child to McDonald’s to give their children a treat. This is a product that McDonalds has produced to attract children between the ages of 1-10, as it has a free toy with the meal it is aiming to attract children and not only will the food be a treat but they will also get a free toy to play with. The target markets for happy meals is the parents buying their children food will be identified as young children ranging from ages of 1-10 as the toys that come with the happy meals look suitable for children of that age. Teenagers: Teenagers usually have limits to how much they can spend on food, As they may have limited pocket money or more important ideas of something they may want to purchase so cannot afford to spend their money on fast food. This is why they are attracted to the saver menu, the saver menu is where you can buy food for a reasonably price. Also teenagers are known to be the main users of social networking sites and users of the internet, so the idea of free WIFI access available in their restaurants is also another way to attract people to their restaurants. So, the target market for the saver menu will be identified as someone who wants to enjoy McDonald’s at an affordable price and the target market for the free wifi will be mainly teenagers as a stop at a restaurant for a quick check of their social networking sites will tempt them to buy something quick to enjoy whilst they are in the store. The age range for both the saver menu and WI-FI will be from 16+ as people from the age of 16 + are identified to be the age range of social networking sites and the saver menu is for everyone. Local Workers: Whilst on their breaks; local workers may pop in to the closest McDonalds, they have nearest to them to have a hot meal as it’s usually served very quickly and this makes it very efficient for the workers as they may have a short break. The lifestyle of these regular workers will be busy as they are working and may not have enough time in mornings to prepare dinner before they leave so they visit cafe/restaurants that are close by to eat in at and then head back to work. Also, they will need reasonable prices as they may have budgets for their dinner/meals. Gender of local workers will also not be specific in this case as you can be of any gender to have a job. The age range will be that of 18+ to about 65, as 18 is the age you most people start working and usually people retire at 65 and are not likely to be regular customers, as fast food places as due to being older than maybe teenagers, they have to be more careful with their diets as they can be more affected easily health wise with regular takeaway consuming. A Business Person: a business person will visit McDonalds during the morning, maybe for a brew or the breakfast, Also their food can be eaten in a vehicle without it affecting a busy work schedule, as they can use the drive thru, McDonalds have many drive thru’s which is a service that makes it efficient for people that may not have enough time to eat in to enjoy their products in their vehicles. The target market for a drive thru will be busy people that do not have enough time to eat in. The gender for business customers will be both male and female as in the modern world. The age range of established and busy business people is most likely to be about 30+.

The Contradictory Nature of Soft Determinism :: essays research papers fc

The Contradictory Nature of Soft Determinism I. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"There is a continuum between free and unfree, with many or most acts lying somewhere in between.† (Abel, 322) This statement is a good summation of how Nancy Holmstrom’s view of free will allows for degrees of freedom depending on the agent’s control over the situation. Holmstrom’s main purpose in her Firming Up Soft Determinism essay was to show that people can have control over the source of their actions, meaning that people can have control over their desires and beliefs, and because of this they have free will. She also tried to show that her view of soft determinism was compatible with free will and moral responsibility. While Holmstrom’s theory about the self’s being in control, willingness to participate, and awareness of an act causes the act to be free, has some merit, her choice to incorporate soft determinism ultimately proved to invalidate her theory. II. Exposition   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Nancy Holmstrom’s Firming Up Soft Determinism essay she set out to prove that people can have control over their desires and beliefs, and therefore are in control of the sources of their actions. She believed it was possible to carry on the view of soft determinism and still hold that we are free to choose and we are at times able to do otherwise. She believed that the standard soft determinist position was inadequate. Her thought was that soft determinists had too limited of a notion of what is required for an agent to be in charge of their actions. The common soft determinist stance was that the agent do what it pleased; the soft determinists simply ignore the question of whether the agent was in control of the sources that caused the actions. Holmstrom’s theory was that â€Å"just because some causes of desires and beliefs, such as brainwashing, make actions resulting from them unfree, it does not follow that any cause of desires and beliefs has the same implications for the freedom of actions resulting from them.† (Abel, 321)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Holmstrom believed that the notion of having control is the heart of the notion of freedom. In order to have control by Holmstrom’s theory the agent must be an important part of the causal process, and the agent must also be aware of its control. An example of this is illustrated by a person accidentally squashing an ant while walking. While the person did play an important part in the demise of the ant, the person was not aware of the action; therefore, the person was not in control of the ant’s life.