Watching television is a waste of time Essay Example

Watching television is a waste of time Paper Nowadays, television has become a major part of our lives. Almost every home has a television. In fact, even restaurants, grocery shop, clinics and also mamak stores have televisions as a way to attract customers. We are now a television nation but this is not something that we should be proud of because television is not a vital necessity in our lives. Furthermore, too much television is eating our life away. Watching television is a waste of time. When we watch television, we give it our visual and audio attention and there Is very little we can do while watching television. We may enjoy a snack or two but that only ad up to the television does not allow us to do something else beneficial. A television maybe a source of information but not all that it shows consists of useful information. We will find more beneficial knowledge from books and other resources compared to television, things like sobe opera, telecommersial, entertainment programs are obviously Junk but many of us seem to enjoy feeding on it every day. Besides that, people like students tend to spend too much time on television and forget that they have other responsibility. They will not e a good student when televlslon time has occupied most of their time. Consequently, they will have home works not done, revisions forgotten, project incomplete and soon their great will decline. As a conclusion, watching television maybe a good way to relax our mind but it is never a good thing to overdo the habit. If we spend too much time on television, we will only end up missing out on other good things In life one day. Therefore it is time to switch off the television and start doing something else Instead. Ways of spending leisure time usefully Nowadays. people are getting busier and busier every day. We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Watching television is a waste of time specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We can hardly find time to relax and unwind but when we do, there are plenty of ways to spend our leisure usefully. First of all, doing exercise is one of the beneficial things we can do when we are free. When we exercise, we can maintain our health and strength. Therefore, we will not come sick and tired easily. Besides that, we can use our leisure time to read. Reading Is a good habit because we can Increase knowledge and Improve our language. We became more confident from reading. In addltlon to this, we can try gardening during our free time. Gardening can calm our nerves and beautify our iving surrounding. Therefore, our home can look more beautiful and natural which will further enhance our sense of pleasure. Finally, doing house chores is also one of the beneficial ways to spend our leisure time. We get to understand the hard work and effort needed to maintain appreciate our parents who have been working hard maintaining our home to the tip top condition. As a conclusion, time Is precious, let alone leisure time which are hard to get for some people. Therefore, we must use our time wisely and beneficial so we will not waste our life away. Do you agree watching television is waste of time? Most people agree that television Is one of the most Important Inventions of the past century. Oplnlons vary as to Its value, but no one can deny the great effect that television. I think watching television can be beneficial if we do not abuse using it. Firstly, television is one of the greatest educational tools of all time. Documentary programmes about foreign countries and their inhabitants, instructional programmes on science, medicine, engineering, natural history and many others are all brought to the homes of ordinary people, who without television would have nown very little or nothing about these things. In connection to that, special School Television has been introduced in many parts of the world including Malaysia where Astro broadcast an educational channel specially designed for our schools in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. Teachers can make full use of the channel as a teaching aid since many of the programmes are prepared according to the syllabus taught in schools. In these programmes, instructional tools such as pictures, films, and diagrams are used to greatly add to the knowledge of the pupils. What is the entertainment value of watching television? At best, TV is good form of entertainment which either stimulates or creates an interest in the arts. We can see top line artists cheaply and from comfort of our homes. A concert by Justin Bieber, a movie directed by Steven Spielberg, a tour of Europe visiting all the top draws and an hour with the wild animals from Africa. All these would be beyond the resources of most of us. In the past, movie-going was limited to the rich. Nowadays there are many good movies that can be seen on television with first class actors and actresses. Consequently, access to entertainment becomes more affordable with television. Watching televisions is one of the most popular hobbies for students nowadays. But some peoples said that television is not important modern inventions for students. But most students have the opinion that the television is important and needed. By watching television, it can provide a good source of information. Examples like National Geographic and Animal Planet TVs show. It tells us about world and animals around us, some students cannot understand if there is Just only learn about theory. This channel provides some 3D show like how an animal grows so students can understand it easily. Next, students can watch lives events or news on television. In that time, they could spend more time with family by watching the television together. After that, students could watch interesting programs on TV like dramas, comedy and many more with their family. Means students were not only could explore what is going on around them but they can gain more interested to be with their family from their friends. By watching news or dramas in TV, they could get moral value because every act by ctor in the film, they could be more understanding on why and how to be a good person. Generally, students could fill their time more wisely. Because some students nowadays, they cannot spend their times correctly examples like smoking, loafing gaining frequently nowadays and no wonders, they are lack of moral values and cannot respect anybody that are older than them anymore including their parents. In a nutshell, watching television is not a disaster thing or hobby for students but it was very important for them to gaining more knowledge and new information

What You Should Know About Unequal Treaties

What You Should Know About Unequal Treaties During the 19th and early 20th centuries, stronger powers imposed humiliating, one-sided treaties on weaker nations in East Asia. The treaties imposed harsh conditions on the target nations, sometimes seizing territory, allowing citizens of the stronger nation special rights within the weaker nation, and infringing on the targets sovereignty. These documents are known as unequal treaties, and they played a key role in creating nationalism in Japan, China, and also Korea.   Unequal Treaties in Modern Asian History The first of the unequal treaties was imposed on Qing China by the British Empire in 1842 after the First Opium War. This document, the Treaty of Nanjing, forced China to allow foreigner traders to use five treaty ports, to accept foreign Christian missionaries on its soil, and to allow missionaries, traders, and other British citizens the right of extraterritoriality. This meant that Britons who committed crimes in China would be tried by consular officials from their own nation, rather than facing Chinese courts. In addition, China had to cede the island of Hong Kong to Britain for 99 years. In 1854, an American battle fleet commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry opened Japan to American shipping by threat of force. The U.S. imposed an agreement called the Convention of Kanagawa on the Tokugawa government. Japan agreed to open two ports to American ships in need of supplies, guaranteed rescue and safe passage for American sailors shipwrecked on its shores, and allowed a permanent U.S. consulate to be set up in Shimoda. In return, the U.S. agreed not to bombard Edo (Tokyo). The Harris Treaty of 1858 between the US and Japan further expanded U.S. rights within Japanese territory, and was even more clearly unequal than the Convention of Kanagawa. This second treaty opened five additional ports to US trading vessels, allowed U.S. citizens to live and to purchase property in any of the treaty ports, granted Americans extraterritorial rights in Japan, set very favorable import and export duties for U.S. trade, and allowed Americans to build Christian churches and worship freely in the treaty ports. Observers in Japan and abroad saw this document as a portent of the colonization of Japan; in reaction, the Japanese overthrew the weak Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1868 Meiji Restoration. In 1860, China lost the Second Opium War to Britain and France, and was forced to ratify the Treaty of Tianjin. This treaty was quickly followed by similar unequal agreements with the US and Russia. The Tianjin provisions included the opening of a number of new treaty ports to all of the foreign powers, the opening of the Yangtze River and Chinese interior to foreign traders and missionaries, allowing foreigners to live and establish legations in the Qing capital at Beijing, and granted them all extremely favorable trade rights.   Meanwhile, Japan was modernizing its political system and its military, revolutionizing the country in just a few short years.  It imposed the first unequal treaty of its own on Korea in 1876.  In the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, Japan unilaterally ended Koreas tributary relationship with Qing China, opened three Korean ports to Japanese trade, and allowed Japanese citizens extraterritorial rights in Korea. This was the first step toward Japans outright annexation of Korea in 1910. In 1895, Japan prevailed in the First Sino-Japanese War. This victory convinced the western powers that they would not be able to enforce their unequal treaties with the rising Asian power any longer. When Japan seized Korea in 1910, it also nullified the unequal treaties between the Joseon government and various western powers. The majority of Chinas unequal treaties lasted until the Second Sino-Japanese War, which began in 1937; the western powers abrogated most of the agreements by the end of World War II. Great Britain, however, retained Hong Kong until 1997. The British handover of the island to mainland China marked the final end of the unequal treaty system in East Asia.

Antebellum Reform Movements

During the years of 1825-1850, the United States went through many changes that impacted the United States’ economy, government, and social life style of many people especially due to the start of the Industrial Revolution. As the United States found conflict with the West as they continue to expand more further to West, the United States also found conflict within their nation with so many reform movements that were occurring in their nation. These reform movements lead many leaders to democratic ideals in the United States. Although not every reform movement was efficient, some reform movements that occur in the United States were more convenient to many citizens and immigrants. Some of the reform movements that sought to expand democratic ideals. For example, the political reform movement specifically the women’s rights reform, which gave more legal and political rights for women, after the Seneca Falls Convention was very convenient to the gender female. Also, another reform movement that impacted the social lives of many was the reform for Abolition, which like many leaders like Frederick Douglass opposed slavery and wanted it to end. In the result, the slaves would find themselves with freedom. Lastly, other reform movements that influenced the social lives of many were Utopian Communities and Education. The Utopian Communities was to create places where it freed many from poverty and greed which many people equal from each other. Also, a reform movement took a step in the United States was Education by stating that public education was available for to everyone under the leadership of Horace Mann, which gave the right for women and children to attend to school for an education.

Philosophy-Contemporary Ethical Theory2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophy-Contemporary Ethical Theory2 - Essay Example In other words, ethical relativism implies that our moral values are not absolute as they keep on changing over time. This, to some extent, brings in a sort of moral chaos due to the disintegration of a uniform culture. Critics of ethical relativism often argue that ethics is subject to rational scrutiny and hence, moral values can be either correct or incorrect. But relativism is also very much attached to ethical values. Perhaps, what is best for us is to embrace both relativism and rationality while reasoning about the moral values of ethics. The theory of ethical relativism holds that our moral values have evolved and changed over time, and that we can reason about our moral values and others’ as well as universal moral principles. While explaining the conceptualization of ethical relativism, philosophers tend to differ on describing the terms of ‘ethics’ and ‘morals’. Ethics is more about questioning the Self â€Å"What should I do?†, in other words, it is about how to live a ‘good’ life, what is the ‘meaning’ of life, what is ‘good’ for us. Morals, as Toulminian philosophy supports, is somewhat concerned about social rules and norms, the societal authoritarian notes telling us what to do or not do. Moral values are the responsibilities imposed on us by the society. These are the duties every individual ‘ought’ to do as members of the society. Moral rules are based on public appraisals of behavior that direct people to engage in or refrain from certain kinds of self-regarding behavior or action. You may get praises or face criticism for such behavior according to the acceptance or denial of your social norms. In short, ethics is more of individual interests whereas morals is for everyone, as members of society. But these rules or moral values are not absolute prescriptions to be followed steadfastly. Instead, these are rules of thumb that are sensitive to particular situations (Lafollette 146).

Leading Strategy Change Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Leading Strategy Change - Case Study Example This again proved, most changes are not physical but in the mental state of men and women. 1968 - Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore found Intel. (Intel Corp, 2006). Intel has seen rapid progress from that date till today, nearly four decades later. Intel has been known for its innovation. As a chip maker, they started doing RAM chips. In 1969, they launched 3101 Bipolar RAM. Soon they followed it up with innumerable number of inventions starting from the 4 bit microprocessors, EPROM chips, Microcontrollers, 8 bit microprocessors, chips for supercomputers, DRAMs and many other innovative products. It is the largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world. It makes the number one chip that is on more than 85% of the Desktop computers. Intel Corp., has grown from a small start up firm that wanted to innovate to a large mega corporation that was to be emulated. The point of change that is to be looked at today is when Intel launched its all new Pentium Processor with much fanfare. We will take a close look at the sequence of events that headed for a change in the management doctrine in Intel. 1. Year 1993, Intel realized that their processors were predominantly employed, more than 90%, in making of the personal computers. They wanted to have the public know that it is their processor inside. Though most people talk of the Intel chip that goes into the processor and that the processor is the heart of the computer. Intel rolled out what they called as the Intel Inside logo. 1993 saw the launch of the campaign across the world in all countries. In China, they even had the cycle reflectors with Intel Inside logo for awareness. (Andrew S Grove, 1996). 2. Pentium was launched after much research in 1994. During the course of the testing exercise, it was found that Pentium had a floating point problem that occurred once every nine billion divisions. If this has to occur on a spreadsheet, it has to be used for nearly 27000 years. With this in mind, Intel went on to release the processor into the market. 3. Pentium evoked good response from the market. IBM adopted Pentium and so did others. But one response from a professor who did math calculations said that he found that there was a calculation error when multiple divisions were done. This escalated and the problem on the Pentium was blown into the media glare. 4. November, 1994 - media was fully on the Pentium FPU (Function Point Unit) calculation error. Every magazine, techie or otherwise, reported the event. CNN covered the whole episode. The net result was that the people suddenly and over night declined to accept the chips. By December, 1994, IBM stopped shipping PCs with Pentium Chips. 5. In order to restore confidence with the people, Intel corrected the chip and replaced every one of the bad chips already sold to all those who asked for a replacement. This meant replacing millions of chips costing over $475 million. Managing the Change - Loss and Later The change that happened in Intel needs to be closely studied. Intel CEO, Mr Andrew S Grove, calls the change that shook Intel out of its perceived safety as Strategic Inflection Point. This changes the course of a company either takes it to the next level

Cultural Awareness in Counselling Practices Essay Example for Free

Cultural Awareness in Counselling Practices Essay I have chosen to focus this assignment on the Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures. I hope to be working in an area which will have these two cultures as the dominant groups. The reason I have focussed on Vietnamese refugees instead of the culture of Vietnam as a whole is that the facility I hope to work in has refugees as its main client group. I will give an overview of my research into how best to work in a counselling relationship with people from Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures, ensuring that I am as culturally sensitive and aware as possible. Aboriginal culture and counselling: Most research indicates that cultural barriers are the major reason why Aboriginal people are discouraged or dissuaded from using the mental health service. As practitioners, counsellors have often failed to identify, acknowledge and recognise the central role of Indigenous culture. Historically, there has been a long period of mistrust among the Aboriginal people and white Australians. Federal governments for much of the twentieth century developed paternalistic policies and practices that regarded the removal of children from Aboriginal families as essential for their welfare. Continuing statutory responsibilities for the protection of children have made many Aboriginal women fear approaching the Department of Family and Community Services for assistance, especially in domestic violence and child abuse issues. It is a fact that Aboriginal people have and continue to experience being discriminated against by white Australians. A large socio-economic gap exists between white Australians and Aboriginal people. Despite there having been recorded experiences of both Aboriginal counsellors and non-Aboriginal counsellors attempting to keep Aboriginal clients engaged in the mental health service, it is evident that some Aboriginal clients may only turn up for one or two sessions but drop out of the system. The possible factors behind their lack of motivation to keep engaging in counselling service may lie in the means of assistance they are looking for. The problems of engaging Aboriginal clients in mental health services exist mainly because mainstream services have not provided relevant responses to their crisis situation. Aboriginal clients would first seek practical assistance such as refugee accommodation and food, and they would also seek assistance from their families, extended families or their own communities. Aboriginal people have retained strong kinship ties and extended family commitments. As in traditional times, Aboriginal people feel a great obligation to their kinship ties. The extended family will always be first in helping if there is a crisis or even a slight problem. Only when they cannot get enough or suitable help from their extended family or their own community, will they turn to outside help or support. There are particular issues to be aware of when working in a counselling role with Aboriginal clients. For example, it is not suitable to refer to a dead person by name and Aboriginal people view hallucination or delusion as spiritual experience not necessarily as symptoms of mental illness. Eye contact is considered offensive to Aboriginal people. Making eye contact (particularly with some one of the opposite sex) is shaming. Gender rules within Aboriginal cultures are important and must be respected whenever possible regarding intervention. Ideally, women staff should work with women and male staff should work with men. Women may feel embarrassed talking to male staff and men may feel shame if helped by female staff. In building a trust with Aboriginal people, most Aboriginal people would prefer to work with an Aboriginal worker regarding their problems. However situations may arise where clients may know or be related to an Aboriginal worker. They may feel shame or be restricted through kinship rules in discussing personal problems with them. Fear that the worker will breach confidentiality with the local community may be another concern. Where possible, clients should be given the choice of both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal workers. Aboriginal clients will usually take the initiative in seeking assistance when a crisis emerges, such as domestic violence or services being disconnected, or having no money to buy food and other essentials for their children. Aboriginal people would first consider practical forms of assistance, such crisis care, financial assistance, medical services, accommodation, food when a domestic problem arises. This sort of assistance is what they really need and want, not just â€Å"talk therapy†. Before they can sort out their basic living problems, they may not have the capacity or attention to deal with other psychological issues. Once Aboriginal clients have settled down and can take a calmer approach to their predicament, it still does not guarantee they will stay with the mental health service. It is not uncommon that once they have solved a problem, they will feel it not necessary to remain a part of the service but may come back a few months later for help when another issue arises. If mental health service workers, for example, have patiently developed a good relationship or rapport with them, counsellors can take advantage of this by reminding their clients of the good they can do when relationships or domestic situations are at risk. The ability of counsellors to invite clients to talk about their problems may make it possible to explore other problems. Aboriginal clients’ particular issues or crises may be linked to other problems, such as child abuse, alcoholism, mental health, unemployment and parenting problems. It is crucial for counsellors to build a trusting relationship with the Aboriginal community. A relationship that is simply based on â€Å"talk therapy† will not work for Aboriginal clients. Counsellors need to know where to get practical assistance for Aboriginal clients. Otherwise, Aboriginal clients may only turn to those services that they feel can really assist them. A counselling service that provides support and practical assistance can become a meaningful referral point within the Aboriginal community. Vietnamese refugees and counselling: My research found that there are three recommended points of entry for developing trust and rapport with Vietnamese refugees. These are: Self- presentation of the Counsellor; Approaching the problem and Working through an Issue. Self Presentation of the Counsellor: The style and presentation of the counsellor could be described as ‘being a friend’ to the traumatised client. ‘Being a friend’ does not at all mean shedding the professional counselling role with boundaries and ethics, but rather means that counsellors dealing with these clients should be caring, sharing and acting as a true friend would normally be. Communicating caring to Vietnamese clients is being friendly, warm, interested in family, attentive to concerns raised, being an empathic listener, trying to understand and respond to non-verbal communications, and being ready to assist with practical matters. Presenting ‘as a friend’ also means that counsellors may initially have to share, or disclose, a little more about themselves than usual. This is often necessary to put Vietnamese clients at ease and win their trust. Another dimension of being a ‘friendly’ counsellor is being a ‘friend in need’. Many counsellors of Indochinese refugee clients have found it vital to assume multiple helping roles and to be actively involved in providing them with practical assistance or concrete services that provide immediate results, before engaging them in dealing with past trauma or in making important self-disclosures. Approaching a problem: The success of establishing trust and rapport with Vietnamese clients is not only dependent upon the way that counsellors present themselves as described above, but also upon the way they approach a problem. Within Vietnamese culture there are distinct ways of dealing with problems. Prominent features of the Vietnamese style include indirect expression of feelings, reluctance to confront conflictual situations, preference for allowing time to work out seemingly insoluble problems, and reliance on personal inner strength in facing difficulties. Given the quite different ways of dealing with problems in Vietnamese culture, we would like to suggest that non-Vietnamese counsellors have to move slowly and gently and approach with the right timing. Following a respectful, slow pace suitable to the client is important, especially during the rapport building stage, to avoid jarring or offending the client. The timing of approaching the problem is important for maintaining the relationship and for resolving the problem. If the counsellor takes the initiative to bring up an issue, it is important to do this gently, keeping in mind the cultural norm of ‘saving face’ and the risk of confrontation. Working through an Issue: As issues begin to be worked through, there are three suggested ways of continuing to build rapport and trust with Vietnamese clients: working with somatisation, working from here and now and working through the family. A great number of Vietnamese refugees express their experience of emotional distress under the guise of physical symptoms such as headache, fatigue, insomnia. As somatisation is a culturally acceptable way of presenting mental problems, counsellors can work with these problems first, before moving onto deeper levels. Most Vietnamese refugees are concerned with day-to-day survival. Offering them practical assistance is seen as offering much needed help and assisting to set up a trusting relationship and also an external environment in which emotional issues can be more safely worked through. For Vietnamese, the family plays an important role, in a resettlement country as well as in their country of origin. It appears to be present and influential in many issues, which the Vietnamese client discusses in the session. The family can support or sabotage the relationship between the therapist and the patient. Therefore, in post-trauma counselling with Vietnamese clients, dealing with the family dimension is crucial for the building of trust and understanding and for the success of the intervention. As in all counselling interventions, it is essential to build trust between Vietnamese-born clients and their counsellors. Points of entry rather than barriers have been referred to in the three aspects of counselling refugees. Credibility and giving are seen as being crucial in this process. Counselling can be of great benefit to helping Vietnamese refugees on the road to recovery from trauma. Vietnamese refugees have a great need for company, because they have suffered multiple losses, including faith in the goodness of humanity. Through a counsellor establishing a trusting relationship with them, they could regain this faith, so as to enable them to live the life that they have made huge sacrifices for. Prior to undertaking this assignment I had felt that my cultural awareness of both the Aboriginal and Vietnamese communities was very high. I have travelled extensively in Vietnam and had the opportunity to teach English there. My research into trauma and Vietnamese refugee status in Australia has certainly changed a lot of my views. I could almost say that with my basic Vietnamese language and extensive travels I had been feeling almost complacency about dealing with Vietnamese clients. I have learned that there are many parallels between the Aboriginal and Vietnamese refugee cultures. Both are in trauma; both need to have their immediate needs met before effective counselling can take place. My research into Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs has certainly given the actual practice of counselling clients in trauma an effective framework to work within. As does Erikson’s Stages of Development. Traumatised clients will have interrupted stages of development. These will need to be addressed after the initial and immediate needs are met. I had also felt that I had a particularly good understanding of the Aboriginal culture, having worked in Indigenous education. My research for this assignment highlighted that there are many gaps to my understanding. I had not taken into account that many Aboriginal people are actually in severe crisis when they do seek help. Similar to the Vietnamese people in trauma, they would first try to find support within their kin, tribe or immediate family. When a breakdown of this occurs, outside help is sought but this is fraught with fear, shame and often misunderstanding. This has been a vital assignment for me to undertake and I will continue to seek current research and counselling developments in the areas of Aboriginal mental health and refugee trauma counselling. References Armstrong, T. (2002). Counselling Interventions and Indigenous mental health. Medicine Australia,http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/abhealth/abhealt1345.html. Blagg, H. (2000). Crisis Intervention in Aboriginal Family Violence, Summary report. Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia. Chambers, A. (1990). Responding to Domestic Violence: Spouse Abuse. Guidelines to Practice. Department for Community Services, Western Australia, September 1990. Nguyen Robin Bowles authors, published in the Journal of Australian Social Work, June 1998.

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Even though genetically modified organisms were created to grow more food there are negative aspects to these types of crops that are harmful to humans and animals. Therefore GMO’s should be studied more because there are positive impacts but harmful side effects. Genetically modified organisms is an organism whose genetic material has been changed using genetic engineering techniques. Organisms that have been genetically modified include microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast, insects, plants, fish, and mammals. GMO’s are the source of genetically modified foods, and are also widely used in scientific research and to produce goods other than food. Some negative impacts of GMO’s are the rise in autoimmune diseases, toxic effects, allergy risks, financial impacts, and cross pollination or contamination. The rise in autoimmune diseases, infertility, and chronic diseases may be associated with the introduction of genetically modified foods. The American academy of environmental medicine, consider the role of genetically modified foods in the nations health crisis, and advise their patients to avoid all genetically modified foods whenever possible. Genetically modified foods also share certain toxic effects on the liver, pancreas, kidneys, and reproductive system that may cause cancer in these organs. The widespread use of recombinant hormones-a genetically modified substance- in the agriculture industry is associated in IGF-1, a growth hormone that, in excess can lead to cancer. GMO foods have many allergy risks to people. Genetic modification often mixes or adds proteins that aren’t native to the original plant or animal, causing new allergic reactions in the body. Modifying plants genetically forms viruses, bacteria, and othe... ... indoors and the gardener controls the season. It is also a great way to spend wholesome, quality time with your family. In conclusion, there are many alternatives rather than using GMO. There may be many positive impacts of genetically modified foods but there are way more negative, harmful side effects and consequences when creating, eating, or using gmo foods. Gmo’s do not only affect the health of the human population but it also affects nature around us. Nature has it’s own natural cycle and genetically modified organisms diserupt the natural cycle. Killing one harmless species of insects may seem insignificant but it disrupts the food chain and animals or species that rely on them will die off and so will the rest up the food chain. Scientists should study more on the GMO’s so the negatives turn into positives so it doesn’t affect people as much or at all.

Bata Shoes Ltd Case study Essay

how has Bata interacted with foreign political systems Question 1 Following the First world War the Austro-Hungarian empire was fragmented into Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. During this period the Czechoslovakian state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy, with the constitution of 1920 giving the central government a high degree of control over local government. Czechoslovakia, in particular, saw rapid economic growth during the 1920 brought about by foreign investment and advances in manufacturing technology. The country proved particularly tempting for foreign investors such as the British, French, Belgian and Dutch due to low labour costs and readily available natural resources. Only in the shoe industry the foreign capital played no important role. Thanks to a monopoly position of Bata Works Czechoslovakia held the first place among the world’s leading shoe exporters in 1930’s after overtaking Great Britain and the USA. In 1938 interference by Hitler resulted in the old Slovak and Ruthenian demands for autonomy finally been granted. Czechoslovakia was deprived of one third of its territory containing some of its most important industrial centres and most fertile farm-land, leaving the country economically crippled. Following this Bata realised his business did not have good future prospects if it were to remain in Czechoslovakia. He sought to continue operations and preserve the business by moving to Canada as the country was viewed as a safer operating environment, both economically and politically. Bata move to Canada, along with one hundred of his staff and families, would see the company and its workers having to adapt to operations in a different political system to Czechoslovakia, the first of many adaptations they would have to make as the company expanded across the globe. The relocation in Canada was a big change for Bata, as the government there gives significant political power to the provinces which each have their own  trade barriers. This is a big contrast to Czechoslovakia, where the central government has great power over the provinces. However, Canada was seen as very politically and economically stable in comparison to Czechoslovakia despite the political differences mentioned above. With operations in over 60 countries across the world, Bata Limited runs as a decentralised operation in order to allow its managers to adjust operating procedures to local environments. However tight control of Bata’s core philosophies and strategies are in place, even though these may be different from that of the country the operation is in and the managers and workers employed there. This could potentially cause problems if pursued too rigorously. However, the text states that Bata does interact with foreign political systems with Thomas G. Bata travelling extensively to check on quality control and to ensure good relations with the governments of the countries in which Bata operates. This interaction is particularly important as I feel Bata offers a number of key benefits to many of the countries it chooses to invest in such as increased economic stability due to their labour intensive operations and policy of purchasing materials locally. The countries Bata operates in vary in the amount of political and economic freedom they offer to their citizens and companies operating there. The case states that Bata does not won 100 percent of the factories it has in some countries. It appears that Bata prefer to own 100 percent of their factories, but are willing to compromise if the political situation requires. This includes taking minority ownership, or in some cases providing licensing, consulting and technical assistance where it does not have an equity interest in a country. Bata seem to work this policy well as they have the flexibility to cope with these different operating environments. I believe this is a sensible policy as it allows Bata intrusion into markets that may become freer and more prosperous in the future. Bata serves its markets by producing in each market all it will sell there. It will buy raw materials locally and achieves economies of scale due to its processes being very labour intensive. One may suggest that the lack of  exports would make Bata a less attractive prospect for the host countries as little outside money is feeding into the economy. However, since operations are labour intensive there will be a great benefit from the job opportunities created. The main issue that causes problems to arise in some countries is if raw materials are imported into the countries in question rather than being brought locally. In such cases the case states that Bata â€Å"must adjust to local laws and requirements for operation†. However, by normally buying raw materials within the countries Bata operates in it appears to work well with the governments concerned. The main driving force behind Bata choosing not to export goods is the security that operating domestically brings, such as the avoidance of problems associated with exporting like if an importing country were to restrict trade. Bata obviously feels that stability is of key importance to its strategy, particularly in many of the less economically developed areas in which it operates. In these countries there are not the laws to protect workers rights and safeguard income in times of unemployment, so if a factory were to close the effect would be very hard hitting to the workers and would potentially ruin Bata’s political relations permanently. Bata operates in countries with varying degrees of freedom. Tom Bata Snr. prefers to operate in democratic countries as these offer the chance to discuss issues, whereas totalitarian regimes do not. However, Bata have still operated under some Totalitarian regimes such as South Africa, Chile and Uganda. In Uganda Bata has had its operations nationalised and de-nationalised twice while operating under a violent and repressive regime that saw the expulsion of many skilled foreigners. Bata took the view that people would still need jobs and shoes whatever political system they were living under, a similar view that has been expressed recently by many people talking about Iraq. Therefore operations would continue. Bata benefited as the way it operated fitted in with the Ugandan governments policy of becoming more self sufficient, rather than relying on imports. This is because Bata obtained its raw materials from with the country and offered the stability of selling  in their home market. Bata also helped the government with a second policy that aimed to promote links between agriculture and industry, with the raw materials coming from rural areas. The continued presence of Bata in Uganda, despite the expulsion of many foreign workers, reinforces its faith in local workforce, which in turn helped build trust. By fitting in with these policies Bata was able to operate in Uganda while many other companies were forced to leave, and benefit from a 98% share of the shoe market. Bata followed a similar model in Chile where Pinochet ruled the country for a period of time while the company operated there. Again Bata saw no need to leave to country as it viewed its investment there to be long term, in which time various political systems would come and go, but people would always need jobs and shoes. Many of the benefits offered by Bata to Uganda were also of benefit to the Chilean government and people. The regimes in both Uganda and Penochet Chile both suffered from poor human rights records. Bata was therefore put under some pressure to withdraw from these countries by various parties including governments and international organisations. However, Bata was always able to argue that it had been in the countries far longer than the regimes in place and had seen many come and go. Its simple reason for being there was the fact that people needed shoes, and it was in a good position of providing this basic need. South Africa caused far greater problems for Bata. Here the same type of extreme regime was seen as in countries such Uganda and Chile. The difference for Bata was that South Africa attracted far more public attention across the globe. The Canadian government took a very negative view of Canadian countries having interests in South Africa. Maybe more importantly public opinion and knowledge about the regime in South Africa were to have a big effect on the company. Bata possibly realised that if it continued to operate in South Africa it would risk alienating itself from its consumers in countries such as Canada and the US and set itself up for ridicule by the large number of international organisations opposed to apartheid. In this situation it was important for Bata to interact with the various political systems involved to withdraw operations from South Africa while causing minimum disruption. It sold its holding in South Africa in 1986. It did not identify the buyer or the sales price, and it denied that apartheid was the reason for its pulling out, citing that all factors had been taken into account with respect to its investment. Bata ensured that the Bata name and trademark could not be used by the buyer and that the jobs of the workers in its plants would be preserved. Why they now operate in Czech Rep, but not Slovakia. Question 2 Czechoslovakia has being subject to turbulent time in the period following World War II. With the advent of communist rule countries were often formed from different ethnic groups held together by totalitarian rule, as was the case here. The break-up of the communist bloc in 1989 resulted in the disintegration of countries such as Czechoslovakia, that would be split into two independent nations; The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The fact that both of these countries are now free from communist rule does not necessarily mean that they are free. Freedom House is an organisation that monitors the political rights and civil liberties of countries around the world and rank them to the degree that freedom exists. Below is a summary of the assessment they give to the Czech republic and Slovakia. Since 1972, Freedom House has published an annual assessment of state state of freedom by assigning each country and territory the status of â€Å"Free,† â€Å"Partly Free,† or â€Å"Not Free† by averaging their political rights and civil liberties ratings. Countries whose combined averages for political rights and for civil liberties fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are designated â€Å"free†; between 3.0 and 5.5. artly free? and between 5.5 and 7.0 ot free.? As we can see from the chart above, both countries are now considered politically free. However, economically Slovakia still lags behind the Czech Republic. It has being politically free for less time and lacks consistency in the freedom scores it achieves, suggesting that the political system may be subject to some instability. Bata express concern relating to Slovakia not being economically free in the case. As The Czech Republic is clearly further along in its progress to economic freedom than is Slovakia, Bata is likely to face considerably less government intervention in its business. Private property ownership and protection, property rights, and economic competition are likely to be more common in the Czech Republic making the operating environment more stable. In Slovakia, Bata is likely to face greater political risks. There is likely to be more political instability in Slovakia, usually an indicator that there is also a lack of economic freedom. It also appears from the case that Slovakia may not have a very positive attitude toward foreign investment, despite Bata roots in the region. Bata would benefit from investment in both the Czech republic and Slovakia. From a nostalgic point of view, Bata will be able to return to the home country. Bata will also gain access to large facilities and a huge market in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Czech Republic and Slovakia would also benefit from Bata’s investment themselves. They would gain access to Bata global design, production, and marketing expertise. They will be able to design better, more fashionable, and more reasonably priced shoes. The Czech Republic and Slovakia might be able to get Bata to invest significant capital into the plant to get it up to world-class standards. Bata will create new jobs for Czech and Slovakian workers, especially as the processes are quite labour intensive. Bata also has a policy of buying raw materials locally, benefiting the host countries economy as a whole. There are some disadvantages of investment for both parties too. Bata may be forced to pay compensation for its own plants if the company chooses to invest in Slovakia. There is also a slightly higher risk of political instability and economic restrictions in the country. There are also disadvantages for the countries involved. Bata may actually have better production processes than are currently employed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Therefore they may actually require less workers than are currently employed in the factories so workers would be made unemployed. Bata do not export goods so do not bring as much foreign capital into the country as maybe would be expected by a company of their size. Bata reentered the Czech Republic and not Slovakia because the two countries have very different economic environments. The Czech Republic is moving more quickly than Slovakia toward a free market system. Slovakia are also in dispute with Bata regarding the ownership of the companies former factories in the country. The Slovak government appear disinterested in helping to solve the problem by implementing new laws to make it very difficult for companies in the same situation as Bata to regain their former property without either reaching agreement with the new owners or by taking expensive  legal action. When looking at this evidence it looks advantageous for Bata not to seek to reinvest in Slovakia at present. Explain the current situation and relate to probable causes mentioned above The political environment can have a dramatic impact on the operations of a firm. For example managers in most western European countries may be accustomed to a stable political system and a relatively homogenous population. This is often not true in other countries. A political system integrates the parts of a society into a viable, functioning unit. Sometimes that is a very difficult task. A country political system influences how business is conducted domestically and internationally. The basic political ideologies of a country are the body of ideas, theories and aims that constitute a socio-political program. The ultimate test of any political system in its ability to hold a society together despite pressures from different ideologies tending to split it apart. History, culture, language, religion, geography and political ideologies help define national borders. Forms of government range from Democracy to Totalitarianism. Democracies usually have economic freedom and laws that safeguard individual and corporate rights and are often preferred by investors. The more developed democracies tend to have the following characteristics. Freedom in the areas of political rights and civil liberties are particularly important in democracies. These are measured by the organisation Freedom House using a number of indicating factors, and the results compiled to rank countries according to their degree of freedom. In 1998, 88 of the worlds countries were â€Å"free† and 50 were â€Å"not free†. Free countries are high in both political rights and civil liberties, whereas those countries who deny their citizens basic political rights and civil liberties are not free. In addition 53 countries were partly free, with limited political rights and civil liberties, often in the context of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic strife or civil war. Despite the large proportion of countries claiming to operate democratic governments, many new democracies around the world are not yet stable with few political parties and corruption threatening the system’s survival. Examples include Indonesia and some countries from the former Soviet union. Businesses should be cautious when looking to invest in these areas. In contrast to democracies, totalitarian regimes offer far less political and economic freedom. Forms of totalitarianism include fascism (Mussolini Italy), authoritarianism (Chile under Pinochet), and communism. Communists believe in the equal distribution of wealth, which entails total government ownership and control of resources. Political systems have a great impact on management decisions. This includes political risk and government intervention in the economy. Political risk occurs when there is a possibility that the political climate in a foreign country will change in such a way that the operations of  international companies in that country will deteriorate. Types of political risk include government takeovers of property, operating restrictions, and agitation that damage the company performance. Such problems can be caused by changing opinions of political leadership, civil disorder, and changes in external relations (such as animosity between the home and host country governments. We can see many examples of the above in the Bata case. The companies operations were taken over in Czechoslovakia with the advent of communist rule. They are subject to operating restrictions in several countries where they are not allowed to have 100 percent ownership of their plants. Animosity between the home Canadian government and the South African host government during the Apartheid era was a contributing factor that lead to Bata’s eventual withdrawal from South Africa. Civil disorder and strike action has affected the companies operations in several countries over the years. Government intervention in the economy occurs because some governments adopt an ndividualistic paradigm?and keep intervention in the economy at a minimum. Others adopt a ommunitarian paradigm?wherein the government plays a larger role in the economy. They thrive on a respected, centralised bureaucracy with a stable political party or coalition in power. If a U.S. firm moves from the United States (individualistic) to Germany, Japan, or South Korea (communitarian), it may have to develop new strategies for its relationships with government, suppliers, customers, and competitors. Bata show evidence of adapting to different environments as the case states that the company is â€Å"run as a decentralised operation in which its managers are free to adjust operating procedures to local environments†. This highlights how the company acknowledge the need to be flexible in order to fit in under varying restrictions depending where in the world they are. Stable democracies are usually seen as the safest operating environment for businesses. In the Bata case Tom Bata Snr states that he prefers a democratic system â€Å"a democracy offers the potential to discuss and change proceedings, whereas under totalitarianism it is sometimes wisest to remain silent†. However, one must remember that not all democracies operate in the same way. For example the degree to which citizens are involved in the  political process and the degree of centralised control. In the case Bata relocate from Czechoslovakia to Canada. Here the provinces have significant political power at expense of the federal government. Many provinces have their own trade barriers. Companies often have difficulty determining how to operate in decentralised democratic systems because they face many different laws and regulations. For example different tax laws. For this reason one assumes that Bata carefully chose exactly which state it would relocate to when it moved to Canada. Bibliography ?Kurian, George Thomas 1992. Encyclopedia of the Third World, fourth edition, volume III, Facts on File: New York, N.Y., pp. 2009-2011. ?Source: Byrnes, Rita M. (ed.) 1992. Uganda A Country Study, Library of Congress: Washington D.C. p. 123 ?The history of Slovakia (1929 – 1938) From Wall Street Crash to Munich http://www.adc.sk/english/slovakia/index.htm ?Skilling H. G. ed.: Czechoslovakia 1918-88. MacMillan Academic and Professional LTD., 1991. ?J.D. Daniels and L.H. Radebaugh, International Business, Environment and Operations, 9th Edition – 2001, Prentice Hall. Ch 3 ?D. Holt and K. Wiggington, International Business, Second Edition ?2002, Harcourt College Publishers, Ch 3 ?Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org/ ?R. Griffin and M. Pustay, International Business, A managerial perspective, Third Edition ?2002, Prentice Hall

Charting a New Course for Schools Essay

Marc Tucker’s article, â€Å"Charting a New Course for Schools,† highlights the most urgent problems that the American education system currently faces. He mentions the need to reform the education system in order to compete in today’s global economy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tucker pointed out the deficiencies of the educational system in the country today. Furthermore, he stressed on the need to implement changes to the system. The author focused on information that evidently shows why there is an urgent need to overhaul the educational system.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to Tucker, the report of New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, â€Å"Tough Choices or Tough Times, provides an overview of the current status of the American labor force. It shows how the American workers are lagging behind workers from developing countries in terms of skills and abilities. Also, Tucker points out that workers from developing countries possess the same skills and knowledge as American workers and yet are paid lower wages. This poses a problem for American workers since it is a given that any business man would choose to lower costs for the same quality. American workers are losing their edge in the labor market due to the antiquated education system of the country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The dilemma for American workers is this, they must either give up their current standard of living or they must improve themselves in terms of skills, talents, and abilities. The latter, according to Tucker, is the reason why a revamp of the country’s education system has become a necessity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Tucker points out two criteria that the United States must meet in order for its workers to continue commanding their high wages and maintain their standard of living. The author says that first, American workers must match the best academic performance in the world. At the same time, Tucker said, the country must offer workers that are the most creative and innovative.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The article also highlighted the characteristics of a premium worker or the worker that deserves to be paid premium wages. According to the author American workers should become premium workers in order to receive the current wages that they are receiving. He described a premium worker as someone who has a high level of preparation in the general areas of reading, speaking, mathematics, history, literature, fine arts, and science. Furthermore, a premium worker should be comfortable with new ideas and abstractions. He must also be creative and possess the imagination to come up with meaningful and useful products for the company. Premium workers must also possess the ability to solve problems by using their knowledge from various fields. Lastly, Tucker described a premium worker as someone who is a team player and can easily adapt to the various changes around him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Premium workers are products of a good and up-to-date educational system. This is the current problem of the education in the country as the current system is no longer adept with the conditions of today. To tackle this problem, Tucker suggested seven steps that can be taken to reform the American educational system. First, Tucker suggested charting a new course for student progression through the system. This requires a total reorganization of the system and opening of new educational opportunities as the students progress. Secondly, the author pointed out the need to reinvest resources where they are most needed and where they will be most efficiently used. This means that available resources should be allocated to areas of the system which can produce the greatest amount of rewards for the students. Another step is to initiate a universal preschool educational system. Tucker viewed preschool education as the foundation of school-based learning. If students are to become highly-skilled workers, they must have a good education foundation and preschool education is the integral aspect of such foundation. For teacher recruitment, Tucker suggested that schools recruit those coming from the top third of the college class. This will ensure highly-educated and competent teachers. Moreover, Tucker suggested the adoption of high-performance management modes to improve schools and districts. Also, he pointed out the need to provide strong support to disadvantaged students. Finally, he proposed the rebuilding of standards, assessment, and curriculum to reflect today’s needs and tomorrow’s requirements. In general, Marc Tucker’s article discusses the problems of the antiquated American educational system and its severe effects on the country’s labor force. I believe that there is indeed a pressing need to revamp the current educational system. Education in the country today no longer meets the needs of the economy. The labor force that the educational system produces is insufficient in terms of skills and abilities. The workers lack the necessary skills that warrant the wages they get. It is for this reason that American and international firms seem to turn to developing countries for their labor needs. If American workers are to remain deserving of the wages they receive, they must become more competent and highly-skilled. It is my opinion that the only way that the country will produce highly-skilled, creative, and innovative workers is to change the educational system. The system should focus more on the development of skills necessary for the various employment needs today. It is the right of every citizen to be properly and adequately educated in order to survive. The current system can no longer provide the educational needs of the people. The primary reason why people go to school is to prepare them for work. Since workers currently receive sub-standard education, they lack the skills and abilities that the labor market needs. Evidently, the only solution to this dilemma is, I believe, to revamp the educational system.

What Is At The Interest Of The Strong Or Ruler Example

What Is At The Interest Of The Strong Or Ruler Example What Is At The Interest Of The Strong Or Ruler – Coursework Example Socrates View of Justice Lecturer: Justice is closely linked with being fair to other people. Socrates was mostly concerned that injustices were carried out with impunity by the leadership. Specifically, he was concerned that individuals be judged according to the law and regulations that had been laid out. Justice was not meant to be carried out by the desires of the leaders. In the clip, he offers an apology when he was as a member of the Council that was addressing the trial of the body of ten generals who had failed to collect the survivors of the sea battle. He opposed the rest of the committee’s decision of acting against the law. He was not afraid to face death or a prison sentence. Socrates views a government that acts in defiance of its set laws as an unjust government. He also identifies the actions of people who wish to break the laws as injustice. In addition, he argues that it is better to suffer from acts of injustice than to be the cause. He further states that suffering injustice can only cause physical injuries, but it does not hurt one’s character. Doing injustice to others is detrimental to one’s conscience and character (Plato, Grube, & Cooper,65)Socrates places emphasis on negative justice that is not carrying acts of injustice to others. He was not concerned with positive justice that can be defined as seeing that other people get what they rightfully deserve.He identified the need to adhere to set laws especially in times of political turbulence and emergencies. Further, he stressed the importance of avoiding tempting shortcuts to violate liberties and punish wrongdoers without observing their rights. He advised that the due process of law should be followed. ReferencesPlato, Grube, G. M. A., & Cooper, J. M. (2000). The trial and death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, death scene from Phaedo. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub.

Legalities related to sexual harassment policies for the workplace Research Paper

Legalities related to sexual harassment policies for the workplace - Research Paper Example Before filing a case against the offender, a victim must remember the place, date, and time of the sexual harassment besides any witness if possible. The harasser needs to be blatantly made clear by the victim to behave and mend ways. If there is no sign of amending ways, a warning needs to be made of the repercussions in legal terms through filing a case at EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commotion), which can help the victim. An employer cannot be held responsible if no such policy is in practice at the workplace to tame the bad conduct but once a complaint has been made, taking action against the offender becomes mandatory for the employer to save the employer’s skin (Bhatnagar, 2007). Employees at state and federal level are also protected under the sexual harassment law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under the federal law provides remedy for workplace harassment. This law is applicable to firms with fifteen or more employees. Where employee strength is less than fifteen the state anti-discrimination law comes to the aid of discriminated employees. Regarding single-gender harassment, there is provision to file a case against the employer whereas there is no unanimity over single-gender harassment in state laws (Larson, 2003). Basically, there are two simple types of workplace sexual harassment, Quid Pro Quo Harassment and Hostile Work Environment Harassment. In Quid Pro Quo type, the employee has to bear the gender based discrimination to remain in the job, avail routine benefit, salary hike or promotion. A hostile work environment affects the job performance of the employee by making the environment abusive. For inquiring into the workplace environment, we need to analyze the factors responsible for the conduct of the offender. It is crucial to confirm whether the offender’s behavior is verbally or physically wrong, how random the occurrence of the offence is, whether the behavior is just unfriendly or undoubtedly objectionable , what is the rank of the offender, whether the offence is committed taking along others by the offender in the league of perpetuators’ aiming at the victim singularly or including others as targets (Larson, 2003). Sexual harassment of verbal type can be judged on the overall happenings, depending on factors such as: The type, frequency, context, and specific aim of the remarks; Whether the comments were unfriendly and mean; Whether the alleged harasser pointed towards the victim while making a hostile comment; Whether the victim reacted by participated through return comments; and The level of kinship between the victim and the alleged harasser. To initiate action for sexual harassment, the plaintiff must prove that: 1. The plaintiff found the behavior to be hostile, abusive or offensive; and 2. Any person of balanced attitude in the same situation would consider the behavior hostile, abusive or offensive. It is to be noted that the plaintiff need not be necessarily a victim of the ordeal to file a claim against workplace sexual harassment. As stated above the federal cases can be filed with the EEOC, but it first requires case filing against the behavior of an administrative agency; state and local bodies also listen to such complaints under the state law. There is possibility that a state

Business structures and competitiveness of Canada Analysis using Essay

Business structures and competitiveness of Canada Analysis using Michael Porters Diamond Model of International Competitiveness - Essay Example Factor conditions 7 4.2 Demand conditions 8 4.3 Supplier industries in Canada 8 4.4 Business establishment, management and rivalry in the domestic market 9 5. Conclusions - Recommendations 10 6. References 12 7. Appendix 13 Executive Summary A series of criteria tends to be used for evaluating the performance of economies in the global market. Usually, the ability of countries to cover their debts and to respond to the needs of local population is considered as indication of economic strength. In practice, it has been proved that the competitiveness of countries refers to a variety of requirements; these requirements need to be met in order for a country to be characterized as highly competitive. The particular issue has been explored in the literature, due to its critical importance. The most common framework for evaluating the competitiveness of countries is the Diamond model of national competitiveness. This model promotes the view that national competitiveness can be related most ly to four elements (Figure 1, Appendix). The Porter’s Diamond model has been used in this paper in order to evaluate the competitiveness of Canada. Using the model for developing the above task a contradiction has been revealed: Canada seems to perform high in two of the model’s elements while its performance in the rest two elements is low (Figure 5, Appendix). This contradiction could be explained as follows: Canadian economy is quite strong and the development of business activity is highly promoted by the government. However, the measures taken are not adequate and gaps are unavoidable. Therefore, the competitiveness of the country seems to be high or low depending on the elements of the economy on which each part of the Diamond model is based. 1.0 Introduction The competitiveness of countries in the context of the international market is difficult to be measured, especially due to the instability in economies and the strong social conflicts worldwide. Porter has introduced a model that can be used as the basis for measuring and evaluating the national competitiveness; this is the Diamond model. The value of this model is high since no similar theoretical frameworks are available in the literature. At the same time, the effectiveness of the specific model has been already tested in practice leading to credible findings in regard to national competitiveness. A key advantage of Porter’s Diamond model is the following one: the model can be used for evaluating the competitiveness of countries with various cultural and social characteristics. Porter’s Diamond model has been used in this paper for measuring the national competitiveness of Canada, a country with a quite strong economy, at least as compared with other western countries. Porter’s Diamond model has verified the strength and the prospects of the Canadian economy; however, there are certain practices of the country’s government that should be alternated, a ne ed that has been revealed through Porter’s Diamond model. 2.0 National competitiveness – characteristics When referring to the competitiveness of a nation it is difficult to choose the criteria that would be most appropriate for taking a relevant decision (Porter 1990). Most commonly, national competitiveness is related to issues such as ‘exchange rates, interest rates and government deficits’ (Porter 1990, p.76), being related to macro-economy. The view that national competitiveness can be related mostly to the natural resources of a country has not been widely accepted (Porter 1990) as it could not respond to the following question: how countries such as Germany and Italy that