Blue Bag Essay Sample free essay sample

I. Introduction A. ) Name and reference of the Business The Group decides that this Business will name its venture as â€Å"Blue bag† . It catches the attending of the Consumer and it will easy to retrieve and remember the trade name and the merchandise itself. It is a Bag that is created and made for the consumers’ desires and wants. So in short it is more on customized bag ; nevertheless it is different from other customized bag because Blue Bag will depend on the stuffs that are to be used. It will be located at a commercial infinite or edifice located in close Robinsons Cybergate J. P laurel Bajada Davao City. Most enterprisers put up their Business in this country because it is near to school. Malls and Subdivision where most of people are pupils. adolescents and immature at bosom normally live or do some shopping. Another ground for the topographic point is that. We will write a custom essay sample on Blue Bag Essay Sample or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page since it is close concern constitutions there is a great opportunity that passerby will see the visibleness of the dress shop with its merchandise interior and acquire funny what is the merchandise is all about. B. ) Name and Address The Entrepreneur of this Venture and Their Addresss are the following Andrade. Richard B. # 127 Narra st. Phase 5 Hillside Subd Davao City Plasabas. Emanuelle Purok 2 Brgy. San Vicente. Panabo City Davao del Norte Earl Nicolle SidenoB. O. Obrero. Lacson St. Davao City Jan Harvy Jugar # 46-B Belen Rd. Brgy. Vicente Hizon Davao City Charles Eduard Xu # 1708 Tawi tawi St. West Insular Village. Lanang. Davao City C. ) Nature of the Business Blue Bag is a partnership type of Business venture it is compose of five proprietors. . The concern operates by bring forthing its ain merchandise which consists of stuffs like fabric. run uping equipments and supplies. and design stuffs for customization. The operation includes administering its good to its consumer door-to-door footing and besides direct merchandising from the shop having orders though individual assignment or electronic mail D. ) Statement of Financing demands To get down with the concern the spouses will necessitate P260. 000 worth of capital to cover up all disbursals. which means each of us will lend P52. 000 so that we can come up a sum of P260. 000 for the capital of the Business. The disbursals include the least of the infinite with 2 months sedimentation and 1 month progress. Other disbursals including the electricity. H2O. telephone and cyberspace measures. office furniture like tabular arraies. chairs and air conditioner and equipment like run uping machine and other run uping stuffs. E. ) Statement of confidentiality study To maintain the confidentiality of the concern. the confidential study or the secrets that are merely within the proprietors should be kept merely by the five proprietors and to state to others merely should be kept besides in the four corners of the concern office. Example of these are the name of the providers. the fabric that the concern used. the sum of the capital. the income of the concern and other of import affairs that are confidential are should be kept in private topographic point. Each spouse is required to subscribe a contract of confidentiality. to forestall them from oinking any secrets of the concern. The contract will besides province the effects that a spouse will confront if and when he violates this understanding. The in agreement spouse shall clearly understand all the statements in the contract. II. Executive Summary This concern venture of bring forthing and selling bag â€Å"Blue bag† non merely the name that catches the attending of the consumer but it focuses more on the characteristic of the bag and its existent intent which is with in the wants and the desire of the consumers. And besides the bag has its intent because it describes the consumer. The thought of the group is to bring forth a merchandise that is alone to the other bag that is now on the shops and we make that bag new to the local market and even in the countrywide market. This bag is non similar to other bag that most of the people uses. Even if the bag has its similar type of bag nevertheless it is different when it comes to plan because we are concentrating in the customized bag so that each client that will purchase has a alone design. Example of this is when the client decides that the design of the image of the bag is female knight he/she will bespeak to the individual who’s in charge or the staff for the design that he/she wants. The bag gives different characteristics because of its expedience and care-free feeling. Another large advantage of our merchandise is the usage flexibleness. This refers to the sorts of intents the bag can be used for. Peoples of today are really practical but are willing to pay the right monetary value for good quality bag. There are a batch of factors in which the bag can be rated at. the quality can be measured through lastingness. the animalism or design. the colour. map flexibleness. capacity for baggage. cost or monetary value. and popularity/reputation of the bag. As of now we are unable to pull strings the popularity and repute of the bag since we merely introduced this late to the populace. The cloth we used for the bag is satisfactorily lasting. the design is apparent and simple but allows the bag for multiple sorts of use other than school intents. this bag can besides house laptops and heavy books. it can besides be used for gym intents. people presents besides buy gym bags since the capacity besides allots the bag to house multiple baggage at the same clip is lasting plenty to transport the heavy baggage. III. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS As â€Å"Blue bag† will be made. it will perforate the bag industry. It will be a new and a bracing expression of merchandise in Davao because the merchandise it is non common for this type of merchandise to be sold in the emerging market in Davao. Each client will see different feel for every merchandise. Producing bags has been in the Filipino industry since the Pre-Spanish period. The bags so in the Philippines were woven made from abaca fibres and other wooden stuffs. During the Spanish epoch. fabric has been introduced in the industry. It is non until the American settlement that leather has been commenced as good. Since so. the bag industry in the Philippines has been affecting from the low quality to the high terminal stuffs. Blue bag is a fashionable. trendy and alone because of being an eco-friendly characteristic. It is something new that we can offer for our Davao market. This catapulting bag is different from other bags in which we can supply with affordability. We provide a remarkable design to each client to visually distinguish from other consumers with the same lasting and dependable stuffs. A. ) Future Outlook and Trends as the universe today is progressively given consciousness of the developing dangers of the planetary heating. The consequence would be that the universe economic system is easy seting action through undertakings. runs and use of eco-friendly stuffs. We see that eco-friendly merchandises will lift and germinate. Partnered with our development of our alone designs we foresee we could go on in the viing bag market. We could besides spread out. as the first manufacturers of eco-friendly catapulting bag. in the Davao market and making more types of bag that will besides be in line of bring forthing sling bags. B. ) Analysis of Rivals The competition together with the rivals plays a immense portion in impacting the external concern environment since enterprisers see them as a menace to their concern. Entrepreneurs should be cognizant of the competitor’s strengths and failings. With this. the enterpriser will be able to analyse and be prepared for the possible menaces the company will confront. Furthermore. in cognizing the competitors’ strengths and failings. the enterpriser will be able to explicate a good chance analysis. Bags are considered indispensable up to now for its functional capableness in which the industry continues to come on with different inventions. In a day-to-day usage. consumers now tend to seek merchandises that meet their demands both on its utility. lastingness to prolong in transporting multiple points and the design that can foreground the singularity of the bag. Blue bag venture is a individualized bag made of non-woven stuffs with an Ateneo de Davao inspired design that is low-cost in Davao. That is the ground why the enterprisers do non see a major rival in the industry except for the usual bags that has been already sold. The Blue bag endeavor will confront competition from other popular cheap bag trade names like Heart Strings. Cose and besides bags from section shops. bazars and Chinese deal shops. Since the venture has non yet opened mercantile establishments in the promenades. the endeavor will certainly be confronting a tough competition. in the distribution procedure since more people go to commercialized shops. However. the consumers will recognize that the Blue bag merchandises are of sensible monetary value and offer a really alone service and comfort. It is environment friendly. ready to hand and hassle-free but it has rare Blue Knight designs and will accommodate the consumers’ sorts of manners since the venture is about custom-making and personalising. particularly alumni from Ateneo de Davao and pupils and employees from the establishment. C. Market SegmentationThe venture will sort the concern into smaller groups based on features of the clients and purchasing state of affairs. Since the enterprisers are based and shacking in Davao City. the market will sell in the said tube. By the clip that the concern will successfully turn. the enterprisers may believe of ways to spread out the venture. The primary mark market of the venture is female pupils enrolled in private schools of Davao City. These ages range from 13-20 old ages old. Other types of bag bearers such as immature professionals both male and female are besides welcome to utilize the merchandise. The mark market of this venture would sooner be pupils of the Secondary Education and College who have involvements on tendencies and who bring or use bags on a day-to-day footing. Base from the study that the enterprisers conducted. most of the consumers like the thought of customized bags and the most sought-after from a bag are its lastingness. affordability. design and utility which Blue Bag possesses. ( See Apendix for study questionnaire ) In cardinal Davao City. there are 66 private schools and educational establishments who are offering Secondary instruction ( High school and college ) .

Summary of Unnatural Killers by John Grisham essays

Summary of Unnatural Killers by John Grisham essays In the article Unnatural Killers John talks about two horrific acts of violence. He draws a coalition between a murder in Hernando, Mississippi and one in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, both towns being connected by an interstate. On March 7-8, 1995 Bill Savage and Patsy Byers were both murdered. Although no one knew it at the time, a young man named Benjamin Darras, age eighteen, murdered Bill Savage. However Patsy Byers murder was caught on tape. The young woman was latter identified as Sarah Edmonson age nineteen. The two teens were involved in a relationship together. When they were caught Sarahs lawyers reached an immunity agreement [pg. 359] with the prosecuting attorneys. For here immunity she had to testify against Ben [pg. 359]. In her testimony she recalled the events of and leading up to March 7 and 8. One statement in particular was that they had watched the movie Natural Born Killers before they left on the sixth of March. The movie is about two young people that drive around the southwest part of the country killing people. The movie also portrays that they become famous for these killings and are last seen happily rambling down the highway [pg. 359]. Also in her testimony she speaks of how Ben spoke openly of killing people [pg. 360], and how he was quite anxious to kill someone [pg. 360]. She tells how he shot and killed Bill Savage and pressed her repeatedly to kill someone herself [pg. 360]. She told investigators that he said, the feeling of killing was powerful [pg. 360]. Sarah goes on to tell that she did not want to rob the store [pg. 361], she was made to do it and then made to kill Patsy Byers. John goes on to conclude on one thought, Can fault be shared [pg. 361]? He tells that the two teens had never been mixed up in violence. He blames the movie for making fun of murder an...

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Statement of objectives and Simple Written - Essay Example The career opportunities and qualified candidates are so enormous that organizations become highly selective in choosing competent aspirants to various positions. Having graduated with a degree in Management, I am aware that professional movement in this specialized field is easily maximized. I would like to explore the potentials of heading other departments – not only to be confined to Sciences of Management. The extensive responsibilities and functions assigned to managers are highly motivating and enticing that professionalizing this field is a viable move. Further, the PhD Program at Rutgers offers unique learning experiences which would ensure personal and professional development as well as accord one with theoretical concepts and applications which can immediately be utilized in the work setting. I am enthusiastic and optimistic in applying new concepts in my current organization, not only as a practitioner, but as a more competent and qualified manager. I am convinced that Rutgers University would be instrumental in opening wider opportunities through professional expertise and high quality standards of academic performance. I graduated with a master’s degree in Sciences of Management at Polytechnic Institute of New York University. I was credited with 3 Advanced Certificates in Management from the same university, to wit: Advanced Certificate in Information Management, Advanced Certificate in Telecommunication Management, and Advanced Certificate in Human Resource. Equipped with these academic achievements, I am prepared to undertake greater challenges in higher education. My ultimate goal is to be an instrument of change to the development and growth of the organization where I belong. Rutgers University is one of the most prestigious institutions which can accord a multi disciplinary approach to the program. I am optimistic in learning various principles of finance, entrepreneurship

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Acheulean hand axes - Essay Example that much research has been conducted to determine the antiquity, stratigraphic context and the associated middle Pleistocene stone tools of the Narmada man. Accordingly Mccowns discoveries can be useful to the paleoanthropologists of the 21st century. In the document one the findings is from central India in Narmada and Tapti valley. The researcher anticipated to study the prehistoric archaeological problems of the Pleistocene time. He studied the region around Narmada river and the tools found indicated the presence of man. He however discovered four main problems among other the use of infer climate model by pre- historian that seemed imperfect in India. He proceeds to japan where he has a conversation with a PhD archaeological candidate who had excavated Narmada (Kennedy and Langstroth 2013:2). They excavated yeldari dam and Purna River. In Narmada MSA materials are found in the river banks. The same materials are found between mandia and jabulpur. In Kamharabna, ESA tools were found appearing on several good and hand axes. The second document was composed of typed field notes by Mrs Shrkurkin who was among the team that had worked with McCown. The document contains several discoveries made at various points during the study. In a nutshell it is a summary of the discoveries that they had made during their survey, much of the tools discovered according to this document were MSA tools. The third document composed of a letter that McCown had written to his wife while surveying mula dam, a place where LSA tools were found. Including the elephant molar teeth (Kennedy and Langstroth 2013:7). In his discussion of the research done by McCown, the author notes that in this period only primary relative dating methods were used. However, in the 21st century more advanced dating method such as absolute dating method are used. The discovery of Acheulian tools in Narmada River or valley is an indication for the middle Pleistocene and later geological deposits in the

Organizational behavior Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words

Organizational behavior - Term Paper Example It has been argued that one of the consequences of this shift in responsibility is increased job insecurity, which resulted in a decline in feelings of organizational commitment (Knudsen, Aaron, Martin, & Roman, 2003). Job insecurity has also changed the psychological contract and influenced the employment relationship. Loughlin and Barling (2001) made the case that the notion of a 'job for life' has been replaced with a 'survival of the fittest' as downsizing has forced employees become more employable. As a result, younger workers who have seen their parents being laid off will be more demanding and less willing to make sacrifices for the sake of their jobs. Organizations may assume that certain rules of the old employee-organization relationship still apply, leading them to make missteps in communication, recognition, and reward. Likewise, individual employees may assume that their employer knows what motivates them, when in fact the employer may not know, or may be operating unde r out-dated assumptions. In short, psychological contracts and the employment relationship are changing. Review of Literature The Promise The psychological state of an individual can inherently influence his or her behavior as much as the physical state. Because we do not operate in a vacuum, it is important to understand that our behavior and attitudes are subject to alteration because of outside influences. When these external factors project behaviors that one may categorize as controversial, ones psychological dimensions can quickly become dislodged. Generally, our relationships lead us to believe that a promise is a promise. Our interactions with those we trust teach us to expect that these promises will be fulfilled. When the promises are maintained, the psychological state remains intact. On the other-hand, if deceitful behavior, broken promises, and misconceptions of truth are demonstrated, the individual may ultimately feel vulnerable, betrayed, and unhappy. Rousseau (1995) highlights two kinds of promises; warranties and communications of future intent. She further sub-categorizes these promises into four distinctive types. Idle promises are usually not taken literally by the receiver. Credible promises are defined as believable promises as perceived by the receiver. Unattended promises are those that unintentionally fall through and relied upon promises are those promises that the recipient places value upon and expects to happen. Although promises are subject to limitation, it is still necessary to understand the mechanism behind them. This makes it all the more important to advance research on the psychological aspects of the employee employer relationship. Organizational behavior researchers frequently study the relationship between individuals, groups, and the affect their behavior has on the organization. One of the most recent concepts included in the literature revolves around the psychological contract. It is important to examine this contra ct because the foundation of the contract is based on promises. The promises within the contract offer direction for the both the employee and the employer. The Evolution of the Psychological Contract The decline in unionization throughout the country has reduced the number of employees affected by formal, written contracts of employment (Rousseau, 1990). This in turn

What Is The Digital Divide?

What Is The Digital Divide? One of the worlds most serious problems is the ever increasing gap between the rich and the poor. A small percentage of the worlds population enjoys luxuries while global poverty seems to be increasing. A key aspect of this divide is the digital divide where a large difference in terms of access to information communication technology. Throughout developing nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America access to such technology is limited whereas in developed nations members enjoy the convenience provided by such technology and is more efficient and effective through usage of such technology and also takes advantage of the educational opportunities made available by ICT (Tiene, 2002). The concept of the digital divide can be explained from two perspectives: (1) the distance between countries who have access to electronic information and those that do not, (2) the difference in internet literacy between citizens of developing and developed nation (Brooks, Donovan, Rumble, 2005). (http://www.ebscohost.com/uploads/imported/thisTopic-dbTopic-873.pdf) The second scenario is often considered as a direct result of the former where the lack of infrastructure made available does not create an environment suitable to encourage a higher literacy rate of usage of the internet. The digital divide refers mainly to the division between the information rich and the information poor and is also used to divide the globe geographically similar to the NorthSouth dichotomy (Gudmonsdottir, 2005). The difference in the divide can be attributed to 5 factors, socioeconomic, geographical, educational, attitudinal and generational factors. Information Communication Technology (ICT) has pla yed a major role in the 21st century. However, usage of such technology remains poles apart when compared between developing and developed nations. The term digital divide is used to describe situations where there are gaps in the market in terms of access to the use of ICT devices (Singh, 2012). The measure of the digital divide is not limited to access of the internet and measures other gaps such as access to mobile technology and other forms of communicative technology. According to OECD (2001), the term digital divide refers to the gap between individuals, households, business and geographic areas at the different socio-economic levels with regard to their opportunities to access of ICTs and their use of the internet. It reflects the differences between and within countries. For the purpose of this paper, it will examine the digital divide using the concept of the haves (represented by developed countries) and have nots (developing nations) along with the key assumptions as to h ow the digital divide determines the future of class, education and economic capacity with long-term and social political consequences. The paper will further examine the efforts made by global agencies and the policies that they have developed to overcome this divide and examines the level of success of these policies. The digital divide exists between countries with different levels of progress and even within the country between urban and rural areas (ITU, 2002). It is a result of the disparities of society and is likened to the divides created by income, health and education. The primary reason for the disparity is poverty where when a countrys citizens have less money it is less likely that they would use ICT (Figure 3). Difference in access to ICT has created a difference in the measure of power in society with the digital divide reflecting how power is being distributed. The digital divide in reference to figures 1 and 2, can be seen that developed nations are among those with the highest internet penetration boasting penetration of over 60%. Developing nations represent the lower half in terms of internet penetration and do not even have a .25% penetration among the 10 countries with the lowest internet penetration. Internet usage among those countries is largely associated with the more dev eloped cities and usage of internet in rural areas is almost unheard of. ] Recent efforts by organizations have shown evidence that the digital divide is shrinking. Developing nations have been able to increase the number of internet users by 2% in 1991 to 23% in2001. However, advancements in technology has led to a new form of digital divide where shifts have been made from basic to advanced communciations. This is harder to measure as it measures the quality of ICT used. For example, international internet bandwidth is a good measure of users experiences as the greater the bandwidth the quicker the response time improving efficiency. Comparisons between developed and developing nations can be illustrated where the 400,000 citizens in Luxembourg have more international internet bandwidth compared to Africas 760 million citizens. The highspeed internet access made available in developed nations allows internet users to better quality access and allows them access to more advanced sites that allow video streaming rather than basic usage like checking emails. Impact of the Digital Divide The digital divide and its impact on developing nations economies is that of a spiral where they do not have the economy to support the infrastructure necessary to allow developing nations to utilize technology to level the competitive advantages with developed nations. Primary concerns among developing nations is that poor countries have more pressing concerns such as focusing on food, healthcare and basic needs of the people rather than focusing on technological advancement (http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm). As a result of this, developing nations lack the capabilities of establishing the infrastructure necessary to allow their nations to have wide enough coverage to be effective. This puts their country in a position where they schools are unable to teach IT skills necessary in more industrialized industries which would help move a country beyond an agricultural themed economy. Also, it puts students from these schools at a disadvant age as they are unable to take advantage of the vast amounts of information available on the web. In comparison, developed nations have the ability to recruit highly trained individuals who are equipped which enables them to produce more giving the country a higher economic growth. Also, countries that lack the IT infrastructure will be unable to carry out e-commerce or e-businesses putting themselves at a disadvantage in the global market. With e-commerce representing 12% of retail sales in the United States, it indicates the impact of technology in the market. It also helps improve overall growth of an economy by reducing costs of some processes such as the elimination of the brick and mortar stores, ease of advertising, reducing search costs and improving efficiency of doing business. Also, access to mobile technology has a significant impact on economies of developed and developing countries. In developing countries the impact is more pronounced as in Wavermans model a developin g country an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people helps boost the GDP growth by .6 percentage points. To illustrate this, in Bangladesh, farmers and fishermen use these mobile phones as a means of identifying the best prices they can get for their goods. Small businesses can use mobile phones as a means to shop around for products. Use of technology in this manner reduces transaction costs, broadens trade networks and helps reduce the need for transportation and broadens the trade network (http://www.economist.com/node/3742817?story_id=3742817). However, as developing nations do not have the infrastructure in place to allow broad usage of such technology, it reduces the production capability of the individuals in their country reducing their competitiveness on the global scale. One of the most important effects of the digital divide is the impact it has on educational efforts in developing nations. With the use of digital technology, it grants access for students to large amounts of information provoking thoughts in dynamic ways and encourages them to work more efficiently. Without access to ICT, developing nations face the possibility of being unable to keep up with their peers. The United Nations Development Program in its Human Development Report for 2001, noted that the technology divide is consistent with the trend of following the income divide across the globe. A lack of education in ICT puts citizens of a developing nation in a weaker position of benefitting from new technologies reinforcing the economic disparities between the rich and poor (Henry, 2012). The digital divide in the societal sense can be likened to events in the past, similar to the industrial revolution. Taking a look at the Meiji Restoration in Japan, it can be observed that with the industrialization it enabled international competitiveness and economic benefits which in turn led to Japan being able to compete on a global scale. Introducing industrialization has led Japan to become a globally recognized force in the world with great technological advancement in manufacturing and information technology. In comparison however, nations who have yet to adopt industrialization can see their GDP per capita and living standards at rate considerably lower compared to Japan. ICT adoption of nations in the developed world is considerably greater in comparison to developing nations as they have better access in terms of resources and have the existing infrastructure to support it. ICT adoption in terms of the digital divide can create a parallel collapse to an even greater degr ee in comparison with the industrial revolution. The ICT revolution creates barriers such as access to information, restructuring society and creating horizontal networks divided by access to information technology. Differences in the scale of technology adoption restructures society by altering class structure to create a new degree of equality in the potential it gives to access to common knowledge via technology such as the internet. Limited adoption of ICT by developing countries further exasperates the divide as it creates a new class system of access. It creates a division of the haves and have nots. The divide could lead to unemployment in more advanced industries which adopt technology as new skills are required and could lead on through generations if members of society are not trained. This could force members of developing nations to focus on primary industries such as agriculture and mining which would lead to such nations being left behind in terms of competitiveness in other industries. United Nations (2001) Human Development Report New Technologies and the Global Race for Knowledge Chapter 2, pp.57-75. Gudmunsdottir, C. (2005). Approaching the digital divide in South Africa. NETREED Conference. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.netreed.uio.no/conferences/conf2005/GretaGudmundsdottir.pdfudmundsdottir.pdf Venkat, K. (2002) Delving into the Digital Divide IEEE Spectrum, Volume 39, Issue 2, February, p.14. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.cleanmetrics.com/pages/IEEESpectrum-02-2002.pdf Henry, L. (2012). The Digital Divide, Economic Growth and Potential Poverty Reduction: The Case of the English Speaking Caribbean. University of West Indies, St Augustine. Retrieved 22nd September 2012. From http://www.caribank.org/uploads/publications-reports/research/conference-papers/development-strategy-forum/The%20Case%20of%20the%20English-speaking%20Caribbean.pdf Peà ±a-Là ³pez, I. (2003) Want bad news?: ITU Digital Access Index: Worlds First Global ICT Ranking In ICTlogy, #3, December 2003. Barcelona: ICTlogy. Retrieved 22nd September 2012 from http://ictlogy.net/review/?p=38 Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 [www.oecd.org/sti/telecom/outlook] Bridging the Digital Divide This section of the paper examines the causes of the digital divide and the efforts put forward by organizations towards bridging the gap. The relationship between ICT and lifelong learning and policies and objectives by governments towards improving the economic competitiveness and reducing the social exclusion are complex. The figure below illustrates the complexity and the road towards bridging the digital divide. Policies made by governments and organizations have to support both competitiveness and inclusion and also at the same time use digital technologies to support lifelong learning. By creating the center of the diagram larger, the digital divide can be overcome with the right policy objectives. The following will identify the objectives needed to be met in order to bridge the divide. http://www.oecd.org/site/schoolingfortomorrowknowledgebase/themes/ict/41232069.jpg Guide to Bridging the Digital Divide Sourced from Mcnair, 2000 An important objective is to secure access for all to ICT as one of the major causes of the digital divide is the difference between the technologically advanced and technologically poor nations (Mcnair, 2000). A good indicator of the level of the digital divide is the number of access lines and access paths per 100 inhabitants. As the graph below indicates the total communication paths in OECD countries has steadily increased over the years however, it is still not evenly distributed as the highest ratios of access paths are still being held by developed nations. The digital divide is even deeper for internet access with China, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel accounting for 52% of all internet hosts outside the OECD and Argentina, Brazil, Malaysia and South Africa representing a further 24%. This indicates that there is the distribution even among developing nations is skewed such that approximately 76% of internet hosts outside the OECD nations are in 9 countries (OECD, 200 1). A solution to this issue is to consider liberalizing the telecommunications market. The liberalization of telecommunications services helps improve the competition forcing existing firms to improve on their service quality; it will lead to price reductions, better service coverage and improve access to ICT (OECD, 2001). As the affordability of access to ICTs reduce, it encourages usage of ICTs (Pena-Lopez, 2003). In Europe for example, it can be observed that with liberalization, the average cost of telephone charges continue to decline. The average price for bundle services dropped by 32% after liberalization of the telecommunications industry in Europe in 1998. Similar circumstances occur with bandwidth prices in Europe where competition and a rapid drop in bandwidth prices occurred as can be observed in the figure below. The increased competition on a global scale has led to several key factors in addressing the digital divide (1) Computing costs have steadily decreased and c apacity is increasing in a variety of devices to prices where many users can afford. (2) Competition among technology firms has led to improvements in technology such as the new wireless protocols which are able to overcome technical and financial problems when expanding into rural communities in developing nations. (Smyth, 2006) (http://www.intel.com/it/pdf/wireless-technologies-and-e-learning-bridging-the-digital-divide.pdf) Source: OECD Communications Outlook 2011 Developing infrastructure necessary to facilitate the usage of ICT is also crucial in bridging the digital divide. The responsibilities of this however falls on, local governments, private institutions and also international organizations with the technological expertise in helping facilitate the construction of the infrastructure. Among the key projects which have been launched is the optical fibre network being deployed throughout South and East Africa. As part of a project by national and cellphone operators, national research and education networks are emerging in African countries as part of a consortia to link their major institutions by purchasing internet bandwidth. This project SANREN, is being funded by the Meraka institute as well as the tertiary education network to create a broadband system for its higher education and research institutes. The project aims to be the Geant of Africa and is expected to be at least 1,000 times faster than the current infrastructure made ava ilable. The Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) is another initiative considered to be a milestone in the region. The objective of which is to connect the countries of Eastern Africa with the rest of the world via an optical cabling system. This allows countries in the region to no longer rely on expensive satellite systems as a means for connectivity. This project is being funded by the Developmental Bank of Southern Africa and the World Bank. (http://www.saao.ac.za/fileadmin/files/Publications/Quest_Digital_Divide.pdf) Having the infrastructure in place helps increase access paths reducing the barriers to access to ICTs. Another key would be using education as a means to bridge the digital divide. Disparities in the level of education explain 9.9-14.4% in computer penetration gaps with the average number of years of school in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa being 3.7 years and 8.3 years in Europe and Central Asia. In comparison, the average years of schooling in the United States is 12.1 years. Having computers requires a certain degree of education to be used therefore countries with low levels of human capital have limited demand for computers(http://cgirs.ucsc.edu/publications/wp/wp2004-3.pdf) (Caselli and Coleman (2001) and Pohjola (2003)). It is imperative therefore that for organizations to create a learning economy within developing nations where individuals, firms and countries will be able to create wealth in proportion to their capacity to learn and share. Creating a learning economy places emphasis on life-long learning to foster dissemination, circles of discovery and an emergence of sha red understandings. The World Bank has implemented several measures to help develop developing nations towards a knowledge economy http://www.worldbank.org/education/digitaldivide/DD_EXT.pdf. The Human Development Network (HDN) provides knowledge management, training resources and technical assistance for developing countries in areas such as education and the use of technology for educational purposes. It has also developed a program that provides training for teaching staff and students in developing countries known as the Developmental program. Another initiative by the World Bank is setting up Global Distance Learning Centers which aim to provide tailored learning programs and state of the art facilities for internet-based learning (http://gdln.org/about). The Bank has also developed financing instruments for education based programs. The number of education technology activities increased by 20 and 90% in 1997 and 1999. 1/3 of this financing went towards developing nations in L atin America and the Caribbean. Building on the initiatives taken, the World Bank has set up a specific task force with the aim of bridging the digital divide through education. The objective of the task force is to assist developing countries in developing strategies with regards to technology in education. The task force is also assigned to promote projects that help address key issues in terms of education such as quality and increased access to ICT. This task force will work hand in hand with another division of the World Bank, the Global Distance Education Network which has similar goals in reducing the digital divide. By providing its expertise in these areas and helping set up a proper mapping guide as to how to improve education, it creates better environments to educate citizens of developing nations. The higher the level of education, the higher the demand for computers resulting in better usage of ICTs in these developing nations (Fairlie, 2003). These initiatives also help educate citizens of developing nations and trains up a workforce able to develop, maintain and provide value-added products and services required by the knowledge economy which will in turn help improve the countries competitive capabilities (Hudson, 2000)_(http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/BRYUH/12.hudson.pdf). Examining the digital divide, it can be observed that the digital divide is getting smaller, however it is still not equal across all borders. Certain developing nations still face more pressing issues such as fulfilling basic needs of their people particularly in countries with the lowest digital access index such as Niger, Mali and Chad. Political turmoil in these countries make it difficult for international organizations such as the World Bank to assist in narrowing the digital divide. Progress can definitely be seen as some key points are examined. In 2010 there were approximately 2 billion internet users worldwide having doubled from 1 billion in 2005 with China leading the charge at 418.9 million. Information based development in China has exceeded the worlds average level as a result of its initiatives in bridging the divide. Lack of access to ICT leads to a lack of education, wealth and income, in turn leading to lack of access to ICT infrastructure and services and so continues the digital divide. Several socio-economic groups, especially within the developed world, have benefited enormously from the innovative creations of the ICT industry, not least in the arenas of learning and collaboration. By sharing this experience and expanding the key uses of ICT in education to other groups within our own society and in the developing world we can kick-start the beginning of the end for the digital divide. To date, communications equipment has been expensive and requires good infrastructure to be in place. Rural communities and developing countries often do not have either the necessary infrastructure or the available funding to put such infrastructure in place. With the advent of the new wireless technologies, there is an unprecedented opportunity to remedy this situation at a fraction of the cost, and in a f raction of the time, that would previously have been required. The digital divide must then be fought on at least two battlefields: economy and education. Regarding the possibility to allow more people to be able to afford a computer or a mobile phone, a good accomplishment is represented by the fact that the cost of digital technologies lowers year after year. The UN are currently helping eliminating the digital divide in developing countries by promoting international initiatives, and also private institutions are contributing with ideas such as the One Laptop Per Child project. On the other hand, there is still a lot to do to make sure everyone can properly use digital technologies; for example, the Internet which is the expression of the new media world is still not completely accessible and interactive to most of its users. Starting with web design, a big accomplishment would represent a more distributed adoption of the W3C accessibility guidelines, let alone the use of a writing style that is based on simple grammar and makes content easily searchable and readable. The major issue, however, remains the lack of education that influences many people and does not allow them to access certain information sources that are only reachable via digital technologies. In this case, the progressive spread of mobile phones and the expansion of mobile networks (as stated in a recent report by Word Bank) might certainly represent a significant improvement in the lives of all those individuals whose access to the digital era is still denied. Link: http://www.masternewmedia.org/news/2007/01/27/the_digital_divide_issues_and.htm#ixzz28RyJWlzR

Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart - How Things Fall Apart :: Things Fall Apart essays

How Things Fall Apart      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was a man who dreamed as a child of being well known and respected throughout his village and neighboring villages. This man, Okonko, worked hard at his goal, and he achieved it. Okonko, a man with great strength and personality, had achieved his goal to become rich and famous, a privilege that was unseen before in his family. Although Okonko reached his goal at an early age, his life began to Fall Apart when tragic episodes took place.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One can see that Okonko's life first began to fall apart when Ikemefuna, a captive who stayed at Okonko's home, was killed. Okonko had thought of Ikemefuna as one of his own sons. He was deeply saddened when he was killed. One can see the effects on Okonko from that event. First Okonko was unable to sleep for the following three days. He also kept on getting drunk, and that was a sign that he was depressed. This incident also had a long-term effect on Okonko. From then on his family would look at him as if it were his fault that Ikemefuna is dead. This episode can be seen as an event where Okonko looses some faith from his family. This corresponds to Okonko loosing faith in his father.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another important occurrence where one can see that Okonko's life falls apart was when he was thrown out of the clan for a few years. From this episode one can see that Okonko's hopes dreams have begun to fall apart. His hopes of being a rich and popular individual had drifted away with this upsetting incident. Okonko had no longer had his farm or animals. Also Okonko lost faith with most of his friends. This goes to show that Okonko lost faith with his friends, like his father lost faith with his.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another episode that showed the downfall in Okonko's life was when Nwoye, his oldest and favorite son, converted to the white mans religion, Christianity. To Okonko this was very upsetting because Nwoye was his eldest son, and Okonko had the greatest expectations for him. When news came to him that Nwoye was among the white men, one could have foreseen that only no good was coming to Okonko after that.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   By glancing at Okonko's life, one could see that the title Things Fall