How the Stock Market Crash of 1929 Affected the United States Essay Example for Free

How the Stock Market Crash of 1929 Affected the United States Essay The year of 1929 is marked by the Stock Market Crash in which most consider to be the beginning of the Great Depression. This was not the sole cause of the Great Depression, though. The Stock Market Crash was caused by an economy that was not stable enough to handle the high stock prices. The Stock Market Crash helped bring on the Great Depression which forced the United States government to make changes in the regulation of stock exchanges, providing much greater protection for investors. The United States was a young nation and was not always as powerful as it is now or was in 1929. The United States was formed from European citizens who wanted to start their lives over. So the United States had relatively little money compared to the financial status of the rest of the world. London at the time was considered the center of finance. The United States borrowed money from England and other countries to spur its industry. By 1960 it seemed that the United States would inevitably be the worlds most important business and financial power. The Civil War provided a boost for industry, which jump-started the gradual shift of financial power from London to New York. The United States had a valuable asset in the form of land. â€Å"The United States was forced to develop itself before it could worry about competing with the world. Hence, the amount of capital was far greater once available to be spent outside the United States. The year of 1914 can be considered the point at which the United States would never be second in the world again.† (Axon, 32) Europe was stricken with war and the United States was turned to for supplies. The â€Å"wealthy European countries were ravaged by war because of casualties, economic losses, and expensed of war over four years.† (Axon, 33) The United States only was in the war for a year and did not have its country damaged by the war. The United States emerged from World War I being owed billions of dollars for having financed most of the war and was acknowledged to be the leader of the Western world. The early 1920s were a time of booming industry, of soaring hope and confidence. The ups and downs of the stock market were hardly noticed by the average American. The average American was more concerned with their daily life than the state of the stock market. The economy was such that many new products and services were available to almost everyone, including the automobile, radios, and other products for the home. The stock market was controlled by professionals that worked for large firms who had good financial backing which made it easier to use the market advantageously. Small investors were never shut out of Wall Street but the professionals paid for stock tips and also rigged the market so that certain stocks would rise and fall. This gave small investors a much harder time in making money through the stock market. As the market began to grow more small investors entered the game and were really just gambling their money. Most were not successful but some got lucky or got a good stock tip and rode the rising market until they lost their money too with the Stock Market Crash. At this time nobody had any reason to believe that the stock market would not keep rising. â€Å"Throughout the 1920s a long boom took stock prices to peaks never before seen. From 1920 to 1929 stocks more than quadrupled in value. Many investors became convinced that stocks were a sure thing and borrowed heavily to invest more money in the market.† (PBS) As the market grew, the stock market became a way of life and was a highly discussed topic among common Americans who were eager to get a piece of the pie. Americans no longer were connected by the common bond of making a life for themselves like at the birth of the nation. The 1920s were an era of revolution in ideas, beliefs, inventions, and ways of living. â€Å"The nation was totally different after World War I than before. The United States experimented with Prohibition. The Jazz age rose from the streets of Harlem, NY. Women got the right to vote. The whole of society was convinced that anything was possible, not only in the stock market and finances, but also in every facet of life.† (Sherrow, 12) Most of this is taken for granted now because what was considered a new idea seems commonplace and because the Stock Market Crash of 1929 overshadowed the great improvements in society. Societys attitude affected Wall Street, though. The large investing firms thought that the government should not be allowed to interfere with the speculation of finances. This is a common feeling when the economy is booming, that the government is always trying to oppress. The exact opposite is seen when the economy is in a depression and everyone turns to the government for help. The federal government was very limited in its control of the market and could not impose new control efforts at the time because the nation would not agree. As we know now, the stock market would have been better off if the government would have stepped in when the stock market became dangerously high. One of the main causes for the stock market to become dangerous was because large firms or groups of individuals practiced unfair techniques when buying and selling stocks. This was known as rigging the market. The stock market flows more smoothly through normal buying and selling activity but when certain groups tried to make money in an unfair way they hurt others in the process which concentrated capital. Large pools could control prices more than was healthy for the stock market. Some made fortunes others lost everything. An example was â€Å"a cigar stock at the time was selling for $115 a share. The market collapsed. I got a call from the company president. Could I loan him $200 million?† (Blaszczyk and Scranton, 337) To the public, the stock market seemed as though it would surely make them money, and were buying. The craze was a â€Å"frenzied finance that made Ponzi look like an amateur. (Blaszczyk and Scranton, 337) The insiders were controlling the market though, setting the stage for the greatest crash of all time. The booming economy in the United States was not typical of the whole world. England had its share of problems concerning currency. The people wanted gold to again be used as it was before the war. They felt that it was a valuable metal and provided a solid backing for currency. The British government finally agreed, after a lot of pressure, to re-instate the gold standard but it was a new version where gold would be used to back up paper money and gold would be used to handle international debts. The pound was put into use, which created a problem. The pound was overvalued in terms of other currencies meaning that people had to pay more to by British goods. Naturally, people bought goods elsewhere to avoid the currency exchange rate of the pound. Instead of realizing what was happening, the British tried to lower the price, which in turn lowered wages and caused strikes to break out in England around 1926. Germans were not better off. Of course their country was destroyed physically by war, but the financial system was very poor at this time in Germany. Germany was forced to pay reparations according to the Treaty of Versailles plus the inflation was so bad that German currency was absolutely worthless. The German public was enraged about this and the fact that they lost a lot of what they considered their land because of the war. The new government installed in Germany after the war called the Weimar republic was a democracy. The German public could not adjust to this making governmental intervention a difficult task. France and the rest of Europe faced the same effects. Inflation was uncontrolled and the political systems were thrown into upheaval. Since the United States was so financially secure at this time, countries like Britain and France naturally asked for assistance. They appealed to the Federal Reserve Board to make cuts in interest rates in the United States. This would make the United States less attractive to investors and would maybe cause investment in Europe instead. By increasing the money supply in the United States, the dollar would be worth less and make American goods more expensive while lowering the price of foreign goods. At this time the United States thought that this would not benefit it at this time. After all, the economy was booming, nearly everyone was working, people were making money from the stock market, and life was generally pleasant. Taking actions that would have hurt the United States would not have been appreciated by businessmen and normal citizens as well. The United States paid little attention to these pleas. There has always been talk that if the Federal Reserve Board would have stepped in that there would have been no boom in speculation, greatly reducing the risk of a crash. The argument against this is the fact that the Federal Reserve Banking system has little control of the economy, but can only make changes spurring growth or decline. Other theories put the blame on foreign countries too. One allegation states that stock speculation and gambling the market was a trait the United States adopted from Europe. However, the get rich quick attitude of Americans is just as great as the Europeans. The California Gold Rush and the Florida Real Estate Boom prove this. The United States Government can still consume most of the blame. At that day and age, it was hard to expect economists to predict exactly what would happen with the stock market rising so rapidly. They could have realized that it was a dangerous situation. The government felt too threatened by  business. When the government stepped in businessmen, bankers, and society in general criticized them for trying to take action when none was deemed necessary. By 1928 the stock market had reached the point of no return. The stock market fluctuated greatly and the risk of the stock market became greater. The rigging of stocks became so common that people of great esteem thought nothing wrong of manipulating stocks in way that actually defrauded the public. By† the inevitability of a market collapse was upon the United States but nobody expected that a full-fledged business depression was to come about because of it.† (Axon, 47) At this time three million shares were traded each day. Slowly it rose to four and five million shares per day. By November 1928 a daily volume of six million shares was reached. It must be realized that industrial stocks rose at a normal rate at this time, approximately growing by a third. The individual stocks are what marked disaster. For example, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) grew an unheard of 400 percent in 1928. In 1929 the stock market continued to grow at a dangerous pace. People borrowed money at high interest rates figuring to make enough in the stock market to cover the interest and still profit greatly. With people concentrating so much energy in the stock market, few realized that production could not keep up with the stock market. The automobile and construction industries had a small decline but people disregarded it as normal. Few Americans decided to sell-out for a profit. Most refused to believe the boom was coming to a halt. Stock market prices were now driven up by the sheer power of speculative demand. In other words, there was nothing concrete to back up the stock prices. By mid-October, the stock market was in a bad state. No major boom could revive the quality stocks that took a sharp dive. Fear began to take the place of greed in Wall Street. The word sell was now heard more than the word buy. Brokers asked for more margins or more cash from the customer to be paid into their accounts. The customers, of course, could not afford it and the brokers sold the stock. This pushed stock prices even lower. Everyone began banking the large operators on Wall Street would step in because they had much more to lose than the small investor. The problem was that they could not afford to because they were already in trouble because of the sharp decline in their stocks. October 24, 1929 was called Black Thursday because this hope was squashed and stock prices plummeted. Even after this there was still some hope. That same day, bankers moved in trying to restore some of the mess. They were trying to restore some of the optimism in the market. This was not the case as the following Monday, October 28, 1929, the market was flooded with selling orders. The big bankers were no longer there because they were in their own trouble. The people that were hurt the most are those that put their whole lives into the stock market and now walked the streets, stunned about their losses. â€Å"Some of the more badly declining stocks from 1929 to 1933 are as follows: Consolidated Cigar common stock fell from $115 to $3. General Foods dropped from $82 to less than $20. General Motors fell from $91 to less than $8. US Steel dropped drastically from $261 to just over $21. The railroad stocks were hit the hardest. The New York Central Railroad alone fell to $9 from $256.† (Klingaman, 111) The Stock Market Crash of 1929 marked a new era that was not immediately realized. Just as the rising stock market had provided industry with the capital to expand, the falling market caused industry to move into recession.

Curbing Child Labour In African Countries Young People Essay

Curbing Child Labour In African Countries Young People Essay 1.0 Definition of Child Labour The International Labor Organization (ILO, 2004) defined child labour as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development. Also, child labour refers to any working activity that is physically, mentally, socially or morally harmful and dangerous to children, with interference in their education by depriving them of the chance to attend school, prematurely obliging them to leave school, or requiring them to combine schooling with extremely long and heavy work. 2.0 The Negative Effect of Child Labour on Human Capital Accumulation and Economic Development One of the most significant problems in developing countries especially in Africa is the unpleasant incident of child labour. Children do labour to earn money by sacrificing their health, their education, and their normal development to maturity. The child labour exists prevalently in most countries in Africa. It has been a deep-rooted evil phenomenon, which delay the development of human capital accumulation and economic growth. Most African countries are lying on a stagnation situation or downward spiral in which poor performance in human development has been liable to poor economic growth and poverty, which consecutively discouraged human development achievements. Nowadays, while most of developed countries are enjoying wealth and prosperity, some of developing nations and most third world countries in Africa are struggling themselves to combat the problem of child labour. The prevalence of child labour causes the children to occupy their lifetime with working, leaving school and education behind. The main aim for these children to work would be the wages gain from working in order to support household income. However, because of the time in a day is limited to 24 hours, there will be high probability for a working child to forgo schooling if they want to concentrate working to help their parents income. As working children become an adult without a sound education, their future generation soon is likely to do the same duty as they were child ago. As a result, there will be a lack of human capital improvement in one country even after generations, and thus in long-term will bring about stagnant economic development. 3.0 Child Labour in African Countries The ILO is an international organisation charged to count with child labor. The ILO reported in 2004 that 218 million children engaged in economic activity globally, excluding child domestic labour (UNICEF, 2006). Within this number, 126 million or one in every six children aged 5-17 years were trapped in hazardous work. The ILO estimated that children represent 40-50 percent of all victims of forced labour, or 5.7 million children were caught in bonded and forced labour. Available data suggested that more boys than girls were economically active, but girls who are engaged in household chores and sibling childcare not be accounted for in these statistics (ILO, 2002). Children who were working in household of a third party or employer are particularly at risk to abuse and exploitation. The ILO estimates that more girls below age 16 were in domestic (household) service than in any other category child labour. African continent has the highest percentage of economically active children. The ILO study showed that 41 percent of children in Africa continent are devoting to labour work (ILO, 2003). The sectors where child labour is most employed are agriculture, fishing, hunting, and forestry. More than 30 percent of African children aged between 10 and 14 are working in agriculture sector. In most countries which are producing raw materials, children are used to work on agriculture estates of cocoa, coffee, and cotton. Also in Africa, the incident of child labour varies among areas in the continent. Child labour occupies nearly most of the teenagers population in the countries of central Africa. Meanwhile it is nearly absolutely lacking in South Africa, and the similar situation occurs in the nations of northern Africa. As stated by the ILO in 2003, there are 400,000 child labourers in Rwanda. Within this number, there are 120,000 are considered to be engaged in the worst forms of child labour, while a number of 60,000 identified as child domestic workers. In Rwanda, children are also involved in prostitution in several large cities. The report showed that 94 percent of these child prostitutes lived in extreme poverty stricken, 40 percent had missing both of their parents, and 41 percent had never enroll themselves in schooling. In Zambia, according to the Zambian, there are a number of 595,000 child labourers in the country. Of these, 58 percent are below age 15, thus, disallowed for any kind of employment as controlled by the Employment of Young Persons Act. According to the ILO in 2003, as much as 1.9 million children in Kenya, with age ranges between 5 and 17, are child labourers. Only 3.2 percent of this population has accomplished a secondary level (school) of education, and 12.7 percent had never been to school. In Kenya, during the peak coffee picking season, it was approximated that up to 30 percent of the coffee pickers are under age 15. In Tanzania, it has been estimated that 4,600 children working in small-scale mining. It is common to find children as young as eight digging thirty-meter underground in mines for at least eight hours per day. It is usually been carried out without proper light and ventilation, and child workers are exposed to risk of injury or death underground. Furthermore, in Zimbabwe, it was approximated that 5 million children with ages between 5 and 17 are being compelled to labour work. While, a survey conducted on child labourers in small-scale mines in Madagascar found that 58 percent that population were aged 12 or under. In addition, only a third had being exposed to learn skills, and half were belonged to families that trapped in poverty stricken with bad living conditions. Moreover in Africa, a number of 120,000 children below the age of 18 have been forced into military labors such as child soldiers, or military messengers, cooks, porters, or sex slaves. An amount ranged 10,000-15,000 children from Mali are working on plantations in CÃ ´te dIvoire. Most of them are victims of child trafficking. It is estimated that 50,000 children are working as household servant in Morocco. In West Africa, an estimated 35,000 children are in commercial sexual exploitation. The Sub-Saharan Africa is the geographical area of the world with the highest rate of child labour. As stated by the ILO report, the high populations growth rate in Sub-Saharan Africa corresponds with the increasing of poverty in the region (ILO, 2004). In addition, the HIV/Aids outspread hinders all effort against child labour although the report does show clear evident of improvement in gross school enrolments, where the primary school registrations in the area have raised by 38 percent between 1990 and 2000. The Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that in 2002, regarding child trafficking in Togo, asserted that the governments of western African countries had done fragile enforcement to curb the prevalent trafficking of child labour (Human Rights Watch, 2003). As reported by HRW, the local crisis of children trafficking was brought about by HIV/Aids. A large number of these children are orphans, compelled to work for survival after the death of their HIV- positive parents. The HRW asserted that children are forced into labour work in several countries in western Africa. The traffickers attract the children by promising them with professional training as well as sponsored schooling. The vast majority of these children were trafficked by neighbouring countries, such as Burkina Faso and Mali. The incidence of child labour trafficking occurs in many paths, as the government didnt execute strict enforcement to ban it. Girls were sold to work in the night markets, and during the day as baby sitt ers, and victims are generally subjected to physical violence and psychological abuse. The countries of destination of child trafficking in general have power over economies of western Africa. The report by Institute of Tropical Agriculture in 2002 showed that 70 percent of world cocoa production made in western Africa (Boas, M. Huser, A., 2006). From this statistics, 43 percent world cocoa production supplied by Cote dIvoire, 15 percent in Ghana, 7 percent in Nigeria, 4 percent in Cameroon, and the remains 1 percent in other regions in western Africa. In these supplier countries, the ripe cocoa is collected from plantation and processed by children. Children aged between 5 and 15, all came from poor background, were lured by the traffickers to leave their countries, even with forged labour contracts, were sold to the owners of agricultural estates. Often the children realised of their condition only afterwards, when they are forced into sheds and locked up inside. Children who ran away from the plantations disclosed of how they were victimised, exploited and tortured , and never received any pay. 4.0 Major Determinant of Child Labor Child labour is an issue in worldwide concern, especially in least developed countries in Africa, with many governments officially declares laws that protect children from labour work. There is no single root of child labour in Africa, and the important factors that cause children to become labourers are wide-ranging. Indeed, the particular conditions will differ depending to the different background between children. In spite of this, the determinants of child labour may be categorised into two groups based on 1) demand determinants or market mechanism, and 2) supply determinants. This classification is based on the works by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (Edmonds, E. V., 2003; Bhalotra, S., 2003). Demand side determinants are the factors which encourage an employer to employ children into labour work. While, supply side determinants are the factors which induce the parents or head of the households to make a decision about the exploitation of children s time into labour work. Demand side determinants of child labour are the composition of labour market, the current production technology, the weak law-making or weak implementation of legislation, childrens beneficial features for a specific work, small amount paid to children with extra working hours, and little bargaining power of children. In contrast, the supply side determinants of child labour origin from the household background. These include a range of socio-economic variables such as poverty, lack of educational and public facilities, unemployment of adults, and population pressure. These variables are associated with the decision making of the household to send the children to work. 5.0 Curbing the Child Labour in Africa: A Few Recommendations on Development Policy for Human Capital Improvement Most countries in Africa prohibited the employ of children in economic activities, especially the worst form of child labour. This was due to its bad consequences of the children in their present and future time. However, most of law enforcement failed to curb child labour. Labour intensive industries and agricultural sectors will always welcome a huge demand for cheap labour, in other word, child workers. Moreover, parents are willingly to send their children working to increase household income in order to survive in poverty stricken. Drawing upon the historical experience of several countries, both economic factors and legal restrictions played a role in reducing child labour, although legislation appears to have been less significant. I suggested that banning child labour through law enforcement and legislation is an inappropriate action. This is because this action will reduce the welfare of people. The primary purpose of working is to earn money, to earn living. Parents submitt ed their children to labour work to help families income, to maintain their life survival. After studying the conditions child labour in several African countries, I would like to suggest some development policies that can be implemented by their governments in order to curb child labour, then improving the welfare of children in order to develop high human capital in Africa in the future. Those recommended policies are: 5.1 Reducing Household Poverty The first and major cause of child labour is poverty. Absolute poverty as a synonym for extreme poverty is the lack of enough resources (such as financial resources) to ensure of obtaining basic life necessities. The poverty is concerned with the income level of the household. A strong negative relationship exists between child labour and total income of a household. The additional level of income will reduce the probability of a child to work. Most of the incident of child labour as a parental decision, where parents will only send their children to work when compelled to do so by poverty stricken. Therefore, when parents income surpasses some threshold, parents tend to withdraw the children out of labour market (Basu, K. Van, P. H., 1998). A historical analysis has shown that the decline of child labour was highly associated with the rise of married womens participation in the labour force (Cunningham, H., 2000). This is because the rise of married womens participation in the labo ur force had caused the childrens contribution (income) to the economy of the working class family become less significant. I would like to suggest for governments to implement the minimum wage legislation on adults. The increase in adults wage will decrease the population of child in labour market since fewer children in a family will have to work. The increase in income by implementing the minimum wage legislation will reduce the frequency of child labour. Therefore, the implementation of minimum wage laws policy in African countries is an appropriate action in checking the stagnation of child labour. I would like to recommend for the government to increase employment opportunities for women. Government ought to stimulate sectors of economies that highly associated with women, such as laundry, cleaning, cooking, and sewing. Poor families must also be allowed to have loan from financial institution, so that they will have opportunities to start their own businesses and economic activities. This will be an embarkment of a large scale poverty alleviation program and target income support, in purpose to keep children away from work market and attending schools. 5.2 Providing Better Quality of Education for Children Evidence from communities areas in Ghana showed that the incidence of high childrens employment and the low school enrolment is caused by the bad quality of education (Ray, R., 2002). This has led to the lack of importance of education for children as viewed by most parents. The likelihood of full-time school attending could be increased by reducing the cost of schooling. The expansion of school allocation by government, which reduces the opportunity-cost of schooling, would decrease the number of working children, but attending school (Cigno, A., Rosati, F. C. Tzannatos, Z., 2002). I would like to advise for the government that the education policies should aim to improve the quality of schooling, and expansion in schooling subsidy must prove impressive in order to encourage parents keeping their children in schools rather than submitting them employed. Government policies should center on improving school infrastructure facilities and quality of schooling especially in rural areas. The quality of education will determine the parents awareness concerning the education route as a way to advance life status. The low quality of education will dispute the need of schooling for their children if to have a promising future with a stable and well-paid job. This kind of judgment is normally found among people communities with low income level because their occupations are commonly requiring no formal education attainment, but basic skills as a cheap labour. I would like to put forward for the reduction of costs of schooling. This is purposely to reduce opportunity cost of schooling, in term of payment (salary) obtained from working children. Scholarships for schooling students should not for only school tuition fees, but must cover other benefits, such as school accessories like school uniforms and free meals in order to make education more attractive. The school enrolment, especially primary school enrolment is most essential for children to ensure of obtaining basic and necessary education before jumping into the higher stages of education. Students who are obliged to attend a longer years of education by compulsory education laws will make higher wages in their future as compared to others with less years of education. Therefore, public investment in improving school infrastructure will give rise to a significant beneficial effect to born better educated labour force in the future with higher productivity to the society. 5.3 Controlling the Family Size through Policies Among fifteen countries with highest fertility rate in the world, the fourteen of them are belonged to African countries (United Nations, 2007). The high fertility and birth rate each year had caused to the large family size in Africa. And, the larger the number of children, so then the larger the total cost of living and rearing children. The big number of siblings had forced the elder siblings to working, instead of attending school. According to a study, this additional work increases with the number of younger siblings and the spacing between siblings. Because family sizes raise, the additional work for elder siblings will significantly be increased to help additional households income (Edmonds, E. V., 2006). I would like to advocate for the government of those African countries to implement the one or two-child policy in their countries. This is purposely to decrease fertility rate in those countries. This policy can be adopted from the China one-child policy introduced in 1978. It was created by the Chinese government to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China. After the introduction of the one-child policy, the fertility rate in China fell from over three births per woman in 1980 to approximately 1.8 births in 2008. In my point of view, the controlling of family size will reduce the total cost of rearing many children in a family. This will increase disposable income in a family, in which this income can be saved for future use and to finance good quality education for children. The government must promise a direct benefit for the only first one or two children in the family, such as free schooling or educational subsidies. This family size control may promise a better quality of children with high human capital, even with smaller numbers, rather than having a large number of children but with low human capital. This not only improve the welfare of each children, but also give to human capital improvement in Africa, and thus in long-term will bring about healthier economic development. 5.4 Introducing Modern Labour-Saving Technologies into Economic Sectors The major characteristic of labour markets in most developing countries is a high proportion of employment of unskilled labour force in the informal sectors. This trait has led to a creation of large labour intensive market space with low-level of technology that encourages the demand for children to become labour force (Edmonds, E. V, 2003; Dinopoulos, E. Zhao, L., 2007). Thus, the level of technology in an economy will determine both the supply and demand for child labour. I would like to suggest that the introduction and adoption of modern labour-saving technologies as a tool to inhibit child labour. At a distance from raising agricultural productivity, the adoption of modern labour-saving technologies could free children from repetitive working duties in agriculture and thus increase their chances of attending school. Therefore, policies and programmes that promote the adoption of land and modern labour-saving technologies should be listed as policy tools to curb child labour in the African countries. The introduction of new technologies such as mechanization or automation in industries, and the use of improved strains and fertilizers in agricultural sector will reduce the demand for unskilled child labour. A study had also found that the returns to education will also increase because people understand the need for higher education attainment to fulfill the high demand for high-skilled labour. (Cigno, A., Rosati, F. C. Tzannatos, Z., 2002). Thus, t his will discourage the supply of child labour. This low motivation of supplying child labour and low interest to employ unskilled labour will further the declining of children exploitation into economic activities. In my opinion, from the technological perspective, it should be noticed that childrens participation are unnecessary in the process of industrialisation because child workers keep low human capital stock. In addition to the least developed African countries, in most industries where children work, there are existing technologies that being utilised in developed countries. Thus, the employment of these modern technologies by African countries would replace tasks performed by child labour, and finally reduce child employment in productive economic activities. I would also like to advise the African countries to welcome globalisation in their economic policies. The accepting of globalisation will improve capital market through foreign direct investment (FDI), and will generate technological and knowledge spillover. This will help introducing new modern labour-saving technologies as a tool to improve economic sectors, and at the same time will inhibit child labour. This is according to a study which had found that the forces of globalisation can curb the phenomenon of child labour through the trade policies that beneficial for modern sector, and the increase in FDI in modern sector that will reduce the demand of child labour without deteriorating the wage-income distribution. (Dinopoulos, E. Zhao, L., 2007).

Creation and Development of a Film Soundtrack

Creation and Development of a Film Soundtrack Abstract Cinematic environments are created through image, dialogue, music and sound,  but the craft involved in creating an environmental soundtrack often goes  unnoticed by the film viewer. Soundscapes are rarely just background: they are  powerful storytelling vehicles in their own right, of equal importance to the visuals.  This article examines the process of creating an environmental soundtrack for  cinema from the perspective of a sound designer. Particular attention is given to  how sound is created and layered to enhance, embellish and produce the films  narrative. Using contemporary Australian films, notably Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008) and  Happy Feet (George Miller, 2006), the article examines the different challenges in  creating an environmental soundscape for both an animation and a live action film.  The films Avatar (James Cameron, 2009), Little Fish (Rowan Woods, 2005) and The  Magician (Scott Ryan, 2005) are also cited to highlight various approaches to  environmental representation in film sound. While both Australia and Happy Feet  rely on the landscape and environment as integral storytelling components, the  approach to creating their respective soundscapes requires not only natural  recordings, but also the creation of many previously unheard sounds using  synthetic sound design. Keywords: Sound design, Australian film, soundscape, environmental representation,  animation Introduction Soundscapes have the ability to transcend the social and cultural barriers that  sometimes thwart language and even music. Creating an environmental  soundtrack for cinema is as much a technical craft as it is an aesthetic art form.   Often overlooked by the audience, the sounds of the environment in many  contemporary films are based on the synthetic design and recreation of many  settings. Environmental soundscapes are some of the most intricate to create. The  combination of image, dialogue, music and sound help create the overall  soundtrack, however the film viewer is often unaware of the intricacies and  craftwork used in the creation of these aural environments. Furthermore,  narrative of the film is carefully considered in the creation of these environmental  soundtrack elements. This article examines the process of creating an environmental soundtrack for  cinema from the perspective of a sound designer who has worked in the Australian  film industry for over 15 years (Fig 1). The articles focus is on the use of  environmental recordings and sound effects to create a landscape, as opposed to  the use of dialogue and music in the soundtrack. Using two contemporary  Australian films, Happy Feet (George Miller, 2006) and Australia (Baz Luhrmann,  2008), this article examines the different creative process used for an  environmental soundscape for an animation and a live action feature film.   Figure 1: The author at work at Australian Clay Target Association, Wagga Gun Club, Wagga Wagga, Australia. (Photo  courtesy of Tony Turner.) Soundscape Design From earliest societies to contemporary musicians, sound has been an integral  communication component to convey messages, express emotion and to tell a  story. Communication through the use of sound has been significant to human  social evolution. Although spoken language is the predominant form of sonic  communication in our society, other oral and aural methods include rhythm,  melody, percussion, humming, the mimicking of sounds through vocalisations and,  in the modern era, by the recording and creation of music and sounds through the  use of technology. As David Sonnenschein states, [by] giving meaning to noise,  sound becomes communication (2001, p. xix). Through the use of recorded sounds  and the creation of new sounds, the art of sound design has become an important  approach to screen based storytelling. Although landscapes appear to be natural, creative liberty is often given to the  aural representation of these settings as required by the film narrative. While both  Happy Feet and Australia rely on the landscape and environment as integral  storytelling components, the approach to creating their respective soundscapes requires not only natural recordings, but also synthetic sound design and  creation. Whether natural or synthetic, neither approach is less significant than  the other. In this paper my definition of natural recordings pertains to sounds that are created organically through such elements as winds, ice, land mass, water,  animals, vegetation and various other sounds naturally occurring without evidence  of human or industrial influence or activity. Difficulties such as accessibility and noise pollution make our most pristine  locations increasingly difficult to capture sonically. Although not always the  preferred method, synthetic aural environmental design will continue to develop as  a necessary addition to assist in crafting the aural illusion of cinematic  environments. Using a recent trip to Mount Kosciusko as an example (Fig 2), I was  surprised at the amount of noise pollution tainting the sound recordings within the  National Park. Many of these sounds were distant sounds, including small planes  and agricultural sprinklers: however they still managed to appear faintly in the  background of some of the recordings. When used in the context of a film these  edited recordings appear to be natural when first listened to by an audience, but  they are unaware of the use of equalisation, filtering techniques, frequency band  compression and other such technological solutions in eradicating this noise. Th is  processing of the original recordings in turn transforms these natural recordings  to new artificially designed pseudo natural sounding environments.   Figure 2: Yarrangobilly River, Kosciuszko National Park. (Photo courtesy of Caroline Candusso.) When the sound designer commences production on a film, they study the  environmental landscape, location and the period in which the film is set. This  becomes the foundational building block of the soundtrack and determines the  approach to creating the overall narrative for the film through sound. In the film  medium, sound design purposefully communicates to an audience through  recorded and created sounds that augment the onscreen visuals. In contemporary  cinema, dialogue is the primary auditory component used to convey a story,  however the sound ecology of the landscape and the sound effects are of equal  importance. Sound design does not merely replicate what is happening on screen,  it is an additional storytelling component. An example of this occurs in Australia  (Baz Luhrmann, 2008), in the scene where we first learn of the impending attack   on Darwin by the Japanese. Here for the first time a soft, almost whispering of  wind is heard. The plane approach has no engine sounds, only the sounds of the  wings slicing through the air. This was a brief from the director who wanted the  first plane to replicate a shark surfacing with only the fin piercing the water  surface. It is not until the plane is revealed and peels off to the right of screen that  we start to hear the sound of an actual engine, the roar of danger, the sound of an  advancing Zero threat. The sound does not give away the shot before we see the  plane, in fact it adds to the curiosity. The sound of the wind makes the scene even  more menacing and, in this instance, the sound has foreshadowed the action on an  emotional level before the visuals have presented it. In cinema history, advances in sound technology have given filmmakers the  opportunity to take advantage of the creativity of sound and allow it to play an  equally important role as the visuals in storytelling. As George Lucas has noted,  Sound is 50 percent of the movie going experience (2004: online). Hollywood has  increasingly relied on sound to contribute to the contemporary film viewing  experience. Audience expectations of sound place greater emphasis on the craft of  sound design. Approaching the Task of Environmental Sound Creation   With many factors contributing to the use of authentic sound recordings  (including budget, availability of personnel, deadlines etc.), often sounds need to be  fabricated. These sounds may make up the entire soundtrack, or they may only  make up elements of the soundtrack that blend with other recordings of actual  environmental sound. If the soundtrack is created well, it will not appear to be out  of place and the audience will not be aware of any disparities. It is only when the  soundtrack jars that the audience is alerted to the sound and may question the  legitimacy or integrity of the sound sources. A fictitious alien landscape scene, for  example, containing recognisable sounds from our world may elicit a sense of  disbelief. When we see a storm onscreen, we routinely hear thunder; when we see a dog, it  often barks; a door usually creaks; a car might skid when stopping; and explosions  may shake the room. There are many sound clichà ©s consistently used in the  contemporary soundtrack. Through developments in cinema sound technology,  many Hollywood film soundtracks are created to deliver what an audience expects  to hear, rather than represent the actual sounds of the real world. Also sounds are  pared back from all of those that might be in a specific setting to emphasise those  most relevant to the narrative. With the use of high quality speakers with a wide  frequency response, the introduction of the various surround sound formats and  powerful computers with an array of software options, technology is allowing for  greater creativity and flexibility in the soundtrack. The sound designer needs to balance between telling the story using the available  tools, and delivering a soundtrack that is credible for the story and setting. While  the overall soundtrack needs to be treated with careful consideration, so too should  the individual sound components that contribute to it. It is not uncommon for the  sound designer and editors to research the authenticity of various elements within  the film to provide a guide as to the legitimacy of the sounds and the sound sets  required. For example, if we see a shot of the Statue of Liberty, New York and, place of the sound of pigeons, the only birds we hear are kookaburras, the  audience will be distracted from the story, and continuity of the film will be  disrupted.In both Happy Feet and Australia, extensive research was conducted into the  environments and locations of both film settings prior to the editing of any sound.  Particular attention was given to the study of the wildlife, espe cially birds and  insects, and the seasons. Other research investigated the locations on a larger  scale including the weather of Antarctica-which notably does not develop thunder.  Careful sound choice allows the audience to be situated within the depicted  environment. At the commencement of sound post-production, one of the most important  preparatory steps is to read the script or to watch an edit of the film in its entirety.   Depending on the film, the sound team may have the luxury of reading a script  during the film pre-production phase or in other instances a rough edit may be  given to the sound team to view almost immediately after shooting has completed.  In some instances they may be given both. Providing either a script or an early edit  of the film allows for the planning of the dramatic journey of the film, and the  mapping of the narrative dynamics through sound. This can be in the form of  physically drawing a chart or a graph mapping the drama and dynamics of the film  over time. This allows careful designing of sounds to build up to the climactic  scenes in the film, and then to use quiet moments to increase dramatic impact.  Having a graphic representation of the film allows for the nuanced planning of the  soundtrack, which will follow and often assist the onscreen narrative. Depending  on the directors approach to the film, this method can also be helpful for creati ng  juxtaposition between the onscreen drama and the aural drama. Sound has the  power to emphasise or soften a story depending on the directors decisions. Happy  Feet has a scene depicting a leopard seal chasing the central protagonist, Mumble,  underwater. Due to the visual size and menacing teeth of the leopard seal the  original sounds edited for the scene had to be re-crafted to suit the targeted  audience of children. Many of the original growls were replaced by less aggressive  grunts, and more breaths were added to soften the chase and viciousness of the  antagonist. Every film has its own challenges and requires its own approach to the sound  design. Some films are created to imitate reality and often contain sounds of  actual location sound recordings of what the audience is seeing on screen,  recorded on set from the filmed locations. In the films Little Fish (Rowan Woods,  2005) and The Magician (Scott Ryan, 2010) for which I was a sound effects editor,  sound designer Sam Petty aimed to recreate the actual real sound of the locations  in both films. Petty retraced the shots of The Magician and recorded the film  locations throughout Melbourne. On Little Fish I retraced and recorded many of the  film location environments including several locations in Cabramatta, Sydney (Fig  3). Both the Cabramatta train station and the featured shopping mall are central to  establishing the locations within this film. Having to recreate these locations from  either library sounds or unauthentic recordings would have been very time   consuming, and still may not provide the desired authenticity.   It is important to note that the shooting schedule does not generally allow enough  time for the location sound crew to capture many sounds of locations during  filming. The primary concern of the location sound recordist and crew is to capture  the dialogue and the actor performances. The audio post-production crew then  need to seek permissions to re-record after initial filming, which requires further  time and funding that are rarely included in the budget.    In contrast to films like The Magician and Little Fish, many films require the use of  exotic, rare and even previously unheard or fabricated environmental sounds. With  the increase in films based around visual effects, films can be located in fictional  lands with entirely contrived characters and creatures.  Depending on the context of the film, an audience will have preconceived ideas of   what the sounds should be for particular scenes. This is the case even for animated  films that are set in entirely contrived locales. James Camerons Avatar (2009) is a  well-cited contemporary example. No one has physically experienced this mythical  land of Pandora, although we have some sense of what we would expect to hear,  for example, by associating the forest with familiar rainforest, or by the appearance  of certain creatures. The environmental sounds alone comprise many previously  unheard insects, specific and unusual animals, other background animal  vocalisations, and types of vegetation. On occasions such as this it may be necessary to create entirely new sounds for  these new worlds. These original sounds may start their incarnation from the  recordings of sounds from our own world or they may be completely synthesised.   What is important is to keep these new sounds identifiable according to our  current expectations. Some designing techniques for these new sounds may  include the following:   transforming existing sounds through the use of pitch changing,  equalisation, or any number of filtering processes using specific recordings of rare or unusual sounds   pitching or modifying electronics, machinery or vehicles   pitching and combining various animal vocalisations   using synthesis to create new sounds, and others.   Although budget constraints will influence the approach to film sound design, so  too does the availability and existence of-and access to-required sounds. When  creating a sonic environment or landscape for a film, wherever it is set, it is  important to consider what is real to the location, what seems real, and what  sounds the audience expects to hear. In summary, factors determining the  approach to the creation of the environments include whether the location exists in  the real world, whether environmental recordings were made during on-location  filming, whether the storyline is located in a contemporary setting, and whether  funds and safety allow the recording of the location.  This leads to a discussion of two contemporary feature films from the perspective of  a sound effects editor1. Produced on relatively big budgets for Australian feature  films,2 both Happy Feet and Australia included a dedicated atmosphere sound  editor as part of the sound te am. This role is often absorbed by the sound effects  editor on smaller productions and lower budget projects. In both films, my sound  effect creation and editing drove the use of the environment as an integral story  component and, as such, I worked very closely with the atmosphere editors. What  distinguished my role from that of the atmosphere editor was that my contribution  treated the landscape as a character. Working in sound effects, I specifically  designed many sounds for both films with integrated and often highlighted story  elements associated with the environments. These films differ quite considerably and provide contrasting examples of sonic  environment creation. The films are set in remarkable and distinctive locations; Happy Feet is an animated film set in Antarctica, while Australia is a live action film  set in the Northern Territory, Australia.3 Both films pose varying degrees of  complexity in terms of their sonic environmental depictions on screen.  Creating a Sound Environment As with the visuals, the sound for an animated film differs from live action film. With no actual filming on location, all characters are created, all sets are rendered,  and all visuals are designed by animation artists. There is no cinematographer filming actors at an actual geographical location as with a live action film (although  voice acting is recorded for the animators). Sound recordings of the film set  locations are not captured as there is no filming on location.4 Therefore all sound  environments need to be recorded and/or created from the ground up.   1 In this article I focus on the environmental sounds, and a consideration of spot effects is a topic for a further study.   2 According to the International Movie Database (IMDB.com) the budget for Happy Feet was $100,000,000  (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0366548/) and $130,000,000 for Australia (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455824/).   3 Some scenes were shot in various locations in Northern Territory, northern Queensland and Sydneys Fox Studios.   4 However some animators, notably Australian Yoram Gross, have used filmed bush background for the drawn characters.  See Dot and the Kangaroo (1977) and other work.Screen Sound n3, 2012 128   Happy Feet Millers Academy Award winning Happy Feet tells the story of Mumble, an emperor  penguin who, instead of being able to sing, tap dances. The characters of the film  also included many animated Antarctic animals, primarily penguins. The  combination of an animated remote environment (Antarctica) and animated  animals meant that every sound for this film had to be created.  Through the use of detailed layers of sound, sound design is about creating a level  of believability. It is not just a matter of placing a single sound into a scene and  hoping that the audience believes it. Ambiences in our everyday life are complex,  with chaotic and sometimes even choreographed symphonies, with the land, the  wind, animals, birds and vegetation all playing their tunes within a given space. In  addition to these individual sounds, these acoustic spaces are important in  representing the onscreen landscape spaces.   The challenge of creating such an unpolluted, isolated and dangerous atmosphere  meant that the sound design had to be precise and untainted by unwanted  background noises. As the budget didnt allow for a sound team to travel and  record actual Antarctic locations, climatic conditions and animal activities, we had  to rely on pre-existing sound recordings of Antarctica or recordings made in more  accessible locations such as Thredbo ski resort in Australia and from some  locations in New Zealands South Island.   With many shots depicting the rugged landscape of Antarctica, often the detail  within the sound design can pass unnoticed. If we look specifically at Lovelaces  Pile (Fig 4) the sounds can be unpacked to reveal far more detail than what is  initially heard. Basic element Breakdown of sounds Winds Close up winds (flurries of snow) Distant winds to give sense of space Wind howling through icicles Snow Movements on snow by penguins Melting snow Snow falling off cliffs in the background Ice-land Mass (subtle) Movements of ice Ice cracks and creaks Ice thumps Animals Background penguin vocals near and far Background penguin movement Table 1: Landscape sounds in Lovelaces Pile scene in Happy Feet   From this list the sound editor has 11 possible sets of sounds that may be  deployed to create the environmental backdrop for this scene. This excludes any  character or action related sounds; it is only the ambient background.   Without access to record authentic atmospheres, many of the sounds were  recorded or sourced from other locations in order to imitate the film set. These  would then be reconstructed as the sounds could vary entirely. We were fortunate  that we had some actual recordings of Antarctica for the film. During production,  supervising sound editor and sound designer, Wayne Pashley, sent a mini-disc  recorder to the Antarctic and asked scientists to record sounds whilst doing their  field studies. Unfortunately, the recording quality was not always film worthy as  the scientists are not trained sound recordists. Happy Feet did contain some actual  sounds from Antarctica, although a high percentage of sounds were either non-  Antarctic recordings or studio recordings created specifically for the film.   The animal recordings from Antarctica were used where possible to create an  underlying realistic bed for the film. Some of the successful recorded sounds used  included those of elephant seals, adà ©lie penguins, emperor penguins and even skua  birds. These beds of animal noises gave the background environment a sense of  reality upon which to layer the main characters. The main and featured animals  were often recreated using studio recordings and other sources of sound  recordings.   Some of the successful Antarctic environmental recordings included iceberg  movements, ice winds, and slushy icy water. These were also edited and used  where possible alongside additional created sounds. Again, these realistic  environmental sounds were primarily employed to evoke a believable background  ambience. To emphasise the size and weight of several of the large icebergs,  controlled recording and studio techniques helped create such large masses. This  included close microphone techniques and using dry-ice (liquid nitrogen) to freeze  large objects that we could then record being dragged across the floor. With the  realistic Antarctic recordings serving as our bed, these additional recreated sounds  became the embellishments and the dramatic highlights.   As storytellers in our own right, creative liberty allowed for the reappropriation of  these sounds. At times these sounds would be used only as a bed and then  additional snow, ice and wind elements would be created and embellished to better  represent the onscreen visuals and the unfolding drama. Some of these sounds  came from our own original Foley studio recording sessions using props to design   sounds to be used to highlight onscreen action. An example of the studio  recordings included creating snow for the feet close-ups where the characters  dance on the snow. As we did not have access to snow, we recorded crushed ice,  salt, cereal, sugar, sand and several other props to mimic the sound of snow.  Recording in a studio allowed us to create our sounds specifically for the particular  scene. Throughout the film, the seasons changed over a one-year cycle and we  wanted to represent this as best we could through the changing environment  sounds. We had allocated recording days where we could record specific sounds in  a very clean, precise manner. If we needed more grit in our snow we could just  change the elements we were recording, or if we needed the snow to sound more  wet we could just mix in some more water when required. We were not dictated by  natural resources. The other advantage of having these studio recording days was  that we could rec ord sounds specifically for the big screen. What I mean by this is  that we could record sounds specifically for the surround sound speakers. Using  the close-up of feet on snow as an example, if a character flicked his/her  flipper/foot in close-up, we could record different snow elements for the left, centre  and right hand side of the flipper and have the debris snow crumbles pan back into  the surrounds. This would have been impossible to record with such precision as  an actual performance in real life. By having control of individual sound elements,  we were able to creatively challenge the cinema and screen space to highlight the  environmental immersion.   Australia Set during the Second World War, Australias storyline centres on a cattle drive in  the rugged terrain of northern Australia, as an English aristocrat travels across  harsh environments with her stock. From the opening moments, even before the  first visual images, sound is used to position the audience of Australia. From the  initial fade in from black we begin to hear ethereal singing, native birds, insects,  winds and the gradual swell of string instruments. In these opening scenes, the sounds of different winds, animals and insects  intertwine with an emotional journey across an environmental backdrop that  transforms, as the audience witness the death of Lord Ashley, from above ground  and into the muffled and mysterious murky underwater drones and whale song.  Playing in slow-motion the images show King George (David Gulpilil) telling Nullah  (Brandon Walters) to make yourself invisible as the white fellas are herding cattle  across the river onto the Carney property. Although music is also playing  concurrently with the sound effects, the effects design specifically aims to make  reference to Aboriginal dreamtime. As Lord Ashley is killed and falls to the water  above Nullah with a spear through his chest, the water turns crimson, the sound  hints that Lord Ashley has been killed by the people moving the cattle, the same  people Nullah is also hiding from. Visually it isnt until we see the snakeskin boot  of N eil Fletcher (David Wenham) that we realise that he is the killer.  Although the sounds chosen for this sequence are simple environmental  recordings, what is important is the way in which they have been reappropriated to  form part of the narrative. Through transformation, including pitch and other  manipulation techniques of the original recordings, these evolve into new, unheardof  sounds that yet seem familiar. When designing such delicate sounds, much time was spent experimenting with  the creation of sounds that morph unnoticeably from one sound into another  throughout the opening sequence. Tonal frequencies, recording quality and mixing  techniques were constantly balanced and adjusted to create a single fluid flow of  environmental sounds. At the same time, although continually transforming, the  sounds needed to contain characteristics of the original sound sources, allowing  the audience to connect the aural with the visual. Throughout Australia, designed  sounds are used very subtly. Overall the film uses actual location and natural  sounds to convey the Australian landscape, with the designed sounds being  reserved for scenes with Nullah, the death of Daisy and for King George, as these  relate to the dreamtime and spirituality.   With vast landscapes of Australias Northern Territory depicted through  cinematography, natural sounds are needed to convey the impact of the  environment. Supervising sound editor and sound designer, Wayne Pashley,  retraced many of the original locations in the film during the sound postproduction  phase. Using a Soundfield ST350 ambisonic microphone, Pashley was  able to record in surround sound an entire three-dimensional landscape on  location. Until recently, creating film surround sound was only possible during the  post-production process, but this particular technology allowed for a pristine,  natural recording of the environment. These recordings in surround were then  decoded, edited and used as beds for the atmosphere tracks of the film. Pashley  observed: We also wanted to be true to the landscape of Australia. So often in big  productions like this, the sound design guys just reach for Bush  Atmosphere Number Three [library effect] or whatever, and everything  comes out sounding the same. Also, what you hear is usually completely  unrelated to the environment you see on the screen. We wanted this to be  different. Australia is, I think, the first movie that sounds correct, that gives  a true sense of how this country sounds. (cited in Soundfield, 2008:  online) With many scenes depicting broad vistas, having the atmospheres recorded in  surround from the outset allows the sounds to reflect the vastness of the actual  locations. In sound editing, the atmosphere tracks are often edited from existing  stereo recordings, thus limiting the detail within the acoustic space. In most  instances, artificial reverb is introduced to make the sounds appear to be wider  within the acoustic space. Recording in surround sound reduces the need for and  use of these contrived techniques. All animal sounds for Australia were purposely recorded for the film. Working  remotely and living in regional New South Wales, I was able to record many of the  animal vocalisations of cows and horses for the film at locales situated near where I  live. The cows were particularly challenging to record as they are often difficult to  get close to without them running away. Having the livestock saleyards proved to  be a very convenient way to record cows at close proximity. Also having so many  cows in such a small space allowed the recording of mass group cows to be used in  many of the backgrounds. Situated within a livestock pen meant that the beasts  were particularly vocal, which allowed for high quality recording and performance  and, later, for flexibility in editing their bellows. Conclusion Often overshadowed by dialogue and music, the environmental atmospheric  sounds of a film are often overlooked by audiences. These aural landscapes  comprise either actual recordings or synthetic recordings constructed to  acoustically represent the onscreen locations. Both Happy Feet and Australia rely  on the aural landscape environment as essential storytelling characters within  each film. Based on very distinct locations, the films differed notably in the  approaches to their environmental landscape sound design. In a general  comparison Happy Feet featured far more inauthe

Understanding Consumer Choices and Behaviors Essay -- furniture, qualit

The IKEA brand is associated with simple, low cost, stylish products. The concept was furnishing products and house-wares that had wide appeal to a variety of markets and segments, both consumer and the business market exclusively. Both markets were looking for well styled, high quality furniture that reasonably priced and readily available. Initially, IKEA did not customize its products to local markets, but kept to standardized products and operations worldwide. This standardized strategy of internationalizing minimized costs. IKEA developed a model for the business, where it was able to keep costs low. From the customer point of view, they were able to buy low cost furniture, however they had to assemble and collect the flat-packed furniture from stores. IKEA to was able to reduce costs, as this costly part of the value chain was carried out by the customer. IKEA had excellent international procurement. Thirty buying offices were created to source from over 1,400 suppliers worldwi de, IKEA negotiated prices that were between 20-40% lower than competitors for comparable goods. IKEA was successful at i) identifying worldwide suppliers and ii) managing quality and iii) prices with suppliers, to keep margins low. It had excellent supply chain management and utilized the latest IT infrastructure. Due to the sheer number of orders and components required by the company - IKEA developed an efficient system for ordering from suppliers, integrating them into products and delivering them to stores. This was achieved by a world network of 14 warehouses. Inventory was stored - and the IT system managed supply and demand to stores, keeping inventory costs low. Anticipating the needs and wants of customers. IKEA was successful in product desi... ...): Social Creativity and the Social Function of DIY Experiences. Advances In Consumer Research, 37775-776. Inks, S. A., Schetzsle, S., & Avila, R. A. (2012). Exploring the Use of Business Social Networking Tools in Sales: Current Perceptions and Future Expectations. Marketing Management Journal, 22(1), 1-16. Edmonton Journal. (2008). IKEA's Secret: The Customer. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html?id=d2f94f61-48c1-4d48-b276-6481c4804895&k=5397 Dholakia, R. (2012). Technology and Consumption: Understanding Consumer Choices and Behaviors. New York: Springer. United States DIY Products. (2002). DIY Products Industry Profile: United States, N.PAG. O.C. Ferrell & Michael Hartline (2011). Marketing Strategy, 5th edition, South-Western/Cengage Learning. Copeland, C. & Hartline, M. (2010). IKEA Looks to Further Penetrate the U.S. Market

Brain Transplant: An End to Parkinsonism? :: Biology Essays Research Papers

The Modern Day Brain Transplant:An End to Parkinsonism or the Beginning of a Greater Debate? It sometimes begins with a feeling of lethargy, being "down in the dumps," or shakiness (1). Maybe it begins with a twitch of the pinky finger that was not there before. Speech becomes more difficult and softer to the level of a whisper; this is often accompanied by irritability. Movements become rigid, unsteady and slow (2). A tremor develops, with trembling of the hands, arms, legs, jaw, and face. Later, walking is often only accomplished through short and shuffling steps, intermixed with a loss of balance and instability (3). These symptoms usually progress until the person is incapacitated and unable to do simple tasks such as brushing their teeth, buttoning clothing, or turning newspaper pages (1). This is a description of a person living with Parkinson's disease. According to the Parkinson's Disease Foundation, there are one million people living with Parkinson's nationwide (1). Several public figures have also revealed their private struggles with Parkinson's including Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali, Janet Reno and Billy Graham (1). As evidenced by the names listed, Parkinson's strikes an array of people, it is generally a late onset disorder, however, in some cases, such as with Michael J. Fox, Parkinson's has a "young onset". Parkinson's disease is a disorder that results from the depletion of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The basal ganglia is the part of the brain responsible for movement. When 80% of the dopamine-secreting cells in a specific part of the basal ganglia, the substantia nigra, are lost Parkinson's symptoms develop (4). The cause for the neuropathology of Parkinson's is still unknown. Two possible causes of Parkinson's that have been researched include environmental factors such as toxins and defective genes (5). Treatments for the disease vary widely. The standard treatment is to prescribe levodopa (L-dopa) (4), the precursor of dopamine to patients. This is given because dopamine itself does not cross the blood-brain barrier. The levodopa is converted to dopamine inside the brain and is effective in improving the severity of symptoms dramatically. Unfortunately, long-term usage of levodopa causes a myriad of side effects, such as head bobbing, grimacing, abnormal movements of the trunk and limbs (2). With time, the side effects of levodopa become more dramatic than the original Parkinson's and the thus outweigh the benefits of giving the drug. Other treatments include a brain "pacemaker," deep brain stimulation with electrodes, and pallidotomy (destroying a portion of the globus pallidus in the brain).

Not Much Just Chillin Essay

Change is known to be the most constant thing in the world. Hence, individuals are often changing which leads to conflicting issues in life. Moreover, every person gets into a stage where in a person needs to change. Most of us experience change during our moments in middle school. Every person during this time of his or her life experiences changes. In addition to this, there are interests which are discovered by these individuals. More so, the changes lead to the various kind personality developments. In the book written by Linda Perlstein titled â€Å"Not Much Just Chillin’† she discussed the reality of middle school. Through her observation, research and writing, Perlstein is able to provide a very vivid and realistic condition of the students in middle school. Hence, it is very evident that middle school children are usually confronted with issue to their families, environment as well as the media which are highly influential to the development of young people. The book written by Perlstein provided a vivid example of the types of individuals within the middle school setting. There are the typical individuals such as the popular group, the geeks, the minor ethnicities and the likes. More so, the people who are reading the book could easily relate to the various types of individuals being portrayed in the book. Definitely, the book is presenting a very important aspect of the teenage life. Different parts of the book present a very good perspective of the situation in middle school. Moreover, the writing of Perlstein focuses on the perspective of the youth during their development into adulthood. In the light of this, the book provides a very easy reading to different individuals. For the book is discussing about the youth and their development, the book somehow reaches to the young audiences who are interested in reading and understanding the stages of their development. The varieties of stages that are being experienced by different groups in the middle school setting are discussed through a very descriptive style. On the other hand, parents must also read this book for it provides insights regarding the development of their children. Although it is known that parents have been in the same stage of youth, the changes and liberation of teenagers are still different in the current era. Also, professors and teachers must be able to comprehend the various types of students in school. More so, the book presents a descriptive perspective of the situation in the middle school setting however Perlstein does not provide any type of resolution regarding this matter. The readers are left hanging of what they could do in order to have a safe environment for different students. In conclusion, the book is a good read for individuals who are interested in the psychological perspective of middle school age group. More so, there is nothing really shocking about the book provided by Perlstein. Through the very clear influence of media and the environment many youth are led to very complicated situations such as teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, and a changing perception with regards to responsibilities and adulthood. These problematic cases are stated to be caused by different entities provided in the earlier paragraphs. Therefore, all the entities become an important influence to the lives of each student. Definitely the book written by Perlstein is very informative however; it also has the similar type of theme compared to other books available. Although this is the case, the book was able to reach to me as a reader. Through the experiences which I had in the past, I know have a better understanding of myself. Furthermore, I have a better understanding of the people surrounding me. Hence, I was able to create my own methods of addressing the issues of different personalities and perspectives. Due to the book written by Perlstein I was able to enjoy a book relating to various kinds of individuals.

Negative Impacts of Internet

The advent of the Internet has been one of the most exciting major events in the second half of the 20thtcentury. The ancient dream of â€Å"a scholar knows all things happening in the world without venturing outdoors† has finally become a reality. Since 1993, the Internet started to take off. At present, the Internet has spread to more than 180 countries and regions, connecting more than 600,000 domestic networks of various types, hooking up more than 20 million computers available to 120 million users (2% of the entire global population). However, due to its innate transnational, decentralized, open and unregulated nature, the Internet as a free, open and anarchic device has brought various countries great risks First of all, the internet has negatively influenced the countries politics because the Internet explicitly propagates and implicitly spreads western democratic values. These views are mainly spread through some governmental organizations or government-sponsored groups in the West. They select some typical stories that reflect western democracy and wrapped them up in attractive packages. Then they put these stories in visual and/or audio format and give them to people with great appeal and attractiveness. Most of those who have visited these websites come off praising the beauty of western democracy. The Internet can be also used as a tool to harm national sovereignty and interfere with other countries’ internal affairs. In some websites, when agencies and organizations of some foreign governments publish data, they treat areas such as Taiwan and Tibet as independent countries. The website of the U. S. National Geographic Society once published a map of Asia, which flagrantly excludes the South China Sea and Taiwan from our territories. Another example is that some websites have published views supporting Taiwanese and Tibetan independence and providing some so-called â€Å"historical evidence. † This has clearly interfered with Chinese internal affairs. The politically intended websites all have certain level of deceptiveness, influencing people to accept their views subconsciously, albeit with some doubt at first, thus shaking people’s firm stance of ideological correctness. Secondly, the internet causes cultural degradation because the Internet advocates western life-styles. These websites display various aspects of western society and life, and the overwhelming majority of them have positive portrayals of the western life-style. It makes people believe that the West seems to be countries of absolute freedom and paradise for individual achievement where private life is without obstacles and external inferences. Partial information such as this is particularly appealing to our youths whose life philosophy and worldview have yet to mature. Many of these youths aspire with great diligence to go abroad just to â€Å"change a way of living. † The Internet also poses a potential threat to information warfare. Some countries have applied the Internet into military operations, have conducted mock attacks against other countries’ networks, or have fabricated deceptive information harmful to other countries’ military forces. At a time when the information networks have become an important infrastructure of the nation and the military, the information warfare will be a war without the explosives, a war with a high invisibility, low cost, international, and multi-area (political, military, economic, social and material resources etc. approach. The high-tech nature and the unpredictability of combat intelligence in information warfare have made it extremely difficult to organize an information defense. The U. S. Department of Defense has specifically established an â€Å"Executive Committee on Information Warfare,† which is devoted to studying national policy for information warfare, and conducting war games on some websites. According to a report by the Sunday Thames of England, on 29 June (1998), experts from Great Britain and the United States conducted a secret military exercise in the destructive attacks on computers, with the objective of preventing a blitzkrieg in an information war. The result of the exercise indicates that just a few hackers can paralyze the stock market, military systems and airports, making the superpower, the United States, unable to move around. In a future information war, national financial transaction centers, stocks exchange centers, air traffic control centers, telecommunications control centers, railway control headquarters and various military networks, will inevitably become the main targets of information warfare. In conclusion, the internet is detrimental to a country’s culture, politics and security. Since it’s impossible to close the networks we must control and do our best to destroy its negative impacts when we can. Adapted from: http://www.uscc.gov/researchpapers/2000_2003/pdfs/neg.pdf