Islam In The Modern World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Islam In The Modern World - Essay Example As Michalopoulos, Naghavi and Prarolo (2010) writes, there were several scattered oasis in the desert where vine, frankincense, myrrh, and spices were produced; however, the remaining people led nomadic life. In addition, the ones in and around Mecca were benefiting from their location as Mecca was located along the route connecting Europe to Yemen. Thus, people who traded and cultivated accumulated wealth while the remaining had a pathetic entity; and as a result of this unequal distribution of wealth, robberies and attacks were very common. It was during this social instability that Muhammad had his birth in 570 AD. Muhammad too was a Meccan merchant and was well aware of the social inequalities that existed in Arabia. At this juncture, it seems quite natural that Islamic principles stress heavily on income redistribution, limiting capital accumulation, and incentives for religious endowments as the basic principles of Quran; thus showing that the religion was mainly against the un wanted commercial practices. One cannot turn a blind eye to the importance Muhammad has given to business ethics and the way he has changed the very concept of ‘maximum profit at any cost’. He showed how ethical perspectives can be included in business. In the story of Shu’aib, people are advised to ‘give just measure and weight’ and are directed that one should not withhold others’ due (Hud 11:84-88). In addition, there is warning that ones worship will not be accepted if he earns ‘haram’ (forbidden). There are a number of basic principles put forward by the Hadith regarding business dealings; they will not lie, will not misappropriate the trust when they are entrusted something, will give reasonable price for the things they buy, will not lie to get better price for the things they sell, and will not delay payments. In addition, the crimes in business dealings according to the Islamic principles involve interest on loans, gambli ng, prostitution, bribe, alcohol and drugs, torturing, selling defected items, and false witnesses. Another interesting directive from the prophet is the suggestion that one should not borrow money if he has enough to survive. In addition, the Prophet gives warning that one who charges interest for the money lent will be deprived of all blessings and it will lead to a war with Allah and His Messenger. Thus, it becomes evident that Muhammad was very much concerned about the existing commercialism in the Arabian land and wanted to have a total reform. Taking note of the increasing commercialism, he introduced ‘zakat’ (legal alms giving) especially to kins, poor, and travelers. However, it was the teachings on poverty that helped Quran achieve great success. Protesting the construction of buildings in markets, and opposing tax or rent, he promoted ‘sadaga’ (giving based on compassion). Kuran andTimur (2004) opine that it is this system of strict equality sugge sted by the Prophet that kept the Middle East economically backward while the western world made great strides. However, it is unwise to conclude that Commercialism was the only component that led to the origin of Islamism. Instead, Islamism was a fight against all

Iraq Christian Immigration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Iraq Christian Immigration - Assignment Example It is important to denote that in the current century, the social media is an important method of expressing oneself, and it has the capability of reaching a wide range of people. On this basis, the government and other religious organizations need to use the social media in preaching the message of peace, and discouraging sectarian as well religious violence. One of the long term methods of solving the immigration issue in Iraq is through education. That is educating children in primary, secondary and university institutions on the need of maintaining religious tolerance. It is essential for the government to revise the laws that promote religious intolerance, For instance, the constitution of Iraq provides that the official religion of Iraq is Islam, and therefore no law shall contradict the provisions and laws of Islam. This constitution is therefore discriminative to other religions such as Christianity in Iraq. However, Kerr (635) disagrees on this notion, and explains that in as much as the constitution of Iraq provides for an Islamic state; it also allows freedom of practicing religious beliefs, conscious, as well as freedom of thought. However, due to violence in the Iraq provinces it has been difficult to protect this right of Iraq, and hence leading to immigration of Christians from Iraq, to other neighboring countries. It is therefore essential for the government to seek the assistance of the international community in restoring law and order in areas where there is violence.

Fed Watch QE End and First Rate Hike Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fed Watch QE End and First Rate Hike - Essay Example The central bank in effect increases the monetary base. The need for changes in monetary policy arises from a failing policy or one that is not effective in creating the economic impact required. According to the information gathered and the specific economic signs available, chances are high that several hikes will materialize in the year 2015. Considering various studies conducted on the same, 38 respondents that included analysts, money managers, and economists, there looms a possibility of a hike in the rate in 2015. According to the information gathered, the hike will result in steeper interest rate increases in the coming years. The survey indicates that the rates will hike to a high of 3.04% by the end of 2017 (Liesman). When this takes effect, the Feds take a longer time normalizing the rates based on the need for constant review the rates in consideration of the effect they create. The application of an expansionary monetary policy reaches a point of failure when the interest rates on the short-term run towards zero. These explain situations that quantitative easing becomes applicable. Quantitative easing applied during these periods of low-interest rates aids in improving the inflation rate and reducing its effect. Quantitative easing aids in stabilizing inflation and controlling the rate to maintain it within the targeted points of the economy. These are accompanied by the improvement of the economic policies to make the economic policy more effective in helping the central bank take action against deflation. The increased money supply in an economy with less interest affects the money supply. The banks will run low on money to lend and have their reserves risk lowering further due to a high money supply in the market and uncontrolled demand. To reduce these effects, the central bank hikes the rates and mops out the excess liquidity from the market to aid in improving the economic situation. In addition, a high-interest rate reflects a decreased

Personal biography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Personal biography - Essay Example Armed with the knowledge and skill I gained from university and my determination to succeed, I began my career as an office clerk at Rainbow International Trading in Montreal. My intellect, expertise, and abilities promoted me to a supervisory position in less than a year. This new position widened the scope of my responsibility and in the process, furthered my strengths and competency. Wanting to build another career with a new organization, I served as a communication production assistant with the primary task of corresponding with stakeholders. Part of my job is the transacting with different financial institutions and the creation of spreadsheet reports utilizing my knowledge in accounting and expertise in Microsoft Excel. In 1999, I began to pursue a career in finance by joining the team of London Life as a financial security planning advisor. This position gave me a sense of pride and fulfillment as I was awarded the 1999 Honor Award being one of the only two members employed in less than two years to generate $2 million annual sales credit. To further enhance my skill in finance, I opted to become a sales assistant in RBC Investment Services (Asia) Limited. I went home to Hong Kong in 2001 to manage our family business. Currently, I am a Group Assistant manager overseeing the 2000 employees in our artificial flower manufacturing.

Corporate Integrity Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Corporate Integrity Management - Essay Example No matter how good an organization’s vision statement, mission statement or purpose statement could be; it would still be missing on the most vital aspect of focus, if it does not have some basic core values that it upholds and cultivates. The core values of an organization are supposed to be timeless and unchanging, always guiding the operations of the organization during the best seasons and even the worst seasons of the organization. Therefore, no matter whether the organization achieves its targeted performance, no matter if it makes the desired profits, no matter whether it meets the expectations of its stakeholders, one thing must remain constant for the organization; its core values. Thus, simply put, after removing the business the organization does and the money it generates, core values are the only things that must remain. There is a difference between an organization that pursues its vision and a visionary organization. The difference is in the alignment of the organizational core values (Collins, n.p.). While the organization pursuing its vision can do so without the backing of its core values, a truly visionary organization is led by its core values to pursue the aligned vision. Thus simply put, core values are the most important aspects and the fundamentals of any business successful business. There are various core values I consider very vital, which a business, newly established or already running, should still hold onto, even if they are not rewarded. These are the core values I deem most important for an organization, such that, they should be pursued even when they become a competitive disadvantage for the organization: Disclosure is the concept behind transparency and accountability. Accountability and transparency are some of the most important core values that drive a business towards success and steers it to the direction of achieving its missions and visions. Accountability and transparency refers to the extent of

Skungpoomery - Textual analysis Essay Example for Free

Skungpoomery Textual analysis Essay Skungpoomery features two characters, a mother and her son. The mother is very much a dominant woman who still enjoys fussing over and bossing about her rather useless, weak son. We did an exercise where we visualised what the characters would look like in our heads. Both the mother and the son reminded me of a famous duo, Laurel and Hardy. Mrs Wibble being Oliver Hardy, the domineering one and PC Nicholas Wibble being Stan Laurel, the simple one. Like Hardy treats Laurel, Mrs Wibble treats her son in a condescending way, much to the chagrin of PC Nicholas who would much rather be treated like an adult, and not have his mother still nagging at him. I can picture Mrs Wibble being quite a large character who would be wearing some sort of floral dress with bright red lipstick. I can imagine her voice being loud and perhaps quite high pitched and can see her walking around the stage with a good posture and large strides. PC Nicholas Wibble, I can picture being tall and lanky with a short bowl haircut, which of course his mother would have made him get, and can see him slouching across the stage, with a decidedly nervous disposition. I would imagine his voice would be rather quiet and perhaps slightly squeaky, as if it had not quite broken yet. I found that doing this exercise, helped improve my performance on stage as it meant I was able to act out the characters easier now that I had a clear image of what they looked like and how they acted in my head. PC Nicholas Wibble is still very child like, probably because he still lives at home and Mrs Wibble still treats him like a child rather than the adult that he is. Although PC Wibble may try to stand up to his mother, she will tell him otherwise and he backs down easily, here is an example of this: MRS WIBBLE- Take them off and let me give them a quick press. WIBBLE- O no, Mum-look Im going to be ever so late now. MRS WIBBLE-Take them off, Nicholas, it wont take a moment. WIBBLE- No. MRS WIBBLE- Nicholas!!! WIBBLE- Ooooooooooooh! Doing this exercise made it easier for me to do the butter and trouser scene in the play. This is where the phone is ringing and Mrs Wibble accidentally picks up the iron and puts it to her ear, rather than the phone, and then gets Nicholas to get her some butter to soothe it, and burns his trousers. To make this part of the performance more comical, we had to look at how the characters would move in a panicked way. For example, we thought that we could have Nicholas running about the stage in circles in a confused way, hands on his head, looking about, and thinking what to do while mumbling to himself. We could then have Mrs Wibble shouting at him to get the butter, while sobbing and moaning about her ear loudly, as it would make it more comical for the audience. To make sure that we had enough space on stage for all that was going on, we had to plan out the set and make sure we knew where everything was going to be so that we could determine exactly what the characters had to do and where. Learning and using all of these different techniques was useful when developing our final piece as it meant that we could piece together things that wed used from this practice piece, as well as our own new ideas, to get a good performance. We were now able to visualise exactly what our character would look and act like as well as the way they would move on stage, so that we could get a better understanding of our character and act them out in a suitable way.

A Successful Global Strategy

A Successful Global Strategy Executive Summary: This Report outlines how Walt Disney did successfully in global strategy. We found that the root issues include the need to expand into new markets and/or industries. We used a Porters Five Forces analysis to develop the alternatives. The alternatives that we proposed were to expand globally and enter the China makret. We analysed how the alternatives fit with Disneys corporate culture if the alternative would provide a competitive advantage. Upon the completion of our analysis, we recommend that Disney should expand globally in order to capitalise on unrealised markets in order to alleviate its root issues. 1. Introduction The Walt Disney Company, also known simply asDisney, is the largest media and entertainment conglomerate in the world. (http://money.cnn.com) The Walt Disney Company, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a leading diversified international family entertainment and media enterprise with four business segments: Media Networks, which includes the companys television and Internet operations; Parks and Resorts that featuring the companys theme parks,cruise line, and other travel-related assets; Studio Entertainment, which includes the companys film, recording label, and theatrical divisions; and Consumer Products, which produces toys, clothing, and other merchandising based upon Disney-owned properties. (http://corporate.disney.go.com) A strategic analysis of The Walt Disney Company will be conducted to explore the globalisation aspects of strategy within the organisation. Relevant theoretical frameworks and empirical information will be used to assess the viability of Disneys current global strategy and recommendations will be made if any appropriate changes should be considered. The Five Forces Model will be used in the report to analyse the competitive advantage of Disney. The Walt Disney Companys objective is to be one of the worlds leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. The Companys primary financial goals are to maximize earnings and cash flow, and to allocate capital profitably toward growth initiatives that will drive long-term shareholder value. (http://corporate.disney.go.com) It is influenced Disneys strategy towards making the company works globally. The following findings will analyse how Disney using taken a global approach in order to expand the business and will highlight areas of improvement and apply them into theoretical frameworks. And the issue will mainly focus on the plan of building a new Disneyland in Shanghai China 2. Findings 2.1 Current Strategy The current strategy of Disney is mainly depends or influenced by their mission statement that mentioned above: Be one of the worlds leading producers and providers The success of Disney is obvious, but how and why it was able to achievethat success is not as plain. The biggest strength of Disney as acompany, is really the firms `share of mind and it is also thecompanys strongest competitive advantage, or its economic moat. Toillustrate this, each one of us, after hearing the name `Disney willautomatically have something in mind an animated film, perhaps, or acharacter, or a theme park. No matter what that is, the association ismost likely a very positive one: One of entertainment, imagination, andperhaps a family setting. In contrast, the mention of Columbia Picturesor Universal Studios will not evoke the same type of response. However, their main global strategy is really in public eyes: building another theme park in Shanghai China. The Chinese government has approved plans for the Walt Disney Company to build a theme park in Shanghai, its first in mainland China. (http://news.bbc.co.uk) According to the Disney Annual Report (2009), they will remain focus on advancing their strategies objective of building the Companys position as a leader in the creation of high quality branded content and making Disney an even more prominent and successful provider of entertainment globally. 2.2 International composition and expansion According to Bob De Wit and Ron Meyer (2004), international composition is an international firm operates in two or more countries. When a firm starts up value adding activities in yet another country, it is called internationalisation. Disney is actually doing this to meet their goals. In 2005, Disney has opened the fifth theme park and it is located in Hong Kong China. It can see that there is a trend of Disney wants to do business in China. Disney has won approval to build a theme park in Shanghai after nearly 20 years of courting the Chinese government. l International Scope As everyone knows China is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, is a huge potential market for any foreign brand aiming to expand abroad. Shanghai, arguably the most international and diverse city in China. It will allow Disneyland to utilise the largest tourism resources in Eastern China for example sightseeing spots, tourism infrastructure. On the other hand, the world recession and other difficulties in the industry, Disneyland hasnt been doing well in recent years. Seeking a more profitable market is essential, and it is estimated that Shanghai Disneyland will attract 30 million visitors every year. (http://business.globaltimes.cn) l International distribution The international composition of firm also depends on how it has distributed its value-adding activities across the countries selected. In some firms, all national subsidiaries carry out similar activates and are of comparable size. For example RD, and production concentrated only in few countries. (Porter, 1986) At the moment, Disney and build 5 theme park in the world and they distributed in different part of the world. The cultural differences will affect how Disney works for the business. Mention about how to establish the foreign subsidiary, firm can work independently or joint venture with local player or foreign partner. This could refer to the theme park as a joint venture company the cost of inputs, the investment is not just for theme park, the park also includes a variety of capital costs, land costs, environmental costs, part of the regional transport infrastructure costs, relocation costs. And the joint venture partner for Shanghai Disney is the State-owned enterprises L ujiazui Group. (http://www.chinafinancialdaily.com) 2.3 Porters five forces framework of Disney Disney has a favourable marco-environment. Its microenvironment will be examined using Porters five forces model (Porter, 1980). This model seeks to measure the competitiveness of a company by reference to five forces: competitive rivalry; buyers; suppliers; potential entrants and substitutes. In the case of Disney, most of the major things bought such as the rides and buildings are one-off purchase. The suppliers that affect daily operation are food and beverage, fireworks etc. All these are replaceable and will not directly affected Disney competitive advantage. Secondly, the bargaining power of buyer is determined by the concentration of buyers and how much customers can impose pressure on volumes and margins. Lets take Hong Kong Disneyland as an example; their customers have relatively low bargaining power because the theme park is differentiated in its industry. So the threats from buyers are low. There is a direct competitor for Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park. Most teenagers will prefer Ocean Park as the entry fee for Disneyland is almost US$24 more than Ocean Park. That is why Hong Kong Disneyland has steadily lost money since opening in 2005 (http://www.businessweek.com) However, there is a dilemma happen to Disney: there will be a greatest threat or opportunities for Disneyland overall as mention above, the proposals for the second Disneyland in China. This new Disneyland will be eight times bigger than the one in Hong Kong (Subler, 2008). So Disney faces a same brand competitor within Asia and competing in the same market. And the substitutes would affected by other leisure and retail industries. It is because in China, shop normally close at 10pm rather than 5/6pm in western countries. Customers might have other alternatives instead of theme park. Overall, the microenvironment analysed by Porters five forces has revealed that Disney has a competitive environment. 2.4 Localisation or Globalisation? When the Hong Kong Disneyland was under construction, it was reported that the design plan of this park had been reviewed by Feng Shui experts to bring prosperity and good luck. Now, Disney will set up its second theme park in China. Will Shanghai Disneyland contain more Chinese features? Should Disney stick to internationalised and standardised route or positively adopt the localisation strategy? According to the report from The Times (http://business.timesonline.co.uk), Disney said that Shanghai Disneyland will be a fantastic world with Chinese characteristics, including the Chinese food and the suggestions from Feng Shui experts in the design of the park.To address this possibility, the spokesman of Disney made this official statement: Shanghai will feature a Magic-Kingdom style, in keeping with its cousins in Asia, the U.S. and France. It will also have Chinese characteristics as a part of the localization process that is a part of the deal. 3. Conclusion After analysing the Walt Disney case, the current strategy for Disney is being one of the leading producers and providers of entertainment and information, using its portfolio of brands to differentiate its content, services and consumer products. And other strategy is made looking forward to build the sixth theme park in Shanghai China. They will need to consider how they work successfully in order to avoid making the same mistake of Hong Kong Disneyland. Though it is not a big mistake, the issue they need to concern would be how they operate the new Disneyland. Would they stick the Chinese feature in the theme park? Is localisation or globalisation better suit for the new Disneyland? Also, the Porters five force Model has shown that Disney has a competitive advantage to the microenvironment. No matter how they operate, the Walt Disney still has a high reputation in everyone heart. 4. Recommendation In order to make a better improvement for Disney in doing business globally, there are several points I would like to focus on and help Disney works efficiently. The managers of Disney are believed to have made up their minds between globalisation and localisation. But like the saying Disneylands construction will not be stopped if there is space for imagination, numerous guesses will haunt Shanghai Disneyland before it is finished.I would say localisation is not a bad thing. Disney should integrate the Chinese features into Shanghai Disneyland. Even the theme park can be called Disney Oriental Park. However, on the other hand for using the idea of globalisation, the special cultural characteristics would makes Disney become what it is. And too many local elements may exert negative influence upon its attraction power.Therefore, Both localisation and globalisation should focus on transferring the cultural elements into something needed by the industry chain. Also, for even more expansion, as everyone knows, the size of Hong Kong Disneyland and Paris Disneyland is relatively small comparing to other Disneyland. They still have room for further expansion. Such as Hong Kong, it is a right decision to expand the theme park further for the preparing of new opening of Shanghai Disneyland. Once they expand, they would not lose the competitive ability against the rival or internal competitors. Therefore, in my opinion, Disney has successful expand globally in order to capitalise on unrealised markets in order to alleviate its root issues. But there are still unforeseeable potential for Disney. So in short term, a carefully formulated brand strategy will be the key for Disneylands China dream to come true. 5. References: The Walt Disney Company Fiscal Year 2009 Annual Financial Report Bob De Wit and Ron Meyer (2004) Strategy, Process, Contentm Context, An international perspective, 3rd Edition, South-Western Cengage Learning Porter, M.E. (1980)Competitive Strategy, Free Press, New York, 1980. Company Overview http://corporate.disney.go.com/corporate/overview.html (Accessed: 10th Feb 2010) Why Disney wants DreamWorks http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/09/news/companies/disney_dreamworks.fortune/?postversion=2009020914 (Accessed: 21st Feb 2010) Disneyland approved for Shanghai http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8341570.stm (Accessed: 19th Feb 2010) Shanghai Disneyland on the Way http://www.gotoread.com/mag/13136/sarticle_32571.html (Accessed: 17th Feb 2010) Hong Kong Disneylands Future Is in Danger http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2009/gb20090317_923737.htm (Accessed: 22nd Feb 2010) Mickey Mouse prepared to be Shanghaied as China opens up http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article3498733.ece (Accessed: 15th Feb 2010) Disney Shanghai to gamble? http://www.chinafinancialdaily.com/financial/news/2009/12/10/11836/interpretation-of-the-disney-shanghai-suction-gold-journey-tourists-spend-about-600-yuan-per-capita-1.html (Accessed: 15th Feb 2010) Subler J. (2008), Shanghai applies to build its own Disneland: mayor, Reutoers, Online News 6th March 2008 Available from: http://www.reuters.com (Accessed: 17th Feb 2010)