Author: chris

Current Account Deficit

A current account deficit occurs in a situation where a country’s total of imports exceeds the total of the exports. When such a situation occurs, the country is said to be indebted to the other countries in the world. The United States recorded a deficit of up to $127 billion in the last three months of Year 2010. The United States is the most important country in the world in international trade. For many years, it has been the leading the world in imports and at the same time maintaining top three positions as exporters of the world. Among the major exports are machinery and equipment. The rest include industrial commodities, automobile, spare parts and diverse foods. The major U.S. imports are different types of fuels, machinery and equipment for production. The major trading associate countries are Canada, European Union countries, Mexico, China and Japan (Summers 43).

From the Year 1989, the current account deficit of the United States has widened to up to 7% of GDP in 2006 (Lenz, Monroe & Parsell 47). New observations show that in spite of this wide gap, current account deficits are being controlled by positive valuation of the assets. U.S. assets abroad are increasing in value as compared to the domestic assets owned by foreign investors. This then shows that net foreign assets in U.S are not declining concurrently with current account deficits. Unfortunately, the recent records show that the net foreign assets are declining. In 2008, the decline was more than two trillion dollars. This has been caused by low performance of domestic owning of foreign assets to foreign investors owning domestic assets.

The current account deficit is a problem to US economy. It is now about 5% of the gross domestic product of the country. For many countries, this would get their attention. For example, the European Union forbids its members to have more than 3% deficit of their GDP (Barschel 114). A deficit shows that there are lesser funds to pay debts. This affects the economy of the country because it cannot afford to pay debts to other countries. This is accompanied by reduction of the value of currency. Another disadvantage of current account deficit is investors from abroad might be discouraged by the rate of deficit and decide to take away their investments.

There are certain ways that the government can embrace to curb the deficit. An upward shift in the currency value of a nation compared to others will make a nation’s exports become less competitive and make imports reduce their expense, and therefore it will rectify a current account surplus. When the contrary is noted, that is when the nation’s currency falls in comparison to that of other nations, its citizens find it harder to purchase imports and increases the competitiveness of their exports, therefore aiding in reducing the deficit. This is a gradual process so it does not solve the problem immediately (Hauke, 2007). If the shift of the currency value would be expressed in a graph, an upward shift should show a movement to the graph towards the right. A downward shift should show movement of the graph towards the left.

The government could also adjust internal prices and demand. This can be done through the rigid gold standard. This is changing some aspect of the economy. The country can decide to remove the gold from the economy. This will cause a loss of gold hence deflation. This means there will be a reduction in the prices of commodities making exports competitive. It will also make the imports less competitive. Therefore, there will more inflow from exports than the money used to pay imports. This will reduce the country’s deficit in the current account (Lenz, Monroe & Bruce, 1992). Reducing the demand of the citizens will contribute because the imports will reduce. The commodities imported could be increased by the great demand of the citizens. If it is possible and applicable, the citizens should be encouraged to use homemade commodities where possible so that the rate of imports is reduced. These methods could assist to reduce deficit in the current account.

Works Cited

Barschel, Hauke. The U.S. current account deficit- whose problem is it? A short overview. California, CA: Routledge Publishers. 2007. Print.

Lenz, Allen, Hunter Monroe and Bruce Parsell. Narrowing the U.S. current account deficit: a sectoral assessment. Iowa, IA: Springer Publisher 1992.

Summers, Lawrence H. The US current account deficit and the global economy. Washington, D.C: Per Jacobson Foundation, 2004. Print.

Economics

Spain exhibits one of the highest unemployment figures in the world. This is contradictory as it is one of the highly industrialized nations in the world and ranked as a developed nation. Current statistics show that Spain is churning out more than 0.2 million Spanish citizens out on a weekly basis. The number of unemployed persons in Spain has been steadily doubling for the last fiscal year. This makes the country to have the same number of unemployed personnel as France and Italy combined, with the rates of unemployment reaching highs that were last evidenced in 1993.

Currently, official statistics from the government of Spain indicate that about a fifth of the country’s total population is unemployed, which makes the figures of unemployed Spaniards to be close to 4.6 million. Previous figures from the last fiscal report indicated that the percentage of unemployed people in Spain was 19 percent and the actual figure was that 4.6 million people were actually jobless. The first quarter of the year usually presents very high unemployment figures, as there are low labor-intensive activities that are inclusive of construction, agriculture, and tourism.

Spain usually exhibits Demand-deficient or Cyclical unemployment. This kind of unemployment is characterized by the presence of too many willing and able potential employees than the available jobs. Keynesian economists believe that this type of unemployment usually occurs when there is disequilibrium in the economy. The term cyclical refers to the fact that it varies with the trade cycle. In Spain’s case, it is highest during the first quarter. During the second, third and fourth quarters, Spain’s economy is usually booming resulting to a rise in the number of available jobs. This means that many of the Spaniards are able to get employment opportunities available at the industries. This has the effect of lowering Demand-deficient unemployment. When the economy slows down, usually during the first quarter, the Demand-deficient unemployment reaches all time highs.

Spain could have the pleasure of implementing a couple of policies to reduce the high unemployment. They include:

• Boost aggregate demand: The government implementing policies that could reduce inflation could realize this. This could include reducing taxes and increasing spending (Tudela, 2010).
• Reduce the interest rates and let go of the Euro: As radical as it seems, the UK is practicing this and it gives it the freedom to reduce interest rates in accordance to the needs of its own economy rather than the needs of the EU. However, this action has the effect of causing exchange rate fluctuations and transaction costs (William & Scot, 2002).
•  Supply side Policies: The Supply side Policies that the government may employ includes making it easier to hire workers. This may require the EU to alter the law governing employment. The government could also spend more in training and educating the youth. However, the results could take time to manifest and it is not a guaranteed way to reduce unemployment. The government could also offer subsidies on jobs. This means that could for example finance for the construction of new houses in an effort to boost employment (Cubbin, 2002).

Records from the government show that in the past 27 weeks, 5.4 million people had been deemed unemployed. These figures had soared drastically from the past government data that showed that only 0.5 million people were deemed jobless. The current figures show that 35.6% of America’s population is currently unemployed. Also from the records, the 8.5 million people had believed they had permanently lost their jobs, which was a rise of 0.4 million from the previous records that showed that 8.1 million people deemed themselves to have permanently lost their jobs.

The US economy is being plagued by structural unemployment. Structural unemployment occurs when the labor market is unable to absorb all the willing employees as they lack the necessary skills to perform the available jobs. This is mainly due to changes in the structure of the industry. Overtime, the economy of a nation does change resulting into a change in the type of industries. Possible causes of this could be the technological advancements, which render older ones to be obsolete. The tastes and preferences of the population could also change due to changes in fashion and times thereby rendering some commodities out of demand. The US economy has firms and investors who were once major employers in the past but currently they either have been edged out completely or are fizzling out. As an example, the recent economic recession has adversely affected the property market in the US. Most of the Americans have invested heavily in property and homes. The collapse of the market has the ripple effect in other industrial and economic sectors such as manufacturing and finance. This has consequently rendered many Americans to be out of business and thus jobless.

The US economy has been drastically affected by structural unemployment. However, several measures could be put in place to reduce structural unemployment. This includes:

• Industry reform: The government can encourage research and innovation in the concerned industries. This can give the industries the dynamism that is reflective of the market and make them remain profitable for a long time. These could also create more jobs and help alleviate unemployment. The results of research and innovation are not realized very quickly with time, but so does structural unemployment (Sutton, 2001).
• Retraining of staff: The government should offer training for company staff with the help of the respective companies. This would make the workers dynamic and relevant under economic and market changes. Staff should keep in touch with technological advancements through part time courses and presentations (Etro, 2009).

 

References

Cubbin, J. (2002). Market structure and performance: the empirical research. New York, NY: Routledge.

Etro, F. (2009). Endogenous Market Structures and the Macroeconomy. New York NY: Springer.

Sutton, J. (2001). Technology and market structure: Theory and history. New York, NY: MIT Press.

Tudela, F. (2010). Trading Triads: Unlocking the Secrets of Market Structure and Trading in Any Market. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

William, B. and Scot, J. (2002). Market structure and technological change. New York, NY: Routledge.

 

Teaching Languages

Summary

The practical fitness in skills has been for long recognized as a necessary constituent of communicative aptitude. The soundness and the dependability of many teaching methods through a realistic understanding play a big role in self-assessment as a teacher. Challenges associated with this learning come because of existence of varied communities with different practices. Regardless of the mounting curiosity in training the subsequent verbal communication, there seems to be fewer details with reference to classroom. This details regard to the practical skills that are essential as tools for evaluation in the course of training. This detailed case focuses on expressing the functionality standards of pragmatic in classroom setup. In addition, it exhibits the efficiency of a teacher- ground analysis of pragmatic skills as quoted by Ableeva (2007) on socio-cultural speculation.

Critical Response

In a Japanese institution, a teacher introduced a course of English through which the trainer focused on practical guidelines about the language. The Japanese teacher employed the use of combined developed real evaluation paraphernalia. This included the reflective script and peer-analysis among other methods that enhanced the relation and evaluation throughout the training session. The evaluation concept was aimed at educating the learner the importance of proficiency in the communal believes. This concept was also vital in educating the learner and making him conscious about the social reality and the origin of their language. In addition, it was meant to asses the level of understanding between the learners’ interpretation and that of the teachers.

Personal experience

Language teachers face similar problems that entail response and evolution. For instance, before I became a teacher, I had also many problems in English language. Most of the problems included poor pronunciation of vocabularies and my grammar was not coherent. This kind of problem came as a result of frequent use of my native language. My teacher managed to solve this problem by enforcing English to be spoken in school. The little English words that we knew become useful in the sentences construction. Therefore, the frequent use of English as my second language helped me to know English. This experience facilitated me when I was employed to teach language in a mission-based school in Africa. This was not an effortless task because English was a compulsory course of study. Students in that school did not know even a single word of English for they had been influenced by their cultural practices. Their eager to know English was to some extent in futile because their pronunciation was significantly tampered with by their native language. We did not have enough time to evaluate the learning capability of the students and this resulted to poor language among the students. This issue existed since the classes where crowded consequently making it difficult for me to evaluate each student individually. Essentially, the environment was not conducive for the reason that poverty and other social problem incapacitated the process.

One of the lessons that I have learned in this contest, is to have a consistent way of evaluating the learners’ understanding capacity. As a teacher, I should avoid talking so much but instead allow the students to talk. This shall be done through group discussions, for which every student shall have the opportunity to participate in speaking English. Learning a second language involves student emotionally hence, a humble environment is required. In this way, as a teacher I should bring forth humorous scenes that will dissolve the tension. Consequently, the students will love the lesson to an extent they will be longing for it. One principle of learning is employed where passion exists for it greatly facilitates understanding as quoted by Hymes (1972).

Repeating and rephrasing facilitate understanding of the keywords to the student. Emphasis on words and vocabulary expose the student and thus occupying his mind with words that he may not forget easily. Though for the first instance he may not understand, later the mind will remember due to the persistence. The other method that can help is through avoiding overcorrecting the student. This is because overcorrecting imparts a negative thought to the student leading to development of low esteem. This character makes a student detest the subject and as a result, he or she lags behind in the lesson. Therefore, it is appropriate for the teachers to evade from actions that will hinder the student from actively participating in the class.

References

Ableeva, R. (2007). Assessing listening for development: Language in action: Vygotsky and Leontievian legacy today. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars.

Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence: Sociolinguistics: Selected readings. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

 

 

Underdeveloped Societies

For a healthy private sector, there needs to be a healthy domestic macro-environment, which includes sound macro-economic policies, stable political environment, peace, transparent governance, predictable, and friendly policies. These however are lacking in developing countries. Developing countries are more susceptible to coups due to the nature of their unstable governments and this tends to make it hard for investors, as the incumbent governments may not recognize agreements between the past government and the investors. Transitions of governments in developing countries are usually violent. Lack of peace makes the environment not conducive for business thus investors tend to shy away from investing in such nations (Undp.org, 2004).

Lack of both economic and political decentralization is a huge obstacle to the growth of the private sector. This is because many factors will go in favor of the government thus weakening the private sector. On the other hand, decentralization of the economy would be huge benefit to the whole public in general. This is because it would lead to the creation of more jobs thus offer competition to the government in terms of job creation. Moreover, the power of democracy would rule because the private sector would be able to fight for the rights of the public and manipulate the job market due to the competition it offers to the government (Undp.org, 2004).

One of the critical obstacles against the development of the private sector in the Third World countries is the lack of physical and social infrastructure. Physical and social infrastructure includes basic education of the society, roads, state of telecommunications, amount of power, state of ports and health. The presence of an improved physical and social infrastructure not only makes the environment conducive for business, but also tends to improve the standards of living in the respective countries directly. It is estimated that poor infrastructure results into lump sum amounts in losses. These tend to be half the budget for financing infrastructure. The investors and especially the small-scale businesses are the ones who mostly incur these costs. Lack of proper infrastructure is a common occurrence in the undeveloped countries. This feature tends to escalate the costs in business and consequently lowering the profits. This means that operating the same business in a developed country is more profitable than in an undeveloped country. Lack of good roads can completely shut down small firms and cause other companies and businesses to lack basic products (Mrcglobal, 2007).

Another critical obstacle that is against the development of the private sector in the Third World countries is the lack of business friendly laws and policies. The lack of a transparent legal framework and a just judicial and administrative system tends to hamper the growth and development of the private sector. The governments should enact laws and policies that reduce transaction costs. The laws and policies enacted that influence the business market should be predictable and enforceable. The laws and policies that influence the private sector include commercial laws, custom laws, and the laws governing contracts among others. Laws and policies regarding property rights can either foster or be an obstacle against the development of the private sector in the Third World countries. The existence of numerous legal requirements to start a business is a great obstacle in the development of the private sector. Investors tend to shy away from countries that impose numerous legal requirements. Confusing and contradictory legal systems often render it impossible to run formal businesses. Hefty taxes, customs, and duties that are evident in developing nations often make investors shy away from them (Worldbank, 2000).

Another obstacle that hinders the private sector from being an economic alternative in undeveloped societies is the lack of access to financing. Most of the undeveloped countries lack domestic financial institutions that can be up to the tasks of effectively managing risks and providing capital to viable investments. This greatly hampers domestic investment as foreign direct investors can access finances from other financial institutions worldwide. Although these foreign investors play a crucial role in the development of the private sector, it is impossible for the private sector to develop completely without the inclusion of domestic investment. There are high risks involved in the running of small-scale businesses in undeveloped economies. This makes it necessary for the small-scale investors to have risk capital but the sources of such capital are limited. There is the lack of entrepreneurs who can leverage assets especially of small-scale investors as collateral. This makes it impossible for the investors to access capital through classic debt financing.

One of the most critical obstacles against the development of the private sector in the Third World countries is the lack of decentralization. Decentralization is the process of breaking down power and governance from the monopolization of the government to the people. Through this, ordinary citizens who are not necessarily in government have the ability to provide essential goods and services to the public. The areas of decentralization include the engineering sector, management science, political science, political economy, sociology, and economics. Through decentralization, more players are able to enter the market and thus job creation is brought about.

Economic and political decentralization are both essential to the enhancement of the private sector. Decentralization of the economy allows the private sector to be an actual competitor with the sector and even with the government. The outcome of such competition includes jobs creation and democracy. Undeveloped countries however lack of economic and political decentralization, thus most of the essential goods, services and decision making processes are provided by the government. Through this unhealthy business, practices such as favoring business people who finance the government representatives are practiced. Through decentralization, this does not happen as the power is invested in the people and not on some few individuals. It is usually hard for private firms to compete with the ones owned by the government as the latter can access stimulus packages and funding from the government and thus are able to operate on very low profit margins unlike the privately owned ones (World bank, 2000).

.References

Mrcglobal. (2007). Private Sector Development in Developing Countries. Retrieved from www.mrcglobal.org/private_sector

Undp.org. (2004). Constraints on the private sector in developing countries. Retrieved from www.undp.org/cpsd/documents/report/english/chapter2.pdf.

Worldbank. (2000). Private sector participation in developing countries. Retrieved from siteresources.worldbank.org/INTUSWM/Resources/psp_english.pdf

Overview of Living Primates

Primates can be defined as a make up of a biological order and they descend from a common leader. There are approximately 200-230 species of primates, which can be categorized into three main groups: new world monkeys, which live in America; old world monkeys and apes, which live in Africa except humans and orangutans; and prosimians, which are the most primitive primates and are said to be found in Malaysia and small parts of Southeast Asia. The primates have a lineage, which is thought to go back up to 65 million years ago. They have common characteristics in which they share.

Majority of the primates have an arboreal lifestyle, they rely more on vision rather than scent, they have opposable thumbs and they have hands and feet with five digits, which have nails instead of claws. As compared to their body size, they usually have large brains as compared to the other animals and are very intelligent with some of them using tools to do several tasks. They have long and extended periods both in anti- and post-natal. They tend to care for their young ones for a very long time. They take long to socialize as the baboons take like six months before they become intimate. Different primates have different social structures like forming of troops by baboons and chimpanzees. In addition, different chimpanzees have different diets like eating of different fruit and different meat products like the gazelles and lizards meat.

A good example of a primate is the baboon. They are categorized in the group of old world primates in the family of cercercopithecidae. They are terrestrial animals, that is, they have adapted themselves to living on the land. They live in rocky plains, hilly regions, rainforests and savanna woodlands. They are mainly found in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They have a body length of about 29.5 inches and there weight varies from 12 to 21 kilograms. The males are usually double the size of the female. The baboons have a strong lower abdominal region, a pointed face, long and sharp canine teeth that are common to all primates, very powerful and strong jaws, rough body hair (females luck the male’s long hair around the neck known as ruff) and a naked rump. The males have silver grey color and long shoulder capes where as the females have an olive brown color but lack a mane or a shoulder cape like the males. They form large social groups known as troops where there is one dominant male surrounded by a number of breeding females. This basic unit is known as harem. They usually mate at any time of the year and there mating is very short, which takes only 15-20 seconds. The baboons eat both plants and animals and they are usually active during the day and usually sleep at night. Lastly, the baboons have over 30 vocalization and they spend most of their time on mutual grooming.

Another example of a primate is the chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes). They are categorized in the older world monkeys in the family of pongidae. They are arboreal and terrestrial meaning that they live on trees and land but they are not proficient swimmers. The chimpanzees are the most intelligent and they are said to be the closest to humans. They are mainly found in the wet savannas and the rainy forests. There are four sub-species of chimpanzees, which include western Chimpanzees, Nigerian chimpanzees, eastern chimpanzees and central chimpanzees. Eastern chimpanzees are found in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya but in Kenya, they are only found captivity. Central chimpanzees are found in Central Democratic Republic of Congo. The western chimpanzees are found in Guinea and lastly the Nigerian chimpanzees are found in Nigeria. They have a thickset body with long, short legs and they do not have a tail. They have long black hair covering their bodies (except for face, ears and toes, which are bare). They live in groups of 30-80 individuals called troops. They have been known to use tools to perform several tasks like fetching of water with chewed lives. They are active during the day and sleep at night. They have built nests with tree branches and lining the edges with twigs. They usually eat plants but can supplement their diet with meat. There arms have a long grip that firmly grasps the fruits on the branches. When a female is on heat, the bare skin on her bottom turns pink and swells. She can mate with several males and normally gives birth to one baby. She breast-feeds her and carries her like a small baby similar to what the humans do.

 

To: Senior Management

 

Title: How should Rare Vanaspati create brand awareness in a bid to create customer loyalty for enhanced market retention?

 

Number of words:

 

I substantiate that the following report has been generated with own effort and that the presented version is the final draft. In-text citations are accorded to direct quotes or ideas that have been acquired from other individuals, whether in writing or verbal.

 

Signed:

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

CONTENTS PAGE

Contents                                                                                                                                             Page

Executive Summary

Introduction

Procedure/ Method

Main Results and Findings

Analysis and Discussion

Conclusion and Recommendations

Bibliography and References

Appendices

Executive Summary

Introduction

Rare Vanaspati is a leading sole proprietor producer of hydrogenated cooking oil located in Sri Lanka. Much of the company’s produced oils are distributed to foreign markets, largely marked as the Indian wholesale domain as exports. The company achieves its sales through business intermediaries who act as the imported to the target market in India. The imported oil is accorded another brand name, as per the intermediaries’ instruction that is compatible with the Indian market. The main weakness associated with this marketing strategy is that the product has been deficient in the creation of brand awareness and consumer loyalty in India which consequently would ensure higher market preservation.

 

Although the company continues to note increased growth in terms of enhanced sales through a strong management team and leadership strategies that have ensured low overheads and increased profitability margins, a logistics solution needs to be implemented within the two nations for the creation of a competitive edge against foreign industry rivals. This has therefore led me to the following research question:

“How should Rare Vanaspati create brand awareness in a bid to create customer loyalty for enhanced market retention?”

 

The paper will analyze the various solutions towards the above research question.

 

Procedure and Method

The primary research conducted in this study comprised of interviews on the senior management officials within the company. Information gathered from the interviews was used in the analysis of the weaknesses within the company’s internal structure and how this affects the marketing component of the organization. Additionally, questionnaires were formulated for the inclusion of the marketing department within the study for a comprehensive analysis of the problem that faces the company in terms of branding and market retention. The questions used in the documents were both open and close ended, with the latter comprising of the likert scale. The number of participants used in the study was seventeen employees involved in the management and marketing departments of Rare Vanaspati.

 

Secondary information was primarily sourced from analytical tools like charts and graphs used to assess the company’s growth trends over the years from the periods 2000 to 2011. Complementary information was acquired from the internet and course books. Problems faced in the acquisition of primary data was the time factor

Procedure/ Method

Main Results and Findings

Analysis and Discussion

Conclusion and Recommendations

Bibliography and References

Appendices

 

Name

Instructor

Class

Date

Marketing Strategy: Brand Appeal for Rare Vanaspati Oil

Introduction

This paper shall explore the viability for business improvement through a product barding strategy as part of market retention and expansion. The branding of Rare’s product lines shall be opportune I going by the escalating business scenarios.

Abstract

The marketing of cooking oil from Sri Lanka in the Indian market is poised for radical changes in light of the prevailing economic circumstances and political scenarios. In light of India’s improving comparative economic advantages to produce oil locally as well as expanding international cocking oil sources on the global arena, Sri Lanka’s oil shall face increasing competition. Nonetheless, their primary occupation of a significant market segment is strength with unique opportunities. Brand strategy is the best option in facing this challenges and capitalizing on the strengths. Rare Vanaspati has the advantage of holding a significant market segment which need only consolidation and differentiation to attain heightened loyalty and hence competitive advantages against all the competitors.

Marketing Strategy: Brand Appeal for Rare Vanaspati Oil

The performance of any business entity is hugely dependent on the satisfaction the services and products command amongst the consumers. This is the sole reason why market strategies and distributions logistics form a major backbone in business operations. The nature of the goods for the company being household consumables, there is often high sales volumes and thus the nature of marketing and strategic market explorations are vital to sustainability and excellence.

Rare Vanaspati is a sole proprietorship concerned with the manufacturing hydrogenated cooking oil in Sri Lanka. Currently their main market focus is on the Indian wholesale market, where they sell the product through importers. However not under the label of Rare or any other brand associated but rather brands that the importers give the company. As a result of this, though Rare is the end manufacturer they lack brand awareness and loyalty in the market. Therefore Rare Vanaspati must now reconsider their target markets and while keeping them in mind, indulge in methods that would impart its brand into the market and generate image along with consumer loyalty.

A scientific research on Vanaspati and cooking oil brands available in the market discovered that most oil brands and almost all Vanaspati brands are unhealthy for consumption owing to high Trans-fatty acid contents. The politics of brands is a heated debate within the Indian society as a result of many elderly people having heart related complications. It is therefore crucial that the Company improves on their technology through schedules of refinery and manufacturing to meet the demands of the consumers. In addition, as per the WHO regulations, the acceptable maximum value of trans-fatty acids in cooking oil is one per cent or below. The ratios for the relative abundance of essential and saturated fats are also controlled in the recommendations and thus the manufacturers have the duty to comply and again consumers often being very informed, impress very critical judgments on the brands.

 

 

 

It is obvious form the various business data yielded that the Rare Vanaspati has a robust growth credential which can be attributable to the managerial competencies and effective distribution which reduces the cost of operations considerably and thus promoting the profitability of the firm. The management of logistics for the Rare Vanaspati products between the two countries is a critical factor to the excellence of the

 

The domestic sources of oil seem poised to improve and the social and economic circumstances of production changing positively, the competition will take a new dimension thus prompting the quest for branding and hence market retention accruing from brand loyalty. The current logistical and managerial competencies of the Rare Vanaspati have a considerable edge over the others.

Price is a major determinant of the success of a brand within a very competitive process as the company finds itself

SWOT analysis (of the company, this study embraced the futuristic trends of finance, profitability and accounting as well as the general aspects of political and social welfare variables of the target market)
Strength (internal)  : This project is set up considering extension in future, so if done will be at relatively low cost of capital. The company has its own power generation so they are not dependant  on outside electricity hence can run our plant without disturbance continuously which is a basic requirement since Vanaspathi manufacturing is a continuous process.
Weaknesses (internal): The main weakness here is dependency on local labor which is not hard working and efficient.
Opportunity (external in the economy etc): This project is set up under free Trade Agreement between India and Sri Lanka as a BOI ( Board of Investments of Sri Lanka)unit eligible for duty free import of Raw material into Sri Lanka and export of Vanaspathi from here. There is no import duty in India for such imports from Sri Lanka, so we have edge over Indian manufacturers of Vanaspathi because of duty benefits. Threats (external): We have to depend on government policies in this regard, any change in duty structure by any government can make the project non viable. Energy being the main hindrance to manufacturing efficiency which have been well met by the company shall no longer make part of the greatest contribution for the overheads.

PEST analysis (for Sri Lanka, India and how they affect the company)
Political : Since the project is set up under  FTA (Free Trade Agreement ) any change in government stand whether by Indian or Sri Lankan government can change its working either way positively or negatively  both. The management shall go the extra mile to achieve political and social disparity harmonization through specially modeled programs of corporate social responsibility.
Economic: This project is set up to boost Sri Lankan Economy which was the main purpose of FTA whereas  Imports of items from Sri Lanka mentioned in FTA is duty free in India giving a competitive benefit to these imports than local manufacturers in India. So it is good for Sri Lankan Economy whereas not good for Indian Manufacturers. Social: These projects are giving social upliftment to Sri Lankan Public by providing employment to local citizen and other services like transport, port and infrastructure giving boost to local business.
Technology: This is not a very advances high technique project, so on this front it does not offer

Any substantial opportunity to either country.
Porters five analysis –
These analyses portray several variables into the consideration of financial efficiency of the firm. They include the following:
Threat of new entrants in the industry: There is a overall cap on Export from here so Sri Lankan Government may not permit new entrants, because the present production capacities are more than the export entitlement. In addition, the bargaining power of buyers: Our buyers in India purchases the various brands of the company from our associate concern their so their bargaining power depends on demand in regional parts of India on account of festivals marriage season. Moreover, the bargaining power of suppliers: There is no shortage of Raw Material in International market, so it gives one institution  credence based on your payment terms and big quantities u proposes to buy.
The threat of substitutes (like other types of oils etc): A very small portion of India demand is met from here so does not have much threats of substitutes for our product and Vanaspathi oil has specific applications so can not have other oil as 100 percent substitute. Competitive rivalry: In Sri Lanka export of Vanaspathi oil is under quota allotted by the BOI and commerce ministry, hence there is no competitive rivalry.
A brief analysis of the main competitors of Rare Vanaspati and their marketing strategies: There is no competition in Sri Lanka because of Quota system applicable for Export. Here we are producing Vanaspathi as per the quota for export allotted to us.
Any government data present on the consumption of oil etc and the market scope: In Sri Lanka Vanaspathi oil is not used at all. Here coconut oil is used for cooking. The demand for coconut oil also is very low. No specific figures are available but the consumption here is not more than 1000 MT per month. Moreover, strategies Rare used to decide its target market and how to price its products, and if any marketing techniques were ever used. To get full benefit of the pricing fluctuation in Indian market, we worked on the basis of commission sales agent. We export to that agent and he sells in the market on commission basis. Price fluctuation is to our account.
Distribution channel process of the company: We are doing our marketing through Commission sales agent. This strategy has not only seen the company through many serious developments but also the advancement of the technical capacity of the firm to attain excellence.

A scientific research on Vanaspati and cooking oil brands available in the market discovered that most oil brands and almost all Vanaspati brands are unhealthy for consumption owing to high Trans-fatty acid contents. The politics of brands is a heated debate within the Indian society as a result of many elderly people having heart related complications. It is therefore crucial that the Company improves on their technology through schedules of refinery

Conclusion

The positioning of the company with regard to gearing for market retention and brand establishment is succinctly achieved through the operational simulations, managerial potency that embraces the political and geographical challenges as well as the product specific mechanisms that retain the set of tastes and preferences desirable for the society. Branding strategy has to go beyond mere promotion. For such a widely consumed necessity as cooking oil, the brand has to attain the status of creating a culture if it is to survive. The strategy here therefore is for the top management and the marketing team to sustain a rapid campaign that shall ensure the attainment of the set of desirable goals of acculturation. Suffice it to say; efficient mechanisms of product improvement, research and development have to be carried out in tandem with the general strategy of the organization.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire – Consumer Preference/Trend

Thank you for taking the time to consider our questionnaire. If at anytime you do not wish to answer a question please leave blank and move on to the next question.

1. Gender

• Male
• Female

Female

2. Age Bracket

• Up to 18
• 18 – 30
• 30 – 50
• Over 50

30 – 50

3. Do you use cooking oil in your household?

• Yes
• No

Yes

4. Which brand of cooking oil (if any) do you use? (List in order of preference)

1. Dalda

5. Why do you prefer the cooking oil in (2) above?

Because it is readily available and affordable

6. How often do you buy cooking oil in your house (if any)?

• Daily
• Weekly
• After two weeks
• Monthly
• Other (Explain)

Monthly since it is economical to buy large quantities

7. How much money do you spend on cooking oil per month?

• 0 – 50
• 50 – 100
• 100- 200
• 200 – 500
• 500 – 1000
• Above 1000

200-500 large quantities cost more but cheaper compared to small quantities though

8. How willing are you to try out a different brand of cooking oil?

• Very willing
• Willing
• Not Willing
• Not Sure

Very willing for comparison purposes; I might find something better that what I normally use.

9. How far do you get your cooking oil from?

• Less than half km
• Half km to 2 km
• Over two km

Less than ½ Km away. There are many convenient stores around my area of residence

 

Reflective Practice in Guidance and Counseling

In my opinion, it is acceptable for clients to give gifts to their therapists. However, it is only acceptable if the motive is ethical. From the reading, I noted that gifts that are part of corrupt dealings should be dealt with legally. Gift giving and receiving should be regulated because doing it excessively might affect the recovery of the client negatively. In case the therapist is exploiting a patient, this would be detrimental to his or her healing process, hence slow recovery or none at all. To avoid a misunderstanding between the therapist and patient, therapists should identify exactly why a client is offering a gift. This way, they will be able to avoid unnecessary cases that are unethical (Tait & Edwards, 1998).

I think one positive impact gift giving can bring is fast recovery. Some patients will recover quickly if they find someone who receives and appreciates what they offer. If such people gave gifts to their therapists and these were accepted, then it would help them recover. Turning down gifts meant for good intention would devastate the client (Seema, 2006). He or she might feel rejected and not appreciated, thus affecting the recovery process. Therefore, I suggest that therapists who are given gifts should appreciate and accept them because this might give the patient a significant breakthrough in their healing. The therapist should also know how to deal with patients who want to offer gifts for unethical reasons (McMahon, 2006).

Esbroeck & Athanasou (2008) suggest that one important thing therapists should note is that they should not demand or solicit clients to give them gift or tokens. I am sure this will be viewed to be both unethical and harmful to the patients’ therapy. Therapists who demand for gifts should be reported to the relevant authority because it is unprofessional to do so. I think that therapists and clients should be discouraged from gift giving and receiving, to avoid exploitation and misunderstanding. According to my understanding, clients should not wrongly influence the judgment of therapists, just because they are giving gifts. For example, it would be wrong for a therapist to give unfair treatment to a client, just because he or she offered a gift.

References

Esbroeck, R.V., & Athanasou, J.A. (2008). International handbook of career guidance. New York, NY: Springer publishers.

McMahon, M. (2006). Career counseling: constructivist approaches. Tolstoy, New Delhi: Taylor & Francis Publishers.

Seema, Y. (2006). Guidance and Counselling. New Delhi, Delhi: Anmol Publications. PVT LTD.

Tait, A., Harrison, R., & Edwards, R. (1998). Telling tales: perspectives on guidance and counseling in learning. New York, NY: Routledge Publishers.

 

Business Environment

Market structures can be defined as big institution of organizations or firms that are distinguished by common features, which determine how firms compete and set prizes to the common features of a market, are several and each has influence on price and competition. In this chapter, we center the attention on how the structures influence prize and output decisions of business. Some of the features of a market are; the number of firms serving it, costs involved in production of goods or services, the type of customers and how many, distribution of market share among the firms and the products (Riley 91).

There are several types of market structures, which affect price and decisions in a different way. The first market we look into is perfect competition. An example of perfect market is in retail firms such as provision stores. They sell homogenous goods. In this market, there are many firms and many buyers selling similar goods in the market. Firms under this market do not set the prize but rather, it is set by the market and economic policies. An example is in milk industry where the government sets a range. Their profits are determined by amount of sales. Demand and supply affect this market directly. When demand is high, prizes go up and when supply is high, prizes go down.

The other market structure is monopoly. This refers to a scenario of having only one seller or producer of a certain product. In this market, the one seller, supplies goods to all the buyers and hence, he has total control of the market. He sets the prizes as he may deem necessary unlike in perfect competition where the prize is set by the market. The market is characterized by huge abnormal profits given that there is no competition. Other firms do not affect their output and decisions. They make few goods and sell them at high prizes. They use entry barriers to prevent potential competitors from entering the market. The opposite of this is monopsony, where there is only one buyer to a particular product. Monopsony influences the price on suppliers since there are no other buyers. An example is a company is the only producer of soft drinks in a particular region.

Oligopoly market structures refer to few firms serving a big market. In this type of market, competition among the few firms is normally stiff. Each firm is aware of the other. A decision from one firm affects the others directly. For instance, when one lowers the prize, others follow to retain their markets. This is because they have relatively homogenous goods. An example is few wireless mobile operators in some regions. Oligopolies affect the price in various ways. Since they are few, it is easy for them to agree on a prize. They could increase the prize to achieve profit maximization, which is very common in this type of market. This behavior is referred to as cartel. Oligopolies are near to monopolies.

Market forces are the factors in the market that affect businesses operations such as prize. These factors can include supply and demand, market information, and suppliers. One best way of understanding market forces is using the Porters’ five forces model. One force in market that affects businesses is the power of suppliers. Suppliers have a commendable influence to a business. When there are many suppliers of an item, they have less power. This is ideal to the business because there is guarantee of supply at fair prizes. When there are few suppliers in the market, they have the power to set prizes high, limiting access to the goods. An example, in a business Y, which makes shoes, where the suppliers of leather are many, they will have influence on them and can, set the prizes for the farmers. On the other hand, if the supplier of the production machinery is one or few, the business will have no power of bargaining. This forces the business to respond in a way that balances on both sides. It is important to note that power of supplier will depend on the availability of materials, and the number of suppliers in the market. This factor determines what business one can do and how.

Another force is the rivalry in competition that generally analyses the power of the competitors. When you have many competitors, who offer good services, you have no power over the market and you respond accordingly by offering better services and goods to retain the customers. A movement in the market dictates that you move with them. This forces the business to follow the market leader. When a business has few competitors, it can have power in the market to change situations such as prizing because buyers and suppliers will not have much influence on the business since they may not get a better service anywhere else. In such a situation, you do not need to do much about the products. Businesses have to respond to competition in the best way to fight it. A few points considered before making a decision are the number of competitors, the differences that are there in products, the cost of substitution and costs involved in leaving a certain market. This is the questions that businesses seek to answer appropriately especially new comers in an industry (Etro 39).

The opposite of supplier power is the bargaining power of buyers. This force analyses the power of buyers and their influence on the prizes. The things analyzed in this market force are; the number of buyers in a market. Too many buyers will not have a bargaining power since there is another buyer willing to buy. When they are few, they have the influence as you have to impress to win them. Another consideration is how they react to changes in prizes. If they are perceptive about the prize, you have to consider before changing of prize. Then, the type of goods determines the number of suppliers. When you sell bulky goods needing a big order from few corporate buyers, each of them becomes very important.

A business cannot afford to lose such a buyer since it has a significant loss. Such buyers have a very big influence on the prizes. How easily the products can be substituted with others is a factor that influences prize. When goods are highly replaceable with others, it is easy for customers to change preference in case of a change in the product. When a new business is planning to enter a market, these forces in the market will determine its viability in the new market. For existing businesses, it is important to observe the changes since they have a direct influence.

In an industry, how easy it is to enter, is another force that influences other potential competitors from entering the market. If your business is easy for others to start, in terms of capital and time it requires, then it is likely that you will have many competitors who will trim down your position in the market. When it is hard for them, your chance of remaining strong is high and you are not under much pressure from competitors. This force determines how strong a business remains and how you operate. If it is easy, one will need to use strategies that create customer loyalty. For big businesses, they need a lot of advertising to capture bigger market share to lessen competition. An example is in a retail business, where it is easy to enter the market. Here the businesses cannot do much to stop new entrants. How you serve the customers is the determinant to how well the business can do. In large businesses such as heavy production, it is hard to enter hence since the costs involved are high. The existing businesses can easily put barriers to entry by taking advantage of economies of scale to reduce prizes (Lucas 90).

The cost of leaving the market for another is a force driving businesses in persisting evev in areas not very profitable. Many heavy production units are expensive to put up and withdrawing will mean even bigger losses to the company. This makes it hard for such companies to leave markets. For this reason, they have to keep innovating so that they keep up in business. On the other hand, small businesses can easily enter other markets, which are more promising and hence do not need to keep innovating.

External factors that may have influence on businesses, “business environments,” are those environments under which, the business operates. The business cannot influence them. They can only live under them. They include economic, technological, and social environments. Cultural environments fall under social category. Cultural environments play a key role in determining what business one can or cannot do. For instance, it is a taboo to eat pork in Islamic culture. This culture reads out that you cannot start a pork industry in this environment. Economic environments determine the practical viability of a business in a certain area. Different countries have different economic rules. Technology is also important as it influences how easily businesses operate. Different cultures have different opportunities that businesses can exploit and it is up to the firm to identify them (William & John 27).

Taking an example of company XYZ, which is a cloth line producing industry in several countries, it has to adapt to several environments. In country A, where people are open to different attires, the business is very prolific. The company produces many brands to serve different customer tastes who buy them readily. In country B, people are restricted to certain style especially women. They cannot wear revealing clothes or tight ones. In this country, they can only produce clothes that abide to their style. This is the effect of cultural environments, which states that in country B, there cannot be many designs.

In country A, the economic state of people is high, the government provides few incentives, and cost of production is easily manageable. In country, B the economic status is low and buyers are not willing to purchase at high prizes. The government tax rates are higher for foreign companies. This forces the company to ensure maximum cost reduction to make profits. Technologically, in country ‘A’, it is fast to produce clothes because of the availability of technology. In country ‘B’, it is the opposite. It is easy to conclude that environments shape organizations in different ways.

Works Cited

William, Baldwin and  John Scot. Market structure and technological change. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Cubbin, John. Market structure and performance: the empirical research. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Daniels, John, Lee Radebaugh and Daniel Sullivan. International Business: Environments and Operations. Prentice Hall: Prentice Hall: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print.

Etro, Federico. Endogenous Market Structures and the Macroeconomy. New York NY: Springer 2009. Print.

Hutt,Michael and Speh Thomas. Business marketing management: B2B. Lombard, IL: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print

Lucas, Michael. Understanding Business Environments. New York, NY: Routledge 2000. Print.

Parhizgar, Kamal. Multicultural Behavior and Global Business Environments.Laredo TX : Routledge 2002. Print.

Riley, Geoff. AQA A2 Economics module 5&6 Digital Textbook. Liberty MO: Tutor2 U Limited. Print.

Sutton, John. Technology and market structure: Theory and history. New York, NY: MIT Press, 2001. Print.

Tudela, Felipe. Trading Triads: Unlocking the Secrets of Market Structure and Trading in Any Market. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, 2010. Print.

 

Book Report: Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. London, UK: Verso Press, 2006.

Plot Summary

The publication offers an in-depth reflection on the nature of the squalid living conditions evidenced in urban settlements around the world. Davis parallels his discussion to the United Nations estimations with regard to the rising level of poverty, mostly in the developing nations, with the South region supporting at least one billion individuals in slum settlements. Interestingly, Davis notes that current urbanization has undergone evolution evidenced by diminished industrialization and dismal socioeconomic standards that were often associated with rural regions. The majority of urban dwellers are supported in informal employments that offer low salaries and wages, consequently reducing the consumers spending power. Informal settlements being quite affordable to this form of urban dweller have gained popularity among the masses leading to enhanced slum sprawls in urban regions. Davis additionally notes that, with the high level of diversity created in this populace, religious, tribal and politically oriented factions have rivaled each other in the bid to acquire supporters for their endeavors.

Case studies evidencing religious interests in the publication are illustrated by the Islamic movement in the Cairo and Casablanca, Hindu interests in Bombay and Pentecostal influences in Rio de Janeiro and Kinshasa. Politically instigated pressure groups are evidenced by street criminal groups in San Salvador and Cape Town, while radical activists bent on revolutionary endeavors have been evidenced by political groups in La Paz and Caracas. The prevalent theme in the publication as forwarded by Davis holds the ground that slum growth is a reflection of institutional malfunctions, fraudulent state governance and the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) instituted by the International Monetary Fund to allocate mass wealth from the needy to the affluent. Solutions to these problems can only be acquired by reversing the capitalistic tendencies in today’s cultures.

Idea Development

The first notable idea presented in the publication offers a causal link between SAPs and the informal idea of urban growth marked by slum settlements in the third world nations. Urban growth in the 19^th and preceding half of the 20^th century as noted in European nations and America conformed to the classical view that aligned urbanization with socioeconomic wellbeing. Within the identified period, urbanization was initiated with similar elements and the results followed a predetermined rubric enforced the classical theory postulations which “believed that the great cities of the future would follow in the industrializing footsteps of Manchester, Berlin and Chicago,” (Davis 16). Davis notes that the given assertion had been strengthened by the successful institution of cities like Sao Paolo, Guangzhou, Los Angeles and Ciudad Juarez among others within the provided premise. China in the 1970s was ranked as a developing nation and this was revolutionized by the mass institution of industries in the nation’s urban regions for economic welfare enhancement. With the creation of job opportunities, labor mobility was greatly multiplied with at least two hundred million Chinese dwellers migrating into urban regions.

The housing facilities in the urban regions were only able to support a meager four million individuals with the rest forced to obtain alternative shelters. The labor supply evidenced in China surpassed the demand that had been created and consequently, the resource availability and affordability created an advantage for the production companies. Korea and Taiwan have undergone a similar industrial expansion as China, and the low production overhead have acted as a comparative advantage against global competitors within the export bracket. With the level of national inflows increasing in the identified nations, the socioeconomic welfare is also enhanced. The SAPs as economic tools proposed by monetary authorities like the World Bank aimed at eliminating the dualistic nature of the third world economies, majorly dominated by the agricultural sector. This weakens the industrial component as raw materials have to acquire value addition from industrialized nations and hence the dismal economic growth.

SAPs were introduced in the 1980s in cities like Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Bombay, and the sub Saharan creating demand and labor mobility was enhanced. Davis notes that the main inhibitor to the success of these programs was the unremitting “exodus of surplus rural labor to urban slums even as cities ceased to be job machines” (15). The debts created by the advanced loans acted as the control instruments used by the developed nations in regulating the affected states decision-making processes. One notable control policy was the market deregulation that supported economic liberalization and consequently the inclusion of unfair competition to the infant peasant organizations and hence their collapse. The result therefore instituted low socioeconomic wellbeing than the former situation, and consequently, increased poverty levels in individual and national level as wealth transfer was realized from underprivileged to rich nations.

The second idea proposed reviews the various strategies taken by political factions in utilizing slum dwellers on their political ventures. Slum dwellers are manipulative instruments for political power in developing nations. Mumbai has the highest number of street families amongst the developing nations with a third of the given population being evictees of informal structures due to lack of rental fees. Street families however are not excluded from exploitation as the scenario marked in India and the Philippines where fees have to be paid to police officers or city moguls before permission can be accorded. Note that this does not guarantee the safety of the family streets. Such individuals support the growth of slums for their monetary functions and would rather inhibit socioeconomic programs aimed at alleviating the same to ensure continuity to their capitalistic tendencies. Politically stable individuals offer protection to these exploitative groups as they acquire monetary gains from the dealings. A similar pattern is noted with the squatting system, which is defined as the illegal possession of a territory for purposes of temporary settlement.

Residents in such a system are “coerced to pay considerable bribes to politicians, gangsters, or police to gain access to sites, and they may continue to pay such informal ‘rents’ in money and/or votes for years” (Davis 38). Politicians tend to be deceptive in their relations with the poor and tend to resort to media instruments for the creation of leading stories to create a higher voting margin. Additionally to the acquired payments, politicians tend to create scandals in which squatters are forcefully evicted by police officers for them to have a timely intervention that accrues residential support, as the action tends to be associated with a caring attitude. Squatting has been a strong political instrument in Cairo, Istanbul, South Africa and Caracas among other regions. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as in the case of Angola, Kenya, Sudan, Zaire, Colombia and Tanzania are also employed as political instruments by state leaders especially for the acquisition of voting support. Although IDP dwellers are not coerced to offer bribes for settlements, their relocation is made in strategic places where they are exploited for cheap labor as payment for their settlement regions. The employment accorded to such groups is used to support business establishments owned by these politicians or other rich individuals for higher material gain. This parallels the former idea in which the possessions of the poor individuals are transferred to the rich under a neo-capitalistic structure.

Evaluation of Strengths and Weaknesses

The initial strength noted in the publication is the precision in which the author presents the main ideas. The publication being two hundred and twenty eight pages long offers a rather wide scope into the information given but the presentation augers well with the readers to encourage reading. The publication is written with a medium font and this creates the illusion that due to the size the information given is far less than the purported number of pages. The information is divided for easier reading using chapters and alternating paragraph formats that overcome the issue of monotony that may be created in the text. Graphs and tables act as breaks in the prose presentation to create variety for the reader and overcome the aspect of monotony. The chapters are also broken down into subtopics for easy navigation purposes to the readers. The subtopics also act as miniature thesis statements to ensure that the reader does not veer from the given area of discussion in a rather large topic. Consequently, the author’s objectives are easily addressed in the publication overcoming the problem of untackled questions or perspectives.

An array of research materials are used in the book ranging from books, magazines, peer-reviewed articles, statistic records and research findings that widen the scope of research and the information accuracy. In actuality, at least seven hundred footnotes have been used in the publication an indication of the wide nature of the research conducted by Davis towards the ideas presented. The sources are all acquired form credible sites like the United Nations statistics and research studies, International Monetary Fund and World Band records. Books and journals are treated as credible sources and this enhances the accuracy accorded to the publication. However, a number of weaknesses are also noted. First, the book offers a review of existing information from the various resources applied and therefore offers only existing knowledge with no new data. Additionally, only secondary sources are used in the book infusing an element of imbalance emanating from the mechanistic view of reporting indentified facts. Reports use a journalistic tone and a third-person narration in the document and this hinders the reader’s sense of identity with the text. Primary sources like interviews impart emotion that is very appealing to the target audience as it enhances the element of empathy.

The book also suffers personal bias majorly from the fact that it has been written by one author increasing the probability to favoritism with regard to the tackled issue. This can be noted from the main discussion as Davis bases his argument that slums are majorly caused by the SAP program yet he overlooks other causative agents such as demographic aspects like high population growth. Although he uses various theoretical tools, they all support his skewed perspective on the SAPs. The issue of biasness is usually overcome by having multiple authors for enhanced idea presentation that counters the idea of self-perspectives or the use of an editorial team that ensures elimination of such issues during the editing process. It is less costly in terms of publishing overheads and time allocations in dealing with errors during the book development process than dealing with the error once the publication process has been completed. The last weakness noted is the inconclusive nature of the publication. Davis discusses the problem of slum growth in various nations and the implication that his has on the social and economic institutions in the given regions. He offers an additional discussion on the causes that have led to this expansion yet no single solution has been formulated to deal with the same. This latter aspect hampers the logical aspect of the publication with the main writing rubric entailing problem identification, issue development, subject analysis and recommendations to offer further direction to future studies and the solutions to overcome the problem.

Works Cited

Davis, Mike. Planet of Slums. London, UK: Verso Press, 2006. Print.

 

 

 

Mid-Term Exam

Comment on Hume or Kant’s views of causality. Do you think that there is such a thing as a necessary law of nature?

Immanuel Kant is a German philosopher who came up with a theory on knowledge. One of the areas he tackled was causality. The views of Kant on causality are based on metaphysics. This is how people are able to tell whether some things are beyond our experience. According to Kant, there are two ways of knowing this: either through logical or synthetic means. For instance, Mathematics is both logical and synthetic. This also applies to many other phenomena as well. The mind is always building impressions so that it can know and understand its environment. In fact, the impressions are already set. These impressions are not initiated by the world they come from within an individual. An individual’s perspective of the world comes because of what a person mind has shown him or her. A person understanding of the causality, numbers and all other constant phenomena people experience are instances of how one’s senses are determined by the mind.

What people see can be said to be both real and what the mind perceives it to be. Imagining processes ones impressions with understanding various concepts. This is done in a harmonious way. The result is having confidence in reality in oneself and the rest of the world. Kant laid down the principles by which we arrive at them. Kant defines causality to be level of understanding everything we see or expect to have a cause. For example, a person would identify a speeding vehicle at different points along a freeway. These would be progressive positions and not just any points, heading in the same direction. The world would only be a whole if everyone understands and blends with something beyond him or her.

Kant’s views of causality were continued in 1788. He modified this theory by adding beliefs. These include soul immortality, the existence of God, and having the freedom of will. He said that these beliefs are important to us and cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, it was difficult or almost impossible to prove the existence of these beliefs. In his other writings, he disputes the fact that people should accept and act as if morals, justice, God, our duties and responsibilities to in this world are reality although no one can prove them yet.

It would be true to say that there exist laws of nature. There is a distinctive difference between laws of science and laws of nature. The laws of nature have the following characteristics: Laws of nature have accurate truth and not rational truth. For example, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. This is factual but it is logical to say that all natural numbers can be multiplied by two. Laws of nature are constant in all eras and time. For example, the laws that existed when the world began still exist even today. They do not have names that are proper nouns. They have general names. Other important properties of laws of nature are they are universal. They exist in the whole world.

There are two contrasting theories of nature laws. One of them is called the Regularity Theory. It state that nature laws are statements about the things that are in uniform or regular in this world. They are mostly definitions of the world is. The other theory is the Necessitarian Theory; it states that nature laws are the guidelines, which administer the phenomena that exist naturally in the world. In other words, the natural world does according to the nature laws. The most vital ramifications of each theory are whether the world is a coincidental or being directed by specific nature laws. Each side takes a different stance on each of these issues, and to adopt either theory is to give up one or more strong beliefs about the nature of the world. Laws of nature do exist whether people believe in them r not. Some people would doubt them because they cannot identify them therefore they think that they do not exist.

In what ways did Descartes’ philosophic thoughts engender a revolution in Philosophy? Do you think that his philosophic contributions are as significant as intellectual historians would have us to believe?

Descartes has been crowned as the first philosopher in the world of modernity. He became popular because of making a vital relation between geometry and algebra. This invention has made it possible to solve geometrical problems using equations in algebra. He is also famous for bringing about new concept of matter, which takes into account the physical phenomena by describing it mechanically. Descartes is a writer as well, who comes up with several publications that talk about possibility of the sciences. They are given a philosophical basis.

Using the basics laid by Newton and Leibniz, Descartes developed the calculus in Mathematics. He used infinitesimal calculus on the tangent line problem. This remarked the evolution of that category of modern Mathematics. He has also contributed to the theory of knowledge, and described it as the persuasion of a reason that surpasses every other. Therefore, no other stronger reason can out do it. Descartes tries to get to a number of important   principles that a person can know the truth without doubt. For him to get to this, he uses a method called hyperbolical/metaphysical doubt, also known as methodological skepticism. This method turns down any idea worth doubting, and then establishes them again, to create a strong foundation for true knowledge.

Originally, Descartes had only one principle that thought exists. A thought cannot be separated from a person. This means that people do exist. If one thinks then he or she exists.

Descartes said that he is very sure that he exists because he can think. He comments that he exists and knows his body by the use of senses since this has been proven unreliable. He concluded that he knows his existence because he thinks. Therefore, thinking is all the activities that a person is conscious of.

Rene Descarte’s contribution to modern philosophy has brought significant change because he has helped to develop understanding of concepts that are used even in this modern day. People are able to understand themselves better. H e has also been of great help to students and teachers because he developed some of the Mathematics topics that are considered challenging. Students can understand and apply in an easier way. This does not only benefit the students and scholars, it also helps the engineers. All engineers apply Physics and Mathematics in their work. Due to the revolution does to some branches of this subject; engineers are able to work more effectively.

This modern philosopher was known to be a fast thinker because he came up with outlines of the developments he made the sciences. People have been able to understand more about themselves, their existence and the theory of knowledge. Other philosopher have borrowed a leaf from Descarte’s finding and conclusion and developed philosophy to be more modern. He provided the basics for modern philosophy so that other younger philosopher would continue the development just like the way he revolutionized the old concepts.

Apart from developing science and Mathematics concepts, Rene was a strong Catholic believer. Scholars disagreed about this philosopher’s religious beliefs. According to Descartes, he was a Catholic believer and added that one of his publications was to protect the faith of the Christians. Unfortunately, he was accused of having atheist beliefs but he denied the allegations. Nevertheless, he does not stop being a great man that left behind a great legacy.