Author: chris

An effective strategic management while linked to the way the business is run should create an absolute competitive advantage. Research has shown that there are many approaches to strategic planning. The underlying 4 principles characterize the best practices that a company should employ. We should start with the customer, the capital available should also be in line with the set strategy, there should be also a basis for the sharing of ideas and finally, the process should be kept ever green.
Looking at the customer issue, the management needs not only to be keen with the inside issues but should also cultivate a thorough understanding of the customers and also their changing priorities. Most market research undertaking has been useful in traditional marketing strategies, however today these are termed as inappropriate and misleading for strategic development. Solutions that are usually sought are actually the write answers to the wrong questions. The traditional market research usually targets the current customers who have questions about marketing and other statistical issues. This research is usually aimed for incremental improvements.
The strategic customer research goes beyond the prevailing customers needs which could be useful for incremental improvement. It focuses more on the unstated priorities which the customers remotely have but could not be fully articulated. In so doing there are questions raised about the market structures and the future customers who may be found in obscure places.
As there are well developed methods of market research, the strategic research has also a discipline to anticipate the shifts in customer priorities without guessing or depending on sheer luck. The customer science technique assists the executive to understand how the customers make their decisions even for the products that are revolutionary.
The set strategies is not necessarily what you say, it is what you fund and what you do. Lou Gerstener a former CEO of IBM said that making sure the resources are applied to their most important element of the strategy is perhaps the hardest thing for the companies to do.
One effective way of clearing such a mess is the combination of strategy development and capital allocation. The companies which do employ best practices have developed strategies to ensure that strategies are converted into strategic campaigns. The campaigns do keep everyone focused to the most important goals do encourage every employee to participate in the success of the set strategies. This also builds institutions to help the people to learn from their mistakes.
It is also to the best interest of the companies to table their questions, complains, grievances or even assumptions before the companies committee meeting. It is to the best interest of the business entities to allow employees to have the feeling of safety even when they table tough issues, seek out the bad news and also in the skeptical assessment of the strategic plans. Creating such a culture that embraces positive debates and tolerates mistakes will not happen all over sudden. There are companies which have executive directors that are quite resistant to change. Such a group would not allow a public challenge since they may deem it as disrespectful. This means that the cultural change requires a lot of commitment especially from the top management and would even call for change in personnel.
The need to have continuity in the setting up of strategies and their implementation without taking the whole issue as something seasonal creates a center to be carefully addressed. There has been the notion or the common idea amongst the working personnel that this process of strategic planning is a seasonal issue that fades immediately after workers go back to their normal duties. Successful companies such as GE and IBM have been successful in management of strategies. They have however realized that the need to encourage thought contribution rather than implementing a static structure, the whole process should be made simple and also an annual undertaking for everyone.
At given points in time during the year, there should be a review of the strategies that have been developed with an aim of making minor mid course corrections. For the long-term strategic plan there should be breakups done to deliberately update the strategies with new information. The other set of companies which have realized their set goals for the period of time should reinvent themselves to set up new strategies for future growth. This life cycle distinctions are usually realized by the management teams which carryout research, set goals and initiate conversations so as to get the appropriate dimension with time. This is quite useful for companies that operate across multiple products, in value chains and also geographies.
Lessons from the Ford Company
The value drawn from strategic planning will not bear fruits if the process of execution will not be given priority. If we look at the history of ford, there was a time when Jacques Nasser was its CEO. During his leadership, he together with his management got into a three year spiral process after their ignorance. They ignored the principles of strategic management leading to shakeups that were disastrous for the company.
During the year 1990 the profits of ford were growing exponentially, the F-150 was the best selling truck and also the explorer the best selling SUV. Despite this clean record the same company was struggling with its finances by 2001. This made Nasser to be fired after his devastating performance.
The poorly conceived Taurus design caused a 5% drop in the car market share from the year 1993 to 2002. At this time also, the Japanese automotive, industry through their established economy begun to manufacture market winning light trucks. Their uninformed decision to lend individuals with credit balances damaged their credit balance sheet.
This long can be widely accredited to the poor strategies that were put forth during the time of Nasser as the CEO as well as the strategic planning process that did not put into consideration some of the fundamental processes. There was sufficient customer research done by Ford; however the company failed to uncover the customers’ unstated priorities leading to the string of poor designs.
Before doing their redesign, they listened to the focus groups’ desires for more features and comfort. They however failed to ascertain what new design options that the customers would pay for. Despite the urgency of the need to get closer to the customers ford instead funded investments on the remaking of their brand and diversifying channels. There was a conflict of interest between the senior management of ford and the customers. The management was out for growth and expansion while customers were looking for further quality and design improvement. Ford went out to partner with Microsoft and yahoo. This to them was a good initiative to participate in e-commerce which was aimed at reaching more and more customers through the web. What ford forgot was that most American customers preferred to buy their cars from dealers.
Ford went ahead and conducted a research aimed at reducing emissions and also to build a stock pile of metals which were highly valued. The metals were used for the scrubbing exhausts. Another technology came up to solve this same problem. The expensive metals hence lost usability. The price of the metals dropped in the year 2001, this lead to a $1 billion worth of loses. The company acquired the Volvo and jaguar in an effort to remake the ford image. However this only served to further the company from a core customer base of the f-series owners. To worsen their situation, ford went ahead to invest in a different business such as junkyards and the European auto repair. These investments served only to draw them further from the primary role.
If only ford encouraged the culture of an open and honest debate, the managers would have managed to challenge these initiatives and to regain their focus on quality and better productivity. The Ford CEO (Nasser) lost focus on the short-term, middle term and long-term strategies that would have shaped the resource allocation. He also did not consider retrying the designs and core products that had brought the company success. He chose to lay his focus in the rear not researching well on the underlying facts.
The Ford customers wanted quality improvement and new quality designs. However there was no outstanding competition which would have perhaps lead Nasser to making more informed decisions. He however was ignorant of what the future held for him. He made uninformed decisions with no reasonable basis to invest in unrelated businesses. This action could be viewed as an undertaking to reframe the business rather than to reform it.
Since these occurrences occurred, ford has since embarked on the efforts to reform itself from this mess. Some of the things that ford did was to withdraw the Kwik-Fit service and at the same time adopt the back to basics strategy focused on quality. The aftermath of the three years of strain left most of the customers with the doubt of ford’s ability to deliver quality. Since then Ford has not been able to reconstitute itself in its operations or even the operations from other companies like Toyota and Honda. The prevailing costs to the company in the market share, customer goodwill and resources serves as a lesson of how the poor strategic planning can ruin a good performing firm.
The Honda Company is one big company that will remain at the race of development. The car engines still have a long way to go. Improvements will be needed to the engines to make sure they remain as a competitive entity. The founder of this company Soichiro Honda began with the making of bicycles, he then went to motorcycles, then to lawn mowers. He eventually began to manufacture generators and cars. Today Honda is the world’s top engine maker. It produces more than 20 million Engines in a year.

Tax refers to a levy or a financial charge upon an individual or any other legal entity i.e. a nonhuman entity regarded by law to have the status of a natural person such as a legal name and rights. This levy is normally imposed by a government, or the function equivalent of a government and failure to pay this levy is punishable by law. Taxes may be paid in the form of money or in some cases as labor and mainly consists of direct and indirect taxes. Direct taxes refer to a form of tax paid directly to the authorities or the government by the persons on whom it has been imposed. Indirect tax, on the other hand, refers to a tax collected by an intermediary, such as a retailer, from the individual who bears the eventual economic burden of the tax, such as a consumer. The intermediary then documents a tax return and forwards the tax proceeds to the authorities or government with the return.
Flat tax rate is a term used to refer to a tax system with an unvarying tax rate. Flat tax is tax charged against a commodity or service, for example, a tax on bread of 2 cents per every loaf. It mainly refers to household income that is taxed at one marginal rate and does not vary with parameters such as usage levels or income. Flat taxes have been used to increase compliance and cut on administration costs due to the simplicity offered in the tax code.
There are several main categories of flat tax which differ in how they measure and define what is subject to the stated tax (Simon, 1998). A true flat rate tax is one of the categories of flat tax, and refers to a system of taxation where one rate of tax is applied to all incomes with no exceptions or exemptions. Under this system, no industry or household is subject to preferential treatment, and the cost of tax administration for the government, as well as the cost of tax filing for citizens, is further reduced. However, critics of this system argue that the level of taxation rate for the poor should be reduced as they spend their income on vital goods and services necessary for survival unlike the rich who spend the majority of their income on luxurious goods and services.
Another category of flat tax is the marginal flat tax. Under this system, deductions are allowable, with progressive tax being imposed on a household’s income up to a certain maximum amount, and at this point, the rate of tax on all additional income becomes constant. The major difference between a marginally flat tax and a true flat tax is that there are certain kinds of funds in a marginally flat tax that are not defined as income and are, therefore, not taxable. In this case, income includes salaries, wages and pensions while excluding all other sources of capital gains and other sources of wealth appreciation.
Hall-Rabushka is another type of flat tax based on consumption i.e. spending on goods and services. This tax system accomplishes a consumption tax effect by taxing the household’s income and then excluding any form of investment. Negative Income Tax is another type of flat tax which also deals with personal deductions but in this case, when the deductions exceed the income earned, rather than being set to zero, the taxable income is allowed to be converted into a negative. The rate of flat tax is then applied to the resultant negative income which results in a negative income tax. This means that, unlike the usual positive income tax where the household owes the government, the government owes the household instead. This system of income was proposed by Milton Friedman, an American economist, and was intended to benefit low-income households (Friedman, 1962). However, critics of this system argue that households owing negative tax would be receiving a type of welfare without even having to try obtaining employment.
There are several difficulties faced in devising an effective flat tax system with the principal ones being identification of deductions and how to deal with income. A good example of such problems arises in deciding if the interest charged on loans should be deducted from the taxable revenue of the borrower since the lender is in-turn taxed this interest as income. Rather than creating several ministries to implement social policies such as low-income housing, governments encourage such policies by use of taxes, i.e. they are normally treated as deductions when calculating taxable income. Such policy systems may be curtailed in a true flat tax system, a system which does not involve deductions and can as well remove tools for adjusting the monetary policy of a country (Daniel, 2005).
There is difficulty in eliminating deductions in flat tax since they affect the “flatness” in the tax rate. For example, if businesses were not allowed to deduct expenses from their gross income, then those businesses with a profit margin lower than the flat tax rate could never make any money since the tax imposed on revenues would always go beyond their earnings. The implementation of deductions will, therefore, adjust the effective total tax, and thus the flatness of this tax system. Since tax increases affect all taxpayers, a positive effect of the flat tax system would be decrease or discourage government spending. In order to achieve this, every new government program would have to be cautiously scrutinized which would result in a more efficient government in the long run.
As seen, a flat tax rate system would affect the individuals, government, as well as the overall structure of the economy of a country. The implementation of a flat tax would boost tax revenues by simplifying the tax code and eliminating the many loopholes presently exploited to pay less tax as they are easily spotted and eliminated under the flat tax system than under the progressive tax system. If the flat tax system could be targeted at income, it could equally place the tax burden on all earners rather than other forms of taxes which result in those with lower incomes having to pay a larger proportion of their total income in taxes than the wealthy do.

In the recent past, cultural studies have become increasingly difficult to define owing to the fact that is adherents have constantly transcended the confines of communication scholarship and political activism. This disciplinary and institutional resistance has resulted in this issue being aptly described by renowned scholars such as James Carey in their intellectual biographies and the geographical locations such as by the University of Illinois cultural studies department. Reconfigurations and multiple spin-offs in disciplines such as social sciences and humanities ranging from postcolonial theory to queer theory have been advanced in this field. The challenge posed by cultural studies on established ideas in literature has been described here-in.
Baran and Davis note in a major mass communication theory defines cultural studies within the cultural changes as part of the final five theoretical bases thereby pointing to its marginality in relation to other media. British cultural studies depict cultural studies as one of the modern-day schools of neo-Marxist theory. It is further considered a sub-theory of critical cultural studies coupled with the Marxist theory, political economy theory, the Frankfurt School, textual analysis and criticisms in literature and the Canadians Marshall McLuhan and Harold Innis theories on media among others.
However, in resisting categories, cultural studies are viewed as an open field that defies method and tradition. For instance, the 1992 study by Cary Nelson, Paula Treichler, and Lawrence Grossberg notes that cultural studies defy all methodologies and their associated research domains together with any intellectual legacy proposed in tradition and language. These studies not only suggest that cultural studies avert being a conventional discipline but are further anti-disciplinary.
It crosses disciplines from feminism and Marxism to such domains as psychoanalysis and postmodernism. They are further described as ‘bricolage’ in that they have no definite methodology of textual and content analysis, deconstruction, ethnography, semiotics and any other methodologies. Although these methods are diverse, each is applied contextually and self-reflexively.
Although such counter-views exist, a harmonized approach in the literature as to the definition of cultural studies has been attempted by Nelson, Treichler, and Grossberg in their general all-inclusive definition on domains and methods. Cultural domains are there-in defined as inter-, trans-, and counter-disciplinary thereby maintaining wide, anthropological views and constricted, humanistic concepts based on culture. This field is seen as studying industrial societies and insistent on the treatment of high and popular culture as defined by class as equivalent to cultural productivity which is then contrasted to other social and historical forms. Culture is viewed as a way of life with arrange of practices in place such as attitudes, language, ideas, power and institution structures. Its traditions entail political goals and cultural change studies that aim at its intervention. This forms a sound analytical base for culture in race, gender and class.
In an attempt to define cultural studies, Hartley outlines the genealogical and institutional levels of concern. He finds this discipline to be in the 1960s as an “intellectual enterprise of the left” that bordered on the worse in the 1980s and 90s due to transformation to an “academic subject increasingly of the center.” He further finds cultural studies as names of “prodigal parents” who initiated a field that avoids authority and orthodoxy while committing to interdisciplinary works without ‘a unified theory, textual canon, disciplinary truths, agreed methodology, common syllabus, and examinable content or professional body.”
Steven Best and Douglas Kellner however call for a multi-perspective and multidimensional critical view of cultural studies in the media and society in its relation to all dimensions in society such as cultural, political, social and economic in the dominant mode of social organization. For instance advertising not only influences capitalism and the economy but also cultural life and politics. Multiple perspectives such as Marxism and feminism, economics, postmodernism and the critical theory should be adopted. This should be treated as relatively autonomous so as to invite an analysis from other disciplines.
Given this diverse and controversial view, a historic approach must be conceptualized in communication research since the end of World War II. In reviewing North America, University of Iowa’s Hanno Hardt uses the critical theory by grouping it to cultural studies. Communication can hence be viewed as environments in which culture creates the social context so as to derive meaning. Critical theory and cultural studies are seen as radical through an approach on the research on longer history of U.S. mass communication.
Hegemony and Ideology
Hegemony aims at having false consciousness as its desired end product such as it was applied by U.S. cultural historian Williams and later Todd Gitlin as to mass media. Italian

A sport is a competitive, organized, entertaining, and dexterous physical movement requiring dedication, fair play, and strategy, and in which a winner can be distinct by objective means. It is controlled by a set of customs or rules. In sports the main factors are the xl capabilities which are physical and skills of the contestant when determining the ending be it losing or winning. The physical activity involves people movement, animals or a number of objects like balls and equipment or machines. In contrast, games like board games and card games; even though these can be called mind sports and some are accepted as Olympic sports, primarily entail psychological skills and only mental physical connection. Non-competitive practices, such as playing catch or jogging are usually identified as forms of recreation. Physical actions like scoring goals or first crossing a line often define the outcome of a sport (Shookhoff, 2003).
On the other hand, performance and the degree of skill in some sports such as dressage, diving, and figure skating is judged with reference to well-defined specifications. This is in distinction with other activities judged such as body building and beauty pageants, where skills do not have to be revealed and the criteria is as well not defined. Records are kept and updated for many sports at the top levels, whereas accomplishments and failures are generally announced in sport news. Sports are often played for fun or for the single reality that people require exercise to stay in fine physical condition. Nevertheless, professional sports are a major resource for entertainment due to the fact they not only excite the players but also attract large crowds who turn up to watch others playing (Philips, 2009). Given that the youth are at their prime for an age range of 10 – 20 years, youth sports are vital in providing an avenue for young people to exercise not only as a way to spend off this energy but also acquire a degree of professionalism in various sports. A detailed review as to the benefits of sports to the youth has been carried here-in.
Sports have several benefits to those participating in them which ensure that they leave a positive impact in their lives. Such benefits involve better health not only in the state of the mind but also the body, intuition of self-discipline crucial to the individual and the team; higher self-confidence and the belief in one-self that ensures the individual output increases both in academics and on the field; and stronger relations with peers and adults among other benefits that have been discussed here-in. The skill youths acquire while participating in sports accrue to their additional actions and commitments undertaken such as school performance and family relationships. While young athletes expand their bodies, their minds also develop concurrently.
First, sports for the youth build self-discipline amongst the young people. Through the commitment to a team and basically making it to each practice session is an initial step for lots of young athletes. Involvement in youth sports further provides a ground for confidence growth. Self-confidence is not acquired naturally by every person. Amusingly, one of the finest ways to increase self-confidence is found in demanding situations. Challenges give an opportunity for the youth to find out solutions on their own and garner the consequences of whichever resolution they make. Participation in sports therefore constantly presents unique learning experiences such as how to beat a defender while in a quick counter in basketball or how to talk to a colleague about his practice of failing to pass the ball often enough which can only be learnt through a personal experience. Challenges, whether physical, or emotional serve to expand confidence in the youth.
Secondly, participating in sports provides the youth with sufficient opportunities for them to build sturdy friendships with their peers and mentoring associations with their coaches. Young athletes profit from working together to attain various goals. Players become skilled on how to set the team ahead of their personal interests, which helps them to develop a team player essence based on unselfishness. Athletes do not at all times get along perfectly in a team hence solving differences so as to play effectively together is another significant lesson not only vital in the game but also in life.
Thirdly, when youths participate in sports, they expand on their understanding as to what their bodies are capable of doing. Youthful athletes are often courageous and can direct all their effort in various demanding activities such as obstructing a kick or dive for a free ball. Playing amid this type of abandon can be very fit, and it promotes a belief in their bodies’ abilities. In addition, ordinary practices and games build sturdy bones and muscles. While athletes are still young, the spotlight should be on education, having fun and being fit (Melnick, 1988). This necessitates sports as a crucial ingredient in the growth and development of these young bodies to fully fledged sportsmen in the future. Diverse research projects have shown that sports are vital to the youth’s health in areas such as: major improvements in cardiovascular strength as long as they are performed frequently; improves muscular power which has been proven by carrying out a progressive survey as to changes in the handgrip power over time which is vital in raising the coping rate ability and decreasing the risks of functional restrictions in later life. According to Bigelow, sports provide a major improvement in the Mental Health section Score in the first 3 months. Further, waist-to-hip ratio reduces in the first three months and about a third of the calories can be burnt in only an hour of some Green Gym activities instead of doing a step aerobics class
Fourthly, sports offer youth a chance to improve their capacity to make decisions and acknowledge responsibilities. This is so because many sports entail making essential and at times multiple decisions which might have to be made instantly. For instance, in football one has to make the right decision when to pass the ball or when to score. This is reflected in most mind-based sports where a single mistake determines which team loses or wins. Since sports give youth a chance to make various decisions, they are able to differentiate good from bad decisions, a lesson that goes a long way in life.
Further, youth can develop an interest in ongoing sports involvement even as adults this will mean taking that sport as your carrier. It is worth noting that in many families today, sportsmen are the breadwinners who engage solely in various lucrative sports as a profession. This has therefore proved to be a source of income to the youth hence encouragement should be offered so as more young people can take it as a career rather than solely as a source of fun. In addition, incomes earned from such sports are taxed by the government which serves as a source of revenue that ensures that not only key sports facilities are put in place but also other key infrastructure in the mother country.
The sixth benefit is that through sports, the youth acquire a sense of achievement that is crucial in developing a constructive self-image. Sports also facilitate the youth in learning how to articulate and appreciate thought, emotions, and admiration for what their bodies can do. They also develop diverse skills on agility, endurance, flexibility, coordination, speed and strength. (Malina, 1995) Involvement in sports also avails opportunities for socialization and leadership, as well as the expansion of skills crucial in managing failure and success. The youth, who are very talented and highly contributory player in the team, can use this to become team leaders such as captains since they serve as role models. When a talented player demonstrates an optimistic attitude and occupation ethic, all the other players are likely to follow this example. A number of players will also watch how others play and obviously pick up some of their techniques and skills. (Bredemeier, 1988) Moreover, when playing games, players find out how rules operate. They see how groups require policy to maintain order, that the person must agree to the regulations for the benefit of the group that rules involve a deliberation of the civil rights of others. They as well gain knowledge of the competition, however within a limited and secure system where the penalty of losing is reduced.

In history, Kangxi is viewed as the greatest consolidator of the Qing dynasty. The dynasty is seen as resultant from the fall of the Ming dynasty facilitated by the fall of the latter’s central capital, Beijing. Consequently, in 1644, five year old Shunzi Emperor was installed into power. Though the invading Manchus captured Beijing and adopted Chinese ways such as the Confucian ideology, it is Kangxi who can be credited with the completion of the conquest and the installation of a powerful central government. This was highly modified to end all dissent especially towards the former Ming dynasty.
There were a series of events that signify the theme of Ming dissent. First, in 1644 Beijing experienced an attack from a coalition of rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, a former minor Ming official who had turned into the leader of the peasant revolt. “By the late 1660s, however, as the Kangxi emperor was gaining his full power…he in righteous anger had sought the military assistance to drive Li Zicheng from the empire”(Mote, pp.846) Secondly, after the fall of the Ming dynasty, continued battles by former generals continued which posed a challenge to the Manchu rule. Under continous attacks especially on Beijing, the last of the Ming Emperor Chongzhen committed suicide after the city was conquered, marking the official end of the Ming dynasty. Finally, the last of Ming dissent was expressed in the short-lived Shun Dynasty.
It is therefore imperative to look at how Kangxi managed to end all dissent and conquer all challenges posed by the former Ming Dynasty. First, the Manchus resolved this by allying with former Ming dynasty generals such as Wu Sangui to seize all rebel and dissenting factions. Secondly, so as to establish a successful government and therefore tackle all challenges experienced by the late Ming, he worked for long hours in consultation with his councilors as to vital issues in the empire and read memorials so as to motivate the citizens and the soldiers during wartime so as to encourage loyalty such as in the Dzungar conflict. To combat and avoid any of his powers being usurped by the notorious scholar-bureaucrats, he devised an entire secret system of communication, the Place Memorial System. He transferred secret messages to key officials in the empire through locked boxes that only he and his trusted officials had access as on how to them. Hence, Kangxi’s genius on political matters was evident which surpasses the argument put forward by critics on the lack thereof. The emperor also formed a Grand Council that dealt with any outstanding, sudden militant occurrences. This vital Security Council was chaired by him and compiled of the most trusted Hans Chinese staff, who were bound to him, and excluded all mandarin civil servants remnant of the Ming dynasty who could have resulted in any leakage in top-secret affairs especially to the Ming Dynasty proponents. Kangxi was also a cunning leader. He managed to convince the Confucian intelligentsia into co-operating with his government. It is vital to note that the scholars had a deep reservation against Manchu rule. Therefore, he saw am avenue to combat this by encouraging them to sit for traditional civil service examinations so as to become mandarins who composed major lavish literary works such as the Kangxi Dictionary. The fact that Kangxi managed to stamp out all Ming dissent and went a step further to solve multiple challenges against his government can also be attributed to the fact that he was an effective military commander. A man steeped into Confucian learning, his reflections and memorials written and read at the war front such as the war against Dzungar Mongols, were essential in justifying this stand. Consequently, all hostilities ceased after the Manchu Conquest of the Ming Dynasty resulting in rapid population increase and increase government tax collection due to increased land cultivation. Finally, the government was able to make tax remissions and in 1712, freeze land tax and corvee completely which further led to citizen loyalty towards Kangxi.
Kangxi foreign policy and relationship with the neighbors forms a crucial theme. In his government’s relationship with Vietnam, in 1673, he helped to mediate in a ceasefire in the Trịnh–Nguyễn War. This had started in 1627 and had been ongoing for 45 years. The two [arties signed a peace treaty that lasted for 101 years till 1774. Secondly, in the 1650s, the Qing Empire under Kangxi engaged the Russian Empire along the length of the River Amur in a string of border conflicts. This was resolved when the Manchu won the war. Further invasions by the Russians occurred in the 1680’s in the Nothern frontier of the Qing Dynasty. After a number of battles, the two warring factions settled for the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689 resulting in the gain of the territory in the Amur region and a restoration of peace in the dynasty. Finally, the dynasty’s relationship with the Mongols was a volatile one. Chahar Mongols, led by Burni in 1675 started a revolt against the Qing Empire. This was successfully crushed within two months and the Chahars integrated as soldiers into the Manchu eight Banners.
There are several significant outcomes as to the wars fought by the emperor against and in support of her neighbors. Kangxi conquered various zones such as Outer Mongolia from the Dzungars. It is important to note that during the Kangxi Emperor rule, areas to the north of River Amur and parts of Outer Mongolia were added to the expanding empire. Further control was exerted on Tibet. The Kangxi emperor was concerned over the rising power of the Europeans in the southern states of Qing. In the Ming dynasty, these states had been crucial in geopolitics and economics especially trade. Therefore, so as to recover this, he ordered the close monitoring of the activities carried out by Catholic missionaries and foreign merchants and any possible threats to the empire.

Sexual harassment at the work place occurs when someone engages in an unwelcome behavior on gender basis that affects someone’s work. It is defined by the equal employment opportunity commission (EEOC) as the unwelcome sexual advances, requests to for sexual favors and the verbal or physical conduct that is of a sexual nature. This happens when: Someone submits themselves to the conduct either implicitly or explicitly. It may be a term or set condition for someone to be employed; the conduct is used as a basis for employment decision targeting the victims; the conduct is aimed at unreasonably affecting the individuals’ performance at work or creating an offensive, hostile or intimidating working environment.
An environment will be classified as sexually hostile only if the following conditions are satisfied. Firstly, the behavior must be subjectively abusive to the affected person and secondly the behavior must be intentionally brutal or persuasive to create an environment that any reasonable person will realize it is abuse. To determine whether in fact the behavior is severe or persuasive enough as to create a hostile environment, the fact finder will have the following to consider the following: The occurrences of the unwelcome and discriminatory behavior; how severe the situation is; Whether the occurrence was humiliating or causing physical threat or whether it was a mere offensive utterance; Analysis of whether the conduct was unreasonably interfering with the work performance; The alleged effect on the employee’s psychological well being; The position of the culprit in the organization.
There is no single factor required to establish sexual harassment. There should me more than reasonable doubt that there was intention to molest sexually. One incidence where a woman’s supervisor asked her out for a date, placed his hand on her shoulder, placed notes written “I love one” on her working area and made an attempt to kiss her. There was no evidence of any legal violation. A hostile environment sexual harassment will also not be found where women are asked for dates by co-workers for at least three offensive incidences over a time period of 18 months or even where someone is subjected to occasional teasing or even crude jokes or sexual remarks. However in the case where a woman was touched in a sexually offensive manner in a confined workplace, was again subjected to long patterns of ridicule and abuse in the terms of gender or even forced into unwelcome sexual advances, then this amounted to sexual harassment.
The stated examples show how serious sexual offences should be in order for them to be considered legally actionable. In the presence of such, employers will be careful enough to address the issue of unwelcome conduct a good far off distance from the possibility of creating a hostile environment that will possibly cause a basis for legal suit.
Out rightly hostile environments are hard to determine. The facts of each prevailing situation determine whether the offensive conduct has gone beyond tolerance to the unlawful gender discrimination. Some of the courts ascertain that men have a different level of sensitivity from the female counterparts. The behavior that may not offend a reasonable man may be the cause of a legal suit for the women. In one of the studies that were conducted, it was found that, while 15% of the men could feel insulted by a sexual approach in the work place two thirds of the men surveyed said they would only be flattered by such an occurrence. The women who were interviewed on the same matter gave a totally different response to that. This different level of sensitivity has made the judges to adopt different levels of judgment for these cases of sexual harassment. Under these standards, a reasonable woman would actually feel harassed even a reasonable man on the other hand may not see the whole matter that way.
Since these legal boundaries are not marked with standard, the best thing to do will be to avoid any sexual charges in the work place. One may know that their behavior is offensive to the co-worker and hence avoid any close crash with them. This is quite important to avoiding such legal suits. Where individuals are in doubt about their character that could cause sexual harassment, it is then important to ask oneself the following questions: Is it the verbal or the physical behavior of sexual nature?; Is my conduct offensive to the people around me?; Is the behavior being initiated by only one party who is stronger than the other?; Does the employee have to coup with such behavior in order to maintain their job?; Does this conduct make the job of the employee unpleasant?
The unwelcome conduct can be termed as sexual harassment being addressed. Dating, jokes that are sexual and touching the counterpart may not be considered as sexual harassment if such behavior is entertained by the people involved. Any conduct directed towards someone may be considered unwelcome if it was not initiated by the recipient and they regard it as offensive. Some sexual advances are blatant and crude that the way they are addressed portrays that the request is not at all welcome. In more typical cases however the reaction of the recipient would be the only key to determine whether the request is welcome (Buhler, 1999).
A clear case would be when the employee openly reacts to a potential harasser by telling them that their conduct is not welcome and makes the employer feel uncomfortable with the fearless blame. Another approach to tackle the issue would be to persistently reject to engage in the unwelcome behavior. A woman who refuses to date another would have done enough to make her response clear and hence disorient the harasser.
When an offended employee fails to respond clearly, a problem definitely occurs. Sometimes our politeness, fears or indecisions will sometimes make us not to show our true feelings known. A woman employee when asked out for dinner may fail to say ‘no way’ but instead say “not today, I have some prior commitments”. The invitation is not actually offensive but the problem is whether the response was actually a welcome statement.
Continued sexual relationships among the employees will make it difficult to ascertain whether there this conduct is welcome. The employees have the right to deny or to put an end to such relationship without fear of retaliation from fear in the work place. This means that a conduct that was once welcome has now become unwelcome. Due to the previous behavior however, it is important to make it very clear that one have no intention to continue with the relationship (Egler, 1995).

The main reason to why United States of America got involved into Vietnam War which was between the non-communist South Vietnam and communist North Vietnam whereby communists Northern wanted to take over the non communist Southern Vietnam was containment of Communism and the spreading of communism into the non communist democracies which was a threat to the international capital and development interests.
Communism had spread at a first rate in the region after the World War II affecting countries like China, Korea and Vietnam. Communist China had supported Vietminh which was a communist group in the North Vietnam in their fight against French rule which gave Vietminh victory over the French rule who at the time were United States government was supporting French with military aid as well as financial aid.
Communism was from Soviet Union states which always envisioned communism and counter attacked United States foreign policy which envisioned capitalism and development. These two superpowers started campaigning for other countries in the world to embracing their ideologies thus creating two competing superpowers in the world. Communism had dominated the northern part of the world leaving United States and other noncommunist in the south. The trials by these superpowers towards convincing other states to embrace their respective ideologies resulted into cold war.
After the World War II, Premier Stalin of the Soviet Union had send pledges to the United States and Britain saying that countries of Eastern Europe who had earlier liberated into communism would be allowed to hold free and fair elections but long time passed without Stalin living up his pledge but rather continued to use these nations as colonies of the Soviet Union. This action led the United States into viewing communist Soviet Union states as aggressive and was bent on world domination.
United States had to come up with foreign policies which were to be used as tools of counter attacking the spread of communism after Premier Stalin of the Soviet Union failed to give in to his pledge. A major policy is the containment doctrine which enacted by George Kennan and later had to become a major used policy by President Harry S. Truman and many who succeeded him. (Williams,14).
The policy of containment was made so as to create a strong hindrance situation around the Soviet Union to contain communist power within the existing boundaries. United States later continued to campaign for other countries into forming treaties which were to help into further containment of communism within its boundaries. These treaties include: Central Treaty Organization (Cento), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), and other treaties with different nations of the world.
With the development of the policy of containment was the enactment of the Truman Doctrine. Truman doctrine stated that the United States would help any nation in resisting any subjugation whether internal or external by a communist ideology. This basically meant that the U.S. would however not allow communist takeover in other countries as a major act of containing communism within its boundaries.
The two doctrines were applied for the first time in Greece and Turkey when communist believed to have been under the direction of the Soviets invaded these two countries with intention of taking them over. United States offered military aid to these countries and they defeated the communists. To the United States this was a great and the first success and victory for the two policies and hence they proved applicable.
Just near the end of World War II Korea was a divided nation whereby there were two occupied zones, an American zone in the south and a communist zone in the north division. In June, 1950 the communist North Korea invaded the non-communist South Korea determined to take it over. The United States under the urge of the United Nations to the defense of the South Korea. Communist Chinese joined the war supporting the North Korean side in 1951. This convinced the United States that it was an international communism by the Soviet Union and the Chinese. The war ended up dividing Korea into two nations. United States was happy because containment and the Truman Doctrine had succeeded in Korea by stopping communist expansion.

The Chemistry of fireworks is a very interesting field. A look at an amusement park or a baseball game, or such events such as New Year’s Eve or Christmas Eve are just a few ways to show how much fun that comes our way from fireworks. This however is an intricate science requiring application of physical science. For instance, to produce a red chrysanthemum spray and an accompanying explosion requires certain components and materials such as an oxygen producer, color ejector, binder, fuel and propellants. There are three conspicuous and identifiable forms of energy produced by fireworks. These are heat, light and sound. The loud sound experienced in such events is attributed to the rapid release of energy into the atmosphere; hence the air expands at a greater rate than the speed at which sound travels. Therefore, a sonic boom which is a shock wave is produced.
The chemistry behind fireworks is a series of oxidation and reduction reactions which result in the desired sound and light. This happens as propellants push the firework into the sky. Oxidation reactions ensure that the oxygen needed to exhaustively burn the mixture of reducing agents and excite the atoms in the light-emitting compounds is produced. Oxidizers used such as chlorates, nitrates and percolates and reducing agents such as carbon and sulfur are available of the shelf for home-made users. The combination of reducing agents with oxygen is there responsible for the energy dissipated during the reaction. Black powder, which mainly contains nitrates, is the most used oxidizer (Conkling, 1985). A look at an explosion under the use of potassium nitrate so as to provide nitrate ions (NO3-) after decomposition can be represented as: Potassium nitrate potassium oxide + nitrogen gas + oxygen gas.
2KNO3 K2O +N2 + 2.502
The reaction is more controlled since when reacting, nitrates only release two in every three oxygen atoms, hence, the reaction is not exhaustive and vigorous since not all the oxygen atoms are actively used up. However, nitrates do not provide enough power to propel the firework into the sky and also ignite the package. Therefore, they cannot be used in star explosions since they cannot produce temperatures high enough to energize most color metal salts.
Star reactions need a temperature ranging from 1700 to 2000°C. This was enabled by the Italians in the 1830’s whereby they came across more explosive oxidizers, chlorates (ClO3-), which give up all their committed oxygen atoms upon reaction. This can be illustrated by the equation below which is highly spectacular, vigorous and releases more energy.
2KClO3 2KCl + 3 O2
Potassium chlorate potassium chloride + oxygen gas.
However, chlorates have the major demerit of being highly unstable, hence they can be dangerous to handle. On the merit side, chlorate can be easily ignited. For instance, dropping them on the ground can lead to a major explosion. This is since chlorates have the maximum potential of bonding with four oxygen atoms but they however bond with three. The fourth oxygen atom is left free, unsaturated and reactive. This makes chlorates better oxidizing agents. Further, in comparison to the slow-burning rate previously availed by nitrates, chlorates provide a faster reaction leading to a loud and exceedingly dangerous explosion. This was solved by the use of perchlorates which are more stable when releasing oxygen. The oxygen atoms in perchlorates are fully bonded hence stable. When reacting, perchlorates are able to release all their oxygen atoms. (Russell, 2009)
KClO4 KCl + 2O2
Potassium perchlorate Potassium Chloride + oxygen gas
So, perchlorates are not only more stable, but more oxygen-rich than chlorates. They, like chlorates, produce more vigorous reactions which produce hot, rapidly expanding oxygen atoms than nitrates in their star compartments.
Carbon and sulfur in charcoal are the most common reducing agents. They are contained in black powder and react to produce carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide respectively.
Oxygen + sulfur Sulfur (IV) Oxide gas
O2 (g) + S(s) SO2 (g)
Oxygen + carbon Carbon (IV) Oxide gas
O2 (g) + C(s) CO2 (g)
The magnanimous amount of energy released in these reactions and the hot rapidly expanding oxygen gas provide a basis for propulsion and consequent explosion.
The chemistry of fireworks, so as to come up with a varying degree of colors has generated a lot of interest. Color is generated through two mainstream ways: Incandescence and luminescence. Incandescence entails the production of light by means of heat. When a substance glows as a result of heat, it first emits infrared wavelengths, then red light. Orange light is then produced as the object becomes progressively hotter, followed by yellow and finally white light. Under a controlled environment, the glow of reducing agents such as charcoal can be regulated at a certain temperature, hence emitting a particular color at the desired time. Temperature regulators that are most common are magnesium, aluminum and titanium. Luminescence is the production of light through other means other than heat. These can therefore occur at colder temperatures lower than room temperature since it is independent of any heat. An electron in an atom is first excited and destabilized by absorption of energy. The atom is then relegated to a lower energy state hence releasing the energy within via photons, the basics of light. The energy possessed by these photons consequently determines its wavelength or color. A major challenge in producing color through luminescence is that some salts used are unstable at room temperatures such as Barium chloride. Therefore, this problem must be solved by use of a combination of these salts with more stable compounds such as chlorinated rubber. For instance, in the combustion of the pyrotechnic composition between barium chloride and chlorinated rubber, a green color is produced. Other salts such as copper chloride which gives a blue color must be regulated not to attain high temperatures yet the brightness of the resultant blue color must be achieved. (Pressroom, 2010)

Human resources is fully defined as the overall knowledge, skills, innovative abilities, talents and aptitudes expressed in an organization’s workforce in conjunction with the principles, attitudes, approaches and values of the persons involved in the running of the organization. This is therefore the aggregate of all depicted inherent abilities, knowledge and skills gained via experience reflected in the talents and aptitudes of the employees in the firm. Human resources are by nature multidimensional. (Armstrong, 2003, pg. 39).
It is vital to investigate the objectives of Human Resource in the attainment of any organization’s goals. Objectives are chiefly the pre-determined goals in an organization towards which all employees direct their efforts. So as to generate maximum profits, organizations must acquire human resources commonly referred to as labor. There is therefore a need to manage and direct these resources towards the goals of the firm else the core objective of the firm shall fail. Further, management must meet the basic needs, values and aspirations of the employees. Having considered this, the objectives of Human Resource management in an organization are as follows.
First, the firm must create and continuously motivate an able workforce which efficiently and effectively fulfills the desired needs of the organization even in the face of diverse challenges. This can only be achieved only if the optimal organizational structure and desired working conditions are met in the workplace.
Secondly, a human resource management methodology must securely integrate individuals and groups in the organization through proper co-ordination with the person’s and groups goals and those stated by the organization. This facilitates the creation of opportunities in which the individual or group can develop in order to match with the growth of the organization.
Thirdly, so as to achieve organizational goals, the management process that has been put in place must satisfactorily utilize the workforce. This can be promoted by first satisfying the workforce itself so as to ensure maximum output which can be done by intrinsic rewards such as equitable salaries and monetary incentives or extrinsic rewards such as social security, prestige, recognition, status and other employee benefits. Further, employee morale and management-employee relations can boost productivity if conditions and facilities are continuously improved. This can be carried out through offering training and development programs such as workshops.
Fourthly, a proper human resource process must recognize and contribute to the reduction of related social evils such as under-employment, un-employment and income and wealth distribution inequalities through the equitable provision of employment to women and minority groups. (Bratton & Gold, 2003, pg. 45) Finally, a human resource management process also aims at providing a platform through which employees can express themselves and be heard without the fear of victimization. By so doing, the organization is able to solve employee problems and come up with grievances and further grow via the important views aired by the employees.

In reviewing the article ‘The 30 Second Effect: An experiment revealing the impact of television commercials on food preferences of preschoolers” by Dina L.G Borzekowski and Thomas N. Robinson, it is imperative to fully analyze the research on various platforms as discussed here-in.
1. How well is the problem formulated? What is the purpose of the study? What is/are the research question(s)? State the hypothesis and identify the IV and DV.
The problem is well stated and arouses curiosity by the use of ’30 Second effect. The implication that only thirty seconds can impact on a child especially having in mind the recent wave of obesity that has hit the United Sates largely attributed to poor advertising is magnanimous. It is vital to note that this study is highly needed today due to the fact that published studies in advertising research are more than twenty years old hence do not reflect the current trends such as obesity and consumer preferences. The purpose of the study is clearly stated in the objective as to examine whether televised food commercials influence pre-school children preferences. Therefore, the objective clearly articulates what the study aims at accomplishing which is the effect of food advertisements geared towards profit maximization on pre-school kids in the ages of two to six. The research question was: Does televised food commercials influence the food preferences of school going children? Further, does the frequency of advertisements such as twice a day rather than once have any impact across this group watching embedded commercials?
The study hypothesizes that children who watch a videotape with embedded commercials are more likely to prefer the advertised food items in comparison to those children who watched the same videotape without the commercials. Therefore, the independent variable is the type and frequency of commercials in relation to the dependent variable of food preferences. The independent variable in this case being the advertisements themselves were aptly covered in their treatment videotape and control measures. However, the juice scenario, a favorite among pre-school children may prove to be biased since it was displayed for a relatively shorter time of 10 seconds compared to the standard 30 seconds for each and every video-tape. The fact that children are more comfortable when handled by women rather than men ensured that the respondent’s environment was further likened to their home situation.

2. Describe and critique the measurement used in the study. How is each variable operationally defined and how adequate are these definitions? Describe the data collection procedures and their effectiveness.
In the methodology, a random and uncontrolled study was conducted. Two or three randomly chosen children were invited to view commercials with or without embedded commercials then select their preferences from 9 pairs of identical products. Control or treatment videotapes were used, and then the children were left to watch without the feeling of being monitored. This was crucial in the study of the advertisements’ impact since the children could feel that the environment modeled that in their homes. Random samples totaling to 50 was also crucial in eliminating any bias and expand the basis for statistical tests. Data was chiefly collected through interviews administered by a standard set of questions. First, general warm-up questions were administered so as to ensure the child is relaxed, and then children were asked to pick their favorite items as displayed in several pictures. The fact that a matching picture was provided with its corresponding product such that the child chose between one of the products may have been limiting to only one in two choices but served as a good enough criteria in analyzing food preferences for identical products.

3. Describe and critique the design of the study. What design was used? Is the design appropriate to the kind of research? Evaluate the extent of causality that can be inferred from the study.
The study was evaluated while having in mind previous media, consumer and educational research conducted on preschoolers. The children’s lesser cognitive and expository skills were well taken care of by use of pictures and appropriate language hence simplifying identification. In testing the null hypothesis that several treatment situations can be applied to come up with a dichotomous outcome variable, Cochran Q statistic was calculated. The test showed that advertisements for various food brands were widely affected by media used and demographic characteristics. However, Cochran’s Q statistic has been found to be limited in its comparison of two independent groups and the consequent comparison of results since the researcher cannot assess the group by its time interaction. However, this test was particularly useful in examining the change in categorical data carried out on multiple observations such as the case in the 30 Second effects.

4. Identify the type of sampling method used in the study. Discuss this method in terms of the sampling frame, possible sources of sampling bias, and potential generalizability of the findings.
A simple random and controlled sampling criterion was used such that it was easily understood. Its simplicity in adoption is highly recommended since the data needed can be obtained free from bias. Further, the population on which a sample is taken obtains equal representation. However, this sampling method is not applicable for homogeneous data. If the several children selected in the sample had been exposed to similar advertisements at the same time as is the case in the family set-up where parent-child routine is highly predictable, the sample taken in a certain locality would be more or less homogenous. This implies that the above technique cannot be used. Further, if a larger sample was taken so as to diversify the study, the sampling method described in this study would be unsustainable. Finally, the results attained in this study cannot be generalized as the case in the home set-up since this would lead to a different case scenario altogether. Children in the ages of 2 to 6 have short attention spans in a home setup which they are most familiar with. Further, these findings cannot be generalized so as to completely lay blame on corporation’s way of advertisement as responsible for the currently high obesity rates. This is since a conclusive study would have to be carried out on similar advertisement floated by various manufacturers either through television or other popular means on the need to avoid junk food.