The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into symbolism. A few of the symbols throughout are: the Scarlet â€Å"A† embroidered on Hester’s chest, the Forrest (in the daytime), the Forrest (in the nighttime), the prison, the rose growing up by the prison wall and light and dark. Each of these has a certain significance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The â€Å"A† is the outward symbol of Hester and Dimmsdale’s sin. It is the tangible, form of punishment. The thing that physically sets Hester apart. This symbolizes her sin and her punishment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Forrest during the daytime is a symbol of beauty of freedom. While at nighttime it is the devil’s playground, symbolizing chaos and evil. The Puritans felt this way because they had no control over the Forrest and were thus threatened by it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The prison is yet another symbol of Hester’s physical punishment and isolation from the world. She is cast out. No longer an accepted member of society for the crimes that she has committed. The prison is hard and cruel, it is also a reflection of the ideals of the Puritan society. The rose shows the beauty that can grow out of that harsh, ugliness. The rose is Pearl.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Light and darkness is used to show Dimmsdale’s guilt and his mental anguish. He walks to the scaffold, mocking a confession at night in the darkness. Then blazes an meteor in the sky as if God himself were looking down and saying to Dimmsdale, â€Å"Almost, but not quite.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The author gives several lengthy, difficult descriptions in the beginning of the novel to set the harsh, Puritan tone of the novel. He says, â€Å"The founder of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house gone where in the vicinity of cornhill, almost as seasonable as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson’s lot...† (pg. 75). He uses very long, hard to read passages to create a Puritan-esque feeling in the reader.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pearl is her mother’s only treasure, bought with all she had. She is the symbol of her guilt, and the price of her sin. Pearl is described as a â€Å"sprite† and an â€Å"elf-child†. She is lively, and spirited. She is a constant reminder to Dimmsdale of his mistakes, and the fact that he has yet to be punished for them by the

Motivational Cues of Students with Single Parents Essay

Discussing school issues and attending school function has a positive effect on the children’s academic achievement(Jeynes, 2005) but the need to search for a greener pasture has become one of the main issues between family members. To provide quality life for the family, one or both parents fly abroad to work and leave their kids. On their resiliency on parental absence, children of overseas Filipino workers do understand that the idea of readily available work, amenities and bigger income offered in other countries pull certain group of parents to migrate. Thus children with migrant parents view this as an opportunity for better education and they have the means to enroll in private schools (Bielza-Valdez, 2011). Few researches have shown that students who live in one parent households are disadvantaged in many counts. In Asia, the Philippines is the major supplier of labor migrants to over 100 countries and the leading female migrant sending countries along with Indonesia. More than 8 million (10%) out of the 85 million Filipinos were working or living abroad, while over 72% of total migrants from Philippines were women workers. Many of these women work as domestic helpers, nurses, caregivers, and entertainers. With this huge number of Filipino migrants (and still more) living the country temporarily (or permanently), a more pressing concern is with regards to children left behind. Though there is no systematic data on the number of children left behind, it is estimated to be 9 million or 27% of the total youth. The perceived social costs of migration have been always been part of the reasons why various sectors of Filipino society are ambivalent about overseas employment. Aside from the myriad problems migrants encounter abroad, concerns over the stability of families have received much attention. In the 1970s, when male migrants dominated labor migration, the absence of fathers was seen as weakening Filipino families. In the 1980s, women became part of labor migration. As the feminization of migration persisted, the anxieties magnified because mothers, who are considered as the â€Å"light of the home,† are not around for their families. As the foundation of Philippine society, there are fears that threats to the family redound to threats to the nation’s social fabric as a whole. Our parents portray a very big role in our achievement-most especially in academics. Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial (Conway, 2008). The children of single parent families are more likely to be impoverished, to break the law, to abuse drugs, to do poorly in school, to become pregnant before the age of twenty, and to have emotional and behavioural problems. A common desire for all parents is to see that their child is happy, healthy, and successful. School provides an array of opportunities for children to be successful starting at a young age. Academic success can lead to feelings of competency, self-worth, and high self-esteem (Slavin, 2000). In addition to its positive effects on a child’s emotions, early academic success is related to success throughout a child’s academic career (Turner & Johnson, 2003). However, students who do not perform well in early years may develop poor academic self-concepts and, as a result, perform poorly in later years (Marsh & Yeung, 1997).

Cypop 2

Positive relationships and communication Cyp3. 6 1. 1 Explain the importance of multi-agency working and integrated working The importance of multi-agency working and integrated working is that children in their early years may have a range of needs, so the way we work together with a wide range of different professionals can have a positive impact on children’s health, development and learning as we can make sure all information is passed on effectively.Multi agency working is important because it brings together practitioners from different areas of work to provide an integrated way of working to support children and their families. This ensures that children and young people who need additional support have the right professionals to support and help them as soon as they need the support and help. Integrated working is important as its main purpose is to focus on encouraging and allowing professionals to work together to deliver positive outcomes for each individual child.I ntegrated working allows things such as early intervention which means that agencies are able to intervene early into a situation before it worsens and hinders a child’s development. CYP3. 6 1. 2 Analyse how integrated working practices and multi-agency working in partnership deliver better outcomes for children Better outcomes for children and young peopleThere are many outcomes for children that will be positive if the professionals working with the children and their families can share and agree upon the way they might assess, plan and implement for the child. Both the children and their parents can be involved in any plans to ensure that a child can achieve their potential. If the outcomes for any child are to be positive it is important that all adults involved understand what information can be shared and the importance of confidentiality.

Abraham Lincoln Did Not Free the Slaves

To this very day, many still believe that Abraham Lincoln, with his Emancipation Proclamation, serves as a revolutionary train that guided America in a forward direction to the abolishment of slavery. As dainty and â€Å"happily ever after† as such sounds, sadly this is not the case at all. Though Lincoln and many other Northerners opposed slavery, emancipation of the millions of enslaved blacks wasn’t always well accepted in the racist society of the North or the South. Northern blacks were typically more outspoken about the issues of slavery; however, this led to many being seen as merely stoking the fire that would lead to a civil war and secession of the South. Eventually secession did occur with the election of 1860 and Abraham Lincoln’s anti-slavery platform, but Lincoln didn’t immediately grant manumission of all the slaves. Instead, as years past and war weariness settled in, along with an already occurring self-liberating force by enslaved blacks, Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation. This historical document has been morphed into being accepted as Lincoln’s greatest achievement and the freeing of slaves. When actually analyzing the contents of this document and already occurring self-liberation movements of this time, it is evident that Abraham Lincoln didn’t free the slaves. 1. Self-Liberation Movements a. Motivation i. Declaration from God ii. Civil War 1. Allowed the already self-liberation black movement to grow. 2. Believed that if North Won = End of Slavery 3. Believed that if South Won = Slavery everywhere b. Ran towards Union Lines i. Pilgrim Armies ii. Camped in areas where Union Soldiers occupied 1. â€Å"Freedom Fort† 2. Union-held Fortress Monroe 3. Hundreds left slavery and went here. iii. Left from Virginia and the Carolinas to Richmond iv. Left Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri to the North c. Self-made Emancipation proclamations i. Many slaves made their own. ii. Inspiration from slave songs. d. Became an unavoidable Military and Political Issue i. Many enlisted ii. Worked on Union encampments iii. Served as spies iv. Treated as Contraband v. Abraham Lincoln and other Generals didn’t recognize their freedom in most cases. . Emancipation Proclamation a. Purpose i. Proclamation was created to weaken Confederacy. ii. Lincoln’s goal was to repair the union. iii. Purpose was not to free slaves. b. Contents i. Proclamation freed only slaves in â€Å"Rebellious† States. ii. Lincoln preserved slavery in â€Å"loyal states† and parts of the confederacy in Union control. c. Effectiveness i. No authority over the â€Å"Rebellious† States ii. Slaves in the South were already liberating themselves iii. There wasn’t a way to enforce this Proclamation. d. Lincoln’s Views i. Didn’t believe in a black and white society. i. Was anti-slavery, different from abolitionist. iii. More focused on preserving the Union and halting expansion of slavery. iv. Why did he wait two years if he really wanted to emancipate the slaves? v. Lincoln’s Letter to Horace Greeley â€Å"my paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and it is not either to save or destroy slavery, If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. â€Å"

Processes of globalization Essay

The current state of world politics nowadays has reached the stage wherein almost everyone from age 8 to 80 is already aware of the subjects of globalization and nationalism. If you put these two words in order, the topic of nationalism always comes first, having people grow with the idea. Globalization comes next and the very word was often perceived as a form of disrespecting the subject of nationalism. In the article that Kusumi (2004) wrote for the Association of Asian Research, he used nationalism and globalization and the al-Qaeda as his subjects which he compared from each other. In this article, he stated that â€Å"on the part of globalization, to make a mess in unintentional. On the part of al-Qaeda, to make a mess is the whole idea (Kusumi, 2004). † Nationalism, in a more general definition is the way in which a certain society decides to order its affairs. As children, we were taught that nations are also called territories that are governed by either civil or military authorities. For a more comprehensive meaning of nations, these are units of communities possessing their own policies and histories. One nation generally has its own unique policy system, economy, society, and cultures. Every nation is unique from each other in their own ways. Based from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the term nationalism can be described by two kinds of phenomena with the first referring to the attitude possessed by the members of a certain nation when it comes to the subject of their national identity. This definition raises questions about the subjects of nation or national identity which are often connected to the subjects of common origin, ethnicity, or the membership of a certain individual in a nation. The second definition moreover, deals with the attitude or actions of these members whenever they seek or fight to sustain their self-determination and carries along questions of whether the concept of self-determination should be viewed as something that involves having full statehood or complete authority over domestic and international affairs etc. For many years, nationalism has been ignored as a significant topic in the area of political philosophy and has only emerged as one of the consequences of nationalist clashes like the one between the former Yugoslavia and Soviet Republics. Either way, nationalism often presents a picture that is morally ambivalent in theme. The very concept of national awakenings and the struggles that come along with the fight for political independence are both seen as heroic in people’s eyes. Basically, the moral debates about nationalism shows a kind of deep moral tension between national groups that are oppressed and the repulsion that are effects of the crimes committed for nationalism itself. Simply put, the subject of nationalism refers to an area of problems mostly about the ethnic and cultural differences in a democratic policy. These, also are considered as one of the hardest dilemmas in contemporary political theory (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ). Nationalism is also connected to the term nation-state which refers to a â€Å"geographically bounded legal entity under a single recognized environment, the population of which psychologically considers them to be related, through historical, linguistic, racial, or other links (Kacowicz, 1998). † The forces connected to the subject of nationalism can be presented in many forms that are beyond the definition of the state itself. For example, the subject of nationalism can serve as an instrument in finding a homeland state for a certain existing nation that still does not own one. Moreover, it can also be used to organize a nation for a state that is not yet one through the collaboration of different elements within territorial boundaries to create a nation. Globalization, on the other hand, is viewed as the antithesis of nationalism. This concept negates what the nationalism promotes about the different identities of nations ad suggests that there are no boundaries existing, only one globe. There are many implications to this subject. For example, global transportation around the world is becoming far easier compared to the past times and communications technology is still improving and spreading globally. These kinds of changes sometimes make people have the feeling that they are all connected despite of the distances and boundaries. The word globalization implies the fact that the world is only a single market with goods and investments flowing freely across different national borders. The term refers to the changes in both the spatial and temporal contours of social existence. Here, geographical distance is now measured in terms of time and as time is needed to connect geographical locations is minimized, the subject of distances often undergo the subject of compression or even annihilation. And as changes in human activities also affect changes in space or territory, many theorists believe that these alterations in the experiences of humanity are in the process of undermining the significance of both local and national boundaries in the area of human endeavor (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). There are three facets connected to globalization. The first among these is the association of the subject to the concept of deterritorialization, a concept which refers to the increasing kinds of social activities happening irrespective of the geographical location of the participants. These activities are promoted through telecommunication, audiovisual media, digital computers and even the World Wide Web itself. If you view globalization using the concept of deterritorialization, the former can be connected to the increased possibilities of the actions of people irrespective of their latitudinal and longitudinal location. As what the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2006) stated, â€Å"Territory in the sense of traditional sense of geographically identifiable location no longer constitutes the whole of ‘social space’ in which human activity takes place†¦. globalization refers to the spread of new forms of non-territorial social activity. † The second concept connected to globalization is that of social interconnectedness across geographical and political boundaries. In this aspect, globalization is connected to the different processes of change that causes significant transformations in the organization of human affairs though connecting and expanding the possibilities of human activities across borders. The third concept of globalization is social acceleration or speed or velocity of any social activity. The speed of the transportation, communication, and other technologies that link people now at present are very important factors in giving the sense of interconnectedness and blurring of territorial boundaries. The speed of technology, however, is not the only deal in this subject. The connecting and expansion of social activities across different borders are also defined by the very movements of people, information, and goods. The two other concepts mentioned above are directly connected with the speed or social life and the velocity and interchanges across different borders varies generally from their magnitude, impact, or regularity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006). Thus, globalization should be perceived as a multi-pronged process due to the fact that deterritorialization, social interconnectedness, and the acceleration of social activities affect many aspects of social activity like in economic, political, and cultural terms. Every manifestation of globalization also creates conflicts and dislocations in different area. An example of this is the evidence saying that cross-border flows and exchanges re already gaining prominence worldwide. The emergence of global financial markets serves as a big challenge to traditional attempts of liberal democratic nation-states. When it comes to the political realm, globalization takes a more distinct form through deterritorialization, interconnectedness, and acceleration of social activity elements. One form of political globalization is when activists use high-speed communication technologies to connect and form alliances across borders against dilemmas that are transnational in manner. Forms of supranational organizations exhibited for example by the European Union and North America Free Trade Association are also perceived as new manifestations of political globalization. Despite all of these though, critics still say that the local, regional and national forms of self-government are now being replaced by the democratic forms of global governance that are insufficient to ordinary citizens. The definition of nationalism and globalization clearly shows the differences between the two concepts. Nationalism promoted the establishing of a national identity and the strengthening of borders from one nation to another. Here, a nation is seen as something that has its own policies, economic flow, and culture that is somewhat unavailable from the members of other nations. Globalization, on the other hand, firmly says that there are no existing borders and that the world is one undivided network. As what Kusumi (2004) said, nationalism and globalization are like oil and water. You can only patronize one and not the other since the nature of the word â€Å"international† is equivalent to the fact of having nations defined by their respective boundaries, while the definition of the word â€Å"global† is parallel to the intellectual aggression of individuals to the boundaries that are drawn on the globe. Globalization and terrorism have common factors. Both aims to reach out across national borders and both are vessels that in a way disrespect nationalism. Nationalism advertises the subject of having a national identity while globalization simply threatens the identity of not only one nation but all others around the world. However, globalization is not at all negative because evidences, particularly in the world of trade, shows that this very subject helps a lot in the economy of several countries (Kusumi, 2004). Thus, it is all just a matter of perspective for these two subjects. For one, during the last few decades, the international flows of goods and financial capital from border to border has increased significantly and if it will be studied in a global perspective, it can be seen that the international trade of goods and services doubled in a span of four decades. Despite of the increase in the flow of goods, services, and financial capital, the term globalization also implies the fact that the world is considered as nearly a single market. In a fully globalized economy setting such as this, the goods and investments will be able to flow easily from border to border (Taylor, 2002). Despite of these, though, there are still numerous studies promoting the importance that national borders play in the trade market and how our world regardless of all advancements is still too far into being considered a single world market. One of the evidences to the significant role of national borders can be seen in the situation of Ontario, a province of Canada that has an equal distance from Washington State and the province of British Columbia. If a person will look at the situation using the perspective of a borderless state defined by globalization, he/she will expect Ontario’s level of trade as equal to that of Washington and British Columbia. However, this is not the case when it comes to real life even after adjusting the respective sizes of their economies. In studies conducted in the United States and Europe, it is found that the trades between regions within countries are actually 3 to ten times higher compared to the trade across national borders even after taking into account factors like the size of local economies and geographic distance (Taylor, 2002). Reasons of why national borders still play important roles in the limiting of international movements of goods and capital are easy to identify. For one, transportation and communications networks are commonly organized by national governments and concentrate more in connections within their own country than national borders. Thus, the economic transactions across a national border is burdened with additional costs that are connected with different legal systems, institutions, regulations, languages and many other factors. Also, the changes and flow in exchange rate also ass to the level of risk to economic transactions across borders (Taylor, 2002). Globalization is not the single and most viable ingredient in achieving economic growth. In fact there are a multitude of factors that can serve as a catalyst to the achievement of economic success like good education, available investment capital, good infrastructure and transportation, a proper financial sector, and many more. Thus, nations aren’t face with the tough choice of choosing economic improvement over their loyalty to their nation. The availability of a certain market to the international flows of goods and capital is also one of the most important factors in promoting improvement but there is always a risk that globalization can’t accomplish much and may even be harmful to the economy (Taylor, 2002). Basically, the very concept of nationalism directly opposes the processes of globalization since the concepts of disintegration, fragmentation, and localization deviate from the very trend of globalization. For example, a new sense of statehood may be a response to the forces of globalization in aiming to annihilate borders between nations. Thus, the persistence and survival of nationalism can be viewed as a kind of response to the forces of the global market through actions that will relocate and strengthen the legitimacy and sense of loyalties at national or subnational levels versus the transnational and supranational force of economic globalization (Kacowicz, 1998). Moreover, the promotion of nationalism as well as the organizing of new states is even encouraged by pressures of globalization. Through the processes involved in technological dissemination, globalization can even be considered as a catalyst in promoting nationalism so that these two concepts can even converge if a new global revolution of rising expectations will only be viewed. These forces can even encourage states and nations to be more active and managing the pressures that comes along with the subject of globalization. Here, an interesting paradox can be seen because even though the forces of globalization seem to be a giant next to the concept of state sovereignty, the technological changes brought by the former can even improve the material conditions needed to enhance and give birth to nationalistic trends. To put it simply, globalization opens doors for new strategies and roles for the nation-state and the resurgence of the sense of nationalism (Kacowicz, 1998). In conclusion, nationalism and globalization are two concepts that directly oppose each other’s purposes but in a way also complements the promotion of one. Just like what has already been mentioned earlier in this paper, â€Å"it is all just a matter or perspective. † References: Kacowicz, A. M. (1998). Regionalization, Globalization, and Nationalism: Convergent, Divergent, or Overlapping? Retrieved June 7, 2009 Web site: http://www. nd. edu/~kellogg/publications/workingpapers/WPS/262. pdf. Kusumi, J. (2004). Globalization versus nationalism versus al-Qaeda: These three things are important to understand as bad, good, and bad respectively. Retrieved June 7, 2009, from Association for Asia Research. Web site: http://www. asianresearch. org/articles/2261. html. Taylor, T. (2002). The Truth About Globalization. Public Interest, 24. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2006). Globalization. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from Stanford University: Official site Web site: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/globalization/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2005). Nationalism. Retrieved June 7, 2009 from Stanford University: Official site Web site: http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/nationalism/

Airborne Express case study Essay

Airborne Express, an air express transportation company has succeeded to compete with a few big competitors such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service (UPS) even it does not have funding as much as its competitors. In 1996, it held third position in the industry with 9 percent of the market. Even Airborne is smaller size company compared to its main competitors, it still can survive with the competitive advantage through its resources and capabilities. With some unique resources and core competences, a company may have competitive advantage over its competitors, and this is the way small capital company able to compete with its competitors. Airborne Express is the first and only air express transportation company that owns an airport. Because of the limited control, Airborne has purchased an airline at Wilmington in 1980. Since then, the airport became the hub of the company, and all the operations of the company were conducted here. It is also the biggest privately owned airport in United States. With the ownership of the airport, Airborne is able to control the operations more easily. Besides that, Airborne does not need to pay for any landing or service fees to the airlines company like its competitors. Comparably, Federal Express and UPS own the planes but still need to lease the airport from other party. It helps Airborne to save a lot of costs. Apart from that, Wilmington airport is one of the strategic airports in United States. It means that the place is having a well weather record. For express air transportation industry, weather is a big factor that can affect the daily business operation. If the weather is bad, the shipments will not be sent to the final destination at the promised time. Time is the promise to the customers and it does affect the confidence of a company’s customers. Besides airlines, Airborne also has a complete system of ground transportation. With the establishment of trucking hubs in some places, Airborne able to deliver the shipment that near to the hub using the ground transport. Almost 25 percent of the company’s domestic volume is dealt with ground transport. However, the cost of service by ground transport is not transparent to the customers who assume that the packages are flown. Thus, the charge is same with the air-transported goods. Compare to air transport, ground transportation costs five times lower. From here, the profit margin  has been increased. In the other way, the company also can offer lower price for ground transportation packages. Instead of making more profit, the company can utilize the low cost benefit to compete with its competitors. In 1996, Airborne Express owned a fleet of 105 aircraft. To keep the capital expenditure down, Airborne has purchased only used planes. The planes will be modified to suit its specification for air express transportation. The cost of purchase and modification is $30million lower than purchasing a new plane. Compare to other companies, a big amount of money is being saved by Airborne. Further more, Airborne’s DC-9 and YS-11 aircraft require only two person cockpit crew compared to normal three person crews required in Federal Express and UPS. Labour cost has been saved again. Airborne also have its own maintenance facility in Wilmington. It is the only all-cargo carrier to do so. It can handle most if the maintenance works except major engine repairs. It was estimate that the labour costs of $16 per hour is $49 lesser than the subcontracted labour cost. It was a major source of annual cost savings. Instead of serving all kinds of customers, Airborne decided to focus on serving the needs of high volume corporate accounts. It is because the severe competition and the cost of serving small customers. The company is able to establish scheduled pickup routes and use it as ground capacity more efficiently. Due to this factor, the unit cost structure has been reduced. According to the Airborne executives, their unit cost is $3 lower than its main competitor, Federal Express. Besides that, because of the different consumer behaviors between different groups, the focusing of the service is one of the ways to win a part of market in severe competition. By matching the needs of the groups, the company will have a better chance to win the customers than its competitors. Another aspects that Airborne get competitive advantage is the creation of the only privately certified Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in United States at its Wilmington hub. In a FTZ, merchandise is tax-free and no customs duty is paid until it leaves. It is a big attraction to the foreign companies. The companies can keep their inventories in Wilmington hub, and the inventories  will be delivered to the destination by Airborne when needed. The local companies that implement Just-In-Time policy will prefer the service very much. It is because the inventories cost will bear by the suppliers that keep inventories in Airborne hub. For foreign companies, not only can satisfy the needs of local customers, but also can save the cost of tax and duty paid. The FTZ is a good factor that will help Airborne to set foot into the international market. However, because of the capital constraint, Airborne still unable to compete with Federal Express and UPS in the international market. Normally, large sizes A-containers are used in the air cargo business. Around $1million per plane is required to install cargo doors to take A-containers. To solve the problem, Airborne has developed C-containers that are six times smaller, and can fit through the passenger doors of the aircraft. The equipment to load the C-containers also about 80 percent less expensive than the equipment needed for A-containers. The shape of C-containers also designed to allow maximum utilisation of the plane space. To prevent other competitors copy the design, Airborne has taken out the patent on the C-containers. Therefore, C-containers seem to be the speciality of Airborne Express. It helps the company to save a lot of costs. It is a long term cost savings because it involves in daily operation. Therefore, it also a long term competitive advantage over the other competitors. Apart from that, through its subsidiary company, Advanced Logistics Services Corp., Airborne is promoting a range of third-party logistics service. It provides customers with the ability to maintain inventories in a 1 million square foot â€Å"stock exchange† facility located in Wilmington hub. The customers can choose to manage the inventories themselves or subcontract to Airborne. In â€Å"stock exchange† service, third party will involve in the instruction for movement of the inventories. It easier the process of the movement of inventories, and also help the customers to minimise inventory holding costs. Airborne is the first and only air express transportation company that provide this unique service. It actually involves a complex system. Therefore, knowledge or human resource is very important in order to develop the system. Since it is the only company, customers who interested  with the â€Å"stock exchange† service will come to Airborne. The unique competence gives Airborne a competitive advantage. Science and technology is developing rapidly in the world. Information system becomes more and more important in the business world. The more developed system a company has, the more competitive advantage it gets. Airborne uses three information systems to help in its daily operation. LIBRA II system is a metering device and computer software that easier the transaction between Airborne and customers. It also lowers Airborne’s operating costs. FOCUS is the main system provided by Airborne and it benefits customers the most. It is a worldwide tracking system that help the customers to track the location their package through Internet link. It increases the company’s reliability and service quality. With the trust on the company, customers will be more confident to give the job. The third system is the Customer Linkage electronic data interchange program. It eliminates repetitive data entry and paperwork by the customers. It also a system that created purposely to benefit its customers. The company also benefits from lowering the costs by eliminating manual data entry. From all the resources and capabilities mentioned above, we could realise that most of the competitive advantages Airborne has over its competitors is through costs reduction. According to Porter’s Generic Strategies Model, Airborne is actually implemented a cost-focus strategy to get the competitive advantage. Because of the lesser capital, Airborne is unable to compete with the giant of the industry, such as Federal Express and UPS. If Airborne can be the cost leader in the industry, it can give a severe competition to the competitors. Besides that, the unique resources such as C-containers and Foreign Trade Zone are also giving core competences to the company. In conclusion, facing the competition from competitors that have powerful funding, Airborne not only can survive, but also get a strong position in the air express transportation industry. A correct and suitable strategy adopted by a company can change the company position. A company, which can fully and smartly utilise its resources and capabilities, it can have  competitive advantage over the other competitors and it really benefits the company a lot.

Two Old Women book review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Two Old Women book review - Essay Example Wallis had written the book sensitive based on the aspect of womanhood and nature that had been presented to retain survival within the members. The book is vital to predict the events that lead to the seclusion of selected societal members in an attempt to adjust to the harsh environmental challenges faced within unstable societies. Wallis’ short book had been written to predict the events that had occurred following the decision by a tribe to abandon two elderly women, following a natural calamity that threatened the development of their society. The events had been followed by the decision of the tribe to witness their reduced participation towards healthy development in the tribe. Wallis explains that these women had been linked to complaining instead of providing positive ideology to assist in eliminating the challenges. The book explains the ability of a stable societal system to make the decision to protect sensitive members within the system and encourage hard work through harsh subjections. The elderly women had been alienated despite their condition due to the burden that they would present to the new society. The decision had been made due to the harsh famine that had plagued the land. Despite the decision to abandon the women due to their condition, the result is unexpected because they apply determination and friendship to overcome the challenges. The community had made the decision to abandon the women because they had been considered a setback to the development within the new land that the tribe sought to create. The decision had been made because they had been considered weak and would not last the extreme famine witnessed. However, the twist in the story is realized when the women manage to overcome these challenges and plough through the burden that had been subjected upon them. Ch ‘idzigyaak and Sa’ managed to articulate solutions to present survival measures. Through the help of the daughter and her grandson, Ch