Health and Hygiene Essay Example for Free

Health and Hygiene Essay The word technology refers to the making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species ability to control and adapt to their natural environments. The term can either be applied generally or to specific areas: examples include construction technology, medical technology, and information technology. The prehistorical discovery of the ability to control fire increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans in travelling in and controlling their environment. Recent technological developments, including the printing press, the telephone, and the Internet, have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale. In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economies (including todays global economy) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class. Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products, known as pollution, and deplete natural resources, to the detriment of the Planet Earth and its environment. The distinction between science, engineering and technology is not always clear. Science is the reasoned investigation or study of phenomena, aimed at discovering enduring principles among elements of the phenomenal world by employing formal techniques such as the scientific method. Technologies are not usually exclusively products of science, because they have to satisfy requirements such as utility, usability and safety. The 20th century brought a host of innovations. In physics, the discovery of nuclear fission has led to both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Through our modern day miracles of science we are able to appreciate that which is truly an incredible era of advanced erudition and self-sufficiency. Because of the advantages of modern day technology, we are allowed the unique benefit of looking back on what was and comparing it with what is and what could be. Technology is no longer seen as a barrier, but as a breakthrough. Bringing fresh insight and offering better jobs to those who are willing to take a step towards the future. .

What Location Influences Foreign Direct Investment?

What Location Influences Foreign Direct Investment? Chapter 1 Introduction This chapter offers an introduction to the research, with paragraph 1.2 detailing the problem it focuses on, leading to the research question in paragraph 1.3. Paragraph 1.4 discusses the relevance of the research. The chapter ends with an outline of the thesis. The next paragraphs contain the various purposes and the general research design, and finish with the disposition of the study. 1.1 Background Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important source of capital and economic growth in recent business. It provides a package of new technologies, management techniques, finance and market access for the production of goods and services. However, attracting FDI is a major challenge for most host countries as they face the challenge of identifying the major factors that motivate and affect the FDI location decision. Nowadays, regions try to attract Foreign Direct Investments to stimulate their economic development (OECD, 2002a). Certain regions consider the ecological issues as well and promote sustainable FDI. Recently, while working at AgentschapNL, an agency of the Dutch secretary of Economic Affairs, the awareness for sustainable investment rose. AgentschapNL promotes sustainable development and innovation, both in the Netherlands and abroad. One region that is engaged in an initiative to attract FDI is the Swedish province Jà ¤mtland. This initiative is called Midscand and it involves stimulating business investments and cooperation (joint ventures, business development, acquisitions, strategic alliances, outsourcing and new start-ups). One of their target countries is the Netherlands. The activities that are discussed are the sectors: cleantech, tourism, mechanical industry, forestry and call centres. The scope of this research is limited to the cleantech sector. This sector deals with sustainable innovations and investments in Jà ¤mtland, with special focus on wind and bio energy. The main goal of this project is to attract new investments from the Netherlands to Swedish regions. 1.2 Problem Indication The literature dealing with FDI can be classified in two main streams, as pointed out by Agiomirgianakis, Asteriou and Papathoma (2003): the first explains the effect of FDI on the process of economic growth, while the second one goes in depth into the study of the determinants of FDI. This thesis focuses on the second part of literature. Among all the factors influencing the location decisions of FDI, the location-specific determinants need particular exploration, since they can help the host governments to attract and increase FDI inflows using several instruments (Chakrabarti, 2001). Location-specific factors will always influence the decision to enter or exit a location for investment purposes (Audretsch and Fritsch, 2002). FDI is a key element of the international economic relations as it is an engine of employment, technology transfer and improvement of productivity, which ultimately leads to economic growth. The need to attract FDI forces governments to provide a favourable climate for business activities (Nordstrom, 1991). The foreign firms can be influenced by the political and economic institutional framework of the host country, which could affect the choice of where to invest their capital (Makino and Chan, 2004). The challenge of this research is to explore which location determinants make a region attractive for FDI. The definition of the problem is: What should Swedish regions do to positively influence FDI? By presenting a thorough overview of FDI and the determinants that could influence the location choice for a company, this research aims to provide a framework, tested in interviews for the applicability of investments. 1.3 Research questions To solve the problem the following research questions are answered: What is FDI? Based on a literature review that provides theoretical information on this phenomenon. What are the location factors? Galan and Gonzales (2007) are used as basis for the location factors. Several other papers on location factors are evaluated and criticized. What does Sweden have to offer? This final question deals with the application of the theoretical framework to Swedish region as case study and the relationship between the factors they possess and the factors they need to stimulate to influence FDI. 1.4 Purpose and Objective The purpose of this thesis is to examine which regional factors influence foreign direct investments. Theories regarding FDI and location-specific characteristics will be reviewed and analysed in the theoretical framework. A thorough overview of the location factors will be part of the framework that can be used by regions, willing to attract sustainable investments. But first of all, the objective as described in the definition of the problem is to give recommendations to Swedish regions regarding the factors they should highlight to attract or influence direct foreign investment. 1.5 Research Design The literature framework is based on relevant papers. According to Ghauri (2005), theoretical data will be used to understand and interpret the research question, and it will help to â€Å"broaden the base from which scientific conclusion can be drawn†. The relevance of the papers will be based on quality. To reach the goal of collection qualitative data for the research question, a phased selection is made. The emphasis of the courses Corporate Level Strategy and Research Methods of Strategy within the master Strategic Management is on testing all data on quality. By examining the relevance, publication form and impact factor of the information, the quality of the paper will be showed. The research is divided into two parts: (1) the literature research and (2) a case study. The first part of the research is explorative, because it is intended to gain more information on the situation and to get familiar with the research area. Qualitative studies -observations and interviews- are used to gain more knowledge of the research topic (Sekaran, 2003). The research mainly relies on secondary data; books and articles by various authors are considered. Literature is compared and new insights are gained. Interviews are conducted for the verification of the interests, which are characterized as primary data. In this research, qualitative data is the main source. The time dimension of this research is cross-sectional, which implies that the research is conducted at one particular moment in time. For useful literature, the data will be collected on acknowledged databases (e.g. ABI/Inform, JCR, Web of Science). The keywords that will be used during the search period are â€Å"FDI†, â€Å"entry modes†, â€Å"choice of country†, â€Å"region†, and â€Å"location determinants†. All literature sources can be found in the list of references. The theory will be examined by a qualitative case study. Case studies are used to understand a specific case under particular circumstances (Patton, 2002). 1.6 Disposition In chapter 2 the contemporary theory that has been evaluated and reviewed is presented. An introduction will be followed by a presentation of FDI and the factors that influence the location choice, followed by the location factors that are important for wind and bio-energy. In chapter 3 the methodology is elaborated and provides a description of the way this thesis was written and the choices that are made. In the second paragraph the data and sample size are explained. Theoretical and empirical frameworks are discussed, as well as the reliability and validity of this study. In chapter 4 the participating respondents are interviewed, which leads to an analysis and concludes the empirical results. Chapter 5 includes the results of the findings and the discussion that compares the theoretical statements that were researched and found necessary for this research presented in chapter 2. The mode of procedure is explained and the model of the empirical results is presented in this part. Chapter 6 includes the answers of this research by modifying the analysis model. The conclusion is based on the discussion in chapter 5. The answers serve as a proposal for further research in a broader context and give an opportunity of generalization. Chapter 2 Theoretical framework The literature review provides the foundation for this research, through discussions of previous studies on FDI and international business. Section 2.2 offers a review of studies regarding FDI. Next, it is essential to identify the location factors that influence that move, as it contains the answer to the second research question: What are location factors? The third paragraph contains a detailed overview of the location factors. An overview of the selected factors can be found in table 1. The list contains determinants to measure the impact on the location factors and their impact on FDI. The last paragraph contains a summary of the findings and a conclusion. 2.1 What is FDI? Modern day literature increasingly concentrates on subjects covering the globalization of markets and the internationalization of companies. Governments contribute to this situation by opening their regulations with the intention to profit from a more open economy (Dunning and Nurala, 2002). The growing number of liberal policies is a driving force for companies to go abroad and make FDI (Galà ¡n and Gonzà ¡lez-Benito, 2001). There are several definitions of a foreign direct investment presented by a number of researchers. A central theme of the definitions available on FDI, with the one illustrated by Moosa (2002) as a typical example, is that the companies undertaking such a venture aspire to gain a controlling stake in the asset or entity purchased. An FDI is not to be confused with an international or portfolio investment, where the aim merely is to diversify the holdings of the firm and make a financially sound investment (Buckley, 1998). FDI is defined as a firm based in one country (the home country) owning ten per cent (10%) or more of the stock of a company located in a foreign country (the host country). This amount of stock is generally enough to give the home country firm significant control over the host country firm. Most FDI is in wholly owned or nearly wholly owned subsidiaries. Other non-equity forms of FDI include: subcontracting, management contracts, franchising, and licensing and product sharing .In view of the above, FDI can be either inward or outward. FDI is measured either as a flow (amount of investment made in one year) or a stock (the total investment accumulation at the end of the year). Outward FDI can take various forms, home country residents can: purchase existing assets in a foreign country; make new investment in property, plant equipment in a foreign country; participate in a joint venture with a local partner in a foreign country (Dunning, 1976). 2.2 Location factors 2.2.1 Introduction There is considerable literature on the determinants of location factors for multinational Corporations (MNCs) when they choose their foreign market location, but very little on the relative importance of the location factors for FDI in a specific country and industry. It is widely believed that the trend towards globalized production and marketing has major implications for the attraction of developing countries to FDI inflows. The relative importance of FDI location determinants have changed. Even though traditional determinants and the types of FDI associated with them have not disappeared as a result of globalization, their importance is said to be on the decline. More specifically, one of the most important traditional FDI determinants, the size of national markets, has decreased in importance. At the same time, cost differences between locations, the quality of infrastructure, the ease of doing business and the availability of skills have become more important (UNCTAD 1996). Li kewise, Dunning (1999) argues that the motives for and the determinants of FDI have changed. Buckley and Ghauri (2004) point to the limited attention researchers have given to the FDI location factors in the literature. They suggest that international business strategy is distinct from main stream or single country business strategy only because of differences of location. Hence, location specifics are essential to the possibility of international strategy having a distinctive content. They, too, suggest that a focus on location, and possibly the question of why locations differ, could be a response to the issue of what forms the next big question in international business research. Dunning (2008) suggests that the more recent lack of attention to location by IB scholars could have arisen from an assumption that the location decision principles are the same for both international and domestic locations. Thus, scholars were either satisfied with existing explanations or as Dunning (1998) points out maybe theywere just not interested. In attempting to determine the relevant set of location factors, Michael Porters (1990) work cited in Hodgetts (1993) offers a valuable starting point. Porter notes that success for a given industry in international competition depends on the relative strength of that industry with regards to a set of business-related features or drivers of competitiveness, namely factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure, and rivalry. Government and chance are seen to influence competitiveness through their impact on the above four basic drivers. This framework the drivers of competitiveness has been used in a number of studies of industries and individual economies. Porters competitiveness framework has been the subject of major criticisms. Paul Krugman (1994) specifically criticized the idea that nations, or locations, compete in the same way as firms do, and his wide-ranging critique attacks this concept. Also, the empirical evidence for national competitiveness and the policies that follow are what Krugman (1994) describes as a dangerous obsession. Another criticism is that Porter places government involvement in international business outside of the core determinants. Many authors have claimed that Porters framework pays insufficient attention to relevant specific location factors such as globalization (Dunning, 1993), multinational companies (Dunning, 1993; RugmanVerbeke, 1993), technology (Narula, 1993. Several authors have questioned the validity of the model, and the conclusions drawn from the model, for countries such as Austria (Bellak Weiss, 1993), Canada (Rugman dCruz, 1993), Hong Kong (Redding, 1994) and Mexico (Hodgetts, 1993). A lot of research interested in providing the determining factors for FDI loca tion decisions is seen to be done by managers. Some of the major studies are the following (Dunning, 2000): theories of risk diversification (Rugman, 1979); agglomeration theories (Krugman, 1993; Porter, 1994, 1996); theories related to government-induced incentives (Loree and Guisinger, 1995); and theories of location (Dunning, 1997). All these new theories are certainly insightful, but they are all context-specific, and interested solely in stressing the relevance of certain factors to the detriment of others that may be equally significant. None of them has yet provided a satisfactory explanation of the relative importance of specific factors that lead managers to locate their investments via FDI in a specific country and industry (Dunning, 2008). Dunning (2008) believes that â€Å"it is not possible to formulate a single operationally testable theory that can explain all forms of foreign-owned production any more than it is possible to construct a generalized theory to explain all forms of trade or the behaviour of all kinds of firms.† Cohen (2007) believes that location factors for a specific location and industry that affect the location decision are based on the perceptions of a small group of senior managers, not a scientific formula. Furthermore, Buckly et al(2007) argue that studying a single firm or group of firms in the same industry is the best way to identify the most important factors, because firms in the same industry usually follow a systematic process for location choices, and seek to prioritize certain location factors as they become more internationally mature. Cohen (2007) argues, â€Å"No standard set of attributes, each with an assigned relative weight of importance, exists in the many lists of what matters in location published by business groups, international organizations, and scholars. Determining where to invest is a case-by-case decision†. Cohen (2007) also suggests that no single formula exists because specific strengths and weaknesses of a country or region might receive high priority by one team of corporate evaluators and can be ignored by another, depending on what kind of investment is contemplated, which in turn will determine a subsidiarys objectives and operational needs. Furthermore, individual corporate cultures will assign a different relative importance to what attributes they require in a country, what they would like to see, what negatives they can work around, and what is unequivocally unacceptable. Calculating trade-offs between positive and negative location characteristics is an art, not a science. Galan et al (2007) conducted an empirical research into location factors that has been researched by several theorists. This list provides a detailed overview of the main location factors and sub factors considered by several empirical studies that have examined their positive or negative influence on the location decisions of MNE managers in both DCs and LDCs. All these factors are usually included in the analyses made via the eclectic paradigm (Galan et al, 2007). They recognise that MNE managers motivation to eventually choose either or both groups of host countries will depend on the specific location factors available in them. These location factors are classified in the following categories: Cost factors Market factors Infrastructure and technological factors Political and legal factors Social Cultural factors The order of this list is random. According to Noorbakhshs, Paloni and Youssef (2001), foreign investors are attracted to regions that offer a combination of the location factors. The location factors are discussed separately in the next paragraph. 2.2.1 Cost factors This paragraph contains theoretical information about the cost factor as one of the location factors. The determinants that are criticized are labour costs and cost of materials. 2.2.1.1 Labour Cost The costs linked with the profitability of investment are one of the major determinants of investment (Asidu, 2002) . The rate of return on investment in a host economy influences the FDI decision. Asiedu (2002) noted that the lower the GDP per capita, the higher the rate of return and, therefore, the FDI inflow. Charkrabarti (2001) claims that wage as an indicator of labour cost has been the most arguable of all the potential determinants of FDI. There is no unanimity even among the comparatively small number of studies that have explored the role of wage in affecting FDI: results range from higher host country wages discouraging inbound FDI, to having no significant effect or even a positive association ( Dunning, 1989). Goldsbrough (1979) and Shamsuddin (1994) demonstrate that higher wages discourage FDI. Tsai (1994) obtains strong support for the cheap-labour hypothesis over the period 1983 to 1986, but weak support from 1975 to 1978. Charkrabarti (2001) stated that empirical res earch has found relative labour costs to be statistically significant, particularly for foreign investment in labour-intensive industries and for export-oriented subsidiaries. However, when the cost of labour is relatively irrelevant (when wage rates vary little from country to country), the skills of the labour force are expected to have an impact on decisions concerning FDI location. This is not the case for the investments in this case study, which is more knowledge based than labour intensive. Cheap labour is another important determinant of FDI flow to developing countries. A high wage-adjusted productivity of labour attracts efficiency-seeking FDI both aiming to produce for the host economy and for export from host countries. Studies by Wheeler and Mody (1992), Schneider and Frey (1985), and Loree and Guisinger (1995) show a positive impact of labour cost on FDI inflow. Countries with a large supply of skilled human capital attract more FDI, particularly in sectors that are relatively intensive in the use of skilled labour. 2.2.1.2 Cost of Materials The analysis above leads to two variables that can be measured to determine the importance of the cost factor that is labour cost (wages). The availability of raw material and cheap labour can be of crucial importance in the choice of location. The return on investments is not important for this study, because this is not region-constrained, so it is not an important factor for a location choice. FDI uses low labour costs and available raw materials for export promotion, leading to overall output growth. 2.2.2 Market Factors This paragraph contains theoretical information about the market factor as one of the location factors. The determinants that are criticized are market size, openness of the market, labour market and economic growth. 2.3.2.1 Market size The size of the host country market is a relevant determinant to the extent that the FDI is destined to serve the host market and not merely to set up an export platform. Larger markets should attract FDI because firms face economies of scale as FDI entails sunk costs (for example, in terms of adapting management to local conditions or getting familiar with host country legislation). Market growth should work in the same direction. Nunnenkamp (2002), Chakrabarti (2001) Campos and Kinoshita (2003), Braga Nonnenberg and Cardoso de Mendonca (2004), Addison and Heshmati (2003), Kolstad and Villanger, (2004) all find market size and/or growth to be relevant determinants of FDI. An economy with a large market size (along with other factors) should, therefore, attract more FDI. Market size is important for FDI as it provides potential for local sales, greater profitability of local sales to export sales and relatively diverse resources, which make local sourcing more feasible (Pfefferman and Madarassy 1992). A large market size provides more opportunities for sales and profit to foreign firms, and in doing so attracts FDI (Wang and Swain, 1995: Moore, 1993; Schneider and Frey, 1985; Frey, 1984). FDI inflow in any period is a function of market size (Wang and Swain, 1995). However, studies by Edwards (1990) and Asidu (2002) show that there is no significant impact of growth or market size on FDI inflows. Further, Loree and Guisinger (1995) and Wei (2000) find that market size and growth impact differ under different conditions. Artige and Nicolini (2005) state that market size, as measured by GDP or GDP per capita, seems to be the most robust FDI determinant in econometric studies. This is the main determinant for horizontal FDI. Jordaan (2004) mentions that FDI will move to countries with larger and expanding markets and greater purchasing power, where firms can potentially receive a higher return on their capital and by implication receive higher profit on their investments. Charkrabarti (2001) states that the market-size hypothesis supports an idea that a large market is required for efficient utilization of resources and exploitation of economies of scale: as the market-size grows to some critical value, FDI will start to increase with its further expansion. This is a questionable conclusion, because there are firms who are looking for niche markets for their products and a large expanding market is a disadvantage to them. Concluding the size of the market and the GDP of a region are not important determinants for the location choice. 2.2.2.2 Openness of the Market There is mixed evidence concerning the significance of openness, which is measured mostly by the ratio of exports plus imports to GDP, in determining FDI as well (Charkrabarti 2001). Jordaan (2004) claims that the impact of openness on FDI depends on the type of investment. If the investments are market-seeking oriented, trade restrictions (and therefore less openness) could have an impact on FDI. The reason stems from the â€Å"tariff jumping† hypothesis, which argues that foreign firms that seek to serve local markets may decide to set up subsidiaries in the host country if it is difficult to import their products into the country. In distinction, multinational firms involved in export-oriented investments may choose to invest in a more liberal economy since increased imperfections that accompany trade protection generally imply higher transaction costs associated with exporting. Wheeler and Mody (1992) observe a strong positive support for this theory in the manufacturing s ector, but a weak negative link in the electronic sector. Kravis and Lipsey (1982), Culem (1988), Edwards (1990) find a strong positive effect of openness on FDI and Schmitz and Bieri (1972) obtain a weak positive link. Trade openness generally has a positive influence on the export-oriented FDI inflow into an economy (Edwards (1990), Gastanaga et al. (1998), Housmann and Fernandez-arias (2000), Asidu (2001)). In general, the empirical literature reveals that one of the important factors for attracting FDI is trade policy reform in the host country. Theoretical literature has explored the trade openness or the restrictiveness of trade policies (Bhagwati, 1973; 1994; Brecher and Diaz-Alejandro, 1977; Brecher and Findley; 1983). Investors in general prefer big markets to invest in and they like countries that have regional trade integration, as well as countries with greater investment provisions in their trade agreements. Theory does not give any clear-cut answer to the question how trade barriers affect the level of FDI flows. â€Å"Horizontal† FDI tends to replace exports if the costs of market access through exports are higher than the net costs of setting up a local plant and doing business in a foreign environment. Traditionally, governments have used trade barriers to induce â€Å"tariff-jumping FDI†, i.e. horizontal FDI that takes place to circumvent trade barriers. On the other hand, â€Å"vertical† FDI relies on a constant flow of intermediate products in and out of the host country and therefore benefits from a liberal trade environment. In that case, trade barriers should encourage â€Å"horizontal FDI† and discourage â€Å"vertical FDI† and its effect on the aggregate level of FDI depends on which type of FDI dominates. Empirical studies, however, support a positive effect of openness on FDI. Chakrabarti (2001) finds the sum of imports and exports as a share of GDP to be the variable most likely to be positively co rrelated with FDI besides market size in an extreme bounds analysis. Braga Nonnenberg and Cardoso de Mendonca (2004) and Addison and Heshemati (2003) also find this variable to be positively correlated with FDI. The problem with using trade as a share of GDP as a measure of trade policies is that it reveals a trade policy outcome, rather than trade guidelines. The openness of a market is clearly linked with the policy regulations of the potential market. Pà ¤rletun (2008) finds that trade openness is positive but statistically significant from zero. Moosa (2002) states that while access to specific markets is important, domestic market factors are predictably much less relevant in export-oriented foreign firms. A range of surveys suggests a widespread perception that â€Å"open† economies encourage more foreign investment (Moosa, 2002).Therefore, the openness of a market is relevant to the appeal of a region. Restrictions will decrease the appeal of the region. 2.2.2.3 Labour market Labour is also a determinant for market factors according to Majocchi and Presutti (2009), they investigated whether entrepreneurial culture plays a role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Multinationals are a network of distributed assets that contain entrepreneurial potential and are highly innovative to increase competitiveness (Rugman and Verbeke, 2001). Firms and entrepreneurs are valuable in gaining access to local knowledge. However, entrepreneurial culture may also rely on resources in the local environment, which is not mentioned in particular by Majocchi et al. (2009). In this respect, natural resources are taken for granted. The availability of a cheap workforce (particularly an educated one), personnel policy, female participation and ageing influences investment decisions and in doing so are a determinant that influences the FDI inflow. A negative effect of these determinants will lead to an increase in wages and a decline in the return of investments in the future. Due to the static framework of this thesis, these determinants are not investigated. 2.2.2.4 Economic Growth If the host countrys market has a high-growth rate, it attracts more investors on a long-term basis (Chen, 2007). Economic environment growth in a country serves underlying factors when company decide which country to enter (Erramilli 1991).The role of growth in attracting FDI has also been the subject of controversy. Charkrabarti (2001) states that the growth hypothesis developed by Lim (1983) maintains that a rapidly growing economy provides relatively better opportunities for making profits than the ones growing slowly or not growing at all. Lunn (1980), Schneider and Frey (1985) and Culem (1988) find a significantly positive effect of growth on FDI, while Tsai (1994) obtains a strong support for the hypothesis over the period 1983 to 1986, but only a weak link from 1975 to 1978. On the other hand, Nigh (1985) reports a weak positive correlation for the less developed economies and a weak negative correlation for the developed countries. Gastanagaet et al. (1998) and Schneider and Frey (1985) found positive significant effects of growth on FDI FDI has the ability stimulate economic growth only in the short run while the economy is shifting from one short-lived equilibrium to another. The only source of long-term economic growth is technological progress, which is considered to be independent of investment activities. This factor is discussed in the next paragraph. However, in endogenous growth theory, the diminishing returns on investment can be avoided if there are positive externalities associated with investments (Oxelheim, 1996). If investment brings enough new knowledge and technologies, it can lead to long-term economic growth. As, typically, FDI brings new technologies and knowledge, in accordance with endogenous growth theory it can be viewed as a catalyst of long-term economic growth in a host economy. Economic growth will improve the ability to compete with other regions and this will increase the quality and ability of other location factors. The relevance of economic growth for FDI is not very clear: it depends on the distribution of the new capital. The analysis above leads to four validated variables that determine the relevance of market factors: (a) market size, (b) openness of the market, labour market and (c) economic growth. Market size is the only variable that is less important. The openness of a market and the economic growth are very important, these variables are positively linked with political, infrastructural and technological factors. An open market as well as a positive economic growth will lead to more FDI in a region. 2.2.3 Infrastructure Technologic

The Symbol of the Heart in The Floating Opera Essay -- Floating Opera

The Symbol of the Heart in The Floating Opera  Ã‚      The heart is the dominant symbol in The Floating Opera, more important even than the symbol of the showboat of the novel's title. From beginning to end the book is richly populated by references to the heart on both a literal, physical level, and a figurative, symbolic one. In the first case, literal references are made to Todd's heart condition. In the second case, the heart plays two symbolic roles; not only does it serve as a symbol of Todd's emotional and non-rational side, but the frailty of Todd's heart serves as a correlative for the fragility of all human life. This paper will examine several examples from The Floating Opera that demonstrate this multi-levelled usage of the heart. Hearts make an early appearance in the text, in the very first chapter, when Todd describes his heart condition; a "kind of subacute bacteriological endocarditis"1. This condition predisposes Todd towards myocardial infarction (heart attack), and consequently Todd writes, "What that means is that any day I may fall quickly dead, without warning - perhaps before I complete this sentence, perhaps twenty years from now."2 Although this may seem to be a purely literal device, Barth is using Todd's heightened awareness of the delicateness of his own life as an exaggerated symbol for the vulnerability of all human life. This early focus upon the heart continues due to the centrality in the novel's plot of Todd's decision to kill himself, and his subsequent "change of mind". At the core of this decision to suicide is Todd's realisation that his life has been governed by his heart (his emotions), despite his best efforts to live by will, reason and intellect: "My heart was the master... ...when Froebel had Parnassus in his pan?"8 This quotation is demonstrative of both the inability of reason to overcome emotions - the very problem which Todd has grappled with for much of his life, and which lies centrally in The Floating Opera - and also of Todd's acute awareness of that inability. This, like so many of the "facts" in the narrative, has both a symbolic and a literal meaning, and shows the extent to which the heart and what it stands for permeate the fabric of the entire novel. Bibliography Barth, John, The Floating Opera and The End of the Road, Anchor Books, New York, 1988. Endnotes 1 Barth, John, The Floating Opera and The End of the Road, Anchor Books, New York, 1988, p. 5. (All subsequent page numbers refer to this book.) 2 p. 5. 3 p. 226. 4 p. 49. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 p. 124. 8 pp. 94-5      

Teaching Strategy and Policy :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Teaching Strategy and Policy Using Reading this article was as painful as getting teeth pulled. The article was a professor's review of a class he instructed at the University of Chicago on strategic planning. The class was not conducted in a typical class format, but instead had students actively involved in groups that gathered data, analyzed, critiqued, and prepared strategic plans for area businesses who volunteered their records time and employees for such scrutiny. Much of the article was focused on the first class session, which from the sounds of it was quite hectic. After reading the assigned text the class as a whole determined 8 steps of which their models would be based on. The first was to Interview a sample of managers from all levels to determine degree of participation in the planning process. The second was to work with the relevant managers to determine what data were available in the company files regarding customers, customer satisfaction, product line, market niche, costs ect. The second steps also had parts A and B which were to determine which data was not available yet desired and determine secondary sources to obtain such data, and to establish as database and make it available for all group members. The third step dealt with the data on customer satisfaction and how responses, complaints, suggestions ect are managed. The fourth step was to track information flow in the company. What is collected, who it goes to and why. Step five, was to check database and determine which fields were most important for the company and to determine which areas to concentrate in in order to guarantee best outcome, and spread resources. The sixth step was to analyze the data and specify the strengths and weaknesses of the company. Step seven was to develop recommendations for the next year and the next three years regarding products, services, and markets as well as organization structures, and organizations processes. The final step was actually determined during the second class section, but it was to prepare a complete business overview as a first step for the final report and to provide a guideline for later data analysis and development of alternatives. The remainder of the article summarized the class sessions of the following weeks and problems the groups encountered while conducting their research.

Harmful Effects Of Smoking Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Example E

Every year thousands of people die because of lung cancer or other tobacco related illnesses. Everyone in the world comes in contact with smoke from a cigarette at least once in their lifetime, whether it is at a restaurant or at work. Millions of people are addicted to smoking, and thousands more become addicted every year. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are everywhere. Most of the addicted smokers started when they were young (Roberts 18). The reason why people get addicted to any type of tobacco product is because all tobacco products have nicotine in them, which is the addictive ingredient (American Thoracic Society 22). Every time a person smokes a cigarette or chews tobacco, that person ingests nicotine. I believe that the tobacco companies should be liable for every tobacco-related death each year.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On the other hand, some people believe that everyone has a right to make their own judgment about their life. My opponent, Rosalind Marimont argues drugs and alcohol are more dangerous to society than tobacco (26). Second hand smoking is not a danger to the health of the community (Marimont 26). There are health benefits for people that do smoke tobacco (Marimont 27). So many people quit smoking each year, it is so ridiculous to think that tobacco products are addicting argues Richard DeGrandpre (39). The facts about tobacco and tobacco products have been shaded by the government and government agencies to make smoking less acceptable and more inconvenient to smokers and tobacco users Sullum argues (55). My opponents firmly believe that there are no risks if a person starts smoking. As you will see, I will show extenuating facts that disprove my opponents views on tobacco products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My opponent states that smoking is not dangerous, however, I intend to prove that smoking is dangerous not just to smokers, but to everyone as well. It is a proven fact that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease (American Thoracic Society 19). Every person that breathes the smoke of tobacco products is at risk for tobacco-related illnesses. Even though smoking is not as publicized by the media as much as illegal drugs, cigarettes are just as bad. Smoking cigarettes leads to the use of other drugs that are more harmful to the person than cigarettes (Hall 22). If smoking was not ... ...mber of teens that start smoking each year. Study after study has proven that with smoking comes major health risks. Even people that do not smoke are at risk of these heath problems. Statistics do not lie, one thousand people die everyday from tobacco or tobacco related illnesses. Statistical data can not be altered in any way nor can they be shaded by anyone. Tobacco products are not going to go away for good, however the Food and Drug Administration should be given the authority to regulate the advertising of tobacco companies. The only product the Food and Drug Administration can not regulate is the manufacture, sale, packaging, and distribution of tobacco products (Douglas 33). If the advertisements can be cut down, then many teenagers will not be influenced to try them as much as they are now. Given this compromise, the tobacco companies will still get money from the people that are already addicted, but it will greatly reduce the amount of money they make each year. Tobacco products are always going to be around, but I hope that the Food and Drug Administration will be able to regulate them for the safety of not only adults, but for all of the children as well.

My Sister’s Keeper Essay

In the movie, My Sister’s Keeper, a suspenseful journey through a 13 year old’s push for medical emancipation. Anna, Sara, and Kate Fitzgerald get bumps and bruises from arguing over the overall morals of Kate Fitzgerald’s life. Being an ongoing fighter of leukemia, Anna, the youngest child of Brian and Sara Fitzgerald, go through a seemingly endless process arguing over their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate’s life. Throughout the whole movie, the setting is either in general, Rhode Island or in Providence Hospital where Kate goes for chemotherapy by Dr.  Chance. A suspense filled movie, Nick Cassavetes creates a drama filled movie. During one of the final scenes of this magnificent movie, Kate and Anna are sitting outside of their home in the grass on a blanket. Kate is explaining to Anna all of the thoughts that have been going through her mind for the past few months. Cassavetes includes a flashback of Anna catching Kate locked in her room drinking and doing drugs. Kate was blasting rock music and oblivious to the harm that she was causing her leukemia-stricken body. Not ever was Anna able to put two and two together to realize that Kate did not want to live and suffer with pain every minute of her cancer-full life. As a whole, this scene is etched into the film well. The overall purpose of this scene, after all of the tension, is to show a more sensitive side of the movie. This is brought out, especially when Kate is braiding Anna’s hair, furthermore symbolizing the cancer that has inflicted Kate. This scene also portrays the stronger side of Kate through the movie. Throughout the movie, Kate was always worried about never getting a boyfriend because she had no hair. For the majority of the scene, the distance of the camera follows a pattern. The camera would begin far away and then goes close-up to a certain character. The director chose to do both close-ups and long shots in order to show the proportion difference between Anna’s perspective and Kate’s. Kate can then be seen by viewers as the aggressor in the scene. The camera movement varies throughout the scene. When the director wants to convey the amount of tension in the act, he pans the camera. This type of camera movement is key to showing the unlimited amount of tension present in this scene. The director would focus on how Anna felt beat when she finds out that after all of the donations and surgeries that she had been through, her sister wants to over intoxicate herself. Low-angle shots are used by the actors who would look up into the sky and reminisce. The director uses this angle to exemplify the amount of thinking that Kate does about her life and her future. Overall the purpose of the various camera angles and movement is to draw the audience members into the movie and make is seem as though they are with the characters. Throughout the scene, the lighting varies. The director mainly uses three-point lighting around Kate and Anna to light up and enhance the entire scene. He most likely illustrates this form of lighting to add depth to the surrounding of the two main characters and keep the characters visible at all times of the scene. When the director wants to make a clip seem darker and more serious to the viewers, he uses film noir. This type of lighting is used when Anna catches Kate drinking in her room and blasting rock music in her room. Without this dark lighting, the clip wouldn’t seem as rigid as it should appear. All in all, lighting in this specific scene of My Sister’s Keeper is extremely important to exemplify the scene. The costumes play a major part in this scene. Although the attire seems like clothes that the average teenager would wear on a daily basis, it shows the calm setting of this part of the scene. When Anna finds her sister in her room drinking, Kate was wearing all black and her makeup was running down her face and Anna was in her pajamas. With all of this said, the costumes worn in the scene are substantial for the viewers because it helps them understand the sisters have fights on and off. The set of the movie doesn’t take place in California, but in a studio. Although the scene appears to be located in the city of fame, in actuality it is shot using green screens. If the did take place in the authentic location, the director would have a harder time getting perfect lighting. The majority of the time, the sky was a perfect blue and had just the right amount of clouds. Even though the set is green-screened, the scene is much better because of the computed generated graphics like the sky and the clouds that are produced, From the beginning to the end, the scene has an assortment of different kinds of editing from montage to cut transitions. When the director wanted to separate the two sections of the scene, he cut the two to show the difference in the two sections. When the director was wrapping this scene up, he faded this scene out. In conculsion, this scene, hands down, is the most valuable part of the movie. All of the thought in camera angles, lighting, costumes, set, editing, and sound came together to shape a brilliant scene. All of these elements allowed the audience to capture a â€Å"big-sister moment†, especially when she is braiding her hair and telling her memorable stories. Without this, the movie would not have been complete. I believe that this scene was necessary to bridge the gap between the tension-full scenes to the scene when Kate dies. All in all, the director’s cinematic techniques in the scene portray the themes of love and friendship beautifully in the film.

Pleasant ville essay Essay

A new idea can throw off a whole community. Don’t believe me? Watch Pleasantville, a movie on how a pair of twins, brother and sister, completely change a city. They are transported from the modern world, to a quaint town in a T.V. show called Pleasantville. As quick as the pair of twins spread their ideas they try even harder to stop them, not wanting to change how the whole community functions. But it proved to be impossible and soon everything was changing, for the better and for the worse. Sociologists can view this movie in three different perspectives: the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspective. The Conflict Perspective is shown throughout the movie. This perspective focuses on those forces in society that promote change and competition. In this movie, an example would be the colored vs. the black and white folks. Violence aroused between the colored vs. the black and white’s. Soon the black and white folks began to vandalize the colored people’s shops, homes, and even went as far as to racism laws; they viewed the colored people as different individuals because they were accepting change. The colored vs. the black and white’s is viewed as a conflict perspective because of the change that is accruing from the black and white’s racism toward the colored people; like only gray and white paint, the Lovers Lane and the library being closed up, colored and the black and white’s sit separated at court, and no umbrellas on sale. Another example would be the moms’ inner conflict within her; she accepts the change but is too afraid to show it. She is in love with Mr. Johnson but she has to choose to either stay true to her husband or too follow her heart. This is an example of conflict perspective because the wife is beginning to change because of the conflict within her; like not going to sleep at the same time as her husband, not wanting to be a house wife anymore, not having food ready for her husband when he gets home, and last but not least becoming colored. The functionalist perspective is employed by those who view society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to create a stable social system. Since not everything in society is positive, a dysfunction is the negative consequence an element has for the stability of the social system. This is shown in the movie when the  roles of daughter and mother have changed. Instead of the mom giving her daughter â€Å"the talk† it’s the other way around. This is an example of functional perspective because the mother is no longer doing her job. Another example would be the firemen. They are not exactly doing their job either; instead of stopping fires they rescue cats from trees because fire does not really exist in Pleasantville. They don’t really start doing their job until the twins show up and the first fire occurs and even then bud has to show them how to do their job and stop the fire! The last type is interactionist perspective, which is how individuals interact with each other’s in society. Sociologists would focus on how soon after Mary Sue’s relations with her brother improved, and soon after she would ask him for advice and confide in him. The fact that they were stranded in a 1950’s T.V. show makes them stick together. Another example is how the kids were acting more provocative and became sexually active. This was a huge change from their previous, obedient character. Also after a few days, Mary Sue’s friends were speaking in the same ’90s dialect. This is shown when her friend remarks â€Å"Cool!† Mary Sue changed the way they communicated with her ideas. All these examples fall under interactionist perspective because the characters began to change the way they talk and how they interact with one another. The key theme in this movie is change. It shows that change can be both positive and negative, with the Functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. As the plot progresses, Pleasantville changes increasingly and colors begin to appear, symbolizing the spread of new ideas. Without change, a society truly cannot function.