Death Represenataion in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems Essay Example for Free

ending Represenataion in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems Es consecrateDeath Representation in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems Mohamed Fleih Hassan Instructor English Dept. / creep Death is one of the significant and recurrent themes in the poetry of Sylvia Plath. This paper aims at showing the poets attitudes towards finale. Certain verse forms be selected to show the poets different attitudes to finale destruction as a rebirth or renewal, and destruction as an end. Most obvious factors shaped her attitudes towards termination were the early finis of her father that left her unsecured, and the infidelity of her husband, Ted Hughes, who left her dejected and melancholic. Plaths Two eyeshots of a Cadaver Room, Sheep in Fog, A Birthday Present, Edge, and I Am Vertical are selected to bulgeline her various perspectives towards conclusion. Death Representation in Sylvia Plaths Selected Poems Generally speaking, finis is represented in literature in various ways shifting from being an ominous terrifying draw and quarter to a pith of fulfillment and new beginnings. Death came to be a recurrent theme in Sylvia Plaths poetry due to the sudden shoemakers last of her father. His expiry left the daughter with powerful feelings of defeat, resentment, grief and remorse.So the absence of the father had influenced her emotional spiritedness negatively to the extent that it is reflected clearly in her verse forms. Sylvia Plath (1932-1963) passed in periods of first and thither were precursors of suicidal act through fits of breakdown. Among the reasons for her early depression are the early dying of her father that left her unsecured and her failure to attend a writing class at Harvard. Though she got a chair as a college guest-editor of the Mademoiselle, but she got mo nononous with nothing to fall back on in New York. She broke down with the unfulfillment of her dream of being a successful writer.Therefore, she took an over-dose of sleeping-pills to end h er misery, but she was saved. 1 After successful psychiatric sessions of recovery, Plath met Ted Hughes at Cambridge and they got matrimonial in 1956. She found in him a motive and substitute for the absence of the father. Hughes believed in her exceptional gift. In that period, the couple got success and fame with their poetic development, especially when they got children. Her poems had been published in Britain and America worry, The Colossus 1960, which dealt with Plaths preoccupation with ideas of death and rebirth.Hughes love affair with another woman broke the heart of Plath, who suffered the devastation of the broken marriage. Shifting into a new flat in London, she started writing poems of rage, despair, love and vengeance but her poems were slowly accepted for publication. She suffered the traumatic breakdown and melancholia that she put her head in the oven in 11 April, 1963. 2 Death came to be a recurrent theme in the poetry of Sylvia Plath, and this theme has been re presented in different ways in her poems.She did engage the reader either in a personal or an impersonal way to view death either as a liberating deplume or troubling depressing experience. Her depiction of death is reflected by the use of such proficiencys as imagery, language, structure, and tone. Her negative attitude towards death is caused by the early death of her father that left her dejected. In her poem Two views of a Cadaver Room (1959), she presents a pessimistic point of view towards death. This poem recounts an experience she had composition dating a young Harvard medical student.She followed her lad and some other medical students into an operating room where the students were busily dissecting a preserved corpse. The speaker and her boyfriend are horrified by the experience, the narrator offers two views of the cadaver room as alternate possibilities of depicting death in art the physical view of death and the romantic view of death. One view is epitomized by the c adaver room contrasting the romantic one of death, which is represented by a lucubrate from a Brueghel painting depicting two lovers, who are spell bounded by one another and careless to the destruction and devastation around them. The poem is written in two parts. The first part creates a futile setting in which things are described in a dissecting room, which suggests a fashion of despondency. She did so by the use of wastelandish simile through comparing cadaver with burnt turkey The day she visited the dissecting room They had four men laid out, foul as burnt turkey, Already half unstrung. (II. 1-3) The place dissecting room suggests mercilessness and dehumanization. The dead bodies are anatomized and bones are removed which suggest a horrifying image.The poetess compares death with the dissector, in which it takes off the spirit out of the body as did the doctor in dissecting the major constituents of bodies. Death here represents a terrifying ferocity that annihilates man s life. The dissecting room serves as the epitome of scientific space, which is to say deaths space. And this is the space not only of female witnessing and female passivity, she could scarcely make out anything/ In that rubble of skull plates and old leather, but also of a bestowal from male to female, from male scientist to female poet.The process of dissecting the dead body indicates the savagery and carelessness of the surgeon, who cuts out the heart the symbol of mans life and feelings. The surgeon is associated with death in the sense that he extracts the heart of the body, He hands her the cut-out heart like a cracked heirloom. The simile presents a very useless pessimistic image for the heart. The heart is not only reduced to a non-functioning machine, but a man hands death to a woman. The heart is the dearest to man and is compared to the heirloom which contains the memory of the dead, but it is uprooted maliciously.Death came to be an unavoidable inheritance. 4 In some of her poems, what Plath perceives is a death-figure which bes to swallow her up unless she can reassert her living identity by fixing and thus immobilizing her enemy in a structure poetic image. Plath transforms death by assuming the role of a photo-journalist who observes the details in a way as to control the scene with the transforming power of language. She follows the technique of fusing various visual images in a meaningful way. Therefore, she transcends the literal immediacy of what she sees and creates order out of chaos. The second part paradoxes the first in showing a couple who are ignorant of the horrors of death. Their ignorance of the shadow of death around them intensifies their tragic catastrophic end Two people only are blind to the carrion phalanx He, afloat in the sea of her blue satin Skirts, sings in the direction Of her bare shoulder, while she bends, Fingering a leaflet of medication, over him, Both of them deaf to the take on in the hands Of the deaths- head shadowing their song. (II. 13-19) Plath thinks that the second view was untenable.Confronting the literal physicality of death (as the narrator does in the first stanza), and ignoring that reality (as the lovers do in the Brueghel painting) seem hopelessly romantic and naive. The only way to relinquish the painful awareness of impending death is by relinquishing life itself. Plath committed self-destruction in her flat moving herself and her work into the domain of myth and psycho-mystical speculation. The second view of death is the bestowal of death that is interrupted by art. Paradoxically, this interruption of death by art is itself a kind of death, a freezing of life.The poem surveys with an eye which is blind and an ear which is deaf. If the lovers blindness and deafness to deaths music permits them to flourish, then this flourishing is not for long. Paradoxically, the work of art saves from death by paralyzing or fixing the living in an absolute present, which is to say a perfected present, but without future This stalling of deaths triumph by art, this resistance of art to death, is itself a kind of death, since it reminds us that those lovers captured in arts absolute present can do nothing at all.Just as there are two kinds of music here the deaths-heads and the lovers so art is not placed in any simple opposition to death. 6 There are two kinds of death on the one hand, death as process, as rebirth or renewal, as imaginary and, on the other hand, death as end, as factuality. Plath rides into death in Sheep in Fog (1963) but death is no longer conceived as renewal. The objective in Sheep in Fog becomes the dark water They threaten To let me through to a heaven Starless and fatherless, a dark water. (II. 13-15) The sense of dissolution is overpowering in this poem through thee description of the footing of the poem.Each line and each stanza of the poem concerns the disappearance of something. hills step off into whiteness, Morning has been bla ckening and the starless heaven leave her dejected and wretched. 7 Sheep in Fog suggests that there is a radical sundering of poet and poetry, a death of the poet that is the life of the poetry, if only as that which is in mourning for the poet. The impersonality of Plaths later poetry is not arrived at through an ethical self-sacrifice of the poets empirical, autobiographical self in the interests of a universal validity, a kind of immortality or proof against death.Rather, it is an impersonality in which there is a highly paradoxical and unstable relation between poet and poetry. 8 A Birthday Present (1962) is another dramatic monologue in which terror and death predominate. The persona longs to roll in the hay the gift presented by his friend. The speaker, her friend, and the object talk to each other in the kitchen. She imagines that the present whitethorn be bones, a pearl button, and an ivory tusk. Each of these things has white colour and suggests the nature of the birthday present that she wants.The three white objectsbones, pearl, and ivory tuskall suggest death because they were once part of living organisms. The persona speaks of the veils around the present. In order to remove the concealing veil, which causes her anxiety and fear, the speaker demands an end to the screening off of death from view. She compares her life at the end of the poem to the arrival by mail of parts of her own corpse. At the end, the speaker demands as her birthday present not the previously mentioned symbols of death or the figure representing death, but death itself 9 If it were deathI would admire the deep gravity of it, its timeless eyes. I would know you were serious. There would be a nobility then, there would be a birthday. And the knife not carve, but enter Pure and clean as the call option of a baby, And the universe slide from my side. (II. 52-58) The poem dramatizes her birthday to be her death. The drama of A Birthday Present is frightening in its transformati on of a domesticated and happy occasion into a celebration of suicide. It captures the movement of the speakers mind as she throws herself into the sequence of steps that might lead her to kill herself.Plaths second perspective towards death is that it may be chosen by the individual himself as a means of self-destruction, rather than acting as a horrible exterminating force. The poetess aims to show the deplorable and agony of the persona in selecting death as a means of liberation of the antagonistic world of the person. This perspective is reflected in Plaths Edge, which was written on 5 February 1963 and is thought to be Plaths last poem. According to Seamus Heaney, one of the biographers of Plath, the poem was a suicide note, which is to say an entirely personal, autobiographical communication from a mad melancholic woman.For this reason, the poem is pin downed by the literal death of the poet, a death that cannot help but be read back into the poem. 10 This death is a nega tivity that renews, and works within an economy of life. This is not just an imaginary death, but death as a figure for the imagination itself, as a negativity that may be harnessed in the interests of life. This poem carries the reader not only to the very limit of life, but also to the limit of poetry. And yet, if in this poem the woman is perfected, it is through a death that takes the form of an aesthetic object, but in which the emphasis none the less move very much on illusion.The speaker in this poem doesnt endure the anguish of his life and feels that his misery is over The illusion of a Hellenic necessity Flows in the scrolls of her toga Her bare Feet seem to be saying We pull in come so far, it is over. (II. 4-8) The bare feet symbolize the lack of protection and immunity. The tone looks bowed but it indicates the willingness to accept death as an outlet and escape of the aggressive world. The persona feels alienated in the world around him. No one cares for the person as death even the moon, The moon has nothing to be sad about/ Staring from her hood of bone. Therefore, she starts looking for something beyond death, which is the longing for perfection. Usually roses symbolize purity, so she compares her crease of the dead bodies of children as petals of a rose close. Therefore she thinks that through death, she will have a new beginning. 11 Death as a means of rebirth is reflected in Plaths I Am Vertical. She sets images taken from nature as a background of her poem. This use of nature as a setting for her poem shows death not as a horrible monstrous thing. She presented two fruitful lively images of nature and then she negates her alikeness to themI am not a tree with my root in the spoil Sucking up minerals and motherly love So that each March I may smooth into leaf, Nor am I the beauty of a garden bed Attracting my share of Ahs and spectacularly painted, Unknowing I must soon unpetal. (II. 2-7) The persona feels rejection of the surroundings when the trees and flowers have been strewing their cool odours. I walk among them, but none of them are noticing. This represents the negligence of society and the social restraints that the individual feels. each March I may gleam into leaf suggests the continuity of life and regeneration.She is longing to be united with nature via death the nature that symbolizes serenity and tranquility, Then the sky and I are in open conversation. The word sky gives death the sense of spirituality and elevation. The speaker is not satisfied in her life and she accepts death as a means for recognition And I shall be useful when I lie down finally Then the trees may touch me for once, and the flowers have time for me. (II. 19-20) Plaths life is ended in a world of death and despondency from which there is no rebirth or transformation.

Britian And France Over Educational Practices Essay Example for Free

Britian And France Over Educational Pr affectices EssayThe existence of mass education is a common feature of industrial societies. It is agreed by sociologists that the education system accepts some responsibility in preparing young people for the gentlemans gentleman of work. It is turn overed as an institution where socialisation takes place, involving acquisition of knowledge and skills. It with or without intent also helps to shape beliefs and moral values. Education is an issue that get togethers an essential role in all aspects of society and sparks debates in issues of national frugal competitiveness, national identity, and social justice. It is viewed as protecting the status quo and is a crucial element of personal growth and social transformation. The education system has existed since the early nineteenth century and appears o expand as society progresses.Education in general appears to be shaped by four educational traditions. The first view is known as Encyclo paedism, it is very powerfully inherent with the themes from the enlightenment period. It has been a very influential frame, especially for European countries such(prenominal) as France. This view promotes the idea that valid knowledge should be categorised, codified, and projectt. It promotes the impression that education provides the talent to think rationally, to reason, which leads to a better society with enlightened people who, from education have the ability to use knowledge and reasoning with situations they encounter throughout their lives.The second traditional view is based from a philosophical root known as humanism. It highlights the creation that education creates a virtuous individual who posses high qualities of moral values, and high levels of intelligence. The humanism belief is strongly riseed from English public schools and universities. This approach strongly emphasises the role of the academic tutor who in some ways acts as a role model and though their gu idance and example results in the disciple becoming a well rounded individual.The third view is Vocationalism, which is orientated around the national economy. Its objective is to meet the needs of the national economy for virtuoso(prenominal) labourers who possess the suitable attitude towards work.The fourth tradition is a recent philosophy in education known as realism. This has developed from a crew of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. It highlights the significance of an individual child, its needs, ability knowledge, and its social world. It is based on the ideology of learning, influences, and interaction from the environment. It is a skill based approach, focusing on learning how to learn* and how the child interacts with its environment, education and other institutions, from which the child develops into a whole person.Although the education systems may have been adapted as time progresses and vary slightly from land to country, the root of education originates fr om these four views. Therefore similarities can be seen in the education system in Britian and France.(* Extracted from Spyby line 10 pg 222) In both countries France and Britain, bulk of children attend preschool. Their compulsory schooling begins around the age of 4/5.The pre-school stage is a period where children in Britain are encouraged to mostly play and develop rather than organism taught any academic subjects, where as in France, children at pre school stage encounter formal teaching of subjects such as mathematics and reading and writing. In general there is a higher level of participation in preschool in France than Britain.It appears that the France system bases its pre school system on the Naturalism approach, where by the childs personality, creativity, intellect and socialisation is developed external to the family. From around the age of 5 children in both countries enter primary education. At this stage it is sheer that the naturalism ideology concludes and other t raditional views become unmistakable. In primary education there is similarity in the subjects studied throughout Europe, such as Maths, science, their language, P.E, arts.The History of the France and Britain were similar in the changes they experienced in the 19th century.The primary education in England and Wales was originally based on the humanist tradition in the early 19th century. From the late 18th century,large amounts of children had access to free elementary education from which basic values were conveyed. The Hadow reports 1931 and 1933 changed the structure of schools to form primary and tributary sectors. Primary school was based around developmental psychology, which then advances the child onto highly differentiated secondhand school. The Hadow report was also the basis of the education act in 1944.There had also been a change in the ideology of teachers after war where childcentered learning became an issue with primary school teachers in Britain. In the 70s edu cation in Britain became strongly associated with economic issues thus having a large impact in aspects of education. In turn an Education reform act had been produces in 1988, which imposed the National Curriculum. The national curriculum was strongly based on an encyclopaedism view. It arose problems for teachers as it restricted teachers from having the capacity to apply their professional judgement, and resulted teachers as universe messengers of the curriculum to submissive learners.The French system also went through changes around this time. Like Britain the education system primarily prepared labouring class children for the world of work. In the early 90s issues were highlighted where teachers were regarded more as cultural emitters rather than a teacher especially secondary school teahers . Primary school teachers focused on the development of children rather than academic development.The educateion system in both France and Britiain share a common factor of taking inters t in the childs devlopment and both have a nationaal curriculum to follow. The French system however differs compared to Britian in their child centered approach.The French very strongly follow the tradtion of equality, where bothove achieves at the same rate and every individual is treated the same. Therefore a dtrucutres learning programme has been implemented where pupils learn at the same rate and achieve at the samt rate. Teachers on France play a crucial role in assisting every individual pupil to a similar stage as each other and unlike the British teachers do not view their professional role as involving curriculum development.There is generally a diffrenc ein the way children are taught in France and Britain. As evident from a study conducted by Sharpe (92) the French primary schools tend to adopt a less child centred approach compared to Britain, they have a formal fit with blackboards and chalk, with desks faced towards the black board where as in Brtian there is more d iversity in the way the National curriculum is taught, through working in groups, existence of play corners and there is a much more bright colourful displays of childrens work.Another difference in the French and British system is the concept of equality which is promoted on scholls. In the British system there os a emphasis in schools to reseocet multicultural values and other tradtions and cultures each being unique and individual. Whereas in the French system the ideology of a single nation culture is strongly promoted.The next stage from primary school is secondary school (in france refered to as lyces professionelles), which the typical age for in both countries is between 10-12.more recently there has been debates amongst the british overment about the way children are taught in primary schools and the very child centered approach has been critised. There has been speculation that the educational practices in Britiain may somewhat resmble the France system in the instructive and the commodious use and structure of the whole class. However these practices can only be implemented in the eduacational system through doverment intervention as unlike Britain, such practices in France are more teachers professional culture (Mclean 199

Reading Comprehension Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Reading Comprehension Worksheet Essay discover your outcome from this hebdomads MyFoundationsLab assignment. The outcome from this weeks MyFoundationsLab assignment were good but could be better. The assignment pointed out the importance of previewing and marking your readings. It also pointed out the importance of limiting distractions and setting admit goals. I am now better prep bed to concentrate and concentrate on my readings so I can retain more information.Identify the skills youve well-read this week. How could each of these apply to your academic work? How could each of these apply to your professional work? The skills that Ive learned this week are the steps to active reading, mental lexicon strategies, how to read different kinds of textbooks, and how to improve my reading. Active reading and improving my reading work hand in hand. In reference to my academic work, these skills can wait on increase my focus and concentration and help promote a better understanding of what I am reading. Learning how to read different textbooks helps me to distinguish in the midst of the types and how to go about understanding them. In my professional work, all these skills help prepare me to be able to compose and understand resumes, company letters, and business proposals.Describe the reading and comprehension strategies you will enlist. How will these help make you a more effective reader? The reading and comprehension strategies that I will employ are marking and reading comprehension. Some new(prenominal) strategies I will employ are vocabulary skills such as using context to understand the definition of words and writing down unfamiliar terms. Utilizing marking helps me to better highlight and outline key points for better understanding. Reading with comprehension helps me to better focus and concentrate on readings. This makes sure I am better prepared for assignments and exams. Vocabulary skills helps me to broaden my vocabulary.What is primary sou rce material? Explain why perspicacious how to identify and use primary source materials is important for academic reading and writing. Primary source materials are original materials such as documents, speeches, dissertations, or other written evidence. It is important to know how to identify and use primary sources to make your readings and writings seem more credible. When you are writing a paper, primary sources are useful because you wont find everything you need in textbooks.

Silver-graphene Oxide Composite for Optical Sensor

Silver-graphene Oxide Composite for Optical SensorKHOSRO ZANGENEH KAMALIORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION FORM come upIn this work, a emailprotected oxide (emailprotected) nanocomposite- base optic sensor was true for the detection of biomolecules such as dopamine (DA), ascorbic acetous (AA), and uric dot (UA). An aqueous solution of emailprotected was nimble utilise a simple chemical drop-off method, and it showed a characteristic surface plasmon rapport (SPR) round at 402 nm. The SPR features of the emailprotected nanocomposite were lend oneselfd for the detection of DA, AA, and UA. The SPR vehemence-based limits of detection (LoDs) of DA, AA, and UA were 49 nM, 634 nM, and 927 nM, respectively. The SPR band position-based LoDs of DA, AA, and UA were 30 nM, 1.64 M, and 2.15 M, respectively. The present ocular sensor was more crude to DA than to UA and AA. The interactions of the biomolecules with emailprotected were analyze based on the niggardliness functional su rmisal (DFT), and it was bring that DA had more interaction than AA and UA. This novel emailprotected nanocomposite is simple to prepare and showed excellent stability and sensitivity toward the detection of biomolecules.The similar substantial is used for colorimetric detection of Mercury(II) ions (Hg(II)) that is able to show existence of 100 M Hg(II) ions in solution by naked eyes. The development of this optical sensor for Hg(II) using silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) is based on the decrement in the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) assiduousness of the Ag NPs and the formation of silver-mercury (AgHg) amalgam. It is observed that increasing Hg(II) ions concentration in the solution results in the decrease of LSPR intensity and decolouration of the solution. The existence of GO prevents the agglomeration of Ag NPs and enhances the stability of the nanocomposite material, enabling this material to be used in industrial and real sample applications.ABSTRAKDi sini, oksida perak graphene (Ag GO) berdasarkan nanokomposit-sensor optik telah dibangunkan untuk mengesan biomolekul seperti dopamine (DA), asid askorbik (AA), dan asid urik (UA). Larutan akueus Ag GO telah disediakan dengan menggunakan kaedah pengurangan kimia yang mudah, dan ia menunjukkan satu ciri plasmon permukaan resonans (SPR) band di 402 nm. Ciri-ciri SPR daripada Ag GO nanokomposit telah digunakan untuk mengesan DA, AA, dan UA. Had keamatan-pengesanan (LoDs) bagi SPR berdasarkan daripada DA, AA, dan UA adalah masing-masing 49 nM, 634 nM, dan 927 nM,. The band SPR berdasarkan kedudukan-LoDS daripada DA, AA, dan UA adalah masing- masing 30 nM, 1.64 uM, dan 2.15 uM. Sensor optik masa kini adalah lebih sensitif kepada DA daripada UA dan AA. Interaksi daripada biomolekul dengan Ag GO dikaji berdasarkan ketumpatan teori fungsional (DFT), dan didapati bahawa DA mempunyai interaksi lebih daripada AA dan UA. Novel ini Ag GO nanokomposit adalah mudah untuk menyediakan dan menunjukkan kest abilan yang sangat baik dan kepekaan terhadap pengesanan biomolekul.Bahan yang sama telah digunakan untuk pengesanan colorimetric ion Mercury(II), (Hg(II)) yang mampu dilihat dengan kewujudan 100 M ion Hg(II) dalam larutan dengan mata kasar. Pembangunan sensor optik bagi Hg(II) menggunakan nanozarah perak (Ag NPS) adalah berdasarkan pengurangan pada penyerapan Ag NPs resonan plasmon permukaan setempat (LSPR) dan pembentukan amalgam perak-merkuri (AgHg). Dapat diperhatikan bahawa peningkatan kepekatan ion Hg(II) memberikan hasil pengurangan pada intensiti LSPR dan perubahan warna. Peningkatan jumlah ion Hg(II) pada satu tahap membawa perubahan dalam morfologi Ag NPs dan pembentukan amalgam AgHg yang mempengaruhi LSPR Ag NPS dan menjadikan perubahan warna pada emailprotected Kehadiran GO menghalang penggumpalan Ag NPS dan meningkatkan kestabilan bahan nanokomposit yang membolehkan bahan ini untuk digunakan dalam industri dan aplikasi sampel sebenar.ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / DEDICATIONTABLE O F confineTable of ContentsSILVER-GRAPHENE OXIDE COMPOSITE FOR OPTICAL SENSOR APPLICATIONSORIGINAL LITERARY WORK DECLARATION FORMABSTRACTABSTRAKACKNOWLEDGEMENTS / DEDICATIONTABLE OF CONTENTS diagnose OF FIGURESLIST OF TABLESLIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONSLIST OF APPENDICESCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONCHAPTER 2 LITRETURE REVIEW2.1. Plasmonic band of surface Nanoparticles2.2. Graphene Oxide2.3. Sensor2.3.1. Electrochemical sensor2.3.2. Surface enhanced Raman dispel2.3.3. Optical sensor2.4.2 Amalgamation and LSPRCHAPTER 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS3.1. Chemicals and Reagents3.2. Preparation of emailprotected Nanocomposite3.3. Characterization Techniques3.4. Optical Detection of Biomolecules3.5. Optical Detection of Hg(II) ionsCHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DESCUSSIONS4.2. Optical Sensing of Biomolecules using emailprotected Nanocomposite4.2.1. geomorphologic Studies of emailprotected after Addition of Biomolecules4.2.2. Raman Studies of emailprotected Nanocomposite4.2.3. Computational Studies4.3. Optic al sensing of Hg(II) ions4.3.1. Optical properties of emailprotected nanocomposites4.3.2. Optical sensing of Hg(II) ions by emailprotected nanocomposite4.3.3. Mechanism for the Amalgamation based detection of Hg(II) ions with emailprotected nanocomposite4.3.4. Characterization of emailprotected nanocomposite in fronthand and after asset of Hg(II) ions4.3.5. Selectivity of emailprotected nanocomposite based optical sensor4.3.6. Practical applicationCHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND DISCISSIONREFERENCESSupplementaryAppendixLIST OF FIGURESFigure 1 UV-vis engrossment spectra of (a) AgNO3 (b) GO, and (c) emailprotected nanocomposite. Inset Photograph obtained for the aqueous solution of synthesized emailprotected nanocomposite.Figure 2 (A) Absorption spectra obtained for emailprotected nanocomposite upon each(prenominal) addition of 100 nM DA. (B) speckle of absorption intensity vs. DA concentration. (C) Plot of Id vs. DA concentration. (D) Plot of max vs. DA concentration.Figure 3 (A) Abso rption spectra obtained for emailprotected nanocomposite upon each addition of 5 M AA. (B) Plot of absorption intensity vs. AA concentration. (C) Plot of Id vs. AA concentration. (D) Plot of max vs. AA concentration.Figure 4 (A) Absorption spectra obtained for emailprotected nanocomposite upon each addition of 5 M UA. (B) Plot of absorption intensity vs. UA concentration. (C) Plot of Id vs. UA concentration. (D) Plot of max vs. UA concentration.Figure 5 TEM images of (A) as-prepared emailprotected nanocomposite and after additions of (B) AA, (C) UA, and (D) DA.Figure 6 Raman spectra of (a) emailprotected and (b) emailprotected with 1-M additions of (b) DA, (c) UA, and (d) AA.Figure 7 Electron density map and energy gap of mankind and LUMO energy levels for Ag and DA, UA, and AA adducts, respectively calculated by DFT methods.Figure 8 Absorption spectra for the (a) AgNO3, (b) GO and emailprotected nanocomposite.Figure 9 Absorption spectral changes observed for the emailprotected nan ocomposite (A) before and (B) after the addition of 200 M Hg(II) ions. Inset The digital photographic images interpreted for the corresponding solution.Figure 10 (A) Absorption spectral changes observed for emailprotected nanocomposite upon each addition of 100 nm M of Hg(II) ions to the solution. (B) Plot of changes in the absorption intensity maximum at LSPR of emailprotected nanocomposite against various Hg(II) ions concentrFigure 11 (A) Schematic rationalise the function of GO in the detection Hg(II) ions. (a) Addition of Hg(II) ions into a solution containing emailprotected nanocomposite. (b) Adsorption of Hg(II) ions on the surface of GO. (c) Interaction of Hg(II) ions with Ag NPs and formation of AgHg amalgam. (B) Schematic office for the formation of AgHg amalgam and its influence in absorption spectra of the Ag NPs present in the emailprotected nanoparticles.Figure 12 Overview and noble magnification TEM images obtained for the emailprotected nanocomposite before (A andB ) and after addition of 200 M Hg(II) ions (C and D).Figure 13 X-ray diffraction patterns obtained for the emailprotected nanocomposite (a) before and (b) after addition of 200 M Hg(II) ions.Figure 14 XPS spectra obtained for the AgHg amalgam particles and their corresponding (A) Ag 3d and (B) Hg 4f regions of core-level spectra.Figure 15 Cyclic voltammograms recorded in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution with pH 7.0 at a run over rate of 50 mV s1 for the GC electrode coated with the solution containing emailprotected nanocomposite (A) before and (B) after addition of 200 M Hg(II) ions.Figure 16 Difference in percentage of Ag NPs absorbance peak reduction observed for emailprotected nanocomposite in the presence of 200 M Hg(II), Na(I), K(I), Mn(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Fe(II) and Fe(III) into the individual solutions. Inset Photograph taken after the addition of 200 M of Hg(II) ), Na(I), K(I), Mn(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Co(II), Cu(II), Fe(II) and Fe(III) into the individual so lution.LIST OF TABLESTable 1 Analytical performances of emailprotected nanocomposite for the detection of DA, UA and AA in human urine sample.Table 2 Comparison of the sensing performance of virtually of the Ag NPs towards Hg(II) ions.Table 3 Determination of Hg(II) ions in different water samples by using emailprotected nanocomposite.LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONSDAdopamineUAuric acidAAascorbic acidLoD limit of DetectionLSPRlocalized surface plasmon resonanceSPRsurface plasmon resonanceSERSsurface enhanced resonance plasmon scatteringmmilimicronnanoMmolarHPLChigh-performance crystal clear chromatographyNPsnanoparticlesHg(II) ionmercury (II) ionGOgraphene oxiderGOreduced graphene oxideGCEglassy carbon electrodeeVelectron voltDFTdensity functional theoryHRTEMhigh resolution transmission electron microscopeXRDX-ray diffractionXPSX-ray photoelectron spectroscopyFESEMfield emission scanning electron microscopea.u.arbitrary unitLIST OF APPENDICESCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTIONFor several dec ades, silver (Ag) nanoparticles have been attracting solicitude because of their excellent optical and electronic properties, high catalytic activity, and biocompatibility. Hence, they are used in a wide range of applications such as catalysis 1, solar cells 2,3, and optical 4 and electrochemical sensors 5. Ag nanoparticles possess a sharp absorption in the visible region (400500 nm), depending on the size of the nanoparticles. This absorption feature arises from the surface plasmon resonance (SPR), which is the absorption of light by the nanoparticles because of surface vibrations between atoms 68. This SPR feature allows Ag nanoparticles to be used in optical sensors for the detection of toxic metals 9, biomolecules 10, and organic compounds 11. The addition of any analyte to the Ag nanoparticles leads to assembled/aggregated nanoparticles. This influences the SPR absorption band and is extensively used to follow the molecular recognition processes.dopamine (DA) is an authoritati ve catecholamine that belongs to the family of excitatory chemical neurotransmitters. It plays an essential role in the functioning of the drug addiction, cardiovascular, renal, central nervous, and hormonal systems, and in Parkinsons disease 12. Thus, it is very important to develop a simple sensor for the detection of a sub-micro-molar concentration of DA. In late(a) years, the detection of biomolecules such as uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA) in human fluids such as urine and serum has gained considerable attention 13. A deficiency or excess amount of UA in the remains causes several diseases, including Lesch/Nyhan syndrome, hyperuricaemia, and gout 14. Cardiovascular disease and kidney damage result from an elevated UA concentration in serum 15. Analytical methods such as high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) 16, spectrofluorimetry 17, spectrophotometry 18, mass spectrometry 19, and electrochemical sensors 20 have been report for the detection of these neurotransm itter molecules. However, the existing detection methods have several limitations such as the need for overpriced equipment, well-trained operators, and tedious sampling and time-consuming procedures. Alternatively, an optical sensor platform is more attractive for sensing a wide range of analytes. It is cost effective, portable, has a rapid response, and can provide real-time analyses. Recently, Ramaraj and his coworker reported a silicate-Ag nanoparticle-based optical sensor for the detection of DA, UA, and AA with LODs of 5, 5, and 1 nM, respectively 9 (Figure 1).Most commonly, Ag nanoparticles are synthesized using various chemical and physical methods, which are not eco-friendly and suffer from problems that include the poor reproducibility and stability of the Ag nanoparticles due to colloidal aggregation 21. In order to overcome such limitations, considerable efforts have been made to prepare Ag nanoparticles on polymer 22, silicate sol-gel 11, and graphene nanosheets 23. Among these, Ag-graphene has a large surface area and strong cutting edge der Waals force between the graphene and Ag nanoparticles, which significantly reduces nanoparticle aggregation. In addition, the high interfacial interactions ensure the stability of the Ag nanoparticles 24. In this study, graphene oxide-supported Ag nanoparticles were prepared using a simple chemical reduction method and used in an optical sensor for the detection of biomolecules such as DA, AA, and UA (Figure 2). The present synthetic method for the for forwardness of emailprotected nanocomposite has advantages over other methods 11, 21-24 such as, long term stability, high homogeneity, rapid and ease of preparation and avoids any surfactant, stabilizers.Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) attracted much attention due to its biocompatibility, high catalytic activity, anti-bacterial activity, electronic and optical properties 2528. The Ag NPs possess a principal absorption band in the region of 400 nm due to the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR)29,30. This SPR feature of Ag NPs is aroused due to the collective oscillation of electrons on the surface of the Ag NPs that are excited by hap electromagnetic vibrates 31. The SPR band position and intensity mainly depend on the size, shape and refractive index 32. This SPR band of Ag NPs is more sensitive to the surrounding environment and it significantly influences the band position and intensity. Based on the changes in the LSPR band position and intensity, an optical sensor platform with Ag NPs was demonstrable to detect the wide range of analytes, including biomolecules 33, nitroaromatics 34, phenolic compounds 35, and heavy metal ions 36.Among the investigated analytes, heavy metal ions especially Hg(II) ions are more often monitored with Ag NPs through the optical sensing method owing to its high toxicity and solubility in water37. Mercuric (Hg(II)) ions are mainly released into the atmosphere from solid waste incineration, po wer plants, and bumping fogey fuels38 that pollute water, soil and air 39,40. The existence of Hg(II) ions in water causes serious damage to the brain, nervous system, kidneys and endocrine system of living organisms41. Developing a system for detecting Hg(II) with high sensitivity and selectivity against other common metal ions dissolved in water is a challenge in recent years 4247. From an environmental point of view the development of an inexpensive, simple, selective and sensitive method of detection of Hg(II) becomes highly important. there are many types of sensors invented to detect Hg(II) in the environment. most studies reported the detection of Hg(II) ions using electrochemical methods 48,49. Although they achieved a very high limit of detection (LoD), they need to use expensive apparatus and complicated setup. For the electrochemical testing of Hg(II) sample, the fabrication of an electrode is necessary, and that is a very tedious process. In addition, the detection of Hg(II) using fluorescence spectrometry has been widely investigated 50,51. Although this method is simple and is able to detect eviscerate amounts of Hg(II) ions in solution, it requires expensive equipment to work. In this respect, colorimetric sensors are cheaper and do not require tedious preparation methods, colorimetric sensors have the advantage that the existence of Hg(II) is soft discernible to the naked eye without being affected by other possible dissolved ions 5259. Recently, Hg(II) ion sensing was reported with noble metals such as Au and Ag by utilizing the size/interparticle distance-dependent optical properties and high extinction coefficients 6062. The interaction between surfactants and metal NPs results in changes to the refractive index of these NPs and the LSPR band 32,33. They also may electrostatically repel the analyte, preventing it from interacting with the metal NPs and reduces the sensitivity of the sensor. In this study, the Ag NPs was prepared by using a simple chemical reduction agent and stabilized on graphene oxide (GO) sheets. Subsequently, the emailprotected nanocomposite was used to develop a colorimetric sensor for the detection of Hg(II) with the naked eye and an optical sensor also developed based on the LSPR changes upon the addition of various Hg(II) concentrations. This significant change in the LSPR of the Ag NPs is due to change in the morphology through the formation of AgHg amalgam. Selectivity in the detection of Hg(II) in the presence of various environmentally relevant metal ions was also studied.CHAPTER 2 LITRETURE REVIEW2.1. Plasmonic band of metal NanoparticlesMost probably grand nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized in the 5th or 4th century BC in China and Egypt regions 63. From that time, gold NPs have been used in both medicine and esthetical aspects. As the result of the interesting optical properties of gold NPs, they were used for changing color of glass 64, pottery and ceramics 65. Faraday got interested about the optical properties of gold NPs and reported about the range of colors of gold nanoparticles colloidal solutions from ruby red to amethyst in 1857. Then he studied the factors influencing the color of gold NPs solutions and cerebrate that the mere variation in the size of particles gave rise to a variety of resultant colors. Other than their optical properties, many applications of metal nanoparticles have been pitch in biochemistry, catalysis and sensors. For instance, one of the anti-odour commercialized devices in Japan is using the technology of immobilizing gold nanoparticles in oxide matrixes as active oxidation catalysts 66. In defenitions, nanoparticles are particles composed of number of atoms, ranging from 3 to 107 67. Nanoparticles feature properties are different from atoms or deal material due to their size. The metallic nanoparticles larger than 2 nm possess a strong and broad absorption band in the UV-visible spectrum that is called surface plasmon resonan ce (SPR) band. This absorbance has discovered by Gustav Mie and known as Mie resonance 67. For littler nanoparticles, quantum effects become more prominent and LSPR disappears. All metal nanoparticles possess the mensioned optical property, but the series of Au, Ag and Cu have very fervent LSPRs. Other than that, their easy synthesis methods and their robustness to environmental conditions made silver and gold NPs to widely be used in this field. The LSPR features such as position, shape and intensity are strongly depends on various factors, to mention the changes in the interparticle distance of the NPs and , and the changes in the refractive index of the local surrounding environment 68.There are indeed other types of plasmonic signals, such as the surface plasmon resonance band produced by planar metallic films, in reflection or transmission, some of them being called plasmon polaritons. Though the resulting physics is extremely exciting and the recent discoveries numerous, it i s out of the scope of present thesis and they pull up stakes not discuss further.In recent years, many theories were adopted by both physicists and chemists in order to give a clear description of the SPR band and on the main factors impacting its position, broadness and intensity. many another(prenominal) works has done to overview the existing plasmon band theories 67, and explain the SPR band by Mie and effective medium theory 69. There are some researches to explain optical propertiese of NPs with arbitrary shape by Maxwell equation theory 6.The phenomenon on absorbance of certain wavelength of light observed in transmission of light through metal nanoparticles in solid or solution phase, is called localized surface plasmon resonance band (LSPR).Nanoparticles intract with incident light in certain frequency that result global scattering of it. This observation can be explained by the collective resonance of the conduction electrons of the nanoparticle, due to interaction of e lectrons in nanoparticles with light. The evaluation of all parameters of material, specially its nonconductor constant is necessary for understanding and study this phenomena. Usually, insulator constant of nanoparticles count same as its bulk form and confinement effects and defects induced by edges or impurities will be neglected. For this aim a study on electrostatics in bulk metal by using Maxwell equations is necessary. In formulating the dielectric constant with known parameters, the Drude model, which describes the motion of free electrons in a metal can be applied. Then the question of the nanoparticles will be addressed the conditions for conducting electrons resonance will be determined by several means. The determination of the frequency of the absorption maximum (denoted , the frequency of the Mie resonance), the height of this maximum and the width of the peak will be the ultimate goal of the calculations. The different geometrical confinement effect of free electrons on each material caused the electronic motion for nanoparticles vary material by material. Indeed, here the nanoparticles can be seen as a cationic network in which a cloud of conducting electrons (or free electrons) moves and oscillates. Nanoparticles dimensions are very lilliputian compared to the wavelength of the UV-visible light for which the phenomenon is observed and also comparable to the mean free path of electrons. The surface plasmon band is known to the resonance of the electronic cloud with the incident wave and the mechanics of this phenomenon can be evaluated.In the case of nanoparticles, the conditions that electron cloud can resonate needs to be calculated. For this aim, The dielectric constant of metal nanoparticles off-key to be the same as the bulk material. Some postulates then become incorrect, but in calculation we have to keep them as an approximation. For instance, the electron density in small particles (r = 0) is not uniform and the charge will accumulat e in particle edges and surface. Other than that, since the size of nanoparticles is very small comparing to the wavelength of incident light, we can consider that all electrons in the nanoparticle face with the same field at the given time and the electric field is independent of position 67. This meditation is known as the quasi-static approximation.When the electric field incidents to the particle, it result the displacement of the electron cloud that leads to the creation of surface charges. The positive charge would be where the cloud is miss and the negative charge would be where it is concentrated (Fig. 1). 67 The therm surface is justified by the electron cloud charge mentioned in previous statements. However, we have to kep in mind that all the electrons are moving together (collectively) under the influence of electromagnetic field. This collective oscillation leads to plasmon polaritons, 64 that is different with the free plasmon in the bulk metal.67The term plasmon was given to the SPR phenomenon by Shopper, due to the bounded gaseous plasmon oscillations.67 The dipolar charge repartition imposes a new force on the electron cloud. The electrons undergo a restoring force which conflicts with the external electric field.Figure.0.1. Schematic description of electronic cloud displacements in nanoparticles under the effect of a electromagnetic wave.2.2. Graphene OxideRecently, chemically modified graphene (CMG) has been studied in the context of many applications, energy-related materials, such as polymer composites, paper-like materials, field-effect transistors (FET), sensors, and biomedical applications, due to its excellent electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. 7072 Chemical modification of graphene oxide, which is generated from graphite oxide, has been a promising route to achieve mass production of CMG platelets. Graphene oxide contains a range of reactive oxygen functional groups, which renders it a good candidate for use in the afo rementioned applications (among others) through chemical functionalizations.Although graphene known a relative novel material of broad interest and potential,1,3 GO has a history that extends keep going many decades to some of the earliest studies involving the chemistry of graphite.46 The first, the British chemist B. C. Brodie was exploring the structure of graphite by investigating the reactivity of f

Theodore Levitts Theory of Globalization

Theodore Levitts Theory of GlobalizationTo most of us, sphericizationas a political, economic, social, and technological forceappears on the whole entirely unstoppable. The ever-faster f miserable of nurture across the globe has made people aw atomic number 18 of the tastes, preferences, and lifestyles of citizens in early(a) countries. Through this information flow, we are all becomingat varying speeds and at least in economic terms globose citizens. This convergence is controversial, even offensive, to some who get word sphericalization a threat to their identity and way of life. It is not surprising, therefore, that globalization has evoked counter forces aimed at preserving take issueences and deepening a sense of local identity. Yet, at the same time, we increasingly take advantage of what a global economy has to offerwe drive BMWs and Toyotas, work with an Apple or IBM notebook, communicate with a Nokia retrieve or BlackBerry, wear Zara clothes or Nike sneakers, drink Coca-Cola, eat McDonalds hamburgers, entertain the kids with a Sony PlayStation, and travel with designer luggage. This is equally true for the buying habits of businesses. The food commercialize boundaries for IBM global service, Hewlett-Packard computers, General Electric (GE) aircraft engines, or Pricewaterho engrossCoopers consulting are no longer defined in political or geographic terms. Rather, it is the intrinsic value of the products and services that defines their appeal. Like it or not, we are living in a global economy.Levitts argument was about new technology has proletarianized conversation, transport, and travel, a new commercial-grade reality-the emergence of global commercializes for baseball club consumer products, Converging Consumption Pattern Almost allone, everywhere wants global products, wish of modernity, Prefer low prices to supposed national characteristics and the populace is flat. He also argued about Global Corporation vs Multinational Corporati on and further to a greater extent over Multinational potfuls knows a lot about big(p) many countries and adapts to supposed differences. Now while doing the critical evaluation of his arguments, he proposed strategies that companies should move from transnational to global corporation because in his view the market for multinationals was sinking. He found much more(prenominal) scope when it comes to operate over the Global market. He also proposed that not to adapt the superficial differences only if force suitably standardized products globally. Which means that the market for standardized products should be kept global. He urged over making the standardized products global in order to maintain their market worth and image. Another concept given by Levitt was about offering everyone simultaneously high- note, more or less standardized products at optimally low prices. This idea was basically approved to satisfy the needs of everyone as the products get out be available at op timal prices. People tilt to prefer more standardized products so this was the best deal for them. He also wanted few standardized markets instead of many customized markets. Because of this the customization of products was ended and with formulation of few standardized markets the Global corporations maintained a better worth instead of going through the customized markets form. The most important strategy proposed by Levitt was, there is no other appeal like price. People like money, and they want to spread it over as many goods as they provoke. So if the prices of commodities will be available at low and it will be standardized as well then people will definitely prefer to spend money and the most motivational factor for people to buy something is its good quality on low prices. Levitt quoted about the concept of Standardization that If a company forces costs and prices down and pushed quality and reliability up while maintaining reasonable concern for suitability guests will prefer world standardized products. This statement has got clear linkage with the above strategies evaluated by Levitts views.Now if we put a light over the merchandise concepts he proposed, in his opinion the company should know more about what customers wants than the customer himself or herself knows, or at least more than the customer can articulate. The successful global corporation does not abjure customization or differentiation for the requirements of markets that differ in product preferences, spending patterns, shopping preferences and institutional or legal arrangement. But global corporations accepts and adjusts to these differences only reluctantly, only by and by relentlessly testing their immutability, after trying in various ways to circumvent and reshape them. Global strategy and organization has been strong in the last two decades. Numerous perspectives generate been proposed to examine the issue, and so have numerous prescriptions for businesses facing global competition. On the one hand, these perspectives have enriched our understanding of the complexity of competing globally. On the other hand, the diversity of perspectives creates a great deal of ambiguity and confusion about how to compete worldwide, about the exposition of a global strategy, about why a business chooses a global strategy, and about the implications of that choice. Without a unified framework to integrate these diverse perspectives, ambiguity and confusion are likely to persist, leading to contradicting theories and discouraging practical operation of knowledge. Levitt (1983) argues forcefully that advances in communication and transportation technologies and increased worldwide travel have equal world markets. Increasingly, consumers in different parts of the world tend to demand the same products and have the same preferences. In this new era, the strategic imperative for businesses competing globally is to achieve the economies of scale which the global market affords. Thus, multinational corporations which consider individual country markets separately are likely to disappear and be replaced by global corporations which sell standardized products the same way everywhere in the world. A major source of competitive advantage has become the ability to produce high-quality products at lowest cost, since global consumers will sacrifice their idiosyncratic preferences for the high-quality but low-priced products. Instead of a single standardized product, they recommend a broad product portfolio, with many product varieties, so that investments on technologies and distribution bring can be shared. Cross subsidization across products and markets, and the development of a strong world-wide distribution system, are the two moves that find the pride of place in these authors views on how to succeed in the game of global chess.When the global producer offers his disgrace costs internationally, his patronage expands exponentially. He not only rea ches into distant markets, but also attracts customers who previously held to local preferences and now capitulate to the attractions of lower prices. The strategy of standardization not only responds to worldwide homogenized markets but also expands those markets with hostile low pricing.According to Levitt (1983), the optimum global strategy is to produce a single standardized product and sell it through a standardized marketing program. The essays argument is that the emergence of global markets for standardized consumer products of a hitherto undreamed-of magnitude. The era of the multinational corporation was drawing to a close, Levitt asserted. The future belonged to the global corporation. The global corporation did not cater to local differences in taste. Those differences were being overwhelmed by the ability of the global corporation to market standardized products of high quality at a cost lower than that of competitors due to enormous economies of scale in production, d istribution, marketing, and management. The global corporation was being called forth by a new era of homogenized demand. A few years ago, globalization was the new paradigm in international business, however from a branding perspective it has lost its initial strength giving the fact that consumers do not seem to feel a connection anymore with the standardized products of global corporations, catered to them in mass marketing communication programs. With their centralized decision making, most companies simply stopped having a connection with the new global marketplace and neglected its emergence. There are arguments for and against the idea of the globalization of markets. On the one hand, people are gradually seeking high quality/low cost products due to the advancement of technology and communication (Levitt, 1983).Levitt both overestimated and underestimated globalization. He did not anticipate that some markets would react against globalization, especially against Western glo balization. He also underestimated the power of globalization to transform entire nations to actually hatch elements of global capitalism, as is happening in the former Soviet Union, China, and other parts of the world. He was right, however, about the importance of branding and its role in forge the convergence of consumer preferences on a global scale. Think of Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonalds, or Google. A global product is an important element of a global marketing strategy. A product can be defined as global if it can be marketed in different markets, with minimal or virtually no readjustment or adaptation. The focus of an enterprise is on serving global markets with global products. A global product does not have to sell in every market. For some types of products, the U.S., Japan, and Europe can represent 70% (or even 90%) of the world market demand. And at bottom this increasingly homogeneous triad, many manufacturers can gain ground from universal product designs. A glob al product brings benefits to the producer and the consumer. The advantages to the producer are lower costs and economies of scale in production and management. The consumer benefits through lower prices, better serviceability, increased quality and consistent reliability. However, not all products can become global products. Studies have found that the ability of a product to be global significantly depends on whether the product is regarded as being essential and without close substitutes. Globalization which essentially refers to ingathering of cope and investment, accompanied by the ripening in international businesses, and the integration of economies around the world, advanced in 1990s and in the twenty first century. The globalization of business is easy to recognize in the spread of many brands and services spreads around the world. Forexample, Japanese electronics and automobiles are common in large part of the world. Moreover, companies have become transnational or mult inational those are based in one country but have operations in others. For example, Japan/based auto obliger Honda operates the largest single factory in the United States, while U.S. based Coca-Cola operates plants in other countries including France and Belgium with about 80% percent ofthat companys profits come from overseas sales. Nevertheless, the rapid growth of globalization that was considered as a success particularly due to the rapid economic growth and success of Asian Tigers and Taiwan in early 1990s, was undermined by these countries major economic setbacks in the late 90s. A number of rallies of anti-globalization forces travailed to portrait that globalization is not a panacea for the worlds problems. Their demonstration in all fronts during the Seattle meetings of the World Trade Organization that turned into a fiasco is an example. Thus, globalization continues through its agents, i.e. MNE by changing strategies to internationalize theirbusinesses. Prof Ghemawat, (2007) believed that the above definition of Levitt still reign the world, he however, challenges it and redefined globalization as it will be explained later. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are the key drivers of globalization, as they fosterincreased economic interdependence among national markets. The supreme test to assess whether these MNEs are global themselves is their actual penetration level of markets across the globe, especially in the broad triad markets of NAFTA, the European Union andAsia. A powerful force drives the world toward a converging commonality, and that force is technology. It has proletarianized communication, transport, and travel. It has made isolated places and impoverished peoples eager for modernitys allurements. Almost everyone everywhere wants all the things they have heard about, seen, or experienced via the new technologies. The result is a new commercial realitythe emergence of global markets for standardized consumer products on a previously u nimagined scale of magnitude. Corporations geared to this new reality benefit from enormous economies of scale in production, distribution, marketing, and management. By translating these benefits into reduced world prices, they can rid of competitors that still live in the disabling grip of old assumptions about how the world works.Gone are accustomed differences in national or regional preference. Gone are the days when a company could sell last years modelsor lesser versions of advanced productsin the less-developed world. And gone are the days when prices, margins, and profits abroad were generally higher than at home. The globalization of markets is at hand. With that, the multinational commercial world nears its end, and so does the multinational corporation. The multinational and the global corporation are not the same thing. The multinational corporation operates in a number of countries, and adjusts its products and practices in eachat high relative costs. The global corpo ration operates with resolute constancyat low relative costas if the entire world (or major regions of it) were a single entity it sells the same things in the same way everywhere. Which strategy is better is not a matter of opinion but of necessity. Worldwide communications carry everywhere the constant drumbeat of modern possibilities to lighten and enhance work, raise living standards, divert, and entertain. The same countries that ask the world to recognize and respect the individuality of their cultures insist on the wholesale vary to them of modern goods, services, and technologies. Modernity is not just a wish but also a widespread practice among those who cling, with unyielding passion or sacred fervor, to ancient attitudes and heritages. Companies may enter the global market through various kinds of international investments.Companies may choose to make foreign direct investments, (FDI) which allow them to influence companies and assets in other countries. Indeed, the l argest 500 MNEs account forover 90% of the world stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) and they, themselves, conduct about half the worlds trade, (Rugman, 2004). In addition, companies may elect to make portfolio investments, by acquiring the stock of companies in other countries in order to gain control of these companies. They may enroll in the international market by eitherlicensing or franchising. Another way companies tap into the global market is by forming strategic alliances with companies in other countries. period strategic alliances come in many forms, some enable each company to access the home market of the other and there by market their products as being affiliated with the well-known host company. This method ofinternational business also enables a company to bypass some of the difficulties associated with internationalization such as different political, regulatory, and social conditions. The home company can help the multinational company address and overcome these difficulties because it is accustomed to them. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) largely operate within their home region of the triad, or, at best, are bi-regional (competing only across two of the triads of the EU, NAFTA and Asia. Most of the largest 500 MNEs are interested in the deepening of regional trade and investment agreements in Europe, the Americas and Asia. This is a high end niche of the commonality viewpoint in which they argue that the worlds clearly becoming more unified and homogeneous. However, basically every aspect oftheir arguments wrong. Instead of one language, one thirst, one food, one car, etc. there are strong regional differences within each part of the triad. Despite their global nature, some argues that companies must customize their products orservices to meet the needs of various international markets, and hence must use a multi-domestic strategy at least in part. For example, a US fast food companies such as KFC, McDonalds although have a standar d onslaught globally, they adapted their strategy to the preference of regions or countries like in China, Japan, Middle-East. KFC introduced smallerpieces of foods to cater to a Japanese preference, and located restaurants in crowded are as along with other restaurants, moving away from independent sites.As a result of these changes, the fast-food restaurant experienced stronger demand in Japan. As Grant, 2008, indicated, for instance McDonald carefully blends of global standardization and local adaptation in most countries. Its menus feature an increasing number of locally developed items like McVeggie Burger in India, McArabia in Kofta in Saudi-Arabian Arabia, Kosher food in Israel by still maintaining globally standardized items, i.e. the big Mac and potato fries. Carindustries like Toyota adapt their product also as per region. Product for the US market and other part of the world is different. As the rising tide of globalization, some companies may lost the way or make mistak es to set out to create a worldwide strategy. In fact, better results come from strong regional strategies, which is the bridge that connect the local and global initiatives, and can significantly boost a companys performance. As indicated earlier, an increasing number ofcompanies regard regions as enabler of cross-border integration because high level ofcross-border integration commonly accompany with high level of regionalization. Besides the geographic proximity, the cultural, administrative and economic proximity also become an important competitive advantage in regionalization and pass on a significant weight ofsales. Embracing regional strategies requires flexibility and creativity. Managers must be conscious that markets, supplies, investors, locations, partners, and competitors can be anywhere in the world. Successful businesses will take advantage of opportunities wherever they are and will be prepared for downfalls. Successful managers, in this environment, need to under stand the similarities and differences across national boundaries, in order to utilize the opportunities and deal with the potential downfalls. Once this analysis is complete, managers must establish strategic goals, which are the significant goals a company seeks to achieve through a particular pursuit such as entering a new regional market through considering the above five regional strategy model. internationalist strategies refer to those that address competition in each country or region on an individual basis, whereas global strategy refers to addressing competition in an compound and holistic manner across country and regional boundaries. Hence, multi-domestic international strategies attempt to appeal to the needs of customers in different countries or regions, while global strategies attempt to standardize products and marketing to work across boundaries.Levitt will be remembered by the world as the man who coined the word globalization, but for his former students, his c olleagues, and his loved ones, he was above all a man who could bestow down-to-earth advice as well as ground-breaking theory.

Racism In Contemporary Britain

Racism In Contemporary BritainThe existence of races in a circulaten lodge presupposes the presence of racism, for without racism, corporal characteristics ar devoid of social deduction (Van den Berghe, 1978, p.11).This represents a tension, explored in spite of appearance this essay, between the inability to categorise human beings into separate races on the arse of physical difference (Peoples and Bailey, 2011) and the fact that much(prenominal) salmagundi occurs, based on the misconception that socially constructed concepts of racial difference ar an objective reality (Barak et al., 2010). As the existence of race relies fundamentally upon its anatomical structure at bottom society (Marger, 2011), it appears, within this essay, as race. In examining the existence of racism in contemporary Britain, a number of definitions go out be explored, however, a commonality among them is their dependence on the definition of race, demonstrating, I would argue, the equally, socia lly, constructed, nature of racism (Capdevila and Callaghan, 2007).By examining in-migration and Asylum policy, this essay will analyse how differing definitions of racism, explain its continued existence, within a on the face of it tolerant society (Wemyss, 2009). It in like manner considers how immigrants and foundation seekers are perceived and treated within society, because in addition to occurring at policy level, racism is a lived bang (Lentin, 2011). I do not consider the definitions examined, namely biologic, reinvigorated, institutional and pagan racism, to be an exhaustive list and recognise that considering its existence from other constructs, may give a different picture of contemporary Britain, further demonstrating the need for a critical approach to concepts of racism and its existence within society (Zamudio et al., 2011). I will conclude by exploring whether accurately defining racism, feigns its prevalence, or whether pursuing the eradication of negative life chances, for minority ethnic groups, is not more right than the miscellanea of discrimination.Although it is now commonly recognised that there are no biological differences, by which races can be categorised (Nanda and Warms, 2010), this concept continues to create the foundation for biological racism and associates such difference with a behavioural hierarchy in harm of morals and intellect (Smedley and Smedley, 2005). This concept of hierarchy, I would argue, is integral to racism, in that the self is constructed as superior and the other as inferior (Rivers, 2008). Having proven the non-existence of race, this form of racism could be considered outdated and irrelevant, however, I would argue that its prevalence is still spare within scientific discourse and public opinion (Lentin, 2011). In recent political debate, for example, around reducing the spread of HIV within the UK, by providing bleak treatment to foreign nationals (HAUK Select Committee, 2011), objectors have argued that this will increase immigration, out of a desire for free medical treatment (Department of Health, 2005). Whilst I would not cross the greater prevalence of HIV in some parts of the world, and therefore some ethnic groups, associating this with the motivation for immigration, within such ethnic groups, being to betroth advantage of free resources, I would argue, has biologically racial undert is. In addition, there is no evidence that the provision of free HIV treatment would create such health tourism (NAT., 2008).With racism being legislated against (Race Relations Act, 1976), anti-Semite(a) undertones are now more common than overt racism, when pickings a biologically anti-Semite(a) perspective (Jiwani and Richardson, 2011) and the denial of racism within Immigration and Asylum policy, arguing that its not antiblack to impose limits on immigration ( nonprogressive Party, 2005), is unsurprising. Whilst immigration rules, by their nature, distinguish between those who have, and do not have, the right to remain in the UK, I would argue that this discrimination is only biologically racist, if decisions are made on the basis of physical difference. As such, it could be argued that the Conservative discourse is justified, in that some criterion are required for immigration control, but that such rules do not refer to particular racial groups having characteristics determining their suitability for immigration (Sriskandarajah, 2006). Whilst this argument does not necessarily prove the lack of racism within Immigration Policy, it demonstrates how one definition of racism, in this case biological, can be used to deny its existence, whereas, as this essay will demonstrate, constructing alternative definitions highlights greater prevalence of racism within Immigration and Asylum policy.A combination of factors, including legislation, scientific rationale behind the non-existence of race and eugenics movements, have resulted in traditional forms of racism being constructed as socially unacceptable, causing a reduction, although not eradication, in overt, racist behaviour and a denial of racist intent (Romm, 2010). If my understanding of racism, therefore, were restricted to a biological definition, I might argue that its existence within contemporary Britain has reduced. By redefining racism, however, in the light of its social unacceptability, to subtler, indirect forms, the existence of racism, I would argue, in both Immigration and Asylum policy and wider British society, can still be seen. This subtler definition, known as New Racism (Collins and Solomos, 2010), argues that the same belief in racial chooseable position underpins many current discourses, but that new address is used to represent these traditional beliefs, for example, substituting race with immigrant or asylum seeker (Kimber, 2010).Returning to the Conservative Manifesto (2005), if no inference of racism exists within policy proposals, then why is th ere a need for rhetoric which defends a non-racist position? The regnant use of language is evident in this kind of discourse, because in addition to denying racist intent, arguments are constructed, such that, accusations of racism are deemed irrational, making any book binding or indirect forms of racism difficult to challenge (Goodman and Burke, 2011). In Conservative leader, Michael Howards election campaign (2005), for example, the need for stricter immigration control is argued to be based on common sense, kinda than racist principles. Mr. Howard categorises immigrants as good and bad, with those being different and not encompassing British set, deemed bad (Btihaj, 2006). Being a child of immigrants, he classifies himself a good immigrant, for whom racism is unacceptable because he is one of them, however, Michael is white, and therefore does not look different and his immigrant Father is Romanian, a Christian, European country whose values and cultures are more in line wi th Britishness than perhaps, non-white, non-Christian countries, making conforming to the image of good immigrant, much easier for him (Capdevila and Callaghan, 2007). In this way, I would argue that, although new language is used, racist beliefs underpin this discourse, in describing acceptable immigrants as white, with similar culture and values, and conversely less acceptable immigrants, as non-white individuals, refusing to conform to our culture and values. A biological definition would deny racism within this speech, whereas, a new racism definition highlights underlying racist discourse, which may result in the implementation of racist immigration policies. I would argue that this further demonstrates the contested and constructed nature of racism, which can be made to exist, or not, on the basis of its definition.This coded use of language can also be seen in wider public attitudes, within the UK. Where terms like lazy, stupid and unprincipled were historically used to descr ibe racial groups, they are now attached with immigrants and asylum seekers (Craig, 2007). Similarly, Finney and Peach (2006) found that although discriminatory views have shifted from race to immigrants and asylum seekers, similar language, and reasons for feelings of animosity, are used in describing both groups. A biologically racist perspective, could argue that attitudes toward ethnic minorities have improved within the UK, but I would argue that, considering a new racism definition, although language and focus have changed, racist attitudes still prevail within contemporary British society.Another perspective in understanding racism, is to consider how policies, decision making and institutional practices create and specify racism, rather than individual belief systems. This institutional definition of racism, argues that, policies are constructed to both subordinate, and maintain control over, particular racial groups (Carmichael and Hamilton, 1969). In this way, racism is the creation of low quality through the implementation of organisational policies and procedures (Better, 2008) and is rooted in the processes of established and respected forces within society, which I would argue makes them less believably to be challenged than individual acts of racism (Carmichael and Hamilton, 1969). institutional racism can occur unintentionally, by unwitting prejudice and racial stereotyping creating policies and cultural practices which disadvantage ethnic minorities (Macpherson, 1999). The complexity of institutional racism is that, organisations cannot make decisions or policies, without the presence of individuals and therefore questions whether an institution can be racist, or whether racism results from the influence of individuals within that institution (Roush, 2008).The UK Border Agency, in working predominantly with immigrants and asylum seekers, in my view, holds significant potential for institutional racism. Whether such racism is intentional is contested, but irrespectively, I would argue that, some immigration policies disproportionately disadvantage certain(p) ethnic minorities. Recent changes to work permit policies, for example, mean that restaurants employing chefs from outside the EU, must find applicants with at least 5 years experience and graduate-level qualifications, paying them at least 28,260 a year (Home Office, 2011). Although this policy is applied to all restaurants and its implementation aims to prioritise jobs for British citizens, I would argue that restaurants providing cuisine originating outside Europe, are likely to be disproportionately regarded by this policy and that such businesses are likely to be owned by, and employing individuals of, ethnic minorities (Khaleeli, 2012). In this way, whether intentionally or not, I would argue that these immigration changes are institutionally racist, in that their negative impact, upon ethnic minorities, is unjustifiably disproportionate. This again demonstr ates, I would argue, how the definition of racism taken, can significantly impact its perceived existence within contemporary British society. A biological definition, for example, would argue that decisions are not being made on the basis of physical difference, as all individuals are receiving the same treatment, and therefore the policy is not racist. Similarly, new racism, by examining the language used, could still conclude that the intention of this policy, is not to favour any particular racial group. The difference, I would argue, with institutional racism, is that intent is less important than impact and therefore, racism can be deemed to exist if the outcomes for ethnic minorities are disproportionately worse than the general population, which in regard to this policy, I would argue, could be the case.The final perspective being explored, cultural racism, is argued by some to simply be an extension of new racism (Jacobson, 2008). Within immigration and asylum discourse, ho wever, I would argue, the language of culture so frequently replaces that of race, as to make a decided exploration of cultural racism beneficial (Diller, 2010). Cultural racism relates to the belief that less dominant cultures are dysfunctional, maladaptive or even deviant, emphasising individual failings, rather than a societal failure to accommodate difference (Williams, 2007). Although it could be argued that this moves too far from a valid definition of racism, this depends upon how race is defined and if there are no biological differences by which races can be categorised, then the socially constructed differences which create racism, may also be cultural differences (Pon, 2009). In this way cultural racism is both the negatively, differential treatment on the basis of cultural difference (Hill, 2008) and the denial of opportunity to express ones culture (Ford, 2005). Islamics are frequently constructed, for example, as a homogenous group, when in reality the diversity of in dividuals classifying themselves as Muslim, is too vast to validate a single identity (Al-Azmeh, 2007). Despite this, the term Muslim has become a way of describing ethnicity, both in politics and public opinion (Wilson, 2007). This process of homogenisation, I would argue, has caused ideas of fundamentalism, and terrorist intent, to be attributed to the Muslim identity, constructing them, in some respects, as an enemy of British society (Todorov and Brown, 2010). This is not only a discriminatory and inaccurate portrayal of a diverse group, but also culturally racist in the way such beliefs are played out in the implementation of policy and treatment of Muslims within British society (Qasmiyeh, 2010). This can be seen in proposed legislative changes, following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, where Prime Minister, Tony Blair, argued a need for increased ability to exclude and remove those suspected of terrorism and those seeking to maltreatment the asylum system (Hansard, 2001). In addition, in describing the attacks, Mr. Blair highlighted the terrorists motivation as a religious obligation set out in the Islamic Holy text, the account book (ibid). This demonstrates, I would argue, an underlying discourse associating both Muslims and asylum seekers with terrorism (Huysmans and Alessandra, 2008). Further political statements in the subsequent decade, I would argue, cemented this construction of Muslims as the enemy (Pantazis and Pemberton, 2009). In 2006, for example, a report on countering terrorism (Cabinet Office, 2006) concluded that the most prominent threat came from Islamist extremists. Furthermore John Denham, as Home Office minister, suggested that behind a minority group of terrorists, sat a wider Islamic community, who considered terrorism to be a legitimate response to current concerns (Denham, 2007).A consequence of this negative construction of Muslims, I would argue, is the discriminatory treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers who identify as Muslim (Pantazis and Pemberton, 2009). Risk-profiling computers, for example, determining on entry to the UK who should be scanned, searched and questioned, have been found to focus upon Muslim-specific behaviours, categorising practising Muslims as high risk (Webber, 2012). This is a clear demonstration, I would argue, of cultural racism, in determining negatively, differential treatment on the basis of cultural identity, further set off how the existence of racism, is very much dependent upon the way in which it is defined. Biological racism, for example, would argue that the range of ethnic diversity within Islam, indicates that any discriminatory treatment toward Muslims, cannot be racist, as underlying, discriminatory, motivations are not based upon biological difference. Similarly, although much of the discrimination explored, occurs at an institutional level, Institutional Racism is based on the impact of policies and practices upon racial, not cultural or religi ous, groups and so would not consider the matters explored to prove the existence of racism, within contemporary British society.Having considered varying definitions of racism, I would conclude that its existence, within contemporary British society, is complex and can be argued to be both prevalent and a thing of the past (Rattansi, 2007). By taking a biological perspective, this essay has considered that, although racist undertones may exist in some immigration and asylum discourse, its prevalence within British society is decreasing (Day, 2011). Alternatively, by taking an institutional view, where it is not intent but impact which is measured, the existence of racism has been highlighted, through some UK policies and institutions disproportionately, disadvantaging ethnic minorities. Similarly, by considering racism from the perspective of new language being used in place of traditionally racist terms, the prevalence of racism increases significantly, specifically, as this essay had demonstrated, within Immigration and Asylum policy. Finally, by extending this new racism definition to the replacement of racialised language, with that of culture, this essay has demonstrated how specific groups continue to experience significant levels of racism within British society, both in terms of policy construction and public attitude (Allen, 2010). Reflecting upon these various constructions of racism, I would argue that its perceived existence is highly dependent upon the definition used.Whilst this analysis has examined the existence of racism, it could be said that it does not explain its existence. Why is it that some groups consider it appropriate to negatively treat others, on the basis of their race? I would argue that the wait on to this, is power. With biological racism, it is seen in the superiority and inferiority of racial groups, on the premise that biological difference creates a natural hierarchy. With new racism, it is seen in powerful discourses whi ch cay racist ideologies as rational and in the best interests of Britain, whilst in reality maintaining the authoritative position of the powerful (Capedevila and Callaghan, 2007). With institutional racism, it is seen in those with the power to create policy and organisational procedures, constructing these to maximise the benefits for themselves and maintain their position of authority. Finally, with cultural racism, it is seen in the view that inferior and less developed cultures should be discarded and individuals from such cultural groups assimilated into the dominant culture, pass judgment the superiority of these cultural norms.In light of this, I would argue, that if the existence of racism is determined by its definition and the purpose of racism is to maintain power, then a critical understanding of the constructed nature of racism, is paramount in assessing the discourses and policy proposals of those with such power. This reflection has also caused me to question the extent to which an academic pursuit of categorising behaviours, policies and ideologies as racist, is beneficial and if instead, it is deflecting the focus from challenging negative discrimination, faced by certain groups, irrespective of their experience fitting our socially constructed definition of racism. In conclusion, however, I would argue that, as racism is now considered both legally and morally wrong, if it can be accurately defined and its existence proved and highlighted, then work can be achieved towards its eradication (Cole, 2009).

Working Capital Analysis of Wal-Mart Essay -- Business Management Fina

Working Capital Analysis of Wal-Mart Every business decision is associated in one way or another with the pecuniary condition of the organization. The results of a working capital analysis will assist in the determination of organizations ability to remain in a particular line of business. The primary focus of Team Cs analysis of Wal-Mart, Inc is its current and future financial condition. The most imperative areas that are comprise in the Capital Structure Analysis Report fall into the following categories Working Capital Management, Valuation and Investment, and Cost of Capital. The companys operational processes at heart each area can be examined and related financial data reviewed. Once the financial data is collected and calculated potential areas for improvements can be identified and corrective or innovative measures can be implemented. As in all businesses, which include Wal-Mart, it mustiness be considered that there is always room for improvement. Working Capital M anagement In order to fully understand the companys financial position a financial manager must consider the amount of net working capital available. The net working capital is the difference between current assets and current liabilities. Companies normally have a positive net working capital. The components of working capital change continually within the cycle of operations. (Brealey, 2001) Therefore, an effective manager will monitor the cash mutation periods to determine the length of the production process. The longer the process, the longer the companys money will be tied up in the process. The two elements in the business cycle that normally absorb the most cash are inventory and receivables. The main sources of cash are payables and equity or loans. Speeding up the working capital cycle will generate more cash for the company. www.planware.org This management of working capital will allow the company to maximize its utilisation of existing cash flows as well as levera ge additional sources of working capital. Underperforming Company Ratios Although Wal-Mart is performing well overall and remains a attractor within the retail industry, the company is not without opportunities for improvement. An analysis of the financial ratios for the company over the last three years as well as an industry comparison has identified areas in which the company could enhance its ... ... 3.03 3.26 3.59Payout Ratio_______________________.19__________.17__________.23____ Table BIndustry Averages_____________________________________________________Fiscal Year 2001 2002 2003____LeverageDebt Ratio 1.58 2.2 .53Times Interest bring in Ratio .75 1.78 2.46LiquidityCurrent Ratio 3.1 2.8 2.6Quick Ratio .6 .5 .4Net Working Capital .195 .07 .195EfficiencyAsset Turnover Ratio 2.23 2.27 2.2Average battle array Period 12.6 10.4 8Inventory Turnover 5.24 5.38 5.73Profitability Net Profit Margin 3.7 2.8 3.97Payout Ratio_______________________ 32.4__________34.3________34.6___ Tables are a combination of the following resources www.walmart.com, www.reuter.com, www.biz.yahoo.com, UOP library resource foil and Bradstreet industry ratios, and www.bloomberg.com.