The Last Rajan Essay Example

The Last Rajan Essay Brief lntegrative Case 2 The Last Rajah: Ratan Tata and Tatas Among Asias business titans, Ratan N. Tata stands out for his modesty. The chairman of the Tata Group-Indias biggest conglomerate, with businesses ranging fiom software, cars, and steel to phone service, tea bags, and wristwatchesusually drives himself to the office in his $12,500 Tata Indigo Marina wagon. He prefers to spend weekends in solitude with his two dogs at a beachfront home he designed himself. And disdainful of pretense, he travels alone even on long business trips, eschewing the retinues of aides who typically coddle corporate chieftains. But the 69-year-old Tata also has a daredevil streak. An avid aviator, he often flies his own Falcon 2000 business jet around India. And in February he caused a sensation at the Aero India 2007 air show by co-piloting Lockheed F-16 and Boeing F-18 fighter jetS. Tatas business dealings reflect the bolder side of his personality. In the past four years he has embarked on an investment binge that is building his group from a oncestodgy regional player into a global heavyweight. Since 2003,Tata has bought the truck unit of South Koreas Daewoo Motors, a stake in one of Indonesias biggest coal mines, and steel mills in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It has taken over a slew of tony hotels, including New Yorks Pierre, the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, and San Franciscos Camden Place. The 2004 purchase of Tyco Intemationals undersea telecom cables for $130 million, a price that in hindsight looks like a steal, turned Tata into the worlds the group plans $28 billion in capital investments at home over the next f,rve years in steel, autos, telecom, power, chemicals, and more. We rescaled our thinking in telms of glowth, Tata says over tea at Bombay House, the groups headquartels since 7926, a tranquil oasis with well-worn marble floors, a vast collection of modern Indian art, and staffers who circulate with bowls of vanilla ice cream every day at 3 p. m. We just forced and cajoled our businesses to make this happen. The forcing and cajoling have worked brilliantly. The market value of the 18 listed Tata companies has swelled to $62 billion, from $12 billion, since 2003. Group sales and profits have doubled, to $29 billion and $2. billion, respectively. The three big companies that account for 75 percent of sales-Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Tata Consultancy Services-are enjoying some of their best years ever. And in May, Tata Tea netted $523 million in prof,rt when Coca-Cola Co. (KO) paid $1. 2 billion fol its 30 percent stake in Energy Brands Inc. , the maker of Glaceau VitaminWater. Not bad for a purchase made just nine months earlier. This is a transformed Tata, says Rajeev Gupta, managing director of private equity shop Carlyle Advisory Partners. The global push began four years ago. We will write a custom essay sample on The Last Rajan specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Last Rajan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Last Rajan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer After a roc? biggest carrier of international phone calls. With its $91 million buyout of British engineering frm Incat International, Tiata Technologies now is a major supplier of outsourced industrial design for American auto and aerospace companies, with 3,300 engineers in India, the United States, and Europe. frst decade as chairman, Tata commissioned a sweeping The crowning deal to date has been Tata Steels review to plot strategy, including a study comparing India with China. He was struck by the sheer audacity of Chinese projects. Whether they built a port or ahighway, they did it big, the kind of scale that caused skepttcs is over the top, he saYs. Bu[ o it. lndia, he concluded, should should Tata Group. By levercgin9 into rurb $13 billion takeover in April of Dutch-British steel giant Corus Group, a target that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. In one swoop, the move greatly expands Tata Steels range of finished products, secures access to automakers across the United States and Europe, ochargo ^n ; :1ii: r*ii: iffiitf:iij and boosts its capacity fivefold, with mills added in Pennsylvania and Ohio. leagues Now, a new gambit may catapult Tata into the big of global auto manufaCfu? ing: The company is said to be weighing a bid for Jagiar Cars and Land Rover, which Ford Motor Co. wants to sell. On top of all this, 372 Brief lntegratiwe Case 2 The Last Rajah: Ratan Tata and Tata,s Global Expansion 373 Building an oryanization with a coherent vision and major deals and pushed for acquisitions capable of succeeding in so many industries and so many such as Corus. The ventures lnto passenger markets, though, is a daunting cals and telecom are his task. Asia has wrtnessed babies. And Tata is rnstrumental the rise of many soup-to_nuts in hatching new busi_ behemoths that thrived nesses, bouncing ideas gleaned when economic tides were from his travels to manag_ high, such as Koreas Daewoo, ers for. follow_up Thailands Char. oen Pokphand, and Indonesias Salim Ratan Tata serves another Group. Most eventually fell vital function: While at ease apart. The leal test for Tata, with lawyers and inves tment too, is likely to come when bankers, he remains firmly Indias boom abates and bat_ planted in the developing tles for talent and market share world. He is a passlonate pl-o_ invol ving both aggr. essive motel of corporate social responsibilitv. Indian r. ivals and deep-pocketed a mission that multinationals intensify dates to the group,s founding But unlike most other Asian groups, ,Tata in the 1SZos by Tatas greatalready has grandfather, Jamsetji proved it can survrve turmoil Tata. The founder w as a proneering and constantly reinvent industrialist, philanthropist, itself, says Harvard Business and fervent nationalist who School professor. Tar. n traveled to the United States with Khanna, who has closely studied a swaml, meeting the the group for a decade. tycoons of the day. He opened AI the center of the emptre is India, s hrst textile mill, in Tata himself. An ar. chi_ large part to wean Indians tecture graduate from Cornell from their industrial dependUniversity in 1 962, he ence on Britain, which until then serves as the gr. oups chief dealmaker had miIed much of the vrstonar. y, and spir_ subcontinent,s cotton and then itu al cement. He joined the company, shipped the high-cost cloth after college, then back to the colonies. Tata offered steadily rose thr. ough the ranks. worker. benefits such as He took over 16 years child care and pensions long before ago-after the death of his gregarious most companies in uncle, J R. D. the West, and later one of Jamsetji s Tata-just as India began dismantling sons helpecl bankroil decades of socialista young Mahatma Gandhi while style business controls. Tata has he agitated in South overseen sharp downsizAfrica for the rIghts of immigrant ing, ris? plunges into auto Indians. manufacturing and telecom, To thjs day, the Tata Gloup and a transformation of the r. mains devoted to good conglomerate s insular and works: Charitable trusts own lethargic management culture. 66 percent of the shares in Now he wants to prove parent Tata Sons, and many of its Tata companies can c ompete companies fund gr-assin the rich West as well roots antipoverty plojects that seem as in the unpredictable but far lemoved from hugely promiOing markets of their core businesses. Ask the developi ng world. Whats the chairman to name mole, Tata wants to set gloups the biggest challenges and he quickly the group solidly on a path to achieving all this befo? cires two: Talent, and retaining he retires. our value system as we get bigger. and more diverse. We have The barrel-chested tycoon to rncrease the management hasn,t named a successor. or bandwidth, and with the same said when he plans to step ethical standards. ,, down. He,ll t* iO in Decem_ He also concedes that the gr. oup be? , but he still has a vicelike is much less focused handshake, and associates than he envisioned back in are amazed at his command 1991, when he pledged to pare of nomb. , and technical it from details of the various Tata scores of companies to companfr. fri_r. es his fail_ . just a dozen did dump marginal businesses-cosmetics or so. Tata ure to designate a successor all the more disconcerting. cement-but pants, and Some even quesrion entered letail, telecom, biotech, wherhe? hi. ,t;;:tuiriigtrt and others spur the Today, Tata Group . ,V/ho compnses nearly 100 companies will U tti 4uf,;rorries one i:ups breakup. with 300 subsidiaries in 40 businesses. veteran insider. ,,Will there even be u-. noul leader? ,, Slimming the group down is Tata to oversee the gr. oup. y at a company museum. rough gener. tions of parsi escended from persians. one ar. ea where set out to do,,,he admits. I have not succeeded in what I d childless_and his siblings. It His r-eclusive half_brother, tail chain, but it,s unclear Succession ,,is a problem,,, volved in more issues than does step down, Ratan Tata hough he and other family of shares in Tata Sons, the h controlling stakes in its three half_sister. s aren,t s key units including Tata inrimarely inr4plved in all nesses His hope is that Tata s unorthodox structurc will give individual companies the agility to respond to new opportunihes and ill. ats. The organization is a lot lighter than a Wester. n conglomerate, says Alan Rosling, a Bliton who s pearheads international expanston for Tata. There is no central sftategy. We don t even have consolidated finan_ cial statements, The group is bound together by the small staffs of Tata Sons and another holding company, Tata Industries. These two chaired , by Ratan, provide strategic vtslon, control the Tata brand, and lend a hand on big deals. And Tata Sons can raise cash to launch new busi_ or help fund purchases such as Corus. In 2004 ]t 344 Part 3 lnternational Strategic Management in pulled in $1. 3 billion by floating a 10 percent share the companYs home b time capsule of a more city of genteel coloni urld, hukd from the $40 million a Year sup even though it emPloYs residents. And in its agreed Iesembles a I age, a leafY wide boulesPends some to early retirement got full pay until age 60 and lifelong health care. Tata Steel also spends mlllions annually on education nearby health, and agricultural development plojects in 800 a dusty outpost villages. In Sidhma Kudhar, for instance, of whitewashed stone houses with thatched roofs the crop 32 families until two years ago subsisted on a single a nonintrusive manner. The chief steward, though, cleally is Ratan Tata He jatlopha bushes seedlings for future income, as well as now whose ieeds can be used for biofuel Most childlen village has attend classes in the reftrrbished school, and the tllee televisions, powered by Tata solar units that also supply clocks. strike at Tata Motors Pune plant, militant unionists of the assaulted Tata managers and occupied a section city. higher-cost operations u*stion will the test now that Tata loads the Indian steeland absorbing Corus weaken malgins One key If you Put a gun Tata is what to do with Cotus mills such as the one at port Talbot in Wales, which employs 3,000 workers Tata says had better take the gun Im not moving. uraman, But the u it, says Muthpeople Ive ever Tata Steel Talbot to have to cut jobs. and broke the strike aft and the milita nts. While he doesnt look hes one of the toughest A delegation of 20 Corus labol reps known. The transformation of Tata Steel illustrates his impact obal In the early ompetition, antiquated P entation . *itl or1- Leahy. But how will own We comichael they be able to translate those prin- calls Muthuraman. Over the yeats, Tata cut the workforce from 78,000 to 38,000 and spent $2. 5 billion on modernization A decade later, Tata Steel had become one of the worlds efficient and profitable producels and began to most acquire rivals. Ratan was the chief architect of the Coius deal, says Muthuraman. I was worried about the conmagnitude and the amount of money But he instilled Because Tata is one of the few big fidence. The strategy: ore steelmakers with its own abundant coal and iron produce raw steel at low cost in India and reserves, it can then ship it to Oorus first-rate mills in the Vyest to make finished products. But Tata Steel highlights the challenges of balancing Old World ways w ith New Economy realities Jamshedpur TheY ciples into the British and European context? couldnt answel that' A bid fol Jaguar and L even more daunting challe give Tata a luxurY bland an would be an uPhill climb to r which was damaged bY sha Tata executives, who wont c and Land Rover, have dow United States, citing the hig mitments in emerging m mall cars under the Rover years amid comPlaints abou once made onlY trucks, sur cess of the Indica, an affor grief lntegratiwe Gase 2 The Last Rajah: Ratan Tata and Tatas Global Expansion 375 from scratch and rolled out in the 1990s. The Indica is now Indias number-two car and is selling well in South Africa, Spain, and Italy. Tata also will soon stafi exporting cars and trucks through a venture with Fiat (FIA) and is eyeing a similar project in South America. The company had another big hit in 2006 with the Ace, a bare-bones truck for less than $6,000. Tata already is boosting its output from 75,000 minitrucks to 250,000. energy giant British Peffoleum (BP), supplies buildings in Germany with rooftop solar-electric systems. But in developing nations, the company sees a vast market in bringing affordable power to villages that are off the power grid. The company has introduced low-cost, solar-powered water pumps, refrigerators, and $30 lanterns that bum for two hours on a days charge. And it has fitted 50,000 homes with $300 systems that can power two lights, a hot plate, a fan, and a l4-inch TV. But this is a drop in the ocean, says Tata BP Solar CEO K. Subramanya. We ought to be touching millions. There is little question that the opportunities for Tata in India and abroad are staggering. But can the group succeed on all these fronts simultaneously? The interesting dilemmas will come when the Indian economy slows and some Tata affrliates inevitably stumble. Future managers could look at expensive burdens such as Jamshedpur and rural-development projects as tempting targets for cuts when times get tight. Tata companies could lose interest in low-cost goods for the masses without a passionate promoter as group chairman. And the group could take a tougher look at businesses to spin off. For the foreseeable future, though, these are nonissues. Though Tata vows that he wont carry this on endlessly, he says he will stay on at least two years beyond when he chooses a successor. So he seems likely to fulfrll the last big item on his agenda: building a network of companies capable of tluiving in 21st-century global competition while still adhering to traditional values long after the departure of Ratan Tata. Strrrnlrles Ratans big passion, though, is the one lakh car. (One lakh is 100,000 rupees. And that many rupees equals about $2,500. ) Since the mid-1990s, he has wanted to develop reliable but supercheap vehicles, a project he believes could ultimately revolutionize the auto industry and make India a major economic power. Tata personally supervised the project and traveled frequently to Tata Motors development center in Pune to check on progress. Originally he envisioned a fundamentally new kind of vehicle-one made of plastics, for example, that didnt even resemble what we think of today as a car. He concedes that the spartan, oval-shaped model to be launched n early 2008 doesnt meet his lofty aims. Its made of steel. And it looks like, well, a car. To get the price to $2,500, engineers shrunk the size and stlipped out frills such as reclining seats and a radio. There is not a lot of innovation, he says. We didnt reinvent the business. Tata has similar ambitions to reinvent solar energy. Tata BP Solar Ltd. , a $260 million venture with British Go-Go Tata Since beginning a global push four years ago, lndias once-plodding Tata Group has expanded aggressively at home and abroad in a wide range of industries. Some of its major holdings: Building a new car plant and sharply boosting output of its small truck, the Ace. A new venture with Fiat will co-produce 1 50,000 cars and 250,000 trucks annually. The biggest gamble: a $2,500 peoples carto be launched in 2008. s7. 2 $490 BILLION MILLION l+260/0l (+36%) TATA STEEL Bought mills in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, and is now expanding in lndia. With its $13 billion purchase of Corus, Europes No. 2 steelmaker, capacity should reach 50 million tons by 2010, behind only Arcelor Mittal. $6. 6 $923 BILLION MILLION (+ee%) +33%) TATA CO N SU TTANCY SERVI CES Biding the software and tech services outsourcing boom, TCS has grown explosively in the past five years. Now its developing its own software for $4. 2 $930 = z BILLION MILLION transportation, retail, finance, and other industries. All figures for fiscal year N4ar 31, l+41%l l+43%l 2007 ) ,,, 37lo 0uestions for Review Part 3 lnternational Strategic Management l. How do the Tata Gr. oups strat egies in its home market differ from its international ventures? Do you think joint ventures are essential for Tatas future success? 2. What haye been Ratan Tatas most important strate_ gic initiatives for the company? Should his succes_ sor follow in his footsteps or pursue new paths for growth? 3. V/hat risks might Tata face in its global expansion? How might it manage their risks? Source: Reprinted with special permission from pete Engardio, . ,The Last Rajah: Indias Ratan Tata Aims to Transform His Once_Stodgy Conglomerate Into a Global Powerhouse. But Can It Thrive After He Steps Down? with Nandini Lakshman in Mumbai. BusinessWeek, August 2, 2007. Copyright @ 2007 by rhe McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The Meaning of Innuendo, Definition and Examples

The Meaning of Innuendo, Definition and Examples Innuendo is a subtle or indirect observation about a person or thing, usually of a salacious, critical, or disparaging nature. Also called insinuation. In An Account of Innuendo, Bruce Fraser defines the term as an implied message in the form of an allegation whose content constitutes some sort of unwanted ascription towards the target of the comment (Perspectives on Semantics, Pragmatics, and Discourse, 2001). As T. Edward Damer has noted, The force of this fallacy lies in the impression created that some veiled claim is true, although no evidence is presented to support such a view (Attacking Faulty Reasoning, 2009). Pronunciation   in-YOO-en-doe Etymology From the Latin, by hinting Examples and Observations The informal fallacy of innuendo  consists of implying a judgment, usually derogatory, by hinting. No argument is offered. Instead  the  audience is invited by suggestion, by a nod and a wink, to make the assumption. Someone asks, Where is Jones? Did he get fired or something? Someone answers, Not yet.  By innuendo, the response  numbers Joness days. The political candidate who distributes a brochure promising to restore honesty and integrity to an office has suggested, without presenting any argument, that the incumbent is crooked. - Joel Rudinow and Vincent E. Barry,  Invitation to Critical Thinking, 6th ed. Thomson Wadsworth, 2008 Sexual come-ons are a classic example [of innuendo]. Would you like to come up and see my etchings? has been recognized as a double entendre for so long that by 1939, James Thurber could draw a cartoon of a hapless man in an apartment lobby saying to his date, You wait here, and Ill bring the etchings down.​ The veiled threat also has a stereotype: the Mafia wiseguy offering protection with the soft sell, Nice store you got there. Would be a real shame if something happened to it. Traffic cops sometimes face not-so-innocent questions like, Gee, Officer, is there some way I could pay the fine right here? - Steven Pinker, Words Dont Mean What They Mean, Time, September 6, 2007 How to Detect Innuendo To detect innuendo, one has to read between the lines of the written or spoken discourse in a given case and draw out by implicature conclusions that are meant to be inferred by a reader or audience. This is done by reconstructing the argument as a contribution to a conversation, a conventionalized type of dialogue, in which the speaker and hearer (or reader) are supposedly engaged. In such a context, speaker and hearer may be presumed to share common knowledge and expectations and cooperatively to take part in the conversation at its different stages, by taking turns making kinds of moves called speech acts, for example, questioning and replying, asking for clarification or justification of an assertion. - Douglas Walton, One-Sided Arguments: A Dialectical Analysis of Bias. State University of New York Press, 1999 Erving Goffman on the Language of Hint Tact in regard to face-work often relies for its operation on a tacit agreement to do business through the language of hintthe language of innuendo, ambiguities, well-placed pauses, carefully worded jokes, and so on. The rule regarding this unofficial kind of communication is that the sender ought not to act as if he had officially conveyed the message he has hinted at, while the recipients have the right and the obligation to act as if they have not officially received the message contained in the hint. Hinted communication, then, is deniable communication; it need not be faced up to. - Erving Goffman, Interaction Ritual: Essays in Face-to-Face Behavior. Aldine, 1967 Innuendo in Political Discourse Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. - President George W. Bush, speech to the members of the Knesset in Jerusalem, May 15, 2008 Bush was speaking of appeasement against those who would negotiate with terrorists. The White House spokeswoman, with a straight face, claimed the reference was not to Sen. Barack Obama. - John Mashek, Bush, Obama, and the Hitler Card. U.S. News, May 16, 2008 Our nation stands at a fork in the political road. In one direction, lies a land of slander and scare; the land of sly innuendo, the poison pen, the anonymous phone call and hustling, pushing, shoving; the land of smash and grab and anything to win. This is Nixonland. But I say to you that it is not America. - Adlai E. Stevenson II, written during his second presidential campaign in 1956 The Lighter Side of Sexual Innuendo Norman: (leers, grinning) Your wife interested in er . . . (waggles head, leans across) photographs, eh? Know what I mean? Photographs, he asked him knowingly. Him: Photography? Norman: Yes. Nudge nudge. Snap snap. Grin grin, wink wink, say no more. Him: Holiday snaps? Norman: Could be, could be taken on holiday. Could be, yesswimming costumes. Know what I mean? Candid photography. Know what I mean, nudge nudge. Him: No, no we dont have a camera. Norman: Oh. Still (slaps hands lightly twice) Woah! Eh? Wo-oah! Eh? Him: Look, are you insinuating something? Norman: Oh . . . no . . . no . . . Yes. Him: Well? Norman: Well. I mean. Er, I mean. Youre a man of the world, arent you . . . I mean, er, youve er . . . youve been there havent you . . . I mean youve been around . . . eh? Him: What do you mean? Norman: Well, I mean, like youve er . . . youve done it . . . I mean like, you know . . . youve . . . er . . . youve slept . . . with a lady. Him: Yes. Norman: Whats it like? - Eric Idle and Terry Jones, episode three of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, 1969

Supply Chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Supply Chain Management - Essay Example It is always necessary that the inventory does not get too out of hands and is not short of the predicted demand at the same time. Definition Supply Chain Management refers to the entire process and stages that go in the supply of goods and services. To coordinate the production and market supply. It refers to the management and integration of all operations within and outside of the organization to maintain the entire supply chain, like production of goods, entire process of inventory stocking, procurement of raw materials from various suppliers outside the organization, transportation and distribution of raw and readymade goods in a cost effective manner, so as to ensure the overall cost of production can be kept low, in turn resulting higher profit margins. In addition to the scope mentioned as above, one of the most important functions of the supply chain management is to draw business boundaries and define the scope of the business, which will allow an organization to analyze an d understand the feasibility of carrying out a certain production function in-house or outsourcing the stage for better results. According to Mentzer, et al: "Supply chain Management (SCM) is defined as the systematic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain, for the purpose of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole" (Ballou 5). Functions The main roles of supply chain management can be understood by dividing them into the following heads: Identifying the Scope and Feasibility Demand and Supply/Adequate Inventory Logistics Procuring and purchasing Production Sales The primary role of supply chain management is to observe and analyze the existing operation cycle of an organization and then define the scope of the various stages and aspects of in-house production. This is done to understa nd the feasibility of outsourcing some stages of operation to a third party in order to keep the cost low, get better quality products and get the finished product in a limited time, so as to ensure smooth running of the organization. Demand and Supply as discussed are at the core of any business defining its market existence and sustenance. The key is to meet the current market demand and have adequate stocks to meet any sudden changes in the demand curve, yet ensuring that the stock inventory goes too high that it starts affecting the overall cost of production. Obtaining, storing, transporting and then distributing are the core functions in the logistics function of the supply chain management. Fetching and transporting the raw material to the production site and then storing the finished product in the warehouses to finally getting the products distributed to be consumed directly by the consumer are some of the functions of the logistics that in turn have a major affect on all t he other stages in the entire supply chain management cycle. Procuring and pur

Global Perspective Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Global Perspective - Essay Example Instead, and to a great extent, it has exposed the depth of the differences which separate people and countries, ultimately leading to a more fragmented world. The current global political reality, especially in light of the events of September 11th demands that we revisit the notion of the New World Order and redefine it. The technological revolution has, to a degree, brought cultures closer together. It has done so through the provision of tools which facilitate popular cross-cultural communication, such as internet chatrooms. There is no doubt that technology, whether it assumes the form of the internet or electronic/satellite media, has created greater understanding between populations but, it has also exposed the width and breadth of the differences between them. These differences, which found expression in terrorism and the events of September 11th, are that which the New World Order is about. The New World Order may be defined as one in which the threat of communism has been replaced by the threat of terrorism. It is a world in which differences between people has become more pronounced, despite the fact that globalization and technological developments have facilitated cross-cultural

Wiretapping and why obama is for it Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Wiretapping and why obama is for it - Assignment Example This authority was extended for five years from 2013. Other communication platforms that would be affected by this law include Facebook and Google. The law stipulates that the government should be allowed to review messages sent via the platforms from time to time, at will. Obama is for wiretapping because his government aims at expanding communications assistance for the Law Enforcement Act. This law requires carriers of networks and phones to include interception capacities into their systems. Obama is for wiretapping because he believes the FBI will be given the ability to carry out online eavesdropping that is approved by the court. This way, the FBI has the ability to monitor the communication of suspects, even as new communication technologies continue to evolve. Obama is for wiretapping because he believes that it can assist law enforcement authorities to identify and deal with unlawful or terrorist activities (Rasch 1). The effects of wiretapping are that it can be used as a means to combat terrorism. The government’s support of legal wiretapping is based on the premises that security will be improved. However, wiretapping has been faced by many ethical issues, with many claiming that their rights to privacy and other liberties will be infringed on if wiretapping is allowed (Rahavy 88). Rahavy, S. K. â€Å"The Federal Wiretap Act: The Permissible Scope of.† Journal of High Technology Law, 2.1 (2003): 87-100. Web.

Electrical Energy In The Home Engineering Essay

Electrical Energy In The Home Engineering Essay Electricity is an essential energy source for modern living. Disruption to supply or isolation can lead to the development of alternative methods of obtaining this essential energy resource. For electrical energy to be useful it must be harnessed through the use of an electrical circuit and an energy-converting appliance. As electricity became increasingly used as the main power supply in homes and electrical appliances became an integral part of daily life for many Australians, the dangers associated with electricity became more prominent. Voltages as low as 20 volts can be dangerous to the human body depending on the health of the person and length of time of contact with the current. Safety devices in household appliances and within the electric circuits in the home can prevent electrical injury or assist in reducing the potential for electric shock. This module increases students understanding of the history, nature and practice of physics and the applications and uses of physics. Electrical Energy in the Home 1. Society has become increasingly dependent on electricity over the last 200 years Discuss how the main sources of domestic energy have changed over time The main sources of domestic energy have changed greatly through the years. As population grew each new energy sources gave more power, more wealth, better living conditions and more opportunity for humans. Assess some of the impacts of changes in, and increased access to, sources of energy for a community Before only man power was used, there was hardly any leisure time, but due to industrialization, there has been a lot of mass production which has greatly decreased human effort and giving us more leisure time. Discuss some of the ways in which electricity can be provided in remote locations Some sources of energy for remote places are:- Diesel generators A diesel powered engine drive an electrical generator Solar cells A solar cell converts sunlight directly to electricity which can be stored in batteries for night use. Wind Turbines Generate electricity from the power of the wind. Identify data sources, gather, process and analyse secondary information about the differing views of Volta and Galvani about animal and chemical electricity and discuss whether their different views contributed to increased understanding of electricity. www.wikipedia.org Luigi Galvani conducted a series of experiments with animals, beginning with dissected frogs. Galvani carried out a wide ranging series of experiments which found that there were convulsive movements of the frog when two metals were made to touch each other while one metal was in contact with a nerve and the other was in contact with a muscle of the frog. Galvani came to the conclusion that the electricity was inherent in the animal itself. According to Galvani, this conclusion was strengthened by an observation that a kind of circuit of a delicate nerve fluid is made from the nerves to the muscles when the phenomenon of contractions is produced, similar to the electric circuit which is completed in a Leyden jar(2). The diagram to the left illustrates Galvanis theory (3). Galvani published the results of his experiments in a book called (Commentary on the Effect of Electricity on Muscular Motion). When Alessandro Volta read Galvanis Commentary, however, he came to a different conclusion. Volta focused on the two different kinds of metal used in the basic versions of Galvanis experiments. The diagram to the left shows Voltas theory that the electricity originated in the bimetal arc itself, here drawn in two distinctly different shades, and that the resulting flow of electricity produced the muscular contractions (3). Voltas subsequent experiments led to the development of the voltaic cellsimilar to a modern-day car batteryand to the development of the field of electrochemistry. Much of our current knowledge of chemical reactions can be traced almost directly to the experiments of Galvani and Volta. Electrical Energy in the Home 2. One of the main advantages of electricity is that is can be moved with comparative ease from one place to another through electric circuits Describe the behaviour of electrostatic charges and the properties of the fields associated with them Electro static charges push or pull each other. There are forces between them: Same charges: Repel Opposite Charges: Attract Field between two charged plates The forces are best explained by imagining that each electric charge is surrounded by a force field. Any electric charge that is placed within the field will experience a force. By definition the direction of the force field lines is the direction a positive (+VE) charge would move if placed in the field. Define the unit of electric charge as the coulomb The unit of electric charge is the coulomb (C). 1 coulomb of charge is a very large amount, so microcoulombs(uC) are commonly used. 1(uC)=1 times 10 to the power of -6 C Define the electric field as a field of force with a field strength equal to the force per unit charge at that point: à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¸ = electric field strength (Newton/coulomb) (NC-1) à °Ã‚ Ã‚ Ã‚ ¹ = force (Newton) (N) à °Ã‚ Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ… ¾ = electric charge (coulomb) (C) Since force is measured in newtons (N), and charge is in coulombs (C), it follows that the unit of electric field strength is the newton per coulomb (NC to the power of -1). This means if a charge Q experiences an electric force F, then there must be an electric field present, and its strength is F/Q. Define electric current as the rate at which charge flows (coulombs/ second or amperes) under the influence of an electric field Current is the rate at which charge flows. 1 ampere = 1 coulomb/second Conventional current runs from + to -. The electron movement is in the opposite direction of conventional current. Identify that current can be either direct with the net flow of charge carriers moving in one direction or alternating with the charge carriers moving backwards and forwards periodically Direct Current: If the electric field is constant, then the charge will flow steadily in one direction. This is called direct current (DC) e.g. Batteries. Alternating Current: If a fields keeps reversing its direction, so does the current. The charges will move back and forth. This is called alternating current (AC). Generators produce AC. Describe electric potential difference (voltage) between two points as the change in potential energy per unit charge moving from one point to the other (joules/coulomb or volts) Discuss how potential difference changes at different points around a DC circuit Decreases as it move around the circuit. Identify the difference between conductors and insulators Conductor: A conductor is something with low resistance, thus current can flow through it easily. Generally metals are good conductors. Silver and Gold are excellent conductors, but we mostly use copper and aluminium for electrical wiring, this is because they are nearly as good as conductors and a lot cheaper. Insulator: An insulator is mostly a total opposite of a conductor. It has very high resistance, thus which impedes current flow. Example of good insulators includes glass, plastic, and paper. Although their resistance is very high, its all a matter of Ohms Law. If a large enough voltage is applied, even a good insulator can break down and allow current to flow. Define resistance as the ratio of voltage to current for a particular conductor: The unit of resistance is called the Ohm. The symbol used is the greek letter omiga. How this relates to voltage and current is due to Ohms Law. Describe qualitatively how each of the following affects the movement of electricity through a conductor: length Everything else being equal, the longer conductor has more resistance, thus meaning less conductivity. cross sectional area The larger the cross-sectional area, the less resistance, thus meaning greater conductivity. temperature Generally in metals, the hotter they get, the more resistance they develop, thus meaning increasing conductivity. material Metals are mostly good conductors while things such as glass and plastic are poor. Present diagrammatic information to describe the electric field strength and direction: between charged parallel plates about and between a positive and negative point charge Solve problems and analyse information using: Plan, choose equipment for and perform a first-hand investigation to gather data and use the available evidence to show the relationship between voltage across and current in a DC circuit Solve problems and analyse information applying: Plan, choose equipment for and perform a first-hand investigation to gather data and use the available evidence to show the variations in potential difference between different points around a DC circuit Gather and process secondary information to identify materials that are commonly used as conductors to provide household electricity www.wikipedia.com Copper: A ductile, malleable, reddish-brown metallic element that is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and is widely used for electrical wiring, water piping, and corrosion-resistant parts, either pure or in alloys such as brass and bronze. Atomic number 29; atomic weight 63.54; melting point 1,083 °C; boiling point 2,595 °C; specific gravity 8.96; valence 1, 2. Aluminium: (Symbol Al) A silvery-white, ductile metallic element, the most abundant in the earths crust but found only in combination, chiefly in bauxite. Having good conductive and thermal properties, it is used to form many hard, light, corrosion-resistant alloys. Atomic number 13; atomic weight 26.98; melting point 660.2 °C; boiling point 2,467 °C; specific gravity 2.69; valence 3. Electrical Energy in the Home 3. Series and parallel circuits serve different purposes in households Identify the difference between series and parallel circuits Series Circuit: In a series circuit all the components are connected in series or connected one after the other, where the current can only take a single path. If 3 light bulbs are in a series circuit, the light bulbs are either all on, or all off. They cannot be switched independently. If one bulb burn out the circuit is broken and they all go out. Parallel Circuits: In a parallel circuit all components are arranged in separate branches of the circuit. Where the current can take multiple paths. If 3 bulbs are arranged in a parallel circuit, at each branch the current divides and flows through one bulb only and each bulb can be switched on/off separately, and if one burns out, the others continue to work. Compare parallel and series circuits in terms of voltage across components and current through them In series circuits the current is the same throughout the circuit i.e. IT = I1 = I2. Voltages are different across different resistors, but they add up to the for the circuit i.e. VT = V1 + V2. In parallel circuits the voltages are all the same across each resistor i.e. VT = V1 = V2 = V3. Currents are different in each branch but add to the total current i.e. IT = I1 + I2 + I3. Identify uses of ammeters and voltmeters Ammeters: An instrument for the measurement of electric current. The unit of current, the ampere, is the base unit on which rests the International System (SI) definitions of all the electrical units. The operating principle of an ammeter depends on the nature of the current to be measured and the accuracy required. Currents may be broadly classified as direct current (dc), low-frequency alternating current (ac), or radio frequency. Voltmeters: An instrument for the measurement of the electric potential difference between two conductors. Many different kinds of instruments are available to suit different purposes. Explain why ammeters and voltmeters are connected differently in a circuit Ammeters measure the current, thus they would have to be placed series with the component you wish to measure current flow through. Voltmeters are placed differently in a circuit as it measures the potential difference across a component and therefore must be placed in parallel with it. Explain why there are different circuits for lighting, heating and other appliances in a house In a typical modern home is wired to contain a number of separate circuits. Each circuit may contain lights or power outlets and all of them are wired in parallel. The reason why mostly everything is wired in parallel is because it has many advantages, such advantages are that they can be switched on and off independently. If one burns out the other keep going and the total resistance of the parallel circuit is less, and more usable power can be delivered to each light or appliance. Plan, choose equipment or resources for and perform first-hand investigations to gather data and use available evidence to compare measurements of current and voltage in series and parallel circuits in computer simulations or hands-on equipment Plan, choose equipment or resources and perform a first-hand investigation to construct simple model household circuits using electrical components Electrical Energy in the Home 4. The amount of power is related to the rate at which energy is transformed Explain that power is the rate at which energy is transformed from one form to another Mathematically power = energy divide by time so P = E/t or E = P.t Identify the relationship between power, potential difference and current P = VI Power = Voltage x Current P = E/t Power = Energy/Time Power is measured in Watts (W). Identify that the total amount of energy used depends on the length of time the current is flowing and can be calculated using: Energy = VIt If you combine the equation P= VI and P=E/t then it follows that VI=E/t and therefore, E=V.I.t Explain why the kilowatt-hour is used to measure electrical energy consumption rather than the joule The reason why the kilowatt-hour which is a unit of energy which is the expenditure of one kilowatt of power for one hour. The reason why this is used instead of joules is because electrical is consumed widely and extensively meaning large amount of consumption, the appropriate measurement for such a large amount of consumption, kilowatt-hour is the most appropriate measurement unit. Perform a first-hand investigation, gather information and use available evidence to demonstrate the relationship between current, voltage and power for a model 6V to 12V electric heating coil Solve problems and analyse information using: P=VI and Energy = VIt Question: If electricity cots 15c per kWh calculate i) the energy consumed ii) the cost of using: a 100W globe and a 1kW radiator for 3 hours. Solution: i) (100 + 1000) ÃÆ'- 3 ÃÆ'- 60 ÃÆ'- 60= 11880000J OR 11.88MJ ii) 1.1kW ÃÆ'- 3 ÃÆ'- 0.15 = $0.495 Electrical Energy in the Home 5. Electric currents also produce magnetic fields and these fields are used in different devices in the home Describe the behaviour of the magnetic poles of bar magnets when they are brought close together Define the direction of the magnetic field at a point as the direction of force on a very small north magnetic pole when placed at that point Describe the magnetic field around pairs of magnetic poles There is always a North-pole and there is always a South-pole. Magnetic fields are always shown visually as lines of force that give a definite pole at each end of the material where the flux lines are more dense and concentrated. The lines which go to make up a magnetic field showing the direction and intensity are called Lines of Force or more commonly Magnetic Flux and are given the Greek symbol, Phi (  ÃƒÅ½Ã‚ ¦Ã‚  ) as shown below. Describe the production of a magnetic field by an electric current in a straight current-carrying conductor and describe how the right hand grip rule can determine the direction of current and field lines When current is passed through a conductor, a magnetic field is created around it. The direction of the magnetic field can be found using the right hand rule. Point your right hand thumb in the direction of the current and the direction of your fingers is the direction of the magnetic field. Compare the nature and generation of magnetic fields by solenoids and a bar magnet In a solenoid the wire is wrapped into a helix or coil, the magnetic field in each loop adds to its neighbours to intensify the field. The magnetic field of a solenoid is exactly the same shape as a bar magnet. Plan, choose equipment or resources for, and perform a first-hand investigation to build an electromagnet Perform a first-hand investigation to observe magnetic fields by mapping lines of force: around a bar magnet surrounding a straight DC current-carrying conductor a solenoid present information using and to show the direction of a current and direction of a magnetic field Identify data sources, gather, process and analyse information to explain one application of magnetic fields in household appliances Electrical Energy in the Home 6. Safety devices are important in household circuits Discuss the dangers of an electric shock from both a 240 volt AC mains supply and various DC voltages, from appliances, on the muscles of the body An electric shock form a 240 volt AC mains supple can kill a person while various DC voltages form appliances for example 50V can disrupt nerve signals and send your muscles into spasms and if the muscle involved in your heart, it can go into fibrillation where it quivers uncontrollably and does not pump blood properly.a potentially lethal situation. Describe the functions of circuit breakers, fuses, earthing, double insulation and other safety devices in the home A fuse is a short piece of wire which is used to break circuits as this has a low melting point and if an excess of current flows through it, it gets hot, which it then melts and thereby breaks the circuit. Circuit breakers on the other hand do the same job as a fuse, but can be re-set after a circuit overload causes them to trip. Earthing is where a power point and most plugs have 3 slots/pins the 3rd is for the earth wire. The earth wire carries no current and does nothing. But, if however a loose wire or faulty insulation allows an appliance to become live with electricity, then the current is conducted safely by the earth wire down into the ground. Double insulation is when two layers of insulation which is used to shield electrical circuits form human contact, so if a fault occurred in small hand-held appliance, even with a earth wire a person can still get shocked.

Real World Connection

Real World Connector In the chapter Church, I felt a connection with Kiowa. â€Å"Not a minister,† he said, â€Å"but I do like churches. The way it feels inside. It feels good when you just sit there, like you’re in a forest and everything’s really quiet, except there’s still this sound you can’t hear†. The way I relate to this part is the same way I feel when I go to a temple (similar to a church) I feel the same way. When I go to the temple I sit there and listen to the prayer. But when I get into the prayer, everything goes quiet.I get this really good feeling inside myself. All my fears are taken over by peace. I think that’s why Kiowa says this is â€Å"just wrong† to be inside a holly place. One thing I didn’t understand the monks cleaning the solider weapons. Was there so representative of this. I know in my temple the minister is not allowed to touch weapons. Overall, a temple or a church are both religious place , but are both peaceful places. We are supposed to feel save in a place or worship. Henry Dobbin tells us about how he liked the whole idea of being a minister. â€Å"I was a kid.The thing is, I believed in God and all that, but it wasn’t the religious part that interested me. Just being nice to people, that’s all. Being decent†. The teaching of any church or temple are the same. God tells us to be good humans, and give back to the community. I agree and disagree with Henry Dobbins. I agree with him to the part about being a nice person. I disagree with the part when he says â€Å"it wasn’t the religious part that interested me†. The reason I disagree with this is because reglion should about be an interest not only the lessons of God. Maybe I misunderstand what Henry Dobbin was saying.

Last time i saw him Essay

The last time I saw my Grandfather he was walking along the beach with his metal detector. Actually it was not the last time I physically saw him, but it was the last time that I would see him and be able to talk to him person to person, eye to eye. I remember my surprise as I stood at the rail on the boardwalk looking down upon the steaming sand, noting nothing remarkable until, from the corner of my eye, I spied his figure. He had a figure that I had grown up knowing in silhouette distinct in my mind – but not as his. It was the familiar figure of Alfred Hitchcock. Whenever I looked at Grandpa I saw that shadowy teller of tales from days gone by. But, as I knew that I was not seeing the grand master of mystery himself, I knew it could be, couldn’t it, why yes . . . it was, Grandpa. He was slowly searching the sand for buried treasure with his prized metal detector. A hobby that he had adopted after retiring from the workaday world. Although I knew he lived somewhat cl ose to Seaside, that was the first time that it occurred to me that I might actually run into him. I suppose one never expects to run into their grandparents at the beach. I smiled silently for a moment as I watched that adorable man, donned in shorts, t-shirt. baseball cap and earphones studiously monitoring his valuable machine for blips or beeps. But that moment passed quickly as I called out to him, â€Å"Grandpa, Grandpa† waving my hand furiously to draw his attention. He spied me yet seemed puzzled as to who I could possibly be. I was, after all, the only black haired granddaughter that he had. After a moment or two of contemplation I watched as he seemed to awaken. As he waved back I began to walk toward a place where hellos could become hugs. I brought him to the pizzeria where Kenny, my husband, worked and we fed and watered the old dear. We sat talking at a table for moments too swift, not knowing then that this would be the last time we would really have the chance. We talked briefly of family matters that, in the big picture of things, seem not to have mattered enough for me to note them; of the wonderful treasures found beneath the sand thanks largely to his narrow, metal sidekick; of why Ken and I were in Seaside at all, and how long we planned to stay. Small talk filling a smaller moment in time. I asked him why he would want to wear that baseball cap, as I could not remember having seen him in one before, and he showed me the brilliance of the sunlight upon his naked head. I joked with him about not seeing me only feet away from where he was, and he  explained his glaucoma operation that would be taking place that month. We embraced as I walked him out and said goodbye. I may have just spent moments listening, but I was not hearing. He was not telling me about small items that day, he was telling me, I am old now and time is ticking away. He was warning me that he would not be here forever, yet I did not heed his warning. He was telling me goodbye that summer’s day and I was saying â€Å"Talk to you soon.† I was but a foolish child. As he walked away, the sun was taking a bow before fading away. I did not, until this day, see that something more blindingly beautiful had also taken their bow. As I yelled goodbye, at the moment the surf washed the sand back into its home – the sea, did he hear talk to you later or did he merely whisper, â€Å"Yes, goodbye.†

6 Reasons to Seek a Job in Health Care

6 Reasons to Seek a Job in Health Care The health care field has always been a solid  place to seek employment, and moving forward, the field is expected to add five million jobs by 2022- one-third of the total number of all jobs added by that time!  This increase of jobs in health care is largely the result of an aging population and changes to the health insurance system.  In 2014, health care jobs grew over 50 percent more than the previous year, according to Forbes. In addition to job security, a career in health care also comes with bonuses you won’t find in most other professions.Employee SatisfactionOne of the reasons the health care field is a good place to work is because of the fulfillment  employees find in  their jobs. Employers in the health care field seem to go that extra mile to ensure that employees are content and feel welcomed and comfortable on the job. One new study by Great Place to Work ® gives interesting insight into what makes an employee happy and inspires loyalty to a health care company.Health Care Companies Show AppreciationOne of the major reasons health care employees state they are happy with their jobs are constant tokens of appreciation from their employers. Some health care providers hold town hall meetings to hear what employees have to say. Others host a monthly breakfasts for groups of  employees. Others offer free meals at lunchtime or cater meals and hold birthday parties for all employees.Job PerksPerks are an important reason why health care jobs are popular. Health care workers work long hours and are on their feet for extended periods of time. Fitness classes, gym memberships, and free or subsidized health care are common, along with more unusual perks such as ping pong and arcade games on-site! One health care provider even supplies a concierge service to run errands for employees. A North Carolina health care company has vegetable gardens that are maintained by employees and a walking trail for fresh air and exercise.A Family-Friend ly Work AtmosphereOne feature these winning health care facilities have in common is that the people who run them go out of their way to make the employees feel like family. Employees who feel a personal connection work harder and go out of their way to help others. An Ohio facility holds events like Easter egg hunts for children and pet picture contests to encourage a sense of togetherness and camaraderie. A California company is both family and pet friendly, with the view that work and life demands require balance.Education Is EncouragedSeveral facilities in Missouri and Texas encourage employees to continue with their education, while one Texas health care facility even  offers courses that employees may take for career advancement. A Tennessee facility offers tuition reimbursement as incentive for employees to further their  education.Bonuses  to Augment PayMost employees of these health care facilities agree that they receive adequate pay; however, additional perks are ad ded to the pay structure in some cases. One Florida facility offers its employees no-interest loans and an Ohio company hands out frequent bonuses in appreciation. A New Jersey company offers a four-week vacation period for employees who work full-time and has childcare facilities on the site. It also allots one day’s pay for the employee to do volunteer work and donates the money raised to charity on an annual basis.

Adulthood essays

Adulthood essays The passage from teenager to adulthood is one of the most complicated and confusing processes an adolescent can experience. It is especially confusing since the teenager is not totally sure what it means to be an adult, and how he/she is supposed to achieve this level of maturity. If one doesnt know what it means to be an adult, its much harder to attain this maturity since it is unknown to him/her how to reach this point. However, there are many speculations and opinions about what it means to be an adult and what one must accomplish in order to reach this point. So how is a measly little teenager supposed to know when adulthood is reached? There are certain things a teenager must understand before the age of adulthood is reached. This understanding is what brings a child into adulthood, not age or size. Many associate adulthood and maturity with the age or even the size of a person. This however is inaccurate. Age only matters to a point. Once the child is out of the age of innocence, and knows the difference between right and wrong, he/she gets a chance to be responsible, and make a decision that is either right or wrong. Ill use fourteen-year-olds as an example. The majority of fourteen- year-olds will not make the right decision all of the time. From this we know that if the teenager does not make the right decision in a time that an adult would, than this teenager is not yet mature enough to be considered an adult. But if even one fourteen-year-old is mature enough to be an adult, that than it is evident age does not matter. It is simply what the kid has been taught. Most fourteen-year- olds have not been taught how to act like an adult or what to do in adult situations, the same way that we associate maturity to be evident in larger people because adults tend to be larger than kids. Therefor we automatically th ...

Mitigation and Response Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mitigation and Response Plan - Research Paper Example The first priority of this program is to protect the America from terrorist attacks and coercion. Second on the list is to ensure secure national borders both the south and the North. Moreover it ensures laws governing immigration are followed to later. This department prosecutes those who go against the country laws. And finally, it assists communities to plan, respond and recuperate from disasters.DHS believes in the homeland security enterprise. This refers to the collective responsibility of Federal, state, local, tribal, private sector entities, non-governmental organizations, individuals and communities to beef up security abilities. These parties share a common interest in safeguarding and assuring security to the American population. Existence of sophisticated communication network between these parties and agencies provides crucial information that step up security measures across the country’s borders (Jean, 2003). Essentially, the ultimate goal of DHS is to ensure a safe homeland where citizens are assured of their liberties and protection of their privacy.DHS is among the most crucial element of the national enterprise. This department possesses unique abilities and responsibilities in securing and managing borders and systems of immigration.DHS undertakes leadership and stewardship roles in areas relating to critical infrastructure protection and emergency management On the other hand, DHS in liaison with other departments and agencies have key roles and responsibilities to undertake on areas like defense, diplomacy and counterterrorism. Some of these departments or agencies include justice, Defense and state, the National Counterterrorism Center and Federal Bureau of Investigation. On policy making, the white house plays a key role in giving direction and helps in coordinating (Jean, 2003). This plan intends to explicitly outline mitigation and response actions towards averting a terrorist crime on borders and the possible measures and effe ctive strategic plan to be embraced to manage risks on the national borders. It is notable that chapter 2, subsection 6 of the USA constitution provides that, the main responsibility is to defend the United States of America and its territories. Some of the risks that face the United States today, include Al-Qaeda and global terrorism, wide-scale cyber attacks, pandemics and major accidents, illicit trafficking and smaller scale terrorist attacks (Jean, 2003). This plan intends to use Al-Qaeda and Taliban global terrorist attack as an example of a crisis in this case study. Terrorist attack has become a major shock wave in the United States of America. Focus on the plan‘s suitability and efficiency on mitigating and responding to the crisis shall be considered. There has been several Al-Qaeda and Taliban attempted attacks on America before and after 11 2001.For instance, on 12 October 2000. Al-Qaeda attacked the USS Cole in Yemen. This incident occurred on the port of Aden. On e year Later this al-Qaeda directed a very serious attack on several buildings in America, which left many people dead. This remains memorable and listed among the worst terrorist attack in the world. After the 2001 terrorist attack, al-Qaeda has since then directed attacks

American Dream Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

American Dream - Research Paper Example In Europe, this concept of freedom in pursuing one’s dreams could not be fruitful because of the class divisions. America being a classless society can adopt this concept of American Dream with much freedom. But, to achieve something according to one’s abilities and to gain respect irrespective of his status in society, one has to get rid of his selfish desires and should not indulge in â€Å"physical comfort and cheap amusement† (Schnell, 2010, p.3). Achieving American Dream To achieve a successful life is the fundamental concept of American Dream. Generally, the idea of American Dream is to get high income through a secured job and financial security. Financial success is just one part of American Dream. People also tend to achieve social status by getting membership in social clubs or by achieving the peak of one’s chosen career. Success also means attaining a position in the society where one can have the right to speak his mind, do whatever he wants to do and create a world which will be worth living for everyone. The way of achieving success can also lead to conflict in American families where children can forego the wealth and social status of their parents for the want of accomplishing more meaningful goals in life. The goal of American Dream is not to achieve millions of dollars, but for general people the focus is on attaining enough wealth to lead a decent life with dignity and self respect (Hochschild, 1996, pp.15-16). The concept of s uccess can also be relative in nature. A person may want to lead a better life compared to his own childhood days or his neighbors, a character from a book or movie or to another gender or race. There is also a competitive nature of success wherein a person can become successful only when another person faces failure like in competitive events like beauty pageants. Most Americans feel that the future generation of their nationality can live a better standard of living and can achieve success in attaining their goals in life. In America there are many opportunities for everyone who is ready to work hard to achieve success. One definition of success can be wealth. Although money cannot buy happiness, it can nevertheless buy the things necessary to live a comfortable life (Hochschild, 1996, pp.16-19). Obstacles in achieving American Dreams Many Americans believe that it is difficult to achieve the goals that they set in their own lives. This is because they say that there is no securit y in their financial status and also there is lack of proper infrastructure for public education. They feel that the government who claims to help the people of the nation is actually a hindrance in the path of their achieving dreams. The African-Americans believe that the existing racial discrimination can make it difficult for them to pursue their dreams. Almost 72% of Americans believe that the government must strive to help the people in achieving their dreams of a comfortable and respectful life (Longley, 2004). In America there are various public policy tools which aim at giving the children of poor parents a chance to earn high income. Such policy tools along with the nation’s economic system are not achieving the desired results. The laws to deal with racial discrimination also do not prove to be fruitful in most cases. There are several social and economic obstacles in achieving American Dreams. The children of poor families attend inferior schools and get poor educa tion. The children from rich families inherit more wealth and this gives them an added advantage. It is important for the future genera