International Trade Theory - 8325 Words

International Trade Theory Chapter Outline OPENING CASE: The Ecuadorian Rose Industry INTRODUCTION AN OVERVIEW OF TRADE THEORY The Benefits of Trade The Pattern of International Trade Trade Theory and Government Policy MERCANTILISM Country Focus: Is China a Neo-Mercantilist Nation? ABSOLUTE ADVANTAGE COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE The Gains from Trade Qualifications and Assumptions Extensions of the Ricardian Model Country Focus: Moving U.S. White Collar Jobs Offshore HECKSCHER-OHLIN THEORY The Leontief Paradox THE PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE THEORY Evaluating the Product Life Cycle Theory NEW TRADE THEORY Increasing Product Variety and Reducing Costs Economies of†¦show more content†¦In addition, environmentalists worry that the industry is now following proprer safetyt precautions with the chemicals it uses. QUESTION 2: Consumer groups in Europe have pushed for reforms to Ecuador’s environmental regulations for its rose industry. Other groups have encouraged trade sanctions to force Ecuadorian rose growers to be more environmentally responsible. Consider the impact these groups could have on Ecuador and workers in the rose industry if they are successful in their efforts. ANSWER 2: In response to the suggestions of consumer groups in Europe, some Ecuadorian rose growers have voluntarily joined a program certifying they are responsible growers. As part of the program , the growers must supply workers with appropriate protective gear, train them in the proper use of chemicals, and hire doctors to visit workers on a weekly basis. Most students will recognize that the cost of this type of program will affect the profits of growers, and could lead to layoffs within the industry, higher prices for consumers, or both. Teaching Tip: For more information on the rose industry in Ecuador, visit {http://www.american.edu/TED/rose.htm}. Chapter Outline with Lecture Notes and Teaching Tips INTRODUCTION A) This chapter has two goals. The first goal is to review a number of theories that explain why it isShow MoreRelatedGlobalization And International Trade Theory1203 Words   |  5 PagesInternational trade plays a big role in every person’s life. The credit should go to every economist who has contributed to the development of international trade theory. Trade is the consequence of the human â€Å"propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another† (Smith, 1776). Different people have different propensities for trading, so do different economic periods have different economic conditions, which require different international trade theories. This could be the material causeRead MoreQuestions On International Trade Theory1332 Words   |  6 Pages201109990 Module name: International business Module code: MKIB 225 Essay question: Why do businesses internationalize? Compare and contrast the various â€Å"standard† theories . Word count: 1051 Why does business internationalize? With the development of international business, countries with the purpose of increasing the variety of local products had been trying best for decades to trade with other nations. Furthermore, international trade theories were developed to explainRead More International Trade Theories Essay2547 Words   |  11 PagesInternational Trade Theories Mercantilism Mercantilism was a sixteenth-century economic philosophy that maintained that a countrys wealth was measured by its holdings of gold and silver (Mahoney, Trigg, Griffin, Pustay, 1998). This recquired the countries to maximise the difference between its exports and imports by promoting exports and discouraging imports. The logic was transparent to sixteenth-century policy makers-if foreigners buy more goods from you than you buy from them, thenRead MoreInternational Trade Theories, Trade, Cultural Diffusion, And Economic Trade Theory1374 Words   |  6 Pagesbase concept of international trade theories. The author will examine and critically assess the concept of international trade. This paper agrees with the economist that international trade is the interdependence of nations in terms of trade, cultural diffusion, and economic interdependency. International business trade theories are basically different theories with their concept of trade how they explain international trad e. The concept of majority of economist believe that, trade is about exchangingRead MoreNew Trade Theory : International Patterns Of Trade2016 Words   |  9 Pages The term â€Å"NEW TRADE THEORY† describes relations among natural country returns, government actions and industry features that enable such exchanges to occur. As a result output increases with knowledge, an industry’s capacity to understand the economies of scale rises and unit cost decreases. Because of such economies of scale world demand chains only a few firms in some industries. New Trade Theory recommends that a serious issue in defining international patterns of trade. The economies ofRead MoreDifferent Theories Concepts Of International Trade Theories1697 Words   |  7 Pagesdifferences between different theory concepts of international trade theories. The author will analysis and seriously assess their believe concepts and believe. The author of this assignment agrees with the economist that international trade is the interdependence of nations in terms of trade. International trade theories are basically different theories, with their concept of tra de how they explain international trade. The concept of majority of economist believes that, trade is about exchanging goodsRead MoreInternational Trade Theories That Can Be Analyzed944 Words   |  4 PagesInternational Trade Theories There are a number of different trade theories that can be analyzed in regards to the above referenced research project, and I will attempt to address the theories I feel that are most relatable to the question in hand. The first international trade theory I will address is that of Mercantilism. Historically, mercantilism is defined as â€Å"the economic theory that trade generates wealth and is stimulated by the accumulation of profitable balances, which a government shouldRead MoreHistory Of International Trade, And The Theory Behind It Essay928 Words   |  4 PagesTrade it’s everywhere! A large quantity of our nation’s goods and services are acquired through trade. America plays a key role in international trade, exporting a large quantity of goods, as well as importing a large quantity of our goods from other countries. In this paper it will be discussed how well America is doing, challenges international trade is facing in what countries, and who America does the most trading with as well as a brief history. The first point I will be covering is the historyRead MoreNotes On Economics And International Trade Theory1222 Words   |  5 Pagesadvantage in international trade theory. 8. Import: A good or service brought into one country from another. Along with exports, imports form the backbone of international trade. The higher the value of imports entering a country, compared to the value of exports, the more negative that country s balance of trade becomes. 9. Export: A function of international trade whereby goods produced in one country are shipped to another country for future sale or trade. 10. Free trade: Also calledRead MoreEconomic Theories Of International Free Trade Essay2137 Words   |  9 PagesThroughout the centuries of economic theories, there have always been major disagreements amongst economists. Each believing their theory provides a better explanation or solution to the economic situations the globe finds itself in. The anomaly to these disagreements is the theory, first introduced by Adam Smith, which states that international free trade is in the best interest of the trading countries and the ever globalizing world as a whole. This essay shall compare the views of the great economists;

Essay on The Role of Special Interest Groups in American...

THE ROLE OF SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICAN POLITICS nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Like political parties, pressure groups can be considered another system that connects the citizen more directly to government. However, at the same instant there are marked differences in both composition and function that define interest groups as different entities from larger political parties. According to V.O. Key Jr. in a composition appropriately entitled Pressure Groups; pressure groups â€Å"Ordinarily†¦ concern themselves with only a narrow range of policies;† and unlike the goals of political parties, their intentions are to â€Å"influence the content of public policy rather than the results of elections.† Nevertheless, it is a realized fact that†¦show more content†¦As for the struggle for opinions to be heard during these periods, it is as â€Å"if there were no elections or no concern about the nature of public opinion;† whether views of the groups are valued or not is dependent on the balance of party contro l within each arena. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In addition, there are also public corybantics by pressure organizations that run parallel to the efforts in the congressional arenas of decision. â€Å"The belief often seems to be that Congressmen will be impressed by a demonstration that public opinion demands the proposed line of action or inaction.† Therefore, special interest groups â€Å"organize publicity campaigns and turn up sheaves of editorials in support of their position.† OftenShow MoreRelatedThe Role of Special Interest Groups in American Politics Essay1388 Words   |  6 PagesTHE ROLE OF SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS IN AMERICAN POLITICS Like political parties, pressure groups can be considered another system that connects the citizen more directly to government. However, at the same instant there are marked differences in both composition and function that define interest groups as different entities from larger political parties. According to V.O. Key Jr. in a composition appropriately entitled Pressure Groups; pressure groups OrdinarilyÂ… concern themselves with onlyRead MoreAmerica Is Known For Its Freedom Of Speech1682 Words   |  7 Pagesknown for its freedom of speech. The dynamics of the American political system gives the American people a voice in what goes on in the government. The right to vote gives all citizens the opportunity to vote on various positions in the government and local areas. Political parties perform a number of functions for the American political system. The functions and components of political parties, interest group activity, electoral politics, public opinion, politi cal participation, and politicalRead MoreThe Policy Process1582 Words   |  7 Pages(Metagora, 1995). In the policy process there are many different models that explain the process. â€Å"One of the oldest and most common approaches to the study of policy- making derives from the early work of H. Lasswell (1951)†. H. Lasswell was an American political scientist who was known as the first to have taken into account and analyzed policy as a process. The most common model and the one H. Lasswell helped build is known as the stages model of policy. There are six stages within this modelRead MoreTackling Environmental Problems Today Is More Difficult997 Words   |  4 Pagesproblems of politics†. (Turin) This posturing has become a major issue for society and could lead to dire consequences in the future. It is time for us to come together and address the issues of political influence, in order for us to have a meaningful conversation we must discussion the influence of special interest groups, understand how politicians manipulate and use false authority to push agendas an d also discover the importance of citizen involvement. Lobbyists for special interest are hiredRead MoreAmeric The People, For The Corporations1738 Words   |  7 PagesIntroduction Corporate money in politics has become an increasingly prominent issue in the political spectrum of the United States after the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision which lifted the cap on political contributions from corporations, thus increasing the influence companies have on the US electoral process (Shekar 71). This controversial court case brought the issue of non-voter influence on elected officials to the political stage and gave worry to many Americans who sought equal representationRead MorePresidential Election : Clinton Vs. Trump1285 Words   |  6 PagesClinton vs. Trump: Two Different People, Two Different Americas During the 2016 Presidential campaign between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, there were many campaign advertisements from both sides that strongly resonated with voters. Clinton’s role model ad, for example, sent a powerful message by illustrating Trump’s substandard behavior as a presidential candidate. On the other hand, Trump’s â€Å"Hillary Clinton won t Change Washington† ad demonstrated Clinton’s ineffectiveness as a leader as wellRead MoreFactionalism in America Essay1749 Words   |  7 PagesIn discussing the problems surrounding the issue of factionalism in American society, James Madison concluded in Federalist #10, The inference to which we are brought is that the causes of cannot be removed and that relief is only to be sought in the means of controlling its effects. (Federalist Papers 1999, 75) In many ways, the nature of American politics has revolved around this question since our countrys birth. What is the relationship between p arties and government? Should the party serveRead MoreThe On The Workings Of The Constitution Convention Essay1319 Words   |  6 PagesUnited States, but also as an event that continues to affect contemporary politics† (Pope and Shawn 1). 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An interest group is an organization whose members share commonRead MoreThe American Public Policy Process966 Words   |  4 PagesThe American public policy process is a system that consists of laws, regulatory measures, action items, and funding priorities controlled by the elected representatives. The public policy process system that is in place within the federal government was developed within the framework of the United States Constitution and those with special interests. Within the current system of policy process utilized by the federal government America’s affluent community holds the greatest interests. Over the

Roskill and Howard Davies Airport Commissions and the Third London Airport Free Essays

Introduction London’s airports are operating close to capacity and there are challenges associated with the location particularly of Heathrow airport, such as noise pollution and safety of London’s populace (DOT, 2003; Helsey and Codd, 2012). Capacity expansion pursuits have been long drawn over half a century involving two airport commissions and political intrigues (FT, 2014). The Third London Airport commission popularly known as the ‘Roskill Commission’ anticipated growth in air transport and speculated that by the end of the century London might have to accommodate 100 million passengers (Abelson and Flowerdew, 1972). We will write a custom essay sample on Roskill and Howard Davies Airport Commissions and the Third London Airport or any similar topic only for you Order Now It was an appropriate estimate as the actual number was 115 million (CAPA, 2013). This ceiling has been surpassed and London airports are operating under strenuous volumes. The pursuit of an alternative airport, additional runways to expand capacity, among other options continue to feature in public discourse almost half a century later with myriad arguments and counterarguments (FT, 2014; The Independent, 2014). This report explores the works of the airports commissions (Roskill and Howard Davies commissions), as well as the consideration of the controversial Boris Island alternative. It focuses on the demand and supply of airports among other considerations significant for such ventures as the development of new airports or aviation facilities. History of commissions and development of arguments A 1964 interdepartmental committee on the Third London Airport forecast that the capacity of Heathrow and Gatwick airports combined, even with the addition of a second runway at Gatwick, would be insufficient for London’s air traffic by 1972 (Mishan, 1970). After the consideration of options, the commission on the Third London Airport (Roskill Commission) was set up in 1968. With their evaluation of the timing of need, expansion capacity requirement, and after a careful study of a total of 80 proposed project sites, the commission finally chose four sites, among them a new airport at Cublington (Abelson and Flowerdew, 1972). It was the first time that a full range of environmental and economic arguments were brought to bear on a major investment decision, providing substantial and significant systemic evidence on which to base decisions (HC, 1971). Its excellence in approach and output was however to not much good as government, with a variant perception and opinion immediately rejected its findings choosing instead a scheme to build an airport at Foulness, in the Thames Estuary (Mishan, 1970). Interestingly, this option had been considered and had been decisively rejected by the Roskill Commission on the basis of cost, distance and convenience to prospective passengers (FT, 2014). Neither of the two propositions (Cublington and Foulness) was built and a subsequent change in government and complexion led to the devise of a different scheme – a limited expansion of an existing airport at Stansted which was accomplished a decade after proposition. This option had also been considered by the Roskill Commission and never made its shortlist of key options (Helsey and Codd, 2012). It was a predictable failure and is still challenged by the lack of success in supporting long-haul operations by airlines, only benefitting from low-cost carriers (principally Ryan air) drawn by attractive landing charges which offset consequent inconvenience to their passengers (AOA, 2013). A proposal which has re-emerged and gained prominence is the new airport at the Thames Estuary. The ‘Boris Island’ alternative Dubbed ‘Boris Island’ as a consequence of its support by London Mayor Boris Johnson, the London Britannia Airport (a name adopted for the latest iteration of the idea in 2013) is a proposed airport to be built on an artificial island in the River Thames estuary to serve London. Plans for this airport go several years back but the idea was revived by the Mayor in 2008 (CAPA, 2013; Mayor of London, 2013). Proponents of the project cite the significant advantage it portends in the avoidance of flights over densely populated areas with consideration of noise pollution and attendant safety challenges. However, its critics who include some local councils, nature conservation charity – RSPB, as well as current London airports, oppose the scheme, suggesting that it is impractical and expensive (AC, 2013b). It is still under consideration of the Howard Davies Airports Commission, which estimates the entire undertaking including feeder roads and rail to cost ?112 billion, about five times the presently shortlisted short-term options (AC, 2013c). The overall balance of economic impacts of the project would be uncertain given the requirement for the closure of Heathrow and by extension London city for airspace reasons (CAPA, 2013). Renewed pursuit – Howard Davies Airports Commission In spite of the myriad arguments and criticisms of the various alternatives, not much has changed and the Howard Davies Airports Commission set up in 2012 still wades in the long running controversy (CAPA, 2013; AOA, 2013). There has evidently been little learnt in the several decades of bad policy making given the hedging, stonewalling, and political posturing that still characterizes the endeavour, a readiness to oppose policies espoused by those of different complexions or the persistent complication of issues when there is requirement for bold action. This characterizes policy today as it did half a century earlier with elaborate models being grossly misused and deliberately disregarded. Minor challenges and disadvantages are greatly amplified overshadowing potentially more substantial benefits (FT, 2014). The Airports Commission was set up to examine the need for additional UK airport capacity and to recommend to government how this can be met in the short, medium and long term. The commission is tasked with creating economic, sustainable and socially responsible growth through competitive airlines and airports. (AC, 2013a). The findings of the Howard Davies Airports Commission contained in their interim report released in December 2013 (preceding a final report expected in 2015) are mainly focused on the continued growth of air travel, mainly in the South East of England. The Commission considers that the region needs an extra runway by 2030, and another possibly by 2050. On the shortlist for the expansion of airport capacity are three options comprising a third runway at Heathrow 3,500m long; lengthening of the existing northern runway to at least 6,000m enabling it to be used for both landing and take-off; as well as a new 3,000m runway at Gatwick (CAPA, 2013; AOA, 2013). Not included is the brand new hub airport in the Thames Estuary, which is side-lined citing uncertainties and challenges surrounding the proposal at this stage (AC, 2013d). However, the Commission promises an evaluation of its feasibility and a decision on its viability later in 2004 (The Independent, 2014). The Stansted and Birmingham options, however, failed to make the shortlist, although the decision remains open for their qualification in the long term (CAPA, 2013). In the Commission’s view, the capacity challenge is yet to become critical although there is potential if no action is taken soon. However, capacity challenges and the jostling and vying for a slice of anticipated extra capacity by airports signals need (AC, 2013d). Arguments on the expansion of airport capacity The Howard Davies Commission acknowledge the ‘over-optimism’ in recent forecasts of growth in demand for the aviation sector, but consider the level of growing demand as prominent requiring focus on the earliest practicable relief (AC, 2013c). This is in response to contentions by opponents that the current capacity is adequate basing their primary argument on earlier inaccurate demand forecasts. These opponents posit operational changes including quieter and bigger planes could serve to accommodate more passengers negating the need for ambitious and expensive ventures. Some also argue that constraining growth in the aviation industry would be the best option for emissions reduction and that government should utilise available capacity, pushing traffic from London’s crowded airports to others around the country, (AC, 2013b; c; d; AOA, 2013 DOT, 2013). The Commission accepts the changes in aviation practice and aircraft design could deliver modest improvements in capacity but argue that none of these submissions suggested significant transformational gains (AC, 2013c). It also stresses that deliberations were alive to the issue of climate change and were focused on the delivery of the best solution for the UK, which entails the achievement of carbon targets and delivery of required connections for the economy and society(AC, 2013c; d). The Commission notes that doing nothing to address capacity constraints could have unintended economic and environmental consequences with the possibility of some flights and emissions being displaced to other countries (AC, 2013d; CAPA, 2013; Mayor of London, 2013). Reliance on runways currently in operation would likely produce a clearly less ideal solution for passengers, global and regional connectivity, and would be sub-optimal in the endeavour to minimize the overall carbon impact of aviation (AC, 2013a; AOA, 2013). To achieve statutory mechanisms aimed at operational efficiency and emission reduction are critical. Conservationists, such as the Friends of Earth, decry growth arguing that the building of more airports and runways will have a major impact on local communities and the environment (Mayor of London, 2013; AC, 2013b). The argument for sustainable growth is welcomed by industry players in light of calls for constraint (AOA, 2013; The Independent, 2014). Through time, the argument has significantly centred on the timing of need for expansion of capacity with the uncertainty over growth and demand estimates. The drive for more intensive use of existing capacity is most appropriate in the short-term given that operational and aircraft design improvements have enabled the handling of more volumes than anticipated. Though limited, there is still capacity for improvement benefitting environmental conformity and overall efficiency. Several tactical improvements are proposed by the Davies commission to enable full and efficient use of available resource and capacity (DOT, 2013; AC, 2013d). The Davies Commission proposes the encouragement of greater adherence to schedules by airlines through stricter enforcement of aircraft arrival time. This would enhance efficient sequencing of arrivals ending the practice of ‘stacking’ especially at Heathrow (Europe’s busiest airport), which is expensive in fuel costs and time and has adverse environmental impact. They also propose ‘smoothing’ of timetables and the tackling of surges in traffic and bottlenecks, such as restrictions of arrivals before 6am and the designation procedures of runways which impede efficiency (AC, 2013d). Also considered are ‘mixed-mode’ operations which entail simultaneous use of runways for take-offs and landings. Through this mode, Heathrow expects to gain 15% in airport capacity without extra building (AOA, 2013). The Airports Commission rules out proposed mixed-mode operations suggesting its use when arrival delays arise and eventually to allow envisaged gradual traffic build up and increase in operations towards the opening of additional runways rather than a flood-gate of activity. In their consideration of noise pollution and impact on residents, the Commission recommends ending of simultaneous landings at both runways with an exception of times of disruption (AC, 2013d). Presently, Heathrow designates different runways for landings and departure which are switched daily at 3 pm to allow for respite for communities near the airport (AOA, 2013; FT, 2014). The Howard Davies Commission suggests that there might not be need for one huge hub airport as growth in recent years has come from low-cost carriers (AC, 2013a). This view makes the case for expansion of Gatwick Airport. In anticipation of confirmation of expansion priorities and solutions, airport bosses are at loggerheads with Gatwick bosses suggesting that it would not make business sense for their second runway if Heathrow is also given a green light for simultaneous expansion (AOA, 2013). This is in consideration of an extension of time to achieve return on investment from the expected 15-20 years to 30-40 years. Gatwick’s case is compelling given that it is cheaper, quicker, has significantly lower environmental impact and is the most deliverable solution in the short term (CAPA, 2013). Heathrow rejects this argument insisting there is a clear business case for a third runway regardless of development at Gatwick. With the airport operating at 98% of its capacity, they highlight potential for parallel growth delivering choice for passengers (AOA, 2013). Mayor Johnson is, however, opposed to Heathrow’s expansion citing the misery inflicted on a million people or more living in west London. He notes that there has been significantly more concern for the needs of passengers superseding the concerns of those on the ground. Johnson proposes focus on the new hub airport (Boris Island) to relieve impact on residents as well as to enhance UK’s competitiveness (Mayor of London, 2013). Supporters of Heathrow’s expansion say it will be quicker and will help to maintain the UK as an international aviation hub increasing global connections. Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt are closely competing for this business (DOT, 2013). Conclusion The examination of need for additional airport capacity and recommendation of solutions for the short, medium and long term, has taken the UK half a century and two commissions and still there is no confirmed venture despite the raft of proposals. The earlier Roskill Commission reached conclusions on four promising sites-including a new ‘Boris Island’ airport, which are still under consideration in the later commission the Howard Davies Airports Commission. Considering several arguments with regard to their mandate, the latter commission has proposed additional runways one at Gatwick and possibly two at Heathrow despite potential adverse effects to London residents. They are still to deliver a verdict on the new Thames Estuary project, promising a decision later in 2014 after evaluation. References Abelson, P. and A., Flowerdew, 1972. Roskill’s successful recommendation.† In: Journal of the Royal Statistical Society. Vol. 135. No. 4, pp.467 Airports Committee, 2013a. Emerging thinking: Aviation Capacity in the UK. 7th October. Viewed from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/aviation-capacity-in-the-uk-emerging-thinking Airports Commission, 2013b. Stakeholder responses to Airports Commission discussion papers. 25th October. Viewed from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stakeholder-responses-to-airports-commission-discussion-papers Airports Commission, 2013c. Airports Commission discussion papers. 29th July. Viewed from: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/airports-commission-discussion-papers–2 Airports Commission, 2013d. Short and medium term options: proposals for making the best use of existing airport capacity. 7th August. Viewed from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/short-and-medium-term-options-proposals-for-making-the-best-use-of-existing-airport-capacity CAPA, 2013. The Davies Commission’s Interim Report on UK airports: the big loser remains UK competitiveness. Centre for Aviation. Department of Transport, 2003. The Future of Air Transport – White Paper and the Civil Aviation Bill. [online] viewed on 14/1/2014 from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.dft.gov.uk/about/strategy/whitepapers Financial Times, 2014. London’s new airport held to ransom by folly. December, 2013 Helsey, M., and F., Codd, 2012. Aviation: proposals for an airport in the Thames estuary, 1945-2012. House of Commons Library. Viewed from: http://cambridgemba.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/sn4920-1946-2012-review.pdf House of Commons Hansard, 1971. Thhird London Airport (Roskill Commission Report). 4th March. Vol. 812. cc1912-2078. HC Mayor of London, 2013. Why London needs a new hub airport. Transport for London. Viewed from: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/26576.aspx Mishan, E., 1970. What is wrong with RoskillLondon: London School of Economics Airports Operators Association, 2013. The Airport Operator, Autumn 2013. The Independent, 2014. Sir Howard Davies’ Airports Commission: Air travel could be transformed within a few years – with no more ‘stacking’. 17th December, 2013 How to cite Roskill and Howard Davies Airport Commissions and the Third London Airport, Essay examples

Journal of the International goods Academy - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Journal of the International goods Academy. Answer: Introduction The market of video rentals is replaced by online streaming. Internet streaming is considered to be the fastest way of accessing internet-based contents. Streaming is a process that enables the viewers to use online contents before the file has been downloaded. The online data get automatically deleted after it has been viewed. Fast data connection is the main requirement for online streaming of video (Adhikari et al. 2012). Streaming of video cannot be easily copied and this helps in piracy protection. Companies can reach a wide range of audiences by video streaming. Netflix is an online streaming service that is based in U.S. Netflix had started its business with DVD-by-mail service in 1997 (Amatriain 2013). Later on in the year 2007, Netflix launched its video streaming services that led to the decline of physical video rental stores and services. Netflix has become the leader in the market of video streaming and is focusing on original content production. This report describes how Netflix beat Blockbuster. It discusses the history of Netflix and Blockbuster in brief. The following report shows the role played by the changing technology in the video rental and video streaming market. It compares the characteristics of online operations with the retail outlets and shows how online operations have helped Netflix to achieve success. This report outlines the pricing strategies and the innovations of Netflix. It also predicts whether Netflix will remain the dominant player of video streaming. The following report discusses the reasons behind the demise of Qwikster. It shows how Netflix regained its position by providing original content. This report also shows the future scope of Netflix. Institutional Background A brief history of Blockbuster Blockbuster was founded by David Cook in the year 1985 after Cook Data Services had stopped supplying software to the oil and gas industry of Texas. The first retail store of Blockbuster was opened in Dallas, Texas, U.S.A (Freedman 2012). Blockbuster became the largest video rentals in the world. In the year 1987, Blockbuster was sold to three investors. In the year 1992, Blockbuster had more than 2800 stores across the world. In the year 2004, Blockbuster had gained market share with around 9000 retail stores around the world. In 2004, 10 percent of its revenue was from the late fees that customers had paid because they were unable to return the rented movies. In the year 2010, Blockbuster had filed for bankruptcy protection against a debt of $1 billion. With the advanced technological growth and business strategy of Netflix, Blockbuster was facing problem in the video market. The old or traditional business model and strategy of Blockbuster had allowed its competitors to take most of the market share (Davis and Higgins 2013). Dish Network had bought the retail stores and other assets of the company in 2011. In the year 2013, Dish Network had announced to close all the retail stores in U.S.A. Blockbuster has been able to operate at least 10 stores across U.S.A. A brief history of Netflix Netflix was founded in the year 1997 when Internet retailing was gaining importance over traditional retail stores. Netflix had offered the delivery of DVDs to the customers via mails (Cook 2014). Initially, Netflix had concentrated on the early-technology adopters with a marketing strategy of developing cross-promotional programs with the sellers and manufacturers of DVD players. Netflix had charged $4 for each movie along with $2 handling and shipping charges. Netflix had a cash-induced strategy. Customer complaints regarding high price and slow delivery of the DVDs led to the formation of the prepaid subscription strategy and service in the year 1999. A recommendation system was offered to the customers based on customer surveys. In 2002, Netflix had allowed the customers to unsubscribe over the Internet by completing a survey form for explaining the reason for unsubscribing. Netflix attempted to split the streaming businesses and DVD by creating Qwikster in 2011. This idea did no t work well and was dropped within one month. The explicit strategy of Netflix led to its growth and success. In the year 2013, Netflix had moved to original programming with the House of Cards series. How Netflix beat Blockbuster Changing technology Netflix could beat Blockbuster by effectively utilizing the functionalities of emerging technologies. Its executives and leaders had understood the importance of the emerging and advanced technologies and had supported the idea of Internet streaming (McDonald and Smith-Rowsey 2016). Netflix had adopted a strategy of Internet streaming that allowed its customers to access movies over a virtual platform. It was more convenient for the customers as they did not have to visit the stores (Hiller 2017). Netflix could deliver high level customer service. Reed Hastings could predict that the renting of movie and video cassettes would come to an end. The role of compression technology helped Netflix to achieve success (Lusted 2012). People were gaining access to the Internet services, and this enabled the streaming of video files over the Internet. Netflix could change its strategy to video streaming from its strategy of sending DVDs through mail by utilizing the functionalities of Internet a nd compressed technology. Netflix had adopted an open-source strategy and approach for distributing movies on computers, DVD players, mobile phones, laptops and TVs. The subscription strategy allowed the customers of Netflix to watch movies and videos based on their demand (Sherman and Waterman 2016). Netflix had adopted a pay-per-view programming approach. The search engine of Netflix had helped the customers to search and sort by the name of the movie, actor and genre. Netflix developed a recommendation system based on customer preferences that used an algorithm to give proper suggestions to the users (Hallinan and Striphas 2016). Customers of Netflix were asked to go through a survey after they created a new account. Based on the survey as well as the searches of the users, the proprietary algorithm of Netflix could give appropriate movie and series recommendations to the users. This recommendation system based on machine learning as well as algorithm had proved to be convenient for the customers. The adoption of advanced technologies and algorithms had helped Netflix to flourish and beat Blockbuster. Retail outlet versus operating online Netflix could beat Blockbuster because of the advantages that it provided by operating online. Blockbuster had retail outlets where the customers had to visit. The online operations of Netflix had allowed the customers to watch movies and series over the Internet in real-time. This online approach was convenient for the users. The users did not have to visit the retail video rental stores for hiring video cassettes. The online video streaming concept had saved the cost and time of the customers. Netflix could save the cost of operating retail outlets and maintaining sales executives (Summers et al. 2016). Netflix could operate its business at a low cost as compared to Blockbuster. Blockbuster was still using the traditional strategy of operating retail stores. Netflix could offer several advantages to the customers. Netflix offered several choices of movies to the users over its online platform. Users having high-speed connection of Internet could easily watch web series and movies i n real-time. Users could get access to video games and movies at their doorsteps. Netflix could offer customized packages based on customer preferences that were not available in any retail video rental stores. The recommendation system of Netflix had helped the customers to choose movies and series easily. The original contents provided by Netflix had played a major role in its success (Villarroel, Taylor and Tucci 2013). Netflix could update the online programs and channels on a regular basis. The various features and facilities offered by Netflix through the online operations have helped in beating the retail stores of Blockbuster. Pricing strategies Netflix had initially adopted a traditional pricing model where the customers had to pay for each rented movie, and this charge also included the shipping as well as handling charges. The customers had to return the DVDs before a specific date or else they had to pay extra charges. This strategy was not appreciated by the customers as Netflix had a slow delivery service as compared to its competitors. Netflix had adopted a prepaid subscription pricing model to overcome the limitations of slow delivery services. This subscription model had allowed the customers to get four movies at once and receive four new movies every month. This new pricing strategy had turned the disadvantage of the slow delivery service into an advantage as the users could watch the other movies. Later on Netflix had further improved its pricing strategy (Allen, Feils and Disbrow 2014). The next pricing model of Netflix was to offer unlimited rentals at the first time. Subscribers were allowed to have three movies at one time. The subscribers could exchange the movies as many times as they wanted to. This pricing strategy of offering unlimited rentals had attracted new customers and users. Netflix did not charge any late fee to the customers. The main focus of Netflix was to provide convenience to the customers. Blockbuster used to rent movies and charge for late fee when the customers were unable to return t he video cassettes within a specified time. The overall expense of the customers was more when they used to hire video cassettes from the retail stores of Blockbuster (Baccarne, Evens and Schuurman 2013). The subscription plan of Netflix was effective and customers had found it to be more convenient as compared to that of Blockbuster. The subscription pricing strategy or model of Netflix had played a significant role in beating Blockbuster in the video rental market. Innovations of Netflix Netflix is considered to be one of the most innovative companies across the world. Unlike other broadcasters, Netflix does not aim to reach a broad range of audiences. Netflix aims to effectively cater to the needs of niches (Euchner and Ganguly 2014). The key innovation of Netflix was to build streaming video demand by providing free service along with the DVD that was delivered by mail. It keeps on upgrading and adding innovative ideas for growing its business. The innovative idea of video streaming had led to the close down of the traditional video renting businesses. The subscription plan of Netflix was also considered to be creative. Netflix had used the concept of online library and recommendation systems for providing convenience to the customers (Gomez-Uribe and Hunt 2016). Initially, Netflix had used a different and innovative approach to rent movies to its customers via mail. Later on the idea was modified and the features of Internet were utilized for streaming the videos online. Netflix believed in disruptive innovations. The recommendation system of Netflix used an algorithm to get an insight into the customer choices and preferences. Netflix had also offered a Netflix Prize of $1 million to the public for getting a better and advanced algorithm for its recommendation system (Hallinan and Striphas 2016). Netflix had also used innovative ideas to bring the concept of original programming where it broadcasted original web series such as House of Cards (Tryon 2015). Netflix has recently updated its static images on the user-interface platform to custom-created videos. The innovations and creativity of Netflix also allows the users to download the videos and watch them offline (Villarroel, Taylor and Tucci 2013). The main strategy of Netflix is to add devices for allowing subscribers to stream content. The creative approach of Netflix was mainly responsible for beating Blockbuster. Will Netflix remain the dominant provider of online video streaming Netflix stumbles: the demise of Qwikster Netflix had announced a hike in price for its combined streaming as well as DVD service in the month of July in 2011. Netflix had realized that DVD-by-mail service was completely different from streaming businesses. They had different marketing as well as cost structures. Netflix had identified that both the businesses could be run independently. Netflix wanted to resolve this issue by separating the two businesses into two different entities. Netflix had decided that the DVD-by-mail business would be conducted by Qwikster. Qwikster was planned in response to the negative reaction of the price hike that was announced by Netflix. There were several reasons behind the failure of the Qwikster plan. The split of the website made it inconvenient for the users to manage the different queues and accounts in the separate websites (Som.yale.edu 2018). Separate ratings, separate preferences and separate bills for Qwikster and Netflix would create problem for the users. This plan had showed tha t Netflix was focusing on its own benefits rather than the benefits of the customers. Netflix wanted to focus on the streaming business as this was considered to be beneficial for the company in the future. It had seemed to the investors that Netflix wanted to focus on its own benefits by separating the business of DVD-by-mail service and the video streaming service. DVD-by-mail service had to incur high cost because of the acquisition of pay-for-postage and physical discs. The operational cost of the business associated with the DVD-by-mail service would be high, and this business would become obsolete in future. No investor would show interest in buying a cost-intensive company that would become obsolete in the near future. The business strategy developed by Netflix was outraged by its customers and it had lost several customers along with a fall in its share price. Netflix could have used a smarter strategy by increasing the price of the subscription plan by a small amount for fe w years, and after reaching a certain limit it could have split the businesses. Netflix had lost a huge number of members with the hike in price and the Qwikster plan. Netflix rebuilds: The rise of original content After the demise of the Qwikster plan, Netflix decided to invest in content production and original programming. Netflix had contracted with an independent studio for creating 26 episodes of the House of Cards series. The series was a success and it had set a success standard for original programs and ventures (Tryon 2015). Netflix had focused on original programming for developing a competitive edge in the video streaming business (Stelter 2013). Netflix had spent a major portion of the budget on original content production. The unique approach and strategy of Netflix had helped it to gain several subscribers. Netflix focused on delivering high quality content for its growth. The company started focusing on balancing the mix of original contents and licensed series for gaining competitive advantage in the streaming market (CNN 2018). The concept of original programming was considered to be a key to the success of Netflix. Netflix had collected customer information and data for produ cing original contents that could satisfy the needs of the subscribers (Goldfayn 2012). The customer data was initially used for improving the recommendation system of Netflix. Later on the details were used for creating appropriate original contents that would satisfy the users. Netflix could beat its competitors: Amazon Prime and Hulu by providing better quality contents (Adhikari et al. 2015). The concept of original programming and content had helped Netflix to succeed and become the leader in the video streaming market. The future of Netflix Netflix is supposed to spend around $8 million on original programming in the year 2018. It will also announce a hike in the price of the subscription plan. This plan would edge the price towards the price offered by other competitors such as HBO (Harvard Business Review 2018). This can be a challenging factor for Netflix in the future. The rise in competition in the market can affect the business of Netflix. Netflix will get international growth opportunities in the future. Netflix has observed substantial growth in the international markets such as Brazil, Canada and Mexico and expects to have further growth in the international market (Tippie.biz.uiowa.edu 2018). International competition is considered to be lighter as compared to domestic competition, and it will enable the expansion of Netflix in the future. As the number of competitors is expected to increase in the domestic market, Netflix will need to invest more in the production of original contents. With the spending of $8 million on original content, Netflix is expected to run with a negative free cash flow in 2018. The original content can play a significant role in contributing to the additional growth of the subscriber and increase the future earnings of Netflix (Tryon 2015). If there is continuous growth in economy, then Netflix will be able minimize the negative effects due to increased competition. The main focus of Netflix is to invest in original content in the future. Netflix will add more original programs and contents to its library for maintaining its position in the streaming market. The library of Netflix is expected to consist 50 percent of original content such as original films and TV series by the end of 2018. Netflix is expected to remain the dominant leader of online video streaming by using its innovative strategies. Conclusion This report concludes that utilization of emerging technology has helped Netflix to achieve success in the video streaming market and beat the business of Blockbuster. Blockbuster had the leading video rental business in 1987. It had around 9000 retail stores across the world. The traditional business strategy had led to the downfall of the business of Blockbuster. Netflix had offered DVD-by-mail service to the users. Netflix had adopted an advanced business strategy, and had focused on streaming video by utilizing the features of compressed technology. The recommendation system of Netflix had helped it to improve customer experience by giving appropriate movie and series suggestions. Online operations had provided more convenience to the customers, and they had started to prefer online streaming and operations over retail outlets. This report pointed out that the prepaid subscription pricing strategy and model of Netflix was one of the main factors behind the success of its business . According to this report, innovations of Netflix include custom-created videos on the user-interface, original programming and the use of recommendation system. This report highlighted certain reasons for the demise of Qwikster such as high operating costs and chance of becoming obsolete in the future. It showed how the idea of original content had helped Netflix to regain its position in the market. This report said that Netflix is planning to invest $8 million on the original content production in 2018. It concludes that Netflix will be able to maintain its position in the market and remain the dominant leader in the streaming industry by focusing on the production of original content. References Adhikari, V.K., Guo, Y., Hao, F., Hilt, V., Zhang, Z.L., Varvello, M. and Steiner, M., 2015. Measurement study of Netflix, Hulu, and a tale of three CDNs.IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking (TON),23(6), pp.1984-1997. Adhikari, V.K., Guo, Y., Hao, F., Varvello, M., Hilt, V., Steiner, M. and Zhang, Z.L., 2012, March. Unreeling netflix: Understanding and improving multi-cdn movie delivery. InINFOCOM, 2012 Proceedings IEEE(pp. 1620-1628). IEEE. Allen, G., Feils, D. and Disbrow, H., 2014. The rise and fall of Netflix: what happened and where will it go from here?.Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies,20(1), p.135. Amatriain, X., 2013, August. Big personal: data and models behind netflix recommendations. InProceedings of the 2nd international workshop on big data, streams and heterogeneous source Mining: Algorithms, systems, programming models and applications(pp. 1-6). ACM. Baccarne, B., Evens, T. and Schuurman, D., 2013. The television struggle: an assessment of over-the-top television evolutions in a cable dominant market. CNN., 2018.A brief history of Netflix. [online] Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/21/showbiz/gallery/netflix-history/index.html [Accessed 13 Jan. 2018]. Cook, C.I., 2014. Netflix: A stepping stone in the evolution of television. Davis, T. and Higgins, J., 2013. A Blockbuster Failure: How an Outdated Business Model Destroyed a Giant. Euchner, J. and Ganguly, A., 2014. Business model innovation in practice.Research-Technology Management,57(6), pp.33-39. Freedman, D., 2012. Web 2.0 and the death of the blockbuster economy.Misunderstanding the Internet, pp.69-94. Goldfayn, A.L., 2012.Evangelist Marketing: What Apple, Amazon, and Netflix Understand about Their Customers (that Your Company Probably Doesn't). BenBella Books. Gomez-Uribe, C.A. and Hunt, N., 2016. The netflix recommender system: Algorithms, business value, and innovation.ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems (TMIS),6(4), p.13. Hallinan, B. and Striphas, T., 2016. Recommended for you: The Netflix Prize and the production of algorithmic culture.New Media Society,18(1), pp.117-137. Harvard Business Review., 2018.Netflix and Why the Future of Streaming Looks Like Old-School TV. [online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2017/10/netflix-and-why-the-future-of-streaming-looks-like-old-school-tv [Accessed 13 Jan. 2018]. Hiller, R.S., 2017. Profitably bundling information goods: Evidence from the evolving video library of Netflix.Journal of Media Economics,30(2), pp.65-81. Lusted, M.A., 2012.Netflix: The Company and Its Founders: The Company and Its Founders. ABDO. McDonald, K. and Smith-Rowsey, D. eds., 2016.The Netflix effect: Technology and entertainment in the 21st century. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Sherman, R. and Waterman, D., 2016. 22. The economics of online video entertainment.Handbook on the Economics of the Internet, p.458. Som.yale.edu., 2018.Netflix and Qwikster. [online] Available at: https://som.yale.edu/sites/default/files/Cases/SOM_12-019_Netflix%20and%20Qwikster.pdf [Accessed 13 Jan. 2018]. Stelter, B., 2013. Netflix hits milestone and raises its sights.The New York Times. Summers, J., Brecht, T., Eager, D. and Gutarin, A., 2016, September. Characterizing the workload of a Netflix streaming video server. InWorkload Characterization (IISWC), 2016 IEEE International Symposium on(pp. 1-12). IEEE. Tippie.biz.uiowa.edu., 2018.Netflix Inc. [online] Available at: https://tippie.biz.uiowa.edu/krause/s17_NFLX.pdf [Accessed 13 Jan. 2018]. Tryon, C., 2015. TV got better: Netflixs original programming strategies and the on-demand television transition.Media Industries Journal,2(2). Villarroel, J.A., Taylor, J.E. and Tucci, C.L., 2013. Innovation and learning performance implications of free revealing and knowledge brokering in competing communities: insights from the Netflix Prize challenge.Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory,19(1), pp.42-77.

Music as a Contemporary Art

Essay Topics

Essay Topics Essay Topics Essay Topics Choosing an essay topic may be one of the most difficult parts of the essay writing process. Very often you are asked to write something interesting from you life experience. It is clear that there were a lot of interesting events in your life, but you need to choose the most significant one. Without good essay topic you can't express yourself as a personality. Choosing essay topics is difficult and takes a lot of time. But don't panic and relax. Once you've chosen a topic related to your life's event - check it. Tell somebody why you remember this particular event, how it changed you as a person, how you reacted. If the answers impress your listener you may start writing an essay. While writing an essay, use your own voice, don't let someone else tell you what to write. Tell your story and make the essay to be your own. Your essay should be original, but it doesn't means that you should write about something you don't know. In most cases, the tutor pays more attention to how a student writes covers a topic rather than to a topic itself. Your tutor wants to see fine writing that reflects mature thought, a mastery of the language, clear structure, and a topic that tells something new about you simply because you tell a good story. Essay writing requires grammatical accuracy. Your writing must be understandable, clear and direct. Essay Help If you decided to write about a single event in your life, you should use the narrative structure which can also be chronological. It can be filled with action, dialogue, and subtle details. Write chronologically doesn't mean that you should rattle off a schedule of events. It is better to provide many details about a very specific set of events. The sequence of events will help you to avoid the difficult task of transitioning between paragraphs. Even if the narrative is one of the most effective forms of writing for an essay it can also be rather difficult. Start writing your essay with a brief story, it is one of the most common and effective method. The focus of the essay is usually on the point of view of the narrator. Some students think they need to choose such college essay topic that will amaze the admissions committees. But that's not what colleges are looking for. Instead, they simply want to learn more about who you are and what your way of thinking is. Custom Essay Writing Services There are as many essay topics as there are students in the world.   The imagination of your tutors has no boundaries.   Based on our experience in custom essay writing, we were impressed by some essay topics assigned by the tutors.   It seemed that the given topic was impossible to research.   However, strives to meet the expectations of all customers and write a good essay on any topic.   It is easy to be our customer because you get professionally written custom essay prior to deadline and pay a reasonable price for it.

Can ethical behavior really exist in business Research Paper

Can ethical behavior really exist in business - Research Paper Example This paper is an attempt to analyse the concept of ethical behaviour and focus on the possibilities for ethical behaviour to exist in a business. The meaning of business ethics An attempt to answer the following question could help us to understand the meaning of business ethics: What is the relationship between ethics and morality? According to Archie B. Carroll and Ann K. Buchholtz â€Å"ethics is the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. Ethics can also be regarded as a set of moral principles or values. Morality is a doctrine or system of moral conduct† (Carroll & Buchholtz 242). It is obvious from the definitions that ethics and morality are more or less similar concepts and both these terminologies can be used as substitutes for each other to analyse the right and wrong behaviour in business. Business ethics could thus be observed as linked with the right and wrong behaviour and practices which take place in a business setup. The existence of a business is dependant on the nature of relationship between customers, employees, investors, shareholders, managers and directors. It is the responsibility of director board of a company to ensure the functioning of the organisation in a legal and ethical manner. ... Recent interpretations of right and wrong comprise questions of equity and fairness. There are two important branches of ethics; descriptive ethics and normative ethics. These branches observe the concept of ethics from different angles. As Archie B. Carroll and Ann K. Buchholtz puts in â€Å"descriptive ethics is concerned with describing, characterizing and studying the morality the people, an organisation, a culture or a society. It also compares and contrasts different moral codes, systems, practices, beliefs and values† (Carroll & Buchholtz 242). The focus of descriptive business ethics is primarily on what is taking place in specific areas such as behaviour, action, decisions and practices of organisations. It considers the present happenings in a business establishment and therefore there are possibilities for the development of an attitude among some people to follow the activities of a majority even if the action is unfair. At this point one could recognise the import ance of normative business ethics as it focus on ‘what aught to be’ instead of ‘what is’ the ethical conditions of an organisation. According to Archie B. Carroll and Ann K. Buchholtz â€Å"normative ethics, by contrast, is concerned with supplying and justifying a coherent moral system of thinking and judging. It seeks to uncover, develop and justify basic moral principles that are indented to guide behaviour, actions and decisions† (Carroll & Buchholtz 242). Therefore normative ethics provides a clear cut idea regarding what is ethical and what is unethical in a business. It is more concerned with the do’s and don’ts and with setting up of standards for providing guidelines for a business establishment to ensure its ethical functioning which is

Laboratory Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Laboratory Assignment - Essay Example The overlying volcanic islands (arcs) chains marks in the subduction zones. The ocean floor spreading is believed by geologist to result from the mantle convention and lower crust that results into less dense, hotter, and plastic material that move towards the surface. The cold dense rock sinks towards the mantle resulting into convective forces that tear the ocean crust within the midocenic ridge. This brings in the rift valley formation that is marked by high angle faults high heat flows and basaltic lavas. The mid oceanic ridges separates regions and comprises of foot tall mountain peaks that lie a mile below the ocean surface. Boundaries within the tectonic plate could be convergent divergent, or transform. In the divergent boundaries the extension of the crust within is thinned and mainly fractured by an upwelling hot mantle material. The relationship that exist between the islands can be explained in terms of divergent, convergent and transform boundaries. In the case of divergent boundaries, pulling of the adjacent plates is evident for example, at mid- Atlantic ridge separating North and South America plates from Africa and Eurasia. The ocean floor is formed as a result of the pulling apart forces. Another relationship exist under the context of convergent boundaries. In this case two plate’s moves towards one another where one is sub ducted and are typified by the Aleutian Trench. Good examples include; Mount St. Helens and Mount Fuji (Japan).Finally, the transform boundaries which results when a plate slides horizontally past another. For example, the earthquake-prone San Andreas Fault Zone in California. The labeled boundaries in this case represents the Earths shifting plates. Approximately all of the worlds renowned active volcanoes and earthquakes takes place along these plates, however, they are predominantly frequent within the

Family Related Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Family Related Issues - Assignment Example Department of Labor, 2010). Logically, if a loco parentis is a suitably related person to the employee to qualify for care under the FMLA, then a biological father, regardless of the quality or quantity of his parenting, qualifies. Legally, the law designates â€Å"biological† parent, but that brings up an interesting dilemma: what about a biological parent who gave up his/her child for adoption? In recent years, many adopted children have found their biological parents, or vice versa. Does the parent who relinquished his/her rights as the child’s parent qualify as a parent under the FMLA? Taking the law literally, s/he does because s/he is the biological parent. However, a judge may not interpret the spirit of the law in that way. The caveat for such tenuous relationships between employee and parent is the fact that the employee must document his/her relationship with the parent before taking family leave. In the same paragraph of the FMLA that defines the relationship s eligible for family leave, section j, titled â€Å"Documenting relationships,† it says, â€Å"For purposes of confirmation of family relationship, the employer may require the employee giving notice of the need for leave to provide reasonable documentation or statement of family relationship. This documentation may take the form of a simple statement from the employee, or a child's birth certificate, a court document,  etc.  The employer is entitled to examine documentation such as a birth certificate,  etc.† (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010). It seems as if the employer could demand some sort of unrealistic documentation of the eligibility of parent or employee to qualify for the family leave especially if time was an issue (i.e., the parent was dying), so if an employer wanted to prevent an employee from taking family leave, s/he could be in compliance with the law, but just unreasonable about the proof of the right to do so. That would probably discourage mos t employees from attempting to take family leave. 2. Explain whether the size of the business can have any effect on whether Tony is eligible for family leave under the FMLA.   The size of a business does matter. In the video, â€Å"Family Related Issues: Family and Medical Leave Act,† in response to Tony, the employee’s verbal request for leave, Herman, the boss, replies, â€Å"That's out of the question. This is a small business. Everyone is crucial.†Ã‚  Tony answers, â€Å"Small? You've got more than fifty employees, if you count everyone.† Herman counters with â€Å"Not full-time employees.† In Herman’s mind allowing Tony three weeks for family leave would cause him to lose money. He has just praised Tony for being the top salesman (Family and Medical Leave Act, 2004). However, Herman is wrong. Not all employers are required by federal law to allow family leave, but those with 50 or more employees are. Paragraph 825.105 of the FMLA giv es a lengthy description of how an employer, by virtue of the number of employees s/he employs, must comply with the federal law. Some of the more obvious characteristics that make an employer obliged to comply is the location of his/her business. That is, it must be within the United States or

Glycosilation of Recombinant Protein in Hamster Ovary Cells

Glycosilation of Recombinant Protein in Hamster Ovary Cells GLYCOSILATION OF RECOMBINANT PROTEIN IN CHINESE HAMSTER OVARY CELLS MANISHA YADAV INTRODUCTION: GLYCOSYLATION OF PROTEINS The phenomenon of addition subsequent processing of carbohydrates in most of the plasma- membrane and secretory proteins is called glycosylation. This is the principle chemical modification or post- translational modification to most of such proteins. Glycosylation reactions occur in the lumen of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) and can also occur in the Golgi cisternae [1]. There are two different forms of oligosaccharide chains: O-linked oligosaccharides and N-linked oligosaccharides. The O-linked oligosaccharides are short structures and contain 1-4 sugar residues whereas; the N-linked oligosaccharides always contain mannose along with N-acetyl glucosamine. The structures of N-linked oligosaccharides have various branches terminating with sialic acid residues which are negatively charged groups [1]. Approximately 50% of the proteins manufactured in the eukaryotic cells are glycosylated. Many glycoproteins are produced from different glycoforms with different glycan structure which are attached to a single peptide backbone [2]. These glycan structures affect the biological properties of various glycoproteins which include pharmacokinetics, secretion, solubility, bioactivity, in vivo clearance, antigenicity and receptor recognition [2]. CHINESE HAMSTER OVARY CELLS (CHO CELLS) For the production of biopharmaceuticals, animal cell cultures are used due to their abilities of post-translational modification of proteins involving glycosylation [2]. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells were first used in the year 1919 as a laboratory specimen for typing pneumococci [3]. CHO cells are the most commonly used cell lines for studying gene expression (particularly to express recombinant proteins), toxicity screening, genetics and nutrition. They are frequently used mammalian hosts for production of recombinant protein therapeutics at an industrial level [3]. Due to their adaptability to several culture conditions, relatively fast generation time, easy to maintain and also due to their plasticity in the surroundings of genetic alterations, CHO cells are technologically more prominent and highly useful [2]. DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS AND STUDIES ON GLYCOSYLATION OF RECOMBINANT PROTEIN IN CHO CELLS Alterations in the glycosylation of recombinant proteins depend on a range of parameters which include: metabolic flux, cellular metabolism and the efficiency of the glycosylation process [4]. CHO cell lines are used in identifying the biological roles of mammalian glycans and the pathways to synthesise them [5]. An analysis of N- glycans and major O- glycans in CHO mutants was performed using glycomic analysis by MALDI-TOF (Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization- Time of Flight) and time of flight- Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-MS). To enhance the applications of CHO mutants and to obtain its insights, alterations in the glycosyltransferase activity was done. It was found that lectin resistant CHO cells make very large and various complex N-glycans. Also it was observed that terminal addition of sialic acid enhances polylactosamine extension whereas fucose addition reduces polyLacNAc extension [5]. To determine the structural characteristics of recombinant envelope glycoprotein (rgp120) present in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV- 1), the virus was produced by expression in CHO cells. To confirm the primary structure of rgp120 protein, enzymatic cleavage was done to assign intrachain disulphide bonds and the potential sites for N-glycosylation were determined. To carry out such technique reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography method was employed [6]. For tryptic peptide mapping studies, N-glycosylation of 24 potential sites were characterized by determining the susceptible carbohydrate structures attached to the peptides which include: endo-ÃŽ ²-N-acetyl glucosaminidase H and N- glycosidase F [6]. It was found that in all the 24 sites of gp120 protein, 13 consisted of complex-type oligosaccharide structures and the remaining 11 consisted of mannose-type oligosaccharide structures. It also contained certain hybrid-type oligosaccharide structures [6]. Analys is of the carboxyl terminal using carboxypeptidase digestions demonstrated that the glutamic acid residue 479 is the carboxylterminus molecule secreted by CHO cells [6]. The gp120 protein has a polypeptide core of approximately 60,000 Daltons, an extensive modification in this polypeptide by N-linked glycosylation results in an increase in its molecular weight to 120,000 Daltons [6]. Glycosylation is a cellular process in which achieving a precise glycan distribution is challenging, because it is a non-template driven process. Hence, it results in significantly uncontrolled variability in the glycan distributions [7]. Different cell types differ in their ability to carry out specific post-translational modifications; for example: glycosylation, which affects the different processes such as receptor binding, bioactivity, susceptibility to proteolysis, clearance rate of therapeutic recombinant protein in vivo and immunogenicity [8]. As a result of this difference, various forms of glycans are formed and their attachment to proteins increases variability and non-uniformity [7]. Hence, an experiment was conducted to study the heterogeneity of a recombinant protein in different animal systems including Chinese hamster ovary cells [8]. CHO cells have proven produce proteins with glycoforms which are both bioactive and compatible in humans [3]. CHO cells produce recombi nant IFN-ÃŽ ³ which has 3 sources of variation: site-specific N-glycan microheterogeneity, variable N-glycosylation site occupancy and C-terminal polypeptide truncations [8]. It has examined that for efficient secretion and dimerization of IFN-ÃŽ ³, glycosylation of Asn25 is necessary [8]. For optimal enzymatic activity, glycosylation is required. Neutrophils release granules such as Myeloperoxidase (MPO) into the phagosome during the process of phagocytosis of exogenous structures. Respiratory burst is initiated which reduces oxygen and releases superoxide radical anions. These superoxides upon dismutation produce Hà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Oà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ which mediates MPO-driven oxidation of chloride to antimicrobial HOCl [9]. To increase the production of MPO protein, recombinant human MPO (r-MPO) are produced by expression in CHO cell lines. However, the r-MPO in CHO cell lines consists of some missing proteolytic steps as compared to the dimeric leukocyte enzyme (h-MPO). As a result, the r-MPO protein differs in the glycan structure and is a monomeric protein [9]. Tryptic digestion of reduced carboxamido- methylated proteins was carried out to determine the glycan structures. A method like con A-immobilized affinity chromatography was used to enrich the glycopeptide s. These glycopeptides were fractionated and analyzed by HPLC. The N-deglycosylated forms along with their glycopeptides were then identified by MALDI-MS. The result indicated that both r-MPO and h-MPO consists of high-mannose structures. The r-MPO has high amount of complex-type glycans like di- trisialylated triantennary structures [9]. A glycoprotein hormone called human erythropoietin (EPO) regulates the level of circulating erythrocytes in humans. They play an important role in maturation of erythrocytes. In normal human, EPO is produced in the kidney. Various recombinant human erythropoietins are being produced in non-mammalian mammalian cells. There are two forms of EPO (erythropoietin), EPO-bi and EPO- tetra. Each one of them have different biological activities. These were isolated from culture medium of CHO cell line (B8-300) encoding human EPO [10]. The culture was purified by reverse-phase chromatography, anion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The highly purified recombinant human erythropoietin from mast cells was used as a control and it is the standard EPO [10]. The results obtained showed that EPO-bi has only 1/7 in vivo activity and the invitro activity was 3 times higher than in vivo activity. Whereas EPO-tetra have similar in vivo and in vitro activities as the standard EPO. EPO-tetra, t he standard EPO and EPO-bi had same immunoreactivity and amino acid composition. The structural analysis of N-linked sugar chains showed that EPO-tetra and the standard EPO contain tetraantennary complex-type as their major sugar chain, whereas EPO-bi contains biantennary complex-type as their major sugar chain [10]. Heparin is most widely used in modern medicine to control blood coagulation and is in great demands. Therefore, CHO cells are used for producing heparin. CHO cells are capable of producing HS (Heparan Sulfate) naturally, which is a related polysaccharide as heparin [11]. Human N-deacetylase/N-sulfotransferase (NDST2) and mouse heparan sulfate 3-O-sulfotranferase 1 were sequentially transfected into CHO host cells. Screening of these transfectant cells was carried out using quantitative RT-PCR and western blotting technique. The heparan sulphate produced by CHO cells is a less sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG). This is due to the glycosylation process resulting in heterogeneity in glycan structures. This HS has similar disaccharide units as heparin, but HS has lower anticoagulant activity than heparin [11]. TREATMENT OF DISEASES: Glycosylation process has been proved efficient in treating various diseases. Few examples are as follows: Fabry disease: it is an X-linked genetic disease. It arises due to a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme called ÃŽ ±-galactosidase A (GLA). This enzyme hydrolyzes the terminal ÃŽ ±-galactosyl moieties from glycoproteins and glycolipids. An enzyme replacement therapy is carried out to treat the disease. CHO cell lines are used to produce recombinant GLA with very high productivity. When the recombinant GLA was compared to an approved GLA (agalsidase beta), the charge and size of the recombinant GLA was found to be more neutral and smaller respectively. This difference was due the absence of terminal sialic acid. To increase the sialic acid content, combined reaction of sialyltransferase, galactosyltransferase and their sugar substrates was developed. This product generated had same isoelectric points, size and sialic acid content as in approved GLA (agalsidase beta) [12]. Gaucher disease: it is an inherited metabolic disorder and is caused due to impaired activity of glucocerebrosidase (GCR) enzyme. This is a lysosomal enzyme which is responsible for hydrolysis of glucocerebroside to ceramide and glucose. The treatment of this disease consists of enzyme replacement therapy in which exogenous GCR is administered in the patients. This protein was expressed in CHO-DXB11 (dhfr ) cells. The glycosylated GCR produced due to transfection and gene amplification with methotrexate is then detected by immunoblotting assay. CHO cells are the highest producer of glucocerebrosidase enzyme [13]. CULTURE PARAMETERS THAT CAN AFFECT GLYCOSYLATION: Culture conditions such as pH, nutrient content, temperature, ammonia and oxygen have an important effect on distribution of glycan structures in recombinant protein [2,4,10]. pH: any adverse change in the external pH conditions can change the internal pH of Golgi apparatus, resulting in reduction in the activity of glycosylating enzymes [2]. Oxygen: to maintain optimum growth and metabolism of producer cells in bioprocesses, the dissolved oxygen level should be under control. At high oxygen level there is an increase in sialyltransferase activity. By controlling dissolve oxygen (DO) set points, the galactosylation of IgG immunoglobulin was changed efficiently and a decrease in digalactosylated glycans was observed [2,4]. Effect of producer cell line on protein glycosylation: in the Golgi of the cell, the protein glycosylation pattern depends on the expression of several glycosyltransferase enzymes. Differences in the activities of these enzymes result in significant changes in the protein structure [2]. Fucosylation: the Fucosylation pathway synthesizes the fucose donor called GDP-fucose. ÃŽ ±-1,6-fucosyltransferase enzyme is a glycosyltransferase enzyme which catalyzes the transfer of fucose to Asn-linked GlcNAc residue from GDP-fucose [2,6]. This enzyme is found in the N-glycans of several glycoproteins. Few studies suggest that fucose residues play a vital role in defining the oligossacharide conformations which are required for specific protein- carbohydrate interactions [2]. CONCLUSION: The properties of a mature protein depend on the carbohydrate moiety of glycoproteins. These properties include protein stability, solubility, molecular recognition or immunogenicity [9,4]. CHO cells are being widely used in biopharmaceutical industry. By optimizing glycosylation, the therapeutic efficacy can be improved. The bioprocesses to produce monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins have shown complex relationship between these variables and its protein quality [14]. Glycosylation can be controlled by understanding the cellular and metabolic alterations which results in the modification of protein structures [4]. It has been observed that by decreasing the concentration of glutamine to 0mM, there is reduction in fucosylation, sialylation and antennarity, but an increase in neutral N-linked glycans has been observed [4, 7]. Stable CHO cells wih functional recombinant proteins which are properly glycosylated and secreted can be easily generated. The screening strategies can be used to produce biopharmaceuticals and other biological products which are highly cost-effective and is used for public health value [12, 13]. REFERENCES: Lodish, H., Berk, A. and Zipursky, S. L. 2000. Molecular cell biology, New York: Freeman, 4th edition. Butler, M. 2006. Optimisation of the cellular metabolism of glycosylation for recombinant proteins produced by mammalian cell systems. Cytotechnology, 50 (1-3), pp. 57-76. Jayapal, K. P., Wlaschin, K. F., Hu, W., Yap, M. and GS, A. 2007. Recombinant protein therapeutics from CHO cells-20 years and counting. Chemical engineering Progress, 103(10), p. 40. Burleigh, S., Van De Laar, T., Stroop, C., Van Grunsven, W., Odonoghue, N., Rudd, P. and Davey, G. 2011. Synergizing metabolic flux analysis and nucleotide sugar metabolism to understand the control of glycosylation of recombinant protein in CHO cells. BMC biotechnology, 11 (1), p. 95. North, S. J., Huang, H., Sundaram, S., Jang-Lee, J., Etienne, A. T., Trollope, A., Chalabi, S., Dell, A., Stanley, P. and Haslam, S. M. 2010. Glycomics profiling of Chinese hamster ovary cell glycosylation mutants reveals N-glycans of a novel size and complexity. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285(8), pp. 5759-5775. Leonard, C. K., Spellman, M. W., Riddle, L., Harris, R. J., Thomas, J. N. and Gregory, T. 1990. Assignment of intrachain disulfide bonds and characterization of potential glycosylation sites of the type 1 recombinant human immunodeficiency virus envelope glycoprotein (gp120) expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells.Journal of Biological Chemistry, 265 (18), pp. 1037310382. Amand, M. M., Tran, K., Radhakrishnan, D., Robinson, A. S., Ogunnaike, B. A. 2014. Controllability Analysis of Protein Glycosylation in Cho Cells. Plos One, 9(2), p. 87973. James, D. C., Goldman, M. H., Hoare, M., Jenkins, N., Oliver, R. W. A., Green, B. N., Freedman, R. B. 1995. Posttranslational processing of recombinant human interferon-ÃŽ ³ in animal expression systems. Protein Science, pp. 331-340. Van Antwerpen, P., Slomianny, M., Boudjeltia, K. Z., Delporte, C., Faid, V., Calay, D., Rousseau, A., Moguilevsky, N., Raes, M., Vanhamme, L. and Others. 2010. Glycosylation Pattern of Mature Dimeric Leukocyte and Recombinant Monomeric Myeloperoxidase GLYCOSYLATION IS REQUIRED FOR OPTIMAL ENZYMATIC ACTIVITY.Journal of Biological Chemistry, 285 (21), pp. 1635116359. Takeuchi, M., Inoue, N., Strickl, Kubota, M., Wada, M., Shimizu, R., Hoshi, S., Kozutsumi, H., Takasaki, S. and Kobata, A. 1989. Relationship between sugar chain structure and biological activity of recombinant human erythropoietin produced in Chinese hamster ovary cells.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 86 (20), pp. 78197822. Baik, J. Y., Gasimli, L., Yang, B., Datta, P., Zhang, F., Glass, C. A., Esko, J. D., Linhardt, R. J. and Sharfstein, S. T. 2012. Metabolic engineering of Chinese hamster ovary cells: towards a bioengineered heparin. Metabolic engineering, 14 (2), pp. 8190. Sohn, Y., Lee, J. M., Park, H., Jung, S., Park, T. H., Oh, D. and Others. 2013. Enhanced sialylation and in vivo efficacy of recombinant human ÃŽ ±-galactosidase through in vitroglycosylation.BMB reports, 46 (3), pp. 157162. Novo, J. B., Morganti, L., Moro, A. M., Paes Leme, A. F., Serrano, S. M. D. T., Raw, I. and Ho, P. L. 2012. Generation of a Chinese hamster ovary cell lineproducing recombinant human glucocerebrosidase.BioMed Research International, 2012. Hossler, P., Khattak, S. F. and Li, Z. J. 2009. Optimal and consistent protein glycosylation in mammalian cell culture.Glycobiology, 19 (9), pp. 936949.

The Wisdom of Franz Kafka’s On Parables :: Kafka On Parables Essays

The Wisdom of Franz Kafka’s On Parables Is it even possible to gain a better life through knowledge and wisdom? Should we listen to the words of the wise? Franz Kafka tries to answer these questions in his short essay ``On Parables,'' with a resounding ``No!'' In this Kafkan world, one filled with the daily struggles and cares of life, the only thing we can know is the incomprehensibility of it all. He states that all wisdom is expressed in parables then destroys any hope we may have by trouncing the authenticity of parables. But then he does something strange, vividly illustrating his point by using the very method he hoped to discredit. The first paragraph of ``On Parables'' provides Kafka's main point: ``the words of the wise are always merely parables and of no use in daily life.'' How does he arrive to this conclusion? He first first asserts that the words of the wise are always parables then explains why all parables are useless. Finally, he concludes that the words of the wise, since they are all parables, are all useless for daily life. Kafka first assumes that ``the words of the wise are always merely parables,'' and expects the reader to follow this assumption rigidly throughout the work. Notice that there is no wiggle room for the wise; their words are always parables. So don't complain, don't object. It is so, at least within the scope of his essay. Kafka does however state why the sages use parables. Since sages themselves are incapable of communicating wisdom, they speak in imperfect parables in a futile attempt to communicate that wisdom. Kafka further hints that this may be because even the sage doesn't understand such wisdom. The words of the sage, ``Go over,'' indicate that the sage is not currently where he wants the people to go, but may himself yet be stuck in this world of daily cares, struggles, and hardships. If he were where he wants us to be, he would have used the words ``come over'' instead. ``Over where?'' you may ask. Kafka answers this question by posing what I will refer to as three lands of life related to parables. The first, the most real one, refers to the state of a person's life before encountering a parable. The second, a potential land, is the parable itself and the resulting actions and consequences a person derives from the parable.

Early Christian, Jewish, and Byzantine Art

Early Christian art spans from the first to fifth centuries followed by the vast era of Byzantine art from the fifth century to the 16th century in Eastern Europe. Much of the art during this period had a religious context or enacted a religious purpose. The paintings and mosaics were meant to remind worshippers of their God, and the architecture was meant to serve both functional and aesthetic purposes. When Constantine I issued the Edict of Milan in 313 and moved the center of the Roman’s empire from Rome to Constantinople, the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople became the center of power and culture. The architecture of the Christian era came in two forms: the basilica and central plans. The basilica plan typically contains a large nave, an apse and an atrium on either end, clerestory windows, and two side aisles along the nave. This plan is found in The Church of Santa Sabina. The central plan, or tholos, served as tombs, martyrs’ churches, or baptisteries. These plans typically contain either a sarcophagus or altar at the center and most often have a large dome on top. This plan is found in the Church of Santa Costanza and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, which employs the cruciform, or cross-shaped, style. Mosaics during the Christian era sometimes used syncretic images such as in Harvesting of Grapes in the ambulatory of the Church of Santa Costanza. The architecture of Byzantine art is characterized much by the Church of Hagia Sophia, or â€Å"Holy Wisdom. † This church combines the two floor plans of the Christian period, basilica and central. It has pendentives to hold its massive dome, flowing layers of half domes along its exterior wall, and many windows to let the gold on the mosaics shimmer. The Church of San Vitale is designed in a central plan but is interesting in that it has a very modest, unassuming exterior, but a complex, mosaic-covered interior. Two mosaics depicting Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora represent how artists employed reverse perspective. The Transifguration of Christ as St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai depicts Christ in a blue mandorla which represents royalty and glory. The mosaics in later centuries depict Christ in a Pantokrator fashion: a bust level portrait of Christ with book in one hand and â€Å"peace† in other. This Late Byzantine art also depicts Christ in new ways, such as the Crucifixion and together with Mary in Virgin of Vladmir.

Executive Order 9835 Demanded Loyalty

Executive Order 9835 Demanded Loyalty In 1947, World War II had just ended, the Cold War had just begun, and Americans were seeing communists everywhere. It was in that politically-charged atmosphere of fear that President Harry S. Truman on March 21, 1947, issued an executive order establishing an official â€Å"Loyalty Program† intended to identify and eliminate communists in the U.S. government. Key Takeaways: Executive Order 9835 Executive Order 9835 was a presidential executive order issued by President Harry S. Truman on March 21, 1947. The so-called â€Å"Loyalty Order† created a controversial â€Å"Federal Employee Loyalty Program† charged with eliminating communists from all areas of the U.S. government. The order empowered the FBI to investigate federal employees and created presidentially-appointed Loyalty Review Boards to act on reports from the FBI.Between 1947 and 1953, more than 3 million federal employees were investigated, with 308 fired after being declared security risks by the Loyalty Review Boards.   Truman’s Executive Order 9835, often called the â€Å"Loyalty Order,† created the Federal Employee Loyalty Program, which authorized the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to conduct initial background checks on federal employees and carry out more in-depth investigations when warranted. The order also created Presidentially-appointed Loyalty Review Boards to investigate and act on the findings of the FBI. â€Å"There shall be a loyalty investigation of every person entering the civilian employment of any department or agency of the executive branch of the Federal Government,† the Loyalty Order decreed, also providing that, â€Å"equal protection from unfounded accusations of disloyalty must be afforded the loyal employees.† According to the paper The Second Red Scare, Digital History, Post-War America 1945-1960 from the University of Houston, the Loyalty Program investigated over 3 million federal employees, 308 of whom were fired after being declared security risks. Background: Rise of the Communist Threat Shortly after the end of World War II, not only had the entire world learned the horrors of nuclear weapons, America’s relationship with the Soviet Union had deteriorated from wartime allies to staunch enemies. Based on reports that the USSR had succeeded in developing its own nuclear weapons, Americans, including government leaders, were gripped by a fear of the Soviets and communists in general, whoever and wherever they might be.  Ã‚   Growing economic tension between the two nations, along with fears of uncontrolled Soviet spy activity in America began to influence ​U.S. foreign policy and, of course, politics. Conservative groups and the Republican Party sought to use the so-called â€Å"Red Scare† threat of Communism to their advantage in the 1946 midterm Congressional elections by claiming that President Truman and his Democratic Party were â€Å"soft on Communism.† Eventually, the fear that communists were beginning to infiltrate the U.S. government itself became a key campaign issue. In November 1946, Republican candidates won sweeping victories nationwide resulting in Republican control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.   Truman Responds to the Red Scare Two weeks after the election, on November 25, 1946, President Truman responded to his Republican critics by creating the Presidents Temporary Commission on Employee Loyalty or TCEL. Made up of representatives from six Cabinet-level government departments under the chairmanship of a Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General, TCEL was intended to create federal loyalty standards and procedures for the removal of disloyal or subversive individuals from federal government positions. The New York Times printed the TCEL announcement on its front page under the headline, â€Å"President orders purge of disloyal from U.S. posts.† Truman demanded that the TCEL report its findings to the White House by February 1, 1947, less than two months before he issued his Executive Order 9835 creating the Loyalty Program. Did Politics Force Truman’s Hand? Historians contend that the timing of Truman’s actions, taken so soon after the Republican Congressional victories, show that both the TCEL and the subsequent Loyalty Order had been politically motivated.   Truman, it seems, was not as worried about Communist infiltration as the terms of his Loyalty Order indicated. In February 1947, he wrote to Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor George Earle, â€Å"People are very much wrought up about the communist bugaboo but I am of the opinion that the country is perfectly safe so far as Communism is concerned- we have too many sane people.† How the Loyalty Program Worked Truman’s Loyalty Order directed the FBI to investigate the backgrounds, associations, and beliefs of any of the approximately 2 million executive branch federal employees. The FBI reported the results of their investigations to one or more of the 150 Loyalty Review Boards in various government agencies. The Loyalty Review Boards were authorized to conduct their own investigations and to collect and consider testimony from witnesses whose names were not disclosed. Notably, the employees being targeted by the loyalty investigations were not allowed to confront the witnesses testifying against them. Employees could be fired if the loyalty board found â€Å"reasonable doubt† regarding their loyalty to the U.S. government or ties to communist organizations. The Loyalty Order defined five specific categories of disloyalty for which employees or applicants could be fired or rejected for employment. These were: Sabotage, espionage, spying or the advocacy thereofTreason, sedition or the advocacy thereof;Intentional, unauthorized disclosure of confidential informationAdvocacy of the violent overthrow of the U.S. governmentMembership in, affiliation with or sympathetic association with any organization labeled as totalitarian, fascist, Communist or subversive The Subversive Organization List and McCarthyism Truman’s Loyalty Order resulted in the controversial â€Å"Attorney Generals List of Subversive Organizations† (AGLOSO), which contributed the second American Red Scare from 1948 to 1958 and the phenomenon known as â€Å"McCarthyism.† Between 1949 and 1950, the Soviet Union demonstrated that it had indeed developed nuclear weapons, China fell to Communism, and Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy famously declared that the U.S. Department of State employed more than 200 â€Å"known communists.† Despite having issued his Loyalty Order, President Truman again faced charges that his administration was â€Å"coddling† communists. Results and Demise  of Truman’s Loyalty Order According to historian Robert H. Ferrell’s book Harry S. Truman: A Life, by mid-1952, the Loyalty Review Boards created by Truman’s Loyalty Order had investigated more than 4 million actual or prospective federal employees, of which 378 were fired or denied employment. â€Å"None of the discharged cases led to discovery of espionage,† noted Ferrell. Truman’s Loyalty program has been widely criticized as an unwarranted attack on innocent Americans,  driven by the Red Scare. As the Cold War’s threat of nuclear attack grew more serious during the 1950s, Loyalty Order investigations became more common. According to the book Civil Liberties and the Legacy of Harry S. Truman, edited by Richard S. Kirkendall, â€Å"the program exerted its chilling effect on a far larger number of employees than those who were dismissed.† In April 1953, Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450 revoking Truman’s Loyalty Order and dismantling the Loyalty Review Boards. Instead, Eisenhower’s order directed the heads of federal agencies and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, supported by the FBI, to investigate federal employees to determine whether they posed security risks.

How to Write an SEO Article †Part 2

How to Write an SEO Article – Part 2 How to Write an SEO Article Part 2 How to Write an SEO Article Part 2 By Colin In part one of How To Write An SEO Article, we looked at how important it is to get the basics of an SEO article correct from the start. We looked at the importance of writing relevant content to the user and not the search engine, and we also looked at the research that goes into keywords and keyphrases that are to be integrated into the article. Nothing that was described in part one should be considered difficult by anyone. If it is, please email me individually, making sure to swallow a pinch of salt before you do. In part two of How To Write An SEO Article, I’m going to take everything we have learned in part one and apply it to the article that needs to be written. I’ll also cover that slightly boring, but all-important, ‘techy bit’. Using Keywords and Keyphrases Okay, so you have your keywords either by your own intuition or from a client. Then what? Well, the first step is to go back to step one, and remind yourself what the actual article that is going to be so helpful and informative to the reader, is all about. Then, based on this remit, write the article, and along the way, include the keywords and keyphrases among the text in as natural and logical a manner as possible. It may be you can build the article around the keywords themselves, but the most important thing is not to over use them. It makes the article appear like an attempt at SEO article writing gone mad. Also, it won’t read well and a reader will give up before he gets half way through. If you are struggling to find suitable places for the keywords, never force it into the text just so you can include it. If it doesn’t flow with the natural rhythm of the piece, leave it out or re-write the text. If you still find it impossible to use it elsewhere in the piece, wipe the slate clean and re-write the article from an entirely new angle. Obviously, if you are writing to the demands of a client who has given you a difficult remit with awkward keywords, this rule may have to be bent a little, but being a creative freelance writer means being able to adapt to situations like this, so trust yourself and go with the flow. Point of Note #1: they wouldn’t need someone to do it for them, if they could do it themselves. Point of Note #2: remember you’re the expert, so write the article for the reader, not the algorithm. Where possible (although this may not be part of your remit), try to include one of the keyphrases in the headline, and if possible, the sub-headline. This is a neat way of taking the pressure off the article content, while keeping the keywords at the front of the search engine algorithm results when it comes around. Hypertext Links Creating hypertext links that are embedded within the content of an article, is a great way of increasing general interest, as well as allowing a higher chance of search engine spiders being able to reach it. Too many hypertext links within your text will only annoy readers, though, so creating links to every keyword is not recommended. Linking to other interesting articles or websites from other words or phrases, that may not be specific to the remit given to you, may help to build a higher percentage of user interest, as well as boost the SEO ranking of the page the article is published on. For example, here is a section from an SEO article for the music industry I recently wrote: â€Å"Bidding for concert tickets from an unknown Internet source, is not a good way of buying your all important seats to see Britney Spears.† The keyphrase in this article is ‘concert tickets’ and as you can see, has been used within the article’s context. However, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that more searches are run for the phrase ‘Britney Spears’ than for ‘concert tickets,’ therefore, not only is it mentioned in the same paragraph, but there is also a hypertext link included which links to her official site. Having both phrases, ‘concert tickets’ and ‘Britney Spears,’ alongside each other, is quite clearly a potent combination for anyone concerned who might want to run an Internet search like it; Britney fans, music fans, memorabilia collectors, ticket touts, etc. Therefore, this sentence when published, will look like this: â€Å"Bidding for concert tickets from an unknown Internet source, is not a good way of buying your all important seats to see Britney Spears.† Keyword Density Keyword density is a term often used in the context of SEO, and is often stressed as being a vital component of every SEO article writer’s armoury. The phrase came into being because keywords, which provide the foundation on which SEO copywriting is based, led many people to conclude that the more keywords included in a SEO article, the higher chance there is of that web page being ranked during a search. Scientific formulae were developed to try and prove this, and thus an industry was born. Unfortunately, in this writer’s experience, this is almost always complete rubbish. Generally, one will find that no matter how many times the phrase ‘Britney Spears,’ is used in an article, when published, it simply will not shoot into the top ten in Google’s search ranking. Good keyword usage is supported not by the amount of times it is used in a web article, but by the combinations of other relevant keywords it sits beside, as in the example given earlier of ‘Britney Spears’ and ‘concert tickets.’ Each individual, but related keyword, helps narrow the search down even further. However, even with the most advanced SEO keyword placement strategies in place, there is still one remaining factor that is vital to help support the use of keywords and keyphrases: web page construction. Which takes me neatly onto the ‘techy bit’. Web Page Optimisation (The ‘Techy Bit’) As a freelance writer this section isn’t really required, but I though it wouldn’t hurt to come to a better understanding of the different ways that keywords and SEO can be applied, to increase the page rank of a website. Within the construction of a simple HTML web page, is a section at the top called the Header. Within this section there are various meta tags, the most important of which is the Title tag, and the Meta description tag. Search engine spiders read the meta data within a webpage, and are attracted to those sites which have keywords present early on. Search engine spiders and web browsers read HTML code from top to bottom (meta data then content), so what comes first gets read first and is therefore output first. It is therefore very important for good web page optimisation to occur, that an emphasis be placed on the usage of keywords in the Title tags and Meta tags, and to have the most important ones placed near the beginning. For example, here is an extract of HTML data taken from a website that might have published the article on Britney Spears concert tickets: html head titleBritney Spears Concert Tickets/title meta name="Keywords" content="Britney Spears, concert tickets, Britney on tour, gigs, stadium tour, Toxic, Oops I Did It Again† /head body Bidding for bconcert tickets/b from an unknown Internet source, is not a good way of buying your all important seats to see a href=†britneyspears.com†Britney Spears/a †¦..etc. /body /html As you can see, the most important keyphrases were used in the web page title, as well as at the front of the meta keywords line. And in the content we had the combination of keywords and keyphrases, including a logical hypertext link to what happens to be a very popular website on the Internet, for whatever reason. And that, in a nutshell, is about all you need to know to get started writing SEO articles. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Passed vs PastLoan, Lend, Loaned, Lent40 Synonyms for Praise