Marketing exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Marketing exam - Essay Example These nine functions are; financing, selling, transportation, processing, buying, storage, risk-taking, grading and standardizing, and finally providing market information. Examples of marketing include advertising, packaging and giving samples among other things. However, marketing management is the area of business that focuses on a business organization’s marketing activities and resources. It is also the branch of management that is given the task of application of techniques in marketing. In its role of management marketing management involves planning of marketing of resources. It is also involved in coordinating of marketing plans and procedures. Marketing management also involves organizing of marketing personnel and marketing resources. It also performs its role of management by controlling the flow of marketing resources. The main difference between marketing and marketing management is that marketing is the process of attracting and maintaining customers while marketing management is involved in the planning, coordinating, monitoring and organizing the processes, personnel and the resources used in abstaining the aims of marketing (Daw, 2006). Cause marketing is the type of marketing that is carried out jointly by a profit generating business organization and a business organization whose main aim is not to generate profit with the aim of social benefit. Unlike cooperate giving, cause marketing does not necessarily involve a tax deductible donation. An example of cause marketing is the campaign undertaken by the Reckitt Benckiser company in 2011. This is where the company underwent a campaign in which they run an advertisement communicating to consumers that for every â€Å"Dettol† product bought; around $0.12 would be given to the drive of building toilets in schools across Africa. â€Å"Dettol† is a range of disinfecting products produced by the Reckitt Benckiser Company. This campaigned was with collaboration with the world

Prayer in Public Schools Essay Example for Free

Prayer in Public Schools Essay In the essay named Banning Prayer in Public Schools Has Led to Americas Demise by Gary Bergel, the argument is made that by removing prayer and any form of religious contemplation has caused America to plummet from righteous living, prosperity and success within the last quarter century. He states that from around June 25, 1962, when 39 billion students were forbidden to pray in school, Americas moral decline began to accelerate more rapidly. Bergel supports his claim by stating the main reasons behind the U. S. Supreme Court ruling and by issuing some religious tidbits. Even though Bergel lists some facts and names some general ideas, he has an extremely weak argument for the simple reason of the claims and warrants not being supported with factual or personal evidence. The opposing article that I have chosen is titled Argument against School Prayer by Adam Frucci. Frucci first starts out by saying that the article is not intended to bash God, or Christianity. But its purpose is to argue all forms of religion in schools, high school in particular. He states that high school is a place where you begin to separate from your parents and begin to form your own ideas. Keeping this in mind, its the absolute worst place to start forcing values and beliefs on you. He further states that religion will never be non-discriminatory; it can never totally include everyone. There will always be someone who doesnt fit in simply because of a personal belief, and high school is not the place to institute isolationism and criticism on any level outside of an academic level. Again, I like this article but it is somewhat biased because of the writers status of a student in a catholic high school. I get the feeling that he is really bitter about having the catholic beliefs forced on himbut frankly he, or his parents, chose for him to attend the school so he might as well adapt, learn, and become stronger from the situation. Both of the arguments are weak in their own ways and strong in others, and I will attempt to acknowledge most of their faults. Beginning with Bergels argument of the demoralization of the US as a result of the removal of prayer from public schools, I get the since that he is very adamant about getting his views across regardless of analyzing the other side of the story. The whole essay is just the ranting and ravings of a bitter Christian. No support is given to his main thoughts anywhere throughout the paper. In all of his main thoughts, he spouts some statistics and information about different factors that have influenced the topic, however there is no substantial evidence of factual data, but rather only his own opinion. In the first section of the essay, he mentions that there has been a decline in family and morality. How does one evaluate a decline in something so abstract and so subjective? It is clear that from here on out, he is making general assumptions based solely on his beliefs. Bergel goes on to argue that removing prayer from school creates the secular system beyond the power of God. This is a faulty argument for the simple Christian fact that if God is all powerful, how can anything be created beyond Gods power. If anything, removal of prayer will keep children from experiencing God in more than a church setting. He also argues that in doing so, religion in being stripped from the lips and minds of children. Its not restraining a child from totally expressing or acting religiously, its simply preventing prayer to be forced on those who arent believers. Its, in essence, protecting the first amendment rights of those affected and moreover, is a gross exaggeration of the case in hand in addition to the fact that religion cant be totally taken from some one. At a point in the article, he mentions the Engle vs. Vitale Supreme Court case. The whole ruling has nothing to do with keeping kids from learning the religion, its concerned with children who arent believers of Christianity not being forced to participate in something that they dont believe in. Bergel seems to forget that the basic principle of separation of church and state is that the US isnt a professed catholic state therefore it cant just allow the use of one religion over another in any public arena. The Engle vs. Vitale ruling doesnt eliminate the learning of religion, it simply doesnt allow institutions to force the practice of Christianity on kids of other faiths. In general, his rational appears to be based on passionate fervor rather than rational thought and analysis of the Engle vs. Vitale ruling and its surrounding issues. He never pinpoints the issues and examines them within his analysis. He never presents an argument against the opposition but rather rants and raves about what he believes to be right thus stacking the evidence and therefore making it seem as if anything that is in opposition to his beliefs are wrong. In addition, he never mentions anything about his main idea of prayer in school prayer, thus committing a red herring. In Fruccis article concerning the argument for the removal of school prayer, it has both good and bad aspects to it, thusly providing me with the evidence that this is a stronger argument than that of Bergel. Frucci suggests to us that high school is the worst time to impose such a subject for the simple reason that its a time when one is learning about ones self and its not the time to impose new mindsets. Firstly, Religion cant be imposed but rather be encouraged and taughtits up to the educated whether or not to accept the knowledge. Fruccis statement is purely circumstantial because people learn at all times of life and new ideas are presented everyday. Therefore, the teaching of religion in schools can only offer more options rather than changing ones whole mindset. In saying that the setting is inappropriate, Frucci is clearly showing signs of his immaturity. In my own opinion, school is the one of the best places to teach religion. The childs inability to concentrate and focus on the task at had does not warrant removal of school prayer. If thats the case, school in general should be gotten rid of because of the childs inherent nature to be easily distracted and loose concentration. One of Fruccis strongest arguments within the paper is that prayer in schools does create a since of discrimination. However, he takes it to the extreme when saying that the since of community will be ruined because of their nonparticipation. Overall, Fruccis essay is stronger than Brugels in the since of me, the reader, being able to relate to the authors point of view, as well as the amount of support that was given to each point raised. Fruccis essay presents more of an argument, as opposed to Brugels which is more of an outcry of ideas. However both essays are pretty weak in their persuasiveness, but since I have to choose on, Id have to say that Fruccis is the stronger of the two.

The Internet Has Emerged English Language Essay

The Internet Has Emerged English Language Essay Over the past few years, the Internet has emerged as a prominent new technology. The influence of such a powerful technological tool has pervaded all aspects of the educational, business, and economic sectors of our world. Regardless of ones familiarity with the Internet, it is repeatedly made reference to. News broadcasters and commercials, for example, will now provide web addresses, and even the recent movie, The Net was sparked by the impact of this new technology (Mike, 1996). Regardless of whether one uses the Internet or not, one must be clear about the fact that the we have entered a new information age and the Internet is here to stay.Because the use of the Internet is widespread in numerous fields and domains, without a doubt, it also carries great potential for educational use, specifically second and foreign language education. This paper will therefore focus on the following questions: 1) What is the Internet? 2) How can various facets of the Internet be used in the seco nd and foreign language classroom? 3) What are the benefits of employing the Internet in such a setting? 4) What are the disadvantages or obstacles the Internet presents in a second language classroom? Lastly, the implications of using the Internet in second language classrooms will be discussed. The Internet is the latest in a series of technological innovations for second language education. In order to understand the role of the Internet, it would be useful to provide a brief history of technology and language teaching, present a survey of the technological resources available to second language learners, and, finally consider the role of the Internet and its possibilities. Technology and Foreign Language Education: A Brief History Technology and foreign language education are no stranger to one another. In the sixties and seventies, language laboratories were being installed in numerous educational settings. The traditional language laboratory was comprised of a series of booths, each providing a cassette deck, and accompanying microphone and headphone. Teachers monitored their students interactions by using a central control panel. The basic premise behind this technology was that if verbal behavior was modeled, and then reinforced, students would quickly learn the language in question. The language lab activities were therefore grounded in a stimulus-response behavior pattern. The more drill practice the students encountered, the faster they would learn the second language. While the language laboratory was a positive step in linking technology and language education, it was soon recognized that such activities were both tedious and boring for learners. Furthermore, the amount of student-teacher interaction was minimal, and individualized instruction was irrelevant. Besides the pedagogical deficiencies, the audio equipment was cumbersome and prone to breakdown, and had only one function-to disseminate auditory input. These factors put together led to a shift to the communicative approach to second language education, namely, computer assisted language learning.Microcomputers and quality CALL software provided yet another medium for language learning. Its potential as both a teaching and learning tool are widely written about in the educational literature. At present, there are a variety of computer applications available including vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation tutors, spell checkers, electronic workbooks, writing and reading programs, as well as various authoring packages to allow instructors to create their own exercises to supplement existing language courses. In addition to the range of software available, CALL has also been shown to increase learner motivation (Blake, 1987 ). Chun and Brandl (1992) also propose that the interactive and multimedia capabilities of the computer make it an attractive teaching/learning tool. Computers can provide immediate feedback to students and students can work at an individualized pace. Software can be designed to include sound, graphics, video, and animation. Moreover, information is presented in a non-linear sequence enabling learners to select the exercises or concepts they wish to review. Despite the advantages and widespread use of CALL, it continues to suffer from criticisms for several reasons. Many believe that learning and practicing grammar rules of a foreign language through fill-in-the-blank exercises, for example, does little to improve a speakers ability to produce grammatically appropriate utterances (Armstrong Yetter-Vassot, 1994). Others point out that CALL suffers from its rigidity in light of the complexities of natural languages. For example, a program designed to provide drill practice on French verb conjugation is useful for only that and nothing else. Recently, however, we are beginning to see encouraging and promising results in the area of CALL software development. Interactive video and programs which provide more authentic and communicative task-based activities are being created, which are more in line with the current theoretical and pedagogical views of learning. What is the Internet? While the computer is now used in some form or another in most language classrooms, and is considered standard equipment, the Internet is also gradually being introduced in the second language classroom as teachers become more familiar with it. The Internet is a confederation of thousands of computers from various sectors of society such as education, business, government and the military. It is a network of thousands of computer networks (Lewis, 1994). Each individual system brings something different to the whole (databases, library services, graphs, maps, electronic journals, etc), and the end result is a vast accumulation of information. It is a worldwide network of computers that interact on a standardized set of protocols which act independently of particular computer operating systems, allowing for a variety of access methods to the Internet. For example, the Internet can be accessed from an IBM computer in a students home in Australia, or from a Macintosh computer at a school in Canada. It can therefore be conceived of as the equivalent of a telephone system for computers. It can be used to both exchange information through electronic mail, newsgroups, listservs, professional on-line discussion groups, and so forth, as well as to retrieve information on a variety of topics through the World Wide Web. The Internet and Electronic Mail Although the Internet has been available to most people, only recently have educators been realizing the potential the Internet can have in second and foreign language classrooms. The following section will therefore consider some of these potential benefits and advantages of incorporating such technology in language courses. The Internet has been used by some language instructors in creative ways one of these innovations being use of electronic mail (e-mail), a specific feature of the Internet. Overall, e-mail can encourage students to use computers in realistic, authentic situations in order to develop communicative, and thinking skills. E-mail is easy to use and even teachers intimidated by computers can quickly become adept at using e-mail with their students. Furthermore, even timid or inhibited students can benefit from the meaningful interaction and communication e-mail makes possible. Kroonenberg (1995), for example, employed e-mail in her ESL classes at Hong Kong Internatio nal School. She relates her initial experiences of working with two classes of ESL multinational students in grades 9-12, and a homogeneous group of summer school students involving Cantonese-speaking 14 and 15 year olds. The Dragon Bulletin Board System (BBS) using the TELIX communications software was established in order to allow students and teachers to send messages to each other, as well as make public entries on discussion conferences.During the initial stages, students were logged on the system and each student created a password. Students were simply asked to write freely as in a dialogue journal. Kroonenberg (1995) believes this allows students to become familiar with the system and further allows their ideas to flow. Writing on e-mail can therefore be used to generate ideas about a topic, or can enable learners to free-write without any impositions. E-mail can also be used in various conference-type formats or to generate discussion. For example, Kroonenberg often provide d students with topics of high interest in order to generate more writing. In fact, one student who was part of this project stated, I usually get involved in the BBS because the subjects are interesting and I have a lot to say about them (p. 25). Writing topics often involved school issues or issues that were directly relevant to the students lives. In other conference assignments, students are the main audience. Students read entries and then respond to them via e-mail. This allows each student to express their opinion. In this manner, all opinions are voiced and heard, something which may not always occur in oral discussions in the classroom. Chat rooms can also be carried out through e-mail. In this situation, two or more individuals can talk on-line about various topics or issues. For instance, language learners can be paired up and can be given a debatable topic to discuss. Such experiences, once again stimulate authentic communication and assist students in developing specific communication skills such as arguing, persuading, or defending a particular point. Listservs from around the world can offer news and discussion groups in the target language providing another source of authentic input and interaction. Cononelos and Oliva (1993) organized e-mail exchanges between entire classes of students in order to generate discussion, improve writing skills, and promote peer interaction. In this particular project, advanced level Italian students employed e-mail newsgroups to improve both their writing, as well as their knowledge of contemporary Italian society. In this manner, the teaching of culture was also facilitated th rough the immediate feedback and contact of L2 speakers who were interested in informing others about their culture. E-mail can also be used to communicate long-distance with language learners in other schools, or other countries for that matter. A study exploring the potential of long-distance communication involving second language learners was carried out by Chang (1993). The goals of the study were to provide students with a real context for improving their writing, help them to expand their ideas of content-area reading and functional writing across cultural boundaries, make students familiar with international telecommunications, and investigate with students, the potential effects of telecommunications on literacy acquisition (Davis Chang, 1994). The subjects involved in the study included undergraduate students at Taiwans National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU) and students at University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). The 8-week teleconference began with Prompt 1 in which students were asked to write letters to one another. In addition to personal introductions, students were asked to include a focus on their previous English language learning experiences and the difficulties associated with this. In Prompt 2 and 3, students were asked to use their textbooks on the History of English Language to report on interesting uses of English, (ie. connotations, spelling, etc). Prompts 4 and 5 asked the learners to work with sections of specific texts to comment on pronoun and lexical use, as well as syntactic structure. In the final prompt, both groups of students collected examples of English slang and idioms used in each countrys films and music. Questions pertaining to the above were asked and responded to by students in each group. Davis and Chang (1994) point out that as writers on both sides of the world shared questions and comments, jokes began to surface. Over time, the students reading and writing began to change as well. Through surveys and informal case studies of student writing during the conference, it was found that for the most part, students writing had improved in both fluency and organization. Surveys also indicated that students saw some carry over to their study literature, and that they had a better understanding of English usage. While the above examples illustrate a few uses of e-mail in the second and foreign language classroom, without a doubt e-mail can provide authentic communication and can foster awareness of both the language learner and the languages they are learning. The Internet as a Teaching and Learning Tool In addition to the communication benefits of the Internet, the Internet can also be used to retrieve and access information. The World Wide Web is therefore a virtual library at ones fingertips; it is a readily available world of information for the language learner. While the Internet offers numerous benefits to the language learner, a few such possibilities are examined here, in the context of language learning.Perhaps one of the most essential pedagogical principles of language teaching is one that emphasizes the study of language in a cultural context. I, along with many other language instructors believe that language and culture are inextricable and interdependent; Understanding the culture of the target language enhances understanding of the language. To this end, the Internet is a valuable resource to both language teachers and learners. As discussed previously, e-mail on the Internet allows language learners to communicate with native speakers. In this manner, the Internet f acilitates the use of the specific language in an authentic setting. The Internet can also be used to acquire information from language resources for a variety of purposes. For example, students can access current information from countries around the world. They can obtain geographical, historical, social/cultural, economic, and political information from the countries in which the target language is spoken. Students can read web versions of daily newspapers and same-day news reports from sources such as the French Embassys gopher service, the daily Revue de Press (Armstrong and Yetter-Vassot, 1994). Such experiences can allow learners to participate in the culture of the target language, which in turn can enable them to further learn how cultural background influences ones view of the world. The Internet also serves as a medium for experiencing and presenting creative works. While students can peruse the information on the Net, they can also use it as a platform for their own work such as essays, poetry, or stories. Numerous public schools, for example, are making use of the World Wide Web for publishing student work which can be accessed by other web users. Students therefore become not only consumers of content, but in fact generate the content. As Mike (1996) describes, the use of the Internet has also been shown to promote higher order thinking skills. A language teacher, for example, may instruct learners to search for specific information. Searching the Web requires logic skills. Once information has been obtained, the results must be reviewed which requires scanning, discarding, and evaluative judgment on part of the learner. The information must be put together to make a complete and coherent whole which entails the synthesis process. Such an endeavor permits students to practice reading skills and strategies. The Internet also promotes literacy for authentic purposes, as stated previously. In addition to being a supplement to reading materials, especially current information, when students are exploring the Net, they are essentially exploring the real world. Such browsing or exploration can also lead to incidental learning as they encounter a variety of information in this way. Communication with native speakers furth ers literacy development for authentic purposes, enables language learners to compare student perspectives on an issue, and allows them to practice specific skills such as negotiating, persuading, clarifying meaning, requesting information, and engaging in true-life, authentic discussion. Promotion of literacy also occurs within a social context. The interaction that results from the above situations can lead to cooperative projects and increased communication between students from all over the world, in turn leading to the development of social skills. Finally, use of the Internet can promote computer skills and the technical and conceptual experiences of using a computer. Lastly, the Internet provides supplemental language activities which can provide students with additional practice in specific areas of language learning. These include reading tests and comprehension questions, grammar exercises, pronunciation exercises possible through the available multimedia capabilities, cloze tests, vocabulary exercises, and so forth. Students can search the Web for such sites, or teachers may recommend specific sites on the Web. Published lists are also available from various sources. For example, Paramskas (1993) offers a list of sites for both language teachers and language learners, some of which relate to issues of language learning, others which use language as a medium for discussion of culture or current affairs, and others which assist in locating native speakers. The Internet Challenges Up to this point in time, the above discussion has described some of the potential benefits of the Internet and how it can be used in the second or foreign language classroom. However, such a discussion would be incomplete without addressing the disadvantages or obstacles related to the use of the Internet in the language classroom. While the Internet and its various facets offer a great deal to the language learner, it is not without its problems. The nature of the Internet itself can be a disadvantage at times. When lines are busy due to many users, it may take time to access information or browse the Net and technical glitches themselves can lead to frustration. Lack of training and familiarity on part of the teachers can make it difficult to implement the Internet in the language classroom. This requires that school administrators budget for training in this area. Foreign language teachers are especially anxiety prone to computers since they often have little experience with comp uters. For the most part, computers in schools are used for business or computer science courses. Costs related to training, as well as on-line costs of using a provider are issues that may interfere with implementing such a technology in schools, especially in schools that have little funding. Censorship may also be a concern to language programs and instructors. The Internet offers access to all types of issues and topics, some of which are unsuitable for children, and this in itself may result in various problems. While some precautions can be taken at the present time, they are not full proof by any means. Equity issues may also present difficulties when attempting to implement such technology in the classroom. As the commercial sector begins to assume a more prominent role in the Internets infrastructure, rural and inner-city schools, already hard-pressed to provide Internet access, may find it less affordable. This is certainly discouraging for both language teachers and stude nts in such educational settings (Mike, 1996). Many institutions such as these may also not have the computers or computing facilities necessary to implement such type of technology. Implications and Conclusion Despite these limitations and obstacles, it must be realized that the Internets educational potential is immense. Although electronic, the Internet is an entity related to literacy people still interact with it entirely through reading and writing. For this reason alone, the Internet is a technology that will, without a doubt, have significant implications for both teaching and learning. So what does this imply for language teachers and learners? Teachers must become familiar with using the Internet and its various functions such as e-mail. They must also learn how to use specific search tools in order to access information, search for lesson plans, or material and ideas to supplement their lessons. Lastly, language teachers must learn now to transfer files from Internet sites to their own computer and vice versa. Obtaining information or literature on the Internet, either through the Net itself, through books, or by attending workshops and courses will further assist this process. To avoid facing the same difficulties or problems associated with use of the Internet, teachers can ask students to keep track of problems that arise during use. In essence, language teachers must take the plunge and approach the Internet as a learning experience themselves. The more enthusiastic and more knowledgeable language teachers are, the more successfully they can implement Internet in the language classroom. For the language learner, the Internet offers a world of information available to students at the touch of a button. While it must be recognized that the Internet cannot replace the language classroom or the interaction between the language teacher and student, if offers a vast amount of information and lends itself to communication possibilities that can greatly enhance the language learning experience.Certainly at this point in time, several questions need to be asked to guide future research in this area. How can use of the Internet correspond to the communicative or pedagogical goals of language teaching? How will the Internet and its related facets assist language learners in functioning in the global community? What will the real impact of the Internet in foreign language classrooms be? How can the Internet be used more effectively along side the present language curriculum? While these questions have been examined to some degree, researchers and language educators must further investigate and implement this technology to provide others with guidelines in this area. Without a doubt we are in the center of a monumental technological paradigm shift, one which will eventually change the way that all instructors teach and the way students learn (Jensen, 1993). While technology should not take over the language classroom, it must be embraced in order to allow educators to do those things which they are unable to do themselves, or those which will improve what is currently being done in the classroom. As we approach the next century, it is essential that we make informed decisions about how the Internet can be successfully integrated into the language classroom. If we as educators do not rise to the challenge who will?

Economic Discrimination in Frank McCourts Angela’s Ashes Essay

Economic Discrimination in Frank McCourt's Angela’s Ashes As Jerome K. Jerome once said, â€Å"It is easy enough to say that poverty is no crime. No; if it were men wouldn’t be ashamed of it. It is a blunder, though, and is punished as such. A poor man is despised the whole world over.† This famous quote describes the way poor people are discriminated against and despised around the world by those who are better off. In the novel Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt, the characters are greatly discriminated against by all different parts of society because of their poverty. This makes their constant struggle to survive even harder and prevents them from climbing to the next rung in the social ladder. The poor are discriminated against and held down by the church, school, and their fellow impoverished neighbors, as well as the rest of the world around them to the point where they often give up trying to get out of poverty all together. Shockingly, the place where the McCourts are most discriminated against is the one place where they should feel wanted, loved, and equal to those around them, the Catholic Church. Frank McCourt, the main character who was a young teenager at the time, had the door slammed in his face by the Catholic Church on at least two occasions because of his poverty. The first time he is turned down by the church, Frank’s quest is to become an altar boy. The priest declares that the church is not looking for any more altar boys. However, the real reason Frank is turned down is because of his poverty. Angela, Frank’s moth er, is infuriated and exclaims, â€Å"I’ll tell you what it is, ‘Tis class distinction. They don’t want boys from lanes on the altar. They don’t want the ones with scabby knees and hair sticking up. O... ...d them to the point where they often give up trying to get out of poverty all together. The church will not allow them to be in any sort of position in the church, namely altar boys or priests. The school holds them back by putting them into filthy, run-down schools and teaching them very little while drilling into their minds the fact that no matter how hard they try, they cannot succeed in life. Unfortunately, even their neighbors hold them back by discouraging them to try anything in order to succeed and making fun of their impoverishment. The discrimination that they face daily holds them back and eventually stops them from even trying to succeed and better their lives. As Jerome K. Jerome once explained, the poor will be discriminated against, snubbed and despised the world over. WORKS CITED McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes. New York: Touchstone, 1999.

Pv Trade War Between the Us and China

Introduction International trade and competitive advantages in the costs of production in China have brought numerous opportunities for China’s exports but also generated challenges due to protectionism from its foreign competitors. Consequently, there have been numerous trade cases against China, including anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, in many economic sectors. The very current trade case involving China is the US accusing Chinese manufacturers of dumping photovoltaic (PV) panels in the US market and the Chinese government unfairly subsidizing its own solar industry.In fact, the US’s trade balances in polysilicon products between both the US and China, and the US and the world significantly deficit while China’s polysilicon cells and modules production has increased dramatically (The Kearney Alliance 2012). This essay claims that, the surge in PV exports does not necessarily mean that the Chinese government has subsidized its PV manufacturers illegally, and Chines e solar manufacturers’ low prices do not necessarily imply they are selling their PV products below the cost of production.Importantly, imposing such significant imports tariff is highly likely to undermine not only the bilateral trade between two countries but also long-term benefits of both countries. First, this essay provides an overview of the US-China PV trade case; then explains why China solar industry has been growing dramatically; and finally it analyses what the consequences might be if the US imposes a countervailing and antidumping tariff on China’s PV. BackgroundOn October 2011, seven US-based PV manufacturers headed by SolarWorld Industries America reported China on a double-anti case to US Department of Commerce (DOC) and US International Trade Organization (ITO). The seven manufacturers, which later formed Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM), accused China for dumping their PV module products to US market and giving a huge amount of expor t subsidy to this industry which in turn causing severe injuries to US PV manufacturers.Several investigations have been carried out by both DOC and ITC for this issue, as the coalition accused China government providing cash grants, heavily discounted resources, huge loans and credits, tax exemption, incentives and rebate and export grant insurance to the industry. In its final determination held on 10 October 2012, DOC proposed 18. 32 per cent to 249. 96 per cent of anti-dumping and 14. 78 per cent to 15. 97 per cent of countervailing duty.Further actions, including issuing or not issuing anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders, will be made after ITC final determination (US DOC 2012). Photovoltaic industry is a new emerging industry as a response to the threat of energy shortage and environmentally-unfriendly fossil fuel-based energy. Governments issued supportive policies, including giving significant account of subsidy considering higher production cost of this new energy i ndustry compared to that of conventional one.In case of China, the country issued a PV market policy in 2007 that included deployment, investment and research and development supports under the scheme of middle and long term program of renewable energy development set by National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) targeting the energy of 300MWp by 2010 and 1. 8 GWp by 2020 of PV cells installed (Grau et al. 2011). This policy and its comparative advantage on labors result in excessive growth of China PV industries, making China’s world market share skyrocketing from 1 per cent in 2001, 5 per cent in 2005 to 50 per cent in 2010.In 2012, four of the top five PV producers are Chinese overtaking US manufacturers which occupy 27 per cent in 2006, decreased to 5 per cent in 2010 of the total world share (The Kearney Alliance 2012). Why has China’s PV grown so big so fast? There are a number of reasons why the PV industry in China has experienced tremendous growth withi n a short span of time. For instance, China produced about 1 per cent of the world’s solar cells in 2001, and by 2010 it produced nearly almost half (The Kearney Alliance 2012).The same rate of growth was achieved by Japan and Germany during their PV industry expansion; however the key difference is it took them twice as long (The Kearney Alliance 2012). First, such fast paced growth would not be possible without assistance from the government. The Chinese government has been providing many different kinds of assistance to the manufacturers to promote the growth of the PV industry in China. The government’s policy to boost the industry came in the form of loans, tax credits and grants.Additionally, some of the resources required for manufacturing of PV cells were subsidized or discounted to encourage manufacturers to produce more. In 2011, the Chinese government initiated a ‘Five-Year Plan’ to induce further growth of the PV industry well into the year 201 5. Second, it is estimated that help from the government allowed some Chinese manufacturers of PV cells to have somewhere between 18-30 per cent cost advantage over their US counterparts (The Kearney Alliance 2012).The government alone is not responsible for the cost advantage enjoyed by the Chinese manufacturers; scale and vertical integration, and labour costs constitute significant part of the cost advantage. The scale and vertical integration of some of the top tier Chinese manufacturers means that they gain cost advantages due economy of scale; larger factories can produce at a lower cost, and additionally they tend to own or control majority of the companies in the supply chain as well as distributions outlets thus allowing them to maximize profit from supply, production and distributions.Moreover, labour costs are relative cheap compared to the US, especially for unskilled labour, where China has approximately 80 per cent labour cost advantage over the US counterparts (The Ke arney Alliance 2012). Third, besides the assistance and cost advantages, some, if not all, Chinese manufacturers tend to offer trade credit, where solar power customers can purchase the panels without having to pay upfront and are given 60 days payment window to complete the deal.This provides tremendous financial benefit to the customers, as they will have some time for installation of the panels without paying upfront for the panels thus the cost of downtime during the installation is not born by the customers. Finally, growth of China’s PV industry is also due to the extreme projected growth of domestic demand. In 2010, Chinese domestic demand for solar power was only 3 per cent of the world’s demand, and by the end 2014 this is expected to increase to 26 per cent (EPIA 2011). Is Chinese government providing illegal subsidies? Are Chinese manufacturers dumping their products on the U.S. market? The US government accuses the Chinese government of providing the export subsidies, which according to WTO rules is illegal. However, the Chinese government claims that the subsidies, grants, loans and discounts given to the manufacturers are intended to promote the solar power industry and make it cost competitive with conventional power sources. It is worth noting that it’s not just Chinese government that provides subsidies, the US also provides substantial subsidies to its solar power industry albeit to a slightly lesser extent and lower amount in dollar terms.For instance, the US government does not provide land grants or discounts, and the total stimulus loan/loan guarantee is only US$1. 3 billion compared to US$30 billion from the Chinese government (Goodrich et al. 2011). The US Department of Commerce accuses Chinese manufacturers of dumping PV cells on the US market. According to the WTO (WTO, 2012), dumping occurs when a company exports a good to foreign market at a price less than the price it normally charges in its domestic market. T he US considers Chinese economy as non-market economy, thus the Chinese domestic price of PV cells cannot be determined directly from the Chinese market.Therefore, third or surrogate country needs to be chosen in order to determine the fair value of Chinese PV cells. The U. S Department of Commerce has chosen Thailand from a list of 6 countries as the surrogate country. This is unlikely to reflect an appropriate normal price for the Chinese PV since the costs of PV production in China is normally lower than those in Thailand. Possible consequences Both sides are currently still waiting for ITC's final determination. If an affirmative determination is made in late November that imports of PV cells from China, no matter being assembled into modules or not, leads to US omestic industry being or is threatened to be materially injured, Commerce will issue the Anti-Dumping and Countervailing duties order. Back when the preliminary determinations was announced earlier this year, in which t he DOC assessed countervailing duties ranging at a lower rate, most Chinese manufacturers breached a sight of relief and continue their business in U. S. as before. However, DOC's final determination assessed significant higher countervailing duties at 14. 78 per cent -15. 24 per cent, comparing to its 2. 9 per cent-4. 3 per cent in the preliminary (US DOC 2012), undoubtedly it will have a severe impact on China's manufacturers and global solar industry. As the subject of DOC and ITC's investigation is PV cells that are manufactured in China, Chinese firms could shift manufacture or directly purchase PV cells from other countries to avoid tariffs on modules made of Chinese cells. An ideal location is Taiwan, which is already a robust solar cell manufacturing market. Although it is 8 per cent higher than using its domestic produced cells, cells made in Taiwan still have a 10-22 per cent cost advantage than the ones in the US (Wesoff 2012).Not to mention its relative closeness to Chin a. However, using PV cells from other countries other than the US and assembles into PV modules is not a proper long-term strategy. The US could also initiate another investigation into Chinese PV modules assembled, using other countries' cells. Thus, this is only a transitional strategy for Chinese manufacturers before China's domestic demand for PV products picks up to ameliorate industry's excessive supply situation. On the other hand, the imposition of high countervailing and anti-dumping duties might also affect the U.S. solar industry. In 2011, manufacturing only contributed 24000, or 24 per cent of the total employment in the solar industry (The Solar Foundation 2011). Punitive tariffs against Chinese cells will lead to a price jump on PV cells and modules in the US market, it causes the cost of solar projects in the US to increase and the implementation and demand for solar products to decline, which ultimately transits into lower employment in other sectors in the PV indust ry. The Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy commissioned a study showing that a 50 er cent tariff will indeed boost employment in the cell and module manufacturing sector. However, this tariff jump would also result in a huge decrease in employment from slowing-down discretionary spending by solar buyers and an overall demand decrease in other sectors in the whole PV industry. The net impact on total employment would be 15 per cent -40 per cent decline in the US PV industry compared to its 2010 numbers (Berkman et al. 2012). This means the resurrection of the US cells and module manufacturers is at the cost of the rest and the vast majority of the US PV industry.Another potential outcome is that Chinese manufacturers could retaliate against imposed tariffs. The US currently still has a huge positive net export of polysilicon and PV manufacturing equipment to China. In 2011, China attributed to around 30 per cent of the US total net exports of polysilicon and 60 per cent of PV capi tal equipment (GTM 2012). To protest against imposed tariffs and duties, Chinese manufactures could ramp up their own production of polysilicon or turn to other countries to fill the gap, effectively cutting out the US firms in the solar supply chain.Conclusion In sum, Governments in most industrial countries including the US and China have been promoting clean energy technology in recent years. Among the world’s solar producers, China’s booming renewable energy industry, especially solar industry has dominated world solar markets and challenges American leadership. President Obama affirmed the US’s concern about clean energy technology: ‘†¦to make sure that we win the competition. I don’t want the new breakthrough technologies and the new manufacturing taking place in China and India’ (Morris et al. 012, p1). Meanwhile the subsidy to energy, including solar industry, has been successful in China (rapidly increase its market share of wor ld polysilicon production), the US policy subsidy on clean energy has not brought any expected result, even failure (i. e. bankruptcy of Solyndra–the California solar firm) (Robert et al. 2010). Trying to protect the domestic solar industry by preventing other country’s polysilicon exports is highly unlikely to be a wise and fair policy.In particular, countervailing and anti-dumping duties would result in a significant decline in exports of polysilicon and PV manufacturing equipment to China as well as a fall in employment. Indeed, China could have several ways rather than bring the case to the WTO in responding to the trade barriers imposed by the US, but what the US needs to consider its long term benefit. The competitive price of Chinese solar as a cheap source of clean energy which potentially enhances the US economic growth, creates jobs for Americans and tackles with climate change.ReferenceBerkman, M, Cameron, L ; Chang, J 2012, ‘The employment impacts of proposed tariffs on Chinese manufactured photovoltaic cells and modules’, The Brattle Group, Washington, D. C. viewed 16 September 2012, . EPIA see European Photovoltaic Industry Association. European Photovoltaic Industry Association 2011, ‘Global market outlook for Photovoltaics until 2015’, viewed 12 Oct 2012, http://www. epia. org/index. php? eID=tx_nawsecuredl;u=0;file=fileadmin/EPIA_docs/publications/epia/EPIA-Global-Market-Outlook-for-Photovoltaics-until-2015. pdf;t=1351601058;hash=65fb67c830a17dc3384646f83c30e104Goodrich, A, James, T ; Woodhouse, M 2011, Solar PV manufacturing cost analysis: US competitiveness in a global industry, Stanford University, viewed 25 Oct 2012, ;lt; http://www. nrel. gov/docs/fy12osti/53938. pdf;gt;. Grau, T, Huo M ; Neuhoff, K 2011, ‘Survey of photovoltaic industries and policies in Germany and China’, Climate Policy Initiative, Berlin. GTM 2012, ‘U. S. Solar Energy Trade Assessment 2011: Trade Flows and Dom estic Content for Solar Energy-Related Goods and Services in the United States’, Greentech Media, Washington, D.C. Morris, AC, Nivola, PS ; Schultze, CL 2012, ‘Clean energy: revisiting the challenges of industrial policy’, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC. Roberts, MJ, Lassiter, JB ; Nanda, R 2010, ‘US Department of Energy & Recovery Act Funding: bridging the â€Å"Valley of Death† ‘, Harvard Business School. The Solar Foundation 2011, ‘Nation Solar Jobs Census 2011’, viewed 12 October 2012, . The Kearney Alliance, 2012, ‘China solar industry and the US anti-dumping/anti-subsidy case’, China Global Trade.USDOC 2012, ‘Fact sheet: Commerce finds dumping and subsidization of crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled into modules from the People's Republic of China’, Department of Commerce, The United States of America, viewed 15 October 2012, . Wesoff, E 2012, ‘Breaking n ews: Commerce Dept. Chinese solar panel dumping verdict is now in’, Greentech Media, viewed 17 October 2012, . WTO see World Trade Organisation World Trade Organisation 2012, ‘Anti-dumping, subsidies, safeguards: contingencies, etc’, The World Trade Organisation, viewed 10 October 2012, http://www. wto. org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm8_e. htm

Canadian Women and the Second World War Essay

The changing roles of women throughout history has been drastic, and none more so than the period during and after World War II. The irrevocable changes that occurred once the war started and women went to work were unprecedented. In the end, the changing role of Canada’s women during the War was the beginning of a chain reaction of events that have forever changed the Canadian workplace and also that of men’s archaic views on the capabilities of women in general. Many look back to the period during the war in which women were encouraged to get out of the kitchen and go to work, and wonder how a five year period could be so instrumental in forever changing the norms of society? Two authors, who attempt to sift through a mountain of information and provide a clear picture in response to this question, are Jeff Keshen and Ruth Roach Pierson. Both authors paint a slightly different picture from the piles of papers, minutes, war diaries and publications that covered that pivotal period during World War II where so many Canadians women found their voice and their freedom from domesticity. Canadian Women and the Second World War Ruth Roach Pierson’s essay is written with purely the perspective of women in mind, and the article itself is geared towards a female audience. The writer briefly describes the conditions of Canada at the onset of the war and the societal views of the role of women. Although there are no quoted references sited for this essay, there was a vast amount of alternative reading where I am sure one could draw numerous conclusions. Even with the lack of references, I did find this essay the most compelling especially, given the current climate of women in the work force. Ruth Roach Pierson describes in great detail the plight women faced during the war, when they were encouraged by the government and the needs of their families to get out and help support their families financially while all of the men were away at war. She goes on to describe the working conditions and child care situations for working women which were less than adequate. As a member of the Canadian Forces and a woman, the most interesting part of the article for me was the descriptions of how women became a uniformed part of the military and how all three branches of service came to assimilate women into active duty and the roles they were allowed to serve in. Throughout the essay, we were told about the deplorable conditions, the lack of equality the women faced in the workplace, and the stereotypes that were attached to women that proved very difficult and almost impossible to overcome. At most concern was the inequality found between men and women’s pay, benefits and allowances throughout the World War II era and beyond. The lack of equal pay for equal work caused great contention for women and still does to this day (although it is not quite as blatant in the civilian workforce today). The argument of the writer is that the roles taken on by women during the war forever changed the roles of women in society. I agree with her argument. Had it not been for the war, and the call to work and the military, things would be very different in our society for women, even today. The war was the instrument to get Canadian women to work, and once there, women found their voices to fight the inequality with respect to working conditions and pay, and paved the way for the next generation of women to continue to work and fight for an equal playing field with their male counterparts . Revisiting Canada’s Civilian Women during World War II Jeff Keshen’s essay is without a doubt written from a man’s perspective without much sympathy to the plight civilian women experienced during the World War II era. This article is very well written and cites over 100 references, making for a very factual account of the times. This article was geared more towards what contributions were made by civilian women versus the article by Ruth Roach Pierson which put most of the focus on women’s roles within the military. Jeff Keshen’s article explains how the media plays a of the time played a pivotal role in doing two things specifically, one was to get the women out to work, support their families and contribute to the war cause. The second countered the last by telling women were over and over told how important their role in the home was. Throughout this article the writer makes numerous references towards how the government of Canada attempted to do the right thing towards female workers during the war, but it also shows how the government’s heart wasn’t into it, thus just making offers to female workers just to appease their complaints for the time being until the war was over. The government was terrible on providing financial support to women whose husbands were away at war, offering only meager amounts of their pay each month, thus forcing more women into the workforce. The article goes on to further explain how during the war, women felt empowered by their circumstances and how once the war was over that women continued to fight towards equality and many refused to ‘go back to the kitchen’ after the war and further challenged the norms by continuing to work. In conclusion, the most compelling argument found during both articles was the willingness of women to move forward and support their families, no matter the cost or the inequalities found between their male counterparts. I have always heard said that ‘women are the backbone of society’. Now, this may not be entirely true in the year 2011 with the shared roles of women and men in families, but it certainly can be said for the years during World War II. Women were faced with the challenge of having their spouses and breadwinners away from home, and they were also faced with the uncertainty of their safe return home to their families. When you couple this with the call from their government and society to join the work force to help the war effort and take over the roles of the men in society while they were away. Eagerly the women answered that call, and stepped up to take over the roles the men used to hold before the war. Not only were they working full-time jobs, but they were still in charge of their households and raising their children and taking over and completing the roles of husband and fathers for an extremely long period of time.