Business Ethics When the Work

Work-life balance is an adaptable working system that has gotten normal in a few associations in the US. A few firms have presented adaptable working hours for their representatives, who need to adjust among family and work obligations. Work-life balance is a pattern that has gotten in different work environments in the US. This work-life balance affects connections that representatives have with one another. Laborers who have kids have discovered adaptable working hours all the more compensating for their professions and family lives.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Business Ethics: When the Work-Life Scales Are Unequal. explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The working environment condition is encountering a ton of changes. Bosses have understood the significance of offering their representatives adaptable work routines, which assist them with adjusting among work and family life. In any case, the work-life balance approach isn't getting support f rom all specialists true to form. Laborers without any youngsters and families to think about, feel that their partners who have families utilize this as a guise to abstain from playing out their obligations. They feel that they shoulder the weight of their truant associates since they need to perform additional obligations. It is hard for average workers guardians, particularly moms, to adjust their duty to work and family successfully. Be that as it may, a few laborers are strong of their associates who are constrained by family conditions to adhere to adaptable working hours. These laborers comprehend the significance of their partners being associated with the lives of their youngsters. An adaptable work routine makes such laborers progressively viable. This is a result of the fulfillment they get from playing out their work obligations and investing energy with their kids. Representatives who are away from their work stations can be called or messaged if a pressing issue that n eeds their information comes up grinding away. This has made a great deal of amicability between laborers, in firms which have work-life balance plans. Numerous organizations are thinking that its hard to execute adaptable work frameworks. A few representatives don't have youngsters yet need time to take care of their relatives, who need their consideration. Representatives who care for their older guardians or grandparents feel that their partners who have youngsters are supported more by the work-life balance plans than them. They guarantee that they additionally have the right to be given adaptable work routines, which permit them to think about their old family members more. Human asset experts contend that, for an adaptable work program to succeed, all representatives with elective interests from work should be considered.Advertising Looking for paper on business financial aspects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Emplo yees in firms who offer adaptable work routines should concentrate on how their obligations will be finished during the period they are away. This will diminish the weight that is carried by their partners when they are away from work. Firms need to screen the time every specialist spends at the working environment, to decide each individual’s efficiency level. A work-life balance program must be successful if all representatives speak with one another effectively, paying little heed to their areas. Laborers additionally need to tell their partners on the off chance that they are wanting to leave their workstations early. Adaptable working projects should be reasonable for all specialists to lessen hatred between them. Associations need to fulfill essential time constraints and execution targets. Execution of a work-life balance program ought to guarantee that profitability levels in the association stay reliable. This case affirms that numerous organizations face challenges while executing adaptable work programs for their representatives. All representatives should be given equivalent thought when an adaptable work program is being actualized. This exposition on Business Ethics: When the Work-Life Scales Are Unequal. was composed and presented by client Nayeli C. to help you with your own examinations. You are allowed to utilize it for exploration and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it in like manner. You can give your paper here.

A Fatal Accident Essays

A Fatal Accident Essays A Fatal Accident Essay A Fatal Accident Essay A Fatal Accident A Fatal mishap is something shocking that can occur with someone and the most noticeably terrible part is the point at which it occurs; individual sees a look of death and that time he understands his slip-ups too. A lethal mishap could pace a constructive outcome on person’s life on the off chance that he takes in an exercise from it. Monday Night, it was a night after my brother’s valima and we as a whole were cheerful. We wanted to take the recently married lady of the hour out for supper. So we as a whole cousins alongside my kin were en route to a café. I was in a vehicle with my cousin who was driving the vehicle, I was sitting in the front and my two sisters were perched on the rearward sitting arrangement. My cousin who was driving was another driver really and he generally drives like a maniac and that is the reason I was sitting with him so I would continue cautioning him at whatever point he accomplishes something incorrectly. There were 4 vehicles including our own. Well here’s the rub, that day my cousin was driving like an ordinary individual however I don’t precisely recall what occurred yet the vehicle left his control and went rough terrain. To start with, the tires got burst then the vehicle hit a major stone and after that the vehicle floated to right and flipped more than multiple times. The second time the vehicle turned over I thought it’s my last snapshot of life yet by the Grace of Allah when the vehicle quit moving it stood straight. I and my cousins surged out of the vehicle drag my sisters out and afterward left from the vehicle if in the event that it detonates. It was unnerving to the point that one of my different cousins who were riding in other vehicle behind us saw the entire seen and she got black out. It was alarming to such an extent that whoever sees the state of the vehicle gets scared and none accepted that we made due in the wake of seeing the state of the vehicle. Well we as a whole in some way or another oversaw and controlled ourselves, sat in other 3 vehicles and returned home. It was a wonder that nobody in the vehicle got a solitary wound. After the mishap when we returned home and everything appeared to be alright I kicked back and imagined that why it occurred and I understood that it was an exercise for us all. I recall 5 days before Monday we had a heaps of fun, the great we haven’t had in our lives and around then I surmise none of my cousin implored a solitary namaz; Allah prohibit us. Like for the cousin who was driving it was an exercise for him that he ought to never drive quick again. What's more, for the remainder of my cousins, kin and me it was an exercise that when Allah gives you heaps of joy we shouldn’t disregard Him and in any event implore Namaz when it is expected.

What To Read After Watching The OA

What To Read After Watching The OA When I  love a television  series or  movie, I want to read about it. Not gossip about the stars, but about the writers and subject of the show. The OA is driving me crazy with curiosity. The book I’m most anxious to read  hasn’t been  written yet  because it would be an  annotated transcript of the dialog between Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling as they created  The OA.  A story about writing a story about storytelling. That’s deliciously recursive. The OA  models religion  â€" I don’t know if intentional or not. That ratcheted up my fascination too. I’m an atheist  â€" so I wondered if Batmanglij and Marling are believers? Or are they just  messing with believers heads? Like any good novelist, their 8-part video novel  has an ambiguous ending to go with its ambiguous intentions. That’s very frustrating  â€" but in a good way. The OA  is about  NDEs â€" Near Death Experiences. The essence of religion hinges on  faith in an afterlife. That makes their story a religious story. Since their story is also about storytelling and believing, it also makes it about faith. Even more, I think The OA is a study in fiction and storytelling. Anyone writing a novel today should analyze original series on television. They are the cutting edge of storytelling evolution. The OA is fascinating because it explores fiction and belief. The main character, Prairie Johnson,  mysteriously calls herself The OA. She could be a stand-in for Jesus. I won’t point out all the comparisons because of spoilers, but depending on how you count them, she might have twelve followers.  The OA  has a story about resurrection  she wants other people to believe.  She offers  life after death for belief.  And there are  angels in this story  â€" maybe. Other dimensions  substitute for heaven, but I missed any  suggestion of God. This story works to avoid  specific religions, or  possibly it theorizes on a secular afterlife. If Batmanglij and Marling just told a fun narrative  based on clichéd fantasy tropes I wouldn’t be writing this essay.  I can’t say  B M are promoting  belief in NDEs, but I  know many viewers want to believe in such experiences. I wish I could find a scientific study on belief and fiction. If To Kill a Mockingbird can spread acceptance of racial diversity, can a fantasy about NDEs spread belief in the afterlife? Since Raymond Moody’s Life After Life in 1975, we’ve been seeing more books every year on NDEs. Goodreads has a shelf for 309 books about NDE. Some popular titles are Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo, Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander and 90 Minutes in Heaven. I’ve read some of these books and they can be convincing. Because  I’m an atheist some of my Christian friends have given me NDE books to prove they are right about  religion. And I highly recommend  everyone try a couple. They are powerful stories,  even dangerous. When you read them you’ll be queuing up The Twilight Zone theme music, though.  Afterward, I highly recommend reading a pile of Skeptical Inquirers as an antidote, or Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks. The power of our minds to fool ourselves has yet to be  fully measured. Have  Batmanglij and Marling merely borrowed the biggest selling point of religion to capture a TV audience? Do they believe in NDEs themselves, and want to promote the belief? Or did they pick NDEs for yet another fantasy series because wizards, werewolves, zombies, and vampires are getting old and tired? I have to believe writers are getting savvier about seducing readers. Just look at some recent writing books that try to take reader psychology into account Wired for Story and Story Genius by Lisa Cron, The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall, and The Spirituality of Imperfection by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham. Why cant I find books about scientific studies on the impact of fiction on believing? If religion is fiction, it has converted billions into believing. That implies novels can have tremendous powers. The art of storytelling goes way beyond creating bestsellers and blockbusters. When you watch The OA, pay attention to how many stories are told within its eight episodes,  to how many people,  and how  are they  believed. And remember this, the bad guy of this story is a scientist. The symbolism: science holds  faith hostage. As you watch, count the number of people trapped by their fates, and how often faith is offered as a means of escape. We are storytelling animals. But that goes way beyond entertainment. Our conscious minds constantly make up stories about every bit of input our mind notices, but that often causes pitfalls. One of my favorites is called “the narrative fallacy,” which I first read about in The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Essentially it means we make up a story to explain every experience, no matter how small. Those stories influence  our actions. But when the original assumption is wrong, leading to a misdirecting story, we end up acting wrong. When you see episode eight, youll wonder where the narrative fallacy in The OA lies. What makes The OA so appealing to me is we don’t know if Prairie Johnson is a reliable narrator or not. Her followers don’t know if the life-changing decisions they are making based on her story are correct. Let me give you one last book to read. It’s called Other Powers by Barbara Goldsmith. Like near death experiences are being used now to support religious belief, all around the world in the 19th century, people took up the belief in spiritualism as proof of religion. Séances became a fad and mania because of the Fox sisters.  People assumed proof of an afterlife validates religion. Even famous people embraced and promoted spiritualism. Abe and Mary Lincoln tried to contact their dead son. No one book can convey the impact of spiritualism had back then but Other Powers  is dazzling because it also covers the suffrage, abolition and temperance movements.  Spiritualism lingers to this day. And that’s surprising because the Fox sisters eventually admitted they were frauds a nd revealed the techniques they used to fool people. Stories are fun. Stories can be a vacation from reality. They can also become an addiction and delusion. I believe writers for print and screen are becoming  so sophisticated at storytelling that we want to binge on them. And preachers and politicians can spin tales that shape our reality. When I watched The OA I wondered if Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling were showcasing the art, teaching us the art, or warning us about the art of storytelling. I assume all three. In some ways, The OA is like The Life of Pi by Yann Martel. At the end of the story, we’re left with two versions. If you’re a theist, you want to believe one version, if  you’re an atheist you want to believe another version. Now that weve speculated about the power of gurus, saviors and novelists to manipulate people with storytelling, just wonder about those skills in the hands of politicians.

A Writing Ecology Is A Dynamic, Interconnected System Of...

A writing ecology is a dynamic, interconnected system of communication, which works together through interaction and sharing. As the term ‘ecology’ traditionally refers to the relationships between organisms in an environment, the ability to metaphorically link this to a concept of writing redefines the complexity of networked technologies and the influences of technological change. The ability to participate in a digitally evolving space opens up new possibilities and opportunities when accessing and expressing knowledge and information. Snowfall (Branch, 2016) is an explicit example of this as it demonstrates key concepts through optimising its environment. By allowing the audience to actively engage themselves in the text, Snowfall revolutionised traditional media in its time. Writing as a digitally networked environment enriches the experience of the reader by allowing them to interact with new technological forms. The ability to engage in multimodal writing spaces exceeds traditional alphabetic text by drawing upon the audience’s sensory responses. New multimodal media explores still and moving images, music, colour and sound that entices and interacts with the responder. Snowfall is an example of this as it discusses the affects an avalanche had on the town of Tunnel Creek. Its interactive form produces an interesting layout, which gives the reader a more active and dynamic experience in contrast to traditional and more restrictive written text. By using aShow MoreRelatedThe Current State Of The Ecological Environment Essay776 Words   |  4 PagesHow can bioart be seen to embody the concept of the ritual that would have the capacity to breach the nature/culture and human/animal dichotomies in the context of ecology? Sub-Questions Background/Context Questions What is the current state of the ecological environment? 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Is Abortion A Controversial Issue - 1930 Words

Joseph Thielemann Professor Alesky Research Paper 7 May, 2015 Abortion Abortion is a highly debated topic in today’s society, but many do not know about it’s origins. An abortion is defined as †The intentional termination of a pregnancy after conception.† Over the course of this paper I will shows the pre-modern world, and the brutal methods of abortion they had during that time, abortion around the world, the Greek and Roman world and Japan, and the early attitude of abortion, it was â€Å"double edge sword† because women were shunned for having an abortion, but also shunned for having a child out of wedlock. Abortions dates back all the way to some of the first written evidence of abortion was in the Code of Hammurabi in 1760 BCE. It†¦show more content†¦Many of the citizens did not care about protecting the unborn, but when they did, it was primarily because the father felt entitled to his future child. Many philosophers argued that the fetus was not alive until 40 days after conception, for a male, and 8 0 for a female. Aristotle thought this because although females fetuses developed slower in the womb, they made up for it by their brain developing faster than males. During the Edo period in Japan, documents of induced abortion became increasingly prevalent. This was most notable with peasants, who were troubled the worst by famines and high taxes and would not be able to feed their future children. Statues of the enlightened buddhist monk, Jizo, were erected in the 18th century in memory of abortion, miscarriage, stillbirths, and young childhood death. The early views of abortion were closely related to status and value. Many women were shunned for having a child out of wedlock, but also were sometimes called whores for having abortions. The Stoics, a group of early philosophers, believed the fetus to be plantlike and not an animal until â€Å"when it finally breathed air.† due to this, they believed abortion to be morally acceptable. Aristotle, a famous greek philosopher , wrote that â€Å"The line between lawful and unlawful abortion will be marked by the fact of having sensation and being alive. before this statement however, he

The Twilight Saga 2 New Moon Chapter 22 FLIGHT Free Essays

DEMETRI LEFT US IN THE CHEERFULLY OPULENT RECEPTION area, where the woman Gianna was still at her post behind the polished counter. Bright, harmless music tinkled from hidden speakers. â€Å"Do not leave until dark,† he warned us. We will write a custom essay sample on The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Chapter 22 FLIGHT or any similar topic only for you Order Now Edward nodded, and Demetri hurried away. Gianna did not seem at all surprised by the exchange, though she did eye Edward’s borrowed cloak with shrewd speculation. â€Å"Are you all right?† Edward asked under his breath, to low for the human woman to hear. His voice was roughif velvet can be roughwith anxiety. Still stressed by our situation, I imagined. â€Å"You’d better make her sit before she falls,† Alice said. â€Å"She’s going to pieces.† It was only then that I realize I was shaking, shaking hard, my entire frame vibrating until my teeth chattered and the room around me seemed to wobble and blur in my eyes. For one wild second, I wondered if this was how Jacob felt just before exploding into a werewolf. I heard a sound that didn’t make sense, a strange, ripping counterpart to the otherwise cheery background music. Distracted by the shaking, I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. â€Å"Shh, Bella, shh,† Edward said as he pulled me to the sofa farthest away from the curious human at the desk. â€Å"I think she’s having hysterics. Maybe you should slap her,† Alice suggested. Edward threw a frantic glance at her. Then I understood. Oh. The noise was me. The ripping sound was the sobs coming from my chest. That’s what was shaking me. â€Å"It’s all right, you’re safe, it’s all right,† he chanted again and again. He pulled ne onto his lap and tucked the thick wool cloak around me, protecting me from his cold skin. I knew it was stupid to react like this. Who knew how much time I had to look at his race? He was saved, and I was saved, and he could leave me as soon as we were free. To have my eyes so filled with tears that I could not see his features clearly was wastefulinsanity. But, behind my eyes where the tears could not wash the image away, I could still see the panicked face of the tiny woman with the rosary. â€Å"All those people,† I sobbed. â€Å"I know,† he whispered. â€Å"It’s so horrible.† â€Å"Yes, it is. I wish you hadn’t had to see that.† I rested my head against his cold chest, using the thick cloak to wipe my eyes. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself. â€Å"Is there anything I can get you?† a voice asked politely. It was Gianna, leaning over Edward’s shoulder with a look that was both concerned and yet still professional and detached at the same time. It didn’t seem to bother her that her face was inches from a hostile vampire. She was either totally oblivious, or very good at her job. â€Å"No,† Edward answered coldly. She nodded, smiled at me, and then disappeared. I waited until she was out of hearing range. â€Å"Does she know what’s going on here?† I demanded, my voice low and hoarse. I was getting control of myself, my breathing evening out. â€Å"Yes. She knows everything,† Edward told me. â€Å"Does she know they’re going to kill her someday?† â€Å"She’s knows it’s a possibility,† he said. That surprised me. Edward’s face was hard to read. â€Å"She’s hoping they’ll decide to keep her.† I felt the blood leave my face. â€Å"She wants to be one of them?† He nodded once, his eyes sharp on my face, watching my reaction. I shuddered. â€Å"How can she want that?† I whispered, more to myself than really looking for an answer. â€Å"How can she watch those people file through to that hideous room and want to be a part of that?† Edward didn’t answer. His expression twisted in response to something I’d said. As I stared at his too beautiful face, trying to understand the change, it suddenly struck me that I was really here, in Edward’s arms, however fleetingly, and that we were notat this exact momentabout to be killed. â€Å"Oh, Edward,† I cried, and I was sobbing again. It was such a stupid reaction. The tears were too thick for me to see his face again, and that was inexcusable. I only had until sunset for sure. Like a fairy tale again, with deadlines that ended the magic. â€Å"What’s wrong?† he asked, still anxious, rubbing my back with gentle pats. I wrapped my arms around his neckwhat was the worst he could do? Just push me awayand hugged myself closer to him. â€Å"Is it really sick for me to be happy right now?† I asked. My voice broke twice. He didn’t push me away. He pulled me tight against his ice-hard chest, so tight it was hard to breathe, even with my lungs securely intact. â€Å"I know exactly what you mean,† he whispered. â€Å"But we have lots of reasons to be happy. For one, we’re alive.† â€Å"Yes,† I agreed. â€Å"That’s a good one.† â€Å"And together,† he breathed. His breath was so sweet it made my head swim. I just nodded, sure that he did not place the same weight on that consideration as I did. â€Å"And, with any luck, we’ll still be alive tomorrow.† â€Å"Hopefully,† I said uneasily. â€Å"The outlook is quite good,† Alice assured me. She’d been so quiet, I’d almost forgotten her presence. â€Å"I’ll see Jasper in less than twenty-four hours,† she added in a satisfied tone. Lucky Alice. She could trust her future. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of Edward’s face for long. I stared at him, wishing more than anything that the future would never happen. That this moment would last forever, or, if it couldn’t, that I would stop existing when it did. Edward stared right back at me, his dark eyes soft, and it was easy to pretend that he felt the same way. So that’s what I did. I pretended, to make the moment sweeter. His fingertips traced the circles under my eyes. â€Å"You look so tired.† â€Å"And you look thirsty,† I whispered back, studying the purple bruises under his black irises. He shrugged. â€Å"It’s nothing.† â€Å"Are you sure? I could sit with Alice,† I offered, unwilling; I’d rather he killed me now than move one inch from where I was. â€Å"Don’t be ridiculous.† He sighed; his sweet breath caressed my face. â€Å"I’ve never been in better control of that side of my nature than right now.† I had a million questions for him. One of them bubbled to my lips now, but I held my tongue. I didn’t want to ruin the moment, as imperfect as it was, here in this room that made me sick, under the eyes of the would-be monster. Here in his arms, it was so easy to fantasize that he wanted me. I didn’t want to think about his motivations nowabout whether he acted this way to keep me calm while we were still in danger, or if he just felt guilty for where we were and relieved that he wasn’t responsible for my death. Maybe the time apart had been enough that I didn’t bore him for the moment. But it didn’t matter. I was so much happier pretending. I lay quiet in his arms, re-memorizing his face, pretending He stared at my face like he was doing the same, while he and Alice discussed how to get home. Their voices were so quick and low that I knew Gianna couldn’t understand. I missed half of it myself. It sounded like more theft would be involved, though. I wondered idly if the yellow Porsche had made it back to its owner yet. â€Å"What was all that talk about singers?† Alice asked at one point. â€Å"La tua cantante,† Edward said. His voice made the words into music. â€Å"Yes, that,† Alice said, and I concentrated for a moment. I’d wondered about that, too, at the time. I felt Edward shrug around me. â€Å"They have a name for someone who smells the way Bella does to me. They call her my singerbecause her blood sings for me.† Alice laughed. I was tired enough to sleep, but I fought against the weariness. I wasn’t going to miss a second of the time I had with him. Now and then, as he talked with Alice, he would lean down suddenly and kiss mehis glass-smooth lips brushing against my hair, my forehead, the tip of my nose. Each time it was like an electric shock to my long dormant heart. The sound of its beating seemed to fill the entire room. It was heavenright smack in the middle of hell. I lost track of the time completely. So when Edward’s arms tightened around me, and both he and Alice looked to the back of the room with wary eyes, I panicked. I cringed into Edward’s chest as Alechis eyes now a vivid ruby, but still spotless in his light gray suit despite the afternoon mealwalked through the double doors. It was good news. â€Å"You’re free to leave now,† Alec told us, his tone so warm you’d think we were all lifelong friends. â€Å"We ask that you don’t linger in the city.† Edward made no answering pretence; his voice was ice cold. â€Å"That won’t be a problem.† Alec smiled, nodded, and disappeared again. â€Å"Follow the right hallway around the corner to the first set of elevators,† Gianna told us as Edward helped me to my feet. â€Å"The lobby is two floors down, and exits to the street. Goodbye, now,† she added pleasantly. I wondered if her competence would be enough to save her. Alice shot her a dark look. I was relieved there was another way out; I wasn’t sure if I could handle another tour through the underground. We left through a tastefully luxurious lobby. I was the only one who glanced back at the medieval castle that housed the elaborate business facade I couldn’t see the turret from here, for which I was grateful. The party was still in full swing in the streets. The street lamps were just coming on as we walked swiftly through the narrow, cobbled lanes. The sky was a dull, fading gray overhead, but the buildings crowded the streets so closely that it felt darker. The party was darker, too. Edward’s long, trailing cloak did not stand out in the way it might have on a normal evening in Volterra. There were others in black satin cloaks now, and the plastic fangs I’d seen on the child in the square today seemed to be very popular with the adults. â€Å"Ridiculous,† Edward muttered once. I didn’t notice when Alice disappeared from beside me. I looked over to ask her a question, and she was gone. â€Å"Where’s Alice?† I whispered in a panic. â€Å"She went to retrieve your bags from where she stashed them this morning.† I’d forgotten that I had access to a toothbrush. It brightened my outlook considerably. â€Å"She’s stealing a car, too, isn’t she?† I guessed. He grinned. â€Å"Not till we’re outside.† It seemed like a very long way to the entryway. Edward could see that I was spent; he wound his arm around my waist and supported most of my weight as we walked. I shuddered as he pulled me through the dark stone archway. The huge, ancient portcullis above was like a cage door, threatening to drop on us, to lock us in. He led me toward a dark car, waiting in a pool of shadow to the right of the gate with the engine running. To my surprise, he slid into the backseat with me, instead of insisting on driving. Alice was apologetic. â€Å"I’m sorry.† She gestured vaguely toward the dashboard. â€Å"There wasn’t much to choose from.† â€Å"It’s fine, Alice.† He grinned. â€Å"They can’t all be 911 Turbos.† She sighed. â€Å"I may have to acquire one of those legally. It was fabulous.† â€Å"I’ll get you one for Christmas,† Edward promised. Alice turned to beam at him, which worried me, as she was already speeding down the dark and curvy hillside at the same time. â€Å"Yellow,† she told him. Edward kept me tight in his arms. Inside the gray cloak, I was warm and comfortable. More than comfortable. â€Å"You can sleep now, Bella,† he murmured. â€Å"It’s over.† I knew he meant the danger, the nightmare in the ancient city, but I still had to swallow hard before I could answer. â€Å"I don’t want to sleep. I’m not tired.† Just the second part was a lie. I wasn’t about to close my eyes. The car was only dimly lit by the dashboard controls, but it was enough that I could see his face. He pressed his lips to the hollow under my ear. â€Å"Try,† he encouraged. I shook my head. He sighed. â€Å"You’re still just as stubborn.† I was stubborn; I fought with my heavy lids, and I won. The dark road was the hardest part; the bright lights at the airport in Florence made it easier, as did the chance to brush my teeth and change into clean clothes; Alice bought Edward new clothes, too, and he left the dark cloak on a pile of trash in an alley. The plane trip to Rome was so short that there wasn’t really a chance for the fatigue to drag me under. I knew the flight from Rome to Atlanta would be another matter entirely, so I asked the flight attendant if she could bring me a Coke. â€Å"Bella,† Edward said disapprovingly. He knew my low tolerance for caffeine. Alice was behind us. I could hear her murmuring to Jasper on the phone. â€Å"I don’t want to sleep,† I reminded him. I gave him an excuse that was believable because it was true. â€Å"If I close my eyes now, I’ll see things I don’t want to see. I’ll have nightmares.† He didn’t argue with me after that. It would have been a very good time to talk, to get the answers I neededneeded but not really wanted; I was already despairing at the thought of what I might hear. We had an uninterrupted block of tirre ahead of us, and he couldn’t escape me on an airplanewell, not easily, at least. No one would hear us except Alice; it was late, and most of the passengers were turning off lights and asking for pillows in muted voices. Talk would help me fight off the exhaustion. But, perversely, I bit my tongue against the flood of questions. My reasoning was probably flawed by exhaustion, but I hoped that by postponing the discussion, I could buy a few more hours with him at some later timespin this out for another night, Scheherazade-style. So I kept drinking soda, and resisting even the urge to blink. Edward seemed perfectly content to hold me in his arms, his fingers tracing my face again and again. I touched his face, too. I couldn’t stop myself, though I was afraid it would hurt me later, when I was alone again. He continued to kiss my hair, my forehead, my wrists but never my lips, and that was good. After all, how many ways can one heart be mangled and still be expected to keep beating? I’d lived through a lot that should have finished me in the last few days, but it didn’t make me feel strong. Instead, I felt horribly fragile, like one word could shatter me. Edward didn’t speak. Maybe he was hoping I would sleep. Maybe he had nothing to say. I won the fight against my heavy lids. I was awake when we reached the airport in Atlanta, and I even watched the sun beginning to rise over Seattle’s cloud cover before Edward slid the window shut. I was proud of myself. I hadn’t missed one minute. Neither Alice nor Edward was surprised by the reception that waited for us at Sea-Tac airport, but it caught me off guard. Jasper was the first one I sawhe didn’t seem to see me at all. His eyes were only for Alice. She went quickly to his side; they didn’t embrace like other couples meeting there. They only stared into each other’s faces, yet, somehow, the moment was so private that I still felt the need to look away. Carlisle and Esme waited in a quiet corner far from the line for the metal detectors, in the shadow of a wide pillar. Esme reached for me, hugging me fiercely, yet awkwardly, because Edward kept his arms around me, too. â€Å"Thank you so much,† she said in my ear. Then she threw her arms around Edward, and she looked like she would be crying if that were possible. â€Å"Youwill never put me through :hat again,† she nearly growled. Edward grinned, repentant. â€Å"Sorry, Mom.† â€Å"Thank you, Bella,† Carlisle said. â€Å"We owe you.† â€Å"Hardly,† I mumbled. The sleepless night was suddenly overpowering. My head felt disconnected from my body. â€Å"She’s dead on her feet,† Esme scolded Edward. â€Å"Let’s get her home.† Not sure if home was what I wanted at this point, I stumbled, half-blind, through the airport, Edward dragging me on one side and Esme on the other. I didn’t know if Alice and Jasper were behind us or not, and I was too exhausted to look. I think I was mostly asleep, though I was still walking, when we reached their car. The surprise of seeing Emmett and Rosalie leaning against the black sedan under the dim lights of the parking garage revived me some. Edward stiffened. â€Å"Don’t,† Esme whispered. â€Å"She feels awful.† â€Å"She should,† Edward said, making no attempt to keep his voice down. â€Å"It’s not her fault,† I said, my words garbled with exhaustion. â€Å"Let her make amends,† Esme pleaded. â€Å"We’ll ride with Alice and Jasper.† Edward glowered at the absurdly lovely blond vampire waiting for us. â€Å"Please, Edward,† I said. I didn’t want to ride with Rosalie any more than he seemed to, but I’d caused more than enough discord in his family. He sighed, and towed me toward the car. Emmett and Rosalie got in the front seat without speaking, while Edward pulled me in the back again. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to fight my eyelids anymore, and I laid my head against his chest in defeat, letting them close. I felt the car purr to life. â€Å"Edward,† Rosalie began. â€Å"I know.† Edward’s brusque tone was not generous. â€Å"Bella?† Rosalie asked softly. My eyelids fluttered open in shock. It was the first time she’d ever spoken directly to me. â€Å"Yes, Rosalie?† I asked, hesitant. â€Å"I’m so very sorry, Bella. I feel wretched about every part of this, and so grateful that you were brave enough to go save my brother after what I did. Please say you’ll forgive me.† The words were awkward, stilted because of her embarrassment, but they seemed sincere. â€Å"Of course, Rosalie,† I mumbled, grasping at any chance to make her hate me a little less. â€Å"It’s not your fault at all. I’m the one who jumped off the damn cliff. Of course I forgive you.† The words came out like mush. â€Å"It doesn’t count until she’s conscious, Rose,† Emmett chuckled. â€Å"I’m conscious,† I said; it just sounded like a garbled sigh. â€Å"Let her sleep,† Edward insisted, but his voice was a little warmer. It was quiet then, except for the gentle thrum of the engine. I must have fallen asleep, because it seemed like seconds later when the door opened and Edward was carrying me from the car. My eyes wouldn’t open. At first I thought we were still at the airport. And then I heard Charlie. â€Å"Bella!† he shouted from some distance. â€Å"Charlie,† I mumbled, trying to shake off the stupor. â€Å"Shh,† Edward whispered. â€Å"It’s okay; you’re home and safe. Just sleep.† â€Å"I can’t believe you have the nerve to show your face here.† Charlie bellowed at Edward, his voice much closer now. â€Å"Stop it, Dad,† I groaned. He didn’t hear me. â€Å"What’s wrong with her?† Charlie demanded. â€Å"She’s just very tired, Charlie,† Edward assured him quietly. â€Å"Please let her rest.† â€Å"Don’t tell me what to do!† Charlie yelled. â€Å"Give her to me. Get your hands off her!† Edward tried to pass me to Charlie, but I clung to him with locked, tenacious fingers. I could feel my dad yanking on my arm. â€Å"Cut it out, Dad,† I said with more volume. I managed to drag my lids back to stare at Charlie with bleary eyes. â€Å"Be mad at me.† We were in front of my house. The front door was standing open. The cloud cover overhead was too thick to guess at a time of day. â€Å"You bet I will be,† Charlie promised. â€Å"Get inside.† i'†Kay. Let me down,† I sighed. Edward set me on my feet. I could see that I was upright, but I couldn’t feel my legs. I trudged forward anyway, until the sidewalk swirled up toward my face. Edward’s arms caught me before I hit the concrete. â€Å"Just let me get her upstairs,† Edward said. â€Å"Then I’ll leave.† â€Å"No,† I cried, panicking. I hadn’t got my answers yet. He had to stay for at least that much, didn’t he? â€Å"I won’t be far,† Edward promised, whispering so low in my ear that Charlie didn’t have a hope of hearing. I didn’t hear Charlie answer, but Edward headed into the house. My open eyes only made it till the stairs. The last thing I felt was Edward’s cool hands prying my fingers loose from his shirt. How to cite The Twilight Saga 2: New Moon Chapter 22 FLIGHT, Essay examples

Toyota Environmental Factors Essay Example

Toyota Environmental Factors Paper Those factors that are under control of business operation have come under the internal factors and the factors that beyond the business control are considered to be external factors (Van Busch,1 980). Most of the time, external factors have come due to the results of the external business and referred to the external factors. The successful multinational organizations have made their marketing decision and its strategies for making encounter against the numerous environmental factors of the business. This paper has to aim for exploring the numerous environmental factors and the marketing decision for the world leading automobile manufacturing company Toyota Corporation. The car manufacturing company that headquarter has based on Japan is the largest motor manufacture in the world. The company has run its operation in the domestic and international level to the aim of expand their market share and offers a variety of cars for their customers. Toyota Corporation has more than 3000 sales centers in their domestic market, and more than 1 000 sales center all on the world (Bass Mornings, 2000). Discussion There are a number of factors that have a great impact on the decision of marketing for the Toyota Corporation. Factors have been including are global, social-cultural, economical, Legal, political and technological. These environmental factors have become very challenging for the business and encounter against them, even most of the time these environmental factors have become the major threat for the business. To tackle these threats firm have to the required number of strategic and marketing decision to overcome these factors. We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Environmental Factors specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Environmental Factors specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Environmental Factors specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Global Economic Interdependence Toyota Corporation has required selling their product accordance to the prevailing internal market due to the global economic interdependence. When there is the less demand from the internal market Toyota has require o adjust their marketing strategies and manufacturing car according to the global need, while when international demand has rises they have uses extensive strategies of distribution and marketing decision to meet customer satisfaction and need. The practices of trade agreement have also affected the decision of marketing for Toyota Corporation; the company has a major influence to make a contract with the sole agent for the specific market (Cortez camp; Penetrated, 2010), that would help fort the Toyota that do not sell the product directly towards customers even their distributors become bankrupt. Demographic, Physical infrastructure Cultural differences Social factors has relates to the demographic features and values. Characteristic of demographic has included the differences among genders among the consumers, perception of customers and attitudes, cultural difference between the certain communities, cultural diversities. Toyota Corporation has known that very well about various perceptions among their target customers towards the choice of motor vehicles (Bass Mornings, 2000). The company has determined the perception and consumer taste especially in the continent Africa. Uganda consumer has mostly preferred the cars of single cabins while the buyer on the United States has preferred four wheeler cars with double cabins. Physical infrastructure on the other hand has relatively important for Toyota Corporation, for example in Dark Continent Toyota have to face difficulties to sell their cars due to insufficient physical infrastructure, while demand of Toyota cars are relative quite high in Europe and US. Social Responsibility Toyota Corporation has the good name in the market because they are social responsible and able to back up domestics and foreign communities. Toyota Corporation helps to build the school and colleges in the village and donate good amount for the relief of food supply for those families who have been affected due to earth-quakes or other natural disasters. The company has the aim to protect the environment thus they are very well focus towards the green and receive good appreciation from the global community. Political system and International Relations Political and the legal factors are related with the country political status, this is basically the rules and regulations that have imposed on Toyota business by those countries where Toyota perform their business activities. These restrictions are not easy and tend to control for conducting the transaction Of business. Instability of the political system in majority countries has also appeared the negative effect from the marketing efforts for Toyota Motor Corporation (Cortez Penetrated, 2010). Foreign Act Foreign Act has set rules that the company has to comply the legal requirement of the countries in which they are operated that is help to reduce the conflict with the state agencies (Arthur, 1978). Toyota Corporation has to pay the license fee and taxes which are due. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1 977 is very useful in the international business for Toyota Corporation to avoid the wrong dealing and cost for money lost. This act will also helpful for Toyota Corporation that they can ethically and morally have the right for all the transactions that help to strength their business. Technology Effect The factors of technology have relates to the innovations and invention that are either based on the engineering or science. The aim of Toyota Corporation has to produce that car that is capable of dynamic wants of their respective customers. Company has a strong department of research and velveteen which have been able to manufacture the cars to satisfy various customer of domestic and international market. There are very nominal cases that defective cars have returned towards a company that shows dynamic progress of the company (Cortez Penetrated, 2010). The another important usage of technology by Toyota Motor Corporation is producing economical fuel consumption car that ensure that Toyota uses it process of manufacturing according to current advancement of technology. Conclusion The successful business has always engaged for seeking the opportunities, to just in the domestics market, but they have chosen brave idea by make their entrance towards the international market (Steven David, 2008). The companies who have overcome the environmental challenges for their business area are always having a competitive advantage over their competitors. There is a requirement to develop the appropriate strategies to go for counterattack towards any negative challenge that badly affect operations of the business. The unmet needs of the consumer are the optimum choice of Toyota Motor Corporation. Company research department constantly research to meet the expectations of customer. There is the need of detailed analysis for both domestic the internal market in which company would like to enter.

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar Antonio de Montesinos (?–1545) was a Dominican friar, attached to the Spanish conquest of the Americas and one of the earliest of the Dominican arrivals in the New World. He is best remembered for a sermon delivered on December 4, 1511, in which he delivered a blistering attack on the colonists who had enslaved the people of the Caribbean. For his efforts, he was run out of Hispaniola, but he and his fellow Dominicans were eventually able to convince the King of the moral correctness of their point of view, thus paving the way for later laws which protected native rights in Spanish lands. Fast Facts: Known For: Inciting the Spanish in Haiti to give up enslaving the native peopleBorn: unknownParents: unknownDied: ca 1545, West IndiesEducation: University of SalamancaPublished Works: Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionemNotable Quote: Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself? Early Life Very little is known about Antonio de Montesinos before his famous sermon. He likely studied at the University of Salamanca before electing to join the Dominican order. In August 1510, he was one of the first six Dominican friars to arrive in the New World, landing on the island of Hispaniola, today politically divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. More clergy would follow the following year, and by 1511, there were about 20 Dominican friars in Santo Domingo. These particular Dominicans were from a reformist sect, and they were appalled at what they saw. By the time the Dominicans arrived on the Island of Hispaniola, the native population had been decimated and was in serious decline. All of the native leaders had been killed, and the remaining indigenous people were given away as slaves to colonists. A nobleman arriving with his wife could expect to be given 80 native slaves: a soldier could expect 60. Governor Diego Columbus (son of Christopher) authorized slaving raids on neighboring islands, and African slaves had been brought in to work the mines. The slaves, living in misery and struggling with new diseases, languages, and culture, died by the score. The colonists, oddly, seemed almost oblivious to this ghastly scene. The Sermon On December 4, 1511, Montesinos announced that the topic of his sermon would be based on Matthew 3,3: â€Å"I am a voice crying in the wilderness.† To a packed house, Montesinos ranted about the horrors he had seen. â€Å"Tell me, by what right or by what interpretation of justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? By what authority have you waged such detestable wars against people who were once living so quietly and peacefully in their own land?† Montesinos continued, implying that the souls of any and all who owned slaves on Hispaniola were damned. The colonists were stunned and outraged. Governor Columbus, responding to the petitions of the colonists, asked the Dominicans to punish Montesinos and retract all that he had said. The Dominicans refused and took things even further, informing Columbus that Montesinos spoke for all of them. The next week, Montesinos spoke again, and many settlers turned out, expecting him to apologize. Instead, he re-stated what he had before, and further informed the colonists that he and his fellow Dominicans would no longer hear confessions of slave-holding colonists, any more than they would those of highway robbers. The Hispaniola Dominicans were (gently) rebuked by the head of their order in Spain, but continued to hold fast to their principles. Finally, King Fernando had to settle the matter. Montesinos traveled to Spain with Franciscan friar Alonso de Espinal, who represented the pro-slavery point of view. Fernando allowed Montesinos to speak freely and was aghast at what he heard. He summoned a group of theologians and legal experts to consider the matter, and they met several times in 1512. The end results of these meetings were the 1512 Laws of Burgos, which guaranteed certain basic rights to New World natives living in Spanish lands. Montesinos defense of the Caribbean people was published in 1516 as Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionem. The Chiribichi Incident In 1513, the Dominicans persuaded King Fernando to allow them to go to the mainland to peacefully convert the natives there. Montesinos was supposed to lead the mission, but he became ill and the task fell to Francisco de Cà ³rdoba and a lay brother, Juan Garcà ©s. The Dominicans set up in the Chiribichi Valley in present-day Venezuela where they were well-received by local chieftain â€Å"Alonso† who had been baptized years before. According to the royal grant, slavers and settlers were to give the Dominicans a wide berth. A few months later, however, Gà ³mez de Ribera, a mid-level but well-connected colonial bureaucrat, went looking for slaves and plunder. He visited the settlement and invited â€Å"Alonso,† his wife and several more members of the tribe on board his ship. When the natives were on board, Ribera’s men raised anchor and set sail for Hispaniola, leaving the two bewildered missionaries behind with the enraged natives. Alonso and the others were split up and enslaved once Ribera returned to Santo Domingo. The two missionaries sent word that they were now hostages and would be killed if Alonso and the others were not returned. Montesinos led a frantic effort to track down and return Alonso and the others, but failed: after four months, the two missionaries were killed. Ribera, meanwhile, was protected by a relative, who happened to be an important judge. There was an inquest in regard to the incident and colonial officials reached the extremely bizarre conclusion that since the missionaries had been executed, the leaders of the tribe- i.e. Alonso and the others- were obviously hostiles and could therefore continue to be enslaved. In addition, it was said that the Dominicans were themselves at fault for being in such unsavory company in the first place. Exploits on the Mainland There is evidence to suggest that Montesinos accompanied the expedition of Lucas Vzquez de Ayllà ³n, which set out with some 600 colonists from Santo Domingo in 1526. They founded a settlement in present-day South Carolina named San Miguel de Guadalupe. The settlement lasted only three months, as many became ill and died and local natives repeatedly attacked them. When Vzquez died, the remaining colonists returned to Santo Domingo. In 1528, Montesinos went to Venezuela with a mission along with other Dominicans, and little more is known of the rest of his life except that, according to a note in the record of St. Stephen at Salamanca, he died in the West Indies as a martyr sometime around 1545. Legacy Although Montesinos led a long life in which he continually struggled for better conditions for New World natives, he will forever be known mostly for that one blistering sermon delivered in 1511. It was his courage in speaking out what many had been silently thinking that changed the course of indigenous rights in the Spanish territories. While he did not question the right of the Spanish government to expand their empire into the New World, or their means of doing so, he did accuse the colonists of abuse of power. In the short term, it failed to alleviate anything and won him fierce enemies. Ultimately, however, his sermon ignited a fierce debate over native rights, identity, and nature that was still raging one hundred years later. In the audience that day in 1511 was  Bartolomà © de Las Casas, himself a slaveholder at the time. The words of Montesinos were a revelation to him, and by 1514 he had divested himself of all of his slaves, believing that he would not go to heaven if he kept them. Las Casas eventually went on to become the great Defender of the Indians and did more than any man to ensure their fair treatment. Sources Brading, D. A. The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492–1867. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.Castro, Daniel. Another Face of Empire: Bartolomà © de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Eccleisastical Imperialism. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007.Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Franklin Classics, 2018 [1949]Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House, 2003.Schroeder, Henry Joseph. Antonio Montesino. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar Antonio de Montesinos (?–1545) was a Dominican friar, attached to the Spanish conquest of the Americas and one of the earliest of the Dominican arrivals in the New World. He is best remembered for a sermon delivered on December 4, 1511, in which he delivered a blistering attack on the colonists who had enslaved the people of the Caribbean. For his efforts, he was run out of Hispaniola, but he and his fellow Dominicans were eventually able to convince the King of the moral correctness of their point of view, thus paving the way for later laws which protected native rights in Spanish lands. Fast Facts: Known For: Inciting the Spanish in Haiti to give up enslaving the native peopleBorn: unknownParents: unknownDied: ca 1545, West IndiesEducation: University of SalamancaPublished Works: Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionemNotable Quote: Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself? Early Life Very little is known about Antonio de Montesinos before his famous sermon. He likely studied at the University of Salamanca before electing to join the Dominican order. In August 1510, he was one of the first six Dominican friars to arrive in the New World, landing on the island of Hispaniola, today politically divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. More clergy would follow the following year, and by 1511, there were about 20 Dominican friars in Santo Domingo. These particular Dominicans were from a reformist sect, and they were appalled at what they saw. By the time the Dominicans arrived on the Island of Hispaniola, the native population had been decimated and was in serious decline. All of the native leaders had been killed, and the remaining indigenous people were given away as slaves to colonists. A nobleman arriving with his wife could expect to be given 80 native slaves: a soldier could expect 60. Governor Diego Columbus (son of Christopher) authorized slaving raids on neighboring islands, and African slaves had been brought in to work the mines. The slaves, living in misery and struggling with new diseases, languages, and culture, died by the score. The colonists, oddly, seemed almost oblivious to this ghastly scene. The Sermon On December 4, 1511, Montesinos announced that the topic of his sermon would be based on Matthew 3,3: â€Å"I am a voice crying in the wilderness.† To a packed house, Montesinos ranted about the horrors he had seen. â€Å"Tell me, by what right or by what interpretation of justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? By what authority have you waged such detestable wars against people who were once living so quietly and peacefully in their own land?† Montesinos continued, implying that the souls of any and all who owned slaves on Hispaniola were damned. The colonists were stunned and outraged. Governor Columbus, responding to the petitions of the colonists, asked the Dominicans to punish Montesinos and retract all that he had said. The Dominicans refused and took things even further, informing Columbus that Montesinos spoke for all of them. The next week, Montesinos spoke again, and many settlers turned out, expecting him to apologize. Instead, he re-stated what he had before, and further informed the colonists that he and his fellow Dominicans would no longer hear confessions of slave-holding colonists, any more than they would those of highway robbers. The Hispaniola Dominicans were (gently) rebuked by the head of their order in Spain, but continued to hold fast to their principles. Finally, King Fernando had to settle the matter. Montesinos traveled to Spain with Franciscan friar Alonso de Espinal, who represented the pro-slavery point of view. Fernando allowed Montesinos to speak freely and was aghast at what he heard. He summoned a group of theologians and legal experts to consider the matter, and they met several times in 1512. The end results of these meetings were the 1512 Laws of Burgos, which guaranteed certain basic rights to New World natives living in Spanish lands. Montesinos defense of the Caribbean people was published in 1516 as Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionem. The Chiribichi Incident In 1513, the Dominicans persuaded King Fernando to allow them to go to the mainland to peacefully convert the natives there. Montesinos was supposed to lead the mission, but he became ill and the task fell to Francisco de Cà ³rdoba and a lay brother, Juan Garcà ©s. The Dominicans set up in the Chiribichi Valley in present-day Venezuela where they were well-received by local chieftain â€Å"Alonso† who had been baptized years before. According to the royal grant, slavers and settlers were to give the Dominicans a wide berth. A few months later, however, Gà ³mez de Ribera, a mid-level but well-connected colonial bureaucrat, went looking for slaves and plunder. He visited the settlement and invited â€Å"Alonso,† his wife and several more members of the tribe on board his ship. When the natives were on board, Ribera’s men raised anchor and set sail for Hispaniola, leaving the two bewildered missionaries behind with the enraged natives. Alonso and the others were split up and enslaved once Ribera returned to Santo Domingo. The two missionaries sent word that they were now hostages and would be killed if Alonso and the others were not returned. Montesinos led a frantic effort to track down and return Alonso and the others, but failed: after four months, the two missionaries were killed. Ribera, meanwhile, was protected by a relative, who happened to be an important judge. There was an inquest in regard to the incident and colonial officials reached the extremely bizarre conclusion that since the missionaries had been executed, the leaders of the tribe- i.e. Alonso and the others- were obviously hostiles and could therefore continue to be enslaved. In addition, it was said that the Dominicans were themselves at fault for being in such unsavory company in the first place. Exploits on the Mainland There is evidence to suggest that Montesinos accompanied the expedition of Lucas Vzquez de Ayllà ³n, which set out with some 600 colonists from Santo Domingo in 1526. They founded a settlement in present-day South Carolina named San Miguel de Guadalupe. The settlement lasted only three months, as many became ill and died and local natives repeatedly attacked them. When Vzquez died, the remaining colonists returned to Santo Domingo. In 1528, Montesinos went to Venezuela with a mission along with other Dominicans, and little more is known of the rest of his life except that, according to a note in the record of St. Stephen at Salamanca, he died in the West Indies as a martyr sometime around 1545. Legacy Although Montesinos led a long life in which he continually struggled for better conditions for New World natives, he will forever be known mostly for that one blistering sermon delivered in 1511. It was his courage in speaking out what many had been silently thinking that changed the course of indigenous rights in the Spanish territories. While he did not question the right of the Spanish government to expand their empire into the New World, or their means of doing so, he did accuse the colonists of abuse of power. In the short term, it failed to alleviate anything and won him fierce enemies. Ultimately, however, his sermon ignited a fierce debate over native rights, identity, and nature that was still raging one hundred years later. In the audience that day in 1511 was  Bartolomà © de Las Casas, himself a slaveholder at the time. The words of Montesinos were a revelation to him, and by 1514 he had divested himself of all of his slaves, believing that he would not go to heaven if he kept them. Las Casas eventually went on to become the great Defender of the Indians and did more than any man to ensure their fair treatment. Sources Brading, D. A. The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492–1867. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.Castro, Daniel. Another Face of Empire: Bartolomà © de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Eccleisastical Imperialism. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007.Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Franklin Classics, 2018 [1949]Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House, 2003.Schroeder, Henry Joseph. Antonio Montesino. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar

Biography of Antonio de Montesinos, Dominican Friar Antonio de Montesinos (?–1545) was a Dominican friar, attached to the Spanish conquest of the Americas and one of the earliest of the Dominican arrivals in the New World. He is best remembered for a sermon delivered on December 4, 1511, in which he delivered a blistering attack on the colonists who had enslaved the people of the Caribbean. For his efforts, he was run out of Hispaniola, but he and his fellow Dominicans were eventually able to convince the King of the moral correctness of their point of view, thus paving the way for later laws which protected native rights in Spanish lands. Fast Facts: Known For: Inciting the Spanish in Haiti to give up enslaving the native peopleBorn: unknownParents: unknownDied: ca 1545, West IndiesEducation: University of SalamancaPublished Works: Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionemNotable Quote: Are these not men? Have they not rational souls? Are you not bound to love them as you love yourself? Early Life Very little is known about Antonio de Montesinos before his famous sermon. He likely studied at the University of Salamanca before electing to join the Dominican order. In August 1510, he was one of the first six Dominican friars to arrive in the New World, landing on the island of Hispaniola, today politically divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. More clergy would follow the following year, and by 1511, there were about 20 Dominican friars in Santo Domingo. These particular Dominicans were from a reformist sect, and they were appalled at what they saw. By the time the Dominicans arrived on the Island of Hispaniola, the native population had been decimated and was in serious decline. All of the native leaders had been killed, and the remaining indigenous people were given away as slaves to colonists. A nobleman arriving with his wife could expect to be given 80 native slaves: a soldier could expect 60. Governor Diego Columbus (son of Christopher) authorized slaving raids on neighboring islands, and African slaves had been brought in to work the mines. The slaves, living in misery and struggling with new diseases, languages, and culture, died by the score. The colonists, oddly, seemed almost oblivious to this ghastly scene. The Sermon On December 4, 1511, Montesinos announced that the topic of his sermon would be based on Matthew 3,3: â€Å"I am a voice crying in the wilderness.† To a packed house, Montesinos ranted about the horrors he had seen. â€Å"Tell me, by what right or by what interpretation of justice do you keep these Indians in such a cruel and horrible servitude? By what authority have you waged such detestable wars against people who were once living so quietly and peacefully in their own land?† Montesinos continued, implying that the souls of any and all who owned slaves on Hispaniola were damned. The colonists were stunned and outraged. Governor Columbus, responding to the petitions of the colonists, asked the Dominicans to punish Montesinos and retract all that he had said. The Dominicans refused and took things even further, informing Columbus that Montesinos spoke for all of them. The next week, Montesinos spoke again, and many settlers turned out, expecting him to apologize. Instead, he re-stated what he had before, and further informed the colonists that he and his fellow Dominicans would no longer hear confessions of slave-holding colonists, any more than they would those of highway robbers. The Hispaniola Dominicans were (gently) rebuked by the head of their order in Spain, but continued to hold fast to their principles. Finally, King Fernando had to settle the matter. Montesinos traveled to Spain with Franciscan friar Alonso de Espinal, who represented the pro-slavery point of view. Fernando allowed Montesinos to speak freely and was aghast at what he heard. He summoned a group of theologians and legal experts to consider the matter, and they met several times in 1512. The end results of these meetings were the 1512 Laws of Burgos, which guaranteed certain basic rights to New World natives living in Spanish lands. Montesinos defense of the Caribbean people was published in 1516 as Informatio juridica in Indorum defensionem. The Chiribichi Incident In 1513, the Dominicans persuaded King Fernando to allow them to go to the mainland to peacefully convert the natives there. Montesinos was supposed to lead the mission, but he became ill and the task fell to Francisco de Cà ³rdoba and a lay brother, Juan Garcà ©s. The Dominicans set up in the Chiribichi Valley in present-day Venezuela where they were well-received by local chieftain â€Å"Alonso† who had been baptized years before. According to the royal grant, slavers and settlers were to give the Dominicans a wide berth. A few months later, however, Gà ³mez de Ribera, a mid-level but well-connected colonial bureaucrat, went looking for slaves and plunder. He visited the settlement and invited â€Å"Alonso,† his wife and several more members of the tribe on board his ship. When the natives were on board, Ribera’s men raised anchor and set sail for Hispaniola, leaving the two bewildered missionaries behind with the enraged natives. Alonso and the others were split up and enslaved once Ribera returned to Santo Domingo. The two missionaries sent word that they were now hostages and would be killed if Alonso and the others were not returned. Montesinos led a frantic effort to track down and return Alonso and the others, but failed: after four months, the two missionaries were killed. Ribera, meanwhile, was protected by a relative, who happened to be an important judge. There was an inquest in regard to the incident and colonial officials reached the extremely bizarre conclusion that since the missionaries had been executed, the leaders of the tribe- i.e. Alonso and the others- were obviously hostiles and could therefore continue to be enslaved. In addition, it was said that the Dominicans were themselves at fault for being in such unsavory company in the first place. Exploits on the Mainland There is evidence to suggest that Montesinos accompanied the expedition of Lucas Vzquez de Ayllà ³n, which set out with some 600 colonists from Santo Domingo in 1526. They founded a settlement in present-day South Carolina named San Miguel de Guadalupe. The settlement lasted only three months, as many became ill and died and local natives repeatedly attacked them. When Vzquez died, the remaining colonists returned to Santo Domingo. In 1528, Montesinos went to Venezuela with a mission along with other Dominicans, and little more is known of the rest of his life except that, according to a note in the record of St. Stephen at Salamanca, he died in the West Indies as a martyr sometime around 1545. Legacy Although Montesinos led a long life in which he continually struggled for better conditions for New World natives, he will forever be known mostly for that one blistering sermon delivered in 1511. It was his courage in speaking out what many had been silently thinking that changed the course of indigenous rights in the Spanish territories. While he did not question the right of the Spanish government to expand their empire into the New World, or their means of doing so, he did accuse the colonists of abuse of power. In the short term, it failed to alleviate anything and won him fierce enemies. Ultimately, however, his sermon ignited a fierce debate over native rights, identity, and nature that was still raging one hundred years later. In the audience that day in 1511 was  Bartolomà © de Las Casas, himself a slaveholder at the time. The words of Montesinos were a revelation to him, and by 1514 he had divested himself of all of his slaves, believing that he would not go to heaven if he kept them. Las Casas eventually went on to become the great Defender of the Indians and did more than any man to ensure their fair treatment. Sources Brading, D. A. The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots and the Liberal State, 1492–1867. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.Castro, Daniel. Another Face of Empire: Bartolomà © de Las Casas, Indigenous Rights, and Eccleisastical Imperialism. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2007.Hanke, Lewis. The Spanish Struggle for Justice in the Conquest of America. Franklin Classics, 2018 [1949]Thomas, Hugh. Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan. New York: Random House, 2003.Schroeder, Henry Joseph. Antonio Montesino. The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911.

Andrew Beard Invents the Jenny Coupler

Andrew Beard Invents the Jenny Coupler Andrew Jackson Beard lived an extraordinary life for a black American inventor. His invention of the Jenny automatic car coupler revolutionized railroad safety. Unlike the vast majority of inventors who never profit from their patents, he profited from his inventions. Life of Andrew Beard - From Slave to Inventor Andrew Beard was born a slave on a plantation in Woodland, Alabama, in 1849, shortly before slavery ended. He received emancipation at age 15 and he married at age 16. Andrew Beard was a farmer, carpenter, blacksmith, a railroad worker, a businessman and finally an inventor. Plow Patents Bring Success He grew apples as a farmer near Birmingham, Alabama for five years before he built and operated a flour mill  in Hardwick, Alabama. His work in agriculture led to tinkering with improvement for plows. In 1881, he patented his first invention, an improvement to the double plow, and sold the patent rights for $4,000 in 1884. His design allowed for the distance between the plow plates to be adjusted. That amount of money would be the equivalent of almost $100,000 today. His patent is US240642, filed on September 4, 1880, at which time he listed his residence at Easonville, Alabama, and published on April 26, 1881. In 1887, Andrew Beard patented a second plow and sold it for $5,200. This patent was for a design that allowed the pitch of the blades of plows or cultivators to be adjusted. The amount he received would be the equivalent of about $130,000 today. This patent is US347220, filed on May 17, 1886, at which time he listed his residence as Woodlawn, Alabama, and published on August 10, 1996.  Ã‚  Beard invested the money he made from his plow inventions into a profitable real-estate business. Rotary Engine Patents Beard received two patents for rotary steam engine designs. US433847 was filed and granted in 1890. He also received patent US478271 in 1892. There was no information found as to whether these were profitable for him. Beard Invents the Jenny Coupler for Railroad Cars In 1897,  Andrew Beard patented an improvement to railroad car couplers. His improvement came to be called the Jenny Coupler. It was one of many that aimed to improve the knuckle coupler patented by Eli Janney in 1873 (patent US138405). The knuckle coupler did the dangerous job of hooking railroad cars together, which formerly was done by manually placing a pin in a link between the two cars. Beard, himself had lost a leg in a car coupling accident. As an ex-railroad worker, Andrew Beard had the right idea that probably saved countless lives and limbs. Beard received three patents for automatic car couplers. These are US594059 granted November 23, 1897, US624901 granted May 16, 1899, and US807430 granted on May 16, 1904. He lists his residence as Eastlake, Alabama for the first two and Mount Pinson, Alabama for the third. While there were thousands of patents filed at the time for car couplers, Andrew Beard received $50,000 for the patent rights to his Jenny Coupler. This would be just shy of 1.5 million dollars today. Congress enacted the Federal Safety Appliance Act at that time to enforce using automatic couplers. View the complete patent drawings for Beards inventions.  Andrew Jackson Beard was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006 in recognition of his revolutionary Jenny Coupler. He died in 1921.

Cost-Benefit Analysis for Foxy Originals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Cost-Benefit Analysis for Foxy Originals - Essay Example Foxy Originals is renowned jewelry company which is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The company was established by Jen Kluger and Suzie Orol in the year 1998 (Foxy Originals, 2013). The company has established its presence in 250 boutiques in Canada. The product portfolio of the company is comprised of high end and stylish necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, belts and other jewelry items. A business must have a competitive advantage in order to sustain in the marketplace (Porter, 1980, 1985 and 1991). Hence sustainability of Foxy Original is dependent its competitive advantage of selling stylish but low-cost jewelry to price-sensitive women in the age group of eighteen years to thirty years. Although the company is growing at an acceptable pace there is a risk for the Canadian jewelry market to get saturated due to the entry of new players in the future course of time. Over saturation and presence of many sellers in comparatively small Canadian jewelry market might decrease the profit margin for Foxy Originals in the near future. Hence, the company is thinking about entering USA jewelry market which is 10 times bigger than Canadian jewelry market by the month of January 2005. To enter USA jewelry market, Foxy Original must formulate a profitable distribution strategy which can give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Â  A brief discussion about the about target customers of Foxy Original will help the essay to develop a thematic background for the case.

Strategic human resource management -2.2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Strategic human resource management -2.2 - Essay Example This orientation is important as it may be reflected in the training, socialization and attitude of the new employee affecting the performance of the organisation. The goal of Natural Knibbles is to create a company that provides attractive place to work, helps employees to fully utilise their potential  and  offer  secure,  long-term  employment  (Stone,  2008,  p.375).  The orientation program helps in portraying this image of the company. First, the orientation program provides a complete description of the environment and culture at Natural Knibbles. Second, important information related to the job such as responsibilities and duties is explained providing on-the-job training to the new employees under a process called ‘buddy system with experienced employees. Thus, the orientation program allows the new employees to explore their skills and abilities in a new environment which adds to the value and growth of the employees. What forms of training and devel opment do you believe would have been beneficial to (a) Kane (b) Lisa following their initial experiences at Natural Knibbles? According to Nankervis et al. (2011), the aim of training is to provide or maintain effective job level performance to achieve goals of organisation as well as personal. Given that Lisa and Kane were new entrants in the organisation, on-the-job training was a good decision but the way it was carried out was not at all progressive to them or the organisation. Continuous changing the roles was not beneficial for them as they could not adjust and fully understand any role or position. Since Lisa had TAFE training, she had a better understanding of the organisation’s processes which allowed her to excel in on-the-job training making it the best training and development option for her. On-the-job training as argued by Nankervis et al. (2011) develops practical work experiences and helps in building relations with the peers if the employee is a new entrant. In case of Kane, he did not possess any TAFE qualifications and worked in large company did not have any experience in working with a small family oriented company. Off-the-job training would have been a better option for him, which could have consisted of e-learning, simulation training or conference or classroom training (Nankervis et al. 2011). On-the-job training created confusion for him causing the peers to provide negative comments on his performance. What are the advantages and disadvantages of peer evaluation, and why would Natural Knibbles choose this approach as part of its performance management process? The performance management process needs to begin by taking in to consideration the strategic plan of organisation and penetrate every level of organisation to reach every employee (Nankervis et al. 2011). One such performance management process is peer evaluation. Peer evaluation has many advantages foremost being that the peers can relate well with the employee who is being evaluated. Peers, because work together, have the ability to evaluate the person whether he/she is doing well in the activity as others. Peers reviews can improve the quality of the work and performance of the employees as they can learn from each other. Because of the peer evaluation, company can also improve the performance management process if it seems that this performance measure is not providing a complete evaluation of the employee’

Company Overview Of Exxon Mobil Management Essay

Company Overview Of Exxon Mobil Management Essay Exxon Mobil, the largest non-government-owned oil and gas company in the world has recently turned to natural gas, a traditionally less profitable resource than crude oil, to replace reserves and help slow the slide in its production output volumes. However, a global gas glut has resulted from the current economic crisis and significant increase in U.S. shale gas production, which presents an uncertain outlook for gas prices and places pressure on the companys future earnings. In December 2009, Exxon Mobil (XOM) announced its largest acquisition in a decade: a $41 billion, all-stock deal to buy XTO Energy Inc., a U.S.-focused gas producer. This transaction places a sizable bet on the future of the domestic natural gas market and positions a super-major integrated energy company as one of the top five players in the field of unconventional natural gas development.   Through this acquisition, ExxonMobil hedges their bets that natural gas, as opposed to coal or renewables, will be the most demanded fuel source needed to meet the worlds ever increasing energy needs.    Many questions remain on whether this business strategy will boost production, and force the rest of industry into a game of catch up, or simply run the risk of consuming capital and management focus without generating substantial profits. The Oligopoly of Domestic Oil and Natural Gas Companies John D. Rockefellers Standard Oil gradually gained almost complete control of oil refining and marketing in the United States through horizontal integration, which provided kerosene, gasoline and other petroleum to a vast number of markets. The organization was eventually broken up into thirty-four separate companies after US government passed antitrust legislation in 1911.   Almost eighty-eight years later, Exxon (formerly Standard Oil Company of New Jersey) and Mobil (formerly Standard Oil Company of New York), were reunited in the largest merger in the industrys history.   By the end of 2006, several other mergers also took place between major players like British Petroleums (BP) purchase of Amoco and Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), the merger between Chevron and Texaco, Conocos purchase of Gulf Canada, Burlington and Phillips, and Anadarkos acquiring of Union Pacific Resources (UPR)   Ã‚  All of this MA activity further consolidated the oil powerhouses of the United States,    and exemplifies the oligopoly that has plagued the oil and gas industry since its inception.   Ã‚   Despite the governments imposed break up in the early part of last century, the industry has experienced a maturation that was not necessarily due to product evolution, but rather to the instability and volatility of oil and gas prices, particularly over the past 40 years. ExxonMobil Big oil got even bigger in 1999, when Exxon and Mobil Oil signed an $81 billion agreement to merge and form ExxonMobil, thus creating the largest oil super-major, with capacity to produce 3.921 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) daily. In 2005, ExxonMobils stock price rose with rising crude oil prices, establishing a market capitalization of $312 billion. At the end of 2005, annual income was up 42% with reported record annual income profits of US $36 billion. XOMs 2005 annual income, which included $11 billion in the 3rd quarter alone, was the greatest by any business in recorded history. By 2008, XOM held approximately 3% of world production, and when ranked by its oil and gas reserves, the company is 14th in terms of total reserves. This is less than 1% of the total world reserves held by E P companies, and in some cases, far less than many of the biggest state-owned companies. Nevertheless, ExxonMobil remains the strongest leader in the oil and gas market, with a stronghold in terms of international land position combined with dramatic earnings. The ongoing development of breakthrough technologies, including some pioneered by ExxonMobil themselves, have helped the organization keep pace with rising global energy demand by making additional energy supplies available. Technology is becoming more critical in this industry as time moves on, since much of the worlds oil and gas reserves is located in challenging environments. As reserve replacement has required the super-majors to explore in deep-water basins offshore, extract heavy oil bitumen and oil sands from strip-mining or shallow excavation operations, and remotely isolated Arctic regions of the north, innovative approaches to energy production have become essential to increasing the companys dynamic capability.   Superior engineering talent is available to provide industry-leading technologies that provide the business with opportunities to explore, discover, develop, produce, refine and market oil and gas resources that are not available to many of XOMs competitors. ExxonMobil claims that its competitive advantage in the market is realized through industry-leading project managers that ensure superior return on investment. Their high level of expertise and discipline contribute to a strong track record of timely project completion and their ability to deliver their product within a specified time-frame was a key performance attribute that was always appreciated by its investors on Wall Street. The reputation of ExxonMobil played a significant role in earning the support of suppliers and contractors, which was equally coveted by their competitors and in constant demand, particularly during periods of peak pricing. While seemingly in the same business, Exxon and Mobil did not find many areas of similar technology within the two companies, but did find synergies and complements. When it comes to research and development strengths, for instance, Exxon was very strong in process technology while Mobil had expertise in lubricants as well as catalysts, an RD area that the combined company immediately adopted to strengthen its patent position in converting gases to liquids. ExxonMobil has a very unique recruitment process where they look for individuals that exercise core strengths as opposed to bringing vast amount of industry experience. They  have excellent proprietary capabilities in teaching petroleum science and technology, and therefore do not require new geoscientists to have any prior petroleum course work or experience. There is, however, a requirement for demonstrated leadership, adaptability, teamwork, excellent communication skills in English, and a commitment to high safety and ethical standards. This flexibility in hiring enables ExxonMobil to customize their operations unlike any of their competitors. When an employee joins ExxonMobil, they are taught how to do things the ExxonMobil way. From systems to processes, jargon to policies, employees are essentially engineered and tailored to work effectively in this stand alone culture, so much so, it remains in Exxons best interest to hire straight out of college and mold their people the w ay they want to. Virtually no other energy firm maintains the reputation and capacity to offer such extensive training to new grads or discipline experts as ExxonMobil. ExxonMobil is truly an international player with operations touching almost every aspect of the energy and petrochemical business, and operating facilities or market products in most of the worlds countries with oil and natural gas exploration on six continents. Their geographical reach and breadth of line are extensive and provide a competitive advantage from both a logistics standpoint and integrated producer, which encompasses every phase of petroleum life cycle from Greenfield exploration through to distribution of retail products.   Through control of all the major processes, from exploration to retail, XOM has a good deal of control over its chosen partners in both independent operations and joint ventures. This is due to network externalities that exist in many of its midstream (pipelines) and downstream (refineries) businesses in which other companies are compelled to use these assets out of necessity. Exxon Mobil is also well known for its superior operational practices, which capitalize on their ability to vertically integrate their activities.   XOM has a capacity to distill over 6.3 million barrels a day due to its interest in over 40 refineries in 26 countries.   Combined with their global logistics system with ownership interests in crude oil, tankers, pipelines and major terminals they are able to optimize millions of barrels of crude oil supply and associated petroleum products. Exxon Mobil has long battled a negative reputation as an oil giant with little concern for the environment. Most memorable was the infamous Exxon Valdez spill off the coast of Prince William Sound of Alaska in 1989, an event that carried a stigma that far outlived the environmental impacts of the oil itself. Since then, ExxonMobil has gone on the offensive, spending more than $3 billion in 2006 on expenses related to the environment and its stance on climate change. Exxon Mobil has been attacked as having denied that climate change is occurring as a result of fossil fuel extraction and consumption. Regardless of the environmental reputation, Exxon has somehow persevered throughout the last century with a strong culture and management team, which is responsible for much of its success. As with any large company, there are pros and cons to working with a major corporation. Although they offer excellent salaries, the ability to work with very intelligent coworkers, opportunities for travel and multiple career paths, they are often criticized for their bureaucracy and low employee retention rates.    Figure 2. ExxonMobil Competitive Advantage Several value and cost drivers have led to the continued success of ExxonMobil, creating one of the largest and most powerful energy companies in the world A Changing Market In June 2008, West Texas Intermediate crude oil (WTI) price passed the $145 mark and that same year the Henry Hub Natural Gas Spot Prices peaked at $13.30. These unprecedented prices sparked a frenzy of concern that the world had reached peak oil, which is defined as the point in time when global petroleum extraction is at its maximum rate, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. Subsequently, the high price environment served as a catalyst for research in alternative energies and renewable resource projects. These prices also, however, made more exotic fossil fuel extraction techniques viable. One such technique was the extraction of trapped hydrocarbon in highly impermeable source rocks. Resources found in source rock or parent-rock have traditionally been difficult to extract due to their extremely low permeability. Despite the well known geological knowledge that the rocks are hydrocarbon bearing, the low permeability prohibits oil from entering a well bore at any economic rate once it is tapped. Many experts call Exxons long term strategy into question outside of the volatility of oil and gas prices. The company also faces confrontations from outside forces such as foreign governments. With oil reserves diminishing and becoming more and more rare, thus increasing the difficulty and smaller likelihood of discovery, ExxonMobil has more competition than just the other five other majors. These aforementioned resource laden governments and ruling parties have become much more interested in these type of investment vehicles as they see global demand rise. Another challenge to ExxonMobils future is the rise of more aggressive environmental policies, targeting and limiting green house emissions, thought to be the key component of climate change. Supplemented by the intentions of the Obama administration, whose campaign platform was US energy policy reform, increasing alternative fuel source use, and less dependence on foreign oil, XOM will have to skillfully adjust their policies on environmental stewardship to reflect the demands of a new regulatory environment. Unconventional Resource Plays Technologic Advances Drive Attractive Shale Plays Through XMOs increased research and development, the very expensive well completion techniques including horizontal drilling and multi-staged hydro-fracturing were improved to increase efficiencies and lower costs to the point that the economics warranted broad application throughout the industry.   Hydraulic fracturing is a technique in which fractures are created into rock formations from a borehole through a series of techniques.   Specific chemically engineered fluids are then pumped into the fractured rock at a rate in which there is a sufficient increase in pressure in the formation to crack it further.   Upon completion of the pumping of fluid into the formation, solid man-made or specially engineered proppant (commonly a sand variant) is then injected in as a step to prevent the closure of the fracturing.   This proppant is used because it has a higher permeability that the surrounding rock, and will allow for flow of fluids and gas back into the well. In conjunction with hydraulic fracturing, horizontal (or directional) drilling techniques also have emerged and been improved in the last decade.   Horizontal drilling is when the well bore is kicked off, or sent from a vertical position and drilled into a horizontal trajectory.   This can be used to expose the well-bore to more of the producing formation and is accomplished by using motors and instruments that can measure and direct the drill bit. Exxons Challenge to Grow Through 2008, Exxons reserve replacement was, on average, remaining flat, with many fields on rapid decline. Unfortunately, capital spending was increasing year on year, creating speculation in the markets that Exxon Mobil would have to do something drastic if it expected to continue to show persistent growth.   One component of declining production was a result of state run oil companies taking a larger percentage of production in areas that have been disputed, such as in the Former Soviet Union countries or Northern Africa.   With global politics at play, companies like ExxonMobil had to find was to secure less risky and proven reserves.    Like other western oil majors, aging fields suffer from ever-declining output and the lucrative new fields are primarily controlled by state-owned companies that offer less profit to production partners. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, XOM began to look outside its typical business model and consider acquiring reserve bases with long term production potential in stable countries. This is a result of maturation of product life cycle. The opportunities for smaller companies with lower overhead to aggressively enter into aged conventional fields and following the spike in commodity prices in 2007, unconventional field development became economical and many smaller firms began to fill the wedge with new economically viable shale gas plays. The XTO Story, A Leader in Unconventional Resource Plays In 1986, the Cross Timbers Oil Company was formed as a partnership that would later become the publicly traded company known as XTO Energy Inc. in 2001.   XTO quickly established itself in the domestic gas industry by obtaining both proven and unproven natural gas and oil properties and developing them effectively.   Using increasingly efficient technological advances in exploration and production operations, the company proved that it was more than capable in its oil and gas exploitation strategy.   By the end of the second quarter of 2009, XTO was Americas largest unconventional natural gas producer, with a resource base equivalent to 45 trillion cubic feet of gas that includes shale gas, tight gas, coal bed methane, shale oil and conventional oil and gas production.   They had taken a smaller market niche, US domestic shale gas, and turned it into a full blown success while larger more experienced firms sat on the sidelines. XTO achieved this vast collection of capabilities and resources through critical strategic decision.   As of 1995, the companys asset allocation was roughly fifty percent oil and percent natural gas.   Yet upon the departure of the reigning chair, Jon Brumley, his replacement Bob Simpson decided to move to a two-thirds gas, one- third oil ratio.   This was a major shift in the life of the company, and the decisions rationale was based on cheaper handling costs of gas over oil.   Additionally, the United States natural gas markets vulnerability to the actions of OPEC nations was far less.   Fortunately, the resulting purchases based on this philosophy were timely, as they were made just prior to the market gaining strength, thus increasing profitability for XTO.   This lower buy-in proved to be a significant competitive advantage, as its cost base was far less than the companies that entered the market afterwards.   Aside from lower costs for proven resources, XTO experi enced growth by the way of its own numerous mergers and acquisitions.   In 2007, it paid Dominion Resources US$2.5 billion for 1 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves in the Rocky Mountains, Texas and southern Louisiana.   In 2008 alone, the company acquired Hunt Petroleum Corp. and Headington Oil Co. for $4.2 billion, and $1.85 billion in cash and stock, respectively. In order to build its competitive advantage, XTOs successful strategy has been to buy properties that are otherwise simply cast aside by their prior owners.   With the downturn of the real estate market towards the middle of the 2000s, the company has benefited from significant cost savings.   This, coupled with the increase in the demand within the natural gas market has positioned XTO has a domestic leader in cost.   XTO had built its organization by acquiring aged oil and gas fields and down-spacing well counts with in-field drilling, essentially optimizing production by aggressively extracting late in life reserves with new technology and lower costs.(mention scale economies here p.67 and niche markets p.144) Eventually XTO moved   to capitalize on their and position and begin to target deeper shale zones through the application high-density fracturing technology which had begun to advance following industry fears of peak oil. (mention early mover advantage p.135 and sust aining technology p.149) XTOs hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies became a dominant design. Geography and total real estate position became XTOs greatest value driver.   At the time of the Exxon-Mobil merger, they were the leader in North American shale gas play acreage.   This position was only realized in assuming large risks in the value of natural gas.   While other companies were back peddling, XTOs investors were pleading with the company to reduce its debt and sell its properties.   XTO not only took risk in more land acquisitions, but also bought stock in other companies in which it felt had greater value than their stock price reflected.    All the while during massive buying spree, the company became a leader in development of unconventional shale gas plays.   Gaining a reputation as a solid partner in the development of gas exploitation techniques, XTO worked with the four major service companies, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Baker Hughes and BJ Services Company (which would later be bought by Baker Hughes) to learn and apply technologies in new ways.   Working together though trial and error, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques were improved, XTO customized its activities Growth in acreage position also became XTOs greatest cost driver, as it achieved economies of scale in its own right by having the highest amount of development, surpassing Chesapeake Energy and became the largest shale producer.   By leveraging its previous expertise in oil and pipeline operations, the company was also able to obtain economies of scope. Among the most pronounced of XTOs accomplishments in its short history are the development of new techniques by their engineers and field hands to capture gas reserves from shale, XTO was clearly on the back end of a steep learning curve that provided them with profitable activities, allowing for nearly 70 rigs to work simultaneously.   This coupled with the companys aggressive approach to increased efficiency focus have paid large dividends for the company as a whole. Many of the other major oil and gas companies outside of ExxonMobil have significant land acreage in both the United States and Canada, yet most of these holdings are considered to be overly depleted, not representing high growth potential in the minds of the companies that own them. It is in this part of industry in which niche markets have emerged for smaller, independent exploration and production companies that take the opportunity to develop these assets in areas that are considered mature or uneconomic in terms of feasible production potential. A Better Bet for the Environment Hedging Gas is the Preferred Fuel The past 20 years has seen a growing concern of global warming with the increase release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, many of which are attributable to the production of fossil fuels. Natural gas has a significant advantage as a cleaner burning fuel in its ability to lower pollution and lead to a healthy environment. Consumer preference for gas as opposed to fuels generated from crude oil, such as diesels, heating oils, and LPG (liquid petroleum gases)  is increasing more and more every year. GHG gas discussion- A Marriage in Bliss of a Clash of Cultures? According to XOM, and Mr. Tillerson, the combined company has proven capabilities to develop all resource types, and will seize the opportunity to further enhance financial and operating performance with financial strength and proven project management skills.   Ã‚  Mr. Tillerson also reported in his July 8, 2010 presentation that the company also believes that its research and development resources will be able to capitalize on the advancements in technology used in unconventional plays.   Finally, his last statement when discussing the value added combination was that the new company would be able to develop the most high-quality plays using an accelerated evaluation system.   This remains to be seen as Exxon is known throughout the industry for its meticulous and industry insider dubbed suffocating hierarchy________ However, XTO prided itself on the fact its employees on the front lines were free to execute business strategy without concern for the administrative hurdles that come with being a large, public company. They drew real satisfaction from providing that support. and provide the reliable back office that supports the activities that generate those results. Inevitably, XTO was forced to sell as they began to feel the pinch of sinking gas prices. XTO is known for its meticulous assessment process, reviewing all of its wells at least twice a year.   Its strengths and successes have stemmed from the companys ability to exploit land and resources that other companies have forgotten or overlooked.   It is with this pioneering culture that the company structured the deals that helped it grow to be the formidable target for any number of the major oil and gas companies of the world.   There is a very high potential that a juggernaut like XOM will surely impair XTOs ability to maintain an effective, fast moving, manufacturing model, and remain ahead of the rapid decline curves known to all tight gas plays. However, ExxonMobil believes that their technical expertise will unlock additional XTO resource potential, and XTOs organization will complement Exxons existing unconventional natural gas and oil production worldwide. There is no question that the combined companies of ExxonMobil and XTO have the ability to accomplish the critical tasks that give him superior capabilities, as it has been proven over and over again in that the many arms of ExxonMobil, as a company was able t collectively coordinate its efforts even prior to the acquisition.   On the contrary, the areas of concern in the new emerging company may be more of consistency and fit, in which both need to parallel the specific intricacies of the new domestic shale market in which they have entered.   ExxonMobils role as a part company to the new subsidiary may make way for a convoluted process of gaining authorizations for new projects and expenditures unlike what XTOs management team has experienced.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Rest assured, XOM has many formal control systems that are in place with the intent of simplifying processes in all phases of development, yet until the standardized procedures, planning and joint task force teams have worked out a streamlined process, there is sure to be major growing pains and inefficiencies.   As the speed of production is a prerequisite for shale production, the burden of a cumbersome and less than lean hierarchy of decision makers will no doubt frustrate operations in the early going.   Culturally, XOM and XTO are light years apart, with XOM being an inbred creature of habit, training its people from the ground up.   The question remains on how they intend on assimilating a work force that has not gone through the training regime that depicts how things are done the ExxonMobil way.   All functional organizations will attempt to merge in a way that will not inhibit current operations, yet it will inevitably take longer than expected.   Fortunately, despite the ambiguity of judging the ability for one company to incorporate another, the fundamental conclusion that Exxon came to was that target company can contribute to the core business of ExxonMobil and enhance their value and cost drivers as well as their overall position in the market. Of concern, and what XOM is gambling on, is that the new XTO subsidiary is a market opportunity with high future growth potential, and has a favorable market position, both of which are not guaranteed in the current economic and political climate. Will ExxonMobils Strategy Pay off? We just thought they were the greatest unconventional gas organization from a technical standpoint. -William Colton, Exxons VP for corporate strategic planning talking about XTO By the end of 2008, Exxon Mobil purchased  over 13 trillion cubic feet equivalent (tcfe) of proven reserves, and had an estimated daily average production of 2.87 billion cubic feet equivalent (bcfe)  per day the ensuing year. In keeping with its aggressive and robust domestic strategy, the company was planning intense drilling campaigns that would include development in all the United States major shale plays. Exxon Mobil Corporations purchase of XTO was a major hedge on the US natural gas market and was arguably far too high a price to pay since gas prices have dropped substantially in the past two years and an additional 20% since the acquisition was announced in December. The high level of success shale gas drillers are having from a technical standpoint is evident in their increasing ability to uncover growing quantities of gas from previously impermeable parent rock is having a major affect on supply, which has kept commodity prices depressed. The value drivers, such as innovation in technology, that led largely to XTOs success have spread across the industry and somewhat softens the cost benefits that the subsidiary company continues to enjoy. To his credit, CEO Rex Tillerson has openly admitted to the less than stellar economics of the US natural gas market and the XTO deal.   Ã‚  We dont get a lot of upside, but on the flip-side you get a lot of downside protection, he is quoted as saying in reference to the transaction. Instead he points out that the newly merged company would concentrate on having better returns than its competitors, and that even though this deal may not be as exorbitantly profitable as past ventures, it still is a positive move. Figure 2.   Monthly Change in Crude Oil vs. Natural Gas Fluctuation in natural gas prices traditionally track the market price for crude oil, as seen through 2008. However, since 2009, there has been an unprecedented disparity between the pricing of these two commodities, which has led to a relatively strong oil price currently, while natural gas is at a 10 year low. In the end, a carbon tax might further increase the value of the XTO purchase, as the carbon content of natural gas is considerably lower and thus less expense. However with the potential advancement the of a climate change bill, these benefits may be short-lived as Congress debates the legislative approach going forward. A forecast $30 per ton carbon tax over the next 10 years would demand a major shift to cleaner fuels such as natural gas and some speculate that leading electric utilities have already begun to make the move away from coal in anticipation of a change out of DC. Since December when Exxon closed on the XTO deal however, with unemployment so high, both political parties seem hesitant to push a bill that might be accused of destroying jobs. So it may be years before XTO contributes to Exxons return on equity. Despite its previous stature as the US largest natural gas producer, XTO is still yet a rather a small part of the larger ExxonMobil business picture. Since the start of 2009, which was pre-acquisition, XOM has lost over $200 million in its downstream refining businesses. If a significant price were to be put on carbon, this advent would only add to the liabilities of this core business and thus put the increased profitability of the company in danger. In addition, it isnt necessary that the XTO acquisition produce an immediate return either. Unlike deep-water exploration plays, shale gas wells tend to produce for decades at modest production rates. By retaining leases at as low a cost as possible and drilling in areas with the highest production potential, Exxon can keep shale businesses from being much of a liability while still contributing to the reserve base on the books.