Groupon †Daily Deal Aggregator Business Model Essay

Objectives 1. Choosing a company with an Innovative Business Model Groupon Groupon is a deal-of-the day website that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. It is based on the daily deal aggregator business model. Groupon was launched in November 2008, and the first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City, and Toronto. By October 2010, Groupon served more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America and had 35 million registered users. In addition to generation of revenues, offering daily deals on Groupon has proved to be beneficial for various businesses. Start-ups have gained market share by offering lucrative deals for customers on Groupon and attracting them to their businesses. Once these businesses gain their initial share of customers, it becomes easier for them to retain these customers and even attract new ones, with the help of providing quality product or service. Various businesses, domestic and international, have gained by often providing daily deals on Groupon. 2. Analysing the Business Model and Identifying the Innovation The Groupon Innovation Groupon is a daily deal website considered to be one of the top ten innovative Business Models with a huge user base of 83 million across 43 countries. Groupon sells coupons in a very unique way; As mentioned above, Groupon follows Daily deal Aggregator Business Model which enables groups of people who want to purchase a particular product or service to sign up and then seek a volume discount from vendors. These discounts are in the form of daily deals/coupons for products or services. Daily Deal websites typically  offer a single product or service a day for a discount and these deals become valid only after a pre-specified number of people sign up to avail this deal. When the deal expires, or sells out, the offer is gone. Daily Deal websites typically offer one product or service a day for a discount. This Business Model reduces risk for retailers who post the offers; They can treat the coupons as quantity discounts as well as sales promotion tools. Groupon makes money by keeping approximately half the money the customer pays for the coupon. For example, an $80 haircut could be purchased by the consumer for $40 through Groupon, and then Groupon and the retailer would split the $40. That is, the parlour gives a haircut valued at $80 and gets approximately $20 from Groupon for it (under a 50%/50% split). The consumer gets the haircut, in this example, from the parlour for which they have paid $40 to Groupon. Unlike classified advertising, the merchant does not pay any upfront cost to participate: Groupon collects personal information from willing customers and then contacts only those customers, primarily by daily email, who may possibly be interested in a particular product or service. Groupon breaks into new markets by identifying successful local businesses, first by sending in an advance a number of employees to gain data about the local market; when it finds a business with outstanding reviews, salespeople approach it and explain the model, and use social marketing sites such as Facebook to further promote the idea. Groupon’s biggest strength is its user base which has grown due to its First Mover Advantage and affordable deals. The question, however, at present is the sustainability of the business model. According to the CEO, Andrew Mason, Groupon is trying to â€Å"fundamentally change the way that people buy from local businesses in the same way that e-commerce changed the way that people buy products.† 3. Analysing the Market Scenerio Present Scenerio in the market The emergence of dozens of competitors to Groupon, with customers frequently playing one site off against another, diminishes the competitive differentiation between them. In addition, merchants whose goods and services are featured on the sites are now being courted by more players, making them less loyal and less likely to be prepared to pay rich premiums for the sites’ directing new customers to their store locations. Further, the benefits to both customers and merchants are likely to drop as the market is flooded with same kind of offers. Moreover, some of its big rivals are backed by some major funding and engineering resources. LivingSocial is backed by Amazon – it grew gross revenues 32 percent from August to September, bolstered by a blockbuster Whole Foods deal. Smaller players like TravelZoo and Bloomspothave their own advantages; They tend to be more focused on a particular niche. Apart from competition, there are also the issues of taxation; States including New York have decided merchants should collect sales taxes on the full face value of items purchased, not the price that consumers actually pay.

Legislative Initiative

On April 1, 2008, House Bill 2833 entitled Food Security Act passed the Senate Committee on Finance and would only require majority approval in the Senate floor to become a full fledged law (Office of Sen. Rice, 2008). This initiative is the output of the Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger established May last year and aimed at the concretization of its recommendations based on the study regarding the issue.Bartfeld, Dunifon, Nord and Carlson (2006) defined food security as â€Å"the access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life† (p.4). Reports reveal that Oklahoma ranks fifth among U.S. states currently experiencing high levels of food insecurity and seventh among states with high poverty levels (Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger, p.5, 8). This means that many individuals in the state do not meet the daily required nutritional needs in order to realize their full physical and mental potentials because they can not afford to buy food.From 2003-2006, st udies showed that Oklahoma’s wage and salary employment rates have steadily increased and resulted in remarkable economic growth. The state’s workforce is concentrated in the retail, health services, accommodations and food services and manufacturing industries as well as in local government and administrative and waste services (Snead and Barta, 2007). However, there are 10 counties which experienced job losses within the period.Improvements in the economy are not equally distributed in the state. Barta and Snead (2007) underscore the observation that â€Å"larger economies have a built in competitive advantage through economies of scale and greater amenities for residents relative to smaller regions and should be expected to outperform smaller regions† (p. 3). Thus, out of the state’s 77 counties, people in the metropolitan areas have higher standards of living than those in the 35 smaller, rural counties mostly located in the northwest region.Hence, a significant number of Oklahoman families in these areas are middle to low income earners and may account for the 14.6% of the population who are hungry or the 17% who are living below the poverty line. They lack the capacity to sufficiently obtain all their needs such as housing, healthcare, education and utilities. Family budgets for food are compromised in order to cover all basic needs. More expensive nutritious foods are replaced by cheaper but unhealthy foods and deprivation results in poor eating habits (Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger, p. 5).The Task Force on Hunger estimated the following: â€Å"a single parent with one school age child living in Tulsa Country needs to earn $13.53 an hour to be economically stable while a single person needs $7.52† (p. 9). However, the state’s minimum wage is pegged at $5.85 an hour while the costs of basic necessities are quickly and steadily rising. Although jobs are being created, most are temporary as in the manufacturing sec tor, adding job insecurity to low pay.Food insecurity impacts greatly on children.   Ã‚  Ã‚   They make up more than a third of the poor population in the state where 1 out of every 5 children potentially experience hunger on a daily basis (Office of Sen. Rice, 2008). Insufficient nutrition affects their physical and mental growth, evidenced in poor school performance, susceptibility to disease and the high obesity rates. According to the Sodexho Foundation findings, these consequences of hunger cause the state to lose $1.4 billion annually (Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger, p. 5).The passing of HB 2833 in the Senate will create the Oklahoma Food Security Committee as the body responsible for its implementation. In the immediate, it seeks to increase the utilization of state welfare food programs and the reach of non-government charitable organizations providing food relief for families and children (Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger, 2007). In the long term, it will address insufficient family income and raise food security levels.The Food Stamp Program currently allows persons to use electronic benefit cards to buy food items with an equivalent of $90 under the Thrifty Food Plan. The Women, Infants and Children Program, on the other hand, provides services such as nutrition education, health care referrals and supplemental food for needy families. The Senior Food Program targets the health, nutrition and social needs of the elderly. School nutrition programs provides for children through free lunches and snacks.In addition, private organizations operate soup kitchens, shelters and food pantries among others. Meanwhile, taxes may be deducted from low income earning families through claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit. Taxes imposed on small farmers in the market may also be lessened through the Sales Tax Credit Relief. Secondary to this, the agricultural sector also needs a boost in order to locally produce adequate food stuffs for the state’s nutrition n eeds.Through these measures, the Food Security Act will work to increase the amount that families may spend for food and other needs as well as harness all available resources to generate more food supplies. Increase in net income and supporting food relief will decrease the number of families and especially children, who are poor and hungry. This effort will raise the state’s food security levels towards acceptable levels within the next 5 years.Although, the Food Security Act as a legislative initiative is laudable in its objectives, I think that ultimately, significant change in economic status is the result of secure employment and sufficient pay. If the state should raise its minimum wage, even by a fraction, then that is a concrete step.The state should also complement the existing welfare food programs with similar initiatives in health care and education. This will further reduce the full burden of lower income earners in shouldering the food, school and health care n eeds of their children. The state should also put primacy in allocating funds to sustain these programs.List of ReferencesBartfeld, J., Dunifon, R., Nord, M. and Carlson, S. (2006). What Factors Account for State- by-State Differences in Food Security?. Economic Information Bulletin, 20. Retrieved   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   4 April 2008 from http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/EIB20/eib20.pdf.Office of Senator Andrew Rice (2008). Food Security Act Advances to Senate Floor.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Retrieved 4 April 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.ok.gov/newsroom.php?page_id=681&type=1.Oklahoma Task Force on Hunger (2007). Hunger is Not Ok. Retrieved 4 April 2008 from   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.hungerinoklahoma.org/Task%20Force%20Report.pdf.Snead, M.C. and Barta, S. (2007). Economic Recovery Growth Patterns in Oklahoma 2003-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2006. The Oklahoma Economy Research Release. Retrie ved 4 April 4, 2008 from    http://economy.okstate.edu/search/research.asp.

5 Stages of Grief Hamlet Essay

Following the death of Prince Hamlet’s father, the former King of Denmark, not only do those related by blood to the great Dane experience the five stages of grief as laid out by Kubler-Ross, but the whole kingdom does as well. It is clear through many examples from the text that the kingdom as a unit experiences the grief of losing their king and others throughout the play both as one dysfunctional family and individually. The individuals in this dysfunctional family include: Hamlet, Gertrude, Claudius, Polonius, Laertes, and Ophelia. A major tenet of the ‘Five Stages’ theory which is vital to understanding its practical use is that one is not required to go through the five stages in order, nor is one required to go through all five stages. This is especially important because as a single family, the Danes do not go through all five stages together, instead, however, they go through the five stages individually, and will be addressed in the order stated by Kubler-Ross while identifying parts of the play where these stages were reached with no regard to chronological order. (Kubler-Ross) Denial is the first stage of Kubler-Ross’ grief map. Denial is a reaction in which a person, attempting to avoid the truth of the situation, develops a false reality or simply ignores the reality at hand. This is likely the most common stage, as denial affects those dealing with all magnitudes of trauma, large and small. (Santrock, 56) Though Hamlet does not go through the stage of denial, it is evident starting in act one, scene two, that the royal family is very much in denial of how much they should be affected by the loss of their king. This is seen through the royal ‘we’ that Queen Gertrude uses to display her and her new husband’s feelings to Hamlet while covering up their sadness with royal duties. â€Å"QUEEN GERTRUDE Why seems it so particular with thee? HAMLET Seems, madam! nay it is; I know not ‘seems.’ ‘Tis not alone my inky cloak, good mother, Nor customary suits of solemn black, Nor windy suspiration of forced breath, No, nor the fruitful river in the eye, Nor the dejected ‘havior of the visage, Together with all forms, moods, shapes of grief, That can denote me truly: these indeed seem, For they are actions that a man might play: But I have that within which passeth show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe.† (Shakespeare, 1.2.2) The Royal family, in this scene, had only just recently lost their king before Claudius and Gertrude married and started their work as regents once again. The biggest implication of their being in the stage of denial is their preoccupation with Fortinbras’ perceived anger rather than Hamlet’s actual sadness. They are too in denial about their son’s and perhaps their own guilt and trauma that they do not help or address the grief at all. Gertrude is a perfect example of denial because of her lying to herself and telling herself that everything is perfect and back to normal when it is clearly not. Ophelia also goes through denial on a smaller scale in the first act, as her trauma is losing her love, Hamlet, because of her father’s orders. This denial only grows when she loses her father and he is not given the proper burial rites or respect. She then feels what Hamlet thinks he felt, yet says and does nothing until her suicide because she was very likely in denial about her ability to help at all. Anger is the second phase of Kubler-Ross’ five stages which is characterized by loss of judgment and simple rage at either the event which they are grieving, others, and/or themselves. Anger is often associated with madness as it impedes the objective observation skills and, like insanity, can cloud the mind with anything but the truth. (Santrock, 57) The angriest character in all of Hamlet the title character himself, Hamlet. Hamlet’s anger is especially clear in his rash dealings with his family, which, he is supposed to be bonding with over this shared grief, his visions of his father as a ghost, and his violent outbursts against the denizens of his kingdom. When he enters his mother’s chambers in act three, scene four, he shows many signs of madness and anger, including visions of violence inciting figures, lashing out against his mother, and the murder of Polonius behind the veil. â€Å"HAMLET How is it with you, lady? QUEEN GERTRUDE Alas, how is’t with you, That you do bend your eye on vacancy And with the incorporal air do hold discourse? Forth at your eyes your spirits wildly peep; And, as the sleeping soldiers in the alarm, Your bedded hair, like life in excrements, Starts up, and stands on end. O gentle son, Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper Sprinkle cool patience. Whereon do you look?† (Shakespeare, 3.4.18) Bargaining and Depression are slightly similar stages of grieving that as seen in Hamlet, can happen at the same time. Bargaining is characterized by an attempt at negotiating with fate, while depression understands the imminence of death. This being said, there is no reason why Hamlet could not have been experiencing both of these stages at once. In fact, Hamlet seems to have drifted in and out of these stages in between going through anger and acceptance. (Santrock 58, 59) In act one, scene two, Hamlet demonstrates bargaining and depression by almost asking the all-powerful to take his life away completely, because he is too saddened and maddened by all of this outrageous behavior that he would rather die. â€Å"HAMLET O, that this too too solid flesh would melt Thaw and resolve itself into a dew! Or that the Everlasting had not fix’d His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter! O God! God! How weary, stale, flat and unprofitable, Seem to me all the uses of this world! Fie on’t! ah fie! ’tis an unweeded garden, That grows to seed; things rank and gross in nature Possess it merely.† (Shakespeare, 1.2.6) Again in act three, scene one, Hamlet makes another speech that implies his fickle, suicidal-bargaining tendencies. In this speech he talks about his self-loathing due to his cowardice and he wishes that it could all be over, like a sleep, a quiet end. â€Å"HAMLET To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?† (Shakespeare, 3.1.1) Hamlet is not the only character to go through bargaining and depression, though. Ophelia also, in her singing and solemn visits to her father’s â€Å"burial site†, clearly shows signs of depression. She acts on these depressed thoughts by taking the bargain of suicide; if she cannot be happy in this world, she should take herself out of it to avoid the pain, and she does. Acceptance is the bittersweet end to grieving in which individuals come to terms with the fate they are handed, whether it be death, loss, or a reminder of their mortality. (Santrock, 60) The final scene before Fortinbras arrives to Elsinore, it is almost as if each character is asking for forgiveness through their passing through the stage of acceptance. Every action, the voluntary drinking of the cup that Claudius does, Laertes’ last words to Hamlet, Gertrude’s voluntary drinking of the cup so Hamlet would live a bit longer, they all seemed to be actions of final absolution. Kubler-Ross’ five stages of grief are plentiful in Shakespeare’s dramas, especially Hamlet, simply because of the massive amounts of tragedies that occur within Hamlet that warrant grieving. The grieving process in Hamlet is easily visible because of the steps laid out by Kubler-Ross and how they match almost exactly with the feelings and actions of not only Hamlet, but the whole kingdom, including: Gertrude, Claudius, Laertes, Polonius, and Ophelia. Works Cited â€Å"The Kà ¼bler-Ross Grief Cycle.† The Kà ¼bler-Ross Grief Cycle. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2014. Santrock, John W. Kubler-Ross P. 57,58,59,60. A Topical Approach to Life-span Development. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2002. N. pag. Print. Shakespeare, William, and Harold Jenkins. â€Å"Act One, Scene Two, Act Three, Scene One, Act Three, Scene Three.† Hamlet. London: Methuen, 1982. N. pag. Print.

An Analysis of the Impact of Decreasing Trees in the Amazon Rain Forest

An Analysis of the Impact of Decreasing Trees in the Amazon Rain Forest Environmental Issue In recent years, there have been concerted efforts by leaders and nations around the world to confront the array of environmental issues currently facing the global community. Whether coming through dedicated promises to scale back on detrimental practices, or taking action in reducing the unsustainable business operations that many undertake, it is clear that we are at a pivotal time in history that will determine the well-being and future of our planet. In doing so, there are a plethora of issues that threaten future generations and environmental stability, with one of the more prominent and wide-reaching being that of deforestation. The concept of deforestation, in a simplistic sense, is that of cutting down trees and natural agricultural life as a means of using the lumber and resources for production purposes. Undoubtedly, trees are a crucial part in providing lumber for a broad range of activities, ranging from papermaking to building homes, and without such natural resources w ould have made it historically impossible to scale and grow civilizations at the rate that they have. However, recent technological advancements have provided new means of producing the very same resources in more sustainable manners, yet major corporations and proponents of deforestation continue to employ practices that are unsustainable. In order to better understand the overarching impacts of deforestation, it is necessary to first analyze the historical background of the issue, and how it has become such a major issue today. In doing so, deforestation has had a long history, dating back more than 500 years, as humans realized the benefits that came with transforming trees into lumber and other raw materials to be used in the production of various goods. As such, the impacts of deforestation and the centuries which it has lasted have left marks on the natural world, providing insight as to how detrimental it has been. Studies provide insight into the various periods throughout human history wherein deforestation occurred, shedding light on how long the practice has truly been around. As such, â€Å"In the classical worldGreek expansion to the eastern Mediterranean and Roman expansion westward led to remarkable deforestation; the consequent soil degradation was a major factor in the decline of the classical world. F or the medieval periodthe ways in which remarkable increases in population, medieval technology of plows and horsepower, cottage industry, shipbuilding, and crusades led to large-scale deforestation.† (Williams, 2008) Although these are only two examples of specific eras where deforestation was witnessed, it is clear that the methodologies existed for much of human history, and have only been magnified at scale in recent years. With the start of the Industrial Revolution throughout Europe, and processes of acquiring these resources became more automated, the world shifted into an era of inordinate unsustainability, one in which the modern community is continuing to undergo. As these actions became more efficient and profitable, it has since led to extensive declines in the forests around the world, with one of the most notable including that of the Amazon rainforest. Before delving into the case of the Amazon rainforest, it is necessary to touch on the impacts that deforestation has on the global community. In doing so, â€Å"the act of deforestation has impacted on the world in term of depreciating the natural environment and wildlife. It has also impacted on humans on the account of changes in environmental support processes such as weather conditionsFor more than one hundred years, the number of trees on the planet has plummeted, resulting in devastating consequences such as biodiversity loss, soil erosion, species extinction, global warming, and interference with the water cycle.† (EarthEclipse) The inevitable and explicit impacts of deforestation are apparent in the continued detriment to the climate, degradation of animal species and biodiversity, and an overall skewing of the Earth’s natural processes. In this regard, deforestation has had some of the most significant impacts on human lifestyles and the planet as a whole, beg ging the question as to why new methodologies have yet to be implemented. When it comes to the Amazon rainforest, this region is renown for its lush and vibrant ecology, the abundance of animal and insect species that find their homes in the area, and unfortunately, is one of the few remaining thriving rainforests left in the global community. With a plethora of resources available for commercial reasons, corporations began to take advantage of the benefits the region would provide them, setting up their operations in close proximity in order to maximize their profits. Specifically so, â€Å"forests in the Amazon were cleared faster than ever before in the late 1970s through the mid-2000s. Vast areas of rainforest were felled for cattle pasture and soy farms, drowned for dams, dug up for minerals, and bulldozed for towns and colonization projects. At the same time, the proliferation of roads opened previously inaccessible forests to settlement by poor farmers, illegal logging, and land speculators.† (Butler, 2017) With productions processes growing more and more efficient, large corporations opted out of changing their strategies towards sustainability, and rather continued to use detrimental practices to fuel their revenues and bottom line. The impact that these large corporations have had on the Amazon rainforest is breathtakingly disastrous, and manifest themselves in various ways. This includes the degradation of ecosystems and animal life, leading to extinctions of species, increased fires as a result of selective logging, natural droughts, record-breaking pollution levels found in the air, as well as natural disasters such as landslides that have directly cost human lives. These are just a few of the overt and explicit effects that deforestation has had on the Amazon rainforest, as such effects continue to worsen without any meaningful reform taking place. Understandably so, the issues that are debated on both sides have created chatter in the public sphere, making it clear that there must be some extent of resolution fo und to alleviate the concerns of both sides. However, thus far, attempts to implement such policies have been futile, despite the capabilities that advancements have provided to reduce reliance on natural resources derived from deforestation. Stakeholder Groups In understanding the various stakeholder groups which exist in regards to the deforestation issue, it can be found that these people include the heads of corporations that find their industry reliant upon these resources, environmentalists that believe reform can be made to allow for more sustainable productions, as well as public policy officials that aim to appease both of the aforementioned stakeholders to remain popular and be reelected. These three groups all of differing intentions and arguments when it comes to deforestation, and providing a cohesive resolution for all sides is the only way to reduce the level of forest clearing that has run rampant in recent years. First and foremost, it is crucial to understand the arguments and claims made by corporate individuals, as they look to increase their profits and ensure their companies continue to thrive. One of the primary arguments made by proponents of deforestation is that it provides a greater area to be inhabited by people, especially considering the burgeoning population issue that is currently taking place. In doing so, their claims state that, â€Å"with 10 billion people expected to be on the planet by 2050 and the never-ending growth explosion in sight, space has become more of a premium necessity on Earth. When there are forests on lands that could be utilized for habitation, then removing them can create more livable space. Commercial establishments and homes will also be built using the products that have been removed from the biome.† (GreenGarage) This point, which is valid in and of itself, then is backed up by another argument, that the resources derived from deforestation c an be used to better the lives of individuals who use those resources. Whether lumber for homes, or the plants and parts used to make paper and napkins, corporate executives can make the argument that deforestation provides the resources and goods that people purchase around the world. Another common claim that is made by proponents of deforestation is that it provides much needed economic support to the nations in which the practice occurs. Due to the fact that many of the major forests, especially the Amazons, are present in underdeveloped and impoverished countries, companies claim that deforestation allows them to establish operations in these countries, providing jobs for the locals who desperately need them. In this sense, the proposed establishments will bring about a win-win situation, both due to the affordable labor and acquisition to resources for the major companies, as well as providing wages and means of subsistence for people who live within close proximity of the forests and factories in question. According to proponents, deforestation creates job opportunities, given that â€Å"as deforestation increases demand from the lumber, manufacture, transportation, and construction industries, more people will be needed to get the job done, thus an increas e in employment opportunities.† (FutureofWorking, 2016) Although this is undoubtedly a reasonable claim to make, the fact of the matter is that such jobs and employment have not benefitted those who are living in the area. Rather, any employment opportunities have been meager and detrimental to the laborers, as their wages are immensely subpar and working conditions can be dangerous. When it comes to the environmentalist viewpoint on deforestation, it is clear why so many eco-conscious and environmentally-friendly individuals have denounced the clearing of rainforests. In doing so, there are many arguments that are made in terms of the sustainability and capability to keep up these practices, and the overarching impacts that they have on the natural world. In doing so, one of the foremost claims regarding deforestation made by environmentalists is that such practices can lead to permanent and negligent outcomes for the planet, and the climate which is present throughout it. As such, â€Å"excessive clearing or thinning of forests can destabilize the world’s climate by releasing into the atmosphere millions of tons of greenhouse gasses normally stored in wood in the form of carbon. This can damage the atmosphere and lead to global warming and eventually climate change. By storing carbon, forests provide a major environmental benefit by reducing global warm ing.† (CIFOR) This is a claim not only echoed by opponents of deforestation, but similarly the world community, as the impacts and consequences of climate change are becoming ever more prevalent throughout the world, and measures are being taken to combat this issue. If deforestation remains such a prominent practice in the corporate and commercial world, it can lead to detrimental impacts of releasing more greenhouse gasses into the environment, which has already been scientifically proven to dramatically alter the climate and weather of the planet. This is a relevant and valid argument against deforestation, as the consequences that are apparent have a far more detrimental outcome than the positives that are proposed. Furthermore, another reason why environmentalists are so severely against the concept of deforestation, is due to the fact that it has disastrous effects on the biodiversity and ecosystems of the abundant plant and animal life that find their homes in the Amazon rainforest. In doing so, â€Å"most of the planet’s valuable biodiversity is within forests, particularly tropical ones. Moist tropical forests such as the Amazon have the greatest concentrations of animal and plant species of any terrestrial ecosystem; perhaps two-thirds of Earth’s species live only in these forests. As deforestation proceeds, it has the potential to cause the extinction of increasing numbers of these species.† (Pimm, 2016) With more animal species becoming extinct what seems like on a daily basis, it is clear that the impact of human’s has had an unnatural effect on the animals and other living creatures that are on the planet as well. These different species similarly have impor tant roles in the global community, and the eradication of their kind can lead to imbalance and unwanted consequences in the future if not confronted. This is a valid claim made by many environmentalists in regards to the results of deforestation, and provides insight as to how unsustainable practices can be detrimental to the Earth, and to our own species in terms of the lifestyles that are currently lived. The final group of stakeholders in this regard is that of policymakers around the world, but more specifically and importantly, those in the United States. It is apparent in the global community that many follow the lead established by US politicians, and the actions taken by them can make meaningful impacts when done in the right way. In regards to their interests and needs, these policymakers are primarily focused on catering to the interests of their constituents so as to be reelected, as well as the whim of corporate lobby groups, from whom they receive immense amounts of funding and campaign contributions to be reelected at all. This has created an interesting and difficult dichotomy between the interests of people and corporations, with the latter emerging victorious for the most part. This is primarily due to the fact that the general constituency is less aware of the environmental matters at hand, and do not have the funding to make it a widespread issue come election time. N onetheless, it is these people that have the capabilities and power to implement policy reforms that will benefit the environmental world, and without their leadership, no such changes can be made. Policy Approaches and Analysis The current policy in regards to deforestation is quite lax and nonexistent to begin with. Corporations have the ability to reach out to foreign governments, such as the ones in Brazil, and establish partnerships by which the company can establish their manufacturing plants in prime locations with close proximity to the rainforests, and on the other end the government is paid out quite handsomely by these corporate executives. Although the Brazilian government has become far more protective about their rainforests, the reality is that the United States has done little-to-nothing to dissuade corporations that are already established in the country to implement new and more sustainable processes. This, as a result, has led to no decrease in the purchase of raw materials coming out of the Amazon, and rather incentivized corporations to continue their destructive behavior. One of the potential policy options that can be implemented to combat deforestation is that of corporate establishments. In doing so, â€Å"one of the most profitable and ecologically sound alternatives to mass deforestation in the Amazon is to attract not only responsible logging companies but entice these companies to build production facilities within the nations that they are logging from. Most of the logging industry cuts down the timber and immediately ships it to foreign countries where their factories process the wood into timber and other wood products.† (Blahnik, 2002) The fact is, that even though companies claim they are bringing jobs into the country, they are simultaneously doing everything they can to pay as little as possible for the finished goods. Given the restrictions on some forms of timber and logging, corporations ship out their products immediately so that they are not tracked or cause concern for conservationist groups in the country. By enforcing law s that would ensure these companies set up their production facilities in the home country in which they get their resources, it would not only decrease the amount of deforestation that occurs, but furthermore provide the jobs that they claim to want to provide. A second way to ensure that deforestation can be better regulated and decreased in the global community, is through an incentive or punishment type of policy that can be levied by world governments. In doing so, â€Å"financial incentives created by REDD+ can also change business practices. The success of ‘payments for environmental services’ in such countries as Costa Rica and Mexico and the work of Brazilian ranchers and nongovernmental organizations to develop sustainable agriculture standards show how this can be done. Economic incentives combined with political activism offer a powerful lever for promoting development without deforestation.† (UCSUSA, 2010) The benefit of this is that companies can be provided incentives monetarily if they fit certain standards, and implement practices that would offset their negative impact on the environment. On the other hand, there can also be a punishment if there is an unwillingness to implement such operations. In doin g so, major countries that purchase from these companies, namely the United States, can levy higher tariffs and taxes on imports of these goods and the corporation as a whole, which will reduce the desire to practice unsustainably. Essentially, this will allow corporations the option to adopt the more ethical and conscious practices as a means of not only reducing their environmental footprint, but being able to sell their goods at a more effective and efficient manner Conclusion Overall, when looking at the concept of deforestation, and the widespread detriment it has caused to the environmental world, it is clear that we are reaching a point in history, where our actions will have long-term, perhaps permanent, effects and consequences on the planet. With deforestation ramping up as a result of technological advancements and innovations, it is even more important that these progressions are used for positive means, and not destructive ones. By implementing new policies and reforms that will empower corporations to be more sustainable, while punishing the ones who forgo the needs of the natural environment, it will reduce the level of unsustainable deforestation in the global community, while ensuring that the benefits and advantages of such regions remain intact for years to come.

What did Theodore Roosevelt mean when he said the US should be the Essay

What did Theodore Roosevelt mean when he said the US should be the 'policemen' of the Caribbean - Essay Example He told Germany that the United States would act as the ‘debt collectors’ on their behalf. This meant that the US would collect all the money owed to Germany by the Caribbean islands and give it to them. When Roosevelt said that the US should be the policemen of the Caribbean, he was of the opinion that the United States should do everything in its power to assist the Caribbean in all ways possible. This was inspired by the fact that the Caribbean islands were very close neighbors of the United States (DiNunzio 143). Roosevelt, therefore, felt that it would be easy for the United States to gain full control of the Caribbean. It is clear that Roosevelt wanted to end the political unrest experienced in the Caribbean so as to gain control over its economy. He, therefore, felt that it was necessary for the US to be policemen of the Caribbean so as to eliminate the interference caused by the Europeans in the Caribbean. He felt that the Europeans interfered with the affairs of the Caribbean under the guise of collecting their debts but with the intention of ensuring their presence is felt in the area so that they would eventually take over the region (DiNunzio

Principles of research and evidence based practice Essay

Principles of research and evidence based practice - Essay Example The focus in this paper is on evidence-based practice in the nursing field that has gained a lot of momentum and the definitions vary. The findings of research, clinical knowledge, knowledge gathered from science, and all the medical expert opinions fall under what many in the field call "evidence" although practices that are based on research findings always tend to result in the required patient outcomes in different settings the geographic locations notwithstanding. According to Schofield, the impetus and desire for this evidence-based practice in matters nursing comes from healthcare practitioners, readily available medical information. Evidence-based practice requires changes in nursing education and other aspects like practice-relevant kind of research, and closer working relationships among all the concerned groups, that is, researchers and clinicians. Evidence-based practice does provide many opportunities for the whole concept of nursing care to be a bit more effective, indi vidualized, dynamic and streamlined. This, nevertheless, helps in minimizing the effects of the clinical judgments. In incidences where evidence is used to define some of the best practices rather than just supporting the existing practices, the profession of nursing care manages to keep pace with some of the latest technological advancements and also takes advantage, in many ways, of new medical research findings and knowledge developments. The different types of evidences vary on the basis of the fact that they are normally from different sources. This evidence based practices, often abbreviated as EBP, basically aims at applying the best valid and reliable evidence  which has been gained by use of scientific method  to making clinical  decisions. This evidence for practice is extremely important in the sense that it seeks to help in assessing the strength and validity of evidence of the benefits and risks of  treatment, or even lack of it and medical diagnostic tests. It helps clinicians to learn and be in a position to know whether given treatments plan will do more harm or good. According to Margolis (1999, pg. 135,) the evidence’s quality can be accessed on the basis of the type of source, that is, from  those clinical tests that are controlled and trials, systematic and analytical reviews of  the double-blind variety, and not forgetting other aspects like conventional wisdom. This can also be based on other factors like clinical relevance, validity of the statistics, and currency. According to Ehrenberg (2003, pg 281,) evidence based practice recognizes the fact that most of the aspects of medical and health care depend on very particular and individual factors like quality or   life value judgments, and this are normally subject to scientific research methods. This evidence based practice , however, attempts to clarify those medical activities and practice parts that are principle and part of the scientific methods and applying tho se methods in ensuring that best  prediction of expected outcomes in treatment of medical illnesses , even as the raging debate on what desirable outcomes should be (Ramstadius,1997,pg. 5). The research process is well known by most of the researchers in the medical field. Those involved in the carrying out of research in evidence based practice, if the current research finding are anything to go by, are well versed with the scientific research process. The systematic process that characterises research has to be strictly adhered to whenever those who intend to do any kind of medical researching .This ensures that the findings and data that is collected

Introduction to Financial Market Instruments. End of Course Assignment

Introduction to Financial Market Instruments. End of Course - Assignment Example Together the capital and money markets are used to manage risk and liquidity for individuals, governments and companies. The main players in the financial market are banks, households, sovereign entities, firms, insurance companies and other financial institutions (Williams, 2011). The report will focus on the UK capital market including equities, corporate bonds and government debts, UK property and commodity markets of UK. The commodity market will include gold as well as oil markets of United Kingdom. Five year viewpoint of the following markets will also be provided in order to provide recommendation on the best asset class. Factors which will drive the upcoming performance of UK capital markets will also be taken into consideration. The equity market of UK is the global market as more than 70% of profits generally come from the overseas; therefore it reflects the international market. It has fairly a big sector of resources and the mining and oil sector are the major sectors. They together contribute more than 15% and due to this reason the economy of UK is quite strong (Wall, 2015c). Though, the equity market of UK is expected to become volatile because of the turbulent election prevailing in the country. The overall increase of the revenue is also anticipated to remain exigent in the current year i.e. 2015. The alteration in the agenda of general election is the major reason of ambiguity for the equity market of the United Kingdom (Barnett, 2015). The main factor which is constantly overshadowing the equity market performance is the interaction between growing cynicism of the investors on the worldwide economic viewpoint and the capability of the policymakers towards creating the circumstances to strengthen p rospects of growth where necessary. The recent euro zone performance and the Chinese economy’s presentation is concerning. This is due to the reason that weaker than anticipated progress in these regions