International Politics Current Event Memo Article

International Politics Current Event Memo - Article Example It was confirmed that the policies used by China were violating the set global trade rules. Particularly, it was confirmed that the export rules applied by China on the rare-earth metals were not consistent with China’s obligation in the WTO. In defense, China stated that the rules were in place as a measure to safeguard the environment, but the WTO said that those reasons were not enough to limit exports. The WTO ruling covered seventeen rare-earth metals that are used in making of electronic products. According to the authors, the decision is likely to see a reduction in rare-earth metals prices. The authors note that the Obama leadership is keen on stepping up such trade cases against countries such as Russia, China and India. This is in an attempt to stop such countries from violating WTO rules. The main actors covered in the article are China, the United States and the World Trade Organization. On one hand, China’s interest is to limit the export of rare-earth metals to other countries. According to Chinese officials, such restrictions are important in helping conserve the environment. On the other hand, the WTO and the United States are keen on ensuring that China does not put policies in place that violate the WTO rules and limit international trade. For the WTO, this is an attempt to create a level-playing field in which all countries operate on fair policies that do not negatively affect other member countries. As noted in the article, the US is interested in following such cases in order to enhance fair trade policies. This is of benefit to the US economy. For example, it is noted in the article that the steelmakers in the United States welcomed the decision taken by the WTO since some of these rare-earth metals such as tungsten are used in the steel industry. The institutions relevant to the article include World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and

Critical evaluation of development and role of Balanced Scorecard in Essay

Critical evaluation of development and role of Balanced Scorecard in production and service organizations - Essay Example The current essay sought to provide a brief overview of BSC and its responsibility to measure overall performance of the firms in production and service sector. In addition to that, it also provides a critical reflection about the various roles played by BSC in service and production sectors. In today’s business environment, customer’s satisfaction has become one of the vital concerns for organizations and companies to improve product or service quality. Studies have noted that it is very problematic to measure performance of the service quality especially for the intangible goods. The accurate prediction of service quality is very complicated and there are numerous evidences that supports to that companies have failed to attempt the actual dimensional structure of service quality. Simons (2000) describes that, measuring and evaluating service quality generally uses a basic theory approach. He concluded that, it is very difficult to understand views of the different customers towards quality level of a particular product or service outcome. Thus, the mangers need to consider perception of the service process, service input and the overall supportive framework. The acceptance of globalization in the international market place has brought significant changes in the production and service sector, in terms of the level of competition, cost structure, production environment that led to rapid development in the advancement of technology. Majority of the companies in the global market were compelled to adopt contemporary business management techniques to ensure long-term business survival and to maintain competitive advantage (Kaynak, 2003). Performance management has evolved to be considered as an integral part of management accounting system. In this context, a large number of performance measures have been reported by the financial institutions to pursue cost of the organization’s long-term objectives. However, most of them have failed to provide

An American painting. Winslow Homer Research Paper

An American painting. Winslow Homer - Research Paper Example The artist had done this painting during the last 10 years of his life, when he was 63 years old. The painting of ‘The Gulf Stream’ was created in 1899 and it was a sort of synopsis of the artist’s own lifetime experiences which were steeped in adversity and combined with the memories and reflections of his life. This was not the only painting of ‘The Gulf Stream’ but he had created two other variants of the same with watercolors. In addition to this he also made a few sketches on the same subject. The artist drew inspiration for this painting from different sources. Since he frequently visited Nassau and Florida, his journey took him through the Gulf Stream and this could have been a source of inspiration to him. Studies show that the painting was based on the two winter trips made by the artist to the Bahamas3 in 1884 – 85 and 1898 – 99. Another source of the artist’s inspiration is believed to have come from ‘Mc Cabe†™s Curse’4 which is a Bahamian story that tells of how a British Captain had been robbed and had to survive a terrible storm. Homer also drew inspiration from his father’s death as he was left lonely and abandoned. Painting Description 4 The painting of ‘The Gulf Stream’ was an oil on canvas painting whose dimensions are 28.1 inches by 49.1 inches (71.5 cm x 124.8 cm) Presently, this painting is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.5 The background of the painting shows a rough and violent seascape and a partially lit sky. The center of the painting shows a small rudderless boat, devoid of mast and sails, bobbing up and down on its dark waters. The solitary figure of a man, battling the waves, with huge hungry sharks all around him stands out against the dark background of water. On the right of the boat in the distance a water spout can be seen rising up into the clouded sky. The actual painting of the rough sea is done with brush strokes of blue an d gray that occurs alternating with scant brush strokes of reddish brown. The entire scene is bathed in a creamy white light depicting either dawn or dusk. In the far away distance is the ghostly outline of a ship, very vague in its form and shape, but unfortunately the ship is not noticed by the man in the boat. There is a sort of aesthetic realism6 that is portrayed in this composition. In as much as the author consciously separates the good and evil elements he portrays them together, showing that both good and evil exists in our midst. The helpless man symbolizes vulnerability and abandonment on one hand, but on the other hand he is shown to be calm and at ease among the sharks in the water. Homer’s 5 underlying meaning could have been one of hope with nothing much to fear and suggests strength of character. There is another area of possible symbolism and that is the ebony cross located on the bow of the boat suggesting impending death and a funeral to follow. The open ha tch also could suggest a sort of tomb or a grave. The ethereal ship shown in the distance could symbolize redemption by making peace with ones self. The artist’s use of line and color is so mature showing his experience on oil and canvas. The lines are smooth and the colors such as the shades of grey, blues and creams blend well against each other giving the whole scene an ominous appearance. The color and contours of the figures gives it a dark mood filled with impending danger. From the exquisiteness of the painting it is clearly understood that Winslow Homer was a highly skilled artist of his time. I really liked the painting for its

Proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Research Proposal Example The research will study the impacts of mobile devices on cyber security in Banda town that is located in the United States. This town is expected to have numerous users because it is located in the US, which has a high population of about 312 million (Shabtai, Fledel, Kanonov, Elovici, Dolev, & Glezer, 2010). The study will concentrate on colleges and universities in the region, because these institutions have numerous students who use mobile devices both at school and at home. The school administrators also use mobile phones to communicate with teachers and other supporting staff. Gaoyue (2013), the senior colonel of Nautilius Institute for security and sustainability, argues that the common uses of the internet include purchasing items in online stores, downloading music, sharing information oN social media platforms such as Face book, Twitter, and LinkedIn, paying electricity and water bills, and accessing television networks. These uses indicate that consumers post their personal information such as name, income, location, and credit card number on the cyber space. This information is personal meaning that it should only be accessed by the owners and other authorized people. However, since mobile phones perform functions that are similar to those of computers, it means that the information of consumers faces the threat of lack of privacy due to cyber threats. The cyber threats include viruses, malicious software, hacking, exposure of secrets, and network fraud (Wright, Dawson, & Omar, 2012). These cyber threats have impacts on consumers and companies that use the mobile devices to share information and purchase goods. Therefore, it is essential to study the impacts of the threats that mobile device users face; this will help in advising companies and consumers on how they can protect themselves from the hazards. The results of the study will enable teachers and students to identify the