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The Changing Nature of Management Accounting and the Emergence of ‘Hybrid’ Accountantsby John Burns, Lecturer in Accountingand Robert Scapens, Professor of Accounting University of Manchester, UK

CIMA Publishing – November 2000

Brief SynopsisThe paper presents evidence from a study of management accounting change in UK companies. Motivated by claims that management accounting had lost its relevance in informing managers’ decisions, our research investigated whether management accounting has been too slow to change despite the rapidly changing technological and organisational environment in recent years. We conclude that management accounting is changing. However, rather than change being necessarily in the type of management accounting techniques adopted, it seems to be more about the manner through which management accounting, including many traditional accounting techniques, is being used. Furthermore, our research also highlights the emergence of new, more proactive management accountants who increasingly become part of the management team within a business process. The paper highlights the roles and expectations of these so-called hybrid accountants and projects implications for the professional accounting bodies and its members.Biographical DetailsJohn Burns, Lecturer in Accounting since 1996, at the University of Manchester, UK. Main research interests in: all areas of management accounting; organisational change; institutional theories of organisational change; industrial policy.Robert Scapens, Professor of Accounting since 1983, at the University of Manchester, UK. Editor-in-Chief of CIMA’s academic publication, Management Accounting Research. Main research interests in: all areas of management accounting; enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems; case study research methods; institutional theories of organisational change.IntroductionIn recent years there has been considerable debate over the extent to which management accounting is changing. Johnson and Kaplan (1987) argued that management accounting had not changed since the early part of the twentieth century and, as such, had lost its relevance for the purpose of informing managers’ decisions. Although, it has also been argued that the environment in which management accounting is practiced has changed considerably – with advances in information technology, more competitive markets, different organisational structures and new management practices (see, for example, Ezzamel et al., 1993).Since the publication of Johnson and Kaplan’s work, various new accounting techniques have been developed such as activity-based costing (ABC) and strategic management accounting. However, such so-called modern techniques are not being used as widely as their advocates might have expected. For example, various surveys indicate that ABC is only used by between 20% and 30% of companies (eg., Innes and Mitchell, 1995). Whereas traditional management accounting techniques continue to be used widely (see Drury et al., 1993). These surveys, therefore, appear to support the relevance lost thesis.This leads us to question whether management accounting has been too slow to change despite the rapidly changing technological and organisational environment in recent years – the focus of a research project based at Manchester University (UK) . The project was generously funded by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Economic and Social Research Council; it comprised a questionnaire survey, a field study of 12 companies, and 8 longitudinal case studies (all UK-based and lasting between 3 and 5 years).Broadly speaking, our research findings suggest that management accounting is changing. However, rather than change being necessarily in the type of management accounting techniques adopted, it seems to be more about the manner through which management accounting, including many traditional techniques, is being used. Whilst it is difficult to disagree with the findings of surveys that, at a superficial level, traditional management accounting techniques continue to be used, these surveys fail to identify changes in the way that traditional accounting techniques are now used in practice.Furthermore, our research also highlighted the emergence of new, more proactive management accountants. As will be developed in the paper, rather than there being a change in management accounting (eg., Bromwich and Bhimani, 1989), the profession faces exciting challenges ahead. Although, as we shall explain, individuals must be prepared to accept, and have organisational backing to, change traditional ways of doing accounting.Factors Shaping Management Accounting ChangeHowever, before describing our observations on the changing nature of management accounting and the changing roles of an accountant, we should briefly outline some of the external factors which seem to be shaping such change. No attempt was made to assess the extent of the impact of each of these external factors, they are simply the factors which managers and accountants claim to be having an impact on their management accounting.Various factors were mentioned by different people, but probably the most frequently cited was the competitive economic situation of the 1990s, and especially global competition. The extent to which the claims of increased competition are rhetorical, rather than actual economic effects, does not really matter. It is the perception of managers and accountants which is important, and how they perceive the economic climate in which they operate. If there is a perception of greater competition, then an increased focus is likely to be given to markets and the customer. And, though much of this customer focus may simply be rhetoric, in the companies we studied there did appear to be a greater emphasis on the service given to customers, and to providing that service in a market-orientated way.Another fundamental change, and far more than rhetoric, is the advance in information technology which has taken place in recent years. The speed of technological change over the last 30 years or so, and especially the advent of the PC, has had a profound affect on organisational life. Particularly significant over the last 5-10 years has been the extent of the dispersion of computers and computing capacity around the organisation. The increased use of the computer has had major effects on the nature of work, especially clerical work, and on information flows around the organisation.In addition, there have been other substantial changes in organisational structure, although again whether they are generated by rhetorical or real economic factors is not clear. For example, whereas in the UK in the 1970s, there was a wave of acquisitions and mergers, with the creation of conglomerates, by the 1990s organisations were moving in the opposite direction. The trend was then for de-mergers, with companies focusing on core competencies, and outsourcing non-core activities.These various changes – in competition, technology and organisational structure – all have important implications for the nature of management accounting – particularly the manner in which traditional accounting techniques are now being used. In the next section we discuss such implications.The Changing Nature of Management AccountingAs described above, there have been considerable advances in information technology in recent years. One of the most important, apart from the speed and capacity of modern systems, has been the development of data-base technologies which provide the ability to store vast amounts of information in easily accessible ways. These technologies permit various users simultaneously to access the information stored on the database and to use it in different ways. When Johnson and Kaplan were proclaiming their relevance lost thesis, one of the reasons they advanced was that management accounting is dominated by financial reporting. They argued that as financial reporting is a legal requirement, it has to be done. So if a company has only one information system, it is the needs of financial reporting which will take precedence. Thus, information for other purposes has to be accommodated within that system, so far as it is practical. In this sense, management accounting is second place to financial reporting. Database systemsBut with modern databases, information can be analysed in a number of different ways. This makes it possible to design an information system that meets the needs of the various users, and in effect to have different information for different purposes. There need only be one database, but which is used to produce the information needed for different accounting systems, and these systems are then integrated through the information systems as a whole.Another significant effect of IT development is the way in which information is more widely dispersed around the organisation. All managers and many other people at all levels within the organisational hierarchy have PCs on their desks, which can be used to access the information they need. Traditionally, managers would ask accountants for the information, especially the financial information, they needed. Although some managers would maintain their own, often informal, records, the formal information was maintained in the accounting system. If managers wanted to access that information or they need particular analyses, they would ask the accountants. But now, as information systems become more integrated and access to them is dispersed around the organisation, the information flow has, to some extent, been reversed. Individual managers have greater responsibility for information concerning their areas of activity, and instead of asking accountants for information, they can obtain the information directly from their PC. Thus, rather than managers seeking information from the accountants, the accountants use the information stored in the information system to produce both financial and management accounting reports. So, as it were, the accounting reports are extracted from the information system, rather than being the basis on which information is provided to the rest of the organisation. This implies a change in the role of accountants, from one of information provider to, at least to some extent, the “customer” of the broader integrated information system. Accountants, however, are often directly involved in the design and maintenance of the information system.Decentring accounting knowledgeA particular management accounting consequence of these technological developments is what we have called elsewhere, the decentring of accounting knowledge (see Scapens et al., 1996). Information such as budgets, variances, and actuals are all now available at various levels in many organisations. Even in companies that have not implemented one of the new integrated information systems, we have found that such accounting information is often available, for instance, in the production information system, and is designed and maintained by production personnel, rather than by accountants. Furthermore, it is the managers who now have the responsibility for cost management, whereas previously it was the accountants responsibility to monitor costs. Cost management is now more generally accepted to be a managerial function, and managers increasingly think and talk about their activities in cost terms. This means that, within the various areas of a business, there is a need for individuals who understand costs, variances, accounting reports and so on. Such individuals may be accountants (part or fully-qualified), or more likely people from other functions who are financially literate. In some of the organisations we studied, such people were described as “pseudo-accountants” or something equivalent. These are the increasing number of people who have accounting knowledge, and although not trained as accountants, can access, analyse and use accounting information without the intervention of an accountant.In part, this decentring of accounting knowledge is the result of accountants educating other people in the organisation, but it has been made possible by the availability of financial information at all levels in the organisation. Furthermore, it has implications for the role of a management accountant, as was illustrated in several of our case studies. Many managers, although not trained as accountants, displayed a very high level of understanding of accounting systems and accounting information. Nevertheless, most still claimed the need for an accountant. In several companies we visited, the management accountant would be notionally a member of the centralised accounting function, but assigned out in the field where he/she works most of the time. In general, these accountants were regarded as important because of their links to the centralised accounting function which means that he/she has knowledge of the interactions with other parts of the business. So, the accountant is able to provide a much broader understanding of the business, and able to advise on the impacts and implications which actions within the particular function would have on the other parts of the business. In essence, management accountants were seen as people who could look outwards from a particular area of activity, to the business more generally.ForecastsA further issue that emerged in most of the companies we have studied relates to the role of the budgets. Increasingly, budgets are being seen as backward looking and out of date before the start of the year. There now appears to be much greater emphasis given to forecasts – either rolling forecasts for, say the next 3, 6 or 12 months (depending on the nature of the business); or, forecasts to the year end. This is particularly important because, whereas budgets are usually associated with the accountants, forecasts are more closely identified with individual managers.Budgets are usually produced as part of a business-wide exercise, co-ordinated by the accounting function. Frequently, budgets are perceived as imposed from outside, even where there is some input from individual departments and functions. Forecasts, however, whether they are rolling forecast, or forecasts to the year end, require considerable inputs from these individual departments and functions themselves, as they are the only people with the necessary detailed knowledge, and this greater personal involvement can create a feeling of ownership of the forecast. Consequently, there is a shift of emphasis from budgeting, which has essentially been backward looking and is to a great extent imposed, to forecasts which are forward-looking and locally-owned.Commercial orientationA further general finding from our project is the change from what might be termed a financial accounting mentality, to a more commercial orientation. More emphasis on commercial orientation does not mean that profit is unimportant, profit remains crucial. The vast majority of businesses need to earn profits to survive – but profit can be conceptualised rather differently. A commercial orientation recognises that it is the business ability to continue to earn profits in future periods which is important, rather than just seeking to earn a profit in the current period. This implies a more strategic view, and an emphasis on managing the capacity to generate profits. This does not necessarily imply less quantification ñ indeed, it may involve more quantification and a wider range of performance indicators. Furthermore there is likely to continue to be an ongoing comparison of actual performance against targets, as expressed in terms of these indicators. But this may be over a longer time period than traditional short-term accounting cycles. However, a word of caution needs adding about what might happen in an economic downturn. It may have been relatively easy in the early part of the 1990s, with stock market growth and buoyant economies, to focus on a broader conception of profitability. But with declining stock markets and, say, a global recession, there could well be a return to more bottom-line focus.Strategic FocusThis commercial orientation appears in many of the companies we visited to have a more strategic focus, leading to the use of a range of performance indicators – including a significant increase in the use of non-financial measures of performance (eg., customer satisfaction and quality indicators). Key performance indicators, which may be financial or non-financial, attempt to assess the factors which impinge on a company’s ability to earn profits, both in the short and long term. Given that broader based performance indicators are increasingly becoming more important, what is the role of the management accounts which are produced month by month? In one of our case studies, management accounts are prepared for the monthly Management Board meetings, which generally last one whole day and offer the opportunity to discuss current issues and problems in the company. Referring to the management accounts, the Managing Director explained that they are presented by the management accountant, and “it takes 20 minutes – including the jokes!”. As such, the management accounts are the starting point for the day’s discussions, but the Managing Director did not expect to find anything contained within them which he did not already know.However, the month-by-month figures in the management accounts have to be understood in the context of broader performance indicators, linking the financial outcomes with the strategic consequences of the activities which have been undertaken. One of the roles of the management accountant is to bring together the broad view of the business expressed in the key performance indicators, with the narrower financial view shown in the management accounts. For this purpose the management accountant needs a broad understanding of the business and it operations. Such ideas will be developed in the section below.The Changing Role of Management AccountantsHaving briefly outlined the changing nature of the use of management accounting, we will now explore possible implications for accountants and the professional accounting bodies. As a starting point, it can be said that there are both opportunities and threats. In one case study, a UK-based manufacturer of healthcare products, the number of people in the accounting function declined in the period 1990-97 from 120 to 60. Similar high-percentage reductions were observed elsewhere. Such reductions are largely a result of advances in information technology, particularly the computerisation of recording and processing transactions.But during the same period in this company, there was also an emergence of hybrid accountants – as they were called by some managers. The company had changed from a functionally organised business (with separate business units and service functions to support them) to a process-based form of organisation. Whereby, each unit, and if possible each site, was responsible for all its activities from the receipt of an order to delivery of the final product. Under this new structure there is now a process leader who is responsible for all these activities, together with the associated support functions which are an integral part of the process. In this particular case, the only functions which are now separate are finance, IT and quality. But even the finance function, although notionally separate, became increasingly integrated into the individual processes.Supporting each individual process is a small group of accountants – the hybrids. A hybrid accountant is someone who has both accounting knowledge and an in depth understanding of the operating functions or commercial processes of the business. Throughout most of the company, hybrids are physically located in the process steams, where they work alongside the process managers. They have offices next to the process leaders, where they work at least three days a week. They then spend the other day or two in the accounting function, where they have an additional desk and are able liaise with their accounting colleagues. But, in most instances, it appeared that the hybrids regarded the process as being their “home”, and that they regard themselves as part of the process management team.There is clearly an opportunity to extend the role of management accountants within such process teams. Although, if accountants are to be involved in the management process in this way, they need to understand the complexities of the business and to have the capability of interacting with people in all parts of the organisation.We have seen various examples in our case studies. At one extreme there was an accountant who was excellent at producing and analysing the numbers but he could not relate them to the business, and consequently he was not retained in the organisation. At the other extreme, someone complimented an accountant saying: “He’s not like normal accountants. He can see the real business through the numbers”. While intended as a compliment to this particular individual, the comment was a criticism of accountants more generally. There does appear to be a need for more management accountants to understand their business, but this requires broader forms of training and experience, not simply training in accounting numbers. In particular, management accountants need to relate the accounting and financial information to the wider information flows within the organisation, including strategic information, and to recognise the limitations as well as the potential of management accounting.As was mentioned at the start of this paper, our research project was motivated by concerns over claims that management accounting had lost its relevance for managerial decision-making. Our findings, however, indicate that professional bodies should not be unduly concerned about the relevance lost thesis. Management accounting is still very much alive, though in many companies its use is undergoing change. Nevertheless, there is an important issue which the professional accounting bodies do have to address. They must ensure that their members are capable of taking a broader role within the management team. Some accountants clearly are ñ as we have seen in our case studies. But the issue for the professional bodies is whether both their student training programmes and their continuing education activities are preparing their future and current members for this broader role and, in general, helping them to cope with the changing nature of management accounting.ReferencesBromwich, M. and Bhimani, A. (1989) Management Accounting: Evolution not Revolution, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants: London. Drury, C., Braund, S., Osbourne, P. and Tayles, M. (1993) A Survey of Management Accounting Practices in UK Manufacturing Companies, Chartered Association of Certified Accountants: London.Ezzamel, M., Lilley, S. and Willmott, H. (1993) Changes in Management Practices in UK Companies, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants: London.Innes, J. and Mitchell, F. (1995) A survey of activity-based costing in the UK’s largest companies, Management Accounting Research, June, pp. 137-54.Johnson, H. T. and Kaplan, R. S. (1987) Relevance Lost: The Rise and Fall of Management Accounting, Harvard Business School Press: Boston, Mass.Scapens, R., Turley, S., Burns, J., Joseph, N., Lewis, L. and Southworth, A. (1996) External Reporting and Management Decisions: A Study of their Interrelationship in UK Firms, The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants: London.

REQUIRED:

With reference to the above article discuss how you believe the role of the management accountant has changed since this article was published in 2000 and, in hindsight, if there is evidence to support the arguments put forward by John Burns and Robert Scapens.

The above is the question and below is information to assist you in this task.

This is a research piece and will therefore require you to investigate, in some detail, the changes which have taken place in accounting in general (but with a focus on management accounting), global and national economic conditions, technology and accounting education since the article was published.

The course work is to be written in the “style” of an academic article and must be referenced accordingly.

One of the main aims of the course work is to develop your research skills. I expect to see evidence of extensive reading about and around the subject, from sources including ALL of the following:

Text books;

Academic articles; and

Internet sources.

The course work will constitute 60% of the overall mark for the module, BAF-4-IM2 Intermediate Management Accounting, and marks will be awarded for content, evidence of research, presentation and insight into the area under investigation. For such a substantial percentage of the module I expect effort to be in evidence.

The word count is 2,000 words +/- 10%. This is to be strictly adhered to and marks will be deducted accordingly if you go under or over the limit stated.

Presentation is important when undertaking academic writing. While I understand this is a first year module and do not expect anything new to emerge (although I would welcome original thought), I do expect you to write and present this work in a professional manner. If you are unsure of how to write in the style of an academic article then look on the library website in any recognised accounting journal and see for your selves.

One of the skills you must learn is that of referencing your work to a very high standard. You are all aware of the fact sheet offered by the library regarding the Harvard System of referencing. I expect you all to follow that style and if you choose not to do so marks will be severely deducted and you run the risk of failure. The help sheet can be found at:

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/library/html/documents/HS30_000.pdfYour work must also be submitted to the module “Turn-it-In” site, which will be made available on the Blackboard site for Intermediate Management Accounting.

Turn-it-In is a Web-based service that can find and highlight matching or unoriginal text in a written assignment. Although it can be used to detect plagiarism I want you to utilise the software as a way of self-checking your final submission.

You must include a print out of the summary page(s) of your individual turn-it-in report as appendices to your final submission. I will check each submission to see if it matches your summary pages – YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I will run through the Turn-it-In system prior to you having to submit your course work.

I will allow multiple submissions to the module turn-it-in site but be aware that while your first submission normally takes around 24 hours before you get the report back, subsequent submissions may take considerable longer. I therefore suggest that your final submission is put through the site at least 2/3 days prior to the deadline I have set.

This is an individual piece of work and you will be severely penalised if you are found to have copied/plagiarised a fellow students work or any other work submitted both to LSBU and/or in the public domain. I have had cases in the past where students have innocently shared their work with others only to find that their work has been copied and used. In a scenario like this both parties will be penalised. That is not to say you cannot discuss the work with both your fellow students and your lecturers and I will assist any student who needs help. I will not look at any work sent to me via e-mail but I do understand that from time to time (and I mean occasionally, not on a weekly basis) you may wish to seek guidance.

Part of the university experience is to learn to think independently. I expect you all to embrace this culture and have the confidence to work on your own without constantly seeking reassurance.

The all-important hand-in date is as follows:

HAND IN DATE: TUESDAY 16TH APRIL 2013.

This is week 9 of the semester and also allows you 3 weeks over the Easter break to finalise your submission (this gives you 10 weeks in total which includes the Easter break). Your exams will not start until at least 4 weeks after submission and I have chosen this date so as not to affect any revision you may have leading up to your end of year exams. The course work is to be submitted to LR105 (The Faculty Office in London Road) no later than 4pm on the date specified above.

It is not within my power, or the power of any academic/administrative member of staff, to extend this deadline in any way. Please familiarise yourselves with the course guide/student handbook for clarification in this area.

For your guidance the course work will be assessed against the 4 general criteria below:

Communication 15%

Writing ability – power of expression; clarity of language and analytical logic; adherence to an appropriate structure and presentation.

Knowledge & Understanding 50%

Depth of analysis and extent of understanding of the subject; breadth of knowledge demonstrated; the relevance and practicability of the conclusions made and the extent to which they relate theory to practice.

Research 30%

The extent of research as evidenced by a bibliography, reflection, informed critical discussion and analysis.

Turn-It-In5%

This mark is to be awarded if the student has followed the brief and submitted their summary turn-it-in report as part of the appendices.

The above is for your guidance and a more substantive break down of grade marks will be utilised when marking your work. This will incorporate the learning outcomes as stated in the module guide, especially those related to intellectual, practical and tr

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DateThe Causes of Homelessness that People Should be More Aware ofHomelessness is a significant social and public health issue in the US that has recently been given substantial attention by policymakers, clinicians, researchers, and administrators (Tsai et al. 113). Homelessness refers to a lack of permanent accommodation (Mabhala et al. 2). A homeless person can also be described as a person whose main nighttime residence is; (i) a publicly operated or a supervised shelter intended to offer temporary living accommodations (examples include congregate shelters, welfare hotels, and transitioning houses for people with mental illnesses); (ii) an institute that offers a temporary residence for people designed to be institutionalized; or (iii) a private or public place not ordinarily used as, or intended for, a regular sleeping accommodation for people (Institute of Medicine Staff, n.p). Research reveals that seventeen out of every 10,000 people living in the US experience homelessness (Alpert 295). In 2019, the US had over 500,000 homeless individuals, with Florida, West Coast, New York, and Southwest haing the highest numbers of homeless people (Alpert 295). The author further urges that the homelessness situation in Los Angeles is rapidly deteriorating, and the state had approximately 40,000 homeless people as of 2021. The number was significantly high compared to other states, such as Florida and Texas, where there were 28,000 and 25,000 homeless people, respectively (Alpert 295).

Researchers have established a relationship between social factors and homelessness. The most common causes of homelessness center on seven major categories of deprivation: education, income, employment, skills and training, crime, health and disability, and social support services (Mabhala et al. 2). This paper aims to shed light on some of the causes of homelessness that the general public should be aware of. Some causes of homelessness that more people should be aware of are the lack of basic life skills that are considered essential in society, the reality of rental discrimination when it comes to marginalized individuals, and the lack of financial resources necessary to afford housing.

One major cause of homelessness that people should be more aware of is the lack of basic life skills. In a study to examine the causes and effects of homelessness, Alowaimer (1) identified lack of training or education as a major cause of homelessness. According to the author, lack of education denies homeless people an opportunity to acquire important life skills (Alowaimer 1). Such basic life skills include the ability to manage money. Homeless people are faced with many challenges, making them quit school or attend them irregularly. For instance, most homeless people are poor and cannot afford the cost of education (Alowaimer 1). Also, lack of education denies homeless people financial literacy skills. Research reveals that people with financial literacy tend to be effective in the way they utilize their money, such as saving money, budgeting, investing and paying their bills on time (Dwiastanti 99). Since homeless people are not equipped with these skills, it becomes a challenge for them to effectively manage their money. They end up misusing their money which leaves them poor. Due to poverty, homeless families are forced to live in unstable houses where rent is cheap (Alowaimer 1). Generally, it is evident that a lack of basic life skills contributes to homelessness. Therefore, people must become aware of this cause of homelessness since, although it is a very common cause of homelessness, it is not commonly acknowledged by researchers as a significant cause of homelessness.

Rental discrimination is another cause of homelessness that people should be more aware. Research reveals that housing discrimination has continued to be a significant problem in the US even after the Fair Housing Act was enacted. Roughly 4 million individuals in the US experience rental discrimination every year (Friedman 99). On a different note, Rosen (787) claims that gatekeepers such as landlords in the housing industry are confronted with a racially divergent applicant pool but end up selecting applicants from the same race. Yinger (99) further urges that the US has faced the corrosive impacts of race-restrictive covenants, racial zoning, and the unwillingness of the majority of property owners together with their agents to serve individuals viewed as different from the White majority. This has made it difficult to ensure equal opportunity and fair treatment as mandated by the Fair Housing Act since property owners and other participants in the housing market are able to deny or restrict access to housing on the basis of membership in a so-called protected class, defined by color, origin, religion, race, or nationality (Yinger 99). When rental discrimination is practiced by gatekeepers such as landlords, people who are considered different from the White majority end up becoming homeless since house shortage is a significant problem in the US. This is because these people are not prioritized when applying for houses; hence, they lack houses. Research reveals that researchers pay little attention to the issue of discrimination when it comes to access to housing (Bunel 65). Thus, rental discrimination is rarely recognized as a cause of homelessness in the US. As the US continues to find ways of reducing homelessness, it is important that people get aware that rental discrimination is among the major causes of homelessness, although scholars rarely examine this factor.

Lastly, lack of financial resources to afford to house is another cause of homelessness that people should be more aware of. Johnsen examined the link between poverty and homeless and concluded that poverty had been universally recognized as a significant contributor to homelessness in the US (5). Research reveals empirical evidence is so compelling and consistent that individuals would disprove the claim that poverty is a key contributor to homelessness, given that poverty restricts people’s capacity to mobilize resources needed to address a housing crisis (Johnsen 5). The author further adds that some scholars have gone to the extent of considering homelessness a form of poverty itself. Also, supporting the idea that lack of financial resources contributes to homelessness, Mabhala et al. (2), in their study where that examined the social conditions for becoming homeless, stated that income deprivation is the highest risk factor of homelessness. The author explains that poor people lack affordable housing, which renders them homeless. Supporting this point, Muniz (2) further add that poverty contributes to homelessness since intense economic disadvantage creates the ideal conditions for the occurrence and concealment of homelessness episodes without promoting the creation of clearly defined solutions that promote emancipation from the homelessness crisis.

Overall, this essay discusses some of the major causes of homelessness that more people should be aware of. Among these causes are the lack of basic life skills, rental discrimination, and lack of financial resources necessary to afford housing. In order to minimize the issue of homelessness, it is important to first deal with these major causes, which so far have been given little attention. This may include providing education and training to homeless people on basic life skills such as how to manage money, ensuring that landlords and their agents adhere to the provisions of the Fair Housing Act, and providing employment opportunities to homeless people to enable them to acquire adequate financial resources to redeem themselves from lack of housing.

Works Cited

Alowaimer, Osama. “Causes, effects, and issues of homeless people.” Journal Of Socialomics 7.03 (2018): 1-4. http://dx.doi.org/10.41 72/2167-0358.1000223Alpert, Joseph S. “Homeless in America.” The American Journal of Medicine 134.3 (2021): 295-296.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2020.10.002Bunel, Mathieu, et al. “Ethnic discrimination in the rental housing market: an experiment in New Caledonia.” International Regional Science Review 42.1 (2019): 65-97. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0160017617739065Dwiastanti, Anis. “Financial Literacy as the Foundation for Individual Financial Behavior.” Journal of Education and Practice 6.33 (2015): 99-105.

Friedman, Samantha. “Commentary: Housing discrimination research in the 21st century.” Cityscape 17.3 (2015): 143-150.

Institute of Medicine Staff. Homelessness, health and human needs. National Academies Press, 1988.

Johnsen, Sarah, and Beth Watts. “Homelessness and Poverty: reviewing the links.” Paper presented at the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR) conference. Vol. 1. 2014.

Mabhala, Mzwandile A., Asmait Yohannes, and Mariska Griffith. “Social conditions of becoming homelessness: qualitative analysis of life stories of homeless peoples.” International journal for equity in health 16.1 (2017): 1-16.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-017-0646-3Muniz, Paul. “On the Relationship between Poverty Segregation and Homelessness in the American City and Suburb.” Socius 7 (2021): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2378023121996871Rosen, Eva, Philip ME Garboden, and Jennifer E. Cossyleon. “Racial discrimination in housing: how landlords use algorithms and home visits to screen tenants.” American Sociological Review 86.5 (2021): 787-822. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F00031224211029618Tsai, Jack, Thomas O’Toole, and Lisa K. Kearney. “Homelessness is a public mental health and social problem: New knowledge and solutions.” Psychological services 14.2 (2017): 113.http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ser0000164Yinger, John. “Sustaining the fair housing act.” Cityscape (1999): 93-106.

The Changing Trends between Church and Culture and its Effect on Evangelism, Past, Present, and Future

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Background Information

The coming of Christ was prophesied in the bible by several prophets who are found in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ appeared to people to proclaim the good news of how he had come to save humanity. After the Death of Jesus Christ, the news of the goodness of God was still spread by those with faith in Christ. The apostles were left behind with responsibility of spreading the word of God to the whole world. The gospel has been written in the four gospel books which are namely; Mathew, Luke, Mark and John. The books were written by the Disciples of Christ, who independently wrote according to what they had seen. The scenes witnessed were used to spread the word of God to the masses.

From the gospel books, evangelists get their references while preaching to the people. In reference to Romans 1:4, Jesus Christ was declared the Son Of God through the Holy Spirit and by His resurrection. His followers bore witnesses of the excellence of the Jesus Christ. Evangelism is regarded as a process and not an event that happens in an instance. It is for several reasons that the Disciples of Christ went around bearing witness about Jesus and his great works. The reasons were that the disciples had deep and abiding faith in God and Jesus. Jesus Christ had commanded them to take the good news to the entire world. The promise by Jesus was always to be with his people as they carried out the command.

Today the church is viewed as being evangelistic and a modern advancement of the evangelism that took place within the first centuries after the death of Jesus Christ. Some believers of Christianity are moving to further places with the sole purpose of sharing their Christian faith. Other Christians have sacrificed their entire life to do church missions outreach because they value the power of evangelism in growing the number of believers. There is a category of Evangelism referred to as individual evangelism. Individual evangelism is practiced among believers who share their individual faith with acquaintances or allies. However, evangelism today seems not to be much effective, since many believers fear seclusion by non-believers who at times happen to be their close friends.

Evangelism in today’s church may be viewed as having a misunderstanding on salvation. The reason for misunderstanding of salvation has been brought out as deliverance from guilt rather than deliverance of sin. Though the purpose of the church is not mainly evangelism, it is considered to be the best medium to proclaim the salvation to other people. The reason for salvation has also been diluted and left many reluctant towards believing the words of evangelists. The evangelism should largely consider taking the gospel as a full package to both believers and non-believers; who have become victims of ignorance, compromising associations and ignorance.

Evangelism Defined

The word evangelism conveys many meanings, all at the same time. When the word evangelism is used, many people seem to envisage a preacher asking them to turn to God in a shrewd manner and stating all manner of ultimatums. Gospel crusades are also likely to come into mind when you mention the word Evangelism. However, it is truly important to understand what evangelism means in detail. Well, Evangelism is persuading other people to trust in God through Jesus Christ.

Evangelism may also be defined as the proclamation, announcement and preaching about Jesus Christ and the gospel as a whole. According to etymology of English words, the word evangelism comes from euaggelion that is a Greek word. The Greek word means “good news” or “gospel” depending on the context of use. The verb form of the word in Greek, euaggelizesthai, means “to tell good news” or “to announce”. Marturein is another Greek word that means “to bear witness.” Theologies state that the Greek word has appeared more than fifty times in the Bible to mean differently. Evangelism includes warnings, explanations and calls in the communication of the gospel.

The good news evangelized concerns the promises by the messiah. The promises were set to bring salvation to the people of God, make the salvation available to the gentile world and to have Jesus Christ as the Sovereign King of everybody indiscriminately. Apostle Paul, from the bible, was seen to walk from one city to city another preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ. He would give testimonies and by that spread the news about the love of God. This events were in the early days of evangelism and may be referred as the period of the cradle of evangelism.

Clarifying the Importance of Evangelism

As part of many works of the church, Evangelism is paramount but it is often overlooked. Evangelism should be prioritized by the Church of Jesus Christ since it is most effective in proclamation of the good news of salvation to the masses. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said that he intended to build his church. He laid a good foundation with His ministry as well as His life. Jesus Christ focused on saving and seeking the lost since he was the savior. In the same way, Christians are tasked with the same mission of spreading the news of salvation and the gospel as a whole. The good news spread by the Christians is intended to encourage everyone to respond to the call to salvation, as well as build on the number of followers of Christ.

The importance of evangelism has been forgotten besides been clearly stated in the bible. It is due to the ignorance, by many Christians, that the purpose and effectiveness of evangelism in honoring the command by Jesus Christ has been overlooked. Verses in bible, Matthew 28:19 & 20, portray The Great Commission which is a message and the command by Jesus Christ pertaining evangelism. Statistics sadly show that very few members of the Christian Church are taking part in evangelism. Many people worldwide are ignorant of the good news of salvation. The evangelists are ones who reach some of these people to let them learn about the salvation brought to the world by Jesus Christ.

Evangelism is an important part of God’s mission to save us from sin. The original purpose of evangelism since the first century Anno Domino was to bring many people to spiritual light. Evangelism plays a big role in letting people have a chance to choose the righteous path of salvation. Jesus defined God’s mission as one that would bring good news to the poor and lost. He, Jesus, was sent to proclaim the release of every human being from captivity as well as the recovery of sight from spiritual blindness. Evangelism, therefore, ensures that the purpose of enlightening the ignorant gets to be fulfilled.

Evangelizing entails the task for every Christian to spread God’s word. This fact makes evangelism the best media to be used by God’s messengers. The message of salvation has made several impacts on lives of many since many people have found hope in eternity. It is the hope, and desire of God that all of mankind should be saved, and thus it is out of love that he sent Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of man. However, not everybody accepts salvation. It is the effort put by evangelism that brings more people to accept salvation.

Therefore, it is important to state that the coming of Jesus is also the reason that evangelism is important. Jesus left instructions and asked everybody to live in respect to the will of God. The Christian teachings clearly explain that; evangelism is important since believers will be held accountable for souls that perished as a result of the believer’s failure in playing his or her evangelistic role as a Christian. Evangelism, therefore, is important since it gives a guide to mankind and helps believers of the word of God avoid the unrighteous path of spiritual destruction.

The Main Problem of Changing Trends of Church and Culture

There have been changes in trends of the Christian Church and culture. There is an immense temptation to disregard the change in trends and their impacts on Christian operations. The ignorance is overwhelming, and it is due to idea that the trends might demand restructuring of the Christian doctrines. The modes of performing various Christian activities are what the culture is. Some cultural practices that have come with time are however dangerous and in dilution of Christianity. Other trends immerge as self-centered and hurtful in the long-run.

Changing trends need to be observed, beginning with the contradictory trends. The number of conversions has reduced by the years, a trend that is not in line with historical trends. The current fragments of evangelism are changing. Many evangelistic parties are turning to starting up micro-grouping with which they divert attention from the spiritual purpose to desires that are earthly. This trend is a problem resulting from self-centrism and rebellion. There is an increasing trend in how social concerns consume churches. The gospel is seen, to some extent, to overshadow the passion of Christians with regard to social justice. For instance, many Christians have forgotten the importance of sacrifice over obedience in serving God.

Another trend that is proving problematic to the Church is the tendency to emphasis discipleship much over the gospel. Today, in Christianity, many evangelists tend to overemphasize on asking people to follow Jesus but leave the word of God with little content spread to the masses. It is discouraging to see that attention by the Church has concentrated on discipleship more than is required of a saved Christian in terms of virtue. Salvation should be considered as self-abandonment for the sake of the deity, mission and the work of Jesus Christ. However, it is commendable to see that most Christians are learning to cope with the change in trends and the general Christian culture.

Some ideas of theology have made part of Christian culture. Though not all theological elements affect evangelism, some have affected it rather diversely. One idea that has adversely affected evangelism is Universalism. Universalism is one theological view that has left many people, especially new converts, perturbed and unable to understand basic values of Christianity. This has made evangelism seem handicapped and less effective in spreading the good news of salvation.

 

i.     Universalism Defined

Universalism is referred to as the theological view that argues that in the end everybody will become saved. Some arguments also suggest that eternal hell or hell per se is inexistent. In Christianity, universalism still holds the position that everyone will ultimately experience salvation through Jesus Christ, in disregard to the faith he or she has in Christ. Universalism claims that the qualities of God’s justice, sovereignty and love full require that everybody should be saved. It also claims that the issue of eternal punishment and suffering is a doctrine that is false. Salvation is further explained as being saved from sin and not from hell as perceived by many people.

Universalism in Christianity seems to majorly take two forms. However, both forms still insist that hell is inexistent. The first form of universalism teaches that the punishment for the unrepentant will in the future occurrence. Their punishment is explained to be of the same proportion as the sin they committed morally. In addition, this teaching does not maintain the theological thought that salvation is merited through punishment. The other form of Christian universalism teaches that the punishment of one’s sins is for the purpose of moral purification. Those who teach this form of universalism hold that the purification is not in any way justification for salvation. However, for those who did not put their trust in Jesus during their lifetime will lose a reward.

The Universalist in Christianity claim to stand by principles of historic Christianity. These tenets include the Trinity (God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit) and salvation by grace. Further examination is needed for the purpose of understanding the diversity in beliefs by Universalists. Universalists claim to assert the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible, the existence of only one God, and Jesus as the sole Son of God. They also proclaim that the Holy Spirit is God’s theophany and that salvation only comes with the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Universalism in Christianity holds an orthodox position on the issue of the accuracy of the Bible. The Universalist also tend to side with Arianism and modalism. Arianism suggests that Jesus was created, and there is only one God and modalism suggests that God takes various forms that include the Holy Spirit and the Son. In the opinion of many Christians, modalism is considered heretical. The point of Jesus being God’s only son is affirmed by Universalist but in a very twisted manner. They suggest and teach that Jesus Christ is an image and reflection of God’s essence. On the same note, they insist on stating that the Father far much superior to the Son and the Holy Spirit. To some extent the true divinity of Jesus Christ is denied by most of the Universalists, though not all do deny. Others hold the position that; though Jesus Christ is not God he is also divine.

Regarding the matter of Jesus’ resurrection, the opinion is divided among the Universalist. Most of them affirm the resurrection of Jesus whilst others claim that Jesus never rose from physical death but only assumed to dwell with the Father in heaven. This is taken as unacceptable and of denial to basic Christian doctrines. As for the affirmation that the Holy Spirit represents God’s theophany, there is an overwhelming denial over the Holy Spirit’s personhood. Personhood in the sense of the ability to talk, self-awareness, will and reason. However, it is unfair to overlook the position Universalists hold in affirming the third party in the Trinity is the Holy Spirit.

Christian Universalists proclaim there is only salvation in accepting Jesus as the Savior. However, this proclamation is a contradiction of faith since they affirm Jesus as not divine and inferior in relation to God the father. The faith of the Universalists may be deemed to be useless because they are violating the command of worshiping one God (Exodus 20) by worshiping Jesus, who in their suggestion is a god. It is justified to rule out Christian Universalists as non-Christians who are differential in their doctrine and mannerism of worship. On another theological perspective, Universalists to some extent believe that, even after rejecting Jesus in a one’s lifetime, there is a second chance in another life.

It is important to state that some Universalists have rather unique and controversial beliefs. They believe in consciousness after death while others disapprove of this belief and idea. A fair portion of the Christian Universalists believes in a punishment of sinners that is limited only to moral chastising, but not physical torture by hellfire. In addition, the Universalists also believe that the soul is purified in the presence of the Father during the limited punishment period in the afterlife. In conclusion, Universalism in Christianity is unorthodox and fallacious, and it cannot be termed as being Christian. Christian Universalist and their beliefs should be avoided at all cost.

Most ideas derived from Universalism, or better still all, are a threat to evangelism. The ideas breed bad taste in non-believers who end up disregarding the importance of salvation. It is therefore advisable for anyone spreading the word, to stick to the scriptural writings in the holy bible. If by any degree Universalism is engaged in the process of evangelism, the good news will end up undelivered and diluted. It is the responsibility of those spreading the news of salvation to be careful not to refer to this wavering doctrine.

ii.     Methodology

For this research I used several academic sources, most of which were theological. For further research a looked through the internet for a better view on the subject of evangelism. I intended to get the various opinions of the Church fraternity therefore I visited various church-based websites. The books and journals I used provided various facts for my research and helped me deliver substantial content as required. The gathered the information at random by using guidelines of the exact topic I was researching on. I prepared the information by going through the raw content and deciding on which one was relevant.

In accordance to my plan, I gathered information read keenly through each piece of information, wrote a rough draft and wrote this final research paper. I was keen to compare the requirements of the research with what I got just to ensure accuracy in delivery. I encountered various reviews by authors which gave me basic ideas in different topics of my research. I also read the bible for the reason of having a clear overview on Evangelism. I discovered that there was much information about the subject matter of which I was grateful since I am able to give enough information.

iii.     Design

My research topic is Evangelism. I intend to expound on various areas of discussion surrounding Evangelism. In this research, there are various choices of methodology I will use. I will spare enough time for the research since it is a fundamental resource I cannot overlook. I will do my research using academic material relating to my topic of research. I will also collect my information by inquiring information from professionals in my field. I plan to engage evangelistic parties through their various emails and get their random opinion on the topic of Evangelism.

I will record all my observations and findings on paper and later within the research paper writing period. I will arrange the data for my final copy with intention of having informative and adequate content in terms of quality. In my opinion, I expect a few challenges which I will counter professionally. It is in the best interest of this research that I will readily engage discussions with parties involved in evangelism. Therefore, I am going to exercise my best communication skills for purposes of good public relations and acquisition of information smoothly.

iv.     Analysis

Evangelism is a topic that may be termed as very diverse. With reference to the various publications, it is vivid that the topic of evangelism is averagely understood. Though some publications were very clear overview on evangelism, some seem to have blurry information about the subject matter. The issue of evangelism transition from the past, present and opinion on its future status is one that caught my attention. Spreading the good news of salvation has taken different forms in the past together with the means by which it is practiced. Presently, Christianity puts lesser effort on evangelism than may be seen from past events.

Just like in other researches, challenges may affect the research. In this research, some information withheld by reliable sources was difficult to record in a single inquiry. After doing further research, I learnt that the information withheld was also blurry according to the sources that finally gave me the information. Whatsoever it gave me more reason to research on evangelism and clarify to those who find it rather confusing for whichever reason. Personally, I also discovered that digging deeper on the topic made me understand the topic better. I however commend the current information available since most of it is easy to.

The purpose of this research to discuss evangelism was attainable since the church openly highlights over the same. However, it is important to note that the future of evangelism does not look bright as perceived by many Christians. Categorically speaking, evangelism is noticeably a topic that receives very little attention. This calls for an awakening by Christians all over the world. Leaders of Christianity should readily encourage evangelism as a way to reach out to the non-believer. In this way, the good news of salvation will spread effectively and efficiently with utmost respect for the Church and what it stands for.

Bibliography

Breen, A. C. Evangelism. Armadale: Reformed Guardian, 2008.

Assiter, Alison. Revisiting Universalism. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Tuttle, Robert G. The Story Of Evangelism. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2006.

Ayad, Mariam F. Coptic Culture. Stevenage, U.K.: The Coptic Orthodox Church Centre, 2012.

Währisch-Oblau, Claudia. The Missionary Self-Perception Of Pentecostal/Charismatic Church Leaders From The Global South In Europe. Leiden: Brill, 2009.

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Lightning

Name

Professor

Institution

Course

Date

Lightning

Introduction

While there are several hypotheses posited to describe and explain the causes of lightning, the scientific description and explanation tend to hold. Munoz, (2003), explains that most fulminologists argue that it is a form of electrostatic discharge in the atmosphere, which usually accompanies thunder. Most of the lightning does occur during thunderstorms or volcanic eruptions.

Formation

As water evaporates from the earth’s surface in form of hot gas through convection into the atmosphere, they replace the cold air and condense beside the clouds to form dark cumulus nimbus clouds. These clouds form approximately 230, 000 feet ASL (above the sea level). As condensed air, forms water droplet while the rest changes into the ice sheet or snow particles. When these ice crystal and the water droplets collide with each other countercurrent, they create static electricity. The static electricity so formed builds up in different parts of the media (cloud and earth). As they build up, they reach various charge potentials. However, if the charge potentials (both positive and negative) reach their thresholds, the clouds discharge them. The positive (ve) and negative(-ve) charges created rapidly in different media tend to attract, however, as they continue to build up, a bridge is created naturally or through other media, a human being or electric poles (Wang, Ushio, & Kawasaki, 1995).

The difference in the electric potential of different part of the cloud causes a rift in which the clouds use a third media (an electric path) to bridge them to facilitate the flow of electric current and th surge results into a main stroke (Munoz, 2003).

How lightning works

Whenever the lower section of the cloud with the negative charges attain threshold, the electric charges within then cloud ionizes the air around the cloud. This turns the surrounding air into an electric path due to the conductivity of the static charges. This builds up and surge travels down to the ground into buildings and infrastructures. As the discharge continues, it creates charge vacuum after the leader stroke. The negative charges tend to move from the cloud to the ground and meets the streamers moving in the opposite direction. This counter movement of the electric charges is defined as the return stroke, which is usually observable to the bare eye. The main strokes lead to the formation of a zigzagging form of the flashes those lights up the airspace following the pathway of the negative charges. The zigzag formation is due to the disparity between the ionization of the air. The most ionized parts appear in the form of sparks of light, and the less ionized parts do not show any lightning

Key characteristics of lightning

A flash of lightning can composes:

Flashes that appear intra-cloud (within the thunder cloud)

The temperatures of the lightning vary between 100 °C to 30,000 °C.

The most noteworthy characteristics are the speed at which lightning travels. The speed ranges from 100, 000km/h to 200, 000km/h.

All these characteristics have both negative and positive effects on nature, but it is common place to notice the negative impacts more than the benefits to nature. The most noteworthy impact is the damage to properties and injuries that people sustain when lightning strikes. However, it may be to fatal to results into death depending on the intensity and magnitude of the lightning.

Figure SEQ Figure * ARABIC 1: picture of the lightning phenomena What causes lightning?

According to Rakov, &, Uman, (2003), there are many causes of lightning, but the most probable explanation bases on the scientific facts around lightning. Wang, Ushio, & Kawasaki, (1995), argue that lightning is appearing during thunderstorms, because liquid and ice particles come into constant collision and as they collide, a large electrical field is developed amongst the clouds. As the electric fields enlarge, they form flashes due to the opposing positive and negative ions. This static electricity discharge is manifested in the form of flashes. This flashes carry with them electric energy being discharged and have an inherent nature of shifting into anything they meet. If the flashes are exposed to a human being and the magnitude of the electric charges within the flashes was high, the damage might be fatal or even kill. However, building is the most hit due to the large surface areas. Lighting effects are often seen in towns with various demographic characteristics, such as Texas.

Types of lightning flashes

There are various types of lightning flashes; this categorization is based on the Nature of occurrences. However, the main types are:

Ground to cloud:

These types of lightning occur due to the difference in electronic charge potential between the ground and the cloud above it.

Cloud to ground-

Cloud to ground lightning occurs when the charge difference between the cumulonimbus clouds and the earth ground beneath it is high. The cumulonimbus clouds tend to discharge the energy to maintain the potential. The energy is released in the form of flashes, which might lead to loss of lives.

Cloud to cloud-

This lightning occurs between separate clouds having different charge potentials. If it occurs between cloud, it is referred to as inter-cloud lightning; However, if the charge potential within a cloud is different, and a lightning flash is produced, Fulminologists refer to that as intra-cloud lightning (Rakov, &Uman, 2003)..

The intra-cloud and then inter-cloud occur between the cloud and then ground. The one occurring within the thunder cloud poses no hazard, but the flashes of lightning occurring between the cloud and the earth lead to destruction of buildings, infrastructures and lives.

Triggered lightning: This is the lightning caused by acts of man, for example, during the launch of lightning rockets etc

Extraterrestrial lightning-

These are the lightning’s that are registered in areas beyond the earth’s surface

Researches

While lightning has attracted a lot of attention among scholars and scientists, the most studied lightning is the cloud to ground lightning. This is so because of the magnitude and the prevalence in some areas. These areas exhibit similar characteristics such as large and tall skyscrapers, high population and extreme activities. The most prominent characteristics are the proximity and interaction to the skyscrapers, telecommunication systems, air planes, and other infrastructures. All these are naturally close to the thunderstorms and thus pose exceedingly significant threat. It is essential to realize that where as a single flash of lightning across the sky may only last for one second, it might contain an original return stroke and the two subsequent return strokes each lasting for approximately 90 milliseconds. Between the strokes there ere likely to be intervals of about 50 seconds

Rakov, &Uman, (2003), state that with each stroke, there appear mobile currents. These mobile electromagnet currents have a sub micro-second rise with insignificant fractional changes. It is also noteworthy that even if the electric flash encounters an electronic device, they are likely to spread to other adjacent areas causing interferences in the communication systems or electronically sensitive systems. The radiated electromagnetic waves with the negligible changes sometimes tend to interact antagonistically with avionics and other electronic devices (Munoz, 2003).

Recommendation for further research

Lightning are still a common phenomenon; however, there is a general belief that it has a connection with the metaphysical. It is imperative to understand the metaphysical aspects and the interconnectedness between scientific explanation of the causes of lightning and the religious beliefs. The fundamental understanding of lightning in the religious circles might offer an introduction to the metaphysics. Perhaps the religious explanation may be realistic based on the law of evolution. However, as meteorologists and scientists believe that the electrostatic changes between different Media are responsible for the lightning, we should focus on the possible intervention to these struck by lightning, in addition to why some areas are exceptionally prone to lightning. The electronic combustion of air by particularly powerful electric fields, which results into the production of forces on the charges and the subsequent flow of energy, needs further investigation for counter interaction. It is also beneficial to investigate the manner in which the potential energy carried by the electrostatic changes to thermal, light and the sound energies and how they are transmitted to the surface of the earth.

References

Munoz, R., (2003). “Factsheet: Lightning”. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. Retrieved November 7, 2007.

Wang, D, Ushio, T; Kawasaki, T., (1995). “A possible way to trigger lightning using a laser”. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 57 (5): 456–466.

Rakov, V; &Uman, M, (2003). Lightning: Physics and Effects, Cambridge University Press,

Onstar1. The chapter discussed several examples of companies that have used IT for competitive advantage. Is there anything about the OnStar system that makes it a good example as well? Is OnStar a feature that is likely to give GM a competitive advantage for an extended period of time or is it likely to give, if anything, a temporary advantage?

OnStar provides emergency road assistance and driving direction. Similarly about flight reservation, wireless applications are on the way too. If flights get delay than it informs the passenger that you can have half hour more to relax.

The technology is great. GM has used the technology to support its own brands, and not establish itself as a separate brand. They were giving up a competitive advantage. GM’s brands need everything they can get, and that’s why they have used OnStar for.

For example: Auto analyst at investment bank, points to a recent agreement with Lexus, in which the OnStar service will be branded Lexus link, as an example of how the OnStar brand has been used.

It does not have any temporary advantage because the technologies that are succeeding in wide adoption frequently display simple interfaces and low barriers to use. In the case of instant messaging, e-mail, and Web browsing has an excessive features. Reading the manual is rarely a priority. So OnStar has a new generation features in it. And it will grow up day by day.

2. Evaluate the OnStar system from the perspectives of the five-force model and the three generic strategies. Explain how OnStar might alter the five forces in GM’s favor. Where would you place the OnStar system in the three generic strategy grid illustrated in Figure 2.8?

GM has proven to be an industry leader by installing the OnStar system. OnStar has been used to assist subscribers in everything from emergency services to tracking stolen vehicles; getting the doors opened when the keys are accidentally locked inside; finding the nearest ATM machine; guiding the driver to the local zoo or gasoline station; and arranging dinner reservations and theater ticket purchases. If an OnStar-equipped vehicle is in a crash that deploys an airbag, the car itself automatically “calls” the Center and an advisor immediately calls the vehicle to see what kind of assistance is needed. This transformation will bring with it many issues, and safety is one of the biggest. Today, the desire to communicate from the vehicle is so great that more and more drivers are using cellular phones each day. And, they are not always using them in a safe manner. GM is ahead of its competitors in providing safety.

With the help of OnStar the user do not have to worry about the cell phones. Since Safety is a big issue, it drives the customer to make a powerful decision about buying a car. By introducing OnStar GM is proving to be the best in he industry thus reducing the threat of being behind in competition. Since GM is the leader in using this technology, there will be followers and many companies will end up using this technology. But being ahead in the market GM as a greater advantage. OnStar is the only company that provides GM with this great service, so OnStar is the channel leader and can control the demands. GM and OnStar have a strong relationship, due to this strong bound the image of GM is improving. By providing such high tech services, GM is controlling the decision of the Buyer, with the help of OnStar technology GM is attracting the buyer and promising a strong faithful relationship.

Since research has shown just a few weeks ago, that by the year 2005, the global market for telematics will grow to $8 billion, compared to $1 billion this year, GM with help of OnStar lies in the High Growth and High Potential area on the three generic strategies grid. GM is investing a lot of money in the technological transformation and being very innovative, GM’s CEO believes that believe the automobile itself is being transformed into a communications and entertainment platform as well as a transportation platform. With this belief GM is following the right path towards technological growth.

3. Is OnStar a good example of company incorporating emerging technologies into its product strategies? Why or why not? What features do you think a system such as OnStar might offer five years from now? Is GM taking any risks by placing such a large bet on OnStar being accepted by the marketplace? What are those risks, if any?

OnStar service was originally offered in Cadillacs in 1996 as an emergency concierge and road service. It uses global positioning system (GPS) to provide directions and to locate the vehicle. A cellular connection to the call center enables driver to request roadside assistance. GM plans to upgrade the onboard cellular system into a platform for delivering web-based email and content, and voice-activated calling to its OnStar menu. OnStar combines GPS, cellular, and Internet technologies to come up with a service that is needed and useful to the driving consumers.

One possible enhancement to OnStar in the future is autopilot. Sensor detection technology combined with GPS for directions, and voice activated command menu will make physical intervention by the driver unnecessary. Autopilot vehicle will appeal to very busy individuals who will use the driving time as opportunity to do other tasks.

Introducing new technology is always a risk. Being the first can offer immediate but temporary competitive advantage. Competition can copy the technology and even better it. In the long run, GM runs the risk of another technology replacing OnStar. Also, this technology might become prevalent and standard in every vehicle. Eventually, GM will lose the competitive advantage initially gained and must look for some other ways using technology to enhance features on its line of cars.

4. If you were a product designer for Ford Motor Company, what would your reaction be to GM’s rollout of OnStar? Do you think that systems such as OnStar will become an entry barrier? Log on to the Internet and see if you can find out what the other major automobile manufacturers, both US and non-US, are doing in response to the OnStar system. Draw a conclusion as to which responses you think will be most effective.

If I were a product designer for Ford, I would see this as both an advantage and a disadvantage. The advantages being that Ford’s product design team could learn from the mistakes that GM made and not repeat them. We could also find ways to survey users of GM’s OnStar system to get feedback so that we produce a superior product. The disadvantages would be that GM has the ‘brand’ recognition in OnStar and anything that comes out may be seen by the public as ‘Ford’s OnStar’ system. Another disadvantage would be the simple fact that they came out with it first which could draw some market share.

I don’t think that systems such as OnStar will be an entry barrier for new car companies to enter the marketplace. I assume that there are already many entry barriers which the large and powerful car companies have developed that prevent newcomers from entering in the market. And the system was relatively cheap to develop, compared to the cost of developing a new vehicle so if GM’s competitors can afford to develop new cars, they can certainly afford to develop a system of their own.

Ford Motor Company has partnered with Qualcomm to develop Net Car, Ford’s answer to GM’s OnStar. They planned to have the system in cars sold in Asia and Europe sometime this year. Daimler-Chrysler is is also working on a system of their own. On the other hand, some companies such as Audi, Acura and Lexus have made deals with GM to offer OnStar in their vehicles.

I think that the three companies that have partnerships with GM may be most effective because they don’t have to spend the time and money on developing their own system, GM has already done it for them. There are many pieces to a system such as OnStar from partnerships with cellular companies, satellite GPS companies, voice recognition software companies, companies who provide the traffic updates and internet connections – the list could on and on. Since GM has already done all this work, Audi, Acura and Lexus will not have to spend money on the development costs. They may pay a premium for the service from GM but it will most likely be less than creating there own system.

5. What would your reaction in OnStar be if you were a marketing strategist for a cell-phone, Internet Portal, or GPS service provider? Would you consider OnStar to be competitive threat to your company? If so, why, and what would not consider OnStar to be a threat, why not?

OnStar takes advantage of cell-phone, Internet, and GPS systems to offer many services such as road side assistance. If I were to be a market strategist for any cell phone, Internet Portal, or GPS service provider, I’d look at OnStar as a golden opportunity to expand current business. It would be an opportunity to expand into new industry and thus gain new customers. In fact, if the company I worked for did not take this opportunity I would advise them that they would have to scramble to catch up later on.

OnStar can be a threat if our company is ill-equipped to handle and adjust to this new technology. However, if my company took advantage of this technology and became a pioneer in it then it will be very easy to become a market leader and generate a great deal of profit from it. Therefore I would not view it as a threat and rather look upon it as an opportunity to enhance the company’s profit and image as a technological leader.

6. What additional applications could you suggest to GM as areas it could focus on to use IT for competitive advantage that might give it an equal or better payoff that what it is hoping to get from OnStar? Can you think of applications that would let it gain manufacturing or supply chain efficiencies? Can you think of applications that would give it efficiencies in distribution? Could GM go to a mass-customized, direct-sell model like Dell Computer’s and deal directly with its customers, bypassing the dealers the way the airlines have bypassed the travel agents?

I would suggest applications that aid in the safe operating of the vehicle. Possibly a system that detects problems with parts before they fail. And applications that offer assistance when driving, for example if another car on the highway was getting to close to yours or one that detects road conditions such as black ice which is almost impossible to see. I think the concentration must be on applications such as these, it’s seems as though some companies are getting carried away with email and internet options which I feel can be very distracting unless it would work in a strictly voice-operated manner.

I am sure that GM uses applications which help them gain efficiencies in manufacturing, supply chain and distribution. One suggestion would be to have a system that tracks what models are popular in which areas and continuously allocate the cars around those regions.

I don’t think that the direct sell would work for GM mostly because of the distribution and delivery of the vehicles. First of all, you could not totally get rid of the dealers because there would be no place to test drive the vehicles. Secondly, it would be very costly to deliver cars to the buyer’s homes. I think you could have some combination of the two, in fact Volkswagen does have a system like this. You can configure the car you want and they will deliver it to your nearest dealer, but I think they probably find the closest thing to the car you requested at another dealer, make any needed changes and ship it to your nearest dealer.

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The causes of the Great Depression

This economic disaster was not caused by one factor but a number of related factors. Historians and economists have compiled a large list of the agents of The Great Depression, but most of them agree on the following as the main causes.

The stock market crash of 1929

In the 1920’s, the United States Stock market was the subject of rapid expansion that peaked in 1929. During this period, “wild speculation and weak regulatory frameworks were the characteristics of the bourse” (Gunderson, 16). By 1929, unemployment had risen due to decreasing production leaving much of the stock with inflated values. This caused the market to collapse aided in part by a struggling agricultural sector, the proliferation of the national debt, and low wages. In addition, many banks had excess loans that could not be liquidated.

On October 1929, after a month of rapidly falling stocks prices, the collapse of the US stock market began. This culminated in a panic gripping the masses of investors who proceeded to trade more than 12.894 million shares on October 24th, 1929 also known as Black Thursday. Investors and large banks tried to remedy the situation by purchasing large amounts of stock easing the economy out of free fall. However, the same returned again the next day eventually leading to Black Tuesday on October 28th when 16million plus shares were traded. On this day, thousands of investors were completely wiped out, and billions of dollars lost. The events of 1929 were just the beginning of a series of events that combined later to compound into the Great Depression. By 1933, almost a third of America’s workforce was out of their jobs, and nearly half of America’s banks had failed.

The reduction in spending across the board

After the stock market had crashed resulting in panic and economic frustration, the people’s confidence in their economy waned. This caused them to reduce expenditure by ceasing almost all forms of purchasing. This sharp reduction in purchases negatively affected the production companies that already had liquidity problems forcing them to either reduce costs by cutting jobs or completely close down.

The resulting unemployment led to people’s assets they had bought on payment plans getting repossessed as they could not pay for them due to unemployment (Hall and Ferguson, 75). This resulted in banks and other lenders accumulating inflated inventories that also negatively affected their already cash-strapped balance sheets. The result was that a quarter of the US working class lost employment.

The widespread banks failures

In the early 1920’s, the United States had a well-developed banking system in terms of operational reach. The average banking system catered for most of the country’s rural and urban regions. Nebraska, for example, had over 1.3 million people back then. As a thriving but relatively rural area, the region still enjoyed the privilege of a bank for every 1000-1500 people. Though most of the banking activity in those days was poorly regulated, it provided the main services every bank was supposed to – depository and interest rate controlled loans.

As the economic hardship seeped through society and infiltrated into the rural areas, farmers had less money to spend. This meant even less money to save a situation that rendered banks redundant and even useless. Without their deposits, financial institutions were unable to operate and eventually forces to close down. In the early 1920’, they failed at a rate of 60 to 75 per year, but the number grew ten-fold to 744 in first two-thirds of 1930 alone. On total, it is estimated that almost 9000 banks failed during The Great Depression (Knoop, 253). With the closures, many people lost their life savings aggravating an already dire financial situation.

International trade and economic policies

As a result of the increased economic growth experienced in the early 1920’s, European and Latin America countries increased their borrowing from United States. However, foreign lending to these countries fell sharply in the 1928-1929 period due to higher interest rates and a booming stock market’s influence. This affected many borrower countries especially those in Europe, which was only just recovering from the devastation of World War One. Some of the economies actually almost collapsed just before The Great Depression affected the US.

An already dire situation was aggravated with the US enactment of the Smoot-Hawley tariff. This was meant to protect the US agricultural production by creating an unfavorable market for European agricultural imports through prohibitively high taxation. However, this backfired when Europe and Latin American countries adopted protectionist countermeasures resulting in almost no international trade between the major trade partners in the world. This worsened the situation by affecting major global producers, causing major balance-of-payment problems and major contractionary issues in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Major drought in the US

While not considered a major cause of The Great Depression, the great drought that affected the Mississippi Valley in 1930 contributed greatly – at least from a US perspective. Most of the people back then relied on their land and its products for both sustenance and monetary gain. Agricultural activity was suddenly affected over a larger area by drought resulting in millions being unable to pay loans at their lending firms and banks. In addition, this major source of primary raw materials was suddenly unable to provide the large industrial raw material needs of the US at a time when unfavorable international trade policy was the norm, namely the Smoot-Hawley tariff. In addition, tax revenues for the government’s spending reduced greatly. Banks repossessed farms from defaulting farmers while other opted to sell theirs at a loss. They moved to cities further worsening the already dire unemployment situation.

Why The Great Depression lasted so long

The Great Depression has come under great scholarly interest recently as economists and scholars seek to find out the reason such a bad economic situation persisted even as the governments of US and European countries input restorative efforts. The main culprits appear to be government policies that hindered fair competition.

The forces of demand and supply should have reduced wages, lowered business costs and increased employment and output. However, the National Industry Recovery Act (NIRA) prevented this from occurring. As a policy passed in 1933 to aid the process of restoring national prosperity by giving industry players the opportunity to collude, this policy sanctioned other activities that would have triggered antitrust practices(Bernanke, 73). These included minimum price formation and formation of restriction on expansion within the industry. The only trade-off the government put in place for this arrangement was these cartels share their large profits with workers creating employment through large wage increases.

Many industry players passed off fair prices under the NIRA leading to increased wages and prices. However, not all industries were able to agree on the prices as per the NIRA codes making growth in their areas stunted. Any economic development was pulled down by this situation of uneven policy implementation leading to some areas experiencing price and wage increases while others remained stagnant.

A short period later, NIRA was declared unconstitutional leading to the National Labor Restrictions Act. This greatly empowered the labor unions’ bargaining power as the driving force of the economy – its labor force – took on a more proactive stance. This body implemented policy that saw an increase in wages up to the 1938-39 recessions. In a different context, the National Labor Restrictions Act was able to introduce changes by the late 1930’s that saw the number of hours workers could work increased. That growth in the labor and wage structure was sustained to the late 1940’s when the National Labor Restrictions Act was replaced by the Taft-Hartley Act. Growth in the economy’s major factors, wages, and labor-force, continued to fuel national economic recovery until the US was finally out of The Great Depression.

Works Cited

Bernanke, Ben. “The Gold Standard, Deflation and Financial Crisis in the Great Depression: An international comparison.” Essays on the Great Depression. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2000. 73. Print.

Gunderson, Cory G. “The Roaring Twenties.” The Great Depression. Edina: ABDO Pub, 2010. 16. Print.

Hall, Thomas E, and J D. Ferguson. “Sowing the seeds of disaster.” The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1998. 75. Print.

Knoop, Todd A. “Business Cycles in the United States.” Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010. 253. Print.

Othello.

Othello is the title of the character and play that we all studied earlier this semester. However, it is Othello the character that I intend to discuss. Othello is the husband to the beautiful and innocent Desdemona, whom he murders because the villainous and honest Iago has misled him. A Moorish general in Venice, a society plagued with racism and where adultery is neither condemned nor approved of, Othello is in the midst of a society that will hinder and not support his progress.

The central theme of the drama is the alteration of a noble lover to a raving killer, under the influence of the deliberate connivance of his aide, Iago, who convinces him that his wife is having a love affair with another officer named Cassio.

Unable to trust the falsely corrupted Desdemona – he lacks the essential element of love and it is this absence of trust that causes Othello to disintegrate morally. This destructiveness extends to his own suicide, when his error of judging Desdemona to be an adulteress fails him. Our closely woven relationship with this traumatised and gullible Othello causes us to suffer with him, as he experiences emotional agonies, such as the destruction of his once reputable nobility, character and marriage to the young Desdemona.

Through Act II, Scene I, Othello presents himself to us as a grandly positive and content character,

“It gives me wonder great as my content

To see you here before me. O my soul’s joy!”

(Act II, Scene II).

At this stage in the play Othello has also assembled his character to impose on us an impression, that he is a noble and prominent figure in the Venetian establishment, and respected military man and a loving husband. He carries himself with an impressive dignity while frankly delighting in his young wife’s unconditional love, which he values above the “seas worth”, (Act II, Scene I). When the couple defend their marriage against the prejudiced Brabantio, father to Desdemona, who associates Othello with witchcraft, (because Othello is black), in Act I, Scene III, it becomes evident that the couple share an unconditional love for one another.

However, in the second half of the play Othello abandons this perfect love, for a blind and unfounded jealousy too strong to act in a just manner. He loses all faith not only in Desdemona, but especially himself,

“That’s he that was Othello; Here I am.”

(Act V, Scene II).

Othello says this subsequently, as a result of materialising his now hopeless spirit – it was led to this through the work of a conniving Iago. When he rejects her love and trust in Act V, Scene II, when about to kill her, he allows an incurable self-centeredness to overtake his misled mind.

After collapsing in Act IV, Scene I, Othello can only babble as he falls to the feet of Iago in a trance. This event illustrates and enhances the sad fact that Othello has fallen to the intentions of Iago. Othello recovers his wits, but from this occurrence he has only one goal – to kill Desdemona and her alleged lover, Cassio. With this intent it becomes painfully obvious that Othello now possesses the resentful will held by Iago, who despises Othello, and associates him initially to bestial sex acts, shadowed by a vile racism. “I hate the Moor”, is plain and to the point, and “an old black ram Is tupping your white ewe”, (Act I, Scenes I-II), creates a feeling of disgust.

Nonetheless, as the play procedes, Othello even comes to resemble the villain in his speech, using staccato or broken repetitions and he also makes an unhealthy habit of using violent, sexual and animal imagery,

“I’ll chop her into messes,” and;

“I will be found most cunning in my patience”

(Act IV, Scene I), are appropriate examples.

In Act IV, Scene II Othello indulges in a great exaggeration of his jealousy when he believes Desdemona to be a prostitute, and Emila, the wife of Iago t be her pimp,

“She says enough; yet she’s a simple bawd

That cannot say as much. This is a subtle whore,

A closet lock and key of villainous secrets,

And yet she’ll kneel and pray; I have seen her do’t.”

(Act IV, Scene II).

In the end though, Othello still manages to contemplate his love for his wife when he sees her asleep. Sadly as a demonstration of his foully motivated ambition he kills her with a coolness which is frightening. His reaction to the discovery of her true innocence is, however, in stark contrast. He recognises that he is no longer noble, for he calls himself: “He that was Othello”, in Act V, Scene II. Othello also equates himself to the heathens he used to slaughter and kill himself.

Iago can effect this extraordinary response only because Othello is lacking in trust. This lack is implicit in the Moor’s situation from the start, for he cannot partake of the social cohesion that encourages and reinforces trust between humans. The fact that he is in effect an alien in Venice – he is black, a mercenary soldier in a very biased society. I feel it is this insecurity that forbids the entrance of trust into Othello’s environment.

Importantly, Othello, once distracted, is not capable of appreciating Desdemona; he knows enough of Venice to see its prejudice, but he does not recognise her amazing courage in opposing it. Like Macbeth, Othello has succeeded as a soldier, and is accordingly left with a dignity and pride but misunderstands the world outside the military one.

With his suicide Othello acknowledges his fault, but his final recognition of Desdemona’s goodness offers us some kind of consoling sense that is dying he retrieves some of his once dominant nobility.

Othello has returned to sanity too late, but at least that provides us with some reconciliation. Finally, Othello’s fate shows us that a noble person may fall to the depths of savagery, but a small dose of humanity may still remain. This commentary of Othello the character is brief, but I hope it has made you appreciate and discover some aspects of the multi-dimensional character of Othello.

The Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) in Africa, Tanzania

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Program Evaluation can be defined as the systematic application of scientific methods in accessing the performance of a program. Program on the other hand can be defined as a series of steps that are carried out or objectives to be achieved. It is imperative to evaluate any given program given program to determine its efficiency (Martin, 2009). The paper evaluates Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) is a United State Agency that was designed to protect public health and safety by provision of information with an aim of enhancing health decisions. The World War II contributed to the foundation of the Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) in 1942. The program promotes health through partnering with other departments of health in the US, and other public and private organization, businesses, education programs and individuals (Martin, 2009). It is concern with designing and applying disease prevention measures and control programs. It fast dealt with infectious diseases and it later expanded to environmental health and occupational safety. It also deals with promotion of health and education activities that are designed to improve health in Tanzania.

CDC program is doing an operational research in Tanzania that involves the study of both the existing and new tools in the field and how they work. The existing tools are improved or integrated with others. In the past CDC has been developing strategies to deal with malaria in pregnancy, old drugs were fast delivered in new ways including Intermittent Preventive Treatment for Malaria (IPT) there was drug resistance. CDC is now researching on how IPT for pregnant women IPTp can be combined with the current antenatal health services, for instance (Anderson, 2010). All principles have been integrated into the CDC program framework and this has stimulated innovation (Mubyazi et al., 2010) towards improving out come. The program has a guiding standard and steps that do resolve the CDC basic approach to program. “The program also emphasizes on continuity and commitment for the improvement of overall community health” (Martin, 2009).

The evaluation involves numerous steps. Both secondary and primary data collection and analysis methods were employed. The primary entailed interview and questionnaires while the secondary entailed the analysis of the past records. In evaluation, data collection was done through interview and questionnaires. In-depth interviews were done on officers concerned in 2010 and this involved having a direct conversation with employees, employers and customers. The interviews were done by the national malaria control officers. The clients were interviewed on satisfactions and services they were offered. Questionnaires on the other hand were sent to various departments. In the analysis, both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed. The collected data was grouped as per the scope. The irrelevant information was illuminated. The objective involved describing the Intermittent Prevention Treatment for malaria in pregnancy (IPTP) prospects, challenges, achievements and available opportunity for its implementation in Tanzania. The management was interviewed on the last performance of the program and factors affecting its performance. In performance assessment, past records were analyzed and short notes written. The trends in performance and customer turn up were also recorded.

The results according to the National Antenatal Care (ANC) records shown an average national attendance and this justify the possibility that the program will achieve its target for Intermittent Prevention Treatment for malaria (Mubyazi et al, 2010). This program aims to achieve the millennium goal by decreasing the malaria burden by half before 2010 elapses and also gather information from Tanzanian hospital among infants for protective efficiency. CDC also intends to catch up with the increasing average of patients by utilizing the existing funds and will further set up infrastructures in Tanzania.

We can therefore conclude that Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) is a beneficial program to the community. Most of the customer feedbacks were positive and this has shown the program’s potentiality of satisfying its clients. Over the past, a steady growth of the number of customers was noted. Most people had started preferring the program.

Reference

Anderson, T. (7 Jan, 2010). CDC test new malaria tools .Retrieved on 1 December, 2010 from

<http://www.tropika.net/svc/interview/Anderson-20100105-Profile-Slutsker2Martine, D. (2009). Occupational health services research training program. Retrieved on

1 December, 2010 from <http://depts.washington.edu/occtrain/facultyMubyazi et al; (2008). Prospects, achievements, challenges and opportunities for scaling-up

malaria chemoprevention in pregnancy in Tanzania: the perspective of national level officers.

Malaria journal, (Vol, 7). Retrieved on November 29, 2010 from

http://malariajournal.com/content/7/1/135

The Charlie Brown Christmas Movie

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The Charlie Brown Christmas Movie

Christmas time is a unique and memorable festive period for every person and celebrations happen all over. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” film is a story by Charles M. Schulz which is exciting and touching showing the happiness and eagerness people have prepared for the Christmas season especially the children. The movie is aspiring to have a religious background that is significantly educative not only to the children but also the viewers. Up to date, the film is viable, and the fans cannot stop watching it again and again especially during the Christmas festival. The film is marvelously directed creating an appropriate plot which makes it useful in bringing out the producers information to the viewers and the urge of celebrating during this festive. The characters of the Charlie Brown Christmas movie are perfect and plays a most crucial role in enhancing its efficacy. In this essay, the characters of the film are looked into a more profound extent, and the movie, in general, is also reviewed.

The main characters of the story include Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Sally Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Schroeder, Shermy, Violet Gray, Frieda, Patty, Pig-Pen and Peppermint Patty. The story is about Charlie Brown and his friends acting on how they would want to spend their Christmas festive. In the movie, Charlie Brown is unhappy of the Christmas because he does not have the financial capabilities of enjoying to his satisfaction (Belk, 2000). However, he cheers up after Lucy’s request to him to lead the holiday procession. Even though Charlie Brown was given the preference to be the leader, Lucy sends him to purchase an aluminum Christmas tree. Charlie is attracted to a dark little fir tree which everyone is not pleased with and makes fun of. Linus illustrates the true meaning of Christmas to Charlie Brown with a biblical reference. Charlie is impressed with the fade tree which has shed its leaves and abandoned to decorate it. His colleagues are touched by Linus’s words and decorates the little tree beautifully, and it finally pleases Charlie Brown who celebrates a joyous Christmas.

Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Sally Brown, Lucy van Pelt and Linus van Pelt are the major characters in the movie. Their character traits have been efficiently brought out in the story, and they tend to differ as some are impressing while others are disgusting. To start with is Charlie whom the viewer will like his positive traits, but will dislike his cynical nature, lack of self-confidence and nervousness. In some days he tries all the best to accomplish his things while in others he is reluctant as he lacks hopes and see things spoiled. Snoopy, on the other hand, is good-natured, acquitted and devoted, but at times he is selfish and lazy. His negative traits are seen when he is mocking the owner Charlie Brown. Lucy is portrayed as an antagonistic, nasty, loud-mouthed and ignorant character that no one would like. Furthermore, Linus is has a wise and intelligent personality that everyone likes after watching the movie. Linus acts as a theologian who at some instances quotes the gospel hence encouraging his friends (Schulz, 2010).

As illustrated above, A Charlie Brown Christmas movie is exciting and has many positives reviews not only in consideration of the entertainment bit in it but also the educative and ethical information that Schulz passes to the society. The fact that the movie is heartwarming and mainly focuses religiously and ethically on spending Christmas approves it as the best for the community. However, there are some dislikes regarding the use of an abusive language by some characters mainly Lucy which is a threat to the society especially the children who can adopt the impressive behavior.

References

Belk, R. W. (2000). Materialism and the modern US Christmas. Advertising & Society Review, 1(1).

Martindale, C. (1908). Christmas. The Catholic Encyclopedia, 3.

Schulz, C. M. (2010). My Life with Charlie Brown. Univ. Press of Mississippi.

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1.0 Executive Summary

The central administration style adopted by Nissan Corporation dominates it European market and has affected their achievement in many regions, in a negative sense. Every deed has still had authorization or orders given by the general corporation. Nevertheless, this has brought several difficulties in their performance, in diverse European nations. Presently, Nissan has had a moderately well performance. This chiefly owes to the well-built Nissan-Renault alliance. This amalgamation is proving to have significant spirited advantage. This paper draws several recommendations for Nissan Corporation to achieve success. The Corporation should continue to follow fresh markets in Eastern Europe, whilst centering less on the presently drenched Western European regions. The Corporation should develop the current alliance with Renault to give further competitive lead. Among these perspectives, would be to share distribution system to boost Nissan’s existence and simultaneously decreasing costs.

2.0 Introduction

Nissan is comprised of an opulently diverse cluster of persons, as mirrored in the company’s management team and the several corporate outreach courses in which they partake in the society. If number-critical situation is what is required, the company has gotten that category of behind-the-scenes strategy, too. Jointly, they have the capability to make cars and trucks with the authority to modify both the mode a person views the planet and the approach they move in it. Datsuns are not only the foremost mass-created Japanese motor vehicles, their exclusiveness, automotive approach makes a key effect on the U.S. market when the vehicles and packed in pickups are first introduced in the belatedly 1950s. The initial and foremost Datsun was built in 1914. Toward the conclusion of this decade of alteration, Nissan has crafted a strong status in mutually the American, as well as, the Japanese markets. Its vehicles are appreciated both for its fashion and performance, being synonymous with early on Nissan design.

Lately, the Datsun ‘Z’ alters the manner people reflect on sports cars. Instituted in 1933, Nissan Corporation was a leading manufacturer in sedans. Virtually 70 years soon after, Nissan has turned into being the world’s foremost automakers, with yearly fabrication of 2.4 million units that portrayed 4.9 percent of the worldwide market. Nationally, the corporation sells 774,000 automobiles on a yearly basis, placing it second following Toyota Motor Company. Approximately, 35 % of Nissan’s automobiles are vended in Japan, 25% in the US, in addition to, Europe’s 20%. Within the North American marketplace, the company’s good models comprise of the Infiniti and Sentra commuter cars, as well as, the Pathfinder SUVs.

In 1966, the Corporation fused with the Price Motor Corporation which helped them to take in more chic high-class forms into their variety, for example, the Skyline, as well as, the Gloria. Afterwards, the Price Motors name was entirely deserted, and all prospective models had the Nissan brand name. Subsequent to losing funds for a majority of the 1990s, the company entered into an international coalition with Renault S.A. in the year 1999, having the French Corporation amassing a 37 percent venture in Nissan. An enormous reformation was then instigated. In 2004, Nissan made public the Titan, a complete dimension pick-up truck, which was projected chiefly for the North American region. The automobile attributes a 32 valve V8 engine. Moreover, it can tug approximately 9500 pounds. Presently, the Corporation is working on numerous new perceptions including the Pivo, which is an electric car that goes with zero discharges and has been instrumented and designed by famous Japanese engineer Takashi Murakami. Under Ghosn’s Nissan revitalization strategy, the Corporation experienced a spin in sales and accounted record earnings. By the commencement of the 21st century, the Corporation was once more a concrete participant in the global market with a secure association to its European supporter, Renault.

3.0. Mission and Vision

Workers of Nissan Corporation are steered by the Corporation’s Vision, stating that: “Enriching people’s lives.” An additional precise guidance concerning how Nissan Corporation will improve people’s wellbeing is set up in the Corporation’s Mission Statement, stating that: “Nissan provides unique and innovative automotive products and services that deliver superior measurable values to all stakeholders in alliance with Renault (Gatignon, 2004).”

4.0. Strategic Elements of History

4.1. Socio Cultural Environment

Nissan is constructing, and manufacturing vehicles to meet all categories of people’s requirements. Different persons would prefer different categories of cars relying on the customer. An individual having a preference to a vehicle with off-road capabilities would go for Nissan Xterra or Frontier while wealthy persons who like speedy cars would choose cars like Nissan Silvia, Skyline or even Fairlady 350z (Peng, 2009). Not every driver is appropriate for all categories of vehicles. This is the motive why Nissan construct numerous different categories of motor vehicle to suit diverse categories of driver.

4.2. Technology Environment

Nissan encompasses four scopes of technological aims that include the surroundings, protection, dynamic performance, as well as, life on board. The corporation creates these worth to give their clients trusted driving enjoyment.

4.3. Environment

Nissan has an extended term objective of plummeting carbon dioxide emissions to aid in solving environmental catastrophes, for example, global warming. Through this objective, the Corporation had placed their goal of reducing carbon dioxide releases in their new vehicles by 70% by 2050 (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011).

4.4. Economic Environment

In 200, Nissan along with Renault was instituted as the Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organization (RNPO). Chiefly, this was a key manner to trim down cost by uniting both their sources to be more proficient in the association. Renault along with Nissan presently holds 60% shares a fraction being supply of resources and assets.

4.5. Legal and Political Environment

The Corporation motor vehicles have to meet definite normalcy to be capable of entering certain nations to be vended. This is owes to the truth that definite nations do not permit high performance motor vehicles, for example Nissan Skyline types to go into the nation since the driver might exploit the car for illegitimate street racing.

5.0. External Factor Evaluation

Various noteworthy features need to be measured which shape the outlook of Nissan Corporation. These can be classified into External aspects (which were pretentious to the corporation). In 1998, global demand had been apparent for 3 years and the trade was being typified to attain cost diminution and proficient capacity exploitation. The corporation was making as well as losing its edge to Toyota locally and globally (Hill & Jones, 2008).

6.0. Company Competitive Position

Nissan Corporation uses the Cost Leadership strategy. The aim of this strategy is to develop into being the lowest-cost manufacturer in the trade. If the attained selling price can at slightest be comparable to the standard market, and then the slightest-cost manufacturer will (in theory) take pleasure in the unsurpassed profits. This policy is typically connected with large-scale companies offering “standard” goods with comparatively little demarcation that are entirely acceptable to the preponderance of purchasers. Infrequently, the low-cost strategy will also discount its vehicles to maximize sales, chiefly if it has a significant cost benefit over the rivalry of Toyota and, therefore: it can additionally boost its market share (Plunkett & Plunkett Research, 2003).

7.0. Internal Capabilities

It is essential for Nissan to improve its corporate control policies as it executes its business social responsibilities. The company will work to maintain achieving the expectation of the stakeholders (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2007).

7.1. Pillars of Action

Nissan’s method to corporate governance is established on three foundations: conformity built on the high moral standards of all workers, efforts to strengthen information safety and an efficient and suitable risk management organization.

7.2. Compliance

To foster conformity awareness throughout the corporation, Nissan has launched specialized branches and placed officers in charge of upholding compliance strategy in each area where it operates.

7.3. Risk Management By detecting risk as quickly as required, examining it, forecasting the necessary procedures to address it and executing those measures, the corporation works to minimize the appearance of risk and the impact of harm caused should it arise (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2007).

7.4. Information Security Nissan shares its Information protection Policy with assembly companies worldwide and executes necessary procedures through the Information protection board, bolstering its competence to check information leaks and other such occasions (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2007).

8.0. Financial Ratio Analysis

Financial ratio analysis is the computation and assessment of ratios, which are obtained from the information in a corporation’s financial reports. The level and past trends of these proportions can be employed to make conclusions about a company’s economic state, its procedures and attractiveness as an asset.

Production output 4,080,588 units (2010)

Revenue ¥8.773 trillion (2011)

Operating income ¥462.92 billion (2011)

Total assets ¥10.736 trillion (2011)

Total equity ¥2.943 trillion (2011)

Employees 155,099 (2011)

Profit ¥319.22 billion (2011)

Source: http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/index.html

8.1. Profitability ratio

Gross margin

Gross profit 319.229

Net sales 8.733

Gross margin 3.655

8.2. Leveraging ratio

Current ratio

Total assets 10.736

Total liabilities 2.943

Debt ratio 3.648

9.0. Porter’s Five Forces Model

Nissan predicted that their production and established values would be in need of essential overall, to increase market share in Europe. Hence, the enhancements stated, such as the localisation of invention and allotment channels in Europe.

9.1. Entry of Competitors

There are many innovative products, but not competitors in the market place. The reputable car manufacturers have been set up for years. This is a complicated market for fresh organisations to penetrate. There are no common recent electric cars hitting the market place from time to time, through original company. They do not appear to last very long, however.

9.2. Threat of Substitutes

Nissan’s policy of frequent improvement should aid them in surviving the risk of substitute products. The saturation of the producer market place does not help the situation, so the danger of substitutes is real. However, Nissan is well capable to handle it.

9.3. Bargaining Power of Buyers

Currently, buyers are being provided with a production of alternative merchandise in the car market. Advertisements exhibitions on the television daily encourage buyers to invest their money in Nissan products. In terms of the negotiation power of buyers, this is better since there are so many choices and products accessible.

9.4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Renault-Nissan Purchasing Organisation

This procurement organisation, instituted in 2001 is among the key ways in which Renault and Nissan unite their resources to produce a more efficient organisation. Presently both Nissan and Renault share 60% of the similar facts and or substance suppliers. This implies that Nissan have attained superior purchasing power and have served to decrease costs and condensed the bargaining power of suppliers (Hill & Jones, 2008).

9.5. Rivalry among the Existing Players

There are many companies trying to fight for market share. To some extent, Nissan has put off this particular risk, by focusing on manufacturing their operations more cost-effective and distinguishing themselves from their competitors by producing exceptional vehicles. This allows Nissan to preserve their economical advantage (Hoskisson & Hoskisson, 2008).

10.0. Current Strategy

Nissan is currently planning to venture into the East European market. One of the key limitations in doing this is supervising the logistics in other foreign countries. There are relatively long delivery chains, which exist to customer markets in Western Europe. It is essential to recognize how to deliver and ship goods to and from foreign markets in an effective manner. This crisis could also happen in other Eastern countries (Walker, 2003). Another absent venture is the consideration to seek innovative opportunities in light mercantile vehicles. They are also encouraging the infinity lavish brand on an ongoing basis on an international scale.

11.0. The SWOT analysis of Nissan

Strength: Nissan is a global brand and one of the fastest growing automotive industries. As of 2011, the Nissan total equity amounted to 2.943 trillion yen. The sub models for the company include Altima, Sentra, Versa, Maxima, Z coupe and Z Roadstar. The track models include Xterra, Pathfinder, Armada and Quest. The competitive advantage of the broad can counter balance the rising competition. In the past 5 years, the company managed to set up a global brand focusing on pleasurable brands, and those with vibrant experience. The company also has a worldwide financial place. This is one of the company’s major strength. The key financial positions of Nissan include liquidity, solvency and profitability (Mendenhall, Oddou & Stahl 2011). Nissan Corporation also managed to alliance with Renault. This has been advantageous for both companies. This is because the companies can venture new markets easier and faster because of they do not need to establish new plants. The collaborations of the companies include build up of components, platforms and engines. ThreatsDisharmony of Culture

There has been a cultural clash of Nissan in Europe. Europe faced a number of problems. Nissan and Renault become incorporated with one another. Therefore, the risk of cross-cultural clashes will enlarge. Nissan is establishing a way to stop this from happening. It established a program called Business Way. Nevertheless, it will take time for national and corporate culture to transform.

Prices of Commodities

China’s expansion would make Nissan incur high expenses. In the past two years, the cost of steel in manufacture has increased considerably. There is also the rise in oil prices to consider which continues. Order for new automobiles is decreasing and is a threat to Nissan’s feasibility (Hunt, 2009).

12.0. Organizational Structure

The company has a chief operating officer who is in charge of management of newly formed regional structure. Other responsibilities include development, research, sales, design, marketing, planning and manufacturing of new products. The COO must report to the CEO. The company has a Chief Recovery Officer (CRO) responsible for recovery activities. The CRO does corporate planning and controls functions. The executive Vice President takes the duty of purchasing and is responsible for new regions (Magee 2003).

The Senior Vice President is in charge of product planning, light commercial business of the vehicle and creates units of the vehicle business.

13.0. Business Ethics/Values

Basic Corporate Governance:

The role of this policy is to clarify the responsibilities and duties of the employees of the Nissan Corporation. The management policy and objectives are published for the benefit of investors and share holders. Announcement of achievements is made early with lucidity.

Nissan’s System and Organizations for Internal Control:

A Board of directors and a Statutory govern the company. The duty of the Board of Directors is to resolve of vital industry decisions. The Statutory Audit Committee controls and supervises the functions of the Nissan Corporation (Nissan Annual Report 2004).

Risk Management:

The company applies appropriate methods and technology to solve problems regarding the risks involved. The company has also created a risk management team that is responsible for the management of the risks involved. The risk department has managed to prioritize the risks based on impacts, probabilities and devoted control measures. The company also manages to establish intellectual property rights to protect the intellectual property rights (Seshadri, 2005). 14.0. Financial Projections

Nissan Corporation has planned to explore the European market in the East. The greatest barrier in doing this is to direct the logistics in Romania. There is comparatively extensive delivery string that would exist to customer markets in Western Europe. This predicament may also occur in some Eastern countries (Deresky 2011).

Another scheme that is currently lacking is to considering looking for new opportunities available in light marketable automobiles. The company is also promoting the luxury product on a continuing foundation on a worldwide level. Additionally, this company plans to boost their market divide and persist to chase their present approach while categorization their difference in cultural (Deresky 2011).15.0. RecommendationsA) The company should go on with pursuing new markets in Eastern Europe, while concentrating less on the presently flooded markets in Western European (Deresky 2011).

B) The company should build up the present alliance with Renault to offer additional competitive advantage. A suggestion for this would include common allocation network to enlarge the presence of Nissan and decrease expenditure simultaneously.

C) Nissan Corporation is concerned of lack of diesel. The company should significantly raise their spending expansion of technology and relate this to the entire variety. If the company fails to do this, the potential of the market could radically fall.

D) There is still a cultural difference in their coalition with Renault. Their business strategy may attend to the issue sufficiently, but there is no possibility of measuring the achievement of the project.

E) The company should aspire to attain ISO 9001 endorsement for the European development procedures.

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