Contrasting Outlooks in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer Essay

Differing Outlooks in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Outlook defines our perception of reality. The characters in Dream of the Rood and The Wanderer maintain opposed perspectives that greatly influence the way they view their common state of desolation. The dreamer and the Cross in Dream of the Rood embrace a religious ideology that gives them hope, whereas the earth-walker in The Wanderer embraces an existential view that leaves him to suffer his loneliness. The characters' differing outlooks greatly influence how they view their exile, their ultimate destination, and the journey to this destination, their "homecoming."    The characters of both works face exile: the dreamer's friends have "gone hence from the delights of the world," the Cross is "taken from [its] stump," and the wanderer is "far from dear kinsmen" (Rood 20-1; Wanderer 69). This exile saddens all of the characters: the dreamer is "all afflicted with sorrows," the Cross is "sore afflicted with griefs," and the earth-walker is "wretched with care" (Rood 19-20; Wanderer 69). While the characters face similar desolation and melancholy, however, they differ greatly in their reactions.    Before the dreamer approached the Cross he was dispirited, but upon hearing t... ...dle Ages," pp. 1-26; The Dream of the Rood, The Wanderer, (700/900), Five Old English Riddles (pp. 150-51), translated from Old English    Dockray-Miller, Mary. "The Feminized Cross of 'The Dream of the Rood.'" Philological Quarterly 76 (1997): 1-18.    Finnegan, Robert Emmett, 'The Gospel of Nicodemus and The Dream of the Rood, 148b-156'.   Neuphilologische Mitteilungen. 84 (1983): 338-43.    "The Wanderer." The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1993. 68-70.    Woolf, Rosemary. "Doctrinal Influences on The Dream of the Rood." MAE 28 (1958): 137-53.

Today’s Students are Tomorrow’s Future :: College Admissions Essays

Today’s Students are Tomorrow’s Future The least recognized, most important people in this world are the educators. They must work hard toward inventing a method to help each individual student â€Å"be all they can be!† Teachers must try to stimulate students to create a hunger for learning and to expand their success in life. Teachers should be obligated to the need for the student’s individuality. To be able to teach targeting to the students’ needs will make a difference not only in the student but also in the future of our society. Today’s students are tomorrow’s future. In many cases, it has become very complex to keep students interested in their education. So the teacher must be creative and find ways to keep pushing the student onward as well as upward. In order to devise the ultimate plan for educating students, a teacher must acknowledge that the â€Å"students† are what teaching is all about. The most important factor in the equation is unequivocally the STUDENT! All humans are different in some sort or fashion. But the fact still exists that we all have only this place to function in. So help by putting forth an effort to make it a better place for us all. I’m a firm believer that all students have some capacity to learn. It only takes the dedication and compassion of a teacher to ignite the wick and the light of the student starts to shine. Rousseau said that children are born of innocents, being neither good nor bad, and the surrounding will create the child. On average, students are with educators more hours than with their families. The hours we have with these students have to be utilized and get the best out of them. So as teachers, we must set an example of good morals and display the love of teaching and make learning a desirable trait. Learning should be a self-gratifying experience not a dreaded encounter. We all love to be achievers. Teachers and educators must put forth the desire to see their student’s progress. Like the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink but I believe you can make it thirsty along the way.

Affirmative Action Essay -- Rights Equality Inequality Papers

Affirmative Action Since its implementation in the United States in 1965, affirmative action has been a heated topic of debate. Designed to address the issue of inequality in American society, affirmative action is a number of programs and policies designed to give women and racial minorities more opportunities in education and the job market. As a result, affirmative action has received opposition, mainly from blue collar white males who feel that it compromises their best interests. In this paper, we will attempt to evaluate the impact of affirmative action on all Americans and its effectiveness in addressing the issue of inequality. History: Affirmative action was first mentioned in executive order 10925 on March 6, 1961. On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights act was signed by President Johnson to guarantee equal rights to all Americans. President Johnson introduced affirmative action on June 4, 1965. He gave a speech defining the concept of affirmative action as a way of countering the discrimination that had continued despite the passing of civil rights laws and constitutional guarantees. On September 24, 1965 executive order 11246 enforced affirmative action for the first time (Brunner). Affirmative action was met with both support and opposition. Conservatives saw it as opening doors of opportunity for minorities while shutting them for whites, calling it reverse racism. Because many conservative Americans prided themselves on hard work and making a fortune out of nothing, they resented what they thought of as blacks getting a free ride. They argued that Jews and Asians also underwent harsh forms of racism and discrimination but are largely successful now without the use of Government aid (Brunner). Supporter... ...center.org/DB/factsheet/historical-trendsII.htm {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} â€Å"Housing and Household Economic Statistics.† U.S. Census Bureau. www.census.gov/hhes/income {scholarly primary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Overview.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/overview.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} â€Å"Race: Quick Takes.† Public Agenda. 2004. http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/angles.cfm?issue_type=race {scholarly secondary, internet only; authoritative} Ward, Dr. David. â€Å"Affirmative Action.† 2001. http://enlightenment.supersaturated.com/essays/text/david ward {scholarly primary, print via internet; authoritative} R. Yetman, Norman. â€Å"Race and Ethnicity†. Sociology McGraw-Hill. 1994 316-359 {scholarly primary, print, authoritative)

Commenting on “Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder” Gavin I. Langmuir wrote “Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder”

Commenting on â€Å"Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder† Gavin I. Langmuir wrote â€Å"Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder,† which was published in Speculum’s October 1984 issue. In this article Langmuir discusses Thomas of Monmouth’s investigation of St. William of Norwich’s death, and accusations of ritual murder brought against Jews. Langmuir starts the article with some background information on â€Å"The Life and Passion of Saint William the Martyr of Norwich,† written by Thomas of Monmouth.He then makes his thesis statement: â€Å"Williams’s death had occasioned the first of the connected series of accusations from the twelfth to twentieth century that Jews committed ritual murder. † (Langmuir, Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder, 821) Langmuir’s argument is that Thomas of Monmouth’s book is the modern inception of the myth that Jews commit ritual murder to reenact the crucifixio n of Jesus Christ. Since the accusation of ritual murder was also present in antiquity, Langmuir attempts to prove disconnect between Norwich and those prior myths.He also goes into detail about William’s murder, then Monmouth’s investigation and writings. He convincingly argues that Monmouth had allot to gain both in this world and the next by reporting William’s killing as a ritual murder preformed by Jews. Simply stated, Monmouth saw what he wanted to while investigating the crime. Langmuir uses a broad range of sources in his attempt to prove that the accusation at Norwich was not connected to the two accusations in antiquity. In this attempt he most frequently cites two works by Heinz Schreckenberg. He also cites over ten other authors while bringing this point home.On the other hand Langmuir’s argument of Monmouth’s motivation for creating the myth burrows deeply into a limited body of material, mostly Monmouth’s book itself. He also u ses two other sources when discussing Theobald, and only cites Miracles and Pilgrims by Finucane other than that. In the middle ages people saw Satan as an active force in the world. St. Gregory of Nyssa said when speaking of the Jews, that they were â€Å"confederates of the devil. † (Perry & Schweitzer, Antisemitism, 75) Chrysostom called Jews â€Å"inveterate murders, destroyers, men possessed by the devil. (Perry & Schweitzer, Antisemitism, 75) John (8:44) states in regard to Jews â€Å"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. † (Perry & Schweitzer, Antisemitism, 75)Not only were the people of the middle ages on the lookout for the devil, but their church was telling them that Jews were acting as his agents. This set up Jews as an easy scapegoat, and allowed for the creation of the ritual murder myth. In the case of William, Monmouth who was a monk had been predisposed to the notion that Jews were evil. In the gospels rendition as interpreted for centuries, the Jews are perceived as ‘the Christ killers,’ a people condemned forever to suffer exile and degradation. This arch crime of ‘decide,’ of murdering God, turned the Jews into the embodiment of evil, a ‘criminal people. ’† (Perry & Schweitzer, Antisemitism, 18)With this view it only makes sense that Monmouth would look to blame Jews for the boy’s murder, when murdering a boy is exactly something an evil criminal would do. It also makes sense that at the first sign of anything even resembling a crucifixion he would point to Jews, because according to the gospels they had done it before.In 1095 Pope Urban II began the first crusade when he called for â€Å"a religious military crusade to liberate the holiest places in Christendom. † (Laquer, The Changing Face of Antisemitism, 52) Many Jews were slaughtered during this crusade for various reasons. One reason was that the crusaders were to ld â€Å"anyone who killed a single Jew would have all his sins absolved. † (Laquer, The Changing Face of Antisemitism, 52) Authority figures were telling people that Jews are so evil that not only is murdering them OK, but it will even make up for anything wrong they had ever done.This was only fifty years before the incident at Norwich. With that mentality is only serves to reason that when the ordinary unnamed people were presented with Jews as ritual murders, it would be believable to them. In the Article on the top of page 822 Langmuir asks â€Å"who first accused Jews of crucifying a Christian child out of religious hatred? † Langmuir argues that there is not enough evidence to prove who killed William, or why. He does think there is enough evidence to establish that the enduring accusation of ritual murder began with William’s death. We know for certain that Monmouth accused Jews of ritual murder.Langmuir then works backwards from that point to prove that it was the first modern accusation of its kind. Langmuir starts with the first known accusation of ritual murder in recorded history. He discusses how in ancient Greece a story circulated that said â€Å"every seven years the Jews captured a Greek, fattened him up, killed him, and ate parts of him. † (Langmuir, Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder, 823) He goes on to say that while the story did appear in â€Å"Against Apion,† the book was rare. He details why the book was rare, and does his best to prove a complete discontinuity between this accusation and Monmouth’s.Langmuir then writes about â€Å"The second and only other relevant accusation against Jews in antiquity. † (Langmuir, Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder, 825) He tells the story of how in approximately the year 415, in the city of Imestar, Jews were accused of taking a Christian boy, tying him to a cross, and beating him until he died. Langmuir argues that while the sto ry did appear in â€Å"Historia Tripartita† only two copies were available in England, and that those copies date from the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, after the incident at Norwich.He also argues that â€Å"those who borrowed from ‘Historia Tripartia’ did so sparingly and most selectively, and the Imestar incident did not interest them. † Again Langmuir proves disconnect between the two incidents. Assuming that these are the only two accusations ever made prior to Norwich, then yes Langmuir answers the Question from the top of page 822. In this article Langmuir’s argument is persuasively supported, but he does not discuss the possibility of ritual murder stories being passed down orally. He also did not look at the possibility of books containing ritual murder accusations that may have been lost to history.For all we know Monmouth may have had a book that no longer exists detailing the accusations from antiquity or accusations we donâ €™t even know about. He is probably right in his conclusion that the incident at Norwich is the first modern accusation brought against Jews, but we cannot be sure. At times Langmuir calls into question other historians work, and makes convincing arguments as to why he thinks there wrong. He wrote referring to M. R. James belief that Monmouth’s book was written in 1172 or 1173 â€Å"there are several indications that the work was not all written at one time. (Langmuir, Thomas of Monmouth: Detector of Ritual Murder, 838) Langmuir did address other historians work on the subject, but sense he was the first person to propose that this was the first modern accusation of ritual murder, there were no other competing theories. I found this article to be very well organized, it laid out information in way that made it easy to understand. I really thought it was a good read, and enjoyed reading it. Langmuir was both interesting and informative. I would recommend this article to a nyone interested in this period in history.

Final research paper

Then started sharing my idea with my best friend, Stalin Gomes, who is currently studying at Bridgeport University in Connecticut and is also a under Of this company. He also shared a similar idea and we started working towards building our company in 2010. Then we named it â€Å"Athletic Footwear†. Our company's USPS is â€Å"The best you can have†. We are committed to provide our customers with varieties of top quality footwear. We are working with all the top athletic footwear brands like Nikkei, Aids, Rebook, Puma, New Balance, Gender Armor, Acacias, Sketchers, Vans and Umbra to bring all the new gears to our customers.Our company's marketing targets are runners, athletics, sneaker lovers and others. Our company's top priority ND goal is to provide the best customer service possible and going global. We want to run our business successfully and also want to go international. To reach our goal we need a very successful website and to make it; we need storefront softw are that offers us similar options and services we are looking for. In the article, Starting an online store made easy and ‘really sexy': E- commerce TTY McMahon and DOD Jones talk about the future of e-commerce.They wrote, â€Å"A whole new era of e-commerce is emerging – one where just about anyone can create high-end, custom branded online stores for next to thing. This is being made possible by a crop of emerging online e- commerce platforms backed by venture capital† (McMahon & Jones 2011). These days it's very tricky to find the right storefront software as there are so many storefront software offering different features like hosting, design, pricing and payment options, marketing tools, reports etc.There are also many fake web builders which might be harmful for businesses. The purpose of my research is to find the right storefront software for building a website for our business. The research that I have completed describes the important features that we need to consider when choosing storefront software. Below I have detailed each key features required for building a perfect website for my business. Also, I have selected three storefront software and compared their key features. At the end I have chosen the best one for my business.IMPORTANT STOREFRONT FEATURES FOR BUILDING A WEBSITE There are a lot of different storefront software companies these days offering different options and services. The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a storefront software is our business needs, like it loudest make sense to use a smaller web hosting if we are building a huge website that requires multiple servers, it wouldn't make sense to pay for a lot of storage and features that we are not going to use if we are launching a small blob. I have decided to compare key features between three storefront software. They are Spiffy, Evolution and Precision Web Hosting.The important features that I have chosen to write about are unlimited w eb hosting, customizable web design, 24/ 7 customer service & security, shopping cart & payment options, product management, marketing & SEE, bile commerce and social media connectivity. Kari Fabian writes, â€Å"This type of application should help you design your website, upload and manage your inventory, connect to a shopping cart, and provide secure payment options to your customers† (commerce Software Review 2014). UNLIMITED WEB HOSTING Unlimited web hosting is the most important feature for building a website.I Want to expand my business in domestic level and also internationally, so it's very important for me to choose storefront software that offers unlimited web hosting. Spiffy and Evolution both offers unlimited be hosting but precision web offers very limited web hosting. In the article, Spiffy; The brains behind the online business the author writes, â€Å"Spiffy takes care of coding storage, backup servers, security and payment administration, in return for a su bscription fee and, with basic plans, a fee on each transaction† (Canadian Business 2011).Spiffy offers Content Delivery Network (CDC) which is large network of servers placed across the world to ensure that customers can load any website store quickly, no matter where they are. According to the article, For busy Evolution, e-business is good, Lori Hopkins talks about the features of Evolution. He writes, ‘Evolution helps businesses build their websites, update product information, offer online coupons, handle credit card transactions and track inventory, all in one place.Its social shopping feature lets customers add e-commerce stores to their Faceable and Namespace fan pages† (Hopkins 2010). Evolution also offers CDC, powered by Zamia, consists of tens of thousands of servers across the globe, allowing shoppers to access any site at lightning speed. Precision Web Hosting doesn't have servers all around the web, shoppers can't have access o all sites and also some loads slowly. That is a clear negative side of Precision Web Hosting as I want to expand my business globally. Ant my customers to access my website from any part of the world at lightning speed. All three storefront software also offer mobile common:e feature which lets users pull up smart phone ready storefronts. Evolution and Spiffy come with multiple hosted email accounts to help business owners communicate with customers. These web-based accounts allow owners to access their messages any†here they have an internet connection. On the there hand Precision Web Hosting comes with very few hosted email accounts to help business owners communicate with customers.I want to communicate with my customers so that I can let them know about new merchandise and sales, so think Evolution and Spiffy are in a better position in this case than Precision Web Hosting. CUSTOMIZABLE WEB DESIGN Choosing storefront software that offers customizable web design is also very important for a build ing a perfect website. In this feature we can customize our web page just as we want it or choose from different readmes templates to make it user friendly and website attractive.Spiffy offers â€Å"Spiffy Theme Store† which hosts a collection of over 1 00 premium and free commerce templates. The Theme Store includes professional looking templates for cloth ins & fashion, jewelry, electronics, art & photography, and other types of commerce sites. According to spiffy, many of the commerce templates found in the Spiffy Theme Store have been created by world-renown designers including happy cog, clearest and pixel union.On the other hand, Evolution offers dozens of free, ready-to-use templates by which we can make our website shine in less than sixty seconds y choosing from any of our high-quality commerce templates. With a wide variety of free templates to choose from, we will have a stylishly professional site that's sure to impress our customers. They also offer custom design and branding services to make businesses look unique. Precision Web Hosting also offers some similar services but a bit limited. They don't have options to design larger websites.They have limited ready to use templates and customizing options. I want to expand my business and also go international and for that I need storefront software, which is going to offer me to expand thou charging me more. Based on this information I think Spiffy and Evolution have better web customizing options then precision Web Hosting. 24/7 CUSTOMER SERVICE & SECURITY One very important feature to look at when selecting storefront software is 24/7 customer service and security from the storefront software company to protect the website and also function properly.Security is very important these days. Especially with increased threats of online fraud and identify theft. In the article, Evolution; Evolution announces credit card fraud protection service for online store owners the writer wrote, † In 2009, the umber of personal records that hackers exposed – data like Social Security numbers, medical records and credit card information tied to an individual – exceeded 220 million records, compared with 35 million in 2008†³ (Information technology business 2010). Evolution, spiffy and Precision Web Hosting offers secure and flexible commerce hosting.They offer PC/Clips-certified securities which are dedicated to keep our site's most sensitive sales and customer data safe from harmful activities. But Precision Web Hosting doesn't have 24/7 customer service. As Precision Web Hosting doesn't have 24/7 customer service, think it's not perfect for my business because I want my customers to get 24/7 customer service so that they are ready to do business with my company over and over again. SHOPPING CART & PAYMENT OPTIONS Another very important feature we need to consider when choosing storefront software is shopping cart.Evolution, Spiffy and Precision Web Hosting a ll accept credit cards. With Spiffy Payments, set up is instant, so we can accept Visa, Mastered and American Express the minute we launch our shop. Spiffy offers a low credit card rate, and no hidden fee. Evolution offers legible payment options. We can accept a variety of payment options including credit cards, Papal, Google payments and international currencies. Precision Web Hosting also offers different payment options like credit cards and Papal. Evolution, Spiffy and Precision Web Hosting all offer flexible and simple shipping options.Spiffy has shipping rates that can be set up in a number of different ways, including fixed-price, tiered, weight-based and location-based rates. Also, unlimited plan users can receive automatic shipping rates from major shipping carriers like LASS, USPS and Fed. While Evolution and Precision Web Hosting also has similar features but Spiffy has better product management and product tracking options. So, Spiffy is the best option to setup a shopp ing cart for our business website. PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Products make up the business of commerce.A great range of products keeps customers coming back for more. But adding thousands of products is not an easy task and is often vulnerable to errors. Also delivering and keeping track of the product is also a very important task. Spiffy have Track product inventory option through which they can help us avoid selling rodents that have run out of stock, or let us know when we need to order or make more of our product. Evolution has mass import service which can do exceedingly fast product setup and we can relax as their skilled data feed managers guarantee us error free product updates.While Precision Web has a very limited product management service with no product tracking options. As I am going to expand my business in the feature I will have more products and to track them need a storefront software that has good product management service. So, think Precision Web is not a good option for my business. MARKETING & SEE Marketing and SEE is another very important feature that we need to consider when choosing a effective storefront software for our business. SEE stands for search engine optimization.Spiffy, Evolution both offers advanced SEE built right into our store, we can earn higher organic rankings in Google, Bingo and other search engines. Also, they automatically help to earn rich snippet displays like Star ratings, pricing and stock Status in organic search results. Evolution also offers their customers to sell their products on Amazon and eBay. On the other hand, Precision Web also offers similar eaters like Spiffy and Evolution but are limited. They don't options for selling in Amazon and eBay.Spiffy, Evolution and Precision web all offers email marketing options which helps customers to know about all the latest updates and discounts of the business. I am looking for the best marketing and SEE featured software and I think Spiffy and Evolution are very good options to choose from. MOBILE COMMERCE These days almost 30% of the commerce sales are made through a mobile device. Spiffy plan includes a free, built-in mobile commerce shopping cart. This means our customers can browse and buy from our store hill on the go, using any mobile phone from anywhere.Also, we can manage our store on the go and choose from beautiful mobile responsive themes. Evolution also helps shoppers buy from businesses anytime, an)Where by delivering a completely mobile optimized experience, from browsing all the way to checkout. Instead of making shoppers fumble through the site with their thumbs, site will be fully compatible with any smart phone or tablet device. In Precision web shopping cart automatically re-sizes the Shop template to fit mobile Screen resolutions but doesn't have beautiful mobile themes to choose from. So, I think Precision Web is not a good choice for my business.

Swot Analysis of Indian Economy

SWOT Analysis of various sectors of Indian Economy. The India economy, which is the 9th largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP, can be broadly classified into three sectors: 1) Primary Sector or Agriculture Sector, which contributes about 15% to the GDP and employs around 57% of the total workforce. 2) Secondary Sector or Industry sector, which contributes about 28% to the DP and employs around 14% of the workforce. 3) Tertiary Sector or Service Sector, which contributes the maximum of 57% to the GDP and employs around 29% of the workforce. SWOT analysis of Agriculture Sector: Strengths : – * The favourable Climate and terrain of the Indian sub-continent makes it suitable for producing a variety of crops. * As it employs majority of population, it enjoys a competitive labour force. * The agriculture sector in India is competitive and hence evolving, produces a large variety of crops, and enjoys a well demanded market as Indians prefer fresh farm produce over the processed food items. Weaknesses:- * As the majority of workforce is uneducated, they are not able to make the most out of the government policies. Moreover, though the government spends enough over the agricultural reforms, but due to the low level of execution on their part, it does not produce the desired results. * Due to the lack of proper storage facilities and road connectivity of the farms with the respective market, around 60% of the fresh farm produce like vegetables, fruits etc get wasted. * Since only 40% of the land under cultivation gets irrigated through canals, tube wells etc. , the farmers depend heavily upon the annual monsoons. Opportunities:- A growing population, availability of modern agricultural techniques, easy availability of banking finance, variety of pest resistance crops, coming up of retail chains and various government schemes and policies, would make both the demand and the production go up. * Rise in demand of pulses and grains in the Asian economies, and the production of fuels like ethanol from grains, provide more market opportunities. Threats:- * More and more of the agricultural land is bei ng taken up to meet with the demands of the housing and industrial sector, thereby reducing land under cultivation. With the increase in the purchasing power of the Indians, the packaged food industry is gaining importance in the Indian market, especially in the cities and among the youth. * Some of the government policies like MGNREGA, is diverting the farm labour to other employment avenues, which could affect the agriculture adversely as it depends heavily on manual labour. * Stiff competition from the international markets, if India opens up the trade barriers in the agriculture sector. SWOT analysis of Industrial Sector: Strengths:- With over half a billion population in the age group of 25-60 years, the industrial sector enjoys a competitive labour market. * Availability of natural resources, skilled and cheap manpower, liberal national policies provide the environment for industries to thrive. Weaknesses:- * Due to India being a democratic country and a mixed economy, the ind ustry has to adhere too many of the protectionist policies of the government, which affects the industry adversely. * The complex labour laws and other political barriers, prevents the industries to work at the best of their efficiency, thus effecting productivity. Opportunities:- * With the rise in the incomes of the Indians, especially the Indian middle class, promises a lucrative domestic market for all the industries. * With the slowdown of the European & American economies, Indian companies should towards the African countries like Ghana, Kenya etc. which are growing at a rate of 7-8%. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower cost of production. * Delay in policy decisions by Indian policy makers, corruption charges and scandals, hindering the ease to do business. Protectionist policies adopted by various European countries and America to safeguard their own interests. SWOT analysis of Service Sector: Strengths:- * With 64% of the Indian population being educated, the service industry has a large talent poll to work with. * Due to large and skilled work force, the labour market becomes competitive, providing cheap labour. * The Robust Banking and Financial system and regulat ions, provide stability not only to banking sector but also to the entire economy. Weaknesses:- Too much dependence on America and European economies for business. * The Indigenous base of the IT industry is not sufficiently developed to sustain software export. Opportunities:- * With the Increased computerization in various public and government organization, the Indian IT industry has ready-made domestic market. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower labour. * Due to the economic slowdown, countries like America are adopting policies to prohibit outsourcing, which will affect the IT industry. Swot Analysis of Indian Economy SWOT Analysis of various sectors of Indian Economy. The India economy, which is the 9th largest in the world in terms of nominal GDP, can be broadly classified into three sectors: 1) Primary Sector or Agriculture Sector, which contributes about 15% to the GDP and employs around 57% of the total workforce. 2) Secondary Sector or Industry sector, which contributes about 28% to the DP and employs around 14% of the workforce. 3) Tertiary Sector or Service Sector, which contributes the maximum of 57% to the GDP and employs around 29% of the workforce. SWOT analysis of Agriculture Sector: Strengths : – * The favourable Climate and terrain of the Indian sub-continent makes it suitable for producing a variety of crops. * As it employs majority of population, it enjoys a competitive labour force. * The agriculture sector in India is competitive and hence evolving, produces a large variety of crops, and enjoys a well demanded market as Indians prefer fresh farm produce over the processed food items. Weaknesses:- * As the majority of workforce is uneducated, they are not able to make the most out of the government policies. Moreover, though the government spends enough over the agricultural reforms, but due to the low level of execution on their part, it does not produce the desired results. * Due to the lack of proper storage facilities and road connectivity of the farms with the respective market, around 60% of the fresh farm produce like vegetables, fruits etc get wasted. * Since only 40% of the land under cultivation gets irrigated through canals, tube wells etc. , the farmers depend heavily upon the annual monsoons. Opportunities:- A growing population, availability of modern agricultural techniques, easy availability of banking finance, variety of pest resistance crops, coming up of retail chains and various government schemes and policies, would make both the demand and the production go up. * Rise in demand of pulses and grains in the Asian economies, and the production of fuels like ethanol from grains, provide more market opportunities. Threats:- * More and more of the agricultural land is bei ng taken up to meet with the demands of the housing and industrial sector, thereby reducing land under cultivation. With the increase in the purchasing power of the Indians, the packaged food industry is gaining importance in the Indian market, especially in the cities and among the youth. * Some of the government policies like MGNREGA, is diverting the farm labour to other employment avenues, which could affect the agriculture adversely as it depends heavily on manual labour. * Stiff competition from the international markets, if India opens up the trade barriers in the agriculture sector. SWOT analysis of Industrial Sector: Strengths:- With over half a billion population in the age group of 25-60 years, the industrial sector enjoys a competitive labour market. * Availability of natural resources, skilled and cheap manpower, liberal national policies provide the environment for industries to thrive. Weaknesses:- * Due to India being a democratic country and a mixed economy, the ind ustry has to adhere too many of the protectionist policies of the government, which affects the industry adversely. * The complex labour laws and other political barriers, prevents the industries to work at the best of their efficiency, thus effecting productivity. Opportunities:- * With the rise in the incomes of the Indians, especially the Indian middle class, promises a lucrative domestic market for all the industries. * With the slowdown of the European & American economies, Indian companies should towards the African countries like Ghana, Kenya etc. which are growing at a rate of 7-8%. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower cost of production. * Delay in policy decisions by Indian policy makers, corruption charges and scandals, hindering the ease to do business. Protectionist policies adopted by various European countries and America to safeguard their own interests. SWOT analysis of Service Sector: Strengths:- * With 64% of the Indian population being educated, the service industry has a large talent poll to work with. * Due to large and skilled work force, the labour market becomes competitive, providing cheap labour. * The Robust Banking and Financial system and regulat ions, provide stability not only to banking sector but also to the entire economy. Weaknesses:- Too much dependence on America and European economies for business. * The Indigenous base of the IT industry is not sufficiently developed to sustain software export. Opportunities:- * With the Increased computerization in various public and government organization, the Indian IT industry has ready-made domestic market. Threats:- * Stiff competition from developing economies like China, Bangladesh, Indonesia because of lower labour. * Due to the economic slowdown, countries like America are adopting policies to prohibit outsourcing, which will affect the IT industry.

Harrison Products Essay

Harrison Products Inc. (HPI) is a global manufacturer of molded plastic products and metal products that are used in the auto industry, food and beverage industry (containers), and in a variety of other products and packaging materials. HPI has several manufacturing plant located world-wide, generally in locations convenient to the company’s most significant customers. The present case considers one of HPI’s products, a one gallon metal can container used for paint and other chemical products. The product is produced in two U.S. locations, Los Angeles, CA, and Youngstown, OH. These plants produce several million of these cans each year. The competitive environment for HPI is challenging. Competitors in all parts of the world challenge HPI on cost, which is the primary order-winning factor in the business. All HPI customers expect very high quality and prompt service, so competition on price and reliability in meeting delivery dates are critical to its competitive success. Operating Data and Strategy HPI has focused its production of the one gallon metal cans in the two plants, in Los Angeles and Youngstown, Ohio. The summary information in Exhibit 1 shows the plant capacity, normal production, price and cost information. Currently, management believes that production costs are driven by volume; management’s goal is to meet competitive cost pressures by increasing volume and improving efficiency to bring costs down. For this reason, product costs are based on volume, as illustrated in Exhibit 1. The unit cost for the Los Angeles plant is $1.10, while the unit cost in the Youngstown plant is $1.00. The cost difference reflects the higher facilities cost at the Los Angeles plant, which is the newer of the two plants. The Los Angeles plant has similar equipment and manufacturing flow design to that of the Youngstown plant, but a key difference is that the Los Angeles plant was designed to be more efficient for smaller job (batch) sizes; the equipment and plant lay-out are con sistent with greater speed in  processing smaller jobs. The decision to design the Los Angeles plant in this way reflected the smaller orders that were generally received by the Los Angeles plant. See Exhibit 2 for a sample of the some of the jobs at the two plants; the exhibit shows a representative sample of 28 jobs for Los Angles and 41 jobs at the Youngstown plant, showing the quantity in each job (job size) and the estimated minutes per 1,000 units for that job. The number of minutes per 1,000 units is a commonly-used measure of job performance at HPI and is called â€Å"runtime.† Product Costs HPI includes manufacturing costs into three main categories. First, there is materials cost that includes the metal and other materials necessary in the production of the cans. These materials are considered direct materials and are $0.40 per unit at each of HFI’s plants. The second category is operating costs which include labor, supervision, some materials used in machine maintenance and repair, materials receiving and stocking, and related costs. Labor costs include runtime labor, setup labor and downtime labor. Operations costs are considered indirect costs and the costing method used is to apply these costs to product based on units of output, as noted above. The two plants have the same per unit operating cost of $0.50. The third category, facilities costs, includes equipment and the plant facility. Because Los Angeles is the newer plant, these costs are higher for Los Angeles, at $0.20 per unit relative to the Youngstown plant, where the facilities cost is $0.10 per uni t. Required: 1.Using the company’s current costing system, calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin (price less manufacturing cost) for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 2.Assume that 20% of operating costs are due to setup costs and that the remainder are runtime costs. HFI is considering an activity-based approach which would apply setup costs to each job; each job would be applied the same amount of setup cost. Calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 3.Assume as above that 20% of operating costs are due to setup  costs and that the remainder are runtime costs. Now, assume that HFI is considering an activity-based approach which would recognize that each setup requires time and material that is partly proportional to the size of the prior job. That is, the part of setup that involves clean-up and preparation of the machine for a new job is longer after a relatively long job than it is for setups that follow a relatively short job. HFI now plans to apply setup costs so that one-half of the setup costs would be applied equally to each job and the remainder of setup costs would be applied based on the number of units in the job. Calculate the manufacturing cost and operating margin for each of the jobs in Exhibit 2, for both the Los Angeles and Youngstown plants. 4.Interpret briefly your findings in parts 1,2 and 3 above. Do you support the setup cost application approach in (3) above? Why or why not? What approach do you think would be preferable? 5.Using analysis based on charts, correlation or regression analysis or other means, study (a) the relationship between runtime and job size at both plants, and (b) examine how this relationship differs between the two plants. What are the implications of these relationships, and how they differ between plants, on (a) product costing, and (b) manufacturing strategy?