A memoir story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A memoir story - Essay Example In all, a topic that should be inspirational is left as disturbing and depressing. Structurally, the first paragraph could be better by placing the first two sentences at the end of the paragraph. Also, all of the activity that took place at the hospital, and probably the church, could have been incorporated into one shorter paragraph and eliminate some of the redundant emotions. As an example, Kate gets introduced twice; once in the opening sentence and again in the body of the paragraph. Paragraphs three and four are both addressing the confusion of being faced with dying. These could be incorporated into one paragraph. The conclusion doesnt address the thesis. The premise of the essay was how life is a gift, but concludes with the writer waiting in heaven for their family to die. There were a number of grammar errors, mainly commas and the use of quotes. The quotes of the priest in paragraph four are used, but it is a statement of what he said, not his actual words. Also, the two sentences that comprise paragraph six should be incorporated into a longer paragraph that expresses a whole idea. In some strange way the day I found out I was going to die was the same day I began to live life to the fullest. It sounds like a hallmark card, I know, but it is the truth. [place at the end of the paragraph] When I left the doctor’s office I could not believe what I had heard. I thought I was going to be okay, I mean I had the hysterectomy, radiation and chemo. I did exactly what the doctors told me to do. He must be wrong; one year is not nearly enough time with the kids. â€Å"I am not going to see my girls graduate, I will not be present at their weddings, I will not have grandchildren,†[should be a period here] these are all the thoughts that were running rampant in my mind. I could feel my heart racing; my breathing was erratic and shallow. I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I felt myself being sucked into a big black hole. Everything around

Homosexuality in Ghana Essay Example for Free

Homosexuality in Ghana Essay Homosexuality is one of the prime heated debates globally. Being a social issue that is affecting the antiquity marriage culture and religious believes; it has raised numerous controversies among the societies, government and non-governmental organizations. The term homosexuality has been widely and globally to different extents. Some people have used the terminology to refer to the physical and emotional attractions of people of the same sex. Other people have defined it as the preference for emotional sexual relations of people of same sex. This is implies that homosexuality comprises of gay, lesbians and bisexuals. Homosexuality has becomes a global social problem of controversy fundamentally due to the gender identity as well as sexual orientation. (Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Historically, homosexuality is an act that has been in existence for several decades or so centuries. In most of the European nations, the first report on homosexuality as social issue appeared in 17th century in the year of 1885. The British parliament was thus the first find faulty on homosexuality, hence, by the 1885, they cast their votes against homosexuality making it a criminal act. Since then, there has been much concern over homosexuality making states like Germany to launch campaigns over it. During the campaigns, thousands of homosexual individuals were arrested and confined into camps for correctional purposes. According to the works of Melville, homosexuality was being in practiced in the early years of the twentieth century. His study revealed that homosexuality in the Dahomey where the Fon people was dominating population. Homosexuality therefore appears to have been eminent issue which, not only the Europeans, Asians and American states are coming into term with, but most countries in African continents are still struggling to cope with. As cooper points out, he says â€Å"I had enough evidence to believe that any habit, regardless of how compulsive, how deeply ingrained, could be broken once and for all. (Cooper, 1991) Literature review Like in many other countries, homosexuality in Ghana has divided the community as whole into their different opinions. Some people in the community have embraced this new kind of culture while a good proportion of the community population rejects. It is determined that most of the Ghanaians reside in rural areas. Actually, two thirds of the community populations are in the remote parts of the country where the media and other socials influencer are much limited. The population of the youths is relatively high, forming forty five percent of the total population. Although scores of African youths have been assimilated and generally adapted new lifestyles of the westerners, there is much resistance of this transition in the Ghanaian’s youths. The penetration of changes in their cultures has highly been resisted through the maintenance and teaching which demonstrates the ancient ways of gender roles and marriages value. This implies that there is a lot of controlled over the operations of the community which in the present world’s view, numerous activities are contrary to their expectation. (Murray, and Roskam, 1998) According to many researches in the Ghanaians social liberty, the community of females and children in the states are well undermined and mistreated. Due to the maintenance of distinctive gender role among men and women, Ghana is described as a man’s world. This indicates that the women in Ghana are counted as subordinates both in home leadership and also in the leadership level of country. The value of children in the Ghanaians community have is indescribable and this has given marriage issues first prior and extended restrictions to adoption of western nature of lifestyles. Childlessness for men and women has got the highest humiliations in a couple families but this is much more to the females. Thus, the erosion of the old traditions and cultures are still minimal but they are up held with great respect in most ethnic groups such as the Akan who believe that childlessness is an abnormality and unhealthy to the females. The transitions in the social practices coupled with economic changes have compelled and diminished most communities’ traditions on marriages and children value. However, these have little effects in the Ghanaians. Sex preference has been a common practice in many developing countries, whereby unwanted sexes are given the dire consequences. This has little penetration in the Ghanaians having no strong bias for a specific sex. (Murray, and Roskam, 1998) Influencing factors of homosexuality in Ghana Imprisonment Ghana is one of the states which are depicted to offer severe penalties to the perpetrators of the law. Though prisons are institutions set up for correctional purposes, numerous reports shows that the Ghanaians prisons’ condition harden the people’s character instead of correcting them. According to the numerous researches which are conducted in their prisons, many of them reveal that the conditions make the inmates lives to tolerate harsh environment. It is said that inmates who are imprisoned for a period extending to more than two years do commit criminal offences which are more worse than the crime they were convicted. One common crime which is disclosed is the involvement of inmates in homosexually. Instead of reforming these inmates, most of them find themselves hardening in their lives as result of the mistreatment. Due to stress and sexual desire within the people behind bars, homosexuality in prisons is reported as serious and rampant in jails. Men and women serving as inmate may develop the sexual desire like any other person, as results of the restrictions and limited interaction of males and females, same sex inmates engages on mutual carnal sex. (Murray and Roskam, 1998) Education The self-control in most students is very low. This is aggravated by the challenges which arise at the adolescent stage. Cooper observed that when he grew up there was change in his life. He thus said â€Å" I became the scientist of my own desire, plotting ways to change my yearning for boys into a yearning for girls†. While in most case boarding schools are perceived to be of advantageous on learning and achieving higher level of education, student enrolled as boarders in these schools are still under compelling conditions on interactions. Though some students do snitch out school to find their opposite sex friend for sexual satisfaction, hopeless and desperate boys and girls in schools normally get entangled in practicing homosexuality in dormitories. This occurs especially not with equals but it involves seniors and juniors of the same sex. The practice by students in same sex is not a permitted act in the law and society; it takes place as way of satisfying the sexual whim. Though in some schools there both boys and girls such as mixed boarders, homosexuality is not something unheard off. In such environments, homosexuality such lesbianism, gay and bisexuality are common practices. Among the female students in mixed school, homosexuality is increased due to the educational set goals. The practice of homosexuality among them is a way of evading the consequences of unwanted pregnancies which can lead to the termination of their studies. (Cooper, 1991) Economic reason Tourism is becoming a booming trade in the world. Ghanaians are not exempted from such opportunities of tourists in their state. Tourists arriving from the Western countries and American states roam everywhere, bringing with them the culture of homosexuality. The interaction of the tourists with locals transforms their culture. However, it is common that most of these local people in Ghana falls victims of money which is trick applied by the foreigners. Some of the people end up engaging themselves as heterosexual prostitutes while other ruins their lives with the illicit acts of homosexuality. This influence is much augmented by the modern technology. According to several sources, chat rooms have become social places which sex tourists are highly concentrating on conducting their preys. They visit such chat sites to makes relationships with the young youths online but when they physically arrive, they get involved into multiple sexes-with them in promise of finances. Usually, the socio-economic problems are primary factors which are thus compelling the youths look for financial aids and relief at this risky illegalized ways. Thus influx of serial monogamy, unstable marriages low economy in one way or the other have rapidly increased the ratio of homosexuals, creating a breading grounds for pimps who end up being homosexuals or bisexual partners or prostitutes. Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Major problems associated with homosexuality Mistrust among couples, unchecked spread of sexually transmitted diseases, low productivity due stigmatization, high incidents of suicide as a result of rejection, are some of the negative effects that are a result of homosexuality, which many recognize but regards as unethical unacceptable trend, however, the greatest obstacle has been to control the unexpected explosion of both hetero bisexual prostitutes who have invaded the cities with a bang. Bernard said â€Å"My longing was wrong in the eyes of my mother, whose hazel eyes were the eyes of the world, and if that longing continued unchecked, the unwieldy shape of my fate would be cast, and I’d be subjected to a lifetime of scorn. All in all, unlike conventional sexual partners, homosexuals are viewed with suspicion more than often mistreated in some cases denied access to public facilities like hospitals schools, while on the other hand the government has ignored their plight, infringing their right of association hence making the civil society to be aggressive, more abusive towards them. Cooper, 1991) Homosexuality is not only black-market in the society due to fear from the society but it is also criticized as major contributor to the numerous sexual transmitted diseases. The homosexual community is well associated with common problems which may include soreness and ulcers in the sex organs and the anal points. Despites the impeding hazards of these initials problems of soreness, seeking of health services rare happens among them, and in case the condition call for healthy care attention, it only happens at the late period of the conditions with most of the victims rare looking for the help from governmental and public healthy service providers. The fear on prolonged interrogations from the officer makes them to get drugs from the counters rather than dispensaries and hospitals a facts which may worsen the spreading of dangerous plagues in the countries such HIV? AIDS. These events have propelled some humanitarian organizations to speak on behalf of homosexuals, who have been associated with all manner of vices from prostitution, child pornography to drug trafficking, thus advocating for their respect, recognition acceptance in the society. (Adu-Gyamfi, 2007) Conclusion Homosexuality is one of the issues which have strongly been resisted in Ghana. It has received much opposing forces both from the government as well as the society. Though it is not genetically associated, the efforts of the resisting groups are becoming wastes. Through diverse circumstances, many Ghanaians have been fallen into this tragic incident which is a taboo among the society and illegal in the governmental constitutions. Though the government, some groups people in the community and other organization like those of religious institutions have all tried to shut down the doors of homosexuality, traces of this cultures which was initially associated with the westerners have permeated in the country mysterious. Surprisingly, such organizations can be blamed over enormous contributions to the acts. Having the understanding of the situations under which homosexuality in states is being augmented, this call for new strategic ways of intervention rather than imposing more stringent rules on homosexuality which ruin the live of many young men. This means that homosexuality is no more of benefit to the individuals who practices it except shame. The most fundamental of all factors to be considered is the impacting of moral understanding of the nature of sex practices and the empowerment of the community to alleviated poverty level among members of the society. (Cooper, 1991)

English :: essays papers

English It's easy to tell the difference from right and wrong. It's just like telling the difference between dark and light. But what if you grew up in the dark not knowing there was a light, then you'd only think in one direction. "A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right." Society usually thinks in one way, only the intelligent and gifted few can think outside of the box, outside of how society views the world. They follow their hearts to decide what is right and wrong. They come from the dark but are able to see the light. One of the intelligent and gifted few is Jonathan Edwards who wrote Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God. In this writing he talks about how men are sinners and how they need to start living their lives according to the bible. Sin was always a big issue for the puritans because they believed that men were born sinners. In his Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God, he mentions "their foot shall slide in due time" meaning that men stand on slippery ground. He describes of the sinner as a loathsome spider suspended by a slender thread over a pit of seething brimstone. And that "there is no fortress that is any defense against the power of god." Meaning that you cannot escape God no matter what you do and that helped awaken the people of the evil things they do. The Colonial Era had views such as that. They lived their lives as well as they can, but they were doing something wrong. They were being hypocrites. They didn't exactly follow through what a good Christian should do. They showed discrimination against other backgrounds, they used suspicion as means of law (an example would be witch craft trials). This train of thought later changed as the Age of Reason came. In the Age of Reason, one of the primary goals was to abolish the ignorance in men. In Benjamin Franklin's the Temple of Learning, he mentions in a dream where people visited the Temple of Learning "that the whole tribe who entered into the temple with me, began to climb the throne; but the work proving troublesome and difficult most of them, they withdrew their hands from the plow, and concentrated themselves to sit at the foot, with madam idleness and her maid ignorance.

Long-Term Effects of Global Tourism on Economy

Long-term effects of global tourism on economy Tourism is the travel tour activities which provides travelers leisure facilities and service industry. And it is also a kind of leisure entertainment that has complex social phenomenon, involves the politics, economy, culture, history, geography, law, and other social fields. Generally speaking, tourism has a profound impact for the country. Tourism gradually has become a prevalent activity all over the world. Compared to 2009, there were 1002 million international tourists in 2010, which increased 6. 6% over the last year. UNWTO, 2011) And then, according to the the United Nations World Tourism Organization’s (UNWTO) report, in the first two months of 2011, the number of International tourists arrivals rose by 5 per cent from 2010. (ibid) Furthermore, the benefits brought by the whole International tourist arrivals reached 442 million in 2010, which the annual average growth is 5. 6% from start of this century. (ibid) Overall, t ourism has shown the rapid growth and development in the past 10 years, which become one of the main sources of the world economy. There are several reasons led to the development of tourism.So this article will discuss the reason that cause the rise of worldwide tourism and the impact on the emerging economies. In fact, the tourism industry is developing rapidly in the 20th century. There are several reasons for this increase. First of all, is the improvement of the travel transportation technology. There are many ways to travel and these methods are widely used, it is possible to drive a car, take a ship or even ride on a bicycle. In addition, many cities have been connected up by the highway, which means that travel is more convenient, at the same time the ticket for air also decreases.Secondly, now people have more income for their own use, this is because part of the rising wages and part of the fall in goods’ prices. Meanwhile, there are a lot of families have a car and Dink family which has no children, it also saves a lot of money for them. Long-term effects of global tourism on economy These factors significantly increased possibility of them to be the tourists. Then, the increase of the holiday makes a great number of tourists choose mass tourism or join the tours, and the ecological tourism also became prevalent.Last but not least, the media, which have two types of media to attract visitors. On one hand, there are a lot of travel information is published in the newspapers, magazines and television programs. The ‘Island of Contrasts’ which is the largest island in the Canaries published a new web page on Facebook in January last year. After 4 weeks, the pages had more than 10,000 fans. Subsequently, the Tenerife Tourism Corporation has launched a Twitter and YouTube channel in order to attract more visitors’ attention. I Want Sun, 2011) With the development of the media and technology, the tourism company can takes full ad vantage of the convenience of the network to achieve the purpose to attract people’s attentions and allow the island became one of the hottest tourist destinations. In addition, the science and technology also can be used during a tour. According to Jaiswal’s white-paper, there are 5 technologies that are improving the quality of the tourism, which are â€Å"Mobile devices, Social Media, Location Based Services, Personalized Marketing (Behavioral Marketing) and Near Field Communications. (Jaiswal, 2012) These techniques provide a convenience to the passengers who are on their journey, some of them might achieve through the smart phones. Mobile communication technology has almost become an indispensable part of the tourism industry. The new mobile devices, smart phones like Blackberry, iphone, HTC or Samsung and tablet PCs like ipad are the most appropriate facilities to interact with tourists. (Jaiswal, 2012) For instance, people can use the mobile phones or computers to check-in or buy some duty-free goods when they at the airport.Then, tourists can plan their trip, entertain or explore on the plane with the Wi-Fi connection which a few airlines provide. Moreover, surfing the Internet or connect the Facebook share some news on the road, getting Wi-Fi and wired networks in the hotel. Nowadays, many tourists have spent their entire adult life in the digital Long-term effects of global tourism on economy products, they want their travel be information-based and personalized, in order to realize â€Å"any time, anywhere† travel.In recent years the tourism industry has become a prosperous industry all over the world, the economic benefit it brought greatly help those developing countries, and also made a great contribution to the emerging economies. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council’s (WTTC) latest Economic Impact Research shows that World Travel and Tourism continues to grow, despite the sustained economic challenges(W TTC(2), 2012). There are several main aspects. The first main benefit is the contribution to the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) by the Travel and Tourism.According to the â€Å"Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism 2012 Summary† by WTTC, the direct GDP in 2011 reached US $1,972. 8 billion by the tourism industry, which account 2. 8% of the whole GDP. In addition, WTTC estimated that GDP would rise and reach US $2082. 2billion in 2012(WTTC(1), 2012). This shows that the money came from the tourism activities like hotels, restaurants, transportation and so on. At the same time, this also showed the improvement of people's living standard and the money can be used to develop the infrastructures as well.Another benefit is increased employment, there is no doubt that the main point is to provide jobs to local people in the area of the tourist attractions. The report said that there were 98 million people were employed directly in 2011 because of the tourism industry all around the worl d(WTTC(2), 2012). This might be the biggest benefit for the tourism industry and the local citizens. Furthermore, being employed means there will have the opportunity to make money, not only for the industry but also for the people.In consequence, this will be a win-win situation, tourism helps local establish the foundation of the economy, and the local government helps the tourism industry to win interest and prestige. Long-term effects of global tourism on economy However, there are some negative points of tourism. One of them is the seasonal employment in some places, and this will lead to the many people facing the problem of unemployment outside of the peak tourist season. For example, this will occur in tourist attractions and resort towns, if an attraction opens to the visitors, like skiing in Swiss in the winter.The skiing coaches will teach people how to go skiing, but once the snow melted, they will lose their jobs and the staff as well. Furthermore, the impact of tourism on the environment is a significant issue as the climate change is most troublesome problem. Over the years, the environmental pollution caused by tourism was almost out of control, such as deforestation and CO2 emissions from increased air travel, has already caused the green house effect. It could lead to the loss of the destinations that depends on their natural environment.For example, the case of emissions of greenhouse gases in China. the case of emissions of greenhouse gases in china. â€Å"China is the world's largest aggregate emitter of greenhouse gases contributing to global warming, though the U. S. is the largest per capita emitter. â€Å"(World Savvy 2008) China should be responsible for a large proportion of the emission of dangerous gases, including sulfur dioxide (the main ingredient of smoke) and mercury (the main cause stunting and birth defects of children).All of these phenomena will continue, it is impossible to save the environment completely, human beings only have to try to protect it, reduce the damage to the ecosystem. Although there has the negative points, the WTTC still make the prediction for the worldwide tourism industry in the next 10 years. Experts estimate that the world GDP will continuing increase 4. 2% pre year. (WTTC(2), 2012) This means that there are going to have a plenty of work for tourism services in the next few years, including direct and indirect employment.Obviously, this will help to ease the unemployment rate all over the world to reduce poverty in the low economic area. Without a doubt, China is one of the fastest developing countries now, which occupied the third position in world international arrivals top ten in 2010. Long-term effects of global tourism on economy (UNWTO, 2011) For Europe, current forecast shows that economic growth will be back on track in 2014, the travel and tourism directly GDP of 2. 6% pre year until 2022 for the long-term growth. (WTTC(2), 2012)In conclusion, despite the negative factors, the long-term prospects of the tourism industry is still a positive side, it will continue to promoting the strong growth in emerging markets and prosperity. Now there is a way to deal with the harm caused by the tourism industry in the environment, that is eco-tourism which is defined as the â€Å"protection of tourism† and â€Å"sustainable development of tourism. †. At present, the demand for ecological tourism help to open the tourism markets and also can play a role in the protecting of the natural environment.Overall, the tourism industry is a double-edged sword, if not handled it properly not only will affect human, but the more will have a huge impact on the world. Long-term effects of global tourism on economy Bibliography 1? I Want Sun 3 March 2011 â€Å"Use of social media to attract visitors to Tenerife† http://www. iwantsun. co. uk/beach-holidays/2011/03/03/use-ofsocial-media-to-attract-visitors-to-tenerife 2? Jaiswal S. â€Å"Advances in Travel Technology† February 2012 3? UNWTO Tourism Highlights June 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2012. UNWTO World Tourism Highlights (UNWTO). http://mkt. nwto. org/ sites/all/files/docpdf/unwtohighlights11enlr. pdf 4? World Savvy 2008 â€Å"The Natural Environment† http://worldsavvy. org/ monitor/index. php? option=com_content=article=120=183 5? World Travel & Tourism Council (1) â€Å"Travel & Tourism Economic impact 2012† 2012 http://www. wttc. org/site_media/uploads/downloads/ world2012. pdf 6? World Travel & Tourism Council (2) â€Å"Economic Impact of Travel & Tourism 2012 Summary† 2012 http://www. wttc. org/site_media/uploads/ downloads/Economic_impact_reports_Summary_v3. pdf Long-term effects of global tourism on economy

Definition of Failure

Hannah Goracke Dr. Young English Composition 101 26 September 2012 Failure Failure is an ambiguous term. Each person can define what it means to â€Å"fail† in a different way. Just as someone has their own standards of leading a successful life, they also have their own standards in terms of maybe leading a not so successful life. Within the word â€Å"failure† therein lays a few different meanings that may differ from person to person depending on his or her own opinion. Each person may have had a different experience with failure, which led him or her to believe what he or she does.Today, failure can be attached to three different ideas. First, failure can be defined as the opposite of success. Lost the race? You failed it. Got a 54 percent on your last math test? That’s failure. Whether this failure comes about as a result of laziness or just bad luck, this is the type of failure that we have been taught since we knew how to spell the word. It is the most com mon use of the word; if you were to ask a random stranger what â€Å"failure† meant to them, they would most likely correlate it with the word â€Å"success†.Failure is not success, it is failing to succeed. Still, there is another meaning of the word that takes on a more philosophical view. Failure, some may argue, is the actually the word used to describe the result of not trying. This definition has to do with the outcome the effort opposed to trying but not reaching a specific goal. Failing to do anything at all is failing to try. You want to run the race, but you don’t? Failure. Got a 54 percent on your math test? Technically failing, but did you try?If any sort of trying was involved, failure did not occur. Even by getting an F on the math test, there was still an A for effort. The third meaning may require a bit more explanation. The word â€Å"fail† has become quite commonplace in today’s society among young tween-age kids to teenagers. It has become a slang term, usually used in humorous situations. It is often used to kid or make fun of another or themselves when a small and funny mistake has been committed. It is almost always used in a joking manner.You overslept your alarm and missed your first class? Fail. That person left their blinker on for two miles after they turned? Fail. The word â€Å"fail† has become part of the young people’s generation. It is a term that is used very commonly among the teenagers of today. Failure can have multiple meanings. How it’s interpreted all depend on the person and the context of their situation. Someone who tried to complete a task but instead experienced failure might be bitter or optimistic depending on his or her outlook.Someone who is more pessimistic might repeat that failure is the opposite of success. Someone who has a more optimistic mindset would be able to look at the bigger picture understand that by failing to try, they decrease their chances of success exponentially. Failure has taken on another meaning as a popular slang term used by young people to describe a funny mistake. The term failure holds much ambiguity that depends on the perspective and experiences of the person putting it in use.

Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil

Wal-Mart Operations in Brazil Professor Masaaki Kotabe of The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business and Kleber G. de Godoy and Moacir Salzstein of Fundaà §o Getà ºlio Vargas, So Paulo, Brazil, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of a situation described, 1997. Copyright  © 1997 by Masaaki Kotabe Introduction In September 1994, Brazil was experiencing a new thrust in its economy. After several years of hyperinflation, the "Real Plan", implemented in March, 1994, an economic stabilization program that indexed the Brazilian currency to the U.S. dollar, began to reduce inflation to reasonable levels. In February 1994, a monthly inflation rate was 40%, whereas by September it was a relatively low 3%. Lower inflation rates would help improve the purchasing power, particularly of the lower socioeconomic segment of the population. The optimistic scenario encouraged many foreign companies to make new investments in Brazil. If Brazil is the leading economy in Latin America, with a population of more than 150 million, why not invest there, now that a better business horizon lies ahead in this continental country? Wal-Mart Stores, the world leader in retailing, announced on May 9, 1994 that it had decided to invest heavily in Brazil, through a partnership with Lojas Americanas, Brazil's leading department store chain. Wal-Mart Stores would own 60% of Wal-Mart do Brasil, whereas Lojas Americanas would retain the remaining 40%. The North-American "giant" was known to provoke a market revolution in every country it decided to enter. Wal-Mart not only announced the decision to enter the market with Supercenters (stores with 20,000 m2 of area and more than 50,000 different items) and Sam's Club stores (a buyers' club, founded in 1976 in the U.S.). Brazilian competitors had good reasons to be concerned. Wal-Mart was known ... Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil Wal-Mart Operations in Brazil Professor Masaaki Kotabe of The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business and Kleber G. de Godoy and Moacir Salzstein of Fundaà §o Getà ºlio Vargas, So Paulo, Brazil, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of a situation described, 1997. Copyright  © 1997 by Masaaki Kotabe Introduction In September 1994, Brazil was experiencing a new thrust in its economy. After several years of hyperinflation, the "Real Plan", implemented in March, 1994, an economic stabilization program that indexed the Brazilian currency to the U.S. dollar, began to reduce inflation to reasonable levels. In February 1994, a monthly inflation rate was 40%, whereas by September it was a relatively low 3%. Lower inflation rates would help improve the purchasing power, particularly of the lower socioeconomic segment of the population. The optimistic scenario encouraged many foreign companies to make new investments in Brazil. If Brazil is the leading economy in Latin America, with a population of more than 150 million, why not invest there, now that a better business horizon lies ahead in this continental country? Wal-Mart Stores, the world leader in retailing, announced on May 9, 1994 that it had decided to invest heavily in Brazil, through a partnership with Lojas Americanas, Brazil's leading department store chain. Wal-Mart Stores would own 60% of Wal-Mart do Brasil, whereas Lojas Americanas would retain the remaining 40%. The North-American "giant" was known to provoke a market revolution in every country it decided to enter. Wal-Mart not only announced the decision to enter the market with Supercenters (stores with 20,000 m2 of area and more than 50,000 different items) and Sam's Club stores (a buyers' club, founded in 1976 in the U.S.). Brazilian competitors had good reasons to be concerned. Wal-Mart was known ...

Roman Law essays

Roman Law essays The Romans have had almost every type of government there is. They've had a kingdom, a republic, a dictatorship, and an empire. Their democracy would be the basis for most modern democracies. The people have always been involved with and loved their government, no matter what kind it was. They loved being involved in the government, and making decisions concerning everyone. In general, the Romans were very power-hungry. This might be explained by the myth that they are descended from Romulus, who's father was Mars, the god of war. Their government loving tendencies have caused many, many civil wars. After any type of government, the change has been made with a civil war. There have also been many civil wars between rulers. But it all boils down to wanting to be involved in government. When the Greeks finally entered Troy after ten long years of siege, a man named Aeneas escaped the city with his father, Anchises, and his son, Ascanius. They went to Mt. Ida, where they were to meet Aeneas' wife, Creusa, but she never showed up. Saddened, Aeneas acquired a boat and sailed around the Mediterranean. He bounced around from Asia Minor to Greece to Crete looking for a place to found a new Troy, but he couldn't find a satisfactory place. As told by Homer in the Aeneid, Aeneas was cared for by the gods. Venus, in particular, was very worried about him. She asked Jupiter, king of the gods about "Since you are so consumed with anxiety for Aeneas, The hidden pages of fate and speak of the future. He shall conduct a great campaign for you And conquer all Italy and its haughty peoples. He shall impose laws on his own people And build walled cities for them; the third summer Shall see him rule in Latium, the third winter Of warfare see the Rutulians [an Italian tribe] subdued. It is he who shall consolidate your power- For thirty years with all their turning months;...