Climate change and its effect on animals in the chesapeake bay Essay

Climate change and its effect on animals in the chesapeake bay - Essay Example Drastic weather patterns have led to rising of sea level causing submergence of wetlands in the estuary. This affects the wetland organisms that are not used to submerged ecosystems. The unpredictable weather patterns are likely to destabilize wetland habitat leading to extinction of some animal species. High variations in salinity as a result of increased rainfall, long periods of draught and unpredictable storm is also a factor that is likely to contribute to degradation of the ecosystem and extinction of animal species (Abel, 26). Increased precipitation as a result of climate change has led to high sediment deposits in the bay, which bring in high quantities of nitrogen and phosphorous that are the limiting nutrients for the growth of algae and other aquatic organisms. Further more, overland flow from neighboring farms and towns leads to deposition of chemical contaminants in the water that leads to the death of aquatic organisms. High sedimentation has raised the water bed leading increased submergence of the land surrounding the bay (Cerco et al. 632). Climate change has also led to temperature fluctuations and increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere creating conditions that are necessary for the growth of dinoflagellates, which are algae that are harmful to zooplankton and fish. Some of the fish feed directly on the algae while others ingest the harmful algae through feeding on the zooplankton that are higher on the food chain. Moreover, temperature fluctuations increase the possibility of hypoxia. This is a situation whereby dissolved oxygen levels fall below the minimum that is necessary to support animal life. Increased temperatures in the bay have favored warm water species thereby making it hard for the cold water species to survive (Boesch et al. 112). Increased temperatures in the bay water have led to the decline of eelgrass which is a significant hideout of blue crabs in their post larval and molting

Role of Financial Development in Total Factor Productivity

Role of Financial Development in Total Factor Productivity THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN TOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY OF VIETNAM’S MANUFACTURING SECTOR Thesis Research Design Instructors: Team of MDE Lectures Student:Hà ¡Ã‚ »Ã¢â‚¬Å" Bà ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ £o Trà ¢n 1. Problem statement There is a large literature about the link between financial development and economic growth. Many studies indentify that productivity as one channel through which finance affects growth. The importance of financial development in raising productivity and promoting economic growth has been discussed in many reports (e.g., Goldsmith 1969; McKinnon 1973; Shaw 1973; Greenwood and Jovanovic 1990; Bencivenga and Smith 1991). The financial system pressure handicaps financial development and results in misallocation of resources, then reduce productivity and economic growth. As the financial systems develop well, overall economic productivity will be improved through the efficient reallocation of resources. At firm level, financial development of a firm allows a firm to appropriate new business opportunities, conduct investment and research activities, make a defense against financial and non-financial shocks and achieve higher productivity. More importantly, firm productivity is an essenti al indicator in transforming financial market development to economic growth at macro level. There are also many empirical studies about the impact of financial development on productivity efficiency. Levine (2005), Beck et al. (2005) point out that financial constraints, including low liquid and limited access to financial resources, make the growth prospect of firms worse. In Vietnam, manufacturing firms play an important role in the decade of economic growth. In 2013, there are 60700 businesses closed. There are many reasons such as long loss profit, management capacity, operating restrictions and lack of funds business†¦ In which, financial market development offers a crucial impetus for enhancing firm competitiveness and catalyzing industrialization. In Vietnam the scientific research using a panel data to find out the role of financial development in total factor productivity of Vietnam’s manufacturing sector is limited. This study will present the evidence of this linkage using panel data for manufacturing firms from 2003 to 2009. 2. Research objective 2.1. Research objectives To estimate the TFP growth rate of manufacturing sector To find the role of financial development in total factor productivity of Vietnam’s Manufacturing Sector. To give policy implication for improving firm productivity 2.2. Scope of the study The study will examine the role of financial development in total factor productivity of Vietnam’s Manufacturing Sector using the panel data of 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009. 3. Literature review 1. Productivity: Concepts and measurements Productivity is commonly defined as a ratio of a volume measure of output to a volume measure of input use (Schreyer and Pilat 2001) or in other words, how much of output which is obtained from a given set of inputs (Syverson 2010). Productivity = Quantity of outputs produced/ Quantity of inputs consumed Productivity measurement efforts to point out improvements in using the capital resources, that is, to motivate and evaluate efforts to produce more inputs with fewer inputs while maintaining quality. TFP is used to measure the firm productivity. It captures the growth, which could not be explained by changes in production inputs, thus it can serve as a traditional proxy of productivity improvement. However, there is a correlation between unobservable productivity shocks and optimal choices of input. There are at least two approaches to measure the TFP, which account for the sensitive of optimal input levels to the productivity shocks. First approach is the Olley-Pakes TFP measurement which uses investment as a proxy for productivity shocks (Olley and Pakes 1996). Another approach is the Levinsohn-Petrin TFP measurement which uses intermediate inputs as a proxy for productivity shocks (Levinsohn and Petrin 2003). In this study, I will use the Levinsohn-Petrin TFP measurement to control for the unobservable productivity shocks because of three reasons. Firstly, the dataset of firm investment is not available, thus the the Olley-Pakes TFP measurement will not be feasible. Secondly, even if the investment data is available, the estimation can be suffered from the truncated report â€Å"zero† investment of firms. Finally, the Levinsohn-Petrin TFP measurement is more acceptable than the Olley-Pakes TFP measurement because of it is built from production theory. Assuming a Cobb-Douglas function, TFP is often computed by estimating the equation: yit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²llit + ÃŽ ²kkit + ωit + ÃŽ µit (1) Where yit is firm’s output, lit is firm’s labor, kit is firm’s capital; y, l, k are all in the nature logarithm forms. i and t denote firm and time. ωit is a state variable, which measures productivity. ÃŽ µit is an error or a random productivity shock. Both ωit and ÃŽ µit are unobservable variables. According to Olley and Pakes (1996), the OLS estimates of (1) can be biased because choice of variable inputs can be depended on the firms’ beliefs about the state variable ωi. If there is serial correlation in ωi, the variable inputs such as labor, materials, etc will be positively correlated with ωi. In order to control the bias in OLS estimates, they suggest the following partially linear model: yit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²llit + ÃŽ ²kkit + ht(iit, ait, kit) +ÃŽ µit (2) in which ωit =ht(iit, ait, kit), ait is age of firm i at time t, iit is investment of firm i at time t. The unobservable variable ωit can be expressed by a function of observable variables. Levinson and Petrin (2003) point out that investment data at firm level is very lumpy (there are considerable adjustment costs). If it is true, the investment proxy will not smoothly respond to productivity shock. It violates the consistency condition. They propose the following modified model: yit = ÃŽ ²0 + ÃŽ ²llit + ÃŽ ²kkit + ÃŽ ²mmit + ωit + ÃŽ µit (3) mit is the logarithm of the intermediate inputs such as raw material, power, and electricity expenditures. Its input demand mit depends on the capital variable kit and productivity ωit mit = mt (kit, ωit) The demand of intermediate inputs mit is assumed to be monotonously increasing with ωit. It can be used as a proxy for unobservable variables. Therefore, the unobservable productivity ωit is expressed by the function of two variables kit and mit. ωit = mt (kit, mit) Substituting above equation to equation (3), the production function can be estimated. The coefficients of kit and mit can be recovered by GMM method with assumption that productivity is controlled by a first-order Markov process. ωit = E[ωit/ωit-1] + ÃŽ ·it ÃŽ ·it is an innovation to productivity which can be correlated with labor but uncorrelated with capital. The logarithm TFP of firm can be obtained from the residual of actual output and predicted output. 2. Financial development and firm productivity The important role of financial development in raising productivity and promoting economic growth has been mentioned in many public researches. In traditional growth theories, the role of financial development in growth is through factor accumulations, which are regarded as the main force behind economic growth. Financial development can contribute to total factor productivity growth by increasing marginal productivity of capital (Goldsmith 1969). According to McKinnon and Shaw (1973), financial development also can improve efficiency of capital allocation so as to increase the aggregate saving rate and investment level. However, in traditional growth model, the impact of financial development on growth is limited due to diminishing return to scale of capital. Some recent researches also highlight the relationship between financial development and productivity growth. Jeanneney, Hua and Liang (2006) analyze data from 29 Chinese provinces and find out that financial development has contributed significantly to TFP growth through its positive effect on efficiency in the period from 1993 to 2001. Dabla-Norris, Kersting and Verdier (2010) use firm level dataset and find out that the positive effect of innovation on firm productivity is contributed from financial system. Firms enjoy the maximum benefits from innovation in countries with well-developed financial system. Minjia Chen (2012) examine a panel dataset of Chinese manufacturing firm from 1998 to 2007 also show that financial factors are highly essential to firms’ total factor productivity growth. At micro level, financial development affects productivity growth by various channels. A firm with better financial health tends to bring higher productivity level. Beck et al (2005) suggest that firm with high liquidity is expected to be resilient to financial and non-financial shocks. Similarly, entrance to large external finance can help a company reduce the level of credit constraints, therefore increase their ability and existence in the market (Aghion et al 2007; Levine 2005). 4. Overview of Vietnam SMEs In Decree 90/2001 ND-CP from 2001 to 2009, SME is defined as an independent business establishment which registered capital not exceeding 10 billion VND or annual average number of workers not exceeding 300. From 2009 up to now, SME is defined as: Small and medium enterprises are business establishment which have registered their business according to the law and are divided into three levels of size: very small, small and medium depend on the sizes of their total capital or their average number of workers (total capital is the priority standard). In term of size of employees, nearly 98.34% of firms are small or medium enterprises in 2012. These firms contributed to 40-60% GDP of Vietnam and over a half of total labors in 2011. SME has important role in Vietnam economy. The SME survey has been conducted by the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) under the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs of Vietnam (MoLISA) and the Development Economics Research Group (DERG) of the University of Copenhagen. The research group selects ten provinces including: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Ha Tay, Phu Tho, Nghe An, Quang Nam, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong and Long An. The sample covers around a third of manufacturing firms in Vietnam and seems to be the best quality to represent the characteristics of SMEs in Vietnam. 5. Methodology 5.1. Model Model: TFPit = ÃŽ ±0 + ÃŽ ±1 TFPi,t-1 + ÃŽ ±2 ln LIQUIDITYit + ÃŽ ±3 ln LEVERAGEit + ÃŽ ±4 ln SIZEit + ÃŽ ±5 ln AGEit + ÃŽ ±6 ln COMit + ÃŽ ±7 ln HUMANKit + ÃŽ ±8 ln FOWNit + uit Where i and t are index firm and time, respectively, uit is the stochastic error term. The lagged TFP variable is important due to Levinson and Petrin (2003) estimation method. The authors assume that firm productivity follows a first-order Markov process. Therefore, the lagged TFP variable must be taken in the model for controlling the serial correlation. About the variables of financial development at firm level, my econometric specification contains two proxies of a firm’s financial quality: liquidity (LIQUIDITYit) and leverage ratio (LEVERAGEit). A firm with better financial health tends to bring higher productivity level. Beck et al (2005) suggest that firm with high liquidity is expected to be resilient to financial and non-financial shocks. Similarly, entrance to large external finance can help a company reduce the level of credit constraints, therefore increase their ability and existence in the market (Aghion et al 2007; Levine 2005). Besides, we also control for several firm-specific characteristics to examine firm productivity performance. Firms’ size (SIZEit) intends to control for the impacts of economies of scale on firm productivity (Balk 2001). Firms’ size (SIZEit) and Firms’ age (AGEit) have been found to be linked to firms’ productivity (e.g. Palangkaraya, Stierwald and Yong, 2009) and are used widely in analyzing firm productivity. Oliner and Sichel (1994; 2000) indicate high-tech capital intensity (COMit) as another determinant of TFP. High-tech capital accumulation has been proven to be an essential factor for raising productivity by improving operational efficiency, profits and, finally, productivity growth (Siegel and Griliches 1992). Another determinant should be considered that is human capital intensity. Since the 1990s, developing countries in Asia, including Vietnam, have been focused on investing human capital, e.g education and training, to achieve higher economic growth. Therefore, it may be interest to estimate the extent of human capital intensity account for TFP. The last important determinant of firm productivity is mentioned widely in many researches of Arnold and Javorcik (2009), Benfratello and Sembenelli (2006), Germa et al. (2004) and Griffith (1999) is foreign ownership (FOWNit). These researches suggest that foreign owned firms are potential to have superior managers, information network and ease to connect international market. Therefore, foreign firms are supposed to get higher productivity than domestic firms. 5.2. Research hypotheses Hypothesis H1: Financial quality (liquidity ratio) will have positive relationship with firm productivity. A firm with high liquidity tends to bring higher productivity level. Hypothesis H2: Financial quality (leverage ratio) will have positive influence on firm productivity. 5.3. Data sources All data sources are available at the Survey of Small and Medium scale manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam, from 2003 to 2009. It gives data about production and financial characteristics of firms such as gross revenue, capital, number of labors, materials, profits, liquid assets, fixed assets, liabilities, equity†¦ The measurement of TFP: requires information on a firm’s gross output and production inputs. Net output is measured by net sales of manufactured goods. There are three inputs in the empirical model: labor, capital and intermediate materials. Labor is the number of employees working for a company. Intermediate materials include components used in the manufacturing process. Capital is measured by the value of land, building as well as machinery, equipment, excluding the depreciation of assets. Financial development variables: First variable is liquidity, which is measured by the ratio of liquid assets to total assets. Second variable is leverage ratio that is measured by the ratio of liabilities to equity. Control variables: Firm size is measured by the total sales of a firm. Firm age is measured by the number of years a firm in operating. If a firm goes in an industry for less than one year, it is set up for zero. High-tech capital accumulation is measured by the number of computers used for each worker. The proportion of skilled labor to total workers of a firm serves as the proxy of human capital investment. Finally, the ratio of investment capital undertaken by foreign parties relative to the total registered capital is used as a proxy of foreign ownership. Finally, the ratio of actual investment capital of foreign parties compared to the total registered capital is served as a proxy of foreign ownership. References: Aghion, P., T. Fally, and S. Scarpetta. 2007. Credit Constraints as a Barrier to the Entry and Post-entry Growth of Firms. Economic Policy 22: 731–119. Arnold, J.M., and B.S. Javorcik. 2009. Gifted Kids or Pushy Parents? Foreign Direct Investment and Plant Productivity in Indonesia. Journal of International Economics 79: 42–53. Balk, B.M. 2001. Scale Efficiency and Productivity Change. Journal of Productivity Analysis 15: 159–183. Beck, T., A. Demirguc-Kunt, and V. Maksimovic. 2005. Financial and Legal Constraints to Firm Growth: Does Firm Size Matter? Journal of Finance 60: 137–177. Bencivenga, Valerie R. and Bruce D. Smith, (1991), Financial intermediation and endogenous Control Unobservables†, Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 70, No. 2, 317-41. Benfratello, L., and A. Sembenelli. 2006. Foreign Ownership and Productivity: Is the Direction of Causality So Obvious? International Journal of Industrial and Organization 24: 733–751. Dabla-Norris, Kersting and Verdier, (2010), Firm productivity, innovation and financial development, International Monetary Fund. Girma, S., H. Gà ¶rg, and E. Strobl. 2004. Exports, International Investment, and Plant Goldsmith, Raymond W. 1969. Financial Structure and Development. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. Greenwood, Jeremy and Bruce D. Smith, (1997), Financial markets in development, and the development of financial markets. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 21: 145-81. Review of Economic Studies 58: 195-209. Griffith, R. 1999. Using the ARD Establishment Level Data to Look at Foreign Ownership and Productivity in the United Kingdom. Economic Journal 109: F416–F442. Levine, R. 2005. Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence. In Handbook of Economic Growth Vol. 1, pp. 865–934, edited by P. Aghion and S. Durlauf. Amsterdam: North-Holland. Levinsohn, J., and A. Petrin. 2003. Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to control for Unobservables. Review of Economic Studies 70: 317–341. Minjia Chen, (2010), Financial Effects and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Data. Oliner, S., and D. Sichel. 1994. Computers and Output Growth Revisited: How Big Is the Puzzle? Brooking Papers on Economic Activity 1994: 273–334. Oliner, S., and D. Sichel. 2000. â€Å"The Resurgence of Growth in the Late 1990s: Is Information Technology the Story?† Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 14, pp. 3–22. Olley, S., and A. Pakes. 1996. The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry. Econometrica 64: 1263–1289. Palangkaraya, A., Stierwald, A. and Yong, J. (2009), â€Å"Is Firm Productivity Related to Size and Age? The Case of Large Australian Firms†, Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Vol. 9, No. 2, 167-95. Performance: Evidence from A Non-parametric Test. Economics Letters 83: 317–324. Schumpeter, Joseph A, (1911), The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press. Siegel, D., and Z. Griliches. 1992. Purchased Services, Outsourcing, Computers, and Productivity in Manufacturing. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 3678; Output Measurement in the Service Sector, edited by Z. Griliches. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Sylviane Guillaumont , Jeanneney, Ping Hua Zhicheng Liang, (2006), Financial Development, Economic Efficiency, And Productivity Growth: Evidence from China, The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(1), pages 27-52. Thangavelu, Shandre M., (2013), Financial Health and Firm Productivity: Firm-level Evidence from Viet Nam, ADBI Working Paper Series. Zhenhui, Sudeshna, (2013), Financial Development and Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from India’s manufacturing sector, Georgia College State University.

Queen Isabella :: biography

Queen Isabella was born in 1451, in the city of Castile, Spain (Leon 75). She was the daughter of King John II and Arevalo (Maltby par 1). Her family was very strong Catholics and she was born and raised a Catholic. Her brother, Alfonso, became King. He banished her mother, younger brother, and her from the kingdom (Leon 75, 77). Isabella had chestnut hair with natural red highlights and her look was demure and soft. She went to school with nuns at Santa Ana Convent. At school, she fancied reading, writing, music, and painting. In her free time, she was tutored at home with her older brother. After her childhood, she learned treachery was everywhere. As a teenager, her family forced her to marry a scoundrel. That day, she prayed to God for deliverance. On the way to their wedding, he choked and died from bronchitis. From that day on, she was ready for what was coming her way. Queen Isabella had many accomplishments as an adult. One of them was she tried to change the religion of Castile as much as she could. Isabella banned all religions other than Roman Catholic. Most of Castile was Muslim and if you weren’t willing to change to Catholic, then you would be punished or banned. She made war on Muslims who held part of Southern Spain. Also, all Jews had to be baptized in a church. Obviously, religion took a major role in the Renaissance (Phillips par 4). Queen Isabella also took part in the voyage with Christopher Columbus. She gave him support when he was about to leave for sea. Christopher Columbus discovered the New World, which led to the establishment of a Spanish empire in America. Isabella supported many people, but Christopher Columbus was her most important (Maltby par 2). I don’t think he could have done that voyage without her. When she was about to become Queen, she had to get some things straight with her father. He had made a treaty, which is like a contract. On the treaty, he gave her many rights normal women would never have. The first right was to let Isabella be a legal heir since her brother was, too. Right #2 was the award of seven cities including Avila, her hometown. Last, but certainly not least, she was to marry whoever she chooses (Leon 77). When she was about 20, she married her second cousin, Fernando and he was roughly three inches shorter than she.

An Imperialistic Love Triangle in “The Quiet American”

The Orient is traditionally viewed as separate, backward, erotic, exotic, and passive. It mirrors a past of unscrupulous tyrannical power involving carnal pleasures and deviating from the restrictive morals of the â€Å"occidental. † The Orient displays feminine vulnerability with its progress and value judged as inferior to the West. Graham Greene’s The Quiet American presents the treatment of Phuong as a metaphor for how foreign occupying forces treat her native country of Vietnam, and her depiction as having no control in matters of her love life is a motif of the Orient being a feminized other.Hegemonic masculinity is a sociological term referring to the socialization of men producing normative perceptions of masculinity to be correlated in being unemotional and dominating others, especially women. Hegemonic masculinity brings an interesting pairing to the ideals of post-colonial imperialism in Vietnam. The French, British, and American all have aimed to elevate the people out of ignorance and savagery, and lead them to a more sophisticated social and political livelihood. They engaged in a gendered polarity with themselves and the effeminate other, Vietnam.Love PoemIn The Quiet American, the French, British and Americans viewed Vietnam as a feminized entity. It is non-threatening and an outlet for the carnal pleasures and delights of all things exotic: women, opium and trade. As such with the context of this paper, Pyle and Fowler's battle over Phuong is a clash of male dominance. Phuong is the most interesting character in Greene’s novel. She is depicted as a voiceless beauty without any power or opinions of her own. As her sister Hei affirms in Chapter 3 of part 1, â€Å"[s]he is the most beautiful girl in Saigon. [†¦] She is delicate, [†¦] She needs care. She deserves care.She is very, very loyal† (Greene, 46). At this part of the novel, Hei meets Pyle and instantly wants to set her sister up in a marriage with him. Hei sees him as a better match than Fowler because he is younger, single and wants children. The underlining stereotype that is reinforced through the Phuong character is a feminine and weak Oriental awaiting the dominance of the West. She is a defenseless woman that exists for, and in terms of, her Caucasian male lovers. Her role in the love triangle is reminiscent of her homeland’s colonial restraints. She is only presented in terms of what the two men want from her.Pyle wants her to become a typical American housewife with children. Fowler wants her to remain just as she is: his servant and lover. This love triangle and the emotions that the male characters feel towards Phuong correlate to deep personal sentiments of the way they feel about the country of Vietnam itself. Vietnam becomes feminized, taboo, and sexualized just as Phuong does in Pyle and Fowler's eyes. The novel’s rendering of the central plot involving Fowler and Pyle struggle over Phuong represents t he approach that Britain and America engaged in their fight to â€Å"save† Vietnam from communism.Pyle's' intentions toward Phuong, although similar in some cases to Fowler's, harbors fundamental differences. Both men view Phuong as a sort of object that needs to be saved or require some sort of assistance in order to endure life. When Pyle falls in love with Phuong upon their first encounter, he decides that he must do whatever he can or whatever he deems necessary in order to â€Å"save† Phuong from a deprived existence. This is the exact same way that Pyle views Vietnam and its present condition. In Chapter 1 part 2, Pyle suggests that Vietnam is in need of a Third Force to combat the Communists.In response, Fowler states: â€Å"He would have to learn for himself the real background that held you as a smell does: the gold of the rice fields under a flat late sun: the fisher’s fragile cranes hovering over the fields like mosquitoes: the cups of tea on an old abbot’s platform, with his bed and his commercial calendars, his buckets and broken cups and the junk of a lifetime washed up around his chair: the mollusk hats of the girls repairing the road where a mine had burst†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (23) Pyle spoke about how a Third Force is needed in Vietnam, yet he does not have a clue about the workings of the country.He is so absorbed in trying to spread the ideal of freedom of democracy that he neglects the significance of applying culturally appropriate approaches in relations to Indo-China. The Vietnamese government can make their own choices concerning political rule, however America’s anti- Communist agenda thwarts their ability to do so. This reflects the American stereotype of being overly idealistic, naive, and arrogant as they feel the need to meddle in issues of other nations in hopes to enlighten them to become more progressive. On the other hand, Fowler has learned to appreciate Phuong and Vietnam.The â€Å"gold of the ri ce fields, the fishers' fragile cranes,† and other beautiful aspects of this country have made him adopt it as his own. Fowler understands Vietnam and is fond of it; Pyle does not understand Vietnam and wants to improve it. Consequently, Fowler does not want to become concerned with the circumstances occurring in Vietnam and does not become involved in the situation between Pyle and Phuong until he is forced to do so. He prides himself on having no opinions and not taking sides, but instead he believes himself to be a true reporter who only observes.The British act in a similar fashion. The great imperial power of Great Britain historically is known to have a hands-off approach with their colonies and common wealth. They embrace some of the traditional and ethnic practices and social structures of the region; yet require both financial and political loyalty of their Oriental provinces. He essentially permits Phuong to decide whom she wants to be with until he is compelled to l eave his state of neutrality when it no longer benefits him.In a similar way, Fowler believed that Vietnam should be able to choose what would occur in its own future although he worries that they would make the wrong decision and elect a Communist leader. Fowler is not in love with Phuong but he wants her. He wants things between them to remain the way they are. He does not want her to marry Pyle. In this sense his motive to murder Pyle is partly personal as well as political. He spends a lot of time justifying his involvement with Pyle's murder as the only way of stopping him from doing further damage to the Vietnamese people, yet his true motives are more complex.In Chapter 2 of part 2, Fowler's discourse on Phuong reads very sexist and racist in his conversation with Pyle. â€Å"But she loves you, doesn't she? † â€Å"Not like that. It isn't in their nature. You'll find that out. It's a cliche to call them children–but there's one thing which is childish. They lov e you in return for kind-ness, security, the presents you give them-they hate you for a blow or an injustice. They don't know what it's like -just walking into a room and loving a stranger. For an aging man, Pyle, it's very secure-she won't run away from home so long as the home is happy. I hadn't meant to hurt him. I only realized I had done it when he said with muffled anger, â€Å"She might prefer a greater security or more kindness† (125). In the quote above, Fowler believes that Phuong and other Vietnamese women only â€Å"love† men based on what they give them and how secure the men make them feel. For Fowler, this notion is ideal for he believes that Phuong’s proclivity for loyalty will prevent her from leaving him as she is like a child who loves in return for kindness, gifts, and security. Both Fowler and Pyle objectify Phuong in different ways, but with the same result.In Chapter 3 of part 2, Fowler praises Phuong for her readiness to comply with his s exual demands: â€Å"Kiss me, Phuong. † She had no coquetry. (†¦) she would have made love if I had asked her to, straight away, peeling off her trousers without question†¦ (143). She services Fowler by preparing his opium pipes and providing him with sex any time he wants it. When Pyle shows an interest in her, Phuong abandons Fowler to live with Pyle. She shows little reaction to Pyle's death but readily moves back in with Fowler. In addition to Phuong’s depiction as a sexual object, opium is in its own right serves as a thematic object in The Quiet American.The heavy use of opium by Thomas Fowler portrays the lack of moral dexterity of the colonial powers. It is associated with indolence and vice for the Fowler character. He is mostly concerned with his ability to live as comfortable a life as possible in Vietnam. He writes the occasional news article for the British newspaper he s employed by, but prefers to spend his time smoking opium and enjoying the c ompany of Phuong. He smokes opium, which enhances his sense of total detachment, even from his own death. Nothing matters to him and he has no real ambitions except to avoid being sent back to England and to the an estranged wife.Opium is a highly addicted recreational drug used in Indo-China. The fact that Fowler smokes opium so frequently highlights his link to Vietnam and the moral conflicts revolved around the pleasure he takes in his Vietnamese life such as his lover, the people, and the culture. In sum, Phuong’s role in The Quiet America’s main plot reflects the dichotomy of imperialism in Indo-China and an ongoing love triangle. When Pyle discusses Phuong with Fowler, he starts talking about love, but Fowler replies: â€Å"Love’s a Western word†¦we use it for sentimental reasons or to cover up an obsession with one woman.These people don’t suffer from obsessions. † Phuong exists for the benefit of her lovers and even for her own sister to ensure her own security. Vietnam provided its colonizers what they wanted. Its people didn’t care who ruled them, they gave loyalty to any who could preserve a livelihood with the necessities such as food, jobs, and national defense. Likewise, Phuong’s decision to remain with Fowler wasn’t a consequence of her being a victim of circumstance, but of her playing an active role in maintaining survival through the protection of marriage.

3m’s Conundrum of Efficiency and Creativity

Introduction 3M is an innovative and creative company that flourished since 1930 with the invention of masking tape and again in the 1950’s with Scotchgard the fabric protector. Then during a glue that was invented that was considered a failure in the 1970’s someone came up with the idea of taking that glue solution and using it on the back of paper to hold the paper to anything. So the invention of the post-it came out and the business really took off. in the 2000 the newly appointed CEO James McNerney implemented the Six Sigma management style.He did this because he felt the company was stale and not growing as much as he felt. This new management style is â€Å"designed to identify problems in work processes, and then use rigorous measurement to reduce variation, eliminate defects, and increase efficiency† (Nelson and Quick, 2011-363). The very things that some believe got 3M were they were, McNerney wanted to streamline the company and eliminate the wastefuln ess. Initially his idea caused a growth of twenty-two percent annually but not for long.McNerney was committed to Six Sigma and imbedded it deeply into 3M until his departure in 2005. Some experts believe that McNerney, by implementing the Six Sigma program into the company stifled the creativity and did not allow for failure or trial and error. This seemed to many a contradiction because the post-it, that brought 3M to forefront, was in fact a glue that originally did not work but because of the latitude afforded in creativity it allowed the engineers to experiment with it for something else. Issue Addressed Whether or not Six Sigma is the way to go for 3M?With the 15 percent rule of the Richard McKnight established in the earlier days of the company, creativity and innovation was in abundance. When James NcNerney took over as the CEO, he brought Six Sigma to the company. Six Sigma is the â€Å"measure of quality that strives for near perfection† (Nelson and Quick, 2011-364) Sixty percent of all corporate Six Sigma programs fail to produce desired outcomes and results. Creativity worked in creating masking tape, Scotchgard fabric protector, and Post-it Notes. Six Sigma has not produced such large scale products for 3M.Answering the Questions 1. Relative advantage of Six Sigma oTime efficient & Cost effective – eliminate the extra ideas and create the â€Å"right idea the first time† oCustomer loyalty oReduction of incidents oLower costs for providing goods and services -Relative disadvantage Six Sigma oCreativity and innovation decreases due to the lack of opportunity to come up with ideas. oComplicated process to learn and keep going oRisk of failure / fear of the unknown 2. Using Six Sigma 3M’s programmed decisions are well thought out and researched.On the other hand, their non-programmed decisions could be better because they lack the ingenuity and inputs of employees that drive new ideas. So I have to believe that because of t he rigidness of the management style does not allow for the employees to create new products and bring forth the new ideas. 3. While I am all for putting processes in place and improving effectiveness and eliminating waist, I have never been a fan of the Six Sigma process. I feel the Six Sigma, just as the expert believe, takes away the creative processes and does not allow enough flexibility for research and development. Society and business are always changing. Consumers develop needs for new products and preferences for new styles. Businesses look for new technologies that give them the competitive edge (Pace – 95). † I have to believe that research and development are the keys to staying power and any company can come up with an idea and launch a company but true staying power is coming up with new ideas and the Six Sigma is too rigid to allow for that. 4. Intuition and creativity should play the biggest role in 3M. However, with Six Sigma these two characteristics are very limited. M does not get tons of new ideas from all over in the company. 5. Preference to work would be with a company where decision making leaves room for risk and failure in search of innovation. Collaboration of multiple ideas is what created a lot of successful companies and products like Apple and Twitter. Conclusions I believe if 3M wants to grow as a company that it needs to go back to what made 3M the well known company that it is today; the leading edge technologies that were invented during the free time that was allotted for experimentation.Allow the people and engineers do the thinking and provide the latitude to experiment and give those people the opportunity to create the next big product to grow the firm and take it to the future. I feel that 3M is just in survival mode and has not really come out with anything big since the implementation of the Six Sigma program. You cannot hire great ideas or innovation, but you can hire people who have those characterist ics and provide them the tools to do just that. Six Sigma has proven to make 3M profitable in the beginning but for the long run it has hurt 3M. M has not proven to make a substantial difference from the creativity and innovative ideas and processes from before Six Sigma’s time. ? References http://solutions. 3m. com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-company/Information/Resources/History/ http://www. isixsigma. com/new-to-six-sigma/getting-started/what-six-sigma/ Nelson, D. & Campbell-Quick, J. , (2011). Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World and You. (7th ed. ). Canada: South-Western Cengage Learning. Pace, Joe. The Workplace: Today and Tomorrow. The Professional Development Series, Book One.