Pricing Essay Example

Pricing Essay Company is a business division of a mid-sized company focused on manufacturing and selling a high quality consumer electronic device through high-end marketing channels such as specialty shops and exclusive department stores. These specialty outlets advise and educate customers about the desirable features of different electronic devices. Elektra charges on average 500 per unit to its distributors, who mark it up to 899 when selling to retail customers. After many years of high sales, Elektra sales in the last year had slumped to 150,000 units per year using only 75 of its manufacturing capacity. The decline in demand was because of fast changing technologies and consumer habits, and the recent introduction of a new generation of the electronic device had not increased sales appreciably. Consequently, Elektra senior management believes it is unlikely that the demand for its products will increase significantly in the next three years until conditions improve substantially and Elektra and its high-end competitors introduce the next generation technology. Nonetheless, they remained confident about the long term prospects of their product. Elektra has recently received a proposal from Megawatt Stores, Inc. A leading national chain of discount retail stores. Megawatt wants to buy Elektra product of the same quality as that sold at present through specialty retailers. Megawatt has offered to purchase 50,000 units annually for a three-year period at 374 per unit. It cannot pay a higher price because it plans to retail the product at only 549. While costs are not expected to increase, an inflation clause will allow Elektra to pass on exogenous cost increases. We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Pricing specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer After extensive negotiations, Megawatt has made a take-it-or-leave-it offer and threatened to explore other strategic partners n case Elektra does not accept its offer. Although Megastars offer is 25 below Elektra normal price, it may be attractive for Elektra to be an early mover in the low- end market because Elektra has considerable surplus capacity, and the Megawatt contract may allow it to accumulate experience in what may emerge as the dominant segment of the market. Elektra variable product costs for sales through its present high-end distribution channel are estimated to be 300, including direct materials 150, direct labor 60, variable manufacturing overhead 70, and sales commission 20 at 4 of sales price. Annual fixed overhead costs are 17,000,000, and are not expected to increase with the increased production required if the Megawatt offer is accepted. By scaling down to a capacity of 150,000 units from the present 200,000, however, Elektra would be able to save about of the annual fixed costs. Variable costs for the Megawatt order are expected to be similar. Direct material costs, however, will increase by 10 because of special casing and packaging with embossing of Megastars private label logo instead of the Elektra brand name. Also, variable costs for the Megawatt order will exclude the 4 commission normally paid to the ales staff because no salesperson is involved in sales to Megawatt. Some Elektra executives are concerned that when customers comparison shop they will find the same quality device as Elektra own brand name product sold through specialty retailers. If the devices are available at a much lower price at Megawatt Stores, many price conscious customers may buy the devices at Megawatt instead of the specialty retailers. Elektra senior managers are very confident that no more than 6 of Elektra present sales will be lost because of the comparison shopping if Megastars proposal is accepted. Comparison shoppers are price conscious customers who shop around to find the cheapest product with the requisite level of quality. Most of Elektra customers are quality enthusiasts who visit only the specialty shops to evaluate the features of different products, rather than the price, before making their purchase decision. Elektra top management is more concerned about these quality enthusiasts but does not believe any of them would shop at Megawatt. If 6 of Elektra high-end channel sales are cannibalized, total sales will be 191,000 units including 50,000 units sold through Megawatt, but no reduction will be possible in axed costs. Another group of Elektra executives is concerned about selling at a discounted price the same quality products as the products sold at present through specialty retailers, and the impact that such a move will have on the special relationship that has been cultivated with the high-end retailers. These executives believe that sales may decrease if the specialty retailers do not push the Elektra brand product as much as its competitors products. Megawatt has insisted on nothing but the best quality product that Elektra sells at present through the peculiarly retailers, and will withdraw its offer otherwise. New technology is developed by Elektra(and also its competitors) on a three-year cycle to increase the value of the product to high-end customers. An alternative considered by Elektra is to invest more on RD immediately and bring the new technology to the market within a year. The fixed and variable cost structure is not expected to change significantly for the new Reproduced with permission from the faculty product that incorporates the new technology. Some Elektra executives are concerned that accelerating the RD may exult in more defects creeping in the product and some complementary products provided by other suppliers not being ready. This increased the risk of customers being dissatisfied with the new generation and hurts Elektra reputation. However, because the new product will likely be substantially more useful to the high-end customers, Elektra could replace the existing product with the new product in the specialty retail channel. By accelerating the new technology, Elektra is not likely to gain significant market share in the specialty channel as competitors will try and attach Elektra technology as soon as possible by introducing their new models with the new technology early. Required What will be the annual profit if the Megawatt offer is rejected What will be the increase or decrease in its annual profit if it accepts Megastars offer Should Elektra accept Megastars proposal What strategic factors should be considered in evaluating the Megawatt offer Should Elektra agree to having its product branded as a Megawatt product and incur the additional 10 increase in direct materials cost How attractive is the potential opportunity to accumulate experience in the low-end market through the proposed strategic alliance with Megawatt Should Elektra accelerate the development of the new technology and bring it to market within a year Is there a difference between the sales lost due to centralization of price-sensitive customers and the sales lost because specially retailers may no longer push Elektra products if Elektra accepts the Megawatt offer Reproduced with permission from the faculty September 2012. Professor Rajah D. Banker prepared this case to provide a b asis for class discussion.

Top 7 Affordable Universities around the World to Study Management

Top 7 Affordable Universities around the World to Study Management Top 7 Affordable Universities around the World to Study Management A management degree will help you in almost any career, and almost any part of the world too. You will learn how to manage a group of employees and bring out the best of them. And who wouldn’t want to do that? But you don’t want to waste all your future income on expensive student loan debt or find yourself chronically broke during your years as a student. You need a degree program that’s excellent but also affordable. Here are our picks for the top 10 most affordable universities in the world to study management. Colorado State University-Global Campus. The Bachelor’s in Science in Business Management, consisting of 11 courses and 120 credit hours, can be earned entirely online. Choose a concentration in business administration, finance, marketing, or project management. Tuition is $8400 a year. The University of Dundee. The innovative Business Management BSc program at Dundee boasts courses taught by experts in the field and hands-on practice at financial institutions. They encourage the study of areas that are becoming increasingly important in today’s world, such as Human Rights Management and Managing Change. Students in the UK will pay  £9,250 per year for three years of a four-year degree. For all others, costs vary. Northeastern University. Another great online program, the Bachelor’s in Business Management at Northeastern University is certified by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. You can even achieve your degree in just 18 months, using their â€Å"Fast Track† option. Undergraduate tuition is from $796 to $1,518 per year. Indian River State College. This college offers its Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Management completely online. A low student-faculty ratio means you can be assured of getting all the attention and extra help you need, despite the online format. It has also been ranked 4th of the most affordable colleges in the US. Tuition is $2,764 per year for in-state and $10,201 for out-of-state students. The University of Bath. Bath’s School of Management ranks first for Marketing and second for Business and Management Studies in the UK. It is also renowned for its marketing research. In addition, it is among only 1% of schools in the world to be accredited by EQUIS, the quality improvement system run by the European Foundation for Management Development. Fees are  £15,200 for the arts and  £19,000 for laboratory subjects. The University of Alabama at Birmingham. The school’s online Bachelor of Science in Management from the Collat School of Business allows you to concentrate in Operations Management, Leadership, or Business and Society (to name just a few). Tuition varies from $793 to $938. Thomas Edison State College. This program is perfect for you if you need to continue working while earning your management degree. It prides itself on flexibility and on rigorous, high-quality curriculum. Students choose an area of study that reflects the field they want to enter; the list is extensive, including Accounting, Human Resources, Operations Management, and many others. Tuition is $8395. With any of these universities, you will gain the skills and knowledge you need to succeed in the management career without breaking the bank. Our company offers reliable Management essay writing service for university students all over the world.

Statistics for Leap Day on February 29

Statistics for Leap Day on February 29 The following explore different statistical aspects of a leap year.  Leap years have one extra day due to an astronomical fact about the earth’s revolution around the sun.  Almost every four years it’s a leap year. It takes roughly 365 and one-quarter days for the earth to revolve around the sun, however, the standard calendar year lasts only 365 days. Were we to ignore the extra quarter of a day, strange things would eventually happen to our seasons - like winter and snow in July in the northern hemisphere. To counteract the accumulation of additional quarters of a day, the Gregorian calendar adds an extra day of February 29 nearly every four years. These years are called leap years, and February 29th is known as leap day. Birthday Probabilities Assuming that birthdays are spread uniformly throughout the year, a leap day birthday on February 29 is the least probable of all birthdays. But what is the probability and how could we calculate it? We start by counting the number of calendar days in a four-year cycle. Three of these years have 365 days in them. The fourth year, a leap year has 366 days. The sum of all of these is 365365365366 1461. Only one of these days is a leap day. Therefore the probability of a leap day birthday is 1/1461. This means that less than 0.07% of the world’s population was born on a leap day. Given current population data from the U.S. Census Bureau, only about 205,000 people in the U.S. have a February 29th birthday. For the world‘s population approximate 4.8 million have a February 29th birthday. For comparison, we can just as easily calculate the probability of a birthday on any other day of the year. Here we still have a total of 1461 days for every four years. Any day other than February 29 occurs four times in four years. Thus these other birthdays have a probability of 4/1461. The decimal representation of the first eight digits of this probability is 0.00273785. We could have also estimated this probability by calculating 1/365, one day out of the 365 days in a common year. The decimal representation of the first eight digits of this probability is 0.00273972. As we can see, these values match each other up to five decimal places. No matter which probability we use, this means that around 0.27% of the worlds population was born on a particular non-leap day. Counting Leap Years Since the institution of the Gregorian calendar in 1582, there have been a total of 104 leap days. Despite the common belief that any year that is divisible by four is a leap year, it’s not really true to say that every four years is a leap year. Century years, referring to years that end in two zeros such as 1800 and 1600 are divisible by four, but may not be leap years.  These century years count as leap years only if they are divisible by 400. As a result, only one out of every four years that end in two zeros is a leap year. The year 2000 was a leap year, however, 1800 and 1900 were not. The years 2100, 2200 and 2300 will not be leap years. Mean Solar Year The reason that 1900 was not a leap year has to do with the precise measurement of the average length of earth’s orbit. The solar year, or amount of time that it takes the earth to revolve around the sun, varies slightly over time. it is possible and helpful to find the mean of this variation.   The mean length of revolution is not 365 days and 6 hours, but instead 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes and 12 seconds. A leap year every four years for 400 years will result in three too many days being added during this time period. The century year rule was instituted to correct this overcounting.

Reasearch Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Reasearch - Research Paper Example Diffusion can lead to changes in cultural practices, which will eventually influence spatial distribution. Cultural is the accepted way of life within a particular group of people. It includes food, clothing, practices and beliefs. Currently, the world is full of many different cultures. However, the dominant cultures trace their origins in cultural hearths. Seven locations have been identified as the point of origin for the dominant cultures in the world (Blij et al, 2011). These locations include the Nile River Valley, Indus River valley, Wei-Huang Valley, Ganges River Valley, Andean, Mesopotamia, and West Africa. It is the cradle of Chinese civilization. The valley is where the earliest Chinese irrigation works started. The capital of Chinese major dynasties like Qin, Zhou, Tang and Han were found along this valley. Trade in the valley began in the form of barter trade, which eventually developed as innovation gained ground. It is believed that the Wei River is the ancient Jiang River, which is associated with the early development of agriculture (Pitzl, 2004). The Nile is a critical component of both ancient and modern Egypt. The Nile River is the longest river in the world; it flows from the mountains to the Mediterranean. The river has been responsible for supporting many lives for thousands of years. It has shaped many cultures in the region. The earliest forms of civilization in Egypt are associated with the Nile. The river made agriculture possible, which is the reason ancient Egypt was able to make strides in civilization. The Nile River valley is where the Egyptian culture flourished. It is responsible for the development of Kingdoms of West Africa. Agricultural breakthroughs were made by these kingdoms. The development in this area was influenced by the breakthroughs experienced by the people Southeast Asia and the Nile valley. It had agricultural communities its northern part by

Performance Management Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Performance Management Paper - Essay Example Coaching can be very effective in eliminating workplace conflicts, cementing relationships and having teams focus on their core work hence achieve the set objectives. To effectively coach my team, I will focus a lot on developing interpersonal skills and improving interactions instead of developing individuals. This is because the way individuals act and communicate with each other are crucial factors that drive effective performance in the team. One guiding principle in my team training therefore has to be team work, learning to work with colleagues and understanding to relate with others. To begin off, I must understand team dynamics; it is obvious that all of us have our own ways of working and communicating hence one can really be frustrated if not understood by colleagues. The objective is to have team members come together, discuss their personal profiles and assist them devise means to work together. Once managers understand this then they definitely do the same even with the junior most employees. Another guiding point in team training is establishing behaviour expectations; understanding the perspectives of others can greatly improve performance and relationships. But there must be some ground rules guiding the team members as they work to accomplish set goals. Having a very clear behaviour code and communication expectation is thus very important. Another key point of training is evaluating rewards and recognitions systems. It is very common for values held by different individuals to compete and hinder effective performance in teams. As the manager, it will be my role to determine any sources of competition in values and devise ways to fix the same. Supporting individual performance is another essential point in team coaching as some members may require to be supported in learning new skills so as to meet team expectations. Readiness for

Learning Team Reflection Essay Example for Free

Learning Team Reflection Essay This past week, our team has been going over and reflecting on four main objectives. These main objectives are differentiating between accrual basis and cash basis accounting, the process of creating adjusting entries, and adjusted trial balances. We will also collectively discuss our opinions of what would be the most important skills learned in an accounting position. In accordance to week three’s objectives, I would have to say that everything that we have gone over is essential to our success in future accounting positions, however, we feel that the most important skill is to be able to accurately record the inflow (revenue earned) and the outflow (expenses: utilities, etc. ) of monies. Accural vs. Cash Basis Accounting According to the readings, accrual basis accounting is defined as in which companies record, in the periods in which the events occur, transactions that change a companys financial statements, even if cash was not exchanged. In other words, it means that recorded or un-recorded, all transactions are taken and projected into the overall balance. Cash Basis Accounting basis in which a company records revenue only when it receives cash, and an expense only when it pays out cash. This means that this means of accounting, only takes accountability of the physical cash that is at a physical location. The differences, Accural is all transactions whether recorded, unrecorded, or projected. Cash is the physical monies on hand at a physical location and does not record earnings until payments are actually made. Create adjusting entries This week we have been given a lot of practice on how to create adjusting entries to financial documents and internal financial â€Å"memos† (such as balance sheets). There are five types of adjusting entries: Accrued revenues – making adjustments to a service that has been performed but not billed. 1. Accrued expenses – expenses such as wages paid to an employee. 2. Unearned revenues – payments for goods or services to be delivered at a future date. 3. Prepaid Expenses – assets that are prepaid and gets used up during the accounting period. 4. Depreciation – process of allocating the cost of an asset. When adjusting entries are created, they are created in real time. These entries are important so that the net profit or loss and the financial position can be established. Prepare an adjusted trial balance. Again, we have practiced a lot this week in being able to successfully and accurately adjust entries in many different financial documents and of course, adjusting entries in trial balances have been some of those documents that we have worked on. In order to be a successful accountant, being to be able to successfully adjust entries in a trial balance sheet could be the very life factor in holding in accountant position. If we are unable to accurately record a trial balance the likelihood of us being able to hold our position as accountants is slim to none.

Thinking Aloud Essay -- Reading Education Learning Essays

Thinking Aloud Reading comprehension may be the most important skill for any student to acquire and is therefore an area of particular interest to educators. Without adequate comprehension skills, students are limited in their reading, analytical and occupational abilities. To many, including the student’s themselves, comprehension or â€Å"good reading† skills begin and end with simple decoding. It is thought that if students can ‘read’ and define the vocabulary they are reading, then they also comprehend what is read. True comprehension goes far beyond decoding, however. True comprehension requires visualization of a text, predicting events in the text, making inferences about the text and clarifying what is not understood about the text in order to lead to higher level thought processes such as personally connecting with the text. Reluctant, beginning or low-skilled readers often do not have the ability to visualize, predict, inference or clarify what they are reading and so they do not truly comprehend what the text is or what it means. Too often, these readers do not understand that â€Å"good readers† go through a series of mental processes in order to comprehend the text in ways which the low-level readers never even imagined. As educators, it is our job to show reluctant, beginning or low-skilled readers what these processes are and how they work in an attempt to boost the self-confidence and independence of these readers. One excellent way to set about this is through a strategy called a â€Å"Think Aloud†. The â€Å"Think Aloud† strategy is a teaching strategy which goes beyond teacher lecturing and is actually an exchange between teacher and student. First, the teacher demonstrates and encourages t... ...pecially designed to help dependent, beginning or low-level readers to see and understand exactly what it is that â€Å"good readers† do. Showing them this breaks down barriers which the students have built up against reading and comprehension. Most of all, the Think- Aloud is a more than sufficient method for giving students the skills they need to succeed in any reading situation they may encounter, whether it be in Social Studies class or the all important, ever watchful, standardized test. Works Cited Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann, 2003. Oster, Leslie. â€Å"Using the Think-Aloud for Reading Instruction.† The Reading Teacher 55 (September 2001): 64- 9. Wilhelm, Jeffrey D. â€Å"Think Alouds Boost Reading Comprehension.† Instructor 111 (2001): 26-8.

Outline Influence of Childhood Experiences on Adult Relationships Essay

Individuals differ in their relationships; psychologists have researched whether adult relationships are related to early experiences in life. Bowlby believes that the type of relationship the individual has with their primary caregiver gives a basis of a future relationship. This is called the internal working model. The fear of strangers represents an important survival mechanism, which is by nature, babies display social releasers which helps them ensure contact or proximity with the primary caregiver, as they similarly will with their partner in their adult relationship. Another example of the internal working model is the continuity hypothesis, which is a key theory to explaining childhood or adolescent experiences on later adult relationships, where it states that childhood relationships will affect your future relationships, Mary Ainsworth explores this by looking at our relationships as infants as concluded three types: Secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-resistant. Secure is where the infant is in a calm state even without the presence of the primary caregiver, secure avoidant is where shows little distress, avoids contact with caregiver when returns, and insecure-resistant is when child shows a lot of distress, anxious and nervous. This demonstrates the relationship that the child has with the primary caregiver when they are present and not present. This gives the child a set of beliefs about themselves and the nature of the relationship with others, the continuity thesis see’s this as a predictive behaviour of future relationships. Hazen and Shaver also devised a theory that supports the continuity thesis, they say that when a child perceives a threat to a relationship or themselves, they will feel frightened or worried, therefore they seek the primary caregivers attention. Depending on the situation the attachment behaviour varies depending on the need of the child. They also observed adult relationships, where adults normally feel safer and more secure when their partner is nearby and responsive, the partner may be used as a secure base, when they may feel sick or threatened they will seek attention of partner which mimics their infant-mother relationship. Another psychologist Freud, also looks into unresolved conflicts as a child, he links this into adult relationships, where he concluded that this could cause difficulty forming. He explains this using our defence mechanisms. Again, Hazer and Shaver supports the thesis as they published the ‘love quiz’ in an American Newspaper, and found that the majority of responses were secure attachment which gave them long lasting happy and stable relationships, however this could be due to a social desirability, as only certain category of people would reply to the newspaper advertisement, for example middle class, or those that are happy in their relationship are more likely to respond to the ad rather than those in an unhappy unfulfilling relationship. The participants were given 3 statements which each reflected the type of attachments that Mary Ainsworth found, he found those who were securely attached trusted each other and was in a happy stable relationship, those who were insecure avoidant were uncomfortable being close to others and insecure resistant were likely to be possessive and preoccupied about their relationships. However this study has been criticised for social desirability as participants may respond different knowingly that their information would be shared, and also for being retrospective as they are doing this from memory However there has been other explanations that suggests otherwise, for example Kagan presents the temperament hypothesis where different infants simply may just have different personalities, for Kagan the strange situation measures the temperament rather than attachment and the attachment behaviours displayed are a reflection of this infants temperament. However the bizarre case study of the Czech twins would go against the continuity theory as to where their childhood attachment were abusive, unsatisfied and had no social or emotional bonds went to the opposite after they were adopted by two loving sisters who they formed a normal loving bond and both went onto have long lasting stable relationships, this doesn’t show that adult relationships replicating childhood attachments as they are still able to have normal relationships without experiencing it at childhood. The continuity thesis is also very reductionist as they don’t take in any other consideration or factors that can affect their relationships, for example peer influence, cultural differences for example, a collectivist culture is more likely to spend most their time mothering the child, so they are more likely to form an insecure attachment, but can still go on to developing normal relationships.

My Risky Adventure

My Risky Adventure For my topic, I chose to write about my most recent risky adventure. Two summers ago, my Spanish teacher put together an educational field trip to Costa Rica. We saw new things that we have never seen before. We also did things that none of us had ever done before. The scenery there was breathtaking. Most of all, the overall experience was very educational. I recommend everyone to travel out of the United States if they ever get the chance to. There are things in Costa Rica that I have never seen before. I saw my first jelly fish and got stung by many jelly fish that day.We went snorkeling off the coast of Costa Rica; it was simply amazing until I felt a sting on my ankle; I looked down and there it was a jelly fish. I will never forget that day. Costa Rica is also crowded by many volcanoes. I had never seen a volcano in person until we visited Costa Rica. The forest there is completely different also: it is much greener. Everything there is green, not like a deep forest green, but a bright, live green. It was beautiful. The trees there are huge, not only in length but also in width. Even the flowers are different there: they are all colors of the rainbow.The colors are more vivid and smell so much sweeter than the flowers back home. There are things that I also have never done before until I visited Costa Rica. First of all, I have never traveled outside of the United States. I discovered the officials of are very strict on how they allow things through customs. One of the most exciting things we did while there was riding a zip line, a zip line is where you start at the very top of something and rides it all the way down while being hooked in a harness. We went on a zip line through the tropical forest, from the canopies all the way down to the very bottom.There was wildlife all around us; we were going so fast everything looked like it was being fast-forward. All of the colors ran together, mostly it looked like a green blur. Also along th e zip line we saw monkeys, birds, and other exotic animals. I also went to my first club. It wasn’t what I expected by no means, it was most of a fiesta type party. We learned how to salsa and do other types of traditional dances there. Another fun thing we did was jump off a cliff by a water fall. It was not only the funniest thing I have ever done in my life but also the scariest.The water was so cold it felt like I was surrounded by a million ice cubes. The scenery there is just amazing. Everything is so colorful, from the green tropical forest to the bright vivid color flowers. There is every color of the rainbow, and there are flowers of every color imaginable. The ocean there is a bright crystal blue, the type of blue you can only imagine. In the far end of town you can see a line of mountains and volcanoes. The colors all work together, from the brightest of colors to dullest of the ashy grey mountains. The beauty is breath-taking but so is the poverty.Everywhere you w alked there were people on the side of the road. Not only were there humanbeings without a home and food but also animals. The last thing I am going to talk about from my experience is that it was very educational. I took Spanish for two years and I finally had the chance to actually use what I learned in class. We had to order everything in Spanish. Our tour guide made us speak to him in Spanish even though he spoke English. We learned a lot about what their lifestyles consisted of: how they prepared a meal, how they danced, and how they lived.When you go from the way you have been living your whole life to a completely different country, it makes you open your eyes to what you actually have and how lucky you do have it. In Costa Rica it really opened the world up to me: there are people out there lucky to just get one meal a day, while here we usually just throw our scraps away. I saw people digging out of the dumpster so that they could just get that one meal that day. It is very educational when you leave a place wanting to change the world and make it a better place.In conclusion, Costa Rica is the most risky adventure that I have ever taken inmy life. I was taken outside of my comfort zone and placed into a whole different world. Everything I knew here in America was nothing alike in Costa Rica. The things that I saw and the things that I have accomplished just because I decided to take a risky adventure out of the country is life changing. It made me realize just how different things are outside of our homes. I would never look back and regret going to Costa Rica. This was simply an amazing experience. If you ever get the change to go, I completely recommend it.

Chinas Rise to Communism essays

China's Rise to Communism essays The Communists were able to come to power principally because of the policies and actions used by the Kuomintang of which the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) took advantage. However in addition to this, there were also significant factors such as the conditions during the beginning of the twentieth century complications in the republic China and the Japanese War (1937-45), that led to the vulnerability and insufficiency of the GMD during the Civil War. Their leader, Chiang Kai-Shek, lost the support of the majority, mainly peasants and intellectuals, to the CCP, which contributed to their success in war, and he was no longer able to continue dictating China. In combination with GMDs actions, Mao Zedong, the communist leader was able to take over and declare, the by then already united nation, the Peoples Republic of China. The discontent in China was rooted in problems, which arose during the early twentieth century. In addition to this the CCP was able to use the situation in order to give people hope as well as help, which won the majority to the communist side. Until the early twentieth century, Chinas rule was based on dynasties, which followed the Confucian theories. The Chinese thought of their nation as Zhongguo-the center of the world, disclaiming any interest in the west. The Qing dynasty, established in 1644, ruled China over 250 years. Already during the nineteenth century, China had been weakened through foreign trade, war and influence. As the discontentment increased, the people wanted to alter the situation and showed concern about the outcome of the Boxer Rebellion. This Rebellion and its aftermath prompted some reforms in China. However, it was a case of too little, too late. The Qing dynasty was seen to be failing the people of China. It had lost its right to the Mandate from H eaven. In 1908 the Dowager Empress, CiXi, died and her three year-old grand nephew, Pu...

Laura Clay, Southern Womens Suffrage Leader

Laura Clay, Southern Womens Suffrage Leader Laura Clay Facts Known for: major Southern woman suffrage spokesperson. Clay, like many Southern suffragists, saw womens suffrage as reinforcing white supremacy and power.Occupation: reformerDates: February 9, 1849 - June 29, 1941 Laura Clay Biography Laura Clay Quote: Suffrage is Gods cause, and God leads our plans. Laura Clays mother was Mary Jane Warfield Clay, from a wealthy family prominent in Kentucky horse racing and breeding, herself an advocate of womens education and womens rights. Her father was the noted Kentucky politician Cassius Marcellus Clay, a cousin of Henry Clay, who founded an anti-slavery newspaper and helped found the Republican party. Cassius Marcellus Clay was the United States ambassador to Russia for 8 years under Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses S. Grant. He returned from Russia for a time and is credited with talking Lincoln into signing the Emancipation Proclamation. Laura Clay had five brothers and sisters; she was the youngest. Her older sisters were involved in working for womens rights. Mary B. Clay, one of her older sisters, organized Kentuckys first womens suffrage organization, and was president of the American Woman Suffrage Association from 1883 to 1884. Laura Clay was born at her familys home, White Hall, in Kentucky, in 1849. She was the youngest of four girls and two boys. Lauras mother, Mary Jane Clay, was largely in charge, during her husbands long absences, of managing the family farms and property inherited from her family. She saw that her daughters were educated. Cassius Marcellus Clay was from a wealthy slaveholding family. He became an anti-slavery advocate, and among other incidents where he was met with violent reactions to his ideas, he was once nearly assassinated for his views. He lost his seat in the Kentucky state House because of his abolitionist views. He was a supporter of the new Republican Party, and nearly became Abraham Lincolns vice president, losing that spot to Hannibal Hamlin. At the beginning of the Civil War, Cassius Clay helped organize volunteers to protect the White House from a Confederate takeover, when there were no federal troops in the city. During the years of the Civil War, Laura Clay attended Sayre Female Institute in Lexington, Kentucky. She attended a finishing school in New York before returning to her family home. Her father opposed to her further education. The Reality of Womens Rights From 1865 to 1869, Laura Clay helped her mother run the farms, her father still absent as ambassador to Russia. In 1869, her father returned from Russia and the next year, he moved his four-year-old Russian son into the family home at White Hall, his son from a long affair with a prima ballerina with the Russian ballet. Mary Jane Clay moved to Lexington, and Cassius sued her for divorce on grounds of abandonment, and won. (Years later, he created more scandal when he married a 15 year old servant, probably against her will as he had to restrain her from leaving. He divorced her after she attempted suicide. That marriage ended in divorce just three years later.) Under existing Kentucky laws, he could have claimed all the property his ex-wife had inherited from her family and he could have kept her from the children; he claimed his wife owed him $80,000 for her years living at White Hall. Fortunately for Mary Jane Clay, he did not pursue those claims. Mary Jane Clay and her daughters who were still unmarried lived on the farms she inherited from her family, and were supported by the income from these. But they were aware the under the existing laws, they were able to do so only because Cassius Clay did not pursue his rights to the property and income. Laura Clay managed to attend one year of college at the University of Michigan and one semester at State College of Kentucky, leaving to put her efforts into working for womens rights. Working for Womens Rights in the South Laura Clay Quote: Nothing is so laborsaving as a vote, properly applied. In 1888, the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Association was organized, and Laura Clay was elected its first president. She remained president until 1912, by which time the name had changed to the Kentucky Equal Suffrage Association. Her cousin, Madeleine McDowell Breckinridge, succeeded her as president. As head of the Kentucky Equal Suffrage Association, she led efforts to change Kentucky laws to protect married womens property rights, inspired by the situation in which her mother had been left by her divorce. The organization also worked to have female doctors on staff at state mental hospitals, and to have women admitted to State College of Kentucky (Transylvania University) and Central University. Laura Clay was also a member of the Womens Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and she was part of the Womans Club movement, holding state offices in each organization. While Laura Clays father had been a liberal Republican and perhaps in reaction to that Laura Clay became active in Democratic Party politics. Elected to the board of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), newly merged in 1890, Clay chaired the new groups membership committee and was its first auditor. Federal or State Suffrage? Around 1910, Clay and other Southern suffragists began to be uncomfortable with efforts within the national leadership to support a federal woman suffrage amendment. This, they feared, would provide a precedent for federal interference in the voting laws of Southern states which discriminated against African Americans. Clay was among those who argued against the strategy of a federal amendment. Laura Clay was defeated in her bid for reelection to the board of the NAWSA in 1911. In 1913, Laura Clay and other Southern suffragists created their own organization, the Southern States Woman Suffrage Conference, to work for state-level womens suffrage amendments, to support voting rights only for white women. Probably hoping for compromise, she supported federal legislation to allow women to vote for members of Congress, providing the women otherwise qualified as voters in their states. This proposal was debated at NAWSA in 1914, and a bill to implement this idea was introduced into Congress in 1914, but it died in committee. In 1915-1917, like many of those involved in womens suffrage and womens rights, including Jane Addams and Carrie Chapman Catt, Laura Clay was involved in the Womans Peace Party. When the United States entered World War I, she left the Peace Party. In 1918, she briefly joined in supporting a federal amendment, when President Wilson, a Democrat, endorsed it. But then Clay resigned her membership in the NAWSA in 1919. She also resigned from the Kentucky Equal Rights Association that she had headed from 1888 to 1912. She and others formed, instead, a Kentucky-based Citizens Committee to work for a suffrage amendment to the Kentucky state constitution. In 1920, Laura Clay went to Nashville, Tennessee, to oppose ratification of the woman suffrage amendment. When it (barely) passed, she expressed her disappointment. Democratic Party Politics Laura Clay Quote: I am a Jeffersonian Democrat. In 1920, Laura Clay founded the Democratic Womens Club of Kentucky. That same year was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Her name was placed in nomination for President, making her the first woman so nominated at a major partys convention. She was nominated in 1923 as a Democratic candidate for the Kentucky State Senate. In 1928, she campaigned in Al Smiths presidential race. She worked after 1920 for repeal of the 18th Amendment (prohibition), even though she herself was a teetotaler and a WCTU member. She was a member of the Kentucky state convention that ratified repeal of prohibition (the 21st Amendment), primarily on states rights grounds. After 1930 After 1930, Laura Clay led mostly a private life, focusing on reform within the Episcopal church, her lifelong religious affiliation. She interrupted her privacy to oppose a law paying male teachers more than female teachers would be paid. She worked mostly within the church on womens rights, especially on allowing women to be delegates to church councils, and on permitting women to attend the Episcopal churchs University of the South. Laura Clay died in Lexington in 1941. The family home, White Hall, is a Kentucky historical site today. Laura Clays Positions Laura Clay supported womens equal rights to education and to the vote. At the same time, she believed that black citizens were not yet developed enough to vote. She did support, in principle, educated women of all races getting the vote, and spoke at times against ignorant white voters. She contributed to an African American church project aimed at self-improvement. But she also supported states rights, supported the idea of white superiority, and feared federal interference in Southern states voting laws, and so, except briefly, did not support a federal amendment for woman suffrage. Connections The boxer Muhammed Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay, was named for his father who was named for Laura Clays father. Books About Laura Clay Paul E. Fuller. Laura Clay and the Womans Rights Movement 1975.John M. Murphy. Laura Clay (1894-1941), a Southern Voice for Womans Rights. Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1800-1925: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ed. 1993.

Orignial topic - adopting a positive or negative viewpoint Essay - 1

Orignial topic - adopting a positive or negative viewpoint - Essay Example Environmental Damage Genetically modifies foods could pose a great threat to environment. According to Revill, â€Å"The genetically-modified crops could cross-pollinate with the other plants and create super hybrids and super-weeds. They could contaminate nearby organic farms, which could then lose their organic status (2004, p.4).† It takes millions of years for an eco system to grow and stabilize. In that context, the genetically modified plants may interfere with the stability of the eco system in which they are introduced by inadvertently introducing new and unwanted traits in the natural existing strains of plants, thereby leading to hazardous and dangerous results. Risks Posed to Food Chain Many a genetically modified foods do have the ability to produce chemicals that acts as natural pesticides. Now the thing is that the natural pesticides that the genetically modified plants contain, though intended to protect them against pests, may be consumed by other beneficial in sects and animals residing in their vicinity. Not to mention these natural chemicals inherent in the genetically modified foods could threaten the existence of species that are beneficial to humanity.