COMPETITION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

COMPETITION AND FINANCIAL STABILITY - Essay Example It has been argued that, similarly to other industries in the non-banking sector, competition prevalent in the banking sector is desirable because it tends to generate a market that is more efficient, as well as the benefits that tag along like efficient resource allocation and better consumer prices. However, other theories argue more competition in the banking sector may precipitate an increase in instability with regards to the financial systems. Since greater competition in the banking sector leads to a decrease in margins of bank profits, banks are banks are encouraged to acquire riskier investment so as to boost profit levels, which is in support of the competition fragility view (Boyd et al., 2009: 4). However, other arguments make the argument that greater concentration of banks in the loan markets may lead to an increase in instability via increased risks, especially because higher rates of interest that are charged on consumers could make it more difficult for them to pay b ack the loans, which supports the view on competition stability. Therefore, it is interesting when these hypotheses are tested to decide whether completion in the banking sector is desirable with an aim to increase financial stability (Boyd et al., 2009: 5). ... l failures of the market because of asymmetric information like adverse selection, moral hazard, and excessive taking of risks with agency problems, externalities like fragility because contagion and coordination problems, and potential power of the markets (Koskela & Stenbacka, 2000: 1857). This has led to regulation that seeks to protect the small investors, the system, and market competitiveness. However, these problems are made worse by policies that have to do with being too big to fail, deposit insurance, and the last resort lender. The global financial crisis uncovered the huge failures of the regulatory system and the potential contradictions between competition policy and regulatory intervention (Koskela & Stenbacka, 2000: 1857). Banks, indeed, are unique because of their specific mix of features that increases their vulnerability to potential systemic impact and very fundamental negative externalities with regards to the economy (Koskela & Stenbacka, 2000: 1858). The compet itive banking system’s fragility is excessive with financial regulation coming to the rescue at the cost of regulatory failure and side effects. The most essential one has to do with potential moral hazards caused by bailouts and protection of failing financial institutions. The recent global financial crisis is a testimony to failures of the Basel II system’s three pillars. First, risk assessment and disclosure have been deficient with market discipline being ineffective, especially due to blanket insurance from too big to fail policies (Koskela & Stenbacka, 2000: 1858). Secondly, capital regulation has failed to account for account systemic effects, i.e. failure’s social costs, with restriction on assets lifted because of pressure emanating from lobbies on behalf of investment

Impacts Of Industrial Urbanization On Working People History Essay

Impacts Of Industrial Urbanization On Working People History Essay Urbanization is a social process in which a countrys organized communities become larger, more specialized. There are both negative and positive consequences of this process. It involves a lot of economic , technological demographic, political , environmental factors and it is inevitably accompanied by other changes in society. Before moving on to industrial urbanization and its impacts , history and life of native people would be discussed. A lot of Native peoples lived by hunting and gathering. Agriculture was established between the Iroquoian groups (Huron, Iroquois, Petun, Neutral).Clothing was provided from fur bearing animals and silver and copper was used to make ornaments. Trading was common at that time but there doesnt seem to have any specialized merchant class. French and british traders began to buy furs, and in return they offered iron tools, weapons and alcohol , all of which the native peoples valued highly. This resulted in economic and cultural changes among the native peoples, who were to play a critical role in the early fur trade. Canada was a largely per-industrial agricultural society at confederation in 1867. People belonged to large families and lived on farms. Farms were only source of income for them as they often supported entire families generation after generation. Urbanization process passed four major phases. Canada became an urban nation quite early as compared to others. The first stage began with the founding of Quebec in 1608. Quebec City, Montreal, Halifax and St Johns tended to be the administrative centers. From the mother country there were entrepots, collection agencies for colonial staples and distribution centers of manufactured goods. Primary connection was the overseas metropolis because of which there was lack of significant connections with other towns in the colonies. Dependence on water transport powered byu wind and sail was another common feature of urban centers during this period. Fishery and fur trade were exploited by permanent European settlers who came to Canada. Due to the reason that the climate and soil were not encouraging, agricultural progress was slow until the end of 17th century. English-speaking merchants engaged in the fur trade; after the Conquest (1759-60), when many British businessmen began to control a large portion of the fur trade from Montreal, they also quickly extended their interests throughout commerce and finance.. The population grew through natural increase and through immigration from Britain. The good agricultural land in the St Lawrence Valley had almost been taken up by 1820s. In 1821, after the North West Company merged with the Hudsons Bay Company the transcontinental fur trade was no longer managed from Montrà ©al. By that time Upper and Lower Canada had developed an immense trade in timber, which went first to Britain and then, after mid century, to the US and domestic buyers. Second phase of urbanization started in early 1800s and was marked by the increasing control of commercial interests. By dominating their immediate region several cities began to assume metropolitan functions. There was a move away from an exclusive reliance on staples export to a new concern for regional and inter regional commerce and small scale artisanal production for a local or regional market. Industrial revolution took place in 1815 and 1914. The use of new technologies in transportation was a third aspect of the economic reorientation. In this phase, the form of cities is not readily definable but a number of features distinguish them from both their predecessors and successors. The most important factor was transport which played an essential role in the development of bigger, functionally more specialized towns from 1830. National rail network was established in 1840s due to which a fully integrated urban system developed and the constraints of time and distance . This led to a period of great change in the structure of the urban system and the extent, characteristics and internal and external relations. There was no significant European population until the 1780s in the present-day Ontario, although its waterways were used by the fur traders. There was a beginning of settlement with the arrival of the United Empire Loyalists, British and American settlers, and British troops and officials. export trades in wheat, potash and timber developed and forest land was cleared. A few roads and canals were built, of which the most important were the Welland Canal and St Lawrence River canals. most good land in the province had been claimed by 1867, although not all of it was under cultivation. Quebec contained 3 towns, Montreal, Quebec and Trios-Rivieras at the conquest. With settlement and with the development of commerce and government a lot of towns appeared. much of central Canadas industry, including the 2 great industries, milling and lumbering, was dispersed through the countryside or in small villages in 1871. Rapid industrialization and urbanization occurred in both provinces after c onfederation. By 1911 half of Ontarios population lived in cities and towns. less than one-fifth of the Quebec population lived in cities at the time of confederation. Thirty years later the proportion surpassed one-third. Urbanization was undoubtedly the most salient phenomenon in Quebec at the start of the 20th century. Only 36% of the population lived in cities; thirty years later, that proportion had reached 60%. Due to development in industry there was an increased rate in growth of cities. in Montreal the phenomenon was particularly visible, then the industrial hub of Canada. Within thirty years, its population more than doubled, growing from 107,000 in 1871 to 268,000 in 1901 (or 325,000 counting the suburbs). Montreal became Canadas uncontested metropolis when it outgrew Quebec city from 1830 onwards. Population comprised of working class, yet the countrys most powerful businessmen lived there as well. Population growth was slower in Quebec city. Population was just under 60 ,000 in 1871 and still below 70,000 in 1901. In smaller cities such as Hull, Sherbrooke, Valley field, Saint-Hyacinth, Saint-Jerome and Magog industrialization became evident. The largest of these had populations of only 11,000-14,000, but they bore witness to an important transformation in Quebec society. In british north American railway fever came a little late which had a small population and much of its capital tied up in the expansion of its CANALS AND INLAND WATERWAYS. But it did not take long for politicians and entrepreneurs to realize the potential benefits. In 1841 ,the Province of Canada (1841) was an enormous country. Its roads were poor and its waterways were frozen for up to 5 months per year. GRAND TRUNK Railway was the most ambitious pre-Confederation railway project in Canada. It was a bold attempt by Montreal to capture the hinterland of Canada West and traffic from American states in the Great Lakes region. But unfortunately Canadians did not have enough money and technicians to build it. In the process of Industrialization the railways played an integral role, tying together and opening up new markets while, at the same time, themselves creating a demand for fuel, iron and steel, LOCOMOTIVES AND ROLLING STOCK. Wooding-up stations were required at regular intervals along the line and the pioneer wood burning locomotives had huge appetites. James of Toronto made first locomotive in Canada in 1853. (the Toronto No. 2 of the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron). As a consequence, railway greatly stimulated engineering particularly with the demand for BRIDGES and TUNNELS. There were a few inventions by Canadians, notably the first successful braking system (W.A. Robinson, 1868) and the rotary snowplough (J.W. Elliott, 1869; developed further by O. Jull), which made possible safe, regular travel in Canadian winters. Zone system was devised by the great railway engineer Sanford Fleming to over the confusion of clocks varying from community to community along the rail routes. Low rolling friction of iron-flanged wheels on iron rails and steam locomotion enabled George Stephenson (the first of the great railway engineers) to design and superintend the building of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (1830), which began the railway age in England. steam locomotion, the standard gauge (1.435 m) and the rolled-edge rail (bellying out on the underside for strength) were the characteristics of the railway which were established in the early stage. Ind ustries such as tailoring and shoe making were becoming factory activities, and provincial governments began to regulate working conditions from 1870 to 1900. the industries in the cities eventually won the competition with the rural industries.Urbanization started in 19th century because of the industrialization that took place. Because of bad sanitary conditions and diseases, cities still needed many new people every now and again. But gradually with the passage of time there was an increase in number of people and cities. There were several types of cities: cities with textile industry, cities with heavy industry and administrative/commercial cities. Transportation was affected by industrial revolution. Bicycles, steamships and trains made it easier for people to move further away. The third phase, which began with the industrial era in the 1870s and lasted until the 1920s, saw the development of a national urban system that tended to concentrate power in major central Canadian cities, notably Montreal and Toronto. It attracted a steady supply of rural Canadians to the cities. The working poor was the new class that spawned instead. labor force, weak government protection, and social discrimination was faced by these families. Industrialization had caused Canadian cities to double, which brought wealth to the society, but that wealth was not shared. Although industrialization did provide thousands of jobs, it did not create an egalitarian society. With the arrival of railway numerous cities expanded or took advantage of railway development to consolidate their position in the economy. Montreal, for example, which was already the business and financial hub of British North America owing to its port installations, would extend its commercial influence over an increasingly larger zone following the arrival of the railway. The political economy of this industrial era was marked by the emergence of industrial capitalism and its counterpart, the industrial working class. The extent and nature of urban development was dependent on major improvements in the technological capacity of Canada. Science and engineering were systematically applied to transportation, communications, building methods and production. The outstanding physical characteristics of cities were the enormous spatial expansion of the suburbs and the tall office towers of the central core. The social landscape of cities was affected by the changing scale of development. A kind of giant ism prevailed, from the size of suburbs and the height of the buildings in the central core to the organization of new business enterprises and the building of enormous factories. Land use was increasingly specialized. Urbanization also affected cities less closely associated with the railway system. Saint John, New Brunswick, saw its population rise from 27,000 in 1840 to nearly 39,000 in 1861. The rise in population benefited from the growth in shipbuilding and maritime transportation, in particular. Due to this , the proportion of urban dwellers in the colonies as a whole went up from 13% in 1851 to 16% in 1861. The largest cities in British North America were Montreal, Quebec City, Saint John, Toronto, Halifax, Hamilton, Kingston, Ottawa and London on the eve of Confederation. Between 1896 and 1914, Central Canadas industrial advance was especially rapid when the whole nation experienced investment and export booms. A few industries such as carriage-making and blacksmithing declined after 1900. But soon after this new industries appeared like electrical equipment and chemicals in the 1890s, cars and aluminum after 1900, pulp and paper in. 1890-1914 Montreal and Toronto were the great cities of Central Canada by 1867. Montreal began as a port and a commercial centre. By 1900 it was producing large amounts of clothing and textile products, electrical equipment, railway rolling stock and many light industrial products. Finally by mid 19th century it was a place of industry. After 1867, Toronto after a slow and inauspicious beginning, developed after 1867 on similar lines, much of its early prosperity being based on Great Lakes shipping. Both cities had energetic banks and insurance companies and active stock exchanges. Immigrants were attracted to both cities from Europe and Italy. Cities of Central Canada were built by largely natural increase from britian between Confederation and 1914. Atlantic Canada Initially fur trading was common here but later on with serious economic development in the Atlantic provinces really began with the sea fisheries, whose markets were in Europe and later in the West Indies. Some francophone and anglophone migrants arrived during the 17th century on mainland, but the European population was small until the arrival of the Loyalists, partly because there was little good agricultural land. Scots settled on Cape Breton in early 19th century. Prosperity came from the fisheries, forests and maritime carrying trades. Western Canada In western Canada economic development began with fur trade. In 1812, settled agriculture began with Lord Selkirks RED RIVER COLONY. In 1880s the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway gave Manitoba a wheat economy. Prospects for development brightened as world prices rose, transport costs fell, methods of dryland farming improved, and more appropriate varieties of wheat became availablein 1890s. More progress was made and Prairie provinces enjoyed an immense expansion of the wheat economy, onto which was grafted, before 1914, a very much larger rail system, a network of cities and towns, coal mining and ranching. Because of this many migrants were attracted from many lands. T that time Alberta began to produce small quantities of oil and gas. In Early times most of the city dwellers got around on foot; only the richest could afford the services of a coachman or own their own horse but with the urban expansion , organized public transit came into being. In 1861, the first street cars appeared in Montreal and Quebec City. Then by 1982,electric streetcars made their appearance. At the start of 20th century , 46 urban centres had streetcar lines. Electric streetcars inaugurated in 1892 favoured the expansion of suburbs, since they allowed people to live further away from their places of work without having to travel long distances on foot Industrialization and urbanization brought about a lot of changes in work and family by early 20th century. The seniors who had retired and couldnt do any more work ended their lives in poor houses or old age homes, as they had come to be known. In the late 19th century the number of seniors who became poor increased as the process of industrialization began to affect Canadian society. More workers were needed as the factories were built in the cities. In the countryside the population grew to the point that people began to be forced off their farms into urban areas to work for wages. Later on, a revolutionary transformation occurred in human use of energy. Burning of wood to produce heat, plus human and animal muscle power were the biomass energy for human society. Then world entered the age of coal and steam power. It was the beginning of fossil fuel era and this is the era we live in today. the harnessing of steam power enabled humans to vastly multiply the energy generated from b urning coal, thereby greatly expanding the amount of energy. Petroleum was the second major fossil fuel by 1914. There was a significant development in communications and transport. Migration to long distances within continental spaces was done through steamships and railroads. Asian migrants, especially South Asians and Chinese, settled in many parts of the tropical world as well as in the Americas. Standard of living was increased and people were looking for more opportunities than they had in their native places. Another major environmental change was the enormous increase in population growth. The environmental impact of this dramatic population increase, combined with the surges in economic growth and energy consumption, was colossal. In Canada the earliest significant social piece of legislation was the Canadian Government Annuities (Act of 1908). It benefited and encouraged a lot of people to prepare financially for their retirement. With this facility, Canadians began to purchase various annuities for different amounts and leghts of time. There was a specific age when the recipient began to receive benefits from it. This system was carried out very nicely and all the costs were administered by the government. Federal civil servants were given pensions according to superannuation Act in 1870. Then the national pension programs were developed and enhanced more. In 1867, most of the Canadians did not retire. At that time Canada was predominantly an agricultural society. Majority of the population lived on farms and worked till old age as their was no other source of income. Canadian way of living was totally changed by urbanization and industrialization. With the invention of industries and new technology , farm life and family support system was completely dissolved. Before the old people had no choice except to work to earn their living but now they lived the rest of their live in old homes or poor houses.

a bridge to the 18th century Essay -- Free Essay Writer

Building a Bridge to the Eighteenth Neil Postman identifies himself as a â€Å"neo-Luddite†. What bothers Postman most is the fact that the great innovators of this time have no frame of reference other than their own experience, and that experience is only that of the 20th century. Advocates of trends such as information superhighways and economic globalization appear to know nothing of history, philosophy and culture; they live digitally in the hollow present.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Postman assesses different ideas in each chapter: Chaper One: A Bridge to the Eighteenth Century   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Postman heralds the accomplishments of personalities of the 18th Century, including Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Kant, Hume, Gibbon, Paine, Jefferson, Franklin, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, and Haydn, among many others. Chapter Two: Progress   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Postman summarizes, â€Å"The idea of progress is a product of the Enlightenment. The eighteenth century invented it†¦ but it also criticized and doubted it and its limitations and pitfalls. Reason, when unaided and untempered by poetic insight and human feeling, turns ugly and dangerous. Chapter Three: Technology   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When assessing various technological advancements, Postman encourages the reader to be question, â€Å"What is the problem to which this technology is a solution?† â€Å"Whose problem is it?† â€Å"Which people and institutions might be most ser...

Different Styles of Imitation Essay

In The Transmission of Knowledge by Juan Luis Vives, Vives describes his idea of proper imitation. His basic theory is that people are not innately born with skills of art or rhetoric and therefore, these skills are obtained through the imitation of other skilled artists or rhetoricians. This idea is parallel to those of Petrarch and Alberti. Petrarch and Vives both say that proper imitation should be analogous to the way a son resembles his father. Vives says â€Å"A son is said to be like his father, not so much in that he recalls his features, his face and form, but because shows to us his father’s manners, his disposition, his talk, his gait, his movements, and as it were his very life, which issues forth in his actions as he goes abroad, from the inner seat of the spirit, and shows his real self to us.† (190) Petrarch says, similarly, â€Å"As soon as we see the son, he recalls the father to us, although if we should measure every feature we should find them all different.†(199) The father to son resemblance is the basis of imitation to both these authors. They both believe that a good writer should use imitation in a way where what they imitate resembles the original, but does it not duplicate it. For Petrarch and Vives, this can be achieved by properly integrating reading with writing. They both believe that by reading something and being able to digest it thoroughly, one can transport the overall idea and feeling of what he read onto his own writing. This creates a deep imitation, rather than copying what a writer says in different words. Both authors use the father to son metaphor to show that imitation should be meaningful and evocative. Petrarch supplements this idea by claiming that reading should be an alterative to experience. As one would in a sense â€Å"experience† the father through the son, one should similarly be able to experience the author a writer imitates. To illustrate this he referrers to â€Å"wandering† and â€Å"transport† throughout his works. Specifically, Petrarch interchanges writing with experience when he describes climbing Mont Ventroux. He says â€Å"But nature is not overcome by a man’s devices; a corporeal thing cannot reach the heights by descending† and, further, â€Å"there I leaped in my winged thought from things corporeal to what is incorporeal and addressed myself in words like these†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (39) The physical and spiritual are linked so closely together that they transport and overlap one another. According to Petrarch, characteristics like this are traits of a good imitator. Vives also relates to the kind of imitation which interchanges the bodily action with spiritual. He describes an oration, which links actions with rhetoric. He says â€Å"But these modern imitators regard not so much the mind of the orator in his expression, as the outward appearance of his words and the external for of his style.† (191) Both writers believe that by interchanging techne which psyche, one can properly imitate and transcend a deeper significance of what the writer is imitating. Although Petrarch and Vives share similar ideas, they also hold a contradictory belief: Petrarch only imitates Cicero, while Vives believes that one should imitate several models to create a single work. Although Vives clearly states that Cicero is the best model for writing in the conversational style: â€Å"Caesar and Epistles of Cicero will come into the first rank of conversational style,† (192) he also states that one should comprise writing by mimicking several writers: â€Å"The more models we have and the less likeness there is between them, the greater is the progress of eloquence.† (190) Foremost, Petrarch is not writing in the conversational style, instead he using the plain style. Therefore, he should mimic another writer from the list Vives has specified. Also, Petrarch is only interested in imitating one writer, Cicero. He defends the Ciceronian tradition by writing only in Cicero’s style. For this reason, Petrarch does not read other writers, like Dante, because he is afraid that he will become the product of what he reads, ideas and style. Instead he immerses himself in Cicero’s style by reading his work in such depth that he essentially writes in Cicero’s style without knowing he is doing so. Vives respects Cicero’s work, but he does not believe that Cicero is the best writer. Other than Vives’ belief that Petrarch should have imitated several conversationalists, Vives also states that â€Å"imitation of Cicero’s work is useful and safe, but not of his style; for if anyone cannot achieve success in the attempt he will degenerate into redundant, nerveless, vulgar and plebeian kind of writer.† (191) Therefore, the difference between Vives and Petrarch is that Vives believes that one should imitate several writers and that Cicero is not the best writer. Further, he offers a list of writers which should be imitated when trying to achieve a certain style. Petrarch, on the other hand, writes in Cicero’s style and believes that Cicero should be imitated while engaging in every kind of writing. Alberti was an author who was more like Vives in this sense. He also believed that one should embrace all the things which would make something beautiful into one. For example, he says that all arts are linked to painting somehow, and that all arts take from incorporate the skills associated with painting into their works: â€Å"The architect, if I am not mistaken, takes from the painter architraves, bases, capitals, columns, faà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ades and other similar things. All the smiths, sculptors, shops and guilds are governed by the rules and art of the painter. It is scarcely possible to find any superior art which is not concerned with painting. so that whatever beauty is found can be said to be born of painting .†(Book II) Furthermore, it was important to Alberti to imitate the laws of nature, rather than nature itself. He pointed out that an architect should mimic the structure of reality and the geometry hidden in reality. Like Vives and Petrarch, Alberti joined the bodil y with the spiritual to create the perfect art. But, he resembles Vives, in the sense that he believes that one should imitate several things to create one thing. One difference between Alberti and Vives is that Vives believes that one should start out imitating a person who is not the best at what he does, but someone who is better than the imitator. Eventually, according to Vives, one should be able to move up in rank and imitate the best. He says â€Å"it is a wise precept of M. Fabius Quintilian that boys should not at first attempt to rise to emulation of their master, lest their strength fail them. An easier and quicker method will be to let them imitate someone more learned than themselves among their fellows, and contending with him let them gradually rise to copying their master himself.† (189) Alberti does not mention this method of imitation. Instead he says that when it comes to art, on must have â€Å"the favors of nature.† (Book I) In other words, Alberti strongly believes that one should have a natural talent for what he is doing, and that the gradual chain of improvement is not necessarily an established method, a s Vives indicates. Also, Alberti uses a style that is short and to the point. He says â€Å"I beg that I may be pardoned if, where I above all wish to be understood, I have given more care to making my words clear than ornate. I believe that which follows will be less tedious to the reader. (Book I) This type of frankness is a distinguished style of writing. He uses simple rhetoric so that his audience can grasp the idea quickly. This kind of style corresponds to the type of art he is writing about. He says that he writing about a new type of art: â€Å"We are, however, building anew an art of painting about which nothing, as I see it, has been written since this age.†(Book II) His new style is imitating his concept of having a different type of manual towards art. Also, his main is to gear away from the Ancients and more towards the Florentine. By changing his style of writing he is achieving this, not only through what he saying about graduating art from mechanical to liberal, but also through his style and techne. Both Alberti and Vives spend time discussing subject matter. Vives splits up who should be imitated based on the subject of the piece being writer. Similarly, Alberti pays attention to the subject matter of the painting. He says that an image can only bring pleasure of the subject matter of the painting brings pleasure. Alberti believes that one must imitate the feeling he wants the viewer to have in the subject of his painting for the artwork to be successful. This is what Vives is saying when he illustrates that one must pick the best writer in the subject that he wants to write about and imitate that style to be successful. Both Petrarch and Alberti can be compared with Vives and his ideas on imitation. To all three writers imitation plays a huge role on how to present written and artistic works. All three of them believe that imitation of others will lead to success. Further, they believe that imitation is the only way to learn how to write properly. Alberti adds another assumption: he says that to be the best, one must imitate, but before the imitation process takes place, one must have a natural talent for art. Petrarch and Alberti both believe that one must mimic what they believe is the right tradition through their styles. Petrarch believes in the Ciceronian tradition and follows in Cicero’s footsteps by imitating his style. Alberti is more concerned with understanding than the use of eloquent language. Overall, to all three writers imitation plays a huge role in their understanding of how written works influence their audiences.

Do people travel further to buy comparison goods rather than convenience goods?

My title asks, ‘do people travel further to buy comparison goods rather than convenience goods?' My data collection was carried out in the central business district (CBD) of St Albans. My general aim is to investigate a range of interests of shoppers in the area and also a little on the land use in the CBD. Once sufficient data is collected I will be manipulating it to answer my hypothesis and to draw a conclusion from the relevant results. St Albans was visited on a Market day, which is held in the main street of the city every Wednesday and Saturday. It was a suitable study area as it has many different aspects to it which would suit the needs for different types of data collection for many students with a large variety of hypothesises and questions. St Albans is located in Hertforshire, south-eastern England, on the River Ver, near its confluence with the Colne. St Albans is situated on the northern fringe of Greater London. The district includes the city and the parishes of Colney Heath, Harpenden Rural, Harpenden Town, London Colney, Redbourn, St. Michael, St. Stephen, Sandridge and Wheathampstead. (See figure 3). Nearby places outside the district include Hatfield to the east, Welwyn Garden City to the north-east, Luton and Dunstable to the north-west, Hemel Hempstead to the west, Watford to the south-west and Borehamwood to the south. (See figure 1 and figure 2). The population in mid-1998 was estimated at 131,400. (See figure 6). In the CBD of St Albans, our study included the roads, Market place (where the market is held), Chequer Street, Victoria Street, Peters Street, London Road, Holywell Hill, High Street, Verulam Road, Dagnall Street, Spencer Street, Catherine Street and Hatfield Road. (See figure 4 and figure 5). There are two main train stations. The city station is about 750m east of the city centre and is serviced by Thameslink. The abbey station is about 1km south of the city centre and is serviced by Silverlink. There is also a single train running between St Albans and Watford Junction, starting a new round trip every 45 minutes during most of the day. Housing is expensive relative to England in general, possibly due to the fast commuting to London by train. Notable buildings include St Albans Cathedral. The sphere of influence is the area served by a settlement, sometimes called a catchment area or hinterland. The larger the settlement, the greater the number and variety of shops and services and the wider the area from which people will travel to use the centre. London's sphere of influence is the whole country. Outside London towns such as Plymouth, Newcastle, Leeds and Norwich serve local regions. Market towns serve smaller villages and farms in the area. A village only serves itself and some surrounding farms. Smaller settlements tend to have fewer shops and services than larger settlements. The shops, such as a general store, newsagent, small supermarket and chemist tend to provide low-order or convenience goods such as newspapers, bread and milk. In larger settlements there are more shops and services. They include shops selling convenience goods but there are also department stores and specialist shops selling jewellery, sports equipment and furniture. These are called high-order or comparison goods. The types of goods and services in a settlement are linked to the following: – The threshold population: the minimum number of people required to support a service so that it remains profitable. In the UK this is about 300 for a village shop, 500 for a primary school, 25000 for a shoe shop, 50000 for a medium sized store and 100000 for a large one. – The range of a good: the maximum distance people are prepared to travel to use a shop or service. Most people do not travel great distances to buy a newspaper or do their shopping but they are prepared to travel further to purchase clothes, jewellery or furniture, which are more costly and bought less often. Method: On Wednesday 26th February 2003, geography students of Year 10 St. Helen's School visited St Albans on a market day in order to carry out some geography fieldwork for coursework. During the morning it was sunny and fairly warm, however, as the day went on, although it stayed sunny, it got colder. The CBD land use map (see figure 7) and the shopper's questionnaire (see figure 8) were carried out during the afternoon, when we were in the CBD. We were split into 11 groups of 4-5 people and were sent to one of the 11 sections of the CBD. By being split into groups and then spread to different areas all around the CBD, made data collection easier and quicker. My group and I were appointed to work in area 4, which included Chequer Street, Market Place and a small part of High Street. This area is in the heart of the CBD and was in an area where the market was being held. The CBD land use map was completed at about 14:30. My group and I walked around our area completing our land use map by filling in how each store along the streets was used. E.g. Fast food shop, shoe shop, newsagent etc. By doing this it showed us what proportion of stores were comparison and what proportion were convenience, were present in the CBD. This had to be pointed out as it could well effect whether people would travel further to buy either type of good. For example, if the CBD consisted almost completely of convenience stores, it may not be too likely that a lot of people would travel from very far to shop at the small range of comparison stores. There were a few problems with this method of data collection however. First of all, it was quite difficult to fill in every shop on the map. Some of the stores were hard to find or couldn't be found at all. Also, the map was a little too small to fill in enough detail. The shopper's questionnaire was carried out later on in the day. Each person in each group was advised to ask at least 5 different people who were seen in their particular area of the CBD. By asking the actual shoppers in St Albans, it allowed us to see their interests, whether they came to shop for comparison goods or convenience goods, how far they have travelled to buy what they wanted to buy, where bouts they have come from etc. Each question in the questionnaire had a different purpose, and some had some problems with them: – ‘Are you shopping in St Albans?': this was the first question asked. If the answer was ‘no' to this question, most of the other questions that followed would be completely irrelevant. – ‘Were you held up in any traffic jam?': there was a problem with this question because, if the person being questioned travelled by foot it would not be a relevant. – Some terms in the some of the questions were not understood by everybody. For example, ‘Have you come to use specialist services?', the term ‘specialist services' was not always understood and it had to be explained on many occasions. If the person being questioned was in a rush, they may not have had time to ask what the term meant, consequently giving an inaccurate answer which could effect the results. – ‘Where have you come from today to shop in St Albans?': this question may have caused problems as people were sometimes too vague with their answer because they may not have wanted us to know where they came from or maybe where they lived. E.g. If the person said that they came from London, it would have been too vague as from that, we do not know if they came from the CBD of London or the suburbs etc. Analysis and Interpretation: From studying the desire line maps (see figure 9 and figure 10) that I have drawn for both the distances people are prepared to travel for either comparison or convenience goods, it is fairly obvious that there are more people coming into St Albans from the south than from the north. This may be because of accessibility from these areas in the south and north to St Albans. I can see that there are better motorway links from the south than from the north. From the south there is the M1, A1, A41 etc. However from the north, although there are a few motorway links, it is more limited. Again from looking at the desire line maps, I can see that the results for comparison goods and convenience goods do not differ greatly at all. They both are drawn slightly north from Harpenden, and attracted greatly south-west by people travelling from Greater London. There are not so many people however travelling form the north-east or the south-west. Both desire line maps are very similar to each other, though there is one anomaly on the comparison goods map. This anomaly is the person who had travelled from Enfield which drew the sphere of influence further east. This, again, seems to be due to motorway links. A possible reason as to why the two desire line maps are so similar may be there is not a very large range of comparison goods in St Albans. From the CBD land use map, (see figure 12) even though it shows that there is a greater proportion of comparison stores than convenience stores, it may not mean that there is a large and wide variety of comparison stores. And at the same time, the market may have extended the distance people are willing to travel for convenience goods. Even though the market is of mainly convenience goods, people may still be prepared to travel from fairly far to shop in the market. This may be because people see that St Albans has a different atmosphere to any other market. For example, despite the fact that there is Watford Market in Watford, we can still see that quite a few people have travelled from Watford to shop and to use the market in St Albans. This may be because Watford Market differs greatly from the market in St Albans. Firstly, Watford Market is indoors. On the day we visited St Albans, the weather was very good, so that could have attracted more people. Watford Market is also only open on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, so because of this, people in Watford may have needed to buy something from a market even though the market in their area was closed. So, as the market in St. Albans is open on Wednesdays, and the day we visited the market was on a Wednesday, their may have been more people from Watford on that day, who wanted to use the market in St Albans. St Albans is also a fairly historical area, for example there are prestigious monuments such as St Albans Cathedral and the Clock Tower. This again could be another reason as to why people are attracted to the market in St Albans rather than a market in their own area or one nearer than the one St Albans. Conclusion: My title asked ‘do people travel further to buy comparison goods rather than convenience goods? From my results and interpretations I have been able to come to a conclusion to answer the question. I was able to see from my interpretations of the two desire line maps that the spheres of influences are of roughly the same shapes. The only factor that makes than a little different is the anomaly of the single person who had travelled from Enfield on that particular day. Also, all the reasons I have given as to why people may have travelled from particular places to buy either of the types of goods, even each other out. For example, the lack of variety of comparison stores lowers the distance people would be willing to travel for comparison goods, but at the same time the distance people would be willing to travel for convenience goods is being extended due to the unique market St Albans has. The results and interpretations don't particularly match text book predictions saying that people travel further to buy comparison goods than convenience goods. The ranges of the goods are very similar in this study and it shows that many factors can effect the distance people would be willing to travel to buy a particular good or to use a particular service. Therefore, one cannot always be grounded on the idea that comparison goods are always travelled further for than convenience goods are. To conclude, people do not travel further to buy comparison goods rather than convenience goods, but they travel about the same distances for either.

Plagiarism in the Digital Age Essay Example

Plagiarism in the Digital Age Essay Example Plagiarism in the Digital Age Paper Plagiarism in the Digital Age Paper To plagiarize means to steal and pass off as ones own the ideas or words of another. In academic environment, it can be when one uses some paper when an online essay plagiarism check shows this paper is not a unique one its someones else writing. Todays society revolves heavily around technology and the internet, which creates a generation that has different ideals and standards about plagiarism. The simple act of cutting and pasting as described by author William Gibson in Gods Little Toys: Confessions of a cut and paste artist is no longer simple; it is complex. Instead of viewing it as wrong, which is done in Trip Gabriels article, Plagiarism Lines Blur for students in the digital age, it should be seen as a new form of creation and xpression. The digital ages expansion requires new standards and interpretations of plagiarism because of the growing use of mixing and matching of ideas. In William Gibsons article, Gods Little Toys: Confessions of a Cut and Paste Artist, he describes how todays growing internet culture constantly redefines our culture. Gibson narrates his discovery of the radical writer William S. Burroughs whose method of writing involved incorporating other writers texts into his own work. Normally this would be considered plagiarism, but Burroughs believed it was essential to his work. Gibson explains how Burroughs, although used the scissors and paste pot method, was no plagiarist at all. He compares this style of writing to the work of visionary DJs methods of breaking apart different records and incorporating them into their own music to make new hits. The remix is the product of todays audience participating in their culture rather than passively listening. This new form of creation sprung from the expanding digital age. Gibson describes how the cut and paste method is a technology that emerged on its own and we simply follow it wherever it will take us. He states that even though many are unaware, we own our culture; We own our words. In Trip Gabriels article Plagiarism Lines Blur for students in the digital age, he explains how plagiarism is a growing problem due to the different type of internet age this generation is growing up in. He explains how students growing up in the internet age show a lack of understanding that information found on the internet does not belong to them. Gabriel speaks of multiple cases of students that believed information and texts found on the internet did not need to be cited because it was assumed to be common knowledge. These days, students fail to see that lifting texts or words from the internet and pasting it into their own work is a serious offense. This generation believes that information found on the web is fair game for anyone to take because of how easily accessible it is. Ms. Bookover, an undergraduate Trip Gabriel interviewed about the cheating going on in college life, describes how walking into a library and actually holding the article is different than viewing it online. Being in the same place one downloads music and video gives the researcher the sense that everything can belong to you. She discusses how students feel it is O. K. to uses someone elses words as long as you dont care and do it purely for a grade. She emphasizes that if the educational system loosens plagiarism standards, creativity will decline and laziness will grow. Bookover believes one major factor for the growth of plagiarism is the lack of preparation and education given in high school In both Gibson and Gabriels articles the use of copied texts is discussed, although, both have contrasting opinions on the subject. Gabriel emphasizes shared texts as being a problem and labels it as plagiarism, whereas Gibson explains how it is a new orm of creating work in an ever changing age of the internet. Gabriel describes a one dimensional evaluation of the topic and Gibson a multi-faceted assessment. Instead of viewing mixing and matching as a crime that does not foster creativity, it should be seen as more of a way to bring together great ideas that have already been written and creating new works of art (Gabriel). Just like DJs around the world who are deconstructing recorded music to create their own versions, writers who use the ideas of others create their own (Gibson). Applying the same methods, riters use an endless recombinant process that actively uses ideas from past work as a Jumping off point and expand upon them (Gibson). This characteristic of todays digital media age should not be frowned on by the academic community, but rather viewed with an open mind. The availability of information on the internet is a useful tool that was meant to be taken advantage of. Students feel confined when they fear the possibility of accidentally using an idea that was not originally theirs, and as a result, stifled creativity. The idea that students simply do not grasp that using words they did not write is a erious misdeed is a true statement when blatant copying and pasting of whole paragraphs or essays is concerned, but not so much when ideas or certain texts are taken and used (Gabriel). Making collages out of previous work should not be put into the same category as mindless copying and pasting because inspiration does not equal plagiarism. The standards defining plagiarism need to be rethought now that todays generation is able to see the endless possibilities and combinations of ideas and information that is open to them. All of the information and all of the ideas in the pool of knowledge belong to the people.

Malcolm Baldrige

Malcolm Baldrige Malcolm Baldrige was a native of Nebraska. He did not come from a poor family but he was born and raised in Omaha. It means that he grew up far away from the major urban centers of the United States and yet he became the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. However, being a part of the Reagan cabinet was not the most important achievement of his life. His legacy also includes the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award (â€Å"MBQA†), a prize named in his honor.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Malcolm Baldrige specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The MBQA is considered the most prestigious award-giving body when it comes to excellence in the marketplace. The fact that it was named in honor of Malcolm Baldrige is not only a testament to his character but also to his passion to see an America that is great once again and maintain its status as an economic powerhouse. The following is an overview of Malcolm Baldrige life in Omaha, his stint in the U.S. Army, and then his contributions to the world of business and politics. From Omaha to Washington, D.C. Malcolm Baldrige was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 4, 1922 (Sobel, p.16). It is important to understand his personal background to appreciate his success story. He grew up far-away from the commercial noise of New York and the intense political dealings that characterized Washington, D.C. It was in the slow-paced lifestyle of Omaha wherein Malcolm developed the leadership qualities that would serve him well in World War II and beyond. He was the son of a lawyer named Howard Malcolm Baldgridge and Regina Conell Baldrige. On March 31, 1951 he married Margaret Trowbridge Murray. She bore him two daughters named Megan Brewster and Mary Trowbridge. But before all that, Malcolm decided to finish his studies first. He prepared for college studying at Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Afterwards he graduated from Yale University in 1944 with a degree in B.A. in Englis h. However, before he graduated he had to take time-off from college because he volunteered to go join the U.S. Army in 1943 and as a private he was sent to the Pacific theater of war (Sobel, p.16). When he finally gave up his army life in favor of civilian life 1946, he was honorably discharged with the rank of captain. In 1947 he entered the corporate world and started near the bottom. He joned the Eastern Malleable Iron Company in Naugatuck, Connecticut and his first job was to be the foundry foreman in the said company. But a little over four years later, he became the managing director of the Frazer and Jones division of the company. In 1957, ten years after joining Eastern Malleable Iron Company, Malcolm was the newly appointed executive vice president. Three years later he would assume the position of president. He did not get to enjoy the top leadership position for a very long time because in 1962 he was recruited to work at Scovill Manufacturing Company in Waterbury, Conne cticut . He became their new executive vice-president. A year later he was promoted once again and became the CEO of the said company.Advertising Looking for essay on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In 1969 he became the Chairman of the Board. He turned the company around. In the ten years time that he worked at Scovill, he was able to quadruple the companys earnings by successfully creating an international market for this brass-manufacturing firm (Levy, p.30). Malcolm Baldriges reputation as an excellent leader was evident to everyone who knew him and the offers began to come in. While he was still Chairman of the Board at Scovill, Malcolm also held directorships in the following organizations: AMF, Inc.; White Plains, N.Y.; Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company of Hartford; Bendix Corporation; IBM, Inc.; Eastern Company; and Uniroyal Inc. (Sobel, p.16). He was also a trustee for the Swiss reinsuranc e Company and member of the Business Council and the Council on Foreign relations. He did not always work for profit though, in 1968 he was the chairman and director of the Red Cross fund drive and he was also the trustee of the Waterbury Hospital and even found a way to help establish the Waterbury Non-Profit Development Corporation, an organization responsible for â€Å"promoting low-income housing and developing employment and recreational facilities for blacks† (Sobel, p.16). He was not only good at running profitable companies he was also interested in politics. It can be argued that Baldrige always wanted to be business and politics at the same time. His father was not only a lawyer but also served in the Nebraska state legislature. His father also served as a Congressman from 1930 to 1932 (Levy, p.30). When Malcolm Baldrige was in his early forties he started to become active in the Republican Party and from 1964 to 1980 he served as a delegate to the Republican conven tion. He began to get noticed in the Republican circle and so at one point he â€Å"headed President Richard Nixons Connecticut campaign in 1968 and George Bushs unsuccessful campaign in 1980† (Levy, p.31). He may have suffered a setback with George Bushs campaign but he was able to bounce back when he raised funds for the Ronald Reagan campaign (Levy, p.31). After Reagan took the White House the new president remembered the people who helped him get elected as president. One month after Reagan assumed the presidency in 1981, he chose Baldrige to become the 26th secretary of Commerce of the United States of America and he also easily won the confirmation for the said cabinet post (Levy, p.31). When he was the secretary of commerce he â€Å"advocated free trade and deregulation† and he also understood the need for America to maintain superiority when it comes to excellence in producing products and services (Levy, p.31). He sat on the Council on Commerce and Trade, Coun cil on Economic Affairs as well as the Council on Natural Resources (Sobel, p.17). He succeeded in convincing Japan to accept â€Å"voluntary restraints on its exports† because he saw that the aggressive Japanese businesses were hurting the U.S. economy (Sobel, p.17). Later on his passion to improve the the level of competence of business leaders and their organizations was the main reason why his name is well-remembered even to this day.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Malcolm Baldrige specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Aside from his business and political dealings, Baldrige was also interested in a host of different things and one of which is the rodeo. In his private life, away from the spotlight, Baldrige was a professional steer roper. On July 25, 1987 while practicing for a rodeo competition, in Walnut Creek, California, he fell from a horse and died a tragic death (Sobel, p.17). But this was not the end of his story. Legacy In the mid-1980s it was apparent to many U.S. leaders that American companies were no longer at par with their foreign counterparts in the international market. One of them was Malcolm Baldrige and when he was the Secretary of Commerce he was the â€Å"advocate of quality management as a key to U.S. prosperity and sustainability† (Spechler, p.1). Less than a month after his death â€Å"the U.S. Congress passed Public Law 100-107, the National Quality Improvement Act, which established the Malcolm Baldgridge Quality Award (MBQA) for quality achievements in American manufacturing and services† (Milakovich, p.112). The main purpose of this law is to encourage American businesses, educational institutions and health care organizations to aim for excellence in the creation of goods and in the provision of services. Behind this need for an award is the growing alarm that foreign competition was slowly overtaking the United States. The quality of foreign imports is slowly eclipsing American products. The award was an incentive to push US companies to increase their capability to become a global leader in their chosen industry by improving their manufacturing systems and quality control (Sallis, p.54). It easily became a much-coveted prize in the business world. The former President Ronald Reagan was the first to hand out the award in 1988 (Milakovich, p. 112). In the first decade here the following were a few of the winners: Motorola, 1988 (Large manufacturing); Cadillac, 1990 (Large manufacturing); Texas Instruments, 1992 (Large manufacturing); ATT, 1994 (Service); Wainwright Industries, Inc., 1994 (Small business). These are trusted brands. The products and services that these companies offer are well-known and well-respected in their respective industries. The MBQA is a measuring rod that organizations and business leaders can use to gauge their performance. The MBQA is govern by strict standards. There was a year, for instance, when the no one from the manufacturing sector won the award. This was explained by one commentator who wrote, â€Å"The Malcolm Baldrige Award is the highest honor any business can receive, and after 18 years has remained very difficult to win. As the criteria have changed over the years, the Baldrige has become an award for overall effectiveness of an organization, as opposed to an organization that simply has high quality products/services† (Brown, p. 2).Advertising Looking for essay on biography? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More He also added that aside from a high-quality product and excellent service the MBQA examiners take a closer look at the quality of the business leaders, strategic planning; customer and market focus; human resources focus; process management; and results. It is difficult to win this award. An organization must be able to take a long hard look at their current system and them improve in accordance to the standards of the MBQA. This is a good thing because they will be able to gauge where they are at and can further develop their capabilities. If not for the MBQA then the quality of products and services in the United States will continue to decline because there is no incentive that can encourage businessmen to go on to the next level. Conclusion Malcolm Baldrige demonstrated his passion for excellent service. It all started when he was a student, soldier and employee. His character and leadership skills became evident early on and so he was promoted several times until he became the CEO and then Chairman of the Board for a large corporation. He could have easily rested on his laurels. However, he went on to test the political waters. He was successful as a member of the Republican Party until finally he became the 26th U.S. Secretary of Commerce. It was a tremendous achievement for him but it was not after his tragic death in 1987 that his name was immortalized in the business world. The Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award is a symbol of excellence and it was just fitting that it was named after a man of noble character and great work ethic. Brown, Mark. Baldrige Award Winning Quality: How to Interpret the baldrige  Critieria for Performance Excellence. 5th ed. New York: Productivity Press, 2006. Levy, Peter. Encyclopedia of the Reagan-Bush Years. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. Milakovich, Michael. Improving Service Quality: Achieving High Performance  in the Public and Private Sectors. Florida: CRC Press, 1995. Sallis, Edward. Total Quality Management i n Education. 3rd ed.Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing Inc., 2002. Sobel, Robert. Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch,  1774-1989. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1990. Spechler, Jay. Managing Quality in Americas Most Admired Companies. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 1993.