Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Who are These Guys Working Toward an Empirical Typology...

Introduction Traditionally prostitution was viewed as a consensual act, one person selling sexual favors to a willing buyer. Used in many classes as an example of â€Å"Mala Prohibita† when differentiating between â€Å"Mala Prohibita† and â€Å"Mala in Se† (conduct that is illegal because it is prohibited vs. conduct that is illegal because it is inherently wrong or evil). This is perhaps true about prostitution in its simplest form (an independent adult seller deciding with their own free will to perform sexual acts with another adult individual in exchange for money or other compensation). However this conceptual understanding is far from the reality of many street level prostitutes who work under a pimp. Indeed as discussed below, working under a†¦show more content†¦However, the debt is set up in a way that it is impossible to pay off. 3. Drugs – Addiction leads a victim to exchange sex for drugs. The drug dealer then exploits this addiction to force the victim to continue providing him with money. This differs from the â€Å"Debt† method in that the victim is initially seeking their â€Å"fix† rather than being under the assumption that the drugs are a gift. 4. Gorilla Pimping – The victim is under the pimps control through brute force. The pimp employs threats, beatings, and even kidnappings to gain compliance. This is rarely used as it inspires very little loyalty from the victim. It is more common for a pimp to use a different technique initially and then use â€Å"Gorilla† tactics in order to maintain subservience. 5. Authority Figure – A person with power over the victim forces the victim into prostitution (ex: parent, step-parent, foster parent, older sibling). Once a victim is ensnared, the relationship dynamics become very similar to those seen in intimate partner violence. Physical violence is used both as a disciplinary tactic, but also sometimes randomly as a way to show power and control over the victim. Williamson and Cluse-Tolar (2002)’s article paints a graphic picture of the lengths that a pimp will go to exercise control over their victims. Physical violence, at times extreme violence was just one tool used to control. Other methods were isolation from socialShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesHistory. Revised and Expanded Edition E SSAYS ON _ T WENTIETH- C ENTURY H ISTORY Edited by Michael Adas for the American Historical Association TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS PHILADELPHIA Temple University Press 1601 North Broad Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122 www.temple.edu/tempress Copyright  © 2010 by Temple University All rights reserved Published 2010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Essays on twentieth century history / edited by Michael Peter

Mexico Free Essays

Being one of the largest countries in the world, Mexico boosts its territorial area amassing almost 2 million square kilometers of land. Apart from this, Mexico also has a diverse topography as manifested by its favorable climate. At any time of the year, it has been said that Mexico has a perfect climate especially in many parts of its central highlands and some of its coastal locations. We will write a custom essay sample on Mexico or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although this has been the case, Mexico’s economy is said to be mostly driven by tourism, industrial production, oil and gas production, textiles and clothing, and agriculture. It has also been a worldwide fact that Americans visit Mexico more often than any other countries in the world because of its attractive and favorable tourist destinations. In addition, there has been numerous factories which have been built to take advantage of the lower labor costs of Mexico. Aside from the vast industrial milieu, Mexico also has been contributing almost 1/5 of the world’s oil reserves. Mexico’s seemingly progressive economic activity is mainly attributed to its wide production as well as exports on a wide selection of agricultural goods. Meanwhile, it has long been said that the economy of Mexico is characterized by a free market. In recent times, its gross domestic product has surpassed almost a trillion dollars which makes it one of the largest economies in the world. It is also firmly established as an upper middle-income country with the highest income per capita in Latin America in market exchange rates. However, Mexico is the only Latin American country to be member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Since the 1994 crisis, subsequent administrations were said to have greatly influenced the improvement in the macroeconomic fundamentals of Mexico. After its slow growth in 2001, it eventually managed to maintain a small positive growth. Although Moody’s (in March 2000) and Fitch IBCA (in January 2002) have issued favorable investment-grade ratings for its sovereign debt, Mexico still needs to look for possible remedies to alleviate societal problems. Even if there has obtained a certain level of macroeconomic stability that has reduced inflation and interest rates to record lows and increased income per capita, there still exists problems regarding social inequities. These problems include the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize the tax system and labor laws and reduce income inequality. The economy of Mexico contains a mixture of modern and outmoded industry and agriculture. These economic segments of Mexico are said to be mostly dominated by the private sector. However, recent administrations have expanded competition in sea ports, railroads, telecommunications, electricity generation, natural gas distribution and airports with the aim of upgrading infrastructure. Meanwhile, about 90% of its trade — considering that Mexico is an export-oriented economy — is under free trade agreements (FTAs). The Free trade agreement is composed and agreed upon by almost   40 countries including the European Union, Japan, Israel and many countries in Central and South America. However, the most influential among all free trade agreements is the NAFTA. NAFTA has said to have existed in 1994 and was signed in 1992 by the governments of the United States, Canada and Mexico. In 2006, trade with its northern partners accounted for close to 90% of Mexico’s exports and 55% of its imports, with the great help from the free trade agreements. After five decades of political turbulence after independence in Mexico, the four consecutive administrations of President Porfirio Dà ­az was said to be the igniting factor for the economic progress of Mexico. During his term, the last quarter of the 19th century in Mexico has brought about economic growth as manifested with numerous foreign investments and by immigration. Also with his term, President Diaz was able to develop an efficient railroad system as well as the great use of natural resources. It has also been said that during Diaz’ term, the gross domestic product of Mexico was also reaching those of Argentina and Uruguay during circa 1900 and it was almost three times more than the gross domestic product of Brazil and Venezuela. Its annual economic growth between 1876 and 1910 has also averaged by 3.3%. However, its inequitable land distribution system led to the Mexican Revolution in 1910-1917, which has transformed the important aspects of Mexican living. This armed conflict was said to be due to political repression and fraud as well as huge income inequalities. Then, large haciendas were mostly owned by a few but worked by millions of underpaid peasants living in precarious conditions. Meanwhile, during 1930 to 1970 Mexico was dubbed by economic historians as the â€Å"Mexican Miracle†. This period is said to be characterized by economic growth as spurred by a model of import-substitution industrialization (ISI). This model has protected and promoted the development of national industries. Through the ISI model, the country experienced an economic boom through which industries rapidly expanded their production. Important changes in the economic structure included the free land distribution to peasants under the concept of ejido, the nationalization of the oil and railroad companies, the introduction of social rights into the constitution, the birth of large and influential labor unions, and the upgrading of infrastructure. From 1940 to 1970 GDP increased six fold, whereas population doubled. The ISI model had reached its peaked in the late 1960s. During the 1970s, the administrations of Echeverrà ­a and Là ³pez Portillo tried to revive the economy and began to include social development in their policies, an effort that entailed more public spending. However, the government decided to borrow from international capital markets to invest in the state-owned oil company — which in turn seemed to provide a long-run income source to promote social welfare — in the advent of the discovery of huge oil fields during those times where oil prices were surging and international interest rates were low and even negative. In fact, this method has produced a remarkable growth in public expenditure, and President Là ³pez Portillo announced that the time had come to learn to â€Å"manage prosperity†. This period of prosperity, however, was accompanied by the mismanagement of resources and inflation. In 1981-1982, the international panorama changed abruptly. This has been manifested by oil prices eventually plunging as well as the detrimental increase in   interest rates. In 1982, President Là ³pez Portillo before ending his administration decided to suspend payments of foreign debt, devalued the peso and nationalized the banking system along with many other industries that were severely affected by the crisis. While import substitution had produced an era of industrialization in previous decades, it was evident that that protracted protection had produced an uncompetitive industrial sector with low productivity gains. Meanwhile, President de la Madrid was the first in the series of presidents that began to implement neoliberal reforms. After the crisis of 1982, lenders were unwilling to return to Mexico and in order to keep the current account in balance. With this, the government has decided to resort to currency devaluations which has produced an effect that sparked unprecedented inflation.   Its inflation rate has reached its historical high in 1987 at approximately 159.7%. In order to stabilize all the untoward economic activities in Mexico, Mexico has decided to liberalize its trade policies. It has been said that the first step toward the liberalization of its trade was the incorporation of Mexico’s signature of GATT in 1986. During the Salinas administration in Mexico, state-owned companies were privatized with the notable exception of the oil industry and energy since these industries were primarily protected by their constitution. In addition, the North American Free Trade Agreement was signed in 1992 between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Soon after, the signature of two additional supplements on environments and labor standards came into effect on January 1, 1994. Aside from these, the Salinas administration also introduced strict price controls and negotiated smaller minimum wage increments with labor unions with the aim of curbing inflation. While his strategy was successful in reducing inflation, economic growth pf Mexico has averaged only 2.8 percent a year. Although this has been the case, it barely shows that little by little Mexico is slowly recovering from the past mistakes of previous administrations. Also, the move to liberalize the trade policies would really help them ensure that there would exist positive economic growth for the people. After several administrations trying to pose remedy on seemingly difficult-situated economy of Mexico, the Salinas government proved that Mexico can still be at par with the economic activities of other countries in the world. Meanwhile, the Mexican economy rather its official money gained strength by enforcing a fixed exchange rate. It has been said that the peso has become overvalued while the consumer spending increased. With this Mexico’s current account deficit to reach 7% of gross domestic product in 1994, which was primarily financed through public debt instruments called tesobonos. This financing system has reassured Mexico’s payment in dollars. However, the momentary economic growth was again placed in a bad light after the Chiapas revolt and the assassinations of the most-likely to win presidential candidate as well as the nation’s prosecutor in 1994, which eventually sent an unfavorable message to investors, both existing and potential. Meanwhile, public debt holders rapidly sold their tesobonos which depleted the Central Bank’s reserves. Portfolio investments, on the other hand, which had made up 90% of total investment flows, left the country as fast as they had come in. This unsustainable situation eventually forced the Zedillo administration to abandon the fixed exchange rate because this seemingly has not proved great worth to the Mexican economy. During that time, the peso sharply devalued and the country entered into an economic crisis in 1995. The boom in exports as well as an international rescue package crafted by American president Bill Clinton in a certain way helped cushion the crisis. And after less than 18 months, the economy of Mexico was seen to be slowly recovering again. During that 18 months, the annual growth rate of Mexico was aid to have averaged for about 5.1 percent between 1995 and 2000. President Zedillo and President Fox continued with trade liberalization. During their administrations, several free trade agreements were signed with Latin American and European countries as well as in Japan and Israel in order to maintain macroeconomic stability. With this, Mexico became one of the most open countries in the world to trade and its economy base shifted accordingly. The total trade of Mexico with the United States and Canada eventually tripled and its total exports and imports almost quadrupled between 1991 and 2003. Mexico’s economy is now characterized with a favorable rating as foreign investment was changed from portfolio to foreign-direct investment (FDI). During the last quarter of 2000, it has been said that the Mexican economy grew at an annual rate of 5.1 percent which has marked its twentieth consecutive quarter of economic growth. For the entire year, the gross domestic product of Mexico then increased by 6.9 percent, the second highest growth rate in two decades. Indeed, the implementation of sound fiscal and monetary policies during 2000 enabled Mexico to achieve, and in most cases outperform, the main economic targets established at the beginning of the year. In addition, Mexico’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2000 grew by 6.9 percent in real terms, 2.4 percentage points higher than the original target of 4.5 percent. In current prices, its GDP amounted to 5,432.3 billion pesos (approximately US$574.8 billion). This increase was brought about by the 10 percent expansion in gross fixed capital formation which was supported by the increase in private investments, and by an 8.7 percent growth in private consumption. On the other hand, public spending was said to have registered only a moderate 3.5 percent increase during the year. The most vigorous component of aggregate demand during that time was the export sector, which expanded at an annual growth rate of 16 percent. For 2000 as a whole, the value of exports totaled US$166.4 billion. In terms of sector performance, the primary sector which included the agriculture, livestock, fishing and forestry has expanded at a rate of 3.4 percent in 2000. Meanwhile, the industrial sector which included the mining, manufacturing, construction and electricity as well as the services sector, which included commerce, transportation, communication and financial services, grew only by 6.6 and 7.4 percent, respectively. In an article written by Dickerson, however, Mexico’s economy slowed in the last three months of 2006. This was aid to have been brought about by the   consequences in the United States: Tough times in Mexico typically fuel immigration north of the border. In the same year, it has been said that Mexico’s gross domestic product only expanded 4.3% in the October-to-December period from the final quarter of 2005 based on the figures released by the finance ministry. It was said to be the third consecutive period of slower growth in the nation’s economic output as manifested with a sharp decline from the 5.5% expansion registered in the first quarter. The deceleration was blamed largely on a sluggish factory sector and a slowdown in exports to Mexico’s principal customer, the United States. In 2006, Mexico only posted GDP growth of 4.8% which has been considered the strongest since 2000. High oil prices pumped record tax revenue into government coffers. The economy of the United States, Mexico’s biggest trading partner, is also weakening. Meanwhile, Mexico’s inflation has been rising, its oil production is slipping, and the nation’s bellwether auto sector has hit a speed bump. Its inflation has been greatly manifested by soaring unemployment as well as rising prices on basics including tortillas, milk and eggs have sparked street protests. The unemployment rate of most of its people was also affected with the slower rate of remittance by those working outside their country. It has been said that most Mexican families only rely on the remittances sent home. Remittances have become the nation’s second-largest source of foreign exchange behind oil revenue. The slowdown in economic growth is attributed also to manufacturing. Mexico’s factory or manufacturing sector only expanded 3.1% in the final quarter of the year. In the first three months of the year, it grew by only about 7% which was driven by a rebound in producing automobiles. The Mexican plants of Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler has only accounted for about 70% of the cars assembled in Mexico and most of which end up in American showrooms, not also in Mexico since customers as surely to swarm over luxury vehicles when it would be showcased in the United States. But, the U.S. sales slump has trimmed Mexican production of vehicles as well as its exports after it only acquired a 5% growth rate in December. The trend accelerated in January as exports tumbled to 88,915 vehicles, a 20.7% drop from January 2006. In last year, Mexico’s overall export growth also slipped to 6% in November and 4% in December after an average increase of 19% over the first 10 months of the year. Its Industrial production barely grew a 1.6% rate in December, much lower than forecasts made by most economists. Meanwhile, consumer prices have also been predicted to be rising. Mexico ended 2006 with an inflation rate of 4.05%, up from 3.3% in 2005. This was said to be brought about mainly by skyrocketing prices for agricultural products which include tomatoes, tortillas and other basic foodstuffs. However, this phenomenon of skyrocketing agricultural prices could force Mexico’s central bank to raise interest rates, which could eventually help put a stop to inflation while become a burden to economic growth. On the other hand, Mexico’s oil sector was said to have not contributed much to the economic growth of the country in 2007. This has been manifested by the continuing increase in petroleum prices although it has declined steeply since last summer’s record highs, meaning less oil revenue for Mexico’s treasury. Production also has fallen sharply at Cantarell, its largest oil field, a major worry in a nation that last year relied on petrodollars to fund nearly 40% of public spending. As earlier stated, the remittances — which has also become part of the economic activity in Mexico — have shown signs of sluggish growth. Mexican workers last year only remitted almost $23 billion to their families. But the pace of growth decelerated markedly over the course of the year. In the first quarter of 2006, remittances grew 27.5% compared with the January-to-March period in 2005. In the final three months of last year, remittances were up just 5.5% over the same period the year before. However, November and December were seen to actually be stagnated in terms of growth. It has also been said that the slower economic growth of Mexico could be a result of tighter U.S. border enforcement. To some, it is a sign of progress for border agents but a potential blow for Mexico, where remittances have become a pillar of the economy. Agriculture, as a percentage of GDP, has been steadily declining. However, this has been also encountered ny most developing nations as it plays a smaller role in the economy. In 2006, the agriculture sector of Mexico has accounted for only 3.9% of GDP, down from 7% in 1980, and 25% in 1970. Nonetheless, given the historic structure of ejidos, it still employs a considerably high percentage of the work force: 18% in 2003 which are mostly of basic crops for subsistence as   compared to 2-5% in developed nations in which production is highly mechanized. In spite of being a staple in Mexican diet, Mexico’s comparative advantage in agriculture is not in corn, but in horticulture, tropical fruits and vegetables. Negotiators of   free trade agreements are expected that through liberalization and mechanization of agriculture, two-thirds of Mexican corn-producers would naturally shift from corn production to horticultural and other labor-intensive crops such as fruits, nuts, vegetables, coffee and sugar cane. While horticultural trade has drastically increased due to these agreements, it has not absorbed displaced workers from corn production which has been estimated at around 600,000. Moreover, corn production has remained stable as a result of income support to farmers or a reticence to abandon a millenarian tradition in Mexico: not only have peasants grown corn for millennia, corn originated in Mexico. Even today, Mexico is still the fourth largest corn producer in the world. Meanwhile, the industrial sector as a whole have benefited from trade liberalization. In 2000,   it has been said to have accounted for almost 90% of all export earnings. As earlier stated, the most important industrial manufacturer in Mexico is the automotive industry This industry are internationally recognized for their standards of quality. Although this has been the case, the automobile sector in Mexico differs from that in other Latin American countries and developing nations in that it does not function as a mere assembly manufacturer. The industry produces technologically complex components and engages in some research and development activities. The â€Å"Big Three† which includes General Motors, Ford and Chrysler have been operating in Mexico since the 1930s. Volkswagen and Nissan on the other hand had only built their plants in the 1960s. Now, even other car producers such as Honda, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz have joined in. Given the high requirements of North-American components in the industry, many European and Asian parts suppliers have also moved to Mexico for one reason alone, that is, because most labor oriented employment has been subjected to lower costs. Meanwhile, some large industries of Mexico include Cemex– the third largest cement conglomerate in the world in term of   alcohol beverage industries — has represented a meager amount in the economic activity of the country. It has been said that high-tech industrial production represented 21% of total exports, the highest in Latin America. Apart from Cemex, the alcohol beverage industry includes world-renowned players like Grupo Modelo, or conglomerates like FEMSA, which apart from owning breweries and the OXXO convenience store chain, is also the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world. It also include Gruma, the largest producer of corn flour and tortillas in the world, Bimbo, Telmex, Televisa, and many other high-tech industries, many of which are based in Monterrey. Maquiladoras — or the Mexican factories which take in imported raw materials and produce goods for export —   have become the nucleus of trade in Mexico. This sector has benefited from the free trade agreements being pushed by several administrations in Mexico. The real income in the maquiladora sector has increased 15.5% since 1994, though from the non-maquiladora sector has grown much faster. Contrary to popular belief, this should be no surprise since maquiladora’s products could enter the US duty free since the 1960’s industry agreement. Other sectors now benefit from the free trade agreement and that the share of exports from non-border states has increased in the last 5 years while the share of exports from maquiladora-border states has decreased. Meanwhile, mineral resources are the â€Å"nation’s property† by constitution. As such, the energy sector is administered by the government with varying degrees of private investment. By fact, Mexico is the fifth-largest oil producer in the world with the capacity to produce about 3.8 million barrels per day.   The public company in charge of administering research, exploitation and sales of oil and is considered the largest oil   in Latin America is Pemex, which makes $86 billion in sales a year. Their sales constitutes a sum larger than the GDP of some of the region’s countries. However, although it has been said that Pemex is the largest oil company, their growth is temporarily hampered with the imposition of high taxes, which eventually is a significant source of revenue for the government. Without enough money to continue investing in finding new sources or upgrading infrastructure and being protected constitutionally from private and foreign investment, some have predicted the company may face institutional collapse. While the oil industry is still relevant for the government’s budget, its importance in GDP and exports has steadily fallen since the 1980s. In 1980 oil exports accounted for 61.6% of total exports; by 2000 it was only 7.3%. On the other hand, the service sector was estimated to account for 70.5% of the country’s GDP, and employs 58% of the active population. This section includes transportation, commerce, warehousing, restaurant and hotels, arts and entertainment, health, education, financial and banking services, telecommunications as well as public administration and defense. Mexico’s service sector has been strong, and in 2001 it replaced Brazil’s as the largest service sector in Latin America in dollar terms. Moreover, the tourism industry is also one of the most important industries in Mexico. It is the fourth largest source of foreign exchange for the country. Mexico is the eight most visited countries in the world with over 20 million tourists a year. Meanwhie, the financial and banking sector is increasingly dominated by foreign companies or mergers of foreign and Mexican companies with the notable exception of Banorte. The acquisition of Banamex, one of the oldest surviving financial institutions in Mexico, by Citigroup was the largest US-Mexico corporate merger at 12.5 billion USD. Banamex generates almost three times as much revenue than all 16 Citigroup’s subsidiaries in the rest of Latin America. In spite of that, the largest financial institution in Mexico is Bancomer associated to the Spanish BBVA. The process of institution building in the financial sector in Mexico has evolved hand in hand with the efforts of financial liberalization and of inserting the economy more fully into world markets. The financial sector is becoming stable over the years with the   acquisitions of   foreign institutions such as US-based Citigroup, Spain’s BBVA and the UK’s HSBC. Their presence coupled with a better regulatory framework has allowed Mexico’s banking system to recover from their financial crisis manifested by the peso devaluation. Pubic lending as well as in lending in the private sector is increasing and so is activity in the areas of insurance, leasing and mortgages. However, bank credit accounts for only 22% of GDP, which is significantly low compared to 70% in Chile. Although lending has been widely accepted now in mexico, credit in the agricultural sector has fallen 45.5% in six years from 2001 to 2007 and has now represented about 1% of total bank loans. It has been described by critics that Mexico’s economy is like an airplane flying with only one engine, that engine-exports-is powerful enough to keep the country from crashing but not powerful enough to lift the whole country. Unless the motor of domestic demand turns over as well, Mexico’s economy will never really take off. Mexico’s current economic system fails to generate even a fraction of the one million new jobs that Mexicans seek each year, and it does not seem to promise rapid growth in the future. Indeed, one unstated but inescapable conclusion is that Mexico cannot hardly catch up to its free-trade partners in North America even at par with their respective living standards. Mexico’s economy which ahs said to be undercapitalized, inefficient, mistrusted, and biased in favor of large enterprises have remained a stigma or a serious barrier to broad-based economic growth. A few thousand large agro industries like exporting fruits, vegetables, and some livestock have found considerable success. Meanwhile, a significant proportion of commercial producers are bankrupt. The peasant maize economy is battered by free trade, but it will not disappear because there is a dearth of alternative employment. Good agricultural lands go uncultivated because farmers cannot compete with imports from the United States, while poor peasants deplete natural resources on lands poorly suited to agriculture. A third problem that surface at some points is the collusive nature of business-government relations. Mexico often remains a country where profits are privatized and losses socialized. Underlying many of Mexico’s problems is the need for more government revenue. Budget reductions have been responsible for rather striking cuts in government investment, which in turn, have dampened domestic demand and weakened certain sectors of the economy. Tax collection as a percentage of gross domestic products actually fell during the 1990s, a trend that underscores how inadequate has been the focus on the revenue side of Mexico’s budget. The problem is especially acute with regard to social spending. Mexico could potentially afford close-to-universal health care coverage and more extensive antipoverty programs; all it would really need to do is raise taxes by about 5 percent of GDP. WORKS CITED: (1996). Mexico Economy. Retrieved 18 April 2007, from Travel Document Systems, Inc. Website:http://www.traveldocs.com/mx/economy.htm. (2003). Economic Report – Mexico. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Website:unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/APCITY/UNPAN001680.pdf. (2007). Economy of Mexico. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Website:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico/Economy. (2007). Mexico’s Economy. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Economist.com Website:http://www.economist.com/research/backgrounders/displaybackgrounder.cfm?bg=629589. Whalen, Christopher (1995). Mexico: What’s Next? Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Website:http://www.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~alopez-o/politics/whatsnext.html Baker, Dean (2006). Beat the Press: Surprising News on Mexico at the Washington Post. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Website: http://beatthepress.blogspot.com/2006/04/surprising-news-on-mexico-at.html Dickerson, Marla, . (2007). Mexico Economy Losses Steam. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Los Angeles Times Website:http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexico17feb17,1,2750169.story?coll=la-headlines-businessctrack=1cset=true. Lawson, Chappell, . (2004). Confronting Development: Assessing Mexico’s Economic and Social Policy Challenges Latin America. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology Website:http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4000/is_200404/ai_n9363872/pg_4. â€Å"Mexico.† Britannica Book of the Year, 2004. 2007. Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online. 18   Apr.   2007   http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9396351 Slemko, Tom, . (1996). Mexico, culture, health care, driving, living, climate, etc. Retrieved 17 April 2007, from Virtual Mexico Website:http://www.virtualmex.com/general.htm. How to cite Mexico, Essay examples

Effects of Cte on Nfl Athletes free essay sample

As of now, 33 deceased NFL players have been confirmed to have had CTE before their death (Breslow, 2013). Literature Review CTE is characterized by a few neurological and physiological abnormalities in the brain, one of the main symptoms is the build-up of an abnormal protein called tau (Zeigler, 2012). In CTE affected brains, tau clumps and builds up in places, causing the brain to malfunction, often leading to dementia in later stages. (Zeigler, 2012). Also, it has been confirmed that many living NFL players are living with CTE right now (Kroll, 2013). While no way to reverse the effects has been thought of yet, research is slowly progressing in detecting it earlier on (Kroll, 2013). The NFL is attempting to work with various institutes to study CTE and hopefully prevent it as much as possible in their players. They have been providing counseling to former players now dealing with depression, memory loss, and other key symptoms. We will write a custom essay sample on Effects of Cte on Nfl Athletes or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, there is no way to clearly see the future affects that CTE research will have on the NFL and the game of football.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Managing Service Innovation-Free-Samples for Students-Myassignment

Question: Discuss about the Managing Service Innovation. Answer: Introduction In todays business world, the hospitality industry is shifting from service-focused, physical asset intensive business to customer centric and experience centric. The organizations in this industry are making various innovations for managing the service by focusing on needs and demands of customers. The major objective of this essay is to evaluate different issues, which are significant for managing the service strategies in hotel and hospitality industry. Moreover, this essay will examine different theoretical perspectives on service in a range of settings like; events and conferences, hotels, licensed retails, commercial catering, transport catering and other service sectors (Robinson and Picard, 2016). For a hospitality business, it is essential to analyze these factors and theoretical perspectives to stay competitive in the industry. Theoretical Perspectives of Service The impact of economic conditions, globalization, service development and increased competition have led to changes in the business and operating environment of global hospitality industry. It needs service organizations, like hotels to adopt competitive and marketing strategies to enhance the competitiveness and sustain the customers (Bilgihan, and Neiad, 2015). There are various theoretical perspectives, which can be used for examining the services offered by hospitality industry and its sectors such as; events and conferences, hotels, licensed retails, commercial catering, transport catering etc. These theoretical perspectives offer the activities and practices, which are fully associated with the service recovery and service failure management. One of the most important theoretical perspectives of service is service innovation theory. This theory states that implementing innovation in services assists the organizations or businesses to find new revenue systems by fulfilling the needs and demands of customers to get the things done. For successful service innovation, it is very important to develop synergy between all the elements of service. It enables the organization to respond effectively to the changes in customer behavior with innovative practices and services. In hotel and hospitality industry, service innovation is a major source of competitive advantage in markets, where the needs and preferences are changing rapidly (Bowen, 2016). The major reason behind adopting service innovation is innovative business models and technologies. The hotels are making several innovations like; self-service, mobile booking, phone as key cards, check-in kiosks, electronic luggage tags, smartphone boarding passes, guest connectivity de vices etc. To make innovation, there are innovative collaborations among different brands, which operate their business different sectors are also building service industries, like; hospitality and tourism. For instance, the Line Hotel in US has partnered with the Linus Bike by offering a vehicle of branded bikes for its guests in hotels (Lusch, and Nambisan, 2015). In addition to this, the hotel has created the maps of domestic bike routes for the guests, so that they can discover their routes. Moreover, Marriott Hotel has collaborated with IKEA Company to develop Moxy brand. Three star hotels aim at millennial customers, who do not spend on their stay at expensive hotels. Under their service offering, they provide stylish rooms, using neutral tones and artistic characteristics and buildings, which are eco-friendly. There are various event organizations, which are using innovative technologies for interactive engagement with the audiences (Carlborg, Kindstrm, and Kowalkowski, 2014). Another theoretical perspective, which can be applied on service and service strategies in hospitality industry, is role theory. Role theory of HRM has served as a theoretical and conceptual framework for the study of behavior of employees in an organization. In the service organizations, a major objective is to fulfill the needs and demands of customers. This theory emphasizes on the need to consider how the roles are differently played by the people of organization. For instance, behavior of managers in a service organization is different from the behavior of lower level employees. In the hospitality industry, it is useful to implement this theory as a major source to enhance the understanding of HRM behaviors and practices (Kusluvan, Kusluvan, Ilhan and Buyruk, 2010). There are various five star hotels such as; Holiday Inn and Marriott International are adopting role theory for effective service delivery. Implementation of this theory assists the management for developing service interactions in hotels and other hospitality sectors. Apart from above theories, customer retention management is another important theory. In the context of this theory, authors stated that regardless of the efforts of service companies to adopt competitive strategies for enticing customers and their efforts to manage the productivity, demand and supply, the customers do not stay loyal to the same service organization. Customers may buy same services from its competitors due to better quality and prices. To become successful, service organizations especially hospitality organizations should focus on satisfying their customers and develop relationship. It will lead the organizations to customer retention. Customer retention framework at hotel should include various efforts such as; defection management, relationship marketing, compatibility management, service recovery and failure management. Relationship marketing is one of the most significant processes that assist the hotels in building strong relationships with guests (Coussement, 2 014). The organizations need to manage customer to customer interactions for retaining the customers. Marriott is the best example that made various efforts for retaining the customers and made innovation in its hospitality services worldwide. For a service organization, it is essential to manage the service failure. According to the service failure management theory, service failure is defined as the incapability to fulfill the needs and expectations of clients related to service delivery. Customer retention management and service failure management theories are interrelated with each other, because the management should not rely on the service recovery and they should do the things appropriately from the beginning. In the case of transport catering, the organizations should find out the requirements of food products according to the requirements of travellers (Petzer, and Styen, 2006). It is very important to analyze the demands and needs of food products according to the number of travellers in train, aircraft, buses and ships. These theoretical concepts are significant for effective service delivery and these aspects can work as service strategies for the organizations in hospitality industry. By the help of these theo ries, service organizations will be able to overcome the issues, which are important for managing the service strategies in hospitality industry. Issues in Hospitality Industry During past few decades, service industries such as hospitality and tourism industries have experienced a significant growth as people love to spend their money and time on travelling and exploring new destinations. It has increased the profits and revenues of this industry. Along with this growth, this service sector is still facing some complex issues, which are arising from strategic management, human resources, marketing, service quality and culture. After analyzing the above theoretical perspectives, it can be stated that non-compliance of these aspects will generate various issues for service organizations. Human resources play a vital role in effective service delivery (Clarke, 2016). This industry is confronting different issues, which are rising from human resource context. These issues are such as increased costs of training and decreased employee morale, while they are working in hotels workplace. Each and every service organization ensures that it recruits the experienced and talented human resources for managing its routine operations (Boella, and Goss-Turner, 2013). This process makes it very difficult to supervise and organize all the roles and responsibilities of employees, so it needs proper training and development program for meeting the quality standards of service delivery. Organizing training and development programs may lead to higher costs of training that increases the administrative expenses to organization. Moreover, hospitality industry may confront the issue in context of decreased employee morale that may influence the service delivery to customers or guests. There is a major connection between employee satisfaction and guest satisfaction. If the employees will be satisfied then they will be able to satisfy the customers effectively. Motivation of employees is a significant component because it directs the company to become successful and stay competitive. For example, in low occupancy period, the staff feels demotivated as they get dissatisfaction from their salaries. In this situation, the staff will not be able to fulfill the needs of guests, so that organizations in service sector have to emphasize on enhancing morale of human resources by involving them in decision making process (Crick, and Spencer, 2011). For instance, Hotel Career Expo, Sydney is one of the major examples that have faced the problems related to lower employee morale and employee turnover. In addition to human resources, marketing and service quality has an important role in the operations of hospitality organizations. Under this, two major issues, which are faced by service organizations, are service delivery failure and insufficient efforts for promotion and marketing. With the development of modern technology and innovation, there are several options, which are available for service firms, so that they can capture the online market (Mok, Sparks, and Kadampully, 2013). But there are various hospitality organizations, which are still using old and traditional methods. Due to these poor marketing and promotional practices, sales and brand image of hotels are influenced negatively. In service industry, it is a major issue as it impacts the number of guests, which are arriving to these hotels. Furthermore, these service sector organizations are confronting the issue related to service quality failure. This service failure can be evaluated by measuring the guest satisfaction level. The major reason behind service failure is that the organization does not offer the committed service to the customers (Dedeoaylu, and Demirer, 2015). Other reasons behind this issue are such as; lack of coordination and communication, lack of effective service delivery, poor services, ignoring the customer complaints etc. These issues can leave the customers or guests dissatisfied towards organizations services and it has negative effect on repeat intention of guests. The above theoretical perspectives indicates, there may be some issues in hospitality and service industry, which may be related to cultural communication between employees and managers and employees and guests from different backgrounds. In a service organization, issues may occur, when individuals from different backgrounds are not able to understand each other that is not only the result of language barrier but it is due to differences in cultures also (Grobelna, 2015). So, it is important to train the staff to speak foreign language and become aware about the cultural differences in different nations. As the hospitality industry is going global, so cultural communication and cultural awareness are two important components for both hotel employees and guests as well. In the increase in globalization, several hotels are going under business expansion into international markets. For instance, The Accor Hotel is operating its business operations internationally and has its hotels in different cities all over the world. In this way, shifting in different nation for international project is possible when functioning with international hotel. To develop service strategies, hospitality organizations need to conduct a marketing research, so that they can understand needs and market trends in service industry (Aragon-Correa, Martin-Tapia, and Torre-Ruiz, 2015). The organizations find it very challenging to acquire and collect the market information to develop strategies for its products and services. Thus, these are the issues, which can affect the growth and success of different service sectors such as hospitality, commercial catering, transport catering etc. Conclusion In the limelight of above analysis, it can be concluded that hospitality industry is a major contributor to world economy. There are some specific theories and concepts, which are useful for different service organizations. From the theoretical concepts, it can be understood that there are some issues, which are affecting the business growth and operations of service organizations. These issues may be related to human resources, strategic management, marketing, products and services and service quality. From the above analysis, it has been analyzed that of the employees will not be satisfied then they cannot fulfill the needs of customers. So, top management should make efforts to enhance the morale of employees and implement customer retention strategies. However, the organizations need to spend money on providing training to its employees. Thus, the service organizations need to emphasize on different issues and try to overcome these issues to stay competitive in the industry. Func tioning in service industry, hotels need to emphasize on above theoretical perspectives and develop strategies to overcome the above issues References Aragon-Correa, J.A., Martin-Tapia, I. and de la Torre-Ruiz, J., 2015. Sustainability issues and hospitality and tourism firms strategies: Analytical review and future directions.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,27(3). Bilgihan, A. and Neiad, M., 2015, Innovation in hospitality and tourism industries, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 6 (3). Boella, M. and Goss-Turner, S., 2013.Human resource management in the hospitality industry: A guide to best practice. UK. Routledge. Bowen, D.E., 2016. The changing role of employees in service theory and practice: An interdisciplinary view.Human Resource Management Review,26(1). Carlborg, P., Kindstrm, D. and Kowalkowski, C., 2014. The evolution of service innovation research: a critical review and synthesis.NY. Taylor and Francis. Clarke, R., 2016, Time to address key issues facing the Australian hotel industry: attracting and growing quality staff, Retrieved from https://www.accomnews.com.au/2016/05/time-to-address-a-key-issues-facing-the-australian-hotel-industry-attracting-and-growing-quality-staff/. (Accessed on 27 February 2018). Coussement, K., 2014. Improving customer retention management through cost-sensitive learning.European Journal of Marketing,48(3/4). Crick, A.P. and Spencer, A., 2011, Hospitality quality: new directions and new challenges, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23 (4). Dedeoaylu, B., and Demirer, H., 2015, Differences in service quality perceptions of stakeholders in the hotel industry.International Journal Contemporary Hospitality Manamgement,27(1). Grobelna, A., 2015, Intercultural Challenges Facing the Hospitality Industry. Implications for Education and Hospitality Management, Journal of Intercultural Management, 7 (3). Kusluvan, S., Kusluvan, Z., Ilhan, I. and Buyruk, L., 2010. The human dimension: A review of human resources management issues in the tourism and hospitality industry.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,51(2). Lusch, R.F. and Nambisan, S., 2015. Service innovation: A service-dominant logic perspective.MIS quarterly,39(1). Mok, C., Sparks, B. and Kadampully, J., 2013.Service quality management in hospitality, tourism, and leisure. UK. Routledge. Petzer, D.J. and Styen T.F.J., 2006, Customer Retention: A Theoretical Perspective Of Service Failure And Service Recovery In The Hotel Industry, Acta Commercii. Robinson, M. and Picard, D. eds., 2016.Emotion in motion: Tourism, affect and transformation. UK. Routledge.

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Canva Review Create Graphics From Your Web Browser for Free

Creating high-quality images for your WordPress site – such as informative graphics for how-to guides and  featured images for your blog posts – can be tricky without a photo editing or graphic design solution. As this  Canva review will show, access to such tools create new opportunities to improve your site.With custom graphics and images, you can take your website to the next level and impress your visitors with your professional design. While tools such as Photoshop and Illustrator can get expensive, Canva offers a low-cost solution capable of creating high-quality photos and graphics.In our Canva review, well explore Canva’s features, services, and pricing to help give you an idea of how it can give your site’s images a little extra something. Let’s get started! Photoshop and Illustrator programs. Canva enables you to accomplish many of the design tasks you would want to use Illustrator for, such as creating infographics, logos, and other v isual aids for your posts and brand:It also tackles some basic photo editing needs. If youre not using many of Photoshops advanced tools, Canva can very easily take over and help you crop, straighten, and add effects to your photos.Canva review: Four key featuresBy providing a variety of graphic design and photo editing features, Canva makes it easy to spruce up your site. Whether you need to share important data or just want a visual element to break up your written content, the features below will help you out.1. Create graphs to share dataStatistics and data can go a long way when it comes to your sites users. While they may value your opinion, being able to back it up with numbers shows youve done your research and have authority on the topic. The problem is, stuffing large amounts of data into tables isnt very visually appealing, and doesnt always display information clearly.On the other hand, graphs and charts can communicate your data effectively while appealing visually in y our social media or blog posts. With Canva, you can select from a variety of graphs and charts to display data attractively. You can choose from more than two dozen chart types, including Venn diagrams, flow charts, bar graphs, and pie charts:Theyre easily customizable through either direct editing, or by inputting your data and letting Canva build the graph for you. Once your graph or chart is complete, you can embed it in another Canva design for use in your social media posts or blog graphics. You could even use a variety of charts to create detailed infographics.2. Edit photos to improve their qualityPhotos play many roles on websites. They can be featured images for your blog posts, personal photos that add authenticity to your brand, or pieces for your portfolio. Regardless of their function, you want them looking their best. Sometimes this means your photos need a little editing.At ThemeIsle, we use Canva to create all of the featured images for our blog posts. Canva is capab le of handling many of our basic photo editing tasks, such as straightening and cropping images. It can also help with a few more advanced techniques. For example, you can use it to apply transparencies and filters:These can help adjust the mood of your photos to fit the context of your posts or highlight certain elements in the photo. Youll also have control over aspects such as brightness, contrast, and saturation to prime your images for their debut on your site.3. Design graphics to enhance your postsTheres a wide variety of reasons you may want to add a graphic to your a post or page. You may want to share an infographic to explain your research. A photo collage could add visual interest to long blog posts. Or you may even want to create your own memes to throw in a bit of humor (no Canva review would be complete without a meme!).Whatever your design needs, Canva probably has a template or a tool to help you create it. The simple drag and drop editor is easy to use. You can cho ose from Canvas free library of images, graphics, and icons, or upload your own:Canva also includes dozens of free backgrounds you can use, as well as several fonts. If youre ever feeling stuck, the platform provides resources to help. You can check out their color wheel, design size guide, and font combinations for inspiration.4. Use layouts and templates to simplify the design processCanva includes a host of design layouts and templates to streamline your design process. While many of them can be useful for some of the situations weve already mentioned – such as graphs and photo collages – they can also help with other brand aspects you may want to implement.For example, Canva includes logo templates you can use to create a logo for your site or business. You could also use their book cover template to create an e-book, or their newsletter templates to add your custom branding to your marketing emails:Using templates can speed up the design process while still enabli ng you to make each element your own. With Canva, you can grow your brand quickly by tackling all your design needs with one easy-to-use platform.Pricing for CanvaYou can use Canvas basic tools at no cost. Creating a free account grants you access to the main features listed above, as well as two folders and one gigabyte of storage space to upload your own photos and graphics. Plus, you can utilize Canvas libraries of free stock photos, graphics, backgrounds, and templates.Additionally, there are millions of other elements you can use with a free account for just $1 per photo or graphic. If you use Canva to create brand elements such as posters or business cards, you can also pay to print these items. Canva offers a variety of finishes and delivers your designs right to your door.If youd like to access the full scope of Canvas features – which includes unlimited storage, exclusive free design elements, set brand color palettes, GIF creation, and custom resizing – you c an sign up for a paid plan. This option is still remarkably affordable at just $12.95 per month.Optimizing your Canva designs for the webCanva enables you to resize your designs to meet your needs. However, youll still want to optimize your image files before adding them to your website. This will prevent any large media files from slowing down your page load times and discouraging users from staying on your website.The easiest way to handle this is by installing an image optimization plugin like  Optimole on your WordPress site to automate media file optimization. Optimole will not only prevent your new Canva designs from weighing your site down, but will also optimize all of the images already on your site and speed up delivery with a CDN: Image optimization Lazy Load by Optimole Author(s): OptimoleCurrent Version: 2.1.2Last Updated: September 25, 2019optimole-wp.zip 96%Ratings 211,971Downloads WP 4.7+Requires Optimizing your images is a best practice that can improve y our overall site performance, as well as your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and bounce rate. By combining Canva and Optimole, youll be able to create eye-catching graphics and photos that enhance your site without slowing it down.Canva review summaryPhoto-editing and graphic design solutions such as Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator can get expensive. However, theyre also useful for creating high-quality images for your site. An affordable alternative can make a big difference in the quality of your sites images as well as your budget.Weve covered a lot of ground in this Canva review, including some of its key features. We also explored the pricing options available with this platform, and discussed the importance of optimizing your Canva-made images with a plugin such as Optimole. our tutorial on how to create blog images with Canva.Do you have any questions about using Canva to transform your sites images? Ask them in the comments section below!Free guide5 Essential Tips to Speed Up Your WordPress SiteReduce your loading time by even 50-80% just by following simple tips.

Friday, March 6, 2020

The Basics of Back-Formation

The Basics of Back-Formation The Basics of Back-Formation The Basics of Back-Formation By Mark Nichol A back-formation is a new word produced by excising an affix, such as producing the verb secrete from the noun secretion. Many back-formations, like that one, acquire respectability, but others, especially more recent coinages, are considered nonstandard, so use them with caution. Back-formation can be seen as a form of clipping, though the distinction between one category and the other is that clipped forms (ad in place of advertisement, for example) are the same part of speech as the original form, whereas most back-formations are verbs formed from nouns. (Many back-formations are formed from words ending in -tion, such as automate and deconstruct.) Most back-formations eventually take their place among other standard terms, though they are often initially met with skepticism. For example, curate and donate, now accepted without question (and associated with the high pursuits of art and philanthropy, respectively), were once considered abominations. Newer back-formations that careful writers are wise to avoid include attrit, conversate, enthuse, incent, liaise, spectate, and surveil. These buzzwords are convenient hence their creation but they are widely considered inelegant, and in the case of at least a couple of them, concise synonyms are already available. (To spectate is to watch, and to surveil is to observe.) Sometimes, a back-formation is derived from a noun describing an action, as with attendee from attendance, or from a noun describing an actor, as with mentee from mentor. Many people consider such terms aberrant, and they are also ill advised in formal writing. Other back-formations derive from confusion about a base word. Cherry and pea both developed from the assumption that the original terms cherise and pease are plurals. More recently, biceps (and triceps) and kudos have been misunderstood as plurals, resulting in bicep, tricep, and kudo. Although cherry and pea were accepted without reservations into English long ago, bicep, tricep, and kudo are still considered nonstandard. Another class of back-formations are those shorn of their prefixes for humorous effect, such as gruntled from disgruntled and kempt from unkempt; rarely do such truncations enter the general lexicon. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:75 Synonyms for â€Å"Angry†How to Punctuate Descriptions of ColorsWords That Begin with Q