The Libyan Civil War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Libyan Civil War - Essay Example Libya became an independent state with the enactment of its constitution in 1949 and the crowning of Muhammad Idris as Libya’s first king two years later. The regime of Idris dissolved in 1969 when Col. Muammar Qaddafi suddenly appropriated power-abolishing monarchy by changing the constitution with the establishment of Libyan Arab Republic (Joy, 2011, p.1). A Muslim Nasserite, Qaddafi held strong feelings against the western countries and started various anti west policies such as expelling the western military personnel and Libya being a prime resource of oil Qaddafi cut loose dealings and imposed several restrictions with the western world regarding the dealings in oil industry (Ogunbadejo, 1983). Qaddafi participated in the civil wars in Chad and there was an attempted assassination on him by the US troops. Al Qaida also believed that Qaddafi followed anti Islamic law and tensions aroused in Libya followed by civil wars. The Libyan uprising that started in February 2011 ap pears to be the most serious challenge faced by Qaddafi in his 42-year-old rule. Thus, it is an intrastate conflict which was internationalized owing to the issues concerned and later peace making attempts (Anderson, 1984; Thackrah, 2008) Social, political, economic and socio-cultural context The main centre of conflict culminated in the city of Benghazi located in the eastern Cyrenaican region of Libya following anti-establishment movements. In the past, also there have been conflicts in eastern Libya, which was also the center of rebellions against Ottoman and Italian rule many times. From Benghazi, the revolt spread like fire while Qaddafi ordered his troops to suppress the rebellion and he announced the intention to â€Å"fight to the last drop of blood† and also further added that the rebels were â€Å"nothing more than Al Qaeda extremists, addled by hallucinogens slipped into their milk and Nescafà ©Ã¢â‚¬ e† (Joy, April, 2011 p.2). Ruler Qaddafi followed an anti American policy, but he contributed greatly for the development of the people of Libya. For instance, he built a magnificent irrigation system in this arid desert land of Libya with an estimated budget of around $40 billion dollars, which provided ample water supply in this arid land. He was also successful in alleviating poverty and helped people attain sustainable standards of living in contrast with the subhuman conditions prevailing in its sub Saharan counterparts like Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea. However, the main agenda behind the culmination of the conflict was that the people of Libya wanted change and were rigorously desperate for achieving fundamental freedom rather than economic or social freedom. Qaddafi himself overthrew the monarchy rule of King Idris in 1969 and established democracy that he failed to apply in his 42-year rule in the country, which he executed like his private business, and this became the centre point for the civil war in Libya (The Libyan conflict in perspective, March 7, 2011). Causes of conflict: Structural causes of conflict and Qaddafis’ domination The root cause of the conflict in Libya can be attributed to the negligence of the civil rights and

Stress in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in the Workplace - Research Paper Example They have achieved it on the cost of their personal and social life. The urge to remain employed has caused the employees to endorse the culture of work-life imbalance. The whole effort of the employees is concentrated at increasing the productivity. Since the time is limited, employees have no option but to sacrifice their private life for the work. This is the reason why employees do not find time to spend with the family. While on one hand, this is distorting the employees’ relations with their families, on the other hand, it is also affecting their performance as continued work without breaks and rest declines an individual’s mental and physical efficiency. In addition to that, the ones who have managed to remain employed have been assigned the job responsibilities of the employees that have been terminated, which has essentially increased the work load for the remaining employees manifolds. Since the effects of economic recession are not limited to the workplace, t he employees have to deal with the inflation and increased rates of things of everyday use. There is so much to purchase in a very limited salary, that an employee always runs short of money. Consequences of Stress Stress in the workplace is one of the most important causes of increase in employees’ depression and anxiety. Some employees have been stressed to the point that they have attempted suicide. â€Å"[Employees] come to work and tell a manager or colleague that they are thinking of harming themselves. They are texting, calling, instant-messaging. Or they’ll disclose they’ve made an attempt. Some have even tried to kill themselves at work† (LeBlanc cited in Mirza, 2012). Stress in the workplace has distorted the employees’ relations with the family members, particularly with the spouses. Employees are not able to meet the financial demands of the family, which not only makes them feel derogated in their own eyes, but also makes the family me mbers unhappy with them. Particularly the housewives are not aware of the magnitude of stress the husbands go through, and thus expect them to be spending to much. The increasing tension between many couples because of the workplace-caused stress has led them to the point of divorce. â€Å"The challenges [of mental illness] are enormous to society because of the high cost for both individuals and employees. People suffering from mental health disorders are also having trouble finding and holding onto jobs† (Singh cited in Skrzypinski, 2012). This also has many negative implications for the employers. Productivity of the distressed employees declines which incurs additional costs to the employers. This is termed as â€Å"presenteeism†; a phenomenon wherein employees are present at work but too preoccupied, distressed, and/or lost to display optimal productivity. Ways to Deal with Employees’ Stress Stress among employees in the workplace imparts a need for the man agers to be very prudent and responsible in their interaction and dealing with the employees. Managers can do a lot to regulate the stress in the employees as managers assume top positions in the hierarchy of the organization structure and are thus a source of hope and inspiration for the employees. There are certain measures that a manager needs to take when approaching a worried employee. Rather than asking the

Decision Making Tools Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Decision Making Tools - Assignment Example According to the research findings, it can, therefore, be said that quote (year) mentioned that the advantage with working with decision-making tools is that they ensure that the approach to decision making is always systematic. It also ensures that the one taking the decision can at least be guaranteed of a certain degree of an outcome, especially when a particular tool proves to be effective for a particular kind of decision (quote). So far in this course, there have been the utilization and use of a number of decision-making tools, all of which have been applied in different scenarios to solve identified problems. In this paper, a toolbox of techniques and analysis tools is constructed. Quote (year) referred to techniques and analysis tools simply as decision tools as they help in easing the whole decision-making process. The toolbox is, therefore, a simple collection of organized tools in a way that makes it possible to use each tool in solving a peculiar problem. When making the decision, there are several tools that can be used to satisfy different goals. One important thing about each of these tools is that they tend to solve one kind of problem or situation better than others (quote). Knowing this, the decision matrix is created by considering a number of factors or scenarios that can arise in any typical decision-making process. Based on differences in the factors, there is a weighting given to each of them. Then after, each decision-making tool is scored against one of the factors. When using the decision matrix for regular personal decisions, quote (year) advised on the need to have an un-weighted matrix before a weighted one. This makes it easier to bring out the key scoring that is done for each tool and how it fits each factor. Table one below is an example of four major decision-making tools may be scored against five major factors when taking the decision.

Stress in the Workplace Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stress in the Workplace - Research Paper Example They have achieved it on the cost of their personal and social life. The urge to remain employed has caused the employees to endorse the culture of work-life imbalance. The whole effort of the employees is concentrated at increasing the productivity. Since the time is limited, employees have no option but to sacrifice their private life for the work. This is the reason why employees do not find time to spend with the family. While on one hand, this is distorting the employees’ relations with their families, on the other hand, it is also affecting their performance as continued work without breaks and rest declines an individual’s mental and physical efficiency. In addition to that, the ones who have managed to remain employed have been assigned the job responsibilities of the employees that have been terminated, which has essentially increased the work load for the remaining employees manifolds. Since the effects of economic recession are not limited to the workplace, t he employees have to deal with the inflation and increased rates of things of everyday use. There is so much to purchase in a very limited salary, that an employee always runs short of money. Consequences of Stress Stress in the workplace is one of the most important causes of increase in employees’ depression and anxiety. Some employees have been stressed to the point that they have attempted suicide. â€Å"[Employees] come to work and tell a manager or colleague that they are thinking of harming themselves. They are texting, calling, instant-messaging. Or they’ll disclose they’ve made an attempt. Some have even tried to kill themselves at work† (LeBlanc cited in Mirza, 2012). Stress in the workplace has distorted the employees’ relations with the family members, particularly with the spouses. Employees are not able to meet the financial demands of the family, which not only makes them feel derogated in their own eyes, but also makes the family me mbers unhappy with them. Particularly the housewives are not aware of the magnitude of stress the husbands go through, and thus expect them to be spending to much. The increasing tension between many couples because of the workplace-caused stress has led them to the point of divorce. â€Å"The challenges [of mental illness] are enormous to society because of the high cost for both individuals and employees. People suffering from mental health disorders are also having trouble finding and holding onto jobs† (Singh cited in Skrzypinski, 2012). This also has many negative implications for the employers. Productivity of the distressed employees declines which incurs additional costs to the employers. This is termed as â€Å"presenteeism†; a phenomenon wherein employees are present at work but too preoccupied, distressed, and/or lost to display optimal productivity. Ways to Deal with Employees’ Stress Stress among employees in the workplace imparts a need for the man agers to be very prudent and responsible in their interaction and dealing with the employees. Managers can do a lot to regulate the stress in the employees as managers assume top positions in the hierarchy of the organization structure and are thus a source of hope and inspiration for the employees. There are certain measures that a manager needs to take when approaching a worried employee. Rather than asking the

Marketing Communication Approach Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Marketing Communication Approach - Essay Example There are various communication channels that any organization may use for corresponding with the consumers, investors, suppliers, social activist groups and media groups. These channels range from advertising, trade promotions, consumer promotions, event marketing and sponsorship, personal selling and publicity & public relations. The news release publication is concerned with and falls under the publicity and public relations category of marketing communication strategy. The news releases are issued by an organization whenever it has a worth mentioning news, event, or offer to announce publically that catches or is likely to grasp media’s, investors’ or consumers’ attention. These press or news releases are often open for free access to general public and at times these are characterized by restricted access to particular groups because of sensitive details and to secure confidential information disclosure. At times interested parties are encouraged to pay for these news releases to acquire access to valuable information discovery about an organization, for instance; financial news releases. Microsoft’s Marketing Communication Approach Introduction to Microsoft: Microsoft is a multinational public organization, which was founded in 1974 by Bill Gates, and is headquartered in America. The company operates in IT industry and serves consumers globally. Microsoft’s marketing offers comprise of a wide range of products which falls under the categories of operating systems, hardware devices, software applications, business solutions, developers and IT pro products, and miscellaneous products that comes from diverse orientations. The company’s moves exhibits fierce competition focused vision and strategic agenda for its business activities. It started as an operating system developer for IT industry but now the company has diversified and extended its operations across so many product categories. Recently Microsoft has launc hed mobile operating system as windows phone and has entered into PC vending market to leverage its brand reputation and give tough time to the competition. Marketing Communication Approach: Microsoft’s marketing communication approach, as reflected by the news releases and ads archives at the organization’s official website, is characterized as being overwhelmingly product oriented. The company has published around 28 news releases during the month of July this year; dated from 2nd to 30th July. These news releases primarily feature novel and latest product updates or launches across the various Microsoft product portfolios. These press releases also feature news pertaining to Microsoft’s patents and special agreements with business partners; financial reports and quarterly results of company’s progress; investment and investor news; mergers and acquisitions, acknowledgement and announcement regarding opening of new Microsoft office; Microsoft’s a ccomplishments; and also shares other news concerning internal happenings and affairs at Microsoft. The product featured news releases are preoccupied by updates pertaining to almost all of the products of Microsoft including three news releases about cloud computing technology, one related to consumer products, one about

Ancient Egypt Essay Example for Free

Ancient Egypt Essay When one thinks of â€Å"mummification,† what would immediately come into mind is Ancient Egypt. But according to archaeologists, they discovered that this process is also being practiced in other places such as China and even in the among the tribes in Alaska though they are not identical to that of the Egyptians whose method is more commonly known (Monet). Compared to the other methods which appear to be very simple in terms of process or procedures such as simply putting the corpse in cold or airtight places, the Egyptian method is considered the most elaborate which is still shrouded and mystery as to how the process is exactly conducted. The only way to get an idea on how it was done is to examine the remains for pathological purposes as well as a smattering of surviving texts that have been found (Monet; David 383-384). Egyptian mumification is a two-step process that entailed embalming which made use of chemicals to preserve the remains for a longer duration of time. The second process is wrapping the corpse with layers of linen bandages for the purpose of maintaining its shape through the passage of time (Monet; David 385). Archaeologists are amazed on how â€Å"sophisticated† Egyptians were in developing the technology to make a body â€Å"live forever† and had exceeded their expectations. If there is a reasonable conclusion to this topic, the Egyptians made a significant contribution to modern civilization with this process. While it may be impractical for people to preserve the remains of the decased in this day and age, the practice still has benefits in terms of slowing decomposition and no attempt is made to duplicate the exact methods used. Works Cited David, A. Rosalie, Mummification. Nicholson, Paul T. , and Ian Shaw, eds. Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. Monet, Jefferson. An Overview of Mummification in Ancient Egypt. 1996. Tour Egypt. Net. 21 Aug. 2010 http://www. touregypt. net/featurestories/mummification. htm.

Factors that cause effects on the airline industry

Factors that cause effects on the airline industry Introduction: Airlines overcome substantial strategic, financial and operational risks. In particular, the market changes in general economic conditions have influenced considerably the airline industry. Carriers have suffered losses of $50bn over the past 10 years  [1]  is the most specific evidence. Thus, this paper studies changes in four major fields confronting the airline industry including market forces, financial risks, government policies and global events as well. Simultaneously, this study illustrates different revenues to be derived from these points. Structure of this paper seeks to contribute in this way. After introduction, section 2 provides a theoretical analysis of market forces. Section 3, 4 and 5 describe the effect of financial risks, global event and government policies respectively. Finally, section 6 concludes the study. Analysis Market forces: First at all, the global airline industry faced intense impact as a result of the market forces of supply and demand. In fact, the change in demand is one of the most important factors which affected to the airline industry. The initial variable that can shift demand curve is income. In other words, if the passengers have the high income, obviously they will be able to get the tickets more in replacement of choosing car, train, etc. As a result, their demand to go by plane will definitely rise. However, over past 10 years, due to the global economic crisis, income has been decreased substantially which brings in the decline in demand of customers. This is illustrated by the Figure 1 below. Figure 1: Decline in demand Similarly, the wage of employees in the airlines industry has been varied considerably in the recent years. For instance, approximately 78% of employees at San Francisco Airport made under $10 per hour but this amount increased of 33% when there was a higher living wage ordinance  [2]  . All things said, the airline industry has been influenced frankly by incomes of their passengers and their own employees wages. In term of supply, input price is the essential variable to shift the supply curve. Indeed, fuel price is one of clear example. Because jet fuel costs comprise a significant component of airline operating cost, the airline industry also has been affected. While short term cash flows are related to changes in the fuel price which make revenue be slow initially, much of the price effects are likely to be passed on as all airlines face similar fuel costs in the long term. Indeed, there was an argument that airlines also face an underinvestment problem whenever profitable investment opportunities arise during times of high jet fuel costs.  [3]  About technology, due to the stronger development of technological system, the supply of world airline industry also rises. As a result, there are a huge number of both new and old airlines can provide the demand of customers. In term of competitors, if an airline sets up the higher price, they will obviously loss a large number of passengers at the same time which results in a lower revenue. The specific example is the differences in percentage of passenger seats sold (load factor) of 9 U.S airlines including Delta, American, United, Continental, US Airways, Southwest, Alaska, Jet Blue and Air Tran since they are competitors of each other. This following figure 2  [4]  describes this Figure 2: The rest variables also play an important role which affect to the demand curve of airline industry including tastes, expectation, technology and number of buyers or sellers but the most necessary factors are still the first two variables. Elasticity of demand is also the essential factor that influenced the airline industry. Indeed, competition consistently affects the price of airline tickets because it gives customers other options. When the demand is elastic, price and total revenue will be negative and when the demand is inelastic, price and total revenue will be positive. And this explains why the loss and earnings of world airline industry vary substantially. Hence, the table 1  [5]  below shows the annual loss and earnings of airline industry from 1990 to 2005 and figure 3 describes the annual net profit of the world airline industry  [6]  . Annual Loss and Earnings 1990 $   3.9 billion loss 1991 $   1.9 billion loss 1992 $   4.8 billion loss 1993 $   2.1 billion loss 1994 $   0.3 billion loss 1995 $   2.3 billion profit 1996 $   2.8 billion profit 1997 $   5.2 billion profit 1998 $   4.9 billion profit 1999 $   5.4 billion profit 2000 $   2.5 billion profit 2001 $   8.3 billion loss 2002 $11.0 billion loss 2003 $   2.4 billion loss 2004 $   7.6 billion loss 2005 $   5.7 billion loss Figure 3: Annual Loss and Earnings Figure 4: Financial risks: There are three factors that cause financial problem for airline industry: fuel price, interest rate, currency rate. Fuel price: In general, fuel price always plays an important role in the world economy. That is the reason why either increasing or decreasing of fuel price affect deeply on airline industry. It is easy to see that fuel and airline are complements. Airline cannot operate without the existing of fuel. Gasoline, oil, or other products from crude oil are utilized as irreplaceable fuel in airline industry. According to the theory, complements are two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to a decrease in the demand for the other  [7]  . A change in price of fuel will shift the demand curve. In the other hand, assume that fuel is input and airline transportation is output. Rising in input price leads to a leftward shift the supply curve. The following diagram describes how fuel price causes a change in both demand and supply. Figure 5: Changes in both Demand and Supply Based on the diagram, when price of fuel increases from P1 to P2, the quantity demanded and quantity supplied decreased an amount computed by (Q1 Q2). As the result, both demand curve and supply curve shift to the left. Airline market reaches a new equilibrium E2. Applying those theories into the reality, the annual report 2009 of IATA stated that the surge in fuel prices in the first half of 2008 meant fuel represented more than 50% of many airlines operating costs  [8]  . By year-end 2009, crude oil prices had risen 85%, to $74 a barrel, as economic recovery began to raise demand and as futures markets, anticipating strengthening economic recovery, added to upward pressures  [9]  . Figure 6: Fuel price throughout the year, 2010  [10]   Higher jet fuel prices automatically eat into airlines profits; meanwhile improved economic conditions are boosting passenger numbers. For instances, in 2004, many nations including British Airways, had already added fuel surcharges to ticket prices or raised fares to counter higher fuel costs. Many of Asias major carriers, including Singapore Airlines, Australias Qantas, Malaysia Airlines and Indonesias Garuda had also introduced surcharges  [11]  . Fuel price cannot remain a stable status for a long run period then airline industry should be flexible to react quickly. Interest rate: Interest rate is other factor that effect on market economy in general and airline industry in particular. The interest rate connects the price of goods today and their price in the future. Higher interest rate increase expected cost of distress and this is particularly so for the airline industry where leverage is high and distress costs are substantial. Exchange rate: Exchange rate risk is important as airline profitability is related to currency values. Tourism demand is one of reasons that show how exchange rate cause changes of airline industry. Both inbound and outbound are influenced by exchange rate levels. When the exchange rate is high, tourist will receive benefits. The result is they are willing to travel more, thus, quantity demanded of airline tickets will be increased. In contrast, the depreciation of domestic currencies make tourists consider whether they should travel or not. Travelling in recessive period is a typically example. If the exchange rate falls down, customer might save their expenditure by not travelling or they might wait for promotion tickets. It means that foreign demand for international and domestic flights move inversely with the value of the home currency  [12]  . Global events The airline industry in the world has many changes every year. The more global event has happened, the more the affection has an effect on the airline industry. In 2001, after the terrorization 11/9 happened, the industry of airline decreased very quickly. Follow the number of airline industry, US airline posted they have net loss $7 billion. 20% staffs and employee lay off by US airline. The number of passenger reduce continuous and have criterion recovered in 2003  [13]   Figure 7: US Airline industry passenger revenues 1999 2004 Beside, the price of oil have effected on this industry. When the price of oil increase, the fees for material grow up .If the airline do not rise up the price of ticket, they will decrease their net profit. If the price of oil falls off, there are more than promotion tickets for passengers. Moreover, the disease can be affected to the industry .Example, when the SARS disease happened, many countries have not allowed passengers to come to place where SARS disease has. Government policies The government policy is another factor what can be effect on the airline industry. Because the government policy control on price, so the airline industry have 2 legal price such as price ceiling and price floor .The price ceiling is a legal maximum on the price at which a good can be sold  [14]  . For example, a airline has good quality, so they want increase fees. The price ceiling applied to fees to help people can be paid. When the airline wants to attracted passenger, they create promotions about the price their ticket. So the price floor is the price minimum at which ticket can be sold and the company airline still has net profit. P Surplus S E D 0 Q Figure 8: Taxes is a important factor of the government policy .When the taxes of the passenger increase ,the price of ticket rise up , so if the airline industry want to grow up, they need decrease another fees in ticket. When the taxes of the airline industry increase, the price of ticket will increase or the industry will cut off something to protect their profit. Conclusion: The above analysis showed that factors like market forces, financial risks, global events and government policies cause effects on airline industry. In order to overcome and continue develop own airlines, carriers should seek a suitable way. In details, by successfully managing opportunity cost, and adapting to an ever changing economic environment, airline industries can have economic success. However, the well-being of the nations economy will have a direct impact on the level of success experienced in the airline industry. During economic shortfalls in the nations economy, travellers will have fewer resources available to travel for pleasure. Contributing to the negative economic influences in the airline industry, future and existing policies targeting the airline industry will continue to hinder the industrys ability to recover losses in periods of economic hardships.