Friday, December 27, 2019

Gendered Inequality And Violence Throughout The Arabic...

Savanah Rachelle Willis Dr. Nancy Wonders CCJ460, Section 1 November 23, 2014 Gendered Inequality and Violence in the Arabic Speaking World The Arab-speaking world spans across the continent of Africa, and relies heavily on not only the Arabic language, but cultural and religious practices as well. However, with the adoption of Arabian cultures comes the ever-present issue of women’s equality in relation to such beliefs. The gender inequalities in the Arab-speaking world spans from the denial of basic freedoms of women to the sexual terrorism and even femicide because of the heavily emphasized dehumanization of women in such countries. Whether brought about by sociopolitical or religious means, women are viewed to be the lesser of†¦show more content†¦As mentioned by Nagwa Megahed, â€Å"Arab countries†¦ are in urgent need of gender-oriented educational reform in order to achieve gender parity,† (Megahed 2011:400). The stunning need for education reform in Arab-speaking countries is rooted in the fact that women are deprived of education in its entirety because they’re viewed as in ferior. They’re often confined to household labor, leaving little time for education, which is a divisive labor divide rendering women as only useful the domestic realm while men rule the job market and conform to a â€Å"breadwinner† masculinity (True 2012:35-52). In addition to the deprivation of an education and a lucrative job, women are also subjected to brutal violence when they’re considered to have stepped out of line. As outlined in the short film Women’s Rights, forced marriage and domestic violence are a very real and present danger to women living in patriarchal, developing societies – with no education and no freedom of choice, women are merely items to be traded and used as a domestic tool (Films Media Group 2010). The political economy of violence against women in Arab-speaking countries falls heavily on the shoulders of sex crimes. Not only do women these countries face forced marriages, genital mutilation, and acid

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Is the Internet Good for Us - 1494 Words

â€Å"Closeness Is Not Related to Distance† is an advertising slogan, seen at the Blackberry Store at the Hartsfield International Airport. From a subjective viewpoint, has the Internet and other technologies added to our sense of connectedness and well being in our families and communities? The Internet was lauded as the technology that was going to connect the world together with the ability to communicate and work with people of like minds who may live around the corner or across the world. When it appears on the surface people are communicating more frequently with their intimate circles and others of like mind, what is the quality of those relationships? We access the Internet in many ways; mainly through computers and our†¦show more content†¦From providing additional practice for remedial work to helping a child learn the same material In a different way, technology is needed in our K-12 classrooms. In the post-secondary world, the Internet has allowed more people to get a college education. The use of the Internet to provide education for busy or homebound adults supports the improvement of the individual and our economy. The development of Blackboard and other online educational technologies helps a person move up the career ladder and provides a more career educated individual to assist in building the new economy for the future. Computers and the internet are embedded in the contemporary business models. Depending on where you stand in the economic equation, the Internet allows a worker and a company to be more efficient with resources. People can communicate in a time sensitive manner. For example, instead of making a phone call, interrupting someone while they work, an email can be sent. The culture of business has set up this expectation that emails are checked at least once a day, so if a response is not needed immediately, an email can be sent when the person thinks about the issue and the response can be sent when the recipient opens her email on her schedule. Meetings are scheduled over the Internet or at a minimum over a LAN network. Businesses, organizations, institutions, and individuals are using social media like FacebookShow MoreRelatedDoes Social Networking Have A Positive And Or Negative Affect On Individuals?942 Words   |  4 Pagesor near by. Does the internet do more harm than good? According to the Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, the internet does more harm than good because online communication has emerged, leading to a positive outcome in individuals. In my opinion, the internet does do more good than harm. Although, individuals have become too reliant on the internet, it is used for the greater good of people. The internet has its pros and cons but fortunately, more pros. The internet has more pros than consRead MoreThe world that I am growing up in is extremely different than the one that my parents grew up in,700 Words   |  3 Pagesof the internet. The internet has gone from an unthinkable luxury to an everyday necessity. This advancement has changed the way we think, work, and act as humans. When thinking about specific ways that the internet has changed the world, the first thing that comes to mind is the way we receive information. Nowadays everything that you need to know is right there at your fingertips. Whether we need answers to history questions or a recipe for dinner tonight, the internet gives it to us. I see thisRead MoreInternet Does More Harm Than Good (Oppositon Debate)1514 Words   |  7 PagesInternet Has Done More Harm Than Good . 1st Speaker Opposition Thank you Madam speaker . Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to Madam speaker of the House, the respected panel of adjudicators, the ever-precise timekeeper, my worthy opponents, ladies and gentlemen members of the Parliament . As the Opposition Leader, it would be my duty to refute the motion for today Internet Has Done More Harm than Good . We believe that Internet Has Done More Good than Harm . The government team, ladies andRead MoreHow Technology Affects Our Education Essay1357 Words   |  6 Pagesthe way we think and the way we learn? The internet is a powerful source that has taken over our current generation. The way we do things is changing every day and technology is advancing faster than ever. We don’t think like we used to because we have no reason to anymore, with the internet we have many ways to get by things without having to try hard or to memorize anything. The internet highly affects our brains and the power of education. The internet not only affects our brains, it also affectsRead MoreDoes The Internet Make You Dumber?1002 Words   |  5 Pagesis easy access to the Internet. Nicholas Carr, the author of â€Å"Does the Internet Make you Dumber?† stated a good question that is relevant to our generation. Since we have easy access to the Internet, it is making us dumber instead of smarter. I believe individuals have taken advantage of the Internet and it is costing them their thinking skills. Sometimes individual don’t realize the impact that the internet has on our brain and education. The author states that the internet comes with distractionsRead MoreThe Internet Is Good Or Bad?1074 Words   |  5 Pagesme. When the internet became available, we got all of the general public including some unsavoury characters that didn t have your best interests at heart, so we got a lot of bad things showing up on the net in addition to the overwhelming positive value that is available, he told TechRadar†(Goss). In other word, we have become using the Internet widely that we do not even know what we are doing. Indeed that we are in the situation where we ask ourselves what we are doing is good or bad. In additionRead MoreWhere Wizards Stay Up Late1529 Words   |  7 PagesLate In Where Wizards Stay up Late, the Origins of the Internet, Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon explore the beginnings of the Internet. The authors show us how it was a computer-engineering firm that produced the original prototypes for Arpanet, and how several very intelligent men made the Internet possible. The book is excellent in that it brings to the limelight many important people that played an important role in devising the Internet. In other words, therefore, this book is a history as wellRead MoreIs Google Making Us Stupid?920 Words   |  4 PagesImpact of the Internet on Society† the Internet and its many uses have been misunderstood. The Internet has helped to improve social relationships but â€Å"The media aggravate the distorted perception by dwelling into scary reports on the basis of anecdotal observation and biased commentary† (page 10). With such thought being expressed, it seems we are falling for the falsely defined characteristics of the internet. We ca n either let the unreliable reviews take our attention away from the internet or let itRead MoreWhere Wizards Stay Up Late1492 Words   |  6 PagesLate, the Origins of the Internet. Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon walk us through the beginnings of the Internet. The authors will talk about how a computer-engineering firm produced the first prototypes of the Arpanet, and how a group of men made the Internet as we know it today. It tells the intriguing story of how the technology for the Internet was devised. In many respects, it is very much a behind-the-scenes kind of documentary. When thinking about the Internet, one always appears to assumeRead MoreThe Internet And Its Effect On Society1540 Words   |  7 PagesWe are living in a world where the Internet has become an integral part of our everyday life. Everything is at our fingertips through the Internet: school, work, business, personal, and so forth; that our society has made its usage almost mandatory. It has made everything easier and people today cannot even imagine how their lives would be without this genre of technologies. But, we cannot expect that something as useful as the Internet will not have adversely effects in people. However, in this

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

The History of the Fashion Store Zara free essay sample

Background Inditex, one of the worlds largest fashion distributors, has eight major sales formats Zara, Pull and Bear, Massimo Dutti, Bershka, Stradivarius, Oysho, Zara Home y Kiddys Class- with 3. 147 stores in 70 countries around the world. Inditex Group is comprised of over one hundred companies associated in textile design, manufacturing and distribution. The achievements of the company and the uniqueness of its management model, which is based on innovation and flexibility, made Inditex one of the largest fashion distribution groups in the fashion industry. The company’s fashion philosophy -creativity and quality design together with a rapid response to market demands- has resulted in fast international expansion and excellent response to sales concepts. The first Zara shop opened in 1975 in A Coruna (Spain), the city that saw the Groups early beginnings and which is now home to its central offices. Its stores can now be found in the most important shopping districts of more than 400 cities in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As of today, Inditex is probably the fastest growing fashion retailer in the world, with over 3,100 stores, in over 70 countries around the world, and Zara is around 1,000 of those stores. Zara, as a member of the one worlds largest fashion distributor, has a high response when it comes to their supply chain. Latest fashion designs are easily supply to all the stores/branches of Zara worldwide, in just a matter of two weeks. Vertical Supply Chain   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zara operates using a vertical supply chain, which is a unique strategy in the fashion industry. Vertically integrated business undertakes a variety of activities from designing, manufacturing, sourcing, and to distribution to retail stores around the world. A company that operates in a vertically integrated strategy has total control of various business activities, such as designing, manufacturing, sourcing, and to distribution to retail stores. This gives the company total business management. While retailers concentrate their money and efforts on building a brand image through advertising campaigns, their lack of control over sub-contractors has left many open to accusations of using sweatshop labour when unacceptable practices are uncovered at factories producing their merchandise. †Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Zara is driven by introduction of new designs and releasing n ew products in just a short time. The strategy is to produce and release products in number or limited in a store, a store may only receive ten of the new product. This strategy closely emulates a ‘make to order environment’. The idea is releasing a design in limited number or exclusive. This strategy this builds up customer’s anticipation of the next product or design to be release, making the next product highly anticipated by customers. Zara does not focus in advertising their product, because Zara does not focus in building brand image, there target is production and the customer’s anticipation of their product. Instead on focusing their strategy in product advertisement, the company focuses on product design and quality. Below is a supply chain barometer of Zara, this supply chain barometer shows the balance between the company’s in-house and external operations. The balance in fabric supply and manufacturing of the product itself contributes in the company’s success. Not all the company’s in-house resources are use. A large percentage of the company’s fabric supplies are use in other brands. While in manufacturing, Zara has the most products manufactured. All the products of Zara are transported from the company’s main central site in Spain. Most of the products are shipped from the â€Å"A Coruna depot† (Zara Logistica). All stocks are not held for long periods and are sent out to all the Zara stores twice a week. For international deliveries, the stocks are delivered to the border of Spain, and the logistic provider in charge for that country takes over the distribution to the stores. The ideas and design of a product came from the designer. The designer gets the idea of what product to design next by means of its sales from stores and customers feedback and comments. The designers based their ideas in product designs from previous product sales. The feedback and comments of customers a bout a product is also considered in the design. Below is a diagram that shows the cycle how a product is made. The company’s success is because of the total control in every aspect of the business, from designing, to production, and to distribution. By having total control of the entire process, the company can quickly react to the fast changing fashion trend and customer taste, this provides the company an idea of the latest fashion trend. Having total control in all business activities allows Zara to produce and release new design in a short span of time. All of the functions of the business continuously works together to produce new collections and designs which are updated and completed on a weekly basis, this allows the company to release new product easily. Zara shop managers report to designers in La Coruna in a daily basis on what has and has not sold. This report is used to determine if a product is to be kept or altered, and whether new lines are to be created. This happens in just a few days. The designers mostly rely on product sales, feedbacks and comments from customers. Stores order their stocks from an offer they received twice a week from the commercial manager who then orders the stock to the logistic who handles the stock. Stores are ranked according to sales and forecast accuracy; this rank will determine the level of priority for store order. If a product is not selling, the company stops the manufacturing. By this means no stock will over pile. If a product is not selling a certain store the company stops manufacturing the product, this avoids over stock of non-selling products. Each store has different customers or segments. Each country and regions have different values. These segments have different values in terms of their product choice. Shoppers addicted to the Zara brand know exactly when the deliveries will be arriving at their local shop and some even turn up before opening time on delivery days to be the first to pick up the latest lines. Because products are released limitedly, customers regularly visit a store to see if a new stock has arrived. Some product in a region may not be high selling unlike in some region. In Asian market some design are kept and maintain, while in most European country where fashion is at constant change design must be constantly new therefore releasing new product constantly. Customers in other region tend to embrace what is the latest design in Europe, being the fashion capital of the world, these proves that a product can be market in other region such as Asia. The Competition â€Å"HM Hennes Mauritz AB (HM, a Sweden-based Company active in the retail clothing industry. The Company, like Zara, is engaged in product design, manufacturing and retailing of clothing and as well as accessories. The company’s products range from various clothing, which including underwear and sportswear, for men, women, children and teenagers, and cosmetic products and accessories. The Company has 20 production offices around the world, buying goods from approximately 700 independent suppliers in and around Asia and in Europe. HM operates 1,345 retail outlets in 24 countries with its largest markets in Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom. During 2006, HM opened 168 new stores, primarily in the United States, Spain, Germany, France and Canada, and launched of online sales outside the Nordic region. The Companys head office is placed in Stockholm, Sweden. Competition in the fashion industry has always been tough. H Hennes Mauritz AB, has always been Zara competitor in this industry. H has been in business since 1947, while Zara started business in 1975. Experience can play a big role in business, but strategy has been the edge of Zara to gain competitive advantage in the business. Zara has gone against the conventional strategy where other company dare not pursue. The strategy of Zara is unconventional, other companies in fashion retail uses a different strategy. Zara’s strategy works in making the products of the company more anticipated by the customers. The strategy also gives the company the full responsibility in managing all the business processes; form designing, to production, to shipment, etc. This allows the company to focus on each process, making each process vital. Investment banks used to say that this model (vertical market strategy) did not work, but we have shown that it gives us more flexibility in production, sales and stock management, said Inditex chief executive   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Early this year, Zara’s market performance is inclining in a steady phase. This shows that Zara’s market performance against their competitor is doing well. The tables below shows both Zara and H marketing performance in the start of this year alone:    |   |Quarterly |Annual |Annual | | |(Jan 07) |(2007) |(TTM) | |Net Profit Margin |14. 66% |12. 2% |12. 32% | |Operating Margin |19. 05% |16. 56% |16. 56% | |EBITD Margin |- |21. 84% |21. 84% | |Return on Average Assets |26. 39% |18. 46% |18. 46% | |Return on Average Equity |45. 06% |31. 7% |31. 57% | |Employees |69,240 |- |- | Table1: Key Stats Ratios (ZARA) |   |Quarterly |Annual |Annual | | |(Feb 07) |(2006) |(TTM) | |Net Profit Margin |13. 2% |15. 79% |16. 11% | |Operating Margin |19. 22% |22. 36% |22. 75% | |EBITD Margin |- |24. 74% |25. 15% | |Return on Average Assets |25. 05% |31. 41% |31. 0% | |Return on Average Equity |31. 74% |40. 21% |38. 91% | |Employees |40,368 |- |- | Table2: Key Stats Ratios (H) The table shows that as of the start this year Zara has been very productive in ter ms of return of average assets and equity as well, against its competitor H. This shows that the company’s starting performance is at a good start. And it will likely continue to be productive in the long run. Customer Value Consumers respond differently in every country. Every customer in different country, have different values. Some customers value quality more than price, and vice versa. Because customers respond differently to a product, it is a vital key to under stand the different response and customer values in order to build a successful retail brand across borders. Zara, understands the different response of customer in every territory the company move into. Understanding the different response of customers allowed Zara to determine the demands of customers and to makes products based on such demands. â€Å"The , a quarterly journal; published on 2002, compared British, French, and Germen shoppers. Comparing more than 1,500 consumers ratings of how well a store performed with the store choices these consumers actually made, the research concluded that what the shoppers say and what they do are not always the same. For example: shoppers don’t shop in a particular store but because their friends do, they tend to shop in the same store as well. This means that friends’ shopping choices turn out to be a powerful motivator. Consumers fall into three (3) different segments. First are customers who care for service/quality, this type of segment care most about the variety and performance of products in stores and the service that the store provide. Next are the price/value customers who are concerned about spending their money wisely. And the affinity customers who primarily seek store that suit people like themselves. This shows the big influence of friends and the society that a customer belongs to, to the customer’s personal decision. French customers give emphasis on service and quality; the German, price and value are more important; while the English, Affinity. These differences does not conclude that a company that give emphasis to price and value in their product and services will only succeed in German market, this suggest that the size of value-oriented market is different from one country to another. Understanding the reasons and factors what drives customer loyalty in each geographic market can have enormous financial benefits to the company. Zara understands the values of customers in different country, this give the company an advantage and knowledge on what products and services that a segment demands in that country. |Survey results | |What do European consumers value? |   |   | | |   | | |   | | |   | | |   | | |   | | |   | | |   | |Percent of respondents |   |   |   | | |Clothing |   |   |   | | |   |Service/Quality customers |Price/value customers |Affinity customers | | |France |50% |32% |18% | | |Germany |16% |39% |45% | | |United Kingdom |15% |19% |66% | | |Table 3: Percentage of European customer value. | | |source:   1,500 customers ratings of 40 retail clothing brand in France, Germany, and United Kingdom | Different values of customers in different country suggest that the strategy used by the company in a certain country, may n ot be successful to another country. That is why it is very important to distinguish the different values of each market, in order to develop a strategy that will be suitable to the market trends and demands. Having a competitive marketing strategy gives a company a clear focus of exactly what the company must execute in order to gain competitive advantage and succeed. Competition is a natural aspect of business. It is staying on top of the consumer preference. Companies must continuously be productive, providing customers with best-quality product at competitive price while making profit to be successful competitors in long run. Read more: http://ivythesis. typepad. com/term_paper_topics/2009/08/case-study-zaras-vertical-supply-chain. html#ixzz1UkEPeVpH

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Political Changes After The Crusades Essays - Christianization

Political Changes After the Crusades The series of crusades which started from the early the 1000's and lasted for about two hundred years caused many important political changes in Europe. One of the results of the Crusades was the shift of power between kings and feudal lords. The method of direct taxing was initiated by the kings for the first time. The church also assumed more political power because of its spiritual leadership role in the Crusades. Evidently, the Crusades caused major changes of politics in Europe. Power shifted in Europe from the feudal lords to kings after the Crusades. Kings imposed new taxed and raises armies to help the Crusades. In this process, they gained the respect and obedience of the people. The feudal lords on the other hand sold property and political liberties to towns in order to raise money for the wars, many nobles were also killed in the wars. After the Crusades, the nobles who got out of wars alive found themselves poor and powerless. Thus the kings had the stronghold of the government, and now controlled trade routes and their taxes, and had won full allegiance of the people. Direct taxes were imposed for the first time during the Crusades. These taxes were first collected to support these wars, but after the Crusades ended the taxes remained. These taxes provided funds for the government they remain even now. By imposing these new taxed, the kings officially had more power to tax than did the nobles. The Christian Church had even more political power by the end of the Crusades than before. This should make sense because the Crusades themselves were religious wars. By the Church commanding and directing these wars, it gained political power in the government. The popes who initiated these wars were almost like kings commanding their people to go to war. The church assuming this leadership role even more so made itself a major influence on the people's lives. The Crusades changed the politics of Europe in more ways than one. It is somewhat comforting to know that even though an unknown number of innocent people died in these wars, many good things came out of it. Some of these things changed the structure of the government once and for all. It is hard to imagine our lives if the Crusades have never taken place. Would we still be under the rule of feudal lords? Would the Church play a different role in our lives? Maybe we will never know. But what we do know is that the Crusades were important to our culture, our government, and to our religions, and that they were not fought in vain. Bibliography Biel, Timothy Levi The Crusades San Diego, California: Lucent Books, Inc., 1995 Mazour, Anotole G., Peoples, John M. World History: People and Nations Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1993 Armstrong, Karen Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1988