McDonald's Strategic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

McDonald's Strategic Analysis - Essay Example Company Description: McDonald’s was found by an entrepreneur Ray Kroc. McDonald’s has a magic formula that has made McDonald’s what is it today. The organization believes that behind any successful product and behind any successful idea there should be one-part of inspirations and four-parts of perspiration. â€Å"Grinding it out† is the strategy that is in engraved in the culture of McDonald’s. By grinding it out McDonald’s means to show tremendous determination and hard work in order solve all the problems that may arise in the working operations or at the back-office operations of McDonald’s. This strategy made McDonald’s earn $23.5 Billion alone in the year 2008, and during the same period, McDonald’s was able to increase its market by an impressive 7%. McDonald’s Goals: McDonald’s is one of the few organizations that believe in setting SMART goals. It believes that all goals must be Specific, Measurable , Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. This has made possible for McDonald’s to achieve its goals. Employees of any organizations prefer goals that are SMART, because they provide a sense of direction and employees do not get lost in the muddle. Mission Statement: â€Å"McDonald's vision is to be the world's best quick service restaurant experience. Being the best means providing outstanding quality, service, cleanliness, and value, so that we make every customer in every restaurant smile." (About McDonald’s, 2009 pp. 23-41) The mission statement clearly tells us that McDonald’s has always wanted to be an organization whose focus will be on fast delivery of products to customers. The service time will be kept as small as possible. And we can see that McDonald’s has quite clearly adopted the mission statement into what it is doing these days. Not only the serving time is short for customers who eat at McDonald’s, but McDonald’s also try to keep the shortest possible delivery time for customers who order their products to be delivered at home. This helps people to have a quick breakfast and lunch at McDonald’s without getting late for their jobs. McDonald’s vision statement is divided into three core objectives, where they will try to achieve these SMART goals. Be the best employer for our people in each community around the world, Deliver operational excellence to our customers in each of our restaurants, and Achieve enduring profitable growth by expanding the brand and leveraging the strengths of the McDonald's system through innovation and technology." (About McDonald’s, 2009 pp. 23-41) The above vision statement clearly shows the smart goals that McDonald’s have developed in order to get achieve their mission in the long-term. Vision statement is clearly a path through which the companies achieve their long-term mission statement. McDonald’s just not only wants to become a success ful business, but it also wants to be the best employer in the community. It also believes in delivering operational excel in its restaurants all around the world. This involves preparing, cooking and serving the products to the consumers at shortest possible time. Other than that, McDonald’s is also hoping to expand its brand through innovation and technology. This is an important part of the vision statement as organizations that tend to remain stagnant lose their market quickly, but not in the case of McDonald’s who is still growing despite achieve tremendous success all over the world.

The Black Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Black Death - Essay Example An epidemic, on the other hand is single widespread outbreak. Plague is transmitted from animals to humans by a particular kind of fleas. It is transmitted from one person to another person by direct contact, or breathing droplets containing the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It causes great suffering. Plague usually starts with a flea bite. The flea deposits Yersinia pestis bacterium in other animals. Y. pestis is transmitted from the flea bite site to lymph nodes that swell (buboes). This type of plague is termed bubonic plague (Plague, 2011). The bacteria then enter the blood stream and affect other organs. Some patients inhale or swallow droplets that contain Y. pestis infecting the lungs. This is termed as pneumonic plague. Death is certain in 50 to 90 %cases. The black death of 1300s have killed one third of the population of Europe. There were not enough people to bury the dead during that period. The decease spread very fast and no medicine were available at that time. Dr. Alexa ndre Yersin and Dr. Shibasaburo Kitasato made investigations about the disease in 1894. Dr. Paul-Louis Simond, in 1898, discovered that the vector of the disease was a flea (Plague, 2011). For centuries, the plague bacterium was used as a biological weapon. Even now, it is a biological weapon. It can be easily sprayed into the atmosphere and would be inhaled by unprotected persons. Although many countries have banned biological weapons like this, it has potential to be exploited. The plague which reached in England in the summer months of 1938 mutated into pneumonic form in winter and spread to London in September. By 1349, it spread to Wales and other areas. Churchyards were filled with bodies. Few villages however, escaped from this pandemic. The Scots took advantage of the situation by raiding Durham in 1349 (Ibeji, 2011). The Scots believed that the English were overwhelmed by vengeance of god. Within a short span of time 5000 of them died. The rest became weak and they retreate d. The plague spread to Scotland too. The reason why it spread to Scotland is not clear. That is, whether it was a natural phenomenon or because of contact with the English people during the raid. It is possible that the retreating army might have carried the plague back home. In Scotland, there was great mortality due to plague. It affects the skin and swelling appears. Children were afraid to visit parents. Life was terrible during the period of plague. The parents were also afraid to visit children. People fled to other regions. The plague created panic throughout England. The year 1349 was regarded as wretched, terrible and destructive by many. By 1350, whole England was infected with plague and two and a half million people were dead. The plague continued in London throughout the winter and spring. It did not spread evenly. Even though it arrived in Bristol and Dorset, it did not spread to rural Devon that year. The disease also did not spread to St Albans Abbey until April 134 9. London was affected by the combined attack of pneumonic and bubonic plague. The British parliament was prorogued in January 1349. Three Archbishops of Canterbury and Two ex-Chancellors died. The plague continued in London until the 1350. I has killed over one third of the population. Persons infected with plague usually died in five days. On the first day, there was painful swelling, called buboes appear on the armpit and groin. It had the size of an egg. On day two, the victim developed fever and vomited. On third day,

Carbon capture and storage

Carbon capture and storage Introduction Increasing numbers now recognise the potential devastation upon the worldwide environment climate change could have. With CO2 emissions increasing at a rate of 1.6%/Yr (1999-2005) and emissions from power production at 23,684 Mt/yr (2005)1 plus no current successor to the Kyoto Protocol*, it is clear that Carbon Dioxide is going to become an ever growing threat to our planets stability. Worryingly, not only in a climatic sense but a societal one as well. From solar and geothermal power to hydrogen fuel cells, the scientific community is working to develop ways of reducing CO2 output and one field of growing interest from both the research and business community is Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). Serious research in this field is relatively new and many aspects of its viability, safety, efficiency and cost have still to be fully discovered. As CCS is simply storing CO2 and not actually decomposing it, many feel CCS is counter-productive and the resources should instead be channelled to focus on clean energy production. However with current emission trends, CCS will be an extremely useful tool should we see drastic changes in climate toward the end of this century and need a way to buy time to fully utilise and develop clean energy. This paper will briefly describe a range of potential CCS methods as shown in figure A as well as discuss the potential for CCS in our society. The smallest estimated potential storage for CO2 at 320Gt is worth approximately 32 years of emissions!2 Few dispute the fact that we should evolve to a more environmentally-friendly society in all senses of the word, CCS will buy the time needed for this to happen. Over the last 10-20 years several proposals have been put forward and developed such as the Sleipner oil field, Norway and ‘CarbFix in Iceland. We are now beginning to get live data from current CCS projects worldwide to analyse and use for the enhancement of CCS, this paper aims to synthesise this information from these pr ojects for a brief analysis of CCS potential. Deep Ocean or the deep seabed Many have hypothesised on potential CCS sites. One suggestion is storing CO2 in the deep ocean or seabed as shown in figure B. As the oceans are already absorbing ~8 billion tons of CO2and negating ~50% of our anthropogenic CO2 emissions3 it is already a natural CCS site. CO2 is denser than seawater in its supercritical state (both solid and liquid, see figure C)and so will sink and pond on the seabed staying there for thousands of years as figure B illustrates. Alternatively, ships would pump CO2 into the ocean as shown in figure B where natural thermohaline currents would dissolve the CO2 upon which that slightly denser body of water would pond on the seabed. While salinity, pressure and temperature all affect the dissolution of CO2, below 600m, 41-48kg/m3 CO2 can dissolve in a 1M brine solution,2 a fairly large figure. Increase the brine concentration and this figure will drop,however, with the average molarity of the oceans at 0.5M it is clear that this store has great potential . Unfortunately immediate acidification of the local water would occur as carbonic acid forms. Therefore this storage method would probably be devastating to local ecology. The cost:benefit analysis over acidifying patches of ocean as opposed to lowering atmospheric CO2 and thats effect upon terrestrial habitats and surface ocean marine communities could fill a thesis and resulted in much debate. This method has so far seen no field tests even though its potential storage capacity is vast and inestimable. Mineral Carbonation Of similar environmental concern is disposal via mineral carbonation. CO2 reacts with certain rocks to form carbonate minerals. This process is seen naturally in the form of weathering where ~1.8108 tons CO2 are mineralised annually yet this geochemical process could also occur underground. Rather than mine and crush rocks such as basalt and peridotite to react with atmospheric CO2 on the surface, causing major environmental disruption due to mass mining operation and a great increase in sediment flux,4 CO2 would be injected into deep geological stores of: olivine; pyroxene; and plagioclase.Here the CO2 would slowly react to form its carbonates over tens of thousands of years where it would then be a near permanent store. As these reactive minerals are found in reasonable abundance in basic rock, potential CCS sites of this nature are found worldwide. The Columbia River basalt has been predicted to be able to dispose of 36-148Gt/CO2 whereas the Caribbean flood basalts could potentia l store 1,000-5,500Gt/CO2. Similarly, the basalt basin offshore of Washington D.C. could hold 500-2,500Gt/CO2.10 The gaseous CO2 conversion to solid carbonate involves an increase in volume and pressure. It is hypothesised this process would cause major fracturing within the basalt rock which could potentially form an escape route for the still supercritical CO2 (see figure D).8 The ‘CarbFix Pilot Project in Iceland is monitoring the effects and potential of this style of CCS through intensive Geophysical monitoring as ~9.4Mt/CO2 is pumped into the ground. Coal-bed seams Worldwide there are many coal fields economically unviable for mining and these are potential CCS sites as figure A (4) shows. The coal seams contain natural micropores due to coal production process. These micropores currently contain methane molecules, again as a by-product of the coal creation. However, CO2 molecules adsorb to the micropores easier than the CH4.2 By pumping CO2 into these seams a volume of CH4 will be yielded proportional to the volume of CO2 injected,2 while still providing a deep underground store for CO2. This has been calculated at 20m3/ton coal from a field site in the San Juan Basin. Therefore there is an approximate minimum storage capacity of 150Gt/CO2 worldwide however exact volumes of unmineable coal are not available. Adsorption involves weak electrostatic forces to hold the CO2 molecules to the pore which are very dependent on a stable environment.2 Should any tectonic activity take place to alter the temperature or pressure of the storage site, the C O2 would detach and plume. This CO2 plume would then slow migrate to the surface through existing pore channels which figure D shows clearly. This is a worry faced in many CCS schemes, as any CO2 migration could cause interaction and dissolution into groundwater thereby polluting it, force saline groundwater to mix with freshwater and pollute the freshwater or alternatively migrate to the earth surface and plume. Also, dependent on the CCS site, CO2 could end up acidifying patches of ocean where ‘leaks have occurred. CO2 plumes on the earth surface have proven fatal before when 1,700 people and all fauna within a 14km radius perished in the Lake Nyos disaster when CO2 suddenly degassed from the base of the lake to the atmosphere. 14 Depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers One of the most promising and researched suggestions is storage in depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers. Figure A (1,3a,3b) illustrates these are both on and off shore and deep geological area of rock with high porosity and low permeability. The gas field ‘Sleipner West in the North Sea just off the Norwegian coast is an actual working CCS site where much research into CCS is being conducted and monitored. 1106 tons of CO2/Yr2 are being pumped into a space of 5.5x1011m32 previously occupied by predominantly methane gas. The CO2 is stored in the pore spaces in rocks identical to how groundwater is stored in aquifers. In the case of saline aquifers, while pumping in CO2, saline water is removed as well as forced into surrounding rock. These Porous rocks are commonly sedimentary rocks found in basins normally 600-1200m deep. Pressure increases with depth as well as temperature, by about 28Â °C/km2. This means CO2 would need to be stored in its supercritical state ( figure C) which is more compact than normal, 1 ton of CO2 occupies 6m3 rock2. Once injected, the CO2 will naturally migrate through the pore spaces trying to reach ground level (figure D). During this process the CO2 will become ‘trapped and well in pore routes which do not actually lead to the surface. The inevitable migration makes choosing a CCS site difficult. Any site needs an impermeable rock layer above it or a low permeability rock where the migration time will be equal to the sites desired lifespan to act as a ‘cap rock. Without a cap rock, the CO2 could migrate back to the surface in decades making the entire operation an epic fail. However, storing CO2 in these fields is not just about pocketing it underground. The geochemical processes of dissolution and mineral precipitation would also occur adding to the favourability of depleted reservoirs as the optimum CCS technique. For any single site 3 different forms of CCS would be occurring. Dissolution would take a few thousand years dependant on the surface area to volume ratio of water to CO2 and mineralisation would happen along similar timelines. Therefore, four factors will affect the usefulness of any CCS depleted reservoir site: immobilisation of CO2 in any traps or wells; geochemical reactions between the rock and CO2; dissolution into groundwater or saline water resident in the rock; and migration back to the surface.2 The benefits of this method of CCS do not stop here though! The process of pumping CO2 into the ground forces out the dregs of what was previously there, beneficial if it was gas or oil. Shows this as a separate process but it can easily be paired with depleted fossil fuel stores. This can be collected and sold, providing a slight economical offset to the cost of the project. This is referred to as Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). EOR has been embraced in the Americas and is in use at Pan-Canadians Weyburn field in Saskatchewan, another field example of CCS in use today. Only 18Mt/CO2 is its expected capacity2 however data on this specific technique will be invaluable. It does raise questions into the economics as it would take thousands of these sites worldwide to have a significant impact upon atmospheric levels and with each new site, the risks of a CO2 disaster associated with the storing of CO2 increases. Worldwide there is great uncertainty into the potential volumetric storage capacity of CO2 in underground reservoirs ranging from 400-10,000 Gt/CO2 according to Hendriks and Blok, 425Gt/CO2 was proposed by Van De Meer whereas Koide and team calculated it at 320Gt/CO2. There is such variation not only because worldwide high resolution mapping of the subsurface is scarce, but the presence of micropores is undetectable and the question of how do you incorporate figures from processes such as dissolution and geochemical mineral precipitation is raised. Figure E shows the IPCC calculation of potential worldwide storage sites. Either way, CCS can cl early buy the time we may need to avoid major global climate change. Conclusion As natural gas itself contains a fraction of CO2, this proves it is possible to store CO2 in a geological setting for millions of years, the exact purpose of CCS technology. Unfortunately, with all the ambition and optimism over CCS, its true benefits must be realistically analysed. Yes CO2 is a powerful greenhouse gas and the one most accountable to anthropogenic sources,1 but it is only one of many. CCS is completely unable to deal with methane, sulphur oxides and of apparent increasing importance, water vapour. Critics are also completely correct with their feelings of it only being a temporary fix. The earths surface system is dynamic enough that the stored carbon will eventually make its way back into the atmospheric carbon cycle . Although we will be far gone, is that a responsible excuse? CO2 migration will occur within the store and so will need constant monitoring. Is the economic cost of initiation, monitoring and potential clean-up should leaks develop enough to justify t he project? Current estimates reckon in the cement industry, it will cost $50-250/ton CO2 to be avoided2 and that electricity prices will have to double at minimum2, the lower figures representing technology advancement. The CO2 could pollute groundwater sources with saline water and Cox et. al. have perceived that a fault during late stage CO2 injection could produce a CO2 plume similar to that seen at Lake Nyos.[19] While this risk could be mitigated by placing CCS sites offshore it would still be an ecological disaster.2 Finally, who would be responsible for the CCS site? The purpose of the site is to store CO2 for 10,000 years or more.19 It is highly unlike any company will be around for its lifetime. While CCS is technically possible, it undoubtedly requires more research and development to convince not only the rest of the scientific community, but the general public as well. As of February 2010 Metz, B. et. al. IPCC Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage 2005 ISBN-13 978-0-521-86643-9 Holloway, S. Underground Sequestration of Carbon Dioxide a viable greenhouse gas mitigation option Energy 30 (2005) Pg2318-2333 Keeling, R. Triage in the greenhouse Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg820-822 Bickle, M. Geological carbon storage Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg815-818 Bachu S. Sequestration of CO2 in geological media in response to climate change Energy Conservation Management 2004 (Pg147-164) National Oceanographic Data Center www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/WOA05/pr_woa05.html (Data set 2005) Dessert, C. et. al. Weathering laws and their impact of basalt weathering on the global carbon cycle Chemical Geology 202 Pg257-273 (2003) Matter, J. Kelemen, P. Permanent storage of carbon dioxide in geological reservoirs by mineral carbonation Nature Geoscience 2 (Dec 2009) Pg837-840 McGrail, P. et. al. Potential for carbon dioxide sequestration in flood basalts Journal of Geophysical Research 111, 2006 Pg445-468 Goldberg, D. Slagle, A. A global assessment of deep sea basalt sites for carbon sequestration Energy Procedia 1 (2009) Pg3675-3682 Juerg, M. et. al. Permanent Carbon Dioxide storage into basalt: the CarbFix Pilot Project, Iceland Energy Procedia 1 (2009) Pg3641-3646 Creedy, D. An introduction to geological aspects of methane occurrence and control in British deep coal mines Geology 1991;24 Pg209-220 Glazer, E. CO2 Sequestration Princeton University Website www.princeton.edu/~chm333/2002/fall/co_two/geo/coal_beds.htm#_ftn7 2002 Le Guern, F. Sigvaldason, G. The Lake Nyos event and natural CO2 degassing Volcanol Geotherm Research 1989 Pg95-276 Czernichowski-Lauriol, I. The underground disposal of Carbon Dioxide British Geological Survey 1996 Pg183-276 Hendriks, C. Blok, K. Underground storage of Carbon Dioxide Energy Conservation Management 1995 36(6-9):539-542 Van De Meer, L. Investigation regarding the storage of carbon dioxide in Aquifers Energy Conservation Management 1992;33(5-8):611-618 Kodie, H. et. al. Subterranean containment and long term storage of carbon dioxide in unused aquifers and in depleted natural gas reservoirs Energy Conservation Management 1992;33(5-8):619-626 Cox, H. et. al. Safety and stability of underground CO2 storage British Geological Survey 1996 Pg116-162

The Importance of Informal Education Essay -- essays papers

The Importance of Informal Education Informal education has for a long time been considered very controversial in the education world and looked upon as just for entertainment. Informal education is commonly defined as learning that takes outside of formal school settings. Informal education can be things such as field trips to science centers, aquariums, museums, zoos, or planetariums. All of the following places are considered to be "informal settings" because they are all outside the classroom area. An educational curator at a small museum in Jackson Hole, Wyoming is as much an informal educator as a director of educational programs for the Smithsonian Institution. Often informal educators are retired K-12 teachers that have received additional training and have therefore been thrust into a more prominent role to teaching the nation’s students about mathematics and science. Many people look at field trips as pointless and unbeneficial to students at any age. But many will argue that informal education is only helpful when students have prior knowledge of the subject from formal education before going out of the classroom to learn. The role of prior knowledge in learning is considered of utmost importance in designing effective educational programs. Informal education is very common with science subjects. Most students cannot understand scientific principles by reading out of a book because textbooks and paper handouts can be very dry and boring. Going on field trips to informal settings reinforces what students learn from their teachers and help them understand the topics better. Public understanding of science is considered to be one of the most important issues facing educators in today’s technological world. It is see... ...ormal education to step up and play a more significant role. Informal education activities should no longer be looked upon as "a day away from school" but rather an opportunity to further learning and have fun doing it. Informal education settings are unique from the usual classroom location so it is refreshing to learn in a different place, just like so many students enjoy when they learn as a class outside in the warm breeze after a long cold winter. Informal education provides students with a new outlook on learning and makes them more attentive. But more importantly, informal education assists formal education; it does not replace it by any means. While it is hard to find a "perfect exhibit" to fit everyone’s needs, informal educators are doing the best they can. In the words of Frank Oppenheimer, founder of the San Francisco Exploratorium, "no one flunks museum."

Dispositional vs. Biological Theory Essay

Dispositional personality theories are quite different from biological personality theories. The two will be compared and dissected in this article. The Big Five Personality Test will also be analyzed and how it is used to study personality will be examined. Dispositional personality theories contend that each person per certain stable, long lasting dispositions. These dispositions make a person display certain emotions, attitudes, and behaviors. These dispositions appear in many different kinds of situations, which lends the belief that people behave in predictable ways even when they are in different situations. The theory also states that each person has a different set of dispositions, or that their sets of dispositions have different strengths which assembles a unique pattern. There are two different types of dispositional theories, type and trait theories. Type theories assign people to different categories. These categories depend on the individual’s temperament. Hippoc rates and Galen suggest temperament is based on body fluids (which sounds a bit outlandish). Blood is said to represent the sanguine temperament. This is a person who is warmhearted, optimistic, and laid back. Phlegm is a phlegmatic person who is lethargic, calm, and slow to action (when one thinks about this in relation to actual phlegm it is quite disgusting). Black bile is a melancholic person, an individual who might be very sad and depressed. Last but not least, is yellow bile, which represents a choleric personality. A choleric personality is someone who is angry, assertive, and quick to action. The theory states that whichever body fluid is highest determines the personality type. As a modern person this theory sounds implausible. If one has a cold, and therefore more phlegm does that change their personality? And for how long does the personality change last? As long as the cold lasts  or longer? The other type of dispositional personality theories is trait theories. Trait theories assume people have many traits that are continuing qualities that individuals have in different amounts. Allport’s theory suggests that there are 3 main traits: central, secondary, and cardinal. A central trait is a characteristic that controls and organizes behavior in various situations. A secondary trait can be described as a preference and is specific to certain situations. A cardinal trait is very general and pervasive. It is so pervasive that an individual is governed by it and it dictates everything a person does. The limitations to dispositional theories are that they describe people more than they strive to understand them. It is also confining to think of a personality being put into a box instead of being given room to grow and change as lives and experiences evolve. As an individual one does not like to think they are always to have the same personality or be the same for their entire lifetimes. One wants to learn, grow and change as they experience life instead of depending on the levels of body fluid they might have on a particular day. The strengths are that they helped develop objective personality tests that have become very common in personality assessment. Biological theories suggest genetics have a big part to play in personality. Some have suggested that people with high cortical arousal are introverts who avoid stimulation. While individuals with low cortical arousal are extroverts who look for stimulating experiences. These may be genetic. One would think that biology does indeed play a part in personality; especially in younger years before life experiences alter one’s personality. This author has seen it in babies. One child leans strongly towards the father’s personality, more serious, organized, bossy, and controlling. The other child, although very close in age and with the same parents leans more towards the mother’s personality, carefree, messy, easily laughs, silly, and fun. They are too young to yet have life that has influenced how they behave, but naturally their personality mimics that of their different parents. This lends the belief that while biology may not dictate one’s personality for one’s entire life, certain traits can indeed be passed down through generations. The strengths of biological theories are that one may observe previous generations and make decisions based on the personalities of those before them, either copying success or avoiding pitfalls. The limita tion is that one is not  confined to be just like parents. One has the freedom of choice in how they conduct themselves and that can change one’s personality over time. The Big Five Personality Test is a test that determines the strongest personality traits an individual possesses. There are 5 broad dimensions of personality used to describe an individual’s personality. The five factors are neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness. The test determines which factor is the highest, lowest, and the ones that fall in between. This author took the test, and in this time of life, found it to be fairly accurate. The highest score was agreeableness and that plays out regularly in everyday life. The Big Five Personality test helps one study personality over time because it gives a way for one to measure personality changes over time. One can also see how traits relate to other variables such as confidence, music preferences, and more. One can also observe how different stages of life change which traits are dominant. Overall, dispositional and biological personality theories give one a lot of insight into personality, whether it is correct or not, it is a way to delve deeper into oneself to learn about motivations and behavior. Some theories seem a little crazy, such as type theories, and others make a little more sense and give insight into the behaviors of others and oneself. The personality test is the most interesting of all, giving yourself a glimpse into your personality and how it changes over time. References Feist, J., Feist, G. J., & Roberts, T. (2013). Theories of personality (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Psychology Today. (2011). Big five personality test. Retrieved from http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=1297

Globalization Decrease Poverty in the World Essay

Globalization is a set of processes leading to economic integration. All countries open their doors to each other. The wind of globalization has carried a lot of changes . The life nowadays depends on trade and economic relationships. Before globalization, countries were separated from each other. As a result , every one was looking for its interset in a selfesh way which is contrary to what is happening now. However, people nowadays are thinking of ways that help them to communicat with one other. There are a lot of postive things which have resulted from globalization and have improved people’s lives such as decreasing poverty in the world. In fact, an average of 65% to 70% of citizens all over the world feel thous their lives and that of their families have improved as a result of globalization[1]. Global economy has improved in the last 20 years ,which caused poverty reduction in world. Free trade and outsourcing are the most prominent phenomena which resulted from globalization and played an important role in reducing poverty. Free trade played an important part in creating a strong economy in the world. There is a vast difference between the country that open itself to world and the country that bonded it self. China is a good example of those powerful industrial countries which have benefited from globalization. â€Å"China’s increasing openness since 1978 has handsomely benefited its economy which is now nine times larger† [2]. Free trade creates a competition between countries for better goods. The poor people were able to benefit from this competition. The increasing variety and quality of products gives the poor people a lot of choices to live a better life â€Å"Diversity also becomes important for consumers, with wider choice and access to better and cheaper products and services in globalizing markets†[3]. It is a well-known fact that before globalization all countries were enclosed within themselves but with free trade life became more chipper and more people were able to live a better life. Miss Zeana who lives in Tanzania said that, her parents were living a taught life because the government owned everything even cars. People did not have the right to own anything and trade was trapped so there were a lot of people who suffered a hard life. However after a couple of years of globalization, there is a lot of enhancement in the quality of life in the country. Free trade allow people to live a better life. Jobs opportunities have been provided by new factories and cheap products are now available to help poor people to live in better life. Free trade helps the counties economies to grow faster in a way that helps moreâ€Å"A new WTO † World Trade Organization- Secretariat study published today (19 June) finds that trade liberalization helps poor countries to catch up with rich ones and that this faster economic growth helps to alleviate poverty†[4]. Now, developing counties are playing a big role in world’s trade which is a sign of economic progress that has been achieved in their counties â€Å"Today the real dynamism in trade is to be found in the developing world, where Brazil, China, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Thailand all posted double digit growth in exports†. 5] The outsourcing is one of the most widespread phenomena in the world which results from globalization â€Å"Many economists argue that outsourcing is just another form of free trade, which increases wealth in the economy†[6]. The big companies which are head quartered in developed countries set up their factories in dev eloping countries so that has helped to increase jobs opportunities. For instance, from 1982 to 1999 an average of 34 million new jobs were created per year by outsourcing, compared with 18 million in 1965-1982[7]. Another positive thing about outsourcing is that companies are able now to produce more products of the same quality but at low cost â€Å"Economists say that employing workers at lower cost allows U. S. companies to be more efficient and productive†[8]. That is how outsourcing has affected positively for both the developed as well as the developing countries. On other hand, some may think that rich are countries becoming richer at the expense of the poor and that because of globalization[9]. Developed countries have invested in poor countries for their interest. â€Å"Globalization creates great winners but also great losers at the same time†[10]. The winner in this case is the developed country. Globalization has supported rich people in a way that helped them to become richer . As a result, the gap between the rich and the poor became wider, which caused the rise of poverty â€Å"The process of integration might contribute to increased inequality and weaken impact for poverty reduction†[11]. Globalization supports inequality in each nation â€Å"Globalization has dramatically increased inequality between and within nations†[12] . Underdeveloped markets and ineffective government programs increases economic inequality in developing countries which slows progress n reducing poverty [13]. The government direct its attention to cities which is in the forefront of their economies. Their main goal is to find a way that help them to be more successful economically. There are less young people in China’s poor villages because they migrate to urban areas for a better life[14]. Low income leads to poor children mi ssing out on the education and skills that would maximize their own economic[15]. For instance, Mr. Dwanzhi She is a Chinese man, who moved from his village â€Å"Beijing† to a city â€Å"Wuhan† to complete his higher studies. Later he worked in a big successful company as a ‘Foreign consultant†. Since that time his village has not changed and that is because boors are responsible of the infrastructure there[16]. As William Easterly mentions in his article â€Å" The poor performance on economic growth is accompanied by rising income inequality and high open unemployment rates†[17]. Globalization has merged economyies of several countries to create a global market. â€Å"Developing countries worry that opening up to trade with the rest of the world may make the poor poorer†[18]. All companies try to penetrate foreign market and to establish their goods. Most big companies concentrate on the quality of the goods and ignore the rights of workers who are mostly from poor familiesâ€Å"Many people believe globalization is a disaster for the workers[19]†. Instead of having a better life, their life became worse. â€Å"Good products as a Olympic sportswear as forcing workers to work fast in a short period so that they can generate more production and more profit in bad conditions and under difficult situations for poverty-level payment† [20]. There are three million illegal workers who work in China and they suffer from low income[21]. Governments usually do not protect workers’ rights. It is true that not all countries benefit from globalization to the same extent but we can not deny that it has played an important part in enhancing the standard of life â€Å"Between 1970 and 1980 the average of income of poor people which was US$1 per day was increased 17% to 13% but in 1998 this percentage decreased to 6. 7%†[22]. There are more people who lived above the poverty line from 157 to 892 million people 1870-2000[23]. The ratio of inequality in the world has decrease. Globalization has decrease inequality by opening the gates between the developed and developing countries. There is a connection between openness and inequality â€Å"The more open a rural area is, the faster the reduction in poverty†[24]. Open rural areas have a better chance of enhancing the standard of life and of decreasing poverty. Having a better education and good health standard in these areas are signs of poverty reduction which leads to less inequality. â€Å"Promoting education, particularly for the poor people, improving health standard and enhances the productively growth that is the main engine of poverty reduction†[25]. For example, in 1990 the adult literacy rate ( of people aged 15 and over) in India was 49. % while 37. 3% was the percentage of population below the poverty in rural areas. In 2002 there was a tremendous increasing in adult literacy rate ( of people aged 15 and over) to 58. 8% and the percentage of population below the poverty line in rural area dropped to 30. 2[26]. Some people think free trade is a cause of increasing poverty in the world. H owever, fewer trade barriers and cheap transportation create economic integration and global markets. All that help economy to grow in each country specially the developing counties. Free trade is an important element that enhances the economic situation in a way that helps poor people to come out poverty. Foreign direct investment creates a lot of job opportunities in developing countries. Many people move to urban areas to work in a better condition with better salaries. For example, Mr. Dwanzhi She who lives in â€Å"Wuhan†, an urban city, said that he gets 60 thousand dollars in a year and that is a very fancy life in China. His life is completely different from his parents life who used to live as farmer in a rural area â€Å"Beijing† and suffered from tough life[27] . Many people hate foreign investment in a developing country because they think foreign investment abuses poor people and they does not give them their rights. The answer is that, free trade or the global market has created a lot of enhancement and profit for both developed and developing counties. The fact is that, some people using it in a bad way and misjudge poor people so they get the positives. As Mr. Hang Dong Fand who is a member in a labor activity says that, â€Å"Market economy is not bad but some dictator people use it in a evil way†[28]. There are many organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO) which worked for protecting poor people from those people who abuse them â€Å"The World Trade Organization, (WTO), is the primary international body to help promote free trade, by drawing up the rules of international trade[29]† For example, Miss Wu Qin is a Chinese woman who works as a volunteer in a foreign fund, Advise Clinics- says that many companies are abusing poor people’s rights so her role is to provide legal help by giving them the clear idea about their individual rights[30]. The access of foreign product to developing courtiers leads some people to think that globalization for increases poverty. On the contrary, this system has helped a lot of poor people. It is to be noted that socialist system there were barriers to trade in every county to set up in order to protect their industries. Import substitution industrialization was a way that each country tried to create its own industry. That socialist system divided the country into many classes, where the lowest class was the majority of the country. Inequality was a common thing at that time. The rich people who lived in urban areas were able to live a fancy life. The 1980 was the end of the socialist system and the beginning of globalization. Globalization has changed life of poor people for the better. There grew competition between companies for better products. In the same way they were trying to prepare them selves for more production at low pries. As a result, many people bought good products at low cost â€Å"Consumers get cheaper products (nearer world prices), at least in the medium-to long-term. †. [31] In conclusion, poverty has decreased rapidly with the birth of globalization.