Australia And Apec Essays - International Trade,

Australia And Apec Economics assignment: APEC When the ?Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation? (APEC) was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies, its goal was to advance Asia-Pacific economic dynamism and sense of community. When the cooperation was established, there were 12 founding member economies, namely Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Republic of the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and the United States. Since then there has been more countries/economies joining APEC. APEC has come a long way since 1989. It has built steadily on the efforts of the past and looks forward to further positive progress. The initial years of APEC were focused largely on exchange of views and project based initiatives. As needs of the member economies has evolved into a forum of higher purpose: to build the Asia-Pacific community through achieving economic growth and development through trade and economic cooperation. In the Osaka meeting in 1994, APEC leaders adopted the Osaka Action Agenda, which firmly established three pillars of APEC activities: Trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation and economic-technical cooperation. Its main objective is to develop a region-wide, free trade and investment regime by the year 2000. APEC operates by consensus. In 1991, members committed themselves to conducting their activities and work programs on the basis of open dialogue with equal respect for the views of all participants. The APEC chair, which rotates annually among members, is responsible for hosting the annual ministerial meeting of foreign and economic ministers. At the 1989 Canberra Ministerial Meeting, it was agreed that it would be appropriate that every alternative ministerial meeting be held in an ASEAN economy/country. Senior Official Meeting (SOM) are held regularly prior to every ministerial meeting. APEC senior officials make recommendations to the ministers and carry out their decisions. They oversee and coordinate, with approval from Ministers, the budgets and work programs of the APEC for a. Mr. Fischer, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade, said Australia's IAP (Individual Action Plan) would address the main trade liberalization issues of tariffs, non- tariffs, investment and services, although the 1996 IAP would not pre-judge the outcomes of the existing and previously announced reviews into the passenger motor vehicle, textile clothing and footwear and sugar sectors. Other elements of the IAP deal wit the important trade facilitation issues such as standards and customs procedures, intellectual property rights, competition policy, and mobility of business people and deregulation. ?Australia's plan is fully consistent with the general principals of the Osaka Action Agenda agreed by that leaders in November 1995, including comprehensives,? Mr. Fischer said. ?Australia's done a great deal to liberalize our market consistent with APEC goals, and we expect others to match our record. The government will pursue vigorously Australian trade and investment priorities within APEC,? Mr. Fischer stated. Australia's IAP address the objectives and guidelines of the Osaka Action Plan in a comprehensive manner: Tariffs Australia's IAP includes reduction in applied tariffs to the year 2000. Table: Tariff Reductions in the APEC region Simple Average Applied Tariff 1988 1993 1997 Australia * 15.6 7.0 5.3 Brunei 3.9 3.9 2.0 Canada (*) 3.7 2.4 1.3^ Chile 19.9 11 11 China 39.5 37.5 17 Hong Kong 0 0 0 Indonesia 18.1 17 11.7 Japan * 4.3 3.4 4.6 Korea 19.2 11.6 7.9^ Malaysia 13.6 12.8 7.8^ Mexico * 10.5 12.6 9.8^ New Zealand 14.9 8.5 5.2 PNG NA NA 23^ Philippines 27.9 23.5 12.1 Singapore 0.3 0.4 0 Chinese Taipei 12.6 8.9 8.6 Thailand 31.2 37.8 17 United States (*) 4.2 4.2 3.4^ Note: Does not include calculation of non-ad valorum tariffs Indicates trade-weighted advantage ^1996 data Source: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/cib/1998-99/c99cib05.htm Australia's applied simple tariff has fallen from 15.6% in 1998 to 6.1% in 1996 and will reduce further to 4.5% by the year 2000. Australia is also hoping to have tariffs reduced to zero in numerous sectors of our economy by the year 2000. Sectors Selected for Early Voluntary Sectoral Liberalism Sector EVSL Proposal Toys Progressive reduction to zero of tariffs on toys, preferably by 2000. Elimination of unjustified non-tariff barriers. Economic and technical cooperation Gems and jewelry Elimination of trade-restrictive measures on these products (phased out by 2005), which include pearls, diamonds, silver, gold, platinum, jewelry, goldsmiths' and silversmiths' wares. Environmental Goods and Services Elimination of tariffs by 2003 on environmental goods and liberalization of environmental services. Work on non-tariffs barriers. Economic and technical cooperation. Food Further impetus to trade

John Locke, Demosthenes, Orson Scott Card, Warsaw Pact essays

John Locke, Demosthenes, Orson Scott Card, Warsaw Pact essays John Locke, an English philosopher, is one of the most recognized philosophers of all time. Born in Somerset County, he went to school at Oxford University where he got to be good friends with a man named Anthony Ashley Cooper. After rumors flew of Locke helping Cooper with plots against the king, he fled England to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, he met Prince William and Princess Mary Queen Of Orange. Six years later, in 1689, William and Mary were crowned King and Queen of England and Locke returned. Throughout his life, John Locke wrote many famous pieces of writing including An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. In this essay, Locke argued against the doctrine of innate ideas, which stated that ideas were part of the mind at birth and not learned or acquired later from outside sources. Locke claimed that all ideas were placed in the mind by experience. (Douglas M. Jesseph, "Locke, John," World Book Online Americas Edition, http://aolsvc.worldbook.aol.com/arr/o/ar3280.ht m, September 6, 2002.) Locke also stated ideas are gained by occurrence and experience, both inner and outer. Outer experience consisted of ideas in the mind, that were gained through the senses; while inner experience was more about refining the information obtained through the outer experience and clarifying it mentally. Locke also believed that every person had inalienable rights, such as the rights of life, liberty and the ownership of property (sound familiar? Locke helped shape the constitution). Locke stated that it was the Kings duty to preserve these rights, and he declared that if the ruler couldnt defend the rights of his people, then the people had the right to find a new ruler. Demosthenes, an Athenian statesman and distinguished orator was born in Athens in 384 B.C. At the age of seven, he was orphaned and his three guardians abused the inheritance his father ha ...

Multinational Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Multinational Human Resource Management - Essay Example However, many HR managers in multinational companies face complex issues in business operation because culture changes from one business environment to another. One of the cultural frameworks that remain widely used across the global is Hofstede’s cultural framework. This framework is significant for multinational companies, but it also creates complex issues to managers in the process of policy implementations and practices. Culture impacts the role of HR managers when they attempt to address the issue of cultural differences on HR system change. 3Ghemawat and Reiche argue that the greater cultural distances among host and home companies, the complexity in the change process. Many companies employ the approach of Hofstede of national cultural differences, which include power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty and Confucian dynamism in establishing a relationship and various outcomes. Managers use high performance work system practices in relation to Hofstede cu ltural dimensions in various ways in order to create organizational transformation. However, the national cultural differences vary from one country to another; hence, they impact effective organizational performance from multinational companies. The legal and regulatory environment varies from one state to another in which these multinational companies are situated. Labor union is one of the institutional factors that impact beliefs and organizational norms within the associate companies. Many countries have varied laws that protect employees who participate in unions in order to support employment stability and compensation practices. For instance,... This paper stresses that foreign corporations seeking to execute policies and practices of western management approaches often face diverse personal issues . This results due to a different context of institutional regulations and cultural aspects where companies operate. Companies employ conceptual framework that emphasizes on HR management practices and the main issue related to adaptation of diverse policies at the national context. For instance, China is one of the countries that face varied issues in an attempt of using western managerial approach especially in recruiting are training employees with suitable or professional qualifications. Companies in varied nations differ with respect to their human resource management policies and practices. This essay makes a conclusion that cultural difference is one of the critical elements that have restricted HR managers in multinational companies from achieving their stated objectives. They force multinational companies to alter their trade practices and strategies in environment they operate. Labor union is one of the institutional factors that impact beliefs and organizational norms within the associate companies. The determinant of human resource transfer by multinational companies is high rooted to a larger extent in current institutional theory. Managerial values, leadership roles and managerial behaviors vary across nation cultures and institutions; thus, they can impact the performance for multinational companies.

Mediation Observation Paper Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Mediation Observation Paper - Assignment Example The mediation case in focus involved James Nguyen, a student of Chapman law and who acted as the mediator between Robert and Swoboda who were the plaintiffs and Keith Mullens who was the defendant at the Corona Superior Court. Robert and Swoboda were couples who rented their house to Keith who upon vacation left the couple’s house in damaged state and was therefore sued for failure to pay for repair and rent of the previous month. However the disagreements, it became apparent that the plaintiffs and the defendant had never engaged in any conflict for the past five years that Keith rented the plaintiffs’ structure. All the parties were convinced and accepted to engage mediation process and Keith indicated that he would not be able to pay for the alleged damages and therefore requested that the plaintiffs drop the demands. On the other side, the plaintiffs held strongly that they could not drop the demands and the case was taken back to court where the plaintiffs were den ied their demands after long period of time. Effective mediation requires that the individual mediator follow certain sequential processes and procedures that will enable him/her comfort the parties and achieve utmost transparency of opinions and views. Usually, mediation process begins with introduction between the mediator and the individual parties and any other additional party present in the session(s). The introduction part is usually very critical as it determines the moods and emotions of the individual conflicting parties and allows the mediator an opportunity to employ other strategies to comfort the parties (Douglas and James 4). Introductory part of the mediation process requires the mediator use the most appropriate physical presentation to ensure that no individual party is frightened or threatened by the just intended process. According to Douglas and James, this stage needs to be accomplished with all parties who are located in different structures (6). In the introd uctory stage, the mediator clarifies the roles of each participant in the process and explains the rules that should govern the mediation process and the actual time frame for the process. The mediator will then acknowledge by reaffirming to both parties about the issues under determination or the actual cause for the mediation (Cohen 6). In his mediation practice, James Nguyen involved all necessary aspects introduction to ensure that nothing was left in doubt. In introducing my friend Abdul Sameer and I, James described us as his fellow law students who had come to particularly assess his progress and approach to the mediation process. James reiterated to the individual conflicting parties that we the third party had nothing to do with their discussion and therefore the parties had no reason to fear expressing their vies in transparent manner. It is at this level of mediation that James Nguyen informed the conflicting parti

Compare-Contrast Paper on Ancient Egyptian Arts and Ancient Greek Arts Research

Compare-Contrast on Ancient Egyptian Arts and Ancient Greek Arts - Research Paper Example The ancient Egyptians could have been very concerned on how the characters will be portrayed. The carefulness in drawing the characters involved is very notable. Verily, the stiffness nature of the characters portrayed could make a person say that the characters are just representations and not true. One could not entertain the idea that the characters were drawn or painted in an actual setting. Nevertheless, the ancient Egyptian arts are very attractive. Actually, the stiffness character of ancient Egyptian arts is associated to the beliefs and practices of Egypt’s primitive society. In the past, Egyptians gave importance to the exact portrayal of nature and actual life (â€Å"Art†). Exactness was actually viewed by them in terms of being able to draw the identifying features of the subject’s physical appearance. In such case, it is to be expected that in ancient Egyptian arts, the realistic appearance of an object is not given much attention. With regard to anc ient Greek arts, one could notice the realistic portrayal of the objects and characters involved (Hill; Newby, qtd. in Bispham et al. 49). Every detail of the objects and characters are seriously attended. For instance, in ancient Greek painting involving humans, one could see the lively and natural portrayal of human bodies (Pynt and Higgs 56).

The History Of Extreme Programming

The History Of Extreme Programming Extreme Programming (XP) is a software engineering methodology that has been formulated in 1996 by Kent Beck. It is a lightweight development methodology, XP is one of several popular agile processes. XP has received fair media attention, and is most renowned for its practices that are sometimes regarded as controversial, such as pair programming and test-driven development. It has already been proven to be very successful because it reaches to the customer satisfaction. Instead of delivering everything at the same time the XP focus on some date far in the future, this process delivers the software you need as you need it, in other words Extreme Programming empowers the developers to confidently respond to changing customer requirements, even late in the project development life cycle. The philosophy of Extreme Programming is teamwork, in other words Managers, Customers and Developers are all equal partners in a collaborative team. The implement is simple regarding Extreme Programmin g, yet effective environment enabling teams to become productive. XP is built on four values: Communication: Extreme programmers constantly communicate with their customers and fellow programmers. Simplicity: The keep their design simple and clean. Feedback: They get feedback by testing their software starting on day one Courage/ Respect: They deliver the system to the customers as early as possible and implement changes as suggested. Every small success deepens their respect for the unique contributions of each and every team member. The main differences with Extreme Programming is that it accepts that humans are imperfect and builds a process that not only accepts progressive elaboration, but makes this reality a central theme to all of its other practices. There is also recognition that the proscribed practices in the real world can be very challenging, to overcome this difficulty the practices interlock and complement each other. With this tools that have been mention the Extreme Programming are able to courageously respond to changing requirements and technology. Figure1: Extreme Programming Overview [1] http://www.extremeprogramming.org/ 12 practices of Kent Beck used in an XP project: There are strong relationships between XP and its practices. Without practices its not XP, and without practicing the practices of XP it cannot deliver benefits. Figure2: Dependencies between the 12 practices of XP 1) Planning Game: This is focused on determining requirements details. The customers and developers are both part of this. In a planning game the customers and the developers sit in a room together. They make plans for software releases and iterations together, identifying each role clearly. Planning game involves the making of story cards from each users point of view and splitting each story into task cards for individual developers then they make plans that take into consideration the volume of work and the schedule based on these cards. 2) Small Releases: In small releases developers put quickly a simple system into production, and then release new versions in a very short time. 3) Metaphor: In metaphor, developers in the team share story or understandings about how their programs work. 4) Simple Design: The system should be designed as simply as possible at any given moment. Keep code simple and extra complexity is removed as soon as it is discovered. Always keep in mind the principle of YAGNI (You arent going to need it). 5) Testing Programmers continually write unit tests, which must run flawlessly for development to continue. Customers define test cases for system releases. 6) Refactoring: Without changing their behavior, improve the internal structures of programs. 7) Pair Programming: Production code which is actually used in the final product, is written with the celebration of two programmers at same machine. 8) Collective Ownership: Programming code is the property of few programmers it owned by the team collectively, and anyone can change code anywhere and at anytime. 9) Continuous Integration: Integrate and build the system many times in a day, every time a task is implemented. 10) 40-hour Week: This is the rule of XP that no work more than 40 hours. Never work overtime a second week in a row. 11) On-site Customer: In whole project include a real, live user on the team who is available fulltime on site to answer questions. 12) Coding Standards: Programmers write common rules to standardize coding styles in the team. XP has 4 basic activities, coding, testing, listening and designing, which are conducted by five major roles, programmer, customer, tester, tracker, and coach. Iteration is a key concept in XP. The time constant in the different iterations range from seconds to months. Figure3: Planning/feedback loops in XP [2][3] http://www.acis.org.co/fileadmin/Curso_Memorias/Curso_CMMI_Sep06/Modulo%202%20-%20Product%20Engineering%20/xp_rup.pdf (Article: Analysis of the Interaction between Practices for Introducing XP Effectivel by Osamu Kobayashi and Mitsuyoshi Kawabata) Comparing two methodologies: Comparing two methodologies requires some form of empirical studies, The framework used is a combination of 2 established frameworks, one is Zachmans which consists of the 6 categories what, how, where, who, when and why and the 2nd one is Checklands framework is called CATWOE and has six other categories. CATWOE is the abbreviation of Client, Actor, Transformation, World view, Owner, Environment. In the following table I combine the frameworks an an order to utilize the strengths of both: zechman Checkland what Transformation why? World view when where? Environment how? who? Client, Actor, Owner 1) What? The Rational Unified Process (RUP) is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation. The Rational Software Corporation was acquired by IBM in 2003. RUP is a thick methodology; the whole software design process is described with high detail. RUP has evolved in conjunction with the Unified Modeling Language (UML). RUP is designed for large software projects. On the other hand XP has its origins in practical applications in projects during the 1990s; it is formulated by Kent Beck. XP is a lightweight methodology and used for small to medium sized software development teams. XP is intended to meet the demands of a context with unclear and volatile requirements. XP is not a commercial methodology unlike RUP. The origin of RUP and XP are similar. Both methodologies based on experience from software engineering and are evolved during the same decade, although RUP is bit older in age. There are two different underlying philosophies behind RUP and XP. RUP takes to a large extent a technical management perspective while XP is uses in development staff. RUP describes the whole software design process with high detail; RUP is a very complex methodology and is difficult to comprehend for both project managers and project members. Therefore, it is not the most appropriate software design methodology for most small projects. While XP is originally designed for small to medium sized projects, The distribution of the methodologies is different; RUP is a commercial product, no open or free standard. Before RUP can be used, the RUP has to be bought from IBM as an electronic software and documentation package while XP is freeware methodology and every one can use it freely. 2)Why? I analyze advantages and disadvantages of RUP and XP from different perspectives like what is the financial, technical and social aspect of these methodologies on each other. 2.1) Financial: Financial issues of both RUP and XP are different. Rup is a commercial product not open or free standard and owned by IBM, one should buy RUP from IBM as an electronic software and documentation package then it is available to use while XP offers the freeware solution and open to use for everyone, which is financially an advantage. 2.2) Technical perspective When we compare these 2 methodologies from technical perspective, RUP provides the organization a large amount of development tools and documents. It is delivered online via the web, and updated in new releases, all information about the software development methodology is available at the project members fingertips. Also, the newest version of RUP is always present on the computer of each team member. On the other hand XP leads to simplicity it is more user friendly, it is not specific to a single tool but its depends on the user choice that which tool he wants to use and which to reject. 2.3) Social perspective: The social perspective of RUP and XP are also related to the commercial versus freeware discussion. The selection on of methodology is depends on the software development company requirements and needs. Small and medium size software development companies like to use XP because of its free availability on the other hand larger software development companies take interest to buying software licenses, and hence buying licenses for methodology is quite natural. Extent RUP includes a large amount of formal process paperwork, role description and documentation etc it is also because of these properties called heavy weight or thick methodology while XP is very lightweight or thin methodology, both in its presentation and in the practical applications. The following table shows the difference in extent of the RUP and XP, there all the roles of an XP project are presented, with their counterparts in RUP, constituting a small subset of the RUP roles. In total, RUP comprises more than 80 major artifacts, 150 activities and 40 roles. Team XP roles RUP roles Customer team Customer Requirements specifier System analyst Project manager Tracker Tester Test analyst Tester Test system administrator Development team Programmer Implementer Designer Integrator System administrator Coach In summary, RUP is a much more extensive methodology than XP, for good and for bad. [2]http://www.acis.org.co/fileadmin/Curso_Memorias/Curso_CMMI_Sep06/Modulo%202%20-%20Product%20Engineering%20/xp_rup.pdf Project drivers RUP is use case driven, i.e. descriptions of use of the system are implemented, and continuously integrated and tested. XP applies test-driven design, i.e. test case are derived and implemented before the code is written. XP has user stories to guide what to implement. These user stories are less extensive descriptions, compared to the RUP use cases, where the complete scenario for the interaction between the user and the system is defined. Regarding planning, both methodologies agree on that a complete project cannot be planned in detail. RUP proclaims continuous changes in the plans, while XP advocates planning only the very near future in detail.

Buy Essays Online: Flaws of Society and Man Revealed in Odyssey

Flaws of Society and Man Revealed in Odyssey  Ã‚        Ã‚   Society is formed around morals, but society is ruined by the flaws of the citizens.   Man has come a long way since the time of Homer, yet there are still many blemishes prominent in man, which binds man to society and society to man.   Homer uses Odyssey to address and analyze these flaws of society and man such as man's distrusting spirit, man's survival based on others' misfortune, and man's nature to gain unworthy assistance through pity.   These vices are universal, and no one, not even the immortals, may eliminate them.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One of the main flaws with man is their distrusting spirit.   Even Odysseus himself, is distrustful of others when others have not yet proven their trust.   Since Calypso has not yet proven her trust to Odysseus, Odysseus does not feel that he should trust her even when her intentions are pure.   Because of his distrust, when Calypso was meant to send Odysseus on his way, he made Calypso take an oath and says, "I will never, notwithstanding what you say, set foot upon a raft till you consent, goddess, to swear a solemn oath that you are not meaning to plot me further woe"(48).   Even with Calypso just being a messenger of the gods, Odysseus still will not put his trust in her.   In order to allow himself to depend on Calypso, he must be assured by the gods that Calypso means no harm.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Along with people having to prove their trust, Odysseus takes away the trust he sets in others and the gods when he is doubtful of himself.   Once Odysseus experiences self-doubt, then he undergoes a mental process in which no one may be trusted.   This can be overcome once a god makes Odysseus believe in himself again.   One of the most prominent ... ...s of mankind.   It is then reasonable to conclude that the immortals themselves have imperfections as well, for if they were perfect then wouldn't they make the mortals perfect too?   If perverted man is dependent on the corrupt gods, then how could society ever be a utopia? Works Cited and Consulted Crane, Gregory , Calypso: Backgrounds and Conventions of the Odyssey,   Frankfurt, Athenaeum 1988. Heubeck, Alfred, J.B. Hainsworth, et al. A commentary on Homer's Odyssey. 3 Vols. Oxford PA4167 .H4813 1988. Homer (Translated by Robert Fagles. Preface by Bernard Knox). The Odyssey. New York: Viking Penguin, div. of Penguin Books, Ltd. 1996. Rengakos, Antonios. Homertext und die Hellenistichen Dichter. Hermes. Einzelschriften, Heft 64. Stuttgart, F. Steiner, 1993. Van der Valk, Marchinus. Textual Criticism of the Odyssey. Leiden: A.W. Sijthoff, 1949.