Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay

Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 . Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Essay Agricultural Subsidies: Their Original Purpose and Impact Today Contents Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? 3 Government Intervention in Agribusiness 7 The Reality 9 Works Cited 12 â€Æ' Introduction: What are Farm Subsidies? The Agriculture sector has changed monumentally over the past century in response to vast economic change and technological advancements. Farm subsidies are various forms of payments from the federal government put in place in an effort to stabilize prices, keep farmers in business, and ensure quality of crops. The federal government currently pays $20 billion in cash each year to US farmers and spent an estimated $250 billion between 1995-2005. Presently, a new farm bill is passed every five years with the most recent being in 2013 . Although there are small changes with each preceding Farm Bill the permanent pieces of legislation requiring US Department of Agriculture to control pricing and regulate supplies date back to the 19th century. The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) finances subsidies and buys surplus food to regulate and steady farm income. There are presently eights various subsidies: Direct Payments, Countercyclical Payments, Export Subsidies, Conservation Subsidies, Marketing Loans, Agricultural Research and Assistance, Disaster Aid, and Insurance. 1) Direct Payments: 5 billion annually The federal government pays cash subsidies to landowners who produce: wheat, corn, sorghum, barley, oats, cotton, rice, soybean, minor oil seeds and peanuts. This combination of crops are considered to be the top ten crucial commodities. A direct payment is equal to the product of the payment rate for the specific crop, the historical payment acres, and the historical payment yield fo... ...z2yiN9IUsy>. Nathaniel, Jeroime. "Farm Bill 2013: An Inside Look At the Most Important Bill You've Never Heard Of." PolicyMic. Oct. 2013. 13 Apr. 2014 . Peterson, E. Wesley F. A billion dollars a day: The economics and politics of agricultural subsidies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. "U.S. Department of Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. 11 Apr. 2014 . "U.S. Farmers During the Great Depression." Farm Collector. 13 Apr. 2014 . White, Deborah. "What Are U.S. Farm Subsidies?" About.com US Liberal Politics. 11 Apr. 2014 .

Photo Manipulation Essay

Image manipulation is everywhere on are daily life. It is a type of digital art. It is a unique way to describe editing photos and adding filters and special effects to photographs in order to make an illusion or define through digital means. Photo manipulation has been commonly used to deceive or convince viewers. It can be simply a photo which colors have been converted, or a photo that has been painted over, usually they use photoshop, but there are other softwares what can we use for manipulating images, image manipulation is an art as well. Photo manipulation is done for a number of purposes. More infamously, it is for political or sensational purposes. However, photo manipulation is also an art form in its own right (www. brightclub. com). The photographs have been manipulated in darkrooms for decade. Before computers, photo manipulation was achieved by retouching with ink, paint, double exposure, piecing photos or negatives together in the darkroom, or scratching Polaroids. Airbrushes were also used, whence the term â€Å"airbrushing† for manipulation. The first recorded case of photo manipulation was in the early 1860s, when a photo of Abraham was altered using the body from a portrait of John C. Calhoun. The 1980s saw the advent of digital retouching with Quantel computers running Paintbox, and Scitex imaging workstations being used professionally Silicon Graphics computers running Barco Creator became available in the late 1980s which, alongside other contemporary packages, were effectively replaced in the market by Adobe Photoshop (wikipedia).

Costco Wholesale Corporation Essay

Costco Wholesale Corporation operates an international chain of membership warehouses, mainly under the â€Å"Costco Wholesale† name, that carry quality, brand name merchandise at substantially lower prices than the merchandise typically found at conventional wholesale or retail sources. The warehouses are designed to help small-to-medium-sized businesses reduce costs in purchasing for resale and for everyday business use. Individual consumers may also purchase for their personal needs. Costco’s business model depends on high sales volume coupled with quick inventory turnover. Costco operates as a membership warehouse that is based on the concept of offering members the lowest prices on a limited selection of national brands and select private-label products that cover a broad and wide range of categories. This business model is very appealing and appropriate for this type of chain and has many benefits. For one, quicker inventory turnover combined with efficient inventory management systems reduce Costco cost of selling goods. Quick inventory turnover combined with high sales volume allows Costco to sell and receive cash for goods before it has to pay for any of its merchandise, this allows Costco to finance a large percentage of its inventory through the payment terms provided by its vendors rather than having to maintain a sizeable working capital to pay for its merchandise . These saving in its operation enable Costco to pass these saving on to the consum er in the form of low prices. Another reason it’s appealing is because Costco targets high end products thus bringing in high-end consumers into its stores. Demographics and its product selection could be damaging for Costco. Costco’s main product selection choice is made up of large volume single size packaging such as canned goods, soft drinks are only sold in these large container quantities. This combined with its main demographic of individual members who are more affluent customers in the discount retailing sector could be a potential problem. Competitors like Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale offer goods or various degrees and varying sizes of products allows for more customers to want to shop at their stores to buy goods cause not everyone wants to buy a luxury item or a bulk sizes. The solution might be to offer more products at smaller quantities. This will allow more  buyers in who previously might not have shopped a Costco because they are divorced or have a smaller family or just single. Another are Costco could improve on is its direct buying relationships. As mentioned earlier Costco could ensure a stocking of certain items on their shelves so they can avoid stock outs and lose sales. To help its profit margin and reduce dependence on other manufacturers it could increase its brand Kirkland private brand products beyond to current 600 products. A final suggestion is that Costco could consider additional international expansion. They could place more warehouses in Canada. This is where they have been well received. It is the second largest revenue stream behind that of the United States. Costco’s internal environment can be analyzed to establish the core competencies to exploit market opportunities and avoid possible threats. Costco must combine this with the external environment factors to secure a successful long-term strategy. By analyzing their capabilities, using above methods Costco can determine their strengths. Many sight changes on external could have huge blow to Costco. For example, Suppliers can change the cost of inputs, such as when a strong union sets a high wage for a particular craft. If Costco allows the organic produce famers more power, then the farmers could force terms on Costco. This dependence increases if Costco does not have many other sources to supply the produce. Simple SWOT analysis may explain internal and external scan situation. Here are few point observed from Costco’s SWOT analysis. They seem to have great reputation in local neighborhood; customers tend to return to store, no big direct competition, lots of choice and great locations, Weaknesses would include: a lack of strong management team, handling perishable items geographical limitations The opportunities to develop a unique position in organic catering and to grow the business are examples of the opportunities available for Costco. Threats include some of the following: competition, state of the economy dealing with perishable items weather including natural disasters Costco’s External environment strategies are based on firm’s ability to foresee future business environment and trends based on industries, economy, and political factors. External environment analyze is key for any company to execute its strategies to meet its performance and profitability. â€Å"Despite the uncertainty and dynamic nature of the business environment, an assessment process that narrows, even if it does not precisely define, future expectations is of substantial value to strategic managers† (Pearce II & Robinson , Jr, 2009). In today’s society a business needs to be unique and offer a one of a kind value to keep its customers coming in and purchasing its products. An industry such as retail can experience at times high growth what sets Costco apart from its competitors to gain an competitive advantage is its three components of the company’s strategy that were mentioned earlier, low pricing, limited selection and treasure-hunt merchandising. Is this enough to ensure that future prospects will purchase items at your store? Costco’s main competitors are Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale and both are similar to Costco’s way of doing business. Costco is exceeding both Sam’s Club and BJ’s in terms of net sales and market share. Nevertheless, Sam’s Club has recognized its market share and is aggressively launching new initiatives to grow its sales and market share. One way they plan to increase its market share is by emphasizing new products for the home instead of products for small businesses. They also are using national TV ads to make consumer more aware of their stores. They also are attracting a new group of prospective buyers by setting up a collegiate membership. BJ differentiates its self from both Costco and Sam’s Club by offer a wide range of items in fact  7,300. Another way they differ from the competition is they offer aisle markets and express lanes, and low cost video-based sales aids to help make the shopping experience better.

Which Has Exerted a Bigger Effect on War: the End of the Cold War, or Globalization?

Back in human history, there could be found more than 14, 400 records of wars that have occurred in the past, by taking the lives of billions and affecting the social and political order worldwide. Wars in the contemporary world have gradually been changing in form, mainly due to globalization, by overlapping in different spheres of brutal conflicts and small but extremely dangerous organizations like terrorism and insurgencies. Nevertheless, their true nature and intentions have managed to preserve through ages, as a general norm of social behavior, involving extreme violence, desire for power and manipulation, as well as conflicts established on the basis of religious or ethnic issues. In addition, the end of the cold war had a great impact on the global socio-political picture by establishing a completely new image of international relations, forms of external associations and a strong push for a military affair progress.Could Cold War Have Been Avoided? To understand the nature of war, its influence on current affairs, as well as the impact of globalization on war matters, I would first provide a general definition of â€Å"war†, by presenting some theoretical approaches. Eventually I would concentrate on the impact of the post-cold period and finally, conclude with the affect of globalization. War and theoretical approaches: Scholars have always provided quite contradictory definitions for a â€Å"war†. Indeed defining â€Å"war† could be a complicated task. This is due to the fact that even if the nature of a war remains constant, it always reflects the particular time and place in which it occurs. In other words, the current time, situation, the initial core of the problem, as well as, the level of violence and particular actors would greatly influence and define the type of conflict. Thus, establishing a general idea of a ‘war’ might end to be quite inaccurate. Nevertheless, I would try to present the main general definitions, based on different theoretical approaches. Quincy Wright, for xample, describes war as a â€Å"conflict among political groups, especially sovereign states, carried on by armed forces of considerable magnitude, for a considerable period of time†. (Baylis, 2008, p. 213) Judging by his statement, we could conclude that it’s a realist approach, emphasizing on the power of the state and the highest level of sovereignty that possesses. Another approach of defining war is the definition of Hedly Bulls claiming that war is an â€Å"organized violence, carried by political units against each other†. (Baylis, 2008, p. 14) This definition could be accepted as inappropriate because not every single action of violence is defined as a war. In addition, war could involve and other internal actors except political ones like citizens for example (religious, racial conflicts). A third approach by Clausewitz explains war as â€Å"an act of force intended to compel our opponents to fulfill our will†. (Baylis, 2008, p. 214) This definition is more liberal based as it stresses more on the power and affect of globalization than on the state sovereignty. Even though all of these definitions seem to differ in terms of theory, we could generalize some common characteristics between them, which are organized violence, state or non-state actors, as well as military force and manipulation. To get a better understanding on the definitions, the change of warfare, as well as the impact of globalization and post-cold war period, I would like to summarize and stress on two well known theories: Realism and Liberalism. Realism, first of all, stresses on the power of the state and its sovereignty, representing it as the main actor on the world stage. It also expresses world politics as a ‘self-help system’ and a ‘struggle for power’ between states (Baylis, 2008, p. 5), trying to dominate and maximize their national interests. In addition, globalization is not important and does not affect political world. Liberalism, on the contrary, emphasizes on the effectiveness of democracy, underlying that states are not the only main actors. Transnational actors, international corporations and organizations (like terrorism) are also playing a key role in defining warfare and its evolving. Also, liberalists admit the importance of globalization, economic and environmental issues. Considering the current international affairs, as well as the decline power of state actors, we could assume that the Liberal theory quite successfully matches with the recent socio-political events. Thus, I would further analyze the change of warfare from the perspectives of the Liberal approach. Post-cold war period: The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, resulting in the end of the Cold War, put a new evolution in the structure of the international relations and the international system. That indeed brought some influential domestic attributes like democracy system in some post-communist states. In addition, the number of wars sharply declined but not and their crucial brutality. A lot of ex-Soviet Union members, as well as some eastern European countries like former Yugoslavia experienced tremendous crisis. Many states disintegrated, which led to bloody civil wars and insurgencies. Another great factor was the new system of democracy that former communist states had to accept. Some states indeed benefited from that but for others that turned out to be a vast and sudden change resulting in more economic crisis and chaos in the population. In addition, this led to the active participation of world organizations like the United Nations, as well as NATO and EU in preserving the peace and avoiding any brutal conflicts that could follow. Such intervention and anti-conflict actions influenced not only the warfare but human morals, as well. People’s understanding of politics, economics became more globally based, not just state-isolated. A state problem eventually turned out to be a global problem, like the war in former Yugoslavia, 9/11 and the current affairs in Egypt. The post-cold war period gave the first strong push of a massive globalization. Indeed, globalization has always existed in human history and has always been an inevitable process; nevertheless no one has particularly mentioned it before the end of the Cold War. Another great change that affected the warfare was the absolute hegemony power that the USA gained. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the international system changed from a phase of ‘bipolarity’ into a phase of ‘unipolarity’. Thus, USA’s global influence speeded up even more the going on process of globalization, turning it in to â€Å"Americanization†. (Baylis, 2008, p. 13)USA was surely outstanding in terms of military power and technical innovations; nevertheless it did nothing to prevent the up-coming events of organized violence and particularly terrorism. A good example is the 9/11 event and the Iraq War in 2003. Even though USA had a magnificent superiority in terms of weaponry, technical and communication technology, the responding asymmetric attacks that followed, as well as the terroristic actions in London and Madrid proved the dramatic changes that have occurred in terms of warfare. Globalization: The revolution in military affairs that followed in the 1991, right after Gulf War, built a new image and form of the contemporary warfare. With the vast development of technology, communication, Internet and media, war was eventually converted into a new form of a war conflict, unfamiliar for the old Westphalian Order ideas. The primary Westphalian characteristics of a territoriality, fixed boarders, self-determination and states as only key-actors completely contradict with the contemporary current global affairs. And indeed, Globalization is more than just interconnectedness. It involves much more than cooperation and international relations between states. It eventually dissolves the state boarders, turning the world into a â€Å"shared social space†, (Baylis, 2008, p. 18) as well as, placing the economical and political activities into a completely new transnational global scale. Another important factor of globalization is the â€Å"time-space compression†. (Baylis, 2008, p. 18) Nowadays, any power or military actions could be exercised from a distance and fulfilled for a relatively short period of time. Globalization has broken any possible barriers involving distance, space or time with the help of Internet, communication and media. These factors have resulted in an entire new generation of warfare. In such a new era of innovation and high technology, new non-state actors have managed to transform both cyber place and media into a real battlefield. From one hand, this has led to the creation of highly effective and complex weaponry machinery, ensuring better protection and momentum responds to military actions. On the contrary though, that also leads to terrorism, organized crimes, violence as well as, weapons of mass destruction. With the ability of producing and exporting such powerful technology, the safety of humans and the brutality of contemporary warfare are surely not on the way of declining. Another negative consequence of globalization results in the different economical level of the world countries and the continuous growing gap between them. Indeed globalization is useful and helpful for powers like Japan, USA and Russia but other countries like Sierra Leone or Eritrea definitely lack the benefits of globalization. This creates poverty, eventually crisis, which could lead to civil wars and more bloody violence. In the past decade, 95% of the armed conflicts have occurred within states rather than between them. Such new wars take place in states where the economy is extremely poor or even collapsing. Conclusion: Many of the characteristics of warfare mentioned above are not new features of war conflicts. They have been existing for a long time since early human history. That includes religious or ethnic confrontations, or any other kind of conflicts performed with extreme brutality. What really empowered the contemporary warfare and made it so massively destructive is globalization. It is the human ability and necessity to protect or manipulate, to defend themselves or just to apply control over a state of civilians. It is hard yet to predict what other crucial impacts globalization would have on humanity and eventually on warfare. Whatever the reason though, wars would never stop to exist and they would be always a human norm of a social behavior, that would adopt according to the current environment and current period of time. References: Baylis, John, Smith, Steve and Owens, Patricia (eds.) (2008). The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press (4th ed.) Boyer, P. (2001). The Oxford Companion to United States History. Post–Cold War Era. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-PostColdWarEra.html Encyclopedia of the new American Nation. Cultural Relations and Policies – Globalization and the cold war. Retrieved January 29, 2011 from:

International Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Human Resource Management - Essay Example The Asian employee was one of a handful of employees from Asia, and was poorly recognised by the White-dominated senior management. In addition, the Asian employee eventually found out that the senior managers had initiated no attempt to gain knowledge of and appreciate diversity in the company, and had implemented several corporate principles and rules, especially those concerning proper clothing at work, that most employees of different ethnic origins thought were intolerable and offensive. Consequently, the working relationships were obviously weak and conflict-ridden. These employees believed that they were victims of racial discrimination. And based on what I have learned from our textbooks, especially from Shaun Tyson’s Essentials of Human Resource Management (2006), I believe that they were actually unfairly discriminated because of their ethnic origin. There are different types of discrimination. Discrimination could be ‘indirect’ or ‘direct’. Indirect discrimination involves processes and rules that discriminate subtly, like clothing rules that implies that some employees belonging to an ethnic minority are not allowed to wear customary clothes at work. On the other hand, direct discrimination is an observable type of discrimination, like not hiring or assigning certain employees to higher positions (Wright & Conley 2011, 14). Workplace bullying and harassment are other examples of direct discrimination. In the UK, everybody should be protected from harassment or racial discrimination. The Race Relations Act safeguards citizens from racial discrimination (Tyson 2006, 425). If anyone experiences any form of racial discrimination at work, s/he should file an official complaint to the employment tribunal. To successfully pursue a complaint under the Race Relations Act, the petitioner has to actually prove that the action of a colleague or an employer led to him/her being unfairly treated due to his/her ethnic origin. It is immaterial whether they planned or deliberately discriminated against the petitioner or not; the matter is the action that resulted in a racial discrimination (Craig 2007, 9). The Race Relations Act includes every feature of employment, as well as terms and condition of employment, removal from office/dismissal, redundancy, compensation packages, training, promotion, selection, and recruitment. However, and it is essential to take note of this, not all occupations are protected by the Act, such as private residential services (Tyson 2006, 425-426). Another major fact about the Act is that it not merely prohibits occurrences of discrimination; it also prohibits employers from allowing such discrimination to continue. In addition, it grants individuals who witness discrimination, but are not victims of it themselves, the power to take action against it (Wright & Conley 2011, 11-12). I, personally, experienced too much difficulty mustering the strength to do something about the racial discrimination I witnessed at work. However, the Act also forbids persecution or discrimination against the person who has pursued a discrimination case. Nevertheless, there are exclusions to the Act. If someone, most likely an employer, sufficiently and reasonably justified the act of hiring a person of a certain racial affiliation, then that will be permitted or considered legal (Wright & Conley 2011, 230). Moreover, there is range for initiating positive effort, where someone can call out for individuals of a certain ethnic origin to

General Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

General - Essay Example 2. How are trade discount amounts, chain discounts used in the entertainment industry? Within the entertainment industry, trade discount amounts are used by allotting cuts on the works of the business to business partners, who are facilitating each other on a number of tasks and activities (Haines 2007). These discounts make up the figures for meeting the expenses and bringing them down in a considerable manner. Similarly chain discounts are offered when the entertainment industry gives cuts on volume (bulk) work flows, and when the need is to have more work at a lesser cost. The trade discount amounts and chain discounts work to good effect within the entertainment industry because these embody the basis of success for the people who work under such regimes, and they get to be paid much better than these discounts were introduced in the first place. Works Cited Haines, Douglas C. Manufacturer and Retailer Power in Retailer Response to Trade Discounts. Academy of Marketing Studies Jo urnal, Vol. 11, 2007

Case Study Based Report - Performance Management Essay

Case Study Based Report - Performance Management - Essay Example Based on the drawbacks, a new system is developed. The impetus for the new system of performance management was driven by the arrival of a new CEO in the organisation. His mission is the creation of a culture which is completely based on performance and the creation of a proper career path for the operational staff. Answer to Question 1 Review of the organisation’s previous approach to performance management The previous performance management system for the senior operational staff was meant to evaluate the performance of the employees against the set standards of performance. This would consequently help in the development of action plans for addressing the gaps identified (David, 2009, p.288). Since they were senior operational staff in the organisation, their performance were indirectly accountable for the performance of the personnel working under their supervision. The first step in the system included identifying the personnel’s performance dimensions. ... He is responsible for completing his assignments on time through the performance of his subordinates. He is supposed to demonstrate budgetary controls, monitor the subordinates’ activities, initiate the effective and timely corrective actions and suggest budgetary recommendations (California State University, p.1). Certain pitfalls have been identified with regards to the performance management system for the senior operational staff in the organisation. Firstly, the system is not found to promote or enhance productivity in any way. Moreover, it is not a favourable system which drives commitment in the workforce or motivates employees towards continuous improvement of performance (Montebello, 2004, p.1). Firstly, there are divergent goals and objectives. In other words, the goals are not very defined and do not provide a proper guideline to the operational staff for proceeding in his work activities. Secondly, there are loopholes in the implementation plan of the system. The s ystem is not implemented aggressively. Moreover, the technology used for implementing the plan is not based on the latest technology which allows errors and loopholes in the system. There is lack of transparency in the system which eventually causes improper performance appraisal. Inefficiencies creep in and at times, there is biasness in the appraisal system. The performance appraisal forms are constructed poorly. This implies that the factors for rating are not well defined and allows ambiguity. The rating scale also contains certain problematic terms. Thus, it is difficult to evaluate whether the performance meets requirements, exceeds it or is at par. The problem that arises because of this is that the process lacks validity and value and is considered to be impractical. The forms