Sunday, May 24, 2020

EGT1 Task 4 China Essay - 2188 Words

There are many advantages to expanding your business to China. Not only is China considered one of the largest economies in the world, it also has a vast emerging market that is still growing (Startup Overseas). Although China has embraced many Western Business ethics and practices, there are still numerous cross-cultural differences that can make it difficult to succeed without sufficient research and knowledge of the culture. Examples of these cross cultural differences include the Chinese’ attitude toward work and workplace, the labor laws, and how Chinese businesses collaborate with other organizations. More differences include how we market and sell a product, and how pricing differs between our two countries. Perhaps the most†¦show more content†¦For example, gifts must be nicely wrapped and may not be opened right away unless prompted to do so. Also, do not give any gifts such as clocks, flowers, or cutting instruments as it is considered disrespectful. Negotiation style is a major difference between the United States and China. In China, social context, personal relations, and non-verbal behavior are very important in negotiation. There are usually many people from the company who attend the meeting to discuss any topics that need negotiation. Americans value legal contracts and documents over personal relationships, and do not put as much stock in body language. American businesses usually only send one or two people do the negotiating on behalf of the entire company. For the purposes of this paper, let us assume that an American Company has seen great success with its toy product. This company is looking to expand its business to China. There is usually a demand for toys in any country and in China, 17.1% (roughly 223 million) of the nation’s population is under 14 years old (Central Intelligence Agency). Research also shows that the total retail sales of toys in China have increased by 14.2% since 2010 (HKTDC Research, 2014). The Design of this toy would have to be carefully rethought, particularly if it is a doll or Barbie type toy. The doll would have to beShow MoreRelatedEgt1 Task 4 Essay2596 Words   |  11 PagesEveringham EGT1 Task 4 In a time of global commerce, new business ventures can take on many forms. What used to be local or even national companies have become world-wide. International growth of a business can be extremely beneficial but is not without its challenges. Different countries have different peoples and different cultures - different ways of doing business altogether. If a venture is to be successful, these differences must be well understood. Let us consider China for our example

Thursday, May 14, 2020

3 Stoic Strategies For Becoming Happier

Stoicism was one of the most important philosophical schools in ancient Greece and Rome.   It has also been one of the most influential.   The writings of Stoic thinkers like Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius have been read and taken to be heart by scholars and statesman for two thousand years. In his short but extremely readable book A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (Oxford University Press, 2009), William Irvine argues that Stoicism is a admirable and coherent philosophy of life.  Ã‚   He also claims that many of us would be happier if we became Stoics.   This is a remarkable claim.   How can the theory and practice of a philosophical school founded fifteen hundred years before the industrial revolution have anything relevant to say to us today, living in our constantly changing, technology dominated world? Irvine has many things to say in response to that question.   But the most interesting part of his answer is his account of specific strategies that the Stoics recommend we all use on a daily basis.   Three of these in particular are especially important: negative visualization; internalization of goals; and regular self-denial. Negative visualization Epictetus recommends that when parents kiss a child goodnight, they consider the possibility that the child might die during the night.   And when you say goodbye to a friend, say the Stoics, remind yourself that you perhaps you will never meet again. Along the same lines, you might imagine the home you live being destroyed by fire or by a tornado, the job you rely on being eliminated, or the beautiful car you have just bought being crushed by a runaway truck. Why entertain these unpleasant thought?   What good can come from this practice of what Irvine calls â€Å"negative visualization†?   Well, here are a few possible benefits of imagining the worst that can happen: Anticipating misfortunes can lead you to take preventative measures.   E.g. Imagining your family dying of carbon monoxide poisoning may prompt to you install a carbon monoxide detector.If you have already imagined how something awful might happen, if it does occur you will less shocked.   We are all familiar with this on a mundane level.   Many people, if they take an exam, imagine or even convince themselves that they have done badly so that if it turns out that this is the truth, they will be less disappointed.   Negative visualization, here and elsewhere, prepares us mentally and emotionally to deal with unpleasant experiences when they arrive–as they inevitably will.Contemplating the loss of something helps us to appreciate it more fully.   We are all familiar with the way we have a tendency to take things for granted.   When we first buy a new house, car, guitar, smart phone, shirt, or whatever, we think it’s wonderful.   But within a fairly short ti me the novelty wears off and we no longer find it exciting, or even interesting.   Psychologists call this â€Å"hedonic adaptation.† But imagining the loss of the thing in question is a way of refreshing our appreciation of it.   It’s a technique that help us to follow Epictetus’ advice and learn to want what we already have. Of these arguments for practicing negative visualization, the third is probably the most important and the most convincing.   And it goes well beyond such things as newly purchased technology. There is so much in life to be grateful for, yet we often find ourselves complaining that things aren’t perfect.   But anyone reading this article is probably living the sort of life that most people through history would have viewed as inconceivably pleasant.   Little need to worry about famine, plague, war, or brutal oppression.   Anesthetics; antibiotics; modern medicine; instant communication with anyone anywhere; the ability to get to just about anywhere   in the world in a few hours; a vast amount of great art, literature, music, and science available through the internet at the touch a of key.   The list of things to be grateful for is almost infinite.   Negative visualization reminds us that we are â€Å"living the dream.† Internalization of goals We live in a culture that puts tremendous value of worldly success.   So people strive to get into elite universities, to make lost of money, to create a successful business, to become famous, to achieve high status in their work, to win prizes, and so on.   The problem with all these goals, though, is that whether or not one succeeds depends in large part on factors outside one’s control. Suppose your goal is to win an Olympic medal.   You can commit yourself to this goal entirely, and if you have enough natural ability you may make yourself one of the best athletes in the world.   But whether or not you win a medal depends on many things, including who you are competing with.   If you happen to be competing against athletes who have certain natural advantages over you–e.g. physiques and physiologies better suited to your sport–then a medal may simply be beyond you.   The same goes for other goals, too.   If you want to become famous as a musician, it isn’t enough just to make great music.   Your music has to reach the ears of millions of people; and they have to like it.   These are not matters you can easily control. For this reason the Stoics advise us to carefully distinguish between things that lie within our control and things that lie beyond our control.   Their view is that we should focus entirely on the former.   Thus, we should concern ourselves with what we choose to strive for, with being the kind of person we want to be, and with living according to sound values.   These are all goals that depend entirely on us, not on how the world is or how it treats us. Thus, if I’m a musician, my goal shouldn’t be to have a number one hit, or to sell a million records, to play at Carnegie Hall or to perform at the Super Bowl.   Instead, my goal should just be to make the best music I can within my chosen genre.   Of course, if I try to do this I will increase my chances of public recognition and worldly success.   But if these don’t come my way, I won’t have failed, and I shouldn’t feel especially disappointed.   For I will still have achieved the goal I set myself. Practicing self-denial The Stoics argue that sometimes we should deliberately deprive ourselves of certain pleasures.   For example, if we usually have dessert after a meal, we might forego this once every few days; we might even once in a while substitute bread, cheese and water for our normal, more interesting dinners.   The Stoics even advocate subjecting oneself to voluntary discomfort.   One might, for instance, not eat for a day, underdress during cold weather, try sleeping on the floor, or take the occasional cold shower. What is the point of this kind of self-denial?   Why do such things?   The reasons are actually similar to the reasons for practicing negative visualization.   Self-denial toughens us up, so that if we have to deal with involuntary hardship or discomfort we will be able to do so.   There is really a very familiar idea.   It is why the army makes boot camp so hard.   The thinking is that if soldiers become accustomed to hardship on a regular basis, they will cope better with it when being able to do so really matters.   And this sort of thinking by military leaders goes back at least to ancient Sparta.   Indeed, the militaristic Spartans were so convinced that depriving men of luxuries made them better soldiers that this sort of denial came to be integral to their whole way of life.   Even today, the word â€Å"Spartan† means lacking luxuries.Self-denial helps us to appreciate the pleasures, comforts and conveniences that we enjoy all the time and are in danger of taking for granted.   Most of will probably agree with this–in theory!   But the problem with putting the theory into practice, of course, is that the experience of voluntary discomfort is––uncomfortable.   Still, perhaps some awareness of the value of self-denial is part of the reason why people choose to go camping, or backpacking. But are the Stoics right? The arguments for practicing these Stoic strategies sound very plausible.   But should they be believed?   Will negative visualization, internalizing goals, and practicing self-denial really help us to be happier?   The most likely answer is that it depends to some extent on the individual.   Negative visualization may help some people to appreciate more fully the things they presently enjoy.   But it could lead to others becoming increasingly anxious over the prospect of losing what they love.   Shakespeare, in Sonnet 64, after describing several examples of Time’s destructiveness, concludes: Time hath taught me thus to ruminateThat Time will come and take my love away.This thought is as a death, which cannot chooseBut weep to have that which it fears to lose. It seems that for the poet negative visualization is not a strategy for happiness; on the contrary, it causes anxiety and leads him to be even more attached to that which he will one day lose. The internalization of goals seems very reasonable on the face of it: do your best, and accept the fact that objective success depends on factors you can’t control.   Yet surely, the prospect of objective success–an Olympic medal; making   money; having a hit record; winning a prestigious prize–can be tremendously motivating.   Perhaps there are some people who care nothing for such external markers of success; but most of us do.   And it’s surely true that many wonderful human achievements have been fueled, at least in part, by the desire for them. Self-denial is not especially appealing to most people.   Yet there is som reason to suppose that it really does do us the sort of good that the Stoics claimed for it.   A well-known experiment done by Stanford psychologists in the 1970s involved having young children see how long they could hold off eating a marshmallow for the sake of getting an additional reward (such as a cookie in addition to the marshmallow).   The surprising upshot of the research was that those individuals who were best able to delay gratification did better in later life on a number of measures such as educational achievement and general health.   This seems to bear out will power is   like a muscle, and that exercising the muscle through self-denial builds self-control, a key ingredient of a happy life.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

A Good Woman is Hard to Find Essay - 565 Words

Characterization Essay A Good Woman is Hard To Find In the story A Good Man is Hard to Find the grandmother displays several qualities that make her a villain. Throughout the story the author Flannery OConnor gives details of the grandmothers imperfections. OConnor describes many different aspects of the lifestyle that this family lives portrayed by the life of the wicked grandmother, giving numerous examples of her bad character. In the story the grandmother clearly states that she does not want to go to Florida, but to East Tennessee where her other family lives. Also, she mentions that they might run into the Misfit who has escaped from the Federal Penitentiary, headed towards Florida. Once again the grandmother shows†¦show more content†¦Being that the grandmother is so open the idea of running into this criminal, it is not a shock when they actually do meet the Misfit. Subsequently, on the trip the grandmother gets the children excited by telling them of an old home that has a secret panel inside it. This makes the grand children beg to see it, and the son of the grandmother, Bailey, reluctantly agrees. Pulling off the main highway and on to a dirt road, they travel anxiously to the supposed house. Along this road they get into an accident and wreck their car. After this the grandmother remembered that the house was not in Georgia, but in Tennessee. They were not only in the wrong state, but also on the wrong dirt road. After getting out and realizing that no one is badly hurt they try to find someone to help them. This is where the story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, takes a bizarre twist. As a result of going off the road they find that there is a car slowly driving up the road. Thinking that this car will help them in their dilemma they flag down the driver. The car, which the author described as a big, black, hearse-like automobile, stops to assist. Three men get out of the automobile, and one of the men has a gun. The Misfit, who the grandmother calmly identifies, which is the man with the gun, patiently talks with the family. The loudmouthed grandmother tells the Misfit that she knows that he has good blood and that he is a good man. Hearing theShow MoreRelatedA Good Man Is Hard To Find Analysis743 Words   |  3 PagesIn the Flannery O’Connor’s short story, â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† we find out that the title indicates of what the story is about. The title actually came from the lyrics of a song written by Eddie Green in 1918. The title of â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Conner is quite ironic rea lly. The reader expects to eventually find a good man in the story, but is quite surprised at the ending of the story. The title A Good Man is Hard to Find is expressed clearly in this story by introducingRead MoreEssay on A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor1564 Words   |  7 PagesA Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery OConnor A Good Man is Hard to Find is an extremely powerful commentary that elucidates Flannery OConnors opinions about religion and society. Like the majority of her other works, A Good Man is Hard to Find has attracted many interpretations based on Christian dogma (Bandy 1). These Christian explications are justified because Miss OConnor is notorious for expressing Catholic doctrines through her fiction. Once she even remarked I see fromRead MoreTheme Of The Story A Good Man Is Hard To Find1097 Words   |  5 Pagesstory, â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† a grandmother goes on vacation in Florida with her son and his family. She is wary of an escaped criminal who may possibly be there, but no one takes her worry into consideration. The family eventually comes face to face with the criminal and lose their lives because of it. In â€Å"A Worn Path,† an elderly woman begins a long and tiresome journey in an effort to reach a town to acquire medicine for her sick grandson. The stories â€Å"A Good Man Is Hard to Find,† writtenRead MoreA Good Man Is Hard And Find By Flannery O Connor824 Words   |  4 Pageshow he/she wrestles with this dilemma beyond what is obvious in the plot. What literary elements draw out this conflict? When reading, A good man is hard to find by Flannery O Connor, the question intrigues the reader to read further, about the infamous Villian, The Misfit. The grandmother is the other key character in this short story. The older woman is overpowered by temptation, regardless of what her family requests. Bailey, her son is another character than seems to resent the mother sRead MoreMain Themes In Good Country People970 Words   |  4 PagesO’Connor is an American short story writer and her short story â€Å"Good Country People† depicts Hulga, a highly educated woman and has a PhD, is being jerked around by an immoral bible salesman. â€Å"A good man is hard to find†, also written by O’Connor, is a short story of a grandmother and her family murdered by a horrible man who called â€Å"the misfit† during the road trip to Florida. Although â€Å"Good country people† and â€Å"a good man is hard to find† are written by the same author, man y elements in those two storiesRead MoreThemes Of Good Country People769 Words   |  4 Pages Flannery O’Connor’s short story â€Å"Good Country People† depicts Hulga, a highly educated woman and has a PhD, is being jerked around by an immoral bible salesman. â€Å"A good man is hard to find† is a story of a grandmother and her family murdered by a horrible man who called â€Å"the misfit† during the road trip. Although â€Å"Good country people† and â€Å"a good man is hard to find† are written by the same author, many elements in those two stories cause them have similar themes in religion, misplace trust andRead MoreThe Spiritual Awakening1265 Words   |  5 Pagesevery individual. Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"Good Country People† and â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† demonstrates how a person can be brought to their redemption by unlikely characters. Hulga, from â€Å"Good Country People,† goes from being a woman who states to believe in nothing, to a woman who loses everything and is left at a place of confusion. The grandmother from â€Å"A Good Man is Hard to Find† is similar to Hulga in that she also loses everything in order to find her faith. Although both Hulga and theRead MoreFlannery O’Connor’s short stories â€Å"A good man is hard to find† and â€Å"Revelation† share many700 Words   |  3 Pagesstories â€Å"A good man is hard to find† and â€Å"Revelation† share many similarities. While â€Å"A good man is hard to find† is about a family that goes on a vacation that ultimately results in all of their deaths. â€Å"Revelation† is about a woman who is very judgmental and looks down on people. In the end both characters have revelations that contrast with who they are and how they portray themselves to the world. The protagonist in ‘Revelation† is Mrs. Turpin, and she depicts herself as a woman who is classyRead MoreQuestions On Finding A Perfect Woman779 Words   |  4 PagesFinding A Perfect Woman Every man can quickly find a woman to date if they lower their standards. But, it’s not the way to find the perfect woman and a long-lasting relationship. If you want to find love that stands the test of time, it will be some work – BUT it will be worth it. True love makes you feel great about yourself and your life, and it improves your health and happiness and motivates you to strive towards more success. So, how can you find a woman that’s really a good match for you?Read MoreGood Man Is Hard And Find And Everything That Rises Must Converge By Flannery O Connor926 Words   |  4 Pagesnot define them, you define yourself† Earl Nightingale. The stories â€Å"Good Man Is Hard to Find† and â€Å"Everything That Rises Must Converge† both stories written by the author Flannery, O’Connor are stories that implies how the morality and immorality affects the social lives. The story â€Å"Good Man Is Hard to Find† by Flannery O’Connor is a story that define what the word â€Å"Good† is, but everybody has a personal opinion of what’s good or not. In contrast, the other story by Flannery O’Connor â€Å"Everything

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Advantages and Disadvantages of Living Without Gravity free essay sample

Imagine what life would be like without gravity. Would it be fun or maybe the most horrible experience ever? Astronauts are forced to deal with these types of issues everyday. In the story Life Without Gravity, astronauts are challenged to find solutions for problems faced in space. Despite all the problems, there are also positive outcomes of experiencing zero gravity. Weightlessness has advantages such as being fun and useful. There are also disadvantages such as changes in the body and nausea. Weightlessness has its own characteristics and effects. Weightlessness is being without gravity. When experiencing weightlessness, there is no acceleration. Being weightlessness is like riding a rollercoaster when you are falling downward. Weightlessness usually occurs when there is no force of support on your body. When your body is effectively in free fall, you are not being supported. Weightlessness usually happens in space. An effect of weightlessness is it makes everything around, below, above, and on the sides of you float. We will write a custom essay sample on Advantages and Disadvantages of Living Without Gravity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page With its characteristics and effects, weightlessness has some advantages. Weightlessness has advantages such as being fun and useful. Weightlessness can actually be very fun. You are able to fly like a bird. You can bounce wall to wall, and you can even do acrobatics. Moving would be very easy. All you would have to do is just use your head to steer where you want to go. Pretty cool, aye. Another advantage of weightlessness is its useful. You have the useful area to yourself. You can also space yourself for your own personal space. With weightlessness, you can move around freely with absolutely no worries. Even though weightlessness has advantages, it has disadvantages as well. There are also disadvantages with weightlessness or zero gravity such as your body changes and nausea. If your body does not adapt, then it changes. Your muscles start to get weaker because they are not put to use. When your muscles are not working out, they start to get weaker and thinner. To keep these astronauts muscles big and strong, they have to exercise everyday. Working out in space can be very difficult, but theyll do anything to keep them well so they are not weak when they return to Earth. When your body doesnt adapt to the changes in space, your bones get thinner and thinner by the day because, just like your muscles, they are just relaxing. Relaxing is wonderful, but when your bones are relaxing, thats not good at all! When your bones just stay there, they start to get too comfortable and get thinner and thinner. Then when you arrive back in Earth, you will be sore! That is why exercising, especially in space, is very, very important. Everyday the astronauts get on a treadmill or a bike and get their bones and muscles working. Another disadvantage to weightlessness is that your back begins to hurt. In space, you are required to just float around all day, causing your back to hurt because your back is just floating, with the rest of your body. While weightlessness, occurs you get nausea. You throw up and you lose your appetite because all those back flips and turns youve done, now make you dizzy and you dont even want to eat. Even when you start gaining your appetite again, food in space just taste blander. Yuck! While experiencing nausea, your blood routes to your head, causing your head to swell up. It causes your central nervous system and the receptors of many other analyzer systems to react unusually. Your head swells up because you are use to having your blood route from your head to your feet on Earth. Blood routing from your head to your feet is natural because we stand, but when you are in space, you often are upside down, which causes your blood to route to your head. Then when the blood reaches your head, your head starts to turn all red, just like a cherry, then you start experiencing major headaches. Therefore, weightlessness does have disadvantages such as the body changing and people becoming nausea. This concludes that weightlessness has advantages and disadvantages. Although the astronauts experienced many physical changes, they learned to deal with them. Soon, they adapted to the environment and enjoyed being weightlessness. Like retired astronaut, Robert Crippen said, The real pleasure was having the chance to enjoy being weightless, and the other was to spend some time looking out this beautiful Earth, that we are all lucky to inhabit.