Research Paper on Spanish-American War Essay Example

Research Paper on Spanish-American War Essay Spanish-American War Research Paper By the second half of the 19th century the United States declared its sovereignty and became the independent state. The United States were constituted on a strong ideological basis. The prevailing national idea was the aspiration to freedom and the new democratic values. The people of the United States realized their mission to spread the ideals of freedom beyond the boundaries. In 1840’s the leaders and politicians introduced the new term, Manifest Destiny (Manifest Destiny). This term explained and approved the expansion of the American ideals of freedom to the West. The country developed rapidly and there was real need to expand its territory. There were some reasons for such expansion. First of all the land was the indication of wealth for the colonists. There was a high growth of population in the country. The country passed two depressions, in 1818 and 1839. The frontier lands were cheap or even free. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Spanish-American War specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Spanish-American War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Paper on Spanish-American War specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The 19th century was the century of reshaping the political map of the world. Spain which used to the superpower was loosing its world domination. By the second half of the 19th century Spain had its possessions only in the Pacific, Africa, and the West Indies. Much of the empire had gained its independence and the areas remaining under the Spanish influence were about to demand their independence. Now and then there were revolts in Cuba and the Philippines and the Spanish government had neither financial resources nor appropriate manpower to coup with the numerous revolts against the Spanish rule. The Spanish government found the best solution to build the concentration camps in Cuba for rebels. Faced with defeat, and a lack of money and resources to continue fighting Spanish occupation, Cuban revolutionary and future president Tomas Estrada Palma secured $150 million dollars from a U.S. banker to purchase Cuba’s independence, but Spain refused. He then deftly negotiated and propagandized his cause in the U.S. Congress, eventually securing the bill for U.S. intervention (Wikipedia). On February 15, 1898, the American battleship USS Maine in Havana harbor suffered an explosion and quickly sank with a loss of 266 men. There was no any distinct proved evidence as for the cause of explosion, but the American press declared it was the act of sabotage of the Spaniards. There were suspicions that there was really an act of sabotage but committed by the Cuban revolutionists to involve the United States into the war with the Spaniards in order to liberate Cuba. So, the formal reason for the war between the United States and Spain was doubtful and unclear. The economic background of the US – Spanish war was expressed by Senator John M. Thurston of Nebraska: â€Å"War with Spain would increase the business and earnings of every American railroad, it would increase the output of every American factory, it would stimulate every branch of industry and domestic commerce.†(Wikipedia). U.S. President William McKinley was not a supporter of the war with Spain, but the explosion of Maine and public opinion created by the press forced him to agree with the decision of starting the war. On April 25, Congress declared that a state of war between the United States and Spain had existed since April 21st (Congress later passed a resolution backdating the declaration of war to April 20th). Thus, the formal reason of the war was suspicions of the Spanish sabotage of the US military vessel. The real reason of the war had an economic background. The official aim of the United States was to liberate Cuba from the Spanish domination. These 3 factors constituted the background of the Spanish war. The US – Spanish war was full of controversies. Though the formal cause of the war was the liberation of Cuba from the Spanish rule, the real reason was the expansionism policy of the United States in the Caribbean. The history of the US – Puerto – Rican relations during the war and after it is the vivid example of the controversial position of the United States in the US – Spanish war. Located at the north east of the Caribbean Sea, Puerto Rico was a key to the Spanish Empire since the early years of conquest and colonization of the New World (Marisabel Bras). Of all Spanish colonial possessions in the Americas, Puerto Rico is the only territory that never gained its independence. Internal and geopolitical dynamics during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, nevertheless, brought dramatic political, social, and economic changes to the island, setting the stage for the development of its national institutions and the transformation of its political system as a United States territory during the twentieth century. During the early 1860s, local Spanish authorities, alarmed by conspiracies from separatist groups, applied severe measures against all acts of dissidence on the island. Freedom of the press was non-existent, and group discussions were monitored by the government. The island was ruled by â€Å"leyes especiales†; extraordinary decrees dictated by the Captain Generals, or governors, appointed by Spain. The establishment of liberal government in Spain between 1869 and 1873 led to granting certain rights to Puerto Ricans. Puerto Rico even got its representation to the Spanish Cortes and self governance from Spain. This period of the short-lived self-government experiment came to an abrupt end one month later with the advent of the Spanish-American War. â€Å"Liberating† Caribbean from the Spanish rule the United States realized the significance of its domination over Puerto – Rico. The island’s value to US policy makers was as an outlet for excess manufactured goods, as well as a key naval station in the Caribbean. The Treaty of Paris gave the United States full control over all former Spanish military installations as well as some 120,000 acres of land formerly owned by the Spanish Crown on the island. The main military posts were located in the capital city of San Juan along with military bases in the towns of Cayey, Aibonito, Ponce, Mayaguez, Aguadilla and the adjacent island of Vieques. Puerto Rico remained under direct control of US military forces until the US Congress ratified the Foraker Law on April 12th, 1900, bringing a civilian government to the island (Marisabel Bras). The US occupation of Costa Rica followed by the long term its annexation is one of the main controversies of the US – Spain war, a controversy between the formal cause, liberating Cuba and the real dominative objective in the Caribbean. At 2.34 am GMT and 5.34 am Baghdad Time on 20th March 2003 (9.34 pm EST on 19th March 2003), the armed forces of the United States of America (â€Å"the USA†) and of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (â€Å"the UK†) commenced warlike operations against the Republic of Iraq (â€Å"Iraq†) with air and missile strikes against â€Å"targets of opportunity† in Baghdad. Those strikes were eventually followed up by a ground invasion of Iraq, the overthrow of the Iraqi government and the occupation of Iraq (Legality of the Iraq war). The war in Iraq was a part of anti-terrorist operation commenced by the United States after the cruelest terror act ever committed in the history of mankind which got its name â€Å"9/11†. The terrorism became the plague of the present. Though the advocates of the theory of state by Hobbes consider the war to be the natural state of a man, i.e. a state of war is typical for a human being, a war should at least be accompanied by a certain procedures to make it legal if â€Å"legality of war† is applicable in general terms. First of all if we compare both war conflicts in the history of the United States we understand one similar feature. There are economic reasons in the essence of both conflicts. In the case of the Spanish war it was cited by the words of Senator John M. Thurston of Nebraska above. In order to understand the reasons and backgrounds of both wars it is necessary to realize the global political situation preceding both wars. The second half of the 20th century was marked by the Cold War, a strong confrontation of two superpowers, USSR and the United States. That confrontation sometimes approached the military conflict in its development. The thesis â€Å"what is bad for my opponent is good for me† was used throughout this confrontation by both opposing sides. The post-World War II history of relations of the United States and the USSR was the history of the superpowers confrontation. Several times world was under the threat of the global nuclear catastrophe. When the USSR started its aggression in Afghanistan the United States supported the Anti – Soviet regime in Afghanistan. After the collapse of the USSR the usual permanent threat for the United States from the â€Å"Empire of Evil† disappeared but there were a number of groups and regimes provided with the modern arms and technologies by the superpowers. These regimes and groups created their activity on the basis of terrorism, neglecting the norms of the international laws and headed by the irresponsible arms race. Afghan, Iraq and other regimes were among them. The 9/11 became a milestone in the history of global security. It created the distinct borderline between two epochs, an era of military support of â€Å"enemies of my opponent† and the era of realizing that the terrorism regime does care who his enemy is, the most important is the presence of such enemy or if he is absent he should be nominated. The international community got the new global threat but it was not ready to coup with it from the military, political and legal points of view. The formal reasons of both wars where unclear and unjustified. There was neither proved evidences of attack of Maine by the Spaniards no possession of the mass destruction weapon by Saddam Hussein. Spanish war spread beyond Cuba involving a number of countries into it. One of them was Puerto Rico. During May 1898, Lt. Henry H. Whitney of the United States Fourth Artillery was sent to Puerto Rico on a reconnaissance mission, sponsored by the Army’s Bureau of Military Intelligence. He provided maps and information on the Spanish military forces to the U.S. government prior to the invasion. On May 10, 1898, U.S. Navy ships were sighted off the coast of Puerto Rico. Spanish gunners stationed at Fort San Cristobal fired the first shot (a 15-cm breech loaded Ordonez rifle round), missing the USS Yale, an auxiliary ship under the command of Capt. William Clinton Wise. Two days later on May 12, a squadron of 12 U.S. ships commanded by Rear Adm. William T. Sampson bombarded San Juan, Puerto Rico. During the bombardment, many buildings were shelled, terrifying the population of San Juan. On June 25, the Yosemite blocked San Juan harbor. On July 18, General Nelson A. Miles, commander of the invading forces, received orders to sail for Puerto Rico to land his troops. On July 21, a convoy of 3,300 soldiers and nine transports escorted by the USS Massachusetts sailed for Puerto Rico from Guantanamo, Cuba. On July 25, U.S. troops landed at Guanica, Puerto Rico and took over the island with little resistance (Wikipedia). The result of the Spanish war was the United States gained all former colonies of Spain in the Caribbean and Cuba was granted formal independence but this independence was formal and there were a lot of restrictions imposed by the United States. The results of the Spanish war proved the economic basis of the war. The Spanish – American war opened the expansionism policy of the United States. It created very dangerous precedent the consequences of which present nowadays. It showed that the territorial expansion may be done by the war means, the economic goals could be gained by the military conflicts. â€Å"Congress had passed a resolution in favor of Cuban independence before the war started. When the war ended, Congress debated reneging on this promise, but eventually agreed to Cuban independence. However, the Senate passed the Platt Amendment as a rider to an Army appropriations bill, forcing a peace treaty on Cuba which severely curtailed its freedom of action in foreign affairs and allowed the United States considerable freedom to intervene in Cuban affairs. It also provided for the establishment of a permanent American naval base in Cuba, which would lead to the establishment of the base still in use today at Guantanamo Bay. The Cuban peace treaty of 1903 would govern Cuban-American relations until 1934.† (Wikipedia) The United States annexed the former Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam. Thus the United States became the imperial power with the foreign colonies. It contradicted to the very essence of the United States and its declarations on the independence and democracy. This caused strong opposition inside the country on one hand but it also gained the support of a part of a population heated by the slogans on the pride and the self esteem of a nation. One more very important effect of the American – Spanish war was that it united the nation, the South and the North of the United States. The common enemy made both parties, which had been involved into the Civil War, forget their antagonisms. The annexation of Puerto Rico has been going on up to now. The liberation of Cuba being the major reason of the Spanish war led to the annexation of Puerto Rico and this could not meet an approval of Puerto Rico people. Ramon Emeterio Betances wrote â€Å"I do not want us to be a colony, neither a colony of Spain nor a colony of the United States.† (Wikipedia). On the other hand the Puerto Ricans being the residents of the United States Commonwealth voted to reject the complete independence, but still they are exempt from Federal income tax and other provisions of Federal regulation. One of the lessons of the Spanish war for the United States was the United States at the end of the nineteenth century recognized that its military forces had faced serious organizational, logistical, and medical challenges in that conflict. The war clearly pointed to a need for military reform in the United States, and in its aftermath Congress enacted some critical reform legislation (Hendricks, Charles). Similar lesson was obtained during the Iraq war or the anti-terrorist operation in Iraq. The events of 9/11 made all countries, and the United States in first turn realize a new global threat, a threat of terrorism. The United States of America happened to be unprepared to this new threat. The 9/11 attacks showed that the police methods of preventing the threat of terrorism were insufficient. The terrorists have necessary finance, contacts, and combatants to commit actions which according to their tragic consequence may be compared with those of the military war or operations. The response to those cruel attacks against civilians should have been done by all means. The only question arises on the adequacy of these responses. On the other hand, after finishing the Cold War the problem of proliferation the weapon of mass destruction became of the high importance for the former opponents, the United States and the ex-USSR. Both parties are not interested in the mass destruction weapon proliferation. The main reason of such change is the change of political priorities and inability to control the regimes which would have an access to nuclear or any other mass destructive weapon. On the other hand the attacks 9/11 indicated that the threat does exist and there is no guarantee that the world is safe if terrorists would have the mass destruction weapon. On the other hand, terrorists are not associated with any country directly and the problems of national security which deterred the arms race and the use of weapon do not exist for the terrorists. The terroristsâ €™ organizations may get the nuclear weapon and support from the existing regimes. That means that adequate measures should be taken against the regimes which support terrorists. The next very important question is the legitimacy of such actions from the point of view of the international law. The next question which is no less important than the previous one is if terrorists associated with some particular country, i.e. with its rulers, how legal are the military actions against the entire country. All these questions are similar to those which were on the eve of the American – Spanish War. In the first case there was an attack on Maine, and then the military actions as a response and America annexed some territories, namely Costa Rica as a result. The Iraq war may be considered as the repetition of the historic scenario occurred long ago which led to the war with Spain. The Iraq war is the first war in the history of mankind objected to mass destruction weapon deterrence. The logic of this war is rather controversial. If we link Iraq to 9/11 attacks, as it was done by the Bush Administration, then there is no logic in the war at all. If Hussein had something common with Al-Qaeda and possessed the Weapon of mass destruction, the question is why he did not use his weapon or provide Al-Qaeda with his weapon to commit attacks on the United States. Hussein could not under evaluate the response of the United States no matter what kind of weapon was used. The mass destruction weapon and terrorist attack would cause the similar reaction of the United States. Another question is no less important and maybe even more is the question of the Iraq war legality. The United States assumed the possibility of the preventive wars. If the preventive wars are considered to be legal then what is the legality of such wars. What criteria should define when the war is the only one possible action aimed to prevent the proliferation of the mass destruction weapon? Three types of legislation are involved into the issue of Iraq war and these legislations at least have to answer the question on conformity of the war commencement to the laws. The United States made its best to involve its allies to Iraq war to make it some kind of lawful. The Great Britain entered the war in alliance with the United States. According to the UK legislation, the UK constitutional settlement, a decision to declare war or to commit the armed forces of the Crown to warlike operations is a matter of the Royal will (â€Å"the Royal Prerogative†). In the case of the Iraq, Parliament was asked to authorize the invasion of Iraq by resolution, and the Public Administration Committee of the House of Commons is now looking at ways to develop a new mechanism by which certain categories of Prerogative powers, such as that of going to war may, only be exercised with the consent of Parliament (Legality of the Iraq War). Though the United States acquired the support and assistance of its allies, one of them, the Great Britain acted contradicting its national legislation while joining the United States in Iraq campaign, i.e. illegally. The leaders of the two belligerent powers, the United States of America and the United Kingdom put forward rather different justifications for the invasion of Iraq before the invasion and, since the invasion, as pretexts advanced at the time have proved unjustified, they have shifted their ground. The Bush pretexts for the invasion of Iraq were: that Saddam Hussein’s regime had links to the Al Quai’da terrorists who were responsible for the 11th September 2001 twin towers atrocity in New York; that the Saddam Hussein regime possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction which could fall into terrorist hands; The Blair pretext was limited to the second Bush pretext. Blair acknowledged right from the start that there were no substantiated links between Saddam Hussein and Al Quai’da. In fact Blair’s real reason for joining Bush’s war was his personal belief that the United Kingdom must always support the United States of America in any war (Legality of the Iraq War). The position of the United Nations towards the war conflict in Iraq was expressed by Secretary General Koffi Anand. â€Å"The United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, declared explicitly for the first time last night that the US-led war on Iraq was illegal. Mr Annan said that the invasion was not sanctioned by the UN Security Council or in accordance with the UN’s founding charter. In an interview with the BBC World Service broadcast last night, he was asked outright if the war was illegal. He replied: â€Å"Yes, if you wish.† He then added unequivocally: â€Å"I have indicated it was not in conformity with the UN charter. From our point of view and from the charter point of view it was illegal.†( Legality of the Iraq War). The results of the invasion to Iraq are known very well. The United States and its allies failed to find any evidence of the weapon of mass destruction. At the same time it is worth noting that the United States is the only Western democracy which did not sign the international treaties banning antipersonnel landmines and prohibiting the use of incendiary weapons such as napalm and white phosphorus in areas, including cities, where civilians are at risk (The Guardian). After the United States and its allies fail to find what they were supposed to, the new motto appeared; the motto â€Å"to liberate people of Iraq from Saddam†. Such reason can cause nothing but confusion. What is the legal basis of removal of the president of the independent country by means of force? It is unlikely that any existing legislation could find any legal provision for doing it. On the other hand the world community needs to acquire some legal basis to coup with the global terrorism. The Iraq war showed both legal and political collisions. On one hand if assumed that Hussein was the initiator of 9/11 attacks then he needs to be prosecuted by some international tribunal but not by the court in Iraq, a country president of which he was. Hussein as any other political leader had his supporters and opponents in Iraq that is why he could not count on the fair court process from the very beginning. The similarity of the Spanish war and that in Iraq though are not so clear, still could be found. The Spanish war was aimed to expand the American influence in Caribbean; the United States joined the â€Å"club† of colonial owners as a result of the war. The Iraq War is the attempt to legalize the theory of the â€Å"preventive war†. This theory is very dangerous because the limit of â€Å"prevention† has not yet been defined. After the Spanish War America gained the control over the territories which originally had not been parts of the United States. After the Iraq War, America and its allies gained the control over one of the major exporters of oil. There is a lot of confusion in America regarding the terms of â€Å"preventive war† and â€Å"preemptive war†. The preemptive war is the use of force against the threat of attack which is imminent. The classical example of the preemptive war was the 6 Day War of Israel against Syria, Jordan and Egypt in 1967. The results of that war were rather successful. In the US – Iraq case there was no any direct threat or it is better to say â€Å"proved threat† to the national security of the United States. The preventive war is considered to be an attack against the emerging regimes which may bring real threat to national or global security if they develop their arms further. The major reason of the Iraq war was the economical one. Iraq is very attractive for the United States because of its oil deposits. The United States had to re-evaluate the significance of the preventive war after the Iraq occupation. The basic question which had to be answered but was not what benefits the war brought for the national security of the United States. The mass destruction weapon as it was stated above was not found. The links of Hussein to Al Qaeda were not proved. The economic benefits of the Iraq are clear from the statement of the U.S. Energy Information Agency: Iraq contains 112 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, the second largest in the world (behind Saudi Arabia) along with roughly 220 billion barrels of probable and possible resources. Iraq’s true resource potential may be far greater than this, however, as the country is relatively unexplored due to years of war and sanctions. Deep oil-bearing formations located mainly in the vast Western Desert region, for instance, could yield large additional oil resources, but have not been explored. (U.S. Energy Information Agency) The access to the huge oil deposits of Iraq is the main cause of the US intervention against Iraq. The war in Iraq is very similar to Spanish War. The backgrounds of both wars are purely economic ambitions of the United States.

Definition and Examples of Hyponyms in English

Definition and Examples of Hyponyms in English In linguistics  and lexicography, hyponym is a term used to designate a particular member of a broader class. For instance, daisy and rose are hyponyms of flower. Also called a  subtype  or a  subordinate term. Adjective: hyponymic. Words that are hyponyms of the same broader term (that is, a hypernym) are called co-hyponyms. The semantic relationship between each of the more specific words (such as daisy and rose) and the broader term (flower)  is called hyponymy or inclusion. Hyponymy is not restricted to nouns. The verb to see, for example, has several  hyponyms- glimpse, stare, gaze, ogle, and so on.  Edward Finnegan points out that although hyponymy is found in all languages, the concepts that have words in hyponymic relationships vary from one language to the next (Language: Its Structure and Use, 2008). EtymologyFrom the Greek, below name Examples and Observations Hyponymy is a less familiar term to most people than either synonymy or antonymy, but it refers to a much more important sense relation. It describes what happens when we say An X is a kind of YA daffodil is a kind of flower, or simply, A daffodil is a flower.(David Crystal, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 2003)Hyponyms of Red[L]et us consider words that have a similar meaning because they belong to the same segment of a domain. For instance, the words pink, scarlet,  orange, hot pink, and pumpkin . . .  are all more marked, specific terms for colors that derive from the color red. . . . These words share many of the semantic properties of the word red. Because these words form a subclass of the word red, they are referred to as hyponyms of red. Similarly, maple, birch, and pine are hyponyms of tree.Hyponyms are  more specific words that constitute a subclass of a more general word.(Bruce M. Rowe and Diane P. Levine,  A Concise Introduction to Linguistics, 4th ed.  Routledge, 2016) A Test for HyponymyHyponymy involves specific instantiations of a more general concept such as holds between horse and animal or vermillion and red or buy and get. In each case, one word provides a more specific type of concept than is displayed by the other. The more specific word is called a hyponym and the more general word is the superordinate which may also be referred to as a hyperonym or hypernym . . .. Where the words being classified according to this relation are nouns, one can test for hyponymy by replacing X and Y in the frame X is a kind of Y and seeing if the result makes sense. So we have (A) horse is a kind of animal but not (An) animal is a kind of horse and so on.(Ronnie Cann, Sense Relations. Semantics: An International Handbook of Natural Language and Meaning, Vol. 1, ed. by Claudia Maienborn, Klaus von Heusinger, and Paul Portner. Walter de Gruyter, 2011)InclusionIn general, there are a number of hyponyms for each superordinate. For example, boar and piglet are a lso hyponyms of the superordinate pig, since the meaning of each of the three words sow, boar, and piglet contains the meaning of the word pig. (Note that in defining a word like sow, boar, or piglet, the superordinate word pig is often used as part of the definition: A sow is an adult female pig.) Thus, it is not surprising that hyponymy is sometimes referred to as inclusion. The superordinate is the included word and the hyponym is the including one.(Frank Parker and Kathryn Riley, Linguistics for Non-Linguists. Allyn and Bacon, 1994) Hierarchical Relationships and Multiple LayersHouse is a hyponym of the superordinate building, but building is in turn, a hyponym of the superordinate structure, and, in its turn, structure is a hyponym of the superordinate thing. A superordinate at a given level can itself be a hyponym at a higher level.(Patrick Griffiths, An Introduction to English Semantics and Pragmatics. Edinburgh University Press, 2006)​Hyponyms and hypernyms have multiple layers, as in the following examples, where fry is a hyponym of the hypernym cook, but fry itself is a hypernym for some other types of frying:Hypernym: cookHyponyms: bake, boil,  grill, fry, steam, roastHypernym:  fryHyponyms:  stir-fry, pan-fry,  sautà ©, deep-fry(Michael Israel, Semantics: How Language Makes Sense. How Languages Work: An Introduction to Language and Linguistics, ed. by  Carol Genetti. Cambridge University Press, 2014)  .   Pronunciation: HI-po-nim

The Cold War and McCarthyism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Cold War and McCarthyism - Essay Example Social movements are, for the most part, centered on ideological shifts in society. For instance, the Red Scare of the 1940s and 1950s came about through fear of radical ideologies emerging from the Soviet Union and around the world. At this point in history, the Cold War produced fear from Americans, who constantly contemplated the possibility of nuclear war with the philosophically corrupt Soviets: a nation that the United States saw as antithetical to American values like individualism and market economies. Paired with political pressure to root out Soviet spies in the government, the Red Scare erupted and played out in scenes all over the country. The interaction of this public force with the arts community of Hollywood, however, produced the most interesting social dynamic of the whole Red Sca Politicians for possible affiliations with the socialist cause targeted film directors, playwrights, and other left-leaning artists of the era. This led to a portrayal of American society in a negative light in the artwork of these people, which has since surfaced as valuable and telling about this dark period in American history. As an example, the playwright Arthur Miller created a play in 1953 about the Salem Witch Trials called The Crucible, solely as an allegory to McCarthyism and as an attack on the Red Scare phenomenon.Joseph McCarthy, who is singled out more than any other figure in the history of the Red Scare,was a prominent Senator from the state of Wisconsin during the time... ed disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having Communist ties† (Black & Hopkins, 2003). Although created in 1938, a few years before the start of World War II, the HUAC gained most of its influence during the Cold War. The HUAC often wielded its power to subpoena witness and hold people in contempt of Congress, and it pressured witnesses to surrender names and other information that could lead to the apprehension of Communists and Communist sympathizers. The Committee would brand witnesses as the enemy should they ever refuse to comply in answering questions. Joseph McCarthy used this â€Å"redbaiting† style of questioning and punishment during his own investigative hearings. Although these hearings lacked substantive proof or reason, not answering questions was treated as an admission of guilt. For this reason, countless numbers of people who appeared before the Committee during the 1940s and 1950s were â€Å"blacklisted† (Black & Hopkins, 2003). The term â€Å"blacklisting† refers generally to the process of registering individuals who, for some reason, are being denied a particular privilege or right. During the Red Scare, members of the Hollywood artistic community were blacklisted for not complying with the HUAC. The public lost faith in these towering figures in the movie industry. Parents did not want their children to see a movie in which the writer or the lead actor was a suspected communist. Some film directors, writers, and actors were put into financial ruin because of their inability to work. One of these figures was Arthur Miller, a famed playwright who wrote such works as Death of a Salesman and All My Sons. Miller found himself blacklisted when he refused to testify

Laws on Tattoos in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Laws on Tattoos in the Workplace - Essay Example The law supports the presence of body tattoos in visible areas as it is embedded in the constitution that every individual is subject to the universal human rights that cannot be taken away. As such, the tattoos are a part of the expression of the individual who has the tattoos, as they attempt to bring a point to the world in the one way they know best. With this in mind, the law supports the presence of these visible tattoos as they are part of the person’s rights and do not violate anybody else’s rights. This is to say that the law prohibits the denial of work or a job based on race, colour, ethnicity, gender or religious beliefs, which also translates to the important aspect of the tattoos (Crowe). In relation to this, the law supports the employees to have that which pleases them, but not at the expense of the employer. Aside from this, there is the valid support for the ban of visible tattoos in the workplace based on the professional code of ethics and code of dr ess dictated by the employer. In this case, the employer’s rights take precedence over those of the employee, where the employee should follow the conditions set by the employer. The translation of this is that the law recognizes the independence of the employer, and even the incumbent sovereignty, where one has to submit to the workplace rules. There are distinct precedents that uphold the rights of both the employee and the employer but set the boundaries as to who takes precedence over the other, and who should submit to the will of the other. With this in mind, the legal fraternity in the United States dictates that the rights of the employer precede those of the employee, in which case the courts have ruled in favour of the employers consistently (Lynn). This is to mean that the employers, according to the law, are legally mandated to set the boundaries for the employees on how much body art they can display.

Bicycle Frame Materials

Bicycle Frame Materials Introduction Throughout history the concept of the bicycle has been used and manipulated with materials from all over the spectrum exercised. In recent years, machining methods have become advanced enough to manipulate all different grades of metals, from the most popular being steel, to alloying titanium based alloys, however not only metal materials are being used. Carbon fibre, a generic term of the composition of carbon fibre weave and epoxy resin, is the worlds most recent popular material to be used on practically everything in the automotive industry, from gear knobs to the complete chassis on the Porsche Carrera GT for example, which is slowly expanding into the bicycle market and beyond. Nowadays bicycle manufacturers have an apparent unlimited array of materials, joining processes and finishing techniques, which should theoretically be able to produce the best bicycle frame on the market. Taking modern day complications into account, the best bicycle frame material(s) are perhaps inappr opriate in terms of manufacturing price and market sale value. Despite this, using Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES Software), by setting up engineering constraints, looking at material selection indices and loading patterns on components; a single best material is to be determined. Product Definition As not all bicycles are aimed at the same user market, with the intention to design a bike for different purposes such as; mountain bikes, city bikes, leisure bikes, road bikes, race bikes, etc. the constraints and objectives of how the bicycle frame should react under pressure during use are different. It is because of this, the best material can differ from bicycle type, and therefore a category of bike must be specified. The bicycle category to be specified is a small sub-category of road bikes called fixed gear bikes or fixies. This category of bike has recently sprung up all over the world, with its major uprising leading back to Brooklyn, New York; however a cult following has arisen in major cities around the globe. This type of bike and cycling style lends its origins back to track racing, where the same style of bike is used in the Olympics and other bike sporting events. The fixie style has become popular on the road for its agility and acceleration around town for commuting as well as its fitness affiliation for of course only having one gear. This sub category of bike is often used for part recreation, part fitness use, yet mainly as a means of transport in and around town. This recent uprising has uncovered many different materials of bike frame, from old 1980s track bikes made from steel to recently manufactured aluminium and carbon fibre composite frames which are used on this type of bike and style of riding. Materials Selection Possible Constraints The frame components will be subject to different forces, of which several will experience the same force depending on different loading conditions. The seat tube will experience constant compression forces from the weight of the rider as well reactions from road pushing back up towards the rider, whereas the down tube will experience tensional forces holding the crank area together with the fork assembly; however braking will give rise to compression. Other features such as the seat stays will experience constant compression and lateral stress from the braking mechanisms, of which stiffness is a vital property of the material. Youngs modulus or stiffness is also very important in the design of the forks due to instantaneous braking encouraging the forks to bend. Density The density of the material will affect highly the efficiency and feel of the bike when ridden. More energy is required to brake or accelerate the bike that has a high density frame, consequently making the bike hard to control and manoeuvre. A lightweight material is vital to create the ideal bicycle frame to improve manoeuvrability, braking and acceleration performance. This is why a constraint of density is to be limited at 5000 KG/M^3. This encompasses common frame materials such as aluminium and titanium alloys. [4] Youngs Modulus The stiffness of the frame is vital to prevent plastic deformation of the frame when ridden over obstacles, however if the frame is too stiff there will too much vibration from road surfaces. A constraint of materials above 30GPa are acceptable for the intended use, however materials above 400GPa are considered too stiff and will result in a harsh incontrollable bicycle. [4] Tensile and Compressive Stress Tensile stress occurs on many of the components of the bicycle frame and is a common failing property by overloading the frame which consequently makes it a high priority factor. Materials above of tensile stress value 300MPa and above are acceptable. Compression is also a major stress force abundant in the bicycle frame, in places such as the rear seat stays and seat tube from gravity pulling the weight of the rider toward the ground. Poor compressive forces will translate into a mess of buckled piping. [4] Yield Strength The yield strength determines the amount of force required to plastically deform the material of which the material is permanently deformed after yielding. This can be applied to sudden impacts or over loading of the frame which can lead to failure of the frame, perhaps resulting in injury when ridden. The higher the yield strength, the higher force the frame will be able to withstand which is favourable in frame design. [4] Elongation Elongation relates to brittle and ductile properties of a material, where high percentage elongation leads to ductile properties and low percentage elongation leads to brittle properties. If a material is too brittle, it theoretically could fracture into small parts which are to be avoided when cycling. It would be preferable for the material to plastically deform to a large extent before failure as this will prevent injury if a sudden stop is experienced. A material with a very high percentage elongation is also to be avoided as the frame will not keep its shape and deform with the weight of the rider. Materials below 40% elongation will provide favourable elongation properties. [4][5] Fatigue Strength The maximum cyclical stresses can be examined and applied to a bicycle frame directly, mimicking the repetitive stresses when ridden. This can therefore extrapolate the life of the bicycle frame given the amount of repetitive load applied when ridden. [4][5] Torsion Stress Torsion loading occurs upon acceleration of the bicycle where the frame is moved from side to side under the lateral forces applied by the rider from the torque applied. The usual lateral loading on the frame is transferred to slight longitudinal loading. The torsion capabilities of the material must be taken into account which also highly affects the joining processes of the bicycle frame. [4][5] Material Objectives Set-up and Index Selection To find the best material for a fixed gear bike frame, the main objective is to prioritise engineering performance; reducing weight, increasing stiffness. The agility of the frame is the main characteristic of which turning reactions, acceleration and deceleration performance are vital to a successful fixed gear bike to be used in and around town as well as for training purposes. The indices used to input into CES will define stiffness-limited design at minimum mass. The frame features that are tensile loaded, creating a tie between two other frame beams will use the index Youngs Modulus / Density, E/ à Ã‚ . Increasing this index will locate suitable materials that exert stiffness, combined with low density, however also giving the best tensile properties. The compression index, for components loaded in compression, is (Youngs Modulus ^  ½)/Density, E1/2 / à Ã‚  will also locate the best materials for that type of loading. For components loaded in bending the index (Youngs Modulus ^  ½)/Density, E1/2 / à Ã‚ , will also be used. For strength limited design, locating the best material for tensile strength before yielding and plastic deformation of the frame occurs, the index yield strength/density, à Ã†â€™f / à Ã‚ , is to be used. Locating the best material for compression strength will also use this index. For the seatstays and fork components, loaded in bending, the index à Ã†â€™f2/3 / à Ã‚  will be used. Maximising these indices will locate the best materials for each specified type of loading. [6] Outcomes using CES Function: Bicycle frame Constraints: Must not fail under rider weight and road reactions. Objective: Overall mass of bicycle frame is to be reduced, without sacrificing stiffness and strength. Variables: Material choice, material section shape, finishing techniques. Before inputting constraints, the graphs of Youngs Modulus over density and yield strength over density appear as follows using education level 2: Figure 5. Youngs modulus over density CES. Figure 6. Yield strength over density. CES. Inputting the constraints, CES outlines groups of materials that meet the constraints: Figure 7. Youngs modulus over density using constraints. CES. Figure 8. Yield strength over density using constraints. CES. CES software has outlined different materials from the groups: composites, metals and alloys, and technical ceramics. These materials are: Aluminium alloys Titanium alloys Beryllium alloys Carbon fibre composites Magnesium alloys Silicon based technical ceramics Aluminium alloys Aluminium alloys are extremely light and shows signs of high elongation, these factors direct aluminium toward being a good candidate for a bicycle frame, however aluminium has a low youngs modulus value and certain alloys exhibit low tensile strength values. These properties may give the bicycle frame flexibility, however current aluminium bicycle frames are certainly not flexible as they tend to have a larger diameter top tube and general radii over the frame components to counter act this. The fatigue values for aluminium alloys are very low, which indicates that after a while the frame will crack and fail, which is definitely something to avoid. Current bicycle frame manufacturers use butting technology in aluminium frames to combat this, by increasing the thickness of the tube at where the material is needed most. [4] Titanium alloys Titanium alloys are around double the weight of aluminium alloys, yet around half that density of steel alloys, making up for this are the high tensile strength and Youngs modulus values which enable to frame to be manufactured from thinner tube sections than aluminium which reduce overall weight. The fatigue values are also high which means that the frame will last for a long time. [4][7] Magnesium alloys Magnesium alloys are even lighter than aluminium alloys and have a slightly better fatigue value. Magnesium alloys also have a low Youngs modulus value, lower than aluminium which indicates flexible frame properties which will have to be yet again solved using tube section thickness design. Magnesium alloys look promising and have good properties that can be applied to a bicycle frame, however they have low corrsosion resistance which has to be overcome by surface treatments. On the current market, few frames have been made from the material as they tend to be very expensive. [4][7][8] CFRP, Carbon Fibre Re-enforced Plastic CFRP, a composite material, is lighter than all the metals previously mentioned as well as having high a Youngs modulus, tensile value, and relatively high fatigue strength values. This material is currently being used all over the bicycle market, from strictly track bikes to road racers, complete frames or part CFRP frames, and components used in mountain bike off road frames. The modulus of the epoxy resin is extremely low, resulting in a brittle material; which consequently affects the method of which the CFRP layers are applied. CFRP has good tensile properties, however not very high compression or torsion properties, so the angle at which the carbon fibre layers are applied must be taken into consideration, otherwise turning bends could turn the frame into a fractured mess. This is also evident in the extremely low elongation value, 0.032% 035% [3][4][8] Technical Ceramics, Silicon Carbide Silicon carbide, unlike ceramics in general has a good tensile value similar to that of titanium, aluminium and CFRP, and a youngs modulus value four times that of titanium. This implies that silicon carbide has a positively good outlook on a perspective bicycle frame, displaying high fatigue values and having a slightly lower density than titanium. Silicon carbide does however have a low percentage elongation at 0% [3] which boasts the potential for producing a hybrid material to increase this value. [4][11] [10] Beryllium Beryllium is often used as an alloying material to increase hardness properties, however it also has a very high youngs modulus value and is lightweight. Beryllium could not be used to solely manufacture a bicycle frame as it is poisonous, especially with inhalation. [12][5][4] It is visible to see the groups of materials commonly used on bicycle frames from the graphs produced; however there are not any specific materials shown. Enabling education level 3, the database of materials becomes more specific and materials that do not meet the constraints are ignored. By maximising the indices, individual materials can be identified. CES software has located Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina by maximising the indices as the best material for a bicycle frame. The unidirectional lamina allows the tensile and youngs modulus values to be uniform within the material, rather than have a directional flow providing room for failure by torsion. The composition of 30-40% polymer and 60-70% carbon fibre maintains a high level of stiffness and fatigue strength from the carbon fibre and reduces the brittle properties of the polymer resin. The CES outcome may have located the best material for a fixed gear bike frame, with the objective minimise the weight of the overall frame, without sacrificing stiffness and strength, however joining processes, surface treatments/coatings and shapes need to be considered. Joining processes Current CFRP frames are either manufactured by using tubular lugs of aluminium or titanium, and then pre-made CFRP tubes aligned and stuck into place with further layered CFRP and epoxy adhesives. The joining between the two different types of materials has led to corrosion and failing, which has directed manufacturers to create frames solely using CFRP. Continuous laminating can be used to cover a mandrel of which the removal of the mandrel gives rise to a shaped tube or hollow section necessary for the specified component. One method used to create low batch numbers of CFRP frames is autoclave moulding, which builds up the CFRP layers by hand, this technique creates a monocoque CFRP shell which has superior stiffness, strength and is extremely lightweight; frames lower than one kilogram have been produced. [8] Shape Factors Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina has a maximum shape factor value for elastic bending (Max à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢eB) of 12.3. By using this value, the shape efficiency can be compared against other materials determining if other materials exhibit better stiffness and resistance to bending properties. Using CES a graph can be drawn of Youngs modulus over density with the index à Ã‚  /E1/ 2, which will show the maximum bending stiffness whilst reducing weight. As the shape of the material is not fixed, in general materials used for lightweight structural objectives require low à Ã‚ /(à Ã¢â‚¬  eBE)1/2 values. The materials will be selected as they provide the best properties. [10] By comparing alloys used frequently in the manufacture of bicycle frames against the CFRP based material CES located, it is possible to see the benefits of firstly the shape factor attributed to aluminium, giving it good structural properties despite its low youngs modulus value. However the lower value of the determined CFRP material means that it has better shape efficiency and will have better in service properties at providing a lightweight stiff bicycle frame, resistant to bending forces. The titanium, given its stiffness will be able to produce a lighter frame than one made of steel and aluminium, yet does not have a better bending shape factor shown by the aluminium alloy. Magnesium, despite having the lowest modulus has a maximum bending factor lower than the aluminium alloy, which is one of the reasons why it is becoming an increasingly popular base alloy for bicycle frames. [10] Hybrid Bicycle Frame The extreme stiffness of the Cyanate ester/HM carbon fibre UD composite 0 ° lamina bicycle frame will create a very stiff ride, of which the road surface will be felt through the frame to the rider. One way to prevent this is to use larger or thicker tyres, which will reduce vibration, however will significantly increase friction and reduce top speed and acceleration times. A method to reduce these problems would be to develop a frame that utilised a couple of materials and blended them together to give longitudinal damping properties yet maintain the transverse stiffness and lightweight properties. This could be achieved by using titanium on the main triangular frame due to its 5-10% elongation property, extremely high fatigue, tensile and lightweight properties; and using the CFRP on the chain stays, seat stays and fork components for its extremely high shape factor and bending stiffness value. This will also create a high fatigue resistance of the frame making it last for m any miles of riding, however problems may occur with the joining of the two materials when using acrylic based or epoxy glues to bond the two sections together as this interferes with the structure and could lead to corrosion or failure from loading. [8][7][6] A hybrid material could be answer to creating the perfect bike frame using silicon carbide, boron carbide and aluminium, also known as MMC duralcan alloys, or alumina B4C alloys. Alloys using these materials have already been created, making use of silicon and boron carbides mechanical properties and combining them with aluminiums structural advantages. The aluminium carbide composites exhibit good bending factor values as well as high Youngs modulus values, fatigue strength, tensile strength and very high compressive strength, which makes the material promising for use as a bicycle frame. Surface Treatments Surface treatments such as anodizing are common in todays current bicycle market, for example on aluminium where the reactive surface is covered with an oxide layer and the thickness controlled using anodizing. This prolongs the life of the frame by reducing the risk of corrosion. Electroplating is also used for corrosion resistance or to improve hardness, this method is usually used on metals; however non-metals can be plated once painted with an electrically conductive material. This can give metals shiny mirror finishes, synthesizing the look of commonly expensive materials such as gold or silver. For metals and non-metals, organic solvent based paints are widely used to give the frame exciting colours and finishes. Organic solvent based paints are usually applied to carbon fibre; however it is sometimes preferred to show the craftsmanship of the carbon fibre in its natural form showing the weave pattern. [4][10] Conclusion The best materials for a fixed gear road bike come in the form of carbon fibre re-enforced plastics; this is because of the lightweight, high modulus frames they create. The shape factor contributes highly to the success of the material by creating stiff tubular sections that are resistant to bending and plastic deformation also improved by their high yield strength values. The tensile and compression properties shown by the material are very high and work well at absorbing shock, distributing the stress throughout the frame. The orientation of the carbon fibre is very important as this affects the tensile and compression values that the material can take before fracture in the longitudinal and transverse directions, vital to the frame staying in one piece when turning, decelerating or accelerating rapidly. A uni-directional laminate is preferable as the fibres provide optimum stress and strain abilities. The metals mentioned provide lightweight solutions to the bicycle frame; however each has issues, whether it is low youngs modulus or fatigue limits that need to be addressed. These issues are usually solved by means of alloying or using shape factors to increase or decrease tube thicknesses or use of butting and other joining processes.

New Venture Creation

Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from New Venture Creation Introduction of a New Venture Creation Our aim- to engage with SimVenture; a business simulation that allowed us to build and sell computers through our virtual company named ‘Genesis’. The formation and running of our virtual company integrated us with new venture creation and about being an entrepreneur. It reinforced concepts previously presented in our course lectures and engaged us in a competitive and volatile business environment. SimVenture ran for three virtual years with five members on its team- each with a different role in the company. [pic]Home Screen for Genesis on SimVenture This report accounts for the working and performance of Genesis in financial and operational terms with the key decisions taken in running the organisation, and my involvement in the operation of the business. We needed to fully utilize the features that arose with new ventures, by making sound decisions. These features included innovation, fast growth, vision, employment creation and money making power, along with the ability to take greater risks for higher returns. (Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture)The Operation of Genesis After conducting market research, we decided our target market to be the ‘Corporations’ industry due to its characteristics of high order and market size. Selling points were decided after noting the requirements of Corporations, demonstrating that we used consumer driven marketing strategy where we researched the needs of the consumer before making our product. Competitor research was also carried out to see what products were offered at what prices so that we could decide the mix of attributes and price of our product.In an article ‘How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy' in Harvard Business Review (2008), Michael Porter discussed the factors that lead to changes in strategy due to competition. As per the needs of Corporations, our product design had vast features, good performance and style, and average qua lity. We purchased components for Genesis throughout the three years from a small wholesaler, Sourceline, who offered the best discounts relative to credit terms. From commencement, we decided to outsource all production since this would give us more time to invest somewhere else in the business.This however, can affect the business negatively because of problems of relying on the producer in terms of delays. Even so, this saved us time, space and equipment. (Harvard Business Review, 2008) Genesis Product Mix Customer feedback research was carried out every quarter of the financial year till the end of the period, keeping us well informed of customer feedback on our product. Customer Feedback for Genesis [pic] Our goal for Genesis was to be a well known and highly publicized brand within these three years of operation.As per our marketing strategy, rigorous advertising was carried out with the local newspaper. TV and radio adverts were included along with trade magazines. A network was joined where entrepreneurs would meet and increase their business circles and potential customer base. Leads were generated starting from 1000 going up to 9999. A premium website was also created for e-commerce and to provide online customer support. Lastly, we held annual exhibitions for three years at ‘Meet the Corporate Buyer’ to promote our product to the corporate sector.Competitive pricing was adopted, making the product relatively cheaper for the superior attributes Genesis offered as compared to the competitors. Sales channels were kept at various hours in personal selling (entrepreneurial marketing) and a contract with a distributor to sell our product from the second month of the operation of Genesis was concluded. In the third year, a major accomplishment of the business was the addition of another distributor which sufficiently expanded sales. (Establishing Competitive Prices)The ‘Organisation’ I started my role of the ‘Organisationâ⠂¬â„¢ by the completing all legal requirements within the first month of the running of Genesis. This would give us an upper hand in the future, where legal requirements may need to be met. For example, if we urgently required another employee to increase the workforce, time would not be wasted, as our Employee Contract would already be prepared. Also, setting up a Limited Company would portray Genesis as a more professional and successful company, making it better for its image.Furthermore, Health and Safety Contracts and Distributor Contracts were created in order to avoid any problems later when employees needed to be hired or when we contracted with a distributor. [pic] The second step was of recruitment and selection. With the feedback of the team, we gradually increased the number of employees working for Genesis, ensuring that all of them were proficient in a variety of skills. Joseph Schumpeter states, â€Å"Individuals with key experiences and expertise are key elements in the new venture creation†- Schumpeterian ?Unternehmergeist' (Fiery souls). Therefore, all the employees, including the entrepreneur, received significant amounts of training so that they could work to the best of their potential. As numbers of employees grew, we shifted from external sources of training to on the job training. This decreased our costs since more employees could avail the training opportunity at the same cost. It was crucial to ensure that stress levels for the employees and entrepreneur was controlled, because if neglected, this would decrease efficiency and lead to obscuring time management.The entrepreneur was heavily trained in sales and marketing, fields he was not experienced in, since being an only employee at the start, it was up to him to suffice sales. Another key decision taken was that the entrepreneur was made to work full time and quit his previous job (as long as his income was not less than that at his previous job as this could be a dissatisfa ctory factor), so that he could concentrate more on Genesis and make it his primary source of income. (Wikipedia, Joseph Schumpeter) Workforce of Genesis [pic] The third limb of organisation was resources.Before incurring any shortage of storage space, Genesis was relocated onto bigger and more favourable premises with 1000 square feet of space, gaining a better image within the first year coupled with enhancement of our customer pool. We continued to purchase tools, office equipment, furniture, and transport so that the employee to resource ratio was not distorted to lower productivity. Finally, maintenance, cleaning and IT support were also contracted out, creating a sound structural base for Genesis and saving time on trivial matters. pic] Relocated Premises of Genesis Financial Aspect of Genesis This section will critically evaluate the financial performance of Genesis and will be an explanation of the available financial data on the business. [pic] First and foremost, we needed our monetary sources mapped out to overcome the financing gap many small firms face. The ? 10000 of savings of the entrepreneur was taken as the start-up capital to finance our new venture. We also acquired two grants of ? 500 each from the government for training and promotion of new ventures.Being a new business, we could avail the option of taking a loan from friends and family or from a bank, but opted not to do so as this would only raise our future costs in terms of interest payments. Lastly, selling equity to private investors was ruled out as we did not want to dilute the ownership of the business. We hired a bookkeeper in the first month of the business so that we could be updated with the accounts and forecasting of Profit and Loss, Cashflow, Balance Sheet, Ratios, Budgets and Targets. This is crucial for any business because it shows if the company is financially viable.Moreover, we used ratios to analyze company figures. In the above figure, we see that the rate of capi tal employed is 34%, showing that the company is profitable. The current ratio is supposed to be around 1. 5 to be good in terms of liquidity. The current ratio of Genesis is at 10. 4, demonstrating that there is less risk for customers and stakeholders to lose their money. Since we took no loans, our gearing ratio is zero. The asset turnover ratio shows us that the company’s assets are being used efficiently to generate sales (greater than 1 shows that the company is operating efficiently).As discussed earlier, we purchased components from Sourceline. Sourceline offered a 30 days payment term and provided 10% discount for purchases done for over 2000 components. This was favourable for us since by the end of three years, 18500 components were ordered, availing the 10% discount. The credit terms gave us time to pay our debts and that money could be utilized somewhere else in the business. From the profit forecast, and the last operational month’s costs, we get the brea keven point of 83 units. This is considerably lower than the actual sales of 295 units and shows the success of the company by its large margin of safety.Throughout the three years, we saw a steady increase in the bank balance from ? 207,000 at the end of the first year to ? 1,044,500 by the end of the third year. This would show any viewer the success and growth of the company from its initial start up with ? 10,000. In the first two months of the third financial year, another key decision was that we decided to give a promotional 10% discount for two months on sales, resulting in increased sales as we were incurring all advertisement costs together at the beginning of the year. (Pricing Strategy)Bank Balance Increase in the 3rd Year of Operation | |Operational Year | | |1st |2nd |3rd | |Bank Balance |? 20,6951 |? 718,807 |? 1,044,510 | |Profit |? 44,837 |? 25,805 |? 8,310 | |Debtors |? 170,600 |? 96,080 |? 186,180 | Conclusion Even though we had a faced a major problem after the first mentoring session, we succeeded. Our problem- we had lost the venture on the computer! We had to play it all over again and just hope that it kept going as smooth as it did in the previous game. And it did. That being said, there were still decisions that we could have taken differently to provide a different outcome for Genesis.Perhaps we could have decided differently with respect to costing strategies, for example by dividing the costs of the business (advertising etc) evenly throughout the year instead of incurring them together at the start of each year. Also since there were a lot of leads generated and not enough sales in comparison, advertising could have been decreased, allowing more resources to be available for the business. Furthermore, we could have not implemented just-in-time (JIT) stock and kept stocks so that the first two months could have been utilized for production even though there were no sales.Another decision taken differently could have been that we c ould have started doing partial in-house production after the first year since significant idle time emerged. The product of Genesis could also have been altered to a different mix of attributes to show an innovating product which has reached its maturity period and now wants to sustain its growth. When we decided a 10% decrease in price for two months, our product was ‘better than it needed to be’, showing that we were bordering the line of giving the customer too much for its price. Lastly, we neglected to conduct a SWOT and PEST analysis.These could have provided us with a major competitive advantage if we were in the real world and in fact, would have been a necessity. Although spoken about in general, it was not officially conducted which I could say, was a mistake. PEST Analysis SWOT Analysis [pic] Every member of our group felt that our business was running like a well-oiled machine. The team worked well together and gave a professional and productive environment , as demonstrated by the outcome of Genesis. It was established that together we were going to gain much more than we could alone and that unity is what would get us ahead- be it a game or real life.For this very reason, I can call myself a team player. References 1) All business, â€Å"Establishing Competitive Prices†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 2) New Venture Creation, Webct, â€Å"SWOT Analysis† and â€Å"Pest Analysis† Illustrations Porter, Michael E, Harvard Business Review (2008), â€Å"The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from â€Å"Pricing Strategy†, Retrieved on 26th April 2010 from 3) â€Å"Stages in Planning for a New Business Venture†, Retrieved on 25th April 2010 from Wikipedia, â€Å"Joseph Schumpeter†, Retrieved on 27th April 2010 from

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