Often Imitated Never Duplicated Essay Example for Free

Often Imitated Never Duplicated Essay Never Duplicated Michael Jackson brought a new style to the music scene, changing everything from fashion, videos and dance, which started around the making of the Thriller album and several of it’s music video’s. Men, women, boys, girls, black, or white it did not matter; everyone wanted to be a little like Michael Jackson, he crossed over all races and genres of music. It could have been the red military type jacket, the black pants, patent leather shoes, or the white sequin glove that he wore in the Thriller video. Everyone tried to copy Michael Jackson in some shape, form, or fashion, especially trying to do the moonwalk or robot that Michael Jackson perfected. Everyone stood in front of a mirror to see if they could do the Robot or told someone to watch me as they did the moonwalk. Michael Jackson and the Thriller album have influenced many of the pop artists today in their dance and showmanship. Record executive, producer, and singer Antonio Reid stated this in Rolling Stone Magazine. Michael has influenced so many artists, some of whom are picking up on the grandeur and showmanship of his live performances. You can see his influence in his sister Janet, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Britney Spears, and in Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey. You can see his influence in the dance moves—the syncopated choreography—that a lot of young artists use. And a lot of them have picked up his work ethic. When you look at Britney Spears production or a Justin Timberlake production, or it you look at an Usher production, you really see that they took a page out of Michael’s book; they went to rehearsal, and they must have worked eight hours a day, because their shows are flawless, as Michael’s shows were flawless (A. Reid). So many artists are motivated and influence by Michael Jackson that a lot of them even imitate him 25 years after the Thriller album. The imitation runs deeper than just song and dance. His vision and perfection set the example for so many more to follow. Michael Jackson still has musicians in the 21ST century aspiring to be a modern version of him. Not everyone will pick up on how much he influences artist today unless they follow Michael Jackson closely or grew up with him and watched the evolution of Michael; he was the Elvis of his generation [early to mid 80’s]. Of all Michael Jackson’s great qualities, dancing is probably the most imitated or at least it’s the most visible imitation of all, unless you just have a good ear for Michael Jackson’s music and remixes. Michael Jackson perfected the Moonwalk that he learned by watching kids and break-dancers perform in the streets. Once Michael Jackson had it perfected it, he debuted the Moonwalk on the Motown 25th Anniversary special, which was on National TV. This made the Moonwalk tremendously popular and notorious worldwide along with the robot that he was famous for. There’s way to many pop artists inspired and influenced my Michael Jackson to cover them all, a few of them are Ginuwine, Justine Timberlake, Sisco, Usher, NSYNC, and Janet Jackson. Justin Timberlake, Usher, Chris Brown and Ginuwine are a few of the many that will be used to show how much influence Michael Jackson has had on the pop music of the 21st Century. In an interview with VH1 the VH1 staffer asked Justin Timberlake â€Å"How have your changing musical tastes influenced your solo work? † and Justin answered with â€Å"My inspirations have been the same since I was 12. I love Stevie Wonder†¦Al Green. And of course, Michael Jackson and Prince and Earth Wind Fire, too† (Lerner). Justin Timberlake has been known to dance like Michael Jackson in his concerts and videos, even wearing a fedora like Michael Jackson. Susan Horsburgh of People magazine did an article on Justin Timberlake covering Justin’s solo debut. â€Å"emerging from a gigantic boom box to sing â€Å"like I Love You,† which, with his fedora and moonwalk moves, he performed in the style of his idol, Michael Jackson† (Horsburgh). Just another example of how Michael Jackson has pop artist today trying to be the new King of Pop. Justin Timberlake is not the only artist that is influenced by Michael Jackson. Chris Brown is another popular pop artist that has been influenced by Michael Jackson when it come to his performances and dancing. Chris Brown took Michael Jackson’s style of dancing and added his on spin or flare to it to make it his own. In the Washington Post journalist Allison Stewart says this about Chris Brown, he’s, â€Å"Fond of modified moonwalking and benign, poppy club jams†¦Michael Jackson without the ick† (Stewart). Which tells the reader that Brown is just like Jackson but with out the ick, can’t get any better than that. Chris Brown has taken Michael Jackson’s moves, practiced them, perfected them, and added his own twist to them making it his own. Chris Brown is another pop artist that is known for his dance as much as his music. As we make comparisons you will be surprised by some of the artist and what they’ve done. One that you might not know that was influenced by Michael Jackson is Ginuwine. Popular RB singer Elgin Baylor Lumpkin or better known as Ginuwine was also influenced by Michael Jackson and took emulating Michael Jackson to a whole new level at an early age. â€Å"Lumpkins interest in music was ignited by Prince and Michael Jackson, especially the latter’s legendary moonwalking performance†¦at the mere age of 12, began performing parties†¦later worked as Michael Jackson impressionist†(biography). Ginuwine went on to further his music career using the influence and experiences of Michael Jackson to become a successful RB artist. Of the many, many artist influenced by Michael Jackson, Usher Raymond, has been influenced by Michael Jackson in so many ways, but mostly in his dancing. During the remaking of the 25th anniversary of the â€Å"Thriller Album† Usher said â€Å"That great choreograph and great energy that Michael puts behind it, try to re-create that feeling. I try to take different kinds of dance and apply it in the same way Michael did in â€Å"Thriller’, ‘Beat It’ and ‘Off the Wall. ’† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Which has brought us to where were at today, even with rap artist like Snoop D O double G. That’s the king right there,† Snopp Dogg said about the love Michael still gets. â€Å"Michael Jackson has always been an inspiration to me as far as his music is concerned. You can’t take nothing from Him† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Not that it’s a bad thing; there are worse people to imitate, emulate or just be influenced by. His dance moves have been imitated in just about everyway from music videos to TV ads. The most recent was the commercial during the Super Bowl with the SoBe drink, which had the lizards doing the thriller dance with one of the singers from Destiny’s child. Shaheem Reid a well known MTV and Hollywood writer points how Michael Jackson’s dance has influenced other artist to include female groups, â€Å"There is Michael Jackson’s dance moves from â€Å"Thriller† in Destiny’s Child’s â€Å"Bootylicious video† (Reid, Hiatt, and Yago). Just another example of how Michael Jackson has influenced pop artist both male and female. Why would any artist imitate, emulate or even use Michael Jackson as an Inspiration? Here’s a few statistics that would explain why the Justin Timberlakes, the Ushers, the Chris Brown’s and the Ginuwines would use Michael’s work ethic, music and dance to guide them. Thriller originally spent 37 weeks at No. 1, a total of 80 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. Its also the only album in American history to be the bestselling album for two years. Seven of the albums nine songs hit the Billboard Top 10 with Billie Jean and Beat It both reaching No. 1† (Gamboa). â€Å"The â€Å"Thriller Album has earned 47 million dollars to date, making it the 2nd best album of all times only after the Eagles Greatest Hits album† (RIAA). If you were to imitate an artist why not Michael Jackson, he has been accepted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame twice, as solo artist and for the work in the Jackson Five. He has the largest selling record of all times; selling more than 40 million copies, double diamond in the United States, not platinum, but diamond. His Thriller album was accepted by the United States as a National treasure, not many music artists can say that. Michael Jackson will go down in history as one of the all time greats, putting him with the likes of Jimi Hendrix’s, the Eagles, the Beatles, Elvis and Bob Dylan. It’s now been 25 years since the release of â€Å"Thriller† one of the greatest albums ever. Various pop artists of today like Fergie, Akon, Will I Am, and more will redo the original songs on the 25th anniversary album. After 25 years the spirit of the â€Å"Thriller album† is still alive and artists all want to be a part of such a historical event. The 25th anniversary of the album was released on 11 Feb 2008, with never recorded songs, behind the scene’s look and the remix songs. Most of the artist doing the remixes admit they can’t live up to the standard that Michael Jackson set years ago and continues to do. It’s hard to believe one album could influence the music industry so much, much less 25 years after it’s debut, but â€Å"Thriller† has done just that. If you don’t think Michael Jackson is often imitated and used as a source of influence in the music world you’re in a real case of denial. These examples have shown that many artists since the album â€Å"Thriller† were influenced by Michael Jackson’s performance and dance. Music and dance has been influenced through years and years of artist and will continue to influence the artist of the future. Many people have formed unbiased opinions of Michael Jackson, but if they take his personal life and separate it from his work they would realize the impact on today’s music and dance. He has influenced so many artists to become the successes they are today and will continue to influence the music of tomorrow. His style of dance has been recreated in so many ways from other music artist actually imitating him to taking his style and trying to make it their own. His dancing from the â€Å"Thriller video has been used in other music videos, commercials and in various other media’s. Some have tried, but none have succeeded on a Michael Jackson level.

Robert Frost And Nature Themes

Robert Frost And Nature Themes Robert Frost was one of the few leading poets of the 20th-century and won the Pulitzer Prize four times. Frost was a poet from rural New England, but his poems could be related to any part of the world. After college Robert Frost moved to England and published a few poems while there. He closely observed rural life and in his poetry endowed it with universal, even metaphysical, meaning, using colloquial language, familiar rhythms, and common symbols to express both its pastoral ideals and its dark complexities (Britannica Concise Encyclopedia 1). Nature is an everyday detail that people infrequently take time to appreciate and sometimes take it for granted; its what makes the world beautiful. In several of Robert Frosts poems like The Road Not Taken, Fire and Ice, and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening they reflect nature, he recognizes the beauty and disaster of it. In the poem The Road Not Taken nature comes into play when Robert Frost introduces to the reader to a traveler that comes to a sudden halt at the site of a crossroad in yellow woods. The traveler of Robert Frosts The Road Not Taken is left to think about which path to travel on. Robert P. Ellis states On more than one occasion the poet claimed that this poem was about his friend Edward Thomas, a man inclined to indecisiveness out of a strong-and, as Frost thought, amusing-habit of dwelling on the irrevocability of decisions. After cautiously looking at of both routes, the traveler comes to the conclusion that both paths present a more interesting venture ahead. The traveler tells the reader that the woods are yellow which mean it could possibly be autumn. And looked down one as far as I could/To where it bent in the undergrowth (lines 4-5), this could mean the wood are thick and the road disappears in the undergrowth. The undergrowth would represent the travelers future that is uncle ar by which road he takes. Of the two means of travel, the traveler states that the passing there/Had worn them really about the same (lines 9-10) and both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had trodden black (11-12). There is a contradiction that one path is less worn than the other. These lines show us that the leaves have just fallen, and they cover which path was more or less traveled the day before. This line points out that there are times when you cant decide which decision is better. Without a clear solution to the problem, the character is left to think of any future consequences that could occur based on a decision of taken. As a result, the character comes to terms that the final destination is based only by chance and choice, but there are some regrets out the certain rode taken. Frosts work shows the general uncertainty of supposing a different result if another road was taken. The title suggests this feeling of doubt, where the road not taken is mentioned with greater standard than the actual course of travel. Missing the chance to travel both/ And be one traveler (2-3), one path must function as the chosen way and the other the other way, both with no indication of which is the better to travel. As a result, once the picked road is traveled, the other way holds a lingering reminder of what may have been lost just by chance. After a predictable self-evaluation of the travelers life, trying to figure out if he took full advantage of the available opportunities perceived as a frightening challenge for there will always be an ambiguity lingering around the other path. The traveler uneasily comes to terms with reality, and eventually determines the pointlessness on matters of the imagination. So, with a sigh (16), the traveler states that he took advantage of t he opportunities as they were given to him. Taking the chosen path has made all the difference (20). The decision determined the travelers overall course in life to the result that the other road couldve pointed the speaker to go in the complete opposite direction of his destination. This was the first Robert Frost poem I have ever read. The first time I read it I could easily relate to it. I do believe that this is one poem where anyone that reads it will be able to relate to it. I have been met with numerous decisions in like that are life changing. From which college I wanted to go to, to what major I want to study, and to fall or not to fall to peer pressure. All together, I enjoyed reading this poem. I like how Robert Frost compares a fork in the road to everyday life decisions we make. In the poem Fire and Ice Robert Frost compares two elements of nature fire and ice. Fire and Ice is straightforward in its message that emotions become destructive when they are too extreme, destructive enough even to end the world (Explanation of: Fire and Ice by Robert Frost). In the first two lines Some say the world will end in fire/Some say in ice (Lines1-2) the poem he presents the option to end of the world by fire or ice. He then talks about fire in the next two lines and compares fire to desire From what Ive tasted of desire/ I hold with those who favor fire (3-4). The comparison states that Frost sees desire as something that takes over and brings devastation. In the next stanza Frost then compares ice to hate. This comparison relates to the reader a view of hate as something that causes people to be unyielding, lifeless and cold. Ice also has the tendency to take in things and cause them to crack and break. The final line of the poem asserts that these two vicious forces a re evenly great. Fire consumes and destroys quickly, leaving ashes. In The overview Explanation of: Fire and Ice by Robert Frost it talk about how two opposites like fire and ice or passion and hatred can easily be linked together. While ice or hatred, destroys much slower. It causes objects to become so lifeless that they crack from the pressure created. Frost imagines that the end of the world could be caused by people becoming too strict, lifeless, and set in their way of life and beliefs that the world breaks apart into pieces. Stopping by Woods is a much stranger poem than may appear at first. From the opening lines, we know that the story is being told from the speakers point of view (Whose woods these are I think I know), but we may never bother to consider whom the man is addressing.(Monte). Robert Frosts love of nature is expressed through out the poem with the setting. His perfect description of the woods brings clear images to the readers head. The woods are lovely, dark and deep (line 13) the way Frost describes the wood would make the reader seem like they were there. The feel of Robert Frosts Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is set by the only other sounds the sweep / of easy wind and downy flake (11-12). The first line in the poem talks about the woods. In the poem Frost says that the narrator enjoyed sitting and watching the snow and that he is also a nature lover. In the second stanza Frost refers back to the woods. The depth and darkness of the woods make the woods gloomier. The snow elimi nates the limits and boundaries of things and of his own being is, the function here of some secret desire toward destruction. The setting of the poem is in the woods. John T. Ogilvie explains the peace of the woods by stating The artfulness of Stopping by Woods consists in the way the two worlds are established and balanced. The poet is aware that the woods by which he is stopping belong to someone in the village; they are owned by the world of men. The traveler sees something in the woods that attracts him making the woods a special place. It appears that speaker has connected the woods with his paradise. The tranquility, dimness, and silence are what make it paradise. The traveler knows that he is not able stay put in this paradise, But I have promises to keep/And miles to go before I sleep (14-15).The traveler doesnt want to leave the peaceful woods, but he has made other promises that he must keep. Frost repeats the last two lines and miles to go before I sleep (15-16), this co uld stress the importance of this promise that was made, and to give the traveler a reason to leave. Further, Frost repeated the last two lines of the poem partially as a matter of form: What it [the repetend or repeated lines] does is save me from a third line promising another stanza . . . . I considered for a moment four of a kind in the last stanza but that would have made five including the third in the stanza before it. I considered for a moment winding up with a three line stanza. The repetend was the only logical way to end such a poem. (Hochman) Nature has its own way of relaxing the mind and body. Frost may have believed the same. Frosts use of colorful imagery helps other readers appreciate the serenity of nature. Stopping by Woods is an excellent poem uses symbolism and setting perfectly. I enjoyed this poem and I also like the meaning. This poem is telling you to stop and smell the roses and enjoys life. During winter is a time when most people are lone in solitude. Being isolated can be miserable, but it could all so be a time to collect thoughts without any annoyance of the outside world coming down on you. Nature is something that can bring about personal reflection in anyone. In many of Robert Frosts poems he tends to reflect on nature, and he recognizes the beauty and disaster of it.Robert Frost is an amazing poet. His ideas and the way he uses nature are perfect and are valued by many. Frost uses nature to put across his views as well as to make his poetry more interesting than it already is. His poems make it easy to imagine the setting in your mind through the detail he provides.

HM Supply Chain and Logistics Management Strategies

HM Supply Chain and Logistics Management Strategies Introduction Hennes Mauritz AB, abbreviated to HM, a Sweden-based global fashion retail company, was established in 1947, serving a business concept of offering good-quality product with the best price along with making sustainability (HM, 2014a). HM is the world second largest fashion retailer. In 2013, HM has opened 356 new stores and expanded into five new markets: Chile, Indonesia, Serbia, Lithuania and Estonia (Passport, 2014). HM is a pioneer of ‘fast fashion’ which inspired by the trendy catwalk fashion and transformed them into affordable fashion frequently. Rather than being followers, it perceives the bid of consumer-lead (Passport, 2014). HM manages its brand with a combination of Uniqlo’s and ZARA’s marketing strategies, which are using long product development cycles and building efficient supply chain (Petro, 2012). This report will critically evaluate the supply chain and logistics management strategies of HM. Which markets have been targeted and why? Demographically, HM aims to target younger age groups, especially those who aged 18 to 30 and are sensitive to the latest fashion and trend. HM fundamentally advocates for offering quality products with the unbeatable value and a high frequency of launching new products (HM, 2014a). It has divided its customers based into two distinct groups which are practical customers and trendy customers. The former requires basic and comfortable garments while the latter seeks for fashionable and sartorial products. The number of â€Å"global middle class† will expected to expand to 4.9 billion by 2030, compared to 1.8 billion in 2009, significantly contributing by Asia (Pezzini, 2012). The upsurge of the middle class in Asian countries are believed to be sufficient to cope up with the impetus for world demand (Kharas, 2010). Kharas (2010) also stated that the rebound of consumer demand would depend not only on USA, but also Asian countries, especially China and India. Therefore, geographically, HM not only targets at the Western Europe, where generated almost 71% of revenues in 2013, but also widely targets at USA and Asia Pacific (Passport, 2014). Figure 1.1 indicated that there is significant increase sales in both North America and Asia Pacific. What has been Zara’s approach to Supply Chain Management? HM employs 160 in-house designers who officially work together with pattern makers and print designers to create HM a wide variety of products. They strive to find the right balance among fashion, quality and best price as well as involving sustainability awareness. Although HM collection are centrally planned, it does not own any factories instead of outsourcing from 800 independent suppliers, approximately 40% in Europe and 60% in Asia (Petro, 2012). In addition, HM has set up 21 production office outside Sweden, 50% of them are based in Asia and 50% of them are based in Europe (Tokatli, 2008). Due to geographic and lead time priorities, HM still persists in choosing Europe as production countries rather than China (Goransson et al, 2007). HM develops a long-term partnership and works closely with these suppliers to ensure its product quality. These suppliers are examined and evaluated twice a year to determine their performance and keep maintain good communication in order to respond to changeable demand (Siegle, 2013). Moreover, HM requires all its suppliers, subcontractor and business partners to sign the Code of Conduct which is implemented in every aspects of the organisation. Full commitment with the Code must be fulfilled throughout the supply chain. HM seldom works with middlemen. It strategically works with its production offices that are closely located to its suppliers and served as the second hub of information flow. From choosing suppliers, handling production process, reviewing sample to checking quality, HM can maximise its efficiency to be more responsive to customers demand. HM basically launches two seasonal collections each year, producing approximately 2000-4000 items on average (Tokatli, 2008). Sub-collections have also been offered within each season in order to continually update its inventory. Usually, the main collection would be long-lead time items whereas the sub-collection would be short-lead time items (Petro, 2012). HM will produce 80% of its products in advance (Cha, 2013) and the lead time of producing the remaining 20% may vary, generally from two weeks to six months (Saini, 2007). HM also develops its production plan six to twelve months in advance, coordinating with the purchasing process accordingly. This planning system helps to achieve its belief in exceeding customer expectations and contributing sustainable work in the supply chain. The process from designing products to retailing takes only 20 days to complete (Saminather, 2007). HM has developed an IT system which connected each store with corporate logistics, procurement systems and the central warehouse (Petro, 2012). This system enables the visibility of the entire process to every departments that involved. As a result, a more securable and effective management can be applied across all channels. What market entry strategies have been adopted and why? How do HM manage their marketing channels? Its expansion target is to open 10%-15% new stores per year and this can be implemented by its marketing strategy that is increasing like-for-like sales (Passport, 2014). In spite of reporting that HM like-for-like sales figures have been declined for five consecutive months, it still plans to open 350 new stores in 2014 (Milne, 2013). Despite the concern that excessive store numbers could affect HM’s cachet, but the rapid growth of consumer demand is highly enough to support its expansion (Passport, 2014). In fact, HM has 3511 stores across 55 countries in 2014, compared to 3132 stores across 53 countries in 2013 (HM, 2014a), accounting for 379 additional stores. HM’s expansion strategy in emerging markets is through establishing wholly-owned subsidiaries in order to maintain its direct operational control (HM, 2014a). All HM stores are run by HM, therefore, franchising would not be its favourable method. Nevertheless, some excepted markets necessarily need collaboration via franchising. For instant, HM reached a franchise agreement with Kuwait-based company, M.H. Alshaya to expand market in the Middle East. This partnership ensures a great success in bringing HM’s spirit to a new market. Joint venture can be considered as a dominant option for multinational enterprise (MNE) to discover emerging markets (Zhou and Xu, 2012). HM adopted a 51:49 joint venture with Mumbai-based firm Tata Group. This allows HM to better understand the know-how of local market before accessing to foreign markets, meanwhile, the Indian government regulates 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retailing, unleashing market liberalisation (Passport, 2014). These two opportunities inevitably assist HM to enter Indian market. It aims to invest â‚ ¬100 million for opening 50 stores in India, focusing not only in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai, but also other cities like Ahmedabad and Jaipur (Passport, 2014). HM has chosen vertical integration as one of its business strategies to better control the whole supply chain. From manufacturing to assembling, merchandising to retailing, all these processes are under its control. It works closely with its production offices, suppliers and buyers. While finish designing at Stockholm headquarters, its partnership suppliers will seek for the most suitable raw materials and matched them for assembling. HM places bulk order to minimise the risk of price fluctuation and enjoy a certain level of economy of scale (Goransson et al, 2007). Then, the production offices will arrange for merchandising. HM stores do not prepare any buffer stock, but are replenished from the nearest distribution centre. 90% of HM’s goods is transported from the suppliers’ warehouses to distribution centres via Hamburg, the main transit point of HM, by rail or sea (HM 2014a). Those garments are generally served with price tags and ready for sale (Hasan and Alim, 201 0). How is the brand differentiated and how is it positioned? HM identifies a sustainable competitive advantage for its brand through providing augmented products. The purpose of creating augmented products is to add value to supplementary elements, aiming to exceed customer expectation (Crassous and Gassmann, 2011). HM realises the fact that customers are not well-prepared to pay extra money for sustainable value, but it is believed to be a leading trend in the future (HM, 2014b). Hence, HM emphasizes offering the best price, not the cheapest price, certainly involving a part of sustainability. It would never compromise the commitment of providing fashionable and quality products with the best price. HM is positioning itself as an ethical company that produce fast-fashion and ethics simultaneously (Siegle, 2012). For example, HM has invested heavily in sustainability in order to remove the label of ‘disposable’ fashion manufacturer (Passport, 2014). It realises how important the natural resources to them, thus, it makes use of 13.7% of organic cotton over total cotton use. According to Textile Exchange (2014), HM is listed as the world top users of organic cotton. It also changes its linear production model to circular production model to serve conscious fashion. HM no longer focus on making short-term profit, it has stated the importance of developing long-term sustainability to be a significant differentiator (HM, 2014b). For instant, HM has collaborated many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Fair Labour Association (FLA) and Fair Wages Network to develop a criteria for benchmarking sustainability to entire industry (HM, 2014b). Furthermore, the transparency of HM’s supply chain is another key differentiation from other fast fashion retailers. HM made an effort of creating supply chain transparency by publishing its supplier’s factory list. HM is one of the few fashion companies to publish its supplier factory list (Doward, 2012). Is Country of Origin (COO) significant? COO could influence on customer-based brand equity, especially in B2C markets. It has added values to the brand and the perceived quality, one of the factors of brand equity, has been recognised as a driving force in order to generate brand awareness (Chen et al, 2011). However, the strength of the link of COO across products may differ as the variation in product categories can be hard to identify (Tseng and Balabanis, 2011). For example, the credibility of French perfumes and Russia vodka are high, compared to the credibility fast fashion. The latter is more concern with the style of fashion rather than COO. Thus, the Swedish original roots may not be significant in inspiring HM collection that what target customers are expected. In comparison to Sweden, Milan, Paris and Tokyo are more likely to be defined as global fashion cities (Jansson and Power, 2010). Therefore, HM’s COO is unlikely to be significant in influencing customer purchasing decisions. Have there been issues of supply chain ethics or provenance? HM’s commitment is to be ethical through its value chain, steadily rooted in its belief. A great efforts have been paid with awarded the world most ethical company (HM, 2014b). In spite of adhere to be ethical, some unexpected issues might occur under its vertical control. However, HM tried its own best to best solving those problems. For example, a Bangladeshi factory that making clothing for HM and other companies prone to fires due to poor safety standard (Hickman, 2010). HM alleged that it only bought a small portion of garments from this factory. However, it appointed representatives to visit that place immediately to support those affected and their families. HM has regularly audited this factory and announced that this factory has attained the Code of Conduct. Following this unwanted incident, HM produced a series of short films, concerning fire safety and other ethical issues in order to enhance workers’ vigilance (Siegle, 2012). Another example was 288 Turkish workers were suffered from verbal harassment during HM’s external assessment. HM followed up this circumstance and settled down by giving proper training to their supervisors and putting less pressure on them (Fair Labour Association (FLA), 2009). Conclusion In conclusion, this report has evaluated the supply chain and logistics management strategies of HM. Vertical brand, HM achieves its best prices promise by employing in-house designers, having no middlemen, choosing its own suppliers, utilising resources in every part of business, and the most important aspect is having effective logistic management within the supply chain. The highly responsive supply chain distinct HM from its competitors, enabling HM to react quickly to the up-dated fashion trend. The selected suppliers not only responsible for manufacturing quality product, but also ensuring the processes are operated under good ethical conditions. Sustainability plays an important role in implementing HM business strategy. HM works very hard to be recognised as an ethical company. These remarkable achievements will obviously lead an increase in brand reputation and customer confidence Therefore, it is essential for HM to continuously place sustainability as its primary objective to clearly become HM’s competitive advantage. References Cha, Y (2013) ‘The Big 3: Fast Fashion (SPA) Brands and Strategies’, Maeil Business Newspaper, 9 June. Chen, Y. ,Su, Y. and Lin, F. (2011) ‘Country-of-origin effects and antecedents of industrial brand equity’, Journal of Business Research, 64, p1234-1238. Crassous, T. and Gassmann, J. (2011) ‘Gaining Competitive Advantage through Green Marketing’, Department of Marketing, 3(37), p1-72. Doward, J. (2012) ‘HM comes under pressure to act on child-labour cotton’, The Guardian, 15 December. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/dec/15/cotton-child-labour-uzbekistan-fashion (Accessed: 2 April 2015) Fair Labour Association (FLA) (2009) Preventing Harassment of Workers in Turkey [Online] Available at: http://www.fairlabor.org/impact/case-studies/study/preventing-harassment-workers-turkey (Accessed: 29 January 2015) Goransson, S. , Jonsson, A. and Persson, M. (2007) ‘Extreme Business-Models in the Clothing Industry-A case study of HM and ZARA’, The Department of Business Studies, p1-92. Hasan, M.R. and Alim, M.A. (2010) Factors Affecting Supply Chain Management Efficiency in Cross Border Outsourcing: A case study of HM and its Outsourcing Operations in Bangladesh, Master Degree Thesis. University of Gothenburg. HM (2010) Code of Conduct. [Online] Available at: http://sustainability.hm.com/content/dam/hm/about/documents/en/CSR/codeofconduct/Code%20of%20Conduct_en.pdf (Accessed: 5 March 2015) HM (2014a) Annual Report 2014, HM Hennes Mauritz AB, Sweden. HM (2014b) Sustainability Report 2013, HM Hennes Mauritz AB, Sweden. HM (2015) Design Process. [Online] Available at: http://about.hm.com/en/About/facts-about-hm/idea-to-store/design-process.html (Accessed: 3 March 2015) Hickman, M. (2010) ‘21 workers die in fire at HM factory’, The Independent, 2 March. [Online] Available at: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/21-workers-die-in-fire-at-hm-factory-1914292.html (14 February 2015) Jansson, J. and Power, D. (2010) ‘Fashioning a global city: Global city brand channels in the fashion and design industries’, Regional Studies, 44 (7), p889- 904. Kharas, H (2010) The Emerging Middle Class in Developing Countries. OECD Development Centre. Milne, R (2013) ‘Late spring chills HM sales’, The Financial Times, 21 March. [Online] Available at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/05fd4e46-9201-11e2-a6f4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3X7QRARt9 (Accessed: 20 March 2015) Passport (2014) ‘HM Hennes Mauritz AB in Retailing (World)’, Euro monitor International. Pezzini, M (2012) An Emerging Middle Class. OECD Development Centre. Petro, G. (2012) ‘The Future of Fashion Retailing The HM Approach’, The Forbes, 11 May. [Online] Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregpetro/2012/11/05/the-future-of-fashion-retailing-the-hm-approach-part-3-of-3/ Saini, M. (2007) Analysis of clothing supply chain: Integration Marriage of Lean Agile, PhD thesis. The University of Salford. Saminather, N (2007) ‘How HM’s copying with Retail Travails?’, Bloomberg, 3 January. [Online] Available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2007-01-03/how-h-and-ms-coping-with-retail-travailsbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice Siegle, L. (2012) ‘Is HM the new home fashion?’, The Guardian, 7 April. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/apr/07/hennes-mauritz-h-and-m Siegle, L. (2013) ‘HM: How ethical are your clothes?’, The Guardian, 6 October. [Online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/oct/06/ethical-high-street-clothes-hm Textile Exchange (2014) ‘Organic Cotton Report’, Textile Exchange, 31 July. The Boston Consulting Group (2005) Taking Care of Brands through Vertical Integration. [Online] Available at: http://www.bcg.com.cn/export/sites/default/en/files/publications/articles_pdf/Taking_Care_Brands_Through_Vertical_Integration_Nov2005.pdf (Accessed: 20 February 2015) Tokatli, N. (2008) ‘Global Sourcing: insight from the global clothing industry – the case of Zara, a fast fashion retailer’, Journal of Economic Geography, 8, p. 21-38. Tseng, T. and Balabanis, G. (2011) ‘Explaining the product-specificity of country-of-origin effects’, International Marketing Review, 28(6), p581-600. Zhou, K.Z. and Xu, D. (2012), ‘How Foreign Firms Curtail Local Supplier Opportunism in China: Detailed Contracts, Centralized Control, and Relational Governance’, Journal of International Business Studies, 43 (7), p677-692.

Eleanor of Aquitaine Essay -- Queen Roalty Eleanor Aquitaine History P

Eleanor of Aquitaine Much has been written about the historical life of Eleanor of Aquitane. Her life, Undoubtedly reads like legend, at least in part because it is. It is fairly safe to say that the world had never seen a woman like Eleanor of Aquitane, and it is doubtful that there has been a woman since who could rival her power, intelligence, beauty and sheer force of will. Like many other women of her time Eleanor came from a long line of noble and royal blood. Her lineage can be traced back to the earliest kings of both England and France.(follow link to take a look at Eleanor’s very long family tree http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/scokin/12251) Her father William X was the son of France’s first troubadour, William IX and Eleanor’s early life was saturated with culture and learning. The court of her father and grandfather was thought to be the main culture center of the time. At age 15, with her father’s passing, Eleanor became the sole heiress and ruler of the largest duchy in France – Aquitane. Eleanor was then betrothed to Louis VII of France in order to unite their vast territories. In fifteen years however, Eleanor’s marriage and queenship were over. The pope on the pretext of close kinship ties annulled her unhappy marriage to Louis. At age 30 Eleanor had given up her throne and her daughters and returned to Aquitane to rule. Within a few years Eleanor was married to Henry Plantengent, the Duke of Normandy and ruler of the second most powerful duchy in France (second to her own Aquitane). In 1154 Henry was crowned King of England and Eleanor was now Queen of England, duchess of Aquitane and duchess of Normandy. Eleanor and Henry had eight children together, including Richard the Lionheart and John. In 1173, afte... ... paradigm of sexual empowerment. This empowerment comes in terms of both sexual freedom and gender freedom. Eleanor’s personal family history and her encounters with serious intellectualism as well as serious sexuality at an early age perhaps introduced her to the idea that sex and power were intimately woven together. As such she was raised in world which empowered her and let her loose on a world that demanded her submission. The result was that Eleanor realized part of women’s power lay not just in marrying well, but in embracing and controlling their sexuality. This in turn meant an early redefinition of where a woman’s place was. For Eleanor at least that was not simply in her husband’s bed. Works Cited 1. Main internet sources cited with a link in the paper 2. Weir Alison, Eleanor of Aquitane; a Life ; Ballantine Publishing, 1999, New York. Pgs 1-37 Eleanor of Aquitaine Essay -- Queen Roalty Eleanor Aquitaine History P Eleanor of Aquitaine Much has been written about the historical life of Eleanor of Aquitane. Her life, Undoubtedly reads like legend, at least in part because it is. It is fairly safe to say that the world had never seen a woman like Eleanor of Aquitane, and it is doubtful that there has been a woman since who could rival her power, intelligence, beauty and sheer force of will. Like many other women of her time Eleanor came from a long line of noble and royal blood. Her lineage can be traced back to the earliest kings of both England and France.(follow link to take a look at Eleanor’s very long family tree http://www.my-ged.com/db/page/scokin/12251) Her father William X was the son of France’s first troubadour, William IX and Eleanor’s early life was saturated with culture and learning. The court of her father and grandfather was thought to be the main culture center of the time. At age 15, with her father’s passing, Eleanor became the sole heiress and ruler of the largest duchy in France – Aquitane. Eleanor was then betrothed to Louis VII of France in order to unite their vast territories. In fifteen years however, Eleanor’s marriage and queenship were over. The pope on the pretext of close kinship ties annulled her unhappy marriage to Louis. At age 30 Eleanor had given up her throne and her daughters and returned to Aquitane to rule. Within a few years Eleanor was married to Henry Plantengent, the Duke of Normandy and ruler of the second most powerful duchy in France (second to her own Aquitane). In 1154 Henry was crowned King of England and Eleanor was now Queen of England, duchess of Aquitane and duchess of Normandy. Eleanor and Henry had eight children together, including Richard the Lionheart and John. In 1173, afte... ... paradigm of sexual empowerment. This empowerment comes in terms of both sexual freedom and gender freedom. Eleanor’s personal family history and her encounters with serious intellectualism as well as serious sexuality at an early age perhaps introduced her to the idea that sex and power were intimately woven together. As such she was raised in world which empowered her and let her loose on a world that demanded her submission. The result was that Eleanor realized part of women’s power lay not just in marrying well, but in embracing and controlling their sexuality. This in turn meant an early redefinition of where a woman’s place was. For Eleanor at least that was not simply in her husband’s bed. Works Cited 1. Main internet sources cited with a link in the paper 2. Weir Alison, Eleanor of Aquitane; a Life ; Ballantine Publishing, 1999, New York. Pgs 1-37

Bitterness, Weariness and Impotence in Hardys Tess of the dUbervilles

Bitterness, Weariness and Impotence in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Ubervilles In his novel Tess of the d'Ubervilles, as well as much of his poetry, Thomas Hardy expresses his dissatisfaction, weariness, and an overwhelming sense of injustice at the cruelty of our universal fate  - disappointment and disillusionment. Hardy argues that the hopes and desires of Men are cruelly thwarted by a potent combination of "all-powerful Nature, fate, unforeseen accidents and disasters, and tragic flaws" (Mickelson 32). Although Tess, the heroine of the novel, is fully realized with physical, emotional, and mental attributes, grasping desperately to be her own master, she is nevertheless overpowered, becoming a victim of circumstance, nature, and social hypocrisy. Likewise, Hardy's dark realities bleed into and saturate his poems. First, Hardy personifies Nature as a main character in the novel. Instead of allowing the influence of Nature to show only in weather and seasonal changes, allowing the reader to sense the plot, Hardy creates a Nature who is not the typical capricious but distant goddess. Instead, she is terrifyingly responsible for influencing and overpowering man. Hardy's Nature is not only essential for the subsistence of the entire farming countryside, but the waxing and waning cycles - in the weather, time of day, and season, - which seem to influence the actions of the characters. Every disastrous occurrence seems preordained by the mood of Nature. Before Prince, the Durbeyfield horse, is killed, Tess' brother wonders at "The strange shapes assumed by the various dark objects against the sky; of this tree that looked like a raging tiger springing from a lair; of that which resembled a giant's head" (p. 24... ...rocess and the Case of Tess and Jude." New Perspectives on Thomas Hardy. Ed. Charles P. C. Pettit New York: St. Martin's, 1994. 16-40. Chapman, Raymond. " 'Good Faith, You do Talk!': Some Features of Hardy's Dialogue." New Perspectives on Thomas Hardy. Ed. Charles P. C. Pettit. New York: St. Martin's, 1994. 117-36. Hall, Donald. Afterward. Tess of the d'Urbervilles. By Thomas Hardy. New York: Signet, 1980. 417-27. Hardy, Thomas. Tess of the d'Urbervilles. 1891. New York: Signet Classic, 1980.   Jacobus, Mary. "Tess: the Making of a Pure Woman." Thomas Hardy's   Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea   House Publications, 1987. 45-60. Mickelson, Anne Z. Thomas Hardy's Women and Men: The Defeat of Nature. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1976. Weissman, Judith. Half Savage and Hardy and Free. Middletown: Wesleyan UP, 1987.

The Birth of Protestantism in Europe

Protestantism refers to the third branch of Christianity after Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. It is comprised of various denominations or groups each with their own set of traditions. This set of traditions is oftentimes unique to a denomination in terms of beliefs, organization and customs making it separate from other Protestant denomination. This makes Protestantism seem splintered when compared with the very organized structure of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. But one common belief among Protestant denominations is that man can find salvation not through good actions but solely by his faith in Jesus Christ.The first Protestants come out from Europe in the 16th century in what is now called the Reformation. The actual word â€Å"Protestant† was originally coined when five princes of Germany sought reform in the Roman Catholic Church at the Diet of Speyer in 1529. They released a statement pronouncing unity against Roman Catholicism. Later in that centur y, the word was begun to be used to refer to two factions of reformation that broke away from Roman Catholicism: Lutheranism, founded on Martin Luther’s teachings, and Reformed, founded on the philosophies of Huldrvch Zwingli and John Calvin (McKim, 2005).Zwingli and Calvin headed the Protestant movement in Switzerland while John Knox for Scotland. In England, a middle fusion of Protestantism and Roman Catholicism was created in what is now called Anglicanism or the Church of England. From these major groups or denominations, a lot of smaller groups broke away and presently continue to happen as the movement expanded around the world. By tradition, the origins of Protestantism is traced back to October 31, 1517 when Martin Luther, a Roman Catholic priest that time, posted the â€Å"95 Theses† on the door of a church in Wittenberg, Germany.The theses condemn aspects of the Roman Catholic Church that he believed to be not founded on Scripture particularly concerning abso lution, confession and indulgences. Roman Catholics believe on indulgence as the complete or initial reduction of mortal chastisement owed for sins previously forgiven in confession. The growing practice of selling indulgences was regarded with huge skepticism since it symbolized a monetary transaction instead of an authentic repentance of the person. Luther viewed this as a serious desecration of the real purpose of confessing one’s sins and doing penance.He asserted that Catholics were fallaciously taught that forgiveness can be obtained by paying for indulgences. The Castle Church where Luther nailed his 95 Theses possessed one of the continent’s biggest collections of religious relics at that time. It was maintained that time that viewing these sacred relics gives the onlooker some indulgence in purgatory. The collector of the relics, Frederick III of Saxony, allowed the religious to view the relics once a year and visitors offered donations for the church’s preservation and receive indulgences in return.Another Dominican priest, Johan Tetzel, started to sell indulgences to help in a campaign to help fund St. Peter’s Basilica’s renovation in Rome. When these devout Catholics went to confess their sins, they handed over their indulgences and asserted that they did not have to repent because the indulgence document already guaranteed the forgiveness of their sins. This angered Luther and obliged him in exposing the deception by composing the 95 Theses, which was originally intended to be presented in public debate at the University of Wittenberg.That day on October 31, 1517, was the day when Martin Luther spoke to the Roman Catholic authorities with his reform appeals and introduced his theses. He also asked them to order the members of the clergy to bring an end to the wrongful practice of selling indulgence. The church authorities did not take any action and this led Luther to circulate his work in private. His 95 Theses proliferated swiftly and printing began in Leipzig, Nuremberg and Basel. All of a sudden the content of his work reverberated all over Germany and beyond, having acquired a growing recognition in a short span of time.Luther’s work echoed with believers not considering social status, wealth or class. The Roman Catholic Church released a response and identified errors in Luther’s work but the damage was already done. The Wittenberg chapel started to celebrate Lutheran services in 1522 instead of the Holy Mass in Roman Catholicism. Martin Luther quickly became popular mainly because of the common sentiment of Roman Catholic believers that time that they were not satisfied with the dishonesty and materialistic cravings and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.Starting in 1525, other principal European cities like Strasbourg, Nuremberg and Augsburg, officially joined the Reformation movement. Soon after, other principal German states like Saxony, Brandenburg and Hesse joi ned the movement. Denmark established its first Protestant church in 1357 and Sweden followed in 1539. Meanwhile, the final attempt to formally reconcile with the Roman Catholic Church fell short at the Colloquy of Regensburg in 1540 (Iserloh, 1968). The founding of Protestantism was then regarded as fully accomplished.

Globalization and TNCs Motivation Essay

Research reveals that Transnational Corporations commonly abbreviated as TNCs exert an immense influence in the current economy which has embraced the concept of globalization. There is widespread discussion as to whether globalization is a new or old phenomenon. Some analysts consider the concept to be new as well as revolutionary. Others including Kenneth Waltz argue that, in comparison to the era prior to the first world war, the current global set up has underachieved in terms of the level of intensification (O’Rourke and Williamson, 2000). Furthermore, the earlier governments especially before the First World War had less intervention than the government of today. The aforementioned points are valid but they also do not denounce that capitalism brought a vigorous stride in global integration that was affected by the interwar of between 1918 and 1939 and the Cold War. The degree of consolidation of the worldwide production systems and disengagement of nations from economic activity may still be below the levels achieved in 1910. However the present rate of globalization particularly by TNCs is high and the level of intensification may soon exceed the prior set records (Hill, 2005). Notably, the welfare state set up that had been predominant since years of the interwar in the 21st century has declined. As a result, TNCs have witnessed a new direction in global order that is designed in line with the reasoning tradition of Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. According to Hayek, for example, the concerns of social imbalance by TNCs are just indication of the outdated communalistic idea which should be scraped out and replaced by individual responsibility and freedom the issues of poverty and inequality not withstanding. Again, there is an increase in the outlook that national economies have integrated into a common space of worldwide economy; furthermore, only one form of organization is appropriate. The realization of a single global economy has still a long way to go. However, there is a powerful force propelling the world to that direction. Controversy also mars the factors that promote TNCs globalization. Obliviously, technological development has contributed to the intensification of interdependence. However, it is not substantial to claim that technology, by itself, would precipitate globalization. For instance, it is unclear whether capital mobility would be achieved due to technological advances alone; development in communication coupled with capital flows deregulation have improved capital mobility. Some sectors agree that globalization is modelled by the forces of the market system. In argument, to realize an economic system a political system must come in handy. Therefore, globalization is dictated by the assent of governments and in this regard, the United States predominant power as well as other developed nations (Friedman, and Ramonet, 1999). The strict followers of the market system argue that the reception of globalization by TNCs is inevitable such that they cannot prevent globalization in which case they would incur immense costs. Interest of powerful capital can punish national governments which implement monetary and fiscal policies that impact greatly on their visions. In these circumstances, developing countries have sided with capital due to amounting pressure from the advanced nations and the multilateral globalization agents. Capital has caught the attention of most countries governments. It is unforeseen that the world economic order perceived in globalization will be viable in a situation where labour arrangement is sufficient to counterbalance the effects of capital governments. Powerful nations like the United States cannot be deemed helpless against globalization. They can determine its fate at their own will or where there are changes in the balance of power amid social classes of the powerful nations. The death of globalization in the nineteenth-century, due to mostly political pressure, adds to the point that globalization is not a passing wind that is controlled by merely the technological advancement and market forces. (Chossudovsky, 2003) Globalization has different meanings depending on its global nature, how it impacts individuals and perspectives that such people have about this concept. Some individuals define globalization as being that state where each and everyone in the society is a resident of that global society. To other people it refers to the issue of Transnational Corporations taking advantage of poor nations to augment there financial bases through exploitation of human resource as well as the available raw materials in such countries. Globalization is understood as a complex concept that has brought much controversies world wide. Research indicates that globalization have little harmony in regard to what it is and whether it is a new or an old idea. Therefore globalization implies a process of aggravation of political, economic, and cultural interdependence amid the different actors within the global system. We also find that globalization is more systematic in the economic field where it signifies a process of intensification of national economies with the purpose of developing the capacity of the global economy to work as a unit (Joseph, 2001). This integration comes with certain socioeconomic conditions as well as policy mechanisms enhanced by TNCs. Therefore, understanding globalization necessitates the description of the underlying context that makes it viable, as well as the institutional set up and policy frameworks within TNCs that promote it. Over the last two decades, some significant changes in the global system have precipitated globalization particularly when TNCs global activities are considered. One is the changes in power distribution on a global level where any nation could have emerged as the sole superpower. This development has therefore eliminated the competition among nations for global leadership and dominance; it would be difficult to have a common economic space while there are competing superpowers. However, in this regard, globalization is perceived as a United States dominated set up. In addition, it implies that if another superpower emerged, then the process would be reversed. The other factor that is found to be affecting this globalization concept is the predomination of capitalism and the free market economic system. Research indicates that conflicting economic frameworks and visions would not be compatible with the processes of making a common economic space. Under this we find that lack of competition between various economic visions has been described one of the leading factor for globalization (Held and McGrew, 2002). Several policy instruments have been created to act as mechanisms of globalization; this is after the establishment of the acknowledged underlying conditions. There has also been creation of fresh multilateral institutions with the restructuring of the older ones so as to manage and promote the mechanisms of globalization; a few key examples include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), The World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Bank. The policy mechanisms developed in harmony with a neoliberal ideology that is also stated to be fostering globalization; disengagement of a nation in economic activities regarding to the regulation and institutional changes like trade barriers restriction, privatization, and capital mobility liberalization are some examples of these mechanisms. Under this we find that many developing nations, the World Bank and IMF through their sponsored programs have been the vehicle behind the adoption of these globalization mechanisms (Chossudovsky, 2003). Globalization Debate Research indicates that there is growing debate about the reality of TNCs globalization with two arguments arising; that globalization brings prosperity and that globalization brings impoverishment. Those who argue that it brings prosperity are the proponents while the later are opponents of this concept. Those who oppose globalization cite some issues associated with the growth of this concept and include; nations which are poor are always disadvantage for example countries who rely on agricultural products and their domestic markets having experiencing competition from Multi-National Corporations in same industry which force the local firms to offer there commodities at cheaper prices thus leading to making of loss by such firms. (Joseph, 2002) The other issue is that of exploitation of employees of foreign origin by utilizing them as labour and paying them fewer wages and salaries on the work done. Also TNCs may subject such workers to working for long hours with less pay. Such a situation particularly in poor countries like in Africa has led to escalation of poverty levels since such workers may not be able cater for their basic needs. Globalization has also led to sudden shift to service work from manufacturing processes; this is because of the service provision being considered cost effective particularly when viewed from the aspects of offshore employees and such workers shifting to service industries. Such scenario particularly in Africa and some Asian Countries has led to increase in economic gap between the unskilled and the skilled employees. There is also an argument that globalization has resulted to growth of contingent jobs in that many TNCs like the Coca Cola Companies are now favouring the recruitment of part-time or contract based workers thus saving costs that they have could incur on the recruitment of full-time employees. Such scenario have led to job insecurity since the workers will not receive benefits like pension benefits when they will retire thus making life difficult particularly for the old in the society. Globalization has also led to weakening of labour trade unions in that many firms are set up in different parts of the world and there have also been an increase of unemployment rates meaning that there exist surplus of workers in many modern economies. A good example is in the U. S where firms can replace the employees at will since the existing unions have limited powers to protect their workers. (Tehranian, 2001) On the other hand globalization enhanced by TNCs has brought some benefits or what is commonly referred to as prosperity by its proponents and they include the following; globalization has led to production of a lot of products in the market which are of quality and at the same time extensive access of overseas commodities. This concept has also led to realization of worldwide ordinary market and at the same time to introduction of financial markets which is integrated and thus can lead to many opportunities like securing loans and external financing arrangements. Globalization has also resulted to enhancement of international relations between nations. This is because several firms from different countries are now investing in their markets of choice thus making the world to be the global village (Hill, 2005). The inception of globalization has also led to enhancement of information flows among geographically inaccessible places in the world; for example commercial banks from the UK have now invested in Africa especially in Sudan which has been inaccessible because of lack of political stability for a long period. Globalization has also led to introduction of new technologies by TNCs and thus such technologies have increased the pace of production by different firms in there manufacturing processes. Other benefits of globalization include fostering of tourism, increase of multi-culturalism, increase in local consumptions of locally produced products, has fostered sports competition such as Athletics championships and FIFA World Cup, creation of collective values, development of good worldwide telecommunications structures and the accomplishment of free movement of individuals of all countries among other benefits.