Africa.. essays

Africa.. essays Africas Resistance to the Portuguese The African history has been affected tremendously due to the influence of some European countries. Portugal, who probably had the greatest impact on the continent, was not shy in invading what they thought to be profitable circumstances. One of these areas that they profited from was the kingdom of Kongo. Kongo was a major Bantu-speaking kingdom astride the Congo River in west-central Africa, probably founded in the 14th century. It was governed by a king, the manikongo, whose economic power was based upon trade in ivory, hides, slaves, and a shell currency of western Africa. Within a few years after the Portuguese first encountered the kingdom in 1484, the sixth manikongo, Nzinga Mbemba, later Alfonso 1, converted to Christianity and extended diplomatic and economic relations with Portugal. The agreement soon collapsed, however, as the Portuguese extended their slave-raiding activities. By 1570 the power of the Kongo kingdom had begun to decline, and severe internal tensions had developed. Alfonso I knowing what was going on wrote a series of papers to King Joao III of Portugal. In these papers, Alfonso I pleaded with the king to take away all the corrupt Portuguese from his kingdom. With false assurance from the king of Portugal, he asked to have sent those people of religious and medical backgrounds to help modernize his kingdom. With the corruptness still noticeable in the Kongo, Alfonso I was forced to pass a law stating that ...any white man living in our Kingdoms and wanting to purchase goods in any way should first inform three of our noble men and officials of our court whom we rely upon in this matter... (57). These futile attempts of writing letters to the king were not making any significance. The king of Portugal was money hungry along with the majority of all his servants who worked for him down in Africa. ...

Vasco da Gama

The explorations and accomplishments of Vasco da Gama changed Portugal from a poor nation to one of the worlds greatest powers. His persona and exploits distinguished him as an influential pioneer who helped shape Portugal as a nation for the next 100 years. Vasco da Gama was born sometime in the 1460s near the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. Born into a wealthy and respected family of high-ranking soldiers, Gama also trained to be a soldier, although he was more interested in boats and navigation. When Gama was appointed to man an African slave boat on a small mission, he showed his skills as a navigator and was eventually promoted to captain. Over time, Gama became known as a talented navigator. Gama set out on his most important journey on July 8, 1497, sailing around the Cape of Good Hope to find a sea route to India. Portugal was hoping to establish direct trade with India to avoid the high tariffs charged by Arabs, who controlled trade throughout the Mediterranean at the time. The lucrative spice trade would increase Portugals wealth immeasurably. Gama consulted Bartolomeu Dias, the only man to sail around the Cape, about potential dangers and the most efficient way of circling the Cape. Dias advised him to go in a large arc to avoid coastal tides and fierce storms. He also told him, One more thing. Watch your men for mutiny. If my own hadnt rebelled I might have reached India seven years ago (Syme 21) . This advice saved Gama time and prevented possible catastrophe. Gama was at sea for over three months without seeing land, the longest period ever experienced by a crew, and was not threatened by mutiny. This was because he had the trust and respec! t of his crew, without which he would have been unable to complete his mission to find the route to India. Gama set off with four ships, the Sao Gabriel which carried about 240 tons, the Sao Rafael , 200 tons, the Sao Maria,150 to...

Emphasis partners up with MCA - Emphasis

Emphasis partners up with MCA Emphasis partners up with MCA Emphasis is delighted to announce a new business partnership with the Management Consultancies Association (MCA). The MCAs 60 member companies represent around 70 per cent of the UK consulting sector, and is increasingly active as the representative voice of this important and strategic industry. The MCA informs and influences public debate on topical issues, and provides authoritative data on the industry. It commissions research and policy analysis and represents the industry in discussions with Government and other stakeholders. The MCA also facilitates networking and the sharing of best practice within the industry through events, publications and initiatives such as the Young MCA. The partnership with Emphasis will allow the MCA to add to the services it offers its members. Emphasis is the UKs leading organisation dedicated solely to business-writing training and consultancy. The company is behind some of the best business-writing skills in the UK, working with a huge range of organisations including MCA member firms. Alan Leaman, MCA Chief Executive, said: We are delighted that Emphasis have joined with the MCA in this new partnership. We will be working together on a number of projects over the coming year. Rob Ashton, Emphasis Chief Executive, said: This is an exciting project, building on our work with numerous knowledge-based organisations. It provides a real opportunity to help member firms make the most of their intellectual capital. For more information on the MCA, go to www.mca.org.uk.

Explain the key differences between intended and emergent approaches Essay

Explain the key differences between intended and emergent approaches to developing strategy. Why might one be preferred to the other by strategic managers - Essay Example Factors that might convince an organization to adopt the emergent approach include a need to change according to the changing environment and context, advancement of technology paving way for new channels of communication and operation, unexpected and abrupt increase or drop in the value of currency, and stakeholder influence. Factors that might influence the emergent approach and optimize an organization’s tendency to stick to the intended approach include the commitment to the original vision and mission of the organization, and the constraints of resources. A very good example of emergent approach is provided by Mark Zuckerberg, the Harvard University student and the founder of Facebook. Zuckerberg’s intended approach in 2003 after being dumped by his girlfriend was to create the website â€Å"FaceMash† as a platform where the beauty of young women would be voted on. The website first evolved into Thefacebook online social network meant exclusively for the Harvard students. But the surprising and growing popularity of the website caused Zuckerberg to morph it into Facebook open to everybody in the world. â€Å"Ironically, Facebook’s emphasis on connecting with existing and new friends is about as different as it could be from Zuckerberg’s original mean-spirited concept† (Ketchen and Short, 2013). It can be stated without doubt that the emergent and realized strategies used by Zuckerberg proved much nobler for him compared to the intended strategy with which he had originally started his entrepreneursh ip. A good example of intended approach to developing strategy is the intended strategy of General Electric (GE) in the later half of the 20th century, in the form of a direction from Jack Welch, the then CEO of the company, that all units of business were supposed to be number one or number two in their market or industry; or had a good

Airline Regulation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Airline Regulation - Essay Example The first major benefit the airline industry would gain would be the safety of its passengers. Section 601(b) of the FA Act specifies, in part, that when issuing certificates, the FAA shall give full consideration "to the duty resting upon air carriers to perform their services with the highest possible degree of safety in the public interest . . ."  Why? Because safety is also related to profitability of an airline company! The first step would be to establish the fact that safety issue is not just about accidents, it is also about prevention. Accidents are few but they cost the company a lot of money in terms of insurance payment as well as bad publicity. In a study made by Mitchell and Maloney ( 1989) it was revealed that â€Å"found that share price falls can be attributed both to the projected future costs of higher insurance and to a brand name effect associated at-fault attribution â€Å" ( qtd from. Button,1997 ). Bad publicity is bad marketing and people lose trust in a certain carrier that is involved with frequent accidents. If management wants to avoid costs, then it must pay attention to its safety programs. The best possible way to change the management’s view about safety is to make a presentation that would justify safety as a way to minimize future costs. I would ask a group of industry specialists on safety to present to the management the benefits of safety to our company and relate it to financial matters. The only problem with the implementation of safety is that some airlines do get favorable treatment from the government. Popular participation from citizens such as lobbying in Congress as well as writing the government should put pressure to the government to be more tight in its monitoring and control of private airline companies. It is not evil to make profit out of rendering service, that is free trade. However, profit is not

Is Everything an Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is Everything an Argument - Essay Example Several types of argument exist based on the nature and type of the argument. In response to the different social issues, the argument may be classified as forensic, deliberative or ceremonial. Arguments trying to verify or elaborate on the issues of the past are viewed as forensic audit of the past and it involved the explanation of events in the past that may influence and alter the present situations. The presentation of idea will facilitate the development of understanding of the situation while also developing an argument on the idea (Casey, 2012). Forensic arguments are common while explaining issues that occurred in the past such as the women's liberation struggles. In addition, the forensic argument is vital in the creation of chronology of events. The article by Benedict Carey touches on issues that pertains to the effect of gay parenting on the child development and deals with major issues that affect the development of understanding and control of the children. The argumen t by the author is based deliberation. The study of effect of gay marriage on child development is a debatable issue in the society. The author addresses the issues by deliberating within the ideal and the coming situation and addressing the issues via elaboration studies conducted. In the community, several issues need to be deliberated upon in order to develop the necessary conclusion. Deliberation arguments are based on the findings of the research and develop several understanding of the situation. According to article by Carey, the major issues affecting the cognitive development of the children are in the nature of the family set up. According to him, same sex marriage brings creates a non-conducive environment for the children leading to sociological problems in later life (Casey, 2012). The deliberation is supported by several other findings which are stipulated by Casey. In the analysis of the essay, it is evident that the author is relying on the creation of an argument to dispel personal opinion as well as the development of new ideas about the whole situation. In defining the argument several factors are established creating an atmosphere of deliberation as the reader studies the article. Such deliberations are present in other articles with the main objective of passing the information across and creating a perceived conclusion on the document. However, several other arguments exist in writing that are employed or the sole purpose of explanation without offering any guidance or opportunity to address the issues. Such writings are present but will always take the view of the author and can be viewed in the manner of presentation taken by the author.

Analytical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analytical - Essay Example hen he famously remarked, ‘privacy is dead.’ This statement was made in response to the protest of Facebook users about the decreased privacy features of Facebook (Popkin, 2010). Zuckerberg would later apologize for such comments and would later relent to demands of users on the establishment of protective measures for their privacy. Even with these measures in place however, so much private information are still being made available and accessible through the internet (Lipschultz, 2008). Accessing websites often require the entry of email addresses and these email addresses are often sold to advertisers who then send spam to the electronic mails (Angwin, 2010). Many scams also gain access to these email addresses and send bogus mail which attempt to convince the user to give up their names, Social Security Numbers, Credit card numbers, bank accounts, birthdays, addresses, phone numbers, and similar personal information. Once this information is gained, credit card phish ing and skimming are carried out, often charging thousands into user’s credit cards and sometimes cleaning out their bank accounts (Angwin, 2010). Despite its numerous merits, the use of the World Wide Web as it is commonly known also has its negative repercussions. The internet, through the social networking sites and online economic transactions, carries a lot of information, both private and public (Angwin, 2010). People however are still eager to use it despite its negative implications in regard to privacy. It has become an indispensable part of their lives (Hoffman, Novak, and Ventakesh, 2004). The World Wide Web is a universal trend and within it carries vital private information about people all over the world. There is no disbelief that the internet has to an immense deal changed the lives of people but what about its negative side on privacy matters? The ever increasing exchange and storage of personal information on the internet seems to have largely been compromised