The Barber

A master of her craft, A the Barber has been in the barber field for over eleven years now and continuing to do very well. She keeps up with the latest techniques and hair trends as they appear on the fashion scene. Ayisha is a visionary and gained her knowledge and understanding by doing the Barbering apprenticeship. She learned the skill of barbering by watching and reading up on proper hair care. She specializes in short cuts, fades, shape-ups, bigens, designs, Mohawks and healthy hair care; all done through great service.She is constantly working on her own innovative techniques always pushing the boundaries of hair. She is trained in and has expanded upon the cutting techniques. Whether you want a contemporary classic cut or a funky avant-garde style, you are sure to be pleased with the experience you have with Ayisha as well as the result. In her Christian upbringing Ayisha has always been inspired to do well in life and barbering is one of the many fields in which she continue s to help people in any way that she can. Ayisha feels that the greatest compliment she can receive is referrals from friends, family and past clients. There's a lot of competition in the field of barbers so it's good to make sure each and every cut is precise and every shape-up is distinct† Using professional traditional methods to create the most innovative designs takes a lot of training and commitment and Ayisha understands this, which distinguishes her from every other barber in the industry. Although Ayisha's barbering skills started from a hobby, she has grown to take her career very seriously. Through many years of perfecting her craft, she is able to produce unique styles simply with a pair of clippers and her talent that will guarantee total satisfaction, every time.

European Imperialism and its Impact on Africa and Asia Essay

European imperialism in Africa and Asia developed as a result of certain motivations which seemed to fit the prevailing world view following the Napoleonic wars.   Economic interests (ie, global expansion of domestic markets), maintaining the safety of trade routes, keeping colonies free from foreign influence and threats, national prestige in maintaining colonies, and finally, living up to a moral duty and the missionary and evangelical movements were all motivations given by European governments to justify its interference into Africa and Asia. As Europe became more crowded, as continental empires declined, and a more current world view came into focus, the Europe’s powers were motivated to find a replacement system that would best preserve their respective positions as a world economic, military and moral leader. Great Britain took the lead in establishing systematic imperial possessions in African and Asia.   Power, prestige and economic interests lay at the heart of building Britain’s empire.   The reason was simple, a vast global economy with Britain at the hub was sure to ensure the economic health and vitality of the British (Hyam 1).   Forging a permanent presence in India, China and Africa were vital to this cause (Brown 199-200).   Britain’s ‘Grand Design,’ which sought to enhance Britain’s power through the expansion of informal empire, was the name of the policy attributed to Prime Minister Palmerston in the 1850s and ‘60s (Hyam 86). As the British empire began to decline towards the end of the 19th century, other countries, like Germany, the Netherlands and France opted to partition Africa and Asia, creating pieces of the pie sufficient to sate everyone’s appetite from the 1880’s through the onset of World War I. Imperialism had a positive and negative impact on the European nations.   Though trade and prestige were greatly increased, eventually, competition developed for the more lucrative portions of the colonized East.   This led to showdowns between western powers on African and Asian territory.   The British and the Russians fought the Crimean War in the 1850s (Brown 197) and the British and the French nearly had an armed along the Nile at Fashoda in 1898 (Steele 328).   The notion of any of these nations being at odds with all of the others, led the nations to seek alliances amongst themselves (and Russia and Japan), which was a major reason for the start of World War I (Hyam 271). The impact on the African and Asian nations was far more negative than positive.   China suffered the humiliation of Opium wars, during which the British forcefully created a domestic opium market in China to finance its own trade (Brown 205) and the Boers of South Africa were colonized for hundreds of years by the Dutch and the subject of Atrocities by the British during the Second Boer war from 1899-1902 (Steele 360).   To an extent, the imperialists did improve the infrastructure (by way of railroads and ports), but on the whole, the Europeans ruled the colonized peoples of Africa and Asia a sense of racial superiority and propensity to violently subdue any native unrest.   Another negative impact was the ubiquitous slave trade, especially during the first half of the 19th century. The African and Asian continents were collected, traded and bandied about between the powers of Western Europe as if they were common commodities.   When the colonies had lost their utility, often times the European imperialist would pack their bags and leave, without regard to the state of the people or land they were leaving behind.   Despite the legitimate motivations (such as expanding trade) and self-serving justifications (such as Christian missions) used by the Europeans at the time, the impact of imperialism is still felt by peoples indigenous to these lands today.   Based on all of the above, it is safe to conclude that European imperialism on the whole had a negative impact on the Africa and Asia.

Effects of Energy Drinks on Children, Adolescents Essay

Effects of Energy Drinks on Children, Adolescents - Essay Example Literature Review Energy drinks are non-alcoholic beverages containing caffeine, taurine, vitamins, herbal supplements, and sugar or sweeteners, with caffeine as its main active ingredient (Seifert et al 2011: 512). Red Bull was the first ED introduced in the European market in 1987 and later in the 1990s in the United States (Kaminer, 2010: 643). Today, EDs are sold in about 140 countries and are expected to rack up a total of $9 billion in sales for the year 2011. It is estimated that half of the world’s energy market consists of children, adolescents and young adults, which practically means those aged 25 years old and below (Kaminer 2010: 643). EDs are marketed as drinks made from natural ingredients that can boost energy and alertness and improve athletic performance. Recently, however, EDs have figured in health-related issues. Reports claimed that EDs can cause seizures, cardiac arrest, psychiatric symptoms, and obesity (Clauson et al, 2008: 57-58). In Germany, health a uthorities reported that EDs were discovered to cause liver damage, respiratory disorders and a host of other ailments and even death. Similarly, Irish health authorities have linked EDs to 2 deaths between 1999 and 2005. Caffeine levels of 200 mg and 1622 mg from drinking energy drinks caused jitteriness in a 13-year old and 14 year-old, respectively (Seifert et al 2011: 516-517). Contrary to claims, Clauson et al (2008) contended that the natural contents of EDs such as ginseng and taurine, found to have beneficial effects, are in so small quantities in EDs that they are unlikely to give any therapeutic effect. The increase in energy that drinkers of EDs feel, is due to caffeine rather than due to their taurine and ginseng content (58). Table 1, shows the results of a survey conducted by Malinauskas et al (2007) involving 496 participants gathered from a US college, 51% of them admitted to taking more than one energy drink every month. Asked about the effects of the energy drinks on them, Table 1 shows that the negative symptoms reported increased as the number of energy drinks taken go higher. Discussion EDs may be generally safe, but they pose danger to certain groups such as children, young teens and young adults because of the amount of their caffeine content. Children have less tolerance for caffeine, which is abundant in energy drinks. A child is supposed to consume not more than 100 mg of caffeine daily. In a study, for example, a sample of men and boys were tested for their caffeine tolerance by giving them the same amount of caffeine. Although blood pressure between the two groups was the same, the boys suffered higher heart rates than the men as well as increased motor activity and decreased reaction time (Seifert et al 2011: 519). The negative effects of caffeine on children may be exacerbated when a child is suffering from certain conditions. Ion chanelopathy or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, conditions which are prevalent in children, is worsened with caffeine intake. Similarly, children with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), are also in danger of shooting blood pressure and increased heart rate. So too, are children with eating disorders who are at risk of cardiac dysrythmias and intracardiac conduction abnormalities. For those suffering from obesity, EDs are

Technology in our everyday life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Technology in our everyday life - Essay Example If someone from the last century, or even the fifties, were to be picked up and dropped smack in the middle of any modern city today, they would surely feel what a science fiction film viewer would, albeit a higher degree of shock. I think life today has become a hodge-podge of gadgetry and mad science. We use something fantastically gimmicky for nearly everything we do: we swipe our fingers over sleek slabs of glass and aluminum to communicate with each other; we laugh or smile or cry while we stare at luminous surfaces of yet more slates of cool metal; and, we gain access into buildings by speaking magic words into the air. This is exactly what it would seem like to someone who had never come across a touch-screen phone, a personal computing tablet or modern-day voice recognition technology. It is often seen that one type of technology, out of a freak chance, may behave erratically in the presence of other appliances. I would quote the example of mobile phone interference. Mobile c ommunication technology, while one of the greatest breakthroughs of science is considered dangerous and hence prohibited for use on aircraft or in gas stations! The mobile signals responsible for carrying voice and data may interfere with an aircraft’s sensitive navigational equipment and can cause a spark enough to ignite gasoline fumes. Furthermore, they must not be brought into close proximity with pacemakers and medical equipment.

Gender Issue in Asia Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gender Issue in Asia Performance - Essay Example The Balinese traditional theatre is a highly ritualistic performance form with all kinds of beliefs, myths, traditions and spiritual experiences associated with it. This is why Artaud (1995) had observed that â€Å"our (Westerners’) purely verbal theatre [†¦] could learn a lesson in spirituality from Balinese theatre† (p.301). On the other hand, the Western theatre had largely been evolved out of the rural and folk traditions as early as from the beginning of twentieth century (Turner, 2011, p.68). Turner (2011) has discussed this phenomenon by saying, â€Å"developments from the twentieth century onwards in Western theatre practice have often demonstrated an eclecticism that has led to a pick and mix theatrical culture† (p.68). This is manifested in terms of intercultural influences on the Western dance and theatre traditions. Another aspect of Western performances has been the comparative gender-neutrality of it as a whole, when it comes to characterizatio n and casting, which can be attributed to a social structure that has accepted gender equality as its proclaimed ideal. A strong feminist theatre has also been present in the West as early as from 1960s onwards.But in an Asian country like Bali, it is the rituals and traditions that rule almost all the classical dance and theatre forms. And it has been as an extension of the patriarchal social tradition that women were not allowed to perform the traditional dance drama, Topeng, which is mostly about the â€Å"exploits of male heroes".... hen it comes to characterization and casting, which can be attributed to a social structure that has accepted gender equality as its proclaimed ideal. A strong feminist theatre has also been present in the West as early as from 1960s onwards (Code, 2003, p.471). But in an Asian country like Bali, it is the rituals and traditions that rule almost all the classical dance and theatre forms. And it has been as an extension of the patriarchal social tradition that women were not allowed to perform the traditional dance drama, Topeng, which is mostly about the â€Å"exploits of male heroes who are usually involved in a struggle for power† (Slattum, Schraub and Geertz, 2003, p.20). Gender-bending in Balinese theatre has been a topic of interest for many researchers and social observers (Palermo, 2009; Ballinger, 2005). Challenging the predominance of female impersonators in Balinese performing arts, women began to enter the traditional theatre realm in the beginning of the twentieth century but the number of women performers were very limited (Diamond, 2008, p.231). But by the end of twentieth century, the situation has changed to such an extent that: There were all-male arja (classical Balinese operetta) troupes and two women’s mask troupes. Today, there are all-women gamelan groups in every regency and a wave of women performers staging ‘unconventional’ theatre and dance (Ballinger, 2005). Even before the large scale entry of Balinese women performers into Balinese traditional theatre, there were many Western women who learned these dance forms like, Tiffany Strawson, Carmencita Palermo and Jane Turner (Theatre firefly, 2010/11; Palermo, 2009, Turner, 2011). Palermo (2009) has narrated her experience of becoming a Topeng performer and has said, â€Å"when I first began my

Philosophy of mind Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Philosophy of mind - Essay Example G. Ryle necessitates to distinguish one from the other based on some prospects of which, a part is to yield relief from the misconception that the mere capacity to attain knowledge of truths ought to be the defining property of the mind. As another prospect, the distinction is intended to illustrate how humans are quite disposed to pay attention to competencies and deficiencies in the process of acquiring truths instead of the truths or propositions themselves and the nature thereof. It is Ryle’s aim as well to present the similarities and dissimilarities between ‘knowing how’ and ‘knowing that’ in order to substantiate further his findings upon the claim that the ‘intellectualist legend’ is false. In general, Ryle points out herein that â€Å"efficient practice precedes the theory† or that ‘knowing how’ comes before ‘knowing that’. According to Ryle, theorists have often acknowledged the so-called ‘ intellectualist legend’ which relies on the basic assumption that an intelligent behaviour is a function of what cognition has intellectually established. In other words, if such legend holds, then one is brought to conceive that any kind of performance is a product of intelligence that works within the inner faculties being its ever prior source. To Ryle’s analysis, however, the course of performing tasks for the sake of comprehension as an individual engages in practice to grasp the rule or operating principle can be relatively intelligent. Rather than looking into the depths of theories under the consideration that they should govern behaviour as higher in level or first in order, those who depend on this convention must equivalently account for a thorough examination of the meaningful significance in knowing how a particular undertaking is desalt with in several aspects toward a more confident resolution. Through this perspective, Ryle proceeds to concretize his po sition on exemplifying that â€Å"A person’s performance is described as careful or skilful, if in his operations he is ready to detect and correct lapses, to repeat and improve upon successes, to profit from the examples of others and so forth.† Apparently, this alludes ‘knowing that’ may validly succeed ‘knowing how’ when empirical over theoretical approach is rendered efficient by a constant attitude of passion to practice until optimum ends are achieved. That manner, the ‘intellectualist legend’ becomes defeated for it would then be absurd to support a claim in which a fixed theory manages to surpass a dynamic practice as the cause of the latter especially when performances are repetitively worked out that they could, to an extent, deservingly be identified as wisdom of origin altogether. Moreover, since the world or at least a common society in it widely believes about the reasonability of judging people on the basis of uniqu e skills and possessed capabilities of learning and coping with the truth, it tends to neglect the opportunity of exploring the quality of truths or propositions. Because people appear to express more concern on how intelligence is exhibited through manual executions, it seems less difficult for them to measure ignorance and assign its degree in proportion to individual potentials. For instance, a person may be fluent in speaking a language while another is assessed with below average proficiency at using the same medium. In reality, the first would naturally be considered as having first-rate

The Flow of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries Essay

The Flow of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries - Essay Example This theory draws heavily on the more general work of Williamson that explores the conditions under which firms choose a hierarchical approach to engaging in business activities rather than a market-based approach. Williamson argues that where two sets of conditions exist, firms will tend to prefer internal or hierarchical approaches. These conditions include oligopolistic (few sellers) or oligopsonistic (few buyers) market settings and situations of great uncertainty. Oligopolistic or oligopsonistic situations lead to the choice of a hierarchical approach because, in these situations, opportunistic economic agents will make it very difficult for a firm to negotiate an equitable transaction. In situations of uncertainty, the fact that individuals and organizations are limited in their analytical capacity will lead to internal organization because of the difficulty of writing and enforcing long-term contracts that incorporate all the necessary contingencies that arise as a result of a n uncertain environment (Michael, 1982). Building upon this work, international business theorists suggest that firms that venture overseas either have a particular competitive advantage or seek a competitive advantage. A firm's existing competitive advantage might be its superior technology, its unparalleled management expertise, or its unique brand name. Indeed, these competitive advantages are often intangible assets. Though critical to the firm, they are not identified as fixed assets in the firm's balance sheet. The firm has various options it could use to benefit from these competitive advantages. These options span the choice of a market or a hierarchical approach. In particular, the firm could sell or rent these advantages on the... This essay stresses that the worldwide pool of labor expanded beyond the borders of the countries with enfranchised working classes and high levels of reproduction. Employers seeking to minimize their direct employment costs and their indirect political burdens sought out communities of workers who were politically less potent than those in the older industrial states and whose costs of reproduction were lower. This paper makes a conclusion that the findings highlight the interaction between global financial institutions and local political-economic variables. When these variables measure both international and intranational processes simultaneously, they reflect or point to highly interdependent processes that influence the location of foreign investment. In other words, national and international dynamics are so interpenetrating in the modern world system that any analysis that disregards the effect of either set of factors is seriously deficient. As such, the work extends the political sociology of foreign direct investment by showing the importance of international financial institutions in directing and attracting foreign direct investment. Specifically, International Monetary Fund conditionality is both a signal of approval and a generator of policies that create access to foreign investors. When these two factors interact with policies of repressive regimes, foreign investors have re alized their goal: economic access and political protection.

Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Risk - Essay Example The action taken dispels negativity, creating enhanced cohesion and saving the group. Goleman & Boyatzis (2013) contribute that a self-managed team is a team that learns and manages itself through collective responsibility in managing the group. Every member of the group raises questions about the methods and procedures adopted to steer the group to a common preconceived direction. Members share the vision and take charge of all activities including reprimanding other members to stick to the group norms in case of deviation. In self-managed groups, new ideas are protected by members and negative criticisms avoided encouraging the innovativeness, continuous creativity and happiness among all members. In such a team, there is enhanced creativity and continual reinforcement of resonance. Empathetic team is one, which all the group associates are cognizant of the other team affiliate’s emotions. Members of the team put themselves in the shoes of their fellow team mates and thinking beyond own concerns. Selfishness is not experienced at all in such teams because members think in favor of one another and concentrate on building relationships through socializing with teammates. Members work hand in hand and involve extensive consultation in all undertakings with no limits irrespective of social or educational levels held. According to Perkins (2000), it is appropriate to take risks after analysis of the specifics of the prospective risk. Analysis of the risk helps in the creation of awareness and putting a fallback strategy in place in case the risk actualizes. When the risk involved is a long-term possibility with the effects not likely to cause huge losses, it is worth taking the risk. After reviewing the worst-case scenario collectively and assessment is made to conclude that the risk makes sense. Contrarily if it does not make

Developing coaching and mentoring within organisations Essay - 1

Developing coaching and mentoring within organisations - Essay Example To achieve the above objective the report follows the chartered institute of personnel and development (CIPD) assessment activity. Five different models of coaching and mentoring were evaluated. Models assessed include; Boyatzis, iceberg, 5Rsdiagram, RAM model, and wheels of good practices. Richard Boyatzis’ model is based on a formula that he had developed that involved the intention to change stage to a long lasting behavioural change. According to Boyatzis (2008) an individual can achieve sustainable change only if he envisions the ideal self. In fact, the Boyatzis Model necessitates an honest assessment of oneself if it is to prove effective within the organization. This model transforms the behaviour of the individual The above model by Boyatzis has many strengths such as giving individuals a sense of direction and responsibility, developing their skills, abilities and capabilities, helps them conceptualize things and become more proactive and self – confident about their work. The weaknesses, though few, depends upon the individuals themselves. These include, the background they come from, the language they speak, their ability to converse and move with other individuals of different backgrounds, their beliefs and customs etc. Sigmund Freud’s ‘Iceberg Model’ depicts three levels of human consciousness, where the unconscious mind is the biggest part, but it is repressed. According to Freud, this repressed or hidden part, it is most influential. The second part is the mid section that is influenced to a certain extent by the brain. The third part is the conscious portion that we make use of o a daily basis and this is the portion responsible for all our thoughts and actions. In Freud’s opinion, all our thoughts and actions are influenced by the hidden unconscious mind. Freud’s Iceberg Model can be made use of within an organization to

Managing Internationally across Business Systems Assignment

Managing Internationally across Business Systems - Assignment Example In this context, ACR engages a sort of a specific as well as a discrete financial transaction. It is regarded as a contract that is related to expected capabilities of mankind that enhances the trading activities between the involved parties at every possible occasion. The contract possesses certain vital rules that are quite normative in nature as well as settlements amid the involved parties that assist them to make a particular economic transaction successful. On the other hand, OCR signifies the engagement of contracts economically on the basis of trading of services and goods. In OCR, the transactions of activities between two parties take place without any initial settlements of conditions in order to perform trade. It has been apparently observed that transactional dependence is quite lower in the case of ACR owing to the reason that both buyer and sellers are competing with one another in trading activities by taking into concern certain major aspects that include economies o f scale and cost of transaction among others. The terms as well as the conditions of the contracts within the circumstance of ACR are written and substantive in nature and takes place with varieties of procedures such as bidding and negotiation (Sako, 1992). In case of OCR, the buyers are observed to provide securities to limited suppliers. Moreover, the bidding process might not take place in OCR due to higher transactional dependence between the buyers and the sellers. The suppliers within the background of OCR tend to begin necessary activities based on oral communication with the parties prior to the attainment of the written orders (Sako, 1992). 1. Advantages and Disadvantages With regard to determine the advantages as well as the disadvantages of the particular sub-contracting system relating to the case of Tombow, it can be stated that the pencil company typically follows the sub-contracting system of ACR (Harvard Business School, 1993). Advantages The advantages of the parti cular sub-contracting system i.e. ACR relating to the case of Tombow can be identified in the form of outsourcing of products that can be considered as a chief determinant for the company. One of the significant advantages of ACR that can be recognized in the case is that it facilitated the company towards reducing manufacturing costs and made the company to pay much more emphasize upon minimizing the expenditures related to marketing as well as sales promotion and product development among others. These facets ultimately made Tombow to sell quality products in the business markets at a cheaper rate. Moreover, development in various products of the company and avoiding delays in delivery periods can also be considered the other decisive advantages of the sub-contracting system i.e. ACR in the case of Tombow. In relation to outsourcing of products, the risk of competition also gets reduced as the suppliers depend largely upon the business as well as the export markets of a company su ch as Tombow due to the effect of the

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay Example for Free

PESTEL Viet Nam Analysis Essay A. Introduction of Viet Nam Vietnam is approximately 331688 km2 in area and occupied the eastern coast of the Southeast Asian peninsula. The northern part of the country part consists mostly of highlands and the Red River Delta. The south is divided into coastal lowlands and extensive forests. Because of differences in latitude and the marked variety of topographical relief, the climate tends to vary considerably from place to place. During the winter or dry season (November to April), the monsoon wind blowing from the northwest brings considerably moisture. Consequently the winter season in most parts of the country is dry. Major Vietnamese cities include Hanoi in the north, Da Nang in the mid coastal region, and Ho Chi Minh City (formally known as Saigon) to the south. Vietnam has considerable energy resources such as oil, gas and coal and its 41,000 km long waterways provide the basis for hydropower. The country is rich in minerals such as bauxite, iron ore, lead, gold, precious stones, tin, chromate, anthracite, granite, marble, clay, white sand and graphite. In addition, Vietnam has a considerable fresh and saltwater fauna, dense tropical forestry resources and it possesses great agricultural potential. The history of Vietnam, reference to the Geneva Accord signed in 1954. The accord ended French colonial rule, and the country was partitioned into the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, led by Ho Chi Minh and the Republic of Vietnam in the South. The capitals were Hanoi for the North and Saigon for the South. Fights led by Ho Chi Minh to unite the country started in 1959 and lasted until 1975. Hanoi became the capital of the country whilst Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City. Following reunification, the Vietnamese government’s initial plan was to manage the economy via methods of central planning. Based on experiences gained during the 1976-1980 five years plan, subsequent central plans introduced more relaxed policies with respect to agricultural collectives, State Owned Enterprises and allowed more scope for private initiatives. These measures were instrumental in elevating poverty.  Growth rates during the early 80’s were higher than during the 1976-1980 five year pl an, however it became evident that further policy shift were necessary to enable the Vietnam economy to perform closer to its potential. Economic reform was the key point of discussion at the Sixth National Party Congress held in December 1986. The process then initiated of moving from a centrally planned economy to an open, socialist-oriented and multi-sector market economy known as Doi Moi (renovation). In 1992, the National Assembly revised the post-unification constitution to better reflect the aspirations articulated in the Doi Moi process. Economic performance since 1986 has justified the policy of relaxation of central control, the challenge faced by Vietnam has been the maintenance of rapid economic growth and integration into the global economy. B. â€Å"P.E.S.T.L.E† REPORT ON VIET NAM 1. Politics The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a single-party state. Its current state constitution, which replaced the 1975 constitution in April 1992, asserts the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam in all organs of government, politics and society. In 2011, Viet Nam held the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party, in which happened the Election of the Party Central Committee for the new term. Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong was elected to be the General Secretary. After the Congress, there happened the fist Congress of the Parliament, term 13th, in which Mr. Nguyen Sinh Hung was elected to be the President of the Parliament, Mr. Truong Tan Sang the President of the Country, and Mr. Nguyen Tan Dung was elected to continue the position of Prime Minister. This Congress also issued 4 degrees: first, approving the State Budget, second, agreeing on the program of building laws and ordinances in2012, third, beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establ ishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution, and finally, the degree on the issuance of certain additional tax measures to remove difficulties for enterprises and individuals, contributing to economic development in 2011. In 2011, the disputes over the East Sea was the main cause of some changes in relations between Vietnam and some important countries in the world, especially the  Vietnam China and Viet Nam U.S. Tension in the East Sea has escalated due to Chinas provocative acts in May, 2011. Then happened many anti-Chinese protests in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh city. In this context, the relation between Viet Nam and the U.S was proclaimed to be elevated to strategic partnership.4 And late 2011, the tensions in the Vietnam-China relations down to the visit by the senior officials of the two countries. In terms of politically domestic policy, the government kept a political stability, and showed some positive signs. For example, the freedom of the press seemed to be extended. In addition, the government was also more aware of its limitations and of the policy mistakes. Concretely, at the Fourth Conference of the Party Central Committee (XI), Mr. Nguyen Phu Trong said: ―Besides the achievements, the Party building work still has many limitations and shortcomings, weaknesses, even spanning multiple defects; these limitations would reduce peoples trust in the Party; if not corrected, they will be the challenge for leadership of the Party and the survival of the regime. 2. Economy The year of 2011 was important for the economy of Viet Nam because this is the first year in the latest Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2011-2020), with the goal of becoming an industrialized and modern economy by 2020. This strategy goes on to identify the country’s key priorities to meet this ambitious target: stabilize the economy, build world-class infrastructure, create a skilled labor force, and strengthen market-based institutions. According to Vietnam Development Report (VDR) 2012, meeting these aspirations will not be easy. In fact, the country has experienced bouts of macroeconomic turbulence in recent years—double-digit inflation, depreciating currency, capital flight, and loss of international reserves—eroding investor confidence. Besides, rapid growth has revealed new structural problems. The quality and sustainability of growth remain a source of concern, given the resource-intensive pattern of growth, high levels of environmental degradation, lack of diversification and value addition in exports, and the declining contribution of productivity to growth. Vietnam’s competitiveness is under threat because the power  generation has not kept pace with demand, logistical costs and real estate prices have climbed, and skill shortages are becoming more widespread. And these difficulties strongly existed in 2011. Concretely, the inflation in 2011 was 18.13%; the growth of GDP has slowed (5,89%). Domestic and international gold price gap increased. The Corruption index 2011 from Transparency International ranked Viet Nam at the position 112. This shows that Viet Nam has been faced one of the most difficult challenges of economic development. In terms of financial, according to the document of World Bank, in 2011, foreign direct investment inflows (to Viet Nam) continued at a steady pace, although new commitments declined. International reserves increased in the first half of the year while the Vietnamese dong benefitted from a period of relative calm. In the last quarter of the year, however, exchange rate fluctuations increased due to volatility in gold prices, deepening uncertainties and the seasonal increase in demand for foreign currency as the year end approaches. With approximate 9 billion U.S. dollars, the amount of money coming from overseas Vietnamese was one of the biggest sources of foreign currency in 2011. This amount is equivalent to the amount of FDI. Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japanese are the countries that contributed the biggest investment to Viet Nam in 2011. Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh city, and Ha Noi are three places that has been most invested in recent time. The sectors that most attract the attention of foreign investors are processing industry, electricity supply, and accommodation and dining service. However, according to the analysis of a chief economist, Dr. Allan Pham, though facing the difficulties as mentioned above, the economy is coming to a better prospect in 2012, especially with a certain success in the fight against inflation of the country (the inflation has been trending down since the 4th quarter of 2011). Following is the figure of the selected macro indicators of the economy in recent years: Key Indicators 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 GDP growth (%) 8.5 6.2 5.3 6.78 5.8 6.0 CPI (%) 12.6 23 6.52 11.75 18.0 12-14 Trade deficit (USD) 12.5 17.8 12.2 12.4 12.1 13.3 Exports (USD) 48.4 62.5 56.6 71.6 80.2 86.5 Imports (USD) 60.8 80.3 68.8 84.0 92.4 99.8 FDI commitments (USD) 21.3 66.5 21.5 18.6 15.0 18.0 FDI disbursement (USD) 8.0 11.5 10.0 11.0 12.0 12.5 Credit growth (%) 54 21 37.7 27.6 15 18 SBV Base rate 8.2 8.5 8.0 9.0 9.0 9.0 Deposit rate (%) 7.0-8.0 7.0-8.5 9.5-10.5 10.0- 11.0 14 12.0 Lending rate (%) 10.0-12.0 10-12.5 10.5-12 13.0-13.5 18-20 14-16 USD/VND (bank rate) 16,016 17,468 18,600 19,500 21,500 22,500 Foreign Affairs At present, Vietnam has established diplomatic relations with 168 countries, and it has economic and trading relations with about 165 countries. Vietnam joined the United Nations in 1977. Vietnam became an official member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1995, and has concluded a cooperation agreement with the European Community. Relationships with multi-national financial institutions such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have been re-established. Viet Nam has been participating in the ASEAN Free Trade Area (â€Å"AFTA†) since 1996 and became a member of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) in 1998. Vietnam became an official member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 January 2007. In January 2008, the country started a two year term as an elected non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Vietnam signed the bilateral trade agreement (BTA) with the United Sta tes in 2000. Besides aspects of international trade, the BTA covers a variety of other areas, including intellectual property rights, trade in services, development of investment relations, business  facilitation and the obligation to ensure transparency of laws and regulations. The BTA essentially constitutes a commitment by both countries to open their markets to each other. Intellectual Property In recent years, the Government has taken various measures to increase the legal protection of intellectual property and has created an environment of respect for intellectual property as compared to other neighboring countries. Intellectual property rights are protected by the Civil Code (1995 and 2005), the Law on Intellectual Property (2005) and a host of subordinate legislation. Vietnam is a long-time signatory to the Paris Convention, the Madrid Agreement on International Trademark Registration, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty (â€Å"PCT†) and became a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization in 1976. On 27 June 1997, Vietnam entered into an Agreement on copyrights with the US. According to the Viet Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, Vietnam is under the obligation to adhere to the Berne Convention. The National Office of Intellectual Property (â€Å"NOIP†) is the authority responsible for the registration of industrial property and for the resolutio n of disputes with regard to industrial property in the first instance. Foreign organizations and individuals seeking to register their industrial ownership should file their applications through an authorized agent, who will transfer their application to the NOIP. The Office of Copyright Protection under the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism has also been established and is responsible for the protection of copyright. Works may be registered with the Office of Copyright Protection; however, registration is not a prerequisite for copyright protection. Currently, patents are protected for a period of 20 years. A certificate of utility solutions may be granted for 10 years. A certificate of industrial design is granted for 5 years and may be renewed every 5 years. However, the total effective period of a certificate cannot exceed 15 years. Certificates of trademarks are granted for 10 years with no restrictions on the number of renewals. Investment Guarantees The Government of Vietnam guarantees fair treatment for investors. Capital and other legal assets of investors will not be expropriated or confiscated by law or administrative measures and businesses with foreign-invested  capital will not be nationalized. Foreign investors are allowed to remit abroad investment capital and profits, loan principal and interest, and other legal proceeds and assets. Expatriates working for businesses with foreign-invested capital or for a business cooperation contract are permitted to remit their income abroad. The Vietnam government respects intellectual and industrial property rights and the interests of foreign investors relating to technology transfers into Vietnam. Economic Risks Global Finance Crisis is the hottest issues that people discuss most in this few years. The global financial crisis that started from the United States raises a very broad impact to Vietnam. Inflation Inflation has been in double digits since 2007 and peaking at 28% in August 2008. The fiscal deficit accounted for 4.5-5% GDP in 2008 while trade deficit reached US$17.5 billion (or over 20% of GDP), a level that signals vulnerability to a sudden drop in external demand (Figure 2). A high rate of investment combined with a sizeable fiscal deficit resulted in rapid growth in aggregate demand in the first half of 2008. Massive capital inflows generated asset price inflation, especially in real estate and land prices. Export Decline Vietnamese exports have suffered the strongest negative impact. With economic problems in the US, EU and Japan, which together account for more than 60% of Vietnamese exports, Vietnam saw a significant decline in export revenues. Vietnam’s export revenues fell 6.5% in November 2008 and a further 24% drop in January 2009 (year-on-year) (Figure 3). Orders for manufactured exports including garments, footwear and furniture dropped quickly, while seafood5 producers are also under pressure. The decline of orders has caused great difficulties for exporting companies, many of them are at risk of closing down.6 Vietnamese exports’ growth is forecasted to decline from 30% in 2008 to 13% in 2009. Unemployment Unemployment has worsened. At February 28, 2009, 66,700 workers (out of 45 million workers) lost their jobs in 2008 with national unemployment rate of 4.65%. Thus, it is estimated that over 80,000 workers lost their jobs  nationwide in 2008. The latest forecast of Vietnam Labor and Employment Agency estimates the figure to hit 400,000 nationwide in 2009. Job cuts are rising especially in big cities11 with industrial, processing and exporting zones. The situation may worsen in 2009 with an unemployment rate of 5% and at a projected economic growth of 6.5%. High unemployment has already affected domestic demand and consumers’ sentiment in Vietnam, which are bearish in recent months. 3. Socio-Culture 3.1 Education Viet Nams population enjoys a relatively high standard of education. In fact, Confucian ethics has strongly influenced upon Vietnamese’s viewpoint of social values, and education has always been considered as one of the best values that a person should desire to achieve. Nowadays, education has been still considered as one of the most important issues that the country has to pay great attention. Recently, at the 11th Party Congress, the government is determined to develop a national education policy as one of the priorities of the country. As a result, the country has gained big success in education. Concretely, according to the 2009 Census results, there are only nearly four million people who have never attended school (5.0% of the total population aged 5 years and over) and as compared with the 1999 Census this number has decreased 5% (6.9 million people, account for 10.0% of population aged 5 and over). This shows the significant progress of Vietnam’s education sect or in minimizing the number of people who never go to school. The official figures also point out that the literacy rate for the population aged 15 years and over increased by 3.7% (from 90.3% in 1999 to 94.0% in 2009). The female literacy rate increased 4.9%, while the male literacy rate increased 2.2%, significantly narrowing the literacy rate gap between men and women. Ha Noi, Hai Phong and Ho Chi Minh City are three provinces having the highest literacy rate (97.9%) while Lai Chau has the lowest (59.4%). This data shows that the literacy rate was not only increased quite rapidly but also express successes of Vietnam’s gender equality work in the education sector.13 Certainly, besides such successes, Vietnamese education system also has faced many challenges,  including poor infrastructure, lack of equipment and teaching materials, low wages precipitating an acute shortage of skilled teachers and academic staff, a relatively poor linkage of higher education with research, production and employment, and some contradictions of the system. As the analysis of RFA, the situation of education in Viet Nam in 2011 had some notable points as following: There were three positive points of the education in Vietnam in 2011. The first point is the plan of reducing the load of textbooks from primary to secondary school of the Ministry of Education and Training. The second is the plan of achieving universal preschool education for children of 5 years old. In this plan, the Ministry of Education will build public kindergartens for children at age 5 in the mountainous areas; and the poor students will be exempt from tuition fees, with the plan of over 95% of children enroll in 2 sessions / day by 2015. And the third is the policy of training and vocational training in poor areas such as the Highlands. On the contrary, there were also many crucially negative points of the education in 2011. First of all, there was the imbalance in enrollment in universities and colleges between students with practical needs. The sectors of social sciences, agriculture, forestry and fishery were registered by only 2.5% of exam registration records (while Vie tnam has up to 70% of the population are farmers). And the sectors in demand such as business, tourism had to be encountered the difference between training and recruitment practices; and this leads to the fact that graduates get difficulty to find job. Secondly, teacher’s salary does not meet their living when inflation is high; and this leads to some problems: the teachers could not focus on their business as they had to find extra jobs, or to open extra classes. Thirdly, there has existed the problem of the degradation in social ethics of many students, due to lack of paying attention on humanity teaching, which can be proved by many cases of students committed violent guilty or crime. 3.2 Human Resource The national average population in 2011 estimated 87.84 million, up by 1.04% compared to 2010, including male population 43.47 million, (49.5%), and female population 44.37 million, (50.5%). Urban population is 26.88 million,  (30.6%); rural population is 60.96 million (69.4 %). According to the official report, the population structure by age in Vietnam is in a positive change. The population in the working age is 46,48 million, increased 0,12% compared to 2010. The proportion of workers in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries declined from 48.7% in 2010 to 48.0% in 2011; in industry and construction rose from 21.7% to 22.4%; and in the services maintained at 29.6%. The unemployment rate in the working age was 2.27% in 2011, of which the urban areas account for 3.6%, the rural areas 1.71%. This is the period of the country with advantages in labor force, also known as the demographic window period, which began in 2003 and may last from 30 to 50 years. This is considered as a bi g advantage for the industrialization and modernization of the country, if it takes advantage of the superiority Vietnamese on the labor force. 3.3 Traffic: Conditions And Problems Highway system The road system consists of over 200,000 km network including over 10,000 bridges. However road conditions are not ideal, less than half of the national highways have two lanes or more. In addition, road congestion is increasing in major cities. In recent years, the Government has mobilized a significantly large amount of capital to upgrade the highway system with financial support from international lending agencies. Railway The rail network consists of about 2,600 km of single–track line covering several routes. There are about 260 stations in the network. The longest and most important route is the Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City line, which stretches for 1,730 km. This line is now serviced by an express train, which makes the journey in approximately 29.5 hours. The lines connecting Vietnam to China were re-opened a few years ago. Inland Waterways Often overlooked by foreign investors, the inland waterway system offers a cheap and flexible mode of transport. Vietnam has more than 2,300 rivers and canals with total length of 198.000 km. Currently, the inland waterway has a system of over 61,000 km. The two major inland waterway systems serve as major transportation outlets. The first major inland waterway system is in  the Red River area in the north which stretches for approximately 2,500 km. Along this system there are five main ports, of which Hanoi is the largest. The second major inland waterway extends 4,500 km along the Mekong River and its tributaries in the South and boasts about 30 ports, including Ho Chi Minh City. The larger river vessels are tug-drawn barges. Official estimates put the fleet capacity at about 420,000 tons with speeds ranging from 2 to over 20 km an hour. Smaller, wooden barges are mostly privately owned. Ports Vietnam has eleven major seaports. Ho Chi Minh City serves most of the South and now boasts modern container loading facilities. Just a few hours’ drive from Hanoi, Hai Phong serves much of the North. Given the rapid rise in trade volume, increasing port capacity is a national priority. Airports and Civil Aviation There are three international airports: Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang. Currently, the Government has significantly upgraded international airports to handle the increase in the volume of traffic associated with Vietnams invigorated economy. A new international terminal of the Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City, capable of handling up to 10 million passengers a year was opened in December 2007. Noi Bai airport in Hanoi was upgraded, enlarged and completed for operation in 2002, construction of a second terminal is expected to start in October 2008 and completed in two years. Four new international airports are planned to be constructed in Phu Quoc, Dong Nai, Lao Cai and Quang Ninh provinces. Preparations for the new Long Thanh International Airport, 40 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City in Dong Nai province is underway. The airport is scheduled to open in 2010 and by 2015 it will be further expanded to reach an annual transportation capacity of 80 to 100 million passengers, becoming one of the biggest airports in the region. In addition, there are 16 other domestic airports around the country. Culture and Social Vietnam is a country located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a culturally rich country whose distinct history played a role in the development of the modern day state. Vietnamese practices of Confucianism and showing reverence towards ancestors are evidence of China’s historical influence on Vietnamese  society. Vietnam became an independent state in the tenth century but was colonized by the French in the mid 1800s. Vietnam gained independence in the mid twentieth century but still retains traces of French culture which are visible in the way people communicate verbally and nonverbally. Though Vietnam has struggled over the past century through colonial rule, the Vietnam War and recent economic upheavals, it is now rebuilding itself to be able to compete on a global scale. Having a comprehensive understanding of Vietnam’s unique cultural values and traditions can allow the company to develop strong and successful business relationships with Vietnamese counterparts. Language Vietnamese is the official language, although there are distinct northern, central and southern dialects and accents. It is a tonal language, with each syllable; there are six different tones that can be used, which change the definition and it often makes it difficult for foreigners to pick up the language. There are other languages spoken as well such as Chinese, Khmer, Cham and other languages spoken by tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions. Although there are some similarities to Southeast Asian languages, such as Chinese, Vietnamese is thought to be a separate language group, although a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family. In written form, Vietnamese uses the Roman alphabet and accent marks to show tones. This system of writing called â€Å"quoc ngu†, was created by Catholic missionaries in the 17th century to translate the scriptures. Eventually this system, particularly after World War I, replaced one using Chinese characters (chu nom), which had been the u nofficial written form used for centuries. Non-verbal communication For certain feelings, Vietnamese people favor non-verbal communication. Vietnamese do not express feeling of thankfulness of apology in verbal communication, but non-verbal through silence or a smile. The proper respectful behavior is to avoid eye contact when talking to person who is not equal status or of the same gender. The smile is another non-verbal symbol conveying the feeling of respect in Vietnamese culture. It is used as an expression of apology, or as expression of embarrassment. For the Vietnamese a smile is a proper response in most situation in which verbal expression is not necessary, or appropriate. Confucianism The teachings of Confucius influence the Vietnamese describe the position of the individual in Vietnamese society. Confucian teachings emphasize the importance of relationships, responsibility and obligation. This philosophy is still a vital component of Vietnamese society and is prevalent in Vietnamese business culture in conserving the harmony of the collective good. The basic tenets are based upon five different relationships: Ruler and subject Husband and wife Parents and children Brothers and sisters Friends Hierarchy As like other group-oriented societies, Vietnam hierarchical structures are very much based upon age and status. This derives from Confucianism, which emphasizes social order. Everyone is seen as having a distinct place and role within the hierarchical structure, be it the family or workplace. An obvious example is seen in social situations where the oldest person in a group is greeted or served first. Within the family the head would be responsible for making decisions and approving marriages. Therefore companies that want to invest in Vietnam are made sense to give more authority to local managers to control the subordinates. The organization structure can be designed as hierarchical, with power derived from prestige, force, and inheritance. Collectivism Vietnam is a collectivist society in which the needs of the group are often placed over the individual. Family and community concerns will almost always come before business or individual needs. Family in particular plays an important role in Vietnamese society. You will notice that close ties between extended families and communities can have a major influence on individual behavior and oftentimes there are multiple generations living under one roof. For this reason, the company of the investor can pay more attention to their employees’ family members for example provide free medical treatment, childcare leave, family trips, etc. This can increase the employees’ loyalty to the company. Besides, in order to increase efficiency of Vietnamese employees, the company should assign tasks to them by group rather than individual. Religion Religion in Vietnam is closely related to the history of Vietnam and most importantly the culture of Vietnam. The earliest established religions in Vietnam were Mahayana Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism (called the ‘triple religion’). These religions have been co-existing in the country for centuries and mixed well with the Vietnamese tradition of ancestor worship. This special mix explains why the Vietnamese people find it hard to say exactly which religion the belong to. They usually classify themselves as non-religious, despite visiting religious temples several times every year. At the year 2006, the major religious affiliations amongst Vietnam born people were Buddhism (58.6%), Catholics (22.1%), other (4.6%), and no religion (11.03%). From the data, we were found that Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism have greatly affected the Vietnamese’s behavior. The foreign investors should take note there are quite a large number of vegetarian in Vietnam, because of th e Buddhism religion. Food of Vietnamese Food is a very important part of Vietnamese culture. The Vietnamese not only enjoy eating but believe eating good food can bring harmony and closeness to the family and relationships. The types of foods are chosen to bring luck and these vary from province to province. Buying daily for fresh food is essential for all Vietnamese cooking. In general, Vietnamese people are not as concerned about nutrition as Westerner. They are more concerned with the quality of the foods. Concepts of Time Like most Asians, the Vietnamese have a more extended concept of time than that of most Americans. The agrarian nature of their traditional society focuses on seasons rather than days or weeks. And this tradition is reinforced by the Confucian tradition of respect for earlier generations. Americans measure time by the clock, Vietnamese by the monsoon. Although this is changing somewhat, Vietnamese can still be expected to take a longer view of time and be suspicious of the need for urgency in making decisions  or culminating a business deal. Patience remains the ultimate Confucian virtue in personal life as well as in business. Personal Relationships In Vietnam, propriety and courtesy play a major role in personal relationships. Vietnamese are generally more interpersonally formal than are Americans. This formality decreases the uncertainty surrounding interpersonal contacts in Vietnamese society and is carried over into the business realm for the same reasons. During initial meetings with Vietnamese officials, you can expect little real business to be accomplished. The Vietnamese will concentrate on getting to know youyour background, your expertise, your character. In their high-context communication culture, they will depend heavily on non-verbal clues to assess meaning. By becoming acquainted and establishing a personal relationship with you, they are merely trying to understand you better. Vietnamese society is comprised of an interconnected network of personal relationships, all of which carry obligations on both sides. These mutual obligations are the underpinnings of social order in Vietnam, so they are taken very serious ly. Americans need to understand and be sensitive to the serious nature of what may seem to them to be casual business relations. Failure to do so could easily result in a loss of trust or credibility, with obvious implications for longer-term relationships. 4. Technology In terms of technology, Viet Nam is a rapidly developing country. The year 2011 was the beginning of the strategic plan of economic and social development, period 2011-2020, in which infrastructural building is considered as one of main targets. With this plan, the country has been building many expressways and will let the local transport network be eventually upgraded to meet the requirements of rural industrialization and modernization, and connect itself with the national system. In addition, the above plan also includes a project which will work to narrow its scientific and technological gap with the world in some key fields by 2020. To launch this project, the Government will give top priority to enhancing the competence of scientists and related managers while encouraging the organization of training courses partnered with foreign competent partners. According to the project, the Government will focus on scientific and technological renovation to sharpen the competitive edge of local products and assisting businesses to purchase patents in some prioritized areas: biotechnology, information technology, new materials technology Nano technology , manufacturing technology and automation. 5. Legislation The communist party-controlled government of Vietnam has ruled under four state constitutions. The first was promulgated in 1946, the second in 1959, the third in 1980, and the current in 1992 (amended in 2001). Significantly, each bore the mark of its time. On paper, all these constitutions seem to establish a solid democracy. In fact, the purpose of the 1946 constitution was essentially to provide the communist regime with freedom of speech, the press, and assembly. The second constitution was explicitly communist in character. Its preamble described the Democratic Republic of Vietnam as a peoples democratic state led by the working class, and the document provided for a nominal separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government. The 1980 Constitution concentrates power in a newly established Council of State much like the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, endowing it nominally with both legislative and executive powers. Many functions of the legi slature remain the same as under the 1959 document, but others have been transferred to the executive branch or assigned to both branches concurrently. The executive branch appears strengthened overall, having gained a second major executive body, the Council of State, and the importance of the National Assembly appears to have been reduced accordingly. The role of the Council of Ministers, while appearing on paper to have been subordinated to the new Council of State, in practice retained its former primacy. Having inherited the previous constitutions with substantial and basic changes, on the one hand, the 1992 Constitution continues reaffirming the basic principles in the constitutional history of Vietnam. First, it reiterates the target of socialist construction in Vietnam and the popular nature of the State. Second, the 1992 Constitution continues affirming the Communist Party of Vietnam’s leadership over the State and the society.  Third, it continues affirming the mechanism of State powers performed by the people through the National Assembly and the People’s Councils, the organization and operation of the State under the principle of concentrated powers; the concentration of State powers uniformly into the National Assembly with the division of responsibility among State bodies for the exercise of the legislative power, executive power and judicial power. On the other hand, the 1992 Constitution sees big changes: Vietnam decided to take economic renewal as the cent ral task, First, building the multi-sector and multi-ownership market economy along the socialist orientation. open-door policy and international economic integration. In reality, however, final authority on all matters rested with the Political Bureau; especially, the guarantees provided by the constitutions for freedom of speech, the press, and assembly has been never intended to be carried out. The constitutions eventually show its limitations since Vietnam has joined the stream of globalization, especially in the field of human rights and land-ownership law. In a report made public at the Conference on the Rule of law for human rights in the ASEAN region held by the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA) in Jakarta, Indonesia on 30 April 2011, Mr. Vo Van Ai, President of Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam and the Vietnam Committee for Human Rights called on Vietnam to urgently reform its legal system and bring domestic legislation into line with international human rights laws. Mr. Vo Van Ai declared: ―36 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the rule of law exists only in theory in Vietnam. The government has incorporated human rights into its 1992 Constitution. Yet it has also adopted a whole arsenal of Laws, Decrees, Ordinances and Decisions which restrict or even nullify the exercise of these rights, in total violation of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to which Vietnam adhered in 1982â€â€". At the beginning of the New Year 2012 (Jan 1, 2012), there happened The Tien Lang land withdrawal case: in Tien Lang district (on the outskirts of Haiphong, a port city east of Hanoi) a fish farmer, Doan Van Vuong, and his family had resisted a large force moving in to enforce an eviction order. With an improvised mine and muskets bought on the black market, they’d wounded two soldiers and four policemen, including the local police chief. Prime  Minister Nguyen Tan Dung himself had to meet the Haiphong City authorities to resolve the case; and finally came to the conclusion on Feb 2 that the Haiphong government was absolutely wrong in the case; and he ordered the Haiphong City authorities to review their wrong works as and repair the situation. This case is just one among so many cases that show matters association with the land law. And this shocked case has raised the question of reforming the land law, which has been ambiguously claimed by the constitution as ―land is possessed by the whole peopleâ€â€". Mr. Dang Hung Vo, former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, comments that ―it’s possible to see the recent incident at Tien Lang as a climactic demonstration of the faults in our Land Law and how it is implemented at the local level. A good farmer, pure, simple and hardworking, who’s driven to defend his right to his land with home-made weapons – what misery! Everybody believes that there’s such a thing as justice and that the law ensures it. Certainly that’s what the farmers who built the fish ponds at Tien Lang believed. They went to the court expecting fair play, but the simple truths they understood proved elusive. The hopelessness of their situati on drove them to take desperate measures. As mentioned above, the 11th Congress of Vietnam Communist Party held in 2011 issued four degrees; and one of them is beginning the study of the amendments and supplements of the 1992 Constitution and establishing the revised draft of the 1992 Constitution. This is urgent and necessary for the development of the country. 6. Environment Viet Nam is blessed by the nature, with a great ecological and hydrological diversity. The country is made up of equatorial lowlands, high, temperate plateaus and cooler mountainous areas. It lies in the inter-tropical zone and local conditions vary from frosty winters in the far northern hills to the year-round subequatorial warmth of the Mekong Delta. At sea level, the mean annual temperature is about 27 °C in the south, falling to about 21 °C in the far north. Geographically, it stretches over 1600km (1000mi) along the eastern coast of the Indochinese Peninsula; and has two main cultivated areas, that are the Red River Delta (15,000 sq km/5400 sq mi) in the north  and the Mekong Delta (60,000 sq km/23,400 sq mi) in the south. Vietnam also has diverse wildlife, with rare and precious fauna such as elephants, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard, black bear, snub-nosed monkey, crocodile and turtle. Forest area accounts for 2% of total forests in East Asia and Pacific. Fish catch is amon g the 10 highest countries in the world, with 1,451,800 tons per year. However, as the report of the World Bank on the environment in Viet Nam, ―Rapid economic growth in Vietnam over the last ten years, and its associated industrialization, urbanization, as well as increased exploitation of natural resources, has created significant pressures for the environment.â€â€"35 For example, the diverse wildlife is in precipitous decline because of the destruction of habitats, illegal hunting and pollution. In fact, Viet Nam Rhino was officially extinct in 2011. One of the most obvious examples for illustrating the environmental pollution is the phenomenon of getting narrowed of the lakes in Ha Noi. According to the Hanoi Construction Department, there are 111 ponds and lakes in Hanoi which cover a total area of 1165 hectares. The total area of lakes has decreased sharply during the urbanization, while a lot of them have disappeared. It is estimated that 80% of the lakesides have got polluted, 71% of lakes have suffered from pollution, 26% of the lakes still do not have embankments, while 8% of lakes have partial embankments. Environmentalists have called on to take urgent actions to protect the remaining lakes, or they would also disappear one day. Vietnam is among the countries that can be seriously affected by climate change. And the fact shows that the increasing deterioration of environmental conditions is emerging as a barrier to growth and development in recent years. In fact, according to the General Statistics Office, domestic natur al disasters occurred in 2011 has made 257 people dead and missing, 267 wounded; nearly 1.2 thousand houses collapsed and swept away; 391.8 thousand houses were submerged or damaged; more than 760 km of dykes, and the 680 km road motorized traffic bursts, landslides; 867 power poles broken or poured; nearly 54,000 hectares of rice and vegetables has been lost; more than 330,000 hectares of rice crops were flooded or damaged. Total value of damage caused by natural disasters in 2011 was estimated at over 10 trillion VND. Thus, this is really a big challenge of the country; and it needs a national and urgent action to prevent an ecological and hydrological catastrophe. C. BRIEF CONCLUSION With the aforementioned analysis of ―P.E.S.T.L.Eâ€â€", we see that in 2011, on the one hand, Viet Nam constantly attempted to keep its strategic plan of development, and also has obtained some important goals; on the other hand, the country had to face many difficulties and challenges which came both from outside and from inside. In my opinion, there are some main issues that the government should pay great attention in the coming years: reforming the education system, fighting against corruption (especially, promoting fiscal transparency and the public availability of economic data and information), reforming the state-owned sectors, amending laws, narrowing the gap between the Kinh, the Hoa and the ethnic minority groups, and improving environmental conditions.

Benefits of Seaweed Enhancement for Crop Growth

Benefits of Seaweed Enhancement for Crop Growth CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Background Soil enhancement with organic materials is a common component of soil fertility management for crop production, with the aim of providing essential plant nutrients and improving overall soil physical, chemical, and biological quality (Diacano and Montemurro, 2010). Marine macro-algae, or seaweed, has been historically used as a soil enhancement material, and may have application for modern agriculture as a low cost source of nutrient-rich biomass (Angus and Dargie, 2002; Cuomo et al., 1995). While seaweed compost and extract products have been widely evaluated for agricultural applications (Woznitza and Barrantes, 2005; Khan et al., 2010), evaluation of unprocessed seaweed biomass as an enhancement material is limited, particularly with regard to soil quality. Application of seaweed material may uniquely affect soil quality parameters as a result of its chemical characteristics, including carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) composition, and salt, sulfur (S), heavy metal, and trace element co ntent. In this study, the putative benefits of seaweed enhancement for crop growth and production were assessed on various crops in field experiment, including analysis of soil physical, biological, and chemical properties. 1.2 Historical use of seaweed in agriculture. In coastal regions, collection and application of seaweed is a traditional soil fertility management strategy, especially where agriculture relies on use of local resources (Cuomo et al., 1995). As a readily-available, low-cost material to supplement soil fertility, application of seaweed biomass is often an integral component of traditional, small-scale, diversified agriculture (Angus and Dargie, 2002). For instance, agriculture in the Machair region of the Scottish Outer Hebrides Islands involves a rotation-intensive system that integrates the application of locally available seaweed biomass (Angus and Dargie, 2002; Kent et al. 2003). Traditional agriculture of the Machair, practiced for at least 1,000 years before present (YBP), relies on a â€Å"crofting† system that generally includes an intensive rotation of livestock grazing, field crop cultivation, and two years of fallow, with hypothesized effects on soil biodiversity (Angus and Dargie, 2002; Vink et al., 2009). Soil fertility is still largely maintained by the traditional practice of application of manure and seaweed, primarily the brown alga Laminaria digitata (Angus and Dargie, 2002), which is collected and piled onshore for 1-2 weeks prior to application. Promotion of seaweed application as a part of sustaining small-scale, diversified agriculture is supported by Scottish Natural Heritage, a governmental conservation organization, as well as local conservation group efforts (Angus and Dargie, 2002).In addition to the Machair region, historical accounts of seaweed use in agriculture range from the British Isles, to coastal mainland Europe, to the northeastern region of the United States, including New York, Maine, and Rhode Island (Fussel, 1973; Smith et al., 1989; Cuomo et al., 1995). For example, prior to the adoption of synthetic fertilizer, potato production in Rhode Island incorporated seaweed collection as a means of maintaining soil fertility, including for agricultural research at the University of Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station (R. Casagrande, personal communication). Seaweed in the modern agricultural context In organic or reduced-input cropping systems, both in the U.S. and worldwide, seaweed-based agricultural products (e.g. extracts for foliar application and composts) are commonly employed (Khan et al., 2009). However, application of unprocessed biomass is less prevalent. To reduce dependence on application of inorganic fertilizers, make use of an abundant (sometimes over-abundant) resource, and improve soil quality, the traditional practice of seaweed application may have modern application in coastal regions. Because adding seaweed to soil can increase plant macro and micronutrients, and may improve soil biological, chemical and physical properties (Khan et al., 2009), the practice may be an additional strategy to manage soil fertility and quality that addresses the dual problems of reliance on inorganic chemical fertilization and wasting o f valuable, nutrient-rich biomass. Inorganic fertilizer inputs account for a large fraction of conventional farm expenses, energy consumption, and carbon emissions (Lal, 2004). Application of inorganic fertilizers without addition of organic enhancements, cover crop use, or use of alternative tillage practices can result in depletion of soil organic matter (SOM), with concomitant negative effects on many soil properties important for crop productivity (e.g. nutrient retention, moisture-holding capacity, aggregate formation, and microbial activity) (Brock et al., 2012; Franzluebbers, 2012). Furthermore, levels of nutrient elements other than N, P, and K (e.g. Ca, Mg, Mo, B, and S) are generally low in inorganic fertilizers, and are of increasing concern for crop quality and nutritional value (Welch and Graham, 2012). Consequently, reliance on inorganic fertilizer as a sole source of fertility is often questioned as a sustainable management strategy, and 4diversification of inputs is encouraged, particularly inputs that provide not only primary nutrients (i.e. N, P and K), but also organic matter and trace elements (Lal, 2004). Organic enhancements used to improve soil fertility include traditional (e.g. animal manure) and non-traditional (e.g. industrial by-products) materials (Power et al., 2000). Seaweed, which contains primary nutrients, organic C, and other nutrient elements, is thus a good candidate organic enhancement material as part of a diversified soil fertility management strategy. In addition to the potential crop nutrition benefits of seaweed enhancement, the prevalence of seaweed biomass in coastal areas as a result of both natural phenomena and anthropogenic impacts may allow for use of seaweed with minimal cost. Nutrient (N and P) enrichment of coastal waters – sometimes attributed to fertilizer runoff from agriculture and home use – can cause excessive seaweed growth (Morand and Merceron, 2005). In addition to detrimental ecological impacts (e.g. oxygen depletion), the accumulation of seaweed biomass on beaches can have negative economic consequences (RI DEM, 2010). For instance, in the summer of 2012,  accumulation of the red seaweed Polysiphonia sp. on Massachusetts beaches required mechanical removal and disposal in order to maintain beaches for public use, costing money for equipment use and labor, as well as preventing beach use. Beach-cast biomass is often removed and disposed of in landfills. Although the species composition and pro perties of beach-cast seaweed varies based on location and environment (e.g. estuarine vs. marine), the coordination of accumulated seaweed biomass removal with agricultural application may provide a low-cost, locallyavailable resource for soil fertility management. To initiate this arrangement for 5 coastal regions, characterization of seaweed biomass in terms of location and abundance, species composition, and chemical characteristics relevant to soil quality and plant nutrition is required. Additionally, quantification of seaweed biomass effects on soil quality and crop production is required to validate putative benefits or negative effects of seaweed enhancement practices 1.2.3 Scope Marine algae is estimated to contribute about 70 % to 80 % of earth’s atmospheric oxygen, amounting to about 330 billion tonnes of oxygen per year (Hall, 2008). This is an indication of how important algae are to the environment. Algae are simple, autotrophic organisms that are either microscopic or macroscopic. Specifically, seaweeds are macroscopic algae that thrive in benthic marine waters. Just like terrestrial plants, these groups of multicellular organisms are autotrophic and thus have the ability to carry out photosynthesis. However, they do not posses several distinct organs such as true leaves, roots, flowers and seeds that typify terrestrial plants (Sumich Morrissey, 2004). There are roughly 10000 different species of seaweeds recorded. Generally, seaweeds can be divided into three groups, namely Rhodophyceae (6000 species), Chlorophyceae (2000 species) and Phaeophyceae (2000 species) based on their colour pigment (Guiry Guiry, 2011). The genus being studied,  Sar gassum, belongs to the group Phaeophyceae, which obtains its distinctive brown colour from the xantophyll pigment of fucoxanthin. Cell walls of these algae are mainly composed of cellulose and alginic acid, a valuable component that adds commercial value to Sargassum species. In Asia, seaweeds are commonly used as fertilizers and as food for both humans and animals. Trono (1999), McHugh (2003) and Phang (2006) are among the many authors who have listed down the beneficial usages of seaweeds which include Sargassum as raw products for cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED APPLYING FOR JOB IN HOTEL INDUSTRY

ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES REQUIRED APPLYING FOR JOB IN HOTEL INDUSTRY Hotels and motels are not only places where one can obtain great food and comfortable rooms; they are also the center of community life, with facilities for meeting, entertainment, communication and personal service. Their stock in trade has always been hospitality and service, and hotel and motel have made an art of dispensing comfort, pleasing the palate and creating an atmosphere of home for guests. As far as career opportunities are concerned, in United States alone, the hospitality industry is one of the largest of all industries, surpassed only by the automotive and food industry. Wage and salary opportunities in hotel and other accommodations is expected to increase by 17 percent through 2012, compared with 16 percent growth projected for all industries combined. Dr. Robert A. Beck, former dean of the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, and an eminent consultant, describes the challenges and opportunities of the Hotel industry. The hospitality industry offers todays young men and young women a most interesting and exciting career. Management of a hotel or a restaurant calls for a wide range of capabilities. Guests must be received with cordiality and provided with comfortable, well-designed, and tastefully decorated surroundings. They need appetizing, wholesome food that has been wisely bought, properly stored, skillfully prepared, and graciously served. Various other conveniences in public areas, conference and exhibit rooms, communication systems, and travel systems are required for proper guest service. Further, a staff of employees must be recruited, trained, and motivated to provide hospitable service. Moreover, all must be successfully coordinated to return a profit to the establishments investors. For those wishing a rewarding and challenging life in service to their fellow man, a future in the hospitality field should certainly be considered. SKILLS AND PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES: Social Skills: At the core of this profession is service and hospitality, so people need to enjoy working with people and helping to teach, inform and entertain them. Social skills generally include talking to people and making them feel at ease with you. If the person does not possess excellent social skills, then it will be very difficult for him to survive in the service industry. A guest would never like to stay at a hotel where the staff is stiff and unfriendly no matter how beautiful and comfortable the hotel is. respectful, patient and tolerant: Graciousness is one of the key personal skills needed in the service industry. At times, the customer will truly test your patience but at times like that one must be polite with irritable, short-tempered customers. It is important to remember to never quarrel with the customer as he is the reason for your bread and butter. The most basic quality in a manager is for him to be respectful to others. Pride is the most precious thing to people and if the manager takes that away from his employees, they will never trust him again. That will make extracting work from them very difficult. A managers job is to make sure that the employees are learning, growing and performing to their utmost potential and that can only be achieved through a relationship of mutual trust and kindness. Leadership skills: The most important job of a leader is to assist the employees and his team into giving their best efforts towards the organizational goal. Leaders inspire others to act by setting a good example. They drive and perseverance spurs others on. A leaders responsibilities are many. He must inspire others, be able to give positive and negative feedback, organize and entrust projects and responsibilities, solve problems and make decisions and monitor the teams progress and setting goals for himself and his team. Business skills: Business skills are important for any employee in the hotel industry. He should have sound knowledge of the profitability aspect of his hotel. He should be completely aware of the organizations goals and the strategies developed to achieve those goals. He should know sources and methods of the funding and management of the resources. Business skills also include human resource management and delegating work and resources. Valuing diversity: To work with an assortment of individual cultures at one place is tough. Especially in this day and age of competition, if a company recognizes and respects individuality, then it can maintain a strategic edge over others. These cultural differences, if managed positively can foster creativity, better decision making, higher performance and competitive advantage. In the hotel industry, one is constantly meeting people from different cultures, backgrounds and language. It is essential to not only understand but also respect people from diverse societies and locations. A person can understand more about culturally different people by travelling around the world and interacting with such people. Besides that, reading can also teach a person much about different customs and traditions. It is important that the guests feel right at home when they visit your hotel and the only way to do that is to make the environment as close to their own environment as possible. Ingenuity and imagination: Since the hotel industry is a highly competitive industry, the customer must not only have a good but a delightful experience to gain his loyalty. For this, employees in the hotel industry must introduce originality, creativity and imagination in their service. It is also essential that they are also given enough resources and authority by their employers in their tasks to completely satisfy the customer. Inventory management skills: Inventory management skills include purchasing, stock control and merchandise display. Inventory management skills consist of proper planning strategy of the stock and supplies to be purchased, how they will be transported to the destination, where they will be stored, when will the new stock be ordered and how long will it take to be delivered. Since the hotel industry is highly competitive and gourmet is an essential part of the hotel industry, it is essential that the food served is always fresh, cooked well and nicely presented. Along with that, it is important for the person managing the inventory to be a good negotiator so that he may get maximum utility out of the price paid for the supply. Negotiator: Negotiation is gaining the favor of people from whom we want things such as money, justice, status and recognition. Both technical and non-technical persons need negotiating skills to obtain help from and support of colleagues, supervisors, peers, customers, suppliers and even friends and family. In the hotel industry one is constant negotiating with customers, colleagues, and suppliers and needs to be quite skillful at it. Technical Skills: Technical skills mean having the ability to understand and aptitude to function the techniques, equipments and methods used in the organization. These skills are important in all fields of job whether its finance, engineering or manufacturing. Rodney Mott, plant manager at Nucor Corp.s new Hickman, Arkansas, steel mill, needed technical skills to decide on the installation of a new $50 million caster, which turns liquid metal into bands of steel. The move nearly doubled the Hickman plants capacity, to 36000 tons a week. Technical skills are particularly important al lower organizational levels. It is very difficult for a manager to survive in the business world if he does not possess adequate technical skills. His initial escalation in the organization depends on his technical skills. But for the top management of the company, the technical skills are not as important as the conceptual skills are. Even in the hotel industry, technical skills are quite important as one will constantly be using or supervising use of new systems and equipments and needs to be an expert at it. Active Listener: Active listening is one of the most powerful personal and management tools. It involves more than just hearing. It involves your powers of observation as well. Observing body language is also a part of active listening as often the words completely contradict the body language. It is the process of taking action to help someone say exactly what he or she really means and then applying that information to the best possible way. In the service industry, active listening is extremely important as it determines the efficiency and the effectiveness of the service delivered to the customers. SAMPLE CV: Objective: to seek the position of a hotel manager in a reputed hotel in order to use all my expertise and proficiency in this area towards the development of the hotel business. Knowledge: Proficiency in MS Access, MS Excel, MS Power Point etc. Proficiency in SQL. Professional Skills: Capable of maintaining customers reservations and creating customer databases Excellent oral and written communication Able to complete assignments within deadline. Able to work and direct teams Capable in handling phone calls and e-mail of customers. Capable of addressing customers complaints and queries. Able to organize big and small events. Educational Background: Bachelors in Hotel Management from Boston University in 1997. Job Experience: Worked as a assistant front office in ABC Hotel from 2005 to 2007 Worked as a hotel manager XYZ Hotel from 2007 till date. Summary: Handled customers queries and complaints via calls, emails and fax etc Handled inventory management Monitored and overseen all employees duties. Administered complete hotel operations SKILLS AUDIT: Social Skills: I believe I have good social skills since I like interacting with people and getting to know them. I have a friendly personality due to which people find it easy to talk to me. They are at ease with me. Often, I have also been the entertainer of my peer group and amongst friends. I also believe in helping people out without expecting any reward in return. In college I am a part of several societies so I am constantly meeting new people and working with them. respectful, patient and tolerant: Since childhood I have been a part of several community services. The experience there has taught me how to be patient, tolerant and respectful towards people. A lot of times, we come across people who prove to be quite difficult and working with them can be quite challenging, but Ive learned very early that politeness can turn any frown into a smile and I apply the same rule in my life. Leadership skills: I have often directed groups and teams in several societies as Im very actively social in my community as well as am a part of a few societies at the university. The most recent experience is leading a group of people who were chosen to prepare an extensive business plan on a new business initiated. Here we had to visit several organizations and people, gather relevant market information, conduct research and develop a whole business plan that comprised of the marketing and promotion plan too. As a leader I took upon myself to delegate tasks to the group members, give them deadline for the task, supervise their work and performance and motivate them to work towards the goal. Business skills: Having courses of business studies has taught me a lot of how a business should be conducted effectively. But I do believe that business management is a skill that cannot be excelled at until one gets practical experience in the same. Valuing diversity: Since I am a part of several societies, meeting people from different cultures and diverse backgrounds is quite common. The challenge I face here is understanding their customs and traditions and respecting them. Some words of actions that are quite respectful here may prove to be quite offensive to them. So one has to be quite careful while working with them. One advantage of working with people from diverse backgrounds is the generation of new and unique ideas that one is introduced to. These differences managed positively can foster creativity, better decision making, higher performance and competitive advantage. Inventory management skills: This summer I had an internship at a local motel where I was assisting in inventory management. My daily duties consisted of physically counting and keeping records of the stock and place order when the supplies were close to their last stages. I also had to make sure that the supplies I ordered were delivered on time and make a check that the delivered supplies were fresh. I was able to handle the job efficiently and it gave me a great experience in the world of inventory management. Technical Skills: I believe I do not have the best technical skills at the time as these are skills that are polished with time and experience. But I do possess proficiency in using the Microsoft Office and can read make reports and financial statements and interpret them. With time, I believe I shall be more adept in technical skills. Active Listener: I use active listening skills every day while communicating with my classmates, friends and even family. By carefully observing their body language and repeating important words of what they are saying, I make sure that I understand exactly what they are trying to communicate to me to avoid any misunderstandings. Active listening is a very important skill that is useful in all aspects of life whether it is college life, family life or work life. REFLECTIVE LEARNING: This module has been very helpful for me in terms of personal development. A few of the skills that I think I must learn/posses are as follows: Peoples person: One thing I have learned is that one needs to be a peoples person. The main task of a manager is to interact with people. These people can be his own organizations employees, his team and staff and it can also be persons from outside the organization that is the supplier, customers or outsourced people. Since every person has a different personality and outlook towards things, the manager must be flexible enough to change according to the situation that requires him to be. Only then can he be a good negotiator and can get things down the way he wants it. Become achievement/results oriented: To survive in the professional world, one needs to become achievement/results oriented. This includes the aspiration to get the assigned tasks completed efficiently and effectively. An achievement oriented manager must constantly challenge himself with new tasks and projects and set and must surpass his benchmark to be the best. But becoming achievement oriented is not easy. This requires proper and vigorous planning and foreseeing all future obstacles and finding ways to meet them. Assertiveness: Assertiveness means standing up for your own rights in such a way that you do not violate others persons rights. Here, you are expressing your needs, wants, and opinions, feelings in beliefs in a direct, honest and appropriate manner. Behaving assertively puts you in a position of being able to influence people properly and react to them positively. Business awareness: It is extremely important to have business awareness if the manager wishes to grow professionally. The manager must constantly look for new business opportunities and must exploit them whenever he can. He should have a clear idea of what his organizations overall goals are and what steps the organization is taking to achieve them. Only then can his organization and he himself can rise in the business world. Excellent communication skills: Communication is an essential tool in the professional life no matter which industry or sector you belong to. The talent to communicate well, orally and in writing goes a long way. The communication skills also include observing the non-verbal communication. It means listening to the words that are being said but also use other clues that convey its meaning. Several things clue the non verbal communication, for example, the shape of the eyes, the muscles of the face, even posture. Collaboration: Collaborating is the work platform of the 21st century. It is the epitome of the we workplace, where extending request and excellent service to fellow workers is the foundation of all interactions. Collaboration takes advantage of the most effective actions possible because it focuses on and utilizes the unique gifts and strengths of the many. Everyones skills complement and reinforce one anothers. Collaboration creates and energy that inspires and motivates. Through collaboration, people gain a stronger appreciation for how their efforts align, add value, and produce results for the company. One more point about collaboration is pertinent. Savvy managers know that collaboration requires employees to be a part of something larger than themselves a project with meaning and importance. To that end, they artfully help employees relinquish ego behaviors, replacing them with mutually beneficial ones. They act consciously to ensure that every person knows how much his or her contribution adds to the projects success. As companies move to more virtual projects executed globally, utilizing a host of virtual communication technologies, collaboration challenges with intensity. Building your collaboration skills allows you to handle disparate work spread across various cultures and times zones and to transcend various boundaries. It becomes your strategy for bringing out the best in each person. Working under unpredictable circumstances: Work is often unpredictable. Situations and circumstances change and due to that the pressure of the project increases. The best laid plans are therefore disrupted and the established priorities are abandoned. In these situations, one needs to be able to handle such circumstances and make quick decisions as they arise. Periodic Trainings: Periodic trainings are very important to keep the employees up to date with the current systems and trends. Many institutions are now offering trainings to their business executives as a means of developing skills. These trainings prove to be very useful in initiating and promoting entrepreneurship. Trainings are required to get sound knowledge of technical and non-technical skills. International trainings are also a good forum for the manager to create new personal relationships and interact with new people. Analyze past mistakes and note down learning points: One way to learn from past mistakes is to analyze the past. Ask yourself what went wrong. What have I learnt from it? How can I improve the situation? Even if one fails to achieve a certain goal, instead of being discouraged he should jot down points of what he has learned from the situation and if he had to face a similar situation again, what would he do differently the next time. Self-analysis is a very effective learning method. Interacting with people from different cultures and environments: To further broaden ones horizon, one constantly needs to interact with people from different environments are cultures. This enables us to learn about the different cultural dynamics and let go of our preconceived notions. This way one also learns to use that cultural diversity to the organizations advantage. When a group of people from different cultures come together originality and creativity is introduced. In todays day and age, where cities are becoming more and more metropolitan, it is important to be able to interact with and respect people from different places and appreciate their difference. personal development plan: What do I need to learn? Develop technical skills pertaining to my professional life. How have I established such need? I have come to know that I am not quite as proficient in technical skills and they are an essential requirement for the kind of profession I wish to pursue. What is the aim of my learning? I aim to be proficient at technical skills. What are the specific objectives I need to achieve? Demonstrate evidence of improvement in these skills. How will I accomplish my objectives? I plan to take courses in new systems and software that are being used in the business world nowadays. I shall also read about the new systems and softwares, their purpose and contribution in the overall organizations goals. What is my timescale? On-going. I plan to keep practicing and learning new systems and soft wares to keep myself proficient.