Sources of Finance - 7811 Words

Introduction - Sources of Finance Introduction to the Sources of Finance resource. Sources of Finance Introduction This resource is designed for use with Accounting courses at A level. This resource is relevant to the following: * AQA Module 5, Section 14.5: Types of Business Organisation, Sources of Finance * OCR Module 2505, Sections 5.3.2 and 5.6.2 For many businesses, the issue about where to get funds from for starting up, development and expansion can be crucial for the success of the business. It is important, therefore, that you understand the various sources of finance open to a business and are able to assess how appropriate these sources are in relation to the needs of the business. The latter point regarding†¦show more content†¦A good and very public example here is Jamie Oliver, the television chef. Jamie financed his new restaurant, Fifteen , using fifteen raw recruits to the catering trade and a large amount ( £500,000) of his own cash. | Index | Previous | Next | Sources of Finance Retained Profit This is often a very difficult idea to understand but, in reality, it is very simple. When a business makes a profit and it does not spend it, it keeps it - and accountants call profits that are kept and not spent retained profits. That s all. The retained profit is then available to use within the business to help with buying new machinery, vehicles, computers and so on or developing the business in any other way. Retained profits are also kept if the owners think that they may have difficulties in the future so they save them for a rainy day! | Index | Previous | Next | Sources of Finance Working Capital This is the short-term capital or finance that a business keeps. Working capital is the money used to pay for the everyday trading activities carried out by the business - stationery needs, staff salaries and wages, rent, energy bills, payments for supplies and so on. Working capital is defined as: Working capital = current assets - current liabilities Where: current assets are short term sources of finance such as stocks, debtors and cash - theShow MoreRelatedsources of finance1286 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Sources of finance Some sources of finance are short term and must be paid back within a year. Other sources of finance are long term and can be paid back over many years. Internal sources of finance are funds found inside the business. For example, profits can be kept back to finance expansion. Alternatively the business can sell assets that are no longer really needed to free up cash. External sources of finance are found outside the business. For example from creditors or banks. InternalRead MoreSources of Finance1496 Words   |  6 PagesP3 Introduction For this task I will be considering the sources of finance I will need for my company. Why might a business require finance? A business may require finance because they can either: †¢ Be setting up a new business and they do not have enough money to start up. †¢ They may need new equipment to help make the business expand and make more profit. †¢ Or they may even want to replace old machinery. †¢ They may want to move there store to a better location that might benefit thereRead MoreSources of Finance1111 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction In this essay we will be looking at different sources of finance available for different type of business. Also will be looking at the definitions of different type of sources of finance, the advantages, disadvantages and also giving reasons to why different sources of finance was chosen for the given case studies. Types of sources of finance Bank Loan – is a long term loan and will often be for large amount of money for starting up a business or to expanding. Business will agreeRead MoreSources of Finance972 Words   |  4 PagesSources of finance What are the main sources and finance for UK firms and why? All firms need some kind of financing. Access to finance may differ considerably from firm to firm depending on what type of business they are and how big/known they are; Sole Trader, Public Limited or Private Limited Company. There are both INTERNAL and EXTERNAL sources of finance. Finance can be short, medium or long term. Internal sources of Finance: 2 main types 1) Funds from the owner(s) and the familyRead MoreSources of Finance1627 Words   |  7 PagesUnit 2: Business Resources Assignment 4:P4 Sources of Finance Internal Sources of finance Owners’ savings- the owner of a business often has to use their own personal savings to start a business, particularly if they are a sole trader. This is because banks may not be willing to take a risk and invest in them. Savings are a good source of finance for a business, as interest does not need to be paid to someone else while the money is being used, and the business remains totally in theRead Moresources of finance2021 Words   |  9 Pagesï » ¿Question:   IDENTIFY THE SOURCES OF FINANCE AVAILABLE TO A BUSINESS Answer: There are a number of ways of raising finance for a business. The type of finance chosen depends on the nature of the business. Large organisations are able to use a wider variety of finance sources than are smaller ones. Finance is not just needed when starting a new business, but you may be required to seek further finance even if you’re business is well established i-e further expansion, RD, new product launchRead MoreSource of Finance3105 Words   |  13 Pages1. Identify and describe the various sources of finance 1.1 Internal source 1.2 External sources 2. Assess the implication of the difference sources of finance related to risk, legal, financial and dilution of control and bankruptcy 2.1 Issue debt 2.2 Issue equity 3. Select appropriate sources of finance and make recommendations on the best ways of raising finance TASK 2: Part 1: Assess and compare various costs involve with each source of finance to Vale filters Limited Part 2: PrepareRead MoreSources of Finance1934 Words   |  8 PagesSources of Finance The financing of every business is the most fundamental aspect of its management. Get the financing right and the company will have a healthy business, positive cash flows and ultimately a profitable enterprise. The financing can happen at any stage of a business s development. On commencement of your enterprise the business entity will need finance to start up and, later on, finance to expand. Finance sources may be internal or external but they may also be short, medium orRead MoreSources of Finance4664 Words   |  19 PagesSection 1 – Sources of Finance There are 4 main types of business ownership: †¢ Sole trader †¢ Partnership †¢ Private limited company (Ltd) †¢ Public limited company (Plc) Each of these types of business needs to raise finance for capital investment Sole Trader This is a business that is owned by one person. Sole Traders are responsible for raising all the finance to set up and run the business. Usually a sole trader would be for a small business/ (businesses with a flatRead MoreInternal Sources Of Finance And Finance Essay2349 Words   |  10 PagesInternal sources of finance: Internal sources of finance are funds that arise from within the business such as profits as they can be retained to grow the finance and selling assets. Retained profit Retained profit is the money kept in the company after paying dividends. It is used to reinvest in the business or to pay debt. It comes by a business after it makes profit and is kept separate to use in other ways such as expanding the business by developing new buildings or certain areas, buying new

Ecn 3000 Homework Free Essays

Harris ECN 3000 Homework #1b. Use the following information to answer questions 1-13 below. Two countries, Athens and Troy, produce two goods, ships and food, according to the following production functions: 1 ship = 4 capital + 2 labor 1 food = 1 capital + 3 labor. We will write a custom essay sample on Ecn 3000 Homework or any similar topic only for you Order Now Athens has 200 units of capital and 100 units of labor available to produce ships and food. Troy has 100 units of capital and 150 units of labor available to produce ships and food. 1. Which good is capital intensive in production? Ship 2. Which good is labor intensive in production? Food 3. In which country is capital relatively abundant? Athens 4. In which country is labor relatively abundant? Tory 5. Based on your answers to 1 – 4 and using the Heckscher-Ohlin hypothesis, which country should specialize in the production of which good? Why? According to Heckscher-Ohlin hypothesis, countries will export products that utilize their abundant and cheap factors of production and import products that utilize the countries’ scarce factors. As I said before, Athens is capital relatively abundant, Tory is labor relatively abundant. When a thing is abundant, it becomes cheap. Thus, Athens should specialize in the production of ship, and Troy should specialize in the production of food. 6. Calculate the limits of production for Athens and Troy. The limits of production for Athens: 200/4=50 ships or 100/3=33 foods. The limits of production for Troy: 100/4=25 ships or 150/3=50 foods. 7. Calculate the domestic terms of trade for Athens and Troy in terms of 1 ship. . 8. Based on your answer to question 7, which country should specialize in the production of which good? Why? Athens’ MRT=0. 66 and Troy’s MRT=2. So we can know Athens has comparative advantage in ship, and Troy has comparative advantage in food. Thus, Athens should specialize in the production of ship, and Troy should specialize in the production of food. 9. Draw the production possibilities curves for each country based on your answers to questions 6 and 7. Athens 42 33 PPC CPC 0 25 50 Ships Tory 50 25 CPC PPC 0 25 38 50 Ships 10. Supposing that Athens and Troy agree to trade ships and food at an international terms of trade of 1, what observation can you make about their relative demands for ships and food? Which country experiences the greater gains from trade? 1 ship is exchanged 1 food on condition that they agree to trade ships and food at an international term of trade of 1. Athens should trade 12. 5 ships to Troy, and Troy should trade 8. 5 foods to Athens. Troy will experience the greater gains from trade. 11. Draw the consumption possibilities curve for each country on the same graph you drew for question 9. 12. Suppose Athens wants to consume only 25 ships. How many food will it be able to consume? How many ships and how many food would Troy be able to consume? If Athens wants to consume only 25 ships, 58 foods will it be able to consume. 50 ships, 25 foods should Troy be able to consume. 13. Now, assume that only Athens discovers a new technology that allows it to produce ships using 1. 5 capital and 1 labor. What would be the effect on the pattern of trade between the two countries? Explain. Based on your assumption, Athens will decrease the cost of the ships. Then, the limits of production for Athens: 100/1=100 ships or 100/3=33 foods. Athens maybe experiences the greater gains from trade. However, the demand of Troy cannot be ignored. Troy may not consume that many ships. 14. Suppose that instead of trading goods, Athens and Troy decide to trade 50 units of Athens capital for 25 units of Troy’s labor. How would the countries’ relative welfare be affected? If this supposition were true, after Athens and Troy trade capital and labor, they will have same number of capital and labor. Then, the trades between these two countries are unnecessary. They can produce their own goods. ———————– Foods Foods How to cite Ecn 3000 Homework, Papers

Marketing Evaluation PEST Analysis

Question: Explain Marketing Evaluation Using PEST Analysis? Answer: SWOT Analysis One of the biggest leaps Andrew Ramroop, the owner of Maurice Sedwell made was entering a new market in the US. Maurice Sedwell, originally based in UK experienced a huge business growth in UK and all over the world, which helped the business develop and improve worldwide. From the inputs received from Andrew Ramroop we thought of starting our own business on luxurious fashion accessories in UK. In this context, SWOT analysis of the business is done that is defined as analyzing the internal and external market factors of the company. It is used to analyze the internal market factors of Maurice Sedwell, which involves its weakness and strength. In addition, the external market factors involve the threats and opportunities of the tailoring industry of UK (Campbell, Edgar and Stonehouse, 2011). Weaknesses- Poor RD- The thing that the business lacks is proper research and development, which may result in growth of its competitors by better and innovative marketing techniques. Increasing staff turnover- The tailoring business does encounter a high employee turnover and our company is no exception. Online reach- Being a new company we are still waiting to enter the online market. Thus, it is needed for us to develop our online presence and develop entitys value (Chevalier-Roignant and Trigeorgis, 2011). Strengths- Company Size- Our company, is able to become a strong brand globally within a short period of time, so our company size is quite large. This will help the company get more resources and use it explore new and potential markets, overcome stiff competition and maintain long term sustainability. Cost Benefits- We are successful in cutting down its costs, which helps the company in maintaining higher profits. Low cost approach will help us cut down its price and get an edge over our rivals. Customer Loyalty- Our company, is successful in maintaining a steady and healthy relationship with its customers and also keeps on targeting newer customer bases which helps in improving the customer loyalty (Createadvantage.com, 2015). Threats- Economic Vulnerability- The global economy is quite vulnerable, which means that poor economy can hurt the fashion clothing industry and affect its potential customer base adversely. This could make a short run negative impact on our business and subtract our market value. Currency Volatility- The revenues and costs of the business changes rapidly due to the sudden change in the foreign exchange rate or change in currencies. Rising Competition- The level of competition in the fashion industry of UK is getting intense since 2014, this may affect our business because in a highly competitive market competitors are always introducing superior products (Laursen, 2011). Opportunities- Market Segments- The market of the fashion industry in UK is fragmented into different market segments as per the demographic and geographic factors. This will help us expand our business and improve our market share. Since we enjoy certain cost benefits over our competitors so it will help us explore the segmented UK market better. Online marketability- At present we lack proper reach in the online fashion market but our expertise and skills will help us expand our business in the online market in coming years. Using the online market will help us reach more to a wider audience at a comparatively low expense. Financial Advantage- The financial advantage of our company is measured from its financial statements. This will help us analyze our leverage position and expand our business in new markets. Innovative methods- With the change in technology we will use more innovative ways to produce the best product for our customers at the most affordable prices (Luther, 2011). Market Evaluation Using PEST Analysis In order to evaluate the UK market potential this includes an identified shortlist of markets and selecting the best market. The market analysis of UK fashion industry is done by using the PEST analysis, which are- Political Factors- The political factors in UK is quite stable but there is certain political concern, which may affect the fashion industry. The political concerns mainly include the exploitation of labour, which is mainly available to the country from the developing countries. Moreover, the globalized trading policies, increase in price competition between companies and between countries have adversely affected the labour chain. Due to which several labour and trade unions are restricting the operations of the fashion companies. However, in recent times this issue has been overcome largely but not completely (Reuvid, 2011). Economic Factors- Due to the increase in VAT and customers inclination more to the cheap imported products, the domestic companies have suffered a decline in their business. This impact the UK economy negatively, which has been resulted from the customer shift in choice more towards imported products which are cheaper in price as compared to the domestic products. However, with customer awareness programs the fashion clothing company are able to maintain strong customer base and long-term sustainability. In coming years it is believed that the fashion industry in UK will flourish and with new legal rules and regulations the domestic company will get a safer environment to trade their products (Vitale, Giglierano and Pfoertsch, 2011). Social Factors- The dress code in UK varies with its style and diverse population which includes vintage looks, night dressing, office style and casual style. This will help in encouraging the consumption of the fashion products and help the companies, wholesalers and retailers to determine the apparel types. Moreover people belonging to different age, gender and culture are also influenced and based on their choice and preference are provided with apparels and clothing within their budget. Technological Factors- The country being a developed one enjoys certain technological advantage, which will help the fashion industry to improve their production process. This will help our company use the technology, use it to our benefits, and provide a new and developed service to our customers through our retailers. In this context, we need to improve our RD department and undertake detailed market research and understand all the market factors and avail the benefits of the UK fashion market (Winer and Dhar, 2011). Recommendation for market entry: Analysis on the international luxury product market indicates that the sector is experiencing high growth. The market trend indicates that Chinese luxury product market is growing at a rapid rate. As stated by Atsmon, Dixit Wu, (2015) the Chinese luxury market accounts for almost 20% of the whole industry (Wu and Lin, 2014; Mckinsey.com, 2015). It is evident that entering into Chinese market will enable the organization to enhance its profitability. It is recommended that at the first stage of overseas expansion, the new organization should enter into Chinese market. Justification: As stated by Al Badi,( 2014) profitability of an organization is dependent on the condition of market. Analysis on the condition of Chinese market indicates that customers of the country show interest to purchase luxurious products. Income of Chinese people is increasing significantly. As an impact, the customers are also tending to spend more on luxurious products. Cain, (2014) stated that the consumers are showing a change in their attitude. As more people are becoming interested to lead luxurious lives, their spending on such products is also increasing. Discussion on the economical condition of Chinese population indicates that the people who belong to the upper middle class are increasing their expenses on luxurious products. As availability of luxurious products in Chinese markets is increasing, rate of consumption is also increasing. Dasic, (2014) opined that changes in nature of Chinese consumers is creating new opportunities for the organizations which operate in Chinese mar ket. Analysis on the choice of customers also indicates that the consumers prefer to buy products offered by internationally known brands. However the design and craftsman ship of the products is also emphasized equally. As the new organization is going to sell luxurious products of good quality , expanding business in China will be profitable for the organization. (Refer to appendix 4) Market Evaluation using Porters Five Forces: Figure 1: Porters five forces for Chinese retail market Analysis on the Chinese retail market indicates that the market is highly competitive. As growth rate of the market is quite high , several organizations are giving importance to enter into the market. It indicates that several new entrants may be present in Chinese luxurious product market. However the Government gives importance of growth of local industry. As an impact, entering into Chinese market is more difficult than other markets. Strict government policies also may reduce threats of new entrants in this market. The Chinese fashion industry is already occupied by several large multinational brands such as Zara, HM, Holister along with the Chinese clothing brands such as Boseidang, Trand and Youngor Group (Ferrell, 2014). Being new the market, Maurice Sedwell may face difficulties for attracting the potential customers. As several multinational as well as local brands are present in Chinese fashion market, bargaining power of consumers is also high. The organizations operating in this market faces difficulties to retain customers. Due to presence of lots of substitutes power of suppliers in this market is also high. The analysis indicates that competitive rivalry is quite high in fashion market of China. However demand of European fashion products is also increasing in the country. It reflects that Maurice Sedwell can get new business opportunities after entering China. Segmentation, targeting and positioning strategy: As the size of luxury fashion accessories market is increasing worldwide, expanding business activities outside UK will be effective to enhance profit of the organization. However needs of the customers can vary according to their cultural background (Ferrell, 2014).It is evident that requirements of customers need to be analyzed before development of marketing strategies. It is planned that at primary stage of business expansion, the products will be launched in markets of China. Segmentation- Customer analysis: Analysis on the luxury fashion accessories market of China indicates that it can be considered as one of the largest markets of such products. However the market is also experiencing high growth rate. Analysis on activities of customers in Chinese fashion accessories market also reflects that consumption of such products is dependent on the income of consumers. From the analysis it is evident that the consumers with high economic level and lower middle class are showing less interest to purchase luxurious products. However it is also evident that consumption of luxury products has been increased significantly in last few years. It is expected that the growth rate will continue in 2015 also. (Refer to Appendix 1). Targeting: As stated by (Hanic and Domazet, 2012) the organizations need to identify the most profitable group of consumers in order to enhance growth of business. Analysis on the Chinese consumers indicates that the number of people in upper middles class is increasing. These people are also showing interest to increase consumption of luxurious products. Apart from this, the wealthy people also account for significant portion of the total population It is evident that launching products for consumers of upper middle class and high income group will be beneficial for enhancing profit.( Refer to Appendix 2) Positioning: The organizations need to adopt suitable strategies as per requirements of the consumer (Teimourpour and Heidarzadeh Hanzaee, 2014). In case of the new luxury -product business, the expansion strategies need to be developed in such way so that number of customers can be increased effectively. The decision for positioning in market is developed using Bowmans strategy clock. It is decided that the organization will follow increased price/ standard product strategy for expending their business in China. As the organization is comparatively new, perceived value of the products to consumers may not be high. However the consumers will be provided with products of high standard. Price of the products can be increased later to increase profitability. Recommended marketing mix for proposed market: As the nature of consumers of UK and China is highly different, management of the new organization needs to develop new strategies for marketing mix for consumers of China (Tracy, 2014). Changes in marketing mix strategies will enable the management to meet requirements of consumers more effectively (Wood, 2012). Product: Analysis on the nature of consumers in China indicates that demand of the products such as accessories, hand bags and womens clothes is high. It indicates that selling such products in China will be profitable for the organization. Analysis on the nature of consumers in China also indicates that the customers tend to buy products from internationally known brands. However the customers are also attracted by innovative designs of products. On basis of the analysis , it is evident that we need to sell trendy products of good quality to consumers of China. Price: As our organization is comparatively new to market, it is expected that perceived value of the products offered by our organization will be less. Initially price of the products will be kept low to attract consumers. Later the prices will be increased. Place and process: At the first stage of business expansion, we are planning to sell our products using online shopping portals. As availability of internet is increasing in China, the strategy of online selling will enable the organization to reach the large number of consumers in urban areas. If the products are accepted by consumers, then new stores will be opened in the country. Promotion: In case of promotion also, online media will be used extensively. The social networking sites will be used for informing customers about the products offered by our organization. Using social networking sites will also be effective to get feedback on our new products (Wu and Chen, 2014). However the traditional marketing channels such as advertisements on TV and magazine will also be used. People: Apart from offering customers with standard products, we will also ensure that people who are responsible for delivery of products and services are able to meet requirements of consumers. We will give importance on hiring local people for product and service delivery in China. Physical Evidence: In China, we will give importance on providing promotional offers for the new products. It will enable us to inform consumers about new products introduced by us. It will also be effective to get feedback on our new products. Conclusion: Analysis made in this report on the condition of Chinese market of luxurious indicates that people of are showing interest to purchase luxurious products. As income of Chinese people is increasing significantly, the customers are also showing interest to spend more on luxurious products. Analysis on the economical condition of Chinese society reflects that the people who are belonging to the upper middle class are giving importance on increasing their expenses on luxurious products. As availability of luxurious products in Chinese markets is increasing, rate of consumption is also increasing. On basis of the findings obtained from the report it is evident that launching products for consumers of upper middle class and high income group will be beneficial for enhancing profit. In China the organization is going to follow increased price/ standard product strategy to expend their business. As the organization is comparatively new, perceived value of the products to consumers may not be high. As the nature of consumers of UK and China is highly different, management of the new organization needs to develop new strategies for marketing mix for consumers of China. From the analysis made in this report , it is reflected that management needs to offer trendy products of good quality to consumers of China. Discussion on the pricing strategy indicates that initially price of the products will be kept low but later prices will be increased. Implementation of the strategy of online selling will be beneficial for the organization for selling products to the large number of consumers in urban areas. References Al Badi, K. (2014). The Dimensions of Marketing Mix. Management and Organizational Studies, 2(1). Atsmon, Y., Dixit, V. and Wu, C. (2015). Tapping Chinas luxury-goods market. [online] Mckinsey.com. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/tapping_chinas_luxury-goods_market [Accessed 14 Jul. 2015]. Cain, P. (2014). Brand management and the marketing mix model. J Market Anal, 2(1), pp.33-42. Campbell, D., Edgar, D. and Stonehouse, G. (2011).Business strategy. Houndsmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Chevalier-Roignant, B. and Trigeorgis, L. (2011).Competitive strategy. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press. Createadvantage.com, (2015).Create Advantage | Home. [online] Available at: https://createadvantage.com [Accessed 14 Jul. 2015]. Dasic, D. (2014). Ethical aspects of marketing mix by nonprofit organizations. Posl ekonom, 8(2), pp.315-330. Ferrell, O. (2014). Marketing. South Western Cengage Learning. Hanic, H. and Domazet, I. (2012). Marketing particularities in financial organizations. Marketing, 43(1), pp.3-14. Laursen, G. (2011).Business analytics for Sales and Marketing Managers. Hoboken, N.Y.: John Wiley Sons. Luther, W. (2011).The marketing plan. New York: AMACOM. Mckinsey.com, (2015). Understanding Chinas wealthy. [online] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/understanding_chinas_wealthy [Accessed 14 Jul. 2015]. Reuvid, J. (2011).Business insights. London: Kogan Page. Teimourpour, B. and Heidarzadeh Hanzaee, K. (2014). An analysis of Muslims luxury market in Iran. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 5(2), pp.198-209. Tracy, B. (2014). Marketing. AMACOM. Vitale, R., Giglierano, J. and Pfoertsch, W. (2011).Business-to-business marketing. Boston: Prentice Hall. Winer, R. and Dhar, R. (2011).Marketing management. Boston: Prentice Hall. Wood, M. (2012). Marketing social marketing. Journal of Social Marketing, 2(2), pp.94-102. Wu, S. and Chen, Y. (2014). The Impact of Green Marketing and Perceived Innovation on Purchase Intention for Green Products. IJMS, 6(5). Wu, S. and Lin, S. (2014). The effect of green marketing strategy on business performance: a study of organic farms in Taiwan. Total Quality Management Business Excellence, pp.1-16.

Universal Healthcare The Pros and Cons free essay sample

On March 23, 2010 the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed by President Obama, raising the question for many of whether this new law was going to be more helpful or hurtful. With universal healthcare, healthcare coverage would be increased tremendously, costs would be reduced, jobs would be created, and consumers would be protected. Conversely, it will also raise taxes and wait times, lead to a smaller number of doctors, and infringe on some employers’ 1st amendment rights. Presenting both arguments for and against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows one to draw a conclusion on whether the new program will benefit or hinder the citizens of the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA, will extend coverage to virtually every US citizen. It is estimated that approximately 45 million Americans are uninsured, and 45,000 of those citizens are dying each year simply because they do not have health care (Ireland). We will write a custom essay sample on Universal Healthcare: The Pros and Cons or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Once this new act takes effect, 32 of those 45 million citizens will receive coverage. Citizens whose ages range from 19 to 25 will be able to stay on their parent’s insurance plans when normally they would have been forced off the plan. Young adults who are not on their parent’s insurance plans and who normally wouldn’t be able to afford coverage will now be able to pay for their own health insurance. Currently, patients with pre-existing conditions can be denied coverage. However, with the PPACA, insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage or stop coverage when a member becomes ill. Women will also be granted additional coverage, such as receive access to women’s health services, and these new benefits are also required to have no out of pocket fees. Also, the availability of contraception, such as abortion, will be expanded (â€Å"The Patient Protection†). The cost of health care will be greatly reduced by the PPACA, and this will have a chain reaction on big businesses and employees. With almost 95 percent of citizens paying for health insurance, costs for health care will decrease (Poe). Once the cost for health care declines, it will cost less for big businesses to hire employees. It is estimated that 4 million jobs  will be created over the next 10 years. The PPACA also affects the economy in another way; it will reduce the national deficit. Contrary to popular belief, the passing of this law will reduce the national debt by 210 billion dollars within the next decade. If it were repealed, the national debt would be raised by $230 billion (Poe). The PPACA also offers various other benefits to citizens. Catherine Poe states that once the law is passed, there will be â€Å" no more Freddie the Freeloaders allowed†; if a citizen can afford health insurance and does not purchase it, he or she will pay a fee of one percent of his or her household income. This fee will increase to 2.5 percent by 2017. This will prevent citizens from not paying for health insurance and just continuing to live off of the tax dollars of other citizens who do pay for their health insurance. Also, the PPACA will protect consumers from the overcharging by health insurance providers. It will force the providers to spend 80 percent of their income on rebates or expenses, such as health and marketing expenses (â€Å"ObamaCare†). While the PPACA will benefit citizens greatly, it also has its negative side effects. As previously discussed, the PPACA will lower healthcare costs and the national debt, but it will also hurt the economy as well. The cost of drugs is expected to rise due to pharmaceutical companies paying an additional 84.8 billion dollars over the next decade (â€Å"The Patient Protection†). Taxes will also be raised in order to cover the additional costs brought on by the new program. The additional taxes will be charged to individuals making over $200,000 and couples making over $250,000. Additionally, families will only be able to deduct medical costs that surpass 10 percent of their annual income, compared to the 7.5 percent that is currently allowed. It was stated earlier in this paper that big businesses would benefit from this law; however, the exact opposite is true for small businesses. Businesses will be forced to provide healthcare for their employees or pay a fine, something the y may not be able to afford. This may result in employees’ hours being cut or even the termination of the employee (â€Å"ObamaCare†). The PPACA will also have a direct negative impact on the medical field as a whole. By 2025 there is expected to be a shortage of nearly 52,000 physicians. This, coupled with the number of office visits increasing over 100 million times, will put incredible strain on the healthcare system (â€Å"The Patient Protection†). This will cause wait times for medical treatment to be greatly increased. Patients will be more likely to go to the emergency room for minor treatments, such as coughs due to colds, thus causing patients with real emergencies to wait even longer. Also, there will be no competition for patients. This competition is what encourages health care workers to excel in their specialties and to become better. This may even cause fewer people to choose to pursue a career in the medical profession (Ireland). One of the more controversial arguments against universal healthcare is the effect it will have on known religious-based businesses. As stated earlier, with the PPACA businesses will be required to provide health insurance for their employees that would include contraceptive services for women. The result is that religious based businesses, such as Hobby Lobby, which is owned by evangelical Christians, will be forced to essentially pay for their employees to receive contraceptives, something that goes against their religion. If a business decides to follow its religious beliefs and not provide the health insurance it will be issued a fine, thus hurting the business for practicing their religion. This has led the government to define what religion is and what qualifies a business as a religious employer. This aspect of the PPACA goes against the 1st amendment protection of the freedom of religion, therefore making it unconstitutional (â€Å"A Case†). Weighing both sides of the universal healthcare argument, it can be concluded that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is truly more hurtful than it is helpful. It will cost citizens greatly, through increased tax dollars and being forced to pay for their healthcare. Small businesses contribute immensely to the country’s economy, and they will be hurt significantly by this program. Also, the effects it will have on the healthcare system are immeasurable. There is already a considerable shortage of doctors, and this will only increase remarkably once the PPACA takes  effect. Lack of competition within the medical profession is something that cannot be overlooked either. This could potentially lead to less skilled doctors and even prevent major breakthroughs in medicine if doctors are not trying to be the best. The infringement on 1st amendment rights in regards to religious-based businesses is a major flaw within this new law. Forcing companies to provide a service that goes against their religious beliefs is argument enough as to why the PPACA is a harmful program for the United States.

Ethernet and Network Essay

Ethernet and Network Essay Ethernet and Network Essay Virtual Local Area Network: The Low Cost Solution The use of Local Area Networks has become common practice in most businesses and organizations regardless of their size. While this may be sufficient for many smaller organizations, larger networks will find that the use of Virtual LANs is not only practical it is essential. While it may not be as necessary for smaller businesses to incorporate the use of VLANs it is still tremendously practical. Not only do Virtual LANs segment the network they provide extra security without increasing the cost. This is only one of the many advantages. Other advantages are the ease of maintenance and improved performance. VLANs allow network administrators to segment their networks without physically rearranging the devices or network connections. A Local Area Network built with Layer 2 switches is considered a â€Å"flat network†. A flat network operates with a single broadcast domain and each device is interconnected within the network. Which means every device sees every broadcast packet that is transmitted. With the use of the same Layer 2 switches and the configuration of Virtual LANs within those switches the network now becomes a Layer 3 with the capability of routing within the network. A VLAN is made up of defined members communicating as a logical network segment. The switches are configured with access control list, mapping, and routing information to provide logical connectivity between the different VLAN members. The switches have two types of links; access links and trunk links. All network hosts connect to the switches’ access links to gain access to the LAN. The access link is the ports on every switch which is configured to access a particular VLAN. Trunk links are links that connect two VLAN switches together and is configured to carry data from all available VLANs. Virtual LANs work through the use of the Ethernet header. Moving VLAN data over multiple subnets requires a process called VLAN tagging in which the switch adds extra information into the packet header of the Ethernet frames so that the switch knows how to pass the data.The switch receives the Ethernet frame. If there is a VLAN tag in the header it will forward on through the ports tagged with that VLAN, if there is not a VLAN in the header the switch will assign it a VLAN according to the configurations on the ACLs. When building and configuring the ACLs for use with VLANs it is recommended to use different IP subnets for each VLAN. Most switches also require there to be a virtual routing interface configured on each switch. Moving VLAN data over multiple subnets requires a process called VLAN tagging in which the switch adds extra information into the packet header of the Ethernet frames so that the switch knows how to pass the data. A Local Area Network that is running with a high consumption of bandwidth caused by all hosts receiving broadcasts can benefit from the use of VLANs. In the case with a traditional LAN where two file servers may be sharing the bandwidth, if each file server is put into separate VLANs then the available bandwidth has been doubled. This easily improves the performance without increasing the cost. An organization that has many different departments can increase the security by separating each department into different VLANs and segmenting the network. Instead of the broadcast going to each host they now go to only the host within that VLAN. This increases security and lowers the possibility of several types of attacks. This also increases the security within the network as authorized users only see the servers within their designated network. While the other servers can be configured to communicate with users form other VLANs they do not establish a session with each other. If an attacker’s device sends an ARP broadcast searching for an IP address and receives a reply then the attacker cann see all the servers in that network and potentially providing access for a

Analysis for the European Brewing Industry

Analysis for the European Brewing Industry Political Environment Political environment affects the European companies but as government is stable in Europe, the brewing industries can easily work if they follow a certain approach while keeping the government system in mind. In Europe taxes, duty rates and VAT are higher on products as compared to UK and France, so the companies should consider small and under developed nations where taxes are low. In Europe there was a governmental pressure of eliminating the agricultural subsidies that can lead to a change in the agricultural base. Brewing firms should understand this change and be ready with differential pricing schemes which can complement this change in agriculture. Economic Environment In Europe, most economies have a sustained growth rate of above 8 %. This shows that there is huge scope for industries to grow. European markets were also affected by 9/11 attack which in turn affected the tourism industry and at the same time, global recession also affect the whole Euro pean market. People invest a big part of money for their entertainment and fun. Very least part of their income goes for alcohol consumption as they are becoming more educated about health (The European Brewing Industry, 1999). Socio-cultural Europe had nine out of ten highest median populations in 2005. So health issues were a big concern unlike the youth population of India and China etc. (Demographics of Europe). The younger generation of population had a changed lifestyle and this turn have impacted European markets because of the smoking and poor nutrition habits (Ageing Population and Lifestyle Changes Drive Demand for Orthopaedic Biomaterials in Europe). These kinds of awareness issues will impact the sale of breweries in European market to the younger generation. Most of the retail companies are keeping beer in their stores because of the family shopping is done through retails. Technology The customer interest has changed as they are more attracted with flavoured Beer and w illing to taste new brands. With the help of technology new and more efficient ways are open for the production of beer, assisting in achieving economies of scale (European Brewing Industry, 1999). Legal Alcohol related advertisements have been restricted by European Union Consumption of drinking alcohol has also been affected by strict law of drinking and driving and domestic violence as awareness and different rules have been set up to stop this. W H O has planned to increase tax as well as advertising ban for alcohol products and proposed breathe testing of drivers. It has given this model to EU for implement as physician advice this model is estimated to cost 1.3 billion Euros for implementation. (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2009). WHO estimated that using by this model disability and premature death could be avoided by 1.4million (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2009). Environmental EU’s main priority is toward health problems and also concentrating on Climate change and preserving biodiversity (Europa, 2010) 20% of emissions and 20 % of total energy consumption has planned to be reduced by EU by the year 2020 (Europa, 2010). Eco- friendly products which are energy efficient are being put up for promotion by the commission (Europa, 2010).

Assess of the strategies and processes as compared to traditional Essay

Assess of the strategies and processes as compared to traditional bricks and mortar businesses - Essay Example Soon telecommuting will not only become more common, but its essence will change. Today, most telecommuters do tasks that do not require a physical presence at the office-writing or analysis. E-mail and phone provide some interaction with colleagues, but most of the remote work is solitary. In the future, videoconferencing, electronic collaboration on documents, and the integration of the phone and PC will create a telepresence at the office that is impossible today for home workers. These technologies are already removing geography as a barrier to work.This excerpt from the book makes us understand the real scale of change that is happening around us in the way in which business is going to be done in future. The ways in which people think, act and decide are going to change. These changes are also obvious in the way in which the business operations are carried out. The business processes that are required to carry out the everyday operations in a business are changing rapidly acros s the world. Hence, this essay is written to understand the differences between the traditional business models and the e-businesses with respect to the various activities such as the marketing, procurement, payment systems, security, logistics and supply chain management are discussed in this paper. The objective of this analysis is to understand better the way in which internet has changed business operations and for this purpose, www.amazon.com is selected for analysis. REVIEW OF LITERATURE To compare and contrast the business models in the real world and the virtual world, first we have to understand what a business model is. According to Magali Dubosson-Torbay2 and other fellow researchers, business model means the architecture of a firm and its network of partners for creating, marketing and delivering value and relationship capital to one or several segments of customers in order to generate profitable and sustainable revenue streams. The eBusiness Model framework suggested by them is therefore divided into four principal components. (1) The products and services a firm offers, representing a substantial value to a target customer (value proposition), and for which he is willing to pay. (2) The relationship capital the firm creates and maintains with the customer, in order to satisfy him and to generate sustainable revenues. (3) The infrastructure and the network of partners that are necessary in order to create value and to maintain a good customer relationship. And last, but not least, (4) the financial aspects that can be found throughout the three former components, such as cost and revenue structures. Hence, the authors mention that, it is important that business organizations that are operating in the internet should concentrate on the aspects such as product innovation, customer relationship, infrastructure management and financial aspects. When a business is considering to adopt a business model it has to consider the following aspects which are mentioned by Tapscott3, et al, that The user role : How is the client or the prospect is considered by the company As a client or as a provider of a product / service that other clients may want to buy from, or as a participant to whom nothing is sold but information or services are offered against information about the participant - Interaction pattern : Is the service provided by one or many people / companies to one or many people / companies - Nature of the offerings : Is the company offering information, services or products to its visitors In some cases, the company but is giving away its content for free against information gathering and/or is getting money from ads. Another option could be that the

HR Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HR - Research Paper Example Diversity in the workplace mainly encircles people from diverse cultural backgrounds, language, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious belief and other values. Diversity is also reflected when people belong to variety of educational fields, work experiences, personality, socio-economic context, marital status etc. At the same time it can’t be denied that a diverse team includes people from different backgrounds and mindsets, which create differences among the members of the team. Therefore for a manager it’s necessary to organize, manage and lead the diverse team and motivate the team members to work towards achieving a common objective. With the advancement and modernization of technology, diversity is a growing need to all teams in an organization so as to facilitate proper understanding and communication in team work, superior contribution, accomplishment of the underlying objective, and withstand in the competitive market. Diversity in a team may ofte n lead to conflicts, i.e. when people from different culture and experience work together, a conflict is often found to arise between them as their thoughts and perceptions differ. Conflict in diverse team may arise due to miscommunication and incompatibility in information, diversified social category, and diversified values which affects their performed tasks and their delegated authorities. In this context we can discuss the advantages and disadvantage of group work and individual work. Teamwork is beneficial as information sharing in a group paves the way for a wide range of ideas and thoughts to come up. It is unlikely for innovative ideas to come out as a result of two-sided communication between the decision-maker and the individual worker. Idea sharing in a group of equal level people can arouse exceptional ways of thinking. An employee may perceive an issue from an entirely unusual perspective than their coworker. This way of thinking can introduce changes in the process of carrying out performance, in policy creation, and in developing a product. Additionally, each employee’s understanding is negligible in a sense that it is not possible for an employee to make right decisions every time which becomes easier when they perform in a group (Werner & De Simone, 2012). Although the term â€Å"Diversity† covers a wide range of factors, the first and foremost to be considered while discussing diversity is the culture of the organization. In general â€Å"culture can be defined as a set of shared values, beliefs, norms and artifacts that are used to interpret the environment and as a guide for all kinds of behavior† (Werner & De Simone, 2012). A few cultural attributes are migratory status, geographic origin, language, race, religion, community and neighborhood, food preference etc. Thus organizations form a subset of the sociopolitical culture at large. A multicultural organization consists mainly of 6 key features namely pluralism, str uctural incorporation, complete amalgamation of unofficial networks, elimination of discrimination and prejudice, equivalent recognition of organizational objectives with all the diverse teams and nominal amount of inter-team conflicts. In a multicultural organization it is essential on the part of the manager to maintain a balance between his employees since culture could become a sensitive factor which might influence the performance of the staff. For example, â€Å"

Green Supply Chain Essay Example for Free

Green Supply Chain Essay This paper basically talks about the concept of green supply chain management that is being incorporated by many organizations in their management styles today. This paper will help introduce the term to the readers by giving them a detailed definition of the concept and its key elements that help implement this style of management. The paper will also discuss the benefits of implementing such a management strategy in their management style along with the risks that organizations face by implementing this management strategy. The paper will also talk about the key issues that organizations face while designing a green supply chain for their organization by analyzing separately the companies which are suitable for such a supply chain and also the companies which won’t be able to benefit from such a management practice. In the end the paper will also talk about the companies in UAE that are using this concept and are successfully using the best practices that makes such a supply chain management idol for their management. The methodology for the compilation for the information used in the report will be through a research based net search and literature review of many books written on the topic. The net search helps to identify the companies which are already using this management technique and the books help understand the basic concepts, benefits, risks and the types of companies that can use such a management practice. Introduction The world is facing issues relating to climatic changes and environmental threats to a great extent today particularly because of the emissions of Greenhouse Gases that is the CO2 which is one of the major cause of global warming. According to research, the major portion of Australia’s energy related greenhouse gases were emitted by the production of goods and services by the production sector. This proportion was estimated to be as big as 56%. The issue that many organizations face today is although it is the consumption of fuels that contribute to a great extent for the emission of the gases, consumers themselves are thinking on these lines that they are also to be held accountable for the emissions of these gases because it is them who demand and consume the products that lead to emission of such gases and chemicals into the atmosphere. The consumers are concerned about this issue to a great extent and it seems that in the future their decision making model will also include the factor of environmental concern as well. Thus from the above discussion we can deduce that the pressure of such a behavior from the consumers is eventually going to go back to the producers who are producing these services and products and hence they will have to incorporate a lean green supply chain management in order to provide them a competitive edge over the competitors who have not yet focused their plans towards this side. However, those companies which have already started to make use of this management technique have started to realize that it is not just the competitive edge over the competitors, but a green supply management technique also helps them to attain management efficiencies and reduces their expenses and costs figures in their profit and loss statements. The basic formula for the implementation of a green supply management basically has two major elements. The first one being conservation of natural resources, and the second one is the reduction of pollution that is caused by manufacturing of goods and services. This report will discuss both the elements separately because each of the elements has a lot of other factors that need to be discussed under their heads. Green Supply Chain Management Starting with the conservation of resources, first we need to identify the problem that organizations and the production sector faces in the global market today. The most important reason that has lead to firms adopt strategies to conserve natural resources is the depletion of natural resources worldwide due to increasing demand and population. We can see that as new technologies in production are coming on the stage, the cost of production is decreasing day by day making it more attractive for both producers and consumers to produce and consume respectively. New methodologies are adopted by producers to increase the quality, come up with substitutes and provide more facilities to consumers from their product. It is not only the production sector, the agriculture sector is also facing the same issues because of the fact that as there is a limited supply of land, when more will be cultivated the land will lose its fertility more quickly. Even if farmers use fertilizers and nutrients to maintain the fertility of soil, the most they do is to sustain the fertility and prepare the crop for another cultivation, however, when we look it from the perspective of the whole society we see that using fertilizers is also one of the causes for emission of greenhouse gases because fertilizers are hundred percent chemicals. Therefore, organizations who have switched towards a greener supply chain management are focusing towards this issue from both, the environmental and the business point of view. From the environmental point of view, these organizations might have a competitive edge over the competitors because of the consumer’s preferences for environmentally products, but, saving of natural resources by reducing wastes and recycling the used material will also end up in reducing costs for these organizations which will have a significant impact on their profit and loss accounts (Dethlof, 2007). Moreover, when we come to the reduction of wastes, we see that companies reduce the emission of pollution by recycling these wastes. Rather than dumping them into trash and burdening the society with the cost that they have to pay for the consumption of goods, organizations are trying to use resources in such a way that they reduce the wastage and even if there are wastes from production of goods, these wastes must be reutilized. For example, when organizations use paper for their daily operations, they are trying to automate their data processing to such a level that the use of paper is reduced to a great extent, however, even if papers are used wherever they are necessary, they should be recycled again rather than buying new papers which will eventually lead to cutting of more trees (Danaher, 2007). The above picture explains the green supply management from an aerial view. Three processes of production that we can see in the diagram suggest that the organizations need to acquire material and natural resources that are environmental friendly, they must be processed in an environment friendly manner and lastly the outputs that are the products must be environment friendly as well. This is the idol supply chain for green management. We see that the wastes and even the used products are disposed and recycled to be used again or to make by products that can be used in any other manufacturing facility in order to save natural resources and provide material for another manufacturing cycle. Once this cycle is established, researchers and analysts believe that the usage of material by the organizations will reduce up to around 30-40%. This reduction in the use of material means that these companies will incur less costs on the acquisition of material in the same percentage and also the amount of emissions and pollution that will be reduced will be proportionate to this reduction in material use as well. The best practices that we can deduce from the above discussion regarding the implantation of a green supply chain are that organizations need to align green supply chain goals with their business goals. This means that both of these goals need to be taken simultaneously and the extreme bias towards any of the will lead nothing but in efficiencies. If the organization only thinks about the use o environmental friendly goods and material which are twice as costly as before, then the operations of the business will become inefficient to a great extent. Similarly if the organization does not focus on the environmental friendly products and services, again the effects of such thinking will have drastic effects on the environment. Moreover, the companies should keep this in mind that the supply chain is devised in such a way that it becomes the single lifecycle of the product. The material is acquired, processed reduced and is then decomposed to get recycled for the same life cycle. The life cycle does not starts from acquisition of environmental friendly material and production of environmental friendly goods, but the used and wastes materials must be invested back in the life cycle again and this cycle must be kept running as long as the products are produced. Moreover, another best practice that is very important in this twenty first century is that the implementation of green supply chain management must serve as a catalyst for organizations to indulge themselves in coming up with new innovations and technologies that aimed towards conservation of natural resources along with reducing pollution as well (Shina, 2008). This can be done by inventing new technology that makes efficient use of natural resources that reduces it wastes, innovation in technology of making new by products, innovation in recycling and innovation in filtering the gases that are emitted from the production of goods and materials. Lastly, another thing that organizations need to focus upon is that they should reduce the use of environmentally hazardous materials and extra materials from the source, i. e. , when acquiring raw materials, it should be acquired in such a quantity that no raw material is wasted and is extracted in excess because eventually it will lead to depletion of resources at a faster rate. Moreover when acquiring material, the material should be checked for its material friendly characteristics from the very beginning because once the material enters the cycle, the cycle will have to filter its wastes and emissions for a longer period of time. Thus the life cycle of the material will also become efficient if the materials that are used are checked for their environmental friendly characteristics at the source (Sheu, 2005). Major benefits of the Green Supply Chain Coming on to the benefits of the green supply chain management, we see that the benefits can be subdivided into two categories, environmental benefits and the business benefits. In the above discussion we have discussed a lot about the environmental benefits of green supply chain management that is less use of natural resources and reduction in pollution due to the use of environment friendly materials. However, when we come to the organizations themselves, they enjoy a lot of factors related to green supply management as well. As we have discussed that this management tactic has a significant impact on the PLs of the organizations, bow we need to know how does this happen. The clear answer to this question is that using green supply chain management technique brings a commitment of being efficient in an organization. Implementing this type of management strategy is not a capital intensive one and it just needs a little bit of changes and research in order to identify the suppliers who have the potential to supply environment friendly materials. We have already seen that organizations that have used this methodology have been able to bring efficiency in all of their departments, from inventory, production, administration and even distribution of the products. these companies buy materials that are cheap and environment friendly, the produce in such a manner that all the material are utilized in most efficient manner reducing the wastes and increasing the productivity. With the incorporation of new technology the put of the production has also been increased because the new technology is employed to obtain more output from lesser use of material or at least from the same amount of material that was used before. Natural fuels that are used in the production process are also used efficiently keeping in mind the global shortage of fuel and natural gas power generation practices are employed rather than oil and nuclear power generation which are both expensive and environmentally hazardous (Kainuma, 2006). When it comes to administration costs, the companies have also managed to decrease their administrative costs as well by eliminating all the extra administrative costs like use of paper, extra office lights, transformation of office vehicles from petrol and diesel to natural gas and also reduction of energy use in the offices by conservation of electricity and water resources. Moreover, when it comes to distribution of material and products, the distance between warehouses and production facilities have also been reduced under this green management in order to reduce the use of natural fuels that are wasted due to long distances. Moreover, organizations have either chalked out plans for recycling or invested in other production lines that make use of their wastes to come up with by products or, they have changed their production mechanism in such a way that most of their wastes are usable by other production facilities in the economy. This means that the organization is able to reimburse the cost of its wastes which was counted as a total waste previously. More over, as we have already discussed in the beginning, that the consumers who are very much aware of the fact that they are also the contributors of environmentally hazardous emissions are more inclined towards switching brands in order to buy those products that are made from an environmentally friendly manufacturing process. This has provided these organizations with a competitive edge in comparison with those organizations who have not yet thought on environment preservation plans as yet (Makower, 2008). Major risks/cost of the Green Supply Chain Coming on to the risks and issues related to the green supply chain management, we see that in order to implement this concept, the suppliers and the production facilities need to transform themselves into organizations that are highly perfect and operate at idol production levels. This means that only an organization which is producing cannot alone implement this concept in its management unless it suppliers adhere to this concept as well. When we look at the suppliers, there is not only one supplier of a company, there are many. Thus, the question arises that how will companies be able to audit their suppliers whether the products they are manufacturing are environmental friendly or not. Even if the company does takes the initiative to check its suppliers to supply environmental friendly products, then, what about the supplier’s suppliers? Who will actually check them? This is imperfections and inefficiencies come into play in this highly idealistic model (Preuesse, 2005). Moreover, when it comes to packaging, it is seen that many organizations have changed their packaging processes from plastic bags to paper packaging. From an aerial view, this looks like the best practice, however, when we look into the matter a little more critically, we see that there is practically no one who is ready to take the responsibility of the extra trees that are being cut in order to meet the supply of papers for the packaging? Thus the net benefit of the society is nullified. Coming on to the transportation of production and materials from one place to another, these facilities can only be provided through vehicles that use natural resources and fuels resulting in emissions. How to reduce this? Under the green supply management, the best practice is that the organizations must come up with schedules that aim towards supplying goods to different places in only one consignment. This would result in conservation of fuel. However, what about organizations who will have to wait for long hours because of the delayed supplies what about the loss of energy that the factories have to bare because they are left idol without necessary supplies? Moreover until now, it is seen that in many industries, organizations’ have increased the cost of commodities that are more environmental friendly because of high cost of research, new technology and new equipments that has been apportioned to the cost of production. The question is will the consumers buy the expensive products just because they are environment friendly or would they keep on buying the traditional goods that are cheap and provide equal marginal utility (Rao, 2008). Therefore many originations do face these risks while implementing such a management decision. In this part of the paper, we will see which organizations in UAE have implemented the Green Supply Chain Management strategy in order to help them bring efficiency in their production facilities and at the same time producing services that are environment friendly. As we know that UAE is oil based economy and oil production constitute the major chunk of their GDP. However, we also know that it is the oil that cause and faces most of the environmental issues that world faces today. First of all, oil resources are being depleted day by day due to increasing world demand for oil due to globalization and expansion of manufacturing units all over. Secondly, the consumption of oil also is responsible as one of the largest contributor to greenhouse gases that are emitted in to the atmosphere. Be it from factories or be it from transportation, oil is the major source of CO2 about which we have already talked about in the beginning of the report. However this report talks about an example of a consortium of oil producing companies that have pledged to assume environmental and social responsibilities onto them in order to save the environment from the hazardous emissions and depleting natural resource (Sarkis, 2006). These companies have decided to budget and analyze the amount of production that they need to make in order to supply it to the oil marketing companies both within the UAE and outside as well. These companies only produce only that much amount of oil that is required to meet their targets and the demand. Excess drilling is banned under the limitations of the consortium between the companies. Moreover, while extracting oil, these companies also take great care of the fact that no resources are wasted due to negligence such as fire in any of the drilling wells or leakage of pipes. When supplying it to oil marketing companies, the company also distributes pamphlets, magazines and literature that is written just to educate the consumers how to save the environment from emissions, how to make use of fuel more efficiently and lastly how to save it from being wasted. This step includes a campaign started by the company that aimed towards educating the transporters about the above three factors. As far as those companies are concerned which actually cannot make use of such a supply chain management are the fertilizer producing companies. Due to limited land resources and unlimited demand of food supplies, soil needs to fertilize on regular basis in order to maintain its fertility for the next cultivation which is equally important. Thus chemicals and natural resources such as natural gases have to be used by these companies in order to produce fertilizers. Apart from the two heavy industries, we can also take the example of McDonalds that also uses green supply management and its best practices in order to serve the community with environmental friendly products. The biggest contribution by McDonalds is that it only uses paper packaging and it recycles every possible paper that it uses. Moreover, the material from which the paper is manufactured is also such that it does not harm the environment that much. During a survey, the company has been reported to have saved around$3. 6million dollars by conserving on its packaging materials (Lawrie, 2003). Conclusion Although the need o f the hour suggests that organizations need to adhere to green supply chain management as soon as possible, however the concept is relatively new and does needs a lot of more research to be done to be effectively implemented. At the beginning, organizations might fear the impact of such measures on their cost; however, the benefits of these investments can be reaped for so many years to come. References Danaher, K. (2007). Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grassroots. Pollipoint Dethlof, C. (2007). Citizen hotelier: hotel chains are developing green initiatives. (COLUMN: HOSPITALITY): An article from: Indiana Business Magazine. Indiana Business Magazine Kainuma, Y. (2006). A multiple attribute utility theory approach to lean and green supply chain management . International Journal of Production Economics. Elsevier Lawrie, R. (2003). Gone Green. Evans Brothers Makower, J. (2008). Strategies for the Green Economy: Opportunities and Challenges in the New World of Business. McGraw-Hill Preuess, L (2005). The Green Multiplier: A Study of Environmental Protection and the Supply Chain. Palgrave Macmillan Rao, P (2008). Greening the Supply Chain: A Guide for Asian Managers. Sage Publications Pvt. Ltd Sarkis, H (2006). Greening the Supply Chain. Springer Sheu, J (2005). An integrated logistics operational model for green-supply chain management Transportation Research Part E. Elseviser Shina, S (2008). Green Electronics Design and Manufacturing. McGraw-Hill Professional

Its Time to Boycott College Classes Essay -- argumentative essay

College is hard, though not because we lack creature comforts or struggle to keep our bellies full. No, college is hard because it's so often an artificial environment. After four short years of learning, when reality intrudes on our life, we'll be left shaking cobwebs out of heads bleary from months of mind-numbing lectures and multiple choice exams. Â   Personally, the end of college scares me. As a sophomore, I have a couple of years before having to face that beastly post-college cliche, real life! That thought alone is enough to make me roll up into a ball and cry. Of course there is something that scares me more than college -- a dark, vague thought that intrudes on my consciousness, infecting my outlook on school. I'm scared that the time I spent here will be wasted. Â   As a pre-med, struggling to make the grade and ride the curve, time is a commodity in short supply. Like many students, the crunch of jamming my schedule full of classes quells my passion for learning. Sometimes I find myself in my room, books cracked open, and I wonder, what the hell am I doing? Am I happy? Where is this learning leading me? A friend of mine, in a similar academic situation, commented that he felt like he was losing his personality in his studying. No kidding -- sometimes I feel like if Catholics are right, and demons can possess your mind, it must all be directed by a God who dislikes organic chemistry students, and wants to leave them whimpering for mercy. Â   Strange metaphors aside, I wonder why someone like me, who enjoys a challenge and loves learning, is no longer cherishing this opportunity to polish his mental faculties and sharpen his mind to a keen edge. I'd like to think my doubts about the v... ...endation is to boycott classes that fail to generate consistent interaction between professors and students. As for the required classes within a major that jam hundreds of pupils into a room, if enough students petitioned deans to hire more teachers, the voice of the masses would not be ignored. Â   Listen boys and girls, I know balancing budgetary restraints with educational goals taxes the brains of some of the brightest, but I'm tired of playing a game to cram my head full of facts without really understanding where they came from. Shoving it into short-term memory and then sloughing it just isn't cutting it for me. Rather, I would love to see a tuition and fee increase that explicitly aimed to reduce the size of large lectures instead of bolstering another bloated sport program. I would love to see my student government fight for such an increase.

Dante’s Allegory of Love in the Divine Comedy

The Meaning of Love through the works of Dante Lighter Devon Strand-Brown â€Å"O all ye whose intellects are sound, Look now and see the meaning that is hidden Beneath the veil that covers my strange verses:† (Inferno 9:61) Dante Lighter is indisputably the most famous Italian poet in history. His seminal work, The Divine Comedy still inspires 700 years after its writing, and has not yet yielded all of its secrets, though it is one of the most widely studied works ever to be written. The name â€Å"Dante† and that of The Divine Comedy are known the world over, but what of the man Dante? What of the allegory beneath his verses?The history of the Divine Poet, his life, his love and the mysteries of his great achievements are known to relatively few, compared to the number of people who have read the Comedy. My purpose here to open those doors to you, to give a taste of the lessons and mysteries of Dent's work, to give a glimpse of a man, famous in his time and forevermor e, and to recount the greatest tale of Love ever told. His definition of love may be the most potent and intricate definition ever described, told through four separate levels of allegory, culminating in the rise of the universal goal of Love itself.The Man â€Å"In that book which is my memory, On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, Appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life'. † (Volta) Dante was born in 1265, though the month is not known. His given name was Du- ranted Delhi Lighter, Dante being a shortened version which he himself, and subsequent -?2-? writers and translators would adopt. His family name Lighter comes form the Latin word ‘aligner', which can be translated to â€Å"winged. † Though it came from his father, it was originally passed from a mother, Algeria Loudhailer -? wife of Guidance Elise', founder of Florence -? to her son.Thus Dante can trace his lineage directly back to he founders of his beloved Florenc e. The root meaning of Durance (and Dante) is more obvious, enduring, as names were of the most importance in those days. Dante would be happy to know that he has far surpassed the destiny of an enduring name. His father was a man of finance, buying and selling property as well as lending money, something Dante later disapproved of and which found its way into his Inferno. His mother was also from a well respected Florentine family, the Bait. Her father Durance (whom Dante was named after) was a Judge at the time.Much of the Poet's history we can find in the Comedy because although it is the story of his enlightenment, it also tells the tale of his past. We see this with his mother, whom we find in the circle of violence in Inferno, for she committed suicide while Dante was still very young, somewhere between 1270 and 1275. After his mother's death, his father soon remarried and had two more children. It seems Dante had a good relationship with these siblings as he refers affectiona tely to a sister who visits him while he is sick in â€Å"La Vita Nova. These references require that I move ahead, to describe the works of Dante for it is especially through them that we learn so much of the man. I shall discuss The Divine Comedy at greater length in a future section. But as an overview it is the tale of Dent's Journey through Inferno, rising up through Purgatory, then finally moving through Paradise, guided -?3-? by his beloved Beatrice, with his pilgrimage ending with the vision of God. The other work that I shall mention often is â€Å"la Vita Nova†, The New Life, which is a compilation of poems, sonnets and stories from throughout his life.It particularly focuses on his love for Beatrice which pervaded his life from the age of nine until he died at fifty-six. At this time Florence was a burgeoning hub of trade and culture, becoming one f the richest and most powerful cities in Italy, and even in Eastern Europe. However the city was divided along many l ines; there was a split between the populace and the gentry, yet also among the gentry. The largest of these rifts was that between the Gullah, whom Dante supported, and the Gibberellins.Once the Gibberellins were expelled from Florence another divide occurred; Between the Black Gullets, those who supported the Papacy, and the white Gullets, who wished for more autonomy from Rome. With the support of Pope Boniface the Black Gullets took control of Florence, destroying many White Gullah homes and exiling Dante. If he were ever to return to his beloved Florence to â€Å"worship at his baptismal fount† he would suffer death by burning. Following his exile, Dante wandered from city to city. Reigniting his intellectual spirit in Bologna and moving as far field as Paris.Finally he settled in Raven, a small city not far from Florence. It is during this time that it is believed that be began his masterpiece, The Divine Comedy. It was completed Just prior to his death, sometime betwee n 1318 and 1321. The final Canto of Paradise was said to be lost for months following Dent's death, until in a dream, one of Dent's sons saw his father ho showed his where the final pages were hidden. His son, Pitter, searched for the pages and found them Just where -?4-? his father had indicated, and so, Just as a dream had begun the Comedy, a dream completed it.The Divine Comedy tells the tale of the Poet, Dante, and his Journey down into Inferno, up mount Purgatory and into Paradise where â€Å"the Love that moved the sun and the other stars† is finally revealed to him. It is divided into three canticles, Inferno, Purgatorial and Paradise. Each canticle is then further divided into 33 cantos, similar to chapters, except for Inferno which has a single introductory canto bringing he total to 100. Each canto is further split into three line sections, each line with a precise 11 syllables.This story fictively occurs in the year 1300 and Dante is faithful to this date, only inc luding people who had died before 1300 in any level of the Comedy , though often referencing those who are still living. Inferno, the first volume, is by far the most famous and widely read of the three. It begins: â€Å"Midway upon the Journey of our life. † Simply this first line gives premise to the Comedy being both a literal Journey through the levels of the earth but also a curative voyage through the life of a person, in this case Dante, though it can be expanded to include a more universal version of life.Through inferno Dante is guided by another great poet, Virgil, who, because he is a virtuous infidel has been confined to neutrality, the first level of hell. But who has been tasked by Beatrice to guide Dante down through Hell and up Mount Purgatory. Their Journey through Hell takes them down through all nine levels, on each level pausing to watch the punishment of the shades and sometimes speak to them, talking of their crimes or of the goings on of the living worl d. Finally in the lowest -?5-? bevel -?Judea, reserved for the traitors-? gravity reverses and they climb back out of the pit of inferno to once more observe the stars.At the base of Mount Purgatory seven As are inscribed on Dent's forehead. Each standing for Peculate or sin in Latin. As they pass through each of the seven levels of purgatory, each P is purged from his forehead. For Purgatory is not a place of perpetuity as many believe; it is a place of purging sins as its name suggests. Virgil continues as his guide and offers advice and answers to his questions along the way. However on questions of faith he defers to Beatrice, asking Dante to await her for his answer. At the peak of Purgatory is the Garden of Eden, earthly paradise.Here in paradise Dante is in awe of the heavens above him, while Virgil is reserved and distant. Dante turns away from his guide to gaze at four bright stars above him and when he looks back Virgil is gone. In his place stands Beatrice. From the Garde ns of Eden Beatrice leads Dante into Paradise, the nine circles of heaven. In each of these circles Dante speaks with different figures, Roman Emperors, Saints and Apostles prominent among them. And Just as Virgil taught Dante of life and the plight of souls in Inferno and Purgatory, so Beatrice teaches him of divinity, irate and all the levels of beatitude.One of the people he meets is his great great grand-father Guidance, who tasks him to compose a poem which â€Å"puts aside all falsehood. † He agrees, and is also tested by the apostles Peter, James and John before his can enter the Empyrean, the highest level of Heaven. It is here in the amphitheater of the Empyrean that Dent's Journey reaches is culmination with his rapturous vision of God. -?6_ â€Å"But my own wings were not enough for this, Had it not been that then my mind there smote A flash of lightning, wherein came its wish. (Paradise 33:139) Dante and Love But now was turning my desire and will, Even as a whee l that equally moved, The Love that moves the sun and the other stars. † (Paradise 33:142) Perhaps it is a sad testament to the human race, that the greatest love stories are those of unrequited love. Mark Antonym and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, Dante and his Beatrice. Dante first glimpsed Beatrice at the age of nine. Of that sight he says, â€Å"At that moment, I say most truly that the spirit of life, hath its dwelling in the secretes chamber of the heart† (Nova).He goes on, describing her as a deity, as something other than a worldly woman. From that moment onward his life was drastically changed. â€Å"l say that, from that time forward, Love quite governed my soul† (Nova). His love was torrential, yet when he saw her he kept it in check. For nine years after that first sight they never spoke. He would watch her in her family's small church of Santa Margarita, sitting some ten feet behind her, imagining her as an image of perfection, but never speaking. It i s difficult to imagine such love with so little contact.He was enamored with her but also with his imagination of her. It was not until nine years later to the day,that a word was exchanged between hem. While passing in the street, Beatrice â€Å"by her unspeakable courtesy' greeted him. He -?7-? remembers she was dressed all in white, unlike the red he first saw her in, white being the color of virginity and divinity. In each of his earthly visions of her, she is described using images and words normally reserved for Christ or God himself. Dante was taken by the sound of her voice: â€Å"For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble. He went directly home and fell asleep and dreamed that Love came to him. Throughout the Vita Nova, Love comes to Dante, taking a different human form each mime, and speaks to him, offering advice and admonitions. Love appears to him multiple times and each time represents a shift in Dent's interactions with Beatrice. Dante makes the mistakes of many lovers as he is so overcome by Beatrice. In an attempt to hide the true object of his love, he begins to use what he calls a â€Å"screen- lady,† a woman toward whom he outwardly directs his attentions so as to divert attention from Beatrice.This obviously backfires and Beatrice, as they pass again in the street, withholds her greeting. Dante is grief-stricken and, following another vision of love decides to write directly to her. These poems and sonnets received praise in Florence, and were read around the city in small poetry readings, increasing Dent's stature as a great writer even in his time. However life for Dante soon takes another enormous turn, with the death of Be- iatric. She is said to have died in June, 1290, a date with â€Å"the perfect number nine† having been completed â€Å"nine times† according to the Syrian Calendar. (Lewis).Dante is so overcome that he cannot put words to the event. After compiling the Volta Nova he resolves not to write of Beatrice again, until he can â€Å"say of her what was never said of any other -?8-? Oman. † It is from this wish that springs the greatest tribute to human love ever created, La Comedic. In Dent's Journey Beatrice is his primary guide. Though Virgil guides him through two levels of the afterlife, it is Beatrice who sent Virgil to assist Dante and Beatrice whom he follows through paradise and Beatrice who teaches him the most of love. She acts as a personal representation of Christ.We can see this in many aspects of Dent's description of her -? her appearance, the events around her and her relation to the number nine. The number nine can be seen as a reference to the divinity of he holy trinity, and it is used in reference to Beatrice to reinforce her power as Dent's connection to the divine. In the ninth canto of both Inferno and Purgatory Dante enters the city of Dish and then the Gates of Purgatory -? the two most significant entrances in their respective canticles. Yet i n Paradise, in the ninth canto, Dante passes from the circles of Venus unto the level of the sun.This may seem insignificant yet it signifies the passage from earth to heaven. It is not until the level of the sun that all earthly woes and pains are stripped away. This ninth canto is significant as it also demonstrates the divinity of the number, yet interestingly it also illustrates the divinity of love as it is in this canto that Dante meets three great lovers; a mistress, a bishop and a harlot. Not exactly the lovers you would expect, but these references, as well as their relations to nine and their positions in paradise, serve to highlight the significance of human love in order to ascend further into heaven.This is Beatrice role, as she serves both as the object of human love and the transcendent divine guide. Other parallels between Beatrice and Christ can also be drawn-? one being her -?9-? appearance in heaven, she is proceeded by Giovanni Primeval, as Christ was similarly p roceeded by John the Baptist. Here we can see Dent's literary playfulness with â€Å"Giovanni† as a feminine version of John and Primeval as an anagram meaning â€Å"Prima Vera† which literally translates to â€Å"will come first. † Beatrice also descends to Inferno to summon Virgil as Christ did to bring salvation to humanity, Virgil will be Dent's personal salvation.Dante even recognizes this in Paradise 30:80 saying â€Å"Who deigned for my salvation to leave your footprints in Hell. † Lansing also points out a parallel between the names of Christ and Beatrice: The reference to her nickname, â€Å"Vice,† in Paradise is a way which must evoke the abbreviations of Christ in manuscripts: â€Å"Be† (beat, â€Å"blessed†) and â€Å"ice† (ICC=less Crisis=Jesus Christ. )† Despite her obvious divinity, Beatrice is also a physical woman, as we see in the Volta Nova, who inspires love and desire in Dante.Thus she fills both role s, as the method of divine salvation and also as the guide to human love. Both of which together create natural love, something I will go into greater detail about at a later point. Dante strives, however, to remove any sexual attraction to Beatrice both for the deader and for himself. And for the most part he is successful. By removing her erotic nature in his writing, he reclaims some power from her. As we see in the Vita Nova, she holds great power over him; she has the power to send him into fits of worry or anguish, simply with a laugh or refused look.In De-redirecting her, we see Dent's attempt to retain his own power over human love, while relinquishing his power over natural love, allow-? 10 -? inning her to guide and teach him of its natural flow. As both the Comedy and the Nova are little more than an homage to Beatrice, it is interesting to see that Dante toeholds this one form of power from her, that of sexual power. It could very well be that he is attempting to protect either himself or Beatrice from the sin of lust, yet we also find a seductress and a harlot in heaven, who further inform Dante on love.It may also be the case that Dante is protecting himself from the worldly effects of Beatrice. The vast majority of his writings about her are of his perception, his fantasy of her. Their physical contact was negligible and by removing the sexual discourse between them, the Beatrice of Dent's pages is fully from inside the Poet. The Beatrice we know is Dent's fantasy, a character within his own character. It is her spirit, not her body, that guides Dante. Dante may also shrug off this worldly influence because he has a further lord, one to whom he answers whole-heartedly, and for whom Beatrice is the perfect guide.That lord speaks to him in the third chapter of the Vita Nova saying â€Å"I am your lord. † That lord is Love. Allegory The term allegory literally means the â€Å"hidden meaning†, it derives from Greek â€Å"al- SIS† (other) and â€Å"Georgia† (speaking), â€Å"other speaking. † The Divine Comedy is rife with it. Each canto is filled with political moral and divine statements. Allegory takes four forms in The Divine Comedy modeled after biblical exegesis (interpretation of biblical style); Literal (historical), Allegorical (Typographical) , Moral and Angelical. These four forms follow the interpretation of scripture in the Middle Ages.In scripture, the historical meaning is -? 11 what is described as fact. It encompasses the people, places and events represented and shows them historically as things that have occurred. The second meaning (the Allegorical/ Typographical) is that of personification and representation, a person may represent a sin or a virtue. The moral meaning in the scripture is literally represented by Christ. â€Å"So far as the things done in Christ, or so far as the things which signify Christ, are types of what we ought to do, there is the moral sense. † (Aquinas).The final meaning, the angelical is the hardest to pin down. This is because it is the broadest of the terms; it is the meaning which expands outwards and offers what the writer or reader considers an â€Å"eternal† meaning. The angelical represents the realm of the Gods, thus making it eternal, â€Å"But so far as they signify what relates to eternal glory, there is the angelical sense. † (Aquinas) Neither the bible nor The Divine Comedy possess all four of these elements at all times however. Writing is often adorned with â€Å"historical buttresses and adornments†, events that hold no further meaning than the literal.Different verses and cantos hold some of these meanings, some are personified in particular figures, others can only be found by evaluating the entire trajectory of the Comedy. These four meanings overlap, come and go, are sometimes clearly visible and some are lost forever in the annals of time. Other than the historical, the allego rical (typological) is the most prevalent form of meaning throughout the Comedy. Because all allegory is dependent on interpretation, the meanings put forth here are those that I deem to be correct, although there are likely other interpretations or even contrary views.As Dante followed many of the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, the following is the most prevalent definition for the typographical (allegorical) meaning in -? 12 -? the Comedy: â€Å"Whereas in every other science things are signified by words, this science has the property that the things signified by the words have themselves also signification† (Aquinas). This is the definition Dante would have followed in instructing his own allegory. Dante borrows heavily from Thomas Aquinas and Aquinas' Theological for his moor- al theory and view of God, theology and use of allegory.As far as the view of God, Thomas Aquinas believed that there are two apices of any object or subject (their existence and their essence), exce pt for God. Aquinas preaches God as simplicity. God is simply essence, for his/her/its existence is its essence. This essence to Dante is Love; all other objects are not independent of love and thus God, who is the representation of pure love, is the only individual being in existence. â€Å"God is identical tit Just one in- divisible thing, but that one thing has different effects and appearances† (Stump).Dante also enumerates the importance of each level of meaning, saying in his work Conviction, â€Å"l shall always first discourse upon the literal meaning of each cannoned, and after that I shall discourse upon its allegory, that is, the hidden truth; and I shall sometimes incidentally touch upon the other senses (angelical), as the place and the time make appropriate. † This leads us to believe that the historical (literal) meaning is the most important, followed by the allegorical. The angelical seems to e a natural uprising of this discourse of both the literal a nd the allegorical.The moral finds its way into the literal meanings as well, since Christ is synonymous with morality, and the bible and Beatrice are taken as fact. Throughout the Comedy, Beatrice and her compatriots teach Dante many -? 13 -? things, most of these may be interpreted as the moral allegory. What must also be understood is that the literal meaning will always be present, and for the most part the allegorical will be also. But that Allegory will take one or more of its three forms, typographical/allegorical, moral or angelical. He gives an example of this four-fold allegory in a letter sent to Gangrened of Verona.The Allegory of Love â€Å"Love, which pardons no beloved from loving, took me so strongly with delight in him That, as you see, it still abandons me not†¦ † (Nova) As we begin to look at the many meanings of love in The Divine Comedy, the three literal forms we shall examine are 1) love as an emotion, 2) love as Beatrice, and 3) Love as a figure a nd as God. First let us examine Dent's belief of love. For Dante, love was the driving force of the universe. It causes souls to rise to heaven or fall into hell. It literally set the stars in motion. All sinners and all saints had their actions based in love, for better or for worse.Love causes all movement in the universe, whether for the sinners to ascend because of love for God or for the blessed to descend in order to save a soul. Just as Beatrice descends to bring Dante to the Empyrean, it also causes the angels to move in their circles around God, thus creating the movement of the heavens. However, love also has a darker side. According to Dante, love is also the root of sin. He takes this view from William Perusals' analysis of the Sustaining Sins; Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony and Lust. These sins can be divided into three cat- Georges according to love; insufficient, disordered and excessive.Insufficient love takes the form of sloth, disordered love manifest s in pride, new and wrath (as these three are misguidedly directed at an external object), and love in excess creates avarice, gluttony and lust. These are all forms of what Virgil distinguishes for Dante as rational love, separate from natural love which I shall discuss at greater length later. Rational love takes many forms, both positive and negative. If unbalanced or per- averted, it is the basis of all sin, but it is also that which leads Dante towards natural eve. Dent's earthly love for Beatrice could be described as courtly love, a popular subject of the times. Courtly love can be defined as desire and longing for someone, and personal suffering by loving this person† (Du France). This definition as we can see applies perfectly to Dent's relations to Beatrice. It is this earthly relationship that begins Dante on his path to salvation and enlightenment, thus it is this form of rational love that sets Dante on his path. At the beginning of The Divine Comedy, the Pilgrim believes this love for Beatrice is pure and correct. Yet through his discussions tit Francesca De Riming, and then Virgin's discourse on love in purgatory, Dante begins to doubt his assertion.Finally upon his meeting with Beatrice in Paradise he repents for the earthly love he paid her and accepts the purity of natural love, the love that will guide him through paradise unto the Empyrean. Natural love was considered by Dante to be the love of and for God. It is the pure force which motivates the universe and binds it together. It is the purest form of this love that Dante is striving for throughout the Comedy. Through hell and purgatory, he is strip-? 15-? inning away the sins and tarnishing of sin, and in paradise he is being prepared, level by level, by Beatrice, for the experience of Pure Love.Virgil, who has not entered heaven and has thus not experienced natural love, can only describe to Dante human love and the perverted shapes it takes in sin. The constant motion of natural love is moving toward a goal; that goal is the attainment of the realization of place and of perfection for every object and creature in the world. â€Å"As the specific capacity of anything is actualities by being exercised, the nature of that thing is progressively completed or perfected, according to Aquinas† (Stump). It is by loving and being love that this process is perpetuated and thus moves closer and closer to a perfect equilibrium.This ultimate beatitude is inconceivable to the human mind, however, and thus we give it a humanly understandable form, that of God. Yet Dante is very careful not to name God as the center of the Empyrean; the highest level of heaven is occupied by Love. Virgil describes how love takes three stages to develop. The process begins with awareness of another object or person. This perception is offered to the soul to Judge whether this object is beautiful and shall bring happiness. If it is deemed good, then eve develops and takes the form of an inclination or attraction toward that object.Until love develops, the force driving this process is human will and it is thus that love can be misguided, as the will can make mistakes and lead an individual toward sin. If we take love as the attractive force that moves the universe, then the ultimate goal of life is also love, but love in equilibrium. This is why perverted, insufficient and excessive love are sins, for it is balanced love, natural love that we are striving toward. We cannot, however, achieve union with natural love simply by following others'