Letter of Transmittal Essay Example for Free

Letter of Transmittal Essay As per the request you made, I am writing this report to point out problem areas that Pinkberry will have to carefully consider as it attempts to expand its presence internationally, and particularly into the Kuwaiti market. For five years now, Pinkberry has established a solid reputation as the finest purveyor of frozen yogurts in the US, rising to gain the market leadership position in this category. This has largely been made possible through our unique product offering, which makes use of the highest quality, real, non-fat milk. With our success in the US market, time is ripe for the company to expand internationally and capture the global market by leveraging on this strength, which is also the source of the company’s competitive advantage. One of the prime investment destinations that we have identified is Kuwait. With a real GDP growth rate of 8. 5% in 2008, a relatively open economy, high rates of growth in the services sector driven by a boon in oil prices in recent times, opportunities for growth in this market abound for Pinkberry. Additionally, US products enjoy very favorable attitudes in the country, with the two countries having pre-existing trade relationships where the US is Kuwait’s largest import partner accounting for about 13% % of all its imports. Notwithstanding these factors, Pinkberry’s entry and subsequent success in the Kuwaiti market is likely to be tempered with various challenges. These include cultural differences between the Kuwaiti and US markets, political-legal forces, and the unavailability of local sources of raw materials. By going through this report, I believe that you will get an exhaustive appreciation of these factors, which will enable us come up with strategies that will help us effectively conquer the Kuwaiti market. I remain greatly thankful for the opportunity to prepare this report and will remain freely available for any clarifications arising. Yours faithfully, Business Development Manager, Pinkberry.

The Importance Of Being Ethical In The Business Marketing Essay

The Importance Of Being Ethical In The Business Marketing Essay This report mainly emphasize on the importance of being ethical in the business field and the consequences of failing to be ethical. It shows that Toyota has incurred many losses and faces negative impact in its reputation due to recall scandal. Failing to be ethical gain no benefits but only draw the company itself into unpredictable disaster. Toyota has destroy its reputation which is the excellent quality of its brand and trust of its customers towards the brand. Now the company has to spend huge amount of money to recall all the vehicles in order to build and gain back its companys reputation. Now, whenever it comes to the discussion about Toyota, people will immediately remember the ethical dilemmas of the company and it will affect the companys reputation in the long term. Introduction Toyota Motor Corporation, simply known as Toyota, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of automobiles and light trucks, based in Toyota, Japan. The company also makes buses, forklifts, and other industrial vehicles. Toyota was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda, who in 1933 established an automobile department in his fathers loom factory, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, Ltd., following a trip to tour United States automobile plants. The department concentrated on building fuel-efficient vehicles and completed its first experimental vehicles in 1935. In 1937 Toyoda established Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. Besides manufacturing automobiles, Toyota also involves in financial services via its Toyota Financial Services division and build robots as well. Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Industries have form the bulk of the Toyota Group as one of the largest multinational company in the world. 2.0 Toyota Ethical Dilemmas 2.1 Neglecting safety concerns and delaying recall investigations Toyota admitted to engaging in unethical behaviour when the safety of its vehicles are seriously being questioned and investigation comes into as well. The Associated Press released an article has proven that Toyota not only neglected its cars safety defects, but also continuously on doing so. Wins for Toyota Safety Group, presentation called in 2009 shows that in 2007, Toyota repeatedly delayed safety regulations and intentionally avoiding defect investigations and hold up government inquiries into safety concerns. It was also stated by The Associated Press that the financial benefit of delay is shown in the new documents. Toyota stated in the presentation that a phase in to new safety regulations for side airbags saved the company $124 million and 50,000 man hours. Besides, delayed a rule for tougher door locks saved $11 million. Toyota is a company that practice the philosophy of kaizen, meaning continuous improvement, but they somehow negotiated and justified with the government to flee away from their problem. In its headlong rush to become the worlds No. 1 carmaker, Toyota lost control of the very thing its reputation has been built on which is quality. Now the company is facing consequences due to poor ethical in the business industry are loss of confidence and trust in businesses. A loss of trust greatly reduce customers loyalty and motivate them to turn to competitors. 2.2 Sweatshops and Union Busting Back in Japan, Toyotas manufacturing plants resembles some of the worst sweatshops in the world. The companys operations have been illustrated as slavery and human trafficking. According to a 65-pages report entitled The Toyota You Dont Know released by Human rights group The National Labour Committee, it alleges that Toyota is linked to human trafficking. The report highlighted the trafficking of foreign workers mainly from Vietnam and China. These workers are stripped of their passports and were frequently forced to work overtime every day, seven days a week and received wages below the legal minimum wages (Rosen, 2002). There are thousands of karoshi claims each year in Toyota. This karoshi claims means over worked to death. There was a case of Kenichi Uchino who died of being overworked on an assembly line at Toyotas Prius plant. Uchino, who was just 30, routinely worked 13 to 14 hours a day, putting in between 106 and 155 hours of overtime in the 30 days leading up to his death. Toyota claimed he had only worked 45 hours of overtime and that the extra time was voluntary and unpaid. Uchinos wife had to go to court to fight for a pension for their children. She succeeded and the court ruling that Mr Uchino was worked to death. Besides, When an injury has occurred to employees, on the job they are layer off, and receive no compensation. Many small countries all around the world has been dominated and destroyed with Toyota well-known union busting. Reducing the standards of living amongst the countries citizens. There are already 1800 cases in the US where Kentucky plants employees have been injured, fired, and they were not included in the compensation pay roll. Approximate of 400 Americans working at Toyota are facing this problem every year. Toyota have their plants assembled in the poorest states to gain advantage of the lowest wages in the country. Many are kept as temporary workers for over 4 years. Their target is to control and lower the average wages and economic in America, and Honda seems to be supportive on Toyotas action. Toyotas strategy is to hire the poorest workers in the state to manufacture the cheapest materials and maximize its profits. The more profits they make, the more they lower worker wages. 2.3 Toyota Diluted Quality and Recall Scandals Toyotas production line expanded from 5.2 million to 10 million since year 2000. This include 17 more productions sites. Due to such unsustainable production, Toyota has to reach to other subcontractors from overseas to procure auto-parts, this resulting difficulty for the company to inspect every process involved in the quality control process. Vast growing competition from other rivals has caused Toyota to force its subcontractors to cut production costs at least 30%, which resulted in diluted quality. According to a analysis of complaints by auto safety control firm Quality Control System, National High Way Traffic safety Administration received tripled complaints since introduction of electronic throttles in Toyota vehicles. Many people have died in road accidents due to break problems as well. However Toyota just kept its business operating without taking this matter seriously and put all the blames on the drivers instead. Toyota started recalling vehicles for rectification afte r these complaints has drawn high media coverage and pressure by customers. These decisions are said to be unethical because Toyota gave priority to its profitability plans over security procedures and risks of precious live. An estimated amount of more than 8 million vehicles were recalled back due to break paddle and floor mat problems (Schonberger, 2010). This recall amount exceeded Toyota total global sales of 6.98 million vehicles in 2009 (Schonberger, 2010). This recall scandal has degraded Toyotas reputation in regards to social media. Social media analyst Webtrends research proposes that 60% of all online comments about Toyota were negatively made. Brand valuation consultancy, Brand Finance, has stated that Toyota may possibly face a loss of 25% of the overall  £17 billion brand value due to the recall crisis. The crisis is not just affecting Toyotas reputation but affecting the entire business too in the long run. 3.0 Toyota Actions Solving Dilemmas 3.1 Toyota: How to Win Back Your Customers The due care theory is in place because Toyota always have advantage in knowledge over their products including how it was manufactured. In the case, Toyota failed to exercise due care in their vehicles. The company manufactured dangerous vehicles with faulty gas pedals and breaking system. Then Toyota did not concern much about how risky and dangerous of its vehicles and directly sold them to their customer. This case has shown how Toyota has completely failed to exercise due care. Toyota recently announced recalls on seven U.S. and European models. Not only this will bring bad reputation for the worlds largest automakers image, but it could also have a serious impact on its sales. Toyota is now focusing on winning back its customers and reassuring them of the quality and the safety of its vehicles (Rother, 2009). Yoshimi Inaba, President and COO of Toyota Motor North American during his testimony on February 24, stated that Toyotas dealers across North American and 172,000 team members are giving out their best efforts to complete the current recalls. Solutions have been tested rigorously and they are confident with these repairs, and Toyota vehicles will remain among the safest on the road today. Besides, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc, James Lentz stated during his testimony on February 23 that the company dealers are making extraordinary efforts to complete their recalls as quickly and conveniently as possible. Some of the dealers are staying open 24-7 and they are repairing vehicles at a rate of 50,000 a day. To date, Toyota have repaired close to a million vehicles. In this case, rule utilitarianism is also applied in Toyotas situation. Toyota failed to be ethical because rule utilitarianism includes the after-act benefits and cost (Fullerton, 2004). After the act of be ing unethical in delaying the safety issues of its vehicles, Toyota had loss millions of dollars for the recall and to rebuild their reputation. This meaning the cost is higher than the benefits and therefore it was unethical. 3.2 Is Toyota Willing to Solve Slavery Operations? Unfortunately, most multinational companies like Toyota that is benefiting from sweatshops labour around the world are doing nothing about this problem. The question arise here is, does Toyota follow the rights and duties? Toyota has the duty to provide a better and comfortable environment for its workers. However, to maximise its profits and minimise the cost of production, Toyota choose to forsake the rights of its workers (Campbell Miller, 2004). Given that sweatshops conditions exist around the world, what can be done to counter these assaults upon human dignity and human rights that affect most vulnerable people in economic food chain? Currently, three major groups oversee factory inspections to monitor sweatshops condition. These groups including Social Accountability International (SAI), Fair Labour Association (FLA), Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). Due to considerable variation in the methodologies used by SAI, FLA, and ETI, many companies have engaged in some form of self-monitoring. Now, SAI, FLA, and ETI appears to be on the verge of changing as a consequence of an ambitious 30-month experiment, called the Initiative on Corporate Accountability Workers Right (Campbell Miller, 2004). There are six anti-sweatshop activist groups and eight global apparel makers are sponsoring this experiment. The purpose is to devise a single set of labour standards with a common factory-inspection system that will replace todays overlapping hodgepodge of approaches with something that is easier and cheaper to use, and that might gain traction with companies. If it works, the 30 months experiment would be a great step in bringing order to the piecemeal manner in which even the biggest companies set and monitor workplace conditions across the developing world. It is all about the human rights, Toyota has the duty to take care of its workers wh o are working under the company. 3.3 Utilise Social Media Effectively Business is responsible to provide reasonable product to customers. In a sense, Toyota had made consumer to trust that their products are safe. Therefore Toyota should not manufacture unsafe product to their customers. Now Toyota started to practice business duty by using social media to update their customers especially the recall and repair of the vehicles to gain back their customers trust towards their products. Toyota Recall Micro Site This Micro site is created by Toyota to provide recall information for its customers. Many web 2.0 aspects was included in the micro site such as a customer comments section. Existing customers can leave comments on what is the current situation with their Toyota. Toyota has also included a live update counter in the micro site to highlight the speed at which it fixing the accelerator pedals (Refer to Appendix 1). Toyota Recall Timeline Toyota have utilised a timeline to highlight how the company is dealing to the recall effectively. A facts and figures section is set up to calm down and reassure their customers that the company had the recall under control ( Refer to Appendix 2). Toyota Conversation Toyota Conversations was created by Toyota and powered by Tweetmeme that collects and updates the news, images and video about Toyota and to be published on Toyotas own Twitter feed. Toyota can analyse this information and act accordingly (Refer to Appendix 3). Toyota have utilised Digg as well to update and keep its customers in contact regarding the recall. US Toyota president Jim Lentz was involved in a consumer question and answer session. Toyota has used this approach that allow the company to engage its customer base and express remorse to their customers for the recall. Toyota also make use of YouTube to combat the threat of the recall. The company has been uploading videos describing the faults with the foot pedals and offering an explanation to its customers (Rother, 2009). 4.0 Toyotas Ethical Best Practices and Values Virtue ethics emphasis on doing things with character, and this character can be simplified as a good one. Toyota does practice virtue ethics. Virtue ethics do not follow any rules or consequences, but purely on doing good things (Devettere, 2002). 4.1 Recycling as One Approach Making People-Friendly and Environmentally-Friendly Cars In order to ensure that automobiles will continue to be a sustainable mode of transport in the 21st century, Toyota considers it is important to proactively take action to reduce their environmental impacts all along their life cycle. Toyota is now focusing on the important aspects which is the recycling stage. The company is thinking about recycling opportunities at every stage of life cycle of vehicles. For example, Toyota is involved in activities to reduce waste as much as possible and recycle whatever can be reused at the development, production, use, and disposal stages. Toyota is strongly committed to developing technologies for effectively utilising resin and rubber, which are difficult to reuse or recycle due to difficulties in separation of composite materials and to high quality standards requested. The recycling technologies that have been developed are first applied to the remnant materials generated in production processes; commonly remnants from the manufacturing of pl astic parts are recycled internally, for example in the case of bumpers. Toyota has extended the application of these recycling technologies to the parts collected at dealers and from end-of-life vehicles. 4.2 Initiative Designed to Educate People in Traffic Safety The company has been involving actively in various activities to educate people in traffic safety since 1960s. Toyota Driver Communication In 1987, this programme was designed to improve safe driving by allowing drivers to experience the performance of cars at their limits and to study the effects and proper usage of ABS (electronically controlled braking system) and other safety technologies. In April 2005, Toyota opened the Toyota Safety Education Centre where safe driving courses are offered on a regular basis. Toyota Traffic Safety Campaign Toyota has conducted the Toyota Traffic Safety Campaign every spring and autumn since 1969. This campaign was participated by car dealers, parts distributors, logistics systems forklift dealers and rental/lease dealers in conjunction with the Japans Nationwide Traffic Safety Campaign. In FY2004, Toyota focused on traffic safety education for children and their parents and promotion of proper seatbelts and child restraint systems. 4.3 Community Care Toyota de Venezuela, C.A (TDV) The main purpose in ethics of care is to care for each other as every parties relationship always interlinked with one another. For example, Pinta Tu Escuela (Paint Your School) program was launched by TDV in 2005. The purpose was to paint the school to improve the study atmosphere. But, after TGV had leant the actual needs of the schools, it realized that they have to go beyond on what they were doing. TDV then promised to build a school in Laguna Chica. However, there was a lot of doubting among the local community if the school will ever be materialized since this promise was made before by other organization. Nevertheless, TDV was serious with their promise and a synergy and trust between TDV and the townspeople was built that allowed the schools construction to run smoothly. The opening ceremony of the school in Laguna Chica was on December 9, 2008 (Refer to Appendix 4 5). In this case, Toyota is practicing ethics of care which can lead to building a goodwill and reputation in the view of public or the community, and it is a significant ethic that a large organization should practice. 5.0 Recommendations Unethical decisions can be catastrophic for any organization. Organization profitability can be affected, same goes to employees morale when unable to answer customers complaints and queries when the companys customers suffered from defective products. Thus, reputation of a company faces negative impact. Every time before the top management of a company decide any big decision, it is suggested that they should consider and outline all the possibly negative outcomes particularly the ethical issues. It is always beneficial to a companys long term planning if ethical considerations are taken account into every decision making. It is evident that running from a moral obligation or not obeying appropriate moral practice in business would lead to many failure and disputes. Toyota is one of the best example for the statement as the company ignoring the warning alarm that their action will put consumer in dangerous, and eventually, Toyota itself is liable to correct their mistakes by spendin g million and billion dollars. Avoiding a ethical obligation brings only benefits in the short term, but the company would be led into trouble in the long term since the business reputation and goodwill are placed in a high risks. Toyota should have faced the problem instead of avoiding or minimizing it. If a company is facing a serious problem due to serious ethical issue, the company should turn back to its philosophy. For example, Toyotas philosophy is kaizen or continuous improvement. The company can gain back its customers trust by proving that Toyota still possess the desire to manufacture its vehicles as one of the safest vehicles on the road for its customers (Weiss, 2009).

Pictograph Essay :: essays research papers

In the ancient times (4000-30B.C.) the Egyptian Pharaohs were the most powerful people on the planet. They had sophisticated methods for building and irrigation. In one area that they lagged in sophistication was the basic form they used for writing their language. The ancient Egyptians used hieroglyphics that was often expressed through pictographs that are stylized pictures used to express words and subjects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The use of pictographs was a very primitive form of communication that took lots of time and energy to inscribe. They did not describe the subject in great detail whereas in the English language you can describe the subject in great detail with little or no effort.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When using pictographs the Egyptians didn't use connectives, adjectives, verbs, or nouns. They would simply sketch a series of pictures in reference to the subject that they were addressing. Also when using pictographs it leaves most of the interpretation of the writings up to the reader's imagination, therefore often not accurately describing and communicating the findings or ideas to the author. This was also very obvious when we made posters in class trying to describe our favorite stories because they were very rough sketches (pictographs) of the story and the posters left much up to the reader's personal interpretation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Using the writing system in the English language a person is able to tell the reader exactly what you're writing about and do so in great detail. In our current system of writing we use a series of twenty-six letters; six of the letters are vowels and the rest are consonants. We arrange these letters in different sequences to create many different expressive words such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. There are over fifty thousand words in the English language and by skillfully using them we can accurately communicate to others by the use of writing.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In conclusion, we have come a long way in developing our writing system.

Woman of the Year: Queen Elizabeth the Second :: essays research papers

Woman of the Year: 1953-Queen Elizabeth II   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  From the day she was born, the life of Queen Elizabeth II shows that she deserved to receive the title â€Å"Woman of the Year.† She had practical intelligence since she was a kid and she respected peoples opinions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Queen Elizabeth II was born on April 21, 1926 at the London home of her mother's parents, Lord and Lady Strathmore. She was baptized at Buckingham Palace and named Elizabeth Alexandra Mary five weeks later. Elizabeth's father was Albert, the Duke of York. He was the second son of King George V. When his dad died in 1936, his brother was supposed to become king but he resigned. So he became king. Her mother was Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. She was a member of the Scottish aristocracy. Her sister Margaret Rose was born on August 21, 1930, when she was 4 years old in Glamis Castle. Her grandparents were George V and Queen Mary, and Lord and Lady Strathmore.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth and her sister were homed schooled. She was taught by Miss Marion Crawford, a young Scottish woman. At the age of 5, she usually woke up at 6 a.m. and went out for riding lessons. After that, they had lunch, lessons in French, voice and piano. In the afternoon she would play in the garden, usually with her sister and Miss Crawford. She became heiress to the throne at the age of ten. She had to learn court etiquette and diplomatic practice from her grandmother, Queen Mary. She studied the geography and history of the Commonwealth countries and the U.S. Elizabeth went to Eton College for private lessons in law. She was training for future duties. Being a princess was not easy. She had to prepare for a hard life, never make mistakes, never look bored and never be sick if possible.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Elizabeth grew up at the families London home, a large Victorian House on 145 Picadilly and at the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park. When her dad became King they moved to Buckingham Palace. It was more like a museum than a house. Elizabeth spent their holidays with their grandparents on both sides. When she spent it with the Strathmore it would sometimes be at the Glamis Castle. It was a rugged, rambling old Scottish fortress. â€Å"It looked like something out of a child's adventure stories-paradise of echoing rooms, long passage and mysterious stairways.† (Trease 1953, 231) Elizabeth enjoyed exploring the castle when she was young. She was 13 when World War II occurred. A year later bombs started falling on London. Elizabeth and her sister had to go to safety

The Greatest Commandment Essay -- Bible, God

The Greatest Commandment â€Å"to love God† is the first and greatest commandment of all. In researching this commandment I have found that to love God is truly what God really wants from all of us. The commandment is referenced in all four of the gospels of the New Testament as well as being referenced in the Old Testament through the Ten Commandments in which the New Testament was based on. This commandment is so powerful it is found in Luke 10:25-37, Mark 12:28-34, John 13:34-35 and Matthew 22:34-40. It is also found in Deuteronomy 6:5 and also based on the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:1-17. Take for instance the gospel of Matthew in where the New Testament begins with the book of Matthew revealing the fulfillment of the prophecies in Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. Matthew was a Jewish tax collector for the Roman government who was called upon by Jesus to become one of the 12 apostles which often in his gospel will give us an eye witness account. Matthew wrote the gospel while living in Antioch, Syria after following Jesus between the years of A.D. 50-70. Matthews’s gospel provides an essential link between the Old and New Testament. Matthew 22:34-40 teaches us of the greatest commandment and what God wants from us foremost. In the scripture of Matthew 22:34-40 where this commandment is told by Jesus to the religious leaders, the Sadducees and the Pharisees who were attacking him and challenging him with one of the Pharisees in particular who was a lawyer decided to test Jesus in hopes of embarrassing him by asking: â€Å"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?† (NIV, Matthew 22:36) Knowing that this was a difficult question because of the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament in which all are from ... ...merciful, for they will be shown mercy" and "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" (Holy Bible, Matthew 5:3-11). These scriptures say a lot to us reinstating what Matthew has written in how we should live our lives and follow the laws stated by Jesus in The Greatest Commandment so that we can obtain our peace of heart and give our love, ourselves selflessly to God. For when Jesus answered this question, the religious leaders and the Pharisees knew that he had answered well. After this question was answered Jesus also asked and answered a question about his son ship to God and from then on his answers showed his wisdom and those that questioned him never dared to ask Jesus any more questions. They knew that he was the son of the Lord. All knew and understood that these two Greatest Commandments were to be the law and the prophecies to live by.

Urbanisation: City and Urban Areas

Introduction Urbanization is increasing in both the developed and developing countries. However, rapid urbanization, particularly the growth of large cities, and the associated problems of unemployment, poverty, inadequate health, poor sanitation, urban slums and environmental degradation pose a formidable challenge in many developing countries. Available statistics show that more than half of the world’s 6. 6 billion people live in urban areas, crowded into 3 percent of the earth’s land area (Angotti, 1993; UNFPA, 1993). The proportion of the world’s population living in urban areas, which was less than 5 percent in 1800 increased to 47 percent in 2000 and is expected to reach 65 percent in 2030 (United Nations, 1990; 1991). However, more than 90 percent of future population growth will be concentrated in cities in developing countries and a large percentage of this population will be poor. In Africa and Asia where urbanization is still considerably lower (40 percent), both are expected to be 54 percent urban by 2025 (UN 1995; 2002). Although urbanization is the driving force for modernization, economic growth and development, there is increasing concern about the effects of expanding cities, principally on human health, livelihoods and the environment. The implications of rapid urbanization and demographic trends for employment, food security, water supply, shelter and sanitation, especially the disposal of wastes (solid and liquid) that the cities produce are staggering (UNCED, 1992). The question that arises is whether the current trend in urban growth is sustainable considering the accompanying urban challenges such as unemployment, slum development, poverty and environmental degradation, especially in the developing countries. Urbanization defined Urbanization, simply defined, is the shift from a rural to an urban society, and involves an increase in the number of people in urban areas during a particular year. Urbanization is the outcome of social, economic and political developments that lead to urban concentration and growth of large cities, changes in land use and transformation from rural to metropolitan pattern of organization and governance. Major causes of urbanization Natural population increase (high births than death) and migration are significant factors in the growth of cities in the developing countries. The natural increase is fuelled by improved medical care, better sanitation and improved food supplies, which reduce death rates and cause populations to grow. In many developing countries, it is rural poverty that drives people from the rural areas into the city in search of employment, food, shelter and education. Most people move into the urban areas because they are ‘pushed’ out by factors such as poverty, environmental degradation, religious strife, political persecution, food insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure and services in the rural areas or because they are ‘pulled’ into the urban areas by the advantages and opportunities of the city including education, electricity, water etc. Even though in many African countries the urban areas offer few jobs for the youth, they are often attracted there by the amenities of urban life (Tarver, 1996). Processes of urbanization One significant feature of the urbanization process in today’s local governments is that much of the growth is taking place in the absence of significant industrial expansion. Although local municipalities are fast urbanizing, mega-cities defined as cities with 10 million inhabitants or more are few. Urbanization also finds expression principally in outward expansion of the built-up area and conversion of prime agricultural lands into residential and industrial uses. An alternative to the present expansion of the urban population across a wide area of the country in order to save prime land for agriculture is to construct high-rise buildings and promote commercial development in specific zones, which would depend on effective, appropriate technology and resources. The urbanization processes are largely driven by market forces and policies of local governments that lead to simultaneous processes of change in livelihoods, land use, health and natural resources management including water, soil and forests and often reactive changes in local governance. Government development policies and budget allocations, which often favour urban residents over rural areas, tend to pull people into the urban areas. In the cities, public investment, which often misses the urban poor, with expenditures biased towards the higher-income classes and poverty among vulnerable groups such as new migrants force them into slums and squatter settlements. Challenges of urbanisation Cities throughout the world exhibit an incredible diversity of characteristics, economic structures, levels of infrastructure, historic origins, patterns of growth, and degrees of formal planning. Yet, many of the problems that they face are strikingly familiar. For one thing, as cities grow, they become increasingly diverse. Every city has its relatively more affluent and relatively poorer neighborhoods. But in developing countries, poorer neighborhoods can have dramatically lower levels of basic services. Consequently, a large number of urban residents in developing countries suffer to a greater or lesser extent from severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient access to clean drinking water, inadequate sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid waste disposal. A major recent United Nations report on the state of water and sanitation in the world's cities found that water distribution systems in many cities in the developing world are inadequate, typically serving the city's upper- and middle-class neighborhoods but not rapidly expanding settlements on the urban fringe. Furthermore, the current data on the provision of water and sanitation in urban areas is very weak and the true situation is actually far worse than most international statistics suggest [20]. The large projected increases in the numbers of urban residents in the developing world over the next 20–30 years implies that municipal authorities responsible for these sectors face very serious challenges in the years ahead. In many cities, the scarcity of public water supplies forces many low-income urban residents to use other water sources such as private water vendors who charge many times more than the local public rate. Consequently, people in slums often must pay much more for lower quality water than other urban residents [21]. Improving public sanitation is another major urban environmental challenge that needs to be immediately addressed in virtually all cities in the developing world. Failure to collect garbage as well as inadequate waste management and recycling policies and practices mean that cities are being inundated in their own waste. In African cities, waste management has been described as ‘a monster that has aborted most efforts made by city authorities, state and federal governments and professionals alike’ [22]. As is the case of the water supply distribution network, sewerage systems are far better at meeting the needs of upper- and middle-class neighborhoods than they are of servicing poorer neighborhoods, particularly unregulated neighborhoods on the urban periphery. A major environmental crisis is looming large as many developing countries as cities discharge ever increasing amounts of waste into the air or into freshwater bodies, threatening water quality and aquatic ecosystems. The extent that urban growth affects the local ecosystem can be controlled to some extent by high quality land management. Land is an essential ingredient in all urban growth, yet in most cities there have been virtually no effective measures to control land development. Although many cities have formulated master plans at some time or another that included guidelines on land development and the future direction of urban growth, rarely, if ever, have these plans been realized. Reasons for this include poor urban governance, poor critical assumptions-urban population projections underpinning these plans have often been extremely weak-and the inability of plans to be adjusted and refined in the light of changing conditions, such as the invasion and settling of unused public space. Devising equitable land development policies remains one of the largest challenges facing planners and policy makers in many cities in the developing world. Congestion in many large cities can also be extremely severe and air pollution is now a serious environmental concern in many cities. Concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead, and suspended particulate matter in many large cities greatly exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Among the greatest environmental health concerns are exposure to fine particulate matter and to lead which contributes to learning disability in young children. A popular response to urban transportation congestion problems has been government investment in large-scale public transportation systems such as underground or overland metro systems. Less attention has been devoted to expanding and improving public bus networks, which tend to be overcrowded and poorly maintained. In many cities, private mini-bus companies have filled a hole in the market by providing low-cost urban transportation where standard bus routes have proved insufficient. Conclusion Around the world, especially in Africa and Asia, cities are expanding rapidly. For the majority of urban dwellers, especially the poor, finding potable water supply, affordable shelter, accessible and secure urban land for agriculture to ensure food security, securing gainful employment and improvement in health facilities would continue to remain a priority. Since restrictive urban growth policies, especially population distribution designed to reduce the rate of rural-urban migration appear to have had limited success in many developing countries, policies must be directed at transforming the rural economy in order to slow the rate of urban sprawl. Comprehensive land use planning and revision of planning standards and administrative procedures would, go a long way to, reduce many of the problems that face urban populations in the developing areas, especially Africa. A Vision for Healthy Urbanization in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities for China Dr Henk Bekedam WHO Representative, China Healthy urbanization: a framework for action in China China's Scientific Concept of Development rightly considers urbanization not only as means to further boost economic growth, but also as means to improve the life of people in China. In this context, given the health risks associated with urbanization, it is very appropriate and necessary to put people's health squarely on the urbanization agenda. Putting people's health on the urbanization agenda is, however, a very complex task that requires concerted government policy actions across many sectors. Specifically, in order to alleviate the impact of urbanization on people's health, government policies need to promote quality of urban life, environmental sustainability, health awareness, equitable access to basic health-related services and accountability of local government officials and people working in private enterprises for people's health. A. Quality of urban life International experience suggests that to promote quality of urban life, government particularly needs to act in three related areas: First, design and develop urban peripheries for people as well as for economic activity. This includes, moving industries out of the city centers and synchronizing the emergence of jobs in industries with housing and public infrastructure/services in urban peripheries. Second, design and develop user-friendly transport network. In this context, it is crucial to support public transport network and space for bicyclists and pedestrians, and thus reduce the necessity and advantages of relying on own car. Third, provide suitable space for physical activities and recreation. Cultivating green areas and â€Å"escape zones† in urban centers and peripheries encourages people to stay fit and healthy. B. Environmental sustainability To promote environmental sustainability in urban development, government needs to enforce strict measures toward environmental protection and support environment-friendly investments. Specifically, it is a crucial role for the government to enforce environmental standards, and invest into systems and projects improving the use of energy and energy conservation. In particular, the government needs to establish adequate pricing mechanisms for utilities to end the wasteful use of energy and water that is associated with blanket price subsidies. Similarly, the government needs to enforce energy-efficient construction practices. Critical are also investments into municipal waste management and environment-friendly technologies. C. Health awareness As urbanization is changing people's lifestyles, promoting health awareness is critical. The government particularly needs to act on two accounts. First, disseminating health information and promoting healthy lifestyles. Easy access to information about nutrition, healthy habits, and health risks can positively affect people's behavior. To be effective, information dissemination needs to be complemented with active policies to support early child development, and sports and healthy habits in schools; and to nurture the positive image of healthy lifestyles. For instance, cycling to work would be again a sign of advancement and not backwardness! Second, developing and enforcing adequate health-related regulations. This important task involves all relevant sectors. It involves the market. It involves developing system to manage people's safety: traffic safety, environmental safety, occupational safety, patient safety, food safety and making public places smoke free. Finally, it involves mechanisms toward quality and cost-control in the health system. D. Equitable access to essential health services The possible negative health effects of urbanization underline the importance of enabling all people to have access to essential health services. In this context, it would be appropriate for government to make a package of basic health services accessible to all people in urban areas, urban peripheries and rural areas (residents and floating population alike). This package of basic health services needs to cover public health functions and services – including the prevention of chronic diseases – and essential clinical services. To finance equitable access to basic health, the government will need to ensure full funding for the basic package of health services – through health insurance, medical financial assistance schemes and its own budget. E. Accountability for people's health In order to align the performance of local governments, public sector enterprises and agencies and private sector entities with the agenda of healthy urbanization, government needs to establish clear accountability for people's health. In both the public and private sectors, agencies and enterprises need to bear responsibility for the health effects of their policies and actions. With respect to health services, health providers and local governments need to be accountable for ensuring equitable access, acceptable quality, safety, and fair price. Challenges Cities throughout the world exhibit an incredible diversity of characteristics, economic structures, levels of infrastructure, historic origins, patterns of growth, and degrees of formal planning. Yet, many of the problems that they face are strikingly familiar. For one thing, as cities grow, they become increasingly diverse. Every city has its relatively more affluent and relatively poorer neighborhoods. But in developing countries, poorer neighborhoods can have dramatically lower levels of basic services. Consequently, a large number of urban residents in developing countries suffer to a greater or lesser extent from severe environmental health challenges associated with insufficient access to clean drinking water, inadequate sewerage facilities, and insufficient solid waste disposal. A major recent United Nations report on the state of water and sanitation in the world's cities found that water distribution systems in many cities in the developing world are inadequate, typically serving the city's upper- and middle-class neighborhoods but not rapidly expanding settlements on the urban fringe. Furthermore, the current data on the provision of water and sanitation in urban areas is very weak and the true situation is actually far worse than most international statistics suggest [20]. The large projected increases in the numbers of urban residents in the developing world over the next 20–30 years implies that municipal authorities responsible for these sectors face very serious challenges in the years ahead. In many cities, the scarcity of public water supplies forces many low-income urban residents to use other water sources such as private water vendors who charge many times more than the local public rate. Consequently, people in slums often must pay much more for lower quality water than other urban residents [21]. Improving public sanitation is another major urban environmental challenge that needs to be immediately addressed in virtually all cities in the developing world. Failure to collect garbage as well as inadequate waste management and recycling policies and practices mean that cities are being inundated in their own waste. In African cities, waste management has been described as ‘a monster that has aborted most efforts made by city authorities, state and federal governments and professionals alike’ [22]. As is the case of the water supply distribution network, sewerage systems are far better at meeting the needs of upper- and middle-class neighborhoods than they are of servicing poorer neighborhoods, particularly unregulated neighborhoods on the urban periphery. A major environmental crisis is looming large as many developing countries as cities discharge ever increasing amounts of waste into the air or into freshwater bodies, threatening water quality and aquatic ecosystems. The extent that urban growth affects the local ecosystem can be controlled to some extent by high quality land management. Land is an essential ingredient in all urban growth, yet in most cities there have been virtually no effective measures to control land development. Although many cities have formulated master plans at some time or another that included guidelines on land development and the future direction of urban growth, rarely, if ever, have these plans been realized. Reasons for this include poor urban governance, poor critical assumptions-urban population projections underpinning these plans have often been extremely weak-and the inability of plans to be adjusted and refined in the light of changing conditions, such as the invasion and settling of unused public space. Devising equitable land development policies remains one of the largest challenges facing planners and policy makers in many cities in the developing world. Congestion in many large cities can also be extremely severe and air pollution is now a serious environmental concern in many cities. Concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead, and suspended particulate matter in many large cities greatly exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Among the greatest environmental health concerns are exposure to fine particulate matter and to lead which contributes to learning disability in young children. A popular response to urban transportation congestion problems has been government investment in large-scale public transportation systems such as underground or overland metro systems. Less attention has been devoted to expanding and improving public bus networks, which tend to be overcrowded and poorly maintained. In many cities, private mini-bus companies have filled a hole in the market by providing low-cost urban transportation where standard bus routes have proved insufficient. Causes of urbanisation Urbanization and city growth are caused by a number of different factors including rural–urban migration, natural population increase, and annexation. Because rates of natural increase are generally slightly lower in urban than in rural areas, the principal reasons for rising levels of rbanization are rural–urban migration, the geographic expansion of urban areas through annexations, and the transformation and reclassification of rural villages into small urban settlements. The expansion of the metropolitan periphery can be caused both by the arrival of new migrants and by the sub-urbanization of the middle class out of the central city. The relative importance of each of these various causes of urbanization and suburbanization varies both within and between regions and countries. As stated above, over the next 30 years, population growth in general and urban population growth in particular is expected to be particularly rapid in the developing world, averaging 2. 3 per cent per year during 2000–2030. Although much of the popular rhetoric on urbanization has left the impression that cities are currently growing too fast and that growth should be limited or somehow diverted, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that, for the most part, there is an economic logic to the pattern of urbanization [14]. In most cases, high growth rates are an indicator of success rather than failure and most of the world's largest cities are located in countries with the world's largest economies. Many cities in Pacific Asia, for example, have experienced dramatic economic growth, reflecting the fact that the region is completely integrated into the new global economy. Cities on the forefront of global restructuring such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul, and Taipei have enjoyed unprecedented growth rates of more than 10 percent per annum throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. All now rank among the top trading cities in the world and in fact, the level of gross national product (GNP) per capita in Hong Kong and Singapore exceeds that of many European countries. This extremely general descriptive of urban trends and projections naturally masks considerable regional diversity. There are enormous differences in the pattern of urbanization between regions and even greater variation in the level and speed with which individual countries or indeed individual cities within regions are growing.

Coming of Age Essay

Around the world there are many themes that we find over and over in many cultures and from many periods in time. One of the reoccurring themes that everyone goes through in the lifetime is the theme of coming of age. This occurs when a young person goes through the transition from childhood to adulthood and has life experiences that matures a person. We all have experienced a coming of age story by reading them in books, seeing them on TV or in movies, or maybe even personal experiences based on ones culture. It’s clear that coming of age is a crucial element of our self-representations and conceptions. Generally, all of living is a process of coming of age as seen in the novel, Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield, who is sixteen-year-old boy with the mind of a ten year old. He thinks of innocence as important in the beginning of the novel. But later on in the book, Holden slowly grows to be an adult. For example, when Holden gets soaking wet by rain when he is watching his little sister ride the carousal he â€Å"felt so damn happy all of a sudden†(213). This symbolizes Holden entering adulthood because he realizes the happiness in life. He realizes that he is too big for the carousel and is happy that his sister is happy. Holden’s childish personality continued to wash away as he reached a stage of maturity. Over the course of the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is taken from a position of innocence, in which she believes that she is safe and that there aren’t many â€Å"bad people† in the world, to the position where she has witnessed some of the bad things that have happened but realizes that she is not entirely safe. That is tested at the end of the novel when Scout was attacked while walking home with her brother Jem. Similarities were show in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Hucks maturity begins to grow as he first starts to show emotions toward a runaway slave, and by the end of the novel, has grown up to the point where, when Jim, is captured, Huck decides to give up playing games after Tom is shot to ensure that he would get medical attention that he needed. In an episode of Malcolm in the Middle it revolved around Malcolm trying to help his classmate Dabney get into a paintball match despite the resistance of Dabney’s overbearing mom. Once Dabney unleashes years of repressed aggression, his mom comes around to try to drag him off. Dabney reacts back by saying â€Å" I’m no longer your little boy anymore. I’m your little man† showing that Dabney has matured and stands up and says what he believes. In the movie Edward Scissorhands, Edward is taken in by a family who he depends on. The family teach him how to think for himself so that one day he can gain the independence that is necessary for him to go out on his own. Edward living off of the family’s support and trying things for himself is a coming of age process in itself. When he starts acting out and making his own decisions he is transitioning into an independent mindset that eventually allowed him to make the choice of living alone and fend for himself. Roman Catholics believe that Confirmation â€Å".. completes the process of initiation into the community and it matures the soul for the work ahead.. During confirmation God the Holy Spirit comes upon the person, accompanied by God the Father and God the Son, just as he did at Pentecost. †(Acts 2:1–4) Those who have been confirmed are called â€Å"Soldiers of God†. This refers to their spiritual duty to fight evil, darkness, and Satan. In Nigeria, young girls known as Iriabo spend several weeks in â€Å"fattening rooms† being pampered and wearing copper coils around their legs to restrict movement as part of a ritual marking their official transition into womanhood. In Senegal, Bassari boys undergoing the Kore rite and are taken into a sacred forest where they experience a symbolic death and a return to infancy, a state of ritual purity from where they are reborn as mature members of the community. (Hipple) Ultimately, the coming of age experience is a very much so significant time in ones life. People have to continue to find themselves and explore who they are even after the coming of age experience. It has lasting effects on a person as it has an impact on our dreams and desires that we want to fit into our world.