Violence in the Aztec Society Essay Example for Free

Violence in the Aztec Society Essay â€Å"The dismal drum of Huichilobos sounded again, accompanied by conches, horns, and trumpet-like instruments. It was a terrifying sound, and when we looked at the tall cue (temple-pyramid) from which it came we saw our comrades who had been captured in Cortes’ defeat being dragged up the steps to be sacrificed. When they had haled them up to a small platform in front of the shrine where they kept their accursed idols we saw them put plums on the heads of many of them; and then they made them dance with a sort of fan in front of Huichilobos. Then after they had danced the papas (Aztec priests) laid them down on their backs on some narrow stones of sacrifice and, cutting open their chests, drew out their palpitating hearts which they offered to the idols before them. Then they kicked the bodies down the steps, and the Indian butchers who were waiting below cut off their arms and legs and flayed their faces, which they afterwards prepared like glove leather, with their beards on, and kept for their drunken festivals. Then they ate their flesh with a sauce of peppers and tomatoes.† -Spanish Conquistador, Bernal Diaz (The Enigma of Aztec Sacrifice by Michael Harner (1977:46-50)) The Aztecs were a tribe in central Mexico during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. They were located in Tenochtitlan, now Mexico City, on an island in Lake Texcoco. The Aztec community was highly advanced for their time period in things such as architecture and mathematics. They developed a complex calendar, irrigation systems, exquisite art, advanced agriculture, canals used in transportation, chinampas (floating gardens), and were the first civilization to require their children to go to school. Yet, they were extremely violent and resorted to barbaric acts. It appears from the Spanish records and archaeological findings that the Aztecs were most definitely a violent society, but were they inherently violent or did they have rational reasons related to non-violence explaining their behavior? The main reason scholars think that the Aztecs were seen as a malicious  group was their ritual of human sacrificing. Spanish records of the Aztecs have been known to exaggerate their descriptions of human sacrificing but archaeological research done in 1960 and 1969 tends to support the conquistadores’ accounts. Headless human rib cages completely lacking the limb bones were found at Aztec sacrificial sites. Although these remains were found, many scholars perceive this as a religious act pertaining to the Aztec’s belief that humans must sacrifice that, which was most precious to them, life, in order to receive in return the sun, rain, and other blessings of the gods that make life possible. Ortiz de Montellano (1978,1990) attributed the Aztec practice of human sacrifice to their belief that the gods required it. He went on to say that the majority of human sacrifice during harvest periods indicated that it was â€Å"a gesture of thanks and reciprocity to the gods ( 1978:614).† The Aztecs often went to war with their neighbors to bring back prisoners for human sacrifice; this was called the flowery wars. Although the Aztecs did take prisoners to be sacrificed, some scholars believe that the flowery wars were not only for obtaining sacrificial victims. Hassig (1990) linked human sacrifice to their unstable economic position. He analyzed the flowery wars as an empire-building strategy that was used to wear down stronger enemies rather than as a deliberate procedure to capture people for sacrifice. Price (1978) and Isaac (1983) similarly thought that the flowery wars reflected the shifting of power between neighboring cities and their inability to conquer the Valley of Mexico (Tlaxcala-Pueblan Valley). Price suggests that the failure of military conquering made human sacrifice an ideal excuse to explain this lack of success. King Moteuczoma characterized the wars as rituals for obtaining captives and as military training for soldiers. This is seen as a strateg ic plan to direct the conquistadores’ attention away from political and military weaknesses in the Aztec civilization. In the mass majority of sacrificial rituals, cannibalism was performed. This often took part during the sacrificing of prisoners of war but also happened during the sacrifice of some of their own people. Harner (1977) rejected anthropological theories hypothesizing that human sacrifice was  caused by the requirement of their religion and gods. He thought that their causes were because of a high population rate that caused protein scarcity. Based on studies of population pressure, Harner (1970) suggested that the big picture of Aztec human sacrifice and cannibalism resulted from demographical and ecological factors. These created protein shortages, population pressure, seasonal crop failures, a lack of livestock, the depletion of wild game in the region, famine, and the environment surrounding the valley was not suitable for farming due to the desertification of the land. The Aztecs had corn and beans to provide protein but since these vegetables could only be grown in certain seasons, they were an insufficient way to get protein. This is what led Harner to believe cannibalism was their only constant and abundant supply of protein. Harner also suggested that the purpose of the flowery wars was to capture prisoners to sacrifice with the intent to consume them. Price, (1978) however, disagreed. She stated that the highest classes of society, who consumed most of the human sacrifices, already had easy access to other meat. Ortiz De Montellano (1978) argued against Harner’s hypothesis as well. He stated that there was a wide range of meat protein available, advances in agricultural techniques, plenty of stored food, and that the Aztecs had a good overall diet. Montellano also suggested other ideas as to why the â€Å"ecological hypothesis† was not true. The first was that the Aztecs were conquering new lands and areas for agriculture, which sometimes provided them with a new source of game to hunt, thus having a larger pool of meat to eat. His second was of the minor availability of the total human protein from sacrifice because the flesh was reserved for the elite, which included great warriors and priests. Montellano’s third was evidence that explained that the bulk of the Aztec’s sacrifices took part during the periods of time in the year when there were plenty of crops and plenty of food to easily sustain them. This means that instead of the Aztecs relying on human meat during the off-season, they practiced cannibalism regardless of their food status. Michael Winkelman (1998) said, â€Å"in comparison to other societies with human  sacrifice, the Aztecs were extreme in several measures: they were the only human sacrifice society in this sample with a high risk of famine; the highest on several measures of population pressure; in the highest category of population density (over 500 persons per square mile); and had the highest levels of overall warfare for land resources. Therefore, their sacrifice and cannibalism may reflect their extreme conditions on many ecological variables.† John M. D. Pohl (2002) stated, â€Å"Aztec sacrifice, once perceived as a ruthless practice committed by a ‘tribe’ seemingly obsessed with bloodshed, is now seen as no more or less brutal than what many imperial civilizations have done.† The Aztecs were not the only people throughout the Earth’s history to have such violent practices. William Prescott (1992) compiled research comparing the Aztecs violent ways to those of other cultures throughout history. According to Prescott’s research, such violent practices were found among the ancient Canaanites, the Celtic people, and the Romans. The Romans had slaves that they condemned to die merely for the purpose of entertainment in the Colosseum. The research also notes the story of Abraham and Isaac in the Old Testament, where Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son for God. While the story was against sacrifice it still shows that it was a known practice. Another biblical story of sacrifice that Prescott mentions is the story of Jepthah. Jepthah pledges that he will sacrifice the first living creature that he saw when returning home if god would give him victory in his upcoming battle. When Jepthah returns home, he is greeted by his daughter and is forced by the bindings of his word to make a burnt offering of his daughter. Prescott’s compilation of research also included the Hindu custom of suttee, which was the suicide of the widow on the funeral pyre of her husband because of the Hindu belief in Samsara. French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss (1964) described the Aztecs as suffering from â€Å"a maniacal obsession with blood and torture.† However, Harner (1977:51) stated, â€Å"Gruesome as these practices may seem, an ecological perspective and population pressure theory render the Aztec emphasis on human sacrifice acceptable as a natural and rational response to the material conditions of their existence. A materialist ecological  approach reveals the Aztecs to be neither irrational nor mentally ill, but merely human beings who, faced with unusual survival problems, responded with unusual behavior.† The Aztec’s beliefs about the world and how they, as a people, could keep the sun rising and the plants growing and therefore continued life for future generations was also a very powerful force in their commitment to give to the gods the highest honor of human sacrifice. The Aztecs definitely had a violent culture and had some very unorthodox practices, but were their methods any more cruel than nuclear warfare, terrorism, and torture for political reasons? We look at the Aztec’s reasons for their violent actions as insufficient but we do not question our own reasons for the violence we create today. Perhaps it’s in the way we view, interpret, and justify the actions.

Chinese religions Essay Example for Free

Chinese religions Essay The Chinese like any other race, had their own conceptual perspective of things that they cannot fathom or explain. Like their contemporaries they tend to â€Å"simplify things† by trying to attribute the unexplainable to the supernatural. They try to look deeper into things, taking into consideration the physicality and spirituality of objects, be they animate or inanimate. This outlook made the ancient Chinese come up with the concept of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang is defined as the concept of balance between two contrastingly different, or opposing elements. The Chinese believe that Yin and Yang maintains the balance of all things and that it is impossible to isolate or exclude one from the other. The continuity of the Yin and Yang cycle is clearly construed as the balance that keeps everything in an orderly manner. The idea of harmony and balance are the main basis of the yin and yang concept. Yin and Yang did not come to existence in order to destroy or overwhelm one another, but rather to complement one another. The principle that each person is governed by both the negative and positive forces is central to almost all schools of Chinese thought. The Chinese believed that everything in the universe, including ourselves are constantly governed by the laws of dualism. The concept of Yin and Yang is echoed in various Chinese religions. It is essentially the basis and core of Taoism, and has a slight influence on Confucianism and Buddhism. The concept of Yin and Yang in Taoism hinges on the importance of maintaining the fragile balance between the Yin or positive force and the Yang or Negative force. This religion bases its teachings on the principle that both Yin (Negative) and Yang (Positive) contains a small part of one another, and that both of these two opposing forces exist not to destroy one another by the usage of an overwhelming force, but simply to emphasize and complement one another. This religion also preaches that although the positive and negative aspect of things go against each other they are essentially things that would emphasize the uniqueness of the same substance and nature like the others despite the appearance of differences between these two things. A good analogy of this would be mans’ concept of beauty. One cannot appreciate beauty if all objects look alike, if all things share the same features, then those things cannot be truly called beautiful, instead these things would be seen as plain or ordinary due to the lack of a viable standard to base this criteria. One can only distinguish beauty and perfection when its opposite, the concept of ugliness and imperfection exists. Confucianism, another religion that originated from China, also shows subtle hint of the Yin and Yang concept. Confucius, its progenitor, theorized an ethical approach to eliminate conflict. His teachings echo a slight hint of the yin and yang concept, in that he believed that the mingling of the positive and negative forces brought about the existence of all that has life, and has persistently applied this principle in all of his teachings. Confucius did not focus his teachings on the principles of dualism (yin and yang) alone, instead, he assimilated it to almost all of his teachings concerning morality. Another point that proves the influence of the Yin and Yang concept to the teachings of Confucius is the fact his teachings are always addressed to two groups of people, who happens to have a contrasting and totally different social status. As manifested further in his teaching, he asserts the proper manner as to how the Affluent should act towards the less privileged, a king to his subjects, a parent to his children, a man to his wife†¦the list goes on. The one thing that is highly noticeable on the previous analogy is that all of it is based on how a superior individual should act towards his inferior counterpart and vice versa. This further boosts the idea that dualism has a significant influence on Confucian teachings. As a whole, Confucius emphasized that the suffering endured by society arose because its constituents failed to act out in accordance to their respective places in society, it is his idea that people should play their role to the utmost to maintain the balance and harmony within the existing society. Another Chinese religion that the Yin and Yang concept has influenced to a certain degree would be Buddhism. This religion founded by Siddharta Gautama Buddha teaches that the main cause of pain and suffering is pleasure and desire, the concept, in itself is a paradox of duality, which is a very good indicator of the presence of the yin and yang concept. The main precept of Buddhism that preaches avoidance of pleasure and desire to avoid pain and suffering is a contradiction that suggests the influence of the Yin and yang concept. The principle of Yin and Yang and Buddhism are similarly congruent in the preaching of the belief in the importance of harmony and the maintenance of constant balance within the world. It is notable that Taoism, the Religion that conceptualized the Yin and yang concept, and Buddhism both allude to the belief that a person’s fate is totally dependent on the deeds committed during his lifetime. Based on these ideologies, the Chinese have developed the attitude of always trying to blend in to their environment in accordance to the concept of the Yin and the Yang forces. This is evidenced on their continued belief and usage of the principles of Feng Shui, the principle of adjusting one’s surrounding to direct the balanced flow of positive and negative energy to benefit man as a whole. The principle of Yin and Yang is also inherent in the practice of Chinese medicine. The main precept that they uphold in practicing Chinese traditional medicine is that, an imbalance of either positive or negative energy would cause sickness or even death to afflicted individuals, Thus, Chinese practitioners advocate that in order to be healthy one must always strive to have a balanced flow of energy circulating within his body. These are but limited examples of how the Chinese see and apply the principles of Yin and Yang to their daily life. This concept has formed a line of tradition or norm for the Chinese people, so much so that It is unheard of for any Chinese individual to disregard the harmony and balance within his environment, without resorting to or practicing any of the practices prescribed by traditional Yin and Yang believers. As of the present it is safe to assume that the Chinese people put great store in mingling smoothly with their surroundings. This is very evident on their attitude, and the way in which they were able to adapt to almost any environment known to man without relinquishing any part of their National Identity and Heritage (a Chinese could live in any part of the world, or be born on different countries, but essentially retains his Chinese posterity and would still be very â€Å" Chinese† with regards to his beliefs). The Chinese, are perhaps one of the most, if not the most adaptable people known on this planet. This is highly evidenced by their willingness to submit and accept their lot in society and at the same time trying to make the best out of it. Works Cited: â€Å"The Yin and Yang Theory† http://www. 168fengshui. com/articles/yin-and-yang-theory/ http://www. taopage. org/yinyang. html Yin and Yang in Acupuncture and in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) http://www. holisticonline. com/Acupuncture/acp_yin_yang. htm http://www. religionfacts. com/taoism/beliefs. htm http://fly. cc. fer. hr/~shlede/ying/yang. html http://www. essortment. com/all/yinyangmeaning_rosp. htm

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay

Reasons For The Merging Of Companies Economics Essay There is no doubt that mergers play a great role in the development of an economy. In this essay, a merger will be defined as a combination of two corporations in which only one corporation survives and the merged corporation goes out existence (Gaughan, 2007, p. 12). After a merger, the newly-established company will hold two merged companies assets. In this way, mergers offer more chances for companies to become bigger and stronger. At the same time, customers may receive better services than those before a merger. However, the topic of mergers motives has long been the subject of debate, as different companies put forward different reasons to merge. Some of them are economically sound, while some of them are not. In fact, from the current studies, it can be seen that there are two big types of motives, one is economic motives and the other is non-economic motives. Although some people argue that motives of mergers lie in some non-economic reasons, such as the political reasons, the managers reasons, and so on, others take a different view and emphasize that because of that the raison dà ªtre of a company is to make profits, most motives of mergers are for sound economic reasons. Thus, this essay is an attempt to argue that the main motives for mergers are economically sound reasons. It also aims to show the importance of different economic motives, even though some people claim that there are many failures that resulted from those motives. In addition, the ineffectiveness of non-economic motives will also be checked to support the main argument. In order to demonstrate this, this essay will first focus on the growth motive of mergers. The case of PO and Stena will also be added into the discussion. Second, different types of synergy will be illustrated to explain how valid this motive is to help companies to become stronger. Third, the electronic giant General Electronic (GE) will be given as a good example to discuss the significance of the diversification motive. Fourth, the example of the Exxon-Mobil Oil Company will be used to show some other economic motives. Finally, there will be discussion about some non-economic motives such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on, though these are some less common motives for mergers. 2.0 Economic Motives 2.1 Faster Growth If a company seeks to make a merger with other firms, the most popular motive may be growth. As Denzil (2001) points out, one of the most successful types of merger may be a merger with a growth motive, because it is easy and quick to beat competitors and take the lead in markets. When a company wants to expand, there are several choices: internal growth or growth through mergers. Internal growth means companies go to buy land and build more factories, employ new staff, or search for a market to sell products and so on. This is a long way to go. However, if companies use the method of merging, it will save them much time to do other things such as research and development or market promotion. Moreover, through merging, companies may easily occupy the market, enlarge the market share, and beat the competitors (DePamphilis, 2003). If mergers occur in different regions, this means companies are improving its fame and becoming more globalised, this means more customers may know about the company, in other words, more potential benefits will move to the company. Although there are a great number of obvious benefits that companies will face, others disagree with the motive of growth. In their opinion, growth is a difficult goal to achieve and is not a sound economic reason. As Gaughan (2007) indicates, when a company has already accomplished growth in the past, it is difficult for corporate managers to keep growing. However, after achieving growth in the past, managers will look for some other ways to keep growing. Among those ways, Mergers could be the fastest and the most efficient way. Companies do not need to take couples of year to build workshop, and recruit new employees. In addition, with less time to spend, growth via mergers can be gain through the lowest-risk way (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 356). Long time means more uncertainties, which are more risks. How to avoid those risks? It is better to spend less time, and complete mergers quickly. As a good example of growth motive, the case of Johnson Johnson should be introduced. Johnson Johnson is one of the biggest manufacturers of health care industry in the world. It was established by Johnson and his two brothers in 1986 in New Jersey of United States. At that time, it was a company which only had fourteen workers. In the early 1920s, with the development of businesses, Johnson Johnson began to build branches in other places such as America, Europe, Asia and Africa. However, over the period 1995 to 2005, Johnson Johnson took a series of mergers. Through those mergers, Johnson Johnson have gained a greatly fast growth. So far, Johnson Johnson have owned more than 250 subsidiaries in 57 different countries and 115 thousand employees. Its products are available in nearly 175 countries (Stock Johnson Johnson, 2010). The global revenue of Johnson Johnson in 2008 was 63.7 billion US dollars (JNJ Income Statement, 2009). From the example of Johnson Johnson, we can see, with the development of an increasingly globalized world, growth can be one of the most efficient and fundamental motives of mergers. 2.2 Different Types of Synergy As another important motive, synergy is the popular choice for companies to make a merger. Synergy means the extra energy or effectiveness that people or businesses create when they combine their efforts. In mergers, according to DePamphilis (2003), synergy refers to corporate combination will produce more profits than that the sum of their separate status. Therefore, synergy is often used to explain the phenomenon of 1+1=3. In mergers, this means the combination of two companies may generate three companies effect. Just because of this, many companies try their best to seek the opportunities to combine with other corporations. If synergy occurs in mergers, it focuses on two sides to raise the profitable ability of companies: revenue enhancements and cost reductions (Gaughan, 2007, p. 133). For example, if Coca Cola make a merger with a fruit producer, as a result, it will save more spending to buy raw material for its soft drinks. This is called cost reductions. When Coca Cola have gained a lower price of raw material, it can reduce some prices of its drinks. In this way, lower price will make a promotion of its drinks. This is named revenue enhancements. Though the actual fact is more complex than this example, the truth is the related theory would be basically the same. Although synergy has enhanced the profitability from revenues and costs, some people do not agree synergy should be a good economic reason for mergers (Gaughan, 2007). From their point of view, the synergy effect can only be described the mergers of companies in the same industry or seller-buyer relationship, and it is not suitable to other diversified mergers. In order to respond this, economies of scope should be introduced as a concept that is confused with economies of scale. Economies of scope can be defined as the ability of a firm to utilize one of set of inputs to provide a broader range of products and services (Gaughan, 2007, p. 129). If a company is able to utilize its workforce, and facilities, synergy also can be achieved. Most failures of mergers with synergy purpose are because of their leaders inefficient management ability and not the motive of synergy. Several examples of mergers motivated by the pursuit of synergy have achieved the success. After the 1994 merger between Radisson Diamond Cruises and Seven Seas Cruises, the combined cruise lines began to provide cheaper price of beds and itineraries. This is because, as a result of merger, fewer managers will be needed to maintain the relationship with the same districts travel agencies. Hence, costs reductions are gained. Moreover, with the larger size of company, the fame of company is improving. This enables sales force to make a promotion more easily. As a result, more customers will come to enjoy their trips. Therefore, revenue is enhanced by this way (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 127-128). With motive of synergy, companies are not only able to increase its revenue, but also decline its cost. Thus, we may see how valid the synergy motive is. 2.3 Diversification When a company has already been the bellwether of one industry, managers of the company may consider some diversified merger to expand its size and make more profits. Diversification provides conditions of expansion by applying companies goodwill in former industry to other different product field, and it can also provide conditions of forming scale effect (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 20). Through diversification, it is foreseeable that companies may have the chance to gain significant earnings, because a new industry means a new opportunity. Opportunity should be the best thing for companies managers. Another side about diversification, as Gaughan (2007) pointed out, is that companies may obtain continuous competitive advantage. This is because if General Electronic can hardly sell its military products to armies in a peaceful time, but it can also seek profitable opportunities in other field such as insurance, healthcare, plastics, energy, and so on. This is the theory about continuous c ompetitive advantages. As long as a company becomes a diversified one, it will acquire the privilege of enjoying continuous competitive advantage. Compared with its positives, one accusation for diversification as not a valid economic reason is that there are some potential risks when companies expand into another industry. If companies cant handle the risks well, it may bring damages to them. A study carried out by Berger and Ofek (1995), using a large sample of firms over the 1986-1991 sample periods, found that diversification caused an average 13% to 15%s loss of firm value. The study also found that the loss of firm value was less than that of when the diversification occurred, and it was not affected by firm size. However, some evidence suggest diversification do not directly lessen firms value. One finance researcher, Villalonga, believes that the diversification discount is because of incorrect use of data of several researchers (Villalonga, 2004, cited in Gaughan, 2007, p143). As Gaughan (2007) points out: The data used by those researchers were artificially restricted by Financial Accounting Standards Board definition of segments as well as requirements that only segments that constitute 10% or more of a companys business are required to be reported. Using a data source that is not affected by this problem, Villalonga finds a diversification premium, as opposed to a discount (Gaughan, 2007, p143). Although there are many companies that have suffered failures at diversification, others argue that they have achieved great success with mergers at diversification. The most successful example is General Electric (GE). Unlike its name, now GE is no longer an electric company. Through a series of mergers at diversification, GE has become a diversified giant with operations insurance, television stations, plastics, medical equipment, and so on. Especially during the 1980s and 1990s, during the fourth merger wave, GE had made a great number of Mergers with various companies, and it has benefited significantly from those combinations (Gaughan, 2007, p. 137). In short, although mergers with diversification might have potential risks to the newly combined company, more diversified mergers may provide a bigger market for companies to make profits as what GE have gained. 2.4 Other Economic Motives There are two sound other types of economic motives for mergers: horizontal integration and vertical integration. Generally, in horizontal integration, market power and market share are raised through mergers. While in vertical integration, both merged firms have a buyer-seller relationship, hence, the combination may provide a dependable source of supply and lower costs advantage (Gaughan, 2007, pp. 145-155). In horizontal integration, market power stands for the leadership of a market (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 69). Sometimes, market power may gain from market share, and it is well-known that market share may easily gain as a consequence of horizontal integration. Once market power is achieved by one company, all the other rivals in the same market will probably be affected. Their pricing strategy, promotion plan, product research and development and so on will probably all follow with the leader of the market. This is similar to the situation of Nokia in the Mobile Phone industry. However, in a vertical integration, both merged companies will benefit from the integration. One company will not worried about the sales of its products, and the other will not be concerned with the source of its raw materials. However, there has been a debate that both horizontal integration and vertical integration may bring several negatives to the market and consumers. One of the most being criticized is monopoly competition (DePamphilis, 2003, p. 24). After mergers, the power of merged companies will get bigger. Thus, the structure of the industry will tend to monopoly, which means merged companies may beat others using pricing strategy and the public will pay significantly for this. Although, sometimes, when this situation happens, government will release various policies to prevent this situation from continuing. This is the reason why Coca Cola failed to merge with one of Chinas biggest juice companies, Huiyuan Juice Group. In 2009, Coca Cola planed to purchase Huiyuan Juice with 2.4 billion US dollars. This deal was blocked by Chinas ministry of commerce with the reason that Coke might abuse its dominant position in Chinas soft drinks industry (Sundeep Tucker, 2009). However, most of the time, as long as companies will not affect markets and customers by means of some illegal ways, government wont stop these mergers. In fact, the worlds largest Oil Company, Exxon-Mobil Oil Company, comes from a merger. In 1998, there was a megamerger in the Oil industry. Exxon announced its merger with the Mobil Oil Company. At that time, both two companies were the leading companies in the Oil industry. After merging, in order to achieve the synergistic gains, the companies need to successfully integrate its resources. As a result, this merger was extremely successful. Two years later, the combined Exxon-Mobil announced that the merger saved them approximately $4.8 billion which is higher than the estimated $3.8 billion. With successful operation of the following years, in 2006, Exxon-Mobil announced its highest annual profits that the firms annual profits in 2005 were $36 billion and its sales were $371 billion. Exxon-Mobil became the largest company in the world (Gaughan, 2007, p. 146). From the example of Exxon-Mobil and discussion above, we could see that no matter horizontal integration or vertical integration, those economic motives will be beneficial to merged companies. Therefore, these economic motives are the sound motives for mergers. 3.0 Non-economic Motives There are several non-economic motives which exist in mergers such as power motives, achievement motives, and political motives and so on. Most of the time, these motives only exist in the mind of managers of merged companies. Therefore, it is less sound for researchers to pay attention to them as motives for mergers. 3.1 Power Motives and Achievement Motives Power motives refer to the peoples pursuit of control over others by means of increasing source of power, and this is particularly serious in some top managers in merged companies (Schmalt, 1987, cited in Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.6). With the possibility of a higher position through mergers, it is no wonder that these managers will often support the proposal of mergers. Usually, after mergers, these newly combined companies will have a bigger size. More workers will add into different teams or departments for mangers to supervise. These things are what the managers seek for. Through this way, they have got a continuous increase of power. It is common to see that a person will be judged successful or unsuccessful by various criterions. Hence, achievements become the most vital thing for some managers. Since it may be the fastest and most efficient way to enlarge companies size and improve companies value though mergers, most managers who have the achievement motive will let companies go to merge. Furthermore, merger is a highly complex and energy consuming thing and people will recognize the managers of successful mergers. Therefore, a person with a strong achievement motive will take the risk of pushing companies to merge (Carsten Lausberg and Teresa Stahl, 2008, p.7). However, the reason why these two motives and motives like that are not main reasons for companies mergers is that, in nowadays companies, decisions are made by the whole members of the Board. Any single man could hardly affect the entire Board of directors opinions about decisions except for family firms or totally private companies. In addition, according to Gaughan (2007), mergers often take place in companies that have a good corporate governance structure and a clear responsibilities right of shareholders, board of directors, board of supervisors, managers. Hence, it is less common to see mergers with these personal motives. 3.2 Political Motives It is difficult to find one accurate definition for political motives. In general, however, people regards political motive as a motive which aims to serve for politics. Sometimes, politicians need more economic successes to earn more votes. For instance, in order to enable the Chinese people to enjoy more about the telecom service, in 2008 the Chinese government decided to make several mergers among the six largest state-owned telecom companies including China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, China Netcom, China Tietong, and China Satcom (Xinhua News Agency, 2008). However, it is hard to see mergers with political motives. This is because, primarily, political motives mergers often occur in the countries which have a similar political system like China. There are less of them in the world. Secondly, even though this situation happens, the core of a merger with a political motive is also the economic success. Hence, the political motive is, actually, an economic motive. Non-economic motives can either be some personal motives or the alias of economic motives, thus, they will not be seen as the sound motives. 4.0 Conclusion In conclusion, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that economic motives are the main reasons for different companies mergers. Despite the fact that some people argue that there are some potential risks among these economic reasons, focusing on negatives, the positives of these economic motives stand out. Furthermore, it is also true that various successful examples have shown the importance of these economic motives that have been discussed above. This is why, in recent years, more and more researchers have put their effort to study the topic of MA. Economic motives are not only the first step of merging, but the root of mergers, although, in the process of a merger, there will a great amount of works to be done in future. Currently, after the global financial crisis, there is another trend for companies seeking for mergers. How to avoid the potential risks of these economic motives and transfer them to the real profits is an issue that is open to question.

We Are Living in a Corporate Dystopia Essay -- Persuasive Argumentati

A Corporate Dystopia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Our children are being brainwashed. Not overtly, mind you, and not in any way that would be so violent as to cause alarm with most parents, but subtly and persistently, powerful entities are programming and transforming the next generation of American citizens into obedient attendants and mindless drones. Without the necessary steps taken to prevent it, our future will lie in the hands of men and women who, instead of using a well-cultivated intellect, will feign attack on the problems of their day with the "Just do it." and "Why ask why?" knee-jerk responses of their wasted childhood, leaving real power to reside with their programmers: Coca-Cola, Nike, Disney, et al. By allowing corporations free access to the minds of our children (as many of us do), we take the first bold steps down the road to the Brave New World. Ignoring this threat and treating it as either non-existent or only minimally significant is tantamount to inviting Huxley's dystopian vision into our own world. In so doing, we set ourselves up for a decidedly dark tomorrow.    To the uninitiated, the society of Huxley's Brave New World at first seems to be only pure science fiction with no visible ties to reality. After all, we have no government-controlled genetic engineering of human beings in our world. We do not center our children's education around pleasure and the maintenance of happiness. We have no drug, or soma, to keep us in a state of physical bliss and emotional contentedness. Yet, for all its fantasy, there are several uncomfortably close connections with our own world in Huxley's ominous vision.    For instance, while there is currently no centralized system of large-scale genetic engineering, recent... ...ty to apathy and, more importantly, teach our children to do the same.    [In] Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. -From Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman    Works Cited Coca-Cola Company. 1997 Annual Report. Atlanta: Coca-Cola Company. 1998. Available online at: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/index.html Hays, Constance L. "Math Textbook Salted With Brand Names Raises New Alarm". New York Times 21 Mar. 1999. Available online at: http://www.nytimes.com Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Time, Inc. 1963. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show-Business. New York: Viking. 1985.    We Are Living in a Corporate Dystopia Essay -- Persuasive Argumentati A Corporate Dystopia      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Our children are being brainwashed. Not overtly, mind you, and not in any way that would be so violent as to cause alarm with most parents, but subtly and persistently, powerful entities are programming and transforming the next generation of American citizens into obedient attendants and mindless drones. Without the necessary steps taken to prevent it, our future will lie in the hands of men and women who, instead of using a well-cultivated intellect, will feign attack on the problems of their day with the "Just do it." and "Why ask why?" knee-jerk responses of their wasted childhood, leaving real power to reside with their programmers: Coca-Cola, Nike, Disney, et al. By allowing corporations free access to the minds of our children (as many of us do), we take the first bold steps down the road to the Brave New World. Ignoring this threat and treating it as either non-existent or only minimally significant is tantamount to inviting Huxley's dystopian vision into our own world. In so doing, we set ourselves up for a decidedly dark tomorrow.    To the uninitiated, the society of Huxley's Brave New World at first seems to be only pure science fiction with no visible ties to reality. After all, we have no government-controlled genetic engineering of human beings in our world. We do not center our children's education around pleasure and the maintenance of happiness. We have no drug, or soma, to keep us in a state of physical bliss and emotional contentedness. Yet, for all its fantasy, there are several uncomfortably close connections with our own world in Huxley's ominous vision.    For instance, while there is currently no centralized system of large-scale genetic engineering, recent... ...ty to apathy and, more importantly, teach our children to do the same.    [In] Huxley's vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think. -From Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman    Works Cited Coca-Cola Company. 1997 Annual Report. Atlanta: Coca-Cola Company. 1998. Available online at: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/investors/index.html Hays, Constance L. "Math Textbook Salted With Brand Names Raises New Alarm". New York Times 21 Mar. 1999. Available online at: http://www.nytimes.com Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Time, Inc. 1963. Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show-Business. New York: Viking. 1985.   

The Real Monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Essay -- Literary Analy

In this essay I will be discussing who really is portrayed as the monster in her gothic horror novel, Frankenstein or â€Å"The Modern Prometheus†. Frankenstein was written in 1816, (thought by many to be the first real science fiction novel) during the age of Romanticism and it tells the story of a selfish man, Victor Frankenstein, whose ambition conducts him to seek for supernatural powers and leads him to death. He is a young scientist, eager to discover something new, the key to life, help to make scientific advances and let other scientists get a better idea of how the body works and who after studying chemical processes and the decay of living beings, gains an insight into the creation of like, leading him to create a monster that becomes malicious, in his attempt to reach a God-like level, to see his name glorified by humanity. However, I will be concentrating mainly on chapter five as this is the point in the novel where Victor’s scientific obsession appears to be a kind of dream but near the end we are left off with the birth of the creature. The horror of his project only strikes him when it is too late, when the creature itself, comes to life. He notices this when he realised that he was trying to take the place of God, and soon, in the shear horror, he abandons him, leaving the creature â€Å"to his own devices† and he gets no nurture, from in one point of view his father. Victor’s actions are what make up This is the most important chapter in the whole novel as this is what we have been leading up to all throughout. Also in this chapter we know that Victor is very obsessive with his work and is convinced that what he is doing will be the best for society. Overall, you can easily tell, that this is a gothic horror novel, m... ...any similarities as this concept still hasn’t been overcome. Mary Shelley uses a very different kind of language techniques throughout the novel. One technique is shown straightaway right at the beginning of chapter 5 â€Å"it was on a dreary night of November†. Here Mary uses pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy is the attribution of human emotions or characteristics to inanimate objects or to nature. In this case, she describes the night to be â€Å"dreary†, this tells the reader that it was a miserable night and this creates an eerie atmosphere, and the phrase â€Å"accomplishment of my toils† tells the audience that Frankenstein has a plan but we do not know what it is, and this causes tension to rise. This use of pathetic fallacy emphasizes what is about to happen, and gives us a better idea of the mood around, letting us understand what she is trying to say.

Prejudice in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Essay -- Examining Pr

Prejudices are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones. CHARLOTTE BRONTE, Jane Eyre Prejudice is something which has affected everyone at one time or another. It is like looking out a frosted window and not seeing a clear picture. When people look through a frosted window they sometimes see a blurred vision of the world outside. Sometimes we see people as very different from ourselves when really they are just a very little bit different from us. We can even see someone as an enemy instead of for who they really are. These narrow minded views in our society are prevalent, even though most of the time they are incorrect. To Kill a Mockingbird expresses many diverse pictures of prejudice; the situations also show that prejudice can be conquered. Aunt Alexandra will not allow Scout to play with Walter Cunningham because he is a poor boy. Aunt Alexandra shows her prejudice by not letting Scout play with someone of a lower social status "they're good folk...

GE’s Talent Machine Essay

Leadership development is a heavy priority for GE. The company put a great emphasis on building leaders. Four successive CEO each made contributions to the development of management talent. The CEO Cordiner implemented a decentralization practice that broke the company into various departments. The new company structure was more manageable but required more delegation. As a result of the decentralized structure, GE put a great emphasis on developing organizational learning. GE spent a lot of money on management education to expand managers’ leadership ability and general management skills. Education is one of the three life and work experience that contribute to leadership development (P479). The first corporate university was built by Cordiner where provided programs on executive education and management training. Those learning programs focus on personal growth that help employees to improve themselves continuously in GE’s learning culture. GE had various programs for finding potential leaders and preventing brain drain. The Session C was a performance assessment process that implemented to promote â€Å"high potential† employees. It included the individual evaluations, the career forecasts, and the succession plans. Subordinates were placed on a six-point scale from â€Å"high potential† to â€Å"unsatisfactory†. This feedback-intensive program helped the potential leaders to understand their behavior patterns, and they were able to find more constructive ways of achieving their objectives (P488). Another GE’s leadership excellence named disciplined performance management analysis, also known as the â€Å"vitality curve† was added to Session C. The incentive ranking system help GE to seek the best talents and to sustain a high-performance workforce. In addition, the CEO Reg Jones initiated a more structured practice to strategic planning to make the review process more manageable- the strategic business unite (SUBs). All those programs help GE to build a results-driven workforce. That is why GE is a â€Å"CEO factory. The forced ranking system put much pressure on employees for improving performance and productivity. The system feed on favoritism, and managers as rankers may intentionally give the high assessment to the people who are close to them. My suggestion for the vitality curve is to add a peer  evaluation into the ranking system. However, fairness could also be questioned in this case, because some people end up at the bottom even thought their performance may be perfectly satisfactory when judged in isolation. Also, it is easy to present the blind competition because the success of one employee is a lost opportunity for others. Additionally, I suggest having the 20% highly progress reward from the highly valued 70%. Recognition and rewards for the top 20% should keep the same, but add more recognition to the average performers who improved a lot compared with last year. This practice will boost the confidence of average employees who think they will never be rewarded. On the flip side, it may be more complex and take longer time to evaluate the performance. Since GE conduct business all around the world, a more aggressive international approach is needed. I suggest GE to focus on global recruitment that can provide more opportunity to hunt talents. One thing GE could do is partnerships with universities overseas, and open training and developing programs in the universities to attract potential non-American young talents. GE could provide internships and jobs for high performers who enter the programs. The programs may require a lot investment, and the benefit is unknown. People may use the programs as stepping stones to their own career. Great leaders are great learners. Learning does not end when I get out of college. Learning is a life long process. As a potential future leader, I have to adopt continuous learning as my personal leadership priority. As I learned form the ITO (Individual, Team and Organization) class, knowledge could be classified into explicit knowledge and tactic knowledge. Explicit knowledge could be learned though training and books. It is beneficial for me to read more books to enrich the knowledge, and keep my knowledge updated to the current world. Also, I need to learn to be opportunistic, and take advantage of training programs. Tactic knowledge, in contrast, is what I can learn through experience. I could take advantage of networking, and meet new people to build week ties. Therefore, I could have more opportunities to experience different things though those week ties. Finding a good mentor in the organization is also good for my learning development. Also, ask for  feedback. Another thing I learned from GE is the goal orientation. The company set a clear objective of building leaders, and all the leadership development practice were build to fulfill that goal. I have to set both short term and long term goals that motivate me to achieve. Finally, be self-awareness. I need to take time to think about my strengths and weaknesses, and do self-evaluation regularly to summarize areas that I need to improve.