Analysis Of Spanish Colonialism And Aztecs - 908 Words

The essay ‘â€Å"Their Cortà ©s and Our Cortà ©s†: Spanish Colonialism and Aztec Representation† by Michael Schreffler argues that â€Å" . . . early modern rhetoric and iconography . . . constructed a distorted view of painting in Aztec Mexico and entangled it in the conventions of colonial historiography† (407). This essay is effective because of its thorough examination of the accounts that explain a painting made by the Aztec’s at San Juan de Ulà ºa on Easter Sunday of 1519. Schreffler begins the essay by explaining Bernal Dà ­az del Castillo’s account of San Juan de Ulà ºa on Easter Sunday of 1519. Dà ­az explains that Tendile (an Aztec leader) ordered his people to produce a painting of Cortà ©s, his entourage, and his ship. Unfortunately, this painting†¦show more content†¦After giving the reader some context, Schreffler states his thesis. This was an effective way for him to present his introductory information because it successfully leads the reader into the rest of the essay. Schreffler also utilizes subtopics to organize his ideas. He includes four subtopics to indicate that he will be introducing a new idea. Each subtopic contains information relevant to that topic. For example, Schreffler’s second subtopic concerns a phrase that Dà ­az and Là ³pez de Gà ³mara use to describe the painting. The paragraphs about this phrase examine the following ideas: Là ³pez de Gà ³mara’s version of the event was not based off of Cortà ©s’s first letter to the king, other possible influences on Là ³pez de Gà ³mara’s description of the painting, Là ³pez de Gà ³mara’s influence on Dà ­az’s account/ their use of the phrase, possible meaning of the phrase, and how Guevara’s description of art in the Americas intensely differs from the accounts of Là ³pez de Gà ³mara and Dà ­az. Each of Schreffler’s paragraphs allude to the subtopic which ultimately supports the main argument. Because Schreffler is arguing that Dà ­az, Là ³pez de Gà ³ma ra, Solà ­s and Gonzà ¡lez created a misconstrued view of Aztec painting, imagery is a vital component of this essay. The visuals strengthen his argument by giving viewers a clear sense of the difference between typical Aztec panting and the painting that the accounts describe. For example, Schreffler includes two images of paintings done by theShow MoreRelatedLa Otra Conquista Review Reaction Paper2997 Words   |  12 Pagescultural imposition on the Aztec civilization and how colonialism was able to shape them into the people that they are today. Before continuing on, it is worth to note that there are certain similarities between the Aztec civilization and the pre-colonial Philippines, which were both Spanish colonies at one point in time. They both worshipped deities from nature, and were seen as barbarians by the Spanish conquistadores. The methods used by the Spaniards in conquering the Aztecs were pretty much similarRead MoreThe Literary Theory Known as Post-Colonialism1061 Words   |  4 PagesThe literary theory known as Post-Colonialism is easily defined in content but not in its beginning or end. Ashcroft, Griffins, and Tiffin state that the term â€Å"covers all the culture affected by the imperial process from the moment of colonization to the present day† (2). They focus on the territories colonized by Britain in Empire Writes Back but state that the analysis can apply to the former empires of France, Spain, and Portugal. This view falls in line with the issue brought up by Childs andRead MoreReginald Lew is II EVALUATION OF SOURCES: Gonzales, Michael J.. The Mexican Revolution, 1910-1940.1600 Words   |  7 Pagesover the past twenty-five years. Offering a new take on the growth of mordern Mexico, this text analyzes the relationship between Mexicos current age and past; the analysis connections between its economic, political, and social outlooks. From 1519, the Spanish conquistadores conquered the Aztecs. The territory allow the Spanish empire to become the most powerful state in the world until the 15th century, For 300 years Mexico was a colony, under the name of New Spain. The Empor of Spain emposdRead MoreEssay Sustainable Land Management in Latin America3376 Words   |  14 PagesYet, this investigation is often done with the assumption that people in developing countries are acting irresponsibly and their behavior must be corrected by more enlightened conservationists from North America , Europe , and northern Asia . An analysis of the history of different land management practices shows that environmental degradation was often the result of colonial disruption of indigenous peoples. 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We then show in section 4 how the experience of European colonialism can be used as a ‘natural experiment’ which can address these problems. Having established the central causal role of economic institutions and their importance relative to other factors in cross-country diï ¬â‚¬erences in economic performance, the rest

Effect of Information Technology - 2424 Words

EFFECTS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ON CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION IN NIGERIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. By ERNEST E. INYANG, A. D. O. OTONKUE AND JUDE U. BASSEY ABSTRACT Information technology may be considered to be the harnessing of electronic technology in its various forms to improve the operations and profitability of the business as a whole. Information Technology provides significant improvements with facilities such as word processing (improving secretarial, typing and some reprographic services) communication facilities in the form of electronic mail, databases in relation to filing and data retrieval. Such advances improves business efficiency eliminating unnecessary delays in communication between different parts of the†¦show more content†¦The analysis indicated that the quality of customer interface positively influences service quality. However, the study used a composite measure for the quality of customer interface that includes various factors such as responsiveness to customer inquiries, accuracy of account statements, timeliness of mailing account statements, customer complaints and processing errors. According to Kinshnan etal (1999), in the financial services business, the notion of customer interface is multifaceted and may vary, depending upon the channel of service delivery. While all the service encounters mostly involve the customer in one way or the other the nature of personal interactions with customers at branches differs from that of IT enabled automated delivery channels. There is a need for a deeper understanding of this distinction for firms to leverage overall customer satisfaction. Different components of the customer interface may have varying impacts on satisfaction across the customer population. METHODOLOGY The various information generated in the course of this research were obtained through participatory observations of twenty–four selected financial institutions and through questionnaires administered to the management and the customers of the selected financial institutions. The set of questions asked from the respondents were such that will elicitShow MoreRelatedTechnology And Its Effect On Information Crimes1606 Words   |  7 Pagesgrowth of technology, application security is increasingly becoming more and more popular. This growth has a direct effect on information crimes, which are being conducted in new and changing ways. Understanding the issues surrounding information crimes and providing simple but effective security models are key. As developers attempt to keep up with this widespread growth, proper security implementation can sometimes slip through the cracks. 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Medical information recorded in paper format makes these tasks very difficult, if not impossible. Fortunately, there is a growing movement to change that, using electronic information technology[3]. The use of this type of technology allows for high-quality, safe, well-coordinated, and efficient care[4]. Society today

Importance of Training in Tourism Industry

Question: Discuss about the Importance of Training in Tourism Industry. Answer: Introduction: This study discusses on training needs in the tourism sector in Australian economy. As tourism is of different kinds, training needs vary across different types of tourism units. This study considers tourism sector in Australian economy and training needs for employees for the growth of the sector. Australian tourism industry is currently facing skill deficiency in the tourism sector. This sector thus suffers from the labour shortage problem. Extensive research has been done in this area to analyse the requirement of training in the tourism sector for different staffs engaged in with different activities. Joppe (2012) discusses on training needs of the migrant workers, who engage themselves with the tourism sector. Dhar (2015) tried to find out relationship between service quality in tourism sector and training of the employees. This research paper has considered three variables such as perceived accessibility of training, perceived support for training and perceived benefits from training in connection with the organisational commitment. These variables all together influence the service quality of a tourism organisation and travel agency. Cuffy, Tribe and Airey (2012) have examined needs for education and training for tourism in the Commonwealth of Dominica as education level and other variables affect the tourism sector. The present study tries to find out the causal relationship between training needs of the employees and impact of training on the tourism sector. The current study focuses on the training needs of the leading tour operator Australia one. Project research problem Australian tourism industry has a growing trend and hence, this sector requires skilled labour in order manage demand and satisfaction of both domestic and international tourists. Tourism is an important sector in the economy as it contributes significantly in the growth of the economy. The tourism industry employs 929000 people either directly or indirectly. In spite of that, there are currently 38,000 vacancies in this sector of Australia due to shortage of skilled labour (tourism.australia.com 2017). This sector suffers from immense difficulties in recruitment and employee retention. Employment of trained labour influences the performance of the chosen company as this strategy makes the company competitive. Different types of skills are required for the employees such as training for new employees, teaching business and managerial skills, effective interpersonal skills, training for technical and professional skills (Zaitseva, Goncharova Androsenko, 2012). Therefore, this study s eeks to analyse the effectiveness of employee training for the inbound tour operator Australia One and contribution in the growth of the revenue. Focus for the study The purpose of the study is to find out requirements of training and development in the tourism sector focusing on the Australia One tour operator. This company is the leading inbound tour operator in Australia, which provides professional service and ensures effective communication with the customers. The present study aims to discuss on the effectiveness of the on existing job training programme provided by Australia One and requirements for improvement of training programme. The purpose of the study is also to evaluate the relationship between the service quality and the existing training programme provided by Australia One. The issues faced by the organisation during arranging training and development programme are also discussed here. Research questions The research questions are based on purpose of the research and are formulated to support the research. The research questions are stated below. What are the needs of training and development of employees in the tourism sector? How training and development programme improves the skills of employees and profitability of the organization? What challenges are faced by Australia One regarding recruitment and existing training process of employees? What solutions can be recommended for Australia One for skill development of employees? Hypothesis H0: Employee training has no effect on the performance of the Australia One H1: Employee training has significant positive effect on the performance of Australia One Significance of the project Training and development activities in any organisation allow it to adapt, compete, innovate and improve service provided to the customers. Training also helps to reduce errors in high risk settings in the business. Students can join in tourism sector after high secondary or under graduate studies. However, training develops their skills to enhance business performance. Unskilled workers in the tourism sector reduce the service quality. Therefore, the tour operators tend to recruit skilled workers to meet the standard of predetermined service quality (Sigala Chalkiti, 2014). Training in school or college provides knowledge in this field; however, practical guidance or on-job-training enhances effectiveness of the system and improve performance. Effective training can bring competitive advantage to the company. Therefore, Australia One has been chosen for the micro analysis and to show the importance of training in this sector. This study may help the organisation to improve its serv ice quality, increase new clients and to increase profitability. Literature review The study is related to the training needs for the employees of tourism sector. The study wants to identify the types of training that are required for a tourism organisation and especially for an inbound tourism operator. This chapter highlights the role of human resource management system in tour bound Operator Company. Human resource management has important role in diagnosing training needs of employees. Employee competencies are required for marketing of the tour products and services of the organisation. Types of training in tourism sector The role of tour operator is to plan for tourists. The tour operator offers tour package for specific areas of travel industry. Different types of tour products are offered based on the geographical and cultural dimensions of the country. A tour operator needs to understand the nature of foreign currency, domestic culture and the culture of the tourists and languages. As stated by Taylor, Bogdan DeVault (2015), a tour operator receives training from vocational schools or any training colleges for tour operator. High level of degree is not required for the employees of the tour operator company. However, in the view of Bronwyn (2014), with the growing needs of technology and demanding customers, effective customer employee relationship is required for the company. Moreover, environment is an important issue in the tourism sector. Competitive advantage depends on the skill of employees, who can effectively guide the customer. Professionalism, competitiveness, loyalty and soft skills a re essential quality for the tour operators and other workers in the tourism industry. As mentioned by Cabiddu, Lui Piccoli (2013), motivated workers are the most talented employees with excellent soft skills, who are able to communicate with the customers effectively. The tour operator needs to have quality such as adaptability, punctuality, disciplines and self-confidence while interacting with the customers. Training can enhance these skills, which are essential for respective organisation. As discussed by Tarone, Gass Cohen (2013), tour operators can be given in-house training. In-house training enhances the skills of existing employees required for jobs. This research has shown that employees respond to the in-house trainer in a better manner. Periodic in-house training organised in a group setting can teach communication, customer service, and technical and safety skills. A supervisor is the best person to recognise the training needs of the employees. Baum (2015) mentioned for external training, which is arranged outside the organisation. Employees are sent for seminar arranged at other place or by other organisation. College course or seminar can be arranged for the training of the employees of the tourism sector and for the tour operators. External training provides new skills, creative ideas for better customer service from both from company and individual perspectives (Horng Lin, 2013). The human resource management has the responsibilities to understand the training needs of the employees. They have to be careful regarding time of employee selection and recruitment. The HR manager assesses the business needs and requirements of training keeping parity with the financial health of the organisation. HR department evaluates the training needs and types of training for each employee based on the training needs of individual staff. Feedback can be taken through customer survey. Management analyses the errors, complaints, the problems, and the service delivery (Dhiman, 2012). They therefore decide the needs of training. HR department needs to be careful at the time of hiring new employees. Emotional intelligence of the candidates needs to be judged, as this quality is very helpful in risk management in business. HR departments often face the problems with employee retention. Bronwyn (2014) argued that training is not always effective as an employee may quit the organisation after receiving training. Therefore, employee satisfaction is needed to give priority while thinking about employee retention. The HR departments require assessing the suitable position of the employee in the organisation in order to use the skill of the employee effectively. Training promotes job satisfaction through better understanding of the role and career objectives. In the view of Cabiddu, Lui Piccoli (2013), training is also essential for knowledge transfer. Spreading knowledge to other employees diversifies investment within sector. Marketing training in tourism industry Marketing is an important part of the business. A company indirectly communicates with the customers through marketing. Marketing highlights the features of the products in order to convince them. Marketing presents the company differently to the customers in order to set the company apart from competitors. Employees need to be efficient in this respect. Employees need to be efficient to use the marketing tools and techniques and communicating the strategy of the company with the tools. Employees require understanding the competitive needs, customer trends to use marketing effectively. As stated by Truong Hall (2013), different formats of training are available for marketing in tourism sector. Different formats are one-to-one sessions, group workshops, and kick-start kits toolkits and virtual learning. Training can be given promotion of business through social media, finding new target market, sales skills, increasing response rate from e marketing and direct mail, product developm ent, better promotion of tourism place. The research will be conducted through primary research. Effectiveness of training programme will be evaluated through recoding responses of the managers and employees of Australia One tour operator. Questionnaire will be formulated for data collection. Close-ended questions will be used in order to record the responses of employees. There will be some open-ended questions for the managers. Responses for close-ended questions will be used for quantitative study and open-ended questions will be used for qualitative studies. The primary survey may be conducted through face-to-face interview, online survey, sending questionnaire through mail (Mackey Gass, 2015). Simple random sampling will be used while choosing the participants from the employees of Australia One Company. 55 Participants will be chosen randomly. Secondary sources will be used for the literature survey. Scholarly literatures will be used to analyse the facts and variables affecting the training and development programm e in the tourism organisation. Online sources will be used as secondary study in order to get data on growth statistics of Australia One in the industry. Data analysis As the study will consider both qualitative and quantitative study, positivism philosophy will be appropriate for the study. Statistical methods will be used to analyse the data and to find out relationship among the variables. The excel workbook will be used to conduct regression analysis in order to ensure the significance of the study. As the primary survey may incur sampling error, regression analysis will ensure the significance of the variables in explaining the variability of the dependent variable (Flick, 2015). However, qualitative study will justify the acceptance and rejection of the hypothesis. Deductive methods will be used as the researcher aims to verify collected data through survey and ensure acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis based on recorded response. However, no new theory will be developed in this study. The complete research work has following stages. The time schedule has been represented in the Gantt chart to show start and end date of every task. Total 5 months will be required to complete the project. References Baum, T. (Ed.). (2016).Human resource issues in international tourism. Elsevier. Bronwyn, C. L. (2014). Training and Development for a Successful Tourism Industry in Newfoundland: A Literature Review. Cabiddu, F., Lui, T. W., Piccoli, G. (2013). Managing value co-creation in the tourism industry.Annals of Tourism Research,42, 86-107. Cuffy, V., Tribe, J. Airey, D., (2012). Lifelong learning for tourism.Annals of Tourism Research,39(3), pp.1402-1424 Dhar, R.L., (2015). Service quality and the training of employees: The mediating role of organizational commitment.Tourism Management,46, pp.419-430. Dhiman, M. C. (2012). Employers' perceptions about tourism management employability skills.Anatolia,23(3), 359-372. Flick, U. (2015).Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage. Horng, J.S. Lin, L., (2013). Training needs assessment in a hotel using 360 degree feedback to develop competency-based training programs.Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management,20, pp.61-67. Joppe, M., (2012). Migrant workers: Challenges and opportunities in addressing tourism labour shortages.Tourism Management,33(3), pp.662-671. Mackey, A., Gass, S. M. (2015).Second language research: Methodology and design. Routledge. Sigala, M., Chalkiti, K. (2014). Investigating the exploitation of web 2.0 for knowledge management in the Greek tourism industry: An utilisationimportance analysis.Computers in Human Behavior,30, 800-812 Tarone, E. E., Gass, S. M., Cohen, A. D. (2013).Research methodology in second-language acquisition. Routledge. Taylor, S. J., Bogdan, R., DeVault, M. (2015).Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley Sons. Zaitseva, N. A., Goncharova, I. V., Androsenko, M. E. (2016). Necessity of changes in the system of hospitality industry and tourism training in terms of import substitution.International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues,6(1).

The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Essay Example

The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises Paper Among the many existing economic and social theories on the emergence of the multinational enterprise (MNE) and its relationship with foreign direct investment (FDI), internalisation theory has room for further development in a present day context, thus is the subject of this study. An MNE is an enterprise that engages in foreign direct investment (FDI) and owns or controls value-adding activities in more than one country (Dunning, 1993, p. 3). Several schools of thought exist in business literature that explain the internationalisation process of firms, such as market imperfection theory (Hymer, 1976; Kindleberger, 1969), product life-cycle theory (Vernon, 1971), internalisation/transaction costs analysis (Buckley Casson, 1976; Williamson, 1977, 1993) and OLI paradigm (Dunning, 1980). This study focuses on internalisation theory due to its great contribution to development of MNE theory. The main objective of this study is to explore the framework of internalisation theory using a case of video game industry in Japan,to further refine the theory. In the first section, the relevant literature on internalisation theory are critically reviewed. In particular, two empirical research projects are highlighted in order to determine which research method is appropriate to this area of study. Further questions are subsequently discussed in the second section. In the last section, the research design is described. 1. Literature Review 1.1 Internalisation Theory We will write a custom essay sample on The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The emergence and growth of multinational enterprises specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The main concept of internalisation theory is that firms grow by internalising markets through foreign direct investment (FDI) to minimise transaction costs (Buckley, 1988). If the cost of using arms-length markets are low, some form of arms-length arrangement (licensing, exporting, franchising, joint venture (JV)) would occur (Buckley Casson, 1976, 1988). Internalisation theory developed by Buckley and Casson (1976) is based on the empirical evidence obtained from their survey research. For the sample they chose 434 large manufacturing firms and collected each firms data including growth rate, profitability, size and capital-intensity in order to examine the relationship between multinationality, growth and profitability which stems from the internalisation. Through the statistical analysis, Buckley and Casson confirmed their postulate that internalisation of markets generates MNEs. Buckley and Casson (1976)s approach to research can be categorised as positivistic approach. There are mainly two different ways of approaching research which are positivistic approach and phenomenological approach (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 1997). As a definition of positivism, Benton and Craib (2001) state that in social science it can be seen as an attempt to put the study of human social life on a scientific footing by extending the methods and forms of explanation which have been successsful in natural science (Benton Craib, 2001, p. 28). On the other hand, phenominology is concerned with understanding human behaviour from the participants own frame of reference (Hussey Hussey, 1997, p. 52), PAs Hussey and Hussey (1997) explain, positivistic approach is objective in nature and uses deductive process, while phenomenological approach is more subjective in nature and inductive in the research process. The advantage of positivistic approach is that research findings possess a high level of reliability. The data produced from positivist research is usually quantitative data which refers to all data that is collected in numerical form (Hussey Hussey, 1997, pp. 150). Therefore, if research findings yielded from quantitative data were repeated by another researcher, (s)he could obtain similar results (Hussey Hussey, 1997). In the case of Backley and Casson (1976)s research, large cross-sectional samples and numerical company data made their findings reliable. The disadvantage of positivist research is that validity will likely be low (Hussey Hussey, 1997). Validity is concerned with whether the findings are really about what they appear to be about (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill,1997). According to Hussey and Hussey, because positivistic research focuses on the precision of measurement, often the measure does not reflect the phenomenon which the researcher investigates. Regarding Backley and Casson (1976)s research method, Kobrin (1977, pp. 138) criticised as follows: difficulties of their research are unnecessarily compounded by a very partial reporting of results; for example, statistics rather than coefficients are reported as measures of the strength of association. From a different viewpoint, Backley and Casson (1976)s research has another weakness in terms of data collection. They mention two short-comings of the data: firstly, information on RD expenditure is available only by industry and not by firm, and secondly, an international and interregional breakdown of operations by host country is available only for a very limited number of firms (Buckley Casson, 1976, pp. 84). In quantitative research, such lack of data would be a severe disadvantage. 1.2 Application of Internalisation Theory Considerable amounts of research have been undertaken in order to test the application of internalisation theory. A case study of Coca-Cola in China conducted by Mok, Dai and Yeung (2002) is an empirical tests. In their research, internalisation theory was used to explain Coca-Colas experience and success by changing modes of entry from franchising to JVs. Mok et al. concluded a key of Coca-Colas success in the Chinese market was the internalisation of its market transactions through establishment of JVs rather than wholly owned subsidiaries. The contribution of Mok et al. (2002)s research was they not only provided implications of internalisation theory but also insight into the market expansion strategy of a global soft drink manufacturer in China. For research methodology, Mok et al. (2002) employed case studies in addition to general data collection. The case study is a research strategy which focuses on understanding the dynamics present within single settings (Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 534). It involves gathering detailed information about the unit of analysis with a view to obtaining in-depth knowledge (Hussey Hasse, 1997). There would be three strengths in Mock et al.s case study. First, Mok et al.s choice of sample fully matches their objective of research. Since Coca-Cola is undoubtedly one of the biggest MNEs and has long history of investment in China since 1979, it is a good sample with which to explain the growth of MNE and FDI. In addition, China is a preferable location because its market was a typical imperfect market (Mok, Dai Yeung, 2002). Secondly, Mok et al. (2002) took advantage of qualitative data gained from interviews. Qualitative data is concerned with qualities and non-numerical characteristics (Hussey and Hussey, 1997, pp. 150). Mok et al.carried out interviews with high-level management of Coca-Cola. Their main purpose of the interviews was to obtain information about the companys business operations, especially its relationship with local partners (Mok et al., 2002). They emphasis the importance of interviews as follows: only rarely was this type of information obtainable from any other publicly available sources (Mok et al., 2002, pp. 40). According to May (1997), the advantage of interviews is that they yield rich insight into peoples experiences, opinions, aspirations, attitudes and feelings. In the case of Mok et al.s research, companies entry mode choices were made clear by examining managerial perception revealed in the interviews. Such evidence would not be found sufficiently in official data. However, there are limitations of Mok et als case study. First, since the sample came from a single industry, thus the generalisability of the results is restricted (Mok et al., 2002). Second, as Dunning (1993) claims, the information obtained by field questionnaires and/or interviews with MNEs represents the subjective judgment of the responders to questionnaires or the interviewees. 1.3 Discussion After establishment of its basic concepts, the internalisation theory was confirmed by many researchers as a general explanation for the MNE trend. However, it is questionable that internalisation theory can sufficiently explain the recent variety of activities of MNE. The emergence of global E-commerce companies could be cited as a prime example. For these companies, internalising advantage would be less of a factor since the Internet reduces both internal coordination and market transaction costs (Dunning Wymbs, 2001). Another example is Japanese video game companies which are multinationalised but less internalized to their market. Nintendo and Sony have great share in the video game industry both domestically and internationally, but they seldom have a joint venture or partnership with foreign partners and their almost all production takes place in Japan1. Their overseas subsidiaries are mainly only responsible for sales and marketing. Unlike with E-commerce, the video game industry requires a certain physical space to manufacture and convey its products, similar to other mass-production industries. Nevertheless, the fact that internalisation rarely occurs in Japanese MNEs in video game industry is problematic. It can be supposed that unique characteristics of this industry cause this phenomenon. Thus, further study is needed to examine whether internalisation theory can apply to the video game industry in Japan. 2. Research Method The purpose of this research is to test the applicability of internalisation theory and reconsider the theoretical framework of the theory. Finally, suggestions are made with regards to further research that could be carried out in relation to the discoveries made in this study. 2.1 Research Design This research takes a positivistic approach. As noted above, while phenomenological approach is concerned with generating theories, positivistic approaches focus on hypothesis testing (Hussey Hussey, 1997). In this research, the data collection is concerned with testing a theory rather than generating new theories. The research approach can also devided inductive or deductive (Hussey Hussey, 1997). Deductive research is defined by Hussey Hussey as a study in which a conceptual and theoretical structure is developed and then tested by empirical observation. Hussey Hussey describes inductive research as a study in which theory is developed from the observation of empirical reality. It is this former approach that applies to this study. As a research strategy, this research uses a case study. The research strategy is a general plan of how you will go about answering the research questions (Saunders et al, 1997) The different strategies are experiment, survey, case study, grounded theory, ethnography and action research. As Saunders et al. (1997) mentioned, case studies can be a very worthwhile way of exploring existing theory. It is the main aim of this research. In addition, a case study will be of particular interest to a researcher if (s)he wishes to gain a rich understanding of the context of the research and the process being enacted (Morris and Wood, 1991, cited in Saunders et al., 1997). This research will be effective by gaining rich and detailed information in a particular setting. 2.2 Data collection method This research utilises methodological triangulation both a quantitative and qualitative data collection method (Easterby-Smith, Thorpe Lowe, 1991, cited in Hussey Hussey, 1997). According to Hussey and Hussey (1997), triangulation is advantageous in understanding a research problem and can overcome the potential bias and sterility of a single-method approach. In this research, quantitative data are collected by survey, and qualitative data are gathered through interviews. Mail-in survey questionnaires will be sent to the Japanese video game companies that expand their business overseas including hardware makers and software providers. The objective of questionnaire is to obtain general information on MNEs profiles and performances and to explore their strategy for market entry mode. In order to complement the survey data, secondary data will also be used such as annual reports of companies and government publications The collected data will be analysed using appropriate measuring. At the same time, interviews will carried out with management level staff in a Japanese video game company or those who have knowledge about this area of study. Such qualitative interviews will be used to provide significant quantitative results.

Decentralization and Devolution of Political Power

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Case Study On Strategic Analysis Management Essay This will be done through analysing the variety stores industry in which Woolworth operates, the companys past, present and future growth strategies and its current performance. Using recognised strategic tools, the various options available to the company will be recommended and evaluated. METHODOLOGY: The Methodology that will be used to compile this dissertation will mainly be in the form of secondary research. This is largely because the nature of the project requires the co-operation of managers at very strategic level of the company. The Managers understand and have sufficient information on the strategic direction of the organisation. The writer was unable to arrange interviews with the management in the company, as information they have cannot be made public for confidential reasons. As a result it is deemed that the information gathering from other sources within the company would not be as reliable as desired for this topic. Informal primary research interviews will be arranged to gain general information on Woolworths PLCs policies and operations with members of Woolworths store staff. Secondary information will also be used to compile this dissertation due to the availability of reliable and valid information on Woolworths PLC and the variety retail industry. Secondary research will be conducted through examination of annual reports and accounts of the company and its main competitors. To evaluate these, sources such as Mintel Marketing Intelligence Reports and Marketing and Business trade journals will be used. Published academic books on Strategic Management will also be used to assist with the theoretical elements of this dissertation. HISTORY Woolworths is generally described as a variety store. These are organisations that concentrate their efforts on the retailing of a range of products in the lower and more popular price ranges. They provide a walk in, shop and carry facility as the major route of purchasing (home delivery and pre ordering being rare), with open display and self-service merchandising. They are unlikely to be departmentalised. Other related categories include department stores, discounters and specialist shops (also known as category killers) (Oxford English Dictionary 2001). Woolworths was first established by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879 with the concept of selling products costing no more than 5 cents. This proved a popular idea with the consumers and the turnover continued to grow. The concept was of no frills shopping, with a range of low priced, non-perishable items. When F.W. Woolworth died in 1919, he had built an empire of 1,081 stores with sales in excess of $118 million per year (Faulkner et al 2003). The company continued to grow and developed internal competencies in areas such as marketing, finance and estates management (Faulkner et al 2003). Faulkner et al also comment that this period of Woolworths history was characterised by the focus of its strategy: it was able to deepen its existing competencies and incrementally expand both its competency base and it knowledge of different market environments (such as suburban retailing) (Faulkner et al pp. 279 2003). However, this was to prove insufficient when discounters and category killers became more prevalent in the market. Wal-Mart had begun trading in general merchandise at low prices and specialist retailers, such a Toys- R- Us provided a destination shopping location for those consumers seeking a particular product, a wider range of products or specialist knowledge about the products. Woolworths began a decline in sales in real terms due to its lack of insight of how to capitalise on the prevalent retail preferences. They failed to take the move to expand their business either into a wider focus or a narrower one, strategies which would have given them a platform from which to take on their competitors. It wasnt until the late 1980s that Woolworths changed their strategy in the United States with their diversification into specialist areas, such as Kids Mart and Little Folks, as well as entering the discount retail business with the Woolco concept. However, they lacked the competencies and capabilities to make up for the time they had lost which had allowed their competitors to establish a strong market lead and in 1995, Kids Mart and Little Folks both closed down. This was on top of the closure of 400 stores in the USA and the sale of 122 Canadian Woolco stores to Wal-Mart (Faulkner et al 2003). One of the specialist areas they had entered into, footwear, did prove to be a success and led Woolworths in the USA to open over 7, 000 athletic footwear stores covering a range of gender and age segments by 1998. The company decided at this stage to change its operating name in the USA to the Venator Group (Faulkner et al 2003) and to reposition itself as a specialist sports footwear reta iler. The groups business in the UK moved in a different direction and kept the original company name. At present, in the UK, Woolworth currently owns around 900 stores selling toys, confectionary, house wares, seasonal products and electronic entertainment. The UK business has also moved into specialist areas with the introduction of MVC home entertainment and electronics which currently has 85 shops, E.UK, which is the largest distributor of home entertainment products in the UK, and the music and video publishing arm VCI (Cornell date unknown). Having become a public company in 1931, Woolworths was briefly taken over in 1982 by Kingfisher, but returned to public ownership again in mid-2001. Woolworths stated aim is to be at the heart of the community and the best loved retailer for kids, home and family leisure (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). As will be seen Woolworths performance has been variable over recent years and in January 2005, they received a takeover bid from the private equity group, Apax. Although the Woolworths board rejected that offer, a higher one was received four weeks later and is currently under consideration. This means that the future for Woolworths is an uncertain one, with the possibility of a substantial cash injection, but diminished control for the current management team. Should the Apax offer be rejected again, Woolworths is likely to receive offers from its major competitors. PORTERS FIVE FORCE ANALYSIS. Threat of new entrants Despite the high number of retailers dealing with general merchandise, two areas are seen as being particularly relevant. Currently, there are only two catalogue based shopping concepts in the UK, Argos and Next. This market remains highly under-represented considering the success particularly of Argos and it could be expected that the concept will be taken up by more companies in future. These businesses offer the full range of house wares, electrical goods, toys and gifts as available from Woolworth, and have a distinct competitive advantage in their practice of minimal stock holdings in store allowing extra selling space to be released. They may face difficulties in finding the number and size of locations they would need to become a major player in this market, but this could be overcome through the acquisition of an existing retailer. Further new entrants may be seen as foreign companies try to increase their market share. These have already been seen in two main forms. Firstly the specialist retailers who started from nothing in the UK and have achieved good organic growth. Examples include Toys-R-Us, Ikea, Gap, HM, Beneton and Poundstretcher. The second group are those who gain a foothold in the UK market through acquisition. These include Wal-Mart, Brantano and Claires Stores. There is no reason to expect the level of foreign retail interest in the UK to decrease. Bargaining power of suppliers The bargaining power of suppliers has been much diminished with the development of e-commerce. Because of the vast increase in access to information between potential suppliers and buyers, the suppliers pricing strategy may be the only way to secure business. This is likely to increase as more use is made of the Internet. One recent development has been the practice of reverse auctions where a retailer specifies what they want and competing suppliers out bid each other, via a web site, by lowering the price rather than by raising it as in the traditional auction (www.gusplc.com). Once suppliers have been agreed, the large size of this retail sector also ensures buyers can act from a strong negotiating base, as they have significant control over the future health of dedicated suppliers. Recently there has been publicity around the practice of large retailers setting what are seen as unfair terms with suppliers and of insisting on price reductions even though the supplier then operates at a loss (Telegraph 2005). However, it is not expected that any legislation will bring about changes in this situation in the foreseeable future. On the negative side, specialist suppliers such as those supplying mobile phones and computer games, have an increasing amount of power due to the demand for their products. A retailer would need to ensure they have sufficient quantities of a product such as the latest Playstation, for the Christmas market, but are frequently left in the hands of suppliers who can give preferential service to other customers. Threat of substitutes Product substitutions can be used in two different ways. Firstly, as is the strategy of many of the main supermarkets, own brand labels are seen as acceptable substitutions for everyday grocery items. The cost of substitution is low to the customer i.e. they feel that there is little risk because of the loyalty they have to the store. The other type is through introducing higher priced, luxury type items. This strategy can be seen in the Marks and Spencer food sector where they market the products as being superior to other brands.For the variety retailers, the concept of substitution does not seem to have been fully exploited and it is a possible strategy for securing market share in the future. Bargaining power of customers The high level of competition amongst retailers has led to a position of power for the consumer. Having moved from seasonally driven sales events to permanent deals, the aggressiveness of these approaches has also increased. Customers now expect to be able to get three for two offers throughout the year. This puts the retailer at a disadvantage, as they will lose the potential benefits of targeting marketing promotions and means they are continually forced to take the path of competitive pricing. This can lead companies to over rely on the profits made from a limited range of products whereas the rest of the ranges operate at unsustainably low profit margins as loss leaders. Competitive rivalry within the industry The variety stores sector is highly competitive and there is no reason why this should not continue to be the case. It is suggested by retail analysts, Peters, Elworthy and Moore, that the variety store business in the UK has become saturated and that the larger stores are likely to take over or merge with the independents (cited in Potts 1996). Competition from superstores and supermarkets is expected to increase as they add to their ranges of non-food items in a bid to gain a higher share of the overall consumer market (Potts 1996). It is also expected that the differentiation between department stores, variety stores, home shopping and supermarkets will become less sharp as retailers look to alternate channels and increasing product ranges to maximise their turnover (Potts 1996). This will make it difficult for new entrants to enter the market unless they benefit from a unique selling point such as discounting, as has been seen with companies such as Wilkinsons. PEST ANALYSIS: Political Ecological/environmental issues- corporate social responsibility (csr)- The main belief around csr thinking is that the practice of businesses within the capitalist economy to concentrate their efforts on providing wealth for its shareholders, is unacceptable and that companies should take the responsibility of considering the well being of society as a whole (The Economist, January 22nd 2005). It has been countered by Lynch that failure to make a specific statement on ethical issues, does not mean that a company is not fundamentally ethical in the way that it does its business (Lynch 2003). Retailers generally are coming under increasing pressure to ensure they cannot be charged with poor practices with regard to the developing world or the environment. The activities of and publicity around the anti-globalisation movement, may dissuade organisations from expanding their markets abroad, although many see these as a small minority and it is questionable as to whether their activities would cause a company to alter their strategy. It is more likely that they will take the issues into account in terms of having a robust csr policy and when reporting to the media. Woolworths made the following statement on csr in their latest financial statement: During 2003/4, through the CSR Committee, Woolworths Group has continued to work to understand the impacts, both positive and negative, of our business. A proper understanding of the risks we must manage and the opportunities we have to be a catalyst for improvement is a fundamental part of how we do business (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Woolworth has specific policies on the areas of timber and chemical usage, a strict code of ethical trading and has set up its own charity (Woolworth Kids First) to provide the opportunity for their employees to help children on a local basis (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Whilst Woolworths are outwardly taking their csr seriously, it is an area that has come from nowhere to heavily impact organisations in the past and Woolworth would do well to bear in mind the impacts on Nestle of the baby milk episode and on Marks and Spencer of the sweat shop issues.   Legislation- a new White Paper has been announced that will give retailers the ability to offer legal advice through their own law companies. Dubbed Tesco Law, it provides a further service to encourage the one stop shop approach of the large supermarket chains (BBC D). Supermarket chains, which are one of Woolworths main sources of competition, have had a strategy of offering a one-stop shop opportunity to their customers with the introduction of such facilities as pharmacies, banking facilities and insurance. It is not yet known whether Woolworths is planning to introduce such offerings in its store. Government policies- in the recent budget, Gordon Brown announced a doubling of the threshold for stamp duty on house purchases to  £120,000. This was done to assist particularly first time buyers. Encouraging the housing market will have a beneficial effect on Woolworths house wares, furnishings and DIY ranges, but this will obviously extend to their competitors as well. Government term and change- whilst a General Election is due in the UK, the writer believes that there would be no significant impact, either positive or negative, were the political party currently in power were to remain or change. Economic Home economy situation- the current economic situation in the UK can be seen as a positive factor for Woolworths with low interest rates (2.7%) and high property values leading to record levels of borrowing. However, there are concerns over the level of borrowing as debt levels for have reached more than  £1 trillion (BBC E). It should also be noted that low interest rates would dissuade people who are living off investments from spending, although these tend to be those in retirement who are not considered to be Woolworths target consumer. They have identified that their typical customers are mothers with dependent children living at home(www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). Home economy trends. The Government states that Council tax will rise by an average of 4.1% in the next financial year, the lowest increase in more than ten years (BBC B). In the housing market, figures for changes in house prices vary by source with the Halifax quoting a 0.5% rise and the Nationwide a 0.5% fall (BBC A 2005). There is currently no solid evidence of a crash in the housing market. Should this occur, the impact on the whole retail industry would be immense. Overseas economies and trends- oil prices had risen to a high of $56.15 per barrel in mid March (BBC F). Although they are currently falling, they remain 25% higher for the year (BBC F). Long term, the situation is likely to worsen as demand for oil increases from growing economies such as China, where the economy is growing at 9% and a 10% increase in oil use is predicted for 2005 (BBC F 2005). High oil prices will affect both production and distribution costs for all retailers and will have to be passed onto the consumer through increased prices if alternative savings cannot be made in the value chain. Market and trade cycles- despite good economic factors such as low interest rates, the UK retail economy seems to be slowing down. In March Morrison, Boots and Jessops put out profit warnings and it was reported that data suggests generally poor retail sales and weak spending for the period since Christmas (Verdin 2005). The figures point to a growth in consumer spending of only 0.2% for the last quarter of 2004 the weakest figure for almost two years (Duncan 2005).No specific cause for this downturn has been identified; although the writer would suggest that the publicity around levels of personal debt and the worsening pension crisis may have some influence. Social Consumer attitudes and opinions- Mintels annual lifestyle report has found that consumers are shunning the larger supermarkets and chain stores which they find impersonal, and are much more likely to frequent local, independent shops (cited in BBC C). The implications of this for Woolworth could be positive or negative. To many people, they may be classed as a multi-site retailer and therefore avoided by the consumer. However, the history of the company, its generally high street locations and the nature of the products it sells may lead some to choose it as a shopping venue over large supermarkets. In this area, the history and reputation of Woolworths can only be beneficial. Fashion and role models- the value of celebrity endorsement is well understood by the retail industry and icons such as Jamie Oliver, Delia Smith and David Beckham have all become associated with particular brands. Woolworth identified this pattern and adopted the puppet characters, Woolly and Worth, for their 2004 Christmas campaign. Its success has encouraged them to continue the use of these characters for future advertising campaigns (www.woolworthsgrouppls.com). Technology- the rate of increase in use of cutting edge technology based items has given retailers a highly lucrative new product range. For example, mobile phone technology only became widely available in the early 1980s, but today, approximately one in six of the worlds population owns one and in most of the developed countries, market penetration exceeds 70% (The Economist 2005). As well as the phones themselves, the associated hardware and software are highly popular and unexpected markets have developed, for example, ring tones. There are no indications that these products will do anything other than maintain their growth and the continual developments in technology help to keep the market buoyant. Consumer buying mechanisms/technology- the growth of e-commerce has provided two new strategic directions for retailers. Firstly, there is the opportunity of selling the technology itself- mobile phones, personal computers, software, downloads, games- and secondly, it provides a further channel through which to sell goods. All the major retailers have web sites on which customers can research products, compare prices, order and pay for goods and, as such, there is reasonable competition to encourage consumers to visit particular web sites. An extra dimension is the number of companies who sell only through the Internet. This provides them with a competitive advantage of having lower overheads as premises and shop floor staff are not required. A good example of this is the book retailer Amazon.com who have diversified into clothing, apparel, DVDs and compact discs following their success with books. Further channels have yet to be fully utilised including ordering goods through mobile phone technology and digital television shopping channels. Whilst building their e-commerce business, Woolworths need to ensure it is based on a stable and secure foundation. Although not alone in the experience, they had to close their www.woolies.co.uk site for two months in 2000, when a customer reported that they could view other peoples credit card details on the site (Azeez 2002). Maturity of technology- Radio Frequency Identity Tagging (RFID) is seen as the way forward by many retailers who are undertaking trials of the technology. The most well known is probably Tescos who have been testing it on their high relative value, easily portable items such as razors. Woolworth had been trialing systems but has announced this year that there is no longer funding for the project (www.woolworthsgroupplc.com). They are allowing the technology to reach maturity and should then be able to capitalise on the research done by others. There are some risks with this strategy as it gives the competitors the opportunity to realise the benefits of such technology at an earlier stage. However, it also protects Woolworths from the high level of risk associated with this technology and dealing with issues raised by the Data Protection Act. STRATEGIC GROUP ANALYSIS. The competitors of Woolworth are deemed as being: Discounters those stores which offer stock at particularly low prices and have this as a unique selling point. These would include: Wilkinsons, Asda-WalMart and Poundstretcher Supermarkets stores that historically sold predominantly food items, but have now generally expanded their range to include substantial non-food categories. Examples are: Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda-WalMart and Waitrose Department stores a store which sells a range of items, usually non-food, that divides its goods into distinct areas of the store. In the UK this category includes: MS, Debenhams, House of Fraser, British Home Stores (BHS), and John Lewis Catalogue stores the retailer has a large proportion of the store space dedicated to storage rather than selling space. Few, if any goods are on display and customers select from a catalogue, usually without viewing the product first. Argos and Next are the most well known in the UK. Special ist stores those who concentrate on selling a particular product, which corresponds to part of the Woolworth range. For example, Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre for childrens clothes, BQ, Homebase and Focus DIY for DIY products. Competition is high for all segments of the retail industry which has lead to a blurring of the differences between the categories. Many companies are diversifying into new sectors or aiming for higher market penetration in their existing products. A good example are the supermarkets which have had many years of fierce competition with the main three, Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, regularly changing places in the retailer league. Their strategy involves adopting a hybrid approach. Cost leadership to some degree by ensuring they maintained competitive pricing for generic products and then offering their own brands at a significantly lower price and differentiation in terms of the range of products they offer by branching out into greater ranges of non-food items. New entrants to the market had to have a unique selling point to appeal to the consumer and found it in terms of outperforming the established market in cost leadership. Aldi, Netto and Lidl have achieved some success in this, p roviding generally unfamiliar brand named, everyday products at a significantly lower price than the main supermarkets. The supermarkets also attempted to increase their market share through increasing their ranges of products and increasing the size of their stores to include superstores and hypermarkets. Other tactics include offering an appearance of being more exclusive (such as Waitrose and Marks and Spencer), positioning as a leader in corporate social responsibility (as in the Co-Operative stores and their Fair-trade products) and seeking new selling opportunities (for example, Marks and Spencers food outlets in service stations). The amalgamation of Asda and WalMart and Morrisons and Safeway showed that some of these strategies left companies with no clear customer focus, trying to be all things to all people, and, with decreasing sales and market share, they became attractive propositions to companies wishing to achieve a foothold in a new geographical location (the south of England in the case of Morrisons and the whole of the UK in the case of WalMart). The biggest threat to Woolworths from these stores has been through product diversification. Initially seeking to offer a one stop shop experience, with selling general merchandise, they then took on specialist stores such as Lloyds pharmacies, and non-retailers with the offerings of financial services. The specialist stores have had to recognise that as well as competing between themselves where products overlap, they are now also having to take on the supermarkets. Music retailers, such as HMV and Virgin, are experiencing pressure from supermarkets, who area able to take them on in terms of cost leadership due to economies of scale and value chain efficiencies, leaving the music stores with the only option of maximising their niche qualities. However, the increasing popularity of e-commerce, both in terms of new retailers and innovative product formats (such as downloads), has put this strategy at risk as their niche status is coming under attack. The implications for Woolworths high street stores are that they are having to rely on appealing to customers who are not seeking a specific item when they enter a store, as they cannot compete on grounds of price or specialism. Their appeal is to the impulse purchaser or those who are buying for someone else and are unsure of what they want. This merges well with the Woolworth strategy of concentrating on Kids and Celebrations. However, if they are positioning themselves as a one stop shop provider for celebration events, they are still in competition with the supermarkets who are able to provide the same items and the opportunity to purchase them whilst doing the regular grocery shopping. In areas where Woolworth has traditionally been seen as a key provider, childrens clothes, again, the supermarkets are offering a cost leader alternative with a strong fashion selling point, by employing well-known designers to support their products (such as George at Asda). Tesco recently showed their power by offering Levis jeans at a price point lower than the manufacturer. Coupled with this is the strategy of other companies to move into this line as a new product or to increase their market share. Key players are Mothercare and The Early Learning Centre. Seen as specialists for the child market, their threat to Woolworth is significant as is that of clothing retailers identifying the market for childrens clothes and exploiting it using their strength in reputation to appeal to the consumer (Gap Kids for example). Whilst all these forms of retail outlet vie for the consumers business, there is an inherent risk for all of them in terms of being able to convert their sales into profit. With competition being so fierce and coming for several different directions, most retailers have to ensure that whilst they are not necessarily the cheapest, they are competitive. The exceptions to this are those that promote themselves as exclusive, such as Waitrose. All these retailers are seeking to reduce their costs through driving savings with the value chain. This has wide reaching implications. As pressure increases to produce the goods at a lower cost, the source of production moves to countries with lower wages and poorer working conditions. As well as affecting the UK economy through increased unemployment, there have been cases where the apparent violation of human rights has produced poor publicity for the retailer. An example of this is the situation Marks and Spencer encountered in the late 1990s. On the one hand they were being accused of being too expensive, so they moved production of their clothes to developing countries. This led to an outcry in the media when companies in the UK who had been supplying them for years, could no longer operate and had to close down. Another strategy to reduce production costs is to use cheaper raw materials, but again, the negative aspects of this receive attention, with the current example being the questions raised over the nutritional value of cheap food products. Within the organisations themselves, streamlining head office personnel in terms of numbers and outsourcing support functions such as recruitment, have shown to be effective in the short term, but the long-term effects of cutting costs in areas such as research and development and training has yet to be seen. SWOT ANALYSIS. Strengths Many of Woolworths strengths come from its long history. They have a recognised internal competence in supply chain management and are able to use this both to reduce their costs and to enter into agreements with organisations that would traditionally be classed as their competitors, such as Tesco. They are using their expertise to provide additional turnover. Their contracts with other companies that utilise their strengths also allow them to minimise the risks to themselves. Having been long established, Woolworth has a good reputation in the UK and is a recognised name on the high street. They have a strong presence in toys, house wares, confectionary and seasonal products markets and due to their size can boast a dominant position over the majority of their suppliers. The perception of consumers is of a high level of corporate social responsibility, having not been subjected to significant poor publicity in any areas. The general economic conditions in the UK are promising although the recently reported slow down in consumer spending must be regarded as a risk. The locations and number of stores operated by Woolworths can be seen as a further strength, especially as consumer preference moves away from out of town shopping. They have made a good move in the adoption of advertising icons, which are considered to be a key element of their marketing campaign. Recent improvements in their stock management systems involving the introduction of an integrated replenishment system and the Kingstore till systems, gives them the ability to manage their stock levels more efficiently, thereby reducing both costs and instances of stock outages. They have undergone a recent review of how they can improve their operational efficiency and this shows a proactive strategy to take on their competition. They have a high level of understanding of customer base which they have developed through their long history in the retail market. This enables them to predict changes in consumer requirements and gives them the potential to maintain a competitive edge. Their decision to increase their use of their own brand products gives them the opportunity to heighten their market penetration in these areas, whilst their expansion of electronic entertainment offerings shows a desire to widen their range within a specific sector. These strategies seem to be successful at present.

North Ireland Conflict :: essays research papers

Political Unrest in Ireland   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There has been a continuing conflict in Ireland that has been going on for decades, and affects the world to this day. It is essentially a political and religious struggle between several groups. The British have played a key role in the situation since the early 1900’s, and even more distant into the past. Origins of the Conflict   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The conflict in Ireland has its roots as far back as the 1500’s. Ireland has historically been recognized as a Catholic country. However, when King Henry VIII was ruling in Britain, Ireland was brought under British control. At the time, Britain was predominantly a Protestant country. Tension between the Catholic majority and Protestant minority began to arise in the two faiths. Throughout the years the British and Protestants began to tighten their grip and control in Ireland. In 1534 Henry VIII had the Ireland parliament declare himself as King of Ireland. The native Irish viewed the British as a major threat to their customs. There have been multiple uprisings and rebellions by the Irish people against the British. A British and Spanish alliance was able to put to rest all of the major uprisings.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The English began to settle areas of Ireland with Protestants, beginning in the early 1600’s. The northern regions of Ireland became one of the more heavily immigrated areas. The all-island Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1801) was incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801 under the terms of the Act of Union, under which the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain merged under a central parliament, government and monarchy based in London. In the early 20th century Unionists, led by Sir Edward Carson, opposed the introduction of Home Rule in Ireland. Unionists were in a minority on the island of Ireland as a whole, but formed a majority in the northern province of Ulster (en.wikipedia.org/Northern_Ireland). Involved Groups and Peoples   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two major groups involved are the Protestants and the Catholics. The Protestants have their roots back to the British who migrated to the region when King Henry VIII was in power. The Protestants are predominantly Unionists. Unionists are â€Å"people in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales who were historically in favor of uniting their nations into a United Kingdom, or who in modern times with their nation to remain a part of the United Kingdom (www.wikipedia.com). The Protestants are the majority inhabitants of Northern Ireland today. The Catholics are predominantly known as Nationalists, and are descendants of the Irish population predating the settlement of the English and Scottish.

Amazon Swot Analysis

The company’s positioning and business model * Amazon is the first mover of virtual retail supercenter selling products which started off from selling only books online and also offer the lowest possible prices to its customers. * Thus, Amazon is likely to be seen as a ‘broad differentiator’ who is in the middle of differentiate and cost leaders approaches. * However, it can be seen as more leaning to differentiators as most of its past and current strategies are focusing more on innovation of services to its customers.For example, Amazon Fresh for grocery, 1-Click Checkout system, cloud computing and storage etc. * Amazon apply the second approach for market segmentation; it recognize the different customer groups and offers as various products as possible to the customers to attracts more sales and gain more market shares. Successful strategies * First mover of IT retailer shop, popular feature on website such as product reviews, rating * 1-Click system, Mix pur chase, The Amazon Associate program * Growing to sell music CDs, then electronics products and so on. Avoid distribution and stocking cost strategy: Free shipping deal/promotion, cooperate with B&M companies so buyers can pick up product at B&M stores. * Online services for small to medium business, sell its SOA software services * Zshops for used products, and Amazon Web Service These strategies allowed Amazon to obtain its competitive advantage over its rivals, as it’s a unique and utilize the existing distribution channel and IT services advantages Failure strategies Online auction; lost to eBay and the market trend ( fixed-price market booming) * Unbox, Search engine market (track its customer across WWW) * Amazon Prime and Kindle book reader; lost to Google free online data storage and iPad These failure strategies result in declining in stock prices and investing funds, which can be huge in some of the project ie. Kindle, It can be seen as inefficient move which can be avoid if Amazon had done more planning and market research beforehand.Recommendations * Amazon should focus more on cost controlling strategy because the persistent issue for Amazon is high value chain cost, such as IT infrastructure cost, innovation investing, and operating cost. * Amazon can also put more effort on proper market research or planning strategy for shareholder interests, as the CEO seem to be having fun to innovate new services and learning from the market responses, either good or bad, he seem to be okay with both as a learning experience.

Free Essays on Themes Of The Crucible

Themes Reputation - Reputation is tremendously important in theocratic Salem, where public and private moralities are one and the same. In an environment where reputation plays such an important role, the fear of guilt by association becomes particularly pernicious. Focused on maintaining public reputation, the townsfolk of Salem must fear that the sins of their friends and associates will taint their names. Various characters base their actions on the desire to protect their respective reputations. As the play begins, Parris fears that Abigail's increasingly questionable actions, and the hints of witchcraft surrounding his daughter's coma, will threaten his reputation and force him from the pulpit. Meanwhile, the protagonist, John Proctor, also seeks to keep his good name from being tarnished. Early in the play, he has a chance to put a stop to the girls' accusations, but his desire to preserve his reputation keeps him from testifying against Abigail. At the end of the play, however, Proct or's desire to keep his good name leads him to make the heroic choice not to make a false confession and to go to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. "I have given you my soul; for God’s sakes, leave me my name!" he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies, unfortunately but with integrity. Hysteria - Another critical theme in The Crucible is the role that hysteria can play in tearing apart a community. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are committing absurd and unbelievable crimes–communing with the devil, killing babies, and so on. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held g... Free Essays on Themes Of The Crucible Free Essays on Themes Of The Crucible Themes Reputation - Reputation is tremendously important in theocratic Salem, where public and private moralities are one and the same. In an environment where reputation plays such an important role, the fear of guilt by association becomes particularly pernicious. Focused on maintaining public reputation, the townsfolk of Salem must fear that the sins of their friends and associates will taint their names. Various characters base their actions on the desire to protect their respective reputations. As the play begins, Parris fears that Abigail's increasingly questionable actions, and the hints of witchcraft surrounding his daughter's coma, will threaten his reputation and force him from the pulpit. Meanwhile, the protagonist, John Proctor, also seeks to keep his good name from being tarnished. Early in the play, he has a chance to put a stop to the girls' accusations, but his desire to preserve his reputation keeps him from testifying against Abigail. At the end of the play, however, Proct or's desire to keep his good name leads him to make the heroic choice not to make a false confession and to go to his death without signing his name to an untrue statement. "I have given you my soul; for God’s sakes, leave me my name!" he cries to Danforth in Act IV. By refusing to relinquish his name, he redeems himself for his earlier failure and dies, unfortunately but with integrity. Hysteria - Another critical theme in The Crucible is the role that hysteria can play in tearing apart a community. Hysteria supplants logic and enables people to believe that their neighbors, whom they have always considered upstanding people, are committing absurd and unbelievable crimes–communing with the devil, killing babies, and so on. In The Crucible, the townsfolk accept and become active in the hysterical climate not only out of genuine religious piety but also because it gives them a chance to express repressed sentiments and to act on long-held g...

Daniel Boone; a History

Daniel Boone; a History Free Online Research Papers Youth: Daniel Boone was born on October 22, 1734. Because the Gregorian calendar was adopted during Boones lifetime, his birth date is sometimes given as November 2, 1734 (the New Style date), although Boone used the October date.[4] He was the sixth of eleven children in a family of Quakers. His father, Squire Boone, Sr. (1696–1765), had immigrated to Pennsylvania from the small town of Bradninch, Devon, England in 1713. Squire Boones parents George and Mary Boone followed their son to Pennsylvania in 1717. In 1720, Squire, who worked primarily as a weaver and a blacksmith, married Sarah Morgan (1700–1777), whose family members were Quakers from Wales, and settled in Towamencin Township, Pennsylvania in 1708. In 1731, the Boones built a log cabin in the Oley Valley, now the Daniel Boone Homestead in Berks County, Pennsylvania, where Daniel was born.[citation needed] His other siblings were Edward, Elizabeth, George, Hannah, Israel, Johnathan, Samuel, and Sarah Boone. Daniel Boone spent his early years on what was then the western edge of the Pennsylvania frontier. There were a number of American Indian villages nearby. The pacifist Pennsylvania Quakers generally had good relations with the Indians, but the steady growth of the white population compelled many Indians to relocate further west. Boone received his first rifle at age 12 and picked up hunting skills from local whites and Indians, beginning his lifelong love of hunting. Folk tales often emphasized Boones skills as a hunter. In one story, the young Boone was hunting in the woods with some other boys, when the scream of a panther scattered the boys, except for Boone. He calmly cocked his squirrel gun and shot the animal through the heart just as it leaped at him. As with so many tales about Boone, the story may or may not be true, but it was told so often that it became part of the popular image of the man. [5] In Boones youth, his family became a source of controversy in the local Quaker community that existed in what is now present day Lower Gwynedd Township, Pennsylvania. In 1742, Boones parents were compelled to publicly apologize after their eldest child Sarah married John Wilcoxson, a worldling (non-Quaker), while she was visibly pregnant. When Boones oldest brother Israel also married a worldling in 1747, Squire Boone stood by his son and was therefore expelled from the Quakers, although his wife continued to attend monthly meetings with her children. Perhaps as a result of this controversy, in 1750 Squire sold his land and moved the family to North Carolina. Daniel Boone did not attend church again, although he considered himself a Christian and had all of his children baptized. The Boones eventually settled on the Yadkin River, in what is now Davie County, North Carolina, about two miles (3 km) west of Mocksville.[6] Because he spent so much time hunting in his youth, Boone received little formal education. According to one family tradition, a schoolteacher once expressed concern over Boones education, but Boones father was unconcerned, saying let the girls do the spelling and Dan will do the shooting†¦. Boone received some tutoring from family members, though his spelling remained unorthodox. Historian John Mack Faragher cautions that the folk image of Boone as semiliterate is misleading, however, arguing that Boone acquired a level of literacy that was the equal of most men of his times. Boone regularly took reading material with him on his hunting expeditions- the Bible and Gullivers Travels were favorites- and he was often the only literate person in groups of frontiersmen. Boone would sometimes entertain his hunting companions by reading to them around the evening campfire.[7] Hunter, husband, and soldier: As a young man, Boone served with the British military during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), a struggle for control of the land beyond the Appalachian Mountains. In 1755, he was a wagon driver in General Edward Braddocks attempt to drive the French out of the Ohio Country, which ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Boone returned home after the defeat, and on August 14, 1756, he married Rebecca Bryan, a neighbor in the Yadkin Valley. The couple initially lived in a cabin on his fathers farm. They eventually had ten children.[citation needed] In 1759, a conflict erupted between British colonists and Cherokee Indians, their former allies in the French and Indian War. After the Yadkin Valley was raided by Cherokees, many families, including the Boones, fled to Culpeper County, Virginia. Boone served in the North Carolina militia during this Cherokee Uprising, and his hunting expeditions deep into Cherokee territory beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains separated him from his wife for about two years. According to one story, Boone was gone for so long that Rebecca assumed he was dead, and began a relationship with his brother Edward (Ned), giving birth to daughter Jemima in 1762. Upon his return, the story goes, his wife reproved him saying, Youd had better have stayed home and got it yourself. Boone was understanding and did not blame Rebecca. Whatever the truth of the tale, Boone raised Jemima as his own and favorite child. Boones early biographers knew this story, but did not publish it.[8] Boones chosen profession also made for long absences from home. He supported his growing family in these years as a market hunter. Almost every autumn, Boone would go on long hunts, which were extended expeditions into the wilderness, lasting weeks or months. Boone would go on long hunts alone or with a small group of men, accumulating hundreds of deer skins in the autumn, and then trapping beaver and otter over the winter. The long hunters would return in the spring and sell their take to commercial fur traders. In this business, buckskins came to be known as bucks, which is the origin of the American slang term for dollar.[10] Frontiersmen often carved messages on trees or wrote their names on cave walls, and Boones name or initials have been found in many places. One of the best-known inscriptions was carved into a tree in present Washington County, Tennessee which reads D. Boon Cilled a. Bar [killed a bear] on [this] tree in the year 1760. A similar carving is preserved in the museum of the Filson Historical Society in Louisville, Kentucky, which reads D. Boon Kilt a Bar, 1803. However, because Boone spelled his name with the final e, and the inconsistency of an 1803 date east of the Mississippi after Boone moved to Missouri in 1799, these particular inscriptions may be forgeries, part of a long tradition of phony Boone relics.[11] In 1762 Boone and his wife and four children moved back to the Yadkin Valley from Culpeper. By mid-1760s, with peace made with the Cherokees, immigration into the area increased, and Boone began to look for a new place to settle, as competition decreased the amount of game available for hunting. This meant that Boone had difficulty making ends meet; he was often taken to court for nonpayment of debts, and he sold what land he owned to pay off creditors. After his fathers death in 1765, Boone traveled with his brother Squire and a group of men to Florida, which had become British territory after the end of the war, to look into the possibility of settling there. According to a family story, Boone purchased land in Pensacola, but Rebecca refused to move so far away from friends and family. The Boones instead moved to a more remote area of the Yadkin Valley, and Boone began to hunt westward into the Blue Ridge Mountains. [12] Kentucky: Boone first reached Kentucky in the fall of 1767 while on a long hunt with his brother Squire Boone, Jr. While on the Braddock expedition years earlier, Boone had heard about the fertile land and abundant game of Kentucky from fellow wagoner John Findley, who had visited Kentucky to trade with American Indians. Boone and Findley happened to meet again, and Findley encouraged Boone with more tales of Kentucky. At the same time, news had arrived about the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, in which the Iroquois had ceded their claim to Kentucky to the British. This, as well as the unrest in North Carolina due to the Regulator movement, likely prompted Boone to extend his exploration.[13] On May 1, 1769, Boone began a two-year hunting expedition in Kentucky. On December 22, 1769, he and a fellow hunter were captured by a party of Shawnees, who confiscated all of their skins and told them to leave and never return. The Shawnees had not signed the Stanwix treaty, and since they regarded Kentucky as their hunting ground, they considered white hunters there to be poachers. Boone, however, continued hunting and exploring Kentucky until his return to North Carolina in 1771, and returned to hunt there again in the autumn of 1772. On September 25, 1773, Boone packed up his family and, with a group of about 50 emigrants, began the first attempt by British colonists to establish a settlement in Kentucky. Boone was still an obscure hunter and trapper at the time; the most prominent member of the expedition was William Russell, a well-known Virginian and future brother-in-law of Patrick Henry. On October 9, Boones eldest son James and a small group of men and boys who had left the main party to retrieve supplies were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and Cherokees. Following the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, American Indians in the region had been debating what to do about the influx of settlers. This group had decided, in the words of historian John Mack Faragher, to send a message of their opposition to settlement†¦. James Boone and William Russells son Henry were captured and gruesomely tortured to death. The brutality of the killings sent shock waves along the frontier, and Boones party abandoned its e xpedition. The massacre was one of the first events in what became known as Dunmores War, a struggle between Virginia and, primarily, Shawnees of the Ohio Country for control of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In the summer of 1774, Boone volunteered to travel with a companion to Kentucky to notify surveyors there about the outbreak of war. The two men journeyed more than 800 miles (1,300 km) in two months in order to warn those who had not already fled the region. Upon his return to Virginia, Boone helped defend colonial settlements along the Clinch River, earning a promotion to captain in the militia as well as acclaim from fellow citizens. After the brief war, which ended soon after Virginias victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant in October 1774, Shawnees relinquished their claims to Kentucky.[15] Following Dunmores War, Richard Henderson, a prominent judge from North Carolina, hired Boone to travel to the Cherokee towns in present North Carolina and Tennessee and inform them of an upcoming meeting. In the 1775 treaty, Henderson purchased the Cherokee claim to Kentucky in order to establish a colony called Transylvania. Afterwards, Henderson hired Boone to blaze what became known as the Wilderness Road, which went through the Cumberland Gap and into central Kentucky. Along with a party of about thirty workers, Boone marked a path to the Kentucky River, where he established Boonesborough. Other settlements, notably Harrodsburg, were also established at this time. Despite occasional Indian attacks, Boone returned to the Clinch Valley and brought his family and other settlers to Boonesborough on September 8, 1775.[16] American Revolution: Violence in Kentucky increased with the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Native Americans who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky in treaties saw the war as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, fewer than 200 colonists remained in Kentucky, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and Logans Station.[17] On July 14, 1776, Boones daughter Jemima and two other teenage girls were captured outside Boonesborough by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north towards the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough followed in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians while they were stopped for a meal, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boones life. James Fenimore Cooper created a fictionalized version of the episode in his classic book The Last of the Mohicans (1826).[18] In 1777, Henry Hamilton, a British Lieutenant Governor of Canada, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. On April 24, Shawnees led by Chief Blackfish attacked Boonesborough. A bullet struck Boones leg, shattering his kneecap, but he was carried back inside the fort amid a flurry of bullets by Simon Kenton, a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boones close friend as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.[citation needed] While Boone recovered, Shawnees kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, destroying the surrounding cattle and crops. With the food supply running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, and so in January 1778 Boone led a party of thirty men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On February 7, 1778, when Boone was hunting meat for the expedition, he was surprised and captured by warriors led by Chief Blackfish of the Chilicothe Shawnee. Because Boones party was greatly outnumbered, he convinced his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.[citation needed] Blackfish wanted to continue to Boonesborough and capture it, since it was now poorly defended, but Boone convinced him that the women and children were not hardy enough to survive a winter trek. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly to the Shawnees the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing in order to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough, however. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly that many of his men concluded that he had switched his loyalty to the British.[citation needed] Boone and his men were taken to Blackfishs town of Chillicothe where they were made to run the gauntlet. As was their custom, the Shawnees adopted some of the prisoners into the tribe to replace fallen warriors; the remainder were taken to Hamilton in Detroit. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into the family of Chief Blackfish himself, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle). On June 16, 1778, when he learned that Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the 160 miles (260 km) to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, on foot.[19] During Boones absence, his wife and children (except for Jemima) had returned to North Carolina, fearing that he was dead. Upon his return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boones loyalty, since after surrendering the salt making party he had apparently lived quite happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnees across the Ohio River, and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a 10-day siege led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778. After the siege, Captain Benjamin Logan and Colonel Richard Callaway- both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone- brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the court-martial that followed, Boone was found not guilty and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.[20] After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina in order to bring his family back to Kentucky. In the autumn of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including (according to tradition) the family of Abraham Lincolns grandfather.[21] Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of Boones Station. Boone began earning money at this time by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, and so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash from various settlers and traveled to Williamsburg to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted that he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do. A popular image of Boone which emerged in later years is that of the backwoodsman who had little affinity for civilized society, moving away from places like Boonesborough when they became too crowded. In reality, however, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time. When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the Fayette County militia. In April 1781, Boone was elected as a representative to the Virginia General Assembly, which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.[22] Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General George Rogers Clarks invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the Battle of Piqua on August 7. In October, when Boone was hunting with his brother Ned, Shawnees shot and killed Ned. Apparently thinking that they had killed Daniel Boone, the Shawnees beheaded Ned and took the head home as a trophy. In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under Banastre Tarleton captured Boone and several other legislators near Charlottesville. The British released Boone on parole several days later. During Boones term, Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky unabated. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the Battle of Blue Licks, in which his son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war. Businessman on the Ohio: After the Revolution, Boone resettled in Limestone (renamed Maysville, Kentucky in 1786), then a booming Ohio River port. In 1787, he was elected to the Virginia state assembly as a representative from Bourbon County. In Maysville, he kept a tavern and worked as a surveyor, horse trader, and land speculator. He was initially prosperous, owning seven slaves by 1787, a relatively large number for Kentucky at the time, which was dominated by small farms rather than large plantations. Boone became something of a celebrity while living in Maysville: in 1784, on Boones 50th birthday, historian John Filson published The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke, a book which included a chronicle of Boones adventures.[23] Although the Revolutionary War had ended, the border war with American Indians north of the Ohio River soon resumed. In September 1786, Boone took part in a military expedition into the Ohio Country led by Benjamin Logan. Back in Limestone, Boone housed and fed Shawnees who were captured during the raid and helped to negotiate a truce and prisoner exchange. Although the Northwest Indian War escalated and would not end until the American victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794, the 1786 expedition was the last time Boone saw military action.[24] Boone began to have financial troubles while living in Maysville. According to the later folk image, Boone the trailblazer was too unsophisticated for the civilization which followed him and which eventually defrauded him of his land. Boone was not the simple frontiersman of legend, however: he engaged in land speculation on a large scale, buying and selling claims to tens of thousands of acres. The land market in frontier Kentucky was chaotic, and Boones ventures ultimately failed because his investment strategy was faulty and because his sense of honor made him reluctant to profit at someone elses expense. According to Faragher, Boone lacked the ruthless instincts that speculation demanded.[25] Frustrated with the legal hassles that went with land speculation, in 1788 Boone moved upriver to Point Pleasant, Virginia (now West Virginia). There he operated a trading post and occasionally worked as a surveyors assistant. When Virginia created Kanawha County in 1789, Boone was appointed lieutenant colonel of the county militia. In 1791, he was elected to the Virginia legislature for the third time. He contracted to provide supplies for the Kanawha militia, but his debts prevented him from buying goods on credit, and so he closed his store and returned to hunting and trapping. In 1795, he and Rebecca moved back to Kentucky, living in present Nicholas County on land owned by their son Daniel Morgan Boone. The next year, Boone applied to Isaac Shelby, the first governor of the new state of Kentucky, for a contract to widen the Wilderness Road into a wagon route, but the governor did not respond and the contract was awarded to someone else. Meanwhile, lawsuits over conflicting land claims continued to make their way through the Kentucky courts. Boones remaining land claims were sold off to pay legal fees and taxes, but he no longer paid attention to the process. In 1798, a warrant was issued for Boones arrest after he ignored a summons to testify in a court case, although the sheriff never found him. That same year Kentucky named Boone County in his honor. Missouri: In 1799, Boone moved out of the United States to Missouri, which was then part of Spanish Louisiana. The Spanish, eager to promote settlement in the sparsely populated region, did not enforce the legal requirement that all immigrants had to be Catholics. Boone, looking to make a fresh start, emigrated with much of his extended family to what is now St. Charles County. The Spanish governor appointed Boone syndic (judge and jury) and commandant (military leader) of the Femme Osage district. The many anecdotes of Boones tenure as syndic suggest that he sought to render fair judgments rather than to strictly observe the letter of the law. Boone served as syndic and commandant until 1804, when Missouri became part of the United States following the Louisiana Purchase. Because Boones land grants from the Spanish government had been largely based on verbal agreements, he once again lost his land claims. In 1809, he petitioned Congress to restore his Spanish land claims, which was finally done in 1814. Boone sold most of this land to repay old Kentucky debts. When the War of 1812 came to Missouri, Boones sons Daniel Morgan Boone and Nathan Boone took part, but by that time Boone was too old for militia duty. Boone spent his final years in Missouri, often in the company of children and grandchildren. He hunted and trapped as often as his failing health allowed. According to one story, in 1810 or later Boone went with a group on a long hunt as far west as the Yellowstone River, a remarkable journey at his age, if true. Other stories of Boone around this time have him making one last visit to Kentucky in order to pay off his creditors, although some or all of these tales may be folklore. American painter John James Audubon claimed to have gone hunting with Boone in the woods of Kentucky around 1810. Years later, Audubon painted a portrait of Boone, supposedly from memory, although skeptics have noted the similarity of this painting to the well-known portraits by Chester Harding. Boones family insisted that he never returned to Kentucky after 1799, although some historians believe that Boone visited his brother Squire near Kentucky in 1810 and have therefore reported Audubons story as factua l.[26] Boone died on September 26, 1820, at Nathan Boones home on Femme Osage Creek. His last words were, Im going now. My time has come. He was buried next to Rebecca, who had died on March 18, 1813. The graves, which were unmarked until the mid-1830s, were near Jemima (Boone) Callaways home on Tuque Creek, about two miles (3 km) from present day Marthasville, Missouri. In 1845, the Boones remains were disinterred and reburied in a new cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. Resentment in Missouri about the disinterment grew over the years, and a legend arose that Boones remains never left Missouri. According to this story, Boones tombstone in Missouri had been inadvertently placed over the wrong grave, but no one had corrected the error. Boones Missouri relatives, displeased with the Kentuckians who came to exhume Boone, kept quiet about the mistake and allowed the Kentuckians to dig up the wrong remains. There is no contemporary evidence that this actually happened, but in 1983, a forensic anth ropologist examined a crude plaster cast of Boones skull made before the Kentucky reburial and announced that it might be the skull of an African American. Black slaves were also buried at Tuque Creek, so it is possible that the wrong remains were mistakenly removed from the crowded graveyard. Both the Frankfort Cemetery in Kentucky and the Old Bryan Farm graveyard in Missouri claim to have Boones remains.[27] According to The Boone Family book by Hazel Atterbury Spraker (1982), Danielwas buried near the body of his wife, in a cemetery established in 1803 by David Bryan, upon the bank of a small stream called Teuque Creek about one and one-half miles southeast of the present site of the town of Marthasville in Warren County, Missouri, it being at that time the only Protestant cemetery North of the Missouri River. {page 578} edit Cultural legacy: Daniel Boone remains an iconic figure in American history, although his status as an early American folk hero and later as a subject of fiction has tended to obscure the actual details of his life. The general public remembers him as a hunter, pioneer, and Indian-fighter, even if they are uncertain when he lived or exactly what he did. Many places in the United States are named for him, including the Daniel Boone National Forest, the Sheltowee Trace Trail, and six counties: Boone County, Illinois, Boone County, Indiana, Boone County, Nebraska, Boone County, West Virginia, Boone County, Missouri and Boone County, Kentucky. His name has long been synonymous with the American outdoors. For example, the Boone and Crockett Club was a conservationist organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887, and the Sons of Daniel Boone was the precursor of the Boy Scouts of America. Emergence as a legend: Boone emerged as a legend in large part because of John Filsons The Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon, part of his book The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke. First published in 1784, Filsons book was soon translated into French and German, and made Boone famous in America and Europe. Based on interviews with Boone, Filsons book contained a mostly factual account of Boones adventures from the exploration of Kentucky through the American Revolution. However, because the real Boone was a man of few words, Filson invented florid, philosophical dialogue for this autobiography. Subsequent editors cut some of these passages and replaced them with more plausible- but still spurious- ones. Often reprinted, Filsons book established Boone as one of the first popular heroes of the United States.[29] Today there are schools named after Daniel Boone in Birdsboro Pennsylvania, Douglassville Pennsylvania, and Chicago Illinois. Like John Filson, Timothy Flint also interviewed Boone, and his Biographical Memoir of Daniel Boone, the First Settler of Kentucky (1833) became one of the bestselling biographies of the 19th century. Flint greatly embellished Boones adventures, doing for Boone what Parson Weems did for George Washington. In Flints book, Boone fought hand-to-hand with a bear, escaped from Indians by swinging on vines (as Tarzan would later do), and so on. Although Boones family thought the book was absurd, Flint greatly influenced the popular conception of Boone, since these tall tales were recycled in countless dime novels and books aimed at young boys. Three American actors claim ancestry to Boone: singer Pat Boone, Richard Boone (1917-1981) of the CBS Have Gun, Will Travel television series, and Randy Boone, one of the regulars on NBCs western series, The Virginian. Fiction: Boones adventures, real and mythical, formed the basis of the archetypal hero of the American West, popular in 19th century novels and 20th century films. The main character of James Fenimore Coopers Leatherstocking Tales, the first of which was published in 1823, bore striking similarities to Boone; even his name, Nathaniel Bumppo, echoed Daniel Boones name. As mentioned above, The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Coopers second Leatherstocking novel, featured a fictionalized version of Boones rescue of his daughter. After Cooper, other writers developed the Western hero, an iconic figure which began as a variation of Daniel Boone.[35] In the 20th century, Boone was featured in numerous comic strips, radio programs, and films, where the emphasis was usually on action and melodrama rather than historical accuracy. These are little remembered today; probably the most noteworthy is the 1936 film Daniel Boone, with George OBrien playing the title role. Audiences of the baby boomer generation are more familiar with the Daniel Boone television series, which ran from 1964 to 1970. In the popular theme song for the series, Boone was described as a big man in a coonskin cap, and the rippinest, roarinest, fightinest man the frontier ever knew![36] This did not describe the real Daniel Boone, who was not a big man and did not wear a coonskin cap. Boone was portrayed this way because Fess Parker, the tall actor who played Boone, was essentially reprising his role as Davy Crockett from an earlier TV series. That Boone could be portrayed as a Crockett, another American frontiersman with a very different persona, was another exam ple of how Boones image could be reshaped to suit popular tastes.[37] References: Atterbury Spraker, Hazel. The Boone Family. Originally published Rutland, Vermont 1922, reprinted Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. Baltimore, 1974, 1977, 1982; ISBN 0-8063-0612-2. A Genealogical History of the Descendants of George and Mary Boone who came to America in 1717, Also a biographical sketch of DANIEL BOONE, the pioneer. Bakeless, John. Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness. Originally published 1939, reprinted University of Nebraska Press, 1989; ISBN 0-8032-6090-3. The definitive Boone biography of its era, it was the first to make full use of the massive amount of material collected by Lyman Draper. Draper, Lyman. The Life of Daniel Boone, edited by Ted Franklin Belue. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1998; ISBN 0-8117-0979-5. Belues notes provide a modern scholarly perspective to Drapers unfinished 19th century biography, which follows Boones life up to the siege of Boonesborough. Elliott, Lawrence. The Long Hunter: A New Life of Daniel Boone. New York: Readers Digest Press, 1976; ISBN 0-88349-066-8. Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer. New York: Holt, 1992; ISBN 0-8050-1603-1. The standard scholarly biography, examines both the history and the folklore. Jones, Randell. In the Footsteps of Daniel Boone. Blair: North Carolina, 2005. ISBN 0-89587-308-7. Guide to historical sites associated with Boone. Lofaro, Michael. Daniel Boone: An American Life. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2003; ISBN 0-8131-2278-3. A brief biography, previously published (in 1978 and 1986) as The Life and Adventures of Daniel Boone. 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