Political Morality And Leadership Lessons - 2220 Words

Discussions about political morality and leadership often lead differences of opinion over the means to attaining them even in the face of numerous consensuses about the nature and scope of the end itself. This means that most commentators on the issue disagree on many philosophical or procedural bases but yet agree on some. A classic example of this dualism is represented in the leadership lessons covered by Cicero, on the one hand, and Machiavelli on the other. Whereas their lessons are fundamentally divergent in many regards, there are some subtle points of implicit convergence. The purpose of this essay is to assess with a comparison and contract of the lessons as found by the assigned writings of Cicero and Machiavelli. Both of these books providers time-tested theories and assertions that have been used to obtain and sustain power and leadership. One of the points of convergence in the leadership lessons offered by both philosophers is the appreciation of the role of fate or accident that occurs when one is thrust into a power position. Whereas both do not underestimate the role of personal attributes and dedication in attaining these positions, they strongly hold the position that chance and fate can be a major contributor to one’s ascendance to power. Cicero, for instance, argues that â€Å"chance or opportunity thrusts upon the individual† when it comes to attaining kingdoms, command, high offices, nobility, property and wealth (Cicero, 1951). He further contendsShow MoreRelatedLeadership Qualities Of Nelson Mandela875 Words   |  4 PagesAfrica, Mandela was treasured for his outstanding leadership style, wisdom, motivational behavior, and courage of bringing people together to live in harmony. Leadership refers to the ability of motivating and influencing individuals towards attaining specific targets, while ethics depicts moral values that govern individual’s conduct to maintain constancy and order (Chasi, Levy, 2016, p.11). As a good leader, Mandela established his leadership styles and with a visionary mind and inspired theRead MoreHuman Control And Its Effects On Modern Society1458 Words   |  6 Pagesthat when human control is given, the best outcomes result when humans act selflessly instead of selfishly. According to Livy, therefore, historical knowledge helps us develop a more collectivistic view of our modern society in order to maintain morality in them. The story of Horatius Cocles clearly shows that courage persists when it’s done through unselfishness. While in the midst of the Janiculum being under attack during a battle between Rome and the Etrusctan army, Horatius Cocles sacrificedRead MoreMadeleine Later Became Deputy Secretary Of Education In1554 Words   |  7 Pagespoliticians. Women and Leadership is a chapter in the book that looks at two forms of leadership and the ways women define themselves as leaders. Madeleine talks about a study that was done by James MacGregor Burns that divides leadership into two categories. Transactional leadership which requires the ability to obtain results and transformational leadership which is when leaders engage with a follower in such ways that both parties are raised to high levels of motivation and morality (page 60). The studyRead MorePearls, Power And Politics. Madeleine Kunin Is Known As1674 Words   |  7 Pagespoliticians. Women and Leadership is a chapter in the book that looks at two forms of leadership and the ways women define themselves as leaders. Madeleine talks about a study that was done by James MacGregor Burns that divides leadership into two categories. Transactional leadership which requires the ability to obtain results and transformational leadership which is when leaders engage with a follower in such ways that both parties are raised to high levels of motivation and morality (60). The study concludedRead MoreNiccolo Machiavelli s The Prince864 Words   |  4 PagesMachiavelli’s The Prince, guided me to become a better leader. Some consider him as an opportunist or manipulative, while others like me see him as a great influence in the history of politics. Moreover, I learned four leadership lessons from his book and applied them to my life. I chose these lessons because I feel that they are ultimately important for anyone ruling a country or trying to become a successful leader. For instance, to be feared is key to ruling, princes must avoid making themselves hated byRead MoreAncient Greeks and Leaders Today1114 Words   |  5 PagesAncient Greeks and Leaders Today WHAT LESSONS DO THE ANCIENT GREEKS TEACH US ABOUT THE ROLE OF PERSONAL CHARACTER IN A GOOD NATIONAL LEADER? Leaders of heroic stature In his Theogeny, Hesiod describes and compares the leadership of Chronos and Zeus where one is a Titan and the other is a god. Chronos leads the Titans with a strong hand and dictatorial rule while Zeus is more democratic in listening to the gods. In addition, Chronos eats his children representing how bad leaders will destroyRead MoreEthical Failures Of A Professional Work Environment920 Words   |  4 Pagesbrief meeting encapsulates the impedance of group thinking. This concept of groupthink, as an impediment, is one of the first important lessons we learned from this disaster. One large red flag we found in this situation was the political pressure as the most superior role in the chain of command. This became an enormous pressure on every person in a leadership position, as it made their decision directly related to the reelection of a president, as well as their nation s pursuit of space travelRead MorePerspective on Death in the Play Everyman Essays1344 Words   |  6 Pagesmay have been written many years ago, but its lessons are still relevant today. Generally, the facts of death are very traumatizing and in fact unthinkable. This leads the modern day Everyman to ignore its significance, dying without acknowledging or reflecting on their lives here on earth. It is based on this fact that this paper aims to show the position of the author of the play â€Å"Everyman† regarding death. History of the Play Like many other morality- allegorical plays, Everyman, fits in as theRead MoreGeorge Tenet the Last Great Days of the Cia1273 Words   |  6 Pagesmany times of late, most notably in the climate change area. (Environmental Leader. 2009) LESSONS There are two glaring lesions from this case study public administrators can learn from and change going forward. The first is to appoint well qualified, experienced people to high level positions, particularly cabinet positions. Every President, including Obama, lacks in this area because of political promises made for election or legislation. (Farnum. 2012) While Tenet was effective in a numberRead MoreAnalysis Of Octavia Butler s Series Of The Parables1508 Words   |  7 Pagesinterdisciplinary course of study, which allowed me to foster my understanding of the global society, the complexities of intercultural interactions, and the ability to apply political theories to interpret one situation from multiple perspectives. When choosing the topic for my senior thesis, I was torn between delving into a political crisis or taking the opportunity to re-visit my love of literature in an academic framework. Speculative fiction is the crossroads I have found between my love of liter ature

The Unwanted Free Essays

I am writing this letter because I want to recommend the book –â€Å"The Unwanted† by Kien Nguyen to 11th graders in high school. â€Å"The Unwanted† is a work of nonfiction and it is about the Vietnam War. This is the true story about Kien’s childhood life after the communist takeover Vietnam in 1975. We will write a custom essay sample on The Unwanted or any similar topic only for you Order Now In my opinion, war is cruel for people, and it causes many different social issues. The students in 11th grade are studying history, and history is a requirement subject in high school. The major theme in this book for 11th graders is the effect of war. Since teens need to study history at school, they only learn from the book. However, they never imagine a war is always related to our life. The reason for 11th graders to learn from war is discrimination. Discrimination happens in every country and discrimination still exists in our life, especially in the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic country, and there are many different races’ people live in the same community. Discrimination not only happens during the war, but it is also happens in school. At school, teens are studying with different races of classmates, and they have different cultures and backgrounds. So teens should learn how to get alone with each other. For example, Kien is a mix-raced and he is a good student whom his teachers are proud of his accomplishments. His teacher recommends him to be a leader in front of parade. He is very proud and it is a good challenge for him to do his best. He wants his mother to be proud of him too. However, his dean cancels his qualification before the parade begins because of his mix-raced. His mother is ashamed about Kien’s mix-raced and she is very worry about him. When the police go to check their family status after the fall of Saigon; his mother worries about his identity. If the police know about Kien’s identity, they might take him to jail. So his mother dyes his hair to make him looks like a Vietnamese. To dye Kien’s hair and hide his identity shows Kien is discriminated by social community. Although racial discrimination exists in our society, people take pride in mix-raced. Most people nowadays consider mix-raced kids as beautiful or handsome. However, mix-raced kids are discriminated during the Vietnam War; their fates are terrible because the communist take over Vietnam and American help their opposite side. Therefore, the communist consider American as enemies. So the discrimination nfluences teens 11th graders because they need to know more about the social problem in the war. Also, teens should learn the racial discrimination from Kien’s experience. It could always remind teens to get alone with others when they have discrimination at school or in community. Besides, learning more discrimination information also helps the m to improve their historical knowledge. Another reason for me to recommend this book to 11th grader is appreciation of Kien’s hard life after the war. Now, our living standard is better than the life in war; however, some families are still facing financial problem. Also, Kien’s life is affected by Vietnam War which he must work hard to support his family’s financial problem. Moreover, 11th graders can learn from Kien’s experience, begin to live independently. So, this is a good chance for the teens to learn a lesson from Kien’s experience. For example, Kien was living in a wealthy family, and he doesn’t need to worry about his life. However, his life has changed after Vietnam War. He works hard to less his mother’s burden. Sometimes he feels helpless because no one can help him; everyone is worrying about their life at the same time. He finally learns how to take care of his family and earn money for his family. He is matured by his life and he acts like an adult. No matter how bad the living environment Kien has, he still accepts it. As teenagers, we should learn from Kien’s life experience to handle our difficulties. Also, this is the useful and helpful message for 11th grader; they can learn a lesson from Kien’s hard life and learn how to handle the difficulties if they have family financial problem. On the other hand, survival and hope are the most important factors in our life. Everyone has a hope when they live in the world and works hard to find a living way. If people do not have a hope to survive, they might live like a person without soul. Also, some of people never give up when they lose their hope; they try to find their hope to survive. But some teens do not think so, sometimes they feel hopeless when they are facing difficulties without any helps. In this book, Kien is hopeless just after the fall of Vietnam. He is too little to handle all of his difficulties in his life. Because he is the oldest son for his mother, he has to take all of the responsibilities. Kien never gives up when he is facing his difficulties. He tries his best to help his family out of Vietnam. His father is an American and he is looking for his father; he needs his father’s help, and he wants his father takes him out of his misfortune. From his difficulties to a way out of Vietnam, it gives him a hope in his life. When 11th graders study many different wars around the world, some of them might feel people in the war are hopeless and helpless; they don’t want to accept their misfortune. It also helps teens to understand even the environment is terrible, they still can find their way to live. As a result, survival is very important in everyone’s life. I like this book very much after I finish it. I am so excited and nervous by Kien’s life changes in this book. I really want to recommend this book to 11th graders who are interest in history and want to study history, because students in 11th grade begin to study history and it is the requirement subject in high school. So, this book can helps them to know more details of historical events in Vietnam War. From Kien’s life, hope and discrimination in the war, they can get the different point of view in the book. Also, they will learn how Kien helps his family and handles his hardship in his life. Now, the teenagers don’t understand the difficulties after the war, because they live under their parents’ protection. For some teens are mix-raced like Kien, they can compare the different situation about the discrimination with Kien’s experience. Before, I had heard some histories from my parents about the Vietnam War and I had learned a little bit at school, and I don’t know how people live during the war. Now, I can image how Kien’s life in Vietnam and how hard he lives under the community society. How to cite The Unwanted, Papers

A Critical Overview on Eureka Hunt †Free Sample Essay

Question: Write an essay onA critical overview on Eureka Hunt by Jonah Lehrer. Answer: Lehrer has portrayed an exclusive description about the neuro-science in his well-known article, The Eureka Hunt. The title of the article itself seems to tell the readers about the aspects that the article is going to deal with. The author very deftly gives an account of the concept of an insight. The very statement that makes commencement of the article, Why do ideas come to us when they do?, renders the truth about an insight or about the reality of life. Lehrer in the article, although aims at informing the readers about the perception or the theory of insight, he does it in a very subtle and dexterous mode. The author illustrates an anecdote that catches the readers attention and before going through an in-depth study of the notion or the thought, becomes able to receive the message that the author intends to convey. The author very dexterously presents an event before the readers that picture a real life incident, in which a firefighter confronts a very dangerous and life-taking massacre and while doing so, he demonstrates an ecstatic example of how the instantaneous insights can actually come to an individual and can do wonders. The incident as described by Lehrer depicts the true incident about Wag Dodge, the fire fighter who did manage to survive a deadly forest fire that blazed in Mann Gulch, in Montana, although he lost his comrades in their pursuit of bringing the lethal fire. Only the occurrence of an insight did save the life of Wag Dodge. As and when Wag becomes aware that the entire situation has trapped him completely, Dodge encounters an escape plan through an insight, he ignites the ground in front of him, lies down on behind the shadow of the fire, and continues to breathe by clutching a wet handkerchief to his mouth and survived. In accordance with this event, Lehrer gives an anal ysis of the insights and the causes that lead to an insight made by the well-known neuro scientist Jung Beeman. Analysis The above incident is followed by the authors analysis of the evaluations made on the concept of insights by Mark Jung-Beeman, a well-known cognitive neuroscientist from Northwestern University. Mark Jung due to his intense interests to discover the cause behind an insight, had undertaken the experimental word puzzles along with another neuroscientist, John Kounios , through which they have found that puzzles were solved by the candidates with the help of an insight. An insight occurs when a small portion of the tissue on the right hemisphere of the brain becomes active and the cortex of the brain becomes relaxed instead of much focusing upon an issue. Much focusing upon an issue will never lead to an insight, insight occurs only after once the mind gets blocked from and suddenly the right hemisphere of the brain gives way to the most awaited idea or initiative. The tone of the article is very direct and formal but at the same time touches the heart of the readers and also creates a sudden revelation among the readers about such a topic that hardly receives any attention from the individuals. The language used by the author is quite scientific, although it suits quite appropriately the mode of literature review. The author has very subtly presented the anecdote and the subsequent scientific analysis of the same that will attract the readers attention. Reference: Lehrer, Jonah. The Eureka Hunt.

How far did the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme justify the costs Essay Example

How far did the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme justify the costs Essay Stalin once said the USSR was fifty to a hundred years behind the west: either the USSR caught up or they would be crushed. As a consequence an extremely rapid economic modernisation programme was introduced. Stalin succeeded brilliantly turning the USSR from a backward country to the leading world power. However this came at a severe cost of millions and millions of lives, at the outset it may seem clear that the achievements of modernisation do not justify the costs for the Soviet people. However without it the Allies might have lost the Second World War.The main attribute of the economic modernisation programme was Stalins five year plans. The first one began in December 1927 after the end of Lenins New Economic Policy (N.E.P.). This point is known as the start of the great turn where the direction of the Soviet economy changed towards a central planning Command economy. Many historians maintain that this is the point where communism went wrong and that they now only left themselv es to rule by tyranny and totalitarianism and where they would have been better off to continue with the N.E.P. Stephen Cohen suggests the USSR would have done better with the limited market economy of the 1920s, they accept the pace would have been slower but far fewer waste would have been produced.1 However this view is contradicted by R. W. Davies who suggests that N.E.P had limitations such as serious unemployment and an unfavourable effect on other sectors of the economy, such as education and the railways2 Davies believed that decision to begin a rapid industrialisation programme was made because of the political judgement of how essential it was for the USSR to increase their defences and establish a heavy industrial sector.Targets for the plans were set for industrial enterprises and were backed by law so failure to meet them was treated as a criminal offence acting as a very effective motivator. The first plans main emphasis was on heavy industry with electricity productio n trebled, coal and iron output doubled, steel increased by a third, huge new industrial complexes and tractor works were built. Stalins overall aim was to increase heavy industry by 300%! However, many historians have questioned the reliability of Soviet statistics.There was such fierce pressure on plants that managers were known to hi-jack lorries of materials destined for other plants so they would have the resources to meet targets.3 Also mistakes were covered up under the mass of paperwork because the only thing managers cared about was showing they met targets even if this was untrue; this led to the system showing that it was working where in fact this was not the case. The scapegoat for these shortcomings was the bourgeois specialists. They were accused of deliberately holding up supply and causing breakdowns. After many had been imprisoned and put on show trials it was apparent that the loss of so many valuable workers caused so many problems that Stalin ordered the offensi ve to be dropped.4 Overall though not all targets were met mainly because they were far too unrealistic, massive growth was achieved in certain sectors which led the way for further growth in Soviet Union. To add to this the western capitalist countries were suffering the effects of huge unemployment and economic recession.5The second five year plan was planned a lot better to ensure that the problems of shortages and miscalculations didnt happen again. There were still many problems with it involving shortages and wastage but not anything like on the scale as the first plan. The second five year plan concentrated mainly on new industries such as communications and transport which grew rapidly however did still include some heavy industries. By the end of the second plan in 1937 the USSR was almost self sufficient in machine making and metal work. In the years 1934-36 known as the three good years there was less pressure of industrialisation, and families had more disposable income. The third five year plan started in 1938 when the Soviet Union was experiencing a slowdown in the economy where heavy industries almost stopped growing. It ended after only three and half years because of the German attack on the USSR. The main area focused on was armaments and defence with the increasing out look of the USSR being invaded. The other problems with the third five year plan were the shortage of qualified and experienced workers for the Gosplan because many had been killed due to the Purges. Overall the economic situation after the interruption of the third plan was even more chaotic with shortages and wastes. The whole three five year plans were known as the planned economy this phrase is a entirely misleading as there was very basic planning if any. However Stalin had succeeded in industrialising the USSR in order to have a basis for a powerful arms industry.6In terms of contemporary Soviet historians the five year plans were a huge success but as David Evans says th ey were far less creditable due to the plans being affected by Confusion, waste and inefficiency7. Also due to the population increasing from 147 million to 170 million is a large factor to the rapid modernisation resulting from the extra labour available. The best explanation of the success of the five year plans I feel comes from Evans If the success of the five year plans is to be measured against any immediate increase in the prosperity of the Russian people then they were a resounding failure. On the other hand it might be argued that millions had died and the people forced to endure hard labour, shortages m reduced living standards and the loss of personal liberties in order to create a better life for the future generations of Russians.8The other main section of Stalins economic modernisation programme was collectivisation; however this was not an achievement because of the huge human and economic costs. It was started in mid-1929 for two reasons, firstly because it was part of Marxist theory that all land had to be owned by the state, with no private land being used to make profits on goods farmed there. The second reason was that Stalin wanted a platform to kick start the largest sector of the economy which was agriculture and he wanted this to assist the five year plans by providing enough food to feed the workers and providing surplus to sell to buy modern equipment to industrialise. Many historians see collectivisation as the most extreme and rapid part of Stalins modernisation programme. The idea of it was to make the agricultural sector more efficient by combining many small peasant farms to large state run collective farms (kolkhoz). This links in with theory of economies of scale and the use of modern machinery to increase production. In November 1929, Stalin wrote, By the spring of 1930 we shall have 60,000 tractors in the field.9 This vision of such rapid growth was completely unrealistic with this number of tractors not existing and nor even the factories to produce them.In order for collectivisation to be successful living standards throughout the Soviet Union would have to remain low to make sure that food prices did not rise. If the USSR could buy and then sell food (at a profit), money could be made to help finance industrialisation. Very few peasants actually joined the collective farms voluntarily because they would lose their equipment and land to the state, so on the 7th November 1929 Stalin ordered mass-collectivisation which forced peasants to join the farms using military forces this continued through the winter of 1929-30. Stalin wanted the liquidation of the kulaks as a class!10 The kulaks were used as scapegoats for the grain shortages with many deported to GULAGS, shot on sight or forced to starve to death. There was resistance to de-kulakisation however with kulaks burning their crops and slaughtering their animals as they would only lose them to the state anyway (there was 50% less livestock in 1932 th an there was in 1928). Jerzy Karcz claims that Stalin actually helped the crisis by lowering payments for grain allowing meat prices to raise therefore encouraging peasants to switch from grain farming to livestock.11 The forced collectivisation was a political success in spring 1930 with 60% of peasants now on collective farms, this figure rose to 77% in June 1930 and 90% in 1936.12Soviet propaganda was used to cover up the failure with focusing on the intense hate-campaign against the Kulaks. There was an extreme human cost to collectivisation especially in Ukraine and Kazakhstan where there was mass famine, this was kept a secret to the world therefore tragically no foreign aid was received. To add to this, Kazakhstan was where greatest depletion of livestock occurred more than anywhere else in the USSR with high 80s% of all livestock destroyed.13 It was made an offence punishable by five years in prison simply to refer to it (the denied famine)14. Families died lying outside war ehouses full of grain but under armed guard15 Estimates of the deaths vary wildly and are impossible to verify as with all communist figures; a figure of five-million overall is a reasonable average.16 However Chris Ward has investigated the human cost and believes the figures could be as high as 20.1 million deaths including famine caused by collectivisation, de-kulakisation, gulags, collective drive, and terror.17Overall collectivisation was a disaster. Stalin confessed to Churchill that it had caused more damage to the Soviet Union than the German invasion. Urban workers could not manage collective farms. In 1932, the private plot allowance was given: half a hectare on which produce could be grown. It is no surprise that the peasants devoted all of their energy to their private plots and the barest minimum to the collectives. Therefore the majority of agricultural goods came from the peasants plots rather than the collective farms; furthermore it took until 1940 for grain to reac h the 1914 level and took until 1953 for livestock to reach the pre-collectivisation levels. Additionally the peasants fared atrociously, even worse than the workers of the five year plans because of the mass numbers killed or sent to labour camps. Finally Stalin purposely caused a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule; the result was that an estimated 7 million people starved to death in the area known as the breadbasket of Europe, Stalin deprived these people of food that they had grown themselves!18 Simply no-one gained from collectivisation proving it was a complete failure.19Workers also suffered in the economic modernisation programme. At first many supported the plans with thousands of young workers volunteering to work on remote projects, they simply wanted a better society for them but mostly for their children.20 The conditions and pay of the collective farms were so bad in some places that peasants kept moving on to different factories and lodgings until they found the best of a bad bunch or whatever was left. In the coal industry in 1930, the average worker moved jobs three times in a year.21 This is supported by Oxley who states that average real pay in 1932 was only half of what it had been at the end of N.E.P because of rising inflation.22 However workers with skills or even semi-skilled were being sought by many factories and managers and therefore commanded higher wages and perks such as extra food rations, this is because less than 7% of the work force were skilled.As the USSR had little money in modern machinery most of the work had to be done by hand therefore needing millions of workers a figure that could not be met by volunteers. Thats why Stalin ordered forced labour to be introduced. Millions of kulaks were used as a great part of the forced labour completely against their will, showing any lack of freedom and independence. Also enemies of the state were used as forced labour comprising of various religious groups and former members of the bourgeoisie. They were transported all over the new industrial areas and had fewer rights and were treated worse than the volunteer workers. Workers were worked so hard that in order to receive another days food rations to survive they would have to work to their physical limits. Deaths were very frequent.Targets were set not just for factories and managers but even for individuals, Alexei Stakhanov became a model worker in 1935 when he miraculously cut 102 tonnes of coal in one shift, 14 times the average. He became known as a Hero of Socialist Labour and propaganda encouraged all Soviet workers to be like Stakhanov. All over the USSR workers tried to emulate Alexei Stakhanov in every sector of the economy, and managers using it as an excuse to accuse workers of laziness. This shows the degree of propaganda that was used to trick peasants into working to death which can definitely be considered a human cost, J. P. Nettl talks abou t posters being issued in work places on which the names of the slackers, doubters and ill-disposed persons could be publicised and therefore criticised by their work colleagues. The achievement of plans and work norms has always dominated official propaganda23Punishment was also used to motivate workers; it was common for workers to hear threats of labour camps if they didnt work harder. Absenteeism was also almost completely removed with it being punishable by fine or removing the workers ration book. In 1940 it carried a prison sentence24. To add to this appalling treatment of the workers they were forced to carry labour books which outlined whether they had worked hard or not, anything but good comments could lead to prison, and with a prison sentence being 3 years or over the prisoners were sent to labour camps to provide cheap labour. Stalin adopted the view that it did not matter if prisoners and workers died working whether from excursion, starvation or the lack of health an d safety with many workers dying in accidents, the only important factor Stalin was interested in was that the project was finished and finished on time.Further use of fear to maintain and increase progress was used upon managers and technicians with the failure to meet targets punishable by industrial trials. The only evidence in these trials (which were heavily published to act as a warning to the rest of the workers) was confessions but these were only given because of threats or ill treatment in prison. Another method of implementing fear was the use of the secret police. Firstly they restricted workers freedom by stopping those workers moving jobs because workers required internal passports and in order to receive one needed to register with the police. However, the police often refused out of fear for not meeting their production targets. This is again a human cost as it restricted the workers freedom and job opportunities.Overall the workers fared extremely poorly under the p lans. Managers treated their workers extremely badly with dangerous conditions consequently accidents resulting in deaths were very common. The GULAG inmates were worked to death either by starvation or exhaustion. Workers had to work severely long hours at very low wages. Millions of enemies of the state and kulaks were used in order to fuel this industrialisation with them being treated as slaves. Ridiculous targets were set and punishments were often death for failure to meet them. Absenteeism and low productivity was made a criminal offence during these plans showing evidence of the absurdity of the nature of them. The five year plans had large focus on heavy industries, infrastructure and defence, consumer goods were simply overlooked as was the value of a human life as long as the project was finished that was the most important thing. Stalin saw this as a sacrifice that Russians had to make in order for the Soviets to catch up with the west and be prepared for a Second World War.In conclusion Stalins most admirable skill was his ability to predict the altering nature of the world, and his ability to understand that the USSR had to be fully prepared for war on a massive scale. Therefore I can understand historians who justify the human cost of Stalins economic modernisation programme; because without this rapid programme being in full swing by 1941, it seems very likely that the USSR would have been quickly overpowered by Nazi forces. In the 1930s Stalin realised the ever increasingly likelihood of war and rapid modernisation was the only way for the USSR to survive it, therefore had to be achieved no matter what the human cost! Stalin was responsible for the deaths of 20 million people; but then the war killed even more, and even more would have died had the USSR been defeated.Stalins view of Machiavellianism (where the ends justify the means) clearly justifies the human cost of modernisation for the final result of the USSR claming victory in the Secon d World War. Furthermore turning the USSR from a backward country to a leading world power. This idea of Machiavellianism also explains Stalins view of individuals being unimportant compared to the state. This is supported by him saying In order to make a good omelette you have to smash a few eggs.From my western view I cannot justify the human sacrifices for the rapid economic modernisation programme. However Russian society is of such a different nature that individual rights do not matter to the same degree as in western society because there is more focus on the state. Evidence of this, is the support for Stalin on the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, held in Red Square in Moscow with many people holding Stalin portraits. So overall I feel that the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme did not justify the costs; but I do understand Russian historians who would disagree with me. How far did the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme justify the costs Essay Example How far did the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme justify the costs Essay Stalin once said the USSR was fifty to a hundred years behind the west: either the USSR caught up or they would be crushed. As a consequence an extremely rapid economic modernisation programme was introduced. Stalin succeeded brilliantly turning the USSR from a backward country to the leading world power. However this came at a severe cost of millions and millions of lives, at the outset it may seem clear that the achievements of modernisation do not justify the costs for the Soviet people. However without it the Allies might have lost the Second World War.The main attribute of the economic modernisation programme was Stalins five year plans. The first one began in December 1927 after the end of Lenins New Economic Policy (N.E.P.). This point is known as the start of the great turn where the direction of the Soviet economy changed towards a central planning Command economy. Many historians maintain that this is the point where communism went wrong and that they now only left themselv es to rule by tyranny and totalitarianism and where they would have been better off to continue with the N.E.P. Stephen Cohen suggests the USSR would have done better with the limited market economy of the 1920s, they accept the pace would have been slower but far fewer waste would have been produced.1 However this view is contradicted by R. W. Davies who suggests that N.E.P had limitations such as serious unemployment and an unfavourable effect on other sectors of the economy, such as education and the railways2 Davies believed that decision to begin a rapid industrialisation programme was made because of the political judgement of how essential it was for the USSR to increase their defences and establish a heavy industrial sector.Targets for the plans were set for industrial enterprises and were backed by law so failure to meet them was treated as a criminal offence acting as a very effective motivator. The first plans main emphasis was on heavy industry with electricity productio n trebled, coal and iron output doubled, steel increased by a third, huge new industrial complexes and tractor works were built. Stalins overall aim was to increase heavy industry by 300%! However, many historians have questioned the reliability of Soviet statistics.There was such fierce pressure on plants that managers were known to hi-jack lorries of materials destined for other plants so they would have the resources to meet targets.3 Also mistakes were covered up under the mass of paperwork because the only thing managers cared about was showing they met targets even if this was untrue; this led to the system showing that it was working where in fact this was not the case. The scapegoat for these shortcomings was the bourgeois specialists. They were accused of deliberately holding up supply and causing breakdowns. After many had been imprisoned and put on show trials it was apparent that the loss of so many valuable workers caused so many problems that Stalin ordered the offensi ve to be dropped.4 Overall though not all targets were met mainly because they were far too unrealistic, massive growth was achieved in certain sectors which led the way for further growth in Soviet Union. To add to this the western capitalist countries were suffering the effects of huge unemployment and economic recession.5The second five year plan was planned a lot better to ensure that the problems of shortages and miscalculations didnt happen again. There were still many problems with it involving shortages and wastage but not anything like on the scale as the first plan. The second five year plan concentrated mainly on new industries such as communications and transport which grew rapidly however did still include some heavy industries. By the end of the second plan in 1937 the USSR was almost self sufficient in machine making and metal work. In the years 1934-36 known as the three good years there was less pressure of industrialisation, and families had more disposable income. The third five year plan started in 1938 when the Soviet Union was experiencing a slowdown in the economy where heavy industries almost stopped growing. It ended after only three and half years because of the German attack on the USSR. The main area focused on was armaments and defence with the increasing out look of the USSR being invaded. The other problems with the third five year plan were the shortage of qualified and experienced workers for the Gosplan because many had been killed due to the Purges. Overall the economic situation after the interruption of the third plan was even more chaotic with shortages and wastes. The whole three five year plans were known as the planned economy this phrase is a entirely misleading as there was very basic planning if any. However Stalin had succeeded in industrialising the USSR in order to have a basis for a powerful arms industry.6In terms of contemporary Soviet historians the five year plans were a huge success but as David Evans says th ey were far less creditable due to the plans being affected by Confusion, waste and inefficiency7. Also due to the population increasing from 147 million to 170 million is a large factor to the rapid modernisation resulting from the extra labour available. The best explanation of the success of the five year plans I feel comes from Evans If the success of the five year plans is to be measured against any immediate increase in the prosperity of the Russian people then they were a resounding failure. On the other hand it might be argued that millions had died and the people forced to endure hard labour, shortages m reduced living standards and the loss of personal liberties in order to create a better life for the future generations of Russians.8The other main section of Stalins economic modernisation programme was collectivisation; however this was not an achievement because of the huge human and economic costs. It was started in mid-1929 for two reasons, firstly because it was part of Marxist theory that all land had to be owned by the state, with no private land being used to make profits on goods farmed there. The second reason was that Stalin wanted a platform to kick start the largest sector of the economy which was agriculture and he wanted this to assist the five year plans by providing enough food to feed the workers and providing surplus to sell to buy modern equipment to industrialise. Many historians see collectivisation as the most extreme and rapid part of Stalins modernisation programme. The idea of it was to make the agricultural sector more efficient by combining many small peasant farms to large state run collective farms (kolkhoz). This links in with theory of economies of scale and the use of modern machinery to increase production. In November 1929, Stalin wrote, By the spring of 1930 we shall have 60,000 tractors in the field.9 This vision of such rapid growth was completely unrealistic with this number of tractors not existing and nor even the factories to produce them.In order for collectivisation to be successful living standards throughout the Soviet Union would have to remain low to make sure that food prices did not rise. If the USSR could buy and then sell food (at a profit), money could be made to help finance industrialisation. Very few peasants actually joined the collective farms voluntarily because they would lose their equipment and land to the state, so on the 7th November 1929 Stalin ordered mass-collectivisation which forced peasants to join the farms using military forces this continued through the winter of 1929-30. Stalin wanted the liquidation of the kulaks as a class!10 The kulaks were used as scapegoats for the grain shortages with many deported to GULAGS, shot on sight or forced to starve to death. There was resistance to de-kulakisation however with kulaks burning their crops and slaughtering their animals as they would only lose them to the state anyway (there was 50% less livestock in 1932 th an there was in 1928). Jerzy Karcz claims that Stalin actually helped the crisis by lowering payments for grain allowing meat prices to raise therefore encouraging peasants to switch from grain farming to livestock.11 The forced collectivisation was a political success in spring 1930 with 60% of peasants now on collective farms, this figure rose to 77% in June 1930 and 90% in 1936.12Soviet propaganda was used to cover up the failure with focusing on the intense hate-campaign against the Kulaks. There was an extreme human cost to collectivisation especially in Ukraine and Kazakhstan where there was mass famine, this was kept a secret to the world therefore tragically no foreign aid was received. To add to this, Kazakhstan was where greatest depletion of livestock occurred more than anywhere else in the USSR with high 80s% of all livestock destroyed.13 It was made an offence punishable by five years in prison simply to refer to it (the denied famine)14. Families died lying outside war ehouses full of grain but under armed guard15 Estimates of the deaths vary wildly and are impossible to verify as with all communist figures; a figure of five-million overall is a reasonable average.16 However Chris Ward has investigated the human cost and believes the figures could be as high as 20.1 million deaths including famine caused by collectivisation, de-kulakisation, gulags, collective drive, and terror.17Overall collectivisation was a disaster. Stalin confessed to Churchill that it had caused more damage to the Soviet Union than the German invasion. Urban workers could not manage collective farms. In 1932, the private plot allowance was given: half a hectare on which produce could be grown. It is no surprise that the peasants devoted all of their energy to their private plots and the barest minimum to the collectives. Therefore the majority of agricultural goods came from the peasants plots rather than the collective farms; furthermore it took until 1940 for grain to reac h the 1914 level and took until 1953 for livestock to reach the pre-collectivisation levels. Additionally the peasants fared atrociously, even worse than the workers of the five year plans because of the mass numbers killed or sent to labour camps. Finally Stalin purposely caused a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule; the result was that an estimated 7 million people starved to death in the area known as the breadbasket of Europe, Stalin deprived these people of food that they had grown themselves!18 Simply no-one gained from collectivisation proving it was a complete failure.19Workers also suffered in the economic modernisation programme. At first many supported the plans with thousands of young workers volunteering to work on remote projects, they simply wanted a better society for them but mostly for their children.20 The conditions and pay of the collective farms were so bad in some places that peasants kept moving on to different factories and lodgings until they found the best of a bad bunch or whatever was left. In the coal industry in 1930, the average worker moved jobs three times in a year.21 This is supported by Oxley who states that average real pay in 1932 was only half of what it had been at the end of N.E.P because of rising inflation.22 However workers with skills or even semi-skilled were being sought by many factories and managers and therefore commanded higher wages and perks such as extra food rations, this is because less than 7% of the work force were skilled.As the USSR had little money in modern machinery most of the work had to be done by hand therefore needing millions of workers a figure that could not be met by volunteers. Thats why Stalin ordered forced labour to be introduced. Millions of kulaks were used as a great part of the forced labour completely against their will, showing any lack of freedom and independence. Also enemies of the state were used as forced labour comprising of various religious groups and former members of the bourgeoisie. They were transported all over the new industrial areas and had fewer rights and were treated worse than the volunteer workers. Workers were worked so hard that in order to receive another days food rations to survive they would have to work to their physical limits. Deaths were very frequent.Targets were set not just for factories and managers but even for individuals, Alexei Stakhanov became a model worker in 1935 when he miraculously cut 102 tonnes of coal in one shift, 14 times the average. He became known as a Hero of Socialist Labour and propaganda encouraged all Soviet workers to be like Stakhanov. All over the USSR workers tried to emulate Alexei Stakhanov in every sector of the economy, and managers using it as an excuse to accuse workers of laziness. This shows the degree of propaganda that was used to trick peasants into working to death which can definitely be considered a human cost, J. P. Nettl talks abou t posters being issued in work places on which the names of the slackers, doubters and ill-disposed persons could be publicised and therefore criticised by their work colleagues. The achievement of plans and work norms has always dominated official propaganda23Punishment was also used to motivate workers; it was common for workers to hear threats of labour camps if they didnt work harder. Absenteeism was also almost completely removed with it being punishable by fine or removing the workers ration book. In 1940 it carried a prison sentence24. To add to this appalling treatment of the workers they were forced to carry labour books which outlined whether they had worked hard or not, anything but good comments could lead to prison, and with a prison sentence being 3 years or over the prisoners were sent to labour camps to provide cheap labour. Stalin adopted the view that it did not matter if prisoners and workers died working whether from excursion, starvation or the lack of health an d safety with many workers dying in accidents, the only important factor Stalin was interested in was that the project was finished and finished on time.Further use of fear to maintain and increase progress was used upon managers and technicians with the failure to meet targets punishable by industrial trials. The only evidence in these trials (which were heavily published to act as a warning to the rest of the workers) was confessions but these were only given because of threats or ill treatment in prison. Another method of implementing fear was the use of the secret police. Firstly they restricted workers freedom by stopping those workers moving jobs because workers required internal passports and in order to receive one needed to register with the police. However, the police often refused out of fear for not meeting their production targets. This is again a human cost as it restricted the workers freedom and job opportunities.Overall the workers fared extremely poorly under the p lans. Managers treated their workers extremely badly with dangerous conditions consequently accidents resulting in deaths were very common. The GULAG inmates were worked to death either by starvation or exhaustion. Workers had to work severely long hours at very low wages. Millions of enemies of the state and kulaks were used in order to fuel this industrialisation with them being treated as slaves. Ridiculous targets were set and punishments were often death for failure to meet them. Absenteeism and low productivity was made a criminal offence during these plans showing evidence of the absurdity of the nature of them. The five year plans had large focus on heavy industries, infrastructure and defence, consumer goods were simply overlooked as was the value of a human life as long as the project was finished that was the most important thing. Stalin saw this as a sacrifice that Russians had to make in order for the Soviets to catch up with the west and be prepared for a Second World War.In conclusion Stalins most admirable skill was his ability to predict the altering nature of the world, and his ability to understand that the USSR had to be fully prepared for war on a massive scale. Therefore I can understand historians who justify the human cost of Stalins economic modernisation programme; because without this rapid programme being in full swing by 1941, it seems very likely that the USSR would have been quickly overpowered by Nazi forces. In the 1930s Stalin realised the ever increasingly likelihood of war and rapid modernisation was the only way for the USSR to survive it, therefore had to be achieved no matter what the human cost! Stalin was responsible for the deaths of 20 million people; but then the war killed even more, and even more would have died had the USSR been defeated.Stalins view of Machiavellianism (where the ends justify the means) clearly justifies the human cost of modernisation for the final result of the USSR claming victory in the Secon d World War. Furthermore turning the USSR from a backward country to a leading world power. This idea of Machiavellianism also explains Stalins view of individuals being unimportant compared to the state. This is supported by him saying In order to make a good omelette you have to smash a few eggs.From my western view I cannot justify the human sacrifices for the rapid economic modernisation programme. However Russian society is of such a different nature that individual rights do not matter to the same degree as in western society because there is more focus on the state. Evidence of this, is the support for Stalin on the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany, held in Red Square in Moscow with many people holding Stalin portraits. So overall I feel that the achievements of Stalins economic modernisation programme did not justify the costs; but I do understand Russian historians who would disagree with me.

Starbucks Coffee Essay Example

Starbucks Coffee Essay Example Starbucks Coffee Essay Starbucks Coffee Essay This one phrase sums up Starbucks Coffee’s approach to attracting more customers. They want the customers to feel that they are not â€Å"primarily about coffee† (Holmes, 2004). Starbucks chairman Howard Schultz explains further, â€Å"You get more than the finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks – you get great people, first rate music and a comfortable and upbeat meeting place† (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). Indeed, from that single coffee shop in 1971 (Gallo, 2006), Starbucks has evolved into a global brand that is a hybrid of a place where you can get good coffee, good music, a good book and where you can meet up with friends or business partners. Initially just another coffee shop, Starbucks morphed into a cozy hang-out place in the mid 1980’s – an idea brought about by Schultz’s visit to Italy. Charmed by the pleasant environment enveloping Milan coffee places, Schultz got convinced that this set-up could work in America; hence, the Starbucks of today (Gallo, 2006). Central to the transformation into a comfortable meeting place is not just Starbucks’ irresistible coffee but also a more personal kind of customer service that was achieved through a two-fold approach. First leg of this approach was the inclusion of a wider variety of coffee flavors and other drinks such as chocolate, juice and iced drinks in the menu – as this move gave the customers a wider array of choices, it expanded Starbucks’ market, which initially just covered the coffee-drinking public. Also part of this strategy allowing customers to individualize products by giving them the option to dictate the size, temperature and extra ingredients (i.e. whipped cream, coffee strength, caramel, etc.) of their favorite Starbucks drink (Gallo, 2006). To strengthen this image of personalization, Starbucks made an effort to build a personal relationship with their customers. In fact, a coffee giant that expanded to 12,440 location sin 36 years, Starbucks like to operate like a small, local store where the customers feel like they know the people behind the counters and vice versa (Kiviat, 2006). â€Å"It’s part of the reason [people] go [to Starbucks],† attests CEO Jim Donald (Kiviat, 2006). And to make sure they keep their base of loyal customers (and make sure they continue to add to this base), Starbucks invests a lot on the people working for them – whom they fondly call as â€Å"partners† (and not employees). â€Å"We realize our people are the cornerstone of our success, and we know that their ideas, commitment and connection to our customers are truly the essential elements in the Starbucks Experience,† Schultz expounds (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). Maintaining a ‘knowledgeable workforce’ requires Starbucks to give its partners a rigorous 24 hours of training (divided into six classes discussing different aspects of the job) before being able to stand in the front lines. The logic behind this is that, as Sarah Lockyer writes, Starbucks believe that â€Å"employees should be fully versed in how to make [drinks] and how to market them as well. They should be able to describe the contents and, especially if it’s part of the job description, spell the item correctly on a chalkboard or a menu† (as cited in Ablanalp, Reiliey, Bigler, Laracuente, n.d., p.5). This seemingly hard process of getting incorporated into the Starbucks Company comes with benefits, though. Partners are given stock options and health care benefits and are encouraged to share their opinions on operations and to make their own decisions regarding customer relations. And because partners feel more like their own managers than mere â€Å"worker bees†, partners start feeling good about their work, which in turn equates to a positive relationship with customers (Ablanalp et al.). It is also this commitment to an intimate set-up of operations that prevents Starbucks from using machines in churning out coffees. Schultz explains that it is in their utmost concern that the company’s culture does not get diluted with growth – they pride themselves for their hand-crafted beverages and their beverages are going to stay hand-crafted. Despite criticisms and harsh suggestions that they should snap up and accept the fact that machineries are important to increase efficiency, Starbucks remains firm. Jim Alling, president of Starbucks Coffee US, argues, â€Å"As much as we want to meet people’s desire to produce beverages quickly, we also realize that people want a smile with their drink, that they don’t want to feel rushed† (Kiviat, 2006). Another ploy to making sure Starbucks keeps it edge over the competition is their constant attempt at venturing to other endeavors that will greatly compliment their coffee and enhance what they proudly call as the Starbucks Experience. Like most of their other undertakings, Starbucks crossing over to the music business started from something that they already had and just expanded to cater to customers’ demands. When Schultz noticed that while waiting for their orders customers would often get up and ask about the song playing in the background, it gave him the idea of selling CDs of their ‘house music’ at the cash register (Holmes, 2004). Today, Starbucks has extended to more than just selling CDs – it has now partnered with music labels, started its own 24-hour digital music channel on XM Satellite Radio (genre of which is more adult-oriented jazz, blues, and alternative rock), and built the alternative record retailer HearMusic Coffeehouses in Santa Mon ica, San Antonio, Miami and Bellevue, Washington (Starbucks Corporation, 2007). And Starbucks coverage just keeps getting wider. Kiosks and stalls that sell Starbucks coffee can now be spotted on Barnes Nobles bookstores and some campuses (Ablanalp et al.). With the help of Kraft, their products are now also being sold in supermarket shelves and are now featured as Dreyer’s ice cream flavors. The company may now even start to attempt competing with McDonald’s and Burger King in attracting midday crowd – something that will surely boost sales because as of the moment, 60% of Starbucks’ sales are made before 6 a.m. (Gallo, 2006; Kiviat, 2006). Despite the fact that Starbucks’ price list is not exactly the most affordable in the market, people still continue to support its products. This may be traced to the fact that customers, like Starbucks, believe that â€Å"with any product, there is an inherent link between quality and price† (Starbucks Corporation, 2006). Starbucks got it right when they said that quality is the best and most sustainable driver of higher prices paid. Since Starbucks pledge to deliver uncompromising quality on their coffee, people are almost always willing to pay premium prices to have the privilege of sipping from a Starbucks cup. But Starbucks is not all about making money. The company always insisted that â€Å"putting people before products just made good common sense† (Starbucks Corporation, 2007), they always made a point to not forget that aside from an entrepreneurial mind, they also have a social responsibility. They have maintained environmental stewardship and literacy campaigns on top of producing great-tasting coffee. This, Starbucks shares, endears them more to the people and makes them truly part of a community where a Starbucks is located (Starbucks Corporation, 2006). Some business onlookers may get critical of Starbucks seemingly spreading themselves thin. The company looks like they have tried to cover –and is still trying to cover – a lot of other business endeavors. John Glass, who covers Starbucks for CIBC, says that Starbucks has fallen into a trap. â€Å"You have to have new products. That’s the retailer’s dilemma,† he says (Kiviat, 2006). But who is to say that this game plan is not working for the company? Surely, with its recent efforts at global expansion, Starbucks strategy is – contrary to what the pessimists will say – making them a stronger coffee magnate. On top of their already uncountable stores in America, Starbucks continues to reach out to Europe and Asia. Currently, there are now more than 13,000 Starbucks Coffee Shops in 40 countries, including Japan, Philippines, China, Hongkong, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Egypt. In 36 years, Starbucks Corporation has indeed grown into something that nobody may have envisioned when it first came into operation in 1971. Nowadays, Starbucks is not only parallel to good coffee but also to good music, books, food, and community service. Its influence has blown up to include not only the business people and the old who are wont to grab their daily dose of caffeine but also to kids, who now have the option to order chocolate or juice when they tug along with their parents as they drop by for their cappuccino, and students, who has found the perfect study place in Starbucks’ comfortable couches and mellow music. Undeniably, Starbucks has managed to employ a marketing strategy that is not in need of the aid of countless TV and radio advertisements – the image they painstakingly built throughout the years becomes enough for them to survive in an industry where coffee shop companies mushroom so fast. Lucky for the company, they have found the perfect mix of good product, incomparable customer service, and global brand imaging that keeps customer tied to their name. And, as they continue to move forward with the same approach, Starbucks Coffee is sure to stay afloat for a very long time.

P&O Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

P&O - Assignment Example ompany can advertise after sidelining all difficulties and after getting 100 percent surety that no new problems are about to occur and I am sure that the old customers would definitely get attracted toward this goodwill of the company as they are taking all the customers on no profit. 1b. 1b. The buyers are the people who are adventurous and who can really pay all they have in order to be on the voyage, you can see that there are numerous of people who have their life savings and also there life incentives on the line just to get the great feeling and pleasure of such a wonderful tour, each and everyone got attracted towards such a great luxurious service, they paid a big sum to be a part of it and still they did not get that all, though it is quite difficult to predict that they all are satisfied or dissatisfied but according to the research that was conducted by the researchers, most of the people ere found disappointed simply because it is not a product that you can use and get dissatisfied or satisfied, but it is exactly like playing with someone's emotions like you can see that most of the people who were young or not that old gave each and every thing they had just to be on the voyage but suddenly they heard about the incidence and they all got disappointed , it is not a kind of service that every cruising company would be providing but very few provide it and that even once in a blue moon and so you cannot ask the people to get on some other cruise providing such service and so you cannot really play with such people's emotions, the entire decision process was revolving around a wonderful dream, you cannot really find someone who is an ordinary person and willing to invest there entire savings at the same time, so all the company did was that they targeted people having adventurous thinking and they just simply did not make there dreams come true, so most of the dissatisfaction was caused in the segment they targeted, however there are few people who really think that the company handled the situation exceptionally well, but they should not be counted in the target as they are lot more experienced and cannot simply think that way a youngster can think, also the discount thing did not work for them as most of the people paid discounted amount earlier and got even more money than they paid this all did not worth as the primary objective of every buyer was go on voyage. 2a. The P&O and Ikea both have put just normal efforts in communicating about their services and products, it was certainly not

Time Value of Money Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Time Value of Money - Research Paper Example Calculation regarding future values of present values is extremely important when making important investment decisions (Andrew, 1997). A manager who would be uncertain of what would be the future value of his investment today, he would be uncertain whether to take on the investment or not. Suppose, a manager takes on an investment to invest in a bond that will pay him $ 1000 at maturity at 5% interest. How would he value the investment in terms of today? What is explicitly of importance to the manager is that how much the investor should pay today in order to get that $ 1000 principal at maturity (Brealey, 2005). The investor should use the application of time value of money in order to determine whether the amount that the borrower is asking is appropriate or not. Similarly, an investor might want to know that if he deposits a certain sum of money in the bank, then what would be the future value of the payment that he would receive at the relevant interest rate few years from now ( Andrew, 1997). The basic concept I have learnt from this assignment is how to apply the application of time value of money in different situations. Sometimes, we have been given the future value and all information and we had to find the present value, while sometimes we had been given present value and we had to calculate the future value. In summation, I have learnt the practical application and usefulness of time value of