The Royal Dutch Shell Company Commerce Essay

The Royal Dutch Shell Company Commerce Essay In this essay, I select The Royal Dutch Shell Company and write to analyze its secret to become successful. This international firm has lots of special experience for todays Chinese companies to learn because they are aspiring to rush out to the world. I will focus on four aspects, which are firms international strategy and policies analysis; international management and decision making style; macro analysis on how to change to survive and the companys globalization and adaption analysis functional analysis, including a brief financial information description. We will also give our own opinions and critics through the whole article. Royal Dutch Shell Group is the worlds second largest oil company and headquartered in The Hague, the Netherlands. It is composed by Royal Dutch Company and British Shell Company. It is a major international manufacturer of oil, natural gas, chemical and petroleum (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). It is also the worlds largest automotive fuel and lubricating oil retailers. It has rich experience in the aspects of financing, management and operation. It develops its business in about one hundred and forty five countries, with almost one hundred and twenty thousand employees. (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). Oil and gas production accounts for three percent and 3.5% respectively of the worlds total output. As the Netherlands largest industrial company, it has ranked the first in the fortune global top 500 list. 1.2 Brief Introduction to the Company Structure The structure of Shell Company is very unique. Subsidiary companies all over the world are managed collectively by Royal Dutch Shell Company and Shell Transport and Trading Company, including Royal Dutch holding sixty percent, Shell holding forty percent. The largest shareholder of Royal Dutch Shell Company is the investment company of Dutch royal family (Dai, Shells Way to Success., July 15, 2006). Royal Dutch Shell Group has the long-term vision of development business. The company developed on the basis of operating foreign oil and other commodities trade. It has more than one hundred years business history in many countries and its long-term cooperation partners spread over various fields. The investment scale of many Shell projects (whether upstream or downstream) is very large (Armstrong, March, 2010), and the operation cycle of these projects proceed for decades. As a result, the Royal Dutch Shell establishes and uses complex perspective plan technology research the future development Firm Strategy 2.1 Long Term Goals Royal Dutch Shells long-term goal as published states that they will, meet the energy needs of society in economically, socially and environmentally viable ways. The Royal Dutch Shell firm is continually trying to expand its business and profits with environmentally safe methods; however the extent to which an oil company can keep the environment safe is still questionable. Peter Voser, Shells CEO, said, Shells strategy is innovative and competitive explaining how 2011s dividends reached over 10 billion US dollars, and he is expecting further growth in 2012 as well (Solutions for Business). IEA describes this as the Industrys resurrection which promises huge benefits for the US economy and subsequently economies around the world (Crooks, Ed; Guy Chazan, 2012). The International Energy Agency or (IEA) is a multinational regulatory energy committee who have stated that as little as five years ago, oil and gas productions were on an inexorable downward trend in the US but Shells strateg y is innovative and competitive (Crooks, Ed; Guy Chazan, 2012). Shells stock price fell rapidly during this time. They are still recovering from oil crisis. The resulting fallout left many oil companies around the world wounded and many economies damaged, however Shell has helped the North America revitalize its economy. Royal Dutch Shell is striving to achieve its goal of finding ways to viably meet societys energy needs while increasing its profits in the world economy. 2.2 Macro Effect: Global problems Shell faces many global-macro level problems and the majority of them are difficult to resolve. First, the power difference between high and low levels in the workplace is very large. Shell macro-executive responsiveness may not be effectively projected upon local communities and the developing world (Wheeler, Fabig, Boele, 2002). Wheeler argues that the executive decisions made on the corporate level are not effectively being passed down the lower levels. Daniels describes this vertical differentiation in his book International Business: Environments and Operations as a problem that all companies must address (Daniels, Radelbaugh, Sullivan, 1998). Along with communication problems, price fluctuations also affect the companys profits. The Washington Journal reports, because weak US gas prices drag down [Shells] earnings, they are considering converting natural gas to road fuels to sell at higher prices (Williams, Shell Sets Sights on Natural Gas to Fuel Growth). This is still very early however and it will take nearly a decade before results are seen from any investment Shell decides to make. Royal Dutch Shell faces another major problem-the global energy shortage. As fossil fuels combust the create carbon dioxide and water. This chemical process is irreversible. Shell must also worry about their long term growth potential because of the fundamental economic principle of scarcity. Shell has decided to increase their global efforts to exploit and research renewable energy sources in the face of this problem. An external committee consisting of representatives from five different countries conducted an investigation on Shells ability to withstand with this ever changing and volatile market. Upon the investigations conclusion, the committee stated, [Shell has] successful management of its complex operations in the midst of global economic turmoil (Solutions for Business). The fact that five professionals concluded that Shell is doing well during this difficult time says a lot about the quality of this multinational company. Shell publically acknowledges the, Global economy w ill very likely see, continued volatility in the future (Solutions for Business). In fact Royal Dutch Shell recently had to write down its assets value according to a recent Wall Street Journal article resulting in a shift in North American Energy production (Williams, Shell Profit Hit by Weaker Oil, Gas Prices, 2012). Shell is facing many macro-level problems that are not completely in their control; they are working very hard to lessen the effects that the global recession and resource scarcity are placing on them. International Management and Decision Making Style Shells Special Management and its Reasons 3.1.1 Shell Has a Large Scale Royal Dutch Shell Group, as an oil company which has a long history and hires a large scale of employees, an appropriate management is very important for it to operate well and become successful. Shell has its own distinct management style as a multinational joint company with capital from the Netherlands, America and Britain (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). 3.1.2 Characteristic of the Industry Determines Its Integrated Management The capital intensive characteristic of the oil industry and Shells large scale both determine its integrated management (Liu, 2008) and decision making style rather than hierarchical management or any other styles. 3.1.3 Structure of Senior Management 3.2 The Two Parent Companies Are Relatively Independent The Royal Dutch Company and British Shell Company are two parent companies of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. They each registered independently in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). Although according to the contract, the two parent companies exchanged shares, but they have their own decision-making bodies and are responsible to their shareholders respectively. The two parent companies are not constituent parts of the group and do not participate in the groups operations directly. However, they have the right to appoint board members in their own holding companies in the group and charge interest from these companies. 3.3 Shell Service Companies Play an Important Role The Shell Group has total 11 service companies to bear management and service functions assigned from the headquarters. These companies main task is to provide consulting services for all group companies and associated companies and subsidiaries in their business. Service companies are divided by business, regions and functions (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). 3.3.1 Management Approach on Service Companies The Shell Group takes an integrated matrix management approach to conduct organizational management on its service companies. For instance, the service company in The Hague, the Netherlands focused on technical services but the service company in London, the UK focused on commercial services (Lei, 2007). The reason is that the Netherlands have some best technological universities in the world while London is the global trading center with much financial resource. From a functional point of view, this allocation of service companies can maximize the groups profit as well as optimize its management. 3.3.2 Segregation of Service Companies and Coordination Bureaus In order to facilitate regional coordination, service companies are also segregated geographically. The Shell Group established five Coordination Bureaus, which are Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, the CIS and Eastern Europe, the Western Hemisphere and Africa and Far East and South Asia (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). 3.4 Business Company Is Mainstay of the Group 3.4.1 Business Company Definition The Shell Group has more than 300 business companies in more than 100 countries around the world. Their business scope includes oil, natural gas, coal, chemicals, and metals. Each business company is an independent organization and many of them are mutually associated. They are not wholly-owned by Shell because their Shareholders are various, including other companies, governments or individual investors. Where if more than 51% of these companies stocks are owned by the Shell Group, they are called the Group companies, the rest are called the associated companies. 3.4.2 Operational Mode of Business Company Management personnel in each business company are solely responsible for the companys own operations and long-term approach to development. A business company can either draw on the experience from service companies, or obtain other companies experience via them (Pender, March 16, 2002). The five-year plans and annual plans of a business company have to be viewed so that it can receive opinions from service companies. Therefore, a business company has to consult the planning, finance, personnel and other departments in service companies and then report to their corresponding regional coordination bureau. The regional coordination bureau will analyze and provide researches on the aspects of regional resources, market conditions and the groups ability to provide support (Dai, Royal Dutch Shells Secrets., March 15, 2003). After this procedure of research coordination, if the regional coordination bureau agreed, they would report to the groups board of directors for an approval. 3.5 Shell Keeps Pace with the Time From what mentioned above, the Shell Group has an integrated management model. Recently, the Shell group keeps up to date and takes a reform on its management structure. It developed its commercial companies in accordance with professional divisions, such as Shell Chemical, Shell Refinery, Shell Exploration and Exploitation and other business sectors (Knott, 2012). Shell also incorporated research institutions into respective companies, conducting these actions will improve the groups competitiveness continuously. Macro analysis 4.1 Global Adaption Once the Royal Dutch Shell decided to step into the global market, they need a complete international strategy to adapt the complicated problems and challenges. However, the challenges they faced could be the opportunities they own in some degrees. Obviously, Royal Dutch Shell have turned the challenges to opportunities successfully which due to their core international strategy. It covers the operating decentralization, international HR management and emergency mechanism (Pender, March 16, 2002). 4.1.1 Operating Decentralization Oil resource has a large relevance with the geopolitics situation which means the local political changes would have huge influence on the Royal Dutch Shells subsidiary company settled in that place (Liu, 2008). For this reason, Royal Dutch Shell has adapted the strategy which implements the operating decentralization. 4.2 Investment Diversification Investment diversification can maintain a favorable balance among their entire pattern. Royal Dutch Shell has oil and gas exploitation operation in more than 50 countries and areas, with refinery established in about 30 areas the corporations sales network covers more than 100 countries and areas (Pender, March 16, 2002). The political systems and wars are two of the most impact factors to the Oil Corporation. Yet the Royal Dutch Shell constructed a global investment network. Once one of the invested places suffered in war or the new political system changes put the company into an unfavorable situation, Royal Dutch Shell would cancel or transfer the investments (OHara, 2001). For example, on 20 August, 2012, Royal Dutch Shell announced that they achieved the oil concession of Skifska which is located in the Black Sea, Ukraine (Pender, March 16, 2002). That is a locality successful this year. However, just few months ago, Royal Dutch Shell had withdrawn from Libya due to its unstable social environment. 4.3 Product Diversification Though the Royal Dutch Shell has a wide product diversification network, their products only limited in energy sources and chemical industry which are relevance and cooperation to their familiar industry areas. There are four main products divisions. 4.3.1 Oil and Gas Products The oil and gas industry is the core business which is most important earning source. Its manufacturing equipments take over more than 80% of the total amount while the sales income occupies over 85% of the total sales (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). Beside it as a supplier for several airline companies, Royal Dutch Shell is the biggest crude oil producer in offshore, USA. In order to cooperate with its oil and gas business among the world, Royal Dutch Shell has a strong, efficient shipping chain. 4.3.2 Chemical Products In order to provide raw materials to subsidiary companies in Europe which could decline the costs and increase the competitiveness of the products, Royal Dutch Shell established chemical raw materials manufacturing factories in the Middle East where have abundant chemical raw materials resource. Over 80% of the chemical products would sell in Europe (Dai, Shells Way to Success., July 15, 2006). The main products involves in the catalyst, agrochemical and plasticizer market. 4.3.3 Coal Products Though the price of coal has a trend of decline, they require amount is increasing. The oil market has presented a trend that the supply is excess than the demand, it is more important to focus on the development of coal. Royal Dutch Shell provides coal products in over 70 countries and now they are making an effort on the expansion on the markets in North America and Hong Kong (Hua, 2008). 4.3.4 Non-Metallic Materials Products This kind materials representative as aluminum and bauxite. The non-metallic material products are part of the products diversification. It contributes to the implement of products diversification. A health balance could be maintained by adjustment of income in different areas. 4.4 International HR Management It is hard to say which country that Royal Dutch Shell belongs to as the international human resources is the tradition among the group.à £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ 4.4.1 Global Talented Person Mechanismà £Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ The employees chosen standard that Royal Dutch Shell adapted is faced the international human resources. Which country that the employee comes from is not important if the employee meets the standard. As the data in annual report, 2011, Royal Dutch Shell has about 5700 international employees come from 76 different countries who work in its branches among 100 countries (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). The global talented person mechanism contributes its operation and management level into an international high level. Royal Dutch Shell has over 1000 joint ventures with other companies because of their multicultural environment. For example, the subsidiary company in Australia which mainly operating in steelmaking had surpassed the Nippon Shell. The president of the company is cone from Australia who has a wide human relationship. 4.4.2 Relative Independence Management Compare with its global talented person mechanism, the management to different local subsidiary companies have relative independence. The subsidiary companies in charge of their own operation business. The central offices in London and The Hague are in charge of providing financing institutions and technology skills to all the subsidiary. In this situation, the subsidiary companies can handle the emergency accidents by themselves with flexibility and subjective initiative (Heinrich C. C., 2005). Meanwhile, Royal Dutch Shell does not just give up the control of the subsidiary companies in different areas in the world. The experienced managers come to local branches and companies with their international management knowledge. It promises the concentration of the whole group which prevents the abruption. Functional Analysis International Financial Analysisà ¦Ã…“ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ‚ ½Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ Ã‚  à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾121130_1à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾121130_4 From the statement above we can see that Shell group in recent years keeps a good developing trend: sales, operating profit, net assets and increase year by year, Current ratio, average working capital rate of return, net profit/average net assets indexes, such as keep rising trend; Total debt/working capital is reduced year by year (PricewaterhouseCoopers CI LLP, March 14th, 2012). 5.2 Shells Revenue in Geographic Area In the statement we can see that in the Europe Asia Oceania Africa and the USA, the revenue are growing rapidly especially in the year 2010 to 2011. It is the reason why Shell can be the second column in the fortune magazine of global top 500 in 2011 rank only behind the Wal-Mart and on the top beyond Wal-Mart in July 9, 2012.à ¦Ã‚ Ã…“à §Ã¢â‚¬ ¹-à ¦Ã‹â€ Ã‚ ªÃƒ ¥Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃ‚ ¾121130_3 5.3 Conclusion of Financial Condition From the statement we also can see that the intangible assets, property, plant and equipment and equity-accounted investments growth the fastest in Asia. It is because in China, the Shells five core businesses are has made great strides in development such as exploration and production business and engaged in oil production. Also Shell has all over the country 250 cities of lube oil sales network and more than 40 shell brand gas station in Beijing Tianjin Chengdu and other big cities (Weiser, 2010). Meanwhile we noticed that the growth in other Americas is not as quick as in other areas. Through the discussion, we thought maybe these areas economic environment is not so good to do investment. Conclusion As one of the biggest multinational enterprises in the world Royal Dutch Shell plc is certainly one of the global economic giants pushing forward our global economy. It has demonstrated excellent functional ability evident through its marketing and sales numbers. It has a clear published company goal and moves closer to it by executing its long-term macro strategy. Although it faces numerous problems, Shell is using innovative and decisive ways to counteract the adverse effects of the global market while adapting to fit its customers. In conclusion, the Royal Dutch Shell Company is an excellent company worthy of investment with solid prospects for future growth.

In what ways is A view from the bridge like a Greek tragedy? Essay

In what ways is A view from the bridge like a Greek tragedy? Introduction In this essay I will be explaining in what ways "A View from the Bridge" is like a Greek tragedy by exploring what Eddie's tragic flaw is and how it influences his actions, sending him on a path of self-destruction that eventually leads to his tragic downfall. I will also be explaining which of the other characters and key events in the play have the biggest impacts on Eddie and his downfall. In the opening scene of the play, the audience is shown the setting of the play, which is the harbour area of Brooklyn near the Brooklyn bridge. When it shows Eddie with Beatrice and Catherine their use of dialogue initially suggests to the audience that they get along well and that there is a general 'happy family' atmosphere. The scene gives the audience the impression that Eddie is a good man who seems perfectly happy with his life since he has the dignity of a job that he likes and the love of his family. The audience also find out that Eddie is not related to Catherine which is an important fact to remember about him. Even though Eddie is not Catherine's real father he is still extremely over-protective of her, which suggests he may feel a bit too strongly for her and it is this love which is in fact the tragic flaw that eventually leads to his downfall. But this unlawful love does not come out into the open until it is sparked off by a metaphorical catalyst in the form of Beatrice's cousin Rodolpho. The first hints of this love that are given to the audience are when they see Eddie's obsession with the way Catherine dresses, for example when she comes in wearing a new dress and he says: " I think it's too short " He then goes o... ...uld be going on, perhaps a little. It didn't even cross her mind that she was a potential 'rival' to Beatrice; 'He said you was jealous?' Heidegger enveloped badman2k3's structuralism hypothesis. When Catherine falls in love with Rodolfo, Eddie cannot stand this, and does everything in his power to stop it, as his subconscious desires tear him apart slowly. He even calls the immigration bureau and risks his respect (which means so much to him) for her. I feel that both Eddie and Catherine were partly to blame for the tragic end of their relationship and in general. However, Catherine gained her confidence and independence a little more toward the end of the play. Eddie's possessiveness and dominance over Catherine suffocated her into staying a 'baby', but I feel she could/should have been more self- aware, especially of the situation around her.

Psychology, IT and Individualism Essay

As information technology continues to develop with more people getting exposed to it, numerous changes are also taking place the field of psychology. Previously, many IT analysts frequently argued that psychology was taking longer than enough to implement and adopt technological advancements. However, recent researches indicate that the practices and methods applied in psychology have greatly transformed as a result of changes in information technology. First, the internet has been one of the major latest trends in psychology; it is highly associated with psychopathology (Wilson 2004). For instance, depression and loneliness have often been connected to the excess use of the internet since it results to addiction. Secondly, there is the use of information technology in counseling and psychotherapy. This is currently being done via the internet; this has resulted to some lack of privacy and confidentiality as well as loss of effectiveness in the practice since some important features such as facial expression and verbal expression has been lost (Wilson 2004). IT is also applied in research and development in psychology to enhance further growth and generation of useful knowledge. For instance, the authors of the current DSM IV-TR applied computerized criteria in revising the classification of disorders in the manual to come with a less flawless criterion of categorizing disorders and disabilities. Using IT, today’s psychotherapists have been able to make numerous improvements in the way through which they can reach, counsel and correspond with their clients (discussed in the next section) (Azucena, Hunter, 2001). The growth of Psychotherapy Psychotherapy refers to private individual counseling by professional psychotherapists. As a highly growing trend in psychology, psychotherapy is used by psychotherapists to assist them in developing deliberate interpersonal relationships with their clients as a strategy for helping the patient to improve their well being. The trend applies many modern techniques of building closer relationships with the patients such as face to face dialogues, home phone calls and regular visits of the therapist to the client (Azucena, Hunter, 2001). This trend is basically aimed at improving the mental health of the patient through interpersonal relationships. This represents a great shift in the nature of counseling psychology, psychiatry, occupational therapy, clinical psychology and other related fields in psychology. In essence, psychotherapy is not a new trend in the field of psychology since over the years, people have received private reassurance and counsel from others; what is new and becoming increasingly famous in psychology is the application of modern and deliberate professional techniques in psychotherapy. Such psychotherapeutic techniques include online counseling whereby a therapist handles client personally through creating client accounts where he can easily relate with the client on one-on-one(but not face-to-face) bases (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999). Most of the new psychotherapeutic techniques are possible because of the advancements in the use of information technology in the field of psychology as discussed above. For instance, therapists encourage clients to use social networks to be able to communicate easily with them and their families. In addition, they also approve the use of phone calls whereby clients are free to call their physicians at any time of the day so that they can discuss their issues at convenience. However, modern psychotherapy is not without a number of flaws. Recently, concerns have greatly risen concerning the advancement of individualism in psychotherapy (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999). Psychotherapy encourages individualism on both the therapist and the client. Individualism is a term used in psychology to refer to ways through which people recognize themselves only and concentrate on individual goals as opposed to collectivism. In this sense, psychotherapist no longer view psychotherapy as a collective discipline that require combined efforts with other experts in the field since they are in a position to carry out counseling and psychiatry without involving anybody else—they can visit their clients at home, chat with them online and make home phone class with them. This has resulted to a great decline in the success of psychology as a collective discipline (Tredinnick, Fowers, 1999; Azucena, Hunter, 2001). Conclusion The use IT in psychology and the advancement in psychotherapy are important developments in psychology and should be highly encouraged. However, it is upon therapists and other psychological professionals to ensure that this new trends are used effectively to prevent the decline evident in cooperation among professional bodies in the field of psychology due to individualism. References Azucena, P. G. , Hunter, H. G. (2001) Redefining Therapeutic Success with Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, Cyber-psychology & Behavior, 4(3), pp. 484-489. Fowers, B. J. , Tredinnick, M. G. (1999). Individualism and psychotherapy; are psychologists leading or following individualistic trends? Counseling, Psychology Quarterly, 12(3): pp. 303-313 Wilson, J. T. et al (2004). Current trends in psychology and the behavioral sciences. University of Pittsburgh press: Pittsburgh, PA.

Things Fall Apart And Purple Hibiscus Essay - 1374 Words

The Nigerian novels, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, examine the intricate lives of characters and their family dynamics. Okonkwo, from Achebe’s novel, is a powerful man from the village of Umuofia, and Beatrice, from Adichie’s novel, is a submissive and abused wife. Despite Okonkwo and Beatrice both killing a family member, Okonkwo commits this act out of cowardice and fear of being viewed as weak, whereas Beatrice poisons Eugene as an act of self-defense and empowerment, contrasting the weakness she displayed through Eugene’s paralyzing abuse. Beatrice experiences years of systematic domestic abuse from her husband, Eugene, which causes her to feel powerless; whether it is her or her†¦show more content†¦Okonkwo’s father, Unoka, was viewed as a disappointment and failure: â€Å"Unoka, the grown-up, was a failure. He was poor, and his wife and children had barely enough to eat† (5 Achebe). Okonkwo feels deep shame in this perception of his father, and he makes the promise to himself not to repeat his father’s mistakes: â€Å"He was possessed by the fear of his father’s contemptible life and shameful death† (18). This â€Å"possessed† feeling Okonkwo harbors leads to him becoming obsessed with the idea of weakness. Okonkwo devotes his life to not being seen as weak; instead, he wants to be seen as a strong, successful man. Okonkwo goes far beyond his father’s legacy and becomes extremely aggressive and savage. His new uncontrollable nature causes him trouble in Umuofia, and he ends up killing his son. In Purple Hibiscus, polishing the ceramic figurines on the à ©tagerà ¨ is a way that Beatrice pacifies herself after Eugene’s violent episodes, and when Eugene breaks the therapeutic figurines, Beatrice’s submissive nature cracks with them. Throughout the novel, after Beatrice endures Eugene s abuse, she immediately will go and polish the figurines: â€Å"Mama stood hugging herself†¦Mama started at the lowest layer, polishing both the shelf and the figurines† (35 Adichie). When Beatrice returns from the hospital after Eugene punishes her and she miscarriages, she is drawn to the à ©tagerà ¨ as healing from what she sustained. WhenShow MoreRelatedThings Fall Apart And Purple Hibiscus Essay1257 Words   |  6 Pagescharacters in novels Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and the novel Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, are controlled by their beliefs, and irrationally act upon them. Adichie and Achebe effectively utilizes a plot events, to sim ultaneously exalt damage, created by the assertion of religious beliefs onto others. Forcing religion or personal beliefs onto others creates turmoil, as illustrated by both authors, shattering relationships or a consanguinity. Throughout Things Fall Apart, Achebe utilizesRead MoreIgbo Dictionary129408 Words   |  518 Pagesvocabularies are based on the same list that Thomas uses in his Specimens of languages from Southern Nigeria (1914), in which he gives lists from 26 dialects of Igbo and closely related languages. Part V (1914) consists of Addenda to IboEnglish dictionary; apart from corrections to Part II, this volume adds a large amount of material from the Asaba dialect. In general, Thomass material is extensive, but inadequately transcribed and analysed. The CMS mission at Onitsha undertook the collection of a considerable

Tim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay - 1350 Words

There is no lack of interpretations or assumptions of what Americans believe about the war; stating their opinions about politics or the military is not something they are afraid of doing. Whichever way a person wants to perceive the war is entirely up to them, but the viewpoints of the soldiers’ who are fighting in said war, show perspectives that are often entirely opposite of the views of those Americans. Tim O’Brien’s The Thing They Carried offers insight on the Vietnam War as told by soldiers during that time. O’Brien blurs distinction of what the truth is and what is false when it involves the storytelling of war and how everyone else perceives it; the connection of the ‘normal’ Americans, or the average American opinion on war,†¦show more content†¦There are people who want war to happen to make a great change to better their country. There are interpretations that say soldiers are brave and they are doing heroic acts, the war will save them from the unrest within their own country, and additional territory increases. War seems to be the answer to many peoples’ questions. War plays an important role in America’s government and in their political standpoint. However, the soldiers who take part in the war voice differing opinions and thoughts of what war means. The onlookers and the ones involved have different perceptions. O’Brien’s The Things They Carried included gruesome images and stories that bring real-life examples of how soldiers encounter the war to life, which disrupts and challenges the common assumptions that people may have of war. The fact that the Americans who think war is great cannot listen to a true war story seems counterproductive in that the opposite of what they believe is the reality of these soldiers. It suggests that people do not want to hear a true war story for several reasons. No one wants to hear a true war story that could be too much for them to bear, or not to bear, since they are not the ones constantly in battle. No one wants to listen to the truth being told while they are too busy trying to â€Å"make America great† by sending these soldiers to war. The quote, â€Å"As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absoluteShow MoreRelatedTim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay1328 Words   |  6 Pagesof doing. Whichever way a person wants to perceive the war is entirely up to them, but the viewpoints of the soldiers’ who are fighting in said war, show perspectives that are often entirely opposite of the views of those Americans. Tim O’Brien’s The Thing They Carried offers insight on the Vietnam War as told by soldiers during that time. O’Brien blurs distinction of what the truth is and what is false when it involves the storytelling of war and how everyone else perceives it; the connection ofRead More What is Love? Tim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay2282 Words   |  10 Pagesstill people that can confuse it because of objects or even words. An example of this confusion can be shown in the novel â€Å"The Things They Carried†, by Tim O’ Brien. Jimmy Cross is fond of Martha and s hows strong emotions for her. Jimmy Cross shows his emotions towards Martha right at the beginning of the novel by sharing to us the following: First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a Junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters, but Lieutenant

The Civil War And Reconstruction Periods - 1118 Words

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Law for Recover Damages

Question: Discuss about the Report of Law for Recover Damages. Answer: Issue: After going through the facts that have been given for this assignment, certain issues emerge. The first issue is related with remoteness of damages. Steve can be held liable for the loss suffered by Tom? The second issue is related with the enforceability of the gratuitous promise. In this case, Pamela had not provided any fresh consideration in return of the promise made by Steve gave her a car for the weekend. The third issue that has to be decided in this case is related with the effect of mistake on a contract. In this case, the car was already destroyed regarding which Danny and Steve had made a contract. The last issue in this case is related with promissory estoppel. Trisha had spent several thousand dollars for making customized components while Steve claims that he had signed the contract by mistake. Law: The test that can be used for deciding the remoteness of contractual damages was provided by the court in Hadley v Baxendale (1854). Recently, this is each commercial law was again decided by the court in The Achilleas (2008). In this way, during the recent years, the test provided in Hadley v Baxendale as defined by the courts. This is a leading case of English contract law. This case provides the basic rule that can be used for deciding consequential damages arising out of a breach of contract. According to this rule, a breaching party will be held liable regarding all the losses that have been suffered by the other party and should have been foreseen by the contracting parties. Therefore, such a party will not be held liable for the losses suffered by the other party which could not be seen by the breaching party on the basis of the information provided to such a party. For example in this case, Hedley had sued Baxendale for the profits that he had lost as a result of the late del ivery. The court declined to allow the recovery of lost profit and stated that the other party can only be held liable for the losses that were generally foreseeable by such a party or if the special circumstances should have been mentioned to the party in advance. Regarding the second issue, the law of contract provides that a past consideration is not changed by the law as a valid consideration. In Re McArdle (1951), Majorie McArdle had performed some improvements and repairs on a bungalow. The bungalow was a part of the estate of her husband's father who had left the property to her husband and four of his siblings. After the work was done, the brothers and sisters had signed the document according to which, in consideration of these repairs, the executors promised to pay 480 but the payment was not made. In this case, the court stated that the promised to pay 480 was made after the consideration has already been performed. As a result, the promise regarding the payment was not binding as past consideration is not valid. Regarding the third issue, the validity of the agreement between the parties can be affected if one or both of the parties are under a mistake. A unilateral mistake is a mistake on the part of one party to the contract. The mistake that is unknown to the other party generally does not impact the enforceability of the contract. Similarly, a unilateral mistake concerning a fact does not effect a validity of the contract. But in case both the parties to the contract under the same mistake regarding a defect, the agreement is considered to be void. Therefore, an example will be considered as void if both the parties to the contract RN mistake that the contract can be performed while in reality, it is not possible to perform the contract. In such a case, the agreement is void (Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd., 1931). According to the doctrine of promissory estoppel, damages can be recovered by a party if these damages have been caused as a result of the promise made by the promisor and such promise was difficult enough so that the promisee may act on it. The elements that should be present in this regard are that the promisor should have made a promise significant enough due to which the promisee had acted on it. The promisee had relied on such a promise and a significant detriment has been suffered by the promisee. Relief can be provided if the promisor fulfilled the promise. In such a case, the presence of a valid contract is not necessary. The court will see if there was detrimental reliance on changing position on part of the promisee. Application: Therefore an injured party is allowed by the law to recover damages that can be reasonably considered as being naturally arising as a result of a breach of contract or the damages that were within the reasonable contemplation of the parties when they entered into the contract. In the present case, Tom cannot be allowed to recover the damages of $5000 per day as his loss in profits because this loss cannot be reasonably contemplated by Steve that no information was given by Tom regarding this loss. Similarly in the second case, the consideration provided Pamela can be described as past consideration. In the eyes of law, a past consideration is not valid. Therefore an enforceable contract has not been created between Pamela and Steve. Regarding the issue between Danny and Steve, it can be said that both the party is rendered a mistake as the subject matter of the contract and already destroyed before the parties have entered into the contract. As a result in this case, the contract between Danny and Steve is void. Concerning the issue between Steve and Trisha, although Steve had signed the contract by mistake but Trisha had already acted on the promise made by Steve. She had spent several thousand dollars for making the customized components. As a result, in this case, Trisha can enforce the agreement against Steve. Conclusion: Tom cannot recover the damages of $5000 per day as his loss in profits because this loss cannot be reasonably contemplated by Steve that no information was given by Tom regarding this loss. Similarly, Pamela had not provided any consideration in return of the promise. The contract between Danny and Steve is void. Trisha can enforce the agreement against Steve. References Bell v Lever Brothers Ltd [1931] UKHL 2 Hadley v Baxendale [1854] EWHC J70 Re McArdle (1951) Ch 669 The Achilleas [2008] UKHL 48