The Seismoscope Is One of the Great Chinese Inventions

There are few things more disconcerting than the sensation of the seemingly-solid Earth suddenly rolling and pitching beneath ones feet. As a result, humans have sought ways to measure or even predict earthquakes for thousands of years. Although we still cant accurately predict earthquakes, humans have come a long way in detecting, recording, and measuring seismic shocks. This process began nearly 2000 years ago, with the invention of the first seismoscope in China. The First Seismoscope In 132 CE, inventor, Imperial Historian, and Royal Astronomer Zhang Heng displayed his amazing earthquake-detection machine, or seismoscope, at the court of the Han Dynasty. Zhangs seismoscope was a giant bronze vessel, resembling a barrel almost 6 feet in diameter. Eight dragons snaked face-down along the outside of the barrel, marking the primary compass directions. In each dragons mouth was a small bronze ball. Beneath the dragons sat eight bronze toads, with their broad mouths gaping to receive the balls. We dont know exactly what the first seismoscope looked like. Descriptions from the time give us an idea about the size of the instrument and the mechanisms that made it work. Some sources also note that the outside of the seismoscopes body was beautifully engraved with mountains, birds, tortoises, and other animals, but the original source of this information is difficult to trace. The exact mechanism that caused a ball to drop in the event of an earthquake also is not known. One theory is that a thin stick was set loosely down the center of the barrel. An earthquake would cause the stick to topple over in the direction of the seismic shock, triggering one of the dragons to open its mouth and release the bronze ball. Another theory posits that a baton was suspended from the lid of the instrument as a free-swinging pendulum. When the pendulum swung widely enough to strike the side of the barrel, it would cause the closest dragon to release its ball. The sound of the ball striking the toads mouth would alert observers to the earthquake. This would give a rough indication of the earthquakes direction of origin, but it did not provide any information about the intensity of the tremors. Proof of Concept Zhangs wonderful machine was called houfeng didong yi, meaning an instrument for measuring the winds and the movements of the Earth. In earthquake-prone China, this was an important invention.   In one instance, just six years after the device was invented, a large quake estimated at a magnitude seven struck what is now Gansu Province. People in the Han Dynastys capital city of Luoyang, 1,000 miles away, did not feel the shock. However, the seismoscope alerted the emperors government to the fact that a quake had struck somewhere to the west. This is the first known instance of scientific equipment detecting an earthquake that had not been felt by humans in the area. The seismoscopes findings were confirmed several days later when messengers arrived in Luoyang to report a major earthquake in Gansu. ChineseSeismoscopes on the Silk Road? Chinese records indicate that other inventors and tinkerers in the court improved upon Zhang Hengs design for the seismoscope over the centuries that followed. The idea seems to have spread westward across Asia, probably carried along the Silk Road.   By the 13th century, a similar seismoscope was in use in Persia, although the historical record does not provide a clear link between the Chinese and Persian devices. It is possible that the great thinkers of Persia hit upon a similar idea independently.

What Must Be Done to Improve Ethics in Finance and...

U10A2- Essay Louise Pettiford What must be done to improve ethics in finance and corporate governance? Corporate governance can be referred to the rules, processes, or laws by which businesses are operated, regulated and controlled. It can also refer to internal factors defined by the officers, stockholders or constitution of a corporation. After finding the meaning of Corporate governance, which can also be referred to corporate responsibility, I thought about the policies in which the company I work for have. I work for Northrop Grumman, which is one of the leaders in global security. My company does strive to remain committed to maintaining the highest of ethical standards, embracing diversity and becoming an ideal corporate†¦show more content†¦When you think about corporate governance and the scandals that come to mind is Enron. This turned out to be scan in which Enron lied about its profits, shady dealings and concealing debts. A lot of regulations came down from the government regarding corporate responsibility and regulations. Big businesses had a lot of freedom to do what they wanted to do. Directors, Shareholders, and Presidents of companies needed to take another look at how their businesses were being run. What needs to change and what needs to be implemented so this doesn’t happen to us? The Securities and Exchange Commission voted on three measures that are intended to better inform and empower investors to improve corporate governance and help restore investor confidence. The Commission proposed requiring public companies receiving money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to provide a shareholder vote on executive pay in their proxy solicitations .The Commission also voted to propose better disclosure of executive compensation at public companies in their proxy statements, and approved a New York Stock Exchange rule change to prohibit brokers from voting proxies in corporate elections without instructions from their customers. Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) in an effort to protect U.S. capital markets and millions of American shareholders. SOX promote accountability and transparency inShow MoreRelatedLegal And Regulatory Environments And Ethics1712 Words   |  7 Pages1. 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In an interview with Britt, L (2016, September 28), J.P. Morgan Chase focus is now on customer service and numbers. MyRead MoreEssay about Enron: Who was at faul t?1664 Words   |  7 Pagesquestion- who was really at fault and what has been done to prevent it from happening again? The story of Enron begins in 1985, with the merger of two pipeline companies, orchestrated by a man named Kenneth L. Lay (Zellner Forest, 2001). In its 15 years of existence, Enron expanded its operations to provide products and services in the areas of electricity, natural gas as well as communications. Through its diversification, Enron would become known as a corporate America darling (Tonge, Greer LawtonRead MoreCorporate Governance2469 Words   |  10 PagesTABLE OF CONTENTS GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 2 †¢ OBSERVANCE OF GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 3 †¢ FAILURES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE 5 CORRUPTION 5 †¢ BENEFITS OF AVOIDING CORRUPT PRACTICES 6 CONCLUSION 8 REFERENCES 9 â€Æ' GOOD CORPORATE GOVERNANCE Governance in the Oxford dictionary is defined as â€Å"control or influence†, while corporate is defined as â€Å"shared by all members of the group†. Therefore corporate governance refers to the structures and processes for the direction and control of membersRead MoreHow to Reform Corporate Ethics in American Business Today2798 Words   |  12 PagesIntroduction 3.0 Overview 4.0 Task 5.0 Corporate Governance Issues 5.1 Board of Directors 5.2 Shareholders 5.2.1 Implementation of Independent Auditors from Management 5.2.2 Setting up Effective Accounting Rules 5.3 Modern CEOs 6.0 The Role of Corporate Ethics 7.0 Recommended Policies to be Implemented 7.1 Sarbanes-Oxley Act 7.2 The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) 8.0 The Required Way to Deal with Corporate Failure 9.0 Conclusion 10.0 Recommendation Read MoreCan Corporate Governance Mechanism Prevent Corporate Fraud?2996 Words   |  12 PagesCORPORATE GOVERNANCE ESSAY Can Corporate Governance Mechanism Prevent Corporate Fraud? Executive Summary This paper will reviews the extent to which corporate governance acts as efficient tool to protect investors against corporate fraud, thus contributing to summarize the literatures on role of corporate governance on preventing occurrence of corporate fraud. In a more recent study, corporate fraud is part of earnings manipulation done outside the law and standards. Whereas, the activitiesRead MoreTyco International: Leadership Crisis2216 Words   |  9 Pagesprevented this kind of situations most specially their role is to protect the firm’s shareholders from inappropriate or unethical situations. As a result, they faced consequences for their unethical behavior which is the decentralization of the corporate structure. The misconduct of Dennis Kozlowski, the former chairman of Tyco and Mark Swartz, the former CFO lead them 30 counts of corruption, conspiracy, fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, and falsifying business records. While Mark Belnick , theRead MoreThe Essential Component of Corporate Governance9749 Words   |  39 PagesBusiness Ethics: The Essential Component of Corporate Governance John D. Sullivan, Ph.D. Executive Director, CIPE Aleksandr Shkolnikov, Program Officer, Global, CIPE Given ï ¬ nancial scandals and the resulting new mandates on business, ï ¬ rms ï ¬ nd themselves pressed to develop strong codes of ethics to guide the behavior of board members, managers, and employees. Although the concern with ethics has always been a part of doing business, business leaders today are beginning to think about ethics as a setRead MoreLeadership and Governance3973 Words   |  16 PagesReflective Journal: Leadership and Governance Introduction Reflective practice is a highly significant way to develop the skills of students (Pavlovich, Collins, Jones, 2007). 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University Study Skills Free Essays

Students need to make a number of adjustments when starting university. Critically discuss some of these adjustments in terms of skills brought with them, and new skills that must be developed. Draw on relevant SSK12 material in your essay. We will write a custom essay sample on University Study Skills or any similar topic only for you Order Now ————————————————- In this essay it will be argued that even though students may bring with them such skills as competence in writing secondary school essays and reports, good comprehension and grammar and motivation to succeed with them to university, there are other skills they will need to develop as well as refine those they already possess. The main skills which any new student will need to develop in order to succeed at university are critical thinking, which also includes critical reading, reflective thinking, learning independently and adjusting to the concept of the university culture which has its own languages and behaviours. New students are likely to experience a cultural clash as university possesses its own culture, and sub-cultures. Adjustments will have to be made with students needing to develop bicultural habits. As Kolb asserts, students entering higher education will have to engage in ‘learning how to learn’ (Kolb 1981). The lead-up to the first study period, as well as the first study period itself, of a student’s beginning in university can be a massive culture shock. Some students may develop the feeling of uncertainty as to whether they have made the right choice about pursuing higher education and whether they are even likely to succeed. This can be observed by reading some of the student comments on the SSK12 Facebook page during the first weeks of the first study period. In other cases we may see students that take on a particular discipline and after a period of time find that they no longer have a desire to pursue that discipline. There may be few opportunities for students in these positions to change disciplines. This is primarily due to the fact each discipline has its own sub-culture within the greater university culture. As Kolb has discussed, there are many faculties within the university, each have their own conventions that are unique to themselves such as language, values, ideas and norms (Kolb 1981). This impending transition may be too much for a student who has already had to become acculturated and has potentially experienced a culture shock. The average individual can be affected by several cultures, for example and not necessarily restricted to, culture of family, culture of the workplace and culture of religion. The culture of university is but one of the cultures that can make a big impact on the individual. Students are faced with a new workload that may come with a pace of instruction that is probably faster and more intense than what they may be used to. There is a potential to feel overwhelmed at first and ways to overcome this may be to develop habits of early preparation, prioritising and time management. There is an expectation that students need to be self-motivated and independent. There will be some guidance available but the general expectation is that the individual should know their own deadlines and the amount of study that is required. This may take some adjustment for individuals as they may be reeling from the cultural demands that university has already begun to place upon them. If they are studying more than one subject in their first study period they will have already potentially experienced the distinction in sub-cultures. For example, Ballard and Clanchy have noted that each sub-culture will have its own language and values and the new student will have to navigate themselves through an unsteady transition between cultures (Ballard and Clanchy 1988). Individuals also need to develop critical thinking as it is a cornerstone of university studies. Warren contends that critical thinking is necessary to university studies as an individual cannot â€Å"process information, form reasoned opinions, evaluate beliefs, construct positions, or articulate a thesis without the use of critical thinking† (Warren 1995, 4). I can support this through my own experience as critical thinking has been an important component of my university studies to date. One may see, however, that some individuals may have difficulties bringing themselves around to this mode of thinking as critical thinking involves developing an impersonal approach and attempting to put aside any biases that the individual may possess about particular subjects. Critical thinking may also involve critical reading and this may also be a foreign concept to the new student. One needs to get into the habit of identifying theses in readings rather than just ‘reading’ – ‘sorting the wheat from the chaff’, as it were. Once the thesis has been identified the argument then needs to be analysed and criticised. Any evidence within the reading needs to be assessed. Any conclusions reached need to be examined as well as whether they are supported by evidence. Any other alternatives also need to be considered. In short, the individual will need to read more widely than what they may be used to and in a more analytical fashion. Reflective thinking is another skill that students must develop as it is a valuable tool. Reflection is integral to learning and assists in critical thinking as it starts with being self-critical in order to learn and improve. As Marshall and Rowland assert, ‘thinking about your own thinking, or metacognition, will give you insights into how you go about your learning, and is important if you want to change or adapt study behaviours’ (Marshall and Rowland 2006 9). Warren further asserts that ‘critical thinking is necessary to learning. One cannot process information, form reasoned opinions, evaluate beliefs, construct positions, or articulate a thesis without the use of critical thinking. As such, the critical self is integral to learning itself’ (Warren 1995). Reflective thinking makes the individual ask themselves what may be working, what is not working and what may require improvement. Some students may already bring a form of this skill with them to university. I can support this through my personal experience in this area. I served in the police force for thirty years and the procedure in the police force was to conduct ‘debriefs’ of incidents that we were involved in. The police debrief was always framed in the format of discussing what went well and what could be done better. Every individual involved in that particular incident was expected to contribute. The expectation was that this process would lead to constant improvement in performance. It is a very similar process to reflection within university learning. One method of reflective thinking that students may learn a great deal from is through the keeping of a reflective journal, also known as a learning log. Pavlovich asserts that reflective journals are an invaluable aid in the development of self-awareness and inner leadership (Pavlovich 2007). The use of a reflective journal aids in developing the individual as a critical thinker as the very nature of its use forces the user to be critical of themselves and lead to change and improvement. Students will also need to develop the skill of speaking and writing in academic English. This is part of the acculturation to the university culture of which language is a major part. Students will have to learn very quickly to become bicultural. In their written work they will have to learn to avoid contractions and develop the passive voice over the active voice. Academic English is specific whereas informal English, that the student may be used, to is rather vague. Academic English is also often structured in a cautious manner whereas informal English is often structured in a more definite manner. Using my own personal experience to add support to this, I thought I had a reasonable grasp of formal English having come from the police force where, for example, great care goes into compilation of files for the prosecutors to proceed with, but I have also had to make adjustments and become bicultural through working on my own understanding and application of academic English. The new student may bring skills with them to university but they will be confronted with the need to refine these skills and indeed develop new skills in order to survive at university. Skills that will need to be developed will include the need for critical and reflective thinking, critical reading and adjustment to independent learning. Students will also have to become acculturated to university which possesses its own culture and sub-cultures which are separate to what they may be used to. REFERENCES Avruch, Kevin. 2002. Culture and Conflict Resolution. Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press. Ballard, Brigid, and John Clanchy. 1988. Literacy in the university: An ‘anthropological’ approach. In Literacy by Degrees, ed G. Taylor, et al. , 7-23. Milton Keynes: The Society for Research into Higher Education Open University Press. Beasley, Colin. 2012. Communicating at University. Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia. Bizzell, Patricia. 1986. What Happens When Basic Writers Come to College? College Composition and Communication. 37(3). Grant, Barbara. 1997. Disciplining Students: the construction of student subjectivities. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 18(1): 101-114. Hobson, Julia. 1996. â€Å"Concepts of the self: Different ways of knowing about the self†. SSK12 lecture transcript. Ed. Lorraine Marshall. Perth: Murdoch University. Kolb, David A. 1981. â€Å"Learning styles and disciplinary differences. † In The Modern American College. Ed. A. W. Chickerine Associates, 232-235 and 251-252. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Marshall, Lorraine, and Frances Rowland. 2006. A guide to learning independently. th ed. Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia. Pavlovich, Kathryn. 2007. The development of reflective practice through student journals. Higher Education Research and Development 26 (3): 281-295. Samovar, Larry A. , and Richard E. Porter. 2004. Communication Between Cultures. 5th ed. Belmont, California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Vivekananda, Kitty, and Penny Shores. 1996. Uni is Easier When You Know H ow: Success Stories, Study Secrets, Strategies. Sydney: Hale and Iremonger. Warren, Karen. 1995. ‘The critical self’. Perth: Murdoch University. How to cite University Study Skills, Papers

Market Entry Srategies Strong Market Base

Question: Discuss about theMarket Entry Srategiesfor Strong Market Base. Answer: Introduction At the heart of successful marketing lies a comprehensive and successful market entry strategy that assures the firm of a strong market base. A market entry strategy refers to a well-planned method or strategy of delivering a firms product to a new target market. In the modern business arena the mode of marketing and the aspect business to business marketing has become widely adoptable. During the planning phase, a company must consider a variety of factors before choosing the appropriate market entry strategy which includes but not limited to the cost of marketing, barriers to entry, and the level of competition in the market. The factors that dictate the market entry strategy may be grouped into two broad categories; that is external and internal factors. While external factors comprise of market size, market growth, government regulations, the level of competition and physical infrastructure; internal factors, on the other hand, encompasses the objectives of the company, availabil ity of company resources, the level of competition, and the companys flexibility. Although two companies may have similar factors, the may choose entirely different market entry strategies. The essay aims at reflecting on how different models and marketing concepts in business to business marketing influences the choice of the market entry strategies. To address this the paper uses the case study of market penetration strategy in Egypt by the G4S - Cash360 Various models exist to explain the business behavior and how it affects the choice of the market entry strategy. Among the models includes the sheth model (1973), the model of Webster and Wind (1972), and the model of Robinson, Faris, and Wind (1972). Howard-Sheth model is arguably one of the most relevant models in marketing that serves to reflect the consumer behavior in the market (Robertson, 2013, p. 38). This were the models which were adopted by the group during the workshop. The model aims at explaining how businesses choose products in the situation of incomplete information provided by another business. According to the model, the business express rationality during the initial purchase phase and other repeated purchases. However, the repeated purchase is as a result of the incentives whose source might be in the environment (Input variables). Hyun and Jin (2012, p. 127) argues that the input variables refers to the stimuli which arise from the market entry strategy of the firm coupled with other related marketing activities. Among the three main stimuli (symbolic incentives, significant incentives, and social stimuli), significant incentives arguably have the most impact on the choice of the market entry strategy. It refers to the physical attributes of the product such as quality and price. In the light of this consideration, the group found that the best market entry strategy for G4S-Cash360 for example would be a pricing strategy (Gross, 2013, p. 168). Pricing strategy would serve to ensure a low but aggressive strategy while at the same time maintaining a fair share of added value. The basis of such added value is the value adding principle as well as adjusted for relationship coupled with incentives for market bond provision. Closely related to the Howard-Sheth model are the Webster and Wind Model which argues that four main factors influence businesses buying decision and therefore dictating the choice of the market entry strategy. According to Lymbersky (2008, p. 193), the factors comprise of individual factors, organizational factors, buying center, and environmental factors. More important to the purpose of this essay is the influence of buying centers and organizational factors on the choice of the marketing strategy. Organizational factors encompass factors such as objectives, purchasing policies, and organizational structure of the firm (Wu, 2006, p.101). It is these variables that serve to influence the functioning as well as the composition of the buying centers thus dictating the market entry strategy for the marketing firm. As such, the business marketing its products and services to another company must study the behavior of the target business and all the related factors that affect its purchase behavior before deciding on the best market entry strategy. For example, environmental factors such as good infrastructure such as roads would support an aggressive promotional strategy and a wide coverage for the Egypt market for the G4S-cash360. Otherwise knows at the Robinson, Faris, and Wind model, the buy-grid model, relates to the buying processes of both the consumer and the businesses. The marketing researchers (Robinson, wind, and Faris) argue that buying decision is not as a single-event process, but involve multi-stage decision-making (Helen et al., 2005, p. 228). The model comprises a matrix of buy-phases as well as buy-classes which are new tasks, modified rebuy, and straight rebuy. In the new task buy-class, the business seeks a lot of information to analyze the alternative purchasing options. In this phase, risk serves as the main factor influencing the amount of information needed. For example, when a marketer introduces a new product in the market for another business, the marketer must find a wide variety of information on the product. Similarly, the group applied the similar model on how G4S Cash360 can penetrate in the Egypt market. As such, Park and Lee (2009, p.64) argues that the appropriate market entry strategy is an aggressive promotional strategy that serves to inform the potential consumers of the availability of the product, its usage, and its benefits over other products among other factors. For instance, in the case of G4S-Cash360, a direct market strategy with aggressive promotion would be the best market entry strategy. Conclusion Different factors, the main one being the consumer behavior, dictates the choice of the market entry strategy for a firm. As such, the firm must pay close attention to the different consumer behaviors among other considerations before settling on a market entry strategy. It is notable that it is the marketing strategy that opens up the market for the companys product; therefore, should the initial choice of the entry strategy be wrong, the entire marketing strategy would experience some challenges. Therefore, the marketers should focus on adopting various and different marketing entry models as per their organization products and services. This will ensure that the company products and services gain easy penetration and saturation. References Gross, J., 2013. Market Entry Strategies for Saturated Markets: Challenges for the Consumer. GRIN Verlag Helen, W.B., Sue, E., and Elliot, 2005. Special Issue: Towards a Theory of Shopping, Journal of consumer behavior 4 (4): 221-303 Hulen, B., 2015. Sensory Marketing: Theoretical and Empirical grounds. Routledge Hyun, H. L. and Jin, Y., 2012. Consumer perceptions of online consumer product and service Reviews, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 6 (2): 110-132. Lymbersky, C., 2008. Market Entry Strategies: Text, Cases and Readings in Market Entry Management. Christoph Lymbersky Park, C. and Lee, T.M., 2009. Information direction, Website reputation and eWOM effect: a Moderating role of product type, Journal of Business Research, 62 (1): 61-67. Robertson, T.S., 2013. A Critical Examination of Adoption Process Models of Consumer Behavior. Marketing Classic Press Wu, S-I., 2006. The impact of feeling, judgment and attitude on purchase intention as online Advertising performance measure, Journal of International Marketing and Marketing Research, 31 (2): 89-108.