Chapter 2 Ap World History Summary

Chapter 2 AP World History Summery Each civilization faces challenges from politics to environment and everything in between. This chapter explains how each society became urbanized even though it was very tough. Nubia, China, Olmec, and Chavin are connected though each are separated by millions of miles and geological isolation. In China, dynasties rule all over the land; the Shang dynasty begins China’s history with the rise of power of it’s clans. It contains the earliest recorded writing documents, and they introduced bronze during 2000 B.C. E. The region was ran by a warrior aristocracy who loved warfare, hunting, exchanging, feasting, and wine revelry; the King of Shang always traveled for courts of his subordinates to reinforce their loyalty. Nomadic people that owned desert regions, or steppe lands were given demonstration power also. Religion in the Shang dynasty was enforced, the Kings used divination to determine the will of their ancestors and Gods to win fa vor. Nubia is located in the Nile River Valley and was over run by the Egyptians because of they have gold mines.After Egypt took charge, Nubia became Kush and adapted the Egyptian culture. Nubia decided to help local Palestine who struggled with the Assyrians in 701 B. C. E. ; this was a mistake because the Assyrians invaded and overthrown Egypt so that made a downfall for Nubia. After a while, Nubia became in control again, they still kept the Egyptian language, however Sub-Saharan culture replaced the Egyptian culture when Meroe became better suited for agriculture and trade. On the other side of the world, the Olmec civilization is completely isolated from the world.It’s located in Mesoamerica which is one of the most impressive early civilizations. The King’s Power was used to make people build large scale irrigation and drainage works, and by the 1000 B. C. E, they have become a civilization. In addition to the geological isolation, Olmec have frequent volcanic e ruptions and earth quakes, and mountains that separate the region into micro environments. Evolution developed into urbanization and appearance of powerful political and religious elites. The people were very advanced for their time; they made he calendar and based their urban centers to reflect astronomical observations. The Olmec civilization influenced the Mayans and considered the most influential earliest Mesoamerican civilization. The most impressive early Urban South American civilization is Chavin. It’s home to the most dense population. Maize increased the food supply of the coast and interior foothills, thus, allowing greater leverage for civilization. They have a form of political integration and trade dependency on it’s neighbors that may have relied on military force.Their religion was based on praising their royal ancestors and gods that can take on animal form. The most praised animal is the Jaguar; human sacrifices were made at temple platforms. These c ivilizations became very complex as they advance with technologies, science, and math mathematics. Power was taken away, and given to in each society, and some are diminishing before us. They may be separated and isolated from each other by mountains, water, and hemispheres, but that doesn't separate the development of each economic institutions politically, socially, and economically.

Recognition and Measurement of Intangibles Generally and of Brands in Particular Essay

Q: Discuss the difficulties relating to the recognition and measurement of intangibles generally and of brands in particular. Refer to the example in Enigma plc in your discussion. According to IAS 38, an intangible asset defines as â€Å"an identifiable, non-monetary asset without physical substance† including brand, computer software, patents and copyrights. As this typical asset has no physical substance, it is really difficult to recognize and measure it. This essay mainly aims to explain the difficulties to recognize and measure generally intangible assets especially the brand and some analyze refer to the Enigma example will be shown. An item cannot be an intangible asset unless it is an asset in the first place, that is to say the intangible assets should meet the definition of the asset based on IASB Conceptual Framework which contains three main criterions: control, future economic benefits and identifiable (Sacui and PrediÈ™can, 2011). Therefore, whether the item meets the three criterions are the first requirements and the difficulties to recognize an intangible asset. Firstly, the identifiable of an asset is that â€Å"it is capable of being separate or divided from the entity and sold, transferred, licensed, rented or exchanged† (IAS38). So as the intangible assets, it also should be separable from the entity or other rights and obligations. However, the intangible assets are lack of physical substance, the requirement of â€Å"identifiable† is one of the difficulties the entities will meet. Then the accountancy standards require that the company must be able to control the item’s future economic benefits. At last, there must be an expectation of future economics and the intangible assets should be capable of attributing directly or indirectly to future net cash flow (Sacui and PrediÈ™can, 2011). Without selling the intangible asset, it is nearly impossible to determine whether the future cash flow mainly due to the intangible assets or the operating activities. Furthermore, there are still some more requirements should be met when an item will be recognized as an intangible asset, such as without physical substance, be non-monetary and be able to be measured reliably. Considering the brand, it is protected by the trademark law and can only be recognized as intangible assets if they comply with the assets definition. If the brand is acquired in a separate transaction, just like the Enigma example, the Enigma Company spent 7million purchasing the Variations brand, the price that has been paid for the brand is one of the evidence that the brand can be controlled effectively and the future economic benefit will flow to the enterprise. In addition, the cost of the brand usually can be measured reliably and in this case it is 7million. So the brand which was purchased separately in this accounting period has met the recognition requirement and can be treated as an intangible asset. What is more, there is another way to purchase the brand though the business combination. Under this circumstance, the cost of brand is the fair value on the date of the acquisition (Melville, 2011). Furthermore, the fact price that has been paid for the brand is treated as a reflection that economic benefit is expected to flow to the entity in the future. To sum up, the brand acquired in a business combination satisfied the requirements and also can be classified as an intangible asset. However, it is really difficulty to decide whether the internally generated intangible assets meet the general requirement for recognition. Moreover, the IAS38 states that internally generated brand shall not be recognized as an asset. It is mainly because the expenditure on internally generated brands cannot be distinguished from the cost of developing the business as a whole and the problem of establishing whether the item is an identifiable asset which will generate future economic benefits (Melville, 2011). As in the Enigma example, the 3 million marketing expenditure on Enigma’s internally generated brand is recognized as an expense in the 2012 comprehensive income statement instead of an intangible asset which meets the requirement of prudence. After initial recognition, the IAS38 permits the entities to choose between the â€Å"cost model† and the â€Å"revaluation model† to measure the brand. In the cost model, the intangible assets are carried at cost less accumulated amortization and accumulated impairment losses (Austin, 2007). In this case, the company needs to decide the intangible asset’s useful life objectively and choose a proper method to amortize the intangible assets. While the revaluation model measure intangible assets at a revalued amount. According to IAS38, the fair value of intangible assets must be estimated by reference to an active market in that kind of assets. Therefore, if the brand doesn’t have an active market, the recent price cannot be treated as a fair value and the revaluation model should not be applied to it as well. Compared with the tangible market, such as houses, inventories and machines, the intangible market is imperfections (Alali and Cao, 2010). Therefore, it is difficult to get a fair market value for the enterprises to use or reference at any time they need, especially the brand. The brand is a typical intangible asset whose price will change dramatically when a small scandal occurs. So when using revaluation model to measure a brand, the market is particularly important. Before considering the subsequent measurement, the intangible assets should be determined the length of useful life. Intangible assets with finite useful life will be amortized in the following years; however, intangible assets with infinite useful life will not (Melville, 2011). In general, the IASC claims that the useful life of an intangible asset is not longer than twenty years. While if there is no foreseeable limit to the period over which the brand is expected to generate net cash flow for the enterprise, the useful life of brand can be treated as indefinite (Austin, 2007). That is to say, how to decide the useful life for a brand is another problem that a company will meet in the future. Thinking about the Enigma example again, as it says no depreciation has yet been charged on any non current asset for the 2012, we assume that the Enigma plc use the revalued model to measure the brand. Then the company should make the revaluation with sufficient regularity to ensure that the carrying amount of the brand does not differ materially from fair value. In addition, if the Enigma plc chooses the cost model, the useful life of the brand and the amortization policy should be determined by the managers and we may have an accumulative amortization in our statement of financial statement. To sum up, as a special kind of assets, the intangible assets have so many typical characters and difficulties to recognize and measure, such as lack of mature market for intangible assets, hard to decide its useful life and relevant expense. In this case, we should treat this kind of assets more carefully. Reference: 1. Sacui, V. and PrediÈ™can, M., 2011. The intangible assets investments characteristics and the accounting treatment. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series. 2. Melville, A., 2011. International Financial Reporting, Third Edition, FT Prentice Hall. 3. Austin, L., 2007. Accounting for Intangible Assets, University of Auckland Business Review Autumn. 4. Alali, F. and Cao, L., 2010. International Financial Reporting Standards – Credible and Reliable, Advances in Accounting, Incorporating Advances in International Accounting 5. Austin, L., 2007. Accounting for Intangible Assets, University of Auckland Business Review Autumn.

Communication in Emergency Management

AbstractEmergency is an event or situation that occurs unpredictably causing damage to man and society. Management of emergencies is not as easy as event management. In emergency management, one has to be quicker, more knowledgeable and more resourceful in dealing with and solving emergency cases.In the same way that event management requires communication among its key persons (organizer, speakers, etc.), emergency management needs more of this element in order to carry out emergency plans well, for an effective damage prevention. The key players in managing well an emergency, namely the doctor, fire chief and police chief, must talk to one another not only to effectively do their part in the emergency management process, but also to be able to minimize as much as possible the damage done or threatening to be done. Emergency Management 101Dealing with emergencies is not a joke. It is a serious and urgent situation requiring immediate action so that no further harm can be made. Emerg ency defined is an urgent situation or occurrence threatening grave damage to man and society (P&I Services, 2006). Although emergencies are unpredictable, they can be dealt with proper knowledge and understanding both in handling the particular emergency and preventing further harm.Emergency management in its simplest sense is the process of managing emergencies or urgent situations. Managing an emergency includes assessment or assistance to affected party/ies, prevention of further damage, preparation for â€Å"after-shock’s†, responding to the situation swiftly and calmly, and recovering from such emergency situations (P&I Services, 2006).Emergency Management PlayersThe key players in the emergency management process are the hospital, fire department, and police department. The heads of these three institutions all contribute their part in the effective management of an emergency situation, and all their contributions greatly affect the success or failure of an emer gency management.Hospitals are health institutions that cater to the physical or biological welfare of people. Their role in emergency management is to ensure the health condition of affected parties. They are very important in a sense that their concern, which is human health, is of great importance to an individual, and in emergencies, threatening this part of human welfare is the first concern of an individual (Canton, 2006).The fire department on the other hand prevents the spreading of fire, the start of one, and minimizes the effects of fire to the people. Fire is a natural need of man to cook food for him, keep him warm, etc. But too much fire can threaten his welfare. The fire department, in the emergency management process, mobilizes fire situation if there is one, and prevents such fire from starting in order to minimize the harm already done.And of course, the police department plays a vital role in the documentation of emergencies. The first thing they do in an emergency situation is to mobilize the vicinity involved in the emergency, organizing the people within the vicinity to maximize the help and assistance they can contribute in the proper and effective management of the disaster at hand.These key players need to work together because even though they work differently, all their actions affect not just one another, but the whole emergency situation itself as well. Effective communication is the key to a productive and optimized management of emergencies.Emergency Management ProcessThe flow of an emergency management is as follows:First is the occurrence of the emergency. Emergencies take the form of major fire or explosion, flood, earthquake, storm or cyclone or twister, dangerous or threatening person/s (stalker/s, kidnapper/s, etc.), civil disorder, gas leak, chemical spill, and others. The initial response emergency management key players is to stay calm. As key players, their mind is in ensuring the welfare of people, particularly others n ot themselves, and not on things (Deakin University, 2006).With an emergency management coordinator around, s/he surveys the scene, before assigning tasks and assignments to his/her key players. S/he will weigh the graveness of each victim’s predicament then prioritize those who need help most at the most immediate time, and only then would s/he delegate the task at hand (Deakin University, 2006).Once the key players see the damage, they do their roles and organize themselves to cater to the needs of people. They start do what should be done to stop or minimize the effect of the crisis and to prevent further harm. The emergency management team would have to do their tasks on the spot since the emergency they are about to accomplish require their immediate attention (Deakin University, 2006).After having briefly dealt with the emergencies, victims are then evacuated to some place near and can accommodate to their needs more attentively.And of course, as emergency coordinator, s/he will gather his/her team and evaluate the work they have just done.Communication During Emergency ManagementThe key players work together, and so they could consider themselves a team. One could not completely accomplish a task if not for the help of another team mate. Their work is seen as a team, not as an individual, and so it is important that they communicate well with one another.The basic way to get them to talk to one another is to give them a reason to do so. Say, ask one of your key players to ask another key player about something. This strategy works when they have just met, and your team is not yet, of course, in the middle of a crisis.People are confident and comfortable in talking with another individual once they know something about them, even just their name. And so, as an emergency management coordinator, it would not hurt to hold an activity on the first meeting. Not only would they know who they work with, but also it gives them the chance to get comfortabl e working as a team, and trust one another as team mates.Many childhood activities do work in order to get the people communicating with one another. People may lack the initiative and confidence to speak to another because of indifference. Games do sound childlike, but then grown-ups find these as guilty pleasures. Name games and getting-to-know-you games are great starts for individuality-introduction activities.It would also greatly help if you, yourself as coordinator, do the talking first. Ask them about their interests, what they do other than the job they have, their history and the like. People talk when they know someone listens. Show that as coordinator, you want to listen, you are interested in your key player, and that you encourage others as well to listen and be interested.The art of talking does not only consist of saying everything about anything, rather saying things that concern your team that are of interest to them. Share your stories, to get them to share theirs , but then do not go overboard. Once they start, let them just handle the flow of the discussion.Another way of having them conversing with one another is setting up bonding sessions. Short, bonding, group activities allow individuals to be loose for a while and be ordinary human beings mindless of their work. Let them have such at the most convenient time, i.e. after a successful emergency management that didn’t take much of their energy that would also serve as a victory celebration. The opportunities are endless.Organizing the Emergency Management GroupOrganizing an emergency management group is not easy. It is a serious matter dealing with serious situations. Such group involves people—normal, social individuals. Thus, communication cannot possibly be taken away from such group. Communication not only strengthens the ties among the members of the group, but also allows them to work more efficiently.ReferencesCanton, L. G. (2006). Emergency management: concepts and strategies for effective programs. New York: Pantheon.Deakin University. (2006 May, 1). Deakin University: emergency management plan. Retrieved December 12, 2007 from http://www.deakin.edu.au/emergency/policies/procedures/Emergency%20Management%20Plan%202006%20Aug.pdfP&I Services. (2006 March, 7). Glossary. Retrieved December 12, 2007, from http://www.emergencymanagement.org.uk/faq/glossaryandacronyms/tabid/2090/Default.aspx

The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Choice of Occupation Research Paper

The Role of Gender Stereotypes in Choice of Occupation - Research Paper Example Methodology: The study selected (n=40) individuals, of which (n=30) were female, while (n=10) were male. A questionnaire was administered consisting of two major sections. One section sought to directly elicit the career preferences of the participants. The other section sought to indirectly elicit career preferences by asking participants to choose from a list of twenty eight career aspects that the participants preferred in their future career. These career aspects were then entered into the Making Better Career Decisions computer program to identify careers twenty-eight the aspects identified. Results: As hypothesized, there was a significant relationship between gender stereotypes of suitable careers and the careers chosen by participants of their respective genders in the directly elicited career lists. However, the relationship between gender stereotypes and careers selected from the indirectly elicited lists was less significant. Differences between males and females in the indirectly elicited lists were negligible. Conclusion: The influence of gender stereotypes on career choices can be significantly reduced if the decision is made based on the preferred aspects or characteristics of one’s future occupation, rather than the career itself, which is likely to be biased by gender stereotypes. According to Zafar (2013), the movement of female workers into the labor force in Europe has increased steadily in the last thirty years, although a similar number of women who occupy prestigious and powerful career roles in their respective fields have not matched this. While all careers, theoretically, should be equally available to females and males, various studies have shown that this is not perceived as being realistic by both genders.

Customer Value Measurement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Customer Value Measurement - Essay Example New ways are needed to achieve an edge and to stand one step ahead of others (Keller 2003). In the phase of increasing competition, many corporate mission statements set customers as the focus of an organisation's business activities, and key thinkers have defined the quality of goods and services with reference to how well they satisfy needs and expectations of the customer base (Johnson et al 2005). At the other end, some companies are paying performance premiums. According to Aaker & Keller (1990) delivering superior value to carefully targeted customers seems to be the generally accepted path to sustained profitability (Keller 2003). In the light of the above, this essay essay is an attempt to clarify how developing a customer orientation affects the profitability of firms by referring to the fundamental elements of a customer driven marketing strategy: segmentation, targeting and positioning. It also presents a comprehensive understanding of the customer and the customer value imperative by using relevant examples. As competition grows bigger, more and more organisations try to maximize customer value in order to achieve their full potential and get a competitive edge. There are several reasons for this awakening and change in perception (Porter 1990). Realizing the role of 'customers' and 'customers' equity, companies strive at satisfying their customers through the creation of brand equity (Aaker 1990). Customers are important stakeholders of a company. According to Sacconi, (2004), customers need quality products and services as well as increased customer value and customer satisfaction (Sacconi 2004). A customer is one who buys and uses goods and services. They are individuals who are affected by or who affect the product and service supplied, and bear the value and cost of a company's activities (Sacconi 2004). In most companies, customers are seen as the most important assets. For example, Berry & Parasuraman (1991) argue that, It is easier - and much cheaper - to keep existing customers than to get new ones. To Berry et al. (1990), the benefit from achieving satisfied and loyal customers stems from the fact that, the willingness for future repurchases will be much higher for satisfied and loyal customers than for dissatisfied and indifferent ones. Despite this awareness concerning the importance of customer satisfaction, it is beyond the ability of many of today's companies to maintain satisfied customers (Aaker 1989). To fully understand the meaning of 'customer value' and customers value creation, Aaker (1990) argues that this should be approached from the customer's perspective. Today, most companies have realized the importance of satisfied custome

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 11

Marketing - Essay Example the development of an effective sales force team and the development of an effective training program to help employees grow in both their own goals as well as to help meet the needs of the company. Developing an effective sales team requires not only investing in the team itself, but also fostering an environment that encourages growth, innovation and provides rewards for hard work and diligent practice at all levels. â€Å"Even in the best companies, we found that 35 percent of the sales force did not have the talents necessary to achieve acceptable results predictably. This rather considerable group – one of every three salespeople out there – is consistently in the bottom half of the performance curve† (Smith & Rutigliano, 2003). The importance of this comes into play when one realizes that sales is essentially a talent-driven occupation. Studies conducted by the Gallup Group and others have indicated that experience has very little effect on whether sales people are effective in their positions while increasing the numbers of employees within the sales force also shows very little benefit to be gained. â€Å"The way to improve the talent in your sales force is to make sure that the new people you hire have talent configurations that closely match those of the best producers in your existing sales force. This is in contrast to the conventional approach of hiring people with more experience or providing more training to your sales organization† (Smith & Rutigliano, 2003). However, this is not to say that some training will not benefit the corporation or the bottom dollar as it is through training that engagement can be boosted among employees. In order to be effective, training must concentrate on those areas that actively involve employees in the key aspects of their positions. In defining the training needs, it is important to keep in mind the needs of the organization as compared with the top performers of not just your own organization, but of

Help in a Dangerous or Troublesome Circumstances Essay

Helping in a Dangerous or Troublesome Circumstances - Essay Example   The author of the paper states that Jenifer was driving on a high way and suddenly noted a little girl, maybe four years old, running across the road, right in front of her. Each way of the road had four lines and she was driving on the second line from the side of the road from which the child emerged. The child seemed to be alone because no one was even following her or was along the road at the point at which she attempted to cross. Maybe she had lost her guardian somewhere in the streets and was trying to trace the guardian. The first lane, where the little girl was at the time, appeared safe, from Jenifer’s side mirror. A vehicle was behind her and though it was at a distant, it would take its driver extreme level of caution to avoid a collision had Rachel made an emergency brake.  Three options existed with decisions to be made within a second a second or two. Jenifer could slow down and move to the first lane to avoid hitting the child and any associated legal and moral liability and this would be a safe option for her. She would have also tried to stop before reaching the child and shout at her to stop running and even though this had minimal chances of saving the child, it also risked her car to being hit from behind. Jenifer, however, implemented a third option, one that was even more risky for her and the driver behind her but offered higher chances of saving the child. She decided to accelerate the car, to reach the child before she crosses into the second lane, and stop the car right in front of her. She explains that even though she did not think of the car behind her then, the driver would have a reasonable time to stop the car or to move to the first lane at a lower speed that could avoid running over the little girl. This succeeded and even though there was an impact between her car and the child, this occurred when the car had already stopped and the child was safe.