Spend Your Money Wisely Essays - Aid, Humanitarian Aid, Poverty

Spend Your Money Wisely Spend Your Money Wisely The United States has faced a very significant economic growth after the Second World War. At that time, war was finished, and the American soldiers were back to their homes. There were ready to make their future houses and start families. In other words, they started spending money in the market acquiring commodities and services rendered at that time. The country faced a population growth, -as they are refereed to baby boomers- production growth, and as a result an economic growth. Since then the spending attitude of the American individual was rising. Most of the producers have more than enough customers to buy their commodities in the market. The problem is, spending behavior is becoming worse. Who should we blame here? Is it the customers or the producers? To answer this question, I would like to examine the behaviors of consumers, and producers. Buyers in any society tend to spend more money on commodities that are necessary to life. However, the typical American consumer tends to be one of the highest spenders in the world. Most of the United States consumers save around 5% of his income where, on the other hand, Japanese; for example, have 15% or more of their income goes to their saving's accounts. One of the problems that could relate to the spending behavior of the Americans is peer pressure. For example, an individual who buys a product or acquires a service can influence his or her friends to do the same thing. Another problem is self-esteem. Sometimes, people claim that the find their identity by buying more. They follow this equation: BUY MORE = SELF-ESTEEM + IDENTITY. When an individual finds that he/she don't have a specific product, he or she feels that it is important to buy it even if it is not that important thing to have. It is just greed, and to feel that a person can buy a product because others have it. Gr eed can be better seen in children. Children feel happy when they have more of what they want. They can't stop from buying candies, toys, or electronic games. They occupy a large sector of the American consumption. I read a story tow years ago about that child who wanted to but a toy through his father credit card, but his father did not agree to go along with his wishes. What did that child do? He took his father's card and reserved a ticket to Europe and almost done it. However, adults are not free from greed. They tend to work more to earn more and as a result, to buy more. The GDP per capita doubles every ten years, but it seems that saving plans don't change and spending is increasing. At a point some people travel to attraction malls by plane just to shop. There is a fact that the number of schools is decreasing and the number of malls is increasing. A credit card is a vital thing to acquire if it is used right. The idea behind credit cards is to use under emergency circumstan ces. Unfortunately, the majority uses them to satisfy useless needs and ignore the fact that what they bought is not important. It is a kind or block-out that they go through when they find something new. As a result loans accumulate and they end up bankrupt. Marketing has played an important role in selling more of firms' products and services. It has a lot of tricks and strategies that will attract more consumers into the firms' traps. Marketers target ?victims? in different ways such as TV advertising. They convince that a person in no one unless he or she buys the product either by saying that the previous version of the product is out of date, or by showing the importance to acquire such a product to any ones ?life?. It is a fact that an average American receives about one million advertisements before he or she reaches the age of 20. Another way to advertise is through posters and brochures. Just imagine the amount of junk mail that people receive every day. It got to be one of them that grabs the attention of the poor

The Lost Generation in The Sun Also Rises Essays

The Lost Generation in The Sun Also Rises Essays The Lost Generation in The Sun Also Rises Paper The Lost Generation in The Sun Also Rises Paper Essay Topic: Literature The Sun also Rises As World War I ripped through many European countries in the early twentieth century, the population suffered not only physically, but mentally. In addition to the many lives lost in this war, the youth of the world was greatly affected by this relatively new idea of death. Consequently, the Great War caused a lapse in values and standards in the generation who suffered through it, permanently damaging the remainder of their lives. Earnest Hemingway takes a glimpse into the lives of the people of this so-called lost generation in his novel The Sun Also Rises. Set in this post World War I age, The Sun Also Rises shows the physical and emotional wounds, the religious abandonment, and the way in which members of the lost generation escape from their lives that were greatly affected by the first World War. Every character in The Sun Also Rises has been affected by World War I in some way. Some wounds show outwardly, while others are internalized, producing an even greater emotional and often psychological trauma on the character. The narrator of this novel, Jake Barnes, is a character whose physical wounds from the Great War cause him both emotional and psychological grief. While fighting in the War, Jake suffers an injury that leaves him impotent, but still desiring sexual activity. This wound causes him not only pain, but a great deal of confusion in regard to his relationship with Lady Brett Ashley: both partners know they love each other, but Jakes inability to sexually fulfill Lady Brett Ashley causes her to reject him. In his book on Hemingway, critic Earl Rovit asserts that [Jakes] wound still throbs and gives him pain (157). He cannot escape from his war injury and it continues to haunt him everyday he lives. Using his situation with Brett as a basis for all future relationships, Jake decides that he cannot please anyone and he must instead be content with wandering aimlessly through life without a true love. The severity of the emotional side of Jakes wound is in this belief that he cannot hope to find a mate. His interaction with a French prostitute shows the hopeless feeling that Jake receives from his War injury and how it has changed his life forever. When the prostitute simply lays her hand on Jakes, he pushes her away and tells her that he is sick. This emphasizes Jakes truly hopeless notion that he can never have any type of a physical relationship with a woman due to his wound. The French prostitutes response to Jakes revelation that he is sick emphasizes even more the hopelessness of the entire generation of the post-World War I era. Everybodys sick. Im sick too, replies the prostitute (Hemingway 21). Although she does not specify exactly how she herself is sick, the prostitute believes that the Great War has caused everyone a certain degree of sickness and suffering. Michael Friedberg states that the prostitutes statement is no doubt also a reference to the state of the world itself (176). The state of the world, including the other characters in The Sun Also Rises, is as lost and hopeless as Jake, predominantly because of the War. The truth of the prostitutes statement comes in the form of other characters in The Sun Also Rises including Lady Brett Ashley and Count Mippipopolous. Critic E. M. Halliday speculates that Jake Barnes war-wound impotence[is] a kind of metaphor for the whole atmosphere of sterility and frustration which is the ambiance of The Sun Also Rises (303). The other characters of this novel experience grief, frustration, and pain from the situations the War has dealt them, just as Jake does. The Count is a character who has been physically wounded by the Great War and war in general. The scars of arrow wounds pierce the Counts torso from a battle in Abyssinia when he was a young man. His involvement in seven wars and four revolutions (Hemingway 61) including World War I gives him the aged disposition of a person who has been through very hard times. Brett Ashley is an additional example of a character whose war-time experiences greatly affect her life. During the Great War, Lady Ashley orked as a nurse and was heart-broken when her true love was killed in battle. She consequently had a series of bad relationships in which she was physically and verbally abused and emerged with only her title, Lady Ashley. She recognizes her love for Jake as fruitless and is instead content with wandering aimlessly from one man to another. The effects of the War on Brett are seen in her loose, discorded relationships [that] reflect the shattered unity ( ) of the modern world (Martin 69). Lady Ashleys post-war position in The Sun Also Rises symbolizes the death of aristocracy that was suffered through the war. According to Richard Lehans essay on Hemingway, the post-War Lady Ashley represents the purposelessness and moral abandonment of the [aristocracy] (197). Her values and lifestyle were both destroyed when the Great War ended, and in essence, so was Lady Ashley. The Great War causes the characters of The Sun Also Rises not only physical and emotional suffering, but moral and religious abandonment as well. Although none of the main characters in this book professes true devotion to their religion, it is the contrast among characters that illustrates the morally lost state of the generation. Essayist John Pratt points out that, [E]ach major character represents one religious attitude (151). Hemingways novel contains a semi-pious Catholic, a detested Jew, and a pagan who combine to portray the religious abandonment that World War I essentially created. Jake Barnes is the semi-pious Catholic. Although Jake is deemed one of the more religious characters in the novel, his attitude towards religion and the Catholic faith in general show that the War affects him in this way too. Once again it is his relationship with Brett that causes his religious hopelessness. Jake admits that when he first met Brett, he sought advice from the Catholic Church on how to handle their relationship while dealing with his injury. He knew that he and Brett would not be able to have children because of this injury that left him impotent, but Jake went to get advice from a religion that sees marriage as first a procreative and then a unitive sacrament. The Catholic Church had an awfully good way of handling that. Not to think about it (Hemingway 35). Therefore, Jake is bitter toward what he thinks to be the Churchs unacceptable attitude toward his wound (Pratt 153). This very advice causes him much pain in his relationship with Brett that came as a result of the War. Lady Brett Ashley is the pagan. It is clear from the very beginning of The Sun Also Rises that Brett lacks certain beliefs and values that other people normally possess. During her stay in Pamplona, Spain, however, Brett makes it clear that she also lacks morals and any kind of religious beliefs. During the Pamplona fiesta, Brett tells Jake that she wishes to hear him confess. Jake, however, tells her that if she listens to him confess, it will be in a language she does not know. The obvious reason for this is that Jake will confess in Latin or Spanish, but it is also possible that it means she will not understand the language of the Christian religion (Baker 89). After Brett meets Pedro Romero, the absence of God in her life can be seen again. Brett asks Jake to take her to a cathedral so she can pray for her new beau, but she soon becomes uncomfortable. After trying to pray for only a couple of seconds, Brett leaves the cathedral. Im damned bad for a religious atmosphere, Ive got the wrong type of face (Hemingway 188). Brett, therefore, knows that she has rejected God and she accepts this. She re-emphasizes her pagan state at the end of the novel when she commends herself for deciding to end her relationship with Romero in an effort to save him. Brett tells Jake that her decision makes her feel good and that her goodness is what she has instead of God. Jake tells her that many people have God to which Brett replies, He never worked very well with me (Hemingway 221). Lady Brett Ashley, then, is most likely a pagan due to her War-time experiences, but she believes that her being so has worked to her advantage. Robert Cohn represents the detested Jew in a more symbolic sense than the rest of the characters in The Sun Also Rises. During the course of the novel, not much is said about Roberts religious preferences, but it is in fact his religion that makes him the scapegoat for the anger of his so-called friends. Jake states that Robert is a Jew within the first few pages of the novel. Jake also states that until Robert went to college, no one made him feel that he was a Jew and therefore different from anyone else. The significance of this statement lies in the fact that Jake, and other members of their circle of friends, do see Robert as different just because of his religion. While Brett is never referred to as the pagan, Robert is often called the Jew, with a variety of derogatory terms attached to it. The first fault that Jake and his friends find with Robert is that he did not fight in the War. They attribute this to the fact that Robert is Jewish so right from the beginning, the Great War causes problems in Robert Cohns life. Throughout the remainder of the novel, Robert suffers a variety of insults pertaining to his religion. When he becomes upset in Burguete because Brett has not yet arrived, Bill and Jake attribute this to his Jewish superiority. Well, let him not get superior and Jewish, remarks Bill at one point (Hemingway 92). During the fiesta in Pamplona, Mike Campbell calls Robert a steer. By using this term, Mike is saying that Robert is inferior to the rest of the bulls (he, Jack, and Bill) because steers lack not only testicles, but also the ability to inspire passion (Quieto sec. 1). In this statement, Mike emphasizes his dislike of Cohn simply because of his religion. Mike sees that Cohn can become Jewish and superior at times so he feels that he must make him feel inferior in all other ways. Although Robert never discusses his religion anywhere in the novel, he is detested by the majority of the characters for the simple fact that he is a Jew. By not fighting in the War, Robert receives further criticism from his friends and this emphasizes the idea that the Great War ruined religion for many people. The War wounds suffered by the characters in The Sun Also Rises cause a variety of responses in each character. While heavy drinking seems to be one of the ways in which these characters find solace for their miseries, traveling seems also to be a popular trend. The very book itself is an example of this in that Jake Barnes narrates from Paris, completely detaching himself from the Kansas City life in which he once lived. The gaiety and entertainment associated with Paris serves as a means by which he tries to forget his unfortunate station in life caused by the Great War. In an attempt to forget his wound, Jake submerges himself in a seemingly care-free life of habitual drinking and dining as a French expatriate. Youre an expatriate. Youve lost touch with the soil Fake European standards have ruined you (Hemingway 109). One of Jakes friends makes this remark to him, proving that Jake has in fact adopted the standards of a completely different continent to leave behind the world that he holds responsible for his current situation. Jake also uses travel later on in The Sun Also Rises to escape from a variety of people and situations that remind him of his hopeless state. When his relationship with Brett becomes too much, Jake accepts Roberts invitation to join him on a fishing trip in Spain. Jake and his friend, Bill Gorton embark for this trip and immediately the tone of the book becomes lighter and happier. Aside from their frequent disagreements with Robert, Jake and Bill manage to have a good time fishing in Burguete, a small town in the Pyrenees mountains. Instead of obsessing over his relationship with Brett, Jake concerns himself only with fishing, drinking, and enjoying himself. We stayed five days at Burguete and had good fishing There was no word from Brett or Mike (Hemingway 117). It is on this trip to Burguete that Jake and Bill become good friends through their mutual desire to get away from the petty and noxious tribulations of Robert Cohn and company (Baker 84). Their camaraderie also stems from their shared need to escape from the world that the Great War has created from them and Burguete is the closest each character comes to experiencing this. Robert Cohn is another character who uses travel as a way to escape from the harsh realities of the times. The novel begins with Robert in a somewhat disastrous relationship that he was forced into by his lady. Things begin to go awry in the relationship and this, combined with Roberts new interest in the book The Purple Land cause him to yearn for a change of scenery. He suggests a trip to South America to Jake who cynically replies, You cant get away from yourself by moving from one place to another (Hemingway 18). Jake speaks from experience for his current place of habitation is a desperate attempt to get away from himself and the way he has become. Robert, however, does not take Jakes advice and after ending his relationship of four years, he sets off for San Sebastian, Spain. More than half of The Sun Also Rises is set in Pamplona, Spain where Jake, Brett, Robert, Bill Gorton, and Mike Campbell attend the summer fiesta. Although Jake attends this fiesta almost every year to watch the bullfights, this year he cannot truly escape from himself because his past haunts accompany him on the trip. Therefore, he must resort to a lifestyle of perpetual drunkenness to deal with his problems, as do many of the other characters. The world of The Sun Also Rises is a world of drunken promiscuity, shot through with streaks of pity (Wagenknecht 374). Although Jake turns to alcohol frequently on this trip, his relationship with Brett manages still to tear at his emotions. After he and Bill discuss the idea of irony and pity, Jake feels especially low as he realizes that irony and pity are the combination he used whenever he thinks about Brett (Baker 92). Their relationship is ironic in that they both love each other but can never be together, and pitiful in the same sense. The trip that is supposed to help Jake escape reality actually makes him realize his hopeless state even more. He proves his own advice to others during the course of this trip; You cant get away from yourself by moving from one place to another (Hemingway 18). Jake knows this from experience, but he also keeps reliving it every time he goes away. The characters of The Sun Also Rises never do manage to get away from themselves. The Great War, it seems, has caused permanent damage to the lives of those who suffered through it. At the end of the novel, Jake attempts to rescue Brett after she runs off with Pedro Romero. Once he arrives, Brett begins to speak nostalgically of their relationship, saying that they could have had a good life together. Yes, isnt it pretty to think so? is Jakes reply (Hemingway 222). This is true for the entire lost generation affected by the War. It is quite possible that any of the characters in The Sun Also Rises could have led normal lives, but the influence of World War I was too much. According to Rovit, World War I had been the catalytic agent in releasing the stark factor of nothingness and absurdity at the very root of traditional values (159). The Great War destroyed the traditional values of love, faith, and hope and consequently, the characters of The Sun Also Rises wander aimlessly through their resultant lives, constantly seeking ways to escape.

Philosophy 101 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Philosophy 101 - Essay Example Thus, he began to doubt his beliefs on sense perception, material objects and physical sciences, for these all depend on our senses, which are by nature, deceptive. Furthermore, he doubted mathematics, for the reason that there perhaps may be an evil deceiver that deceives him to fall into error. Herein, Descartes uses this evil deceiver in attaining his permanent truth. I quote: â€Å"Even though there may be a deceiver of some sort†¦ who bends all his efforts to keep me perpetually deceived, there can be no slightest doubt that I exist, since he deceives me; and let him deceive me as much as he will, he can never make me be nothing as long as I think that I am something† (Descartes 82). This is Descartes absolute and certain truth. For, inasmuch as he would doubt all the beliefs he has ever had, there is one thing, which he cannot doubt, i.e. that he exists. For to claim that he cannot tell the difference between a dream and reality, or to claim that an evil deceiver de ceives him to fall into error, is not possible without him existing. In order for doubting to take place, a doubter must exist. In order for Descartes to be deceived to fall into error, he must exist. Therefore, Descartes arrives at his foundational truth: â€Å"I exist.† Works Cited Descartes, R., 1960.

English class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

English class - Essay Example The main mission of the museum is â€Å"Teaching Tolerance through Education†, that is, remembering the victims of the Holocaust of World War II, promoting tolerance, providing educational materials on the Holocaust and promoting public awareness and understanding of the Holocaust of World War II (Shosteck and Heland, 88). Even though the museum was founded by three people, it mainly focuses on the experiences of the Ipsons during the holocaust of the World War II. The Ipsons were Lithuanian Jewish and settled in Richmond after the World War II. The Virginia holocaust museum was originally housed in several vacant rooms of a local temple, Beth El, in Richmond, Virginia. However, in 2003 the museum changed its location to the old tobacco warehouse in 2000 East Cary street Richmond, Virginia. The warehouse was donated by the state of Virginia legislature after it flourished and outgrew its original space in 2000. The new location of the museum was dedicated during the Day of Rem embrance and Heroism in April, 2003 (Shosteck and Heland, 88). Personal Response The museum provides visitors with true experiences of the holocaust of the World War II. It allows people who visit it to feel as though they are part of the happenings of the holocaust.

African Corruption Essay Example for Free

African Corruption Essay This study intends to clearly show the extent to which Africa and Africans have been suffering from the ravages of corruption, fraud, and intentional mismanagement by their governments and their leaders, much to the disappointment and anger of the people. The impact of corruption on the lives of the people, the businesses, and the economy of any of the nations concerned has been studied by a number of authors, scholars, and worldwide institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, and even donors (highly industrialized nations). Although Africa has a large share of the worlds raw material and mineral resources, African nations are by far the least developed and the poorest countries in the world. Robert Harris, in his book, Political Corruption In and Beyond the Nation State, (1990, p. 29,) introduced three themes. First, political corruption is an illegitimate extension of normal political activity. In trying to understand the central issue of corruption, one needs to understand the complex and intricate nature of corruption. If we ask, what is â€Å"corruption†? The American Heritage English Language Dictionary (Pickett, 2000) defines corruption as â€Å"the art or process of corruption, the state of being corrupt, decay, and rot.† As indicated above, corruption comes in many forms. In the least developed countries (LDC’s) such as Africa, all types of corruption are prevalent. The following brief case histories of these three companies will present the magnitude of the scandals, corruption, and deceit these companies perpetrated on the unsuspecting public and their business partners. Other countries of the world have similar problems of corruption, fraud, and mismanagement. From time to time, stories appear about the corruption trial of a government official, a banker, or corporate head in other parts of the world. Doing Business in Africa and Other Non-Industrialized Nations, the basic tenets of the guiding principles are that corruption, dishonesty, and unethical behavior among public officials represent serious threats to the basic principles and values of government, undermining public confidence in democracy and threatening to erode the rule of law. The aim of these guiding principles is to promote public trust in the integrity of officials within the public sector by preventing, detecting, and prosecuting or sanctioning official corruption and unlawful dishonest or unethical behavior. Monsanto Co.: Settled an SEC complaint in January alleging that the company funneled more than $700,000 in corrupt payments to Indonesian government officials between 1997 and 2002. ExonMobil, Chevron Texaco, Marathon Oil, Devon Energy, and Amerada Hess, as well as several other oil companies: These reportedly are involved in SEC investigations into bribes allegedly paid to government officials in Equatorial Guinea. Public perception of police corruption stems mainly from instances where the public has come face to face with the vice as they interact with police in their discharge of duty. My personal experience also left me with no doubt that police corruption in South Africa was daunting task for the new democratic government of South Africa. While police brutality in Kenya is much less compared to that of the apartheid South Africa, the police corruption in Kenya is much more widespread and open. Corruption in the police force takes various forms and in various degrees of sophistication. Corruption in Kenya and more particularly among the police has reached unprecedented levels. Thieves have been set free from police cells because of corruption. The ministry of public works: This is the second most corrupt institution in Kenya. Finding found that this is the Ministry that has the highest rent corruption in Kenya. A large population of the Kenyan people expressed disgust at the corruption in this ministry. The corruption at the ministry of public works is more sophisticated than meets the eye. It is also in charge of construction of government residential houses and offices. The ministry houses the largest number of government employed Engineers, professionals, and Architects. It is actually a key ministry in any government.   Millions of shillings are spent in purchasing goods and services for the government. There was no good will from the establishment to deal with cases of corruption. Where genuine outside companies have been awarded contracts, big bribes were paid to the committee before the award. In one case a contractor has given a job to put up some government circles. The author discovered that this was done just to get free money as penalties from the government. The poor jobs that we have seen on our roads are a result of corruption. This makes the land law in Kenya, one of the most complicated land systems in the world. The Crown Lands Ordinance (Cap. 280) passed in 1915 defined crown land as â€Å"All public land including all land occupied by the native tribes of the protectorate and all land reserved for the use of the members of any native tribe.† All the land rights of the natives were ignored. After all and without exception, African customs recognized land rights. African communities saw land as a gift of God to every individual. That has been the root cause of land problems in this country. Nowhere in Africa is land such expensive commodity as it is in Kenya. A Kenyan who has no land will always work hard to buy himself land. Land and Corruption in Africa The Ministry of Lands is one of the most corrupt institutions in this country. Land Cartels Land allocations, is the biggest single activity that goes on at the Lands office, Nairobi. Here, the people of Kenya will spend as much time and spend as much money, to ensure that they have been allocated land. Income tax department: African Revenue Authority is the main government agency for collecting all government revenue. No government can run on its own without taxes. Money collected from taxes is what the government uses to provide public services like Education, Health, Infrastructure, security and policing, a forestation, public service employment, defence and many others. (Transparency International Report, 2006) You cannot tax people so highly and yet fail to provide services. Over Kenya Shillings 250 billion taxes, (Transparency International Report, 2006), are collected annually by the Kenya Revenue Authority. The African revenue authority has some of the best professionals in the public service. Corruption at the African Revenue Authority is a matter of great concern. There is corruption in the organization both corporate and individual taxpayers. With the present economic situation most business people are stressed out and depressed. Research revealed that there is massive corruption in the import and export sector. Tax evasion is very high in this sector and the government loses millions of shillings through fraud and tax evasion. It was found that tax officers collude with importers and exporters to avoid tax and deny the government the badly needed revenue. This area has provided a good breeding ground for corruption in the income tax department. Officers in the Revenue Authority come across these businesses every day. The government is losing a lot of revenue by leaving these sectors out.

Difficulty In Making An Important Decision :: essays research papers

Difficulty In Making An Important Decision Assignment: Describe a particular time in your life when you had difficulty making an important decision. During the course of our lifetimes we make many significant and difficult choices that affect us. These choices affect our personal and professional lives. Therefore, we make these choices with much thought and care. One of the most difficult and important decisions I have made was changing careers. Changing careers at this stage of my life, mid-life, was very difficult. Preparation for my new career required me to resign my job. The former position was providing a major portion of my family's income and most of the medical benefits. Some means of earning a living while preparing for a new career was foremost on my mind during this stage. If I spent to much time and energy pursuing a job to provide a means for supporting my family while retraining, I might not do a sufficient job of retraining for a new career. Another difficulty equally as important as the the financial one was the possibility of failing at a new endeavor or not being able to find a new job. These possibilities made me feel uncomfortable and insecure. If I failed or could not find a new position, what would my family think of me? Failing at a new career would also cause me to lose confidence in myself. These concerns, failure and financial, and not finding a new job made this decision very difficult. The decision to choose a new career was an extremely important one. The sole function of a career is not just to provide a means to make a living; it should have a larger purpose. The work I was doing did little for others, and in fact, served only a small, special interest group. In addition to pursuing a meaningful career, a career should be satisfying, and make some

Adidas Sustainable Development Strategy Essay

The textile and the apparel industries face nowadays a lot of evolution due, first to macroeconomic consequences and then because of the growing eco-friendly influence. To understand the key challenges of the sustainable development in the textile and the apparel industries, we, first, need to get the whole picture of the situation. The global textile industry is getting through a struggling time for the global economy due to crisis. This situation increases the price volatility of raw materials and energy resources. We can also add-up to this trend, the rising labor cost that contributes to amplify the negative effects on the industry. This uncertainty in the marketplace leads to lack of projection for years to come. At a worldwide stage, the textile market knows different situations. Europe is facing a recession while North American market is struggling. This current trends leads to reduced worldwide sale perspective. In Asia, the situation is more complex. China is the major actor in the market. More and more, price rises in China due to a higher domestic demand and higher wages. See more: Distinguish between problem-focused coping and emotion-focused coping Essay This economic trend creates opportunities for other Asian countries to become new sourcing targets (Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia). However, new countries doesn’t have necessary quality and quantity requirement, which put companies in a huge dilemma in 2012 and for years to come†¦ Concerning sustainable development in the textile and apparel industries, many challenges are expected. For years and years, consumers have wanted cheap and trendy clothes, no matter where they came, who produced it and the material composition of the purchase. Now, they have changed their mind in many aspects. Consumers expect more and more socially acceptable workplaces to employees in production. They want companies to focus on improving human being, which includes better work conditions and better salary. However, this desire is problematic and contradictory for the industry. Indeed, this change will imply higher price that only a minority of consumers are up to pay. Key actors on this market need also to be responsible and active in the society and towards communities. Apart from this, consumers also require that companies produce in environmentally friendly way, which represent the main key challenge. Consumers care more and more to let enough raw materials for future generations and avoid global over consumption. The Chemistry industry brings solution to replace these raw materials. However, it can’t replace every material: water, which is an essential factor for production of textile, energy (it concerns mainly non-sustainable sources, except solar and other sustainable energies) and raw materials (real organic cultivations are insignificant in the industry). However, instead of raw materials, regenerative raw materials are more and more used. There is line and hemp that are resistant and doesn’t need pesticides. However, it can be only use for particular textiles. Besides, we can find chemical fibers, which represent 60% of the current market. They are better than natural fibers but are dependent on petroleum. This problem is a bit compensated by the fact it can be recyclable in PET bottle for instance. Cotton represents only 38% of the market in volume and wool, 2%. For dyestuffing, Chemistry has also played a huge role. Now the synthetic process replace natural because it turns out to be more ecological and with a better quality. Moreover, we can also save resources like energy and chemicals by using sustainable development energies like solar, wind or hydroelectric energies. We have to consider fossil energy and try to replace them by renewable energies to avoid price pressure and volatility. Companies want also to develop environment-friendly production technologies for textile industry. Most of the time, Chemistry helps to save resources because they are less demanding in water for finishing and dyestuffs and in energy for washing. They clean fibers better, reduce amount of defective goods and preserve machines. However, huge tests and controls are required to avoid toxic and harmful component to spread into our daily life through our clothes Another key challenge for the industry is to develop the recycling economy. A model called 3R illustrates this targeted economy: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. It follows this chain: â€Å"resources-products-consumer-renewable resources† to implement the closed-cycle logistics. Moreover, this cycle allows controlling the process of contamination in this cycle. The second-hand purchases can optimize purchases and sustainability by creating a new business out of the current one. Besides, improving quality of final can be seen as a key challenge. It prolongs life cycle and also improve reuse value. Eco-tax on new materials could be set up to allow development of material re-use technology and business. After seeing the global situation of the current market, actors that want to play a major role in the future have to turn these challenges and strains into opportunities to differentiate and bring new standards in the textile and apparel industries. What are the stakeholders’ expectations? Employees of the Group  The employees of Adidas have the expectation that we can expect from different workers. They expect to have good working conditions to properly conduct they everyday job. Thus, some flexible hours, good working environment, ergonomic machinery are some expectations that Adidas employees might have. Of course, the salaries needs to be fair and the possibility of career evolution should be interesting too. They would prefer a merit-based rewarding system and a fair policy. Then, working in an ethical company can make them proud to work for Adidas and avoid internal conflict of interest. Also, they expect to have the freedom of joining a work council or any other unions. Finally, having the guaranty to have their health and safety assured during their working hours, with proper social protection. All these aspects are employee’s expectations that can be encountered worldwide. Authorizes government, trade associations, shareholders, Board of Directors All those stakeholders have different expectations. The government aims to see their citizen rights preserved, the legislation respected and the economy supported. A government needs to be objective and act for the benefits of â€Å"its people†. Thus they can on one side wants to impose restrictions on companies to prevent abuses but also want to support them financially or administratively to attract them and push them to invest in their country, and supporting the economy. The trade associations expect Adidas to respect international treaties on trade and to act in respect of the International regulations. On the other side, board of directors wants to see Adidas following the strategy they established to be sustainable. They want the company to be profitable but in a sustainable way. The board of directors wants the company have a better image and increase its sustainable development reputation. Finally Shareholders expect the company to be profitable and to have a direct result from its sustainable development strategy. They want Adidas to be sustainably profitable. Business partners unions, suppliers, service providers Business partners unions wants Adidas to respect the labor rights for the workers. They want working conditions to be assured and health & safety policy respected. They expect Adidas to secure the job of employees and avoid economic firing. The suppliers expect Adidas to respect their contract and fulfill their contractual obligations toward sustainable development. Also, they want Adidas to have fair practices and have equitable deals with them. On their own sides, service providers also wants Adidas to have fair practices and to involve them in their sustainable strategy by training them and providing them the means to be real partners. Workers in our suppliers’ factories These stakeholders are those who have the highest expectations toward Adidas. They expect Adidas to treat them equitably and to have fair practices with them. They want to have the same working conditions and the same rights than the Adidas employees. They want to have a decent wages, without child labor, with the acceptable health and safety benefits. They want Adidas to train them and to help them to evolve without remaining simple second-hand workers. They want to be fully integrated in the sustainable strategy of Adidas and in the future of the company. Opinion-formers journalists, community members, special interest groups Opinion formers such as journalists, expect Adidas to respect its engagement toward sustainable development. They want to be assured that the sustainable strategy of the company is a real commitment and not a simple â€Å"faire-valoir†. Community members on their own side, expect Adidas to respect their community and its environment but also to serve its interest. They want Adidas to offer them employment, to support education and to help the community to benefit from Adidas activities. Special interest group will push Adidas to respect their own interest. For instance, Greenpeace will push Adidas to respect environment, â€Å"SOS racisme† will expect Adidas to have non-discriminatory human resource policy, etc. Customers: Professional sports people, distributors, retailers, consumer Customers are the final people to satisfy. They are lat but not least. Customers expect Adidas to have fair prices, to respect their engagement in terms of sustainable development while maintaining the quality of their product. They also expect that the new sustainable development strategy will not impact their buying power by tremendously increase the price of Adidas products. Sports people want to be sure that the various Adidas products are ethical, with low impact on the environment and that are made by factories that respect sustainable working conditions. Distributors and retailers want Adidas to respect its positioning and identity but expect that Adidas will continuously improve its sustainable development policy. How does the company meet the challenges of the industry? Being a global business: This involves a strong and worldwide suppliers network. To be sure that suppliers rules are respectful of Adidas engagement, Adidas is fully transparent on its activities.  « We seek to be open about our operations, for example, by disclosing our global factory list to the public or submitting our global supplier compliance programme to evaluation and accreditation by the fair Labor Association. (Adidas,5) Beyond all contractual regulations that we will see below, transparency is an essential way to enable external organizations, such as the Fair Labor Association, to check the working conditions in Adidas suppliers. However, there is always information’s that kept secrets and not disclosed. It is important to keep a strong control on it. Being competitive: According to Adidas, the response to this challenge is: not at any price. â€Å"The adidas group Workplace Standards are fundamental to our relationships with our suppliers and are contractual obligations. While we have our own team that assesses how well our suppliers are complying with our supply chain code, we also work with external monitors to complement our measures. † (adidas, 5) Adidas apply strict rules and regulations that are contractually based in order to respect the company regulations on health, safety, labour rights and environmental conditions. On all these aspects, Adidas provides training and detailed guidelines to its suppliers. It has also involved a strong information system such as Fair Factory Clearinghouse platform, to monitor the conduct of its supplier. Apparently Adidas has done everything possible in this sector. However, it is essential to keep a strong control on supplier to avoid some â€Å"under-the-radar† issues such as the ones in Indonesia: (http://www. peuples-solidaires. org/suite317-indonesie-adidas/). Being environmentally responsible: Adidas is fully engaged in reducing its footprint. Adidas aims to: Save energy and reduce carbon emissions, save water, reduce the use of raw materials, using more environmentally friendly materials, reduce waste, reduce toxicity, for example through using less toxic chemicals and through fforts to reduce the pollutants in waste water at supplier factories, improve the environmental footprint of raw materials, improve the environmental footprint of products, manage supplier performance through auditing, measuring and reporting against key performance indicators, use management systems to drive continuous improvement (Adidas, 9). Adidas is acting in every step of its value chain and also by controlling its suppliers. However, this is useless if the distributors are not committed. For example distributing an eco-friendly product by using trucks that will strongly pollutes during the transportation is not coherent. Adidas is so powerful that it can make pressure on distributors to be committed in its environmental program. Being an employer of choice: This objective passes through managing people in a sustainable way. Adidas has developed an entire Human Resources Strategy based on three pillars: â€Å"create a working environment that stimulates team spirit, passion and engagement, instill a performance culture based upon strong leadership, be an employer of choice†(Adidas, 5). To do so, Adidas has developed a performance-based rewarding system throughout bonus program, profit sharing and additional compensation components. Moreover the training of employees is emphasized with different talent management programs (Adidas, 59). This enables people to enhance their perspectives. The whole working environment is made to be attractive with health and safety policy, respect of labor rights and liberty to join work council. Nonetheless, in the 2012 sustainable report, Adidas focus on Germany and USA. There are few words on the working environment offshore. We are not sure that those conditions are respected worldwide as it was in Indonesia. Moreover if the rewarding system is performance-based, we do not know anything about the career evolution system.