Business Task 1 on individual report Essay

                 Despite its future economic prospects, the United Arab Emirates continues to suffer from corporate governance issues. The development of corporate governance in the region has largely been influenced by religion (Gellis et al., 2002). The rules governing the practice of corporate governance have been significantly influenced by Islamic Sharia. This reflects the cultural and religious characteristic of the region (Islam and Hussain, 2003). Islamic Sharia specifies a number of core values such as trust, integrity, honesty and justice which are similar to the core values of corporate governance codes in the West. However, a survey of corporate governance in a number of Gulf countries such as United Arab Emirates suggests that the region continues to suffer from corporate governance weaknesses. 2.0 Reasons for the structure including use of suitable evidence and data                  The structure of the above sectors and reasons for the structure and effects on the performance of firms has been vital subject of debate in the finance literature. Empirical evidence suggests that privately held firms tend to be more efficient and more profitable than publicly held firms. This shows that ownership structure matters. The question now is how does it affect firm performance and why this kind of structure? This question is significant since it is based on a research agenda that has been strongly promoted by La Porta et al.                  According to these studies, failure of the legislative framework to provide sufficient protection for external investors, entrepreneurs and founding investors of a company tend will maintain large positions in their firms thus resulting in a concentrated ownership structure. This finding is interesting because it implies that ownership structure can affect the performance of the firm in one way or the other. It is indisputable; the lack of regulations in corporate governance gives managers who intend to mishandle the flow of cash for their own personal interest a low control level. The empirical results from the past studies of impacts of ownership structure on performance of corporate have been inconclusive and mixed up.               In response to corporate governance issues and their impact on corporate performance, Shleifer and Vishny (1997); and Jensen (2000) have suggested the need for improved corporate governance structures so as to enhance transparency, accountability and responsibility.                  Corporate governance reform and the introduction of innovative methods to limit abuse of power by top management have been justified by recent large scale accounting and corporate failures such as Enron, HealthSouth, Tyco International, Adelphia, Global Crossing, WorldCom, Cendant and the recent global financial crisis.                   According to Monks and Minow (1996) numerous corporate failures suggest that existing corporate governance structures are not working effectively. Corporate failures and accounting scandals initially appear to a U.S phenomenon, resulting from excessive greed by investors, overheated equity markets, and a winner-take-all mind-set of the U.S society. However, the last decade has shown that irregularities in accounting, managerial greed, abuse of power, are global phenomenon that cannot be limited to the U.S. Many non-U.S firms such as Parallax, Adecco, TV Azteca, Hollinger, Royal Dutch Shell, Vivendi, China Aviation, Barings Bank, etc. have witnessed failures in corporate governance and other forms of corporate mishaps.            In addition to corporate governance failures, global standards have declined significantly and unethical and questionable practices have become widely accepted. The net impact has been a reduction in the amount of faith that investors and shareholders have in the efficiency of capital markets. There is no universally accepted corporate governance model that the interest of shareholders and investors are adequately protected as well as ensuring that enough shareholder wealth is being created (Donaldson and Davis, 2001; Huse, 1995; Frentrop, 2003).               Much of the debate on corporate governance has focused on understanding whether the Board of Directors has enough power to ensure that top management is making the right decision. The traditional corporate governance framework often ignores the unique effect that the owners of the firm can have on the board and thus the firm’s top management. The traditional framework therefore ignores that fact that the owners of the firm can influence the board and thus top management to act of make particular decisions. Corporate governance studies are therefore yet to identify and deal with the complexities that are inherent in corporate governance processes.             Investment choices and owner preferences are affected among other things by the extent their degree of risk aversion. Owners who have economic relations with the firm will be interested in protecting their interests even if it is reasonably evident that such protection will result in poor performance. According to Thomsen and Pedersen (1997) banks that play a dual role as owners and lenders would discourage high risk projects with great profit potential because such projects may hinder the firm from meeting its financial obligations if the project fails to realize its expected cash flows. The government also plays a dual role in that it serves as both an owner and a regulator. Therefore owners who play a dual role in the firm often face a trade-off between promoting the creation of shareholder value and meeting their other specific objectives (Hill and Jones, 1992).                  Existing corporate governance frameworks have often ignored these issues in UAE. Rather, much of the emphasis has been on the effectiveness of the board in ensuring that top management is working towards meeting the goals of shareholders. Present corporate governance frameworks lack the ability to monitor owners and their influence on top management. The framework lacks the ability to align the role played by firm owners, board of directors and managers’ interests and actions with the creation of shareholder value and welfare motivation of stakeholders. Discussion of the possible future structure of the industry                     The United Arabs Emirates, and mainly Abu Dhabi, is enduring to increase its economy by reducing the total proportion impact of hydrocarbons to Gross Domestic Product. This is currently being done by growing investment in sector areas like: services in telecommunication, education, media, healthcare, tourism, aviation, metals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, transportation and trade.                   Significant investments have been made by United Arab Emirates to establish itself as a regional trade hub. United Arab Emirates is also member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). In addition, there are ongoing negotiations to establish free trade agreements with other regions and countries such as the EU. These factors will contribute positively to the region’s integration into the global economy. United Arab Emirates is currently working towards diversifying their economies from the oil sector into other sectors. This diversification is expected not only to increase trade among member countries but also to increase the region’s trade with other countries and regions (Sturm et al., 2008). How the structure affects strategy decisions                     Ownership structure has an impact on firm performance in United Arab Emirates energy production owned sector. This region has witnessed significant economic growth over the last few decades. The region is also facing turbulent times with respect to corporate governance practices, resulting in poor firm performance. Corporate governance issues are not limited to the United Arabs Emirates as part of GCC Countries. From a global point of view, corporate governance has witnessed significant transformations over the last decade (Gomez and Korine, 2005). As a result, there has been an interest in the research attention accorded to corporate governance. The credibility of current corporate governance structures has come under scrutiny owing to recent corporate failures and low corporate performance across the world.                   The risk aversion of the firm can be directly affected by the ownership structure in place. Agency problems occur as a result of divergence in interests between principals (owners) and agents (managers) (Leech and Leahy, 1991). The board of directors is thereby regarded as an intermediary between managers and owners. The board of directors plays four important roles in the firm. These include monitoring, stewardship, monitoring and reporting. The board of directors monitors and controls the discretion of top management. The board of directors influences managerial discretion in two ways: internal influences which are imposed by the board and external influences which relate to the role played by the market in monitoring and sanctioning managers.                                       B: Contribution of the sector to the economy of your chosen country                         Analysis of contribution of sector                  United Arab Emirates remain major global economic player because it has the highest oil reserves. UAE together with the other Gulf Cooperation Council accounts for over 40% of global oil reserves and remains important in supplying the global economy with oil in future. As a result, investment spending on oil exploration and development of new oil fields is on the rise.                   Global oil demand is currently on the rise. This growth is driven mainly by emerging market economies, as well as the oil producing UAE as part of GCC countries. In addition, Europe and the U.S are witnessing depletions in their oil reserves. This means that these regions will become increasingly dependent on the Gulf region which includes UAE for the supply of oil (Sturm et al., 2008). The importance of the United Arabs Emirates as a global economic player is therefore expected to increase dramatically in the near future Use of appropriate data and other evidence                By the year 2011, the GDP of United Arab Emirates totaled to 360.2 billion dollars. Subsequently in 2001, yearly growth of GNP varied from about 7.4% to 30.7%. As part of the chief crude oil suppliers, the United Arab Emirates was at first cut off from the universal recession by high prices on oil that rose to a record 147 US dollars per barrel in the month of July in 2008. Nevertheless, the nation was ultimately influenced by the excavating worldwide recession which resulted to a decline in oil demand, reducing the oil prices to a reduced amount not exceeding a third of the peak of July 2008. In the last 2008 months, the trembles rumbling through global economies were lastly experienced in this section. Oil (million barrels) Proved reserves, 2013 Total oil supply (thousand bbl/d), 2012 Total petroleum consumption, 2012 Reserves-to-production ratio 97,800 3,213 618 95 Natural Gas (billion cubic feet) Proved reserves, 2013 Dry natural gas production, 2012 Dry natural gas consumption, 2012 Reserves-to-production ratio 215,025 1,854 2,235 116 UAE summary energy statistics C: Critical appraisal of sustainability targets on business plan of your chosen organisation                   Oil firms in United Arab Emirates is still quite immature. Most businesses are controlled by a few shareholders and family ownership is prevalent. Most large and small businesses are family businesses (Saidi, 2004). The state is also significantly involved in the management of companies (Union of Arab Banks, 2003).                     This is contrary to the status quo in Western democracies where firms are owned by a diverse group of shareholders which makes ownership to be completely separated from control. The ownership structure in United Arab Emirates suggests that stewardship and monitoring aspects of non-executive directors (NEDs) is absent in firms based in United Arab Emirates. Ownership concentration has remained high in the region because of practices such as rights issues which enable existing wealthy shareholders, and influential families to subscribe to new shares in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) (Musa, 2002).                   According to a study of the corporate governance practices of five countries by the Union of Arab Banks (2003), ownership of corporations is concentrated in the hands of families. In addition, corporate boards are dominated by controlling shareholders, their relatives and friends (Union of Arab Banks, 2003). There is a no clear separation between control and ownership. Decision making is dominated by shareholders. The number of independent directors in the board is very small and the functions of the CEO and Chairman are carried out by the same person. The high concentration in firm ownership therefore undermines the principles of good corporate governance that are prevalent in western settings (Yasin and Shehab, 2004). This evidence is consistent with findings by the World Bank (2003) in an investigation of corporate governance practices in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region which also includes the Gulf region. 1.0 Objective of empirical evidence                   The empirical evidence on the impact of ownership structure on firm performance is mixed. Different studies have made use of different samples to arrive at different, contradictory and sometimes difficult to compare conclusions. The literature suggests that there are two main ownership structures in firm including dispersed ownership and concentrated ownership. With respect to concentrated ownership, most of the empirical evidence suggests that concentrated ownership negatively affects performance (e.g., Johnson et al., 2000; Gugler and Weigand, 2003; Grosfeld, 2006; Holmstrom and Tirole, 1993). Different studies have also focused on how specifically concentrated ownership structures affect firm performance. For example, with respect to government ownership, Jefferson (1998), Stiglitz (1996), and Sun et al. (2002) provide theoretical arguments that government ownership is likely to positively affect firm performance because government ownership can facil itate the resolution of issues regarding the ambiguous property rights.                   However, Xu and Wang (1999) and Sun and Tong (2003) provide empirical evidence that government ownership has a negative impact on firm performance. On the contrary, Sun et al. (2002) provide empirical evidence that government ownership has a positive impact on firm performance. It has also been argued that the relationship between government ownership and firm performance is non-linear. Another commonly investigated ownership type and its impact on firm performance is family ownership. Anderson and Reeb (2003), Villanonga and Amit (2006), Maury (2006), Barontini and Caprio (2006), and Pindado et al. (2008) suggest that there is a positive link between family ownership and firm performance. Despite the positive impact some studies argue that the impact of family ownership is negative (e.g. DeAngelo and DeAngelo, 2000; Fan and Wong, 2002; Schulze et al., 2001; Demsetz, 1983; Fama and Jensen, 1983; Shleifer and Vishny, 1997).                     The impact of foreign ownership has also been investigated. Most of the evidence suggests that foreign ownership has a positive impact on firm performance (e.g., Arnold and Javorcik, 2005; Petkova, 2008; Girma, 2005; Girma and Georg, 2006; Girma et al., 2007; Chari et al., 2011; Mattes, 2008).With respect to managerial ownership, it has been argued that the relationship is likely to be positive. Despite this suggestion Demsetz and Lehn (1985) observe a negative relationship between dispersed ownership and firm performance. Institutional ownership has also been found to have a positive impact on firm performance (e.g. McConnell and Servaes, 1990; Han and Suk, 1998; Tsai and Gu, 2007). Furthermore, some studies suggest that there is no link between insider ownership and performance.                  Very limited studies have been conducted on the impact of ownership structure on firm performance in GCC countries like UAE. For example, Arouri et al. (2013) provide evidence that bank performance is affected by family ownership, foreign ownership and institutional ownership and that there is no significant impact of government ownership on bank performance. Zeitun and Al-Kawari (2012) observe a significant positive impact of government ownership on firm performance in the Gulf region.                The pervasive endogeneity of ownership has been cited as a potential reason why it is difficult to disentangle the relationship between ownership structure and firm performance. In addition, the relation may be a function of the type of firm as well as the period of observation in the life of the firm. This study is motivated by the mixed results obtained in previous studies and the limited number of studies that have focused on UAE as part of GCC countries. The objective of the study is to explore in more details the factors that motivate particular types of ownership structure and the potential impact of ownership structure and firm performance in the Gulf region 2.0 Empirical Evidence                  The empirical evidence will focus on how different ownership structures affect firm performance. Firms are often characterized by concentrated and dispersed ownership. Concentrated ownership is expected to have a positive impact on firm performance owning to the increased monitoring that it provides.                Dispersed ownership has been found to be less frequent than expected. Empirical evidence suggests that most firms are characterized by various forms of ownership concentration. Given this high level of ownership concentration, there has been an increasing concern over the protection of the rights of non-controlling shareholders (Johnson et al., 2000; Gugler and Weigand, 2003). Empirical evidence shows that ownership concentration at best results in poor performance. Concentrated ownership is costly and has the potential of promoting the exploitation of non-controlling shareholders by controlling shareholders (Grosfeld, 2006). Holmstrom and Tirole (1993) argue that concentrated ownership can contribute to poor liquidity, which can in turn negatively affect performance. In addition, high ownership concentration limits the ability of the firm to diversify (Demsetz and Lehn, 1985; Admati et al., 1994). There are various forms of concentrated ownership such as gov ernment ownership, family ownership, managerial ownership, institutional ownership and foreign ownership. In the next section, the literature review will focus on how these separate ownership structures affect firm performance. 2.1.1 Government Ownership                     The impact of government ownership on firm performance has attracted the attention of many researchers because the government accounts for the largest proportion of shares of listed companies in some countries and also because government ownership can be used as an instrument of intervention by the government (Kang and Kim, 2012). Shleifer and Vishny (1997) suggest that government ownership can contribute to poor firm performance because Government Owned enterprises often face political pressure for excessive employment. In addition, it is often difficult to monitor managers of government owned enterprises and there is often a lack of interest in carrying out business process reengineering (Shleifer and Vishny, 1996; Kang and Kim, 2012). Contrary to Shleifer and Vishny (1997) some economists have argued that government ownership can improve firm performance in less developed and emerging economies in particular. This is because government ownership c an facilitate the resolution of issues with respect to ambiguous property rights.                   The empirical evidence on the impact of state ownership on firm performance is mixed. For example, Xu and Wang (1999) provide evidence of a negative relationship between state ownership and firm performance based on data for Chinese listed firms over the period 1993-1995. The study, however, fails to find any link between the market-to-book ratio and state ownership (Xu and Wang, 1999). Sun and Tong (2003) employ ownership data from 1994 to 2000 and compares legal person ownership with government ownership. The study provides evidence that government ownership negatively affects firm performance while legal person ownership positively affects firm performance. This conclusion is based on the market-to-book ratio as the measure of firm performance.                   However, using return on sales or gross earnings as the measure of firm performance, the study provides evidence that government ownership has no effect on firm performance. Sun et al. (2002) provide contrary evidence from above. Using data over the period 1994-1997, Sun et al. (2002) provide evidence that both legal person ownership and government ownership had a positive effect on firm performance. They explain their results by suggesting that legal person ownership is another form of government ownership. The above studies treat the relationship between government ownership and firm performance as linear. However it has been argued that the relationship is not linear.                  Huang and Xiao (2012) provide evidence that government ownership has a negative net effect on performance in transition economies. La Porta et al. (2002) provide evidence across 92 countries that government ownership of banks contributes negatively to bank performance. The evidence is consistent with Dinc (2005) and Brown and Dinc (2005) who investigate government ownership banks in the U.S. 2.1.2 Family Ownership                  Family ownership is very common in oil firms in UAE. There is a difference between family ownership and other types of shareholders in that family owners tend to be more interested in the long-term survival of the firm than other types of shareholders(Arosa et al., 2010).. Furthermore, family owners tend to be more concerned about the firm’s reputation of the firm than other shareholders (Arosa et al., 2010). This is because damage to the firm’s reputation can also result in damage the family’s reputation. Many studies have investigated the relationship between family ownership and firm performance. They provide evidence of a positive relationship between family ownership and firm performance (e.g. Anderson and Reeb, 2003; Villalonga and Amit, 2006; Maury, 2006; Barontini and Caprio, 2006; Pindado et al., 2008).                   The positive relationship between family ownership and firm performance can be attributed to a number of factors. For example, Arosa et al. (2010) suggests that family firms’ long-term goals indicate that this category of firms desire investing over long horizons than other shareholders. In addition, because there is a significant relationship between the wealth of the family and the value of the family firm, family owners tend to have greater incentives to monitor managers (agents) than other shareholders (Anderson and Reeb, 2003). Furthermore, family owners would be more interested in offering incentives to managers that will make them loyal to the firm.                     In addition, there is a substantial long-term presence of families in family firms with strong intentions to preserve the name of the family. These family members are therefore more likely to forego short-term financial rewards so as to enable future generations take over the business and protect the family’s reputation (Wang, 2006). In addition, family ownership has positive economic consequences on the business. There are strong control structures that can motivate family members to communicate effectively with other shareholders and creditors using higher quality financial reporting with the resulting effect being a reduction in the cost of financing the business.                Furthermore, families are interested in the long-term survival of the firm and family, which reduces the opportunistic behavior of family members with regard to the distribution of earnings and allocation of management,.                   Despite the positive impact of family ownership on firm performance, it has been argued that family ownership promotes high ownership concentration, which in turn creates corporate governance problems. In addition, high ownership concentration results in other types of costs. As earlier mentioned, La Porta et al. (1999) and Vollalonga and Amit (2006) argue that controlling shareholders are likely to undertake activities that will give them gain unfair advantage over non-controlling shareholders. For example, family firms may be unwilling to pay dividends .                  Another reason why family ownership can have a negative impact on firm performance is that controlling family shareholders can easily favour their own interests at the expense of non-controlling shareholders by running the company as a family employment service. Under such circumstances, management positions will be limited to family members and extraordinary dividends will be paid to family shareholders. Agency costs may arise because of dividend payments and management entrenchment. Families may also have their own interests and concerns that may not be in line with the concerns and interests of other investor groups.                Schulze et al. (2001) provide a discussion, which suggests that the impact of family ownership on firm performance can be a function of the generation. For example, noting that agency costs often arise as a result of the separation of ownership from control, they argue that first generation family firms tend to have limited agency problems because the management and supervision decisions are made by the same individual. As such agency costs are reduced because the separation of ownership and control has been completely eliminated. Given that there is no separation of ownership and control in the first generation family firm, the firm relationship between family ownership and performance is likely to be positive (Miller and Le-Breton-Miller, 2006). As the firm enters second and third generations, the family property becomes shared by an increasingly large number of family members with diverse interests. The moment conflict of interests sets in the relationship between family ownership and performance turns negative in accordance to. Furthermore, agency problems arise from family relations because family members with control over the firm’s resources are more likely to be generous to their children and other relatives.                To summarize, the relationship between family ownership and firm performance may be non-linear. This means that the relationship is likely to be positive and negative at the same time. To support this contention, a number of studies have observed a non-linear relationship between family ownership and firm performance (e.g. Anderson and Reeb, 2003; Maury, 2006). This means that when ownership is less concentrated, family ownership is likely to have a positive impact on firm performance. As the family ownership concentration increases, minority shareholders tend to be exploited by family owners and thus the impact of family ownership on firm performance tends negative.                  Small countries have a relatively weak diamond of competitive advantages. D. Analysis 1.0 Potter’s Diamond Model                  The competitive forces advantages or analysis ought to be fixed on the main competition factors and its impact analysis on the business (Porter 1998, p.142). The state, and home wealth cannot be inherited -3554730607695Faktorski uvjeti 00Faktorski uvjeti -27546301293495Vezane i podrÃ… ¾avajuće industrije 00Vezane i podrÃ… ¾avajuće industrije -332041536195Ã…  ansa 00Ã…  ansa – it ought to be produced (Porter 1998, p.155). This wealth is influenced by the ability of industry to continually upgrade and innovate itself, and this is achievable exclusively by increase means in production – in all parts of fiscal action. The model of Porter concerns aspect which circuitously or openly affects advantage of competition. The aspect structure a place where given manufacturing sector like in this case, oil sector, state or region a learn and act on the way of competing in that environment. Left0 -3686175215392000Each diamond (oil) and the field of diamond (oil) as the whole structure consists of main influences that makes the oil sector competition to be successive. These influences entail: every ability and resource vital for competitive advantage of the sector; data forming the opportunity and providing the response to how accessible abilities and resources ought to be ruled; each interest group aim; and the is most crucial, oil sector pressure to innovating and investing. Swot analysis Strengths The oil sector has many years producing oil and so is well established. Comparatively lots of sub-sectors for industrialist stability and support. Weaknesses Comparatively out of date scientific foundation. 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The Man Who Loved Flowers

Thomas Mahoney 2-15-13 ENG 112 The Man Who Loved Flowers This story starts out in a very peaceful innocent setting, in New York City. There is a sense of love in the air, and the smell of spring. There is a man walking along the streets in a gray streets turning everyones attention because then can tell he is happy and in love. This story takes place in May of 1963 right before the summer starts. Stephen King is extremely descriptive in the story with the man's appearance; â€Å"He had that look about him.He was dressed in a light grey suit, the narrow tie pulled down a little, his top collar button undone. His hair was dark and cut short. His complexion was fair, his eyes a light blue. Not an extraordinary face, but on this soft spring evening, on this avenue, in May of 1963, he was beautiful†(King) The interesting thing about this story is how it seems so beautiful and peaceful, but draws a thin line with insanity.The first sense of something being wrong in the story is when the man goes to buy flowers, and there is a radio playing a news program talking about a hammer murder that was on the loose, but this is immediately dismissed because everything seems so perfect in the moment. As the man walks away he hesitates and touches something in his pocket, which foreshadows what could happen later in the story. â€Å"The young man passed the flower-stand and the sound of the bad news faded. He hesitated, looked over his shoulder, and thought it over.He reached into his coat pocket and touched the something in there again. For a moment his face seemed puzzled, lonely, almost haunted, and then, as his hand left the pocket, it regained its former expression of eager expectation. â€Å"(King) The imagery in this story is so beautiful and down to earth for almost the whole story, until it becomes dark and depressing at the end. King goes from writing about flowers, the beautiful spring weather, love being in the air, kids loving life and playing, to a hammer, blood everywhere, dark alleys, creepy vibes, and a presence of death.When the story turns from afternoon to night is when the man goes to visit Norma, the love of his life. This is when the story turns dark. They grow close together, and the closer they get, he realizes that the woman is not Norma, in fact, Norma had been dead for Ten years. He handed her the flowers though and she denied him and gave them back. She thanks him and begins to explains that she is not Norma, but he cuts her off mid sentence and whispers â€Å"Norma†(King)as he pulls the hammer out of his pocket. This gives an extremely creepy mood to the story abruptly. She backed away, her face a round white blur, her mouth an opening black 0 of terror, and she wasn't Norma, Norma was dead, she had been dead for ten years, and it didn't matter because she was going to scream and he swung the hammer to stop the scream, to kill the scream, and he swung the hammer the spill of flowers fell out of his hand, the sp ill spilled and broke open, spilling red, white, and yellow tea roses beside the dented trash cans where the cats made alien love in the dark, screaming in love, screaming, screaming. (King) King brings up how hard it is to love to the reader during this part of the story by being extremely descriptive and frightening. He shows how hard life is to move on once you're in love and then you lose the one love. This is one of the hardest things for people to deal with in life. The name of the character is revealed at the end of the story, King calls him â€Å"Love†. He presents the idea that love makes you do insane things that you would never do if you weren't in love, and it can take over you're personality and change your life.At this point in the story, King confuses the reader by making them realize how misleading the story was from the beginning. It gives a sense of the unknown to the reader and leaves them questioning how it went from being so positive to negative in a matt er of seconds. There are some small hints that he foreshadows in the beginning of the story but nothing too evident. â€Å"His own smile trembled a little, and he felt a moment's disquiet. Her face over the sailor blouse suddenly seemed blurred. It was getting darker now. . . could he have been mistaken?Surely not. It was Norma. â€Å"(King) It is a crazy and unexpected change of events when it goes from having the reader believe that it is a typical friendly man that is in love, and all the sudden the reader discovers he was the hammer murderer. That's what makes this a great story because it is so misleading at first. King is so creative in the way he makes you think when you are reading the story, he knows how to get inside the readers head and really make them think about the thin line between fear and love, and how easily that line is broken. None of it seemed real, none of it seemed to matter. The air was soft and sweet. Two men with beer bellies stood outside a bakery, pitc hing nickels and ribbing each other. Spring trembled on the edge of summer, and in the city, summer is the season of dreams. â€Å"(King) It would take a genius to predict that the man in the beginning of the story ended up being a killer at the end, it is hard to even believe. it makes you think that anyone you see walking on the street could be a killer like that, and you would never know.The fact that King doesn't provide the main character with a name further proves the point that and unsuspecting person could be a cold hearted killer. This is another reason King is such a great writer, he is so clever with the way he tells his stories and all of the minor details he provides. He creates a character that seems to be a typical everyday male that is in love with a girl, but underneath that he is a murderer. This brings me back the my thesis of how thin the line between love and insanity is.I love the way the mood suddenly switches and smoothly King makes the transition into a dar k frightening story. â€Å"His name was love, and he walked these dark streets because Norma was waiting for him. And he would find her. Some day soon. He began to smile. A bounce came into his step as he walked on down Seventy-third Street. A middle-aged married couple sitting on the steps of their building watched him go by, head cocked, eyes afar away, a half-smile on his lips. when he had passed by the woman said, ‘How come you never look that way any more?Huh? , ‘Nothing,' she said, but she watched the young man in the grey suit disappear into the gloom of the encroaching night and thought that if there was anything more beautiful than springtime, it was young love. â€Å"(King) This is a great way to end the story because it presents the reader with a sense of hope, and brings back the sense of beauty that started the story. King is a writer unlike any other, he makes the reader think in ways that make them question there own life.

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Foreign investment law and international trade law - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that study of Foreign Investment and International Trade Laws requires a thorough analysis of the global trade scenario that involves cross-border trades in goods and services, capital mobility, expropriation of property rights in host countries, labor standards and mobility, International monetary stability, and economic development. The positive effects of International Trade and foreign investment on economic growth as first pointed out by Smith are becoming more delicate due to lack of or inefficient conflict resolution mechanism at International forum and poor adaptability and assimilation of International legal principles in legal frameworks of host countries. Today, with the increasing globalization of world economy, International trade and foreign direct investment have grown dramatically. This has made Foreign investment law and International trade law more important as the subject of study and as a viable solution to counter the n egative impacts of free trade regime. A successful implementation of International trade laws generally depends upon the Foreign Investment Laws of different countries, as in some instances different countries frame their foreign investment laws in such a way that is against the principle of International Trade Laws. Though the purpose of such protectionist foreign investment laws is often to protect local trade, it results in a closed economy and deprives countries of opportunities of better growth prospects.... Until very recently, most scholars have opined that FDI is likely to be directed to sectors characterized by one or more of three features: (i) capital and/or knowledge intensity, (ii) product differentiation and (iii) th provision of services which are supportive of othr kinds of FDI, are information intensive, or are "branded" in some way or anothr. For much of th post-war period, th growth of FDI has been concentrated in thse sectors - notably oil, autos, electronics nd electrical equipment, office machinery, pharmaceuticals, packaged foods, banking nd finance, business consultancies nd trade-related services; nd, indeed, until th late 1999s, th share of th global sales of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in thse sectors accounted for by thir foreign affiliates continued to rise. It is, thus, understandable that countries which display dynamic comparative advantage in those activities are those which have recorded th largest rise in their inbound FDI (Kuemmerle, 2006). 2.2 Significance of trade nd investment to world economic growth Over the past 5 years, there have been several significant changes in th geographical distribution of FDI, both within developed nd developing countries, nd between them. It is worth noting that there are some leading developed nd developing economies which did not receive as much FDI as one might have expected. Japan is the most obvious example; as Porter (2000), it accounted for only 0.6% inflows into th developed countries in 1975-80 and 1.0% in 2000-2004. Of th larger European countries, Italy received only one-quarter th share of France in both periods, while some of th more populated newly industrial countries of Asia like Korea, Taiwan nd th Philippines, attracted only modest (though increasing) amounts of new

Business environmental and public policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business environmental and public policy - Essay Example The wrath of industry lobbyists and right wing media was sidelining the politicians of practical nature and who are capable of dealing with the situation as it demands. The narrow margin for Gore in 2000 election is due to his practical ideas on issues like Global Warming. The people who were not at all concerned about the environmental problems and the persons who pander people rather than addressing to their real future needs were in the power. This was the cause of negligence of public safety issues like Global Warming and drawing back in curbing it. As a result the curbing of Global Warming was remained as untouchable. Moreover the campaigners who were against the curbing of Global Warming were publicizing the fact that recently the ice layers in Antarctica did rise in their thickness. Though it was said to be true the warming will be done and the sea level will rise after the extra thick ice was melt. The people who are saying that fact are taking into consideration the details of Antarctica this year. There may be an opposite evidence for their argument if they take the records of thickness of ice for over 10 years of time at the same period of the year. The controversy is that some responsible scientists and politicians like Al Gore were in support of the argument that Global warming is true and the curbing will result in no considerable devastation of economy. But the only politician talking about the controversial issues and the correct measures to be taken was defeated and the right wing media a product of energy-industry lobbyists was making the right thinking politicians a mockery of them in the view of public. They fostered a careful campaign that the curbing of Global Warming will decrease the GDP and thus destroy the economy and so the Americans should not accept to it. But the reality conflicts with that argument. The economy will not be devastated as it was publicized by the media. The growth of GDP may be affected by just 0.2% in a span of 20 years but not as devastating as it was publicized by right wing media. Moreover, the Global Warming is at alarming level that after some time it may become irreversible. By now it was felt by a Science Magazine that the curbing of Global Warming is like eradicating the Small pox from the earth. By this comparison every body can understand that at the stage reached by Global Warming just by negligence due to the lobbying of industry circles against cubing it. One can wonder why the politicians or Industrialists were against the curbing of norms. The reason may be that the norms for curbing the Global Warming will make Industrialists cut their profits and discard some new technology on which they have spent more and there were no substantial returns yet. This may leave them scared as they have to resort to older methods by facing loss in adopted new technology. The Machinery now used might find necessity to be replaced. When this happens generally the heavy industry that makes machines will flourish and there is a chance of curbing the fall in GDP growth which was predicted by the protesters of curbing methods of Global Warming. But it makes some leading industrialists to spend on new machinery and infrastructure, which is difficult to them in their terms of profit. The

How advertisement effects peoples lives Essay Example for Free

How advertisement effects peoples lives Essay As Americans we are exposed to advertisements everyday. People are pressured from every direction by advertisements which exploit their deepest fears, attractions, needs, and desires, shaping their behaviors, goals, and thoughts. They are led into believing false information and promises that are mostly never kept, all for the simple reason of selling the product and making profit. We see advertisements everywherein magazines and newspapers, on the radio, on TV, online, in the mail, even over the phone. These advertisements use the basic ideas of either providing an elite status with the possession of the product, or giving a sense of belonging to a group or community. Since the recent military activity in Iraq and Afghanistan, another ever present idea has been made prominent and that is using patriotism to evoke peoples desires. Americans are persuaded into buying unnecessary items everyday; however, we need to realize that no matter what advertisements say we should purchase items for their usefulness, not to fill voids in our lives, so we can help eliminate the problem we face today of being a materialistic society. The patriotic theme affecting peoples hearts, minds and senses, is commonly used to manipulate them into buying things. Since everyone has love for their country, using it to sell products is a brilliant idea, but I believe this is a bad practice. It makes people believe they are not ideal Americans, nor are they similar to the people around them if they do not buy that product. The Palmolive advertisement, in Seeing and Writing 2, is a key example, it appeals to the wives of the men at war in World War II (417). On the top of this advertisement there are three medals which contain picture of three different men in their uniforms and the words For Him appear next to each picture. In the lower part of the advertisement there is a woman looking up at these medals and above her head are the words, I pledge myself to guard every bit of Beauty that he cherishes in me, and finally in the background there are several faces of women also looking towards the medals. This advertisement is basically communicating to the wives the idea of guarding their beauty, by using this soap, just like their husbands are guarding their country. The ironic fact is that soap cannot make someone beautiful, nor do people lose their beauty if they do not use the correct brand of soap. This advertisement is connecting a heroic and patriotic act  to one used for mere beauty, in order to sell the soap. The Palmolive advertisement was run in 1943, but a more current advertisement which uses similar attributes is Chevrolet and its slogan for its recent line of cars, An American Revolution. This slogan is always placed on a blue sky background and the writing is in bold white letters, except for the E in Revolution, this letter is written in red ink. So when you come across this slogan, not only does the slogan sound patriotic to you, it also appears to be patriotic because it incorporates the red, the white and the blue. This phrase says to its audience that every American is buying and driving a Chevy car and so should they. Another detail that could be interpreted out of this advertisement is that since the U.S. is currently at war and fighting a revolution against terrorism, a person living in the U.S. can participate in this patriotic revolution by purchasing a Chevrolet. This would be true only if Chevrolet was funding the war, instead of the US government. Along with this, another advertisement that exploits this concept was the Netzero advertisement run during the time before the elections. In this advertisement the spokesman was running for President under the alias of Candidate Zero. His main goal was to provide cheaper and faster internet to every family and household. In order to get peoples attention, this clever idea was used, and it certainly worked on people like me. Viewers could also connect the advertisement with the actual presidential race and that way the product of the advertisement was stuck in their conscious awareness. The whole patriotic theme is strange because the connection between patriotism and the product does not make the product function better, so why do we feel obligated to pay attention to the advertisement and even purchase that product. Along with patriotism another concept used widely is the elitism the product brings to people with its possession. As Jack Solomon wrote in his essay Masters of Desire, We Americans dream of rising about the crowd, of attaining a social summit beyond the reach of ordinary citizens (1). He is basically saying that Americans want to be better then the people around  them and this belief is what marketers feast on, creating status symbols like Rolex, Mercedes, BMW, etc. One advertisement that crosses my mind in terms of using elitism would be the new U2 iPod Special Edition advertisement. This promotes an iPod with a black cover and laser engraved signatures of the U2 band members; everything else is similar to a regular iPod; whereas, the price is $50 more. People are led into believing that the U2 iPod is better than the regular one only because it is endorsed by U2. Another ironic detail is that a normal iPod itself is a product of elitism, because even though it has similar functions to a Sony or any other MP3 player, it costs $100 more only because it comes with the signature white headphones. These headphones, unique only because an iPod come equipped with them, have made themselves and the iPod a status symbol. Most people only buy an iPod because they want the headphones to show the illusion of superiority and uniqueness. Solomon says, The explanation is quite simple: when an object (or puppy!) either costs a lot of money or requires influential connections to possess, anyone who possesses it must also possess the necessary means of influence to acquire it (3). This explains why the white headphones have made the iPod a status symbol, since its shows possession of an expensive item, even though rationally speaking the color of the headphones does not make the iPod function better, they only make it different. Solomon also talks about another part of the American Dream, in which belonging to a group is important. The Chevrolet slogan connects us to the entire American population; the iPod connects us to other owners of an iPod, and so on. We need a sense of connection and belonging, fulfilling our need for attention and affection. Abraham Maslow, a founder of humanistic psychology, created a triangle in which he placed a persons needs in the order they needed to be fulfilled and the need for love and belonging was the third basic need. Disillusioned by the advertisements, people try to fulfill this need by buying the products. This proves that using this theme advertisers are able to affect the person on much deeper levels then recognizable, yet by no means does the product itself become more useful. It is understandable that advertisers need to appeal to people in order to  sell their product and that is why they use these tactics, but what is not understandable is while knowing the truth people believe the hoaxes and let advertisements dictate what they are going to buy. People need to realize that products should not be used to fulfill our weaknesses; they should be consumed based on our needs, because companies will keep manufacturing status symbols until we accept that products and items are only materialistic and we can never attain all the luxury items around us. We are scammed into buying false promises everyday, after we realize that we have a choice against it, we can choose not to let advertisements or minor details about the product like the endorsements, or the color of headphones, or the catchy slogan persuade us into buying a certain item.

An environment analysis for Apple Inc

An environment analysis for Apple Inc Apple consists of significant resources and considerable potential in the business world. Even though it consists of such capabilities there occur various trends in the general environment that causes the threats which pull down the progress and success of the firm. These threats can be marginalised only with the help of appropriate planning and suitable action which concentrates more on the value added core competencies in the business. This may lead the company to produce valuable products and services leads to a mounting opportunity for the shareholders and customers. Economic Environment Booming Global Economy On revising the past years of global economy the world has attained the complete progress from recession in recent years. This uncertainty makes people looming of the money. This makes people to depart from the quality to less expensive products. The Apple known for its brand, quality, Innovative technology and luxury has mislaid due to its supreme pricing position paves the way for its competitors the producers of less expensive products. However the consumers attracted more towards the valuable Apples premium products during the economic upturn than its low pricing competitors. Chinese Economy: Recent growth in Chinese economy catches the attention of several companies to sell their products in china. Due to the growth of the Increasing economy proportionally there is also increase in the labour wages. This may results the buying power which makes people to draw more attention towards the Innovative products such as Apple i phone and i pad. Political Environment Potential world-wide climate regulation One among the serious threat to the potential environment is the global warming. Several steps have been implemented in reducing the global warming. The Copenhagen conference has been suggested norms to the companies for the low co2 emission products which may lead to strictly controlled environment. Thus in order to manufacture the less emission the Apple must transmits its products. Suppliers of the apple should have the provision to produce the low emission products or it has to switch to the other suppliers. This may lead to higher switching costs between the suppliers and bring changes to the margin of the products when the manufacturing costs getting higher. Import taxes and duties China poses superior government policies and low manufacturing costs in order to attract the more investors. These factors made Apple to manufacture its products in the various parts of the China. Even though Apple manufacturing lies in china the good market is positioned only in the countries like United States and the parts of Europe even though it has to offer more import duties. According to the current tax report produced by the Apple it pays around 32% of rate of tax in the year 2010. Socio cultural Environment Increasing desire for Wireless devices Apple plays at the front position of the wireless transition. As there is a remarkable increase in the value of the Internet and the wireless connectivity creates a powerful demand comparatively to the other devices. This is due to its portability and accessibility everywhere makes these rapid speed wireless technologies valuable. The devices such as the portable includes the Smart phones and the tablet computers wireless-connected devices allows its user to perform several operation by the use of internet in the constant and secured manner as wherever they go. As these devices is highly received by the people than the traditional computers such as PC or laptops. This technology has been developed widespread by Apple and its competitive manufacturers such as Google. This technology has been faced al lot of relevance as all these manufacturers focussed on the consumers preference. Among them the Apple differs by its Innovative technology according to the recent technological landscape . Apple spends its extensive investment in the field of research and innovative development for the creation of highly well-liked devices such as the iPhone and i-Pad. . Technological Environment The world has been going behind the analogue music system Apple made a revolution through its innovation of iPod. This made a impulsive progress in the revenue of the Apple. Due its consecutive pioneering researches resulted in the creation of iPhone. Even though the Apple is younger in the mobile phone industry comparing the Giants like Nokia, HTC and Blackberry it poses a radical technology. To withstands its market Apple has been spend 3.1 % of its net sales i.e. almost $ 1,333 million for the Research and Development (apple). The worlds ongoing mobile technology is landed in 3G manufacturing technology. But Apple is been ahead of them by launching its 4G due to the supremacy of the Apples RD. This makes the Apple withstand as a leader in its high innovation and portability. Competitive Environment Analysis Rivalry between Competitors Technological growth has put forth the electronic industry ahead as it leads to lot of manufacturers. Due the entry of electronic industry in everyday life the PCs, mobile phones and laptops has become a commodity product into the peoples life. Most users prefer the business cost than that of the performance of the devices. This may resulted in the various levels of provider strategies. The providers who provides at low price may not be able to satisfy the users with the best features. Whereas the providers such as Hp, Dell, Samsung and Sony Ericson offers the customers a wide range of options for the varying prices. Apple differs from those of the Providers as they provide a High Quality and High Cost products but without the diverse models. For example Apple consists of Single model iPhone varying only in its memory and its cost whereas the Samsung may vary its product options from the variable technology by varying its costs from 4Â £-400Â £. Supplier Power Suppliers are those who pose the entire control in manufacturing of computers as Apples Mac book or the mobile phones. Apple Suppliers also embark on the special responsibility for producing the best inputs which is the most challenging for its competitors. In the computer manufacturing industry Intel and Advanced Micro devices (AMD) are the two suppliers of the processors. Both of the chips have their own unified motherboard. They are incompatible with one another as they cannot be swapped with the other parts of the device. If Apple has to switch their processor it is also essential to modify their motherboards too resulting in high switching costs. This may results in high supplier power as the company has to rely on them. Buyer Power Almost all the industry consists of buyers who have high influence on thier manufacturers. Each buyer has their own choice of the product needs. This leads the company to launch the wide variety of products into the market. Thus power of the buyers has influences on the bargaining in the Quality, Price, and the Service. Apple exclusive products such as IMac and IBook are unique from its competitors in features of higly technological operation system, innovative functionality and brand value attracts the customers by avoiding them to switch to its competitors. Even though it has attracted the customers through its functionality there arose a chance to switch to its competitors if there is no product differentiation. Threat of new entrants Every business has own threat of new entrants. The field of Computer market have the highest possibility of new entrants. The portable pcs market is widespread effortlessly paves the way for the new entrants. Despite the possibilities it also consists of several hindrances from its successful entrants. Apple have been deep rooted in field of computers and mobile products by its substantial recognition, own innovative technology and royalty among the other manufacturers. It has been a high challenging to the entrants in order to make its brand successful and stable in the competitive market. Apple maintains their price of the products based on the economies of scale which is not possible by the new entrants without the huge investment. Even though it has the high possibilities of hindrances to entry it consists of some successful possibilities of entry which can be listed as follows. 1. There is a chance of suppliers to enter the field of manufacturing 2. A well established giants of some other field of computer can also deep routed in this field as they have a well established familiarisation in the market. Threat of substitutes Recent Development of the technology makes the computing products handy. As every features and functionality of the computers has been substitute by the tablet pcs or smart phones. Time has changed where the users rely on the stable pc but now it has been grown substantially the computers are back behind the users and posses wide variety of application than pcs by means of wireless internet technology. This occurs in the case of Apple as due to the entry of the Smart phones the buyers of Mac pc are apparently reduced. Thus these show the change for substitutes of the consumers. Considerably Apple has been analysed all these cases and introduced the iPhone and iPad to satisfy its consumers who are in search of substitutes to a new technology. Value added core competencies Value added core competencies of Apple includes its highly Innovative ideas, featured design, well known brand, and critical creativity as all these united to make the company a most competitive advantage among its competitors. Thus Apple has almost set all these strategies to the company in order to withstand its high position in the competitive market. Risks of the apple have been initiated with its supplier and foreign factories. Apple has its own guidelines for its suppliers in manufacturing its product they dont have the direct control of their suppliers. The suppliers derived their profits based on the high volume low margin. Thus in order to increase the profit the suppliers produces the goods by low quality raw materials. As a result of this the quality of the Apple products has been diminished. Thus in order to rectify these defects Apple have been undergone the mutual understanding of its suppliers to retain its quality Administration Eco- Friendly Apple Apple has always been intense on the environment factors in its manufacturing. Apple has been taken several steps to avoid the usage of harmful chemicals in manufacturing of its product. Shipment of the products plays a vital role in emitting combustion during its transportation. Thus in order to reduce the emission of Co2 Apple considers the portable packaging result in the less transportation and less combustion. Strong cash position Apple has less long term debits and run its business efficiently without the financial intervention by means of its own cash. The financial status of Apple helps its business to run efficiently as it may not depend on any of the creditors in terms of the decision making such as the financial capital purchases, decision on expansion. Human resource management Hiring process Apple recruits its employee by means of Selective hiring. It highly picks up the persons based on their innovative skills and high creative skills rather than by recruiting process. It focuses more on the well experienced professionals and innovative freshers rather by trainees. Employ benefits and appraisals Apple places a leading role in motivating its employees by means of high benefits and appraisals. It possesses a high role in the employee satisfaction. The benefitted employees provide full support and dedication to the company by means of their highly innovative ideas. Technological Development Research and Development Apple believes the research and development is one of the key factors of the success of its organisation. As it believes analysis on various factors determines the current requirement of the product have been pushed towards the new innovative product which paves a way for non competitive industry. It has been estimated that Apple spends around $1.3 million for its research and development. Procurement Relationship with suppliers Apple has maintained the good relationship with its suppliers. As it manufacturing its product based on the low cost and high quality. Despite it sets the high marginal cost for its product whereas in turn it spends its profit for the research and development. It also concurrently updates about its new technology to its suppliers by means of short courses and practical classes. Inbound Logistics Apple maintains a highly automated system for placing goods. The stock has been ordered to its suppliers in JIT process i.e. Just in Time when there is an reduction of the stocks it will be ordered automatically to its suppliers this may helps in avoiding the overstocks. Thus it hoard the cost spend for the stock management system. Operations Design of the product is been implemented by the Apple and hence it outsources its production to several factories in china by implementing its design. This may results in the reduction of risk factors as it is apart from its firm. Thus it modifies its management and Economy scale according to its outsourcing. Outbound Logistics Apple has its production department in china whereas the goods have been transferred to various countries from china rather than bringing to US the head office of the Apple. This may leads to the reduction of shipment cost and the warehousing cost. Marketing and Sales Apple uses the television advertisements as their marketing strategy by comparing its features and functionality of the product towards its competitive products. It also brings its own marketing strategy by means of the customer attraction towards the product. Apple discloses the new launch of the product which in turn acts as an indirect marketing which pulls the customers to know about its launched products. Service Apple genius is a person acts as a tech assistant in considering the consumers problem and rectify them. Apple provides a extended warranty to their customers within 90 days of product shipment also poses an opportunity of replacement within the given time. Limitations Recommendations Conclusions Value chain analysis Recommendation 1. licencing of MAC software to other PC makers 2. Increase entertainment diet so that the acceptance of the apple product more among the customers 3. increase retail presence in developing economies 4. increase customer service capabilities 1. even though apple spending ore rD nw it has design related antenna proble in iphone 4

Character Analysis Of Annie Hall Movie Film Studies Essay

Character Analysis Of Annie Hall Movie Film Studies Essay Overview of the movie Annie Hall is a classic romantic comedy in American which explores the nature of sexual relationships. The movie is focus on the relationship between two main characters Alvy Singer and Annie Hall. They had gone thought happiness and tears over years. However, due to their different personality and view of life, they finally break-up and lived their own lives with other partners They live, they love, and they screw up. About Alvy Alvy has described his life as unhappiness, suffering and full of loneliness at the beginning of the movie, and he was obsessed with deaths. Seemly, he was pessimistic. He only saw the worst side of people and all the things are negative in his eye, this feature point out his hostile characteristic. He cannot trust people and develop judgments based on his own perception and value. When Alvy was young, his living environment was detrimental. For example, when he was nine, he read a book talking about the universe is expanding and will one day explode; he was criticized as a child of acing on early sexual impulses of kissing a female classmate; he suffered from shadow of being a Jewish and narcissist. These experiences had affected the development of his personalities of becoming pessimistic, self-loathing and inner anxiety. Alvy belongs to Neuroticism, according to the Big Five model of personality types developed by Costa McCrae. He shows depression, hostility, anxiety, and impulsiveness. His emotional is always changing over the time and unstable. About Annie In direct contrast, Annie is an aspiring singer from the Midwest, with a flighty personality, insecure streak, eclectic wardrobe, who uses words like la-dee-da, Grammy, and neat. she provides much of the positive attitude in contrast with Alvys negative. Relationship between Alvy and Annie Before Annie, Alvy had two failed marriages. The story had no provided clear explanation of why he failed these two relationships, but we can still make a guess based on the story plot. It might because of Alvys Neuroticism characteristic and different expectations on each other. Alvy and Annie were sweet and passionate at the beginning of theirs relationship. They had sex frequently that could possibly get a Guinness record, which is a joke from Alvy. However, time made it different now. They gradually had sexual problem leading Alvy thought that Annie did not make love with him wholeheartedly, however, Annie insisted that there was just a proceeding to another stage of their relationship. Other than their sexual problem, Alvy and Annie were holding very different views towards lives. Annie thought Alvy did not try to understand her and was too self-central. For instance, when Annie had a bad mood due to overslept, Alvy just thought that she was angry since she was in a period. Annie said he was too selfish to improve himself depend on her, since Alvy of thought she was not smart enough and lack of education. Moreover, Alvy did not like marriage and commitment, which made Annie mad and reconsider about their relationship, Did Alvy really love her? But, we can understand that Alvy express his love in own special ways. Their difference had caused their relationship become problematic. Application of Psychological Theories for Relationship Love, always is the abstract feeling and complex emotion of human beings. Therefore, psychologists tried to develop some scientific approaches to let people know more about it. In the following paragraph, I would to use three psychological theories to analyze the relationship between Alvy and Annie. There are the 1) Love triangle theory, 2) Attachment theory, and 3) Love style theory. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã†â€™ Love Triangle Theory and its Application The theory was developed by Robert Sternberg, and which suggests that a relationship develops by three components and A perfect love should be consisted of all of them. The three components are 1) passion, 2) commitment, and 3) intimacy. Passion Passion is a very strong subjective feeling that about a persons. It is an intense emotion pressing feeling, enthusiasm, and the desire for something. Passion including the emotion those lead to romance, physical attraction, and sexual consummation. Usually in a relationship, the passion is very strong at the beginning. This explains why some couples have sex more frequently at beginning but then decline by time. Passion might fade out if the relationship is not maintained well. In the movie, we can see Alvy showed his passion thought had sex with all his partners among all three relationships. Because they were sexually and physically attractive to each other. Looking at the relationship with Annie, Alvy said that they had frequently sex at the early stage of the relationship but then decrease and created sexual problem. This is the normal phenomenon told by this theory that passion is usually stronger at the beginning and then become weaker over times. This is what we saw on their sexual problem, and a proceeding to another stage of their relationship said by Annie. Commitment Commitment is a promise, the intention that how much people want to stay in the relationship. In the short term, it refers the decision to remain with another; and in the long term, the shared plans and achievements made with that other. For example, a man loves his girlfriend seriously and wants to live with her for the rest of life. He could make the long term commitment to marry her. Before Annie, Alvy had marriages twice. Getting marriage is considered as a kind of long term commitment. Although the marriages Alvy had were failed, we can know that Alvy is kind of person who willing to make promise, at least to his personal level. Annie thought that Alvy did not like marriages and making long term commitment with her. This might because of their expectations is different with each other. To Alvy, he had already had two unsuccessful marriages, and he may not want to get into marriage and being hurt again. Alvy was messed up when Annie tried to move into his apartment, and he did not agree that having a relationship meaning to living together. His view toward love was very different with Annies, and which to her living together indeed commitment is. However, we can still see the intention of Alvy that how much he wanted to be with Annie. He let Annie to live with him when their relationship just started. He displayed a short term commitment that wanted to remain Annie by letting her in. But he failed to make long term commitment with Annie and which about consider the future of their relationship. For example, Alvy flew to California and tried to gain Annie back to stay with him in New York, but that was not viewed as long term commitment or expression of love to Annie, because Alvy did not making any promise for their future plans like marriage with Annie. Intimacy This is constructed by two elements, 1) the overlapping self-concept and 2) interdependence behavior in the relationship. Self-concepts: This is about how people perceive who they are. Those may include dreams, goals and aspirations in life. In explain the Overlapping self-concept, there is about when two people come together and find their common grounds, and willing to share their similar lives. Interdependence behavior: These are interdependent relation to overlapping self-concept. In a relationship, people expect they can depend on their partner to attain certain targets together. This is the process that request give-and-take action in order to achieve common goal. They are the relation expect their future lives are rely on their partner, and trust and understanding is important. In the movie, Alvy failed to display intimacy for his love. Alvy and Annie had different view and expectations toward their own and lives. They both have their self-concept and did not overlapping with each other. For example, Annie loved California and wanted to live there, but Alvy hate there and insisted that he only wanted to stay in New York. Since Alvy is self-central, he unwilling to give way to Annie and try to solve the conflict between them, this restricted Annie willingness to stay with Alvy because she could not find a common ground with him. Without overlapping self-concepts in their relationship, it is difficult to perform interdependence behaviors because they did not try to perform give-and- take action and fully trust on each other. Eventually, this is explained that Alvy and Annie are unable to depend on each other and live together for life long. Hence, Alvy showed his intention to stay with Annie and remain her. But he did not involved serious thinking about their future. When Annie thought there was no long term commitment and no intimacy in their relationship, their love is just take court of Infatuated Love. They are just physically and sexually attractive to each other but did not overlapping self concept with their partner. Imperfect relationship made their passion gradually faded out over time; eventually their love had gone reasonably. Attachment Theory and its Application Attachment style is likely to exert a very pervasive influence on the individuals relationship with others, because it reflects general views about the rewards and dangers of interpersonal relationships. There are four types of attachment styles, and divided into secure and the insecure type. In this movie, we discover insecure type of Fearful-avoidant attachment appears on Alvy. Fearful-avoidant attachment (Low self-esteem, Interpersonal Mistrust) Fearful-avoidant people view negatively to themselves and also the partners. They are afraid of getting close with others in order to avoid rejection or being hurt. The reasons behind is because they unwilling trust others or to depend on them. They are often hostile and dont realize when they are getting angry. Also, they tend to have problems getting along with others, are often jealous, and tend to use alcohol to reduce anxiety in social situations. According to the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology written by Patricia Noller and Judith Feeney, they mentioned that Avoidant attachment holders had a comparatively less satisfying and intimate relationship. This was what we saw on Alvy. As we know that Alvy did not trust and rely on others. He was self-loafing characteristic and always tried to keep distant from others. Obliviously, Alvy belong to fearful-avoidant attachment style. They are kind of people that fear of being hurt, since Alvy had failed in marriages twice, he avoided getting too close with people, but desired a close intimate relationship at the same time Therefore, Alvy displayed sort of distance from Annie when he with her. He argued about Annie movie into his apartment, and claiming that having a relationship not meaning to live together. On the other side, he desired to get closer with her. He asked Annie to take some adult education courses in University for improve herself. While Annie went out to have a meeting with the University professor, Alvy distrust Annie and spied her. Because of he was hostile and thought there were affair between Annie and the professor. Alvy viewed all things negatively, and unwilling to trust people, including the one he love. This Fearful-avoidant attachment character on Alvy had affected his relationship with others and also unable to develop true love relationship with Annie. Compare with other attachment holders, they might experience less the Candy of love because they avoided intimacy with others, and did not trust with wholehearted. Love Styles and its Application This style was developed by John Lee and which suggests that there are six love style displayed by human beings. The six love styles are: Ludus, Storge, Eros, Pagma, Mania, and Agape. Each love style is developed by peoples personalities and leads to various acts in the relationship. Ludus and Storge are the love styles that we saw on Alvy. Ludus Ludus is a game of playing love. They strive to fulfill their needs of Entertainment and Excitement in love. They are enjoying to having sexual excitements with different partners. For them, love is not to be taken too seriously and emotions should be kept in check .Researchers have found that ludic lovers are linked to sexual aggression. Psychologists pointed out that Avoidant attachment holder would more likely perform Ludus love style. Seemly, we can see Alvy perform in this way. He met and also had sex with different women after broke- up with Annie. Alvy might just fulfill the sexual excitement with those unfamiliar women, and even did not consider there are love existed between them, because his heart still belonged to Annie. When Annie called him, he decided to cheat to her that he saying he was alone and rush to Annie immediately by left his temporary partner on the bed. Storge Storge love lacks passion and intensity. This style of love usually begins relationship out of friendship, which eventually develops into feelings of romantic love and intimacy. They are still able to be friends after separated. Sex is viewing as bonus to them, but not the usual way to express their love. For them, commitment is the bonding that linking them together, thus, it is more important. Viewing the Alvy and Annies relationship, they had the Storge love style. They felt interested in each other after they first met in tennis court. They build their relationship from friend to lover, They talked, dated and finally fell in love.Although their relationship becomes problematic, they were still important to each other. For example, one night that Annie found two spiders in her bathroom, Alvy ran to her in the early morning and help her kill that two big spiders, even they were broke-up already at that moment. To Alvy, Annie always was the special one that made him changes, although that he was still self-central. Conclusion The Neuroticism personality and Fearful-avoidant attachment style of Alvy was the main factor leading to the breakage of the relationship. Alvy brought his own value into the relationship, making all things negative. Also, he did not trust and kept distant from others and self-central. All these behaviors caused Annie could not stand him anymore and leading their relationship to disappointed result. Alvy was not able to develop commitment and intimacy with his partners and taste the Candy of perfect love eventually. Although Alvy and Annie broke-up finally, they were still building a relationship in term of friend. From the movie, we can understand that Alvy love Annie very much and wanted to gain her back. He wrote a play at the end of the movie, with the same conversation that they had in California, but different ending with Alvy successfully gaining Annie back. Alvy was hoping that one day Annie would understand his love. In my opinion, the movie was quite sad because it was not with a happy ending. However, it did a good job in deliver message about the self reflection in love and that We should treasure the love you got! (Word Count: 2652)