Fast Food Franchises Pakistan Essay

A survey was conducted amongst several people from different categories of the society to determine the conclusion of this report’s research. Also, certain threats to western fast food franchise were discussed. In this report we covered McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut as the main western franchise restaurants, with a few references to the Subway chain. 2. Introduction 2. 1. WHAT IS A FRANCHISE? A franchise is defined as a legal and commercial relationship between the owner of a trademark, service mark, trade name, or advertising symbol and an individual or group wishing to use that identification in a business. Each franchise business has been authorized by a parent company, or franchisor, to sell their goods or services either in a retail space or a designated geographical location. The franchise administers the method of conducting business between the two parties. Generally, a franchisee sells goods or services supplied by the franchisor or that meet the franchisor’s quality standards. The franchisee has the rights to market the product or service using the operating methods of the franchisor. The franchisee has the obligation to pay the franchisor certain fees and royalties in exchange for these rights. The franchisor has the obligation to provide these rights and generally support the franchisee. In this sense, franchising is not a business or an industry, but a method used by businesses for the marketing and distribution of their products or services. Both franchisor and franchisee have a strong vested interest in the success of the brand and keeping their customers happy. 2. 2. WHAT IS FAST FOOD? Fast food is any food that is quick, convenient, and usually inexpensive. It is a type of food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-away. Fast food can be bought just about anywhere that sells food and snacks. Street vendors and drive-thru restaurants are probably the most common places to find fast food. It’s so popular because for a cheap price you can usually get a meal that’s satisfying. But fast food is inexpensive because it is usually made with cheaper ingredients such as high fat meat and foods that contain lots of unhealthy fats (saturated and trans-fats) and cholesterol, instead of nutritious foods such as lean meats, fresh fruits, and vegetables. Fast food in Pakistan is available almost anywhere, and the franchising of international fast food brands has created a new and successful market. 1 2. 3. WESTERN FAST FOOD CHAINS IN PAKISTAN Globalization has made our world a smaller place. Cultural exchange has exposed our society to foreign ideas and foreign foods have entered our country. The following is an introduction of the three most famous western franchises in Pakistan: 2. 4. McDonalds [pic] McDonalds first opened its store in Pakistan in September 1998. Since then, they have opened seventeen new stores throughout Pakistan. Today, millions of Pakistanis place their trust in McDonald’s everyday to provide them with food of a very high quality as well as good service. In the past five years, the response to McDonalds coming from Pakistanis has been overwhelming. Currently, Lakson Group Companies has taken over McDonalds Corporation, USA and a local partner making it a 100% owned and operated Pakistani company. The first set of golden arches began shining back in September 1998 in the city of Lahore. The opening was met with great excitement, and about a week later the McDonalds in Karachi opened. As of 2005, there were 18 restaurants in Pakistan: 7 in Karachi, 1 in Hyderabad, 9 in Lahore, and 1 in Faisalabad. [1] 2. 5. KFC [pic] In Pakistan KFC was franchised by Artal Restaurants International in 1997. it was a Belgium based business group. KFC opened its first restaurant in Pakistan in 1997 at Nipa Chorangi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi. KFC opened its first restaurant in Lahore, in June 1997, which was third in Pakistan. Today, KFC has more than 43 restaurants in Pakistan. The market is ripe for many more restaurants and the investors are keen to invest. In 2001, KFC franchise was taken over by Gray Mackenzie Restaurants International. Currently KFC in Pakistan is owned by a Dubai based company Cupola which is the world’s largest restaurant system with over 32,500 restaurants in more than 100 countries and territories. KFC is in a phase of growth and is expanding rapidly. The quality of their product is convincing the customers not to shift to any other brand. KFC has won several awards for there good food quality, customer relationship and for providing means of income for the masses of the country. The company is presently a giant in the fried chicken industry as there competitors are far behind. Presently they are trying to innovate there products for the ease of the customers, and they are also focusing on providing there customers with more healthy food. KFC is expected to dominate the huge local market of fast food restaurants in the Pakistan and provide high quality and healthier food to their customers. KFC has a huge scope of progressing further and has lots of opportunities in local market. KFC is expected to have more than 100 branches all over Pakistan in the near future. [2] 2. 6. PIZZA HUT [pic] When it was initially opened in Pakistan, over 10 years ago in December 1993, Pizza Hut got a very good response by the Pakistani consumer base. Pizza Hut–Pakistan is working under a franchise agreement between MCR (Private) Limited and TRICON Restaurants International (Former Pepsi Co restaurant International). Pizza Hut Pakistan reports to TRICON (India) & TRICON Singapore simultaneously. Pizza Hut opened its first outlet in Clifton Karachi and the people of Pakistan welcomed them with open arms. As most restaurants do, Pizza Hut did not face the problem of taste development because it introduced some of the local taste in their Pizzas, like Chicken Tikka Pizza, Masala Pizza and Chappli Kebab Pizza. Currently, Pizza Hut has 14 outlets in all over Pakistan and it still aiming to further expand. It is the market leader in the pizza market within Pakistan. [3] 3. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT The establishment of western franchise fast food chains in Pakistan has affected the business activities to some extent. They have also developed new tastes for our society and lifestyles. Here are a few aspects of how McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut have contributed in our economy and social lives. 3. 1. [pic] †¢ McDonald’s in Pakistan is currently employing about 1,000 Pakistanis and each store is managed by Pakistani managers. †¢ McDonalds has investment of over Rs 300 crore in the country and payment of taxes and duties amounting to more than Rs 100 crore. †¢ Since McDonalds is doing so well in Pakistan they will continue to grow and add more stores in more cities in the future. †¢ The managers working for Lakson, reportedly monthly to the McDonalds headquarter located in Illinois. In the eighteen restaurant located in Pakistan all of the employees, managers as well as those working for Lakson are of Pakistani descent. †¢ Since McDonald’s first opened in Pakistan back in September of 1998 they have been able to add things to their menu that cater to the needs of the Pakistani’s culture. Almost all the people of Pakistan practice Islam. The Islamic dietary laws are called Halal. Halal is also the term for permitted foods. Prohibited foods as described in the Quran are called Haram. Some of these foods include pork and birds of prey, alcohol is also prohibited and stimulants, such as coffee and tea, are avoided by the most devout. There are also guidelines on how meat must be slaughtered. McDonalds has tried to work with this by offering menu choices such as the McArabia that are acceptable for Muslims. In Muslim countries all of McDonald’s meat is slaughtered and prepared according to Islamic Halal standards. Not that long ago McDonalds change their burgers, cookies, and hamburger buns so they do not contain any lard, making more acceptable to more people in Pakistan. †¢ They also keep the classics on the menu. They do offer what they call a McArabia, which is chicken on flatbread with a special sauce and they also offer many of the originals such as the Big Mac and hamburger with chicken. So while McDonalds has modified their menu to include some local favorites they have also kept the infamous burgers and meals. †¢ As does the McDonalds in the United States, the McDonald’s in Pakistan also caters to the children of the community. They offer four types of happy meals, which of course include a toy. Currently with the purchase of a happy meal the kids get a Kung Fu Panda Movie toy. †¢ Another exciting fixation that McDonald’s Pakistan is doing is they are now offering their McDelivery service free of charge. This delivery service will deliver all menu items to customers with order of RS 150 or more. Since this service is relatively new it is only offered at two stores at this time. They include Karachi and Lahore, but other locations will be added to this list soon. †¢ Just like the McDonalds in the United States they also hold birthday parties at McDonald’s in Pakistan. They even offer birthday packages with food and surprises for the kids. †¢ McDonalds has also become involved in the Pakistani community by taking part in local projects and charities. As stated in their vision McDonalds is firmly committed to giving back to the communities they operate in. They take part by giving money they receive in stores every month to Darul Skoon (orphan house). †¢ When McDonalds opened its first store in Pakistan the drive through lines were seven kilometers long. With lines this long is was obvious that many Pakistanis were happy to welcome McDonalds into their homes. †¢ According to The News International McDonalds in Pakistan has sold more burgers in Pakistan than anywhere else in the world. With only 18 stores currently in Pakistan this shows how busy McDonalds is. Many people are excited to have McDonalds because it is a â€Å"brand-name† and it gives them the opportunity to enjoy the same things that foreigners enjoy. †¢ McDonald’s costs the same in Pakistan as in the US, and given the per capita GDP disparity between the two countries, it is the cheapest food in the United States, while being one of the most expensive in Pakistan. Even with the high cost people are still flocking to McDonalds. †¢ McDonald’s business operation in Pakistan overall has been a complete success for the McDonalds Corporation as well as the Pakistani community. Both parties involved have gained more than their anticipated outcome from the arrival of McDonalds back in 1998. †¢ In the future it is believed that McDonalds will continue to grow within Pakistan and throughout the world. It is also felt that the Pakistani people will work very hard to keep McDonalds name and food service at the high quality people are used to. [4] 3. 2. †¢ [pic]The government of Pakistan receives over Rs. 10 million per month from KFC Pakistan as direct taxes. †¢ Around 95% of all food and packaging material used in KFC Pakistan is produced locally, which sums up to a purchase of over Rs. 35 million per month. †¢ For each new outlet developed by KFC Pakistan, it costs approximately Rs. 40 million, which is a huge amount for Pakistani construction industry. †¢ The products of KFC are not comparatively cheaper than the other brands in the market but still it doesn’t matter much because the quality as compared to there competitors is so good that people still go to KFC. KFC has tried to cater to the local environment in recent years and some achievements and adaptations include: †¢ Offered discounts on festival like Eid and Ramzan (all you can eat deals). †¢ Expansion of outlets throughout Pakistan. †¢ Children diversified products (nuggets, chicky meals). †¢ Improved dessert section (deal with Wall’s ice cream). †¢ Employing over 1000 Pakistanis. †¢ Introduction of local menu such as Arabian rice. [5] 3. 3. [pic]One of the greatest strengths of Pizza Hut is its strong brand name. Pizza hut is a well-known and popular chain of restaurants not only all over the world but also in Pakistan as well. Its positive brand image has furthered helped it gain a competitive edge in the market. †¢ Pizza Hut offers a different varieties of pizzas that agree with the tastes of all members of the target market. †¢ Main strength lies in the variety of deals offered by Pizza Hut from time to time. Deals such as â€Å"Midnight Deal† and â€Å"Rupee 1 Deal† actually help attract customers from different income segments. It has also pioneered in introducing membership cards to offer the members pizza at discounted rate. Special dicount cards are also offered. †¢ Yet strength of Pizza Hut is the large number of outlets that can be found all over Karachi and also within Pakistan. Pizza Hut has its outlets in all major areas of Karachi. †¢ Pizza Hut branches also have an unmatched ambiance not found in other restaurants. The ambiance and the environment and the feeling of just being there and being seen there is also unmatched by its competitors. †¢ Pizza Hut employs thosuands of Pakistanis. Another internal strength of Pizza Hut is that it has an attractive compensation program and low employee turnover. It provides best compensation package in the industry. It has a Health Care Policy, according to which it provides medical facilities to all its employees. Thus resulting in lower employee turnover rate. †¢ Pizza hut branches,such as the one in Clifton, Karachi , have installed arcades to provide recreation for children. Dot puzzles and a colouring layout is designed behind te dinner mats for the children. [6] 3. 4. PUBLIC SURVEY ON ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACT A host of people were surveyed during this research to obtain the general public opinion on western franchises contributions : [pic] The survey conducted amongst several people in the writing of this report shows a general agreement that international franchise does bring valuable investment and income to Pakistan. Most people agree that there was an increment in government revenue since franchises were established here. [pic] The general survey suggests that most people consider the investment and revenue generated by the franchise industry as the most valuable contribution. Social progress was considered least important whereas the various career opportunities opened up by the franchise industry fared as the second best contribution. Many people agreed that the exposure to western culture through fast food was important too. [pic] In recent years, the health oriented approach to diet has taken a grasp over our society. Fast food is generally considered unhealthy because it is usually made with cheaper ingredients such as high fat meat and foods that contain lots of unhealthy fats (saturated and trans-fats) and cholesterol, instead of nutritious foods. However, the survey indicated that though the fast food maybe considered as unhealthy, the healthy approach to life does not affect the fast food industry very much. However, most people surveyed (33%) were not sure about this factor’s impact on business. 4. PROBLEMS AND THREATS FACED BY WESTERN FAST FOOD FRANCHISE Every business in Pakistan faces certain problems, and the western fast food franchises are no exceptions. Developing a franchise restaurant in a new country is difficult, and maintainence of business and market strenght is the toughest job for theses franchises. Here are a few problems they faced by Mcdonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut once they were established in Paksitan : 4. 1. PROBLEMS AND THREATS. †¢ [pic] POLITICAL: McDonalds, being an American restaurant, has faced problems due to politics and had to deal with the instability of the government. In 2007-08, Pakistan was having problems with their President Pervez Musharraf, an important US ally. There is also the conflict with Kashmir which could cause U. S. relations to deteriorate and cause McDonalds business in Pakistan to drop dramatically. †¢ GLOBAL: Another worry that can cause future problems for McDonalds is if the United States were to pull out the aid they are providing Pakistan for any reason. At that time since Musharraf was backing President Bush in the war on terror the United States was giving a large amount of aid and highly beneficial trade deals to Pakistan. Any mishap between the US and current Pakistani government can destroy the American business and influence. †¢ SECURITY: Some people who were angry about the bombings in Afghanistan in 2001immediately related McDonald’s back to the United States and began to vandalize the property. Many people believe that McDonald’s in one of the most popular American symbols, which of course puts it at risk when political upheaval begins. So while many Pakistanis enjoy McDonalds others see it as an American company and proceed to vandalize it due to what is going on with the war. There has been protesting against U. S. led attacks against Iraq and some groups have chosen to boycott against all western products including McDonalds. Along with these boycotts sales dropped a little, but there were not any drastic changes. [7] †¢ [pic] LOCAL FOODS: One of the mian competion for western franchises is the local food industry. Pakistan has a vast arsenal of traditional local menus. Hence, KFC still needs to capture fast food market because their market share in Pakistan is still low as compared to their competitor. †¢ DIESEASE: In 2005-07, Pakistan faced major a crises on the breakage of the bird flu virus. As KFC’s main specialty is chicken, in time of epedemics like bird flu they face heavy losses. KFC still needs to innovate their products to maintain competitive advantage. †¢ POLITICS: Politics has played a major role in the franchise food business. A couple of years back in Pakistan a few of KFCs branches were burned because the people thought that they were generating money for the US. †¢ HEALTH FACTOR : Fried Chicken is usually considered the most fat-containing food item. Oil in which chicken is fried is high in cholestrol, and the healthy approach to diet in recent years may hinder KFC’s growth. †¢ [pic]LOCAL FOODS: A major threat for Pizza Hut is the competition from local restaurants. Not only are other franchises a threat but also local restaurants such as Lal Qila, Usmania, Village etc. these restaurants pose as a potential threat to Pizza Hut because they also offer food which is the ultimate aim of the customer. †¢ POLITICAL: Pizza Hut, being an American franchise restaurant, has faced problems similar to that of KFC and McDonalds due to politcal reasons. Hostilty towards American influences can lead to a decrease in sales and hamper business activity. †¢ HEALTH FACTOR: Food form Pizza Hut is considered relatively heavy, due to the massive amounts of cheese used in their pizzas. The ever present salad bar has not dispelled health concerns as people believe that the sauces used in the salad themselves contain heavy fat contents. Pizza Hut has, however, tried to diversify its menu with the introduction of new appetizers. 4. 2. PUBLIC SURVEY ON PROBLEMS AND THREATS FACED BY WESTERN FAST FOOD Many people had their own opinions on which problem threatens the western fast food industry the most in Pakistan. One of the major issues was the health factor as the point of â€Å"well balanced diet† is highly debatable in terms of fast food. [pic] Many people believe that the most important threat faced by western fast food franchise is the security. Most franchises are of American origin, and hence the on going war on terror hugely affect Pak-US relations. Also, any instabilty in the political system can turn the franchise into victims of vandalism. A large propotion of people also expressed that the vast local food industry challenges the strenght of the western fast food franchise. They argued that since local foods are cheaper, few people can afford western fast food. Those who argued for global crises claimed that the recent recession can make western fast food unaffordable. 4. 3. HEALTH FACTOR AS A THREAT [pic] A majority of people agreed that the main rival to KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut is the more healthier menu of Subway. Subway offers a large variety of healthy meals with heavy vegetable and protein content as compared to other franchises. Hence Subway is a major threat to the business of these franchises. [pic] This survey on health was again conducted, but from a different angle. KFC and its fried chicken, which is highly oily, was considered appropriately as the most unhealthiest restaurant. However, in this second survey most people also argued that the many sauces used by Subway in its sandwiches contain large fat contents, so Subway may not necessarily pose a huge threat to the other franchises. 5. GENERAL CONSUMER RESPONSE In this report, research was also conducted on factors which compell the people to dine in these western fast food franchises. For this purpose we would like to like to categorize people as follows: i) Low category people ii) Middle category people iii) High category people Their responses are: i) Low category people:- These people eat fast food very seldom. They visit fast food restaurants only at special occassions,as it is not that much easy for everyone to afford the quality food provided by the western fast food franchises like KFC, McDonalds etc. Some of these people dont want to waste their money on fast food, and rather have food at their own homes. Besides this, these people are also not habitual of fast food. They are not encouraging the fast food business in Pakistan. Even if fast food has been banned in this country, these people won’t be affected in any way. ii) Middle category people:- These people consume fast foods on a consistent basis. It depends upon the status factor. Many people like to boast about having dinner in a â€Å"foreign† and â€Å"branded† restaurant. They eat out in these restaurants once or even twice in a week. They pay a valuable response to fast food as they look for quality food and this response encourages the western fast food franchises. iii) High category people:- The people in this category have fast foods very often. They not only look for quality foods but they consider it as a means of having fun with friends. The natural ambience of these restaurants is also a major attraction to them. No matter how high the prices of food items at western fast food franchises go, these people are always ready to pay. They are helping to increase the trend of fast foods in Pakistan, which definitely encourages their business. Besides these categories there are also some health conscious people (as discussed previoulsy) who donot want eat fast food because of fat contents in these fast foods. Such people can be found in all categories discuused above. Reasearch on most important factor for dining in a western franchise fast food is as follows: [pic] The unmatchable quality of food offered by the western franchise fast food restaurants is the main factor of attracting people. Fast food is also widley considers to be tasty, as proved by the above consesnus. The price of food at these restaurants is also significant when opting to dine there. A very few people just dine in these restaurants because of the ambience and its attractiveness. The following is the survey on peoples preferences of various fast food franchises: [pic] Most people, particularly here in Karachi, prefer to dine at Pizza Hut. It is the different variety of pizzas offered that has given Pizza Hut its widespread popularity. Also most Pakistanis generally enjoy heavy diet, and pizzas fulfill this desire. As seen above, very few people enjoy the light delicacies offered by Subway. Chicken constitutes in the basic diet of people here, and it is no surprise to see KFC score 31%. 6. CONCLUSION In culmination, we would like to conclude that the establishment of western fast food franchises in Pakistan has indeed proved to be a successful business endeavor. The economic and social contributions outweigh the threats they face by a greater margin. With greater and successful planning, the western fast food franchises can easily minimize their threats and problems. Doing so can speed their progressive activities in Pakistan. We can also conclude that the general public response to these franchises in Pakistan is positive and many people are willing to dine at these franchise restaurants because of they high quality and standard they deliver. 7. QUESTIONNAIRE Franchise Food Chains in Pakistan Questionnaire 1. Select below the income band you fall under: o Rs. 5000-10,000 pm o Rs. 10,000-20,000 pm o Rs. 20,000-40,000 pm o Rs. 40,000 & above pm 2. How often do you dine out in a month: o Once o Twice o Thrice o Never 3. Do you prefer Pakistani restaurants or western franchise? o Pakistani o Western 4. For western, kindly rate the following restaurants according to your preferences on a scale from 1-5 (1 being the highest): o KFC_____ o Pizza Hut_____ o Subway _____ o McDonalds _____ 5. What are the factors you consider most important when dining out in a western franchise? (Rank from 1-5, 1 being the highest) o Price_______ o Ambience_______ o Status Quo_______ o Taste_______. o Quality_______ 6. Do you think western franchise in food industry is bringing good investments in Pakistan? o Yes________ o If No, then why? 7. In recent years do you think that the more health oriented approach of people has affected the franchise food industry: o Yes o No o Not sure 8. Do you agree that Subway offers a healthier alternative to fast food? o Yes o No o Not sure 9. Rank on a scale from 1-5 (1 being the highest) the most important contributions of fast food chains in Pakistan: o Career Opportunities ________ o Investment/Revenues ________ o Social Progress ________ o Cultural Exchange ________. 10. Has the political situation in Pakistan drastically affected franchise food business: o Yes o No o To some extent o Not sure 11. What are the factors that can hinder the growth of Franchise food industry in our country? o Political Instability o Global Crisis o Security Concerns o Local Food industry o Others, Please specify: 12. On a scale of 1-4 (1 being the highest) rate the restaurants which offer the healthiest food. o Pizza Hut _______ o Subway _______ o McDonalds _______ o KFC _______ 13. According to you what percentage of the urban population consumes franchise fast food? o 60%-40% o 40%-20%. o 20%-10% o Less than 10% 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY WEBSITES: †¢ Corporate Webpage of McDonalds. McDonalds Corporate. 2004. Mar. 2005. . †¢  ¦Corporate Website of Pakistan McDonalds. McDonalds Pakistan. Aug. 2002. Mar. 2005. †¢ http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/kfc+pakistan/0 †¢ http://www. fratfiles. com/essays/55556. html †¢ http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fast-food_restaurant †¢ http://answers. yahoo. com/question/index? qid= †¢ http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/pizza+hut+pakistan/0 ———————– [1] Reference: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Fast-food_restaurant [2] Refer.ence:  §? Corporate Website of Pakistan McDonalds. McDonalds Pakistan. Aug. 2002. Mar. 2005. †¢ [3] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/ ¦Corporate Website of Pakistan McDonalds. McDonalds Pakistan. Aug. 2002. Mar. 2005. [4] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/kfc+pakistan/0 †¢ [5] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/pizza+hut+pakistan/0 †¢ [6] Reference: Corporate Website of Pakistan McDonalds. McDonalds Pakistan. Aug. 2002. Mar. 2005. [7] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/kfc+pakistan/0 [8] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/topics/pizza+hut+pakistan/0 [9] Reference: http://www. fratfiles. com/essays/55556. html.

Why Foreign Aid Is Hurting Africa

Benefield, Alicia February 14, 2013 INR3932-03 Paper 1 Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa In this article Dambisa Moyo, is arguing that money, in the form of aid given to African nations has not only trapped many of these nations in debt, but has started a cycle of corruption as well as slowed down economic growth and poverty. To solve this isuue Moyo suggests cutting off the flow of aid to these African nations. Many developed countries will gladly give aid to Africa, these countries do not give small donations they donate by the millions.This continued donation of aid has only been putting Africa further in debt. What many do not realize is that aid is not given to Africa freely, the African nations receiving aid must pay this money back plus interest. Moyo provided an example of this stating that â€Å"African countries still pay close to $20 billion in debt repayments per annum, a stark reminder that aid is not free. In order to keep the system going, debt is repaid at the expens e of African education and healthcare† (Moyo, 2009). This is what is slowing down economic growth and keeping those countries in poverty.A country can not achieve econmic growth if its workforce is not educated, an uneducated workforce means the people in the country have little to no skills. Certain skills are required to get better jobs, if the people are not being adequately educated they will be forced to remain in a state of poverty. Healthcare is alo important, and the countries keep cutting the healthcare budget. If your workforce is not healthy enough to go out and work to spark the economy you can never expect to achieve economic growth. Education and healthcare budget cuts are not the only problems Moyo discussed that are keeping African nations from developing.Other issues include corruption in the government and developed nations supplying resources for free keeping African producers out of the market. According to the African Union, an organization of African nati ons â€Å"In 2002, it was estimated that corruption was costing the continent $150 billion a year, as international donors were apparently turning a blind eye to the simple fact that aid money was inadvertently fueling graft† (Moyo, 2009). This is because the donations are being given with â€Å"no strings attached† so the funds are being used for everything except what they were meant for, development.Political elites are using these funds to finace their own expidentures as well as financing their families and home life. The other problem is countries like the U. S. Implementing programs like the U. S. Food for Peace program, which buys American food and ships it overseas to African nations. This program is not helpful, it is a hinderance to Africas economic growth. By supplying American food for free, the U. S. is putting African farmers out of business. Moyo suggests that instead of purchasing American food, they U. S. ould purchase food from the African farmers to distribute to the African nations. Done this way the African farmers are benefitting from the program and are able to compete in the market. The opinions presented in this article relate to many of the concepts we have touched on in this course; views on poverty, the development, as well as the international aid system. The article opens up stating â€Å"A month ago I visited Kiberam the larget slum in Africa† (Moyo, 2009). When we hear the word slum, we perceive a negative connotation and relate this term with a place in poverty.We can see the inequalities between developed and undeveloped nations, according to the article â€Å"a mere 2% of the country's population has access to mobile phones compared to a wireless survey that found 91% of Americans have access to cellphones (Moyo, 2009) (Forseman, 2010). This is a huge inequality African citizens are not even close to being equal to the technology avaliable to American citizens. Another concept this article discussed is development, Africa has been trying to become a developed nation for years and after receiveing billions in aid this country has yet to become a developed nation.The contry remaing in poverty is mainly because if the international aid system. This system continues to allow African nations to receive donations without the country even showing any signs of growth or development. This continuous acceptance of aid is keeping African nations in poverty. ‘ I agree with the author of this article in all of the arguments he gave on why foreign aid is hurting Africa. Developed countries are continously give large donations to the country year after year and there is no progress being made. However, I do not fault Africa for this lack of progress, they are only doing what any nation in their situation would do.They are continuously being given money and not required to put the money towards efforts to achieve economic growth, they know that the aid is not going to stop being donated so it is in their best interest to remain in a state of poverty and continue receiving aid. The countries donating to Africa are not providing the country with opportunitites to become a pro-market governnment because they are donating goods for free and taking African producers out of business. The politicians in Africa are not being closely watched and are not looking out for the social welfare of the country, but are looking out for themselves.Africa needs a more accountable government that is concerned about the people and the future of the country as well as their economy. Once these nations stop receiving aid, get better leaders, and African producers are able to tap into the market the country will be on the way to achieveing economic growth. Works Cited Foresman, C. (2010)Wireless survey: 91% of Americans use cell phones. [online] Available at: http://arstechnica. com/tech-policy/2010/03/wireless-survey-91-of-americans-have-cell-phones/ [Accessed: 15 Feb 2013]. Moyo, D. (2009) Why Foreign Aid is Hurting Africa . The Wall Street Journal, p. W1.

Project management db5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Project management db5 - Essay Example The engineering team deals with product development and production processes and not product launch and this identifies poor audience visualization (Guffey and Almonte, 2009). Poor audience visualization is also evident from the fact that the audience lacked interest in the presentation and this led to conflict at the initial stages of the presentation. Terry could have better prepared for the presentation through audience profiling and through adequate response to the profiling (Guffey and Loewy, 2010). He could have identified appropriate message to the engineering team such as the team’s previous success in products’ development and possible need for improvement, and specific features that may be successful in the market. He should have also anticipated the team’s possible negative response and used communication skills to captivate the audience. Terry could have handled the questions by moderating them to respond to a question at a time, or by convincing the audience to wait until the end of the presentation (Krizan, Merrier and Logan, 2010). After Terry left the room, the project manager should assume the responsibility of bridging the created gap between the marketing team and the engineering team in order to foster future collectivity. In order to get the engineering group’s buy in, I would be sensitive to possible difference between the group and my marketing group and understand strategies for overcoming challenges from the differences (Karmakar, 2012). This would ensure an understanding and increase chances of getting the buy

International Financial Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Financial Management - Essay Example Therefore it can be said that Nokia is responsible for rapid growth in cellular communication and is a pioneer in this field. These four groups are serviced by two other horizontal groups, which are Customer and Market Operations and Technology Platforms. These groups are further supported by various other groups and teams centered mostly in headquarters, related with corporation functions. From 2008 onwards however, three different groups involved in mobile device business and their respective horizontal groups have been integrated into a single unit and named Devices & Services. The main reason for this integration is to increase horizontal integration across the company. Another important aspect of Nokia’s business model is its sales and customer services units. These units are dispersed across more than 150 countries. There are ten different factories across nine countries involved in cell phone manufacturing operated by Nokia. Some models are outsourced to various contractors as well. Nokia is controlled by a group executive board which is responsible for its operative management. The appointments on group executive board in turn are made by the Board of Directors. The Group Executive board currently has eleven members. In line with its long term vision of flexibility and innovation Nokia has recently decided to bring central changes to its management structure. The move is not only marked by a management strategy but a major change in business strategy as well. As mentioned earlier mobile phone market is saturated with many different players such as Apple, Samsung, and Philips etc in tough competition. Therefore Nokia’s group executive board has decided to shift its focus towards making Nokia an internet company. The management structure will therefore be changed into three main units i.e. devices, software and services and markets. The main focus of Nokia’s corporate governance strategy

Apple Inc Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Apple Inc - Research Paper Example This pricing strategy has allowed the company to rule over the Smartphone and the Tablet industry for a long period of time. The company offers high end devices and fast gadgets to customers, and this is why Apple is able to charge premium prices from its customers. The company has not yet been required to change its static pricing strategy because of its strong and dominant position in the market. The company is also able to charge higher prices because over the years, it has established a loyal clientele base. Customers of Apple products are loyal to the company and they wait keenly for company’s products. This is an indication of the loyalty of Apple customers, and this is why Apple is able to follow premium static pricing strategy. Many of Apple customers are repeat customers, and therefore the company is audacious in its pricing strategy. Apple does not have to worry much about attracting new consumers because it already enjoys a loyal clientele. Customers will buy Apple product without taking into consideration its high prices because they are just used to Apple products. Apple faces strong competition from companies like Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Blackberry, HTC, and Sony. All these companies, especially Samsung, have been rapidly gaining grounds by introducing new and innovative products (Chen, 2013). For a long period of time, Apple enjoyed monopoly power in the Smartphone and Tablet industry, but the tables are turning. Google’s android operating system has also garnered customer attention. Android based apps have flooded the market which shows the popularity of this operating system. The above mentioned companies are also producing cheaper Smartphones and Tablets which have also made life difficult for Apple, at least to a certain extent. The company, although, is not falling behind its competitors, to a great extent, because of its first movers advantage and extensive

Domestic violence Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Domestic violence - Case Study Example Common assault has been made an "arrestable offence1", in the sense that the police can arrest a suspect at the scene of the assault without possessing a warrant. This is in variance to the previous practice where the police had to leave the suspected assailant with his victim. Common assault is now an alternative verdict in the Crown Court. There are a range of criminal offences, including sexual and physical assault, harassment and criminal damage, which can be used in cases of domestic violence. However, most offences2 do not take into account the cumulative pattern of violent behaviour, some of which may not constitute a criminal offence. There remains a significant problem with consistent implementation however and the judiciary still fails to treat crimes of domestic violence seriously3. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill received Royal Assent in November 2004 to become the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004. Domestic violence occurs when a family member or a partner or ex-partner attempts to physically or psychologically dominate or harm the other. Domestic violence has many forms, including physical violence, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, intimidation, economic deprivation or threats of violence. Domestic violence includes physical violence, which consists of direct physical violence, ranging from unwanted physical contact to rape and murder; and indirect physical violence, including destruction of objects; throwing objects near the victim. It also, consists of mental or emotional violence; verbal violence, including threats, insults, put-downs, attacks, and nonverbal threats, including gestures, facial expressions, body postures, economic and social abuse, controlling victim's money and other economic resources. Moreover, it could also comprise of preventing the victim from seeing friends and relatives, actively sabotaging victim's social relationships and isolating victim from social contacts, spiritual abuse. Colleen is married to Wayne, a violent and abusive man. After the birth of their baby, Sven, Wayne put a lot of pressure on Colleen to lose weight, which she did. However, she became anorexic due to this. In this case, the husband Wayne is characterised as a violent in nature and abusive man. Subsequent, to the birth of Sven, Wayne pressurized Colleen to lose weight for which she had to follow the diet restrictions etc, and because of these, she became anorexic. A pattern of behaviour characterised by the misuse of power and control by one person over another who are or have been in an intimate relationship is termed as domestic violence. It can occur in mixed gender relationships and same gender relationships and has profound consequences for the lives of children, individuals, families and communities. It may be physical, sexual, emotional or psychological. The latter may include intimidation and harassment. Thus, the attitude of Wayne comes under controlling behaviour, which prevents someone by force from acting freely. This can include keeping them from seeing relatives and friends and so on. The Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 introduced

Choose an international organizationand critically evaluate it in IHR Essay

Choose an international organizationand critically evaluate it in IHR as requirement - Essay Example The company stocks are listed in London Stock Exchange and are a major constituent of FTSE 100 index. The company was responsible for UK’s first mobile call on 01 January 1985 and within 15 years it became the Europe’s largest telecom company (Vodafone, 2013a). The Vodafone analogue is the first mobile phone network to be launched in UK. Vodafone Group Plc has a strong presence in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and United States through subsidiary networks, joint ventures and associated investment and undertakings (Vodafone, 2013b). The company offers fixed landline, cellular services, email and fixed network services. Apart from individual customers the company also provides telecom services and solutions to corporate clients. The various brands of Vodafone Group Plc are Vodafone Live, Vodafone Mobile Connect USB Modem and Vodafone Connect to friends, Vodafone Freedom Packs, Vodafone Home Amobee Solutions and Vodafone 710. The company also offers several int ernet plans tailor-made for the customers of specific countries. Apart from telecom services, the company services include the applications for mobile and communication technology in health care service sector. The Vodafone foundation provides charity, undertakes supports initiative and projects which utilize mobile technology to benefit the poor and has also worked with several charitable trusts for the betterment of society. Talent and Management Recruiting the right personnel for the right position is an integral task of the human resource manager. The task should be executed efficiently and then it would have a positive impact on the company. Talent management activities include the holistic approach to business planning and human resources, which improves the efficiency of the company and also the employee potential (Shepherd, n.d.). Talent management activities include the integration of different initiatives of the company. Firstly, it includes the organizational assessment a nd focuses on the vacant positions to be filled. This stage involves conducting interviews, psychometric testing which aligns to the competency model of the company. The potential candidate goes through a series of intensive and rigorous set of interviews. In this process the interaction level of the employer and the employee is smooth and there is an in depth analysis about the candidates potentiality. One of the major objectives of the organization would be to attract potential candidates for the suitable position through appropriate methods. Recruitment and Selection The efficiency of the organization depends upon the human resource and this is one of the prime reasons for selecting the right person for the right position. The systematic process of recruiting personnel from a qualified pool of candidates requires an effective human resource planning and determination of organizational needs (Shepherd, n.d.). The process of hiring candidates is a continuous process and is not conf ined to the formative stages of the organization. Recruitment & Selection in Vodafone The workforce at Vodafone Group Plc are recruited through two modes; internal and external sources. The internal sources of recruitment for Vodafone are as follows: Internal Sources a) Job Posting: One of the traditional methods to notify about the job vacancy is to notify through bulletin road but in contemporary management the notifications are sent through electronic mails and intranet

European transports and communications systems Essay

European transports and communications systems - Essay Example As the key directions the following have been named: 2. The use of various forms of co-operation, in particular between the bodies, engaged in national programs, and EU, and also transnational cooperation which is certainly the best way for achievement of objects in view. The European commission has established the supervisory council for the middle of 2001, as if to ways of cooperation work on revision of policy of cooperation between the EU countries-members now is conducted. The experts consider that the aircraft cannot develop in vacuum; its condition and development are defined by a society. The industry should satisfy constantly growing needs: reduction of cost of transportations, improvement of service, increase of a level of safety and conformity to ecological requirements, and also creation of aviatransport system which would cooperate with other transport systems. If to draw a conclusion, that in case of if this Utopia will be realized by 2020, the set of other radical changes in the Europe will be required(Kassim, 2007). So, new technical decisions and systems which will allow planes to fly in any weather conditions are necessary, and also to change some norms for optimum differentiation of air space between civil and military operators. Also updating systems of management of the airports is necessary. 10 years ago the space researches within the EU were not held. However for today the European commission represents a wide spectrum of the research programs directed on maintenance of competitiveness of the aviation industry. For the achievement of objects the frame agreements were concluded. On the increase in budget it is possible to judge about the level of development of aircraft in Europe during the last 10 years. The second frame agreement (1989-1992) has allocated for carrying out of researches in the

Copyright Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Copyright Law - Essay Example This clearly has implications for online protection of copyright with the proliferation of the Internet and multifarious online uses involving copyrighted works. For example, if data is stored on a US computer is downloaded in the UK, UK law will apply and not US law under the Convention5, which creates issues of enforceability and policing in an internationally networked environment offering broader scope for anonymity. Furthermore, the protection of copyright online has become increasingly contentious due to the ease of copying materials in machine readable form and distribution on the Internet6. This is compounded by the low cost of copying and transmitting files on the Internet and the difficulty of policing a borderless jurisdiction further exacerbates the issue as to where liability should lie7. Section 17 of the CDPA addresses copyright infringement and provides that copyright protection prohibits copying the work, issuing copies of the work to the public, renting or lending the work to the public, perform the work, broadcast the work, adapt or amend the work. Additionally, these acts will constitute copyright infringement if there is copying of the â€Å"substantial part† of the copyright works8. Remedies for copyright are commonly damages (often for lost royalty payments), injunctions, accounts for profits or orders for delivery up9. The fair use doctrine is the most common copyright exception under section 29(1) of the CDPA10. Alternatively, section 31 of the CDPA provides a defence of incidental inclusion of copyrighted materials such as when filming or recording live events; which is particularly relevant to inclusion in artistic work, sound recordings, film or broadcasts. The sheer vast range of availability of information online has further rendered it difficult to enforce the principle that there is no implied licence to copy11. Theoretically, downloading someone’s web page is clearly copyright infringement and the

Litigation involving Microsoft Corporation Essay

Litigation involving Microsoft Corporation - Essay Example Microsoft is the biggest provider of computer operating systems that facilitate communication and control of an individual’s personal computer. Microsoft also supplies other famous computer programs. Sales that come from the Microsoft software are huge and it is evident that the company is an energetic and a tough competitor. The complexity of determining competitive behavior from the anticompetitive acts is demonstrated by the Microsoft antitrust case. U.S. Department of Justice filed the case and it accused Microsoft Corporation of a variety of anticompetitive practices (Baumol and Blinder 268). The Microsoft antitrust case brings out many issues such as abuse via bottlenecks and bundling. Abuse via bottlenecks can be illustrated by the dominance of the Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows is an operating system that is used in almost all the personal computers. Microsoft Windows is a good example of a problem or an issue that is referred to as bottleneck; bottleneck is a pr oduct or a facility that is in the possession of a single company without which the competitor find impossible or difficult to operate. In order to reach majority of the personal computer users, the producer or manufacturer of any spreadsheet, graphics program or a word processor must make use of Windows. It is important to note that there is less likelihood that the competitors or alternative to Windows might capture a large share of consumers. (Baumol and Blinder 280). The existence of the bottleneck is in part due to the fact that Microsoft is largely considered as a good program and its user compatibility is considered desirable. There is need for communication between computer users and this can only be facilitated when they use the same or similar operating systems. In other words, there must be an existence of a network between the users of the computer products for them to be able to communicate effectively with one another and thus, the necessity for compatible software. Su ch a preference offers Microsoft a huge advantage, â€Å"because it already has so many users that a new purchaser who values such compatibility will be reluctant to buy a competing product that will make it more difficult to communicate with those many users of the Microsoft products† (Baumol and Blinder 280). The bottleneck problem or issues arises because Microsoft supplies both the Windows and most of the applications such as Internet Explorer (an internet browser), Excel (this is a spreadsheet program), and Word (this is a word processing program). However, it is worth noting that it is not illegal to become the owner of a bottleneck (Baumol and Blinder 280). The worry about the bottleneck owner (such as Microsoft) is that it uses its bottleneck product (that is, Windows for Microsoft) in a manner that it favors its programs and impairs programs supplied by the competitors (Baumol and Blinder 281). Bundling is described as the pricing agreement under which a substantial discount is offered by the supplier to the consumers if they purchase various products from the firm, â€Å"so that the price of the bundle of products is less than the sum of the prices of the products if they were bought separately† (Baumol and Blinder 281). Bundling can be either legitimate or illegitimate. Microsoft has sponsored its products through the provision of cheap products to computer manufacturers if they purchase Microsoft programs bundles rather than purchasing Windows alone. This form of practice indicates that the rival manufacturers of Internet browsers, spreadsheets, and word processors are disabled in promoting their products to personal computer owners (Baumol and Blinder 281). There are questions regarding the legitimacy and illegitimacy (for

IFRS and GAAP Accounting Principles Essay Example for Free

IFRS and GAAP Accounting Principles Essay IFRS is also referred to as International Financial Reporting Standards. They are set of standards of accounting developed by International Accounting Standards Board (IASA). They are becoming the standards in the globe to be used for preparation of financial statements for the public companies. IASB is independent body which sets accounting standards which is based in London (McLaughlin, 2009). This body consists of fifteen members who are from nine countries including United States. IASB started operating in 2001 since it succeeded International Accounting Standards Committee. With desperate laws, cultures, tax regulation and commerce, individual nations, overtime have come so as to develop accounting systems of their own. In United States, Financial Accounting Standard Board (FASB), formed in year 1973, was third group which developed the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in U. S, since the formal setting of standards which started in 1939. FASB is the first group in US which employed independently funded full-time professionals to be independent in accounting profession. Sanctioned officially in 1973 December, by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was federal regulator, FASB up to now continues setting accounting standards for U. S (Subramani, 2009). IASC was formed shortly after FASB had been formed in the same year so as to develop accounting standards which will be internationally accepted. During the early 1970s, economy of the globe was at that time marked by expansion of the cross-border activities. This time seemed to be right in considering whether there was a need to set universal accounting standards to address world which was shrinking (McLaughlin, 2009). IASC in their effort of promoting acceptance of one set standards of accounting globally, tried to write certain inclusive standards. Committee members often had difficult in achieving a common consensus on proper accounting treatment to transactions which were similar or the same (AICPA, 2010). They identified preferred treatments, but accounting which was different with also different results was as well allowed. They considered this as necessary so as to promote the acceptance of complete set for the world accounting standards. If specific standard was much different from that which was accepted generally in an individual country, that nation may not accept all the set standards. It was better in allowing some alternatives in order to bring many nations into the mix. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) replaced IASC after it had issued 41accounting standards to be used internationally in 2001. Since formation of IASB, it has issued around eight IFRS and also they have modified several international accounting standards (IASs). In 2000, European Commission provided the international standards large boost as it announced initiative which required every listed company in the European union to be using IFRS starting the year 2005. Before mandatory introduction for all companies to use IFRS, all countries in European Community regulated separately their standards of reporting (McLaughlin, 2009). The measure of using IFRS did not affect the non-listed companies in Europe. European ministers’ council approved IFRS in 2002. At the start of 2005; approximate of 7000 companies effected the change. Around 6500 of these companies had been prior reporting GAAP in their own country, with almost 3000 of them in UK alone (Ernst Young, 2009). EU however, never endorsed three paragraphs in IAS 39, and these were standards which deal with measurements and recognition of the financial instruments. Volatility potential of the earnings which was related to such paragraphs’ accounting macro hedge as well as option of fair value made the standard setters to go back in the drawing board several times, but there was no appearance of silver bullets. Up to now, EU has not fully endorsed set of the IFRS which was promulgated by IASB (Jermakowicz, Epstein, 2008). Failure of EU to fully endorse these set of international standards is significant issues to several reasons, not the few which is requirement in the IAS1, financial statement presentation that is explicitly stated by a company that their financial statements are complying with the IFRS (McLaughlin, 2009). Companies are further not allowed to state their financial statements as complying with IFRS if it does not fully comply with whole body of the IFRS. The accounting standards so as to gain world wide acceptance, there is a need for them to be universally applied. It is necessary to have comparability. Financial statement set prepared using GAAP of country A is not comparable suddenly to another which is prepared using GAAP of country B since both of them on the top states IFRS (AICPA, 2010). United States key regulator priority is the consistent application of these standards. If to be accordance with the IFRS means the similar and same transactions have to be accounted in same way in every nation, then preparing financial statements according to IFRS will have to add value. Investors will no longer waste their effort and time in reconciling financial information when comparing to companies which are similar but in different countries (Subramani, 2009). Capital will then flow efficiently and at a low cost to companies in many places. Another major boost for acceptance of the IFRS was seen in 2002as the Norwalk Agreement was being signed and was reaffirmed in the Memorandum of Understanding in 2006. IASB in the London together with FASB in the Norwalk agreed to remove the differences in their standard sets and converge it on high-quality standards (Ernst Young, 2009). The emphasis was on high-quality and this meant that if the FASB standards or IASB standard was deemed to be better, then the convergence was would be on the superior one. If neither of them had sufficient standards which would qualify to be used internationally, then the two boards would jointly work together to produce new standards. Work is on progress in developing a conceptual single framework which will guide in setting future standards. Convergence between U. S GAAP and IFRS do not mean accounting standards should become identical. It means that in the cases where the transactions are similar or the same, then the accounting should be just the same, or if not so, the disclosures should be transparent to enable reader understand about the differences (Subramani, 2009). Also the standard setters are putting more effort to reduce the difference which is in the two systems. Three significant differences between IFRS and GAAP. The difference between the two set of standards include the following: in the US GAAP in the income statement, extraordinary items is restricted to some items which are both infrequent and unusual (McLaughlin, 2009). Negative goodwill usually is treated as an extraordinary item. In the IFRS, income statement usually prohibits extraordinary items. In the US GAAP the significant items in the income statement are presented separately at the face of income statement just as component of operation going on, where as in the IFRS significant items in the income statement separate the disclosure of nature and also the amount required, but it can be included in income statement or notes (Ernst Young, 2009). Changes in the equity in U. S PAAF are present in all the changes in every caption of the stockholders’ equity either in separate statement or foot note. Equity changes in IRFS at least, presents components which are related to expense and income recognized as section of separate statement (AICPA, 2010). Other equity changes are disclosed either in notes or presented as a part of one, combined statement in all equity changes. Three similarities between IFRS and GAAP. In both accounting standards, exchange losses and gains on the settled items and also on the monetary items which are unsettled should be taken to loss or profit for that period. When loss or gain on non-monetary items is directly recognized in equity, then that loss or gain is further taken to the equity (Ernst Young, 2009). On the other hand if losses or gains on non-monetary item are taken in loss or profit, then related component of exchange would further be included in loss or profit. Functional currency should be currency of primary economy in environment the business is operating. The other currencies should be treated or termed as foreign currencies. Presentation of currencies should be currencies used in presenting financial statement and is usually matter of one’s choice (AICPA, 2010). Financial statements should be prepared by the functional currency of the entity but may be presented by any other form of currency. Individual transactions should be translated at rate on date of transaction, or at any average rate for period if the rates do not significantly fluctuate. Identify three potential risks of IFRS and GAAP convergence. There are several risks which may affect companies as a result of the convergence. They include that; the convergence may risk tax rate and thus making it not to be effective to some companies, it may also risk the long term financial agreements and contracts, and it may also risk timing of the revenue recognition (Ernst Young, 2009).

Molecular Mechanisms of Sepsis

Molecular Mechanisms of Sepsis Title: Protein-protein interaction network and functional module analysis to reveal the mechanism of sepsis in polytrauma patients Highlights: We explored the molecular basis of sepsis induced by polytrauma using PPI network. A total of 342 DEGs including 110 up- and 232 down-regulated genes were obtained. TRAF3 was related with the innate immune responses in sepsis. ITGB3 was the key gene involved in coagulation dysregulation in sepsis. CASP6 and RASA1 played key roles in the cell apoptosis mechanism of sepsis. Abstract Objective Sepsis represents the systemic inflammatory response to microbial infection. The pathogenesis of sepsis remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to explore the molecular mechanism of sepsis inpolytrauma patients. Methods The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the polytrauma patients with and without sepsis were identified by analyzing the GSE12624 microarray data using the limma package of R. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was extracted from the human PPI datasets by using MATLAB. The functional modules in the PPI network were identified by the MCODE network clustering algorithm. The KEGG pathway analysis was performed in each module. The phylogenetic tree was constructed using phylogeny inference package (PHYLIP). Result Total of 342 DEGs including 110 up- and 232 down-regulated genes were obtained. The PPI network identified several hub genes which had more interactions with others, such as TRAF3, ITGB3, CASP6 and RASA1. Further phylogenetic analysis indicated the high conservation of these hub genes. In the module analysis, four significant modules were identified. All the genes (COL1A2, FN1, ITGA2B, ITGB3 and CD36) in module 2 were enriched in extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction pathway. In module 4, CASP6 and CASP3 were enriched in apoptosis pathway. Conclusion We predicted genes such as TRAF3, ITGB3, CASP6 and RASA1 which were closely associated with sepsis induced by polytrauma. Among them, ITGB3 may play key role in the coagulation dysregulation of polytrauma patients with sepsis, and CASP6 and RASA1 may be the key genes in the cell apoptosis mechanism of sepsis. Keywords Sepsis, DEGs, GO, PPI network, phylogenetic tree Introduction Polytrauma is a syndrome of multiple injuries exceeding a defined severity with sequential systemic reactions that can lead to dysfunction or failure of remote organs and vital systems, which have not themselves been directly injured [1]. Sepsis, as one of the complications of polytrauma [2], is the systemic inflammatory response to microbial infection that often leads to increasing susceptibility to secondary infections, multiorgan failure, and death [3]. A sixteen years clinical study indicated that 10.2% of polytrauma patients infected sepsis during their hospital course [4]. Polytrauma is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in global and sepsis (3.1-17%) is one of the predominant causes of late death in polytrauma patients [5]. The disease severity is increasing according to the order of sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock in the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) [6]. Mortality has been reported to be as high as 45.6% for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock [7]. Based on the pathogenesis of sepsis, many therapies have been applied in the clinical practice such as antimicrobial therapy [8, 9] and hemodynamic support and adjunctive therapy [10, 11]. Currently, the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) has attempted to increase the awareness and establish the practice guidelines to improve the recognition and treatment for the patients with sepsis [12, 13]. At present, there are four approved mechanisms in the pathogenesis of sepsis [14]. The first one is dysregulated coagulation. Sepsis patients frequently manifest disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) with consumption of platelets and prolongation of clotting times [15]. The second one is inflammatory response. The inflammatory response is an important and central component of sepsis because the elements of response drive the physiological alterations that manifest as the SIRS [16]. Third, many cellular aspects become dysfunctional in sepsis which behave either excessive activation or depressed function [17]. The last one is metabolic alterations. It was reported that endogenous glucose production was markedly increased in the patients [18]. However, the specific molecular mechanisms of them remain entirely unclear. In this study, the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the polytrauma patients with sepsis and without sepsis were identified. Gene ontology (GO) analysis , protein-protein interaction (PPI) network and phylogenetic tree construction were performed to explore the molecular basis of sepsis induced by polytrauma. Materials and methods Microarray data The gene expression profile of GSE12624 based on the CodeLink UniSet Human I Bioarray platform (GE Healthcare/Amersham Biosciences) was downloaded from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/). The dataset available in this analysis contained 70 samples including 34 polytrauma patients with sepsis and 36 polytrauma patients without sepsis. Data preprocessing and DEGs screening For the microarray data, Robust Multichip Average (RMA) in the Affy package of R was used to compute normalized expression measures from the raw expression values. Probe annotation was obtained by using the Bioconductor package. The limma package was used to identify the DEGs with p-value 1 [19]. GO enrichment analysis of DEGs GO analysis was performed using the DAVID online tool (http://david.abcc.ncifcrf.gov/) [20]. For GO enrichment of DEGs, we selected GOTERM_BP_FAT, GOTERM_CC_FAT and GOTERM_MF_FAT as the gene set categories. A p-value of less than 0.05 was set as the cut-off criterion. PPI network construction The human PPI datasets with 108477 interacting protein pairs were downloaded from PINA2 (http://cbg.garvan.unsw.edu.au/pina/interactome.stat.do) at December 26, 2013. The PPI networks of the DEGs in sepsis were extracted from the human PPI datasets by usingMATLAB [21]. The proteins in the network served as nodes and the degree of a node corresponded to the number of interactions with other proteins [22]. The protein with high degree was considered as the hub node. Identification of functional modules in PPI network PPI network visualization and network parameters evaluation were performed by using Cytoscape software. The modules were identified by the MCODE (a cytoscape plug-in) network clustering algorithm with the default parameters [23]. The module with score larger than 2 was considered as significant. KEGG pathway analysis of each module was performed by applying the DAVID annotation tool. Phylogenetic tree construction In this study, we constructed the phylogenetic tree based on the nucleotide sequences to investigate the sequence conservation of the DEGs whosedegree were large than 30. The BLAST program is used to search for homologous sequences of these DEGs. The DNA sequence of these DEGs and their homologous genes in FASTA format were obtained from the nucleic acid database in NCBI (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore). The phylogenetic tree was constructed by using phylogeny inference package (PHYLIP) with the default parameters [24]. The gene conservation was estimated by the distance from gene to the phylogenetic tree root. Result DEGs between the patients with and without sepsis After statistical analysis of the microarray data, a total of 342 DEGs were screened out. Among them, 110 were down-regulated and 232 were up-regulated in sepsis. The top 20 significantly up- and down-regulated DEGs are shown in Table 1. GO enrichment analysis The 342 DEGs were significantly enriched into 95GOterms including 81 biological processes terms, 10 cellular component terms and 4 molecular function terms. The top 10 GO biological processes termswere mainly related to the purine base (purine base biosynthetic process, purine base metabolic process, purine nucleoside monophosphate biosynthetic process and purine ribonucleoside monophosphate biosynthetic process), nucleobase (nucleobase metabolic process and nucleobase biosynthetic process) and regulation of protein modification (regulation of protein modification process and positive regulation of protein modification process). The 10 significantly enriched GO terms of cellular component included four lumen related terms (organelle lumen, membrane-enclosed lumen, intracellular organelle lumen and nuclear lumen), two membrane related terms (extrinsic to membrane and plasma membrane part) and four other cellular component terms (peroxisome, microbody, nuclear body and Golgi apparatus) . For molecular function, four significant GO terms were enriched finally. They were acyl-CoA binding, sons of mothers against decapentaplegic homologue (SMAD) binding, aryl hydrocarbon receptor binding and potassium channel inhibitor activity (Table 2). PPI network of DEGs A PPI network consisting of 225 DEGs and 1048 non-DEGs is shown in Fig. 1. This network included 1145 gene nodes and 1273 interactions. The connectivity degree of each node in this PPI network was calculated and the results of top 20 nodes are listed in Table 3. Among them, the genes CRK (encoding CDC2 related protein kina), RASA1 (encoding RAS p21 protein activator 1), TRAF3 (encoding tumour-necrosis-factor receptor associated factor 3), ZHX1 (encode zinc-fingers and homeoboxes), ITGB3 (encoding integrin ÃŽ ²3), RPA1 (encoding replication protein A1), JAK3 (encoding Janus kinases 3), and CASP6 (encoding caspase-6) with the degree over 30 were selected as the hub genes. Module analysis of PPI network A total of 7 modules were constructed by using MCODE plug-in. After excluding the modules with the score less than 2, 4 significant modules were considered as functional ones associated with sepsis (Table 4). According to the Fig. 2, the numbers of nodes and edges were similar in each model. The detailed results of KEGG pathway analysis for each module are provided in Table 5. For module 1, no pathway was enriched in the KEGG pathway analysis. For module 2, a total of 14 significant enriched pathways were identified. Among them, all the genes in this module were enriched in the pathway of extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction. In addition, except CD36 (encoding glycoprotein IV), the other four genes (ITGB3 and ITGA2B encoding integrin ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3, COL1A2 encoding the ÃŽ ± 2 chain of type 1 collagen and FN1 encoding fibrinogen 1) were enriched in the focal adhesion and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt signaling pathway. There were three significant enriched pathways in module 3. HIF1A (encoding hypoxia inducible factor-1), ARNT (encoding arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator) and ARNT2 (encoding arylhydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2) were enriched in the pathway of renal cell carcinoma and pathways in cancer. HIF1A and ARNT were enriched in the pathway of Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) signaling. For the module 4, five significant pathways were found. Among them, CASP3 (encoding caspase 3) and BIRC5 (encoding baculoviral IAP repeat–containing 5 and also called survivin) were enriched in the pathway of colorectal cancer, hepatitis B and pathways in cancer. CASP6 and CASP3 were enriched in apoptosis pathway. CASP3 and RASA1 were enriched in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway (Table 5). Phylogenetic tree analysis Based on the result of PPI network analysis, the selected hub genes were chosen to construct the phylogenetic tree. The phylogenetic tree of ZHX1 was unable to be constructed, as only three homologous sequences were searched out. The phylogenetic trees of the other seven hub genes were constructed by the DEGs and their top nine significant homologous genes. The results showed that CRK, RASA1, TRAF3, ITGB3, RPA1 and CASP6 were the genes that were closer to tree roots indicating that the conservation of these genes was high during evolution. However, the conservation of JAK3 was low because of appearing in the late period of evolution (Fig. 3). Discussion Currently, sepsis remains a serious clinical problem. The four approved mechanisms of sepsis were dysregulated coagulation, inflammatory response, and cellular dysfunctional and metabolic alterations. However, the specific molecular mechanisms are still incompletely understood. For better understanding the pathogenesis, we identified and analyzed the DEGs between the patients with and without sepsis. As a result, a total of 342 DEGs including 110 up-regulated genes and 232 down-regulated genes were found. These genes were significantly enriched in GO terms including purine base biosynthetic process, regulation of protein modification process and peroxisome. Among them, the process of purine base biosynthesis is the most significantly enriched process. It was reported that de novo purine biosynthesis was essential for infectivity, growth and virulence of many bacteria in mammals [25]. The pathogenesis of sepsis was related with the bacterial infection [26]. Therefore, the purine base biosynthesis process may associate with sepsis based on the tissue response to bacterial infection. For the regulation of protein modification, Wu et al. reported that the alterations in the phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins and the Ca2+ sensitivity of myofibrillar ATPase might contribute to alter cardiac function during the progression of sepsis [27]. The cardiac dysfunction was the clinical characteristic in severe sepsis and septic shock [28]. Thus, the phosphorylation of myofibrillar proteins may be related with the sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction. Furthermore, we mapped the DEGs to the PPI network and identified high conserved hub genes. Among them, the high conservation of CRK, RASA1, TRAF3, ITGB3, RPA1 and CASP6 were proved by the phylogenetic tree analysis. They may be the crucial genes in the pathogenesis of sepsis. For TRAF3, it is a member of the TNF receptor (TNFR) associated factor (TRAF) protein family [29]. This protein participates in the activation of the innate immune response [30]. In the PPI network, TBK1 (encoding TANK-binding kinase 1) was a non-DEG interacted with TRAF3. It was reported that TIR domain-containing adaptor-inducing IFN-ÃŽ ² (TRIF) could interact with noncanonical IKKs (IKKà Ã‚ µ and TBK-1) and IKKÃŽ ¹ (also called IKKà Ã‚ µ) through TRAF3 in the Toll-like receptors (TLR) signaling pathway [31]. The innate immune system constitutes the first line of defense by rapidly detecting invading pathogens through the TLR [32] and is a danger signal in systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsi s [33]. Thus, TRAF3 may be the mediator of innate immune responses in sepsis induced by polytrauma. We also performed the modular analysis of the PPI network and four functional modules were identified. Based on the result of the KEGG pathway analysis of each module, we found that the pathways in module 2 and 4 were more related with sepsis. The ECM-receptor interaction pathway was the most significant pathway in module 2 and all the genes of this module were enriched in this pathway. Fibronectin and collagen are the components of ECM [34]. Integrin family are the receptors transducing signals from the ECM [35]. Among them, integrin ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3 is the platelet integrin promoting theaggregation of platelets [36-38]. Moreover, it was reported that collagen type I could induce the aggregation of platelet [39]. Integrin ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3 is one of the platelet collagen receptors in platelets [40]. It was reported that platelet-specific elements initiated at the cytoplasmic domains of integrin ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3, which was a signal that leaded to conformational changes within the extracellular do mains of integrin and expression of the fibrinogen receptor, then the simultaneous occupancy on adjacent platelets of receptors with dimeric fibrinogen molecules leaded to platelet aggregation [41]. In addition, CD36 is spatially associated with the ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3 integrin on the surface of platelets [42]. Thus, we speculated that the binding of collagen type I and ÃŽ ±IIbÃŽ ²3 might need the participation of CD36, and then conformational changes within the extracellular domains of integrin and the binding between fibrinogen and fibrinogen receptor could lead to platelet aggregation. Disseminated platelet aggregation is one of the characteristics of the DIC in sepsis [43, 44]. The up-regulated expression of ITGB3 in sepsis may lead to the disseminated platelet aggregation. Hence, we concluded that the coagulation dysregulation in the polytrauma patients with sepsis may be associated with the increase of disseminated platelet aggregation caused by the up-regulated expression of ITGB3. Thus, ITGB3 may play key roles in the coagulation dysregulation of the polytrauma patients with sepsis. Hub nodes CASP6 and RASA1 were predicted to be closely interacted with each other in module 4. Besides, CASP3, TOP1, BIRC5 and AURKB (Aurora B kinase) were also included in module 4. Among them, CASP6 and CASP3 were enriched in apoptosis pathway. It was reported that CASP6 may be associated with the cell apoptosis in sepsis [45] and blocking caspases might have some beneficial effects in decreasing cell apoptosis in sepsis [46]. Thus, we further confirmed that the up-regulated expression of CASP6 may promote cell apoptosis in sepsis. Besides, TOP1 is cleaved late during cell apoptosis by CASP6 and CASP3 [47]. The TOP1 cleavage complexes contribute to cell apoptosis [48]. Therefore, the increase of these complexes induced by the up-regulated CASP6 can promote the cell apoptosis in sepsis. Moreover, full-length TOP1 could induce DNA cleavage by single-strand breaks which is the signal of cell apoptosis [49, 50]. Therefore, the exaggerated gene expression of TOP1 in our study might cont ribute to cell apoptosis in sepsis. In addition, it was reported that CASP3 could modulate a given set of proteins to generate, depending on the intensity of the input signals, opposite outcomes (survival vs death) through differential processing of RASA1 [51]. Some articles reported that low CASP3 activity leaded to the cleavage of the RASA1 protein into an amino-terminal fragment [52, 53]. RASA1 bound BIRC5 is a bifunctional protein complex that can suppress cell apoptosis and regulated cell division, so as to generate anti-apoptotic signals [54]. AURKB exists in a complex with BIRC5 [55]. Considering the up-regulated expression of RASA1 and AURKB, we speculated that there may be a switch mechanism of CASP3-RASA1 in cell apoptosis and BIRC5 and AURKB might play roles in the anti-apoptosis mechanism of RASA1. In summary, CASP6 and RASA1 are the key genes in the pathogenesis of sepsis induced by polytrauma. Conclusion In this study, we obtained four key genes related with pathogenesis of sepsisinduced by polytrauma. Among them, TRAF3 was related with the innate immune responses in sepsis,ITGB3 may play key role in the coagulation dysregulation of the polytrauma patients with sepsis and CASP6 and RASA1 were associated with the mechanism of cell apoptosisin sepsis. For further investigating the association of these hub nodes with sepsis and verifying the role of the interactions among the genes in the pathogenesis of sepsis, more studies are required in the future.

Pierre Bourdieu: Taste and Class

Pierre Bourdieu: Taste and Class ‘Taste, a class culture turned into nature, that is, embodied, helps to shape the class body. It follows that the body is the most indisputable materialization of class taste’ (Bourdieu, 1984: 190). Do you agree with Bourdieus statement about the importance of social class to embodiment? (2064/2000) Introduction Not only do I disagree with Bourdieu’s statement as presented above, it is my contention that this does not accurately represent the intention and focus of Bourdieu. For not only do I disagree that class is central to embodiment, rather believing that all forms of social differentiation – class, ethnicity, age and gender are embodied, but that Bourdieu himself believed that it is gender that provides the models for the other, therefore secondary, forms of social differentiation. To support my argument, I first provide a brief outline of Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, discussing the relationship between class and embodiment within it. Next I examine Chris Schillings’ interpretation of Bourdieu, demonstrating that, in common with other theorists, Schilling interpreted Bourdieu as being ultimately concerned with class as an axis of social differentiation, thereby ignoring the role of gender in his theory: that even as Schilling seeks to extend Bourdie u’s theory to include gender, ethnicity and age his interpretation is fundamentally flawed. In the final section I contest this class-focussed interpretation of Bourdieu by arguing that, following Beate Krais, by examining both his later work and his early ethnography it is evident that gender is a primary concern in his work: that Bourdieu believes that gender provides the model for all other forms of social differentiation. However, whereas Bourdieu seems pessimistic regarding the individual’s ability to resist their class or gender differentiation, the women interviewed by Beverley Skeggs (1997) actively resisted their class position, even as they were shaped by it. In the conclusion I summarise my argument that not only are other social differentiations of central importance to embodiment – namely gender, age, and ethnicity – gender was of central importance to Bourdieu, providing the model for other forms of differentiation, before concluding that work still needs to be done before age and ethnicity can be adequately incorporated into Bourdieu†™s schema. Embodiment and Social Class in the Work of Bourdieu In this section I first briefly outline Bourdieu’s theory of social practice, and then discuss the relationship between class and embodiment within it, before then examining Chris Schillings’ (1994) account of Bourdieu. I argue that Schilling focuses on Bourdieu’s class analysis, in common with many other theorists, and therefore misses the way in which Bourdieu is ultimately concerned with gender as a form of social differentiation. Pierre Bourdieu developed his theory of cultural capital and social practice with Jean-Claude Passeron[1] in France in the 1970s, as part of an effort to explain class-based differences in educational achievement. In his theory the forms of capital cultural, social and economic interact to mask the way in which social hierarchies are reproduced. Cultural capital is, for Bourdieu, divided into three subcategories; ‘embodied’, ‘objectified’ and ‘institutionalised’. Embodied capital is imbued dur ing the period of socialisation, is linked to the body, and represents ‘external wealth converted into an integral part of the person’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 244-5): whether an individuals’ accent, their taste for opera, or their preference for rugby over football this form of capital ‘cannot be accumulated beyond the appropriating capacity of an individual agent [and] remains marked by its earliest conditions of acquisition’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 245). Objectified capital refers to goods such as paintings, antiques and fine wines; objectified capital thus entails both the material wealth needed to own such items and the embodied capital needed to ‘consume’ them. Institutionalised capital is those academic qualifications which enable an individual to exchange between cultural and economic capital, while social capital are those friendships and networks which enable an individual to ‘produce and reproduce lasting, useful relationships that can secure material or symbolic profits’ (Bourdieu, 1986: 249. The three forms of capital combine to produce a persons habitus, or set of preferences and predispositions. Class is thus central to Bourdieu’s theory of embodiment; within his schema the financial, educational, social and cultural resources of an individual shape not only their ‘taste’ but also their life chances: Taste, a class culture turned into nature, that is, embodied, helps to shape the body. It is an incorporated principle of classification which governs all forms of incorporation, choosing and modifying everything that the body ingests and digests and assimilates, physiologically and psychologically’ (Bourdieu, 1999: 190, my emphasis added). Finally, embodiment is central to his theory; for it is via the process of socialization that the dynamics of power are written onto the very bodies of the individual (Bourdieu, 1999: 190). Schilling argues that Bourdieu does not engage with the body as simultaneously social and biological, but rather concentrates on its ‘unfinishedness’ at birth (Schilling, 1994: 128): that ‘acts of labour are required to turn bodies into social entities and that these acts influence how people develop and hold the physical shape of their bodies’ (Schilling, 1994: 128). Schilling stresses the way in which Bourdieu argues that social class imprints on the body of an individual by focussing on the way people’s taste for food both marks their class position and affects their bodies: Bodies develop through the interrelation between an individual’s social location [their class-based material circumstances], habitus and taste. These factors serve to naturalize and perpetuate the different relationships that social groups have towards their bodies (Schilling, 1994: 130). Similar readings have resulted in Bourdieu’s theory being criticized for being essentialist; John Frow argues that Bourdieu simply ‘reads off’ an individuals culture from their class position (Frow, 1995: 63). Or that his theory is therefore deterministic; in that it minimizes the ability of the individual to shape their own destiny. Finally, such a reading of Bourdieu leads one to conclude that he prioritized the role of class in society, thus minimizing the effects of other forms of differentiation, such as gender, ethnicity and age: the conflict between classes is of greatest importance to Bourdieu’s work, and attempts by the dominant classes to define lower class body implicating activities as ‘crude’, or attempts on the part of the working classes to define upper class practices as ‘pretentious’, occupy a prominent place in his book on French life, Distinction (1984) (Schilling, 1994: 141). Yet I would contend that Schilling has misinterpreted Bourdieu’s theory; that whilst it is true that in his middle years – of which Distinction forms a part he did focus on the dynamics of class in society and as it is written on the body of the individual, however in Bourdieu’s early ethnography his focus was instead on the primary differentiation of gender, and it was to this concern that he returned in his later years. Gender as the Primary Form of Social Differentiation for Bourdieu In this section I argue, in agreement with Beate Krais (2006), that gender is a primary concern in the work of Bourdieu: that he believes it is gender that provides the model for all other forms of social differentiation. However, whereas Bourdieu seems unduly pessimistic regarding the individual’s ability to resist their class social differentiation, the women interview by Skeggs (1997) actively resisted their class positioning even as they were shaped by it. However, she provides little evidence of these women’s attempts to resist their gender. Beate Krais argues that gender is ‘one of the most powerful classifications’ for Bourdieu (Krais, 2006: 120) and that he chooses his early ethnography in Algeria for inclusion in his 2001 Masculine Domination, as among the Kabylia at this time there existed ‘practically no other form of social differentiation’ (Krais, 2006: 120). She demonstrates that, for Bourdieu, it is the social construction of femininity and masculinity that first ‘shapes the body, defines how [it] is perceived [†¦] and thus determines an individuals identity’ (Krais, 2006: 121). This interpretation is borne out by my reading of Bourdieu when he discusses the Kabylia: ‘the opposition between male and female is realized in posture, in the gestures and movements of the body’ (Bourdieu, 1999a: 70). He continues: ‘classificatory schemes through which the body is practically apprehended are always grounded twofold, both in the social division of labour an d in the sexual division of labour’ (Bourdieu: 1999a: 72). Thus Bourdieu argues that social differentiation according to gender is both universal and historically constant: ‘the same system of classificatory schemes is found, in its essential features, through the centuries and across economic and social differences’ (Bourdieu, 2001: 82). However, Krais goes on to criticise him for presenting gender as ‘hermetic and indestructible’; that by using the example of such a traditional society, rather than that of a modern society such as that of France or Britain, he misses the role of gender as a site of ‘open and political struggle’ (Krais, 2006: 123). Yet Bourdieu’s pessimism seems borne out by the work of Beverley Skeggs (1997), in that the women she interviewed, whilst resisting their class position do not appear to resist their gender: ‘in the women’s claims for a caring/ respectable/ responsible personality class was rarely directly figured but was constantly present. It was the structuring absence’ (Skeggs, 1997: 74, my emphasis added); although she argues that ‘gender and class are inseparable. The women never see themselves as just women; it is always read through class’ (Skeggs, 1997: 91), she provides little evidence of the way in which these wom en resist their gender: each seems keen to position themselves as gendered individuals, as women, even as they deny their class. Conclusion In conclusion, not only do I disagree that class is central to embodiment, rather believing that all forms of social differentiation – class, ethnicity, age and gender are embodied, but that Bourdieu himself believed that gender provides the models for the other, therefore secondary, forms of social differentiation. Many have accused Bourdieu of economic determinism, taking his theory of the three forms of capital to prioritise the role of class in creating social inequality. However, for Bourdieu ‘capital’ is both metaphoric and materialistic and should be viewed as similar to power (Ashall, 2004: 24): although Bourdieu believes that all of the forms of capital can be converted into economic capital, for him none are reducible to it (Bourdieu, 1986: 243). Embodiment is central within his theory, for it is in this way that social differentiation becomes incorporated into – shapes and delineates the body, as made evident through his focus on food and sport in Distinction. Although much of his writing is concerned with the operation of class throughout society, by examining his early ethnography in Algeria, and his later use of this material in Masculine Domination, we can see that he believed gender to be the model for all other forms of social differentiation, and therefore central to his work. One next must ask how other forms of social differentiation, namely age and ethnicity, can be incorporated into his theory, for though Schilling argues that this can be done by taking his definition of class in its broadest sense (Schilling, 1994: 147) this would appear to damage the sociological understanding and definition of both class and gender. What is needed is a way to conceptualise how the differing forms of social differentiati on interact. Bibliography Ashall, Wendy (2004) ‘Masculine Domination: Investing in Gender?’ Studies in Social and Political Thought, Vol. 9, pp. 21-39, available URL at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/SPT/journal/archive/pdf/issue9-2.pdf, date accessed 25/11/06. Bourdieu, Pierre (2001) Masculine Domination, Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, Pierre (1999) ‘The Habitus and the Space of Life-Styles’, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, London: Routledge, pp. 169-225. Bourdieu, Pierre (1999a) ‘Belief and the Body’, The Logic of Practice, Cambridge: Polity, pp. 66-79. Bourdieu, Pierre and Passeron, Jean-Claude (1998[1977]) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (2nd Edition), London: Sage. Bourdieu, Pierre (1986) ‘The forms of Capital’ in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, London: Greenwood Press, pp. 241-258. Frow, John (1995) ‘Accounting for Tastes: Some Problems in Bourdieu’s Sociology of Culture’, Cultural Studies, Vol. 1(No. 1), pp. 59-73. Krais, Beate (2006) ‘Gender, Sociological Theory and Bourdieus Sociology of Practice’, Theory, Culture and Society, Vol. 23, (No. 6), pp. 119-134. Schilling, Chris (1994) ‘The Body and Physical Capital’, The Body and Social Theory, London: Sage, pp. 127-149. Skeggs, Beverley (1997) ‘(Dis)identifications of Class: On Not Being Working Class’, Formations of Gender: Becoming Respectable, London: Sage, pp. 74-97. 1 Footnotes [1] Bourdieu, Pierre and Passeron, Jean-Claude (1998[1977]) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture (2nd Edition), London: Sage.

Sikh Pride :: essays research papers

"Cut your hair, already", some fifth graders said as they pushed me against the hard brick wall. I tried to argue with them, but then one of them punched me in the gut. I fell to the ground crying. I remember feeling so confused, trying to figure out what had I done to them. People started crowding around, to see what was happening. Almost all the kids laughed at me, the older kids laughed because they were mean and the smaller ones laughed to fit in. Luckily, the bell rang and recess was over. I was truly "saved by the bell." I had put it off for too long; I had to tell my teacher about these bullies.I went to my teacher’s desk and whined to her, "Some older kids were bullying me in the playground. They told me to cut my hair.""You should cut your hair. So much hair is disgusting" she told me most spitefully.I went to my seat crying with anger, not to those bullies or my teacher, yet to myself for being, so weird. I was now determined to cut my hair before the day was over. Finally the long awaited moment had arrived; the day was over and my Mom and Dad were waiting for me outside to go home. My dad asked me how my day was so, I told him about my horrible day. I told him about the fifth graders bullying me and the teacher’s malicious comment towards me. I told him that I wanted to cut my hair today, and that my mind was made up. Understanding my situation my parents headed towards the closest barbershop. On the way to the barbershop I started looking at my parents, with their uncut hair. And I asked them why we had to have uncut hair. My parents stopped the car and they told me everything about my religion and why we don’t cut our hair. My parents told me that a saint named Guru Gobind Singh Ji first formed the Sikh religion. God told him that he was to make a new religion, a religion, in which the members have uncut hair.Now as I look back at what my parents told me; I understand that the Khalsa was founded not only to have a religion where nothing that god gave to us was changed. People weren’t supposed to cut their hair because God gave them hair and what he gave shouldn’t be changed.