General motors Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

General motors - Essay Example At one point, GM was the largest corporation in the United States. It was also the single largest employer in the world but despite being industry leaders for several years, GM could not sustain competition from European and Japanese car makers. The company was beset with financial woes and in November 2005, GM had to lay off 30,000 employees and several plants had to be shut down. This is when its decline started which led to a complete restructuring of the company following the financial crisis in 2008. In this paper, after a brief history of the company, the financial crisis that the company faced and how it handled the situation would be evaluated. General Motors was incorporated on September 16, 1908 in New Jersey by William Capro Durant, a school drop-out. However during this period the auto industry in the US was in a mess with 45 different car companies already existing in the United States. By 1920s the demand for cars was high and GM brought in innovation in design and marketing. They introduced ‘a car for every purse and purpose’ and thus had Chevrolet, Vauxhall and Opel under its banner. The introduction of the Cadillac in 1927 made people see cars as more than a mode of transport. GM’s commitment to innovation continued even during the difficult times. Challenges gave way to changes during the 1960s and 70s as environmental concerns and competition from foreign car makers forced GM to reengineer its cars. This led to much lighter, aerodynamic and more fuel-efficient vehicles. Several innovative concepts were introduced by GM such as air bags, the use of unleaded gasoline while its contribution in r educing emissions is also recognized. In 1990, GM also introduced electric cars. However, as GM recognized the challenges in the US market, it started international expansion by opening its first production unit in Spain in 1982. This was the era of globalization when GM also formed joint ventures

Challenges in the Third Sector Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Challenges in the Third Sector - Essay Example Social benefit structures are usually diverse in different nations. These systems take care of components of social defence, family unit strategy and individual dependability in a different way, and all over the Europe, a combination of these components can be found. Their individual characteristics still control nationalized social exchange of ideas, even though globalisation, altering financial conditions, progressive EU legislative and increased stress on resources appears to direct towards ‘convergence’ .Although in some European nations, civil society - even if the phrase itself is of current derivation - has been a venerable happening, other nations’ experience with them is fresh. Global commonality either has brought active establishments in Europe to start non-governmental organizations or help their counterparts in rising parliamentary governments do this, and their support is usually ongoing.There is no established description of the expression 'civil so ciety establishment'; however, it is normally implicit to take account of the social associates, NGOs, mutual interest organizations and local establishments (Comaroff, p. 99, 2009). What all establishments have in common is their ‘not for profit’ nature, which does not indicate they cannot produce in excess, but does indicate they have to be reinvested in and utilized for the common use of the establishment. In various nations, the global year of volunteers 2001 has evidently been an incentive to reorganize as well as develop volunteering directive.

The Importance Of Irrigation Agriculture Environmental Sciences Essay

The Importance Of Irrigation Agriculture Environmental Sciences Essay The importance of irrigation agriculture for a country having agricultural lead industrialization policy and rainfall dependent community to cultivate is not far from anybody. Ethiopia recently has a population of over 80 million. Of these 80 percent are living in rural area and their day to day breath is depend on rain-fed agriculture and not food self sufficient. To make theses community food self sufficient irrigation agriculture can be one way conjunction with rain-fed agriculture. The country has huge water potential that can be used for irrigation. Thought the countries water potential for irrigation is high, due to many reason the countrys capacity to support agriculture through development of irrigation has been weak (Mengistu, 2000). Ethiopia endowed with relatively higher amounts of rainfall in the region and has a surface runoff of about 122 billion m3 of water and 28,000 Mm ³ ground water (GoE,1999). The abundant water resources have earned Ethiopia the name the water tower of East Africa (United Nations Development Programme 2006). However, even had this estimated water potential, the country cannot assure its food self-sufficiency. If the country uses all its efforts to collect all available water resources for crop production, there is a possibility that the country can cover its food deficit and can also export some crops like oil crops and cereals. Thought water resource potential is significant in Ethiopia, use of this resource especially for irrigation agriculture is not that much as its water potential. Cognizant to this fact, the government has taken initiatives towards developing irrigation schemes of various scales (Desta, 2004) Recently the government look at towards irrigation development projects from small scale to large scale to become food self sufficient. Ethiopia indeed has significant irrigation potential. Realizing the potential irrigation development can contribute towards food security and improved welfare, the Government has embarked on wide range of water development efforts throughout the country. In the last decade, small-scale irrigation and rainwater harvesting were the government agricultural policy to increase crop productivity and reduce water shortage for crop and animal production. In some parts of the regions, where there are scarce and erratic rainfall, there is evidence that irrigation has achieved positive impacts: better opportunity for production, better income, reduction of risks, and hence generated benefits for poor rural communities. Ethiopians population increases averagely 3% per year. To feed these rapidly increase population as a country rain fed irrigation alone can not a solution rather intervention of irrigation agriculture can be a solution for the country having huge water potential for irrigation. Many developing countries cannot meet their food consumption using rain fed agriculture that is why many of them Intervening irrigated agriculture in the economy to feed their rapidly increased population (Hailemariam, 2008). Irrigation is needed at any time when the moisture of the soil is not capable for plant growth while the water is available. Once if the soil moisture cannot supply enough moisture to the plant, the plant cannot grow or if it grows it cannot bring expected production. Therefore to avoid crop production failure due to moisture stress and increase crop production applying water to the crop is important. But the main determinant of irrigation projects in developing countries are its need of high cost of initial investment capital and operating and maintenance cost in case of construct huge dames or high river diversions. On the other hand if we see small scale irrigation projects they may not asking huge investment capital and operation and maintenance and it should be recommended for those developing countries which cannot stand with two legs in irrigation agriculture sector. But when we start intervening irrigation to the area we should start from suitability of available water resour ces. The country has highly-diversified agro-ecological conditions which are suitable for the production of various types of crops. The crops are produced under rain fed and irrigated condition. The government of Ethiopia(2010) in its Agricultural sector and investment framework policy, 2010-2020 stated that Cereals dominate Ethiopian agriculture, accounting for about 70 per cent of agricultural GDP Over the past decade, cereal production has more than doubled to nearly 15 million tones, as a result of horizontal expansion and increased yields. Even thought the government of Ethiopia (2010) in its Agricultural sector and investment framework policy, 2010-2020 stated that the food self sufficiency issue is still critical for many households and for the country as a whole (Tadesse, 2009). To challenge food security problem recently promotion of irrigation agriculture is given priority (Mekuria, 2003).Thus, implementation of small scale irrigation including hand dug well construction has become one of the activities both by the individuals as well as the government according to water potential of the area (Tadesse, 2009). Agriculture and rural development has been the central pillar of successive national development and poverty reduction plans and remains so under the new five year growth and transformation plan (FYGTP) announced in August 2010. There is a need, however, to increase development efforts and resources targeting high-potential rain fed areas and irrigation development, in order to accelerate productivity growth, agricultural led industrialization and long-term food security. Thus groundwater has become an important source for irrigation and it has become an integral part of the irrigation strategy to overcome food scarcity in many developing countries including in Ethiopia. Such efforts have helped to expand irrigation with time particularly from 1950s the expansion has been rapidly increasing (Rosegrant et al., 1999). Most agricultural production is used to meet household consumption needs and, for a very large number of households, there is a prolonged hunger season during the pre-har vest period. In all increasing productivity in smallholder agriculture is Governments top priority, recognizing the importance of the smallholder sub-sector, the high prevalence of rural poverty and the large productivity gap. Productivity enhancement however, must be complemented by efforts by introducing effective practices towards the farmer to help farmers from purely subsistence farming to semi-subsistence/ semi-commercial status practicing farming as a business and to adopt more sustainable natural resource management practices in order to arrest and reverse environmental degradation. But this may not achieved only by using rain fed agriculture, rather by conjunction use of surface water and ground water without affecting the environment. Therefore In order to achieve these far-reaching and ambitious objectives, Irrigation development perceived as one of the strategies with the potential for solving this problem and to be food self-sufficient. The government of Ethiopia has an irrigation development strategy, which aims to develop over 470,000 ha of irrigation by 2016 as promulgated in the Water Sector Strategy of 2001. Of this development, 52% will be large and medium scale schemes while the remaining 48% will be small-scale schemes (Government of the Republic of Ethiopia 2001). Because of the ambitious government plans to expand small scale irrigation in Ethiopia, and in view of increasing demand of water for various purposes like agricultural, domestic, and industries, a greater emphasis is being laid for a planned and optimal utilization of water resources. Even if Ethiopia has high surface water potential, due to uneven distribution of rainfall in both time and space, the surface water resources are unevenly distributed coupled with increasing water user sectors, may lead to conflict among water users, especially agricultural sector. To narrow this gap and increase productivity per drop of water, surface water alone is not the best solution. Considering this issue; giving emphasis on development of ground water resources for those areas having high ground water potential is crucial. Problem Sstatement Water for agriculture is increasingly recognized as a major constraint to improving the lives of the rural poor and is an important component of rural livelihood programs that need to be yet strongly established in Ethiopia. Irrigation has contributed significantly to poverty reduction, food security, and improving the quality of life for rural populations. The majority of existing traditional and modern irrigation schemes are micro level in size. Most of these schemes are used stream, river and lake diversions but some may be dependent on small dams and perennial springs which show ground water potential for irrigation did not get emphasis. Fogera is one of Blue Nile basin area in Ethiopia and known by flooded plain. The woreda has high ground water potential. Now a day there is irrigation practice in the area for production of vegetables, horticulture (onion, tomato and purple) and in some extent maize. Even if there is such practice in the area, beside high ground water potential almost all farmers are used two perennial rivers called Rib and Gumara as a water source for their irrigation crop production using motorized pump. But the beneficiary farmers are those having farm land near or around streams, while those farmers bounded with these rivers and have not farm land around the stream waiting until the rainy season to cultivate crops. Recently increasing in number of water users for crop production and other uses; the stream flow become drying the downstream especially starting from February to April. This leads to crop failure and reduction in crop production plus conflict among the up- stream and downstream water users. To solve this problem and participate on irrigation those farmers have not farm land around the streams and bounded by two streams, conjunction use of ground water and surface water for irrigation crop production is important. However, to assure these identifying opportunities and major constraints of the community that makes passive on ground water uses for irrigation crop production is primary task to the area having high ground water potential. Researchable Qquestions For a specific study of ground water constraints linking with issues of the use for irrigation crop production, a number of questions can be raised. The study tries to address the following major research questions: What are major constraints of the community to use ground water for irrigation crop production? Are the communities aware about their ground water potential for crop production? What types of practices were implemented in the area to promote ground water uses for irrigation crop production by different Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations? General and Specific Oobjectives In the Fogera plain groundwater is important source that can be used for irrigation crops year around. Reducing dependency on rainfall and stream water for crop production little has known about the potential use of ground water in the area. Rain fed agriculture alone cannot be insuring food self-sufficiency for the country having uneven distribution and erratic rainfall. Rather in addition to rain fed, implementing irrigation schemes according to water source potential weather surface or ground water is important. For those areas having high ground water potential, ground water may serve as a water source for irrigation crop production and increase income. But to use this precious natural resource actively and efficiently tackling obstacles related to ground water use for irrigation crop production is the primary task. This paper will investigate constraints in the Fogera Woreda on ground water uses for irrigation crop production. In particular it will:- Identify major constraints why farmers are not used ground water for irrigation crop production. Identifying major constraints of the community on ground water use for irrigation crop production, makes easy to decision makers to understand communitys problem on ground water irrigation and searching methods to solve the communitys problem on it. Evaluate communities awareness about the area ground water potential uses for irrigation crop production. It is important to the community to make them self-confident about their natural resource. If they are sure about their resource potential for irrigation crop production, they can through their doubt about ground water production potential and can cultivate crops like any perennial (chat) or seasonal which makes them profitable using ground water. Assessing best practice if there is, to promote ground water use for irrigation crop production in the area by different Governmental and Non-Governmental Organizations. Assessing best practice done in the area on ground water use for irrigation is important for the community to scale up from one kebele to another. These practices also stimulate communities towards ground water use. Significance of the Study The government in the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty policy (PASDEP, 2010) states to increase its total area of irrigated land from the current 640,000 hectares to about 1.8 Mha to the next five years. The intervention of the plan is to address most of the supply-demand gap within 15 years time through increasing the number of large, medium and small-scale irrigation schemes. But to make this dream fact the government should also use all available ware resources including surface and ground water. Fogera woreda has huge potential of ground water and an area of 76%flat which is suitable for irrigation. So the main objective of the study is identifying opportunities and major constraints of ground water use for irrigation crop production in the ground water rich area. once identifying major constraints and solve them the community involved completely on the use of ground water use for irrigation crop production and can play their role to the government pl an pulse increasing their income. The use of available water resources especially stream water is critical issue in the area for irrigation crop production and is source of conflict in the area. The study can also important to avoid and manage conflicts and ensure the participation of low level communities in the area if we can solve the communities problem on ground water use for irrigation. Scope and Limitation of the Study The study covers the time period of 2010/11in Fogera flood plain to identify opportunities and major constraints of the community on ground water use for irrigation crop production. There are more than 27 kebeles in the Fogera woreda but only six of them which are Kokit, Kideste Hana, Sena,Shaga,Nabega and Wagetera are only part of the study because of their natural location on the flood plain. But to do this the study also has its own limitation including, unavailability of ground water recharging rate and other related issue of ground water to show ground water potential of the study area, proper document on of training that farmers took on irrigation, yield of last season production of the farmers because farmers are not comfortable when they ask about their amount of income, The specific types of soil at the flood plain, water yield of wells and others. However to hit the target of the study, the study uses main questions and available secondary data which are use fill for the study.

Interview Essay - Jacey Hart -- Interview Essays

Interview Essay - Jacey Hart J.C. Hart is a native Californian, and was born June 10, 1927, in Inglewood. She has been married to her husband, Jim for fifty-two years. Together they have raised one son and two daughters, who also reside in Southern California. J.C. feels that her family and marriage have provided the foundation for happiness in her life. When she married Jim in 1948, she found great happiness just in spending time with him. Over the years her definition of happiness has changed. J.C.'s children were of foremost importance in her life and added to her happiness. Certain years spent working also contributed to her happiness. She said, "The emphasis has changed, but not the foundation." Sometimes J.C. knew she was happy because she felt euphoric, but mainly her feelings of happiness come from being content. She said that she feels more satisfied than happy now when accomplishing something. "I'm not likely to reach out, because negative emotions were not always welcomed." But she feels that her husband, Jim has played a significant role in helping her cope with unhappiness. Because of his sensitivity towards her, J.C. hasn't experienced any "serious sorrows." She doesn't like to spend time feeling low. Physical activities and a sense of accomplishment help lighten her mood. She enjoys participating in Saddleback College's exercise classes that are held in Leisure World. Companionship, singing in her church, and watching sunrises, sunsets and the moon are important activities for J.C.'s sense of happiness. There are a couple of things make J.C. unhappy. One is when she gets discouraged when her time is spent unproductively. She is a fan of PBS, and enjoys spending some of her time watching their many fasc... ... faith and more on intellectual challenges, and social/political awareness. J.C. believes that parents today seem to put more emphasis on enjoying their children, rather than on being a "successful parent." She says that enjoying your children, and parenting them with love, respect and a positive attitude is a great way to achieve happiness. To achieve happiness, J.C. suggests that a person should be willing to keep learning, act on positive impulses, not put things off, and take good care of their health. Summarizing this advice with her philosophy on life, she emphasized the importance of striking a balance between your family, your social life, the contributions you make to society, and the accomplishment of your desired goals. After meeting J.C. Hart, I feel that her last name should be HEART. She has an aura of love, warmth, and wisdom that touched Me. Interview Essay - Jacey Hart -- Interview Essays Interview Essay - Jacey Hart J.C. Hart is a native Californian, and was born June 10, 1927, in Inglewood. She has been married to her husband, Jim for fifty-two years. Together they have raised one son and two daughters, who also reside in Southern California. J.C. feels that her family and marriage have provided the foundation for happiness in her life. When she married Jim in 1948, she found great happiness just in spending time with him. Over the years her definition of happiness has changed. J.C.'s children were of foremost importance in her life and added to her happiness. Certain years spent working also contributed to her happiness. She said, "The emphasis has changed, but not the foundation." Sometimes J.C. knew she was happy because she felt euphoric, but mainly her feelings of happiness come from being content. She said that she feels more satisfied than happy now when accomplishing something. "I'm not likely to reach out, because negative emotions were not always welcomed." But she feels that her husband, Jim has played a significant role in helping her cope with unhappiness. Because of his sensitivity towards her, J.C. hasn't experienced any "serious sorrows." She doesn't like to spend time feeling low. Physical activities and a sense of accomplishment help lighten her mood. She enjoys participating in Saddleback College's exercise classes that are held in Leisure World. Companionship, singing in her church, and watching sunrises, sunsets and the moon are important activities for J.C.'s sense of happiness. There are a couple of things make J.C. unhappy. One is when she gets discouraged when her time is spent unproductively. She is a fan of PBS, and enjoys spending some of her time watching their many fasc... ... faith and more on intellectual challenges, and social/political awareness. J.C. believes that parents today seem to put more emphasis on enjoying their children, rather than on being a "successful parent." She says that enjoying your children, and parenting them with love, respect and a positive attitude is a great way to achieve happiness. To achieve happiness, J.C. suggests that a person should be willing to keep learning, act on positive impulses, not put things off, and take good care of their health. Summarizing this advice with her philosophy on life, she emphasized the importance of striking a balance between your family, your social life, the contributions you make to society, and the accomplishment of your desired goals. After meeting J.C. Hart, I feel that her last name should be HEART. She has an aura of love, warmth, and wisdom that touched Me.

Mission readiness

Proper gear accountability can range from the most important pieces of gear such as my rifle all the way to my Several. The units and individual soldier to whom this gear Is Issued are held accountable for maintaining them. Losing a piece of gear could have repercussions ranging from payment for lost property to legal action. Losing or not keeping up with your gear and equipment results to you not being mission ready.That is the last thing you want to happen to you or your unit. Especially, when you are a part of something important as GRAFF. The purpose of the GRAFF is to have units who are able to quickly deploy and execute decisive-action operations in support of combat operations and in some cases provide humanitarian assistance. If my unit was miraculously called up to deploy anywhere I would've been the one to hold the whole operation up. Most likely I would stay behind and have someone who has their tuff together take my spot.I have to stay in that mindset that we can be anywh ere at a moment notice. That was bad on my part that I let myself get so careless when it come to my equipment. Before I went home that day I should've checked for all of my PIP because that's exactly what I would do down range. I have to start getting Into the battle rhythm now of checking my equipment every time I take It out Into the field, range, or for something simply as a detail.

Heroes or Antiheroes: A Character of a True Identity

Literature has always been part of our daily lives. Authors from different parts of the world make each composition part of the civilization or the whole society. In whatever story that we read, we try to understand its social perspectives and the ideologies of the characters. Some of the fictitious narratives talks about the ignorance, immoralities, and illogical thinking of the society towards good and evil. Because of power, some of us tend become irrational with our actions just to prove that we are the authority.This is what the two stories entitled â€Å"Harrison Bergeron† by Kurt Vonnegut and â€Å"Saboteur† by Ha Jin wants to impose to sits readers. From these two stories, it can be said that even if we wants to make our lives equal and perfect, there are still certain situations that will tests our individuality – to become heroes or antiheroes of the society. The main character in Vonnegut’s story is George Bergeron. His family lives a normal lif e before but because they were imprisoned by the military for a special case, their lives were ruined.George dreams of his son every night but it’s all a dream. He wants to see Harrison but he knows he could not. George as the protagonist in the story is a depiction of social imprisonment and injustices. He is a combination of a concept of hero and anti-hero. He is a hero of his family but an antihero of his enemies or the antagonists of his life. Harrison rebels against the government and the system. He escapes from the jail in order to turn down the government. It can be said as a form of individualism because Harrison thinks of his own resolution and not on the idea of fixing an issue.He wants to turndown the government for personal interest and to create his own monarchy. Through this, he became an antihero because he choose to become his own personality and not for the betterment of his society. However, the readers could not blame the characters for they are hopeless an d helpless. â€Å"They were burdened with sash weights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in (Vonnegut).† They struggle in a immoral society just because they are good citizens and having a normal life. That is why even if they strive hard to become peaceful and work for their community, they still suffer. The equality did not exist right through their environment. On the other way around, Ha Jin’s story is a depiction of social immorality. The authority made irrational attacks towards other people to prove their power and strength; to show that they are right – even if not. Mr.Chui, the main character of the story is a lecturer in a University in his community. He works hard and opens the eyes of many people for the betterment of their country and to prove their rights against immorality and social injustices. Mr. Chui is doing his jobs an d responsibilities as citizen of his state. However, because it is not right for the authority who is implementing the ‘immoral policy,’ they are seeing him as a convict of a crime, which he did not. â€Å"On the glass desktop was a folder containing information on his case.He felt it bizarre that in just a matter of hours they had accumulates a small pile of writing about him. On second thought he began to wonder whether they had kept a file on him all the time (Ha). † Mr. Chui’s characterization in the first part is heroic but as the story reveals the main point of his character, it starts to work to become antihero because he needs to sacrifice his ideologies and beliefs for his friend and own identity. At the end of the story, he chooses to accept his ‘crime’ just to be free.He turns down his beliefs and signs the confession in order to help his ex-student lawyer Fenjinto be stopped from being tortured by the police officers. In connection of the two characters in the story, both Harrison and Mr. Chui, their selfish egos win. Mr. Chui spreads the hepatitis in Muji. He becomes the Saboteur; they accuse him at the very beginning. They both rebel against the system but then pursue their own interests. At the end of it all, the two stories leave the readers some initiatives and learning about the real situation of the society.The two stories are created in different form of culture but they are somehow identical to one another. The authorities are immoral and unjustified with their actions. They want happiness and ego without serving their people. The characters who suffer from all the threats and violence remain hopeless and helpless. What they have to do is to surrender. They were heroes of their own cause but they became antiheroes of their own dignity. The authors of the stories made a significant attack against the authority of the society.They must know their limitations to make their society a better one for they are the implementers of law and they are treated as respectful individuals who make their people secured and free from harm – so they must also bring back the respect for they are the authority. In conclusion to this, it can be said that the two characters in the stories are antiheroes. In the beginning of the narratives, they were imprisoned and they sacrifice more than what they expected because they have their own ideologies and beliefs.However, as they experience the threats and sacrifices within their path, they started to think for revenge against the system who tortured their character. If we look at the lighter perspective, we could not blame them from all the experiences that they have gone through. However, if we try to seek the deeper perspective of case, they will remain as antiheroes of the society because they work for their own monarchy and satisfaction and not for the betterment of their whole society. Works Cited Ha, Jin. Saboteur. Vonnegut, Kurt. Harrison Be rgeron.