Friday, January 24, 2020

Romeo And Juliet- Emotions :: essays research papers

Images of Emotions in "Romeo and Juliet" One of William Shakespeare's most famous plays is "Romeo and Juliet." I believe the reason for this is its sense of reality and idealism. This paper will present images of human emotions in "Romeo and Juliet," which make this tragedy so believable. Youth and family play a big role in this tragic story. "Shakespeare delineates the hold of the patriarchal family on its children" (Kahn 18). This statement is true both then and now. Parents and elders will always have a hold on the children, but only to a certain extent. The two "noble" families of the play feel control and protection over both Juliet and Romeo; yet in the end, the only effect they have on the two lovers is that they have pushed them to the drastic measure of self-slaughter. Others say that the relation between the two time periods is in the children's disobeying of and misunderstanding of rules set before them. The youth of society tend to question and then possibly disregard the rules that are important to their parents if they do not have a good reason to believe in these rules. The rebellious actions of youth can eventually cause their own untimely destruction. (Justin K.) Although some feel that way, others say that idea is incorrect because teenagers who have been either purposely forcefully kept out of society tend to fear society rather than their own families (Bradbrook 99). I agree with Kahn, parents do have a certain magnitude of authority over the youth of society, but it will only have a limited effect. Just as the aged people of today eventually gained or were allowed their ability to make their own decisions and others, so must the younger generation be able to do. This opportunity was one never given to Romeo or Juliet they were left in a position of the second type of connection, where their only option was to go against the rules and concepts set before them. Two of the many other emotions used in this piece are prejudice and hate. They are intertwined and effect each other in ways so noticeable to us that we tend to forget that they even exist at times. "From examining 'Romeo and Juliet,' it is evident that the play shows how prejudice leads to escalating violence" (Justin K.). This, to most people, is common knowledge especially in society today, where many actions are based on racism or sexism.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

The Methods of American Business in Early 20th Century

A little more than a hundred years earlier, United States was an isolated country and the attitude kept developing during that period. The Senate did not want to ratify the Versailles Peace Treaty that ended the First World War and went to an extent that the country did not even join the League of Nations. Free migration into the country that existed earlier was stopped, business tariffs for imports were increased, and migration from Asia was practically stopped. Yet, the country had some special capabilities and one of that were the regularities in the modes of production in the country. The production in America made simpler and rougher goods, used much less of skilled labor since machines and organizations succeeded in taking over a lot of their responsibilities. (Delong 1997) Thus some methods of American business had been developed even before the start of the twentieth century and this may have given the country the lead. It is difficult to ascribe to any particular reason the changes that took place in the American economy during the period before the Second World War America was not one of the leaders of the Western World then as can be seen from the fact that both the World Wars were started by European countries and fought for quite some time by those countries, and America only entered the conflict when it was felt that the tradition of democracy was about to be lost. Yet, there were presidents like Hoover who felt that decline of economy was hurting the American labor. This view had also been taken in 1917 when the government had decided to nationalize the single largest of American industries at that time – the railroads. (Vedder 1997) To a certain extent, the matters of politics and industrial changes were related and the biggest amount of relationship is found in the case of election of one of the most charismatic of American presidents, Frederick D Roosevelt. One of the reasons for his victory at the elections in 1936 is said to be the support given to him by the American Labor. This encouraged the labor union in the hands of CIO to seek more power and even challenge the authority of one of the country's most powerful companies, General Motors. During this period, the company was one of the most profitable and probably the largest organization in the country. This was recognized by the magazines of the time also. The company had 110 manufacturing plants situated all across the country, employed over 250,000 people and was owned by more than 500,000 shareholders. Yet, the attitude of the labor unions irritated the management and made them hostile to both the unions and the New Deal. At the same time, there was the Second World War in progress. (Lichtenstein 2003) Thus to an extent, the development of industry was being hindered through political ideas, but it is difficult to say who won. After the passing away of Roosevelt, the attitudes changed and the unions ended up loosing most of their power. That was also probably due to the conflict of the American system with the Russians who had come up as the most powerful country in the continent of Europe. The growth of the industries of the country was of industrial products and the chief among them was the automobiles followed closely by radios, consumer appliances and development of suburbs. The situation can be understood when we understand that the country had enough vehicles on the road to say that it had more than one vehicle for every five in the population. This is an achievement which many countries cannot state even today. The reason for the development of the country was mass production and that also made it the richest society existing in the world. (Delong 1997) Though all the inventions were not made in the country, but it made sure that large numbers were produced here as it had both the capacity to produce and the purchasers for the goods. It would be wrong to say that there was importance only of production for the War, but production had started earlier. The thought behind this development was the thinking of the major leaders of American business like Henry Ford, Thomas A. Edison, Edward Filenes, and George Swope of General Electric among others. The depression due to the stock market crash in 1929 was hurting people of the country and the president was viewed as a successful business person and he was trying to persuade business to provide help to the people of the country through more employment. (Vedder 1997) Thus it is difficult to say that production for war had any major impact on development of business prior to the start of the War. At the same time, after the production capacities were built up for the war, then one of the major questions was the utilization for utilization of this capacity after the War. This problem had also been seen in 1929 when part of the reasons for the crash was a drop of requirement of goods and services apart from the rather insane growth of the stock market. This was solved through the Marshall Plan and other methods. It helped America to keep on producing against loans to be repaid by much poorer countries, some of whom were never able to repay. The changes in domestic economy over the century have not been remarkable and practices of American consumers have not changed much. There are a lot of realistic impulses within the American consumer which is tied up with the idealism that is sought to be promoted. It contains emotions for freedom and self-fulfillment as the country started with that dream, but, at the same time, many Americans found it difficult to pay for those dreams from their savings and yet required the items as they were felt to be the basis for their identity. This was not accepted in many of the religions that the country started with, but even before the start of the twentieth century it was estimated that the domestic citizens of the country had an eleven trillion dollar of loans in private debt. (Horowitz 2003) This was spread among different people like the urban working class having loans with pawnbrokers, agencies providing small loans and retailers selling goods on installments. Even for building houses, loans were taken from building and loan associations which had to be paid over a period of five years. In spite of the fact that this facility of loans provided a lot of help to individuals in purchases, yet many traditional social workers, economists, clergy, bankers, retailers and newspapers did not like them. (Horowitz 2003) The tradition continues and people still keep taking loans through credit cards and many other methods. Houses are pledged repeatedly so that increase in prices can be taken advantage of. The tradition continues. Post WWI Business (New Industries): This is very difficult to say as many industries are now produced in small parts. On the other hand, in America the individuals decided to concentrate on their private life. The efforts were to separate their lives from others through building up of walls, more prestigious houses with lawns and have a large number of machines – washing machines for clothes, refrigerators to store food and a number of stoves which could be used only for individual dishes. (Delong 1997) Thus one would say that efforts were more on showing off individuality than on development as a social group. It is clear that after the Second World War, the International position of the American economy was viewed differently by the powerful bureaucrats and politicians within the country. There was the history of two major wars, stated by other countries, which were not resolved without the interference of America, though the entire course of wars was fought on other continents. This helped America as her countryside and people were not directly ravaged. The situation was seen clearly in Germany which had lost a lot of its able-bodied men as did France. This had led to those countries allowing a large number of immigrants to come in and some problems for this are being seen in France today. Even during the balance of the twentieth century when Soviet Union collapsed, the sufferings were more directly seen in Russia and other countries. The entire planning of America also reflected this attitude and new organizations like CIA were developed to deal with educationists and others. (Arndt 2005) This shows clearly a feeling that mistakes in the area of political and social thoughts were felt to be possible to resolve through plans. Thus when America got into some wars like those in Vietnam, Korea and Iraq; the people and the culture of the country could not adjust to the losses for a long time. The realization of the fact that the war was lost took some time to sink in. At the same time, it should also be understood that for all these wars, there have been allegations that business was interested in starting some of them. As the country has changed, the policies have also changed and one of the biggest trends is now to have very large corporations. It even exists in the field of health care where there have been mergers of Hospital Corporation of America which had the highest turnover with American Hospital Supply which was the biggest supplier of goods to the hospital industry. When this took place in 1985, this was the largest merger in America by organizations outside the oil industry. (Time1985) The point to consider here is that forming of companies leads to increase in profits so that additional benefits can be paid to shareholders, but at the same time, this leads to increase in costs for the patients. Does it serve the average citizen of the country? Some other difficulties are developed by the systems within the country like requirement of governmental licenses, privileges, subsidy, law and other such advantages. On top of that, there are laws which hinder free trade like the anti-trust cases. (Wright 2002) Yet, the greed among the businessmen does not seem to stop and one of the famous cases was with regard to stock speculator, Ivan Boesky who had stated that â€Å"greed is healthy† in 1985. (James 2002) Are the many changes in the attitudes of businessmen in this regard correct?

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Shakespeare and Chopin - 1095 Words

In one of the William Shakespeare’s greatest plays, Macbeth, we can see an influence years later in Kate Chopin’s novel The Awakening. At the end of the tragedy Lady Macbeth folds under the pressure paralleling some the burdens Edna Pontellier suffers from. Many of Lady Macbeth’s personalities are reflected in Edna. Through the suicidal acts taken by both characters at the conclusion of the books, we can see the how Lady Macbeth influenced Chopin. Macbeth also has a great influence upon the personality of Edna. Edna has a similar battle, hers being between society and her desire to fulfill her sexual desires and be independent. Theses unwritten rules of society determine the fate for both of these characters. Clearly Chopin has taken†¦show more content†¦Macbeth also has some paralleling qualities reflected in Edna that are discovered during Act V Scene 5 of Macbeth. In Shakespeare’s famous quote, â€Å"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day to the last syllable of recorded time And all out yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death.† (Shakespeare 177), Shakespeare conveys a dim reality that nothing is worth living for anymore. Enda Pontellier finds herself in the same situation at the end of The Awakening, with a melancholy existence and nothing left to live for: â€Å"There was no despondency when she fell asleep that night; nor was there hope when she awoke in the morning.†(Chopin146). She goes through the motions the last few days before she makes her trip into the deep seas. Macbeth lives his last few hours with a sense of hopelessness, which Chopin entwines as a basic sentiment for Edna. Another similarity can be seen between Macbeth and Edna through their similar desires. Macbeth’s desires of becoming king are inspired by the three withes. Robert arouses Edna’s desires to engage in sexual activity. Macbeth and Edna both these desires that go against the norm of society. In order for Macbeth to rise to king he must murder King Duncan, which the society does not consider to be moral. In Act V Scene 5 we see a defeated Macbeth, as he was able to overcome or live above the rules of society.Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin895 Words   |  4 PagesIrony and Foreshadowing in Story of an Hour In the short story, Story of an Hour, Kate Chopin chronicles the short journey of a woman who has recently learned of the death of her husband from a railroad accident. Kate Chopin is known for her stories which revolve around women and the world from their perspective, and Story of an Hour is no exception. As a writer, Chopin utilizes and employs many rhetorical devices to add emotion and depth to her world. Though Story of an Hour is riddled with rhetoricalRead MoreStylistic Features in The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin Essay1174 Words   |  5 PagesThe Story of an Hour Authors of literary work have always employed stylistic devices to pass their message, Kate Chopin was no exception. She employs a number of styles in her book, the story of an Hour. Just like any author she achieves storytelling in a simple and straight forward manner. Some of the stylistic devices she uses are: description, internal monologue, authorial intrusion contrast, figurative expressions, symbolism among others. This paper discusses the use of stylistic featuresRead MoreKate Chopin And Virginia Woolf s A Room Of One s Own Essay1254 Words   |  6 PagesThrough their works, Kate Chopin and Virginia Woolf were able to portray a certain relationship between women and society. While some literary pieces are optimistic towards women, others are not. In this case, The Awakening, a novella written by Kate Chopin, focuses on the inner battle that the main character Edna faces throughout her life. On the other hand, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, discusses ideas related to gender inequality. Both women seem to be facing inner turmoil that correlatesRead MoreA Room Of One s Own By Virginia Woolf : Creating A Voice For Women1445 Words   |  6 Pagesjustly in society and this is the reason why women writers are not as successful as male writers. It was considered unethical for a woman to leave a traditional society, of being a housewife, and becoming more independent. In this ess ay, Judith Shakespeare is as talented as her brother; however, his talents are recognized while Judith’s talents are not. Society discriminates against women and believe that women could never be successful. Judith would have advanced much differently even if she hadRead MoreEssay The Story of an Hour1105 Words   |  5 Pagesafter the death of Mr. Mallard. As her tears fade sitting in her comfortable armchair adjacent from the open window, she stares out into the new spring life. The four seasons spring, summer, fall, and winter are symbolic of the stages of our life. Chopin chooses spring as the season for this story to symbolize the new life that Mrs. Mallard thinks is awaiting her. Her husband’s death is no longer a burden to the life she will be living, but is key to the life she had been missing. â€Å"She could seeRead MoreDo A Work Of Fine Art?1157 Words   |  5 Pagesever-present in modern theatre. During the time period that William Shakespeare was penning Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, or Macbeth, pop culture had yet to be established. Today, however, pop culture is embedded within society. Compare any of Shakespeare’s dramas to those that are produced and popular in modern times. Is it truly logical to say that Cats, Rent, Hairspray, or even The Pillowman are equal to the fine works of William Shakespeare (Br antley)? Although modern theatre is enticing, modern playsRead MoreGender Role Of Women In Antigone By Sophocles814 Words   |  4 Pagesa patriarchal society with divine versus human law and love/hate, but other works of literature convey the similar society. Protagonist, Edna Pontellier views her individual self as neither flawless or a tragedy in the novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Throughout the novel, Edna does not look back to some actions as consequences and is in a stereotyped society where women have to act and be a certain way. This can relate to Antigone and her role in Greek society because women have a set standardRead MoreEssay about Life and Death in Literature1516 Words   |  7 Pagesdeath, they have to write about life. Life and death is reality. There are various short stories, poems, and plays that attribute life and death. â€Å"A Rose for Emily† by William Faulkner, â€Å"The Story of an Hour† by Kate Chopin, and â€Å"Hamlet, Prince of D enmark† by William Shakespeare all uses life and death as a theme. The short story â€Å"A Rose for Emily† begins with the death of her father. The trauma of her Death is part of life; it is only natural these authors and poets writes about deathRead MoreA Doll House Analyzation Essay1332 Words   |  6 Pagesthat so this allowed her to feel a sense of equality to men. The need for her to consume these macaroons behind her controlling husbands back was a way for her to satisfy her idea of independence. 2. The Awakening and Selected Stories By: Kate Chopin This quotation is found in the short story â€Å"The Awakening†. This quote is spoken by Edna while she is speaking to Madame Ratignolle, the pianist. While Edna is listening to her play something different strikes within her and probes unexplored emotionalRead More The Lie in Ibsens A Dolls House Essay1837 Words   |  8 Pagesor omitting the truth can be found in Kate Chopins fictional story, The Story of an Hour.   Mrs. Mallard had been lying to herself for years.   She was married to her husband for years thinking she had loved him--sometimes.   Often she had not (Chopin 297).   If she would have been truthful to herself, and fessed up when she realized she did not love him, the rest of her life would not have been lived as a lie.   The truth could have set her free from her unwanted marriage and she could have done

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Financial Analysis British Petroleum (Bp) Till 2006

Financial Statement Analysis: A company s financial statements and ratios are good indicators of its performance over the years. This report specifically compares the ratios for 2004 and 2005, with some additional insight into 2003, 2002, and 2001. The current ratio has increased by 0.0534 from 0.9900 to 1.434. As the current ratio is a measure of liquidity and ability to meet short-term debt requirements, BP was more able to meet their short term debt obligations in 2005 than 2004. From 2001 to 2003 the current ratios were 1.0767, 0.9733, and 0.9600 respectively. In 2001, 2002, and 2004, BP s current liabilities were greater than current assets, indicating that BP may have faced some difficulty in meeting short-term debt†¦show more content†¦A decrease in TAT is a negative sign as it means that assets are turning over into revenues at a slower rate. The industry average for TAT is considerably higher than that of BP, 1.7. This shows that the industry is doing a better job than BP of turning assets into revenue. BPs debt ratio in 2005 decreased by 0.0196, from 0.6129 in 2004. The debt ratio indicates how reliant the company is on debt financing of assets. A decrease in debt ratio is good because it shows that the company is becoming less reliant on debt as a source of asset financing. The general trend has been up for BP s debt ratio, showing an increase reliance on debt to finance activities. This can be good for stockholders because it gives them more leverage by magnifying expected earnings. Also, debt for a company is not always negative, if it is being used to further develop the companies profitability prospects, it can be positive. The times interest earned (TIE) ratio has increased by 18.4476 for BP. TIE shows how much of a company s earnings are available to make interest payments. A high TIE ratio shows that the company can afford to make interest payments at the going interest rate. 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After reading the concepts and cases, the chapter ends with a reflection and critical analysis and is written under the heading my observation and summary. Since my report contains a number of cases based on the business ethics concepts, I would like to call my work with a title: â€Å"Concept and Cases†. CONCEPT AND CASES CHAPTERS 1. Introduction

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Review of “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” Free Essays

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: A Review Harriet Jacobs wrote Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl to show Northern free people what was actually happening to slaves. She hoped her eyewitness stories would convince them that they should speak up against slavery and unite in the effort to end it. She was especially interested in showing free white women the difference between her life and theirs. We will write a custom essay sample on Review of â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl† or any similar topic only for you Order Now She wanted them to see that many things they took for granted were denied slave girls and women. Jacobs was asking free people to look at slavery through her eyes and imagine the pain, both physical and emotional, that she and other slaves were forced to endure. Even though she was a slave, her first six years were happy ones. Her father had skills that made him valuable to the white people so he was allowed more freedom than the average slave. Her grandmother was the daughter of a slave holder. She was granted freedom but then recaptured. She was allowed to make money by selling crackers after her slave duties were done. An injustice Jacobs describes early in her book is the pain suffered by slave families who are separated when one member is auctioned off to the highest bidder. She tells about this happening to her grandmother who helplessly watched as her son was auctioned off at the age of ten for $720. Jacobs knew the pain of a family being torn apart would weaken a free woman’s stand on slavery. Males were auctioned off more than females because owners were more likely to keep females as sex partners and to father children by them. Slave owners made promises to slaves but never felt obligated to keep those promises. Jacobs’ grandmother had been promised freedom when her mistress died. The executor of the 2 estate, Dr. Flint, instead sold her for $70. In spite of what the will said, he got away with selling her because she was property and no one held him responsible for this unlawful act. She also was never repaid when she lent her life savings to her mistress. Two of the most chilling events Jacobs reports witnessing are on pages 15 and 16. She tells of a male slave who was savagely beaten by Dr. Flint because the slave argued with his wife after finding out their child was really the son of Dr. Flint. She goes on to tell the story of a young slave girl in labor delivering her master’s child. The master’s wife stood by mocking the young girl as the newborn died. The slave girl’s mother watched as her only child also died during child birth. Jacobs wrote, â€Å"The poor black woman had but the one child, whose eyes she saw closing in death, while she thanked God for taking her away from the greater bitterness of life. Much of the book explains Harriet’s attempts to avoid Dr. Flint’s sexual advances. When she reached the age of 15 he began a relentless pursuit of her. She was disgusted by his attention. She did not want to lose her virginity to her master as she saw many other slave girls do. She prayed for a way to get away from him. She endured the jealousy of Dr. Flint’s wife who recognized what was going on. She was in love with a free black man but her master forbid her to have any contact with him. After she convinced her lover to go away, Harriet met Mr. Sands. She became intimate with him in another effort to escape the unwanted advances of Dr. Flint. She had children with Sands but still was not able to get free. Eventually she ran away. She hid for 7 years in a cramped crawl space at her grandmother’s house. Jacob’s goes into detail about her escape to the North and the people who were kind enough to help her in her efforts to stay in contact with her family and to stay hidden from Dr. Flint. He continued his search for her until he died. Jacobs then hid from his family who began a search for her. Harriet learned she couldn’t depend on Mr. Sands for help in getting their children 3 freed. She lived for a time with Isaac and Amy Post who were activists working for the Underground Railroad. Eventually a woman named Mrs. Bruce bought Harriet Jacobs from Flint’s children for $300 and she gave her her freedom. Her grandmother got to see Harriet free but died shortly after that. Harriet found out that her children, Emily and William, already knew things like who their real father was and where she had been hiding for all those years. Jacobs is very graphic when she describes slavery and the terrible treatment of slaves. She is very good at detailing her thoughts and reactions to the horrible things she saw and experienced. She reminds free women that most women have the same dream of a loving husband, children and a happy home. She also makes it clear that only free women can live their dream. She often expresses the belief that slavery is worse than death. On page 47 she challenges doubtful readers to visit the South and witness the injustice of slavery for themselves. I’m sure that the book does not include all the events that made Harriet Jacobs who she was. There were probably some good memories she could have shared but that would not have supported her argument or fulfilled her purpose. It is not clear to me why Dr. Flint was constantly asking for Harriet’s affection and never forced her to have sex with him. He did with other slave girls. I wonder if he actually loved her and wanted her to submit to him willingly. He also searched for her for many years until his death. Why didn’t he just rape her as he believed he had a right to? This book is easy to read, interesting, and well written. I don’t really believe a slave could write that well though. I also doubt she could have lived in a crawl space for seven years without more serious physical and mental harm. Some things might have been exaggerated to accomplish the author’s goal. She succeeds in showing readers how unjust slavery was. It’s a good book because, even today, we need to be reminded about how ignorant, cruel and evil people can be. Not all of America’s history is good. We should never forget how the slaves suffered. How to cite Review of â€Å"Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl†, Essay examples

Friday, December 6, 2019

Foundations of Global Corporate Success †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Foundations of Global Corporate Success. Answer: Introduction Due to increasing rate of globalization and technological advancements, commercial activities like foreign direct investments (FDI), emergence of multinational companies (MNC), and joint international ventures (JIV) as well as strategic alliances have been moving on upward trajectory. Globalization has improved interaction and foreign trade across many countries. However, a number of factors have slowed down foreign business activities. These factors are broadly compartmentalized into two: formal and informal systems. Formal systems include factors like political systems, economic systems, and legal systems and informal system, while informal system encompass cultural, social, and linguistic aspects. This paper analyses the risks, costs, and uncertainties that these factors impose towards undertaking foreign business activities. There has been increasing academic concern on the relationship between international business and political environment. One of the most fundamental issues in this context is the type of the political risks that may hamper foreign investment. In most instances, when political risk depicts government interference with market operations. According to Ghosh (2015), political risk emanates from the governments action to prevent or interfere with the business transactions by either changing the terms of agreement or confiscating partially of or the foreign owned business assets. Farnell and Crookes (2016) define political risk as government or sovereign interference with the business operations. Some scholars equate political backlash with the environmental aspects like direct violence, instability, and competition (Cavusgil et al., 2017). Ghosh (2015) identifies the dynamic feature of political environment but contends that progressive and gradual changes that are unexpected do not defin e the political risk. However, political uncertainties affect the business in terms of transfer technology, people, payments, and capital uncertainties; operational business regulation uncertainties; and control uncertainties concerning policies that relates to the management control (Kaur and Sandhu, 2013). Operational and transfer uncertainties flow from the political-economic events to ownership-control events. Political Instability According to Ma et al (2013), political activities have great influence on the economic activities of a country, and as such, a shift in regime may dramatically transform the economy socialism to capitalism. Similarly, power concerns affect the economic policies that a country adopts. For a regime that has been installed through coup may adopt radical socialism that strip all foreign-owned companies their assets. Political expropriations may also be in form of inclusion of forceful renegotiation of contracts with public enterprises, violating the agreement on tax benefits, revisiting business regulatory rules to the detriment of the private investors, and nationalization of private assets without redress (Immarino and McCain, 2013). Uncertainty about the regime change may affect the value of the business expected returns and influence their variations. Political systems have great influence the investment strategy. Countries that experience consistent political instabilities are prone to political violence and have quintessentially weak institutions. In such scenarios, the investment decisions are underpinned on the risk of asset destruction, sporadic changes in the domestic demand, and the poor infrastructure. In addition, countries that undergo political conflicts tend to have slow economic growth and low income per capita. Political instability may also result to destruction of properties and looting. In most times, political unrest culminates to the state of anarchy, which is another factor inhibits foreign investment. Political instability is the reason why most developed and emerging economies do not want to invest in countries like Somalia, Syria, and Pakistan. This is because there is more risk involved in such countries compared to the politically stable countries like China (Wild and Wild, 2018). Conflicts between host countries and other countries Like the internal conflicts, border disputes can result to a reduction in capital inflow and capital outflow, thereby blighting FDI. Conducting a business along tumultuous zones may expose the firm to high risks of asset destruction and staff insecurity. Conflict among the countries materially reduces the demand for business products (Wild and Wild, 2018). For instance, the border conflict between Russia and Ukraine over Crimea has plummeted FDI in Ukraine from $4.5 billion in 2013 to $410 million in 2014 (Vox Ukraine, 2017) There are four distinct types of the economic systems: traditional economy, market economy, command economy, and the mixed economy (Immarino and McCann, 2013). A command economy is an economic system where coordination of economic activities operates under direct control, directive, and regulations of the administrative systems. The economic activities are considered significant to the complex social systems that they cannot be left to operate under the context of the free market. Under this economic system, the economic agents, especially in the production organizations, take orders from high ranks within the authority in the political hierarchy. Therefore, the authorities directly undertake the firm activities, resource employment, production output, management of disturbances, and their coordination. Essentially, the central government sets the firm production targets. Some of the activities that government regulation encompasses include price levels, budgetary control and allocation, material balance, and technical coefficients. According to White and White (2016), this kind of command authority may collide with market forces in crucial sectors of the economy hence manipulating the political direction. Some of the countries whose economies are inherently command system include Russia, China, and North Korea. On the other hand, traditional economy is the type of economy in which customs, traditions and believes prescribe the principles of economic organization for production of goods and services is built up around traditions, according to which a particular society lives (Ghosh, 2015). Technology and other innovations are discouraged to enable the traditional systems that have been embedded on the economic systems over the years to remain. Most countries that adopt this system of the economy are usually agricultural-dependent and rural-based. The economy is quintessentially subsistence characterized by barter trade. Economic activities are rarely commercial, and is dominated by activities like hunting and gathering, cultivations, small-scale fishing, without any modern form of technology. Verbeke (2013) attests the amount surplus produced under the traditional economy is very little. The traditional system of economy is popular in the developing countries and the emerging markets, particularly among the aboriginal population. Another feature of such economy is that the families train their children concerning the traditional customs about resource allocation in the community. Underdeveloped parts of Africa, Asia, and South America still apply this system of the economy. One of the merit of this kind of economy is that it encourages inclusivity. Every person has a specified role to undertake in the growth of the economy, hence strengthening social bonds. Another benefit is that the n basic needs are met. The kind of life in this system appreciates basic items instead of the luxury lifestyle. However, this type of the economy is rigid to change and inhibits high standards of living. Market economy refers to the type of economic system where forces of market demand and supply inherently controls the economic activities (Verbeke, 2013). This means that there is no government intervention or regulation. The state only offers security to buyers and sellers by protecting their individual lives and property against criminals. An absolute free market economy involves full ownership of the resources by individuals. Similarly, individuals without government involvement undertake the decisions of the market. Ideally, producer produces the amount the like and sets prices for their products. Owners of factors of production also have the discretion on what to pay the employees. However, such decisions are implicitly under the market demand and supply forces, which is inbuilt. The market forces determine how much the producer will produce and for how much the producer will sell. The economic decisions in the market economy vest on the buyers and the sellers. The market econom y promotes competition, which enhances efficient use of the economic resources (Beugelsdijk and Mudambi, 2013). In the mixed economic system, the government undertakes part of planning and production activities while private enterprises control some of the production activities (Beugelsdijk and Mudambi, 2013). Most importantly, the public systems operate in a coordinated fashion to ensure that there is partly free and partly centralized. Usually, the government undertakes the investment activities that involves huge capital outlay and are unattractive to the private investors due to the low profit margin and high degree of the risks are involved. Examples of such investments include electricity, provision of water and health services. Mixed economy has both characteristics of command and market economy. The economy is compartmentalized into four sectors: private sector, which owns and controls resources; the public sector, which engages in production of essential goods and services. Joint sector is where the private sectors collaborate with the public sector to undertake economic activities and in the cooperative sector, small-scale producers collaborate in production activities to achieve the economies of scale (Beugelsdijk and Mudambi, 2013). Another fundamental feature of the mixed economy is the maximum social wellbeing. The mixed economy system has regulations to ensure that the private sectors engage in the production activities in a sustainable manner. Therefore, the government can impose quotas, tariffs, and labour laws to promote sustainability and social welfare. The government also ensure that there is equal distribution of wealth through taxation and investment models. Similarly, while the market forces of demand and supply determines the prices, they are also under gove rnment control. The government may establish price ceiling, fix price, or impose value added tax to control the consumption of certain products. The economic system that mostly favours doing business is the mixed economy (Wild and Wild, 2018). The traditional system may be detrimental to foreign investment since the inhabitants are rigid to change. On the other hand, the command system encourages state regulation, which may stifle completion and eventually affect the growth and the profitability of the business. The free market economy encourages competition, specialization, but it is prone to civil unrest and market failure, which may hamper business operations. Due uncertainties that characterize command economy, countries like Russia have experienced decline in inward FDI (Wild and Wild, 2018). However, socialist economies are marked political instability due to one-party state factor. For instance, the FDI in Vietnam registered a 96% increase in the number of FDI projects, from $5075 billion in 2015 to $18103 billion in 2016 (Hanh et al., 2017). The economic system has been favourable hence attracting MNC like Toyota, Uni lever, and Canon. Legal Systems Legal systems can affect the foreign investment by influencing the investors perception on the returns and the risks involved in an investment. Laws that are designed to raise investment cost my may discourage the foreign investors and make the remaining part to raise their demands on the return investment. The main transaction cost to foreign investment, according to Cantwell (2014), is the uncertainty risk about the commercial and legal structures, as well as the risks of breaching intellectual property laws. However, Yu et al (2013) argue that there is no need of stronger intellectual property laws when the business is operating in countries that do have the capacity to invest in technology and contravene the intangible asset laws. Other legal risks include labour laws and taxation policies. Peng and Meyer (2016) observe that absence of international legislative framework that can address such policy issues may impose a huge risk to the foreign business. Without adequate intergove rnmental operations to establish mechanisms and principles that guide business operations between the two countries, investors may be exposed to legal risks and uncertainties. To reduce such risks, it is imperative that the countries implant international legal systems to promote familiarity with the foreign countrys legal system. Another legal risk that international businesses may face is difficulty in optimum connections to address unique challenges that the international business operation presents. Farnell and Crookes (2016) observe that foreign investors may be exposed to demarcation problems when in matters of defining obligations and rights. One of the main difference between the international and domestic transactions is the existence of broader range of parties in legal relationships. Demarcation problems may spawn overlapping problems and other disputing issues. More often, contractual relationships applies to international transactions, for instance buyer and seller contract, carriage contract, insurance contract, buyer and bank contract, as well as bank and the buyer contract. Such system of transaction explicitly discourages international business firms. In addition, money transfer across different countries usually involves legal process that blends local laws with the international arrangements. Specialized contract policies define the obligations and rights of the payee, payer, and banks facilitating the transactions. Some of the regulatory concerns that emerge are general fraud, fund misappropriation, security systems, and confidentiality issues (Cantwell, 2014). The nature of the transaction also demands that the legal systems ride in the same pace with finance and trade institutions. Some of the aforementioned issues replicate in foreign direct investment system. Some of the legal systems give the state full control over the production firms hence making foreign investment difficult, particularly in countries that embrace customary international laws. in similar vein, countries that operates under command economy stipulates that the government will control the foreign businesses, which may clash with the local host laws (Ghosh, 2015). Some countries may also impose restriction requirements to protect the local enterprises. Some of such restrictions include like performance requirements, which stipulates the specifications that a company must meet to join a particular sector of production; licencing requirements, majorly administrative verification; operational requirements, and joint venture requirements, which insists on inclusion of local capital in the foreign production process (.Ghosh, 2015) Cultural Differences Culture refers to a set of shared values, assumptions and beliefs that are learnt through membership in a group, and that influence the attitudes and behaviours of group members (Vadi, 2011) Multinational companies or businesses that engage in the direct foreign investment must observe foreign differences to succeed in a foreign environment. Failure to observe cultural differences can be detrimental to business in terms of strained relationships, poor performance, and reputation vitiation. According to White (2016), it is imperative for businesses that want to invest in foreign countries to understand how culture materializes as well as how cultural differences influence commercial activities globally. Ideally, culture is multifaceted phenomenon and exits at different categories like occupational groups, business units, organizations, industries, and geographical units. Therefore, a firm must consider all these factors before it embarks on the foreign investment. Beugelsdijk and Mudambi (2013) observe that national cultural diversity has remain consistent over time. In another nuanced study, Ghosh (2015) asserts that there is existential resilience of cultural standards even after occurrences like immigration, globalization, technological advancements, formal education, and cross-cultural activities like games. Most Cultures like United States, Canada, and Australia vests on universal commitments, for example upholding integrity, while most cultures in the Russia, China, and North Korea emphasizes on loyalty to relationships and people. The resilience of culture values across different countries is significant to MNC that face numerous national cultures in their operations. This means that operation across the borders presents substantial complexities since it compels the multinational companies to redesign their ethics and standards in accordance with the cultural milieu that they operate. To be effective in its operation, the business must incur knowledge cost on the locals behaviour and understand their cultural mechanisms. To mitigate cultural uncertainties, MNC like KFC, Coca-Cola, and Unilever have been employing employees from the host countries (Ghosh, 2015) In social norms, the individualism and collectivism is the main hurdle for the MNC. Individualism social system puts more weight on the personal preference rather than the whole community or a group. Most countries that embrace individualism like the one the United States and United Kingdom have quintessentially lose structures that emphasize on the individual rights, independence, and personal achievements and initiatives. On the other hand, collectivism social systems, like in China and North Korea, distinctions are based on the community or group fashion, and community interest comes first at the expense of individuals interest (Beugelsdijk and Mudambi, 2013). Like in the case of cultural differences, the MNC must incur knowledge cost and uncertainty risk to operate in in a socially different setup. Asian countries like China, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan accounts for 70% of FDI in Taiwan because their social systems are almost similar (Hanh et al., 2017) Language Barrier Linguistic distance is also one of the major uncertainty risk that MNC are likely to face. For instance, when investing in Venezuela, business executives must ensure that the staffs are multicultural competent (Yu et al., 2013). This may require additional training, which is costly. In addition, due to language barriers, the business must incur knowledge cost, information asymmetry, and moral hazard cost. For business to be effectual in its operation, it must liaise with national commercial and international agencies within that country. The business must also work closely with the local inhabitants since they understand the environment better. To invest in East Africa, MNC like Unilever and Coca-Cola have to ensure that their employees are well conversant with English and Swahili languages (Ghosh, 2015) Conclusion Based on the aforementioned and discussed formal and informal systems, it is evident that undertaking a foreign business presents multidimensional kind of risks. 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