Features of Intercultural Communication

Features of Intercultural Communication Intercultural communication is about how people from different cultures communicate. It is a face to face communication between people from different cultures and backgrounds (Lewis, Slade 2000). In University, the mixing of different cultures is a good example of intercultural communications. Every day, we learn different things about different cultures. This is important as it allows the world to grow and become closer allowing countries to have relations with each other and to learn and respect the different beliefs of other cultures. There will be problems faced along the way to achieving these goals nevertheless there are always ways to overcome these problems. Problems such as language barriers, traditionalbeliefs , Gender with regards religion are the main issues which present difficulties towards learning about different cultures. One of the problems that can affect the movement of intercultural communications is traditional beliefs. For example, Koreans traditionally as a sign of acknowledgement and respect, greet one another with a bow. If a westerner goes to Korea and greets a Korean with a wave, it may be disrespectful towards the Korean. This can be overcome by education and the acceptance of multiculturalism within each country. A country cannot expand if it does not except multiculturalism. Storey Douglas said in his article that international communications including the flow of popular culture and news, as well as educational, economic, and professional exchange, are shown to have profound influences on how people develop images of other nations and how perceptions and misperceptions affect interaction at the national level (Douglas 1988). Language is the key to a person’s self-identity. It enables the person to express emotions,  share feelings, tell stories, and convey complex messages and knowledge. Language is our  greatest mediator that allows us to relate and understand each other (Imberti, 2007). It can be defined as a system of conceptual symbols that allows us to communicate. It also provides us with a significant frame of reference and a relational context that sustains our identities (Imberti, 2007). An example of how language can be a barrier towards intercultural communication is when a Chinese man is unable to communicate to a Western man because of his lack of knowledge of the English language vice versa. Aki Uchida mentioned in her article about understanding the need to learn English, she saw it as an important means of relating to people of different cultures and constructing shared knowledge and understanding (Uchida 1997). Understanding the need to learn another language is important for overcoming the language barrier to enable communications between cultures helping us relate to different cultures and sharing our knowledge and understanding of our cultures to them. Some cultures believe that women are inferior to men. It is a barrier preventing us to achieve intercultural communication. For example if a successful Australian woman goes to the middle east where women are permitted to work and their job were to simply stay at home and look after the kids, Middle eastern men may find that very intimidating and offensive therefore avoiding any form of communication with the Australian woman. Aki Uchida suggested in her article that emphasizing the possibility that the beliefs and practices that constitute gender are salient cultural resources and attributes that participants may reject, accept, or integrate in the course of cultural building (Uchida 1997). To build obtain intercultural communications; people have to learn to accept and respect their dogmata of another culture for communication to transpire. In respects to the example I gave, Middle eastern men should accept and respect the culture of Australian society and not be afraid to approach the Australian woman with respect and benevolence. Like-wise the Australian woman should realize their culture and be more respectful towards the men not in an inferior way but a restrained manner (not coming across as too aggressive). These are ways that we can form bridges to further improve our drive towards obtaining intercultural communication with different cultures. However there are still people in the world who are ethnocentric. Ethnocentric is having the idea that your particular belief or culture is better than other cultures and beliefs. Having this mind set will only set us back in hopes of obtaining multiculturalism and cross cultural communication. Ethnocentrism is divided into three stages, denial, defence and minimization are the three ways to define an ethnocentric person (Chu 2014). The person is in denial which means he or she is completely not interested in dealing with people of different cultures (Chu 2014). They are comfortable in their culture and usually do not want to step out and accept a different culture. Some are in Defence and take action towards people of different cultures (Chu 2014). Their actions are usually caused by fear of an unknown belief or action and therefore in defence, they retaliate against the person in other words categorising them as â€Å"minorities†. Minimization is when they recognise a different culture but at a very superficial and minimal kind of level (Chu 2014). Our aim should be to try and help those who are ethnocentric to slowly move towards being ethnorelative. Naomi Ludemen Smith described in her article that to be ethnorelative is to adopt a position that dismantles any notion that there is a set of universal standards by which we can rightfully judge or confront the good and the bad of how a people group, religion, and society lives (Smith 2013). ethno relativism is divided into three stages, acceptance, adaptation and integration. Acceptance is to tolerate different cultures, Adaptation is to experience emphathy towards a different culture and integration is not regarding that there is a dominant culture (Chu 2014). To move from ethnocentrism to ethnorelativism, according to Deardorff, the attitudes move from top to bottom. Firstly, when dealing with another culture, the ethnocentric individual will have to show respect, openness and curiosity discovery (Chu 2014). This is the basic requirement before moving on to the next stage of gaining knowledge and skills to adaptation. Individual has to show cultural self-awareness which is acknowledging that his or her culture is not perfect. After realising this, you will accept another culture and gain an understanding of it and slowly being open o listen, observe and show respect to a different culture (Chu 2014). After which, a desired internal outcome will be obtained. The individual will gain an ethnorelative mindset and will be able to empathise with other cultures. Lastly, the individual will obtain the desired external outcome being able to behave and communicate affectively and appropriately to achieve his or her goals to some degree with another culture (Chu 2014). Our ultimate goal is to achieve intercultural competence in todays globalised society. All these technical tools on how to become more ethnorelative will be completely useless if the individual does not possess the correct ethics. we need to have ethics when it comes to competence of intercultural communication. In order to address ethics in communication, we must recognise them as an extension of personal convictions or we condemn ourselves to study them as idealistic, theoractical constructs (Casmir 2013). We have to gain these ethics ourselves, gaining knowledge of the norms within other cultures and show respect towards these norms, show hospitality to people from other cultures for others to display respect to our culture therefore displaying the awareness of different cultures ethical responses (Chu 2014). At the end of the day, it is people who communicate with each other and not cultures that communicate with each other. If we look at the differences between cultures from our perspective, there are many differences however if you look at it from a individual human to human perspective, There is not much difference in the way people react to things (Chu 2014). We have to put ourselves into unknown territory for us to change and appreciate different cultures and to display ethics. The learning process or acculturation which is the process of the meeting of cultures and the changes which result from such meetings (Chu 2014). How we acculturate is the same as how we learn about things in our daily lives such as university or our work place, we expose ourselves to unknown situations and learn from it by excepting it. Intercultural empathy is shown when we place ourselves in the shoes of someone from a different cultures perspective and try to understand what it is like from their eyes (Chu 2014). It is like setting a goal for ourselves in the future and working backwards from that goal that way guide us and sets a focus into attaining our goal. Intercultural competence is important to communications because it helps us bridge cultural differences within and among nations (Chu 2014). Multiculturalism is spreading around the world due to globali zation with counties helping each other expand through trades and multi national operations. Therefore, migration is high and individuals from different cultures are made to interact with one another which is why it is necessary for us to have an ethical response to the social reality of cultural tension. Why not get along to help make the world a better place to live in.

Five Burning Lights in a Dark Universe :: Women Feminism Rights Essays

Five Burning Lights in a Dark Universe The present just as the past did holds innumerable obstacles for women in search of a professional career. However, as a woman of the 20th century, I am glad to say that the obstacles have decreased through time thanks to the voices of courageous women who dare to talk when everyone else held silent. Many changes occur from the 17th century on, economically, politically and socially; the scientific revolution, the end of monarchy and absolute power, the emergence of democracy, and capitalism are only a few of those changes. This changes also brought changes in peoples attitudes, specially the attitude about women. Since the Greek times, society has underestimated women's potential. However, through history women have dared to challenge the world, and have spoken up to show the world that women are as capable, and talented as men. Aphra Behn, Anne Finch, Margaret Cavendish, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Mary Shelly are five of these women from the 17 and 19-century who dared to speak up, and raise their voices to let the whole world know about women's situation and solutions to it. Aphra Behn, born in 1640, was England's first professional woman writer. Behn was a middle-class widow who mainly wrote for TIME and CLEOS, in Greek or fame and fortune for us. In a time where women were suppose to be silent, pure, and in the private sphere or homes taking care of the children and their husbands, a woman dared to challenge society. Behn, challenged society not only by stepping into the public sphere, publishing her writings, but also by writing about women's feelings, desires, dreams and realities. Behn wrote great poetry and we can see her challenging ideas in the title of her poems most of the time, and this challenges become more obvious as we read her poems. "The Willing Mistress," was a vivid example of this, since in its verses Behn writes about a woman's sexual desires and wiliness to have sexual relations with a married man. We can also see a reflection of her ideas, in her speech titled "Mrs. Gwin," where she criticize the gender ideology of the time, and also exposes women's situation. She argues that no reason existed for men to prevent women from writing, governing and fighting, with the excuse that women were weak and inferior, because women have had done it before.

Interrelation of Physical and Social Characteristics in Society :: Anthropology

Interrelation of Physical and Social Characteristics in Society Cultures on this planet are infinitely diverse and quite different from each other as well. Many of the customs and rituals that are practiced in the United States are diverse in nature as well, but are similar in more ways to each other than to cultures in other regions of the world. It seems that a great deal of a culture’s core stems from their surrounding environment, and the pressures that this puts on those trying to live there. A culture’s physical and social characteristics are interrelated, and play an important role in the development of a society and the personalities of the people. Marriage, jobs, and politics are all areas of a culture that are influenced by a person’s environment. In the U.S., monogamy is the â€Å"normal† structure of marriage, and is a logic choice considering the type of environment we live in. Independence training is emphasized to prepare people for obtaining the highest standard of living in the U.S. Being better than another is important in this society, and is stressed to most people from a very early age. Living away from one’s parents is not only expected but also often desired by both the child and the parents. Mobility is a huge factor in the work force, and the less one is â€Å"tied down† to, the easier it is to make the necessary transitions. In other societies, forms of marriage other than monogamy make more sense, and make life easier. For example, the !Kung San live together in small groups, in which everyone takes care of all the children, and much of life is not privately shielded from the group. Their openness and sharing of childcare and lifestyles is also portrayed in their food gathering activities. The villagers gather food and then distribute it to not only their own â€Å"nuclear† family, but to others as well. It would be too hard to survive on your own in this environment, so the group structure works well. Inheritance of lands and goods also plays an important role in the structuring of societies and families in other cultures outside of the U.S. Cultures such as the Inuit, Tibetans, and Marquesan Islanders of Polynesia, practice polyandry, the marriage of more than one man to a single woman. This is common for brothers who do not wish to divide up their father’s lands, so they will marry the same woman and both retain the entire estate.

Classroom Problems Essay

1.Classroom Shortage Teachers have to shout so loud because 70 – 100 students were jam packed sharing one classroom. Many classrooms have been divided into two by partitions. Stairwells and corridors have been converted into miniature classrooms. There were morning and afternoon sessions (2 shifts) to accommodate all students. 2.Bullying inside the classroom Disunity and bullying greatly affects a student behavior and performance inside the classroom. Bullying is very damaging to a student. It might affect his/her self-confidence and might induce the student to go into a shell and thus makes his world gloomier. 3.Classroom Behavior One of the biggest problems that are usually encountered by the teachers are their student’s behavior. It can cause disrupt for other students in the class. Other issues are students who don’t want to participate for various reasons. Also students being unprepared for school, not having the resources, or having homework done, because of various reasons (home life, parent problems, etc). 4.Lack of parental cooperation Many parents lack guidance to their kids. It is a great help to a student success if parents were able to guide their siblings well. There were times that parents start attacking their student’s teacher when they hear complain from their kid against teacher. Parents like to defend their child without knowing their child’s behavior and problems. 5.Lack of technology inside the classroom (in schools) Computers as part of technology are now essential to classroom learning. Many schools are still not able to introduce even the basics of computer literacy to their students because they are still behind civilization.

Jurassic Park Essay

Technology is one of our most beloved pieces of ongoing history, but does it cause more harm than it does help? In the film Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg portrays the theme technology as an evil force to be reckoned with. Spielberg shows this through the plot, characters, and dialogue. Technology is a major theme because other than the hidden context that viewers have to seek it is everywhere in the film. A viewer thinks of technology as a helping hand, shortcut, or an advance of human nature, but in the film it is portrayed as something that should not be used to try and control nature. Also the complete opposite of what you would normally think, it will not work in your favor. The plot of Jurassic Park shows many ways of people being too reliant on technology. One way it shows this is in the very beginning of the movie they are transporting a dinosaur into the park and the cage had a green light on meaning that it was turned on and ready to transport the dinosaur, despite the green light being on a man was killed when he should have been completely safe (Jurassic Park). This sets the tone for the rest of the movie that you should never rely too much on technology because nothing is perfect. Another way the film Jurassic Park shows the theme overreliance on technology is when Nerdy, the computer nerd, turns off all the parks systems the electric fences shut off and they became completely vulnerable (Jurassic Park). On top of everything they could not even call for help because the phones were also down. Again, this just shows them being too reliant on technology. All this is caused because of Hammond, he is the creator of Jurassic Park and he is the one who counts on technology the most. The characters in the film showed the theme by their character arcs. Hammond, for example, started a park to show off the wonders of real dinosaurs from a safe distance of course. He counted on technology to run everything and keep people safe. When everything started going bad, everyone said they should just shut it down and not go on with this project. Hammond continued to fight for it, but in the end he gave up on it just like everyone else already had. Grant on the other hand hated technology from the start and did not want anything to do with it. Grant was the antithesis of technology, in the beginning of the film he was excavating and he hits a computer and it stops working this was foreshadowing that technology can break down at any moment. These characters symbolize the theme by what they go through in the film, as well as what they say. Steven Spielberg portrayed the theme by the dialogue in his film, Jurassic Park. Dr. Ian Malcolm said â€Å"God help us, we’re in the hands of engineers. † (Jurassic Park), this shows that Malcolm does not trust in technology all he wants it get the fame and money. In the film Jurassic Park Hammond said â€Å"We spared no expense. † (Jurassic Park), this was in the middle of the film meaning everyone else had already lost hope for the park and just wanted to get out but Hammond still believed in the park and also believed that it could keep going. Hammond also said â€Å"Dennis, our lives are in your hands and you have butter-fingers. (Jurassic Park), was a way of foreshadowing events that later came in the film, those events were, Dennis Nedry, the one running the behind the scenes of Jurassic Park, would turn all the systems off, put a encrypted password on, and slip away from the headquarters only to be killed and eaten by raptor, leaving the rest of the crew and family helpless. Steven Spielberg made you seek the theme â€Å"overreliance of technology† through the dialogue, not making it as obvious as other key events in the film. As evidenced by Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, film makers can use various filmmaking strategies to influence the theme of a film. Steven Spielberg used characterization, dialogue, specific scenes, and the plot to portray the theme â€Å"overreliance of technology†. Spielberg showed if one relies on technology so much it can get to a point where if something were to happen to technology you would wander around aimlessly not having the slightest clue on what to do. Steven Spielberg used this though various techniques, including, the plot, characters, and dialogue. Audiences should think twice about being dependent on a device that at any moment could become dysfunctional, they would have no idea what to do if that were to happen.

Agriculture and Desertification Essay

The world’s drylands, contrary to popular misconceptions of being barren unproductive land, contain some of the most valuable and vital ecosystems on the planet. These dryland environments have surprising diversity and resiliency, supporting over two billion people, approximately thirty-five percent of the global population (UNEP, 2003). In fact, approximately seventy percent of Africans depend directly on drylands for their daily livelihood (UNEP, 2003). However, these precious and crucial areas are at a crossroad, endangered and threatened by the devastating process of desertification. There are over one hundred definitions for the term ? desertification’, however the most widely used and current definition is as follows: desertification refers to the land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions due to human activities and climate variations, often leading to the permanent loss of soil productivity and the thinning out of the vegetative cover (UNCCD, 2003). It is important to note that desertification is not the expansion and contraction of deserts or hyper-arid territories, which grow and decrease both naturally and cyclically. French ecologist Louis Lavauden first used the term desertification in 1927 and French botanist Andre Aubreville, when witnessing the land degradation occurring in North and West Africa in 1949 popularized this term (Dregne, 242). The causes of desertification include overgrazing, overcultivation, deforestation and poor irrigation practices. Climatic variations, such as changes in wind speed, precipitation and temperature can influence or increase desertification rates, but they are not catalysts to the process- it is the exploitative actions of humans that trigger desertification (Glantz, 146). The most exploited area historically has been Africa. In the Sahel (transition zone between the Sahara and the Savanna) of West Africa during the period of 1968 to 1973, desertification was a main cause of the deaths of over 100,000 people and 12 million cattle, as well as the disruption of social organizations from villages to the national level (USGS, 1997). As a result of the catastrophic devastation in the Sahel, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 1977, where an agreement was reached to eradicate desertification by the year 2000. Obviously this goal was not achieved. Countries and organizations, notably in the industrialized world, have been unwilling to provide significant and sufficient financial and economic aid to countries most impacted by this issue (Mainguet, 2003). Consequently, desertification is out of control, threatening the sustainability of the world’s environment, disrupting social structures and well-being, and impairing economic growth. This crisis reaches beyond the local, directly affected communities, impacting and jeopardizing world stability. Environmentally, desertification reduces the world’s freshwater reserves due to water over consumption and irrigation mismanagement, decreases genetic diversity through soil erosion and plant destruction, and also accelerates the carbon exchange process by damaging carbon ? sinks’. Socially, desertification causes population displacement as people search for better living conditions, often leading to conflicts and wars. Another social consequence is a dramatic reduction in the world’s food supply due to the depletion of vital dryland vegetation and a decline in crop yields. Desertification is also linked to a number of health issues such as malnutrition, as clean water and sufficient food resources are extremely scarce. Economically, income potential is lost because land is unproductive, and monetary funds are devoted towards combating desertification, compromising economic growth and development. Crisis management becomes more important than achieving economic goals. Furthermore, increasing levels of poverty have resulted due to dire economic conditions. The international body must devote more time, resources and energy to find effective and long-term solutions that will benefit not only directly-affected areas, but the world at large. The devastating environmental, social and economic ramifications of desertification must be addressed immediately, cooperatively and without hesitation, before the window of opportunity is lost. Desertification has created and encouraged a number of major environmental problems, and has endangered the sustainability of a diverse and clean global environment. Through the use of poor irrigation practices and exploitative human actions for profit, water has been over consumed and desertification has occurred near areas surrounding fresh water supplies, reducing or depleting these reserves. In the desertification process, the shorelines and the aquatic land and soil becomes eroded, salinized and degraded. Thus, feeder rivers decline in quantity and supply, river flow rates decrease and ultimately freshwater reserves are polluted and/or reduced. The reduction of river flow rates and the lowering of groundwater levels leads to the â€Å"silting up of estuaries, the encroachment of salt water into water tables, and the pollution of water by suspended particles and salination† (FAO, 2003). These problems are particularly evident in the Aral Sea in Asia, which at one point was the fourth largest lake in the world (Aral Sea Homepage, 2002). During the Soviet era in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the communist central planners had little regard for water conservation, and over consumed this resource. In order to meet the demand for agricultural irrigation the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) â€Å"diverted water from rivers that flowed into the Aral Sea† (Pacific Island Travel: Desertification, 1999). These exploitative actions dropped water levels by one-third because feeder rivers could no longer replenish the large lake, as illustrated in Appendix 1 (Pacific Island Travel: Desertification, 1999). Not only has the shorelines of the Aral Sea declined, but Lake Chad in Africa has followed a similar fate. Desertification in the Lake Chad region has dropped water levels far below the average dry season amount of â€Å"10,000 square kilometers to only 839 square kilometers† (Earth Crash Earth Spirit, 2001). The reduction of water levels in Lake Chad and the Aral Sea decreases their ability to moderate the local climate, resulting in more extreme variations in temperature and precipitation. Therefore, local ecosystems are disrupted and even destroyed, as the climate becomes more continental in nature, and vital water supplies are scarce or depleted. Desertification reduces the biodiversity and genetic diversity of dryland ecosystems, impairing the sustainability of plants, animals and even humans in these regions. As a consequence of desertification, the soil of arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas becomes eroded, resulting in unproductive and literally useless land. This disrupts the habitats and food sources for many organisms, making sustainable life in these areas very difficult (FAO, 2003). Furthermore, because of freshwater and food scarcity, the life expectancy and actual existence for many species is threatened. This grave consequence was evident in the western African country of Mauritania, where the desertification process, from 1970 to 1980, â€Å"killed approximately 15,000 people and over 500,000 various plants and animals were eradicated† (CIESIN, 2003). Unfortunately, as the severity of desertification escalates in countries like Mauritania, it becomes extremely difficult to maintain biologically diverse ecosystems needed to support the lives of plants, animals and humans. Through the ecological destruction and imbalance caused by desertification, the carbon exchange process is accelerated. Dryland vegetation and soil are crucial storage devices for carbon, and contain â€Å"practically half the total quantity of carbon† (FAO, 2003). Once these elements thin out or become unproductive due to desertification, carbon is released into the atmosphere. It is estimated that for every hectare of dryland vegetation or soil that is depleted or unusable, 30 tonnes of carbon is no longer stored and is released into the atmosphere (FAO, 2003). This elevation of atmospheric carbon contributes to the greenhouse effect and global warming. Desertification also has major social consequences, disrupting the social fabric and standard of living for many traditional and Native peoples. On a global level, it threatens the stability and health of a growing population. In the desertification process land is degraded, making it extremely difficult to maintain a successful career and livelihood. Consequently, individuals are forced to relocate to areas with more livable conditions and stronger economic opportunities. This population displacement is evident in the migration of Mexicans to the United States: â€Å"Some 70 percent of all land in Mexico is vulnerable to desertification, one reason why some 900,000 Mexicans leave home each year in search of a better life as migrant workers in the United States† (Environment News Service, 2003). However, in the developing countries of Africa and Asia, impoverished individuals have no option but to become refugees, abandoning their previous livelihoods and simply struggling for survival. United Nations Secretary Kofi Annan stated that in sub-Saharan Africa, â€Å"the number of environmental refugees [refugees due to environmental issues like desertification] is expected to rise to 25 million in the next 20 years. † (Environment News Service, 2003). These refugee movements and population displacement have often caused political and social unrest, and even wars. As a result of desertification, countries fight for control of the scarce natural resources, since previous deposits are depleted or unusable (UNCCD, 2003). The strong, positive correlation between desertification and armed conflict is illustrated in Appendix 2. The population displacement, refugee movements and relationship to wars make desertification devastating to the social security of individuals in affected regions. Desertification has caused a crisis in the world’s food supply, creating concern over the sustainability of an increasing population. Dryland areas are home to some of the most important crops and â€Å"genetic strains of cultivated plants which form the basis of the food and health of the world’s population† (FAO, 2003). Some of these products include cereal crops, oil seeds, grain legumes and root crops. In drylands affected by desertification, land that was once agriculturally viable can no longer be used, as it is essentially a wasteland. Even if agriculture is feasible, the nutrient poor soil makes it extremely difficult to grow a large quantity of a certain crop. This has crippled the food supply, at a time when its sustainability is already in question. According to the United Nations: â€Å"a nutritionally adequate diet for the world’s growing population implies tripling food production over the next 50 years under favourable conditions. If desertification is not stopped and reversed, food yields in many affected areas will decline† (UNCCD, 2003). Thus, desertification creates uncertainty as to the adequacy of the world’s food production, endangering the supportability of a growing population. There is a strong, positive correlation between desertification and serious health concerns and diseases. The increasing rate of desertified areas has created a crisis in the world’s food and water supplies. As a result, food and water are extremely scarce, and â€Å"malnutrition, starvation and ultimately famine will result from desertification† (UNCCD, 2003). This has prompted concern and anxiety within the World Health Organization stating, â€Å"we [the WHO] is becoming increasingly worried with the consequences of desertification, such as malnutrition and famine† (WHO Denmark, 2003). Desertification is also indirectly linked to many severe epidemics, notably in Africa. The drying of water sources due to desertification forces people to use heavily polluted water, leading to disastrous health problems. According to the World Health Organization, â€Å"desertification and droughts can increase water-related diseases such as cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and diarrhoeal diseases† (WHO Denmark, 2003). Recent research and studies have also suggested that malaria incidences have escalated significantly in desertified areas. The strong, positive correlation between malaria and desertification is depicted in Appendix 3. Furthermore, soil erosion and land degradation has resulted in the creation of dust storms and poor air quality. This has had a very negative toll on human health and â€Å"results in mental stress, eye infections, respiratory illnesses and allergies† (UNCCD, 2003). Therefore, desertification is strongly associated with dust storms, poor air quality, malnutrition, famine, and epidemics, all of which are enormously hazardous to human health. In an attempt to combat and rehabilitate desertified land, precious economic funds are required and exhausted. Consequently, resources are drained, resulting in the weakening of local economies and the compromising of national development goals. As the desertification process continues, attention and money is spent on crisis management, not on growth and development. Due to the depletion of natural resources, desertification contributes to decreased income levels and productivity losses. This is specifically true in agricultural regions and severely stunts economic growth. The worldwide cost of desertification, expressed as income foregone amounts to approximately $11 billion for irrigated land, $8 billion for rainfed cropland, and $23 billion for rangeland, for a total cost of $42 billion (CIESIN, 2003). This value may not seem astronomical for developed countries like Canada, Britain and the United States, but for nations in the developing world, these figures are devastating. According to an unpublished World Bank study, â€Å"the depletion of natural resources causing income loss in one Sahelian country was equivalent to 20% of its Gross Domestic Product† (UNCCD, 2003). Desertification has thus crippled present earnings as well as income potential in the future, hurting not only individuals but also entire economies. In an effort to improve future conditions, developing countries devote significant amounts of their limited monetary resources to combating and rehabilitating land affected by desertification, severely impeding their economic growth. Land rehabilitation costs are those incurred for stopping further degradation and to restore the land to something approaching its original condition. Unfortunately, this requires a significant amount of investment that could have been used for economic development, as opposed to just repairing land. On a per hectare basis, it is estimated that â€Å"a cost of $2,000 is needed to improve irrigated land, $400 for rainfed cropland, and $40 for rangeland† (CIESIN, 2003). To people living in the developing world, these costs consume much, if not all of their incomes, obviously crippling their careers and livelihoods. Although there is the potential to repair and rehabilitate almost all land affected by desertification only â€Å"52 per cent (1,860 million hectares) can pay back the cost of rehabilitation† (CIESIN, 2003). Thus, many farmers and individuals reclaim land, but because of huge overriding costs, they actually lose money as productivity remains stagnant. Therefore, limited monetary funds are spent towards crisis management, sacrificing national development and economic growth. Desertification is directly linked to the mass poverty occurring in the developing world. Individuals consistently endure an impoverished lifestyle because income potential is foregone, and resources are devoted towards rehabilitation, therefore scarce economic funds are depleted. United Nations Secretary Kofi Anna states: â€Å"Because the poor often farm degraded land, desertification is both a cause and consequence to poverty? Fighting desertification must be an integral part of our wider efforts to eradicate poverty† (Environment News Service, 2003). If the desertification process continues to grow exponentially, mass poverty will also increase both in size and in severity. Thus, in order to address poverty, desertification must be contained and controlled. Currently, desertification affects over 250 million people and a third of the earth’s land surface (4 billion hectares) (UNCCD, 2003). In addition, the livelihoods of over one billion people in over 100 countries are indirectly threatened (UNCCD, 2003), as shown in the map in Appendix 4. It is estimated that in the next 50 years, another billion people will fall victim to the wrath of desertification and its related environmental, social, and economic ramifications (CIESIN, 2003). The depletion and contamination of fresh water sources, the reduction in biodiversity, and the acceleration of the carbon cycle make desertification devastating to the sustainability of the environment. Socially, desertification forces people to migrate which may eventually lead to wars or conflicts, creates a major catastrophe for the world’s food supply, and is scientifically correlated to major health concerns, even epidemics such as malaria. The economic status of developing countries impacted by the desertification process is jeopardized as high levels of income are foregone, and resources are devoted towards rehabilitation, not towards growth and development. Furthermore, poverty in African and Asian nations has grown exponentially due to this process, creating humanitarian and economic crises. The world’s future is at stake, and it is imperative that the global community acts now. Desertification is a preventable process, but requires a coordinated approach involving effort from the local, national and global communities. Local and national governments must implement methods of soil and water conservation, and utilize traditional agricultural systems that support positive environmental strategies. The industrialized world must supply the economic and technological aid necessary for these conservation techniques (UNCCD, 2003). Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology is a modern technique that can be effectively used in combating desertification. GPS satellites can actually pinpoint and locate areas vulnerable or prone to desertification, acting as excellent early warning signs. This allows governments to implement various techniques and policies to prevent damage done by desertification. As former United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt stated in a letter to governors on February 26, 1937, â€Å"a nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself† (Dingle, 2003). The battle to combat desertification is a war that can be lost, but must be won. Now is the time to win the fight before this glimmer of hope disappears. Appendix 1: Time-Series Photos of the Aral Sea Source: Aral Sea Homepage, 2002 These pictures were taken using LANDSAT TM satellite technology. The reddish shade represents the vegetation around the Aral Sea. The northern part of the image is the shoreline of the sea. Notice how in 1979 the shoreline is quite large, while in 1989 it is non-existent, illustrating the decreasing water levels. What is also striking is the white shade on the satellite photo from 1989. This represents an artificial saltpan, caused by desertification and desiccation. Appendix 2: World Map of Armed Conflicts and Desertification Source: CIESIN, 2003 Most of the armed conflicts occurring from 1989-97 are in highly desertified areas. Thus, there is a strong positive correlation between desertification and armed conflict. Appendix 3: Map of Desertification Vulnerability and Malaria Risk in Africa For both maps, red represents the highest severity, followed by orange, yellow, green and lastly white. In desertified areas, much of the population is at risk of malaria, thus there is a strong, positive correlation between desertification and malaria. Appendix 4: World Map of Desertification Vulnerability Source: CIESIN, 2003 Works Cited Aral Sea Homepage. â€Å"Aral Sea Region: Kyzylorda Oblast, Kazakhstan. † 2002. . CIESIN: Center for Earth Science Information Network. â€Å"Global Desertification Dimensions and Costs. † 29 July 2003. . DEWA: Divisions of Warning and Assessment, United Nations. â€Å"Desertification and Drought Identification. † 2002. . Dingle, Carol, et al. â€Å"Franklin D. Roosevelt Quotations. † 2003. . Dregne, H. E. , et al. Desertification of Arid Lands. New York: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1983.

Strategic Choice and Evaluation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Choice and Evaluation - Research Paper Example According to the paper  the senior management of Merifashion must pay close attention not only to its strategic factors such as ‘where’, ‘how’, and ‘when’ but also to the role played by organizational factors that are responsible for transforming a strategy into reality. For instance, once they embark on promotional campaigns for its fashionable products, they should start this by setting up a strategic plan. Lack of these factors can dampen its growth plans, organizational structures and processes as well as be able to tackle the day-to-day challenges and problems it faces today. In addition, key personnel may lack the necessary skills and attributes for them to cope up with the complexities brought about by growth. There are certain strategies, which are recommended in this paper that could help Merifashion to deal with such stalemates.This essay discusses that  one major strategy than Merifashion could follow to ensure continued success i n the business of fashionable products is the engagement of all staff irrespective of their level throughout the organization. Strategic planning is not an event but a process. It has to take certain steps so as to ensure continued success and prosperity in the organization. Engagement of staff generates added input into the organization that helps t build and grow commitment among the staff members.  It is of very high importance for Merifashion to involve employees in the strategy planning.