What were the problems faced by Henry IV on His accession and how did he attempt to solve them Essay Example

What were the problems faced by Henry IV on His accession and how did he attempt to solve them Essay In the late 16th Century, there was a lot of trouble and there would be for a few years in Europe. This was particularly apparent in France under the reign of Henry III. The way in which Henry came to power was unexpected and was amidst a whole load of controversy. Henry III was assassinated and he had no natural heir to the throne of France. So on his deathbed he named Henry of Navarre to the throne, the problem was that he was a Protestant and he would have to convert before becoming the French King. This is only the beginning of the trouble and bothers that Henry of Navarre would have to deal with during his reign. The reason why Henry III gave the throne to Henry of Navarre was due to their friendship and the fact that they were allies in a war against the League and the man they named as the heir to the throne called Charles X. in a battle to win Paris back from this group Henry III was assassinated. Henry IV had to endure a number of problems during his reign and this essay wil l say what they were and how they were solved.Inn France there was a civil war; it was called the War of the Three Henrys. In order for Henry to secure his realm he needed to secure a power base. The only was he was going to be able to do this was to win back Paris from the forces of Henry of Guise. This was a major problem, as Henry needed to bring peace; he also had a severe shortage in men compared to the vast army of Mayenne. Henry was able to defeat the 24,000 strong army of Mayenne with only 5000 men; he did this at the Battle of Arques. He then went on to try and take over Paris but was unsuccessful. He was then able to return to Normandy and conquered another number of cities. There was another battle at the Battle of Ivry where the forces of Mayenne where supplemented by Philip II of Spain. Then as it looked as if Henry was going to finally take over the capital of Paris, the Duke of Parma came to the rescue and was able to join with the League to make the army 24,000 stron g, again Henry IV was forced to leave. Again, Henry realised that he needed to take another stronghold of the League to reinforce his power and so he focused on the Leagues other stronghold of Rouen in Normandy. Unfortunately for Henry, Parmas army again pushed Henry back. This was the end for the Henry and he had to think of a new game plan in order to capture Paris.The second one of Henrys problems was his religion at the moment he was a protestant and it was the reason why Henry was at war with Henry of Guise and Philip II of Spain. In order for Henry to be recognised as king of France then he would have to become a catholic. So, on 17 may 1593 the Archbishop of Bourges announced that Henry was to become Catholic. In July he went St. Denis to receive instruction from a group of Bishops, so on the 25 July he abjured his protestant faith. So there were massive street parties and a large street procession, with the cheers of long live the King. In 1594 he was finally pronounced king and he had his coronation. The only problems were now with controlling the battling religions in France and creating peace and not civil war. The other was with the Spanish garrison still in Paris, this was swiftly dealt with by opening the gates from inside and by letting Henrys troops flood in. The success was completed with the blessing of the Pope and the reconquest of Amiens in 1597 and the Peace of Vervins in 1598. Along with the peace of Vervin there was another peace settlement, this one was within the country and was to prevent civil war between the Catholics and the Protestants.This settlement was called the Edict of Nantes and was made to establish the good and lasting peace. It gave the opportunities for the Huguenots to practice their religion, they were able to practice on the grounds of a nobleman, at two places in each baillage and wherever they could prove that their faith had been openly practiced in 1596 and 1597. They were able to hold any position in state and enter any profession, they were granted access to any schools, universities and hospitals. It was also judged that any legal case should be in front of a court including Protestants and Catholics. However, this was not complete peace there was opposition to it, and this was made known by certain extreme groups. There were some doubters in the court but after Henry IVs speech on the registration of the Edict of Nantes they soon changed their mind, as it was very well constructed and very emotive. Henry IV came to power with a lot of religious problems along with the fact that religious war was looming, however through his pragmatism and peaceful ideals he was able to deal with these problems.Before Henry had come to the throne, the war in which the previous monarch had been involved in was disastrous for the countrys economy and so it was up to Henry to find out how to sort them out. Henry was in debts of 138 livres; the crown owed money to the English crown, German princes, Swiss Ca ntons and the Grand Duke of Tuscany. He did this by employing the protestant, the Duke of Sully. Henry began to develop0 the ideals of absolutism and started to rebuild the nations capital. He also started to rebuild the state industry for business. In 1602 he started the Council of Commerce, which fostered the silk industry. He also set up factories for tapestry production such as the Gobbelins Factory.The country also began to make progresses in the production of morocco leather, paper, fine glass and metallurgical industries. This new stability of Henrys reign brought about a new revival in agriculture, harvests got better, cash crops increased and generally every one was enjoying the reign of Henry. The duke of sully also started to invest in developing bridges, canals and improving roads. He made sure all the work was done to a high standard by inspecting it through a team of inspectors and treasurers, so he used centre control. Sully had the largest role to play in reducing hi s countrys debt. He did this with the use of ten major ways. The first way was the storage of bullion in the Royal Treasury, this was where all the real money was kept and from this all the countrys wealth could really be counted.It also allowed the country to have some backup if the country really needed it, like in the case of war. There was a reduction of debts to foreign states, many debts were settled privately. With the marriage to Marie de Medici a lot of debt was also wiped off, along with a large sum of money given to Henry IV. Past debts were also written off and treasurers were told not to pass any of those debts into existing budgets. It was also recommended that certain Rentes should be discontinued and that interest rates should be reduced on others. There was also a reduction in direct tax and an increase in indirect tax.This was most poignant on Le Gabelle, which was a tax on salt, which everyone needed. There was also the introduction of the Paulette, which was basi cally a cash payment worth a 1/16th of the assessed price of an office. Sully also made the work of Provincial Treasurers more efficiency and often checked up on defaulters. He also imposed a tight supervision on expenditure and could control it when in times of hardship. He also attempted to reform the provincial financial administration. He also increased the growth of the Privy Council. All in all Sully did well he reduced the Kings debts by a lot and was able to increase income, he was most definitely the most valuable asset in helping the king with his financial problem.Another problem faced by Henry IV was provincialism and the lack of central power. Due to the vast size of France it was very hard to keep a track on every part of the country. This was why different rules were placed in different places and why central government rules were not followed in others. It all came down to the lords and the nobles who were looking after the lands. A way in which henry tried to combat this was to move Provincial Governors from where they were used to being. He moved them to unfamiliar territory so they didnt know anyone and wouldnt be able to start a revolt or try and screw the King in some way. He did this to the Duke of Guise and the Duke of Conde.Most of his Provincial Governors were military commanders and they did a lot for the King. They ensured the effective expenditure of taxation, they worked on roads, bridges and fords, and they tried to exercise control over the nobility and other local political groups. Local Parlements were also very active; the king appointed their presidents and tried influencing their work. However, quite often they rejected Edicts in both religion and taxation. However hard the King tried to keep control over the groups there were always local revolts and murders of royal officials so he had to fight hard to try and keep some form of central control.The last main problem that henry had was the constant threat of Spain. With Spai n controlling Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and Italy along with many other colonies it was a major threat to France. With Spain being the most dominant and strongest force in Europe it was very threatening with Spain being on the doorstep. The Spanish were constantly involved in French business due to the war going on before Henry IV came to power and the way in which they had to leave Paris. Philip II was also involved in the plots against France and didnt like the way in which the Protestants were being treated as he felt that they were being treated to good. He wasnt also very pleased in the way in which Henry converted to Catholicism and promised to get rid of the Protestants, but instead used the Edict of Nantes to maintain peace. Spain also used their wealth to influence Provincial Governors and to cause revolts with the peasantry to make it hard for France.In conclusion henry had a lot of problems on his accession to the throne, and he dealt with them very well. He had bee n threatened of civil war and he obviously didnt want this as it would put the country into debt and would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to the country. Other problems he had were religion and the way in which he dealt with religion. He dealt with it well, to keep the peace. He also improved the countrys finance, tried to keep provincialism under order due to the size of the country. He also did well to keep Spain off his back. So finally Henry IV had a lot of problems as most monarchs of his time but managed to deal with them sufficiently.

Free Essays on Johannes Kepler

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, a premature child. He was born in Weil, in Swabia, a wine region in Southwest Germany not far from France. Kepler waent to the University of Tuebingen, a Protestant institution, where he studied mainly theology and philosophy, but also mathematics and astronomy. After Kepler graduated from Tuebingen, he was offered a professorship of astronomy in faraway Graz, Styria where he went in 1954. One of the duties of this Professorship was to make astrological predictions. While lecturing to his math class in Graz, contemplating some geometric figure involving Concentric Circles and triangles on the backboard, Kepler suddenly realized that figures of the type shown here determine a definite fixed ratio between the sizes of the two circles, provided the triangle has all sides equal, and a different ratio between the sizes will occur for a square between the two cirtcles, another for a regular pentagon. He really believed in the Copernicah Sy stem, so he saw the planetary orbits as six concentric circles. He felt the universe would somehow show mathematical beauty of symmetry. He suggested that the orbits might be arranged so that regular polygons would just fit between adjacent ones, and maybe somehow this reflected some invisible underlying structure holding it all together. Disappointingly, he found it just didn’t work the ratio’s where wrong. Then he had another inspiration. The universe was three-dimensional, and instead of thinking about circles, he should be thinking about spheres, with the planetary orbits along the equators. The anologue would be two concentric spheres with a tetrahedron between them, so that the outer sphere passes through the verticles of the tetrahedron, and the inner sphere touches all its sides, but is completely contained in the tetrahedron. There were just six planets, so five spaces between spheres, and there are just five regular solids... Free Essays on Johannes Kepler Free Essays on Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler was born on December 27, 1571, a premature child. He was born in Weil, in Swabia, a wine region in Southwest Germany not far from France. Kepler waent to the University of Tuebingen, a Protestant institution, where he studied mainly theology and philosophy, but also mathematics and astronomy. After Kepler graduated from Tuebingen, he was offered a professorship of astronomy in faraway Graz, Styria where he went in 1954. One of the duties of this Professorship was to make astrological predictions. While lecturing to his math class in Graz, contemplating some geometric figure involving Concentric Circles and triangles on the backboard, Kepler suddenly realized that figures of the type shown here determine a definite fixed ratio between the sizes of the two circles, provided the triangle has all sides equal, and a different ratio between the sizes will occur for a square between the two cirtcles, another for a regular pentagon. He really believed in the Copernicah Sy stem, so he saw the planetary orbits as six concentric circles. He felt the universe would somehow show mathematical beauty of symmetry. He suggested that the orbits might be arranged so that regular polygons would just fit between adjacent ones, and maybe somehow this reflected some invisible underlying structure holding it all together. Disappointingly, he found it just didn’t work the ratio’s where wrong. Then he had another inspiration. The universe was three-dimensional, and instead of thinking about circles, he should be thinking about spheres, with the planetary orbits along the equators. The anologue would be two concentric spheres with a tetrahedron between them, so that the outer sphere passes through the verticles of the tetrahedron, and the inner sphere touches all its sides, but is completely contained in the tetrahedron. There were just six planets, so five spaces between spheres, and there are just five regular solids...

When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out

When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out When in Doubt, Leave Scare Quotes Out By Mark Nichol When quotation marks are employed to suggest the irony or dubious validity of a word or phrase, or the writer’s remove from credit or blame for its use, they are called scare quotes. However, other uses- to introduce a new or unfamiliar term, to signal that a term is not being used in its traditional or literal sense, or to provide emphasis- are usually heavy-handed and seldom aid in clarity of composition. The sentences below, accompanied by discussions and revisions, provide examples of extraneous use of scare quotes. 1. Next, we will discuss the so-called â€Å"high-impact, low-likelihood† risks. The phrase so-called serves the same function as scare quotes, so using both in a sentence is redundant: â€Å"Next, we will discuss the so-called high-impact, low-likelihood risks.† However, be just as cautious in the use of so-called as in employment of scare quotes; the term is rarely useful and therefore unlikely to be necessary. In this case, it would be better to identify who characterizes the risks that way (â€Å"Next, we will discuss what John Smith calls high-impact, low-likelihood risks†), to use passive construction to soften the introduction by writing something like â€Å"Next, we will discuss what are called high-impact, low-likelihood risks,† or to omit any qualification at all: â€Å"Next, we will discuss the high-impact, low-likelihood risks.† 2. Risk management should be an embedded process that ultimately becomes part of the company’s â€Å"DNA.† Here, DNA is being used figuratively to refer to something that is a fundamental part of an organization, but the fact that it is not being employed literally does not justify scare quotes; the metaphorical use is clear: â€Å"Risk management should be an embedded process that ultimately becomes part of the company’s DNA.† 3. It is imperative to understand â€Å"what to do† as well as â€Å"what not to do.† Although the phrases â€Å"what to do† and â€Å"what not to do† are being presented as categorical concepts conceivably spoken or written as part of an effort to inform, this usage does not merit any emphasis: â€Å"It is imperative to understand what to do as well as what not to do.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should KnowFive Spelling Rules for "Silent Final E"Supervise vs. Monitor

Quranic and Biblical Depictions of Sulayman Research Paper

Quranic and Biblical Depictions of Sulayman - Research Paper Example The author of the paper tells that when comparing the two texts, some key differences in the depiction of Sulayman/Solomon is revealed. Firstly, in the Holy Koran, the emphasis was laid on Sulayman's role as a Prophet, whereas in the Holy Bible he is portrayed as a King. And to go with the notion of a prophet, Sulaiman was endowed with supernatural powers such as the power to move wind. The following select quotations from Abdul Haleem's translation of the Holy Koran illustrates this point: â€Å"And (We made) the wind subservient to Sulaiman whereof the morning course was a months journey and the course a months journey." (54:12) "So We subjected the wind to his power, setting fair by his command whithersoever he intended" (38:36) "And unto Sulaiman, We subdued the wind in its raging. It flows by his order towards the land which We had blessed And of everything We are aware." (21:81)† Seen from an Islamic point of view, one need not see any contradiction in designations such as a Prophet or a King, for, in the Islamic tradition, most Prophets happen to be Kings and vice-versa, including Prophet Muhammad himself. Secondly, in the Holy Koran, Sulayman is said to have lived only 53 years; whereas The Bible suggests that he lived longer than that. Other minor differences in the two versions pertain to minor linguistic differences such as King David (the father of Solomon) being referred to as Prophet Daud in the Holy Koran. As for similarities, the historical/religious character in question is said to have gathered knowledge from his illustrious father.

Evolution of the Use of Wool Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Evolution of the Use of Wool - Term Paper Example Since then, man has made efforts to improve and maximize on it by selective breeding of excess wool producing sheep and also incorporating other qualities into the wool fabric, including mothproofing, stain-proofing, durable creasing and pleating, shrink resistance and shower-proofing (Guthrie 145). Science and technology came in to improve the quality of wool and maximize the products keeping it in the fabrics forefront making it suitable for the modern requirements without affecting its virtues. After man started domesticating sheep, he used to milk it, and whenever it would shed its fleece, it would be collected, spun, and used to weave clothes. It then dawned on a man that killing sheep for meat only was a waste of resources, material, and food. He then resorted to becoming a shepherd and later on came up with a method of producing clothes from the fleece. He used to spin the wool to produce a thread by taking it in one hand and drawing it out twisting it using the fingers of the other hand. This then resulted in a thick yarn that was uneven. Later on, man developed a crude spindle, where he fitted a clay ring or a stone to a short wooden stick end. The ring made it possible to wound the drawn-out yarn on the spindle. This spinning method was later used for thousands of years. The threads were woven to produce clothes, and the first products were made up of a beam from which warps were hung before being weighted by the stones at the lower end. The yarn was then threaded across the warp in such an act of over and under. This system was also used for thousands of years just like spinning (Gleason 185). After the two implements for spinning and weaving spun wool, the first improvement to be done was on the loom. Instead of the vertical suspension of the warp threads from the beam, they were horizontally laid across the frame. Sticks were then tied to with  alternate warp threads, and they would be lowered and raised in turn.  

Impact of the Digital Age on Society Today

Impact of the Digital Age on Society Today Discuss the impact of the digital age on the social, economic and political life of society today. The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization. The onset of the Information Age is associated with the Digital Revolution, just as the Industrial Revolution marked the onset of the Industrial Age. During the information age, the phenomenon is that the digital industry creates a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global economy that spans over its influence on how the manufacturing throughput and the service sector operate in an efficient and convenient way. In a commercialized society, the information industry is able to allow individuals to explore their personalized needs, therefore simplifying the procedure of making decisions for transactions and significantly lowering costs for both the producers and buyers. This is accepted overwhelmingly by participants throughout the entire economic activities for efficacy purposes, and new economic incentives would then be indigenously encouraged, such as the knowledge economy.[1] The Information Age formed by capitalizing on the computer microminiaturization advances, with a transition spanning from the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s, to the Internets reaching a critical mass in the early 1990s, and the adoption of such technology by the public in the two decades after 1990. This evolution of technology in daily life, as well as of educational life style, the Information Age has allowed rapid global communications and networking to shape modern society. The impact of digital age on the social life of the society today is connected with one’s position in the society, his social class and also his social background, nowadays, there are so many changes in the social aspect of our lives. A very good example of this is festival, changes in tradition and also in the mood of dressing, all this became possible because of the impact of digital age we have today. If we look around us today, it’s hard to find a person that has not added anything new to his traditional attires , what I mean here is, for instance, for the Hausa’s and also the Fulani’s, there were not know for wearing jeans and tops, but now it has become a common thing based on socialization. Before, many do not believe in going to school especially the Fulani’s, they only believe in rearing cattle’s while the women among them are to stay at home, but now, everyone wants to be in school, illiteracy is darkness, people don’t believ e in staying at home doing nothing anymore, for at least even when they lack the opportunity or don’t have the means of going school or seeking for job opportunity, they will prepare engaging themselves in a small business just for them to earn something for a living. There are so many changes due to the impact digital age on the social life of our societies today. The digital age as made the means of communication easier for the world because you can send a message to someone in new york from Nigeria. The digital age as affected the politics of the am economy because you are able to find out the party that as the higher polls making it possibel for the other compeiton to know where they stand at the point of the election. It as aided the politician to be able to have a wider amount of suppoter or vote in the campaign because they can easily broadcast their speechs on the web making people like them more . Over the last 10 years, weve seen social media galvanize thousands over politics, create as many industries as it has destroyed, and offer an abundance of visual and audio entertainment.But has all this incredible change actually changed us, or just the world we live in? Below are some areas in which social media has had lasting, and arguably permanent effects on the ways in which we live. The question is, are these changes all for the better? Child Literacy It stands to reason that children who read and write more are better at reading and writing. And writing blog posts, status updates, text messages, instant messages, and the like all motivate children to read and write. Last month, The National Literacy Trust released the results of a survey of over 3000 children. Theyobserved a correlation between childrens engagement with social media and their literacy. Simply put, social media has helped children become more literate. Indeed, Eurostat recently published a report drawing a correlation between education and online activity, which found that online activity increased with the level of formal activity (socio-economic factors are, of course, potentially at play here as well). Ambient Intimacy Lisa Reichelt, a user experience consultant in Londoncoined the very pleasant term ambient intimacy. It describes the way in which social media allows you to keep in touch with people with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible. Consider the many communications technologies through history — the telephone, Morse code, semaphore, carrier pigeons, smoke signals — they are all fairly inconvenient and labor intensive. Lisa has hit on the idea that communication has become so convenient that its actually become ambient around us. It surrounds us wherever we want it, not necessarily whenit wants us. We dip into it whenever we like. Knowledge Was Power From his Meditationes Sacrae, published in 1597,Francis Bacon was paraphrased as saying knowledge is power. Fundamentally, the more you understand about life, the more chance you have at success. But these days, Wikipedia and Google have democratized information to the point where anyone is able toacquirethe knowledge they may want. As a case in point, I had never even heard of Meditationes Sacrae until I looked up the term knowledge is power on Wikipedia.In Bacons time, the only people that had access to books and the literacy to unlock the wisdom within were the wealthy with the time and inclination to learn. Of course, books werent the only source of knowledge. Consider blacksmiths, dressmakers, cobblers or sailors who passed their skills and techniques from mother to daughter, from father to son. Back then, the friction that held people back from learning was low literacy, a lack of access to books and very little time. Now, that friction is almost non-existent. That is because of both the ability of computers to replicate information for distribution, and the the way that Google, Wikipedia and blogs have empowered people to share what they know. Now,the only real friction that exists is our own desire for knowledge. Its there for you — if you want it. The Reinvention of Politics A recent report by PEW found signs that social networks may be encouraging younger people to get involved in politics. You only need look at Twitters recent impact on the Iran elections, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, and even the election of Barack Obama to see that more and more people are getting involved in politics and are feeling they can make a difference. One of the most popular blogs on the web, The Huffington Post, is mainly political. Politics has a fast pace, and that lends itself well to social media. UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said in June last year that because of the Internet, foreign policy can no longer be the province of just a few elites. Twitter even postponed an upgrade because of the important role it was playing in the Iran elections. These are all signs of both social medias growing influence in politics, and the growing interest in politics from users of social media. The down side for poltic in the digital age is that most information can be gotten from th internet aboout any party making it a disadvantage in the campaign if he or she as a bad record either a fake degree or something a voter would not like about whom he wanted to vote for .Tecchnology has changed the way we live, work, shop and play. We can bank, shop and donate securely from anywhere we can access the Internet. We can to communicate across oceans and continents in seconds. We can work from anywhere, increasing efficiency and productivity. Yet, Nigeria education has yet to embrace the power of technology to customize education and give students the ability to gain knowledge anywhere, anytime. Digital learning can change that. Digital learning is any type of learning that gives students some element of control over time, place, path and/or pace. It allows students to learn in their own way, on their own timetable, wherever they are, whenever they can. Students are using digital learning everywhere – except school. They are gaming, texting and posting on the Internet. Imagine if we channel those digital skills into learning? Student achievement would skyrocket. But still the digital age as a negative effect on the education system,as part of the English class, students wrote and edited their stories on screen and I was amazed how motivated they were and how much time and effort they put into their work. Since the early to mid 90s I have used computers and the internet on a daily basis and as I sit typing this chapter into my fifth-generation Macintosh (while checking emails, paying some bills, downloading research papers and Skyping friends) I realise the value of the new technologies and how useful they are. We live in a global village with instant communication via television, computers, the internet, mobile phones and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype. While parents are often described as out-of-date and old-fashioned when it comes to new technology, children are celebrated as digital natives. Impact on jobs and income distribution The Information Age has impacted the workforce in several ways. First, it has created a situation in which workers who perform tasks which are easily automated are being forced to find work which involves tasks that are not easily automated. Second, workers are being forced to compete in a global job market. Lastly, workers are being replaced by computers that can do the job more effectively and faster. This poses problems for workers in industrial societies, which are still to be solved. However, solutions that involve lowering the working time usually find high resistance. Jobs traditionally associated with the middle class (assembly line workers, data processors, foremen and supervisors) are beginning to disappear, either through outsourcing or automation. Individuals who lose their jobs must either move up, joining a group of mind workers (engineers, doctors, attorneys, teachers, scientists, professors, executives, journalists, consultants), or settle for low-skill, low-wage service jobs. The mind workers are able to compete successfully in the world market and command high wages. Conversely, production workers and service workers in industrialized nations are unable to compete with workers in developing countries and either lose their jobs through outsourcing or are forced to accept wage cuts.[6] In addition, the internet makes it possible for workers in developing countries to provide in-person services and compete directly with their counterparts in other nations. This has had several major consequences, including increased opportunity in developing countries and the globalization of the workforce. Workers in developing countries have a competitive advantage which translates into increased opportunities and higher wages.[7] The full impact on the workforce in developing countries is complex and has downsides. (see discussion in section on globalization). In the past, the economic fate of workers was tied to the fate of national economies. For example, workers in the United States were once well paid in comparison to the workers in other countries. With the advent of the Information Age and improvements in communication, this is no longer the case. Because workers are forced to compete in a global job market, wages are less dependent on the success or failure of individual economies.[6] In conclusion, digital age had so much impact on the social, economic and political life of the societies today because it has brought so much changes in our daily aspects of life and also helps us to improve and reshape our environment with the aid of practical, experimental and scientific knowledge or technology. Impact on social life The digital age as made communication easier and faster for indivdual and firm of all countries but this the social network in the world as made it harder for indivdual to have face to face conversations eferences Amichai-Hamburger, Y., Barak, A. (2009). Internet and well-being. In Y.Amichai-Hamburger (Ed.), Technology and psychological well-being.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Anderson, C. A. (2002). Violent video games and aggressive thought, feelingsand behaviors. In S. Calvert, A. Jordan, R. Cocking (Eds.), Children in thedigital age (pp. 101–120). Westport, CT.: Praeger.Anderson, C.A., Bushman, B.J. (2002). The effects of media violence onsociety. Science , 295 , 2377-2378.Antoci, A., Sabatini, F., Sodini, M. (2009). Will growth and technology destroysocial interaction? The inverted U-shape hypothesis . Munich Personal RePEcArchivehttp://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/18229Accessed 15 th January 2010.Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.Barylick, C. (n.d.). Technology and social isolation. Retrieved fromhttp://irchelp.org/irchelp/misc/tech.htmlAccessed 12th January 2010.Bauerlein, M. (2008). The dumbest generation: How the digital age stupefiesyoung Americans and jeopardizes our future . New York, NY: Penguin.BBC (2009) Online networking ‘harms health’. London: BBC News Website.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stmAccessed 12th January 2010.

Otis Toy Trains Explores the Supply Chain Essay

The value proposition of Otis Toy Trains of Minneapolis is to offer well designed, detailed, evocative and luxurious toy trains and their accessories to middle-aged and senior adults. The traits for its critical customers are mainly two aspects. First, the critical customers’ age generally range from 35 to 55 (born from the 1960s to the 1980s). Second, the critical customers should have fairly high income to afford buying and collecting luxurious toy trains. The toy trains have many order winners, such as its high brand recognition among critical customers, its attractive and evocative train series due to those experienced designers and its wide selection of related accessories. However, Otis Toy Trains still has some order losers. For example, the Otis Toy Trains’ critical customers are so narrow (only adult born from the 1960s to the 1980s), and the toy trains do not have much attractiveness among other groups; therefore, it is hard to expand market and easy to lose m arket. In addition, the Otis Toy Trains does not have a method to efficiently produce and deliver its toy trains to customers, which means the cost of production and delivery is relatively high. As a consultant, I will highly recommend the Otis Toy Trains to accept the proposal because it can cut about half of the manufacturing cost, and the outsourcing will also emancipate the Otis Toy Trains from maintaining its facilities (factories). However, outsourcing will make the quality of toy trains out of control. For example, the Mattel recalled back over nine million toys because its outsourcing factories in China used paint which was hazardous for health. Therefore, my recommendation is to send managers to Chinese factories and keep track of the manufacturing to make sure the quality is under the Otis Toy Trains’ control. Trail Frames Chassis Trail Frames Chassis’ value proposition is to offer customized, timely fashionable and technologically advanced motor home chassis for manufacturers who place orders for small quantities. Its order winners include its brand recognition, timely fashionable designs, advanced technologies which are incorporated with its design perfectly and highly customized products which satisfy each customer as much as possible. In  contrary, its order losers are the high cost and price, unconformity to the schedule. These two order losers also make TFC’s chassis not available to many potential customers due to its low scale of orders. For proposed TFC chassis, it also has the brand recognition, timely fashionable designs and advanced technologies as order winners; furthermore, it has some additional order winners such as the relatively low price, conformity to the schedule and large scale of orders. In terms of order losers, the proposed TFC chassis does not have the high cost and pr ice and unconformity to the schedule; however, the lower flexibility of responding to customers need may cause more defect on products which will influence the company’s reputation and profit. Therefore, both the original and proposed TFC chassis will focus on doing research on fashion and new technologies. I would recommend TFC to accept the proposal and get into the new market. The reason is that it is more difficult for TFC to change its operational capabilities, but it can simply target a new group of customers, which means entering the market of low-end chassis market especially when the current market is saturated. In terms of facilities, TFC does not need to do much amendment on its existing operational capabilities because what it has to do is just using less-expensive components. In order to increase sales, I think TFC should outsource its manufacturing of low-end chassis just like what TFC’s major potential competitor BMW had done. The reason is that the low-end chassis do not need to be customized, so it is easier for TFC guarantee the quality. Furthermore, TFC does not need to have more fixed cost (building new factories), so it can keep the low-end chas sis at a lower price. Work Cited â€Å"Mattel Issues New Massive China Toy Recall.† Msnbc.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07, May 2014. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20254745/ns/business-consumer_news/t/mattel-issues-new-massive-china-toy-recall/#.U2rT6Yfz2So â€Å"BMW: Outsourcing Assembly and the ‘Modular Industrial’ Strategy:.† Abubakrag. N.p., n.d. Web. 07, May2014. http://abubakrag.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/bmw-outsourcing-assembly-and-the-modular-industrial-strategy/