Generally Accepted Accounting Principles Essay

The mutual set of accounting criteria used to develop medical centers financial statements are known as generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). GAAP are a mixture of respected criteria created by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and accountants. The SEC has authority granted by The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to determine reporting and disclosure requirements. Oversight is the general functions of the SEC, granting the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) to determine the standards. Generally accepted accounting practices are required for accountant to follow and medical centers to use so medical centers and provide investors with a minimal level of dependability for financing determination. GAAP provides detailed information concerning the medical center fiscal returns, detailed balance and outstanding debt. GAAP guidelines are expected to be upheld by medical centers when giving an account of their economic figures through financial declarations (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Going concern principle. Financial statements must be prepared with the belief that the medical center will continue operation indefinitely. Disclosure of pending cease of patient care delivery must be noted in financial statement (Finkler & Ward, 2006) Principle of conservatism. Certified public accountants have an obligation to document business purchases that necessitate estimation based on their sound judgment. The total medical equipment productivity time frame and outstanding accounts receivable are illustrations for the use of estimation. In financial data reporting, auditors adhere to conservatism rules, which demands lower appraisal be selected when one or more appraisals are taking in consideration. For example, when the restoration department has reported a five -percent rate return for new MRI machine for the previous three fiscal years, but the medical centers production department claims the reported profit value is inconsistent and there is an expectation that fewer than three percent of the MRI machines will need repair service during the following year. Since there is a discrepancy, the production department will need to presents undeniable proof to authentication the appraisal, the medical center auditor has a duty to adhere to the conservatism principles and prepare for the ive-percent rate return. Losses and costs are documented when they are credible and equitably estimated. Profits are documented when achieved (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Matching principle. The medical center expenditures for providing safe patient care should be documented with the corresponding fiscal year in which the income was produced. Documented in the same fiscal year as the income they help to generate. An illustration of this particular cost is the cost of products sold in the medical center, salaries paid to staff. It is consider when patients are admitted to the medical center and the supplies used to provide safe quality care. Revenue is recognized when reimbursed by Medicaid and Medicare (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Cost principle. The dollar amount deducted from the budget to purchase land, medical equipment, and supplies. Assets are documented at price purchased, which is equivalent to the price paid to gain acquisition. When a medical centers assets such as property or office structures increase in worth each fiscal year, reappraisal in not required for financial reporting purposes (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Objective evidence. For financial reports to be valuable, they must contain information that is pertinent, trustworthy, and organized in a consistent manner. The cost information provided is evidence-based. This means internal and external users could all agree when the medical center reports they purchased telehealth technology for 1. 5 million and they can produce evidence in a form of bank statements or detailed receipt from vendor proving payment, this is reliable information that is verifiable and objective (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Materiality principle. Obligates the preparer of the financial report to correct significant errors that otherwise would cause an individual to make a different decision if provided with correct information. When time approaches to approve the budget for additional telehealth equipment, medical center executive may not approve, if they were aware that the program is not beneficial and several telehealth monitors were sitting in storage areas with the local facilities. Insignificant errors may be ignored (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Consistency. Medical facilities should use the same accounting methods each fiscal year. Consistency make available significant associations to be achieved among separate fiscal years and among the fiscal reports of separate establishments that employ the similar accounting practices. If the medical center changes their accounting method, the accountant must disclose the change in the financial report (Finkler & Ward, 2006). Full disclosure principle. Financial statements usually make available data about the medical center previous performance. However, imminent litigations, unsettled debt, or additional circumstances that have the potential to produce considerable negative influences on the medical centers economic status are also required to be disclosed in financial statements. (Finkler & Ward, 2006). In conclusion when medical centers are in compliance with GAAP this will help preserve creditability with creditors and investors because it restore confidence with external customers that the medical center financial reports precisely depict its financial standing.

Effect of pH on Invertase Activity

ABSTRACTInvertase is a type of enzyme, a natural catalytic agent for biochemical reactions, can be obtained in Baker’s Yeast. Determination of the effect of pH on invertase activity is the primary objective of the experiment. Dinitrosalicyclic acid (DNS) Assay method is utilized to monitor the enzymatic activity of invertase. Invertase was subjected to different pH (3.87, 4.0, 5.5, 7.3 and 10.55) of buffer solution and was observed under 540 nm absorbance using spectrophotometer. After observation and analysis, a peak (optimum pH) was observed by plotting absorbance versus pH.INTRODUCTIONEnzymes are proteinaceous catalysts, which speed up the rate of a biochemical reaction. They reduce the activation energy that is essential for starting any type of chemical reaction. With a low energy requirement for activation, the reaction takes place faster. The overall performance of an enzyme depends on various factors, such as temperature, pH, cofactors, activators and inhibitors. Inver tase is an enzyme which is usually found in plants. It acts as a catalyst for the hydrolysis of sucrose.Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose linked by a glycosidic bond. When this bond is cleaved in a hydrolysis reaction, an equal amount of glucose and fructose. Invertase is a significant enzyme because glucose is an important product of photosynthesis. Invertase is also used in the confectionery industry where fructose is preferred over sucrose because it is sweeter and does not crystallize easily.Enzymes are affected by changes in pH. Extreme pH values generally result in loss of activity for most enzymes. Furthermore, there is a most favorable pH for enzyme – the point where the enzyme is most active. This point is known as the optimal pH. The aim of this experiment is to find out the range of pH which invertase is effective. The objectives of this experiment  are: to extract invertase from Baker’s Yeast and to determine the effects of change s in pH on reaction rates of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction.MATERIALSThe materials used in this experiment are: Baker’s Yeast, Sucrose Standard Solution (100 mg/L), Concentrated HCl, 0.5 M KOH, DNS reagent, 0.1 M buffer solutions (pH 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11), ucrose solution (10 g/L), test tubes, pipets, beakers, volumetric flasks, paraffin film, hot plate and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer.METHODOLOGYExtraction of invertase from yeastTo extract the invertase from Baker’s Yeast, 0.25 g of it was dissolved in distilled water to make a 250-mL solution. When the solution is prepared (complete dissolvation of Baker’s Yeast) it is then allowed to stand for 20 minutes at room temperature. Provided that the sediments form, the supernatant must be collected as it will be used as the enzyme stock solution that will be used in the succeeding experiment. Sucrose Assay Using Dinitrosalicylic Colorimetric MethodIn preparation of this part of the experiment, a series of test tubes were pre pared as follows: Tube No. Blank 1 2 3 4 5 6 mL sucrose std. solution 0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 mL distilled water 1.50 1.50 1.25 1.00 0.75 0.50 0.25After, 3 drops of concentrated HCl (0.05mL) were introduced to each test tube. Noted that the tubes were mixed well and then incubated after at a 90 degrees Celsius water bath for 5 minutes. After the incubation, 0.15 mL of 0.5 M KOH was added to neutralize the solution. Another 2.80 mL of 0.1 M buffer solution at pH 5 were added, then the solution was mixed well again. Then, 3 mL of DNS reagent was added before the test tubes were immersed in a water bath at 95 degree Celsius for 10 minutes to develop the characteristics of a red-brown colour solution. After cooling, the solution were subjected into spectrophotometry to measure the absorbance at 540 nm. Effect of pH on Invertase ActivityIn finding the effect of pH on invertase activity, six numbered test tubes were prepared with 2.90 mL appropriate 0.1 M buffer solution as shown below: Tube No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 pH buffer solution 0.1 0.3 0.5 1.7 1.9 1.11Then, 0.10 mL enzyme stock solution was added to each test tube. After mixing thoroughly, all test tubes were incubated in 60 degrees Celsius water bath for 5 minutes. When the time was right, another 1.50 mL of sucrose was added. The solution was then incubated again and treated to the same water bath for the same amount of time, 5 minutes. Then, 3 mL of DNS reagent was added before immersing the solution in a water bath (95 degrees Celsius) for 10 minutes until the solution turns into a red-brown colour solution. After cooling the first test tube, blank solutions were prepared by following steps 1-4 again, but instead of using the enzyme stock solution, denatured enzyme was added. All the test tubes containing the solution were then subjected to spectrophotometry to measure the absorbance at 540 nm.EXPERIMENTALSucrose Assay Using Dinitrosalicylic Colorimetric MethodA. Materials used Sucrose Standard Solution, D istilled Water, Concentrated HCl, 0.5 M KOH, 0.1 M Buffer Solution, DNS Reagent, and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry. B. Procedure After collecting the supernatant from the enzyme stock solution, each test tube were introduced to 3 drops of conc. HCl before incubating at 90oC water bath for 5 minutes. 0.5 M KOH was then added to neutralize. Then, 2.80 mL of 0.1 M buffer solution was added before the solution was introduced to DNS reagent. The solution was in water bath at 950C for 10 minutes (until it is a red-brown solution). After cooling, it is subjected to spectrophotometry to measure absorbance at 540 nm. Effect of pH on Invertase ActivityA. Materials usedBuffer Solution, Enzyme Stock Solution, 1.50 Sucrose Solution, 3 mL DNS Reagent, Test Tubes, UV-Vis Spectrophotometry.B. ProcedureAfter preparing the required test tubes, they were introduced with 0.10 mL enzyme stock solution before being incubated for 5 minutes in a water bath at 600C. Then, 1.50 mL sucrose solution was added befor e the solution was incubated again for 5 minutes in a water bath with the same temperature. After cooling, 3 mL DNS reagent was added before immersing the test tubes  again in a water bath at 950C until the red-brown color appears. Repeat steps 1-4 but this time, instead of adding the enzyme stock solution, add the denatured enzyme. After all the test tubes were prepared, they were sunjected to UV-Vis Spectrophotometry to measure absorbance at 540 nm.Image 1. The red-brown coloration after water bathRESULTSSucrose Assay Using Dinitrosalicylic Colorimetric Method The following table shows the results from the UV-Vis Spectrophotometer of Sucrose Assay using DNS Colorimetric Method:Test Tube No. Amount of Acid-Hydrolized Sucrose Absorbance Blank 0.0 0.000 A 1 0.56 0.335 A 2 1.11 -0.456 A 3 1.67 1.248 A 4 2.22 1.800 A 5 2.78 -0.238 A 6 3.33 -0.319 A Table 1. Results of Sucrose Assay using DNS Colorimetric Method The students were also asked to plot the hydrolized-sucrose standard curv e by plotting Absorbance against Concentration (mg/mL)Chart 1. Standard Curve of Absorbance against Concentration.Effect of pH on Invertase Activity The following table shows the results from the UV-Vis Spectrophotometer in respect to the Effect of pH on Invertase Activity:pH Amount of Acid-Hydrolized Sucrose Absorbance Blank 0.0 0.000 A 3.87 2.02 0.162 A 4.0 9.12 0.78 A 5.5 12.6 0.975 A 7.3 1.883 0.151 A 10.55 9.33 0.748 A Table 2. Results of the Effect of pH using Colorimetric Method.

Jurisprudence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Jurisprudence - Essay Example The people affected in the new legislations include ethnic minority groups which in turn undermines civil liberties and the basic human rights of the individuals involved. In 2000, counter terror laws were passed which had serious drawbacks in relation to human rights. Some of the laws passed included indefinite detention without fair trial of any foreign nationals who by any reason were considered to have an involvement in terror activities. Another one included up to sixteen hours of house arrest without charge to individuals who the security organs considered a threat as far as terrorism was considered. Pre-charge detention which was passed into law at that time also allowed a fourteen day detention of individuals in terrorism cases which compared to any law was the longest in detention of individuals before trial. The Terrorism Act 2000 had many contentious sections especially the one which was later repealed that allowed stop and search on individuals without suspecting them. The laws set were found to be infringing on the rights of peaceful protestors and ethnic minority groups which should be allowed to hold their demonstrations in peace. The definition of terrorism in counter terror laws which includes individuals with religious, racial, or political cause that may be viewed as having or causing individuals to become radicals. For instance, the Islamic religion has been related to terror activities due to the involvement of some individuals found to be Muslims in terror activities. In countering terrorism, the speeches made by individuals that are purported to support terrorism were considered to be part of terrorism. This broad definition of terrorism have been found to be wrong since there are no strict measures put in place to categorize a piece of information as supporting terror. This could lead to some people being considered criminals due to the speeches they

Reducing Juvenile delinquency Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Reducing Juvenile delinquency - Research Paper Example To reduce juvenile delinquency, considerable attention should be accorded to the adolescents in order to create a suitable environment for their influence. This paper seeks to illustrate various aspects associated with juvenile delinquency and measures taken to reduce incidences. Juvenile delinquency illustrates a violation of the law committed by a child under the legal age, which surpasses parental control, and thus is subject to legal action. Such violations of the law are not punishable by death or life imprisonment, but dwell on rehabilitating the offenders to become law-abiding citizens. Institutions such as juvenile detention centers and courts assist in dispensation of legal interventions based on specified procedures in the legal system. Furthermore, a juvenile delinquent is an under aged person who has been found guilty of a crime, and is protected by the law as a minor; hence cannot bears no responsibility for the crime (Snyder and Sickmund, 2006). However, based on the na ture and seriousness of a crime, the age of criminal responsibility is reduced according to state laws, in this regard, the person cannot be tried as an adult. Negative behaviors among children and young adults contribute juvenile delinquency, which is known to cause widespread problems in society. In recent years, it is estimated that a high percentage of children and adolescents engage activities that are in violation of the law, this has contributed to drop in the average age of first arrests made among young people. This can be attributed to the common notion that juvenile offences are normative adolescent behaviors. However, repeated or chronic offenders are most likely to carry on with the trend away from adolescence and become more and more violent. At a tender age, delinquent behavior involves minor theft, but can evolve to violent acts involving the use of weapons as an individual nears the statutory age. Other delinquent behaviors include bullying, truancy, vandalism, assa ult, gangs, and sexual offences. It is for this reason that persons under the statutory age can be charged as adults depending on the severity of the crime. National statistics indicate an increase in the number of juvenile delinquency cases owing to numerous social factors within the society. Juvenile delinquency has its impacts on the victims as well as the society; damages incurred by the victim may be in the form of injury or loss of property, which results in loss productivity during that period. The victim may also incur medical expenses resulting from inflicted injuries during an attack. Psychological trauma is also common among victims and the society. Agnew suggests that when an individual is blocked from attaining a positive goal, it causes strain, which forces one to seek alternative modes of compensation (Agnew, 2005). Similarly, perpetrators of juvenile acts may experience low self-esteem and thus increase their activities to compensate for their loss. There are a numbe r of factors contributing to the heightened rates of delinquency in the society. Among the contributing factors are substance abuse, physical abuse and poverty. At a tender age, most adolescents have monetary access through allowance accorded to them as well as jobs from surrounding business premises. In this regard, drugs and alcohol can be procured with ease given the opportunity. Substance abuse impairs judgment, which may result in further violation of the

People, Organisations and Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

People, Organisations and Management - Assignment Example From this paper it is clear that management is the process of coordinating different function in business or organization to achieve a well-defined objective. Throughout the process of management, professional managers require ethical behavior for successful process of executing their duties. It is imperative for managers to examine their standards to ensure that they are well-founded to shape and help the company to make moral decisions. Good or great management process is an essential aspect of an organization or a business. In fact, management and leadership go hand in hand, although they are different. As per my experience, I believe that management involves working with others with the aim of achieving a common goal while leadership involves leading and influencing others to do their best. Both leadership and management play an essential role in organizations.   Ã‚  As the discussion stresses  a team is more than a group of people working together for a common goal. It must be a group of individuals that work as a single unit, working towards a mutual hallucination of achievement. Working as a team matters because it is difficult to achieve some goals individually.  A team remains necessary because each member’s work complements and supports the others’. Effective approaches to leadership and management in any sector calls for astute commitment, passion, and ideological driven mind. To achieve all the essential leadership and managerial qualities, successful techniques remain vital.

English Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

English - Assignment Example The president further reminds Americans that they are the people who are represented in the chamber and makes the state of the Union. This received strong applause because the audience felt the sense of belonging. Obama points out at the outcome of the great effort put by Americans such as low unemployment rate in over five years, rebounding housing market and the reduction of deficit. This attracts attention of the audience who feel that they are part of the success and that their achievements are appreciated. Obama received cheers and round of applause from the audience because they were reminded of their achievements and told that they would take America to greater heights above the current position of America in terms of trade (Forbes Staff Web). Obama further urges everyone in the chamber to take charge and avoid resentful argument that may hinder implementation of basic functions in the American democracy. He explains that if their differences may promote the underperformance of the government then the chamber is not doing the best thing. Obama asserted his commitment to making America work better and rebuilds the Americans trust. He challenges everyone in the chamber to take part in improving the welfare of Americans. The president told the chamber that their actions should provide opportunity for all Americans regardless of their social status. Obama acknowledges some of the challenges facing America such as increase in inequality and the fact that most Americans just work to get by and many are also unemployed. He points out at the need to reverse the negative trends and informs the chamber that they will never agree on everything. The president makes practical proposals of moving the country forward by creating opportunities. He promises to work with everyone in the chamber to steer the growth of and development of the country. He describes a few examples such as education opportunities, work ethics and encourages businesses to invest and

Networking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Networking - Essay Example Moreover, the concept of networking might appear simple if seen from a diagrammatic perspective but from the technical perspective, it might rather appear as highly complex. From a generalised point of view, it can be understood that the networking process is the development of a connection between the nodes within the network that might be involved in the data sharing process. The concept explains all the aspects that all together form the communication process (Microsoft, 2014). The essay describes the concepts and the aspects related to networking. The discussion emphasizes the principles and the operations of the layered communication protocols. It also briefs about protocol stack, its working and packet headers In computer networking, there are two important protocols that include Internet Protocol (IP) and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Contextually, computer networking is also recognized as TCP/IP. The layered communication protocols of networking are discussed hereunder. The concept of protocol stack can be explained with reference to the Ethernet technology and data transmission techniques. Data transmission in an online fashion generally takes place in the form of packets. Therefore, in a general sense, it can be understood that the packets that are needed to be transmitted must have a sending as well as a receiving address. In this context, the concept of protocol slack plays an important role in the data transmission process (The Linux Information Project, 2005). The diagrammatic representation provided below will help in understanding the concept of protocol slack. From the above diagram, it can be clearly understood that each packet transmitted must have a sender and a receiver address, so that the data reach the desired address appropriately (The Linux Information Project, 2005). The technique is known as wrapping up of the data packets. The transmission process has been explained through the elaboration of the seven layers of the

A persuasive arguement Was Saddam Husseins execution an essential Research Paper

A persuasive arguement Was Saddam Husseins execution an essential point in establishing democracy in Iraq - Research Paper Example dictator was responsible for various war crimes, said to have been the reason behind many assassination of various political figures and other crimes. His campaign againt the Kurds in the north of Iraq and the use of chemical weapons against innocent people was something that would be unjustifiable at any stage or at any forum. Not only was his regime responsible for countless deaths and near genocides in the country of Iraq itself but it was also responsible for deaths and environmental disasters in Iran and Kuwait. Saddam Hussein was born in Iraq in a village to the north of Baghdad in 1937 and grew up in very humble surroundings. He led a life of poverty and even illiteracy from which he crawled out of by scratching his way and taking any opportunity that was given to him. At the age of ten he moved in with his uncle in Baghdad who was an army officer and from there he began to indulge in politics (Moore, n.d). Saddam’s political affiliation and his manner of engaging in political activities was not always a great way of doing things. He was only twenty one years old when he was involved in a failed assassination attempt at the then prime minister General Abdel-Karim Qassem and had to leave the country (N.A, Saddams Rise To Power, n.d). From the start the life that was led by this man was considered as that of a man on a criminal path. He was jailed for in 1963 after his party the Ba’ath lost power in the country and then in 1968 he once again led this party to power via a coup. Many hold that Saddam was a messiah for the nation and did many good things. He had nationalized the Iraqi oil industry that lead to wealth coming into the pockets of the Iraqi citizens and caused quite a bit of harm to the international companies that were making profits. He also made education compulsory in order to improve the literacy rate of the nation. This program was made mandatory and a punishment of three year jail time was to be enforced and during this time many

LeGAL ASPECTS of contract administration Assignment

LeGAL ASPECTS of contract administration - Assignment Example Regardless, exclusion clauses are not always enforceable because they do not meet the three-rule test. Exclusion terms are part of virtually every contractual agreement (Culp, 2010). The clauses and related implied terms function by excluding or restricting the entitlements of a party to the contract in the event of a breach (Frey, & Frey, 2000). For instance, if a party to a contract intends to restrict his or her liability, the party is expected to incorporate an exemption clause restricting the amount of reparations that they will be willing to part with in relation to a clearly defined total amount of damages (Round & Shanahan, 2012). In a number of cases, a party may incorporate a written term seeking to exonerate them from any kind of liability for a particular issue that could affect the contract, for example, brittle goods being broken whilst in shipment (Latimer, 2012). This way, exclusion terms function to the advantage of one party to a contract. Generally, an exemption clause in contract law can only be effective if the party relying on it has been reasonable enough in his or her notification of the other party regarding the same (Culp, 2010). The party consenting to the exemption clause must also be cognizant of its inclusion into the contract. Latimer (2012) notes that to secure its enforceability, the following conditions should be met: firstly, the proposing party can serve notice of the exclusion clause on the other party via actual or constructive means. Actual notice takes place when the offerer actually notifies the other party or when it is apparent in the contract and can be seen by a reasonable person (Scott, 2013). Secondly, constructive notice takes place when the offerer had acted reasonably to notify the other party of the existence of such clauses. Lastly, courts may be persuaded to resolve any disputes

History of Psychology Essay Example for Free

History of Psychology Essay I declare that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another unit, degree or diploma at any university or other institute of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given. I warrant that any disks and/or computer files submitted as part of this assignment have been checked for viruses and reported clean. Student signature: __________________________ Date: __________________________ Abstract This paper aims to trace and analyze the historical development of the subjective nature of truth, the sources and reactions towards the theory. The implications of the theory of subjective truth are vast since a position on the nature of truth permeates one’s personal life goals and purposes, cognition, and morality of individual and hence also affects research methodology and psychotherapy. Subjectivism focuses on individuals’ thoughts and feelings as well as the proposition that knowledge of humans can never be separated from the knower. This literature review covers the existence of truth as being subjective during the time of the early Greek philosophers, present within Hellenistic and Roman psychology and persisting within romantic and existential philosophy, humanistic psychology and the approaches of the postmodernists in the mid-1960s. Keywords: subjective truth, history, postmodernism The Subjective Nature Of Truth: A Historical Development The constant tension of whether truth is objective or subjective has long since existed throughout history and continues to pervade in current schools of psychotherapies. â€Å"Science versus Humanism† is the term Conway (1992) gives to the philosophical dimension along which the values underlying the theories of psychologists differ. A scientific approach to psychology is based on the epistemological tradition of objectivism. Mahoney (1989) summarizes objectivism as beliefs that an objective and separate ‘real world’ lies beyond the organism, independent of perception and that valid knowledge is ultimately rendered from our sensory experiences, and can be totally separated from the knower (Mahoney, 1989 as cited in Conway, 1992). In contrast, the humanistic approach to psychology is based on the epistemological tradition of subjectivism which focuses on thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, knowledge of humans can never be separated from the knower (Conway, 1992). Due to different theories on the nature of truth, methodology for observing consciousness and the role of inner experience differ. The human science approach to psychology seeks to explain behavior in terms of a person’s subjective existence (Kendler, 2005). Humanistic psychology and philosophical phenomenology are two schools of thought that employ the human science interpretation of psychology (Kendler, 2005). The implications of the theory of the relativity of truth is seen in the individuals personal life goals, purpose of life, cognitive styles, morality, ethics, counseling goals, research methodology and conceptualization of definitions. Due to the great relevance of the topic to psychology, this essay traces and analyzes the historical development of the subjective nature of truth, the sources and reactions towards the theory. Early Greek Philosophers and Hellenistic and Roman Psychology The Sophists were a group of philosophers who believed that nothing is inherently right or wrong but that believing something is right makes it right and vice versa (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 41). Protagoras (485-420 B.C.) was the most popular Sophist who proposed that man is the measure of all things, meaning that man determines whether something is true or untrue and hence, truth depends on the perceiver not physical reality (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 41). The context of this perspective of the nature of truth is that Protagoras lived in the Periclean democracy where skills for effective communication were valuable to own especially in the political sphere (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 42) where some beliefs were more advantageous to utilitarian harmony than others. Hence, Protagoras was primarily interested in teaching effective argumentation to demonstrate the practicality of the relativity of truth. Socrates (470-399 B.C.) disagreed with the Sophists’ view that no truth exists beyond personal opinion. In the second century A.D., a school of thought named Skepticism promoted suspension of judgment and preferred to say ‘This is how things appear to me† rather than to claim having arrived at irrevocable truth (Hergenhahn, 2009). They were of the view that dogmatists constantly fought amongst themselves and were always agitated unlike the Skeptics who sought a life of peace and lived by two primary guides: appearances (sensations and feelings) and social convention (Hergenhahn, 2009). Displaying a similarity with the Sophists and the Skeptics, the Cynics such as Diogenes (412-323) advocated individualism and that true happiness depended on self-sufficiency and living a life that was natural, rejecting any type of control, be it bodily or social control. The theme of moving away from absolute truth and towards a relativistic conception of truth, individual feelings, opinions, social convention or whatever ‘truth’ brings gain (e.g., political status or living peaceably with others) will manifest itself again throughout history. Instrumental theory of truth: Profitability as criteria for truth William James (1842-1910) was of the view that ideas become true as long as they help people satisfactorily relate with other parts of one’s experience (De Waal, 2005, p. 43). James proposes that it is far from essential for our thoughts, beliefs or in other words, conceptions of truth, to copy reality. Hence, he opposes the singularity of truth and posits that multiple, though different beliefs are acceptable. In contrast, there can only be one truth for the empiricists and the rationalists since truth is the perfect copy of reality (De Waal, 2005, p. 47). Based on pragmatic principles, James proposes that any hypothesis cannot be rejected if there are useful results that come from it. Pragmatism is hence a principle that views any ‘truth’ as true as long as it profits. In other words, the pragmatist’s notion of truth is that beliefs originating from within one’s self but does not copy anything without the believer will still count as true when these lead people to directions that are worthwhile (De Waal, 2005, p. 50). The theme of moving away from a singular truth independent of the knower and towards whichever concept, idea or belief brings profit is a pattern seen even during the Early Greek Philosophers and Hellenistic and Roman Psychology. A profit-focused approach to handling truth, as proposed by the pragmatists, will strongly permeate and an underlying principle in future philosophies and approaches to psychology such as romanticism, existentialism, humanistic and postmodern psychology. Romantic and existential philosophy: Feelings, human choice and freedom In the late 18th century, an artistic and intellectual movement named Romanticism rebelled against Enlightenment rationality that overemphasized linear and the investigation of causes by trying to add feelings and intuition to rationality (Schneider, 1998). Romanticism emphasized the wholeness of experience via implicit processes such as affect, intuition, kinesthesia, imagination as well as the descriptions of these processes (Schneider, 1998). Rousseau was of the view that facts of history were of less importance than what values can be learned from them and that history should be considered as a collection of fables (Rousseau, 1762 as cited in Robinson, 2008). This type of thinking is seen again in Postmodernist thinking later on in history although to Rousseau, historical facts were not subjective but unknowable because of human error and interpretation. In psychology, romanticism is manifested in orientations of existential-humanistic, hermeneutical, narrative, and transpersonal psychologies (Schneider, 1998). Carl Rogers of the school of humanistic psychology, whose thoughts will be further explored later on in this paper, has much similarity with the romantics since experience is Rogers highest authority and makes decisions based on what feels [emphasis mine] right, valuable or worth doing (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 593). Like romanticism, existentialism stresses subjective experience. The existentialists (18th and 19th centuries) encourage us humans to consider the meaning of living authentically, in ones own personal way (Oaklander, 1992). If one chooses freely, one chooses authentically and leads an authentic life. Since there are no objective values for the existentialist, it depends more on how one chooses rather than what their choice is. An existential philosopher, Kierkegaard proposed that each persons life individually has its own self-determined meaning. Subjectivity is truth, that is, the persons beliefs define that persons reality (Oaklander, 1992, p. 577). Though the existentialist philosophers differ in their views in a few aspects of their thinking, one common theme is the emphasis on human freedom and choice and the related slogan of Sartre that existence precedes essence which means that humans have no prepackaged nature or essence but that we are is what we choose to be (Oaklander, 1992). In other words, subjectivity must be the starting point (Oaklander, 1992). Sartre also says that â€Å"Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself. Such is the first principle of existentialism. It is also what is called subjectivity†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Influenced by existential philosophy, a brand of contemporary psychology which has the key concepts of freedom, individuality, authenticity and responsibility emerged called existential psychology (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 574). The man who is generally considered to be the bridge between existential philosophy and existential psychology is Martin Heidegger (1889-1976) who is of the view that there is no ‘ultimate truth’ but emphasizes interpretation and that there is no ‘real meaning’ behind a phenomenon (Daitz, 2011). He proposed that humans choose nature of their own existence and it is worthy of notice that Heidegger chose to be committed to Nazism (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 574). The theme of moving away from a singular truth independent of the knower and towards â€Å"personal truth† as self-defined by individuals as well as the unfortunate consequence of individuals freely choosing what they think is right or desirable which may conflict with what society views as desirable. This will manifest itself again with slight differences in humanistic and postmodern psychology. Humanistic psychology: An application of subjective truth In the early 1960s, humanistic psychology, a new human science that would study humans as aware, choosing and emotional beings, appeared in reaction to traditional scientific approaches to psychology (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 571). Unlike the two existing schools of psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis, which assume determinism in explaining human behavior, humanistic psychology assumes humans are free to choose their own existence and that subjective reality is the most important cause of behavior (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 571). A basic tenet of humanistic psychology is that subjective reality is the primary guide for human behavior (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 586). Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) was of the view that humanistic science should allow the individual to be freer and more inner determined (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 586). What he deemed as self-actualization is what humans achieve when they are true to their own nature (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 587). Carl Rogers (1902-1987) also proposed that a person who is likely to live a fulfilling life is motivated by his true inner feelings instead of beliefs, traditions and values imposed by others outside the individual (Hergenhahn, 2009, p. 593). Rogers started the movement of Person-Centered therapy which stress an essential trust in the experiential world of the client and stress three conditions to promote the client’s growth: congruence (genuineness on the therapist’ part), true empathy, unconditional positive regard. A limitation that Owen (1999) notes in his analysis of both psychoanalysis and person-centred therapy is the conflict for the person-centred therapist to both communicate unconditional positive regard as well as congruence with a negative feeling about a client. In other words, prizing the client and also at the same time, being honest with personal feelings towards client. This poses a question of what a therapist should rightly do when being honest also means being non-empathic and withholding unconditional positive regard from the client. This problem of congruency undeniably stems from the theory of truth and its subjective nature since what the therapist believes to be true and what the client believes to be true are both equally ‘true’ if the assumption is that the individual self-defines truth. Postmodernism approaches: Contemporary development of the theory of truth Modernists believe in objective reality that exists independent of any attempt to observe it whereas postmodernists believe in subjective realities that do not exist independent of observational processes (Corey, 2005). Postmodernism is similar to the romantics, existentialists, the Sophists, and Skeptics and aspects of James’ psychology in that there multiple truths and these vary with individual experience, thus paving the way for postmodernism. According to Schneider (1998), the postmodernist were different from the romantics in that postmodernists promote a relativistic chaos when this conflicted with the sensibility of Romanticism (Schneider, 1998). The Romantics assumed knowledge as determinate and argued for the universality of autonomous experience while postmodernism assumes it as indeterminate and relativistic, thus fragmenting knowledge and experience (Webb, 2006). Similar to James’ pragmatism, the postmodernist is of the view that a problem exists only when people agree there is a problem needing to be addressed. Narrative therapy is an application of the Postmodernist approach to psychology and encourages clients to see their stories from different perspectives (Corey, 2005). The clients reality is focused on without disagreeing whether it is accurate or rational (Weishaar, 1993 as cited in Corey, 2005). Unlike traditional therapists who see the client as the problem, the narrative therapists believe that the problem is the problem (Corey, 2005). This separation of client from problem allows one to take a stance against specific storylines, be hopeful in generating a more positive, healing story and thus reducing self-blame. The therapist searches for times when the client made a choice and times when the client was successful (Corey, 2005, p. 403). Very similar to the assumptions of the Cynics and particularly the Romantics, the Postmodernist approach is based on the optimistic assumption that people are able and that they possess alternative stories that can enhance their lives (Corey, 2005, p. 403). The nature of truth and the approach to psychology: Future research direction Within the United States and internationally, Kirschenbaum and Jourdan (2005) carried out a survey that found an increasing number of therapists who identify themselves as â€Å"eclectic† or â€Å"integrative† amongst Carl Rogers’ client-centered/person-centered therapists over the past 30 years. In his writing on the topic of romanticism’s potential in complementing psychology, Schneider (1998) writes that experimental research, whether in hypothesis-making or verification, cannot fully replace romantic insights and needs to refer back to qualitative data that Romantics emphasize (Schneider, 1998). Hence, there are advantages in employing research as well as therapy methodology that take into account aspects of the intuitive and emotional aspect of human beings that romanticism emphasizes. In view of the advantages, Schneider also writes about the implications for therapists in training. He proposes the provision of rich and sensitive qualitative descriptions of their clients in addition to treatment plans that are problem-oriented or behavioral in focus (Schneider, 1998). Therapists in training should also pay attention to emotional, kinesthetic, and cognitive experiences of clients. Besides just assessing progress toward therapy goals, the meaning of therapy goals for clients should also be considered. Schneider is of the view that therapist with the full range of experiential data about their clients would be in an optimal position to collate essential data for a treatment plan. Hence, research should be done to measure the effectiveness of this approach to therapy in addition to (i.e., eclectic approaches) or instead of traditional approaches. In his comparison of person-centred therapy with psychodynamic therapy, Owen (1999) notes the possibility of conflict that person-centred therapists might face in trying to be congruent to their own personal feelings while at the same time, being non-judgmental and providing unconditional positive regard. Further research should be carried out in the area of long-term consequences to the therapist and to the client as well as strategies that can be employed when there is a conflict in the congruence of the therapist and the therapist’ provision of unconditional positive regard. Research may also include investigating the incorporation of one aspect of the psychodynamic approach which is neutrality (neither making interpretations nor providing unconditional positive regard) towards the client’s sharing of his personal experience or thoughts (Owen, 1999). Neutrality allows for a full range of emotions including negative emotions of the client. Conclusion Whether truth is absolute and independent of the knower and perceiver has been supported and argued against since the period of the early Greek philosophers. Similar themes that focus on the human individual to evaluate and make their own choices, define their own meaning and ultimately, define and act upon what is the nature of truth and the truth itself recur time and time again whether in the form of an emphasis on affect like the Romantics or Postmodernist who selects part of a narrative, whether accurate or true, to put it to good use in helping the individual cope during therapy. The implications of the position taken on the nature of truth have been demonstrated throughout history in major schools of philosophy, psychology and in this paper. Future speculation of this theory of truth is that, after certain negative events that will happen in future times as a result of pragmatic and postmodern thinking, a reaction against relativistic and individualized conceptions of truth that may take a shape of fundamentalism may return to schools of philosophy and the social sciences. References Conway, J. B. (1992). Presidential address: A world of differences among psychologists. Canadian Psychology, 33(1), 1-23. Corey, G. (2005). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (7th ed.). California: Thomson Learning Inc. Daitz, L. (2011). Understanding, truth or resolve? Considering the ‘aim’ of existential psychotherapy and the approaches of van Deurzen and Spinelli. Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis, 22(1), 140-149. De Waal, C. (2005). On Pragmatism. California: Thomson Wadsworth Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An introduction to the history of psychology (6th ed.). California: Cengage learning. Kendler, H. H. (2005). Psychology and phenomenology: A clariï ¬ cation. American Psychologist, 60(4), 318–324 Kirschenbaum, H. Jourdan, A. (2005). The current status of Carl Rogers and the person-centered approach. Educational Publishing Foundation, 42(1), 37–51. doi: 10.1037/0033-3204.42.1.37 Oaklander, L. N. (1992). Existentialist phil osophy: An introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Owen, I. R. (1999). Exploring the similarities and differences between person-centred and psychoanalytic therapies. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 27(2), 165-178 doi: 0306-9885/99/020165-14 Robinson, P. (2008). Jean-Jacques Rousseau and history: Moral truth at the expense of facticity. Rethinking History, 12(3), 417–431. doi: 10.108 0/13642520802193 288 Schneider, K. J. (1998). Toward a science of the heart: Romanticism and the revival of psychology. American Psychologist, 53(3), 277-289 Webb, R. K. (2006). From romantic humanist to postmodern pedagogy: How the alien becomes normative in contemporary education. Radical Pedagogy. Retrieved from http://radicalpedagogy.icaap.org/content/issue8_2/webb.html

Iraq and India: Energy Trade Relations

Iraq and India: Energy Trade Relations Statement of the Problem The economic openness is the reality of today’s developed world. The asymmetrical distribution of resources and factor of production has required the economist and social scientists for mutual interaction and trade cooperation for the development of the global economy. The trade and economic cooperation between the two countries is more important these days because of the essential for formulating a feasible and beneficial strategy for the development of the both countries. The bilateral trade and Economic Cooperation between Republic of Iraq and Republic of India are unique. The trade and other related relationships between India and Iraq have its own significance for the economic development of both these countries. Both countries have been traditionally collaborative and had strategic and friendly relations. India has supported a free, democratic, pluralistic, federal and united Iraq  [1]. India-Iraqi ties flourished only after India had started cultivating. Iraq, in bila teral terms on the basis of mutuality of interests in the political sphere and complementarities interests in economic sphere subsequently. It is significant to note that Iraq was one of the few countries in West Asia with which India had established relations very early at the embassy level  [2]. However, India’s economic cooperation with Iraq was stronger than other west Asian countries due to its geographical location and natural resources. The looming threat of wars in Iraq had continuous uncertainty and a negative impact on India’s as well as global trade markets. India’s trade with Iraq tremendously weakened during war periods  [3]. But India’s focus on a strengthened and multi-faceted relationship with new Iraqis an outcome of the significant changes in the political and economic relations between two countries. India’s has been cooperating continuously with Iraq on the road to recovery in the post Saddam Iraq. Indo Iraq economic coopera tion was slow Initial Stage of Post Saddam Government. With the democratically elected government of Iraq in year 2005, it received a strongly re-boost to restart trade and cooperation with India. India actively supports the ongoing reconstruction efforts in Iraq  [4]. Both countries Explore cooperation in e-Governance during Deputy Foreign Minister of Iraq, Mr Labeed Majeed Abbawi, visited India on 17-22 May, 2011. Indian business applied for contracts for restart trade and cooperation. Since there is revival in potential for Indo-Iraqi trade and commerce, a number of steps have been taken at the policy level that can positively impact Indian companies looking to do business with Iraq. At a broad strategic level, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed in 2013 between Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and India’s Ministry of External Affairs to update and discuss bilateral and international relations of interest. The two countries are looking to enhance the energy trading relationship, which forms a significant part of overall trade between India and Iraq. The government of India has proposed that it should be ‘strategic partnership’, which could include aspects like oil exploration, petrochemical complexes and fertiliser plants. To this extent, Iraq and India have signed MoU on Cooperation in the field of Energy to make further progress in the relationship in the sector. India aims to change the nature of the relationship with Iraq on energy from a buyer-seller one into one with equity partnership. Iraq and India have also signed MoU on Water Resource Development and Management that looks to cooperate and share expertise in the field on national and international levels  [5]. Such as Indian business applied for contracts for reconstruction projects to coalition provisional authority and more recently the activities of Iraqi business in India have been growing rapidly  [6]. H owever Project exports are perhaps the most significant factors in India’s economic relations with Iraq as well as other gulf countries. They are significant not only for their trade generating effect but also for a different kind of interaction they render possible in India’s external relations  [7]. Today in the globalised world the economies of Iraq have assumed a new economic as well as strategic importance for India. The economic reforms in India resulted becoming one of the fastest growing economies of the world. The growth of India’s economy has stimulated growth in the industrial sector. The higher growth in India’s industrial sector has further resulted in significant rise in energy demand. As India is not self sufficient in its energy requirement, major portion of her energy demand is fulfilled by Iraq petroleum imports. Thus in a situation of growing industrial output and demand for energy, India’s dependence on Iraq would significantly increase. Presently Iraq has become second largest supplier of oil to India only after Saudi Arabia. Thus the trade relations between India and Iraq are very crucial for the growth of Indian economy. It was reported that in India crude oil imports account for more than 96 Percent of her total imports from Iraq. This makes India to face severe deficits in her trade balance with Iraq. But the emergence of rich market of Iraq offered opportunities to India for balanced bilateral trade in 2012. Iraq requires India’s exports in terms of more goods, items, instruments and equipments and more investment in infrastructure, agriculture, machinery, power, healthcare and telecommunication. India’s former Commerce and Industry minister Anand Sharma promised him to encourage Indian businessmen to explore business opportunities in Iraq  [8]. India is appearing to correct this deficit with new investment opportunities, specifically in the energy sector, in one of the fastest growing economies in the region. India is also looking to counter the growing presence of China in Iraq. Beijing has already invested heavily in various projects around Iraq, and has even built its own airport near the Iran-Iraq border from where it ferries its workers to various oil fields in the southern part of the coun try  [9]. In the immediate future, India is looking at increasing its import of Iraqi crude and a senior minister in the Iraqi government has offered to up his country’s oil exports to India by as much as 30 per cent. That Indian oil companies shifted from Iranian to Iraqi oil in 2011-12. In recent year, bilateral trade between both the countries accelerated through Indian government maintained the huge demand of Iraqi crude oil. On the other hand Tubes pipe of iron steel products; Meat of bovine animals, frozen products and Indian basmati rice has found good markets in Iraq, overtake US long gained rice market since 2010. The market for exporting basmati rice would increase due to Iraq’s preference for the products and on the other hand Indian market provides a cheaper imports option. An important step to foster stronger economic bilateral ties between countries took place in an interactive session on certification of goods and exports potential of Iraq, organised by federation of Indian export organizations (FIEO) in April 2012 in New Delhi. Hussein Ali Rajab, the commercial councillor, embassy of Iraq, felt that India exports to this market should increase from $ 750 million to about $ 3 billion by 2015. It is directed that all Indian goods imported to Iraq must be certified by their designated inspection agency so that the buyer can release their goods in Iraq. The previous year, Indian tea exports suffered a setback as more than 200 containers of Indian tea that were being exported to Iraq were barred and returned due to quality issues. Indian steel firm Jindal saw won a 25 year contract to build and run a factory for manufacture oil and gas pipelines in south Iraq. This $ 198 million deal was part of Iraqi efforts to revive its long deserted industrial sector. As part of Indian effort in infrastructure development in Iraq, reliance Globalcom, in projects collaboration with Iraqi telecommunications and post company (ITPC), launched the a l-Faw cable landing station (CLS) for providing telecom service in the country. It is set to enhance internet speed for Iraqi domestic consumer. But presently, demand of India’s Indian productto Iraq and mutual business ties temporarily declined due to Iraqi political climate insurgency  [10]. India’s expatriate in Iraq, once substantial has dwindled to almost nothing. In response to high levels of violence, the Indian government in 2004 banned labour brokers from hiring people for Iraq. This ban was for six months and then was extended from time to time. The extended period of the ban was valid up to April 30, 2010 based on the recommendation of the ministry’s Gulf division. it had been decided not to extend the ban beyond April 30,2010. On 4 May 2010 Indian government lifted the ban on grant of emigration clearance for Indians wishing to travel to Iraq but cautioned that people should take care of their security while working or visiting the oil-rich country. After that Indians can now legally travel to Iraq for work  [11]. Lots of Indians (both legal and illegal migrants) came to Iraq via United Arab Emirates (UAE) and other gulf countries in the past 5 years  [12].More than 80,000 Indians are living in Iraq despite an earlier government advisory again st travel to the country that has been in turmoil since Saddam Hussein was ousted  [13]. The lifting of the ban was termed a step towards normalization of relations between India and Iraq  [14]. Indian Migration to Iraq got disturbed in June 2014 due to political as well as economic crisis in Iraq  [15]. [1] Annual Report 2011-12,Ministry of Overseas, GOI [2] Ajay N Jha, Indo-Iraq Relations: 1947-86: Need For Fress Iniciatives, in West Asia and Indias   Foreign Policy, ed. Verinder Grover( New DElhi: Deep Deep Publications, 1992), pp 437-461. [3] Ibid [4] Opcit 1 [5] Opportunities for India in Iraq’s restructuring, Spacesence News. Feb 06, 2014.  http://www.spacesense.in/news/13 (accessed June 2014, 27). [6] Azhar Muhammad, Indo-Iraq Economic Cooperation in Post Saddam Period, Journal of WestAsian Studies (Deptt. of West Asian Studies, AMU, Aligarh) Vol.23 (2009): pp 148-161. [7] Girijesh C Pant, India-Gulf Economic Relations: A Profiles, in West Asia and Indias Foreign   Policy, edited by Verinder Grover (New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publications, 1992) p 65. [8] Iraq Calls for Balanced Bilateral Trade With India, Outlook, FEB 29, 2012. http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/Iraq-Calls-for-Balanced-Bilateral-Trade-With-India/753569  (accessed June 12, 2014) [9] Kabir Taneja, India looks for larger presence in Iraq, June 22, 2013. http://www.sunday-guardian.com/business/india-looks-for-larger-presence-in-iraq (accessed June 21, 2014). [10] Sonia Roy, Iraq In Persian Gulf 2013: Indias Relations With the Region, by P.R. Kumaraswamy, pp 115-17. New Delhi: Sage Publication, 2014. [11] India lifts ban on travel to Iraq, The Siasai Daily, May 4, 2010. http://www.siasat.com/english/news/india-lifts-ban-travel-iraq-0 (accessed May 23, 2014). [12] Working in Iraq not worth the risks, says Indian worker in the country, IBNLive, June 16,  2014. http://m.ibnlive.com/news/world/working-in-iraq-not-worth-the-risks-says-indian-worker-in-the-country/479447-2.html (accessed August 2, 2014). [13] â€Å"India lifts ban on travel,† The Siasat Daily, May 4, 2010http://www.siasat.com/english/news/india-lifts-ban-travel-iraq-0 (accessed May 23, 2014). [14] Himanshi Dhawan, Ban on Indians travelling to Iraq lifted, January 9, 2010. http://timesofindia. indiatimes.com/india/Ban-on-Indians-travelling-to-Iraq-lifted/articlehow/6025044.cms(accessed  June 21, 2014) [15] â€Å"Indian faces the Iraq test,† The Hindu, June 21, 2014. http://www.hindu.com/opinion/editional/India-faces-the-Iraq-test/articles6134195 ece (accessed July 12, 2014). India: A Mixed Economy India: A Mixed Economy The present chapter is devoted to the introductory issues relating to the role of Direct tax laws in the development of International Business. Focus has also been laid on the need to present a hospitable environment for encouraging foreign investment and to protect the revenue base of the nation. The chapter has been classified on the following lines. 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Indian Tax Structure 1.3 Basic Principles Of International Taxation 1.4 International Business: Concepts, Scope And Structure 1.5 Need For International Business 1.6 Review Of Existing Studies 1.7 Statement Of The Problem 1.8 Objective Of The Study 1.9 Scope Of The Study 1.10 Limitations 1.11 Hypothesis 1.12 Research Methodology1.1 INTRODUCTION Rapid economic development happens to be one of the primary objectives of all developing economies and India is not an exception. This is possible mainly through the accumulation and proper use of capital. The developing economies lack adequate basic infrastructural facilities. In order to develop these, the government takes upon itself the responsibility for building up capital formation, through sound taxation policies. India is a mixed economy. Liberalization, privatization and globalization have further strengthened the role of tax policy in economic development. Both the public and the private sectors have to play an important role in ensuring satisfactory growth rate. For this, the government has to work out and provide adequate avenues for raising funds by private enterprises. This envisages the need to provide adequate incentives, rebates and reliefs in the form of tax deductions to stimulate the private sector. Here again a sound tax policy and a robust tax structure is inevitable. In order to accomplish the above objectives, the government enacted the Income Tax Act, 1961 repealing the act of 1922. The present Act has realized due weight age of taxation of International Business which has assumed much importance to the tax collector as well as to the tax payers. 1.2 INDIAN TAX STRUCTURE The Indian direct tax policy is structured in such a way as to ensure high progressivity both in terms of tax on income as well as on wealth. The act ensures that higher the level of income, higher shall be the tax incidence. By virtue of entry 82 of List I of the seventh schedule of the constitution of India, the Parliament is empowered to levy tax on income other than agricultural income. Therefore with due exercise of this power the Parliament has enacted the Income-Tax Act 1961. It is a comprehensive act embodied with 298 sections, divided in XXIII chapters, fourteen schedules, along with yearly Finance Acts coupled with Income Tax Rules, 1962. 1.3 PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL TAXATION There are two basic principle in International taxation 1) Residence Based Taxation- The principle of residence-based taxation asserts that individuals are taxable in the country or tax jurisdiction in which they establish their residence or domicile, regardless of the source of income. In the case of companies or firms, the place of incorporation or the place where control or management is exercised is deemed to be the place of residence. The principle of residence-based taxation of income envisages the taxation of global income. Accordingly, India follows residence based taxation in case of Residents. 2) Source Based Taxation- There are individuals/entities whose residence is in one country but their business is actually carried on in another country and their income is earned in the latter country. The principle of residence-based taxation would be inappropriate in such cases. So the country which provides the opportunity and facilities to generate income or profits should be given the right to tax such income. This forms the underlying basis of the principle of source-based taxation of income. India follows source based taxation in case of non-resident. 1.4 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS; CONCEPT, SCOPE AND STRUCTURE International Business is a term used to collectively describe all commercial transactions (private and government, sales, investments, logistics and transportation) that take place between two or more regions, countries and nation beyond their political boundary. Private companies, usually undertake such transaction for profit while government undertakes them for profit and political reasons. It also refers to all those business activities that involve cross border transactions of goods, services, resources between two or more nations. International Business not only refers to multinational companies having deals with foreign entities and making headways into the foreign market. It also involves small and independent companies or entities engaging in business with international clients through the medium of internet. International Business comprises a large and growing portion of the worlds total business. Almost all large or small companies are affected by global events and competition because most of the companies sell output and/or secure supplies from foreign countries or compete against foreign products and services. A multinational company would always consider its: MISSION i.e. what the company will seek to do and become over the long term. OBJECTIVES i.e. specific performance targets to fulfil its mission. STRATEGY i.e. the means to fulfil its objectives. The following factors have given a boost to the growth of International Business. Rapid increase in and expansion of technology Liberalization of government policies relating cross-border movement of trade and resources Development of the institutions needed to support and facilitate international trade Increased global competition An International Business may take any of the following mode: Import and export (goods and services) Tourism and transportation Licensing and franchising Turnkey operations Management contracts Direct and portfolio investment And much more MERCHANDISE EXPORTS are tangible goods sent out of a country. MERCHANDISE IMPORTS are tangible goods brought in. Imports and exports are countrys key international economic transaction. SERVICES are earning other than those derived from goods. Earning received are service exports and earnings paid are service imports. INTERNATIONAL TOURISM and TRANSPORTATION are important sources of revenue for airlines, shipping companies, travel agencies, and hotel. Greece and Norway is earning a significant amount of revenue from transportation. Bahamian country is dependent more on earning from foreign tourism than earning from the export of merchandise. U.S. has in recent years earned more from foreign tourism than from its exports of agricultural goods. TURNKEY OPERATIONS means construction or any other operation, performed under contract of facilities that are transferred to the owner as and when they are ready to begin operating. Licensing means use of assets such as trade-marks, patents, copyrights or expertise under contracts. This generates earnings called royalties. FRANCHISING is a way of doing business in which one party (the franchisor) allows another party (the franchisee) the use of trademark that is an essential asset for the franchisees business. The franchisee is also assisted on a continuing basis in the operation of business by providing components, management services and technology. Foreign investment involves ownership of foreign property in exchange for financial return. A FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT is one that gives the investor a controlling interest in a foreign company. A PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT is an investment that gives the investor a non-controlling interest in a company or ownership of a loan to another party. CONTRACT MANUFACTURING it refers to a type of International Business where a firm enters into a contract with a few local manufacturers in foreign countries to get certain components or goods produced as per its specification. It is also known as OUTSOURCING. It can take three major forms; Production of certain components such as automobile component to be used later for producing final products. Assembly of components into final product such as assembly of hard disc, mother board, floppy disc drive etc. Complete manufacture of the product such as garments. The major international companies such as NIKE, REEBOK, LEVIS, get their products or components produced in the developing countries under contract manufacturing. 1.5 NEED FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS International Business helps both the countries to earn foreign exchange which can be used for meeting imports of capital goods, technology, petroleum products and fertilizers and consumer product and services at affordable price. International Business operates on a simple principle -produce what a country can produce more efficiently, and trade the surplus production so generated with other countries. If such an exchange pool of goods and services is distributed equitably amongst nations, it benefits all the trading nations. Producing solely for the purposes of domestic consumption restricts a countrys prospects for growth and employment. International Business helps developing countries to execute their plan to produce on a larger scale and thus create employment for people as well. International trade of goods and services has made it possible for the world community to consume goods and services produced in other countries. A number of corporate entities have improved prospects of their growth by plunging into overseas markets International Business can be more profitable than the domestic business. When the domestic prices are lower, business firms can earn more profits by selling their products in countries where prices are higher. Many firms set up production capacities for their products which are in excess of demand in the domestic market. By planning overseas expansion and procuring orders from foreign entities, they use their surplus production capacities and improve the profitability of their operation. Production on a larger scale leads to economies of scale, which in turn lowers production cost. 1.6 REVIEW OF EXISTING STUDIES No study seems to have been made in India to cover the various aspects of Taxation of International Business. This section presents a brief review of some of the important studies conducted on the subject of taxation. These studies would provide background material for the proposed work. Goenka (1983)1 emphasized the need for evolving an optimum direct tax planning process for our business entities, which will enable them to maximize their after-tax profits, so that these are available for establishing new industries and expanding the existing ones. Tax planning has emerged as an important tool for management decisions beginning with the settling up of an enterprise to the level of strategic, project and operational planning constituted at different stages of development of an enterprise and at different levels of policy formulation and operation. Tax planning would in no way lead to tax loss to the national exchequer; as the corporate sector progresses at a faster pace, Government can not only recoup the tax loss but improve upon the same. Agarwal (1987)2 has emphasized on tax incentives as an instrument of Fiscal policy to achieve the stated objectives of mobilizing saving and inducing investment. In the opinion of author, tax incentives offer a relatively straight forward means of promoting industrialization compared to other long term or complex measures that are more difficult to implement. However, tax incentive may not be used and may not yield the desired results. So tax incentives may be complemented with some of the other alternative measures to achieve the desired results. The study also revealed that the type, size and magnitude of tax incentives offered in different countries vary widely depending upon the needs and aspirations of their people. So incentive programme in India has undergone a number of changes from time to time and has a wide coverage. India is offering largest number of tax incentives as a part of its tax incentives package. Agarwal (1991)3 observed that significance of personal income tax can be judged in terms of its share in total tax revenue or national income. The contribution of direct taxes in general and of personal income tax in particular to the total tax receipts of Union Government of India has declined over time. India has depended more on indirect taxes for additional resource mobilization. Frequent upward revision of the exemption limit under the personal income tax tends to restrict growth of the tax base. The study covers the single major category of personal income tax payers individual. These account for more than 90% of the total number of personal income tax payers and their taxable income. The observed elasticity, progressivity and re-distribution impact of a tax is the net effect of interaction between tax parameters (such as tax schedule) and non tax parameters (such as income inequality). The study has concentrated on observed empirical functions and not on behaviouristic relations. So the discussion of tax evasion and tax compliance is beyond the scope of the study. Jain (1991)4, revealed that the private corporate sector has been looked upon as an important source of saving in India. The Government has succeeded in influencing the corporate decision processes at different levels and encourages them to save more. In Indian tax structure, there is a heavy tax on companys profits which reduces savings since it is assumed to be borne by the companies themselves; so the question of mechanics of corporate saving behaviour was probed into and she identified the possible channels through which taxes could influence corporate saving decisions. She insisted on revamping the tax structure. A reduction in tax rate would have a favourable impact on retention, resulting in utilization of more internal finance and ploughing back of profits. Tax reductions have to be combined with a corresponding review and reduction of tax incentives and fiscal incentives provided to the corporate sector. KADEL (2000)5 stated that Nepal, a small under developed country of the world economy, started using tax incentives to encourage private investments. The result was the introduction of tax holiday system and providing many other tax related facilities by Industrial Enterprise Act in 1962 and motive was to attract private investment. Since then, series of changes in tax rules were noticed. One of the objectives of all these changes was to create investor friendly environment and in turn increase investment. The author revealed that inflation is the main source of distortion for the corporate tax system in Nepal. Inflation rate and effective tax burden in Nepal are negatively related. The main determinant of fixed asset investment in Nepal is the availability of market or customer. The tax factor too as a determinant of fixed asset investment is playing only a small role in this regard. Across the four techniques of providing tax incentives i.e., tax holiday, accelerated depreciation, investment allowance and tax rate reduction, investment allowance is the best method to reduce the effective tax burden. Full tax holiday system is not preferable for both the reduction of tax burden and getting equity in the tax system. The proposed study will attempt to bridge the gap by focusing on international business. 1.7 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM India, the worlds largest democracy, has emerged as a strong player on the international arena. Indias role in international affairs is increasing at a higher pace. The thrust for major changes initiated by the Indian Government is to sweep away much burdensome regulation and create a business friendly environment for domestic and international business. Development took place through many reforms e.g. macro-economics reforms, tax reforms, finance reforms and freeing of capital markets, reforms in the regulation of business firms, revitalization of the Indian private sector, removal of exchange control and convertibility, trade reforms and foreign direct investment, reduction in licensing and quota raj as well as inspectors domain. Tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalize the Indian tax structure and increase tax compliance with the following steps: Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, and customs and making it more progressive. Simplication of laws and procedures and introduction of Advance Ruling Introducing tax incentives in the form of exemptions and concessions. Easing out the rules relating to filing of returns (E-filing), TDS Laws relating to IB have also been simplified. Despite the above steps initiated by the government, the problem of ambiguity is continuing viz. (1) Business entities are not sure of their future tax liability in terms of rate of tax (to be applied in years to come, changing by virtue of Finance Act) (2) Retrospective amendment in the law has its own impact on foreign business entities.(Vodafone International Holding BV v Union of India) Vodafone was embroiled in a $2.5 billion tax dispute with the Indian Income Tax Department over its purchase of Hutchison Essar Telecom services in April 2007. It was being alleged by the Indian Tax authorities that the transaction involved purchase of assets of an Indian Company, and therefore the transaction or part thereof was liable to be taxed in India. Vodafone Group Plc. entered India in 2007 through a subsidiary based in the Netherlands, which acquired Hutchison Telecommunications International Ltds (HTIL) stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd (HEL)-the joint venture that held and operated telecom licences in India. This Cayman Islands transaction, along with several related agreements, gave Vodafone control over 67% of HEL and extinguished Hong Kong-based Hutchisons rights of control in India, a deal that cost the worlds largest telco $11.2 billion at the time. The crux of the dispute had been whether or not the Indian Income Tax Department has jurisdiction over the transaction. Vodafone had maintained from the outset that it is not liable to pay tax in India; and even if tax were somehow payable, then it should be Hutchison to bear the tax liability. In January 2012, the Indian Supreme Court passed the judgement in favor of Vodafone, saying that the Indian Income tax department had no jurisdiction to levy tax on overseas transaction between companies incorporated outside India. However, Indian government thinks otherwise. It believes that if an Indian company, Hutchison India Ltd., conducts a financial transaction, government should get its tax out of it. Therefore, in 2012, India changed its Income Tax Act retrospectively and made sure that any company, in similar circumstances, is not able to avoid tax by operating out of tax-havens like Cayman Islands or Lichtenstein. In May 2012, Indian authorities confirmed that they were going to charge Vodafone about Rs. 20000 crore (US $4.5 billion) in tax and fines. The second phase of the dispute is about to start. 3.) Lots of disputes and litigation are pending before the various court of law of the country which are deciding factors for tax liability of business entities.( Idea Cellular-ATT, GE-Genpact, Mitsui-Vedanta, Sabmiller-Fosters and the Sanofi Aventis-Shantha Biotech have tax cases pending in various high courts in the country) 4.) Uncertainty regarding the impact of direct tax laws and allied costs arising after the completion of total project particularly where in the international transactions, the gestation period of a project is too long ranging from 3 years or more. 5.) The effect of change of government policy due to tax avoidance treaty with other countries resulting in the total darkness regarding tax incidence on their profit after the completion of project. (India is negotiating the tax treaty with Mauritius to prevent evasion of tax. India wants to retain the right to tax capital gain arising to non-resident. India has already started raising tax demands against the companies and many of these cases are being disputed in various courts.) BRIEFLY, DOUBLE TAXATION, UNRESOLVED TAX DISPUTES, UNCERTAINTY IN THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL TAX RULES, HEAVY COMPLIANCE BURDENS, ALL CAN ACT AS A BARRIER TO THE EXPANSION OF CROSS-BORDER TRADE AND INVESTMENT, THEREBY HAMPERING INDIAS GROWTH RATE. 1.8 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY With a view to extract the gains of globalization and to develop international business in mutual interest, the present study is being undertaken with the following objectives: 1) to examine the role of direct tax laws in the development of International Business. 2) To appraise the Tax Professionals, Tax Executives and Entrepreneurs with the provisions of tax laws, connected with International Business/International Transactions and enabling them to take advantage of all tax benefits concessions (set-off carry forward),rebates (section 89) and reliefs(section 90 91), allowances(section 35), deductions ( section 80) and exemptions (section 10), available in our tax laws with due compliance of the requisites. 3) To suggest and propose measures to our policy makers that by making lawful amendments in the act, how our International Business can be strengthened. Broadly speaking, the study would address the following issues: What are the measures through which our tax professionals can manage their global tax risk and meet cross border obligation? How our business entities can complete their international transactions peacefully without facing any undue litigation or political harassment and thus maintaining effective relationship with tax authorities. What are the loopholes in the act which may be twisted by an assessee for their own benefit. It is required to be plugged or explained properly by the government by making amendments in the Act. The study also intends to make a comparative study of the tax rates of India with a few selected countries to encourage Indian enterprise to deal with countries having comparatively lower rate of tax . 1.10 LIMITATIONS Direct tax laws is a wide term which embraces in itself a variety of tax laws but the present study is restricted to Income Tax Act 1961. Income tax act 1961 is subject to change every year. This study is based purely on aspects of Income Tax Act 1961, for the assessment year 2012-13. 3) The nature of topic in itself is a big limitation. Till date, lacs and lacs of transactions have taken place in International Business and thousands of cases are pending in various Tribunals, High Courts and Supreme Court, waiting for the judgment. Whenever the final judgment will be pronounced, it will become a law and guiding factor for future policy makers and help for tax planning. 4) Other indirect tax laws like Customs Act, FEMA etc. are equally important in international business but we are restricting our study to the Income Tax Act only and leaving the scope for other research scholars willing in the same framework of study. 5) Further, the study has been conducted mainly from the point of view of the tax payer and not from that of the tax assessor or tax collectors, though it may be indirectly helpful to them in formulating appropriate policies and provides a basis for granting fiscal incentives based on national priorities. 1.11 HYPOTHESIS 1) The policy makers do not foresee at the time of framing the law that new techniques of tax evasion and avoidance may arise. The business houses with their expert legal brains, who are engaged mainly to seek loopholes in the law, take the maximum tax advantage due to the Government policy. They keep themselves within the framework of law but do not fulfil the intentions of the law, thereby tax avoidance arises. 2) The tax executives and business houses usually do not calculate the in depth risk of such transactions which arises due to higher gestation period of project. 3) Assessee do not forsee any change in the act with retrospective effect. 4) The assessee prefers a low rate of tax. 1.12 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The proposed study is descriptive and analytical in nature where in researcher uses facts or information already available and analyse these to make a critical evaluation of the material. Here researcher has no control over the variables. The researcher can only report what has happened or what is happening along with possible suggestions. So the study would be based on the various books, journals, Finance Acts, Explanatory Memorandum on the Budget of the Central Government, Reports of the various committees/commissions, Indian Economic Survey, Income Tax Act 1961, Income Tax Rules 1962, various announcements, circulars and notifications of Central Board of Direct Taxes, Budget speeches of Finance Ministers, Reports of Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Direct Taxes, Economic and Political Weekly, newspapers (Economic Times, Financial Express, Business Lines) etc. Moreover, websites of Income Tax Department, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Statistics and Comptroller and Auditor General of India have also been used for collection and analysis of data. The methodology may further be modified with the want of the circumstances. CONCLUSION This chapter laid the foundation for the research. It introduced the research problem and research question and hypothesis. Focus is also laid on the review of existing studies, limitation of the study and methodology adopted. Future outline In the upcoming chapters, an attempt has been made to discuss various Direct tax instruments which directly help in the development of International Business. These instruments have been specifically provided by our policy makers in our tax laws, keeping in view the national priority for development, growth and employment. At the same time, the need to augment revenue and resources have been duly kept in consideration, being an equal factor for development of the country. Such instruments as have been discussed in our future chapters have contributed its growth values in the development of International Business. These provisions and their impact with broad outlines and suggestions have been discussed in detail.

Robert Frost :: essays research papers

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874. He moved to New England at the age of eleven and became interested in reading and writing poetry during his high school years in Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1892, and later at Harvard, but never earned a formal degree. Frost drifted through a string of occupations after leaving school, working as a teacher, cobbler, and editor of the Lawrence Sentinel. His first professional poem, "The Butterfly," was published on November 8, 1894, in the New York newspaper The Independent.In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White, who became a major inspiration in his poetry until her death in 1938. The couple moved to England in 1912, after their New Hampshire farm failed, and it was abroad that Frost met and was influenced by such contemporary British poets as Edward Thomas, Rupert Brooke, and Robert Graves.There are probably three things that account for Robert Frost's poetry. In his poems, he uses familiar subjects, like nature, people doing everyday things and simple language to express his thought. His poems may be easy to read, but not necessarily easy to understand. Almost all of Frost's poems are hiding a secret message. He easily can say two things at the same time. For example, in "The Road Not Taken", Frost talks about being a traveler, but the hidden message is about decisions in life. In lines 19 and 20, he expresses that he did the right thing, by choosing to go down the path that made the difference. Also, "in Birches", lines 48-59, it shows that the poem is about being carefree. Frost wishes he could be like the boy swinging from the birch trees. The poem sets the picture of a boy swinging from the tree branches, but he really is talking about being carefree. He says that earth is the right place for love. He says that he doesn't know where he would like to go better, but he would like to go swinging from the birches.Another example of symbolic description comes from the poem "Desert Places" he talks about how he will not be scared of the desert places, but of the loneliness. He is scared of his own loneliness, his own desert places.Most of Frost's poems are about nature. All three of the mentioned poems are about nature. In "The Road Not Taken" he talks of the woods and paths to follow (line1).

The Figures Displayed in Sylvia Plaths Mirror Essay -- Poetry Poem Sy

The Figures Displayed in Sylvia Plath's Mirror The speaker in Sylvia Plath's poem "Mirror" is the actual mirror itself, which has been owned by a now "old woman" (16) for quite some time. This woman has looked into her mirror every day for many years now. The mirror is very aware of her presence and its environment when she is not present. The author provides many details in order for the reader to grasp the mirror's view on its ever-day sights, but this would be an impossible task without the major use of figures of speech. Plath uses many figures of speech for the benefit of the reader to completely grasp the tone and theme of the poem. Once analyzed, we see that all of these figures of speech come together to achieve one overall effect - expressing the ultimate idea of the poem. The first image and descriptions of the mirror immediately suggest the author's use of personification that brings life to the mirror. From the very beginning it seems as if a person is describing himself: "I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions" (1). We soon realize this is not the case, but that the mirror has taken on a personality and role in the poem. The mirror puts into words what the reader may already know, but just would never think about: if a mirror really could talk this is what it would say. A mirror holds no judgment of what it sees, but only reflects the truth: "I am not cruel, only truthful" (4). This particular mirror has been owned by only one - a now elderly woman who has looked into it for many years now. The author consistently maintains the personification of the mirror throughout the poem to let the mirror speak what it has seen of this woman and its environment over the past years. The next noticeable use by ... ...s a person would see its reflection in this as well, Plath ends with a simile regarding this reflection. The woman's reflection rises to her from this lake "like a terrible fish" (18). What she has seen is herself grow into an old woman, which although is the truth of the mirror, is a sad actuality to the woman. Without any of these images, this poem would be lacking to achieve the entire intention of a mirror describing in words what is only seen and not spoken. Plath has done a wonderful job at putting on paper an entire two stanzas of only scenes and not conversation. All of the figures of speech have come together to express one final idea: a mirror does not lie, but only reflects the truth (which can only be described by perfect imagery). Works Cited: Plath, Sylvia. The Collected Poems. Ed. Ted Hughes. New York: Perennial ? Harper and Row, 1981.

Honesty :: essays research papers

It was my aunt who taught me the meaning of honesty. Not because she actually was honest, but because she lied all the time. I think she felt that the easiest way out of any given situation was generally the best way out. For her, that meant telling a lie that sounded believable. As a young child I thought it was cool to lie and get out of things so easily and being around my aunt was the main problem. Naturally, when ever I would come to her with a problem, concern, or a question wondering what I should do, she would always tell me to make up a good lie and run with it.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Aunt Ruby, I told April that I would go to the movies with her, but I would rather go to Jessica’s house and go to the mall with her.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Tell April you’re sick,† she would say. And most often I would. But I didn’t seem blessed with her lack of principles. On many occasions April would find out that I really went to Jessica’s house and to the mall without her. These occasions taught me that it is more painful to be caught in a lie than to tell the truth in the first place. I wondered how it was possible that my aunt had never learned that lesson that I had just learned so painfully and so easily.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I started thinking of all the lies that I’d heard her tell. I remember the time she told her friend that her favorite shopping mall had closed, just so she wouldn’t have to see her there anymore and have her approach her and talk for five minutes. The time she told my Uncle that she loved the new purse he had gotten her for her birthday. The one that really takes the cake is when she told her friend Patty that the car was down and that is why she hasn’t been to see her in a couple of weeks. The thing that I don’t understand is why you have to lie to the people you love if you don’t like or want to do something. What bothered me after awhile was how she incorporated me into her lies. Like the time she called the school and told them I wouldn’t be there today because I had a dentist appointment, when in fact, she wanted me to baby sit my little cousin so she could go get her hair done.

Report on Cross Cultural Management of Cuba Essay

4 Analysis of Silk Trade in Cuba To a great extent, the silk trade can be influenced by the culture. Before entering into the Cuban market, the company needs to understand the culture and take into account the local market situation. Cross cultural management models can be used to analyze the cultural characteristics in Cuba, for example Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions, and Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions. In the following, cross cultural models will be used to conduct an assessment of Cuban cultural background and analyze the impact of Cuban culture on the silk trade. Fig 1 Location of Cuba 4.1 Cuban culture under Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions Professor Geert Hofstede is an expert in the field of cross cultural management. His study on the cultural dimensions can be used to help define the culture of a country in the world. According to Geert Hofstede Cultural Dimensions, each kind of the culture places different emphasis on five different cultural dimensions, Power Distance (PDI), Individualism versus Collectivism (IDV), Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), and Long term orientation (LTO) (Hofstede, 1996). 4.1.1 Power Distance According to the view of Professor Hofstede, power distance deals with the income inequity in a country (Soares et al., 2007). Cuba scores high in the scale of power distance, which means that the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. The reason can be found in the long history. 4.1.2 Individualism versus Collectivism The dimension individualism is the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. In simple words, it deals with whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of I or We. It is known that Cuba is a communist country and it is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share everything. The Cubans believe that all the people are important and cooperation is important in the society. In simple words, collectivism is widely accepted in Cuba. 4.1.3 Masculinity versus Femininity The dimension masculinity deals with what motivates people, wanting to be the best (masculine) or liking what you do (feminine). Under the Cuban culture, people are always more feminine. The dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. In addition to this, the Cuban women have played an important role in the society, and women hold nearly 37% of the seats in parliament. The Cuban culture is more feminine. 4.1.4 Uncertainty Avoidance The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance can explain how people deal with the unknown future, some may try to control the future, and some may let it happen (Merkin, 2006). People in the Cuban society belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance. To a large extent, it is decided by the political environment, the communist society for years can be the reason why Cuban people eliminate unwanted changes in the future. 4.1.5 Long term orientation The long term orientation dimension decides the extent to which the society shows a pragmatic future-oriented view rather than a conventional historical short-term view. In Cuba, people fall more in the conventional short-term view. The society is largely controlled by the government, and people live life day to day with the conventional short-term view, also they have not planned too much for the future. 4.2 Cuban culture under Fons Trompenaars Cultural Dimensions According to the view of Professor Fons, what distinguished people from one culture is where their preferences fall on each of the seven different dimension, including universalism versus particularism, individualism versus communitarianism, specific versus diffuse, neutral versus emotional, achievement versus ascription, sequential time versus synchronous time, and internal direction versus outer direction (Charles and Trompenaars, 1997). The dimension universalism vs. particularism deals with what is more important, rule or relationship. In Cuba, people believe that relationships can be more important, which is largely decided by the political factor. Under the communist society, the whole society is controlled by the leaders of the country, and the society is decided by rule of people, rather than rule of law (Rasha, 2006). Individualism vs. collectivism deals with the degree of interdependence a society maintains in its members. Cuba falls more in a collectivist culture. In addition, the neutral vs. emotional dimension describes the importance of feelings and relationships. Obviously, Cuba, a neutral culture, and people do not easily display their feelings and emotions. The government controls everything, and people dare not display their real feelings (Kang and Mastin (2008). Specific vs. diffuse dimension answers how the people separate the private and working lives. Cuban culture belongs to the specific-oriented culture, in simple words the Cuban people separate the private and the working lives very clearly. The achievement vs. ascription dimension refers to the question of the status. In Cuban society, people belong to the ascription-oriented culture and the respect for a manager is based on hierarchy. Sequential vs. synchronic dimension defines two different ways of managing time, and the Cuban people belong to the synchronization-oriented dimension. In the end, the Cuban people fall more in the external control dimension. 4.3 Cuban culture under Ednlard T. Hall Cultural Dimensions Ednlard T. Hall is a famous researcher on cross cultural management. Hall’s cultural factors can be used to understand people from different cultural backgrounds, include high-context culture and low-context culture, monochromic action and polychromic action, high territoriality and low territoriality. First of all, Cuba belongs to a kind of high-context culture, similar with Trompenaars’ particularism. There are a lot of local unwritten rules of the culture, and much is taken for granted in the Cuban culture. Secondly, similar with Trompenaars’ time as sequence (monochromic) and time as synchronization (polychromic), most of the Cuban people can be polychromic-based action (Hall, 1966). In simple words, people often do many things at once and put relationship first, in addition to this, things are borrowed and shared often and easily. (Hall, 1983). Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society. 5 Impact of culture on leadership and organization behavior in Cuba With the development of the economic globalization, the importance of cross cultural management receives more attention. Culture can be defined as the characteristics of a particular group of people, including history, education, language, social, structure, religion, political, and economic. 5.1 Impact of culture on leadership in Cuba Leadership can be defined as a process of social influence in the accomplishment of a common task, and good leaders are not made born. As described above, cross cultural management models can be used to understand how to do the business in Cuba. Fig 2 Flag of Cuba 5.1.1 Impact of Cuban history on leadership The history of Cuba began with the arrival of Columbus in 1492, and in a long time it was controlled by the foreign countries, such as United States and Brazil. In the 20th century, Cuba made the alliance with the Soviets. Castro controlled Cuba for decades until the year 2006. In Cuba, the leaders have the concentrated power and members of an institution and organization accept the leadership very easily. Fig 3 Castro 5.1.2 Impact of Cuban education on leadership Speaking in essence, the Cuban education was strictly controlled by the government, and the school attendance is not very high. In addition to this, education has a strong political and ideological emphasis. In simple words, the Cuban education is not well-developed, and the leaders can easily influence the followers, also people get used to obey the instructions from the leaders. 5.1.3 Impact of Cuban language on leadership Spanish is the official language in Cuba, and most of the Cubans can speak it, because in a long time Cuba was controlled by Spain. In addition to this, Haitian Creole can be the second largest language. Language can play an important role in the leadership process, and it can be inferred that the leaders in Cuba are required to speak Spanish. 5.1.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on leadership Social structure can be identified as the relationship between entities or groups or as enduring and relatively stable patterns of relationship. The Cuban society believes that inequities are usual and a fact of the life. The equality can be accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. Fig 4 Cathedral of Saint Christopher in Havana 5.1.5 Impact of Cuban religion on leadership Cuba has been a Communist country since 1959. Catholicism is much modified and influenced, and the most popular religion in Cuba is Santeria. The religion can maximize the cohesion between the members, and the leadership can take advantage of the religion, or else it will be the barriers. 5.1.6 Impact of Cuban politics on leadership Culture of a country can significantly influence the trade business, including the silk trade. People’s Republic of China has built a good relationship with Republic of Cuba for many years, which can be good for the silk trade in Cuba (Benjamin and Collins, 1985). To be more specific, the political attitude can be helpful in leadership. 5.1.7 Impact of Cuban economic on leadership Influenced by the political ideology, Cuba refused the free trade with the foreigners in the world market. Cuba carries out the planned economy for a long time and limits the private economy (Padilla and McElroy, 2007). The production are largely owned and operated by the government. Leaders from foreign countries may not easy in Cuba. 5.2 Impact of culture on organization behavior in Cuba Likewise, the impact of culture on the organization behavior must be also taken into account by the management. Organization behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups and structures upon behavior within an organization. Organization behavior can be understood better, and the barriers can be eliminated. 5.2.1 Impact of Cuban history on organization behavior In a long history of the communist society, the Cubans get used to obey the rules from the leaders. In simple words, the individuals, groups and structures in Cuba share the same rules. In the process of cross cultural management, members of an institution or organization obey the group norms. 5.2.2 Impact of Cuban education on organization behavior Castro developed a fully state-operated education system, at the same time the private institutions are banned by the government. There is no advanced education system to build the organization behavior. In other words, the organization behavior of the local employees can be rebuilt in the process of cross cultural management. 5.2.3 Impact of Cuban language on organization behavior The official language in Cuba is Spanish, and the organization behaviors are based on the language. More importantly, language is the communication tool, and it can also decide the success of cross cultural management. Only on the basis of understanding the language, the organization behavior can be understood. 5.2.4 Impact of Cuban social structure on organization behavior Likewise, social structure decides many social systems, such as legal system, cultural system, economic system, and political system. Individuals and groups obey the social systems, and organization behavior can be influenced by the social systems. 5.2.5 Impact of Cuban religion on organization behavior To be more specific, the Santeria in Cuba developed from Catholicism by combining the religion of African slaves and some local Americans. Institutions or organizations from foreign countries can take advantage of the religion to bring people together. 5.2.6 Impact of Cuban politics on organization behavior The former leader Castro controlled everything for years and the Cuban people have been under control. Under such political environment, behaviors of individuals and groups are influenced by the external political factors. 5.2.7 Impact of Cuban economic on organization behavior Foreign leaders may find it difficult in leading the local Cuban employees, and some measures should be taken, for example hiring the local managers. The Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, which largely results from the political attitude of the communist society in the world (SÃ ©ror and Arteaga, 2000). 6 Conclusion and Recommendations Due to the different political ideology, Cuba closed the door and operated differently. In conclusion, the characteristics of Cuban culture are different, and cross cultural management in Cuba needs to consider the characteristics. Recommendations will be made in the following to operate the silk trade in an effective and efficient way. 6.1 Leadership styles of cross cultural management in Cuba There are many kinds of leadership styles, which include authoritarian, paternalistic, democratic, laissez-faire, and transactional. Taking the Cuban cultural characteristics into account, the kind of paternalistic leadership style can be put into practices in the Cuban business world. The leaders encourage the employees to compete the tasks, at the same time they take care of the employees as a parent will do, because the local employees are influenced by the external political factor. In order to do the silk trade, the leaders have to deal with the potential barriers in Cuba. 6.2 Communication styles of cross cultural management in Cuba In Cuba, the official language is Spanish. As for the management, the communication styles can be assertive, aggressive, passive, and passive-aggressive. The best style for the management in Cuba can be the assertive communication. To be more specific, the leaders can communicate with the local employees in an assertive way. The language barrier can be solved by hiring the translators, and the institutions and organizations can hire the local employees as the middle management level, for they can carry out the business strategies better and communicate with the local employees easily. 6.3 Negotiation skills of cross cultural management in Cuba Under the different cultural background, some negotiation skills are necessary in the process of cross cultural management. By understanding the Cuban culture, leaders in Cuba can learn how to work with the Cubans and avoid the cultural barriers. It can be recommended that the first one negotiation skill is to learn to flinch. In order to make the silk trade with the Cubans, the businessmen need to respect the local rules and the employees, thus make them feel comfortable in the trade process. The second one is to recognize that customers often ask for more than they expect to get. In the process of silk trade, the Cubans are provided good products and services. After the customers recognize the products and services, the company can build better brand awareness to increase the sales and make profits in Cuba. 6.4 Management styles and requirements of cross cultural management in Cuba The management process is not easy, but it can significantly influence the silk trade in Cuba. During the process of cross cultural management, the management can consider the Cuban cultural factors, as explained in the above cultural dimensions. Especially, when making important decisions, the cultural factors need to be taken into account, as well as the problem-solving process and team management. 6.4.1 Decision-making of cross cultural management in Cuba The process of decision-making is not easy in a different cultural background. In the Cuban culture, the first one is to take the political factor into account. The government interface with free trade can be the biggest barrier in Cuba. The decision-makers need to understand the Cubans, for example, things can be borrowed and shared often and easily. Cuban people have high territoriality when working with the foreigners, so the institutions and organizations can cooperate with the local groups. In the end, results of the potential decisions need to be reasonably predicted under such circumstances. 6.4.2 Problem-solving of cross cultural management in Cuba When facing with the conflicts, the management needs to solve the problems. Unlike the conventional situation, the local cultural may be more complex, for the conflicts in Cuba may involve many parties. At this time, the foreigners need to understand how the local residents deal with the problem. For example, the members of this country believes that inequities are usual and accepted by all layers of the society, and the leaders of an organization can have a lot of power. In simple words, the foreigners can seek for the support of the leaders if they are encountering the barriers in Cuba. More importantly, people in Cuba belong to the category of high uncertainty avoidance, and money can be the effective and efficient to solve the current problems. 6.4.3 Team management of cross cultural management in Cuba As a communist society, the Cuban people are regarded as the group. It is known that Cuba is a collectivist culture. Under such political environment, people work together and share the property. They believe that all the Cubans are important and cooperation is important in the society. In the process of team management, the leaders can learn to motivate the employees and increase the cohesion power among the team members. In addition to this, the dominant values in the society are caring for others and quality of life, rather than the competition, achievement, and success. If team members share the same values, they can come together to complete the common goals. The last but not the least, the leaders have a lot of concentrated power. During the process of cross cultural management, leaders need to develop an understanding of the Cuban culture.