Change Management in the Learning Organization Essay

In this paper I intend to discuss change management approaches that support the learning organization philosophy. The learning organization is defined as an organization that acquires knowledge and innovates fast enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Learning organizations (1) create a culture that encourages and supports continuous employee learning, critical thinking, and risk taking with new ideas, (2) allow mistakes, and value employee contributions, (3) learn from experience and experiment, and (4) disseminate the new knowledge throughout the organization for incorporation into day-to-day activities. On the other hand we have a process called change management which is defined as minimizing resistance to organizational change through involvement of key players and stakeholders. At my organization these two go hand in hand and it allows for us as a company to experience constant growth and development of our staff. Our employees are more willing to welco me change when we train them in the process. As businesses moves through the 21st century, they are becoming more dependent upon their managers to be change agents. These companies actually seek managers who can bring success to their organizations. Three of the characteristics we look for in our new managers are they must have the ability to stimulate change, excellent planning capabilities, and ethics. Over the years I have spent in management I have learned that success in  becoming a learning organization relies on a commitment to learning on the part of the organizations I have worked for and the willingness of the individuals involved to be receptive to the change process. As a manager, what we usually can change falls into basically three categories; people, structure, or technology. An efficient manager will make alterations in these areas in an attempt to facilitate change. With people the change involves adjusting attitudes, expectations, perceptions, and probably most importantly behavior. Coaching people to adjust in these areas will help employees within the organization to work together more effectively. Changing structure relates to the job design, specialization, hierarchy and any other structural variables. These usually need to be flexible and non-static in order to be adaptable to change. When dealing with technological change we are looking at modifying work processes and methods along with the introduction of new equipment. To me learning organizations support the change process just as much as change management supports the learning organization philosophy. I say that because every change calls for some sort of learning as the more comprehensive the change the more attention we have to place on learning for the individuals involved in the change. By utilizing the learning organizations philosophies companies including the one I work for are able to magnify the potential of its employees which keeps them growing. References www.businessdictionary.com www.morfconsulting.com Learning in action: a guide to putting the learning organization to work/ David A. Garvin

Kinds of evidence reveal about social justice Essay

During this essay I will be drawing from Chapters 1 and 3 from Social Justice Welfare Crime and Society and Chapter 4 DVD1 to discuss some different types of evidence about social injustice. The first example I am going to use is that from an extract from Book 1, Social Justice, Chapter 1, Extract 1.2, Mandela 1995, p83. Here Mandela gives a personal account of when he was training to be a lawyer and what social injustice he came across by way of discrimination. On the day that Mandela started his new job he was introduced to his office by a white secretary and to a fellow black colleague Gaur. Mandela was taken to one side and told that there was no colour bar at the law firm. The secretary then when on to say that that at mid morning there would be a tea break and that new cups had been purchased for himself and Gaur When the tea break came Mandela’s colleague decided not to use one of the two new cups provided but instead choose one of the old cups. Mandela however chose to decline and be impartial in order to neither alienate himself or offend. This could in fact have been Mandela’s source of justice for the injustice which had just been encompassed upon him. It could however also be said that the way Gaur dealt with the situation could be his own way of getting back at the secretary who had served him with this injustice and he could have thought the actions he gave was his own form of justice to himself. This sort of injustice is both discrimination and a form of disadvantage. This evidence used is by way of personal testimony, quantitive data. The second example is that Extract 1.2, page 9. The extract tells of a woman Lillie Mae Bedford who suffered a social injustice nearly 60 years ago and which is still affecting her today. This lady was charged with disordly conduct for sitting in a white only seat on an Alabama bus back in 1951. This lady is still awaiting a pardon for this today. Unfortunately Bradford is still carrying the weight of this today. Not only did it affect her by having a criminal record but this meant that she was unable to apply for certain jobs as she had a police record. In fact, this form of injustice  happened to another lady ‘Rosa Parks‘ a few years later, and her arrest provoked a bus boycott. This sort of injustice lead to a protest that whilst was initially defined as illegal went on to result in the law to be changed. This saw the beginning of the end for segregation and she became a civil rights icon. This also opened up questions on the relationship between justice, the law and the state. The law at the time was a powerful body of the state that that embodied certain ideas of what was just and unjust at certain times and certain places and that was reinforced with criminal justice bodies, i.e. the police, courts etc. The state does not just reflect these notions, it also creates them. However, these legal ideas of justice are not shared by everyone. Due to the way society reacted to both Bradford’s and Rosa Parks, the law was changed. This shows that the laws were not only changeable but also contestable. Many people face tough restrictions in entering another country in today’s world. Once entered into another country there are further controls and restrictions that migrants face. They can be by way of registration and the need to prove their identity and residence status. there has always been attempts to control immigration but in today’s society more than ever. Over more recent years new laws and restrictions have been introduced to control immigration. In chapter 4 of the DVD it gives audio recorded whereby immigrants are trying to enter one of the Spanish Islands illegally via boats, surf boards and even been known via refrigerator. Whilst of course this is illegal there is also a responsibility of ensuring that these immigrants are rescued and safely returned to shore. Jose Antonio, DVD 1, Chapter 4, discusses an incident where the Spanish Coastguards were informed that there were over 400 boats which had left Africa and where heading for Spanish waters. Illegal immigrants died in this journey over whilst others were left dehydrated in boats. Crime prevention clearly runs along side social welfare. Crime prevention is brought about by attempting to stop the immigrants getting into foreign countries where they are not permitted to without the correct documentation, passports etc. Crime prevention has been set up by way of border controls in all countries to attempt to stop all illegal immigrants. If border controls were removed then there would surely be a vast increase in immigrants entering illegally. Whilst crime prevention is much and must needed aspect of society this clearly entangles itself with the fact that social welfare towards immigrants is a human right. What starts as border control, crime prevention, quickly crosses over into being a salvage operation, social welfare. Clearly here the immigrants face an injustice not only because of their nationality but probably because of their social class as the majority of immigrants are looked on as lower class, possibly being having to be looked after by the state. An injustice has occurred here as their social welfare has not been addressed but crime control has by laws that have been put into existence by exercising control over those (immigrants) that threaten to disrupt what the state saw just and lawful. The final example I am using is that of injustice through work and that of harm through gender. Woman are particularly exposed to harm in the workplace particularly those from socially lower economic backgrounds and ethnic minorities. These women tend to have less choices about their working conditions and end up working for less pay, manually heavier jobs and longer hours. Barbara Ehrenreich (2002) carried out a study in America relating to living on a minimum wage. Enrenreich’s study offered an insight to the way these women had to live, the long hours they worked for little money and the demanding efforts they faced on a day to day basis. Unfortunately these women continued to work in these unjust conditions despite injury through fear of loss of pay. These workers were vulnerable. Their basic rights were abused, these women were often controlled by way of punishments made to them in their employment, no talking policies, having their work rotas re-scheduled at short notice etc. Whilst entering into paid work for these women and enabling them to develop new capabilities and social relationships it also noted it was a source of harm. Enrenreich’s study also raises questions in respect of dependence and independence – not only between employee and employer but also a dependence for women on low wages and the difficulties that they face and the fact they this could lead t further economic independence and quality of life. Whether this entangled into crime, I would say not really as laws are put in place to protect women albeit personally, unjust. The laws are governed and re-readdressed even if not everyone shares their values on what is right and just. This form of  evidence is by way of case study. Finally to give a brief conclusion about what I understand of social justice and social injustice. I understand that Social Justice is justice which is experienced within a society of various social classes. A socially just society is based on the principles of equality which both understands and values human rights based on the concept of human rights as income re-distribution, property re-distribution, progressive taxation and equality between men/women, disabled or able bodied to name a few examples. Social justice is one of both contestable and changeable. Social injustice is really just the opposite of the above. An injustice is claimed to be an unfairness within society/a wrong doing. Social injustice arises when the distribution of advantages and disadvantages in society is not equal. Big groups/large powerful organisations are often more powerful, more influential than that of a smaller group therefore often being responsible for many injustices however, these are often ignored by both the social welfare and criminal system. This to is also ever changeable and contestable. The evidence that I have used about is mostly that of quantitive data by use of both personal testimonials and case study. I used this sort of data as the examples I have used are from peoples injustices through their experiences they have lived and I feel personal testimonies would be more affective.

Setting Up a New Business: Business and Marketing Plan

It ensures a firm to be proactive in anticipating and planning for market changes ahead of time. It ensures a business to be a leading edge and not a following edge. A complete marketing plan must provide answers to questions like; who is the customers, how the product gets to customers and the most effective method of Implementation. A good plan will direct to the expectation and time to get the results (Makeover, 2008). Everyone In the firm an predict what will happen or future company prospects. A company gets prepared for market opportunities and to remain health, always prepared for any rising problems.It keeps a business ready to cope with unexpected events and identify the best market mix. Importance of business plan A business plan is a kind of road map for a company. It gives goals, visions and benchmarking for your business. It gets created with aims of persuading others to assist in achieving the set goals and vision. It should describe all the business concepts, principal s, products, target markets, and also trends in the market amongst any others. It also outlines the financial budgets like sources of funds to start a business.It gives the total cost of the business, the expected level of returns or profits. It provides an opportunity to check on reality of the business and give momentum to the business. A business through a plan can evaluate where the gap are, what is working and future projections of the and guidance to run the business smoothly. Business plan is like a calling card for the business. It should always be able to outline your purpose and your identity. Successes and failures are clearly highlighted in a business plan, therefore, giving mime to acknowledge and organism your work in a better way.The peoples owning a business are made responsible and accountable to all happenings of the business giving flexibility and freedom to business owners. Conclusion While setting up a new business, one has to draw a convincing business and mark eting plan. These two plans play a vital role in ensuring the business thrives to expectations. Business plans give financial planning while the marketing plan gives market strategies to find an excellent market for the products. When these two are put together, possibilities of success are extremely high. References Berry, T. (2004).

Problem Solution Global Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Problem Solution Global Communications - Essay Example Global communications is one of the many aching companies within the telecommunications industry. Too much competition within the industry has lowered GC stock values by more than 50%. GC's senior leader team has developed a new strategic globalization plan to realize growth and profitability. The plan would introduce new services, making new alliances and implying cost cutting measures. Cutting cost would include laying off huge numbers of employees and hiring others from India and Ireland. The Technologies workers union has tried to work with GC to face its financial problems. They reduced 20% of employee's education and health benefits. They expected GC to keep all of its employees and try to improve things for them in the future. CG never involved the union towards formulating its new strategic plan. The union was shocked that they were never involved in suggesting alternatives. Laying off huge numbers of employees and using thousands of foreign employees will set a precedent for the whole industry. The union president decided to utilize all of its resources to stop GC's plan and help huge numbers of employees save their jobs. World wide competition within the telecommunication industry has lead to diminished returns. GC is under tremendous economic pressure as its stock has depreciated more than 50% in the last three years. The senior leader team of CG ... World wide competition within the telecommunication industry has lead to diminished returns. GC is under tremendous economic pressure as its stock has depreciated more than 50% in the last three years. The senior leader team of CG has put together a strategic plan to save the company and become a global corporation. They decided to cut costs by outsourcing small business technical centers to low cost more technical sophisticated centers in India and Ireland. They also decided to compete in local markets and step up towards globalization. The downside of their plan was the huge number of employees that would be laid off or relocated with salary cuts. They decided to soften the blow of their plan by explaining to the employees and the unions the challenges they face. They decided to bring career counselors to help laid off employees with their future jobs. They also decided to create a new set of values to reflect today's realities. They aimed at communicating their new plan in a way that would address the union and employees concerns. The workers union reduced 20% of employee's education and health benefits . The union accepted to give up these major benefits to enable GC to cope with its financial difficulties and survive in its competitive environment. The union hoped that by giving up such benefits, CG would retain its current body of employees and would make things better in the future. The union considers GC's new plan unethical as it manipulate around current contract conditions. GC excluded inputs from the union and employees while formulating its new plan. They gave all reasons for the union to reject their plan. The union president declared that he opposes CG's new strategic plan. He threatened to do all

The relationship between crude oil prices and gasoline prices Essay

The relationship between crude oil prices and gasoline prices - Essay Example The gas prices in the market influence the way people budget, travel, or the shipping of products into the market. When the prices of this essential product go up, people have to decide what products to buy in the market and what products to forgo. The production cost often influences prices in the market. In the same way, when gasoline prices go up, the production cost of products also shoots (Averdunk, 2010). The factor that influences the above price fluctuation is crude oil prices. Crude oil prices have an influence upon individual spending. An individual has to make a difficult decision in order to scrap what is less important when prices shoot. The effects of the crude oil prices often influence the operation of many companies because these companies depend on products derived from crude oil. It is important to identify the relationship between crude oil price and gasoline prices in the market. Market prices of products derived from crude oil often feel the impact of change in crude oil price. Research indicates that a 15% tumble of crude oil prices leads to 5% drop of the gasoline prices (Swag, 2004). Notably, the gasoline firms would present the same pump prices for the gasoline products. All the oil companies would present the same gasoline prices in the market. This research further indicates that many motorcar owners would face the same influence whenever the crude oil prices go up. Crude oil prices seem to be equal throughout the producing countries. The research also noted that crude oil prices are universal. Thus, the effect of crude oil prices in the market would influence the operation of many activities in different countries. The difference in gasoline prices in the market would result in other cost such as overhead cost. Overhead cost influences the profit that a company would make, thus influencing prices of products of the company. On the other hand, competition that exists among the gasoline companies would influence how the prices of

Corporate Governance of Football Clubs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate Governance of Football Clubs - Essay Example The crisis has been mitigated by the return of Sir John Hall to the club board. These clubs have become plcs, and its stocks are floated on the stock exchange. The plc was seen as the modern way to run a football club although it has created conflicts between shareholders and fans. . (The New Statesman, March 27, 1997, p.2). Sheffield United's manager resigned in protest at the chief executive's strategy of trying to achieve Premiership status by selling his best players. Noisy demonstrations forced the chairman and chief executive to resign. The outrage of Newcastle fans at the behaviour of the two directors was due to Kevin Keegan's resignation as manager. Fan power was limited to invading the pitch, singing nasty songs and boycotting matches. However, the problems persist. Fans believe big clubs aim to please the shareholders rather than the supporters. This blatant behavior on the part of club managers is a form of To football fans, for whom transfer of loyalty is not an option, this trend is a form of betrayal for dedicated football club supporters. (The New Statesman, March 27, 1997, p.2). There are two strategies to solve these problems. The first is a new corporate governance policy which tightens the accountability of directors to shareholders while deepening the involvement of fans, councils and schools. Clubs are allowed to appoint fans as non-executive directors and conduct "supporter audits". The second strategy understands that supporters have a a distinct relationship with their team. Though there are many teams in the league, once one has made one's choice of club, one usually sticks to it. Fans also have to survive on trust. They purchase season tickets without knowing which players and managers will be at the club. Football clubs can be legally required to further the long-term interests of the club and its supporters as a whole rather than the narrow interests of shareholders.Football clubs were previously controlled by wealthy local businessmen. They invested their money in the club operations and most often than not, they had lost their investments. How ever, this situation was unimportant. Owning a club gave them status and prestige in their local community.There are many options to ensure corporate governance for football clubs. One alternative is to widen the share ownership of clubs. If it was the aim of the club to ensure that as many fans as possible owned shares, this could improve accountability and investor commitment. Another option would be for fans to invest in a trust which would hold a collective stake in the club on their behalf and this in turn, will provide a guarantee for fans that they will have a say in major decisions. A third alternative is having mutual forms of ownership in which fans became the club's members and legal owners. A fan-appointed board would select the manager. Shareholder meetings would replace pitch invasions as the vehicle for expressing discontent. A mutual football club would be focused in pursuing things fans really want (winning matches and establishing its own club stadium). However, no ownership structure is perfect. Fans usually have a strong consensus about ends (buying good players) and not (which particular players). CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND FOOTBALL Shleifer and Vishny (1997) define the term as follows: 'Corporate governance tackles the agency problem: the separation of and finance' (p. 773). The term is used to refer to how the

Single Cell Protein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Single Cell Protein - Essay Example Although, there is a global shortage of protein, the shortage is in developing countries which cannot afford this technology. There are several advantages in using microorganisms as a food source. They occupy less room then conventional crops and animals; therefore they can grow on a wide range of cheap or waste products of agriculture and industry. They grow much more rapidly, are more easily modified by genetic engineering and so have relatively high protein content. They are independent of climate and do not occupy the large areas of land. There also are fewer ethical issues associated with there exploitation and no animal rights issues. There are different uses of yeast and fungi; like it can produce dietary supplements known as single cell protein (SCP). Yeast species are efficient in producing large amounts of different types of vitamins and is also used in the commercial production of that vitamin. Other species like yeasts can also be utilized in brewing, which can absorb as well as store vitamins from their food. It is healthy for people to take yeasts as vitamin supplements. Yeast fungi can also produce huge amount of useful stuff such as numerous enzymes, industrial alcohol, glycerol and fat. The yeasts are also helpful in commercial production of these substances. The Single Cell Protein (SCP) is produced by using bacteria, fungi, yeast or algae. SCP, for the time being, is very successful for using alternative cheaper proteins such as Soya bean, and lack of research into value-added products derived from microorganisms. Recent studies show that autolysis is an efficient method of extracting protein from the yeast; the internal cell's enzymes actions can actually cause the breakdown of cell constituents. If yeast is exposed at a very high temperature, it can speed up the process of autolysis. In reality, getting the best result of the finished product (in terms of flavor, quality or yield), totally depends on the solubiliszation of the cell contents in autolysis; it is a vital and indispensable step. In spite of this significant process, there are few common understandings of these biological modifications which happen during autolysis. Furthermore, almost every study on yeast autolysis have only been conducted with only one Saccharomyces cerevisiae know as yeast specie,and no study have been done to know the autolysis reaction of different species. Yeast was treated in laboratory which fermented the production; presently a lot of research is in progress in the department of Chemical & Life Sciences which is also examining other species like Kluyveromyces marxianus (dairy yeast),as it can produce novel yeast extracts. SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data) software is also assisting this procedure and the effect of reaction of the substance that is acted upon by an enzyme or ferment on consequential nutritive value and flavor enhancement is still being investigated. According to the recent research it is been found that yeast which produce protein contains highly nutritional matter (up to 50% dry weight basis). Therefore, controlled conditions during autolysis will result in the activation of yeast proteases which degrade yeast proteins into soluble peptides and amino acids. Another name of SCP is microbial protein or microbial food. Due to the

Safety and Risk Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Safety and Risk Management - Essay Example It employs over 10Â  000 people worldwide with a number of modern development and manufacturing facilities. All these facilities, along with the extensive network of trading and marketing units have enabled the Company to effectively penetrate the world’s pharmaceutical market, as well as to offer one of the broadest product portfolios, including over 1200 products either in the market, or under development stage and pending registration (Actavis Group, 2008). The Company’s branch, which is object of the audit, is comprised of two manufacturing facilities at the cutting edge of pharmaceutical production, storages and administrative offices. For several years, the Company has been conducting Corporate EHS audits similar to ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards, and recently acquired an OHSAS 18001 certificate. OHSAS 18001 Overview and Company’s Assessment OHSAS 18001 is an international occupational health and safety specification intended to help with the control over occupational hazards and risks, and covers all organisation’s employee – both full- and part-time, subcontractors and suppliers, visitors, organisation’s own facilities and equipment, as well as rented or borrowed facilities and equipment (Eighty 20 Consulting, n.d.). ... The degree of compliance with OHSAS 18001 requirements, in this particular case, is being assessed using a scale of 0 to 1, namely 0, 0.5, and 1 as a top grade (SGS Bulgaria ltd, 2007). After assessments of seven issues referring to OHSAS 18001’s Clause 4.2, which deals with the policy compliance, the following findings are available (DNV Certification Inc., 2008): The Company’s branch policy is in line with the corporate policy, which is placed on the intranet and communicated to all managers. The commitment to continual improvement is contained in Company’s EHS Policy. The commitment required to comply at least with current applicable Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) legislation is being stated that it will be in accordance with the local regulations. The Company’s policy is documented and implemented but not document-controlled. It has been stated within an uncontrolled document, as well as in part on intranet and posted in canteen. EHS brief is bein g conducted. The policy is available to all interested parties via HR&PR Manager. There is no document control found in regard to the requirement for periodic review of the policy (BSI Management Systems, n.d.). The overall score attained according to the abovementioned scale of assessment is 4 out of the maximum possible 7, which is 57.1 % compliance. Several recommendations appear useful in order to be reached a higher level of compliance: the policy must be a controlled document and an agreement should be made on whether the corporate or site policy is to be used or issued; the policy should be clarified within the corporate and site policy structure and all employees should be provided with a copy of that policy, whether at recruitment or amendment stage. The

Which of the following documents (Lee's Resolution, Voting Rights Act Essay

Which of the following documents (Lee's Resolution, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Declaration of Independence) enforce Civil Rights and which enforce Civil Liberties - Essay Example Hence, the Lee’s resolution can be termed as an enforcer of Civil Liberties, because its objective was to provide the American Colonies independence from British Empire. African Americans in the South were not allowed to vote prior to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act was a result of continuous public protests and dialogue from the Black community, who demanded political and civil equality in America. This is why it can be said that this act enforced civil rights because it â€Å"expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans† (Hines, "Forty-Seven Years After the Voter Rights Act, Blacks are Still Disenfranchised"). President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the Voting Rights Bill in March 1965, which was turned into a law on 6th August 1965. This was an official statement adopted by the Continental Congress on 4th July, 1776, in response to the Lee’s Resolution. With this document of independence, 13 American colonies were formally granted independence from the allegiance of British Empire and the tyrant government of King George III. It remains one of the most memorable and cherished moments in America’s political history, and 4th July is now celebrated as the Independence Day in USA. Its draft was composed by Thomas Jefferson. Therefore, this document could be referred to as an enforcer of civil liberties since it provided liberation to the American colonies fighting for independence from the British regime. Hines, Debbie. "Forty-Seven Years After the Voter Rights Act, Blacks are Still Disenfranchised." Legal Speaks. Vanstudios. 5 Aug. 2012. Web. 22 Sep. 2012.

A Bondage So Horrible Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A Bondage So Horrible - Essay Example Yet, when the truth revealed is so horrendous that it is unspeakable, memories beg forgetfulness to spare the pain and agony from being repeated even in verse. Such is the tale of Margaret Garner. Ms. Garner's experience is a story of the depth of despair that was suffered by a mother as she watched her children falling prey to another generation of slavery.The year was 1856 and the issue of slavery had demanded that sides be taken. Abolitionists in the North had sympathized with the goal of emancipation and had established the Underground Railroad. Southern states had traditional and economic concerns to keep slavery alive. Free states in the North welcomed freed slaves, while the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 demanded their return to the rightful owners. Margaret Garner faced this turmoil as she, her husband, and family made the decision to go north and escape slavery via the Underground Railroad.The plan began modestly. The January weather had been cold and had frozen the Ohio River to a solid mass of ice. The Garner family and about a dozen other slaves from Boone County Kentucky had set out on a Sunday night by sled and by daybreak had reached the Ohio River just south of Covington, Kentucky. Here the party split ways, left the horses and sled, and made their way by foot into the Free State of Ohio. The six members of the Garner family and another family of three set out to find the home of a freed slave named Kite. Traveling through the busy morning activities and inquiring about the Kite residence apparently garnered the party undue attention. The party had come under the watch of bounty hunters and shortly after arriving at the Kite residence, the house was surrounded. The men tried to break their way into the house of the holed up slaves but were blocked from entering. The slave party was armed and continued to resist. Margaret's husband, Robert, shot a deputy as he tried to crawl through a broken window (The slave tragedy in Cincinnati, February 2, 1856). Margaret Garner, seeing the chance of freedom fade, grabbed a butcher knife and with one slash slit the throat of her favorite daughter. She attempted to kill the remaining three, as well as herself, rather than see them returned to slavery. She was overtaken, overpowered and all were taken to jail. Margaret Garner was charged with the murder of her young daughter. If this had been the whole story, history would show its distaste for the crime and it may have been forgotten. If this had been the end of the tragedy, there might have been only token attempts at sympathy for the deranged Garner woman. But this haunting tale had yet to be unraveled. The world was soon to see that the death of the child was but one small piece in a story of how bleak life as a slave could be. The little girl's death might have been the best and only hope Margaret Garner had. Margaret Garner had been the product of a rape committed by a slave master on her mother. The Cincinnati Gazette of January 1856 described Ms. Garner as, "a mulatto, showing from one-fourth to one-third white blood" (as cited in Pierson, 2003, p. 136). That her mother had been the victim of rape, and her the product of a violent rape, was not enough torment for her though. She too had become a victim of these same hideous crimes perpetrated by her owner. Her children also showed evidence of the horrible acts and the Gazette also stated that the murdered child, "was almost white-and was a little girl of rare beauty" (as cited in Pierson, 2003, p. 136). Margaret Garner was a young woman of about 21 years old when these tragic events took place. Her oldest child was by now six years old, which

Four Geographic Traditions Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Four Geographic Traditions - Research Paper Example As such, the core definitions of each of these traditions will be discussed as well as a level of analysis performed on which tradition speaks best to which particular aspect of geographical analysis. What is noteworthy before delving into a firm and functional definition of each of these four traditions is to understand that the subject of geography has always, since its inception, been focused on the art and science of definition. Without definition, geography would have but a few actionable uses. In this way, it is important for the reader to understand that each of the following four approaches that will be discussed should be viewed within just such a prism. Although one is not superior to all of the others at all time, each in their own way can provide a useful tool of analysis which can help the reader/researcher to draw a level of inference on specific research questions and can help to shine a valuable level of insight into key determinants that would otherwise not be able t o be fully answered with the application and/or use of another of the traditions. Similarly, although each of the four following traditions are still in use within the community of geographic research and scientific studies, some are used to a greater and more affective use than others. Additionally, as the field grows, evolves, and advances, some of the four will no doubt decrease in overall performance; however, this unavoidable decrease of some of these traditions is no reason not to consider the fundamental determinants that have sought to define the way in which the field has progressed and continues to define itself up until the current juncture in time. Naturally, from the aforementioned list, the first of these traditions that will be discussed and analyzed is that of the spatial tradition. The spatial tradition is perhaps the best known and the most common of historical geographic traditions in that it seeks to define a given region based solely upon a firm differentiation of what is â€Å"other† and what is not. Although this tradition is perhaps the oldest in historical terms of implementation and usage, the fact of the matter is that is has continued to grow and develop throughout history (Pattison 3). As a function of this, the tradition has grown to incorporate computerized mapping (i.e. GIS and the like), quantitative techniques and tools for the representation of otherwise abstract geographic terms, aerial photography, and a litany of other spatial analysis tools that have helped to define, group, and differentiate otherwise indistinguishable determinants from one another within the realm of geography and geographic research and interpretation. This â€Å"oldest† of traditions continues to evolve and incorporate the different aspects of technological advancement that have manifested themselves throughout society and the sciences. As a function of this growth, the spatial tradi

Scene description of A streetcar named desire Essay Example for Free

Scene description of A streetcar named desire Essay In Scene 3, the men are playing poker at Stella and Stanelys. Drinks are strewn everywhere and the men are playing cards, drinking and talking. Mitch announces he has to go back to look after his mother. He goes to the bathroom before he leaves and bumps into Blanche. They start talking to each other and Mitch goes back to the game. Blanche returns to Stella and asks about Mitch. After a bit of time passes, Mitch and Blanche bump into each other again. They share cigarettes and talkto each other about life and lost loves. They find that they have quite a bit in common. After this, Blanche and Stanley quarrel about silly things, and Stanley being drunk, makes more of a big deal out of the quarrelling than it really is. Stella is angry and tells all of the men to leave. Stanley is in a foul mood and starts to hit Stella. Blanche is in shock, and astounded, especially as Stella is pregnant Blanche takes Stella to Eunices. Stanley screams for Stella to come back, and Stella hesitantly goes back down the stairs. Blanche is astounded that Stella would go back to Stanely. Mitch comes to the stairs to comfort her. In Scene 4, Blanche, having slept at Eunices, is nervous and scared to see how Stella is doing. However, Stella seems happy and relaxed. Blanche tackles the situation and Stella defends Stanley by saying he didnt mean it and he was drunk, so it wasnt his fault. And she mentions how sorry he was, and how sweet he was to him. Blanche still opposes the situation and tries to convince Stella that Stanley is all bad, and an animal, for doing this to her. She tries to convince Stella that she should get out of this place, and she knows a colleague who could help. They argue about this, and Blanche storms off. Meanwhile, Stanley has listened to every word outside the door. He comes in, greets the ladies, and Stella gives him a hug, to rub it in on Blanche. We learn that Blanche is a very confused person. She wants do be sensible and perfect, but she ends up talking the wrong path a lot. But she cares for Stella a lot. She tries to help her in every situation, and tells her whats right . And is very stubborn, and independent. She is also a little bit desperate for a man, and clings on to Mitch quite a bit. We learn that Stella is a very good person. Not that we didnt know this before. She tries her best to deal with every situation in the best way possible. She helps Blanche, and she takes care as her quite well. She is also very forgiving, and forgave Stanley straight away. We learn that Stanley is very vulgar, and thinks he can do what he want, when he wants. He is a nice person at heart, but most of the time, he doesnt show it. Or rather he doesnt really know how to show it. He is quite greedy and a little bit selfish. By Sophia Bhimani 10S

Nature And Development Of Special Interest Tourism Tourism Essay

Nature And Development Of Special Interest Tourism Tourism Essay SIT- special interest tourism is a part of existing tourism industry today. Nowadays, people are more confident about travelling abroad and looking for something different rather than for sun and sand holidays. Special interest tourism is a type of holiday, replacing the traditional mass market travel packages and allows tourists to choose holidays appealing to their individual and personal needs. According to the World Tourism Industry or WTO, special interest tourism can be defined as the specialized tourism that involved individual or group tours by those people who wishes to develop their given interests or visit sites and places that has a relation or connection with their specific interest or subject. The aim of SIT is to satisfy specific needs or interests of individuals or groups. The structure of SIT is similar to that of the overall tourism industry. There are many sub-sectors serving individual and personalized needs of tourists, such as: Travel intermediaries Travel facilitators Attraction and entertainment Activity and events providers Accommodation providers Transportation Travel intermediaries provide information about destinations packages, travel options also making bookings for the customers. They can be represented in the form of tour operators or travel agencies. The main aim of travel agencies is: to sell holidays and associated products such as insurance, cars hire. Travel agents act as the link between the customer and travel producers. They are usually well trained and can help clients with the advice or provide them with brochures, leaflets or any additional information. They have access online to GDS system, which gives worldwide schedule of all transport. Tour operators sell combined holidays packages via travel agents or direct to the consumers. There are two types of tour operator: the wholesaler operators, who operate only through travel agency, and the direct sell operators, who market their products direct to the public. They purchase separate elements of accommodation (hotels, guesthouses, and self catering apartments), transport (road, sea, air) and travel services to make a tour package. Many tour operators are making special packages around a particular event, e.g., Olympic Games. There are many web sites specialize in certain products, like lastminute.com that specialize in discounted accommodation. Travel facilitators are all the range of services offered to the consumers. It can be: tourist information centre, tour guides, medical providers, currency exchange bureau. Transport providers are those operating any major form of transport. These would include airlines, water based transport and land based, such as roads and rails. Land based transport covers all forms vehicles such as bus, taxi, private car, and bicycle. Rail travel has become very popular since opening of the Channel tunnel. Rail companies provide a scheduled service within a home country and customers can reserved the seats by themselves. The airlines can be divided into scheduled, which operate with regular published schedule, e.g., British Airways, and charter airlines, which fly to certain destinations under charter to a tour operator. Many countries have their national airline, like British Airways in UK. Water based transport is represented by ferries and cruise ships. Ferries operators provide vital links between islands, rivers, seas. Cruising can be river cruises, sea/oceans cruises, e.g. Mediterranean, Atlantic oceans, and can be considered as a special interest when there is something additional from cruise, like education or special hobby. Tourist choice of transport will depend on price, destination, time, accessibility of the destination. Accommodation can be reserved individually or can be purchased by tour operator. Guest facilities will vary according to the type of the place. Accommodation can be divided into two categories: serviced accommodation (where all meals are provided), and self-catering accommodation (where occupants provide their own food). A 5 star hotel can provide a full range of services, such as restaurants, plasma TV, function rooms, mini bars in the rooms, room service available 24/7. In the caravan park you can only find fast food shops and vending machines. Providers of attractions need to undertake the market research in order to meet all the needs of tourists. Typical attractions can be man-made (theme parks, zoos), natural (mountains), cultural (Louvre Gallery in Paris). A lot of destinations are promoted via special events (World Cup, Olympic Games) or various activities (diving, winter skiing resorts) In addition to attractions, a lot of destinations are promoted via special events or activities, which include World Cup, Olympic Games. The development of special interest tourism. Special interest tourism can date back to earliest forms of tourism. The first tourists travelled for specific reasons, e.g., religious, cultural or for trading purposes. Around the same period, the Greeks travelled to religious festivals, leading to construction of sea ports and accommodation. In Medieval Times the pilgrims and missionaries became the most active travelers. Pilgrims travelled to the sacred places such as Santiago de Compostella, Jerusalem, driven by their religious convictions. Tourism grew over the centuries and spread to all over the world. The new part of tourism, known as Grand Tour, was developed in the early 17th century under the reign of Elizabeth 1.The young men from wealthy families were travelling across Europe to complete their education. London, Paris, Venice, Rome were visited by the young aristocrats to improve their knowledge in the arts and literature. The tours lasted as long as 3 years. In 1841 Thomas Cook put together the first package tour in history. Thomas Cooks organized tour consisted of: accommodation, travel tickets, timetables, attractions, travel guides and tours, currency exchange. The first tours were for specific needs and catered more to the mass market with the growth of the company. Thomas Cook started offering tours within UK and soon moved to Europe. The development of tourism in the 19th century increased due to advent of the railway. It became cheaper, easier and safer to travel, so not only the privileged classes were allowed to travel. The industrial revolution brought leisure travel to Europe. The middle class had more time and money to travel thanks to the efficient machinery. In the post war period the development of wide-bodied and faster aircrafts contributed to the growth of the mass tourism. Increase in disposable income has made tourism accessible for a large majority of population. People could afford to take more than one holiday per year. Another factor that contributed to the growth of mass tourism was increase in global wealth leaving people enough disposable income to spend on holidays. The political liberation of the colonized countries built a lot of new tourist destinations, reducing the cost of holidays. Nowadays, it becomes more popular self-drive holidays to Europe, cruising holidays, Middle East destinations such as Dubai, Egypt, etc. Travelling on the cruise liner gives you opportunity to enjoy your time, there are a lot of activities on the board and the social life is very active, which makes you enjoy holidays even more, staying on the board of enormous liner. Low cost airlines leading to mass tourism travel around the world, e.g. Easy jet airlines. The social factor which contributed to the growth of tourism is linked with the new attitude to world travel and leisure. People are searching for new destinations, trying to find something unusual and unexplored. Development of leisure centers along with the increased independence of women has also contributed to the tourism. Changing demographics, such as aging population, grown up children have made a big impact on the SIT market. Sustainable tourism is one of the growing industries, which seeks to protect tourism destinations and reduce an impact of the environment and local culture. With the advent of internet, tourists can attend the locations using web-based interface programmers at the same time reducing the traditional impacts such as travel, accommodation, food wastage. TASK 2 Understand how special interest tourism matches customers, products and services. 2.1. Discuss the range and classification of tourism products and services available to travellers. There are  many kinds of special tourism interest; it can be educational tourism, sports tourism, sex tourism, health and beauty tourism, arts and entertainment tourism and a lot more. Products can also be divided into various categories, such as rural, urban, over or under water, in the air and others. The classification of special interest tourism products: Educational Cultural Adventure pursuits Historical attractions Religious events Health and wellness Sporting and entertainment events Educational Tourism There is no doubt that educational industry has already become one of the most popular types of special interest tourism. The Grand Tours of the 17th century were organized for youth with the purpose of education. Nowadays, many people are travelling to broaden the education, to learn a foreign language and to take a special course. As an example, the short term language courses are designed for students to improve their second language. Cultural tourism People who take cultural holidays are likely to visit museums, galleries and exhibitions, or going to opera or theatre. Heritage tourism is focused on historical attractions and resources. Cultural tourism gives visitors the opportunity to understand and appreciate the essential character of a place and its culture as a whole, including: -history and archaeology -people and their lifestyle -cultural diversity Many cities have had capital of culture status, including London, Dublin and Prague. Religious events tourism Religious holidays focus on visiting places with religious significance, like Lourdes in south of France or Holy Land Tour. The Holy Land is a land filled with history, passion and with presence of Jesus. The tourists can uncover the world in which Jesus lived and also enjoy the activities, such as scuba dive, hike, and camel ride or just have fun on the sun. There are specialist tour operators which organize such tours, like The Pilgrimage Trust, a charity, which organizes tour to Lourdes for children with disabilities. Sporting tourism People can take holidays to watch the sport or participate in special events. There are specialist operators offering packages for World Cup, Olympic Games. For instance, Club La Santa provides luxury Spain holidays, sports holidays and fitness activity holidays. The resort features over 25 different sports and different entertainment is available. Health and wellness tourism Health and wellness tourism is now available for consumers seeking to enhance their well being through their travel experiences. The aim of tourists is to look and feel better, to lose weight, to slow the effects of aging, to relieve pain or discomfort, or to manage stress. This market has become very popular as people are becoming more health conscious. There are two main types of health and wellness tourism: spa resorts and medical tourism. There are many spa hotels offering fitness classes, beauty treatments and different types of massage. Holy Island is one of the best spas in UK, located off the west coast of Scotland. The founder and vision holder of the Holy Isle Project is Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation master in the Kagyu tradition. There are many retreat and course programmes taking place in the Centre for World Peace and Health. The island has several areas reserved for birds, animals and tree planting programme. (http://www.holyisland.org/) SIT can be classified according to the type of environment: Land Air Water based Rural/urban Nature/wilderness Trekking, cycling and hiking are examples of land based special interest tourism. The two main modes of travel are road and rail. Some luxurious trains appeal consumers special needs and allow passengers to see spectacular sights from the train. The Blue Train is a magnificent moving five-star hotel. The routes of The Blue Train both scheduled and chartered take guests through some of the most admirable places of the countryside. The train has luxurious suites with baths and double beds .The guests can enjoy exquisite meals freshly prepared on board by top chefs. Water based tourism can be presented in form of underwater activities, like diving, and above water, like swimming, cruising and surfing. The Great Barrier Reef is well known for its diving activities, situated on the north-east coast of Australia. It the worlds most extensive stretch of coral reef and is probably the richest area in terms of faunal diversity in the world. Nature and wilderness tourism focuses on observation of wild animals and birds in their usual environment. As an example it can be tours to Africa Safari or tours to botanical gardens. Wilderness tourism experiences with undeveloped natural environment, which can include isolation and challenging conditions. 2.2. Diversity and classification of tourist types. The key to success in SIT is to ensure various tourist types are well matched to the tourist products. Demand for tourism can be influenced by 3 basic factors: -purpose for travel (educational, cultural, for health, for sporting events) -ability to travel (sufficient disposable income, time, freedom of movement) -travel choices (knowledge about destinations, environmental factors, ability to travel) Various typologies have been made to classify tourists according their preferences. The best known are by Cohen and Plog. Eric Cohen classified tourists according to the nature of the environment they prefer. He places tourists into four following groups: Organized mass tourist-typically they buy pre-organised packages from tour operators; prefer safe and secure environment and are likely to return to familiar places. Individual mass tourist- compare to organised mass tourist show more flexibility and have a lot more personal choice. The explorer- looking for unexplored destinations. The drifter- generally likes adventurous travelling, e.g. camping in the wilderness area. Stanley Plog describes three types of tourists: Allocentric- confident travelers, who enjoy the travel and exploration Midcentric- tend to adopt the destinations after they have been discovered by allocentric Psychocentric- are less confident and prefer secure environment Market segmentation is a process of dividing the market into different groups with common needs and wants. The most common types are: Geographic location Demographic Socio-economic segmentation Psychographic segmentation Geographic location is based upon people live and can be subdivided by country, region, city size, and climate. Where people live in the city can also reflect their income level and ability to buy. Demographic segmentation is the most common in market segmentation. It can be divided by: Age (snowbirds, empty nesters, young budget travellers) Gender (women trying to escape from the usual environment and go for holidays, ex. spa breaks; men prefer to travel to more adventurous places) Religion (retreats, pilgrimages) Psychographic segmentation determines tourists behaviour, their lifestyles, activities and attitudes. Socio-economic segmentation considers aspects such as occupation, status, social class, income level. Task 3 Understand the appeal and motivation of special interest tourism for customers. 3.1. Analyse the appeal to customers of special interest tourism features and benefits. Appeal can be characterised as a kind of tourism products that will enable customers needs to be satisfied. The motivation is closely linked to the appeal and seeks to identify peoples needs and wants. The appeal of the location can be influenced by different factors, like cost, time availability, facilities. If you are planning a family holidays to sea and sun destinations, there are a lot of countries to choose from. The specific location has to appeal to numerous needs and wants of the family, e.g. child-minding facilities, special kids menu, available playground, etc. Appeal can be influenced by features of the destination, like beaches, attractions, number of facilities within the resort. There are a number of other factors that can contribute to the appeal: Uniqueness of the destination (Great Wall of China is one of the most appealing attractions all around the world owing to its architectural grandeur and historical significance). Level of comfort (the tourist seeking luxury accommodation may find the appeal in 5 stars hotels). Authenticity of the location (the authentic cuisine or traditions appeal to many tourists visiting particular country). Political factors ( the political instability in Egypt led to a reduction in the flow of tourists) Environmental factors (tourists tend to avoid places affected by natural disasters, e.g. earthquakes) 3.2. Identify and explain how the motivations of tourists are met by special interest tourism locations and features. Motivation can be defined as internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal.(Businessdictionary.com) Abraham Maslow outlined a motivational hierarchy consisting of five categories of human needs arranged in ascending order: physiological- basic needs satisfied by such stimulus as food and sleep; security- need for a safe environment free from immediate threat; social-love needs and desire for social acceptance; esteem-need for enhancement and acceptance of self; and self-actualization-striving for full realization of unique characteristics and potentials. The key notion in the model is that as a need category lower in the hierarchy becomes satisfied, its determination of behaviour diminishes and the next higher need category becomes proponent (Adler, S., 1999, p 7). Maslows hierarchy of needs assumes that we all have similar needs and wants to be satisfied. Therefore, it is important to apply motivations in relation to different tourist types. Motivations for SIT can be divided into two groups: Intrinsic motivation Extrinsic motivation Intrinsic motivation includes internal desires to perform a particular task, do certain activities because it gives you pleasure, such as challenge, skill improvement or relaxation. The skill improvement relates to educational tourism and gives people opportunity to increase their knowledge in particular field (foreign languages courses, cookery schools in France). One of the main motivations for holidays can be a need to rest, to escape from everydays routine. Extrinsic motivation is the factors external to the individual and unrelated to the task they are performing.   Examples include money, status, rewards, and sustainability. Motivation can also be influenced by demographic factors: Education (tourists with high level of education are likely to participate in education based activities) Age ( old couples are seeking comfort and opportunity for sightseeing, while young people are looking more for fun and relaxation) Family life cycle ( parents with children are motivated by places with numerous kids facilities) TASK 4 Understand management needs and issues of special interest tourism. 4.1. Evaluate the organizational and support logistics involved in the management of special interest tourism trips. Profitability- is the main goal of all the businesses. Meeting the tourist expectations and providing safe and secure travel arrangements will lead to profitable growth for travel companies. The main thing is to make products profitable attractive for customers by putting correct prices and making them attractive for the market. Market research is an essential tool for any businesses. It helps to identify potential customers, their needs and expectations. Target marketing is a group of customers to be aimed. Potential customers with similar needs and characteristics are identified and divided by market segments based on age, income level, etc. Each travel product is made up of several segments, e.g. hotel, transport, accommodation facilities and for the tourists is all have to be organized and put together well. There is a range of challenges coming with travel products, e.g. Tour packages, where the travel agents are responsible for every aspect of the trip. Examples of operational challenges may include: Travel permits: visas requirements Infrastructure: essential shops, medical facilities Language: difficulties in understanding the foreign language Transport: availability of transfer coaches or taxis. Logistics is the management of business operations, such as the acquisition, storage, transportation and delivery of goods along the supply chain. (http://www.investorwords.com) An SIT sporting event package tour will include a number of logistical issues to take care of, including: Transportation Accommodation providers Tour guides Equipment suppliers Access to the destination Apart from all the operational and logistical challenges, the SIT providers have a number of administrative requirements to deal with. Travel insurance provides the financial protection in the case of unexpected loss of luggage or cancellation of the trip. It is important to read and understand all the policies before making a purchase. Visas issues may vary according to the country tourists going to. For example, members of the family of the EU citizens do not need visa to travel to the EU countries. Vaccination against diseases is an important requirement for tourists travelling to remote destinations, e.g. some parts of Africa. All the tour operators and travel agents should be aware of the laws concerning travel and tourism and pass the relevant information to the tourists. One of the main points to be considered for all the businesses is to have satisfied customers. It will results in more profitability, less marketing cost and a good reputation for the company. 4.2. Discuss the ways operators resolve issues that affect special interest tourism. There are many issues that can affect special interest tourism, some of them are known in advance and others are unexpected. It is always better to identify the potential problem and create the awareness of possible outcome. The main categories of the possible issues in SIT are: Risk management Socio-cultural issues Environmental issues Economic issues (recession, oversupply) Quality assurance Risk management is an important part of planning for businesses. The process of risk management is designed to reduce or eliminate the risk of certain kinds of events happening or having an impact on the business. ( http://www.whatisriskmanagement.net/) There are many different types of risk that can be classified as follows: Health- unexpected accidents, food poisoning Travel- delays of the flight, flight cancellation due to natural disaster Theft- loss of personal documents, etc. Furthermore, risk can be classified as known risks (tourists are travelling to politically unstable areas) and unexpected risks (loss of documents, illness). The main goal of risk management is to protect the customers from unacceptable levels of risk and also build the reputation for travel organisations, avoiding financial losses. According to Sadgrove (2005), the process of risk management is as follows: Identify and assess risks Set policies Implement policies; manage risks Monitor risks Tourism providers should always advise customers on risks by giving advice how to behave in unfamiliar situations or providing the current information about the risks that might be present in the resort. Socio-cultural issues can result in social breakdown of the destination, increase in crime and loss of local culture. The ecotourism is becoming very popular nowadays. Tour operators and travel agents have to be aware of the environmental issues relating to products they offer. Some of the issues are: ecotourism and sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism provides information how to respect local cultures and the natural environment and protect the diverse wildlife of the destination. The need to provide the best quality and to keep the standards high is one of the main issues of SIT providers. The best quality could be achieved by: Providing the full training for the staff Good knowledge about the products being sold Right people on the right job Requesting feedback from customers Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no doubt that tourism had been the most important industry of any country that is why most of them are doing their best in order to maintain and preserve all of their resources that can attract the attention of their target tourist.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Economics Essay

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Economics Essay Economic integration can be defined as the commercial policy of discriminatively reducing or eliminating barriers only among the nations joining together. The aim of economic integration is to reduce costs for both consumers and producers as well as to increase trade between the countries taking part in the agreement. There are various levels of economic integration which is free trade area (FTA), preferential trade agreements (PTA), customs unions, common market, economic union and also duty free zone. Economic integration was starting by the European Union. European Union was founded by the Treaty of Rome where it signed in March 1957 by six countries which is Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg and came into being on January 1, 1958. The establishment of common external tariff of the six countries in 1958. Free trade in industrial goods, within EU and common price for agricultural good was achieved in 1968 and then restriction on the free movement of labor and capital was reduced in 1970. In 1993, all remaining restrictions on flow of goods, services and resources, becoming largest trade block in the world will be removed. European Free Trade Associations (EFTA) was formed by seven nations which are United Kingdom, Austria, Denmark, Portugal, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. In 1967, EFTA achieved free trade in industrial goods but only a few special provisions were made to reduce barriers on trade in agricultural products. However in 1991, membership evolved in EFTA includes Austria, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, Sweden and Switzerland. On January 1994, European Free Trade Associations joined European Union to form European Economic Area (EEA). North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was formed by United States, Canada and Mexico and this agreement will eventually lead to free trade in goods and services over entire North American Area. It also phased out many other barriers to trade and reduced barrier to cross- border investments among the three member nations. NAFTA also have benefits the United States by increasing competition in product and resource markets and also lowering prices of many commodities to US consumers. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN was established in 8 August 1967 through Declaration of Bangkok and now known as the ASEAN Declaration.  [1]  . Originally, ASEAN consists of five countries in Southeast Asia region, namely Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Singapore. However, now, it known as ASEAN 10 which is the membership expanded to ten countries includes Brunei, Vietnam, Kampuchea, Laos and Myanmar. The goal of the ASEAN is covering cooperation in economic, social, cultural, technical, educational, and so on. In addition, these organizations also promote regional peace and stability with respect and abide by the laws of justice and otherwise comply with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations (UN). The objective of establishing ASEAN is the first is to accelerate economic growth, social and cultural, second is inculcate and reap the benefits of regional development, the third provides training and research facility, the fourth increase t he standard of living (agriculture, industry, trade) and the final objective is to form a close relationships and profitable . Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a semi-official organization which was formed through the first conference in November 1989, in Canberra, Australia. Now, APEC has 21 members which contributes Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, China, Peopleà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢s Republic of China Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Peru, The Russian Federation, Singapore, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, United States of America, Thailand and Viet Nam. APEC has grown to be an important intermediate in promoting open trade and economic cooperation in the region. The main objective of APEC is to accelerate the growth of economies in the Asian-Pacific region and foster a spirit of cooperation among member countries. One of its objectives is to maintain the organization and Development Division Asian-Pacific region for the benefit of the people and thus, contribute to world economic Development Division. And the n ext objective is to reduce trade barriers in goods and services between member countries in line with the principles of GATT without disturbing the economic interests of others. ADVANTAGES OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION Advantages of the establishment ASEAN and APEC are to increase the flow of employment and expertise between developed countries with developing country. Through cooperation between Asian, expertise or skilled labor can be absorbed into the State to help them improve productivity. Besides that, this relationship can also help Malaysia in producing highly knowledgeable labor force. This is because, people in Malaysia will have the opportunity to study abroad, and especially in developed countries like the United States, Australia, Germany, Japan and Russia. So this opportunity will lead Malaysians to continue their studies at a higher level and the state can produce a high productivity by using their skills and expertise. Thus, the output produced in the State will be higher quality and more consumers can use it. In addition, skilled labor can also be absorbed into the State to assist the State in increase crop productivity. Skilled labor in Malaysia is still not enough to improve the nations economy, especially in the construction sector.  [2]  Table 1.1 below shows that skilled labor in Malaysia is still not enough to improve the construction sector in the country. Therefore, the government encourages the entry of skilled workers, and through the Asean cooperation skilled labor migration can be done. So, this skilled manpower will help the government improve the productivity of State, besides being able to produce high quality output and can be exported to other countries. In other words the amount of aggregate merchandise exports to ASEAN grew faster than the average regional output. ASEANs total merchandise exports between 1988 and 1994 increased ranging between U.S $ 100 to U.S $ 200 billion.  [3]  While exports in Malaysia in 1980 were 52 percent and in 1994 the export volume ha s increased to 64 percent. Table 1.1 below shows the ratio of Asean trade and commerce in Malaysia ratio increased from 1980 to 1994. DISADVANTAGES OF ECONOMIC INTEGRATION The disadvantages of ASEAN establishment are causing the loss of sovereignty of a State. Generally sovereignty is the supreme power held by an institution in the political community to make a decision on matters relating to the administration and politics. The first philosopher to give its opinion on sovereignty is John Bodin (1530-1596) in his book Six Books Concerning the State asserts sovereignty is the supreme power that is in a state of the union supreme power over citizens and the people of the region. According to him the supreme power is owned by the king or ruler of a sovereign power (absolute). Sovereignty is related to national security.  [4]  The world now has the wave of change in the dimensions of economic and socio-political environment, especially in the process of globalization. Generally the expression of globalization no difference between the terms of a neo-colonialism à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€¹Ã…“colonizes in the new concept. People who are weak in the mental and spiritual will easily fall in the midst of destruction. Humans will not have longer the values of modesty and personal lives. Eventually it will lead to the demise of civilization of a nation.

The Virtual Home :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The family is the mainspring of support of every kind. It mobilizes psychological resources and alleviates emotional burdens. It allows for the sharing of tasks, provides material goods together with cognitive training. It is the prime socialization agent and encourages the absorption of information, most of it useful and adaptive. This division of labour between parents and children is vital both to development and to proper adaptation. The child must feel, in a functional family, that he can share his experiences without being defensive and that the feedback that he is likely to receive will be open and unbiased. The only "bias" acceptable (because it is consistent with constant outside feedback) is the set of beliefs, values and goals that is internalized via imitation and unconscious identification. So, the family is the first and the most important source of identity and of emotional support. It is a greenhouse wherein a child feels loved, accepted and secure - the prerequisites for the development of personal resources. On the material level, the family should provide the basic necessities (and, preferably, beyond), physical care and protection and refuge and shelter during crises. Elsewhere, we have discussed the role of the mother (The Primary Object). The father's part is mostly neglected, even in professional literature. However, recent research demonstrates his importance to the orderly and healthy development of the child. He participates in the day to day care, is an intellectual catalyst, who encourages the child to develop his interests and to satisfy his curiosity through the manipulation of various instruments and games. He is a source of authority and discipline, a boundary setter, enforcing and encouraging positive behaviours and eliminating negative ones. He also provides emotional support and economic security, thus stabilizing the family unit. Finally, he is the prime source of masculine orientation and identification to the male child - and gives warmth and love as a male to his daughter, without exceeding the socially permissible limits. These traditional roles of the family are being eroded from both the inside and the outside. The proper functioning of the classical family was determined, to a large extent, by the geographical proximity of its members. They all huddled together in the "family unit" – an identifiable volume of physical space, distinct and different to other units. The daily friction and interaction between the members of the family moulded them, influenced their patterns of behaviour and their reactive patterns and determined how successful their adaptation to life would be.

COACH K :: essays research papers

The emotions Mike Krzyzewski displays on the courtare the hallmarks of any college basketball coach.His angry stare from the bench seems to sear referees. A snarl of disgust from the Duke leader gets his team back in line, and fast.showed a softer side. He cried. From those tears sprang a new beginning. Duke’s loss to Connecticut in the NCAAchampionship game no longer mattered. The stunning departure of five players, three of those leaving early for the NBAdraft, became distant memories. His physical pain became an afterthought on that April day when, recovering from hip-replacement surgery, ChrisCarrawell, Shane Battier and Nate James paid a visit to his home. â€Å"With all the stuff that was happening, they just came out and said, ‘Coach, we just want to know how you’re doing,’†Krzyzewski says. â€Å"It made me cry. It was like, ‘You care.’ We talked for a long time that afternoon, and we talked about next year. That was the start of this year’s team.† This year’s Duke team was minutes removed from cutting down the nets Sunday at the ACCTournament when Krzyzewski opened up about his team’s emotional journey this season. Acursory glance shows few changes from last year: Duke stormed to the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles in 2000, finishing 18-1 in the league; the 1999 squad did the same, only without the one loss. Both Duke teams stood No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 polls and had No. 1 seeds in the NCAATournament. Even the talent level and sky-high expectations heaped on both teams are remarkably similar. And that may be the root of the biggest emotion of all at Duke these days. Surprise. n A decade of Duke dominance ended with a thud last March. The Huskies stunned the nation with a 77-74 win in the NCAAchampionship game, and the bad news kept flowing out of Durham. Sophomore Elton Brand, the national Player of the Year, announced his intention to enter the NBADraft. He made history as the first player in Krzyzewski’s 19-year reign at Duke to leave school early for the pros. Then, in rapid-fire succession, sophomore point guard William Avery and freshman sensation Corey Maggette also declared for the draft. Junior forward ChrisBurgess, disappointed with a lack of playing time, decided to transfer. The team’s rock, five-year star Trajan Langdon, graduated in May and also headed for the NBA. â€Å"Everybody was leaving us,† Carrawell says. â€Å"Quin Snyder left (to take over the head coaching job at Missouri). We lost a couple people off sports information! â€Å"We went over and saw coach. I was like, ‘Are you going to be ready to coach us this year?’† Carrawell says. â€Å"He was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to be ready,’ and

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall Essay -- Plunkitt Tammany Hall

Plunkitt of Tammany Hall 1. Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft- When Plunkitt was tipped off about something in the city or someone wanting to built a park or something, he sees the opportunity and he takes it. He buys up the land before they do. When they see that they are going to need the land, he sells it to them at a much higher price than what he paid for it, giving him a nice profit. That is honest graft. Several politicians are accused of stealing dollars from the state’s treasury, this is an example of dishonest graft. The condemnation commissioners came along and found piece after piece of land under the name George Plunkitt of the Fifteenth Assembly District, New York City. They wondered how he knew just what to buy. Plunkitt sees the opportunity and he takes it. 2. How to Become a Statesman- If you want to make a fame and fortune for yourself in politics, do not come at them with all of your book smarts and saying how smart you are. That is a big mistake. Get a person to follow you, even if it is only one person and say that you want to join the organization. Do not go at them with your book smarts because they will say that they have no use for you here. 3. The Curse of the Civil Service Reform- Men who have patriotism get it blasted away when they take the civil services examination. The civil service law is the biggest fraud of the age. There are ten thousand good offices, but we cannot get no more than a few hundred of them. When we cannot place these men who wanted to serve their country, they become an Anarchist. There is nothing in the game. 4. Reformers Only Morning’ Glories- Many reform movements were started during PLunkitt’s forty years in politics, but none have lasted more than a few years. Morning glories looked great in the beginning but folded in short time. These reformers have been going into things without much practice while the politicians, have been practicing all of their lives and know ever fine point of the game. 5. New York City Is Pie for the Hayseeds- New York farmers wanted their taxes lowered because they were too high. The Republican Legislature will make a rush for the farmer and tell him that if he does not see what he wants to ask for it. After they cut the farmers tax , they raise taxes on liquor and some other taxes in New York City. They take half of the proceeds from th... ...he Nation- New York City owes pretty much what it all is today to the bosses of Tammany Hall in the last 20 years. With bosses everything runs smoothly, like noiseless machinery. 21. Concerning Excise- Every time there is an increase of the fee in The Raines Liquor Law, there is an increase in the suicide record of the city. If it is a right to tax a saloonkeeper $1000, its right to put a heavy tax on dealers in other beverages- in milk, for instance- and make the dairymen pay up. If the Raines law gave the money extorted from the saloonkeepers to the city, there might be some excuse for the tax. 22. A Parting Word on the Future of the Democratic Party in America- One issue that would set this country on fire is the abolition of the civil service laws which are destroying patriotism and taking away good jobs from people that have earned them. 23. Strenuous Life of the Tammany District Leader- Plunkitt plays politics day in and day out with no rests. He helps feel the hungry and bury the dead. Plunkitt keeps watch on men, women, and children of his district. He knows their needs, likes and dislikes, troubles and hopes, and helps them to get what they want or need.

Analysis of Hong Kong Economy During Financial Crisis

 ·808 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management An Analysis of the Hong Kong Economy after the Financial Crisis Cao Hongliu School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangdong, P. R. China, 510520 (E-mail: [email  protected] com) Abstract This paper analyzes the current economic development and the status of leading industries in Hong Kong. It shows that Hong Kong economy, which is mainly comprised of the service industry in particular, facing with both opportunities and challenges after the financial crisis.Hong Kong economy has a wide range of needs in information technology, electrical and electronic technology, and manufacturing technology. Development in these areas has great significance to ensure sustained development of Hong Kong economy. Key words Hong Kong economy status; Leading industry; Service industry 1 Introduction Hong Kong’s a small and open economy system and international financial center, its economi c development face many new challenges because of the impact of the global financial crisis.Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the Hong Kong’s economic development and their leading industry status becomes an important issue. 2 Overview of Hong Kong Economy 2. 1 The services sector is a leading industry in Hong Kong From Table 1, we can see that the services industry is a leading industry of Hong Kong economy. During the decade from 1997 to 2006, services sector in the Hong Kong economy has gained greater prominence. This change has already been reflected in the share of contribution of the services sector to the local GDP.The contribution of the services sector to GDP increased from 85. 9% in 1997 to 91. 2% in 2006. Based on the industry definition of Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, The services sector includes wholesale, retail and import and export trades, restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and b usiness services; and community, social and personal services. Table 1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Economic Activity (at Current Prices) GDP by Economic Activity(2004-2007) 2004 2005 2006 2007Economic activity Agriculture and fishing Mining and quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, gas and water Construction GDP 886 72 44455 39726 40376 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 6 3. 2 3. 2 GDP 847 100 45547 39924 38538 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 4 3 2. 9 GDP 849 93 45761 40364 38688 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 2 2. 8 2. 7 GDP 895 114 39282 39426 40154 ratio 0. 1 * 2. 5 2. 5 2. 6 Services 1119304 89. 9 1207873 90. 6 1297545 91. 2 1429293 92. 3 Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (2004-2008 Edition) edited by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Data unit is in million terms and ratio unit is %.Besides, * represents the comparison had less than 0. 05% is in the total economy The services sector becomes the principal source of employment. The employment share of the services sector in total employment h as increased moderately over the past decade, from 79. 8% in 1997 to 86. 6% in 2007. In 2007, the services sector as a whole engaged 3. 03 million persons out of the 3. 5 million overall employments. The services sector plays a significant role in supporting the growth of our external trade. In 2007, the value of exports of services reached $652 billion, representing an average annual growth rate ofProceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·809 · 8. 6% over 1997. In 2007, merchant and other trade-related services was the most important major service group, contributing 30. 9% to the value of total exports of services. It was followed by transportation services and travel services, contributing 28. 6% and 16. 5% respectively to the value of total exports of services in 2007. In 1997, the respective percentage shares of these three major service groups in the value of total exports of services were 25. 6%, 30. % and 20. 8%. 2. 2 The structure of H ong Kong’s services industry sector Among the economic activities in the services sector, wholesale, retail and import and export trades, restaurants and hotels together contributed 27. 9% of the GDP in 2006, followed by financing, insurance, real estate and business services (25. 0%), community, social and personal services (18. 0%) and transport, storage and communications (9. 6%). Among them, financial services, trading, tourism and professional services are key industries in the Hong Kong economy.They have been the driving force of Hong Kong’s economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment. (1) Import and export trade . The import and export trade is the most important industries in Hong Kong’s service industry, has been playing an important role in the development of Hong Kong economy. The import and export trade produced a net output of HK$305. 1 billion in 2006, representing an increase of 39% over 1997. The ratio is the highest among all service industry. In 2007, there were 98 000 import and export trading establishments in Hong Kong, with 520 000 persons.At the same time, import and export trade sector is also directly promoting the development of other industries, such as logistics, transportation, business services and other services. Hong Kong’s import and export trade, including the visible trade and invisible trade two parts. The visible trade refers to the traditional commodity trade. In 2007, the value of Hong Kong imported and exported goods was $5,556 billion, representing an increase of 9. 8% compared to 2006. Hong Kong’s total exports of goods (comprising domestic exports and re-exports) in 2007 amounted to $2,688 billion, or increased by 9. % when compared with 2006. The value of imports increased by 10. 3% to $2,868 billion in 2007. With the value of total exports being less than that of imports, a merchandise trade deficit of $180 billion was recorded in 2007. In the import and export trade, the largest proportion of re-exports. This was largely attributable to the relocation of many local manufacturing activities to the mainland of China. Quite a large amount of the goods produced in the mainland of China through the outward processing arrangement were sent back to Hong Kong and re-exported to other countries/territories.During 1997 to 2007, the value of re-exports increased by 107%, while a decline of 48% was observed in the value of domestic exports. In 2007 the re-export trade to the mainland continued to grow rapidly. The invisible trade services are export and import trade of commercial services and financial services. While these services could be exported or imported by the import/export firms or companies in other sectors, most of the merchant and other trade-related services were exported or imported by import/export firms . In 2007, Hong Kong’s exports and imports of services valued at $652 billion and $322 billion respecti vely.Compared to 2006, exports and imports of services increased by 15. 4% and 11. 7% respectively. Net exports of services in 2007 amounted to $330 billion, this makes Hong Kong’s overall trade surplus of $150 billion. (2) Finance. Hong Kong is recognized as an international financial center, many multinational banks and financial institutions gathered here. The financial business is classified in detail, covering all aspects of the financial industry. Hong Kong three-tier system of deposit-taking institutions, namely licensed banks, restricted licensed banks and deposit-taking companies, known collectively as the authorized institutions.At the end of 2007, the number of authorized institutions stood at 200, comprising 142 licensed banks, 29 restricted license banks and 29 deposit-taking companies. 68 of them were incorporated in Hong Kong and 132 were incorporated outside Hong Kong. In addition, there were 79 representative offices of foreign banks coming from 27 economies/ regions. As at end December 2007, 152 of the largest 500 banks in the world had a presence in Hong Kong. The value added generated by the banking industry amounted to $136. 5 billion, or 9. 6% of Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006, representing an increase of 41. % compared with 1997. The development of the banking sector also promotes the development of other financial industries. In 2007, some 2 940 establishments and about 32 400 persons were engaged in the business. These included stock and share companies; commodity futures, gold bullion and foreign exchange brokers/dealers; stock, bullion and commodity exchanges; fund management companies; investment advisory companies; and firms providing other various financial services. The financial markets and asset management industry generated value added of about $59. billion, contributing to 4. 1% of Hong Kong’s GDP in 2006.  ·810 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Managem ent Hong Kong is also the Securities and Exchange Center and an important place for the mainland enterprises to raise funds. At the end of 2007, 1 048 companies were listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), with a total market capitalization of $20,536 billion. Despite an increase of only 7. 5% in the number of listed companies, market capitalization was observed to rise 55. 0% over 2006.Since July 1993 when the first Chinese state owned company was listed on the HKEx through issuance of H shares, the role of Hong Kong as a major fund-raising centre for the mainland of China had become increasingly important. By the end of 2007, there were 146 H shares listed on the HKEx, with market capitalization of $5,080 billion. In addition, there were also 93 â€Å"Red Chips† companies and 200 private enterprises listed on HKEx. Hong Kong is one of the most active and liberal debt markets and a leading asset management centre in Asia. (3) Tourism . In 2007, 51 900 persons were engaged in industries closely related o tourism, such as hotels and travel agents and 315 300 persons in industries partly related to tourism such as restaurants, retailers, transport operators and other service providers serving visitors. In terms of economic contribution, inbound tourism and outbound tourism together generated $45. 3 billion value added and 176 300 job opportunities in 2006, or 3. 2% of total GDP and 5. 2% of total employment of Hong Kong respectively. The number of incoming visitors in 2007 reached 28. 2 million, increased by 11. 6% as compared with 25. 3 million in 2006 and set the highest record for visitor arrivals in history.The mainland of China remained the major source market of visitors to Hong Kong since 1994. Visitor arrivals from the mainland of China reached 15. 5 million in 2007, accounted for 55. 0% of the total visitor arrivals, followed by South and Southeast Asia (10. 3%) and Taiwan (7. 9%). In addition, Hong Kong i s Asia’s major trade exhibition and business conference center. A total of 218 conventions and 78 exhibitions with international participation were held in Hong Kong in 2006. (4) Professional service . The professional service is Hong Kong’s fourth-largest service industry.The professional services industry generated $40 billion of value added, or 2. 8% of Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in 2006 and provided job opportunities for about 106 000 persons in 2007. In 2007, there were about 13 500 professional services establishments, including 3 900 accounting, auditing and bookkeeping firms, 1 800 solicitor and barrister firms, 3 300 architectural, surveying and engineering firms and some 4 500 management consultant firms. The business receipts of professional services industry increased by 10. 7% in 2007 over a year earlier.The development of professional services industry over the past decade was quite remarkable. Number of establishments and persons en gaged increased by 35% and 23% respectively between 1997 and 2007. During the same period, the total number of registered professionals also increased remarkably, with certified public accountants increasing at the fastest rate of 7. 3% per year on average. 2. 3 Manufacturing company is the support for the Hong Kong service industry In this paper, the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company refers specifically to the Hong Kong manufacturing companies in the mainland.The rapid expansion of Hong Kong’s service industries in the past two decades benefited from the development of the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company and the sub-contracting business model. In the late 80’s, under the pressure of high land prices, high rents, high labor costs, a large number of Hong Kong manufacturers shifted their production to the Mainland, where the land and labor costs were relatively low, in particular the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province. And because of the changes in the business, many original manufacturing companies become the service company.These companies transferred their manufacturing factories to the Mainland, and kept the headquarters and other high value-added services such as marketing, order processing, material procurement, design, packaging, logistics business in Hong Kong. This business model is known as â€Å"shop in front and factory in back† mode. At the same time, in order to adapt to the changes in international markets and increase exports, many traditional trading companies, set up manufacturing factories in mainland, and formed a sub-contracting operation mode.In the sub-contractors mode, products manufactured in the mainland branch companies, headquarters in Hong Kong focused its efforts on trade, market and management. This mode of operation combined the mainland companies’ low-cost production advantage and the Hong Kong trading companies’ familiar with the international market advantage together, promoted the expediti ons of business of Hong Kong trade companies and improved their production efficiency. This production mode provided a strong support to the development of Hong Kong’s service industry.The financial crisis press great operating pressure to the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company. Mostly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta region, the types of these companies are sound equipment, electrical appliances, toys, clothing, footwear and other labor-intensive industries. The development of these enterprises is based on low labor and land inputs, production technology is very low. With the Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·811 · labor, land costs rising substantially in the Pearl River Delta region, the ompetitive advantages of the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company decreased a lot in recent years. Under the impact of the financial crisis, there has an obvious drop in experts of these labor-intensive consumer goods. Many Hong Kong Manufacturin g Companies face the problem of orders reduction, profit decline, and even bankruptcy. 3 Hong Kong’s Economic Problems under the Global Financial Crisis Table 2 1997-2007 Business Receipts Indices 1997 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Wholesale/Retail Import and export trade Restaurants Hotels Transport Storage Communications Banking Financing (except banking) Insurance 24. 4 107. 2 104. 7 99 61. 7 157. 1 127. 1 84. 1 79. 8 38. 2 88. 3 75. 5 94. 9 73. 1 68. 8 81. 1 96. 6 86. 4 56 59. 2 85. 8 80. 4 85. 7 58. 8 69. 1 77. 4 94. 3 86. 4 65. 7 70. 5 93. 8 90. 5 94. 3 81. 9 85 90. 6 95. 1 90. 2 87. 5 86. 2 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 107. 4 110. 2 109. 5 113. 7 110. 6 110. 2 100. 8 119. 5 147. 9 121. 3 99. 6 119. 6 114 109. 7 120. 6 119. 1 124. 2 131. 1 122. 6 127. 8 110. 8 165. 3 249. 7 156. 2 139. 3 135. 4 135. 4 117. 1 Real estate 135. 6 71. 5 75. 9 86. 2 Business 119. 7 87. 88. 1 95. 3 services Tourism 91. 5 75. 5 70 88. 5 Computer and 53. 1 63. 7 67. 3 81. 1 information services Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics(2008 Edition) Statistics Department. Table 3 2005 edited by Hong Kong Census and 2005-2008 the variation ratio of Business Receipts Indices 2006 2007 2007 3 quarter 9 15. 1 8. 2 15. 4 15. 7 11. 7 11. 7 9. 7 47. 7 99. 6 42. 1 27. 7 2007 4 quarter 15. 5 17. 7 7. 6 14. 8 16. 5 14. 8 10. 3 16. 2 45 82. 9 35. 4 69. 5 2008 1 quarter 9. 6 17. 5 13. 2 16 9. 9 15. 9 10. 7 11. 2 6. 32. 8 11. 7 14. 5 2008 2 quarter Wholesale/Retail Import and export trade Restaurants Hotels Transport Storage Communications Banking Financing (except banking) Insurance Real estate Business services 5. 6 6. 8 10. 6 6 22. 1 17. 8 10. 4 5. 1 10. 9 14. 3 16 16 7. 9 7. 3 10. 2 9. 5 13. 7 10. 6 10. 2 0. 8 19. 5 47. 9 21. 3 -0. 4 10. 4 12. 8 8 13. 4 15. 2 10. 8 16 10 38. 3 68. 8 28. 8 39. 8 14. 1 14. 4 14. 6 15. 3 9. 6 11 3. 5 13. 5 -6. 8 4. 7 8. 3 10 Tourism 4. 9 19. 6 13. 2 11. 8 14 11. 5 10. 3 Computer and 12. 9 14 18. 7 18. 9 25. 4 14. 14 information services Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (2008 Edition) edited by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.  ·812 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management Table 2 shows the revenue changes of the Hong Kong’s service industry from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the subsequent 2003 epidemic of SARS, Hong Kong’s service industry was particularly hard hit. Until 2006, the industry revenue was generally restored to the level of 97. Finance, insurance, transport, trade and other business incurred the largest loss.In February 2007, the U. S. sub-loan crisis happened, and the Lehman bank filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. The U. S. financial crisis intensified and developed into a global financial crisis. From the second half of 2008, the global financial crisis began to influence Hong Kong economy. This performance is particularly evident in the service industry. Hong Kong’s financial industry has been most affected. From Table 3 it can be seen that Banking and financial services industries are in the most affected after the financial crisis. There is a rapid decline in industry revenue.In the second quarter of 2008, banking industry even has the first negative growth since the past few years. At the end of the third quarter, because a lot of major financial institutions in the United States had been threatened with a bankruptcy, the global financial crisis became even more serious. The panic selling appeared in many countries’ stock market, Hong Kong was no exception. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plummeted by 15% in September, and fall 22% in October. The normal operation of Hong Kong’s capital markets has been seriously affected.The growth of other financial related industries, such as insurance, real estate and business services, had a slowed down significantly from the beginning of the second quarter of 2008. Import and export trade and related industries sectors have been affected in different degrees. The merchandise exports slowed down in the third quarter and only had a small increase. Even so, this was the worst performance since the first quarter of 2002. With the increase of global financial crisis, exports to other markets also had different degrees of slowing down.As a result, the growth of related industries, such as business service, trade service, transportation and storage service also slowed down slightly. Exports of services had maintained a steady increase in the financial crisis, but the growth rate was also smaller than the second quarter. The growth of tourism also had signs of deceleration and affect the growth of related industry, such as transportation, hotels, catering services, the number of visitors from long distance market decrease a lot, particularly the tourists from Europe and the United States.To face the challenge of financial crisis, the SAR Government has been actively responding well to prevent the spread of financial risks. From the beginning of the sub-loan crisis in the United States, in order to ensure stability of the financial system, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority introduced a number of measures to alleviate the pressure on banks and provide necessary assistance to the banks. Securities and Futures Commission and the Insurance Supervisory Commission also had made action to strengthen the protection of investors and policyholders.At the same time, most Hong Kong’s local financial institutions’ participation in directly investment to the US sub-loan is limited in small scale. The local banking system remains steadily without be directly effected by the sub-loan crisis. Benefit from the economic development of the Mainland, Hong Kong’s service industries is also faced with new opportunities in the global financial crisis. For example, supported by the growth of trade in the Mainland, of fshore trade growth was still significant.Although 2008 is the â€Å"Olympic Year†, but the mainland tourists to Hong Kong remained a high-speed growth. In the third quarter of 2008, the Mainland tourists to Hong Kong wad still higher than last year, an increase of 9. 4%. Individual Visit Scheme is one of the bright spots; the visitors in accordance with this scheme had a further rise in the third quarter, the ratio wad 14. 5%. These factors effectively guaranteed the smooth operation of Hong Kong’s service industries. At the same time, the ten naturalization industry plan in the mainland had already been introduced.The mainland accelerated the pace of industrial upgrading and began to support the development of high-tech industry. These policies provide a good environment for the Hong Kong companies in mainland to upgrade their technological level and achieve their own industrial upgrading. Based on the above analysis, the challenges faced by Hong Kong’s econom ic in the financial crisis can be summarized into the following three aspects: (1)financial sector’s profits decline a lot, related sector’s services business reduces. 2) The trade and service market in Western countries shrink. 3 Hong Kong Company in mainland operates difficultly. Hong Kong economy is facing the opportunity for: the steady development of the Mainland economy and the acceleration of the industrial upgrading. Therefore, in order to face the challenge of the financial crisis, it is important for Hong Kong service companies to expand business in the Mainland, and to Hong Kong companies in mainland to enhance the productivity. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·813 · 4 ConclusionsThrough the above analysis, this paper can be drawn the following conclusions: (1) The a major problem of Hong Kong economy is decline in financial sector profits and trade volume with Western developed countries. (2)The expansion of d emand of the Mainland market is the most important opportunity for Hong Kong’s economic development. (3) Hong Kong economy has great demands for information technology, electrical and electronic technologies, manufacturing technology. To ensure sustainable development of Hong Kong economy, it is very important to promote scientific and technological development. References [1] Yang Xue.The Analysis of the Scientific and Technological Needs Based on Micro-macro System[J]. Social Science Frontier, 2008, (10): 241(In Chinese) [2] Guo Kasha, Wang Wenlong. Science and Technology Needs Analysis of Chinese High-Tech Industry[J]. Economic Review, 2004, (8):198(In Chinese) [3] Wu Jiapei, Wang Changsheng. Science and Technology Needs Analysis of the New Road to Industrialization[J]. Science & Technology and Economy, 2005, (4): 4(In Chinese) [4] Li Jianhua, Cheng Baoying, Yang Xue. Analysis on Demand of Science and Technology Effected by Informatization During New Industrialization[J]. Information Science, 2004, (8): 903(In Chinese) Analysis of Hong Kong Economy During Financial Crisis  ·808 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management An Analysis of the Hong Kong Economy after the Financial Crisis Cao Hongliu School of Management, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangdong, P. R. China, 510520 (E-mail: [email  protected] com) Abstract This paper analyzes the current economic development and the status of leading industries in Hong Kong. It shows that Hong Kong economy, which is mainly comprised of the service industry in particular, facing with both opportunities and challenges after the financial crisis.Hong Kong economy has a wide range of needs in information technology, electrical and electronic technology, and manufacturing technology. Development in these areas has great significance to ensure sustained development of Hong Kong economy. Key words Hong Kong economy status; Leading industry; Service industry 1 Introduction Hong Kong’s a small and open economy system and international financial center, its economi c development face many new challenges because of the impact of the global financial crisis.Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of the Hong Kong’s economic development and their leading industry status becomes an important issue. 2 Overview of Hong Kong Economy 2. 1 The services sector is a leading industry in Hong Kong From Table 1, we can see that the services industry is a leading industry of Hong Kong economy. During the decade from 1997 to 2006, services sector in the Hong Kong economy has gained greater prominence. This change has already been reflected in the share of contribution of the services sector to the local GDP.The contribution of the services sector to GDP increased from 85. 9% in 1997 to 91. 2% in 2006. Based on the industry definition of Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, The services sector includes wholesale, retail and import and export trades, restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and b usiness services; and community, social and personal services. Table 1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Economic Activity (at Current Prices) GDP by Economic Activity(2004-2007) 2004 2005 2006 2007Economic activity Agriculture and fishing Mining and quarrying Manufacturing Electricity, gas and water Construction GDP 886 72 44455 39726 40376 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 6 3. 2 3. 2 GDP 847 100 45547 39924 38538 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 4 3 2. 9 GDP 849 93 45761 40364 38688 ratio 0. 1 * 3. 2 2. 8 2. 7 GDP 895 114 39282 39426 40154 ratio 0. 1 * 2. 5 2. 5 2. 6 Services 1119304 89. 9 1207873 90. 6 1297545 91. 2 1429293 92. 3 Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (2004-2008 Edition) edited by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Data unit is in million terms and ratio unit is %.Besides, * represents the comparison had less than 0. 05% is in the total economy The services sector becomes the principal source of employment. The employment share of the services sector in total employment h as increased moderately over the past decade, from 79. 8% in 1997 to 86. 6% in 2007. In 2007, the services sector as a whole engaged 3. 03 million persons out of the 3. 5 million overall employments. The services sector plays a significant role in supporting the growth of our external trade. In 2007, the value of exports of services reached $652 billion, representing an average annual growth rate ofProceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·809 · 8. 6% over 1997. In 2007, merchant and other trade-related services was the most important major service group, contributing 30. 9% to the value of total exports of services. It was followed by transportation services and travel services, contributing 28. 6% and 16. 5% respectively to the value of total exports of services in 2007. In 1997, the respective percentage shares of these three major service groups in the value of total exports of services were 25. 6%, 30. % and 20. 8%. 2. 2 The structure of H ong Kong’s services industry sector Among the economic activities in the services sector, wholesale, retail and import and export trades, restaurants and hotels together contributed 27. 9% of the GDP in 2006, followed by financing, insurance, real estate and business services (25. 0%), community, social and personal services (18. 0%) and transport, storage and communications (9. 6%). Among them, financial services, trading, tourism and professional services are key industries in the Hong Kong economy.They have been the driving force of Hong Kong’s economic growth, providing impetus to growth of other sectors and creating employment. (1) Import and export trade . The import and export trade is the most important industries in Hong Kong’s service industry, has been playing an important role in the development of Hong Kong economy. The import and export trade produced a net output of HK$305. 1 billion in 2006, representing an increase of 39% over 1997. The ratio is the highest among all service industry. In 2007, there were 98 000 import and export trading establishments in Hong Kong, with 520 000 persons.At the same time, import and export trade sector is also directly promoting the development of other industries, such as logistics, transportation, business services and other services. Hong Kong’s import and export trade, including the visible trade and invisible trade two parts. The visible trade refers to the traditional commodity trade. In 2007, the value of Hong Kong imported and exported goods was $5,556 billion, representing an increase of 9. 8% compared to 2006. Hong Kong’s total exports of goods (comprising domestic exports and re-exports) in 2007 amounted to $2,688 billion, or increased by 9. % when compared with 2006. The value of imports increased by 10. 3% to $2,868 billion in 2007. With the value of total exports being less than that of imports, a merchandise trade deficit of $180 billion was recorded in 2007. In the import and export trade, the largest proportion of re-exports. This was largely attributable to the relocation of many local manufacturing activities to the mainland of China. Quite a large amount of the goods produced in the mainland of China through the outward processing arrangement were sent back to Hong Kong and re-exported to other countries/territories.During 1997 to 2007, the value of re-exports increased by 107%, while a decline of 48% was observed in the value of domestic exports. In 2007 the re-export trade to the mainland continued to grow rapidly. The invisible trade services are export and import trade of commercial services and financial services. While these services could be exported or imported by the import/export firms or companies in other sectors, most of the merchant and other trade-related services were exported or imported by import/export firms . In 2007, Hong Kong’s exports and imports of services valued at $652 billion and $322 billion respecti vely.Compared to 2006, exports and imports of services increased by 15. 4% and 11. 7% respectively. Net exports of services in 2007 amounted to $330 billion, this makes Hong Kong’s overall trade surplus of $150 billion. (2) Finance. Hong Kong is recognized as an international financial center, many multinational banks and financial institutions gathered here. The financial business is classified in detail, covering all aspects of the financial industry. Hong Kong three-tier system of deposit-taking institutions, namely licensed banks, restricted licensed banks and deposit-taking companies, known collectively as the authorized institutions.At the end of 2007, the number of authorized institutions stood at 200, comprising 142 licensed banks, 29 restricted license banks and 29 deposit-taking companies. 68 of them were incorporated in Hong Kong and 132 were incorporated outside Hong Kong. In addition, there were 79 representative offices of foreign banks coming from 27 economies/ regions. As at end December 2007, 152 of the largest 500 banks in the world had a presence in Hong Kong. The value added generated by the banking industry amounted to $136. 5 billion, or 9. 6% of Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2006, representing an increase of 41. % compared with 1997. The development of the banking sector also promotes the development of other financial industries. In 2007, some 2 940 establishments and about 32 400 persons were engaged in the business. These included stock and share companies; commodity futures, gold bullion and foreign exchange brokers/dealers; stock, bullion and commodity exchanges; fund management companies; investment advisory companies; and firms providing other various financial services. The financial markets and asset management industry generated value added of about $59. billion, contributing to 4. 1% of Hong Kong’s GDP in 2006.  ·810 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Managem ent Hong Kong is also the Securities and Exchange Center and an important place for the mainland enterprises to raise funds. At the end of 2007, 1 048 companies were listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), with a total market capitalization of $20,536 billion. Despite an increase of only 7. 5% in the number of listed companies, market capitalization was observed to rise 55. 0% over 2006.Since July 1993 when the first Chinese state owned company was listed on the HKEx through issuance of H shares, the role of Hong Kong as a major fund-raising centre for the mainland of China had become increasingly important. By the end of 2007, there were 146 H shares listed on the HKEx, with market capitalization of $5,080 billion. In addition, there were also 93 â€Å"Red Chips† companies and 200 private enterprises listed on HKEx. Hong Kong is one of the most active and liberal debt markets and a leading asset management centre in Asia. (3) Tourism . In 2007, 51 900 persons were engaged in industries closely related o tourism, such as hotels and travel agents and 315 300 persons in industries partly related to tourism such as restaurants, retailers, transport operators and other service providers serving visitors. In terms of economic contribution, inbound tourism and outbound tourism together generated $45. 3 billion value added and 176 300 job opportunities in 2006, or 3. 2% of total GDP and 5. 2% of total employment of Hong Kong respectively. The number of incoming visitors in 2007 reached 28. 2 million, increased by 11. 6% as compared with 25. 3 million in 2006 and set the highest record for visitor arrivals in history.The mainland of China remained the major source market of visitors to Hong Kong since 1994. Visitor arrivals from the mainland of China reached 15. 5 million in 2007, accounted for 55. 0% of the total visitor arrivals, followed by South and Southeast Asia (10. 3%) and Taiwan (7. 9%). In addition, Hong Kong i s Asia’s major trade exhibition and business conference center. A total of 218 conventions and 78 exhibitions with international participation were held in Hong Kong in 2006. (4) Professional service . The professional service is Hong Kong’s fourth-largest service industry.The professional services industry generated $40 billion of value added, or 2. 8% of Hong Kong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in 2006 and provided job opportunities for about 106 000 persons in 2007. In 2007, there were about 13 500 professional services establishments, including 3 900 accounting, auditing and bookkeeping firms, 1 800 solicitor and barrister firms, 3 300 architectural, surveying and engineering firms and some 4 500 management consultant firms. The business receipts of professional services industry increased by 10. 7% in 2007 over a year earlier.The development of professional services industry over the past decade was quite remarkable. Number of establishments and persons en gaged increased by 35% and 23% respectively between 1997 and 2007. During the same period, the total number of registered professionals also increased remarkably, with certified public accountants increasing at the fastest rate of 7. 3% per year on average. 2. 3 Manufacturing company is the support for the Hong Kong service industry In this paper, the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company refers specifically to the Hong Kong manufacturing companies in the mainland.The rapid expansion of Hong Kong’s service industries in the past two decades benefited from the development of the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company and the sub-contracting business model. In the late 80’s, under the pressure of high land prices, high rents, high labor costs, a large number of Hong Kong manufacturers shifted their production to the Mainland, where the land and labor costs were relatively low, in particular the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province. And because of the changes in the business, many original manufacturing companies become the service company.These companies transferred their manufacturing factories to the Mainland, and kept the headquarters and other high value-added services such as marketing, order processing, material procurement, design, packaging, logistics business in Hong Kong. This business model is known as â€Å"shop in front and factory in back† mode. At the same time, in order to adapt to the changes in international markets and increase exports, many traditional trading companies, set up manufacturing factories in mainland, and formed a sub-contracting operation mode.In the sub-contractors mode, products manufactured in the mainland branch companies, headquarters in Hong Kong focused its efforts on trade, market and management. This mode of operation combined the mainland companies’ low-cost production advantage and the Hong Kong trading companies’ familiar with the international market advantage together, promoted the expediti ons of business of Hong Kong trade companies and improved their production efficiency. This production mode provided a strong support to the development of Hong Kong’s service industry.The financial crisis press great operating pressure to the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company. Mostly concentrated in the Pearl River Delta region, the types of these companies are sound equipment, electrical appliances, toys, clothing, footwear and other labor-intensive industries. The development of these enterprises is based on low labor and land inputs, production technology is very low. With the Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·811 · labor, land costs rising substantially in the Pearl River Delta region, the ompetitive advantages of the Hong Kong Manufacturing Company decreased a lot in recent years. Under the impact of the financial crisis, there has an obvious drop in experts of these labor-intensive consumer goods. Many Hong Kong Manufacturin g Companies face the problem of orders reduction, profit decline, and even bankruptcy. 3 Hong Kong’s Economic Problems under the Global Financial Crisis Table 2 1997-2007 Business Receipts Indices 1997 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Wholesale/Retail Import and export trade Restaurants Hotels Transport Storage Communications Banking Financing (except banking) Insurance 24. 4 107. 2 104. 7 99 61. 7 157. 1 127. 1 84. 1 79. 8 38. 2 88. 3 75. 5 94. 9 73. 1 68. 8 81. 1 96. 6 86. 4 56 59. 2 85. 8 80. 4 85. 7 58. 8 69. 1 77. 4 94. 3 86. 4 65. 7 70. 5 93. 8 90. 5 94. 3 81. 9 85 90. 6 95. 1 90. 2 87. 5 86. 2 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 107. 4 110. 2 109. 5 113. 7 110. 6 110. 2 100. 8 119. 5 147. 9 121. 3 99. 6 119. 6 114 109. 7 120. 6 119. 1 124. 2 131. 1 122. 6 127. 8 110. 8 165. 3 249. 7 156. 2 139. 3 135. 4 135. 4 117. 1 Real estate 135. 6 71. 5 75. 9 86. 2 Business 119. 7 87. 88. 1 95. 3 services Tourism 91. 5 75. 5 70 88. 5 Computer and 53. 1 63. 7 67. 3 81. 1 information services Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics(2008 Edition) Statistics Department. Table 3 2005 edited by Hong Kong Census and 2005-2008 the variation ratio of Business Receipts Indices 2006 2007 2007 3 quarter 9 15. 1 8. 2 15. 4 15. 7 11. 7 11. 7 9. 7 47. 7 99. 6 42. 1 27. 7 2007 4 quarter 15. 5 17. 7 7. 6 14. 8 16. 5 14. 8 10. 3 16. 2 45 82. 9 35. 4 69. 5 2008 1 quarter 9. 6 17. 5 13. 2 16 9. 9 15. 9 10. 7 11. 2 6. 32. 8 11. 7 14. 5 2008 2 quarter Wholesale/Retail Import and export trade Restaurants Hotels Transport Storage Communications Banking Financing (except banking) Insurance Real estate Business services 5. 6 6. 8 10. 6 6 22. 1 17. 8 10. 4 5. 1 10. 9 14. 3 16 16 7. 9 7. 3 10. 2 9. 5 13. 7 10. 6 10. 2 0. 8 19. 5 47. 9 21. 3 -0. 4 10. 4 12. 8 8 13. 4 15. 2 10. 8 16 10 38. 3 68. 8 28. 8 39. 8 14. 1 14. 4 14. 6 15. 3 9. 6 11 3. 5 13. 5 -6. 8 4. 7 8. 3 10 Tourism 4. 9 19. 6 13. 2 11. 8 14 11. 5 10. 3 Computer and 12. 9 14 18. 7 18. 9 25. 4 14. 14 information services Note: Data is from Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics (2008 Edition) edited by Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.  ·812 · Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management Table 2 shows the revenue changes of the Hong Kong’s service industry from the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the subsequent 2003 epidemic of SARS, Hong Kong’s service industry was particularly hard hit. Until 2006, the industry revenue was generally restored to the level of 97. Finance, insurance, transport, trade and other business incurred the largest loss.In February 2007, the U. S. sub-loan crisis happened, and the Lehman bank filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. The U. S. financial crisis intensified and developed into a global financial crisis. From the second half of 2008, the global financial crisis began to influence Hong Kong economy. This performance is particularly evident in the service industry. Hong Kong’s financial industry has been most affected. From Table 3 it can be seen that Banking and financial services industries are in the most affected after the financial crisis. There is a rapid decline in industry revenue.In the second quarter of 2008, banking industry even has the first negative growth since the past few years. At the end of the third quarter, because a lot of major financial institutions in the United States had been threatened with a bankruptcy, the global financial crisis became even more serious. The panic selling appeared in many countries’ stock market, Hong Kong was no exception. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index plummeted by 15% in September, and fall 22% in October. The normal operation of Hong Kong’s capital markets has been seriously affected.The growth of other financial related industries, such as insurance, real estate and business services, had a slowed down significantly from the beginning of the second quarter of 2008. Import and export trade and related industries sectors have been affected in different degrees. The merchandise exports slowed down in the third quarter and only had a small increase. Even so, this was the worst performance since the first quarter of 2002. With the increase of global financial crisis, exports to other markets also had different degrees of slowing down.As a result, the growth of related industries, such as business service, trade service, transportation and storage service also slowed down slightly. Exports of services had maintained a steady increase in the financial crisis, but the growth rate was also smaller than the second quarter. The growth of tourism also had signs of deceleration and affect the growth of related industry, such as transportation, hotels, catering services, the number of visitors from long distance market decrease a lot, particularly the tourists from Europe and the United States.To face the challenge of financial crisis, the SAR Government has been actively responding well to prevent the spread of financial risks. From the beginning of the sub-loan crisis in the United States, in order to ensure stability of the financial system, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority introduced a number of measures to alleviate the pressure on banks and provide necessary assistance to the banks. Securities and Futures Commission and the Insurance Supervisory Commission also had made action to strengthen the protection of investors and policyholders.At the same time, most Hong Kong’s local financial institutions’ participation in directly investment to the US sub-loan is limited in small scale. The local banking system remains steadily without be directly effected by the sub-loan crisis. Benefit from the economic development of the Mainland, Hong Kong’s service industries is also faced with new opportunities in the global financial crisis. For example, supported by the growth of trade in the Mainland, of fshore trade growth was still significant.Although 2008 is the â€Å"Olympic Year†, but the mainland tourists to Hong Kong remained a high-speed growth. In the third quarter of 2008, the Mainland tourists to Hong Kong wad still higher than last year, an increase of 9. 4%. Individual Visit Scheme is one of the bright spots; the visitors in accordance with this scheme had a further rise in the third quarter, the ratio wad 14. 5%. These factors effectively guaranteed the smooth operation of Hong Kong’s service industries. At the same time, the ten naturalization industry plan in the mainland had already been introduced.The mainland accelerated the pace of industrial upgrading and began to support the development of high-tech industry. These policies provide a good environment for the Hong Kong companies in mainland to upgrade their technological level and achieve their own industrial upgrading. Based on the above analysis, the challenges faced by Hong Kong’s econom ic in the financial crisis can be summarized into the following three aspects: (1)financial sector’s profits decline a lot, related sector’s services business reduces. 2) The trade and service market in Western countries shrink. 3 Hong Kong Company in mainland operates difficultly. Hong Kong economy is facing the opportunity for: the steady development of the Mainland economy and the acceleration of the industrial upgrading. Therefore, in order to face the challenge of the financial crisis, it is important for Hong Kong service companies to expand business in the Mainland, and to Hong Kong companies in mainland to enhance the productivity. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Innovation & Management  ·813 · 4 ConclusionsThrough the above analysis, this paper can be drawn the following conclusions: (1) The a major problem of Hong Kong economy is decline in financial sector profits and trade volume with Western developed countries. (2)The expansion of d emand of the Mainland market is the most important opportunity for Hong Kong’s economic development. (3) Hong Kong economy has great demands for information technology, electrical and electronic technologies, manufacturing technology. To ensure sustainable development of Hong Kong economy, it is very important to promote scientific and technological development. References [1] Yang Xue.The Analysis of the Scientific and Technological Needs Based on Micro-macro System[J]. Social Science Frontier, 2008, (10): 241(In Chinese) [2] Guo Kasha, Wang Wenlong. Science and Technology Needs Analysis of Chinese High-Tech Industry[J]. Economic Review, 2004, (8):198(In Chinese) [3] Wu Jiapei, Wang Changsheng. Science and Technology Needs Analysis of the New Road to Industrialization[J]. Science & Technology and Economy, 2005, (4): 4(In Chinese) [4] Li Jianhua, Cheng Baoying, Yang Xue. Analysis on Demand of Science and Technology Effected by Informatization During New Industrialization[J]. Information Science, 2004, (8): 903(In Chinese)