Strong Tie free essay sample

Tie Ltd. a family-owned manufacturing tool producer has managed to maintain stable sales numbers throughout recent years even while the Housing market as a whole was on a negative trend. While this should translate into higher profit margins, the exact opposite trend has occurred. The solution to Strong Tie’s financial problems is an increase in prices of goods and salary cuts. Beginning in 2006 where Strong Tie has Sales of 16. 2 million, the company maintained healthy sales between the 16 and 17. 5 million. However Operating Income decreased by 29% and then another 75% the following year. Two main factors led to this trend: COGS and Depreciation. After analyzing the way Strong Tie has managed their goods. Their Raw Material Turnover was close to par with benchmark numbers at 27 days which means they have been converting the raw materials into finished goods on exceptional timing. The days in Work in Progress was also progressing at a healthy rate going from 4. We will write a custom essay sample on Strong Tie or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 5 days in 2006 to nearly 1 day in 2008. In other words, they were able to finish goods at faster rates. With these two healthy rates, there should have been increasing profits, however one variable was stopping it from happening; Days in Finished Goods. Strong Tie’s most profitable year was 2006 where days in finished goods was 45 which was close to on par with the benchmark of 51. But by 2008, Strong Tie had finished goods flying off the shelves by 26 days. If customers are buying the products this fast, the prices of these goods are way too low which has resulted in a substantial loss of profit. Therefore the first recommendation would be to increase prices substantially. Depreciation on the other hand was expected to occur but the cost nearly doubled in 2006 from 396k to 720k in 2008 most likely from a major breakdown of equipment and repair costs. Depreciation costs may also have derived from Strong Tie investing on new automated feeders and packaging equipment. So while the balance sheet shows increasing rates of depreciation and selling expenses, expect those costs to lower once again. This investment also has the potential to speed up the rate at which raw materials are converted into finished goods. With more finished goods to sell at higher prices, Operating Income will see a growing trend. Another cause of concern in Strong Tie is the extra dividends that are being paid along with the Salary bonuses. First off the 1 million dollar bonus to the three daughters equates to about 350k per daughter. That type of salary is not justifiable to three employees and is negatively affecting the retained earnings to the business. The 500k being paid every year to someone that has no relationship to the business at all is also a waste of potential gains. Two recommendations here would boost retained earnings significantly. First off the salary of the three daughters needs to be significantly lowered. It would be preferred to hire new employees to fill that position and get paid reasonable wages. Second, it would be in the company’s best interest to seek out a new shareholder for the 500k in dividends being paid every year. Current shareholder needs to be replaced with someone with vision for the company that attends the roundtable meetings and contributes their input to the overall goals of the company. One topic that has the potential to become an issue is the financing of the credit agreement with the Bank of Nova Scotia. Financing is guaranteed only if Strong Tie is able to maintain a variety of benchmarks. First a current ratio of 1.5 or higher was needed. The company started out strong in 2006 with a ratio of 5 but has declined to 3. 13 in its most recent year. This decreasing rate is not too threatening however because the use of resources will be more efficiently used with the new equipment and automatic machinery that has been purchased. The company needed to follow a Long-term debt to Total Capitalization Ratio of 40% or less and has been able to but again is getting closer to that benchmark. The reason for that was the risk that it has taken undergoing the same investment in new capital. The one area that Strong Tie is currently struggling with in the benchmarks they need to maintain is Cash Flow Coverage. They need to maintain over 1, but that number dropped to . 57 in 2008. One of the reasons why this number has dropped below the requirement is because of the increasing cost of depreciation that has been accumulating that is being paid for. Once the company raises its prices on how much they sell their goods for will the Cash Flow Coverage go back to its requirement since Depreciation costs should already be on the process of lowering with the new equipment. Strong Tie’s investment in automation currently has the company on edge at the moment with its net income, but in time that investment will pay off. While the demand for houses in the market went down significantly during this period (2006-2008), Strong Tie has maintained stable sales numbers partly because of how low the prices have been. While 2008 was Strong Tie’s weakest year from an income standpoint, lenders (particularly Bank of Nova Scotia) should not worry as long as Strong Tie increases the prices of goods so that the Cash Flow Coverage ratio returns to normal. While financing may appear to be in danger currently, the current capital will hold the spine together of this company until these changes are made. Finally the last major changes needed are to the salaries being paid to Johnstone’s three daughters and a potential new shareholder. Once this annual cost of 1. 5 million is eased and with increased prices to sales goods we will see Strong Tie becoming profitable again.

Free Essays on Fichtes Vocation Of Man

Choosing ones ‘vocation’ is not only based upon deep reflection of self but also of the world and how you receive it. There are many facets that can influence how each individual sees that world and their position in it. This is the essence of vocation and that which Johann Fichte explores in his Vocation of Man. It is grounded in three schools of thought, deterministic realism, theoretical idealism, and practical idealism. These schools are the basis of this paper, and through them I will give an explanation of Mr. Fichtes struggle to define his own vocation. Along with it I will show which vocation I have chosen and whether or not I have agreed with Mr. Fichte’s argument. In book one, Fichte describes deterministic realism. This philosophy is thought to be a system of continual caused events that interconnect all previous and future events. This chain is what brought you as a living agent, into being. The causal chain is that by which we derive our knowledge of our world, what we know must be based on prior causes that are events in nature. These events according to Fichte are due to Nature, and the reality of nature is all there is. All that a person does is preordained through the causal chain of nature. Throughout the text Fichte is confronted with the idea that he is part of nature, so much a part in fact that he himself is just an expression of that nature. And in being this expression we discover that our being is a product of prior events of condition, we begin no new events that are not based on a previous event and we stop nothing based on the same reasoning. For Mr. Fichte this presents a problem of freedom and self-determination. Fichte states this in book one, The time of my coming to be and the character with which I came to be were determined by this general force of nature; and all the various ways in which these, my inherited characteristics, have found expression since then and will find expression so long ... Free Essays on Fichte's Vocation Of Man Free Essays on Fichte's Vocation Of Man Choosing ones ‘vocation’ is not only based upon deep reflection of self but also of the world and how you receive it. There are many facets that can influence how each individual sees that world and their position in it. This is the essence of vocation and that which Johann Fichte explores in his Vocation of Man. It is grounded in three schools of thought, deterministic realism, theoretical idealism, and practical idealism. These schools are the basis of this paper, and through them I will give an explanation of Mr. Fichtes struggle to define his own vocation. Along with it I will show which vocation I have chosen and whether or not I have agreed with Mr. Fichte’s argument. In book one, Fichte describes deterministic realism. This philosophy is thought to be a system of continual caused events that interconnect all previous and future events. This chain is what brought you as a living agent, into being. The causal chain is that by which we derive our knowledge of our world, what we know must be based on prior causes that are events in nature. These events according to Fichte are due to Nature, and the reality of nature is all there is. All that a person does is preordained through the causal chain of nature. Throughout the text Fichte is confronted with the idea that he is part of nature, so much a part in fact that he himself is just an expression of that nature. And in being this expression we discover that our being is a product of prior events of condition, we begin no new events that are not based on a previous event and we stop nothing based on the same reasoning. For Mr. Fichte this presents a problem of freedom and self-determination. Fichte states this in book one, The time of my coming to be and the character with which I came to be were determined by this general force of nature; and all the various ways in which these, my inherited characteristics, have found expression since then and will find expression so long ...

Thinking Through Religions 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Thinking Through Religions 4 - Essay Example This is because self isolation and being separate can lead to a mental state of renunciation. There is a perception that when men make vows, they tend to become spiritual men who state separate from the physical world (Merton, 1966). In a sense, this theory suggests that it is possible to subscribe to a personal ideology to the exclusion of the mainstream society (Braght & Sohm, 1987). The illusion theory assumes that men become separate by taking vows that cause them to belong to an interior life. The new reality suggests that while the interior world may be real, it should not lead to denial of physical world which is dominated by the secular (Merton & Bochen, 2000). The reality of the God does not denounce the existence of hatred and corruption in a physical world that has evolved through revolution (Ferch, 2012). The reality of the interior world and the secular world in which we live is brought about by the level of awareness. The new reality is that there are no strangers (Ward, 8). The level of understanding of how we appear in God’s eyes can alter the values of collective existence (Broom, 2003). A telling example would be destroying weapons after realizing the need for friendship and company. As members of the human race, God has designed us to be naturally interdependent. Question 2 Father Maximilian was arrested for aiding Jews and Polish underground. He with four others was deported to Auschwitz labor and death camp. According to the Camp Commandant, Fritsch, Roman Catholics had only one month to live while Jews were entitled to only two weeks. They would then be killed through a crematorium. He was tattooed with 16670 as his number and began hard labor. However, when a prisoner escaped five months later, officers from Kolbe’s bunker were paraded, ready to be taken to death chamber. Ten men were picked at random. One was a sergeant, Francis Gajowniczek. Father Kolbe offered to die of his behalf after listening to his desperate cry. In 1982, during a rescue operation, Lenny Skutnit dived into the icy waters to save a lady. Priscilla Tirado was too exhausted to hold the rope dropped from a helicopter as dozens of people watched, emergency service personnel included. The 30 feet swimming to the river show saved her life. Both men indicated their willingness to offer their lives on behalf of other people with actions as the evidence (Braght & Sohm, 1987). While one incident involved drowning, the other involved prison execution. Fath er Kolbe offered to offer his life for a person who could not reciprocate. These actions reveal that human nature can be moved to act on behalf of others without having a prior knowledge of their existence. The actions also reveal that human beings are naturally in need of each other. Human beings can act heroically on behalf of those in desperate circumstances or dire need of rescue. Question 3 Charles Roberts, 32 year old milk truck drivers killed ten girls before committing suicide. This occurred in west Nickel Mines School in Pennsylvania. The members of the community went through extreme moments of grief and mourning (Kraybill, 2007). However, hours after the shooting, an Amish neighbor had comforted Roberts’s family. The Amish community donated money to the widow and attended the burial ceremony of the killer. They showed love to Roberts’s family hours just a day after some of them had buried their own daughters. The members of the Amish committed offered uncondi tional forgiveness even when it was extremely difficult. The national society might have mistaken their kind acts to mean they were less affected. Many affected families

Political Parties and Elections Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Political Parties and Elections - Essay Example In other circumstances, parties might choose to form coalitions with disparate interests. It has to be acknowledged that parties in the United States are very powerful for they determine the fate of all citizens1. Ambition in Political Parties Politicians are very ambitious people. Although some choose to stay in their current offices for several terms, others aspire to go to higher offices. In addition, some politicians want to be politics for short periods. This implies that it depends with the politician to know his or her ambitions. Career ambition decides the behavior to be exhibited by the politician. His/her hopes and expectations for the future are the main driving force that helps the politician in making decisions. Majority of political leaders possess progressive ambitions and as a result, they aspire for higher offices. Politicians make policies that satisfy the needs of their constituents at the given time and in future, in order to ensure success. It has to be noted tha t one cannot achieve higher office if s/he lacks ambition2. Although majority of Americans believe that the president is a powerful person who makes all the decisions for the country from white house, Richard Neustadt in his book Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents, believes otherwise. The president’s power is guaranteed in the constitution, the prestige of Washington, abroad, and the country at large. However, article II of the constitution, which defines the powers of the president, does not guarantee that everything that he (presidents) commands he achieves. This means that the president must always ensure that the people around him are persuaded and thus willing to do what he believes is good for the country. The fact that United States of America is a democratic country means that there is separation of powers so the president is not the sole decision maker in the country. The ability and the power to pursued help in ensuring that the policies implemented by the president are able to pass and become law. This can be attributed to the fact that the president in the US does not change legislation alone for it needs approval by the respective houses. If the president is unable to persuade legislators to pass his policies then chances are high that most of these policies will not go through. This is the reason why Neustadt (1990) notes, presidency is not a place for amateurs. Presidents should act in a prospective manner in order to make sure that the decisions he makes today will help him persuade tomorrow3. Power of Politics Obama exercises the power to persuade because he understands that his policies cannot pass without the support other legislators.4On the other hand, Schlesinger acknowledges that the US presidency is becoming too powerful, such that people are not concerned on checking it. He attributes this to the powers that the presidency exercises because of domestic policy, foreign policy, and the affairs that go on in secrecy. Sinc e the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces, he has the authority to defend the United States but the power of declaring war is vested on the congress. This means that the president can make decisions that will cause death or injury to other people who are deemed as a threat to the country5. In his time at the office, Obama has ordered the killing of Somali pirates who had hijacked a ship with American crew. In addition, he ordered

Christopher Columbus Essay Example for Free

Christopher Columbus Essay From the date of his birth to the amount of schooling he received as a child, to the final resting place of his remains historians are simply not sure. It is even claimed that he was, at the age of 21 a privateer. â€Å"Columbus’s son Ferdinand stated in History of the Life and Deeds of Christopher Columbus that in 1472 Columbus was given command of a ship on a privateering expedition to Tunis in northern Africa. In a lost letter, Columbus supposedly related to his son how Rene I, duke of the French province of Anjou, had commissioned Columbus to make a surprise attack on a large Spanish ship sailing off the coast of North Africa. 4 However Ferdinand’s claim is the only proof available and the claim is largely believed to be false. There is a lot of information that is well known, and well documented. Christopher Columbus completed four sea voyages. Starting with his most famous in 1492 and ending in 1506. Although he took to the sea at the age of 14 he was not commissioned to his own ship until much later. At the age of 41 he made his historic voyage to the new world. Although Columbus is given credit for discovering America it was not named for him, it was named after Amerigo Vespucci. The name America was given to the Western Hemisphere by European writers and mapmakers after Columbuss death. Nothing in their experiences had led the first explorers to realize that they had come into contact with a vast and unrecorded continent, many times the size of Europe. Previously there had been no accounts, or even rumors, of the unknown peoples of this new continent in European scholarly literature and discus sion or in popular chronicles. † 5 If Christopher Columbus had one true purpose, it was not to find the new land or even riches for King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I. His true calling which led him to the sea was to travel to the East by going west. He wanted to find a direct trade route to Asia, and to explore the region discovered by Marco Polo. His obsession to find this region was so intense it actually led him to believe that Cuba was part of Asia. In an ironic twist of fate, the closest Columbus would ever come to reaching Asia was on one of his earliest voyages. In 1474 Columbus, hired on as a sailor, set off for Khios, an island in the Aegean, this was to be the first long voyage Columbus would ever take and the closest he ever came to Asia. Columbus spent a year on this island and was able to become economically independent from his family. 7 To truly understand why someone would be obsessed with finding a direct trade route to Asia, you must understand why this was necessary. â€Å"The event that had the most far reaching effects on Europe in the 15th Century was the fall of the city of Constantinople (modern Istanbul, Turkey) to the Mu slim Ottoman Empire. Constantinople had been the capital of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire for centuries, and it was an important center for trade between Europe and Asia. In 1453 the Ottoman Empire, which had already conquered much of southeastern Europe, captured the city, closing an important trade route from Europe to the east. European merchants could still buy Asian goods from Muslims in places such as Alexandria, Egypt. However, Europeans longed for a sea route to Asia that would allow them to bypass the Muslims and purchase Asian products directly. In addition, European princes and kings quickly realized that the first nation to find such a route could become very wealthy by monopolizing the highly profitable Asian trade. 8 Although Columbus never found that direct route to Asia, he did find recognition and wealth from his travels. â€Å"The widely published report of his voyage of 1492 made Columbus famous throughout Europe and secured for him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and further royal patronage. † 9 Christopher Columbus was also a family man. He had two sons; his first was with wife â€Å"Felipe Perestrello e Moniz, the d aughter of a well respected, though relatively poor, noble family. † 10 They had a son Diego in 1480 or 1481, historic records are unsure of the exact date. Felipe died shortly after. Diego was boarded in a Spanish Monastery were Columbus found great support for his voyages in the monks who lived there. They introduced him to nobility, share ancient maps and vital information about sea currents and the size of the oceans themselves, and for a short time he was â€Å"maintained at the expense of the queen. † 11 His second son Fernando was born out of wedlock to a young peasant woman named Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, in 1488. Beatriz is believed to be the great love of Columbus’ life and his love for her helped him through the toughest portions of his life as he awaited the end of the war to take Granada. Christopher Columbus was an entrepreneur, as well as an opportunist; on his second voyage he carried with him African slaves to the new world. 12 Columbus also claimed a dowry offered to the first person to see land on his maiden voyage. During his first voyage, on October 12, 1492 a lookout spotted land a couple hours after midnight from the crow’s nest of the Pinta. The lookout’s name was Rodrigo de Triana for his sighting; he should have received a pension of 10,000 Maravedis per year. That was roughly what an able sailor could make in a year at the time, however Columbus pocketed the money himself, claiming he saw lights the night before. 13 This however would not be a onetime occurrence, in 1491 Columbus made a final appeal to Spanish Monarchs but his plan was rejected. In the past his plan was rejected for technical reasons, such as his assessment of the size of the ocean, it was believed to be too large to cross or the distances and measurements that Columbus came up with were not accurate. This time, the request was denied due to simple greed. â€Å"Columbus had asked for one tenth of all the riches in the indies, and his demands for the titles of admiral, which would give him the right to judge commercial disputes; of viceroy, which would make him the personal representative of the monarchs; and of governor, which would enable him to act as supreme civil and military authority in any new lands he discovered. † 14 However, â€Å"Columbus had successfully won over many of the learned scholars and scientific advisers, nd Ferdinand’s treasurer, Luis de Santangel, interceded on Columbus’s behalf. Arguing that the investment was small considering the potential reward, Santangel convinced the king and queen to reverse their decision. A court official was dispatched on horseback to bring Columbus back. After several more weeks of negotiating a contract, in April 1492 Columbus left for Palos de la Frontera and his rendezvous with history. † 15 On Au gust 3, 1492 Columbus sets off for the Canary Islands with his three ships, the Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria. The Canary Islands were a necessary stop over for two reasons, first the rudder of the Nina needed repair and secondly Columbus had studied the swift moving currents that were found off the Canary Islands. 16 September 6, 1492 the armada left the Canary Islands via those swift currents in search of a direct route to Asia, what he found instead would change mankind forever. Columbus’ second voyage was his largest in size. In his first voyage Columbus had three ships, but in his second he had 17 ships. This time he was taking provisions to set up colonies as well as soldiers and livestock designed to stay on the island and establish colonies. His first voyage consisted only of enough provision and personnel for a year long voyage based on exploration and discovery. In September 1493 the fleet sets off from Cadiz, Spain for the Canary Islands. Once again utilizing the swift currents of the Canary Islands, the fleet reaches Hispaniola in November 1493, an island Columbus discovered in his previous voyage. Columbus’ third voyage leaves Sanlucar, Spain with six ships on May 30, 1493. For the first and only time Columbus purposely splits his ships and sends half his fleet to Hispaniola and takes the other half on a more southerly route to the Cape Verde Island. In August 1498 Columbus returns to Hispaniola and assumes the role of governor. HE resides as governor for two years before he is arrested for misadministration, and was arrested, bound in chains and returned to Spain. Columbus, in an act of defiance refused to have his chains removed until the monarch gave the orders to do so. 17 â€Å"On December 17, 1500, Columbus went before the royal court. The king and queen instructed that whatever items were taken from Columbus at his arrest be restored to him. The monarchs would not reinstate Columbus’s titles, however. This was, however, neither victory nor vindication for Columbus. With his titles annulled, the former governor spent the next two years in despair and humiliation. † 18 Columbus had another chance to win back his good name, and on his fourth voyage in May of 1502, he would leave Cadiz, Spain with four ships. 19 In June of 1503 Columbus’ ship is marooned and beach on the island of Jamaica. It suffers a severe case of sea worms and is no longer sea worthy. The crew is spends a year on island and in November 1504 Columbus heads back to Spain. On May 20, 1506 Columbus dies in Valladolid, Spain. 20 â€Å"both of his sons, his brother Bartholomew, and his faithful friend Diego Mendez were at his side when the admiral murmured â€Å"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit† and passed away. His body was buried initially in Valladolid, but in 1509 his son Diego transferred the remains to the monastery of Las Cuevas in Sevilla. The current location of Columbus’s remains is still debated. They were moved to the Americas in the middle of the 16th century, first to Santo Domingo and then, in 1795, to Havana, Cuba. Then his remains supposedly traveled back to Spain in 1899 where, it is claimed, they are interred in the Cathedral of Sevilla. † 21 So in death, as in life, Christopher Columbus is a noble man, and spirit, and a true explorer, entrepreneur and mystery. Although his accomplishments have recently been criticized by modern historians as untrue, making claims that the Vikings discovered America long before Columbus, the credit still goes to Christopher Columbus.

Comparison of Two Films About King Arthur Essay -- Film Movies Compare

Few works of literature or legend are as varied as that of King Arthur and his round table, forever retold by each generation. Without question, the defining work of Arthurian Literature is Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. Morte d'Arthur is a compilation of all the King Arthur legends that existed before Malory. Malory tried to bring all the stories together into one cohesive whole. Morte d'Arthur is a trove of stories about magical encounters and various quests that is loosely centered on the rise and fall of King Arthur. Since it was written, there have been countless interpretations and adaptations. Today, we not only have countless Arthurian books, but many movies on the subject as well. In this paper I hope to compare and contrast two such Arthurian movies, Excalibur and King Arthur, and discuss what each film adds to the treasury of Arthurian lore. It is hard to believe that two completely opposite movies are based on the same literature. The movie Excalibur is like a modern day Morte d'Arthur, while the more recent King Arthur differs greatly from all former Arthurian works by attempting to be historically plausible. Excalibur Although Excalibur is based mostly on Malory, it also contains stories from Chrà ©tien de Troyes and Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King. The film takes scenes straight from Malory, but it also changes Malory slightly by condensing some of his many details and mixing them with stories from other Arthurian writers. It smoothes over many of Malorys contradictions then manages to throw in some plot twists of its own. Excalibur The first scene of the film introduces the most important symbol of the film, Excalibur. Throughout the entire movie at every critical juncture, Exc... ..."with machines." Two of her fingers were broken. Arthur receives another shock when he realizes that these ministrations were performed by a priest. The priest believes that to torture heathens is an act of kindness that would enable them to enter heaven. The final blow that completely crushes Arthur's belief in the Church is the news he receives on Pelagius' excommunication. How can the Church excommunicate a man who believes in such lofty and glorious ideas? Conclusion While Excalibur keeps both the content and form of Malory, King Arthur tries something new by trying to translate the barely-fitting together cacophony of Morte d'Arthur into a historically plausible film. Though Excalibur is more enjoyable to real King Arthur lovers, King Arthur is strangely refreshing in its extreme adaptation of the overused story, while being still familiar in its core.

Global Systems Theory Essay

Global systems theory is perhaps one of the many theories related to capitalism and transnational corporations. This paper attempts to look into global systems theory in the context of capitalism by making use of three articles as part of the literature for the research. By outlining the major contentions for each of these three articles, this paper will further juxtapose these main points with global systems theory and arrive at a more developed and comprehensive understanding of the theory as a whole. Brief Literature Review In Robert Granfield’s article â€Å"Making It by Faking It: Working Class Students in an Elite Academic Environment†, he indicates how working class law students experience inequalities among upper class students which influences the class of law students. By collecting data through observation, personal interviews, small group interview and survey from a national law school in the eastern part of the United States, Granfield was able to expose the essential differences between law students in terms of class background. Through class background, Granfield also identifies the apparent discrimination between working class students and upper class students at school whenever working class students feel that they are being treated as ‘cultural outsiders’. In Hays’ article â€Å"The Ideology of Intensive Mothering: A Cultural Analysis of the Bestselling Gurus of Appropriate Childbearing†, he presents the key components of the ideology of intensive mothering, specifically: children are outside the market value, are priceless and are not economic assets; good childrearing requires intensive commitment on the part of the caregiver, and; childcare is the primary responsibility of the individual mother. The central focus of Hays’ article focuses on childcare especially on the role of mothers towards their children. The author further gives the emphasis that children are ‘sacred’ in a sociological sense because of the fact that childrearing and its effects on children reaffirm the belief in the importance of children. It creates a protected space of security, trust and close human connection inasmuch as it illustrates the generous and nurturing characteristic of individuals rather than being individualistic and always inclined for competition. In Webb’s newspaper article â€Å"A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age† featured in the New York Times, the author explores the case of Eric Alan’s family through the functionalist perspective. From a functionalist perspective, social institutions such as families and governments are analyzed and explained as collective means to satisfy specific or individual biological requisites. These social institutions, along with the rest, are composed of interconnected roles or norms such as the interconnected roles within the family (e. g. father, mother, etc. ). In the case of the family of Eric Alan, the worth of his family proves the idea that the family as a social institution has interconnected roles with the larger society. In particular, having to redesign his family’s home into something more ‘breathable’ exemplifies the presumption that the individual roles in the family, such as the role of the father to provide an ‘inhabitable’ home for his family, and the family in general is tied with the other segments of the society in such a way that one reinforces the values of the other and vice versa. Featured in the November 8 issue of the New York Times, â€Å"A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age† conveys the story of a father, Eric Alan, wanting to provide a larger house for his growing family with the aid of Architect Neil Denari. In return, Denari’s expertise and skills acquire a ‘living experience’ thus proving to be another feat not only in his career as an architect but also in the discipline of architecture. From a functionalist perspective, this very well provides a real life example of how the units of the society interact together harmoniously in order to continue with survival. Description of the Case Global system theory is a base for the concept of transnational practices. However, cross state boundaries do not necessarily originate with state agencies or actors. The global capitalist system operates to maximize profits at the expense of others. Murray Dobbing (1998) claims that the economic world order has changed and the nation-state is in decline. This paper will outline and support the claims of Dobbing through a discussion of the transnational practices in the economic and the cultural-ideological spheres in relation to the political sphere. The paper will further discuss the agencies that facilitate transnational growth. In the economic sphere, the global capitalist system offers a limited place to the wage earning masses in most countries. It has very little need of the subordinate classes in this sphere as sophisticated machines replace human laborers for cost saving and greater profit for capitalists. As John Kenneth Galbraith in Rifkin’s The End of Work (1995) indicates, the global capital system requires scientific minded managers who have specialized talent and can operate sophisticated machines. Unskilled workers and their families become part of an underclass and face permanent unemployment. Meanwhile, the global economy has created an environment in which many large corporations are becoming transnational corporations which bring wealth to both developing and developed countries often by lobbying to their governments so as to gain access to these developing countries. The governments of developing countries are jeopardizing their own legitimacy to cultivate an inviting environment for the private sector. While the global capital system provides resources for economic development, the global capitals’ desires for low prices and high dividends result in child labor, environmental destruction and the expropriation of land and resources from local communities including indigenous people. In the culture-ideology sphere, the aim of global capitalists is to persuade all classes, especially the working middle-classes, to consume above their â€Å"biological needs† for pursuit of capitalists’ profit, which will ensure the belief that global capitalist system will be perpetuated. The cultural ideology of transnational growth proclaims that the meaning of life can be found in the things that we possess. To consume, therefore, is to be fully alive, and to remain fully alive people must continuously consume. Moreover, the notions of men and women as economic or political beings are discarded by global capitalism as the system does not even pretend to satisfy everyone in the economic or political spheres. Their value to society is determined by what they can afford to purchase. Therefore, people primarily become consumers rather than citizens. The point of economic activity for working middle-class of the global capitalist system is to provide the resources for consumption to create the â€Å"global shoppers,† and the point of political activity is to ensure that the conditions for consuming are maintained. The advancement of the internet and technology has hastened the reduction of trade barriers and the increment of the â€Å"global shoppers. † According to Chomsky (2003), mass media overwhelmingly corporate and embraces the values of corporate leaders. Moreover, the major media outlets are linked in huge media chains, with many of these conglomerates owned by transnational corporations. Corporate control is further solidified by advertising paid in dollars to the media by corporations. Thus, the mass media consistently supports globalization, neo-liberalism, and the politicians who push these corporate agendas. Transnational marketing such as TV commercials, billboards, etc. are forced on the world’s middle-class consumers. Transnational corporations, such as Disney, heavily market their American pop culture products. By selling the same thing, the same way, everywhere with little or no reference to local cultural differences, transnational corporations has homogenized world culture. Analysis of the Case Robert Granfield’s article helps one to understand ‘global system theory’ as a whole. For the most part, Granfield’s discussion on how working class students adapt in the academic environment dominated by upper class law students gives us a brief but useful overview of how working class students attempt to join the remainder of the upper class of the workforce. The startling irony is that while Granfield espouses the idea that working class law students can blend well with their environment which is presumed to give much preference to upper class students by ‘faking it’ or by posing as one of the upper class, global system theory on the other hand implies that there is no substantial place for these working class students especially in the workforce. This is because the lower classes of the society or the working force comprising the bulk of the lower hierarchy, have already been replaced by sophisticated machines. Hence, manpower or physical labor becomes confined to those individuals who have sufficient learning to operate these sophisticated machines. If this is indeed the case, then it must also be the case that global system theory also espouses the presumption that the disparity between the highest and the lowest ranks of the social hierarchy grows parallel to the pace of global capitalism. But Granfield suggests that the working class students have the ability to ‘fake it’ which may also suggest the probability that even the individuals from the lower ranks can also make it to the bulk of the workforce able to operate the sophisticated machineries of the contemporary world. Nevertheless, the totality of the global workforce remains to this day comprised of a large number of working class citizens who fall at the median of the social hierarchy, notwithstanding children or minors who work which leads us to the next point. In Hays’ â€Å"The Ideology of Intensive Mothering: A Cultural Analysis of the Bestselling Gurus of Appropriate Childbearing†, we are given the presumption that children should be given the sufficient care and attention. This includes the idea that children or minors are not individuals who are expected to literally work whether in offices or factories. However, the opposite is true especially among nations below the poverty line or less-developed third-world countries. It is estimated that around 250 million children are under what we call â€Å"child labor† according to the statistics provided by Think Quest, an online database providing global child labor information (Think Quest, 2007). If global system theory is indeed true, then there would be little reason to believe that there is child labor among the less-developed countries where capitalism is beginning to grow its roots since children have very little knowledge on the use of sophisticated machines intended to replace the workers who handle the basics of the tasks in the corporations, for instance. But the case is that 250 million children work across the globe, which prompts us to question the claims of global system theory. On the other hand, global system theory may respond to this criticism by stating that the replacement of manpower with sophisticated machineries is only true for those transnational corporations operating in developed countries. Part of the reason to this is the idea that underdeveloped countries are not suitable locations for transnational corporate ventures largely because developed nations have what it takes for global capitalism—a strong and sustained demand for the goods and services being offered by these corporations. Webb’s article â€Å"A Crowded Family Enters the Space Age† reiterates the presumption that the family has its roles in nurturing its members which partially relates to Hay’s article that children should be nurtured and protected and should be treated as economic assets especially in terms of manpower or a part of the work force. The fact that Webb implies the idea that there are parental responsibilities towards the needs of the family especially of the children at least in terms of a suitable place to live point us to the idea that children or minors should be nurtured and cared for instead of being treated as members of the working class whether or not parents are able to provide for their needs. Ultimately, this brings us to the understanding that the decline of the nation-state as espoused by global systems theory is not fully achieved precisely because the basic unit of the society or of the nation-states for that matter—the family—reinforces the entirety of the nation-state by sustaining its integrity as a functional basic unit able to maintain its internal status. Conclusion In the end, global systems theory may not necessarily apply to the broadest range of nations, from developed to the developing and less-developed precisely because these nations have differences although similarities may also be noted. The presumption that the family remains a cohesive force in the society may substantially refute the claim that the nation-state is dissolving. Nevertheless, there are certain arguments of global systems theory that remains to this day a force with grains of truth in it. Apart from the fact that sophisticated machineries have slowly replaced the manpower of the working and lower classes of the society, capitalism has been reinforced by the expansion of transnational corporations worldwide. Works Cited Chomsky, Noam. Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies. House of Anansi Press, 2003. 1-20. Dobbing, Murray. The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen: Democracy under the Rule of Big Business. Stoddart, 1998. 49-60. Hawken, Paul. The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability. 1st ed: Harper Business, 1993. 1-17. Rifkin, Jeremy. The End of Work: The Decline of the Global Labor Force and the Dawn of the Post-Market Era. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1995. 3-14. Think Quest, http://library. thinkquest. org/03oct/01908/800/whatisit_childlabor. htm, December 4, 2007.