Hormones in the Environment Can Cause Male Infertility Research Paper

Hormones in the Environment Can Cause Male Infertility - Research Paper Example Other substances are generated as a byproduct during manufacturing or are breakdown of chemicals. These compounds can have morphological and physiological effects in the body. In general, health effects associated with EDCs include a range of reproductive problems (reduced fertility, male and female reproductive tract abnormalities, and skewed male/female sex ratios, loss of fetus, menstrual problems); changes in hormone levels; early puberty; brain and behavior problems; impaired immune functions; and various cancers. EDCs not only affect adults but are particularly potent when exposure occurs during fetal and early postnatal development. An environmental endocrine or hormone disruptor is an exogenous agent that interferes with the synthesis, secretion, transport, binding, action, or elimination of natural hormones in the body that are responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis, reproduction, development, and/or behavior. They enter your body through ingestion, inhalation, and d ermal contact. These compounds mimic, enhance (an agonist), or inhibit (an antagonist) the action of hormones. The number of known endocrine disruptors is large and continuously increasing, and includes both naturally occurring and synthetic substances. Some, called phytochemicals, reside in fungus and plants, including mold, clover, whole grains, soybeans and other legumes, and many fruits and vegetables. Human activities release other naturally occurring EDCs: the heavy metals lead, mercury, and cadmium. Chemically, environmental hormones such as polychlorinated dibenzop- dioxins (PCDDs), 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)-ethane (DDT), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are composed of an aromatic system substituted with chlorine at various positions. They are potently toxic in biological systems, and teratogenic to animals. Moreover, it has been reported that the chemicals 2,2-bis(p-ydroxyphenyl)propane (bisphenol A, BPA) and diethyl stilbestrol (DES) mimic natural hormon es, and may disrupt the endocrine systems in animals and humans (Kobayashi et al. 680). Common EDCs having estrogenic activity can come from house hold material like solvents and adhesives such as those found in nail polish, paint remover, and glues; emulsifiers & waxes found in soaps and cosmetics, dry cleaning chemicals, nearly all plastics, (also phthalates, synthetic compounds that add flexibility to plastics, such as the plastic tubes and bags used in storing and delivering IV fluids to patients, and the rubbery toys children play with), meat from livestock fed estrogenic drugs to fatten them up, surfactants such as nonoxonyl (spermicides) found in many condoms and diaphragm gels, and petrochemically based scented products & perfumes. Synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, polychiorinated biphenyls (PCBs), plasticizers, and surfactant breakdown products are known to have estrogenic activity. Currently, four major classes of environmental hormones that interact dire ctly with steroid hormone receptors are known: environmental estrogens, environmental antiestrogens, environmental antiprogestins, and environmental antiandrogens. Physiologically dioxin acts as antiestrogenic; carbamate insecticides as antiprogestigenic; and polyaromatic hydrocarbons, linuron, vinclozolin, and p,p’-DDE as antiandrogenic (Cheek and McLachlan 9). The hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal axis is a critical part in the development and regulation of

An Analysis of the Watergate Crisis Essay Example for Free

An Analysis of the Watergate Crisis Essay The Watergate crisis or scandal shrouded America with an attitude of pessimism. From the people involved and the meaning of the controversy then and now, the Watergate crisis rocked the world with political conflicts and power abuse. It also involved crimes such as obstruction of justice, conspiracy, cover up, lying under oath, espionage, burglary, and concealment of evidence. The scandal was named after the Watergate hotel complex in Washington that housed the rival of President Nixons Republican Party, the Democratic Party. The crisis was so powerful that it resulted in the resignation of President Nixon, indictment of the President and his men, and significant media and political effects. The scandal started out with classified documents, clumsy thefts, and a trail of crimes pointing directly to Nixons re-election committee. Thereafter, the crisis did not stop at the tactless White House personnel or the famous Presidents men. It continued all the way to Nixon himself which caused him his Oval Office. It was perceived as a political crisis created by a leaders greed, cruelty and paranoia. Ultimately, history accounted that Nixons own evil foe was not his political opponents but himself. It was chronicled by several books, articles, and official and federal documents, as well as a Redford-Hoffman movie in 1976. The Watergate scandal served not only as previous catalysts of American political, social and moral changes but now more as reminders or guiding principles of American lives. Historical Summary In the history of American presidential politics, the Watergate incident was taken as the most grave and peculiar crisis or scandal. This is because of the apparent direct involvement in several crimes of the president himself and his men. In his book, â€Å"The Watergate Crisis,† Genovese (1999) described the scandal as unusual and Nixon as an unusual kind of President of the United States (Genovese, 1999). According to Genovese (1999), the cause of the Watergate scandal can be traced from the negative impacts, such as the factions, of the Vietnam War. Nixon had difficulty getting out from the said divisive war and was eventually faced with various protests. Genovese (1999) added that with pressures to stop the protests and get out of the Vietnam war with respect and dignity intact, Nixon unfortunately created a route filled with â€Å"leak plugging, wiretapping, a secret war in Cambodia, and a series of criminal acts that in the end led to his downfall and fed the already significant erosion of public trust in government† (p. 3). The same Genovese book further said that what used to be a general term that referred to the burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee in a Washington hotel complex resulted into various linking terminologies and included beneath it are several crimes. The crisis caused the downfall of Nixon while several highest-ranking government officials were made to serve jail terms, hurting the nation as a result (Genovese, 1999). The Watergate Break-in The Watergate break-in or burglary happened on June 17, 1972 (Sirica, 1979). During his round, a security officer of the Watergate Hotel Complex in Washington D. C. identified as Frank Willis saw a tape covering various locks of different doors in the area. Willis discreetly reported the matter to the police and thereafter, five burglars were arrested. The five men were suspected of illegally wiretapping and stealing classified documents inside the office of the Democratic National Committee or DNC (Sirica, 1979). The suspects were identified in the book of Dickinson, Cross and Polsky (1973) as â€Å"Virgilio Gonzales, Bernard Barker, James W. McCord, Jr. , Eugenio Martinez and Frank Sturgis. † The suspects, later uncovered as former CIA and FBI agents, were â€Å"charged with attempted burglary and attempted interception of telephone and other communications† (Dickinson, Cross Polsky, 1973). Five men and two other suspects, identified as E. Howard Hunt, Jr. and Gordon Liddy, were accused by a grand jury of â€Å"conspiracy, burglary and violation of federal wiretapping laws† on September 15, 1972. It was also discovered after investigation that the suspects’ goal was to plant a bug in the office of DNC Chairman, Larry OBrien (Lewis, 1972). A multi-investigation conducted by the U. S. Congress, FBI and media revealed that the direct or indirect connection of the seven suspects to Nixons Re-election committee. Nixon initially said that his aides were not involved in the case. The cover-up was later disclosed and exposed irregularities and illegal activities of the Nixon Re-election committee. The results of the investigation concluded that the re-election committee â€Å"received covert campaign funds from big companies, played dirty tricks on Democratic candidates during the 1972 election campaign, attempted to use the FBI and other government agencies against political enemies, and set up a secret group to carry out unlawful activities against political enemies† (cited in Scholastic, 1989). In view of this, America and the world were then convinced of a conspiracy linking the President and his men. The suspects who broke into OBrien’s office and the Presidents men involved were tried and eventually convicted in 1973. The following year, the bungled break-in eventually caused Nixon his position as he resigned as the President of the United States on August 9, 1974 (Scholastic, 1989). The Washington Post Investigation The Watergate scandal was publicized by The Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein through a confidential but reliable source whom they named Deep Throat. An initial headline of â€Å"Five Held in Plot to Bug Democratic Offices Here,† that appeared at the bottom of the newspapers page one on Sunday, June 18, 1972, signaled the Washington Posts investigation. The two young reporters wrote the arrest of a group of former FBI and CIA agents who â€Å"broke into, illegally wiretapped and stole classified documents from the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate office complex in Washington† (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). Bernstein and Woodward were intrigued with the details of the story and the turn of events. Citing police sources, Woodward wrote that the burglars â€Å"came from Miami, wore surgical gloves and carried thousands of dollars in cash† (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). The break-in appeared to be a professional type operation, added Woodward (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). As told by the Washington post and its reporters, the intriguing yet interesting developments of the story shook Washington for two years, resulted into the resignation of Nixon and eventually created political impacts (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). According to an online compilation of the Watergate events posted at the Washington Posts site, Woodward and Bernstein became part of the various revelatory articles that the said newspaper published. Thereafter, the succeeding Washington Post coverage of the Watergate scandal further exposed the involvement of several of the Presidents men and the ultimate link of Nixon and his campaign funds to the various crimes. The newspapers account of the scandal also ran the grand jury investigation that identified and indicted â€Å"All the Presidents Men† for their respective involvement in the crimes (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). A significant mark of the Washington Post and â€Å"Bernstein† reporting of the Watergate scandal was â€Å"Deep Throat. † A confidential source by Woodward, â€Å"Deep Throat† was identified only in 2005 or 33 years later as Mark Felt. He was the second highest-ranking FBI official who at the height of the scandal, confirmed or denied information to the two reporters and guided them to pursue specific leads (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 1,† 2008). A string of exclusives by Woodward and Bernstein and the determination of Post publisher Katherine Graham to expose the truth made the FBI finally penetrated the White House denials and the conduct of the grand jury investigation. This momentum led to the loss of job, prosecution and conviction of the involved officials of the Nixon administration and ultimately the impeachment against the President and his eventual resignation on August 8, 1974. Nixons successor, President Ford, granted the former full, free and absolute pardon one month later (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 3,† 2008). The Government Investigation The Watergate probe called for the courts, the Congress, and a special prosecutor to investigate its top-to-bottom connections to the White House. According to the same Washington Post online source, the investigation involved Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, North Carolina Senator Sam Ervin and the FBI. Woodward and Bernstein stories reported the eventual breaking out of Nixons men from his administration and the disclosure of events that were linked to the scandal. One example was the revelation of secret tapes that further exposed Nixons involvement. The deep connection of Nixon resulted into a firestorm of firings called â€Å"the Saturday Night Massacre. † Amid impeachment against the President, he still denied accusations and stayed in his office (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 2,† 2008). The Watergate Scandal and Nixon In his book, Genovese (1999) noted that Nixon was a â€Å"complex, multidimensional figure, a man of many contradictions. † (p. 57). Genovese (1999) said that these characteristics of Nixon and the Watergate crisis were manifestations of â€Å"a period of presidential lawlessness unprecedented in American history† (p. 57). Nixon was an example of a president who initially took an oath to faithfully execute the law but eventually went beyond and broke it (Genovese, 1999, p. 69). As a result, the Watergate scandal created several questions about the American constitution and democracy (Genovese, 1999). Nixons initial show of defense rooted from the solid support of his men eventually cracked down and led to his televised resignation. During his televised speech, Nixon states, by taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America. I deeply regret any injuries that may have been done in the course of the events that led to this decision. Those who hate you dont win unless you hate them, and then you destroy yourself (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 3,† 2008). Ford was sworn into office the next day but pardoned Nixon a month after. The events did not stop there as the influence of the scandal continued. The interconnecting controversies ignited a fresh and lasting doubt about American politics. It created new American political words and made the Congress approve laws concerning campaign finance reforms as well as investigation on the functions of CIA and several agencies of the government. Woodward and Bernsteins coverage was turned into a book and a hit movie entitled â€Å"All the Presidents Men† which instilled American media with a fresh harmful advantage. The scandal brought lasting and immeasurable effects on American politics (â€Å"The Watergate Story Part 3,† 2008). American Politics and Media Genovese (1999) affirmed the impression of Washington Post mentioned previously and stated that the Watergate scandal changed American politics and the issue of presidential corruption (Genovese, 1999). He added that, because of the crisis, the media became more interfering and subjective, the public became more distrustful and indifferent about its government, the relation between the executive and legislative branches of the government became unpleasant and factious and partisan conflicts became more intense (Genovese, 1999). Conclusion The Watergate crisis left profound and detrimental effects on American politics and history in general. It has resulted into distrust among the government officials and a wider gap between the branches of the government. Another effect of the scandal was that it made the succeeding Presidents more susceptible to the criticisms and suggestions of the public. The Nixon presidency has left a mark on the American politics which harmed the present list of presidents. The scandal has undeniably affected the political agenda of the succeeding presidents who were subjected to the scrutiny of the public. Nonetheless, the scandal also has its positive points to remember. These included the upholding of the freedom and power of the press as well as the effectivity of the justice system. By themselves, Nixon and the Watergate Crisis did not cause the degradation of American politics and decline of trust to the government. Incontestably, however, the fallen President and his scandal did remold the publics view of the American story from one of presumed good goals to one of outstanding hostility. References Dickinson, W. B. Mercer Cross, B. P. (1973). Watergate: Chronology of a crisis. Washington D. C: Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Genovese, M. A. (1999). The Watergate Crisis.London: Greenwood Press. Lewis, A. E. (1972, June 18). 5 held in plot to bug Democrats office here. The Washington Post, A01. Retrieved from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/05/31/AR2005111001227_pf. html Scholastic, Inc. (1989). The Case of Watergate. The Presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Retrieved April 19, 2008, from Scholastic database. Sirica, J. J. (1979). To set the record straight: The Break-in, the tapes, the conspirators, the pardon. New York: Norton. The Watergate Story Part 1. (2008). The Washington Post. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part1. html The Watergate Story Part 2. (2008). The Washington Post. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part2. html The Watergate Story Part 3. (2008). The Washington Post. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-srv/politics/special/watergate/part3. html

Mainstream internationalisation theories

Mainstream internationalisation theories Mainstream Internationalisation Theories Instead of looking at the global strategy of the MNE from the viewpoint of management science, marketing, and decision theory, it is necessary to consider more explicitly the economics of the foreign investment decision. International business activity is not a recent phenomenon. However, the great majority of foreign investment until the late 1940s was in the form of portfolio capital, which international capital theory explained as the flow of capital among countries in the pursuit of higher returns. After World War II, the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) grew tremendously and was increasingly directed away from primary goods and towards knowledge-based products that could be produced in developed countries. Neoclassical economic theory, with its assumption of perfect markets and internationally immobile factors of production, could not easily accommodate this post-war boom in FDI. So, beginning with the publication of the product cycle theory by Raymond Vernon (1966) and Stephen Hymers dissertation (written in 1960 and published 1976), an outpouring of literature has focused on extending the theoretical foundations of the concept of foreign direct investment. The objective of this chapter is to provide a review of the mainstream literature on internationalisation. Given my research problem, the focus is on theories that consider transnational expansion at the firm level. Among others, the investment development path (IDP) concept and Ozawas tandom growth treatment of the flying geese metaphor are popular frameworks for considering FDI. They are not included, however, since their research setting is that of the economy as a whole. Despite considerable disciplinary diversity, a mainstream internationalisation construct with three major approaches can be identified: Theories of the MNE, Internationalisation Process Models, and Network-based Approaches to Internationalisation. The first of these, Theories of the MNE, is outlined in Section 2.1. Since these MNE theories have been criticised on the grounds that they may explain the existence of the international firm but not how the firm got there, Section 2.2 reviews Internationalisation Process Models, which more explicitly focus on the dynamic process of internationalisation. Section 2.3 examines leading network-based approaches to internationalisation. The chapter concludes with a summary of the points that are most applicable to my thesis and an assessment of the limitations of the mainstream internationalisation literature. Theories of the MNE This section presents the economics-based literature on MNEs, beginning with Hymers seminal work. Following a review in Sections 2.1.2 and 2.1.3 of Internalisation Theory and Dunnings OLI framework, Section 2.1.4 focuses on theorisations specific to developing-country MNEs. Monopolistic Advantage Theory Hymers (1960) work represented a major departure from the standard orthodox theory of international trade and capital movements. The standard neoclassical trade theory of Heckscher and Ohlin, for example, carried restrictive assumptions about the immobility of factors of production and identical production functions across national boundaries. And in the neoclassical financial theory of portfolio flows, multinational enterprises had been viewed simply as arbitrageurs of capital in response to changes in interest rate differentials. Hymer argued that explanations for why firms engage in international production should be based on an analysis of the MNE from an industrial organisation perspective. According to Hymer (1976), Kindleberger (1969), and Caves (1971), MNEs emerged because of market imperfections. These imperfections were structural in nature and resulted from the control of ownership advantages, such as special access to inputs, scale economies, gathered managerial expertise, proprietary technology, and product differentiation (Kalfadellis and Gray: 2003: 3). The result of these barriers to entry was a divergence from perfect competition in the final product market. MNEs would seek to internalise these ownership advantages by establishing monopolistic-type advantages through the vertical integration of the potential licensee (Hymer 1976). Internalising operations could lead to gains such as cost reductions, product quality improvements, and innovation. For Hymer, though, the firm internalises or supers edes the market (1976: 48) primarily because, by internalising international economic activity, the MNE has an opportunity to further advance its monopolistic advantage. In short, it is the pursuit by firms of market power and monopolistic advantages in a foreign market that largely drives the international expansion of domestic firms. Internalisation Theory A criticism raised in the 1970s about Monopolistic Advantage theory was that it did not differentiate between imperfections brought about by market structure (i.e., the number and size of enterprises on both the demand and supply sides) and those associated with transaction costs. By not doing so, Buckley and Casson (1976) and others argued Hymer had failed to incorporate the insights of Coases (1937) concept of market failure. Coases theory of the firm contended that, contrary to the classical understanding in which price mechanisms optimally coordinate markets, market failure can occur as costs associated with the price mechanism develop (such as finding buyers and sellers, and the costs involved with negotiating, coordinating, monitoring, and enforcing contracts, and costs associated with government regulations and taxes). The operation of markets is therefore not costless, and the firm is an organising unit that supplants the price mechanism. Domestic firms would prefer to use internal prices in the face of excessive costs in the outside market. Firms therefore seek to avoid these costs by internalising them wherever the market is non-existent or when it is cheaper for the firm to undertake the activity internally rather than via the market mechanism. To Coase, markets and firms were alternative methods for organising economic exchanges. The choice between the two depended on whether a firm evaluated the transaction costs of an exchange to be lower if carried out within the firm than through the market. Where the costs of such transactions are lower when carried out within the firm than through the market, the activity will be internalised under the firms ownership and control. The concept of transaction costs was more fully developed by Williamson (1975) and Chandler (1977). Transaction cost theory extended Coases work by substituting a conception of contractual man for neoclassical theorys economic man. Its starts with the assumption that markets are the natural mechanism of economic organisation (Williamson 1975: 21), and that market failures lead to the replacement of certain market relations by internalising these relationships within a firm. The deficiencies of the market system are seen to be rooted in bounded rationality (i.e., the lack of perfect knowledge which means that agents cannot foresee all possible circumstances to incorporate in the contract) and opportunism (i.e., agents make decisions based on self-interest, thus making the contract difficult to enforce). Drawing upon Coases (1937) theory of the firm and Williamsons (1975) and Chandlers (1977) transaction cost theory, Buckley and Casson (1976) argued that these same insights can be applied to the global arena to explain the growth of MNEs. Accordingly, Buckley and Casson explained international expansion as occurring whenever a market imperfection exists and a firm can gain strategic benefits by internalising a market across national boundaries and exploiting the advantage this gives it in competition with others. This results in the growth of the firm. Just as a firm may increase its efficiency through internalising transactions, the vertical integration of global operations may lead to economies and efficiencies. These include long-term contracts through more efficient governance structures, the chance to exploit tax differentials and foreign exchange controls, better quality control, and RD benefits. Brown (1976) also combined insights from Coases theory with transaction cost theory and applied it to international expansion. He put particular emphasis on the point that there are higher market transaction costs and more expenses associated with internal organisation abroad than in the domestic environment. Teece (1983) added the insight that internalisation can also be advantageous when vertically-integrated firms need to secure their supply of intermediate goods. So, whereas transaction cost theory aims to explain the existence of the firm, the aim of internalisation theory is to explain its multi-plant operation over space (Casson 1982). And whereas Hymer argued that it is the pursuit of market power that drives MNE growth, Buckley and Casson (1976) argued that once transaction costs are internalised they do not necessarily lead to an increase in rent by the MNE. However, they can result in savings for the MNE, and it is this potential cost minimisation that provides the impetus for MNEs to expand their operations via the internalisation of transaction costs. Internalisation theory has been a dominant construct in the last quarter century of international business literature in relation to the growth of the MNE and FDI. However, it does have weaknesses. For instance, internalisations inherent intangibility makes it difficult to empirically test (Kalfadellis and Gray 2003: 10). Buckley, describing internalisation as a concept in search of a theory (Buckley 1983: 42), argued that a theory needs to do more than assert firms will internalise when the cost of using markets or contractual agreements is higher than that of organising it within the firm; it needs to explain why there were differences in costs between market and intra-firm organisation (Hennart 1986: 791). It has also been seen as overly-preoccupied with the costs of organising transactions in markets, leading it to under-appreciate other relevant costs, especially those associated with managing firms across borders (Demsetz 1988). An argument has been made that it does not sufficiently distinguish between a firms willingness and its capability to become more international (Dunning 1993). These types of limitations led Calvet (1981), among others, to question whether the assertion that firms expand overseas because they can internalise transactions within their hierarchies (just as they do within a domestic context) is a full enough explanation. Calvet argued instead for a theory of transnational expansion that explicitly included both the multinational-the foreign-character of the activity as well as the internalisation of transactions within a single firm. Dunnings OLI Paradigm A third landmark development in MNE theory was Dunnings OLI paradigm, sometimes referred to as the eclectic paradigm. Countering Rugmans (1982; 1985) claim that internalisation is a general all-encompassing theory which can explain FDI, Dunning (1980; 1988; 1993; 1995; 2000) acknowledged the importance of internalisation theory but argued that set[ting] out to explain the growth of international production as a market replacing activity (Dunning 1988: 24) explains only part of the FDI phenomenon. Dunning argued that a full explanation required the integration of the insights from three strands of economic theory industrial organisation, international trade theory, and internalisation theory into a general theoretical framework.[1] Each dimension on its own was insufficient to explain the multinational firms engagement in foreign production. According to Dunning, a firm must perceive certain advantageous conditions before it engages in cross-border investment. These advantages are rationally considered within the firms decision-making process. The first relates to ownership (O) advantages, which, following Hymer, refer to assets or resources capable of generating a future income stream that could compensate for the higher costs of operating abroad. Ownership advantages are endogenous to the firm and refer to intangible assets and/or property rights. These O advantages give the firm a competitive edge vis à   vis other firms. The second factor is internalisation (I) advantages, which encourage a firm to internalise operations for production via foreign direct investment rather than through exporting or licensing to a local producer. In other words, the firm must perceive the benefits of internalising of operations to be greater than the need to utilize markets. If a firm perceives it has sufficient O and I advantages, th en it will examine a third set of conditions, location (L) advantages. Choosing a foreign location is one of the key decisions made by a firm since the financial and human capital invested must generally be long-term in nature. Drawing upon the insights of location theory, Dunnings L advantages were considered to be external to the firm and determine which host country is selected for expansion. (A fourth condition later added by Dunning [1993] asserted that a firms international investment activities must harmonize with its long-term management strategy.) In the eclectic paradigm, all three of these conditions must exist for FDI to occur. If a firm only perceives it has ownership advantages, then it would be likely to license abroad. If it also perceives internalisation advantages, then it would be likely to exploit its O advantages through exporting. It is only when location advantages are also perceived that the firm may consider FDI (Dunning 1993: 196). Dunnings OLI paradigm has been welcomed for its conceptual richness-it integrates many partial approaches to the subject and therefore addresses a larger number of the factors considered in the decision to internationalise-and it has withstood some empirical testing (Dunning 1979, 1983, 1988). However, it has also frequently been criticised, particularly on definitional grounds. For example, Rugman and Dunning had a long-running public debate over whether Dunnings concepts of ownership and location advantages were already encompassed in the theory of internalisation (Parry 1985). In a similar vein, Buckley (1988) suggested that considering ownership advantages as a separate category results in double counting as the O advantage of Dunnings OLI triumvirate is already accounted for by I (internalisation advantages) since the firm seeks to carry out a strategic move by internalising the market and thus exploits this advantage in competition with other firms. Responding to definitional criticisms, Dunning (1995) argued that, in contrast to how they are conceived in internalisation theory, ownership advantages are endogenous rather than exogenous variables already belonging to the firm. Accordingly, he stressed a definitional division between ownership advantages, which are already possessed by firms, and internalisation advantages, which result from the firms exploitation of market imperfections. The electric paradigm has become a leading conceptualisation for FDI, and as such there now many variants within the approach. For example, another eclectic framework that is pertinent to my thesis concentrates on understanding how a firm chooses among various entry modes. In comparison to Dunnings OLI paradigm, the framework by Hill et al. (1990) emphasised the control of resources, resource commitment, and the dissemination risks of entry. They argued that firms rationally weigh different entry modes with the need to control their foreign operation. The amount of control a firm can exercise varies from minimal in the case of licensing to maximally high in wholly-owned subsidiaries. A firm also weighs the resource commitment that is involved with the different entry modes, and the risk that its firm-specific advantages could be disseminated or expropriated by a partner. As discussed in Chapter 5, the latter danger was frequently highlighted by my interviewees as an influence on thei r internationalisation decisions. Though eclectic models such as those by Hill et al. and Dunning have a dominant place in the MNE and FDI literature, they do have significant shortcomings. Some critics find the emphasis on the initial phase of internationalisation makes them unhelpful. Others have argued that inadequate attention was given to the insight that firms make cross-border investments not just to reap benefits from existing ownership advantages but to create new ones, such as acquiring knowledge in new markets or access to resources. Also, the broadness of the eclectic decision-making framework has made it difficult to formulate operationally testable theories of foreign direct investment processes, especially given the heterogeneity of firms. Various proxy measures have been employed as a means for measuring internalisation, but the validity of proxies in general has been contested (Kalfadellis and Gray 2003: 11). Similarly, ranking the large variety of strategic alternatives the firm can choose among is methodologically problematic. Two other criticisms of the eclectic decision-making paradigm have been particularly acute and are of specific concern given the subject of this dissertation. The first is that they principally focus on relatively large firms from developed countries. Dunnings OLI paradigm, in common with the other theories of the MNE reviewed in Section 2.2, was developed primarily in response to the experiences of post-war expansion by developed-country multinationals. Transnational firms from developing countries, it has been argued, require a different approach (Lall 1983a; Wells 1983a; Khan 1986a; Yeung 2004). For instance, as they are frequently much smaller than developed country MNEs, their transnational investment choices may be more chunky in nature, in the sense that certain costs that are incurred in international activity will loom relatively larger for small firms than big ones. Second, the eclectic framework has been criticised for its lack of dynamism. While it is not true that Dunnings OLI model has no dynamic dimension, Buckley (1985: 18), for example, argued that it does adequately consider the deployment of advantages over time.[2] Both of these shortcomings are apparent when eclectic frameworks are applied to the phenomenon of Singaporean SME transnational expansion into China. Developing-Country MNE Theories A dramatic growth in outward FDI flowing from developing countries has occurred over the last three decades. Prior to the 1980s, more than 90 per cent of global FDI originated from developed countries. Since the early 1990s, though, the share of outward FDI from developing countries has rapidly grown; it was over 14 per cent in 2006 (WorldBank 2008). Moreover, aggregate figures conceal the relative intensity of developing-country FDI flows from, and into, certain countries and regions The bulk of this outward FDI-some 67 per cent-has originated from South, East, and Southeast Asian countries (WorldBank 2008). Though the availability and quality of FDI data has been problematic-an important point which is discussed in Chapter 6-it is clear that China has received a particularly large percentage share of FDI originating from developing countries. A number of researchers have argued that MNEs originating in developing countries possess distinctive characteristics in comparison to their counterparts from developed countries (Lall 1983a; Wells 1983a; Khan 1986a; Yeung 1996). One obvious difference is that they are generally much smaller, which may make locational advantages and the internalisation of transactions costs less plausible explanations for internationalisation (Wells 1983a). Though still dwarfed by the number of theoretical and empirical studies investigating developed-country MNEs, research into these unconventional MNEs (Giddy and Young 1982) has by now developed into a large body of literature that can be divided into two categories: first-wave and second-wave literature. The so-called first-wave literature emerged in the late 1970s and was primarily concerned with the cost advantages of developing-country firms in comparison with their competitors from developed countries. Two strands of literature dominate. One is based on Wellss (1983) application of the product cycle concept (originally associated with Vernons seminal article [1966]) to the situations found in developing countries. The second dominant strand of first wave literature is associated with Lall (1983). Wells contended that an understanding of developing country transnational firms could be undertaken by applying Vernons concept of the product cycle (1966), which explained changes in production locations as a reaction to different stages in a products life cycle. Vernons argument was that a new product had to be produced in the home country since it was unstandardised and thus production needed to be monitored close to the products source of innovation and markets. As the product matured and became standardized, producers would increasingly become concerned about production costs and seek cheaper production sites elsewhere. Thus, Vernons model suggested that locations of production moved from developed countries to less developed ones as products went through their life cycle over time. This would then explain investment flows from developed- to less developed-countries, and flows among less-developed countries. The uniqueness of Wells approach lies in his application of the product cycle concept to explain the emergence of developing-country transnational firms. Wells suggested that the markets and characteristics of developing countries influence local firms to innovate in ways that are more suited to the development conditions found in their country. In particular, he pointed to the smaller size of the markets and relative abundance of cheap labour in developing countries as key influences on local firms. Wells suggested that firms developing in this kind of environment could build their initial advantages from descale manufacturing, a process of adapting technologies from developed countries to suit less developed markets by reducing scale, replacing machinery with manual labour, and relying on local inputs. The cost advantages to be derived from descale manufacturing would constitute a very important ownership advantage, and, to exploit these costs advantages, developing country firms w ould concentrate on serving the price-sensitive market instead of the specialty markets dominated by firms with the resources for massive marketing. This kind of low-cost, low-price competitive strategy would largely confine the transnational expansion of developing country firms to those markets of other developing countries at or below the host countrys economic status. Changes over time in investment flows would occur as this cost advantage was gradually undercut by the catch up of local firms or affiliates of advanced-country multinationals. Wellss model has been influential, though it does seemingly suggest a rather pessimistic future for developing-country transnational firms (Wells 1983 and Aggarwal 1984). Taking a different approach, Lall (1983) argued that the smaller size of production in developing countries was not by itself evidence of a descaling advantage (1983: 11). He did not share Wellss pessimism over the sustainability of developing-country firms, asserting instead that such firms could generate their own sustainable proprietary assets to be exploited successfully in transnational operations. Lall saw the development of these proprietary assets as entailing different innovations than those used by multinationals from developed countries; for instance, they would come from widely diffused technologies and from a special knowledge of developing-country markets. They would be sustained, Lall contended, by the localisation of technical change and the irreversibility of such change. So, developing-country firms could develop products more suitable to developing-country markets, and innovations could be localised around techniques more relevant to developing-country market condi tions (such as cheap labour). Thus, according to Lall the ownership advantages of developing-country transnational firms come about not because of their ability to descale manufacturing technologies to smaller markets, but rather are derived from their greater knowledge of operations and conditions in developing-country markets (see also Kimura 2007). Such advantages would not necessarily be eroded over time, as suggested by Wells, since firms could engage in RD and continued learning. Challenging these models by Wells and Lall is the so-called second-wave literature that emerged in the early 1990s. This new strand was a response to the apparent changes that were seen to characterize more recent developing-country transnationals. For instance, it was observed that they were investing in markets farther away from home, in some cases in highly competitive markets such as the United States and European Union, and in new sectors, some of which did not depend on labour-intensive techniques. Moreover, the ownership-specific advantages of the newer transnational firms had changed. No longer did they seem primarily dependent on small-scale, labour-intensive technology, low-price, and low-cost operations. Now, they appeared to also derive ownership advantages from their ability to accumulate technological capabilities and to improve their production efficiency (Dunning 2000). This last observation in particular encouraged second-wave theorists to apply the concept of technological accumulation to try to understand the more recent transnational expansion of developing-country firms (e.g., Dunning 2000; Ulgado et al. 1994). The result was a model that proposes that over time technological accumulation can lead to a more sophisticated structure of outward investment. This gradually comes about, it was argued, as firms accumulate technological expertise and experience in foreign markets. Although their technological capabilities are not based on frontier technology, developing-country firms are believed to innovate and accumulate technological skills that will be appropriate to the environment of developing-country markets. Thus, a firms initial outward investment, which is originally centred on resource-based and simple manufacturing activities in markets close to home, changes to focus on more sophisticated manufacturing activities, eventually even to resea rch-intensive and differentiated products. Through this path, second-wave theorists suggested, firms can enhance their technological capabilities over time, which will improve their ownership advantages, and, eventually, allow them to catch up with competitors from developed countries. A variant within the second-wave approach was proposed by van Hoesel (1997). He argued that firms from developing countries begin their technological accumulation process by gradually climbing the value-added ladder, from shop floor production operations upward to other value-added functions such as marketing or RD activities. They need to do this, according to van Hoesel, because developing countries are latecomers to the industrialisation process and therefore their firms do not have significant proprietary innovations (in some respects, van Hoesels approach is similar to the Late Industrialisation framework, reviewed in Section 2.3.3). The ownership advantages of developing-country firms are therefore seen to lay initially in the lower value-added production units, with international expansion largely a function of the incremental accumulation of technology that moves the firm up to more sophisticated operations. This incremental technological accumulation process is also held to determine the organisational form of the firm, with early investment forays typified by lower-risk and less-committed forms, such as sales representatives and joint ventures with local partners, and later investment characterised by more complex forms, such as wholly owned subsidiaries or acquisitions of local firms. Despite the valuable insights provided by both the first- and second-wave literature, it has generated criticism on methodological, empirical, and theoretical grounds. From a methodological point of view, Ulgado et al. (1994: 125) raised the important point that most of these studies of investment by developing-country firms consist mainly of macro-level considerations at the expense of micro-level studies of organisational, operational, and managerial workings. These aggregate analyses often fail to reveal the detailed dynamism of the internationalisation process and the other aspects of business organisation, such as the cultural, political, and social context. Moreover, the FDI from some countries is heavily concentrated in particular markets or industries, and this may lead to research bias. For example, van Hoesel acknowledged that, as his study was of Korean and Taiwanese MNEs in the electronics industry, his conclusions might not be applicable to other developing country MNEs (1997: 239). In fact, it should be more pointed out more generally that the availability and quality of FDI data from developing countries is limited and therefore conclusions drawn from it may not be reliable. In short, more studies at the firm level are called for to provide insights on the internationalisation behaviour of MNEs from developing countries. Section 2.1 has reviewed a number of conventional economics-based theories of FDI. They share the perspective that FDI is motivated by a firms desire to exploit its proprietary advantages abroad. These advantages are seen as transferable from country to country within a firm, but transferred only with difficulty between firms. While the proprietary advantages from developed-countries are derived from frontier technologies and sophisticated management and marketing, those for investors from developing-countries are embodied in imported technologies that have been localised through imitation and adaptation. These theorisations, however, are often criticized for their rather aggregated analyses and for their emphasis on explaining the structure of MNEs as opposed to the process by which firms internationalise. The following section reviews models that explicitly concentrate on the dynamics of transnational expansion. Internationalisation Process Models Internationalisation process theorising began with the early studies carried out in the 1970s by a group of Scandinavian scholars. Unlike the economics-based theories reviewed in Section 2.2 which accept the neoclassical economic model of rational agents exhibiting optimizing behaviour as a core assumption, the so-called Scandinavian School is rooted in the behavioural theory of the firm (Cyert and March 1963; Hosseini 2005: 528-9). The behavioural dimension is the assumption that learning takes place in response to limited cognitive capabilities in a complex and uncertain environment. Accordingly, internationalisation process models attribute the timing of market entry, its structural form, and its development over time as functions of the increasing commitment of managers to foreign markets. The process behind this increasing commitment is not (neoclassical) rational executive decision-making but an incremental learning trajectory that is human- and history-dependent. A variety of internationalisation process models can be found in the literature. These have often been divided into two groups (Andersen 1993). The first group is the so-called innovation-related lear

Comparison of East and West African food and the influence they had in

This paper will compare and contrast the different eating habits and examine the cultural dining of West Africa to East Africa. Africans like most of the world outside of American and London aren’t fanatical on fast food even though it is becoming more popular most people eat at home or at relatives or friends home. Even Africans living outside of Africa love to cook rather than dine out in most cases. This report was based on interviews from Africans who grew up in traditional African homes in Africa. All references have been crossed checked and stories verified on how most African dishes are prepared, and their history. More research was done by the books listed, as well as other references such as internet sites. Most of this data has been collected over years of experience of living with Africans from both West and East Africa. It is custom when one person is cooking they do not just cook for themselves, or even their family but for anybody who might drop by unexpected. Big pots are used to cook and food is rarely wasted because the people here are very close and always welcomed to each other’s homes. That is what is the best part of being Africa, communities are still one, when one eats everybody eats. Throughout this paper Africans dishes consisting of: chicken, fish, goat, beef, shrimp, and even crab. As well as fruits such as: oranges, bananas, guava, mangos are very popular and will be listed. African vegetables are just like anywhere else carrots, peas, and corns as well as exotic roots that are hard to find in the states like cassava, efo, and cola nut. African cuisine combines traditional fruits and vegetables, meats and fish from the oceans that surrounds the continent, and a marinade of cultures, colonies, trade routes, and history. Africa cuisine is as broad as the continent, from dry desert, to tropical wetlands, plains, and jungle. The media has given Westerners the wrong impression of Africa, from the movies showing colonization to savages misrepresenting the birthplace of all man. African cuisine is on the rise in the U.S., due to the growing popularity as Africans bring the dishes of their country to family restaurants to this country. To an outsider of this culture it is impossible to categorize African food. I have even seen cooking shows call plantains (a starchy banana) a Cuban or Spaniard dish but it originated on both coast of Afr... ...de and remixed other culture recipes and used it for their own.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The most important lesson in this paper is to see how culture came from Africa, and that we are all the same. Learning about different cultures is vital for man kind to survive, many wars are fought because of ignorance. Even in Africa food is important and cherished. With this paper my appreciation of African food has increased, as well as my menu selection. I enjoy African food because there is not much diary in the typical African diet. References 1. A Slice of Africa: Exotic West African Cuisines by Chidi Asika-Enahoro 2. South African Gourmet Food and Wine: Traditional South African Food and More by Myrna Rosen, Lesley Loon 3.Berthina Fomenky native of Cameroon, and resident of Senegal 4.Beryl and Rhoda Gwan native of Cameroon 5.Limbikani Kamlognera native of Malawi 6. http://www.ethiopianrestaurant.com/. 7. http://www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/Cookbook/Kenya.html 8. http://www.motherlandnigeria.com/food.html 9. http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mi.html#Govt. 10.http://www.csis.org/press/ma_2003_0127.htm 11. Beza Semenew http://www.bezamodel.com/Homepage.htm

Intellectual Property and Internet Piracy Essay -- Exploratory Essays

Intellectual Property and Internet Piracy With the emergence of the Internet, intellectual property faces a new dimension of crisis. Intellectual property has become an even more significant issue because of that. According to World Intellectual Property Organization, â€Å"Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.† (WIPO 2003) Works online are easy to be copied/reproduced or altered such as art work, software, and articles. Although piracy has existed for a long time, the Internet has made piracy never been easier with a click of mouse. In the following paragraphs will explore issues regarding piracy and ownership, solution to the crisis of intellectual property, and the paradox of invention of new technology. Intellectual property has become much more difficult to maintain because of the enormous capacity of the Internet which is mainly self-regulated and promotes freedom of speech. Art works whether it is an image, a song, or a movie can be easily uploaded and downloaded on the Internet. For example, MP3 files compress music files into a small file thereby allowing users to upload and download much more rapidly and effortlessly. Music-swapping not only not realizing music artists’ efforts and have caused the music industry loose huge amount of record selling and decrease their profits. Remember the infamous Napster lawsuit where Napster was being sued for its copyright infringement. Furthermore, not only software can be downloaded from the Internet, the registration codes can also be cracked down, therefore, people can use the software as long as they like instead of using the trial version. People ... ...cyberlaw/archives/11_02_decoy.htm>, consulted on November 24, 2003. * The Massachusetts Daily Collegian (2003). â€Å"Today: the solution to music piracy surfaces†. Online at: , consulted on November 24, 2003. * GameSpy Industries (2003). â€Å"Software Piracy Report: Part 1†. Online at: , consulted on November 10, 2003. * CCIPS (2003). â€Å"Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS): Protecting Intellectual Property Rights: Copyrights, Trademarks and Trade Secrets†. Online at: , consulted on November 10, 2003. * CNN.com (2003). â€Å"Napster shutdown seen as potential boon for competitors†. Online at: , consulted on November 20, 2003. Intellectual Property and Internet Piracy Essay -- Exploratory Essays Intellectual Property and Internet Piracy With the emergence of the Internet, intellectual property faces a new dimension of crisis. Intellectual property has become an even more significant issue because of that. According to World Intellectual Property Organization, â€Å"Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.† (WIPO 2003) Works online are easy to be copied/reproduced or altered such as art work, software, and articles. Although piracy has existed for a long time, the Internet has made piracy never been easier with a click of mouse. In the following paragraphs will explore issues regarding piracy and ownership, solution to the crisis of intellectual property, and the paradox of invention of new technology. Intellectual property has become much more difficult to maintain because of the enormous capacity of the Internet which is mainly self-regulated and promotes freedom of speech. Art works whether it is an image, a song, or a movie can be easily uploaded and downloaded on the Internet. For example, MP3 files compress music files into a small file thereby allowing users to upload and download much more rapidly and effortlessly. Music-swapping not only not realizing music artists’ efforts and have caused the music industry loose huge amount of record selling and decrease their profits. Remember the infamous Napster lawsuit where Napster was being sued for its copyright infringement. Furthermore, not only software can be downloaded from the Internet, the registration codes can also be cracked down, therefore, people can use the software as long as they like instead of using the trial version. People ... ...cyberlaw/archives/11_02_decoy.htm>, consulted on November 24, 2003. * The Massachusetts Daily Collegian (2003). â€Å"Today: the solution to music piracy surfaces†. Online at: , consulted on November 24, 2003. * GameSpy Industries (2003). â€Å"Software Piracy Report: Part 1†. Online at: , consulted on November 10, 2003. * CCIPS (2003). â€Å"Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS): Protecting Intellectual Property Rights: Copyrights, Trademarks and Trade Secrets†. Online at: , consulted on November 10, 2003. * CNN.com (2003). â€Å"Napster shutdown seen as potential boon for competitors†. Online at: , consulted on November 20, 2003.

Physics of Firearms Essay -- physics gun guns firearm ballistics

Shooting is a popular activity and it is enjoyed by many people, so much so that it is also done at a competitive level. Although many people may have shot a firearm of some sort, few of those people actually realize how much physics is involved with the shot. So what exactly is Ballistics? Ballistics is the science or study of the motion of projectiles and in the case of most firearms, these projectiles are the bullets. There are two things that affect the flight of a bullet once it has been shot out of the gun. These things are the drag of air on the bullet and the force of gravity acting upon the bullet. The force of gravity acting upon the bullet is always in a constant direction, which is down, at a rate of 9.81m/s^2. However, the force of air drag on the bullet is not always in a constant direction. This is because the trajectory of the bullet changes, so the direction of air drag on the bullet also changes. So what is it that determines the trajectory of the bullet once it has left the barrel? Aside from gravity, it is the weight, shape, and velocity of the bullet...

Write a detailed character study on Heathcliff, focusing on the theme of evil and the question of whether he might really be a demon

Heathcliff arrives in the summer of 1771, a small, withdrawn boy. The old Mr. Earnshaw found him in the streets of Liverpool, and feeling compassion for the dirty, ragged black-haired child, he took him back to Wuthering Heights. He becomes an adopted member of the Earnshaw family and as they know nothing about him background he is immediately labelled as a gypsy and destined to remain an outsider, in exile from society due to his actions and personality. Straight away, his actions begin to put him apart from other people. He is a â€Å"sullen, patient child; hardened perhaps, to ill treatment†. An example of this is when Hindley throws a rock at Heathcliff, and, instead of crying he receives the blow and gets up again. Hindley sees Heathcliff as a usurper of his father's affections, and he grows bitter because of this, referring to Heathlcliff as an â€Å"imp of Satan†. Heathcliff let each incident like this pass, and showed no outward emotion towards his abuser. Instead opting to ‘bottle it' and let his vengeance build up, e.g. â€Å"I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long I wait, if I can only do it, at last. I hope he will not die before I do†. For Heathcliff, the world becomes an increasing trying place to be in – either to be shrunk back from, or lashed out at. To cope with the torrent of abuse directed at him from almost everyone he meets, he takes on a ‘devilish' character. After adopting this role, he uses it to get revenge by making everyone else's life as difficult as possible. While Heathcliff is pondering on how to get back at Hindley and the others, he becomes oblivious to any insults or hardship he comes across; allowing it only to stoke the fire of revenge and letting him be secure in the fact that they shall get what is due in time. For example when asked why he should not leave retribution to God, Heathcliff replies â€Å"No, God won't have the satisfaction that I shall. I only wish I knew the best way! Let me alone and I'll plan it out: while I'm thinking of that, I don't feel pain. Although at this point, Heathcliff could be called evil for making people's lives around him miserable, even Nelly, with her simplistic view of the situation decided that Hindley, because of Frances' death, had become so malicious that it â€Å"was enough to make a fiend of a saint†. This is not enough to let Heathcliff completely off the hook though as Hindley's actions are partly justified and Heathcliff interprets them differently, as he is quite young (all he sees is the abuse, not the reason why the abuse is given). In this way, Heathcliff's actions later in the novel are partly down to his naivety/ignorance when confronted with certain situations. Heathcliff is not especially bright (at least consciously). This means that he sometimes does not take all of the factors of a situation into account when he makes up his mind to do something. Something I think Heathcliff has extreme difficulty in interpreting other people's actions through their perspectives. For instance when Hindley threw a rock at Heathcliff when he was younger, Heathcliff only saw Hindley as the person who hurt him, not Hindley as an insecure boy who saw his father being taken away from him. Even Catherine did not see or help Heathcliff understand this, she only served as a catalyst that made Heathcliff want to look strong and think of better times when they would be together. As life at Wuthering Heights was continually wearing him down, Heathcliff's assumed character began to assert itself even more. The next paragraph illustrates this; â€Å"He had, by that time, lost the benefit of his early education: continual hard work, begun soon and concluded late, had extinguished any curiosity he once possessed in pursuit of knowledge, and any love for books or learning.† And also; â€Å"Personal appearance sympathised with mental deterioration; he acquired a slouching gate, and ignoble look† They serve to make evident that the hard physical labour, combined with the mental anguish Heathcliff is constantly suffering is taking its toll. Heathcliff loses all interest in bettering himself and conforming to established rules of etiquette and society. Instead he becomes withdrawn and so subdued that it seems as though he wakes up only to get the day over with. â€Å"He took a grim pleasure, apparently, in exciting aversion rather than the esteem of his few acquaintance†. When Heathcliff returns after running away, his character is more refined, cleaner and less confused. He no longer has mixed emotion and acts as if he has a plan to apply to life and steadily works on each waypoint towards the final goal. â€Å"A half-civilised ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows, and eyes full of black fire, but it was subdued; and his manner was even dignified, quite divested of roughness though too stern for grace†. It shows how Heathcliff still has the strong, passionate outward shell. But inwardly he has learned to control how he reacts. The alternate ‘evil' side has completely taken over, leaving Heathcliff emotionally cold, yet bent on revenge. Only now he is equipped to carry it out using his head rather that his hands. He knows how he is to accomplish it and will stop at nothing to finish what has been started. It is noticeable that he does not try and hide what he is doing. Instead giving ‘deep' speeches to anyone who will stand to listen. His craving for revenge is so intense that it seems to ‘leak' as an aura around his body and disrupt the lives of those who come into contact with him. Has but to speak to cause tempers to flare, emotions to rise, and situations to go to excess. The realisation that Heathcliff has not changed in his attitude since going away is to late for action to be taken to stop it and the ‘groomed' version of Heathcliff is described as he was when he first arrived. â€Å"An unreclaimed creature, without refinement – without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze and whinstone.† He bends people towards his will with ease, and before they know it he has coolly, calmly, and collectedly used them for his own purpose and then dropped them with nothing. Edgar sums up Heathcliff to a poignant sentence; â€Å"Your presence is a moral poison that would contaminate the most virtuous.† And, as Isabella writes after she has eloped with Heathcliff; â€Å"Is Mr Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a devil?†. Isabella does not explain what Heathcliff has been doing, but to constitute the above questions, it cannot have been normal. Heathcliff's revenge plan begins to fall into place when he confronts Hindley in his house. Catherine again acts as a catalyst by confining the two to a room and Heathcliff manages to rile Hindley so much that he draws a gun and knife on him. Hindley realises that he has been duped out of his house, his money, and all his possessions and wants to kill Heathcliff for it. â€Å"Oh, damnation! I will have it back; and I'll have his gold too; and then his blood; and hell shall have his soul! It will be ten times blacker with that guest than it ever was before!†. Heathcliff must have been pleased to see that Hindley was now suffering in the same way that he had and also that he had mostly accomplished what he came for. Heathcliff's effect can also be illustrated by the change in appearance and character of Isabella. When she first eloped with Heathcliff, she was young, naà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ve, and very outgoing. When she came back however; â€Å"she already partook of the pervading spirit of neglect which encompassed her. Her pretty face was wan and listless; her hair uncurled; some locks hanging lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round her head. Probably she had not touched her dress since yester evening.† A double side to Heathcliff begins to emerge when Catherine begins to get ill. Edgar hides in his books and studies as anything he does will not help her to recover, while Heathcliff continues his vendetta when he could help Catherine. The only thing stopping him is Catherine's love for Edgar. â€Å"The moment her regard ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drank his blood! But, till then, I would have died by inches before I touched a single hair of his head!† This shows that although Heathcliff's ‘darker' side is plainly visible, he has a set of morals that he stands by. One of them being that any close friends of those who have no revenge due are out of the firing line as far as a vendetta goes. Heathcliff succeeds in gaining all the material possessions he wants but does not have ‘the icing on the cake'. Because of this, the intensity of his need for more revenge grows exponentially and he becomes even malevolent as he bottles even more anger. â€Å"I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms write, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails!† Catherine remains self-centred and, as a final example, drives Heathcliff insane by refusing him any pity. Heathcliff finally loses his drive for retribution and lets his true feelings be known. He loves Catherine, and she loves him, but settling both of their scores kept them sharing their final goal – being together. To conclude, I will decide that Heathcliff is indeed not the Devil, but has had all of the worst coincidences happen to him that lead to him being as unnatural as he is. An extremely bad childhood, combined with his lack of intelligence and empathy, finally amalgamated with the fact that he has very strong emotions anyway make Heathcliff's actions easy to understand, yet hard to forgive. A large number of headstrong characters, isolation, and two sets of conflicting values made distress highly unavoidable. Therefore Heathcliff is a product of circumstance and misfortune rather than the spawn of the Devil or a wild beast.