About Corporations in the United States

Although there are many small and medium-sized companies, big business units play a dominant role in the American economy. There are several reasons for this. Large companies can supply goods and services to a greater number of people, and they frequently operate more efficiently than small ones. In addition, they often can sell their products at lower prices because of the large volume and small costs per unit sold. They have an advantage in the marketplace because many consumers are attracted to well-known brand names, which they believe guarantee a certain level of quality. How Large Corporations Benefit the American Economy Large businesses are important to the overall economy because they tend to have more financial resources than small firms to conduct research and develop new goods. And they generally offer more varied job opportunities and greater job stability, higher wages, and better health and retirement benefits. Nevertheless, Americans have viewed large companies with some ambivalence, recognizing their important contribution to economic well-being but worrying that they could become so powerful as to stifle new enterprises and deprive consumers of choice. Whats more, large corporations at times have shown themselves to be inflexible in adapting to changing economic conditions. In the 1970s, for instance, U.S. automakers were slow to recognize that rising gasoline prices were creating a demand for smaller, fuel-efficient cars. As a result, they lost a sizable share of the domestic market to foreign manufacturers, mainly from Japan. In the United States, most large businesses are organized as corporations. A corporation is a specific legal form of business organization, chartered by one of the 50 states and treated under the law like a person. Corporations may own property, sue or be sued in court, and make contracts. Because a corporation has legal standing itself, its owners are partially sheltered from responsibility for its actions. Owners of a corporation also have limited financial liability; they are not responsible for corporate debts, for instance. If a shareholder paid $100 for 10 shares of stock in a corporation and the corporation goes bankrupt, he or she can lose the $100 investment, but that is all. Because the corporate stock is transferable, a corporation is not damaged by the death or disinterest of a particular owner. The owner can sell his or her shares at any time or leave them to heirs. Disadvantages Large Corporations Have on the American Economy The corporate form has some disadvantages, though. As distinct legal entities, corporations must pay taxes. The dividends they pay to shareholders, unlike interest on bonds, are not tax-deductible business expenses. And when a corporation distributes these dividends, the stockholders are taxed on the dividends. (Since the corporation already has paid taxes on its earnings, critics say that taxing dividend payments to shareholders amounts to double taxation of corporate profits.) This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Comparing and Contrasting Cubans and Haitians in Miami - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1275 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2018/12/17 Category History Essay Type Compare and contrast essay Level High school Tags: Immigration Essay United States Essay Did you like this example? Introduction The migration of the Cubans and the Haitians to the United States of America happened under almost similar circumstances in their home countries, although the reception in the United States of America was different to each group. The Haitians were treated harsher than the Cubans although an act of America required same treatment for all the immigrants. The response from America confirmed this difference in their procedures by saying that the immigrants who were fleeing the communist countries had to be treated better than the other immigrants. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Comparing and Contrasting Cubans and Haitians in Miami" essay for you Create order This paper will try to compare and contrast the immigrants in Miami both from the Cuba country and from Haiti because it is in this area where the immigrants majorly settled. The Differences between the Cubans and Haitians in Miami The Haitian immigration can be dated back to the year 1802 when slave trade revolt led by Toussaint LOuverture seeking for independence and trying to end the slave trade happened. Though it was successful, the Haiti government was not stable and went on crumbling in all aspect even economical. For example, between the 1800s and 1934, there was a change in government twenty-two times which is a proof of this fact. Haitians first wave immigrants to the United States of America happened in 1957, but the early immigrants by boat landed on the coast of America in 1963. They were not accepted and were deported back to their country. Not until 1977 did the Haitian immigrants entirely started settling in the United States of America. In contrast, the Cubans who migrated from their homeland when Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Bastia in the 1950s started settling in Miami in the early 1960s and were considered as the major contributors to the development of Miami. From the immigrat ion, we can see the difference in treatment between the Haitians who were deported back and the Cubans who have been accepted to settle in America at almost the same times (LiPuma, and Thomas, 370). The treatment shows that the Cubans were preferred to the Haitians. An immigrant act that was signed between the United States of America and the Cuba in 1966 provided for a long-standing and preferential treatment to the Cuban immigrants. The act that was approved gave a guarantee to the Cubans living in the United States of America for a least one year to adjust to a permanent residence. In other words, they ceased being refugees but became American citizens (Kyle, David, and Marc, 305). Following the amendment of the act in 1966, there arose the wet foot and dry foot practice which required the American guard to halt and send back any Cuban who was found in the sea, unless they feared for persecution. It went on to state that the any Cuban who successfully reached the shore of the united states of America could not be sent back, but were to be investigated but the department of the home country and then allowed to settle in the USA. More so, if a Cuban could try to enter the United States by land, mostly through Mexico, the intruder was to be investigated by the customs and boarders protection personnel. The intruder could then be exempted from deportation back to the home country. Contrary to this treatment that the Cubans receive in the United States of America, the Haitians dont benefit from it. If a Haitian is found in the chores and does not provide enough evidence and proof for the asylum, the Haitian is immediately deported to his home country or detained (Kyle, David, and Marc, 305). In 1994 during the Clinton administration, the number of Cubans migrating to the United States was so large that the Clinton administration decided to lay a policy limiting the expenditure the government was incurring in the immigrants. But later alone, the USA gove rnment struck a deal that allowed at least twenty thousand immigrants from Cuba to the United States every year. On average, the number of the Cubans who qualify for visas to the United States of America every year exceeds the number of Haitians currently receding in the United States (Stepick, Alex, and Carol, 3). Contrary to the entry of the Cubans to the USA who were given a much warmer welcome, the Haitians are never warmly welcomed, and only the skilled Haitians are allowed entry to the United States. The middle-class Haitians who happen to have entry to the United States are always discriminated (Borjas and George, 73) For example, when it was perceived that the Haitians had caused the outbreak of diseases in the USA. Unlike the Cubans who had an agreement with the USA to allow the immigrants reside there, the policy which was established between the USA and the Haitian government under the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier only provided a way the Haitian intruder migran ts could be deported back to Haiti from the USA (Portes, Alejandro, Patricia and willam, 37). Similarities between the Haitians and Cubans in Miami It is factual that the both the Cubans and the Haitians in Miami have a vulnerable population, having come from countries experiencing political intolerance and instability. Both the two groups are under the department of homeland security which helps to fund even programmes directed towards their better stay in the United States of America and also help them to adapt to the new USA life. Moreover, both the Cubans and the Haitians constitute two groups with a fast growing population in the United States. Both the two groups also represent the groups in the USA who are struggling for scarce resources including space and permission to be in the United States of America (Borjas and George, 67). Both the two communities of immigrants have been discriminated against in the USA, although the Cubans are the outstanding majority among many communities that live in Miami, has a population close to two million occupants. The problem between the two immigrants, i.e., Cubans and Haitians ar e that they still have a terrible relationship. Instead of using their collective interests as people who the white Americans discriminate against and unite to have one voice, they even dont like each other. Both the two groups form the workforce in Miami. They are tasked with picking vegetables during the winter. It is therefore hard for this immigrant to get the collar jobs and thus live the lives of the low class (Portes, Alejandro, Patricia and willam, 35). Conclusion From all the analysis above, it is clear that the Haitians have always been looked down upon in the United States. The Cubans have always been given an upper hand regarding the privileges of both immigration and stay. The policies that have been developed between the Americans and the Haitians have been those who hinder them instead of giving them a breakthrough regarding their residence in America. It is clear then as both communities have always been discriminated, they should set aside their differences and unite so that they can be able to have one voice while they still stay in Miami. Work cited Borjas, George J. Heavens door: Immigration policy and the American economy. Princeton University Press, 2011. Kyle, David, and Marc Scarcelli. Migrant smuggling and the violence question: evolving illicit migration markets for Cuban and Haitian refugees. Crime, law and social change 52.3 (2009): 297-311. LiPuma, Edward, and Thomas Koelble. Cultures of circulation and the urban imaginary: Miami As example and exemplar. The Urban Sociology Reader (2012): 370. Portes, Alejandro, Patricia Fernndez-Kelly, and William Haller. The adaptation of the Immigrant second generation in America: A theoretical overview and recent Evidence. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35.7 (2009): 1077-1104. Stepick, Alex, and Carol Dutton Stepick. Diverse contexts of reception and feelings of Belonging. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research. Vol. 10. No. 3. 2009.

Literature Review Of International Business in U.S. Free Essays

Finding a country to conduct business in can be a very easy task depending on the company’s top management. The way a company normally discovers where to conduct research is through leads on potential operations from outside sources. The selection of which leads to investigate becomes the difficult task. We will write a custom essay sample on Literature Review Of International Business in U.S. or any similar topic only for you Order Now After sifting through the leads and finding the right ones to investigate management must formulate an international marketing plan. This further helps management in locating potential markets for their products. The first step is to use secondary research to find out what the sales potential is in a given market. Asking the questions of need, demand, and support gives one a starting point for research. If we were a company that sold pants we might want to ask the following questions. Is there a need for pants? Is it cold enough there to wear pants? Do people that demand the pants have money? These are the questions that one should ask of potential markets. After gathering the information from the secondary research, the picture of a potential market becomes more evident. However, to make the picture clearer, one must conduct primary research. This research outlines the specifics of the potential market that directly pertain to the product. Robert Douglas’ book, Penetrating the International Market, addresses the issue of locating potential markets in greater detail. After finding a lead that contains profitable markets it is necessary to analyze the venture as a whole. The decisions of companies must be based on the facts of reliable sources on all investments. To gather the information needed for investment projects, management must organize a competent feasibility team. The members of this team should be comprised of employees of the company; this is so that the knowledge will stay within the company. If the resources are not available for an employee conducted study then outside consultants may be used, it may also be beneficial to use a combination of the two. The first step in conducting a study is to design it by using project objectives as the base. During the second step the team must be staffed with people that have the ability to solve problems in any situation. In the third step the team should be properly placed and instructed. In the fourth and final step the product of the feasibility study should be properly communicated to the decision-making management. The design of a feasibility study first assumes that a company possesses the skills and resources necessary to be competitive in the market under analysis. Management must know the limits of its operations abroad. The operating margin for the expense of establishing and starting operations abroad should be easily recoverable within a reasonable time period. The design should also include the management’s goals, which come down from the investors of the company. The goals of management should be to acquire specific knowledge of the partner, in a joint venture situation, as well as the financial aspects, and the business-environment. The currency of the host country along with the political situation, and the economy are finer points of detail that the study must cover when analyzing the business-environment. In a less formal sense the design of the study should cover relevant material so that when viewing the final report decision-makers will know with what they are becoming involved. Staffing a feasibility study is of major importance. Not only must the members be competent in communication and understanding, but the management selecting the team must be confident in the abilities of each individual. Communication in international affairs plays a great role for the fact that different languages spoken and unspoken are involved. The communication through a translator let alone person-to person communication can be vastly misconstrued. The individual’s communication skills should be top-notch in order to be selected for the team. The members of the team should also be aware of the cultural factors that play a role in communication. Two books The Way to Wealth by Ben Franklin and Microserfs by David Coupland, support economic values of their specific time periods. Franklin’s book is written in 1733, when agriculture was the way of life. Coupland’s book is a present day description of technology and how Microsoft has had such an impact on our lives. Both books, each defining different eras, come together to portray the epitome of economic values. The writers’ depiction of work, from their respected eras, show how these American economic values has not changed. Poor Richard Saunders’ advice symbolizes what American worker’s economic values should be. Poor Richard is a character Franklin uses to push his economic values, and he believes that firm economic values will create wealth. He explains get what you can, and what you get hold; ‘Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold. Having good economic values can give you the gold touch. Good time management and sound management of one’s money are the keys to success. Hence Franklin’s famous sayings a penny saved is a penny earned and early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. The sayings of Richard Saunders are for the ages, as well as the agricultural life as he knew it. Douglas Coupland’s character analysis of danielu@microsoft.com serves as the icon of a modern day American technological worker. Danielu@mircosoft.com is an employee of Bill Gates’ corporation Microsoft which employs more than 32,000 people in 60 countries. Indeed, despite international commercial success, economic values of American lives have not changed over the past several hundred years. From the adages of Ben Franklin, to the genius of Bill Gates, Americans are economically the same. In the book Microserfs, the highlight of the story was when an employee got emailed by Bill himself. Gates has been described as â€Å"spending a significant person of his time to. . . staying in contact with Microsoft employees around the world though email.† References Ashamalla, Maali H. â€Å"International Human Resource Management Practices: The Challenge Of Expatriation.† Competitiveness Review. 1998. pp. 54-65. Barton, Ron Bishko, Michael. â€Å"Global Mobility Strategy.† HR Focus. 1998. pp. S7-S8. Coupland, Douglas. Microserfs. Lunsford. pp. 595-606. Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W.M. and Ferrell, O.C., â€Å"Marketing: Concepts and Strategies.† Marketing in International Markets. Houghton Mifflin. 1997. pp. 65-68, 171-177, 90-94, 103-105. Dutton, Gail. â€Å"Building a Global Brain.† Management Review. 1999. pp. 34-38. Engel, James F., Roger Blackwell, and Bowel Miniard. Consumer Behavior. Harcourt. 1982. pp. 162-168. Ewing, John S. and Meissner, Frank. International Business Management: Readings and Cases. California: Wadsworth. 1964. pp. 4, 146-152, 313-320. Fayerweather, John. International Business Management: A Conceptual Framework. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1969. pp. 51-64. Franklin, Benjamin. The Way to Wealth. Lusford. 1999. p. 545. Haner, F.T. Multinational Management. Ohio: Merrill. 1973. pp. 43-58. How to cite Literature Review Of International Business in U.S., Essay examples

Ibsen and Strindberg †Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie Persuasive Essay Example For Students

Ibsen and Strindberg – Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie Persuasive Essay Compare and contrast the characters of Hedda Gabler and Miss Julie in the plays by Ibsen and Strindberg. Support your findings with comments on the writers attitudes to their characters. August Strindberg and Henrik Ibsen were both great playwrights of the 19th century, and both played a large role in the evolution of modern day naturalism/ realism. The plays I will be discussing are Ibsens Hedda Gabler, (1890) and Strindbergs Miss Julie (1888). In Karens lecture on Strindberg, she told how the two playwrights were rivals in a sense, mainly caused by Strindbergs attitudes on social issues- Namely his thoughts and theory on the role of women in society. Thus, I am lead to believe that Hedda Gabler was written by Ibsen as a direct retaliation to Strindbergs Miss Julie, just as Karen believes that Strindbergs The Father was written as a reply to Ibsens Ghosts. Although both plays end with the suicide of the leading character, the circumstances by which they occur are very different. In order to take these plays in their full context, it is important to examine the lives of the playwrights and see just how much of their own thoughts, beliefs and feelings are reflected in their plays. I feel this is particularly important in the case of Strindberg. I was intrigued by Karens lecture on Strindberg, in particular the rise of his misogynist attitudes and his state of mental health. His attitudes are reflected in Miss Julie quite clearly. Strindberg believed that Women were a secondary form, which can be seen through reading his preface to the play. The translation of the play I examined was from the Drama Classics (D.C) Series. I found a very interesting piece of writing in this version of the play; In an editors note, it is explained that the translation was based on the original text, and contained some rants which were not included in most published versions. The most interesting of these was a part in the preface which was not in the other versions, it reads as fo llows;Theres a view, current at the moment even among quite sensible people,that women, that secondary form humanity (second to men, the lords andshapers of human civilisation) should in some way become equal with men,or could so be; this is leading to a struggle which is both bizarre and doomed. Its bizarre because a secondary form, by the laws of science, is always goingto be a secondary form..the proposition is as impossible as that twoparallel lines should ever meet.I find these comments quite astounding, and there are no shortage of similar comments in his preface. Karen explained how Strindberg also believed that when a woman was menstruating, it meant she was in an altered state of mind. In his preface, Strindberg gives this as one of the possible reasons behind Julies suicide. An understanding of these attitudes is vital to fully understand Miss Julie and make the connection between Julie and Hedda. As I touched on earlier, Strindberg developed a hate towards Ibsen, as he saw him as a promoter of feminism. Karen spoke of Ibsens Ghosts, in which a woman spoke out against a dead man. Strindberg did not like this, as the male had no chance to defend himself. As a result, he wrote The Father. In this play, Strindberg makes all the female characters out to be dislikeable and narky. It is this which leads me to believe that Hedda Gabler was written by Ibsen as a reply to Miss Julie. I will attempt to display my reasoning behind this theory, analysing the title characters from both plays and demonstrating the writers attitudes being displayed throughout the play. To me, Miss Julie seems to be a true Battle of the sexes play, in which the male inevitably wins. Throughout the play, a power game is being played by Jean and Julie. The character of Julie is what Strindberg would describe as a half-woman- that is, she does not know her place in society and tries to dominate a male. Strindbergs preface touches on this issue;Modern feminists thrust themselves forward, selling themselves forpower, honours, distinctions and diplomas as women once did formoney. Jimi Hendrix: Rock 'n' Roll Legend EssayThe baby. Burning the baby. (D.C p.88)I struggled to fully understand why she urged Lovborg to kill himself, but in this context I can only speculate that it was to further consolidate the end of the relationship between Miss Elvsted and Lovborg, of which she was so envious. By the end of the play, Hedda has relinquished all of her power. Lovborgs death backfired and Hedda ended up losing the dominance over Jorgen, as he and Mrs Elvsted devote their lives to resurrecting Lovborgs manuscript and Mrs Elvsted hopes to inspire Tesman as she did Lovborg. Brack then establishes power over her through her fear of scandal, blackmailing her in a sense to agree to his terms of living. He could destroy her at any moment by releasing the information that the gun which killed Lovborg belonged to Hedda. She finds this thought unbearable;Im still in your power. At your disposal. A slave. I wont have it. I wont (D.C p.105)So Hedda, unable to live under the control of others, plays a final tune on the piano before taking one of her fathers pistols and shooting herself. Although both Ibsens Hedda Gabler and Strindbergs Miss Julie ended with the suicide of the leading character, the circumstances by which the suicides occurred were most different, and particularly in the c ase of Miss Julie, the writers personal thoughts were prominent in the outcome. Julie ended her life after a deep underlying yearning to be dominated by Jean and in the end displays her inferiority by begging Jean to give her permission to end her life. This is unlike the circumstances in Hedda Gabler, where Hedda maintains her dignity and status to the very end. Unlike Julie, she cannot bear the thought of being under the control of others. This is why I speculate that Hedda Gabler could very well have been written by Ibsen in direct reply and contradiction to Strindbergs Miss Julie. I am sure that Henrik Ibsen would have found a lot to disagree upon when it came to the ideas and philosophies contained within Strindbergs Miss Julie, not to mention the plays preface.