Music: Native Americans in the United States and Correct Answer Essay

Incorrect 1. The language used to discuss music is universal. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 0. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 2. One way 19th-century Americans were exposed to European classical music was through visiting European musicians. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 3. The musical language of America is based on: A) Western European musical concepts B) ancient Greek musical concepts C) neither a nor b D) a and b Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 4. When categorizing music, stylistic labels should be adhered to rigidly. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 5. Diverse musical traditions are a contributing element to our rich national culture. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 6. The composer of a folk song is often: A) poor B) not a musician C) old D) unknown Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): D. Correct 7. Early American settlers _______________ the music of Native Americans. A) accepted B) tolerated C) copied D) rejected Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): D Correct 8. Most early religious, folk, and popular songs were derived the styles of: A) the British Isles B) South America C) a blending of Native American and European cultures D) Native American peoples Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 9. The instruments Americans have are, for the most part, derived from those in. Europe and the British Isles. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 10. Ethnomusicologists study the social aspects of music. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 11. Generally, a culture’s belief systems and music are separate. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 12. The merging of cultural traditions produces: A) very little of national value B) ethnic minorities. C) new styles and modes of behavior D) race tensions Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): C Incorrect 13. It is necessary for professional musicians to earn the bulk of their living from performing. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 0. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 14. The primary factor in the development of America’s cultural mainstream was the predominance of: A) English-speaking settlers B) African slaves C) Native American culture D) free trade Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 15. The __________ Law of 1909 provided ownership of popular songs to composers, lyricists, and publishers. A) Permission B) Copyright C) Ownership D) Holder Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 16. Ethnomusicologists study audiences as well as performers. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 17. Many cultures in the world are still unaffected by outside influences. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 18. Scientific research has found that music powerfully affects the emotions of listeners. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A Correct 19. Ethnomusicologists rely on a ______________ rather than an ethnocentric perspective to study and describe music. A) regional B) local C) global D) universal Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): C Correct 20. Who composed music for orchestra, but in the â€Å"pop† style? A) Bob Dylan B) Tchaikovsky. C) George Gershwin D) Beethoven Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): C Correct 21. According to the text, it is unnecessary to acquire a sense of what exists beyond our own cultural experience. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 22. When music is transmitted from generation to generation by imitation or memory, this is referred to as: A) notational tradition B) oral tradition C) familial tradition D) none of these Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 23. Music labels can be: A) helpful B) ambiguous C) a and b D) neither a nor b Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): C Correct 24. True artistry is generally only found in classical music. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): B Correct 25. Music has taken on a global perspective due to technological advances in communication and transportation. A) True B) False Table for Individual Question Feedback Points Earned: 4. 0/4. 0 Correct Answer(s): A.

Developmental Stage Theories Essay

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infantsand children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures, versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual’s behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly-focused approach. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and comparative psychology. Theories Attachment theory Attachment theory, theoretical frame work originally developed by John Bowlby, focuses on open, intimate, emotionally meaningful relationships. Attachment is described as a biological system or powerful survival impulse that evolved to ensure the survival of the infant. A child who is threatened or stressed will move toward caregivers who create a sense of physical, emotional and psychological safety for the individual. Attachment feeds on body contact and familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation protocol and the concept of the secure base. There are three types of attachment styles: secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant. Secure attachment is a healthy attachment between the infant and the caregiver. It is characterized by trust. Anxious-avoidant is an insecure attachment between an infant and a caregiver. This is characterized by the infant’s indifference toward the caregiver. Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachment between the infant and the caregiver characterized by distress from the infant when separated and anger when reunited. [1] A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to form attachments. Some babies are raised without the stimulation and attention of a regular caregiver, or locked away under conditions of abuse or extreme neglect. The possible short-term effects of this deprivation are anger, despair, detachment, and temporary delay in intellectual development. Long-term effects include increased aggression, clinging behavior, detachment, psychosomatic disorders, and an increased risk of depression as an adult. [2][3] Constructivism Constructivism is a paradigm in psychology that characterizes learning as a process of actively constructing knowledge. Individuals create meaning for themselves or make sense of new information by selecting, organizing, and integrating information with other knowledge, often in the content of social interactions. There are two ways in which constructivism can occur: individual and social. Individual constructivism is when a person constructs knowledge through cognitive processes of their own experiences rather than by memorizing facts provided by others. Social constructivism is when individuals construct knowledge through an interaction between the knowledge they bring to a situation and social or cultural exchanges within that content. [4] Ecological systems theory The Ecological systems theory, originally formulated by Urie Bronfenbrenner specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems. The four systems are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Each system contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape development. The microsystem is the immediate environment surrounding and influencing the individual (example: school or the home setting). The mesosystem is the combination of two microsystems and how they influence each other (example: sibling relationships at home vs. peer relationships at school). The exosystem is the interaction among two or more settings that are indirectly linked (example: a father’s job requiring more overtime ends up influencing his aughter’s performance in school because he can no longer help with her homework). The macrosystem is broader taking into account social economic status, culture, beliefs, customs and morals (example: a child from a wealthier family sees a peer from a less wealthy family as inferior for that reason). Lastly, the chronosystem refers to the chronological nature of life events and how they interact and change the individual and their circumstances through transition (example: a mother losing her own mother to illness and no longer having that support in her life). Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenner’s major statement of this theory, The Ecology of Human Development[5] has had widespread influence on the way psychologists and others approach the study of human beings and their environments. As a result of this conceptualization of development, these environments—from the family to economic and political structures—have come to be viewed as part of the life course from childhood through adulthood. [6] Psychosexual development Sigmund Freud believed that we all had a conscious, preconscious, and unconscious level. In the conscious we are aware of our mental process. The preconscious involves information that though we are not currently thinking about can be brought into consciousness. Lastly, the unconscious includes those mental processes which we are unaware of. He believed that the conscious and unconscious had tension because the conscious would try and hold back what the unconscious was trying to express. To explain this he developed three structures of personality; the id, ego, and superego. The id, being the most primitive of the three functioned according to the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle states that the id’s motivation is to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Based on this he proposed five universal stages of development. The first is the oral stage which occurs from birth to 12 months of age, second is the anal stage which occurs from one to three years of age, third is the phallic stage which occurs from three to five years of age (most of a person’s personality is formed by this age), the fourth is called latency which occurs from age five until puberty, and lastly stage five is the genital stage which takes place from puberty until adulthood. 7] Stages of moral development Theories of morality that stem from Jean Piaget’s cognitive-developmental viewpoint emphasize shifts in the type of reasoning that individuals use in making moral decisions. Changes in the content of the decision they reach or the actions they take as a result does not occur. [dubious – discuss] Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on this issue specifically during adolescence. He suggested three levels of moral reasoning; preconventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning, and postconventional moral reasoning. Preconventional moral reasoning is typical of children and is characterized by reasoning that is based on rewards and punishments associated with different courses of action. Conventional moral reason occurs during late childhood and early adolescence and is characterized by reasoning that is based on the rules and conventions of society. Lastly, postconventional moral reasoning is the stage during which society’s rules and conventions are seen as relative and subjective rather than as authoritative. [1] Stages of psychosocial development Erik Erikson became a child psychoanalyst like his mentor Anna Freud, Sigmond Freud’s daughter. He went on to reinterpret Freud’s psychosexual stages by incorporating the social aspects of it. He came up with eight stages, each of which has two crisis (a positive and a negative). Stage one is trust versus mistrust, which occurs during infancy. Stage two is autonomy versus shame and doubt which occurs during early childhood. Stage three is initiative versus guilt which occurs during play age. Stage four is industry versus inferiority which occurs during school age. Stage five is identity versus identity diffusion which occurs during adolescence. Stage six is intimacy versus isolation which occurs during young adulthood. Stage seven is generativity versus self-absorption which occurs during adulthood. Lastly, stage eight is integrity versus despair which occurs during old age. In each of these stages either one or the other crisis is developed. The ideal thing would be to have the positive crisis more developed than the negative crisis. [7] Theories of cognitive development Jean Piaget was a Swiss theorist who posited that children learn by actively constructing knowledge through hands-on experience. [8] He suggested that the adult’s role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate materials or the child to interact and construct. He would use Socratic questioning to get the children to reflect on what they were doing. He would try to get them to see contradictions in their explanations. He also developed stages of development. His approach can be seen in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools, and in the pedagogy of preschool centers across the United States. Piaget believed that intellectual development took place through a series of stages which caused him to come up with his Theory on Cognitive Development. Each stage consisted of steps which the child had to master before moving on to the next step. He believe that these stages where not separate from one another but rather each stage built on the previous one, hence learning was continuous. His theory consisted of four stages; sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Though he did not believe these stages occurred at any given age, many studies have determine when these cognitive abilities should take place. [4] Zone of proximal development Lev Vygotsky was a Russian theorist from the Soviet era, who posited that children learn through hands-on experience and social interactions with members of his/her culture. 9] Unlike Piaget, he claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new task (called the â€Å"zone of proximal development†) could help children learn new tasks. Martin Hill stated that â€Å"The world of reality does not apply to the mind of a child. † This technique is called â€Å"scaffolding,† because it builds upon knowledge children already have with new knowledge that adults can help the child learn. [10] Vygotsky was strongly focused on the role of culture in determining the child’s pattern of development, arguing that development moves from the social level to the individual level. 10] In other words, Vygotsky claimed that psychology should focus on the progress of human consciousness through the relationship of an individual and their environment. [11]He felt that if scholars continued to disregard this connection, then this disregard would inhibit the full comprehension of the human consciousness Nature/nurture A significant issue in developmental psychology is the relationship between innateness and environmental influence in regard to any particular aspect of development. This is often referred to as â€Å"nature versus nurture† or nativism versus empiricism. A nativist account of development would argue that the processes in question are innate, that is, they are specified by the organism’s genes. An empiricist perspective would argue that those processes are acquired in interaction with the environment. Today developmental psychologists rarely take such polarised positions with regard to most aspects of development; rather they investigate, among many other things, the relationship between innate and environmental influences. One of the ways in which this relationship has been explored in recent years is through the emerging field of evolutionary developmental psychology. One area where this innateness debate has been prominently portrayed is in research on language acquisition. A major question in this area is whether or not certain properties of human language are specified genetically or can be acquired through learning. The empiricist position on the issue of language acquisition suggests that the language input provides the necessary information required for learning the structure of language and that infants acquire language through a process of statistical learning. From this perspective, language can be acquired via general learning methods that also apply to other aspects of development, such as perceptual learning. The nativist position argues that the input from language is too impoverished for infants and children to acquire the structure of language. Linguist Noam Chomsky asserts that, evidenced by the lack of sufficient information in the language input, there is a universal grammar that applies to all human languages and is pre-specified. This has led to the idea that there is a special cognitivemodule suited for learning language, often called the language acquisition device. Chomsky’s critique of the behaviorist model of language acquisition is regarded by many as a key turning point in the decline in the prominence of the theory of behaviorism generally. [12] But Skinner’s conception of â€Å"Verbal Behavior† has not died, perhaps in part because it has generated successful practical applications. [12] Mechanisms of development Developmental psychology is concerned not only with describing the characteristics of psychological change over time, but also seeks to explain the principles and internal workings underlying these changes. Psychologists have attempted to better understand these factors by using models. Developmental models are sometimes computational, but they do not need to be. A model must simply account for the means by which a process takes place. This is sometimes done in reference to changes in the brain that may correspond to changes in behavior over the course of the development. Computational accounts of development often use either symbolic, connectionist (neural network), or dynamical systems models to explain the mechanisms of development. Research areas Cognitive development Cognitive development is primarily concerned with the ways in which infants and children acquire, develop, and use internal mental capabilities such as problem solving, memory, and language. Major topics in cognitive development are the study of language acquisition and the development of perceptual and motor skills. Piaget was one of the influential early psychologists to study the development of cognitive abilities. His theory suggests that development proceeds through a set of stages from infancy to adulthood and that there is an end point or goal. Other accounts, such as that of Lev Vygotsky, have suggested that development does not progress through stages, but rather that the developmental process that begins at birth and continues until death is too complex for such structure and finality. Rather, from this viewpoint, developmental processes proceed more continuously, thus development should be analyzed, instead of treated as a product to be obtained. K. Warner Schaie has expanded the study of cognitive development into adulthood. Rather than being stable from adolescence, Schaie sees adults as progressing in the application of their cognitive abilities. 13] Modern cognitive development has integrated the considerations of cognitive psychology and the psychology of individual differences into the interpretation and modeling of development. [14]Specifically, the neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development showed that the successive levels or stages of cognitive development are associated with increasing processing efficiency andworking memory capacity. In addition, children in higher-levels of cognitive development have been observed to have greater mathematical fluency in basic addition and subtraction problems. 15] These increases explain differences between stages, progression to higher stages, and individual differences of children who are the same-age and of the same grade-level. However, other theories have moved away from Piagetian stage theories, and are influenced by accounts of domain-specific information processing, which posit that development is guided by innate evolutionarily-specified and content-specific information processing mechanisms. Social and emotional development Developmental psychologists who are interested in social development examine how individuals develop social and emotional competencies. For example, they study how children form friendships, how they understand and deal with emotions, and how identity develops. Research in this area may involve study of the relationship between cognition or cognitive development and social behavior. Erik Erikson believed we undergo several stages to achieve social and emotional development. These stages were called the Erik Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development. The stages were trust vs. mistrust, attachment, parenting style, ego identity, role diffusion, generativity versus stagnation, midlife crisis, and ego integrity versus despair. Emotional regulation or ER refers to an individual’s ability to modulate emotional responses across a variety of contexts. In young children, this modulation is in part controlled externally, by parents and other authority figures. As children develop, they take on more and more responsibility for their internal state. Studies have shown that the development of ER is affected by the emotional regulation children observe in parents and caretakers, the emotional climate in the home, and the reaction of parents and caretakers to the child’s emotions. [16] Physical development Physical development concerns the physical maturation of an individual’s body until it reaches the adult stature. Although physical growth is a highly regular process, all children differ tremendously in the timing of their growth spurts. [17] Studies are being done to analyze how the differences in these timings affect and are related to other variables of developmental psychology such as information processing speed. Traditional measures of physical maturity using x-rays are less in practice nowadays, compared to simple measurements of body parts such as height, weight, head circumference, and arm span. 17] A few other studies and practices with physical developmental psychology are the phonological abilities of mature 5- to 11-year-olds, and the controversial hypotheses of left-handers being maturationally delayed compared to right-handers. A study by Eaton, Chipperfield, Ritchot, and Kostiuk in 1996 found in three different samples that there was no difference between right- and left-handers. [17] Memory development Researchers interested in memory development look at the way our memory develops from childhood and onward. According to Fuzzy-trace theory, we have two separate memory processes: verbatim and gist. These two traces begin to develop at different times as well as at a different pace. Children as young as 4 years-old have verbatim memory, memory for surface information, which increases up to early adulthood, at which point it begins to decline. On the other hand, our capacity for gist memory, memory for semantic information, increases up to early adulthood, at which point it consistent through old age. Furthermore, our reliance on gist memory traces in reasoning increases as we age.

Avon Products or GE Money America Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Avon Products or GE Money America - Case Study Example A client then selects a product to purchase after which the sales representative places the item selected on order with the relevant distribution center assigned to the representative (Bartholdi, 2002, p. 2). Items produced by Avon include skin care items; make up, perfume fragrance, hair care, personal care, body care, and sun care. The most conspicuous products of the company are Skin-So-Soft which is a bath products while a new product include â€Å"Avon color† comprising lip, eye, face shades and nail colors (Clinton, 1993, p. 2) In the business world today, human capital is one of the company’s most valuable assets therefore companies must retain and engage talented employees. They must also equip their employees with the necessary skill to become more beneficial. Talent management includes attracting, identifying, recruiting, developing, motivating, promoting, and retaining people that have a strong urge to succeed within an organization (Laff, 2006, pp. 42-50) By 2005, the company was an $8 billion company with a 10% growth in its annual revenue and 25% growth in the profits. However, in 2006 the company experienced problems mainly associated with decreasing revenues and profits. The root cause of these challenges was that the company was growing at a rate faster than it could support in terms of infrastructure and talent. The main problem was on the management of talent and talent practices. Therefore, something had to be done to solve these problems and make a revolution in the company. This could be through making changes to these talent practices in order to make the practices easy to use and very effective From the Case Study it is clear that the company embraced several models to improve talent practices among them was the model for simplification of every process. It has been noted that majority of talent practices possess unnecessary complexity that discourage managers from using them and this dragged the pace at which talent was growing in

Book review( Leadership tool kit) Bryn Hughes Essay

Book review( Leadership tool kit) Bryn Hughes - Essay Example Hughes’ observes that leaders should explore motives and outline key result areas amongst other things. In essence, Hughes does not only dwell on ethical leadership, but also on professional competence in leadership. He seems to affirms strongly that leadership is God chosen and should be treated with the seriousness and responsibility it deserves. Hughes sees leadership as a state of mind of a person who is visionary and spiritual. He also sees leadership to be defined by sound character. The author also analyses that good motives of a leader should be to share with other so that they can achieve together as a team. His understanding of motives is leadership is also pegged in Bible teachings on leadership. He analyses in various ways that proper motives are the key drivers for any success as a leader. One may see that although he focuses on doing the right thing from the Biblical context of righteousness, his leadership tools also blend well in the context of organizations in the contemporary societies. One may also note that when Hughes explains the concept and the relevance of motives to Christian leadership, he also captures on the teachings of Jesus about what constitutes sins. Jesus on His part observes in the Bible (Mathew 5:28) that whoever has looked at a woman lustfully has committed sex with her. One may say that it is in this regard that Hughes focuses and emphasizes on good motive. Although he does not dwell on the subject with very specific examples, it is understandable that anything that does not constitute God’s will is morally wrong for Christian living. This way, he observes, leaders are able to improve themselves as individuals and improve their teams. The author emphasizes that Christian leaders are should work hard towards acquiring these skills in contemporary society. In order to achieve this, the author rightfully recognizes that there is a need to identify key result areas. Hughes offers that leaders should have the drive and the desire to achieve. They do this through a display of effort in the various areas that they have identified as areas of need. When there is a strong desire to take or accept responsibilities, then a leader is on course. Leadership that is concerned about not just tasks to be completed but also demonstrates which tasks is preferable. Hughes seems to assert that proper leadership would involve being efficient at allocated tasks through proper facilitation and motivation (Hughes, 2002, p. 34). The leader should demonstrate a high morale through involvement with his/her team. This is observable through proper coordination. Other key result areas include being supportive, participative and directive. Churches can enhance leadership by training leaders at various levels to be supportive in their various involvements. Sometimes things not work out as expected. Hughes offers that leaders should support others especially by recognizing the effort put into it. Most importantly, they s hould offer support on various tasks on progress as might be necessary. It is also important that leaders acquire skills through actual participation in the various areas of involvement in the church leadership. While working in their teams, the author also offers that there is a need for leaders to be trained to be visions creators. Visionary leaders are capable of come up with new ideas that will help in goals setting and eventual action plan.

The Implementation of Enterprise 2.0 in a Business Research Paper - 1

The Implementation of Enterprise 2.0 in a Business - Research Paper Example There are numerous examples of enterprise 2.0 tools in which Wikis and Blogs are well-known communication and collaboration portals. Moreover, social network tools are very helpful for the staff members in finding the target person or group of persons. Thus, enterprise 2.0 has the capability to offer content, data and information and knowledge in an amazingly low-priced and unproblematic way by means of web-based tools. Some people say that enterprise 2.0 is about carrying Web 2.0 into the business; however, it is not completely true. In some way, enterprise 2.0 refers to the process of bringing the collaborative and social applications and technologies of Web 2.0 into the business setting; however, enterprise 2.0 also shows a basic change in the way businesses carry out their operations. Additionally, it is a true fact that enterprise 2.0 is a simplified idea that is normally used for technological and business practice that releases the required workers from the limitations of inheriting communication tools and productivity tools as there is an example of the email. Moreover, it’s another major advantage is that it facilitates the business executives to access precise information when it is required by means of a web of interrelated applications, services, and strategies. In this way enterprise, 2.0 make easy to get to the combined intellect of many. Hence this aspect results in moving to a n enormous competitive gain in the form of improved innovation, efficiency and agility. The question is that what is enterprise 2.0 and how it is used in a business environment?  

Paper on groups in your high school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Paper on groups in your high school - Essay Example These relationships refer to the processes that are learned in school. They â€Å"refer to the social and psychological underpinnings of the system, how people come together in schools and divide and subdivide into groups† (Crosno 38). On one side you could see cliques that are relatively more popular than others. They compose of both guys and girls where the closest girls usually sit next to each other and chatter or next to the guy most likely have a relationship with. Then there are groups that associate with each other mostly because of their common interests like those who like a particular brand or music or those who belong to the same club. There are also groups that are somewhat in the middle. They are not exactly the most popular but they are familiar faces and most of them have an interesting story about them that you know. They are approachable compared to others and they tend to put balance on the cafeteria and the entire school just because they are more tolerant of the different people. They would rather remain neutral instead of favouring an opinion over

The Investment Decision Of Airbus And Boeing Essay

The Investment Decision Of Airbus And Boeing - Essay Example Both Boeing and Airbus are being supported by the government of their respective countries and the financial aid given by the government has a major role to play in making sure that these firms are able to meet the demands of the stakeholders. The case reveals how the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner stage was set up and how things were before the Boeing introduced Dreamliner in the market. The reactions from the airline industry for previously launched planes by Airbus and Boeing have also been discussed and then the opportunities that 787 has, have been the main point of the study. This report basically has been divided into four sections. In the first part of the report, important variables that could influence the decision of Airbus and Boeing have been discussed in detail. In the second part of the report, the risks faced by both these firms have been discussed and how the risks faced by Airbus and Boeing are identified and analysed and then model has been used to know how firms should manage risk (McLaney, 2009). In the third part of the report, stakeholders of both Airbus and Boeing have been discussed and how these stakeholders could influence the firm have been described in detail. However, in the fourth section of the report, critical financial analysis about Boeing has been discussed as it introduces the Dreamliner in the market. In the end, conclusion of the report along with recommendations have been discussed. ... In the second part of the report, the risks faced by both these firms have been discussed and how the risks faced by Airbus and Boeing are identified and analysed and then model has been used to know how firms should manage risk (McLaney, 2009). In the third part of the report, stakeholders of both Airbus and Boeing have been discussed and how these stakeholders could influence the firm have been described in detail. However, in the fourth section of the report, critical financial analysis about Boeing has been discussed as it introduces the Dreamliner in the market. In the end, conclusion of the report along with recommendations have been discussed. Introduction The report is about Airbus and Boeing and it is primarily based on a case when Boeing introduced its Dreamliner. The case discusses the background and how things shaped up that lead towards a fuel efficient aircraft, 787 Dreamliner. The report discusses how the management feels and what variables they considered when they we re preparing the feasibility of introducing a new fuel efficient plane as well as variables that influenced their decision to not go for a jumbo sized aircraft, 747. The second section of the report discusses about the risks that the company faces and how Airbus and Boeing need to manage their risk properly in order to have consistent profits in the long run. The importance of managing and identifying risks has been described in this section. The third section of the report discusses important stakeholders of both the aircraft manufacturing firms; Boeing and Airbus and analyses how they could impact the firm’s operations. Also stakeholders have been prioritised using a theoretical framework to identify the level of their impact and their power to influence

MBA Dissertation Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MBA Dissertation Proposal - Essay Example Research objectives describe what is aimed to be accomplished by the research. Principle objective of this research is to identify the effects of recession on the global automobile industry. The research will be conducted with the objective of finding out the significant changes that have taken place in the automobile industry due to global financial turmoil. Since the financial meltdown started from the mid of 2008, the research will be carried out to find out those changes that have taken place from the year 2008 till February, 2010. Changes can only be understood when previous statistics will be compared with the present statistics. As a result it is very important to find out the situation of the industry prior to the period when there was no recession and the situation that has emerged after the recession. Finding out these situations is a major objective of the research. Recession is one of the most talked about topics in the global economic scenario over the last two years. It has affected almost all the industries in all the countries starting from developed to developing. Automobile industry is one of those industries that are badly affected by the global financial turmoil. However before getting into further details regarding the effects of recession on the industry, it is crucial to have a clear idea regarding recession, its causes and effects. This research will include a well structured literature review where all the theoretical aspects of recession will be clearly explained. The literature review will also contain the theories that are related to marketing and strategic management. Moreover the literature review includes all the theories that are related to the research methodologies and that are relevant to this particular research. Research methodology is referred to the method in which the research would be conducted. It includes research

Human Resources Development - Kindred Todd and the Ethics of OD Essay

Human Resources Development - Kindred Todd and the Ethics of OD - Essay Example The fundamental differences in the two individuals have significantly contributed to tribulation of the firm. The first kind of dilemma between the two is based on the needs; it has become clear that the two have different need that cannot be harmonized. Values, goals, abilities, and skills between the two individuals also bear significant difference (Cummings and Worley, 65). It is also difficult to address the difference that exists and come up with a rational resolution. Attempts to come up with such will only results into conflicts and ambiguity. Interestingly both the client and the practitioners are not clear and knowledgeable about what their responsibilities should be. Hypothetical solution are not necessary in this case, it takes a careful diagnosis of the problems to come up with a lasting solution to the problem. In situations with competing interest, it will be appreciated that coming u with a solution is difficult. Nonetheless, in this case, I will have to identify the source of the problem that contributes to the states of dilemma individually and give them specific attention. The two individuals need to reconcile so that they do not manifest any difference in what they do and partake on. This can be done through ensuring that the roles, needs and the skills of the toe individuals do not overlap and that they are independent of one another. There has to be a complete separation of the two in relation to all possible avenues of overlap. If this is done, it will be possible that the two individuals will have to operate with degrees of independency and freedom. Most of the problems realized in the institution are occasioned by unclear determination of the relation between the client and the practitioner. This strategy I am sure will have clarity in the system and avoid unnecessary pushing an d shoving between the two personalities.

Pepsico Case Study Essay Example for Free

Pepsico Case Study Essay 1. I felt that Nooyi’s Letter to Shareholders was fairly effective. She starts by mentioning that â€Å"the greatest challenge in business today is to renew a successful company through positioning for long-term growth and profitability but also performing in the current marketplace.† Her opening statement accurately reflects her emphasis in the letter. She goes on to make several statements that are important for investors to hear about making investments for future growth. She highlights Pepsi’s ongoing global growth initiatives (innovating globally by delighting locally) and also discusses Pepsi’s healthier offerings, both of which I feel are appealing concepts for shareholders in today’s market. She also makes some important statements about ongoing efficiency and leveraging the brand. Her letter does a good job of answering potential questions that the stockholders may have on thePepsico Case Study current status of the company as well as future plans. While her focuses are effective, I felt that some additional detail about growth within their â€Å"healthy† segment could’ve helped her argument as well as continued discussion on Pepsi’s ethics. Overall, her letter is a great pitch for prospective investors domestically and abroad. 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis seemed to paint a more pessimistic view of the future of PepsiCo than Nooyi’s letter. They bring up several factors in order to prepare shareholders for potentially rough times. Part of these factors includes mention of a California proposition, which would force warning labels on unhealthy food. Potential layoffs and a possible knock to Pepsi’s credit rating are also discussed. Furthermore, management recognizes that they are operating in a highly competitive market. Some of Pepsi’s core, high margin products are losing market share to Coke products. Ongoing success is dependent on effective promotion and marketing and Coke has been a leader in this area. Pepsi management recognizes the need to innovate to remain competitive and proper positioning is key. It could prove to be an issue if they don’t properly anticipate shifts in demand. There are also concerns about potential climate changes, and other regulat ory measures. These things could severely impact production and demand for certain segments of Pepsi’s products. 3. 4. Market to Book Ratio compares the market value of the firm’s investments to their cost. Current Ratio is current assets divided by current liabilities and gives a measure of short-term liquidity. Debt to Equity Ratio is a measure of a company’s financial leverage calculated by dividing its total liabilities by stockholders equity. Total Asset Turnover is sales divided by total assets and assists with an understanding of dollars generated relative to dollars in assets. Times Interest Earned Ratio measures how well a company has its interest obligations covered and is calculated by dividing EBIT by Interest. Profit Margin is calculated by dividing net income by sales. ROA is a measure of profit per dollar of assets and ROE is a measure of how stockholders fared during the year. Finally, EPS gives us market price per share of stock by dividing net income by shares outstanding. 5. Over the past three years, revenues and expenses have increased. Net profits have also increased. Debt to Equity has increased over the last few years. Profit margins have decreased and focus has shifted to less profitable products. ROA has been decreasing as well. Daily sales in inventory are decreasing. Intangible assets, including goodwill, have greatly increased. Also, Return on Capital Investment has decreased. 7.Operating Activities: 1) Other net decreased by $688. 2) Accounts Receivable is increasing. Financing Activities: 1) Acquisition of non-controlling interests 2) Cash Dividends 3) Repurchase of dividends 4) Long term debt is down from 2010-2011. Investing Activities: 1)Acqusition of WBD 2) Change in Gross Fixed Assets (decreasing debt in 2011) 8.In her Letter to Shareholders, Chairman Nooyi made a good case for increasing shareholder value in the short and long runs. She’ll need to encourage management to continue to innovate and achieve high sales in the current market while at the same time focusing on future investment and continued global expansion and presence. Transparency with investors is important for building trust and confidence. Marketing and promotion will be another key element to PepsiCo’s continued growth among the high level of competition already existing in their many segments. Reduction of accounts receivable can lead to better bottom line results, efficiency, and reduction of long-term debt through the repayment of principle. PepsiCo should also continue to expand its â€Å"healthy† product line such as sports drinks, whole grain healthy snacks, etc. to take advantage of market trends.

Analysing Remediation Of Contaminated Land In Nigeria Environmental Sciences Essay

Analysing Remediation Of Contaminated Land In Nigeria Environmental Sciences Essay Crude oil is an important mineral resource vital to everyday life. Modern trend toward increasing dependence on the use of petroleum hydrocarbons for energy needs has resulted in severe pressure on the energy resource as well as increased accidental discharges of oil and its products into the environment. This occurs frequently during operations such as extraction, transportation, storage, refining and distribution notwithstanding technology-driven precautions. It would be reasonable to state that oil contamination is one of the most serious forms of water and land pollution as it endangers public health, imperils drinking water, devastates natural resources, and disrupts the economy. Nigeria is one of the largest crude oil producing countries in the world and depends almost entirely (over 90%) on it for her revenue. The Niger Delta region in Nigeria contains the bulk of Nigerias proven oil and gas reserves. The region is ridden with environmental problems, ranging from devastation of land and water (crippling income generation through farming and fishing), through death of thousands of domestic animals, disastrous fire out-breaks, various illnesses to deaths. This is as a result of oil spillage which has become a daily experience in the region. There exist some prevention and mitigation measures associated with oil and gas exploration activities but these measures are not implemented in Nigeria. Owing perhaps to poor enforcement of the standards by regulatory bodies, corruption, high cost of procuring and maintaining some of the mitigation equipments, ignorance, lack of vision, or carelessness. These have led, to political unrest, with the people of the area feel ing exploited and calling for reparations. Contamination of soil by is a widespread environmental problem that often requires clean-up of the contaminated site. Though many techniques have been undertaken to address oil contamination of land in the Niger Delta region, these either have negative effects or result to incomplete clean-up of the hydrocarbon contaminated soil. Although disposal or open dump burning may be simple and easily adaptable, these techniques have undesirable health and safety hazards from e.g. air pollution. Bioremediation is an alternative technology which is likely to be capable of achieving permanent remediation. Nature has developed microorganisms that can degrade hydrocarbons to avoid their accumulation to a point of being detrimental to life. To achieve rapid bioremediation, nutrients and aeration are applied to the soil and the indigenous microorganism is often augmented to obtain enhanced bioremediation. The design of an efficient bioremediation system requires a set of careful studies of the local conditions of the site to be remediated. Despite several indications of the environmental degradation and health effects caused by oil contamination of land in the Niger Delta region, little attention has been paid to investigating the effectiveness of the use of bioremediation in this region. Undertaking an evaluation of a selection of case studies could provide better insight whether bioremediation is the appropriate solution to oil contamination problems in the region. Various application of bioremediation on oil contaminated soil has been reported with encouraging results but its effectiveness has not been fully employed in the region. 1.2 Aim and Objectives The primary aim of this study is firstly to consider oil contamination of land as a global problem, assess the causes and effects of oil contamination of land both across the world and in Nigeria and secondly to evaluate whether bioremediation could be an effective treatment technique of land contaminated by oil with particular reference to the Niger Delta of Nigeria. In order to achieve this, the following will be addressed; (a) The extent and causes of oil contamination (b) The effect of oil contamination (c) Oil contamination in Nigeria (d) Remediation methods (e) Case studies and/or questionnaire 1.3 Overview of oil contamination of land Pollution of the land by oil has become a matter of widespread concern, attracting attention of politicians, environmentalists and scientists. There is growing public concern as a wide variety of toxic organic chemicals are being introduced accidentally or deliberately into the environment. Petroleum hydrocarbons are one common example of these chemicals, which enter the environment frequently and in large volumes through numerous routes. These routes include seepage from natural deposits, human activities in exploration, production, transportation and storage of petroleum. Such human activities inevitably involve the risk of accidental spills that can only be minimized but not eliminated completely. Deonarine and Basdeo (2001) explained that leaks from wellheads, leaks from pipelines, and overflows at gathering stations and deposition of oily mud are also other routes through which hydrocarbon enter the environment. Oil spills are now becoming a frequent and major source of water an d land contamination across the globe especially in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. 1.4 Justification of the Study In time past, land contamination was usually perceived in terms of relatively rare incidents, with poorly known but possibly catastrophic impact on human health and the environment. According to Nathanail and Bardos (2004) numerous incidents drew media attention and these include Love canal in New York; Times Beach Missouri in United States and Minamata, Japan disaster. They further explained that today land contamination is no longer perceived in terms of few severe incidents rather as extensive infrastructural problems of varying intensity and significance that is inherited from past and present industrial and waste disposal activities. Nowadays across the globe, land contamination is gaining a higher official recognition and is been recognised as a serious challenge to present and future generation. Recently a lot of policies for sustainable development and contaminated land management have been introduced and so many countries especially in developed countries have implemented these policies. Despite this trend, the Nigeria Government and oil multinational companies operating in that country are yet to implement such policies. They agree with sustainable development and good environmental management but these are only seen as a paper exercise. There is no adequate implementation of sustainable development and environmental management in Nigeria. Moreover, oil spill incidence still occurs and no adequate management is given to the spilled site. There are no known instances in Nigeria whereby an oil polluted site had been fully remediated and restored by any of the oil companies. Most polluted sites are neglected to the mercy of slow process of natural recovery that takes several years to accomplish.   Even in terrestrial environments where remediation is conventionally cheaper and easy, in the Nigerian situation, it is a luxury that is impossible. For example, most sites in Ogoniland where incident oil spill incident occurred since 1970 remains unclean till date 2009. Besides deliberate negligence, corporate corruption and penchant to cut-corners hinder remediation programmes in the Nigerian oil industry. Remediation contracts are often awarded to contractors who simply transport topsoil from elsewhere to mask contaminated spill sites. These sites are often reported as begin remediated Although many people and organisations especially non-governmental organisation (NGO) have writing about oil pollution in Nigeria and its negative effects, but solution to the pollution have been limited. 1.5 Structure of the Report Chapter one began with an introduction and justification of the study. It brought problems, Aims and objectives and conceptual framework of the work. The second chapter carries out a review of the existing on oil contamination of land with emphasis on the meaning, causes, effects, issues across the world and Nigeria, technology and oil spillage as a major cause of the oil contamination. Also this chapter review oil contamination in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Chapter three looks at the methodology, nature and sources of data collection as well as the technique for data analysis. The Chapter four looks at the proposed solution to oil contamination. Chapter five focuses on case studies and Discussion of findings of the study. (develop best practice guide for Nigeria) Chapter six looks at the conclusions and recommendations CHAPTER TWO 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Oil contamination is a major environmental problem which is caused as result of oil operations. Activities of oil companies constitute environmental problems; with substantial implications for economic development and human health. As a result of its impacts some individuals live as aliens in their own communities, where they are unable to actualize their interest or aspirations. This chapter provides a review of the menace of oil contamination. 2.2 The problem Oil contamination of land. The demand for energy is increasing globally as a result of rising population, increased industrialisation and prosperity. This has resulted on severe pressure on available energy resources. Energy has a major impact on every aspects of socio-economic life as it plays a vital role in the economic, social and political development of any nation. As a result, the demand for energy is increasing worldwide, along with this, pollution is on the increase. Many parts of the world have as a consequence, suffered significant contamination. Khan et al (2004) pointed out that these oil contaminants enter the environment directly as a result of oil waste (sludge), spills during exploration, production and transportation, leakage from storage sites, or from industrial facilities. Oil spillage and oily waste deposits represent the majority of hydrocarbon contamination of our planet. Al-Saleh and Obuekwe (2005) asserted that accidental and deliberate oil spills have been and still continue to be a significant source of environmental pollution. Contamination of soil arising from spills is one of the most limiting factors to soil fertility and hence crop productivity as well as animal activity. Also the runoff from oil spill impacted site usually degrade the quality of the fresh water source which serves the domestic rural water supply needs of the host communities. Molina-Barahona et al (2004) corroborated that oil spills caused great damages to the ecology and economy of rural regions as well as nations. Therefore these polluted areas constitute a big potential risk to human health, environment, subsoil infrastructure, flora and fauna as well as groundwater. 2.3 Causes of oil contamination Crude oil is extracted world-wide at a very high rate to meets the bulk of the worlds energy requirements. At the same time, crude oil constitutes a potential hazard if discharged into the environment. Such discharge happens despite the fact that the distribution and storage network for crude oil is closely and well monitored. Oil development activities involve several polluting processes. The extent of these processes depends mainly on the environmental practices and technology used by oil companies. Apart from oil spills that mainly cause oil contamination of land, there are other different operations in the petroleum industry that cause contamination. These include drilling operation, leakage from wellhead and pipeline and over-flows at gathering stations. Fisher and Sublette (2005) stated that these causes of oil contamination are as a result of overflows, intentional dumping , illegal activity, aging facilities, equipment failure, operators error, construction defect, accidental damage, transport accident, defeat/bypassing protective system, ineffective quality control, over pressuring, natural phenomenon, blow out of oil well, sabotage and corrosion. During drilling, each well that is drilled produces drilling wastes, including formation water and drilling muds. Miguel and Anna-Karin (2004) pointed out that these wastes are frequently deposited into open pits, from which they are either directly discharged into the environment or leached out as the pits degrade or overflow from rainwater. Extraction of oil is also accompanied by seepage and spills. Offshore drilling routinely creates low level spills, and sometimes causes a blowout, a massive gush of petroleum. Most oil-wells are situated in deserts and oceans, which is where the majority of the worlds documented blow-outs have occurred. Storage facilities and pipelines can typically be destroyed by e.g.; either natural disasters like hurricanes, or accidents during construction or due to acts of sabotage or ageing of the facilities all resulting in release of large amounts of oil. The table below shows incident oil spill causes and number of incidents between 2000 and 2008. Table 1: Incident oil spill causes 2000-2008 2007 Incidents Causes No of incidents 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Equipment failure 8,383 8,429 8,341 9,132 10,078 9,958 10,209, 10,849 8,578 Operator error 3,459 2,885 2,305 2,889 2,997 2,684 2,908 2,885 3,022 Transport accidents 609 713 563 631 1,050 1,152 1,103 1,361 1,387 Dumping 1,523 1,494 1,265 960 806 757 863 1,004 935 Natural phenomenon 472 716 497 711 685 575 804 708 726 Sabotage 6,428 7,204 7457 6,531 3,907 3,865 3858 3860 3,942 Accidental spillage(aging facilities, construction defect, blow out of oil well, etc) 10,552 11,800 10,266 10,314 10,078 9,958 10,209 10,849 10,578 Source: (National response center statistics U.S 2008) It is observed from the table above that equipment failure and accidental spillage are the two main causes and these account for over 50% of oil spillage cause. Accidentals spillage could be as a result of traffic accident, aging facilities and blow-out of oil well. In addition to the above table, European Environmental Agency report that tanker accidents account for about 10-15 per cent of all oil that spill into the ocean world-wide every year. Fingas and Charles (2001) argued that oil spills accounts for a highest number and volume of oil contamination. Mokhalalati et al (2000) demonstrated that observations from many oil spill incidents around the world have shown that both land and aquatic environment suffer oil exposure and these environments are particularly difficult to protect and also clean- up once a spill has occurred. 2.4 Effects of oil contamination The oil and gas sector is one of the most lucrative sectors in business but reducing its negative impacts is one of the most pressing issues today. As an example, one barrel of crude oil can make one million barrels of water undrinkable and make hectares of land and water bodies useless. It has also destroyed crops, damage the quality and productivity of soil use for farming and as well damage fisheries. This exacerbates hunger and poverty in affected communities. In addition the residents often experience an increase of conflict with their neighbourhood. Miraglia, A.R (2002) observed that Chenega Bay, Niger Delta, Ecuador indigenous communities etc have been fighting due to oil compensation. This has resulted in killing of people, destroying of houses, property, etc. Khan,M.I and Islam,R.M (2003) asserted that practically all activities of hydrocarbon operations are accompanied by undesirable discharges of liquid, solid and gaseous wastes which have enormous devastating impacts . When oil reaches and penetrates into the soil and deep sea, the effects will be apparent for long period of time, thus the oil that reaches quickly will be more toxic. The effect depends on the following factors such as; size of the spill, the spread of the oil slick, the toxicity and persistence of the oil and the sensitivity of the environmental region affected. However oil contamination has caused a range of pervasive impacts on the environment, human health, economy and society. Ecological effects may include physical and chemical changes in habitats, changes in growth or behaviour and increased mortality of organisms and species. Wildlife can be impacted by direct physical contact with the oil, e.g., filterfeeding shellfish and bird eggs can be smothered by oil and the feathers of birds or the fur of seals lose their insulating properties when coated with oil, leading to the danger of death from cold. Also if oil is ingested, it can damage the digestive system of the animals. Its vapours have the potential to damage the nervous system of animals, as well as their lungs and liver. The oil impedes proper soil aeration as oil film on the soil surface acts as a physical barrier between air and the soil and this affects soil fertility which consequently has great negative impact on food productivity. Oil contamination affects certain soil parameters such as the mineral and organic matter content, the cation exchange capacity, redox properties and pH value. As crude oil creates anaerobic condition in the soil, coupled to water logging and acidic metabolites, Onwurah et al (2007) stated that the result is high accumulation of aluminum and manganese ions, which are toxic to plant growth. The smearing root plants with oily substances may cause the plants to wilt and die off due to blockage of stomata inhibiting photosynthesis, transpiration, respiration and reduces permeability of cell membranes. Due to the toxic nature of oil, Pezeshki et al (2000) asserted that petroleum-based products have adverse im ­pact on yields of various plant species and in high doses they can depress germination of plants and cause necrosis of seedlings. A substantial high rate of illness as well as psychological and physical symptoms is usually reported in areas affected by spill oil and on increase on the days when oil exposure was at its highest. Rodrigue-Trigo et al (2007) stated that these illnesses include; respiratory tract irritation, vertigo, headache, sore eyes, sore throat and exacerbation of asthma. They further stated that anxiety and depression rate is usually on high increase in the exposed region. Oil contamination has shown to have great influence on the engineering properties and behaviour of a soil. Puri, K.V (2000) corroborated that it has resulted in decrease in shear strength of a clayey soil, angle of internal friction of sand based on total stress condition decrease with the presence of oil in the pore spaces and compression characteristics of sand are significantly influenced. Khamehchiyan et al (2007) asserted that it has resulted in decrease in the value of the constrained modulus with increase in the degree of oil saturation. Oil contamination induces a reduction in permeability and strength of soil samples. Generally oil contamination has drastically reduced the bearing capacity of the soil. 2.5 Worldwide issues: Oil spill across the world In the last decade, a lot of oil contamination across the world has been experienced as a result of oil spill incident which account for highest cause of oil contamination. Meniconi et al (2002) pointed out that, characterizing the spilled oil, monitoring the affected ecosystem, determining the fate of the oil in the environment and subsequently assessing the environmental damage caused have been a pressing issue. The spill case studies described below encompass crude and fuel oil release on coastal ecosystems and land. We know that oil spill on sea can spread and dispersed to land by wind, tide, wave action and rainfall. Any oil spill on sea also affects the land. Some of the oil spill case studies in Nigeria and major spills across the world are highlighted below; The Torrey canyon supertanker disaster (1967) This is the first major oil spill to awaken the international community to the dangers of oil transport. On 18th March, 1967 the Torrey Canyon carrying 117000 tons of Kuwait crude oil ran aground on the Pollards Rock in the Seven Stones reef between the Scilly Isles and Lands End, England. Approximately119, 000 tonnes of Kuwait oil leaked from the ship and spread along the sea between England and France, killing most of the marine life it touched along the whole of the south coast of Britain and the Normandy shores of France. Sands, P. (2003). The Torrey Canyon oil spill proved for the first time the immense environmental damage that could result from an accident involving a large oil tanker as well as revealed the problems inherent in the international system for assessing liability and compensation for oil spill damage. Jacobsson (2007) stated that this spill triggered the International Compensation Convention. Exxon Valdez (1989) In March 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Prince William sound, Alaska and spilled about 37,000 tonnes of oil, the worst spill in US history. The spill subsequently affected a variety of shores, mainly rock and cobble, to varying degrees over an estimated 1,800km in Prince William Sound. The spilled oil impacted a wide range of intertidal organisms and as a result thousands of marine animals and seabirds were killed. (Peterson 2001) Braer (1993) The oil tanker Braer ran aground at Garths Ness on the Southern Shetland Isles Coast on 5th January, 1993 spilling approximately 84,700 tonnes of crude oil. The spilt oil was dispersed naturally in the wave action against the North Sea. The BRAER spill was unusual in that a significant amount of oil was blown on to land adjacent to the wreck site. Seabird casualties were also moderately low. Considering the size of the spill, the environmental impacts were surprisingly limited . (Gregory 2007). Erika Incident The Maltese tanker ERIKA, carrying some 31,000 tonnes of heavy fuel oil, broke in two in a severe storm in the Bay of Biscay on 11th December, 1999, off the coast of France. About 20,000 tonnes of oil were spilled. The main environmental impact of the spill was on sea birds and 65,000 oiled birds were collected from beaches, of which about 50,000 were dead. This incident led to rapid moves to accelerate the phasing out of all single hull oil tankers. (Le Moigne, and Laubier, 2004). Prestige (2002) In September 2002, oil tanker prestige sunk of the Galician north west of Spain spilling about 30,000 tonnes of oil. The spilled oil affected the entire coastline particularly the exposed rocky shores and sandy beaches which caused the largest ecological catastrophe in the history of Spain (de la Huz et al, 2005). Bernabeu et al (2006) observed that the spill had a huge economic impact as it affected the fishing and marine cultivation on which the Costa da Morte (Galicia, N.W. Spain) depends economically. Tasman Spirit (2003) The oil tanker Tasman spirit grounded in the channel of the port of Karachi, on 27th July, 2003 carrying a cargo of 67,535 tonnes of light crude. Approximately 30,000 tonnes of oil spilled when the Tasman Spirit broke down. Strong winds and rough seas spread the light crude along 10 kilometres (seven miles) of the highly populated residential and recreational coastline. As a result of the spill incident, people living around the area have experienced health problems. The coastal environment in which the Tasman Spirit spill occurred was a rich and diverse tropical ecosystem which was negatively affected by the spill. (Janjua et al 2006) Gulf war 1991 The Gulf War in Kuwait 1991 resulted in one of the largest man made environmental disasters, and almost certainly the greatest acute contamination of land and water with oil, in history as the result of oil spills. Kostreba (1999) described that during the Gulf war an estimated 67 million tonnes of crude oil was spilt and burnt on land. The oil spills were as a result of deliberate damage done by Iraqi forces during their invasion of Kuwait. Crude oil was deliberately dumped into the gulfs and oil production, storage, and refining facilities were destroyed. The oil leaking from the well heads, storage tanks, and pipelines formed huge oil lakes as deep as 2 meters. Many of the oil wells were also set on fire and this resulted in the aerial deposition of partially combusted oil particles and associated non-combusted products of the oil fires, which also polluted large areas. The resulting oil pollution affected mainly Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Hans-Jorg Barth (2001) pointed out that over 700 km of coastline from southern Kuwait to Abu Ali Island were smothered with oil and tar, erasing most of the local plant and animal communities. Lebanon (2006) During hostilities in Lebanon in 2006, Isreali planes struck the Jiyyeh power plant about 25 kilometres south of Beirut. The hit storage tanks leaked 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes of oil into Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The oil slick covered 170km of coastline and was threatening Turkey and Cyprus. This is the worst environmental problem in the history of the country. The oil spill damaged land and marine ecosystems, destroyed fishermens livelihoods and rendered coastal areas lifeless. To worst the issue, no clean-up started until after three weeks due to security situation in Lebanon. (Friends of the Earth 2007). Ogbodo oil spill On 24th June, 2001 the community of Ogbodo in Rivers State, Nigeria, heard a loud explosion which was the bursting of a Shell Petroleum pipeline which traverses the village lands and waterways. Crude oil began to spill out into the environment. Rains and swiftly flowing water rapidly distributed the crude oil into the waterways surrounding the community. At least about 26,500 barrels of oil were spilt. The impact of the spill and the fire on local livelihoods was extensive and the devastating impact of the oil spill was exacerbated and prolonged because of failure to contain the spill swiftly. (www.waado.org). Oshire-2 oil spill According to Osuji and Opiah, (2007) on the 24th July, 2003, an oil spillage occurred in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State in Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The oil spill was as a result of leakage of one of the above-ground pipelines that criss-cross the Oshire-2 oil field. About 3,000 barrels of crude oil was allegedly spilled as a result a suspected sabotage. Oil spill in Ogoniland Ogoniland is the site of huge Shell facilities that have devastated the local environment. On June 6, 2001, Shell oil pipeline, which passes through the Baraale community, ruptured and started spilling crude oil into nearby forests, farmlands and houses. Many houses were flooded with crude oil. Disaster struck on 1st October, 2001, when the leaking oil caught fire. Residents of the community were about going to bed that night when a large fire started following a loud explosion. (Olukoya 2002). Also on 1 Sep 2003Crude oil from a ruptured oil pipeline caught fire, destroying farmland and polluting streams in the Ogoni area. This Day (2006) reported that oil spill from one of the Shell companys oil wellheads has devastated another Ogoni community. The spill is as a result of leak which occurred at Bomu Well-2, a dormant well in Ogoni land belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria limited. Oil spill incidence in Nigeria has become everyday news and its occurrence is too numerous that it cant all be highlighted in this study. Federal ministry of Environment on 2006 reported that quantity of oil spilled over 50 years is equivalent to 50 Exxon Valdez spills. This makes the Nigeria delta one of the 5 most oil polluted environments in the world. 2.6 Oil spill in Nigeria 2.6.1 Oil exploration in Nigeria In 1956, Royal Dutch Shell discovered crude oil at Oloibiri, a village in the Niger Delta, and the first commercial production started in 1958. Nwilo and Badejo (2005a) stated that 50 years later, 606 oil fields exist in the Niger Delta, of which 360 are on-shore and 246 off-shore. Nigeria is now the largest oil producer in Africa and the sixth largest in the world, averaging 2.7 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in 2006. Nigerias economy is heavily dependent on earnings from the oil sector, which provides 20% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of budgetary revenues (Central intelligence Agency (CIA) World Fact Book, 2005). Current oil exploration and production activities in Nigeria is concentrated in the Niger Delta region, a huge fertile wetland which covers a land mass of over 70,000 km2, and cuts across 800 oil producing communities. Oguejiofor (2008) demonstrated that the region has huge oil and gas reserve and accounts for 90 per cent of national exports and 70 per cent of Government revenue, mainly from oil and gas exported is from the region. Geological record and research shows that the region (both onshore and offshore areas) is particularly conducive for the formation and accumulation of oil and gas. Today, the oil industries are highly visible in the Niger Delta and have control over a large area in the region. The area is crisscrossed by thousands of kilometres of pipeline, punctuated by wells and flow stations. Much of the oil infrastructure is located close to the homes, farms and water sources of communities. 2.6.2 Overview of the damage in the Niger delta Oil and gas activities and enormous oil installations deployed in the Niger Delta explains her vulnerability to oil spill. The social and environmental costs of oil contamination have been extensive. These include destruction of wildlife and biodiversity, loss of fertile soil, pollution of air and drinking water, degradation of farmland and damage to aquatic ecosystems, all of which have caused serious health problems for the inhabitants of areas surrounding oil production. Oil spills in the Niger Delta have destroy vegetation, mangrove forests, food/cash crops, fishing ground/marine life, reduces nutrient value of the soil, induces land fragmentation, and sets communities on fire. For example a spill at Osima creek in Agbakabiriyai, near Nembe on February 28th 1998, led to eight days of fire, which razed down the entire community. This resulted to the destruction of about 400 houses, and the displacement of about 130,000 inhabitants. Also a spill that occurred on 7th December, 2008 in Ikarama community terribly caught fire on 1st of March 2009. The fire caused more damage to the environment (www.eration.org/index.php?). Given these challenges, land as an economic power resource base becomes critical for the Niger Delta region. Without fertile soil and good water, indigenous communities in the region lose their mode of survival and are faced with the crisis of food shortages. Due to oil spillage, many water ways, land and marine systems in the region have been badly polluted and residents have been badly affected by enviro