King Lear Essays (706 words) - Film, Grimms Fairy Tales, Fiction

King Lear A Fairy Tale Family Families aren't perfect. When one thinks of fairy tales, he thinks of the perfect princes and princesses living happily ever after, similar to Cinderella finding her Prince Charming. However, life was not always perfect for Cinderella; before finding her prince her stepmother and stepsisters tortured her life. In Shakespeare's King Lear, the play presents a happy and loving royal family, almost like a fairy tale. Nevertheless, the families in King Lear parallel the anguish and strife that Cinderella suffered with her family. In King Lear Goneril and Regan portray the two stepsisters of Cinderella. Bound by greed and fortune, both sisters act out a scene of love for their father, King Lear. In reality, though, they plot for his death and his riches: ?There is further compliment of leave-taking between France and [Lear]. Pray you let us hit together; if our father carry authority with such disposition as he bears, this last surrender of his will but offend us.? (Act I, Scene I) Cinderella's father was quite wealthy and once he married Cinderella's stepmother, his wealth was dispersed among the new family. However, after his death, Cinderella had none of her father's inheritance. Goneril and Regan made flowery speeches to declare their love for their father only to inherit the divided kingdom, however their words were only empty and not full of emotions, like their younger sister, Cordelia. Cordelia, like Cinderella, truly loved her father, even if words did not express the way she felt. Unfortunately, both were left with nothing from their father, while the wicked sisters got all. King Lear's family represents a family of royalty and fairy tale, however problems arise in this royal household, just as it did in Cinderella. King Lear is not alone with family problems; his children also trouble his dear friend, Gloucester. Just like King Lear's daughters, Gloucester's bastard son, Edmund, wants the family inheritance for himself. His treachery is as wicked as Goneril and Regan ? to kill their own father. He says to himself, ?Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father's love is to the bastard Edmund as to th' legitimate.? (Act I, Scene II) Greed has consumed Edmund's mind that he does not care for his brother or father. He acts as the male counterpart of the stepsisters, and Edgar as the female counterpart. This royal household as well, lives the fairy tale setting; however, there is always a twist in a perfect story. Goneril, Regan and Edmund present themselves as the villains of this royal, fantasy family, just as the stepsisters and the stepmother were to Cinderella. To every villain, there is always a hero or heroine. In this case, Cordelia and Edgar, the faithful children, save their fathers from their doom. After Goneril and Regan punish their father by releasing him in the wilderness, Lear goes mad and uncontrollable, however Cordelia is the one who tames her father: ?O my dear father! Restoration hang thy medicine on my lips, and let this kiss repair those violent harms that my two sisters have in thy reverence made.? (Act IV, Scene VII) Even though Lear disinherits Cordelia, she still remains faithful to her father and brings him back to health. She holds no grudge for the banishment onto her. Edgar does the same as well; he duels his bastard brother in honor of his father and says, ?My name is Edgar, and thy father's son. The gods are just, and of our pleasant gives make instruments to plague us.? (Act V, Scene II) Because of Edmund, Edgar fled the country in fear, and Gloucester suffered an eye gouging. But no matter what suffering Edgar went through, he honors his father and fight for him. Both Cordelia and Edgar look past the wronging that their fathers have done to them and instead recognize the suffering that their siblings have done to their fathers. The royal families in King Lear parallel many aspects of a fairy tale, specifically Cinderella. Both have their wicked siblings who plot against the protagonists. Although fairy tales have their villains, just as King Lear had Edmund, Regan and Goneril, they also contain the heroes of the story who make the fairy tale a happy

The Bilateral Relationships between the UAE and Japan

The Bilateral Relationships between the UAE and Japan Abstract The bilateral relations between the UAE and Japan have been important for the sustained development of both countries. In particular, these states have established economic cooperation involving the exchange of natural resources and technologies.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Bilateral Relationships between the UAE and Japan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, they have common foreign policy interests such as the elimination of nuclear threats and preservation of maritime security. These countries can differ profoundly in terms of their culture or political system, but these differences do not undermine their cooperation. Overall, these countries perceive each other as strategic partners, and the situation is not like to change in the near future because Japan and the UAE have been able to resolve several important disputes such as the question related to the taxation of businesses. These are the main issues that should be discussed more closely because it is important for understanding the relations between these states. Introduction This paper is aimed at examining the bilateral relations between the United Arab Emirates and Japan. In particular, one should pay close attention to the economic aspects of their cooperation because it strengthens the ties between these states. Additionally, one should examine the political aspects of their relations. Furthermore, it is critical to examine the similarities and differences in the foreign policy since this issue is important for understanding how these countries interact with one another. Overall, it is possible to argue that each of these states is interested in fostering this partnership since it contributes to the sustained development of their economies. Admittedly, these states are not strongly dependent on one another, but they value their cooperation and try to promote it by reaching agreements that can fos ter the work of various businesses. These are the main questions that should be examined in greater detail. This discussion can be useful for studying the relations between Asian countries and their counterparts from the Middle East. Economic partnership One should mention that Japan established the diplomatic relations with the UAE in 1971 at the time, when the country proclaimed its independence (Lenze 145). The partnership between these states has been critical for their economic development. Much attention should be paid to the trade between the two states.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In particular, the UAE provides oil and natural gas which are important for the functioning of the Japanese economy as well as infrastructure. In particular, the UAE provided 25 percent of Japanese oil supplies (Nusrat). In turn, the UAE government attaches import ance to Japan as a buyer because approximately 40 percent of the oil produced in this country is sold to Japan. The government of Japan strives to maintain productive relations with various suppliers of natural resources, and the UAE is one of the most important ones. In turn, Japanese companies offer vehicles and various electronic devices. Moreover, they bring technologies that are used by various UAE enterprises. One should keep in mind that in 2012, the trade between the two countries equaled $53.9 billion. In particular, UAE imports to Japan were worth $43.9 billion while Japanese exports amounted $8.96 billion (Nusrat). Furthermore, one should mention that the amount of Japanese investment has increased dramatically during the period between 2005 and 2012 (Nusrat). In 2005, Japanese investments in the UAE economy equaled only 19 million, but seven years later, they constituted 364 million (Nusrat). These are some of the main trends should be taken into consideration. Additiona lly, both countries are the members of the World Trade Organization. Thus, one can say that there are relatively few economic barriers that may hinder trade. While discussing the economic cooperation, one should also mention, that the two countries have established closed educational partnership. For example, Tokyo University established its research centers in Abu Dhabi (Vijayan 368). The functioning of these centers is critical for the preparation of more effective labor force and adoption of technologies that increase the productivity of businesses. To a great extent, this educational cooperation is critical for the technological modernization of the UAE economy. For example, one can speak about the adoption of renewable energy (â€Å"Co-chairmanship of two Japanese ministers in the 5th IRENA Assembly†). One can argue that the relationship between these countries have been mutually profitable. Moreover, in the future, this trend is not likely to reverse itself. It should b e mentioned that these states have recently been able to reach an agreement regarding he taxation (â€Å"UAE, Japan sign treaty on taxation†). The main goal of this agreement is to eliminate double taxation which creates significant challenges for businesses working at the international level. This step can be important for fostering bilateral cooperation between the two states.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Bilateral Relationships between the UAE and Japan specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In the future, Japanese businesses and UAE regulators will have fewer reasons for entering into conflicts with one another. This is one of the details that can be distinguished.  One should keep in mind that Japan is interested in the preservation of peace in the Middle East because such events can disrupt oil supplies in the country (Miyagi 102). This is why the government of Japan is opposed to such an or ganization as Islamic State (Fackler 15). In turn, the UAE wants to attract investors and businesses that have made considerable achievements in various sectors of economy, especially those ones requiring the use of sophisticated technologies. In the long term, such partnership has been important for the strengthening of the UAE economy. It is possible to say that the economic benefits received by the two countries can be regarded as the main driver of their continued relationship. This is one of the main arguments that can be put forward. Political regimes of the two countries Admittedly, much attention should be paid to internal differences. It is important to mention that these countries differ in terms of political regimes. For example, Japan can be described as the constitutional monarchy with a well-developed parliamentary system. In turn, the government of the UAE has the elements of both absolute and federal monarchies (Stewart 155). It should be mentioned that the UAE can b e regarded as the federation of monarchies. Furthermore, the policies of separates emirates can differ considerable. Thus, foreign companies may need to follow different sets of regulation. This comparison has been included in order to highlight the idea these two countries have been able to overcome these significant differences. It is importantly that the diplomats accept that idea that the UAE and Japan differ in terms of their political culture. However, they do not lay much stress on these differences. This is one of the issues that one should take into account while examining the interactions between these states. Foreign policy It should be mentioned that there are significant similarities in the foreign policy of the two countries. These countries play a critical role in the regions that they represent. Additionally, one should point out that the governments of both countries attach the importance of nuclear disarmament.Advertising Looking for research paper on international relations? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This policy can be partly explained by the fact that both countries have to face the threats of nuclear war that can be posed by such countries as North Korea and Iran. This is one of the details that should be taken into account. Apart from that, both countries lay stress on maritime security. This policy is also critical for the preservation of trade in the region. Apart from that, both countries recognize the need to minimize the threats that can be poses by the terrorist organization Islamic State. Some of Japanese citizens have already been affected by this terrorist group (Yoshida). The government of the UAE also recognizes the dangers posed by Islamic State. Therefore, it is possible to argue that these countries common geopolitical goals. These objectives can be important for minimizing potential conflicts or disputes between these states. Admittedly, there is the risk of potential conflicts which can be explained by the differences in their foreign policy. One should mentio n that Japanese government has traditionally provided support to American foreign policies, especially those ones related to the Middle East. In turn, the UAE tries to act as an independent player in this region. It is possible that at a certain point, this difference can undermine the bilateral relations of Japan with the UAE. This is one of the risks that should not be overlooked. However, researchers note that Asian countries have been able to settle potential disputes with the states representing the Middle East (Eberling 65). Yet. as it has been noted before these states have a strong economic interest that will shape the decisions of the governments. Importance of these relations for both countries It is possible to say that the relations with the UAE have been critical for Japan because this country provides natural resources that are important for the functioning of the Japanese economy. Moreover, the UAE creates additional demand for the products manufactured in Japan. This is one of the aspects that can be distinguished. In turn, the government of the UAE attaches importance to the partnership with Japan because the interactions with the country can be important for the economic diversification (Gorgenl 21). In particular, one should speak about the intention of this country to become less dependent on the exportation of oil. This is one of the overarching goals that have to be attained in the near future. Additionally, one should bear in mind since the early seventies, Japanese companies have acted as important investors in the Middle East. To some degree, they spurred the development of various industries in the UAE. This is why the UAE focuses on the cooperation with Japanese governmental institutions and private businesses. It is rather difficult to say that these states are strongly dependent on one another. This assumption would be rather inaccurate. However, each of these states values these bilateral relations. Conclusion On the whole, this d iscussion indicates Japan and the UAE have established close relations and productive relations with one another. Although, these countries differ dramatically in terms of culture or religion, they have been able to achieve results that have been benefited each of the parties. There has been no cause for considerable disputes between the two countries. Furthermore, the governments of both states have identified those areas of cooperation that are critical for both partners. In particular, one should speak about the supply of natural resources, transfer of technologies, foreign direct investment and so forth. Therefore, the ties between Japan and UAE will not weaken in the near future. These are the main details that can be singled out. â€Å"Co-chairmanship of two Japanese ministers in the 5th IRENA Assembly,† UAE-emb.  2015. Web. uae.emb-japan.go.jp/bilateralrelations.htm. Nusrat, Ali. â€Å"Building Bridges Between Japan And The UAE.† Gulf Business 14  March 201 4. Web. http://gulfbusiness.com/2014/03/building-bridges-japan-uae/#.VNpUDiyWlCg. Eberling, George. Future Oil Demands of China, India, and Japan: Policy Scenarios  and Implications, New York: Lexington Books, 2014. Print. Fackler, Martin. â€Å"Departing From Japan’s Pacifism, Shinzo Abe Vows Revenge for  Killings.† The New York Times, 1 Feb. 2015: 15. Print. Gorgen, Victor. A Strategic Analysis of the Construction Industry in the United Arab  Emirates: Opportunities and Threats in the Construction Business, New York: Diplomica Verlag, 2011. Print. Lenze, Nele. Converging Regions: Global Perspectives on Asia and the Middle East,  New York: Ashgate Publishing, 2014. Print. Miyagi, Yukiko. Japans Middle East Security Policy: Theory and Cases, New York:  Routledge, 2013. Print. Stewart, Dona. The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural  Perspectives, New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. â€Å"UAE, Japan sign treaty on taxation.† Gulf News. com. 17 Oct. 2012. Web. http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/uae-japan-sign-treaty-on-taxation-1.1090608 . Vijayan, Sugumaran. Application of Agents and Intelligent Information Technologies,  New York: Idea Group Inc. Yoshida, Reiji. â€Å"Islamic State threatens to kill two Japanese hostages.† The Japan  Times 20 Jan. 2020. Web. japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/01/20/national/islamic-state-threatens-kill-two-japanese-hostages/#.VNjESSyWkuM.

Conditions for Using a Binomial Distribution

Conditions for Using a Binomial Distribution Binomial probability distributions are useful in a number of settings. It is important to know when this type of distribution should be used. We will examine all of the conditions that are necessary in order to use a binomial distribution. The basic features that we must have are for a total of n independent trials are conducted and we want to find out the probability of r successes, where each success has probability p of occurring. There are several things stated and implied in this brief description. The definition boils down to these four conditions: Fixed number of trialsIndependent trialsTwo different classificationsThe probability of success stays the same for all trials All of these must be present in the process under investigation in order to use the binomial probability formula or tables. A brief description of each of these follows. Fixed Trials The process being investigated must have a clearly defined number of trials that do not vary. We cannot alter this number midway through our analysis. Each trial must be performed the same way as all of the others, although the outcomes may vary. The number of trials is indicated by an n in the formula. An example of having fixed trials for a process would involve studying the outcomes from rolling a die ten times.  Here each roll of the die is a trial. The total number of times that each trial is conducted is defined from the outset. Independent Trials Each of the trials has to be independent. Each trial should have absolutely no effect on any of the others. The classical examples of rolling two dice or flipping several coins illustrate independent events. Since the events are independent we are able to use the multiplication rule to multiply the probabilities together. In practice, especially due to some sampling techniques, there can be times when trials are not technically independent. A binomial distribution can sometimes be used in these situations as long as the population is larger relative to the sample. Two Classifications Each of the trials is grouped into two classifications: successes and failures. Although we typically think of success as a positive thing, we should not read too much into this term. We are indicating that the trial is a success in that it lines up with what we have determined to call a success. As an extreme case to illustrate this, suppose we are testing the failure rate of light bulbs. If we want to know how many in a batch will not work, we could define success for our trial to be when we have a light bulb that fails to work. A failure of the trial is when the light bulb works. This may sound a bit backward, but there may be some good reasons for defining the successes and failures of our trial as we have done. It may be preferable, for marking purposes,  to stress that there is a low probability of a light bulb not working rather than a high probability of a light bulb working. Same Probabilities The probabilities of successful trials must remain the same throughout the process we are studying. Flipping coins is one example of this. No matter how many coins are tossed, the probability of flipping a head is 1/2 each time. This is another place where theory and practice are slightly different. Sampling without replacement can cause the probabilities from each trial to fluctuate slightly from each other. Suppose there are 20 beagles out of 1000 dogs. The probability of choosing a beagle at random is 20/1000 0.020. Now choose again from the remaining dogs. There are 19 beagles out of 999 dogs. The probability of selecting another beagle is 19/999 0.019. The value 0.2 is an appropriate estimate for both of these trials. As long as the population is large enough, this sort of estimation does not pose a problem with using the binomial distribution.

Philosophy - Article oppression by Irish Young - response

Philosophy - oppression by Irish Young - response - Article Example Exploitation generally depicts the conflicts between and haves and have-nots. It is a major trade union issue of all times, as most of the workers’ unions think that the management is their permanent enemy and the workers need to be in war with it always. In the extreme form of unionism, productivity is lost sight of, resulting in grievous loss to the economy. The working class also suffers in the long run. Marginalization is about those sections that are unable to bear with the stiff competition in the labor market due to variety of factors like loss of employment due to recession, disabilities, racial discrimination, etc. Powerlessness is about the plight of the workers, especially those who are unskilled and are unable to tap the alternative sources of employment due to lack of educational qualifications. Such classes of workers have neither autonomy nor authority and have less chances of improving their job prospectus. They have to carry on with the available facilities. Cultural Dominance refers to the dominance of one group over the other that goes in tandem with cultural expressions and interpretations on the basis of history. Iris Marion Young argues about such attitudes in her book â€Å"Justice and the Politics of Difference, â€Å"The Hebrews are oppressed in Egypt, and many users of the term oppression in West invoke this paradigm.†(41) Violence dominates over a big canvas of societal life. State sanctioned violence, racial segregation, harassment to women in workplace, are some of the prominent examples of oppression in these areas. In this materialistic world impacted by industrial and internet revolutions, Iris Young has correctly assessed the aspects related to various types of oppressions and the anguish they cause in the day to day life of the people in the concerned segments as stated above. Attitudinal differentiation on the basis of sex is the hallmark of societal interactions. In

Quest For Vengeance And Distorted Personalities Essay

Quest For Vengeance And Distorted Personalities - Essay Example This essay examines the adverse effects vengeance has had on the central figure of Paulina in Death And The Maiden, and Claire Zachanassian in The Visit. Death And The Maiden, combining effortlessly elements of suspense, mystery and morality, intertwines them with highly interesting insights into the psychological recesses of a victim, forced to live with the open wounds of her persecution. The play, taking place in an unnamed country, is set in the times when the country has just escaped from a brutal fascist regime. Paulina lives with her husband Gerardo, who was once an activist working against the dictatorship and is now a member of a committee assigned to investigate human-rights violations. A few years back, Paulina was kidnapped and brutally raped and tortured while blindfolded, by a sadistic doctor who played Franz Schubert's quartet "Death And The Maiden." She believes that the stranger that her husband has now brought into their home is the doctor responsible for her traumatic experience. She imprisons the doctor, extracts a forced confession from him and yet, instead of killing him, lets him go in the end. The play provides the reader with ample chances to look inside the tortured soul of Paulina and understand the extent to which her personality has been distorted by her past experiences. Paulina insists fiercely that the prisoner be put on trial and adamantly refuses to hear the moderate voice of her husband, showing that she has lost all rationality and reason and is blinded by a terrible rage. By depicting this, Dorfman has shown how thirst for revenge remains dormant, hiding beneath the layers of a victim's, in this case Paulina's, personality creating an illusion of normalcy, lulling the victim's loved ones into a false sense of complacency. However, when Paulina is shown to be reliving a traumatic experience from her past, her hatred resurfaces again with such violence that it shocks. When Paulina binds the doctor to a chair, she gags him using her panties. This action of hers is highly insightful as it shows that the doctor's total degradation is her main aim and nothing else, and only the most humiliating treatment meted out to her prisoner will satisfy her. She does this because unconsciously she desires the doctor to go through the same mental and emotional torment that she went through. Seeing him helpless, physically bound and gagged, writhing in agony and even unable to feed himself, gives her a deep, perverse satisfaction. Keeping her secret activities against the fascist regime of her country and her courage during her captivity in view, we can safely to assume that Paulina is a decent human being with a high moral sense and belief in lofty ideals such as freedom and justice, but when it comes to Dr. Roberto Miranda, she remorselessly throws all those ideals to the wind and becomes a tigress, thirsty for blood. Dorfman effectively highlights the inner turmoil of Paulina's soul by juxtaposing her tormented psyche with physical proof of how much she suffers. The reader can actually feel her nerves taut with tension due to her clipped dialogues and her equally explosive diatribes. The following tirade of hers, serves as a clear indication of her suffering under a spell of hatred, as she says, "And why

Ray Bradburys Fahrenheit 451 and Modern World Essay -- Compare Contra

Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Modern World The futuristic world that Ray Bradbury, author of Fahrenheit 451, so vividly describes is frighteningly close to our own. It might not seem so at first glance, but if you take a closer look, you'll find that Bradbury wasn't far off the mark with his idea of what our lives would be like in 50 years. As he envisioned, technology would be extremely sophisticated, families would start becoming distant, and entertainment would take a more significant role in our lives. The problems at the present might not be as extreme as Bradbury's, however, if left unchecked, they could grow to be just as monstrous as he predicted. Since the 1950's, scientists and engineers have made enormous advances in the world of technology. Back then, computers were still becoming common, and now pretty much every family has at least one. As technology becomes more widespread, people find excuses to buy more of it and become sucked into a world of digital screens, cell phones, and electronic planners, rather than that of notebooks, pencils, and good old-fashioned face-to-face conversations. Although it is tremendously useful in numerous ways, it is unsettling to think of how in-control technology is of our lives. Would you be able to last a whole day without using your telephone, operating your computer, listening to your CD's, or enjoying that nice warm beverage that's been heated by your microwave? The answer is probably no. Even though you might not think that technology has power over your life, if you look carefully, you'll find you're mistaken. Do you know what "family time" is? How often do you spend time with your family? Do you enjoy it? Would you rather be somewhere else?... ...uation would be extremely close to how Bradbury envisioned it. I think Ray Bradbury sums all this up in a quote from the book: "Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?" This shows that people are gradually thinking less and less. They want life to be easy. They want their technology; they want their entertainment. They don't want to be intellectually stimulated. We can still prevent our future from becoming like that of the book. How? The answer is extremely simple: Think. Use your brain for knowledge, not watching TV and playing video games. Read as many books as you can. Pay attention in school. Someday you'll be glad you did. As Isaac Asimov so wisely said, "If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.

Globalization and Regional Strategies Essay

Executive Summary It is clear enough that in today’s era it is extremely critical for firms to adopt global and regional business strategies in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage. But the question arises regarding classification of a MNE (Multinational Enterprise) as a global firm. This essay critically analyses the work on regional strategy as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino and attempts to cover the following aspects in detail. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy This section highlights the notion of globalization and way organizations today establish a global presence by adoption of unique business strategies. This part also details the three different kind of global strategies. Regional Strategy Analysis This part analyzes the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs. global MNE’s (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Theory of the Regional Strategy This section explains the concept of regional strategy analysis and illustrates the various regional theories as explained by Osegowitsch and Sammartino. Introduction With the concept of globalization and internationalization gaining more and more momentum everyday, this essay attempts to critically analyse the work of Osegowitsch and Sammartino on regional strategy. It starts with explaining the concept of globalisation and global strategy and tries to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exist. Secondly, it tries to establish that significant amount of international business literature and theory is demanded in order to draw conclusion on regional vs. global MNEs strategy by exploring the theory of regional strategy. Notion of Globalization and Global Strategy Globalization can be defined as a complex concept which enables firms to operate in various continents and countries across the globe in order to improve and maximise their profit margins, sustainability, worldwide existence and economies of scale (Blyton et al., 2001). Globalization provides platform not only to consumers but also to organizations to help them satisfy their needs globally. According to Marquardt & Berger (2003), Trade, Travel, Technology and Television are the four major developments that have resulted in Globalization. The four T’s of global development are the outcome of human brain and its creative innovations. These advancements have further encouraged and made possible continuous exchange of ideas, information and knowledge between human resources by breaking the barriers of distance. Moving ahead, Bratton & Gold (2007) state that Globalization is a global process of political convergence, social economies and national sentiments, in which space, time and Government are not given much importance. The paragraph below will now highlight the three different views on â€Å"global strategy†. The First view states that the global strategy is one of the particular and specific forms of Multinational Enterprise (MNE) Strategy. Further, it highlights the fact that Globalization considers all the countries of the world alike (Levitt, 1983). The Second view considers global strategy as â€Å"International Strategic Management† (Bruton et al., 2004) which is no doubt wider concept than â€Å"global strategy† mentioned in the first view. Lastly, the third view describes global strategy in even broader term; The strategy of the firms that exist all over the globe and this can be concluded as the firm’s theory of how to become a successful competitor (Peng, 2006). Having discussed the various forms of global strategies which are adopted by firms today, this essay now moves ahead to analyse the theory and practice of regional strategy concept of Globalization in particular as a response to Osegowitsch and Sammartino (2008). It aims to justify that in today’s era very few global firms exists and secondly that sufficient amount of international business literature and theory is required to draw reflection on regional vs global MNE’s (Multinational Enterprises) strategy. The Regional Strategy Theories According to Rugman and Verbeke (2007), recent literature on globalization suggests that a firm is categorised as global if maximum 50% of its total sales are in its home territory (EU) and minimum 20% of sales in each of the NAFTA zone and Asia. He adds to it by bringing to surface the outcome of survey based upon this theory that indicated only nine global firms in Fortune Global 500 and also the orientation of numerous firms towards the home-region. In response to the above mechanism for classifying the firm as global, Osegowitsch and Sammartino (OS) (2008) have provided three basic criteria and comments that can be helpful in future classification of firms according to their geographic sales dispersion. Firstly, OS suggest that it is not appropriate to classify statistical data straightaway. It should be realised that since this is a growing area of research, usage of any kind of classification tool is open to criticisms as it is not simply the categorization of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) following particular regional strategy theories. As an example, OS focus on building and having strong position in the region by illustrating that if the EU, NAFTA region and Asia represents 90% of the total world sales output, an absolute division would require all the three regional triads to have 30% sales each and not 33.3% in order to encourage the strategy of lower thresholds. In other words, a firm can be defined as global if it has at least 20% of the total sales in the two host-triad regions and without any kind of imposition on the maximum sales threshold in the home territory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007). Additionally, it should also be noted that it is not at all relevant to categorize a firm as having strong position in the market if its threshold is lower than 20% of t he total sales. OS even conducted a simulation using threshold value as 10% of the net sales in order to identify a string position in the host region as it would result to USD $1 billion even for the smallest of the Fortune Global 500 firms. But unfortunately, it didn’t present a strong position and can by no means be considered as an essence for strategic decision making in the worlds largest organizations. OS clearly argues that using various thresholds is helpful in assessing the sensitivity of firm’s positions in the classification system but the main function should always be to provide an assessment of the Future Global 500 and to easily track firms whose thresholds are continuously changing from one category of threshold to another. A clear example of this is Nokia which encountered a 4% decline in sales in the year 2002. However, this change in sales pattern reflected a short term failure in inter-regional growth but OS criticizes that it cannot be simply neglected. Movement of Nokia from a global organization in 2001 towards a home based firm in 2001 was a remarkable concern. In one line, it can be stated that having threshold below 20% simply leads to generation of more bi-regional firms and which can’t be regarded as truly global organizations. Moving ahead, the second regional strategy criterion which OS highlights is that the sales variations are highly industry specific. According to OS, industry plays a significant role and all future researched should aim at exploring the regional vs global strategies at the industry specific levels and try to establish the difference. It is truism that a majority of firms are not properly internationalized and their sizes varies across regions but then its some of the world’s biggest MNEs that have constantly been regarded as capable of compens ating for the weaknesses of the other sectors in different regions of the world. The main point to be considered is that our analysis are independent of differential size of numerous industries that exist across the region, as MNEs are able to establish regional markets and to further develop insufficient markets. Lastly, in third comment it is argued that it would be irrelevant to prefer regional strategy over global strategy. Regional strategies come into existence when it becomes very difficult or impossible to adopt conventional global strategies efficiently, or when they fail to function, keeping in mind that global strategies cannot be evaluated in isolation. Further, it can be said that heterogeneous geographic space beyond the home country border is essential for most of the companies now if not all of them. Moving ahead, this section of the essay will now make an attempt to tackle the criticism formed by OS concerning the contribution of regional strategy to the international business theory. According to (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007), the regional strategy is structured around three simple but fundamental empirical observations which demand international business theory to be extended and enhanced. First of all, only a small number of MNEs have a balanced geographical sales distribution pattern across the global market, although it counts towards the risk diversification at the downstream end of the value chain. OS illustrate that a balanced and structured distribution of sales geographically would contribute towards enhanced global acceptance by the customers of the company’s products and services. With only the exception of resource-based industries, the triad comprising the EU, NAFTA region and Asia demonstrates a first cut though not certainly a fixed one mechanism to identify the extent to which an MNEs net sales are distributed worldwide. Further, this triad has gained so much importance as it is the home of world’s most large MNEs as well as the locus for a number of outstanding innovations in most industrial sectors. The triad also demonstrates the world demand pattern for most knowledge intensive services and goods. But it’s unfortunate to mention that only a small number of MNEs in the Fortune Global 500 are capable of performing equally well in each of the three regions of the triad. It is often observed that a strong position in the home-triad region is not supported with an equally strong position in both the other two remaining triad environments. Classification tools are now irrelevant as among the firms with international operations only a small percentage are truly global i.e. may be even less than 5% (Ghemawat and Ghadar, 2006). They further add to it and state that different firms rule in different parts of the world. Second wing of the regional strategy focuses on the fact that several MNEs have regional features in the organizational structure such as geographic divisions and having individual divisions for different regions is supported mainly by the concept of regional heterogeneity demanding idiosyncratic management. In this case, the intra-regional institutional and economic distance is not just smaller but also very different from that of the interregional. It has been observed that for most MNEs, managing operations and work system in EU is very different from functioning system of the NAFTA region or as compared with the work cultural of Asian environment. These differences may further be enhanced if the work unit is further subdivided into smaller units. Fratiannin (2006) states that these differences in work system signal the importance of regional level in the business strategy and structure of MNEs. Today, almost all big firms such as Toyota, General Electric (GE) have embedded regional elements in their business and operational strategies and these companies are often wrongly referred to as global organizations not just because of lack of balanced geographic distribution but also because of their world wide global operations and manufacturing (Ghemawat, 2005). Thirdly, it should be noted that more than fifty percent of the geographic area in terms of sales is normally the main source of the firm’s cash flows and the centre point of most of the firms both tangible and intangible assets. In the coming years, the concept of having more than 50% sales in the home territory would not be significant enough in EU and North America specifically but it would gain momentum in Asian region as intra-regional distance is minimizing and thereby driven by a reduction of investment barriers and trade. Competition among industries would be more prevalent at the regional level instead of the national level. OC highlight that attention should now be laid on the development of classification tool that will help bundle the home country sales with the sales in the remainder of the home territory rather than paying attention separately to the sales in the home region and remaining of the home region especially for MNEs based in Asia and EU. Moving ahead, the above discussed observations and theories clearly demonstrate the need for an extended international business theory. These observations are independent of specific categorization approaches to measure specific home-region vs. rest-of-the-world market position of MNEs. A trend has always been seen that all the MNEs are much stronger in their home regions as compared to that in other triad regions. These top MNE firms have formulated their organizational structures around the regional component and a varying market position in each region raises call for a regional approach rather than a global strategy approach. The paragraph below now will bring to surface the three main components for the extension on mainstream international business theory (Rugman and Verbeke, 2007). Firstly, it is noticed that impact of country border does not provide strong basis for distinguishing between non- location bound (or internationally deployable/exploitable) and location bound. In today’s period of excess regionalization, it is very easy for some companies to exploit and deploy their strengths throughout the home country border. Further, proxies for internationally transferable FSA’s such as firms level predictors of internationalization like firm’s level of R&D do not hold much importance in explaining intra-regional expansion occurring in home region, given the distance gap between the home country and rest of the home region is very less. As a result of well-functioning trans-European transport and logistics networks enabling fast response and just in time strategies covering the whol e continent, the significance of geographic distance has decreased in EU. The EU integration process itself has let to decrease in Institutional distance. Further, Economic distance has lost its relevance because of many reasons such as development of new services and products at par with European level, possibility of cross border shopping made possible by web based searches, continuous attempts made by many companies to gain scale and scope efficiencies at the European level and lastly, increased importance of EU as a geographic space to ascertain company’s conduct, structure and importance. Finally, decreased significance of conventional measures of cultural distance mainly in the business to business area as it is easy to get labour in Europe, considerable increase in use of English as the lingua franca inside the region. On sharp contrast between past and present position of conventional location bound FSAs it can be clearly stated that previously they allowed firm expansion only up to country borders but now it can be easily upgraded, and made deployable and exploitable even beyond the home country borders and also in othe r home region countries. Secondly, there is a need to reconsider the fact that non-location-bound FSAs like technological knowledge or brand can be easily exploited and deployed nationwide. Today also it is necessary to complement existing FSA bundles with an additional FSA bundle in high distance environments which implies distance still plays an important role. According to Ghemawat (2005), there are several ways to differentiate between low and high distance environments, one major distinction being that between home regions and host regions in a triad context. Moreover, it is clear that extension and scope of mainstream international theory is free from any scholars disagreeing with the concept of the triad region as the best proxy to discriminate between low-distance environments (in this case the home-triad region) and high-distance environment (in this case the two host-triad regions). High distance implies to making more substantial investments in order to complement its present FSA bundles, also ena bling maximum and profitable exploitation in the host region environment. Here, the apparent trade off becomes obvious: further the efforts to expand the high-distance environment may not be proved to be as successful and profitable as the expansion of low distance environment, even if it is suggested by macro-level parameters which measure the attractiveness of the high-distance environment that they have strong location advantages. As stated by Nachum and Wymbs (2007) in regard to global cities that FSAs and location advantages are dependent on each other. High distance bundles also has many risk factors along with it like melding the extant FSA bundles with newly developed or accessed resources in the high distance environment may lead to burdened with several operational problems, decreased or disappointing sales, as exemplified by the retreat of some of the world’s largest MNEs from high-distance contexts, for example, Wal-Mart’s exit from Germany and Korea. . Thirdly, the theoretical difference between the two FSAs namely location bound and non-location bound FSAs assume conventionally easy developments and profitable exploitation of FSAs (like brand names or technological knowledge of proprietary) across borders. Moreover, it is very essential to acclimatize the brief contents of these two concepts to the authenticity of regionalization. More particularly, the factors that determine the extent of FSAs are, its distance accompanied by its geographic, institutional, economic and cultural components. The level at which a FSA should be called location-bound vs non-location bound is estimated by decay in value across a space. On the basis of terms like region bound nature of FSAs and the liability of inter regional foreignness it has been highlighted that for international business other geographic borders hold more importance than conventional country borders in our previous study. After studying the concepts and theories of regional strategy, we now try to establish the extent to which Procter & Gamble could be categorized as a global firm in terms of its business and operational strategies. The Case of Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble Co. – One of the worlds leading consumer goods manufacturer such as Tide, Pantene, Ariel etc was established in 1837 from an original candle and soap company. The firm now operates in 180 nations with more than 138,000 employees. According to Lafley, A. G., Chairman of the Board and chief Executive Officer, P&G, the firm has over 171 years of history and has always been driven by creativity and innovation. Additionally, improved sales and long term success have always been the strategic goals of this corporation. And it understands the fact that these goals can be attained by constantly appreciating changing consumer’s needs, innovation, branding and market needs. Depending entirely on skunk work such as acquisitions, internal R&D and selective innovations has proved to be inefficient and insufficient for attaining the business target of $4 billion business in a time period of one year. It can be clearly seen that invent- it-ourselves model along with global research facilities and recruiting and holding of the best talent nationwide attained success till the year 2000 but nowadays satisfying high levels of top line growth has become a big challenge for an organization The approach through which the radical strategy of open innovation helped an organization attain its business mission and goal can be typified in the following lines. To face the challenge, P&G adopted a brand new technique of innovation: Develop and Connect model in the year 2000 which lays great importance on searching good and new ideas and information outside and bringing them in, in order to give internal capabilities a boost and make most out of them. With the perspective of manufacturing improved and relatively cheaper products faster the business strategy involved in this model was to leverage assets of people, products and property available externally and applying it to their respective R&D labs, purchasing, market capabilities and production. The foremost work of this strategy is to recognize top ten preferences and needs of the consumer. Moreover, it is very essential that the customers are fully satisfied by the products manufactured and which will finally result in increased sales and profit. Moving ahead, alike products or related technologies which already exist in the market and occupy good position are recognized. Lastly, analysing the influence of technological acquisition of one area over the other areas. Networking is the backbone of this approach. Along with having business collaborations with open networking companies such as InnoCentive and Ninesigma, the P&G group has long chain of suppliers and technological entrepreneurs worldwide. They play a crucial role by finding solutions to P&G internal problems in the outside world. Thus, by constructing such type of infrastructure P&G has been able to reduce its investment in technology along with achieving stable top line growth and required sustainability. According to Huston and Sakkab (2000), by shifting to Connect and Develop model there has been a remarkable increment in our R&D production by 60% and the progress rate of innovation has undoubtedly doubled. The Procter & Gamble figures out how an organization can maximize its profitability levels by switching to new and innovative The Procter & Gamble examples mirrors the way how switching to new and innovative approaches of using information and technology can help maximise profit margins. It is one of the organisations which has developed enabling infrastructure fabricated around innovation with a huge worldwide network combining human capital, ideas and technology. Conclusion This essay has brought to surface a number of strategies which can help firms to establish strong positions globally like having a threshold of 20% etc. The main aim which was to justify that a firm cannot be simply categorized as global based upon statistical data has been justified. A number of measures have also been illustrated which can help differentiate the firms regional strategy from the global strategy. References Blyton, P., Lucio, M., McGurk, J. and Turnbull, P. (2001) â€Å"Globalization and trade union strategy: industrial restructuring and human resource management in the international civil aviation industry†, International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp. 445-463. Bratton, J. and Gold, J. 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