Restrictive health, safety and technical standards Essay

Technical Standards: Standards and standards-related technical regulations are pervasive features of global commerce, affecting an estimated 80 percent of world commodity trade. These technical specifications make up much of the vocabulary in the exacting language of industry, consumer protection, and government regulation. As such, foreign standards and methods used to assess conformity to standards can either facilitate efficient international trade and its resultant benefits, or they can impede access to export markets. Divergent standards peculiar to a nation or region, redundant testing and compliance procedures, unilateral and non-transparent standard setting exercises, and a confusing thicket of other standards-related problems are now recognized as major impediments to free trade. For example: Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology publishes a list of imports and exports requiring mandatory quality inspection. Importers and exporters of the products on the list must subject their products to inspection and obtain a permit from the relevant government agencies (such as the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Fishery, and the Ministry of Science and Technology) at the time they go through customs. In the inspection, some products are subject to national standards, some are subject to regulations of the functional agencies, and some are subject to both. China is very concerned with the transparency of Vietnam’s mandatory quality inspection system. Language Barrier: Communication is the key to building successful business relationships. However, communication becomes complex when more than one language is involved. Interpreters and translators can play a critical role assisting exporters with the delivery of key information to prospective customers and clients. Interpreters and translators fulfill different roles in different cultures. For example, an interpreter in North America or Europe is expected to relay an unbiased account of the information to the audience. In Japan, however, an interpreter will translate the language and quite likely interpret gestures, context and meanings for those in attendance. Exporters should enlist the services of an experienced, fluent translator or interpreter who is also immersed in the culture of the target market. Working as a team, the exporter and the interpreter can review the text, presentation or other materials together to ensure that there will be no difficulties with background information, technical terms or potentially ambiguous messages. Non-tariff Barriers. Non-tariff barriers (NTBs) refer to the wide range of policy interventions other than border tariffs that affect trade of goods, services, and factors of production. Most taxonomies of NTBs include market-specific trade and domestic policies affecting trade in that market. Extended taxonomies include macro-economic policies affecting trade. NTBs have gained importance as tariff levels have been reduced worldwide. Common measures of NTBs include tariff-equivalents of the NTB policy or policies and count and frequency measures of NTBs. These NTB measures are subsequently used in various trade models, including gravity equations, to assess trade and/or welfare effects of the measured NTBs. Conclusion The world has a long history of international trade. In fact, trading among nations can be traced back to the earliest civilizations. Trading activities are directly related to an improved quality of life for the citizens of nations involved in international trade. It is safe to say that nearly every person on earth has benefited from international trading activities. This may be a good time to reinforce the idea that trade barriers are designed to protect some industries but, in fact they may hurt other industries or even consumers. Economists have found that sanctions don’t often reach their political objectives and they come with high costs. A good example is the steel tariff imposed by the Bush administration, on foreign-made steel. President Bush imposed the tariffs, ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent, on some kinds of foreign steel in March 2002, in order to help the U. S. steel industry compete with foreign steel producers. Many U. S. manufacturing companies that use steel, including manufacturers of auto parts and appliances, say that the steel tariffs have raised costs for manufacturers and caused thousands of manufacturing losses. Also, people who buy cars or appliances may have to pay higher prices because of the steel tariffs. The U. S. International Trade Commission recently concluded that the tariffs have caused a $30 million net loss to the U. S. economy. In addition, the European Union is considering retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. TBR (Trade Barrier Regulation) is Europe’s way of removing obstacles to trade, ensuring that countries abide by the rules of international trade, and providing procedures for resolving international trade disputes. Through the European Commission, its procedures interface directly with WTO dispute resolution procedures, affecting all countries subject to WTO rules and agreements notably the United States and Japan and whose industries have been the subject of recent international decisions. Free trade is usually most strongly supported by the most economically powerful nations in the world, though they often engage in selective protectionism for those industries which are politically important domestically, such as the protective tariffs applied to agriculture and textiles by the United States and Europe. The Netherlands and the United Kingdom were both strong advocates of free trade when they were economically dominant, today the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan are its greatest proponents. However, many other countries (such as India, China and Russia) are increasingly becoming advocates of free trade as they become more economically powerful themselves. As tariff levels fall there is also an increasing willingness to negotiate non tariff measures, including foreign direct investment, procurement and trade facilitation. The latter looks at the transaction cost associated with meeting trade and customs procedures. Traditionally agricultural interests are usually in favour of free trade while manufacturing sectors often support protectionism. This has changed somewhat in recent years, however. In fact, agricultural lobbies, particularly in the United States, Europe and Japan, are chiefly responsible for particular rules in the major international trade treaties which allow for more protectionist measures in agriculture than for most other goods and services. During recessions there is often strong domestic pressure to increase tariffs to protect domestic industries. This occurred around the world during the Great Depression leading to a collapse in world trade that many believe seriously deepened the depression. The regulation of international trade is done through the World Trade Organization at the global level, and through several other regional arrangements such as MERCOSUR in South America, NAFTA between the United States, Canada and Mexico, and the European Union between 27 independent states. The 2005 Buenos Aires talks on the planned establishment of the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) failed largely due to opposition from the populations of Latin American nations. Similar agreements such as the MAI (Multilateral Agreement on Investment) have also failed in recent years. Bibliography 1. Barriers to entry: Coping with protectionism. UK Investment. 18 April 2007 2. Boone, L. , and Kurtz, D. Contemporary Marketing. New York: Dryden Press. 2003 3. Brue, S. , and McConnell, C. Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill. 2003 4. Churchill, G. , and Peter, P. Marketing: Creating Value for Customers. Austen Press. 2004 5. Czinkota, M. R. , and Ronkainen, I. A. International Marketing. New York: Dryden Press. 2005 6. Competition and Market Power. Econoclass – Sources for Economics Teachers. 18 April 2007 7. Deardorff, Alan V. , and Robert M. Stern. Measurement of Nontariff Barriers: Studies in International Economics. 2005 8. Debra Ann Skaradzinski. Testing chaotic dynamics via Lyapunov exponents. Journal of Applied Econometrics 20:7, (2003): 911. 9. Fisher, Ronald, and Pablo Serra. â€Å"Standards and Protection. † Journal of International Economics 52 (2004): 377-400. 10. Farese, L. , Kimbrell, G. , and Woloszyk, C. Marketing Essentials. Mission Hills, CA: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. 2003 11. Henson, Spencer, and John S. Wilson, eds. The WTO and Technical Barriers toTrade, in the Critical Perspectives on the Global Trading System and the WTO series, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. 2005 12. Impact of Standards and Technical Regulations on Trade. Press Release from Commerce Ministry (2003). 18 April 2007 13. Journal of Behavioral Finance, Vol. 4, No. 2, (2003): Pages 65-70 14. Kee, Hiau Looi, Alessandro Nicita, and Marcelo Olarreaga. Estimating Trade Restrictiveness Indices, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper # 3840.2006 15. Kotler, P. , and Armstrong, G. Marketing: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. 2004 16. â€Å"Methodologies, Classifications, Quantification and Development Impacts of Non-Tariff Barriers: Note by the UNCTAD Secretariat,† Document TD/B/COM. 1/EM. 27/2. (2004). 18 April 2007 17. Non-tariff Barriers Centre for Rural & Agricultural Development (2003). 18 April 2007 18. RSIE Working Papers. University of Michigan.(2005). 18 April 2007 < http://www. fordschool. umich. edu/rsie/workingpapers/wp. html> 19. The Impact of Regulations on Agricultural Trade. Working Paper, Centre d’Etudes Prospectives et d’Informations Internationales, Paris. (2003). 18 April 2007 20. Trade, Environment and Development. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). (2005). 18 April 2007 21. Vousden, Neil. The Economics of Trade Protection. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. 2005.

The Baron of the Separation of Powers

A French political thinker, Baron Montesquieu had various notable notions on society and politics but most remarkable would be his ideas on the separation of powers. Comparing the institutions of Great Britain with the more despotic institutions of the Bourbon monarchy of his age in France, as a case in point, Montesquieu in his Spirit of the Laws (De L’esprit des Lois 1748) explored what he posited to be a functional peculiarity of the British Constitution: the Separation of Powers.This analytical separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, and the necessary balancing of such is arguably the most notable contribution of the thinker Montesquieu to political thought and practice. Montesquieu is Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brede et le Montesquieu (January 18, 1689 in Bordeaux – February 10, 1755). This review of his life and key ideas is an important effort toward a better understanding of the development of democractic ideals and ideas.In the following essay, we shall endeavor to highlight the main points in the life of the thinker and the key notions that he explored and which earned him such distinction in political thought. Highlights of the Life of The Baron and Thinker. Montesquieu, as a product of the period of Enlightenment, articulated many seminal concepts in political philosophy and thought but he is most noted for the aforementioned notion of the separation of powers (Pangle, 75). His life was a narrative of political concern and privileged study.Before marrying one Jeanne de Latrigue, a Protestant, he was a student at the Catholic College of Juilly. This marriage is notable as it brought him a substantial dowry at the relatively young age of 26. On top of this, he reportedly inherited quite a fortune from an uncle, including the title Baron de Montesquieu. These, it appears, had afforded him the luxuries of a passion for social commentary and political thought (Shackleton, 16) By that time he was married and titled, England had been through its so-called Glorious Revolution (1688–89) and had declared itself a constitutional monarchy.Furthermore, England had by then joined with Scotland in the Union of 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Then, in 1715, the Sun King, Louis XIV, was succeeded by a weaker monarch, Louis XV. Such developments meant a lot for the Baron as they are well noted in his writings such as in his magnum opus The Spirit of the Laws. The Spirit of the Laws was originally released in 1748 and, though published anonymously, quickly became popular among the commentators of the time.Notably, it got strong criticism from both supporters and opponents of the regime in France while the Roman Catholic Church banned it with the other writings of Montesquieu in 1751. However, in the rest of Europe, it received acclaim especially in Britain (Shackleton, 83). In the then formative Northern America, in the British colonies, Montesquieu was seen as an advocate of libe rty and is argued to have been the most often cited authority on politics (Lutz, 191). Montesquieu was able to travel throughout Europe including Austria, Hungary, Italy and England before resettling in France and eventually dying in 1755 and being buried in Paris.The Thoughts of Montesquieu. Echoed by the American calls for change at that time, Montesquieu's work was a great influence on many of the American Founders, such as James Madison. Montesquieu's proposition that â€Å"government should be set up so that no man need be afraid of another† reminded Madison and others that a free and stable foundation for their new national government required a clearly defined and balanced separation of powers — a theory merely implicit in Aristotle (Thackrah 188).It must be recalled here that the Greek Aristotle advocated a form of mixed government, or polity, in which all citizens’ rule and are ruled by turn’. Based on the belief in political obligation founded i n distributive justice — the principle uniting citizen to citizen and all to the state in which equals are treated equally — this idea of the separation of powers was given greater expression by James Harrington who, in the seventeenth-century, who, argued for a written constitution.John Locke, it must also be pointed out, suggested that liberties could be more easily protected and the social compact upheld more effectively by a separation of powers and introduced a notion that was to have radical influence through the systematic theory elaborated by Montesquieu (Thackrah 188). In his magnum opus, Baron Montesquieu expressed his belief that the English constitution epitomized the separation of powers. The English model could create an effective balance of powers within the state, avoiding the despotic tendencies inherent both in absolute monarchy and in government by the common people.Following Montesquieu, the three powers normally considered to be separable in the ex ercise of government are (Thackrah 188): 1. The legislative which formulates policy and enacts it as law; 2. The executive which carries policy into action; 3. The judiciary which applies the law according to rules of procedural justice and resolves disputes. Montesquieu argued that the sign of the despot was to subsume these powers under one and to hold that one power to himself. Despots and independent judiciaries do not go hand in hand. Montesquieu thus believed in the totality of separation of powers.The executive power should not be exercised by members of the legislature but by a monarch, subject to impeachment for actions performed ultra vires (Thackrah 188). The differentiation of powers is not clear in the Western world; for example, in Britain executive power lies with the cabinet which is formed from members of the ruling majority party in Parliament, i. e. , of the legislature, and which effectively controls the operation of Parliament. Guarantees of liberty contained in the British constitution cannot be attributed simply to a separation of powers.The American constitution does not separate the powers completely, nor indeed could it do so without destroying the necessary unity of government (Thackrah 188; Lutz 193). Government in the Western world at least would be impossible if the three powers ceased to function in unison. As Thackrah cited from Roger Scruton, a political lexicographer, â€Å"laws enacted by the legislature must applied by the executive, and upheld by the judiciary and if a judge acts ultra vires, it must be possible for he legislature to hold him to account and for the executive to remove him from office† (189).If all three braches were united under a single head, the opportunity for an act of government to go through rapidly would be very much greater than if three individuals or sets of individuals had to concur before that act went through: and so the separation of powers imparts a brake to the activity of government. When all three powers act in concert the matters go forward: let one of them refrain and nothing can go forward at all. This means delay. To be more specific, Montesquieu devoted four chapters of The Spirit of the Laws to a discussion of England where freedom or liberty was supposedly sustained by a balance of powers.His anxiety lay over his observation that in his France, the intermediate powers (that is, the nobility) which moderated the power of the prince were being eroded. It must be pointed out that Montesquieu's most influential work divided French society into three classes or trias politica (a term he coined): the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the commons. Montesquieu saw two types of governmental power existing: the sovereign and the administrative. The administrative powers included the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.These should be separate from and dependent upon each other. This was very novel or radical in the sense that this did away with the feudali stic structure of the French model at the time. Finally, like many Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu posited many other intriguing ideas. He endorsed the idea that a woman could head government (but then she supposedly could not be effective as the head of a family). He accepted hereditary aristocracy but was an ardent opponent of slavery. Another one of his more notable propositions is that climate may influence the nature of man and his society.He in fact asserted that certain climates are superior to others as, for example, the temperate climate of France is supposedly ideal and such could affect political dynamics. His view in this regard has been referred to as being seminal in that it included material factors in the explanation of social dynamics and political forms (Althusser 102). The Thinker Lives On. Today, many governments, including ours, have been designed with concern for a separation of powers. It is without question one of the pillars of contemporary political pra ctice, given the primary importance that society gives to the notion of democracy.Democracy is seen as the practice of upholding the rights and interests of free peoples. Hence, so long as democracy lives, the thinker and his thoughts, Montesquieu and his thesis on the separation of governmental powers, live on. Works Cited Lutz, David. â€Å"The Relative Influence of European Writers on Late Eighteenth-Century American Political Thought,† American Political Science Review 78, 1 (March, 1984):189-197. Althusser, Louis. Politics and History: Montesquieu, Rousseau, Marx, NLB, 1972. Pangle, Thomas, Montesquieu’s Philosophy of Liberalism.Chicago: 1989. Person, James Jr. , ed. â€Å"Montesquieu† (excerpts from chap. 8) in Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, (Gale Publishing: 1988), vol. 7, pp. 350-52. Shackleton, Robert. Montesquieu; a Critical Biography. Oxford: 1961. Schaub, Diana J. Erotic Liberalism: Women and Revolution in Montesquieu's ‘Persian Letter s'. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995. Spurlin, Paul M. Montesquieu in America, 1760-1801. New York: Octagon Books, 1961. Thackrah, J. R. Politics. Oxford, London: Heinemann Publishing, 1990.

Poverty and the Development of Adolescence Research Paper

Poverty and the Development of Adolescence - Research Paper Example The current study examines the previous research studies on four domains of adolescence development namely, physical, cognitive, social and emotional with special emphasis on household poverty. The specific objectives of the current study are to identify the concepts which are useful for measuring poverty and adolescent development and their association to investigate the impact of poverty on four domains of adolescent development. The paper is organized as follows. The first chapter presents the models, indicators and statistical concepts useful for measuring the household poverty level, adolescence development processes and the factors which influence the adolescence development. Second chapter on literature review describes the physical, cognitive, social and emotional development of the adolescents in poor families by reviewing the literature. Finally the conclusions are drawn relevant to adolescent development and poverty. Concepts The distinguished physical developmental charac teristics such as development of breasts for girls and the deepened voices and broadened shoulders for boys are probably the most prominent characteristics of the adolescent development. ... In the proceeding chapter, these domains are discussed in detail with reference to relevant research literature. Literature Review Physical Development The lower socio economic status in the family can result in impaired development and poorer health of children and increased mortality and morbidity of adults (Emerson et al., 2005). Purchasing power of the poor families is low. Limited access to foods and nutrients is a common problem faced by the third world countries. It is also well established that social support and health beliefs play an important role in physical activity level of the adolescence. These have been recorded as inadequate even among the poor youth in the USA (Debbie et al. 2008). In the US more than 25 percentage proportion of the adolescents are also overweight. More than 11 percentage proportion of the adolescents are obese which cause long term physical and mental health consequences in individuals. Wickrama et al. 2006, revealed that poverty, single parenthoo d and most of the racial minority statuses (African American, Hispanic American, and Native American racial/ethnic groups) are positively associated with obesity and overweight among adolescents in the USA. Asian American status however was found negatively correlated with these health problems. Emerson et al. 2005, used the statistics of National Statistics survey of the mental health of children and adolescents in Great Britain to study the health status of the adolescents and household income. Sample consisted of 10,438 children between the ages of 5 and 15. In the above study the physical development of the adolescents were measured in terms of nine categories namely, current

Leadership (Time management) Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership (Time management) - Term Paper Example Honesty and integrity are the two pillars with which I bind the work of the people in my concern. Weakness However as a business leader I also possess certain weaknesses which in turn hamper the business productivity. Firstly on account of being very fast with my tasks I generally tend to commit certain mistakes which tarnish the quality of the work performed. Secondly in aspiring to work for and by the team I sometimes become much flexible which in turn reflects weakness in my administration qualities. Thirdly I sometimes tend to reflect over confidence which in turn also makes me run into mistakes. Comparison of Leadership Style with that of Team Members In this section my leadership style will be compared to the professional style of two team members based on the following approaches. Leadership Style 1 As a business leader I render priority to the parameters of business ethics and morality. However the team member in group 1 generally tends to accomplish the work in a faster mann er taking the help of unethical policies. In that these members tend to copy designs from the internet without tending to innovate such to accomplish their tasks. Thus in comparison the team members tend to drift from my leadership acumen of being truthful and sincere in servicing the stakeholders. Leadership Style2 In the second case Group 2 member generally figures me as a business leader who tends to accomplish business tasks through being quite strict in his delegation and monitoring of responsibilities. I generally feel that being tough would help to accomplish the business tasks in an effective and faster manner. However the Group 2 member feels that had I reflected the quality of empathy it would have further them in enhancing on the qualities of being more loyal and productive in their tasks towards the concern. Modes in Becoming an Effective Leader based on the Comparison The above analysis reflects that the Group 1 member needs to be preached and effectively trained to act in a sincere and truthful pattern while tending to accomplish the business tasks. However the analysis also reflected that the business leader apart from prioritizing on the tenets of ethics and morality also needs to be faster in his actions in delivering quality products. The team member in Group 2 reflects that in regards to acting as a business leader one needs to understand and appreciate the problems of the people and thereby to collaborate effectively to achieve business productivity. Leaders like me who desire to pursue the goals through being tough disturb the employer-employee relationships and thereby hinder the parameter of employee loyalty. Thus the act of being faster coupled with morality and sincerity and thereby empathizing with the employees would certainly help in building an effective leader. Pitfalls in the Leadership Team due to Differences The differences of opinion with the team member in Group 1 and Group 2 would lead to causing potential disruption in the workplace through the argument in business leadership parameters. In regards to Group 1 member the increased stress rendered to the factors of ethics and mo

Bullying at School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bullying at School - Essay Example When a student embarrasses, ridicules or scorns another student it is harassment, bullying or teasing. (Harber, 2004) Bullying can take many forms-physical violence, threats, name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumors, persistent teasing, and exclusion from a group, tormenting, ridicule, humiliation and abusive comments. All are a form of violence. Teacher-pupil bullying also exists. Pupil-pupil bullying is a common problem in schools internationally. Though there are variations in the types of bullying perpetrated, bullying is carried out by both males and females and both males and females are the victims. However, apparently schools play no part in creating it and do their best to put an end to it. Schools can play a large part in actually creating the problem of bullying. For example, lower achieving pupils, belittled in the competitive atmosphere, may strive to regain some dignity through bullying. It is also pointed out that while school sport has the potential for learning team spirit, giving your best and shared endeavor, it can also exclude those who do not excel and it can become brutish with over-competitiveness, over-stressing the body and the promotion of aggression and violence. While all children who are treated brutally do not go on to become bully because there are often countervailing and modifying socialization influences, and because they do not have the opportunity, serious damage can be done to individuals and the results can negatively affect societies. The second, related idea is that authoritarianism and its emphasis on automatic obedience to orders is very dangerous as it conditions and permits individuals to carry out violent acts by proving a justification or legitimating for them. Many individual acts of violence have been carried out and justified in the name of the duty to obey. Types of Violence Bullies normally resort to various types of violence they often subject victims to, like physical manhandling and mental and emotional harassment. One important aspect of this can include various forms of sexual harassment-verbal sexual aggression, the threat of sexual abuse, unsolicited physical contact and enforced sexual interference. The underlying authoritarian and patriarchal context of direct sexual violence in schooling and its role in reproducing hegemonic forms of violent masculinity are often more hurting for the bullied children. the teachers appeared to pursue their amorous activities both inside and outside the classroom quite openly; in the classroom, boys and girls would whistle or hiss if a teacher called on a particular girl known to be of interest to him to read out loud or come in front of the class. Boys were loud in their condemnation of such teachers, not for moral reasons but because they saw it as unfair competition. (Harber, 2004) Moreover, male teachers who behave in this way are indicating to boys that such behavior is acceptable. Some key findings of the research were: - Sexual abuse of girls by girls by male pupils and teachers is accepted along with corporal punishment, verbal abuse and bullying, as an inevitable part of much of school life. It exploits unequal power relationships and the

I need a summary for those 3 articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

I need a summary for those 3 articles - Essay Example Meanwhile the Quakers also made a minimal contribution to the college movement. In later times, Methodist and Baptist started establishing colleges which was a resort to middle class society of America. The American colleges soon became a medium of social investment. The American colleges gave birth to a concept of ‘self taught and self made man’ .By the end of 19th century, American colleges also propagated that a man should not spend more than half of his time on studies. An English men visiting American definitely found a very motivated young men and students who could serve the country at the best in the future. The American universities are in hard situation as to make choices in protecting the academic value and there were no political body taking leadership for it. Some universities prefer quality and want to preserve it and proved that they have brain as well as body.Some universities wants to improve the quality of citizen ship and ethical conduct of students .Few universities which maintained their integrity and marveled were Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, Yale, MTI,Brown, Berkeley and Michigan.Accomodating large number of students always been the problem faced by many universities.As economic growth is the responsibility of the Federal government , they are supposed to give subsidies to the graduates to increase productivity. The two areas which offer opportunity in America is education and healthsector.Higher education is becoming business minded where as they should be interested in producing good citizens with creative talent and productivity.Universties and society is interrelated and universities need to utilize full resources to upgrade the students and their utility to the society. Magnet schools which introduced in America in 20th century, gained popularity in 1970s as they promoted racial diversity and improved scholarship opportunities and catered to individual needs and interests of students.

Executive Summaary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Executive Summaary - Essay Example Kelly is the original developer of product and felt that given the time and circumstances, it couldn’t be done. The higher management on the other hand is also asking for operations to be optimized but Kelly insists that it is not possible right now. The case presents conflicting views and arguments of the big wigs of the company. While there are no proper plans in place for developing new products at Acu, the CEO of the company is also worried about another company getting away with the market share to a new scanner. He insists on using it in retail stores so that they can get customer feedback regarding what customers want and need. Recommendations and Conclusion: The most appropriate of all suggestions came in from Clif and they should be executed. Business is all about risk. Even if this is not the time to develop a new product, there is no harm in devising a strategy, an effective one and implementing the product. The money needed for the update can be obtained by equity or bond funding. Optimization of processes should be on the backburner while all focus should be on developing the new product to revamp and resurrect lost sales. All other extraneous expenditures should be cut down in the meanwhile to support the development of the new product.