Braving the Storm

Heavy raindrops pelted the thin panes of glass and claps of thunder rumbled through the walls; my only refuge from the typhoon raging outside. Occasional bursts of lightning illuminated the bedroom, revealing tear stains on the pillow. Wracked with homesickness, muffled sobs escaped my clenched mouth. Going to Sri Lanka was not an idea I was particularly fond of as a ten year old. I wanted to play with my friends at home, go to the pool or the park and have fun. But there I sat, weeping away the horrors and trying to make sense of a completely different world. Slowly crying myself to sleep that stormy summer night, events of the past week drifted in and out of my head. Children my own age picking at piles of garbage with stray dogs, haggard men toiling away at their menial jobs, and gaunt women cooking over fire pits in little shacks. I could not understand why the lived this way. â€Å"They are poor. They cannot afford the nice things we have,† my mother explained. And when I asked whether I should give them a dollar as I did back home, she shook her head. A mere dollar could not make a difference for them; it could not buy them a stove, send them to school, or find them better jobs. The rain battered down harder now, and I buried myself deeper under the blankets. It sounded like thousands of bullets being fired from guns, and the fear of being shot made me tremble. Soldiers patrolled the streets back then and occasionally still do, with their machine guns slung over their shoulders like a backpack on a schoolboy. I had never seen a real gun before, and I couldn’t comprehend why one would be needed. â€Å"Sri Lanka is in the middle of a civil war,† my father explained, â€Å"the terrorists in the North want to hurt the people here in the South.† War? My ten year old mind could not gr asp it. America was at war, but soldiers did not parade the streets with their shiny toys in hand. I only knew of the war on television with tanks, helicopters, and bombs. With these thoughts still fresh in my mind, my tired body succumbed to sleep to the lullaby of guns and destitution. Sunshine streamed in through the crystal clear windows that next morning. The typhoon had passed, but broken tree branches and monstrous puddles of rainwater littered the dirt roads. But the birds sang, the same impoverished children frolicked about, and the adults amused themselves with cups of tea and a game of carrom. These people enjoyed themselves and were happy, despite their lack of material possession and low standing in society. Smiling, I dressed and went down to join them. Lamenting my lost innocence and ignorance of the world would do no good. The world is far from perfect, but I cannot let adversity break my spirit.

What are the main differences between Monopolistic Competition and Essay - 1

What are the main differences between Monopolistic Competition and Monopoly market structure Which of these market structures best serves the interest of the consumer and why - Essay Example The word, â€Å"Monopolist† is derived from the Greek words, Mono meaning one and Polist for seller (FRIEDMAN, Milton, 2002). The existence of Monopoly in today’s world is very rare. Monopolies are usually protected by effective barriers to entry. Example of Monopolies may be a company with its unique patented drug or the only provider of electricity for a town. De Beers used to have Monopoly in the diamond market. Monopoly does not have a complete control over price in a sense that it faces a negatively sloped demand curve. This means, any price increase will eventually loss some customers. Keeping in view, a Monopoly always wants to maximize its profit. For maximizing the profit, a Monopoly increases its output to the level where Marginal Cost (MC) intersects the Marginal Revenue (MR) as shown in the figure 1. The diagram shows the profit maximization point for a monopolist. The profit maximization point lies where Marginal Revenue = Marginal Cost. The economic profit is the difference between the Demand and ATC curve. If it produces less than 5 units, the economic profit will be reduced. Also, if the output is increased to 6, the economic profit will again reduce. A Monopolist will always strive for maximizing its profit. For a Monopolist, the Demand Curve is negatively slopped. If the demand for the product is less elastic, a Monopolist can fix a higher price. Ineleastic goods include those which are needs of human being such as electricity, sugar, wheat etc. However, if the demand is elastic, then a Monopolist should adjust the price to a certain level to gain maximum profit. Therefore, the price it charges is always greater than its MC. In Monopolistic competition, there are many competing firms which are selling differentiated products (Investopedia.com). Due to this fact, each firm faces highly elastic negatively sloped demand curve. The term â€Å"Differentiated Product† refers to those products which

Discuss the risk management process and its interactions with the Essay

Discuss the risk management process and its interactions with the project lifecycle - Essay Example Risk management is a process that leads to identification of the uncertainties that may arise in the future and provide remedies and precautions for handling these risks. Risks faced by an organisation may create a negative impact on its assets and the reputation it has gained. The aim of Risk management is to identify the potential risks that the company might face and develop resources for mitigating the adverse effects of such losses. An organisation may face various types of risks like financial risks, operational risks, perimeter risks and lastly strategic risks. Financial risks may result in the losses related to cost of claims and liability of judgments (Conrow 2003). Operational risks may be faced by the organisation in the form of labor strikes and strategic risks involve risks related to changes in management or loss of reputation. Risk management has a pivotal role to play in effective project management. The following paper, will throw light on crucial objectives of risk management, the process of risk management and interactions between risk management the project lifecycle. Objectives of Risk Management The process of risk management aims at identification of the potentially hazardous and harmful situations. ... The purpose of risk management is to develop strategies and plans for managing and mitigating the potential risks faced by the organisation. In this manner, risk management aims at preventing the organisations from various types of risks that it may face in the long run and provide effective tools for setting appropriate strategies. Risk Management Process Assessment of risks has a fundamental process that involves five steps in implementing an appropriate system of control so that risks can be minimised. It helps in the identification and analysis of the various risks that are harmful for the workplace and negatively impact the organisation. Therefore, risk assessment is a straightforward examination of the dangerous elements that can harm the people, as well as the reputation of the organisation in the long run. So there is a need to take proper precautions for eliminating all kind of risks in order to minimise the fuss that is created in the functioning of the organisation (Culp 2 001). The first step of risk management process involves identification of hazards and the harmful effects that these hazards possess. For this purpose, it is necessary to identify how people would be affected by the potential danger that is created by the risks. It is required that proper ramifications are undertaken for mitigating the possibilities of such risks. Various strategies and tools are identified to be crucial, for mitigating the dangerous effects of the risks. At this level, sources through which risks can be avoided are analysed, and appropriate measures are undertaken to keep the things at place. These sources of risks can be internal or external to the organisation. An example of internal and external sources of risks can be the employees and the operational