Sunday, May 24, 2020

The Nanking Massacre of 1937

In late December  1937 and early January  1938, the Imperial Japanese Army perpetrated one of the most horrific war crimes of the World War II era. In what is known as the Nanking Massacre or the Rape of Nanking, Japanese soldiers systematically raped thousands of Chinese women and girls of all ages - even infants. They also murdered hundreds of thousands of civilians and prisoners of war in what was then the Chinese capital city of Nanking (now called Nanjing).   These atrocities continue to color Sino-Japanese relations to this day. Indeed, some Japanese public officials have denied that the Nanking Massacre ever happened, or significantly downplay its scope and severity.  History textbooks in Japan mention the incident only in a single footnote, if at all. It is crucial, however, for the nations of East Asia to confront and move past the gruesome events of the mid-20th century  if they are going to face the challenges of the 21st century together. So what really happened to the people of Nanking in 1937-38? Japans Imperial Army invaded civil-war-torn China in July of 1937 from Manchuria  to the north.  It drove southward, quickly taking the Chinese capital city of Beijing. In response, the Chinese Nationalist Party moved the capital to the city of Nanking, about 1,000 km (621 miles) to the south. The Chinese Nationalist Army or Kuomintang (KMT) lost the key city of Shanghai to the advancing Japanese in November of 1937.  KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek realized that the new Chinese capital of Nanking, just 305 km (190 miles) up the Yangtze River from Shanghai, could not hold out much longer. Rather than wasting his soldiers in a futile attempt to hold Nanking, Chiang decided to withdraw most of them inland about 500 kilometers (310 miles) west to Wuhan, where the rugged interior mountains offered a more defensible position. KMT General Tang Shengzhi was left to defend the city, with an untrained force of 100,000 poorly-armed fighters.   The approaching Japanese forces were under the temporary command of Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, a right-wing militarist and the uncle by marriage of Emperor Hirohito.  He was standing in for the elderly General Iwane Matsui, who was ill. Early in December, division commanders informed Prince Asaka that the Japanese had encircled almost 300,000 Chinese troops around Nanking and inside the city. They told him that the Chinese were willing to negotiate a surrender; Prince Asaka responded with an order to kill all captives. Many scholars view this order as an invitation to the Japanese soldiers to go on a rampage in Nanking. On December 10, the Japanese mounted a five-pronged attack on Nanking.  By December 12, the besieged Chinese commander, General Tang, ordered a retreat from the city. Many of the untrained Chinese conscripts broke ranks and ran, and Japanese soldiers hunted them down and captured or slaughtered them. Being captured was no protection  because the Japanese government had declared that international laws on treatment of POWs did not apply to the Chinese. An estimated 60,000 Chinese fighters who surrendered were massacred by the Japanese. On December 18, for example, thousands of young Chinese men had their hands tied behind them, then were tied into long lines and marched to the Yangtze River. There, the Japanese opened fire on them en masse. The screams of the injured went on for hours, as the Japanese soldiers made their leisurely way down the lines to bayonet those who were still alive, and dump the bodies into the river. Chinese civilians also faced horrific deaths as the Japanese occupied the city.  Some were blown up with mines, mowed down in their hundreds with machine guns, or sprayed with gasoline and set on fire.  F. Tillman Durdin, a reporter for the New York Times who witnessed the massacre, reported: In taking over Nanking the Japanese indulged in slaughters, looting and rapine exceeding in barbarity any atrocities committed up to that time in the course of the Sino-Japanese hostilities... Helpless Chinese troops, disarmed for the most part and ready to surrender, were systematically rounded up and executed... Civilians of both sexes and all ages were also shot by the Japanese. Bodies piled up in streets and alleyways, too many for any accurate count. Perhaps equally horrifying, the Japanese soldiers made their way through entire neighborhoods systematically raping every female they found.  Infant girls had their genitals sliced open with swords to make it easier to rape them. Elderly women were gang-raped and then killed. Young women might be raped and then taken away to the soldiers camps for weeks of further abuse. Some sadistic soldiers forced celibate Buddhist monks and nuns to perform sex acts for their amusement, or forced family members into incestuous acts. At least 20,000 women were raped, according to most estimates. Between December 13, when Nanking fell to the Japanese, and the end of February  1938, the orgy of violence by the Japanese Imperial Army claimed the lives of an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 Chinese civilians and prisoners of war.  The Nanking Massacre stands as one of the worst atrocities of the bloody twentieth century. General Iwane Matsui, who had recovered from his illness somewhat by the time Nanking fell, issued several orders between December 20, 1937 and February of 1938 demanding that his soldiers and officers behave properly.  However, he was not able to bring them under control. On February 7, 1938, he stood with tears in his eyes and upbraided his subordinate officers for the massacre, which he believed had done irreparable damage to the Imperial Armys reputation. He and Prince Asaka were both recalled to Japan later in 1938; Matsui retired, while Prince Asaka remained a member of the Emperors War Council. In 1948, General Matsui was found guilty of war crimes by the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal  and was hanged at the age of 70.  Prince Asaka escaped punishment  because the American authorities decided to exempt members of the imperial family. Six other officers and former Japanese Foreign Minister Koki Hirota were also hanged for their roles in the Nanking Massacre, and eighteen more were convicted but got lighter sentences.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Mentoring Free Essays

What Is the Research Topic you are responsible for? The Importance of mentoring to develop fresh graduates In work place. What are the Findings from your Research on this topic? In today’s rapidly advancing society, there are many fresh graduates from top colleges and universities with good grades who are still unable to meet their work targets or cope with the pace of work. Before when they enter or just started their first career, they have to face a lot of unknown circumstances and requirements. We will write a custom essay sample on Mentoring or any similar topic only for you Order Now Therefore, a mentoring program is so much needed to them. Mentoring is the act to build up a relationship between two people; â€Å"mentor† and â€Å"mantle†. Mentor will be providing guidance and shared their knowledge and experiences to develop a realistic expectation of the work. The following is some advantages which important:- 1 . Help to analysis- Mentor can help mantle assess career strengths and weaknesses and also determine future goals. 2. Help to familiarize ? about the Important individuals within the field, including sources for new ideas regarding content. 3. Help New Entry smoothly into the new company – become more knowledgeable, understanding and entering into the prevailing culture. 4. Help to provide a safety net – social support In a potentially stressful situation. 5. Help to enhances performance level – giving advice or guides to accelerates learning to support their development. 6. Help to promote development effectively – help to guide the direction and provide feedback, providing technical and professional knowledge and skill to promote development effectively. And also giving proper guidance can avoid the mistakes which will affect performance. In addition to the above, mentoring programs in organizations can be helpful in Improving performance and also achieve higher productivity so may lead to higher lob satisfaction. Thus, mentoring during Induction period can offer support in :- 1 . Help to understand about the working practices and discuss or guiding about the issues which relating to the role. 2. Conducive to the rapid absorption of cultural and social norms organizations also learn about which they need to know to succeed In lob role. 3. Help or navigate their way when came to a new specific job or particular area of responsibility. . Sharing business information and work skills, accelerate the recesses for the identifying, developing and retaining talent to increase the Job satisfaction. Are there other opinions on this topic? The negative experiences, however, are most often to seen in organization which without a formal mentoring process, example Like not tied to business goal, without tracking system for mentorin g relationship and without structure support. Some of those negative is occurs between mentor and mantle, such like mentor which 1 OFF due to a lack of knowledge and interest on the role which as a mentor. What is your conclusion on actions to achieve improvements? Even with the possibility of negative situation than can occur, the strong advantages of mentoring program is a powerful tool to help fresh graduates in their career by increasing productivity, gain a broader perspective, knowledge and insight into the work practices and also develop a realistic expectation of the work. Reference List Kale, L. (2011). Making a Mentoring Relationship Work: What is Required for Organizational Success. Applied Business and Economics, 12, 49-50. Susan, M. (2011). Use Mentoring to Develop Employees [website]. How to cite Mentoring, Papers

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Entrepreneurship Market Orientation and Performance

Question: At a minimum this research report should cover: A brief description of the industry sector chosen Coverage of the significant issues facing entrepreneurs in this sector A discussion of the level of entrepreneurial activity in the sector Factors which influence the probability of new venture success You are expected to produce information on their chosen industry. As a tip, students frequently write about their own industry and subsequently only produce their personal opinion. This is usually marked down substantially. As a research paper, the purpose of this assessment is to develop student investigative and research skills. Good research skills are of vital importance to entrepreneurs who often need to make their own assessments and discoveries as part of deciding feasibility of an identified opportunity. This ability to research an industry soundly is the foundation skill tested in this assessment. Answer: Introduction The concept of entrepreneurship has evolved considerably post industrial revolution in the 20th century. Earlier, an entrepreneur was known as a person who is venturing into a new business. An entrepreneur is to develop, organize and manage a business along with its risk factors. The IT industry in Singapore has ranked as third in the global market (Carland et al., 2014). Smart Nation initiative of Singapore government has boosted the information technology services of this country. However, recently, the entrepreneurs of IT industry are facing some significant issues during running their business properly. Information technology is all about innovation. The entrepreneurs often cannot cop up with the changing requirements of the customers. It leads them to lag behind their competitors. Fundamental disconnect amidst the businessperson and technologist often tend to less focus in the business. This study will describe the IT industry and its associated issues faced by entrepreneurs in Singapore. A brief description of the level of entrepreneurial activity in the sector will also be described in this study. Apart from that, the study will also highlight some factors, which influence the probability of new venture success. Aim of the study The study aims at exploring the challenges faced by the entrepreneurs of IT sector in Singapore. The study has also explained the various steps followed by entrepreneurs in the IT sector of Singapore. Objective of the study The purpose of this study is to find and recommend solutions to remove the hurdles of entrepreneurship in the IT sector of Singapore. The study also discusses the factors, which may affect the emergence of IT sector in Singapore. Overview of IT Industry in Singapore IT industry is one of the fastest growing industries of Singapore. According to Ministry of Trade and Industry of Singapore, total compounding growth of IT sector for the period 1995-2000 was 24.33 (Mithas et al., 2012). This growth rate is highest among the cluster of creative industries in Singapore. In 2000, the IT industry fetched 312 million US dollars (mti.gov.sg). According to Global IT Report 2013, the revenue for 2011 registered a growth of 18.5% reaching up to the mark of 83.4 billion US dollars (Crow, Muthuswamy, 2014). Currently, the industry is providing employment to 143,000 professionals. Singapore is also hosting 80 in top 100 IT companies with more than 15 having their regional offices in Singapore (Vu, 2013). The industry is set to grow even more with large numbers of start-ups coming up. Significant Issues Faced by Entrepreneurs in IT industry Challenges faced by the entrepreneurs in the IT sector of Singapore are arising from frequent technological changes and cultural differences. These are not allowing the entrepreneurs to utilize the resources fully. Lack of regional market There is no particular and concentrated market for the IT related services. The market is fragmented into many clusters. It is quite difficult for the entrepreneur to target the market in an efficient manner. Requirements of customers are changing day by day. Apart from that, it is tough to target the market with a standardized product or service owing to the varying requirements of the users of different markets. This is the primary challenge faced by the entrepreneurs in IT sector. Lack of PR activities The IT industry in Singapore is not utilizing the PR, advertising and promotional activities to its full potential. Entrepreneurs often face difficulties in developing proper funding model. Due to improper funding model, the entrepreneurs sometimes fail to sustain core business, facilitate growth and support innovation (Blanchflower Oswald, 2013). Thus, they are not able to convey proper message of their innovative technologies. Lack of competent manpower This is one of the biggest hurdles for IT entrepreneurs in Singapore. The industry is facing an acute shortage of educated and trained work force in Singapore labor market. The entrepreneurs have to depend on the IT professionals from other Asian countries like India and China. Hiring educated and trained employees from foreign markets becomes comparatively costlier. It is ultimately driving the operational expenses of the company (Brown Ulijn, 2014). In this way, the entrepreneurs are facing capital shortage in running their business. Cultural challenges The regional market is very complex, as it comprises of diverse language, culture, customs, tradition and social systems. It makes difficult to replicate the success of one market into another (Yeung, 2012). This aspect is ignored by most of the entrepreneurs resulting in their failure. The culture is a sensitive issue, which must be considered while making a strategic decision. Level of entrepreneurial activities in the IT sector Singapore is a small country with limited natural resources. Therefore, the economic growth of the country is largely dependent on innovative macroeconomic approach. This approach seems to be an opportunity for the entrepreneurs to the IT industry. The entrepreneurs also adopted the opportunity of liberal immigration policy in Singapore (Sandberg Hofer, 2014). They can easily hire technically educated and trained employees from the foreign market. Recently, the entrepreneurs are no longer facing labor shortage in their organizations. It has been found that the entrepreneurs of IT industry in Singapore have started to invest more capital in their business. Thus, they are now capable to expand their market and incorporate new technologies in business. Capital investment in technical sectors by entrepreneurs has been increased from $ 30 million in 2011 to $ 1 billion in 2013 (Vennekers et al., 2015). With increased capital investment, the entrepreneurs also have started to promote their technological innovations in an effective way. Popular social Medias like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and lots more are now widely used by the IT entrepreneurs. Therefore, they are now efficient in conveying their promotional message to right customers in right manner. Technical education in Singapore has been increased by 31% from 2001 to 2015 (Bhunia, 2015). The Universities are now more inclined to provide practical knowledge rather than theoretical knowledge. It needs lot of technical devices in the universities. Today, many entrepreneurs of IT industries have tied up with online educational institution (Koh et al., 2012). In this way, they have increased their customer volume. Factors affecting the success of future ventures Some major issues, which may affect the prospect of IT industry, are discussed below: Government policy Government policy acts as a prime factor in deciding the fate of any industry. The government regulates the most aspect of business in any country. According to Sandberg and Hofer, (2014), the tax policy and FDI policy pursued by the Singapore government are conducive for the growth of IT sector. Availability of capital According to Casson, (2012), availability of capital is the important factor that can decide the future of IT industry in Singapore. IT sector is facing a severe scarcity of funds, which is a major obstacle in the flourishing of the IT sector in Singapore. Intellectual Property Right Protection The Singapore government has strict IPR protection rules and regulation in place for protecting the interest of IT companies. IPR violations are the major concern for the knowledge-based organizations in the modern era. Creating a business culture A conductive business culture is necessary for the flourishing of IT sector in Singapore. In general, the business environment in Singapore is very fruitful for the growth of industry, but it needs to undergo transition for suiting the unique requirements of IT industry (Brown Ulijin, 2014). Recommendations The study recommends that a robust government policy is needed for promoting the existing and potential entrepreneurs of Singapore. The government must adopt a flexible taxation and FDI policy to encourage the entrepreneurs. It should provide the subsidy and tax rebate for small entrepreneurs. It will improve the overall business environment needed for working in the IT sector of Singapore. The Singapore government should make a special economic zone dedicated to the IT firms, which will attract more entrepreneurs in this sector. Entrepreneurs should also take into account the cultural issues before floating a start-up. Conclusion Singapore is rapidly developing as an IT hub in Asia owing to the excellent infrastructural facilities. The country was very quick in embracing changes in the technology to ride the wave of digital boom. The IT companies are flocking to Singapore as it has a robust intellectual property right law and is easily accessible from all major cities across the world. The prediction of the industry forum clearly shows that IT sector will grow by leap and bound in Singapore. The IT sector in Singapore is attracting entrepreneurs in large numbers who are contributing to the digital boom of Singapore. On the other hand, there are many obstacles for the entrepreneurs, which are acting as a hindrance in utilizing the resources. These obstacles are the threat for the entrepreneurs who are aspiring to float a start-up in Singapore. The government is trying to address the issues in the larger interest of the community of entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs are facing many cultural issues, which are nee ded to be addressed by the entrepreneurs for the success of their venture. Recently, the entrepreneurs have started to invest more capital in to incorporate innovative technologies in their business. References Bhuian, S. N., Menguc, B., Bell, S. J. (2015). Just entrepreneurial enough: the moderating effect of entrepreneurship on the relationship between market orientation and performance.Journal of business research,58(1), 9-17. Blanchflower, D. G., Oswald, A. J. (2013). What makes an entrepreneur?.Journal of Labor Economics,16(1), 26-60. Brown, T. E., Ulijn, J. M. (Eds.). (2014).Innovation, entrepreneurship and culture: the interaction between technology, progress, and economic growth. Edward Elgar Publishing. Carland, H., Carland, J. W., Hoy, F., Carland, J. A. C. (2014). Who is an entrepreneur? Is a question worth asking.Entrepreneurship: Critical perspectives on business and management,2, 178. Casson, M. (2012).The entrepreneur: An economic theory. Rowman Littlefield. Crow, G. B., Muthuswamy, B. (2014). International outsourcing in the information technology industry: Trends and implications.Communications of the IIMA,3(1), 3. https://www.mti.gov.sg/Pages/home.aspx, accessed on July 29, 2015. Koh, F. C., Koh, W. T., Tschang, F. T. (2012). An analytical framework for science parks and technology districts with an application to Singapore.Journal of Business Venturing,20(2), 217-239. Mithas, S., Tafti, A. R., Bardhan, I., Goh, J. M. (2012). Information technology and firm profitability: mechanisms and empirical evidence.Mis Quarterly,36(1), 205-224. Sandberg, W. R., Hofer, C. W. (2014). Improving new venture performance: The role of strategy, industry structure, and the entrepreneur.Journal of Business Venturing,2(1), 5-28. Vu, K. M. (2013). Information and communication technology (ICT) and Singapores economic growth.Information Economics and policy,25(4), 284-300. Wennekers, S., Van Wennekers, A., Thurik, R., Reynolds, P. (2015). Nascent entrepreneurship and the level of economic development.Small business economics,24(3), 293-309. Yeung, H. W. C. (2012).Entrepreneurship and the internationalization of Asian firms: An institutional perspective. Edward Elgar Publishing.