Business Functions, Organisational Structures and Culture :: Papers

Business Functions, Organisational Structures and Culture All companies have split areas/departments where certain groups of people have a certain role in the business. These functions are important to a business as it helps with the every day-to-day running of it. These departments are: -  · Human Resources  · Finance  · Research and Development  · Marketing  · ICT  · Sales  · Customer Service  · Quality Control  · Purchasing I have a copy of the Global Scott Bader Group Structure (see diagram) It is split into certain areas and functions of the business; finance, service, human resources, IT, Marketing R+D and Sales of composites, and marketing R+D and sales of speciality polymers. All of these departments have very important roles within the business they help with the every day running of the business and help the business to keep to its objectives. These departments will probably have their own certain objectives that they have to keep track of, so the business works well. The 'Finance Department' has a huge responsibility in the business I think it is probably one of the most important departments for a business and all the documents need to be correct and up to date so that the company can be efficient and in control of its transactions. It has the responsibility tosee that the money coming into and out of the business ismanaged properly. If this is done efficiently then thereshould be enough sales revenue and profit to pay the bills that are owed. The revenue is the money made by the business byselling its products andservices; it is used to pay for the things they had to buy in order to run the business. It is also used to pay the workers People within the finance department who have big responsibility's are people like the finance director for Scott Bader this is Keith Grace is in charge of: financial accounting, costing & budgeting, managing finance and payroll in all the Scott Bader companies for UK finance,

I Am the Grass Essay Essay

Am the Grass is a short story written by Daly Walker, who has also written other short stories for The Sewanee Review and The Sycamore Review. Born in Winchester, Indiana in 1924, Daly Walker is a surgeon by trade and started to write after he was forty. Daly also served in the Vietnam War from 1967-1968, it serves as an inspiration for I Am the Grass. The story details a mans struggle of life after the war in Vietnam, and returning to Vietnam. This includes painful psychological trauma, the feeling of guilt for his actions, and finally his attempt to redeem himself in his own eyes. At the start of the story we read about assorted atrocities committed during the Vietnam War by a nameless man, who is the main character. They include raping a thirteen-year old girl, decapitating a man with a machete, and throwing defenseless prisoners off of a helicopter. Along with the atrocities, the reader sees a battered past and something that haunts the main character . The story also goes on to explain how after the war, the main character goes on to medical school where he becomes a successful plastic surgeon. The main character also describes the fear that comes back to him when anti-war protestors blow up a classroom while he’s asleep. It takes him back to the attacks done on his base while he was in Vietnam, he goes on to explain that even though the he has left the war, â€Å"the war has followed him home† (316). The main character shows how he tries to redeem himself for the bad he has done. This includes going to impoverished countries to repair deformities on people who can’t afford plastic surgery. He explains â€Å"how it makes me feel like a decent man, a healer† (317). This shows how it feels good for him to heal people as opposed to feeling good killing them when he was younger. After the minor back-story and introduction to his past and inner-demons, the main character is on a plane headed to Vietnam. Ironically, this time to help the people he once did horrible things to. He is taken around the countryside, where he recognizes many of the nicknames of the roads soldiers gave. Then he is introduced to another surgeon, one who he would have originally called an enemy, to take him to those in need of the surgery. In nother twist of irony, the Vietnamese â€Å"surgeon† is missing his thumbs. This prevents him from performing surgery unlike the main character. They both talk about fighting each other in the war and then go forth to perform the surgeries on the people who needed them. As the story continues, the narrator, has been successful in 18 surgeries and feels good. Until he has to â€Å"make a difficult decision†(320) when the thumbless Vietnamese surgeon asks him to perform a â€Å"difficult surgery†(321) on him. A surgery where the big toe of the foot is transplanted to where the thumb once was. Despite the risk and lack of any more advanced medical tools, the narrator decides to go forward with it. This shows that the narrator is willing to do an extremely difficult surgery without the proper tools, so that perhaps he may find some peace in himself. Yet the dreams of the man he decapitated still haunt him, even on the eve of the big surgery. While he prepares himself, the narrator explains the feeling as â€Å"a sense of power that has been in no other place but surgery, except when my finger was on the trigger of an M60† (324). He starts and is meticulous in using the primitive medical instruments provided to him. He feels as if he has done a good job and even forms a steady friendship with the Vietnamese surgeon. However, the day he has to leave, it goes south. The main character goes to unwrap the bandages and finds that the transplant has failed, as the implanted big toe has rotted. Furious at himself, he removes it before he leaves. In an attempt to make himself feel better, it is shown how the main character hopes to see the thumbless surgeon at the airport. Perhaps saying bye to him and thanking him for his efforts. However there is no one there, on the flight home though, he realizes that the risk involved with Vietnam made him feel like a part of the country. He comes to see that he embraces the risk and everything that comes with it. I Am the Grass is presented as a story that is simple to understand, but also has an emotional effect. Walker gives us a character with a detailed past, a very good storyline, and the setting and theme of redemption which is present throughout the whole story. The theme of redemption is supported throughout the story. The main character tries to redeem himself in his own yes by doing surgeries for free in impoverished nations. Also, when he takes on the risky task of the toe transplant. It leaves the reader wondering, what if it would have worked? Would he have calmed his conscience of reminding him about the past atrocities he committed? The story, which begins by describing very graphic atrocities, turns into a story of more peace than war. One where the narrator has lost himself in the scourge of war, but is trying to find himself by using his talents for good. Trying to find inner-peace from his personal demons. It comes together near the end of the story. When he finds out the transplant didn’t work and he wants to leave immediately. But contrary to his expected reaction, the Vietnamese surgeon calmly tells him to remove it, which the main character does. In a way he faced his own inner demons despite the disappointment. Walker’s decision to make the setting a run down dirty hospital isn’t one that a lot of people can relate to. However, the message of redemption is one that a lot of people can. The conflict he delivers is one that is present in others, just not in the form of war crimes and surgeries. That’s something that a lot can relate to. In this story, Walker has shown a veteran who is haunted by his past and tries to redeem himself. It delivers a powerful message on how the road to the inner-peace of a person is faced with many challenges and setbacks. Ironically, amidst the moment of disappointment, the character realizes that he has come to accept the risks he took in life, along with the consequences. There he finds at that moment of redemption that he had long been looking for.

Management Styles Essay

Is a term that refers to the nature of the relationship between managers and non-managerial workforce. It includes not only the personal relationship between people but also the style of communication and the attitudes that managers have of employees and the attitudes they generate in employees. The term â€Å"leadership† is sometimes used. This refers to the ways in which managers achieve the attitudes and actions of their employees. Usually the actions desired are those which lead to the achievement of organizational objectives. A form of leadership therefore implies a style of management Authoritarian management style In authoritarian management style all policy, the decision making and objectives are set by the manager or the person in charge of the business, the flow communication is only one way and no feedback, employees can’t answer back, there’s no communication between them. The activities to achieve the objectives are set by the manager. Often, steps are given one at the time meaning that the future steps are uncertain to the team. The manager tends to specify the type of task and work colleagues of each team member. The manager offers personal praise or criticism of each member’s work. However he also remains distant from active participation in the group except when demonstrating. An employee now’s who gives the orders so it’s a clear chain of command. The major advantage of this is that it is always clear exactly what is wanted and tasks are very precisely defined. There is more efficiency, every one knows exactly what they have to do, there is no miss understanding. There are no disagreements; no arguments because there is no feedback and the decision making are mush swifter. The major disadvantages are that subordinates are not allowed to be innovative or to suggest alternative strategies. This means that their motivation and enthusiasm are likely to be low. There is a high de-motivation because they aren’t allowed to communicate back, wish employees feel depressed and lack of recognition, is when an individual thinks he is doing a pleasant job and doesn’t get any praise from the managers. Democratic management style In democratic management style all policies, decisions and objectives are decided by group discussion, however is still the managers who makes the last decision. There is to way communication flow, the manager tries to create better understanding by seeking employee’s opinions and ideas, wish motivates the workers because they feel more valued, more motivated and willing to work harder and maybe it could increase the quality of the products. Group members are able to work with whomever they wish, with division of tasks left up to the group. The manager tries to be objective in praising and criticizing the employee. However he also tries to be a member of the team without doing too much work on the business. The main advantage of the democratic approach is that it can be highly motivating to the employees. There is more point of views to help and manage the business properly and individuals feel more valued and motivated. The main disadvantages are that it can undermine the authority of management. Decision making may take longer to occur, might be less efficient management style, its time consuming, takes long time to make a decision on the business, however it depends on the occasion. Consultative management style In consultative management style the policy, decisions are set by the manager, although group member’s views are encouraged, to way communication flow and horizontal communication. Activities to achieve objectives are communicated to team members to inform and allow their comments in how they should plan their objectives, there is lot of teamwork, and relations are lot more equal to every employee, everyone listens to your opinion, there is more power to make decisions. Employees have more autonomy, more independence. Group members may have a say in the type of task set them and the work of colleagues they are put with, however this is very important because there would be no argument between employees and more product activity would be produced. The leader may be involved with team members in the achievement of business goals. However consultative management is appropriate to self starters because they’ve got the opportunity to use their own initiative to push them self’s to a higher level and to increase the business goals. Laissez-faire management style In Laissez-faire management style the employees has got complete freedom to make decisions, policies and the objectives. The manager has minimal involvement on how the business is going. The materials are supplied by the manager who makes it know that the other materials can be produced if requested. Manger has no other participation in discussion of the work. There is no participation at all by the leader in the achievement of objectives. No attempt is made by the leader to appraise or regulate the course of activity used by the team. Few comments on the activities are offered unless requested. However there is no deadline, so they’ve got all the time of the world to complete the task. The main advantages is that it allows for innovation and new ideas and is highly motivating, because everyone has the liberty to do what they want to do, they take their own decisions. There are no deadlines to meet. The major disadvantage is that subordinates are not always clear what they are supposed to be doing, or are allowed to do, and conflicts can easily arise. Caspian’s management style In my point of view I believe not only should a style of management be chosen according to the type of organization, it should be chosen to suit the particular situation in a given organization, however in this case is ‘Caspian’, wish publishes magazines and organises events. Managers must therefore choose a management style to suit the situation. In some situations, Caspian could use Autocratic management because the company as deadlines to meet, they always have to be on time with their product, unfortunately if they don’t they would definitely loss target audience. Therefore Caspian needs a strict management to meet deadlines and to bestow respect on the business and work efficient to produce good quality to achieve the organisation goals. The advantages of autocratic management, is that it would be more swiftly for decision making. There would be no miss understandings, less disagreements, less arguments, because there is only one communication flow, there is no feed back from the employees. The most important of all is, there would be a clear chain of command between the leader and worker because all employees now who gives the orders on the business. However not all autocratic advantages are suitable to Caspian because the employees need to have a say on how the business is run, the employees need to share their point of view with the managers and communicate with them anything that is troubling them at that stage, otherwise the employees would became de-motivated and not complete their task properly. They would have Lack of recognition, when an individual feels he is doing a perfect job but receives no praise or encouragement from managers; he may gradually lose the motivation to perform so effectively well on the company. Employees might also feel dishearten because they might not get information about the organisation, only orders from the leader. Employees are dependent on the manager, if the manager becomes ill, employees want have a clue what to do because they never worked by them self’s, they wouldn’t have initiative to start a job. There is no point in having technical staff and advisors if you don’t take any notice of their opinion. However managers should be able to rely on information staff offer and must give them due consideration. Possibly more importantly, staffs need to feel that they contribute to the organisation’s success and that they are a valued member of the team, this is why democratic management techniques are required. In my opinion I think is more useful to Caspian because there is two way communication flows, and they seek for the employees decision making on how the business should be managed, however, at the end is still the manager that makes the final decision. On my point of view, democratic is useful to Caspian because they are a small business and if employees are having any problems, they can communicate with the employers and solve their problems. The relationships are a lot more equal, the employees have a little more power on how the decision making is made. The employer’s gives employees empower, wish allows them to communicate their point of view and motivate the team by empowering them to direct themselves, and guide them with a loose reign. Therefore if there is any problem with machinery, if it isn’t working perfectly, the employees would communicate with the managers and perhaps the problem might be solved. Democratic management style could help the employees to feel more inspired and work more efficient and effective, causing more product activity. Unfortunately there is a big constraint because is time consuming, everyone shares their decision making. Decision making would take longer to occur, however it depends on the occasion the business is situated. I believe I have a good balance between democratic and autocratic management styles. However no style is right all the time; both are needed on the right occasion. Have effective and directed conversations, wish leads to open consultation, leading to the gathering of the maximum amount of information and leading to quality decision making. Caspian needs to find the key to make good quality decisions, leading to better business outcomes. Enhance your ability to empower your team, leading to increased employee commitment, leading to people motivated to take action. Caspian should develop a philosophy and strategy for educating staff about final decisions, leading to informed staff with an understanding of why decisions have been made, leading to better morale, mood and culture. Maximise organisational learning through communication of decision outcomes, leading to an increased ability in staff to make informed decisions in the future. They need to develop strategies to encourage staff to engage in different ways of observing, leading to greater innovation and problem solving, leading to the organisation being able to anticipate, customer needs.

Skills and Learning Statement

OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY Skills and Learning Statement for Topic 8: An analysis and evaluation of the business and financial performance of an organization over a three years period Being a Research and Analysis Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of: BSc (Hons) in Applied Accounting Oxford Brookes University By: Name: Tao De ACCA Registration Number: 2171332 Submission Date: 24th May 2012 Words Count: 1881 Table of Contents Lessons Learned From Meetings With Project Mentor3Extent to Which Research Questions Have Been Answered5 Demonstration of Interpersonal and Communication Skills During Project Work7 Benefits Of Undertaking The RAP In Accountancy Studies and/or Current Employment Role8 Copy of Presentation Slides9 Lessons Learned From Meetings With Project Mentor During the project, I meet with my project mentor, Sonny Chan, for three times. In the three meetings with him, he gave me general guidance over my project progress, pointed out problems that I h ad made and took enquiries from me. First MeetingIn the first meeting, I came up with an idea of writing topic 8, and my mentor supported my idea. He gave me suggestions that potential problems that I may come up with, e. g. ratio explanation; and suggest me to review F7 (Financial Reporting) first to quickly pick up knowledge that I might forgotten, e. g. ratio analysis. After deciding the topic, I gave my mentor a list of companies that I want to analyze. The companies I selected are mainly operating in real estate industry, e. g. Frasers Centrepoint Trust, CapitaLand Commercial Trust and Suntec Real Estate Trust.Mr. Chan suggested that I need to choose a company that can make comparison, which means they have to have same year ending, similar operating area and both in form of trust. Only in this way, the ratios that have been calculated are meaningful and can be compared between two companies. From the first meeting, I learnt that a good targeted company and a good comparable co mpany selection is critical for a report. And also after the first meeting, I went through all the financial ratios, which helped me refresh my memory of what I have learnt during the F7 study.Second Meeting In the second meeting, I had finished main parts (financial analysis and business analysis) in my RAP project. After reviewed those analysis, my mentor pointed out that my explanation of ratios are not sufficient, and he shows me with examples as what is a sufficient explanation of ratio. He also suggests that I should have a segmental analysis regarding to Suntec REIT’ revenue. Besides these, he thought I needed to improve my references, which can make the analysis more convincing and have academic support.The second meeting is very meaningful indeed. It helps me improved my research report and taught me to think â€Å"deep†. For example, further explanation of ratios according to case helps my financial analysis much more meaningful. And it also helps me to know how to apply what I learnt in F7 study. Third Meeting The third meeting is relatively smooth; and my mentor’s main focus is on the format and presentation of my RAP projects. He pointed out certain wrong format of my references and inappropriate presentations, e. g. paper size, font size and line spacing.When the analysis report is about to finish, I was asked to prepare a presentation to my mentor and other students. After the presentation my mentor thought that I should improve my tone of speech to make it more convincing and encouraged me by saying that the RAP project is well prepared and he is very satisfied with my work. The third meeting with my mentor helps me to finalize my research report by adjusting things like font size and reference list. It let me know how to produce a standard and formal report, which will definitely be useful in future.And from presentation session, I learnt how to give an effective presentation to present my works. Extent to Which Research Q uestions Have Been Answered The objective that I set is to analyze the operation of Suntec REIT from financial and business perspective and try to help potential investors form a decision over the company. I believe after the research has been finished I have met the objective that I set and answered all the research questions. Though the research process is tedious, I managed myself to meet the objective answer the questions that I have set.Financial Analysis Firstly, I collect relevant information, e. g. 3 consecutive years of Annual Report of Suntec REIT and CCT REIT. Then transfer the Statement of Financial Position and Statement of Comprehensive Income in the Annual Report into excel format. After the transfer, I used excel to compute basic ratios, e. g. net profit margin, current ratio and gearing; and form another tab to put these ratios in organized form (table). For explanation purposes, charts and tables were made based on those ratios and absolute numbers, e. . profit and revenue; and again being put into separate tab in the excel, ready to be used in the writing process. After the primary data being transformed into easily explainable table and charts, the financial analysis process begins. The financial analysis proceeds in the order of segmental analysis, profitability, liquidity, leverage and investment ratios. Under each heading, the relevant ratios are compared between two companies, underlying meaning of the ratio are explained and the reason for adverse/favorable are explained.For certain ratios, the potential impact is also discussed. Business Analysis At the start of this part, the business model to be used was quickly decided. At that time, I thought PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis would be appropriate for the analysis, as PESTEL analysis gives an external picture of the business environment and SWOT analysis can provide general view of the business operation. However, during the business analysis, I found SWOT and PESTEL have certain p arts are overlapping, and this gives me a serious lesson of careful picking business analysis model.And to mitigate the problem, I try to more specifically differentiate the overlapping parts, e. g. PESTEL more focus on specific external factors while Opportunities and Threats are more general view of the environment that he company facing. Same as financial analysis, business analysis begins with information collection. During this period, I visited websites that relate to the real estate industry, e. g. Singapore REITs (http://sreit. reitdata. com), went to school library and review previous text books.During I reading the information, I took down the relevant information may useful as preparation for the business analysis. The writing process of the business analysis is mainly relying on the information being gathered. The information is written under the relevant headings of the models. Besides with this, the potential impacts are discussed. The two analysis can help potential i nvestors to have a general view of Suntec REIT’s operation both from the internal financial analysis and analysis based from business analysis model.And this can help them to make their decisions over the company. Therefore I confidently believe that I met the objective that I met. Demonstration of Interpersonal and Communication Skills During Project Work I believe that interpersonal and communication skills have been showed throughout the course of my RAP. Oral skills were required when I met up with my mentor and when making my presentation to my mentor and other students. And my writing communication skill is demonstrated through my writing of my research report.Effective communication is significantly important in have a productive interaction between my mentor and me. Every meeting with my mentor must be effective. As such, I will spend time to form my questions on the issues that I wanted to ask and diligently write down whatever suggestions that Mr. chan gave me durin g our meetings. As far as I can, I will play an active role in the oral discussion about the issues that I prepared before the meeting. Open-ended questions were asked when I needed more elaboration on certain issues.And I will also ask close-ended questions when I need a confirmation on specific issues. Besides face-to-face meeting, I discussed with my mentor through emails, text messages, Skype and MSN between meetings. In order to avoid misinterpretations, I tried to make sure that every message was well thought and organized before transmission. Writing research report requires me to have good written communication skills. This includes proper grammar and appropriate vocabulary. Except for that, I must be able to do good summaries.During the meetings and other methods of communication with my mentor, I have realized that conveying my message in a specific manner is crucial. I must not be too ‘wordy’ and always should present my points in an organized manner and try to progress into details. In the presentation of my research report, I found encouraging audience participation is an important aspect in the presentation. I have used my body language to emphasize important points. Besides that, I have also made regular eye contacts with the audience so that they can remain interested in my speech.Except for that, I also need to be sure that I am perfectly competent to take any questions during the Q&A after the presentation. And in order to do so, I predicted any areas that the audience may question about and prepare my answer for it, so that I won’t be brain go bland and come up with meaningless answers. Benefits Of Undertaking The RAP In Accountancy Studies and/or Current Employment Role The RAP is a completely new adventure for me and gives me significant challenge to finish such a big project, which takes almost 4 months. And I believe I benefit a lot during the project.In the project I reviewed the knowledge that I have learnt, e. g. F 7, F9 and P3; and applied them in the chosen companies, i. e. Suntec REIT and CCT REIT. This experience helps me to have further understanding of the knowledge I have learnt, e. g. actual meaning of those ratios instead of their computation and the application of PESTEL instead of theoretical concepts. Besides that, I also find certain areas that I need to enhance on. In the business analysis, I used an overlapping business model being introduced to analyze the chosen company.This shows my weak understanding over that area. Immediately after the project, I read up relevant material in P3 so that to enhance my better understanding over the subject and to apply it more proficiently in the future. After the project, I also find more about myself. I find my advantages, e. g. organizing random and complex information. These advantages can help me recognize which area I am good at and take advantage of in the future. And at the same time I also find some short comes that I need to avoid o r improve in the future e. g. ack of time control and weak at prioritizing tasks. And these can help me to know what need to be pre-considered to avoid same issue happen again. Besides these, the journey of completing the project can somehow help me to promote my career in the future. †¢ In the research report, it taught me how to form an official report with convincing tone and objective facts. And this experience may let me to form formal report in the future work place. †¢ From the presentation part, I learnt how to give a great presentation to fellow mates and pass information effectively.In the future, I can know how to give a much greater presentation based on the OBU project experience. †¢ The application of those ratios into real cases builds my confidence in using them to analyze financial performance of companies in practice. All these experiences can help me to better prepare for my future career and increase my opportunity to â€Å"shine† in the wor k place. In conclusion, I have to testify here that RAP provides me an experience that will definitely contribute to my further ACCA study and future employment.

Private and security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Private and security - Essay Example In addition, the respondents from the practices were more likely to report that their practice did not use â€Å"security tools such as wireless security protocols, e-mail encryption, or mobile device encryption† (HIMSS 21). The conclusion is hardly surprising given the prevailing economic environment. These initiative require financing, hence the reduced economic power of the country affects the capacity of the practices to purchase these services. Sharing data with â€Å"other entities such in corporate organization† will fall from 66% to 16% (HIMSS 11-12). Sharing data with government entities at all levels will average out. There will be a significant rise in sharing data with Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and PHR Vendors. The internal sharing of information will not be necessary since the hospitals will rely on the more secure HIEs even for internal information exchange. This also explains why the use of HIEs will increase. The reason for averaging out of the government- related sharing of information is that the government will streamline its reporting requirements across all levels. One of the interesting findings of the survey is the percentage of IT budget that goes into IT security (HIMSS 6). It is interesting to note that the amount spent on ensuring that IT systems remain secure is much lower than the overall budget. This means that there is some recognition that security is important. However, the risks do not presently warrant increased expenditure, or there is insufficient appreciation of the risks that the systems face. There are five key characteristics of the lean culture based on this article. They include elimination of waste during production and secondly, the maximization of customer value. The third aspect of a lean culture is that the management mandates and plans the lean projects. The fourth key aspect is that the implementation takes place at the floor, by the line workers. The final aspect of the lean

Capacitors in series and parallel ((lab- report )) Coursework

Capacitors in series and parallel ((lab- report )) - Coursework Example During the experiment, the series connection started followed by the parallel connections. At every stage, data collected assisted in computations. The experiment involved the use of voltmeter to measure the voltage drops, a capacitance meter to measure the capacitance and calculations to tabulate data obtained. Series circuit produces the equivalent energy of 0.00031 joules while parallel produces the equivalent energy of 0.00372 joules. Parallel circuits provide more stored energy, thus is the best method to connect capacitors. The experiment derives a capacitance of 5.41 microfarad from the series connection and 68.7microfarad from the parallel connection. This is done by a voltage supply of 10 volts when measured the voltage is 10.42 volts on the series connection and 10.31 volts after parallel connection. This helps determine the amount of average charge in both series and parallel circuits as the series circuit has an average charge of 56.37Â µC, and the parallel has an average charge of 708.297 Â µC. The series circuit has the lowest voltage drop of 1.56volts while the parallel circuit has the lowest charge at 97.95 Â µC. The capacitors in series circuits produce an equivalent capacitance of the sum of the reciprocals of the capacitance of each capacitor. This in turn reduces the amount of energy stored in the capacitors. Parallel circuits produce and equivalent capacitance equal to the sum of the individual capacitance of each capacitor in the circuit. This makes the amount of energy stored in the circuit be more. The series obeys Kirchoff’s Voltage Law that implies the total voltage equivalent to the sum of all the voltage drops within a circuit Swain (2008). From the experiment, I learned that capacitors play a significant role in storing energy in an electric field thus ensuring a steady flow of energy. To store more energy in capacitors, one needs to use the parallel circuit. In application,

Depends on essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Depends on - Essay Example Much later in around 1,000 BCE other groups like Scandinavians, Norsemen from northern Europe settled in the Atlantic coast of North America. Now the questions remains that if all these early settlements are considered then what is the significance of 1492, the year in which Columbus â€Å"discovered† America. While some might say that Columbus’s landing in America is less significant in the history of the New World than the pre-Christ early invasions, there are others who argue that today people are simple biased with anything concerned with Europeans (Unger, 2002, pp.1-2). The Indians living in America are considerably late settlers from the Old World where it is considered human species have evolved. According to archaeologists, people from different parts of the Old World have settled in America as long back as 40,000 years ago. The Indian people found in America today may have been the descendants of these early settlers although in later periods another group who were Athapasken-speakers settled in and around western Canada and Alaska. Both these Indians and the Athapasken-speakers have physical resemblance with modern day Chinese, Koreans and the Japanese. These migrant groups survived mainly on roots, berries, seeds and fish. It is assumed that due to several factors like paucity of rainfall and lack of food supply these migrants were forced to move towards North America. In those days, sea level was low and a land bridge connected Alaska with Siberia. Within the next few thousand years, these groups of people moved further south till the southe rn tip of South America. Simultaneously to these movements, the population of these migrants swelled and while they were few hundred in the beginning, by the time it was 1492 the number swelled to 50 million or more, a population size that can be compared to modern day Europe (Unger, 2002, p.2). With population rapidly increasing over the centuries, these people who were originally from the