Joint Venture Analysis of Starbucks

Joint Venture Analysis of Starbucks Introduction: In 1971, Starbucks started their journey and now they are operating more than 50 countries in the world. Their total number of store is about 16,706 in 16000 locations around the world. Most of them 8850 stores are operated by the company and the rest of them are licensed store.  [1]  Globalization is a movement toward economic, financial, trade, and connections integration globally. In broader sense, globalisation implies free transfer of capital, goods, and services across around the globe. In business context, cooperation and competitiveness both are embraced by globalization. Major perceptive of depending on each other and shared responsibilities at work across company and nationwide boundaries come from idea of cooperation. The awareness developed by the idea of competitiveness that cooperation without motivation is fruitless to failure and that only practical encouragement can continuous development and growth become a normal way of life.( Globalization of business: practic e and theory by Abbas Ali) Theory of international trade: The exchange of capital, goods, services across international borders or territories is basically international trade. The crucial to the persistence of globalization is in increasing of international trade. The lacking of international trade and it caused limited goods and services produced within their own borders. There are different model of international trade for the business. Ricardian model Ricardian model mainly take in consideration on comparative advantage it is one of the most important concept in international trade theory. In this model, give importance on countries specialization in producing most excellent. The major drawback of this theory is that does not believe factor endowments like labour and capital with respective to country. Heckscher-Ohlin model The Heckscher-Ohlin theory focuses that resources required for countries producing and exporting goods. Accoding to Heckscher-Ohlin theory, a country should used most plentiful and cheapest resources in producing and exporting goods. It has some core assumption: Capital and labour flow freely between sectors Labour and capital may vary between two countries (difference in endowments) Free trade Technology is the same diagonally countries (long-term) Tastes are same.  [i]   Current situation and performance of Starbucks: Starbucks has created a global chain in market industry around the world. This company is operating more than 50 countries and their estimated turnover is about $5300 million in each year. Their main product is coffee and demand of the product is increasing globally. Starbucks cafe is very reputed and around 30 million customer visit in each week. This is one of the credit sides for the Starbucks.  [2]  Currently Starbucks seems a rising part of their business and is going to become a leading global organisation in the world. Companys global market capturing and their effectiveness in ventures made them successful in achieving organizational goals. There are many countries where are operating their business. These are: Australia, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, United Kingdom, and the United States, Bahrain, Canada, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, and Peoples Republic of China, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sou th Korea, and Switzerland. Their way of attracting customer attention is very important for the business to become worldwide brand that actually helping them to manage partnership of reputed company. This is positive side for Starbucks to move in future and its international market developments. This is one of the strengths for to be a foremost coffee retailer around the world.  [3]   Human resource management evaluation: Human resource management plays an important role in the organisation by managing human resource inside the organisation. In order to improve skills of employees requires learning. It does not matter how the candidate is, they can be best or 100% qualified. It can be solved by human resource management by implementing learning management system. (Beardwell Holden, 1997). Every employee should have the knowledge about the various processes that they can develop skill in specified area. They need to respond 100% in their job. Thats why human resource management and normal management need to cooperate with each other. The companys principle rules mainly focus on employees and how to guide them according to mission of the organisation. Moreover, Starbucks gives facilities to their employees by creating good work environment as well as treat with them with friendly. Starbucks also provide training to their employees for the enhancement of knowledge, attitudes and skills that they need to perform task supplied by the employer. Starbucks also motivate their employee to perform task well. They also informed to their employees about everything. Employees are also capable to work under pressure easily. They also evaluate their employees through various programs as well as developed their employees to compete globally. When they recruit people newly then they must provide training for them.  [4]   External environment analysis (opportunities and threats): Starbucks is operating in more than 30 countries around the globe including United States by Joint venture, licensing and entirely owned. For subsidiary company needs a lot of training, supervising, management assistance and technology transfer for the partner. Product innovation is very effective for them and it came out with new products. Starbucks also focused on diversification. It also entered into alliances with different company to serve coffee. International Business Expansion Strategies of Starbucks: Subsidiary Starbucks Coffee International Inc. started its journey as subsidiary of Starbucks which was formed in 1995.As a subsidiary it is liable to introduce improvement challenges beyond North America which combines stores planning and financing, logics and operational management, merchandising of business, improvisation of skilled and matured mangers of Starbucks international (Kotha and Glassman 2003) and introducing new strategy of business development. The international courses of expansion and strategies are managed by the International Starbucks as a separate owned subsidiary. Two strategies are followed when introducing in a brand new market. Licensing and joint venture are the chosen two. International Joint Venture The joint venture introduces a strategy towards managerial liabilities .A strategy for new business entity comes with shared ownership which is implied by two or more farms. The agenda of venture strategy is mostly for short time period with some particular quoted mottoes. Starbucks (Briscoe and Schuler 2004) is an example of adopting such strategy in business internationally.(Schuler et al 2003) Two or more parent farms which deeply invest resources as well as financial momentum to convince particular aims that introduced International joint ventures(IJVs) which are different organizational entities both in legal and economical perspectives. Joint venture introduces a strategy towards managerial liabilities .A strategy for new business entity comes with shared ownership which is implied by two or more farms. The agenda of venture strategy is mostly for short time period with some particular quoted mottoes. Starbucks (Briscoe and Schuler 2004) is an example of adopting such strategy in business internationally.(Schuler et al 2003) Two or more parent farms which deeply invest resources as well as financial momentum to convince particular aims that introduced International joint ventures(IJVs) which are different organizational entities both in legal and economical perspectives. Manufacturing and foreign joint venture; licensing and joint venture; franchising and joint venture are example of combination market entry strategies. Licensing and joint ventures are the strategies that applied with Starbucks international. Mostly the stores located in USA are owned under corporation, other than USA the stores are under corporation or owned partially in joint ventures (Alexandrides and Bowers2005). Licensing Manufacturing or marketing someones good(s) for international business success depends on licensing rights. The basic way of entering in new location of business through showing positivity to the binding of contract .Such as; licensing the goods, technology help to other farm and absolute services. In return for royalty payment; the corporation sells a particular right to introduce and advertise the good under these criteria. Starbucks does not need to undertake any monetary actions for partnership investment under this particular method. It is an amicable way to get access in international market. Starbucks can also benefit from granting license to a licensee that is more familiar with the market.  [5]   Entry strategies in action: Strategic alternative options for Starbucks: Having analysed the external and internal forces of Starbucks it is now possible to generate three possible future strategic decisions. These strategies will be analysed thoroughly before one of them is recommended as the best way forward. The options I have chosen to analyse are Diversification, Mergers and Expansion. If a business is in diversification, it starts making new products or contribution new services. Businesses can diversify in two ways; related and unrelated. I propose Starbucks attempt related diversification; by this I mean diversification reflecting some connection with the organisations activities. Starbucks is successful in appropriate development method or not: The path chosen by Starbucks is the appropriate way to expand the business globally considering every aspects and expertise of the business. Strategy like licensing and joint venture helped to uplift the quality and service of Starbucks. As mentioned earlier Starbucks adopts the partnership method with a local experienced farm. This method delivers vast opportunities to scrutinise the local consumers more closely. As a result it was easy to cope up with the local consumers expectations and inject success in the business. Alternative methods might be suitable for the company: Strategy like franchising or cross-selling can be elected by Starbucks when entering in a new region. It is more licensing alike. Company like McDonalds which represents the perfect example of franchising. In the scenario of McDonalds, the real company allows franchising terms to other current farms to deliver their goods. Other than North America every business of Starbucks is owned partially. On the other hand, McDonalds is a representation of franchising which is owned by separate corporations. Starbucks may adopt method like franchising. In the franchising method, the relation is more parallel between both parties. In this strategy the franchisee is more controlled by the franchisor. Starbucks use of different methods in different markets: While entering markets the strategy may vary place to place. Before making any further entry to a new market a company must keep certain countable factors to make the investment successful. Internal as well as external facts should not be ignored. Starbucks does assessments like ethical, economical, sociological, industrial positioning and other factors. There are three important groups of facts which are assessed prior accessing in a new market. Environment of business in that very country, environment of home country and important factors of company are the must do three. Political stability of business, conditions like macroeconomics, potentiality of resources, size of the market and internal economical relation are included in host country environment. Factors like expansion of foreign economy, conditions of market and government positivity towards foreign exchange are included in host country environment. Resources of company and capabilities of the farm are included under compa ny specific environment. Development Mode can be combined with other Expansion Methods: Starbucks believes to accumulate different methods to inject success in the business. It adopts the licensing strategy to ensure the quality of the product and services are good enough to please the consumers. Licensing is the way of expanding and at the same time; joint venture applies for the growth or development of the business. Starbucks scrutinises the external countable factors at the entry level of new locations. On the basis of three must do assessments; it considers the strategies that should be undertaken. The best locations and targets are chosen on the result of the analytical assessments. The success of the business depends on the entry level strategy and operation of assessments. The success of the business does not only a result of best location; it is also a accumulated events of proper planning, entry level operation and funding. The home country methods generally come along with the strategies named Corporate and business level.  [6]   Starbucks joint venture and strategic alliance: Starbucks need for joint ventures and strategic alliance to move forward: In 2004, Starbucks was operating in more than 25 countries but now they are operating more than 50 countries around the glove. There are many advantages in being part of a joint venture. Through joint ventures it is possible to gather knowledge about the countrys culture, language, political system, and business systems.  [7]  They are already holding strong joint ventures with good strategic alliance in different countries in the world. They have established strong reputed brand image of their product. They are now getting full culture support from different countries by understanding the need for people, which reflect their good strategy in business. If we compare with the current market situation, we found that their consumptions of coffee is around 50% in Europe with in big tradition of coffee consumption in people And they are good in gaining market share. In Asian market coffee consumption is around 15% with high market impending. Starbucks dont need joint expansion of vent ures because of high dominating power in current international market with established brand name and image. They have huge manpower as well and high standing reputation in the market and they dont need to spend more on advertising.  [8]   Starbucks are now as a top level company in the world and also they are paying high salaries and benefits to their employees. Further if they will go for joint venture their might have the possibility of losing customers. Employees who they are working now do not feel to leave because their way of treating is very friendly with employees by maintaining high standard. They already have strong strategies and good product innovation system because of good holdings in the market. Starbucks are now selling ice cream outside of their different stores and super markets; they are getting good response from there, just because of their established brand name. Starbucks are continuously developing their strategies for running business in different countries around the globe and with high effectiveness. They are also spending more on value chain recruitment and payment to customer service. Starbucks are now finding new locations for the business and their business plans, mission, aims and corporate social responsibilities these all they doing from the part of good strategy they have. Without these they cant move forward and cannot be competitive in the market as well. Factors that can lead to Starbucks success: Innovation Through inducing of environmental friendly products Customer safety maintain Store facilities should be improved Some steps should be taken on-Need employee motivation through incentives and job satisfaction as well. The location of their company must be strategic. They also need to improve corporate social responsibilities though helping farmers in their livelihood as well as their houses, irrigation system etc. The company have focus on pricing strategies by comparing demand of product. They will have to focus on neglected customer and need research on tea speciality market.  [9]   Conclusion: Starbucks has now become leading multi-national company in the world by operating more than 50 countries in the world though establishing a leading global brand. Globally they are established and running their business effectively. They also change the concept of coffee shop into different manner like it can be meeting place, dating place or business place. My research: In 1971, Starbucks started their journey and now they are operating more than 50 countries in the world. Their total number of store is about 16,706 in 16000 locations around the world. Most of them 8850 stores are operated by the company and the rest of them are licensed store. In 2004, Starbucks was operating in more than 25 countries but now they are operating more than 50 countries around the glove. There are many advantages in being part of a joint venture. Through joint ventures it is possible to gather knowledge about the countrys culture, language, political system, and business systems. They are now getting full culture support from different countries by understanding the need for people, which reflect their good strategy in business. If we compare with the current market situation, we found that their consumptions of coffee is around 50% in Europe with in big tradition of coffee consumption in people And they are good in gaining market share. In Asian market coffee consump tion is around 15% with high market impending. Starbucks are now as a top level company in the world and also they are paying high salaries and benefits to their employees. Further if they will go for joint venture their might have the possibility of losing customers. Employees who they are working now do not feel to leave because their way of treating is very friendly with employees by maintaining high standard. They already have strong strategies and good product innovation system because of good holdings in the market. Starbucks are continuously developing their strategies for running business in different countries around the globe and with high effectiveness. They are also spending more on value chain recruitment and payment to customer service. Starbucks are now finding new locations for the business and their business plans, mission, aims and corporate social responsibilities these all they doing from the part of good strategy they have. Without these they cant move forward a nd cannot be competitive in the market as well. To be successful in future Starbucks should focus on employee motivation through incentives and their job satisfaction as well. The location of their company must be strategic. They also need to improve corporate social responsibilities though helping farmers in their livelihood as well as their houses, irrigation system etc. The company have focus on pricing strategies by comparing demand of product.

History of Babylonia Essay

Babylon is Akkadian â€Å"babilani† which means â€Å"the Gate of God(s)† and it became the capital of the land of Babylonia. The etymology of the name Babel in the Bible means â€Å"confused† (Gen 11:9) and throughout the Bible, Babylon was a symbol of the confusion caused by godlessness. The name Babylon is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Babel. The Early Growth of Babylon There is evidence that man has lived in this area of Mesopotamia since the beginning of civilization. The first records indicate that Babylon was established as a city around the 23rd century BC. Before this it was a provincial capital ruled by the kings of the city of Ur. Then came the migration of the Amorites. Quick Overview of Babylonian History Babylonia (pronounced babilahnia) was an ancient empire that existed in the Near East in southern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Throughout much of their history their main rival for supremacy were their neighbors, the Assyrians. It was the Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed Jerusalem, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, and carried God’s covenant people into captivity in 587 BC. The Bible reveals much about the Babylonians all the way back from the time of Hammurapi (2000 BC) to the fall of Babylon (about 500 BC). Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the Babylonians, their people, culture, religion, military power, etc. Babylonia was a long, narrow country about 40 miles wide at its widest point and having an area of about 8,000 square miles. It was bordered on the north by Assyria, on the east by Elam, on the south and west by the Arabian desert, and on the southeast by the Persian Gulf. The earliest known inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, whom the Bible refers to as the people of the â€Å"land of Shinar† (Gen 10:10). Sargon, from one of the Sumerian cities, united the people of Babylonia under his rule about 2300 B.C. Many scholars believe that Sargon might have been the  same person as Nimrod (Gen 10:8). Artists Depiction of the Ziggurat at Ur Around 2000 BC Hammurapi emerged as the ruler of Babylonia. He expanded the borders of the Empire and organized its laws into a written system, also known as the Code of Hammurapi. About this time Abraham left Ur, an ancient city located in lower Babylon, and moved to Haran, a city in the north. Later, Abraham left Haran and migrated into the land of Canaan under God’s promise that he would become the father of a great nation (Gen 12). Alongside of Babylonia there must also be a mention of Assyria, which bordered Babylonia on the north. Assyria’s development was often intertwined with the course of Babylonian history. About 1270 BC, the Assyrians overpowered Babylonia. For the next 700 years, Babylonia was a lesser power as the Assyrians dominated the ancient world. Around 626 BC, Babylonian independence was finally won from Assyria by a leader named Nabopolassar. Under his leadership, Babylonia again became the dominant imperial power in the Near East and thus entered into her â€Å"golden age.† In 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II, the son of Nabopolassar, became ruler and reigned for 44 years. Under him the Babylonian Empire reached its greatest strength. Using the treasures which he took from other nations, Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon, the capital city of Babylonia, into one of the leading cities of the world. The famous hanging gardens of Babylon were known to the Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world. As previously mentioned, in 587 BC, the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and carried the leading citizens of the Kingdom of Judah as prisoners to Babylon. The Hebrew prophet Jeremiah had foretold that the Jews would be free to return home to Jerusalem after 70 years. The Lord had encouraged His people through Ezekiel and Daniel who were also captives in Babylon. During this 70 year period of captivity, the Persians conquered Babylonia, and the Babylonians passed from the scene as a world power. Throughout the long period of Babylonia history, the Babylonians achieved a  high level of civilization that made an impact on the whole known world. Sumerian culture was its basis, which later Babylonians regarded as traditional. In the area of religion, the Sumerians already had a system of gods, each with a main temple in each city. The chief gods were Anu, god of heaven; Enlil, god of the air; and Enki or Ea, god of the sea. Others were Shamash, the sungod; Sin, the moon-god; Ishtar, goddess of love and war; and Adad, the storm-god. The Amorites promoted the god Marduk at the city of Babylon, so that he became the chief god of the Babylonian religion, starting around 1100 BC. Babylonian religion was temple-centered, with elaborate festivals and many different types of priests, especially the exorcist and the diviner, who mainly were trained to drive away evil spirits. Babylonian literature was mainly dominated by mythology and legends. Among these was a creation myth written to glorify their god Marduk. According to this myth, Marduk created heaven and earth from the corpse of the goddess Tiamat. Another work was the Gilgamesh Epic, a flood story written about 2000 BC. Scientific literature of the Babylonians included treatises on astronomy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, botany, and nature. One of the main aspects of Babylonian culture was a codified system of law. Hammurapi’s famous code was the successor of earlier collections of laws going back to about 2050 BC. The Babylonians used art for the national celebration of great events and glorification of the gods. It was marked by stylized and symbolic representations, but it expressed realism and spontaneity in the depiction of animals. The Old Testament contains many references to Babylonia. Gen 10:10 mentions four Babylonian cities, Babel (Babylon), Erech (Uruk), Accad (Agade) and Calneh. These, along with Assyria, were ruled by Nimrod. Ancient Babylonia – Monarchy The Babylonian political structure was a monarchy. The king ruled through a number of officials who were directly under and responsible to him but he could intervene personally at any level of government and administration. Thus Hammurapi (1792-1750 BC) took a direct hand in dealing with property claims in Larsa after he had captured that city-state. The monarchy  was hereditary and maleprimogeniture seems to have been the guiding principle. Babylonian historians designated a continuous line of kings a â€Å"dynasty†. The king was an absolute monarch and in the very early period there were a few checks to his authority in that he had to respect custom and tradition, private property, the sensibilities of the nobles, religion and divination. The king was the ultimate authority in all areas except religion where he was subject to the dictates of the chief god as represented by his chief priest. Thus in the New Year’s festival the king’s role included being slapped in the face by the chief priest and pulled by the ears as a sign of his subservience to the god. Ancient Babylonia – Communication, Roads and Scribes Efficient administration of the country depended upon good communications through a system of roads and relay stations for messengers. Written communications passed back and forth in great number and required a large body of trained scribes. Most people, including the king and his officials, were illiterate so that they were heavily dependent upon the scribes both to write and interpret their commands and reports in an appropriate manner. Many of these letters have been discovered in modern times and they provide a fascinating glimpse of the real events and human relationships of the day, in contrast to the official versions found in royal inscriptions. Ancient Babylonia – Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II marched back to Babylon and was crowned king, which inaugurated one of the most powerful periods in Babylonian history. Nebuchadnezzar continued his brilliant campaigns focusing his military maneuvers on the west, which he effectively brought under his control. It was the kingdom of Judah who had called upon Egypt to assist them against the Babylonians. King Nebuchadnezzar continued his attacks and on his second conquest the conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC taking the survivors as prisoners back to Babylon. This was known in Jewish history has â€Å"the Babylonian captivity†and â€Å"the exile†. After he destroyed Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar focused his attacks upon Egypt and he conquered it in 568 BC though there  has been no detailed account of this invasion ever discovered, it remains a tremendous success for the king of Babylon and the first time any Chaldean king had ever conquered Egypt. After Nebuchadnezzar’s death his successors remained obscure untilNabonidus (555-539 BC), the last of the dynasty, ascended the throne. According to history Nabonidus, for some reason, lived throughout 10 of the 17 years that he ruled, at an Arab desert oasis called Tema, which was a vast distance from Babylon. In Babylon he left his son Belshazzar, to rule on his behalf. Nabonidus and his mother were from Harran and claimed to have been a loyal subject to the last of the Assyrian kings. Both he and his mother were zealous worshipers of the moon-god Sin, the tutelary deity of Harran, but when Nabonidus tried to promote this cult in Babylonia, the native priests, especially those who followed Marduk, became enraged. This religious controversy split Babylonia in two. Some of this literary propaganda of the time has been recovered. Babylonian culture flourished during the pax Assyriaca of the 7th century BC and again under the Chaldean dynasty of the sixth century BC. Their god Nabu, son of Marduk and god of writing and learning became very popular throughout that period. The practice of astrology permeated the Babylonian society to the point that there were nightly watches by the astrologers throughout the kingdom. Archeologists have recently recovered massive detailed records of the movements of heavenly bodies. Literature was copied and studied and many new compositions were created. In art and architecture the most impressive remains that have been unearthed by archeologists are in Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon. The city apparently had not changed much when the Greek historianHerodotus wrote about it less than a century later and called its Hanging Gardens one of the 7 wonders of the world. In 539 BC Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon. Ancient Babylonia – Houses and Farms Around the temple were clusters of houses made of sun-dried brickand inhabited by farmers and artisans. The populations of the Babylonian cities cannot be estimated with any reasonable degree of accuracy, because the  authorities, so far as extant documents reveal, took no census. The number of inhabitants of a city probably ranged from 10,000 to 50,000. The city streets were narrow, winding, and quite irregular, with high, windowless walls of houses on both sides. The streets were unpaved and undrained. The average house was a small, one-story, mud-brick structure, consisting of several rooms grouped around a court. The house of a well-to-do Babylonian, on the other hand, was probably a two-story brick dwelling of about a dozen rooms and was plastered and whitewashed both inside and out. The ground floor consisted of a reception room, kitchen, lavatory, servants’ quarters, and, sometimes, even a private chapel. Furnitureconsisted of low tables, high-backed chairs, and beds with wooden frames. Household vessels were made of clay, stone, copper, and bronze, and baskets and chests of reed and wood. Floors and walls were adorned with reed mats, skin rugs, and woolen hangings. Below the house was often located a mausoleum in which the family dead were buried. The Babylonians believed that the souls of the dead traveled to the nether world, and that, at least to some extent, life continued there as on earth. For this reason, pots, tools, weapons, and jewels were buried with the dead. Agriculture formed the economic base of Babylonian civilization with production of barley, wheat, fruits, vegetables, with cattle and sheep predominating. The main crop in the time of the ancient Babylonians was barley. The farmer would sow his seed with a tool known as a â€Å"seeder plough† The plough would create a furrow into which a seed would be dropped using a funnel. A man would have to walk beside the seeder plough and drop the seeds in at regular intervals. This would mean that all the seeds would be at exactly the correct depth. It would have taken considerable skill to achieve tasks such as irrigationand the winnowing. If the farmer got the irrigation wrong he could flood the field or let it get too dry to allow the plants to grow. Similarly if the farmer did the winnowing in too strong a wind the grain would also blow away but if he did in too weak a wind there would be chaff and dirt still mixed in. The farmer would have probably followed his father in his trade and would have been taught by him. The farmer would almost certainly have been â€Å"apprenticed† by his father. Ancient Babylonia – Social Hierarchy There were several levels in the social hierarchy with the king at the top and the slaves at the bottom. In between, in descending order, were the nobles, the free citizens and those in military and civil service. The class structure was generally rigid although some mobility from one level to another was possible. The debt slave had the possibility of paying his debts and regaining his freedom but the only hope for the foreign captive was escape or death. Thus in Babylonian society there were mainly three classes in society, theawilu, a free person of the upper class; the wardu, or slave; and themushkenu, a free person of low estate, who ranked legally between the awilu and the wardu. Most slaves were prisoners of war, but some were recruited from the Babylonian citizenry as well. For example, free persons might be reduced to slavery as punishment for certain offenses; parents could sell their children as slaves in time of need; or a man might even turn over his entire family to creditors in payment of a debt, but for no longer than three years. Ancient Babylonia – Schools For the most part the only education that a young Babylonian might have received would have been of a scribal type. Those who were sent to school to train as a scribe had to be children of wealthy or influential parents. Boys were admitted and possibly girls as well. There is no doubt that rich women often had a lot of freedom and influence. By the time of Hammurapi (1792-60) the language of Sumerian had been replaced by Akkadian as the commonly spoken language in Babylonia but Sumerian was  still used for nearly all religious texts. It was therefore necessary to train students, not only in the script, cuneiform, but in the language as well. The students’ education would begin when he was eight or nine years old. Each day he would get up at sunrise and go to school, which was commonly known as the tablet house. At the tablet house there would be a man like a schoolmaster. His title literally meant â€Å"the Expert.† There would be a number of other teachers who would each specialize in a different aspects of Sumerian and its writing. To keep order some of the senior students would be appointed as a helper. A student’s work would consist of copying tablets using a slab of wet clay. Also he would learn various texts by heart. If he successfully passed an examination the student became a scribe. Ancient Babylonia – Astronomy and the Calendar The observations of the astrologers, which were meticulously recorded on a nightly basis over many centuries, led to accurate predictions of various astronomical phenomena and the correct calculation of the solar and lunar year. The Babylonian calendar was based upon the lunar year but, thanks to the astrologer’s knowledge, could be reconciled with the solar year by means of intercalary months. We owe much of our calendar system to the Babylonians. They were probably the first people after the Sumerians to have a calendar. This calendar was very important because without it agriculture could not be planned properly. There were twelve lunar months in the year but as the months were shorter than our months often an extra month would have to be added. This was called the second Elul. Each week was divided into seven days. The day was divided into six parts each of two hours duration and containing thirty parts. The Babylonians measured time with a water or sun clock. One can see from this that the Babylonian calendar has markedsimilarities with our own: for instance the twelve months in the year and seven days in a week. Ancient Babylonia – Medicine Medicine was practiced by two kinds of experts: the physician(asu), and the exorcist (dsipu), and the talents of either or both might be demanded at the sick bed. There was a whole set of diagnostic texts in which a multitude of possible symptoms was listed and the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment given. Surgery was known and even delicate operations on the eye were performed. The Babylonians had a superb knowledge of human and animal anatomy and physiology and were aware, for example, of the circulation of the blood and the pulse. Ancient Babylonia – Cuneiform The script of the Sumerians and all the other inhabitants of Mesopotamia employed to write their language, up to the first century BC was cuneiform. The name cuneiform comes from theLatin word â€Å"cuneus†, meaning wedge. According to Babylonian beliefs Nabu, the god of scribal arts, who was also the city god of Borsippa, gave cuneiform to them. When the Akkadians, Semite invaders from the desert, adopted the Sumerian civilization and part of the Sumerian Territory they also adopted cuneiform. They adapted the script to fit their own. The next wave of Semite invaders, the Amorites, did likewise, but they continued to speak the Akkadian tongue. Thus we find Hammurapi (1792-1760 BC) who was an Amorite, speaking Akkadian and writing cuneiform. Since the time of Hammurapi, successive Mesopotamian empires controlled huge empires in the Near East. Because of this cuneiform, Akkadian became the lingua franca of the Near East, as Latin was of Medieval Europe. This of course ended when Mesopotamian civilization declined so that cuneiform was no longer being used by about the first century BC. When the Sumerians first brought cuneiform into being it was nothing like the script that it was to become. It was an ideogramatical script (a symbol represented by a word). For example a picture of sheep would mean sheep. When the Sumerians came into contact with the Akkadians they needed to adapt their script to fit. This was necessary even to write Akkadian names. Obviously it was far more important for the Akkadians because they needed to write their language in it. Cuneiform then underwent a transformation. It became a syllogramatical script where each symbol represented a sound.  Therefore the symbol for a word such as ‘dig’, if we took an English equivalent would be correctly used in the second syllable of ‘indignant’. This transformation enabled cuneiform to be used with other languages. As cuneiform changed from an ideogramatical to a syllogramatical scriptits symbols were simplified. The original pictograms were complicated and hard to write on clay tablets. The symbols developed, losing many of their lines and the remaining lines were wedge shaped and straight. Cuneiform was originally written with a reed or stick stylus but this was quickly developed into a precision tool. We have derived virtually all our knowledge of the Babylonians from texts written in cuneiform on clay tablets. From these tablets we have been able to learn their law, business, administration, religion and all other aspects of Babylonian civilization. Without these texts we would know little about the Babylonians. http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaBabylonia00000023.htm HISTORY OF THE HITTITES The first Indo-European empire: 17th century BC A group of tribes, speaking Indo-European languages and collectively known as the Hittites, establish themselves as the dominant power in Anatolia. Their capital is at Bogazkoy, a dramatically fortified city on a steep slope among ravines; its walls and towers enclose no fewer than five great temples. The priest-king who makes this place his capital in the 17th century BC is Hattusilis I. He has ambitions for his people. Moving south and east with his army, he reaches the Mediterranean and continues into northern Syria. Eager to give his empire full credentials, Hattusilis brings back from Syria a team of scribes, expert in cuneiform. They adapt the cuneiform script to a new purpose, the recording of an Indo-European language, and they lay the foundation for an important state archive at Bogazkoy. When the clay tablets of this archive are discovered, in the 20th century, they provide the basis for our knowledge of the Hittites. The magic of iron: from 1500 BC The Hittites are the first people to work iron, in Anatolia from about 1500 BC. In its simple form iron is less hard than bronze, and therefore of less use as a weapon, but it seems to have had an immediate appeal – perhaps as the latest achievement of technology (with the mysterious quality of being changeable, through heating and hammering), or from a certain intrinsic magic (it is the metal in meteorites, which fall from the sky). Quite how much value is attached to iron can be judged from a famous letter of about 1250 BC, written by a Hittite king to accompany an iron dagger-blade which he is sending to a fellow monarch The furthest extent of the empire: 16th – 12th century BC In about 1600 the Hittites reach and destroy Babylon, before retreating again to their Anatolian heartland. In the 14th century they march again to establish an empire which reaches into northern Syria, east of the Euphrates, and extends down the Mediterranean coast to confront the Egyptians. A hard-fought but inconclusive engagement at Kadesh in 1275 stablizes the frontier between the two power blocs. It is followed some years later by a treaty and the marriage of the daughter of the Hittite king (Hattusilis III) to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II.   In the 12th century the Hittite empire suddenly collapses – overwhelmed, it is thought, by the onrush of the Sea Peoples. These terrifying intruders are described in Egyptian chronicles as raging down the coast to threaten the frontiers of Egypt in about 1218 and again in 1182 BC http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/plaintexthistories.asp?historyid=ab66#ixzz2HIAKxOZL The Hittites were an Ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in on the central Anatolian plateau in the 18th century BC. The HittiteEmpire reached its height around 1285 BC,  encompassing a large part of Anatolia, north-westernSyria about as far south as the mouth of the Litani River, and eastward into upper Mesopotamia. After ca. 1180 BC, the empire d isintegrated into several independent â€Å"Neo-Hittite† city-states, some surviving until as late as the 8th century BC. The term â€Å"Hittites† was taken from the King James translation of the Hebrew Bible, translating ×â€"× ªÃ—â„¢ HTY, or ב×  Ã—â„¢-×â€"× ª BNY-HT â€Å"Children of Heth† (Heth is a son of Canaan). The archaeologists who discovered the Anatolian Hittites in the 19th century initially identified them with these Biblical Hittites. Today the identification of the Biblical peoples with either the Hattusa-based empire or the Neo-Hittite kingdoms is a matter of dispute. The Hittite kingdom was commonly called the Land of Hatti by the Hittites themselves. The fullest expression is â€Å"The Land of the City of Hattusa.† This description could be applied to either the entire empire, or more narrowly just to the core territory, depending on context. The word â€Å"Hatti† is actually an Akkadogram, rather than Hittite; it is never declined according to Hittite grammatical rules. Despite the use of â€Å"Hatti†, the Hittites should be distinguished from the Hattians, an earlier people who inhabited the same region until the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, and spoke a non-Indo-European language called Hattic. The Hittites themselves referred to their language as Nesili (or in one case, Kanesili), an adverbial form meaning â€Å"in the manner of (Ka)nesa†, presumably reflecting a high concentration of Hittite speakers in the ancient city of Kanesh (modern Kà ¼ltepe, Turkey). Many modern city names in Turkey are first recorded under their Hittite names, such as Sinop and Adana, reflecting the contiguity of modernAnatolia with its ancient past. Although belonging to the Bronze Age, the Hittites were forerunners of the Iron Age, developing the manufacture of Iron artifacts from as early as the 14th century BC, when letters to foreign rulers reveal the demand for their iron goods. Recent excavations, however, have discovered evidence of iron tool production dating back at least as far as the 20th century BC. Hittite weapons were made from Bronzethough; iron was so rare and precious

Pak China Friendship

In early 1960s, the regional and international environment played an important role in bringing about an upswing in Pakistan-China relations. China, which was under the strong pressure of the West led by the US in those days of the Cold War as shown by the establishment of SEATO and had fought a war with India because of their territorial dispute, needed friends to end its international isolation and counter India in South Asia. Pakistan because of its strained relations with India was in search of friends in its neighbourhood to neutralise, to some extent, India’s power superiority. China met the demands of Pakistan’s strategic compulsions.Pakistan’s realisation of the strategic importance of its friendship with China increased as it became acutely aware of the unreliability of the Western support in any conflict with India. The 1965 Pakistan-India war confirmed these apprehensions. The global strategic environment underwent a dramatic change in the 1970s with t he rapprochement between the US and China, in which Pakistan had played an important role, to counter the perceived security threat posed by the Soviet Union to both Washington and Beijing. Thus, the Western impediment to the strengthening of Pakistan-China relations was removed.In fact, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, both Pakistan and the US needed and secured China’s support to defeat the Soviet occupation through the Afghan jihad. The end of the Cold War in 1991 brought about another dramatic transformation of the global strategic scenario. For about a decade after the end of the Cold War, the US loomed large on the global scene like a colossus. No other country matched its enormous military power and economic strength. There were signs of concern in the 1990s on the part of China about the emergence of the US as the global hegemon and the unipolarity of the international political system.This period also witnessed the commencement of the process of the stre ngthening of US-India relations to contain China and the imposition of the US economic and military sanctions against Pakistan because of its nuclear programme. These developments brought Pakistan and China closer together. The result was increased Pakistan-China cooperation in various fields, including the field of nuclear technology. Pakistan’s need for China’s support and cooperation increased also because of the intensification of the freedom movement in the Indian Occupied Kashmir andthe resultant tensions in Pakistan-India relations. The US â€Å"unipolar moment† soon passed. The first decade of the 21st century witnessed the commencement of a radical reconfiguration of the global strategic scenario driven by China’s phenomenal economic progress and rise as a leading global power. The initiation of policies of economic reforms and opening to the outside world in 1979, under China’s paramount leader Deng Xiaoping, unleashed powerful forces tha t accelerated China’s economic growth to dizzying heights.Consequently, its GDP grew five times between 1979 and 1998 as against the target of fourfold increase. Since 1998, China has recorded growth rates averaging about nine percent per annum, propelling it to the position of the second biggest economy in the world. China’s GDP during the current year is expected to reach the figure of $9. 2 trillion as against the US gross domestic product of $16. 3 trillion. In purchasing power parity (PPP) terms, its GDP would reach the figure of $13. 9 trillion during the current year.According to latest projections, China will overtake the US economy in PPP terms within the next few years and in nominal terms some time in the next decade. In 2012, it overtook the US as the world’s biggest trading nation in goods with the combined total of its exports and imports reaching the amount of $3. 87 trillion as against the $3. 82 trillion for the US. The rapid growth of Chinaâ₠¬â„¢s economy has also enabled it to increase its military expenditure at a fast rate to safeguard its security interests. its annual military expenditure is currently about $106 billion as against $36 billion for India.However, its military expenditure is still a very small proportion of the US annual military expenditure. Such a massive shift in the global balance of power cannot but have far-reaching implications for international politics. The US ability to impose its will on the rest of the world in the economic field is fast eroding. Correspondingly, the effectiveness of its economic sanctions against foreign countries will also decline. It has forced the US to pivot its naval forces to the Asia-Pacific region where it will deploy 60 percent of its naval assets by 2020.It is strengthening its alliances in Asia with Australia, Japan and South Korea. It is trying to checkmate China’s territorial claims in South China Sea by extending political support particularly to Viet nam and the Philippines. Above all, from the point of view of both Pakistan and China, the US is engaged in close cooperation with India in economic, military and nuclear fields to help build it up as a major world power of the 21st century with a view to containing the expansion of China’s influence in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region.The growing rivalry between the US and China, and the US efforts to build up India as a bulwark against China, have important strategic implications for Pakistan. The growth in the depth, and the extent of US-India cooperation, is likely to push Pakistan closer to China as a counterweight to India’s possible hegemony in South Asia. US threats of sanctions against Pakistan because of its decision to proceed with the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project will further hasten this process. On the other hand, these developments will deepen China’s inclination to develop closer relations with Pakistan.Thus, from purely a strategic po int of view, the future prospects of Pakistan-China relations are quite bright. It was against this background that during the fifth round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing in November 2012, Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary and the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister agreed that Pakistan and China needed to close ranks to face the extraordinary global and regional challenges. However, there is no room for complacency.Pakistan’s bilateral trade with China, which was estimated to be $10.6 billion in 2011, was far behind the Indo-China trade of $80 billion. We must, therefore, pay special attention to the building up of Pakistan-China relations in economic, commercial and cultural fields, while maintaining close cooperation in political and military fields. Future possibilities of economic and commercial cooperation include a rail link between Pakistan and China, oil and gas pipelines through Pakistan to connect Xinjiang and the rest of China with the Strait of Hormuz and West Asia via the land route, and a rapid increase in bilateral trade.However, Pakistan would have to put its own house in order, reorder its domestic priorities, energise its private sector, and streamline its procedures to take full advantage of the opportunities that beckon us. On the political side, we should be sensitive to China’s concerns about the activities of the Taliban and other religious extremists in so far as the situation in Xinjiang province of China is concerned. Religious moderation is good not only for our internal political health, but also for our relations with China.

Bob Dylan Poet or Musician

When talking of some artists, it is often hard to define to which art group they belong. Was Freddy Mercury more of a singer or of a songwriter? Would you consider Adriano Celentano an actor or a musician? Were they poems or dramas Shakespeare gave preference to? Most artistic people are talented in many fields. Almost every other artist hides a splendid mix of creative skills within himself. Same story here with Bob Dylan. Some fans think that he changed music history, others believe that his poems have made a great contribution to the world literature, and there are also those, who consider him a great musician and poet at the same time. A Word on Art The songs of Bob Dylan make an overwhelming impression on those, who hear them for the first time. An odd mix of folk ballads, rock‘n’roll and blues, with all the symbolism in lyrics – it is truly an outstanding phenomenon in both fields – literature and music – at the same time. There are various periods of his art, and everybody can find something for himself, when looking through his songs. There are protest songs, and Christian gospels, and modern music, and it only depends on your taste, which ones you will like better. A Word on Himself In order to decide, what Bob Dylan is, it would be quite smart to find out what he thinks of himself. When asked at a press conference in 1965 about what he considers himself – a poet or a musician – Dylan replied with a smile: â€Å"Oh, I think of myself more as a song and dance man, y’know.† He considered himself more as an entertainer, not getting into details of how exactly he makes people think, feel and smile. A Word from Others Among Bob Dylan’s colleagues there are no such people, who would argue, whether he is more of a musician or of a poet. It does not really matter to them. As it was written earlier, it is quite common for a single artistic person to be a composer, an actor, a musician and a writer at the same time. What really does matter is the talent. â€Å"Ill never be Bob Dylan. Hes the master† – said Neil Young. And when Neil Young says such things, there could be no better praise. Perhaps, we should follow the example of artistic people and stop trying analyzing, what in the mix of texts and music makes Bob Dylan’s songs so sharp and touching. It’s much wiser to simply listen and enjoy.