A Thousand Splendid Suns--see instructions Essay

A Thousand Splendid Suns--see instructions - Essay Example Under normal conditions, the more traditional and older Mariam would be an unlikely confidant and friend of the more educated Laila. Both come from different social classes but in spite of the efforts of the country to oppress its women, these two create strong bonds as a consequence of that very oppression. Mariam was raised in a small, run down shack outside of the main city of Herat. Though she was considered a strong girl, she was also taught to understand her place as a harami, or bastard child. She understood this to be an unattractive role, â€Å"that a harami was an unwanted thing; that she, Mariam, was an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had, things such as love, family, home and acceptance.† (Hosseini 4). While she understood this role, she questioned those in authority and the rules she was forced to follow and often dreamed of a better way of life. In fact, she was very close to her father, Jalil, who always spoke to her in kind words fueling her aspirations for something better as she knew being a harami was not her own fault. As she got older, she was tired of feeling guilty about the circumstances of her birth as â€Å"it did not occur to young Mariam to ponder the unfairness of apologizing for the manner of her own birth.† (Hosseini 11). A younger Mariam accepted her role, but the older one desired more in life. She was raised by her mother (Nana) and fell into a deep despair upon her death, especially as she is married off against her will to Rasheed. He forced her into submission taking away all of her hope of a better life until she finally had the courage to rise up in revenge and kill him. Unfortunately for her, the Taliban executed her for this murder. In contrast, Laila had a happier childhood, or at least as happy as it could be for a woman in Afghanistan in the midst of war. She was given an opportunity for education and to realize her full potential. Her father had

The return of IBM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The return of IBM - Essay Example It should be noted that IBM enjoyed double digit net annual profit of 10-15% during the 1950-1980. These profitable years were coupled with strong company growth. For a firm like IBM, this was remarkable as profits are ballooning with the company's expansion (Duby 1995). This put IBM on top of other firms and became the most admired corporation in America. IBM is the envy of the corporate world as it enjoys an incredible culture of high performance and excellence. However, the early 1990s saw the downfall of the corporate giant. Iwata (2005) attributes the seeds of these failures top the big shifts in the Information Technology (IT) market and the key market changes and developments which were disregarded by IBM in the late 1980s. These problems triggered the financial catastrophe which was experienced during the 1990s. The downfall is indicated by the abrupt collapse in the firm's profit margin, stagnation and decline of its revenue and huge net losses. The internal performance of IBM together with the speculations on the firm's future slashed its stock price by almost half. The company also has to layoff 200,000 employs in four years (Iwata 2005). Amidst all these dilemmas, IBM managed to stand up and recover through various measures. The entry of Louis V. Gertsner, Jr. as the firm's new CEO when it is in the deepest trouble had helped the company to regain its robust performance. This paper will tackle the downfall and recovery of IBM. The succeeding paragraphs will justify the importance of the IBM's case in corporate finance. Another section will highlight the role and implication of innovation and changing technology to the business organization. In order to fully get acquainted with IBM, this paper will give a brief corporate profile of IBM together with the products and services it provides. The next section is an overview of the technology sector and the major competitors of IBM. A comparison of their financial performance is also shown. This paper will also give light on major issues faced by IBM and their causes. The last section will give a brief outlook for the company. Truly, the case of the Big Blue is very significant in the field of corporate finance. As with other business entities, the firm had experienced profitable years along with troublesome ones. The only difference that IBM shows is its capability of recovering after a great downfall. As a student, I believe that the downfall and recovery of IBM should become an imperative in a Corporate Finance course as it clearly shows the interdependence of the company's financial health and the firm's overall performance. The case of IBM also shows the mistakes that firms usually make. Through this, students who are trained to become financial executives someday are cautioned and trained on how to better handle decision-making processes. Another point which is highlighted by the IBM's downfall and recovery is the great impact of a firm's external environment. As mentioned above, the company's downfall was triggered by its disregard of the changing markets and emerging trends. Thus, IBM teaches stud ents that financial policies should take into account a firm's external factors. It is equally amazing how IBM was able to cope and surpass all this financial pitfalls. The case of IBM is also an important