A Person Who Had a Big Influence on My Life Essays

A Person Who Had a Big Influence on My Life Essays A Person Who Had a Big Influence on My Life Essay A Person Who Had a Big Influence on My Life Essay It was a stormy night. The atmosphere was heavy and the environment was clouded with darkness. Rain was pouring like cats and dogs. I had been an orphan since the day I was born and now the orphanage had abandoned me. Lying in the dark, stormy streets I was getting wet head to toe. There was no one walking around, or at least thats what I thought . My eyesight barely managed to let me detect that sevven men in black coats, black shoes, black mask and black gloves were heading my way. I was filled with terror. I wished that they didnt detect me.However, my luck, as usual, had always been cursed. So it decided to side with the devil. I managed to get up but I was too frightened to move. Then I suddenly heard a loud noise. That is when I felt someone pushing me and a moment later I realized that I had bumped into a wall. I also, now having regained my senses understood that it was a gunshot. I saw a man lying on the floor. He was shot dead. However, that was all only in my imagination of my own creation. I realized that when he suddenly stood up. He held my hand and looked at me for a second.His look was one of concern and his grasp was one which seemed to reassure my safety. It felt like he would not let go. We started running and he quickly pushed me into his house. He locked the doors and shouted to everyone that he had returned. Abruptly, many children came rushing down the stairs and from the kitchen came a woman who gave me a cheerful smile. The man introduced me to the kids and the woman. Not only did he save me and give me a new life, but he also gave me a family and he took away my loneliness.

The Skokie Incident essays

The Skokie Incident essays The Skokie Incident started in the village of Skokie when the National Socialist Party of America wanted to march in Skokie. Skokie is a village with a many residents being Holocaust survivors and a larger number being Jewish. Clearly the holocaust Survivors and fellow citizens of the city were outraged and cried against it. The Nazis with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union were able to fight for their freedom of speech. Some issues brought up with this incident were the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and assembly and on the other hand the right to the citizens if Skokie to live without intimidation. The court ultimately sided with the Nazis and The First Amendment. The two sides consist of the ACLU the Nazis against the Skokie government its citizens and the Anti Defamation League. There were many views portrayed throughout the movie with groups like the Nazis, The ACLU, The Village Government, the holocaust survivors and the Anti-Defamation League. The ACLU and the Nazis go almost hand in hand, they both believe that the Nazis should have the right to march in Skokie. This comes from the First Amendment and ones right to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. Although they share this view the ACLU did not promote the ideas or principles of the Nazis and with there involvement in the case the ACLU lost many members and sponsors. The Holocaust survivors go in a category of their own, they did not believe the Nazis should have the right to march and claimed the right to live without intimidation. The Holocaust survivors believed that by allowing the Nazis march it would be like the beginning of the Jewish oppression in WWII when the Nazis marched through the streets. Yet this time the Holocaust survivors would fight back with violence they also had the Jewi sh Defense League on their side willing to fight. The Last two groups, the Anti-Defamation League and the village government, believed in the same princ...

Survey interview Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Survey interview - Essay Example Likewise, it was emphasized that deciding respond was completely voluntary and the results would be presented only as part of the class requirements. From the designed survey, it could be deduced that the respondents were able to accomplish it in the stipulated time frame since the questions were mostly close-ended questions and only one was open-ended (question 13) (Attending a Women’s Varsity Sport , 2014). The findings revealed that only freshmen students were not fully aware of the women’s varsity sport which could be due to their being new to the campus. Likewise, the students from the junior and senior levels were more aware of the sports events for women but their attendance to these events depend highly on their enthusiasm for sports or if they have friends who they want to support and see. The response to the last question regarding motivating them to attend women’s varsity sporting event in the future depended on the time for extra-curricular activities; as well as their genuine enthusiasm for the sport. After the survey and interview with each respondent, I thanked them profusely and expressed how grateful I was for their participation and support to this endeavor. I reiterated that the results would be presented in class, and if they are interested, I could provide them with a report on how the results eventually emerged. The experience provided me with the opportunity to build my confidence in interacting with people from diverse backgrounds with the aim of achieving the learning objectives identified for the class. As such, it was an enlightening and rewarding learning experience where interview skills were enhanced; as well as the ability to interpret survey

Organisational Behaviour (OB) Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Behaviour (OB) Assignment - Essay Example He tried to change the organizational structure to modify the corporate culture of the company. The company formed corporate tie ups with many companies to build its brand and increase exposure. These features introduced several forms of changes in the company. Firstly due to the redesigning of the product lines the patterns of work system in the company changed drastically. This began with the changes in the job description and skills and techniques of the workers as more emphasis was laid on the electronics goods and products. Changes in the organizational structure were seen in the form of centralizing the electronics department. The hierarchy of authority was modified. Division of labor was re-introduced with more emphasis on the R&D field. The hierarchy levels were reduced and more interaction was provided between the managers and front line mangers of the company. More hierarchy levels mean greater complications which would disrupt the decision making process gradually. The com pany previously had each unit with its own planning, human resources, finance, and sales functions and operated with considerable autonomy. This was not a very feasible strategy as it led to more troubles than solutions. Firstly, providing each unit with separate departments increased the cost of the company as it would be hiring many employees for each department. The autonomy offered to each unit would further increase the gap between the inter departments as there would be lack of communication. The span of control was reduced with Stringer laying off 10,000 jobs which comprised of 7% of Sony’s global workforce and shut down 11 out of 65 production units across the world (Howard Stringer: Turning Sony Around, 2003). This helped in reducing operation costs, reduced levels in hierarchy and better control by the managers. Sony was not advanced in technology and was redundant in its product designs. With the introduction of Apple iPods, the company felt the need to bring in ch anges in its working culture. Stringer who had introduced the changes believed that the new structure would streamline and speed up decision making across Sony’s product lines. It permitted uniform software development across the lines so that the products of the company would operate seamlessly with one another. This in turn eliminated the design and product redundancies and optimized the firm’s Research and Development spending. Apart from this, the corporate culture also saw changes in the company. sonSony had been long exposed to its conservative culture. When Stringer decided to introduce change in the company he faced oppositions as the cost of change was thought to be unnecessary by many people in the organization, stringer incorporated the idea of increasing the R&D area. He made them realize that R&D could save the company and it would attract customer attention. He made them realize that the problem with Sony products was not with its technology alone but als o the product utility. The change plan also affected specific technologies. For example, Sony executives declared that television was of the utmost importance to the company. The firm scraped the production of cathode ray tube (CRT) television sets and focused on LCD and rear-projection TVs and technology. Also, Sony focused on self-luminous flat –panel organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, on high-definition technology, Blu-ray, and

The ethical issues faced by human resource professionals Research Paper

The ethical issues faced by human resource professionals - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that human resource management is an important part of any business. Since the inception of industrialization, corporations are hiring and recruiting employees, and therefore human resource professionals are not something new. Managing human resource also involves many ethical considerations. In today’s dynamic business realm the job of an HR manager has become extremely difficult because of the increasing diversity in the workplace and bad economic situation all over the world. The present research has identified that human resource professionals are business graduates who specialize in human resource management. They may also take counseling courses in order to take a position of human resource professionals. The license is not required to become a human resource professional because it is a common business-related function. A doctorate can also be pursued in the field. There is no specific code of ethics that governs human resourc e profession. Every organization is free to choose its own ethical standards. The author has rightly presented that there are general laws that restrict organizations to conduct discrimination when hiring employees. There are also harassment laws that are a part of all code of ethics. But there is no universal code of ethics for human resource professionals. The four ethical issues in human resource management pertain to hiring, promotion, firing, and privacy of employees.

customer cargo from HCM to Singapore

customer cargo from HCM to Singapore In our company, the operations manager and his decisions are of special importance. Our activities are involved in logistics with special services on transportation and warehouse distribution. Therefore, the operation decisions must be accurate, timely, and workable. Four major decision responsibilities of the operations management are process, capacity, quality, and inventory. The operations management is not only affect to production, but impact to quality and revenue also. When we received a booking to ship the customer cargo from HCM to Singapore, the operations manager would have to calculate the maximum container that could be loaded on the vessel. The volume of cargo must conform to ship capacity and safety regulations. The operations decision will give marketing the quote to canvas the cargo and guide to the port for loading schedule. Therefore, the operations manager will have the responsibility for the volume and quantity of cargo directly. Any cargo cutting, due to a mista ke of the operations manager will reduce the freight and company revenue. In our business, it is very important to ensure the time departure, vessel speed, and estimated time of arrival (ETA). These elements will affect the quality service and the operations managers have responsibility to maintain all things as fixed schedule. In logistics sectors, the operations manager must be familiar with all other sections and can watch the company picture in general. Otherwise, he must communicate with the marketing manager and the chief of financial well. The right operations decision is first condition for our company to get the revenue. Nghe Ä Ãƒ ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ c ngà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ ¯ à ¢m Tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™n Xem tà ¡Ã‚ »Ã‚ « Ä‘ià ¡Ã‚ »Ã†â€™n chi tià ¡Ã‚ ºÃ‚ ¿t Question II: Explain the information conveyed by various elements in the house of quality. Personalize your answer to your own work experience. Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has been developed in Japan in the late 1960s and was been applied at the Kobe/Japan shipyard of Mitsubishi Heavy Industry in 1972. Then, Toyota had developed this application as a table with a roof. The shape of this table is similar as a house and is named the house of quality. The house of quality is developed a method of quality control ensure that customer requirements on products are satisfied before creating it. For example, we want to produce a kind of labor uniform clothing for workers in northern Vietnam. First of all, we must have information about what customers need in the product characteristics. In the north, the weather is cold, rainy in winter, so the characteristics of the product must be waterproof, warm enough etc. The requirements of customers for a product like bricks to build up the wall of the house. If we have enough bricks, full of information about customer attributes, we can develop a high house. The customer attributes are the first and most important of the matrix in the house of quality. This information is collected through communication with customers, interviews and research results. Customers are encouraged to describe what they need and any possible issues with their products. A list of requirements gathered will be put into the house of quality. The body of the house and the quality can be very time consuming to complete. Its purpose is to transfer customer requirements into technical specifications of the product. A described by Schroder, Goldenstein Rungtusanatham (2010), the next step of building house is translate the customer attribute in to Engineering Characteristic (Ecs) (p.49). With customer requirements, the Ecs must consider the existing textile equipment, machinery, and technology to produce it and estimate the unit price. When the customers requirements meet the manufacturers cable, we will complete the roof of the house. Otherwise, this house must be b uilt on a foundation of information on existing products on the market of the competitor. Without evaluation on the strengths and weaknesses of the product, and lack of information about the competitors product, the manufacturer may have not good product, like building houses without foundations. In our company, the building quality homes, quality control is target to improving matters in the production process, then towards the final product with the highest customer satisfaction. Question III: Can one apply the concepts such as Plant-within-a-plant (PWP), Mass Customization, etc. to Service Operations? Provide a discussion of the response as it relates to your own work experience or company. The services cover a wide range, but all types of services can be grouped into 3 types: Explicit service (tangible service), implicit service (intangible service) and facilitating goods. In general, service operations may include one, two or three types of the above services. Because, a service sector has owned product, concepts such as Plant-within-a-plant (PWP), Mass Customization can apply to service operations. Plant-Within a-Plan (PWP) is a term to demonstrate the focus operation. The company with PWP will focus on one or several specific product manufacture. Although these goods are processed in same factory, each product or product lines will be fabricated separately from others. PWP and focus operations can use the service sector also. The operations manager can assign and allocate different types of services to different divisions, and different facilities. For a transportation service in our company, we can divide into domestic service and international service. Because the requirement for overseas transport is higher and need more document than domestic, the service level is quite different and should be separate. Schrode (2010) interpreted that mass customization is a strategy to provide products in lot sizes of one in high volume (p.75). Mass customization in service can provide a large service product at customer specific requirement. The weekly transport service between HCMC and Singapore is a mass service, but we can customize for small requirement, even less than one container. Applying the concepts of Plant-within-a-plant (PWP), mass customization to service operations are complicated duties, but they will enhance the service quality. Question IV: Hayes and Wheelwright argued that it is profitable for firms to operate along the diagonal of the product-process matrix. Justify the reasons surrounding their argument. Can you think of situations wherein firms could move away from the diagonal and yet remain profitable? The product-process matrix is a table showing the relationship between product (type, volume etc) and scale of production (process, equipment etc). This matrix was developed by Mr. Hayes and Mr. Wheelwright in 1979. In this matrix, we can see how each typical product will correspond to a ranging of processes from the project to the continuous process. The companies with low volume for each goods, not specialization, wide range of products, usually organized in job shops. Otherwise, the company has high volume; high standardization must organize as an assembly line or continuous process. In general, a company must have position in diagonal of this matrix will have proper organization structure, working processes, production management conform to scale of production and types of products. In the case, if a company is out of this diagonal line, their business procedure may be broken, and conflicts will arise between products and production management. For example, when a company has large order for a product, but the company did not have modern assembly lines, no proper equipment and still use job shop, they will use more labor. This will inevitably lead to price the product high, will not deliver on time, and will be difficult to manage throughput, profits will not be maintained. Usually, in the development period, sometime the company is not on this diagonal. The product and process did not change simultaneously. Sometimes, a company has not enough machinery or an assembly line to produce a large volume. Otherwise, sometimes, the company invested modern assembly line but can not fabricate so much because of market redundancy. However, in the long-term, the company will maintain the balance and stay on this diagonal. A long side of the diagonal of product process matrix, a high volume, larger scale product, it means that revenue will increase. If the company manages the process well, workers will increase productivity, reduce unit cost, and the company in the diagonal of product process matrix will obtain more profit. Question V: Question V: What are the five essential elements of lean thinking? In your own words, provide a road map for implementing lean thinking in a manufacturing or service operations of your choice. In order to get practice on operation management, we visited a shoe manufacture last week. We found that the lean thinking has applied in many assembly lines of the manufactures. We can recognize all of the five essential elements of lean thinking as follows: Specify exactly what creates value: The steps of the quality house were done to ensure that all customer requirements on each samples shoe had been detailed and all give certain value for users. The first element has been carried by the designers and the RD division Improve the value stream: this element of lean thinking has applied on shoe assembly lines. From beginning step to cutting material to end, where the shoes had completed, we can not see any unnecessary movements. Design the flow to avoid waste: it is easy to recognize that there is no inventory and waiting time in the shoe assembly lines. Right after the cover sheet of shoe is completed, they will be move to other step without delay and inventory. Produce only what the customer pulls: the push mentality typically was replaced by pulls. After the customer confirms their order, shoess material will be ex-store and the shoe assembly line will start. The third element will reduce the cost, and inventory for company. Strive for perfection: every six months, the manufactures evaluates all processes and make adjustments accordingly. We had an interview with an operation manager and understand that they implement the lean systems with 6 specific steps. All of steps will are carried out by two groups. A team work of lean implements will be set up. This team includes experts from some relative divisions. They will review all documents, and procedure to find out what the customer actually needs; builds up a procedure for production; construct a value stream map and use it to eliminate waste; and follow pull demand from the customer. After group one completes their duties, the necessary changes will be applied in one assembly and will repeat the cycle on another process. This duty will be conducted by not lean team, but all operation team leader and workers. Question VI: Question VI: Describe what Business Process Re-engineering is and what is involved in such an undertaking. Also, discuss when it should be used, how it might benefit to a business, and indicate any cautions with regards to its use. Give an example related to your work experience or readings. After 10 year of sustained development, our company is facing some big problems. There is an overlapping of functions, excess personnel, in-accurate reports, and it is difficult to control costs, although the director had adjusted the plan and gave a warning to some relative divisions. However, there was not much result. The sales volume continued down and expenses were still increased. In that situation, our chairman conducted a revolution with big change. He declared that the company will be rethinking and radical redesign of business [or organizational] processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed. I understand that he will perform a Business process reengineering (BPR). In the past, leaders of enterprises have re-structured their company at their way without applying modern theory and useful research. In the early 1990s Michael Hammer and James Champy has issued their best-selling book, Reengineering the Corporation. In that book, the BPR was detailed in some specific areas. In general, the workflow and business process must be analyzed and redesigned within that company. Companies may centralize or decentralize the function division as marketing, operations, and finance according to their new organization chart. Companies can follow four principal which Schrode (2010) summaries as that organize around outcomes, not tasks, have the people who do the work, process their own information, put the decision point where work is performed and build control into the process and eliminate unnecessary steps in the process (p 123, 124). After 2 year implements of BPR, although our company was downsized, the sale volume increase and earn more revenue. The profit and return on investment has improved dramatically. Question VII: The definition of quality management has evolved from quality by inspection towards delivering competitive advantage to the firm. Briefly discuss these and other definitions of quality management. About 20 years ago, Vietnamese enterprises had not applied ISO 9000 standards in production and business activities yet. In that period, quality management simply meant that a checking or an inspection to find the defect product. The Vietnamese concept of KCS ( Kiem tra chat luong San pham check product quality) is quite common. Most plants have KCS division. This term is quite close to the traditions meaning of the quality management in 1900, when quality management means that inspection. Inspection is just a check product in the last stage of the process. It does not detect and prevent the mistake and defect in the production process. During improvement on company management, the quality method had an upgrade also. By the 1960s, the quality management had developed a new step to cover multiple departments between enterprises. These activities involved the designing, manufacturing and testing of the final product. The term of quality management refered to all activities and division function and included quality planning, quality control, quality improvement and quality assurance. Nowadays, the quality management has been upgraded to a new step. The new concept is Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is a management method based on long-term success by focusing on customer satisfaction. All member of a Nghe TQM organization has reasonability to improving processes, products, services, and the culture in their work. So, quality management is towards delivering competitive advantage to the firm Question VIII: Name the seven tools of quality that are typically used in a manufacturing process. Can all these tools be applied to service operations? Suggest some possible service operations scenarios wherein we could apply all/some of these tools. Some decades ago, Japanese companies had used some tools for quality control. Day by day, they had been developing the seven tools of quality control. The seven tools are listed by Schroder (2010) as flow charts, check sheet, histogram, pareto diagrams, cause and -effect diagrams, control charts (p.195). In service operations, all services have been ensured of their quality also. Therefore, the managers need useful tools to control the quality. Depending on the kind of service, such as tangible service, intangible service or facilitating goods, some these tools can be used accordingly. All seven tools can be applied on facilitating goods such as restaurants, repair workshops etc. Some intangible services can select other tools. However, I suppose that the Pareto diagram can be used for all service operations. The Pareto theory will help us to concentrate to most important problem. The Pareto diagram can be build to demonstrate any factors with ratio, which impact the outcome. To resolve that problem, the cause and effect diagram (fishbone diagram) can be applied for all companies regardless production or service. In my experience in warehouse service, the team leaders of a facility often use the check sheet. They have to collect daily data and consolidate them in a tabular form in order to follow the working process, im-ex warehouse, and other movement between those facilities. Otherwise, the histograms tool is useful to valuate and audit after long time operation.

Ray Kroc :: essays research papers

Ray Kroc PROBLEM STATEMENT : In order for McDonald's to reach its goal of "par excellence", it must use the full meaning and definition of marketing. Marketing is giving the target market what they want, when and where they want it, at a price they are willing to pay for it. REFLECTION / OPINION For McDonald's to achieve its "par excellence", they must focus on the fact that there is an ever changing market and that the wants and needs of consumers are constantly changing. Since McDonald's has been around for forty- one years, it is safe to say that they are the father of the fast food industry and that they have set an example for others to follow. When Ray Kroc bought the first McDonald's in 1955, he focused on what people wanted. With this focus came the utilization of Mr. Kroc's theory of QSC ( quality, service, and cleanliness ). QSC successfully got McDonald's off the ground, but as times changed, the company saw many more market segments and opportunities. In the 1970's and 1980's once again McDonald's lead the way in the fast food industry. The changes we saw included, for example, the fact that women were now a major part of the work force and dual income families were becoming a more common occurrence. McDonald's became a mastermind of marketing toward specific markets by pioneering ideas such as breakfast menus, healthier choices and alternatives, and "adult" foods. McDonald's has truly evolved into a world power by paying attention to the needs and wants of the changing market and adjusting to these needs. LINKING THEORY : Ray Kroc saw early on what needed to be done. He changed what was at one time a product orientation, into a marketing orientation. Back in 1955, this was still a new type of management. From the beginning, Kroc was already in the forefront of marketing. Marketing orientation focuses on the customer and what they want in a product, rather than product orientation which focuses on the product itself. McDonald's has taken every aspect of marketing orientation and utilized the philosophy to its fullest. McDonald's has focused in on the customer needs and wants, sometimes even putting the ideas into the consumer's mind before they even knew what they wanted or expected. McDonald's could deliver! They have done extensive market analysis and product development based on this analysis. They have packaged their food and priced it exactly to the market segment which they have targeted. Showing McDonald's innovations in marketing even further, is its early adaptation of societal marketing. Societal marketing takes into account the overall concerns of the target market, the environment, for example.

Project Communications Plan

Critical Thinking – Module 2 Project Management November 11, 2012 Project Communications Plan The three websites that I researched for this critical thinking assignment were: 1) Colorado. gov; 2) Dot. ca. gov and 3) interop. mt. gov. The topic that was most similarly discussed was the importance of implementing a communication plan both internally and externally in any type of project management. Colorado. ov noted that â€Å"28% of projects fail due to poor communications, that’s 1 out of 4 projects fail due to poor communications† (Jones, 2007). This site went on to speak about the top reasons projects fail includes poor communication, insufficient resource planning, unrealistic schedules and poor project requirements. The California Department of Transportation website noted that project communication includes general communication between team members but is more encompassing. It utilizes a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) for a framework of communication that is customer and product focused with the end in mind, and it involves all levels of the organization† (Office of Project Management Process Improvement, 2007). This organization also believes that Project Communication is the responsibility of everyone on the project team. The Interoperability Governing Board for Montana’s communications planning first determines the information and communications needs of the stakeholders.This includes identifying who needs what information, when they should receive it, and how it will be provided. Identifying the information needs of the stakeholders and determining a suitable means of meeting those needs is an important factor for project success. â€Å"Actively managing stakeholders increases the likelihood that the project will not veer off track due to unresolved stakeholder issues, enhances the ability of persons to operate synergistically, and limits disruptions during the project† (Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2007).The main subject of all these sites I researched came down to the importance of effective communication, and stating that it is the most important ingredient for project success. Participation, understanding, and the ability to adapt the project – all of which require well? functioning communication ? are critical to the end result of the project. Build a Management-driven Communication Culture Internal communication planning is one of the most neglected areas of strategic planning.Most companies spend a great deal of money and effort on their external communication plan but fail to expend any energy toward creating an organized plan for internal communication (Roehler, 2007). Determining what should be communicated to staff, when it should be communicated, and how it should be communicated is often left up to the decision of individuals made when there seems to be a need. In other words internal communication strategies are developed, reactively, when there is a crisis or major event that clearly requires addressing communication issues.Where communication is planned out, it is often around upheavals like major corporate or organization change, layoffs and downsizing, and technological change. However, once the initiating focus has been eliminated communication tends to go back to an unorganized jumbled process (Bacal, 2008). It is a bit of a mystery why this occurs, but there is no question that strategic internal communication planning can be a proactive approach to building a better, more directed and efficient workforce.Communication is a key component in coordinating and tracking project schedules, issues, and action items. The plan maps out the flow of information to different stakeholders and becomes an integral part of the overall project plan (Gray & Larson, 2011). Implementing a well thought out communications plan will help manage expectations regarding the project, ensure methods used for communication will be most effective, and assure approp riate levels of communication with internal and external project stakeholders.In addition, well laid out communication plans provide relevant, accurate, consistent information at all times, and most importantly, generate and sustain enthusiasm and support for the project. References Bacal, R. (2008). Internal communication strategies. Performance Management and Appraisal Help Center. Retrieved from http://www. prpundit. com/knowledge/employee%20communications/Internal%20Communications. pdf Gray, C. F. , & Larson, E. W. (2011). Project management: The managerial process (5th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ISBN-13:

Silk Route as Commerce Network History Essay

Silk Route as Commerce Network History Essay Silk Route as Commerce Network History Essay Example Silk Route as Commerce Network History Essay Example Silk Route is a famous trade network, which united China and Mediterranean during various periods of time. The majority of historians come to a conclusion that this commerce network was established in 130 BC and existed to 15 century AD when the Ottoman Empire refused to make trades with the West and closed the route. The length of the network is approximately 4,000 miles and it linked China with Roman Empire (Li 34). The name of the trade path was received due to the silk, which was the most common product on the network. However, it was named as the Silk Road only in 1877 by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen (Li 35). The route has bigger significance than a mere commerce meaning. Due to the commercial network, different countries that were united by it exchanged their cultures. During the antique era, among the major traders within the Silky Road, one could find China, Greece, Persia, Romania, India, Armenia, Bactria and Syria. In addition, there also was Sogdia, but only from the fifth to the eighth century. Besides, in the period of the age of Islam, Arab traders also joined the Silky Route activity and were extremely popular in the so-called market. The exchange between mentioned cultures was an important step for introducing the relations between different cultures at a new level. In fact, all these cultures have very little in common and they reflect opposite values and beliefs. Nevertheless, due to the economic advantages that each of them could give to others, they could find something that united them and it was profit. The history of the Silk Route is a good example of the way the cultures with different world views could work together to achieve the mutual goals. The well-being of the Silk Route much depended on the efforts of both civilizations. Due to the necessity to create the effective trade network, two struggling cultures could find a compromise. However, the developed commerce is not the only contribution of the network. The tide economic relations had the significant input in the shifts of the political, social and technological development. The exchange of experience and technologies was the integral part of the network. According to such fact, the Silk Route should be discussed from various perspectives, taking into consideration both economic and technological progress. The Routes of the Silk Road Obviously, the Silk Road had its particular routes of transmission of goods. They were the southern route, the northern route and the south-western route. The northern route took its place in Changan, which is today known as Xian. Changan was a capital of China in ancient times, which was lately moved east. Current route was found approximately in the first century BC, the time when the harassment conducted by nomadic tribes was ended by Han Wudi (Li 36). The route was long as it travelled northwest through the province of China of Gansu from the Province of Shaanxi. Besides, the route split into 3 other routes: two of the three sub-routes followed the mountain ranges up to the south and north of the Taklamakan Desert so that they rejoined at Kashgar. The third sub-route went north of the mountains Tian Shan through Talgar, Turpan and Almaty, which is today known as Kazakhstan. All three sub-routes split west of Kashgar. At the same time, a southern branch headed down the Alai Valley towards Uzbekistan, which was known as Termez in ancient times and Balkh, that is Afghanistan today. The other sub-routes traveled through eastern Uzbekistan (the Fergana Valley Kokand) and west across the Desert Karakum. Further, both routes joined the major southern route before they reached ancient Merv, which is now Turkmenistan (Li 36). Regarding the southern route, which was also known as the Karakoram route, one can state that it was primarily a single route that went from China through the Karakoram Mountains. In the Karakoram Mountains, the south route endures to present times as the international road that connects China and Pakistan as the Karakoram Highway. Further, the route goes to the west. However, it still spurred the southern era in order to get the opportunity to complete the journey by the sea from different points. Then the route crossed the high mountains and went through northern Pakistan, omitting the Hindu Kush Mountains. Further, it ran to Afghanistan and rejoined the northern route near Turkmenistan (Merv at ancient times). From the above mentioned point, the route then pursued a straight line through Mesopotamia, northern Iran and the northern tilt of the Syrian Desert to the Levant. In fact, that was the territory where trading ships of the Mediterranean Sea plied habitual routes to Italy. F inally, one more branch of the route ran from Herat to Charax Spasinu through Susa (Mezzavilla 72). It travelled further to other eastern ports of the Mediterranean Sea from where vessels carried goods to Rome. The Southwestern Route is considered to be one of the most important from the international perspective. The route was an important point, which connected ancient China and India beginning in the third century BC. The Southwestern Route was important from the economic and trade perspective. By that time, the Arabs used primarily the sea way of traveling to the south regions. The opening of the Southwestern Route provided an opportunity to use also the overland route. Hence, the new discovery provided the maritime-overland route, which simplified the economic exchange with the Southwestern regions. The opening of a new route had caused positive changes. The historians determine such term as Southernization (Li 38). Arabs were very interested in the South Route and thus, they used the Silk Route’s southwestern direction to establish connection between South Asia and the Mediterranean region. Silk Road in Different Dynasties Silk Road was opened during the ruling of Western Han Dynasty between 139-129 BC (Mezzavilla 76). Zhang Qian provided two expeditions to the Western region till he could finally find the most appropriate route for the future trade. In addition, the last war campaign against Huns in that region has made it a save place for a commerce route. Han Dynasty has established its protectorate of the Western Regions to make the path more attractive for traders. Western Han Dynasty was changed by Eastern Han Dynasty, which lasted almost 200 years (25-220 AD) (Mezzavilla 74). During the ruling of Eastern Han Dynasty, the Silk Route did not experience any significant changes. Ban Chao and Ban Yong made several expeditions against the rebellions in the Western Regions. The conflict in the West meant the troubles in the route and loss for the country’s economy. Thus, it was necessary to establish peace in that region and make the Silk Route an important trade network for all traders. During the ruling of the Tang Dynasty, the Silk Road has experienced the dramatic changes. Many historians believe that this dynasty has provided the biggest contribution to the development of the Silk Route. The Tang Dynasty existed almost 300 years (618-907 AD); during that period of time the Silk Route has achieved its highest prospering (Mezzavilla 78). However, the golden age of the Silk Route during the ruling of the Tang Dynasty lasted till the Anshi Rebellion (755–762) (Mezzavilla 77). The uprising of the trade network during that period of time can be explained taking into consideration the following reasons: First, the Tang Dynasty was one of the most powerful during the entire history of China. During the ruling of this dynasty, China experienced many positive changes in political, social and economic life. Changan, the largest Chinese city has become the first international metropolis of that time. Hence, such commercial center attracted many foreign traders and merchants from all over the world, who made the Silk Route more luxurious and rich. Second, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty paid especial attention to commerce and the management of the western regions. Probably, it played the crucial role in the development of stable and reliable trade network. China has often faced difficulties with the west regions. Rebellions caused great difficulties there and there was no dynasty which did not have problems with conflicts in the north. However, the strict control of that region has provided the durable prospering of the Silk Route, making it safe for caravans. As it was mentioned above, the prospering of the Silk Route reached its top before the rebellion in the west, which has endangered the safe transit for merchants and traders on the route. Third, the relations with neighbors were stable and relatively friendly. Byzantine Empire, Arabian empire and Persia were interested in the establishing of good economic relations. The well-being of the Silk Route was very important for the empires, as well as for China. Due to the Silk Route, they receive a great variety of rare goods and could sell the products, which were in plenty. In this way, all participants of the Silk Route were interested in the continuous prospective of the trade network because it provided many benefits for all parties. Fourth, the general length of the Silk Road has been enlarged during the Tang Dynasty. In 630, the Chinese military forces defeated the Eastern Turks; it gave an opportunity to enlarge the route in east direction. In addition, the victory over the Eastern Turks played a crucial role in the establishing of friendly relations with the Western Turks. In 646, the Tang dynasty captured control over the Mongolian Plateau (Mezzavilla 82). Hence, one received a new route from Altai through Mongolian Plateau, which enlarged the general length of the Silk Route. All the above-mentioned factors gave the significant growth to the Silk Route’s development and increased the well-being of those empires and states, which were united by the trade network. After the ruling of the Tang Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty has replaced it and ruled the next hundred years. Under the control of the Mongolian Empire and the establishing of the Yung Dynasty, the Silk Route has become prosperous again. However, it experienced certain changes, both positive and negative. For instance, the Mongolian empire established a new capital of his empire in the present Beijing, making it one of the most prosperous cities in the empire. The sizes of the empire stretched from Siberia in the North to the South Chinese Sea in the South. The territory of a new Mongol Empire was the largest one during the entire history of China. The Mongolian Empire did everything to make the Silk Road more profitable than ever. Thus, they welcomed the foreign travelers, especially from the West, giving them different privileges. For instance, one could receive a special passport, which received the name the â€Å"Golden Tablet† (Hitch 656). The owner of such passport could receive food and horses on the territory of the Mongolian Empire. In addition, the Mongolian khan appointed some western travellers on the ruling position in his empire. For instance, a famous explorer Marco Polo received a position in the Mongolian court. The Mongolian Empire has made the Silk Route saver and more convenient than ever; even the lone caravans could use the route, knowing that they are in safety. Regarding Sino-Roman relations, one can state that they were indirect during the whole existence of two empires. With time, the ancient Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire started cooperating closer throughout the expansion of the Roman Empire into the Ancient Near East. At the same time, Chinese military invasions expanded into Central Asia. Such influential intermediary empires as the Kushans and Parthians permanently kept the two contiguous powers of Europe separately (Hitch 654). As a result, mutual knowledge remained low and awareness unclear. To sum up, it can be said that during the long history of the Silk Route existing, beginning with its creation, the commerce network always changed in order to bring more advantages for those states and empires, which used it. Despite the significant efforts of different Chinese Dynasties to make the Silk Route more prosperous, the conflicts in the North were primarily the main reason why it could not reach the highest level of its development during the ruling of all dynasties. East-West Contribution It can be stated that the trade on the Silk Route was a very important and essential aspect in the development of such great civilizations as China, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, Arabia and Europe. The route opened long distance, economic and political interactions between the above-mentioned civilizations. However, it can be claimed that the Silk Road played a great role in the history of the countries that were engaged in its activity. The main item for trading and even for creating the Silk Route was Chinese silk (Hitch 655). However, one should understand that, although, the route was opened for trading, it was also used for some other reasons and activities. Therefore, with the existence of the Silk Route, other goods were also traded from one country to another. Moreover, the road became the way of transferring syncretic philosophies, religions and various technologies. Unfortunately, it also became the route for various diseases that now travelled from one country to another. Consequently, one can state that besides economic trade the Silk Route was the means of conducting also cultural trade with many of its aspects among the civilizations that were engaged in the Silk Road activity. The division of the world into the Eastern and Western cultures led to numerous wars and conflicts between the civilizations. Nevertheless, the Silk Rout demonstrated that even the constantly struggling cultures could come to a compromise in order to achieve the mutual benefits. The role of the Silk Route in the world history is not limited by the commerce benefits. The durable trade exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations also had the cultural, political and social meaning. Western culture has learnt much from the eastern civilization and received cultural impulses for its development. For instance, Arabs helped Europe shape its ideology; the Enlightenment and the scientific development, as well as the political progress was impossible without such contribution. East has always been more oriented on spiritual, social and political development, while the West was more interested in the military progress. The western social model of well-being could not be achieved without Chinese perfection of social relations, labor force division and specialization in different spheres. The West world has enlarged its technological base due to the Chinese progress. China was one of the most progressive countries in the Middle Age. For instance, in 1078, China produced 125, 000 tons of steel, which was in 3-4 times more than was produced by Britain (Hitch 658). China was also a leader in a textile manufacturing; such experienced was used by Great Britain to make a textile Revolution in the 18th century. In addition, the first paper and book printing was invented in China and lately adopted by other countries. In fact, the rise of the western capitalism was much predetermined by China’s technological development. The western world adopted many useful technologies and discoveries in the sphere of economy, marketing, trading and even military progress, such as gunpowder, which lately was widely used by European nations in numerous wars. Besides the technological borrowing, one should also mention about the cultural exchange, especially the influence of the Silk Route on the art. For instance the appearing of Greco-Buddhist art is the result of the cultural interaction. The similar impact one could find in In Central Asian, Iranian and Indian cultures. Silk was also presented in the art as one of the central ideas because it also had a religious significance for both civilizations. During Kushan period Buddha was illustrated as a human. The scholars believe that it the reference to the Greek and Indian elements of art. The spreading of different religious, such as Buddhist, Christianity, Islam and Judaism across Eurasia was much influenced by the Silk trade. During the centuries, the tight commercial exchange has influenced other aspects of life, especially religion. Religion has played a very important role in the Middle Ages. Christianity, which was primarily the European religion, found the followers in China, while Buddhism has enlarged its influence in Europe (Hitch 657). The merchants could see many Buddhist monasteries across the Silk Road. As a result, it led to the appearing of such phenomenon as syncretism, when the representatives of one culture accept the principles of another one, which earlier were unacceptable for them. A good example of syncretism during the history of the Silk Route is the relations between Chinese and Xiongnu nomads (Hitch 657). The two cultures have adopted the lifestyle, techniques, dress style and other features of each other. Chinese adopted military innovations and some techniques. The historians say that sometimes Chinese soldiers left the military service and went in the steppes where they converted to the Xiongnu life style. Such necessity was predetermined by the fear of punishment or even the threat of death. In fact, there are some records kept that give some particular information about the relationships between China and Rome. In 97 BC, Ban Chao, the general of China, made an attempt to send an emissary to Rome. However, his attempt was unsuccessful. Indeed, the fact is known because several ancient Chinese historians managed to record several assumed Roman envoys. Regarding the indirect trade of goods between two countries, which is also known as Silk Road, it is known that the trade was conducted by the sea in order to sell Roman high qualitative clothes and glassware and Chinese silk. As one can see, the exchange between cultures was not limited only by goods. The western culture, as well as the eastern one has adopted much from each other. In fact, such cultural exchange was not artificial, but a natural phenomenon due to the tight contacts and relations, which existed at that time between the states united by the Silk Route. Conclusion The Silk Road is the important page in the history of West-East relations. Due to the trade network, which existed almost fifteen centuries, the different cultures have adopted many features from each other. The Silk Road is often introduced as an important commerce network, which helped sell the goods which were in plenty on the territory of one state and buy those products that were in demand. However, the trade network had also the cultural exchange meaning. Those states and empires which were united by the Silk Road experienced the cultural, informational, social, political and technological exchange. The well-being of the Silk Road was connected with the ruling dynasty in China. Despite the fact that all dynasties made many efforts to make the trade network more prosperous, there was only one dynasty which could lead the Silk Road to a new level. The Tang Dynasty could achieve success due to certain measures that it took. One of the biggest advantages of that period is the control of the western provinces, which caused great damages of the route. The Mongolian Empire also cared much about the Silk Road. Genghis Khan provided numerous benefits for travellers and merchants in order to make the Silk Road more attractive and safer. He even appointed the foreigners on the high positions in his empire and was always glad to meet them in his Empire. The Silk Road existed to the fifteenth century, when the Ottoman Empire closed the path in order to forbid the trades with the western states. Before such decision, the silk trade was considered to be one of the largest and most prosperous trade networks in the world. In fact, it united the western and the eastern parts of the world, making them finding compromises and avoiding conflicts, which could destroy the beneficial economic exchange. From the historical point of view, the Silk Road is the largest cultural exchange network that existed for almost fifteen hundred years.

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