lena horne :: essays research papers

Singer/actress Lena Horne's primary occupation was nightclub entertaining, a profession she pursued successfully around the world for more than 60 years, from the 1930s to the 1990s. In conjunction with her club work, she also maintained a recording career that stretched from 1936 to 2000 and brought her three Grammys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989; she appeared in 16 feature films and several shorts between 1938 and 1978; she performed occasionally on Broadway, including in her own Tony-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981-1982; and she sang and acted on radio and television. Adding to the challenge of maintaining such a career was her position as an African-American facing discrimination personally and in her profession during a period of enormous social change in the U.S. Her first job in the 1930s was at the Cotton Club, where blacks could perform, but not be admitted as customers; by 1969, when she acted in the film Death of a Gunf ighter, her character's marriage to a white man went unremarked in the script. Horne herself was a pivotal figure in the changing attitudes about race in the 20th century; her middle-class upbringing and musical training predisposed her to the popular music of her day, rather than the blues and jazz genres more commonly associated with African-Americans, and her photogenic looks were sufficiently close to Caucasian that frequently she was encouraged to try to "pass" for white, something she consistently refused to do. But her position in the middle of a social struggle enabled her to become a leader in that struggle, speaking out in favor of racial integration and raising money for civil rights causes. By the end of the century, she could look back at a life that was never short on conflict, but that could be seen ultimately as a triumph. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Both sides of her family claimed a mixture of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Caucasians, and both were part of what black leader W.E.B. DuBois called "the talented tenth," the upper stratum of the American black population made up of middle-class, well-educated African-Americans. Her parents, however, might both be described as mavericks from that tradition. Her father, Edwin Fletcher Horne Jr., worked for the New York State Department of Labor, but one of her biographers describes him more accurately as "a 'numbers' banker": his real profession was gambling.

Aec Advantage and Disadvangtage Essay

high & bao 1. The positive impact of AEC to Thailand is that it helps to facilitate investment and trading activities in other ASEAN members as it is now more freely and easier. We can invest in any ASEAN countries and there will be less barriers in terms of trading activities. Moreover, Thailand will become the center of transportation and tourism, as Thailand is located in the center of ASEAN. This will help tourism industry grow bigger. Thailand can also be the center of national conferences, meetings, exhibitions, and telecommunication. Furthermore, AEC helps Thai manufacturers reduce the cost of production as they can outsource cheaper raw materials from ASEAN members. AEC also helps increase the opportunities of investment as money is easily flowing among ASEAN members bix,pamm, mew 2. AEC comes with the railways development projects which will connect the Greater Mekong Sub-region, ie. East-West Economic Corridor-connecting Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar; North-South Economic Corridor-connectingThailand, Myanmar/Laos, and China and; Southern Economic Corridor-connecting Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The Southern Economic Corridor has a connecting route further to Dawei Deep Sea Port in Myanmar that can distribute products to the Middle East and Europe. This will bring down the logistic cost of Thailand that depend smuch on expensive road transportation. ————————————————- http://www.scb.co.th/eic/doc/en/insight/SCB_Insight_AEC2012_EN.pdf ————————————————- 3. In about 2 years, we are going to be a part of AEC which we need to prepare for this situation. It is not just only industry sector that need to prepare for the bigger market and the larger amount of competitors, but the small sector like logistic is also need to be improved to get along with the intense competition for helping companies survive from the easier movement of goods, service, investment, capital and people. When there is a free flow of goods, service, skilled labor, etc, the infrastructure also needs to be developed to serve those inflows. AEC would be a great challenge for supply chain management to manage the timing for delivering goods with more comfortable infrastructure which is able to reduce the cost of transportation as well, and it is a nice opportunity to enhance the cross border trade facilitation by simplified border procedures. Moreover, supporting the transportation among ASEAN countries PTT also started to set up gas stations at main roads in many member countries already. This opportunity tends to generate lots of income for our nation as the high standard of PTT gas station and the well quality of service. http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/284257/strengthening-supply-chains-for-the-aec http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNFOR5509140010001 ————————————————- Negative impact of AEC on supply chain Nop ————————————————- 1. When we become a part of AEC, it has a several negative impacts on the supply chain in Thailand. Thai firms need to expand both their manufacture and inventory, in an order to produce and store more goods to serve wider range of customers. As a result, it will definitely affect their fixed cost, and total cost of production will then rise respectively. Besides, the extensive concentration on manufacturing and inventory can be problematic in that it places additional pressure on the environment, which might be a clear evidence in unwelcome impacts upon important sectors of the economy, such as tourism. Mink 2. AEC will cause in a lot of labour movement and this can be a negative impact on supply chain as well. Of course, skilled labour will move to the country that offer them a higher opportunity and higher wage, such as Singapore and Malaysia. As the Thai skilled labour move out, the foreign unskilled labour might move in. The unskilled labour, who may be more wage competitive than the Thai worker, move in. This caused an disadvantage in the market and on Thai labour as well. Also, this might depress local markets and diminish consumption of manufactured items. Due to a various wider customers, it will be harder for the manufacture to reach economy of scale. Instead of just producing one goods to server domestic market, the firms may need to come up with several creative goods to server customers who come from many country. This also can increase a cost of production for the firm. http://ejournal.som.siu.ac.th/files/1-2%20Sittichai.pdf ————————————————- bix,pamm, mew Thailand has relatively high logistic cost to GDP (18%) when compared with Singapore (8%) and Malaysia (13%). For Thailand’s overall logistic cost, the share of transportation cost is the largest. Thailand may lose its strategy to be the hub of ASEAN from the higher logistic cost comparing to other AEC countries, such as Singapore and Malaysia, if Thailand’s logistic infrastructures, for example, railways and highways network that link AEC, haven’t been built completely in 2015. http://www.scb.co.th/eic/doc/en/insight/SCB_Insight_AEC2012_EN.pdf ————————————————- bix,pamm, mew Some labor intensive industries may die when AEC is fully integrated because of Thai minimum wage policy. The minimum wage policy will affect everyone in the supply chain both directly and indirectly. These businesses, such as food and beverage and vehicles and vehicle parts, will see higher costs for goods and services on the form of rising price of raw materials and logistics pushing through the supply chain. Moreover, the strong companies, which can survive, may leave Thai markets to find new channels to increase earnings and counter profit erosion from rising domestic costs. If many industries leave Thailand, the rest industries will leave also like domino falls. http://www.scbeic.com/ENG/document/insight_smes_aec_2012/

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Essay

Title Assignment topic 1) What are your preferred definitions of business ethics and social responsibility Why have you chosen these definitions 2) What is one key issue in the area of business ethics and social responsibility that is relevant, currently, to your organisation and your industry (You need to explain the issue and show its relevance to your organisation/industry) 3) What strategies could your organisation adopt to address this issue (You need to explain these fully) Word count Words Executive Summary There have been drastic changes today that have and continue to influence business ethics. However, organizations are lagging behind these changes or simply ignoring business ethics all together. Recent companies have failed to practice business ethics and social responsibility as their primary aim remains on making profits. The issue is that in fact, management have been blindsided by their need to make monies under whatever circumstances necessary which usually constitut es for foregoing ethical practices. The most credible of organisations and employees have indeed professional integrity and have been reliant on a code of ethics for the organizations principles and standards of practice. The plight of society continues to surround business ethics and corporate social responsibility which is yet to surface most organisations. The subject of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility introduces current issues experienced in organizations and provides guided analysis to enable a better understanding and appreciation of these issues. Illustrations of consequent economic costs having failed to practice ethical behaviors and social responsibility by the organization and individuals within have been provided also. Presented in this paper, with the aid of an example organization- Marpol Distribution Limited a family owned and operated Hardware and Auto supplies wholesale distribution company, are a wide array of ethical issues recognized within its business activities with proposed solutions in order to address the aforementioned issues. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 2. Defining Business Ethics and Social Responsibility†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.4 3. A lack of business ethics and social responsibility at Marpol Distribution Limited †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 4. Addressing the issues of Marpol Distribut ion Limited†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 5. Conclusion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 6. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.12 7. Appendix†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.13 1.Introduction The relevance and necessity to which business ethics and social responsibility hold within any  organisation is inordinate compared to the practices of most organisations presently. Therefore, the wellbeing of society and todays business world is at stake since it lies in the hands of business leaders who fail to exercise ethical procedures. The confidence in business operations once held by customers have been drastically shaken due to the collapses and corporate scandals surrounding some of the most pioneering and respected companies such as Arthur Andersen, WorldCom, Tyco and the most famous Enron Hence the urgency and necessity for the incorporation of ethics and social responsibility in business decision-making and strategic planning is heightened together with the compulsory provision of pertinent education to forthcoming business leaders in order to operate a sustainable and protected organisation. I believe that business ethics goes beyond the laws and legality, instead it teaches positive attributes such as respect, honesty, politeness which should be adopted into business practices (Inc.com, 1996). Furthermore, Ghillyer suggests in his book Business Ethics Now that there is a choice guidance for persons by ways of either moral standards or the moral compass of others in determining suitable behaviour which has influences stemming from cultural backgrounds or traditions to the norms of the environment in which we are positioned (2012). On the other hand, the social responsibility of a company deals with the management of its business processes so that a holistic positive impact on stakeholders and society is fashioned (Mallenbaker.net, 2004). The social responsibility of a company is often associated with the triple bottom line profit, people, and planet which can be theorized as the stewardship of the economy, society and the environment are at the organizations concentration (Zipcon.net, 1953 Elkington, 1998). This paper aims to satisfy the requirements of firstly defining business ethic and social responsibility. Subsequently, unethical issues encountered in Marpol Distributions Ltd will be identified and addressed. 2.Defining Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Business ethics refers to the underlying framework for carrying on business by adhering to generally accepted standards of right behaviour (highered.mcgraw-hill.com n.d.).It involves discernment of right, good and propriety from wrong, evil and propriety thereafter taking actions accordingly to the choice made. The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication Making Good Business Sensedefined Social  Responsibility as the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large (Holme and Watts 2000) it focuses on the quality of their management regarding both processes and persons alongside the nature and extent of impacts on society. Although the terms social responsibility and ethics are used interchangeably, meanings differ. Business ethics relates to an individuals or a work groups decisions that society evaluates as right or wrong, whereas social responsibility is a broader concept that concerns the impact of the entire businesss activities on society (highered.mcgraw-hill.com n.d.). These definitions were chosen mainly because, they added to the scope of business ethical behaviour and societal responsibility, it brings clarity to the concept of values and morals and overall contribution to society as individuals and businesses. Ethical standards helps to the shape both the internal and external construct of any organization .Companies that rely on ethical standards which includes values and morals rely less on legislation from central or state government . The belief that business ethics is an essential element in any organization influences the companys impact towards its social responsibility. Organizations involved in the wholesale supply of goods and raw materials, such as Marpol Distribution Limited should strive to maintain or incorporate the necessary values and morals to aid in its decision making process . According to Hartman (2005,p2), who made the suggestion that ethics involves judgments as to good and bad, right and wrong, and what ought to be. Thi s therefore will have a major impact in the dynamics of the organization. 3.A lack of business ethics and social responsibility at Marpol Distribution Limited With intentions of implementing ethical practices into the business procedures, one must firstly understand business ethics which requires the identification of ethical issues within the organization. Ethical issues are identifiable problems, situations, or opportunities that requires a person to choose from among several actions that may be evaluated as right or wrong, ethical or unethical (highered.mcgraw-hill.com n.d.). In most cases this usually implicates much deliberation between choosing monetary gain over conducting oneself fittingly. Considering the business activities of Marpol Distribution  Limited we can diagnose ethical disputes that they have encountered. As previously mentioned this organization is typically family-managed and operated with its traditional methods of approach immutable. While remaining old-fashioned might work in favour of some companies, it has had the reverse effect on Marpol Distribution Limited. Quality assurance is a major facet in the operations of Marpol Distribution as the expectations of customers of this supply company is quite high together with responsibilities to societal contribution and development. The issue arises therefore, when a lack of standard up brings in relations of values and morals are recognised. Values tend to be seen as end goals sought by individual and vary from person to person based on their desires for profit, law, virtue or charity (See Appendix). Morals tend to be seen as rules or duties that govern behaviour in our personal interactions they are our personal guiding principles (Optimal.org 1997). Generally, ethics can be seen to be the same for people within the same culture (Hartman, 2005, p2). Companies like Marpol Distribution Limited, led by its vision statement to ensure profit and continuous growth has had negative impact of ethical behaviour. This therefore has resulted in a loss of customer supplier relationship and indirectly affected its profit margin The consequences of unethical behaviour and unethical business institutions are too serious to be ignored (Des Jardins, p. 3). As suggested by Des Jardins, business ethics are simply too serious for Marpol Distribution to ignore. Corporate Governance or the lack thereof has certainly contributed negatively to the current situation of Marpol Distribution Limited. This is demonstrated as this profit driven organisation fails to emulate the necessary attributes to generate good governance such as responsiveness values of fairness, accountability, responsibility and transparency emphasis on non-monetary aspects of operatio ns etc. (Unescap.org 2013). This is also extended to unethical leadership which constitutes employee insolence as it has been suggested that employees emulate the behaviours of those above them based on their perception of ethics observed (Davis 2004). In addition, the company has become loyal to its family-run business style and as a result the recruitment process that exists within this company has failed them seeing as the workforce comprises of unskilled and unqualified family members who have prevailed over a more appropriate workforce.

African Literature Essay Example for Free (#2)

African Literature Essay ? Despite the ignorance of most so called â€Å"literati† to the domain of African literature, African literature in fact is one of the main currents of world literature, stretching continuously and directly back to ancient history. Achebe did not â€Å"invent† African Literature, because he himself was inundated with it as an African. He simply made more people aware of it. The Beginnings of African Literature The first African literature is circa 2300-2100, when ancient Egyptians begin using burial texts to accompany their dead. These include the first written accounts of creation – the Memphite Declaration of Deities. Not only that, but ‘papyrus’, from which we originate our word for paper, was invented by the Egyptians, and writing flourished. In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa feature a vibrant and varied oral culture. To take into account written literary culture without considering literary culture is definitely a mistake, because they two interplay heavily with each other. African oral arts are â€Å"art’s for life’s sake† (Mukere) not European â€Å"art’s for art’s sake†, and so may be considered foreign and strange by European readers. However, they provide useful knowledge, historical knowledge, ethical wisdom, and creative stimuli in a direct fashion. Oral culture takes many forms: proverbs and riddles, epic narratives, oration and personal testimony, praise poetry and songs, chants and rituals, stories, legends and folk tales. This is present in the many proverbs told in Things Fall Apart, and the rich cultural emphasis of that book also is typically African. The earliest written Sub-Saharan Literature (1520) is heavily influenced by Islamic literature. The earliest example of this is the anonymous history of the city-state of Kilwa Kisiwani. The first African history, History of the Sudan, is written by Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi in Arabic style. Traveling performers, called griots, kept the oral tradition alive, especially the legends of the Empire of Mali. In 1728 the earliest written Swahili work,Utendi wa Tambuka borrows heavily from Muslim tradition. However, there are little to no Islamic presence in Things Fall Apart. The Period of Colonization With the period of Colonization, African oral traditions and written works came under a serious outside threat. Europeans, justifying themselves with the Christian ethics, tried to destroy the â€Å"pagan† and â€Å"primitive† culture of the Africans, to make them more pliable slaves. However, African Literature survived this concerted attack. In 1789, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustava Vassa was the first slave narrative to be published. Kidnapped from Nigeria, this Ibo man wrote his autobiography in Great Britain in English, and like Achebe used his narrative as a platform to attack the injustices of slavery and cultural destruction. Back in Africa, Swahili poetry threw off the dominating influence of Islam and reverted back to native Bantu forms. One exemplar of this was Utendi wa Inkishafi (Soul’s Awakening), a poem detailing the vanity of earthly life. The Europeans, by bringing journalism and government schools to Africa, helped further the development of literature. Local newspapers abounded, and often they featured sections of local African poetry and short stories. While originally these fell close to the European form, slowly they broke away and became more and more African in nature. One of these writers was Oliver Schreiner, whose novel Story of an African Farm (1883) is considered the first African classic analysis of racial and sexual issues. Other notable writers, such as Samuel Mqhayi and Thomas Mofolo begin portraying Africans as complex and human characters. Achebe was highly influenced by these writers in their human portrayal of both sides of colonization. Emerging from Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, the negritude movement established itself as one of the premiere literary movements of its time. It was a French-speaking African search for identity, which ofcourse took them back to their roots in Africa. Africa was made into a metaphorical antipode to Europe, a golden age utopia, and was often represented allegorically as a woman. In a 1967 interview, Cesaire explained: â€Å"We lived in an atmosphere of rejection, and we developed an inferiority complex. † The desire to establish an identity begins with â€Å"a concrete consciousness of what we are–†¦that we are black . . . and have a history. . . [that] there have been beautiful and important black civilizations†¦that its values were values that could still make an important contribution to the world. † Leopold Sedar Senghor, one of the prime thinkers of this movement, eventually became president of the country of Senegal, creating a tradition of African writers becoming active political figures. Achebe was doubtless familiar with the negritude movement, although he preferred to less surrealistic and more realistic writing. In 1948, African literature came to the forefront of the world stage with Alan Paton’s publishing of Cry the Beloved Country. However, this book was a somewhat paternalistic and sentimental portrayal of Africa. Another African writer, Fraz Fanon, also a psychiatrist, becomes famous in 1967 through a powerful analysis of racism from the African viewpoint – Black Skin, White Masks. Camara Laye explored the deep psychological ramification of being African in his masterpiece, The Dark Child (1953), and African satire is popularized by Mongo Beti and Ferdinand Oyono. Respected African literary critic Kofi Awoonor systematically collects and translates into English much of African oral culture and art forms, preserving native African culture. Chinua Achebe then presents this native African culture in his stunning work, Things Fall Apart. This is probably the most read work of African Literature ever written, and provides a level of deep cultural detail rarely found in European literature. Achebe’s psychological insight combined with his stark realism make his novel a classic. Post-Achebe African Literature Achebe simply opened the door for many other African literati to attain international recognition. East Africans produce important autobiographical works, such as Kenyans Josiah Kariuki’s Mau Mau Detainee (1963), and R. Mugo Gatheru’s Child of Two Worlds (1964). African women begin to let their voice be heard. Writers such as Flora Nwapa give the feminine African perspective on colonization and other African issues. Wole Soyinka writes her satire of the conflict between modern Nigeria and its traditional culture in her book The Interpreters (1965). A prolific writer, she later produces famous plays such as Death and The King’s Horseman. Later, in 1986, she is awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. African Literature gains more and more momentum, and Professor James Ngugi even calls for the abolition of the English Department in the University of Nairobi, to be replaced by a Department of African Literature and Languages. African writers J. M. Coetzee, in his Life and Times of Michael K. written in both Afrikaans and English for his South African audience, confronts in literature the oppressive regime of apartheid. Chinua Achebe helps reunite African Literature as a whole by publishing in 1985 African Short Stories, a collection of African short stories from all over the continent. Another African writer, Naguib Mahfouz, wins the Nobel Prize in literature in 1988. In 1990 African poetry experiences a vital comeback through the work I is a Long-Memoried Woman by Frances Anne Soloman. African Literature is only gaining momentum as time marches onwards. African Literature. (2016, Dec 01).

Cost Drivers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cost Drivers - Essay Example Finally, cost drivers includes hours of time, number of employees, number of setups, number of wheel, number of enquiries, number of products produced, number of machines maintained, and number of hours of supervision. Cost behaviour normally relate to various activities as well as the consumption of resources ((Hansen et al. 2009). Such resources have costs which are either fixed and do not vary directly with resource usage in the short run or variable and varies in direct proportion to the resource consumption. Activities usually consume resources and the costs of such resources often follow various behavioural patterns (Needles et al. 2010). Since, the supervisors spend an equal amount of time with each employee they supervise, the costs associated with it are fixed, and they do not vary directly with resource usage. Since the building is allocated based on square footage, the costs are variable. There is a direct correlation between amount of space used and the rent. There is also a direct correlation between the Energy or electric power consumed and the number of units produced (Needles et al. 2010). In terms of labour, the costs are variable as they change in direct proportion to the number of units produced. The cost of equipment is fixed and does not vary directly to the units produced. The cost of materials varies in direct proportion to the number of units produced. There is an indirect relationship between amount of supplies and production time. The costs therefore vary in direct proportion to the resource consumption ((Hansen et al.

International Trade and Competition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International Trade and Competition - Essay Example Certain policies that should be employed by different trading nations all over the world in order to combat the effects of GFC have also been studied. 2. Trade Theories 2.1 Mercantilism This theory of international trade existed in the mid of 16th century. It postulated that the wealth of a nation depends on its accumulated treasure mainly in the form of gold. Trade surplus was believed to be the key trade practice. However, it had disadvantages of having restrictions in the form of government intervention and impaired growth (Reynolds, 2000). 2.2 Theory of Absolute Advantage This theory is believed to be developed by Adam Smith. It was against the mercantilism trade theory and brought in the concept of free trade. Different countries can take advantage of their efficiency in producing different products and trade for the other products. Hence all the countries would have simultaneous advantages while practicing free trade (skidmore.edu, 2007, p.1). 2.3 Theory of Comparative Advantag e This is an extension of the free trade mechanism theory. This theory takes into consideration two important concepts, namely opportunity cost and the frontier of production possibility. It believes in efficient utilization of existing resources leading to the increase in productivity. A country may be efficient in producing certain products but still it should import from other country if it is comparatively advantageous for the country (hawaii.edu, n.d.). 2.4 Factor Proportions Trade Theory It is also known as Heckscher – Olin Theory. This theory states that those goods should be exported which are locally available in plenty and that makes intensive use of factor endowments. Factor endowments are the main determinants of trade and not its productivity. Here the focus is more on relative advantage rather than absolute advantage. It takes into consideration two important factors of related to production. They are labor and capital (ups.edu, n.d.). 2.5 New Trade Theory The i ndustries whose fixed costs are relatively high output are enhanced through specialization. The effects of learning are also quite high. Only few competitors will be supported through the world demand. International trade results in increased income and output for a country. This results in enhanced savings as well. Rise in competition amongst different countries results in gains in trade which are dynamic in nature. 3. Global Financial Crisis (GFC) Global Financial Crisis (GFC) that took place in 2008 proved to be a historical event in world economy. It had a substantial effect on most of the nations in the world. It has led to the debacle of big financial institutions like Lehman Brothers all around the world. It resulted in the decline of share markets all over the world. It all started in United States with the fall of its market involving sub-prime mortgages. Introduction of complex financial instruments has also been one of the prime reasons behind the crisis. Securitization o f mortgage loans in US was done with the objective of mitigating risk but ultimately it led to the increase of risk through increased use of derivatives instruments in the market as speculative instruments and finally resulted in financial crisis. GFC have

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY - Assignment Example PEC and shale oil producers, end of Quantitative Easing (QE) in the US economy which led to the rise in the dollar value and subsequent fall in the oil prices. Oil prices fall when the world produces more oil than it is able to consume in which case there is a production surplus. Vice versa, a production deficit comes about when the demand for oil is greater than the amount of oil that is being manufactured. However, oil prices have plummeted to half of what they used to be since June. Crude oil has now dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time since May 2009 and US crude has also fallen below $50 a barrel† (2015). In the last decade, oil prices were high because of the rising demand for oil in most of the world but this growing demand could not be met and supply remained low due to conflicts in the oil producing Middle Eastern region, for example Iraq. By 2014, oil production increased exponentially and due to surplus oil being produced, the price of oil fell dramatically. This was caused by a significant increase in US oil production. Because of soaring oil prices, multiple American and Canadian companies started drilling for â€Å"new, hard-to-extract crude in North Dakotas shale formations and Albertas oil sands† and advanced methods like fracking and horizontal drilling began to be used (Plumer, 2015. The introduction of American shale oil in the market has added â€Å"4 million new barrels of crude oil per day† (Plumer, 2015) to the oil market while the global production is â€Å"75 million barrels per day† (Plumer, 2015). Iraq emerged as one of the major contributors to the recent boom in oil production. After the US led invasion of Iraq, oil production was disrupted due to constant war, turmoil and sanctions. However, since 2008 due to efforts being made to bring about stability and curb violence, we have seen a boom in Iraqi oil production. â€Å"Over the next five to seven years, Iraq could be supplying nearly half of the incremental growth in world oil