PESTEL analysis of the Chinese and German flooring industries

PESTEL analysis of the Chinese and German flooring industries Since 1979, China adopted an export-manufacturing strategy successfully following with Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. The Golden Bridge Co., Ltd is one of the beneficiaries. It was founded in 2007 with flooring as its main products. The product is of high quality by utilizing advanced technology and equipments imported from Germany and Italy. The glue and lacquer materials for production are also imported. In current stage, Golden Bridge has a total capital of 800 million RMB and exported to 35 foreign markets including the U.S., Canada, Japan and Germany. In order to help it to expand the business, our consultancy company attempt to analyze the China business environment and seek a foreign market to relocate the manufacturing of this company with proper entering and competing strategies. This essay first illustrates the business environment of flooring industry in China and German with PESTEL analysis. Then it evaluates the threats in Germany market by following Porters five-force mode l. Later a recommendation would be given on how to properly enter into the targeted country. PESTEL analysis of china market: The PESTEL analysis is used to assess the macro environment and identify the challenges Golden Bridge faced with in china market in order to make an appropriate suggestion. Political: The Chinese political system characterized as one-party communist dictatorship makes a great contribution to national stability, enabling the economy keep dynamic and sustainable. Nevertheless, when the economic system was deregulated from the command economy to market economy since 1978, the power of economic management was increasingly decentralized, raising the issue of uncoordinated development of regional economy. Currently, though the central government has made effort to alleviate the gap among different areas in terms of developing standards, provinces tend to give a priority to local profits rather than considering the integrated advancement of the whole country. Local protectionism exerts detrimental influences upon market expansion of Golden Bridge Company in nationwide and deters the establishment of a comprehensive distribution channel. Economical: China is valued as one of the most vibrant countries in terms of economic development among the world. The reform opening up in 1978 accelerated Chinas GDP growth from 362.4 billion RMB to 30 trillion RMB within a 30-year period. Moreover, in 2010, China has been the second largest economy instead of Japan whilst the value of export accounted for 10% of world. Based on these statistics, judgment can be made that manufactures in China including flooring industry may keep an optimistic attitude to their future prospects in some extent. Nonetheless, Chinese economy may suffer unpredictable circumstance in the future. Labor resource is one double-edge sword. Once being an advantage of China, abundant labor resource and economical labor price make a great contribution to progress of those labor-intensive manufacturing industries. This is also the primary reason that China flooring industry is quite profitable though China is a net importer of timber. However, as cited by AME info (2005) there is a growth in the minimum wage standard, labor may not be regard as a perpetual advantage of China if this trend continues. In Addition, appreciation of CNY since 2005 against USD may imperil the export of Golden Bridge Company (Goldstein, M. and Lardy, N., 2006). Social: It is claimed by Su and Littlefied (2001) that China is an extremely high-context country where people prefer to receive implied messages. For establishing a business in China, strong private-relationships with different stakeholders is the key to success. However, this is extremely time-consuming while the maintenance is also expensive. Potential conflicts in interest may easily erode it. Besides the relationship, corruption is another issue in China. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index, China was positioned 72nd among all 179 countries in 2008. However, damages caused by corruption may be far more hazardous than anticipated, particularly to the economic development. Corruption has been treated as a vital barrier for operating in Chinese market due to enormous back-stage expenditures as well as resulted injustice. For Golden Bridge to gain more import quotas and pay less tariff, costs may be made up of not only normal ingredients such as transporting, but also implied expense for smoothing the network. Technological: China wood flooring industry is experiencing a relatively laggard technological standard in its initial stage of development. According to Cheng and Song (2006), the level of timber utilization was 61% in 2004 with a considerable disparity with developed countries (nearly 90%). Additionally, imbalanced technological support aggravates the long-term conflicts between wood supply and demand in Chinese domestic market. In 2004, though the total domestic timber supply is 273.6 million cubic meters and exceeded the total consumption of 241.5 million cubic meters, scarcity of raw material still existed in some parts of timber manufacturing industry. Environment Legal: Chinese government proposed the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) nationwide in 1998 to limit exploitation of natural forest resources. The legislation made the supply of domestic natural timber restricted. Between 1997 and 2003, natural timbers supply decreased from 32.05 million cubic meters to 12.145 million cubic meters (Cheng and Song, 2005), which was extremely insufficient to satisfy demands of the highly prosperous timber industry in China. Timer manufacturing companies in China have to depend on importing. Statistics shows that in 1997 the quantity of imported timber only occupied 23.56% of total wood consumption, while the number soared to 53.78% in 2004. The expenditure of imported timber was $33.96 higher per cubic meter compared with the price in 2007, which increased the material coast of Golden Bridge Company. PESTEL analysis of German market: Since this essay has analyzed the macro environment of the china flooring market, further looking at the political, economic, social and technological factors of the German can help advance and strength the logic of the whole assessment. Political factors: Germany is a home of secure, legal and rewarding investment. The World Economic Forum has rewarded its legal system as the most efficient and this fact has also gained international recognition. Flooring coverings are categorized according to German and EU laws and building products should be subject to the EU construction products directive and the German construction products law. The directive and law are mainly focused on environmental, health-related, material and usability sectors and most people agree that by considering the environmental restrictions, the EU can be the strictest market. Moreover, with the transnational economic environment, it is predicted by experts that the approval criteria for flooring is likely to decrease and there seems to be a limited permission of eco-labels for flooring products. Further, comprehensive incentives  are provided to both home and oversea investors by German government, individual federal states and the EU. Economic factors Germany is the largest economy in Europe and in general German is export-oriented. Since 2003, German has been the largest exporter machinery, vehicles, chemicals and household equipment, with an annual export increase of 8%. However, factors that may prevent Golden Bridge from entering into and developing itself in Germany also exist. They can be excessive dependence on euro currency, tight credit markets and an increasing rate of unemployment. Stimulus and stabilization efforts initiated in 2008 and 2009 and tax cuts introduced in Chancellor Angela MERKELs second term will increase Germanys record budget deficit, which is expected to exceed 5% of GDP in 2010. The EU required Germany to get its consolidated budget deficit below 3% of GDP until 2013. A new constitutional amendment likewise limits the federal government to structural deficits of no more than 0.35% of GDP per annum as of 2016. Technology factors: Germany is claimed to be the leading nation in high-tech development and receives high turnover accordingly. In 2007, the high-tech products exported by Germany accounted to a value of RUR 114 billion, ranked first in Europe and third worldwide. More than 27% turnover of German manufacturing factory is generated from high-tech products, compared to a European average of 19%. Social factors: Social factors also need consideration. Hofstedes analysis of Germany shows the emphasis on individualism, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Power distance and long-term orientation are both ranked considerably lower than the others. Germany believes in equality and equal opportunity, as well as its ability to change and adapt rapidly. Another arising issue is the social awareness of pollution, which leads Germany to use more environmental-friendly materials. Abstract for the use of five-force model: After analyzing the macro-environment of both countries, it is reasonable and necessary to apply Michel Porters five-force model in order to provide a thoroughly understanding of the German flooring market before the Golden Bridge company entering into it. According to this model, the competitiveness of an industry is influenced by such five forces and their collective strength and thus determines the ultimate profit potential of this targeting industry. These five forces covered in the analysis are competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, the threat of substitution and the threat of potential new entry. However, the five-forces framework is not a set of principals per se, instead is a tool for systematically use these principals to assess the current status and likely evolution of an industry. Competitive Rivalry: The internal competitive rivalry in German flooring market seems high. There are three main reasons. First, the switching cost is low because flooring products are homogenous with little product differentiation. Another reason is that the German flooring market is saturated with a relatively low growth rate. The flooring production in 2008 suffered a 15.1% decline while the total consumption slumped for about 12.19% (FEP, 2008). Also the number of competitive companies in German flooring market and the intensity of rivalry also determine the high threats of rivalry. There are a large number of companies competing in the German flooring market and these companies are divided into three categories, they are Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Domestic Leading Manufacturers (DLMs) and Niche Market Brands (NMBs). First of all, SMEs has the largest number in the German flooring market (Roadmap, 2010). These SMEs are often manufacturers provide low-grade flooring with low price. Their marketing strategy is just reverse to Golden Bridges. Thus Golden Bridge is suggested to treat them in an abstemious way. However, there are also a few numbers of large flooring manufacturers who operating on European and/or global base. It is suggested by German Timber (2007) that few DLMs account for the majority of the total market share. These companies usually possess strong competencies, highly recognized reputation and well-established brand image. One main rivalry is the Krono Group, who is one of the world leading producers of high-quality flooring. Founded in 1897, it has accumulated years of experience and extensive knowledge know-how. It delivers products to 80 countries worldwide while has its own production-base in 18 countries. In 2004, its production capability of flooring reached 310 million à £Ã … ½Ã‚ ¡, took up about 1/3 of the world market share with total sales revenue of 24 billion RMB. It also has an annual RD investment of 15billion RMB with over 200 scientists doing research in Krono International Laboratory. In addition, there are Niche Market Brands (NMBs) with several well-known brands like Espirt and Kaindl, holding part of the flooring market (FEP, 2007). These companies merely provide certain kinds of flooring to meet the special needs of a group of customers. Furthermore, in order to gaining competitive strength, the NMBs together with some foreign brands such as Balterio from Belgian and Vito from Austria have formed a conglomerate named Beamy International, a commercial platform allowing them to compete on both domestic and global markets (FEP, 2008). As the competition is fierce in German flooring market, Golden Bridge is suggested to adopt a niche strategy and doing effective promotion after entering the market. To explain, the original German wood flooring manufacturers already gains economy of scales and undeniably enjoy a cost advantage. Advanced distribution channel comparing with those new entrants also allows them first mover advantages. Cost disadvantage and lacking reliable cooperators are main barriers for Golden Bridge to survive in German market. Insufficient in capital determines that an aggressive expansion strategy is also irrational. However, one advantage Golden Bridge occupies is that it has been doing export business within German importers for couple of years and its products did have certain reputation in this highly competitive market. By offering additional value, Golden Bridge can efficiently differentiate itself among the rivals with a brand image of reliability, valuable, and symbol of statuses. This may help obtain sustainable brand loyalty among German customers. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitution refers to the extent to which different products used in place of a companys products or offered by other industrials. Flooring is not restricted on only wood but other materials such as textile and stone/ceramics are also widely used. For instance, in German market in 2008, textile took the largest raw material market share (i.e. about 37.4%) for making flooring. This is followed by stone/ceramics of 28.6%. Comparably, the laminate only had a market share of 13.9%, ranked in the third place. In terms of switching cost, the result can be distinct regarding to different objects of study. To individual consumers, there is almost no switching cost exists because choose one kind of material instead of another is just a matter of personal taste. However, this can be criticized in depth for the reasons that wood-made flooring has its own characteristics and functions that other materials may not have. To some extent and to specific customer groups, for instance, those who have fixed-decoration style, the switching cost can be relatively high. However, to large wholesalers (e.g. Beamy International) who previously dedicated in wood-made flooring, the switching cost would be extremely high, as they may lose the stable distribution channels with their current wholesalers or retailers, and also the price advantage provided by the long-term cooperative producers. This means the substitution threat is less considerable because their past investment in developing stable distribution channels with retailers and producers offers them an advantage in current market and this may make them unwilling to undertake risks of operating and competing in a new and highly competitive market. Summing up the above, it is the end-user customers that Golden Bridge should pay close attention to. First of all, it is advised that a regular customer survey to be conducted to make a comprehension of customers preferences and what they really appreciate. The company should also emphasize the exclusiveness and unique utilities of their products, making it cost more for the customers to switching to other substitutes. In the meantime, though as mentioned the future trend seems favor wood flooring industry, Golden Bridge should cause enough value that the technology development is always indeterminate. Thus in order to avoid sudden shock of new technologies that brings in comparable substitutes, Golden Bridge should invest continuously in Research and Development to keep pace with the times. Threat of New Entrants: Threat of new entrants is moderate. As put by European Commission (2001), the main barriers to enter German market include certification approval and the quality standards and label, while the incentive to enter German market depends mainly on its impeccable infrastructure system. The extensive unified intensification, which has been mentioned before in PEST Analysis of German, increase the starting investment of new entry, accordingly has negative effect on new entrants to the market. There are totally fourteen member countries of European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP). Under the Single European Market policy, twelve of them have reached an agreement on moving goods, service and capital freely internally, giving companies in these markets strong mobility. To put it simpler, a flooring company located in Germany for example, can either choose to develop domestically or entre into either of the other 11 member countries of EFP, in support of the unified system. Once entering into the consolidated FEP, the new members deserve this privilege with little hindrance, however, the legal entry requirement, especially for flooring companies compliance with environmental protection, is said to be quite strict in European Market, which is especially true in Ge rmany. Thus it can be expected that in order to harmonize to European standards, a large quality of funds will be needed to invest in order to fulfilling the standards ranging from environmental protection to individual healthcare. What is more, the sophisticated infrastructures that Germany possesses nationwide make the market considerably attractive to those adventurous entrepreneurs. As known to all, Germany lays in the center of the Western Europe, with large-scale transportation centers such as International airport in Frankfurt and seaport in Hamburg (ELA, 2010). Centering in a fast and efficient logistic network covering almost all the main markets in Europe, flooring companies in Germany can procure raw materials namely timber on a global scale, and reach the external markets with relatively lower transportation costs. Therefore the threats of new entrants would be moderate in German flooring market. For Golden Bridge, the corporate should create a marketing and brand image and keep customers loyalty, tie up to both suppliers and distributors. More important, it should sign a patent to protect the intellectual property of their high-tech products. Buyer Power: Buyer power, which is determined by the individual customers ability in negotiating purchase prices with suppliers, is at an intermediate level in German market basing on four crucial reasons. Firstly, according to the previous analysis, competition in the wood flooring manufacturing is largely intensified by a large amount of incumbents. Hence, purchasers are more unrestricted in choosing their suppliers with considering competitive advantages of products, and price may be a decisive factor for some customers. However, it is important to note that Wholesalers have more bargaining power than individuals. Being the large-volume buyers, they are not only main customers where companies earn profits from, but also controllers of dominant distribution channels. By stark contrast, individual customers with smaller purchase volume may be positioned less vitally in suppliers minds. Secondly, the buyer power is attenuated by the availability of substitutes of wood flooring in German market. E xcept for this category of flooring, more choices are supplied on the market. Despite competition reinforces customers bargaining power, the phenomena of demand surplus in German wood flooring alleviates this circumstance. According to the research of European Federation of the Parquet Industry (FEP), the consumption of German wood flooring is about 17.88 million square meters, while the production of German wood flooring is only about 11.04 million square meters (Slides Stats 2008). In additionally, German culture also plays a significant role in lessening customers bargaining power. The spirit of the nation, such prudence and fixation lead to a fairly strict standardization in both work and life. Germans are used to calculating a precise price based on all dimensions. Hence, they dislike dealing with situations out of their planning, enabling bargaining become very difficult. Ten percentage cut in price is the biggest range they will agree in they dealing with foreign buyers. (LeMont Schmidt, 2001). Supplier Power: Supplier Power refers the power of suppliers to drive up the prices of raw materials, supplies, equipment or inputs. Your company purchases the glue, paint and equipment, and employs labors from Germany and imports the wood from Russia. There are some crucial factors performing low supplier power of your company. Firstly, German is not used to bargaining, which is mentioned in Buyer power. Hence, it is meaningless for German suppliers to drive up the price of material and equipment. Negotiating power is weak in Russia as well. Although the nation is one of the largest wood producers, there are a large number of wood suppliers ¼Ã…’which provide a strongly competitive circumstance in Russia. Admittedly wood is a kind of nature product so that customers are sensitive to the price of wood. Because of high standard of transparency, the switching cost is low in Russia. On the other hand, many substitutes with lower expenditures are becoming increasingly prevalent such as marble, carpet, plastic flooring. High standard of substitutes threat can restrict the suppliers to drive up the price and reduce the power of suppliers. However, high labor cost strengthens the supplier power. The German labor cost is one of the highest in world. According to Common Protocol of Salary, Labor wage need be determined by the negotiation between wood flooring industry and backwards industry (Fact about Germany, 1996). Therefore, the security of labor force is quite completed. Unions are powerful to argue with unfair wage or welfare. For example, Michael Sommer, the head of the trade union federation(DGB) , claimed that is necessary to increase labors wage with the upturn of economy in 2010( Guardian ¼Ã…’2010). Supplier power and buyer power, which exert a moderate threat on Golden Bridges development in German, can be alleviated through several ways. From one aspect, to limit bargaining power of large-volume wholesalers, the company should give priority to building up a distribution network itself by developing new franchisers rather than depending on the primary channels of wholesalers. In terms of individual customers as well as challenges from substitutes, enhancing the products benefits would be the most efficient way to reduce their bargaining desire as most of affluent people value quality more important than price. From the other aspects, labor relationship, the most considerable barrier in lessening German supplier power, should be harmonized through affording sufficient welfare to employees, as well as building a relative democratic organizational culture by the company. Moreover, it is supposed that importing a few skilled workers from China would benefit the company not only by more economical labor cost, but also reducing the significant dependence on the German labor market. Limitation of the 5-forces: Porters five-force model is not perfect but based on the assumption that from the view of any one firm, all the other firms no matter whether they are supplier, competitor or buyer are threats to the profitability. However, according to Brandenberger and Nalebuffs value net theory, interactions among firms can sometimes enhance profits. Thus critics raised and attentions on cooperation are much more paid. The cooperation between the Golden Bridge Company and other foreign flooring companies will be analyzed and evaluated in the later recommendation part. Recommendation By illustrating the German macroeconomic environment and its circumstance of flooring industry, it is thought that the most recommended strategy for Golden Bridge is to build a joint venture with one or several German covering floor manufacturing enterprises, whilst maintaining the manufacturing section and primary market system in China. Joint venture can be explained as a collaborative formation among companies that each party invests parts capabilities to constitute a new enterprise, thereafter determining the distribution of ownership according to corresponding contributions. Nevertheless, two preconditions should be taken into consideration before making an alliance with German incumbents. Firstly, as a dominant barrier in Chinese market, capital insufficiency would also limit the investment ability of Golden Bridge in German to a large extent. Consequently, small-to-medium incumbents are more desirable as cooperators rather than large-scale companies in terms of ensuring a rela tively high proportion of ownership of Golden Bridge in the new joint venture. Moreover, it is imperative to illustrate compatibility of potential partners based on a number of philosophic criteria, including similar experience, common principles and agreed future target as well (Kanter, 1994). Where extremely intensive competition takes place, German market would tend to pose more threats than opportunities on the Golden Bridge if the company attempts to entirely entry the market alone. In comparison, cooperating and aligning with local companies would be a much safer and efficient measure from two aspects. First, by giving joint ventures preferential treatment, the Golden Bridge gains a good opportunity to penetrate the German market in a relatively short period with minimum risks as the company is unnecessary to expose abundant long-term investments to gain market shares in German wood flooring industry. Instead, it can utilize those important strategic assets of local cooperators such as complete distribution channels, customer relationships and brand loyalty. Moreover, Golden Bridge is still deficient at technology and management comparing with the local German companies. Through setting up a joint venture, advanced technology and managerial know-how can be more easily accessible by Golden Bridge, which is beneficial to its development in China market as well. Nevertheless, possible issues relating to joint venture cannot be neglected by the Golden Bridge. First, operational dissimilarities caused by political and economic divergence between China and German may be a vital problem for Golden Bridge. For instance, blind spots in law or financial systems will damage the corporate profits at initial stage. Additionally, cultural and managerial difference may be difficult to consolidate as different authority, reporting and decision-making patterns (Kanter, 1994), therefore leading to possible mistrust and misunderstanding between Golden Bridge and its partners. It has been widely recognized that German managers are prudent and rigid in dealing with regulations and rarely consider the influences of the network relationship, which is fairly distinct from Chinese managers conceptions. Conclusion: In conclusion, according to the PESTEL analysis, there are a number of challenges in China. These challenges can be the unbalanced market condition in china because of local protectionism and insufficient infrastructures, under-developed technology and managerial skill led to the low efficiency of timber industry in China, Natural Forest Protection Program limits the domestic nature timbers supply as well as the increasing labor cost in flooring industry due to Chinas economy prosperous. The complexity of interrelationship of different parties involved in the business environment also cannot be neglected. The PESTEL analysis of German market was further conducted to make the assessment more comprehensive. Later the consultants use five-force model to assess threat of entering the German flooring market. For instance, the competitive rivalry and threat of entry in German flooring market is extremely high. In terms of threat of substitution, it is much more complex. The supplier power and buyer power are both at an intermediate level. However, Porters model is criticized for lacking of corporation with other market players. Thus, a recommendation is made by our consultancy company for Golden Bridge to organize a joint venture and thus with other reliable and competitive companies for instance, the Beamy International. Facts about Germany. (1996). Frankfurt am Main: Società ¤ts Verlag. LeMont Schmidt, P. (2001). Die amerikanische und die deutsche Wirtschaftskultur im Vergleich: Ein Praxisbuch fà ¼r Manager. Gà ¶ttingen: Hainholz Verlag. Guardian (2010) German steel workers demand 6% wage increase http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/14/germany-angela-merkel http://www.roadmap2010.eu/wisd/pdfs/68-81.pdf http://ecotec-energiesparhaus.de/Daten/Holztechnik-Forest-and-wood-industries-in%20Germany%20at-a-glance.pdf http://www.tarkett.com/group/en/company/Tarkett-at-a-glance http://www.homeinstitute.com/types-of-flooring.htm http://news.frbiz.com/parquet_floor_once_again_leading-440481.html http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32004D0275:EN:NOT

Brave New World: The Key to Happiness :: Brave New World

Brave New World: The Key to Happiness The novel, Brave New World is like no other, it predicts a future overpowered by technology where the people have no religion. Has Huxley written about a degrading way of life or has he discovered the key to a perfect world that should be called Utopia? The society presented in the novel is as completely rational as our own and all the precautions that are taken are needed to preserve their lifestyle. However different and horrible as the lives of individuals seem to be, in actuality they are much better than ours are. While many believe that the government controlled word, religion, the strict class system, the restraint of history, culture, the arts and books, and the obsolete need for parents and love are contradictory to Utopia, these aspects of society are actually conducive to Utopia. The first argument that would contradict the fact that Brave New World is a Utopia is the government controlling the world, causing the loss of freedom and liberty of the people. Is it really that bad that one government controls the world? Does the current structure of world government meet the needs of the people? Are millions starving? Do millions more search in vain for work every day? In Utopia, the people don't have to worry about having a job. One must remember that most people on our planet today have very little freedom – the exception being the population of western societies. Freedom is only important if it leads to happiness, and if one already possesses happiness, then there is no need for freedom. Religion plays an important role in people's lives today. Religion embodies societies theoretical principles and values. Religion guides us, gives us something to believe in and a set of rules to live by. However, every society has their own religion and the majority of the people in our world pray to gods with names that we cannot even pronounce. Our current practice of worshipping hundreds of different gods is not conducive to a peaceful society and, in fact, results in hundreds of wars being fought every year on our small planet. The current system must be replaced. Mustapha Mond when referring to the Holy Bible says that "they're old; they're about God hundreds of years ago, not about God now" (Huxley, 237). Mustapha Mond is saying that with the evolution of time the many gods worshiped before have been replaced by the worship of one God, Henry Ford.

Life Or Death Essay -- essays research papers

We are all aware of death, and we know it will come to us all. To many of us death brings a chill down our spine ridden with fear, but to others it is ridden with strength and satisfaction of accomplishment. Fortunately or unfortunately we are all condemned to death. However no one knows when exactly the inevitable will approach, but we all know it is inescapable. But what makes death seem more realistic to us and those in denial of it is the lucid pictures of people suffering, in pain and those on their death bed before many of us can be rationale and accept the truth. Someone once said, “Life is about 50-70 years of pain. One is born through the mother’s pain and die leaving others in pain.'; How do we accept and deal with the process of our last days with all the suffering we go through, and the suffering our loved ones share with us? What impact does suffering and death leave behind? Does the love we had experienced decline with our shrunken bodies, does the responsib ilities we challenged take control of us or does our friendships eventually sail in the distance like the compost to become of us; or perhaps all three? Or conceivably we build a stronger love for life, and a stronger legacy for our loved ones to cherish? What pain do they feel? Yet, all in all we need to distinguish what it means to suffer? Is it “to endure death, pain, or distress?'; Or can it be to sustain loss or damage. In this paper I will attempt to show that as human beings we take for granted what “life'; is and seem to forget that death is inevitable. But most importantly how suffering and death have an impact on our daily and routinely concepts of love, friendship and responsibility. What is “Love';? Is the love you feel for your child the same as the love you feel for your spouse? Is the love you feel for the brand new car sitting in the dealership the same as the love one feels for their parent? Love exists in many levels, and can be defined in many ways. The flourishing part about love is that only an individual can define what love is because its something only he or she can feel and distinguish. Love can be expressed in either combination or all of the following: Love towards our faith, love in an exotic nature, love for our children, and lastly love for material things. It does not matter what religion or type of faith o... ...t the sake of the family and always wish never to leave a scar on the family name. Pleasing others and not oneself can also be a liability, because one would feel that they lived life not for their sake but for others; would it then be right to question what the true meaning of life was to you, during your last minutes of life? Personally, I doubt it. We are all born to die. And die is what we shall do inevitably. But what we live behind, our legacy is simply a formation of how we live life for the time we are here on earth. Every one of us should live life to its fullest and to its fullest means that we shall consider accomplishing our duties as parents, family or friends. Our lives may seem like a circus, with so much to juggle, nonetheless we should not forget that life has essentially been a gift. We all make mistakes and this should not be regrettable, rather educational. Living life allows us all to learn and learning is the greatest satisfaction. Suffering, pain and death should not be the only emotions considered during one’s last breath, but also the beginning of change and the strengthening of love, friendship and our responsibility for those you leave behind.

American Son

On one hand, Globalization created an anatomy of modernity and pleasurable living taking us on the route of development spree, yet on the other hand this very Globalization created paradoxical complex situations in the lives of our young ones. These young ones who on one hand want to break all the cords of conventional thoughts and ideological patterns that were dominating in their societal world and on the other hand want to enter into the world shown to them by the materialistic society of today.Children’s dreams and images of the glamorous world shown to them in the American society are enough to turn their versatile mind towards the fulfillment of realization of their goals. But more and more children from different parts of the world trying to follow the ideals of the glamour and power showered on them by Hollywood, more and more they find themselves entangled into the web of unsuccessful endeavors resulting in lashing against each other. This very preposterous position o f their duplicate life faced by the children has been captured in the intricate words of â€Å"American son†.The novel revolves around Filipino immigrants, and the effect that the American culture in Globalization world have on them, the problems they are facing in searching their own identity and the violent effects on them resulting from the racism. The attraction of the children for the materialistic goods, their desire for luxurious life and the lack of familial bond they had to face take them to the path of crime coaxing them for stealing and coveting.Globalization brought the glamour world into the souls of the generation next coaxing them into following unattainable ideals of the fashionable world, and when success remains aloof from these young Filipino Americans, they resort to crime and violence. The society of Filipino American youths so revealed in 1993 in California by Brian Roley reflects the â€Å"underbelly of the modern immigrant experience† (back cove r). The dilemma of the Filipino youths is seen through the eyes of Gabrielito Sullivan, fifteen-year-old American boy.He was a boy who was born and brought up by white father and Filipino mother. The whole family strove to maintain a balance between their traditional values raised by the voice of Uncle Betino in the Philippines through his letters and the attractions of the genre class of the American society, living in West LA. Gabrielito, nickname Gabe, his mother, and his older brother Tomas, emigrated to America almost ten years before, had to fight at every stage of their life to regain their identity in the multifarious city of Los Angles.They had to rely on menial or dead end jobs away from their families, as seen by Rhacel Parrenas, â€Å"partial citizenship, the pain of family separation, the experience of contradictory class mobility, and the feeling of social exclusion or non-belonging in the migrant community† (Parrenas, 12), speak volume of the sufferings they ha d to go through and the trauma of the violent acts they had to face due to poverty that had put all the concepts of Globalization lay bare. Gabe did not see his father, since the day he got drunk and returned from his station in Germany.He still remembered that darkest phase of his life when his father thrashed the children and â€Å"making fun of Filipinos and her family,† the father told Tomas that he only married their mom because â€Å"he wanted someone meek and obedient, but had been fooled because she came with a nagging extended family. † (Roley 24) When his father left the home, Gabe’s mother would often call up her brother in the Philippines to seek his advice on how she should bring her children up.She would often receive letters from Uncle Betino to send her sons’ back to Philippines to imbibe in them â€Å"some of the Asian virtues of [the] family heritage. † (Roley 201) These letters did not allow Gabe’s mother to come out of he r roots and neither allowed her to fully assimilate herself in the American society. Even though economical hardships loomed large on her face, she still did not want to go back as she could not bear the heat, showers that spread smell, the insects, diseases, and relatives who make â€Å"tsismis about each other behind their backs† (Roley 33).Tomas tried to reconcile himself into the American family and defying the racist and discriminatory attitude by showing his masculinity. He would often end up in the family parties with â€Å"his muscles all covered in gangster tattoos and his head shaved down to stubble and his eyes bloodshot from pot. † (Roley 15) This character and personality adopted by Tomas spread the spark of rebel and violence against his own self and against the duplicate society. He was always finding himself in the company of tough Mexicans and his tattoos also postured the Mexican identity.â€Å"His tattoos are mostly gang, Spanish, and old-lady Catho lic,† Gabe observed, as he noted â€Å"the Virgin of Guadalupe tattoo that covers his back from his neck down to his pants. † (Roley 17) Tomas tried to use the stereotype and racists attitude of the society to fulfill his commercial gains. In his business of Dogs, he uses the language that signifies the stereotype image that is breathing in the American souls. He uses German language to sell his dogs and all to the â€Å"rich people and celebrities. † (Roley 15) He uses the tactic of story telling with nationalized concept to draw in the attention of his clients towards his dogs.He is often heard saying to his clients that his dogs have â€Å"pedigrees that go back to Germany, and that they descend from dogs the Nazis used [and that his training] is a Teutonic art that goes back to the Prussian war states. † (Roley 20) It’s only by proclaiming himself as Nazi that he is able to find himself recognized and legitimate citizen among high-class society of America. The most alluring part lies in the fact that all lies are easily taken for granted, as whole society is inflexed with racism. Since ages, Asian males had been subjected to mistreatment and exclusion laws.Their masculine power were thought of as a crime and considered as harmful for the whole society as they were thought of to be terminator of diseases, miscegenation and sexual corruption. Majority of the males were put to work considered as feminine in nature and were poorly paid and were represented in Media as hypersexual. In a bid to develop a viable his identity as a macho man, time and again, Tomas would succumb himself in violence and goes to an extent of beating his brother, whenever he looked at his subservient attitude.Though both Tomas and Gabe loved their mother but they would get frustrated at their helplessness and by the financial difficulties that they had to undergo and to overcome this Tomas involved himself in all petty crimes like assaulting others, br eaking into the houses of other people, and robbery. By the end of the novel, he took Gabe along with him for stealing the goods of other people and then again selling them only with a hope to increase their wealth and along with that the status of their mother. Tomas stole the items like brass sinks faucets and bathroom fittings and in exchange bought a new bed for her mother.Once in a house of Brentwood Park, Tomas told Gabe, â€Å"Look for the pearls. Or anything with gold on it. Forget the silver stuff. It wouldn't look good on her brown skin. † (Roley 147) As it was amply clear to them that their success and to make themselves recognized in a society, wealth is the most important and established proposition, in what ever way it is earned. To gain the status and position in American society, the most important qualification is how wealthy you are. And Tomas was following the same path.He was showering his love for mother by giving her all the wealthy possessions, which we re constantly figured in various forms of media like glossy magazines, television, film and advertisements attracting Filipino youths. Spending the life in a capitalist society surrounded with materialistic wealth but not having any thing for themselves, the lives of Filipino youths was just similar to a thirsty person surrounded with sea. It’s like water is everywhere but not a single drop to drink. In the social and political spheres that engulfed America in the nineteenth century it was impossible for them to earn money in a legitimate way.There were very few options left for them to earn the status and legitimacy among high and legendry class. In his quest to acquire wealth, Tomas became a hustler. As said by Mercer and Julien, â€Å"the figure of the hustler [†¦ ] is intelligible as a valid response to conditions of racism, poverty and exploitation, it does not challenge that system of oppression but rather accommodates itself to it: illegal means are used to attai n the same normative ends or ‘goals' of consumption associated with the patriarchal definition of the man's role as ‘breadwinner'†.(Mercer and Julien, 114) They think themselves as American Son only if they act violently. The violence and crime can only gratify them. They showed their aggressiveness by beating Ben, one of the schoolmates of Gabe, who was also, son of rich American woman. Ben threatened them to collect eight hundred dollars from their mother as she by mistake knocked at the woman’s land Cruiser, which was in front of their school. And while hurling the tire iron at Ben’s legs, Gabe thought that, â€Å"I feel a rush not of anxiety but of confidence.In a scary way I realize I like it. Strangely, that only makes my stomach worse. †(Roley 215) In the end of the story, when Tomas placed his hand over Gabe just like a father would do to his son, showed the volume of the self will power and reassurance they are giving to each other. Wi th the help of both criminal as well as legitimate ways, both the protagonists enabled themselves to get along with the ways of the world full of prejudice and disproportionate disposition.They may not be now trans-migrants like their mother, but they forgot their values and traditions and defied both court and law. The most crucial aspect of the novel is the inner conflict of the protagonists that arises from their own self and society that is shown in Gabe’s nature too who was earlier a submissive child but soon followed Tomas way of life. When beaten by his brother, his inner instinct told him to go and take revenge and so he took revenge on Tomas by stealing his car and dog.He then ran away to Northern California so that he can find himself get rid of his family and from his brother’s violent behavior towards him but his bonds for his family succumbed him to return and join Tomas. Today’s youths want to unleash the old conventional ways of life and grasp the wealth and power, and when they don’t get it they resort to crime. They want to ask questions and seek reliable answers from society and from their life, and when they do not get the answer they find their own way whether it is crime or other wise.This is a way of the world as they are the youths and sons of this world. WORKS CITED Mercer, Kobena and Isaac Julien. â€Å"Race, Sexual Politics and Black Masculinity: A Dossier. † Male Order: Unwrapping Masculinity. Ed. Rowena Chapman and Jonathan Rutherford. London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1988. 97-164. Parrenas, Rhacel Salazar. Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work. Stanford CA: Stanford UP, 2001. Roley, Brian Ascalon. American Son. New York: Norton, 2001