Wednesday, May 6, 2020

The Danger Of A Single Story By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The lecture, â€Å"The Danger of a Single Story† by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, demonstrates how stereotypes create a single story in people’s minds. She says these stereotypes are half truths because they are incomplete; therefore it keeps people away from the reality. She claims this is â€Å"the danger of a single story†, because it stops people to think of others are capable of contributing positively to society. Adichie’s lecture helps one to understand how these stereotypes impact people by creating a single story which changes people’s perception of others. The article, â€Å"Michael Brown and Black Men† by Charles M. Blow critiques the â€Å"single story† the media presents about young black men. Blow argues that black men are always shown as â€Å"bad†¦show more content†¦Through her personal experiences, Adichie helps people to understand how these stereotypes only divert minds, which keep people away from the reality . She had a single story about their houseboy that could not perform any other work rather than housework. Adichie says, â€Å"Then one Saturday, we went to his village to visit, and his mother showed us a beautifully patterned basket made of dyed raffia that his brother had made. I was startled. It had not occurred to me that anybody in his family could actually make something† (Adichie). She talks about their houseboy, Fide who performed housework at their house. However, when she met his family, she was surprised to see their working capability because she had a single story about his family that they were poor. Therefore, she could not imagine them doing craft work because she assumed that Fide and his family were able to do the housework only. In the article, Blow also describes how the stereotypes make people to believe in one thing strongly rather than believing at different things. Blow writes, â€Å"Black Missourians were 66 percent more likely in 2013 to be stopped by police, and blacks and Hispanics were both more likely to be searched, even though the likelihood of finding contraband was higher among whites† (Blow). Blow describes how white people are more likely to commit crimes, but they are less likely to be searched than black and Hispanic people. Black people are targeted because they are minority and media

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Concept of Open Innovation-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: You are required to write a literature review on the topic of Open Innovation. Answer: Introduction In the recent years every business industry has been facing major challenges in their business due to globalization, huge competition and the high operating cost. These factors lead the organizations to innovate new ideas in their business to gain competitive advantages. Innovation is an effective approach for the business organization to stay competitive in the global market (Chesbrough et al. 2014). Creativity is the main area of innovation. A business can be innovative if they foster and incorporate creative ideas in their business. Open innovation is one kind of innovation that contributes more in the success of a business. This current literature focuses on the effectiveness of the open innovation in the business industry in creating a competitive edge for the business. Concept of open innovation Open innovation refers to the inflows and outflows of the skills and knowledge to facilitate an internal innovation in an organization. This innovation helps an organization to enhance their market for the external use of the innovation that is developed internally (West et al. 2014). The challenges, as well as the boundaries of an organization, can be reduced once they adapt open innovation. Hence, the organization is able to combine their resources with the external-co-operators. The open innovation is more effective in comparison to the closed innovation. In the closed innovation ideas, investigation and development of a product are completed within the organization and the aim of such innovation is to introduce the products in the external market. On the other hand, in the open innovation process an organization utilizes the external technology and the resources and at the same time, they introduce their own innovation to the external market that can be utilized by other organiza tions. The flow of the external knowledge is the vital area of the open innovation system. Open innovation leads an organization to utilize the external sources and knowledge within the organization and to transform it into a project (Lichtenthaler 2015). This type of innovation allows the organization to make a collaborative work with their external partners as a result; external technology is incorporated into the organization. On the other hand, an organization is able to sell this innovation to other organization as a technology, which enhances their profit margin. Causes that have made open innovation prominence in the recent years Open innovation becomes more popular in the business world as this leads the organization to bring innovation to their own organizations and to sell innovation to the other organizations. Open innovation has gained prominence today as it helps the business owners and the employees to lead their organization to evolve (Freel and Robson 2017). However, innovation acts as the key driver behind the success and growth of any business industry. Open innovation makes the employees and the business owner as a better manager to take the challenges in their organization. In the recent years, maximum businesses focus on the open innovation rather the closed innovation. However, open innovation leads the business to invest in their innovation process and to achieve profit by selling this innovation at the same time. Open innovation leads a company to be open and exhibits their strategy to the employees to gain success. Open innovation is significant for the business as it allows the organization to maintain transparency, which demonstrates that a particular organization has a clear strategy. For the business, it is important to identify the right providers with the right solution. However, closed innovation is not suitable in this context but by the application of open innovation, an organization is able to state their details clearly. Open innovation generates a great idea for a business. That is the vital reason, why companies are adopting open innovation rapidly. Open innovation provides a broader platform for a business through which an organization is able to share their strategy and knowledge with their partners. This brings a big opportunity for the organization to be global and competitive. Large companies adopt open innovation by scanning the eternal ideas, using external networks and technology (Chesbrough 2017). Adoption of the crowd sourcing can be done in the smaller organizations by open innovation. This crowd sourcing allows an organization to use the diverse skills, which was not possible earlier by using traditional innovation process. Among the younger organizations, open innovation is very popular in the recent years as this innovation technique allows such organization to include crowd source in their process and to establish a collaborative innovation with their larger partners. In the present time, increased competition in the global market is a big challenge for any business. They have to gain a good position in the international market along with the competitive advantage. As argued by Santoro et al. (2017), without collaborative work it is not possible for an organization to make them competitive in the global market. Thus, there is an urge among the business industries to adopt open innovation to minimize their struggle and to incorporate talent into their business. This innov ation helps the organization to integrate the technology in their innovation and being engaged with the external collaborators, which facilitate a significant growth in the business. Fundamental rules of open innovation In order to incorporate the open innovation in a business, there should be a crystal clear understanding between the company and their partners (Martinez-Conesa et al. 2017). The companies that are involved in an open innovation need to develop a common understanding between them. Each partner needs to identify the problem and the solution. From the first day of the open innovation, each partner has to understand the importance of the intellectual property rights. Analysis of the assets, needs and the ecosystem should be done in the implementation of open innovation system (Knudsen et al. 2017). An organization needs to track a report about their present resources and their needs to proceed to the next step. As a result, a business owner is able to identify the exact needs of their business. Therefore, internal and external readiness is crucial for open innovation. Internal readiness can be done by providing training to the employees to improve their skill. On the other hand, externa l readiness allows the organization to be a disruptor in their industry or to take a suggestion from other to enhance their strategy. Apart from this, a clear communication is required between the external and internal channels. Intellectual property and open innovation Intellectual property refers to the creative work, symbols and artistic work those are used in the commerce. In the present times, the RD fields show the technological complexity. Hence, it is important to maintain the intellectual property rights during the development of the products and service. It has been found that the numbers of patents have been increased as a result; the organizations have to depend on the third partys intellectual property rights to bring innovation (Bican et al. 2017). In an open innovation, the organizations need to make a collaborative work with RD performers in order to establish an innovation solution. However, intellectual property rights are followed to resist other organizations to copy idea and creativity of another firm. In an open innovation knowledge and skills are shared among the partners, however, intellectual property rights excluded other firms to copy the knowledge of other organizations. In order to manage the open innovation in an organi zation, it is crucial to maintain the intellectual property rights as it makes the open innovation project effective. In the context of a business open innovation helps an organization to use the external ideas and resources for their innovation and to sell their innovative ideas to the external market. However, management of Intellectual property right is necessary as it allows other organizations to observe the idea of an organization but they have no right to copy it. Sharing of the intellectual property is done in the open innovation system. Companies those are involved in the open innovation organize the strategic alliance and licensing activities to develop a pro-active intellectual property approach (Toma et al. 2018). This approach focuses on the haring of the technologies rather than the use of the intellectual property as a defense mechanism. Main issues that occur in the open innovation One of the major issues of the open innovation is the lacking of focus. However, in an open innovation process, many ideas come to a business as a result, it is often difficult for the business to keep their focus on their goal (Bogers et al. 2017). This hampers the success of an open innovation. On the other hand, insufficient customer understanding is another big challenge that occurs during the implementation of open innovation. In order to generate a radical idea, it is important for an organization to develop a good understanding of customer needs. Employees need to understand their customers demand while bringing innovation in their organization. However, in the context of open innovation, it is difficult for an organization gets much information about the customer needs as there are some limitations due to the maintenance of intellectual property rights and the technology. There is fear of failure in the open innovation process. In an open innovation, partners are involved as a result, complexity occurs in the decision-making process. This affects the success of an open innovation. On the other hand, open innovation is associated with the incorporation of the external technology as a result; there is lack of creative thinking, which is a major drawback of the open innovation (Gasco-Hernandez et al. 2017). Apart from this, there is no proper structure in the open innovation process. This is a major concern of such innovative process, which may hamper the effectiveness of this process. Long and short-term risk in a business while implementing open innovation Open innovation contains some risks that may leave a long-term effect on the business. As argued by Bogers et al. (2018), one of the major risks of the open innovation is the sharing of intellectual property. However, in an open innovation process an organization uses external resources besides that they can share their innovative ideas with the other organizations. In this situation, the intellectual property is shared, which is a big risk for the business. This can affect the unique feature of a business. In the closed innovation process ideas are secured, however, in the open innovation process a collaborative work is established by the business partners. As a result, skills and knowledge are shared between the partners, which hamper the aim of the intellectual property rights. On the other hand, implementing cost of the open innovation is high that can enhance the operating cost of a business as result, the profitability margin of a business can be hampered. This is a long-term risk that is present in the open innovation process. Therefore, open innovation depends on the external knowledge as a result, key knowledge can be lost. On the other hand, strategic power, creativity, and flexibility are affected. This highlights the short-term risk in a business and the society. Lack of creative thinking reduces manpower as a result, the organization fails to make their business unique and unemployment occurs, which is a big social issue (Tsang and Lee 2018). Case evidence of successful open innovation Open innovation is associated with the success of an organization. However, it leads an organization to integrate the technology into the business and bring an innovation in an organization. As commented by Rosas et al. (2018), open innovation gives an organization a broad platform to exhibits their ideas by making a collaborative work. As for example, Fujifilm is a popular organization of Malaysia. They offer various types of digital cameras with innovative technology. They have implemented open innovation in their business to enhance their product diversification. For this organization, open innovation means the collaborative innovation. In their open innovation system, they select their partners very carefully to make a collaborative work. Then they meld the ideas and technology to develop a new value for their business. They have got success by developing revolutionary products through open innovation. They have established themselves as photographic film manufactures by implementing open innovation in their business. They have implemented their successful innovation in the healthcare sector. They have introduced Wide-View film or WV film by using external technology. They have developed such innovative product by making a collaborative work with the materials and panel manufactures through open innovation (Fujifilm.com.my 2018). This initiative leads them to get a good market share in the global industry. Case evidence of failed open innovation Often business organization faces difficulties to implement open innovation as this innovation process contains some major risks. As criticized by Holgersson and Granstrand (2017), sharing of the intellectual property is the major loophole of open innovation. As for example, Hoya Electronics has faced issue during the implementation of open innovation. However, this organization has tried to combine the electronics and the light technology by using open innovation. They focus on the innovation to improve their lenses technology by producing the high quality optical product. For this purpose, they shared the intellectual property and idea with their partners. This affected the decision-making process as some of their partners have denied to use their innovative idea. On the other hand, high implementation cost of the open innovation resisted Hoya electronics to utilize the effectiveness of open innovation. Hoya has spent the high amount in the technical innovation, which increased the ir operating cost and affected the profit margin (Hoya.com. 2018). Hence, this organization was not successful to incorporate open innovation in their business due to its high cost of implementation. Ethical issues in open innovation Open innovation is associated with the use technology from the external sources. However, it is important for an organization to keep the confidentiality while using information technology in an open innovation system (Rosas et al. 2018). Open innovation leads an organization to develop a collaborative innovation. Hence, it is crucial to protect the personal information of the partners otherwise the organization can face the ethical issue. Hence, the right of the privacy is a big ethical challenge for the business organizations that use open innovation. Therefore, sharing of intellectual property is a part of open innovation. However, for an organization is crucial to keep their ideas protected from other organizations. Thus, sharing of intellectual property and keeping the business unique is difficult in an open innovation. Management of open innovation Open innovation is the establishment of an external relation of an organization with other external organizations. In order to manage the open innovation, the firm needs to involve all the stakeholders in this process and a clear understanding should be developed between them. In the next step, the organization needs to choose the project properly through which their organization can be benefitted (Bogers et al. 2017). Therefore, resource allocation is vital to manage the open innovation. An organization needs to arrange and allocate the resources as per the need. A firm needs to integrate the external technology in the open innovation. For this purpose, training should be given by the organization. This will help the employees to use the external technology and utilize it in the open innovation system. Establishment of the cross-functional team work and internal information sharing team are required to manage an open innovation. Conclusion The entire piece of work focuses on the importance of open innovation in an organization. However, in the recent year, open innovation is more popular then closed innovation as it allows an organization to use external resources for their innovation and to sell their innovation in the external market. Besides the advantages, open innovation includes some disadvantages. One of the major issues occurs during the sharing of intellectual property in open innovation and this process has no accurate structure. Apart from this type of innovation is beneficial for the business that wants to incorporate technology to develop service or product. References Bican, P.M., Guderian, C.C. and Ringbeck, A., 2017. Managing knowledge in open innovation processes: an intellectual property perspective.Journal of Knowledge Management,21(6), pp.1384-1405. Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H. and Moedas, C., 2018. Open Innovation: Research, Practices, and Policies.California Management Review,60(2), pp.5-16. Bogers, M., Zobel, A.K., Afuah, A., Almirall, E., Brunswicker, S., Dahlander, L., Frederiksen, L., Gawer, A., Gruber, M., Haefliger, S. and Hagedoorn, J., 2017. The open innovation research landscape: Established perspectives and emerging themes across different levels of analysis.Industry and Innovation,24(1), pp.8-40. Chesbrough, H., 2017. The Future of Open Innovation: The future of open innovation is more extensive, more collaborative, and more engaged with a wider variety of participants.Research-Technology Management,60(1), pp.35-38. Chesbrough, H., Vanhaverbeke, W. and West, J. eds., 2014.New frontiers in open innovation. Oup Oxford. Freel, M. and Robson, P.J., 2017. Appropriation strategies and open innovation in SMEs.International Small Business Journal,35(5), pp.578-596. Fujifilm.com.my. 2018.Fujifilm-values from innovation. [online] Available at: https://www.fujifilm.com.my/Innovation/Open-Innovation/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2018]. Gasco-Hernandez, M., Sandoval-Almazan, R. and Gil-Garcia, J.R., 2017, September. Open Innovation and Co-creation in the Public Sector: Understanding the Role of Intermediaries. InInternational Conference on Electronic Participation(pp. 140-148). Springer, Cham. Holgersson, M. and Granstrand, O., 2017. Patenting motives, technology strategies, and open innovation.Management Decision,55(6), pp.1265-1284. Hoya.com. 2018.HOYA. [online] Available at: https://www.hoya.com/company/ [Accessed 20 Feb. 2018]. Knudsen, M.P., Tranekjer, T.L. and Cantner, U., 2017. Open innovation in an international perspective: how to organize for (radical) product innovation. InRevolution of Innovation Management(pp. 15-40). Palgrave Macmillan, London. Lichtenthaler, U., 2015. A note on outbound open innovation and firm performance.RD Management,45(5), pp.606-608. Martinez-Conesa, I., Soto-Acosta, P. and Carayannis, E.G., 2017. On the path towards open innovation: Assessing the role of knowledge management capability and environmental dynamism in SMEs.Journal of Knowledge Management,21(3), pp.553-570. Rosas, J., Urze, P., Tenera, A., Abreu, A. and Camarinha-Matos, L.M., 2017, September. Exploratory study on risk management in open innovation. InWorking Conference on Virtual Enterprises(pp. 527-540). Springer, Cham. Santoro, G., Vrontis, D., Thrassou, A. and Dezi, L., 2017. The Internet of Things: Building a knowledge management system for open innovation and knowledge management capacity.Technological Forecasting and Social Change. Toma, A., Secundo, G. and Passiante, G., 2018. Open innovation and intellectual property strategies: empirical evidence from a bio-pharmaceutical case study.Business Process Management Journal, (just-accepted), pp.00-00. Tsang, H.W.C. and Lee, R.W., 2018. Mitigation of Knowledge Risks in Open Innovation.Open Innovation And Knowledge Management In Small And Medium Enterprises,3, p.183. West, J., Salter, A., Vanhaverbeke, W. and Chesbrough, H., 2014. Open innovation: The next decade.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Practical Reason free essay sample

Compares authors views on practical reason, ethical action, categorical imperative, subjective vs. objective perceptions, the good life. TheView from Nowhere, ( Thomas Nagel ) Ethics the Limits of Philosophy (Bernard Williams ) The purpose of this research is to examine the notion of practical reason as treated by Thomas Nagel in The View from Nowhere and by Bernard Williams in Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. The plan of the research will be to set forth the assumptions and evidence informing Williamss assertion that practical thought (reason) is radically first-personal, as against Nagels belief that practical reason can be understood and even engaged in by the objective self, and then to discuss the extent of meaning and significance of each position from the standpoint of critical inquiry. The meaning of Williamss assertion needs to be examined with reference to a working definition of practical thought. That term can be compared with the term practical reason, which is associated with the commentaries of Kant. We will write a custom essay sample on Practical Reason or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Indeed, Williams

Saturday, March 14, 2020

The Sirens of Titan essays

The Sirens of Titan essays Throughout the novel, there are events and characters which have definite parallels in modern world religions such as Christianity. The trials and tribulations of Malachi Constant, and perhaps even other characters in the novel, and the story of Jesus as laid forth in the bible seem to possess similar aspects. Before delving into the specific areas which may contain parallels, perhaps it would be best to consider what the areas in the novel are being compared to: Jesus and his life. Roughly twenty years ago, a movement began in the religious community in which theologians and historians alike began an attempt at separating the "historical Jesus" from the Jesus found in the bible. What has slowly become apparent is that the Jesus found in the bible is much different than the actual man. In essence, what is seen in the bible is an image of Jesus, rather than the real Jesus. This concept of image vs. reality in religion is also reflected in The Sirens of Titan. But who c! reates this image? In the case of Jesus, religion was the force which began to interpret his life and present him as something other than he was. In The Sirens of Titan, a similar image-creating force continually appears where one would instead expect to find the "God" to Malachi's "Jesus"; religion is substituted for God in the novel. As presented in the bible and the Catholic church, Jesus was the son of God. He was the wisest of men, capable of walking on water, healing the sick, blessing the lives of men and guiding the way to eternal happiness in the kingdom of heaven. Sent to earth to preach the word of God and help men learn to lead better lives, he willingly suffered, even gave his life, for mankind's sins so that man may be forgiven in death and allowed to enter into God's heaven. Yet, consider the source of this information for a moment. These are not the words of Jesus himself, but rather interpretations of Jesus by those who followed him. A v...

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Buddhism - Essay Example This is achieved as a profound peace after a long process of liberation. In other words, Nirvana is the ultimate union with the Supreme Being (Hughes 38). Therefore, there will be tremendous ultimate joy in this experience, allowing an individual to be free from suffering and other related negative consequences of life. Unlike any other religions that have special time or day for their worship, Buddhism only considers its followers to go to the temples when they only have time or technically when they can (Brannen 30). However, in most of the time, Buddhists go to the temple on a full moon day (Guruge 60). In a temple, Buddhists find the best education for life. They call their temple a Vihara where there is a shrine room with large statues of Buddha and his disciples. A temple shows a complete manifestation of what Buddhism is all about. For instance, there are relics and available manuscripts about Buddhism found in the temple. Not only that. Considering the point that this place c ould be the best place for education, therefore there are remarkable rooms for lecture, meditation and library, respectively. Indeed, the temple itself showcases what Buddhism is all about and it is clear that it is in line with educating the people who primarily believe in the teachings of Buddha. There are many symbolism associated with practices and relevant beliefs in line with Buddhism. For example, Buddhists believe that placing flowers on the front of the Buddhist Statue would remind them of the thought that people will not live forever (Poor and Poirrier 204). Therefore, it is always an important principle among Buddhists to always act well in life. Here are some of the essential things they need to do in order to remarkably do the right thing in life. First, Buddhists believe that they should not hurt living things. This explains the point why it is forbidden for them to kill a cow or any other related living creatures. For them, the spirit or the spirits of gods live in th em they are so sacred that killing them is strongly opposed by the entire belief system linked to Buddhism. In addition, Buddhists are always reminded of the ultimate principle in life to not to take advantage of what is unseen. This means that this religion just like Christianity for instance believes that what is essential is invisible to the human naked eye. Therefore, Buddhists are encouraged to use not only their eyes, but every part of the senses that a normal human being possessed. The very point of this is to do the right thing in life which eventually helps them pave the way to achieving their ultimate joy in life. Buddhists are therefore encouraged to always speak kind words with their neighbours. This goes with the reason that they have to act the right way in order to generate harmony among others and therefore peace will prevail. Furthermore, for them to be able to use their senses correctly, they are discouraged to engage in drinking alcohol. Thus, one of the ultimate forbidden things that every follower of Buddha should practice is to never be involved in drinking alcohol. Buddhists believe that one essential reason why there are evil practices in the humanity is due to the influence of alcohol. When somebody is intoxicated with wine or any alcoholic beverages, a man might be out of control of his senses, and as stated earlier, these should be used properly. A highly intoxicated person with wine for

Monday, February 10, 2020

Technology Impact Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Technology Impact Paper - Essay Example New Technology Impact Technology is changing more rapidly day by day, that helps the businesses to move further. Particularly in this century many technological developments taken place and carry on happening. However, people do not desire to relinquish following it for the reason that each individual requires to be advanced as well as obtain greatest advantage by implementing it. To accomplish it, it is initiated to utilize in all the area of life. In other words, technology is turning out to be one of the basic and vital parts of life as well as made life impractical to perform anything in the absence of it. On the other hand, it started shaping people’s lives without their management moreover illustrated its enormous influence. Briefly saying, advanced technology has certain consequences in every field and step of the life particularly in business as well as daily life (Todd). Technology Impact on Business and Customer Introduced the new product to customers Technology infl uences business certainly in a lot of aspects; like that improving the way of advertisement or marketing. Primarily, the technological progresses attained during the previous few decades have enormous outcomes on business products introduction or presentation to the customers across the world. Additionally, the technology facilitates to provide effective support on previously sound sales as well as marketing strategy. One of these supports is to offer direct communication among customer along with the business. For example online shopping is one of the new technology based effective approaches of introducing new products to the customers. In this scenario, if a customer pays for something that he purchased then business earns the profits. However, if sales are not made, the corporation yet has an innovative technique of introducing new products to diverse customers. It means that company is doing its marketing through the web based platform. In case of launching new products to the customers across the countrywide the web based platform facilitates in case of collecting information as well as data regarding their customer’s shopping and purchasing behavior in an attempt to build up flourishing association with their clients. Therefore, they are able to recognize what their clients selections are and how to offer them valuable products in an attempt to maintain their loyalty and attract customers worldwide (Todd (Rampur). Ways that add value through new technology to business The new technology has offered more facilities and ways in order to offer better support to the business as well to the customers. Particularly the web based structure such as eCommerce or online business has offered lots of business advantages to the customers. Particularly in case of web based business practice a company is able to enjoy more enhanced support regarding online shopping, imbursement as well as advertisement policies. All these processes require very small number of human resources and expenditures. In addition, all of these aspects definitely lead to more enhanced support for the management of the entire business dealings and transactions (BusinessKnowledgeSource), (Kristina) and (IBM). The new technology based arrangement has as well offered the businesses a better competitive benefit. In case of new and more enhanced

Friday, January 31, 2020

Spanish Countries Essay Essay Example for Free

Spanish Countries Essay Essay Now that we are in the 21st century the idea of a global village is fast becoming a reality, it is vital that we enlarge our worldview and reach an understanding of, and appreciation for, the cultures of the other peoples who share the planet with us. As cultural beings, we are raised with an certain way of giving order to the world around us but I also believe that we should embrace the cultures of those around the world. Known for its beauty extravagant tourist’s attractions the Caribbean island of Cuba, a communist state, is a multiracial society with a population of mostly Spanish and African origin. The island is known as the Republic of Cuba. Cuba is just ninety miles south of Key West, Florida; therefore its climate is subtropical or temperate. The climate is between 70Â °f and 81Â °. Cuba has a dry season between November to April and a wet season between May and October. Having such wonderful weather regularly makes Cuba an ideal tourist’s hot spot. Beautiful beaches and hotels also make the island a more desirable place to be. When in Cuba, there are more than enough things to do. Spain is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, and surrounded on the north by France, and Andorra on the east by the Mediterranean Sea. The capital and largest city is Madrid has a population of 3,010,492. The Spanish people are essentially a mixture of the indigenous peoples. Their population includes a mixture of ethnicities such as Roman, Mediterranean, Suevi, Vandals, and Visigoths, Teutonic people. Known for its natural beauty and people is a small country located in Central America. Located between the countries of Nicaragua and Panama, bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea is the Republic of Costa Rica. Even though it is a small country it has a very diverse landscape and a variety of weather as well. One unusual aspect of Costa Rica is that the country has no army and instead of a national hero being a general it is a young barefoot farmer. Costa Rica prides on the idea that they have gained through evolution what other countries have tried to attain through revolution.