Schizophrenia: Reality Distorted Essay -- Biology Essays Research Pape

Schizophrenia: Reality Distorted Insanity, then, is inordinate or irregular, or impaired action of the mind, of the instincts, sentiments, intellectual, or perceptive powers, depending upon and produced by an organic change in the brain. ---W.A.F. Browne, MD, 18371 Schizophrenia is considered a disease of the brain, a physical disorder that, thanks to modern technology, is able to be visualized. Schizophrenia, along with other diseases of the brain, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and multiple sclerosis, are all brain diseases which alter both functionality and structure of the brain. Schizophrenia has been called a cruel disease, one that impairs life greatly in a degenerative fashion, altering emotions and various abilities greatly. This unfortunate disease is quite common, effecting about one to two percent of the World's population. About two to four percent of the population suffer from less severe yet still debilitating and disturbing schizophrenic-like symptoms. An estimated sixty five billion a dollars per year is spent on this disorder in the United States.(2) It is estimated that over two million Americans suffer from schizophrenia in their lifetime.. There is a definite biological basis for this disease, although it is not totally understood. For a long time schizophrenia was a mystery to doctors and scientists. Virtually any patient with a psychological disorder used to be placed under the expansive umbrella that defined the disease. Poor parenting was a misleading, early excuse for the troubles caused by what is now known to be substantially based in genetics. The most current idea of origin is that this disorder occurs during the crucial beginning months of life, those spent within the womb. Neither ... ... from it and their friends and family. Internet Sources 1) a href=http://www.schizophrenia.com/newsletter/buckets/intro.html 2) a href= http://www.powerpak.com/ce/PsychDisorders/lesson.htm 3) http://www.schizophrenia.com/ami/diagnosis/nbd%20intro.html 4) http://www.powerpak.com/ce/PsychDisorders/lesson.htm 5) http://www.schizophrenia.com,/newsletter/1296/1296usnews.htm 6) http://www.nejm.org/content/1999/0340/0008/0645.asp 7) http://www.powerpak.com/ce/PsychDisorders/lesson.htm 8) Goodman&Gilman's CD-Rom The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th edition 9) http://www.schizophrenia.com/newsletter/buckets/hypo.html 10) http://www.powerpak.com/ce/PsychDisorders/lesson.htm 11) http://www.schizophrenia.com/newsletter/buckets/intro.html 12) Goodman&Gilman's CD-Rom The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th edition

Evaluating China’s one child Policy Essay

During the 1970s, China felt the indenting need for a drastic policy that would be able to control its ever-expanding population and to begin development in its country and thus the one child policy was born, if the policy had not been instituted china would have faced severe famine and starvation as it would not have been able to cope with rapid growth. The policy was administrated in September 1981 and they called it ‘birth planning’ by which families were given a maximum limit of one child per family however in rural areas, couples were allowed to have two children and this was to help need on agricultural land and farming; those who try to breach this law would face severe consequences. The policy was considered as one of history’s ‘most ambitious pieces of social engineering’ as quoted from The Economist since the policy heavily intervened with families plans for the future and affected how most chines families would function in terms of having children. The policy governed by the Chinese government was said not to last no longer than a single generation and yet here in 2013, the policy still continues to proceed and there are little or no signs of a new policy or removal of this policy from the country. Administration Of Policy The policy in china was very drastic and therefore it contained many punishments for anyone who tried to breach the policy and the government also deployed many forces of administration to make sure that people were being monitored and that no one was trying for a second child. There were family-planning workers in every single workplace to grant families the ability to have a child if they had been on the waiting list and also at this point the couple would be presented with a special card which gives them authority to claim governmental benefits such as free education, free kindergarten facilities, free healthcare etc. on birth of the child. Police called the ‘granny police’, who were not actual police but represented the role of making sure woman were practicing using contraception and to had the objective of reporting on pregnancies so that the local authority would be able to work out whether a family is trying to have a second child illegally. Female women were also given education on the use of contraception and this was to try minimising the amount of unexpected pregnancies. Family planning officials levy huge fines of up to ? 20,000 from those who try to have a second child and this fine account for the estimated value of public services that the forbidden child would have received over its lifetime. Furthermore, in some areas the couple would have been stripped of their house, jobs and even the ability to live in a particular area of the country. Also in earlier time they would have been forfeited their rations and clothing benefits. Furthermore, women would have been given forced steralisations or contraceptive pills and their chances of being able to have children ever again would be removed if they were found guilty of trying to have a second child and this would impose that they would never be able to have a child even if they decide to migrate to another country. This kind of steralisations was only existent in certain provinces of China and it is currently completely abolished from all parts of china as it was considered to unforgiving for a punishment. Changes Generated by The One Child Policy. Without need to say, the obvious: the one child policy had caused a drop in the fertility rate in China. From the starting point of the policy in 1981 to now the birth rate has dropped from an above average 2. 9 to 1. 7 and this has lead to understand that the policy was successful and that it has tackled one of the country’s main concern which is an ever-expanding population. Furthermore, this drop has claimed to prevent up to 400 million births, which would otherwise have kept China’s population at 1. 7 billion currently compared to the 1. 3 billion that it actually is today. However, despite showing a drop in birth rate after the beginning of this policy, there are statistics that show that China’s fertility rates fell drastically during the 1970s and that the policy did not influence the drop in birth rates much. This suggests that the fertility rate was naturally decreasing so there was no need for the policy. This suggests that the policy did not control the country’s population greatly because the fertility rates had dropped severely just before the commencement of the policy. Therefore the implementation of such a severe policy has now indented Chinese people’s concept of families and even if the policy was to be removed people will still continue to have few children and this would not have been the case if fertility rates were allowed to naturally decrease to make the population eventually stable much alike how most other countries have progressed through the demographic transition such as Russia, Germany and Japan. The rapid fall in fertility rate just before the one child policy is clearly shown in the graph that is on the previous page; the graph was taken from the GapMinder webpage which holds information about the world demographic and thus is very reliable. Another negative impact of the one child policy was a case of female infanticide. In fact, this is an interesting concern as it has lead to china presenting a population where there are about 120 Chinese men for every 100 Chinese women and thus there is a shortage of women. There was a severe amount of female infanticide for several reasons. Firstly a male child was seen as more superior for the use on farmland and for the use on agricultural land as men were seen as stronger characters compared to women. Secondly, only the male would be able to carry forward the family name and in China there was a great cultural desire to carry forward a family name to keep the family advancing through generations. Finally, men are usually the main income-earners, either because they are more employable or earn higher wages for the same work, or because they are able to do more agricultural work in subsistence economies. Since male babies have a greater income potential, they are more desired over females and thus female births were usually abandoned or killed. There are some stories of extreme discomfort where female babies have been flushed down toilets and drowned, as they were not considered valuable to Chinese family. Furthermore, the shortage of females in China has lead to a generation where there are â€Å"too many men†, and this was caused by the desire to have a male child in the family. The result of the one child policy has meant that there are 1000 million women whom would else be existent if the policy wasn’t introduced and thus this social engineering has converted the a balanced gender country into an imbalanced country with more men. This has lead to desire to import woman known as human trafficking where women are smuggled using from Burma and North Korea and the women are used as prostitutes or sold as wives and domestic servants in parts of china. This is a negative outcome of the policy by which women are used inappropriately and are illegally imported from other countries. Furthermore, it is expected that by the year 2030 there could be up to 20-30million bachelors in chine whom are unable to find a partner and this would further increase the desire and temptation to want female prostitutes and this will create an illegal transportation of women to china from neighboring countries. Another disadvantage of the policy is that a generation of not enough children is developing in china and this results in not enough children to look after parents which could mean that the country could grow old before it is able to develop it’s economy and becoming rich by limiting the mouths to feed as it is trying to do so using the one child policy. In china this lack of children is called the ‘4-2-1’ dilemma and as The Economist suggests this is where each couple has the job of looking after four parents and one child. This creates a dilemma as the couple’s parents become aged and need the help of the couple and thus the couple have the cost of having to look after their parents all on their own as they would not have any siblings and thus china has created a problem for families trying to develop as they will have a shortage of money to spend elsewhere in the economy to try boost the countries development stage. The imbalanced structure of china’s population also hints that the working force will come to an end by 2020 and therefore this would mean that the country would not be able to further develop and this has again raised pressure on the Chinese government to introduce further amendments to the one child policy. For example, Hu Jintao suggested allowing more than one birth but between longer gaps and also the scrapping of the birth quota so that couples could still have a child even if the maximum number of children in a certain area is reached. This would help to regain a large population of workers in the future generation to continue with the countries development without having to deal with another expanding population. The article presented by The Economist has dealt with many defects of the one child policy including the extortionate amount of female infanticide, the illegal need for a second child, female imports, ‘4-2-1’ issue and the fact that the country could have still developed without the policy as statistics showed that fertility rates were naturally decreasing as people become more educated and this would therefore have reduced to country’s large population and allowed the country to develop as the government would have to feed fewer people and also if the policy had not been introduced there would not be effects one some females lives who have been sterilized permanently after the birth of the first child because this would prevent the mother from having another child ever. Also, the Chinese government are now unable to scrape the policy because they have not alternatives that could be administrated on the scale of the one child policy and therefore the government suggests ‘we will stick to the family-planning policy for decades’ and this implies that the removal of the policy would have a considerate difference on China’s population and that it could possibly improve the gender imbalance which is not of great interest to china as demographers suggest the removal of the policy would suggest a rapid increase in population once again and this would mean that the country would not be able to achieve its goal which is to become a well developed country with a high GDP. The charts below show what would happen to china’s population and its structure by 2050 if the policy was to be removed and as the first graph clearly suggests, the one child policy has been heavily successful in maintaining a smaller population and emphasis should be placed on the fact it is just a smaller population. Although, the population is smaller the structure of the population between men and women and groups of elderly, working class as well as those under 15 is highly imbalanced and as the chart on the right clearly imposes, if the policy was removed the demographic structure will become more balanced once again.

Safaricom financial situation

Safaricom is a company that deals with telecommunication services, voice messaging and fixed broad band. The company output can be classified as voice, data and value added services. Voice services include Premium Rate Services also known as third party content service, provide recorded information or live conversation for callers. Safaricom Pre Pay services allow subscribers to pay in advance and freely choose a tariff that suits them. Data services include airtime recharging and sambaza. Sambaza, launched in March, has enabled subscribers to share their airtime with their friends and family for free. Okoa jahazi and bonga loyalty scheme has enabled subscribers to enjoy advance airtime and to be awarded for their airtime usage . Mpesa service has allowed customers to easily send money through the mobile phones, a very sophisticated technology, and a first in Kenya. Submarine fiber optic, SEACOM, provides high capacity band width for high internet connectivity. To achieve all these, the company has implemented a number of inputs. It has leased services of several companies as Cellulant, Bernsoft, interactive, Adtel , Mobile Zone and Wasp ,to provide Premium Rate Services to ensure effective live communication between its subscribes and outside world . Ongea 24/7 has enabled efficiency in prepaid airtimes. It has also assisted in dealing in virtual electronic airtime. Safaricom Broadband Modem (Huawei E220) and Safaricom Broadband Router (Huawei E960) has enabled access up to 7. 2Mbps downlink speeds as compared to 236 kbps from other technologies (Michael Joseph, 2009). The company has developed several technological solutions to deal efficiently and effectively with existing problems. The company has launch the fastest internet connection through the 3G technology known as Safaricom live(Michael Joseph,2009). The company also provides a wide range of services including broadband wireless data (Up to 7. 2 of 2Mbps downlink Speeds), video calls and telephony. It is also signing a deal with a European firm to launch fourth generation technology which will see increase in the speed of internet connection from the current 7. 2 of 2Mbps . Safaricom has also launched new products and services in the market that the normal ‘Mwananchi’ can afford e. g. bamba 20, bemba bamba and super ongea tariff which is as low as 80 cents. In September, 2001 it launched ATM top up for its pre-paid subscribers to enable top up at teller machine. It has also created technological problem solving techniques. In the magazine by MaryAnn and Chris (2009) the company has created the widest network coverage in Kenya to ensure that subscribers receive clear signal when communicating (p. 35). Business Messaging Solutions has enabled quick and affordable communication to a large audience. According to Less (2009) Safaricom has a turnover of 70. 5 billion revenues from 61. 4billion the previous year, a 14. 8 % increase, with a market capitalization of 148 billion (p. 18). Safaricom controls the stock market with a listing of 40 billion shares, the highest in Africa. It has an operating profit of16. 2 billion with a profit before tax of 15. 3 billion (Less,2009). Cash of 30. 1 billion from operations remained strong enabling the company to expand its network coverage and ensure that it had a strong network to handle its increasing subscribers. The shareholders fund increased by 19. 9% to 51. billion (Michael Joseph, 2009). The graph shows how the numbers of subscribers have significantly increased as at Nov 2009. Though Safaricom runs the telecommunication industry, it has been faced with stiff competition from other companies as Zain, Orange, Econet wireless, Access Kenya and Wananchi on line. Safaricom has continued market leadership with a control of 79. 1% of the ma rket i. e. 13. 6 million subscribers thus it can be said to be a market price setter. Reduction in GDP growth, increase in margin, Global financial crisis and high oil prices is significantly affecting the company efficient performance. Less (2009) however shows that there has been an upward movement in revenues by 83% to 12. 9% of total revenue despite of these economic back drops (p. 19). The launch of Jibambie promotion, Jambo Contact Centre and 3G and Wimax data services are some of the events the company marks as having contributed to its success. According to Chris (2009) the launch of M Pesa has been a run way success story, with a current 6. 2 million subscribers and shs 17. 1billion transfer from one person to another as at March 2009 (p. 11).

How Stevenson Creates a Sense of Intrigue and Engages the Reader’s Interest in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde Essay

In this essay I am going to be exploring how Stevenson examines Victorian hypocrisy and human nature, the duality of man, in his famous tale, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. His novella, written in 1886, was set in London, and is described as a gothic horror. Stevenson uses Mr Utterson, a ‘modest’ lawyer, to guide us through the novella, unravelling to the mystery gradually throughout the novella. By revealing a few clues at a time, many questions emerge in the reader’s mind, however, only a few of these are answered throughout the tale. Stevenson uses a wide range of language and structural devices to build a sense of intrigue and engage the reader. Dr Jekyll, a renowned London scientist, was born into a wealthy family with great honour and had gained respect from his fellow men. Dr Jekyll struggled with the dual nature of his nature and although he was loyal to his friends, Jekyll had a dark side, which he choice to express in the person of Mr Hyde. He noticed that ‘man is not truly one, but truly two’ and this lead him to ‘recognise the thorough and primitive duality of man’. Jekyll saw the need to hide Hyde from the world since he was forced to be respectable and loyal to everyone around him due to his class since birth. However, Dr Jekyll had suppressed his ‘pleasures’ for too long and his darker side grew stronger and stronger inside him throughout his life. Many of the ‘pleasures’ Hyde was able to have included drinking alcohol, and gambling as well as being able to fulfill many of his sexual desires. I believe that Jekyll was guilty of ‘that crime upon so pitiful as provocation’, which he committed through Hyde, because he had a choice to drink the potion again and carrying on with his devilish deeds or suppress his darker side from committing such devious crimes. Jekyll, himself, couldn’t resist and was too ‘tempted’ to drink more of the potion again ‘with strong courage’, eve though he was aware of the consequences he will have to face. Stevenson engages the readers by using many negative adjectives to describe Hyde, which suggest he is a villain. When Utterson questions the maid the morning after the politician, Mr Carew, was murdered, she explains to Utterson that ‘all of a sudden’ Hyde ‘broke out in a flame of anger, stamping his foot, brandishing his cane and carrying on like a madman’. This is shocking to the reader because a man who owned a cane in Victorian society was known to be a respectable gentleman. Hyde is also described, by the maid, to have had ‘ape-like fury’. Being compared to an ‘ape’ was said to someone who is a person who resembles a nonhuman primate1 and has so much rage to the point of committing the most unspeakable horror against innocence. Utterson is biased when guiding the reader through the novella. In the first chapter, Story of the Door, Utterson tells us that he is a ‘modest man’ and that his friends are ‘those of his own blood’. The reader is influenced to think that Jekyll, having been stated as a ‘good friend’, belongs to the same middle-class society as Mr Utterson does. So when Jekyll commits his ‘devilish’ deeds, the reader is shocked because men of the middle-class societies are known to be humble and loyal, not ‘evil’. Stevenson creates intrigue for the reader by using long, lengthy descriptions in the narration in order to draw out the highly gruesome aspects of the scene set in The Carew Murder Case. Around the scene of the incident, there was a ‘misty fog’ and clouds ‘over the city’ while the ‘full moon’ lit up the night. The ‘full moon’ associates with the time when evil beings, often shown as deformed men or werewolves, commit their most heinous acts. The ‘fog’ suggests intrigue and mystery. Stevenson uses highly descriptive language during the attack. The maid explains to Utterson how Mr Carew, the kindly gentleman, was ‘trampled under foot’ and his ‘bones were audibly shattered’ by the ‘ape-like’ Hyde. Stevenson starts off The Carew Murder Case by describing a quiet scene however this contrasts against the abominable attack, which is described in many gory details. Hyde was described as a ‘small’ person compared to his ‘good’ side, Dr Jekyll, which may be because Stevenson intended to emphasis on how low Hyde had gone by committing heinous crimes. Using lengthy descriptions, Stevenson sets the scene to create an atmosphere and engage the reader. Stevenson sets his novella in 18- and mentions ‘bad’ deeds and secrecy throughout the parable. This may be because Stevenson saw that although most noblemen seem to be modest and loyal from the outside, inside they hid dark secrets. In chapter 7, The Last Night, Jekyll transforms uncontrollably into Mr Hyde and by describing the unsettling weather, Stevenson shows this as a bad omen. Stevenson shows that the evil was angering the wind outside by describing the wind, ‘which only broke in puffs and draughts into that deep well of building, tossed the light of the candle to and fro.’ Most crimes that Hyde commits are usually during the night as this is the time when evil is lurking around the most. Stevenson also mentions that ‘all human beings†¦are commingled out of good and evil’ by using Dr Jekyll’s statement. Stevenson shows us that appearances of middle-class noblemen can never be fully trusted and also ventures to tell us how important reputation was in the nineteenth century. Jekyll had repressed his darker, evil side inside of him for far too long and was unaware that it was growing inside of him day-by-day. Jekyll was forced into being a middle-class nobleman since birth because he was brought up in one such modest family. A similar thought may have emerged in the reader’s in about Jack the Ripper who had been suggested to be living a double life and may have been a respectable man in his society with an uncontrollable dark side. Stevenson shows that the evil in Hyde is very deadly by describing the scene where he tramples on the innocent, little girl on the street corner and also when describing the scene where Hyde slays Mr Carew brutally. Hyde also causes death indirectly when Dr Lanyon dies after witnessing the transformation of Dr Jekyll into Mr Hyde. Dr Lanyon may have r ealised that he too had an evil side himself. The nineteenth century was often with Mary Shelley’s concept of a man’s double self. Frankenstein had created his monster in 1818 and many associate the name Frankenstein with monsters and devils nowadays rather than names of scientists. Frankenstein’s monster had destroyed him in a similar way Hyde had brought ‘the life of that unhappy Henry Jekyll to an end’. Dr Jekyll and Dr Frankenstein both wanted to become renowned scientists with their own creations and therefore, Dr Frankenstein had created a monster by ignoring the rules of nature and using body parts of dead human beings, whilst Dr Jekyll had created a potion, which would unleash his evil side, Mr Hyde. Frankenstein’s monster had had achieved domination over Frankenstein and soon was able to kill him completely. In a similar way, Hyde had overpowered Jekyll and soon murdered him too. Also, a man called Faust had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for absolute power and knowledge whilst he was still alive. Ina similar way, Jekyll created Hyde, as one of his marvellous creations, however, instead of being proud of his creation, Jekyll’s ‘terror of gallows drove him continually to commit temporary suicide’. After reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, when it was first published, readers would have realised that man has both, an evil and a good side to him. At the time the book was published, society was very strict, it didn’t question religion and there was a great divide between poverty and wealth. This made the readers of the time engaged and intrigued. The Victorian Society was very religious at the time and believed that if you sinned then you will be banished to hell for eternity. The story was enormously popular with it Victorian audience, showing a fascination with the ‘other side’ of life. Many of the characters in the novella have professions that were seen to be significant and dominating by society, such as a Doctor and a Politician. The readers may be influenced into thinking that the upper classes were more likely to have a dual personality compared to someone of a lower class. He might also have been moralising here, exposing Victorian hypo crisy for what it was.

Abortion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Abortion - Essay Example It is well supported by a few religions including the Christianity. Abortion has been debated since ancient times, Aristotle presented his views about the issue as "delayed ensoulment". According to Ted Lockhart, "perform actions that we are maximally confident are morally permissible". This argument is known as the "moral certainty" argument. Every mother has the right to decide upon the birth of the child and therefore Ted Lockharts suggestion served to deal abortion as a practical solution in contrast to the moral issues. It is the preference which should ideally have women as the choice maker as under a given circumstances women is the best judge to nurture the fetus and later the child with utmost care and devotion, lacking to do so could culminate into psychological problems in the child. In the present situation where women are contributing equally to the economic growth and development, continuing with the pregnancy may hamper career growth. It is essential to understand that the personal ethics of women are imperative to pursue the pregnancy. Moreover, the anatomy of the body should also allow the continuity of the pregnancy, especially at the later stages of life when the female cannot afford to continue with the pregnancy and hence termination of pregnancy should be allowed. It is not moral to give birth to the unwanted child and nurture the child with least botheration. In certain cases conception could be the result of contraceptive failure or a woman may not be prepared for; such cases dem and legalization of abortion. Any pregnancy cannot occur without the male partner. It is therefore necessary to have a consent of the father as well before aborting the child. If the father agrees to take up the responsibility of the child, women gains confidence. In the present era where relationships are fragile, women do not want to have any binding to forgo her career or liberty. Now-a-days living relationships are prevailing and under such

Tesco in the Chinese Food Retail Market Dissertation

Tesco in the Chinese Food Retail Market - Dissertation Example Most importantly, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my parents who offer me the greatest support and encouragement. Table of Contents Table of Contents 5 List of Tables 7 List of Figures 8 1.0 Introduction 9 1.2 Research Question 13 2.0 Literature Review 14 2.3.1 PEST 21 2.3.2 SWOT 26 2.3.3 The Five Forces 27 2.4 Sustainable competitive advantage 32 2.5 Factors influencing strategies for achieving a competitive advantage in China 35 3.0 Methodology 40 4.0 Result 51 4.1 Carrefour Supermarkets 54 Organisation Overview 54 Operations and Business Strategy 55 Domestic Competition 57 Competitive Advantage 58 4.2 Wal-Mart 58 Organisation Overview 58 Operations and Business Strategy 59 Domestic Competition 60 Competitive Advantage 60 5.0 Discussion 62 Organisation Overview 62 Operations and Business Strategy 63 Domestic Competition 65 Competitive Advantage 65 6.0 Conclusion 68 7.0 References 70 List of Tables Table 1. The amount of sales and the amount of chain stores of Carrefour in China Page 33 List of Figures Figure 1.0 Porter's Five Forces Model (Porter 2001). Page 20 1.0 Introduction China's admittance into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 opened up the Chinese market to the rest of the world. From the end of 2004, the Chinese government began lifting restrictions on foreign retailers, which enabled retail operations that were 100% foreign owned to operate (LaSalle 2005, Chen 2006, Tao 2006). This opportunity was obviously seized upon by retailers like Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart who dominate the foreign-owned food retail market. The Chinese market is particularly attractive as it is not... Introduction China’s admittance into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001 opened up the Chinese market to the rest of the world. From the end of 2004, the Chinese government began lifting restrictions on foreign retailers, which enabled retail operations that were 100% foreign owned to operate (LaSalle 2005, Chen 2006, Tao 2006). This opportunity was obviously seized upon by retailers like Tesco, Carrefour and Walmart who dominate the foreign-owned food retail market. The Chinese market is particularly attractive as it is not homogenous and encompasses numerous target markets which represent purchasing power for retailers. This is particularly true of the markets based in the urban areas, as it is reported that there is an income disparity between rural and urban customers. The urban per capita income is three times more than that of rural areas (LaSalle 2005, Chen 2006, Tao 2006), which presents profit to the food retailers. The opening up of the markets in China has also introduced competitive advantage to the Chinese market. Prior to 2004, foreign owned companies had to form joint ventures with Chinese companies and were limited to owning a 65% stake in the business (LaSalle 2005, Chen 2006, Tao 2006). They also had restrictions on the number of stores that could be opened in a geographical region, which gave the domestic retailers a competitive advantage. Domestic retailers had access to the entire Chinese market, and as a result they also had the monopoly on the knowledge.