Do You Think a Persons Life Should Be Saved Regardless of the Cost? Essay

For a religious person, the fact that life is special leads on to the concept of the sanctity of life. Christianity and Islam both believe that God was responsible for creating life originally, so it is like a gift from God, so should be preserved and respected. However, some others dont believe the same things. Some poeple believe that life forms evolved naturally over millions of years, leading to our society today, and so if it is not a ‘great gift from God’, it shouldnt matter as much if a persons life is taken under certain circumstances. Many people, be religious or not, tend to judge the quality of life on how comfortable it is or how free of pain or suffering. Others take this a step further by asking whether the individual will be able to live with freedom, dignity and, for religious believers, the possibility of accessing or experiencing God. If a persons life has all these qualities, it is seen to be a life of good quality. However, if a persons quality of life is very poor, for example due to poverty, illness or other form of suffering, then it could be viewed that it would be okay for this person to die. Almost as if letting them rest in peace would be liberating them from a life of pain and suffering. A common example where this path is taken is if a person is on life support in hospital and shows no signs of recovery over a long period of time. A lot of people would choose to turn of the life support in this situation and let them die then see their loved ones struggle for longer. The value of life is also another important consideration. Religious believers wouldn’t like to put a price tag on a life, as it is seen overall as priceless (being a gift from God). It wouldn’t be possible to attempted to save a person’s life ‘regardless of the cost’, because a price cannot be placed on a soul. However, other people would disagree a say, for example, the life of a wealthy royal is worth much more than the life of a begger or homeless person. And taking this into account, if the cost were viewed as too high for a begger, than it wouldnt be worth paying. In my opinon, a person’s life should be saved regardless of the cost. This is because everybody has the right to life and it is nobody’s place to decide who deserves it and who doesn’t. Nobody knows what a person is capable of doing in their lifetime, and if they have their life taken away, nobody ever will be able to see.

Organizational Behavior Concepts: General Electric Essay

Introduction Every business has a set of key characteristics or values that make up an organizational culture which is unique to its business. Organizational behavior examines â€Å"the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness† (Robbins, 2005). The purpose of this research paper is to identify and evaluate General Electric’s (GE) organizational culture, organizational behavior, and customer service standards. We will also uncover how successful GE has been in implementing organizational behavior concepts in the following three categories: (1) motivation, (2) group behavior, (3) organizational culture. General Electric has their organizational values posted right on their website. By doing so, they have provided written expectations to their employees regarding ethical behavior and integrity in the work environment. These values reflect the energy, spirit, and solid foundation of the  company, articulating a common code of organizational behavior. Also, GE’s bold set of management strategies is aimed at increasing innovation and improving productivity to make the company more competitive. GE’s organizational culture is considered one of high ethical standard in the corporate world. According to The Age of Ethics (KPMG, 2007) â€Å"GE now has one of the best ethics compliance programs in existence_†_, says Larry Ponemon, national director of Business Ethics Services at KPMG†. General Electric Since Thomas Edison started General Electric in 1876, the company has steadily grown into a tremendously successful organization and one of the largest companies in the world. Several management and organizational strategies have been used through out the years in order to attain the current status of the firm. When looking at an organization’s cultural appeal, one must first decide what they are looking for; what appeals to me may or may not appeal to someone else. There are a few categories within GE’s organizational culture that appeals to me personally. These categories include but are not limited to: Leadership: It is important for a company to allow leaders to have the freedom and flexibility to contribute their knowledge and expertise in both their daily job and at company levels. â€Å"At the top, we don’t run GE like a big company. We run it like a big partnership, where every leader can make a contribution not just to their job, but to the entire Company† (Immelt, J., 2005). Work Environment: A company should provide a pleasant and vitalizing work environment that is easy to balance with my personal life. â€Å"GE is an invigorating place to work. Ours is a high-performance culture that emphasizes high-integrity business practices as well as work/life balance† (Our Culture, 2008). Training and Education Programs: Successful companies provide additional training and educational benefits that will enhance employee leadership  capabilities. â€Å"We invest nearly $1 billion a year in career development for our employees at every level of professional growth.† (Leadership Programs, 2008). Part of the culture and behavior of GE is the use of sigma six. â€Å"Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services† (Six Sigma, 2008). Sigma is a statistical term that measures how far a given process deviates from perfection. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many â€Å"defects† you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to â€Å"zero defects† as possible. Six Sigma has changed the makeup of GE-it is now the way we work – in everything we do and in every product we design† (Six Sigma, 2008). Within GE, an employee can be certified in Six Sigma, either as a black belt or a master black belt. These titles hold prestige for the employees and add to employee motivation and employment satisfaction. When discussing the organizational culture within a company such as GE, we can break management concepts down into three categories. According to Argenti (2002), organizational behavior in organizations is usually broken down into three main areas: Individual level elements: managing individuals Group level elements: managing teams Elements of organizational structure: managing the organization Not only can the application of organizational behavior principles improve an organization’s effectiveness, organizational behavior provides a manager the information and knowledge needed to manage an effective workforce (Argenti, 2002). With the advent of organizational perspectives, the analysis of why people instill their presence in an organization is not only because of self-aimed goals of growth and enhancements, but also to locate themselves in a social place in accordance to the area of their perceived belonging  (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). Motivation Motivation is central to understanding behavior in organizations and a key managerial factor. Two aspects of motivation are structuring tasks to satisfy worker and organizational needs and providing the proper direction for worker actions (Stroh, Northcraft and Neale, 2002). There are a number of factors when it comes to the difference in worker performance. One of these factors is related to different levels of ability among employees. Differences in ability arise from the simple fact that there are significant individual differences that affect work performance. The effort expended by the employees toward the realization of organizational goals greatly depends upon the status of behavioral motivations (Vasu, Stewart and Garson, 1998). GE has implemented theoretical frameworks in order to generate further explanations in behavioral motivation not only of the employees but the organization as well. GE uses a goal-setting theoretical framework_._ Basically, the theoretical concept implicates the application of goals as driving forces that provide the basic idea of what and when to achieve a certain target. Management by Objectives (MBO) is one example that exemplifies the application of objectives in order to achieve the final formulated outcome of the plan, goals (Robbins, 2005). Jack Welch, CEO from 1981 – 2001, set two clear and simple goals for GE and outlined several targets for reaching those formulated goals. The goals were to become the most competitive corporation in the world and to become the nation’s most valuable corporation. Jack Welch created an organization tension in 1981 aimed at motivating these changes by redefining GE’s goals and targets (Cushman, 2003). GE also uses a reinforcement theoretical framework. Reinforcement is used to enhance desirable behavior. The application of reinforcement theory is central to the design and administration of organizational reward systems. Well-designed rewards systems help motivate behavior, actions, and accomplishments, which advance the organization toward specific business  goals. Strategic rewards go beyond cash to include training and educational opportunities, stock opinions, and recognition awards. GE makes good use of the principle of employee participation wherein employees participate in the decisions that determine the methods to be used in the achievement of organizational objectives. GE provides promotions especially for those employees that obtain satisfactory performances as evaluated by the human resource department and approved by managerial committees (Cushman, 2003). Furthermore, incentives vary from salary increase to travel privileges where the main aim is to motivate the workforce. Group Behavior â€Å"A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives† (Robbins, 2005). Groups can be either formal or informal. According to Robbins (2005) these two groups are described as: Formal groups – Defined by the organization’s structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks. In formal groups – Encompass the behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals. From 1985 up to the present, General Electric started to place in service work teams in order to facilitate cooperative behavior and leadership as aimed by their high-involvement strategy (Miller, 2002). As far as team building, GE implements a Five-Stage Model for group development within the organization. According to Robbins (2005) the five stages include: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. In addition to these five stages GE has also implemented a pre-stage. According to Miller (2002) the breakdown for GE’s five stage model is as follows: Pre-stage 1: GE screens the capacity of every employee upon application and  all throughout performance in order to disseminate employees in the rightful function. Stage 1: Forming: Upon achieving the rightful components of the team through HR jurisdiction based on employee evaluation, formation of the tem is initiated. Stage 2: Storming: Work teams are in effect given new _property rights_ while being guaranteed a great deal of control over performance standards. Stage 3: Norming: Work teams are given strong guarantees of employment security to ensure that employees do not put themselves out of work by increasing production. Stage 4: Performing: Workers were generally guaranteed opportunities for training, restraining, and promotion. Stage 5: Adjourning: Fourth, compensation schemes have been changed in order to provide equity among work teams in the firm through profit-sharing plans or stock ownership plans. Organizational Culture Organizational culture is comprised of the mind-set, experiences, beliefs and values of an organization and its employees. Currently, there are seven primary characteristics of organizational culture as described by Robbins (2005): innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome orientation, people orientation, team orientation, aggressiveness, and stability. All indications are that GE successfully embodies five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture: Innovation and Risk Taking: GE employees focus on innovation as their basis for taking calculated risks for change in the areas of transforming health care, cleaner power generation, exploring nanotechnology, aviation technology, greenhouse gas reduction, and global research facilities  (Innovation, 2008). Attention to Detail: GE employees focus on attention to detail in such areas as customer service, quality and assembly of products, meeting performance targets, enhanced decision-making through training and education. People Orientation: GE considers their more than 300,000 employees to be their greatest asset, and they are â€Å"passionate about making life better with new ideas and technologies† (Our People, 2008). Team Orientation: A significant part of GE’s culture as a global company involves nurturing diverse and cross-cultural teams in such areas as public relations, automotives, global research, nanotechnologies, and marketing (Our Culture, 2008). Aggressiveness: Though GE provides the tools and environment necessary for employees to be aggressive and competitive, it is ultimately up to the employee themselves to demonstrate hard work. Organizational culture essentially provides a company with a concrete anchoring point, even if the meaning it carries is vague and only imperfectly transmitted. An organizational culture also involves the expression of emotion, and by this venting of emotions organizational culture can assist employees in dealing with stress. As GE continues to grow and evolve, the company’s organizational culture will be subject to periodic changes and updates. Conclusion From everything that I have found, it is apparent that GE’s organizational culture is both ethical and customer-responsive. All indications are that GE has obtained its current status through the successful applications of organizational behavior concepts; specifically through motivations guided by specific goals and reinforcement plans. GE has successfully implemented theoretical frameworks through goal-setting, reinforcement, involving  employees in the decision processes and offering incentives such as: salary increases, travel privileges, stock options, and bonus plans. GE has successfully implemented group behavior tactics using the Five-Stage Model, with the addition of the pre-stage described in _Managerial Dilemmas: the Political Economy of Hierarchy_, for group development within the organization. Finally, GE successfully embodies five of the seven primary characteristics of organizational culture. Under CEO Jack Welsh, and current CEO Jeff Immelt, GE was able to communicate their vision of Six Sigma and training and development programs at GE. They were also able to become successful because of a belief in the employees and their talent. One of the most important traits a leader can have besides communication skills is the ability to see the potential of an individual and make that individual not only see it too but also live up to that potential. Based on the above findings, my evaluation of GE’s organizational culture is that they do provide a strong framework for positive attitudes, experiences, beliefs and values that would be appealing to almost anyone looking for job satisfaction and advancement within an organization. Reference: Argenti, P. A. (2002). _The Fast Forward MBA Pocket Reference_. John Wiley and Sons. Cushman, D. P. (2003). Communication Best Practices at Dell, General Electric, Microsoft, and Monsanto. SUNY Press. Immelt, J. (2005). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from http://www.ge.com/company/leadership/index.html Innovation (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from http://www.ge.com/innovation/index.html KPMG, (2007). The age of ethics. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from KPMG Web site: http://www- old.itcilo.org/actrav/actrav-english/telearn/global/ilo/code/ageof.htm Leadership Programs (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.gecareers.com/GECAREERS/html/us/ourPeople/leadership.html Miller, G. J. (2002). Managerial Dilemmas: The Political Economy of Hierarchy. Cambridge University Press. Our Culture (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.ge.com/company/culture/index.html Our People (2008). _GE Imagination at work_. Retrieved May 18, 2008, from http://www.ge.com/company/culture/people.html Parhizgar, K. D. (2002). Multicultural Behavior and Global Business Environments. Haworth Press. Robbins, S. P. (2005). _Organizational behavior_ (11 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Six Sigma, 2008 Retrieved May 31, 2008, from GE Web site: http://www.ge.com/railservices/about/sixsigma.html Stroh, L. K., Northcraft, G. B., & Neale, M. (2002). _Organizational Behavior: A Management_ _Challenge_. New York, U.S: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Vasu, M., Stewart, D., & Garson, D. (1998). _Organizational Behavior and Public Management_. CRC Press.

Black Holes Essays (1293 words) - Black Holes, Event Horizon

Black Holes Everyday we look out upon the night sky, wondering and dreaming of what lies beyond our planet. The universe that we live in is so diverse and unique, and it interests us to learn about all the variance that lies beyond our grasp. Within this marvel of wonders our universe holds a mystery that is very difficult to understand because of the complications that arise when trying to examine and explore the principles of space. That mystery happens to be that of the ever clandestine, black hole. This essay will hopefully give you the knowledge and understanding of the concepts, properties, and processes involved with the space phenomenon of the black hole. It will describe how a black hole is generally formed, how it functions, and the effects it has on the universe. In order to understand what exactly a black hole is, we must first take a look at the basis for the cause of a black hole. All black holes are formed from the gravitational collapse of a star, usually having a great, massive, core. A star is created when huge, gigantic, gas clouds bind together due to attractive forces and form a hot core, combined from all the energy of the two gas clouds. This energy produced is so great when it first collides, that a nuclear reaction occurs and the gases within the star start to burn continuously. The Hydrogen gas is usually the first type of gas consumed in a star and then other gas elements such as Carbon, Oxygen, and Helium are consumed. This chain reaction fuels the star for millions or billions of years depending upon the amount of gases there are. The star manages to avoid collapsing at this point because of the equilibrium achieved by itself. The gravitational pull from the core of the star is equal to the gravitational pull of the gases forming a type of orbit, however when this equality is broken the star can go into several different stages. Usually if the star is small in mass, most of the gases will be consumed while some of it escapes. This occurs because there is not a tremendous gravitational pull upon those gases and therefore the star weakens and becomes smaller. It is then referred to as a White Dwarf. If the star was to have a larger mass however, then it may possibly Supernova, meaning that the nuclear fusion within the star simply goes out of control causing the star to explode. After exploding a fraction of the star is usually left (if it has not turned into pure gas) and that fraction of the star is known as a neutron star. A black hole is one of the last option that a star may take. If the core of the star is so massive (approximately 6-8 solar masses; one solar mass being equal to the sun's mass) then it is most likely that when the star's gases are almost consumed those gases will collapse inward, forced into the core by the gravitational force laid upon them. After a black hole is created, the gravitational force continues to pull in space debris and other type of matters to help add to the mass of the core, making the hole stronger and more powerful. Most black holes tend to be in a consistent spinning motion. This motion absorbs various matter and spins it within the ring (known as the Event Horizon) that is formed around the black hole. The matter keeps within the Event Horizon until it has spun into the centre where it is concentrated within the core adding to the mass. Such spinning black holes are known as Kerr Black Holes. Most black holes orbit around stars due to the fact that they once were a star, and this may cause some problems for the neighboring stars. If a black hole gets powerful enough it may actually pull a star into it and disrupt the orbit of many other stars. The black hole could then grow even stronger (from the star's mass) as to possibly absorb another. When a black hole absorbs a star, the star is first pulled into the Ergosphere, which sweeps all the matter into the Event Horizon, named for it's flat horizontal

Dear Mrs. Ghosson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Dear Mrs. Ghosson - Essay Example Our main concern is the registration of Xella at the Kuwait Stock Exchange. The registration process has not been completed since November although all documents have been provided by us in time. We are very concerned as to when the registration will be completed. You will kindly recall that the registration was a precondition for further dealings between us. Our experience in the past on similar projects has been that the 'as-built' situation sometimes differs from the drawings. This happens due to constraints on the site which were not foreseen while preparing the drawings and the drawings were not updated. These differences can lead to major complications during erection. Therefore, two of our engineers will visit the site in Taiwan next week to check the actual as-built situation against the drawings supplied by them. We had some misunderstanding with our contractual partner in Taiwan and had to postpone this site visit several times. Despite confirming to us that all required drawings have been sent it is only now that the drawings are adequate for preparation of final drawings. The general layout, equipment arrangement drawings and floor plans are 90% ready. If our engineers find the as-built situation to be very close to the drawings, and no major alterations are required we shall be able to send the drawings by the 9th December, 2005. If changes are required we shall send the drawings a couple of days later. During their visit to Taiwan our engineers will also discuss, in detail, the dismantling of the equipment and its transport to Kuwait. Thereafter the dismantling program will be executed jointly with our contractual partner on site. The goal, of course, is to adhere to the scheduled key dates for delivery. We are very sorry for the situation which has arisen due to factors totally beyond our control and assure you that we will make all efforts to ensure that the project schedule remains unchanged. Best regards Olaf Michelswirth Deputy General Manager *************************************************************** Intercem Engineering GmbH Simmeriss 59302 Oelde Germany Tel. 0049 2522 920 58 14 Fax. 0049 2522 920 58 20 Mobile 0049 170 73 41 275 Email O.Michelswirth@intercem.de *****************

Group Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Group Ethics - Essay Example In the next few pages, this essay will take an in depth look at police crimes, especially police brutality, and determine if an individual officer is likely to report crimes against fellow officers. Most laypeople have heard the term â€Å"blue wall of silence.† It refers to the fact that police officers, colloquially called boys in blue, do not report the crimes of one another, and would, in fact, lie to defend another officer if necessary. The author of â€Å"Police Ethics and Integrity: Breaking the Blue Code of Silence† (Westmarland, 2005) administered a study that showed some evidence to the contrary. She performed a questionnaire survey that revealed â€Å"officers’ attitudes towards certain unethical behaviour† (Westmarland, 2005). The questionnaire asked officers about a wide range of crimes including accepting â€Å"gifts† from business owners, accepting money from citizens caught in traffic violations, but wanting to avoid tickets, stealing items from crime scenes, and committing violent acts against community residents. The results of the study showed that in some instances, officers would feel compelled to report the bad deeds of o ther officers. For example, 97 percent of officers reported they would tell on a fellow officer if he saw him taking money from a found wallet; 98.5 percent of officers reported that would inform against an officer who stole a watch from a crime scene; but only 65.5 percent of those officers thought that hitting a suspect during an arrest was a very serious offense, and a small number of officers felt that punching a suspect was not serious at all. Basically speaking, the blue wall seems to have its own code of ethics. Officers who are violent against citizens are still more acceptable than officers who break the law for financial gain. Racial profiling, or targeting members of a particular ethnic group based on preconceived notions about that group, is thought to be one

Social Networking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Social Networking - Research Paper Example For instance, about 75% of teenagers in the United States of America visit the Internet daily and social networking forms the biggest part of what they do (Boyd and Ellison ). Social networking sites are widely used by most people to build and maintain relationships; personal or business, and to express their personal ideas and interests concerning the world. Changes in Social Networking Social networks are social structures comprising of persons or organizations that are connected by a single or more different types of interdependency, for instance friendship, common interest, relationships or kinship (Boyd and Ellison). The networks allow people to create public or partial public profiles within a given system, articulate a list of different user that they share connection with and view and traverse the list of connections created by themselves and other users within the system. Social networking sites are very unique in that, apart from allowing users to meet strangers, they also allow them to articulate and make their social networks visible. They provide individuals with an opportunity to maintain their relationships with old friends and to meet new ones as well. The first recognizable social networking site was SixDegrees.com which was started in 1997 (Boyd and Ellison 13). It allowed people to create profiles, list friends they had and in the early 1998s it allowed them to surf their list of friends. These features also existed in some dating and community sites. For instance, AIM and ICQ buddy lists supported lists of friends but the friends were not visible to others. Classmate.com was also another social network which provided people with the opportunity to affiliate with their institutions and surf the networks of other people who were also affiliated to the same institution. However, until recently, it did not provide them with the opportunity to create profiles or list friends (Boyd and Ellison, 13). SixDegree became the first to incorporate these features and promoted itself as a tool to assist people in connecting with others and send messages to them. However, in 2000, SixDegree was incapable of becoming a sustainable business hence failed and its services were closed (Boyd and Ellison, 14). Although by this time the number of people using the Internet was huge, most of them lacked extended networks of friends who were online. They complained that there was nothing much to do after accepting a friend request and most of them were not interested in meeting strangers. From 1997 to 2001, most community tools started to support different types of combinations of profiles and publicly articulated friends. For instance, AsianAvenue and MiGente allowed people to make personal, dating and business profiles in which they could identify friends without seeking permission for the connections (Boyd and Ellison 15). Most of these social network sites were mainly developed for business and dating. For instance, Ryze.com was created in 2 001 to assist people leverage their business networks while Match.com was a profitable dating site (Boyd and Ellison, 16). However, with the creation of Friendster, MySpace and Facebook, the purpose of social networking sites took a new dimension. Social networking sites are today used for business, passing information, education, making friends and dating among others applications. While the Internet has made the world become a global village,

Hinduism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Hinduism - Essay Example When practiced with a pure heart and devoted mind, yoga takes a person away from self-interests and ego gratification, rather it makes a person focus on his/her self. Karma yoga is one of the most practiced yogas around the world and it has gained immense popularity because it provides one with a great platform for balancing out many self-centered actions that are performed in the past. It forces one to indulge in good activities and serve the humanity at large so that one gradually gets away from ill thoughts and morose temperaments. Helping a person in achieving his/her highest potential forms the bedrock of Karma yoga due to which it is a renowned fact that the healthy and productive years of life can be extended far beyond the accepted norm with the help of this amazing yoga practice. The very word â€Å"Karma† means action and its whole philosophy revolves around self-centered actions done in the past that prove to be a major obstacle in a person’s progression in l ife, if he/she does not indulge in activities that are all about serving the humanity. The doctrine of Karma also professes that living for one’s own interests like striving to afford luxuries so that one may rise to a prominent position in society, is not justifiable in any way.

Journal Of Course Readings Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journal Of Course Readings - Coursework Example Nevertheless its study is still of great importance in order to grasp the dynamics of the cognitive capacities of a human being. P.D. REYNOLDS A theory no matter how abstract it may be presented is still bound by reality, it can be a result of experiments, observations, or simply the product of insights on how something works or how it comes into existence. But ultimately these theories start with a simple idea. DAVID HUME To further delve into the concept of what actually is an idea and what gives birth to it, there is a need to understand its origins. In or daily existence we perceive a lot of things, which are consciously or unconsciously stored in our memory. Different perceptions stored in our minds in the form of memory or imagination mimic the sensations, perceived by the body’s five senses, in so far as representing the perception based on its characteristics. (e.g. how a body shivers whenever feeling cold) But can never fully copy the force of the actual perception fe lt by the body (Hume, 2008, p.7). Hence we often come across phrases such as â€Å"we can almost taste† what a certain food actually tastes like. Otherwise if no such limitation is placed, an individual would be able to transcend the need for physical contact or worse madness may set in. Feeling an emotion is different from thinking how that same emotion felt like. Thus it is worth noting that, of all the thoughts that an individual posses about different subjects that he or she had encountered, it is the vaguest of these thoughts that make a person’s ideas. If an individual does not have a clear perception in mind about a certain subject all the information pertaining to that subject will simply be impressions of the individual. Such impressions can be correct or incorrect, or based on the individuals innate nature or referenced from another impression. Thus we can also come across a phrase like, â€Å"I was under the impression† that this was how it was suppos ed to be done. KARL POPPER Due to an individual’s orientation and or nature one can develop ideas into theories, scientific or non scientific in nature, and through the criticism that these theories yields more objective knowledge as it opens the door to more questions and possibilities for its own improvement or paves the way for it to be debunked. Nonetheless the process of criticizing a theory rather than holding on to its proposed validity ensures that it is cleared of any biases, and false claims thus promoting objectivity even more. T. KUHN Furthermore if a theory can be criticized then it is not farfetched that a deviation from a long standing train of thought brought about by a theory is possible. A paradigm shift, or an event of deviation from a widely known belief founded to incur several anomalies. Hence, a shift is needed, once an established theory is proven to be unprecedented and sufficiently open-ended. Much like in conducting an experiment, in order to prove its validity, repetitive experiments are done to gain acceptance in the research community. There are different kinds of paradigm which can explain parts and parcel of different events. Such weakness prevents them to gain notable success. Paradigm shift is a radical idea in expounding and establishing new concepts that contributes to contemporary beliefs and making them more sophisticated and comprehensive theories.

Principles of Good Corporate Governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Principles of Good Corporate Governance - Essay Example Corporate governance is a complex amalgamation of legal, moral and economic/financial issues closely associated with financial scandals, concerns of stakeholders, and social/environmental activism, all rolled up in one. It raises several critical concerns regarding the manner in which the organizations must operate; the moral/ethical responsibilities of companies towards the stakeholders; the financial responsibilities towards their directors and shareholders; and ways to uphold the interests in the larger benefit of the society/community. However, one of the most crucial aspects of corporate governance is to ascertain that the individuals in the organization are held morally accountable for their business practices or their actions and repercussions of the same, towards the society (Colley, 2003, Pp. 13 - 18). The Body Shop – a company with activism as a part of its DNA is a prime example of companies, with ethics as one of its core business practices. The company gave prime importance to a range of social issues through its campaigns - such as the one against human rights abuses; policies in favor of animal and environmental protection; its commitment to society through charity etc., to name a few. It was one of the few commercial organizations which revolutionized the corporate world, through the incorporation of ethical principles as a part of its core business practices (Witcher, Chau, 2010, Pp. 43 - 45). The company was taken over by a leading cosmetics brand, L’Oreal, with drastically different business practices, in the year 2006. As opposed to The Body Shop, L’Oreal on the other hand, involved in animal testing, which caused a furor among animal rights activist, in the process giving bad repute to the trusted brand. Positive and negative lessons learned from these business practices and approaches One of the key lessons learned, from the case of The Body Shop is the fact that contrary to popular opinion, hard-core commercial organi zations, as opposed to not-for-profit organizations, can also implement socially relevant business practices, which have the greater interests of the community at large. The company successfully implemented such principles during the 1990s thus, revolutionizing the profit-oriented and highly commercial competitive corporate world. Furthermore, it is also reaffirmed that the contemporary corporate world, must seek to pursue social and environmental issues, and be more stakeholder-oriented in their approach, rather than profit-seeking, stockholder oriented one. The 21st century has given rise to a phenomenon called ethical consumerism. The consumers today are far more aware of social and environmental issues and are highly active in defending their rights. Companies which tend to ignore their interests might have to face a mass boycott of their products, as is observed in several instances in the past such as the case of Nestle and Nike in the 1990s and The Body Shop in the recent tim es (Crane, Matten, 2007, Pp. 421 - 423). Thus over and above the legal consequences, the companies are at risk of losing their brand image and garnering a bad reputation among the public, thus having a serious negative impact on their competitive positioning the industry translating into huge financial losses.

Health care marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 15

Health care marketing - Essay Example Usually, new businesses that are establishing are more seriously concerned about customers’ satisfaction and actually tend to modify their services to enhance the customers’ experiences, but old companies generally take these surveys just for research and development purposes. It is absolutely true that when an organization responds to the crisis immediately, it manages to set a positive impression on the stakeholders and the public before the bad publicity can have a chance. In every situation of crisis, people want to know what the organization has to say about why the crisis happened and what measures is it taking to reduce its negative implications on the environment and on the society at large. Crisis management and control is essentially an art. It takes right things to be said at the right times to convince the stakeholders that the organization is loyal to them. It is more useful for an organization to say the right things at any time than saying wrong things immediately after crisis, like placing blame on others rather than taking

Change the Culture of an Organisation Essay Example for Free

Change the Culture of an Organisation Essay The culture of an organization can be defined by the ‘way they do things’, this means the way they make decisions, operate and how they choose and achieve their objectives. As culture is a set of values and practices, changing it may be difficult and a long process, especially if the change is organized by a new chief executive. Changing the culture of an organization may not be easy especially if the new chief executive does not fully understand the previous culture and therefore does not embrace it in the change. This lack of knowledge may result in an inappropriate culture being chosen that could limit the company’s performance as productivity reduces. An example of a badly imposed culture can been seen with the Chrysler and Damier-Benz merge in 1998. Damier-Benz imposed their traditional and structured German culture on the free-spirited American car company Chrysler. The extremely different cultures created tension that later affected their efficiency as decision-making took longer and the workforce were not happy. The inappropriate culture resulted in a loss of $1.5 billon by 2006. In 2011, the new chief executive of Tesco, Phillip Clarke, also made a cultural change which proved unsuccessful. He proposed a strategy to change Tesco’s brand image to be known for â€Å"highly valued brands† as opposed to their cheaper â€Å"Value† products. The decrease in popular promotion deals such as vouchers and meal deals reduced their sales revenue and share value which fell by 15% by the end of 2011. This suggests that Clarke failed to identify Tesco’s main source of competitively. Therefore, both examples show that cultural changes may be difficult as the new chief executives lack knowledge and experience in the company. Culture change also takes a long time, especially as traditions and values are set. A prime example of this is with Sony. Sony is a Japan-based company who prides themselves in adopting a traditional Japanese business culture. Examples of their culture can be seen with their clear line of authority and their strong belief in respect. However, Sony’s reducing performance and the fast changing world alarmed the new chief executive, Howard Stringer, to change the culture to one that embraces change. Although proposals to change the culture were made in 2007, Sony’s culture has still not fully transformed which is reflected in their still low competitively. Therefore, it may still take some time for Sony to fully embrace an innovative culture as their Japanese culture has largely influenced the organization. It also took a long time for Marks Spencer to introduce higher levels of technology, such as a stock control system, as they are said to have a ‘backward culture’. This is because they don’t embrace change and are led by system and procedures. These examples provide evidence that change in a business’s culture may not be done quickly as the organization is accustomed to the previous culture. However, changing a company’s culture can be easy if the new chief executive conducts the change in an appropriate manner. As culture change will have a direct impact on stakeholders, it is important for the new chief executive to inform all stakeholders of the changes and to also encourage feedback. The loss of the innovative leader of Apple, Steve Jobbs created much anxiety about the new CEO Tim Cook. Stakeholders feared Cook would change the company and reject all Jobbs practices especially as the two leaders have different personalities. The media worsened the situation with continuous negative press coverage which resulted in a decrease in consumer confidence as well as Apple’s share price. Although Jobbs had planned to make some strategic changes to the company’s practices, he reassured stakeholders by stating that â€Å"Apple will not change†. He also identified these new strategies and their benefits in a press release which justified his decisions and satisfied stakeholders. The newfound trust of stakeholders will enable Apple’s cultural change to be easier and happen more quickly. In view of the above, I believe that it is not easy to change the culture of a business, as the current practices are custom to the organization; this also suggests that the change will be quite a process and therefore won’t be done quickly. This situation is worsened as the chief executive is new and won’t have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the business to enable a smooth and quick transition. However, the ability for the new chief executive to change the business’s culture quickly and easily is highly dependant upon the reaction of the stakeholders. For example, BP’s customers may react positively as the new culture will increase the company’s responsiveness to customers. Shareholders may also react positively as the increase of innovation should increase BP’s competitive advantage which could increase the company’s value and share price. However, the increase in innovation may pose a threat the employees as management will expect higher quality and the need for more qualified personnel may be necessary. Therefore, support from stakeholders will encourage an easier and quickly transformation whereas negativity will not. The skills of the workforce is also important as if they are innovative the cultural change will happen faster. However, Sony is in a creative industry and their strategy to increase innovation still took a long time. This suggests that attitudes and beliefs of the workforce are also important. An easy change is also depend upon the new executives approach, is it forceful or flexible? Damier-Benz’s forceful approach result in a large amount of tension that slowed the change and resulted in a financial loss.

Womens Issues Essay Example for Free

Womens Issues Essay This research was conducted from an investigate concept through personal interviews of minorities and female executives, Human Resources executive recruiters, through journals, articles from websites, peer publications, and secondary research of studies performed through data collection and data analyzation. The various articles and journals reviewed will provide an overview of the glass ceiling, address the problems and challenges, identify the types of barriers and trends, and propose a solution. Through this study we will attempt to measure whether organization’s recruitment process, criteria, and strategic plans are aligned with the goals and objectives to meet the needs of the organization and better identify the best qualified candidate and improve the organization’s bottom line. Glass Ceiling Overview Definition The â€Å"glass ceiling† is defined as the invisible but real barrier through which the next stage or level of advancement can be seen, but cannot be reached by a section of qualified and deserving employees. Such barriers exist due to implicit prejudice on the basis of age, ethnicity, political or religious affiliation, and/or sex. Although generally illegal, such practices prevalent in most countries (www. businessdictionary. com) Overview The analogy â€Å"glass ceiling† is a terminology used quite often in corporate America to best identify just how far women or minorities have or will rise up the corporate ladder. Many feel it is often impossible for that demographic to exceed beyond the level of mid-management; and although we have made some strides and have increased the number of women and minorities entering today’s workforce, it’s no surprise a small fraction of those have successfully risen to the executive level in the corporate environment. Problems and Challenges Women Women face greater barriers and rely on strategies for advancement that are different from those of their male counterparts (Lyness and Thompson, 2000). There are many ways discrimination against women exists, such as job segregation, gaps in compensation, sexual harassment, inability to participate in career developmental opportunities, lack of available mentorship programs, and the lack of career advancement opportunities. According to a report from the federal bipartisan Glass Ceiling Commission (1995), 95% to 97% of senior managers of Fortune 1000 industrial and Fortune 500 companies are men, yet white males make up only about 43% of the workforce. The same study reported that only 5% of senior managers in the Fortune 2000 industrial and service companies are women. These commission findings are especially striking since women make up nearly half of the workforce (www. highbeam. com). One would have you believe the success of women career both economically and self gratifying can only be accomplished if and only if there is a change in behavior. We want to believe the selection process is objective and carefully thought out. Yet, others expect the process to be about the individual’s performance and merits and together the choice is based on the right fit for the organization. I conducted a total of 22 individual personal interviews, 11 of which included female executives. When asked what were some of the challenges they faced throughout their tenure? The responses varied but the one thing each clearly stated was â€Å"learning the language of the male dominant role†. Other challenges provided were: †¢ Advantages males have related to social networking †¢ Lack of mentorship †¢ Wage gaps for comparable work †¢ Work-life balance †¢ Shadows of the predecessor Minorities The remaining personal interviews conducted were with 11 male minority executives. When asked what were some of the challenges they faced throughout their tenure? Again, the responses were in variations; however each clearly identified â€Å"race† was the greatest challenge. But, the one thing that I found to be quite astounding when each expounded on race as an issue, was they all made the decision in their career they would not make this their problem, yet it would be others. What I got out of those words was without acknowledgment there cannot be acceptance. Other challenges provided were: †¢ Respect †¢ Removal of identity crisis †¢ Externally viewed before internally judged †¢ Education inferiority (studies outside of the U.  S. ) †¢ Mindset of organizational promotions Human Resources Meeting with executive recruitment representatives, I found they in fact face many of the same challenges women and minorities face. As a recruiter their responsibility first and foremost is to stay in-lined with the organization’s mission and vision. However finding the most qualified candidate is the biggest challenge. In terms of demographics, they aggressively seek to recruit more women or minorities for those positions because there is such a small percentage currently in place. Unfortunately if the candidate is not the right fit or if felt the cultural and/or environment carry an abundance of testosterone, many of the female executives are driven away which begins the recruitment process. Another challenge is with the selection process and not being able to question the decision-making especially when clearly felt other candidates were possessed more qualifications. Glass Ceiling Barriers Types The gender wage gap if asked is probably the biggest challenge women executives will tell you they encounter. A study conducted by the National Census Bureau showed U. S. omen still earned only 77 cents on the male dollar in 2008, according to the latest census statistics. That number drops to 68% for African-American women and 58% for Latinas (www. time. com). When speaking with one female executive she explains â€Å"one of the biggest challenges she faced would be the initial promotion as an executive. She indicated she was very excited because she knew the promotion was not only well deserved but she would be the only female executive within the organization. However in looking back she realized how the male dominant environment worked as she would only receive a 3% pay increase†. She regrets that decision but stated she attributes who she is today because of that unfortunate event. Discrimination or harassment is another challenge women and/or minorities face in achieving executive positions. African American executives feel to survive this culture it is essential remain true to themselves. However women executives will tell you there is a constant misrepresentation related to the gender and the ability to maintain as their counterparts. Although illegal, discrimination and harassment occurs subtle and overtly, with the glass ceiling harassment being the most difficult to prove. Work and family is another major challenge women face because many of the female executives are made to choose between working long hours and their family; while their male counterparts don’t have to make such decisions thereby giving them the opportunity and ability to put in those extra hours. The lack of mentorship is also challenging. One of the interviewees stated â€Å"higher profile jobs at the executive level will require more of your time. It is felt that males can depart and detach, however females feel an excuse has to be made†. Women enter the business environment in the early stages of their careers and in many instances are usually on the same level as men. However, according to the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) studies show in the next 5 to 10 years, men seem to benefit from upward career movement more than women, in part because women do not locate mentors as easily as men (www. shrm. com). Some organizations have recognized the need to assist in getting mentors and have also implemented training and development programs in support of women and minorities to develop mentoring relationships. Leadership Challenges Roles and responsibilities Many female and minority executives say leadership can be quite challenging especially being in the shadow of a predecessor. For women achieving this role, it is a constant second guessing of management styles. Clearly men and women possess different leadership styles. However one group may view as more of the nurturing role whereas counterparts are viewed as having no personal or emotional ties and are in capable of relating to personal issues. Many women feel like the outsider at the executive management level. They also have to deal with the shrewdness of having to prove they belong in that role. One of the interviewees is a Captain in the Police Department who not only was the first female she was the first African American to obtain that high ranking in the organization. One of her greatest challenge is having to constantly prove that she fits into this male dominant career. Many decisions are questioned and she often times finds herself having to put on the hardcore role to show she is capable of performing her roles and responsibilities while her counterparts are received with blessings.

The Maintainability of the Current Financial Market

The Maintainability of the Current Financial Market Introduction To argue that we are not currently in the midst of a global financial crisis is simply on maintainable, given the saturation that the issue has had in the mainstream media. There is no secret that there is a global liquidity shortage in the financial sector, mortgage assets declining in value and subsequently limiting the ability of financial institutions service their lending and interest payment requirements to investors. As a result many governments have taken proactive measures to increase liquidity in the financial sector and stave off inflation and other negative factors. It is the purpose of this paper to critically analyse the current financial crisis, in conjunction with the sub-prime mortgage issue which rose to prominence in late 2007. In light of the current economic climate this paper will discuss whether implementing a financial safety net will serve to address the pressures that are being placed on financial institutions in terms of their liquid assets and overall econ omic viability. It will also present the main ingredients of a sound financial safety net, and it is important to note that all of these factors must generally be present in order for a financial safety net to function effectively in correcting the economic imbalance which the global economy is currently experiencing. The Current Financial Climate The financial situation at present around the world is not one of economic prosperity and stability. In the last 12 months the world has had to resist the financial crisis of 2007-2008 sparked by the pressures placed on financial institutions as a result of the sub-prime mortgage crisis. Most recently, beginning in September 2008, is a global financial and liquidity crisis which has led to a number of American and European banks collapsing due to insufficient liquid assets to service its obligations to its customers. Essentially the most recent crisis began with the United States government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were to government-sponsored enterprises servicing the United States home loan industry. This, among other factors, consequently sparked a rapid decline in the value of global stock market indexes and currency indicators, such as the Dow Jones (United States), FTSE 500 (United Kingdom) and the ASX 200 (Australia) to name a few. This saw a rapid decline in the value of assets held by mortgage related entities, leaving them with significantly less equity and liquidity to service their lending and interest payment obligations. Response to the crisis the central banks of many countries took measures to inject capital into the cash flow of the financial services industry. For example, the reserve bank of Australia injected AU$1.5 billion (approximately 3 times more than the estimated need), Indias Reserve Bank pumped in approximately US$1.32 billion and the Reserve Bank of China provided a stimulus package of approximately 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion).[1] In the United States the Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act of 2008 was passed by Congress and gave the Bush administration the authority to purchase up to US$700 billion of unserviceable mortgage assets in an attempt to maximise liquidity.[2] In the United Kingdom, on 8 October 2008, UK government announced a  £500 billion rescue package. All these measures were in an attempt to increase liquidity in the financial services industry, and were often accompanied by reductions in the national cash interest rates as determined by the central banks. In light of the fragility of the current global economic situation, is important to consider the effect of the financial services industry safety net as a mechanism of consumer protection. As this paper will uncover in forthcoming chapters, the safety net often comprises a number of key elements in order to maximise its scope of application and effect. A number of jurisdictions have sought to implement deposit guarantees and similar protection schemes, and the effectiveness and risks associated with these schemes will be discussed more thoroughly in due course. However it is important to note in passing that the current economic crisis plays a significant role in the ability of a financial safety net to function effectively, due to the extraneous pressures which are placed on the economic system as a result of a shortage of liquidity in the global financial industry. This affects every global financial institution from major banks right down to small time debenture businesses. An Overview of the Financial Sector Safety Net It is difficult to confine the financial sector safety net into one concise and succinct definition. Rather one must consider the safety net in light of its many factors. As the World Bank itself points out, are significant difficulties experienced with implementing a safety net, which are appropriately defined in the following passage: Bank safety nets are difficult to design and administer, because they have the conflicting objectives of protecting bank customers and reducing banks incentives to engage in risky activities. In several countries including the U.S., the financial safety net, structured to reduce the vulnerability of the financial system, appears to have had quite the opposite result. Indeed, Kane (1989) identifies the U.S. financial safety net, and notably fixed-rate deposit insurance and belated bank closures, as the single most important factor in explaining the catastrophic Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s. Similarly, Demirguc-Kunt and Detragiache (1998) find international evidence that the existence of an explicit deposit insurance scheme has contributed to banking system fragility. To restrain bank risk taking, financial safety nets generally rely on two mechanisms: (i) market discipline, and (ii) bank regulation. Bank creditors can exert market discipline by withdrawing their funds, or demanding higher interest rates from riskier banks. In case of publicly traded banks, equity holders can also effect discipline.[3] The above passage demonstrates that safety nets are not effective on their own; rather they require cooperation between all the different classes of parties involved in the financial industry in order to maintain a healthy financial market. However implementing a safety net is not without its risks and, as the above passage indicates, sometimes the mechanisms employed by a safety net programme of them contribute to the fragility of the financial system is not implemented properly and in consideration of the context in which they are to apply. In light of the above this brief has presented a basic overview of the rationale of the safety net in the financial industry and the aims it sets out to achieve. This brief will now go on to explore the fundamental elements of a safety net system, as it is important to consider the effect of each of these individual mechanisms in appropriate detail in order to draw an appropriate conclusion as to whether or not consideration should be given to a safety net scheme to be implemented in a broad manner across global jurisdictions in light of the current financial crisis. Elements of the Safety Net Frameworks for Liquidity Support For most banks and financial institutions the need to maintain a certain amount of rigid liquidity to service lending and interest payment obligations is essential to ensure the long-term viability of the institution, and also to ensure that the bank or institution can continue providing a service to its customers and therefore generate further revenue. Most of these institutions have certain cash reserves available to meet these obligations in the event that the institution becomes temporarily illiquid, however it is important to consider the strength of these measures given the current economic climate and also whether other measures exist in the event that the liquidity reserves of the institution are unable to service its obligations to its customers. Therefore it is important to distinguish between the liquidity reserves which are available to financial institutions during normal operating times and those which are to be relied upon in a time of crisis, and there is a need for a financial institution to consider the efficiency of both of these measures. A common form of day today liquidity reserves banks rely upon is the lender of last resort (LOLR) function, where central banks in most developed jurisdictions around the world have the authority to provide credit support in the event of a bank becoming temporarily illiquid, however still remaining solvent.[4] LOLR actions do not guarantee against banks from failing, but rather serve to protect liquidity shortages in flowing from one bank to another. As the World Bank puts it: This kind of support can provide an important buffer against temporary disturbances in financial markets. LOLR actions may help to prevent liquidity shortage in one bank from being transmitted to other financial institutions, for example, through the payment system. LOLR actions are not intended to prevent bank failures but, rather, to prevent spillovers associated with liquidity shortages particularly in money and interbank markets from interrupting the normal intermediation function of financial institutions and markets.[5] Therefore the purpose of LOLR is to ensure the overall integrity of the financial market, through containing any liquidity shortages to one bank and attempting to prevent it from reaching other institutions. In a time of crisis a financial institution may need to seek liquidity resources from the central bank over and above those that would normally be available to them for day-to-day activities. These emergency lending procedures need to be considered in the strongest possible manner, and the International Monetary Fund has outlined a number of guidelines which should be taken into account in this regard: resources should be made available only to banks that are considered solvent but are coping with liquidity problems that might endanger the entire system (e.g. ‘too big to fail’ cases); lending should take place speedily; lending should be short-term; even then, it should be provided conservatively because of the situation of the bank might deteriorate quickly; lending should not take place at subsidised rates, but the rate should also not be penal because it might then deteriorate the banks position; the loan should be fully collateralised, and collateral should be valued conservatively. However, at times of severe crisis, it might be necessary for the central bank to relax this criterion or to organise a government guarantees or to arrange government credit, even if the loan is executed from the central banks balance sheet; Central bank supervisory authorities and the Ministry of Finance should be in close contact and should monitor the situation of the bank; supervisory sanctions or remedial actions should be attached to the emergency lending.[6] Therefore it is important to the above factors in emergency lending in order to ensure that the overall integrity of the financial system is not placed under threat through a central bank advancing credit to an illiquid financial institution. Deposit Insurance or Guarantees It is one of the simple principles of banking that, in order for a financial institution to profit from lending products, it must have the liquidity resources to advance to the borrowers. These generally come from term deposits, everyday accounts and other consumer-based banking products, not to mention larger institutional banking deposits. In order for these customers to be able to bank with confidence with a particular institution, it may be necessary for the government to introduce a type of deposit insurance which serves to protect the deposits of customers in the event of a failed investment by the bank. It could be argued that by having all deposits protected by a deposit insurance scheme, a financial institution is effectively promoting excessive risk-taking given that the particular customer may feel they have nothing to lose and all to gain by allowing the customer to gamble with what is essentially free money. Therefore it is important to consider whether large deposits sh ould be protected by such a scheme as, in the event of a payout being required, the deposit insurance scheme may be unable to meet its obligations in a timely and efficient manner, which is said to be a key requirement in order for such a scheme to function effectively.[7] A fine balance therefore needs to be struck between protecting the interests of customers while also ensuring that the deposit insurance scheme is in a position to meet its obligations in the event that it is called upon, and it would therefore need to be well funded. Investor and/or Policyholder Protection Schemes Another key element of an appropriate financial sector safety net is the need for customers who engage in investing through that institution to be afforded some sort of insurance protection, which would otherwise be unavailable under a deposit protection scheme. These schemes would be limited in their application, as they would generally exclude losses arising from a customers poor investment decision-making in the like unless a causal link can be established between the decision and advice obtained from the financial institution in question. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund fully describe the function of such a scheme: Investor compensation schemes generally cover customer accounts in which a range of investment activities defined in the respective licensing laws and broader regulatory regimes take place. Compensation schemes generally do not cover losses on the part of the investor as a result of poor investment advice or management by member firms, although in some schemes, compensation may be available where a causal relationship is established between the poor investment advice or management and the inability of the firm to meet claims by clients. In most jurisdictions, the compensation scheme is statutory in nature†¦[8] therefore a member institution cannot simply wash its hands purveying financial loss sustained by a customer who invest through the institution, unless it can be proven that the poor decision made by the investor was not induced (either whole or in part) by the institution itself. An investor should be afforded some protection in relation to investment, but should still be in a position to accept liability should they not heed appropriate financial advice. Crisis Management The final appropriate element of an effective financial sector safety net is the building of both an institution and the responsible government to manage a crisis if and when it occurs. For example, high-profile policy committees and consultants should be in place to establish the framework mentioned in the preceding three chapters of this paper, and to ensure that it is implemented in such a way that is effective in that institutions particular context. Financial institutions also need to ensure they have the appropriate resources, both financial and in personnel, to address is particularly important area of policy especially given the current financial climate and the strange places on banks to provide some form of protection to its customers while also attempting to remain prosperous and loyal to its shareholders. The International Experience The financial sector safety net has been met with mixed reviews in various jurisdictions around the world in response to the current economic crisis. This is due to the fact that central banks and governments have encountered a number of problems when seeking to implement features of the financial sector safety net. For example the United States, given the current Wall Street crisis, and sought to implement a safety net measure, however Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan has stated: The safety net, along with our improved understanding of how to use monetary and fiscal policies, has played a critical role in this country in eliminating bank runs, in assuaging financial crises, and arguably in reducing the number and amplitude of economic contractions in the past sixty years. Deposit insurance, the discount window, and access to Fedwire and daylight overdrafts provide depository institutions and financial market participants with safety, liquidity, and solvency unheard of in previous years. These benefits, however, have come with a cost: distortions in the price signals that are used to allocate resources, induced excessive risk-taking, and, to limit the resultant moral hazard, greater government supervision and regulation. Clearly, the latter carries with it attendant inefficiencies and limits on innovation.[9] Mr Greenspan has eloquently highlighted one of the key deficiencies with the financial safety net, particularly in relation to government and regulatory supervision of banks during its operation. By increasing government supervision on the financial sector, it severely limits the ability for banks to become innovators in their field and seek to implement new ideas to better service the industry. By implementing rigid supervisory guidelines, the government would be forcing financial institutions to conform to set principles which would effectively make all institutions the same, and limit the ability of these institutions to be granted the autonomy required to be innovative in this industry. Therefore one needs to consider whether the benefits of the financial safety net outweigh the costs associated with it. Mr Greenspan also highlights the increase in costs the taxpayer in the event of the safety net taking effect: The usual suggested premiums for deposit insurance are, of course, far from those that would fully eliminate the subsidy that insurance provides to depository institutions and their borrowers and depositors, especially at times of financial crisis. Indeed, to eliminate the subsidy in deposit insurance, the FDIC insurance premium would have to be set high enough to cover the extreme-loss tail of the distribution of possible outcomes and thus the perceived costs of systemic risk. Since so high a rate appears politically infeasible, the subsidy in deposit insurance cannot be fully eliminated. Moreover, no private insurer will be able to match the actual FDIC premium and cover its risk from the extreme-loss tail. Obviously, if premiums were fully priced, the level of insured deposits would be significantly lower.[10] The above passage demonstrates that it is difficult to lower the deposit insurance premiums associated with a safety net programme, while also ensuring that the deposit insurance fund is still adequately funded to meet its obligations in the event is called upon. By lowering deposit insurance premiums, a financial institution would place a significant strain on itself to be able to cover potential loss associated with the extreme-loss tail which Mr Greenspan discusses and recognises as a serious threat. American newspapers have also highlighted the risks associated with deposit insurance: It has long been known that this feature of the safety net induces moral hazard. Because of the reality and perception that bank deposits are fully protected, banks are willing to engage in riskier activities, insured depositors are less willing and able to monitor the activities of banks, and creditors are less sensitive to the risks incurred by banks. Therefore, it is imperative to develop a system that appropriately prices this insurance and the risks associated with providing it.[11] I fully protecting deposits, the government is inviting banks to be far less accountable for losses incurred as a result of mismanagement of depositors and investors funds, and therefore the deposit insurance scheme needs to be appropriately justified and risk assess for can have any significant practical effect in granting customers peace of mind that there investments are protected, given the current fragile economic climate. Other countries such as Australia have moved to guarantee bank deposits in light of the current financial situation around the globe. Particularly, the Australian government has guaranteed deposits up to an amount of $20,000,[12] despite previously stating that moves by other foreign governments to guarantee deposits were uncoordinated.[13] Interestingly, it has been said that the legal and regulatory framework in place in Serbia and Montenegro sufficient to encourage a deposit protection insurance scheme which would serve to appropriately protect banking customers and the financial industry therein.[14] therefore the results encountered the international arena in relation to the financial safety net are mixed, with some systems acknowledging that certain reforms need to occur before the safety net will function effectively, and others seeking to implement the safety net within their jurisdiction. Conclusion In conclusion, and in consideration of the discussions throughout this brief, would be appropriate to conclude that a financial safety net scheme may be appropriate in certain circumstances in order to provide banking customers with peace of mind in relation to their investments. However it is important to note that a safety net scheme does not bring with it guaranteed success, and one must consider the risks associated with implementing such a scheme and their possible contribution to the dire financial situation which is currently being experienced throughout the world. While the rationale of the safety net may have good intentions, it is clear that deposit guarantees and poor crisis management can have adverse effects on the financial market and therefore affect consumers in a negative way when the intentions are all positive. The international experience with financial safety nets is inconclusive. It is primarily due to the fact that underlying financial pressures in particular jurisdictions can have adverse effects on the effectiveness of the financial safety net, and make it difficult for the safety net to be effective in correcting these imbalances. In the case of the United States cost of deposit and investment insurance is simply too high to justify, whereas in say Australia or Japan the benefit outweighs the cost based on sound financial infrastructure and crisis management techniques. Therefore it is significantly easier to implement a safety net system in these jurisdictions, given the sturdy financial history of the Asian markets. The United States present difficult challenge, with the major financial institutions having capital tied up in high risk investment portfolios, such as what was experienced with the sub-prime mortgage crisis beginning in mid-to late 2007. In short, the question must be asked whether a safety net would increase the liquidity resources of financial institutions, which is universally accepted to be the significant cause of the current financial crisis. The short answer is yes, given that deposit and investment insurance should effectively encourage customers to invest with a particular bank given that their money is effectively insured for a certain amount. However this insurance policy is not worth the paper its written on the insurance fund does not itself have the liquidity service obligations should be called upon to do so. This is a problematic situation, and cannot be effectively answered in a simple form. Only time will tell whether the financial crisis eases as a result of governments purchasing bad mortgage debts from financial institutions, and whether the liquidity shortage ends as a result. Bibliography Arner, D.W., Financial Stability, Economic Growth and the Role of Law (2007), London: Cambridge Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘Government considers upping bank deposit safety net’ (2008) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/12/2388583.htm> at 14 December 2008 Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘No need for Government guarantee on bank deposits: Rudd’ (2008) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/10/2387244.htm> at 14 December 2008 Demirguc-Kunt, A., and Detragiache, E., ‘The determinants of banking crises in developed and developing countries’ (1998), IMF Staff Papers 45, 81-109 Demirguc-Kunt, A., and Huizinga, H., ‘Market Discipline and Financial Safety Net Design’ (1999), World Bank Policy Research Paper WPS2183 Gerda, O., Brewer III, E., and Evanoff, D.D., ‘The Financial Safety Net: costs, benefits and implications’ (2001) The Chicago Fed Letter http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3631/is_200111/ai_n8986952> at 14 December 2008 Greenspan, A., Former Federal Reserve Chairman, ‘Speech – The Financial Safety Net’, 10 May 2001, http://www.federalreserve.gov/Boarddocs/Speeches/2001/20010510/default.htm> at 14 December 2008 Herzsenhorn, D.M., ‘Administration is seeking $700 billion for Wall Street’ (2008), New York Times, 20 September 2008 IMF – Monetary and Financial System Department, Operational Paper OP/00/01, Emergency Liquidity Support Facilities Kane, E.J., The SL Insurance Mess: How Did it Happen? (1987), Lanham, MD: University Press of America Marinkovic, S.T., ‘Designing an Incentive-Compatible Safety Net in a Financial System in Transition: The Case of Serbia’ (2004), Centre for the Study of Global Governance, Discussion Paper 35, http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISNfileid=07ECE3C0-79BF-BEF2-62FF-A5CF5F97D730lng=en> at 14 December 2008 Reuters, ‘Asian central banks spend billions to prevent crash’ (2008), International Herald Tribune, 16 September 2008 World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Financial Sector Assessment: A Handbook (2005) Footnotes [1] Reuters, ‘Asian central banks spend billions to prevent crash’ (2008), International Herald Tribune, 16 September 2008. [2] David M. Herzsenhorn, ‘Administration is seeking $700 billion for Wall Street’ (2008), New York Times, 20 September 2008. [3] Asl Demirguc-Kunt and Harry Huizinga, ‘Market Discipline and Financial Safety Net Design’ (1999), World Bank Policy Research Paper WPS2183, 2-3; citing Asl Demirguc-Kunt, and E. Detragiache, ‘The determinants of banking crises in developed and developing countries’ (1998), IMF Staff Papers 45, 81-109 and Edward J. Kane, The SL insurance Mess: How Did it Happen? (1987). [4] See also Douglas W. Arner, Financial Stability, Economic Growth and the Role of Law (2007), 139-140. [5] World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Financial Sector Assessment: A Handbook (2005), 105. [6] Ibid, 105-6. See also IMF – Monetary and Financial System Department, Operational Paper OP/00/01, Emergency Liquidity Support Facilities. [7] Ibid, 106. [8] Ibid, 107. [9] Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Alan Greenspan, ‘Speech – The Financial Safety Net’, 10 May 2001, http://www.federalreserve.gov/Boarddocs/Speeches/2001/20010510/default.htm> at 14 December 2008. [10] Ibid. [11] Oscar Gerda, Elijah Brewer III, and Douglas D. Evanoff, ‘The Financial Safety Net: costs, benefits and implications’ (2001) The Chicago Fed Letter http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3631/is_200111/ai_n8986952> at 14 December 2008. [12] Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘Government considers upping bank deposit safety net’ (2008) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/12/2388583.htm> at 14 December 2008. [13] Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘No need for Government guarantee on bank deposits: Rudd’ (2008) http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/10/2387244.htm> at 14 December 2008. [14] See, generally, Srdjan T. Marinkovic, ‘Designing an Incentive-Compatible Safety Net in a Financial System in Transition: The Case of Serbia’ (2004), Centre for the Study of Global Governance, Discussion Paper 35, http://se1.isn.ch/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=ISNfileid=07ECE3C0-79BF-BEF2-62FF-A5CF5F97D730lng=en> at 14 December 2008, 17.

Each Individuals Outlook on Life and How Its Formed :: essays research papers

Humdrum Conundrum: Does or does it not make sense to insist that how each person sees things depends entirely on that persons unique time, place, and subjective judgement? on their cultural background? I would like to point out that this paper is written assuming there is an absolute reality...and there is actually a table sitting there, and it is not just a figment of our imagination, as it were. Pardon the assumption, I have to have somewhere to work from. â€Å"Did You Just See That?† I believe it makes perfect sense to insist how someone sees something depends entirely on his or her point of view. A great modern philosopher, Bertrand Russell’s, idea of appearance and reality explains that perception of a table and its distribution of colors, shape, and sense, vary with each point of view. Commenting on the distribution of color, Russell states that, "It follows that if several people are looking at the table at the same moment, no two of them will see exactly the same distribution of colors, because no two can see it from exactly the same point of view, and any change in the point of view makes some change in the way the light is reflected." What one person sees the table as green, one might see as red at another viewpoint. And what might seem to have color is actually colorless in the dark. What one might perceive as being rectangle, may look oval in another view. What may sense the table to be hard by a touch of the fingertips may be soft by the touch of the cheek. Determining hardness of the table depends on pressure applied and judge of the sensation. No assumptions can be absolutely true because there is no determining factor in choosing the right angle to look at or sense the table. There are no determining factors in which angle or measurement is better to judge than the other in sense of color, shape, and feel of an object. So, depending on an individual’s point of reference, or point of view, will alter their sense of perception of any object, thing, or mass. It is the same idea with a photograph. Depending on the lighting, time of day, and position the picture was taken from, a table can be made to look like any number of things. If it is night, the table may look like a darker lump against a dark backdrop.

Cry, The Beloved Country: The Breakdown And Rebuilding Of South Africa :: Cry, The Beloved Country Essays

Cry, The Beloved Country: The Breakdown and Rebuilding of South African Society â€Å"...what God has not done for South Africa man must do.† pg. 25   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the book, Cry, the Beloved Country, written by Alan Paton, some major conflicts follow the story from beginning to end. Two of these conflicts would be as follows; first, the breakdown of the ever so old and respected tribe; and second, the power of love and compassion and how that it can rebuild broken relationships. This story gives the reader the perfect perspective in learning about the injustices that have taken place in South Africa, and it gives us a sense of the trials and hardships the blacks went through then. Cry, is a story about a Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and how he sets out to bring his family back together. While he sets out about doing this he realizes that his family is completely in the shambles and his family has strayed from the church and tribal traditions. Kumalo eventually learns to deal with this and while he is doing this, he makes a friend, James Jarvis, that changes the way he has looked on life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The tribal breakdown starts to show in book I, with the land that the tribe must use and how the people have used up the natural resources that used to lay there. The whites pushed them out of where they used to reside where the land is so good that it could be even referred to as â€Å"holy, being even as it came from the Creator.† (pg. 3). In the rural areas such as this the decay comes as a result of making the blacks live in confined areas where the land is so bad it can't be farmed any more, and the taking of the strong males out of these areas to go work in the mines were things are unsafe and people rarely return. Because of this, the people leave the tribe to go on the roads to travel to Johannesburg, because â€Å"All roads lead to Johannesburg.† (pg. 10).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As Kumalo arrives in Johannesburg he finally realizes what a problem he has stepped into. He realizes that nobody in his family, neither brothers, sisters, sons and daughters, even cousins, have any moral ties with each other anymore. He sees his brother get caught up in worldly beliefs, such as: fame, money, power, greed and lying. He also sees his sister and his son living in a horrible life of crime and sin. Kumalo even starts to lose hope for his son, he states that â€Å"I can do nothing here, let us go.

Women of the Revolution Essay examples -- History, War, Feminism

Women are frequently overlooked when it comes to history in the 18th centuries. They were there in the flesh for all of the historical events, but they are rarely mentioned. Everyone has heard of the â€Å"Founding Fathers†, but students rarely hear about the â€Å"Founding Mothers† in their curriculum. Although women did not directly plan out our government, they still deserve to be given some credit for it. The roles that women played during the Revolutionary War greatly influenced the outcome of the war and the country that resulted from it. Women had all kinds of roles to play when it came to the Revolutionary War. Although their roles might not seem as important to the public as the other women involved, women at home is one of the many factors that helped keep the United States in the war. Many women just kept control of the house and farm and made sure nothing went wrong (Hanafore). Others housed wounded soldiers that were in need of refuge. A few women even started organizations that regularly sent supplies like food and clothing to the soldiers that were fighting (Zitek). There was even a woman who wrote a book to inform the public of the affairs of the war (Pavao). Esther Reed was one such woman who helped start an organization to help the soldiers who were fighting. Her organization was known as the Philadelphia Association. The Association felt sympathy for the soldiers and decided to take action. They raised money to send to the soldiers, however, George Washington did not approve of this. Instead, the women decided to send warm shirts to the soldiers. They each stitched their names into the shirts they made as a little spirit-raiser to the soldiers out in the cold. The soldiers were reminded that everyone was appreciativ... ...-war-women.html>. "Revolutionary War — Central Intelligence Agency." Welcome to the CIA Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency, 4 Feb. 2011. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . "Women and the Revolutionary War." American History and World History at Historycentral.com the Largest and Most Complete History Site on the Web. MultiEducator, Inc.Ê, 2008. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . "Women Spies- Miss Jenny." Spy Letters of the American Revolution. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. . Zitek, Carl. "Women in The American Revolution." SCORE History/Social Science. Sunnyslope Elementary School. Web. 16 Dec. 2011. .

Gender Communication Differences in Traditional Marriage Essay

Men and women communicate differently. Two people of opposite gender joined in marriage have two very different styles of communication to the extent that this problem is sometimes insurmountable. Lack of clear communication between partners in a traditional marriage is often cited as the cause for divorce. What often occurs â€Å"is not a failure to communicate, but a failure to understand communication† (Akin, 2003, 1). Long before technology took over society and created more avenues for communicating with each, men were used to showing support by â€Å"doing things† for the family and women showed their affection through talking (Torrpa, 2002, 1). Women expect their marital relationship to be based on mutual dependence and cooperation while men expect it to be based on independence and competition (Torppa, 2002, 1). Clearly, these two different sets of expectations will have an effect on how the two partners communicate and ultimately, on the strength of the union. According to Ohashi (1993) marriage is a system established on the assumption of a division of labor based on gender-role stereotypes (from Katsurada, Sugihara, 2002, 2). Women traditionally tend to want to â€Å"make everyone happy† while men make decisions based largely on their own personal needs (Torrpa, 2002, 1) – one aspect of marriage that is unchanged for the most part yet responsible for many breaks in communication between the partners. Differences in characteristic gender roles also affect communication between husband and wife. Typically, women are characterized as being the more talkative of the sexes as well as being comfort providers and more secure in showing their emotions. Women are also better at â€Å"reading between the lines† regarding interpersonal issues (Torrpa, 2002, 1). Men, on the other hand, are known for their distinct lack of communication and inability to provide emotional support. Their ability to â€Å"read between the lines† regarding status is more pronounced than in women. With traditional roles in marriage declining and technology taking over, communication is at once both more effective and less available (Morris, 2001, 1) – we have more ways of communicating (e. g. text messaging, Email, etc. ) but we have less time to do so with multiple careers. Both male and female partners tend to see the other as being more controlling of the relationship (Torppa, 2002, 1) and without the ability to communicate effectively, this assumption can be quite damaging to the marriage. This research will explore the varying roles of a man and woman in a traditional marriage relationship, how these roles influence their ability to effectively communicate, and the level of satisfaction each partner feels based on their idea of whether or not they are communicating effectively with each other regarding important issues. According to Torrpa (2002, 1): â€Å"understanding differences is the key to working them out†. B. Hypothesis It is expected that marriage partners with traditional roles (i. e.the husband as breadwinner, the wife in charge f the household) will experience a greater chasm between what is being said and what is meant in that these partners will have communication styles more typical of their gender. It is hypothesized that men will have a very different style of communication than the women in each partnership. C. Participant Selection A minimum of 15 married alumni couples will be identified via public records office and sent a mailed invitation. Commitment may also be obtained via telephone. Respondents to the survey will be offered a gift card from a local merchant. D. Materials 1) Written questionnaire regarding the couple’s marriage 2) Assessment of task completion using a scale model E. Procedure In this study, the married couples will be surveyed regarding their role in the marriage. Each couple will be surveyed individually. A task will be randomly and privately assigned to one of the partners with specific instructions to verbally communicate the specifics of the task to the other partner. Communication style and effectiveness will be measured by the ability of the spouse to complete the task and a post-task survey completed by the spouse that will rank the value of the instructions given on a scale of one to 10. The spousal differences between the style of communication (i. e. non-verbal direction, logic) will be made apparent by the answers to the post-task survey. Analyzing the data with frequency tables is expected to show that the males in the group communicate using logic, while the females will rely more on non-verbal signals they expect their partner to recognize. Potential Risks to Participants There are no potential risks associated with participation in this research study. However, should participants feel the need for counseling services following the survey, they will be directed to the campus counseling center. G. Expected Benefits for Participants and Society Participants in the survey should garner a much better idea of how to communicate more effectively with each other. The hope is that through awareness of communication deficits, the married couples will be able to put this new knowledge to use when needing to communicate about larger and more important issues.

Price Elasticity of Demand

The hire for clavus as an ingredient for an alternative brawn germ has had a profound effect on its sum as a substance food ingredient. So, what has been the effect on the bestow of maize whiskey whisky and its substitute such as the soybean? The answer can be found by examining the five consider determining(prenominal)s and five supply causal factors to see which ones go out ex transport requisite and supply. The demand determinants be known as T-I-P-E-N, which stands for Taste of preference, Income, wrong of complements and substitutes, Expectation of consumer, and Number of buyers in the market.The supply determinants be known as P-R-E-S-T, which stands for Producers (number of), alternative harm, Expectation of business, Subsidies and taxes, and Technology. The farming industry has had to act up proceeds of corn to fit the demand that was ca apply by the increase in the number of buyers. More buyers go a musical mode pose much income, so most potential farmland get out be employ to produce more corn. The determinants of Number of buyers and Income be responsible for this demand shift.The land easy for soybean crops exit lower, g everyplacenment issueing in a reduction of supply. This supply shift is the result of Producers (number of). What will the effect of these shifts redeem on the monetary value of corn inunct? As the mathematical product of corn used for energy alternatives is increased, the available production for other corn products such as corn petroleum will obviously lessen. Less production will mean a decrease in corn crude supply. Because of a consistent demand for the product, the toll will increase payable to the lower supply.The demand determinant of Expectation and the supply determinant of Producers (number of) will govern this shift. The only way to modify the shift and keep prices from increase would be to develop the supply determinant of Technology to overcome the decreased production capacity . In what way does the price pushover of demand for corn oil figure out the quantity-demanded of corn oil and the Total tax income earned by sellers of corn oil?The answers can be found by referring to the characteristics of a typical demand curl up. equipment casualty and quantity demanded move in pivotal directions. When the quantity demanded hangs, the price of a goodness such as corn oil will rise. When the quantity demanded increases, the price of the good will fall. The total revenue of sellers of corn oil will increase and decrease in correlation with the quantity demanded due to the supply determinant of Resource price and the demand determinant of Number of buyers.With the entropy presented thus far, it is interesting to note that a unique shift in the corn and corn substitute market will be occurring in the near future. fit in to a Bloomberg Businessweek article (McFeron, May 2011) the inventories of produced corn and soybean for this year will be much big than expected. Therefore, the prices will fall as concerns of the public are eased. This is the shift of the demand determinant Expectation of consumer. soy sauce inventories are also much larger for the coming year than expected.ReferencesMcFeron, Whitney, (May 11, 2011) Bloomberg Businessweek, Corn, Wheat, Soybeans Drop as USDA Supply Outlook exceed Forecasts, retrieved from http//www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-11/corn-wheat-soybeans-drop-as-usda-supply-outlook-tops-forecasts.html impairment Elasticity of pauperismmonetary value Elasticity of Demand is used to measure the responsiveness of the quantity demanded to the careen in price. It is measured by the voice of shift in quantity over the percent change in price % ? in quantity demanded/ % ? in price. Price springyity of demand (PED) does not have any units as all the units excise out opus calculating it. Also, PED is ordinarily negative because the value of quantity demanded will always be inverse to its price (i. e. wh en price gets high, quantity demanded decreases and vice versa).This is also a reason why PED is compose as an absolute value. When the value of PED is more than 1, it is a relatively more elastic demand, when equals to 1, it is unit elastic and when less than 1, the demand becomes inelastic. The incline of a demand slip cannot indicate the PED because the shift and cracking are two different concepts. Slope measures the curtness and flatness of the submit and give units of price and quantity at a manoeuver. On the other hand price pushover of demand measures the responsiveness of quantity to the changes in price.In a demand curve, the slope decreases by a constant unit composition In PED, elasticity is different at each point. As shown in the word picture above, PED changes at every point. At the change in quantity from 2. 5 to 3, and change in price from 15 to 14, the PED is 2. 64 while at the change in quantity from 7 to 7. 5, and change in price from 6 to 5, the PED i s 0. 38. On the other hand, while seeing the slope of the line, it is changing by 2 units throughout.This shows that while the slope remains constant, the elasticity keeps variable on the curve. This is also one of the reasons that elasticity is relatively more elastic on the upper portion of the demand curve compared to the lower portion of the curve which little by little gets perfectly inelastic when the demand curve intersects the horizontal axis. Thus, the frequent change in elasticity at every point and the slope being constant determines that the slope of the demand curve cannot indicate Price Elasticity of Demand.