Kant and Singer: The Moral Status of Animals

Emmanuel Kant and Peter Singer expressed essentially opposing views on the moral status of animals.   Because animals are non-rational creatures, Kant did not believe that they had any moral status.   However, he did feel that human beings had a moral obligation to avoid cruelty to animals because being cruel was in opposition to the duty that mankind had to strengthen compassion in itself (MacKinnon, date, p. ).   The duty to prevent cruelty to animals, then, is one that humanity owes to itself, not to the animal kingdom. Peter Singer, however, believes that animals themselves are moral agents.   Unlike Kant, Singer believes that â€Å"animal interests are the basis for their having rights and rights that are equal to humans† (MacKinnon, date, pp. 363-364).   MacKinnon goes on to explain that Singer bases his position on the theoretical foundation that animals’ experiences of pleasure fulfill one or more of their interests.   Since animals appear to have interests similar to those of human beings, Singer believes that their interest should have equal weight to those of humans (p. 364). Singer appears to write in opposition to the statement that treatment of two groups can differ and still be morally equivalent.   His position indicates that by not recognizing animals’ equal right to those of human beings, that humans are guilty of â€Å"speciesism,† a type of racism.   For this reason, animals have a right to freedom from suffering.   However, Singer also believes that it does not matter if an animal is not extended a right to vote, because an animal has no interest in voting (MacKinnon, date, pp. 363-364). It would make sense to extend some rights, like that to be free from suffering, to animals.   Other sensible rights that could be extended would be the right to sufficient food, water, and shelter.   Other rights, such as the right to choose, the right to sexual freedom, and the right to medical care are arguable at best.   It is never possible to know an animal’s motivation for making a choice and sexual activity in animals is intended solely for survival of the species and not for pleasure.   Extending these rights might change the way society treats animals; however, these acts are already expected from those individuals who harbor animals. Although I would change the way that society treats animals, I do not feel that extending them rights is the answer.   Instead, I feel that it is necessary to increase the penalties connected with animal cruelty violations, making certain degrees of cruelty felonies, rather than mere misdemeanors.   Increasing or creating animal rights would only be possible by infringing on certain human rights.   Unlike animals, we would be aware of this infringement and would be harmed by the change in our status. Reference MacKinnon, B. (date). Ethics

Multinational enterprises and their CSR initiatives in Nigerian oil sector

Abstract Nigeria is a country which is endowed with considerable energy reserves. The oil and gas reserves found are some of the largest in the entire world. Multinational companies have been involved in the exploration and transportation of crude oil and gas in the country. The Niger delta region is the main area where the country’s rich energy reserves are found. The conduct of multinational enterprises in the region has been criticized because of allegations that corruption, bribery, environmental mismanagement, environmental contamination, and human rights abuses are being perpetrated towards indigenous communities. As a consequence, multinational enterprises have engaged in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in order to create a better image while serving the needs of local communities. Introduction Nigeria is one of the leading producers of oil and gas in the world. It has oil reserves that are estimated to be around 35 billion barrels while it has 5 trillion cubic meters of gas reserves (Amaeshi et al, 2006: p. 67). Nigeria is a country that has more than 250 ethnic groups with over 500 languages being spoken in the country. Despite its huge energy reserves, the country remains poor with over two thirds of the people living in abject poverty. A total of six multinational organizations are operating in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. These companies are the Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Agip, Total, and Texaco. The Niger Delta region is the main area where the oil exploration and production is being carried out by foreign enterprises (Beauchamp, 2003: p. 92). These foreign enterprises have been criticized for failing to take adequate measures that can alleviate the poverty and suffering of indigenous communities. There have been accusations of corruption, mismanage ment, environmental degradation, oil spills, contaminated water, and other problems in the region. As a consequence, there have been attempts by multinational enterprises to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the region. However, the existing literature does not comment upon the different CSR practices of MNCs in Nigeria with respect to the local stakeholders and communities. This study will seek to investigate and assess the efficacy of the ethical practices by the multinational enterprises as they related to the empowerment and betterment of indigenous communities. Research Question The following research questions will be answered in this dissertation: What are the CSR strategies of multinational enterprises in Nigeria What are the practical implications of CSR as it relates to improving the standards of living for local communities Is CSR a genuine attempt to empower communities or is it a marketing strategy by multinationals Research Objectives To study the similarities and differences of the CSR initiatives implemented by multinational enterprises in Nigeria To determine the efficacy of CSR initiatives with respect to community empowerment and development To study whether multinational enterprises in the Nigerian oil sector are genuinely concerned about empowering communities or such initiatives are simply marketing tools to improver the image of multinational enterprises Literature Review Corporate social responsibility is a term used to denote the actions and policies implemented by business organizations that are in accordance with ethical and legal principles. The goal of organizations is to implement self-regulation and align it with the overall business model. The goal is to ensure that organizations can integrate ethics into their business model (Carroll, 2006: p. 76). A series of high profile business scandals in the past decades has meant that governments are now seeking to regulate the business environment through legislation that promotes transparency and accountability. Additionally, the customer segments are highly conscious about the business activities of enterprises because the latter must be able to demonstrate ethical behaviors in accordance with their actions. Alternatively, organizations are seeking to reduce the costs of complying with legislation by implementing CSR initiatives so that they can achieve efficiency and effectiveness. A number of theoretical approaches towards CSR have been developed in order to help organizations take responsibility for their actions while encouraging positive impact upon the environment, consumers, employees, and other key stakeholders. Corporate philanthropy is a CSR theoretical model which calls for providing monetary donations and aid to different communities. Such donations can come in specific areas like social welfare, environment, housing, health, and others (Carroll, 2006: p. 71). The limitations of such a model are that it does not address the root causes of poverty and other problems in local communities. Another theory is that CSR should be combined with the overall business strategy. This theory seeks to help local communities by recruiting locals and training them so that they can upgrade their skills. Enterprises create support for local industries through mutually beneficial relationships. Another theory focuses on creating shared value because it believes that social welfare is directly linked with business success. It recommends organizations to focus on sustainable development as well as a skilled workforce so that efficiency can be attained (Carroll, 2006: p. 79). There is still a gap in the existing literature as to whether CSR can really bring positive benefits to local communities and other key stakeholders. The Nigerian oil sector has been dominated by multinationals which have been accused of environmental degradation, corruption, human rights violations, and other abuses. As a consequence, they have sought to improve this by focusing on corporate social responsibility initiatives. Some studies argue that CSR is a process which involves organizations taking responsibility for their actions and ensuring that they can create a positive impact through their activities on th e environment (Blunt & Richard, 2006: p. 169). Other studies have disputed this as they argue that organizations operate on the principle of profit maximization. Research Methodology Qualitative research has been selected for this dissertation because it helps to investigate the reasons behind any particular phenomenon. This is suitable for this dissertation because the aim is to study corporate social responsibility and its efficacy in Nigeria. Quantitative research has not been selected because there is no need for statistics and figures in this dissertation. The data will be collected from primary and secondary sources. Primary data will be collected through a survey that will be sent to top managers of multinational companies working in the Nigerian energy sector. The secondary data will be collected through studies that focus on CSR and its efficacy. References Amaeshi, K, Adi, B, Ogbechie, C & Amao, O. (2006) †Corporate Social Responsibility in Nigeria: Western Mimicry or Indigenous Influences?†. No. 39-2006, ICCSR Research Paper Series – ISSN 1479 – 5124, The University of Nottingham. Beauchamp, T. (2003) â€Å"Case studies in Business, Society and Ethics†. 5th ed†. Pearson, Prentice Hall. Blunt, P, Jones, M & Richard , D. (2006) â€Å"Managing organizations in Africa†. Walter de Gruyter, pp.169-171. Carroll, A. (2006) â€Å"The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility: Toward the Moral Management of Organizational Stakeholders†. Business Horizons, July-August 1991.

International trade and transportation law Essay

International trade and transportation law - Essay Example   Generally, the bills of lading used on international shipments include ocean bills of lading for cargo transported by ocean and air waybills for cargo transported by air. Some bills of lading are negotiable where as some are not. The difficulties of non negotiable bill of lading was explained by Chana (1999). He also discussed about the comparison of bills of lading in China, Hongkong and United States of America (Chanb, 1998). The status of bills of lading in China was also explained by Chen (1999). The letter of guarantee provided by the bank or any financial institution will be vital in some cases of bills of lading. For example in case of an Australian context i.e. Pacific Carriers Ltd. v. Banque Nationale de Paris, the bank who had given the letter of guarantee was held responsible for loss of goods (Derrington and White, 2002). Even though letters of indemnity are a common practice, in some of the ceses, they were criticized by the courts for violation of the facts (United Baltic Corp. v. Dundee Perth & London Shipping Co., 1928). By performing all the above mentioned functions, bill of lading contributes significantly to International trade of goods. With the bill of lading showing that a contract of carriage exists and that the goods have been received by the carrier, a buyer and his bank are assured that the delivery of goods according to the contract of sale is under progress. Similarly an exporter, holding a bill of lading as title to the goods, may, by choosing when to pass the bill to the buyer, decides when the latter takes delivery of the goods. Thus the bill of lading becomes an essential element in controlling payment procedures in international trade. Most important thing is that the extent of protection provided by bill of lading is quite enormous (Jan Ramberg, 1979). The standard format for documentary credit transactions in international trade is ‘The Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits’, or UCP 500 which will ensure

Project Management and Research Methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Project Management and Research Methods - Essay Example The report in Part A would explain the marketing plan introduced by the new official for Telkom Kenya, which would help the company reverse its sales within a span of 2 years. It also throws light on the various strategies that can further help the company park more clients in future. Finally, at the end of Part A the report briefs a project plan summarizing the marketing campaign for the company. Part B explains the effectiveness of the market research. It also throws light on the reasons for decline of Telkom Kenya’s business and frame policies with the help of which the firm may expand in future. At the end before concluding with the recommendations, the report emphasises the various facets of the mobile phone industry. Contents Introduction 4 Part A: Marketing Campaign 5 One year Marketing plan of Telkom Kenya 5 Plan for the Marketing Campaign 5 SMART Objectives 6 Segmentation and Targeting 7 Marketing Strategies 8 Positioning 10 Further Improvements 11 12 Project Plan 14 Part 2: Market Research 15 Reasons for Decline of Telkom Kenya’s Business 15 Market Research Effectiveness 17 Alternative strategies for Future 19 Technological Solutions 19 Product Offerings 21 Mobile Phone Industry 23 Conclusions and Recommendations 23 Reference List 25 Bibliography 26 Introduction The report tries to throw light on the communication sector of Kenya, the largest economy in the African continent. The postal services in Kenya from 1948 to 1977 were provided by the organization of East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation. However, the country launched its own monopolistic communication firm KPTC when the East African Posts and Telecommunications Corporation’s business was ceased. In 1990 the policies of the Kenyan government changed according to the new reforms made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). One of such reforms required the separation of postal and telecommunication services in Kenya. KPTC was supposed to win over an IMF loa n opportunity if its business was privatized. However, IMF did not sanction the loan to KPTC because of the rising amount of corruption in the operations of the Kenyan government. Finally the board of directors were terminated from KPTC by the government in 1999, before IMF officials came over in the country. It was at this juncture that the monopoly privatized company of KPTC in Kenya broken up into three companies. Among these three organizations, Telkom Kenya was the company involving in providing telecommunication services. Postal services were delivered by Postal Corporation of Kenya and Communications Commission in Kenya was a separate nationwide authoritarian body created in the company. The report will primarily discuss about the business issues of Telkom Kenya. This company primarily engaged in providing landline phone services in Kenya. The various internet providers in Kenya operate on the infrastructure created and maintained by the company of Telkom Kenya. The company h as invested a sum of $1.5 billion in Kenya recently to expand the infrastructural facilities for mobile telecommunication in Kenya. However, it has become a matter of concern that the market shares of the company is falling over time. The company has accounted a 42.5% fall in its income, till the mid quarter of 2013 from the last year. It was also accounted by the analysts that the companies share in the market of

The Financial Management of Health Facility Research Paper

The Financial Management of Health Facility - Research Paper Example First, the key factors to consider when making pricing and service decision are considered to include the cost of production, profit mark-up and external factors including prices of competitors. Once the right prices and services are rendered, the facility is sure to have a very firm basis for financial performance. Again, there is consideration on the actual financial planning process, where it is said that there are as many as six components in the financial planning process. Each of these components relates to the other to ensure that a firm financial basis is built for the facility. Finally, focus is given to various investment policies that the health facility can involve its self so as to ensure that it keeps an appropriate time value series and is able to overcome all major financial risks. Introduction It is common knowledge that the major business associated with health facilities such as the selected facility is the provision of quality healthcare to patients. However, the researcher is of the opinion that in order for this core objective of the health facility to be achieved, there are some key structures that need to be put in place in order t ensure that this key objective is achieved. One of the key structures is the financial structuring of the facility. As a private health facility that receives no financial assistance from central government, it is expected that there are a number of measures that will be put in place to ensure that the financial requirements needed to successfully run the facility are met. To this end, this research paper is dedicated to looking at some of the key financial structures that need to be instituted for the progressive running of the company. The first of these shall be on the factors to consider in making pricing and service decisions so that the prices issued by the facility will not in any way be a disadvantage towards the competitive advantage it wants to build. The specific financial planning processes that ne ed to be followed by the facility and future investments that will bring the most forms of financial returns shall also be outlined in the paper. Factors to consider in making pricing and service decisions Literature identifies two major factors that need to be taken into account when making any pricing and service planning as in the case of the selected organization, which is a healthy facility. These factors are internal and external price and service determination factors (Tomecek, 2003). Generally, the internal factors are those factors that need to be considered in relation to the expenses that are incurred as part of the in-house planning and services that are rendered to patients. In the case of the identified health facility where the researcher has worked with for some time now, the very first internal factor that needs to be considered is the issue of cost of production. As a matter of fact, the health facility incurs so much cost in its bid to live up to its mission and v ision statement of giving first class health service to patients at first hand supply. Some of the cost of production inculcates into the salaries and remuneration of staff, the outsourcing of drugs and medicine, the payment of bills and rents, the cost of infrastructure, cost of research works that takes place within the facility, cost of machinery and equipment, and the cost of transportation and accommodation.

Analysis of Film Criticism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Analysis of Film Criticism - Essay Example 15-30). They fall in love with each other at their young age. Fermina’s father tries to tear them apart because of status differences, Fermina is persistent to love Florentino; however, when she turns into an adult, she realizes Florentino is of no good, love is not everything, and therefore, she marries a rich man Urbino. Florentino marries no women but to find solace he flirts with many women and loving none. He still has a hope in his heart that after the death of Urbino (Marquez, pp. 20-25), Fermina is destined to come back to him. The question is, if Florentino is being delusional or they will really re-unite (Marquez, pp. 29-34) Critic’s Reviews on the Movie Analysis of the review has indicated that Gabrielle kept the story alive and interesting by providing a sigh of hope time to time. He mentioned a deep insight of each character so that the readers may not lose the interest, and on the other hand, Mike Newell, the director of the movie has very well directed th e scenes in the movie. In addition, costumes, make-up, characters, etc in the review were according to the ones mentioned in the movie (IMDb, 2007).

To what extent do David Hockney and Chuck Close adopt traditional and Dissertation

To what extent do David Hockney and Chuck Close adopt traditional and digital processes in their Fine Arts practice - Dissertation Example Therefore, it is important to understand how a piece of work becomes a piece of art, and to what purpose that label provides to society. One of the first tools that provided this narrowing of the gap between the artist and the crafter is the camera. Photographic art is defined by parameters that society has set in order to assign value to one photograph over another. However, people from all walks of life and with a variety of intentions have cameras and take photographs, some sharing aspects of artistic quality of those taken by people whose work is considered art. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to create definitive separations between those who use the same types of equipment and create the same kinds of work. Two artists that can be used to discuss the development of digital art are Chuck Close and David Hockney. Chuck Close imitates the digital form, his paintings recreating the digital world through painstaking techniques that create startling realism. One of the finest ex amples of digital art that can be seen through the manipulation of photographic images is in the work of David Hockney. The narrative that is created through his form of collage he called ‘joiners’ creates a reflection of cubism, the individual pieces of the work creating a sense of communication. Defining Art The digital world is a place where the amateur has been given the opportunity to create work that is as expressive as the professional, artistic creations being made with the need for technical skills, at least in the way of tangible elements being put into the works, eliminated and replaced with user friendly tools. Most people have embraced the use of computer technologies, meaning that now almost anyone has the capacity to create art without having to brush paint, form clay, or construct true form. The virtual world is a malleable place which recreates the imagery of three dimension or allows for the manipulation of elements and forms. This means that not only the concept of a true artist is in contrast to a crafter has been permanently blurred, but it means that much of the physical needs of the artist can possibly be replaced with a medium that strips away the need for physical skill, replacing it with intellectually learned skills, the medium diminishing the need to know how to manipulate the real. A digital environment abstracts the fallibility of the human stroke against the canvas and replaces it with an opportunity for perfection. Creating art in a digital world can allow the artist to bypass some of the frustrations that can occur when the creation isn’t reflecting the vision so that the intent of the work can more easily and readily come through to the viewer. Digital art can also allow the artist to take what could not be rendered to perfect expression and refine it to reflect the intended vision. When the human mechanics can not create something that has the nuance that a digital work has, then the artist must consider t o the use of digital enhancement to create what is envisioned. The artist is given a broader number of tools in which to manipulate his expressions, those tools requiring a different type of technical knowledge that was not in previous history available. The artists skills are relevant in a different way, not through his or her expertise with simple tools, but with his or her ability to use common tools of the technical age. What will define the artist

Routine CT scanning protocols of head, chest and abdomen Essay

Routine CT scanning protocols of head, chest and abdomen - Essay Example As with the benefits of any new medical technology, CT also has its share of woes in terms of exposure of patients to high dose radiation. It is challenging to optimise and reduce the dose without compromising the image quality and resolution. This paper aims at bringing out optimization of the radiation dosage by modifying existing parameters based on latest discoveries and innovations. The most direct method of reducing the radiation dose reduction is that of decreasing the tube voltage and tube potential. However, the use of other techniques including Automatic Emission Control, Imaging Filters and Noise Reducing Filters also aid in reduction of radiation dosage without diminishing the image quality. The machines used for routine CT at KSMC are the General Electronics system, the Philips system and the Siemens Somatome Sensation 16 Slice. For this evaluation, I would focus on the Siemens system as my experience is confined to the same. The CT scanning protocols for head, chest and abdomen will be covered in this paper. CT can be performed with or without contrast and the procedure essentially depends on the physician performing the imaging procedure. Table 1 shows the numerous parameters and dimensions for the CT scan of the human skull using KSMC’s protocol. Skull imaginative view, reconnoitre vision of the brain SOM (supra orbito meatal) line are the baselines for this assessment. This protocol does not use IV contrast or oral contrast. The second protocol used is for mass lesion or tumour. The second protocol is similar to the first one but uses IV contrast that is set between 100cc to 120cc of Omnipaque 350. Patient preparation and training vary for protocols with and without contrast. In protocols using no contrast, patient training is not necessary, while procedures using contrast require that the four elementary steps be completed, the steps being; only one CT scan

The Current State of Economy in The Division of Labor Essay

The Current State of Economy in The Division of Labor - Essay Example There are three circumstances involved in this belief: increase the dexterity of every worker, time-saving mechanism, and utilization of machines that increase efficiency. Hence, a worker must have enough skill to perform his job and familiarize himself in operating a machine to produce maximum output. Smith cited the case of a pin maker who would likely produce only one pin a day without the two factors mentioned. However, if the concept of division of labor is applied, laborers could specialize in one task alone, which can result in greater productivity. Smith himself has witnessed workers who were inadequately skilled at making pins yet because of the specialized tasks assigned to them, ten workers can produce 48,000 pins in a day. In the end, Smith popularized this principle, which shows that lack of skill nor machines is not really obstacles to productivity. Ever since this has changed the landscape of manufacturing industries as early as the Industrial Revolution. This work by Adam Smith did have a lot of practical value because capitalists made a profit by applying the principle in their businesses.

Thermopylae Speech Essay Example for Free

Thermopylae Speech Essay The battle at Thermopylae was a long awaited battle, after both powers Athens and Persia submitted to a 10 year inter-war period from 490BC to 480BC, in order to carefully prepare a second invasion from the Persian’s, following the humiliating defeat of Darius at marathon. Xerxes actions were motivated by revenge and the urge to burn Athens to the ground, just like Sardis, however he knew it would not be easy. The Persians spent multiple years recruiting new infantry from all areas of its Empire, gathering a total of 500,000 new soldiers,archers, cavalry and inmortals for the second invasion. Not only this, but Xerxes determination to conquer the Greeks was so great he ordered his engineers to build a Poonton consisting of 314 ships crossing the Hellospont for him and his troops. The Greeks received information regarding the numbers and desires of the Persians from spies they sent to Sardis, Xerxes headquarters. Having experience gained from previous Persian campaigns, they knew that in order to battle against such super power , they had to form alliances to fight for one common goal, despite the fact they belonged to different races and were organized into city-states. In Autum of 481 B.C. , A Pan-Hellenic meeting was held in Corinth , having 31 cities attending the meeting besides a few that did not. Unanimously Sparta was given leadership of the army and the fleet under the command of King Leonidas, although the general defense plan was commanded by the Athenian Themistocles, who foresaw the battle will be determined on the seas, if only the pass between Central to Southern Greece was guarded. Fighting in the open land would be fatal as they lacked cavalry units and were highly outnumbered, 3 to 1. Thermopylae was the perfect site. The pass itself was narrow, situated between the sea and the steep cliffs. It had a length of about 9 km and narrows in three places: at the eastern and western ends there was room for only one carriage, while the middle section was 15 m wide. The Greeks would use this to their advantage, because it was so narrow, even with an army as big as the Persian’s had, only a small number could genuinely fight at any one time. This enables a minimal manpower to hold off enormous armies for long amounts of time, which is exactly how Spartan combat was fought. The Hellenic Army, reached Thermopylae at the beginning of August. In total, a force of about 7000 to 8000 men was assembled. The numbers were again given by Herodotus: 300 Spartans, 700 Tegeats, 550 Mantineians, 300 from Arcadian Orchomenos, 1,000 Arcadians in general, 600 Corinthians, 460 from Phlian, 150 Mycenaeans, 800 Thespians, 450 Thebans, the complete army from Opuntion Locrain and 1,000 Phocians. The Pass would prevent the enemy from developing his land forces while the small channel of the Evripou prevented the possibility of the Hellenic Fleet being encircled. In addition, a fortifications had been built by a 1000 Phocians to the east of the central pass of Thermopylae in Anopaia to defend the other entry. By defending the Pass the Greeks would be able to apply a withdrawal strategy and at the same time wear out the enemy and cause him serious casualties and lower his morale. They were very fit, agile, used to marching with heavy armory, they knew the land and their weapons were heavier and more effective. The hoplite phalanx that the Spartans formed was a compact, moving metallic wall of shields and lances. In comparison to Persian armory which was minimal, soldiers wore bright robes with chain armors underneath, carried a long shield called spara and spears much shorter than the Greeks or if they were archers a caved wooden bow. Inmortals were more equipped , having a bronze armor, helmet a bronze square shield for better grip and a axe. Thinking that the Greeks were impertinent and reckless, he sent Medes and Cissians with orders to take the Greeks prisoner and to bring them back alive. The resistance they encountered however was tough, and the same result was achieved by the â€Å"Immortals† who were sent into battle led by General Hydarnes. Their casualties were high and they were forced to withdraw during the night. In fact, as Herodotus characteristically reported, Xerxes jumped up three times from his throne as he watched the battle, fearing for his army. Like the first day, Persia’s second attack was again unsuccessful. Forcing the Empire to retreat with high losses. Xerxes was perplexed and while pondering what to do, a Greek named Ephialtes, son of Eyrydimos and Malida, presented himself and informed the King that the Lakedaimonian positions were accessible from the Anopaia path. That same night, Hydarnes and the â€Å"Immortals† proceeded along the path, guided by Ephialtes With the retreat of the Phoebians at the pass of Anopaia, Leonidas dismissed the remaining Greeks, to be left alone standing with his 300 spartans and a few thebians , encircled agains 10,000 inmortals. Defeat was quick thanks to Persian arrows. Herodotus was the only writer who recorded the events of the battle but this was done nearly a generation later, so reliability may be questioned. Numbers and dates are often regarded as incorrect due to the tendency of exaggeration from Herodotous. According to Herodotus, the main force was to arrive later, after the completion of the Carneia Festival in Sparta and the Olympic Games. However, the festivals did not prevent the Peloponnesian Fleet to sail, which is very contradictory . Apart from the exaggeration and reliability, both Herodotous and modern historian Tom Holland agree upon the importance of Thermopylae.The sacrifice of these men remains in history forever as the most characteristic expression of Spartan bravery, according to Tom. Leonidas managed to safeguard the honour and fame of Sparta, as well as the withdrawal of his allies, while at the same time delaying significantly the advancement of Xerxes and causing serious losses to his forces while raising the morale of the Greeks, who finally crushed the Persians during the naval battle at Salamina just a few weeks later. If it wasn’t for Leonidas army and all the other city states that fought alongside, there was a major possibility that Greece would have been lost to Persia, and most of its future influence in the world such as art, philosophy , language, architecture and maths would have been erased. Therefore Leonidas time delay against the Empire was crucial for Athens to prepare for the naval battle at Salamis.

Introduction to vodafone organization

Introduction to vodafone organization Answer 1: Introduction: Our chosen organization is Vodafone. Vodafone is in existence from 1984. At that time it was formed as a subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc. In 1991 it completely demerged from its parent company i.e. Racal Electronics Plc then it got its present name as Vodafone Group Plc. At present Vodafone is the worlds leading telecommunication organization, with a mark able presence in countries around the world, whether it is Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific or United States. Lonely it has 323 million customers (www.vodafone.com) all around the world. Why Vodafone: I Choose Vodafone because its large geographic area of operation provide diversity to its operation process, activities in the organization, culture at organization and on as a whole completely different entities existing all together. It gives a good blend of maintaining Brand Image and organizational values along with the localization of the products services. This gives us chance to have a look upon different kinds of cultural leadership traits in the same organization. This kind of organizations gives us a perfect example of unity in diversity. Now coming upon different kinds of traits found in the organization, we have many traits being followed in Vodafone such as Autocratic, Bureaucratic, Democratic, Charismatic, Transformational and many more. These all have their importance in their desired positions and timings. But among these there are four majorly popular leadership styles which are more prominent in Vodafone Group Plc. These leadership styles are given ahead. Transformational Leadership: This is a kind of leadership in which the leaders are highly and spend very much time in communication with their team members. The Transformational leaders always lead from the front just delegate the roles and responsibilities among team members. A Transformational leader is a leader in true sense as he/she inspires the other team members with his leadership skills, vision and enthusiasm. In Vodafone all the executive and top management staff personnel are example of this style of leadership. They inspire their sub-ordinate staff to perform better and better. Democratic Leadership/Participative Leadership: This type of leadership is style is usually found in Vodafone particularly at sub-ordinate staff level. At that level there are many decisions which affect the larger number of peoples. In these kinds of situations this type of democratic leadership style becomes must for the betterment of the organization. Task Oriented: This kind of leadership helps the Vodafone in usually marketing department where the managers are more concerned with the sales and targets achieved. This leadership style has helped Vodafone to acquire a customer base of 323 million users as taking the user-base of the subsidiaries in the proportions of their stake. Situational Leadership: Although all other type of leadership styles have been and are being proved beneficial for the organization, but these all styles have something or other lacking. So, the best leadership style applied is the Situational Leadership as it takes benefits and traits of all other leadership styles as according to the situation. This style removes all lacking from leadership style. The only cause of concern in this leadership style is this that all the decision of traits altering would be dependent on leaders discretion. So here the actual leadership skill takes most from any manager or an executive.(University of Wales, library) Answer 2: Situational variables have influenced Leadership in every era in every part in every season to every possible extent. Now this is different thing that in some situations the impact seen is lower and in some situations it is more. In Vodafone also the situational variables have impacted the organization very much. So the different variables such as increasing environmental issues, growing powers of the different economies, Political relations, the inflation and deflation in different countries, GDP growth in countries, their exposure to external risks, culture of the different operating regions, current financial meltdown have also impacted the Growth of Vodafone Growth Plc. A brief description of these is given below. Growing Environmental Concerns All around the world the people are raising concerns over the environmental issues, whether be increasing global warming, depleting ozone layer, decreasing agricultural land or animals becoming instinct. Increasing wireless communication is concerned as a big cause of disturbing the natural life cycle. So, this has posed as a threat to the Vodafone as well being a mobile operator service provider. So, in these kinds of situations usually the bureaucratic leaders are preferred so that they may tackle the problem and may get a consensus on the issue. Only this would help in uninterrupted working of the organization and to maintain growth. Thus this situational variable has emphasized the presence of a bureaucratic leader in the organization. This may result in other leaders adapting the bureaucratic traits or recruiting new bureaucratic leaders. Growing powers of different countries. Now a day we all know that the developing economies are becoming stronger and stronger day by day. More and more powers are concentrating around them. So to grow with the time Vodafone also has to get presence in these countries. This is because these countries have great opportunities of growth and are providing resources to develop. So at this stage more and more transformational leaders are required, who must be adaptable to the conditions of the organization in new operating division. Only these transformational leaders can inspire the local talent to perform and to make them prosperous by making organizations growth faster. So this situation favors the Transformational Leaders. Political Relations In present scenario almost every country has hard feelings (if not exactly hard then at least non-supporting) feelings towards at least one other countries at the political level. We can take the example of any Islamic country. In present situation almost every Islamic country has non-supporting attitude towards the United States and its citizens. So Vodafone cannot take risk to send any of its staff people to move from US to any Islamic country. This situation favors the autocratic leaders as they can have work from the employees even at the cost of their desires. Current Financial Crises Current financial crisis has caused many job lost and losses of many billions to the organization. This has decreased the morale of the employees of the organization concerning about job security and financial soundness. This very position favors the transformational and charismatic leadership who may again raise the morale of the employees and fill motivation among them. So at different times different situational factors affect and favor the different leadership styles. But real leader are those who survive in every condition and sustain their organization throughout.|(Miintel),(Datamonitor,London) Answer 3: Like other multinationals Vodafone also faces problem in posing a single brand and culture along with accepting the locality in their products and services. To have a right way of communication they have to have a right culture in every subsidiary and operating sub-units. Every division must have traits like being a local company so that it may get confidence of the customers and would be able to grow further. Vodafone has also accepted the culture according to their operational base and according to the geographic area in which they are working. Although they have changed their HR activities in different countries, yet they have reserved their self challenging, inspiring, passionate traits within them. Few points from their success stories which came from their culture (either directly or indirectly) can be given as Promoting Leadership: Vodafone has always promoted in built leadership in their employees. It is due to their Natural talent that they are so passionate that they take their job as joy and perform really better than they usually had performed. Because of born talent they not only perform to their best rather they also inspire others to perform up to their maximum. They motivate them to such an extent that they make their unit performance felt apart from other divisions. Originating Passion: Vodafone has a history of inculcating passion in their employees. The culture prevailing in the organization makes the employees so passionate about their work that they not only work but they perform in and for the organization. It is a similar trait found in every business unit of the Vodafone Group Plc. Producing Energy: Vodafone Group Plc has always supported an energetic culture. In this kind of culture every employee himself/herself performs his/her job more sincerely and efficiently. In the work culture given by the Vodafone employees bound to give results and make it more successful day by day. Creative: Vodafone Group Plc has always been known for its innovation in the industry. It has been most innovative organization throughout the world. This is only the culture of the organization which supports the creative thinking of the employees and not only support but also appreciates their ideas as well. This innovation based culture has helped to a great extent to Vodafone Group to increase its customer base become number one in world in telecommunication service industry.(The times) Knowledge Based: Vodafone has always supported and appreciated the knowledge in the employees. The top management of the organization is the proof of the knowledge assessment and support. The culture in Vodafone values the knowledge of a person in spite of their family background, their color, their gender, their religion or the region they belong to. They recruit they best suited people for the job and make no discretion in the compensation paid to them.(organizational Behavior) Overall the culture at the Vodafone takes best out of the employees and in return also makes them happy. Vodafone group believes in the basic human tendency that if you will care the people, they will return the same, i.e. because Vodafone takes care of their employees, employees in turn give their best make Vodafone to perform even better than the every time. Answer 4: At present the Vodafone Group Plc is the leading mobile operator in the world. It has been able to develop emerging leaders to successful businessmen. There are many stories which give validity to the same fact. On the other hand it has also one of the best employers in the world due to its culture and opportunities provided by them. The culture provided by the Vodafone Group Plc has been able to maintain its talent pool throughout the world. Although having many such successful stories in the Vodafone Group Plc, still it has many aspects which are still to be concerned in Vodafone Group. Some of these may be listed as follows. In Leadership: Promoting the new dimensions in leadership. Vodafone has always followed the existing leadership styles. New leadership styles may give more valuable outcomes than the traditional ones. New situational style of leadership has proved more effective as compared to others. Probably too much emphasis on Leadership. It is true that leadership development has proved fruitful for Vodafone Group Plc. But sometime, when the person does not possess leadership qualities, then wealth and time wasted in inculcating leadership qualities among in him/her may cause loss to the organization as a whole. May produce jealousy among employees The employees who dont possess leadership qualities may feel jealousy towards the employees who possess. It is because the persons with leadership skills would be promoted earlier and would also be benefitted more than them. In Culture: Easy acceptability The employees in the Vodafone Group are adaptable, but to a certain extent. This extent may depend upon their back ground, physical conditions around them, their culture, their religion etc. So, to make them easily adaptable to any kind of environment is a really difficult task to achieve. Discrimination Although Vodafone Group Plc has won many awards for its good culture in organization, yet there are some issues like discrimination, which are still there in the organization. These pose problems to the employees at many times. These issues are still to be tackled carefully because it is not only harming the organizational culture, but also encouraging the similar activities in the society as a whole (.www.12manage.com) So, Although Vodafone has emerged as global leader in mobile services operators developing great leaders and enriching the society by providing great place to work, yet there are some areas to look upon, which are deteriorating the organizations performance as well as the Brand Equity among its stakeholders. References: Foti, R.J., Hauenstein, N.M.A. (2007). Pattern and variable approaches in leadership emergence and effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 347-355. Zaccaro, S. J., Gulick, L.M.V. Khare, V.P. (2008). Personality and leadership. In C. J. Hoyt, G. R. Goethals D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Leadership at the crossroads (Vol 1) (pp. 13-29). Westport, CT: Praeger. Kenny, D.A. Zaccaro, S.J. (1983). An estimate of variance due to traits in leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 68, 678-685 Julian Steward 1955 Theory of Culture Change: The Methodology of Multilinear Evolution University of Illinois Press Hasell, Nick (1999-06-30). â€Å"Scramble for Vodafone as blue chips retreat†. The Times (Times Newspapers). Reguly, Eric (1996-11-20). â€Å"Vodafone pockets Peoples Phone†. The Times (Times Newspapers).

the enforcement of EU law :: essays research papers

To answer this question I will firstly explain how EU law became incorporated within the member states I will then explain the various types of EU legislation's in circulation. This is important to define as the various types of methods will involve different enforcement procedures. Finally I will explain how EU law is enforced and the ways EU law will effect the member state and individual businesses. I will summarise my findings at the end of the essay, this will give details of all the key ideas I have ut across. The Schuman proposal began various European countries setting up the European Coal and Steal Community (ECSC), this was signed in 1951 by six countries. The countries that initially set up the ECSC were France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The idea behind the ECSC was the first serious institutional committee in Europe and was the start of integration, the aim was to provide a common market of coal and steel trade. This meant that each of the states would be able to have access to the various qualities of coal and steel that the members had with no tariff of importing and exporting to the various countries. This let the countries concentrate on their more efficient areas leading to specialisation. The ECSC began the beginning of supranational power because the "High Authority could adopt binding decisions" (1) as elements of decision making were carried out by ECSC committees. A supranational power is where the member state has to abide by the de cisions made of the community, as they have power above the national level. When the EC makes a law it is up to the individual state to implement the legislation. An example of EU law which has been passed which has been adopted in the UK is that of the directive 75/117 which states that men and women should receive equal pay. The UK government adopted this directive with the 1975 Sex discrimination Act. There are a number of methods EU legislation is formed for instance regulations, directives and decisions are three different types of EU legislation. I am going to briefly explain these three as the way they will be enforced are different. Regulations have general application that means that all the member states have to adopt the regulation; the member state is expected to adopt the whole regulation. Regulations are directly applicable which means that the "individuals have rights that they can enforce in their own name through national courts"(2).

Essay example --

Value-Belief-Norm Theory The aim of this research paper will be to depict the difference between criminals who engage in money laundering and tax evasion. In this regard, the theory of Value-Belief-Norm can be taken into concern. According to this theory, actions of an individual are directly influenced by his/her moral and personal values that impose considerable impact upon the behavioral attitudes (Boersema & Reijnders, 2008). Hence, these psychological aspects further forms as a difference between a normal individual and a criminal. Money Laundering Money can often be duly considered as one of the prime reasons for which most of the criminal activities happen in this world. In this regard, one of the commonly identified crimes associated with money is the aspect of money laundering. Money-laundering is regarded as the process through which criminals of all sorts cover the origin of their wealth in order to avoid suspicions from various law-enforcement agencies. This is also performed by the people with the intention of hiding evidences that could lead to their trail in front of the law. Money laundering can be executed through several ways that include structuring and round tripping among the primary ones. In the method of structuring, money is broken into several small deposits that reduce the chances of any suspicion from various law enforcement agencies. In relation to the method of round tripping, money distorts the market, further lessening the chances for law enforcers to detect the money (UNODC, 2013; [1] Legal Informatio n Institute, n.d.). In terms of law, money laundering is considered as a crime and penalty is thus imposed on people involved in laundering money. E.g. 18 USC Â § 1956 of law dep... ...inals Who Engage In Money Laundering and Tax Evasion From the above discussion, several differences can be depicted between criminals engaged in money laundering and tax evasion. In this context, criminals involved in money laundering are influenced to conduct the crime in order to hide the destination or the source of their income. On the other hand, a criminal involved in tax evasion mainly tends to hide real financial status in the form of paying less tax to the concerned authorities. One more dissimilarity between the two can be apparently observed as the legal actions that are imposed over these criminals. Criminals of money laundering are expected to get stern penalty as compared to that of tax evasion. Additionally, moral values, according to Value-Belief-Norm theory also differ in nature between the criminals engaged in money laundering and tax evasion.

The Role of Unfulfilled Expectations in E. A. Robinsons Richard Cory E

The Role of Unfulfilled Expectations in E. A. Robinson's Richard Cory In E. A. Robinson's "Richard Cory", Cory commits suicide because he could not live up to everyone's expectations of him. In the very first stanza of the poem Cory is described by the author: "He was a gentleman from sole to crown, Clean favored, and imperially slim" (Robinson l. 3 & 4), suggesting and comparing him to royalty. Surely, living up to such a hierarchy is the most taxing task one can be appointed. The poem makes reference to his material possessions, suggesting this is one of the key qualities people admire him for. Cory possibly facing bankruptcy feels he will be nothing and thought of as nothing once these gifts are gone. Such high expectations and admiration of Cory have backed him into a corner where he feels the only escape is a suicidal death. It has been believed by many that royalty is directly appointed by God, such a position carries an immense amount of expectations. At times, these expectations are not even ascertainable due to the fact that royalty is looked at as flawless and all-knowing individuals. For a single human to cope with this is assuming a great amount of strength is possessed by the man. As stated by Robinson: "In fine we thought he was everything" (l. 11), expresses how immeasurably high the expectations were for Cory. To be held to such a high standard is difficult for any average human to manage and cope with. Fear of making the slightest mistake as the man is being watched under a microscope causes a permanent stress within one's soul. Living life knowing others are admirable of your status and position makes every day decisions just as crucial as a King's decisiveness. As an average member of societ... ...ost literal and logical sense, a self-inflicted death is a more supported idea, especially when Robinson writes: "Went home and put a bullet through his head" (l. 16). I talked of the death being made to look like an accident, but that is purely an outside spin that a reader has to put on the verse. Taking the literal meaning of what the author states is more convincing. The stresses that Cory endures due to the high pedestal he is held on is a stronger cause for an individual to snap than that of the envious and jealous nature humans are use to dealing with. Cory committing suicide is a much more believable approach than that of a murder. Work Cited Robinson, Edwin Arlington. "Richard Cory." Literature-Reading, Reacting, Writing, 4th ed. Laurie Kirszner & Stephen Mandell, eds. Fort Worth: Harcourt College Publishers, 2001. 986.

What Extent Can Racism Be Prevented in Society

To what extent do you think racism can be prevented in society? Racism has long been a critical issue in our society and while many measures have been taken to prevent racism, it is a controversial issue as to whether racism can really be eliminated. Many are confident that racism can be prevented, while others are not as convinced. Hence, my topic for this essay is to discuss the extent to which racism can be prevented. Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through our senses. It's a way of regarding, understanding and interpreting something.However while perception is an unavoidable part of our life, it has also been said to encourage racism. It is said to encourage racism through two aspects; visual and auditory perception. Firstly, visual perception is our ability to see while auditory perception is our ability to hear. Both are natural abilities that we are born with and we use them on a daily basis but yet, it can be a dangerous tool. For example, when people see a â€Å"black† person, they may immediately respond by thinking that they are inferior, because society has influenced them to think that way.Similarly, when people hear someone with an African accent, that person can be subjected to racism because we have been influenced to think that Africans are an inferior race. In both cases, visual and auditory perception has aided in us to be racist! Another issue is that to stop racism, we first must identify what is classified to be racist and what isn’t but how do we even begin to measure the severity of racist comments? For example, in the article, John Terry was accused for racist abuse against Ferdinand.While many believes that Terry is guilty of being racist, there also others that argues that Terry did not mean what he said as an insult but rather as a challenge to what he believed had been said to him. The chief magistrate believed that Terry was only repeating the words that he believed Ferdinand had a ccused him of saying. How do we judge what is considered to be racist and what isn’t? How do we begin to measure what is a â€Å"severe† racist comment and what can be let off? If someone only said racist comments to defend themselves because another erson is attacking them verbally, should they be let off? Lastly, who has the â€Å"power† to decide whether something is classified as racist or not? However, on another note, there is a number of ways that racism can be eliminated in our society. A lot of measures have been taken to prevent racism and many campaigns and petitions have been set up to challenge racism. This has resulted in increased awareness on the important issue of racism and society has really opened their eyes and started to think before they speak.Many people have become more careful when choosing their words to ensure that they do not offend anyone. Racist comments are so regarded with contempt that people who engage in racism are often criti cized severely by society and these people can even be imprisoned. Thus, this measure has also resulted in a decrease in racist cases in our society. However, in my opinion, while racist cases have decreased dramatically, I do not think that racism can ever be eliminated completely in society.Firstly, even though people who engage in racism can be imprisoned, this does not necessarily stop people from engaging in racism when they are alone or when they are with their close friends who share the same views as them. Furthermore, children who grow up in families that engage in racism will influence them to think that racism is okay and it is extremely difficult to change their way of thinking as its our word against their family’s. Due to the increased advancement of technology, it is also very easy for people to post racist comments anonymously, resulting in a whole new way of engaging in racism that is difficult to stop.Thus, I do not believe that racism can be eliminated enti rely, but I do believe that racism is a very serious issue and we should all play a part to try and decrease the number of racist cases in society. We should always do what we want others to do unto us, and I am sure that none of us would want to be judged based on our race. Most importantly, we should all play our individual role and to think twice before we speak and to understand that our tongue is a sharp tool, and what we say can affect someone’s life in ways that we do not understand.

Paleolithic Societies

Although the San and the Chumash were both hunter-gatherers, their culture and lifestyle had significant differences. Many cultures around the world had their fair share of differences. If you look closer though, you can find certain patterns that occur in many of the first societies that emerged in the world. Even these days, you can find the same types of patterns in people. The San lived in Southern Africa. They are also known as Bushmen, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe.Their lifestyle consisted of much leisure time, and the children did nothing but play. Women were greatly respected and admired in the San culture. The women would take part in both gathering and hunting, but mainly gathering. They used everything very wisely, including parts of ostrich eggs to hold fluids. Overall, the San were your typical hunter-gatherer society of the Paleolithic era. The Chumash lived in Southern California. They were also a hunter-gatherer society. They also were very good fisherman.They painted on cave walls and some of the drawings are still there today. Some of the Chumash settlements are believed to be over 10,000 years old. They were visited by the Spanish, which brought many diseases to the Chumash. They were also believed to be visited by Polynesians. Comparing these two cultures, we can see some similarities and many differences. They were both hunter-gatherer people. As their main food sources migrated, they followed along with them. Some differences would be that they lived in completely different parts of the world.The San did not fish, yet the Chumash did. They both have many more similarities and differences. The cultures I have compared and contrasted are only two of the many Paleolithic societies out there. They all can be recognized by their hunting and gathering ways. They followed their food, and obviously made it work for themselves. I think it would be an interesting journey to go back in time and see how they lived and interacted with each other before th e emerging of some of the technology that is common to us today.

Boon Rawd Brewery Company Essay

Throughout the years, Boon Rawd has diversified into an award-winning brewer and beverage maker, exporting its globally recognized products worldwide. The key to success and also be a mission statement is â€Å"Transparency! We do the right things. We live as a good citizen and don’t cut corners.† This principle is one of many that have helped Singha obtain the largest market share for beer in Thailand. Domestically, the company sees strong growth in the beer segment dominated by Singha. It expects local demand to grow 6 percent next year to 1.2 billion liters by inaugurating a new facility in 2009. Aside from Singha, Boon Rawd sells other beer varieties, soda water, drinking water, ready-to-drink fruit juices, ready-todrink coffee and tea beverages under various brands, such as Thai Beer, Leo, Moshi and B-ing, a flavored vitamin functional drink. Although Boon Rawd got many awards in â€Å"beer capitals† such as Brussels, Osaka, America, Australia and New Zealand but in the word of president â€Å"you have to dare to challenge the outside world† which makes them still not to  stop expanding their market and find new opportunities over time. Consequently, we decide to analyze and evaluate them for the purpose of getting insight in their international management plans, their competitive advantages, and their human resource management. Besides, this study is also included with countries analysis, industry analysis, and international market too. For the courses of action, we begin with SWOT analysis of Boon Rawd including with providing the company background. Then we do the countries analysis such as GDP, population size, inflation and business environment in those countries. Next, we also find the information that can be fit to Boon Rawd products by studying from primary and secondary sources and do PEST analysis. Lastly, we would examine the marketing strategies of Boon Rawd such as how they trained their employees, how they developed their products, how they could make and retained the international customer relationship in order to penetrate those international markets and find the best way that can make them success in long-term future. Corporate BackgroundWhich industry or industries is the firm operating in?†¢Define the company ´s industryBoon Rawd Brewery Co. Ltd. is the largest and the oldest brewery in Thailand. It was established in 1933 by Boonrawd Srethabutra, on whom HM King Prajadhipok Rama VIII bestowed the aristocratic title of Phraya Bhirom Bhakdi. In that time Thailand was called â€Å"Siam† until 1939 it was changed to Thailand. Nowadays the brewery is still under the Bhirom Bhakdi family management. At first the company produced and sold only beers like Singha, Leo and Thai beer, which Singha is the most famous and popular beer. Later when the company had grown to produce over 800 million liters of beer they started to producing soft drinks as well. They are producing drinking water, soda water, ready-to-drink juice, ready-to-drink green tea, B-ing â€Å"lifestyle functional drink† and some other soft drinks also. So The Boon Rawd Brewery specialized to Brewery and soft drinks industry. Today they have over 2000 employees in nine factories across the Thailand. They produce annually over  one billion liters of beer and much more other drinks. Who are the customers?†¢Identify and segment target customersThe Company has a versatile range of goods and that ´s one of the reasons to succeed. They sell necessary product like simply drinking water and everybody has to drink water to stay alive. Beer is also popular among adult and young adult nations and they have both quality and cheap beers so they can reach most of the customer, who drinks beer. Juice and that kind of soft drinks are for everybody as well, but especially children and teens like to drink juice a lot. Green tea and coffee are more for adults. So they can sell products to huge part of the population. Where does the company serve?†¢Define company ´s geographic scopeThe company primarily operates in Thailand, where it is headquartered in Bangkok. Network of The Boon Rawd Brewery Co. includes three breweries and six soft drinks factories all over the Thailand. Other factories located in strategic regions across The Thailand, in Chiangmai, Khonkaen, Singburi, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Surat Thani. The Boon Rawd Brewery Co. Ltd. owns two breweries in German. The first one located in the town of Mittweida, that brew Mittweida beer and the second one brews Gerand Hartmanndorf beer in the town of Gerand Hartmanndorf. Nowadays their products are exported to over 25 countries around the world. The largest export country is neighbor country Cambodia; followed markets are in United State, United Kingdom, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan. In addition they sell their product to China, Philippine, Laos and Vietnam. Sometimes they sell product to some other neighbor countries as well, but sales are sporadic. What needs are being satisfied by the company ´s goods or services?†¢Define the company ´s core products/servicesBoon Rawd brewery has regained its market leader of beer in Thailand. Singha beer is the leading product of the Boon Rawd Brewery Co. Singha beer has been Thailand’s most popular beer for many years. Leo is also famous beer brand, but they have another strategy with  Leo, when Singha beer is high quality, good and nice beer, Leo is cheap and less quality beer. The company sells Thai beer as well, and lot of different soft drinks, like ready-to-drink juices, ready-to-drink green tea, drinking water, soft water and something like that. What are the company’s distinctive competencies?†¢What resources does the company have?†¢What capabilities does the company possess?As previously was mentioned, Boon Rawd Brewery has 2000 employees in 9 factories in various parts of Thailand. This eases the distribution in the country internally, but it also facilitates the company to respond to the already widespread demand throughout the world. If the demand will grow even further, it is necessary to add resources so that supply will keep up with demand. Boon Rawd Brewery has a ready customer base and especially Singha has been received positive welcome also widely outside of Thailand. Thus, if the company desires to internationalize to the wider world, it is a smaller problem, because it is already well underway and the groundwork for potential follow-up measures have already been made. Boon Rawd Brewery provides and offers different kind of products to different kind of customers and their needs. As previously mentioned, the Boon Rawd Brewery has a wide range, which includes various drinks from beers to juices and from energy drinks to soda water. This kind of range, which has planned with widely thinking, provides a more stable support for the company’s activities. So, if the company’s some of their individual product’s sales might drop surprisingly, the company is not so vulnerable. Which generic strategy in currently used by the company?†¢Based on the value-chain analysisCurrently, Boon Rawd Brewery invests to the visibility of company and making products more familiar among consumers. The company also makes its share of supporting important societal issues. It invests to sport, culture and environmental. It has brought to use A Waste Water Management System, which is designed to minimize the environmental impact on the Chao Phraya River. Boon Rawd Brewery has its own factories in Thailand and in addition, it currently owns 2 other factories in Europe. The company is expanding slowly but with certainty around the world. So far, customers are widely from different parts of the world, so it seems to be only a matter of time before the company decides to buy or set up new factories in other countries. The fact that the company has won several awards over the years in relation to the quality of beer, says that the company invests a lot of resources in the actual beer making process. Country analysis and attractiveness assessmentBrazil PEST analysisPolitical:1.Brazilian citizens are free to relocate throughout the country. In addition, all citizens are free to engage in any business activity, as long it is a legitimate activity. It’s a positive policy for us to take a share of Brazilian market. 2.Citizens or non-citizen, are allow owning private properties in Brazilian territory. Governmental offices issue a title of property, which guaranty one’s ownership of a real, personal, or intellectual property. The process of issuing a property title can be somewhat time consuming; however, when the process is due, the owner is protected by laws, and enforced by judicial system. In addition, some Southern cities had successfully settle negotiations over public land in order to help low income citizens to own a private property. This kind of law and political environment can ensure the safety for our intelligent property of beverage and ownership for brewery and all the assets we owned. 3.Brazil has no yet achieved institutional stability. Government, courts, school, business, and specially law enforcement are struggling to bring solid bases of stability for Brazil. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president, did a good job in recognizing the state’s responsibility for the injustices during dictatorship. On the other hand, violations of human rights still an issue in Brazil, Inflation seems under control for now, but Brazilians had experienced inflation as high as 5,000 percent a year, during late 80’s. Most recently, the revocation of rules, and addition of new  provisions are still happening in Brazil. Therefore, skepticism is among Brazilians, and international observers. 4.The banking system in Brazil has been improving over the past few years; however, more than 50% of the Brazilian population has no means to ever get a bank loan, neither open a bank account. The first problem is that millions of Brazilians have low income. The second problem lies on the credit bureau, which has a deficiency on tracking one’s credit history. Most Brazilians prefer to use the direct financing system, in other words, a store finances one’s purchase, breaking it in small monthly payments, and charging very high interests. If the individual do not pay his or her bills, then the store can confiscate the product, and report his or her name to the credit bureau. 5.Brazilian legislators are far from calling themselves effective in work. Brazilian economy still has non-satisfactory fluctuation, more than 40% of the population lives in total poverty, infant mortality is high, transportation and educational system have big issues to be solved, and crime and corruption are a huge problem. After Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president, first year in office, several denounces came about some Brazilian legislators being involved in scheme and corruption scandals. Such news did not surprise most Brazilians, except for the fact that someone had the courage to speak out. 6.Brazilian government has a long history of resisting the increase of minimum wages. Its main reasons are: a) if minimum wages increase the Brazilian government will not have enough money to pay for all the social security pensions, and governmental employees; b) factory companies say that if minimum wages are increased it would be catastrophic for the companies growth, since their budget for wages and benefits will increase tremendously. In addition, companies claim that if the minimum wages are increase some companies will be force to file for bankruptcy with leads to lay-offs, and increase of national unemployment rates. Our company should be much careful about this. 7.Brazil has some of the most strict environment protection laws in the world; such laws are design to protect citizens, the fauna, and flora of Brazilian territory. Despite of the governmental efforts, the process of reinforcing such laws has not been successful; part of it is due to the inefficiency of some governmental agencies. For example, the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renovaveis (IBAMA) is an the governmental agency responsible for the formulation, coordination, execution, and reinforcement of environmental laws. 8.Any country must protect and promote national enterprises; however, Brazilian government is being over protective. It causes an unbalance cycle of dependency among Brazilian enterprises, which have more to lose because free market would promote competition, and consequently it promotes the development of new technology and money flow. Brazilian government has a long history of being over protective toward its national enterprises. The means in which the government uses as protection strategies vary and it changes time to time. For example, Brazil has an extended list of shipping requirements for imported goods; these requirements cause a difficult time to foreign enterprise, and the process of shipping a nightmare. In addition, the import taxes are high, restrictions on foreign-produce advertising is a strict, and complex bureaucratic process–all make foreign enterprises less capable to compete with Brazilian enterprises in Brazilian territory. Economic:1.Brazilian government requires that all business transactions be made in Brazilian currency (reais), and all foreign currencies must be converted before any business transactions. 2.Brazilian government requires that only one currency be use inside the country, and the Brazilian currency is called the â€Å"real†. However, many businesses will accept dollar or euro as form of payment for good or services. Many Brazilians will save the foreign bills as form of investment because they believe that such currencies will rise in value, and if they not, at least it will not devalue as reais would. In addition, some fortunate business people prefer to be paid in dollar because it, later, will be transported outside the country. 3.Brazilian government has been consistently causing a budget deficit in its domestic budget. In other words, the Brazilian government has been spending more than it collects from taxes each year. 4.Many Brazilian citizens dream with the idea of opening their own business; however, due to high taxation, and labor benefits Brazilians are skeptical about the risks of opening a small or median enterprise. Nerveless, Brazilians citizens welcome new business enterprises because it generates jobs for the citizens. On the other hand, there is a popular believe that if one opens a business enterprise he or she must dodged taxes. Brazilians often avoid paying taxes, as much and as long as they can, because they not believe in the socialist system. 5.Between the years of 2001 through 2003, Brazil shows minimal signs of vulnerability to outside forces. Brazil’s foreign trade impact ratio was gradually increasing during the period from 1999 to 2008. It is likely that Brazil could create more wealth to its citizens by increasing its foreign trade impact. Social:1.In Brazil, one’s ability to create wealth is filled with barriers, especially for low background citizens. It is important to say that if one’s will is strong, he or she might have a chance to advance economically; however, such dream is not a reality to millions of young Brazilians. First, Brazilian education system does not embrace the minority groups. Ironically, the public universities, free education, are primarily composed of elite youth, and private universities are composed of poor or middle class youth. Several philanthropic entities focus on helping Brazilian kids to develop some kind of skills, in order to help them to get a job, but these entities mistakenly forget to encourage and educate kids to pursue an academic life. In general, Brazilian society believes that if one has born poor, he or she will never make a good living. 2.Crime rates in Brazil have been increasing, and many are not reported. This perception frequently can compromise one’s decision of opening a small or  media enterprise. Police fails to assure safety for citizens as well for business. Into the large corporations such fear is reduce due to fact that large companies can afford to pay for an team of security guards. These are what our company should focus and pay a attention to what will hurt our line of business. 3.Protection of public health and safety in Brazil is quite bad, because infant mortality and mal-nutrition are the leading reasons fo1r death among children between ages one to five. Mal nutrition still kills children and adults in Brazil. In addition, the Brazilian government has poor management of waste, and food inspections. The Brazilian government has a long way to go before infant mortality rate decreases to worldwide standards. Technological:1.Brazilian communication system is good. Cities and countryside are equipped with many means of communications (phone, cell phones, fax, television, radio) with exception of computer. The use of computers as a mean of communication is a process that has been growing in Brazil, but due to the high cost of computer hardware it stills a slow growth. The most popular mass communication is television, and Brazilians love soap opera. TV networks strategically start the TV news between the hours of the most popular soap opera, seven to eight p.m. In addition, house and cell phones became more affordable for Brazilians since the Brazilian government had privatized its telecommunication corporation. There is a real potential growth for computer in Brazil. It is believe that soon, the Brazilian government will facilitate and lower taxes for import of computers, which will make computers much affordable item to Brazilians. These infrastructures can ensure that our local communication and promotion can be done efficiently and effectively. 2.Brazilian transportation system is reasonable; it has some good and bad sides. Brazil has roads, rail, air, and ships, but not all works efficiently. Brazil is fortunate because it has south to north regions connected by the Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the navigation system is good for transporting large volume of goods throughout the Brazilian coast, but it is not good for transporting people due to long journey. The Brazilian  air system excellent, and recently it is becoming more affordable to Brazilians, but still not cheap to many. The railroad system is, with exception of urban rails, in precarious condition. It requires a great amount of capital investment, mostly for repairs of rails, newer and faster trains, more employees, and newer distribution of rails throughout the country. In similar situation are the roads of Brazil. Highways and interstates are in great need for repair and expansion. Many enterprises have difficulties in transporting goods among states because the highways are very dangerous. Brazilian highways and interstates are filled with dangerous fissures on the road, not enough roads, and damaged bridges. To make things worse, highway pirates are a big problem in Brazil. Often, the news channel announces the robbery of a loaded truck, and the death of the truck driver. High rates of lost, employees and goods, forces enterprises to reevaluate the company’s expansion due to high costs and risks of transporting goods. This base can help us to which transportation tools we should focus and which we should avoid to use. India PEST analysisPolitical:1.slow-down in government decisions due to political instability2.adverse changes or unpredictability on foreign investment, import, ownership, pricing or tax issues3.unexpected delays and cost-overruns due to overlapping governmental jurisdiction4.In recent years, successive Indian Governments have sought to improve the performance of these programmers by decentralizing their administration, vesting village governments with greater responsibility for their monitoring and oversight. An academic literature hypothesizes that socioeconomic divisions within villages and the weak political strength of the poor reduces the effectiveness of decentralized programmers since, under these conditions, elites are able to ‘capture’ funds intended for the poor. This paper argues that the effect of administrative decentralization of poverty programmers and local public goods on the magnitude of benefits to the poor depends not just on their political strength but also on the incentives the non-poor have to improve the welfare of the poor. The design of policy pays insufficient attention to such incentive issues. Empirical analysis provides support for this belief. The regression analysis of the paper reveals that welfare receipts affect the labor supply decisions of the poor and that the  implementation of welfare programmers under control of village governments takes these effects into account.

Food Security Bill Essay

The bill was truncated from the NAC version at the first stage when the government finalized it and then the parliamentary standing committee went along similar lines and recommended further paring down of the benefits. Sources said concerns were raised by the Congress leadership about reducing existing benefits under the Antodaya Anna Yojana to the 2. 5 crore poorest families as well as the recommendation of the standing committee to remove the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) from the mandate of the bill, which was advised by the women and child development ministry. Sources said the party leadership was unhappy with the move to reduce existing entitlements under UPA’s flagship scheme instead of providing larger benefits. The government is likely to revise the bill keeping these views in mind and look at a much higher coverage in at least the 250 poorest districts of the country. The standing committee had recommended providing 5 kg of rations per person to 75% of rural population and 50% of urban India – a formula the government was happy with till the party leadership intervened. The standing committee had recommended doing away with two categories of beneficiaries with differential benefits – a move the government had contemplated anyway after having sent the bill to Parliament. But curtailing the total number of beneficiaries and reducing the benefits to the poorest has not found acceptance with the party leadership, sources said. The government could now consider restoring the monthly allocation to the poorest back to 35 kg of rations per family. Under an apex court order, the poorest and most disadvantaged are provided 35 kg rations at present. With the party keen to see the bill in Parliament during the budget session, a revised version could see the ICDS scheme coming back under the purview of the bill as a legally guaranteed right along with other food delivery mechanisms such as community kitchens. The UPA has already been caught on the back foot with opposition-ruled states providing cheaper rations to greater numbers under their own schemes following the lead of Chhattisgarh. The delay in pushing the bill through, coupled with the constant and often publicly expressed differences between different arms of the government and the UPA on the shape of the legislation have taken the sheen off UPA-2’s big ticket scheme Food Security Bill is affordable The subsidies meant for the poor are always under attack, while the rest are able to retain their privileges. The additional allocation in grain and money terms will neither distort the grain market nor place a burden on the fisc. Many recent commentators have portrayed the National Food Security Bill (NFSB) as an â€Å"unbearable burden† on the exchequer. The facts, however, do no substantiate the claim. The NFSB has been trashed from time to time in the English dailies. For instance, Business Line (March 21, 2013) published an article titled â€Å"Food Security Bill will torpedo Budget†. Another national daily claims that the Bill has a â€Å"fundamental flaw† that places â€Å"an unbearable burden† and â€Å"distorts agriculture† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). Quite often, the claims are partly due to a misconception that the government is making new financial and grain commitments under the NFSB. In fact, the NFSB does little more than turning into legal entitlements pre-existing food security schemes such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme, Public Distribution System (PDS) and maternity entitlements. Some commentators have said that it is precisely the legal commitment that will lead to problems in the future — for example, the fear of the emergence of a government monopoly in the grain market. This fear is not borne out by the facts. Under the PDS, ICDS and MDM, the government currently allocates about 58 million tonnes of grain. To meet this commitment, the government currently procures about 30 per cent of grain. The NFSB commits 62 million tonnes, i. e. , an additional 4 million tonnes. The Budget of 2013-14 allocates Rs. 31,000 crore for two children’s food schemes — school meals and the ICDS which reaches children under six. The Budget allocation for the food subsidy in 2013-14 is Rs 90,000 crore. According to our estimates, the food subsidy will increase from Rs 80,000 crore (in 2012-13) to Rs 1,11,221 crore, under the NFSB. Thus, the NFSB implies an increase of just over Rs 30,000 crores in financial terms and 4 million tonnes in real (grain) terms. Can India afford this? Speaking at a panel discussion at IIT Delhi in February, Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said â€Å"it would be dishonest† to say that we cannot afford the Food Bill, and that the subsidies that we need to target are those enjoyed by the middle classes (e. g. , fuel). Speaking at the same discussion, Amartya Sen made a pertinent point — that the reason why it is more difficult to reduce subsidies enjoyed by the middle classes (fuels such as LPG, petrol and diesel) is that the beneficiaries of those are more vocal than the rural poor or children under six who benefit from the food subsidies. This point is well illustrated by the events following last year’s Budget. The Budget 2012-13 announced a 1 per cent excise duty on unbranded jewellery and doubled custom duty on gold to 4 per cent. Gold is the country’s second biggest import, after crude oil. This burden on the current account deficit was an important reason for doubling the customs duty. Following this, the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation and others initiated a strike which went on for 21 days. They argued that the industry, including the â€Å"large† number of people it employs, and buyers of gold, would suffer. A massive media campaign was launched, following which the Finance Minister withdrew the excise duty. According to the revenue foregone statement presented along with the Budget 2013-14, the revenue foregone from the gold and diamond industry for the previous financial year was Rs. 5,000 crore. Such tax breaks are often justified on the grounds of the employment potential of the gems and jewellery industry. According to Invest India, a website of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, â€Å"The sector provides employment to around 1. 8 million people. In the next five years, the sector is expected to create additional employment for around 1. 1 million people. † According to the National Sample Survey Organisation, 2009-10, the size of the Indian workforce is between 430-471 million persons. If the gems and jewellery industry employs 3 million people as per the Ministry’s target, this would be 0. per cent of the workforce. An industry that employs less than one per cent of the Indian workforce is currently enjoying tax benefits amounting to Rs 65,000 crore (nearly 20 per cent of all revenue foregone). The Food Bill will benefit 67 per cent of the population at an additional cost of Rs 30,000 crore, yet it is said that it will â€Å"torpedo† the Budget. If anything, the NFSB does not go far enough. The NFSB tabled in Parliament in December 2011 included special provisions for the destitute and other vulnerable groups (e. g. , community kitchens and social security pensions). These have been discarded in the version cleared by Cabinet on March 19, 2013. In many rural areas, the Block is already too far to go to complain, yet for violations of rights under the NFSB, grievance redressal only begins at the District level. Viewed in this comparative perspective (for example, it is approximately 1 per cent of the GDP), few can question the affordability or desirability of the NFSB. In absolute terms it is not a small amount. One might argue whether such expenditure is worth it, given the â€Å"fact† that the programmes in its ambit, for example, the PDS, are â€Å"dysfunctional† (Indian Express, March 19, 2013). However, recent data from the National Sample Survey of 2004-05 and 2009-10 suggest that while the functioning of the PDS is far from perfect, we do need to update our â€Å"facts†. In joint research with Jean Dreze, we show that the implicit subsidy from the PDS eliminates 18 per cent (14 per cent) of the â€Å"poverty gap† — or the difference between the poverty line level of income and the median income (or monthly per capita consumption expenditure) of poor households — among poor rural (urban) households. Again, there are marked inter-State contrasts — in Tamil Nadu the corresponding figure is 60 per cent and in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh it is nearly 40 per cent. The real question then is not whether India can afford to have a right to food but as the Food Minister said in a recent interview, â€Å"Can we afford not to? † Food as a right In its latest form, the National Food Security Bill, 2013 promises to address the extreme irony of an ambitious nation holding mountains of food in storage, while masses of its people are undernourished or even starving. The right to food is finally on the threshold of being legislated. Every step taken to widen the coverage of food security schemes is an advance. Yet, the empirical truth is that incremental measures at targeting the needy are a poor substitute for a cohesive, rights-based universal system of food entitlements. There are, no doubt, many positives to the new legislation, such as coverage of up to 75 per cent of eligible priority households in rural areas, the importance given to women as the head of the household for issue of ration cards, inclusion of pregnant and lactating women for free meals (some in government wanted to take away this entitlement from women ho bear more than two children but the idea was sensibly dropped), and setting up of State Food Commissions to investigate violations of entitlements. Under the proposed law, it will be up to the States to frame criteria and choose the priority households for food entitlements, an exercise that will inevitably be accompanied by the well-documented troubles associated with targeting any welfare scheme. Exclusion of any deserving household is unfair and divisive. It poses a challenge to States that wish to provide universal access, an issue that is bound to be felt acutely in urban areas attracting tens of thousands of migrant labourers. The Centre is unwilling to countenance a Universal Public Distribution System on the ground that too much money is involved. Even under the latest Bill, it is argued, the exchequer would have to bear a heavy expenditure of Rs. 1. 24 lakh crore. Yet, the government has not hesitated to build up expensive food stocks over the years, some of which is left to rot, mainly to pay the high support prices demanded by influential sections of the farm lobby. Moreover, the policy orientation is disproportionately favourable towards some sectors such as infrastructure, compared to food and health care. Evidently, the Food Bill can and should do a lot more, to become near-universal and win over sceptics such as Tamil Nadu, which has opposed it on the ground that it is inferior to the universal PDS in the State. Also noteworthy is the fact that the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act has done better than the Centre’s proposed law in some respects — by supplying subsidised pulses and covering 90 per cent of households, for example.

Process Analysis Essay on The Paperwork Approach versus HR Functions A

Process Analysis on The Paperwork Approach versus HR Functions Automation - Essay Example The organization adopts the null hypothesis that it is policies rather than approaches which determine organizations productivity. As such, the essay develops a critical analysis through which to evaluate the individual theory against the organizational null hypothesis.Currently, the organization applies the null hypothesis that there exists no productivity impact based on the management approach used. Therefore, the hypothesis is established on the assumption that an organization’s policy influences its productivity and future market success. The global market system is changing with increasing global competitions from both local and international organizations. There is a need to develop systems and practices to increase global market presence and competitiveness. To this end, the organization argued that one of the strategic approaches through which to achieve increased competition was through the reduction of the overall costs of production in the organization. Also, the o rganization adopted the need to reduce infrastructure development and installation costs required in the development and adoption of modern technology. As Heineman and Greenberger (85) stated, although this approach reduces organizational management costs in the short run period, this hypothesis can be disapproved in the future. For instance, the application of an automated HR system would reduce the overall errors and mistakes encountered when calculating and evaluating restive employee rewards and financial amounts owed by the venture. Thus, this reduces the error costs incurred by organizations in the industry.

Mock Concept Paper for Dissertation Research Proposal

Mock Concept Paper for Dissertation - Research Proposal Example Employment gives people tasks and responsibilities that keep them busy, which leaves them with little time to engage in vices that might lead to criminal activities. The most common methods of crime prevention are through deterrence, which is achieved by incarcerating offenders in jails, prisons and penitentiaries. The basic principle with this method is that it denies offenders their basic freedoms of movement and association amongst others. Depending on the terms of their incarceration, offenders eventually get to return to their communities and societies, which are referred to as reentry. The process of reentry poses different challenges depending on the nature of their communities and societies. This is because there exist various stereotypes and perceptions with regard to people who have been involved with crime. The degree of successful reentry into society after incarceration determines the levels or extent of recidivism of offenders. Previous research studies have established a connection or relation between employment, reentry and recidivism of offenders in society. Various factors play a role in determining the success or failure of re-integrating back into society or their recidivism into crime and incarceration. Employment is a key factor in these matters because it determines whether they are able to cater for their needs in a sustainable and lawful manner. Statement of the Problem The role of employment as a factor in offender reentry and recidivism provides a potential avenue for further study into the role that it can play in rehabilitation efforts away from institutions. Employment ensures that offenders are engaged in constructive endeavors that benefit themselves and their community. Various factors influence the ability of offenders to acquire or attain employment after they rejoin their communities. These factors have varying effects depending on the individual and characteristic society or community. As it has been established by previous studies, employment or its lack is a major instigator of crime. This is because; employment provides a source of livelihood, without which an individual is forced to seek alternative means of earning a living. In today’s world, alternative sources of earning a livelihood are permeated with illegal aspects that land people in jail. There are various independent (IV), dependent variables (DV), mediating and moderating variables that have been the subject of research studies regarding their influence on employment and crime (Fairchild & Mackinnon, 2009). A key construct in the journal article ‘Reentry and the Ties that Bind: An Examination of Social Ties, Employment and Recidivism’, are the social ties of an offender reentering society (Berg & Huebner, 2011). Researchers in this study found out that offenders who maintained social ties with their families and obtained steady work were less likely to recidivate (Berg & Huebner, 2011). A research study was conducted u nder the title, â€Å"Predicting Recidivism for Released State Prison Offenders: Examining the Influence of Individual and Neighborhood Characteristics and Spatial Contagion on the Likelihood of Re-incarceration† (Stahler et al. 2013). In another research study, the effects of Minnesota Prison-Based Educational Programming on Recidivism and Employment were