Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security Assignment

Internet Technology, Marketing, and Security - Assignment Example 1). The reasons that have been identified for the overwhelming popularity of SMM among business are as follows: (1) Customer Interaction and Feedback. SMM offers opportunities for business organizations to directly encourage feedback from customers and therefore enable them to address any weaknesses noted or areas for improvement. As emphasized by Hastings and Saperstein (2010), â€Å"today, more than ever before, businesses can not only listen to customers, they can invite customers to help shape the company activities. Customers have input on which products to develop with which features, how events should be planned, and what kind of meaningful dialogue they’d like to have† (par. 5). This reason therefore assists business organizations in immediately determining the reaction of customers through solicitation of their feedback, which is one of the most beneficial uses and reasons for SMM’s popularity. (2) Generate Traffic to Social Networking Websites. Accordin g to Prince & Rodgers (2012), generating traffic to identified social networking sites is made possible through target customers’ sharing â€Å"branded and highly relevant content with users who, in turn, pass your content to like-minded people they’re connected to† (Prince & Rodgers, 2012, par. 1). ... Likewise, as noted: â€Å"there was 800% traffic gain to its website†¦Additionally, the number of live Tweeter feeds relating to the Pepsi Refresh Project being streamed across Google grew tremendously in a short time†. This reason has been proven, therefore, to be effective in increasing target audience reach at a relatively short span of time and minimal expense compared to other advertisements or promotional campaigns. (3) To achieve the goal that the organization is targetting on a least cost yet greater target audience reach. As emphasized by (Prince & Rodgers (2012), â€Å"a core objective of social media marketing — or of a thought leadership campaign, for that matter — is to gain â€Å"mindshare.† You want to be top-of-mind when potential clients or customers are interested in products or services you can deliver. You want to provide content your preferred audiences find so appealing and beneficial that they’re motivated to pass it onà ¢â‚¬  (par. 6). One of the goals of the SMM has been identified to â€Å"generate interest in your offerings† (Prince & Rodgers, 2012, par. 1). Through the use of this strategy, business organizations are able to achieve their organizational goals, as well as the objectives identified in the particular project or promotional campaign; thus, increasing its popularity among business organizations. 2. Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Social Media Marketing for business entrepreneurs. According to the Marketplace for Entrepreneurs (2012), there are seven benefits of SMM, to wit: â€Å"(1) increased customer acquisition; (2) powerful word-of-mouth marketing; (3) increased brand awareness; (4) customer retention; (5) market research; (6) keep an

Truman Show Essay Example for Free

Truman Show Essay Jim Carrey’s complex upbringing has led to a niche in cinema for him that can’t be described as anything else but one of a kind.   While he started his career in Hollywood off being recognized mostly as a funny man, he soon expanded this persona with his performances in such films as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Majestic, and recently the highly acclaimed 23.   Many critics consider Carey’s decision to take on the role of Truman in The Truman Show as the focal point of his expansion of the comedic archetype.    This essay attempts to assess what is so significant about Jim Carey and his particular performance in The Truman Show. Jim Carrey has been famous for his roles as a comedian since he first hit the big screen in the early 1990’s. He was born in Canada on January 17, 1962. He started working in the 80’s, at small comedy clubs. Carrey moved from Canada to Los Angeles in the 80’s to try and get more work. His biggest break was in 1994 with the comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. He continued making slap stick comedies in the years to follow, including Dumb and Dumber, The Mask and Liar Liar. In 1998 Jim Carrey took on the role of Truman Burbank, a role that would change his career and audience perception of him. Not only was The Truman Show making Jim Carrey step away from his slap stick, low comedy side, he was experimenting with a much darker comedy. This shocked his audience at first because everyone assumed any film Jim Carrey was in, had to be laugh out loud funny. No one had seen a darker side of him. After The Truman Show, Jim Carrey accumulated a much larger fan base. People became fascinated by the ideas and themes that The Truman Show addressed. Jim Carrey continues making people laugh all over the world. People will flock to his comedic movies because they know that they will always have a sense of Jim Carrey humor. He has a way of acting that is all his own. The films he stars in, not only draw a huge audience, they also have an affect on his audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This essay will look at Jim Carrey as a comedy comedian, with specific focus on his darker comedic role in The Truman Show and its affect on society. Although The Truman Show is considered a comedy, its themes touched on issues that in the 90’s were still unaware to most people. The idea that someone was always watching scared society. Webcams, and reality television was still new and being developed. The thought of watching other people’s lives wasn’t interesting to society yet. The only shows that were considered reality were â€Å"Cops† and MTV’s â€Å"The Real World.† These followed regular people around and showed them doing everyday normal things, like eating, shopping and seeing friends. This began to fascinate and attract people; and once The Truman Show came out it sparked a chain of shows surrounding the idea of ‘Big Brother,’ we are always being watched. Within a short people of time reality television and media started to run our lives. As the 90’s progressed Jim Carrey’s comedies went from slapstick humor to more serious humor. The Truman show questioned if Jim Carrey would remain a comedian comic or take on the role of more versatile actor. He was originally known as a funny guy, who couldn’t be taken seriously. Once he took on roles that still had comedic aspects but had a lot more depth he was able to reach a larger audience and impact more people with his versatility. He shows that there is humor in the most dramatic situations and his classic comedic timing only further enforces his ability as an actor.. All the reviews I read categorized The Truman Show as high comedy. Jim Carrey’s actions are funnier then what is actually happening. Very often his facial expressions and actions imply a deeper, or even darker meaning than what is on the surface.   The theme of the movie is much deeper and more profound than one might want to initially think.. This is partly why Jim Carey has been able to command so much money at the box office.   His ability to connect with audiences of all ages has much to do with his highly animated performances combined with their adult implications.   Reviewers were shocked at first to see Jim Carrey in such a serious role. In a review on time.com title â€Å"Smile! Your life’s on TV† the article said once the script was sold the producer took the script straight to Jim Carrey because â€Å"Jim had the kind of madness the project needed to ultimately get made. His warmth was a hedge against a movie that could have been on the cold side and needed someone with audience sympathy(Corliss). The underlining theme in the film is finding yourself and finding your true identity and Jim Carrey does this in a way that he brings comedy and seriousness to the role. This is a very mature concept, and one that might not always be expected from a comedian.   In most reviews, reviewers agree that Jim Carrey carries the movie. One reviewer said, â€Å"For Carrey detractors who are easily turned off by the comic’s rubber-faced antics, The Truman Show proves to be an eye-opener. Not only does Carrey remain rigidly-controlled and reigned in, but it would be fair to call his performance both understated and effective†(Berardinelli, James). When reviewers are commenting on comedy, especially any comedy Jim Carrey is in the reviewer assumes it is going to be a laugh out loud comedy. When they walk into a Jim Carrey movie, whether it is serious or not they are always in hopes of escaping into a world full of laughter. He turns every role he has into a character, because that is what a comedian comic does when he acts. Audiences always react positively to Jim Carrey’s comedic characters. It is only when he stars in serious roles that his audience begins to question him. In many reviews for The Truman Show rarely do any of them come out and say that the film is a comedy. One review I read brought up questions about the film and one of the questions was, â€Å"how badly will marketing The Truman Show as a comedy hurt the movie when viewers realize that’s not what it is†(Berardinelli, James)? Reviewers do not give an exact definition for comedy when they are talking about The Truman Show. On a review on IMDB a reviewer says, â€Å"No, it’s not a comedy, wellnot exactly.† I didn’t quite understand until I watched it myself. Truman takes on a tone quite different than any parody/comedies I’ve seen lately†(IMDB). Jim Carrey’s versatility draws even more audience and fans. He has now acquired an even larger fan base. The marketing controversy behind The Truman Show stems from the fact that western audiences are accustomed to seeing Jim Carey as a comedian.   The irony of this that it creates a dual conflict of identity both for Truman and for Carey and the way he is perceived by the public.   The film has multiple layers of understanding of what it means to be both a comedian and a hero. In Krutnicks, Hollywood Comedians, The Film Reader the Steve Seidman essay â€Å"Performance, Enuciation, and Self-Reference in Hollywood Comedian Comedy† talks about Comedian comics. The essays talks about the origins of the comedian comedic. Comedian comedy comes from show business, such as vaudeville. This type of performance acknowledges the audience. Where as a film draws the audience into another world, vaudeville included the audience or made the audience aware that they were watching a show. This is the way a comedian comic acts. They use a lot of big over the top gestures to make something comedic. In The Truman Show Jim Carrey begins to suspect something is weird in his life and begins acting strange. He starts to speak to the ‘camera’ although he doesn’t realize it is a camera. He is acting towards the audience and making them realize they are watching a movie. Jim Carrey does an excellent job at this because he has worked as a show business performer since he first started as a stand up comedian. Jim Carrey is a comedian comic and he steps outside his usual comedic role to play Truman Burbank. He tries his hand at playing a darker comedian. This sparked a series of films were Jim Carrey took on less comedian comedy films. In the end, Carey’s experimental work enhances the depth of his comedic performances.   Carey’s wide eyed zaney antics come off as borderline rational when he is put into situations similar to the Truman character.   In many of his films he has the boyish charm of a man discovering the world for the first time.   In The Truman Show this is exactly what. The Truman Show brought about a lot of controversy after it’s debut. It questioned the sanctity of identity. In Gary Panton’s review on The Truman Show he says, â€Å"It’s an exploration into the idea that we always accept the reality of our surroundings without question.† Once the movie came out people began to question their place, role, and effect in life. They wanted to find their own identities and who they were, because Truman is searching for his identity throughout the whole movie. It raised a lot of questions about who we where and who was watching us. It questioned society’s identity and whether they were safe. They used dark comedy to bring light on an important issue. Having Jim Carrey in the movie alone made viewers assume the film would be comedic. I think by him being in it, it was a comedy. His body language and acting is always comedic. Throughout the course of the film they used comedic tricks to make Truman question where he is. At one point a piece of the lighting set falls from the sky on to Truman’s street. Another example of comedy that they use is when Truman is on the beach and it starts to rain, but to Truman’s surprise the rain storm is only over him and if he walks a couple of feet away he is out of the rain. The Truman Show came out before the huge increase of reality television. After the movie came out reality television skyrocketed. Many of the shows were based on the ideas that came from The Truman Show. As opposed to people not knowing they were being filmed, they knew and were trying to find their identity in front of a camera crew. Most shows set up cameras all over a house or had camera crews follow a person around. This reflects the actions of when Truman finally realizes he is being filmed. He behaves as though he is aware of the camera. This is what reality television stars do. None of these shows are seen as being serious.   Much of this parallels the relationship between the media and the public a complex conflict that has undergone much scholarly debate. One scholar in particular who is considered an expert on many of the conflicts depicted in The Truman Show is Pierre Bourdieu. In all of Bourdieu’s beliefs, his most popular is his assertion that the public does not exist (1984).   This concept is addressed in his book, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, in that he feels there is a different of class taste between the ruling class and popular culture.   But, within this conflict, there is no public, only a media mediating between the two and a culture to which they often cater to do so.     In John Fiske’s critique on television, Television Culture he analyzes the nature of what makes popular television.   He concludes that the shows that succeed in gaining popularity tend to have many symbols and plot lines containing multiple meanings.   He also states that remain within a duality of containment and resistance (1987). This idea basically revolves around the fact that television producers, who are viewed as the upper class and political elite, are expected to produce material that correspond with popular culture.   This material that the elite minority culture produces for the popular culture contradicts elitist ideals but allows the status quo to remain intact.   This means the political elite can only remain the elite so long as they humor the beliefs and ideals of their less powerful but more dominant counterparts. The rules Fiske establishes for television shows can very easily be applied to the media.   They present the media as a tool being used to prey on the wants and needs of different cultures.   Another media technology that isn’t always addressed is the literary outlets in societies.   This is undoubtedly the reason that Pierre Bourdieu is an acclaimed literary theorist as well, addressing such theorist as reader response theory. The Truman Show talks about social power. It talks about the power that the media have over people. The show is controlling on a larger scale to peoples lives, who spend their life watching it and on a smaller scale the people creating the show and controlling everything Jim Carrey does. The Truman shows creator Christof is controlling what everyone is seeing and saying. He plays the â€Å"God† of Seahaven, the made up town that Truman lives in. There is the outside â€Å"real audience† watching the show and then there are the actors in the show and then there is us, the audience watching the â€Å"real† actors, watching Truman. We are always being controlled. David Thomas and Garry Gillard’ article titled, â€Å"The Truman Show and the programming of reality,† mention this when they say that the film â€Å"poses important questions of identity and reality, because of the way the film uses both diegetic and non-diegetic audiences. This highlights the boundaries between real people, actors, fictional audiences and ‘real’ audiences, and how they are skewed and confused by The Truman Show.†Ã‚   The film also addresses certain concepts of national identity. The idea behind national identity is that one defines their self through the identity of their nation.   In their article, National Identity and Self-Esteem, Jeff Spinner-Halev and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse analyze the nature of national identity.   They adopt the theory that if the self-esteem of an individual is tied to their nation than it’s the perfect proponent to maintain safe and secure nations.   They feel that there is an immediate connection between self respect and group identity; so much so, it could lead to one sacrificing their own personal needs for the good of the group.   They also acknowledge that there is a competitive nature within group self esteem; this meaning that most groups want their group to do better than others.    This is often seen in the patriotic nature of political propaganda, carried out by many countries to convince soldiers to go to war.   This system of control is one known for cajoling groups to fallow a certain program or way of thinking by catering to individuals’ wants, needs, or taking advantage of their fears.   This complex of national identity is a major aspect of a government’s societal control, as well as a significant ideal satirized in The Truman Show. It is most visibly personified in the character of the show’s producer Christof.   He argues that human beings accept the world in which they are presented, and uses this to justify why Truman hasn’t figured out his predicament up to this point.   All of the employees, of the studio, acting as Truman’s family, friends and extras living within the town, can all be viewed as nationalists to the studio’s regime. The National Identity of these films can be directly corresponded to the culture and history of New Zealand.   In 1945, the New Zealand Film Critic Gordon Mirams argued that if there was a New Zealand culture, it was a mostly a Hollywood creation. The only thing more popular than going to the movies, in New Zealand, was drinking tea, during that time period. This idea is supported by the statistic that for many years New Zealanders were the most frequenters of the movie world.   In their book New Zealand Film 1912-1996 Helen Martin and Sam Edwards analyze the filmography of many films produced during this century in New Zealand. This book basically analyzes the entire history of film in New Zealand.   The two authors managed to find more than 162 films.   In formulating their list and deciding on what they would identify as New Zealand Films, they decided the film had to have a significant connection to the location in terms of the film’s creators, cast, copyright holder, financiers, production team, and technical equipment. They also felt that a film that holds a sociological connection to New Zealand should be categorized as a New Zealand films as well.   Thus, they included The Piano in their list of films pointing out that though it was not filmed in New Zealand, its story was still set there.   The authors also felt it the film addressed social issues pertaining to the history of New Zealand within the time frame it was set. In the 90’s when The Truman Show first came out reality television was very rare. No one put their videos on the Internet or had video chats. In one article I read â€Å"The world is watching† by Jennifer Tanaka she writes about a couple who place a web cam in their new born daughters crib. They connect it to the Internet so their friends can go online and see the baby and watch her grow. They didn’t think anything of it until they began receiving emails from people they didn’t know telling them how cute their baby was and how they loved the idea of the wed cam. They still didn’t really think anything of it, except it was flattering. They watch The Truman Show and immediately disconnected their web cam. They realized what they were doing and didn’t want their baby to have people watching her like Truman. It wasn’t until a movie like The Truman Show that brought light on a media obsessed and driven world. It has only gotten worse from there. With the increase in a media obsessed culture, reality television has become a historical landmark of our generation today. In Gary Panton’s review, I think he makes a good point when he says, â€Å"The scary thing is that for us, the â€Å"Big Brother† generation, the notion of a 24-hour TV prisoner really isn’t all that far-fetched. Perhaps the birth of a real Truman isn’t as far into the future as we might like to think.† The Truman Show poses an argument larger than itself in respect to national identity, only this film speaks more metaphorically.   The idea previously posed in National Identity and Self Esteem, was that national identity is largely the product of a model that is followed by a group of people.   These people are so caught up in the ideals of the group, they rather sacrifice their own individual comforts for the good of the team.   The authors found that these groups are also very competitive with one another, identifying their identity with that of the group and basing the groups identity on their contrast from other groups.    This becomes very relative to some of Rene Girard’s views.   In his seminal theory of mediated desire Rene Girard argues that human desire is imitative.   His views is that the goals we hold most personal are actually the desires of others which we want to achieve because others want to achieve them. This is very compatible with the ideals of national culture and the cult group fallowing it incites.   This is also seen constantly in The Truman Show, the main motivation for Truman to escape the studio/town is to travel to Fiji after his one true love.   If the character personifying his school crush had never desired to move there, Truman would have never desired to follow.   This is a direct personification of Girard’s theory, as well as an example of Morse and Halev’s version of national identity. Work Cited Adorno, Theodor W. and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. 1947. Trans. Edmund Jephcott. Stanford: Stanford UP, 2002. Belton, John. American Cinema/American Culture. New York: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and New York Center for Visual History, 1994. Bourdieu, Pierre. (1984) Distinction, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Chatman, Seymour (1978) Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press). Cheshire, Ellen. Jane Campion. Great Britain: Pocket Essentials, 2000. Eric Young (Executive Producer). (1998). Hows It Going To End? The Making of The Truman Show, Part II [DVD (Special Feature)]. Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment. Fiske, John (1987) Television Culture, London: Methuen. Fiske, John (1992)  ªPopularity and the Politics of Information º in P. Dahlgren and C. Sanes, Ken. Truman as Archetype. Transparencynow.com. 1996-2001. 29 July 2004. http://www.transparencynow.com/truman.htm. Simons, Jon (1997)  ªThe Dialectics of Diana as Empty Signifier º , Theory Event, 1(4). http: //muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_and_event Simons, Jon (2000) Ideology, Imagology, and Critical Thought: The Impoverishment of Politics, Journal of Political Ideology, 5(1), 81 ± 103 Slavin, John (2002) Lost causes : the ideology of national identity in Australian cinema. PhD thesis, Department of English, University of Melbourne. Sparkes (eds) Journalism and Popular Culture, London: Sage. Minow, Martha. (2006) Not Only for Myself Identity, Politics, and the Law. New P, 1997. Chapter 2, Identities. 8 Dec. 2006.

I Am Legend | An analysis

I Am Legend | An analysis When you are the last of the species reaching out for help, looking for someone that does not live a nocturnal existence, you need to have faith in God. The novel version of I Am Legend is better then the motion picture because the information slowly leaks out about Nevilles past, present, and specifics about the vampires. Robert Neville is a scientist who is unable to stop the spread of the horrifying virus that is fatal, incurable, and man-made. For three years, Robert has sent out daily radio messages, desperate to find any other survivor who might be out there. Robert obtains books and other research materials to discover the cure of the disease which is a strain of bacteria capable of infecting both deceased and living hosts. The virus has mutated everyone except one survivor which is Robert Neville. Robert is confused about his faith in God due to the situations he had to face. The characters usually depend on one another because it defines their true character in the end. Robert is trying to find the specifics about the vampires, so he can find a cure A virus can be spread really fast from one person to another. Robert Neville might be the only survivor of an incurable plague that has mutated everyone into bloodthirsty creatures who are determined to destroy him. There is always a solution to a conflict in which Robert believes he can find a resolution. Robert is trying to find a cure for the virus that has infected everyone in the world. The novel describes the situation that Robert is facing is very risky and in the motion picture it seems as if his everyday life is not too bad. His everyday target is to be back home before sunset. Usually there are a lot of difficulties that people face to find an explanation to a problem. Robert came up with a plan to capture a vampire because he wants to try different experiments to find the cure. Generally to accomplish a goal there is always some problem that interferes but never give up too fast. Robert accomp lished to trap an infected woman but the other vampires watched his every step and played the same trick on him. The novel didnt have much detail on how Robert trapped the vampire but the motion picture demonstrates the pain and the risk he had to go through. Robert put his life in danger, knowing the consequences. Putting in all the effort and not giving up is the first step to success. Robert was doing an experiment on the infected women and it slowly began to show good results. Working to the best of someones ability always receives an award at the end. The therapy Robert gave to the woman who is infected by the virus, slowly started to work. The motion picture has a very intense situation because Robert wants to help all the other vampires who have been infected but none of them are ready to listen to him. The novel shows Robert as the only survivor left of his own race. Robert didnt give up and took every step very carefully, which helped him achieve his goal. People believe in God but the terrible situations that they face are because of their own mistakes. Robert thinks the problem that he is going through is because of people being lazy and not taking a serious action right away. Most people believe that people impose disasters on themselves. Robert believes in God and also believes that the circumstances every one is going through is because of their blunder. The novel doesnt clearly state about Robert believing in God but in the movie it displays an clear image of Robert believing in God. Depending on someone too much is not good because when he/she lets the person down, it really hurts. Neville is depending on Ruth because she can help him out of jail. Sometimes people face problems that they shouldnt be punished for and dealing with it patiently is the best way. After a few years of loneliness and fear in a civilization devoid of civilized people, Robert struggled with his beliefs. Robert slowly started to loose his faith because fo r three years he has been trying his best to find a cure but its doing him no good. In the novel Robert is in prison and the only person who can get him out is Ruth. Usually people just accept their faith and try to live it happily. Robert accepts his faith and tearfully asks Ruth not to let this society get too ruthless. It is hard to count on someone who has let you down or tests a persons patience more than they should. A woman named Anna saves Robert from an accident and claims God guided her to find him just in time. In the movie it shows that it is hard for Robert to forget all the nasty problems that he had to face all by himself and in the novel he just accepts his faith because whatever he tried was no good. At first many people think God doesnt resist but the problems that people deal with, slowly realize that he is always there for everyone. To find out more about a character there is always more than one person in a novel or a movie. Not knowing anyone can make a persons life miserable. Robert is trying to find a cure without anyones help and he believes he will accomplish in his task. Listening to someone who a person does not know too much about can sometimes be very dangerous. Roberts neighbor Ben Cortman is always yelling Roberts name during the evening, trying to convince him to come out just so he can harm him. The movie shows Robert in a high degree of loneliness because everyone around him is trying to destroy him but in the novel Robert has his wife and daughter with him with some time and then he is all by himself trying to find a cure for the virus. When a person is stuck in a situation that no one can help him/her out with, the best thing to do is have faith in God. Robert is in jail and the only person who can help him out is Ruth. When a person is saved from a big problem, he/ she has done good deeds. Robe rt had a huge accident but Anna saved his life due to the radio messages Robert sent out. The novel and movie both show that when Robert needed the most help, someone is there for him because he has a good intention and he has waited patiently to find a cure to the virus. There is always more then one character in a story because thats the only way to find out more about the character itself. Overall I think the novel is better than the movie because the author slowly leaks out the information. Robert Neville found out the cure all by himself and had to deal with very difficult problem, he is the only survivor. Robert sent out radio messages for three years desperate to find another survivor but he lost his faith in God because he patiently waited for a few years and whatever step he took would end up being difficult and bad for him. It is hard to know about a character who does not depend on one another. Therefore Robert is a legend because he found the cure to the virus and all the problems he went through, he didnt give up. To achieve something in life keep trying and never give up because at the end it is always worth it.

Adam Smith :: Philosophers Philosophy Economists Essays

Adam Smith The British philosopher and economist Adam Smith was born in kirkcaldy, Scotland. He was educated at the universities of Glasgow and Oxford. In 1751 he became a professor at Glasgow. There he wrote The Theory of Moral Sentiment in 1759. This philosophical work gained Smith an appointment in 1764 as tutor of the young duke of Buccleuch. The tutoring took Smith to France, where he started writing The Wealth of Nations in 1776. It was the first complete work on political economy. The book discusses the relationship between freedom and order, analyzes economic processes, and attacks the British mercantile system's limits on free trade. All three aspects are woven together to create a unified social theory. In France Smith met and associated with many of the leading Continental philosophers of the physiocratic school, which based its political and economic doctrines on the supremacy of natural law, wealth, and order. He was specially influenced by the French philosophers Francois Quesnay and Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, whose theories Smith later adapted in part to form a basis for his own. The book dealt with the basic problem of how social order and human progress can be possible in a society where individuals follow their own self-interests. Smith argued that this individualism led to order and progress. In order to make money, people produce things that other people are willing to buy. Buyers spend money for those things that they need or want most. When buyers and sellers meet in the market, a pattern of production develops that results in social harmony. Smith said that all this would happen without any conscious control or direction, as if by an invisible hand.'; Smith also believed that labor, not land or money, was both the source and the final measure of value. He said that wages depended on the basic needs of workers, and rent on the productivity of land, Profits, he said, were the difference between selling prices and the cost of labor and rent. Smith said profits would be used to expand production. This expansion would in turn create more jobs, and the national income would grow. Smith believed that free trade and a self-regulating economy would result in social progress. He criticized the British government's high tariffs and other limits on individual freedom in trade.

‘Mrs Penniman’s character is to some extent a mere caricature’ in Henry James’ ‘Washington Square’

Henry James uses, Lavinia Penniman predominantly for the comic relief derived from her unrealistic romantic scheme, her extensive hyperbole, and deceitfulness. Mrs Penniman is seen as a caricature, a caricature is a humorous illustration that exaggerates or distorts the features of a person to form a visual likeness. Mrs Penniman can be seen as a caricature through her clothing, gestures, language and her manipulation as seen in many chapters throughout the novel. Lavinia Penniman is a sad figure, she is widowed and â€Å"left without children, without fortune† and lives in Dr Sloper's household and is in control of Dr Sloper's daughter, Catherine's education. Many women in the 19th century who like Mrs Penniman weren't married, tended to struggle with life; they struggled to get an income so remained poor and weak and really tended not to have a life. Henry James shows Mrs Penniman to tag along to the Dr's household, possibly for this reason, she originally joined the household temporarily whilst she searched for â€Å"unfurnished lodgings† but she chose to settle † herself with her brother and never went away†. She is in fact described as the † fifth wheel†, she is always there, most often when not needed, always meddling with the outcome of events, she should really be a minor character but she continuously interferes. Mrs Penniman really is seen as a caricature when she is being a meddler, as she so often is. She really interferes with Catherine's relationship between Morris, she arranges dates, â€Å"he is coming a courting† (said to Catherine). In chapter 15 and 16 Mrs Penniman interferes tremendously with Catherine's relationship with Morris, she organises a â€Å"tryst† which is held between her and Morris at an â€Å"oyster salon†. This location is unexpected and very secretive, this all increases the drama of the occasion, making it seem as though what they were doing wasn't allowed and making it all seem rather suspicious, as Mrs Penniman is very unlikely to meet anyone of acquaintance there. At this secret meeting, Mrs Penniman goes against her brother's wishes and attempts to encourage a secret wedding between Catherine and Morris, Morris realises the difficulty of this but Mrs Penniman thinking she is in one of her â€Å"romantic† novels, comes up with ridiculous solutions that would just add to the drama, such as using the â€Å"cemetery† as a location for the wedding. She also makes sure that she is a key figure in it all, as she possibly wants to be the heroine, she does this by inventing roles for herself, and this is done in other occasions as well. Mrs Penniman's character does have comic factors that are crucial for her to be a caricature. This can be seen through her costumes, gestures and through the author's ironic metaphors. Her costumes are flamboyant and in chapter IV she is described as wearing â€Å"more buckles and bangles than ever† showing that she often wears outrages outfits. Like her costumes her language and gestures seem to be hyperbolic and unnecessary, although this could be a ploy to create a larger part in the plot that she would otherwise have. Her continuous use of hyperbolic and melodramatic language makes the character seem to be humorously overdramatic and over the top, this defiantly creates a feeling of her being a caricature. To top this of Henry James uses witty and unusual metaphors that have a hint of irony in them. She chooses these ironic metaphors to make the situation between Morris and Catherine more dramatic than it really is, she reads these ideas in her â€Å"light literature†, and would like the relationship between Catherine and Morris to be like them. This can be seen several time from page 82 to 84, where she uses â€Å"banished†, â€Å"the guilty couple†, â€Å"neutral ground† and â€Å"exciting suspicion†. All these seem to be similar to some of Shakespeare's romantic relationships, such as Romeo and Juliet, where Romeo one of the lovers is â€Å"banished†, the couple is guilty, as they are sworn enemies and they often met on neutral ground, this is an exciting play, due to this which is effectively what Mrs Penniman is attempting to do. To conclude, Mrs Penniman's character is a caricature, her clothes, language and gestures are all hyperbolic and she always attempts to be at the centre of all occasions. She is a sad figure who attempts to manipulate the authors plot to make it more dramatic and like her light literature, her ideas are full of irony and her character in general does seem to posses some humour that would make her a caricature.

American Voting Behavior essays

American Voting Behavior essays Voting defines democracy. Voting is the fundamental right of almost all American citizens over the age of eighteen. In insures that the will of the people is preserved. The essential difference between America and a dictatorial nation such as Iraq is the right of our citizens to choose between two parties who represent differing opinions and contrasting viewpoints. Throughout the history of franchise, American voting behavior has showed continual patterns that can be identified and explained. To begin, young Americans develop attitudes and form opinions that allow them to get along with society. These beliefs affect the political views they hold dear later in life. This is a result of the phenomenon known as political socialization. The strongest socializing agent in political socialization is the family. That is, most children eventually adopt the beliefs of their family. Therefore, most people believe in and vote for issues that are important to members of their preceding generation, especially their mothers. Additionally, the extent to which an individual is involved in the political process is shaped by his or her familys level of involvement. If a child is raised in a house that never votes, it is quite unlikely that the child will become an active participant, and vice-versa. Although not as strong of a socializing agent, educational institutions also play a role in developing the behavior of the voter. Schools are filled with teachers who may display thei r own biases, perhaps indirectly socializing their students. This has posed a problem in the mind of conservatives, who claim that liberals, who are plentiful in both public and higher education, unknowingly pull the political beliefs of their students to the left. Next, there may be several temporary factors that contribute to American voting behavior, but party identification has always been a long-term regularity. Nearly two thirds of...

How to Become a Great Leader by Developing Leadership Skills

How to Become a Great Leader by Developing Leadership Skills Leadership skills. Successful people have them. You want them. But if you’re just starting out or looking to move up to the next level, what are they, exactly, and how do you acquire said skills? Saying you’re a leader is all well and good, but you need to be able to demonstrate how you’ve led and instill a level of trust in people. The good news is that it’s never too early (or too late) to start working on your leadership skills.10 Leadership Skills You NeedLet’s start by determining a list of skills that translate to almost any professional situation and apply no matter what your position. If you can cultivate and grow the following 10 skills, you’re well on your way to not having to fake it ’til you make it–you actually can and will eventually lead.1. Project ManagementBeing a leader means being able to see (and implement) the big picture, so project management skills are crucial. Whatever the project is, it’s importa nt to show your control and ability to keep things moving forward at every stage.2. Ability to DelegateAny leader who tries to do everything him- or herself is probably gearing up for a belly flop. Part of leading well means delegating well, and making sure that tasks are going to people who can complete them correctly and on time. Part of that is trusting colleagues to do what they need to do, which can feel like a big leap when our instincts are to trust ourselves first.Knowing what to hold and what to let go is a major part of leadership. It’s about finding the best team and methods to get the job done, not showing off how much you can take on before you drop.3. HonestyIt’s not just about you trusting colleagues; they also have to trust you. That’s not going to happen if you have a history of dishonesty or shadiness at work. If you cut corners or throw people under the bus, the people around you will feel free to do the same, not to mention your reputation wi ll suffer. According to Tanya Prive at Forbes, â€Å"Your business and its employees are a reflection of yourself, and if you make honest and ethical behavior a key value, your team will follow suit.†4. CommunicationGood leaders are good at communication going both ways. They can listen to colleagues and experts to see what’s needed, process those needs into a coherent plan of action, and let everyone involved know. Being able to communicate clearly and efficiently is a must- in person and in writing.5. Risk ManagementThis means being able to identify, evaluate, and handle risks and potential outcomes. This kind of forward thinking shows a maturity, and can prevent you from charging head-first into action without understanding potential consequences.6. Ability to Work with OthersA leader without a team is basically a one-person band. Sure, it’s possible, but it’s not going to sound super great. Good leaders know how to work with different kinds of people without letting personality clashes, conflicts in ideas, etc. derail the work at hand. Diplomatic skills will always come in handy in the workplace, and the person who brokers peace7. Adaptability/Problem SolvingSome things will go perfectly according to plan. Most things won’t. Basically, this is being able to think on your feet, and stay calm when challenges pop up out of nowhere and hit you in the face. Part of leading is coming up with solutions to challenges (seen or unforeseen) and keeping yourself and everyone around you on track no matter what.8. ConfidenceIf you don’t have confidence in yourself and your ability to get the job done, it’s likely no one else will, either. Confidence also means being able to speak up with constructive comments, or give feedback while feeling comfortable about your level of expertise and experience.9. NegotiationWe typically think of negotiation as something you do when you ask for a raise, or get a new job offer. Really, t hese skills are in use every day- it can be as simple as managing expectations for a client or colleague, or setting your own priorities. Being able to say, â€Å"okay, I can do X, but I’ll need Y† is a very important skill to have.10. AccountabilityA big part of leadership is stepping up and saying, â€Å"this didn’t go well. Here’s why, and here’s how I will improve next time.† Owning up to your role in the process, even when things are going wrong, is a very important hallmark of someone who leads, versus someone who just bosses people around (and disappears when it’s time to fix things).You can keep breaking these down into even more granular skills and skill sets, but these 10  skill areas are part of the core leadership package.5 Ways to Build Leadership SkillsNow that you know the kinds of skills you need to start building your leadership credentials, how does one go about doing that? True, a lot of these things build up thro ugh basic experience- trial and error, lessons learned. But you can also take proactive measures to start growing in these areas sooner than later. Let’s look at five ways you can do this.1. Know your leadership style.I think we all believe we’re the â€Å"tough but fair† leader, right? Churchillian, with dashes of Lincoln and Danaerys Targaryen thrown in? Better to know for sure. Like with general career assessments, there are a variety of quizzes you can take to get a sense of what your leadership personality is.Leadership IQWhat Sort of Leader Are You? (SkillsYouNeed)Assessment: What’s Your Leadership Style? (Harvard Business Review)Once you know where your leadership strengths already are, you can really target your skill-building to start bulking up the areas where you could use a little work.2. Be passionate about what you do.This doesn’t mean that you have to change careers to do something you love, but you should always be able to find some thing in your job to be passionate about. When you’re excited about what you’re working on, that will help with confidence and focus, and can spread to those around you. Being engaged in the process and the outcome also attracts the best in those around you, too, which ups everyone’s game.3. Communicate the heck out of everything.If you’re a strong writer but not a great speaker, find a Toastmasters or public speaking class near you. If you dread making presentations, start working PowerPoints into some low-pressure meetings. If you’re great at coming up with a plan in person, but find yourself forgetting details later, start following up with detailed notes (including next steps) right after you leave a conversation or meeting.If you don’t fully understand something, don’t be shy about asking for clarification, and repeating it back to the person just to make sure (â€Å"just so I’m clear, these are our next steps, right?â₠¬ ). It’s not a sign of weakness or incompetence to ask for a quick recap. Rather, it not only shows that you’re listening, but also that you’re understanding and processing as well.4. Be a leader outside of work as well.You can never go wrong with  volunteering, especially for a cause or organization you feel strongly about. They’re happy to have your help, and if you’re engaged and passionate about the work (see #2), it’s an easy way to start building confidence and experience. Every community has a wealth of opportunities, but if you need help finding a good volunteering match for your interests, location, and schedule, these volunteer match services are great:All for GoodVolunteerMatchHandsOn NetworkAdvocacy and volunteer work are a great way to build communication skills, time management skills, operational skills (especially if you’re involved in administration, budgeting, or overseeing), and working-with-others skills, witho ut the pressure of affecting your work performance.5. Learn from the experts.Leadership training is a thing, because no one starts out with a full set of leadership skills. Experience is an important part, of course, but so is the mindset and knowledge base- and both of those can be learned fairly quickly. One way to jumpstart your leadership skills is to take courses. You can take these online, so it fits in with your already-busy life. Some good resources for these types of classes:American Management AssociationCourseraOne MonthClasses like these give you instant access to experts and concepts that can help you start thinking and acting like a leader, no matter where you are in your career at the moment. For those of us not lucky enough to have Jack Donaghy as a mentor, the Internet gives us plenty of access to resources that can start bridging that skills gap.You may have heard the phrase â€Å"natural born leader,† but really, the best leaders are the ones who work hard to get where they are, with the skills and knowledge they pick up along the way. And building those skills is a process you can follow no matter how junior your role is, or how your company is structured- it’s about you, not about your job title. Go forth and start leading!

Instability and Division of Yemen

Instability and Division of Yemen Issues and the Target Audience being Addressed Yemen is one of the countries that have experienced the Arab Spring protests witnessed in other countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. According to Swift (2012, p. 21), these protests started soon after the Tunisian revolution.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Instability and Division of Yemen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Yemenis, just like other Arabs in other parts of the world, were motivated by the success achieved by the civilians in eliminating the autocratic rule in Tunisia. This was in early 2011. When it started, the protestors demanded that the government should not modify the constitution as had been pre-planned. They claimed that such modifications would grant the president absolute powers. The government stopped its plans to modify the constitution in order to pacify the protestors. However, this did not take them away from the streets of Sanaâ⠂¬â„¢a, Yemen’s capital city. They came up with a new demand to justify their stay in the streets. They wanted the long-serving President Ali Abdula Saleh out of office. They accused him of being an autocratic leader who was not concerned about the well-being of the society. The protestors used bombs and other weapons to target the senior government officials, including the president and his family. They succeeded in forcing him out of office in late 2011 (Bennett, 2015, p 14). In 2012, a democratic election was conducted in the country and Rabbuh Mansur Hadi became the president. For a while, all seemed well as the new regime took power. In 2013 and early 2014, the country experienced minor cases of protests in the major streets, especially following some of the landmark decisions made by the president in the cabinet. The year 2014 saw the emergence of Houthi rebels who came up with new demands. By September 2014, the Houthis had taken control of the country’s capital city. The UN intervened, and the rebels agreed to withdraw their forces from Sana’a. However, in 2015, things got worse.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Houthi rebels once again took over the city, putting the president under house arrest in February 2015. The president fled to the southern town of Aden. According to Khaled (2015, p. 11), the Houthis have become so violent in their protests. Having taken over power, they are now moving to southern provinces in order to consolidate their power. This war has drawn the attention of many neighboring countries, making it a policy issue. Iran has been accused of supporting the Houthi rebels. However, Saudi Arabia led other GCC countries to support the ousted government. This paper is specifically addressing the GCC states annual summit. This issue in Yemen is no longer about poor leadership. The long-serving president was ousted in 2011, and a democratically elected president came to power. However, the killings and militant’s rule are still prevailing in this country. The rebels are supported by a neighboring country. Houthi rebels are spreading their rule of terror to Southern parts of Yemen. If this issue is not addressed within the shortest period possible, then the country will be under the rule of the rebels. Their rule will be a security threat to other GCC states. These are people who do not respect the law. They may attempt to spread their rule of terror to neighboring states. This will bring instability in the entire region. For this reason, the GCC states summit must act now to counter this group as fast as possible. Background: The Context and Importance of the Issue The crisis in Yemen has reached a very critical stage. People are dying and the country has become ungovernable. According to Sengupta and Gladstone (2015, p. 13), what is worrying about this situation is that the rebels do not know what they want. They lack a clear justifiable agenda as to why they are in the streets.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Instability and Division of Yemen specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They wanted a change in the regime and they were able to achieve this in 2011. They participated in an election where a president was elected unopposed. Through this election, the Yemenis made their voices heard. It will be important to critically analyze these events in order to understand why there is turmoil in Yemen even after the rebels achieved their objective of changing the leadership of the country. Overview of the root causes of the problem According to Zavis (2015, p. 4), the uprising that intensified in 2011 calling for a change of regime was similar to the events witnessed in other Arab countries that were demanding for a democratic rule. However, the current mayhem caused by the Houthis goes beyond the desire for democratic governance. The current political unrest in Yemen is a policy issue that GCC state summit should investigate and find an appropriate solution to before the country is declared a failed state. For instance, it will be important to investigate why Iran is supporting the Houthi rebels. A successful election was held in the country and many people expected that the country will experience political stability (Bennett, Hennigan Zavis, 2015, p. 2). The Houthis do not have a just cause to wage a war against a democratically elected government. It is therefore, worrying that the Iranian government is supporting them in such wars by providing them with sophisticated weapons. The biggest question that needs an answer is the interest of the Iranian government in having a politically unstable Yemen. Analysis The GCC states summit needs to intervene in the ongoing crisis in Yemen. Regional governments, led by Saudi Arabia, have already started a military action against the Houthi rebels. This is an option that can help stabilize the country and the entire region.Advertising Looking for essay on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In fact, Melinda (2015, p. 8) says that the military actions led by the Saudi government will offer a lasting solution to this problem, especially if it succeeds in installing a government with a military capacity to counter the rebels. However, its weakness is that it may result in deaths and destruction of properties in the country that will affect its economy. The United Nation brokered a deal in 2014 that was accepted by the rebels. The deal involved formation of a coalition government that brings together all the leaders from the north and south regions (Smart, 2015, p. 9). It worked for a while, but the rebels changed their minds and took over power. The benefit of this option is that it eliminates deaths and destruction of property that is common when a military action is taken. The main weakness of this strategy option is that it is prone to abuse by those who have superior military capacity. Potential courses of action This problem must be addressed as a policy issue, espec ially following the entry of outside forces, including the dreaded ISIS fighters. The GCC states summit should consider taking either of these options. The GCC states summit should broker a deal with the government and rebel leaders to form a unity transition government that should last for six years. Within this period, the country will prepare for an election. The winner in that election will become the accepted leader of the country. If the first option fails, then the six federal governments should be given more executive powers to govern themselves. The six countries will then choose one leader to act as the head of state. The head of state should not have executive powers. In both options, there should be a clear warning to either side that a breach of the agreement will be met with a full military action. Any external players such as Iran and ISIS should be warned against playing any role in this peace arrangement. Policy Recommendation According to Tisdall (2015, p. 5), th e GCC states should understand that with Houthi rebels in power in Yemen, the security of the entire region will be at risk. This is specifically so because it is not yet clear who is sponsoring the rebels besides the Iranian government. Ellwood (2015, p. 2) says that the Iranian government has not yet justified why they are supporting the rebels. The following policy recommendations should be given serious considerations. The GCC states should slap the Iranian government with trade sanctions as long as they are still supporting the Houthi rebels. This will help in limiting the weapons and financial resources used by the rebels. The GCC states summit can take advantage to address the problem that ISIS poses in the region. Given that the ISIS is also against the rebels, the GCC leaders can seize the opportunity to find a common solution in the entire region that will bring an end to the constant bloodshed in the region. In case diplomacy fails to achieve the desired results, then th e military intervention may be the last resort as a means of bringing stability to the country. References Bennett, B. (2015, March 14). Joint Statement by the United States and Yemen. Los Angeles Times, p. 14. Bennett, B., Hennigan, W. Zavis, A. (2015, April 16). Saudi-led Yemen air wars high civilian toll unsettles U.S. officials. Los Angeles Times, p. 2. Ellwood, P. (2015, March 30). Policy: Peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa. The Guardian, p. 4. Khaled A. (2015, March 25). The Crisis in Yemen: What You Need to Know. The New York Times, p. 11. Melinda, B. (2015, February 12). Yemen facing forgotten crisis as humanitarian disaster looms. The Guardian, p. 8. Sengupta, S. Gladstone, R. (2015, April 15,). U.N. Envoy in Yemen Conflict Says He Will Resign. The New York Times, p. 13. Smart, J. (2015, April 1). Yemen profile – Timeline. British Broadcasting Corporation, p. 9. Swift, C. (2012, March 18). The Crisis in Yemen: al-Qaeda, Saleh, and Governmental Instability. Foreign Policy Research Institute, p. 21. Tisdall, S. (2015, March 26). Iran-Saudi proxy war in Yemen explodes into region-wide crisis. The Guardian, p. 5. Zavis, A. (2015, April 16). Al Qaeda seizes Yemen airport, military base; U.N. envoy resigns. Los Angeles Times, p. 4.

Region Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Region Report - Essay Example For a region with such modest total land area, it is host to a large number of different languages. There are examples from the Germanic group (German, Dutch, and Danish) and the Romance group (French) (de Blij and Muller, 2004). The large number of languages spoken in Western Europe is somewhat of a hindrance to the unified Europe movement, but the EU seems to be dealing effectively with the heterogeneous nature of its membership. Western Europe has an additional advantage in the area of language: it enjoys one of the highest literacy rates in the world. In the western part of this region, English is perhaps the most common language, but its influence diminishes as one heads east in Europe (MapQuest, 2005). The most powerful country in the region is Germany. It is the most populous, has the strongest economy, and is influential in the EU. Its geography features northern lowlands, uplands in the central area, and the Bavarian Alps in south Germany led much of the world into war twice during the twentieth century. After each world war, nations of the world were eager to restrict Germany’s industrial power, since it had been so integral in the success of Germany’s military. But in West Germany, the American-led Marshall Plan sought to rescue Germany’s economy so that it would not be faced with the same economic stability that had allowed the Nazional Party to rise. As a result, West Germany was organized into a modern federal state with strong democratic principles. Its economy grew rapidly: from 1949 to 1964, its GNP tripled and industrial output steadily rose (de Blij and Muller, 2004). West Germany’s political leaders aggressively sought new trade partners, and took advantage of the nation’s central location. Its infrastructure demolished, it built new transportation networks and facilities based on the latest technology (de Blij and Muller, 2004). In 1990, it reunified with East Germany and took on the economic burden of its flagging

Balance scorecard Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Balance scorecard - Coursework Example Jack (2009) explains that in the USA currently, the horticulture farming achieves a gross total of $98.9 billion and it’s ranked the third largest in the US agricultural industry. Grains farming accumulate to $111.3 billion while beef farming accounts to $99.2 billion dollars annually. Horticultural farming performs better than poultry, cotton and wool farming combined. It is estimated that the greenhouse horticulture would increase to 9.3% of the total agricultural sector by the year 2018. Greenhouse horticulture output leads to 3.5 million tones of agricultural produce annually which accounts to 5% of the agricultural output. Currently, the Gross Value of Production (GVP) generated by each employee accounts for $295,648 annually. A total of $9227 is generated per hectare in the gross value of production. Jack (2009) further illustrates that in terms of the Gross value of Production (GVP) developed per hectare, horticulture is the third successful productive sector in the agr icultural industry followed exceeding poultry farming. From the analysis it can be noted horticulture has vast opportunities for financial success which the nursery volunteers can embrace. Niven (2010) describes that Business Scorecard (BSC) was coined by Robert Kaplan from Harvard and David Norton in 1992 in the measurement of intangible assets which played a vital role in the increase of their financial figures. Kaplan and Norton believed that for managers to improve on their management of intangible assets; they had to incorporate the measurement of their value into their management programs. After the formulation of the business model several companies adopted it and 15 years down the line, it was further adopted by thousands of other public, private and nonprofit companies. The concept was further expanded to include the communicating, describing and implementation of the strategy. The four BSC perspectives include the learning and growth perspective, the customer perspective,

Cross cultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cross cultural communication - Essay Example She advises that when you visit another country; forget about popular notions about the people. When doing business with Spanish and Swiss for instance, do not expect that the latter arrives on time and is more organized because that is how we have been socialized to believe. It is imperative to appreciate that such characteristics are dependent on the individual. We had punctual Spanish people and disorganized Swiss. Therefore do not assume that every Spanish person you meet will be late and that the Swiss are always punctual, you might end up very surprised. In other words, cross-cultural stereotypes might negatively influence our ability to perceive things properly. Currently, there are very helpful courses that help those who want to work or live abroad cultivate cross-cultural awareness, which is very essential in developing global competence and in building international teams. Such courses help individuals identify and then can deal with such cross-cultural differences ultimately improving their overall capacity in developing and most of all maintaining efficacious cros s-cultural relations. Sometimes stereotypes lead us into misunderstanding and judging other individuals in accordance to much unfounded generalizations, which sometimes may be very detrimental since we miss the point of meeting new people and knowing them as individuals, not as a population. Communicaid is a cross-cultural awareness-training center that helps you understand your counterpart’s behavior without relying on any stereotypes. Remember that such beliefs about other individual’s habits and behavior can greatly influence our expectations and attitudes when communicating with cultures different from our own. Nevertheless, this does not imply that no stereotypes are important. They help us in some situations where we are dealing with strangers since culture is responsible for shaping our perceptions and thoughts, we can be able to

On Sexual Double Standard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Sexual Double Standard - Essay Example Guys will take advantage of her, use her, and try to get her to bed. She will have a hard time having girlfriends as she will surely be avoided and despised out of disgust. Men are not exempt from double standards. Having friends from the opposite sex during a relationship is also subject to the sexuality of who's making friends with whom. Girls will always justify their relationships with other guys since they are "always in control of their emotions" and are "able to separate boyfriends from boy friends." The situation is a lot more different when guys are concerned. A man who has a close friend while in a relationship is always confronted and accused of dishonorable things. He may even be charged for keeping that friend in time of "loneliness." Double standard is but a bitter fact of life. The truth that standards are almost always applied more leniently to one gender than to another is a manifestation of huge injustice. Double standard greatly violates one tenet of justice known as impartiality-the principle that "same standards be applied to all people, without regard to subjective bias or favoritism." The existence of double standard clearly implies the toleration of discrimination, unfairness, inequality, and prejudice. Thus, double standard should cease to exist in order to promote justice in the society. Men and women should have a fair playing field where each receives equal reaction and recognition of what they "do" and not of what they "are." The widespread double standard in our society is due to various justifications. It is argued that sexual double standard is natural and that's the way things should be. Society has readily accepted that some things are naturally "men's" things while some are "women's." A good example of this is the widespread perception that men are polygamous, allowing them to sleep around even if they are in a relationship but women are expected to be faithful to their husbands. However, viewing that the existence of double standard as natural is also another way of accepting that prejudice and injustice are natural phenomena. The above illustrations of double standard emphasizes the fact that double standard tolerates misbehavior of one gender attributing this to "human nature." Infidelity is perceived to be acceptable when committed by male. The argument here is that, misbehavior should be totally reprimanded and eradicated as it destructs the morality of a community. Just think about the number of families being shattered by "father's night outs." Justifying moral degradation with double standard will not only endanger the moral fiber in the society but will tend to destroy it altogether. The equal right of both sexes is also tainted by double standard. A man who is attracted to a pretty woman can always ask her out. However, a woman asking a man out is less acceptable. The commencement of a relationship is seen as the "right" of every guy while ladies can only accept. It is argued that each man and woman should have the same right and opportunity not only in pursuing relationships but other important aspects. The existence of double standard only gives way to the famous perception that one sex is stronger while the other is relatively weaker. This unequal right irrefutable leads to oppression. The existence of double standard in the society creates an imbalance not only in the responsibility but rights of people. As

Proposal Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Proposal - Term Paper Example Need for Healthcare Coverage Congratulations on the adoption of a comprehensive Employee Assistance Program for your organization. Employee Assistance Programs are quite popular and are the need of the hour, as the cost of medical coverage is becoming increasingly out of reach for the majority of Americans- especially among the middle class, the poorer classes and the homeless sections of society. Many of us have been the victims of the last financial crisis, losing homes, cars, jobs and even the chance to lead a proper lifestyle. All in all, the need for proper and complete healthcare coverage cannot be denied in today’s workplace. Healthy employees are the boon of any workplace; they can function at the peak of their performance and make a great difference to productivity and the bottom line. At the other end of the spectrum, how many of us have been affected by bouts of ill health that keep us from performing at our best on any given workday. Even the common cold or a naggi ng headache or worst of all an excruciating toothache or earache can make us take the day off and stay at home in pain and discomfort. So clearly, healthcare coverage has many benefits not only for the employees but also for the organization. Key Elements of the Employee Assistance Program It is worthwhile to remember a fundamental truth: an employee can only be said to be functioning at his full capacity if he is in sound health physically, mentally and psychologically. The stress of modern city and corporate life has undoubtedly left its mark on us all, and the pressure of working in a corporate setup often complicates matters especially if there is a lot of competition. Employees have been known to do everything from an excess of apple polishing to working beyond normal limits to gain the support of their bosses. Unfortunately some even take drugs and opiates to enhance productivity, which is unethical and can have disastrous consequences for the health of these employees, as wel l as the reputation of the organization in the long run. Consider what can happen if a disgruntled employee decided to get trigger happy in the office to vent out his anger of not being promoted, or being overlooked in terms of certain perks. This would amount to a public relations disaster and must be avoided. Knowing this, Aetna Insurance has provided for rehabilitation and care in the event of even such an instance of drug abuse. Sometimes drug taking for recreational use can turn into an addiction like smoking and alcoholism. Drug taking has even ruined the careers of such celebrities like Lindsay Lohan and Robert Downey Jr. So let Aetna help you to avoid any drug related mishap or control its repercussions by virtue of access to our 24 hour clinics that have been established in every major American city as well as our online support facility that never stops, any time of the day or night. History of the Company Aetna Insurance Company has been providing healthcare to Americans like you and me for over 150 years and running. The company was started way back in 1853 in Hartford, Connecticut (www.aetna.com) and is today one of the nation's leading providers of health care including pharmacy, dental, disability insurance, group life and employee benefits. The company has a variety of plans and programs to fit your pocket and specific coverage needs. There are also a variety of plans for small, medium and large scale organizations with differing levels of

Case study analysis Nike sweatshops and business ehtics

Analysis Nike sweatshops and business ehtics - Case Study Example The sells a number of their products per year but the company lacks a production unit and thus contracts other companies to manufacture for them all around the world. It is estimated that over 900,000 million people are employed in these different companies around the world to produce Nike based products alone. A large number of these companies are based in Asian countries like Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia where critics have accused Nike to offer poor working condition for the workers as opposed to the United States’ labor laws. The company has been accused on several occasions for exploiting the sweatshop labors upon which its operations are based to increase their profitability while exploiting the locals and rewarding them poorly. Nike had total revenue of $16 billion in 2007, a slight improvement from what the company posted in the previous years. Introduction This paper provides a detailed case study of Nike sweat shops as they are curren tly operated and managed across the globe. As part of the analysis, the business model adopted by Nike shall be analyzed in this paper, providing a comparison with other business models that do exist. The core mission, values and visions of the company will also be discussed to ascertain their relevance in the progress of the company. This paper will adopt the five porter analysis technique to describe the strategic plans and approaches adopted by Nike sweatshops. Porter five force analyses is a framework developed to enable consultants conduct critical industry analysis and business strategy development. SWOT analysis of the company will also be conducted to help form a clear basis upon which their success and/or failure will be weighed. Ethical issues in Nike sweatshops have been a major topic both in the United States and in other countries where the company’s goods are manufactured. This case study will also seek to provide a detailed analysis of the ethical conduct and m isconduct of Nike sweatshop to ascertain the relevance of the claims. Finally, recommendations based on the results obtained from the analysis will be provided emphasizing on the legal requirements that guide such recommendations. Existing business model Business model provides an in-depth analysis of the practices of the business that seeks to create, deliver and capture value for the products being handled. In this section, the core operational aspects of the business, strategies employed organizational culture and structure and trading policies will be evaluated. The business model adopted by any organization contributed to a larger percentage its ability to succeed and deliver value to its consumers. Nike has a value proposition that translates into nothing is impossible if you put the right effort and practice into whatever you want to achieve. This has been a marketing strategy adopted by the company for long to enable it retain its sport consumers who require motivation in th eir daily endeavors. The creation of innovation and inspiration to all athletes in the world the company’s core target and this has enabled Nike to maintain its traditional customers in the sporting fraternity (Drago 117). Nike has for long adopted the franchising business model to enable it produce large volumes of products that can meet the demands of its large consumers spread across the world. Franchising is defined as a practice of using other

On Sexual Double Standard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Sexual Double Standard - Essay Example Guys will take advantage of her, use her, and try to get her to bed. She will have a hard time having girlfriends as she will surely be avoided and despised out of disgust. Men are not exempt from double standards. Having friends from the opposite sex during a relationship is also subject to the sexuality of who's making friends with whom. Girls will always justify their relationships with other guys since they are "always in control of their emotions" and are "able to separate boyfriends from boy friends." The situation is a lot more different when guys are concerned. A man who has a close friend while in a relationship is always confronted and accused of dishonorable things. He may even be charged for keeping that friend in time of "loneliness." Double standard is but a bitter fact of life. The truth that standards are almost always applied more leniently to one gender than to another is a manifestation of huge injustice. Double standard greatly violates one tenet of justice known as impartiality-the principle that "same standards be applied to all people, without regard to subjective bias or favoritism." The existence of double standard clearly implies the toleration of discrimination, unfairness, inequality, and prejudice. Thus, double standard should cease to exist in order to promote justice in the society. Men and women should have a fair playing field where each receives equal reaction and recognition of what they "do" and not of what they "are." The widespread double standard in our society is due to various justifications. It is argued that sexual double standard is natural and that's the way things should be. Society has readily accepted that some things are naturally "men's" things while some are "women's." A good example of this is the widespread perception that men are polygamous, allowing them to sleep around even if they are in a relationship but women are expected to be faithful to their husbands. However, viewing that the existence of double standard as natural is also another way of accepting that prejudice and injustice are natural phenomena. The above illustrations of double standard emphasizes the fact that double standard tolerates misbehavior of one gender attributing this to "human nature." Infidelity is perceived to be acceptable when committed by male. The argument here is that, misbehavior should be totally reprimanded and eradicated as it destructs the morality of a community. Just think about the number of families being shattered by "father's night outs." Justifying moral degradation with double standard will not only endanger the moral fiber in the society but will tend to destroy it altogether. The equal right of both sexes is also tainted by double standard. A man who is attracted to a pretty woman can always ask her out. However, a woman asking a man out is less acceptable. The commencement of a relationship is seen as the "right" of every guy while ladies can only accept. It is argued that each man and woman should have the same right and opportunity not only in pursuing relationships but other important aspects. The existence of double standard only gives way to the famous perception that one sex is stronger while the other is relatively weaker. This unequal right irrefutable leads to oppression. The existence of double standard in the society creates an imbalance not only in the responsibility but rights of people. As

Case study analysis Nike sweatshops and business ehtics

Analysis Nike sweatshops and business ehtics - Case Study Example The sells a number of their products per year but the company lacks a production unit and thus contracts other companies to manufacture for them all around the world. It is estimated that over 900,000 million people are employed in these different companies around the world to produce Nike based products alone. A large number of these companies are based in Asian countries like Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Indonesia where critics have accused Nike to offer poor working condition for the workers as opposed to the United States’ labor laws. The company has been accused on several occasions for exploiting the sweatshop labors upon which its operations are based to increase their profitability while exploiting the locals and rewarding them poorly. Nike had total revenue of $16 billion in 2007, a slight improvement from what the company posted in the previous years. Introduction This paper provides a detailed case study of Nike sweat shops as they are curren tly operated and managed across the globe. As part of the analysis, the business model adopted by Nike shall be analyzed in this paper, providing a comparison with other business models that do exist. The core mission, values and visions of the company will also be discussed to ascertain their relevance in the progress of the company. This paper will adopt the five porter analysis technique to describe the strategic plans and approaches adopted by Nike sweatshops. Porter five force analyses is a framework developed to enable consultants conduct critical industry analysis and business strategy development. SWOT analysis of the company will also be conducted to help form a clear basis upon which their success and/or failure will be weighed. Ethical issues in Nike sweatshops have been a major topic both in the United States and in other countries where the company’s goods are manufactured. This case study will also seek to provide a detailed analysis of the ethical conduct and m isconduct of Nike sweatshop to ascertain the relevance of the claims. Finally, recommendations based on the results obtained from the analysis will be provided emphasizing on the legal requirements that guide such recommendations. Existing business model Business model provides an in-depth analysis of the practices of the business that seeks to create, deliver and capture value for the products being handled. In this section, the core operational aspects of the business, strategies employed organizational culture and structure and trading policies will be evaluated. The business model adopted by any organization contributed to a larger percentage its ability to succeed and deliver value to its consumers. Nike has a value proposition that translates into nothing is impossible if you put the right effort and practice into whatever you want to achieve. This has been a marketing strategy adopted by the company for long to enable it retain its sport consumers who require motivation in th eir daily endeavors. The creation of innovation and inspiration to all athletes in the world the company’s core target and this has enabled Nike to maintain its traditional customers in the sporting fraternity (Drago 117). Nike has for long adopted the franchising business model to enable it produce large volumes of products that can meet the demands of its large consumers spread across the world. Franchising is defined as a practice of using other

Types of Volleyball Practice Essay Example for Free

Types of Volleyball Practice Essay †¢ massed practice and distributed practice †¢ whole practice and part practice †¢ blocked practice and random practice †¢ varied and constant practice †¢ drill and problem solving Massed Practice; is a training routine in which a skill is practised continuously and consistently. E.g. 50 softball pitches, 25 basketball free throws, volleyball 40 serves. A barrier to massed practice includes fatigue and motivation and is usually undesirable to beginners. Distributed Practice; consists of short, frequent practice sessions with rest intervals. This type of practice is effective for learning skills. E.g. 5 sets of 20 chest passes with 2 minute rests. Most evidence indicates that distributed practice is more effective in improving performance. Whole Practice; is the learning of the skill in its entirety. This type of practice is effective in skills that are high in complexity and low in organisation such as jump shot or skating. Part Practice; is the learning of each of the separate components of the skill. It is particularly effective when the skill being taught is complex and has clearly defined components e.g. golf swing. Both Part and Whole Practice can be used to teach the same skills e.g. breaststroke. Blocked Practice; is where learners attempt the same skill repeatedly in order to refine and improve their performance. E.g. Tennis –15 forehands,15 backhands, 15 volleys. More effective for learners in the cognitive stage. Random Practice; is when all components of the multi task skill are practiced in random order within each practice session. Constant Practice; refers to the practice of only one skill without any variation e.g. kicking a ball to a target 10 away. Varied Practice; refers to practicing a class of skills using variations within the one practice session. E.g. kicking to a target 10m away then 20m away and 30m. Drills; Learning through repetition (eg. Dig, Set, spike drill we do in class) Problem Solving; learning through investigation and discovery. (if the teacher gave you a ball and said â€Å"work out how to serve the ball with no instruction or feedback)

How Does Corruption Effect International Development Politics Essay

How Does Corruption Effect International Development Politics Essay Corruption is omnipresent in society and is taking total control over the minds of citizens at an alarming rate. Even though actions are being taken worldwide, corruption is still a main issue of concern for world leaders and prestigious organizations like the United Nations and the Southern African Development Community. With reference to several surveys carried out by great economists, psychologists and watchdog bodies around the world, we have carried out this project to investigate how far corruption affects development and creates inequality in Mauritian society. However due to time and word constraints, we have preferred to focus on the Mauritian society. [Introduction] Corruption may be simply defined as The abuse of public or private office for personal gain (Prevention of Corruption Act 2002) or The abuse of authority for personal gain (Independent Commission Against Corruption, Hong Kong) Bribery, favoritism, helotism, extortion and embezzlement and use of influence are examples of acts of corruption. Corruption is omnipresent in the society. However, many people do not realize that corruption is having a great and deep impact on our Mauritian society. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing wider and wider with corruption and this is also hindering our economic progress. Corruption may thus be compared to a cancer which needs to be controlled at all cost before it spreads dangerously and threaten the very fabric of our democratic nation. As the saying goes, An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, both public and private sectors in Mauritius or even worldwide should work together in the battle against corruption- a fight against corrupt individuals, practices and systems. This strategy will help to enhance good governance and transparency in the economical mechanisms throughout the world. Risks of bribery and extortion between the private and public sectors as well as private companies should be minimized. Each organization should establish its own anti-corruption policies and strategies; corruption-prevention checkups should be reinforced and systems improved. The help of foreign fraud specialists and consultants should definitely be solicited if positive results want to be seen. The Mauritian ICAC adopts a three-pronged strategy to fight corruption, namely, through law enforcement, education and prevention. Its vision: Mauritius-our home, clean and fair. ICAC needs support and cooperation and commitment of the national population to succeed in its fight against corruption. The ICAC acts independently, impartially, fairly and in the sole interest of the public. Such organizations are one major step in the cleansing process of the society; in eradicating corruption. Corruption prevention programs can help increase confidence in such organizations. They enhance integrity in the organization financial reporting and promote the development of an ethical culture while ensuring transparency and good governance. However, risks of corruption can rarely be completely eliminated. The boards of organizations, and not sole individual, must constantly be alert about these types of risks. Only then shall acts of corruption diminish and society progress. Chapter 1 [why corruption?] Ivan Pavlov, the Nobel Prize winner in Psychology or Medicine in1904, described the operant condition as the food of all corrupt acts. Pavlov suggested in 1904 that the corrupt man acts similarly to a trained dog. He answers to stimuli which trigger his memory. As such the memory is related to corruption. Actually, the need of prevailing over someone and gain power over him is what triggers corruption. A person compares himself with one of his fellow friend. The desire of seeing this friend unsuccessful triggers reinforcement for corruption- jealousy. Human psychology explains that since jealousy means not willing to abide by the success of someone, it forces the person to apply force so as to triumph over him. Such mediocre thoughts are the image of a mediocre mindset. Memories which trigger such acts are accumulated through a persons life- from childhood till death. The stimuli-response behaviour is so subconscious that we are not able to recognize it and take actions against it. Therefore, if the person gains profit when he abuses human relationships, his brain captures the situation and causes the person to act repetitively in this way. Thus corruption and lust for power makes a persons life immoral. When such a stage is reached, the person cannot go backwards. He finds pleasure in taking advantage of other persons to gain profit. He cannot do otherwise since he will fail and will eventually need to abide by corruption. Last time, when I took advantage of that gullible guy, I won that prize. So now I guess that I will win again. Why should he succeed? I cannot allow this. I shall do something!These are what might be passing through the mind of a person just before he commits an act of corruption: If I do that, I will be the one gaining profit from it. I shall do it. Then, only will people recognize me. I must attain that height, no matter what! I must do it! Let me bully that guy so that he does the dirty work for me. However, some people do not corrupt deliberately but instead they are forced to do so. Corruption consumes the person bit by bit until it becomes his way of living. This is a major psychological phenomenon prevailing in many countries. Corruption is triggered by many factors which cause the human mind to become feeble and rely on corrupt measures to earn a living. Such factors are listed below: Low wages Hope is all what a low-waged employee can have. However, as time passes, lust and impatience take over his mind. This is the beginning of corruption which eventually leads to the death of the society. Low wages pressurizes the person to obtain more money. Between his social status and familial pressures, he opts for corruption to seek for a better future. Since most of the employees in Mauritius earn a modest living, they will normally be tempted to easy-money. This scourge is spreading worldwide and the real root of this problem is none other than the merged action of a lack of meritocracy and an unprecedented rise in the standard of living. Weak sense of civilization So much is being said nowadays and so little is being done. After so much years of moral and social enlightenment, it is a matter of shame that the corrupt can still act blind in front of the suffering that he is both directly and indirectly inflicting to others. It is shocking to find that even highly educated persons and high dignitaries are implicated in fraud cases. Such a case to be noted is The Watergate Scandal in 1974. The President, Richard Nixon, governing over America then was arrested after having been proven guilty of stealing, abusing indulging in campaigns frauds, political espionage and sabotage, fund laundering, massive wire tapping and the list goes on. Such a high dignitary and he stooped so low. This shows the hypnotic power lust and materialism can have on the human brain. In President Nixons case, he did not even ponder on the feeling of betrayal the millions of Americans felt on the day they found out this scandalous truth. Indeed, corruption kills our inner self and makes us as death as a corpse. Culture In African countries, it has become a tradition that after rendering a service, the person should be rewarded in terms of gratuity or tip. This tradition is so intensely practiced in some countries that the glimpse of abolishing it might create a huge cultural rift. In Africa, the reward is usually to gift the chief special honours, and in this way, politicians accepting such honour and rewards are considered acceptable. As such some politician might take advantage of this tradition and render its value nil. They would ask for gifts and rewards for jobs. This type of corruption makes the society sick and even worse is when the whole society indulges in corruption, thereby leaving not a ray of hope for a reestablishment of law and order. Absence of institutional mechanisms In a country where there are no institutions, either internal or external, to investigate into complaints related to corruption, the tendency of people practicing corrupt acts is relatively high. This is so since the chance of getting caught is minute. The absence of watchdog institutions also minimizes the consequences if the offender is caught. Wisely, such institutions should be built. It will increase the countrys economic growth since less fraudulous trades will be done. As such the country will regain a better image in terms of financial security. This will furthermore increase the Foreign Direct Investments of the country which will be the start of an unprecedented rise in wealth and status for the country. Absence of rules and regulations and lack of transparency Rules and regulations should remain omnipresent in an organization so that the employees can behave and conduct themselves in an appropriate and acceptable way. Such limitations allow everyone to be treated and judged fairly and equally. The effectiveness of these rules depends on the way of communicating them to individuals so that they are implemented and followed. The presence of a clear policy and legislation, and a wide range of enforced rules and regulations and policies might help to decrease the level of corruption in an organization or even a country. On the other hand, the absence of transparency increases the risks of corrupt acts. Transparency, as such, means tasks and functions been conducted and are open for examination by the Government officers or the general public. Also, the media must have the right of freedom of speech so that the media can inform citizens about any act of corruption been reported to it. Corruption is deterred by a transparent system as civil servants remain constantly vigilant. Therefore, strict rules create the fear of been defame by the media if the act is reported. This can drastically decrease the rate of corruption in a country because every person cherishes most his status. Discretion and absence of accountability In every system, there should be a person or an authority to take decisions. Such a person or authority has the freedom to act within certain limits. Corruption can occur where public officials: Have immense authority, Are not accountable to anyone, and Have lust instead of the grey matter. An environment with more discretion and without accountability is more prone to be submerged by corruption. Public leaders and civil servants should be accountable to the general public in a democratic country. This means that they should be able to answer to people for the action taken if a question is raised on the topic in question. Lack of effective laws can cause corruption to flourish as people will be carefree and act as they want. Therefore accountability is definitely one of paths toward neutralizing corruption. Chapter 2 [trend of corruption in mauritius] Several studies have been carried out during the last decade about the opinions of Mauritians on the perception of corruption. The Research Institute Analysis carried a survey in 1998 by interviewing 500 people. The results obtained have been classified into 3 main categories: The Tolerance of Mauritian Towards the Perception of Corruption It has been concluded that Mauritians normally tolerate, or more specifically, favour corruption whenever they can benefit from it. Paradoxically, they are the first one to condemn acts of corruption. Thus, within 37% of managers interviewed within the private sector. Corruption is commonly accepted in businesses since it plays a vital role in ensuring the success of the enterprise and thus output a favourable profit. On the whole, 85% of the interviewed people agreed that they do not tolerate corruption while the remaining 15%confess that indeed corruption does affect their activities directly. In 2004, 58% of people questioned said they would report any case of corruption they witnessed. However 30% thought that in doing so they might create problems for themselves. The remaining 22% feared possible acts of vengeance. The Most Corrupted Sectors in Mauritius From the surveys carried out, The police sector and the National Transport Authority (NTA) have been considered as most corrupted in terms of awarding contracts to private enterprises. The politicians are the most cited among the most corrupted persons of the country. The general opinion of the public about the private sector is also pessimistic. According to a survey carried out by the ICAC in 2004, 28% of people questioned think that the private sector runs in a corrupt environment, while 54% think that the private sector operates in a clean atmosphere. The Effectiveness of Legal Measures In 2004, an interview revealed that: 29.5% of people queried believed that laws against corruption are efficient, 26% thought the opposite, 20% considered that laws are efficient but are unfortunately not applied effectively, 32.8% assumed that the power of the court as an institute is limited and insignificant towards high dignitaries (the part of the general public did not receive University Education). On an international ground, The Transparency International Corruption Perception Index has rewarded Mauritius as follows: Chapter 3 [corruption and development] Corruption has always existed. During recent decades, however, corruption has grown both in terms of intensity and geographic extent. Since the 1970s, it has infiltrated every country in the world. After the end of the Cold War, it was expected that political and economical restrictions would somehow reduce this trend. People hoped that the process of democratization and openness, resulting from political pluralism and freedom of the press, should mobilize efforts to overcome corruption. Unfortunately, emergent democracies are still delicate and seem to find the duty of tackling with corruption very difficult. Nowadays, it is seen that weakened state structures, such as inappropriate legislations, powerlessness on the part of the judicial system to fight against corruption, and pursuit of easy money, altogether contribute to aggravating the situation. Such a state of affairs surely has an effect on those who are involved and concerned by development issues. As such corruption is one of the major obstacles in a countrys progress and its effects on development are disastrous. On analyzing the effects that corruption has on development, we found out that corruption adversely affects development in the following ways: Corruption increases the costs of goods and services. Although there is 5% reduction in the profit margin, corruption levels of 10% to 20%, which is the price and will consequently, be paid for through the national or foreign resources of the country. Thus, it is the national economy that suffers the consequences of an unreasonable surcharge on the goods or services bought. Since such operations are normally financed by bank loans or by foreign parties, through concessional loans, corruption indirectly increases the country debts. Corruption affects the quality of services supplied to the public. The corrupt person is tempted to accept a substandard quality of service which increases his personal profit margin. Then, the complicity between the Government and the contractors may result in corner-cutting with regard to agreed quality standards so that the savings made may be shared out between the two parties. Corruption affects the conception of a project. In this section, we are referring to situations in which the real development priorities of a country are neglected in favour of operations which generate the greatest personal gain for the decision-makers. Corruption causes the Government to spend more on the construction of unwanted projects or on lower order investments in infrastructure rather than on social areas. In most corrupted countries, corrupt politicians tend to choose projects irrespective of their intrinsic economic factor but rather on the bribes and kickbacks that these projects offer which results in poor infrastructures leading to economic imbalance. Rise in the public burden. Due to corruption, many countries that borrow money to finance projects and are not able to satisfy their real needs will see their debt burden increase. The loss will be 100% if one views it in terms of the cost of the unproductive investment t the national economy. From the many researches we have carried out and investigated on, we have found out that political corruption is the main object of concern as far as development is affected. It is a fact that politicians are the one who control the whole development mechanism. This phenomenon is not present in every state but the moment its presence is confirmed, that state starts degrading. Political corruption takes place when decisions are made on the budget. This is the root of political corruption which accounts for a massive load of corruption across the world. As such, high rates of corruption divert resources away from their real functions and it also reduces the Government revenue. This decrease in income further decreases the resources available for public investment: development is eventually affected. High corruption rate is also associated with poor infrastructure; bodies are not working at full efficiency thus decreasing output. So, when corrupt politicians influence the approval of an investment project, the rate of return, as calculated by the cost-benefit analysis, is no more the criterion for project selection. A compilation of corrupt decision as such often fails to generate the wanted economic growth. Further on, negligible economic growth halts any type of social and infrastructural development. Corruption leads to tax evasion and poor administration. In many cases, tax collection is much less than estimated financial commitments: Pensions, Interest payments, Public debts, Salaries, and Subsidies. This was one of the major problems that Mauritius faced in the past years due to uneven governance from the various politicians in power. However, gradually politicians have become aware of the danger they are going to face in the near future. As remedial measures, they have taken long term effect measures to prevent any further misbalances to the economy. The positive results of these crucial but necessary measures can be perceived and yet many more are to come. Chapter 4 [corruption and inequality] Corruption and inequality are directly linked. There are two ways in which they are correlated: The change of economic inequality due to corruption, and Economic inequality as a factor of corruption. In other words, an increase in corruption due to economic inequality can produce additional drawbacks. Judicial corruption has also a very big hand in bringing economic inequality. The first example that can be taken is in terms of the tax system. Nowadays, due to corruption, we have a biased tax system where wealthy are favoured and become richer and the poor are marginalized and remain poor. The result of this favouritism leads to a defective tax administration causing an unprecedented increase in social inequality as the gap between the poor and the rich is maintained. Adding to this situation is the poor effective targeting of social programs which, due to corruption, are having a serious problem. Funds that are supposed to help in alleviating poverty are being shifted from trust funds to reach powerful individuals. This is really going to increase inequality in society as the poor people will not be able to enjoy their merits while on the other hand the rich people will continuously play with money. Poor people are the only victim of acts of corruption. Hence an increase in the rate of the perception of corruption will cause an increase in poverty, causing the regression of a country and ultimately the downfall of the world. It is true that when you invest in corruption, there is always the uncertainty that you will get what you actually wanted. The rules constantly change. Thus if a poor person invests in a corrupt plan, then the powerful and wealthy individuals might easily turn the tables and take all the profit. Therefore, inequality will always prevail amongst individuals as long as the barrier between the poor and the rich is not breached. Social trust also plays a fundamental role between equality and corruption. If politicians of one country will keep on trusting the population and vice-versa, then corruption will be totally eradicated. Rich and poor people will never be tagged. Thus, everyone will earn equal amount of money and eating the same quality and amount of food. However, it is all due to mans vile mind that social trust is gradually disappearing from the society. People tend to snatch others possessions and in trying to be like others, they simply crush the desires of others. This disease is due to social inequality and the materialistic barrier between the poor and the rich. Chapter 5 [government measures] Corruption has become one of the most serious problems in Mauritius. In order to fight this scourge, the leading Governments, over time, have taken several corrective measures: Strict Judiciary System Obligations Watchdog Body Strict Judiciary System With enforced laws and regulations, people caught practicing corrupt acts are dealt with more severely. Through time, much legislation has failed in their task of rendering justice and controlling the rate of corruption. In a more optimistic point of view, several legislations have been modified in order to adopt a more realistic and righteous approach to criminal acts- corruption. They have permitted through the years to bring development in the society and to help people stay within their limits. Watchdog Bodies The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) was established on the 1st April 2002 as the Prevention of Corruption Act (PoCA) 2002 was put into effect by official proclamations. The principal aim of the ICAC is to plan and implement the national strategy against corruption in the Republic of Mauritius. Its mission statement is: With the community, the ICAC is committed to fight corruption through effective law enforcement, education and prevention to help keep Mauritius fair, just, stable and prosperous. The ICAC is an independent body and acts impartially. The ICAC investigates all allegations of corruption that are reported in respect of both the public and private sectors and then takes appropriate remedial measures. For instance, the ICAC and the MQI launched the second edition of the Best Anti-Corruption Framework 2008 at the Rajiv Gandhi Science centre on Wednesday 7th May 2008. Its aim was to identify loopholes and weaknesses in enterprises that may give opportunities for corruption and initiate actions for fraud detection and prevention. In addition, the ICAC plays an important role in education whereby its goals are: Make educators more concerned about imparting knowledge Promote good control education Enhance professional and moral principles among teachers Provide strength and support to teachers to enable them to fight actively against corruption Boost up the inclusion of anti-corruption education in the school curriculum Obligations The Republic of Mauritius is growing day by day and in order to bring sustainable development, the Government is continuously making commitments with several high order organizations: The United Nations Convention Against Corruption, The SADC Protocol Against Corruption and The African Union on Preventing and Combating Corruption among many others. The fundamental raison dà ªtre of such obligations is to attract foreign investments to the country in order to have a positive economic growth and hence progress in the world. Chapter 6 [evaluation of measures] In this section we will be dealing with a local case and explain how the case in question affected development and created inequality in society. Also, we will try to find out what more can be done in order to prevent such situations in the future. 1 Mr. Robert Rivalland was prosecuted in this year for being part of a plot which was to the detriment of Air Mauritius. He was part of a money laundering case between 1982 and 1997, along with three other high officials of the Air Mauritius and The Rogers: the case was withdrawn from the three other partners. Robert Rivalland was the only one accused of having corruptly diverted about Rs. 85 million. His lawyer, Mrs. Yamilla Moonshiram, declared that the case of his defendant was stronger compared to one of the three other accused. Mr. Rivalland was finally condemned. Analysis: During this case, Mr. Rivalland seemed to be quite silent, especially during the case hearing. This may be seen in two ways: either he is truly innocent or he is really a culprit. Being part of the so called suspicious commission during 1982 and 1997 made it a hard attack against his defense in Court. As such, his name was mentioned several times when one of his fellow partners was accused: he was the one who approved the cheques which were diverted from the Air Mauritius account. During the 15 years of conspiracy, the Air Mauritius suffered a colossal loss. The Rs. 85 million could have been used in the expansion of the airport. This would furthermore enable a more massive flow of tourists in and out of the country. Since tourism is one of the pillars of the economy of our country, the whole nation would have benefited to a much larger extent. Moreover, the employees of Air Mauritius could have enjoyed a better salary which would have led to a higher standard of living and increase their productivity at work. The plot created a great disturbance in the Mauritian economy. The employees of Air Mauritius were marginalized. They could not benefit from any rise in their salaries and this further increased the gap between the rich and the poor in the society. The poor workers had to struggle to satisfy their needs which created a rift between their wealthier colleagues. Consequently, this increased social inequality. aaa Chapter 7 [recommendations] Mauritius is trying hard to polish its image around the world. Among poverty eradication and literacy, corruption is yet a problem that the Mauritian Government is facing. Some of the measures that can be implemented are: Keep the issue of acting against corruption under regular review. Collaborate with other countries and work together to devise strategies to counterattack corruption. Adopt the International Code of Conduct for Public officials. Hand over the power of a system to a Board of people rather to a single person. (Decisions that are voted by a Board are less doubtful compared to that made by a single person.) Abolish old and ineffective laws and establish new and stricter ones. Organize campaigns to both prevent and control corruption. Zero tolerance towards corrupt officials and high dignitaries (Through this measure, many high dignitaries were found to be implicated in corrupt acts in Zimbabwe- a member of the SADC. Since Mauritius forms part of this community, the same measure can be implemented to combat corruption). Sensitising workers on the causes, trend and impact of corruption Inculcating ethics and moral values as early as from primary schools so that children understand the implications of corruption. [conclusion] Ivan Pavlov rightly said that corruption is a conditioned-reflex action; a persons past corrupt gains boosts up his corrupt endeavours. Due to the innumerable factors discussed above, corruption has in fact become a vulnerable stage from which a feeble mind cannot abstain for long. Indeed, as several worldwide surveys have shown it, the scourge of corruption is a perpetual process that keeps on devouring a persons life. Once addicted to corrupt acts, it is nearly impossible for him to escape from the clutches of corruption. Nowadays, people of the higher hierarchy want to go ahead and earn even more money while on the other side, the poor remains unemployed and keeps on trying to meet the ends monthly. Both, corruption and inequality coexist in society and in order to eliminate one, we need to eliminate the other; they are mutually related. We should stop favouritism and start keeping faith in one another. Corruption will lead to nowhere while social trust will show the way to a country with a sustainable economy and hence a healthy population. We have, in the course of this project dealt with very resourceful information and have tried to bring forth the slowly emerging plague of the society- corruption- and we have also tried to suggest some recommendations. At the end of this highly resourceful project, we have realised that corruption is nothing more than the fruit of humans mind. We need to control it before it gets at arms length in the race of such a materialistic world. Facts and figures are the witnesses of its unprecedented rise. It is also a fact that people are becoming more aware of it but much remains to be done so as to eradicate corruption in not only Mauritius but in the whole world. Appendix The interview of Mr. Boodhoo, Chief Officer at the Corruption Prevention and Education Division on Monday 5th May 2008(10.00 a.m.) According to ICAC, how can corruption be defined? Corruption is an abuse of power or authority for personal gain. Now, according to the law and constitution of Mauritius, what is the definition of corruption? PoCA defines corruption as an abuse of power in the public and private sector for personal gain. What do statistics say about the trend of corruption in the Mauritian society? Corruption cannot be measured. It is impossible to measure corruption. It is a secretive activity. Nothing is gained from surveys about corruption. Only the perception of corruption is measurable. However, this is not 100% efficient. What procedure does the ICAC adopt to treat corruption cases? The complaint is directed to the board of ICAC. The board refers the matter for investigation if required. In terms of national and international relationships, how does corruption affect our countrys status? Investors will not be willing to invest if they perceive the country as corrupted. Knowing that for every business, bribes will be needed. Hence, there will be no Foreign Direct Investment. Laws and bills are still being voted in the Mauritian assembly. How far do you think that these measures are reliable and effective? We should know how far the laws are enforced. We should not only pass laws