Highway Robbery Essay

It was in the middle of the night, there was a carriage carrying gold and silver. It was on its way to Yorkshire. There was a guard with a rifle on the lookout for anything suspicious or threatening. There were people inside, chatting about the riches that were in their hands. The driver was driving the carriage; it had four horses pulling it. There was a co-driver as well, he was there in case anything happened to the driver. There was a man riding a horse, they were usually known as, â€Å"Highwaymen†, they stole from carriages and they were all aware that â€Å"Highwaymen† existed. Before the carriage got to the Highwayman’s location, the Highwayman cut down a tree with his axe, the tree obstructed the path of the road. Once the carriage got to the tree, it stopped, it was a very quiet place, no houses in sight, no people in sight, and it was in the pure country side. The guard got down from the carriage to take a look. He got very suspicious and had his rifle ready. The Highwayman with his horse hid behind a tree, silently. Then, suddenly the Highwayman leapt out of the woods and on to the road, he shouted â€Å"Give me all of your treasures, or die†. The Highwayman pointed his pistols at the guard. The guard slowly put down his rifle, and the richest man offered the riches to the Highwayman, then the slightly poorer people offered their treasures. Then the Highwayman, swiftly, rode off, in to the gloomy night. But then, the guard quickly, but silently picked up his rifle and started shooting at the Highwayman, but by then, the Highwayman had gone, and it was too late. By Matthew Williams

Community Crime Prevention Strategies Essay

Do community safety, crime prevention; crime reduction initiatives help all victims? Choose specific types of CS – police led, management of offenders, crime prevention as focus. The Home Office delineates community safety as, â€Å"An aspect of quality of life in which people, individually and collectively, are protected as far as possible from hazards or threats that result from the criminal or anti-social behaviour of others and are equipped or helped to cope with those they do experience† (Home Office: 1998) The fear of crime can impact us in a major way on how we feel about our community. â€Å"Localised action against crime† also know as community safety, crime prevention or crime reduction; is often practiced by police officers and authority workers e.g. Probation workers, housing officers etc. Community safety focuses on introducing physical and social changes to local communities to enforce balance and prevent crime and disorder from taking place. There are three ways of classifying crime prevention, primary secondary and tertiary prevention. Primary prevention targets the general population to prevent crime from happening before it has happens. Secondary prevention targets the population that is most at risk, where Tertiary prevention focuses on the individual; Often a known offender (Newburn, 2007:566) The aim of community safety is to allow local residents to be able to live their lives freely, yet still feel comfortable and protected in their area by local authorities. All citizens should be able to live without interruption or fear that may come from crime and disorder. In some ways community safety can be hard to define, as various communities have different ways of carrying out the service. In some communities citizens have a say in what issues they feel need to be addressed and prioritized for action in their community; and in others they don’t. So where some issues may be of relevance in one community, it won’t be of relevance in another. Most importantly once an issue has been tackled it is fundamental that it does not re-occur. Offending behavior can negatively affect an individual and/or a whole community. By reducing offending behavior community service should generally improve the quality of live of an individual or community, both socially and economically. Without first addressing fear and typical preconceptions of crime, any action to prevent anti-social behavior will be of no relevance, as communities may be unaware of the changes occurring and therefore reluctant to believe that they are being protected. It is after the Morgan Report in 1991 when the term ‘Community safety’ first came into notion. As stated by ‘CSinfo magazine’ â€Å"The term community safety was not well defined then and in some eyes the same is true today† (CSinfo: n.d.). Anti social behavior and the nature of crime can cause the focus of community service to shift at times. This is mainly because of the difference in cultures, various religions and ethnic groups that may be in one community. Therefore we can question if community service is effective in a diverse society. In all of this we must take diversity and ethics into consideration. In society people have different values and approaches to life. Diversity is the unique difference that we all have. In all walks of life there will always be people from various backgrounds that we must make contact with. Diversity can be a cause of conflict and tensions within a society. Community safety aims to prevent divisions within a community and create unity to establish a safer and more comfortable lifestyle for civilians. Community safety or community policing can be very effective in society as it establishes a good and trusting relationship between the police and citizens. The police become â€Å"part of the neighbourhood† (Anon: 2010), In addition to creating relationships it also enables the police to become aware of what the community needs. This partnership allows police officers to familiarize themselves with individual members of the community. As well as this, they are able to remember important information about the people that are of risk to the community. In all aspects of policing there will always be advantages and disadvantages. A great advantage of community policing is that it reduces any fear that one may have. This creates a sense of trust between the police and community and therefore civilians will feel safer. ‘Law teacher’ states, â€Å"as citizens become more active in taking care of their community, they start to understand what officers actually do on a day-to-day basis† (Anon: 2010). A disadvantage of community policing is that without the trust of the community and community involvement there isn’t much that the police can do. If they don’t have first hand knowledge of certain issues within the community they cannot solve it nor can they be aware of the specific citizens that are of risk to the rest of the community. The majority of people find it hard to trust the police, especially in ethic minority communities where many people believe that the police are racist. In saying this any attempt to help a community will fail, as there is no partnership between the police and community. Another disadvantage is that community policing is a long-term partnership and results will not be seen immediately. Members of the community may feel as though they are wasting their time in trusting in the police to better their neighborhood, yet nothing has changed. The relationship must be maintained for it to work. â€Å"Community policing is a philosophy, not a program† (Roth: 2000,183) An additional disadvantage is that the same members of the community step forward to help and improve the neighborhood, however it requires the help and belief of whole (or majority) of the community for the service to be effective. â€Å"Community policing is only as good as its community involvement† (Law Teacher: 2010). Overall the advantages weigh out the disadvantages of community policing. Community policing is effective as it establishes a relationship between the police and citizens, which generally improves the safety and the peace of mind of the community. â€Å"Community-based programs are important in the service delivery in many communities†(Mancini & Marek: 2004, 339). To prevent crime in their neighbourhood people develop programs that aid in the prevention of crime and disorder in their community. There are several community policing programs, the most popular program is known to be the ‘neighbourhood watch’, where locals come together to make their community a safer place. Neighbourhood watch can be beneficial to a community as it allows locals to be aware of any suspicious activity. ‘National Night Out’ is another program that helps to fight crime in a community. Residents that participate in this, leave their outside lights on during the night, in the hope that civilians will safeguarded at night time where (in more dangerous areas) there are more drug and alcohol misusers gallivanting the streets. D.A.R.E which stands for ‘ Drug Abuse Resistance Education’, is a program that seeks to make young adults (teenagers) feel good about the police, as well as preventing violent behavior, the abuse of drugs and alcohol and gang involvement. The program informs young people on how to say no from peer pressure, and build the necessary skills that they need to ensure a better lifestyle. Through D.A.R.E students are able to identify the perils of violence in their community as well as in their schools. Neoliberism, the idea that the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. In place of tackling poverty right realists would prefer to reduce crime through control. They argue with Marxists that although several old people are poor their crime rate is low. They believe that labeling theory â€Å"romanticises† the criminal by being too sympathetic. The problem with this approach is that although harsh methods of punishment may be good for the moment, they aren’t very effective for the long term. When putting someone in prison all aspects of their life must be considered. The offender may have a family that solely depends on them. In addition the offender may have health issues that could deteriorate in a prison environment. The biosocial theory of criminal behavior was introduced in 1985 by Wilson and Herrnstein. They explored the notion that criminal behavior is influenced by social and biological factors. Herrnstein and Murray believed that low intelligence was the main cause of crime. Also developed from biological causes. Yes it is true that the chance of a person becoming an offender can be increased by biological cause however, it is believed that environmental have more influence on an offenders behavior. â€Å"Charles Murray (1990) argues crime is increasing because of a growing underclass who is defined by deviant behaviour and who fails to socialise properly† (Anon: 2012). . Unlike right realists, left realists share the same views as labour government. Described as socialist in 1984 Lea and Young support the modification of society rather than the avant-garde change by a few Marxists. They debate that right wing politicians in an industrial capitalist society, have presented themselves accordingly as the parties of forces of law and order. Left realist believe that all crimes with the exception of white collar crime need to be tackled and elucidated as they are a serious problem. Since World War Two there has been a significant increase in street crime (Young: 1993) â€Å"Criminology has undergone an etiological crisis† (Anon:2012). This has resulted from the rise in offences that are being recorded officially. Both right realism and left realism share similarities but there are also extreme differences. An example of this is that they both have different political views, where right realists have a conservative mind, left realist have a labour mind. Despite this both believe that crime is a ‘real’ problem, and they fear that crime is rational. Through the way that both sides explain crime, it is clear that right realists are neo conservative, whereas left realists are reformist socialists. Right realists put the blame of offending on the individual but left realists consider environment and relative deprivation, sympathising with the offender. In the same way both sides also have varying political differences, which is shown through their aims and how they plan on soling problems of crime. â€Å"The right prioritise social order achieved through a tough stance of offenders while the left prioritise justice achieved through democratic policing and reforms to create greater equality† (Anon:2012). â€Å"As with other signs of brutishness, the sight of violence, pain, or physical suffering became highly disturbing and distasteful to modern sensibilities† (Garland, 1990: 223). A man like Garland who can be considered as a right realist suggests that we should be more punitive. He argues that we live in a culture that needs more control; although we have become more civilized, we are also more acceptant of mercy and as a society we tend not to punish as hard as they did in the olden days. Despite Garland’s views many still believe that we haven’t learnt to punish less. Moreover some people insist that we have learnt to punish better through the use of modern technology. Unless an offender is of high risk to the rest of society, it is better to rehabilitate through intervention rather than imprison, in the attempt to just remove the person from society. In most cases imprisonment is more expensive than interventions (Williams: 2010). Nevertheless it is still a major aim to manage the risk of reoffending through â€Å"warehousing† (over crowded Imprisonment). Supervised by probation officers, who would advise assist and befriend them† (Probation of Offenders Act 1907). If these requirements were/are neglected the offender may be sent back to court to be re-assed and re-sentenced. (Canton: 2011, 5). â€Å"Offenders would be on probation:instead of being ounished, and on their undertaking to be of good behavior, they would be put to the test and given an opportunity to show they could lead good and industri â€Å"Criminals are not normal, they are wicked, evil, different to us, they are dangerous and they are strangers† (Wilson and Herrnstein: 1985). This is the idea that criminals are like animals, out of control and driven by their animalistic lust to do inhumane things. Crime is linked to low IQ; suggesting that most criminals are black and/or Asian, coming from backgrounds that cannot afford to educate children. The level of how risky someone is should determine the intensity of intervention they must endure. There are wide ranges of interventions in the criminal justice system. Diversion, Reparation, Unpaid work, Supervision and counseling, Basic Skills, Group work programmes, Drug and alcohol programmes, Therapeutic communities’, Circles of support and women’s programmes. We typically do not see only one kind of criminal offender. Although a plethora of offences are made daily, the uniqueness of one person will be different from the criminogenic needs of another person. Diversity and sociological aspects of crime can be an influence of this. Where some offenders may be employed, others could be unemployed. Some may be dependent on drugs; others may have alcohol problems, or suffer from mental illnesses. Despite this a Right realist would rather punish the offender under any circumstance. Realists see crime as something that is real; they believe in solving the problems of crime, whereas Marxists see crime and deviance as something that has been socially constructed through an unequal world and exploited society. Much like the conservative government, right realists trust that there is a solution to the growing crime rates in society. Rather than finding the causes of crime right realists seek to find practical methods in which crime can be monitored. In the opinion of a right realist offenders should be punished rather than rehabilitated. Many see this method as impractical as individually offenders have different criminogenic needs. MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements). ‘Prisoners Families and Friends service’ states; â€Å"It is not a legal body or framework, but a set of arrangements for supervising offenders in the community. They are principally a structure by which the various agencies an offender comes into contact with can share information and thereby monitor risk factors after the person is released† (Anon: n.d, 26) Joining responsible authorities, MAPPA manage high risk offenders. Forming a partnership with other agencies that may be working with the offender. Once MAPPA and other joined agencies come to a decision on the extent of how risky the person is. A risk management plan will put in order for the offender, which is then reviewed on a regular basis; addressing anti social behavior by monitoring the offender. In a similar way DAAT also monitor offenders. DAAT (Drug and Alcohol Action Team) is a partnership that is accountable for carrying out the 10-year strategy and three year action plan for the government. DAAT unifies all local agencies that have involvement in addressing drug use e.g social services, the voluntary sector. DAAT aim to protect communities by reduces all forms of drug related crime. Preventing danger to families and individuals affected by the use of drugs and alcohol. As well as offenders there are organisations that support victims of crime. These organisations hold programs that are set out to help crime victims move forward through counseling and other services that teach victims their rights in terms of the law. In the USA 35 million people become victims of crime every year (Anon: 2012). After crime most victims and their families are left in a terrible state. Physically, mentally, emotionally and financially, which can be difficult to resolve. Because of this special organisations for victims have been created in the attempt to help millions of victims all over the world. The world has changed very quickly through globalization. We currently contemplate whether science and technology are now creating more risk rather than preventing it. An example of this is through the effect of bullying and anti social behavior with the use of the Internet and social networking sites. And the idea that the world is becoming smaller and smaller. Kinnvall and Jonson stated in 2002 that globalization will have a massive impact on our society forever as it covers all issues from economics, and politics to western culture and specifically â€Å"Americanisation† (Karofi and muanza: 2006). Many people see americanisation as a good thing as it provides development for all, however others would disagree by suggesting that it is a threat to peoples cultures. Discussed in three sections by Kinnvall and Johnson the globalisation process consists of scale, speed and cognition – From the links between social and political societies to the time frame in which globalisation is being hypothesised. In their research Kinnvall and Johnson make it clear that globalisation is not a new discovery. But because of how quickly the world has developed since the millennium increased awareness of globalisation has been made. It is hard ton think of a world without new technology, just 30 years ago the development of the Internet was begin ning. As mentioned previously every offender is different and therefore has an individual criminogenic need; the same goes for victims. Some victims may need long-term assistance depending on how serious the crime was e.g. rape, domestic violence. ‘sensitive crimes prosecution’ are cases like child abuse, child neglect and sexual assault. Organisations have specific programs that deal with these cases where the aim is to shield the victim from having to retell the story of the crime in which they were involved. In many cases victims have to tell their stories numerous times and this can because a daunting and even more traumatizing experience for them. In some circumstances it can even make the victim more unlikely to open up. If the truth isn’t told the full service cannot be fulfilled. To prevent this, the service assigns one lawyer to each case so that the victim only has to tell the story a few times. In doing this both victims and the system are at an advantage. There are programs designed to help all kinds of victims. When dealing with property crime victims mediation is used as a form of mediation. Mediation allows both the victim and offender to receive the correct benefits or sentencing he or she deserves. The victims service organization have a financial restitution program where anything that the offender stole or damaged from the victims property is replaced. This is done through a court ordered sanction. (Andrews: 1989). The program helps victims calculate how much has been damaged in addition to completing the necessary forms, maintain records informing the appropriate officials about the victim’s desire for restitution (Anon: 2012) â€Å"Through the mediator, the victim and offender talk together about trust, completion of the restitution, and what determines if they will meet again† (Anon: 2012). This cannot be done in all situations. E.g. in a situation of rape it is highly unlikely that the victim will want to come in any form of contact with the offender and officials will not expect or ask them too. The programs also file claims for victims. They do as much for the victims as possible to make it easier for them, even little things like filling out forms. Mock trials of criminal justice proceedings are officered so that the victim may become aware of what the real trial may consists of. Preparing them in all areas so that they are not blind-sided. A social working will prepare the victim by asking them a number of questions that may be asked during the trial. Often victims are given information on where the case is heading before any trial has taken place. The victim has the right to state their opinion on pardons and parole hearings. In answering the question and essay title, yes I do believe that crime reduction initiatives help all victims of crime. Even in murder cases the victims families are always addressed and taken care of in the correct way (in most cases). The service that initiatives provide for victims, give the victims a place to turn to for guidance and support in seeking the rightful justice that they deserve. Programs like crisis intervention allow the victim to start recovering from their victimization and deal with their situation. †Restitution and returning of stolen property is another way that victims may financially deal with their victimization. Also simply making victims aware of the rights is an excellent start to the victim’s search for justice† (Anon: 2012). Bibliography: Anon. (2012). Assess the value of the left and right realist approaches to crime and deviance. Available: http://potmd.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/assess-the-value-of-the-left-and-right-realist-approaches-to-crime-and-deviance/. Last accessed 4th Jan 2013 Anon. (n.d.). DAAT. Available: http://www.medway.gov.uk/communityandliving/communitysafety/drugsandalcoholactionteam.aspx. Last accessed 4th Jan 2013. Anon. (2012). high risk offenders. Available: http://www.highland.gov.uk/healthandsocialcare/criminaljusticeservices/highriskoffenders.htm. Last accessed 5th jan 2013. Anon. (2012). Left realism and crime. Available: http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/left_realism_crime.htm. Last accessed 6th Jan 2013. Anon. (n.d.). what is community safety?. Available: http://www.csinfo.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&lay

Kindergarten thru third grade non retention act

Allow me the privilege and the honour of convincing you today in understanding in something I hold very dear to my heart and which I believe so monumental that it must be heard and realized by our entire nation. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has been one of the most valuable pieces of legislation created for the education of our children despite the criticisms it receives (Haney, 2007).Though I believe that most of its contents mean well, I also humbly beg to differ and allow me to state that the children from kindergarten to the 3rd grade will be experiencing more harm than good by this act. Thus, let me declare that the students from kindergarten to the 3rd grade must not be promoted if they did not meet the requirements.I deeply understand the sentiments of a lot of people who believe that children at this level must be given the chance and opportunity to grow regardless of how they performed. In other words, it does not matter what scores they get. What is important is tha t, they be allowed to continue without the thought of the failure. However, the real question is, are we truly helping these children by ignoring that they need help? Will doing this really solve our problems in setting higher standards in education?I firmly believe that we are not helping the children who failed to reach the requirements by promoting them. I believe that we are not giving a solution but only aggravating the problem itself. We cannot act blind pretending that in the long run, everything will be just fine. The moment we let these children be, we are clearly not addressing their potential for growth and development.If a child does not meet such a requirement, then more attention must given to that child. The child must be nourished and given attention to better improve and to truly give the child chance at learning and gaining as much as he or she can.With this I can assure all of you that we will not only heed the call that beckons for better education but more impor tantly, we can bring out the best in every child.REFERENCESHaney, W. (nd) Evidence on Education under NCLB (and How Florida Boosted NAEP Scores and Reduced the Race Gap). Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation and Education Policy. Lynch School of Education. Boston College. Retrieved 7 June 2007.

Summary of Joyce Carol Oates's Is This the Promised End Essay

Summary of Joyce Carol Oates's Is This the Promised End - Essay Example He could not rely on his common sense and did not see the difference between real and unreal world. The author connects the tragedy with transcendence as the main driven force of the tragedy itself. Joyce Carol Oates uses oppositions to unveil transformations in Lear's personality: real vs unreal, "self" vs "other", flesh vs soul, which "poetically symbolized by a union of male and female elements" (Oates, 1974). The notion of grace is opposed to masculine tyranny of Lear. Cordelia is the bearer of "grace" embodied in her personality. A special attention is devoted to historical process as the tool of dramatization depicting that the world exists in history. The main questions arisen from this essay are: Is it necessary to Lear to become insane What is the role of transcendence in the tragedy Is "King Lear" really a tragedy or triumph of justice For Lear, It is necessary to become insane because only in this state he can achieve spirituality and distinguish between "self" and "other. His insanity is a journey into self. Shaking up a thinker involves demolishing his reliance on "common sense", but common sense is not a quality of heroes, and Lear cannot achieve his status as a hero within a system linked to it.

Employment Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Employment Relations - Essay Example This paper is an assessment of a case study which involves several issues with regard to potential health and safety problems of employers. It also involves issues of wrongful information and retirement of an employee due to injury. The assessment will be done with regard to the following two areas namely, the relevant statutes and acts which can be used here and the options available to the injured or affected parties. This will be in the form of an advice which can be accepted or rejected by those concerned. This writer had been appointed as an office assistant in a firm engaged in the business of life insurers in the UK called Ricky Gervais & Co Ltd. Many factors that have potential negative effects for employees within the office premises are noticed after reporting for work. The secretaries are not provided with proper chairs that have correct supports. They are made to work for long hours sitting in such chairs and are provided with outdated computer screens. A isolated incident of employee injury due to the prank of another employee also occurred as a result of which the injured party had to leave his current job and work for a lower pay. The company had done nothing with regard to this injured employee. The writer has also found that employee assessment by previous employees had been vindictive and untrue. It contained many false allegations with regard to performance, competence, and dependability. Relevant statutes: There are many recourses of law in the UK which could possibly used by the affected employees. They include the Employment Act of 2008, Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, Employment Rights Act 1996, Employment Relations Act 1999, Employer's Liability (Defective Equipment) Act 1969 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995. They can also take recourse of the employment tribunals in the UK if they so choose as per the provisions of the Employment Tribunals Act 1996. The Employment Act is more of a corrective act is primarily for "repealing and amending existing legislation in the field of employment and trade union law." (Explanatory notes to employment act 2008 2008). Hence it can be used only if it amends or repeals any of the provisions in the other Acts mentioned above. The Employment Relations Act is with regard to trade union relations and hence not very valid here. There is no mention of trade union involvement within the company and hence it can be assumed that Ricky Gervais & Co Ltd is not unionized or even it is so, the strength and bargaining power is low. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 is directly related with the health and safety of the employees in the workplace and deals with whatever safety measures taken or not taken by the employer. The Act specifically states that employers are duty bound to see that the workplace is a safe one and should take steps that are as far as practical to ensure that the health and safety of the employers are protected. The Employment Rights Act 1996 related to the rights of employees in several areas of work and this includes safety issues as well. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 also is useful for the injured employee, Geoff. The act states that alternated duties and jobs are to be provided in case employees are unable to perform their

Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 5

Project Management - Essay Example ys 26 days 542 days 114 days 68% User requirements 214 days 120 days -6 days 114 days 0 days 100% Staff recruitment 48 days 40 days 8 days 48 days 0 days 100% Decoration 194 days 170 days 24 days 180 days 14 days 85% Staff training 60 days 60 days 0 days 0 days 60 days 0% Raising funds 40 days 40 days 0 days 0 days 40 days 0% Table 3: Schedule Variance for Kindergarten Planning Task Name Start Finish Late Start Late Finish Slack (Free) Slack (Total) Kindergarten planning 3/12 5/3 3/12 5/21 11.83 days 11.83 days User requirements 3/12 3/23 3/12 3/23 0 days 0 days Staff recruitment 3/26 3/30 3/26 3/30 0 days 0 days Location 4/2 4/11 4/2 4/27 0 days 11.83 days Decoration 4/11 5/1 4/27 5/17 0 days 11.83 days Raising funds 5/1 5/3 5/17 5/21 11.83 days 11.83 days The bottom bar of the tracking Gantt chart depicts the planned schedule for the tasks. The top bar indicates the actual performance and the percent complete for the tasks. Figure 1: Gantt chart tracking of Kindergarten Planning Se ction 3: PERT/CPM Analysis of kindergarten planning project In PERT/CPM analysis, three estimates are used namely; optimistic time denoted by (o), most likely time denoted by (m), pessimistic time denoted by (p). It provides a basis for establishing project variance and mean for each activity in the kindergarten planning. The activity is given by mean (Mean) = (o + 4m + p)/6; while its variance is; activity (Variance) = ((p - o)/6)2. The value obtained is the z-value which establishes the duration of the project in percentages. Table 3: Activity Variances and Mean Times ID Activity Optimistic time (days) Most likely (days) Pessimistic (days) A User requirements 18 21 23 B Staff recruitment 32 36 41 C Raising funds 47 51 55 D Decoration 47 55 57 E Staff training 8 10 14 Expected completion time Activity Expected completion time(days) Variance (days) User requirements 20.8 -0.2 Staff recruitment 36.2 0.2 Raising funds 51 0 Decoration 54 -1 Staff training 10.3 0.3 Variance is -0.7 days Activity ES LS EF LF Slack Critical path 1 User requirements 0 0 18 21 0 Yes 2 Staff recruitment 21 21 57 57 0 Yes 3 Raising funds 57 62 104 108 5 4 Decoration 108 108 163 163 0 Yes 5 Staff training 159 163 173 173 0 Yes Critical path is 1-2-4-5; the expected kindergarten completion time is 173 days. The kindergarten completion time is 173 days with a variance of -0.7. This considers p

The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi's leadership skills, main Research Paper

The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi's leadership skills, main achievements and main accomplishments - Research Paper Example It was protected from adjacent states and barbarian tribes with natural barriers. Therefore this region became one of the earliest centers of iron metallurgy in ancient China. Trade with northern neighbors and states of Central Asia and agriculture were basic branches of economy. Before 500BC state of Qin did not take an active part in an internecine struggle of Chinese kingdoms and was considered relatively weak. Strong, persistent leaders and gifted commanders were required to use current potential in full scope. Shang Yang (390BC - 338BC) and Han Fei (280BC – 233BC), who had been statesmen at the end of the Warring States period, strengthened position of Qin among its competitors. Both of them were â€Å"credited with fostering Qin’s growth and categorized somewhat loosely as ‘Legalists’. They both had visited other kingdoms; and both met a violent death thanks to animosities.† (Loewe 12 - 18) As a leader and reformer Shang Yang could be compared with Qin Shi Huangdi, because they strived for building military-bureaucratic state. Both of them rejected principles of Confucianism such as hierarchy, patriarchal concept of power, family clans etc. According to Shang Yang, idleness and lack of discipline are the main reasons of state decline. Lack of governmental control over them causes economic and agricultural recession. Reforms of Yang and Huangdi weakened positions of patrimonial aristocracy as the ruling class, because preliminary they had exclusively comprised officialdom. â€Å"The situation changed when Shi Huang Di successfully unified China under Qin in 221 B.C. with Li Si as his chancellor, by using effective military forces formed by Shang Yang’s reforms. After unification, the emperor decided to abolish feudalism and adopt Junxianzhi, a centralized system in which all the regions are governed by aristocrats appointed by the emperor, rather than as an indi vidual

Business Environment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Business Environment - Essay Example This essay stresses that the fundamental aim of the UK administration is to attain high and steady stages of enlargement and service and the case for amalgamation financial and fiscal Union. It is termed as EMU, will be criticized against this criterion .It has been acknowledged on all areas that there is a legitimate in addition to the financial measurement to the discussion on the subject of a probable UK decision to link the third phase of Economic and Monetary Union and consequently accept Euro as the code money used in the United Kingdom. And also, the sectors in which foreign investments are concentrated are finance and insurance, restaurants and hotels, and manufacturing units. As employment opportunity of the people is more, investment made by them wills also increase. This paper makes a conclusion that fashion fabrics manufacturing unit in UK one of most important aspect about global business as compared to local business is the degree of risk and responsibility that it entails. Although the UK textiles industrialized segment has contracted more than the years. Global business is always a high risk venture since ownership are not able to exercise due controls that could be possible in the domestic business. The business environment deals with the whole business processes and the surroundings of the company which forms them straightly and indirectly. Also, there is a strong interrelationship between the organization and business. Appropriate strategic plan must be made on the basis of the current trends in the market to cope up with the environmental change.

Take home exam Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Take home exam - Essay Example This is in contrast to their previous life where they were cosseted and cared for by their parents. They face the dilemma of struggling like other street children something that they were unaccustomed to previously. They face the dilemma of stealing as the rest of the street children or working for their survival. The children also face a dilemma when their aunt, who was helping in caring for their sister, who was a toddler, lives for Stockholm. They are left with the responsibility of being parents despite their ages. This results in the death of their sister due to a fever, since they were not able to purchase medicine. This shows the severity of their suffering since fever can easily be treated. Their quest for survival necessitates them to work for a prostitute, who gives them money for distributing her flier on cars around the city. The major dilemma that the characters face in the movie is when they meet their parent’s killer. They are face with the dilemma of seeking re tribution or forgiving the perpetrators. At first, we are made to believe that Gulistan wants to kill the perpetrator, but the situation plays out differently with the character choosing otherwise. The movie is tragic, and the death of the parents of these characters shatters their futures. They lose hope of achieving their dreams and are instead living only for survival. In the end, the characters are not able to solve the problems they face as orphans. Genre is a crucial element in films. Students study the genre theory in order to facilitate the student to categorize films. This is crucial for film student since they need to have in depth knowledge, in cinematography. The students will be able to critically analyze films and contextualize the content of the films. This is because they will look beyond the content of the film but will instead consider the other cover aspects of the film. They will also have a deeper understanding on the cultural aspect of

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay Example for Free

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay It provides software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management and BPO services, focused mainly on transformational outsourcing. The company leverages its extensive offshore infrastructure and global network of offices in 31 countries to deliver solutions across selected verticals including financial services, retail and consumer, life sciences, aerospace, automotive, semiconductors, telecom, media publishing and entertainment. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of â€Å"Employees First, Customers Second† which empowers their 84,403 employees to create a real value for the customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues of US$ 4. 5 billion, as on 31st March 2013. HCL Leadership team 2. Objectives of Study Development of industries depends on several factors such as financial, personnel, technology, quality of product and marketing. Financial aspects assume a significant role in determining the growth of industries. All the company’s operations virtually affect its need for cash. Most of these data covering operations area are however outside the direct responsibility of the financial executives. The firm whose present operations are inherently difficult should try to makes its financial analysis to enable its management to stay on top of its working position. In this context I am undertaking financial ratio analysis of HCL Technologies to examine and understand financial performance of the company. Using ratio analysis this project will provide the insights of – * The growth and development of HCL Technologies for last 5 years (FY 08-12) * The behavior of liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies * The factors determining the liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies Scope The scope of the study is limited to financial data published in the annual reports of the company every year. The analysis is done to suggest possible solutions for financial growth of the organization. This study is carried out for 5 years (2008-2012). Also data provided by external agencies are used for analysis of future predication. 3. Concept of Financial Statement amp; Ratio Analysis 2 3. 2 Financial Statement To understand the information contained in financial statements with a view to know the strength or weaknesses of the organization, to make forecast about future prospects and thereby enabling the management and external parties to take different decisions regarding the operations. Fundamental analysis has a very broad scope. One aspect looks at the general (qualitative) factors of the company. The other side considers tangible and measurable factors (quantitative). This means crunching and analyzing numbers from the financial statements if used in conjunction with other methods, quantitative analysis can produce excellent results. Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis is the method or process by which relationship/group of items in the financial statement are computed, determined and presented. Ratio analysis is an attempt to derive quantitative measure or guides concerning the financial health and profitability of business enterprises. Ratio analysis can be used both in trend and static analysis. Purpose of several ratios depends on the objective of analysis. A financial ratio measures a company’s performance in a specific area. For example, you could use a ratio of a company’s debt to its equity to measure a company’s gearing. By comparing the gearing ratios of two companies, you can determine which company uses greater debt per equity. You can use this information to make a judgment as to which company is better investment risk. However, you must be careful not to place too much importance on one ratio. You obtain better indication of the direction in which a company is moving when several ratios are taken as a group. Ratios are worked out to analyze the following aspects of an enterprise: a. Solvency: i. Long term ii. Short term iii. Immediate b. Profitability c. Operational Efficiency d. Credit standing e. Effective utilization of resources f. Investment Analysis 3. 4 Significance of Ratio Analysis in Financial Statement Ratio analysis is very important in revealing the financial position and soundness of the business so used by various parties * Management: The group that has the most interest in financial statement analysis is management. Management needs to discover quickly any area of mismanagement so that corrective action can be quickly taken. It mainly helps in: * Decision making: Ratio analysis helps in making decision from the information provided in these financial Statements. Financial forecasting and planning: Planning is looking ahead and the ratios calculated for a number of years a work as a guide for the future. * Communicating: The financial strength and weakness of a firm are communicated in a more easy and understandable manner using ratios. * Co-ordination: Better communication of efficiency and weakness of an enterprise result in better co-ordination in the enterprise * Control: The weaknesses are otherwise, if any, come to the knowledge of the managerial, which helps, in effective control of the business. * Investors or Shareholders Investors are interested in financial statements to evaluate current earnings and to predict future earnings. Financial statements influence greatly the price at which stock is bought and sold. * Lenders: Bankers before granting loans usually require that financial statements be submitted. Whether or not a loan is made depends heavily on a company’s financial condition and its prospects for the future. * Employees: Employees are mainly concerned about the profitability. Their salaries and increments are dependent on the profit made by the company. * Government:

Benefits And Drawbacks Of Social Media Marketing Essay

Benefits And Drawbacks Of Social Media Marketing Essay This case introduces Web 2.0 social media in virtual worlds, networking sites, and video sharing sites, and entices students to explore the opportunities and risks they are confronted for brands. The case allows students to fight with the strategic and tactical decisions that accompany marketing communications strategy and to merge information on consumer behaviour with an understanding of brand objectives, in order to assess and evaluate new social media options. Foley, brand manager, is facing a more and more complex media environment in which her conventional media plan which is focused on television, print, and radio advertising, has become less popular due largely to declining audiences and a surge in advertising clutter, plus consumers tuning out. She is exploring emerging Web 2.0 social media options to determine if they can better achieve her branding and advertising objectives. Her challenge is to curtail the entire buzz surrounding Web 2.0 and to analyze the social medias p ossible for her brand by delving into the consumer dire needs and behaviours support Web 2.0 technologies Case issue: I think UnMe Jeans is a suitable brand for social media and the Web 2.0. Their target market is women between 12-24 years old, and this segment is consuming less traditional media, and increasing their consumption in the Web 2.0. With new technologies and platforms they can regulate the ads or somehow avoid them and still enjoy their favourite TV shows or any type of entertainment. I think its evident Web 2.0 is the right path for UnMe Jeans, the question is how to do it. The benefits social media offer to UnME Jeans are: The social media attracts more people than traditional media so they can reach more possible users as customers. They can target their audience with more accuracy and in a more efficient way. The idea is to make the costumers part of the social media community, to get them involved and get a deeper engagement with the brand. The drawbacks social media offer to UnME Jeans are: Lack of control of the content: Foley, Brand Manager of UnME Jeans, is faced with a challenge as she reconsiders her advertising media plan due to the increase of social media options on the emerging Web 2.0. These options become even more intriguing with the steady price increases of television advertising despite the growth of several unfavourable conditions. Working with her advertising agency, Foley must effectively use her brand management skills to choose which social media channel, if any that she should incorporate into her current advertising media plan. The advertising agency suggested three viable options, Zwinktopia, Facebook, and YouTube. Zwinktopia is a virtual world targeted to girls ages 13 to 24 with a focus on fashion and music, Facebook is a social networking, profile page site, and YouTube is a user-generated video-sharing website. I suggest that Foley pursue the Zwinktopia social media channel as a starting point to take advantage of the emerging Web 2.0 and also make a minor investment in the other options to develop their web 2.0 presence. Key issue of unme jeans: Looking ahead Foley the brand manager of unme jeans realise that the trends were driving the radical change in media market that had potential to reduce the effectiveness of her current media plan. The consumer media habit were rapidly changing because the peoples are more attracted towards the internet Driven by the proliferation of new technology like the personal computer dvd players and ipods these all new electronic devices are main reasons of changing consumer behaviour Foley the brand manager of unme jeans was confuse in between advertise in television and advertise in internet which is better for marketing. Foley advertising agency had provided her with a plan to bring her plan to three social media outlet. Zwinktopia, facebook , youtube. She knew that she wanted to do less talking at and more talking with her consumer and she wanted to use media outlet where consumer is more receptive offer brand story and which would foster the most constrictive dialogue about her brand She also wanted to use programme that would seamlessly integrate with and support her exiting media plan. But most of all she wanted to social media programme to make on impact on her sell. Swot analysis: Strength: Unme jeans was one of the most successful junior denim brand available in market The unme brand story revolved around celebrating the individuality of teenage girls and encouraging teens to speak out against peer pressure and conformity Unme jeans are available in upscale department store and especially retailer across the united state and sold at a slight premium to comparable the brand Weakness: The changing of consumer media habit and proliferation of new technology like a personal computer dvd player and ipods consumer were tuning out traditional media like television magazines news paper and radio and tuning into new media options Opportunity: The opportunity for the unme jeans is web 2.0 applications are those that make the most intrinsic advantage of that platform Delivering software essay continually update service that get better and more people use it. The web 2.0 is also called consumer co-creation because that gave consumers the ability to direct contribute to the online conversation and contain that was available on the web. Three web 2.0 advertise opportunity mainly are Zwinktopia facebook and you tube Threats: Remember that new things always get better and to advertise brand web 2.0 the company need to invest more on advertising which is not possible for every company. Analysis of the case: Just like any business problem, Foley is faced with several issues in making her decision to change her advertising media plan. With a full knowledge of the issues, Foley can better analyze her options in the process of making a justified decision. Rapidly changing consumer trends There is a clear indication that consumers media habits have evolved due to the proliferation of new technology. There are more outlets available that resulted in the change of how their market consumes media. Much of these changes were geared towards online outlets, especially among the younger audience. In order to remain successful, the company must ensure they can quickly respond to the rapidly changing. Formulation and evaluation of alternative: Benefits and Drawbacks of social media: Youtube: Benefits: Promotes high involvement and participation Large demographic availability, it allows marketers to target the audience appropriate for their product Some forms of experiments have shown optimistic results have given marketers an option to choose layout and position of their ads. For eg: participatory video ads, in-video advertising . Proven successful when used as the right channel and not only an alternative for Television ads. Drawbacks: High cost of marketing and additional cost on developing competently made videos. Lack of control over the content Still in research and test stage and it may back fire if not blended well. For eg: pre-roll ads. Language and location restriction Zwinktopia: Benefits: Promotes the ideals UnME stands for i.e celebrate individuality, non-confirming attitude. A new way of expression. Have the right demographics for UnME i.e teenage girls, the website are focused on fashion and music. Marketers can promote relevant ads in the virtual world. Can be linked to other social media like facebook  and Myspace. Drawbacks: May not influence real world sales for the company. There are over 200,000 virtual products which increase competition and fight for market share that may not give return for the company. Facebook: Benefits: Highest demographic segment among the target audience. Also has the highest average time spent on the website and highest frequent return of the user to the page. Easy access to information on the users, hence the target market can be served with relevant ads based on their profile page. Acts like a discussion forum where users interact with the brand and discuss their interests. Videos can be promoted on the website as well. Drawbacks: Since users may view over 500 pages of content the recall value may drop significantly. Lack of measurement tools to measure success. High cluttering on the network may make the users indifferent to the ads. May lead to over advertising and hijack  the very purpose Recommendation: Besides the fact that there are more people today than any other website that visit Facebook, On Facebook it is all about the interactions and discussions that occur between its users. So seeing the attractiveness of the platform as mentioned above Facebook can be used for advertisements to reach a more targeted audience in fewer costs. Another great feature of Facebook is the fan page. This feature allows a company or a brand or a product to create a Facebook page solely dedicated to it. There, users are enabled and encouraged to share opinions, information, criticism, or whatever else. When these kinds of conversations happen, it creates an atmosphere for free discussion and a buzz about that fan page. All these aforementioned features are just some of the countless great tools available on Facebook for marketers such as Foley to promote their brand. Social media provide sales professionals with the opportunity to listen and influence through their participation. Not using Facebook would simply result in a significantly missed opportunity for Foley. In addition to that, her brand will look inferior to the other brands that seize the opportunity of social media. Overall, using Facebook provides more impacts in terms of reach, frequency, receptivity and presence. In addition, page views, unique visitors and the time spent on the site in Facebook is larger than others. Therefore I recommend Facebook rather than Zwinktopia and YouTube. Of course, if the budget allows, the company uses other media platforms and have to make synergy effect based on Web 2.0 concept. It requires additional efforts, but it must be a good approach. As mentioned before, I recommend that Facebook is the best choice among three suggested plans. One of the reasons is the openness of Facebook. With the development of the information technologies, Facebook has evolved. Currently Facebook is not only a simple social website, but a big platform. The company uploads and maintains various types of contents, people can access Facebook via many different ways, and the contents of Facebook can flow through the Web. Therefore, if the company has an appropriate plan, it is possible to make big synergy effects. Implementation Plan Implementation Component: Managing Change X Instructional Practices Curricula An Assessment System X Professional Learning Communications ResourcesPurpose: To create a brand valuegh of unme jeans and advertise using facebook as a social media. Action Steps What Will Be Done? Responsibilities Who Will Do It? Timeline By When? (Day/Month) Resources Resources Available Resources Needed (financial, human, political other) Potential Barriers What individuals or entities might resist? How do we address this resistance? Communications Plan Who is involved? What methods? How often? Step 1: To use facebook to create ads related to the product. Advertising Agency May 2013 A. Facebook B. Human resource Time Deploy more people to create and upload the ads Everyone Step 2: To create fan page on facebook because of that users are enabled and encouraged to share opinions, information, criticism, or whatever else. Advertising Agency June 2013 A. Page maker in facebook B. Human resourse- creative team The tool of making pages might be difficult to use. Training and developing creative team Everyone Step 3: Social should be use and not neglected Advertising Agency N.A A. Facebook B. You Tube C. Zwinktopia A. lack of tech savvy people. B. create awareness about social media platform. Everyone Step 4: Advertising Agency Begin in August and continue throughout 2012-2013 A. Current Textbooks B. Internet C. Parents D. Time E. Manipulatives F. Training A. Time All teachers Step 5: Implement ELA Shifts 2, 3, and 5 All Teachers Begin August 2013 A. Document Cameras for Smartboards B. 6-Trait Rubrics C. Training A.Time B. All Teachers Evidence Of Success (How will you know that you are making progress? What are your benchmarks?) Evaluation Process (How will you determine that your goal has been reached? What are your measures?)

Organizational Culture and Leadership Styles of Enron

Organizational Culture and Leadership Styles of Enron To begin, one should look at the background of Enron and how it became the largest energy trading company in the world (Needle, 2004) in less than two decades. Founded in 1985 in a merger between Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, Enron expanded from pipelines to electricity and online trading. Enron was based in Houston, Texas and it built pipelines, power stations and gas plants in the USA and around the world; Kenneth Lay was the Chairman and CEO. According to the documentary film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the arrival of Jeffrey Skilling as CEO was a turning point in Enrons business activities. Skilling was a visionary initiator and he saw the future of Enron as a middleman in nationwide and global energy trading. The tide of energy deregulation in the 1990s made it possible for Enrons senior executives to convince investors, financial regulators, and the United States Government that its sale of financial instruments also known as derivatives was economically sound. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Organisational culture was one of the important aspects which played a crucial role in the downfall of Enron. Using Scheins layered conceptualisation of culture (Rollinson, 2008) one can begin by analysing the core of the culture also known as basic assumptions. In this layer, main desire of an organization is to create wealth for its shareholders, employees, and investors. As revealed in the documentary film, the management and trading floors were obsessed with value of the Enron stock from which wealth would be generated; people inside Enron literally did whatever they could to ensure that the stock kept rising to attract further investments. The next layer in Scheins model is values and beliefs. Here basis of reward and effort are in instantly recognised as an important aspect of Enron. As mentioned before, Enron paid large bonuses to employees and partners who performed their job exceptionally well. To receive these rewards some divisions of Enron falsified information regarding their financial performance. In this layer we also find trust and honesty which Enron did receive from its customers and employees until its downfall. In fact the shock and disbelief of its employees and customers evidently supports the notion that Enron was a respected business in the investor community and in the government. The final layer, artefacts and creations, are those most visible to the general public. As the 7th largest company in the USA there was relatively a lot of publicity regarding Enron as the leader in innovation having received the Fortune honour of Americas Most Innovative Company six years in a row. It became a norm on the trading floors to work overtime in hope of receiving bonuses. In the documentary, a local priest revealed how some employees came to see him for counselling as they felt that Enron was taking over their lives. Symbols of hierarchy were also explicit; Kenneth Lay, Skilling and most senior managers occupied large offices in the top floors while traders operated on the lower floors. Myths and stories is a very interesting aspect since senior management circulated stories regarding devilish trips inducing the idea of a macho culture where it is admirable to take risks. This furthered the notion that it was acceptable for people at all levels in the Enron hierarchy to t ake risks to expand the company. Last but not least, taboos were considered the few but strongly outspoken criticisms it received by few investors and journalists; these were ignored completely. This blunt ignorance played a major role in its downfall because it could still be in business today if it had responded to early criticism. LEADER There are a lot of definitions for the term Leader. One of the definition which suits the leader in this case study being A person who holds a dominant or superior position within its field, and is able to exercise a high degree of control or influence over others. Jeff skilling, the CEO of Enron has been depicted as the leader in this case. He was aggressive, intelligent and possessed exemplary leadership qualities which was incremental in creating a culture of aggression and incentivised competition in the organisation. He wanted to alter the way in which Energy was being traded. He succeeded in initiating a market for natural gas wherein it started being traded as stocks. He converted energy into a financial instrument and this led to Enron becoming the largest energy trader in North America. In the movie, Bethany has said that Jeff Skilling was an inspirational leader who inspired his work force and empowered them. He was a genius who controlled the working environment with his intelligence, asking employees to believe that they are the best group of employees and understand that they are associated with the best organization in the world. LEADERSHIP TRAITS Traits are distinguishing qualities or characteristics of a person, while character is the sum total of these traits. The more of these you display as a leader, the more your followers will believe and trust in you. The five leadership traits/leadership qualities are honest, forward-looking, competent, inspiring and intelligent. Jeff skilling was very much forward-looking in nature as he always wanted to make maximum out of the business and wanted Enron to be one of the largest organization in the world. He was inspirational to many people including the share holders, employees, media and even stock brokers/analyst. These people blindly followed him because of his charismatic leadership style. He was one the intelligent minds in Enron. Under his leadership the organisation transformed from a small energy market player to the biggest energy trading company in North America with a rapidly expanding global operations network. The company was being driven by the aggressive and individualistic attitude which was strongly ingrained in the system by Jeff Skilling and the policies of the management team for attaining short term profit. These were successful in achieving the results in hindsight but were seriously damaging the ethical balance in the system. His charisma had many dark side tendencies which overlooked the ethical side of the business leading the company to go down in a few years time frame. LEADERSHIP STYLE An influential definition of leadership states as follows: The process whereby one individual influences other group members towards the attainment of defined group, or organizational goals. (Barron Greenberg, 1990). The case of Enron singles out two individuals in particular with leadership qualities namely Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling. Group members may be considered to be the employees of Enron but in the documentary mentioned above, many say that the traders performing the day-to-day business activities are those most influenced by the CEO. From the quote one can also see that the traders desire to be known as the ones making the most money for the company and the desire for Lay and Skilling to be rich and influential are two goals which go well hand in hand. However it may be this mutual desire which blinded both partners and drove them to greed and illegality. It is now one turns to the role of leadership in the downfall of Enron. Although both Lay and Skilling essentially are managers appointed by those with the most shares in Enron, it is evident that during their tenure they possessed leadership qualities which affected their subordinates. Using first the descriptive approach to leadership (Rollinson 2008), one can observe that many people inside and outside the Enron admire Lay for his rise from a modest preacher family to a Washington-insider and CEO of a billion dollar company. In America, individualism is regarded as the predominant workplace culture and as CEO of Enron Lays influence was therefore significant. In essence Lay embodies the capitalist dream in the US in particular. Having received the leadership mantel Lay bluntly lied to his subordinates and investors regarding the financial state of Enron as it faced financial difficulties. This prolonged the period of debts and may be the reason to the speed of the eventual collapse. Jeffrey Skilling as well as being the appointed CEO possessed leadership qualities of a different kind. The functional approach to leadership (Rollinson 2008) shows that Skilling arguably acquired his leadership status as accredited with the visionary movement of Enron into the online trading medium. Ironically, it is likely that this new complex trading paved way for the accounting fraud to come and caused the downfall. An aspect perhaps less investigated but which also affects leadership is the idea of reciprocal causality (Rollinson 2008). The followers, in this case the employees; in return for their dedication to the leaders also demand something in return. It is acknowledged that many traders received large bonuses for creating wealth for the company. At best this gave employees incentive to work hard with dedication and work overtime and at worst it engaged some, in particular traders, in illegality as shown in the documentary with the California blackouts. 5.1 Transactional and transformational leadership In transactional leadership, the leader holds the power and has the control over his employees or followers. He provides incentives for followers to do what he wants. Hence, if an employee does what is desired, a reward will follow and he or she does not, a punishment or with holding of the reward will occur. In transformational leadership, positive changes can be observed in the followers. Transformational leaders are very energetic, enthusiastic and passionate by nature. They are generally concerned about the processes and are always involved in it to make it even better. These kinds of leader interact with their employees, take their suggestions into consideration and help them to succeed in their work. The best leadership is both transformational and transactional. Transformational leadership augments the effectiveness of transactional leadership; it does not replace transactional leadership, (Walsman, Bass, Yammarino, 1990). Transaction is an effective and necessary tool for leaders at all levels. Transformational leaders generally resort to the transactional style when they do not find a suitable solution for any of the problem faced. When the transformational leader sees him/her in a win-lose negotiation he tries to convert it into a win-win problem solving situation. If this is not possible, then he or she can display the transactional skills necessary as an effective negotiator, (Walsman, Bass, Yammarino, 1990). Transactional and transformational leadership are different from each other but still they are not mutually exclusive processes and different leaders may use both of these based on different situations. This may be termed as situational leadership where the leader re sponds differently under different circumstances showing the behaviour of both transactional and transformational leadership. Jeff Skilling demonstrated both these styles in his leadership. He was transactional in the sense that involved an exchange taking place between leader and follower. He wanted employees to believe on his words and made sure that each and every employee work according to his instructions and timelines, making sure that maximum output is achieved in the minimum time. For this, he kept on motivating employees by rewarding them for the work done. He was also simultaneously transformational where in the followers were motivated to transcend their own self interests for the good of the group, organization, or society. According to Jeff Skilling, certain elements like hiring the most talented people and providing them a challenging environment for them to perform to their best, flattening the traditional corporate hierarchy to encourage personal accountability, efficiency, and motivation, being first in new markets and adopting the best systems and technology are critical for maintaining an environment where innovation can thrive. 5.2 CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP AND CULT In charismatic leadership, the leader has the ability to communicate and behave in such a basic and emotional way that the followers are inspired and motivated in a great way. Being charismatic may be difficult, but not impossible; because many people have the capability to communicate on a very powerful emotional level and they even include some personality traits. Charismatic leadership is not an essential to be an effective leader and more ever relying on charisma to lead can also be problematic. Jeff Skilling was one of the charismatic leaders, who lacked other leadership characteristics and skills (e.g. integrity), who led his followers into situations that turned out horribly. At Enron, Skilling aimed at developing a charisma aura around him. He did every possible thing to promote himself and his views which was consistent with the business. The employees at Enron, media and even the market analyst believed his words blindly without cross verifying or questioning any his argument or declaration made by him. Skilling and Lay were successful in controlling the minds of people. They were internally known as Darth Vader. Charisma is a powerful attribute in many cult leaders which is used in a negative way for self-serving and being destructive to others. Charisma is useful during the cult formation. Only an influential and strong-willed leader can convince others to follow him and belief his words. People misinterpret the quality of this cult leader and the leader foster them belief in his special qualities. At Enron, the leaders had the tendency of living in unusual wealth; this is a disparity that is used in reinforcing the intuition that the individuals possess extraordinary charisma, insight and abilities. The CEO led an ultra opulent life. A good example is Kenneth Lay, an executive leader of Enron; he had to pay a sum of $7 million for an apartment, which together with his wife transformed into a Venetian fortress with deep velvets, dark woods and a period sanctuary (Watkins Swartz, 2003). POWER AND INFLUENCE Leaders generally use two kinds of powers- Position power which is due to the position they hold in an organisation and Personal power. We can safely say that Skilling had both at his disposal. In terms of position, he would offer rewards to people who did a good job, hence demonstrating Reward power and also people would comply to his orders as they thought he was at a level of authority t make that request and they had to obey. This showed the use of legitimate power. Also due to the knowledge he had and what was demonstrated in the movie followers even looked up to him, this showed the use of expert power. He also used referent power which was the personal power he could use to influence people. People wanted to gain his approval as they admired him and were awed by his charismatic personality and were willing to do anything to stay in his good books or be commended by him. Skilling influenced people by rational persuasion and inspirational appeals by being logical in his arguments but also at the same time appealing to their values and getting their commitment as this was needed to prevent the whistle blowing of all the activities that were happening within Enron. All employees were part of the Enron game, which could only be done by showing them a better future for the organisation. FOLLOWERS Followers were in awe of Skilling. They drew a blind eye to everything wrong happening within Enron. The charismatic personality was having its effect on the people, and even though under normal situations they probably would have acted different, under Skillings leadership, they were committed and loyal. They wanted his approval, and they believed in the vision he showed them. They were unaware of the fact that they were being played. Skillings job was to get higher profits for all the stakeholders and that was exactly what he was trying to achieve. As mentioned in the movie, Enron captured the hearts and minds of stock analysts. Employees were very much surrounded by the healthy environment of the company and the stock price of Enron was an obsession among them. They believed that Jeff Skilling was the person responsible for this and thus followed his instructions to enjoy the benefits of the companys performance. They worked extra hours to fulfil the demand raised by Jeff Skilling as they were been promised bonuses and rewards for the completion of task on time. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Enhancement of leadership quality and skills of a leader within an organization is termed as leadership development. These skill enhancements results from experience and time spent within the organization. Jeff Skilling was one of the finest minds and that was the reason why Kenneth Lay recruited him and introduced him to Enron. He spent time understanding the essentials of Enron and followed the directions of Lay to get a grip on the organizational process. Soon he understood that the aura of Enron was based on the belief of the stakeholders who followed Enron strategy blindly. He, as a leader, made sure that the followers follow his words and work according to his strategy. For this he followed the transactional approach to make sure that every employee is giving his best effort to get the work done on time, so that he is eligible for rewards. At the same time he also added some transformational methods to make the employees feel that they are equally involved in organizations development. As per the movie, he even changed up his get up to look more vibrant. He also followed situational leadership methods to tackle different situation and keep everyone on the same track that whatever he is doing is for the betterment of the organization and its stakeholders. His leadership aura spread and everyone started feeling that whatever Skilling does is a stepping stone towards the success of Enron and everyone is going to be benefitted from his strategic move. He even became the CEO of company within a few years time frame. He developed, from an employee, to a successful leader who was considered as icon in US industries. This self-confidence of his increased over the period the time and he kept exploiting the resources to fulfil his dreams and soon the dark side of his charismatic leadership was exposed. CONCLUSION The reasons for the downfall of Enron were analysed from the leadership and ethical perspectives. The movie Enron The Smartest Guys in the room was a great source of information which helped in conducting an analysis about the cultural and leadership patterns in the organization. It was observed that Enron had an obligation to all its stakeholder but those were not met at the end. Enron executives made unethical and illegal decisions based on their personal benefit but those went totally wrong. The leaders job was to provide the vision for the group but it was done in an unethical manner. The view provided to the employees, media, stock analysts and external world was doctored unethically and improper practises were projected as the best business practises by the ubiquitous skills of Jeff Skilling and Kenneth Lay. The dark side of charismatic leadership was observed in the movie, where Jeff Skilling had a dream and ability to get the company to support that dream but he used his charismatic aura to influence people in wrong direction. He provided a self-manipulated framework by which the employees in the organization can achieve their dreams in the form of rewards and bonuses. But the companys culture did not allow the employees to challenge and question the ideas of Jeff Skilling. Rather they were given the target and timeliness and asked to achieve it by planning accordingly, in order to be eligible for rewards and bonuses. Enron did not allow dissent, people who suggeste d alternatives were castigated for not being team players. The leaders produced an environment of fear, stagnation and antipathy in the organization and this led to the downfall of the Enron.

Piracy In The 21st Century :: essays research papers fc

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines piracy as, â€Å"an act of robbery on the high seas or an act resembling such robbery† (885). From this we can define software piracy as an act of robbery on the information superhighway. Many people do not see it as such. Even though the average person would never consider going into a convenience store and stealing a stick of gum, many have no qualms about stealing thousands of dollars worth of software. In a study done by the Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft, 43 percent of adult Canadians who were asked thought that pirating software for personal use was OK. This feeling has come about in several ways. Older computer users, with Unix backgrounds, remember many of the applications they used as freeware. Software pirating also results from users having access to freely downloadable applications, evaluation copies, and public betas. This leads users to believe that all software is free. While many downloadable app lications carry expiration dates, many companies rely on â€Å"nag messages† rather then a disabling mechanism. These messages are easily ignored and allow the user to continue use of the product (Stevenson 18). Despite these factors global software piracy rates are on the decline. However, the number of illegal applications installed continues to grow, according to the Business Software Alliance (BSA) and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA). In 1998, 38 percent of applications in use globally were pirated, down from 49 percent in 1994. Yet, 231 million business software applications installed were pirated, 2.5 million more than in 1997. This led to an eleven billion dollar loss in revenue by software companies (Paquet). Jason Penchoff, a BSA spokesperson, states, â€Å"Software piracy affects company productivity and jobs. For every free package or unlicensed package of software, companies are losing money. If an automaker lost 38 percent of its revenue, there would be a huge outcry† (qtd. in). So how are users obtaining all this illegal software? Consumers now have the ability to purchase goods from their computer. Generally when we think of electronic commerce, we mostly think of business to consumer transactions. But one of the most rapidly growing developments in electronic commerce is the consumer-to-consumer market. The rapid growth of Internet auction sites has created shopping opportunities for online consumers that were never before available. According to SIIA’s Piracy on Internet Auction Sites, â€Å"consumer-to-consumer online auction revenue will climb from $4 billion in 1999 to more than $15 billion in 2004† (3).

The Tragedy of Othello :: Essays Papers

The Tragedy of Othello William Shakespeare’s, The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice, from the sixteenth century is an excellent example of Renaissance humanism. â€Å"A poet of unparalleled genius, Shakespeare emerged during the golden age of England under the rule of Elizabeth I.†(Fiero 3:98) He produced comedies, tragedies, romances and histories. According to Webster’s pocket dictionary, a tragedy is defined as a form of drama in which the protagonist comes to a disaster, as through a flaw in character, and in which the ending is usually marked by pity or sorrow. I would like to concentrate on the character Iago and the theme of deceit. We see humanism in all of Shakespeare’s characters. He does not judge or label them but rather gave them each strengths, weaknesses, and flaws. â€Å"Shakespeare transforms these figures into complex personalities, allowing them full freedom to falter and fail through their own actions.†(3:100) The play consisted of human interaction especially in the case of the character Iago, who is the personification of evil. Shakespeare also introduced the hero, Othello, as a black man, which is not stereotypical for that time. Each character makes their own decisions and has their own flaws, which is very humanistic. Shakespeare’s use of tragedy shows, â€Å"†¦in a universe in which order and disorder coexist, human choices play a vital and potentially destructive part.†(3:100) Shakespeare develops the character Iago into an instigator and evil man. Iago attempts and succeeds to convince Othello that his wife has had an affair with his friend Cassio. We see Iago beginning his plans at the very start of the play. â€Å"But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve for daws to peck at, I am not what I am.†(Oth 1:1:64-65) He immediately tries to start trouble with Brabantio and Othello over the marriage to Desdemona. Iago want to get in Othello’s way because he was passed over for general and Cassio was chosen instead. We see from the start how he plots against Othello and he involves several characters in his plans. â€Å"And what’s he then that says I play the villain? When this advice is free. I give and honest, probal to thinking, and indeed the course to win the Moor again? For tis easy Th’ inclining Desdemona to subdue in any honest suit; she’s framed as fruitful†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (2:3:295-300).

Gabriel Fallopius

As one looks back on medicine, they see that it is clearly defined by the medical practitioners that pioneered the ideas and procedures that now make up the backbone of modern medicine. From Hippocrates' theory of the four humors to Louis Pasteur's ideas of germ theory to Alexander Fleming's discovery of the antibacterial properties of penicillin, these practitioners and their work have been critical to the way the world currently approaches medicine and healthcare. One of these key medical practitioners is Gabriel Fallopius. Fallopius was a sixteenth-century Italian anatomist who lived from 1523-1562 (Gabriel 2018). His work on human anatomy makes up much of the basis of modern understanding about the skeletal system, reproductive system, and the prevention of sexually transmitted disease and has paved the way for the current understanding and procedures within these fields.Gabriel Fallopius was born in 1523 to Geronimo and Caterina Falloppio in Modena, a province of modern day Italy. He was originally educated in the classical arts, but when his father died, his family experienced financial issues and he turned to the church for his career. In 1542 he became a priest and eventually became the canon, which is a position appointed by the bishop of the surrounding area, at the cathedral in Modena (Gabriel, The Holy See, and Whonamedit 2018). After his family finances were in order, he studied medicine under Niccolo Machella where he began to dissect bodies. He then studied under other medical practitioners and anatomists at the time including Giovanni Battista de Monte, Matteo Realdo Colombo, Andreas Vesalius, Antonio Musa Brasavola, and Giambattista Canano (Whonamedit 2018). Once he completed his training, he went to the University of Ferrara where he became a teacher of anatomy and held the Chair of Pharmacy. After his work in the University of Ferrara, Fallopius went to the University of Pisa where he took up the Chair in Anatomy from 1548 to 1551 which was followed up by him taking the Chair in Anatomy at the University of Padua from 1551 to 1562 (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). During this time in 1561, he published his book the Observationes Anatomicae, which was written as a commentary his mentor, Andreas Vesalius' book De Humani Corporis Fabrica which includes his notes and descriptions on the skeletal and female reproductive system including his description of the fallopian tubes (Sophia 2018). After this, he soon fell ill and on October 9, 1562, he died of pleurisy in Padua. (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). After his death, five books, which were collections of his notes and descriptions, were published. These books are Expositio in librum Galeni de ossibus, Observationes de venis, De humani corporis anatome compendium, De partibus similaribus humani corporis, and Secreti diversi et miraculis (Whonamedit 2018). One of the key aspects that defined Gabriel Fallopius work is the time period he lived in. Fallopius lived during the Renaissance which occurred from 1350-1650 AD. During this time, the common cause of disease was thought to have been an imbalance of the four humors, which were blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile (Gill 2017). Each of these humors was tied to an element and certain qualities. Blood was related to air and was considered hot and moist, phlegm was linked to water and was cold and moist, yellow bile was connected to fire and was hot and dry, and black bile was associated with earth and was cold and dry (Gill 2017). Conditions were treated by using remedies that were from the opposite humor. If a person had a condition that was thought to be caused by blood, which is hot and moist, it would be treated with remedies associated with black bile, which is cold and dry (Gill 2017). Medicine at this time also began to become separated from the church which led to an increase in the dissection of cadavers as well as more accurate anatomical drawings and descriptions such as those done by Fallopius and Leonardo Da Vinci. The renaissance also led to the introduction of improvements in medical practices and understanding, such as the practice of dressing a wound during surgery instead of cauterizing it to stop blood flow, and explanations of disease transmission (History 2018). Although these new advancements were being discovered, they were still often rejected, and superstitions and traditional practices such as bloodletting and leeches were still being implemented (Intro to Healthcare and EuroHistoryMed 2012). Fallopius' contributions to the medical field were vast and covered many body systems. Many of these contributions were discovered through the dissection of cadavers, which are human corpses. These cadavers would not only those of adults, but also those of fetuses, newborns, and young children (Whonamedit 2018). One of the body systems that Fallopius greatly contributed to was the skeletal system with contributions including descriptions of the semicircular canals which are fluid-filled bones in the ear that are responsible for balance and descriptions on the development of bones. Fallopius also described the formation of the bone of the sternum through ossification, the primary dentition of teeth during infancy, and the change from primary (baby) teeth to permanent (adult) teeth. He also disproved the belief that teeth and bones develop from the same tissue and Aristotle's claim that the bones of a lion are solid and contain no bone marrow (Whonamedit 2018). Fallopius work also greatly contributed to the modern understanding of the reproductive system. Within this system, Fallopius discovered and gave the first description of the fallopian tubes which connect the ovaries to the uterus, allow for ovulation and pregnancy, and are subsequently named after him. He also described and provided the scientific names for the vagina, placenta, and clitoris, and disproved that the penis enters the uterus during intercourse (Gabriel and Whonamedit 2018). Fallopius also contributed to the understanding of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and their prevention. His work on STDs primarily focused on syphilis as it had been rapidly spreading at that time. This was done through a study Fallopius conducted where he had 1,100 men use a contraceptive of his design during intercourse and observed to see if they later developed syphilis. The contraceptive he constructed consisted of a sheath that went over the penis that was held in place by a bow. When his trial concluded, none the men had developed the disease. (Whonamedit 2018).Gabriel Fallopius' work has had a profound effect on the current state of modern medicine and healthcare. First, his work on the skeletal system has allowed for a modern understanding of conditions that affect the bones such as osteoporosis. It has also lead to a greater understanding of the development of the bones and teeth from infancy to adulthood. Within the reproductive system, his work has allowed for advancements in fields and procedures that involve the female reproductive system such as gynecology and childbirth. Lastly, his studies pertaining to the prevention of syphilis has led to modern measures for prevention against sexually transmitted diseases through developments such as the latex condom and education about protected intercourse. His discoveries have led to the betterment of mankind and his accomplishments have made it clear that he is an influential figure in the history medicine.

Battle of the Beers Essay

Introduction This case is about the intense battle between beer rivals in the United States, particularly between Anheuser-Busch (A-B), the world’s largest brewer, and SABMiller, the world’s second largest brewer. It discusses about how the companies used advertising in their brand positioning in order to compete with each other and increase the sales. This case starts by describing the strategies used by the both company when the battle began since the South African Breweries (SAB) purchased Miller Brewing Company in 2002. The 2 leading beer brewing companies uses different strategies to fight with each other in order to communicate how its beer differ from competition to draw in more consumers. First, Miller emphasized on the light beer, taking advantage of the health conscious trend where consumers were looking for low-carb beer by using comparative advertising campaign claiming that the Miller Lite has half the carbs than Bud Light. This prompted counteroffensives from A-B that mock Miller Lite’s low-carbs claims and challenge beer drinkers to choose on taste. To counter that, Miller then attack back by emphasizing also on the taste of the light beer. Things become worse when Miller also launched a new offensive campaign which lampooned Budweiser for its self-proclaimed title as â€Å"King of Beers† and Budweiser lashed back by labelled Miller Lite as â€Å"Queen of Carbs†. Miller filed a lawsuit against Budweiser asserting the false and misleading claims by Budweiser to Miller Light which will definitely affect the image of SABMiller. Then, Miller used blind taste tests and shifted to emphasizing taste and flavour instead of stuck with a carb positioning. In 2004, the companies used comparative advertising, where Miller launched new advertising campaign attacking Budweiser, and A-B also launched direct counterattack, and this made the battle become even more intense that others are being pulled into the fray. Television networks were refusing commercials on both sides  because their unduly disparaging or appear to contain taste claims that are unsubstantiated and misleading. While Miller continue to press on the taste issue, A-B introduced a new product promoting as having no lingering aftertaste and also emphasizing the freshness of its beer. The battle between the 2 companies goes back and forth. Questions: 1. What attributes are most important in determining beer purchasing decisions? How does this vary by market segments? There are many important attributes that need to be considered in determining beer purchasing decisions. As described in the case, these includes taste, aroma, and appearance. (i) Taste/Flavour/Aroma Taste is the most important attribute in determining beer purchasing decisions as consumers buy beer for the taste. As evident in the case, Miller spent huge amounts on advertising the taste advantage they hold over Budweiser. They held blind taste tests where consumers were seen to choose Miller over Budweiser in the tests. Their success in providing good taste led to Miller recording a 2.6 % increase in sales volume in 2003 as consumers felt that Miller beers were better in taste. Aroma is extremely important to beer’s overall taste and it determines the purchase decision of a beer. The market segments that emphasize on aroma in their beer purchasing decision are mostly experienced beer drinkers. The repeat beer purchase will takes place when the taste of the beer suit the customers. Health-conscious consumers who are looking to reduce their carbohydrate intake might opt for beer which are less sugar. Consumers who give more preference to the aroma of beer might look for strong aroma beer or beer which suit his or her taste. Some market segments might prefer beer with no lingering aftertaste. (ii) Appearance The process of purchasing a beer begins with its visual appearance. Many people make hasty judgments of taste (food or beverage) based entirely on sight alone. In terms of beer appearance, what consumers looking for are colour, clarity, and head retention. Although one colour is not necessarily better than the others, and none indicates directly how the beer will taste, but many beer drinkers will just have their own preference and perception of beer colour. Also, if a beer can’t form a head, either it’s improperly carbonated or the vessel into which it’s poured is dirty. Many beer drinkers will most probably emphasize on the appearance of the beer and are obsessed with beer clarity; if the beer is not crystal clear, they would not drink it. Some markets segments might prefer darker beers like stouts whereas others might prefer lighter beers such as wheat beers. (iii) Price Many people judge or determine a product quality based on the price. This is also true for beer purchases, and is especially true for those non-experienced beer drinkers. Higher price could have one of two effects on consumer preference: it could cause the product to seem higher in quality, or it could make the product less desirable because of the extra expense. Although most of the time price may reflect the quality of the beer (higher quality, higher price, and vice versa), but this is not all the time. For those who are emphasize on the quality of the beer, they might probably prefer to buy the higher-priced beer. Higher-income beer drinkers also might choose the higher-priced beer which they perceived that the beer has higher quality. For those market segments who just drink beers for enjoyment for example peers gathering, they might just buy the cheaper beers. (iv) Brand name Brand is the most important non-sensory factors affecting consumers’ choice  decisions of products. It seen as a promise, a guarantee or contract with the manufacturer and a symbolic mean and sign of quality. Beer drinkers will choose their beers based on their own beer brand preferences too. Researchers had found that ultrapremium beer was rated higher than inexpensive beer when brand names were unknown, hence shows that brand name do affect beer purchasing decision. In the market segments which earned a higher-income might prefer branded (usually higher-priced) beers. Younger generation might also choose those cheaper but well-known brand due to the exposure of the advertisements and they tend to follow the trend. 2. How would you construct a valid taste to determine beer buyers’ preferences? The methods used to construct a valid taste to determine beer buyer preferences based on different attributes would be as follows: Based on taste/flavour/aroma: Conduct blind-taste tests by providing the participants the cups of different beers to be tested which labelled A through E. Participants will be asked to taste each of the beers, and then spit out the beer into an empty glass. Between each beer taste, participants will rinse out their mouths with water to avoid cross-contamination among trials. After tasting all the beers, participants will rank order the five beers on the basis of the quality of their taste. Based on appearance: Conduct tests by providing the participants different beers with differences colour and level of clarity. For example by providing the participants different cups of beers with different colour and clarity labelled with A, B, C, D, and so forth without the acknowledge the participants what type or brand of the beers are. Differences in preferences across the samples will demonstrate whether consumers prefer one colour (eg. darker colour) than the others. The preference of beer based on the label colour, design, logo, or  the shape of the packaging can be tested as well. Based on price: Conduct tests by providing the participants different selections of beer with different prices to assess whether consumers use price to disambiguate taste. For example, the beers selected varied in price, from $7.99 per six-pack to $2.69 per six-pack. The prices per six-pack were as follows: Brand A: $7.99; Brand B: $5.99; Brand C: $3.99; Brand D: $3.49; and Brand E: $2.69. Participants will rank the different beers according to their own preferences and on the basis of their prior knowledge about these beers. Based on brand name: Conduct tests by providing the participants different selections of beer with different brand names. For example, different beer brands such as Anchor Steam, Samuel Adams, Budweiser, Miller Genuine Draft, and Schlitz will be provided to participants. Participants will be asked to rank the different beers according to their own preferences and on the basis of their prior knowledge about these beers. Conclusion: Consumers’ attitudes, beliefs, and feelings play important role in deciding if they are going to purchase the Anheuser-Busch or SABMiller beer brand such as Budweiser or Miller respectively. The beer marketers need to be able to identify the target markets’ shopping, purchase, spending, and consumption patterns in order to predict what consumers want from such product. Consumer intention acts as a helpful indicator to the types of marketing activities to carry so that they are able to attract the right market segment, thus leading to high profits. In conclusion, understanding consumer behaviour is significant because marketers want to attract the right consumers to purchase their brand.