Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion Essay

Galileo's Distinction Between Science and Religion - Essay Example He talks of the need for such a distinction in the light of the events that had led him to be at the centre of a controversy regarding the position of the celestial bodies in relation to the earth. Many were of the opinion that his views contradicted those of the Bible. According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, these times followed eras where science and theology existed together in harmony (Sickler). This harmony however, tilted the balance in favor of theology and the scriptures on more occasions than not. This led to the stunted development of science in many ways. It is such a scenario that Galileo critiques in his letter and he also comments on the vested interests that had started to operate the forces of the church. He thus, takes the social and material conditions of the church into account while talking about the conflict that had developed between science and religion during his times. While evaluating Galileo’s position, thus, one also has to keep in min d the historical aspects of the seventeenth century. Galileo’s main objection against the intermingling of the interests of science and religion lay in the fact that most of the people who would sit in judgment over the work of a scientist were not qualified to do so. Galileo’s objections are thus, rooted in an urge to allocate duties and functions in a society to the people who are most worthy for it. The ones who accuse Galileo of blasphemy are the ones that do not possess any knowledge of how to assess a book of science. According to Galileo, such people are likely to condemn a work of science â€Å"without understanding it, weighing it, or so much as reading it† (Galilei, 87). Such people are not capable of judging anything but matters that relate strictly to theology. As such, a divide should be effected between science and religion, according to the letter to the Duchess from Galileo. Galileo thus, is one of the first to argue for the introduction of speci alization in different fields. The humanist spirit of the times in which Galileo lived was one of the reasons as to why he argued for the separation of the sciences from religion. Science for Galileo was a field that had endless possibilities that could be exploited to a great extent. Religion, on the other hand was a strict set of rules that prevented this very mobility that was a part of the scientific project of the Renaissance. This was probably why Galileo wanted a separation between the two areas- it would lead to greater freedom for the scientists. They could also assume greater power in the working of the society and thus, be able to assume a position that was similar in the power that it wielded, to the church. An urge to improve one’s position not just in a spiritual sense but also in the monetary and materialist sense was something that the humanist spirit taught people to possess. The letter emphasizes the need for people who were a part of the church to understan d their sphere of work and not act as a result of their vested interests. Galileo talks of how Copernicus was understood during his own times. However, in the seventeenth century, theologians had started to take advantage of certain circumstances and had started to condemn Copernicus without so much as understanding the theories that were discovered and advanced by this scientist and theologian. Religion was something that the church derived from the bible and its teachings. Galileo debates the literal understandings of religion that were endorsed by the church. The word of God, according to Galileo, cannot be understood in a literal way and thus, much of the meaning of

Mathematics, the Connection Between Art and Science Essay Example for Free

Mathematics, the Connection Between Art and Science Essay Although there are many differences that set art and science apart, they share one undeniable commonality. This bond that is present between what is otherwise considered as polar opposites is mathematics. As shown in Professor Vesna’s lecture, mathematics is imperative to the development of art. Through math, artists have come to understand perspective, proportion, and geometrics. In terms of science, mathematics is the foundation which every theory stands upon. Nature, humans, and the digital world would have been impossible to comprehend without numbers to bridge the gap between the unknown and the understood. Truly, mathematics is ubiquitous and continues to prove its importance to this day. A novel amalgamation that consists of mathematics, art, and science is music. Milkman, an artist of the mash-up genre, is a musician that samples different songs and digitally combines them to form a brand new track. In a way, his work is described as an example of cross synthesis or convultion which according to Burk is some aspect of one sound superimposed on another. To harmoniously combine two different songs, one must fully understand every possible correlation in terms of rhythm, melody, and lyrics. And with mathematics and science making the technology available, the art of mashing up songs has become readily accessible and requires only creativity to create the next hit single. Mathematics has almost an infinite range of applications in society today. For example, Robert Lang presents mathematics as part of the core that drives origami, the art of folding paper. Lang shows that complexity is irrelevant; with mathematics to dictate origami, anything can be shaped. Because of its practicality of compacting large things, origami is used in various sectors of science which include telescope lens packing and heart stents. Another example of math’s prevalence is Theo Jansen’s presentation on his kinetic sculptures. His biological art, able to move independently, essentially redefines the wheel. Not only is it artistic but also it is a masterpiece of engineering; just a simple push can propel a massively heavy structure across difficult terrain. It is evident that math not only facilitates the evolution of artistic creations but also helps apply them as potential solutions to problems of today.

The merging of Colgate and Palmolive

The merging of Colgate and Palmolive COMPANY BACKGROUND Colgate-Palmolive Company CP is an American diversified multinational corporation focused on the production, distribution and provision of household, health care and personal products, such as soaps, detergents, and oral hygiene products (including toothpaste and toothbrushes). Under its Hills brand, it is also a manufacturer of veterinary products. History In 1806, William Colgate, himself a soap and candle maker, opened up a starch, soap, and candle factory on Dutch Street in New York City under the name of William Colgate Company. In the 1840s, the firm began selling individual bars in uniform weights. In 1857, William Colgate died and the company was reorganized as Colgate Company under the management of Samuel Colgate, his son. In 1872, Colgate introduced Cashmere Bouquet, a perfumed soap. In 1873, the firm introduced its first toothpaste, aromatic toothpaste sold in jars. His company sold the first toothpaste in a tube, Colgate Ribbon Dental Cream, in 1896. By 1908 they initiated mass selling of toothpaste in tubes. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the B.J. Johnson Company was making a soap entirely of palm and olive oil, the formula of which was developed by B.J. Johnson in 1898. The soap was popular enough to rename their company after it Palmolive. At the turn of the century Palmolive, which contained both palm and olive oils, was the worlds best-selling soap. A Kansas based soap manufacturer known as the Peet Brothers merged with Palmolive to become Palmolive-Peet. In 1928, Palmolive-Peet bought the Colgate Company to create the Colgate-Palmolive-Peet Company. In 1953 Peet was dropped from the title, leaving only Colgate-Palmolive Company, the current name. Colgate-Palmolive has long been in fierce competition with Procter Gamble, the worlds largest soap and detergent maker. PG introduced its Tide laundry detergent shortly after World War II, and thousands of consumers turned from Colgates soaps to the new product. Colgate lost its number one place in the toothpaste market when PG started putting fluoride in its toothpaste. In the beginning of television, Colgate-Palmolive wished to compete with Procter Gamble as a sponsor of soap operas. Although the company sponsored many shows in part, they were most famous for being the full sponsor of the serial The Doctors. George Henry Lesch was president, CEO, and chairman of the board of Colgate-Palmolive in the 1960s and 1970s, and during that time transformed it into a modern company with major restructuring. In 2006, Colgate-Palmolive announced the intended acquisition of Toms of Maine, a leading maker of natural toothpaste, for US $100M. Toms of Maine was founded by Tom Chappell in 1970. Today, Colgate has numerous subsidiary organizations spanning 200 countries, but it is publicly listed in only two, the United States and India. In June 2007, phony Colgate toothpaste imported from China was found to be contaminated with diethylene glycol, and several people in eastern U.S. reported experiencing headaches and pain after using the product. The tainted products can be identified by the claim to be manufactured in South Africa by Colgate-Palmolive South Africa LTD, they are 5oz/100ml tubes (a size which Colgate does not sell in the United States) and the tubes/packaging contains numerous misspellings on their labels. Colgate-Palmolive claims that they do not import their products from South Africa into the United States or Canada and that DEG is never and was never used in any of their products anywhere in the world. The counterfeit products were found in smaller mom and pop stores, dollar stores and discount stores in at least four states. Colgate people around the world have built a reputation as a successful company with the highest ethical standards. Through living our values of Caring, Global Teamwork, and Continuous Improvement, and adhering to the highest principles of integrity, honor, and concern for the environment and others, we seek to: Provide safe and quality products of value to consumers Increase shareholder value Offer opportunities for personal and professional growth to all Colgate people Fulfill our corporate social responsibilities as a member of the global community Factors affecting the Business: Government Factors: Government does not have much influence on the FMCG industry in terms of regulations. There are consumer protection laws but they are not implemented as they should be. There are not much regulations involved in this industry. Only the companies which are listed on the stock exchange have to follow the regulations under the Companies Ordinance 1984. So the new entrants Political factors: Political factors are influencing this industry because the recent and order conditions have affected the whole economy which in turn affected the industry. Many of the factories of the big companies were burnt after the assassination of Benazir. Economic factors: The overall economy of the country is showing a stable growth. Therefore this industry is also showing a growth of 10%. But the inflation is growing rapidly which is not a good sign for the new entrants. Change in the interest rate also affects the industry. Hence the new entrants are also threatened by the increasing interest rates. Social trends: The social trends are in favor of this industry. Mass awareness is created through media. So people are shifting from their traditional methods of washing clothes, skin care etc to the modern methods. This is a good sign for the new entrants. People have become more educated and health conscious. High population growth is another opportunity for the new entrants. Technological change: The technology can support this industry well. If the whole system can be automated from the import of raw material to the finished goods then it would save time and money. This is a good sign for the new entrants. But in this industry technology does not play a major role because the traditional formulae of soap or toothpaste are not that much complicated INTRODUCTION Effective management is the key to the establishment and growth of the business. The key to successful management is to examine the marketplace environment and create employment and profit opportunities that provide the potential growth and financial viability of the business. Despite the importance of management, this area is often misunderstood and poorly implemented, primarily because people focus on the output rather than the process of management. Toward the end of the 1980s, business managers became absorbed in improving product quality, sometimes ignoring their role vis-a-vis personnel. The focus was on reducing costs and increasing output, while ignoring the long-term benefits of motivating personnel. This shortsighted view tended to increase profits in the short term, but created a dysfunctional long-term business environment. Simultaneously with the increase in concern about quality, entrepreneurship attracted the attention of business. A sudden wave of successful entrepreneurs seemed to render earlier management concepts obsolete. The popular press focused on the new cult heroes Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniack (creators and developers of the Apple Computer) while ignoring the marketing and organizing talents of Mike Markula, the executive responsible for Apples business plan.* The story of two guys selling their Volkswagen bus to build the first Apple computer was more romantic than that of the organizational genius that enabled Apple to develop, market and ship its products while rapidly becoming a major corporation. In large businesses, planning is essential for developing a firms potential. However, many small businesses do not recognize the need for long-range plans, because the small number of people involved in operating the business implies equal responsibility in the planning and decision-making processes. Nevertheless, the need for planning is as important in a small business as it is in a large one. This publication focuses on the importance of good management practices. Specifically, it addresses the responsibilities of managing the external and internal environments. It can provide a basis for confronting the challenges of the 1990s. 3.0 Critical issue / problem for today business: Every new day bring the challenge for any business person, because to stay alive in the market you need to fight efficiently and smartly, as the world moving; complexity in every aspect of life is increase though technology has improved along but as much we belong to technology we get more depended. Following are the hot buttons for today business, and every business men more or less facing and struggling. Political instability and involvement: Every government is eager to impose taxes to earn more and more profit, due to recent shock of recession most of the industries are move toward bankruptcy or liquidate just because of high taxes and less benefit given by the government. It is common these day small business or large organization owners to be unaware of current legal issues that can hit them because continuous changes in the business policies and implication by the governments put them in trouble. The problem is that legal trouble can cost them. It can even cost you your business. After 9/11 money laundering and other compliance issues are more dealt in the organization standard operating procedure. Poverty and inequality of income: Due to high inflation and high unemployment rate continuously hitting the poverty level to increase, and that all because of inequality of income, contrary as the inflation increase the cost of business will also increase that thing put the pressure on the business man to reduce the prices because consumer start searching for alternative. Ethical issues in business: Ethics and moral compulsion are something that we all come across at one time or another. Contractual agreement not to exhibit unethical behavior. Releasing products with defects should be informed to the customers.   Even in a professional setting, all persons should act in a manner that would uphold the good of society. Every businesses have their own code of ethics and the individuals within that business have adhere the compliance of the code conduct most of the organization investing lot of resource in order to maintain the ethic and code of conduct within the organization, even though regulatory bodies also penalized the organization if in case of non compliance. Ethical behavior in business is consistent with the principles, norms, and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society. Constantly Changing Economic Environment: Dynamic economic environment is a night mare for the Contemporary business, because already exist giant in the market is a serious threat for them, because most of them have made cartel and create obstacle for the new business men to enter in the market or survival. Economical changes like inflation , Balance of payment, unemployment and poverty is also hindrance for the growth of business, for the fighting against all these indicators, entrepreneur need specific skill and knowledge, because without that he / she cannot be able to run the business smoothly. Risk Management: Every organization is susceptible to low probability events that could have a potentially catastrophic effect. A small or new business is no exception although it is easy to ignore the probability of such events under the pressures of developing and maintaining a business. Identifying and quickly dealing with such unlikely events is primarily the responsibility of management. Also only management has the ability to assess the full potential impact of these events on the overall organization. Some of the potentially disastrous events that may affect your business are listed below. Theft of property Breach of laws Computer crimes Fraud Weather related damage Determine how vulnerable your business is to these and other such risks by assessing their probability and impact. Consider actions that you can take to lower the probability of their occurring, i.e. ways to control your risk. Review the checklist each year to ensure the future of your firm is not imperiled through neglect. Developing and Mentoring Employees: Managing the employees / labor is the critical issue for the business men in these days because as the dynamic environment is coming around, for competing with that we need to keep our staff in the phase of learning, and continuous training is required to make them up to date. Even though you may discover that certain events are affecting your business, be careful not to change the organizational structure of your firm without discussing it with your management team. Employees generally can accomplish goals despite organizational structures imposed by management. Because restructuring involves spending a lot of time learning new rules and implementing a new organizational structure is costly. The actual problem comes when the employee / labor are unwilling to change and create hindrance in the way, so fighting with this problem is the main issue for the entrepreneurs. 5. Negotiating and Managing Critical Relationships with stake holders: Developing / maintaining the relationship with all the stake holders is the important thing for the entrepreneurs because each and every one has its own importance, and without making good relation with them survival is difficult, for all the building relationship entrepreneurs need to have the negotiation and communication skills. Every day we have noticed that lots of entrepreneurs were lost their businesses just because they are lack with these skills and for understanding the critical relation with the stakeholders we must need to understand the importance, if we neglect the customers, so we lose business, if we neglect the good supplier so we lose the quality, if we neglect the distributor so we lose the perfection is services, and finally if we neglect the Government so we have to ready for the sanctions and implication / charges / penalties / abandon of business Managing global operation: When organizations become global they often end up paying a heavy price in terms of managing complex managerial issues and challenges. Host country languages Host Country Norms and Customs. Workforce management Unfamiliar laws and regulations. Unexpected Cost mix. Globalization has affected most of country business tremendously. A number of Multi National Corporations are operating and functioning in most part of the world. It is important to spend some time in understanding how globalization makes it necessary and pertinent for a MNC to disperse and spread its scope and function of Operation. It would be more correct if try to understand the philosophy of MNCs not operating in certain regions or certain particular countries. The western worlds call these the disadvantages of Globalization, if an organization decides to pack up its business and leave a host company. The common disadvantages which lead to a MNC forgoing globalization includes. Handing over proprietary Technology to host countries. Political risks. Poor Employee (Managers and worker) skills. Slow customer response time. Effective communication between interfaces difficult Competition with others Organization: Businesses since the beginning of time have competed against each other. On the basis of competition, various types of market exist for nearly all lines of products and services. We already know that absolute monopoly and perfect competition type of markets are not that pervasive, yet businesses try to avoid perfect competition and strive to go for absolute monopoly so they can enjoy no competition and exploit the customer sentiments for buying. We can identify the following common and widespread ways in which organizations can compete against other organizations. 1. Price: In our day to day routine observations, we often see that a lower price would attract more customers provided the product or service fulfils its intended use. Lower price helps an organization to increase its customer base. 2. Quality: is an important dimension by which superior raw materials as well as high Skillman ship would ensure that product manufactured or service developed is offered to the customer with something extra. That something extra is nothing else but Quality is always offered free of cost, we will discuss this when we study in details Quality Management and Total Quality Management. 3. Product: Differentiation refers to special features that make the product or service look more suitable to the customers like an automobile manufacturer decides to provide GPS system to selected customer at an additional price etc. 4. Flexibility is the ability to respond to changes. It may refer to changes in target sales, product feature like adding GPS device to all automobiles 5. Time refers to the period required to provide a product or service to a customer from the moment the order is booked to the delivery, also time required to rectify a shortcoming or mistake Common reasons why organization Fail: We can identify certain familiar reasons why Organizations fail to achieve a competitive advantage and end up losing out to their competitors. These reasons are universal in nature and find the same footing in Pakistan as well as any other place in the world. 1. Too much emphasis on short-term financial performance. Quite often, cost cutting, profit maximizing at the cost of social responsibility or employee motivation is a failed strategy pursued by organizations, which just hastens their status to oblivion. 2. Failing to take advantage of strengths and opportunities. This is in reality failing to hold on to proven successful strategies or core competencies. Sometimes a change in leadership leads to change in strategy, where just for the sake of glory and high profits, organizations forget their core competence and opt for strategies and tactic which cause their downfall. 3. Failing to recognize competitive threats. This reason is the exact opposite of failure to make use of the organizations strengths. Quite often organizations decide to pursue status quo and ends up bringing no new product or service or even no innovation in its existing product or service line leading to lack of customer satisfaction, decline in profits and finally being declared a failure. 4. Neglecting operations strategy. This is definitely the most important reason of failure; organizations often end up employing non productive techniques which lead to inconsistent and failed operations. 5. Too much emphasis in product and service design and not enough on improvement. Differentiation in terms of service and product, American companies in 1980s did that they never introduced incremental refinements rather went for big changes and thus lost to Japanese competitors. 6. Neglecting investments in capital and human resources. A total disregard to use the best resource Capital and human resources in the long run make or break an organization. 4.0 Conclusion: Successful management is founded on the mastery of a myriad of details and the success of the business is depended on the efficient management of all the resources and to make decision for best optimal purpose. While management schools teach the importance of focusing attention on major issues affecting the business, practical managers realize the major issues are the variety of small aspects that form the business. The small mistake leas to the business in to unrecoverable losses or bankruptcy, In an increasingly structured society, inattention to even one minor detail can result in significant disruption of the business or even its failure.

Excessive Laws and the Self-Interest of Lawmakers, Lawyers, and Judges

Excessive Laws and the Self-Interest of Lawmakers, Lawyers, and Judges The basis of a civilized society is law. The law allows for standardized treatment of men, the law allows people to plan their futures, the law gives people assurance that wills, contracts, and trusts will be enforced, that certain behavior will be allowed while other behavior (crimes and torts) will be punished, etc. Five important characteristics of "the law" in a civilized society follow: 1) The law must be of manageable size so the average man can learn the law without a lifetime of study. 2) The law must be simple enough for the average man to grasp and understand. 3) The law must be stable so men can, once they learn the law, live their lives with great assurance that they know the law and are not violating the law. 4) The law must be internally consistent so a man who follows one law does not find himself violating some other law. And last, but not least, 5) "man made" law must harmonize with the unchanging law of God. Each of these principles needs to studied in light of America's current legal structure: Manageable size: The typical public or academic law library contains over 100 million pages (in excess of 100,000 volumes) of statutes, regulations, reported legal decisions, commentaries, cross indexes, law dictionaries, legal encyclopedias, law review articles, etc. However, most law libraries have found all these pages inadequate. In the last ten years they have added "on line" access to great legal web sites run by Lexis and West Legal Publishing. These web sites allow law students and lawyers to do quick searches of all published material related to a given topic. These web sites are expensive but if the right legal key words are entered the results are very useful. Twenty to one hundred pages of information is displayed on the screen. In an hour or two any journeyman lawyer will know all that is worth knowing about some narrow area of the law. Of course, total or complete knowledge is beyond human reach. No one not even the most dedicated legal scholar can claim to kn ow "all the law". In fact America's situation recalls ancient Rome, just before its fall, when the laws began to multiply. A sage of the late Roman Empire remarked "A corrupt society has many laws". Simplicity: As the preceding description makes clear, ma... ... in their lives and that He is unrelated to the central activity of their daily routine? It is obvious that each such step is simply another step on a slippery slope away from God. So why do lawmakers, lawyers, and judges violate these five obvious rules. The only answer that makes any sense is self interest. Lawmakers want to be re-elected so they pass laws which pander to man's baser instincts and give special advantage to large contributors. Judges at the appellate level (and bureaucrats in the executive branch of government) are lured by the evil urge to become "little gods". They put God's Laws aside and set off on their own to re-define right and wrong. Judges at the trial court level become friendly with the lawyers that appear before them so they act in ways which increase the power and/or wealth of these lawyers. Lawyers themselves are in need of income to support their families in an aristocratic fashion, so they encourage judges and lawmakers to increase the complexity of courtroom procedures and/or law in general so more "lawyer's work" is created. Simple laws and simple court room procedures are not the stuff upon which grand le gal fees are built.

Globalization on Chinese Society Essay

Our research aims to discover peculiarities of ideology in China. It’s going to highlight integrating values, legitimating the government’s policies and continued authority. The study is a review of articles by David Lynch, Gordon White and Feng Chen. From the recent past years up to this point of time, China has been taking part in extensive economic globalization activities like facilitating free trade policy. China’s new economic openness has resulted to remarkable growth trends. It has been practicing its â€Å"go out policy† by participating in the international market competitions. Observers have also noted some major changes in the Chinese media in coping up with globalization. With China’s entry to the World Trade Organization, structural reforms have taken place and more and more researchers have focused their interest on the interaction between Chinese media particularly television and the world at large. Currently, China is still in a whirl and sways with various ideologies such as a waning communist ideology, an increasing conservatism, as well as liberalism. Various ideological trends such as globalism, nationalism, individualism and pragmatism are likewise alive and under further exploration especially by Chinese youths. The pursuit of the leftists who adhere to the theory of socialism, elect to preserve the fundamental purity of the socialist economy and state authority. Meanwhile, reformists have argued that China should rather enrich its market economy and the rights to property. Besides, reformists want to recognize private entrepreneurship to join the Party. There exists some few numbers of youths having true belief in communism. Most of them, however, want membership to the Party as a stepping ladder in gaining their individual objectives. In some of the researches, David Lynch (2000 (Lynch, 1999, p173) has focused his objects on what expectations the intellectual and political elites expect leading to same changes in China for the years ahead. The objects include linked issues on some domestic and political affairs, the power capability of China as a nation, how the party state would defend its national identity as well as its cultural heritage and integrity in the face of the raging and deepening effects of globalization. Besides, Lynch assesses on how China aligns its new development and technology in directing its society’s future. With the continued transformation of the media including print, TV, the Internet, the entry of some foreign TV programming and the likes now depends mostly on the supply and demand and the behavior of the controlling party. The improvements of local or domestic contents have rivalled foreign counterparts. Lynch also assessed the trends in censorship and found some possible means by which media could possibly find ways of overcoming or avoiding rules, laws, problems, or difficulty to government restrictions of imported as well as local media contents. Briefly, Lynch tries to arrive at a point when the communist government’s hold on China’s domestic affairs would become loose due to the use of new technology. â€Å"Dilemmas of ‘Thought Work’ in Fin-de-Siecle China† reports that in May 1997 was established special organ of the Party Central Committee – Central Guidance Committee on Spiritual Civilization Construction. This fact indicates the seriousness of intentions in pursuing the spiritual civilization line. â€Å"Thought work† refers to Chinese Communist Party’s attempts to transmit socialist ideology and to control ideas of the masses so that they will comply to the demands of the national development plan. In his article Lynch argued that the government’s efforts to build a socialist spiritual civilization in China failed. He concluded that government’s attempts to limit access to global media and control political discourse turn out to be ineffective. Lynch reports the Chinese Ministry of Public Security’s estimate that as many as 620,000 Chinese had access to the internet in 1997, with a rise to 4 million expected by 2000 (Lynch, 1999, p. 193). The propaganda state is indeed crumbling. The author reports that Chinese children play cops and robbers who require the cops to inform the robbers of their rights before taking them into detention, as they have seen in American movies (Lynch, 1999). Other political writers like Feng Chen and Gordon White agree that China’s Chinese Communist Party is capable of adapting itself to the changing political climate. Moreover, China’s leaders could strengthen its position like having political legitimacy by re-inventing itself and continue some evolutionary tuning to reinforce the CCP’s legitimacy. Nevertheless, evolutionary refining is a hit and miss system that nobody can guaranty its success. Gordon White primarily focused on the politically engaged society in China. According to White politically-engaged society proved to be a durable theme in Chinese politics. Riding the Tiger concludes that society’s political engagement with the state will shape future of the state. For example, There may be a form of Chinese ‘Brezhnevism’ to see out the millennium as the current leadership tries to stay in power. If this is indeed the case, then the political contradictions and trends which I have identified will intensify and make it more likely that the transition, when it comes, will be sudden, radical and possibly violent. (White, 1993, p. 255) Even if the market becomes predominant through radical reform and even if it takes a capitalist form, which is very probable, there is a continuing need for a new form of developmental state to tackle†¦social and economic problems [such as market failure and its consequences for the poor]. In the short term, moreover, the role of the state is even more crucial because of the need to break through the ‘hard policy constraint’ and manage the transition from a planned to a market economy. This is a process†¦which is fraught with instability and tensions arising from the opposition of vested interests, threats to economic security, inflation and growing inequality. A strong state is needed to provide the political order and direction necessary to underpin this transition and regulate an emergent market economy in a huge and increasingly complex country. (White, 1993, pp. 238-9) As Gordon White has observed in Riding the Tiger, an attempt to establish a political system that can serve as an alternative to both capitalist economics and liberal politics has not appeared to be possible in China: â€Å"Marxist-Leninist socialism has been incapable of reforming itself and that ‘market socialism’ rather than saving its bacon, cooks its goose† (White, 1993, p. 12). White was writing at the start of the 1990s. Civil society-like forms emerged in China in the 1990s. That process the result collapse of the state structure, as it was in Soviet Union. But for the time being the Party-state still remains in command. As it was noted in Riding the Tiger, â€Å"to the extent the economic reforms were the spearhead of an attempt to resuscitate the political fortunes of Chinese state socialism, they can be judged to be a dismal failure†(White, 1993, p. 233). By the millennium China was certainly the most successful of the socialist states in adjusting to capitalism. Yet at the same time socialism remains in place in China and power is monopolized by the Communist Party. White denoted this combination as â€Å"market Stalinism† (White, 1993, p. 256). White suggests that the increasing prevalence of the elements of a civil society does not point toward an evolution into more liberal regime with market-oriented economy and multiparty political system. The author also noted that in Chinese society there are some groups that didn’t make benefits from the reforms. These would include state officials and state workers, women and the unemployed and floating populations: Fear of threats to status, power or income; disappointment because the reforms were delivering less than they had promised; disgruntlement arising from the â€Å"red-eye disease†; concerns that gains already achieved were in danger of erosion (through inflation and leadership mismanagement); contrarily, impatience at a deceleration of the reforms and anxiety at an acceleration. (White, 1993, p. 217) Some observers have concluded that the efforts of the Central Party in building some thought works on socialism in China has been not effective. Moreover, they gravitate to some extent. Formerly, China firmly opposed globalization as it disrupts some global institutions. Today, China is one of the firm advocates of liberalization and globalization, opening its trading system to the world. Slowly but surely, the Chinese system has now been updating itself on the rule of law, adapting many foreign laws to transform its civilization. China’s success through globalization, which happened in a short time, has indeed uplifted the standards of living of many workers. With such economic success arising from the impact of globalization, China has learned some stressful and painful lessons adjusting itself. Some of the effects include the decline of state employment from 110 million in 1995 to 66 million in March 2005, the lost of 25 million jobs in the manufacturing establishments, and the consolidation of some 125 car companies to just six firms. Its recent economic growth has revived and revved up the economy of Japan and kept safe its neighboring countries from recession, which otherwise could have led to a risky global downturn. With the prevailing trend of globalization, the process has deeply influenced the study habits, culture, and consumption styles of the youth (ACYF). They now believe that English is a basic skill and reference for one to acquire a degree. As more and more Chinese youths go out to study abroad, more and more of them have returned home, which benefits their culture. The youths now could avail some entertainments made in the USA, Europe, and elsewhere via television, films, videos, and the internet. Even internet games or serial TV programs from Japan or Korea have become the favorite of young students. Young people now in China are learning more the facts of life, society, and world affairs through the said media. When educators, scholars, officials, and artists speak of culture, this includes both the physical and non-physical aspects. The physical or material aspects include sites, landscapes, monuments, buildings, and like objects whereas non-physical aspects include music dance, language, poetry, and the like, which have been associated with China’s social practices. The non-physical culture is China’s living heritage is passed from one generation to the other. In reality, one should accept the fact that culture cannot be easily isolated from the influence or effects of globalization (UICIFD). To conclude the work we should note that ideology is still alive in China. The Chinese communist regime didn’t decline its ideological absolutism. The Communist Party alone that possesses the universal truth and represents the fundamental interest of the people (Guo, 1995, p. 84). In fact, â€Å"Mao Zedong thought† or â€Å"Deng Xiaoping theory† was adapted by the post-Mao party leadership in accordance with the changes of the China’s specific conditions. But this modification does not suggest discarding the fundamental principles and norms, but renovation within the same basic framework of development of Marxism. But post-Mao regime has cautiously modified some of Mao’s doctrines through the official interpretation of the sacred text (Guo, 1995, p. 84-85). As Feng Chen asserted, agricultural decollectivization in China was not an equivalent of â€Å"privatization,† but only the transformation of the rural economy into â€Å"a new type of collective economy, characterized by combining public ownership of the land with totally individualized operations of production† (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 82). To the post- Mao leadership, such an arrangement is defined as the â€Å"separation of land ownership rights and land use rights† (Feng Chen, 1998, p. 88). Land in China remains under public ownership. Reference List White, G. (1993). Riding the Tiger: The Politics of Economic Reform in Post-Mao China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press; London: Macmillan. Lynch, D. (1999). Dilemmas of ‘Thought Work’ in Fin-de-Siecle China. China Quarterly, 157. Guo, S. (1995). Totalitarianism: An Outdated Paradigm for Post-Mao China? Journal of Northeast Asian Studies, 14 (2). Chen, F. (1998). Rebuilding the Party’s Normative Authority: China’s Socialist Spiritual Civilization Campaign. Problems of Post-Communism, 45 (6).

Shirley Chisholm, First Black Woman in Congress

Shirley Chisholm, First Black Woman in Congress Shirley Chisholm  (born Shirley Anita St. Hill, November 30, 1924–January 1, 2005) was the first African-American woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress. She represented the 12th Congressional District of New York for seven terms (1968–1982) and quickly became known for her work on minority, womens, and peace issues. Fast Facts: Shirley Chisholm Known For: First African-American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, from 1968–1982Born: November 30, 1924 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New YorkParents: Charles and Ruby Seale St. HillEducation: Brooklyn College (B.A., sociology, cum laude); Columbia University (M.A., elementary education)Died: January 1, 2005 in Ormond Beach, FloridaPublished Works: Unbought and Unbossed and The Good FightSpouse(s): Conrad O. Chisholm (1959–1977), Arthur Hardwicke, Jr. (1977–1986)Notable Quote: That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free. Early Life Shirley Chisholm was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York on November 30, 1924. She was the eldest of four daughters of her immigrant parents, Charles St. Hill, a factory worker from British Guiana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from Barbados. In 1928, because of financial hardship, Shirley and two of her sisters were sent to Barbados to be raised by her grandmother, where they were educated in the islands British-style school system. They returned to New York in 1934, even though the financial situation had not been resolved. Shirley attended Brooklyn College for a degree in sociology, where she won prizes in debating but found she was barred from the social club, as all blacks were, so she organized a rival club. She graduated with honors in 1946 and found work at two daycare centers in New York. She became an authority on early education and child welfare, and an educational consultant for Brooklyns Bureau of Child Welfare. At the same time, she worked as a volunteer with the local political leagues and the League of Women Voters. Deeper Involvement in Politics In 1949, Shirley married Conrad O. Chisholm, a private investigator and graduate student from Jamaica. Together they became increasingly involved in New York municipal political issues, establishing a number of local organizations to bring blacks and Hispanics into politics. Shirley Chisholm returned to school and obtained a masters degree in elementary education from Columbia University in 1956 and became involved in grassroots community organizing and the Democratic Party, helping form the Unity Democratic Club in 1960. Her community base helped make possible a win when she ran for the New York State Assembly in 1964. Congress In 1968, Shirley Chisholm ran for Congress from Brooklyn, winning that seat while running against James Farmer, an African-American veteran of the 1960s Freedom Rides in the south and the former national chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality. With her win, she became the first black woman elected to Congress. Her first congressional battle- she fought many- was with the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Wilbur Mills, who was responsible for assigning committee appointments. Chisholm was from the urban 12th district in New York; Mills assigned her to the agricultural committee. Apparently, she said, all they know here in Washington about Brooklyn is that a tree grew there.  The speaker of the House told her to be a good soldier and accept the assignment, but she persisted and eventually Mills assigned her to the Education and Labor Committees. She hired only women for her staff and was known for taking positions against the Vietnam War, for minority and womens issues, and for challenging the Congressional seniority system. She was outspoken and uninterested in conforming: in 1971, Chisholm was a founding member of the National Womens Political Caucus and in 1972, she visited the voluble segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace in the hospital when he was recovering from an assassination attempt. He was astonished to see her and she was criticized for visiting him, but the act opened doors. In 1974, Wallace provided his support for her bill to extend federal minimum wage provisions to domestic workers. Running for President and Leaving Congress Chisholm ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 1972. She knew she could not win the nomination, which eventually went to George McGovern, but she nevertheless wanted to raise issues she felt were important. She was the first black person and the first black woman to run for president on a major party ticket and was the first woman to win delegates for a presidential nomination by a major party. In 1977, she divorced her first husband and married businessman Arthur Hardwicke, Jr. Chisholm served in Congress for seven terms. She retired in 1982 because, as she put it, moderate and liberal lawmakers were running for cover from the new right. She also wanted to take care of her husband, who had been injured in an automobile accident; he died in 1986. In 1984, she helped form the National Political Congress of Black Women (NPCBW). From 1983 to 1987, she taught politics and womens studies as the Purington Professor at Mount Holyoke College and spoke widely. She moved to Florida in 1991 and briefly served as the ambassador to Jamaica during President Bill Clintons first term. Death and Legacy Shirley Chisholm died at her home in Ormond Beach, Florida on January 1, 2005, after suffering a series of strokes. Chisholms legacy of grit and persistence is apparent in all of her writings, speeches, and actions in and out of government. She was involved in the founding or administration or strong support of numerous organizations, including the National Organization of Women, the League of Women Voters, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Americans for Democratic Action (ADA), and the National Womens Political Caucus. She said in 2004, I want history to remember me not just as the first black woman to be elected to Congress, not as the first black woman to have made a bid for the presidency of the United States, but as a black woman who lived in the 20th century and dared to be herself. Sources Barron, James. Shirley Chisholm, Unbossed pioneer in Congress, Is Dead at 80. The New York Times, 3 January 2005.Chisholm, Shirley. The Good Fight. New York: Harper Row, 1973. Print.Unbought and Unbossed. Washington, DC: Take Root Media, 1970 (2009).Jackson, Harold. Shirley Chisholm: The First Black Woman Elected to Congress, She Was an Outspoken Advocate against Discrimination. The Guardian, 3 January 2005.Thurber, Jon. Shirley Chisholm, 80; Ran for President, Served 13 Years in Congress. Los Angeles Times, 4 January 2005.

Peruse and Some Alternatives

Peruse and Some Alternatives Peruse and Some Alternatives Peruse and Some Alternatives By Maeve Maddox A reader asked me about the use of the transitive verb peruse: I have a question please. On the National Geographic Facebook page, they wrote Today marks the third Earth-year since NASAs Curiosity rover made its nail-biting descent through Mars thin atmosphere, successfully landing on its dusty surface- and plans for the next mission are in the works. Peruse through this gallery to see stellar snapshots of Curiositys journey to the red planet. Is it supposed to have the through  or should it be peruse only? I promptly answered: â€Å"You are correct. The verb peruse is transitive. It takes an object. The through is redundant.† When I checked the Ngram Viewer to satisfy myself that â€Å"peruse through† would not come up, I was surprised to see that it does register, although barely. I stand by my initial response, that peruse takes an object and is not followed by a preposition. One might â€Å"pore over a book† but one â€Å"peruses a book.† Some controversy exists regarding the meaning of peruse. I’d always understood it to mean, read carefully,† but in researching this post I’ve discovered that it can also mean look over briefly or superficially.† The latter sense is present in the example from the National Geographic website, in which peruse means â€Å"to browse.† Peruse in the sense of â€Å"to examine† entered English from Anglo-Norman French, peruser, in the sense of examining a witness. Peruser does not survive in modern French. English peruse translates into French as â€Å"lire attentivement,† literally, â€Å"to read attentively.† Although still in general use, peruse tends to sound old-fashioned, pompous, or jocular. I dont agree with language critics who insist that peruse must be used only in the sense of â€Å"read carefully† and never to mean â€Å"to read superficially,† but I do suggest that English has plenty of options for either meaning. If you are looking for a word or expression that conveys the idea of careful reading or examination, you may choose from these: read carefully study scrutinize inspect examine pore over wade through On the other hand, if you want to express the idea of superficial reading, you may choose from these options: look through browse leaf through scan run one’s eye over glance through skim thumb through As for peruse, apparently you may use it to convey either idea. Whichever meaning you attach to it, however, don’t follow it with a prepositional phrase. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?Peace of Mind and A Piece of One's MindDealing With A Character's Internal Thoughts

Conflict in Maus ll essays

Conflict in Maus ll essays The controversial graphic novel, Maus II is wrought with conflict. The characters are all at odds with each other, and while their arguments might seem petty, there are underlying themes with important messages. For example, the conflict between Art and his father Vladek represents the theme of a quest for understanding. Art has trouble understanding what his father went through and how he was affected, and Vladek has trouble understanding that his son is living in a new age, away from the Holocaust and his terrible past. Vladek and his son Art are from different times and places, and so they are constantly arguing and bickering. The inciting incident of this conflict in Maus II is when Vladek fakes a heart attack to get Art to come visit him. Immediately, the fact that Vladek needed to pretend to be dying just to get his son to visit him stands out as an obvious sign of an unhealthy relationship, at best. From this point on, it becomes increasingly apparent that there is a major conflict between father and son. Throughout the novel, Art tries, if grudgingly, to ease the tension that is ever present in his relationship with his father. After the false alarm of Vladeks heart attack, Art reluctantly stays with his father, to make sure that he can take care of himself. Though this act was in a sense an act of compassion and good will, it turns out to be a mistake. Vladek is a miserable roommate, especially for a married couple. Living with him, even for just a night, tries Arts already frayed patience. The conflict increases further when Vladek tries to sell half-eaten goods back to the market. Art does not understand his fathers interminable need to save money, as he never experienced anything similar to the Holocaust. Also, when they pick up a black hitchhiker, Art does not understand Vladeks racist views, since Vladek suffered so much due to racism. The conflict comes to a head when Art finds that...

Lower division capstone IP 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lower division capstone IP 2 - Essay Example tput of every industry and then takes away the intermediate inputs coming from other industries in order to come up with the residual value-added (Wells & Krugman, 2009). The income approach calculates the income gained by the several factors of production (Wells & Krugman, 2009). The last method is called the expenditures approach, which displays what is going on in all different types of spending all over the economy. This method is normally done every year (Wells & Krugman, 2009). While GDP can be determined in three different ways, the total value of the production, income and expenditure must be identical for all of these methods. In the case of the United States economy, the history of its GDP growth rate reveals erratic trends of highs and lows, particularly during the advent of the 2008 financial crisis and onwards. Based on the data gathered by Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), in 2011, the GDP growth rate has been observed to rise by 0.8% from its first two quarters of the year with a 2011 GDP of 2.5%. This data is an indicator of the growing potential of the United States despite the financial crisis in 2010 and the automobile industry crisis that cropped up recently. Additionally, in 2013, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the United States economy gained a GDP of 3.2% in the final quarter of 2013 (BEA, 2013). This expansion has been attributed to several aspects of its economy. The United States has one of the most varied and most technologically advanced economies in the world. It embraces the industries of banking and finance, real estate, healthcare automobile, education, social assistance among ot hers, which contributes to more than 40 per cent of the United States’ GDP. The retail and wholesale industries also contribute to the 12 percent of the country’s GDP. As a leading center for all these services, the United States GDP growth rate is expected to growth in the succeeding years. Comparatively, between 2008, in which the global economic

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through Essay

Issue of medicalization, the social construction of difference through science and medicine and power - Essay Example Several differences are medicalized. Due to scientific conquest and development of new knowledge, several aspects of society are affected. With this, what are aspects are medicalized in the first place? The most affected in this case are the cultural beliefs and value systems that are embedded in an individual. Since there is cultural diversity, it is really problematic to impose a certain a cultural ideology towards a certain group of people that have a different cultural grassroots. There should be a thorough understanding of the culture from both sides of the spectrum. However, in the case of Lia, from the work of Anna Fadiman entitled The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, the doctors of Merced Community Medical Center have not taken into consideration the spiritual culture of the Hmong people about childbirth. In her work, there is a quote that deals about the frustration of the parent due to cultural indifference. â€Å"It took all the autonomy of being a parent away, even for folks who have had a lot of medical experience. It would be that much harder if you were from another culture and didn’t understand the purpose of these things.† (Fadiman, 1997) This quote manifests the clear problem about medicalization. Modern medical science and its practitioners have the tendency to bypass the concern of the people they are dealing with since they always exercise their expertise. Even if the concerns are valid for the Hmong people because of their culture, the medical professionals did not comply and understood the necessity of such cultural practices for the Hmong. Cultural Indifference has indeed occurred and has yielded several detrimental effects. On the second level, what seems to be the theoretical framework used by the authors to discuss the issue of medicalization? In the essay entitled Of Gender and Genitals: Use and Abuse of Modern Intersexual from the book Sexing

Leaving a Job between Shannon kaiser and Tomoyuki Iwashita Essay

Leaving a Job between Shannon kaiser and Tomoyuki Iwashita - Essay Example In the case of Shannon Kaiser, she had been dragging herself and crying on her way to work due to the severe emptiness that she feels about her work that she is seeing it to be a cage. In her words, she â€Å"followed a career path that felt soulless†. Clive Offley typified the regular upscale life of a Japanese â€Å"yuppie† where they work for a prestigious that is desired by many. But Offley was so tired of because the amount of work that they do is already taking toll on the quality of their lives. He spoke of Karoshi or death from work to emphasize how Japanese companies will make you work to death. This was highlighted in his article when he â€Å"collapsed from working too hard†. But instead of being taken cared off, he was instead admonished by his boss that â€Å"it's your own fault if you get sick†. This kind of life was succinctly described by Kaiser as â€Å"I followed a career path that felt soulless†. It has perks that can make one fee l successful and supposed to be happy due to the accompanying superficial trappings that goes with the perks. Kaiser for a time had it. She had a fancy car, awards, achievements and money she could get. But instead of being happy, she instead felt an animal that is caged longing to come out. She longed to be with the â€Å"three-story tall maple tree. ... His workplace also provided everything that he never felt the need to leave the building. There is a barber shop there, doctor, sauna and other facilities and amenities that would cater to his needs. But all of these privileges have their price. And the price is worth more than the privileges because the change of lifestyle that his work wrought deteriorated the quality of his life instead of improving it. Suddenly, his life was reduced to work and his dormitory with the commuter train in between. They also have to work hard to the point of Karoshi or death from work in the company that they do not have anything left for their personal lives. The demand of work deprives them to find girlfriends (for the bachelor) and if an employee is married, they have less time to spend with their wives and their children. The predicament about work that was articulated by Kaiser and Iwashita represents the situation that many people are in with their work. Kaiser and Iwashita is not an isolated ca se and is shared by many people. Most of the time, we are doing the jobs that we are doing because we needed the job to pay our bills, mortgages, send children to school, etch. Or, it is because we are trapped by the impression of prestige of working in top companies and the trappings that goes with it that even if we feel miserable, we still stayed with the company just to keep the respect of other people. What made Kaiser and Iwashita’s casespecial was because they had the courage and opportunity to break free from the bondage of their work which Kaiser put it as â€Å"A giant ball of energy burst outward from my †¦ For the first time, I had let my inner voice, my heart, speak its truth.  I felt alive. For the first time in my

Finance and Growth Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Finance and Growth Strategies - Essay Example In fact, more mature companies tend to have better payout ratio, with regular increases in the rates. The firm's dividend policy is generally affected by a number of factors like; 1. Future Expansion Plans and Capital Requirements: If the company has expansion plans, diversification plans etc. then it will prefer to have a large reserve of its resources and funds readily available for the new venture. The requirement could be in the form of capital for setting up a new production facility or liquid funds to launch a marketing blitz for a new range of products or tapping a new market. 2. Competitive Environment: Today we are living in an era of globalization and liberalization. This has led to intense competition in many sectors and industries. This is particularly the case for companies in consumer goods and retail industry. Beckett-Camarata et al. (1998) present a conceptual overview of relationship management in a rapidly changing global environment: "In a global economy, all system members are interdependent and are customers. Companies are restructuring (i.e. downsizing) to fund only those core competencies that are key to their profitability and long-term survival. Managing relationships with their customers - especially with employees, channel partners, and strategic alliance partners - is critical to the firm's long-term success" (p71) Therefore companies try to reach all stakeholders in equal measure. For the customers it tries to rationalize the prices in order to attract them towards the product while it is equally crucial that the company tries to keep all its stakeholders in good humor, by paying out good returns on their respective holdings. 3. The overall business scene in the sector/s: Dividend payout decisions are also influenced by the number of companies and the kind of requirements that the business sector has. For example the diamond exploring companies in some of the South African countries do not generally find intense competition and the sector itself is a specialized one, with labor intensive inputs in the industry. In such a scenario, the company will have a committed number of investors and financers who understand the sector well and realize its potential benefits and drawbacks. On the other hand, a telecom services company will have intense competition not only from with the regional telecom companies but from other companies as well. Therefore, in such a scenario the company will be hard pressed for remaining in good books of the investors, coming from a wider spectrum of society. 4. Profit earned during the financial year: Dividend is certainly dependent upon the revenues and profits earned during the year. If the company can keep apart a sufficient amount, in addition to reserves and other liabilities, then the investors can expect better payouts. 5. Political scenario prevailing in the country/ region: The dividend policy is indeed impacted to a great extent by the political environment prevailing in the country or the region. If the political class is supportive of firms' business activities and the firm can chart out a future course of action, the firm can be quite liberal in its payout policy as well. But,

Since ethics and profit are actually not related, what reasons are Essay

Since ethics and profit are actually not related, what reasons are there to apply ethical standards to business at all - Essay Example First of all, it ensures that the company survives in the long term as it increases profitability and sustainability. However, the common consensus, most of the time, is that profit and ethics are opposed to one another, and hence, if a company is ethical, it cannot think about profits. In addition, many believe that in order for a company to be profitable, it should necessarily be unethical. In other words, this school of thought gives legitimacy for businesses to be totally unethical to make profits. There are instances in the history that make people believe that ethics and business are totally opposite entities. A perfect example is the Ford Pinto of Ford Motors. In 1978, three people died as the gas tank of the Pinto they drove exploded as it was hit in the rear. It was proved that the company knew that placing the tank in the rear end was vulnerable. However, the expenditure involved in changing the gas tank was $ 11 per car; an amount that is considerably less than the amount the company would have to pay in compensation for the few people who die as a result of explosion. So, the company decided not to change the position of the gas tank. In addition, law declared the company not responsible for the deaths. This incident clearly reveals how company can aim at profit totally neglecting what is ethical. In addition, such incidents generate the opinion that profit and ethics are alien to each other. ... Thus, the first and foremost ethical obligation for a company is to make profits for its stakeholders. In other words, its ethical duty is to meet the expectations of its stakeholders including employees and creditors. In addition, only a profitable company can fulfil its social responsibilities and welfare commitments. Though it is very evident that making profit is in no way against profitability, as Bandyopadhyay points out, there certainly are ethical questions about the methods adopted to make profit, and also about the amount of profit being made. A look into the business world proves that there are many large organizations that have successfully adopted ethical practices according to socially accepted norms. A look into World’s Most Ethical Companies Rank list helps learn how these companies turned ethical; according to this, UPS, one among them, reveals that ethics is the company’s business strategy (World’s Most Ethical Companies Ranking 2008). They clai m that being a good corporate citizen is an important element that keeps the company successful. The company that has operations in more than 200 countries does have an ethics program that meets international demands. The company has written ethics policies and a culture that reinforces the written policies. Another company that deserves attention at this stage is Google. Within 10 years of its establishment, the company is into a number of programs aimed at reducing its environmental impacts. As a part of this step, the company addresses challenging issues like climate change, poverty, disasters and disease. In addition, the company encourages its employees to participate in such initiatives. In addition, there are many companies like Xerox,

What Is Important in the Behaviors of the Managers Research Paper

What Is Important in the Behaviors of the Managers - Research Paper Example All the perspectives management are true with respect to the past writings by those described as managerial pioneers. While others have argued that the management thought began in the early days of the industrial revolution while others have argued that it began well before the industrial revolution. However, for this discussion, the focus would mainly be based on the patterns and the themes in historical management practices and theory that have existed for quite a long time and evolution of management theory. Diamond (2005), explains that the society has to learn from the past and hence restructure, otherwise it faces threats of collapse. The major developments in research and theory have been very important in the development of the organizations and their management over the last century. First, it should be acknowledged that the researchers, as well as the developers of the theory and practice in management, have often treated the organizations as being similar in all perspectiv es. The managers should, therefore, be very much aware of the developments in the management practices in the historical perspective since they give insights for better management and continual improvements in management. This paper, therefore, holds the view that the different theories of management practised in the past have been influenced by the behaviors of the managers and the organizations (Rainey, 2009). The development of one management theory is vital for the development of the other since one's theory is practised, the behaviors of the organizations and how the managers react with respect to effeteness would be crucial for the improvement of a particular theory.

Finance and Growth Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Finance and Growth Strategies - Essay Example In fact, more mature companies tend to have better payout ratio, with regular increases in the rates. The firm's dividend policy is generally affected by a number of factors like; 1. Future Expansion Plans and Capital Requirements: If the company has expansion plans, diversification plans etc. then it will prefer to have a large reserve of its resources and funds readily available for the new venture. The requirement could be in the form of capital for setting up a new production facility or liquid funds to launch a marketing blitz for a new range of products or tapping a new market. 2. Competitive Environment: Today we are living in an era of globalization and liberalization. This has led to intense competition in many sectors and industries. This is particularly the case for companies in consumer goods and retail industry. Beckett-Camarata et al. (1998) present a conceptual overview of relationship management in a rapidly changing global environment: "In a global economy, all system members are interdependent and are customers. Companies are restructuring (i.e. downsizing) to fund only those core competencies that are key to their profitability and long-term survival. Managing relationships with their customers - especially with employees, channel partners, and strategic alliance partners - is critical to the firm's long-term success" (p71) Therefore companies try to reach all stakeholders in equal measure. For the customers it tries to rationalize the prices in order to attract them towards the product while it is equally crucial that the company tries to keep all its stakeholders in good humor, by paying out good returns on their respective holdings. 3. The overall business scene in the sector/s: Dividend payout decisions are also influenced by the number of companies and the kind of requirements that the business sector has. For example the diamond exploring companies in some of the South African countries do not generally find intense competition and the sector itself is a specialized one, with labor intensive inputs in the industry. In such a scenario, the company will have a committed number of investors and financers who understand the sector well and realize its potential benefits and drawbacks. On the other hand, a telecom services company will have intense competition not only from with the regional telecom companies but from other companies as well. Therefore, in such a scenario the company will be hard pressed for remaining in good books of the investors, coming from a wider spectrum of society. 4. Profit earned during the financial year: Dividend is certainly dependent upon the revenues and profits earned during the year. If the company can keep apart a sufficient amount, in addition to reserves and other liabilities, then the investors can expect better payouts. 5. Political scenario prevailing in the country/ region: The dividend policy is indeed impacted to a great extent by the political environment prevailing in the country or the region. If the political class is supportive of firms' business activities and the firm can chart out a future course of action, the firm can be quite liberal in its payout policy as well. But,

What Is Important in the Behaviors of the Managers Research Paper

What Is Important in the Behaviors of the Managers - Research Paper Example All the perspectives management are true with respect to the past writings by those described as managerial pioneers. While others have argued that the management thought began in the early days of the industrial revolution while others have argued that it began well before the industrial revolution. However, for this discussion, the focus would mainly be based on the patterns and the themes in historical management practices and theory that have existed for quite a long time and evolution of management theory. Diamond (2005), explains that the society has to learn from the past and hence restructure, otherwise it faces threats of collapse. The major developments in research and theory have been very important in the development of the organizations and their management over the last century. First, it should be acknowledged that the researchers, as well as the developers of the theory and practice in management, have often treated the organizations as being similar in all perspectiv es. The managers should, therefore, be very much aware of the developments in the management practices in the historical perspective since they give insights for better management and continual improvements in management. This paper, therefore, holds the view that the different theories of management practised in the past have been influenced by the behaviors of the managers and the organizations (Rainey, 2009). The development of one management theory is vital for the development of the other since one's theory is practised, the behaviors of the organizations and how the managers react with respect to effeteness would be crucial for the improvement of a particular theory.

Zoo Essay Example for Free

Zoo Essay Going to the zoo has always been a favorite American past time. Families would sometimes retreat to this place where animals from the wild are caged and enjoy how these animals interact with each other. While man has always been at the top of the pyramid, the wonder of seeing these animals live and relate with others in their species has time and again drawn old and young children alike. Among the animals closest to man are the gorillas, baboons and mandrills. In the same way that man forms his own community, these animals also form their own legions of society. Gorillas like humans have their own distinct identification. Whereas man is identified according to his fingerprints, gorillas on the other hand are identified through their noses in which each gorilla has its own unique nose pattern. Gorillas moves quadrupedally and uses a special kind of quadrupedal gait wherein it uses its knuckles, hence, the term â€Å"knuckle walking†. Gorillas can also climb trees or higher surfaces but they cannot move suspensory as in the case of monkeys. Looking at the group of gorillas closely, one cannot see that it is patriarchal and polygynous in the sense that a basic group is composed of one male, usually a mature-silver black male wherein he acts as the leader of the group and unlike other primates, gorillas are more reserved. When they are in the wild, female gorillas would normally leave their group upon reaching sexual maturity and would tend to join groups of gorillas with a fewer females. It is evident by watching these groups of gorillas that there is hierarchy among them although males place high in the hierarchy. Like humans, grooming among gorillas also has become an essential habit and this usually occurs between the male silver back and the adult females. However, despite having lived in the care of humans, gorillas seldom interact with them. In fact, in the twenty-minute observation of this species, only once did the gorillas notice their visitors. They seemed to be living in their own world and no care whatsoever with its human visitors. While gorillas are reserved, baboons on the other hand most frequently interact with people. As seen by their actions, baboons are intelligent and very crafty that when they are in the wild, they are often treated like pests because they steal agricultural crops. But like gorillas, baboons also move quadrupedally although when they run, they seem to be like that of a horse galloping. They are very lithe and when something gets its attention, baboons tends to become excited and would run abound in its cage. Adult baboons sit in small groups while they grooming each other and the young ones play around. And ironically, among all the primates, the baboons seemed to be the most conscious and conceited because they spend most of their time grooming themselves although this can be different when they are in the wild. This is probably a form of forging a bond among their group while keeping their bodies free and clean or external parasites that would cling to their furs. Unlike gorillas which have a definite male hierarchy, baboons on the other hand allow females to rise in rank as leaders in their groups. Young baboon males enter new groups by forming â€Å"friendships† among females by protecting and defending them. Even for a short period of time, it is evident that baboons can also be aggressive especially among males. On the other hand, the black and white colobus monkey seems to be a mutilated or mutant form of primates. Although its black and white fur is very beautiful, it does not have thumbs like the baboons and gorillas. The infant black and white colobus are nearly white all over that it barely resembles its parents. Its tale is very fluffy like that of a stuff toy and their stomach seemed to be bloated and large. The black and white colobus monkey is very lithe and agile. It rarely goes to the ground and uses the branches and bars as trampolines, jumping up and down and leap among bars. Like the gorillas, the black and white colobus monkey is dominated by a male and forms its own territory. Because the colobus monkey tends to stay up on branches and bars surrounding its cage, it rarely interacts with humans. This kind of primate moves quadrupedally and is a semibrachiators as well as an agile acrobatic leaper. In fact, it can move up from bar to bar or from one branch to another with a length of six meters. Interestingly though, the tail of the colobus monkey is being used to balance itself. It is also funny to take note of that colobus monkeys belch on each others faces. When they are out in the wild, the colobus monkey is normally headed by a male but the female is not totally dominated. For example, the female black and white colobus monkey in the zoo seemed to form a society or bond of their own, taking care of the offspring of one and seemed to pass it along to other female colobus monkeys that it is hard to keep track which is the mother of the infant colobus monkey. Indeed a visit to the zoo even for just twenty minutes will render a visitor various insights as to how these animals act and move. The facts learned from books and the Internet are not only substantiated but also corroborated and having kids around to watch these animals will definitely teach them how these animals live in their own communities.

Crimes Of The Rich And Powerful Criminology Essay

Crimes Of The Rich And Powerful Criminology Essay White collar offenders get away with their crimes easily and rich get richer poor get . It seems obvious that power inequality affects the quality of peoples lives. The rich and powerful live better than the poor and powerless. Power inequality affects the type of deviant activities likely to be engaged in (Barak 2000). The powerful are more likely to perpetrate profitable crimes such as corporate crime while the powerless people are more likely to commit unprofitable crimes such as homicide and assault and power can also be an importance cause of deviance. For example more likely for bank executives to cheat customers quietly than for jobless persons to rob banks violently. Crime committed by respectable people of high social status in the course of their work and this is called white collar crime (Sutherland 1961 ) white collar crime occurs at several levels. Embezzlement for example it is committed by employees against companies and companies also commit white collar crime too when they engage in pricing fixing, sell defective products, evade taxes pr pollute the environment. When companies are the perpetrators white collar crime is often referred to as corporate crime and sometimes corporate crime is more closely parallels organized crime than it does anything else. For example accountants ,auditors, and executives working for Enron corporation worked together to hide the companys debts exaggerate its profits and pull in money from investors whom they tricked into buying their stock for much more than it was worth (Coleman2002) White collar crime brings heavy costs to society most scholars and law enforcement officials believe that the money loss due to corporate crime dwarfs that lost through street crime in addition to the economic cost there are social costs as well white collar crime can cost lives when tainted medicines or dangerous cars are sold , safety precautions are flouted on factory lines or toxic chemicals are dumped by manufacturers into rivers and streams the cost of white collar crime go beyond the actual money involved in the crime itself. The reasons for white collar crime are similar to those for street crimes. People want more than they can legitimately get think the benefits of a crime outrun it is potential costs (Young 2009) In these days the magnitude of white collar crime in our society challenges the popular image of crime as a lower class phenomenon. Instead this appears that people of different status simly haqve different opportunities to commit crime. Those people in lower status are hardly in the position to engage in price fixing , stock manipulation and tax evation. They are in a position White collar crimes are far less likely to be offcialy investigated and prosecuted than converntional crimes. In the simplest term what occurs in the streets is more visible and more easily inveatigated than what occurs in the suite. Its hard to detect and it realy can be hard to notice if crime has accurred e.g fraud, tax fraud and shop theft there are also few good reasond that why business in UK and other companies dont want to talk about white-collar crime its because the firms may not want to admit that they have been victim of theft and this can effect on their own business they may also not want to admit that their staff committed a crime. Since crimes were attempts to gain personal advantage by force or fraud they could obviously be committed by the rich and powerful they could certainly involve force or fraud and they could clearly be committed without punishment by the state. Some doctors commit murder and doctors sometimes cheat on medicare and lawyers have been known to misuse funs entrusted to them by their clients: business executives sometimes angage in bid rigging : labor union executives sometimes embezzle funds from pension plans and also manufacturers sometimes dispose of toxic chemicals in wyas contrary to law. Other criminal activities that are often missed by official and many sociological measurements of crime are those conducted by the powerful in society (pearce, 1976) crimes of the powerful is largely those commited by rulling groups and governments, corporate crime is that crimes commited not so much by individuals but rather by boards for example chair persons and including the breaking of the Health and Safety Work Act and white collar crime that crimes committed by professional people such as tax evasion, business fraudand insider trading. White collar drimesis difficult to estimate the extent and influence of whitecollar crime on victims because all too often those who suffer the consequences of white collar crime are ignored by victimologists. Entry 2: Culture and crime Wide differences in cultural heritage and value system have a direct impact on rates of crime and it is obvious that there are many cultural differences between the America and Japan that doesnt mean that Japanese approaches to crime prevention cannot work in America (Freilich Guerette 2006). In Japan the societys emphasis on apologies and resolving disputes outside the police and the court this can effect on reporting crime, prevent crime and this leads to crime stays on low level in Japan. When we pick the robbery case is the most fearful street crime in America is much higher than Japan for example in 2002 America recorded 182 and for each robbery in Tokyo New York had 462. Robbery rates for England, Germany and France do not approach those in America but resident of those countries are still twenty to thirty times more likely to be held up than people living in Japan. Even when we think about South Korea have same similarity with geographically and culturally with Japans and closest neighbour and has robbery rates 6.5 times than Japan (Gilman Levy2005 ) culture plays important role in to control crime and prevent crime. There is also a lack of confidence in America and people likely to act as witness and they likely to report crime. While some people can effectively cope with strain some certain people have traits that may make them particularly sensitive to strain. These include an explosive temperament being overly sensitive or emotional low tolerance for adversity and poor problem solving skills. Aggressive people who have these traits are likely to have poor interpersonal skills and more likely to be treated negatively by others and their combative personalities make them feared and disliked. These people are likely to live in families whose caretakers share similar personality traits. They are also more likely to reject conventional peers and join deviant groups. In summer 2004 a dramatic murder trial took place in New York City that aptly illustrates how lower class cultural concerns the code of the streets clash with the rules and values of American culture and how deviant cultures can exist side by side with middle class culture. According to the studies the relatively high U.S. crime rates can be explained by the interrelationship between culture and institutions. The dominance of the American Dream mythology ensures that many people will develop wishes and desires for material goods that cannot be satisfied by legitimate means that people are willing to do anything to get ahead from cheating on tests to get higher grades to engaging in corporate fraud and tax evasion and those people who cannot succeed become willing to risk everything including a prison sentence(Valier 2004). American dream have a different effect on people depending on their place in the social structure. The studies shows that the American dream had a greater effect on whites than African Americans the reason is that whites may have greater expectations of material success than African Americans whose aspirations have been tempered by a long history of racial and economic deprivation. When whites experience strain they are more apt to react with anger and antisocial behaviour. At the institutional level the dominance of economic concerns weakens the informal social control exerted by the family, church and school. In my opinion these institutions have lost their ability to regulate behaviour and they have instead become a conduit for promoting material success. Parents pushing their kids to succeed at any cost and schools encourage the kids to get in to the best colleges by any means possible as well as religious institutions promote their wealth and power because religion lets you down all the time when you are keen on it too much. Entry 3: Race, ethnicity and crime I strongly not agree with the government recent policy change on immigrants. Te immigrants have faced the challenges involved in living in a new and different political and cultural environment. Many immigrants have faced discrimination in one form or another because of their colour and their inability to speak English fluently or their customs. After the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001 reinforced the belief that he rights of immigrants should be limited and the government start passing a number of laws that could affect immigrants life in future emotionally and financially for example to apply for a passport you have to go through the citizenship and Naturalisation law stages in order to get your passport and it costs about  £800 per person age 18. Black people being the victims of crimes as well as the perpetrators of crime due to their position in areas of social deprivation (Newburn 2003) some poor and disadvantaged people do commit crime because they are poor and disadvantaged. Some of these people get end up staying in prisons and courts as a result. This does not mean that the poor and disadvantaged commit most crime. Black people are likely to be stopped and searched by the police and there are a higher proportion of arrests following these searches and black people receive harsher treatment in the court and in sentencing procedures. According to the Home Office statistic in June 2001 ethnic minorities for 19 percent of the male prison population (12 % black and 2% Asian) (Roberts 2003). The institutional racism operates within the criminal justice system people with different background with different religion e.g. has always been treated differently and classified as second class people within the eyes of justice. Also the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report highlighted the problem of disproportionality and indicated the discrimination was a major problem and also this research has actually pointed to racial stereotyping by the police and black people are likely to get stop and search than white people. In Stephen Lawrence case was 18 black students were hoping to become an architect and was fatally stabbed while waiting for the bus that was a racial attack but police investigation failed to bring the killers into justice this had a big influence on black community. During the early nineteenth century there was not any race and crime issue. This was not due to lack prejudice or indeed a lack of crime. It was because there were relatively few immigrants living in the UK. Black and lower class populations have the highest rates of street and index crime involvement in the UK. (Frank 2009) and Sociological theories argue that the location and experiences in the social environment are responsible for these differences in crime involvement (Calvin Gerald ). In an early contribution to the sociology of knowledge DeGre (1995) observed that all science including those disciplines not involved in the study of human society are part of the tertiary institutions of a culture being influenced by the larger constellation of stresses and strains, cultural values, technological accomplishments and needs and overall definitions of life goals that characterize the social group society and world situation in which they are operative. No one comes into the world with criminality in the way in which one is born with a certain colour of eyes and crimes committed by immigrants are more frequently prosecuted than those committed by white people because immigrants are less likely to defend themselves legally and they are less often in a position to secure a good lawyer and they are more promptly sentenced to prison and in the court stages they are likely to plead guilty to drop their sentence to a lower level this is because they are come from a different culture different belief and different laws that they faced in their own countries and there always a language barrier There is a media effect on race and ethnicity from TV news and from movies people are getting the wrong ideas on immigrants and religion. Media plays important role here in my opinion media shows the criminal act and report them to the public in a negative way rather than report them in a positive way. Because it is a personal interest of media personnel. One more importing thing as well as this if the media giving the news related to crime with fascination in this case the crime ratio of that specific crime will increase for example if in newspapers the news about terrorism is reported so frequently then in this situation the ratio of stop and search will increase according to the British Crime Survey BCS a number of stop and search has actually gone up after the 7/7 London bombing. Entry 4: Future trends The actual volume of crime in Britain has been going down for over a decade or more. Violent crime has also not risen particularly even though the media plays it up big time. The majority of offenders in prison or in front of the courts have little to do with violence and the average custodial sentence is less than 12 months. Even domestic violence is down. Certain categories of crime are higher than ever but actually not as high as previous years and quite stable e.g. gun crime. IN fact if we remove gun crime and knife incidents from the forms of violence black people especially experience we would be relatively free from physical violent crime. Other crimes seem higher than before because the Home Office has changed the police recording procedures to make the clear up and conviction rates look good but that does not mean there has been any serious increase in these crimes. But you cant talk about crime and not talk about the negative effect from the media. Older people generally and white elderly in particular have a greater fear of crime even though they have a significant less exposure to it and one reason is they are so heavily dependent on the media and less mobile and able to see for themselvesThe media in particular target this group and love to frighten the shit out of them and it plays into the party politics and games they love to play. In policing style the police agencies use current statistics to spot crime trends in order to formulate the future law enforcement plans. The internet and the continued evolution of a digital economy offer expanding possibilities for such cyber crime as credit card fraud. atm fraud, identify theft, various computer hacking crimes and even the exploitation of children through internet based child pornography. The technology will play an important role in the future of criminal investigation and police work generally. The future of effective policing will be depending on strengthening the ties between the police and the communities they serve. Because UK is a divert country the police must represent the community and must embody its values and must be perceived as acting on behalf of the community and this requires a commitment on the police leaders as well as individual officers so the public will gain the trust of the police and they will be more confident in the CJS. It is hard to think about the future of crime trends because current conditions can change rapidly as some criminologist believe that crime rates may eventually rise as the number of teens in the population increases only some of criminologist believe this. I think the age structure of society is one of the most important determinants of crime rates but the economy, technological change and social factors will play an important role in crime rate in the UK. If unemployment continues to increase which will be and more attention will be paid to white collar crime and fraud as a result of the massive business failures in the banking, security and housing industries . The race and crime conundrum may become less important as crime and victimization. When the economy turns down people who are unemployed will become more motivated to commit theft crimes and that a good economy will reduce the number of crime. The good positive way is a poor economy actually will help lower crime rates because unemployed parents are at home to supervise their children and guard their possessions. Because there is less to spend I think age in crime will effect crime rate in future because teenagers have extremely high crime rates kids who commit a lot of crime early in childhood are also likely to continue to commit crime in their adulthood. CCTV does work and works best when it is used alongside wider strategy of partnership working between the police and councils and local communities to tackle crime locally and nationally. When it comes to the crime prevention the CCTV is the most effective in reducing crime for example in car parks is most effective when targeted at vehicle crimes and it is more effective in reducing crime in the UK than in other countries. The CCTV can increase the public confidence and the public will likely to support Criminal Justice System for example in reporting crime and act as a witness. Also in recent terrorist investigations including 7/7 London bombing and 21/7 and the conviction of Steve Wright for Ipswich murder that CCTV has played a important role in detecting crime and protecting the public . The new crime threat will be cybercrime if things go as they are. This would be any crime that involves an information system and includes ID theft. As technology advances people are going to be more brazen to commit cybercrimes from home Transnational crime organisation will continue to grow in diversity in many regions in the world. Developed countries like England and America will bore affected by TCSs than in the past. 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