IKEA Analysis Report (Operations management)1 Assignment - 1

IKEA Analysis Report (Operations management)1 - Assignment Example The value proposition provides benefits both to the company and the stakeholder. It encourages the roles and tasks undertaken by the stakeholders to be in like with company’s objectives. It becomes the promotion proposition to potential clientele, the reason they ought to do trade with company, rather than its rivals. It communicates to the entire company a sense of precise purpose and course, coordinating their labours toward the overburdening common purpose of generating a satisfied customer. IKEA, the Swedish furniture industrialized company have applied Co-productivity to its complete exploitation. IKEA sells its commodities to customers in a kit type which the customer assembles themselves, at a lower pricing. The cause that this technique is successful is that customers do not place a worth on their own energy and time in assembling the merchandise. In some scenarios, the amount of extra effort inputted by the clients can be a greater cost than it could be if the get-tog ether of the furnishings were done proficiently (Porter, 2001). IKEA’s differentiation positioning strategy; the fundamental nature of a differentiation policy is to be exceptional in manners that are precious to clients in a sustainable method. Differentiation needs an in-depth comprehending what clients value most, where down the value chain to generate the differentiating variables, and what facilitates and capabilities are required to produce this exceptionality. It is that the corporation services a small number of market segments by offering a value intention that satisfies each section on a few key scope which creates this positioning strategy gainful. The key is to create product stand out from competitive provisions by having merchandise that provides a few highly valued elements. Distinctive capabilities are those potentials that a company can do better than competitors and are not simply imitated. For instance, IKEA can be said to have an idiosyncratic capability i n comprehending the customer. When this characteristic capability lies in a major accomplishment area, or a movement which is necessary if the company aspirations to stay alive in the long-term, it becomes a competitive gain. The value Chain The value chain is the organization of various products or segments of the company to offer valuable items. It involves proper planning, coordination and control of the company segments such as production, marketing, service and design and development. IKEA value chain is summarized as; the value proposal is the conclusion of the value sequence. There are two parts to the value plan: the consumer and the company. The company covers all of the domestic and external procedures that are executed throughout the value chain. The accomplishment or failure of the value plan will mirror how the members of the value chain recognize the external pressures on the value chain (Sheehy, Bracey, and Frazier, 1996). If these discernments are inaccurate, then th e worth proposition will be outdated. The value chain encompasses the customers and stakeholders expectations that must be considered. Manage the logistics of the company that ensure smooth flow of procedure. Ikea intangible products and benefits Currently IKEA has not concentrated on assessing the tangible advantages of its environmental

The Role of United Nations in 21st Century Essay Example for Free

The Role of United Nations in 21st Century Essay The United Nations is an international organization of independent countries. These countries have joined together to work for world peace and against poverty and injustice. The UN was established as a result of a conference in San Francisco in June 1945 by 51 countries committed to preserving peace through international cooperation and collective security. Today, nearly every state in the world belongs to the UN 191 countries in all. UN headquarters are located in New York City. The UN is not a world government, and it does not make laws. It does, however, provide the means to help resolve international conflicts and formulate policies on matters affecting us all. At the UN, all the Member States large and small, rich and poor, with differing political views and social systems have a voice and vote in this process. | | The UN has  four main purposes, as stated in its Charter: 1. To keep peach throughout the world;? 2. To develop friendly relations among nations;? . To help improve living conditions of poor people and encourage respect for each others rights and freedoms;4. To be a centre for helping nations achieve these goals. | ? The UN is central to global efforts to solve problems which challenge humanity. Cooperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated organizations known together as the UN system. Day in and day out, the UN and its family of organizations work to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease, promote development and reduce poverty. UN agencies also define the standards for safe and efficient transport by air and sea, help improve telecommunications and enhance consumer protection, work to ensure respect for intellectual property rights and coordinate allocation of radio frequencies. The United Nations leads the international campaigns against illicit drug trafficking and terrorism. Throughout the world, the UN and its agencies assist refugees and set up programmes to clear landmines, help improve the quality of drinking water, expand food production, make loans to developing countries and help stabilize financial markets. The UN is central to global efforts to solve problems which challenge humanity. Cooperating in this effort are more than 30 affiliated organizations known together as the UN system. Day in and day out, the UN and its family of organizations work to promote respect for human rights, protect the environment, fight disease, promote development and reduce poverty. UN agencies also define the standards for safe and efficient transport by air and sea, help improve telecommunications and enhance consumer protection, work to ensure respect for intellectual property rights and coordinate allocation of radio frequencies. The United Nations leads the international campaigns against illicit drug trafficking and terrorism. Throughout the world, the UN and its agencies assist refugees and set up programmes to clear landmines, help improve the quality of drinking water, expand food production, make loans to developing countries and help stabilize financial markets. | Historical Development of UN When it established, its members was 51. Nowadays member of united nations are 192. This number includes People’s Republic of China and Vatican which is not a member of this organizations anymore. Turkey is a founder member of United Nations. Central of United Nation is in New York. All of meeting with member countries are making in this space. Before this organization , there was different organizations. Such as league of nations which is established on term between two word war. The main differences between the League of Nations and the United Nations were the stronger executive powers assumed by the Security Council and the requirement that member states should make available armed forces to serve as peace-keepers or to repel an aggressor. President of USA (F. D. Roosevelt) propound to this concept (United Nations). This declaration was followed by a conference of Foreign Ministers in Moscow, in October, 1943 where discussions took place concerning a replacement for the discredited League of Nations. United Nations was firstly used in decisions of declaration by UN which include combined and maintaining of war against axis powers on 1 January 1942. China , Soviet Union , Britain and US ‘s delegates determined UN principal agreement by congregating in Dumbarton Oaks In Augusts and Octobers on 1944. Every year on 24 October is celebrated as United Nations day by member countries . UN principal agreement determined aim of this organization; To protect international peace and security by peaceful solvation of problems and using active expedience. To provide development of rights of people without being any differences between nation , sex, language, religion in solutions of problems about international. Language of UN: United Nations legal languages are Arabic, Turkish , French , English , Spanish and Russian. Un? ted Nations basic discipline are : All members are hegemon and equal. 2- All members are responsible of process of UN role in international relations. 3- Any member of this organization wouldn’t use any power. 4- All members have to support UN’s applications. 5- UN never touch any countries’ home affairs except for protecting international peace. Organs of UN: United Nation has six basic organ and subsidiary organ. Basic organs are general assembly, security council, economic and social council Trusteeship Council (not active) , general secretary and international court of justice. General assembly is a basic discussing organ of UN. Each member country has a vote. This assembly makes meeting on September or December regularly, but sometimes when there is a extraordinary they can be collected. Security Council has a basic responsible about international peace and security. -The Economic and Social Council assists the General Assembly in promoting international economic and social cooperation and development. -The United Nations Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General, assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide . It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. -The International Court of Justice, located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. The Security Council had five permanent members, United States, the Soviet Union, China and Britain. Six other countries served two-year periods on the Council (this was increased to ten in 1965). Controversially, permanent members were given the power to veto decisions made by the Security Council. The other nations vigorously opposed the idea of the veto but it became clear that without such a favoured position the five major nations would not join the United Nations. The United States Senate ratified the United Nations treaty by a vote of 89 to 2 on 28th July, 1945. The Role of United Nation: United Nation is an opportunity for all world to solve global problems since sixty years. This is also opportunity to conquer anarchic system which created by dominant state . As the most representative inter-governmental organization of the world today, the United Nations role in world affairs is irreplaceable by any other international or regional organizations. The United Nations has made enormous positive contributions in maintaining international peace and security, promoting cooperation among states and international development. Today, people of the world still face the two major issues of peace and development. Only by international cooperation can mankind meet the challenges of the global and regional issues. The United Nations can play a pivotal and positive role in this regard. Strengthening the role of the United Nations in the new century and promoting the establishment of a just and reasonable international political and economic order goes along with the trend of history and is in the interest of all nations. In order to strengthen the role of the United Nations, efforts should be made to uphold the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The authority of the Security Council in maintaining international peace and security must be preserved and role of the United Nations in development area should be strengthened. To strengthen the role of the United Nations, it is essential to ensure to all Member States of the United Nations the right to equal participation in international affairs and the rights and interests of the developing countries should be safeguarded. The UN has had so many positive impacts on the world that naming a few would be almost silly but here goes:? Established a peace treaty in Yugoslavia. If the UN didnt exist the genocide would have continued. Has a security council that is made up of almost every type of political standing in which all have to agree if war is allowed to happen and is just. Established neutral zones in many middle eastern conflicts to make both sides take a breather and try to talk. Allows for open communication between all the nations in the world. Sends food aid to many poor locations. Before all the haters jump in, they need to realize that it is not perfect but it is at least an attempt at fixing the problems of the world. Almost all things bad that have happened from the UN have been because a country didn’t listen. The role of UN in 21st Century: As the United Nations (UN) enters the 21st Century, it is faced with challenges that were not seen by its creators. The end of the Cold War, globalization, intra-state conflict, and a desire to achieve universal human rights continues to separate the world between those who have and those who need assistance. In order for the UN to obtain any semblance of global governance to meet these new challenges, it will have to move beyond its traditional logic and employment of international peacekeeping forces. Sending a sovereign nation‘s uniformed military to keep fighting parties separated will not promote long term peace, economic development, nor aid the cause of individual liberty. While there has been much success gained through the medical, educational, and financial institutions under the UN umbrella, it has not developed the means to protect those investments. The focus of this research effort is to move away from conventional use of military personnel in UN peacekeeping operations and analyze the need for their replacement and enhancement with a permanent UN Police Force. There are two broad obstacles concerning the implementation of a UN Police Force. The first is nothing short of the nature of politics itself. Secondly, and many may consider a product of the former, is the means by which to gain the resources required to field a force capable of meeting the world‘s needs. In both areas, the UN will have to present a case that will be supported by the people and government of its member nations. The Beginnings of Collective Security : The United Nations is not the first organization that has attempted to achieve collective or regional security. History is full of alliances that have been set up at many different levels to protect property, sovereignty, and people. Although there are significant examples of such entities throughout history, the scope of this work can only make a brief mention of the League of Nations and some of the instances and background that has led up to our current situation in the UN. Under the UN, Cold War settings and the different forms of peacekeeping will be addressed. Although there have always been calls for some form of utopian ideal among the fringes of society, the aftermath of World War I allowed for a more open discussion of a better future for the world. The leadership of President Woodrow Wilson helped form the League of Nations following the Treaty of Versailles. This Wilsonian vision of a —supranational organizationâ€Å" failed to gain acceptance in the United States and in its mission. This first attempt at collective security lacked the necessary diplomatic support to secure its objectives and forced nations back to the alliance system in preparation for World War II. The United Nations Early Years While the loss of a generation of European men was catastrophic in World War I, the destruction of property was isolated to the war front. The Second World War saw not only the death of soldiers, but also the death of millions of civilians and entire cities destroy across the world. It comes as no surprise then that there was another outcry for a world body to manage conflict before it spirals out of control. With the close of this second Great War, the birth of the United Nations gained more authority and support than its predecessor. The UN did not immediately find itself at the helm of an efficient collective security system. Instead, it was a pawn in the return to balance of power politics in the bi-polar world between the United States and Soviet Union for the next half century. The end of World War II saw both the birth of the UN and atomic weapons. Between the spread of communism and the efforts of a containment policy, the East-West struggle left the UN with little role other than a forum for heated debate and inaction from the Security Council. According to the UN, there have been 54 peacekeeping operations from 1948 to October of 2000. Fifteen of these operations are current, but only 16 were initiated before 1989. The fall of the Soviet Union and the removal of a bi-polar system that provided supported and control for regional tension left us with what President George Bush referred to as the —new world orderâ€Å". It didn‘t take long for others to coin the phrase New World disorderâ€Å". Peacekeeping Types There are a number of different definitions of peacekeeping. The first is —traditional peacekeepingâ€Å" that was a product of the Cold War. United Nations missions between 1945 and 1988 were designed to keep direct confrontation limited between the US and Soviets. Traditional peacekeeping puts a military force between former belligerents to monitor a cease-fire while diplomatic negotiations are conducted. While this type of operation may still be required on occasion between nations, it can be accomplished with a third country military force as needed. Other definitions of the peacekeeping mission since the late 1980s require some refinement due to the nature of the operations. There are three other definitions of —peacekeepingâ€Å" as they apply to conflicts within a nation or among small, undeveloped countries. These operations are labeled multidimensional peace operations, humanitarian intervention, and peace enforcement. Multidimensional peace operations are similar to traditional peacekeeping, but have an implementation schedule and timeline. A multidimensional operation also involves separating the factions and working towards a peace accord that addresses the underlying cause of an internal conflict. Humanitarian intervention sometimes lacks the consent of the warring parties and is frequently thought to violate a nation‘s sovereignty when there is a desire to maintain an isolationist approach. However, to stop further loss of life or a threat to international peace and security may require such an intervention. The last type of operation to be addressed is that of peace enforcement. In this case, coercive force is used by the intervening parties to suppress conflict in a specific area as a result of genocide or lack of governance. As stated earlier, traditional peacekeeping operations between nation states is not in severe need of change and therefore not the focus of this research effort. It is necessary for the full means available to a modern military to stand between nations on the verge of war. This paper will address the specific requirement of a UN Police Force to conduct the multidimensional peace operations required for the plethora of failed states that have emerged in the post Cold War World. The next chapter will address why the UN should form an international police force and the logic necessary of it‘s member states to support it. The Need for Change The impact of globalization, moving beyond just the idea of universal protection of human rights, and the changing environment of world conflict make the logic of a UN Police Force more relevant now than ever before. The Cold War was an era of strict definitions with regard to international law. In order to protect the East-West alliances, intervention was viewed as illegal and no doubt a threat to the respective power broker. Self-determination, that supported one of the super-powers, and sovereignty of the nation was placed higher on the UN agenda than any abuse of individuals within the state. While it would be easy to say the fall of the Soviet Union has caused this new phenomenon of failed states, there is a deeper cleavage that has been opened up. States fail when they can no longer govern themselves as a result of any number of reasons. Most of the factors that cause a state to fail can be attributed to competition over resources without regard to the rule of law. Resource competition may be over wealth, education, ethnic community, or simply an opportunity to seek a better life. Throughout history the current trouble spots of the world were held together by colonial rule or under the protection of the East-West regimes. Two other reasons that can be attributed to the lack of involvement by the UN and industrialized nations prior to 1989 include the level of information getting into and out of less developed countries before the information revolution. The ability of CNN to flash the first signs of civil disobedience, international crime, and any number of human rights violations to the watching world have forced local, regional, and multilateral agencies to answer to their public. Moreover, the people who once lacked information of the world did not realize just how poor their plight was. The effects of the World Wide Web and globalization have changed forever the way nations and people interact. There is a desire by a vast amount of the world‘s population to experience the freedoms, economic prosperity, and success they see occurring in developed nations. However, the inability of their own infrastructure or political administration is preventing them from instituting laws and an enforcement agency that could lead to a more productive nation. Globalization The spread of technology that has resulted in increased information flow has also fostered the spread of global business. Multi-national corporations are now the rule rather than the exception when it comes to 21st Century business. The reality of a global business community that advances the lives of the population needs the same safe and secure environment to operate that people do. Globalization requires special attention because it is the basis and means for the UN to develop and employ an international police for that protects property rights and individual rights. There has been much discussion over the last decade concerning how to manage the effects of globalization. The rich wish to maintain and improve their current status while the poor seek to find the means to develop. Political focus has usually been to protect the rich nations through laws that affect immigration and import/export barriers. Poor nations are left further behind due to their inability to provide the safe environment and properly suited work force to invite foreign capital as a result of government shortcomings. While many view the spread of industry and markets as a purely business interest, a successful world economy that involves everyone must be supported politically through the establishment of law enforcement. It is the law of the rich nation that prevents market forces from allowing people, prices, and goods to meet their theoretical economic potential. Not all the people and governments of the world view globalization as a desired objective. The use of technology and business to integrate and expand markets can result in a clash of civilizations through diluted customs, ethnic integration, and labor force migration. Traditional sources of revenue such as agriculture and local industry can be moved resulting in dependence on foreign means. In order to achieve an effective world market, while at the same time promoting literacy and awareness through a global information revolution, there needs to be a sense of fairness and security felt throughout the world. The advancement of some countries cannot be at the expense of the majority without inciting resentment and conflict. The UN must use globalization to promote protection of business markets while at the same time using that force to provide the means for ensuring people can live safely and seek better lives through increased access to education, religion, liberty, and means of prosperity. Even though democracy has spread since the fall of communism, it has not brought significant advances to less developed nations. Countries that have seen economic prosperity as a result of globalization have confined that success to a special interest group and not the nation‘s people as a whole. Democracy is not enough to warrant success, —an effective state requires good laws as well as law enforcement that is timely, even-handed, and accessible to the poor. â€Å" United Nations Declaration of Human Rights One of the critical arguments against any type of universal human rights policy and enforcement is that they are the product of the West and cultural exceptionalists choose not to abide by international norms when it is not in accordance with their political agenda. However, as a byproduct of globalization, the world has become a smaller place and nations should no longer be able to hide behind the veil of sovereignty when breaking international laws. —The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the several ensuing legal treaties setting out civil, political, cultural, and economic rights as well as the rights of children, women, ethnic groups, and religions, were meant to create a global safety net of rights applicable to all persons, everywhere†¦they brook no cultural exceptionalism. The UN now has the obligation to find a means to enforce and promote these rules until they have become commonly accepted by all citizens. Leaving member nations, specifically those on the UN Security Council, to decide when, where, and how human rights and globalization laws are to be enforced will only further delay the advancement of Third World Nations and promote continued armed conflict. The people of the world deserve the opportunity to work t owards their own prosperity. It is incumbent upon governments to ensure an environment free to exercise individual rights and provide a certain degree of protection in life and property. Although there are occasions when direct welfare is required, the issue of direct compensation is a complex one and not in the scope of this research project. Seeking the advancement of a better alternative to the traditional use of national military forces is however. The UN must use the cornerstone of economic advancement to also promote the ideals of individual benefit. An achievable goal is the reduction of armed conflict when nations and their population feel they are reaping the benefits of their labor and exercising individual freedoms. However, the world is controlled by the wealthy nations and the reality is they must be convinced a change to the status quo is required. The Catch-22 the UN faces is finding the trained personnel, finances, and time investment to help developing nations succeed while not promoting themselves as the world protector of global governance. A new UN Police Force is the means by which the developed countries of the world can provide the framework for Third World independence without collective, regional, or unilateral involvement of military forces. Values and Practicalities As the twenty-first century draws nearer we are witnessing an era where foreign policy and international relations are increasingly values-driven. The United States and other major countries form the vanguard of what amounts to a universal crusade to spread doctrines and practice of their version of good governance and democracy, in tandem with wider acceptance of liberal market economic policy as the pathway to modernisation. But a profound paradox emerges here. As the world grows more democratic, so the UN becomes less democratic or at least mired in ays of governance reflecting its formative period, which fail to mirror todays world and relative global influence. Realists argue that there is no correlation between a more democratic world and a more democratic multilateral system; that no intrinsic linkages exist. That is an argument that rests upon the distribution of power and those that want to maintain their built-in advantage. The signs are that the fundamental logic of such an argument will be put to the test sooner rather than later in the century ahead. Critical reflection drives us to the conclusion that despite urgency and obvious need, the UN is probably not going to be reformed in a meaningful way. Differences among member states stemming from power-political rivalries and ideological antagonisms have been fundamental obstacles to UN reform. These differences continue today. Even as the debate between East and West lapsed into obsolescence, the debate between North and South continues, with emphasis on conflicting claims on fundamental values and perspectives. The UN remains a stake and a prize in this escalating debate. Every proposal for change in the organisation is assessed in the light of advantages bestowed upon one or the other side, and everyrecommendation for reform offered by one is predictably resisted by the other. Such a situation has tended to cause political gridlock everywhere. Conclusions The world no longer lacks the economic and technological means to do more than pay ideological lip service to advancing the individual rights and pursuit of prosperity to the global population. The UN must convince the wielders of hegemonic power that they may face the same problems encountered by the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires if they do not seek alternative solutions to managing world crises. Past and present attempts to quell conflict between less developed nations or manage the consequences of a failed state have not had much success. Results are the continued deployment of combat forces between belligerents in foreign lands. The biggest concern for a UN military force is still one of intervention in a crisis instead of the daily presence required to enforce the law and defuse potential hot spots before they occur. The UN‘s member states are also reluctant to use military forces because there is little support for forcible entry. By having a UN monitored Police Force already present, this obstacle would be eliminated. While the use of deadly force is taught to police forces, it is engrained in the minds of the soldier. The likelihood of excess force and inability to interact with the target population are significant drawbacks to the use of a military force to conduct peacekeeping operations. Other obstacles for a military include lack of continuous presence and the need to return home for national emergencies. Even if there is a long-term military presence, the soldiers are on a rotation schedule that inhibits the contact required to promote trust. A properly trained UN Police Force could mitigate many of these problems. While the idea of a UN Police Force does meet the needs for the establishment of law and order, there are other areas that will require much research and debate. Even after the acceptance of this concept by the world‘s leaders, there will continue to be the same issues that plague every effort proposed by the United Nations. In addition to those seeking the exceptions from universal implementation, the reality of financing, training, organizational structure, appropriate force size, and demographics will need to be addressed. Each of these areas will require their own research and debate. However, this level of detail will only be necessary if the need for a UN Police Force is seen as the best way to protect individuals and economic investment thereby allowing growth and development in our ever-changing world.

Internet And Democracy :: essays research papers

IF THE UNSUBSTANTIAL sound bite is the shame of televised election coverage, then information overload is the parallel pitfall on the Internet. After spending one interminable day in October reviewing Web coverage of the presidential campaign, I can verify that the online universe is indeed infinite, and that politics, not pornography, seemed the most prolific theme. Stunned by thousands of news articles, background pieces, surveys, discussion forums, transcripts and commentary, this human brain nearly screamed for spoon-fed mush. Election sections on most of the major news sites were so enormous that a person couldn't possibly process all the sections and subsections and sub-subsections. About 20 percent of the stuff seemed digestible; the rest was far more than the average visitor would care to chew. But that's the nature of the Internet, isn't it? Throw enough stuff at the wall, and most of it will be used by someone. Let folks pick and choose their news. If nothing else, all the fodder provided a number of ready-made high school civics reports and fed the repurposing requirements of fellow reporters. And why not? Airtime and column inches don't exist on the Internet. There's no need to decide between an interview with a candidate's grade school sweetheart, a 5,000-word analysis of his position on health care or a comparison of campaign platforms. You can do all of that and more. This is a good thing, isn't it? Yes. As long as an organization has the resources and vision to distinguish its core coverage from the ornaments that surround it. Along those lines, cheers to all of the major news sites for their efforts at live speech and debate coverage, solid election news and voting resources. Nearly every news organization with access to live video streamed it quite successfully during the debates and provided cataloged archives for future reference (abcNEWS.com even offered a stream in Spanish). Nearly live text transcripts were also available on most sites. The innovation award goes to Web White & Blue 2000 (www.webwhiteblue.org). Sponsored by the Markle Foundation, the project was a consortium of 17 major Internet sites and news organizations from AOL and Yahoo to MTV and MSNBC. Each day the presidential candidates or their surrogates would respond to a question submitted by a visitor at one of the partner sites. The answers and rebuttals could come in any format and were unlimited in length. Not only did the Al Gore and George W. Bush campaigns respond regularly, but also the Reform Party's Pat Buchanan, Libertarian Harry Browne, Natural Law candidate John Hagelin and the Constitution Party's Howard Phillips. Only Ralph Nader declined to

Child Abuse and Neglect Essay -- Violence Against Children

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maltreatment of children is not a new phenomenon. It dates back far into history, even back to biblical times. During recent years child maltreatment has had an increase in the public's eye. There are many factors to child maltreatment. There are four general categories of child maltreatment now recognized. They are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment. Each category, in turn, covers a range of behavior. The maltreatment of children not only affects the children themselves, but also affects the family by making it dysfunctional. Physical Abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical abuse may be best defined as any non-accidental physical injury by a person who has care, custody, or control of a child. The definition contains two key aspects, the act is intentional or willful, and/or the act resulted in physical injury. Accidental does not qualify as child abuse. (Wallace,29)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Physical abused children do not fit any type of stereotype. Abuse occurs in all neighborhoods. Also, abusers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and sexes. There are many signs of physical abuse. First the location and types of injuries, many time the parent or care takers will deny any wrong doing or the child has suffered any physical injury. There are always those injuries that consist of a normal childhood upbringing, such as falling of their bike or bumping their head. Then, there are those which they cannot be explained. When caretakers deny any injuries or have no knowledge of an injury, there is a very strong likely hood that physical abuse exists. Here are some of the signs of physical abuse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bruises happen for various of accidental reasons. There are also bruises that are tell tale signs of abuse. Bruises have a time clock that can tell when it happened. Also, the location of the bruise can tell a story. Bruises on the front part of the body are often signs of normal bruises from just falling ECT. Bruises found on the back of the arm, leg, lower back, the butt and genital are suspicious bruises and often questioned bruises. Patterned bruising is also a sign of abuse. Normal bruises are in various shapes and sizes. While some bruises that are a patterned show strong signs of abuse. These are bruises that have definite boundaries and sharp and curved edges. For example rope, rulers, hand prints and so on. (wallace,38)   ... ...e long run, parents that were neglected during their childhood often neglected their children. Also, the children that have psychological damage from maltreatment are more likely to indulge in suicide and self mutilation. Nonphysically abused children are more likely to have depression and hopelessness. Children with inappropriate sexual behavior, such as frequent and overt self stimulation are a direct constituency of sexual abuse. Non-sexually abused children later on in life also sometimes show sexual overtones. Sexually abused children may show high levels of dissociation, a process in a product a disturbance in normal integrative functions of memory and identity. Many abused children are able to self hypnotize themselves or space out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been found that abuse as a child has affected their stages of life. Studies have found that abused children have lower intellectual functioning and reduced cognitive functioning. Others have found language skills and verbal ability to be affected by abuse. Also, studies have suggested that today's abused and neglected children are tomorrow's problem adult. We must all work to put and end to child abuse in America. Child Abuse and Neglect Essay -- Violence Against Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Maltreatment of children is not a new phenomenon. It dates back far into history, even back to biblical times. During recent years child maltreatment has had an increase in the public's eye. There are many factors to child maltreatment. There are four general categories of child maltreatment now recognized. They are physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect and emotional maltreatment. Each category, in turn, covers a range of behavior. The maltreatment of children not only affects the children themselves, but also affects the family by making it dysfunctional. Physical Abuse   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Physical abuse may be best defined as any non-accidental physical injury by a person who has care, custody, or control of a child. The definition contains two key aspects, the act is intentional or willful, and/or the act resulted in physical injury. Accidental does not qualify as child abuse. (Wallace,29)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Physical abused children do not fit any type of stereotype. Abuse occurs in all neighborhoods. Also, abusers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and sexes. There are many signs of physical abuse. First the location and types of injuries, many time the parent or care takers will deny any wrong doing or the child has suffered any physical injury. There are always those injuries that consist of a normal childhood upbringing, such as falling of their bike or bumping their head. Then, there are those which they cannot be explained. When caretakers deny any injuries or have no knowledge of an injury, there is a very strong likely hood that physical abuse exists. Here are some of the signs of physical abuse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bruises happen for various of accidental reasons. There are also bruises that are tell tale signs of abuse. Bruises have a time clock that can tell when it happened. Also, the location of the bruise can tell a story. Bruises on the front part of the body are often signs of normal bruises from just falling ECT. Bruises found on the back of the arm, leg, lower back, the butt and genital are suspicious bruises and often questioned bruises. Patterned bruising is also a sign of abuse. Normal bruises are in various shapes and sizes. While some bruises that are a patterned show strong signs of abuse. These are bruises that have definite boundaries and sharp and curved edges. For example rope, rulers, hand prints and so on. (wallace,38)   ... ...e long run, parents that were neglected during their childhood often neglected their children. Also, the children that have psychological damage from maltreatment are more likely to indulge in suicide and self mutilation. Nonphysically abused children are more likely to have depression and hopelessness. Children with inappropriate sexual behavior, such as frequent and overt self stimulation are a direct constituency of sexual abuse. Non-sexually abused children later on in life also sometimes show sexual overtones. Sexually abused children may show high levels of dissociation, a process in a product a disturbance in normal integrative functions of memory and identity. Many abused children are able to self hypnotize themselves or space out.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It has been found that abuse as a child has affected their stages of life. Studies have found that abused children have lower intellectual functioning and reduced cognitive functioning. Others have found language skills and verbal ability to be affected by abuse. Also, studies have suggested that today's abused and neglected children are tomorrow's problem adult. We must all work to put and end to child abuse in America.

Utilitarianism and Happiness

The philosophical theory that I choose to do is called â€Å"utilitarianism†. In a brief sentence, utilitarianism means the greatest good for the greatest number of people. Basically what this means is, doing the right thing is based on how many people your action benefits rather than how much it benefits you. According to the Oxford American Dictionary utility means â€Å"the state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial†(oxford dictionary,2013). The whole theory is all about how much it benefits and how useful or profitable an action or an idea is. For example: if killing one criminal brings forth happiness to a hundred people, then killing that one criminal is not a bad idea. Simply because it makes one hundred people happy. According to utilitarian’s the ultimate goal or the most important part of life is to seek happiness. But the happiness that you seek must not only benefit you, but it has to benefit a large sum of the people. This is called the â€Å"greatest happiness principle†(Wikipedia, Feb, 11,2013). Now this is the main idea of utilitarianism, but it does branch out in the different direction due to many philosophers that thought of this theory. Utilitarianism is not discovered by just one person, it’s made up of many ideas from many different philosophers. Although many people believe that utilitarianism started with Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, there were philosophers that came up with similar ideas as utilitarianism. Before we talk about the authors of this theory, we must really understand the history of utilitarianism and how it came to be. Way back in history when humans invented writing in the Sumerian Civilization of the Old Babylon, the ancient Mesopotamian people wrote a poem/story called the â€Å"Epic of Gilgamesh† about a friendship between Gilgamesh and Enkidu. In this story there’s a character by the name of Siduri that tells Gilgamesh â€Å"Fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let days be full of joy. Dance and make music day and night†(Wikipedia, Feb, 3, 2013). This quote dates back to the very first advocacy of hedonistic philosophy in the human civilization. It is believed to be written during 2500 – 2000 B. C. A little forward in time and we come to meet Aristippus of Cyrene (435 – 356 BC). Aristippus is a student of one of the greatest philosophers to ever oam the planet, the father of philosophy, Socrates. Though Aristippus didn’t follow in the footsteps of his teacher, he had his own ideas and own theories of philosophy, one of them being hedonism. Aristippus idea of hedonism is that all people have the right to do anything to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure. For example: if drinking and doing drugs bring you the greatest amount of pleasure and happiness, then there is nothing wrong in doing so. You may be asking yourself, why I am telling you about the history of hedonism. So let me explain, in the 18th – 19th century. The British philosopher’s by the name of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill came up with the theory of utilitarianism by taking hedonism of Aristippus and adding the â€Å"greatest happiness principle† (Kerby Anderson, 2012). The hedonistic theory of doing anything to achieve the greatest amount of pleasure turned into doing anything to achieve the â€Å"greatest good for the greatest number of people† which is now called utilitarianism, this philosophical theory is basically an innovation of hedonism. Though many philosophers had part in its discovery, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill brought utilitarianism to its true glory, if they didn’t explain their philosophy in the way they did. Perhaps I wouldn’t be writing this essay right now. So the ones to be credited for utilitarianism is Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. But its not to say that this theory doesn’t have its advantages and disadvantages. Like all things in life, there are benefits and there are hindrances. The Advantage of utilitarianism is simply the happiness that you gain from doing something, whether the happiness is for you or someone you care about. In the end, someone is happy. If you’re in confusion on a certain decision and don’t know what to do, you can simply apply the greatest happiness theory and make your decision based on that. That way, you don’t seem selfish only thinking about your happiness and people will respect that choice and someday repay your kindness by sacrificing their happiness for yours. By sacrificing your happiness for someone else already makes you good human being. Its fits to show that our actions have consequences. If someone cares only about his/her actions alone, he/she wouldn’t have many friends ue to the lack to affection and concerns that he/she shows towards others. Another important advantage of utilitarianism is when you’re faced with a challenging and difficult task; it gives you the methodology of choosing the right path, the one that will benefit the most people. Instead of questioning how beneficial it will be for you. You begin to value other peopleâ⠂¬â„¢s happiness over your own. Therefore giving you the best possible option. Though it is good to put other before you, utilitarianism has its disadvantages as well. This particular philosophical theory has many disadvantages, but the one that matters to me is. Utilitarian’s only care about happiness, whatever brings the greatest amount of people the greatest amount of happiness. Sure, happiness is good, but what about people who don’t get that happiness. For example: out of 50 people, 35 of them get happiness. What happens to the other 15 people? Are we to just ignore how they feel? They are humans too, they have feelings as well. We can’t abandon them just because the other 35 people are happy. Secondly, if we care about others more than we care about ourselves. How can we possibly be able to live with ourselves? We can’t always be looking out for other people. We have to take care of ourselves as well. In the end, it’s our life. We have to look out for ourselves and make the decisions based on how well our life is going to be. There’s a saying in the famous movie pirate of the Caribbean â€Å"Even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision†(Jonathan Pryce, 2003) So, I strongly believe that when it comes to making life changing decisions, we must always put ourselves before others.

Edgar Allen Poe Essays (560 words) - Free Essays, Term Papers

Edgar Allen Poe Essays (560 words) - Free Essays, Term Papers Edgar Allen Poe this is done through his use of setting and narrative style. In many of Poe's works, setting is used to paint a dark and gloomy picture in our minds. I think that this was done deliberatly by Poe so that the reader can make a connection between darkness and death. For example, in the Pit and the Pendulum, the setting is originally pitch black. As the story unfolds, we see how the setting begins to play an important role in how the narrator discovers the many ways he may die. Although he must rely on his senses alone to feel his surroundings, he knows that somewhere in this dark, gloomy room, that death awaits him. Setting is also an important characteristic is Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher. The images he gives us such as how both the Usher family and the Usher mansion are crumbling from inside waiting to collapse, help us to connect the background with the story. The Usher mansion appears vacant and barren. The same is true for the narrator. As we picture in our minds the extreme decay and decomposistion, we can feelas though the life around it is also crumbling. Narration is also an element in Poe's short story style that appears to link all of the stories together. He has a type of creativity which lets the reader see into the mind of the narrator or the main character of the story. Many of the characters in Poe's stories seem to be insane. The narrator often seems to have some type of psychological problems. For exapmle, In Poe's The Cask of Amontillado, the story opens with a first person narrator (Montresor) speaking about the planning of Fortunato's death. By the anger and remorse that Montresor has for Fortunato, one might think that this was a recent incident. It is not until the very end of the story that we realize, that the entire event occurred fifty years ago). Poe's stories often have narrators that feel extreme hate or extreme love for another character in the story. Another example of Poe's narrative style is seen in his story entitled, The Black Cat, where the narrator seems to have an obsession with pets. He has one special pet which is a black cat. Although their original relationship with each other is one of respect and love, the situation soon changes. The narrator becomes somewhat possessed with the hate for the car. He turns against his wife and stabs his cat in the eye. By the end of the story, he killed his wife in an attempt to kill the cat. Afterwards, the narrator does not even feel remorse for the wrongful death of his wife. Instead, he is just happy that the cat dissapeared. This is just another instance in which the reader wonders what is the driving force begins the narrator's insanity Even though there are many more elements to Edgar Allan Poe's short stories than just his creative use of narration and setting, these are characteristivs which has attracted the most attention. Poe has a way of writing in which he does not have to reveal too much, or paint a pretty picture for the reader in order to attract his attention ). There is also a prominent distinction between right and wrong in Poe's tories. Viscous characters tend to Bibliography no

Free Essays on Post Modernism

In recent years, multiculturalism, tolerance and political correctness have been integrated into how American society thinks. America seems to be trying to learn more about the ingredients of her melting pot. These efforts can be best understood by examining post-modernism. Post-modernism is especially important to breaking down stereotypes such as those that exist surrounding the black family. To understand post-modernism we must first understand modernism. Modernism is the philosophy that began with the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an era when science and art flourished. European society used the Enlightenment to object to the oppression of the church. This era emphasized only those things that are observable or measurable (Smith, 1995). The scientific method developed at this time became the standard to which everything is measured. Modernism, although moving away from the confinements of religion, was limiting in its own way. Post-modernism can be viewed as an expansion of modernism. It does not limit the idea of truth to only that which can be observed. Post-modernism is all encompassing. Post-modernism does not allow for only one definition for anything. There are several explanations for phenomena. Where modernism emphasizes racial classifications, post-modernism emphasizes cultural and ethnic classifications. Post-modernism sanctions differences from family to family and person to person within the parameters of one culture. This multiculturalism is being used to educate from primary education through higher education. In Percival and Black’s study with sixth-graders and multiculturalism, they realized that, although they were examining a specific Native American tribe, stereotypes of that tribe or people can develop (Percival, 2000). For example, all African Americans from the South eat collard greens and corn bread. So, educating oneself about other cultures cannot be used to generalize to the entire g... Free Essays on Post Modernism Free Essays on Post Modernism In recent years, multiculturalism, tolerance and political correctness have been integrated into how American society thinks. America seems to be trying to learn more about the ingredients of her melting pot. These efforts can be best understood by examining post-modernism. Post-modernism is especially important to breaking down stereotypes such as those that exist surrounding the black family. To understand post-modernism we must first understand modernism. Modernism is the philosophy that began with the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was an era when science and art flourished. European society used the Enlightenment to object to the oppression of the church. This era emphasized only those things that are observable or measurable (Smith, 1995). The scientific method developed at this time became the standard to which everything is measured. Modernism, although moving away from the confinements of religion, was limiting in its own way. Post-modernism can be viewed as an expansion of modernism. It does not limit the idea of truth to only that which can be observed. Post-modernism is all encompassing. Post-modernism does not allow for only one definition for anything. There are several explanations for phenomena. Where modernism emphasizes racial classifications, post-modernism emphasizes cultural and ethnic classifications. Post-modernism sanctions differences from family to family and person to person within the parameters of one culture. This multiculturalism is being used to educate from primary education through higher education. In Percival and Black’s study with sixth-graders and multiculturalism, they realized that, although they were examining a specific Native American tribe, stereotypes of that tribe or people can develop (Percival, 2000). For example, all African Americans from the South eat collard greens and corn bread. So, educating oneself about other cultures cannot be used to generalize to the entire g...

The Protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930

The Protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 The US Congress passed the United States Tariff Act of 1930, also called the  Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, in June 1930 in an effort to help protect domestic farmers and other US businesses against stepped-up imports after World War I. Historians say its excessively protectionist measures were responsible for raising US tariffs to historically high levels,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹adding considerable strain  to the international economic climate of the  Great Depression. What led to this is a global story of devastated supply and demand trying to right themselves after the terrible trade anomalies of World War 1. Too Much Postwar Production, Too Many  Imports   During World War I,  countries outside of Europe increased their agricultural production. Then when the war ended, European producers stepped up their production as well. This led to massive agricultural overproduction during the 1920s. This, in turn, caused declining farm prices during the second half of that decade. One of Herbert Hoovers campaign pledges during his 1928 election campaign was to aid the American farmer and others by raising tariff levels on agricultural products. Special Interest Groups and the Tariff The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was sponsored by US Sen. Reed Smoot and US Rep. Willis Hawley. When the bill was introduced in Congress, revisions to the tariff began to grow as one special interest group after another asked for protection. By the time the legislation passed, the new law raised tariffs not only on agricultural products but on products in all sectors of the economy. It  raised tariff levels above the already high rates established by the 1922 Fordney-McCumber Act. This is how Smoot-Hawley became among the most protectionist tariffs in American history. Smoot-Hawley Provoked a Retaliatory Storm The Smoot-Hawley Tariff may not have caused the  Great Depression, but the passage of the tariff certainly exacerbated it; the tariff did not help end the inequities of this period and ultimately caused more suffering. Smoot-Hawley provoked a storm of foreign retaliatory measures, and it became a symbol of the 1930s beggar-thy-neighbor policies, designed to improve ones own lot at the expense of others. This and other policies contributed to a drastic decline in international trade. For example, US imports from Europe declined from a 1929 high of $1.334 billion to just $390 million in 1932, while U.S. exports to Europe fell from $2.341 billion in 1929 to $784 million in 1932. In the end, world trade declined by about 66% between 1929 and 1934. In the political or economic realms, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff fostered distrust among nations, leading to less cooperation. It led toward further isolationism that would be key in delaying US entry into World War II.   Protectionism Ebbed After Smoot-Hawleys Excesses The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was the beginning of the end of major US protectionism in the 20th century. Beginning with the 1934 Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act, which President Franklin Roosevelt signed into law, America began to emphasize trade liberalization over protectionism. In later years, the United States began to move toward even freer international trade agreements, as evidenced by its support for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

ISDS part2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

ISDS part2 - Assignment Example Different market segments have different needs. A good business model identifies its relevant target market in order to serve the needs of homogenous people. Alibaba.com possesses number of customers belonging to middle class and upper-middle class. It deals in consumers electronic products, which are ordered online by its customers. It defines the way in which the company generates revenues. It can be measured in terms of sales, support, subscription, etc. The primary source through which Alibaba.com generates revenue is through online trading. It is a B2C website and therefore sells directly to its customers. Ecommerce market has already reached its saturation point. An e-commerce site needs to provide its customers exquisite and exceptional services so they remain loyal to the site. In e-commerce, there is a huge concern of trust so when a customer performs transaction with a site then on the basis of its customer service, he decides whether to make repeat transactions in future or not. Alibaba.com provides exceptional services to its customers, both in terms of quality and price. This is the reason that it possesses number of loyal customers. The more an e-commerce site invests in digital channels, the more it gets close to its target market. Alibaba.com is a multichannel website and therefore possesses a good reputation in eyes of its customers. By providing options such as free sign up, no registration processes, facility of tracking order, Alibaba.com ensures that customers feel safe throughout the process of making purchases from the company. It ensures that the best quality services are provided exactly on the specified time. Moreover, it does not impose any hidden charges upon customers’ orders, which enhances customers’ trust in the company. Alibaba.com ensures that all the potential and latent demands of customers are satisfied just by navigating the

The Jazz Festival of Atlanta Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Jazz Festival of Atlanta - Essay Example Atlanta is the most populous city and the capital city of the state of Georgia in the United States of America. Atlanta is considered to be the ninth most populous metropolitan city in the United States. As of July 2006, the city of Atlanta had a population of 486,411 and a metropolitan population of 5,138,223, making it the nation's ninth-largest metro area. Residents of the city are known as Atlantans. After a little research about the festival, I came to know that the Jazz Festival is a 31-day schedule of events featuring internationally renowned jazz artists and activities throughout the Metro Atlanta area culminating in the three day outdoor music event in Atlanta's Piedmont Park (Events Management). As I was present at the festival, I saw performers at the Atlanta Jazz Festival included the Herbier Hancock Quintet, The Pete Escovedo Orchestra Sheila E., Laws Family and many more. In addition to the main stage, it was given in the events list that there will be a "Future of Jazz" artist's stage too at the event (Johnson). The Memorial Day Weekend festival features 3 performance stages - Main Stage, Smooth Jazz Stage and a Home Grown Stage. There were activities for the entire family including artist vendors, festival food options, jazz education seminars and a special Kids' Zone featuring children's activities (Matouk). It was a real thing to enjoy and I'm sure one would definitely be delighted to be a part of this event. The festival was organized at the Woodruff Park in Atlanta, Georgia (Office of Cultural Affairs, 2008). I saw the featuring of Atlanta based jazz artists performing during the 31 days in May and they were culminated with family fun and music in Woodruff Park. The Atlanta Jazz Festival is regarded as one of the Country's largest free jazz festivals.Everybody in our group enjoyed the presence at the festival. The festival was basically formed to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of our city and has blossomed into a celebration of our nation's contribution to human expression (Office of Cultural Affairs, 2008). The festival is believed to be an annual music showcase that celebrates jazz legends and up-and-coming jazz greats in venues throughout metro Atlanta during the month of May and culminates in a 3-day music festival on Memorial Day Weekend. According to the organizers of the festival, it is believed that the main aim of celebrating the festival is to expose and entertain a diverse audience of jazz aficionados, young jazz enthusiasts and musical artists to the rich heritage and variety of jazz as an authentic form of traditional music. The guide who was assisting us and taking us through the entire even said that, the Atlanta Jazz Festival brought legendary performers, up -coming talent, artists, vendors and Atlanta's finest restaurants, as well as youth ensembles and high school performers, together for one of the largest jazz festivities in the country (Franklin, 2008). People like us, who take part in the festival enjoyed the renowned sounds of live jazz nightly at bars and nightclubs throughout the metro Atlanta area including; Churchill Grounds, Apache Caf, Eye Drum Art & Music Gallery, Funk Jazz Caf and more for the entire month.

Geography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Geography - Essay Example now an ever-present danger of homogeneity and important cultural aspects of a nation are being gradually replaced such as the national language that is slowly being replaced by English. Europe today is considered an old continent in demographic terms. Most of European nations suffer from slower birth rates and longer lifespans due to advances in medicine. These two factors combined to make most European nations suffer from declining populations with profound implications for economic growth, its pension system and competitiveness. There is now a growing backlash against immigration to Europe from the outside as it undermines the respective national identities. This makes multi-culturalism a very tricky issue with most host countries. The recent killings in Oslo, Norway is symptomatic of the cultural clashes in which Europe is being gradually Islamized by the tide of immigrants who are attracted to Europes progressivism in its social, political and economic policies (Hegghammer 1). Asylum seekers abuse these policies and claim asylum status although not qualified; many immigrants simply want to avail the generous benefits provided by European countries. Some call fo r a counter-jihad. Recent internal migrations from those poorer countries do not solve overall population decline. Europe does not have a common culture except perhaps its social democracy today. Essay 2 – the breakup of the USSR and the collapse of the Soviet communist system has profound effects on its economy and culture. The shift towards the capitalist free-market economic system has left many former members of the Russian Domain struggling to adjust. Some countries that were lucky enough to have natural resources are benefiting from the new liberalization and privatization programs implemented to attract foreign direct investments to their countries. Examples are Ukraine (with a good agricultural economy and a manufacturing base that is quite robust) and some Central Asian countries like

Is it justifiable to continue to have public funding for the BBC in Essay

Is it justifiable to continue to have public funding for the BBC in the twenty-first y century - Essay Example In fact, some of them may even suggest that public funding for the BBC should be eliminated and it should be asked to compete with other channels on a commercial basis as that should be the basis of all television broadcasting. However, it must be noted that the charter of the BBC as well as the government’s view of the BBC makes it a public service and the nature of a public service is such that the public has to pay for it. This means that the primary source of funding for the BBC comes from the licensing fees paid by every television owner in the UK. The trustees of the BBC are appointed by the government yet it is not really answerable to the government for its news reports and the coverage that it provides. The extent of the BBC’s well noted independence is largely controlled by the regulations which the British government places on the broadcaster. The funding for the BBC is supposed to provide money for high quality broadcast material suitable for the British public but these broadcasts also have to compete with other channels in the market who have obtained broadcasting licenses from the UK government and run on a commercial basis supporting themselves through advertisements. However, the demands placed on the BBC as the flag bearing media company of the UK are quite different from the expectations which people have from the competition since the BBC is the only media outlet for which the people pay as a public service (Cox, 2004). This funding does not make the BBC a government mouth piece because even though the BBC receives its money from the government, it has a past which is full of conflict with the government to the point that at several times in history the British government of the time seriously considered taking over the channel (Cox, 2004). The BBC remains a semi-independent source of news and information while the Royal Charter gives it a mandate to obtain public

Strategic Information Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Strategic Information Management - Essay Example The following paper describes the various e-business strategies that can be employed for effectiveness approach to promote business online and opportunities offered by e-commerce systems to enable organizations to enjoy more effective supply chain management. However, with the advancement of technology that is taking place and the incremental amount of businesses going online, many business organizations are also interested in starting online operations as well. The new emerging companies are interested in going online and making the business a click and effective business. With access to the internet, the companies exposed to larger target market. They would be able to sell their products to the target market outside of the political and state boundaries of their local region. This will significantly impact the operations of the business, which will expand and can then go global in the long run. However, in order to be able to start a business or a retail option online, the new comp anies will have to brand itself and its products to stand out from the competition. In this regard, the new companies can use their current image of the business and leverage it to build the same high class and high quality product oriented approach and effective supply chain management for the online business. 2. E-Commerce - its Effectiveness to Promote Business Online "E-Commerce is defined as selling goods and services over the Internet, both businesses to consumer (B2C), consumer to consumer (C2C), and business to business (B2B), the latter is sometimes also referred to as e-business". 2.1 The death of Distance Distance was, in the pre modern world, a variable of the greatest marketing significance. As the real estate maxim has it, the three rules of real estate valuation are location, location, location. In global marketing, strategies and practice reflected the importance of distance. The most important variable impacting trade behavior, for example is the distance. The primary trading partners of every county are the proximate neighbors: for the United States they are Canada and Mexico, for Canada and Mexico it is the United States. For France it is Germany, and for Germany it is France, and so on around the world. There has always been a positive correlation between trade and proximity. However, the internet is totally independent of distance. Electrons traveling at the speed of light get to anywhere in the world in the same time and at the same cost. An e-mail send, does not make a difference in time or cost whether the mail is addressed to next door neighbor or to someone halfway aro und the world. The same thing is true of a Web site: The location of the site does not affect the cost or speed of access. For the first time in history, the world has become

Is it justifiable to continue to have public funding for the BBC in Essay

Is it justifiable to continue to have public funding for the BBC in the twenty-first y century - Essay Example In fact, some of them may even suggest that public funding for the BBC should be eliminated and it should be asked to compete with other channels on a commercial basis as that should be the basis of all television broadcasting. However, it must be noted that the charter of the BBC as well as the government’s view of the BBC makes it a public service and the nature of a public service is such that the public has to pay for it. This means that the primary source of funding for the BBC comes from the licensing fees paid by every television owner in the UK. The trustees of the BBC are appointed by the government yet it is not really answerable to the government for its news reports and the coverage that it provides. The extent of the BBC’s well noted independence is largely controlled by the regulations which the British government places on the broadcaster. The funding for the BBC is supposed to provide money for high quality broadcast material suitable for the British public but these broadcasts also have to compete with other channels in the market who have obtained broadcasting licenses from the UK government and run on a commercial basis supporting themselves through advertisements. However, the demands placed on the BBC as the flag bearing media company of the UK are quite different from the expectations which people have from the competition since the BBC is the only media outlet for which the people pay as a public service (Cox, 2004). This funding does not make the BBC a government mouth piece because even though the BBC receives its money from the government, it has a past which is full of conflict with the government to the point that at several times in history the British government of the time seriously considered taking over the channel (Cox, 2004). The BBC remains a semi-independent source of news and information while the Royal Charter gives it a mandate to obtain public

Presentation and written submission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Presentation and written submission - Essay Example The global crisis was developed mainly due to the bursting of the US housing bubble, which stemmed from adverse selection of mortgages and resulted US mortgage crisis. Evidently, the global financial crisis slowed down economic activities and this situation in turn impeded the economic growth of nations around the globe. More precisely, the 2008 financial crisis has led to a dramatic increase in uncertainty in financial markets. Specifically, the resulting inability of lenders to solve the adverse selection problem makes them less willing to lend, which leads to a decline in lending, investment and aggregate economic activity. This paper will evaluate the financial market uncertainty identified by giving some real life examples. Financial market uncertainty Thoughtless provision of mortgage loans and increased speculation in the housing market significantly contributed to a series of bank collapses in the United States. The failure of credit rating agencies in properly identifying th e risk elements associated with complex securities and subsequent housing bubble also contributed to the global financial crisis. Most of the studies conducted to identify the real causes of the 2008 financial crisis reported that adverse selection in mortgages led to housing bubble and bank failures. Therefore, today banks and other financial institutions across the globe are extremely bothered about the possibility of defaults in loan repayments; and hence they are hardly willing to lend even to potential clients. Naturally, this situation leads to a decline in lending and investment. The decelerated financial transactions adversely affect circulation of money which in turn reduce economic growth rate. Decline in lending In response to this uncertain economic condition, UK banks significantly reduced lending over the last few years. As Tortman (2011) reported in the Telegraph dated Feb 28, in 2011, UK’s four leading banks limited their commercial real estate property lendin g by a combined total of ?17.2 billion. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, Europe’s two largest commercial property lenders, trimmed their loans by a combined ?14.5 billion (ibid). As per the same report, HSBC and Barclays cut lending by a combined ?2.7 billion. These figures indicate that how UK lenders deal with property lending after the global credit crisis. According to Phil Clark, co-author of the Property Industry Alliance’s report, UK banks have been very vigilant in mitigating their loan exposure to real estate (as cited in Trotman, 2011). He added that annual real estate lending in UK would drop to ?100bn over the next few years (ibid). As Milliken (2013) reported in Reuters dated March 4, in order to boost bank lending and thereby to promote economic growth of the UK, the Bank of England and the finance ministry launched the flagship plan (Funding for Lending Scheme) June 2012. This plan was intended to offer cheap funds to banks if they booste d lending to medium sized businesses and home buyers. However, some recent reports indicate that although banks and other lending institutions have utilised almost ?14bn of the central bank funds offered, net lending indicates a reverse trend (ibid). The report says that Vince Cable, the UK Secretary of State for Business, admitted that the result was ‘very disappointing’. Financial releases indicate that borrowers repaid nearly

The Status Quo Essay Example for Free

The Status Quo Essay In Howard Zinn’s book, Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice, Chapter 1 entitled, â€Å"Introduction: American Ideology,† begins with a discussion of a few instances in history where groups of people believed that other races and social classes were inferior to others (Zinn 1). The end result of these instances was that many, if not all, of the inferior people were killed (Zinn 1). From these occurrences, Zinn concludes that our thinking does not merely spark debates, but ultimately is a variable of life and death (Zinn 1). He also believes that although we live in a democratic country, the ideas of ethical behavior that were formulated by our forefathers has condemned us to accept them as right, without questioning why they are right (Zinn 3). These ideas were not framed by a group of conspirators, nor were they accidental; these ideas were a result of natural selection in which ideas were encouraged, financed, and pushed forward by those who were in power or by those who had great influence on the general public (Zinn 3). Although these beliefs were written off as correct, Zinn believes that if we decide to reexamine these beliefs, and see that they are not â€Å"natural† ideas, we have come to a major turning point: we are examining and confronting American ideology (Zinn 5). These ideas that are expressed in â€Å"Introduction: American Ideology,† are very sound because they help me to see why it is important to challenge the status quo. If I sit back and just allow people to feed me information about one fact or another, and I just absorb it all in, then I may not really be formulating my own beliefs, but accepting someone else’s. There should be a deeper meaning to what I believe further than what someone has dictated to me to be correct. I should ask intuitive questions about why someone views something as correct, and by that process, I might begin to clearly see their idea as acceptable. Oftentimes, many people, including myself, suppress what they believe in because as Zinn mentioned, these dissenting ideas are most often drowned in criticism because they are outside of the â€Å"acceptable or popular choices† (Zinn 4). By doing this, those who believe that their idea is right, maintain power. In a real world example, you may be hanging out with a group of friends at a party when all of a sudden, your friends start smoking marijuana. Everyone but you is an avid believer that smoking it is cool, and is acceptable because everyone else is doing it. You have never smoked marijuana a day in your life, but under the circumstances, you fall into peer pressure when a joint is passed your way. In this instance, you know you believe that smoking marijuana is wrong, but you suppress your beliefs since every single one of your friends is doing it, and by speaking up, your belief will most definitely be covered in criticism. The end result is that your group of friends maintains power over you, and will find it that much easier to influence you to smoke marijuana again. Metaphorically speaking, a great representation of how Zinn portrays the ideas of those in command is through â€Å"weeds.† A weed is a plant that overtakes the area in which it is located. Once it begins to grow, unless someone is willing to take the time to go and remove it from the area, it remains there. Likewise, the ideas that are seen in â€Å"Introduction: American Ideology,† are like weeds because they are established and passed off as right to the general public. Once these ideas are in place, they are hard to get rid of, even if many people dissent them. It must then take a strong group of people to try to â€Å"uproot† the ideas, and replace them with what the public believes is right. Moving forward, I can use the information that I have written about and apply it to my own life. I should begin to feel comfortable in challenging what I do not believe in, rather than being neutral about the issue because as Zinn mentions, in this day and age that we live in, neutrality is seen as a sign of acceptance in the way things are now (Zinn 7). I now see that I should begin to be my own self, and not just another grain of sand on the beach, living by the status quo. Works Cited Zinn, Howard. Passionate Declarations: Essays on War and Justice. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Print.

Changes to the Role of the Management Accountant

Changes to the Role of the Management Accountant Using appropriate academic literature, critically evaluate the argument that the role of the management accountant has changed in recent years from traditional accounting functions to that of a strategic planner and a business partner. Introduction When it comes to the change of management accounting or management accountant, several researchers and scholars have stated the similar view that people cannot describe the management accountants as the bean counter, the scorekeeper or the corporate cop in the contemporary age, their new role are performed as a strategic planner and a business partner within the organization. (Anastas, 1997; Bromwich, 1990; Burns et al., 1999; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Johnson, Kaplan , 1987; Roslender and Hart, 2002) This essay is aiming to find out how the bean counter, the scorekeeper and the corporate cop become to the internal consultant, the strategic planner as a business partner. Before the main body of this essay, the writer makes a hypothesis that there is an inference procedure that causing the change of the management accountants role. It is widely appreciated that the business environment has greatly changed in the recent years. Thus that the traditional management accounting is not suitab le for the contemporary business, a new management accounting system was generated. Following that there are many new management accounting techniques are required, it directly change the task of management accountants. Finally all these process have caused the change of the role of the management accountant. In the following parts of this essay, the writer will analyze all the parts of this process respectively refer to the other scholars research findings, this is for examine and certify the hypothesis in the last paragraph. The changing business environment It is not deniable that the business environment has already dramatically changed during the last decades, which is toward a more competitive orientation. It includes many external and internal factors. In the general economic area, the globalization is integrating the world into a global market. It could lead it to an increasing competition. Companies have to pay more and more attention on the customer and market orientation. The development of technology is another factor both in the information system and the methods of production with the widespread use of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). The change of organizational management structure could affect the business as an internal factor.(Burns et al., 1999) The development of digitisation could also change the business environment, for example e-mail has already replaced the traditional postage and fax to a great extent, which is benefit from the wide spread of the internet. It could reduce the cost and enhance the compa nies efficiency. The new technology could also be applied to the monitoring performance area. For instance, factories could profit from the use of beepers and mobile phones to monitor workers performance, while restaurants could benefit from the use of beepers in their operating system.(Zimmerman, 2009) There are also many other elements could cause the market condition changing, such as the commencement of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could decrease companies cost among Mexico, Canada and the United States. American and Canadian companies may set their factories in Mexico for the lower labour cost. The same situations have also emerged in China, Vietnam and some other developing countries.(Zimmerman, 2009) The new business environment also bring a huge revolution in the other fields, for example the demand of more quality control, customer-focused, the intellectual capital, automation, increasing overheads, decreasing direct labour cost and more emphasis on envir onmental and external issues. The drawbacks of traditional management accounting The traditional management accounting was driven by the external financial requirements but not the internal or actual need. For instance, it fails to compare the cost with the competitors, which is a fatal factor in the business competition. Tends to be too technical Many accountants focus on their contribution only in the financial numbers, but ignore the other useful information which the users may require. (Pierce and ODea, 2003) Most companies still use single overhead allocation base Time Limitation Pierce and ODea (2003) found that most managers complained that the traditional information system cannot provide timeliness information to the users. For example, some managers reflected that even though the financial information could cover almost all they needed, but they cannot use it timely cause the information lag. It could extremely influence their decision making process. Mainly focus on the internal performance of the organization but ignoring the other activities, such as external and social issues. Paying too much attention on the manufacturing but neglecting the high cost post-conversion activities. The change of management accounting A UK research project claimed that management accounting had not changed over six decades in Britain. (Burns et al., 1999) Despite there are some substantial improvement in the technological and environmental areas.(Johnson, Kaplan , 1987) Several studies revealed that the traditional management accounting system and techniques were still valuable and some new management accounting techniques were not widely used as expectation, such as activity-based costing (ABC) and strategic management accounting. (Burns et al., 1999) However, the advancement of information technology could enhance the management accounting into a higher level, which means that managers could have a direct and real time access to the information instead of waiting for the accountants sort it out.(Burns et al., 1999) It could make managers conducting the accountants task by themselves, for instance budgeting, analyze and calculation. (Burns et al., 1999) This change has brought a more significant effect on forecasting rather than budgeting.(Hope and Fraser, 1997) This means that managers could forecast by themselves, while budgeting was accountants traditional work. The commercial orientated gave the British managers a further view on the potential factors which could making profit in a long term.(Burns et al., 1999) It could be considered in the management strategy and interpreting by the non-financial terms.(Burns and Scapens, 1997) It implied that financial information could only provide limited picture, not the whole. Thus there are two possible solutions. The first one is that some new techniques could be used by management accountants to provide a comprehensive view, such as ABC system. Alternatively, the financial information could be kept in a simple way but could be interpreted in the wider background.(Burns et al., 1999) Based on the previous analysis, the form of management accounting has been changed, but there is no huge difference on the management accounting techniques. Strategic Management Accounting The strategic management accounting has already introduced in the accounting literature more than ten years. (Berverley R, 1996)It is defined as The provision and analysis of financial information on the firms product markets and competitors cost and cost structures and the monitoring of the enterprises strategies and those of its competitors in these markets over a number of periods (Bromwich, 1990) The Charted Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) also defined it as A form of management accounting which emphasis is placed on information which relates to factors external to the firm, as well as non-financial information and internally generated information. The majority of literature in the United Kingdom stress that the strategic management accounting extends the traditional management accounting from internal factors to the external competitors information.(Berverley R, 1996)Comparing with the traditional management accounting, it has more external, forward-looking and longer -term orientated and the strategically driven.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) There are three main characteristics of the strategic management accounting were summarized, which are the collection of competitor information, exploitation of cost reduction opportunities and the matching of accounting emphasis with strategic position.(Berverley R, 1996) Some scholars describe the strategic management accounting as a specific form of approach to the provision of accounting information to management'(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The new requirements to management accountants As the previous analysis, the traditional management accounting techniques is still essential skills that management accountants should grasp. However, in the contemporary age, there are several new tasks that management accountants should perform. Before 1980s, the majority of the managers expected the management accountants roles performed as a service staff who can provide the satisfying such managers information.(Hopper, 1980) The requirements to management accountants are not only about becoming an expert in the financial matters, but also having a broad view in business and good teamwork capability with their collegues.(Burns et al., 1999) Pierce and Bernard (2003) have concluded that the management accountants should have the knowledge and skills in three domains. Firstly, they have to be the master of the essential technical knowledge which could make them have the ability to modify information. Secondly, they also need to learn the other business knowledge, such as IT, marketing. Lastly, a well developed interpersonal relationship skills is necessary by the reason that the accountants have increasing number of cooperation with other staff within the organization. Anastas (1997) has also stated that management accountan ts have to handle the new information technology software, achieving an average understanding of the business and fluently express their idea both in writing and speaking in order to interact with their colleagues. Anastas (1997) stressed that to achieve the success in the role of internal consultants; management accountants must improve their interpersonal skills and the knowledge of productivity and administration. The strategic management accounting provides management accountants an opportunity to get a position in the decision making team.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The strategic management accounting requires management accountants having techniques, such as competitor position analysis, target costing and life cycle costing.(Roslender and Hart, 2002) The role of the management accountant in organisations Management accountants role in an organization has been considerably changed in recent years.(Anastas, 1997; Burns et al., 1999; Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Johnson, Kaplan , 1987; Pierce and ODea, 2003; Zimmerman, 2009) Several literature have stated the same views. In the past, when people were thinking of management accountant, they always associated it with some words, such as the scorekeepers, the bean counters and the corporate cops.(Byrne and Pierce, 2007; Zimmerman, 2009) This is because management accountants were not the decision-makers or decision participants; they always played the role as assistants or financial information providers to the real or actual managers in the decision making process. But in 1999, the situation has changed. Increasing managerial accountants began to help their companies to analyze the business as an interior consultant. With the development of the technology, they do not need to use the majority of their working time for preparing the financial r eports. They therefore have more and more time to explain or translate the accounting information to the people who need to use these within the organization as a member of the decision making team. Siegel (1999) remarked that the role of management accountants has evolved from serving internal customers into being a business partner. Some accountants even changed their title from corporate controllers to business analysts (Burns et al., 1999) A key role of the management accountant is that interpreting the financial information to a more readily comprehensible perception to the internal and external users.(Burns et al., 1999) As it was depicted Information technology is pushing management accountants and financial managers up the ladder as they become advisors or internal consultants to other manager in the company who have access to software manage cost and budgets.(Anastas, 1997) Pierce and ODea (2003) have interviewed many managers with an opened question that sharing their views of the future role of the management accountants. Their responses were highly consistent that management accountants role will be the business partner. Management accountants should interact with management within several aspects, including the raise of their physical location, the requirement of their team work capability and the understanding of business. There will be fewer management accountants but they will be at the higher level of management in the organization as a member of the cross-functional team share their view in the decision making process.(Anastas, 1997) The evolution of the information technology liberated management accountants from the bean counter, corporate cop to a higher level role internal consultant or strategist who make the recommendation to guide the decision making process (Anastas, 1997) CONCLUSION The analysis in the main body reflects the consistency with the hypothesis in the introduction section, but not completely same. To start with, the business environment is changing as the assumption. The business environment is changed to a more competitive, customer-oriented due to the globalization, digitisation and some other changed business conditions. In addition the writer analyzes the disadvantages of the traditional management accounting, which is not applicable for the present system and fulfil the requirements in the new business environment. Following that the analysis of the change of the management accounting shows that although there is a new business environment, but the basic management accounting techniques is still required, it is still necessary. But due to the development of the business, the requirements of the management accountants are not only demand the accountants have the traditional and basic management accounting techniques, but also some new task of the understanding of knowledge in the other business area and a good interpersonal skills for the increasing teamwork opportunities. Hence, the role of the management accountants has been changed from the financial information provider (the basic role) to the internal consultant in the organizations as a business partner. The strategic management accounting system could provide management accountants a higher level to perform their new role to satisfy the new requirements. As Burns (1999) founded that although the role of the management accountants is changed, but they still have to use the traditional management accounting system, some people called it antique.

Love In Todays Society Essay -- essays research papers

Love In Today's Society A key to understanding Sociology and the Social Sciences in general is to evaluate subjects through time and compare and contrast characteristics that have changed and those that have remained the same. For this assignment I have elected to access three sources dealing with love; in three distinct time periods in the modern era. First we will survey one of the first popular mediums for the expression of love; that of poetry. I have chosen a poem by W.H. Auden to represent the early portion of this century- specifically the 1930s and 1940s. I knew I had to include a song from my idol Jim Morrison. Not only is he the perfect voice of the volatile sex revolution of the 1960s and 1970s; his work captures the profile of a rock star who undoubtedly acquired his domineering attitude from the endless worship of submissive women. Lastly we enter the modern era with a article from my favorite magazine Men's Health on the mistakes a man must avoid in order to please his lover. As we shall see, the increased freedom is very interesting in our first representation to the last. My goal is to show how love has changed. I hope to show what is accepted in our society today, compared with only several decades ago. Application My sources run the gamut of ideas in the subject of love. I think Auden's poem is the best representation of what has been termed â€Å"courtly love.† This seems logical, since this Romantic Era type of love was a pre-cursor to what we know as modern love. The author takes the troubadour role in his crooning style of praising his love's qualities. He idealizes his mate and is satisfied just being in the same room as she. There are not any ulterior motives evident. Auden would be categorized as a â€Å"heavenly lover,† in that his love is more lofty and sacred. There is definite contrast to this idealism though. In his last lines the author, without reservation tells of his sorrow at his loss of her to another. Morrison's Love Her Madly could almost be interpreted as a form of limerance. He has this extreme fondness for his subject: â€Å"Don't ya love her madly?† Anyone who knows the story of Jim Morrison knows that the topic of love and all that comes with it was an integral facet of his being. He is a good example of love in the context of a super-star entertainer. Morrison's songs, and most others found... ...an work their difficulties out before they explode. Conclusion It is definitely true that attitudes on love have changed in the last decade. Social structures and norms have fluctuated and have influenced people's decisions in their own lives as well as their perceptions of others. Many people would rather return to the innocent times of Auden where love seemingly was true and carried no strings. There does seem to be a problem with the increased fragmentation of society in regards to finding love today. Gone are the days when you married your high school sweet-heart and lived happily ever after. Increased mobility and the ease of travel has left love more available and open. People need more help today from outside services like dating hotlines and the help of marriage counselors and physchologists to sort out their troubles. It follows though that society is more complex and therefore better. Women have more rights and more say in society. There is no doubt that females were exploited more in the past than today. While society's attitudes have changed over the years and will continue to change, one thing remains the same: love is a driving force in our lives.