Benefits Of Educational Programs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Benefits Of Educational Programs - Essay Example It appears that students who are unable to perform well in school feel that they are stupid or inferior and unlikely to succeed in life, which in turn leads them into drugs and a life of crime. As a result, including educational programs in prisons may be beneficial in reducing the recidivism rates by providing offenders the opportunity to improve their chances of getting a job rather than having no other option but to offend again. This research study will examine the benefits of educational programs and poses the research question: Can improvement in educational programs lead to a reduction in the tendency to take up criminal activity' Behrman and Stacey (1997) are of the view that providing training in parenting and following this up with early childhood education, school based supervision of teenagers and getting them involved in educational programs designed to promote community cohesion could be helpful in reducing crime (Behrman and Stacey, 1997:240). This implies that schools can play a significant role in reducing crime by providing education and supervision necessary to prevent young people turning to a life of crime. Another study that was carried out to examine the association between mental health disorders and offending identified four key groups of young people with emotional and behavioral difficulties as being at risk for offending. The study found that recidivism is more prevalent among young offenders with mental health problems, with young people from ethnic minorities being over represented. Since crime tends to be centred in low income, minority group neighbourhoods, this further suggests that educational programs could help to address the causes of crime such as poverty, by providing a means to less affluent members of society to be able to find a means to improve their lot and their chances of succeeding in later life. (Behrman and Stacey, 1997:240). In a study of young prison inmates, the findings suggested that criminal behaviour in juveniles could be deterred by offering solutions such as better educational opportunities through smaller classes and more individual teacher attention, sports programs, training for jobs and greater involvement by churches (De la Torre, 1997). For example, in the U.K., adolescents are being offered the opportunity to train as apprentices, in order to better prepare them and equip them with the necessary job skills to function within a competitive environment. In yet another study that was carried out by Dr. Stan Kaseno at the San Bernardino juvenile hall, the findings showed that 70 to 75% of the inmates who had problems in visual processing (www.newhopecharitablefoundation.org). Most of these inmates also demonstrated recidivism and were not in prison for the first time. Dr. Kaseno found however, that when these inmates were given educational vision development exercises to correct the problems of convergence, tracking and similar problems, the rates of recidivism of such prisoners dropped to below 16%. This provides a strong indication that the vision processing problems could well have contributed to the feelings of inferiority of the inmates, leading to low self esteem. This also places such young people experiencing feelings of low self worth at risk of dropping out of school or taking to drugs and similar activities, all of which can contribute to criminal activity and recidivism. The Long Beach community has commenced the Safe and Smart After

What Is the Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication Essay Example for Free

What Is the Role of Social Media in Crisis Communication Essay Abstract This paper discusses the role of social media on crisis communication. Social media is the shared interaction between human communications. Social media has had a profound effect over the past several years, and has greatly changed crisis communication. It has made crisis communication more efficient and made it on a wider scale. This paper discusses the role of social media on crisis communication. To understand the role social media plays in crisis communication, we must first understand what crisis communication, and social media are. Social media is the shared interaction and communication between organizations, communities, and individuals. There are three things that make social media useful: immediacy, ubiquity, and availability. Immediacy meaning social media results in instantaneous transformation of information. Social media is Ubiquitous: meaning that hundreds of millions of individuals use social media. It encourages globalization, interaction, and participation. Availability meaning social media is available to anyone with an internet connection. Social media has definitely changed communication and crisis response. It has been a pivotal role in people’s lives. With rise of social media communication has been democratized. Social media determines how news is communicated. Social media allows us to communicate our thoughts, connect with people across the globe by reaching millions around the world. Increase in technology social media has become an important way of reaching audience. Half of the general population participates in online communication like Face Book, Twitter, and emails. It provides opportunity to participate, contribute ideas, and share knowledge. Social media is an efficient way for crisis communication for companies to defend its reputation. If a company has a blog and negative remarks have been made, crisis communicator can respond by counter remarks. One big role that a social media has to make sure their team, are the ones who are actually the voice of the organization. With the right tools in place any social media can play an important role in crisis communication. The rapid growth of mobile `applications increase the potential for reaching a large audience in a very short period of time. Through mobile application quicker accurate information is delivered to a broad audience around the globe. While social media is changing the efficiency of crisis communication, it’s also changing the practices of crisis communication, and the rate at which it’s advancing. The three strengths of social media (immediacy, ubiquity, and availability) allow crisis managers and instigators to communicate and manage crisis with great speed. However at the same time crises can be created on social media itself, mainly those affecting businesses. Another way that social media affects crisis communication, is the fact that it has changed what used to be regional crises into global crises. As you can see social media is an important way of reaching audiences. In this case the audience must be informed of crises. In the end if it weren’t for social media, it would be difficult to handle crisis. Reference: http://www.boozallen.com/insights/insight-detail/4242069 http://www.danlandau.net/writing/sources/research/danlandau_thesis.pdf http://www.katebrodock.com/2011/11/the-role-of-a-social-media-communicator-during-a-crisis-a-conversation-with-chrisbrogan/

Critical Review on the Iliad :: essays research papers

Nature’s Force   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Simone Weil, a French writer, explores the depth and motive of why and how we do the things we do. In this critical review, Weil elucidates the role of force in the Iliad. It is exceptionally difficult to put into words the meaning that Weil gives force. When she defines it, she states, â€Å"it is that x that turns anybody who is subjected to it into a thing† (331). When I first read this, I did not comprehend what she meant by it. As Weil refers to force, she uses in the context of war and the taking of lives in the Iliad. This force takes away all natural abilities. Weil explains how all living things respond to stimuli. The muscles in our body have reactions to things that take place in our environment. The force that she is trying to define is one that takes away this ability to respond. In war, a soldier must look past the pain that he is causing in taking another human being’s life. Weil suggests that this is as if life is being removed from the body of this soldier, resulting in a breathing corpse. Remorse becomes an overlooked emotion and all sensation vanishes. Does this not constitute a corpse, when all ability to respond to what is going on around him has departed; therefore taking away the very factor that defines a living object? When examining force by means of killing others, this force does not only have an effect on the victim, but also on the conqueror. â€Å"Force is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second it crushes, the first it intoxicates† (332). Weil goes on to say that force is not really a retainable thing. All persons, weak and strong, have to at one point in their life relinquish control to force. No one is exempt. She points to Achilles as an example. When he is killing Hector, he is holding the force against Hector to take his life. On the other hand, when Agamemnon purposely degrades Achilles by taking his war prize, Achilles goes to be alone and weep in his humiliation. A force knocks him down as he knocked his opponent Hector down. To show the cycle, we find Agamemnon weeping just a few days later as a result of a force.

Driving towards a disruption? Essay

1.For management education, who is the customer and what is the product? Please justify your answer! The target segment of HBS programs differ according to the nature of educational programs, varying from corporate executive level managers to employees. the target group are in general working professionals who afford having high standard business education and seeking career progress. In the early years, HBS started providing management education with the focus on sectors which dominated the industrial revolution: railroads, automobile manufacturing and finance. Nowadays, executive education is a major activity in HBS along with an extensive range of programs as well as custom programs. Inanition, Harvard Business Publishing is considered to be a strong source of current and future innovation in business publishing. 2.What are the dimensions of performance? Does the HBS product overserve? High standard education: with the supreme ranking, HBS provides outstanding business education through its famous case method of discussion based learning. Innovation: through Harvard Business Publishing is considered to be a strong source of current and future innovation in business publishing. Flexibility: flexibility is highly prized for organizations in term of program objectives, time and innovation. Student retention and loyalty: HBS alumni were remarkably succesful in a wide range of professions and they have been generous in financing the school. Yes HBS to some extent is over serving as it is providing extra materials and creating extra pressure on students, the curriculum HBS adopted is very enlarge. 3.If you think HBS is insulated from disruption, are the circumstances right more broadly in the industry? Yes, HBS is insulated from disruption. As HBS  is ranked as the best business school in the world, it possess the ability and innovation to overcome internal disruption and to remain ahead of business education. The advantages of HBS are: †¢HBS developed an innovative publishing house which supports in revenue and in cross segment growth †¢HBS publishes its own case studies and articles which are purchased and used by other business schools †¢Online courses to compete with other institutes. This shows a tendency to exceed in current trends †¢Successful and loyal alumni. Building an influenced network is challenging quest but once achieved its very difficult to overcome HBS is facing heavy competition from online based business education such as Stanford university, Princeton university, university of phoenix and university of Columbia, who provide flexible, quality and relatively affordable education. furthermore, large companies such as GE, Deloitte and Goldman Sachs have started their own universities of management education to their employees. Nevertheless, the long-term effect of this competition will be limited as HBS have started new and innovative short-term and cutom management programs that follow the equity and quality of HBS. furthermore, HBS have started online management programs.

Ballet and Giselle

Giselle is considered one of the great Romantic ballets. Romantic era was late 18th and early 19th centuries. The period mainly does not follow rational movements but rather Romantic ideas in art influence the ballets. Ballets in Romantic period focus on the conflict between man and nature where as others try to bring difference to ballets from other nations. Ballerinas stand in the forefront compared to male dancers. Giselle is one of the most popular ballerinas of the period and separate identity of the scenarist from the choreographers is distinguishing feature of Giselle as being a Romantic ballet. Both the classical version of Giselle and contemporary has the same story but different interpretations, as I will analyze them in this paper. Giselle is a peasant girl who is betrayed by love. At the beginning nobleman Albrecht introduces himself as a farmer to Giselle and she falls in love with him. However she is unaware that Albrecht is the Duke. They flirt and she completely falls in love. Another guy Hilarion who is also in love with her warns her but she cant realize anything because of her love. They dance a duet and her feelings become more powerful. Also her mother warns her that she is sensitive. After realizing Duke has a fiance she goes mad with a broken heart. Giselle takes Albrecht's sword and her death is a result of her weak heart. She becomes a ghost and the second act is called ‘white act,’ which takes place in the mental institution. The ballet deals with the powerful sources of nature. There are full of emotions and at the end love wins betrayal and death. There are similar and distinguishing features between contemporary Giselle by Matz Ele and classic Giselle. Classical ballet is combination of all ballet dances. Ballet has slow and fluid motion. There are unique motions, precise and graceful movements. Their dance style is long reminding jazz music. However, contemporary ballet is more modern. The movements are rapid, energetic and dynamic. There are sharp and expressive gestures. Giselle shows her feelings very clearly and doesn’t hide them. Her body movements reflect her happiness, anger and love obviously. For instance, in the classical one Giselle is not dancing as close as in the contemporary one. They are more formal and their dance is more elegant. In the contemporary one Giselle and Albrecht dance very close and they touch each other. In one part even Giselle hugs her love as a woman. These clear expressions are not shown in the classical Giselle. Giselle is more like an adult. She doesn’t bend down when she is sad or she doesn’t jump on Albrecht like a child. She reflects the classical period’s formal characteristics. There aren’t close relationships like touching her love and jumping on him. The music is discriminative between two versions of Giselle. Compared to classical one in contemporary ballet music is very modern. Ballerinas dance figures are compatible with the music as well. Classical dancer Giselle dances at more extreme tempos and perform more technical feats. However, in contemporary Giselle doesn’t wear ballerina shoes and she dances barefoot. Her feats move more naturally. Also her hand gestures alter. She doesn’t bow her elbows and hands in classical dance. She dances in an order without extreme gestures. In the contemporary one she does man gestures, which is different than her friends as well. Her personality differs since she behaves like a boy and a child. Also the horns are altering in both versions. The applause is not with full energy in the contemporary one. So even though they are the same plotted ballets they represent a different period’s characteristics with the music and ballets expressions. Is Giselle an ideal beauty or is she more realistic? This dilemma is more obvious in the contemporary one because there isn’t beauty, especially in the second act. Giselle is devastated after learning Albrecht has a fiance. They wear all white and there isn’t excellence. She looses her consciousness. There comes the same music with the first act where she was dancing with joy. She is completely defeated to her destiny. Her happiness falls with the disappointment, which can be seen, from the change in music, costumes and dance in both classical and contemporary one. The coerdeau ballets have geometrical shapes in both but their movements differ. In classical one there is more elegance compared to the compared to the contemporary one. In addition Giselle as being a romantic ballet do not follow rationality. Both versions have altering points when the music, movements, costumes and relationship between man and woman are compared however; they have the same plot with different interpretation.

The Case for Beta Readers

The Case for Beta Readers More authors are beta-ing their books than ever before. But many writers are asking the question, Why should I use beta readers? This question is usually followed To answer those questions, Id like to share some examples of how authors are utilizing betas as a key component of their authorial career. Market Feedback When you run a beta read, you receive the story feedback you need to help you spot problems and polish your story to fit your target market. Authors who have a beta-ready manuscript, give clear instructions, and engage with their readers, end up getting great feedback that they can incorporate into their edits, branding, and career development. Its the same idea as the test-screenings that are common in Hollywood, getting reactions from readers before you publish gives you a better chance of producing a bestseller. Building Your Brand   Beta readers in your target audience know what that audience wants and likes. Learning what your beta readers do and dont enjoy in your work gives you valuable insight into how to promote your books, target your ads, and develop your brand in a way that best speaks to your potential fans. Building Community A key part of building a fan base is making your readers feel like they are part of a community beyond themselves. The process of inviting a group of your most dedicated fans to give early feedback on a book ties them to you, but more importantly ties them to each other and lets them know their love of your work is something they share with other people. Building Buzz Thousands of books are published a month. Hundreds of reviews are written. Dozens of launch ads flash before readers eyes. The thing that reliably cuts through all that noise is personal recommendation. People talk about projects they helped with. Your beta readers are a part of your launch story, and they will share that story, building excitement for and awareness of your book. Selling Copies Smart authors not only develop strong groups of beta readers who make substantive comments on their book and help them produce better work, they thank them in their books. Those readers are often the first people in line when those books go on sale. They want to see what they helped create. Many leave reviews, especially if you encourage it. Who doesnt want an eager audience who has already read the book bumping your numbers on launch day and leaving honest reviews? My partner Andrew and I built BetaBooks, the first reader management software for professional authors. Since our launch in summer 2016, we have helped more than one thousand authors beta their books. BetaBooks lets authors privately share their book with their trusted readers, track their progress, collect feedback, and collate and sort that feedback for easy editorial passes. This saves authors time, making what used to be an organizational headache easy and fun. If you are looking for a better way to organize your betas, visit  BetaBooks.co  to try out our free demo tier and use the coupon code hopeclark to get 10 percent off when you upgrade to one of our paid plans. If you have any questions or want to tell us about your betas, get in touch at  hello@betabooks.co

5 Reasons People Fail the Bar Exam

5 Reasons People Fail the Bar Exam According to Law.com, nearly one-quarter of all those who took the bar exam- 24.9 percent to be exact- failed the test in 2017, the latest year for which figures are available. But Karen Sloan, writing on the legal information website, notes that as many as 36 percent failed the exam in Mississippi, making it the state with the largest failure rate, and nearly 60 percent did not pass in Puerto Rico. There are five key reasons why so many test takers fail to pass the bar exam each year. Learning to avoid these pitfalls may help you pass this all-important test. They Tried to Learn Every Detail of the Law The bar exam requires minimum competency knowledge of the law. However, many test takers are overwhelmed at the amount of material they need to study. So they try to study as they did in law school, learning every nuance and every detail. This usually results in hours of listening to audio lectures and making flash cards or outlines but very little time actually reviewing the heavily tested areas of the law. Getting buried in the details can actually hurt your chances of passing the exam. You are required to know a little about a lot of the law, not a lot about a little. If you concentrate on the minutiae, you won’t know the heavily tested areas of the law on the exam and that may put you at risk of failing. They Failed to Practice and Seek Feedback Many students find they don’t have time to practice. This is a problem because practice is particularly important when studying for the bar exam. For example, California requires applicants to take a performance test as part of the bar exam, as do many other states. The State Bar of California notes that the performance test is designed to evaluate test takers: ...ability to handle a select number of legal authorities in the context of a factual problem involving a client. Yet students often scrimp on practicing for this difficult part of the exam, even though past performance tests are available for free online. Essays are also an integral part of bar exams in most states. So, its important to practice this part of the test, and its simple (and free) to access sample exam questions. The New York State Board of Law Examiners, for example, offers essay questions with sample candidate answers for free download from bar exams as recent as February 2018. If you are a bar exam candidate, it behooves you to access such free questions, familiarize yourself with the material, and practice writing essays or grappling with performance test scenarios. Once you practice, compare your answers to the sample answers, rewrite sections if necessary, and self-evaluate your work. Also, if your bar exam review program offers you feedback, turn in all possible assignments and be sure to get as much feedback as possible. You can even hire a bar exam tutor to help you with this. They Ignored the MBE Most bar tests include a Multistate Bar Examination, a standardized bar test created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which is administered to applicants taking the bar in nearly all states nationwide. Yet, as with sample performance tests and sample essay questions, its easy to obtain actual- and, again, free- MBE questions from past bar exams, says JD Advising, a bar exam tutoring and preparation firm. Ashley Heidemann writing on the JD Advising website says that its important to practice with real MBE questions because they are written in a very specific style. Though her firm does charge a fee for MBE questions, it also offers free tips on how to pass the MBE. The National Conference of Bar Examiners also offers free MBE questions from previous tests. Indeed, the nonprofit NCBE is a great resource for preparing for all aspects of the bar, regardless of the state where you plan to take the test. The group even offers a Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements for $15 as of 2018. Its not free, but considering the importance of passing the bar, it would likely be well worth the money for any bar exam candidate- especially since the NCBE developed and distributes the MBE. They Did not Take Care of Themselves Students who take terrible care of themselves- thus, putting themselves at risk of sickness, added anxiety, burnout, and inability to focus- often have difficulty passing the exam. Sure, this isn’t a time to start a new diet and/or workout regimen, but you won’t do well on exam day if you are tired, bleary-eyed, stressed out, and hungry because you haven’t been taking good care of yourself or didn’t eat properly. The condition of your physical body is a major element of bar exam success, says Bar Exam Toolbox. They Engaged in Self-Sabotaging Behavior This kind of behavior can come in many different forms: You might agree to volunteer for a time-consuming summer program, and as a result, lack adequate time to study. You might spend too much time online or socializing with friends instead of spending quality hours studying. You could pick fights with your significant other leaving you too emotionally drained to study. Bar Exam Toolbox offers a host of tips for mentally preparing for the exam, including how to streamline your bar exam prep, choose a bar exam preparation course (if you decide to take that route), or assess whether you need help studying for the exam if you are taking it for the first time. Remember, you want to take this exam only once: Do everything you can to focus and stay on track with your bar exam preparation.

How to Conjugate the French Verb Découvrir

How to Conjugate the French Verb Dà ©couvrir In French, the verb  dà ©couvrir  means to discover or to uncover. When you want to change it to the past tense discovered or the future tense will uncover, you will need to conjugate the verb. French verbs are rarely simple to conjugate, and  dà ©couvrir  is one of the more challenging. However, a short lesson will run you through the basics. Conjugating the French Verb  Dà ©couvrir Dà ©couvrir  is an  irregular verb, meaning it does not follow a common verb conjugation pattern. Yet, it is not alone because the majority of French verbs that end in  -frir  or  -vrir, including ouvir (to open),  are conjugated in the same way. The challenge of conjugating in French is that you not only take into account the present, future, or past tense when changing the infinitive ending. There is also a separate ending for each subject pronoun within each of those tenses. That means you have more words to dedicate to your memory. Study this table to learn the correct forms of  dà ©couvrir. Simply pair the subject pronoun with the proper tense: I discover is je dà ©couvre and we will discover is nous dà ©couvrirons. Practicing these in context is a good way to help memorize them. Subject Present Future Imperfect je dà ©couvre dà ©couvrirai dà ©couvrais tu dà ©couvres dà ©couvriras dà ©couvrais il dà ©couvre dà ©couvrira dà ©couvrait nous dà ©couvrons dà ©couvrirons dà ©couvrions vous dà ©couvrez dà ©couvrirez dà ©couvriez ils dà ©couvrez dà ©couvriront dà ©couvraient Present Participle Adding -ant  to the verb stem  dà ©couvr-  creates the  present participle  dà ©couvrant. Its useful beyond a verb and can also become an adjective, gerund, or noun when needed. The Past Participle and Passà © Composà © The  past participle  of  dà ©couvrir  is  dà ©couvert. This is used to form the common past tense known as the  passà © composà ©. To use it, you will also need to conjugate the  auxiliary verb  avoir. For example, I discovered is jai dà ©couvert and we discovered is nous avons dà ©couvert. More Simple  Conjugations There may be times when you will find a  use for the subjunctive or conditional verb forms of  dà ©couvrir  as well. The subjunctive verb mood implies that the act of discovering is subjective or uncertain. Similarly, the conditional verb mood says that discovering will only happen  if  something else takes place. The passà © simple is  primarily found in literature and formal writing. The same applies to the imperfect subjunctive. While you may not use them yourself, being able to recognize these as a form of  dà ©couvrir  is a good idea. Subject Subjunctive Conditional Passà © Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je dà ©couvre dà ©couvrirais dà ©couvris dà ©couvrisse tu dà ©couvres dà ©couvrirais dà ©couvris dà ©couvrisses il dà ©couvre dà ©couvrirait dà ©couvrit dà ©couvrà ®t nous dà ©couvrions dà ©couvririons dà ©couvrà ®mes dà ©couvrissions vous dà ©couvriez dà ©couvririez dà ©couvrà ®tes dà ©couvrissiez ils dà ©couvrent dà ©couvriraient dà ©couvrirent dà ©couvrissent To use  dà ©couvrir  in the imperative form, there is no need to include the subject pronoun. Instead of tu dà ©couvre,  simplify it to dà ©couvre. Imperative (tu) dà ©couvre (nous) dà ©couvrons (vous) dà ©couvrez

Goods market data Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Goods market data - Essay Example The economy suffered from a sharp increase in energy prices in the second half of 2004. Long-term problems include inadequate investment in economic infrastructure, rapidly rising medical and pension costs of an aging population, sizable trade and budget deficits, and stagnation of family income in the lower economic groups. (See appendix 1) Industrial production increased 0.9 percent in October after a drop of 1.5 percent in September. Hurricane-related recoveries in many industries and the resolution of a strike at a major aircraft producer contributed significantly to the increase in output. At 107.9 percent of its 2002 average, output in October was 1.9 percent above its year-earlier level. Manufacturing production increased 1.4 percent, a rise that more than reversed its September decline of 0.7 percent. Output also moved down in the industries for machinery and for furniture and related products. Production increased slightly in the industries for textiles and products, for paper, and for printing and support, while output was unchanged in the food, beverage, and tobacco products industry. (See appendix 2) Real personal consumption expenditure increased by 3.4% in Q2 2005, compared with an increase of 3.5% in Q1. Durable goods purchases increased by 7.9% (2.6% in Q1), while nondurable goods purchases increased by 3.6% (5.3% in Q1). Notably, domestic investment dropped by 3.7%. (See appendix 3) Real Private Fixed Investment (1 decimal) (See appendix 4) 2: Labor market data that includes: Unemployment Rate The unemployment rate has ranged from 4.9 to 5.1 percent since May. The unemployment rates for adult women (4.6 percent), teenagers (15.9 percent), whites (4.4 percent), and blacks (9.1 percent) showed little or no change over the month. The jobless rates for adult men (4.3 percent) and Hispanics or Latinos (5.8 percent) both declined from September. Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+56,000) in October, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 5.0 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Average hourly earnings of production or nonsupervisory workers on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents over the month. For major indicators of labor market activity, seasonally adjusted refer to the Appendix 5 and 6, where numbers are in thousands. 3: Price data includes: Goods and Services GDP Deflator The GDP deflator has been averaging in the low 2% range for much of this decade. As the table below indicates, everything from housing prices, food, utilities, medical costs, gasoline, and retail goods have been rising at much higher rates. By understating inflation, government statisticians have been overstating GDP growth. 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 forecast 2005 forecast 2006 GDP, deflator Index 100 102.4 104.09 106 109.7 108.23 112.96 CPI The consumer price index (CPI) during the month of May decreased by .1 percent (one-half of one percent). The rate of increase in the consumer price index over the past twelve months has been 2.8 percent. In May, the core consumer price index, which excludes energy and food prices, increased by .1 from April. The core index has increased by 2.2 percent over the last twelve months. (Appendix 7) PPI The

Principle of Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words - 1

Principle of Management - Essay Example etent leader conducts internal analyses, reviews the external market and competitive environments and also considers the current state of human capital in the employee population. This report highlights a series of specific tasks which can lead to the identification of problems in the construction business unit as well as the tasks necessary to move the business forward and build profit and a better retention model. The issues which are leading to rather flat growth and improvement must be identified in order to give the construction unit a competitive edge in its industry. Competitors have managed to perform better in relation to profit increases and maintaining a contented workforce who are not as apt to seek other job opportunities. This means that the construction industry, as a whole, provides opportunities for advancement in areas of profit and turnover if these issues can be successfully identified. The first task necessary in this goal is to conduct an analysis of the company’s strengths and weaknesses in areas of human resources, the internal use of finances, marketing, and job design. This can be accomplished using the SWOT analysis template, designed to review the internal and external business environment in order to give the manager a snapshot of what is occurring at the business and employee level. â€Å"SWOT analysis remains a major strategic tool for listing the strengths and weaknesses of the organisational unit and can translate them into value† (Coman and Ronen, 2009, p.5677). For example, it is necessary to review all functional and inter-related departments to essentially audit how they are interacting at the interpersonal and business levels. Administrative groups may not be providing the necessary support or encouragement needed for lower-level employees within the organisation, thus reducing morale. The SWOT analysis would identify poorly-function ing business units as a weakness and give the manager a guideline by which to make internal

Choose yourself Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Choose yourself - Essay Example In recent times, it has increasingly grown to be linked with either types of people or context and incidents. One form of hooliganism is spontaneous and minor while the second and most serious form involves rivalry between gangs that support different teams (Dunning 142). This paper will tackle soccer hooliganism in terms of its history, media coverage, causes and ways of combating it. It is widely thought that football hooliganism started in the 1960’s before escalating in the following two decades. However, there are records of violence and disorderly conduct in football crowds early in the 19th C. It is difficult to gauge the paucity and seriousness of the problem back then due to lack of accurate records. Back then, there tended to be leniency in the way which football hooliganism incidents were dealt with which further obscures their knowledge. In the early days of football games, football hooliganism was very subtle and was mostly displayed invading of the pitch (King 572). Although fans frequently invaded the pitch during play time, the only serious thing that happen was stopping of the game with no bodily harm to the players. Prominence of this phenomenon pitched its fever pitch during the 1960’s when new and violent forms began to be manifested during soccer games (Piotrowski 634). The coverage of soccer games by media increased which also highlighted the growing problems within soccer crowds. Then, football hooliganism was being portrayed as part of youth rebellion where young soccer fans found a way of letting out their frustrations. It is during the 1960’s and 80’s that there was a surge of delinquency among the youth which led to formation of football gangs all over the world. Other social problems like racism also found their way in the soccer scene and were exhibited through violent clashes between members of different gangs. Soccer stadia acquired new

Factors Affecting the Rise of Military Rules in South-American Essay

Factors Affecting the Rise of Military Rules in South-American Countries in 20th Century - Essay Example This essay presents a thorough analysis of various preconditions for the rise of military rule in most of South-American countries in the 20th century. The rise of military governments of Chile, Brazil and Argentina can be attributed to a series of events in the local and international politics, starting from the times when Europeans left these states which ended on the emergence of Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. During the 19th century, South America remained isolated from the rest of the world because of many reasons; however the 20th century observed a reversal of this trend and the governments and people of South America wanted to end this isolation and started looking out for means through which they could interact with the world for the collective benefit of all. The economic growth triggered in the northern part of the land mass encouraged the states in the south to follow the footsteps but their pursuit of economic stability was always hindered by political instability and social immobility . As a result civil wars, political assassinations, coups and military rules became the hallmark of the politics of this region during the middle of the 20th century. The power struggle in world politics after the Second World War also contributed to the instability of the region. The possession of lands in the hands of a very small minority of people was the reason behind the slow economic growth because the cheap labor never forced the landowners to look for modern methods of agriculture and increasing production.

Low Grade in a Class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Low Grade in a Class - Assignment Example They need to capture all details, especially if the subject coverage never lasts long enough. It should measure the needed aspects; therefore, teachers need to ensure they teach subjects accordingly. In a matter under taught subjects, the teacher could base one standardized test on the learning covered. Later, he should give another test after teaching the remaining part and find the average. This would increase the value of the test and at the same time, would allow looking after the welfare of students in the case of harming them with untaught tests. Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the perfo rmance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of the correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to... Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the performance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of t he correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to one. Instruction depends on which one explains better the performance of a student. Here, the teacher would be able to make the parent understand the level of performance that his or her child holds.Students need to know their level of assignment and how far they could go if they put in effort.

Domestic Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Domestic Violence - Essay Example However, studies have shown that women are more prone to violence, physical and mental injuries at the hands of men because of their weakness and helplessness. The question is, is there any end to it and if yes, then how? Throughout the world, women are victims of the frustration, anger and violent tendencies of men. The study by The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) showed that 85% of the one million cases that were reported for domestic violence were against women ( Buzawa 2002, 13). A study by Buchan and Edwards in the year 1991 found that 52% of domestic violence takes place even before marriage, when the couples are dating (Lockton and Ward 1997, 55). Women are the centre of the house when it comes to bringing up children, maintaining the house chores, taking care of the household responsibilities and still they suffer the injustice and the violence. When it comes to domestic Domestic violence is not just dangerous for physical aspect but it also plays a major role in emotional and psychological health of the family members. The fear of domestic violence creates shame, despair and hopelessness among the children. They see their mothers getting beaten, verbally abused and sexually abused by their father and they know that they cannot do anything. Sometimes, if the mother is not able to protect her children, the children also become the victim of the beatings and the abuses. The domestic violence are of different forms. The question is, is it a result of an impulsive behavior or a planned manipulation? The studies have shown that people have certain behavior patterns when they become violent. It is seen that domestic violence,

Low Grade in a Class Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Low Grade in a Class - Assignment Example They need to capture all details, especially if the subject coverage never lasts long enough. It should measure the needed aspects; therefore, teachers need to ensure they teach subjects accordingly. In a matter under taught subjects, the teacher could base one standardized test on the learning covered. Later, he should give another test after teaching the remaining part and find the average. This would increase the value of the test and at the same time, would allow looking after the welfare of students in the case of harming them with untaught tests. Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the perfo rmance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of the correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to... Raw scores represent totals put across a table to show the correct responses as per results in a test. Compare students’ performances in a table. These students could be rated by age or any other factor. It could also be used in comparing the results of one student in many tests. A percentile would be used in the comparison of students rated at a nationwide norm. It shows a difference with percent because it represents the performance of a student in a large group. Percentile would not be a very good method for measuring student growth. The reason behind this would be that the student achieving physical growth might remain at the same percentile level. Percent describes the opposite of percentile. In this case, a test might have answers with scores that could be correct or incorrect. The number of questions answered in the correct manner would be multiplied by a hundred and later divided by a total of questions tested. Grade equivalent reveals the actual score as a result of t he correctly answered questions. It represents students who earn the raw score on average. The ranks go according to their score. Such scores would mean different performances though, in conclusion, they could be put to one. Instruction depends on which one explains better the performance of a student. Here, the teacher would be able to make the parent understand the level of performance that his or her child holds.Students need to know their level of assignment and how far they could go if they put in effort.

Reflection on the Development of a Nursing Teacher Essay

Reflection on the Development of a Nursing Teacher - Essay Example This paper describes the highlights from an individual analysis of my competence as a preceptor (Forest, 2004:77-78). Different students have varying learning styles and this gives me the impetus to assess whether I have been able to address the needs of each student (Black, 2004:68). I have to discern the abilities of the students carefully in order to determine whether they have gained the relevant skills. Using the John’s reflective model, I embarked on a reflection to identify my progress as a nurse playing the assessment role. Guided by this model, I related to experiences in the workplace, their consequences, and influencing factors and highlighted how such experiences have improved my learning process. Due to the varying learning needs of students, I have allocated different sessions for each student whom I should assess. I give attention to first year students who are new in the course and are taking their first clinical practice. Understanding their personality is ess ential as it helps me determine the best approaches to use to impart skills in each student. (Fleming, McKee, and Huntley-Moore, 2011:450-457). In addition, students need guidelines to help to help them run activities on their own. Understanding the different learning styles and designing appropriate assessment skills will help me become a better preceptor (McDonough and Osterbrink, 2005:89-90). In the future, I should be able to assess each student extensively and help him or her improve in learning the relevant nursing skills. From my own learning orientation, I can present concepts effectively and then advance to giving details of the concepts. However, I realize that this puts off analytic learners who expect a stepwise presentation of ideas so that they can construct the complete picture. I have to broaden my assessment methods and rise above the challenge. Experience has taught me how to address the different personality types in assessment. Endowed with characteristics of an introvert, it becomes demanding to design effective modules for students who are extroverts, as they need more interactive sessions (Li, Chen and Tsai, 2008:71-74). However, I have been trying to give students group work tasks on critical issues at times in order to address the needs of judging extroverts. Feelers need a more sensitive approach that will create a favorable learning environment. Understanding the varying needs prompts me to use a more integrative assessment approach. Through this understanding, it becomes easier for me to develop strategies and standards of assessment. A nurse preceptor has the responsibility of nurturing the traits of a good nurse in the learners. I realize the importance of this and I have been presenting them with tasks that build patience and compassion. Nurses should be able to nurture well and possession of this trait prompts many students to take up nursing after their personality type tests (Li, Chen and Tsai, 2008:71-74). As an assessor, I s hould complement this trait with a critical understanding of the nursing practice in the students. An efficient nurse should be able to make critical judgment on different occasions. In order to build this criticality in making judgment, i present my students with critical tasks each week in which they describe their actions and ethics and values that dictated their decisions in each task. The most important aspect I have learned as a nurse teacher is that facilitation of the learning process is more effective

Contrast in Nigeria Essay Example for Free

Contrast in Nigeria Essay The aim of this paper is to compare and contrast in Nigeria to that in the United States. The emergence, development, and settlement of ethnic conflict are related to the cultural, legal, and socioeconomic conditions in which a conflict takes place. These conditions are strikingly different in developed and developing countries. One more mediating factor in the cross-national study of ethnic conflict is the attitudes towards conflict in a society. Therefore, this paper will start with analyzing societies in the U. S. and Nigeria as well as their histories. The U. S. is the world largest economy and a country with a strong tradition of democracy. Its uniqueness is associated with the fact that the U. S. is an immigrant nation. Although ethnic conflicts were (and still remain, to a certain extent) frequent and acute, the American society has found effective ways to resolve such conflicts. The government of the U. S. tries to prevent conflicts between different ethnic groups, ensure equality, and promote tolerance. On the contrary, Nigeria is a poorer country with GDP per capita being only $2,000 (in the U. S. this figure is $45,800). However, it is Africa’s most populous country. Almost half of the population is under the age of fourteen. Mortality from AIDS is high (the percentage of people living with HIV is 5. 4%), and healthcare is inadequate. The country is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups, the following groups are the most influential: Hausa and Fulani (29%), Yoruba (21%), Igbo (18%), Ijaw (10%), Kanuri (4%), Ibibio (3. 5%), and Tiv (2. 5%) half a population are Muslim, Christians constitute 40% of the total population, and indigenous believers account for the remaining 10% (CIA, 2008). Waters (1996) suggests studying the following questions in order to understand cross-cultural perspectives on ethnic conflict: the meanings of ethnic identities (whether they are oppositional identities, immigrant identities, or symbolic identities); the attitude of ethnic groups to the state (whether they trust the institutions of the state to be fair and honest, whether these institution perpetuate oppression, whether the state is perceived by ethnic groups an instrument of power to be employed by their own group or another group or as a neutral arbiter); and the perceptions on hate crimes, violence, and intergroup encounters (whether they are seen as temporary, accidental and individualized, or as permanent, systematic, and institutionalized). In the U. S. , many people coming from other countries perceive themselves as immigrants at the initial stages of integration, yet eventually they accept their new, American identity. The overarching nature of American identity prevents the creation of sharply oppositional identities. However, double identities (such as African Americans or Hispanic Americans) remain string and may become a basis for ethnic conflict. However, the state directs a lot of effort and resources on preventing ethnic conflict. While the general view on the state’s handling of racial issues is generally positive, racism in entrenched in the social system, and there are even accusations of institutional racism. The unique feature about the American society is that it has an experience of successful resolution of ethnic conflicts, such as the movement for equal rights between Black and White citizens or governmental programmes to support Mexican immigrants. The risk of ethnic conflict in Nigeria is much higher than in the United States. In 1999, frequent clashes were taking place between Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups. This conflict was the legacy of the British colonial rule: ‘Nigeria was brought into being under British colonial rule, when in the early 1900s Lord Lugard forged together the Moslem Northern protectorate and the Southern Christian sphere’ (Mason, 1999, para. 9). Regionalism was encouraged at that time: the country was divided into three self-governing regions based on ethnic allegiance, such as the western region (dominated by Yoruba), the northern region (mainly Hausa and Fulani), and the eastern region (mainly Igbo). ‘[T]he separate governments were designed to strengthen the colonial grip on Nigerian society and weaken the peoples potentials for resistance’ (Irobi, 2005, ‘Second Case: Nigeria,’ para. 2). The attempts of the Nigerian government to create a fully functional federal state have had limited success following the independence. Ethnic clashes turned into a civil war when Igbos attempt to form an independent state called Biafra. Nigeria took over Biafra in 1970 and maintained territorial integrity, but the conflict remained unresolved. There were incidents of sectarian violence in 2004. More recently, the conflict has centered in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. Access to oil revenue and environmental pollution are the main reasons for clashes. The government is perceived as hostile by Delta communities who used to prosper historically from the natural richness of their homeland. The clashes occur between two local ethnic groups, Itsekiris and Ijaw. Cases of vandalism are frequent; the conflict has been especially acute in 2004 when Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force threatened to destroy oil facilities and infrastructure in the region. In 2005, employees of Shell were kidnapped by the Iduwini National Movement for Peace and Development. In 2006, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger River Delta continued the attacks on Shell decreasing the oil production by three quarters. All these groups demand international companies and the government to take appropriate care of the region’s environmental situation and contribute to the region’s development (GlobalSecurity, n/d). As concerns ethnic identities in Niger Delta, they are fluid and dynamic: inhabitants of the region are quick to reconstruct their identities influenced by political opportunities and economic inducements. However, the inhabitants of the region can be regarded as having a common regional oppositional identity. The government is perceived as an inimical body responsible for the ethnic unrest: ‘When citizens perceive that the system has failed to provide essential political or economic goods, they are more likely to gravitate to communal identities and to pursue contentious mobilization’ (Lewis, 2004, ‘Abstract’). Summing up, there are several features which are typical for ethnic conflict in Nigeria, as well as the rest of Africa, namely ‘the demand for ethnic and cultural autonomy, competing demands for land, money and power, and conflicts taking place between rival ethnic groups’ (Irobi, 2005, ‘Introduction,’ para. 6). Therefore, there are many differences between the U. S. and Nigeria in terms of interethnic relations. The most significant differences are the role of the government in conflict management and the creation of oppositional identities as contrasted with an overarching American identity. References CIA. (2008). ‘The World Factbook: Nigeria. ’ Retrieved August 26, 2008, from https://www. cia. gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ni. html GlobalSecurity. (N/d). ‘Niger Delta. ’ Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www. globalsecurity. org/military/world/war/nigeria-2. htm Irobi, E. G. (2005). ‘Ethnic Conflict Management in Africa: A Comparative Case Study of Nigeria and South Africa. ’ Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www. beyondintractability. org/case_studies/nigeria_south-africa. jsp? nid=6720 Lewis, P. (2004). ‘Identity and Conflict in Nigerias Niger Delta: New Evidence from Attitude Surveys. ’ Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hilton Chicago and the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago, IL. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www. allacademic. com/meta/p59519_index. html Mason, B. (1999). ‘Ethnic conflict escalates in Nigeria. ’ Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www. wsws. org/articles/1999/aug1999/nig-a17. shtml Waters, M. C. (1996). ‘Ethnic and racial groups in the USA: Conflict and cooperation. ’ In Ethnicity and power in the contemporary world, ed. Rupesinghe, K, Tishkov, V. A. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from http://www. unu. edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu12ee/uu12ee0o. htm

Hades Essay -- essays research papers

The ancient Greeks portrayed the underworld as a place for all the dead and clearly visualized it in their myths and legends. The underworld in Greek mythology was not a lively place, for it was where all the dead souls went. When a person died, the soul would be sent to Hades, a more formal name for the underworld. "The dead would go to Hades because there was no annihilation in the Greek mythology. The dead are dead because they have a flavorless and unhappy existence". The primary ruling god of the underworld is Hades whose brother is Zeus, king of the gods, and whose parents are Cronus and Rhea. Hades is a greedy god with his greatest concern being to increase the number of his subjects. He is very stubborn about letting people out of the underworld. Hades himself, rarely leaves the underworld. In one myth, however, we know of a time when he did leave his soulful domain. Hades became very lonely in the underworld, and went above and kidnapped Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, for his wife.Persephone, nonetheless, was not Hades’ only significant other. Hades had a mistress called Minthe whom Persephone later transformed into a plant. Hades is also known as the god of wealth due to the precious metals mined from the earth. He has been said to possess a helmet that was given to him by the Cyclops. This helmet has been said to make him invisible. Hades lent it to gods and mortal men. Perseus used the helmet on his quest for Medusa’s head and Athena, goddess of battle skills, put to use the helmet so the god of war, Ares, could not notice her. Persephone, Hades’ wife, is the goddess of spring and the Queen of the underworld. She resides in the underworld for only six months of the year due to Hades kidnapping her. She was told not to eat anything for then she would have to remain in the underworld. While in the underworld, Persephone consumed six pomegranate seeds. Her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, threw a fit. Demeter complained to her brother Zeus. To be fair, Zeus stated that Persephone would have to remain in the underworld one month per seed each year. So, Persephone now resides in the underworld six months out of every year. When the Olympians overthrew their father Cronus, the Olympians drew straws to see who would rule what part of world. Even though Hades, also known as the Roman God Pluto, drew the straw for the underworld, there... ...h crystal windows; and because there is little or no sunshine thereabouts, the apartments are illuminated with diamond lamps. One tradition involving the underworld occurs above Hades. When a person died someone would place a coin under the tongue of the victim. Charon, the ferryman, would not take any soul across the River Styx who did not have the coin. Those who didn’t would roam the banks of the river for eternity. Achilles once said to Odysseus when he entered the underworld on his journey home to Ithaca "Do not speak soothingly to me of death, glorious Odysseus. I should choose to serve as the hireling of another, rather than to be lord over the dead that have perished". In reference to the River of Forgetfulness, Plato said "They were all required to drink a measure of the water, and those who were not saved by their good sense, drank more than the measure, and each one as he drank forgot all things". Therefore, the Underworld was a place of internity. The Greeks believed strongly of the Underworld and displayed it in their myths and legends. From courageous heroes to punished miscreants their was a place for everyone, living and dead, in the Underworld.

The West African Regional War Essay -- Politics Government Africa War

The West Africa Regional War For observers of the West Africa regional war, the recent calm in the war-torn Mano River Union (MRU) states Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea has given rise to optimism. Guarded, as this optimism might be, the decrease in violence in West Africa during the second half of 2001 is an important development given the scope and intensity of fighting that gripped these states earlier in the year. While observers agree that the current absence of widespread violent conflict in the MRU is a much-welcomed development, it must not mask the profound cleavages within these societies, the tenuous nature of the UN-imposed peace in Sierra Leone, and the continued serious threat of renewed warfare in the region. A brief overview of the horrendous and persistent conflicts that have engulfed the MRU over the past decade underscores the need for vigilance by the international community in its pursuit of lasting peace in West Africa. The past dozen years of violent conflict in West Africa have led to the death, injury, and mutilation of hundreds of thousands of people and the displacement of millions more. Conservative estimates place the total number of war-related deaths during the seven-year civil war in Liberia (1989 1996) at 150,000, more than 5 percent of Liberia's estimated population (SIPRI Yearbook, 1996). But this number only begins to tell the story of the horror that civil war brought to this small nation of 2.8 million [United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report, 1995]. Hundreds of thousands more Liberians were injured, displaced, and terrorized by the conflict, and today the tiny state remains the hostage of its corrupt and brutal dictator, Charles Taylor. After the war spread into Sierra Leone in 1991, it had a similarly devastating effect. As in Liberia, armed insurgents preyed on the rural populations, raping, pillaging, and forcefully inducting children into their ranks. During the eight years of warfare that followed, it is estimated (conservatively) that over 60,000 of Sierra Leone's estimated 4.2 million inhabitants were killed and hundreds of thousands more injured, mutilated, and displaced (SIPRI Yearbook, 2001; UNDP, Human Development Report, 1995). The 2001 UNDP Human Development Report ranks Sierra Leone last out of the 162 nations rated on the human development index (HDI), a composite ... ...ll play in the future of the region. 6.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Develop a mid- and long-term regional plan for West Africa that accounts for big-picture economic and human development trends. 7.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Implement the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act as soon as possible and draft and then implement AGOA II, thus extending the number of products covered by the legislation. 8.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buttress socio-economic development in Nigeria, the most populous and perhaps most important U.S. ally in sub-Saharan Africa. 9.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cut off financial resources to warlords who gain sustenance from non-state profiteers like diamond and timber buyers as well as from state actors intent on creating instability to further their own political and economic goals. 10.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Continue military assistance to the key regional armies to professionalize them and build linkages with the United States. 11.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Speed up debt forgiveness, especially for those countries that play by the rules and are in the process of socio-economic liberalization. 12.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Increase aid to the region as an investment in stability, socio-economic development, and the creation of new markets for the United States and to help prevent state collapse.

A Research Proposal Essay

1. Introduction Along with economy and technology are all developing rapidly in recent years, it is significant that globalization has become an overwhelming trend in all  walks of life. Benefit from this process above, the global markets can be bounded together in multi-cultural environments and become more complicated than ever before (Park and Reisinger, 2009). Thus, it is important for companies to conduct accurate market segmentation before access to a new market nowadays (Schmitt, 1997). The research aims to find out the differences in customers’ attitudes to luxury brands in China and UK, under various cultural backgrounds. To be exact, as cultural diversity will lead to differences in consumers’ needs, consuming behaviour and values, I decide to write the research proposal in view of culture segmentation. In terms of religion and country, objective factors such as various geographical environments, the heritage of history and culture, the outside culture and so on, all of these will bring about cultural difference (Schmitt, 1997). In addition, from a social perspective, cultural differences will be caused by people’s occupation, education and economic status, etc. As the largest developing country, China has become a huge potential market. Besides, since China is a vast country, itself has the character of cultural diversity. In addition, the effect of foreign culture to China has been for a long time, Chinese cultural constitution is much more complicated. Generally speaking, have a right reorganization of the customers’ perception differences between China and UK will be beneficial to British luxury brands enter Chinese market. Since there is a wealth gap between inland and eastern region in china, and the latter has a stronger economic strength, it will be the major luxury goods market (Schmitt, 1997). Therefore, this research will be conducted at several main cities in eastern China and costal areas, they are Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, separately. In UK, we will launch the survey at five cities in England, they are London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield. The informants who are selected should match several conditions, for instance, on the one hand, the respondents’ minimum annual income should above 40,000GBP/400,000CNY. They should be 35 years old to 40 years old, on the other hand. In this proposal, I will apply the method of combining qualitative research and quantitative research. Before quantitative research, I have to know luxury market situation in these two countries and relevant theories and fundamental conception about  cultural diversity in segmentation, demographic segmentation and so on. First of all, I should collect and analyse existing relevant document and data, it mainly consist of micro-economic environment, industrial policy and social environment. To be specific, first, micro-economic environment includes several sections such as the operation of national economy (GDP), households’ incomes and Engel coefficient. Secondly, the policy of luxury industry has a direct effect on the ease or complexity of luxury market entry. Therefore, I should analyse industrial policies, the situation of market regulation and the last part, the systems of customs and tax. Thirdly, social environment is influenced by regional culture, thus, cultural context analysis is critical. Moreover, the analyses of demographic environment, education environment and consuming concept are integral parts, too. Then, as qualitative research method has clarified the research question, quantitative research will be carried out by 1000 copies of questionnaires, both China and UK have 500 copies of questionnaires each, and every city share 100 copies of questionnaires. The questionnaire will be launched in the form of network, which is efficient, convenient and low-cost. By comparing these two countries’ customers’ perception degree of luxury goods and other aspects such as their education level, the purpose of purchase and customers’ preferable buying channel, we may find that the Chinese consumers’ consuming behavior of luxury have some more significant characteristics than British customers’. To be precise, a lot of Chinese customers buy luxury goods may have three reasons basically. The first reason is flaunting their rich. They want to show their sense of identity and social status by wearing luxury clothes, bags and shoes. The second reason is following the crowd. Due to various factors, for example, literacy level, most Chinese consumers have low cognitive degree of luxury goods and low sensitive to fashion trend. They always buy luxury blindly and without thinking independently about how to mach clothes, colours and choose accessories appropriately. The third reason is characteristic consumption. Luxury clothing brand usually have unique brand concept and distinctive brand image. Beside, luxury clothing brand has excellent design and high quality, so it can show amazing tastes of wearers. Furthermore, as its high price positioning, luxury clothing brand has less awkward situation of  outfits clash. All in all, after the research, we will have a clear understanding of the different attitudes to luxury clothing brands of consumers in China and UK. Due to this, British luxury clothing brands can know target market well and regard this as reference when they formulate marketing strategies. 2. Literature review In recent 20 years, global luxury markets are getting more considerable, because of this, luxury brands have drawn a lot of researchers’ attention (Atsmon et al., 2011). In this section, there are several parts as below. The first part is general backgrounds. The second part is a review of theories on segmentation and motivation. The third part reviews those documents which from different perspectives to compare consumers’ different attitudes to luxury brands in China and UK and conclusion at last. 2.1 General backgrounds Along with the gradual development of luxury markets these years, a mass of luxury brands are growing rapidly and have a share in markets. They have established corporate image and brand conception in the public. This can be clearly illustrated in a research which was conducted by Verdict Research (2007), as the largest and most mature luxury market, Europe would experience a growth of $ 62bn from 2007($ 101bn) to 2012($163bn). Followed by America–the second largest luxury market would be replaced by Asia Pacific region (exclude Japanese luxury market) in 2012. What is more, Asia Pacific area would be the luxury market which developing the fastest, and the Middle East would come the next. Before study the luxury market, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of luxury concept. In accordance with Phau and Prendergast (2000), luxury should be unique, outstanding, magical, and sensual. A more simple description of luxury was put forward by Mandhachitara and Lockshin (2004) that luxury stood for high price. While Danziger (2005) argued that luxury was ‘from class to mass’, which meant that the luxury goods would finally be popular and of civilian, though it  used to be high-class. In a nut shell, it is important for companies to understand luxury concept and luxury market properly, and then they can find out the critical factors which will affect customers consuming behaviour of luxury goods. 2.2 Theories on segmentation and motives First of all, the theoretical backgrounds of market segmentation. In contemporary market, Wedel and Kamakura (2000) argued that due to the diversity of consumer needs and the complication of marketing techniques, the mass marketing method can’t be applied in many market situations. According to Dibb and Simkin (1996), market segmentation could help marketers to cope with kinds of customer needs in a resource-efficient way. In accordance with Lindridge and Dibb (2002), the ultimate principle of market segmentation theory was that the discrimination of product needs and consuming behaviour could benefit from the possibility of ‘customers can be grouped using variables’. Second, the concept of market segmentation. Second, the original definition of market segmentation was put forward by Smith (1956), he argued that ‘a condition of growth when core markets have already been developed on a generalised basis to the point where additional promotional expenditures a re yielding diminishing returns’. In line with Kotler and Armstrong (1980, p291-306), market segmentation variables could be divided into four crucial fields—geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioural segmentation. According to Beane and Ennis (1987), geographic segmentation referred to factors such as area, population density and climate. Besides, customer demands and requirements solutions would be different as a market was divided up geographically. Demographic segmentation included basic variables like ‘age, sex, size and type of family, income educational level, race and nationality’ (Beane and Ennis, 1987). In addition, Demographic segmentation could be applied excellently as the segments were obvious. Third, the motive of consumer purchasing. In accordance with Leibenstein (1950), there were basically three kinds of motivations—mass psychology, uniqueness and exclusiveness. To be more exact, first of all, mass psychology means people who want to realize social value by trying to get the recognition of other  people in the group they belong. Next, uniqueness means that individuals in groups want to be particular and outstanding, and can be easily discriminated from the crowds. In other words, everyone wants to be a Triton of the minnows. Finally, exclusiveness can be explained as people who like to flaunt their wealth, highlight the status and identity through wearing luxury clothing, bag and so on. What is more, based on previous studies conducted by other researchers, Vigneron and Johnson (1999) considered that consumer purchase motivations could be distributed to five parts—mass psychology, uniqueness, exclusiveness, hedonism and perfectionism. Hedonic consumption is about the whole experiences in purchasing goods. Perfectionism is considered to have kinds of dimensions fundamentally. Additionally, Danziger (2005) carried out a luxury survey in American wealthy classes and labeled the consumers into four groups—‘the iconoclastic butterflies, the indulgent X-fluent (extreme affluent), the luxury cocooners and the luxury aspirers’. 2.3 Current researches about the similar topic of the proposal As cultural difference has an impact on the way of purchased merchandise and how much money a consumer spend (Thomson and Cutler, 1997), the consumers’ purchasing behavior appears to vary from country to country. According to Schmitt (1997), he carried out a consumer behaviour survey in China which was based on demographic segmentation. The author considered age and sex as variables, divided the samples into four segments, namely, two female groups consist of women aged 19 to 25 and aged 30 to 45; two male groups consist of the same two ages as women’s. He found that in older groups, women tend to products’ ‘value and convenience’, while men bought goods they need or the requirements of family members. On the contrary, young females among young people had a poor concept with money, they advocate brands and over-spent. Besides, they are easily effected buy some fashion movies. Another similar survey was launched by subsidiaries of Louis Harris in 2005 (Schmitt, 1997), three variables of demographic segmentation—income, educational level and occupation were considered. What is more, Hauck and Stanforth (2007) considered that the most potential consumers of luxury market in China would be those who were born in 1980s, and there might have 300 million rich men  among them. Thus, the main force of luxury goods consumption should be at the age of 20 to 40 years old in China. However, the mainly consumers of luxury goods in UK were older than those in China, they were aged from 40 to 70years old. Beside, as young consumers, especially those who are rich and well-educated, tend to accept new goods more easily than older customers (Schmitt, 1997), Chinese consumers of luxury goods are more willing to try new products than British consumers relatively. 2.4 Conclusion The cultural diversity will affect consumer’s different consuming behaviour, perception of luxury and so on (Park, Reisinger, 2009). As a large luxury market, China has attracted more foreign investiments as well as some British luxury brands. Theories of segmentation, motivation and consuming behavior are relevant to culture. It is important for British luxury brand to have a clear understanding of Chinese market and form feasible marketing strategies. However, there are several shortcomings in some existing studies. First, a majority of current researches lack of data support. Second, though some studies have collected relevant data, the data is not reliable and scientific. Because luxury market survey needs a huge amount of data collection and its scale is large, most studies do not have enough data proving. This research aims to collect primary data by questionnaires and then analyse the differences of customer’s consuming behaviour between China and UK. Finally, a further theoretical study can be constituted. 3. Methodology and Feasibility This section is divided into three parts. The first part is the introduction to the methodologies which is applied in this proposal. The second part relates to research procedure, description of sample and data collection. The last part is about proposal feasibility analysis. 3.1 Methodology In this study, I combine qualitative research method with quantitative  research method to collect second-hand sources and first-hand data. First of all, qualitative research. It derives from the social science, tend to study problems, recognize kinds of social phenomenon, analyse people’s behaviour and then give answers to those questions (Sandelowski, 1986). It is a way to definite an issue and address it. According to Shank (2002, P5), qualitative research is ‘a form of systematic empirical inquiry into meaning’. Moreover, quantitative research can identify intangible factors clearly, for example, social norms, gender roles and so on Sandelowski (1986). In line with Mays and Pope (1995), the methods of qualitative research include focus group, in-depth interviews, Delphi technique, direct observation, case study, etc. In addition, there are three ways to generate data—individual interviews, group interviews and contextual data. Contextual data mainly consist of observations, reports and other written data and oral data. I apply the literature research method, namely, literature review, to set up framework of theories. As a result, I can have a clear structure of the research and better understanding of relevant theories. Secondly, quantitative research. It can be described as a procedure about collecting valid data and analyzing valid numerical data scientifically. Then, we can get generalisable conclusions (Pekrun, et al., 2002). According to Luborsky, etc. (1971), quantitative research is suitable for survey about comparing two groups, thus, we can use it in the research. as the samples are large in the research, questionnaires should be a good method to collect original data which belongs to quantitative research method. Since I do the questionnaire survey on the internet, there is no time-and-space restriction. 3.2 Research design and data collection methods There are mainly two data collection methods used in this research—statistical data (secondary data) and questionnaire. Reviewing previous findings by others are a low-cost way to information and get an entire understanding of the research field we work in. Questionnaire is a convenient and efficient way to get raw data from markets, as I undertake it via internet, the costs are low. Next, I will explain how these two methods  are applied in the research. As the research needs to compare the consumers’ attitudes to luxury in China and UK, the size of samples and the scope of survey are large. Before structure a questionnaire to collect first-hand data from potential target customers, we have to know what the problem is, what intangible influencing factors are and so on. Therefore, we need to look up and quote amounts of secondary materials from websites, books, journals and authoritative organizations. These academic data should relevant to existing correlation theories, luxury market environment both in China and UK which involves policies like tax and customs, income level, current purchasing channels, etc. It would be a strong support for further survey after the data are classified into categories. The questionnaires can be constructed on the base of previous qualitative research I mentioned above. All the questions in questionnaire are based on two themes—the motivation of consumers’ luxury consuming, the pattern of consumers’ luxury consuming. In order to carry out the questionnaires, we follow the method of quota sampling to select samples by several variables as below: age: 35—40 years old income: above 40,000GBP/400,000CNY region: china—Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen; UK—London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Sheffield After the sample selection, we can conduct a hundred pieces of questionnaires in those cities separatelyï ¼Å'one thousand pieces in total. After getting the questionnaire feedbacks, the data need to be summarized and then, analysed by the software SPSS. 3.3 Feasibility Study First, in terms of schedule, this research process consist of 12 sections which clearly be illustrated in table 1. In order to complete the whole research, I will take 4months long to run it. In terms of time arrangement,  in particular, I set aside one week in case some of the twelve sections may not be finished on time. Besides, I will use the payback method in online questionnaire survey. Thus, respondents’ feedback can be collect in a short time. Second, financial feasibility analysis. As I mentioned above, I will carry on a paid survey. To be specific, in UK, I will pay 1pound per questionnaire on the website ‘surveycompare’. In China, I will conduct the survey on the website ‘opinionworld’ and pay 0.6 pound each. All in all, the general expenditure is 800 pound. Third, in terms of universal scope, as the 1000 respondents are selected from 10 cities in China and UK, the field of investigation is wide and the samples are dispersive. However, we do questionnaire survey online which is not limited by region. General speaking, as China is the largest luxury market in Asia and going to be the core market in the whole world (Verdict Research, 2007), it is high time that British luxury brands developed Chinese luxury market. As analysed feasibility in schedule, expenditure and universal scope above, the research is worth being taken into practice. 4. Timetable This research project will last four months long to carry out a serious of activities. I build up a table as below to explain the research time schedule. Table 1: time schedule for the research As the table shows, there is a week time left before report submission, it is in order to avoid any previous sections running out of time. List of References Journal articals: Beane, T. P. & Ennis, D. M. (1987) Market Segmentation: A Review European Journal of Marketing 21 (5), 20 – 42. Hauck, W. & Stanforth, N. (2007) Cohort Perception of Luxury Goods and Services Journal of Fashion Marketing & Management 11 (2), 175-188. Leibenstein, H. (1950) Bandwagon, Snob, and Veblen Effects in the Theory of Consumers Demand The Quarterly Journal of Economics 2 (64), 183-207. Luborsky, L. et al (1971) Factors influencing the outcome of psychotherapy: A review of quantitative research Psychological Bulletin 75 (3), 145-185. Lindridge, A. & Dibb, S. (2003) Is ‘culture’ a justifiable variable for market segmentation? A cross-cultural example Journal of Consumer Behaviour 2 (3), 269–286. Mays, N. & Pope, C. (1995) Rigour and qualitative research British Medical Journal 311 (6997), 109-12. Mandhachitara, R. & Lockshin, L. (2004) Fast moving luxury goods: Positioning strategies for Scotch whisky in Thai department stores International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management 32 (6), 312-319. Park, S. & Reisinger, Y. (2009) Cultural differences in shopping for luxury goods: Western, Asian, and Hispanic tourists Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing 26 (8), 762–777. Phau, I. & Prendergast, G. (2000) Consuming luxury brands: The relevance of the ‘‘Rarity Principle’’ Journal of Brand Management 8 (2), 122-138. Smith, W. R. (1956) ‘Product differentiation and market segmentation as alternative marketing strategies’ Journal of Marketing July, 21 (1), 3–8. Sandelowski, M. (1986) The problem of rigor in qualitative research Advances in Nursing Science 8 (3), 27-37. Schmitt, B. (1997) who is the Chinese Consumer? Segmentations in People’s Republic of China European Management Journal 15 (2), 191-194. Thomson, C., & Cutler, E. (1997). The effect of nationality on tourist arts: The case of the Gambia, West Africa International Journal of Hospitality Management 16 (2), 225-229. E-journal: Pekrun, R. et al (2002) Academic Emotions in Students’ Self-Regulated Learning and Achievement: A Program of Qualitative and Quantitative Research Educational Psychologist [online] 37 (2): 91-105. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1207/S15326985EP3702_4#tabModule [Accessed 3rd January 2013] Sandelowski, M. 2000 Combining Qualitative and Quantitative Sampling, Data Collection, and Analysis Techniques in Mixed-Method Studies Research in Nursing & Health [online] 23 (3), 246–255. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1098-240X(200006)23:3%3C246::AID-NUR9%3E3.0.CO;2-H/abstract [Accessed 2nd January 2013] Vigneron, F. & Johnson, L. W. (1999). A review and a conceptual framework of prestige†seeking consumer behavior Academy of Marketing Science Review [online] 1999 (1). Available from: http://www.amsreview.org/articles/vigneron01-1999.pdf [Accessed 2nd January 2013] Book: Danziger, P. N. (2005) Let them Eat the Cake: Marketing Luxury to the Masses as Well as the Classes Chicago: Dearborn Trade Publishing 1åˆ °8é ¡ µ Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (1980) Principles of Marketing 13th ed. London: Pearson Dibb, S. and Simkin, L. (1996) The Market Segmentation Workbook, International Thomson Press, London, UK Wedel, M. & Kamakura, A. W. (2000) Market Segmentation: Conceptual and Methodological Foundations 2nd ed. Boston: Kluwer Academic Website: Atsmon, Y. et al (2011). McKinsey & Company [online] Understanding China’s growing love for luxury. Retrieved 14 June Website: Available from: http://csi.mckinsey.com/Knowledge_by_region/Asia/China/chinaluxury2011.aspx [Accessed 1st January 2013] Bain study (2011) INSIGHT [online] Bain & Company. Available from: http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/2011-china-luxury-market-study.aspx [Accessed 1st January 2013] Verdict Research (2007) Business Insight [online] United Kindom. Available from: http://www.verdict.co.uk/Marketing/dmvt0388m.pdf[Accessed 1st January 2013]

Does CSR Help or Hinder a Company’s Performance?

Task 4: (582 words) Write a literature review for â€Å"Does CSR (corporate social responsibility) help or hinder a company’s performance? † This literature review explores the state of the art in corporate social innovation research. It briefly outlines the main themes in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) debate organizational legitimacy, moral choices, stakeholder interaction, sustainable development radical and user driven innovation. The paper then reviews the major objects of corporate social innovation singling out and eco innovations as key themes.It closes by analyzing how social innovation is enacted at each of the four levels discussed in the first part. The debate about CSR has been said to have begun in the early 20th century, amid growing concerns about large corporations and their power. The ideas of charity and stewardship helped to shape the early thinking about CSR in the US (Saurabh Gaur, 2011) . Our work would like to verify, after a review of literature, by using panel data, if some performance indicators can be affected by the firms’ social responsible behavior and their certifications.The novelty of our analysis comes from its dynamic aspect and from the buildin g of a CSR index that intersects two of the three main international indices (Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, FTSE4Good Index,2011), in order to be objective and to have a representative sample. The main results seem to support the idea that the CSR firms are the more virtuous, having better performances in the long run. in reporting is clearly crucial whereby being transparent does not necessarily mean revealing everything as this can be counterproductive to the communication of the key message (Bebbington et al. 1999). Consequently, companies must decide how much information to disclose. Based on different stakeholders to needs whereby it is sometimes necessary to disclose information that puts the company in a bad light. The ample room for mano euvre in identifying significant impacts and prioritising them has been partly blamed for the little significance behind achieving formal public endorsement for CSR disclosure (Boiral, 20 09).This is where the concept of Corporate So cial Responsibility, (CSR) has developed and is beginning to enter into common lexical knowledge and is increasingly being used by academics and economists for the sustainability of economic development. As often happens when new terms are coined, they tend to lose their conceptual precision, leaving their evocative value which is however watered down by the multitude of different meanings and contexts in which it is used .However, if we are to say that CSR is necessary for corporate strategy, given the recent ness of the phenomena and absence of a well-defined and universally accepted certification method, at present CSR has certain major limitations which we would like to rectify, that is an objective benchmark rather than a mere marketing tool for th e public, the principal motivation and elements that push firms into ethical behavior and suitable certification.It is actually this second point that has given rise to a proliferation of articles concerning social certification (Ullman, 1985) that have still not shed light on the mot ivation that entices firms to bear the cost of certification or looked at the experimental performance of CSR firms. As a result, various performance measures have been adopted both on the market and in accountability that all give rather discordant result s. Corporate social responsibility is the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable economic development by working with employees, their families, the local community and society at large to improve their lives in ways that are good for business and for development† (Cavett-Goodwin, 2007). Therefore, our paper tries to give an answer to the questions explained above. References: — Global reporting initiative, Sustainability Reporting Initiatives [online] Available from :< http://www. globalreporting. org/ReportingFramework/G3Guidelines> [Accessed 15 July, 2010]. Tsoutsoura M. , 2004, â€Å"Corporate Social Responsibility and financial Perfor mance†, Center for Responsible Business, Working Paper Series, N. 7, University of Califor nia, Berkeley. – Academy of Management Review, Institute of Social and Ethical Accountability [online] Available from :< http://www. accountability. org/about-us/news/accountability-1/pharma-s-3imandate. html> [Accessed 11 may, 2010]. – Roberts C. , 1992, â€Å"Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Application of Stakeholder Theory†, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 17, 6, 595 – 612. World Business Council for Sustainable Development [online] Available from : [Accessed 15 October,2012]. – Donaldson T. , (1989), The Ethics of International Business, The Ruffin Ser ies in Business Ethics, Oxford University Press. – Sustainable investment , Ethical Investment Research and Information Service [online] Available from < http://www. eiris. org/managers/sustainable_investment. html> [Accessed 24 Jun, 2007]. – Cooperative Bank, Ethical Purchasing Index [online] Available from :[ Accessed 23 april,2005] TASK 6: (1073 words)The synthesized essay on: â€Å"Does CSR (corporate social responsibility) help or hinder a company’s performance? † Abstract The corporate social responsibility (CSR) is getting an increasingly important issue for economic agents all over the world. The development sustainable businesses need to implement their social responsibility. Though there is no detailed measurement available on the impact of these practices on business performance, CSR is believed to have a positive relationship with a company’s goodwill and also be a mean to a more profitable operation.The view that SCG should further integrate CSR programs into its business str ategies, broaden its CSR network to its various stakeholders, put more emphasis on environmental issues, and employ an efficient measurement mechanism for evaluating the impacts and benefits of its CSR programs . Introduction Reality shows that firms have recently been able to adapt to a changing world not only by developing economically but also socially and ethically. A firm’s aim remains based on a development strategy that not only favors’ its hareholders but also responds to all stakeholders involved either directly or indirectly in the production process. The social impact of big and small corporations is becoming a very important issue in business administration. A bad social impact, in fact, could increase the firm’s risk, could lead to wrong relationships with many stakeholders and could affect corporate reputation. This article presents some empirical evidence that aims to answer the following question: does CSR practice influence a company’s im age and reputation? Main body:Total Review of Related, Performance Measures and Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility is getting an increasingly important issue for economic agents due to a new attention to all the aspects of firms activit ies and their relationship with stakeholders. In fact, firms with the attitude toward disclosure related to social responsibility activities appear to be able to develop and maintain better relationship with s takeholders in general Corporate Social Responsibility is a concept wit h a growing currency around the globe.It frequently overlaps with similar approaches such as cor porate sustainability, corporate sustainable development and corporate responsibility. Moreover, CSR has a wide range of potential meaning: it can be considered as the private sector’s way of integrating the economic, social, and environmental imperatives of its activities. We focus on two main characteristics of CSR: social welfare orientatio n and stakeholders’ relationship orientation.AS businesses have increased their adoption of corporate social responsibility practices, managers face growing pressure to justify the allocation of scarce firms resources and accurate measures of corporate social responsibility results are required. Because the corporate image and reputation have been considered as intangible assets and valuable resources a firm can use in order to differentiate itself from its competitors. The reputation is built over time as the result of complex interrelationships and exchanges between a company and its stakeholders.This complexity of interrelationships makes imitation difficult for competitors in the short term. The grand aggregation approach to corporate reputation loses substantial informational content unless multiple lists of stakeholders can be surveyed; this research will be conducted taking into account the perspectives of only two stakeholders. The rule contact by companies integrates social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis.When you review each of these, they broadly agree that the definition now focuses on the impact of how you manage your core business. The increasing attention to CSR is firstly based on its capability to influence firm’s performance. The researches in this field examine how CSR can provide firms with an incremental gain. For example, researchers have considered purchase intentions, increased sales, enhanced image, and improved employees morale as benefits of CSR.In particular, regarding to this aspect, the literature consists of three principal strands: the existence of a positive correlation between CSR and financial results, the lack of correlation between CSR and Many studies about the relationship between CSR and performance have focused their attention over a variety of other important characteristics that can be possible causes of firmsâ €™ performance. Some researchers have studied the effect of firm’s dimension, industrial sector, age, leverage level and intangible expenditures. t is possible to assume that the biggest firms are able to have a behavior more responsible than the smallest ones. The biggest ones probably pay more attent ion to the relationship with external stakeholders. Moreover, the firm’s dimension affects the link between certification and performance: at the beginning firm’s strategies are focused on the basic survival and just when firm is increasing its dimension because it has crossed the trigger point of survival, it can begin to take care of ethical and philanthropic responsibilities.In the meantime firm’s dimension can be linked with financial performance through economies of scale . The financial result and the existence of a negative correlation between CSR and financial results. The commitment by business to behave ethically and to contribute to economic development while improving the qualit y of the life of the workforce and the families as well as the local community and society at large The CSR is a commitment to improving the well-being of a community through discretionary business practice and contribution of corporate resources. Ethical CSR is morally mandatory and goes beyond ulfilling a firm’s economic and legal obligations, to its ethical responsibilities to avoid harm or social injuries, even if the business might not appear to benefit from this. It may be to SCG advantage to let its CSR stakeholders take a greater role in developing and implementing its strategic CSR programs SCG may further benefit from establishing broader CSR networks with its employees, customers, business partners and with non-profit organizations. Conclusion The above results give first empirical evidence that in Italy firms stock prices are not affected by CSR reports even if firms show a greater attention to these issues.The possible expla nations of these results could be the following: CSR is a relatively new issue in Italy, and most investors have a low degree of perception of the matter; The quality of disclosure for CSR is not easily measurable; there is a lack of general accepted principles and most firms use CSR disclosure as an additional instrument of advertising, avoiding to give relevant information . Most investors are short-term oriented while CSR’s impact is mostly in the medium-long term. At the moment, the small number of firms in the sample is due to few CSR reports available.But, thanks to a greater attention to CSR issues, the sample could be enlarged soon. These aspects could be the main direction of further implementations of our work. References – KAPLAN, R and NORTON, Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System [online] Available from: < http://www. balancedscorecard. org> [Accessed 12 July, 2011). – Carroll A. B. , 1991, â€Å"Corporate Social Performance Measurement: A Commentary on Methods for Evaluating an Elusive Construct†, p. 385-401 in J. E. Post (ed. ), Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy, vol. 12, Greenwich, CT: JAI. – Donaldson T. (1989), the Ethics of International Business, the Ruffin Ser ies in Business Ethics, Oxford University Press. – Cooperative Bank, Ethical Purchasing Index [online] Available from :[ Accessed 23 april,2005]. – Donaldson T. , (1989), the Ethics of International Business, The Ruffin Series in Business Ethics, Oxford University Press. – Global reporting initiative, Sustainability Reporting Initiatives [online] Available from :< http://www. globalreporting. org/ReportingFramework/G3Guidelines> [Accessed 15 July, 2010] TASK 7 ( 845 words) Compare and contrast how these 2 articles discuss the financial crisis:Abstract This subject is written to the accounting on changing the wrong direction when the debate about modern auditing practices. In the context of the current financial crisis shows that, there are certain similarities between the accounting scandals and the global crisis is expected. All this directly and indirectly affect society. Beside of that, the article also pointed out in different directions to struggle to overcome. Introductions The business landscape is changing all around the world. Advances in finance and technological improvements have accelerated the rate of changes dramatically.That due to the negative impact of different accounting should push certain risks, against the backdrop of increasing economic turbulence; this paper seeks to stimulate debates a bout the quality of auditing by examining the audit reports. Different parties such as; governments, firms, especially small investors are struggling to keep up with these changes. During of that The financial crisis and shows that a large nu mber of enterprises have collapsed within a short period after receiving unqualified audit reports, so the law makers and standard setting bodie s hysterically searched the possible solutions.Some of the accounting principles are changed to having good news or optimistic idea the y are considered as revolutionary. Body paragraphs Regulators and investors have traditionally relied upon corporate financial statements to make sense of bank liabilities, risks and economic exposure, but this has been highly problematic. An early estimate suggested that despite a raft of Attention has fo cused on auditors because of the belief that a green light from an auditor means that a company’s accounting practices have passed muster.Adverse â€Å"key financial ratios† are considered to be an indicator of going concern problems. The environment in which it operates also shows that auditors received considerable income from their audit clients, which may be very significant for regional offices managing the audit. The fee dependency and related advancement o f career can create conflict of interests. A uditors may argue that the financial crisis unfolded suddenly and they were thus ill-prepared to make judgments about the likely financial distress. The issuing of audit reports is subject to organizational and regulatory politics.Auditors may be reluctant to qualify bank accounts for fear of creating panic or jeopardizing their liability position. We have reached the limits of conventional auditing technologies and ought to be considering alternative forms of accounting, disclosures and accountabilities. They are just publishing the financial analyses. This might mean; they are hiding the inputs and want the public to see only the result. the authorities do not give assurances regularly when the things go well but if there is a problem they usually ma kes public speeches to convince them.The social cost of the unfolding crisis is difficult to estimate, but vast amounts of public money are being used to prop-up distressed financial enterprises. For example, in addition to providing huge sums to stimulate banking liquidity. The UK auditing standards, closely aligned with international auditing standards, state that the â€Å"auditor’s procedures necessarily involve a consideration of the entity’s ability to continue in operational existence for the foreseeabl e future. Especially small investors are giving great importance to the financial media’s comments.Accounting is the methodology which provides measurements, statements or provisions of assurance about financial status concerning firm’s financial situations. Accounting can be described as â€Å"language of business â€Å"because accounting information provides signals to end users, especially to investors. Usually their premiums are much higher than their salaries which are generally associated with the growth of the firm. This payment system encourages or even forces them to growth. Brokers are the mediators between the buyers and the sellers.In every transaction they earn c ertain amount of commission. Even though they have certain amount of fixed income their main source of income comes from the transactions. There is an inherent conflict of interest bet ween auditor and client relations. Auditors prepare auditing reports for external users: investors, government etc. , but audit fee is paid by the client: audited company. This price would be correct and even overvalued; t here could be even further decline in the price. This station is called value trap. If the investor buys the stock, he is caught by the trap.Finally models explaining valuation of currencies such as purchasing power parity, fisher effect and international fisher effect could not be put into practice accurately because of statistical deficiencies. Conclusion The deep of financial crisis raises questions about the role and value of the independent audit. Besides that, the Markets do not seem to have been assured by unqualified audit opinions and many financial institutions either coll apsed, that had to be bailed out within a short period of receiving unqualified audit opinions.Thought out that on any independent inquiry into the role of auditing, especially at financial institutions, would help to highlight the shortcomings of the current practices. However, there are remedies for audit industry has mediated previous crises by revising auditing standards and codes of ethics and the early signs are that the same strategies will be deployed again. So on the restrictions and the consequences will be improved over time through economic struggles.