Saturday, August 31, 2019

Ernest Miller Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American author and journalist. His distinctive writing style, characterized by economy and understatement, influenced 20th-century fiction, as did his life of adventure and public image. He produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway's fiction was successful because the characters he presented exhibited authenticity that resonated with his audience. Many of his works are classics of American literature. He published seven novels, six short story collections, and two non-fiction works during his lifetime; a further three novels, four collections of short stories, and three non-fiction works were published posthumously. Hemingway was born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After leaving high school he worked for a few months as a reporter for The Kansas City Star, before leaving for the Italian front to become an ambulance driver during World War I, which became the basis for his novel A Farewell to Arms. He was seriously wounded and returned home within the year. In 1922 Hemingway married Hadley Richardson, the first of his four wives, and the couple moved to Paris, where he worked as a foreign correspondent. During his time there he met and was influenced by modernist writers and artists of the 1920s expatriate community known as the â€Å"Lost Generation†. His first novel, The Sun Also Rises, was written in 1924. After divorcing Hadley Richardson in 1927 Hemingway married Pauline Pfeiffer; they divorced following Hemingway's return from covering the Spanish Civil War, after which he wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940, but he left her for Mary Welsh Hemingway after World War II, during which he was present at D-Day and the liberation of Paris. Shortly after the publication of The Old Man and the Sea in 1952 Hemingway went on safari to Africa, where he was almost killed in a plane crash that left him in pain or ill-health for much of the rest of his life. Hemingway had permanent residences in Key West, Florida, and Cuba during the 1930s and '40s, but in 1959 he moved from Cuba to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in the summer of 1961. Elements of Fiction Plot, Setting, Character, Conflict, Symbol, and Point of View are the main elements which fiction writers use to develop a story and it’s Theme. Because literature is an art and not a science, it is impossible to specifically quantify any of these elements within any story or to guarantee that each will be present in any given story. Setting might be the most important element in one and almost nonexistent in another. Just as a Crime Scene Investigator cannot approach a crime scene look for a specific clue (e. g., shell casings), you as a reader cannot approach a story decide to look for a specific element, such as Symbol. To assume could blind you to important elements. Both the CSI team and you must examine the entire â€Å"area† carefully to determine what is present and how it is important. With that understanding, let’s examine the elements.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Age of Enlightenment and Candide Voltaire Candide Essay

Candide is an outlandishly humorous, far-fetched tale by Voltaire satirizing the optimism espoused by the philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment. It is the story †¦ An Analysis of Candide, and Voltaire’s Controversial Convictions †¦ voices. yahoo. com/an-analysis-candide-voltaires-controversial-695221. ht†¦? Dec 13, 2007 – One of Voltaire’s premier criticisms in Candide is quite in alignment with Enlightenment teachings: the belief that the church has become †¦ How did Voltaire ideas from Candide disagree with spirit of the †¦ answers. yahoo.com Society & Culture †º Religion & Spirituality? Oct 15, 2010 – He angered the government but was in the spirit of the Enlightenment. Voltaire, who was an Enlightenment thinker, reflected his concern with the †¦ The Age of Enlightenment and Candide ? Aug 18, 2013 How does Voltaire use satire in Candide to teach about the †¦ Sep 12, 2012 In what ways does Voltaire’s Candide reflect Enlightenment values †¦ Sep 11, 2010 Candide and the Enlightenment? Jan 2, 2009 More results from answers. yahoo. com Voltaire and Candide – University of Idaho www. webpages. uidaho. edu/engl_258/†¦ /voltaire_and_candide. htm? Voltaire (1694-1778) and Candide (1759): Enlightenment Values and Print 258. Is this really â€Å"The Best of All Possible Worlds† Pangloss and his †¦ Candide and the Enlightenment – A New-Made World – WordPress †¦ mbroek. wordpress. com/2012/09/21/candide-and-the-enlightenment/? A description for this result is not available because of this site’s robots. txt – learn more. Essay on â€Å"The Enlightenment† in Voltaire’s Candide www. directessays. com/viewpaper/251. html?

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Cancer - Essay Example This often typically leads to a lump or a mass called a tumor, which are usually benign. Malignant cancers are capable of spreading to other organs as in the case of lymphoid vessels. In blood tissue, cells such as the erythrocytes or leucocytes get affected and cause leukemia. This is often characterized by an increase in the viscosity of blood. In this paper, I would like to discuss the commonly occurring types of cancers, causative factors, chemotherapy and radiation as treatment options, expenses and adverse effects associated with these treatment regimens, and the role of a healthy diet to minimize the occurrences of this disorder. Common types of cancers: As stated in the thesis outline, the most frequently observed sarcomas or cancers are those of the liver, breast, colon, prostate and lung, and has been the leading cause of death in the past five decades. Breast cancers are typically observed in post-menopausal women, and thus, it is extremely essential for periodic screening . Mammography is the technique used in this case and is usually recommended annually. Recent trends include biopsy of the breast tissue, followed by analysis for RNA content, as this biotechnology procedure sheds light on the expression of the gene responsible for cancer. A subtle marginal increase in these biological indicators, could suggest the initial phases of breast cancer. (1Popat and Smith, 2006) Prostate cancer, which is exclusive to men, is observed beyond the age of 50. Early detection is key, as the cancer could be prevented from metastasizing by surgical removal of the gland. Diagnostic procedures for liver, lung or pancreatic cancers usually entail a measurement of enzymatic levels in the body, by biochemical assays. For example, the presence of serum based prostate specific antigen (PSA) or Kallikrein indicates the possibility of prostate cancer in men or ovarian cancer in women. Or, elevated levels of alpha-fetoprotein are typical in liver cancers due to cirrhosis. ( Ullah and Aatif, 2009) Thus, biomarkers are excellent tools in the early diagnosis of various types of cancers, which help the clinician in designing the appropriate treatment protocol. Chemotherapy and radiation: The management of cancers by the administration of cytotoxic chemical agents is termed as chemotherapy. There has been a surge in the discovery of various chemical classes of cytotoxic compounds in the past few decades. Recent methods of treatment for certain rare forms of cancers include administration of a novel category of biological drugs called monoclonal antibodies. In some conditions, chemotherapy alone cannot control rapidly growing tumors and cancers. In such cases, radiation therapy is often used, either standalone, or in combination with chemotherapy. (Verweij and de Jonge, 2000) Radiation, as the name suggests involves targeting the affected tissue with high-energy electromagnetic rays (beta or gamma rays), which, on account of their short wavelength, have high penetrating powers. The energy associated with this radiation kills cells on contact. A major drawback of chemotherapeutic agents and radiation is their non-selectivity. They cannot differentiate the cancerous from the healthy cells, which results in damage to viable cells, although precision techniques such as the gamma knife are employed. Other unpleasant effects such as hair

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

2 questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

2 questions - Assignment Example In addition, citizens working in chemical manufacturing industries may have health concerns due to exposure to chemicals for many years. The youth would be affected by such a policy because it would be hard to secure jobs in top positions. Older citizens in the workforce need to retire at the stipulated normal retirement age (67) to pave way for energetic youths (Millar, 42). Such citizens need to be engaged in physical education programs to remain active rather than retaining them in the workforce. The toy industry is common for creating gender bias to children at a tender age. For many years, boys have been playing with ‘manly’ toys with dark colors whereas girls play with ‘girly’ toys with bright colors. It is common to find boys playing with toy trucks and police vehicles while girls play with dolls. Fingers would be pointed towards Hasbro Inc. for attempting to frustrate efforts towards gender equality. Why create toys that create border on lines of gender? It would not be prudent to buy the Easy Bake Oven from Hasbro Inc. However, it would be prudent to buy the toolkit from GoldieBlox, as the toys are indiscriminative of gender. Toy companies need to mitigate gender bias by manufacturing toys that are suitable for both boys and girls. On the other hand, parents need to buy toys that enhance equality on the field of play among boys and

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Educational Biography Statement Personal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Educational Biography - Personal Statement Example The first lesson I learned in school was about authority. I learned that you did not question it. My parents were the type of parents that were always on the side of the school. They had a sort of conflicted relationship with public schools because they both had a difficult time in school. On the one hand, they recognized that the people in school were professionals and were there to teach me. They had a lot of trust in my individual teachers and always believed what they said. If I went home and said, â€Å"Mrs. Kershaw smacked my had with a ruler today!† they would ask me, â€Å"Well, what did you do?† They never questioned a teacher’s authority to discipline or teach me, so this taught me to listen and obey my teachers. On the other hand, my parents were almost paranoid about the institution of education. They were suspicious of the people at the very top. The superintendents, principals and specialists that ran the school and were responsible for the big pict ure were viewed as lazy and wasteful. Nothing they did was every OK with my parents. They railed against tax increases, curriculum changes and decisions about school safety. It took me a long time to realize that my parents were taking a stance against what they perceived as management (Cook, 1978). Both were laborers and they viewed my teachers as peers, but everyone else was management. I was in high school before I figured out why my parents were so supportive of the education system on the one hand, and so against it on the other. This was the beginning of my own conflicted feelings about schooling and education. By high school, I could see that my parents wanted me to get a college education so that I would be a part of a class of people that they mistrusted. I know that this sounds conflicted, but that’s my parents. They wanted me to be more secure than they were themselves, but their view was that the only way this could happen was to be something other than I was. Not quite fitting into a defined social position is not something new for me. From elementary, through middle and high school, I always felt that all of the students were strongly encouraged to fill a slot in a specified, existing group. Some students are academically inclined, others are athletes. Some students are compliant while others are rowdy troublemakers. There seemed to be a lot of either/or decisions that were expected of me in school that caused me to question what I was and what I really wanted out of life. Two of these incidences that were very powerful occurred when I was in elementary and high school. They both involved a conflict in scheduling that could have been resolved had the school not been trying to force me into a specified social construct. In elementary school, there were many activities that were commonly called pullouts by the teachers. Looking back, I realize that some of these pullouts were for students that struggled to learn, but others were and effort t o differentiate instruction for small groups of students (Tomlinson, 2005). I was identified as Gifted students, so one of my pullouts was a required class called Reach. I met with other Gifted students at this

Monday, August 26, 2019

Impact of Rewards on Employee Motivation and Organisational Dissertation

Impact of Rewards on Employee Motivation and Organisational Performance - Dissertation Example This research will begin with the statement that majority of the studies on the links between reward, motivation and performance are conducted in Western organizational context, so additional studies in Middle Eastern settings are needed to determine differences and similarities across cultures.   There is also a gap in literature regarding the connection between Saudisation policies and private-firm human resource practices. This dissertation aims to identify the drivers of motivation for Saudi nationals in Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF), to assess the impacts of various financial and non-financial rewards on sustaining high motivational levels within varied categories of employees such as workers,   to understand the contribution of employees’ motivational levels on individual and organizational performance, and to examine if incentive preferences differ by duration of employment, age, educational attainment, gender, job type, and social class. The research used survey resear ch design and weighted average charts to analyze results. Findings showed that financial incentives significantly drive performance and motivation more than non-financial incentives, but non-financial incentives are still important to motivation. Saudi culture, duration of employment, job type and social class greatly affected motivation differences than other factors too, while future studies should consider how sector and organizational culture interact with national culture to shape motivation and performance.... Saudi culture, duration of employment, job type and social class greatly affected motivation differences than other factors too, while future studies should consider how sector and organisational culture interact with national culture to shape motivation and performance. Implications for Saudisation of workforce and recommendations to BSF and the government are provided. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I want to thank God for His blessings in my life. I dedicate this paper to our Creator who makes all things possible. Next, I thank my mother for her enduring support and my late father for being my running inspiration and for his guidance. I want to show appreciation to my supervisor for his help, support, and patientguidance. He has provided invaluable knowledge and assistance that enabled me to complete this dissertation. Finally, I would also like to express gratitude to the management and employees of Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF). They have opened both their doors and minds by particip ating in this research and they deserve heartfelt thanks. Table of Contents Impact of Financial and Non-financial Rewards on Employee Motivation and Organisational Performance of Saudi Nationals in i Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) i DECLARATION 1 CERTIFICATION STATEMENT 2 ABSTRACT 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3 Table of Contents 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES 8 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 9 1.1 Saudisation and HR in the Middle East 9 1.2 Motivation and Performance 11 1.3 Incentives, Motivation, and Performance 11 1.3.1 Financial incentives and performance 12 1.3.2 Non-financial incentives and performance 13 1.4 Problem Statement 13 1.4.1 Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) 13 1.5 Research questions, aims, and objectives 14 1.6 Summary 15 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Pathophysiology ( Paramedic ) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Pathophysiology ( Paramedic ) - Essay Example A paramedic must have an effective assessment, diagnostic and implementation skills to be able to help patients in an emergency (Williams et al. 2009, pp.580–582). To demonstrate the significance of assessment, diagnostic and implementation skills necessary for a paramedic, this paper will focus on a case of a patient (Ryan) who is a three-year-old baby who is experiencing respiratory problems. Analysis of the case study would narrow down to the determination of the diagnosis of the condition, with the inclusion of the possible differential diagnosis of the condition. Based on the selected diagnosis, the paper will then analyze the epidemiology of the condition, as well as the possible contributing factors to the incidence of the condition. Additionally, the paper will discuss on the pathophysiology of the condition, the complications, as well as the management of the condition including the pre-hospital management, which is predominantly under the scope of paramedic personnel. According to the case study, a paramedic responds to an emergency call to the house of a three-year-old patient, Ryan, who is experiencing shortness of breath, a fact that is making the parents of the patient very anxious. According to the parents, the child is experiencing asthmatic attack, however, according to assessment and physical examination, the past medical history reveal that the patient was a preterm birth at 29 weeks and had spent 5 weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Additionally, the patient had experienced past several episodes of dyspnea. Based on the history of the current illness, Ryan had been unwell for the past two days, experiencing symptoms like running nose, earache, and general irritability. The patient has equally been experiencing difficulty in eating and drinking with an episode of vomiting reported. The patient has been on analgesics (paracetamol) and Demazin Cold Relief Infant Drops 50ml for one day

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Education Sector & Collective Bargaining Research Paper

Education Sector & Collective Bargaining - Research Paper Example Furthermore, as move towards the statistics provided for the grade 8 and grade 12 students, a visible trend appears. All others states, which prohibit collective bargaining, remain at the bottom but Virginia also keep falling down in the ranking (English, 2011). According to the researches regarding the salaries of teachers, especially in the public schools, most teachers are paid with single salary schedule. Regardless of which grade and subject they teach the criteria for determining their salary remains the same, which depends heavily on their degrees, qualification, and their years of service. There are almost no schools or teachers with bargain on other factors such as difficulty of the job, working with at risk children, working conditions, previous performance, or time required by the children, researches required, and others (English, 2011). The concept of merit based pay is still far way in education sector, however, in other sectors, merit based pay is an existing and growi ng phenomenon (Hannaway & Rotherham, 2006). Nevertheless, as one move up the hierarchy of education undergraduate, masters level education and so on, the power to bargaining the salary with experience and educational qualification increases. There are fewer teachers for higher education, thus they are able to exercise significant power over the bargaining power duties (Moo, 1999; Imber & Geel, 2010). Collective bargaining in various industries and professions involving measures such as strikes and walkouts; however, they cannot be applied in the same way in the educational sector. This is true because professions of doctors, teachers, and law enforcement... As the report stresses it is interesting to note the impact of collective bargaining power on educational levels and performance of students. According to the recent statistics provided by â€Å"National Assessment of Educational Progress of the 52 American Jurisdictions†, Virginia is only American, which prohibits collective bargaining in education sector and still ranks at the seventh position when it comes to assessment of grade 4th students in reading. Furthermore, out of the top 30 states in this list, Virginia is the only one to prohibit collective bargaining. This paper declares that most teachers are paid with single salary schedule. Regardless of which grade and subject they teach the criteria for determining their salary remains the same, which depends heavily on their degrees, qualification, and their years of service. There are almost no schools or teachers with bargain on other factors such as difficulty of the job, working with at risk children, working conditions, previous performance, or time required by the children, researches required, and others. The concept of merit based pay is still far way in education sector, however, in other sectors, merit based pay is an existing and growing phenomenon. Collective bargaining in various industries and professions involving measures such as strikes and walkouts; however, they cannot be applied in the same way in the educational sector. This is true because professions of doctors, teachers, and law enforcement agencies provided important and urgent services to the society.

International Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

International Business - Research Paper Example As per Avon's global strategy it is imperative to sell directly to individual consumers and the product's brand names can be changed in accordance with the cultural environment of different countries but the global brand name will be their primary identification. Avon allows every branch or subsidiary to set its own competitive prices in response to their local market conditions and the inter-country transfer of learning, resources and practices. 1. Your reading assignment for this unit describes different marketing orientations. Discuss the applicability of each to Avon’s international operations. Production, sales, customer, strategic marketing, and social marketing are the most common marketing orientations. Avon uses a mix of customer, strategic marketing and social marketing orientations in its global marketing strategy. Avon is basically a customer oriented company which allows product modifications as per country-specific or customer-specific requirements. As a part of its social marketing campaign to support women, Avon started its social awareness programs like fighting against domestic violence and breast cancer. Avon also introduced insect-repellent skin creams in South American countries. The company also took an innovative step in its distribution method in China to appropriately implement its strategic marketing orientation. 2. Why is Avon so much more dependent on its foreign operations than on its home (U.S.) operations? The strategy of going global was based on a primary fact that there will be more chances of profitability if you could access more customers. The basic reason of exporting is to increase the profitability of business either to explore new markets or to get rid of local heavy competition. Avon had both. The selling model developed by Avon that is in accordance with the nature of their products is not much suitable for the women in United States. As a large number of women are engaged in full time jobs, it will be difficult to access them through direct selling model. 3. Discuss socioeconomic and demographic changes that could affect Avon. Avon has a specific sales model that is line with its business model and the nature of products it is selling. However in order to make the business profitable, it is necessary to understand the socioeconomic and demographic trends of the country. In United States, the availability of women is a major issue. Avon needs part time sales force to implement its sales model effectively with a low labor cost. The unavailability of women affects the volume of sales because there will be fewer candidates willing to take the part time sales representative job and also there will be fewer women to meet those representatives to buy the products. 4. How might a global recession, such as the one that began in 2008, impact Avon’s operations? Going global is a risky decision as the economic recession can affect the profitability of a global company more than a local company . Some portion of operating cost of global operations is fixed in nature and can not be avoided like legal formalities of each country. Global recession also affects the purchasing power of customers and they are now more focused on the usability of the products they purchased. In this situation, companies are focusing on modifying their business strategies to deliver products with more functions with an economic price in order to satisfy the

Friday, August 23, 2019

Based upon your reading in The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L Essay

Based upon your reading in The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Helibroner, as well as CREDIBLE outside sources, outline the di - Essay Example Both Joseph Schumpeter and John Maynard Keynes were subjected to the same economic period, suffering from economic recession and aimed at developing theories aimed at economic development. However both analyzed the situation differently and thus observed different economic problems which made them to come with different definitions of the economics, which are very important in understanding the modern economic trends and situations. In an effort to solve the economic crisis, Keynes called for government intervention. Holding to the fact that money was not an just a means of exchange as was stipulated by the likes of Adam Smith and David Ricardo, but the supply of money, and to be specific money velocity had an adverse effect on the demand of goods, Keynes put it across that regulation of money supply would improve economic conditions during recession (Heilbroner 267). To come up to this conclusion, Keynes held lack of control of money supply in the capitalist system had caused the re cession. Schumpeter agreed to Keynes idea that the failure of capitalist system resulted to the economic recession but attributed the failure to poor relation between capitalist investors and the actual managers of the investment projects who happened to be employees. According to Schumpeter, the managers salaries are not correlated to the company’s profit and thus don’t strive to maintain or improve future returns. Although Schumpeter did not reject interventions, he held that capitalism could be maintained and its success accelerated ‘creative destruction’ that is replacement of old worn-out business models by new entrepreneurs’ innovations. What determines real price of commodities is a question that most economics have had in their minds. Keynes was not an exception, although his answers portrayed a view completely different from his predecessors. To develop his theories, Keynes held that money and credit were real, and greatly influenced commod ity prices (Heilbroner 270). Disregarding that firms and individuals had any impact the economy as demand which was only affected by money velocity influenced capital formation, productivity and employment. However Keynes held the assumption that his theory was only effective if the velocity of money was held constant. Schumpeter embedded on this assumption and criticized the whole theory on the fact that velocity of money can only be constant in primitive societies and not in the modern complex economic conditions. It was Keynes ideas, of fiscal and monetary policies that were used to solve the recession problem. However, equilibrium conditions were only obtained in the short run just as they were proposed by Keynes. Schumpeter criticized Keynes short run solutions as not caring about the future. Schumpeter identifies that the central economic problem was not equilibrium as stipulated by Keynes, and suggested that structural change was more realistic. In attempt to solve the proble m, he maintained that capitalist, not discarding intervention can still thrive given his theorem of the innovator. Schumpeter emphasized that equilibrium solutions were only short run that could not prevail in the long run due to structural changes. Contrary to their predecessors, Keynes and Schumpeter replaced the argument demand or supply of

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Example for Free

Coffee and Starbucks Essay Starbucks Coffee Corporation is facing some strategic decisions on its current policy with regard to partnering with NGOs. Starbucks has a long history of social involvement. â€Å"CSR originated in 1994 as the Environmental Affairs Department with a budget of $50,000; by 2002, the 14-member department had a budget of 6 million. (Austin Reavis, 2004) Recently Starbucks completed a six year, $450,000 project with Conservation International; an NGO thats mission â€Å"is to conserve the earths natural heritage and its global biodiversity, as well as to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature. (Austin Reavis, 2004) At the time CI had a staff of 776, overseeing projects in more than 30 countries on four continents. Roughly two thirds of CIs staff worked in the field and 90% were citizens of those countries. (Austin Reavis, 2004) Working with CI on the Chiapas Project, dedicated to working with coffee farmers to stop the destruction of rain-forests by farming and to promote shade-grown coffee which is sustainable, Starbucks has learned that it needs a clearer policy with regards to partnering with other NGOs in the future. Several challenges arose when Starbucks was working with CI on the Chiapas Project, and they both learned valuable lessons. Starbucks needs to consider how valuable the Starbucks-CI alliance had been and what it future might be. Is the approach sustainable? What should be the ongoing strategy for shade-grown coffee? Next, how should new coffee purchasing guidelines be implemented? How should Starbucks and CI approach other roasters to adopt the sourcing guidelines? Finally, how should Starbucks address the Fair Trade movement? When CI identified coffee as an important commodity affecting biodiversity, it launched a pilot conservation coffee program in 1996 organized around three co-operatives, located in the buffer zone of the El Triunfo Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. (Austin Reavis, 2004) CI Created this project to promote and preserve the pristine rain and cloud forests as well as shade-grown coffee. In 1997 CI convinced Starbucks that partnering with them in the Chiapas Project would not only promote conservation and shade-grown coffee, but also produce a high quality coffee bean; a bean that was shade-grown, sun-dried, and met Starbucks high quality standards. This alliance has proven to be successful. Since 1998, the coffee growing land incorporated into the project has increased by 220%, signaling that farmers had changed their practices. Starbucks was able to purchase 1. 5 million pounds of Coffee from the Chiapas cooperatives by 2002. An outside consultant doing a independent review of the CI project concluded that farmers environmental knowledge and awareness had increased significantly, as had conservation and organized farming practices (Austin Reavis, 2004) However conducive for Starbucks as a learning process and beneficial to CI and the El Triunfo Reserve, as well as the farmers and the cooperatives, the Chiapas project requires a vast infusion of capital and resources to operate. Capital in terms of time, resources, expertise, and field trainers. Austin and Reavis state,â€Å"CI had a team of 3 full-time and several part-time â€Å"extentionists† who visited every farm and monitored progress. CI provided training courses in the villages of the farmers, co-op managers, and technicians on quality control, organic farming methods, tree planting, and pulping methods. CI operates a training center and nursery where it grows a wide variety of trees that gives away free to cooperative members and coffee trees that it sold for a nominal fee. The center also produced an organic fertilizer which it sold at 1/3 the price of equivalent of chemical fertilizers. † ( 2004) with all the resources, funds, education, and time it has taken the Chiapas Project to meet Starbucks quality standards, it would seem impossible for Starbucks and Conservation International to set up projects like this in all the biodiversity hot-spots around the world. The Chiapas Project itself consumed too many resources to be sustainable elsewhere. Starbucks would have to subsidize projects in other countries and partner with other NGO’s, who may or may not share the same values and work ethic as Conservation International. Starbucks would have to set-up infrastructure, education centers, and hospitals. Starbucks would have to maintain a staff on the ground to ensure that best practices where in place. The development would occur at a slow pace. The amount of conserved land may not be a significant enough area to ensure the survival of diverse species of animals and plants. All this time and effort to produce a coffee bean that may not meet Starbucks quality standards Starbucks needs to find another strategy, one that continues to encourage conservation and farmer education, but also a strategy that would affect the industry as a whole. With this in mind Starbucks and CI decided to create coffee sourcing guidelines that would affect the suppliers of coffee. â€Å"Under Starbucks new system, introduced as a two year pilot program, suppliers of any size or location could earn up to 100 points for performance in three sustainability categories†¦if the suppliers me all the criteria, that is ,scored 100 points, it would become a preferred supplier and its coffee would receive priority in Starbucks’ purchasing queue. A producer’s performance had to be verified by an acceptable independent third party, although Starbucks was flexible on whom the verifiers would be. † (Austin Reavis, 2004) Mecklenburg, head of CSR at Starbucks describes her reaction to the guidelines, â€Å"While the Chiapas project is totally amazing and beyond what any of us could have imagined, it pales in comparison to what we’ve done with the sourcing guidelines. What we wanted to do with these guidelines is really define what sustainable coffee is. † (Austin Reavis, 2004) What Starbucks is essentially doing with the creation of these sustainable sourcing guidelines, was shifting the burden of responsibility from itself to the industry as a whole. If the suppliers adopted these sourcing guidelines then the industry would determine who developed the most sustainable coffee and change would occur much faster. There would also be incentive for coffee growers to choose organic farming over chemical pesticides and shade grown coffee production, because these sourcing guidelines would have them in preferential buying order. Starbucks challenge now was to get the rest of the industry to adopt their sourcing guidelines. If Starbucks is able to accomplish this, then the coffee industry will have change, it will be a dramatic beneficial change for the future. Other companies have had success leading industry wide changes. One Such company, Merck, has great success eradicating river blindness in Africa; a disease cause by onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease. In early 1975 Merck discovered a possible cure for the disease, Mectizan, and by 1980 the disease was ready for human trial. There was great pressure both internally and externally to produce the drug. Merck had to make a decision to either charge for Mectizan or donate it. The challenge as it relates to this case was once Merck decided to donate the drug how where they going to distribute it; Merck is in the drug creation business not the drug distribution business Professors James Austin and Diana Barrett discuss Merck’s challenges in a case study they prepared for the Harvard Business School. Austin and Barret state, â€Å"Most of those infected lived in areas accessible only by navigating poor roads or traveling on foot for several days. Neither was there a health-care infrastructure in many areas to administer the drugs – few doctors and no pharmacies. † (2001) Merck was in no position to handle this distribution problem on its own. Much like Starbucks trying to affect industry wide change to sourcing practices, Merck had to outline a strategy to deliver this drug to the people that needed them the most. Merck decided to create a committee to examine the problem. â€Å"In 1998 Merck created the Mectizan Expert Committee (MEC) to address the Distribution issue. † (Austin Barrett 2001) Ultimately what the MEC decided was to create a distribution model that called for other organizations interested in the drug to contact the company and apply to receive it. After the NGOs were properly vetted (they where looked at for ability to supply and monitor the drug), Merck would ship the drug directly to the specific countries. The key lesson to take away from Merck’s challenge is that the company could not distribute the drug on their own. Merck had to partner with other organizations in order to affect industry wide change. Starbucks is attempting to dramatically change the way suppliers source coffee. These new guidelines will be beneficial to the coffee growers, who will be forced to learn new methodology, but will receive higher income and higher buying priority in return. These sourcing guidelines will be beneficial to the environment, requiring sustainable practices, such as organic farming and shade-grown coffee, which will conserve land, present less danger to animals, and promote biodiversity. These guidelines will benefit suppliers trying to buy better tasting and more sustainable coffee in larger amounts for comparable prices to industry farming techniques. And finally, these guidelines will benefit the companies whose customers demand a more sustainable flavorful coffee product. Starbucks purchases about 1% of the global coffee supply in 2001. (Starbucks CSR annual Report 2001) World coffee production is estimated at 6. 7 million tones (Hoyt McMillan 2004) Starbucks purchases 67,000 tones of coffee annually. Although this is a lot of coffee it is only a small percentage of the global total. Starbucks is not going to be able to affect the suppliers by themselves; they just do not command enough of the global market to force their sourcing guidelines on suppliers. Like Merck, Starbucks must partner with other companies if they want to see their sourcing guidelines accepted industry wide. In order to align themselves with competitors, Starbucks must generate enthusiasm for its sourcing guidelines among the competitor’s customers, other NGOs, Coffee buyers, coffee suppliers, and competitors themselves. Although a herculean task, Starbucks is a behemoth of a company quite capable of through its weight around. Starbucks must show that their guidelines are more attractive than other sustainable coffee standards such as the fair trade movement. The Fair trade movement started in the Netherlands in the late 1980’s as a way to organize small farmers producing various commodities into cooperatives and to improve their incomes by pressuring buyers to pay guaranteed minimum prices (Austin Barrett 14) The Fair Trade movement seems poised for explosive growth. The world market for fair trade goods is currently valued at $400 million. (Raynolds 2002) Though this only represents a minor share of the international market, sales of Fair Trade commodities have boomed in recent years, with sales rising at close to 30 percent per year. (Raynolds 2002) Coffee forms the core of fair trade networks and is the most widely consumed Fair Trade product in the movements European home and in rapidly expanding North American markets (Raynolds 2002), Starbucks has encountered problems with the fair trade movement. Mecklenburg sums up Starbucks interaction with the Fair trade movements activist NGOs up till now, â€Å"It wasnt that we hadnt been in the cross-hairs of other advocacy groups before but this was much more aggressive. It was difficult to have rational communications There was a lot of pressure to sell Fair Trade Coffee. Ultimately it was up to the CEO. (Austin and Reavis 2004) Starbucks challenges with the Fair Trade movement arises from three points. Firstly the Fair Trade movement originated in Europe where Starbucks is not always regarded favorably. Although there are many Starbucks in Europe, there is simmering resentment at the American company for displacing European coffeehouses. Secondly, Starbucks buying and sourcing practices are not in-line with the Fair Trade Movement. Starbucks buys its coffee From high quality sellers, that sell only Arabica beans. Starbucks also seeks to, when it can, purchase shade grown organic coffee from farmers that are paid better than market price. The Fair Trade movement is basically a labeling movement. They do promote organic cooperative farming techniques and better wages for farmers in order to obtain the Fair Trade seal. However, the Fair Trade auditors do nothing to ensure the quality of the beans and do not have third party verification. Also farmers must pay to have their farms and cooperatives auditing which is a practice that Starbucks does not agree with. Finally, the Fair Trade movement is a supply side movement advocating on behalf of rural workers. They have no experience partnering with large companies, whom they view with mild distrust, only persuading companies to buy Fair Trade and selling Fair Trade commodities. In April 2000, Starbucks signed an agreement with TransFair to buy Fair Trade-certified coffee that met its quality standards up to amount that met customer demand (Austin Reavis 2002) Although often the quality of the purchased Fair Trade coffee did not meet Starbucks quality standards and therefore was unusable, Starbucks made a wise decision to purchase Fair Trade coffee to be sold through its stores. The Fair Trade movement is a popular movement, especially in urban neighborhoods. Starbucks needs to continue to work with the Fair Trade movement, educating the suppliers of its quality standards so that they can buy more of the Fair Trade coffee. Ultimately Starbucks has a proven track record of being socially responsible. Starbucks, along with Conservation International, created and nourished The Chiapas Project which conserved biologically sensitive land, educated farmers, encouraged organic farming, and promoted shade-grown coffee growing. This project was cost and time intensive, so Starbucks and CI went further to create sourcing guidelines. Guidelines that would affect the entire coffee industry as a whole. Starbucks also dealt well with another movement that threated to undermine the effectiveness of the newly created guidelines. Change comes slow to a behemoth like the coffee industry and Starbucks understands that if it continues to promote social responsibility as a strategic business practice, it will be rewarded by customers and eventually change the coffee industry for the better. References Austin, James , and Cate Reavis. Starbucks and Conservation International. Harvard Business School 9-303-055 (2002): 1-28. Print Hoyt, D. , McMillan, J. (2004). The Global Coffee Trade. Stanford Graduate School of Business, IB-53, 1-54. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://www. probeinternational. org/files/The%20Global%20Coffee%20Trade. pdf Raynolds, Laura. Consumer/Producer links in Fair Trade Coffee Networks. Sociologia Ruralis 42. 4 (2002): 404-424. Print. Starbucks Annual CSR Report 2001. (2002, February 15). 2001 Report Untitled. Retrieved July 25, 2010, from assets. starbucks. com/assets/csr-fy01-ar. pdf TransFair USA | About Us. TransFair USA | Home. N. p. , n. d. Web. 22 July 2010.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Defining Of Corruption In Governments Politics Essay

The Defining Of Corruption In Governments Politics Essay Corruption as a word is derived from the Latin word corruptus meaning to break up. The use of the word emphasizes the destructive effect of corruption on the fabric of society and the situations where agents and public officers break the confidence entrusted in them Nicholls, Daniel, Polaine, Hatchard, (2006). Johnston, (2005) quoting the works of Nye, (1967); Heidenheinmer, (1970); Scott, (1972); Thompson, (1993); Thompson, (1995); Johnston, (1996); Philip, (1997); and Philip, (2002), stated that definitional issues of corruption is a matter of long-running debate and therefore it is always difficult to settle for any specific definition. He states that the decisive role of the state is reflected in most definitions of corruption, and therefore agrees that corruption is conventionally understood, and referred to, as the private wealth seeking behaviour of someone who represents the state and the public authority. It is the misuse of public resources by public officials, for private gains. The working definition used by the World Bank, Transparency International and others is that corruption is the abuse of public power for private benefit (or profit). Another widely used description is that corruption is a transaction between private and public sector actors through which collective goods are illegitimately converted into private-regarding payoffs (Heidenheimer et al. 1989:6). This point is also emphasized by Rose-Ackerman, who says corruption exists at the interface of the public and private sectors (Rose-Ackerman 1978). In Colin Nyes classical definition, corruption is behaviour that deviates from the formal duties of a public role (elective or appointive) because of private-regarding (personal, close family, private clique) wealth or status gains(Nye 1967:416). Samuel Huntington noted that where political opportunities are scarce, corruption occurs as people use wealth to buy power, and where economic opportunities are few, corruption occurs when political power is used to pursue wealth (Huntington 1968). Huntington (1968), Myrdal (1968) and Scott (1969), believes that corruption is most prevalent during the most intense phase of modernization of a country and tends to decline with institutionalization of advanced democracy (see also Pavarala, 1996). It is however argued that this view cannot explain the prevalence of corruption in advanced industrial democracies because there is now increasing evidence of political corruption and systematic influence peddling in the US and UK (Amick, 1976; Drewry, 1977; Pinto-Duschinsky, 1977; Benson, 1978; Ashworth, 1981; Johnston, 1982; Doig, 1984; Etzioni, 1984). For the purpose of this dissertation, corruption will be defined as the use of public office for private gain provided by Rose-Ackerman (1975, 1978), Becker and Stigler (1974), Klitgaard (1988, 1991), Shleifer and Vishny (1993), Myint, U, 2000; Johnson D.T Zimring F.E, 2005) and Transparency International. This in other words, involves the use of official position, rank or status by an office bearer for his personal benefit. 2.3. Forms of Corruption: There are different forms of corruption, Pedersen and Johannsen (2008); classification by typology, Roebuck and Barker (1974); Heidenheimer, (1989); Alemann (1995); Punch (200); Tserndoodov (2001); and Miller (2003). According to Shah, (2008) corruption is not manifested in one single form. Some scholars group corruption as grand corruption, petty corruption, sporadic corruption, systemic corruption or active and passive corruption base on the stages and magnitude of the malaise, while some like Robinson (2004 p.3) categorized corruption into three main forms: incidental (individual), institutional (for example, the police service) and systemic (societal). However, irrespective of the classification or level of the phenomenon, Vargas-Hernandez (2009), like many other scholars, believe that corruption can be in form of any of the following: bribery, collusion, embezzlement of public funds and theft, fraud, extortion, abuse of discretion, favouritism, clientelism, nepotism, and others. This can be presented in a pictorial form as shown in figure (1) below. Bribery Cronyism Embezzlement Extortion Forms of Corruption Nepotism Conflict of Interest Favouritism Fraud Figure 1. Forms of Corruption In various forms listed in figure (1) above, corrupt activities such as fraud and embezzlement can be undertaken by an official alone and without involvement of a second party. While others such as bribery, extortion and influence peddling involve two parties. There must be a giver and taker in a corrupt deal. The two party type of corruption can arise under a variety of circumstances either in public or private official function. 2.3.1 Bribery: Bribery is defined as the payment for a corrupt act (Zimring Johnson, 2005). A bribery corrupt act is always perpetuated by two or more individuals. Bribery requires collusion between a private citizen and a public employee (Morris, 1991). Albrecht, Albrecht, Albrecht Zimbelman (2009) says bribery involves the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of anything of value to influence and official act. According to Myint, (2000), bribes as one of several two party corrupt act offence, involves amongst others, government contracts to determine who gets what contract and the terms of the contract; government benefits like subsidies for importation, permits for explorations and purchase of privatized government corporations; reduction in taxable fees like import duties, custom duties, utility fees, electricity fees and income taxes for both business and private individuals, thus reducing government revenue (See also Rose-Ackerman 2005). It is also argued that bribery c an speed up the wheels of bureaucracy more smoothly and speedily (Myint, 2000); as well as influence the outcome of a legal and regulatory process. A legal definition can be found in (Nicholls, Daniel, Polaine Hatchard, 2006 p. 18). While some theorists like Leff (1964), Leys (1965), Huntington (1968) and Mendez Sepulveda (2006), see bribery under the greasing the wheels hypothesis as payment that is beneficial in alleviating the distortions caused by ill-functioning institutions and thus reducing cost associated with queues (Lui, 1985) (see also Rose-Ackerman 2005, pp. 15-16), it has been established that bribery constitute not only a threat to some countries, but a threat to the future of global security. Osborne (1997) argues that bribery undermines governments by reducing income from taxes, duties, and fees, while increasing the cost of service delivery. He posited that bribery destroys competition and thus companies that bribe their way to a contract or waiver for exploration, loads their prices to cover for the bribes. This creates a spiralling effect that distorts government policies as a result of the personal gain to be derived, subvert company cultures, destabilizes society due to resource diversion, low productivity and making controls ineffective and invariably constituting a threat to global security as a result of drug trafficking, organised crime and terrorism. The most widely quoted bribery statistic is the World Banks worldwide estimate of $1 trillion per year with the total cost of corruption estimated at more than 5% of global GDP (US $2.6 trillion), Cleveland, Favo, Frecka Owens (2010) and the economic effects and ethicality of bribery have been discussed by literally hundreds of sources including Dalton (2006), Gray and Kaufmann (1988), Nichols (1999), and Shaw (2000). 2.3.2. Fraud: Another common corrupt practice is fraud. Fraud is an act of misrepresentation or deception by way of charging for goods or services that was never delivered, changing the specifications or timing on goods and services and their expiration dates, and concealment of funds paid as fees or custom duties. Customs fraud for instance can be the under or over valuation of the value of goods or misclassification and underpayment of taxes. Fraud is the use of misleading information to induce someone to turn over the property voluntarily. According to Albrecht et al (2009 p 7), fraud is a generic term, and embraces all multifarious means which human ingenuity can devise, which are resorted to by one individual, to get an advantage over another by false representationincludes surprise, trickery, cunning and unfair ways by which another is cheated. Fraud is mostly expressed in the form of the Fraud Triangle depicting the three elements of pressure, opportunity and rationalization ( Albrecht, Wernz Williams, 1995). In the public sector therefore, bureaucrats and their private collaborators tend to defraud the public by way of contract inflation, white elephant projects, and poor quality service delivery. In the private sector, fraud is classified variously as employee fraud, vendor fraud, customer fraud, management fraud, investment scams and others (Albrecht et al, 2009). However, the focus of this research is on public sector fraud. 2.3.3. Embezzlement and Theft: These are the form of corruption that is characterized by the taking or conversion of funds, assets or other valuables for private gain. These forms of corruption involve the abuse of public trust on the asset entrusted to the individual. According to Green (2002 p. 99), embezzlement is a crime of specific intent in which a person fraudulently misappropriates or misapplies something that has been legally entrusted to that person but which he or she does not own, thereby usurping the legal owners control For instance, an official can collide with a contractor who is engaged to perform some service and embezzle some of the fund meant for the contract and encourage the contractor to provide a substandard service to be able to recoup the original cost of the contract. Embezzlement therefore is the misappropriation of funds legally entrusted to an official in their formal position as an agent, guardian or trustee. According to Albrecht et al, (2009) embezzle ment is a common type of occupational fraud in both private and public sectors. They posit that employees (or officials) can steal cash, supplies and other assets or establish dummy companies or vendors to pay for goods and services that are not actually delivered. It is however argued (Green, 2002) that determining exactly what constitute embezzlement is sometimes difficult due to legal interpretations of the difference between embezzlement and offense of criminal conversion. 2.3.4. Conflict of Interest: Conflict of interest occurs when an employee (public official) has an undisclosed economic or personal interest in a transaction that will be undertaken by his/her organization. According to Albrecht et al, (2009), conflict of interest involves the exertion of influence by the employee at the detriment of the organization for personal gain or to benefit a friend or relative even though he/she may not received a financial benefit from the act. The conundrum to the conflict of interest is a situation where a public official may have to decline engaging competent and qualified person/organization for the supply of goods or services simple because he/she has a vested economic interest in the supplying organization. However, Albrecht et al, posits that to be classified as a conflict of interest, scheme, the officials interest in the transaction must be undisclosed, and thus the organization is not aware of his/her divided loyalty. 2.3.5. Cronyism: It refers to favorable treatment of friends and associates in the distribution of resources and positions without regard to their objective qualifications and professionalism. 2.3.6. Favoritism: Generally, favouritism, nepotism and clientelism involve abuses of discretion. Such abuses, however, are governed not by the self-interest of an official but the interests of someone linked to him or her through membership of a family, political party, tribe, religious or other group. If an individual bribes an official to hire him or her, the official acts in self-interest. If a corrupt official hires a relative, he or she acts in exchange for the less tangible benefit of advancing the interests of family or the specific relative involved (nepotism). The favouring of, or discriminating against, individuals can be based on a wide range of group characteristics: race, religion, geographical factors, political or other affiliation, as well as personal or organizational relationships, such as friendship or membership of clubs or associations. Favoritism takes place when one favors or prefers acquaintances, friends and family over strangers. It becomes corruption when public (and private sector) officials unfairly distribute positions and resources to colleagues. 2.3.7. Nepotism: Nepotism is used to indicate a form of favoritism that involves family relationships. It describes situations in which a person exploits his or her power and authority to procure jobs or other favors for relatives 2.3.8. Extortion: It is the illegal demand or receipt of property or money through the use of force or threat. According to Morris (1991), extortion in contrast to bribery, is a is a situation where the public official influences the behavior of a citizen through the use of negative sanctions as a threat further to abuse authority to induce cooperation. This is also widely referred to as graft. 2.4. Historical Context of corruption in Nigeria and Britain 2.4.1. Nigeria A comparative perspective on corruption provides insight about the role of this peculiar form of crime in various cultures and stages of development (Johnson D.T. Zimring F.E, 2007). The global perception of Nigeria on corruption should therefore be seen in its proper historical context by undertaking a comparative review of the historical evolution of the country and the colonial legacy (Olaleye-Oruene, 2007). Olaleye-Oruene argues that an examination of the Nigerian traditional business ethos prior to contact with Europeans, especially the British, indicates that corruption is not a cultural norm of the Nigerian people pre-colonial. In the Nigerian culture, an inducement by one party for the purpose of gaining an advantage over a competitor would be paramount to an insult and indeed an effrontery to the party awarding the contract. However, there is little documentation on African and Nigerian commercial and administrative transactions before the advent of colonialism to support t his believe. It is therefore on this note that the considered base for any empirical write-up on corruption in Nigeria can only be done from the colonial era. In the 1700 1800s, corruption especially political corruption (Willis 2002, p.151) was seen as a major problem in Britain only partly addressed by electoral reforms in the 19th century and thus during the Balkanization of the African continent that took place in Berlin in 1884-1885, the British which took control of the Northern and Southern Nigeria, imported its legal system, education and economic culture (Olaleye-Oruene, 2007). According to Olaleye-Oruene, European values endorses corruption in view of the commonality and political and corporate corruption found in many countries both eastern and western, with Germany, Britain, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands in the West and therefore the sub-culture of corruption is seen as the acceptable face of capitalism and any form of commercial transactions with the West, notably with multinationals at the time. Foreign-sponsored bribery tends to be held by many observers in developing countries as the most significant contribut ing factor to corruption (Andvig Fjeldstad, 2000). To many commentators like Bloom, (2010) Western companies constitute the main culprits of the corruption syndrome in most developing countries. Quoting Transparency International, he said that the most corrupt industries are arms, construction and oil, and many western companies are helping to line peoples pockets illegally by selling wrong equipment, and dams and roads are built in the wrong place for no better reason other than the politicians can get their kick backs. See also Tanzi, Davoodi, (1997); Hunt and Laszlo, (2005); and Svensson, (2003). This is the situation Nigeria found itself when the country was amalgamated between the south and the north in 1914. In attempting to tackle the menace of the scourge as been treated in Britain in the earlier 18th century, the then British Colonial Administration promulgated the Nigerian Criminal Code in 1916, Ch. XII, with sections 98 and 116 dealing with corruption. The Code made it an offence corruptly to give or receive any gift or other advantage as an inducement to influence the conduct of any . . . officer or servant of any public body as defined in the code. It is punishable with a maximum of 14 years imprisonment and/or fine (Olaleye-Oruene, T. 2007, p.232). However, fitting as the buck shifting may be, the Nigerian perpetrators of corruption or pen-robbers (as they are euphemistically known) have superseded the Europeans in the art of corruption by making it the lifestyle of the body politic. Corruption is no longer confined to government contracts where the perpetrators share the loot of the graft, but percolates to every nook and cranny of the civil service and local government, political hierarchy, both civil and military, and even the church. It is widely noted that the judiciary is tainted by trials settled with bribes . . . universities are tarnished by the trade in diplomas (also bribery as means of gaining entry into universities) . . . the nobility has been mocked by the sale of chieftaincy titles . . . In other words, the majority of public officials are expected to be bribed for performing the duty which constitutes the terms of contract of their employment. For instance, messengers are regarded as powerful because they contr ol the movement of files and could bury the files if anyone fails to bribe them (Olaleye-Oruene, 2007 p.234). According to BBCs Caroline Duffield in Lagos, extortion of civilians and bribery of police is a fact of life in Nigeria often taking place in public and in broad daylight (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11001624) and the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu while speaking with the US Congress Financial Services Committee in May 2009, state that Nigeria have lost about $440 billion to corruption since independence in 1960. The question therefore is where did Nigeria get it wrong? Can the country continue to blame the British Colonialist considering that Britain has shed off its corruption tag of the 19th century? Several reasons have been adduced for this state of affairs such as prolonged military dictatorship; lack of political will to tackle corruption; lack of national plan; and the cultural tolerance of corruption and corrupt leadership and the absence of enforcement of the law against corruption. Corruption in public life in Nigeria manifested itself in the 1950s to 1960s with the first penal inquiry on the African Continental Bank (ACB) and Nnamdi Azikiwe affairs with a Justice Strafford Forster-Sutton commission in 1957; the Justice G.B. Coker Commission in 1962 to look into the activities of the then Western region government led by Chief Awolowo and the National Investment and Property company. However, it is widely believed that the malaise started to become a public way of life during the military regimes of General Gown, (Ministry of Defence cement importation scandal), General Obasanjo, (Missing N2.8 Billion from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) and the subsequent pr omulgation of Decree No.11 of 1976 (Public officers Protection Against False Accusation) seen as the arming of corrupt government officials with immunity and a carte blanche to be above the law (Nwaobi, G.C. 2004). From the Military administration of Gen. Obasanjo in 1976 to President Obasanjo in 1999, there have been many looting of the Nigerian Commonwealth by its leaders and their cronies and such funds deposited in foreign bank accounts that may or may not ever be recovered again. The corruption activities of the Shagari civilian regime and the dictatorial military regimes of Buhari, Babangida, Abacha and even Abdulsalam are well documented in Nigeria (Nwaobi, 2004). The subject of this dissertation will not permit a detail review of the corruption cases in these regimes; however, a table highlighting some of the looted funds is attached as appendix 1. 2.4.2. Great Britain. Concern about corruption is as old as the history of government. In 350 BCE, Aristotle suggested in The Politics, To protect the treasury from being defrauded, let all money be issued openly in front of the whole city, and let copies of the accounts be deposited in various wards. The UK has widely been seen as the model of the non-corrupt industrial democracy (Adonis, 1997). However, a look into the UK history in the last few centuries will portray a society once rife with all forms of corruption. Willis (2002, p.151) quoting Lever 1971 and Denning 1981, stated that the court of King James I of England was once described in the following terms: this is a tale of extravagance, waste, corruption and vice unprecedented sums of money were squandered Titles and government offices were bought and sold. Through Monopolies, tax-farming and appropriation of public land for private purposes the entire national economy was fleeced by parasitic rulers and their cronies Also quoting Williams (1960), Willis said that corruption was the major avenue of securing election to parliament, forming government and staying in government. Therefore buying a seat in parliament out of your own resources was almost the only mode by which parliament was accessible with honour to those who had no family connection or local patron. The Anti-Bribery Act (Last Determination Act 1729, 2 Geo II c 24) called an Act for the more effectual preventing bribery and corruption in election of members to serve in Parliament; The Place Act 1742 (15 Geo II c 22); and Burkes Place Act 1782 (22 Geo III c 45) were some of the early measures taken between the century 1729 to 1832 to curb bribery and corruption in the British political and administrative system. In Britain, the practice of corruption was so rampant in the late 19th century as to necessitate the enactment of a private members bill, the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889, in order to implement the recommendation made in 1888 in an interim report by the Royal Commission which investigated various malpractices by the Metropolitan Board of Works. In the decade either side of the First World War a succession of corruption scandals seriously clouded the government of Prime Minister David Lloyd George (Adonis, 1997) In the last half century however, Britain invariably scores highly in indices on integrity in public life despite evidence of underlying and persistent corruption (Doig, 1984, 1995, 1996) as quoted in Doig, (2004). Evidence of bribery and the misuse of public office for partisan or personal benefit has invariably been treated as episodic and personalized. When identified, such as the Poulson scandal of the 1970s; the cash -for- question scandals in the House of Commons in the 1990s; the corruption at the local government council levels like the Lambeth borough council in 1993 and the recent Expenses scandals involving MPs in 2009, cases have been subject to investigations that have dealt with the offenders while confirming the general integrity of institutions and the robustness of the procedures involved in dealing with the offences. At the same time, British political and administrative life has pragmatically so ordered its affairs that the need for corruption has been widely minim ized. Thus members of the executive and senior civil servants are unlikely even to be offered, let alone accept, bribes from government contractors while in office and from the latter half of the nineteenth, into the early twentieth century, political and administrative leaderships were able to introduce measures that precluded membership of Parliament as a means of personal profit in return for government support; required verbal disclosure of financial interests; curbed payments for honours; disengaged MPs and ministers from the spoils and patronage systems that dominated traditional politics; introduced constraints on civil servants moving to the private sector; outlawed voter bribery, and introduced anticorruption legislation for both public and private sectors (Doig, 2003). While it should be remembered that corruption and misconduct did not necessarily disappear during this period, allegations invariably provoked some form of official inquiry that was often used as a vehicle f or some general statement of the principles of conduct. It is therefore not surprising that Britain is rated highly above Nigeria in the Transparency Internationals corruption perception index. 2.5. Theoretical Empirical Works on Corruption: Corruption generally has attracted a great deal of attention in both academic and non-academic circles as reflected through an increased number of studies devoted to the topics. There is a growing body of theoretical and empirical studies within the economics literature examining the factors contributing to corruption and corruptibility within the public service. This will be looked into as below: 2.5.1. Theories on Corruption: Existing theories fail to differentiate various forms of corruption. Morris, (1991 p. 10), states that most theoretical arguments posit a major causal agent as producing corruption; non really specifies what type of corruption may result or what specific factors may relate to different corrupt acts This could be as a result of the difficult nature of defining what really constitute corruption. According to deGraaf (2007), most definitions of corruption are focused on social constructivism and thus it is based on what is considered as corruption at a certain place and at a particular time. In his studies of corruption in the Western countries, he theorized six causes of corruption which will also be considered below: Principal Agent Theory: One of the standard frameworks used in the theoretical analysis of corruption is the principal-agent model. A principal can be a person or an organization, in the case of this research, a government. The model holds that on behalf of the principal, the agent interacts with a client and thus may commit corruption if in his analysis, the benefits outweighs the costs. Using this model researchers like (Bardhan, 1997; Klitgaard, 1988; Rose-Ackerman, 1978) have investigated the trade-offs between the expected costs and benefits of corrupt acts. The reasons for the considered economic benefit may include such as lower wages (Becker and Stigler, 1974; Chand and Moene, 1999; Mookherjee and Png, 1995), social welfare (Becker and Stigler, 1974; Khalil and Lawarree, 1995; Mookherjee and Png, 1995) and greed (de Graaf, 2007). The Principal-Agent theory considers corruption at the micro-model and the agent makes his/her decisions based on a benefit versus costs and thus i f the agent chooses not to be corrupt, they receive a payoff that is the sum of their regular pay plus the moral satisfaction of not being a corrupt. According to Klitgaard as quoted by Chan (2000), the cost depends on his/her own ethical, cultural and religious standards; influence of peers and colleagues; the size and magnitude of the bribe and responsibilities to the principal. Economic Rent and corruption equation: All economic agents are maximizing their individual utility that is personal welfare (wealth). Therefore, selfish interests of economic agents are the basic motive for economic transactions between them. A common thread in these models is that the government is led by a benevolent dictator (the principal), who aims to motivate government officials (agents) to act with integrity in the use of public resources (see Banfield 1975; Becker 1968, 1983; Becker and Stigler 1974; Klitgaard 1988, 1997; Rose-Ackerman 1975, 1978). Resources are allocated to the activities that provide the greatest returns on investment (an allocation decision). Rent by economic definition is a factor of income above the competitive returns (opportunity costs) of the factor and thus because rent appropriations will maximize individual utility (welfare), economic agents are engaged in the rent-seeking process, the process of creation and distribution (appropriation) of rent. Theoretically speaking, rent can be created in a few distinctive ways, but in reality the most significant rent generator is government intervention through the violation of free market operations by way of regulations. In his classical Corruption Equation, Kiltgaard, (1998) postulates that: Corruption Equation C=R+D A Where C= Corruption, R= Economic Rent D= Discretionary powers A= Accountability. In the equation, Kiltgaard posits that Corruption (C) will exist if more opportunities for Economic Rent ( R) exist in a country and that the greater the discretionary powers (D) granted to administrators (bureaucrats, leaders, politicians etc) the more the chances of corruption. However, the equation states that the more administrators are held Accountable (A) for their actions, the less will be corruption. This is designated by the minus sign in front of A. Stated differently, the equation tells us that a fertile ground for growth of a thoroughly corrupt system will emerge in a country if it satisfies the following three conditions: It has a large number of laws, rules, regulations, and administrative orders to restrict business and economic activities and thereby creates huge opportunities for generating economic rent, and especially if these restrictive measures are complex and opaque and applied in a selective, secretive, inconsistent and non-transparent way; Administrators are granted large discretionary powers with respect to interpreting rules, are given a lot of freedom to decide on how rules are to be applied, to whom and in what manner they are to be applied, are vested with powers to amend, alter, and rescind the rules, and even to supplement the rules by invoking new restrictive administrative measures and procedures; and There are no effective mechanisms and institutional arrangements in the country to hold administrators accountable for their actions. The Public/Rational Choice Theory: Like most white-collar crimes, corruption has been seen as a crime of rational choice where the causal chain is that of an individual making a rational decision that leads to a predetermined outcome (de Graaf, 2007). According to de Graaf, the individual corrupt official tries to maximize his utility by rationally calculating when to become corrupt if its expected advantages outweigh its expected disadvantages (a combination of possible penalty and the chance of being caught). Rose-Ackeman (1978), posits that public officials are corrupt simply because they perceive that the potential benefits of corruption exceeds that potential costs. See also Klitgaard, (1988), Gambetta, 1993). This theory is supported by works of Hirschi and Gottfredson (1987) Shover and Hochstetler (2006), and Simpson (2009) in their rational choice theories on white-collar crimes. The rational choice theory, unlike others concentrates on a specific situation of an agent who ca lculates the pros and cons ignoring the larger social context that breeds corruption. Its focus on the officials calculation of the ensuing trade-off as a motivation leaves a gapping question of why some officials especially in the Western countries are not corrupt. The Bad Apple (Anomie) Theory: This theory also looks at the level of an individual for the causal effect of corruption. Most studies on

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Southwest Airlines Culture, Mission and Values

Southwest Airlines Culture, Mission and Values The most impressive thing I find about Southwest Airlines (SWA) is the history of the company. I really admire how Herb Kelleher fought to create SWA, even when everything and everyone was against him, and how his warrior spirit has shaped the organization ´s culture and performance. Also it is very impressive to me how the company can be profitable with a low cost strategy. It is well known that airlines companies do not make any gain even with high ticket prices so it is really amazing to me how SWA is successful in this point. Finally I am really impressed with its human resources management and the spirit of the company. I found really interesting that a customer driven business dedicated to sales has one of its core principles stating Employees come first and customers come second. I think it is a really smart thought to believe that happy employees will keep customers happy. What grade would you give Southwest management for the job it has done in crafting the companys strategy? What is it that you like or dislike about the strategy? Does Southwest have a winning strategy? In my opinion, management did a great job crafting the strategy of the company. At the beginning, Herb Kelleher saw a market opportunity with the flight triangle and fought hard to sustain the company. With his performance and behavior indirectly he was setting the pillars of Southwest. Since the beginning Herb established the mission and vision of Southwest and objectives pointing out the path to follow. Also Herb hired very talented executives and managers with much experience in the sector. The only thing that I do not like about the SWA strategy is that I think is limited on growth. The planes purchased, the airports working at and some in-flight services such as not offering meals limit the possibility of expanding internationally. According to the book Essentials of Strategic Management (Chapter 1) to know if a company winning strategy, 3 questions can be used: Does the strategy fit the companys situation? Has the strategy yielded a sustainable competitive advantage? Has the strategy produced good financial performance? In my opinion, SWA has excellent performance in each of the questions. The strategy fit competitive conditions in the industry (external) and has important resources and capabilities. Also the cost reductions carried out by the company confers a competitive advantage over competitors and the financial performance is excellent. What are the key policies, procedures, operating practices, and core values underlying Southwests efforts to implement and execute its low-cost/no frills strategy? They key policies that I find on Southwest are: Using only one type of airplane: as it is explained in the case, using only Boeing 737 allowed them to minimize to minimize the size of spare parts inventories, simplify the training of maintenance and repair personnel, improve the proficiency and speed with which maintenance routines could be done, and simplify the task of scheduling planes for particular flights  [1]  . Introduction of ticketless travel: this element helped SWA to reduce cost related to travel agents and emission of paper tickets  [2]  . Deemphasizing of congested airports, helping them to produce better-than-average on-time performance and reduce fuel cost  [3]  . Implementation of point-to-point scheduling of flights, which is more cost-efficient than the hub-and-spoke systems implemented by competitor airlines  [4]  . Use of fuel hedging and derivate contracts to counteract rising prices for crude oil and jet fuel. Empowerment of employees and TQM approach, contributing to fast problem solving and efficiency. The motto employees are first, customers second has generated a strong company culture motivating employees to do their jobs in the best way, achieve goals and objectives more efficiently and thus, creating a direct contribution to the company ´s profitability. What are the key elements of Southwests culture? Is Southwest a strong culture company? Why or why not? What problems do you foresee that Gary Kelly has in sustaining the culture now that Herb Kelleher, the companys spiritual leader, has departed? The culture of Southwest Airlines primarily involves giving importance and emphasis on the overall welfare of its employees, having its operative principle of employees come first and customers come second. Particularly, the key elements of SWA culture are: Fun atmosphere and work environment: promoted through entertaining behaviors in performing their jobs, an ongoing pranks and jokes, and frequent company-sponsored parties and celebrations. High compensation and numerous incentives. Can do attitude: this enables the employees of the company perform their jobs effectively, solve problems efficiently, overcome adversities and celebrate the companys success. Companys culture of not giving up: developed through all the adversities the company had to face Cost-consciousness: seeking to reduce costs in every step of the business. Empowerment of employees: this motivates employees and makes them feel as an important part of the company. In my opinion it is clear that that Southwest Airlines is a strong culture company.   All elements pointed before make employees of SWA feel as part of a big family rather than merely employees of accompany who does not care about them. This feeling make the employees to work hard for the success of the company and they see the company ´s success as professional and personal achievements. Regarding the problems that I can foresee with Gary Kellys promotion, and according to the information given in the case, I cannot foresee real problems on sustaining the culture. Gary has been in the company for enough time to know which ones are the core values of SWA and the key elements of its success. Maybe the only problem I foresee is that Kelleher was very important for the organization and it will take a while to Gary to gain that position but the path that he will walk will be the same as the one walked by his predecessor. This is sustained with the video watched in class. In the video Gary Kelly was presented as a down to earth boss who knows most of his employees, and still follows the ideas established by Kelleher like treating the customers as queens and kings and employees better. What grade would you give Southwest management for the job it has done in implementing and executing the companys strategy? Which of Southwests strategy execution approaches and operating practices do you believe have been most crucial in accounting for the success that Southwest has enjoyed in executing its strategy? Are there any policies, procedures, and operating approaches at Southwest that you disapprove of or that are not working well? According to the book Essentials of Strategic Management (chapter 10) a successful strategy must have 8 components: In my opinion, SWA is successful in most of the eight points: SWA is mainly characterized on recruiting the best and bights people they can find and then retain them with excellent compensation packages, opportunities for rapid advancement and professional growth, and challenging and interesting assignments  [5]  . The success of SWA was to tackle those activities that were critical in its low-cost strategy. The company only operates one type of aircraft, was the first company to introduce ticketless travel or point-to-point scheduling of flights. These are just few examples on how research and marketing departments put their entire effort on finding ways to reduce cost in every step of the service offered. Also the TQM approach is very good implement due to the empowerment of employees at all levels: empowering people to take decisions will make a positive difference every day  [6]  and the improvement of total customer service and satisfaction by hiring personnel who enjoyed interacting with customers and developing marketing tools as frequent-flyer program and rapid reward based on trips flown rather than mileage. SWA has a really strong corporate culture fostered by its executive management level. In SWA managers are expected to spend at least one-third of their time out of the office, walking around the facilities under their supervision, observing firsthand what is going on, listening to employees, and being responsive to their concerns. Also company executives are very approachable and in 1990 formed a Culture Committee. All this things also help to pursue the goal of customer satisfaction. SWA also believed in training and promotions. Approximately 80-90% of SWA supervisory positions were filled internally. Also the salaries are above the industry average. It introduced a profit sharing plan for senior employees and stock option programs. All this contributes significantly on tying rewards to the achievement of performance objectives. For all this reasons I think that SWA management deserves an A for the job done in executing the company ´s strategy. The approaches and operating practices most crucial in accounting for the success that Southwest has enjoyed in executing its strategy has been their cost containment, recruiting process and organization ´s culture. Regarding the policies, procedures, and operating approaches that are not working well I can see that there is a weakness regarding the support systems. Many case analysis of the company point out that Southwest must be required to modify and upgrade a significant portion of its internal software to guarantee that its computer systems will function properly. What weaknesses or problems do you see at Southwest Airlines? The weakness I see in SWA is related to one point of its strategy. The current strategy of only flying to second line airports represents a problem of limited growth and there are still big cities in the USA without SWA services. And this is contradictory with the ideas of Gary C. Kelly. As it is explained in the case, during his tenure as a CEO, Kelly has worked with other top-level Southwest executives to sharpen and fine-tunes SWA ´s strategy in a number of areas and continued expanding the operations (adding both more flights and initiating service to new airports). The current strategy has a space limit that will restrain companys desires of expansion. What recommendations would you make to Gary Kelly? The first recommendation I will make to Gary Kelly is to try to keep going with the company as it is, feeding companys culture and good environment. Also try to keep their low-cost strategy even through bad times. The second suggestion I would make to Gary Kelly will be to modernize its fleet ( I have read that it is a bit old), purchase bigger planes and expand the flights to other main cities in the U.S and expand their business to other countries close to the U.S such as Mexico or Canada.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Glaucoma in the United States Over the Last Ten Years :: Pathology Health Medical Eye Diseases Essays

Glaucoma in the United States Over the Last Ten Years This research paper examines glaucoma over the age of 40 in the United States, in the last 10 years. Knowing the fact that glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States leads us to choose this subject for research. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually steals sight without warning and often without symptoms. Vision loss is caused by damage to the optic nerve. This nerve acts like an electric cable with over a million wires and is responsible for carrying the images we see to the brain. The two main types of glaucoma are open angle glaucoma, or primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), and angle closure glaucoma. Currently, there is no cure for glaucoma. Glaucoma is a chronic disease that must be treated for life. However, much is happening in research that makes us hopeful a cure may be realized in our lifetime. There is exciting work being conducted by scientists all over the world in the areas of genetics, neuroprotection and neuroregeneration. These areas of study deal with the origins and pathology of glaucoma as opposed to managing symptoms. A cure is on the way. Glaucoma over the Age of Forty in the United States The term "glaucoma" encompasses a group of eye diseases, not a single entity. Glaucoma is described broadly in terms of aqueous fluid drainage through the trabecular meshwork, the major outflow pathway. There are two main types: angle closure glaucoma and open angle glaucoma. Open angle glaucoma is far more common in the United States. The American Academy of Ophthalmology defines primary angle closure glaucoma as "An appositional or synechial closure of the anterior chamber angle caused by relative pupillary block in the absence of other causes of angle closure". The American Academy of Ophthalmology defines primary open angle glaucoma as a "Multifactorial optic neuropathy in which there is a characteristic acquired loss of optic nerve fibers". Classifying glaucoma broadly into angle closure glaucoma or open angle glaucoma is helpful from both a diagnostic and pathophysiological perspective. Problem Statement In the United States, approximately 2.2 million people age 40 and older have glaucoma, and of these, as many as 120,000 are blind due to the disease. The number of Americans with glaucoma is estimated to increase to 3.3 million by the year 2020. Each year, there are more than 300,000 new cases of glaucoma and approximately 5,400 people suffer complete blindness.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Critical Response: Jack London :: Biography Biographies Essays

Critical Response: Jack London Jack London, a well known American author, has written a fair share of truly classic works.   The Call of the Wild and White Fang are staples of middle and high school reading requirements.   His other novels, such as The People of the Abyss and Sea Wolf are not as well known, but are still regarded as brilliant pieces of literature by many scholars.   Lesser known are his many volumes of short stories; "To Build a Fire" being the most popular.   I cannot say that I have read even a small percentage of London's works, but from what I have read, I noticed some recurring similarities.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the semester in class, we have learned how authors utilize various elements of writing to make their point more prominent.   For Jack London's earlier works, his Yukon setting and rugged, adventurous characters appear quite frequently.   Such is the case with the three stories I chose to study; "Love of Life," "The League of the Old Men," and "To Build a Fire."   Along with this, I believe that the theme of survival appears in these three, as well as many other stories from London.   I took it upon myself to try and find out why London used survival as his main theme.   To demonstrate this recurring theme, I will give a brief synopsis of the three stories.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "To Build a Fire" is a story about a man who is traveling alone in the frozen Yukon.   He knows that it is not safe to be traveling when it is so cold, but stubbornly keeps moving.   He falls through a crack in the ice, wetting his feet.   In order to stay alive, he must build a fire, warm his feet and move on.   Despite several attempts, the man fails and dies.  Ã‚   Of the fourteen pages within "To Build a Fire," eight of those are devoted to the events of the man trying to make a fire; the other six mainly focus on the setting.   The man's determination to build the fire is evident-a simple annoyance at the beginning leads to a frantic demise at the end.   The plot was as simple as one man's attempt to survive against nature.

The Causes of Aggression :: The Frustration-Aggression Model

Aggression is difficult to define, it is a complex phenomenon, and depending upon the context the term can be made to carry either positive or negative connotations, it can be attacking behavior that may be both self-protective and self-assertive or to the infliction of injury toward oneself or toward others, to the total destruction of others. Is aggression biologically determined or the product of learning and environmental influences? This essay, will consider instinctive theory, the frustration - aggression hypothesis, and social learning theory. It should then be possible to draw a conclusion to see if any or all of the theories discussed are the cause of aggression. Brain disorders, hormonal and chemical imbalances, environmental factors, such as heat, noise, air pollution and overcrowding, although contribute to the causes of aggression will not be discussed during the course of this essay. No universally adopted definition of aggression exists, for the purpose of this discussion; the definition of Gross will be used. Gross defines aggression as: - "The intentional infliction of some form of harm on others" (Gross page 444) Freud proposed that aggression is an instinctive biological urge. According to Freud this instinct, is made up of the libido (pleasure) and "Thanatos" (the death wish) (pain). This basic instinct is present in the Id from birth, at first the aggression is relatively uncontrolled, but with t he development of the Ego and superego it becomes channeled into socially acceptable behavior If these impulses are not released periodically in safe ways, they soon reach dangerous levels capable of producing acts of violence. Sometimes it is released in the form of physical or verbal abuse against another, (where the anger is displaced onto another). Sometimes the aggressive impulse is turned inward and produces self - punishment action, even suicide. The best that can be hoped for, according to Freud, is that aggressive impulses will be "channeled into socially acceptable forms." such as football, sport etc. (Bernstein et al page 715). However, this theory does not explain why some people are aggressive and others are not, and if aggression is dissipated into sport, why is there football violence and violence at other sporting events? Lorenz, like Freud believed that aggressive energy builds up in the individual, and eventually has to be discharged in some way. Lorenz's states that aggression is the "fighting instinct" in man, and that man is naturally aggressive. This instinct developed during the course of evolution because it yielded many benefits, for example, fighting serves to disperse populations over a wide area, ensuring maximum use of resources.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

The Colony of Maryland

The colony of Maryland is a very unique colony in many different ways. The colony was formed in 1634 by two hundred emigrants, mostly Roman Catholics. With the founding of Maryland came the first permanent proprietary government of America, that is, a government by a lord proprietor, who, holding his authority by virtue of a royal charter, nevertheless exercised that authority almost as an independent sovereign. Maryland is surrounded by the three colonies Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware and it surrounds Chesapeake Bay, flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.The climate of colonial Maryland varied; it had four distinct seasons, with relatively hot, humid summers and cool or cold winters. Some of the occupations of Maryland were blacksmiths, weavers, farmers, butchers, wheelwrights, carpenters, and several others. In the year 1639, a representative government was established in Maryland. It was crude in form, but possessed the prolific seeds of a sturdy republicanism. The freemen chose as many representatives as they pleased.So did the proprietor. These, with the governor appointed by the proprietor, and a secretary, composed the government of Maryland. The ethnic groups in the colony were mostly English and Dutchman. There were several social customs in colonial Maryland. For example, family life in Maryland was different from a modern family. Children were employed as apprentices at age 7, and each member of the family has a specific role in the home’s finances and maintenance.Most of the people in Maryland were Catholic, in which made the colony one of the few predominantly Catholic regions among the English colonies in North America. Maryland was also one of the key destinations where the government sent tens of thousands of English convicts punished by sentences of transportation. The colony had no difficulties with the native population, actually it was the opposite. Archihu, chief of the Potomac Indians, welcomed the colonists with open arms in 1634. The natives taught the settlers how to build wigwams and palisade fences for their villages. Inside their villages, the settlers learned how to establish gardens and grow such vegetables as maize, beans, squash, potatoes, and pumpkins — foods which they had never seen in England. The settlers were taught many more things from the Native Americans, but the populations of the Native American tribes decreased significantly due to the settler’s diseases that the natives had no cures for.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Brazil Macroeconomics Essay

The country of choice is Brazil for the following reasons: it is a booming economy, which provides some stark contrast with the stagnation and ever-mentioned phrase ‘double-dip recession’ which now commonly used in the West. Macroeconomics is concerned with the study of aggregate economy, which embodies all nationally relevant economic indicators. The common indicators are the unemployment rate, the rate of inflation, the GDP per capita, economic growth, the economic cycle, and the labor force. Since 2003, Brazil’s economy has been growing steadily. It has been improving its macroeconomic stability despite a small crisis in 2008 which saw its growth rate decline to 2.6%. In 2010 it grew by 7.6% amid renewed confidence from foreign investors. Part of the reason for this is the high interest rates which make it attractive to foreign investors. Note also that this was its highest growth in 25 years, whilst people especially given that many economies were struggling a t the same time. Furthermore, the continuing flows of investment into the manufacturing sector have provided greater backbone to the economy. Note that a commonly cited reason for the economic struggle of the UK for example is its everlasting trading deficit. It does not export enough, it does not manufacture enough. With natural resources such as tin, clay, uranium, platinum, petroleum, cocoa, gold, wood, and hydroelectric power (and much more), Brazil is generally recognized as one of the naturally richest countries on Earth in terms of quantity and probably the richest in terms of variety of resources. The subject being treated here is not a comparative analysis between Brazil, an emerging economy and the declining economies of the West. Comparative analysis will only be used briefly in order to further confirm the great performance of this economy since 2003. In the arena of macroeconomics, it is essential to look at things from a national and international standpoint and therefore the performance of one economy is not only relative to its past performance but also relative to other economies in the world. In the past decade Brazil’s Government has combined fiscal policy has been used at times to stave off excessive inflation and encourage consumption. The reason why this has worked out is that in the long-run, the country has consistently been creating jobs both in the manufacturing and the services sectors, which in unison with fiscal policy have helped keep a lid on inflation in the past ten years. This point of success will be analyzed inn depth given that this country was previously known to have huge inflationary problems prior to the last decade. http://www.bbc.co.uk http://www.indexmundi.com/brazil/economy_profile.html http://www.thomaswhite.com/explore-the-world/brazil.aspx