Foreign investment law and international trade law Coursework

Foreign investment law and international trade law - Coursework Example This research will begin with the statement that study of Foreign Investment and International Trade Laws requires a thorough analysis of the global trade scenario that involves cross-border trades in goods and services, capital mobility, expropriation of property rights in host countries, labor standards and mobility, International monetary stability, and economic development. The positive effects of International Trade and foreign investment on economic growth as first pointed out by Smith are becoming more delicate due to lack of or inefficient conflict resolution mechanism at International forum and poor adaptability and assimilation of International legal principles in legal frameworks of host countries. Today, with the increasing globalization of world economy, International trade and foreign direct investment have grown dramatically. This has made Foreign investment law and International trade law more important as the subject of study and as a viable solution to counter the n egative impacts of free trade regime. A successful implementation of International trade laws generally depends upon the Foreign Investment Laws of different countries, as in some instances different countries frame their foreign investment laws in such a way that is against the principle of International Trade Laws. Though the purpose of such protectionist foreign investment laws is often to protect local trade, it results in a closed economy and deprives countries of opportunities of better growth prospects.... Until very recently, most scholars have opined that FDI is likely to be directed to sectors characterized by one or more of three features: (i) capital and/or knowledge intensity, (ii) product differentiation and (iii) th provision of services which are supportive of othr kinds of FDI, are information intensive, or are "branded" in some way or anothr. For much of th post-war period, th growth of FDI has been concentrated in thse sectors - notably oil, autos, electronics nd electrical equipment, office machinery, pharmaceuticals, packaged foods, banking nd finance, business consultancies nd trade-related services; nd, indeed, until th late 1999s, th share of th global sales of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in thse sectors accounted for by thir foreign affiliates continued to rise. It is, thus, understandable that countries which display dynamic comparative advantage in those activities are those which have recorded th largest rise in their inbound FDI (Kuemmerle, 2006). 2.2 Significance of trade nd investment to world economic growth Over the past 5 years, there have been several significant changes in th geographical distribution of FDI, both within developed nd developing countries, nd between them. It is worth noting that there are some leading developed nd developing economies which did not receive as much FDI as one might have expected. Japan is the most obvious example; as Porter (2000), it accounted for only 0.6% inflows into th developed countries in 1975-80 and 1.0% in 2000-2004. Of th larger European countries, Italy received only one-quarter th share of France in both periods, while some of th more populated newly industrial countries of Asia like Korea, Taiwan nd th Philippines, attracted only modest (though increasing) amounts of new

Experiment to find the concentration of the ethanedioic acid Essay Example for Free

Experiment to find the concentration of the ethanedioic acid Essay I can use a gas collection to find the overall concentration of the acid mixture, and as I already have the concentration of H2C2O4 , I can simply minus that from the total concentration to get the concentration of the H2SO4. Both strong and weak acids will react with a metal, therefore I will react the acid mixture with magnesium metal. Quantities of chemicals to use As I have been told that the concentrations are approximately 0. 1 mol dm-3 H2C2O4 and 0. 2 mol dm-3 H2SO4, I can say that the total concentration is approximately 0. 1+0. 2=0. 3 mol dm-3. I am going to use 25cm3 of the acid mixture, therefore total moles of acid mixture is 0. 3 x 0. 025 = 0. 0075 moles H2SO4 + Mg == MgSO4 + H2 and H2C2O4 + Mg == MgC2O4 + H2 I need these in one equation so I can get the molar ratios, therefore I formed this ionic equation. 4H+ + 2Mg == 2Mg2+ + 2H2 The molar ratio between the acid mixture hydrogen is 4:2(2:1), therefore (0. 0075/2)x24000=90cm3, this is less than 250cm3, so will fit into the measuring cylinder. I must ensure the Magnesium is in excess. So if I use approximately 0. 1grams, moles of Mg = 0. 1/24. 3=0.0042moles but 1:2 ratio so multiply by 2 to get 0. 0084moles, therefore there is more moles Mg than acid so it is in excess. Ethanedioic acid is a highly poisonous carboxylic acid. It is corrosive and may cause burns. If it comes to contact with skin rinse with plenty of water immediately. Wear a lab coat to prevent exposure to skin. Specimen calculation If 22cm3 of KMnO4 was needed for the redox titration, then 0. 022 x 0. 05= 1. 110-3 moles of KMnO4 . Using 5:2 ratio of 5C2O42- 2MnO4- moles of H2C2O4 is (1. 110-3 /2) x5=2. 7510-3 moles, and finally to get concentration 2.7510-3 /0. 025=0. 11 mol dm-3. Which is almost 0. 1mol dm-3 as suggested the concentration was approximately. The above was all from experiment 1, and now to get the concentration of the Sulphuric acid was experiment 2. If the volume of gas collected was 80cm3, then moles of Hydrogen would be (80/1000)/24=0. 0033moles, however 4:2 ratio with acid so multiply by 2 to get 0. 0066moles, and as I used 25cm3 acid, concentration is 0. 0066/(25/1000)=0. 27mol dm-3. To get the H2SO4 concentration minus the H2C2O4 concentration (0. 11), 0. 27-0. 11=0. 16mol dm-3, this is close to 0. 20mol dm-3

To Kill A Mockingbird - Scouts Maturity :: To Kill a Mockingbird Essays

As people grow in life, they mature and change. In the novel , To Kill a Mockingbird ,by Harper Lee, Scout, the main character, matures as the book continues. Slowly but surely, Scout learns to control her explosive temper, to refrain from fistfights, and to respect Calpurnia, their maid, and to really learn her value to the family. Scout simply changes because she matures, and she also changes because Atticus, her father, asks her to. In the early chapters of the book, Scout picks fights at the slightest provocation. One example of this is when Scout beats up Walter Cunningham, one of her classmates, for â€Å"not having his lunch†, which isn’t a very good reason at all. â€Å"Catching Walter Cunningham in the schoolyard gave me some pleasure, but when I was rubbing his nose in the dirt Jem came by and told me to stop. ‘You’re bigger’n he is,’ he said †¦ ‘He made me start off on the wrong foot.’ †¦ ‘Let him go Scout. Why?’ ‘He didn’t have any lunch,’ I said, and explained my involvement in Walter’s dietary affairs† (27). Scout is also very mischievous and has a devious mentality towards Calpurnia. She describes Calpurnia as a tyrannical presence, and she does everything she can to get her out of the house. One time Scout does this is when Walter comes over to her house to eat dinner. Scout criticizes Walt er for drowning his food in molasses, and Calpurnia scolds Scout. After Walter leaves, Scout asks Atticus to fire Calpurnia, which of course he doesn’t do. â€Å"Jem said suddenly grinned at him. ‘Come on home to dinner with us, Walter,’ he said. †¦ Walter stood where he was, biting his lip. Jem and I gave up, and we were nearly to the Radley Place when Walter called, ‘Hey, I’m comin’!’ While Walter piled food on his plate, he and Atticus talked together like to men, to the wonderment of Jem and me. Atticus was expounding on farm problems when Walter interrupted to ask if there was any molasses in the house†¦ Walter poured syrup on his vegetables and meat with a generous hand. He would probably have poured it into his milk glass had I not asked what the sam hill he was doing†¦ It was then that Calpurnia quested my presence in the kitchen†¦ She was furious, and when she was furious Calpurnia’s grammar became erratic†¦ â€Å"There’s some folks who don’t eat like us,† she whispered fiercely†¦ Jem and Walter returned to school ahead of me: staying behind to advise Atticus of Calpurnia’s iniquities was worth a solitary sprint past the Radley Place.

Hcs 320 Communication

Communication Opinion Paper Karen Candido-Johnson HCS320 March 18, 2013 Lynn Bell Communication Opinion Paper Communication is expression of meaning through verbal and non-verbal means. It is the basis for relaying all information to another person or persons. We use it every day to tell people how we feel, to inform them of a situation or just to say hi. Effective communication is essential to getting your ideas and thoughts across accurately and understood. Healthcare communication differs since the information is more sensitive than communication, say, between friends.The patient has to be able to effectively give their concerns over to a stranger for the most part and it is the Dr. ’s job to understand that information given. Culture can also play a role too as different ideas about what communication is varies. The basic elements of communication which are listening, body language, speaking, open ended questions, summarizing, emotions and follow up (Hewitt,2009). For effe ctive communication to occur shared understanding must happen (Cheesbro, O’Connor & Rios, 2010) You can have all the basics of communication but unless both parties understand each other then it is just baseless information.The basic elements of effective communication differ from the basic rules of health care because there is often not shared understanding. A provider will receive the information from the patient regarding symptoms and make an informed decision. The Dr. will then try to explain to the patient the problem but it is hard to do so when someone does not have the medical background to understand what the situation is. This makes it difficult for effective communication to occur.In order to have the best chance at effective communication the provider has to encourage the patient to give as much information as possible. Patients may have a difficult time getting across to their Dr. what they are feeling or what is going on. It is then the providers responsibility to coax the patient into relaying the information in a way that they can understand. They can do this by being empathetic with the patient and showing kindness. By being open and friendly they can put the patient at ease and this would make it easier for them to talk about difficult issues they are facing.As McDonald (2006) said engage the patient and move beyond them feeling like an intruder and develop a relationship and report with the patient. Putsch (1985) said communication in health care is a complex issue. Language and cultural barriers complicate the situation. The primary problem is language. This can be fixed with interpreters to some extent, but you still have the basic cultural issues to go through. What one culture might see as not a problem, say loose bowels, could actually be an outlying cause of another more serious issue.There are also cultures where seeing a Dr. is not the way to fix an illness and they rely on homeopathic remedies rather than western medicine. Th is becomes problematic when a Dr. is seeing the patient after all else has failed and they don’t know what caused the symptoms, whether it was the cure or the actual illness. Dr. ’s and nurses have to be careful what they ask and how to speak to a patient because it might cause alarm or be considered rudeness when asked.Most hospitals and health centers now have cultural training to help providers navigate the minefield of problems associated with this. Everyone has some type of communication in their daily lives. It is effortless to most people. Something we do without thinking. In healthcare though, we have to be extra vigilant to make sure the lines of communication stay open. Without effective communication a patient is not able to tell their provider what is wrong and there for the provider will not be able to make a good diagnosis and help cure the patient.References: Cheesebro, T. , O'Connor, L. , ; Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the Workplace  . Pearson Ed ucation Hewitt, D. (2009,  December). Basics of Effective Communication. Live Strong   McDonald, D. D. (2006). Health care communication. New York, United States, New York: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/189457409? accountid=35812 Putsch MD, R. W. (1985,  December). Cross-cultural Communication The Special Case of Interpreters in Health Care. Journal Of American Medical Association,  254(23).

Human Sexuality Essay

In a review of research on nonexclusive marital relationships, it was noted that swinging had received considerable attention in the 1970s and reported that an estimated 2 percent of the American population had participated. Most studies of active swingers emphasized overcoming initial anxieties and difficulties coping with strains to maintain the lifestyle successfully, but Denfeld also studied couples who had dropped out of swinging and entered counseling (1974). â€Å"The problems such as jealousy, guilt, emotional attachments, boredom and perceived threats to the marriage were common reasons for dropping out of swinging. Unfortunately, there has been no research on identifying the factors that differentiate couples who are satisfied with swinging form those who are not† (Rouse, 2002). The people we may call swingers are somewhat younger on the average than the mainstreamers, and many of them have brothers and sisters or parents who are mainstreamers. In due course, some of them will become mainstreamers, because it is hard to be a swinger when one gets older. However, some remain swingers longer than others, and many swingers later take another road than the mainstreamer one (Hannerz, 1969). Swingers are usually somewhere between the late teens and the middle thirties in age. This means that many of them have not yet married and started families on their own, so that familial obligations would naturally be less demanding in terms of time, money and emotional investments. But there are many swingers who are married and have children and who even so are not family-oriented. Of course, married men are more able to take part in the swinger life than are married women, as they can leave children and household affairs more readily in the hands of their spouses. However, some women manage to continue as swingers by leaving young children with the grandparents. Also, quite a few marriages are broken as one or both spouses prefer to continue the swinger’s life (Hannerz, 1969). Swingers typically spend relatively little of their free time just sitting around at home alone or with the family. Weekday nights and particularly weekends are often spent going visiting, whether one travels alone or in the company of a few friends. The spontaneous gatherings are not complete without gin, whiskey or beer and the talk involves joking, banter, reminiscences of past shared experiences, and exchanges about the trivia of the day such as football results, forecasts of coming boxing bouts and local grapevine items (Hannerz, 1969). It is true that many women get involved with swinging because their male partner encourages them. They often do it to explore their own bisexual desires. By being exposed to a sexually charged environment, they are encouraged to be more experimental and let go of the cultural conditioning that has made them deny their own desires. This may be why swingers often say that men get women into swinging, but it is the women who keep them in it (Taylor, 2007). Couples who are not in a Swinging Lifestyle will find it unimaginable to allow his or her partner to engage in recreational sex with another person, but for swingers it is considered a highly acceptable form of social recreation. Swinging couples have a strong enough relationship to allow the sexual pleasure of his or her partner, and take satisfaction from that pleasure instead of jealousy and concern. Many couples would benefit from embracing the relationship ideas from the Swinging Lifestyle. Swingers understand that it’s perfectly natural for their partner to be physically attracted to someone else and that it’s ok to share one another sexually without threatening their love for each other. They do not confuse love with lust as many couples do. The Swinging Lifestyle can be a new adventure that can actually bring a couple much closer together (Taylor, 2007). Couples who engage in the Swinging Lifestyle experience that in swinging is less time consuming and emotionally demanding than an affair. Moreover, it offers sexual variety and it is sexually educative. Swinging is honest and democratic, since both partners are involved. It is less dangerous with regard to losing a spouse than infidelity. Swinging, however, is not without its drawbacks. Swinging may result to lack of emotional closeness, which in return may inhibit enjoyment and/or performance. There is also denial of ego satisfaction, since the partner was obtained by being available rather than charm. A worried air may also occur since the spouse’s partner may be sexier and better looking and this may inhibit ability and enjoyment of the sex act. Philosophy involves having an affair only once with each new partner, therefore, there is an ongoing search for new partners can be fatiguing. Moreover, there is subliminal fear that swinging can lead to venereal diseases (Cargan, 2007). For those with an open mind swinging is all about having fun as a couple. Moreover, it’s a way for a couple to expand their horizons by agreeing that sexual encounters outside and inside the relationships are permissible. It is a way for a couple to be a couple while allowing and accepting individual desires and needs. Couples who swing explore their sexuality and fantasies. These couples can break the chains of jealousy and experience a more passionate and fulfilling relationship, as well as connecting on a deeper spiritual level. Swinging can give them the opportunity to grow as a couple, and as individuals (Bellemeade, 2003). References Bancroft, J. (2002). Human Sexuality and Its Problems. Elsevier Science Limited. Bellemeade, K. (2003). Swinging for Beginners. New Tradition Books. Breedlove, W. and J. Breedlove. (1984). Swap Clubs. Los Angeles: Sherbourne. Cargan, L. (2007). Being Single on Noah’s Ark. United Kingdom: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing

How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing How to Add Emphasis to Your Writing By Mark Nichol Some people consider italics and boldface type and quotation marks, when they’re used other than as dialogue markers to be just so many noisy bells and whistles. They often are, when they’re misused, but when they’re employed correctly and strategically, they send strong signals. The following rules apply primarily for books and magazines. 1. Italics Italics, based on handwriting script, serve several functions. They identify the titles of stand-alone creative works like books, films and television series, and paintings. But parts of compositions chapters, episodes of TV shows, short poems collected into anthologies, and the like are enclosed in quotation marks. They denote a word that would be stressed if spoken: â€Å"Stop the car I really have to go to the bathroom.† They indicate a word being introduced as itself, not as an idea: â€Å"Write, right, and rite are all pronounced identically.† Terms of more than one word are often enclosed in quotation marks, but this format may look awkward when used inconsistently alongside single italicized words, so self-referring phrases are often italicized as well (â€Å"it’s rank and file, not rank in file†). They also identify letters used as such: â€Å"The letter n on that sign is backward.† But letters compared to shapes (â€Å"turn right at the Y in the road†; â€Å"I watched a graceful V of geese fly overhead†) are set in roman type. (The lowercase term roman refers to the default type style.) The same is true for names of letters used in expressions (â€Å"dot your i’s and cross your t’s†). They signal the use of an unfamiliar foreign term: â€Å"The Roman legatus was the equivalent of a general in a modern army.† Note, however, that many words you might think are foreign have been adopted into English, that most welcoming of languages. Check your dictionary’s main section (not the foreign-words appendix); if a foreign term appears there, no italics are necessary. Also, foreign proper nouns need no emphasis. The rule of thumb for repetition of foreign terms is to italicize on first reference only, and leave them in roman type when they recur. Use your judgment, though, depending on the frequency and interval of recurrence. 2. Boldface Boldface lettering is best reserved for display type (chapter and section titles and the like). But they’re often used in textbooks and other learning materials to emphasize newly introduced terms, such as those that would appear in a glossary or be on a vocabulary quiz. Otherwise, this type style is the printed or posted equivalent of shouting. 3. Quotation Marks Quotation marks are often used as what are called scare quotes - emphasis markers that communicate novelty, irony, or a nontraditional use of a word or phrase. Writers overuse scare quotes. Except in special cases, they should trust readers to understand the unusual use of a word or phrase. The context in â€Å"I played dumb,† for example, precludes the need for a visual hint to the reader that the writer’s stupidity was an act, but â€Å"I had a ‘fit’ so she’d go away† may need a subtle clue that the tantrum was feigned. (Fit appears in single, not double, quotation marks here because they’re used within double quotes.) Newspapers traditionally omit emphasis because formatting it is time consuming, and many web sites have the same policy, but the many exceptions in both cases or using quotation marks in place of italics, as often seen on this site acknowledge that italics and judicious use of boldface and scare quotes aid comprehension. Just don’t have a fit and go â€Å"overboard.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Words for Facial ExpressionsList of Greek Words in the English LanguageNominalized Verbs

Bridging The Divide of East and West Europe †Government Essay

Bridging The Divide of East and West Europe – Government Essay Free Online Research Papers Bridging The Divide of East and West Europe Government Essay The intention of this presentation is to highlight the rise of East and Central European economies in the last 15 years, analyse the causes and to see if their growth is sustainable. The countries the have come the longest way to â€Å"close the gap† are the eight new members of the European Union (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) and Croatia. They have an advantage over the rest of the Balkan states and the Ex-Soviet states as they are more open to foreign trade, have a supply of educated manpower and huge capital inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI). For this region the numbers of FDI is measured to $37 billion USD, which is making them second after China. Low wages and attractive corporate tax structure is a catalyst for this. What is important to mention here is that this high growth rate is witnessed mostly in the private sector. The public sector is still suffering from the rigid way of thinking from the communist time. For the new EU members the partnership has proved to be more beneficial than harmful. It has promoted international trade by making cross-border transactions much easier within the region. This trade is important to stimulate growth. They have become more visible to the outside world and investor confidence has improved consider. The national financial institutions (National Bank, government administration) have also been strengthened and helped to make capitalism work. Now it is more difficult for cartels to thrive and corrupt officials to go unpunished. But not everything is as rosy as it looks. These economies still have a shortage of valuable management skills and the countries meet new boundaries in form of EU trade laws, tariffs and a new type of bureaucracy. Infrastructure also has to be improved to gain further development. The countries have also a great challenge to reform and improve their national health and education system. The Ex Soviet states are also growing fast. This is partially explained by the rise in commodity and energy prices, but also that poorer countries tend to grow faster during the initial phase. However they are still a long way behind their central European counterparts. Their main problem is probably the lack of jobs. It is showed best by comparing the number of persons working in agriculture. When for instance Czech Republic went from 10% to 5% since 1990, Kirgizistan experienced an increase from 35% to 55%. To conclude it is our opinion that while the Central European and the Baltics are on a good way to catch up with the rest of Europe, the path ahead for the Balkans and the Ex-Soviet states will be more of a struggle. Bibliography: 1. â€Å"East, west and the gap between†, The Economist, Nov 24, 2005. 2. Business Week, December 12/19, 2005 3. Mankiw N.G., (2004), Principles of Economics, Thomson South-Western, USA. Research Papers on Bridging The Divide of East and West Europe - Government EssayDefinition of Export QuotasPETSTEL analysis of IndiaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2Twilight of the UAWNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesQuebec and CanadaBringing Democracy to Africa

The Negative Prefix il-

The Negative Prefix il- The Negative Prefix il- The Negative Prefix il- By Maeve Maddox From a reader commenting on the illegal alien post: I used to hear from my history teacher in high school that the word illegal isnt actually a word. I never followed up on that notion, but I suppose from popular usage, illegal has become legitimized. Do you have any etymological info on that? The word illegal with the sense of â€Å"not legal or lawful† has been in English since 1626. Similar words existed in Middle English and French as early as the fourteenth century. The expression illegal immigrant dates from 1939 during the British mandate in Palestine. The term was applied to Jews who entered Palestine without authorization. The word illegal derives ultimately from Latin: legalis â€Å"legal† with the negative prefix in-. The n of the prefix assimilates to l in words that begin with l: illegal: not legal or lawful illegible: not legible; incapable of being read illegitimate: not recognized by law as lawful offspring; not rightly deduced; departing from the expected illiberal: not liberal; not generous; not broad-minded illicit: not permitted; not allowed illimitable: not capable of being limited or bounded illiterate: unable to read or write illogical: not logical; contrary to logic Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Handy Expressions About Hands30 Baseball IdiomsKn- Words in English

Comparing domestic and internation news reports Essay

Comparing domestic and internation news reports - Essay Example A recent survey of the National Center for Health Statistics shows that as of year 2002, there is "an estimated 757,000 pregnancies among teenagers ages 15 to 19 years although it is nine percent fewer than in 2000 and about one-fourth fewer than the peak number estimated for 1990 which is 1,017,000" (Ventura, Abma, Mosher, & Henshaw, 2007). While a decline in statistics of teenage pregnancy has been noted, the number is still high and should not be taken for granted. How are parents, the academe, and the teenagers deal with it And, how is it presented to the public through the news published in various newspapers To be able to determine the answer to these questions, I consulted San Diego State University's Online Library for two news articles on teenage pregnancy written in publications in the United States and another two from Asian newspapers. An article by Kim Vo on San Jose Mercury News carries this headline: "District introduces new sex education program" (2005). Vo's news story tackles the importance of a newer and innovative approach on teaching sex education even towards the elementary pupils. The news has been written in a factual yet sensitive manner, taking into consideration the views of the parents, the students, the teenage mothers, and the academe. This was published on 2005. Two years later, The Houston Chronicle published a more straightforward news article on teenage pregnancy with a headline: "Baytown teens plan pregnancy forum" ("Baytown Teens," 2007). Contrary to San Jose Mercury News' story, the statistics and background of teenage pregnancy is no longer included in the recent article. It shows that the youth are already active in taking part to arrest the problem with unwanted pregnancies during puberty. The two articles mentioned are both published in the United States. Not much difference has been noted on the grammatical structure of the headlines; however, the second story could have been more compelling if the writer included some statistics on teenage pregnancy incidence in the area. As a reader, I "felt" the article on San Jose Mercury News more than the one published by The Houston Chronicle, because of the manner in which the first article is presented. Meanwhile, in Asia, which is known to be conservative, teenage pregnancies have also ballooned. Experts have openly discussed ways to salvage the youth from this alarming situation. In Taiwan, the Central News Agency - Taiwan reports on the very high incidence of teenage pregnancy in the area. However, instead of directly stating that Taiwan's teenagers have gotten pregnant more often than Japanese or a South Korean girl had, journalist Lilian Wu writes about the proposed solution to the problem. The article has this headline: "Sex education needed to address teenage pregnancy: Expert" (Wu, 2007). The news also opens with a lead on the sex education expert's view on the reason of high incidence of

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 20

Summary - Essay Example The controversy which its use aroused eventually compelled music producers to cease the inclusion of DRM technology on its audio discs, with EMI being the last company to do so in 2007 (Thompson). DRM faded out of use because it violated existent copyright laws and did not produce the expected results. While DRM is designed to protect copyright material it does so in a way which violates existent fair use policies. As Sarah Houghton-Jan writes, â€Å"DRM makes it illegal for the owner of that CD to use that content on more than one device (which you should be legally allowed to do)† (53). When a person purchases an audio disc which has DRM technology embedded on it, the person is consenting to DTM terms. These terms include, in some cases, the inability to play the CD audio content on more than one machine and, quite possibly, the inability to play it on any of the machines which the user owns (Houghton-Jan, 53-54). In reference to the last, this is because not all machines have the required decryption codec installed. The implication here is that DRM technology violates the owner’s right to play the audio CD on any machine s/he chooses and restricts the types of machines on which s/he can play the CD. Hence, restrictions on use extend beyond the illegal duplication and dissemination of the copyrighted music and, indeed violate the CD owner’s rights. Apart from its violation of fair use policy, DRM had the effect, not of halting illegal copying of copyrighted music but, of negatively impacting music sales. As the music industry’s leading producers, EMI, Sony and others have realised â€Å"DRM doesn’t work and actually negatively impacts sales† (Rapoza, 47). It is an extremely costly approach to the prevention of copyright violations and, more importantly, it does not fulfil its promise to prevent unauthorised copying and dissemination. This is because encryption codes have proven

It's All in the Milieu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

It's All in the Milieu - Essay Example In most of these cases major changes are made to the text to render it into film in the first place, and then when a second film adaptation is made. The Lord of the Rings, for instance, left entire sequences of the film out, such as the adventure to Tom Bombadil, drastically changed the age of the characters (reducing Frodo’s age from 50 to 30), changed their motivations (having Faromir fall the same way Boromir did) and so on (Tolkein 1955). These changes are made for a number of reasons, including needing to cut down from a novel to a film, to create suspense, or so on. Rarely, however, a book can so readily be made into a film, that these changes are unneccsary. Such was the case with Psycho, its Alfred Hitchcock adaption, and the remake of that film Psycho (1968). While most elements of these three works were nearly identical they are perceived very differently: Alfred Hitchock’s Psycho is hailed as a masterpiece, while the 1998 remake has been widely panned. This d emonstrates that each story must exist in its time and its place, and something removed from its milieu will be entire unsuccessful. The plot of all three works is largely identical. In each case, a woman, Marion, steals a large sum of money, finds herself at a lonely hotel, and is then murdered by a mysterious character – ostensibly the proprietors mother (Bloch 1959, Hitchcock 1960, Van Sant 1998). When the woman’s family gets worried, they go looking for her, hiring a detective to discover what happened to her. This detective gets murdered by the same figure (Bloch 1959, Hitchcock 1960, Van Sant 1998), with the hotel proprietor still covering up his mother’s actions. The family then investigates for themselves, eventually finds the mother is in fact the son’s delusion, as his mother died in a murder-suicide years before, and that the proprietor, Bates, has been living in a codependent relationship with his dead mother ever since (Bloch 1959, Hitchcock 1960, Van Sant 1998). This novel did not have to be adapted significantly for the screen: the only major changes made were the methods of killing, with the decapitation of the novel usually being replaced by a stabbing off screen in the film versions, which presumably would add to the horror but reduce the gore, which can be much more impactful on screen, and would detract from the psychological nature of the story (Bloch 1959, Hitchcock 1960, Van Sant 1998). That the novel is close to the film versions is not surprising – close remakes can often be accomplished in the case of short novels and excellent film-makers, such as with Jurassic Park, (or, indeed, many other Michael Crichton novels). What is surprising, however, is that the two films were so similar – the 1998 film was virtually a shot-for-shot remake of the 1960 film. They both used the same screenplay by Joseph Stefano (IMDB 2012a), and thus were identical in terms of words, but Van Sant also mirrored almost every camera motion that Hitchcock made. The only differences came in a small number of shots: the opening shot of the Hitchcock film, for instance, was a long zoom that had many fades separating individual zoom sequences, while the Van Sant film was a single long zoom: this was changed because Hitchcock’s original desire was to have a single long shot, but this was not possible based on technology of the time, while in 1998 it had become possible

Video project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Video project - Assignment Example In this context, spectrum health involves itself with the community by creating direct contact and addresses their concerns in the manner that is best suited for them. The company involvement with the affairs of the community enables the community to appreciate its existence while the company can know the needs of the community health wise and address them in future community focused programs. The video illustrates the assigned course very well as it clearly shows the innovative manner a company or organisation can be involved in the community around it especially making the programs community friendly through participation. In this case, it is initially all about the social parties rather than what the organisation derives from it. The company does not engage mainly to rip benefits but it stands to ultimately benefit from its involvements through several avenues. The proceedings in the video provided bear a relation with what was discussed in class. One notable element relates to how corporate social responsibility in modern days functions. It is notable that the organisation Spectrum health stands to gain from its involvement with the community. Through corporate social responsibility, it is building reputation which in line translates to a better image. Demand for its health insurance services are likely to go up because it identifies with people surrounding its basic operations. According to the iron law of responsibility, those organisations that do no appeal to the society through usage of their power loses it. From the video, it is evident that Spectrum Health’s goal is to use their influence and contribute positively to the society. Essentially, their goal with coming up with the project is to make a positive impact which they achieve. The actions of the organisations contain some present forms of corporate social responsibilit y. There is the citizen ship approach- they do it out of obligation and accountability, they are also focused on the

Power of Sina Weibo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Power of Sina Weibo - Essay Example The Sina Weibo case in China is just one example of how popular social media celebrities exert influence on their followers and how this can have detrimental impact on the government in terms of policy changes. Charles Xue more commonly known by his Sina Weibo screen name Xue Manzi confessed to having made mistakes pertaining to his online posts on the social network (Zhai 2013, n.pag.). Xue confessed to his crimes as a micro blogger on Sina Weibo where he presumably spread rumors (Custer 2013, n.pag.). A charge was filed against Xue along with other micro bloggers. However, Xue has set himself apart and is acting as an example to admit to his blogging crimes thereby helping the government to regulate the internet. At first, this might seem quite trivial however the impact of social networks on a country’s interest and government policies cannot be undermined. According to Shirky, the internet and social media is a place of varied players including citizens, activists, NGOs (N on Governmental Organizations), telecom companies, software houses, governments, and so on (2011, 1). The presence of various actors on the internet and social media has raised concerns regarding its ability to influence a particular country’s interests and government policies. ... However, his actions and confession sends out a completely opposite message to his millions of fans and followers and Xue now seems to be remorseful. He hopes to set an example by admitting his online crimes and helping the government to regulate the content on the internet. Much of the concern regarding the regulation of internet in particular social websites like Sina Weibo arises from the fact that pressure fuelled up by public opinion communicated over Weibo resulted in a change in government policy regarding air pollution. Also, the government was forced to start reporting the PM 2.5 levels in a timely manner (Custer 2013, n.pag.). Not only this, but public opinion regarding corrupt and inefficient government officials over Sina Weibo resulted in the removal of these officials from office. The spread of rumor online has caused the government to censor online content particularly on social websites like Sina Weibo. As of now, several posts and images have been removed and deleted from Sina Weibo website as a result of censorship (â€Å"China’s Memory Hole† 2013, n.pag.). Unlike the United States, the social media in China is highly decentralized which is why the responsibility of censorship falls under numerous internet service providers (King, Pan, and Roberts 2013, 1). Thus, the government has employed a method which fines or takes other actions against them is they fail to comply with the government requirements regarding censorship. This step, as King, Pan and Roberts explain, has been taken â€Å"to limit freedom of speech† and therefore restricts the expression of public opinion. The censorship efforts have been great even though China is not a top inhibitor of press freedom. Xue, who is considered to be a strong opinion leader

Video project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Video project - Assignment Example In this context, spectrum health involves itself with the community by creating direct contact and addresses their concerns in the manner that is best suited for them. The company involvement with the affairs of the community enables the community to appreciate its existence while the company can know the needs of the community health wise and address them in future community focused programs. The video illustrates the assigned course very well as it clearly shows the innovative manner a company or organisation can be involved in the community around it especially making the programs community friendly through participation. In this case, it is initially all about the social parties rather than what the organisation derives from it. The company does not engage mainly to rip benefits but it stands to ultimately benefit from its involvements through several avenues. The proceedings in the video provided bear a relation with what was discussed in class. One notable element relates to how corporate social responsibility in modern days functions. It is notable that the organisation Spectrum health stands to gain from its involvement with the community. Through corporate social responsibility, it is building reputation which in line translates to a better image. Demand for its health insurance services are likely to go up because it identifies with people surrounding its basic operations. According to the iron law of responsibility, those organisations that do no appeal to the society through usage of their power loses it. From the video, it is evident that Spectrum Health’s goal is to use their influence and contribute positively to the society. Essentially, their goal with coming up with the project is to make a positive impact which they achieve. The actions of the organisations contain some present forms of corporate social responsibilit y. There is the citizen ship approach- they do it out of obligation and accountability, they are also focused on the

Comment (critique) on the essay of contemporary utopia titled pico

Comment (critique) on the of contemporary utopia titled pico union - Essay Example Grube and Reeve (328b-331b), in their analysis of Plato’s Republic exert further emphasis on egalitarianism, as a crucial aspect of an ideal community. Based on both authors’ perspectives, it is rather apparent that the principal features of an ideal human community include: prevalence of peace, social equality and diligent service to the community, among other positive attributes. The Magnolia Place, located in LA’s Pico Union is indubitably one of the modern models of utopia. The establishment brings together volunteers from the community including regional and administrative organizations, who aim at increasing access, utilization as well as the quality of local resources, utility services, and support for the underprivileged in the area. The Magnolia Place, therefore, strengthens social relations among community members and improves economic development and opportunities. Even though, the neighborhood within which the organization is located was in the past r egarded as the most insecure in Los Angeles, it has developed into a refuge for the people in the region (N.A 1-2). The transformation is a confirmation of More’s ideology that a Utopian society consists of flawed individuals, who choose to make a positive change in their environs. The establishment depicts volunteers’ effort to foster equality, security and peace, through enabling the disadvantaged to get work, healthcare and reasonably priced housing, in addition to other fundamental

Hemingways Writing Style Essay Example for Free

Hemingways Writing Style Essay From almost the beginning of his writing career, Hemingways distinctive style occasioned a great deal of comment and controversy. Basically, his style is simple, direct, and unadorned, probably as a result of his early newspaper training. He avoids the adjective whenever possible, but because he is a master at transmitting emotion without the flowery prose of his Victorian novelist predecessors, the effect is far more telling. In Observations on the Style of Ernest Hemingway, from Contexts of Criticism by Harry Levin (Harvard University Press, 1957), the critic says: Hemingway puts his emphasis on nouns because, among other parts of speech, they come closest to things. Stringing them along by means of conjunctions, he approximates the actual flow of experience. Hemingway has often been described as a master of dialog, and most readers agree, upon being first introduced to his writing, that this is the way these characters would really talk. It is interesting to note, however, that Hemingways one attempt at playwriting was a failure. Actually, a close examination of his dialog will reveal that this is rarely the way people really speak. The effect is accomplished, rather, by the calculated emphasis and repetition which makes us remember what has been said. Since the critics cannot entirely agree on Hemingways style, perhaps the best way is to put it into the authors own words. Shortly before his tragic death, Hemingway gave to the Wisdom Foundation in California a collection of his observations on life and art, love and death. They were published in the January 1963, issue of Playboy magazine, and in them Hemingway said of his writing: I do most of my work in my head. I never begin to write until my ideas are in order. Frequently I recite passages of dialogue as it is being written; the ear is a good censor. I never set down a sentence on paper until I have it so expressed that it will be clear to anyone. Yet, I sometimes think that my style is suggestive rather than direct. The reader must often use his imagination or lose the most subtle part of my thoughts. I take great pains with my work, pruning and revising with a tireless hand. I have the welfare of my creations very much at heart. I cut them with infinite care, and burnish them until they become brilliants. What many another writer would be content to leave in massive proportions, I polish into a tiny gem. Hemingway goes on at some length, but the essence of what he says may be in this paragraph: A writers style should be direct and personal, his imagery rich and earthy, and his words simple and vigorous. The greatest writers have the gift of brilliant brevity, are hard workers, diligent scholars and competent stylists. To explain Hemingways style adequately in a few paragraphs is impossible. Scores of articles, and even some books, have been written on the subject, and it is to these that the serious student should go for additional, more detailed information.

Impact of the Credit Crunch on the Workplace and Politics

Impact of the Credit Crunch on the Workplace and Politics Social World Economy and UK Government Employers, Employees and the Unions Conclusions Bibliography The credit crunch in 2008 is swiftly being followed by an imminent global recession, perhaps the worst recession for many decades. Irresponsible lending, mis-management by the banks, the pay freezes in industry and the general economic climate means that we can no longer take for granted our jobs, homes and financial security. In 2009 the tide is turning from boom, very probably to bust in just a few months, although it was claimed by some analysts that the recession started proper half way through 2008. The situation does not look to improve any time soon either, as Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England was cited in the Daily Telegraph of 26th October, 2008: â€Å"The combination of a squeeze on real take-home pay and a decline in the availability of credit poses the risk of a sharp and prolonged slowdown in domestic demand. It now seems likely that the UK economy is entering a recession.† (Jonathan Sibun, Daily Telegraph, 2008). So we see that there can be a number of factors which provide the root cause of a recession. The end result of a recession is not only the loss of business, jobs, reduced cash flow and tightening of financial belts; the social, economic and political impact this has on employers, employees and the government. Employer and employee relationships are also a â€Å"side effect† of the environment within a recession. Does the balance of power change? Do employees become resentful? Do managers become more fearful and does this affect their judgement in the workplace? Many happy and productive workplaces are suddenly â€Å"not so happy† when a credit crunch hits. This paper investigates the implications of a credit crunch on relationships both at the workplace and in the political arena. Social From a social perspective, the effects of the credit crunch are already being evidenced. Housing repossessions are on the increase in the UK and people are having difficulty keeping up with their mortgages. Another factor is that the number of job losses is on the increase and this is expected to continue in 2009. The social impact this has on people is very often not reported by the media. For instance, people who would normally go on holiday with their friends and attend social outings may no longer do so after losing their job. The impact of a credit crunch and recession is inevitably job losses. This affects the person being laid off not only financially, but in terms of self confidence and a feeling of hopelessness for some. Some people after being made redundant may never work again, due to their age or the industry they have worked in, which may be something they have been involved in all their life. The credit crunch affects relationships generally, but also marriages. Husbands try to hold off telling their partners when they lose there jobs. The feeling of failure abounds and it also becomes a shock when it is not possible to find another job immediately. The credit crunch seems to hit men particularly hard, as pride and status play their parts when he has to rely solely on his wife for their main income: Traditionally, the man provides and for a man to lose his job, its not just about money, its loss of status, which can be a huge knock to his confidence.† Steve Miller, cited in (Becky Howard, 2008). It can cause relationship breakdowns as: There is also a real danger that the woman may become angry and resentful (Becky Howard, 2008). This may be due to women become the main breadwinner and also the need to perform duties at home, like cleaning, ironing and other household chores. The Times article points out a number of ways to assist couples through a crisis such as the credit crunch and the loss of a job. The balance of power can shift from an even situation, in a relationship to a dominant partner, when both partners have jobs or in the case of the sole breadwinner, it can cause even more difficulty. World Economy and UK The economic effects are also being seen, as employers are trying to emphasise the importance of pay restraints as companies try to avoid job losses: If employees understand the competitive pressures facing their organisation, they are more likely to understand why pay restraint in the current economic environment is critical. (CIPD, 2008) However, pay is only one of a number of issues. Mortgage repossessions are on the increasing by 40% in the last 12 months (Economics Help, 2008). It is claimed that this is only a small proportion of the total mortgage market in the UK however. In the US loans to sub-prime mortgage markets proved highly risky, and these loans were then embedded into the whole financial system (Economics Help, 2008). This in turn affected the whole of the global capital markets. Hence the world economy is currently in very poor shape. Each country is trying to solve the crisis in their own way, but some countries in Europe are following the UK lead were VAT is concerned, in that they aim to reduce it. On a world level, the economy has probably been in downturn since December 2007. They were predicting then that the economy would have forthcoming problems and so it has been proved. For instance, this report by World Economic Update (2008) states for the US economy: The U.S. economy is already in a recession it started in December 07 and it will last four to six quarters. Negative growth starts in the first quarter of 2008. The former the latter may, I guess, or may not end up being true, but surely its going to be unimpressive. The same article also suggests the economy of the US will be severe and protracted rather than mild. The US is the richest economy in the world, and when something happens on the scale of the current credit crunch it affects the world economy. It is also stated that many emerging markets are not directly affected by the US economy, and these should provide a cushion for the overall world economy, even though the banks of the emerging economies are also tightening their belts. It is stated that countries, such as Brazil, China, Russia, Peru, Poland and Hungary are all in growth stages and not directly affected by the US as they mainly deal with commodities. There has also been a shift away from the US in terms of the commodities markets (World Economic Update, 2008). The question we need to ask are the emerging markets enough to help stave off the imminent recession? The way that emerging markets can assist the global economy is through cheap commodity prices such as metals and agricultural products. Unfortunately however, the price of oil continues to escalate in the light of a world oil shortage. The repercussions of the current financial crisis were discussed by Andrew Watt (2008) when he states that there will be a combination of: â€Å" Share-price collapse Blockages with the banking system Reduced access to bank loans, and More expensive bond financing â€Å" resulting in a reduction in corporate investment, which in turn will have knock-on effects elsewhere. Much can be gleaned from the current crisis for future generations however. Andrew Watt has identified a number of other possible factors which have a bearing on the world economy and the UK. For instance, he points out that there has been a lack of regulatory institutions required for global finance, throughout the world and in Europe. He also claims that income at the national level has moved in that the poor borrow more, and speculation by the rich has made them wealthier. This really is a case of the poor getting poorer, and the rich getting richer. Lack of low interest rates, lack of regulation in the financial sector, risk taking and tax competition; including the EU have also contributed, in his opinion (Andrew Watt, 2008). From this we can assume that although the US crisis was the initial spark, that the petrol was already ready to light in the world economy and so we are all affected by the end result. The following figure from this report shows a summary of the events of the last 12 months or so, resulting in the credit crunch and imminent recession: One affect of the economy the credit crunch has had in the UK is the reduction of house prices and the price of goods in the shops, which have reduced dramatically in the last few months; in order to keep consumers interested thus keeping the finances flowing in the shops. The credit crunch has been blamed on a number of factors, and some unusual ideas emerge from various parts of the world, who all deal with the situation in a different manner. For instance, President Sarkozy has made calls to end foreign ownership (David Charter, 2008). The concern is that key industries will fall into foreign hands. The ideas are that each country should use sovereign wealth funds to take stakes in key industries: â€Å"Nicolas Sarkozy risked blowing apart the European consensus over how to deal with the financial crisis by proposing today that each country launch sovereign wealth funds to take stakes in key industries to stop them falling into foreign hands. â€Å" (David Charter, 2008) The theory is that non-EU countries may take advantage of the current crisis, who are not affected by it and therefore it would enable them to have an advantage in investing in shares within EU industries when they were at their cheapest. Not all the EU countries agree with this approach as stated, but even during his EU presidential year it is debatable if he can win approval from his EU partners. Government From a political perspective, some people will leave the original credit crunch was caused in the US, and this has had a knock-on effect on global economy. One definition of a credit crunch is rapid decline of credit that it is unusually large for a given stage of the business cycle (Bernanke and Lown, 1991). However, one of the key causes of the current credit crunch is said to be irresponsible lending in the US. However, it is fair to say that although the credit crunch originally emanated from the US, that irresponsible lending has also been occuring in the Uk and in Europe, but not on as large a scale. From a political perspective it is being stated that the UK government could have done more to regulate banks who were lending irresponsibly, and that the credit crunch has shown that financial institutions can easily abuse systems of self-regulation. (Economics Help, 2008) A few years ago, house prices were going through the roof, and this bubble would eventually burst, as it inevitably did. Gordon Brown the current prime minister, did identify that this would happen, and as Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time thought the issue had been addressed and avoided a boom and bust scenario, but this was obviously not the case (Alex Barker, 2008). Now that Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister, some of the earlier issues have come back to haunt him. Politically, a credit crunch and recession is always good for the opposition, as they can claim that the current government of the day is to blame for the current economic climate in this country. David Cameron, the leader of the opposition has made this point often, and has stated that the current labour government could have done more to avoid the consequences. Gordon Brown points out that the current crisis is global and has recently instigated a number of steps to avoid the crisis becoming even more serious in 2009. Banks all over the world have been in difficulty all over the world. The collapse of the Lehman Brothers bank in the US was soon followed by a crisis of one of the largest banks in the UK, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS). A recent merger between Lloyds and HBOS will provide a super bank and will avoid HBOS going the same way as Lehman Brothers. The government has supported the merger. Another recent, but risky step is to plough public money in the banking system, and by doing so the government hopes the banks will continue to lend to each other and at least keep the financial syste fluid. Along with this, there has been a reduction in VAT to 15% from 17.5% so that consumers will continue to spend and keep business operating. These are risky measures, and longer term it has been pointed out by David Cameron, that the UK tax payer will have to pay back an increased deficit. Only time time will tell if Gordon Browns policies will enable a swifter recovery or take the UK further into debt. As some analysts point out, this is not a normal situation and extreme situations call for extreme measures. This is certainly the case for Gordon Brown on a political level. Employers, Employees and the Unions One thing is certain in 2009, relationships between employer and employer are sure to be tense in 2009. A survey report was commissioned by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in September, 2008 around this subject. The following table from this report summarises the main issues around employer/employee relationships: So what are the anticipated changes in regard to the effects of the Credit Crunch to employer/employee relations? The following table from the same reports highlights the expected changes: On the face of it, if we analyse the two tables we can see that although most agree that there will be problems in the current credit crisis, that the only potential benefit longer term is that the employers will engage with their employees on an increasing level. However, it is said that there is a contrast of opinion between the public and private services with regard to employee engagement, as: Looking at the results in more detail, however, there is a marked contrast in attitudes between private and public services. In private services, 51% of respondents identified employee engagement as the single most likely development, compared with only 29% in public services and an average across all sectors of 43%. (CIPD,2008) It seems that partnerships with trade unions are very low on the agenda, but again it depends on the sector as: partnership is seen as among the three most likely developments by 46% of respondents in public services but only 11% in private services. (CIPD,2008). The wait and see scenario was also a favourable option. This would make perfect sense seeing as no one yet has a clear picture of how the recession will develop in 2009. So how will all this effect relationships on the shop floor and in the office? Well, cooperation is the key to a successful relationship for both employers and employees alike. It will be the case that in some organisations that job losses will be inevitable, and the unions and employees will be able to do very little as a result. In some cases, it will just be a case of management and unions working together to alleviate the impact as much as possible, and by providing assistance to those employees who will need to be looking for another job or training. In fact, if you have been made unemployed during a recession and there is little likelihood that a new job in the same career will be practical (in some cases), then training during the downturn may be a very good option. The reasoning behind this is that when the economy returns to normal the employee will be better placed to get themselves back on to the job market. Some people may be concerned about the safety of their jobs in 2009, and for very good reason. It is claimed that the indebted young people will be the hardest hit (Iain Macwhirter, 2008). It is claimed that the level of unemployment will have reached 3 million by 2010. It is the â€Å"flexible† labour market which usually receives the initial job losses, such as freelancers and contractors (Iain Macwhirter, 2008). From a company management perspective it is financially sound to fire the expensive contractors first. There is also little complication in doing this legally as there is with permanent employees. However, the sign of a contractor being fired can cause panic amongst the permanent employees in the workplace, as they know that they could easily be next on the list. Ironically, once the dust has settled and companies find themselves short staffed on the upturn it is contractors who are the first back in to assist. Unlike a redundancy situation based on â€Å"last in, first out† it could be said that with contractors and the credit crunch it is a case of â€Å"first out, first in†. The effect of the credit crunch will not only affect the lower level employees, but jobs in banks, and professions i.e. the middle income groups. This will be a real blow to self esteem and confidence to some employees, and it is also something the employers and unions must take into account when wielding the axe in the name of survival. There is no longer a predictable future for anyone, anywhere as a result of the credit crunch. This is emphasised by: â€Å"Certainly, the first to be hit will be those at the bottom. But they are likely to be joined by large numbers of articulate, middle-class individuals shaken out of the financial, media and peripheral service occupations from aroma therapy to management consultancy which have grown up during the long boom.† (Iain Macwhirter, 2008) We have seen that the credit crunch affects everyone from the top down, including governments, large and small organisations and individuals. We have seen the ways in which people can be affected. Governments lose credibility, organisations lose valuable staff, and individuals lose their self esteem and confidence. In analysing the credit crunch we see that although it seems the US problems was the initial spark, it was basically a financial accident waiting to happen, and on a. global scale. However, we have to ask ourselves if the rest of the world can be protected from the mistakes made in the US. Should we all insulate ourselves from this happening on such a large scale again? In looking at possible solutions, we have many suggestions and some of these are risky, but possibly may work. In the UK only time will tell if Gordon Brown’s ideas of ploughing additional funds into the banking system and reducing VAT with lower interest rates will stimulate the economy enough to allow progress through what is sure to be a very difficult period in 2009 and beyond. The surprising thing and perhaps most worrying is how quickly the economy turned from 2007 from what was a relatively economically sound period to its current state. For future generations, much will be learned and there are sure to be large scale changes, especially in the banking sector. More regulation is sure to follow and huge bonuses for some could be a thing of the past. Such is the effect of the current crisis. Journals/Reports Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Survey Report, 2008  World Economic Update, April 25 2008 available from:  http://www.cfr.org/publication/16111/world_economic_update_rush_transcript_federal_news_service.html Andrew Watt, The economic and financial crisis: dealing with the  repercussions and the causes./ Presentation to ETUI Seminar ‘The economic and financial crisis: Elements to construct a new paradigm’ 8 December  2008 Bernanke, Ben S., and Cara S. Lown (1991), â€Å"The  Credit Crunch,† Brookings Papers on Economic  Activity, no. 2: 205-47. Newspapers Iain Macwhirter, New Statesman  Economy, How safe is your job?  Published 27 November 2008 available from:  http://www.newstatesman.com/economy/2008/11/middle-class-labour-jobs Jonathon Sibun, UK Recession is here to stay experts warn, Daily Telegraph Online, 10/2008 available from:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/3259483/UK-recession-is-here-to-stay-experts-warn.html Becky Howard, The credit crunch hits relationships and marriages,  Times Online, December 6, 2008 available from:  http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/body_and_soul/article5292365.ece David Charter, From Times Online October 21, 2008,  Sarkozy calls for halt to foreign ownership available from:  http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article4984670.ece Internet Economics Help, Who is to Blame for Credit Crunch? 2008, accessed on 03/01/2009 available from: http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/08/who-is-to-blame-for-credit-crunch.html Alex Barker, Asleep at the Wheel? ,December 15th, 2008 by Alex Barker accessed on 03/01/2009 available from:  http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/category/credit-crunch/

Procrastination Essay -- essays research papers

1. What am I talking about? I am the thief of productiveness and time. I sound simple, but in fact I’m quite complex. I am a strange phenomenon. My purpose seems to make my life more pleasant, but instead it almost always adds stress, disorganization, and frequent failure. I want to achieve some outcome, usually something myself and others can value and respect; â€Å"I’ve got to start.† I delay briefly thinking of real and imagined advantages of starting to change later; â€Å"I will do it tomorrow.† 2. Good evening gentlemen. My name is Bobby Hurley. I’ve been in the military now for just over nine years. All this time I’ve always said that I’m going to finish my degree but until this past year I have never been able to stay committed to doing so because I am a procrastinator. I’ve gotten some help with my procrastination from various web sites. That’s why this evening I would like to talk to you about three important aspects of procrastination. These include the reasons for procrastinating, some symptoms of procrastination, and how to cure procrastination, but first, let me explain what procrastination is. Procrastination, though not officially classified as such, is a complex psychological behavior that affects everyone to some degree or another and can have roots in several officially recognized "illnesses", such as phobia, depression, and even low self-esteem. For some people it can be a minor problem but with others it is a source of considerable stress and anxiety. 3. This brings me to my first point, reasons for procrastinating. One reason for this is poor time management. What this is, is not being able to manage your day or yourself effectively. You may be uncertain of your priorities, goals and objectives or may be overwhelmed with the task. As a result, you may put off your academic assignments for a later date. You may also spend a great deal of time with your friends and social activities. Lastly, but most importantly, you worry about your upcoming examinations, class projects or papers rather than completing or studding for them. 4. Another cause of procrastination is having difficulty concentrating. What this is, is your inability to stay focused on one subject or object for any length of time. When you sit at your desk y... ...er projects, use a timer or alarm clock to help you stick with your plan. If you know you will not be able to concentrate on a project for 3 hours, break up your work into 1-hour blocks for 3 days. It's much easier to face an unpleasant task if the time you are giving it is brief. 9. Another method to cure procrastination is to avoid perfectionism. If you accept nothing less than a perfect performance, you may never get to work on a task because you're worried that it won't be perfect. Remember that doing your best is fine, and that giving yourself enough time to do your best will reduce stress. 10. In conclusion, I have covered three important aspects of procrastination to include the reasons for procrastinating, the symptoms of procrastination, and how to cure procrastination. I’d like to thank you for your time and attention and urge you the next time you’re thinking about putting off an assignment or task to think carefully about the long-term side effects. Sure, you might get some good grades or praise from your boss or teacher but eventually it will catch up with you and by that time it will be too late. Thank you.

Citi Group Restructuring

Background It all began with the financial crisis of 2007-2008, a crisis which was of a scale that had never been seen before. Many economists called it even worse than the Great Depression. Whether it was or not, that’s something that could be argued. But everyone was of the view that the crisis is really very serious. As a result of it large financial institutions collapsed, banks were being bailed out by the national governments and stock markets tanked to their new lows.This caused the collapse of housing markets in many countries, consumer spending suffered immensely as a result, industries went bankrupt, businesses closed down and unemployment peaked. There were many reasons that were put forth by various economists. A report presented in the US senate called it as the â€Å"failure of regulators, credit agencies and markets†. Citigroup’s Sufferings According to a US government’s report which came into the light in 2011, Citigroup which was the third largest US bank in terms of assets at that time was on the verge of failure.Regulators were going to pull the plugs on it anytime as depositors were withdrawing their deposits and bank’s counterparties also declined to give credits to the bank. How Citigroup moved to new setup? Citigroup suffered losses for five consecutive quarters. In the fifth quarter, in fact its losses were to the tune of $ 8. 29 billion. Many in the Citigroup agreed to the fact that unless something is done to sharpen its strategy, Citigroup will never regain its glory and perform accordingly.As a result, Citigroup started analyzing its business and strategies. It was found that Citigroup was involved in too many business segments which stopped it from focusing on its core interest area. While analyzing, everything big or small was examined. Citigroup in its annual report called the analysis as â€Å"wide ranging and dispassionate†. The outcome of this analysis was that the Citigroup finally dec ided to realign the group’s various business interests in two broad segments: Citicorp and Citi Holdings.The thinking behind this new setup was that this structure will help the company focus on its core business areas which in turn would improve the overall performance, while at the same time realizing the value from its non-core assets. The new structure would look like this: In Citicorp, businesses which were core to the group’s strategy and which offered maximum earnings potential to its shareholders with appropriate risk parameters were placed. These businesses are: †¢ Global Transaction Services – Treasury and Trade Solutions Securities and Fund Services †¢ Securities and Banking – Global Banking – Global Markets – Citi Private Bank – Citi Capital Advisors †¢ Regional Consumer Banking – Four Regional Consumer Banks in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), Latin America and Asia that each in clude retail banking, local commercial banking and Citi-branded cards (Source: http://www. citigroup. com/citi/investor/quarterly/2010) Citicorp, according to the new structure will be a relationship driven global bank, to serve both consumers and businesses.The assets of Citicorp include its core assets located across the globe with strong presence in emerging markets like India, China etc. Citicorp will have the capability to take deposits from customers throughout the world in a manner so that maximum return could be availed. Citicorp will have the capacity to serve local customers globally and global customers in a highly localized way. While in Citi Holdings, assets and businesses which were not central to Citi’s strategy were placed.But that does not mean that those assets were not good. Some have had very high value in their own right. Some were big iconic brands like Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture. Citi Holdings includes: †¢ Brokerage and Asset Managem ent, which includes the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture †¢ Local Consumer Lending – North America, which includes residential and commercial real estate loans; auto, student and personal loans; and retail partner cards International, which includes Western Europe consumer banking and other consumer finance franchises around the world †¢ Special Asset Pool, which includes non-core assets, many of which are illiquid in current markets Citi Holdings will consist of non-core businesses which attract long term investments. But since those businesses are not the core one, therefore they do not enhance the performance of the group as a whole and in fact they compete for the limited resources that the company could employ in a highly risky and volatile situation.It was expected that the management team of Citi Holdings will restructure, divest and manage its business in a way that maximizes the value and will take the group forward in a tough economic situation Vi kram Pandit, then CEO of Citigroup in one of his interview talked about â€Å"accelerating the implementation of its newly evolved strategy to focus on its core business†. Given the market conditions and business sentiments, Vikram Pandit wanted to streamline the business of Citigroup as soon as possible to further strengthen its position and better serve its clients.

Prevention

Prevention can be taken to mean, a process of offering advice, guiding and educating a certain group of people in the name of promoting their well being in the society. It is a critical decision one makes to meet the choice aimed at meeting ones challenges of life by creating a condition favorable to promote good lifestyles and healthy behaviors. Prevention of diseases involves three levels, according to the stages of the target disease (Sieving 1997). They are primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Primary level is the process by which various methods are used in to avoid a person initiating a p disease (Piccinino   1998). They are used prior to that person getting the disease. Methods used in this level would be like, campaigns from public service, school and community programs and of course constant communication with the intended group. This helps in avoidance of the disease. According to (Sieving 1997) the second level of prevention is the secondary level that is used in the early stages of disease detection. In this case the disease has already occurred in the person but the patient is not aware the main objective of this level is to detect and treat the disease early enough. Tertiary level of prevention aims at reducing the negative consequences of the disease already in the person. It helps to slow down the rate of spreading the infections or complications in that it prevents pain from the disease. Public health programs are the set activities by the government or other organizations with intentions of meeting certain objectives in health prevention. Health programs aims at reducing incidences of diseases, improving the social conditions of a person .One of the most common activity in the health programs is vaccination. Public health programs go hand in hand with levels of prevention. One of the major problems today is how to cope with the high rate of adolescent pregnancy. This issue can be addressed by using various programs to create awareness. It can also fit in all the levels of prevention though sutes best in the primary level of prevention. Despite the fact that the teen rate of pregnancy has declined by a big margin in U.S. Since early 1990s, it is said and justified that over 1 million Americans adolescent girls get pregnant. Many of these pregnancies are usually accidental or unplanned though others are usually intended It is said that about fifty percent of teenage girls who were once pregnant become pregnant again within two years. It is also said that the second baby of the teenage girl is usually at a risk of being underweight and at the same time there is the high chance of drop out in school. (Piccinino 1998) There are a number of public health programs that are being developed at least from each level of prevention targeted to children and adolescent boys and mainly girls. According to (Aboma 1998) &( Joseph 1999) This may include abstinence programs, school-based sexuality programs, Involvement by the community, family planning clinics, school-based programs and public healthcare programs. (Aboma 1997) Many of these programs call for either abstinence or use of contraceptives. Abstain ace could be the best method however, adolescents don’t take it as a reality .Some institutions have criticized the issue of using contraceptives arguing that it promotes sexual engagement.( Piccinino 1998) observes   that,   a survey has shown that contraceptives like condoms do not motivate teens to engage in sex and thus they should be introduced in schools. The initiative by the community can help reduces the high rate of illiteracy .Parents have a greater influence on their adolescents on either becoming pregnant or impregnating. Parents communicating with their children freely about issues they come across like sex, relationships and love ( Aboma 1998). As parents one should talk to them what you feel about this issues, be honest to them have courage to tell them the truth that having an early pregnancy is risky to both the child and the teenage herself. In case she is already pregnant, let her know her responsibilities like visiting a prenatal care center, avoid drugs especially smoking and to eat nutritional food (Sonenstein 1998). Parents ought to be opening minded and begin a talk concerning these issues; if you are not capable, use other methods like letting them watch a video or a movie. There is the need to super vice your children as they grow up to adolescence and give them lots of guidance counseling (Sonenstein 1998). This should be for both the boy and the girl .The secondary and tertiary level of prevention could constitute the issues of caring for the born child and more so the teen. There is the need to have programs that will address this issue. The tertiary level of prevention can really help at this stage (Aboma 1997). There is the importance developing programs that would look at issues of child-rearing responsibilities, relationships with their friends and the rest of the community. Educational activity programs, counseling and life skills training need to be developed (Sieving 1997). These educational programs would include offering remedial classes for the teen parents, family planning, parenting skills, food and nutritional advices for both the child and the mother In conclusion, prevention is a process involved in offering guidance and educating a certain group of people with an aim of promoting their wellbeing. It has three levels consisting of the primary level-prevents occurring of diseases, secondary level-aimed at detecting early diseases and tertiary-help the patient cope with the already established problem. In the case of the teenage pregnant group, all the three levels of prevention can help them to cope with the situation, and even prevent further occurrences if proper programs are put in place. References Aboma CD (1999). State-Specific Pregnancy Rates Among Adolescents—United States, 1992-1998, Oxford University press. pp 45-67, 77 Aboma JC, Chandra A, Mosher WD, Peterson LS, Piccinino LJ (1997.). Fertility, Family Planning, and Women’s Health, New York. Abma J, Driscoll A, Moore K. (1998). Young Women’s Degree of Control over First Intercourse: An Exploratory Analysis. Family Planning Perspectives 30(1):12-18. 1998. Piccinino LJ, Mosher WD (1998.). Trends in Contraceptive Use in the United States: 1982-1998. Family Planning Perspectives, Oxford University press: 4-10, 46 Sieving R, Shew M, Ireland M, Bearinger L, Udry JR (.1997.)   Protecting Adolescents from Harm: Findings from the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. London pp57-97 Sonenstein FL, Ku L, Lindberg LD, Turner DF, Pleck JH (1998.). Changes in Sexual Behavior and Condom Use among Teenaged feMales: 1988 to 1996.   London.pp 956-959, Ventura SJ, Mathews TJ, Curtin SC. (1998) Teenage Births in the United States: New York pp 66-79.      

Queen Elizabeth’s Speech To Her Troops

To lead a country there are certain traits that you must obtain. These include poise, confidence, trustworthiness, and ambition. As the ruler of England Queen Elizabeth I possessed all of these qualities and made them apparent when she addressed her troops as the Spanish Armada crept closer to the shores of England in 1588. In this compelling speech she delivers a clear purpose to her troops that she is dedicated to them in every way possible.Through her diction, ethos, and pathos Queen Elizabeth I successfully displays her dedication giving her troops the confidence to rally and attack the enemy. Queen Elizabeth I uses diction that exhibits her trust and dedication towards her troops. She praises her â€Å"faithful and loving people† and emphasizes the â€Å"loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects†. The queen chose these words because they show what her people mean to her. She could have chosen to simply call them her subjects.This is a much more derogatory and imper sonal way of addressing them. Instead she approaches them in a way that exposes how much she cares about them which in turn shows her dedication. Even though Queen Elizabeth I was far removed from the daily lives of her troops and people in her speech she speaks to them as if they are her own family. The Queen does not limit her use of diction to only praising her troops though. She also uses selective word choice to portray how much her country means to her.She refers to Spain invading England as â€Å"to invade the borders of my realm. † This statement asserts her protectiveness over her country. The Queen makes it clear that if anyone is to dishonor her country she will personally see that they receive a repercussion. The diction selected by Queen Elizabeth I tactfully presents her dedication to her troops and citizens. As the ruler of England, Queen Elizabeth I already possesses a certain amount of credibility and trustworthiness to her subjects.While speaking to the troo ps at Tilbury she exerts more ethos to prove her dedication. One thing that the Queen makes very clear is that she is willing to die for her country. She states â€Å"in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all, to lay down for God and my kingdom, and my people. † Even though she may not actually fight on the battlefield, just by asserting that she would be willing to risk her life for her kingdom of England if the time ever came proves her immense dedication to her people.She furthers her credibility by saying, â€Å"In the mean time, my lieutenant general shall be in my stead. † The Queen would be fighting if she could, but instead she is â€Å"fighting† through one of her generals, but we know she is dedicated at heart. She also simulates loyalty when she says, â€Å"I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder. † Queen Elizabeth gains trustworthiness because she is willing to do anything for h er troops and people that will better their lives. The ethos that is professed advances the Queens dedication.When addressing troops that are about to enter into a life-threatening battle, as a speaker you need to calm their nerves, while also showing that you trust them. Queen Elizabeth successfully uses pathos to accomplish this task. The Queen renders, â€Å"we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom and of my people. † This statement demonstrates her confidence in the troops. Then, the troops realizing that their queen has so much faith towards them will possess the strength and courage to succeed in battle.

Hotel Concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Hotel Concept - Essay Example A brand represents the core of the customers awareness of the hotel, its services and products. Keller (1997) explained that the positive or negative perceptions that are created and persuade a customer to avail or not to avail services at a certain hotel stand for the brand equity. A customers excellent experience with a certain hotel brand creates a strong representation of that hotel brand, whereas an awful experience wears away that strong brand. A prospective customer does not require first-hand experience with a certain hotel brand to create an impression of that hotel brand. Brand equity makes use of the media or other marketing techniques to strengthen mass exposure of their hotel brands. This means that people are aware of which among the hotels are classified excellent and poor even if they haven’t experienced being guests in those hotels. So, a strong need for hotel management is formed into creating the best and strong brand of hotel for business longevity as well as increase in profit. Creating strong hotel brands is believed to be one of the key factors in considering the success of the business. Hotel managers therefore need to study what composes brand equity in the hotel industry and exhibit a technique for how do they effectively measure hotel brands offering a decision-making tool for them in order to take full advantage of the value of their brands. The main rationale for building brand equity as the keystone for the success of the business is that it aids counterbalance competition by distinguishing their product, permitting hotel owners of a premium charge, and promoting customer loyalty. Aaker (1991) argued that defining precisely what composes a brand, nonetheless, is not as easy a job as stating what a brand should bring about. At some point, the concept of a brand is that a brand comprises a name, a symbol, a logo, and a trademark. However, pointing out brand

Bird's Individualism and Escapism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bird's Individualism and Escapism - Essay Example Since Oe wrote the novel shortly past the world war, he portrays the state of the Japanese people after the war (Adhikari 1). The individualism and escapism in Bird leaves the readers frustrated that anyone would abandon responsibility and seek self-gratification in the way Bird does. Although portrayed extensively in only one character, individualism and escapism takes the toll of the novel and is worth the reader’s attention. Individualism and escapism drive the actions of the main character, Bird. The author introduces Bird as a character who seeks to fulfill his fantasies and selfish ambition neglecting the responsibilities of a family man. Bird craves to go to Africa and experience the wild life in a land, away from the devastating effects of civilization (2). It is clear that he does not like the real life situations in his homeland and would rather disappear to another continent and experience change. This is an individualistic and selfish venture. Instead of seeking to rebuild his nation and create a favorable condition after the world war aftermath, he busies himself with getting familiarity of Africa from maps. Bird takes the situation as a personal matter. He seeks to actualize himself some day and discover true happiness in a world away from the ill-fate life presents. The author paints a picture of the situations in Bird’s life as he fantasizes about Africa. ... Instead of anticipating the new responsibility in his life, he only sees how the indulging family life will hold him from living his African dream. The situation worsens when an abnormal baby comes into their life (2). The author exposes Bird’s inner feelings about the birth of the abnormal child. Instead of accepting the child and committing to work towards saving the innocent child, Bird wishes that the child could just die. He does not realize that all life is equal and does not display fatherly concern. He seeks to evade the situation. He does not consider the pain of the other family members and give them the right support. He does not even think about the baby’s welfare. His individualistic attitude prevents him from showing any empathy. In a bid to pursue happiness and contentment for himself, he deserts his immediate family. Bird embarks on finding ways of escaping the painful realities of his life. The baby needs an operation in order to survive and that means that Bird must sacrifice his savings for the baby’s health. For Bird, it is not easy to make this sacrifice because that would force him to forget about his African dream. This reasoning surprises the reader because a father should be willing to make any sacrifice for the welfare of his children. Bird lets individualism hinder his fatherly instincts. He decides to starve the child to death. In his view, the savings are just enough to allow him to travel to the foreign land and start a more fulfilling life. He drifts to a deceptive world where sorrows and pains do not exist. He cannot handle the thoughts of what is happening to him. Bird finds himself trapped in loneliness and cowardice and he seeks refuge in his ex-girlfriend Himiko. Himiko is lonely and desperate after the death

FEA Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

FEA - Assignment Example The results are then used to undertake weight optimisation of the model. The limits of the redesigned model are the face bearing the load, strength of the load and the fixed points which are not alterable. The only changing variables are the geometry and materials used. The model was then analysed in the SimulationXpress Analysis Wizard. The first step in this process was to fix the position of the 4 holes where the bracket will be fastened to the body of the structure. This is carried out in the fixtures section and the faces assigned as fixed geometry as shown in figure 2. This fixes the lower section of the bracket to its location in the machine, structure or component where it will be employed. The external load on the geometry is a force of 1kN and is applied on the region of 750and 50mm from the upper section of the load bearing face. This force does not act on the whole region hence a sketch is created 50mm from the upper section and creating a split line to allow the force to applied on the hatched region of the load bearing face on the drawing. Figure 3 shows the model with the split line created. The simulation results are produced giving the stress, displacement, deformation and the safety factor. Determining the maximum displacement and stress is the key objective at this point. The maximum Von Misses stress is 737.96mPa while the yield stress is 620.422mPa. This shows that the stress experienced is higher than the yield stress and hence failure due to the 1KN load applied. This is shown in figure 5. The results from part A are used to carry out a redesign of the bracket which are then validated with Finite Element Analysis. The main objective of this redesign work is to reduce the weight of the bracket by at least 10% and the deflection should not be more than 10%. In this redesign work, the material was the main focus for reducing the weight of the bracket. The aim was to select a material similar to steel but is lighter in weight. Aluminium

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Term Paper

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - Term Paper Example The Congress noted that the activities of man had profound effects on the environment. These activities include: industrialization, high-density urbanization, resource exploitation and technological novelties. To top it off, there was the issue of population growth. The Congress set to the purpose of restoring and maintaining the environment because it in turn reflected on the prosperity of the human race. The intention was to achieve these goals with the partnership of the state, the private and public sectors and the support of local governments. The required support was to be in the form of financial and technical assistance. The Congress had the intention of preserving a future in which the environment and the human race were in harmony for their future generations, (Pub. L. 91-190, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347, January 1, 1970). Being motivated by the notion of equal rights of each person to enjoy a healthy environment, the Congress set the Act into motion and outlined the responsibiliti es of the Federal Government. The government was required to use all resources at its disposal to ensure that Federal plans and functions related to environmental conservation processes are improved for the sake of the nation. It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the outcry of the public on matters concerning the state of the environment was heard and acted upon by the Congress. A series of congressional debates ensued soon after and a national environmental policy was the outcome. The policy targeted federal agencies which at the time were the main culprits in environmental pollution.

Summary of chapter 8 - business ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary of chapter 8 - business ethics - Essay Example The contract provides the basic framework governing the reciprocal obligations between the employee and the firm. Underlying this reciprocal relationship are certain ethical issues: company loyalty and conflict of interest. a. Company loyalty is a long held concept. An employee is seen legally bound to be loyal to his/her employer, but extreme view argues that an employee-employer relationship, which is based on self-interest, does not qualify for loyalty, since loyalty is based on a relationship that warrants unconditional sacrifice: loyalty to loved ones or country. To view company loyalty as to safeguard and pursue the firm’s legitimate interest is morally acceptable, but not morally required. To other employees, company loyalty could be a consequence of group identification. b. Conflict of interest is another common problem confronted even by loyal employees, since basically employees and employers operate from different plane and perspective. This occurs when employees at any level have their own self-interest that collides with their job duties and as such could substantially provoke them to undermine their firm’s interest. Financial investments made by employees with the company’s suppliers, customers or distributors are one of the most common sources of conflict of interest. Many cases of this type had been brought to court and had been proven detrimental to the interest of the company. Companies have their own policy regarding this to define what is permissible and impermissible. Since such policy affects the financial well-being of all involved, this should be subjected to open and free negotiations making it acceptable to all. 2. Abuse of official position ranging from making subordinates take on tasks unrelated to the firm to the use of position for personal financial enhancement, privileges and advantage, always raises ethical questions, as this undermines employees’ obligations