One Direction Essay

One Direction are an English-Irish pop boy band based in London, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. They signed with Simon Cowell’s record label Syco Records after being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Propelled to international success by the power of social media, their two albums Up All Night and Take Me Home, released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, broke several records, topped the charts of most major markets, and generated hit singles, including â€Å"What Makes You Beautiful† and â€Å"Live While We’re Young†. Often described as sparking the resurgence in the boy band concept, and of forming part of a new â€Å"British Invasion† in the United States, the group have sold over 14 million singles and 8 million albums, as noted by the band’s management company, Modest! Management. Their achievements include two BRIT Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. According to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012’s â€Å"Top New Artist† by Billboard, while The Huffington Post named 2012 â€Å"The Year of One Direction†. History The X Factor, formation, and record deal In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for the seventh series of British televised singing competition The X Factor. Failing to progress to the â€Å"Boys† category at â€Å"judges’ houses†, after a suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, thus qualifying for the â€Å"Groups† category. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practise. Styles came up with the name One Direction. Simon Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group â€Å"were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well. † Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell’s last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK. Shortly afterwards it was confirmed, One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported ? 2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with producer RedOne. A One Direction-licensed book, One Direction: Forever Young, was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. The tour saw the group performing for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Up All Night and international breakthrough Released in September 2011, One Direction’s debut single, â€Å"What Makes You Beautiful†, bowed at number one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the most pre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history. Subsequent singles, â€Å"Gotta Be You† and â€Å"One Thing†, peaked within the UK Singles Chart top ten. In November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America. Steve Barnett, the co-chairman of Columbia Records, said it was not a difficult decision to sign One Direction; â€Å"I just thought there was a void, and maybe they could seize and hold it. † â€Å"What Makes You Beautiful† was released in the United States in February 2012, where it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28, becoming the highest debut for a British act since 1998. It has sold over 4 million units in the US. Upon arrival in the US in February 2012, One Direction embarked on a radio promotion spree, as well as their first North American concert tour as an opening act for Big Time Rush. They made their first US television appearance on The Today Show, at the Rockefeller Center; an estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza. Critically commended for its appeal to the teenage audience, One Direction’s first studio album, Up All Night, was released globally in early 2012. It became the UK’s fastest-selling debut album of 2011, and topped the charts in sixteen countries. The album bowed atop the US Billboard 200 chart, making One Direction the first British group in US chart history to enter at number one with their debut album. They were inducted into the Guinness World Records as a result. Up All Night also became the first album by a boy band to sell 500,000 digital copies in the US and, as of August 2012, had sold over 3 million copies worldwide. In April 2012, an American band that went by the same name filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the US band had been using the name since 2009, recorded two albums and filed an application to register the trademark name in the US in February 2011. In December 2011, One Direction embarked on their first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour. In early 2012, they announced Australasian and North American legs of the concert tour, with dates from April to July 2012. The tour, resulting in 62 shows, was met with positivity both critically and commercially. A recording of a concert from the tour, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was released in May 2012. In addition to the DVD topping the charts in twenty-five countries, as of August 2012, its global sales had exceeded 1 million copies. One Direction’s first-licensed American book, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, published in the United States in May 2012, topped The New York Times Best Seller list. In June 2012, Nick Gatfield, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment UK, stated how he expects One Direction to represent a $100 million business empire over 2013. Gatfield maintained, â€Å"What you might not know about One Direction is that they already represent a $50 million business and that’s a figure we expect to double next year†. One Direction were the biggest winners of the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards winning their three nominations on 6 September 2012, including Best New Artist. Take Me Home and world tour One Direction’s second studio album, Take Me Home, was released in November 2012. Take Me Home was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk, who composed One Direction’s hits â€Å"What Makes You Beautiful† and â€Å"One Thing†, spent six months in Stockholm developing songs for the album, and were able to shape melodies around their tones. One Direction began recording the album in May 2012, in Stockholm at Kinglet Studios. Take Me Home garnered mixed reviews from music critics. Praise centred on production quality while criticism hinged on its generic, rushed nature. With the album and its second single, â€Å"Little Things†, both debuting simultaneously at number one in the UK, One Direction became the youngest act in British chart history to achieve the feat. Take Me Home sold 540,000 copies in its first week in the US, debuted atop the Billboard 200, and topped the charts in more than thirty-four other countries. Additionally, Up All Night and Take Me Home were the number three and number four best-selling albums of 2012 globally, selling 4. 5 million and 4. 4 million units, respectively. One Direction performed â€Å"Little Things† at the 2012 Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, and headlined a sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden on 3 December 2012. In February 2013, One Direction released a cover version of â€Å"One Way or Another† and â€Å"Teenage Kicks†, â€Å"One Way or Another â€Å", as the 2013 Comic Relief single. The band performed the song at the 2013 BRIT Awards at which they also won the newly created Global Success Award. In addition, the Official Charts Company revealed that One Direction have sold 2,425,000 records in the UK by February 2013. One Direction embarked on their second concert tour in February 2013, the Take Me Home Tour. The concert tour consists of over 100 shows in Europe, North America and Australasia. Ticket sales reached 300,000 within a day of release in the UK and Ireland, which included a six date sell-out at London’s The O2 Arena. In the Australian and New Zealand markets, tickets grossed US$15. 7 million, with all 190,000 tickets being sold for the eighteen shows to be held. This Is Us, a 3D biopic film centering on the group, is to be directed by Morgan Spurlock, produced by Spurlock, Ben Winston, Adam Milano and Cowell, and released by TriStar Pictures on 30 August 2013. Musical style One Direction’s debut studio album, Up All Night, is predominantly a pop music record, containing elements of teen pop, dance-pop, pop rock, and power pop, with electropop and rock influences. Digital Spy’s Robert Copsey described the album as a â€Å"collection of pg pop rock with killer choruses†, while The New York Times considered it â€Å"full of easy rock-inflected pop, blithe and sometimes clever. † Jason Lipshutz of Billboard acknowledged that the album demonstrates an originality in sound that was â€Å"necessary for the revitalization of the boy band movement†. Their second studio album, Take Me Home, is characterised by rock-inherited pop, prominent electric guitar riffs, bright synthesizers, double entendres for sexual intercourse, a homogeneous sound and message, and the pitch-correcting software Auto-Tune. Alexis Petridis for The Guardian interpreted its signature sound as follows: â€Å"peppy, synth-bolstered take on early-80s new-wave pop, heavy on clipped rhythms and chugging guitars,† which, he said, is at least an improvement on the substitute R&B â€Å"that was once the grim lot of the boyband. † Vocally, in a live setting, Erica Futterman for Rolling Stone favoured their acoustic performances as both showcasing, â€Å"Horan’s ability to play guitar, as well as One Direction’s admirable live vocals. There was no need to worry about a backing track or a bum note, a pleasant realization at a pop show. † Herald Suns Cameron Adams opined that One Direction have â€Å"strong pop voices†. Melody Lau of the National Post wrote, â€Å"It’s easy to get lost in inherent appeal of their perfectly coiffed dos and almost-too-put-together preppy style but somewhere in the midst of all the love-struck squeals of teenage girls are guys who can actually sing and, to a certain extent, entertain. Jane Stevenson of portal site Canoe concurred, â€Å"What I didn’t really prepare myself for was that they all can actually sing in concert. † The Washington Post writer Chris Richards dissented of the approval, â€Å"As the five traded couplets, it was tough to imagine a future Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin or Bobby Brown emerging from the pack. No one voice stood out. † Mike Wass of Idolator felt One Direction’s â€Å"surprisingly accomplished effortâ €  of Kings of Leon’s â€Å"Use Somebody† proved that One Direction are â€Å"more than capable† of evolving their sound. Image  Neil McCormick from The Daily Telegraph published an article on the nature of One Direction’s success in North America, noting that Americans had left a gap in the market, writing that it took the prominence of Justin Bieber to demonstrate that there was still a market for â€Å"clean cut, wholesome, whiter-than-white, middle class parent friendly pop: cute boys advocating puppy love. And what could be better than one cute boy, if not five? † One Direction have been described as sparking the resurgence in the boy band concept, and as forming part of a new â€Å"British Invasion† in the United States. Bill Werde, a representative of Billboard magazine, commented, â€Å"There’s a lot of possibility here, there’s a lot of upside, that level of talent with those kinds of looks, it’s really a perfect storm for a massive, massive successful phenomenon. † Sonny Takhar, the chief executive officer of Syco Records, attributes the breakthrough to the power of social media. â€Å"Sometimes you feel the song’s the star, but it’s not like that here – it’s the act,† he said. â€Å"It’s a real moment.

In a dark time Essay

Reading and understanding poems is a creative process that goes on in time and from line to line even as the poet’s creation does. In the poem Roethke tries to break through the barriers of rational language with paradoxes and short, seemingly unrelated statements. In a sense, Roethke’s poem is also a commentary on the experience, and his essay is another attempt to record his mystical enlightenment. Each expression in turn becomes its own experience for the writer. â€Å"In a Dark Time,† was a dictated poem, something scarcely mine at all. The allegorical nature of his spiritual journey is clear from the phrase â€Å"A man goes far to find out what he is† that by is generality universalizes and distances the speaker’s quest. His search is less for personal identity than it is for defining characteristics of the human condition-man’s nature and the limits of his understanding. His mystical experience dissolves idiosyncrasies into ultimate concerns, yet we expect more of a union with the divine, a phase he saves for the last stanza. At the end of â€Å"In a Dark Time,† the speaker returns to the opening paradox that natural darkness is actually a spiritual light, but now the paradox has a more agonizing relevance. Instead of the general statement that â€Å"In a dark time, the eye begins to see,† he now confesses that â€Å"Dark, dark/my light, and darker my desire. † In mystical literature God remains the source of all light, although He may appear as darkness to man’s limited mind. Roethke, in the poem, would be restoring the original power of the One beyond God, and what is more, identifying himself with the greater of the two. While he is not the final authority on the meaning of â€Å"In a Dark Time,† Roethke’s interpretation demands the close attention: if only by the necessities of his art, he has lived with the poem longer and more intimately than his readers. Reference: Roethke, T. (1960). Roethke: Colleted Poems. Double-day & Company, Inc.

Business Environment and Strategic Managment Essay

Business Environment and Strategic Managment - Essay Example Indeed, after the completion of the installation process, the business strategy needs to be periodically monitored as of its performance (Harrison 2012). In this way, weaknesses and failures can be identified early so that major risks in regard to all business operations are avoided. According to Herzog (2010) the strategic management process can be also completed in just three phases: â€Å"a) situation assessment, b) strategy development and c) strategy implementation† (Herzog 2010, p.17). The development of the phases of strategic management process, as described above, is based on a series of tools, also known as strategic tools. The key role of these tools is to ensure that the decision-making process is adequately supported (Herzog 2010). Certain of these tools are quite popular. Reference can be made, for example, to SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, Benchmarking, Forecasting and Financial Ratios (Herzog 2010). Each organization chooses the stra tegic tools that most respond to its needs taking into consideration the existing resources and the risks involved, both in the short and the long term (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson 2010). Also, the type of industry in which each firm operates is expected to influence the firm’s strategic management process, meaning also the strategic management tools that will be used for achieving the business objectives ((Daft, Kendrick and Vershinina 2010). The business model is another important criterion taken into account by strategic managers when having to choose the strategic tools employed in the achievement of business goals ((Daft, Kendrick and Vershinina 2010). Qatar Petroleum (QP) is the most powerful competitor in Qatar’s oil and gas sector; the company... This paper approves that the strategic management process incorporates a series of phases, aiming to help businesses to keep their value at high level. According to the literature, four are the most common phases of strategic management process: at a first level, the â€Å"vision and mission of the organization are reviewed† then, â€Å"the internal and external organizational environment needs to be analyzed† using the information retrieved through the research and the analysis developed in the previous two phases, the strategic manager proceeds to the identification of strategy that is most appropriate for supporting business goals, the â€Å"implementation of the chosen strategy† can be completed; at this level, the strategic management process should not be considered as terminated. Indeed, after the completion of the installation process, the business strategy needs to be periodically monitored as of its performance. This essay comes to the conclusion that strategic management tools can be used in both planning and evaluation of a company’s strategy or direction. According to Henry Mintzberg’s strategy can be defined as â€Å"a pattern in a stream of decisions†; based on the above definition it can be claimed that strategic tools can be effectively used for the evaluation of the performance and the strategic objectives of an organization. The specific approach to strategic management has been used in order to explore and evaluate the business strategy of Qatar Petroleum. Three widely used strategic tools have been employed: SWOT, PEST and benchmarking analyses.

War 1812 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

War 1812 - Essay Example The issue of the war was multiple and mostly was concerning economic problems between the countries. Among them was economical restrictions for American merchants on British territory, complicity of trading conditions and eventually the main reason was aspiration of the United States to become free from dependency on Britain. As far as Britain was busy with paying attention to Napoleon and his actions British authorities had to give up on their fighting for American colonies and this laid the main fundamentals of the United States as a young independent country. Ever since then the economic growth of the US started increasing rapidly. First of all, the consequences of the war were quite ambivalent. On the one hand Americans had great losses and demolition on their territory but on the other hand they got huge economic compensation. Historical and economic researches stated that even though it is impossible to count certain cost of losses still the United States got great economic impulse as their market became independent from foreign colonialists (Hickey 1989). In addition, the US got the compensation from the United Kingdom which definitely increased national funds. With the opening of the boundaries between the USA and the rest of the world economic growth started increasing rapidly. American merchants increased the amount of their trading operations and it pushed the development of different industries. Thus, production of goods grew and national economy started to develop faster. Furthermore, except for the economic independence the United States got from the war, if to take a look at the consequences of the war broaden we can see some great social-economic changes. The war led to the start of the changes from feudal system with its slavery to more capitalistic formation of the state. Evidently the decrease of the

Nike Fuel Band Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Nike Fuel Band - Essay Example That is why some people call it activity tracker and wear them on their wrist. This will help the wearers monitor their physical activity, their daily activities in line with physical fitness like for example tracking the amount of calories they are burning. With a sheer understanding of the product’s features, advantages and benefits, one can say that it is especially formulated for athletic and health-conscious people who are looking forward to keep their body in shape and boost their athletic performance. Now generally one can say that there is a potential market for this product offering, but performing market segment analysis and identifying the segment’s market characteristics, and target marketing analysis is necessary to be employed in order to possibly define a new market segment that will help increase the demand for a certain product. Definition of the market segment In this section, the work at hand presents the actual market segments that the Nike fuel band exists in. A pie chart is shown to present with ease the relevant market share and potential market relationship. According to the case that Digital Ad Blog (2013) presented concerning the Nike fuel band and its target market, athletic individuals from 24 to 35 years old with medium-high disposable income are the potential targets of the product. The blog mentioned that these are individuals with high social usage, as 18% of them appreciate the idea of social media websites as their ultimate way out to compete with friends and family concerning their exercise goals and achievements while they want to combine altogether the quality and image, and efficiency and fashion to work out. This is supported by an article that tries to establish the fact that Nike fuel band would make sense among people who are sports minded and want to compete with other friends alike (Amsden, 2012). While athletic individuals may be the ultimate targets of the Nike fuel band, the other potential market bel ongs to the individuals who may not necessarily sports minded, but are just after of achieving a significant health gain linked to their healthy decisions in life (Reid, 2013). In knowing the above information, below is an approximate division of the market segments linked to the Nike fuel band, which are also the potential source of market share for the said product offering. Illustration 1. The potential market segments for Nike fuel brand with their approximate market percentage. It is in the above market segments where Nike fuel brand generate its market share. In particular and as already stated, the primary market of the product is the athletic industry. Considering this point, the target segment, which includes the athletic individuals, should make sense. However, there is also another market segment that tries to interact with the prevailing market of the athletic individuals, and generally would include people who are becoming conscious in their health. By critically assess ing these segments, one can therefore formulate the idea that the market for athletic individuals and people who are conscious of their health cannot be too far, but complementary. In other words, a significant market share for Nike fuel band generally comes from the health industry, but in a little portion of it because it particularly focuses on the gadget. As to what percentage it takes generally from the health i

How to View Quality Theory from a Contingency Perspective Essay

How to View Quality Theory from a Contingency Perspective - Essay Example This does not mean that the work process should get routinized. Rather, enough flexibility has to be maintained, in order to meet all kinds of future changes and contingencies. In the modern dynamic business world this is far from being true. Hence there is the need is to develop a contingency approach to the quality management theories. The contingency perspective of quality management states that there can be no single management theory which can be used as a solution in all organizations under every circumstance. Hence all the elements of management, that is planning, organizing, staffing and directing needs to be suited to the requirements of the organization. The various factors upon which such decision making depends, include various environmental factors as well as several internal contingencies. (Stahl, 1999, p 78) The experts believe that the quality management is made up of two aspects namely, quality control and quality learning. Whereas control refers to the use of the quality improvement theories in an organization, learning refers to the use of the same in a contingency perspective. These two elements are also influenced by various moderators like the organizational structure and the environmental uncertainty, which in turn affects the overall performance. The managers need to have an effective balance between these two conflicting goals in the organization, so as to effectively deal with the situational uncertainties of the business. Thus it can be said that the successful working of an organization is dependent on the adaptability of its internal change processes to its external environment and to the contingencies occurring due to the nature of its business. (Giaever, 1998) A question can be asked in this regard, whether the Quality in itself is contingent or not. (Beckford, 2003, p. 151). There may be two dimensions of this question. The first one is the quality, which is determined by measuring the output of the organization.

What does it mean to say a school is doing well Essay

What does it mean to say a school is doing well - Essay Example The awareness and importance of laws and regulations to be followed can only be developed in the early learning phases; hence, it is unjustified to ignore these important areas in the core policy making of educational systems (Eisner 2001). The rationalization of education system is the concept, which according to the research and my personal opinion, forms the basis of a powerful and knowledgeable future generation. The rationalization approach mainly focuses on the consequences of any educational activity. The future or goal oriented approach to education is simply a move towards a better learning environment and future outcomes. The use of the standard educational system cannot be classified as completely irrelevant to the future development or useless but the rationalized system obviously tends to be more fruitful. The goal oriented approach to education leads to a better system where education is seen as a ways of achieving goals. The schools need to be provided with clear under standing of what is expected of them rather than what is expected of the students in the future. The clear indication of the outcomes of the system, policies and instructions simply direct a person, an institution or a system towards a known goal. The achievement of those goals also motivates the people involved and help in maintaining the pace of achievements in the future. The rationalization approach is not a generalized assumption of achieving goals, but it rather provides a target-setting approach which helps in the measurement of the outcomes achieved (Eisner 2006). The targets in the educational system need to be realistic and measurable. However, the...Nowadays, the educational systems are criticized for the lack of coherency, completeness and measurability of the outcomes. This paper aims to support a reform in terms of educational systems and supports the rationalization of educational system to increase the credibility of the learnt concepts and their practical advantages being enjoyed by the larger society. It would revolve around the basic concepts that a school really requires so that it can be said that it is going well (Eisner 2001; Karen 2006). The educational systems are basically aimed at providing conceptual and theoretical knowledge to the students. These students are hence, equipped with theories, knowledge and power to use that knowledge. But this only what we expect of the educational environments and systems. The reality, however, is sometimes different. The lack of supervision on the students and the educational institutes give rise to newer and more complex problems. The students are often found to be guilty of breaking the rules of the school like rules on plagiarism, attendance, assignment submission, copying, bribery and so on. Those these appear to be a few general issues yet the implications of these issues are devastating. The recommendations of standardized testing and rationality should be analyzed as they do not form a part of the performance of school.

Parent Education and Learning at Home Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Parent Education and Learning at Home - Essay Example The essay "Parent Education and Learning at Home" talks about the ways and the sources very helpful for parents who feel they need assistance getting down to their children, especially when helping them out in doing their homework since most parents want to help, but don’t know the right way to do it. Parents play the most important role in the education of their children, even more than the teacher, or the teacher can only teach, but a parent helps a child sink it in. For a child, only knowing that the parents are concerned is enough to boost his morale and to motivate him to work harder. According to a research, children whose parents are interested in their studies, work several times better than those whose parents are not. The best possible way for a parent to show concern in the child’s education is to take interest in and help the child do his homework since homework is an essential part of education done away from the supervision of the teacher at home. If a par ent concentrates on the child’s performance, the child is likely to do much better than he would without. A question that may arise to minds of many parents would be that why should they help when they send their children to good schools, and that if they ultimately have to do so, what the teachers are for. A simple answer to this question is that a teacher can only teach a student but a parent shapes a child’s mind. No matter how less time a child spends with his parents, it is the time he values and remembers the most. and the things they do together are integrated in his mind much more deeply. So if parents show concern and take interest in their child's education, it gives them motivation and encouragement to put in more effort n waste less time. It also makes them feel good and more attracted towards education and remember what they have studied for a longer period of time. How to help For the parents who feel confused about how and from where to start and how to get helping their children, this essay might prove to be a guide regarding how to interact and deal with them. Following are some of the numerous steps that can be followed in this regard: Set a regular time and place: Setting a regular time and place helps finish the assignments on or before the deadline and makes it a compulsion to study. If a child knows that he/she ultimately has to study during a certain time, he/she is less likely to get distracted due to thoughts of watching television, calling up a friend, playing outdoors or any other activity in this regard during the specific time. Considering setting the time, it might completely vary from family to family and child to child. Some children might do well in the afternoon after school, while some children might shine in the evening or before going to bed. The parent should decide the time according to the child's capabilities and interests. As far as the place is concerned, a fixed study area motivates to study and creates a healthy environment. A table in the room or a corner of the

Animal Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Animal Rights - Essay Example â€Å"Unfortunately, there are many animals out there who are neglected and abused† (Wilson). There are various ways, which cause animal abuse or cruelty. Some of the ways include hunting, animal testing, fur trading, use of animals in sports, factory farming, and use of animals for entertainment purposes. Some ways of showing cruelty towards animals are termed as active cruelty in which a person or a group of people intentionally hurts an animal. For example, there is a game played in Spain in which a person fights with a bull and tortures the bull until death. This is a very unpleasant and cruel behavior towards animals. To eliminate such behaviors and other forms of cruelty, animal rights activists raise their voice. This is the most intense degree of animal cruelty, which needs to be taken seriously not only by the animal rights activists but also by the government of such countries where such incidents occur.Let us take another example of animal cruelty. It is a fact that a dairy cow must give birth frequently in order to be able to produce milk. In today’s farming industry, the dairy cows are made pregnant by artificial insemination so that they are able to give birth every year. The duration of pregnancy for a cow is the same as humans, that is, nine months. Thus, giving birth every year is a very tiresome job for a cow. Moreover, in some countries, people give special drugs to their cows and goats that make these animals produce milk much more than they can produce naturally. Although, use of such drugs makes cows produce more milk, they adversely affect the mental and physical health of cows. When the production of milk is greater than the quantity of calcium made in the cows’ body, it causes calcium deficiency. In addition, these cows are also slaughtered for human consumption just when they reach the age of 2 to 3 years. Zoo animals are another example of the violation of animal rights. In some countries, there is no proper management of zoological parks and animals are not given proper diet that they need to remain healthy. This is an extreme violation of animal rights because people earn money through animals that they keep under custody but do not give required attention towards their diet and health. In natural environments, animals are free to eat their desired food but when they are kept in zoos, they do not feel free and this affects their eating habits too. Animals are also used to transport heavy luggage from one place to another. Animals are animals, they cannot say no to their owners and even if they show some resistance due to weakness, their owners beat them and forcefully make them carry heavy loads. This is a very harsh example of the violation of animal rights. Summing it up, it is very inhumane to violate the rights of animals. The acts like using animals for carrying heavy loads, keeping them in zoos, and using artificial means to make them produce more milk fall under the

Contraceptive Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Contraceptive - Article Example Condoms were the contraceptive method preferred by adolescents in Benin. However, the study also reported low uptake of contraception methods among most adolescents (Osaikhuwuomwan & Abieyuwa, 2013). Emergency contraceptives are the other commonly used contraceptive measures. According to Hickey & White (2014), most college students are aware of the emergency contraception and its availability over the counter. However, the researchers also cited that there is low confidentiality in the use of emergency contraception as a method to prevent unplanned pregnancies among the students (p. 30). The level of awareness of emergency contraception and access to the pills over the counter was high among adolescents in San Francisco Bay (Yen et al., 2014). In both studies recognize that the teenagers and youths choose to use emergency contraceptives because they are aware of the pregnancy risk and desire to prevent any form of unintended pregnancy. However, Yen et al., (2014) argue that adolescents lack enough knowledge on emergency contraceptive pills and recommend more education on the ECP among these young people to alleviate the misconception. Contrary to these three studies, other scholars attempted to investigate the relationship between contraceptive use, childbearing and future success in life. Richards & Sheeder (2014) conducted the study and found that most women felt that childbearing would not affect their educational achievement (p. 303). The perception poses a challenge to conventional pregnancy prevention counselling approaches that use contraceptive use as a motivator for women to avoid pregnancy. Most conventional counselling methods urge women to use contraceptives as the primary means to prevent pregnancy. The idea is to motivate women not to bear children at early stages in their lives to secure a bright future. However, as Richards & Sheeder (2014) found out, not all

How Did Men Deal with the Stress of World War II Essay Example for Free

How Did Men Deal with the Stress of World War II Essay The iconic â€Å"thousand-yard stare†, a far-off, unfocused gaze characteristic of soldiers who had succumbed to the trauma of war by dissociating from it, emerged with its name through the chilling photos of soldiers who were overtaken by these symptoms in the wake of World War II. It’s no surprise that war takes a toll on the psyche of all those affected by it. Given the brutality and scope of World War II, which began only 21 years after World War II (a war that had already ravaged the landscape and people of Europe leaving high estimates of the death toll at 65 million deaths), civilians and soldiers alike were engulfed in total war. As Hitler and the Nazis’ ideology was based on â€Å"A War of Extermination† fueled by a racial ideology that sought for the ethnic cleansing and complete reengineering of the social population of Europe, the massive amount of Soviet soldiers that perished as they were thrown wave after wave in order to slow the Nazi war machine, and the general cruelty that was apparent in this war, soldiers upon soldiers grew appalled by the nature of the war. As one soldier confesses in The Italian Job, â€Å"After three months, it was demoralizing†¦ it was every night, every night everybody was hunting Germans, everybody was out to kill anybody†¦ we was insane†¦ We did become like animals in the end†¦ Yes, just like rats†¦ It was far worse than the desert. You were stuck in the same place. You had nowhere to go. You didn’t get no rest, like in the desert. No sleep†¦ You never expected to see the end of it. You just forgot why you were there† (Addison 208). Often times, the amount of effort put into it and the lives sacrificed seemed to far outweigh the benefits reaped from both; Gottlob Herbert Bidderman, a German soldier that was present on the Eastern Front reflected on â€Å"the insignificance of twelve kilometers: twelve kilometers—in an endless land, where unbroken fields stretched to the horizon before us from sunrise to sunset. I wondered how many more twelve-kilometer battles lay ahead of us during our march away from the setting sun† (Bidderman 23). However, like anything that people are overexposed to, these men slowly grew accustomed to and desensitized to the trocities and horrors of the war. Human beings are naturally adaptive beings and history has shown time and time again that they do what is needed in order to survive. It would be simplistic to classify each of the nations and their armies as being uniform in their coping with the war – due to the specific nature of some of the problems and solutions that emerged from belonging to that particular nation (such as the Soviets reveling in their loyalty and the cult-like worship of Stalin and the Nazis racial ideology being one that ensured in their mind their victory), but many men, regardless of their affiliation, handled the war similarly. Some treated the time on these fronts as a long extended workday, disassociating from the acts they committed and the sights they witnessed as simply being a part of a job. Others turned to their families away from home – brothers and sisters, who through their common experiences, pains, and moments of hope, stood together in solidarity. Others turned to the bottom of a bottle to ease the pain; while others turned instead upwards to a higher power, or at the very least began to frequent religious services. Those who were not willing to look quite so loftily turned to their superiors and leaders for guidance and bravery; while in the case of the Soviet soldiers, glanced fearfully backwards as the higher-ups pushed them forward to their death. Far away from home and under harsh conditions, food and other chanced upon provisions and commodities would often serve as a best to moral. Due to the sheer breadth of stress embodied in being a soldier in any front during WWII, soldiers dealt with the immense strain in varying ways in order to keep intact their humanity, or at the very least, keep their sanity so that they could ensure their survival. There is a perception held by many idealistic, young men that war is a somewhat akin to a noble crusade. However, there is the reality is much more analogous, to as one German soldier put it â€Å"this is ten times worse than hell† (Grossman 151). A scene from the Italian Job details this hell: â€Å"some (too many, far too many) were carried in dying, with gross combinations of shattered limbs, protrusions of intestines and brain from great holes in their poor frames torn by 880millimetre shells, mortars and anti-personnel bombs. Some lay quiet and still, with legs drawn up – penetrating wounds of the abdomen. Some were carried in sitting up on the stretcher, gasping and coughing, shot through the lungs †¦ All were exhausted after being under continuous fire, and after lying in the mud for hours and days† (Addison 208). As a result, as these idealistic notions were lost, many turned to viewing the entire ordeal as a job. Having suffered through the war for some time, one soldier remarked, â€Å"You’re fighting for the skin in the line. When I was enlisted I was patriotic as hell. There’s no patriotism in the line. A boy up there 60 days in the line is in danger every minute. He ain’t fighting for patriotism† (Addison 210). Another soldier enjoyed fighting at dawn as he felt that it was almost as if he was heading off to work at the factory. Rather than consciously thinking of all of the horrors that they were witnessing on a daily basis and focusing on the fact that they could die at any moment, the concept of just doing a job provided a blanket under which these men sought to maintain control of their humanity by separating their psyches from the appalling state of being they were in. A man in an earlier war who was quoted in Addison’s book stated that â€Å"whatever its size a man’s world was his section—at most, his platoon; all that mattered to him was the one little boatload of castaways with whom he was marooned on a desert island making shift to keep off the weather and any sudden attacks by wild beast† (Addison 211). Away from their families and friends, immersed in a bloody war where hundreds upon thousands of people could die in a skirmish or battle, these soldiers could only count on each other to truly understand the situation they were currently in. Beaten and battered together, having lost many of the same friends, triumphed momentarily, or retreated hastily, this mutual understanding gave way to a support group – a family who soldiers could lean upon and secure their well being. Of this, Bidermann wrote, â€Å"Our thoughts were constantly occupied by the tenuous if not hopeless situation in which we found ourselves. We received solace only in our numbers and in being with comrades with whom we had shared so many experiences over the weeks, months, and years† (Bidermann 266). Repeatedly throughout the 3 readings, there is mention of men, whether they in the heat of battle or â€Å"relaxing† with company, being drunk. It’s no surprise as alcohol has been a means by which men have coped with their problems for thousands of years. If the problems won’t go away, the solution for some has been to drink until those problems do not register as problems anymore. As such, Holmes noted â€Å"headaches were almost universal in a theatre of war where wine and brandy were readily available† (Addison 212). Grossman ctually talks about how his battalion commander Kozlov, in the midst of battle, â€Å"withstood an attack of tanks. He was on great form and completely drunk. The tanks were thrown back in a dashing fashion† (Grossman 103). As religion has functioned as a form of comfort since the inception of civilization and the birth of religion, it was only natural for men living in depravity to come to it to relieve them of some of their burden. Subsequently, the men of the clergy were often instrumental to moral and aid. Furthermore, due to the looming possibility of death in war, the mortality of some became that much more apparent. In Bidermann’s account, he talks of a divisional chaplain named Satzger who had several times risked his life to recover wounded men. Resulting from men of the cloth like Satzger and with death looming, â€Å"many of the soldiers who had not been so inclined began to attend religious services †¦ For far too many [the chaplain] would offer the last voice of reassurance and the last vestige of comfort before they, too, succumbed to mortal wounds† (Bidermann 25). Another Catholic priest was dubbed â€Å"the rucksack priest† as he carried a field pack from which he provided troops on the front lines with simple food items that had in war become luxuries. While it may have been a spiritual solace that many received at the hands of these men of God, others attended for the sake of having a comforting and helping hand. It’s been told that leaders are supposed to lead by example. Caught in chaotic times, superior officers often functioned as beacons to rally around. In times past, great leaders such as George Washington, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan immersed themselves in battles, showing that the best commanders do not directing them from the rear, but rather leading them in the front. A commanding officer by the name of â€Å"Captain Kendall, turned a shaky company into a passably good one by public displays of sheer guts. ‘Look at me,’ he said quietly, walking from man to man under fire. ‘They can’t hit me. Look at me’† (Addison 210). Examples like this provided moral boosts to dreary men who needed something positive to cling to. Conversely, rather than inspiring by a guiding light of bravery and courage, the Soviets were incentivized onwards by the ever-present detachments behind the troops that would shoot deserters. Grossman describes this in further detail: â€Å"Stalin’s Order No. 27 – ‘Not One Step Back’ – included the instruction to each army command to organise ‘three to five well-armed [blocking] detachments (up to two hundred men each)’ to form a second line to ‘combat cowardices’ by shooti ng down any soldier who tried to run away† (Grossman 141). As many Soviet soldiers understood the likelihood of their death in squaring off against the Nazis, the desire to flee was understandable. Stalin believed that the presence of the troops would force the Soviet troops to fight even harder. Pushed forwards, the stark realization of soldiers was expressed by Grossman: â€Å"Once you are here, there is no way out. Either you will lose your head or your legs†¦ Everyone knows that those who turn and run would be shot on the spot. This was more terrifying than the Germans† (Grossman 146). Under the constant strain of needing to ration supplies and consistently cut off from supply lines, soldiers had to make do with their limited resources. Given the treacherous nature of the constant advancement and lack of luxuries, whenever there was time to enjoy the comfort brought by certain goods that had faded away from recent recollection to distant memories, the time was relished and the goods provided relief to the men. In fact, Bidermann specifically noted several instances where his regiment and he would partake in â€Å"luxuries† that were not available to them by enjoying the spoils of war. â€Å"Two August was marked by a break in the monotonous field rations, when we boiled freshly dug potatoes in an unnamed Ukrainian village. Obserschutze Fehr had already plucked a chicken, and together with the boiled hen and potatoes we ate peeled cucumbers† (Bidermann 24). In another instance, his crew discovered a still-intact collective farm and was able to enjoy hot coffee, schmalzbrot, and sleep in small thatched-roof huts. Though seemingly commonplace to us, moments such as these provided brief relief and respite from the horrors of daily life across the theatres, and allowed soldiers to momentarily reflect on how life used to be. Constantly under an onslaught of forces that, if mishandled, could cause a man to lose his mind, soldiers used some, if not all, of the aforementioned forms to provide relief or inspiration in persevering in their struggle. Under pressure, these men had to find whatever means by which to motivate themselves to return safely home, and more so than that, return home as much themselves as before.

Evaluating Ethics Of Bernie Madoffs Investment Securities Fraud Accounting Essay

Evaluating Ethics Of Bernie Madoffs Investment Securities Fraud Accounting Essay Every business has an ethical responsibility not only to stakeholders but also to society at large. This responsibility should be in line with stakeholder interest and societys welfare. The government and regulators have a responsibility of ensuring that firms follow these ethical objectives. Failure to do so may lead to losses which will not only affect stakeholders but society at large. The financial fraud which was experienced in Bernie Madoff Investments in the US is a clear example of the losses which may be incurred due to failure to observe ethical responsibility by firms. Bernie Madoff operated his company, Madoff Investments in an unethical way and this led to severe consequences to stakeholders and society at large which incurred losses amounting to billions of dollars. Although he was later arrested and punished for the crimes, his victims have not been able to recover from the financial losses incurred and several developed illnesses associated with stress and depression over the effects of the scandal. This paper will evaluate the Bernie Madoff financial fraud in relation to ethical responsibility of firms. The financial fraud practiced by Bernie Madoff will be analyzed in detail and the effects on stakeholders and society discussed. The ethical responsibility which firms have in relation to their stakeholders and society will also be analyzed in the paper. Finally, the measures which should have been taken by the government and regulators to prevent the Bernie Madoff scandal and other subsequent financial scandals will also be outlined in the paper. The discussed issues will be summarized at the end of the paper. Introduction Business ethics is an important aspect of any business environment since it ensures that the objectives of firms are achieved in ethically acceptable ways. It also ensures that firms perform their ethical responsibility towards society in order to safeguard its welfare. Businesses are expected to undertake activities in a legal way which conforms to principles such as prudence, honesty, full disclosure, social and environmental responsibility among others. They are also expected to operate in way which is environmentally and socially friendly to the local community and society. Failure to conform to ethical requirements is usually detrimental to various parties involved in the business activities. These include the shareholders, community, government, suppliers or other parties which have a stake in a business. Bernie Madoff is an American investment adviser and stock broker who operated Madoff Investments in an unethically acceptable manner. He used the company as a front to commit a Ponzi scheme which fleeced investors of over $65 billion (Arvedlund, 2009). This has been regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Madoff grew up in a humble background and he established the Madoff Investments Company with support from the father in law. A few friends and family members also supported Madoff with the operations and growth of the business. Madoff used the returns from investment to support several charitable and political causes which his firm believed in. However, in 1999, there was concern that the profits made by Madoff Investments surpassed the normal profits expected from a firm in such a venture. Markopolos, an expert in investments informed the exchange commission that it was not possible to achieve the level of profits which were achieved by Madoff Investments and it is possible that the firm engaged in fraud. Several investigations were undertaken during the next few years and in 2008, Madoff was unable to pay returns demanded by investors. It was then that he admitted that his investment scheme was a Ponzi scheme and he was later charged in court with fraud. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years and is currently serving his term. This paper will further discuss the Madoff securities scandal with reference to the ethical responsibility which organizations have against stakeholders. Bernie L Madoff investment scandal Madoff undertook financial fraud through misrepresenting the nature of his business to investors and encouraging them to invest in his company. Madoff founded a company, Madoff Investments which dealt with investment of securities and shares. He began operating with a capital of approximately $50,000 but in a decade, this sum had increased to hundreds of millions of dollars (Fred, 2009). Potential investors saw the company as successful and they invested billions of dollars in the business. However, Madoff did not deal entirely with financial investments but he carried out a Ponzi scheme, with the financial investment as the front. He used investments by new shareholders to pay returns to earlier shareholders without really making profit from the capital invested. It is important to understand how Ponzi schemes work in order to explain Madoffs strategies. Ponzi schemes are financed by capital from subsequent investors. For instance, if investor A invested in 2000 and investor B inves ted in 2001, Madoff used the capital invested by investor B to cover for the returns of investor A. Investor Bs returns would subsequently be paid by capital invested by a new investor, C and son on (Fred, 2009). In order to cover for the financial fraud, Madoff used the financial investments as a front for his fraud. He falsified return forms of investors and gave returns according to pre-determined rates in order to avoid raising suspicion. These returns, as explained, were financed by capital from subsequent investors. A computerized program was used to falsify the accounts and ensure that they balanced, to avoid suspicion from financial regulators. However, several people raised suspicion with the huge returns associated with Madoff Investments. It was seen as impossible to earn such high returns from trading in financial securities without engaging in fraud. In 1999, the first suspicions were raised although it took over ten years for the Ponzi scheme to be uncovered. This has been blamed by inefficiency by financial regulators and the US government. Effective investigations would have unearthed the scandal within the first five years of operation. However, as is common with Ponzi schemes, it collapsed. These schemes collapse when returns required by previous investors surpass the investments made by new investors (Beach, 2007). When this happened to Madoff Investments, he confided to his family that the investment firm was a just front for conducting fraud through the Ponzi scheme and it did not in fact exist. One of his sons reported this to the police. This led to his subsequent arrest and he was charged in court. He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 150 years. His family, including his wife apologized to the public although their roles in the scandal were further investigated and they were cleared. Madoff is currently serving his term. Ethical issues regarding Madoff investments It has been discussed in the introduction stage that businesses are expected to undertake their affairs in ethically acceptable ways which conform to social values. Businesses are expected to conform to principles such as prudence, honesty, full disclosure, social and environmental responsibility among others (Diller et. al., 2006). They are also expected to operate in way which is environmentally and socially friendly to the local community and society at large. Ethics usually dictates the way business undertake their operations and it is determined by organizational objectives, any professional ethics and government regulations when operating within the business environment. Firms usually follow business ethics to meet the needs of stakeholders while safeguarding the welfare of society (Beach, 2007). There are various ethical issues which arose during the Madoff scandal and which are contrary to ethical requirements of businesses. One of these issues is fraud. Businesses are not expected to engage in fraud since it is not only against business interests, but it is also illegal under law. When Madoff and his staff engaged in fraud, they broke the ethical responsibility towards organizational stakeholders and in addition, they committed a crime. This led to his jail sentence of over 100 years. The second ethical issue which arises when analyzing the Madoff case is misrepresentation. Firms are required to follow the ethical responsibility of full disclosure to all organizational stakeholders (Fred, 2009). Misrepresentation is not only a breach of ethical requirements but it is also a crime. Madoff misrepresented the state of his firms finances and a false belief that it was making profits. This is what attracted the thousands of investors to Madoff Investments. Misrepresentation als o enabled Madoff escape detection from financial regulators although there was suspicion on his illegal practices. The third ethical issue which arises from the case study is money laundering. This is the use of a legal source of revenue to hide illegal sources of revenue or revenues which have not been declared or taxed by the government. This is an unethical practice which is a crime and is punishable by many years in jail. Madoff used his investment firm as a front to hide the revenues which were received through the Ponzi scheme. The investment firm was used to portray the business activities are legal and to hide the true sources of revenue. Money laundering is a crime which Madoff was charged with and it contributed to his long jail sentence. How the investment negatively affected stakeholders There are several negative effects which Madoff Investments had on stakeholders. These will be analyzed on the basis of their relationship with the company. Investors Investors are some of the stakeholders who were worst affected by the scandal. The investment lost by investors surpassed $65 billion, which is huge by all standards. The small scale investors were most affected since many were families and households in the middle income status. Families which lost their investments suffered various adverse effects including health problems associated with stress and depression which emanated from the losses (Eamon, 2008). Some investors passed away due to health complications occasioned by the shock of losing their lifetime savings. Others had their lifestyle changing in order to accommodate the losses, some of which arose from borrowed finance used to invest in Madoff Securities. Employees Employees were also heavily affected by the Madoff Securities scandal since most lost employment opportunities. As a result of the inability of the firm to remain liquid, it was closed to ensure that further losses were not experienced by stakeholders (Eamon, 2008). Employees who relied on the firm for their livelihood lost jobs and many were unable to support themselves and their families. Some developed health complications from stress associated with loss of employment while others changed their lifestyle to accommodate their diminished income earning status. Although some employees secured employment in other firms, many suffered huge financial losses as the company was unable to compensate them for the job loss (Eamon, 2008). Creditors Creditors also suffered from the closure of Madoff Securities. There was over $100 million which was directly owed to creditors due to provision of outsourced services to Madoff Securities. It is important to note that these creditors were separate from shareholders. Some of the creditors were able to recover money owed while some could not (Eamon, 2008). This led to the closure of some of the firms which provided services and goods to Madoff Securities. Charities There are various charities which suffered as a result of the closure of Madoff Securities. Some of the charities which were affected by closure of the firm include JEHT Foundation, Robert Lappin Foundation and Chais family Foundation. These charities heavily relied on financial support from Madoff Investments and without adequate funds, some were forced to scale down their operations and provide charity services to fewer people. In addition, some of the causes which were supported by Madoff Securities such as lymphoma research also heavily suffered as a result of the liquidation of the firm. Madoff contributed over $4 million annually to support this research and the closure of Madoff Securities affected the funding towards lymphoma research (Eamon, 2008). Local communities The local community also suffered from the closure of Madoff Securities from the fraud scandal. Madoff Securities supported various social causes which the communities identified with. The firm contributed generously towards community projects which were geared towards empowering the population. This was achieved through the corporate social responsibility programs. The firm also funded education and training opportunities for needy children in the local community. After the closure of the firm, some of these causes which were supported by Madoff Securities collapsed due to absence of donors who would propagate the work which had been started by Madoff (Fred, 2009). Some of the children who would have been empowered through education also lost an opportunity after the firm was closed. Government Finally the government experienced adverse effects due to the Madoff financial scandal. One of the major effects is the loss of potential tax revenues from the firm. The firm usually paid millions of dollars in annual tax and this source of finance was lost by the government. This affected the development programs and infrastructural developed usually paid for through this tax source. In addition, the government faced adverse publicity especially due to its inability to detect the scandal and act on time even through several red flags had been raised on the issue. It was also suspicious that Madoff supported certain government causes and political parties which may have been construed to explain why he was not arrested immediately after the scandal began. The negative impact the investment had on the economy There is a macro aspect of the scandal which affected the overall American economy. Various costs were incurred by the government and economy at large, which negatively affected growth and development. The cost of the adverse health effects of the victims of the scandal including employees and investors were passed on to the economy. Investors and employees who became ill due to the stress and depression experienced partly increased the healthcare costs to the economy. The loss of manpower due to loss of jobs by employees compounded by losses incurred by investors and creditors was a huge cost to the economy. The government was partly responsible for settling these victims and it also lost revenues from the closure of the Madoff Investment firm. These indirect and direct costs which were passed on to the government reduced the available income for infrastructural and social development in the US. As a result, the economic development and growth levels were affected by the scandal. Th e weight of the funds involved which was over $60 billion, slowed down economic growth levels. Another adverse impact to the economy is a decline in investment. Many investors who had invested in Madoff Securities lost their investments and this made them reluctant to invest in future (Arvedlund, 2009). Other investors who had invested in other companies also pulled out their investments in efforts to avert a crisis similar to the one experienced at Madoff Investments. The market generally adopted a cautionary approach towards investment since the Madoff Scandal discouraged consumers from investment. The decline in investment levels directly affected economic growth. For the economy to grow there has to be high investment levels. The decline in investment due to the scandal reduced the economic growth rate. The government heavily invested in encouraging the market to invest more in securities and shares. How the scandal could have been prevented There are several measures which should have been taken to reduce the likelihood of the fraud scandal. Some of these measures should be implemented in future in order to discourage a similar scandal in the US business environment. Some of these measures will be discussed below; Audits Audits are effective in preventing fraud especially in cases where they are external in nature. Madoff did not carry out regular audits and he falsified documents in order to prevent the detection of the fraud which was being committed. External and internal audits should have been frequently undertaken in order to analyze the accurate financial position of the firm. These audits would have revealed the fraud in a timely manner and prevented further losses to the organizational stakeholders. Managers should undertake frequent audits in order to encourage ethical practices in business and to discourage fraud. Accounting technology Technology is also similarly effective in preventing accounting fraud. Technology should have been used to restrict access to information on Madoff Securities. Passwords, locks and others should have been used to restrict the confidential information and in the event that accounts were tampered with, it would have been clear on who gave authorization to access the records. Technology would also have been used to allow investors to access financial records of Madoff Investments online (Arvedlund, 2009). Access to such information would have revealed any illegal or unethical practices in the firm. Future managers should make use of technology to ensure that business operate in an ethically acceptable manner. Employee motivation Employee motivation is an effective tool in the operations of any firm. Employees have to be motivated if they are to operate in an ethical manner. This is because employees with high motivation levels are proud of firms they work in and are likely to only perform actions with are consistent with organizational goals. Such employees are therefore less likely to engage in fraud or other unethical behavior (Bateman, 2010). If the employees at Madoff Investments had high motivation levels, they would not have collaborated with Madoff in committing fraud and the scandal would have been exposed earlier. Managers should motivate employees by using both non financial and financial rewards in order to boost their performance and increase their loyalty to the firm. Government action on the Madoff Scandal The government took several measures in order to mitigate the damage caused by the financial scandal and as well as discourage further scandals in future. The first action taken was to strengthen financial regulations and investigations into market players in the stock exchange (Wilhelm Joseph, 2010). The government passed several regulations which firms were supposed to adhere to in order to ensure that they operated in ethically upright ways. Another step which was taken by the government was to develop legislation to discourage future financial fraud cases. The government developed harsh punishment for firms and people who are involved in financial fraud. This included heavy fines, prison sentences or both. These laws were passed by congress and they have been effective in discouraging fraud. The government also took steps to restitute the victims of the scandal. Various assets, revenues and accounts which were linked to Madoff Investments were frozen and funds consolidated in efforts to pay back investors (Wilhelm Joseph, 2010). Small investors received priority when being compensated although larger shareholders also received a share of revenue collected. Creditors were also compensated for the services which they had rendered to Madoff Investments. However, most investors were not fully compensated for the losses incurred due to previous money laundering strategies which Madoff had undertaken. Plea, sentencing, and prison life When Madoff was charged with the offense, he pleaded guilty for the offense. However he was not a cooperative witness and he did not reveal other people he conspired with to commit the financial fraud scandal. The judge had the option to fine him, jail him or apply both forms of sentences. The judge sentences Madoff to 150 years in prison, an equivalent of life imprisonment. How investors should protect themselves from fraud There are different measures which investors should implement in order to ensure they are not victims of fraud. The first step which investors should take is demand regular audits of their firm. Audits should be demanded through their annual AGM meetings and these will encourage the management to operate within ethically acceptable ways. The second step is consulting external experts. Experts particularly those in the financial services industry should explain the projected returns on investments over a period of time. For instance, an expert would have explained to investors in the Madoff Investment scandal that it was impossible to receive such large returns within short time periods and this would have made them suspicious of the operations of the firm. This would have prevented the losses of investment made by shareholders. Finally, investors should pressure the management to make the accounts public especially when there are media reports about an impropriety by the management. In the Madoff scandal, investors were aware of adverse reports on the operations of the firm but they ignored these reports. If they had pressured the management to release financial statements, the fraud would have been exposed earlier and saved the investors billions of dollars. The investors should ensure that they have a timely and accurate view of the financial position of their firm at any one time. Summary and conclusion This paper has discussed the Bernie Madoff financial fraud in relation to ethical responsibility of firms. The financial fraud practiced by Bernie Madoff has been analyzed in detail and the effects on stakeholders and society discussed. Bernie Madoff operated his company, Madoff Investments in an unethical way and this led to severe consequences to stakeholders and society at large which incurred losses amounting to billions of dollars. He used the company as a front to commit a Ponzi scheme which fleeced investors of over $65 billion. This has been regarded as the largest Ponzi scheme ever. However, in 1999, there was concern that the profits made by Madoff Investments surpassed the normal profits expected from a firm in such a venture. Several investigations were undertaken during the next few years and in 2008, Madoff was unable to pay returns demanded by investors. It was then that he admitted that his investment scheme was a Ponzi scheme and he was later charged in court with fr aud. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years and is currently serving his term. There are various ethical issues which arose during the Madoff scandal and which are contrary to ethical requirements of businesses. One of these issues is fraud. Businesses are not expected to engage in fraud since it is not only against business interests, but it is also illegal under law. The second ethical issue which arises when analyzing the Madoff case is misrepresentation. Firms are required to follow the ethical responsibility of full disclosure to all organizational stakeholders. Madoff misrepresented the state of his firms finances and a false belief that it was making profits. The third ethical issue which arises from the case study is money laundering. There are several negative effects which Madoff Investments had on stakeholders. Investors are some of the stakeholders who were worst affected by the scandal. The investment lost by investors surpassed $65 billion, which is huge by all standards. Employees were also heavily affected by the Madoff Securities scandal since most lost employment opportunities. Creditors also suffered from the closure of Madoff Securities. There was over $100 million which was directly owed to creditors due to provision of outsourced services to Madoff Securities. There are various charities which suffered as a result of the closure of Madoff Securities. Some of the charities which were affected by closure of the firm include JEHT Foundation, Robert Lappin Foundation and Chais family Foundation. The local community also suffered from the closure of Madoff Securities from the fraud scandal. Madoff Securities supported various social causes which the communities identified with. After the closure of the fi rm, some of these causes which were supported by Madoff Securities collapsed due to absence of donors who would propagate the work which had been started by Madoff. Finally the government experienced adverse effects due to the Madoff financial scandal. One of the major effects is the loss of potential tax revenues from the firm. In addition, the government faced adverse publicity especially due to its inability to detect the scandal and act on time even through several red flags had been raised on the issue. There are several measures which should have been taken to reduce the likelihood of the fraud scandal. Some of these measures should be implemented in future in order to discourage a similar scandal in the US business environment (Wilhelm Joseph, 2010). Audits are effective in preventing fraud especially in cases where they are external in nature. Managers should undertake frequent audits in order to encourage ethical practices in business and to discourage fraud. Technology is also similarly effective in preventing accounting fraud. Technology should have been used to restrict access to information on Madoff Securities. Future managers should make use of technology to ensure that business operate in an ethically acceptable manner. Employee motivation is an effective tool in the operations of any firm. Employees have to be motivated if they are to operate in an ethical manner. Managers should motivate employees by using both non financial and financial rewards in order to boost thei r performance and increase their loyalty to the firm (Bateman, 2010). There are different measures which investors should implement in order to ensure they are not victims of fraud. The first step which investors should take is demand regular audits of their firm. Audits should be demanded through their annual AGM meetings and these will encourage the management to operate within ethically acceptable ways. The second step is consulting external experts. Experts particularly those in the financial services industry should explain the projected returns on investments over a period of time. Finally, investors should pressure the management to make the accounts public especially when there are media reports about an impropriety by the management. They should ensure that they have a timely and accurate view of the financial position of their firm at any one time. This will ensure that firms operate in ethically acceptable principles and discourage unethical practices such as financial fraud.

Prescriptive And Descriptive Schools Of Strategy Business Essay

Prescriptive And Descriptive Schools Of Strategy Business Essay Introduction: Strategic management has become well established in all the sectors of the economies especially in the large organizations. Every business has some specific purposes a reasonable of a business is to create customers and to build a profit generating market. A customer is the foundation of the business. Survival ability is a kind of competence function of the management and nature of the business, nature of ownership, and the financial strength of the enterprises are interested. A stable enterprise always struggles to minimize the managerial tensions of the business. It is the strategy of assistance in an external environment. Ohmaes definition of strategic management is quite different. He drew three groups of strategic management which are customer, Corporation and competitors. The generator also described the importance of theme by moving from abstract idea of strategy to the concrete strategic planning of its implementation. There are different ideas and arguments among many people having interest in the strategic management but their arguments and ideas are remarkably inconclusive. Over the years the studies show that the aim and objectives specify the quantity and targets and goals towards the leadership and the effort, the investment of the resources, the abilities to be directed such that the aims and strategic intent is achieved. In this assignment you will find the schools of strategy briefly. Role of Strategic Management and competitive analysis: The major requirement of the role of the strategic analysis is the understanding of competitive situation and appraisal which directs the enterprise in the sector or market. The strategic choice is flourished by the competitive forces against the organization or enterprise. The enterprise always makes a transparent and clear activities and identities of its competitors. It is important particularly when the selected proposals are supposed to enter in the market to operate in the international market. In early 1993 Mr. Kay discussed the basic or core enterprise in which the capability of the firm or company provides the more competitive advantage in the local market and international as well. The reason of it is because the competitive advantage is relative and the firms can facilitate themselves by the applying the strategic role to other suppliers in the same market. A firm is supposed to understand and define the competitive strategic advantage arena. The strategic competitive poli cy of the Japanese and South Korean competition was pillared on the encouragement of Competitive Oligopoly among the companies within the frame work of the national protection acts. Contemporary Strategic Issues: Issue is an un solved problem or question which is need to be solved and to give a result to take a future decision but when it is strategic issue then it has major impact on the direction of the business. The strategic issues are involved in the deep simplifying strategic planning. There are many strategic issues are hidden behind the curtain in one organization which just needed to be taken out to get tackle against them. Actually a team will generate bigger list of the strategic issues then they will have time to solve it. All the strategic issues are queued in an order and the priority is given to the much serious ones. While solving the issues the team staff is permitted to discuss the terms and then it defines the scope of the issues before the discussion get into heated. Then the discussion is derived until the decision is taken placed and solutions are provided to the member or represented people of the organizations. Some of the strategic issues lead to the later strategic p lanning steps. Schools of the Strategy: Mintzberg and lampel in 1999 reviewed ten schools of strategy formulation and declared that any type of business must be driven by the strategy. The strategy has a specific role in the enterprise management but the concept of enterprise indicated that the company has vision, mission and culture and it does not look possible that any one create a future statement on the development of company or organization. Hence the plans are created for the short term future to sustain and struggle against on coming challenges. So strategy is not a set of acts to achieve the future objectives but it is concentration which is gazed upon the created plans. The contributions of ideas have been included by the schools in the followings. Cognitive School: This school is about the process of strategic decision making which is based on the concept and their frameworks already exist. Concept of business, definition of plan or action and formation of strategies are the processes of the enterprise. The cognitive school as compared to school of learning is much different it presents the mind of strategies and drawing field of cognitive psychology. The large body of research that informs the individual about the decision making and to support evidences and the abilities to adopt the same criteria in the similar situation. The more recent event having the greater influence then the past events. In addition the individuals have the cognitive style including the followings; The strategic formation is a cognitive process that takes place in the strategies stage. Strategies emerge as frames, maps and concepts. Design School: Design school is what that perceives the strategy formation as achieving getting fixed between the internal strengths and the outer threats and opportunities. The SWOT (Strengths, Weakness, Threats, opportunities) has keen importance to make help of the vision and mission of the organization. The planning and design schools are emerged from the same academic years and had so many features. Difference that are mentioned between the design and planning schools are required an implicitly imaginative steps to devise candidate strategies. Therefore the strategic businesses theories which lie behind the planning school are really wanted for business to work more efficiently and work like a machine and it leave no room for the creativity. The planning and design schools use SWOT style and these become so formalized and detailed. In practice the planning begins with an objective covered by the strategy. Entrepreneurial School: The principal aspects of an enterprise are considered here as a vision. The unique figure of future is defined with a team leader who is utilized as the source of vision and mission. The vision sets as the motivation and courage of the employees of an organization. One of the advocates named Peter Ducker identifies the entrepreneurial with the management. The entrepreneurial act is the act of economic risk taking and business enterprise institution. Entrepreneurial in the larger business or organization includes Richard Barson of Virgin and Jack Welsh as well. The domination of strategic forming by the new search opportunities. It leading to the decision making on the large scale on the face of uncertainty and its power is centralized in the hands of the chief executive. The vision of strategy is deliberated in its broad view and flexible to attain the aim or objectives. Cultural School: It defines the importance of culture as an enabler of strategic formulation. The organizational culture can be a thought of shared value beliefs and norms which are held by the people who work on it and the organizations from other organizations. The framework of the organizational culture includes the team work, control, honesty, conflicts, decision making power and rewards. It is categorized to the other aspects like dress code or as shown on the other member of the staff and consumers. In some of the cases the rules which are governing the conduct of the business are known as unwritten grounded rules. The focuses of cultural school are the social interaction of involving the others within the organization for the purpose of strategy formation and the reflection of strategy which emerges the understandings and beliefs of those within the organization. Positioning School: The positioning school is the school which provides the strategic approach to the planning of analytical approach and aims to define the common place through the industry situation. The industry analysis is based on the Porters five forces analysis. The positioning school is driven like both the programmatic and consultancy driven as well and it looks like the design school. Actually the numbers of things in this paragraph are not to draw conclusion for the school and everything is implicit or assumed. It is the knowledge view that is not in circular flow or the expected development has no long term value attached to this kind of knowledge the required data is being saved and kept by the consultants and The Gurus. Now it is just relying on the long term condition of predictability that has nothing to say about the implementation and the competitors and company itself had a broadly shared determined world view. This theme was originally create by the consultants for their personal ben efits. Mitzberg has drawn an explanation for the production of performance, attendance and the constant cycle of rehearsal. By reviewing the ideology of this school it seems like that we can make better characterized entrepreneurial ideology in two parts. Based on Dialectic but crucially world view Based on the investment into specific uncertainty From the given prescription of Mintzberg we might be getting few numbers of misgivings about the positioning school of strategy. Planning School: Planning school contributes with the structural planning process with many levels of decision making. The different levels allow the people who make decisions to analyze many aspects of strategy as corporate. This school is meant to be the bridge between the business practice and theory of traditional business (old world) and the risk management (new world). In order to make it functional it is important to take it in ones notice that how the business runs and the running figures being utilized in the scenario. The way of doing remains unspecified despite the claimed formality of the proceeding stage. The objective toward the goal remains under discussion and it is formed by the tricky process between them by the act of negotiations. Mintzberg dicussed about the planning theories. The parts that are eliminated from the theory are creative imagination except for the Porters five Planning Schools Scenario. It was initially considered that the planning school of strategy is different fr om the idea of strategies being a form of knowledge probably these are inherited uncertainly. While capturing the business form of objectives and programmatic goals assumed that all other things are different that is the place where strategy formula is disappeared. Thus the Strategic School of Planning rejects the existence of uncertainty in any of the form and it is almost a meta strategy of placing truth in the formal planning process. The planning school marks points where the business modeling has been taken off by the effect of risk management techniques to make a statistical model of the market or company. Until now the Mintzberg keeping the sides of both of the fallacy of predetermination and the fallacy of detachment. The legacy of business strategic planning school is that business plan and business model that had formed the degraded liberatory emancripatory language of ghetto poverty. Its discredited certainties of a positive business theory against the life tsunami of un certainties. All the situation looks like same that was arguably the high point of rational approach to strategic management. Power School: The school which focuses on the strategy making pillared of power. Numbers of two approaches power exist in a company where the organization uses the power on its suppliers or customers. The culture to elaborate principles and polices that leads to the relationship among people is called Micro Power. The combination of power with the other strategy groups id that is beyond the economic terms because the influence of the power for one organization will affect the politics of the firm. It started in the early 1990s. The roles of this school are some times to negotiate the implicit contracts to build the power base and building a larger and powerful department. In budget: to govern more resources playing with in clearly defined rules. The political action or continuing process can be the internal persuasion and in few cases confrontation with the shifting interests. Learning School: The learning school exploits the strategy model like a learning process where the competencies and capabilities are important parts of the process and strategies that are underpin. In an enterprise concept the core competence is the concept that is supposed to be used. The perspectives of learning school are that the workers inside the organization get ideologies that how can them respond to adopt the situation in the positive manner. The premises of this school are described as the many number of individuals in an organization are involved with the formation and learning of strategy. The formation and the implementation of the strategy cannot be separated and this whole process occurs over a long time. The strategic school learning of raises the question that who is the architect of strategy. Environment School: This believes that the strategies and the companies have a life cycle and it rotates continually. So it seems important to understand the demand and supply of the products that are being used under the policies of the organization or a company and there is a viable strategy to exist is needed. The individuals acquire the organizations beliefs by a process of socialization reinforce by the formal training session. The environmental strategy making is a process that reflects the patterns of actions. The beginning of environmental school was from the 1990s. It viewed as the forces working outside the organization are active and the organization itself it trying to obtain the energy from outside to merge it or gain it to compete in the strategic environment. The basic participation of the Environmental school is to bring the overall view of strategy to maintain the balance. The strategic school is of the point of view is that the one company or enterprise is sole responsible for the form ation of strategy. The school had premises outside the environmental forces are the central person in the making of a strategy plan. Configuration School: The transformation process viewed as the strategy for the company in order to undertake such revolutionary alteration. The strategy is one of the most important aspects of the enterprise. Most of the enterprises state it as stable like adopting a particular structure for a number of strategies. The stability time durations are like a life cycle in the organization or company. The purpose of strategic management is to control the process of change by not effecting the negative way on the company. The configuration school of strategy and other schools of strategic management are employed at different times. The key is to elect a relevant school of choice to complete the project by depending on the circumstances on other side a particular process for development of strategy can be suggested over there. All these school had considered to define the frame work for the organization. Strategy Formulation in the large company or organization: The formulation can be divided into two inter related components and parts to get better understand. These are corporate strategy and Business strategy. The corporate strategy is related with the issues of strategic management at the level of the enterprise. There are few directions that should develop its activity in which it can develop the nature of its internal architecture and the nature of the relationship with its sector. The Business strategy is what in which the enterprises establishes the strategies for the organizational business activities and the specific division or business units operations can be allocated. Strategy formulation in SME: The formation of strategy in the SME small to medium sized enterprises it is unluckily to differentiate to make difference between the business and corporate strategy. You will be amazed to know that the strategy of the enterprise is its business strategy until the SME flourishes to an efficient size to think about issues of corporate development and the external relationship. In the well known series of Mintzberg and colleagues (1985b, 1987b) the basis of strategy are categorized under the following headings Self imposed The requirement The deliberate Rationalistic Logically incremental The emergent Conclusion: There are different ideas and arguments among many people having interest in the strategic management but their arguments and ideas are remarkably inconclusive. Over the years the studies show that the aim and objectives specify the quantity and targets and goals towards the leadership and the effort, the investment of the resources, the abilities to be directed such that the aims and strategic intent is achieved. References: Books: Strategic Management by Paul Joyce Adrian Woods (Published 2001) ISBN 0 74943583 6. Strategic Planning and management for Library Managers by Joseph Matthews (Published in 2005) ISBN 1-59158231-8. Hand Book on Enterprise Architecture by P.Bernus, L. Nemes and G. Schmidt issued in 2003 ISBN 3-540-00343. Principles of strategic management by Tony Morden (published in 2007) ISBN 978-0-7546-4474-3. Internet: [www.strategyletter.com] http://www.strategyletter.com/cp_0799/FeaturedArticle.php [www.nickpelling.com] http://www.nickpelling.com/dissertation/chapter4.pdf

Computers In Our Society :: essays research papers

Don’t know anything about computers? Don’t think they are a big part of your life? Think again! Computers are wondrous machines that improve our lives in many areas like education, entertainment, and work.(Paragraph)The use of computers in and out of school has made improvements in the way we learn. For instance, “the use of computers in the classroom has freed up some of my time so I can give more individualized instruction to the needy,'; says Instructor Mary S. Teachemall of a local neighborhood grade school is a definite improvement over not having computers as a way of learning. Also, college students having easy access to computers for various school related tasks’ like changing complete blocks of text on a term paper in a split second, using graphics to better express a particular point or idea, and being able to tap into the world wide web where vast amounts of information is at the fingertips of the user is a marked improvement from 10 years ago. Furt hermore, the use of computers in the home has extended the hours we can learn at a higher level without the environmental pressures of school or work thereby improving the way we learn.(paragraph)Also, the use of computers has expanded our choices for entertainment. As an example, the all-American game of Monopoly can be played by a single person and a computer and the need for several people has been obsoleted is one way our choices for entertainment have been expanded. Another example of our expanding choices is that you can not only watch movies on DVD (Digital Video Disc) but re-edit them with your own sound tracks and special effects, listen to music on CD-rom’s, even manufacture your own cartoons or even your own movies all on a computer. Moreover, the ability of the computer to link a person with others from far away places where conversations without inferences are sparked and ideas are exchanged internationally is a popular selection for millions everyday as a choice for entertainment.(paragraph)I also think the working environment where computers are used is becoming more and more diverse. As an example, farmers have computers in their tractors hooked up to GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) systems that not only tell them where to spray their pesticides but are programmed to take care of the task for them as they drive along all because a digital image from a satellite some 23,000 miles away saw too many bugs in a certain part of one of his fields is very diverse.

The Importance of Football in the Movie Varsity Blues Essay -- Varsity

The Importance of Football in the Movie Varsity Blues Sports play such a huge role in our society; many people form their lives around watching or playing a certain sport. In my house, when football season starts, my dad and brother watch football religiously every Sunday and Monday. On Sundays some of my dad’s friends come over to watch the game, my mom prepares snacks and lunch for â€Å"the guys†. When the game is on they are so interested in it, that they have no idea what is going on around them, I try to talk to my dad when the game is on and he always seems to ignore me. I love how they get so into the game, and cheer really loud and yell at the television. For them like many other people, they have found football to be a hobby, something to do in there past time. They have formed habits around watching the game. In the movie â€Å"Varsity Blues,† football isn’t just a past time for the town, but it is a way of life, the whole town is involved in the high school football team. â€Å"Varsity Blues† takes place in a small town in Texas called West Canyon, in this town if you are a healthy boy, then you are a football player. Young males have tons of pressure from their families, friends, teachers, and others in the town to play football, and take the game very seriously. But how did this town get so involved in the sport, why do they make such a huge deal about the game, and what happens if you are a male in West Canyon and you do not believe the world revolves around a high school football team. Jonathan Mox grew up in this town, with all of these pressures, but he did not agree that high school football was the most important thing in life. His father really pressures him because he used to play football as well and takes it very seriously, and thinks that Mox should as well. The movie begins with Mox explaining how football means everything to the town he says, â€Å"football is it’s own society in West Canyon.† Mox started playing football at a young age with his other friends and team mates. They were taught to listen to what the coach says and to win at all costs, football is how they are brought up. The coach at West Canyon is Bud Kilmore, who has been the coach for 30 years, and has never lost a game. He has coached generation after generation of football players. Kilmore also coached Mox’s father, him and some of the other fathers go to the practices ... ... Kilmore coach them, and winning the game without a coach. He was on the inside, he saw the affect that the game was having on his friends and wanted to do something right to fix it. That took a lot of guts for him to do that. Although I think being involved in a sport is a positive thing, but in this situation it was not. Being involved in a sport was one of the best things I ever did. I starting playing soccer at the age of 7 and did not stop until I was out of high school. I loved to play soccer more than anything, I would play fall soccer, spring, winter, and summer leagues, and I could never get enough of soccer. I too, just as Mox had a couple of coaches I did not agree with, I hated to play for them because I felt that they had other motto’s besides just coaching the team. I would still play because I loved the game but did not agree with what they had to say. If I had a good coach I would play my hardest to help the team out. Sports really shape our society, and culture. You will not find very many people who do not have some love for at least one sport or another. There are so many sports out there that people love and will always watch the sport of their choice.