Thursday, October 31, 2019

What's a Gaffer Do Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

What's a Gaffer Do - Assignment Example Lighting, its effective designing and timely execution is crucial for the success of any shot, making the man responsible for the whole affair central to the art of filmmaking. According to Iggy, one of the leading gaffers in the filmmaking and who is also an avid blogger, the prerequisites for working as a gaffer is the acquisition of technical knowledge and a sound know-how of the equipment (Iggy, n.p.). For having an executive position, creativity and decision making skills are extremely crucial as well. Gaffer unions and guilds do exist; they offer internships as well as support for a gaffer while s/he is under employment. For example, the Motion Picture Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians Local 728 is one such organization listed on the IATSE website that works to support gaffers in the filmmaking industry (IATSE 728). An initiation fee is usually mandatory to gain membership in such unions. A gaffer’s importance to filmmaking cannot be emphasized enough since it is on e of the most pivotal roles in the entire process of cinematography. Effective management of the lighting on the set ensures a brilliant filming of a scene; hence, the correlation between a good gaffer and the success of the film is strong. Best Boy Electric is the assistant to the gaffer in the filmmaking industry.... To get started as a best boy, it is not necessary to have an academic degree since it is sound technical knowledge and effective organizational skills that determine a best boy’s success on the film set. As far as internships in the field are concerned, there are plenty of opportunities for a prospective best boy to learn the tricks of the trade, either under the mentorship of a professional gaffer or by enrolling in technical assistance programs offered. For instance, the Film New Orleans webpage offers a list of individuals who can assist upcoming technicians to train as best boys (Film New Orleans). The medium of filmmaking is extremely dependent upon the efforts of the best boy, especially in the productions phase, making the job central to the lights, camera and action. A Dolly grip is one of the posts that is related to the cinematographic field of filmmaking. Responsibilities of a dolly grip revolve around the technical supervision and operation of the camera dolly. A w ord known to filmmakers, the Media College defines a camera dolly as specialized equipment, a lot like a track, along which the camera moves (Camera Moves). The camera dolly not only allows the cameraman to take smooth shots but also facilitates the capturing of shots from multiple angles. Since a dolly grip is responsible for the operation of the camera dolly, the post is very closely related to that of a cameraman and thus falls under the camera department. In essence, it is a post linked with the production process of filmmaking. As is the case with most of the production department related posts, a dolly grip does not require prior academic achievements to be able to enter the field. Moreover, since the dolly grip is required to handle and

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Certain rules and regulations related to the commercial domain Essay

Certain rules and regulations related to the commercial domain - Essay Example This study looks into law as ‘the rule that the society will enforce’. The notion of law has been used by several aspects like economic activities, such as production and consumption, social activities, such as social integration and relationship, but the most important aspect is related to the business or the commercial activities. In this context the notion of business law has been used. The role of the competition commission where the person is working can be described by the Competition Act that has been introduced in 1998 under the UK law act. The competition commission is a member body of the ‘competition and regulatory responsibilities under UK law’. The competition commission is part of the competition law of the UK. The competition commission is public body that is characterised as a non-departmental organisation. The commission was started as an independent body by the act of 1998 by replacing the ‘Monopolies and Mergers Commission’ on 1999. The commission is aimed at conducting in-detail investigations into: †¢ Mergers (which are either anticipated or completed), †¢ Markets (which is related to the scale monopolies and monopoly practices) †¢ Regulations (including price regulations and industry regulations etc.). These are the major roles of the commission where the person works as a trainee. The role of the commission is to investigate those above mentioned practices and activities and to refer these investigations to the Office of Fair Trade (OFT). The commission cannot initiate any investigation unless it receives reference by another authority. The commission is responsible for taking decisions regarding the mergers and market and for providing remedial measures to industries. These remedial measures are related to the adverse effects which are or can be obtained by mergers and consumers or producers in the market. After completing its investigation the commission produces a report regarding the investigation and its associated results and submits this to the concerned authority and hence, provides remedial measures or decisions (Competition Commission: General Advice and Information, 2006, p.7). The commission conducted a study on â€Å"Public Enterprises, Government Policy and Impact on Competition: Indian Petroleum Industry† on reference by Indicus Analytics Pvt. Ltd. The objective of the study was to examine the nature of competition in Petroleum Refining. The study showed that there is monopoly in the domestic market and suggested that to introduce competition in the market, it is necessary to lift restrictions on imports (Public Enterprises, Government Policy and Impact on Competition:  Indian Petroleum Industry, 2009) Under the Competition Act 1998, 50 public schools were fined for fee fixing by OFT. These schools include Eton and Harrow. Each school was ordered to pay a fine of ? 10000. Around 40000 students who attended between 2001 and 2004 were supposed to beneficiaries (Smithers, 2006). 2. What are monopolies, mergers and cartels? Monopolies, mergers and cartels are the form of economic organisations where one or very few producers produce homogeneous products. A monopoly is defined as the market structure where only one producer or firm produces and supplies a particular product to all the customers of that product. In the UK market for postal service, the Royal Mail had a 350

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Bilateral Investment Treaties: Breach of Treaty or Contract

Bilateral Investment Treaties: Breach of Treaty or Contract The face of international investment has changed radically thanks to the proliferation of BITs in the past decade. This has led to foreign investment disputes increasingly being resolved through dispute resolution procedure. But the increase in arbitration to resolve investment related disputes hasnt been successful in resolving some of the issues arising from BITs. Rather some of the recent decision in international investment has exposed some of the underlying problem between the theoretical aspect of the bit and the practical aspect[1]. One of the major issues creating a lot of controversy is related to interpreting that umbrella clause in different BITs[2] and the conflict between breach of treaty v breach of contract. This clause, found in most of the BITs requires that each contracting party must honour and observe all obligations that have been entered with the investor from the other contracting state. This clause basically helps the investor to raise a contractual claim unde r the domestic law to a treaty claim under the BITs. According to Jarrod Wong the application of such clause results in the international arbitration tribunal constituted under the BIT (the BIT tribunal) to take jurisdiction over breach-of-contract claims since the umbrella clause raises the breach of contract to a treaty level breach which automatically gives jurisdiction to the tribunal[3]. To put it in the simplest way, it means that the investor can now ask the international investment tribunal to redress the breach of the investment contact by elevating it to the status of breach of the investment treat by way of international arbitration. Vivendi[4], SGS v. Pakistan[5], and SGS v. Philippines[6] are the three cases decided by International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal that have fuelled the controversy relating to umbrella clause[7] and additionally have discussed the relationship between a breach of contract and breach of treaty.   The above cases have shown how international arbitrators are inconsistent in their approach towards interpreting the umbrella clause in the governing BITs. This has led to a conflict on how the two-principal aspect of international investment practice work in consonance with each other. The two-principal aspect constitute of investment contract which is validated by the hosts states domestic law and the international investment agreement which are mostly the BITs[8]. If this underlying uncertainty isnt resolved soon, then the growth and favourability of international investment stands threatened.[9] Since overlaps between contract and treaty claims ar e expected to arise with increased frequency in the interim period (as a result of the ever-increasing scope of BIT coverage)[10]. This essay will first analyse the relationship between a contractual claim and treaty claim when both arise from same set of facts (a single action of the host state giving rise to the breach). The analysis will be done by discussing how different tribunal have assisted in developing this jurisprudence as it stands today and if there are any fault and changes required in the jurisprudence. The second part of the essay will deal the umbrella clause jurisprudence by focusing and dissecting the decision and reasoning of the tribunal in the SGS decision that have shaped the concept as it is today. At the end the conclusion will involve the analysis and recommendation relating to the jurisprudence discussed below and will also provide an analysis of the decisions that will be referred to. The parties in an investment transaction receive their substantive and procedural rights from the combination of different norm starting from the investment contract itself that is entered between the foreign investor and the local government which gives rise to private right and obligation. Then there is the domestic law of the host state that govern and protects the substantial rights and obligation of the party. These domestic laws fill in the normative gaps that arise in the contract, those domestic laws are mostly in the form of tax laws, environmental law et al. Domestic laws create substantive and procedural right and obligation in addition to those undertaken through the contract. Finally, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and Multilateral Investment Treaties (MITs) also govern many international foreign investments that required the host state to adhere to obligation by a fixed set of international law. A combination of the above norms provides for a suitable investment e nvironment for the foreign investor protecting and guaranteeing a return on the investment made.[11] The above set of norm give rise to different rights and there is claim under all the three set of norm and at time those claims can arise from a single set of facts. All the three norms work simultaneously to protect and observe all the right and obligation of the parties. As all the norm work together at times both contractual and treat claims can come from a single set of facts, that fact being the act of the government which can breach the investment contract and the investment treaty at the same time. The question that arises here is that if single set of facts gives rise to both treaty and contractual claims then will the tribunal have jurisdiction or will the court have jurisdiction over the dispute? This jurisprudence stands clarified that the tribunal will have jurisdiction over the treaty claims and the local court or arbitrator will have jurisdiction over contractual claims by international tribunal time and again, the most recent being the famous SGS decisions and it was first dealt with by the Lanco v Argentina[12] Tribunal. This ICSID jurisprudence established in Lanco[13] was based on the forum selection clause contained in the concession agreement which was in favour of domestic courts in Argentina. Argentina argued that because of the clause the tribunal has no jurisdiction over treaty claims as the consent in the contract by way of the forum selection clause over rides the general consent given in the BIT for ICSID arbitration. The tribunal however rejected the argument stating that United States-Argentina BIT allows the investor to submit the dispute to ICSID for treaty based claims and the consent is an expressed consent and cannot in any case be overridden by the consent given in the contract.[14] The Annulment Committee in the Vivendi case affirmed the Vivindi Tribunals decision on the issue relating to forum selection clause which was in line with the Lanco decision. The tribunal basically stated that the ICSID tribunal will never be deprived of jurisdiction over a treaty claim, including the case of treaty claims arising out of the contract even when there is a forum selection clause in the contract.[15] The tribunal in the Vivindi[16] case stated that in no way the forum selection clause would be: deemed to prevent the investor from proceeding under the ICSID Convention against the Argentine Republic on a claim charging the Argentine Republic with a violation of the Argentine-French BIT.[17] The forum selection clause was again a point of contention between the parties in both the SGS dispute and the tribunals decisions was in line with the prior jurisprudence. While discussing the SGS decisions one important point that is mostly not noted is that in both the disputes the tribunal asserted jurisdiction over the treaty claim which arose directly from the investment agreement. This cemented the ICSID jurisprudence that was established in earlier cases, both treaty claims and contractual claims can arise from the same set of facts. It can also be stated that, notwithstanding any forum selection clause, in a matter of treaty violation an international tribunal will always have jurisdiction over the treaty based claim. The tribunal in SGS v Pakistan cited the Vivindi annulment decision where the committee stated: [W] here the fundamental basis of the claim is a treaty laying down an independent standard by which the conduct of the parties is to be judged, the existence of an exclusive jurisdiction clause in a contract between the claimant and the respondent state cannot operate as a bar to the application of the treaty standard. At most, it might be relevant-as municipal law will often be relevant-in assessing whether there has been a breach of the treaty.[18] The tribunal also particularly stated that it will deal with the violation related to the treaty only and there will be no jurisdictional overlap with the PSI arbitrator as the PSI arbitrator will be dealing with contractual violation even though both the dispute arise from the same set of facts.[19] It must also be noted that the tribunal in SGS v Philippines also had to deal with similar type of forum selection clause and its decision was again in line with earlier jurisprudence. The SGS tribunals were consistent in their decision on forum selection clause in an underlying contract and also followed the jurisprudence that was established. The effect is that once treaty based claims are found and framed then the treaty based tribunal have the power to adjudicate them and no other forum selection clause can abridge that right. This authority will in no condition be abdicated on the reason that they claim are linked or arise from claims related to contracts. No forum selection clause in an underlying contract or a parallel proceeding relating to the claims can rob or stop the treaty based tribunal from deciding the treaty based claim as clear differentiation can be established between treaty based claims and contractual claims even if they arise from the same set of facts. We saw that there is a clear differentiation between a tribunal asserting jurisdiction on treaty claims when the dispute arises from the same set of fact related to an underlying investment contract. But the umbrella clause aims to do just the opposite by equating contract breaches with treaty breaches. SGS v Pakistan was the first case to deal with the umbrella clause in its practical aspect back in 2003 and then this question was again dealt with by SGS v Philippines. While trying to deal with the question of umbrella clause the SGS decisions left us with conflicting and confusing interpretation of the umbrella clause. The confusion can be attributed to how the SGS decisions lie on the opposite end of the spectrum, while SGS v. Pakistan determined that the BIT tribunal does not have any jurisdiction over contractual claims on the ground (that umbrella clause is very wide in its scope and there was no intention to cover contractual dispute), conversely SGS v. Philippines held that a BIT tribunal in fact has such jurisdiction (as the umbrella clause is to be applied as it is) but still held that it should not exercise this jurisdiction where the investment agreement contains an exclusive forum selection clause designating a specific but different forum from BIT tribunal for resolving disputes arising under the contract. The United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations has stated that the presence of an umbrella clause in a treaty: makes the respect of such contracts [between the host State and the investor] an obligation under the treaty. Thus, the breach of such a contract by the host State would engage its responsibility under the agreement and-unless direct dispute settlement procedures come into play-entitle the home State to exercise diplomatic protection of the investor.[20] The inclusion of umbrella clause has widened the definition of a arbitrable dispute and over the time tribunal have found and concluded that jurisdiction of a tribunal is no more restricted to claims of violation of substantive provision of BIT.[21] It may be noted that the clauses in BITs are not yet tested as they have been drafted keeping in mind the future requirement for an favourable investment and they are put to test only when any dispute arises and they are placed before an arbitral tribunal. Two of the recent decision relates to the interpretation of the umbrella clause discussed below shows what challenges can the umbrella clause being with them. The SGS Reasonings The SGS decision are the two most recent and important decision on umbrella clause. While SGS v Pakistan took a very restrictive approach in interpreting the clause over contractual claims, SGS v Philippines made a broad interpretation of the umbrella clause by covering both treaty claims and contractual claims. SGS v Pakistan was faced with an umbrella clause, which according to the tribunal was very broad in its scope. The tribunal went on to state that the clause is so broad that it cant be construed to cover contractual claims (compromissory clause article 9 of BIT only intended to cover treaty claims not contractual claims)[22].   The tribunal also found that the umbrella clause in article 11 of the BIT did not transfer SGS contractual claims in to BIT claim. The tribunal stated that a straight forward reading and literal interpretation of the clause encompasses the contractual claims, but the tribunal was concerned that it will convert every contractual claim into a breach of BIT claim and would open a floodgate of cases.[23] The tribunal was very explicit in stating that they dont intent the clause to be so wide in its scope and assumed that the parties also never intended to do so. Giving effect to the clause would be exceeding what the contracting parties intended and the tri bunal is willing to accept.[24] So eventually the tribunal took jurisdiction over treaty claim only and allowed to PSI arbitrator to resolve the contractual disputes. SGS v Philippines was faced with the decision of the earlier SGS v Pakistan tribunal which came before some months only. The tribunal felt that the SGS v Pakistan tribunal didnt give the full and proper effect to the umbrella clause stating that the clause doesnt change the applicable   law on the contract from Philippines law to international.[25] The applicable law remains the domestic law only, the umbrella clause makes sure that the host state honours the obligation it has undertaken under the contract in effect, the clause help to secure the performance of the contract obligation by the host state in relation to international investment protection law.[26] Surprisingly after giving a broad interpretation to the clause the tribunal suspended the proceedings asking the claimant to get the judgement from the domestic court first and then come back to the tribunal if the claimant finds that the judgment is unsatisfactory or the host state doesnt comply with the judgment. The tribunal felt that they have jurisdiction over the dispute, but it is not yet admissible as there is another forum selection clause closer to the contract and if that fail then the tribunal can take jurisdiction.[27] Basically, speaking the tribunal stated that they have jurisdiction over the matter but it will become admission when the forum selection clause doesnt provide justice it will be admissible as it will get elevated to treat violation under the doctrine of denial of justice under international law.[28] Its clear by now that both tribunals decided not to decide on the contractual claim. As Thomas W Walde states, this happened because both the tribunal feared that it will open a floodgate. The SGS v Pakistan was much sincere and clearly vocal about the fear whereas the SGS v Philippines tribunal wrapped it in a more technical consideration.[29] In the end, we can see that both the SGS decision have left the concept of Umbrella clause on a very uneven ground by reaching at two different conclusions. In my opinion an umbrella clause provides much more confidence than a forum selection clause. The reason umbrella clause is preferred because it provides for the disputes to be resolved by a neutral tribunal as both the parties have equal say in the selection and appointment of the tribunals. whereas the forum selection clause requires that the dispute be resolved by a domestic court where the host state has an interest. This doesnt help to instil any confidence of the foreign investor in the domestic forum.[30] The SGS v Pakistan tribunal didnt take into consideration the entire jurisprudence of international law, had it vested far enough it would have realised that the jurisprudence states that contracts of aliens with a government are protected under international law, but only if there are not merely commercial, but have an e lement of governmental powers and prerogative.[31] The intention and aim of investment treaty are not to cover and protect normal commercial functions but rather the action of the government which may seem business like but are sovereign in nature. Had the tribunal delved and concentrated on this core aspect of international investment law it would have realised that the PSI contract involves the power of government (matter related to custom and revenue are the sovereign function of government and PSI agreement was a contract relating to the sovereign action of the Pakistan government) and it would have been able to assert jurisdiction without opening any floodgates. In my opinion when there is an umbrella clause, the parties should go ahead to give effect to the clause, however wide it is. The jurisprudence behind the umbrella clause is to give it a broad interpretation by literally reading it the way it is written. Further, if the argument given in the decision are carried to the extreme, it would invalidate not just the umbrella clause, but all BIT provisions. Conversely the host state should be the one to take the first step to allow the umbrella to take effect and raise the contract claim to treaty claim. Although this step would benefit both the parties, but the host state stands to gain from this action rather than loosing anything. My analogy is based on the assumptions that such an action would be beneficial to the host state, as it will be seen as a positive and pro-investment stance by other investors. The host state stand to benefit by way of a more hospitable, more attractive environment for foreign investment by the adoption of the BIT provisions such as clause like umbrella clause (also forum section clause). Another issue that arises is, reengaging with the clause of the BIT after the investment and that too after a claim has arisen, creates uncertainty in the global marketplace and this may will result in investor losing confidence in the host effecting loss of investment opportunity. In my conclusion, I complete agree with what Jarrod wong states, the language, history and purpose of umbrella clause dictates one reasonable interpretation that it applies to investment contracts without any exception and hence it should be enforced in case of any dispute in accordance with the partys agreement.[32] Moreover, a foreign investor enters an investment agreement with the host by drawing confidence from the BIT and its clauses should be applied as it is until and unless it is blatantly against any concept of international law. Some recent cases have tried to deal with the interpretation of the umbrella clause. while some went for the decision went for Broad, Unconditional Plain Meaning of the clause like SGS v. Paraguay[33] and EDF v. Argentina[34]. Those cases stuck to the concept that there should be a plain meaning buy some of them went for conditional plan meaning but none of the tribunal went ahead to clarify the confusion created by the SGS decision. We are slowly seeing a trend in the practice but far from reaching a conclusive finality. So, the present requirement is for ICSID to clarify on the umbrella issue that has cropped up because of the SGS decisions and the interpretation of the clause should be broad and literal as the jurisprudence related to the umbrella clause suggests. [1] Yuval Shany, Contract Claims Vs. Treaty Claims: Mapping Conflicts Between Icsid Decisions On Multisourced Investment Claims, The American Journal of International Law, American Society of International LawVol. 99, No. 4 (Oct., 2005), pp. 835-851 [2] Jarrod Wong, Umbrella Clauses in Bilateral Investment Treaties: Of Breaches of Contract, Treaty Violations, and the Divide between Developing and Developed Countries in Foreign Investment Disputes, 14 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 135 (2006). [3] ibid [4] Compania de Aquas del Aconquija, S.A. v. Argentina, Decision on Annulment, ICSID No. ARB/97/3, 41 ILM 1135, 1154 (2002). [5] SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance S.A. v. Pakistan, Decision on Jurisdiction, ICSID No. ARB/01/13 (Aug. 6, 2003), 18 ICSID REV. 301 (2003), 42 ILM 1290 (2003) [6] SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance S.A. v. Philippines, Decision on Jurisdiction, ICSID No. ARB/02/6 (Jan. 29, 2004) [7] Shany, (n1) [8] ibid [9] Cf Kalypso Nicolaidis Joyce L. Tong, Diversity or Cacophony? The Continuing Debate over New Sources of International Law, 25 MICH.J. INTL L. 1349, 1351 (2004) [10] Shany, (n1) [11] Ibid., pp. 835-851 [12] Lanco International Inc. v. the Argentine Republic (hereinafter Lanco), ICSID Case No. ARB/97/6, Preliminary Decision: Jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal, 8 December 1998, 40 I.L.M. 457, 2001 [13] Ibid. [14] ibid., at para. 31. [15] Compania de Aguas del Aconquija S.A. and Vivendi Universal v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/97/3, Decision on Annulment of 3 July 2002, 41 I.L.M. 1135, 2002, at para. 50. [16] ibid [17] ibid., at para. 54 [18] ibid., at para. 140 [19] SGS v Pakistan (n 5) at para 186 187 [20] United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations, Bilateral Investment Treaties, UNCTC, 1988, at 39. [21] Christoph Schreuer, Travelling the BIT Route: of waiting periods, umbrella clause and Fork in the road, 5 J.W.I.T 2, 231 (2004) [22] ibid [23] Stanimir a alexandrov, Breaches of Contract and Breaches of Treaty: The Jurisdiction of Treaty-based Arbitration Tribunals to Decide Breach of Contract Claims in SGs v Pakistan and SGs v Philippines [2004] 5 J. World Investment Trade 55 [24] Emmanuel Gaillard, Investment Treaty Arbitration and Jurisdiction Over Contract Claims- the SGS Cases Considered in International Investment Law and Arbitration: Leading cases from the ICSID, NAFTA, Bilateral Treaties and Customary International Law, Tod Weiler Editor (2005).257, 2004, at 271-272 [25] alexandrov, (n 23) [26] SGS v Philippine (n 6) at para 126 [27] Stephen Schwebel, International Protection of Contractual Agreements (1959) A.S.I.L. Proc. 273 [28] ibid [29] Thomas W. Wà ¤lde, The Umbrella (or Sanctity of Contract/Pacta sunt Servanda) Clause in Investment Arbitration: A Comment on Original Intentions and Recent [2004] 1(4) TDM   1 [30] Wong, (n 2) [31] Schwebel, (n 24) [32] Wong, (n 2) [33] Socià ©tà © Gà ©nà ©rale de Surveillance S.A. v. Republic of the Philippines, ICSID Case No. ARB/02/6 [34] EDF International S.A., SAUR International S.A. and Leon Participaciones Argentinas S.A. v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/23 Cocaine Addiction: History, Effects and Symptoms Cocaine Addiction: History, Effects and Symptoms Cocaine Addiction An Overview of Cocaine Addiction What is Cocaine? Cocaine is a stimulant drug that produces a greater effect of ‘high’ than other drugs such as methamphetamine. It comes in a form of white powder or crystal form with a bitter numbing taste. In general, the powder form is mixed with other materials such as talcum powder, icing sugar, cornstarch or other drugs such as amphetamine or procaine. Cocaine is derived from coca leaves, then processed into cocaine hydrochloride to produce the base of the drug which is develop into two forms recognized as crack and freebase. White crack typically comes in the shape of crystals varies in color from creamy or white to a transparent color with a yellow or pink tinge whereas freebase is the white crystalline powder form. Cocaine generally snorted through the nasal tissues hence absorbed into the bloodstream. Some people also rub the drug at their gums and swallowing it. Ways of ingesting it depends on the preference of the users, some want a rapid high sensation would inject it or inh ale it as a vapor or smoke. Cocaine is widely known by many names that includes pepsi, coke, crack, Charlie, base, sugar block and rock. Brief History Cocaine was once misclassified as a narcotic drug that depresses the nervous system. It is a powerful stimulant and indigenous natives chewed the coca leaves for boosts of energy. The natives believed it was given by the God and reserves the coca’s pleasure for royalties and high priests. In overtime, the coca leaves were spread to the common people. In 1860, the secret of the coca leaves caught the attention of a pharmaceutical company located in Germany. In the facility, the ancient coca leaf collided with modern chemistry and the drug’s active ingredients are isolated from coca’s chemical properties by chemist, Albert Niemann. After the chemical isolation, a crystal substance is formed and it was named Cocaine which derives from â€Å"coca† and the alkaloid suffix â€Å"-ine†. Niemann stripped the leaves of its mono rating substances and unknowingly created the world’s most addictive drug. How it is used? There are four common ways of ingesting cocaine which are oral, intravenous, intranasal and inhalation. In other street terms it is called chewing, injecting or mainlining, snorting and smoking. Intravenous use is a method of using a hypodermic needle to inject cocaine directly into the bloodstream causing instant intense effect to the user. Whereas intranasal administration is the process of snorting powdered cocaine through the external opening of the nose. Smoking cocaine requires breathing in the smoke or vapor of a burning cocaine into the lungs where the effects are sucked up into the bloodstream to create instantaneous euphoric high as such injecting cocaine. Users should be aware that there are absolute no safe way of using cocaine as the listed methods of using the drug result in absorption of toxic amounts of cocaine, cerebrovascular emergencies, acute cardiovascular and seizures that can to sudden death. Effects on the brain Cocaine activates norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, chemicals that stimulates movements, excitement and feelings of pleasure. Normally, when you get excited, startle, and frighten the brain makes you react in order to get out from harm’s way. Cocaine works in the similar way in the brain automatically without you needing it to occur. This addictive drug is a powerful central nervous system stimulant that stimulates the growth of neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain which is responsible to regulate movement and pleasure. Generally, dopamine is freed by neurons in response to potential rewards and reprocess back into the cell that freed it and eventually shutting off signals in linked with neurons. Cocaine stops the dopamine from being reused thus leading to excessive number of dopamine to develop in the synapse. This process causes amplification of the dopamine signals and eventually disrupts standard brain communication. The overflow of dopamine is the main cause of cr eating the cocaine’s euphoric high. Constant heavy usage of the cocaine can cause permanent long-term modification of the brain’s reward system and also other systems of the brain. Effects on the lungs Smoking cocaine is the main contribution to the majority lung and breathing complications. Users smoke crack, freebase or paste by using water pipes, glass pipes or cigarettes, heated using matches or butane lighters. Residue from the cocaine contaminants, matches, tars and additives as such marijuana usually causes chronic coughing, bronchitis, and coughing black phlegm thus leading to multiple chest pain and shortness of breath. The practice of breath holding and deep inhalation technique maximizes the volume of cocaine inhaled and the absorption and can cause collapsing of the lung. At times, users often express sharp pains in the chest area due to deep breathing, neck pain, painful swallowing and buildup of air under the skin located at the neck area called subcutaneous emphysema, which has a feature of crackling touch sensation similar to Rice Krispies cereal. In addition, smoking cocaine can also cause pulmonary edema, a condition of the lung being filled with fluids that can c ause severe shortness in breath, respiratory failure and later death. Effects on the heart Cocaine stimulates the sympathetic nervous system that is mainly responsible for the fight response function which is controlled mostly by epinephrine or adrenaline. Increased of heart rates, high blood pressure and narrowing of blood vessels are the effects of using cocaine. Other type of cardiovascular complications that are caused by cocaine include rapid heart rate and abnormal heart rhythms known as cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a disease that weakens the walls of the aorta and causes aortic dissection and rupture of the heart muscle. Repeated use of cocaine can also cause narrowing in the arteries of the heart that can lead to the decrease of blood flow in the heart organ thus causing symptoms of angina, where heart muscles are deprived of oxygen-rich blood that usually cause death of heart tissues and heart attack. In addition, cocaine is also responsible for subsequent narrowing and accelerated hardening of the coronary arteries of the heart which results in heart attacks and cardiac deaths among users from the age of 19 to 44 years of age. Signs of Cocaine Abuse Addiction Cocaine is a drug that is highly addictive and interferes how the brain processes chemicals responsible for the feelings of pleasure. Users who are addicted to cocaine will lose control over the usage of the drug. Strong urges of need for the drug emerge from time to time although most users know the consequences after taking it. Here are some signs of cocaine addiction: Mood Swings The drug cocaine causes addicts to â€Å"crash† when they decide to quit. The term crash refers to moments where the addict’s mood swings changes rapidly from high to distress which causes addicts to continue taking it in order to feel normal. Excess of using the drug may lead to addiction. Withdrawal symptoms Addicts who are addicted to cocaine may show withdrawal symptoms of the drug. Withdrawal symptoms may include hunger, depression, suicidal thoughts, intense cravings, extended sleep or restless sleep, irritability and exhaustion. Abusing cocaine will seem the easy way out to not experience any withdrawal symptoms thus bringing the addict back to relapsing the drug. Change in Behavior If an addict abuses cocaine, their behavior will dramatically change after using the drug. The addict may seem happy or excited and acts more confidently to display an enthusiastic sense of well-being. Addicts also may appear talkative than usual, sexually excited, energy levels increased and loss of food appetite. Eye Changes The most obvious signs of abusing cocaine is the addict’s eyes. The pupil of their eyes are dilated and overly sensitive to light. The pupil is the black part in the eye and usually will constrict when there is light shone into it and get bigger when the presence of light is gone. Cocaine causes the addict’s pupils to dilate or get bigger than its usual size. Nasal Effect Other signs of cocaine addiction include nasal effects. Cocaine addicts usually have runny noses and nose bleed after prolonged use of the drug. Cocaine is heavily snorted through the nasal passages resulting narrowing in blood vessels which can cause blood pressure to increase and decrease in blood flow to the nasal cavity tissues. Without the right amount of blood supply to the nasal cavity tissues, the normal function of the nose may undergo massive damages such as loss of sense of smell and overall health may also be affected. Family members and loved ones should also be on the look-out for traces of white colored powder around the addict’s nose as an indication of cocaine abuse. Skin Effect Another sign of cocaine abuse is scratching of the skin. Cocaine users typically experience irritating crawling feelings under the skin. This crawling feeling is known as ‘snow bugs’ or ‘cocaine bugs’. Addicts describe the feeling of cocaine bugs as burning, itching, biting and creeping. Some addicts will tend to always scratch their skin until it bleeds to ease the irritation. Keep an eye for small bleeding wounds and formation of scabs on your loved ones to identify the abuse of cocaine. Over-Heating Regular cocaine addicts will always find themselves sweating excessively due to dramatic increase of the body temperature. Addicts may also hallucinate and feel agitated, confused and paranoid easily. Family members should notice behaviors of their loved ones such as constant pulling off their clothes or tries to cool down the body with cold showers, wandering the streets without reasons and violent behaviors as signs of cocaine addiction. Treating Cocaine Addiction Without proper treatment, cocaine addiction and abuse can lead to destructive injuries and irreversible harm. In due course, similar to other substance addiction it will cause overdose, accidents, chronic health issues and death. At Solace Sabah, we offer the latest drug recovery program that incorporates cutting edge psychotherapies, modern medicines, committed aftercare, family integration and customized treatment plans. Every client will be provided with thorough and effective care for even the worst possible case of drug addiction. If you find your loved one is relying highly on cocaine and powerless to stop using the drug, treatment and immediate intervention are their best option for a chance to live a healthy life again. Contact us today at Solace Sabah to gain an understanding on how our in-depth addiction treatment program can help your loved ones to start the recovery journey.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Spacecrafts :: Space Shuttle Outer Space Race

Spacecrafts The first spacecraft was launched into space on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union. Since then, there have been many more spacecrafts launched into space. I want to find out where the idea for sending a spacecraft into space came from, what spacecrafts do for the average person in their day to day lives, why the space race so important to the U.S. and the USSR and the advancements it made in spacecraft technology, and what NASA and other space agencies are planning to do with spacecrafts in the future. I have always had an interest in this subject and want to find out more about it. In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proved mathematically that it was possible to launch a spacecraft into space using liquid fuels. After that, many people began working on ways to accomplish what Tsiolkovsky proved mathematically. Twelve years later, in 1915, Robert Goddard established that it was possible to send a rocket to the moon. In 1926, Goddard took a big step by launching the first liquid-fuel rocket. The Soviets took the first huge step in space by launching the first satellite, Sputnik 1 into space in 1957. The Soviets also took the next big step in space by putting the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the moon. Since then, there have been many launches and missions into space. Ever since Tsiolkovsky proved it was possible to launch a spacecraft into space, people worked very hard to make that a reality. Although Tsiolkovsky did not come up with the idea to send a spacecraft into space, he did prove it was possible and got the ball rolling in sending a rocket into space. Spacecrafts do a lot of things for many people who do not even realize that they are using spacecraft technology to do what they are doing. When you watch the news in the morning to get the weather for the day, a satellite was used to observe weather patterns around the globe to provide the information you are viewing on the television. Any time you use your cell phone, you are using a satellite to connect to the person on the other line. Many people have satellite television rather than cable, which transfers information from a satellite to your television. Spacecrafts :: Space Shuttle Outer Space Race Spacecrafts The first spacecraft was launched into space on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union. Since then, there have been many more spacecrafts launched into space. I want to find out where the idea for sending a spacecraft into space came from, what spacecrafts do for the average person in their day to day lives, why the space race so important to the U.S. and the USSR and the advancements it made in spacecraft technology, and what NASA and other space agencies are planning to do with spacecrafts in the future. I have always had an interest in this subject and want to find out more about it. In 1903, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky proved mathematically that it was possible to launch a spacecraft into space using liquid fuels. After that, many people began working on ways to accomplish what Tsiolkovsky proved mathematically. Twelve years later, in 1915, Robert Goddard established that it was possible to send a rocket to the moon. In 1926, Goddard took a big step by launching the first liquid-fuel rocket. The Soviets took the first huge step in space by launching the first satellite, Sputnik 1 into space in 1957. The Soviets also took the next big step in space by putting the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first human to step onto the moon. Since then, there have been many launches and missions into space. Ever since Tsiolkovsky proved it was possible to launch a spacecraft into space, people worked very hard to make that a reality. Although Tsiolkovsky did not come up with the idea to send a spacecraft into space, he did prove it was possible and got the ball rolling in sending a rocket into space. Spacecrafts do a lot of things for many people who do not even realize that they are using spacecraft technology to do what they are doing. When you watch the news in the morning to get the weather for the day, a satellite was used to observe weather patterns around the globe to provide the information you are viewing on the television. Any time you use your cell phone, you are using a satellite to connect to the person on the other line. Many people have satellite television rather than cable, which transfers information from a satellite to your television.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Siemens Violation of Ethics

Volume 12 Issue 13 Version 1. 0 Year 2012 Type: Double Blind Peer Reviewed International Research Journal Publisher: Global Journals Inc. (USA) Online ISSN: 2249-4588 & Print ISSN: 0975-5853 Global Journal of Management and Business Research A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory By Zhu Wenzhong & Fu Limin Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS) Abstract – Hand in hand with prosper of International business brought by globalization, many ethical problems have been surfacing in the past decades: bribery, corruption, human rights issues, etc.Business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is becoming the focal point of waged and animated debate. The increasing attention on it generates many relative theories, among which Freeman’s stakeholder theory stands out. This paper, backed by Freeman’s stakeholder theory, conducts a case study of Simens’ violation of busi ness ethics by analyzing its recent bribery scandal in Argentina. After a detailed analysis of the interests of Siemens’ stakeholders, it draws a conclusion of Siemens’ severe violation of business ethics, and thus suggests some solutions.Keywords : Simens Telecommunication; Business Bribery; Stakeholder Analysis. GJMBR-A Classification : FOR Code: 150303,150301 JEL Code: M21 A CaseStudyofSiemensViolationofBusinessEthicsinArgentineBasedOnStakeholderTheory Strictly as per the compliance and regulations of:  © 2012. Zhu Wenzhong & Fu Limin. This is a research/review paper, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3. 0 Unported License http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc/3. /), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Zhu Wenzhong & Fu Limin Abstract – Hand in hand with prosper of International business brought by globalization, many ethical problems have been surfacing in the past decades: bribery, corruption, human rights issues, etc. Business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is becoming the focal point of waged and animated debate.The increasing attention on it generates many relative theories, among which Freeman’s stakeholder theory stands out. This paper, backed by Freeman’s stakeholder theory, conducts a case study of Simens’ violation of business ethics by analyzing its recent bribery scandal in Argentina. After a detailed analysis of the interests of Siemens’ stakeholders, it draws a conclusion of Siemens’ severe violation of business ethics, and thus suggests some solutions. ? ? Keywords : Simens Telecommunication; Business Bribery; Stakeholder Analysis.II. Literary Review usiness ethics is a form of applied ethics or professional ethic s that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. To put it in a simple way, business ethics involves the application of standards of moral behavior to business situations. Despite the fact that the concept â€Å"business ethics† was firstly proposed in 1970s and hailed as oxymoron, it witnessed a waged and animated debate as well as increased public awareness ever since.On one hand, there is a huge growth of number of businessmen who realize that pure profit-oriented corporate operation can not stand permanently in a global market where customers’ ethic awareness is increasing; on the other hand, more and more companies find themselves time and again stuck in ethic dilemmas. For instance, bribery, as one of the notorious business ethical problems, has surfaced as important issues in an increasingly interdependent world economy. The increasing attention on business ethics not only takes place in business practices, b ut also in Author ? PhD, Professor of School of English for International Business, research member of Research Center for International Trade and Economics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), No. 2, North Baiyun Avenue, Guangzhou 510420, China. E-mail : [email  protected] com Author ? : Student of School of English for International Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies (GDUFS), No. 2, North Baiyun Avenue, Guangzhou 510420, China. B I. Introduction a) Concept of Stakeholder The term â€Å"stakeholder† was first used in a 1963 internal memorandum at the Stanford Research Institute.It was originally detailed by R. Edward Freeeman in the book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach in 1984. What is a stakeholder? The earliest definition offered by an internal report of Standford Research Institute in 1963, they define it as those groups that directly influence the organization’s existence. Freeman continues to employ this term by further defining it as those groups that are so vital to the organization that they dominantly affect the organization’s survival and success and can also be affected by the actions of the business (Freeman, 1984).The term â€Å"stakeholder† is a variant of the familiar and traditional idea of stockholders—the investors in or the owners of business. It has experienced an evolution and progress in its scope and range. In the traditional view, the stockholders or the shareholders are the owners of the firm, therefore, a firm has binding fiduciary duty to give the top priority to stockholders by satisfying their needs in the first place and increasing their output. It is based on the inputoutput model in which firms have to only address wishes and benefits of parties closely pertinent to its operation: investors, mployees, suppliers, and customers (Donaldson and Preston, 1995). However, along with the growth of corporation, the scope and range of stakeholder also expand, w hich  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I academic fields. Scholars’ study on business ethics also gave birth to a famous theory: stakeholder theory, put forward by R. Edward Freeman, which in turn serves as the theoretical foundation of business ethics study. The theory attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts† by identifying the stakeholders in business ethics practices.Based on business ethics and stakeholder theory, this paper proposes to conduct a case study by analyzing Siemens’ latest business ethics violation—the Bribery Scandal in Argentina. Following the analysis, suggestions pertinent to this issue are also put forward. 75 Year 2012 A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory is typically presented in Freeman’s stakeholder theory. 76 theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization.It identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can give due regard to the interests of those groups. In short, it attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts. In Freeman’s stakeholder theory, stakeholder are not only those people who have direct stakes in the firm but also those who are equivalently influential as well, especially in affecting reputation and public image, but their stake is more representational of public than direct.Stakeholder theory argues that every legimate person or group participating in the activities of a firm do so to obtain benefits and that the priority of the interests of all legitimate stakeholders is not self-evident. From this perspective, the groups of stakeholders expand to government and social institutions etc. In his book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, Freeman outlines groups of stakeholder in both internal and external environment. Internal stakeholders are as follows: employees, managers, and owners.External stakeholders are: suppliers, customers, society, government, creditor, shareholders, competitors, communities, academics, NGOs or activists, environmentalists, media, etc. As in Freeman’s Strategic Management: a Stakeholder Approach, the stakeholder theory is a theory of organizational management and business ethics that addresses morals and values in managing an organization. It identifies and models the groups which are stakeholders of a corporation, and both describes and recommends methods by which management can give due regard to the interests of those groups.In short, it attempts to address the â€Å"Principle of Who or What Really Counts. In Freeman’s stakeholder theory, stakeholder are not only those people who have direct stakes in the firm but also those who are equivalently in fluential as well, especially in affecting reputation and public image, but their stake is more representational of public than direct. Stakeholder theory argues that every legitimate person or group participating in the activities of a firm do so to obtain benefits and that the priority of the interests of all legitimate stakeholders is not self-evident.From this perspective, the groups of stakeholders expand to government and social institutions etc. In his Strategic Management-Analytical Methods for Stakeholder Management, Freeman (1984) clearly comes out with the stakeholder management theory which refers to the management activities  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) b) Freeman’s Stakeholder Theory As in Freeman’s Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach, the stakeholder theory is a Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I management of an enterprise carries out to balance the stake requirements of stakeholders.Compar ed to the traditional shareholders supremacists, this theory holds that the development of any enterprise is closely related to the investment and participation of each stakeholder and the pursuit of an enterprise is the entire stake of all stakeholders instead of some major stakes. Stakeholders not only include the shareholders, creditors, employees, consumers, suppliers etc. of the enterprise, but also pressure groups such as government, local residents, local communities, medias, environmentalists etc. even the natural environment, future generations etc. who may be directly or indirectly affected by the operation of the enterprise.These stakeholders are closely related to the development of the enterprise, they share the operation risk of the enterprise, some pay a cost for the operation of the enterprise, some supervise and constrain the enterprise, and the decisions of the enterprise must take their stakes into consideration and accept their constraints. In this sense an enter prise is the institutional arrangement of intelligence and management professionalization investment, the development of an enterprise relies on the quality of responses to the requirements of each stakeholder instead of only shareholders.This corporate management idea explains the corporate performance appraisal and the core of management, which lies foundation for the later theory of performance appraisal Year 2012 c) Stakeholder Theory and CSR CSR The Effect of Stakeholder Theory in the Study of The are many common grounds between CSR and stakeholder theory as both are concerned about the relatioship between the enterprises and their shareholders and the enterprises and individuals and social group apart from their stareholders; however the two are different concerpts. What they study and care are problems of different levels and categories.CSR considers the influence of enterprises on society from the perspective of the whole society and care the relationship between enterprises and the society; while stakeholder theory care more about the relationship between enterprises and stakeholders from the perspective of the enterprises. Ever since the establishment of CSR its supporters spread from various institutions, scholars and ordinary people, which helps in the development of CSR. However this theory encountered lots of problems in practice, and needs further study and improvement.In the process of seeking solution to these problems, we usually introduce stakeholder theory to help to resolve those problems. i. Modification of Shareholder Primacy Theory by The biggest barrier to the implementation of CSR is the Shareholder Primacy rule to some extent, Friedman et. holds that the only purpose for the Stakeholder Theory A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Economic Social Quality Investors Social Welfare Suppliers Legal Customers Enterprises Moral Environment Resources EmployeesWorld Sustainable Development Cultural Figure 2 : 1 Theoretical Model of CSR Source : Freeman, R. E: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach [M]. Boston, Pitman Press, 1984  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I existence of enterprises is to maximize the profit and shareholder benefits. Their three interrelated propositions are a. shareholders should reserve the right to control the enterprise; b. managers are entrusted the responsibility to singley serve the interest of shareholders; c. he object of enterprises is to maximize the wealth of shareholders; while stakeholder theory holds that i, stakeholders who are affected by the enterprise have the right to participate enterprise decision-making; ii, managers are entrusted with the responsibility to serve the interests of all stakeholders; iii, the object of enterprises is to enhance the interests of all stakeholder not just shareholders’. Stakeholder theory holds that enterprises are ‘contract unities’ consisted of many a stakeholders and the investment comes not just shareholders but also employees, suppliers and creditors of the enterprise.Shareholders provide the material captial and other stakeholders provide not only material capital but also human capital which is equivalent to material capital in term of significance particularly in today’s knowledge economy. And in some aspects the siginificance human capital exceeds the siginificance of material capital. Enterprises are not simply the ‘aggregation’ of material capital any more but a kind of ‘institutional arrangement of goverance and management of professional investment’ and in essence they are the aggregations of various contracts.The risks of enterprises should not just be bore by shareholders ii. Indentification of Subjects for Shouldering Social Viewing from the various definitions of CSR, it is easy to conclude that the benef icaries of enterprises’ shouldering social responsibilities are people of the society including investors, employees, clients, creditors and beneficiaries of environement and resources, social security and welfare etc. Through shouldering corresponding social responsibilities and taking social benefits as target range, enterprises can maximize their contributions to the sustainable development.And the responsibilities they take are legal, economic, moral, cultural aspects, however today there still lots of people stand against CSR. Responsibility and Defining Responsibilities 77 Year 2012 and other stakeholders should also share the risks, as a result the owners of enterprisers should not be confined to shareholders and all the stakeholders are the owners of enterprises. The rights of stakeholders are equal and independent, they jointly own the enterpises.While challenging the shareholder priamcy principle, stakeholder theory clears the way for the development of CSR theory i n that CSR theory has long been holding that the only mission of enterprises to increase shareholder interests should be changed and thinks that enterprises should view problems from a higher ground and consider their relations with all the stakehoders, the entire society and shoulder some social responsibility. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder TheoryYear 2012 They start from the point where the subjects and contents of obligations of corporate social responsibility are vague and think that enterprises should not shoulder social responsibilities. Some business and law scholars even think there is not subjects for corporate social responsibility in that there are no satisfactory answers for questions such as the whom should enterprises responsible for, whom can be the subjects that urges enterprises to shoulder responsibilities?To vaguely say that customers, ordinary people and the social communities these enterprises belo ng to is not enough because the groups can hardly be obligees to exist meanwhile they also hold that the content of social responsibilities is also vague. Currently the understanding of stakeholders generally include the first class stakeholders that affect the existence of enterprises, and the secondary stakeholders who do not affect the existence of enterprises or are affected by the enterprises.Though the definition is extensive, it indentifies stakeholders as shown in the following basic framework: investors, employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, trade associations, local communities, political groups etc. Government Investors Creditors 78 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Suppliers Customers Enterprises Trade Associations Employees Communities Figure 2 : 2 Theoretical Model of Stakeholder Theory Source : Freeman, R. E: Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach [M].Boston, Pitman Press, 1984 Many foreign scholars studying CSR and stakeholder theory holds that stakeholder theory can be introduced to the study of CSR, Carroll (1991) thinks that stakeholder theory should be applied to the study of CSR and it can be used to identify the orientation of CSR, and by the identification of each relevant stakeholder group the range of CSR can be identified. Clarkson (1995) stakeholder theory can provide a ‘theoretical framework’, in which CSR can be identified as the relations between enterprises and stakeholders, for the study of CSR.Just as Evan and Freeman (1993) had it that ‘though it cannot replace CSR, stakeholder theory can be regarded as an important condition for the study of CSR and it can specify the subjects the enterprises should be responsible for’. In this stage when the theoretical research of CSR still needs to be carried further, we can adopt stakeholder theory to  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) define the range of responsibilities enterprises should carry. This is both possible and necessary and enterprises can be responsible for each stakeholders in the framework of stakeholder theory. ii. Case Description Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Siemens and its subsidiaries employ approximately 420,800 people across nearly 190 countries. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company with activities in the fields of industry, energy and healthcare. It is organized into six main divisions: Industry, Energy, Healthcare, Equity Investments, Siemens IT Solutions and Services and Siemens Financial Services (SFS).A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory For government, iv. Case Analysis Bribery has been defined as â€Å"the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties. â⠂¬  (Fritzsche, 1998). The bribe is the gift bestowed to influence the recipient's conduct and the outcomes of decisions wherein the nature and extent of the influence are not made public. The item of value may be direct payments of money or property.It may also be in the form of a kickback after a deal has been completed. It may be any money, good, right in action, property, preferment, privilege, emolument, object of value, advantage, or merely a promise or undertaking to induce or influence the action, vote, or influence of a person in an official or public capacity. Based on Freeman’s stakeholder theory, the first step in the analysis of this case is to identify the a) Stakeholders of Siemens Firstly, the bribery would reduce freedom of choice by altering the conditions under which a decision is made.Its appeal of additional gains for some government officials would lure them to select the less attractive alternative which provides less total satisfaction. By doing so, i t adversely would disrupt the official’s decision and undermined fair competition among the industry. If the De La Rua administration’s doubt that the cost of each electronic ID reported by Siemens was twice what the government estimated is true, then the government has to pay the price for the hidden payment with more governmental expenditure, which leads to a greater loss of money of the government.Secondly, it would damage the authority, prestige and force of laws and regulations. The bribery circumvented the legal system and obtained illegal interest, which is a contempt against laws and is detrimental to the implementation of laws. Thirdly, it would undermines attempts by governments to improve the overall wealth of the nation, diminish the image of government and governing party, and further lose people’s trust.  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I On Dec. 3, 2011, The Securi ties and Exchange Commission charged seven former Siemens executives with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for their involvement in the company's decade-long bribery scheme in Argentina to retain a $1 billion government contract to produce national identity cards for Argentine citizens. According to the SEC's complaint filed in U. S. District Court in Manhattan, the scheme lasted from approximately 1996 to early 2007. Initially, in the 1990s, Menem government planned to implement all national electronic ID cards, known as Documentos Nacionales de Identidad (DNI) for every Argentine citizen.In order to obtain the contract which is total of 1. 26 billion U. S. dollars, Siemens bribed Argentine government officials with 70 million U. S. dollars through intermediary. Menem government finally signed the contract with Siemens in 1998. But a change in Argentine political administrations foiled the contract: after the next President Fernando De La Rua came into office, som e officials questioned the contract on the ground that the cost of each electronic ID reported by siemens was twice what the government estimated. Therefore, the government announced the suspension and cancellation of the contract.In a political change and economic crisis, Duhalde succeeded De La Rua as the president. During his term of office, Simens was told by the intermediary that a 27 million U. S. dollars bribery could â€Å"resurrect the contract†. In order to revive the contract, Siemens paid additional bribes in a failed effort to Kirchner government until 2004. When the company later instituted an arbitration proceeding to recover its costs and expected profits from the canceled contract, Siemens paid additional bribes to suppress evidence that the contract originally had been obtained through corruption. elevant stakeholders and determine the positive and negative impacts on the stakeholders. The stakeholders affected by Siemens’ bribery in this case include Simens’ stockholders; Siemens’ employees; Siemens’ supplier; Local community; the Argentine government; Argentine community; Simens’ competitor; Siemens’ competitors’ employees and stockholders. For Siemens’ stockholders, the contract with the Argentine government would increase profit and gain market share for them. Even though bribery was needed to win the contract, the profit yielded in the contract can not only cover the bribery but also trigger more.For Siemens’ employees, the profit yielded from the contract would also benefit themselves a lot. It is likely that their pay got increase, bonus and allowance met a growth, working environment had much improvement etc. For Siemens’ suppliers, the growth of Siemens means the growth of themselves as long as they are in a cooperative business relationship. The increase of Siemens’ business would lead to more orders to Siemens and more profit for them. For the local community, the contract would bring cascade effect: it would create more jobs for local people.The local community would benefit from the employment of its citizens which would bring money into the community and provide additional tax revenues. The prosper of Simens’ business can also cast a positive influence to relative industries. b) Impact on stakeholders 79 Year 2012 A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory For Argentine community, 80 Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I From the perspective of whole economy system and environment, it would: ?. inder fair and just competition and disrupt the order of the whole economic system. Instead of gain market share with quality, businesses would turn to shortcuts like relationship with government officials ?. Result in allocating more resources to a less desirable alternative. The failure of the allocation system would lead to stagnation of technology, service and the whole industry structure. ?. Increase the cost of transaction, and do harm to public’s interest. The higher cost would result in higer prices or even monopoly. From the whole society, it would: ?. Cast damage to social redit and rot the social conduct. On one hand, the prevalence of bribery destroys the mutual trust and equity of businesses; on the other hand, businesses with good compliance to laws are suppressed and discouraged. ?. Violate code of ethics. ?. Breed more and more relative crimes. Bribery is always accompanied with business secret theft, deception and evasion of taxes. For Argentine people, the greater expense on the ID project would result in more outflow of taxpayers money from their pocket in that the misconduct and wrongdoings of officials would be shared by all the community.The bribery would harm taxpayers as well as undermine public support for governments. For Siemens’ competitors, Siemens’ bri bery would deprive them of fair competition in this project, and further distort trade The loss of the competitors is invisible, though, but solid. For Siemens’ stockholders, employees and local community, the loss of the contract would provide lower profits for the stockholders, fewer jobs for the employees and less money in the competitors’ local community.Taking the interest of all stakeholders into account, Siemens violated business ethics seriously, even though it brought some illegal benefits to its own stockholders. V. different actions of organization. The four stages are: ethical awareness, ethical reasoning, ethical action, and ethical leadership. i. Ethical awareness Ethic Awareness is the foundation of an ethical climate. Through ethical awareness, employees learn how to identify problems and how to resolve them. In this stage, code of conduct must be established to support ethic awareness.Formal statement that defines how the organization expects and requi res employees to resolve ethical questions must be delivered. A code of conduct typically addresses issues pertaining to; preferred style of dress, avoiding illegal drugs, following instructions of superiors, being reliable and prompt, maintaining confidentiality, not accepting personal gifts from stakeholders as a result of company role, avoiding racial or sexual discrimination, avoiding conflict of interest. ii.Ethical reasoning Since codes of conduct cannot detail a solution for every ethical situation, so corporations provide training in ethical reasoning. Courses in Ethical Reasoning teach employees to reason in a principled way about moral and political beliefs and practices, and to deliberate and assess claims for themselves about ethical issues. Students examine the competing conceptions and theories of ethical concepts such as the good life, obligation, rights, justice, and liberty with a focus on developing the ability to assess and weigh the reasons for and against adopti ng them to address concrete ethical dilemmas.Employees in these courses may encounter a value system very different from their own that calls attention to their own ethical assumptions. iii. Ethical action Ethical action involves helping employees recognize and reason through ethical problems and turning them into ethical actions. It takes preparing, assessing, deciding, implementing, and reflecting. Whenever employees encounter ethical dilemmas or problems, Siemens should help them out by applying their code of conduct to practice: identifying the issues, assessing them, deciding solutions, implementing solutions and reflecting them.The current Siemens’ bribery scandal is good example for its employees to review and retrospect the ethical problems concerning bribery, and encourages them to probe into the hidden reasons and seek more proper solutions. iv. Ethical leadership In this stage, executives must demonstrate ethical behavior in their actions. Leaders are first and for emost members of their organizations and stakeholder groups. Since they hold most of the senior positions and are decision makers, their values, vision and ethical standard case great impact on subordinates and thus impact the whole organization. To shape Year 2012 Suggestion organizational ethicalSiemens’ bribery scandal is by no means the first violation of business ethics. Back to 2008, its decades-long bribery scheme with 1. 3 billion U. S. dollars shocked the world. Subsequently, it was accused of posting business secret of competitors. Its continuous scandal is an indication that Siemens fails to form an ethical corporate culture and ethical environment. To make a change of the current scandal and prevent any further ones, shaping organizational ethical environment should be Siemens’ top priority. Shaping organizational ethical environment goes through four stages, each of which demands  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US) ) Internally: shaping environment A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory ethical conduct in an organization, leaders’ behavior, actions are needed to demonstrate their support and determination. In Siemens’ bribery scandal, most of the unethical behaviors were conducted by senior executives, which attribute the frequent news of its violation of business ethics. Thus, in Siemens, to shape ethical conduct and maintain ethical culture, leaders must firstly own their ethical criteria and behave ethically accordingly. Apart from the internal improvement, external supervision is also in need.The external supervision involves first and foremost the initiatives aiming to combat bribery. These initiatives include: †¢ Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts †¢ The OECD Anti-Bribery Convention †¢ The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) †¢ Transparency International To counter bribery, wider cooperation must be conducted between countries and these conventions and organizations. Under the globally accepted guidance and principles, Signatories countries must adopt national legislation to fight against bribery. Government should take regular review of business’ and officials’ compliance to these laws by establishing stricter supervision system.Secondly, external supervision involves power of media. Media is the oral power of reining any unethical behavior. Thus, media should pay more close attention on business ethical issues, track and make more exposure of unethical firms, and encourage those ethical ones. Thirdly, the whole society should also participate in this campaign. When the whole society establish a common principle of â€Å"zero tolerance† to bribery, and monitor it ceaselessly, businesses dare not commit bribery because of their consideration of corporate image.The more and more serious social attitude towards bribery would make businesses think twice before they leap. VI. References Refer ences Referencias 1. Carroll, Buchholtz (2002). â€Å"Business& Society: Ethics and Stakeholder Management†. Mason. Thomson Learning. 2. Freeman. R. E (1984). â€Å"Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Theory†. Boston, MA: Pitman. 3. Freeman. R. E (1991). â€Å"Business Ethics: The State of The Art†. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 4. Fritzsche. D. J (1998). â€Å"Business Ethics: A Global and Managerial Perspective†. New York: McGrawHill. 5. Li, Y.H (2011). China Coporate Citizenship AntiCorruption and Anti- Bribery Research Report. The Coporate Social Responsibility. 6(1), pp. 42-51. 6. Mitchell. C (2009). â€Å"Internatinal Business Ethics†. Petaluma: World Trade Press. 7. Mitchell. C (2000). â€Å"Internatinal Business Cultures†. Petaluma: World Trade Press. 8. Weiss. J. W (2003). â€Å"Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach†. Beijng: China Renmin University Press. Conclusion This paper conducts a case study of Siemens’ violation of business ethics by employing Freeman’s stakeholder theory.Based on Freeman’s theory, stakeholders of a firm should not only include its stockholders, instead, it covers a wide range from its internal employees to external suppliers, government, society, and even competitors. In the case of Simens’ bribery scandal in Argentina, the present author outlines its stakeholders and conducts a detailed analysis of the impact of Simens’ bribery on each stakeholder. The conclusion follows the analysis is that Siemens seriously violated business ethics by terribly detrimenting the interest of its stakeholders.  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US)Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Year 2012 b) Externally: strengthening supervision The analysis of Siemens’ unethical bribery scandal also triggers the author’s further discussion about an international issue: bribery Bribery, as one of the notorious business ethical problems, has surfaced as important issues in an increasingly interdependent world economy. No longer seen purely as a morality play, the accepted world view of corruption and bribery today is that they hinder competition, distort trade and harm consumers and taxpayers as well as undermine public support for governments.Therefore, to fight against bribery, suggested solutions are also provided. On one hand, internal ethical environment shaping is of urgent need; Simens should immediately follow the four stages of the structure of ethical environment from ethical awareness to ethical leadership to improve its current ethical predicament. on the other hand, external supervision and cooperation from international and 81 national community to media is also in demand. Although business ethics is in an actual fact as old as business, however, it didn’t got enough attention until 1970s.As the ethical problems keep surfacing and disrupting the b usiness order, business ethics, as an academic discipline as well as a business practice, is on its way of gaining momentum. To probe into it and make this oxymoron a better guide of business code of conduct, more and more efforts are still in much need. A Case Study of Siemens’ Violation of Business Ethics in Argentine Based On Stakeholder Theory Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XII Issue XIII Version I Year 2012 82 This page is intentionally left blank  © 2012 Global Journals Inc. (US)

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Warfare In The Information Age Commerce Essay

The paper is focused on alterations occurred in military organisations in Information Age. During Industrial Age the military construction of forces evolved harmonizing with rules of decomposition, specialisation, hierarchy, optimisation, deconfliction, centralized planning, and decentralised executing. But now the solutions based upon Industrial Age premises and patterns will interrupt down and neglect in the Information Age. This will go on no affair how good intentioned, hardworking, or dedicated the leading and the force are. Two cardinal force capablenesss needed by Information Age armed forcess are interoperability and legerity. Both interoperability and legerity are provided by Network centric warfare theory of war. â€Å" Ages † are proclaimed when something happens to do a discontinuity in multiple dimensions that affect civilisation. Economicss and power are historically closely related. What distinguish the Information Age from the Industrial Age are the economic sciences of information and the nature of the power of information. With the coming of the Information Age, there is an chance to supply widespread entree to information-related services and capablenesss merely dreamed about in old epochs. This increased entree to information provides an chance to rethink the ways that we organize, manage, and control. For the really first clip in history the information power burst the efficiency at such degree which is really hard and expensive to be overcome by mass. The original principle, cognition is power, conveyed the impression that an person ‘s worth was related to their ownership of information. The more exclusivity associated with the ownership, the more valuable the information. Hence, information was a trade good like any other trade good, whose value was related to scarceness. Individual and organisational behaviours reflected this value paradigm. Hoarding information and working its scarceness have been the norm for some clip. These behaviours can no longer be tolerated because the economic sciences of information have changed. With the cost of information and its airing dropping dramatically, information has become a dominant factor in the value concatenation for about every merchandise or service. As the costs bead, so make the barriers to entry. Hence, rivals in many spheres are prehending on the chance provided by â€Å" inexpensive † information and communications to redefine concern procedures and merchandises. These tendencies apply to the kingdom of national security every bit good. Information Age constructs and engineerings are being adopted by many states. The military response to the Information Age is Network Centric Warfare.Industrial Age bequestThe term network-centric warfare loosely describes the combination of schemes, emerging tactics, techniques, and processs, and organisations that a to the full or even a partly networked force can use to make a decisive war contending advantage. The key to understand the term web centric warfare is command and control ( C2 ) attack. Command and Control ( C2 ) is the common military term for direction of forces and resources. The rules underlying traditional bid and command apply non merely to Industrial Age warfare, but besides to Industrial Age economic systems and concerns, are decomposition, specialisation, hierarchy, optimisation, deconfliction, centralized planning, and decentralised executing. The rule of decomposition is using a â€Å" divide and conquer † outlook to all jobs. The patterns of dividing combat into land, sea, and air ( and infinite ) , are an illustration of break uping warfare into manageable pieces. If a sound set of decompositions is made, so these organisational subsets of the organisation can develop professional fortes that help the overall organisation to execute its mission and accomplish its aims. In military personal businesss, specialisation ( creative activity of calling subdivisions and really specialised organisations ) enabled much more efficient calling development and preparation. During military operations, the specialised capablenesss frequently generated capacities that merely could non be created by groups of Renaissance mans. The organisational effect of Industrial Age specialisation is hierarchy. The attempts of persons and extremely specialised entities must be focused and controlled so that they act in concert to accomplish the ends of the larger organisations that they support. The size and the figure of degrees that separate the leader ( s ) of an endeavor and the specializers that are needed to carry through the undertakings at manus are a map of the overall size of the endeavor and the effectual span of control. The figure of beds is a map of the span of control. As the span of control lessenings, the figure of beds that are needed ( for an organisation of the same size ) increases. In such hierarchies, information demands to flux up and down the concatenation of bid. This is true of policy information, plans, orders, and information about the battlespace ( both studies about the enemy and studies about friendly forces ) . The more beds, the longer this takes and the higher the chance of an mistake or deformation. Even today, correspondence to a member of a military bid is officially addressed to the dominating officer of the unit and is so distributed by the central offices. In other words, all information intended for subsidiaries is recognized as belonging to and fluxing through the hierarchy. Indeed, control of information was a major tool for commanding Industrial Age organisations. Industrial Age armed forcess decomposed the battlespace, created superimposed organisations, divided into specialisations, and organized forces into hierarchies. Thinking that this attack transformed the complexness of war and big operations into a aggregation of simple, manageable undertakings and jobs, the Industrial Age military felt that they were able to concentrate on the optimisation of procedures. Virtually all Industrial Age armed forcess created â€Å" approved scenarios † against which their threat-based determinations were optimized. Of class, they experienced troubles when forced to contend against military organisations other than those they had planned against. Given that the elements of military forces were optimized for specific missions under good known and understood fortunes, Industrial Age bid and control processes relied to a great extent on control steps that would deconflict the elements of the force. The ultimate end was to supply each component of the force with the best possible operating environment. This was a natural effect of specialisation and optimisation. Deconfliction is far better than conflicted operations ( where friendly units impede one another ) , but it falls good short of the public presentation possible when military assets are employed synergistically. Planing became a important portion of Industrial Age bid and control because it enabled commanding officers to set up forces and events in clip and infinite so as to maximise the likeliness of success ( mission achievement ) . Industrial Age commanding officers were, nevertheless, aware of the breakability of programs in the face of the harsh and dynamic operating environment of combat. One of the most celebrated citations about planning is, â€Å" No program survives first contact with the enemy. † Understanding the bounds of military programs, commanding officers ( peculiarly in extremely professional forces ) encouraged inaugural ( invention and aggressive actions ) and decentralized executing within the overall commanding officer ‘s purpose. This was non merely a grant to the built-in trouble of anticipating all contingencies. It was besides a contemplation of the fact that the commanding officer on the scene frequently had better information than those removed from the battlespace. Taken together, they create a form correspondent to command theory. The Industrial Age rules and patterns of decomposition, specialisation, hierarchy, optimisation, and deconfliction, combined with Industrial Age bid and control based on centralised planning and decentralised executing, will non allow an organisation to convey all of its information ( and expertness ) or its assets to bear. In add-on, Industrial Age organisations are non optimized for interoperability or legerity. Therefore, solutions based upon Industrial Age premises and patterns will interrupt down and neglect in the Information Age. This will go on no affair how good intentioned, hardworking, or dedicated the leading and the force are. Two cardinal force capablenesss needed by Information Age armed forcess are interoperability and legerity. Organizations that are merchandises of Industrial Age believing are non good suited for important betterments in interoperability or legerity [ 1 ] .3. Network centric warfareNetwork centric warfare ( NCW ) is an emerging theory of war in the Information Age. The term network-centric warfare loosely describes the combination of schemes, emerging tactics, techniques, and processs, and organisations that a to the full or even a partly networked force can use to make a decisive war contending advantage. A networked force carry oning web centric operations ( NCO ) is an indispensable enabler for the behavior of effects based operations. Effectss based operations ( EBO ) are â€Å" sets of actions directed at determining the behaviour of friends, neutrals, and enemies in peace, crisis, and war. † NCW generates increased combat power by networking detectors, determination shapers, and taws to accomplish shared awareness, increased velocity of bid, high pacing of operations, greater deadliness, increased survivability, and a grade of self-synchronization. In kernel, it translates information advantage into combat power by efficaciously associating friendly forces within the battlespace, supplying a much improved shared consciousness of the state of affairs, enabling more rapid and effectual determination devising at all degrees of military operations, and thereby leting for increased velocity of executing. Information engineering progresss in the countries of bid and control ( C2 ) ; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance ( ISR ) ; and preciseness arms bringing are dramatically reshaping the behavior of warfare in the twenty-first century. NCW will speed up the determination rhythm by associating detectors, communications webs, and arms systems via an interrelated grid, thereby heightening our ability to accomplish information and determination high quality over an adversary during the behavior of military operations. While NCW is the theory, web centric operations ( NCO ) is the theory put into action. In other words, the behavior of NCO represents the execution of NCW. The aim of determination high quality is to turn an information advantage into a competitory advantage. This competitory advantage is readily evident when comparing forces carry oning NCO and those runing under the old paradigm of platform centric operations. Platform centric forces lack the ability to leverage the synergisms created through a networked force. A force implementing NCW is more adaptative, ready to react to uncertainness in the really dynamic environment of the hereafter at all degrees of warfare and across the scope of military operations. Over 1000s of old ages of recorded history, the huge bulk of inventions that created important war contending advantages were concentrated in the physical sphere as opposed to the information sphere. These inventions translated chiefly into advantages at the tactical degree of warfare, but they besides had an impact on what are now by and large referred to as the operational and strategic degrees of warfare. They resulted in such battleground advantages as: increased scope of battle, increased deadliness, increased velocity of manoeuvre and increased protection and survivability. While all of these illustrations of invention are considered platform centric, the past century has besides seen many inventions focused on making advantage in the information sphere. The ability to develop and work an information advantage has ever been of import in warfare, therefore the eternity of security and surprise as of import rules of war. While the importance of invention in the information sphere in the yesteryear has been great, its importance has gained critical significance in warfare today [ 2 ] . Fig. 1 The Military as a Network-Centric Enterprise In a more proficient sense, a networked force improves operational pacing by speed uping the Observation-Orientation stages of Boyd ‘s Observation-Orientation-Decision-Action ( OODA ) cringle. Identified during the 1970s by US Air Force strategian John Boyd, the OODA is an abstraction which describes the sequence of events while must take topographic point in any military battle. The opposition must be observed to garner information so the aggressor must point himself to the state of affairs or context, so make up one's mind and move consequently. The OODA cringle is therefore cardinal to all military operations, from strategic down to single combat. It loop is an inevitable portion of world and has been so since the first tribal wars of 25,000 old ages ago, as it is cardinal to any predator-prey interaction in the biological universe. Sadly, its proper apprehension had to wait until the seventiess. At a philosophical and practical degree what confers a cardinal advantage in battles is the ability to remain in front of an opposition and order the pacing of the engagement – to keep the enterprise and maintain an opposition off balance. In consequence, the aggressor forces his opposition into a reactive position and denies the opposition any chance to drive the battle to an advantage. The participant with the faster OODA cringle, all else being equal, will get the better of the opposition with the slower OODA cringle by barricading or pre-empting any move the opposition with the slower OODA cringle efforts to do. The four constituents of the OODA cringle can be split into three which are associated with processing information, and one which is associated with motion and application of firepower. Observation-Orientation-Decision is information centric while Action is kinematic or centered in motion, place and firepower. If we aim to speed up our OODA loops to accomplish higher operational pacing than an enemy, we have to speed up all four constituents of the cringle. Much of 20th century war contending technique and engineering dealt with speed uping the kinetic part of the OODA cringle. Mobility, preciseness and firepower additions were the consequence of this development. There are practical bounds as to how far we can force the kinetic facet of the OODA loop – more destructive arms produce indirect harm, faster platforms and arms incur of all time increasing costs. Consequently we have seen development decelerate down in this sphere since the sixtiess. Many arms and platforms widely used today were designed in the 1950s may stay in usage for decennaries to come. Observation-Orientation-Decision are all about garnering information, administering information, analysing information, understanding information and make up one's minding how to move upon this information. The faster we can garner, administer, analyse, understand information, the faster we can make up one's mind, and arguably the better we can make up one's mind how and when to move in combat. Networking is a mechanism via which the Observation-Orientation stages of the cringle can be accelerated, and the Decision stage facilitated [ 3 ] .DecisionThe warfare in Information Age will be different than warfare in Industrial Age. In order to accomplish a military high quality the military forces should accommodate to the new conditions. The merely networked the existent construction of ground forces is non plenty. A new construction of ground forces must be making which should let exchange of information at a high velocity. At this point the velocity of action will hold a great impact to the bid and control. Command and control can non obey the direction map of planning, forming, staffing, directing and commanding. During the battle the bid and control should obey OODA cringle. In fact during the edifice of force the commanding officer should by a skilled director but during the battle the commanding officer should use command theory that trades with the behaviour of dynamical systems. The OODA cringle is a simple and efficient theoretical account to depict the world of battle.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Motivational Theories and Organizational Performance Relations

Motivational Theories and Organizational Performance Relations Introduction Remuneration and reward of employees are some of the ways that can be used to retain employees. By reward we mean that the efforts of the employee are recognized. Singling out and rewarding workers inspires them to look for ways of undertaking their tasks effectively and lack of it can completely dishearten them. A reward system has to be effective and able to instil the desired behaviour for efficient performance.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Motivational Theories and Organizational Performance Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The reward system can either use financial mechanism or non-financial. People need to be encouraged and appreciated in order to achieve their mission and that of others. Motivation is the act of encouraging someone to carry out a task better than he intended to. It is common for employees to take up jobs because of the motivation they get. Failure to motivate employee s may result in poor performance of a company. There are generally many forms of motivation, for instance, some employees are motivated by the challenges they encounter while carrying out their tasks, others are motivated by the attention they attract, while majority are motivated by the amount of money they expect to earn. The last factor plays a great role in the success of every person, most people stay in jobs because of the pay scale, the incentives, and rewards they get from their employer. This paper will look at some motivational theories as it tries to relate them with an organizational performance. Equity Theory Equity theory is one of the theories of motivation. It is used to describe the relationship between employees and the motivation they get to work hard and their perception about fair treatment in the work place. For a long time, employers have considered their employees as just inputs to be used for the production of goods and services. However, this perception is gradually fading as employers get more and more enlightened about motivating their employees. From research, it is clear that, employees are not only motivated by money, but also their attitudes. The equity theory was first developed by John Adams in early 1963. Adams was a behavioural psychologist who held that, employees are always seeking for equity between the outcomes they get out of their efforts and the inputs they bring into a company.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An employee inputs are the positive contribution he makes for the betterment of an organization including the work he does, his skills, behaviour, and experience while outcomes are the rewards he gets out of his hard work, this may be in the form of appreciation, promotion, incentives, salary rise, to name but a few (Jonathan 650). Fair treatment is a virtue that motivates employees to work hard for an organization and also to maintain a good working environment with their co-workers. When employees perceive themselves as being over or under rewarded, they may experience distress which may cause the organization to bring back equity in the relationship. Equity can be computed in terms of individual employee’s contribution and the accrued benefits (Anon. â€Å"Adams’ Equity theory† 2). This means that, the partner who contributes less (in terms of investment, or other financial resources) receives fewer benefits (in terms of financial rewards, love, or financial security). Lack of equity, in the form of underpayment may provoke anger whereas overpayment results in guilt. The major point of concern is the pecuniary reward received (whether in the form of wages or salary) and it is thus the central cause of equity or lack of the same (Diefendorff 489). When an employee feels that his contributions are not recognized in terms of pay, he tends to become hostile tow ards the organization and his performance drops. He no longer works to boost the performance of the organization but just to maintain his job position. This is when employees starts taking sick leaves or searching for other jobs. Having realized this, all organization should give priority to employee satisfaction since they are the ones responsible for its success (Denise 20). Expectancy Theory According to Taylor (117), the expectancy theory is concerned with the mental processes that an employee goes through before making a choice. It tries to describe the relation between rewards and performance. Employees perceive that they should be given rewards that consummate with their organizational performance.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Motivational Theories and Organizational Performance Relations specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is a form of organizational behaviour that holds that, employees are likely to perf orm better if they perceive their rewards to be high. This motivation theory was proposed by Victor Vroom, a management specialist in Yale. It predicts that, majority of employees will seem to be motivated if they suppose that the reward they expect to get is directly proportional to the work done, and if they value the rewards expected from the organization (Swamson 6). This theory emphasizes on the need to base reward on an individual’s performance. These rewards should be able to offset the work done by the employees. It is only through this considerate rewarding that employees are motivated to work even harder because they expect the rewards to rise as their performance rises. Expectancy theory can also be used to describe employee’s behaviour in the work place. If an employee is not well competent in a given area, no reward mechanism can motivate him to perform better. It is therefore important for all organizations to consider the individuals’ personal fac tors before deciding which reward mechanism to use on them. This is because, an organization may increase the expected rewards for a particular employee as a way of motivating him to work harder but, if the respective employee does not possess the qualities needed for the job; the increase in rewards will not result in comparable improvement in performance (Lawrence 190). According to Vroom, there are three variables in the theory of expectancy, these are: Expectancy denoted as E, Valance (V), and instrumentality (I). Expectancy is the belief held by an employee that a specific action will result in a given level of outcome, valance can be defined as the strength of an individual towards achieving a preferred outcome (Smith and Mazin 60). This valance has to be positive if the individual expects to achieve the preferred outcome. On the other hand, instrumentality can be defined as the extent to which the achievement of first level outcomes determines the achievement of the second le vel.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More All these factors describe the relationship between employee’s behaviour and the level of expected outcome. The higher the level of outcome, the better the behaviour of employees and the reverse is true (Richard 243). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory Abraham Maslow (a researcher), explored the connection between reward and motivation and came up with a theory called Maslow’s hierarchy of need. Maslow discovered that human beings have different types of needs that they want to be met. They include; basic needs security, self esteem, self actualization, and group needs. To fulfil these needs, sets of motivating rewards have to be used. Some of the basic needs can be fulfilled through provision of good standards of living by means of honest pay structures (Anon. â€Å"Human needs and rewards† 1). Provision of secure working environment coupled with training on safety and health issues can assist in meeting the security needs of the employees. On the other hand, reward systems on job promotion based on employee’s efforts, skills, and experience can help in raising their self esteem and meet the needs that come with it. Employees’ team working groups that are well structured with good communication help in fulfilling the group needs. Self actualization needs can be fulfilled by encouraging employee developments by use of appraisal tool where employees gauge their performance. The HRM should use a reward system that helps in meeting most of employees’ needs. This will encourage employees and motivate them to work harder to achieve the organizations goals and objectives. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation Herzberg’s two factor theory was developed after carrying out an interview among 203 American employees. Each employee was asked whether they were satisfied in any of the jobs they had taken. They all gave some positive and negative sides of each job and commented that, one is faced with differ ent challenges when he changes the work environment. Herzberg wanted to know whether there are other factors for employee satisfaction other than rewards (Storey 61). He found out that, employees are normally satisfied (or dissatisfied) with their job because of the motivators put in place (such as recognition). There are other factors called hygiene factors (such as job security, salary, and other benefits) which do not give positive satisfaction although their absence normally results in employee dissatisfaction. Motivation factors are used to motivate employees to work harder for better performance whereas hygiene factors are necessary in ensuring that an employee does not get dissatisfied with the work done. They are merely put in place to provide a favourable atmosphere for the employees but do not necessary motivate them to work. However, both factors have to be present if an organization has to perform well in the ever changing global market (Bohlander 40). Motivational Theor ies at Belcher limited The boss of Belcher Limited, Mr. Smith, did not use any of the motivational theories discussed above. For instance, Miss Emily was not given a fair salary merit. She had made a lot of contributions in her first year of employment which was not given recognition. Mr. Smith did not even approve some of her ideas and gave no explanation for the decline. This disheartened Emily and discouraged her from coming out with new ideas. It is clear that, Mr. Smith did not use the equity theory of motivation; all the employees in the accounts department were given equal salary merit (6 percent) irrespective of the contribution they had made in the company. To make it worse, one of the employees (who had been hired recently) got the highest salary merit (10 percent) simply because he was a favourite of the boss. We have seen that, the kind of reward given to any employee should be equivalent to the contributions made since this is one of the ways of motivating employees. Gi ving the new employee a ten percent salary merit did not only discourage the others, but also was not a prudent move on the part of the company. This is because reward scheme should be positively related to the work done, individual’s experience, and skills. Expectancy theory suggests that, employees make choices on how to work depending on the reward they expect to get at the end of the day. If an employee is assured of getting a higher reward for the efforts he put, then there is a likelihood of him performing better (Likert 80). However, this is not the case at Belcher limited, the reward system seems to be static and is not influenced by individual performance. Emily received the same salary merit as all the other employees although her performance was far above the others. This discouraged her and she was not even sure of what to expect in her second year of employment. This changed her organizational behaviour and general perspective of her work, she choose to take few days sick leave even though she was not sick. She even declined from giving more ideas to the company and chose to remain silent just like the others. This is a clear indication that, if an organization wants to succeed, it must recognize and reward the efforts of the work force, failure to do so results in poor performance which in turn lowers production of the organization (Halepota 18). Emily was satisfied with her job not because of the motivation it gave her, but because of the hygiene factors. She was assured of a fixed salary, job security, and other benefits including sick leave. She just enjoyed working like the others, making friends, taking some time off but was not motivated to put an extra effort. She even started looking for another job where she could get the motivation she needed because she knew that, she had a lot of potential that needed some recognition and motivation. If Belcher wants to retain its employees, it has to use all the motivation theories discussed a bove. As the employees meet the organization’s expectations, it is important for the organization to realize that the employees also have their targets that they want to be met. The employee must be appraised appropriately to enable the human resources department recognize the areas that need to be improved (Bratton and Gold 100). Those who have attained the expectations of the management should be rewarded accordingly Conclusion Few are the times when supervisors recommend employees for any task well done. They forget that employees are normal beings who feel good if appreciated. Research has proved that, recognition and praise from supervisors and managers is one of the most important reward mechanism for motivating employees. Employees feel motivated when their contribution to the organization is noticed and appreciated. Supervisors should recognize the value of employees in the organization and the importance of thanking them either through writing or verbally for their p recise contributions. Anonymous. Human needs and rewards. Web. Anonymous. Adams’ Equity theory. Balancing employee inputs and outputs. Web. https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_96.htm Bohlander, George Snell, Scott. Managing Human Resources. London: Cengage Learning, 2009. Bratton, John and Gold, Jeffrey. Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. London: Routledge, 2001. Denise, Weiss. Motivational interventions and their effect on corporate performance. University of South Alabama, January 2005. Database: ABI/INFORM complete. Diefendorff, James M. Motivational traits. Encyclopaedia of industrial and organizational psychology, January 2007, Vol. 2 p489-492. Halepota, Hassan Ali. Motivational theories and their application in construction. Cost engineering, March 2005, Vol. 47 Issue 3, p14-18. Jonathan, Klein. Feasibility Theory: A resource-munificence model of work motivation and behaviour. Academy of management Review, October 1990, Vol. 15 Issue 4 p646-665 . Lawrence Walker, R. beyond Expectancy theory: An integrative motivational model from health care. Academy of Management Review April 1982, Vol. 7 Issue 2, p187-194. Likert, Rensis. Motivational Approach to management development. Harvard Business Review, July 2009, Vol. 37 Issue 4 p75-82. Richard, Oliver. Expectancy theory predictions of salesmen’s performance. Journal of marketing research (JMR), August 1994, Vol. 11 Issue, p243-253. Storey, John. New perspectives on human resource management. London: Cengage Learning EMEA, 1998. Swamson, Richard. Foundations of Human Resource Development: Easy read Large Edition. San Francisco: ReadHowYouWant.com, 2009. Smith, A. Shawn and Mazin, A. Rebecca. The HR answer book: an indispensable guide for managers and human resources professionals. New York: Amacom Div American Mgmt Assn, 2004. Taylor, Michael. Employee recognition schemes- do they work? China Staff. June 2008, Vol. 14 Issue 6 p117.