Critical Analysis of Kant’s Moral Philosophy Essay

The most essential motive of moral philosophy in Kant’s view is to â€Å"seek out† the introductory principle of metaphysics of morals. Kant explains this project through the first two chapters of the Groundwork. He advances by analyzing and explicating commonsense thoughts about morality. The purpose is to come up with a clear-cut statement of the opinion on which all of our regular moral judgements are based. The judgement in a question is supposed to be acceptable by any normal human being. In recent times, Kant is regarded as an overly optimistic with regards to the depth and reach of moral agreement. See more: how to write a critical analysis essay step by step But he is good in drawing moral views which is extensively shared and which contains general judgements that are profound. He does not appear as someone who populates the works of moral philosophers or someone who needs a reason to act morally or someone whose reactions have moral motive because of some rationale. For instance, in the third and final chapter of the Groundwork, Kant takes up his second elementary endeavour, to â€Å"establish† this foundational moral principle as a demand of each person’s own rational will, his conclusion falls short of answering those who want a proof that we really are bound by moral requirements. He bases this second project on the point that we possess self-sufficiency. The argument of this project does not propagate a metaphysical fact about our wills. This has led some readers to a conclusion that he is trying to validate moral requirements by alluring to a fact that even a moral disbeliever would have to identify. The most justifiable points of his dispute to establish the basic belief of morality rest on an assertion that will not stir a true disbeliever, that the self-sufficiency of our wills is a supposition of any realistic point of view. Moral requirements project themselves as being completely essential. But an a posteriori method seems unsuitable in establishing what we must do; it only tells us what we actually do. So an a posteriori method of seeking out the belief that generates such requirements will not carry the appearance of moral ‘oughts’ as necessities. Kant argued that experimental observations could only convey conclusions about the comparative benefits of moral actions in various situations. Such researched would not support the absolute necessity of moral requirements. It would view them as demands for which conformity is not necessary. Thus, Kant argued that if moral philosophy is to protect against deterioration of the necessity of obligation in defence of moral thought, it must be carried out entirely a priori. Although these are the two fundamental aims of moral philosophy, they are not, the only aims. Moral philosophy addresses the question, ‘What ought I to do? ’ and an answer to that question requires much more than delivering the basic belief of morality. A satisfying answer to the question of what one should do would have to take into account any political and religious requirements. Moral philosophy should emphasize on the ultimate end of human endeavour, the Highest Good, and its connection to the moral life. In the Critique of Practical Reason, Kant argued that this Highest Good for Humanity is complete moral virtue together with complete joy. Unfortunately, Kant noted, virtue does not assure well being and may even conflict with it. Further, there is no real possibility of moral excellence in this life and only few of us are lucky enough to experience the happiness. There are certain aims for which some methods need to be employed. These methods of moral philosophy are questioned time and again by Kant. One a fundamental principle is sought, and then the facts drawn from experiences and the conclusions can be considered to determine how best these methods can be applied. The Groundwork appeals repeatedly for pragmatic facts based on practical principles. Kant analyses the commonsense ideas and he says that the only good things any qualification is a ‘good will’. ‘The good will’ is not an ordinary notion and Kant says that the idea of a good will is closer to that of a ‘good person’ or a ‘person of good will’. This idea of ‘good will’ is a vital touchstone that Kant keeps revisiting throughout his work. The basic idea is that what makes a person good. It is his possession of a good will that determines the goodness, or the way he makes decisions on the basis of moral law, and how he holds that decision morally taking into considerations all the moral aspects. This sort of temperament is something that is highly valued. Kant believes that we value it without restraint or any qualification. By this Kant believes that there are two things that matter. First, that unlike anything else, there is no possible circumstance in which we regard our own moral goodness as worth giving up simply in order to obtain some desirable object. There is no hidden limitation to the outcome that a purpose to give moral considerations decisive weight is worth honouring, but only under certain circumstances. Second, maintaining one’s moral integrity is the most important condition under which anything else is worth accessing. Intelligence and pleasure are worth having only if they do not require giving up one’s fundamental moral convictions. The value of a good will cannot secure certain valuable ends. Kant points out that a good will must be good in itself and not in virtue of its relationship to other things. In Kant’s terms, a good will’s decisions are entirely determined by moral demands. Kant has called this as a Moral Law. Human beings view this law as a constraint on their desires. A will in which the Moral Law is crucial is motivated by the thought of duty. It is the existence of desires that makes goodness in human beings a constraint, independent of prevalence of morals. This is an indispensable element of the idea of ‘duty’. So in analyzing unqualified goodness we are investigating the idea of being motivated by the thought that we are constrained to act in certain ways that we might not want to. Kant asserts this by contrasting motivation by duty with other motives, such as motives of self-interest, self-preservation, sympathy and happiness. He argues that a submissive action from any of these motives, does not express a good will. Assuming an action has moral worth only if it expresses a good will, such actions have no genuine ‘moral worth’. The conventionality of one’s action to duty in such cases is only related by accident to content of one’s will. Kant’s views in this regard have understandably been the subject of much controversy. According to Kant, what is remarkable about inspiration by duty is that it consists of respect for lawfulness. What logically comes to mind is that duties are created by rules or laws. City and state laws establish the duties of citizens. Thus, if we do something because it is our ‘civic’ duty, our motivation is respect for the code that makes it our duty. Thinking we are duty bound is respecting certain laws pertaining to us. The difference between being motivated by a sense of duty in the ordinary sense, and being motivated by duty, in Kant’s sense is, that motivation by duty is motivation by our respect for whatever law it is. Our respect for the laws guiding us is qualified, in the sense that the law gives us a duty is compelling only if there is no law we respect more that conflicts with it. The missing line of argument reveals a characteristic of Kant’s approach, his account of the content of moral requirements and the nature of moral analysis. It says that it is based on the unique force moral considerations that have reasons to act. Since they retain their reason-giving force under any situation, they have universal authority. So, whatever else may be said of moral requirements, their substance is universal. Only a universal law could be the content of a requirement that has the reason-giving force of morality. This brings Kant to a introductory formulation, ‘I ought never to act except in such a way that I could also will that my maxim should become a universal law’. This is the principle which motivates a good will, and which Kant holds to be the fundamental principle of all of morality. Works Cited http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/kant-moral/ http://www. press. uchicago. edu/presssite/metadata. epl? mode=synopsis&bookkey=41315

Leaders vs Managers Essay

According to many scholars, management is a basically the implementation of already established processes such as planning, staffing, measuring performance and budgeting thereby enabling an organization to do well. On the other hand, leadership is entirely different. It can be described as taking an organization to the future, exploring and successfully exploiting opportunities that come up. Leadership is about having vision, empowerment and most importantly providing useful change in the organization. The main differences between leaders and managers are: the relationship between the followers and managers and leaders, how leaders and managers solve problems, and the difference in emotional intelligence between leaders and managers. Leaders and managers have a difference in emotional intelligence. A leader is an individual who strategizes a visionary and most importantly someone who inspires other people to greatness. In order to achieve this, while leading one must share their vision with the staff or people brought together to solve a problem or create a strategy. Leaders serve as role models, motivate their staff, inspire cooperation and create a community both inside and outside of the organization. They mostly follow their intuition which in most cases benefits the company and in most cases they gain followers who become loyal to them and the organization. This is a direct contradiction to managers who carry out their instructions by the book and follow the organization’s policy to the letter and as a result the staff may or may not be loyal to them. Even when the idea of a divinely appointed leader prevailed, there existed a contrary view that the leader was actually empowered by followers, this theory was analyzed by Thomas Paine â€Å"Titles are but nicknames†¦it is common opinion only that makes them anything or nothing . . . . [A]body of men, holding themselves accountable to nobody, ought not to be trusted by anybody† (1944, pp. 59-60, 63). Another major difference between leaders and managers is how their duties and relationship with their followers differ. A leader creates or rather innovates whilst the manager administers , meaning that the leader is the individual who comes up with fresh ideas in order to move the bulk of the organization into a new direction that is more beneficial and profitable. He has to come up with new strategies and tactics by keeping his focus on the horizon constantly. It is important for him to be updated on the latest trends as well as studies and the skill sets. Contrary to this, a manager simply maintains a system that has already been established and is in use. It is his duty to maintain control and ensure that things run normally and everyone in the staff is pulling their weight and contributing fully and effectively. One of the distinguishing characteristics of a typical manager is how dependent he is on the activities of a variety of other people to perform his job effectively. (Kotter, 1983, p. 360). He is rigid and unable to be creative in carrying out his duties, thereby barring him from being considered a business leader. According to Richard Rosenberg, (1992) one of the most profound examples of the difference between leaders and managers is how computers create significant changes in any organization. He illustrates how information is able to travel from top to bottom effectively without the intervention of managers somewhere in between. This shows how the difference between leaders and managers which is that managers are easily replaceable and in some cases they are not required at all to some extent. Leaders inspire greatness and effectiveness unlike managers who more or less rely on control. In other words, leadership is not what one does but actually how they respond to you. If people do not choose to join your cause then you cannot really be considered as a leader since they have inspired no one. If people do indeed join your cause then it would mean that you have inspired them, thereby creating a bond with them and the company, which is very important particularly if the organization or business is changing rapidly and needs people who believe in it to support its mission. Leaders and managers handle and prepare for problems in a different ways. Managers prepare themselves for turbulent times and during these times the primary task is to make sure that the organization’s capacity to survive and to ensure that the it maintains its structural strength as well as is capacity to survive failure and adapt as quickly as possible in the shortest time period (Peter D., 1980). Business leaders instill a staff loyalty that a manager cannot be able to because of his rigid methods and lack of spontaneity. In the case of managers, their primary job is to control their staff by aiding them to develop their assets and discover their greatest talents. In order to do this they have to know the people working for them and understand their abilities and interests. G. Lumsden (1982) describes how middle managers model themselves on top managers in a form of hierarchical mimicry: what happens is that the behavior inheritance persists. As it is passed down deeper in the organization, sans power, such behavior begins not to work so well. And at lower levels it gets muddied even further because it’s being used on individuals who don’t understand it, aren’t impressed by it, or are downright opposed to it. (p. 8) A leader focuses on the reasons why to make certain decision whereas a manager considers how and at what times decisions are made. Managers prefer to execute plans accordingly and maintain the status quo without deviating even when failures are experienced. If the company experienced failures, then a leader would learn from it and use it as a clarification point in order to get better and avoid losses in future. Levine and M. Crom (1993) in their book â€Å"The leader in you† highlight an example of leadership changes and state that â€Å"Good human relation skills have the ability to transform people from managing others to leading them. People can learn how to move from directing to guiding, from competing to collaborating and from operating under secrecy to one of sharing all of the information required, from a mode of passivity to a mode of risk taking, from one of regarding people as an expense to one of viewing people as an asset,† (P.15) In conclusion, management and leadership are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They are however different in that leadership entails inspiration as well as steering an organization whereas management is simply overseeing and delegating.

The Management of Global Trade Distribution Coursework

The Management of Global Trade Distribution - Coursework Example However, if a business organization is not careful, competition might lead it into bad debts. This is because a company might sell its products to new customers, who might not be able to pay for the commodities thus leading to bad debts. However, this can be avoided by doing a customer value analysis and payment history analysis, Peppers and Rodgers, (2010). Customer value analysis is comparing what a customer is willing and able to part with in monetary terms and what satisfaction the customer gets from the good or service provided. Payment history analysis is reviewing past payment details of the company in question. A payment analysis allows the company to go through a customer’s financial statements in order to determine if the customer in question will pay for the goods provided in time hence avoiding the occurrence of bad debts. For example, if a customer’s financial records indicate that they owe other suppliers money then the company should only do with that cus tomer on cash before delivery basis. If a customer’s financial statements indicate that the customer is not indebted to other suppliers and pays for goods in time then the company can supply goods to such customers on cash on delivery basis or cash after delivery. Question four When transporting goods and services various factors are considered when choosing the mode and means of transport. This in turn affects the charges incurred when transporting goods and services. According to Barnes, (2009), the type of goods being transported greatly affects the cost of transportation. For example, toxic materials require specialized containers when transporting them. Acquisition of these special containers might be expensive hence charges for transporting toxic material are high. Another factor that is considered when determining freight charges is the destination distance. Choice of mode and means of transport is also greatly affected by distance. If goods are being transported over long distances, then the cost of transportation will be high thus resulting in high freight charges.at the same time if the distance is short cheaper means of transport such as road is used hence resulting in lower freight charges. The time within which goods are to be transported also affects the cost of transportation. For example, if perishable goods such as fruits and flowers are being transported; a very fast means of transport is required. For such goods air transport is necessary which is very costly thus resulting in high freight charges. Another factor that determines the freight charges is the general nature of the goods being transported. The nature of goods determines how the goods are to be packed. For example some goods are bulky in nature hence take up a lot of space. Transportation of such goods is more expensive since the more space goods take the more they are charged. Question five Exportation of goods is not an easy task. It is a long process depending on laws pu t in place in both the country of origin and the country of destination. However, if the correct process is followed it can exportation can be simple and very effective. There are certain procedures set, to be followed when exporting anything. First of all one the exportation should prepare for the exportation of the commodity in question. One should make sure that they are conversant with the environments involved in international trade and the obstacles

Effective leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Effective leadership - Research Paper Example Scoring is based on the same evaluation and results are investigated with possible suggestion on team improvement. Introduction Structure of the paper The paper analyses a team performance based on theoretical frameworks right from its formation till the very end. It begins by identifying the team and the components within it and then discusses the process by which a team is formed. The team here is identified as a group created to stage a drama in 31 days time. The group identifies its various departments and operates for 30 days. In these 30 days, the group functioning is analysed based on few theoretical frameworks on group behaviour. The next stage discusses the role of individual participation and contribution towards the group and how personal and interpersonal skills were utilised. The paper concludes in evaluating the team’s performance on the team effectiveness critique and exploring the results thereof. The Team The team under study is a small one of 15 people coming together to stage a drama designated to the task of providing a good theatre experience to its audience. The team has 15 members who are divided into various divisions of the work unit. Each member on the team has a level of competency that is desired by the theatre event and the department under which the team member operates. Each team member works towards the common objective of giving a good performance on the day of the event. Team members are equally competitive and capable in delivering high levels of performance. Each individual has a separate set of skills that are necessary for achieving divisional and common organizational goals. The group is divided between actors (6), technicians (3), scriptwriters (2), director (2), marketers and organizers (2). The director has all necessary information regarding the drama event and shall act as the team leader. The Project To stage the drama, the team has a time period of 30 days to stage the drama. They have to present the show on the 31st day of the task being assigned. The team decided to meet 15 alternate days to put together the entire drama in place. The meetings were held on day 1, 2, 5, 9, 12, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 from the day it was decided to stage a drama. Team Development Building an effective and efficient teamwork is important in today’s scenario. It is observed that team building is an onerous task. New teams do not start functioning exceptionally well at the very onset. Their formation takes time, efforts and a pattern that follow stages that can be easily classified into four general categories. A group of strangers becomes a team with common goal once they undergo the following stages (Mindtools, 2013). Forming The first stage is characterized by coming together of individuals to form a part of the group. Here individuals act in a very polite and positive manner primarily because they want to be accepted by the other members. The team leader has an advantage at this stage because the roles and responsibilities of other members are unclear. People are engaged primarily in deciding tasks and gather impression and information about other members of the group. This stage usually lasts very long, may be one single meeting and is devoid of any major conflict or controversy. The team under study identifies the roles and responsibilities of each participating in creating the entire drama. The behavior was formal and polite where individuals got acquainted with

Determinants of capital structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Determinants of capital structure - Essay Example es statement of financial position, cash flow statement as well as statement of income of many existing and extinct companies based all over the world. Initially, a great deal of effort was made to define the independent and dependent variable required for the purpose of regression analysis. The regression analysis that has been done in this particular study is based upon gearing measures. Thus, in order to conduct this analysis, alternative definitions of gearing have been explained in the following paragraphs. Non-equity liabilities to total assets: The book value of this gearing ratio is the ratio between the total debt plus trade credit and equivalent to total assets (equation 1). The market value of this gearing measure can be calculated by adjusting the value of the total assets, deducting the book value of equity and adding the market value of equity (equation 2). The equation can be represented as follows: According to Rajan and Zingales (1995), the gearing measure serves as a proxy for the liquidation value of a company. The authors also argued that the value of this indicator may be significantly inflated, as it may only represent financial transactions, instead of assets. Debt to Total Assets: This gearing measure is the ratio between the total debts to total assets (equation 3). The market value of this multiple is determined by adjusting the asset, by deducting the book value of equity and adding the market value of equity (equation 4) (Phillips, Libby and Libby, 2011; Fridson and Alvarez, 2011). The equation can be represented as follows: Debt to Capital: This gearing measure is the ratio between the total debts to capital. The capital in the denominator represents the total debt plus the equity, which includes the preference shares as well (equation 5) (Rose and Hudgins, 2008). The market value of this gearing measure is calculated by adjusting market value of equity, instead of adjusting the book value of equity (equation 6). The equation can be

Issues and Dilemmas of Contemporary Public Administration Essay

Issues and Dilemmas of Contemporary Public Administration - Essay Example Public interest can be defined as the general wellbeing of the public. This is where the whole society, and not just selfish individuals, matter. They, therefore, warrant protection, promotion and recognition from the government. It is their job as people in higher positions of power to ensure that everyone gets treated right and just with accordance to the law (Nichols, 2010). Public administrators are, therefore, bound to these roles by certain ethical rules. As they make decisions, they have to take into account the rules that bind them to ensure they serve the people well. This paper will review some of the responsibilities and obligations that bind public administrators. Also, the dilemmas they usually face when politics is involved in the running of the business. Administrative responsibility lies with the fact that leaders are supposed to serve the people on a lower level. The problems that arise when they are in charge are often seen with the way they handle their business. Some ethical problems that they face arise mostly from morality. Many public administrators are mostly consumed by sex scandals (Kumar, 2005). These issues create a very bad image for the people that surround them, especially their family. Most people voted into office are chosen based on their family standings and values. A family man is likely to be chosen into office than a person who does not have a family. The public would like to be involved in the running of their daily business.

Recruiting and Selecting the Right People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recruiting and Selecting the Right People - Essay Example The advertisement can be internal or external. It can be posted in office bulletin boards or published in leading daily newspapers. The selection process will then be decided upon. The selection panel must be identified and the test procedures outlined. When the applications are received already by the Human Resources Department, they should be collated and forwarded to the hiring units concerned for short-listing. After reviewing the applications, the hiring unit may choose around three to five applicants for interview and skills testing but these applications must also be presented to the selection committee before contacting the individuals concerned. After getting in touch with the candidates, they will be assessed according to their merits and the extent they meet or exceed the selection criteria. The basis for the assessment is the written application submitted, responses to interview questions, performance in work tests and the information gained from background checks. At lea st three reference checks must be done. I find this step important to check on the integrity and honesty of the person and to get an idea on how he performs on the job. Once a candidate has been identified for the job, the other applicants who were not chosen should be notified.

Infection Control Programme in Intensive Control Unit in Indian Dissertation

Infection Control Programme in Intensive Control Unit in Indian hospital - Dissertation Example 80.95% said that clinical waste is disposed into community dumps directly. The written policy and procedures must be integrated in daily routine by using visual techniques such as posters, pamphlets and medical calendars so that the staff is continually reminded about the infection control practices. Declaration List of Figures Figure 11 - Number and rate of ICU acquired infection by infection type 19 Figure 22 - Hand wash and economic constraints 22 Figure 33 - Proper method of washing hands 24 Figure 4:4: Sample question scoring 43 Figure 5:5: Sample response rate & graphical chart 45 Figure 6: Hand Hygiene - Question 1 51 Figure 7: Hand Hygiene - Question 2 54 Figure 8: Hand Hygiene - Question 3 56 Figure 9: Hand Hygiene - Question 4 60 Figure 10: Hand Hygiene - Question 5 62 Figure 11: Hand Hygiene - Question 6 64 Figure 12: Hand Hygiene - Question 7 66 Figure 13: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 1 70 Figure 14: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 2 73 Figure 15: S terilisation and Disinfection - Question 5.4.3 75 Figure 16: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 4 77 Figure 17: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 5 79 Figure 18: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 6 81 Figure 19: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 7 83 Figure 20: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 8 85 Figure 21: Sterilisation and Disinfection - Question 9 87 Figure 22: Waste Management - Question 1 90 Figure 23: Waste Management - Question 2 92 Figure 24: Waste Management - Question 3 95 Figure 25: Waste Management - Question 4 97 Figure 26: Waste Management - Question 5 99 Figure 27: Waste Management - Question 6 101 Figure 28: Waste Management - Question 7 103 Figure 29: Waste Management - Question 8 105 Figure 30:6: Aggregate Hand... The paper tells that infections acquired by a patient in a healthcare facility, which were neither present nor incubating when the patient entered the hospital are called as nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). Hospitalised patients are more prone to develop such infections due to weak immune system, resulting from complex surgeries, organ transplantation, use of invasive devices and medical procedures, antibiotic resistance and other sources of cross-infection. Development of nosocomial infection is multiplied by the presence of microorganism in the hospital environment, which act as a reservoir from where microorganisms spread to other patients and cause infections. Infection can be acquired not just from other infected patients and healthcare staff but also from getting in contact with contaminated medical instruments and devices. Accumulation of patients suffering from acute illness in a relatively small place such as the intensive care unit (ICU) further increases the potential of nosocomial infection. Patients in an intensive care unit are at an increased risk of acquiring infections as compared to patients in general wards or other areas of the hospital. Bacteria have been the traditional source of nosocomial infection but with increasing use of antibiotics, urinary and central venous catheters, invasive surgeries, chemotherapy, mechanical ventilators, increasing incidence of other infectious microorganisms such as viruses and fungi, have become one of the leading causes of nosocomial infections. Nosocomial infections extends hospital stay and increase both morbidity and mortality.

Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland Essay

Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland - Essay Example The essay "Did the case of Horsham kill the case of Boland?" analyzes two cases about proprietary deviation and the connection between them. The case of Boland is concerned with the violation of wife’s unregistered right of possession of her matrimonial home in which her spouse had an equal share but had his name alone shown as the registered proprietor of the property in the land register. The husband had mortgaged the property to Williams & Glyns’s Bank without his wife’s knowledge even though they were living together in the same house. The mortgagee bank also did not care to verify with his wife if she had any interest before lending her husband against the mortgage of the said property. The question was whether the wife had an overriding interest by virtue of section 70 (1) (g) Registration Act 1925.since the appellant had sought to distinguish the â€Å"word actual occupation† as mentioned in the said section from her real status. The House of Lords ruled that actual occupation had only its literal meaning of physical presence and as long as she was physically present in the matrimonial home with all the rights of an occupied. Hence the wife had an overriding interest even though it could be argued that hers was the equitable interest as a minor interest entitled her interest only in the proceeds of a sale. The mortgagee bank failed to verify the factual position at their peril. Thus an equitable mortgagee does not get priority over an equitable interest of which he is deemed to have constructive notice.

Financial Control Auditing Essay Example for Free

Financial Control Auditing Essay If you use a computer to record your business activity and maintain this data electronically, you are a candidate for an electronic audit. * What are the Benefits of e-Auditing? †¢It saves time – Electronic audits are completed much faster than traditional, manual audits. Company personnel and tax auditors spend less time working on the audit. †¢It saves paper – Electronic tax auditing reduces the amount of paper normally needed during the audit. †¢It is less disruptive to business – Electronic audits permit tax auditors to work at the tax office most of the time. Computer-assisted tax audit techniques reduce on-site audit time. In this way, there is minimal interference with the normal business of your company. †¢It is more efficient – More efficient techniques for reviewing taxpayer information are used in electronic audits. * The process of e-Auditing? To corporate taxpayers: 1- The preparatory stage begins when a tax auditor contacts the company. 2- He then familiarizes himself with the accounting system of the company, and negotiates with company managers responsible for accounting and finance. 3- They make agreements on when and how the electronic material should be delivered to the tax authority, and what copies of files should be created for the purpose. The tax auditor receives the files and converts them into a special database format used by the Finnish Tax Administration. 5- Later, the chief auditor and the company management will discuss the time schedule of the on-site tax audit, i. e. the part of the tax examination that takes place on company premises. * What are the Auditor†™s Responsibilities towards e-Auditing? Our tax auditors have received special training on information technology; they are aware of information security considerations and work under strict rules of confidentiality. Their PC and laptop workstations are protected and secure. They store the original material in a locked cabinet, and they make sure that the work files created from the company-supplied electronic materials are removed from the computers immediately after the audit. Depending on what has been agreed, physical data media (CDs etc. ) will either be returned to the company or destroyed. After the tax authority has issued the assessment decision or tax debiting decision, any files saved in Tax Administration systems will be deleted. The company will receive a message confirming the deletion. The use of expert systems in e-Auditing As computer power is enhanced and auditors are faced with making decisions in more complex environments, some accounting firms have begun to develop expert systems to assist their personnel in the audit process, An expert system is a complex system of computer progams that models the decision process of a human experts. The psychological methods used to gain an understanding of the human experts decision process and conversion of this decision process into mathematical equations and computer programs are fair beyond the scope of this text. Legal Authority The right of the Finnish Tax Administration to receive computer files for the purposes of audit is based on the following tax laws:  § 14, Act on Assessment Procedure (1558/1995),  § 3, Ordinance on Assessment Procedure,  § 169, Value Added Tax Act (1501/1993),  § 10, VAT Ordinance, and  § 37, Prepayment Act (1118/1996). The Decision of 26 Jan 1998 (no 47/1998) of the Ministry of Trade and Industry concerns bookkeeping methods. The first section of this Decision concerns the use of computer automation in accounting. The Accounting Board has issued an official instruction on 22 May 2000 on the implementation of the provisions of the Decision. These instructions include more specific rules on the use of information technology in accounting. In the interest of expediency during tax audits, the Finnish Tax Administration urges corporate taxpayers to follow the recordkeeping rule of six years. In other words, full documentation showing each transaction separately including its entries in accounting records should be kept for six years after the closing of the accounting period. These records also include auxiliary documentation, and they are to be kept in a legible format. * Rules on recordkeeping and reproduction of data Companies are requested to keep the following files and details in a machine-sensible, software-independent format. They should cover the entire time periods to be audited: 1. Journal-type file of the accounting system listing each transaction separately , including the following detailed facts if applicable for the company: †¢Company number, business unit number †¢Document type Sequential number of the accounting voucher/document, which should be the same number as that of the original receipt, voucher or other document found in the books. †¢Date of accounting document / Date of transaction / Accounting period †¢Account number †¢Cost center number †¢Amount in euros (marks), amount in foreign currency, code of currency †¢Descriptions of accounting entries – several descriptions are accepted †¢ Project no, investment no, process no, product no etc. †¢Customer no, supplier no †¢VAT code †¢Any other data fields that help identify the transaction. . Additional files in case the names (of accounts or of cost centers) are not included in the accounting transactions files: †¢Chart of accounts showing every account used during the period, including account name and account number. †¢Lists of cost centers (and their numbers and names) used during various years. †¢Lists showing details of project numbers, investment numbers, process numbers, product numbers etc. used during various years †¢Lists showing VAT codes (with explanations) used during various years †¢Lists of accounting voucher types used Lists showing the sequences of sequential numbers used by the accounting system (can be delivered on paper instead of a computer file) †¢Registers of suppliers and registers of customers, as a computer file, including at least the following facts: ? Business IDs and European VAT numbers ?Customer no, supplier no ?Name ?Address ?Postal code ?Country code 3. Other details: †¢Specifications of records, descri bing each delivered file. †¢Detailed versions of balance sheet (showing each account separately) for the accounting periods to be audited. †¢Model list printed on paper, to show the eginning of the accounting transaction list file, in case numerical fields have been zipped / compressed. * What are the Permissible file types? The files should consist of fixed-length consecutive strings and be free of software-specific characters (and they should not be backup files). Accounting transactions and additional files such as charts of accounts and lists of cost centers should be delivered to us on a physical data medium, which is usually a CD or DVD. The following technical information is mandatory : * Encoding (ascii / ebcdic) Existence of zipped/compressed data elements (please unzip/uncompress) * Number of records * Length of records. If the company cannot deliver the accounting system files where transactions are primarily recorded, tax auditors can alternatively utilize repo rting files or list files. Accounting systems create reporting files and transaction lists associated with the general ledger and journal, accounts receivable and accounts payable What are the Pros and Cons of both manual and E-audit? (Conclusion) There are pros and cons to both the manual and electronic audits. The manual chart review is more time consuming and is subject to both the benefits and liabilities of requiring human judgment during the audit process. The electronic audit is much quicker, although it requires time and attention to careful set up before the first audit can be run. E-audits are independent of human judgment since determinations are made by internally programmed computer logic and are therefore more consistent than manual audits. Their accuracy is more subject to proper PCC documentation, coding and data entry issues. More and more facilities are opting to perform e-audits due to the time savings and ease of performing regular periodic audits once the initial setup has been completed. We encourage the use of electronic audits whenever feasible. For facilities wishing to transition from a manual to an electronic audit, it is imperative that they initially run simultaneous manual and e-audits to compare the results. In theory, the results from the manual and e-audit should be quite similar. If the results of one or more of the audit elements are significantly different, an investigation into the reason(s) for the difference needs to be undertaken.

Scientific Analysis of Car Crash

Scientific Analysis of Car Crash

Essay --

The PCR products for each gene were purified using Qiagene purification kit. The T7 RNA polymerase gene was digested with NheI and XhoI. Then, after purification with a gel extraction kit (Qiagene), the DNA fragment of T7 RNA polymerase (in length of 2600Kb) was cloned into pIRES2-EGFP plasmid (clontech) and recombinant vector was called pIRES-T7. The cloning process for N and P genes were similar. The PCR products for each gene was purified and digested with NotI. The NotI site designed in 5’-end of reverse primers, but there was not any restriction enzyme site in forward primers. The forward primers contained a kozak consensus ribosme binding site (AACC) and ATG initiation codon. The pIRES2-EGFP plasmid was digested in a step by step process. First, pIRES2-EGFP was digested with BstxI and then, the digestion product of the plasmid treated by klenow to produce blunt end. Finally, pIRES2-EGFP was digested with NotI. The DNA fragments of N and P genes cloned into pIRES2-EGFP and recombinant vectors were called pIRES-N and pIRES-P, respectively. To produce tricistronic expression vecto...

Global Warming Essay -- Environmental Global Climate Change

Global Warming The 19th as well as the 20th century have been the most prolific time periods in modern history as concerns science, technology and socio-economic development. Within these two centuries we witnessed the discovery of electricity, the invention of the engine which played a very important role in the maturity of the well-known industrial revolution. Through this revolution people began to live in a more decent and comfortable manner; new commodities were produced and entire new kinds of industry were developed. Although all these inventions, discoveries and scientific breakthroughs improved in an outstanding way our well-being, they also provided us with some troubles that scientists had never foreseen or even imagined. One of the major setbacks of this technological evolution is the change of the World’s climate: the so-called Global Warming. Global warming is a very strange phenomenon which consists in the increase of the World’s average temperature. Scientists after very precise historical observations and measurements have reached the conclusion that the global average temperature has increased by about 0.5 degree centigrade over the past 100 years. The likelihood that this global warming is due primarily to natural variability is low. Scientists believe that this global warming trend is a direct consequence of the enhanced greenhouse effect. The notion of an "enhanced" greenhouse effect refers primarily to the incremental global warming caused by the rising concentrations of human-introduced greenhouse gases over and above the greenhouse effect caused by naturally occurring greenhouse gases. Although there exist large uncertainties, scientists suggest that the emissions of greenhouse gases could, by the end of the next century, lead to an increase in global temperatures of about 1 to 4 degree centigrade. This global warming tendency can cause a significant worldwide climate change. Human society is highly dependent on the Earth's climate. Climate patterns and human adaptations determine the availability of food, fresh water, and other resources for sustaining life. The social and economic characteristics of society have also been shaped largely by adapting to the seasonal and year-to-year patterns of temperature and rainfall. Some potential effects associated with climate change concern, first of all, the water resources. The qu... ...g from December 1 to 11, 1997, more than 160 nations met in Kyoto, Japan, to negotiate binding limitations on greenhouse gases for the developed nations, pursuant to the objectives of the Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992. The outcome of the meeting was the Kyoto Protocol, in which the developed nations agreed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, relative to the levels emitted in 1990. The agreement calls on both developed and developing countries to take a number of steps including: formulating and implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures; cooperating in development and transfer of environmentally reliable, climate friendly technologies; and cooperating in research and observation of climate science, impacts and response strategies. As a conclusion I would like to say that scientific and industrial advance can be of great help in order to improve and develop our every day life as well as our society but on the other hand can be offensive and even destructive towards our future. I think we should support any effort that is made for enriching our knowledge and expertise without however compromise our future and the future of our children.

Joe and the Juice

Ind. Competence. Joe and the juice: Franchise – you pay royalty every month, whether you earn or not – You use the name. The concept have to be good and proved. Of course you need a lot of money to invest, because the main firm does not give a single penny for your business. When you see a concept that people like you have to carry on this wave. Partnership is not like franchise . There is no real influence with the concepts. You have to stick to what all think is a good idea. You got limitations. You can choose how to look like but you still get limitations about the main concept.Fremtiden – future : restaurant business is to rely the personnel. How you adapt different stores to different market? – number of personnel is different depending on how busy they are. Adjust the music, take best employees to make sure the new place is working good, adapt to peoples behaviour. Try to learn from mistakes and take much more time before you open a stoer, so you can know what the locals are and you can adapt to them. . Scandic hotel To give people away from home the feeling of being home. They run the hotels, they do not own them.Promises and missions are part of any hotel chain. People skills are vital and training is vital. Team members should speak their mind and discuss. More sales are more service. Self-service is no service, it is ignorance Customers pay grants for emotions. Every business has a potential. Brand is much more than a logo type. Brand platform needs to be relevant to the customers. It is an explanation to who we are. People away from home need warm and nice atmosphere and friends. Caring, casual, creative – these are the values of Scandic.

Problem with recycling

In my class, we started watching a documentary that highlighted recycling and the issues that plastic, chemicals, and the troubles It causes to ocean life. After watching this documentary for a short period of time I was feeling frustrated. I am frustrated that these major Issues are being taken lightly by so many people. As a college student we are preached to about doing our part to save the world by recycling. This documentary was very insightful as I found out that not all plastic can be recycled.Plastic and its products are causing damage to the ocean life because fish are eating the harmful waste. Another issue that was mentioned was how chemicals are dangerous. Many chemicals are not being tested in the united States of America before they are put out for everyone to use so the harm it is causing is affecting a majority of our population. I had vaguely heard about these problems, but I always thought that these people, commonly known as â€Å"tree huggers† were Just goi ng over board and that there really wasn't that much harm being done. The first issue I will address Is the problem with recycling.Like I stated earlier not everything is recyclable. I used to Just throw my plastic bottles In the plastic recycling bal right outside my door but then after watching the documentary, learned that the lids on plastic bottles could not be recycled; arena they plastic too? I wanted to do some research myself on what was and wasn't recyclable but each web site was a little different, so who do I listen to? After comparing one of the web sites to some of my plastics, I realized that most of my plastics had the recycling arrows on them, which I used to think meant that the item was a recyclable item.This made me angry as some of the items are not recyclable which makes me feel likes its false advertisement and a way to make a sell. I tried recycling more than usual to do my part in saving the world and took the bottle caps off of every bottle I threw away. I might not be recycling everything properly, but some of It Is recyclable and It makes me feel good knowing I am doing my part In making a difference. The next Issue that bothers me was the dangers plastic has brought to the ocean.Multiple pieces are being Injured because of the garbage (Including plastic) In the ocean. In the Great Pacific, there are patches of plastic waste, along with other garbage, where the sun is breaking the waste down into tiny pieces and the fish are mistaking it for food. After the fish eats the biodegradable plastic, they can not digest it and often die. The fish food to plastic ratio used to be 1:6 in favor of the plastic; now the ratio is 40:1 in favor of the plastic. This issue has had a negative impact on the marine animals.In Nebraska, we do not live by an ocean where I could easily organize or alp another group with a clean up day, so instead I decided I would pick up any trash I saw on the ground and continue to recycle any of the items I thought we re recyclable. A lot of these plastic items are free, I feel If they charged for these Items three would not be as many and would be less likely to end up in the ocean! Once again I worked hard doing my part this week and felt Like I had made a small Impact In helping save ocean life, but a small Impact Is better than no Impact! The third and final issue I will address is the chemical problem.I did not know that several omen forces an issue if a problem arises. It is like chemicals are all innocent and create no harm until they are proven guilty. I felt terrible for EJB knowing his new child's toys contained chemicals that had never been tested. What would happen if the child had a reaction to these chemicals and something caused him serious harm? Sometimes the affects chemicals have can be irreversible and could cause the child to have permanent damage and in such cases parents must deal with these problems when they show side effects of the chemicals causing damage to them.For thi s issue, I talked about it with my friends to inform others of how chemical testing is obsolete and Just used when it causes a problem with someone. If we could be an advocate for chemical testing and get the word out to the public and have some of them lobby for our congressman to set laws for items to be tested for chemicals to ensure the publics safety. Once again, I feel this does not create a large impact on the harm plastic and chemicals are causing but it is a start to making our world a happier and healthier place to live.

One share one vote Essay

In 30% of Europe’s major companies, inadequate capitalist equality has strengthened middle power-holding groups and limited alternative shareholders’ kingdom of action. That is the close of a study by research firm Deminor, equipped on behalf of the Association of British Insurers (ABI). The study condemn the reality that 35% of all companies in the choose FTSE Eurofirst 300 index have some kind of method in position for defensive themselves next to the standard of ‘one share, one vote. Business reformers who want to put off corporate scandals have not embark upon this dilemma, in spite of the fact that parity is the most basic principle in politics. In Europe, this breakdown is a particularly solemn problem since the majority governments have opted to take out the proposals of the European Union, by means of the method of ‘obey or give details. ’ This classification has allowed them to keep away from writing set of laws that wrap all the ins-and-outs of good quality governance. As a substitute, companies that fall short to obey with a corporate principle have to clarify why they are doing so, and depiction themselves to likely penalty by their shareholders. If the ballot vote rights of minorities are limited, a comparatively useless reprimand is functional. â€Å"The formula of ‘obey or explain’ is merely feasible if all shareholders can work out their rights,† warns Mary Francis, general manager of the ABI, in the opening to the study. In her view, if authority holders in a high proportion of companies carry on to accumulate more power than they deserve, they could countenance lawful penalties from Brussels. Though, Vicente Salas, professor of economics and business organization at the University of Zaragoza, doesn’t consider it will be likely to inflict such penalties. Whilst empirical data is missing, Salas argues that this kind of behavior â€Å"will not be regulated until we arrive at the point where the standard (‘one share, one vote’) is severely imposed on every openly traded company in each country of the European Union. † (Guido 16-18) When voting rights are concerted in the groups that sprint the company, it distorts the actuality of the soak. Along with the 300 major companies in Europe, 35% of every voting right is given to those who possess 22% of the total shareholdings. There are more than a few ways this is gifted, and it depends on the country. Though, the preferred means to attain this attentiveness is to generate shares that have manifold voting rights. That occurs in 20% of Europe’s most important companies. Fairly a small number of companies (10% of the total) choose to border voting rights, and 5% of all companies favor to impose confines on share ownership. With that kind of loom, shareholders need to own a least amount number of shares [previous to they can vote. ] In contrast, â€Å"Golden Shares† [a golden share gives its shareholder refusal authority over changes to the company’s charter] have been trailing fame because they have frequently been fated by Brussels. In spite of the resistance of European regulators, a few companies uphold this method. Examples comprise BAE Systems and Rolls Royce, in which the British decision-making has a Golden Share. Similarly, the Portuguese chief executive has a Golden Share in Portugal Telecom. In Spain, the government does not have its own â€Å"Golden Shares. † though; it has maintained the authority to veto definite activities in Endesa, Repsol-YPF, and Telefonica, in spite of the reality that the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg affirmed such vetoes against the law in May 2003. Study demonstrates that there is still an extended road in front before there is a self-governing system for all shareholders in European markets, director of investments at ABI. In his view, if companies make growth beside this road, they will shun the jeopardy of being subjected to stricter set of laws, such as those in result in the U. S. The solution to achieving this objective is to admiration the rights of shareholders, and build up just one market for [all] European shares,. Jean-Nicolas Caprase, a partner of Deminor, is not sure that companies will respond fast. There are a lot of exceptions to the standard of ‘one share, one vote,’ and the circumstances are altering too slowly. That marginal shareholders’ aptitude to take act is the principal bludgeon for avoiding the mistreatment of authority by groups that are in control. â€Å"The basic thing is to get better the performance of shareholder groups since that is one of the lone places where corporate directors are feeble. Bebchuk and Hart 11) Justifications and Exceptions Salas defends the idea of impending this from the point of view of self-regulation. Though, he recommends â€Å"prescribing standards that, as maintaining the liberty of companies, as well defend the interests of minority shareholders. When companies issue shares, they should be compelled to notify shareholders, in a completely translucent way, about the relationship between control over corporate incomes (where the parity principle applies) and have power over decision-making (where there may be a short of fulfillment because voting is biased. This association derives from the constitutional norms that each company establishes when it issues its shares. Formerly a company has gone public; any changes in pertinent statutes have to be approved by the general meeting of shareholders. Just then, if a transform is approved by preponderance, the company should offer to purchase out its dissenter shareholders, contribution them a fair price. † Companies protect their rights to carry on intent additional voting rights in just a few hands. They say this practice gives stability to their company’s shares, and prevents conjecture [in their shares]. Though, if we should inquire ourselves if insiders are more truthfully owners than alternative shareholders are, from a business point of view. After all, in many cases, minority shareholders invest today and put up for sale tomorrow. We should even ask ourselves if they are owners in terms of their obligation. (Edwards 7) Gratitude to a 1959 law, the German state of Lower Saxony controls 20% of the voting rights in Volkswagen, in spite of the truth it owns just 14% of the automaker’s shares. To promise shareholder constancy in the company, 80% of all votes were necessitate for adopting significant decisions. Additionally, the law set a 20% boundary on the voting rights of any single shareholder. Effectively, this guaranteed that no shareholder has a larger voice than lesser Saxony. Although this rule might have made sense 47 years previously, it has been fated by Brussels, which suppose that the state is using the innovative justification to assurance its control over the company. Companies offer another good reason for deploying mechanisms that set confines on corporate democracy. They say these requirements make investors more faithful to the company. For instance, in France, where 69% of all companies have some type of restraint, quite a few companies offer double voting rights to those investors who have held their shares for more than two years. The objective is to formulate these investors more faithful. Nevertheless, the Deminor study is decisive of this practice, at variance that it is being used to strengthen the position of groups that hold authority. Still if they want to alter, there are almost certainly some factions surrounded by the companies who fall short to fulfill with the principle, and protect the status quo, â€Å"One great example of disobedience with this principle is the survival of shares that have no voting rights. No one questions this put into practice, and no one qualm they can survive. † Shares with no voting rights are common between companies that are family owned; where the founders carry on to manage the majority of the shares, or a large portion. In such a case, the main goal of issuing shares is to gain right of entry to capital, with no altering managerial power of the company. Though, there are a number of economic reimbursements from owning shares that have no voting rights, together with special access to extra payments. (Berglof and M. Burkart, 172) Countries economic analysis All over Europe scholars have been discussing and researching on pros and cons of economic benefits, many have explained the positive side of it. In the economic side the public and private values are very important of any company. We can take an explain of it, as if a company has share ratio of 50 half of that relates to private value and half goes to public value, but public value becomes 40 if there is less competent team deficient. When Even though the in general landscape is fairly negative, there are important differences from country to country. Belgium provides the best instance of corporate democracy. No company in that country compel restrictions on minority voting rights, in spite of the fact that Belgian law recognizes some customs that such a objective could be achieved. Neighboring Holland is one of Europe’s most translucent countries, and a title holder of good governance. Though, Holland is the country that imposes the most limits on minority shareholders; 86% of every Dutch company has a number of systems for preventing minorities from imposing their views. They do this, very frequently, by issuing shares with manifold voting rights. Sweden, wherever 75% of all companies are â€Å"equipped† next to minority shareholders, is between the slightest democratic countries when it comes to corporate governance. In adding up, every Swedish company that sets restrictions on voting rights also has shares that have manifold voting rights. Germany is an individual case. German companies have two councils. One is composed of executives of the company. In the next council, partially of the members represent the workers. This set-up explains, in part, why no German company apart from Volkswagen sets limitations on voting rights. In most cases, this is because employees are also shareholders in the company. The United Kingdom, measured the example of good governance in Europe, is also one of the countries with the majority corporate democracy. This is true in spite of the information that 12% of all companies have some sort of restraint, largely from side to side limitations on ownership. We consider that if you make a market based on business governance, as caring the interests of minority shareholders, it is a superior thing for each entity market; for the European financial system, and for the millions of entity savers whose money we use yet, wouldn’t it be promising to validate limitations on voting rights beneath a few circumstances? (Gilson 29) Pros and cons The primary suppositions in the law and economics literature concerning shareholder voting and the one-share/one-vote rule are faulty in many ways. The typical outlook is that share possession is essential and enough to make voting rights and those rights should be straight relative to share possession. We display that this supposition is groundless, both for shares that are economically burdened (supposed by investor who are not pure left over applicant; e. g. , a investor who owns one share and is as well tiny one or more shares) in addition to shares that are lawfully laden (alleged or connected with more than one investor; e. . , shares that are loaned to a little, who put up for sale that share to a new buyer). The one-share/one-vote rule is not merely economically sub-optimal, but grades in considerable harmful cost. Quorum and dogmatic needs are distorted; mergers and acquisitions are also effortlessly accepted; securities class performance are undervalued and at the same time under- and over-recompense; insolvency distributions are over- and under-broad; and fixed-ratio stock offers are favoured over economically greater alternatives. These consequences all get from a groundless dependence ahead the one-share/one-vote standard and the faith that yet economically or lawfully laden shares are allowed to vote. On the other side the public value side has been flawed by the system in its depth, which has already been mentioned above. Conclusion Since the enactment of the federal securities laws, the number of public investors who directly own equity securities in this country has grown to over 47,000,000, and the additional number of individuals who own stock indirectly through pension plans, life insurance policies, and other accounts exceeds 133,000, 000. These public investors have relied on a congressional policy that links fair corporate suffrage to the trading markets for equity securities. An increasing number of publicly-held corporations have determined to break this link to foreclose takeover threats. Differing sets of listing standards have permitted companies to engage in regulatory arbitrage, moving from one exchange to another in a search for the least regulatory environment. The resulting competitive pressures felt by the exchanges and the NASD have caused a deregulatory crisis over stockholder voting rights, a crisis that ultimately may extend to other qualitative standards imposed on listed companies) Although the SEC believes it has the authority to act, EU has provided no clear guidelines for the implementation of its fair corporate suffrage policy. The resulting lack of certainty could be harmful to corporate enterprises, the investing public, and the markets EU has sought to protect. Substantial damage already has occurred, but that harm is inconsequential when future prospects are considered. Presently, only 200 of the 6500 publicly- held corporations have undertaken to break the link between voting and trading. One exchange official has predicted that â€Å"the floodgates will open. † Another commentator has warned that â€Å"eventually all companies will be controlled by some small, inside group; public stockholders will not have any role or significant voting rights† if the one share, one vote rule is taken away. In the words of a former SEC Commissioner, we should â€Å"question the legitimacy of vesting so much of our nation’s wealth in the hands of what would be self-perpetuating managements. † (Kraakman 95) The idea of a federal corporation law has been suggested since the beginning of the Republic. James Madison recommended the idea during the Constitutional Convention. ’ Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft promoted the idea in the early part of this century as a way to combat monopolistic practices. In the 1970s, Ralph Nader and others urged federal chartering as a means to effect social reforms)

Missing the Target

This article is written to the general public.   It is begging the question, how do we close the gap? The school district or town of Ossining is struggling to get to the root of the great racial divide. However, the bigger question, is it race, is the real issue.   Is it socioeconomic or an even greater issue at hand?   The values stressed in this article are of education, equality and integration. The author whole-heartedly believes that the great racial divide is what hinders many African-American and Latino students.   The author also points out that the students have benefited from the integration and provides examples in the article of said benefits. Let us examine the points a little further. The article asks the question, ‘can the town continue to use racial targeting to close the achievement gap?’ Is that what is going on? According to the article, ‘†they're doing a lot of things, but it's not clear that they're working.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ He (Noguera) says the results of his research are forthcoming.   Pedro Noguera is a New York University sociologists and nationally known expert in the achievement gap (Goldstein). He does not see how this is helping but gives the school an A for effort.   However, effort alone does not achieve results, especially in this instance.   I do not see the efforts of Ossining as an academic achievement, but as a social one. It is irrelevant as to whether I agree with the values of the article, although I do. However, the values of integration do not solve the problems of the educational divide, which is the point or thesis of the article.   What is stressed here is how African-Americans do better in the workforce when they are put in integrated environments and pregnancy rates are lowered for Latina and African-American teenagers, but what does that have to do with education? The sociological gap presented here is really what is being questioned.   However, that is not achieving equality in higher education. Programs such as the Boy Scouts of America or summer enrichment programs can achieve integration or exposure to a less segregated social experience.   The question in the article is about closing the achievement gap and that is not being addressed or answered in this article. The author values integration, equal opportunity, enrichment exposure and self-esteem.   However, if the parents of the affluent are the only ones involved, then there will only be a social integration.   Achievement comes from involvement and reinforcement at home.   There are few children that can achieve anything with parents who cannot understand and assist in homework or academic endeavors.   That is discouraging.   My take on it is to target parents and to teach them about what good study habits are.   It does not matter if the children are being targeted if it is not reinforced at home. There are only a minute amount of children that can make achievements in dire circumstances.   If the parents are telling the children to work hard or that they need them to get a job to help out with bills and other extenuating circumstances, such things can and will deter academic achievement.   There are statistics that show parents that read have children that read.   The emphasis on education starts at home and if there is a sociological disadvantage, then that is what needs to be addressed and resolved since, obviously, such efforts as in the Ossining school are missing the target; educational equality.

Importance & Impact of Ethical Communication Essay

Abstract Communication is constant, especially in the information age. Savvy professionals know how to communicate quickly, effectively and ethically. The term â€Å"ethical communication† has different meanings depending on the context. A shampoo advertiser and a sports team spokesperson may have dissimilar views on what constitutes as ethical communication. Some communication guidelines are only applicable to certain situations, while others could be understood as ethical in one situation and unethical in another. Every aspect of ethical communication should be considered within the boundaries of the issue at hand. Introduction The Business Dictionary defines ethical standards as follows: Principles that when followed, promote values such as trust, good behavior, fairness, and/or kindness. There is not one consistent set of standards that all companies follow, but each company has the right to develop the standards that are meaningful for their organization. Ethical standards are not always easily enforceable, as they are frequently vaguely defined and somewhat open to interpretation (â€Å"Men and women should be treated equally, † or â€Å"Treat the customer with respect and kindness. ). Others can be more specific, such as â€Å"Do not share the customer’s private information with anyone outside of the company. † Ethical Communication in Business Every business is dependent on effective ethical communication. It’s what makes new policy in government, raises money for nonprofits and strengthens a business. Business communication occurs any time a message is given or received, whether it’s verbal or nonverbal, between two businesses, a business and its employees or a business and the public. The messages sent and received by a business need to follow ethical norms that don’t offend or make individuals feel uncomfortable. Significance Ethical business communication holds great significance on three main fronts: business to business, business to employees and business to the public. An example of the first type is between a business and its suppliers or distributors. The second is organizational communication within the business itself, how the leadership communicates with the employees. Lastly, communication with the public is how the business develops its public image. Maintaining high ethical standards on each front is essential to success in business. Function Ethical business communication’s primary function is to send and receive messages in a neutral, non-offensive manner. Ethical effective communication skills in business strengthen its corporate culture, resulting in a more attractive bottom line. When communication does not adhere to ethical standards, the consequences can include unhappy employees, a poor public image and a decrease in the bottom line. Ethical business communication is intended to care for the emotional and perceptive needs of its employees and customers. Misconceptions A common misconception concerning ethical communication in business is that most unethical communication is obvious and overt. True unethical communication is based on perception. If a person or people group perceive or interpret certain actions or words to be discriminatory or offensive, the communication can be considered unethical. The same is true with interpersonal interactions between employees. If a particular form of communication or gesture is offensive to another employee, it can be categorized as unethical. Purpose The purpose of ethical communication in business is to protect, respect and maintain a good public image. The communication in any business is for the purpose of maintaining order and the proper image with its employees and society. For example, if an accusation was to arise against a particular company, the public relations representative will arrange a press conference to verbally address the issue at hand. The company may also change a policy pertaining to the issue that non-verbally communicates the same message. Consequences There are many consequences to unethical business communication. A business may have an outstanding product or service, but if it doesn’t communicate well with its customers, they will not be satisfied, and this can weaken the business/customer relationship. Everything in business rises and falls on communication. When ethical communication is lacking, moral, corporate image and motivation will lack as well. Each of these elements affects the spirit of the employees, which in turn will reflect to the customer and result in a decrease in revenue. Ethical behavior is a companywide concern, of course; but because communication efforts are the public face of a company, they are subjected to particularly rigorous scrutiny from regulators, legislators, investors, consumer groups, environmental groups, labor organizations, and anyone else affected by business activities. Ethical communication includes all relevant information, is true in every sense, and is not deceptive in any way. In contrast, unethical communication can include falsehoods and misleading information (or can withhold important information). Some examples of unethical communication include: Plagiarism: Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s words or other creative product as your own. Note that plagiarism can also be illegal if it violates a copyright, which is a form of legal protection for the expression of creative ideas. Selective misquoting: Deliberately omitting damaging or unflattering comments to paint a better (but untruthful) picture of you or your company. Misrepresenting numbers: Increasing or decreasing numbers, exaggerating, altering statistics, or omitting numerical data. Distorting visuals: Making a product look bigger or changing the scale of graphs and charts to exaggerate or conceal differences. In contrast, an ethical message is accurate and sincere. It avoids language and images that manipulate, discriminate, or exaggerate. On the surface, such ethical practices appear fairly easy to recognize, but deciding what is ethical can be a considerable challenge in complex business situations. Distinguishing Ethical Dilemmas from Ethical Lapses Every company has responsibilities to its stakeholders, and those various groups often have competing interests. An ethical dilemma involves choosing among alternatives that aren’t clear-cut. Perhaps two conflicting alternatives are both ethical and valid, or perhaps the alternatives lie somewhere in the gray area between clearly right and clearly wrong. Suppose you are the chief executive of a company whose sales are declining and you might be forced to reduce costs by laying off 100 employees. You’ve decided to wait two months before making this tough decision. Here’s your dilemma: Do you tell the workforce now that several hundred jobs could disappear in the near future? Telling them now would give people more time to look for new jobs and adjust their finances—clearly a good thing. However, if you tell them now, vital employees nervous about their future could jump ship, which could drive sales down even more—clearly not a good thing. And what if you tell them now and many people leave but then sales improve enough in the next two months that you can avoid the layoffs? You will have unnecessarily disrupted many careers and families. Situations such as these often have no clear answer. In contrast, an ethical lapse is a clearly unethical (and frequently illegal) choice. In 2004, several insurance companies were accused of misleading military personnel at Fort Benning in Georgia, Camp Pendleton in California, and other bases around the country. Many of these young men and women thought they were signing up for savings programs when in fact they were buying extremely expensive and frequently unnecessary life insurance policies. The policies were often sold during mandatory financial training sessions for the soldiers, who were given no time to read the documents they signed. After the situation was brought to national attention by the New York Times and other news media, at least two of the companies involved, Madison National Life Insurance Company and American Amicable Life Insurance, began issuing full refunds. Ensuring Ethical Communication Ensuring ethical business communication requires three elements: ethical individuals, ethical company leadership, and the appropriate policies and structures to support employees’ efforts to make ethical choices. 39 Moreover, these three elements need to work in harmony. If employees see company executives making unethical decisions and flouting company guidelines, they might conclude that the guidelines are meaningless and emulate their bosses’ unethical behavior. Employers have a responsibility to establish clear guidelines for ethical behavior, including business communication. In a recent global survey by the International Association of Business Communicators, 70 percent of communication professionals said their companies clearly define what is considered ethical and unethical behavior. On a somewhat less positive note, slightly fewer than half said their companies encourage open discussion of ethical issues and dilemmas. Many companies establish an explicit ethics policy by using a written code of ethics to help employees determine what is acceptable. A code is often part of a larger program of employee training and communication channels that allow employees to ask questions and report instances of questionable ethics. For example, United Technologies, a large aerospace and defense company based in Hartford, Connecticut, offers employees, customers, and suppliers a confidential way to report suspected fraud and other ethical concerns. The people who share their concerns through the program then receive a written response that explains how the situation was resolved. 1 To ensure ongoing compliance with their codes of ethics, many companies also conduct ethics audits to monitor ethical progress and to point out any weaknesses that need to be addressed. Principles of Ethical Communication The Business Dictionary defines ethical standards as â€Å"Principles that when followed, promote values such as trust, good behavior, fairness, and/or kindness. † In order to establish good communication with people of other cultures, it is essential to understand their ethical framework. In rder to learn ethical intercultural communication, you must expect people of other cultures to think differently, be willing to learn culturally appropriate behavior and (at least to some extent) practice what their cultures consider ethical. Expect Differences Ethical principles are not the same across cultures. Rather, ethics are culturally informed. â€Å"The right thing to do† is not just instinctive in humans. Many aspects of what is â€Å"good† are taught (consciously and subconsciously) by a person’s culture. So, if you want to establish ethical intercultural communication with people of another background, prepare yourself to see the world differently. Do not expect that what seems good to you will also seem good to them; understand that they may view some things as bad that you view as fine or good. For example, while American culture teaches that individuality is a good thing and that â€Å"standing on your own two feet† is a position you should strive for, many other cultures value the group more than the individual. For example, in most African cultures, being part of a strong family support system is considered much more important and valuable than standing alone as an individual. Exemplify the Universal Although different cultures will have varying expectations and standards as to what is ethical, there are some ethical standards that are universal. So, by striving to abide by ethical standards that are universally received, you can take the first step in communicating and connecting well with people of another culture. According to William Howell in his Ethics of Intercultural Communication, â€Å"Two principles that are universal are that no action is ethical if it harms persons, and the action that benefits persons accumulates ethical quality. † Act in such a way that you do not intentionally bring harm to anyone, and always keep others’ best interests in mind. Learn their Culture To really communicate well interculturally, you must ask the question: â€Å"What makes a ‘good’ person in your culture? † Talk with people in the target culture to discover the traits of an ethical person. What attitudes and actions does a good person possess? Does a good person set aside his personal work to take care of his parents when they are elderly? Does a good person control his anger at all times? Does a good person practice abstinence in certain areas? You will find, as you look into someone else’s culture, that the things that make a â€Å"good† person in your culture are not the same things that comprise a â€Å"good† person in every culture. Empathize Through Action As you learn the ways of another culture, the best way to establish good intercultural communication is to act in a way that is considered ethical in that culture. Do and say the things that will express that you have the best interest of those around you in mind. Enjoy the food people prepare for you. If there are certain respectful gestures associated with greeting people older or more prestigious than yourself (or everyone), use them. Learn at least enough of the language to greet people and ask how they are doing in their native tongue. Wear clothing that is culturally appropriate. Respect family organization and methods of doing education and business. On every level of life and society, share in the way people think and act as much as you are able to. This willingness to adopt the standards of another culture is the best way to establish ethical and intercultural communication. Goals of Ethical Business Communications The purpose of business is to make money. Behaving ethically serves that purpose. People prefer doing business with ethical companies, companies they can trust, so in the long run the ethical company benefits from its behavior. This means that the goal of ethical business communication is to build the trust and credibility of the company. The International Association of Business Communicators maintains that companies that the practice of ethical business communication also increases a team feeling among employees and boosts employee morale. To accomplish these goals, corporate communication must strive to attain certain specific ethical goals. Honesty It is to a company’s benefit to be honest. Honesty is the basis of trust. If others feel that they can believe what a company says, they will trust it. Other factors being equal, people prefer doing business with a company they can trust. Honesty means saying what you believe to be true, but it also means distinguishing fact from opinion. It is easy to disguise opinion as fact. Some television news commentators do it every day, and their credibility suffers for it. They may be considered entertaining, but what they say is taken with a grain of salt. Consultant Michelle Howe advises any company that wants to be trusted to clearly label opinion as such, and to present what it has to say in an unbiased manner. Clarity Distinguishing fact from opinion is part of a larger goal of being clear and easy to understand. Ethical business communication calls for being clearly understood. It means that the company is not seen as attempting to obfuscate or confuse the public and other companies with whom it does business. Timeliness of communication can also help. Within the company, acknowledging problems and keeping relevant people informed with clear and direct communications helps dampen the â€Å"rumor mill† and maintains better employee morale. Commitment In the context of business communications, commitment means allocating the necessary time and resources to discussing issues fully. Communication needs to be thorough, for only when time and resources, such as feedback forms, are dedicated to discussing issues is there a chance for everyone in the organization to have their voice heard. Acknowledging Sources Few things create as much tension as when someone presents another person’s ideas as his own. Employees want credit for their work, so failure to acknowledge them is not only unethical but also bad for morale. Some people believe that concerns about plagiarism are only important in academic ettings, but anytime someone is caught â€Å"borrowing† someone else’s ideas without proper acknowledgment, trustworthiness takes a nosedive. Most people realize it’s important to use quotations when citing direct statements from others, but it’s also good practice and sound business to acknowledge ideas that are not your own. Openness to Other Views Openness is one of the key pillars of ethical communication. In communication, openness m eans being open to diverse ideas and opinions, as well as being ready to offer your own opinions even if you do not think they will be popular. A business environment where people are not free to play the devil’s advocate and say unpopular opinions is not an ethical one, because intolerance of divergent opinions means intolerance of differences and free flow of information is essential to both the public’s and the organization’s long-term well-being. Taking Care with Confidential Information Confidential information is a special class of information that requires special attention. The North Carolina State University business department emphasizes the importance of the ethical business practice of protecting confidential information while complying with public disclosure laws. Any use of confidential information for personal gain is also clearly unethical. IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators Preface Because hundreds of thousands of business communicators worldwide engage in activities that affect the lives of millions of people, and because this power carries with it significant social responsibilities, the International Association of Business Communicators developed the Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators. The Code is based on three different yet interrelated principles of professional communication that apply throughout the world. These principles assume that just societies are governed by a profound respect for human rights and the rule of law; that ethics, the criteria for determining what is right and wrong, can be agreed upon by members of an organization; and, that understanding matters of taste requires sensitivity to cultural norms. These principles are essential: †¢Professional communication is legal. †¢Professional communication is ethical. †¢Professional communication is in good taste. Recognizing these principles, members of IABC will: Engage in communication that is not only legal but also ethical and sensitive to cultural values and beliefs; †¢Engage in truthful, accurate and fair communication that facilitates respect and mutual understanding; †¢adhere to the following articles of the IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators. Because conditions in the world are constantly changing, members of IABC will work to improve their individual competence and to increase the body of knowledge in the field with research and education. Articles 1. Professional communicators uphold the credibility and dignity of their profession by practicing honest, candid and timely communication and by fostering the free flow of essential information in accord with the public interest. 2. Professional communicators disseminate accurate information and promptly correct any erroneous communication for which they may be responsible. 3. Professional communicators understand and support the principles of free speech, freedom of assembly, and access to an open marketplace of ideas and act accordingly. 4. Professional communicators are sensitive to cultural values and beliefs and engage in fair and balanced communication activities that foster and encourage mutual understanding. 5. Professional communicators refrain from taking part in any undertaking which the communicator considers to be unethical. 6. Professional communicators obey laws and public policies governing their professional activities and are sensitive to the spirit of all laws and regulations and, should any law or public policy be violated, for whatever reason, act promptly to correct the situation. 7. Professional communicators give credit for unique expressions borrowed from others and identify the sources and purposes of all information disseminated to the public. 8. Professional communicators protect confidential information and, at the same time, comply with all legal requirements for the disclosure of information affecting the welfare of others. 9. Professional communicators do not use confidential information gained as a result of professional activities for personal benefit and do not represent conflicting or competing interests without written consent of those involved. 0. Professional communicators do not accept undisclosed gifts or payments for professional services from anyone other than a client or employer. 11. Professional communicators do not guarantee results that are beyond the power of the practitioner to deliver. 12. Professional communicators are honest not only with others but also, and most importantly, with themselves as individuals; for a professional commu nicator seeks the truth and speaks that truth first to the self. Enforcement and Communication of the IABC Code of Ethics IABC fosters compliance with its Code by engaging in global communication campaigns rather than through negative sanctions. However, in keeping with the sixth article of the IABC Code, members of IABC who are found guilty by an appropriate governmental agency or judicial body of violating laws and public policies governing their professional activities may have their membership terminated by the IABC executive board following procedures set forth in the association’s bylaws. IABC encourages the widest possible communication about its Code. The IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators is published in several languages and is freely available to all: Permission is hereby granted to any individual or organization wishing to copy and incorporate all or part of the IABC Code into personal and corporate codes, with the understanding that appropriate credit be given to IABC in any publication of such codes. The IABC Code is published on the association’s web site. The association’s bimonthly magazine, Communication World, publishes periodic articles dealing with ethical issues. At least one session at the association’s annual conference is devoted to ethics. The international headquarters of IABC, through its professional development activities, encourages and supports efforts by IABC student chapters, professional chapters, and regions to conduct meetings and workshops devoted to the topic of ethics and the IABC Code. New and renewing members of IABC sign the following statement as part of their application: â€Å"I have reviewed and understand the IABC Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators. As a service to communicators worldwide, inquiries about ethics and questions or comments about the IABC Code may be addressed to members of the IABC Ethics Committee. The IABC Ethics Committee is composed of at least three accredited members of IABC who serve staggered three-year terms. Other IABC members may serve on the committee with the approval of the IABC executive committee. The functions of the Ethics Committee are to assist with professional d evelopment activities dealing with ethics and to offer advice and assistance to individual communicators regarding specific ethical situations.

How new media has changed the way in which individuals communicate Coursework - 1

How new media has changed the way in which individuals communicate - Coursework Example Information and communication technologies are numerous, segmented but that they are characterized by two important dimensions - that of its pervasiveness and the connectivity of the technological platforms/media that is anytime and anywhere. The Internet and the Global Village Unarguably, the Internet is central to the sophistication of information and communication. It has enabled people - through their computer systems and mobile network devices - to be networked together so that they interact real-time. A resident in London, for instance, could chat with a friend from Chile, read an on-going news story about what is happening in Libya and buy some apparel from a manufacturing outfit in China. All these feats could be accomplished at the same time, from the comfort of the Londoner's own home and just with some clicks of his mouse. It is easy to understand how people regard the Internet as a blessing for the sheer reason that it makes life so much easier and for knowledge to be gai ned at the speed of light. Presently, the global Internet users are fast approaching its 2 billionth mark. (World Internet Usage 2011) Because of this, the Internet became a platform for communication as well as a form of digital community that people could take advantage of for whatever objective, cause and purpose they have. For example, there is the issue of online trade or more popularly known as e-commerce. Organizations through the Internet gain access to millions upon millions of consumers to sell goods and services. At the other end of this equation, there are also those millions who turn to the medium in order to find and buy goods and services. Today, trade of all kinds and in all volumes peruses the Internet as an integral part of the sales process because it eliminates several steps and barriers in ordinary trading process. Because of the Internet's capability, production and sale of goods and services has become cost efficient, benefitting the producer and the consumer in the process. The type of communication offered by online infrastructure has provided users a facilitated way by which their economic or commercial needs are satisfied. Online trade and marketing are now so sophisticated that they are permeate people’s online lives. There is also the use of the Internet by marketers, news organizations, cause-oriented groups, and other users that seek to disseminate information so that they could shape public opinion and, hence, influence their behavior and those of the policy networks’. The Internet forms part of many corporations initiative to build brands, cultivate customer relationship and dispense excellent customer service – all designed to gain competitive advantage. Cause-oriented groups could use the medium in their strategy to inform the public about their activities. All in all, the Internet has achieved the status of the traditional media in terms of usage and integrity making it one of the platforms that public c ame to rely on. Information Access If one has to consider the way Internet works - how content could be produced and accessed by several people simultaneously - it becomes easy to understand how it has become a valuable tool in education. Online classrooms, podcasts and webinars are excellent demonstrations of how people tap the Internet to learn. For example, many South Koreans and Chinese used to go abroad in order to learn the English language. Recently, however, an increasing number of online classrooms have become alternative destinations for these learners. Through the

I believe that one major problem with mass media is that news is now Annotated Bibliography

I believe that one major problem with mass media is that news is now sponsor driven - Annotated Bibliography Example Additionally, some of the activities covered by the media such as sports have most of the sponsors; hence, leading to the increased advertisements. The author has also revealed that most of the sponsors are part of the shareholder in most companies leading to the motive of profits and capital investment. The article has presented significant knowledge on some of the global issues associated with the mass media. As a result, sponsorship and donor-ship claims have been external forces that have been used to control the entertainment sector. In some cases, competition has led to some of the media houses seeking sponsorship to increase their capital bases and awareness. The audience is seen as a product in the advertisement industry where editors and news presenters have to focus on the influence of the adverts. The book has presented substantial knowledge on some of the major issues affecting the mass media industry. The authors have gathered their information through research from individual companies and the society. One of the major problems highlighted in the book is the presence of sponsorship in various mass media companies. The issue has evolved from the need for companies to maximize profits and enhancing competitiveness. However, the sponsors provide their assistance with a price to pay for the mass media. Most media companies have partnerships with sponsors that lead to mutual relationships where both parties win. Internet surveys and other interviews by the authors on various populations show that media houses tend to cover more exposure of the sponsors than other developing news. Additionally, they also cover only the positive information on the sponsors; hence, making the mass media biased. The book further provides information on ways that the sponsor-driven mass media has affected public relations. Sponsors provide all types of support ranging from technological