Differences in Nutritional Strategies among Cultures

Different countries have different nutritional strategies including the procuring, selecting, preparing, preserving, cooking and consuming foods. The lifestyle varies from culture to culture. China has the most renowned food preparation and lifestyle. They have many different cuisines. Chinese are food oriented and health conscious. They choose and use many ingredients carefully for their food. They also believe that food is a great factor in one’s health that is why they serve and cook food according to one’s health condition, there should be a balance between fan (grains and starch foods) and tsa’i (meat and vegetables).In traditional Chinese dinner, a complete meal triangle with soup, vegetables, rice and meat were dish up. They want their food served or eaten while it is still hot. Mexican dishes has been the second most varied and vast in the world because of the intense flavors, colorful decorations, and spices of the cuisine. They have many festivals and c elebrations that is why their food preparation seems like there is always a party. American standards of food are easy to make, convenient, and presentable. That is why many rely on fast food restaurants wherein the foods are quickly served.They don’t like putting much effort in preparing food. They also choose foods that look good and make them look good as well that is why many eat in expensive restaurants because it will make them look good. Beer has also been one of the favorite drinks in America. Our choice of food tells about our basic ethics and beliefs. The Chinese value their health and tradition in preparing foods, which could be the reason why they seem to have a longer life and healthy lifestyle than the Americans, who were mostly obese. Proper diet and nutrition is the key for a healthy lifestyle.

The Jesuit Legacy in India

The Jesuit Legacy in India Abstract: The Jesuits arrived in India in 1542 A. D. to carry out Christ’s command to â€Å"go and make disciples of all nations† (Matthew 28:19). Over the last 500 years, they have woven themselves into the very fabric of India with deep psychological, theological and sociological connotations. This article tells that story; highlights some noteworthy Jesuit influences on Modern India, particularly in the fields of education, medicine, social service and leadership training amongst the youth; and, draws leadership lessons from these Jesuit achievements.The Jesuits demonstrated servant leadership, transformational leadership, and transactional leadership qualities. Without the Jesuits, the article concludes, India would be a different country. The Jesuit Legacy in India Ad majorem Dei gloriam. For the greater glory of God. That’s the motto of a religious order of men called the Society of Jesus that has quietly influenced India, and pro vided understated leadership to the world’s largest democracy in many positive ways deserving of recognition.The influence of the Jesuits in India extends beyond just the spread of Christianity, weaving intricate psychological, theological and sociological patterns into the very fabric of modern Indian society. Professor George Menachery – appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as member of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great in early 2008, and editor of the St.Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India and the Indian Church History Classics – writes in Volume III of the former publication: the â€Å"factor which has won the Society a lasting place in the minds of the people and in the history of the nation is the large number of spheres which it has penetrated and permeated,† and goes on to list religion, spirituality, politics, education, science, technology, meteorology, diplomacy, indology, culture, history, geography, language, literature, a rt, architecture, sports, medicine, healthcare, social reforms, leadership formation, tribal and aboriginal movements, and nation-building as some of the contributions of the Jesuits to modern India. Brief History The organization was founded in 1534 by St. Ignatius Loyola (1491–1556), and received papal authorization in 1540 under Pope Paul III. Amongst the original six members was St. Francis Xavier, who was an ardent missionary with the passion to take Christ’s message to the East. He arrived in India in 1542, almost fifteen centuries after St. Thomas the Apostle had brought Christianity to India.With the arrival of Xavier, began a saga of leadership by the Society of Jesus in India that continues to this day, almost 500 years later. Pre-British India The expanding influence on the Jesuits on 17th century pre-British India has been well documented by historians, among them Ellison Banks Findly, who writes in Nur Jahan, Empress of Mughal India (Oxford University Pres s) that Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627) granted the Jesuits many privileges, and spent â€Å"every night for one year†¦ in hearing disputation† amongst Christian and other theologians, and that his â€Å"most active interest in Christian doctrine was in the debates held at his court between the Jesuit fathers and the Muslim mullas. In fact, the Jesuit Mission of the Great Moghul was started at the request of Emperor Akbar, with Father Rudolph Acquaviva, the future Martyr, as its first Superior.The Jesuit Mission in Madura in the south was also begun at the request of the Hindu viceroy (nayakka) established in Madura, and later supported by Zulfikar Ali Khan (1690-1703), the first Nawab of the Carnatic. The Madura Mission counted among its members the celebrated Father Robert de Nobili, as well as Saint John de Britto. British India With the onset of British rule over India that effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey, the Jesuits found greater favor wi th the erstwhile powers. They began exerting increasing influence not only on the Christians in India, but also on the society at large.Even the Maharajas – whom the British allowed to reign as long as they paid their due taxes to the Crown – and their war councils and civil administrations, were positively influenced by the Jesuits, right from Goa to Cochin to Cape Comorin to Manapad to Mannar to Mylapore. Independent India By the time the British Empire was overthrown and independent India emerged in 1947, the Jesuits had entrenched themselves deeply into Indian society by way of leading and high-profile educational institutions, hospitals, charity organizations and other enterprises that became effective partners of the government in the young democracy in supporting growth.Professor George Menachery writes in The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India (Vol. III 2010): â€Å"the ubiquitous nature of the Society has through its varied missions become one of the most powerful influences in Indian history. Today there is hardly any Catholic ecclesiastical division in India or any revenue district in the country for that matter which does not boast some Jesuit enterprise or other, be it a school or a college, a technical training institute or an engineering establishment, a printing press or an infirmary, a seminary or a social service centre. † Psychological Influence on India Discipline positively impacted the Indian psycheThe Jesuit movement gathered force right in the middle of the Catholic revival called the Counter-Reformation that began with the Council of Trent (1545-1563) as a response to the Protestant Reformation, and ended with the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Pope Paul III (1534–1549) led the Council of Trent, and tasked the attending cardinals with institutional reform to impact ecclesiastical (or structural) reconfiguration, religious orders, spiritual movements and political dimensions of the Catholic Church. New religious orders – such as the Jesuits, Capuchins, Ursulines, Theatines, Discalced Carmelites, and the Barnabites – were a fundamental part of this movement, and Jesuits in particular, greatly bolstered rural parishes, enhanced popular piety, succeeded in constraining corruption within the church, and played an exemplary role in overall Catholic renewal.These activities extended well into India. The Jesuit charter established by St. Ignatius Loyola was dictatorial and military-like (possibly emanating from the fact that Ignatius was a soldier before he became a priest); and, this iron discipline, rigid training and resolute character of the Jesuits created a deep psychological impact on the Indian psyche. Rev. Fr. Jerome Francis, a current Jesuit missionary in the Calcutta Province, opines that this perception of extreme discipline sat well with the general Indian populace and the rulers, and consequently boded well for the next phase of Jesuit growth in the count ry. Helped prevent Mysticism amongst Indian ChristiansAn example of rigid and inflexible discipline can be discerned in regulations such as Rule-13 of the Jesuit Charter that said: â€Å"I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it† (Jesuit Political Thought: The Society of Jesus and the State by Harro Hopfl, Cambridge University Press, 2004). Ursula King writes in Christian Mystics: The Spiritual Heart of the Christian Tradition (Simon & Schuster, 1998) that such rigid principles helped prevent the spread of mysticism amongst Christians in India, even while mysticism ran high in parts of Europe during the Catholic revival, with leaders like Teresa of Avila (1515-82) and John of the Cross (1542-91). The spread of mysticism made the institutional Church especially nervous because, carried to its logical conclusion, mysticism negates the need for priesthood and the sacraments.Since one of the central tenets of Hinduism is a formless God (â€Å"Thou art formless; thy only form is our knowledge of thee† – Upanishads), Christians exposed to Hindu thought were especially prone mysticism, as has been proven over and over again by later-day Christian mystics like Father Bede Griffiths (1906-1993) and Henry le Saux (1910-1973). Closer psychological integration with Hindu society The Jesuits also introduced to India the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, which was endorsed by Pope Paul III in 1548, and exemplified the Society of Jesus in the way these exercises helped the Jesuits understand human relationship with God, and live a life of commitment to Christ. The Exercises were a set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises designed to be carried out typically over a four week period, aimed at helping individuals discern Jesus in their lives and commit to a life of service to Christ.This rigid Jesuit tradition has been compared with devotionalism, and provided close parallels to Hindu ritualistic tradi tions, and helped psychologically in the closer integration of the Jesuits into Hindu society. Theological Influence Setting up of Seminaries Jesuits believed in establishing seminaries for the proper training of priests in the spiritual life and the theological traditions of the Church. Consequently, they set up several seminaries in India to dispense theological knowledge. Styled after the successful seminary of the Malankara Orthodox Church that was founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle in A. D. 52, and the Rachol Seminary founded in 1521 by the Church of Goa, the earliest Jesuit seminary was the St.Joseph's Inter-diocesan Seminary, Mangalore established in 1763; followed by St. Joseph’s Seminary started in West Bengal in 1879; and, the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier founded in 1887 in Pilar. Today there are at least 22 Jesuit seminaries, many of them degree granting institutions authorized by the Vatican and the government of India. The foremost example of Jesuit theological excellence is the Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi that currently enrolls hundreds of students coming from some 70 religious congregations, dioceses, secular institutes and lay associations from every part of India and abroad. Setting up of ChurchesOne of the earliest Jesuit churches was established by St. Francis Xavier himself in Tuticorin. Originally called the Jesuit Church of Saint Paul, its status was raised to that of a Basilica by Pope Paul II to mark its 400th anniversary, and is now known as the Basilica of Our Lady of the Snows, Tuticorin. St. Paul’s Churchaty in Diu on the west coast of India dates back to 1610. In all, there are over 110 Jesuit Churches in India, and these churches have always integrated well with Indian society in general, and with people from other faiths, in particular. To cite one example of this integration: During midnight mass on Christmas Eve in St.Paul’s Cathedral in Calcutta, the rush of Hindus is so he avy that the Church installs a loudspeaker system in the large gardens surrounding the Church, so that hundreds of Hindus who could not gain entry into the Cathedral, can sit and listen to the rituals. Evangelism Jesus commanded his eleven disciples to: â€Å"†¦ go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. † – Matthew 28:19,20 NIV. The Jesuits had evangelism as one of their stated goals, and their efforts first spread Christianity along the western â€Å"Konkan† coast of India. The Jesuits then spread both southwards (towards Madura) and northwards (towards Agra), continually converting Hindus and Muslims to Christianity. Rev. H. Hosten, S. J. writes in Jesuit Missionaries in Northern India and Inscriptions on their Tombs (1580-1803): â€Å"Under (Mughal Emperor) Jah angir†¦ several Mohamedan Princes were baptized†, among them â€Å"Currown, another of Jahangir's sons, and other of his friends (to make his way easier to the Crown) prevailed with Jahangir that his kinsmen Shaw Selym's Brother's Sons might be Christened; which accordingly was done in Agra†¦ that year they also baptized another Grandson of Akbar's. † Until the Protestant Missionaries came to India in the 18th century, the Jesuits were the prime force of evangelism in India. Typical and often quoted, but not unique, proactive initiative to reach out to the Indian masses is practiced today by the Indian Theological Seminary (ITS).Founded by the Jesuits, ITS is now an interdenominational seminary located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with Gilgal Gospel Mission as its missionary training arm. The Gilgal Gospel Mission trains men and women, and sends them out into the world at large in pairs, into Hindu villages, with a view to them establishing friendship in the villag es, and starting, first, Sunday Schools and, later, Churches. ITS prepares three types of Church planters (a) bare foot evangelists (C. Th), (b) Bachelor of Theology (B. Th), and (c) Master of Divinity (M. Div). Graduates who prepare at ITS fulfill its mission of â€Å"Preaching Christ and Planting Churches† in every village, town and city.Many return to their homes in the various parts of India to continue teaching, preaching, and planting churches. Today, Christianity is India's third-largest religion, with approximately 24 million followers, constituting 2. 3% of India's population. The popularization of Annual Retreats amongst Priests and the Populace As noted earlier, the Jesuits avidly pursued the implementation of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius that were a set of meditations, prayers and mental exercises designed to be practiced in the form of a four week meditative retreat from normal life. The basic purpose of these retreats was to mediate the human-God relation ship; and, periodically re-examine and re-validate the nuances of that relationship.Such annual retreats became popular in India not only amongst the Jesuit priests, but even amongst priests from other faiths. The concept of retreats spread to the corporate world too, and Sunanda Dutta-Ray writing in The Statesman dated January 26, 2006, mention three instances where Chief Executive Officers of large Indian corporations – all Jesuit alumni – instituted the concept of a 3-day annual retreat modeled after their experience in school. Sociological Influence The largest visible Jesuit influence on India has been the wide and deep sociological impact – in terms of the development of the Indian people and societies – that is discernible everywhere.Jesuit Education With over 30 excellent high schools, over 10 high profile colleges for higher education, and innumerable elementary schools and vocational training centers all over India, Jesuit education is much soug ht after in the country. The foremost examples of Jesuit higher education are the Vellore Medical College and Hospital, one of India’s foremost teaching hospitals, Xavier Labor Relations Institute, one of India’s foremost business schools. Even St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta has produced many industry leaders, the foremost amongst them is Lakshmi Mittal, whose company – ArcelorMittal – is today the world’s largest steel producer.Loyola College in Chennai has similarly produced many leaders for the country, even a President (Ramaswamy Venkataraman) and a world chess champion (Viswanathan Anand). Most of these educational institutions date back to the earlier part of the 20th century, if not earlier still, and played a vigorous role in nation-building when India became independent. Former President of India, Abdul Kalam, lauded the Jesuits’ role in India education, while opening the 6th global meet of Jesuit institutions in Calcutta: â€Å"†Jesuit institutions have a big role in the spread of modern education in the country. Being a Jesuit alumnus myself, I'm aware of the great contribution of Jesuit education not only in India but around the world† (as reported by Krittivas Mukherjee for Indo-Asian News Service).Not content to be restricted to India alone, Jesuits from Calcutta recently gave education in Afghanistan a boost, when two of them – Maria Joseph and Sahaya Jude – recently travelled to the war-torn country and started training students and teachers (as reported in the The Telegraph, Jan 4, 2010). It should be mentioned in passing that all Jesuit education in India is completely secular. Catholic students are given additional training in Catechism, but students of other faiths are usually treated to a secular Moral Science lecture, or – at most – a watered down Bible History. Jesuit Social Work Jesuits have deeply been involved in social work and social reform.W hole books can be written on this subject alone, because these engagements have been – and continue to be – so numerous and so vigorous. Caritas India has been at the forefront of traditional social work, as the front organization for Catholic Charities, with thousands of people and hundreds of project sites spanning all across the country. It is only one of the more visible ones; in general, almost every Jesuit organization practices social work in its immediate vicinity, and engages the students of all its nationwide institutions in social activities. For instance, the Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi has very active prison ministry, hospital ministry, slum ministry, tribal ministry, neighborhood ministry, and even a railway platform ministry.Many Jesuits ventured out into the villages and made a mark with their social activism. Just one such example is Father Michael Anthony Windey (1921-2009), founder of the Village Reconstruction Organization (VRO), who joi ned the Jesuits in 1938, traveled to India in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1950. When he passed away in Belgium in 2009 while under treatment for cancer, he was mourned by the Church, social workers and villagers in India, because he had dedicated his life to using Gandhian methods to revolutionize village life in India. Said Father A. X. J. Bosco, a former head of the Jesuits? Andhra Pradesh province who has worked as VRO? operational director: â€Å"Father Windey was never bothered about the religion of the person he helped. While selecting villages, he always chose to help the poorest village. † Social Activism The involvement of the Jesuits extended to social activism, sometimes of a kind even questioned by the Vatican. Rone Tempest, staff writer, reported in the L. A. Times, Jan 21, 1986, on the Pope’s visit to India: â€Å"Significantly, the Pope will not visit the northern Bihar Muzafapur area, where radical Catholic priests have recently organized Hindu s erfs against powerful landlords, some of whom even maintain their own armies for private wars against their foes and bands of roving bandits, or dacoits.Similarly, when he visits the Catholic stronghold state of Kerala in southern India, he has no plans to visit areas in which radical priests and nuns, India's version of South America's â€Å"liberation theologists,† have organized sailboat fishermen, mostly Hindus and Muslims, against the motorized fishing trawler industry. † Leadership Training Service (LTS) LTS – short for Leadership Training Service – is a unique contribution by the Jesuits to Indian society. Initiated by five students of the Goethals Memorial School in Kurseong, West Bengal in 1959, Fr. Robert Wirth of St. Xavier’s School, Sahibganj, Bihar, was selected to lead the movement in 1970. Fr. Wirth did just that for the next 21 years from the LTS headquarter in Calcutta, and spread the movement to Jesuit educational institutes in 24 States. The LTS motto is: â€Å"For God and Country†, and resonated strongly with a developing India.The LTS vision involves the four-fold objectives of: (a) Personality Development; (b) Leadership Skills; (c) Social Awareness; and, Social Responsibility that leads to social development. The movement articulates this as â€Å"a journey from ‘I Consciousness’ (initiated through Personality development and mastering leadership skills) to ‘We Consciousness’ (achieved through inculcating social awareness and exercising social responsibility that leads to social development)† (as stated on its website: www. LTSworld. com). The LTS celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 2009, and brought Fr. Robert Wirth – who collaborated in the writing of this paper – all the way from Malta to the LTS headquarters in Calcutta.Today there are reportedly over 15,000 LTSers working towards India’s progress. Leadership Lessons from the Jesuits Consisten t and long-term success is never a result of accident or luck. The Jesuits have demonstrated strong leadership qualities throughout their 500 year history in India. Servant Leadership The Jesuits, through their disciplined and exemplary behavior, became role models for the Indian populace who observed them, interacted with them, and learned from them. Influencing through exemplary behavior is a fundamental tenet of servant leadership. The Jesuits also extensively and deeply served the people whose lives they touched, through social work, educational institutions, hospitals and other missions.This service was, and continues to be, in the best tradition of servitude demonstrated by Christ. Transformation Leadership Mark Pousson, Program Director for Service Learning at The Reinert Center for Teaching Excellence at the St. Louis University writes in The Notebook, a publication of the Reinert Center: â€Å"Historically, the Jesuits espouse the power of transformation through conversati on,† (Vol 11, Issue 4), and goes on to say that Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order, readily engaged people in conversation about God and spirituality. It is from his value of transformation through experiences that Saint Ignatius companions infused transformation in what is known as the Jesuit tradition of education.Jesuits heavily utilized this power of transformation through pedagogy and education in India, and – as earlier stated in this article – has left an indelible mark on the Indian education landscape. The Jesuits also practiced transformational leadership by inspiring Indians to strive for something better than they were used to, to push the limit, and to aim for excellence. Evidence of this is plentiful, but particular note may be taken of the Jesuit’s LTS (Leadership Training Service) initiative described earlier, which was a totally new concept in India when it was started in 1959, and continues to inspire and build the current g eneration of young leaders in the 21st century. In fact, the LTS movement resonates strongly with one of the fundamentals goal of transformation leadership: the make leaders out of followers.The Annual Retreats that the Jesuits taught the Indians and popularized amongst people of faith as well as the corporate world, was another instance where people were inspired and motivated to implement and practice innovative leadership solutions for everyday problems. Transactional Leadership Transactional leadership was commonly practiced by the Jesuits. A very common example was the exchange of better medical care for conversion to Christianity. It was a subtle but effective message. When the Jesuits set up modern medical care facilities in rural India – especially in the Tribal areas where people were not even Hindus, but practiced some form of pantheism – it is widely believed that it was not so much the preaching as the access to modern medical care that converted lots of tr ibal people to Christianity. Social Learning TheoryJesuit social activism, social work and its military-like discipline – all widely admired by the Hindus of India – triggered the positive effects of the Social Learning Theory, which argues that people learn best through a 3-step emulation process defined as: (a) observation, (b) imitation, and (c) modeling. When people like behavior they would like to emulate, they are motivated to do so on their own without having to be compelled in some covert or overt manner to oblige. Social Learning Theory, therefore, has feeds into the Servant Leadership theory, because servant leaders aim to influence followers through exemplary action and self-motivated emulation. The Jesuits in India put both servant leadership and social learning theories to good use. Epilogue In closing, a short acknowledgment says it all: Without the Jesuits, India would be a different country.

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Strategic management - Essay Example This paper focuses upon the strategic planning as an analytical process for organizing the present on the basis of desired future projection. So, it is a transparent road map which is used to lead an organization from its current position to the near future i.e. in next five or ten years where it would like to be. It is very necessary for all division in an organization to have their own strategic plan. There are some important characteristics in a strategic pan. It should be simple to be understandable for the persons or employees who will implement this. It needs to be clearly written based on the current actual situation of an organization. A strategic plan should have enough time allowed for settling down the objectives and adopting new strategies. It should not be rushed to implement a strategic plan. The main purpose of strategic planning is to structure the long term goal of an organization to assist the associates involved with the organization in developing priorities and ef fective serve for sustainable outcomes. The plan must be practical as well as flexible so that it can be used as effective guide for implementing programs. Evaluating the outcomes and making necessary adjustments in the process. Another of purpose of strategic planning is to improve probable chances of desirable and possible outcomes. There are important values of planning which integrate the performance of an organization. It helps to prepare the contingencies which can prevent an organization from unable of attaining goals.... There are important values of planning which integrate the performance of an organization. It helps to prepare the contingencies which can prevent an organization from unable of attaining goals. Planning enables an organization to develop a framework for estimated growth and progress. An effective strategic plan influence the organization to adopt an efficient strategy for proper allocation of resources in particular manner will allow enable it to achieve its goal (Thorton, 1986, p.5). B. Overview of the strategic planning process An organization is benefited by strategic planning to have an effective focus on attention and resources in the away to goal. The strategies help the organization for progress and growth by successful implementation in the macroeconomic level i.e. in the volatile global and national business environment. An organization can develop effective budget, gain efficient collaboration and cooperation inside and outside the industry of the organization. It helps th e organization to focus on the important work for a particular timeline. Another function of planning process is that the processes develop a framework of estimation of work need to be done with respect to deadline i.e. what need to be done and when. By this process the leader of a division can track the process so that he can monitor the growth of the process and take essential actions related to the strategies as well as activities in the programs. The macroeconomic business environment fluctuates all the time, even a smallest changes in the micro level i.e. in the industry where the company belongs, can ruin a best strategic plan. If a continuous monitoring is done in the strategic planning process, it will help the leader as well as the organization to evaluate the progress rate

Current Issues in Parent-Child Relationships Research Paper - 1

Current Issues in Parent-Child Relationships - Research Paper Example The respect the parents derived from the children in the past was immense compared to present because of the care and concerns the parents had given to their children. In a divorced family the childbearing and childrearing has to be done by either the father or the mother. The divorcees take family life lightly at present and they don’t have many concerns about the future of their children. The social activities of a child from a divorced family will always create problems to the society. Such children may often engage in antisocial activities in order to take revenge upon the denied care he was getting from his family. Moreover the parent who is looking after him also may not be able to concentrate heavily on his activities because of his/her increased liabilities to manage the family alone. â€Å"Todays children are the first generation in the history who thinks divorce and separation are a normal part of family life† (Divorce Effects Society). It is a dangerous situation as far as the stability of family and society are concerned. Statistics shows that the divorced women are getting only 64% of the wealth at the time of divorce which is not enough for the expenses of the children (Divorce Effects

The influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Taiwanese Dissertation

The influence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on Taiwanese Consumers' Purchase Intention and Brand Image in the Diamo - Dissertation Example They also reported that compared to 2010, the global diamond sales significantly increased by 18% to $71 billion, close to the 2007 peak of $73 billion before the crisis. IDEX (2013) and Tacy LTD (2013) indicated that the majority of growth contributed to the mounting demand from Chinese and Indian markets. De Beers, which is reviewed in this proposal as an example of the world’s leading diamond companies for more than a century, reached their second highest level of sales ever to $6.5 billion in 2011. In the 1990s an issue of â€Å"conflict diamonds† or â€Å"blood diamonds† was heatedly debated across the globe. The diamond industry encountered the crisis from their diamond sourced countries. In several politically unstable African countries, such as Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the diamond mines were under control of the military as a means to finance their military power. With the media‘s widespread coverage and t he movie â€Å"Blood Diamond†, the transactions between diamond buyers and the military, although not all from such illegal channels, were regarded as intensifying violent tribal conflict. Consequently, the reputation of the diamond industry was blackened (The Kimberly Process, 2013; Pauwelyn, 2003; Worldbank.org, 2013). In response to this situation, the Kimberley Process was organized in 2002. Under the auspices of the United Nations, The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) conducted a list of rules that every diamond trading country should obey: certification of rough diamonds is now required before being exported (Pauwelyn, 2003; Schefer, 2005). This is to "guarantee that their trade does not finance rebel activities" (The Kimberly Process, 2013). To establish a positive prestige from the infamous â€Å"blood diamond† image, and to ensure that De Beers’ â€Å"corporate activities contribute significantly to the development and prosperity of the co untries and communities in which they operate† (De Beers Group, 2013), their CSR principles has developed across five sustainability factors – Economics, Ethics, Employees, Communities and Environment, as all well as obeying the KPCS trading system (ibid). The case of De Beers will be explored, because it is a company which has executed its CSR policy since 2006, which provides luxury industry marketers a possible framework for strategic thinking and the effective use of CSR activities. There has been an upward research trend on how a company’s corporate social responsibility policy benefits consumer communication for several decades (Maignan, 2001). Meanwhile, this academic stream has invigorated the potential marketing development of corporate responsibility initiatives, such as the issue of corporate sustainability, environmentalism and corporate citizenship, among the real business world (Menon & Menon, 1997; Drumwright, 1994; Wigley, 2008; Lee, 2009;). Howev er, most of previous research discussed on CSR is more in the context of sustainability management or shareholder theory, rather than consumer aspects of understanding of this notion. Reinforcing this, Sen and

Quality focused paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Quality focused paper - Essay Example TQM encompasses other factors such as the Kano model’s analysis of the customer’s perceptions of quality; the cost of quality model; statistical process control; the Six Sigma and other quality strategies, and the implementation of best practices in quality development in business enterprises. Soltani et al (2008) have found that the success of TQM depends on the extent of commitment of top management towards the concept. This paper proposes to discuss the various dimensions to quality management, taking into consideration the relevance of quality management in today’s world, the quality control strategies constituting total quality management, and best practices for implementing quality management philosophies. Other related concepts will also be discussed, and the quality development strategies in various companies in the business world, will be demonstrated. There are various dimensions of quality. Some of the factors are related to excellence in performance and manufacturing and meeting the requirements of specifications and standards. The measurability of quality is also an important dimension, which involves use of statistical process tools for measuring quality. Quality systems can be benchmarked against quality standards. The International Standards Organization (ISO) 9000 and the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model are two international standards for quality management. Quality, cost, level of customer complaints, flexibility and reliability are some of the performance goals. Value for money is another important factor, achieved throutgh six sigma statistical process control, and â€Å"added value† through customer care programs such as the provision of servicing, repair and maintenance facilities (Pergamon, 2005). Relevance of the Topic in Today’s World: With increasing competition in the production and marketing of goods and

Government regulations in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Government regulations in business - Essay Example This paper illustrates that the government has the mandate to overlook all business activities, and also have the power to control certain businesses. The government has the responsibility to impose various regulations to ascertain that the customers are not exploited, and there is a fair competition among the firms in any given industry. Government regulations in marketing are crucial towards customer protection as well as maintain fairness in competition. The number of government regulations in marketing is sufficient to ensure that there is a reasonable business environment. The government imposes laws on marketing regarding product safety and warranties. Such laws ensure that the advertisers are limited to advertising only true information. Warranties ensure that the manufacturer produces high-quality goods. The limits obtruded on freedom of speech are beneficial to controlling what one organization says about the other and hence fairness is maintained in the market. Government r egulations on validation of advertising claims ensure that the customers are only fed with true information. Therefore, it is evident that government regulation on marketing activities plays three main roles. It ensures that producers of the advertised good or service produce goods of similar quality to what they claim while advertising. It regulates the relationship between competitors. They ensure that the customers receive the best services or goods and are not misguided by the advertisement.

Marketing similation report (pirateeye marketing plan) Term Paper

Marketing similation report (pirateeye marketing plan) - Term Paper Example The target is however with the smaller boat owners, who form close to 35% of the entire market strength. A consumer behavior analysis undertaken shows that the consumer base are in high demand for high quality technology based system that can actually track pirates even before they get on board boats. This sets the basis for the marketing mix, whereby high quality products that are not too expensive are supposed to be produced for the market. The introduction of PirateEye to small boats would also serve as a very fertile breeding ground for owners of marine transport to test and comprehend the quality and value of the system. With this opportunity, it would be easier to switch to competitive marketing for larger boats and ships in the medium to long term basis. Still on the application of the STP, it will be emphasized that the business to business segmentation criteria, commonly referred to as B2B shall be used. This is because this segmentation criterion gives the marketer the oppo rtunity to assessing most aspects and areas of market including demographics, psychographic, behavioral, and environmental. This means that the B2B is a multi-dimensional approach that would help in meeting all the marketing goals set out by the company. Introduction Market penetration in the marine transport industry has never been an easy venture for new competitors. This is because of the existing competitors have already established solid brand equity and are thus very found with the consumer base. Commonly these competitors engage in the trade of boat and ship accessories, which generally helps in making the activities of boat owners easier. Not much attention has however gone to the area of transport security in terms of the activities of pirates. It is not surprising therefore that there is currently only one key competitor in the manufacture and installation of surveillance security systems for boat owners (Knill, and Tosun, 2008). This brief background gives credence to why the aim of introducing PirateEye as a market security product option for boat owners is a viable venture. The present report looks at why and how attention was given to the smaller boat market as against other segments of the market. One interesting dynamic of the target market is that there is enough research that suggests that frontrunners in the theatre industry, which form the majority of the target market, have an urgent quest and need for an immediate and coordinated technology that will address the problem of piracy in their industry. In other words, there is a ready market (Katel, 2011). Evaluation of the Targeted Market Ideally, the targeted market for the PirateEye product is the many industry players in the marine transport business. This is made up of all stakeholders who are concerned in one way or the other with the transportation of people and raw material from one place to the other. Most ideally however, owners of smaller boats shall form the core customer base of the product. A brief demographic analysis on these groups of persons suggests a very interesting trend that favors the fortunes of the company in a great deal. For example it is on record that there are over 140,000 commercial boat owners all across the globe (Billitteri, 2007). These are collectively used by more than 10,000,000 travelers on an annual basis. Reports of incidence of piracy among the general number of trips made by

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Essay

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is that investors prefer to invest in the most efficient portfolios available - Essay Example To determine an efficient portfolio, an efficient frontier is drawn. The efficient frontier is a graph drawn to exhibit different portfolios with a different combination of returns and risks. To achieve such optimal portfolio, there must be a combination of the lowest risk with the highest expected return. The figure below shows the efficient frontier. The efficient frontier has a Y- axis that measures the anticipated rate of return (ER) and X- axis that measures the standard deviation (∞). The curve JKL drawn in the graph is the minimum variance frontier which combines the risk of a portfolio and anticipated return on portfolio to minimize the return deviation at distinct levels of return expected. On the efficient frontier, there are some points that are found either below or above it. Those portfolios that lie below the frontier provide an inadequate return for a given risk hence they are sub-optimal. In other words, they are attainable but insufficient. Conversely, those that lie to the right of the frontier have higher risks given a certain rate of return. In theinvestment of securities, the main objective is to earn returns from a respective investment. High-risk with high returns is always avoided because they require high capital for investment. An investor can anticipate earning a lot from a given security but because of the fluctuations of the market prices and inflation, such investor can incur a loss simply because the future movements of the portfolio cannot be predicted (Fama 2009, p.452). Given an axiom that all investors fear risk, none of them will be willing to invest in a portfolio that has a high possibility of a loss. However, investors prefer a portfolio that has low-risk because they can be certain of the expected returns from a certain portfolio. Though they will not be getting the maximum returns they wish, they are able to get the returns for unforeseen future because

History of the Republican Party in Texas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

History of the Republican Party in Texas - Essay Example 105). Republicans struggle led to formal organization of the party, and they held their first state convention on July 4 at Houston. Republican leadership came from wartime Texas Unionists and antebellum, who were supporters of Sam Houston (scalawags), newly franchised blacks, and recent immigrants from the North (carpetbaggers) (Newell et al. 136). Texas Unionists controlled the party’s proceedings. The party’s first convention that was held in Houston was chaired by Elisha M. Pease, former governor, and Col. John L. Haynes, commander of the First Texas Cavalry, was the party’s fist executive-committee chairman (Newell et al. 141). Blacks are one of the groups that strongly supported the Republican Party in Texas in the early days. The GOP membership comprised of 90 percent African Americans, and about 44 African Americans served in the Texas legislature as Republicans (Newell et al. 147). Blacks strongly supported Republican Party because one of its main agendums was to abolish slavery. The Republican club of Texas was founded in 1947 by Captain J. F. Lucey of Dallas (Newell et al. 204). Through this club, a drive was initiated to establish a potent Republican Party in the Lone Star State (Newell et al. 204). The Republican Party of Texas entered transitional era between 1950 and 1978. During this period, this party increasingly gained strength and popularity. The number of Texans who identified themselves with the party at the state level increased significantly. Republican’s presidential candidates secured more than 48 percent of votes during 1960s and 1970s, except in 1964 and 1968 (Newell et al. 217). 1961 marked the party’s greatest achievement, when John G. Tower won the United States senate in a special election to replace Lyndon B. Johnson. This gave the party strong leadership, and its geographic and urban bases remained strong (Newell et al.

Basket Exercise Essay Example for Free

Basket Exercise Essay Georgina Ryan, HR Director SUBJECT: Speaking engagement next week Ms. Williams, Mr. Armstrong has been transferred to a new location, earlier than expected. My apologies, however, if you would allow me to fill in for Mr. Armstrong, I would be honored to address the Business Club It is common for a large number of calls to come in all at once. When this happens, the customer relations–contact employee is supposed to take the customer’s phone number and get back to him or her within an hour. We’ve found in the past that this is a reasonable target since, after a big rush of calls, things usually settle down for a while. But when we check up on the contact employees, we find that they get back to the customer within an hour only about one-third of the time. Sometimes they don’t get back to the customer until the next day! I sent a memo to all contact employees about a month ago reminding them of the importance of prompt responses on their parts, but it did very little good. We need a training program from your department to improve this critical performance area. Can we get together early next week? MEMO TO: Ralph Herzberg, Manager of Customer Relations From: Georgina Ryan, HR Director. New Training Program Ralph, we will definitely have to address this situation. Let me get with my training program administrator and work out a training session/schedule for your department. I will get back with you on a date and time for next week.

Medieval University Essay Example for Free

Medieval University Essay Everything that is going on around us was developed in some point during history. We can assume that all ideas had to come from some prior idea. As students of history, it is in our ability to wonder what cultural and social constructions are still present today from the any other time in historical period. What particular concepts still exist within the world or specifically the United States? An idea that is still very present in America is the university. When did the idea of schools first come into full importance? What was taught and when did the concept expand into colleges and universities? The first universities were commenced in Paris during the Early Middle Ages. This is where the first concepts of higher learning were instituted and based off. In chapter seven of Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence Volume 1, the book explains the history of colleges and universities, they were simpler than modern schools but took hold of what general is taught today. In Europe during the medieval period, most education was handled in the small schools, where they taught Latin to male children. Students who would go to become clergymen were taught more advance subjects in cathedral schools. When the schooling community grew too large, colleges were set in place for student housing. Most modern university or college has housing for students. Student housing was strict and much regulated in the middle ages. These students, most of them, were to go on and become part of the clergy. Those who ran the colleges wanted to keep watch of the behavior being displayed by students of their institution. Compared to the rules of most residence halls in American universities, these restrictions seem preposterous. Rules included no one shall have loud shoes or clothing by which scandal might be generated in any way also no fellow shall presume to sleep outside of the house in town, and if he did so for reason, he shall take pains to submit his excise to the bearer of the roll†¦ also no women of any sort shall eat in the private rooms. If anyone violates this rule, he shall pay assessed penalty, namely, sixpence. You can see how important the curriculum was important during college in medieval life. There was no trace of extra activities and such like there are today. Clubs and leagues are western concepts that came later. Residence halls now are still very strict but some can be lenient towards student desires. Then learning was the highest priority. In source 11, a description of student life in Paris during the Middle Ages is explained more clearly. It says, Almost all the students at Paris, foreigners and natives, did absolutely nothing except learn or hear something new. Clearly now, the college of the university is not just the resident halls. Colleges are considered an institution in which a liberal arts degree can be acquired. The difference between a college and a university is that a college just presents a set of degrees in specific areas while a university is a collection of colleges. Content and teaching styles varied during the middle ages, as they do now. Degrees for teaching were given out to people who could right acquire them, Believing that the chancellor often either granted the right teach to unqualified parties or simply sold licenses outright, they began to require that prospective teachers pass an examination set by the university besides getting the chancellors approval. Many of these instructors had their own style teaching. In source five of the chapter sevens content, one teacher lays out his expectations like how modern day professors give out syllabi, he says, All writings belonging to this class are to be read with full freedom to criticize, and with no obligation to accept unquestioningly; otherwise the way would be blocked to all discussion, and posterity be deprived of the excellent intellectual exercise of debating difficult questions of language and presentation. The content of school was not very far off from what most places teach today. James Hannam of the University of Cambridge says, A great deal of the business of natural philosophy, mathematics and medicine during the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period took place in the setting of the universities What almost all universities had in common was that they were self governing corporations that were supported by both church and state. Their major purpose was to train men to be lawyers, theologians and physicians but they were also  increasingly used by the gentry to educate their sons in the cultural skills necessary for courtly life. Some universities like the University of Bologna specialized in certain categories of learning. The University of Bologna would be considered a law school. The university is historically notable for its teaching of canon and civil law; indeed, it was set up in large part with the aim of studying the Digest, a central text in Roman law, which had been rediscovered in Italy in 1070, and the university was central in the development of medieval Roman law. says universities Wikipedia page. The differences between universities of the middle Ages in Europe and modern day universities in America are quite apparent but their similarities suggest that some customs were brought to the west. These universities like Cambridge, Bologna, Paris, and Oxford are the models of what higher education is today. They are what came before what we have today. That is why it is important to study history as a whole thus we can see what aspects are being used in society today. [ 1 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 2 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 158-9. [ 3 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 166. [ 4 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 147. [ 5 ]. Merry E. Wiesner, Julius R. Ruff, William Bruce Wheeler. Discovering the Western Past: A Look at the Evidence. V1. Ed:6th. pp 160 [ 6 ]. http://www. hps. cam. ac. uk/research/memu. html [ 7 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/University_of_Bologna.

Reducing UK Deficit through Hyperinflation

Reducing UK Deficit through Hyperinflation The unprecedented UK budget deficits have drawn sufficient attention to the issue of the ability of the government to finance these deficits continuously by borrowing ever-increasing amounts from domestic and foreign residents by issuing government bonds. What might be particularly worrisome is that, since the 1980s, the UK government has been issuing debt (borrowing) in the current time period to pay back the principal and interest due on the debt it issued in previous periods. In other words, it has been simply ‘rolling over increasingly large chunks of government bonds. Adding to this concern is the belief intrinsic to most individuals that there is something inherently wrong with deficits and that, eventually, they would have to be reduced to zero. Introduction â€Å"Balancing the budget is like going to heaven: everybody wants to balance the budget, but nobody wants to do what you have to do to balance the budget† Senator Phil Gramm (R Tex.), 1990. Throughout the ages, national economies have experienced repeated fluctuations about trend in output, employment, prices, and interest rates, known as business cycles. Many explanations have been offered for these fluctuations in economic activity. They range from sudden supply-side disturbances, or shocks, caused by changes in technology or adverse weather conditions, to unanticipated changes in the money supply. Early business cycle theories assumed that the fluctuations in output and prices about trend were caused by the internal dynamics of a market economy. Sustained economic growth was thought to place severe strains upon the economy. For example, after a prolonged economic recovery, the continually increasing aggregate demand might cause wages and input costs to rise faster than selling prices. This, according to the early theories, would lead to a cutback in business investment and employment as firms, particularly those that had overinvested earlier, started to experience shrinking profits. This link between real and nominal variables, coming in the wake of a sustained period of recovery, was thought to cause recessions. During the era of the gold standard and fixed exchange rates, it was widely believed that business cycles were transmitted across national boundaries by detrimental fiscal and monetary policies of countries that were trading partners. Most of the early theories were in the gold standard era, and hence financial factors such as bank panics, shortages of liquidity, and fluctuations in interest rates were thought to be primarily responsible for economic downturns. While economists are by no means unanimous in their analyses of business cycles, the trend today is towards a demand-side money-induced explanation of these cycles in economic activity (Lucas, pp. 7-8). Since 1980s in United Kingdom there has been a growing feeling amongst economists and policy makers that an increase in taxes in the future is ‘inevitable. Nervousness about the large bond-financed deficits compounded by doomsday predictions in the media has convinced workers that the tax cuts are temporary. This has stunted the outward shift of labor supply and labor demand. It remains to be seen if the present administration does keep taxes at the low levels of 1987 and 1988, or conveniently ignores election year promises and raises them. In this world of individuals with rational expectations, the results of the policies of any one administration are strongly contingent on the expectations of individuals regarding the continuation of these policies by succeeding administrations. Once again, we must remember that policy is not a one-shot deal, but a ‘rule or a sequence extending into the future and the past. Economists tend to view the aggregate effects of fiscal policy from one of three perspectives. To sharpen the distinctions among them, it is helpful to consider a deficit induced by a lump-sum tax cut today followed by a lump-sum tax increase in the future, holding the path of government purchases and marginal tax rates constant. Under the Ricardian equivalence hypothesis proposed by Barro, such a deficit will be fully offset by an increase in private saving, as taxpayers recognize that the tax is merely postponed, not canceled. The offsetting increase in private saving means that the deficit will have no effect on national saving, interest rates, exchange rates, future domestic production, or future national income. A second model, the small open economy view, suggests that budget deficits do reduce national saving but, at the same time, induce increased capital inflows from abroad that finance the entire reduction. As a result, domestic production does not decline and interest rate s do not rise, but future national income falls because of the added burden of servicing the increased foreign debt. A third model, which we call the conventional view, likewise holds that deficits reduce national saving but that this reduction is at least partly reflected in lower domestic investment. In this model, budget deficits partly crowd out private investment and partly increase borrowing from abroad; the combined effect reduces future national income and future domestic production. The reduction in domestic investment in this model is brought about by an increase in interest rates, thus establishing a connection between deficits and interest rates. Budget deficits are financed by issuing government bonds to domestic and foreign residents (borrowing) or by selling bonds to the central bank (monetizing the debt). The processes of government spending, taxes, and money creation are linked quite explicitly by the arithmetic of the intertemporal budget constraint. The most important sources of tax revenue for the government are income taxes, corporate taxes, and payroll taxes. As all these tax revenues are functions of the national income, they consequently decrease when GNP falls, or when the economy goes into recession. On the other hand, transfer payments such as unemployment benefits increase in recessions, thereby causing budget deficits to rise in periods of economic sluggishness, even in the absence of any change in fiscal policy. Because of this independence of the magnitude of the deficit to changes in policy, many economists feel that less attention should be paid to the actual deficit and more to what is known as the high-employment or the standardized-employment deficit (also full-employment deficit, structural deficit). This is a hypothetical construct that replaces both the actual government spending and tax revenues in the actual budget by estimates of what government spending and tax revenues would be, given current tax rates a nd spending provisions, if the economy were operating at full employment. A 6 per cent unemployment rate is assumed to be the full-employment mark in the UK. The high-employment deficit, therefore, is unaffected by the state of the economy, since it ignores the actual expenditures and tax revenues and instead focuses on what they would be at full employment. This measure of deficit changes only when specific policies change, and for this reason economists believe that it is a better indicator of fiscal policy than the actual deficit, as the aggregate business cycle effects have now been sifted out (Baumol and Blinder, pp. 288-290). The inflation-adjusted deficit is the actual deficit adjusted for the inflation component of the interest payments. When the UK government (or any borrower for that matter) pays interest on the government bonds outstanding in an inflationary environment, more dollars must be returned to the lender in recognition of the fact that inflation has eroded the purchasing power of the currency. These interest payments, made to restore the lenders purchasing power, exaggerate interest expenses and distort the government expenditure figures. To sift out this additional government expenditure due to inflation, we subtract the inflation premium from the interest paid on the national debt, thereby counting only the real interest payments, a technique which provides us with a more accurate measure of the deficits. Large budget deficits financed by money creation are widely believed to be the primary force sustaining prolonged high inflation processes. The relationship appears to be closer for hyperinflationary episodes, which are usually associated with the presence of massive budget deficits. Hyperinflation, understood in this paper as a process of accelerating inflation, in fact occurs because governments have unsustainably large budget deficits. Fiscal adjustment is a prerequisite for stopping hyperinflation. Suppose the economy is initially at a point like H, moving along the unstable path with accelerating inflation. The objective of the authorities is to move the economy to a stable stationary equilibrium such as A. This will require a reduction in the deficit to [d.sub.0]. However, this will not suffice to restore inflation stability since real money balances are below the steady state level (i.e., to the left of A); expansionary monetary policy is also needed. This can be achieved through an open market purchase of government bonds. Under rational expectations, the proper combination of fiscal and monetary policies will instantaneously stop hyperinflation (Grossman and Helpman, 1991). In this specific example, as proposed in Dornbusch (1986), expansionary monetary policy supports the fiscal effort. Indeed, an open market purchase of government bonds reduces the interest payments and the value of the total deficit. The government can thus take advantage of the higher demand for money to reduce the deficit. In this case, the reduction in the primary deficit would be smaller than would otherwise need to be. The once-and-for-all increase in the demand for money that results from a successful stabilization effort contributes to a permanent reduction in the deficit. The stabilization strategy just discussed is useful to explain the analytical implications of assuming partial adjustment in the money market and rational expectations vis-à  -vis instantaneous adjustment in the money market and adaptive expectations. The reduced-form dynamic equations are similar in both cases. However, as just shown, when the right policy combination is followed, hyperinflation can be controlled instantaneously in the former case, while it will at best be reduced through a gradual process in the latter. The rigidity in expectations creates a strong barrier to rapid reductions in inflation. There are useful insights regarding the role of tight fiscal policy in anti-inflation programs. First, it is apparent that small reductions in the deficit may not be sufficient to reduce permanently the rate of inflation. Second, it was also argued that there is not a one-to-one relation between deficits and inflation rates; while a given budget deficit might be associated with a stable rate of inflation under one set of initial conditions, it could also lead to an unstable path of prices under others. Finally, there is an interesting asymmetry emerging from this model. While small increases in the budget deficit can move the economy into unstable paths that can eventually result in large increases in inflation, stabilization of the rate of inflation (once the economy is moving along the unstable path) can require even larger contractions in the fiscal deficit. In particular, if the economy is in a sufficiently hyperinflationary state, the monetary authorities might find that the onl y feasible stabilizing alternative is the complete elimination of the use of inflationary finance. In this paper it is shown that under plausible assumptions regarding the adjustment of the money market it is possible to find conditions under which large money-financed deficits can lead to hyperinflation even when agents have perfect foresight. The basic analytical framework is similar to the one used in Sargent and Wallace (1973), Evans and Yarrow (1981), Bruno and Fischer (1986), Dornbusch and Fischer (1986), and Buiter (1987). It assumes that budget deficits are entirely financed through seigniorage, a Cagan-type demand for money function and rational expectations (which in the present model, given the absence of uncertainty, is equivalent to perfect foresight). The main difference is that in the present model the money market does not clear instantaneously. Literature review The adjusted deficit values, therefore, assist us in putting the deficits in perspective and enable us to attribute changes in deficits to specific policy regimes. Another important form of measurement of the budget deficit is the primary deficit. The total budget deficit can be divided into two components: the primary or non-interest deficit, and the interest payments on the public debt, that is Total deficit = primary deficit + interest payments The primary deficit therefore represents all government outlays, except interest payments, less all government revenue. This definition will have huge significance when we discuss the role of the interest payments on outstanding government bonds. The overall budget might be in deficit even if the primary deficit is in surplus (or when we have a primary surplus). This is because in every time period the government makes a significant amount of interest payments on past debt. After mandatory spending, interest payments constitute the second largest chunk of UK government expenditures. Thus we can see that the overall budget will be in deficit unless the interest payments on the existing debt are more than matched by a primary surplus (Dornbusch and Fischer, pp. 581-583). According to Dornbusch and Fischer, this forms the core of the mechanics of deficit financing (p. 597). They write: ‘If there is a primary deficit in the budget, then the total budget deficit will keep growing as the debt grows because of the deficit, and interest payments rise because the debt is growing. As in Diamond (1965), a deficit is created by the government once and for all increasing its debt by reducing taxes on personal incomes. This is equivalent to the government transferring new bonds to the households. The traditional assumption has been that in subsequent periods taxes on personal incomes are raised in order to pay the interest on this additional debt. Instead, in the present paper I consider the case in which it is the future taxes on corporations that are raised. In the present model we find that, because taxes on personal incomes are discounted at a higher rate than the interest on government debt, deficits financed by raising future taxes on personal incomes increase wealth and aggregate expenditure, causing a current account deficit. This is the general view about the effects of deficits in finite horizon models. We, however, find that unanticipated deficits financed by raising future taxes on corporate incomes are neutral. This result arises because corporations, unlike households, are infinitely lived, and therefore taxes on corporations are discounted at the same rate as the interest on government debt. Thus, when the government incurs a deficit by transferring new bonds to the households, and it announces that it is going to raise taxes on corporations to pay the interest on these new bonds, the value of shares in corporations falls by the same amount as the value of new bonds that are issued, leaving wealth and aggregate expenditure unchanged. A correction of the fiscal imbalance has been crucial for stopping hyperinflation. This factor is well documented in the works of Yeager (1981), Sargent and Wallace (1973), and Webb (1986) on the hyperinflation episodes in the central European countries and United Kingdom on the episodes of recessions. Substantial reductions in the budget deficit, monetary reform, and a fixed exchange rate were crucial for the successful stabilization policies in those countries. Indeed, fiscal restraint, which in most cases meant outright elimination of the budget deficit, was probably the most important of these policy measures. One distinctive feature of hyperinflationary episodes is that the rate of inflation accelerates over time, thus suggesting that these processes are inherently unstable. Cagans seminal work on this issue provides an alternative interpretation. In Cagans view hyperinflationary episodes could only be unstable if they were â€Å"self-generating,† and he considered that although â€Å"there is no reason why (self-generating inflations) could not occur; so far they have just not been observed† (p. 73). However, Cagans stability analysis only considers the case in which the money process was exogenous. If one extends Cagans seminal paper through the introduction of money-financed budget deficits and rational expectations, and then analyzes the dynamic properties of the system, as was recently done by Evans and Yarrow (1981), Kiguel (1986), and Buiter (1987), the results are astonishing. Large money-financed budget deficits could be the source of instability; however, they could only lead to hyperdeflation. These deficits can never be the source of hyperinflation. The presence of large budget deficits in a perfect foresight framework has a surprising effect on the dynamic behavior of inflation. Auernheimer (1976), Evans and Yarrow (1981), and Kiguel (1986) showed that in order to obtain a hyperinflationary process one needs to assume adaptive expectations. In other words, in Cagans framework, large budget deficits could result in hyperinflation only when agents make systematic mistakes in forecasting the rate of inflation. It has been recognized for some time that it is very difficult to justify the use of adaptive expectations in macroeconomic models. Economic agents eventually learn the process that generates inflation, and they will use that information in the formation of their forecasts on inflation. As a result, it is difficult to accept that large budget deficits would lead to accelerating inflation only in the presence of systematic mistakes. The effect of anticipated deficits financed by taxing corporate incomes is the exact opposite of the conventional view about anticipated deficits in finite horizon models. If the government announces that at some future date it will incur a deficit by issuing new bonds to the households, and that corporate income taxes are going to be raised in the periods after that in order to pay the interest on this debt, then at the time the policy is announced aggregate wealth will fall, for the following reason. As taxes on corporations are discounted at the same rate as the interest on government debt, the present value of the taxes is equal to the value of the bonds transferred to the households as of the time that the policy is carried out. However, when the policy is announced households are not sure that they will survive to collect the transfer of bonds. Thus, they discount these transfers at a higher rate than the market rate of interest. On the other hand, as corporations are infinitel y lived, the valuation of shares in corporation is such that taxes will be discounted at the market rate of interest. This then means that at the time the policy is announced aggregate wealth and expenditure will fall, causing a current account surplus. This result is the opposite of the conventional view about the effects of anticipated deficits in finite horizon models, as emphasized by, for example, Feldstein (1983), and Frenkel and Razin (1986). Finally, the fact that taxes on corporations in UK are discounted at a lower rate than taxes on personal incomes means that a revenue neutral tax reform involving a shift in taxes from personal incomes to corporate incomes will result in a loss of wealth and a fall in aggregate expenditure, causing a current account surplus. Much of the literature on monetary unions has concentrated on their effects on trade and hence on the effects on the efficiency with which factors of production are used. Rose (2000) shows, in a multi-country panel study, that there may be significant effects on trade from membership of a monetary union. Whilst Honahan (2001) does not dispute the potential for benefits, he points out that much of the weight in Roses results comes from small countries leaving (or sometimes joining) colonial and post-colonial monetary unions. These decisions were often associated with a bundle of changes in relation to partner countries that themselves had a major impact on trade. Given that there are likely to be reasonably large gains in the scale of trade from joining a monetary union, there are also likely to be significant increases in the level of output. Grossman and Helpman (1991) argue that there is a strong link between openness and growth and much of the evidence is surveyed in Pain (2002). These gains come from the arrival of new technologies, increases in specialization by comparative advantage and the reaping of economies of scale within industries that have become more specialized. In addition, a monetary union reduces the barriers to trade even within a common customs area by reducing transactions costs, and this is likely to have a major impact on the level of output that can be produced with a given level of inputs. Given the theoretical importance of the output gap, it is unfortunate that its measurement is so problematic. This will always be the case however when we are trying to separate out ‘high frequency events such as the business cycle from ‘low frequency events or persistent phenomena such as the trend in potential output. As Watson (1986) points out, a time series of 30 years could contain a significant number of examples of cycles of periods of less than 5 years, yet only a few examples of cycles of 10 years or more. Therefore we have more information in a finite sample on the shorter cycles, and correspondingly less information on longer cycles and the permanent shocks (which can be regarded as infinitely long cycles). Techniques for trend extraction have to address this problem directly, and filters for trend extraction are designed to remove specific frequencies and, in particular, cycles from the data under consideration. The central point of Feldstein (1986) article is to present empirical evidence in support of the view that budget deficits cause a currency to appreciate. He regresses the real exchange rate between the U.S. and UK on a measure of the budget deficit in the United Kingdom and a set of other variables. For the period 1973 to 1984 (twelve annual observations), he finds that the estimated effects on the real exchange rate are strong and robust to the inclusion or exclusion of other variables. Branson and Love (1988), on the other hand, outline a theory that assumes that the movements in the nominal exchange rate cause movements in the real exchange rate. These, in turn, cause movements in the supply of (tradable and non-tradable) output and employment and, hence, the trade balance. Their empirical results indicate that appreciation of dollar over the period caused a large unemployment loss in manufacturing. Barth et al. (1990) note that the choice for measuring of the deficit affects the nature of the linkage between deficits and interest rates. Specifically, studies that use cyclically adjusted deficits or federal debt instead of federal deficits are more likely to find a significant relation between the fiscal variable and interest rates. Recent evidence reported by Barth et al. conforms with these observations. Barth et al. (1990) also conclude that low frequency data (annual versus quarterly or monthly) and long-term interest rates (instead of short-term rates) are more likely to produce a significant relation between deficits and interest rates. However, recent studies do not support these generalizations. The summary shows that many studies that use quarterly data yield a significant relation between deficits and interest rates (e.g., Bruno and Fischer, 1986; Dornbusch and Fischer, 1986; Buiter, 1987). Moreover, several of the studies surveyed (e.g., Honahan, 2001; Rose, 2000) find a significant relation for short-term interest rates. Barth et al. (1990) note that expected deficits play a greater role than contemporaneous deficits for long-term rates. One should note that results of all such studies are sensitive to the measurement of expected deficits. Frenkel and Razin (1986) find that announcement effects of the unanticipated deficit on interest rates are positive and about the same throughout the yield curve. Both rational expectations studies (Bruno and Fischer, 1986; Dornbusch, 1986) find positive relations, one for long-term rates and one for short-term. Finally, Feldstein (1983) and Dornbusch and Fischer (1986) find a positive relation between 10-year rates and projected cyclically adjusted deficit as a percent of GNP. Therefore, this relation apparently does exist for long-term rates, but concluding the same for short-term rates would be premature. Discussion The politics of tax cuts are not necessarily straightforward. Since the UK Budget of March 1993, discretionary tax increases have added about [pounds] 18 billion to expected tax revenue in 1996/97. It might therefore appear odd to the electorate for there to be a remittance of [pounds] 5 billion of these tax revenues as an election approaches. However, a reasonable defense of this might be that the fiscal position has turned out to be better than originally forecast. When the first tranche of tax increases was announced in the March 1993 Budget it was expected that even with the additional revenue the PSBR to GDP ratio in 1996/97 would be 4 1/2 per cent of GDP. The additional fiscal changes announced in the November 1993 Budget contributed to a reduction in the forecast deficit to 2 3/4 per cent of GDP. Now, with no further tax changes the Treasury is forecasting that the deficit will be 2 per cent of GDP, substantially lower than they first thought it would be. In terms of the economics of the UK Budget judgment, the slowdown in economic activity that appears to be occurring, especially the very weak state of domestic demand would appear to allow some relaxation of the fiscal stance. In addition, our projections suggest that even after allowing for tax cuts the general government financial deficit will fall below the 3 per cent reference level for the European Union excessive deficits procedure. The main difficulty with the tax cuts is that they retard the progress that the government has made in reducing its borrowing towards the level that would be permitted by the so-called ‘golden rule that the government borrow no more than is necessary to finance investment. This may be seen either in balance sheet terms or by examining borrowing in relation to investment expenditure. The consequence of the deterioration in the public sectors balance sheet is that this years taxpayers are leaving more liabilities and fewer assets to next years taxpayers than they started with. This suggests that the future services provided by public sector capital will be lower and debt interest higher than they would otherwise have been. This means that future taxes need to be higher in order to pay for the extra debt interest. This situation can be prevented by the government following the golden rule that borrowing be no more than is necessary to finance capital investment. Deficits have to be financed either by issuing debt or by creating base money. Sargent and Wallace (1973) have argued that persistent budget deficits will eventually result either in monetization of the outstanding stock of debt, thus depriving the monetary authorities of their autonomy in setting policy targets, or in a repudiation of at least part of the debt. Hence lack of fiscal discipline could undermine the independence of a newly created European Central Bank, which might come under potential pressure to loosen its policy stance if some member states had serious budgetary problems. Its credibility could be affected if agents thought that a softer stance would become inevitable to alleviate the financial difficulties of highly indebted countries running large deficits. One of the consequences would be an increase in interest rates reflecting a revision in expectations incorporating higher future inflation rates. Fiscal discipline would still be a major concern even if the UK monetary authorities remained steadfast in their anti-inflationary commitment, because those states with unsustainable fiscal positions might have to pull out, whose irreversibility would then be questioned. As a result, markets could take a different view of the degree of substitutability of the assets issued by the different countries. Furthermore, other externalities would be at work, in the form of pressure on other member states to come to the rescue of those with unsustainable debt/deficit paths. Another possibility is that conflicts would arise ‘on issues related to the distribution of (seigniorage) among member countries (Pain, 2002). Other consequences for the country as a whole of the lack of fiscal discipline would be a general rise in interest rates and an external deficit for Europe vis-à  -vis the rest of the world, with adverse effects on the ECU exchange rate. As to the introduction of binding fis cal constraints, the argument is often put forward in the literature that they may appear to improve welfare, but only if the existence of a trade-off between fiscal and monetary policy is ignored (Pain, 2002). Development of a government bond market provides a number of important benefits if the prerequisites to a sound development are in place. At the macroeconomic policy level, the UK government securities market provides an avenue for domestic funding of budget deficits other than that provided by the central bank and, thereby, can reduce the need for direct and potentially damaging monetary financing of government deficits and avoid a build-up of foreign currency denominated debt. A government securities market can also strengthen the transmission and implementation of monetary policy, including the achievement of monetary targets or inflation objectives, and can enable the use of market-based indirect monetary policy instruments. The existence of such a market not only can enable authorities to smooth consumption and investment expenditures in response to shocks, but if coupled with sound debt management, can also help governments reduce their exposure to interest rate, currency, and other financial risks. Finally, a shift toward market-oriented funding of government budget deficits will reduce debt-service costs over the medium to long term through development of a deep and liquid market for government securities. At the microeconomic level, development of a domestic securities market can increase overall financial stability and improve financial intermediation through greater competition and development of related financial infrastructure, products, and services. The creation of a monetary union will inevitably affect the setting of fiscal policy. Even if only monetary policy becomes the responsibility of the new institutions, with fiscal policy remaining in the domain of national government, the fact that they will no longer be able to monetize debt has implications for policy choices. Fiscal policy may play a more important role as a stabilization tool. In the standard Mundell-Fleming framework, in which sticky prices are assumed (Frankel and Razin, 1987) fiscal policy is most effective when exchange rates are fixed and there are free capital movements, conditions which has to be fulfilled by the UK government. Because in a fixed rate system a fiscal expansion does not lead to a rise in interest rates and to an appreciation of the exchange rate, some countries might resort more frequently to fiscal measures to respond to shocks, especially if they are country-specific. Such budgetary policies could result in a looser overall fiscal stance, especially if the fiscal authorities failed to distinguish between temporary and permanent shocks. It is often claimed that fiscal policy is the appropriate policy resp

Can We Say NO To Recycling Essay -- science

Can We Say "NO" To Recycling Lately the earth’s capacity to tolerate exploitation and absorb solid wastes disposal has diminished, due to excess trashing. People dispose lots of stuff, and simply do not care. Therefore scientists found out a way to reuse things and that process was called "recycling". This new approach seemed quite successful at the beginning, until its true identity appeared. Recycling first started as man’s best friend, people were intrigued by this new phenomena. What could be better than using things that were already used. Recycling has been very useful especially that man is constantly consuming, burning up, wearing out, replacing and disposing at an alarming rate.(Durning 1992). However, unfortunately recycling has proven that it is quite costly. Although recycling of wastes material solves the problem of garbage disposal at landfills, and saves resources, it does nevertheless entail large hidden costs in collecting, sorting and manufacturing; therefore, it is necessary for the go vernment to overcome such problems of recycling to be worth while and for manufacturers and consumers to consume less. Recycling has proven its efficiency in solving the problem of garbage disposal at landfills1. By the accumulation of garbage throughout the years, space available for garbage has largely diminished. In the states for example almost 67% of their waste stream ends up in landfills.(Scott 25). This has in fact increased the price of disposal. As Kimball stated "tipping fees" at landfills, is so often prohibitive(3), and some cannot find landfills to dump their garbage. It can cost up to $158 to pick a ton of garbage and dispose it.(Consumer Reports 1994). Beside, these landfills pollute their surroundings area with lots of hazardous materials and contaminate underground water. To discover the contamination of the underground water it would be 12 yeas after the poisons-benzene; formaldehyde; mercury; and BCEE- have actually contaminated the land, and had sunk 24 feet into the ground contaminating about 50 million gallons of underground water.(Dahir 94). Besides these lands could be used i n more useful ways such as building schools, hospitals, or simply turning them into large green areas to purify the air. This problem is practically acute in Egypt, since we do find even in central areas of the city, piles of garbage disposal very near to... ... washed and used several times." (Scott 25). As we can see the benefits are over-estimated, and the costs are under-estimated. What we should do is not only look for an alternative but also look for other ways to improve recycling. The natural resources will not last for ever, eventually everything comes to an end and the end is very near to our natural resources. What is of greater importance is to find alternatives to such resources if they actually become extinct. Recycling is backed by most of the general public, for its ideas of saving the environment, energy, and virgin material. But it is not that good or that efficient it still costs money and is not that safe. "Recycling does not necessarily provide for safer or more environmentally sound disposal than landfilling or incinerators. The recycling process itself generates enormous amounts of hazardous wastes."(Schaumburg 32). In addition it will decrease and maybe solve the problem of the ever increasing pollution. Imagine that every time som! eone throws a piece of paper in the garbage is similar to a person cutting a leaf off a tree. This is what happens when one does so, so recycling was the way to solve such a problem.

Symbols and Symbolism in Hawthornes Scarlet Letter - The Symbol of Pearl :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Symbol of Pearl In Nathaniel Hawthorne's, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, is the human symbol of the sin of adultery in the fact that she leads her mother, Hester Prynne, and Arthur Dimmesdale to accept and admit to their sin. Pearl is the beautiful daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is the living symbol of the scarlet letter and has unique traits that make her sometimes appear as a demon. Her love for nature and freedom, her spirit, her wildness, her loneliness and separation from the world, her curiosity, and her innocent but symbolic comments reveal her distinct personality. Pearl senses and knows things she should not, making her a symbol. Pearl is also the living symbol of Hester and Dimmesdale's connection, as displayed in the following passage. "In her was visible the tie that united them. She had been offered to the world, these seven years past, as the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to hide, -- all written in this symbol, -- all plainly manifest, -- had there been a prophet or magician skilled to read the character of flame! And Pearl was the oneness of their being"(Hawthorne 141). Pearl is a beautiful, misbehaved child. The first thing that Pearl ever notices is her mother's 'A' across her chest. As a child, Pearl throws rocks at the scarlet letter, making a game out it. Growing up, Pearl is not accepted by anyone. She screams at other children, knowing that they do not accept her. Not knowing what a true friend is, she makes imaginary enemies to fight with. In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is referred to as "one of those naughty elfs or fairies or...a little bird of scarlet plumage" (Hawthorne 97). The comparison of Pearl to an elf or fairies adds a sense of alienation and myster y to her personality. When she is compared to a red bird, the emphasis of color increases the visual sense of Pearl's character, and the comparison to a bird indicates that she is full of wild energy. (Chiquita) Initially Pearl symbolizes the shame of Hester's public punishment for adultery. Then as Pearl grew older, she symbolizes the wreck of Hester's life and mental state by harassing her mother over the scarlet 'A' which is embroidered on her dress (Yang). Pearl is a symbol for Hester's scarlet letter.

Aristotelian Ethics and its Context Essay -- Philosophy Ethics Essays

Ethics as Politics: On Aristotelian Ethics and its Context ABSTRACT: This paper argues that the assertion of Nicomachean Ethics I.ii that the art that treats of ethics is politics is to be understood properly not in the sense of politics qua nomothetike but just as politike, i.e., direct, participatory politics as was enjoyed in the Athenian polis and as the formed background to Aristotle’s philosophizing on the nature of ethics. The ethical import of politics can be retrieved from Aristotle’s Ethics (in both versions) and Politics by dwelling on the connection of eudaimonia and humanity’s function as such. Aristotle does not construe this function as contemplation but rather as the practical application of reason-reason leading to action. This, however, is the subject of politics. This specific human function, the function that makes us homo sapiens, can not be displayed in rule-be-ruled institutions such as the oikos (household) since such institutions and their collateral behaviors are predetermined based on rank or r ole. But achieving the distinctively human telos requires that such rule-be-ruled relations and behaviors be transcended since those relations and behaviors exclude the free exercise of deliberative intelligence. I begin with a proposition: that ethics (in the classical sense) (1) requires politics as the venue of its implementation; indeed, that ethics in a fundamental sense is politics. Ethics is politics inasmuch as the achievement of human happiness—"the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence, lasting a lifetime"—is public, both in that the achievement requires the presence of co-equals as the condition of its emergence, and in the sense that the excellence achieved (one's character) is public... ... modern metaphor for the political and ethical consequences of lapsing into a state of nature: the history of the Bounty mutineers (1789 and following) and their settlement of Pitcairn Island and the ensuing rapid self-destruction of the adult male population until, within four years of the settlement’s founding, only four men and ten women remained alive, and within a further seven years, all remaining men had been murdered except for one who was left as sole adult male dominating a community of females and juveniles. (23) The absence of a hierarchy of competitors refers to practices within a given sport category: competitors within a given Class A league are co-equals—but this does not imply the exclusion of other (higher or lower) sport categories (e.g., AA vs. A or AAA vs. AA) based on such factors as competitors' size, size of competitor pool, and so on.

Blake Recalls Innocence and Experience Essay

When attempting to penetrate into the deeper themes of William Blake’s cycle of poems â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† it can be useful to recognize that the title of the poems, as well as the subsequent division into sections of innocence and experience carries ironic connotations. Blake’s intention in this cycle of poems, which he subtitled â€Å"Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul† (Ostriker, 1977, p. 104) was to posit the relationship of individual freedom and self-determination as being at one with Divine Will. Therefore, the state of innocence which is referred to in the cycle’s title as well as in the division of poems itself is meant to suggest — not ignorance which leads to innocence — but the innocence which is gained (or reclaimed) by the experience of the Divine. In fact the first poem in the â€Å"innocence† cycle, â€Å"Introduction† makes plainly manifest, Blake’s ironic use of the titular connotations of innocence and experience. The poem’s second stanza reads: Pipe a song about a Lamb; So I piped with merry chear, Piper pipe that song again— So I piped, he wept to hear (Ostriker, 1977, p. 104) The subtlety of Blake’s theme here is so accomplished as to be almost invisible when one reads the lines without carefully probing each word for its connotations. Special attention must be given to each word-choice to extract from the sing-song pleasantness of the poem, the resounding and profound thematic ideas which lay beneath the poem’s surface. The word â€Å"Lamb† for example is capitalized not only to emphasize the mythic and religious ideas which are an intimate part of Christian symbolism, but to inform the reader that â€Å"Lamb† is, indeed, the theme of the entire poem. The repeating of the word â€Å"piped† is intended to show that the Divine voice is always trying to break through to humanity; the line â€Å"So I piped, he wept to hear† reveals that this song of â€Å"innocence† is, in fact, a song of experience: the knowledge that humanity is blind to, or in this case, deaf to, the Divine voice. While Blake emphasizes a state of idealism in his â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† nowhere does he proffer the idea of passive acceptance of the world’s injustices or pain. In fact, passivity to the world’s suffering is defined not in the poems of â€Å"innocence† but in a poem of â€Å"experience† where Blake’s verdict on the lack of empathy in the modern world could be made no more certain or clear. His poem â€Å"London† is a lament for precisely this idea of passive acceptance of world injustice and suffering: In ever cry of every man, In every Infants cry f fear, In very voice; in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear (Ostriker, 1977, 128). In these lines, the capitalized word â€Å"Infants† denotes a connection to the â€Å"Lamb† of th other poems: in Blake’s â€Å"Songs of Innocence and Experience† the lamb and the child are both symbols of the individuated self, and also of the Divine Will, which Blake, as mentioned, attempts to unify in his poetry. (Ostriker). The phrase â€Å"mind-forg’d manacles† is important because it shows how a lack of empathy and compassion or even concern for the world’s troubles is a function of ignorance, of a bad kind of â€Å"innocence† a worldly oblivion, which stands in sharp contrast to Blake’s idealized state of Divine innocence which is often frustrated by the materiality of ignorance of the world, but is nevertheless, an inheritance, according to Blake, which is due to every living individual on earth. The attainment of a state of ideal innocence in Blake denotes a state of self-awareness and self-identity which steps outside of the concerns of material wealth and social standing and relies purely upon the human heart as its gauge of success and its proximity to the Divine as a measure of its truth. Reference Ostriker, Alicia. 1977. â€Å"William Blake: The Complete Poems†. Penguin Books, New York.

PR Crisis Case Studies in Real Time

Open every usual relations textbook and the section on crisis caution will include examples of how organisations attain demonstrated best or batter practice. And, its non just the textbooks, as recent incidents (eg Tiger Woods or Toyota) nominate seen plenty of advice from PR experts finished online and genial media. But, just as with the numb(p) tree versions, these persona studies are simple fictions. Heroes and villains are the main narrative, with a modernist shape up reinforcing a recommended crisis management strategy.Theres just one representation to get during a crisis regardless of the organisation, the situation, the affectionate stage setting or the signifi bay windowce of the incident. This is the Tylenol focusing presented as the right approach give thanks to the swift action taken by Johnson & Johnson. The concreteity (as previously clarified at PR Conversations as a deceptive myth) isnt aloneowed to get in the way of the lesson. After all, it pro motes a way that PR, and organisational management, can be in control and follow reputation through a a a few(prenominal)(prenominal) simple steps.Every case scan reinforces the mantra Exxon Valdez is presented as the epitome of poor crisis management too slow to respond. Likewise coca Cola and the Belgium mass hysteria case. Whilst the Pepsi harry in a can crisis is hailed, Perriers benzene example is criticised. The nature of textbooks is that authors synthesise cases into easy to understand advice that students can fictionalise in assignments, and practicians can recall if they always find themselves handling a crisis. Its a comfort blanket of how to, what not to do, common mistakes and miracle cures.In the social media world of 247 spheric connections, the right way is repeated unaccompanied at warp speed. discover it closely becomes tell it before you know whatsoeverthing. Tell it all means let the media and its rent-a-quote experts imagine about worst case scena rios. Be open means unlimited social media engagement (regardless of what the legal or new(prenominal) ramifications may be). Have the CEO (or notoriety if a personal faux pas has occurred) glide by communications with mandatory appearances on chatshows, a tour of news stations, and a YouTube apology.Mea culpa the prevalent panacea Im wretched if anyone resisting the calls is bullied until they comply. The pound of flesh must be paid. They have to apologise publicly raze if whats occurred is a matter of tete-a-tete relations or affects only a few people who could be communicated with directly, where contrition would be far more truthful and genuine. Everyone is a critic retweeting endlessly, without checking the veracity of any source. Citizen journalism enables individual examples to be retold and extrapolated, without any attempt at verification if utilise by journalists and treated as living fact by social media networks.Crisis case studies in real time appear li ttle different to those that have been cautiously crafted for retelling in the textbooks. There is little demo of the public relations profession reflecting or considering how cases could be handled differently in a post-modernist, complex and chaotic world. A few authors, such as Dawn Gilpin and Priscilla spud (Crisis Communications in a Gordian World), challenge the simplification of turbulent reality.Isnt it time that their views were at least presented on board the only way propaganda that is taught on PR courses and espoused in both academic and practitioner texts? And even more important shouldnt more of us be talk out against those PR and media experts influencing public and knob expectations with naive views based on an chimerical belief that all crisis situations can be easily managed and controlled? Lets have more real life PR case studies that actually reflect the real time nature of managing contemporary crises. And we all might learn something new.