Xing Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Xing - Coursework Example Xing magazine will offer the level of quality advertisement and services that you can expect from a world class magazine. It is therefore safe to say that the company will build its reputation based on results for discerning client base. Xing magazine will give the value for your money because it will provide advertisement services to a wide range of people and entities based all over the globe. As an advertising company, we always strive to improve the quality of service to the clients. To ensure we offer the greatest quality ads. Even though the company will start by first offering hard copy magazine, Xing aims at going digital in the first 6 months of operations. Fashion and style is no doubt a business concept on the rise. That is, the 21st century population loves fashion and always wants to look smart. Fashion is an all-round concept that engages everybody in every industry. From managers, manufacturing, schools to tourists and many more. Irrespective of your industry, be assured that Xing has your style. For instance; for managers Xing will make sure that you and your employees are well dressed and you will be the center of attention whenever you attend executive conferences; for tourists industry, be assured that fashion and style will be incorporated in your adverts to attract as many tourists as possible and these just a tip on the iceberg. Xing is a profession company that will help you in creating the visuals and lay out ads in relation to the latest fashions and styles in the market. Xing magazine believes that there is nothing more fun and freeing than fashion design shopping. After a very tiresome day at work, it feels great to trade in layers of dark tights, delicate dresses, strappy sandals, wedding dresses and much more fashion oriented. Though Xing consider fashion sense classic, we will always choose one trend to try when the seasons change. The idea of Xing magazine is to have a trailblazing

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China

Comparing Criminal Justice Systems: US and China The two criminal justice systems that shall be discussed in this paper are those of the United States and that of the Peoples Republic of China. When comparing and contrasting these two systems one should start with the premise that both are instituted in their countries in the attempt to curb the proliferation of crime, apprehend offenders and deter potential offenders. Both the U.S. and Chinas criminal justice systems make use of a court system, police enforcement organizations and detention/correctional facilities. However this is as much as similarities go as the two systems are radically different since they are based on ideologically opposing government structures. The U.S government is based on a free market capitalist economy supported by a representative democracy. On the other hand that of China is founded on a social communist ideology. As for demographic figures, the U.S. has roughly 355 million citizens while China has well over one billion, which makes up one fourth of the world population. Klaus MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), in his book Criminal Justice in China, states that Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.) was founded in 1949 under a socialist rulership. From that point onwards a push was made to establish basic legislation with regards the administration of the criminal justice and enforced nationwide. The U.S. government is hierarchally based on a unified organization where power is shared between the federal and state governments. Therefore this means that the political system secures autonomy of each state in the U.S. but at the same time adopting a centralized government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The U.S. justice system is derived from the British common law tradition. Common law is the law that is agreed upon by the common people and exists in two forms, Lex Scripta (written law) and Lex non Scripta (unwritten law). On the other hand MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009), says that the Chinese justice system is quite difficult to put under one unitary system. This is due to the fact that the Chinese criminal justice system was repeatedly reorganized in the wake of political changes and internal party disputes since 1949, when the communist party took over. MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) also notes that the Chinese justice system under socialism is not an independent administrative system but was integrated into a network of social control and political mobilization. The Chinese Criminal Law is based on the ideological precepts of Marxism, Leninism and Mao Zedong. Its tasks are to use punishments to resist against all revolutionary or criminal behaviour, for the sake of protecting the Chinese autocracy. Gaines and Miller (2006) explain that the police forces of the United States are the successors of Militias originally instituted in the early colonies to protect the population and control the Native Americans. The different forming States developed their own security forces and these operated autonomously. Major cities instituted their own police forces, which function under the control of a city government (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to Gaines and Miller (2006) Currently the U.S. police forces are structured on local/city/county and federal/state levels, thus having a federal system. All local policing duties are shared between local municipalities and rural localities. Cities, towns and villages are able to institute their own police forces, while others, usually rural localities, rely on a county Sheriffs department for the task of enforcement and policing. Usually the size of police forces in the U.S. is directly proportional to the population of the area being controlled. The 50 States forming the U.S. also have their own police forces that are ascribed to different regions and often patrol undeveloped rural areas. The job of such agencies include investigating crimes against the state such as alcohol licensing violations or welfare fraud, fish and game violations, and highway traffic infractions (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to a statistic of the U.S. Department of Justice (2008), on average the ratio of police to population in the U.S. is about 2.3 officers per thousand residents, however larger cities generate grater ratios. This police force ratio has stayed fixed around 2.21-2.34 police officers per 1000 civilian population for nearly 30 years. Next up on the U.S. hierarchal police system is the Federal Governments police force that subdivided into various other agencies (Gaines and Miller, 2006). There is the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is independent of any administration. The F.B.I. intervenes when federal laws are infringed, an interstate crime is committed, or if national security is threatened. However the last case scenario has been taken over by the Department of Homeland Security established after the attacks of September 11th 2001. The U.S. has about 20 federal law enforcement agencies, which also include the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Marshals Service. Further more there exist the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Treasury Department, the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearm Agency and the Immigration and Naturalization Services handle illegal immigrants while the U.S. Customs officials deal with border infringements. However this specia lization of the different policing agencies has its drawbacks. Problems can arise due to jurisdictional issues, when what one should really take care of is the upholding and maintenance of the law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). According to MÃ ¼hlhahn (2009) the P.R.C. employs around 2 million police officers, of which most work is small offices that serve communities of roughly 10,000 citizens. The main policing agency in the P.R.C. is the Peoples Armed Police (PAP), which includes about 700,000 officers. This agency was instituted in 1983 and was formed by incorporating disbanded units of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) on domestic defence duty and armed frontier defence and fire fighting. The rise of the PAP shows how Chinese leadership is more concerned with domestic security than it is with foreign threats (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). The PAPs main task is to deal with domestic disturbances, by acting as riot police, guarding government compounds and also foreign embassies. It usually handles border defence but in some cases it is requested to back up local police. Recently it has been employed to suppress anti-government protests. The Public Security Service (PSB) is both a local police and the Chinese equivalent of the Secret Service in the U.S. The P.R.C. justice system also employs paramilitary armed police and more than 1 million security guards. Quasi-police force known as cheng guan also operates in China (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). These carry out tasks deemed unpopular by the citizens, such as collecting fines and tax money, often these are just thugs hired by the official police to carry out such tasks. The Chinese government introduced a new special unit in December 2008, to counter gun-related crimes and organized crime such as gambling rackets, organized prostitution, drug production and trafficking. By 2009 Chinas public security budget was increased by nearly a third, to $4.2 billion partly to tackle internal stresses related to the unrest in Tibet and western China. Also this increment in the public security budget came about as a result to unrest brought about by unemployed workers and other problems related to the global economic crisis (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). In the past, police forces in the U.S. have been accused of corruption and the Good-Old Boy network of hiring practices. Also in recent years charges of racism, racial profiling, and use of excessive force have been reported by citizens and related organizations (Gaines and Miller, 2006). In China family members of victims of crime have often been criticised police for their incompetence and reluctance to make sensible effort towards solving cases that affect them. Another criticism directed to Chinese police forces is that these have a reputation for being corrupt and connected to smuggling. Also citizens, particularly in rural areas, regard these with suspicion. Chinese police have traditionally been more involved in maintaining government control than solving crimes, and this is directly related with Chinas political ideology. (MÃ ¼hlhahn, 2009). As for the US court system, this is a dual judiciary system, of which the two constituent parts (federal and state) function independent of each other. The federal judiciary system includes district courts, circuit courts of appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. The state system includes trial courts at the local and state levels, intermediate courts of appeal, and state Supreme Court (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The primary agents working along each other are the judge, prosecutor, and defence lawyers in the U.S. system. The U.S. law is derived from four main sources, which are constitutional law, statutory law, administrative regulations, and the common law (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The most important source of law is the United States Constitution, under which all other laws fall. No law can contradict the U.S. Constitution. As already stated the U.S. follows the principles of Common law that were inherited from English jurisprudence. This tradition holds that a decision taken in court is always made on the principle of precedent. This means that each case previously resolved serves as reference and guide for new cases. New aspects of law may be determined or discovered and thus a precedent arises. The U.S. justice system allows for presumption of innocence until proven guilty, plea-bargaining, trial by jury, and the right to a quick trial (Gaines and Miller, 2006). These features compose the U.S. justice system which is flexible and according to Gaines and Miller (2006) caters for the citizens ne eds in a batter way. Chinese Law is based on the Constitution, of which Article 28 declares: The State maintains public order and suppresses treasonable and other counter-revolutionary activities; it penalizes acts that endanger public security and disrupt the socialist economy and other criminal activities, and punishes and reforms criminals. According to an article by Jeffrey Hays (2008), the main task of the Chinese justice system has fundamentally always been to protect the interests of the state rather than the individual and to keep the population under control. There is no independent judiciary in China and courts are regarded as weak and subordinate to the Communist Party and the National Peoples Congress. The court system of the P.R.C. is divided into two types, Courts of General Jurisdiction and Courts of Special Jurisdiction. The first type consists of the Supreme Peoples Court and the local peoples courts. The second type includes courts of the first instance, intermediate courts that handle important local cases for the first instance and hear appeal cases from the basic courts and the high peoples court responsible for issues of provincial level. As for Courts of Special Jurisdiction there exist the Military Court of China, Railway Transport Court of China and Maritime Court of China (Hays, 2008), According to Hays (2008) Unlike in their U.S. counterparts, in Chinese courts unlawfully obtained evidence is not excluded in court and an accused person has no right to remain silent but has the duty towards the state to speak, often after administration of corporal punishment. According to Amnesty International, when the Criminal Procedure Law was revised and promulgated in 1996, commentators pointed to various articles, which although did not explicitly state that suspects were to be presumed innocent, when taken in unison the presumption of innocence could be inferred. The penal system of the U.S., like the judicial system, branches into federal, state and local levels. The prison system is supported by governmental funds, in the form of tax revenue from federal (corporate income), state (sales) and local (taxes) revenues. Is also receives funding through Inter-governmental transfer, in the form of federal grants and state grants. Gaines and Miller (2006) sentencing within the US judiciary system are considerably lengthier than those of other western countries and many states have endorsed a three strikes system which forces the judiciary to sentence a suspect to a life term in the case of a third offence (Gaines and Miller, 2006). The USs penal system has a huge problem because of overpopulation of convicts and thus in order to counter this many states have resorted to the privatisation of prisons. Other problems include the imprisonment of the criminally insane, increase of sexual offenders, dangerous offenders, gangs and drug smuggling in the pr isons. The aim of the penal system in China is to reform criminals, however this is carried out by means which in the west one might deem unacceptable. The USs penal system on the other hand is instituted to punish the criminal and protect the public. Both systems endorse capital punishment as their most extreme sanction and such actions have roused many heated debates within modern human rights exponents. Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Differences of Standard Profit and Actual Profit: Case Study Incognitos latest costume set is Meridas outfit in the Disney Pixar film Brave that sold through internet. The purpose of this report is to analyse and compare the differences of standard profit and actual profit. All calculations are available in the appendices. 1.1 Absorption Costing System Absorption costing system is used to cost Merida. It recognizes the importance of absorbing the fixed overhead on valuation of stock in calculating profit as fixed overhead is essential to incur to make product. All fixed and variable production cost is included in stock valuation in absorption costing while, marginal costing only include variable production cost in stock valuation5. It allocates portion of fixed manufacturing overhead to each unit of product and hence, it will be brought forward to next period in the closing stock5. Also, it avoids fictitious losses being reported. For instance, a company produces more on first few months to cater the sales for the next few months. In absorption costing, fixed production cost will only be expensed off when it is sold. While, marginal costing would expensed it off when it is incurred that may cause a huge losses at the beginning. The absorption of fixed overhead in stock valuation helps prices to be set with full knowledge of all costs. This is useful for decision making and preparing financial accounts. Additionally, absorption costing system is consistent with external reporting5. 2 1.2 Variance Analysis Standard costing is predetermined costs that assist in budget preparation and decision-making. It allows profit measurement and inventory valuation purposes. The variance analysis is applied to explain the deviations in the actual results from budgeted amounts8. The results of variance analysis is attributes to different elements such as material, labour, variable overhead and fixed overhead. These would provide a better understanding of the business performance and aware of any changes in the organization, economy, or sector. The variances might due to several reasons. This variance analysis segregates total variance into different element such as price and efficiency8. This sub-decomposition would provide more detail in explaining the deviations. It helps in performance evaluation that could motivate managers and identify areas of concern that enables managers to focus on the most critical areas8. It seeks explanation for variances and helps in planning activity by identifying the necessary early corrective action to be taken depending whether variance is favourable or adverse8. It would allow manager to generate more informed future predictions. Therefore, it acts as measurement system and controlling tool to supervise the progress of a project and controlling of future cost by understanding the present costs9. Key findings of the variance analysis 2.1 Possible reason of variances The most critical areas are adverse variances especially those with significant figures. The adverse variance of sales margin price might due to overestimation of standard selling price; higher quantity discount given by sales manager that result to lower actual selling price or bad response of the product that influences management to decide to lower the selling price. Adverse sales margin volume variance may due to overestimation of budgeted sales that is set without careful analysis of market condition. Also, inefficient sales force such as failure in advertisement (marketing) effort or customer dissatisfaction because of poor quality of costumes. Although the decrease in selling price by $4 should reflect an increment in sales volume, however, in this case, it is shown as adverse sales volume which might due to economic downturn as what happen to unexpected sales drop of Hennes Maurit (Fashion retailer) by 5% during Euro zone crisis6. The purchasing power of consumer will drop. Hence, despite the drop in selling price, the sales volume will decrease. Another possible reason for adverse sales price and volume is the escalating market competition in internet of selling childrens costume that affects both the sales price and volume to decrease by 4 and 190 units respectively. Adverse material price variance (Velour fabric and Metal poppers) may due to management careless in purchasing a batch of material with a higher cost without realizing it, ; general increase in price of the material (inflation) or the used of the improved quality of the material. Moreover, it can due to underestimation of material standard price; losing bulk discount as less has been purchased or inefficiency of purchasing manager in price negotiation9. The adverse material usage variances (Satin fabric, Polyester yarn and Velcro) may due to mistake by production department in allocating materials to jobs which causes wastage. Excessive usage may due to excessive wastage of materials by untrain workers, faulty machines, poor supervision or theft existence. Furthermore, purchasing department may obtain inferior materials where it may be unsuitable for use and causes excessive waste9. Also, it may have stricter quality control where, if any material does not meet certain standards in terms quality would be eliminated2. The adverse labour rate for skilled and unskilled labour may due to inflation or increase pressure by labour union for salary increment. Also, it may be the management strategy to increase workers morale by increasing the pay so to improve worker efficiency as where it is reflected on favourable efficiency of unskilled labour. There may be also payment of unplanned overtime or bonus where it has to pay more2. The adverse labour efficiency of skilled labour may due to error where the standard time were set too tight without careful analysis of operating condition and the employee skills4 or human resource error in employing inexperienced skilled worker and yet still paying high wages of the skilled worker2. Moreover, the usage of inferior quality material that leads to inefficiency where more time is needed to produce each costume2. Additionally, this adverse can result by poorly trained or motivated workers which require more time in processing; faulty equipment causing work interruptions; inefficient work schedule and poor supervision of workers2. Adverse variable overhead rate variance may due to underestimation of the rate by management. While adverse variable overhead efficiency variance, may due to adverse figure presented in skilled labour efficiency. The lower productivity causes more time needed for production. The possibility of factory breakdown causes variable overhead to increase, as a day production is lost. The adverse fixed overhead variance for supervisor and utilities may due to the general increase in market price due to inflation. This inflation resulted to escalated living expenses and hence, a pay increment for supervisor is necessary. While utilities, the possibility for wastage of electricity and water when machinery faulty or equivalent. Although the hiring of skilled labour should result to a favourable labour efficiency variance, this adverse variance is possibly due to insufficient demand to keep the workers busy. Hence, production is reduced from 7,500 to 7380 units due to just-in-time principle. Since workforce is fixed, skilled labour would need to produce less costume, and hence causes inefficient in work as they have more idle time, resulting to the rise of labour hours needed per costume from 1.25 to 1.5 hours. The adverse variance of postage and packaging may due to general increase of international shipping. Measure should be taken to control the escalating material, labour, variable and fixed overhead rate and decrementing usage efficiency as it would reduce profitability. It should also understand the reason for favourable variances, so these practices will continue and be used within the organization. Firstly, favourable material price variances (Satin fabric, sequins, polyester yarn, metal hoops and Velcro) may due to inferior quality material usage which incur lower price, changed to a lower-price supplier, obtaining bulk discount by buying in bulk, industry oversupply of those materials causes the price to drop or material standard price is estimated too low4. The favourable material usage variance (Velour fabric) may due to efficient usage of the material by labour. There may have existence of inter-relationship of material usage and price. The better quality of velour fabric used, the higher the efficiency of the material2. Hence, material wastage decreases due to lesser defective material. The favourable labour efficiency variance for unskilled labour may relate to ergonomics whereby work motivation arises when there is improved quality of equipment or materials, or better techniques of production. Also, it may due to salary increment. Hence, the productivity increases lead to higher efficiency. The favourable fixed overhead variance (rent) may due to market price for rent have reduced or it shifted to another venue with a cheaper rent. 2.2 Implication of variances The adverse variance indicates ineffectiveness and overspending by the business as compared to budgeted figures and vice versa for favourable variances. Adverse variances would have a negative impact to reconciliation statement that causes lower profit, as more have to pay (Higher expenses) and used (More time and material used). Also, the reputation would be affected as it is less efficient. Whereas adverse sales price and volume indicates lower selling price and volume sold which causes lower sales revenue. Favourable variances have a positive effect towards reconciliation statement that causes higher profit as less have to pay (Lower expenditure) and used (Lesser time used). 3.1 Comparison Incognito has a net profit margin of 2% as compared to retail clothing sector average of 7.86%. It shows that Incognito has a higher risk that a drop in sales would wipe off profits and cause net losses. This may due to inefficiency in controlling cost as shown in several adverse variance figure (Material, labour, fixed and variable overhead). Also, the recession and continuing uncertain economic climate became the greatest threat to sales over the recent years as what happen to HM with sudden drop of 5% sales and which believed has influenced Incognito with drop of sales from 7,500 to 7310 costumes6. It founds that fancy dress industry is competitive as there shown a growing number of fancy dress like companies and website retail sales exceeded 10 billion in UK alone1. This would limit Incognito growth opportunities and reduce its profitability. 3.2 Recommendation To improve sales, it is prudent to increase marketing (Advertisement) efforts during slower sales periods as there are more competition and fewer consumers especially during current Eurozone crisis. It should utilise social networking features such as Facebook to extend business coverage. Nonetheless, it should keep up-to-date on the costume trends so it would not be left behind by its competitor. If the adverse sales are due to quality issues, it may consider using better quality materials or purchasing new machine. New machine would improve quality, productivity (Efficiency) and less maintenance is needed in the long run. Also, it is recommended to develop maintenance schedule to avoid future machine breakdowns that affects efficiency and costumes quality. To reduce material price, it is recommended to purchase material in bulk which lower the overall material price due to bulk discount given by the supplier. However, it should caution of not causing excessive inventory4. Also, it can bargain with the current supplier for a better deal by ascertaining a positive relationship. Nonetheless, it should always monitor the market for other alternative supplier that offers a better deal in term of lower price without compromising the materials quality. To ease labour rates, it is advisable to hire part-timer rather than full-timer as they are paid according to the actual hours work. This can prevent money being wasted during the idle time and improve labour efficiency. It can consider outsourcing certain jobs to low-cost areas such as Vietnam which is highly productive with lower labour rates. If adverse variance is due to inflation, it is advisable to revise the standard cost regularly so that it will always reflect the current market rates. For utilities rate reduction, it is recommended to negotiate a deal (Lower utilities rate) with the utilities company or seek for alternative utilities companies that may provide a lower utilities rate. To strengthen online presence, it needs to continue develop its B2C websites to ensure it is user friendly; high security to build trust and provide sufficient information on products offered3. Nonetheless, interaction with customer and respond to their feedbacks is important3. Also, it should increase its product range of innovative new fancy dress costumes so it would have larger market1. Ethical issues are important for sustainability as UK adults claiming to have made purchase decisions for ethical reasons7. It should concern with the material used to ensure it is up to certain quality, environmental friendly and cruelty free; employee working condition and pesticide used7. Furthermore, issue regarding trademarks copyright. Incognito took design of Meridas costume, a character in the Disney film Brave without the consent of the original designer. This could be subject to copyright issues and can be liable for fine. It is unethical as it is consider stealing of others trademark. It should encourage employee personnel development by providing training and improve employee attitudes through motivation. Frequent timely non-financial performance measure is advisable for control purposes such as observing defect rates and number of costumes completed without rework4. Additionally, it should identify its market share and target for planning purposes such as expanding and determining quantity to manufacture. 4.0 Conclusion Precautionary action should be taken to prevent material price and usage; labour rate; variable and fixed overhead rises uncontrollably in the future which reduces profitability. Nonetheless, non-financial issues such as environmental, working condition and ethics should be taken into consideration. (2000 Words)

Total Effect of The Tragedy of Macbeth :: essays research papers

The Shadow   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Tragedy of Macbeth†, written by William Shakespeare, gives the reader an impact of the horror at the darkness in humans. In the story, the most dominant literary element is the theme. The theme brings out the impact of horror, while the other literary elements support it. One of the most evident quotes that made me think of the horror of darkness in humans was said by Macbeth, â€Å"Stars, hide your fires; Let not light see my black and deep desires†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote showed that Macbeth was heavily influenced by his ambitions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theme, being the most dominant literary element, shows how the darkness in people has been drawn out. Themes such as appearance versus reality, attempts to control the future, human responses to supernatural powers and loyalty show how we can be easily taken over by the evil in us. After the death of King Duncan, Macbeth tries to convince himself that he did the right thing. He murdered his king in cold blood and regained his consciousness for a brief moment. â€Å"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?† this quote, also spoken by Macbeth, gives the reader a sense that he regained his ego and was exposed with extreme guilt. It also gives a sense that he was possessed by a demon. This can be backed up by the theme of human responses to supernatural powers. Although the witches contribute greatly here, I would want to talk about hallucinations first. (In psychology, hallucinations are a form of supernatural powers.) The soliloquy in Act II Scene I show Macbeth hallucinating of an imaginary, bloody dagger. â€Å"Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle towards my hand?† This was his illusion of what was upcoming, the murdering of King Duncan. This illusion gives the reader a sense that he is possessed by his alter-ego that he is going to kill the king. The witches foretold the future, and that their prophecies of Macbeth let his own â€Å"shadow† take over himself. Being that Macbeth went crazy from murdering his king, he also became aware that this murdering might also happen to him. This he decided to try and control his future – well, at least in several attempts, but always ended up half done. â€Å"To be thus is nothing, but to be safely thus†¦Ã¢â‚¬  this quote shows that Macbeth is in fear, and he tries to overcome this fear by eliminating anyone that was a threat to him.

Change the Culture of an Organisation Essay

The culture of an organization can be defined by the ‘way they do things’, this means the way they make decisions, operate and how they choose and achieve their objectives. As culture is a set of values and practices, changing it may be difficult and a long process, especially if the change is organized by a new chief executive. Changing the culture of an organization may not be easy especially if the new chief executive does not fully understand the previous culture and therefore does not embrace it in the change. This lack of knowledge may result in an inappropriate culture being chosen that could limit the company’s performance as productivity reduces. An example of a badly imposed culture can been seen with the Chrysler and Damier-Benz merge in 1998. Damier-Benz imposed their traditional and structured German culture on the free-spirited American car company Chrysler. The extremely different cultures created tension that later affected their efficiency as decision-making took longer and the workforce were not happy. The inappropriate culture resulted in a loss of $1.5 billon by 2006. In 2011, the new chief executive of Tesco, Phillip Clarke, also made a cultural change which proved unsuccessful. He proposed a strategy to change Tesco’s brand image to be known for â€Å"highly valued brands† as opposed to their cheaper â€Å"Value† products. The decrease in popular promotion deals such as vouchers and meal deals reduced their sales revenue and share value which fell by 15% by the end of 2011. This suggests that Clarke failed to identify Tesco’s main source of competitively. Therefore, both examples show that cultural changes may be difficult as the new chief executives lack knowledge and experience in the company. Culture change also takes a long time, especially as traditions and values are set. A prime example of this is with Sony. Sony is a Japan-based company who prides themselves in adopting a traditional Japanese business culture. Examples of their culture can be seen with their clear line of authority and their strong belief in respect. However, Sony’s reducing performance and the fast changing world alarmed the new chief executive, Howard Stringer, to change the culture to one that embraces change. Although proposals to change the culture were made in 2007, Sony’s culture has still not fully transformed which is reflected in their still low competitively. Therefore, it may still take some time for Sony to fully embrace an innovative culture as their Japanese culture has largely influenced the organization. It also took a long time for Marks & Spencer to introduce higher levels of technology, such as a stock control system, as they are said to have a ‘backward culture’. This is because they don’t embrace change and are led by system and procedures. These examples provide evidence that change in a business’s culture may not be done quickly as the organization is accustomed to the previous culture. However, changing a company’s culture can be easy if the new chief executive conducts the change in an appropriate manner. As culture change will have a direct impact on stakeholders, it is important for the new chief executive to inform all stakeholders of the changes and to also encourage feedback. The loss of the innovative leader of Apple, Steve Jobbs created much anxiety about the new CEO Tim Cook. Stakeholders feared Cook would change the company and reject all Jobbs practices especially as the two leaders have different personalities. The media worsened the situation with continuous negative press coverage which resulted in a decrease in consumer confidence as well as Apple’s share price. Although Jobbs had planned to make some strategic changes to the company’s practices, he reassured stakeholders by stating that â€Å"Apple will not change†. He also identified these new strategies and their benefits in a press release which justified his decisions and satisfied stakeholders. The newfound trust of stakeholders will enable Apple’s cultural change to be easier and happen more quickly. In view of the above, I believe that it is not easy to change the culture of a business, as the current practices are custom to the organization; this also suggests that the change will be quite a process and therefore won’t be done quickly. This situation is worsened as the chief executive is new and won’t have the necessary knowledge and understanding of the business to enable a smooth and quick transition. However, the ability for the new chief executive to change the business’s culture quickly and easily is highly dependant upon the reaction of the stakeholders. For example, BP’s customers may react positively as the new culture will increase the company’s responsiveness to customers. Shareholders may also react positively as the increase of innovation should increase BP’s competitive advantage which could increase the company’s value and share price. However, the increase in innovation may pose a threat the employees as management will expect higher quality and the need for more qualified personnel may be necessary. Therefore, support from stakeholders will encourage an easier and quickly transformation whereas negativity will not. The skills of the workforce is also important as if they are innovative the cultural change will happen faster. However, Sony is in a creative industry and their strategy to increase innovation still took a long time. This suggests that attitudes and beliefs of the workforce are also important. An easy change is also depend upon the new executives approach, is it forceful or flexible? Damier-Benz’s forceful approach result in a large amount of tension that slowed the change and resulted in a financial loss.

Principles and Theories of ethics Essay

In their quest to seek for solutions on ethical issues, human beings have constantly been formulating theories. These theories form an important point from where any investigation should be launched. As people invent new ideas or even improve on the current existing ideas, more challenges and complications come up. This has been observed in the modern world where scientific advancement has seemed to dominate in every field of knowledge. Among these fields of scientific inventions is the medical field which many people have believed to reduce the mortality rate and at the same time increased the life expectancy among many people in the world. Despite all these, fertility rate has seemed to reduce among the people while the terminal illnesses have been rapidly increasing. It is this reason that many doctors and medical practitioners have joined hands to look for long lasting solutions to these problems. Some of these solutions have been unearthed, which include the use of stem cells in treating patients with these problems. This has however raised many questions especially on issues concerning ethical justifications. This paper therefore examines two of such works that were carried out by Dr Shroff and Dr. Kerkis as reported in articles entitled ‘mice have been used to make human sperm’ and ‘Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe’ respectively. (http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html ; http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors ) According to Rainbow C, there exist four principles of ethics. These include; least harm, justice beneficence and respect for autonomy. According to the principle to the principle of least harm, it is prudent to make a choice that will harm the least number of people. The choice made should also result to the least harm to the people involved. In the modern world, there are so many men who are willing to have children but unable because their sperms are not viable. According to the research, there is still hope for couples who experience such problems. The use of mice in production of human sperms therefore adheres to the principle of least harm and thus justices the use of mice in production of viable human sperms. The extraction of the dental pulp from teeth is however harmful but there harm is less as compared to the inability of a man to produce viable sperms. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The principle of justice on the other hand encourages actions that are fair to the concerned. Such a decision should be consistent and based on logic unless justified otherwise by existence of justified extenuating circumstances. In the case of mice and human sperm cells production, it should be noted that the men are first given the opportunity to try their best to get children in the natural way. Professional medical practitioners who exploit any other alternative of dealing with such a situation confirm their inability. The couples are finally given the chance to choose what is good for them and thus the use of mice is only for those who are willing. This therefore adheres to the principle of justice. Dr Kerkis has also made it clear that she first used stem cells from dental pulp that was extracted from ‘a male donor’. It therefore means that the process is justified by the adhearing to the principle of justice since the consent of the concerned was first sought. (http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm ; http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html) According to beneficence principle, people must do all that is seen to be good. Just like the utility principle, it is always advisable to maximize what is good and minimize the evil. It is very true to say that the greater the amounts of good that people do, the more the benefits. According to this principle, production of viable human sperm cells by mice will do well to those who are unable. Apart from improving the psychological health of the concerned, it will also strengthen family bonds that may otherwise be weakened by the inability to get children especially in those communities where children are highly valued as an important ingredient in a happy marriage. (http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html ) According to the principle of respect for autonomy, it is very important to ‘allow people to reign over themselves and to be able to make decisions that apply to their lives ’. This is based on the fact that only an individual can understand why he/she chooses a particular lifestyle. Since every human being must be respected, any decision, especially that which involves intimate issues, must come from him. In order to do so, he must get enough information in the consequences and finally, his consent must be obtained. The reason is because every human being has hisher emotions and motivations that heshe understands from hisher own life experiences. It is the right for every person to lead a life style that he she actually enjoys in which the control over it is vested in hisher decision. It is however important to realize that there exists two perspectives of autonomy respects; paternalists and libertarians views. According to paternalistics, ‘an authority prioritizes a dependent person’s best interests over the dependent person’s wishes’. In the case of mice and human sperms, since the man is aware of his inability to produce viable sperms even though he may wish to have children, he has the freedom to choose to live without them. If he decides so and realizes more satisfaction without the children than using mice to produce viable sperms, he becomes libertarian. When his wife and medical practitioner convinces him to use mice to get children, the principle of autonomy is violated and he becomes a paternalistic since his wish may not be based on the use of mice in producing the viable sperms even though his interest is to get children. Libertarian perspective is therefore observed when the person’s wish is prioritized over hisher best interest. The person maintains hisher autonomy over hisher decision. (Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, pp. 42) In the case of stem cells treatment for the paralyzed man is Australia, the principle of least harm is violated since the extraction of the embryonic stem cells will cost the life of the unborn child irregardless of whether the concerned woman’s consent was given or not. Human life ideally begins after fertilization and it is wrong to deprive the unborn of its right to live in favor of a person who has already had the chance to be born. If such actions were to be encouraged, many people will never live to be born and this will cause more harm than treating the paralyzed people especially if Dr Shroff’s vision is to be realized as expressed by her hopes â€Å"her technology would be made available around the world to patients suffering from incurable diseases and terminal conditions. † Dr Shroff’s technology also contradicts the principle of justice. The fact that there are many incurable diseases and terminal conditions that may be cured using embryonic stem cells does not justify the act of depriving the unborn the right to life. It will therefore be an act of injustice to deprive the unborn of their right to life. The only extenuating circumstance should be when the woman’s pregnancy threatens the life of both the unborn and its mother. The doctor’s advice should be sought and any alternative exploited before the decision to terminate the pregnancy and donate the embryonic stem cells is arrived. It should be realized however that this would result to paternalistic autonomy. Dr Shroff’s technology will also violate the principle of beneficence. This is because the embryo will not benefit in any way from the act of donating its stem cells. The embryo itself cannot give permission to donate the stem cells. The principle of autonomy is not spared either. The patient may enjoy a paternalistic autonomy but the embryo, which is indeed a human being does not have autonomy to decide on whether to donate the stem cells or not . For a person to make any sound decision on any issue, the principles however form the basis of ethical themes. According to rainbow C, there are five major ethical theories. These include virtual ethical theory, deontological theory, casuist theory and utilitarianism ethical theory. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to virtual ethical theory, a person is not judged through his/her actions but through his/her character. An action may not necessary indicate a persons normal behavior since behavior and action are normally conflicting. It is however important to observe an individual’s reputation, motivation and morals while making any judgment on any behavior that may seem to be unusual, irregular or unethical. It should however be observed that any individuals change of character is not put into consideration in this theory. This theory justifies the use of embryonic stem cells in the treatment of paralyzed patients. The assumption is that the doctors and the medical practitioners who actually carry out the process of extracting and injecting the stem cells into his/her victims body are people who are trusted and socially approved by the members of the community. Their character justifies their actions and thus they should not be questioned about what they do as long as a patient’s life is saved. The act of extracting the embryonic stem cells cannot be used to prove the doctor as guilty of murder as long as his/her record of accomplishment in this profession of medicine is clean. According to Rainbow C, the society’s rights are ethically correct and must be protected and prioritized while making any decision. All societies’ rights are ethically valid because the majority in any society endorses them. Those who have the power and resources may bestow rights upon people. The society is therefore responsible for deciding on what should be considered as a society is right. The issue of mice producing viable human sperm cells may not be welcomed by many societies. This is because many people do not think that human beings and animals especially the mice can share sperm cells. A child produced by such sperms may be isolated from the other people and this may cause more suffering and harm to it than good. Termination of human life is also unacceptable in the society. This is evident in countries where Christianity is the dominant religion. If the use of contraceptives is criminalized in such societies, it is even worse to extract embryonic stem cells to treat paralyzed people or even those with terminal illnesses. In such societies, everybody has the right to live and those people who are already born should seek medication incase of any ailment but not to destroy a life in order to save themselves. (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) According to deontological theory, people’s obligation and duties that have been assigned to them should guide them in the process of solving ethical dilemmas. By so doing, the person is believed to have done what was ethically correct. Doctors should help sick people. In this case, sickness refers to any abnormal functioning or dysfunctional of any body organ. Those people who cannot produce viable sperm cells should seek medical attention and the doctors have a duty and obligation to ensure that such people can get children. The theory therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions. It is a doctor’s obligation to ensure that all incurable diseases and terminal conditions are adequately dealt with. The casuist ethical theory is based on the assumption that the current dilemma in question can be successfully solved in a similar way to previously solved dilemmas. This theory therefore compares the current ethical problem with past and similar ethical dilemmas that were successfully solved. It therefore justifies Dr Kerkis and Dr Shroff’s actions since their previous works as medical practitioners have been reported to bare good fruits. It however fails to acknowledge that a similar ethical dilemma may not have been witnessed before. (http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 ; http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) The utilitarianism ethical theory supports any choice that produces the most benefit to most people. Such a choice is seen to be ethically correct. This theory therefore foresees the outcome of an act and judges it based on the benefits that are likely to accrue. There are two types of utilitarianism. These include act utilitarian and rule utilitarianism. According to rainbow c, â€Å" In act utilitarianism, a person performs the acts that benefit the most people, regardless of personal feelings or the societal constraints such as laws. Rule utilitarianism, however, takes into account the law and is concerned with fairness. A rule utilitarian seeks to benefit the most people but through the fairest and most just means available. Therefore, added benefits of rule utilitarianism are that it values justice and includes beneficence at the same time† (http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm ) Two or more of these ethical theories should be combined in order to make the best ethical decision. For instance, I would solve Dr Kerkis dilemma by applying utilitarianism ethical theory, rights ethical theory and casuist ethical theory. I would also solve Dr Shroff’s ethical dilemma by applying rights ethical theory, utilitarianism ethical theory and virtue ethical theory. (http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html ) Conclusion All the ethical theories have common goals that must be achieved for them to be successful. These common goals are the previously discussed ethical principles. It is important to realize that different points are emphasized by the theories that help people to arrive at a decision that is ethically correct. Different people usually use ethical theories in a different way depending on their individual experiences. The theories and principles of ethics lay a good foundation of analyzing actions since they guide people in making ethical decisions. This means that whether Dr Kerkis and/or Dr Shroff are justified or not to proceed with their work or not depends on which principle as well as the ethical theory an individual bases his /her ethical analysis. References Rainbow C, Descriptions of Ethical Theories and Principles, [Retrieved] 8th August, 2008, [From] http://www. bio. davidson. edu/people/kabernd/Indep/carainbow/Theories. htm Lancaster University, Ethical theories [Retrieved] 4th August, 2008. [From] http://www. lancs. ac. uk/fss/resources/ethics/theories. htm Ethical theories compared http://www. trinity. edu/cbrown/intro/ethical_theories. html relations between utilitarian, deontological, and Aristotelian ethical theories Lawrence M. Hinman, Introduction: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory Excerpted from: Lawrence M. Hinman, Contemporary Moral Issues, 2nd ed. (Prentice-Hall, 1999). Ethical theories [Retrieved] 1st August 2008, [From] http://courses. cs. vt. edu/~cs3604/lib/Ethics/notes. html Ethical Theories, Principles, and Decision-Making Models, [Retrieved] 3rd August, 2008 [From] http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/505222_2 Allan J. Kimmel, 1988, Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research: Ethics and Values in Applied Social Research, SAGE. Stem cell treatment lets Aussie breathe http://www. news. com. au/perthnow/story/0,21598,23768047-5012754,00. html Perth now Sunday times, July 7th, Mice to replace men as sperm donors http://search. news. com. au/search? us=ndmperthnow&sid=5012760&as=NEWS. WORLD. CANDSAMERICA&ac=TST&q=Mice%20to%20replace%20men%20as%20sperm%20donors

McDuff essays

McDuff essays You may be wondering how the war ended and how your loving brave hearts wellbeing is shaping. Well, thanks to all mighty God, everything is all right and Im in good health. The courage and the determination that I wrestled with has paid off. I must speak to you of a plan that has captured my imagination and that could transform our life. As you may be aware, the war with Norway has been won and much of the recognition and credit for this joyous outcome, have been bestowed upon your brave Macbeth. While such a deed has been appreciated by no less a person than the King, my peers are in awe of me, saying But alls too weak; for brave Macbeth he deserves that name, I am now renowned as the greatest general and most skilled warrior in all of Scotland. I am portrayed; as brave, heroic, bold, and fearless in the face of death. Indeed I slew in battle the leader of our foes, I got this recognition after defeating Macdonwald (a rebel), and mounting his head upon the battlements for all to behold. He is acknowledged by all as a conspirator and a traitor for assisting Norway in the war. For some reason the news of the victory over Norway and the deeds that I confronted during the epic conflicts over northern Europe reached the sovereigns castle. And now to an event that has filled my whole being. Today in the hours of daylight, I met three witches, who foregathered on a shrub near Forres close to King Duncans castle. They cried, All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee Thane of Glamis and the Thane of Cawdor and that he shalt be King hereafter and when I burned in desire to question them further they made themselves scarce, vanished into thin air. As I stood there, I was struck with the vision, the kings own messengers Ross and Angus rode up and addressed me as the new Thane of Cawdor prevailing over the traitor Macdon ...

15 Adorable Dog Quotes

15 Adorable Dog Quotes Ever wonder why dogs and puppies are considered cute animals, while a snake or a bat dont necessarily evoke the same emotion within us? Why do some people prefer to keep cats than mice? While dogs have been known to be mans best friend since the beginning of civilization, their cuteness is natures way of endearing them to humans. Evolution has wired humans in such a way that humans find their own offspring cute. The big head, big round eyes, and tiny limbs, and toothless grin of a little baby look so cute to us that parents would happily nurse their babies till they grow up. In 1943,  ethologist Konrad Lorenz in his  research proposed his theory about  baby schema, the science behind cuteness in animals. The baby schema is a set of infantile features that are perceived as cute and motivates caretaking behavior in humans. By the same logic, animals that have  physical features that fit human parameters of cuteness- large head, big eyes, chubby cheeks, tiny body, and the like- trigger the protective instinct. In medical terms, it is the baby schema that activates the  mesocorticolimbic  pathway of our neurological system, which activates the caretaking instincts in humans. So if you find dogs cute, that is only  because nature has designed us to want to extend our caring love towards dogs and puppies. If you love dogs, here are 15 cute dog quotes. Share them with your dog and watch him wag his tail in agreement. Mark Twain If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. Josh Billings A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself. Ann Landers Dont accept your dogs admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful. Jonathan Safran Foer Why does watching a dog be a dog fill one with happiness? Kristan Higgins When an eighty-five-pound mammal licks your tears away, then tries to sit on your lap, it’s hard to feel sad. Charles M. Schulz Happiness is a warm puppy. Phil Pastoret If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then giving Fido only two of them. Gilda Radner I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me, they are the role model for being alive. Edith Wharton My little dog- a heartbeat at my feet. Abraham Lincoln I care not for a mans religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. Henry David Thoreau When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. Roger Caras Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. Ben Williams There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face. J. R. Ackerley A dog has one aim in life... to bestow his heart. Karel Capek If dogs could talk, perhaps we would find it as hard to get along with them as we do with people.