Saturday, August 31, 2019

Dynamic Security

This session will help you with; POP Describe the physical, dynamic and procedural security considerations in a custodial environment CEDI Evaluate the need for security and control in a custodial environment Objectives C]III students will be able to; C]State what is meant by the term ‘Dynamic Sec rite' C]Discuss the type of information that could be gained from Prison intelligence Comes students will be able to; C]List the benefits of a good prison regime Recap on Physical Security C]What is the difference between an Open or Closed orison in terms of security?Licensed is completely locked C]Open allows prisoners out for work/weekend home visits Estate the difference between a Category A prisoner and a Category D prisoner C]Category A – Pose threat to society, maximum security, crimes such as murder, rape or terrorism. Logicality D – Can be trusted in open conditions and sometime allowed out. Low risk. What does dynamic security mean?Surveillance – Covert a nd overt Clientà ¨le's gathering L]Monitoring everyday activities Prison definition of Dynamic Sec rite C] The process of looking for patterns n intelligence, close monitoring of gang members, sharing of information, close relationships with external agencies and partnerships to share intelligence, along with tackling the drug and violence issues.Areas for concern C]Visits – family or solicitors Commitment of prisoners for work, education, C]Mail – outgoing and incoming Phone calls monitored Group work Consider what information can be gathered from monitoring prisoners in these areas; C]Visits C]Movement of prisoners for work, education, Phone calls Question Elf you were sent to prison what would be your biggest concern?

Friday, August 30, 2019

Literature Terms Essay

What does the term literature mean to you? Literature means to me is an escape from the troubles of the day. It also keeps me informed about events that may indirectly affect me in my everyday life. What makes something literary in your own mind? It has to be informative and relevant to the matter being described in a story or news article. As far as a book it needs to hold my interest and be able to make me in grossed in the characters in the story. If literature means different things to different people, who defines what is and what is not literature? Us as readers need to decide what is and what is not. Everybody has their own opinion on what is good and what is not good. Next, reflect on your relationship to reading and literature. What kind of reading engages/interests you? I like nonfiction and fiction books that deal with a variety of issues. What about that writing draws you in? Do you find meaning in reading certain writing? If so, describe the satisfaction you draw from this process. Also consider how you read. Do you, for example, take notes or mark text as you read, or do you simply absorb the material on a page? The kind of reading that I enjoy has to bring me into the story; it has to make me imagine what the character is going thru and how it may have to be resolved. I simply get lost in the story and absorb the material on each page as relates to the story. Imagination- is the human power that shapes artistic expression, it enables a writer’s work to become an expression of meaning in our world, and allows readers to engage in identifying with what the writer’s work has to say about things that matter. When you allow reading to unlock your imagination your connection sets the stage for intellectual engagement. It allows the experoence of reading of literature to include the pursuit of ideas and knowledge.section 2.1. Walter Mitty was a dreamer and to me if he’s a dreamer then he is using his imagination. Satire- deals with contradictions. It is the art that calls attention to the difference.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The repeal of the US Banking Act 1933 (commonly known as the Essay

The repeal of the US Banking Act 1933 (commonly known as the Glass-Steagall Act) was a substantial cause of the global bankin - Essay Example Stock markets in most of the countries plunged and there was widespread inflation everywhere. Food and oil prices rose to an all time high. Oil price went as high as $147 a barrel. (Oil and Gasoline, April 6, 2011). Lack of purchasing power led to a fall in demand for goods and as a result several industries suffered. International institutions like IMF and European Union outlined several corrective policies and advised nations on adopting more risk aversive regulatory measures for the national financial institutions. All over the world the governments dished out policies and bailout programs for the citizens and institutions to tackle problems like inflation and unemployment. Most of the countries spent huge amount of money from their federal reserve’s in an effort to bring them back to the path of sustained growth. German government helped Hypo Real Estate with $50 billion (Bettinga and Parkin, September 29, 2008). Investors from UK had huge losses in the London Stock Exchan ge. On October 2008 the British government announced a plan worth $850 billion to rescue its banks from going into insolvency. (Nanto, 2010, p.58) The US government adopted the Troubled Asset Relief Program in 3rd October 2008 to rescue the distressed homeowners and also lent to $182 billion to AIG to prevent it from going down (GAO, 2009; The Troubled Asset Relief Program, n.d.). In total they pledged $700 billion to fight the recession in their country. The bailout though saved the economy for the time being, a lot of senators argued that these monetary assistance from public money cannot chart long-term growth stability for the country. They emphasized on the need for the Glass- Steagall Act that was enacted at the time of the Great Depression to be reinforced. In this paper we shall try to address the issue concerning whether the Glass-Steagall Act was needed to prevent the Financial Crisis. About the Act United States experienced worst recessions in its history during the 1930s . One of the primary reasons behind the recession was that the bankers and brokers of the nation were guilty of dubious financial practices like using their customer’s deposit to invest in stocks and securities. Also they used their financial might to inflate the prices of the securities and did not have enough capital cushions to back up their investments. So when the public got scared and wanted to withdraw their deposits a large number of banks went insolvent. A large number of small banks filed for bankruptcy and the nation faced an extreme crisis. Under such circumstances the US Banking Act of 1933 also called the Glass-Seagull Act was enacted under President Roosevelt to prevent the country from further such disasters. The Glass-Steagall Act had two main components. They are as follows: Setting up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to insure the deposit of the customers and secure their deposit: This was done firstly, to restore the customers faith in bank deposits and secondly, to collect money so that the banks can be assisted in terms of liquidity crisis. A lot of banks were saved from bankruptcy by receiving capital from the FDIC. Separating the commercial banking activities from the investment banking activity: Firstly, this would prevent the banks from using the saving of their customer to indulge in buying stocks and bonds.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Unit 3 Assignment-Marketing Strategy (Asus Computers) Research Paper

Unit 3 Assignment-Marketing Strategy (Asus Computers) - Research Paper Example The prices of the products offered by ASUSTek are some of the most competitive in the market. Case in point is that the computer products and services are procured based on prevailing market prices (ASUSTek Computer Inc., 2015). The notebooks and ultrabooks are produced with distinct features that include thinness and lightness. Consequently, the products have multimedia and computing features not to mention the gaming materials. The tablets and mobiles are developed and categorized into tabs and pads (ASUSTek Computer Inc., 2015). The desktop computers are made with a number of components that ensure its functionality. The computers have both the input and output features that enhance their functionality. The networking products have wireless adapters, routers and antennas that enable connections to be effective (ASUSTek Computer Inc., 2015). The company majorly focuses on emerging markets spread on a planetary scale. Most organizations and corporations are constantly seeking computing, networking and mobile phone products to assist in the delivery of services. To this extent, the company focuses on middle and big companies as a target market (ASUSTek Computer Inc., 2015). On the other hand, the company targets the middle classes who are increasingly becoming fashionable in the modern dispensation. Smartphones have become fashionable, and the company has responded by offering competitive prices to the customers to ensure that most people can acquire the products. The company adopts discounting as a price penetration strategy across all its markets. Ideally, the company offers lower prices to some of the products that face immense competition from other materials in the market. The prices are however adjusted occasionally based on the inherent market changes. Consequently, the company uses price penetration strategy as a measure of gaining significant market share. The company has a two-dimensional distribution strategy

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Account of buisness Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Account of buisness - Assignment Example 1). Both study results form a basis for discussing and analysing whether ABC can work for smaller businesses as they abandon the conventional costing system. The following paper discusses whether SMEs are ready to adopt the activity based costing system as an effective tool to achieve the desired level of cost savings and efficiency. First, ABC is not very popular amongst corporations today. Considering many SMEs follow the operational trends of corporations with the intention of reaching their levels of success through cost savings, the popularity of ABC amongst corporations is worth noting (Fladkjà ¦r and Jensen, 2011, p. 3). According to CIMA, ABC is a strategy for the costing and monitoring of activities that entail drawing resource usage and costing final products. Corporations assign resources to activities, and activities to cost items based on usage approximations (Chapman et al., 2011, p. 669). According to Henrik Fladkjà ¦r and Erling Jensen, SMEs seldom implement the ABC system due to two key reasons. First, ABC is very hard to apply. Second, the data basis for ABC is not accessible in the needed quality in ERP systems used by SMEs (Fladkjà ¦r and Jensen, 2011, p. 21). A highly competitive global economy contributes to SMEs’ readiness to implement ABC. A competitive economy compels SMEs to lower the price of their commodities or services by raising output, improving product or service costing, or both. Challenges related to the shift from traditional costing systems to ABC cause rates of adopting ABC to lag behind corporations (Joà £o and Machado, 2012, p. 179). Researchers Owen Hall and Charles McPeak note these challenges as the cost of applying ABC, approximating the advantages of the ABC system, and incorporating ABC into the general management outline. As a result, the Hall and McPeak recommend SMEs to consider factors that affect a business’ ability to apply new expertise. These factors are organisational willingness, fiscal

Monday, August 26, 2019

Marketing Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing Management - Case Study Example Xstrata is an internationally renowned mining company with its headquarters at Zug in Switzerland. It is world's fourth largest producer of copper. Xstrata is a member FTSE 100 Index and listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the SWX Swiss Exchange. Glencore is a 40 percent stakeholder of Xstrata. It started operation in the year 1926 as an infrastructure and electricity projects concern in the land of Latin America. In the beginning of its life span, it diversified into mining and disposed of its non-core business. In the recent past, Xstrata doubled in size after the takeover of Australian copper, zinc and coal miner MIM Holdings. However it lost to the world's biggest mining company, BHP Billiton in a bid for another Australian miner, WMC Resources. In the year 2005, Xstrata acquired 19.9 percent stake in a diversified Canadian mining company producing copper, nickel, aluminum and zinc called Falconbridge Limited. Later in 2006 it purchased the remaining 80 percent of Falcon bridge. The last year Xstrata Coal, based in Sydney successfully acquired Anvil Hill Coal Mine from Centennial Coal Company. At present Xstrata caters to seven major international markets viz., copper, coking, coal, thermal coal, ferrochrome, cooking coal, thermal coal, nickel, vanadium and zinc. It has also ventured into the platinum group metals business and other more popular metals like gold, silver, cobalt and lead. (Xstrata plc, 2008 A) Xstrata s3. Product/company audit: 3.1. Mission Statement, values and beliefs Xstrata strives to grow and further diversify its portfolio of metals and mining businesses. Xstrata values its each and every stakeholder be it shareholders and employees or customers and vendors. It aims at delivering industry-leading returns to its shareholders, better work environment and incentives to its employees, superior product and efficient service to its customers and genuine partnership with vendors and other stakeholders. For a long-term viability it is extremely crucial for organisations to encourage integrity, co-operation and transparency in work. Business ethics both on a macro and micro level is important to restore the health of the organisation and its employees. Value creation takes place only when all the individuals of an organisation work together towards a common goal. As a corporate mission Xstrata endeavor to grow and create value over the long term by operating in an ethical and transparent way. Among the many strategic objectives, the most important and crucial ones for Xstrata can be identified as: Managing a striking portfolio of assets. Keeping an unwavering focus on growth of the organisation by timely identification of opportunities for value creation. Like any other company, finance plays a very important role in Strata's future growth and expansion plans. Thus as a strategic step they maintain and enhance their financial strength and discipline with

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Read the article first, then answer the question Assignment

Read the article first, then answer the question - Assignment Example Public praise and recognition are examples of intrinsic rewards, while tangible rewards in the workplace such as promotions are examples of extrinsic rewards. A good leader is able to inspire others through his actions, words, and job achievements. In workplaces were the bosses show favoritism employees often get discourage and lose motivation. Felt inequity in the workplace is a factor that destroys motivation. Equity theory states that employees will react based on their felt perception of fairness and justice (Managementstudyguide). Motivating the employees is in the best interest of the manager or leader. Employees that are motivated are more likely able to achieve job satisfaction. â€Å"In order for an organization to be successful they must continuously ensure the satisfaction of their employees† (Arizona). Companies that have motivated staffs suffer from lower employee turnover rate. Losing employees is not in the best interest of companies since employee churn hurts the company in terms of training cost, productivity, and recruiting expenses. In the case study Bonuses can Backfire the company made the mistake of relying solely on bonuses to motivate employees. The use of rewards can reduce the employees’ intrinsic interest in the task they are supposed to perform. A more effective strategy is for a manager to combine the use of intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. It is important for employees to get the moral support of their superiors. Often intangible rewards such as telling a worker that they did a good job at the end of the shift can inspire the employee. Sometimes employees cheat the system and act in unethical and illicit manners in order to obtain a financial reward. Kenneth Fay, former CEO of Enron, is an example of an executive that falsified financial information to obtain an economic benefit. His bonuses were tied to the financial performance of the corporation. Companies must never

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Negative views on a collges reputation Research Paper - 1

Negative views on a collges reputation - Research Paper Example The image that parents like of a college is that of well groomed, happy students who are academically focused and facing challenges that are no more difficult than the next exam. However, the exploration of self during the time period of college can lead to some risk behaviors that puts students in situations that threaten their safety. Most of the time, these situations are navigated and the parents have the illusion of a safe and secure child that is away at college. However, drinking statistics suggest that there is a better than 50% chance that their child is participating in heavy drinking once a week. The more terrifying survey result shows that college students don’t learn from the bad experiences they have while under the influence of alcohol and routinely underestimate that amount of alcohol they can drink before consequences are likely to occur (Knox and Schacht 475). When these behaviors lead to a situation that is beyond waking up with regret, an incident can occur that puts the university and the students at the center of the public stage, its reputation on the line and the safety of the students under its care in question. This happened to Duke University when members of the Lacrosse team held a party on March 13, 2006 which involved drinking and resulted in the decision to call an escort service to provide two Caucasian strippers. One African American arrived and one partial Asian woman arrived at the party, which caused some difficulties as they were not as ordered and in the end, the African American woman ended up accusing three of the members of the team, including the two captains of the team, with rape (Taylor and Johnson). The occasion of hiring strippers for athletic team parties was not uncommon on the campus and Taylor and Johnson report that as many as twenty parties that year had already occurred in which strippers had been

Friday, August 23, 2019

Royal Caribbean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Royal Caribbean - Essay Example The current system does not allow for the ship crew to effectively keep track of their passengers. This proposal will offer the development of a DSS to assist in the activity of decision making by providing a list of possible options and tools to improve the ultimate effectiveness of the decision outcome. The DSS will help be helpful in decision making through its capacity to process large information that were encountered during the course of decision making. This proposal identifies the goals and problem definition of the proposed DSS. The proposed DSS will require a decision rule in order to select among alternatives and solution to the problem. This decision rule requires gathering of data and information such as: customer satisfaction surveys, estimated cost of each alternative, feasibility estimations, initial customer feedback regarding each alternative, and current rates of missing passengers Royal Caribbean is mysteriously losing passengers during the trip and while at port. The current system does not allow for the ship crew to effectively keep track of their passengers. This is causing lost goodwill with current and future customers as well as bad publicity. ... The publicity of passengers not boarding the boat at time of departure can have a negative impact on ticket sales, revenue, market share, etc. 2. A relevant improved situation. The proposed DSS will assist Royal Caribbean in deciding among four possible alternatives.. Once a selection has been done, this new system will eliminate the current major problem that the company is facing, and thus will encourage more sales and revenue, and regained its reputation as one of the best company in the shipping industry. 3. The differences between the current and an improved situation. The company have identified four possible alternatives in order to cope with the current problem. A decision has to be made on which among the four options will have the best result in terms of overall effectiveness, based on organized data collections and models. 4. Possible (feasible) changes available to the organization. There will be changes in the overall company procedures and guidelines within the organization. Implementation of the DSS to support the decision making process is a big change among the organizations and its passengers. The best way to avoid resistance to change is to clearly explain the reason for the change and respect the viewpoints of other people. A clear vision and strategy for implementation will have a positive support and avoid restrictions within the organization. 5. A succinct, goal oriented problem definition statement. To design a DSS to determine the best way to keep track of passengers on and off the ship is the company's goal oriented problem definition

Kodak Industry Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Kodak Industry Evaluation - Essay Example They should weigh on both sides so that they will win more customers and at the same time making profits and not losses. As the market share of Kodak is higher at 67%, this shows that the demand of the products is also higher. This shows that Kodak should produce more products to meet the rising demand from customers and curb the shortages. To meet this target, Kodak should have qualified staff, reliable source of materials, and source of finance. Kodak will have to recruit more staff so that the existing staff will not work under pressure. In addition, they should organize seminars to train the staff so that they can acquire new skills, which will enable them to fit in the current situation (Greco & Wharton, 2007, p. 166). Having opportunities like promotion, and free training should motivate staff so that they will work hard enabling the industry to meet the target. The staff should be given rewards when they do a commendable job. This will motivate other employees and staff to wor k harder in that they will receive rewards. In doing this, the industry will meet its targets through spending on the rewards. Kodak should establish a reliable source of raw materials for use in the industry. The supply of the materials should be continuous to enhance the continuous manufacture of the films whilst sustaining the customer demand. This will make the customers rely on the industry in that they can get the products when they demand them. In addition, the industry should have enough funds for acquiring the raw materials, training staff, and paying the employees in this process. If there is a shortage in the funds, Kodak can borrow from financial institutions for stable flow of raw materials in the industry. The funds will be used in procurement and... As the report declares Kodak should produce more products to meet the rising demand from customers and curb the shortages. To meet this target, Kodak should have qualified staff, reliable source of materials, and source of finance. Kodak will have to recruit more staff so that the existing staff will not work under pressure. In addition, they should organize seminars to train the staff so that they can acquire new skills, which will enable them to fit in the current situation/ This paper stresses that Kodak should establish a reliable source of raw materials for use in the industry. The supply of the materials should be continuous to enhance the continuous manufacture of the films whilst sustaining the customer demand. This will make the customers rely on the industry in that they can get the products when they demand them. In addition, the industry should have enough funds for acquiring the raw materials, training staff, and paying the employees in this process. If there is a shortage in the funds, Kodak can borrow from financial institutions for stable flow of raw materials in the industry. The funds will be used in procurement and transporting raw materials to the industry and finished goods to the market. After stabilizing this, the customers will get Kodak anytime they demand. Employees and others professionals who may be called in the industry will be paid through the funds acquired from sources like borrowing.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

To Investigate the Branding Importance in Food and Beverage Industry Essay Example for Free

To Investigate the Branding Importance in Food and Beverage Industry Essay For that different existing companies develop branding strategy and introduce their new products using a well established brand name as leverage. To capture the market share of new segment, and get benefits of goodwill associated with their existing brands. For example – McDonald, pizza hut come in market with new meals with a specific name and it all offer accept by the customers as it have leverage of a strong brand name like pizza hut , McDonald etc. In beverage industry, also have different product with brands like fanta, Miranda, coke diet with its parent coke brand in compare to other beverage parent brand like PepsiCo with mountain dew, mist natural, Tropicana, slice Etc . and they all brands compete for different segment in market like PepsiCo’s slice, coke’s maza and Parle’s frooti compete in same mango drink segment of market. 1. 2 Overview of food and beverage industry in UK As food and drink is a flourishing industry in UK, it is very mature and intensely competitive. It has impacts on the UK economy far beyond its significant contribution to GDP and employment. It provides various job prospects to the various youngsters in UK. Every other industry was affected economically in recession except food and drink sector which remains a major beneficiary amongst. Also the exports of food and drink items have been increased continuously from decades and won’t affect by the recession. The industry achieves Excellency by producing significant number of new products, because of a remarkable Ramp;D centre, which keeps on spending a large amount on innovation. This project define about the branding in food and beverage industry and it show the different effect of branding on the customer, how a specific brand repeated by the consumers , this paper show the impact of branding on the market , organisation culture and the working style of employee within the company. In chapter 2, this paper will explain the â€Å"brand† in general with put the light forward on the related topics like- brand equity, brand image , brand loyalty , brand awareness, brand association etc, and allow the reader to understand the broad concept of the branding , its impact and importance in the industry. Then research product look in to the importance of growing a brand strategy for the products. Then researcher will propose and examine the case of different food and beverage companies focused on brand strategy. From the reading of the literature review and collected data analysis, reader will aware about a multinational food and beverage company‘s brand importance and how much it influence its sales. Then researcher discusses the analysed data and identifies the problem areas and proposes the conclusion along with valuable recommendation for short out the problems to make the brand strong. 1. Research limitation – * Researcher selected the ambiguous topic which is very vast and difficult to the research on entire sectors, food and beverage sectors of UK deals in multiple chain like –retail, canned, service, processing, alcoholic, non alcoholic etc so this research only focused on the multinational retail food restaurant like – McDonald, burger king , and t he beverage serve in these restaurant(coke ,Pepsi etc) . this present research study is confined to only retail food restaurant alone and the finding may not be applicable for the other field of food and beverage industry.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs

Synthesis of New Coordination Polymers or MOFs 1.1 Design Principles Coordination polymers also known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) or metal-coordination networks are compounds constructed from organic ligands and metal ions connected through coordination bonds and other weak chemical bonds which can extend infinitely into one two or three dimensions [1-3]. The arrangement of the components in coordination polymers mostly exists only in solid state which results from coordination interactions and weaker forces forming a smaller molecular units and growth occurs through self-assembly processes to give the final overall structure (Fig. 1) [4]. There are four different kinds of building blocks of which coordination polymers are built; ligands, metal ions or clusters, counter anions and solvent molecules. Metal ions which are called nodes or connectors and ligands which act as linkers are the main components [7]. They are the starting reagents which form the principal framework of the coordination polymer. The important characteristics of connectors and linkers are the number and orientation of their binding sites. Transition-metal ions are the most widely used connectors in the construction of coordination polymers. The choice of the metal and its oxidation state will determine the coordination geometries, which can be linear, T- or Y-shaped, tetrahedral, square-planar, square-pyramidal, trigonal-bipyramidal, octahedral, trigonal-prismatic, pentagonal-bipyramidal, and the corresponding distorted forms. Lanthanide ions are less used because of the high coordination number and variability coordination environment. However, th e large coordination numbers from 7 to 10 and the polyhedral coordination geometry of the lanthanide ions will create new and unusual network topologies. In addition, coordinatively unsaturated lanthanide ion centers can be generated by the removal of coordinated solvent molecules. The vacant sites could be utilized in chemical adsorption, heterogeneous catalysis, and sensors [8,9]. Multidentate carboxylate functionalities provide rigid frameworks due to their ability to chelate metal ions and lock in to M-O-C clusters, which are referred as secondary building units (SBUs). Instead of employing one transition metal ion at a network vertex, SBUs can produce extended frameworks of high structural stability. Metal-complex connectors have the advantage of controlling the bond angles and restricting the number of coordination sites; sites for no use can be blocked by chelating or macrocyclic ligands directly bound to a metal connector, and therefore, leave specific sites free for linkers [25,10,11]. Linkers are categorized in to three: inorganic, organic, and organic-inorganic hybrid types. Halides (F, Cl, Br, and I) are the smallest and simplest of all linkers. CN and SCN have similar bridging ability to halides [12,13]. Typical organic ligands are shown in Fig. 2 consisting of neutral, anionic and cationic organic ligands. The organic ligands act as bridging organic groups between the metal ions. Most famous neutral ligands are pyrazine (pyz) and 4,4’-bpy [15-18]. An example of a coordination polymer with the 4,4’-bpy ligand is illustrated in Fig. 3. Recent efforts have been devoted to utilization of long bridging ligands with appropriate spacers [20-25]. Among the anionic organic ligands di-,[26-28] tri-,[26, 29-32] tetra-,[33,34] and hexacarboxylate [35,36] molecules are representative anionic linkers. Coordination polymers having nonsymmetric anionic ligands described as pyridine-X-COO (X=spacer) have been exhaustively studied [37]. 1,4-Dihydroxy-2,5-benzoquinone and its derivatives provide a variety of frameworks, in which they act as linear linkers [38]. Coordination polymers with cationic organic ligands are very rare, which is naturally a result of their very low coordination power for cationic metal ions [39–43]. Developed were novel cationic ligands based on N-aryl pyridinium and viologen derivatives and were successfully employed [39–41]. Counter ions are present in the coordination frameworks when neutral bridging ligands are used as linkers to keep the neutrality in the overall charge. Furthermore, other roles such as coordination and hydrogen bonding linker, guest for vacant spaces in the solid state are expected, eventually resulting in overall structure regulation. Solvent molecules are used not only for reaction media, but also the regulation of framework topology. It may co-crystallize, increasing the number of possible weak interactions in the final solid state packing, and can also act as guest molecules in the vacant space between polymer construct [7]. Synthesis Many new coordination polymers or MOFs have been synthesized in the last few years; however, their methods of preparation and synthesis were quite similar. Most of them are synthesized by employing a so called â€Å"modular synthesis†, in which a mixture of metal precursors and appropriate ligands are combined under mild conditions to provide a crystalline porous network [26]. In most of the resulting materials the solvent used during synthesis is removed by applying vacuum, heat, or exchange with volatile molecules, resulting in large pore volume and large surface area accessible to guest molecules. Synthetic methods such as solvothermal synthesis (conventional approach), microwave synthesis [45], sonication synthesis [46], mechanochemical synthesis [47], and solid start synthesis [48] have been developed. Despite the simplicity of the synthesis, there are several challenges in the preparation of new materials related to the optimization of the reaction conditions that lead t o the desired MOF, in high yield and crystallinity. The following parameters can influence MOFs’ optimization and synthesis: temperature, solvent compositions, reaction times, reagent ratios, reagent concentrations, and pH of the co-solvent solution [44]. Accordingly, any change in any of these parameters can result in large number of network connectivities, many of which are nonporous and have adverse effect on the gas storage and separation applications. Therefore, large numbers of reactions trails are required to discover the new desired MOFs in which the reaction parameters are systematically varied. As a result high throughput technologies have been employed for the synthesis of new MOFs in the recent years [49,50]. 1.2.1 Solvothermal Synthesis Solvothermal methods have been confirmed to be among the most effective and convenient routes under relatively mild conditions, in particular for the crystal growth of coordination polymers [50-52]. Solvothermal reactions are carried out in closed vessels under autogenous pressure above the boiling point of the solvent. In most cases, high-boiling organic solvents have been used for solvothermal reactions. The most commonly used being dimethyl formamide, diethyl formamide, acetonitrile, acetone, ethanol, and methanol etc. Mixtures of solvents have also been used to tune the solution polarity and the kinetics of solvent-ligand exchange, effecting enhanced crystal growth. Solvothermal reactions can be carried out in different temperature ranges, depending on the requirement of the reaction [53]. When water is used as the solvent, the reactions are referred to as hydrothermal. The hydrothermal method has been used successfully for the synthesis of an enormous number of inorganic compoun ds and inorganic organic hybrid materials [54]. Due to their unique advantageous properties such as high thermal stability, air and moisture non-sensitivity, non-volatility, low reactivity, and templating and charge balancing ability of ionic liquids, they can be chosen as solvothermal reaction media. Solvothermal synthesis in ionic liquids is specifically referred to as ionothermal synthesis [55]. The coordination polymer [Cu(I)(bpp)]BF4 [bpp = 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)propane] [56] was prepared by solvothermal reaction using the ionic liquid [bmim][BF4] (bmim = 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium). The synthesis methods employed for different structures of coordination polymers (MOFs) and their key findings are listed in Table 1. 1.2.2 Microwave-assisted synthesis Microwave-assisted synthesis has attracted much attention as it provides a very rapid method for the synthesis of MOFs and has been used extensively to produce nanosize metal oxides [59]. Such processes involve heating a solution with microwaves for a period of about an hour to produce nanosized crystals. The microwave-assisted synthesis has been termed ‘microwave-assisted solvothermal synthesis’ for the preparation of MOFs. Microwave-assisted processes generally produce the same qualities of crystals as those obtained by the regular solvothermal processes, but much quicker [60-64]. The first coordination polymer reported to be synthesized by microwave synthesis was Cr-MIL-100 [65]. The compound was synthesized in 4 h at 220 oC with 44% yield, which is comparable with that of conventional hydrothermal synthesis (220 oC and 4 days). The author expanded this method to synthesis of Cr-MIL-101 at 210 oC in less than 60 min, and reported similar physicochemical and textural properties compared with the standard material synthesized using the conventional electrical heating method [66]. Another coordination polymer, MOF-5, was also synthesized by applying microwave irradiation: increase in microwave irradiation time, power level, and concentration of the substrates beyond an optimal condition led to a reduction in synthesis time at the expense of crystal quality [67]. Microwave-assisted heating was found to be the method of choice to rapidly synthesize HKUST-1 crystals in the range of 10-20 ÃŽ ¼m in high yields (~90%) within 1 h [68]. Fe-MIL-53 [69], Fe-MIL-101-NH2 [7 0], IRMOF-3 (H2BDC-NH2) [71], and ZIF-8 (HMeIm) [72] were also synthesized using microwave-assisted synthesis method. 1.2.3 Sonochemical Synthesis Sonochemical methods can also achieve a reduction in crystallization time and significantly smaller particles size than those by the conventional solvothermal synthesis by homogeneous and accelerated nucleation [73,74]. A substrate solution mixture for a given MOF structure is introduced to a horn-type Pyrex reactor fitted to a sonicator bar with an adjustable power output without external cooling. After sonication, formation and collapse of bubbles will be formed in the solution which produces very high local temperatures (~5,000 K) and pressures (~1,000 bar) [74,75], and results in extremely fast heating and cooling rates (>1010 K/s) producing fine crystallites [76]. High-quality MOF-5 crystals in the 5-25ÃŽ ¼m range were obtained within 30min by sonochemical synthesis using NMP (1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone) as the solvent [77]. Detailed characterization and comparison with a conventionally synthesized sample showed almost identical physical properties. HKUST-1 was also prepared using DMF/EtOH/H2O mixed-solution in an ultrasonic bath [78]. High-quality Mg-MOF-74 crystals (1,640m2/g BET surface area) with particle size of ca. 0.6 ÃŽ ¼m were successfully synthesized in 1 h by a sonochemical method after triethylamine (TEA) was added as a deprotonating agent. Interestingly, mesopores were formed, probably due to the competitive binding of TEA to Mg2+ ions [79]. ZIF-8 was prepared recently by a sonochemical method under the pH-adjusted synthesis conditions using NaOH and TEA [80]. Inexpensive industrial grade DMF was employed as a solvent. A small amount of TEA as a deprotonating agent was necessary to obtain ZIF-8 crystals when the resulting solution was subjected to an ultrasonic treatment for 1 h at a 60% power level. 1.2.4 Electrochemical Synthesis The electrochemical synthesis is based on metal ions continuously supplied through anodic dissolution as a metal source instead of metal salts, which react with the dissolved linker molecules and a conducting salt in the reaction medium. The metal deposition on the cathode is avoided by employing protic solvents, but in the process H2 is generated [81]. The electrochemical route is also possible to run a continuous process to obtain a higher solids content compared to normal batch reactions [76]. The first electrochemical synthesis of MOFs was reported in 2005 by researchers at BASF [82] for HKUST-1. Bulk copper plates are used as the anodes in an electrochemical cell with the H3BTC dissolved in methanol as solvent and a copper cathode. During a period of 150 min at a voltage of 12-19V and a currency of 1.3 A, a greenish blue precipitate was formed. After activation, a dark blue colored powder having surface area of 1,820m2/g was obtained. This work was further used in the ZIFs syntheses [81,83]. Recently, HKUST-1, ZIF-8, Al-MIL-100, Al-MIL-53, and Al- MIL-53-NH2 were synthesized via anodic dissolution in an electrochemical cell [84]. The synthesis parameters such as solvent, electrolyte, voltage-current density, and temperature on the synthesis yield and textural properties of the MOFs obtained, was investigated and the produced MOF structures were characterized by X-ray diffraction, gas adsorption, atomic force microscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. 1.2.5 Mechanochemical Synthesis Mechanochemical synthesis involves breakage of intramolecular bonds mechanically followed by a chemical transformation [80]. Synthesis of porous MOF by mechanochemical reaction was reported first in 2006 [89]. Mechanochemical reactions can occur at room temperature under solvent-free conditions, which has an advantage in avoiding organic solvents [90]. Quantitative yields of small MOF particles can be obtained in short reaction times, normally in the range of 10-60min. Mostly, metal oxides were found to be preferred than metal salts as a starting material, which results in water as the only side product [80]. The critical contribution of moisture in mechanochemical synthesis of pillared type MOFs was recently reported by Kitagawa group [91]. Liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) involves addition of small amounts of solvents which can lead to acceleration of mechanochemical reactions due to an increase of mobility of the reactants on the molecular level [92,93]. The liquid can also work as a structure-directing agent. However, mechanochemical synthesis is limited to specific MOF types only and large amount of product is difficult to obtain. While a mechanochemical reaction between H3BTC and copper acetate produces HKUST-1, reaction using copper formate resulted in a previously unknown phase, potentially due to templating effects of the different acid byproducts formed [93]. Recently, a mechanochemical approach was also applied for ZIF synthesis using combinations of ZnO and imidazole (HIm), 2-methylimidazole (HMeIm), and 2-ethylimidazole (HEtIm) as the starting material within 30-60min reaction time [94].

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Business Ethics In The Context Of Globalisation Commerce Essay

Business Ethics In The Context Of Globalisation Commerce Essay The following document aims at studying Business Ethics in the context of Globalization. In order to do so, let us start with the definitions of the two most important words in the title: 1. Business Ethics Business ethics is the study of business situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed. It is worth stressing that by right and wrong we mean morally right and wrong as opposed to, for example, commercially, strategically, or financially right or wrong. Moreover, by business ethics, we do not mean only commercial businesses, but also government organizations, pressure groups, not-for-profit businesses, charities, and other organizations. For example, questions of how to manage employees fairly, or what constitutes deception in advertising, are equally as important for organizations such as CRY, the University of Mumbai, or the Bhartiya Janata Party as they are for Satyam, PG, or Infosys. However, given the high profile of ethical issues in relation to commercial businesses, it is these types of businesses that are predominantly focussed on in general. Business ethics and the law Having defined business ethics in terms of issues of right and wrong, one might quite naturally question whether this is in any way distinct from the law. Surely, the law is also about issues of right and wrong? This is true, and there is indeed considerable overlap between ethics and the law. In fact, the law is essentially an institutionalization or codification of ethics into specific social rules, regulations, and proscriptions. Nevertheless, the two are not equivalent. Perhaps the best way of thinking about ethics and the law is in terms of two intersecting domains (see Figure). The law might be said to be a definition of the minimum acceptable standards of behaviour. However, many morally contestable issues, whether in business or elsewhere, are not explicitly covered by the law. In one sense then, business ethics can be said to begin where the law ends. Business ethics is primarily concerned with those issues not covered by the law, or where there is no definite consensus on whether something is right or wrong. Discussion about the ethics of particular business practices may eventually lead to legislation once some kind of consensus is reached, but for most of the issues of interest to business ethics, the law typically does not currently provide us with guidance. 2. GLOBALIZATION Globalization is the progressive eroding of the relevance of territorial bases for social, economic and political activities, processes and relations. Globalization is not only a very controversial topic in the public debate; it is also a much contested term in academic discourse. Apart from the fact that mirroring the public debate the camps seems to be divided into supporters and critics, there is growing concern about whether globalization is a fact at all. So, for example, some argue that there is nothing like a global economy, because roughly 90 per cent of world trade only takes place either within or between the three economic blocks of the EU, North America, and East Asia, leaving out all other major parts of the globe (Chortarea and Pelagidis 2004; World Trade Organization 2004). Obviously, we have to examine the globalization buzzword more carefully and to develop a more precise definition if we want to understand its character and its implication for business ethics. Scholte (2000) says if we want to get a grasp on the decisive features of globalization, he suggests we can start by looking at the way social connections traditionally took place. These connections, be it personal relations to family members or friends, or economic relations such as shopping or working, took place within a certain territory. People had their family and friends in a certain village, they had their work and business relations within a certain town or even country. Social interaction traditionally needed a certain geographical space to take place. However, this link between social connections and a certain territory has been continuously weakened, with two main developments in the last few decades being particularly important. The first development is technological in nature. Modern communication technology, from the telephone, to radio and television, and now the internet, open up the possibility of connecting and interacting with people despite the fact that there are large geographical distances between them. Furthermore, the rapid development of global transportation technologies allows people to easily connect with other people all over the globe. While Marco Polo had to travel many months to finally arrive in China, people today can step on a plane and, after a passable meal and a short sleep, arrive some time later on the other side of the globe. Territorial distances play a less and less important role today. The people we do business with, or that we make friends with, no longer necessarily have to be in the same place as we are. The second development is political in nature. Territorial borders have been the main obstacles to worldwide connections between people. Only 20 years ago, it was still largely impossible to enter the countries in the eastern bloc without lengthy visa procedures, and even then, interactions between people from the two sides were very limited. With the fall of the iron curtain, and substantial liberalization efforts elsewhere (for instance within the EU), national borders have been eroded and, in many cases, have even been abolished. These two developments mainly account for the massive proliferation and spread territorial connections. These connections may not always necessarily have a global spread in the literal sense of worldwide spread. The new thing though about these connections is that they no longer need a geographical territory to take place and they are not restricted by territorial distances and borders any more. Relevance of globalization for business ethics Globalization as defined in terms of the deterritorialization of economic activities is particularly relevant for business ethics, and this is evident in three main areas culture, law, and accountability. 1. CULTURAL ISSUES As business becomes less fixed territorially, so corporations increasingly engage in overseas markets, suddenly finding themselves confronted with new and diverse, sometimes even contradicting ethical demands. Moral values, which were taken for granted in the home market, may get questioned as soon as corporations enter foreign markets. For example, attitudes to racial and gender diversity in Europe may differ significantly to those in Middle Eastern countries. Similarly, Chinese people might regard it as more unethical to sack employees in times of economic downturns than would be typical in Europe. Again, whilst Europeans tend to regard child labour as strictly unethical, some Asian countries might have a more moderate approach. Consider the case of Playboy, the US adult magazine, which had to suspend its Indonesian edition and vacate the company premises in 2006 in the wake of violent protests by Islamic demonstrators even though the Indonesian edition was a toned down version th at did not show nudity. The reason why there is a potential for such problems is that whilst globalization results in the deterritorialization of some processes and activities, in many cases there is still a close connection between the local culture, including moral values, and a certain geographical region. For example, Europeans largely disapprove of capital punishment, whilst many Americans appear to regard it as morally acceptable. Women can freely sunbathe topless on most European beaches, yet in some states of America they can get fined for doing so and in Pakistan would be expected to cover up much more. This is one of the contradictions of globalization: on the one hand globalization makes regional difference less important since it brings regions together and encourages a more uniform global culture. On the other hand, in eroding the divisions of geographical distances, globalization reveals economic, political, and cultural differences and confronts people with them. It has been said that countries exhibit very different views on the makeup of business ethics. These differences are regarded as based largely in cultural diversity. For example, Japan is considered to have an entirely different set of guidelines than the United States because the cultures of these two countries come from entirely different origins. However, if business ethics are based only in culture then businesses global interactions should instigate much more conflict than currently exists. The basic cultures of Japan and the United States have very little common ground, therefore their views on business ethics would come from entirely opposite directions. Compromising a cultures moral values can be considered extremely difficult; it is much more likely that those same values would try to be imposed upon the other party. With each culture imposing its values on the other, the result would be adamant conflict. However, the rapid growth of global business paints this picture of co nflict as false. Businesses can only expand quickly in global markets by being empathic to the needs, perspectives, and accepted procedures of their foreign counterparts and partners. Therefore, business ethics is not entirely based on the culture from which it is derived. It is based more on a basic human moral understanding that transcends international boundaries. Up to present, ethics have evolved through isolated pockets due to the limited scope of global communications. Todays close communication and cooperation of companies worldwide will have an evening out effect. Business ethics will eventually drive toward one general definition. What exactly constitutes that definition is yet to be determined. The certainty is that the definition will be fluid in nature and change as new principles are accepted and implemented. To know where we are headed we must understand how ethical business practices evolved. Although business ethics is a relatively new study the concept has been aro und since commerce began. For instance, a blacksmith earned his reputation by treating his employees well and his customers fairly. As his reputation grew so did the size of his business. While this is a simplistic example it is meant to show that the concept of fair business practices has existed and contributed to the success of enterprises long before business ethics became an established study. Prior to todays multiple innovations in worldwide communications, business morals in each separate geographical area evolved on their own. Without much influence from the outside world, ethical behaviour was influenced by what was important to the society. What was significant to the society created expectations of fair business practices that have carried through the years? What do societies consider important? Culture and ethics are interrelated and intertwined in such a way that it makes it difficult to know which factor guiding / motivating the behaviour is arising from a given situation. Is it the cultural vision of his/her ethics or is it the ethical vision of his/her culture that guides someone to do or not do certain things. Trompenaars survey questioning peoples reaction to a given situation shows that cultures with more emphasis on human relationships and loyalty (particularists) scored lower than those that emphasized obeying rules (Universalists).    The situation: youre riding in a car driven by a close friend, whos driving at least 35 mph in a 20 mph zone. He hits someone. No witnesses. His lawyer says if you testify under oath that your friend was driving at 20 miles per hour, it might save him from serious consequences. What right has your friend to expect you to protect him?   Lying was more prominent in cultures stressing human relationships, whereas it was less prevalent in cultures stressing rules. Telling the truth is an ethical value that appears in this context. One could say, people in cultures emphasizing human relationships would most likely lie to protect the relationship; whereas, people in cultures putting a greater value on rules would lie less in order to abide by the rule. Adler differentiates between cultures that are universally oriented (all rules apply to everyone) and particularly oriented the nature of the relationship determines how someone will act in a particular situation. When it comes to the actual experience of the individual in question it is not certain if that person is motivated by cultural influences and/or ethical implications of his/her act and/or decision. Paul Ricoeur suggests three positions in ethical development: 1) the self 2) relations with others, 3) institutional. Through this process of moral integration, the se lf eventually becomes autonomous (auto self- nomous norms which becomes understood as self-regulatory) in its experiences and interactions with others and institutions. The self internalises the cultural norms and values through socialization (being in the world with others).    2. LEGAL ISSUES A second aspect is closely linked to what we said previously about the relation of ethics and law. The more economic transactions lose their connection to a certain regional territory, the more they escape the control of the respective national governments. The power of a government has traditionally been confined to a certain territory, for example: French laws are only binding on French territory, UK laws on UK territory, and so on. As soon as a company leaves its home territory and moves part of its production chain to, for example, a third world country, the legal framework becomes very different. Consequently, managers can no longer simply rely on the legal framework when deciding on the right or wrong of certain business practices. If, as we said earlier, business ethics largely begins where the law ends, then deterritorialization increases the demand for business ethics because deterritorialized economic activities are beyond the control of national (territorial) governments. For example, global financial markets are beyond the control of any national government, and the constant struggle of governments against issues such as child pornography on the internet shows the enormous difficulties in enforcing national laws in deterritorialized spaces.   A behavior may be perceived as ethical to one person or group but might not be perceived as ethical by another. Further complicating this dichotomy of behavior, laws may have been legislated, effectively stating the governments position, and presumably the majority opinion, on the behavior. As a result, in todays diverse business environment, one must consider that law and ethics are not necessarily the same thing. Though law often embodies ethical principles, law and ethics are far from co-extensive. The law does not prohibit many acts that would be widely condemned as unethical. And the contrary is true as well. The law also prohibits acts that some groups would perceive as ethical. For example lying or betraying the confidence of a friend is not illegal, but most people would consider it unethical. Yet, speeding is illegal, but many people do not have an ethical conflict with exceeding the speed limit. Law is more than simply codifying ethical norms. Establishing a set of ethi cal guidelines for detecting, resolving, and forestalling ethical breaches often prevents a company from getting into subsequent legal conflicts. Having demonstrated a more positive approach to the problem may also ensure that punishment for legal violations will be less severe. Some activities and beliefs may be legal, but not perceived as ethical. Marriott Corporation maintains very comprehensive ethics standards to which their employees must abide. Their Corporate Dress Code is an example. Several years ago, the orientation program at Marriott Corporate Headquarters included a presentation on what was and was not considered acceptable appearance in the company. Some requirements included: Women could not wear skirts any shorter than 4 inches above the knee. Women could show no bare leg. Either long pants or hose were required at all times. Womens shoulders could not be exposed. Mens hair could not reach their collar, except for religious reasons. Men could not wear earrings. Although these rules were part of company policy, there is nothing illegal about any one of these items. However, in the Marriott Corporate culture, each was considered unethical. Another example is the manufacturing practices of Nike, one of the largest manufacturers of athletics sportswear in the world. Nike produces the majority of its goods in South East Asia. Despite the profits of the Nike organization, its foreign workers are paid substandard wages and work long hours in appalling conditions. In 1996, the entry-level wage at one of these factories was $2.20 a day. Labour groups estimate that a liveable wage in Indonesia is about $4.25 a day. Compare this with the pay of one of Nikes celebrity promoters, Michael Jordan, who gets $20 million a year to promote Nike sneakers. Jordans compensation alone is more than the annual income of 20,000 workers who make Nike shoes. Nikes manufacturing practices are not illegal. There is nothing that says a company cannot take its manufacturing operations outside the United States. And as long as the company is meeting the minimum wage standards of the host country, there is nothing illegal about paying low wages. However, most Americans would look at these practices as unethical, especially considering the profits of Nike and their spending on celebrity promoters. Clearly, there is a relationship between law and ethics, and this relationship is important in management. Managers must evaluate not only what is legal, but what they, their employees, and society consider ethical as well. Important here is that companies must also consider what behaviours their customers will and will not accept. The news is full of stories regarding the ethical issues with which companies are being confronted, such as the practices of Nike, as outlined above. No company wants to be forced to defend itself over ethical issues involving wages, the environment, working issues, or human relations. Managers play a vital role in a companys legal and ethical performance. It is in part their responsibility to ensure that their employees are abiding by Federal, State, and Local laws, as well as any ethical codes established at the company. But most importantly, the managers must provide a positive example to their employees of proper behaviour in light of laws and ethical codes. Certainly, policies and procedures will never be developed to satisfy everyone, but the establishment of Codes of Ethics will at least provide a framework for ethical behavior, and allow customers to evaluate the type of company with whom they are doing business. With this knowledge, employees and customers must decide whether or not they are willing and able to conform to these Codes, as well as to the laws that have been enacted. Managers cannot simply limit their decisions to following the law. They must also consider the ethics of their employees and customers. 3. Accountability issues Taking a closer look at global activities, one can easily identify corporations as the dominant actors on the global stage: MNCs own the mass media which influences much of the information and entertainment we are exposed to, they supply global products, they pay peoples salaries, and they pay (directly or indirectly) much of the taxes that keep governments running. Furthermore, one could argue that MNCs are economically as powerful as many governments. For example, the GDP of Denmark is about the same as the turnover of General Motors. However, whereas the Danish government has to be accountable to the Danish people and must face elections on a regular basis, the managers of General Motors are formally accountable only to the relatively small group of people who own shares in the company. The communities in the US, Brazil, or Germany that depend directly on General Motors investment decisions however have next to no influence on the company and, unlike a regional or national governm ent, General Motors is, at least in principle, not accountable to these constituencies. What this means is that the more economic activities get deterritorialized, the less governments can control them, and the less they are open to democratic control of the affected people. Consequently, the call for direct (democratic) accountability of MNCs has become louder during the last years, evidenced for example by the anti-globalization protests that we mentioned before. Put simply, globalization leads to a growing demand for corporate accountability. The corporate community has been shocked to attention by the recent corporate governance meltdowns. The silver lining is that these scandals are resulting in better financial oversight and more focused attention on the ethics of directors, officers, auditors and others. But while promises of increased ethical conduct focus the publics attention, self-scrutiny and accountability are also essential.   Ethics is easier in concept than in application. Codes of ethics are not new. Nor are efforts to encourage ethical corporate practices. In 1991, Congress enacted the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines. These guidelines had a major impact on corporate America and were an effort to positively induce companies to prevent unethical activity by providing mitigation of some punishment and reductions of fines for companies that proactively made a good faith effort to take steps to prevent unethical activity. Congress used the stick and the carrot approach to provide an incentive for companies to create or modify their ethics programsgood behavior is rewarded when companies involve themselves in crime controlling actions. Elements of an effective compliance program under the Guidelines include a code of conduct or ethics; oversight by high-level personnel; due care when delegating authority; effective training and communication; auditing and monitoring and reporting mechanisms; enforcement o f disciplinary mechanisms; and appropriate response after detection.  Five years later, a court case provided another wake-up call. In 1996, a court in Delaware held a board of directors responsible for the unethical and illegal actions of the organization and its employees. This case caught the attention of corporations and led some companies to institute compliance and reporting structures.   Of course, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has gotten the most attention recently. Sarbanes-Oxley was enacted in response to the conduct of corporations such as World Com, Enron and Arthur Andersen. While Sarbanes-Oxley largely affects only publicly traded companies, it has led to a trickledown effect. Its requirement that all publicly held corporations disclose whether or not they have a code of ethics for its Chief Financial Officers have led privately held companies and non-profit corporations to enact codes of ethics. The trend is that more companies are adopting and using codes of ethics.   There are several benefits of a formal ethics policy. As described above, there are legal benefits in the form of reduced fines and penalties. However, an ethical working environment is another important benefit. A formal ethics policy can lead to decreased job dissatisfaction, decreased pressure to violate ethical standards, improved communication, increased trust in management, greater consistency in decision-making, and fewer violations of law and regulation, just to name a few. Pragmatically, it is often true that good ethics equals good business. Consumers, employees, and vendors lose trust in companies which engage in unethical activities. Companies that promote trust, honesty, integrity, fairness and respect generally have an easier time attracting quality employees.   Less observable, a strong ethical environment can encourage conversations about ethical issues, questions, and gray areas. It can also provide a comfortable environment for employees to seek guidance and raise concerns. When given the opportunity to communicate expectations and requirements, a company can proactively influence its employees and officers to avoid unethical conduct and violations of law. A formal ethics policy reminds employees and officers what the company deems the right thing to do. IMPLEMENTING A CODE OF ETHICS Groucho Marx once said that The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, youve got it made. Ethics is a lot easier in theory, but ethical conduct cannot be faked. Implementing a code of ethics policy takes careful study, time and training. A code of ethics can apply not just to individualsboard members, officers and employeesbut also to aspects of the companys businessethical investing and pension fund management.   In adopting a code of ethics, a business must decide what type of code to adopt. Does it want a simple statement of aspirational values or does it want a complex manual that describes the companys rules and regulations and which provides detailed guidance about what conduct is not acceptable? What are the companys core values? How does the company want directors, officers and employees to reflect those values?   Codes of ethics are usually broken down into two types (or a hybrid of the two): values-based code of ethics and compliance-based code of ethics. A corporate values statement is an aspirational document which is based on underlying values or principles. It is not easy to enforce. A compliance-based code of ethics is a compliance document that emphasizes rules and written procedures, and, therefore, is easier to enforce. A hybrid consists of a statement of organizational values and how those values are to be applied. For example, because communications should reflect the ethics of the company, a code of ethics that has honesty as a core value may require that internal and external communications be truthful and respectful. The company may also require that product or service claims must be honest, straightforward and defensible. However, as with any company policy, it is important that this new code be reviewed by legal counsel before being formally incorporated into the companys poli cy.   Once the code of ethics policy is adopted, it must be communicated, enforced and effectively monitored. There is a natural reluctance to talk about ethics and values; however, a company can integrate discussions of ethics into decision-making, and encourage employees to raise ethical concerns. This can be done through training, providing whistleblower procedures, monitoring and rewards. Almost every company will have employees that made the correct decision in spite of the difficulty in doing so. Communicating these stories is one way to make ethics more meaningful. Employees should understand the companys core values and why they are core values. The company should ensure that its decision-making process factors in the companys code of ethics.   The ethics policy should also be communicated to board members and employees before they join the company; if the companys products and services and the kinds of decisions needed to be made and actions to be taken are communicated, the potential employee or board member can decide whether employment with the company is consistent with their values. CONCLUSION In conclusion we would like to depict the effect that Globalization will have on the ethical behavior and understanding of various stakeholders in a global business environment. STAKEHOLDERS ETHICAL IMPACTS OF GLOBALIZATION Shareholders Globalization provides potential for greater profitability, but also greater risks. Lack of regulation of global capital markets, leading to additional financial risks and instability. Employees Corporations outsource production to developing countries in order to reduce costs in global marketplace this provides jobs but also raises the potential for exploitation of employees through poor working conditions. Consumers Global products provide social benefits to consumers across the globe but may also meet protests about cultural imperialism and westernization. Globalization can bring cheaper prices to customers, but vulnerable consumers in developing countries may also face the possibility of exploitation by MNCs. Suppliers and Competitors Suppliers in developing countries face regulation from MNCs through supply chain management. Small scale indigenous competitors exposed to powerful global players. Civil Society (Pressure groups, NGOs, etc.) A global business activity brings the company in direct interaction to local communities with possibility for erosion of traditional community life; globally active pressure groups emerge with aim to police the corporation in countries where governments are weak and tolerant. Government and Regulation Globalization weakens governments and increases the corporate regulation for jobs, welfare, maintenance of ethical standards, etc. Globalization also confronts governments with corporations from different cultural expectations about issues such as bribery, corruption, taxation, and philanthropy.

Monday, August 19, 2019

The Mind of a Computer :: Computers Technology Essays

The Mind of a Computer A new issue has come about since the building of computers. But the idea behind it is not such a new issue, for as long ago as Plato and Aristotle, the idea of a mind was pondered about. With the up-and-coming technology, the idea of artificial intelligence has exploded. It is one that many fiction writers have prospered on. But how far away are they from the truth? Take the story of The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov, written in 1976, when most of the population didn’t know what a computer was capable of. The idea of the unknown scared us, a robot that appeared to be just like us, but it was also intriguing, as demonstrated by the story’s success. What was it that attracted the population to this story? The reasonable answer lies within the question this paper will attempt to answer. That is, Can a computer have a mind? The answer to this question is an obvious one, but we will examine it anyway, as it needs to be addressed because of all of the popular science-fict ion writings. A computer can have a mind, and as you read further into this, you will see that computers are made of the same things we are, they transfer information using the same techniques we do, they are complex enough, and they are aware. This is enough to give them the possibility to posses a mind. Starting with the first part of the definition of mind, one might conceive of a computer that can posses a mind. The Biologist might make an argument against me, stating that only living things can have mind, that it is only those things that are biological, consisting of organic compounds, that may have the potential to posses mind. But I say to the Biologist, what is it that makes up these organic compounds? What is it about these molecules that make them construct themselves into a biological being? The answer is a simple one to any Chemist, for he knows that organic molecules are made up of elements and these elements are indeed atoms. The Physicist will most definitely agree t hat these atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These protons, neutrons, and electrons are what make up every atom in the universe; the same three particles come together and form all the materials known to man. The Mind of a Computer :: Computers Technology Essays The Mind of a Computer A new issue has come about since the building of computers. But the idea behind it is not such a new issue, for as long ago as Plato and Aristotle, the idea of a mind was pondered about. With the up-and-coming technology, the idea of artificial intelligence has exploded. It is one that many fiction writers have prospered on. But how far away are they from the truth? Take the story of The Bicentennial Man by Isaac Asimov, written in 1976, when most of the population didn’t know what a computer was capable of. The idea of the unknown scared us, a robot that appeared to be just like us, but it was also intriguing, as demonstrated by the story’s success. What was it that attracted the population to this story? The reasonable answer lies within the question this paper will attempt to answer. That is, Can a computer have a mind? The answer to this question is an obvious one, but we will examine it anyway, as it needs to be addressed because of all of the popular science-fict ion writings. A computer can have a mind, and as you read further into this, you will see that computers are made of the same things we are, they transfer information using the same techniques we do, they are complex enough, and they are aware. This is enough to give them the possibility to posses a mind. Starting with the first part of the definition of mind, one might conceive of a computer that can posses a mind. The Biologist might make an argument against me, stating that only living things can have mind, that it is only those things that are biological, consisting of organic compounds, that may have the potential to posses mind. But I say to the Biologist, what is it that makes up these organic compounds? What is it about these molecules that make them construct themselves into a biological being? The answer is a simple one to any Chemist, for he knows that organic molecules are made up of elements and these elements are indeed atoms. The Physicist will most definitely agree t hat these atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. These protons, neutrons, and electrons are what make up every atom in the universe; the same three particles come together and form all the materials known to man.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

cloning :: essays research papers

Cloning in the Twenty-first Century Cloning is the making of genetically identical copies of a single cell or organism. Cloning was never talked about much,(When?) unless a person read science fiction or watched movies. Then on February 23, 1997 comma Dolly the Iamb What is an iamb? appeared on the news. Dr. Ian Wilmut, the head of the Roslin Institute in Edinburg, Scotland had led the team who cloned Dolly. Dolly was cloned from the omit ‘the’ one reproductive tissue of one adult female sheep, so that she was genetically identical. Dolly what happened here? started from a no--the mammary cells of a six year old ewe. They were grown in nutrient- poor culture medium that forced them into. Why the period? a quiescent state, known as G O phase of the cell cycle ( a phase that all cells go through when dividing). Then scientist WN—should be plural took other egg cells from other ewes. These cells were called oocytes. Then they removed the nucleus and fused it with the mammary cell, by pulsed electric current. The procedure used to clone Dolly is colloquially called "cloning." The general term cloning is any procedure that produces a precise genetic replica of a biological thing, including-a DNA sequence, a cell, or an organism. Then the world became freaked out. Next the talk of cloning humans.(Kass and Wilson X, VIII.) Where did you start using this source—whatever it is? You must introduce quotations and let your reading know when you are paraphrasing or otherwise using sources. Before all of this, cloning happened all the time in labs across the world. A type of cloning is used often in cancer research. Then another type is used in horticulture. This is were What does this mean? certain types of roses, lilies, potatoes, and apples come from. A MacIntosh apple is a clone. What is your source? Most of the same steps where used to clone these things, yet they did not get the attention Dolly received. (Hyde and Hyde 14). Period goes after parentheses, not before. When I think of cloning, I do not think of it as killing a person. Why on earth would you say this? No killing of any kind is involved. While talking to Phyllis Phyllis who? And why did you ask her? the other day I mentioned cloning to her. I quote her as saying "No man has the right to play God. cloning :: essays research papers Cloning in the Twenty-first Century Cloning is the making of genetically identical copies of a single cell or organism. Cloning was never talked about much,(When?) unless a person read science fiction or watched movies. Then on February 23, 1997 comma Dolly the Iamb What is an iamb? appeared on the news. Dr. Ian Wilmut, the head of the Roslin Institute in Edinburg, Scotland had led the team who cloned Dolly. Dolly was cloned from the omit ‘the’ one reproductive tissue of one adult female sheep, so that she was genetically identical. Dolly what happened here? started from a no--the mammary cells of a six year old ewe. They were grown in nutrient- poor culture medium that forced them into. Why the period? a quiescent state, known as G O phase of the cell cycle ( a phase that all cells go through when dividing). Then scientist WN—should be plural took other egg cells from other ewes. These cells were called oocytes. Then they removed the nucleus and fused it with the mammary cell, by pulsed electric current. The procedure used to clone Dolly is colloquially called "cloning." The general term cloning is any procedure that produces a precise genetic replica of a biological thing, including-a DNA sequence, a cell, or an organism. Then the world became freaked out. Next the talk of cloning humans.(Kass and Wilson X, VIII.) Where did you start using this source—whatever it is? You must introduce quotations and let your reading know when you are paraphrasing or otherwise using sources. Before all of this, cloning happened all the time in labs across the world. A type of cloning is used often in cancer research. Then another type is used in horticulture. This is were What does this mean? certain types of roses, lilies, potatoes, and apples come from. A MacIntosh apple is a clone. What is your source? Most of the same steps where used to clone these things, yet they did not get the attention Dolly received. (Hyde and Hyde 14). Period goes after parentheses, not before. When I think of cloning, I do not think of it as killing a person. Why on earth would you say this? No killing of any kind is involved. While talking to Phyllis Phyllis who? And why did you ask her? the other day I mentioned cloning to her. I quote her as saying "No man has the right to play God.

Hawaiian Goose :: essays research papers

Hawaiian Goose The Branta sandvicensis, or Hawaiian goose looks similar to the Canada Goose except only the face, cap, and hindneck are black; and Nene have buff- colored cheeks. The males and female have the same plumage. The feet of this goose are not completely webbed like the other geese. Lots of calls have been described but the most common call is very similar to that of the Canada Goose, a resonate "honk." The goose has very strong toes; long legs, decreased webbing. They are good swimmers but are not found much near water. The birds nest on the ground and the young can fly at 1012 weeks. The adult Goose cannot fly while in molt for 46 weeks. Wild Nene populations can be seen in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Mauna Loa, and Pu'u Wa'awa'a on the island of Hawaii; in Haleakala National Park on Maui; and at the Kilauea National Wildlife Refuge, along the Na Pali coast and outside Lihue on Kauai. Captive Nene can be seen at he Honolulu Zoo. Designated Hawaii's State Bird on May 7, 1957, the Nene has endured a long struggle against extinction. During the 1940s this species was almost wiped out by laws which allowed the birds to be hunted during their winter breeding seasons when the birds were most vulnerable. By 1957, when the Nene was named the State Bird, rescue efforts were underway. Conservationists began breeding the birds in captivity in hopes of preserving a remnant of the declining population and, someday, successfully re-establishing them in their native habitat. Other programs for returning captive birds to the wild life was difficult, but more efforts have been successful. Some other efforts used to help this bird have been to get donations for the bird and have schools help out

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Types of Translation

Types of translation. Types of translation classification. Administrative translation The translation of administrative texts. Although administrative has a very broad meaning, in terms of translation it refers to common texts used within businesses and organisations that are used in day to day management. It can also be stretched to cover texts with similar functions in government. Commercial translation Commercial translation or business translation covers any sort of document used in the business world such as correspondence, company accounts, tender documents, reports, etc.Commercial translations require specialiast translators with knowledge of terminology used in the business world. Computer translation Not to be confused with CAT, computer assisted translations, which refer to translations carried out by software. Computer translation is the translation of anything to do with computers such as software, manuals, help files, etc. Economic translation Similar to commercial or bu siness translation, economic translation is simply a more specific term used for the translation of documents relating to the field of economics.Such texts are usually a lot more academic in nature. Financial translation Financial translation is the translation of texts of a financial nature. Anything from banking to asset management to stocks and bonds could be covered. General translation A general translation is the simplest of translations. A general text means that the language used is not high level and to a certain extent could be in layman's terms. There is no specific or technical terminology used. Most translations carried out fall under this category.Legal translation Legal translations are one of the trickiest translations known. At its simplest level it means the translation of legal documents such as statutes, contracts and treaties. A legal translation will always need specialist attention. This is because law is culture-dependent and requires a translator with an exc ellent understanding of both the source and target cultures. Most translation agencies would only ever use professional legal to undertake such work.This is because there is no real margin for error; the mistranslation of a passage in a contract could, for example, have disastrous consequences. When translating a text within the field of law, the translator should keep the following in mind. The legal system of the source text is structured in a way that suits that culture and this is reflected in the legal language; similarly, the target text is to be read by someone who is familiar with another legal system and its language. Literary translationA literary translation is the translation of literature such as novels, poems, plays and poems. The translation of literary works is considered by many one of the highest forms of translation as it involves so much more than simply translating text. A literary translator must be capable of also translating feelings, cultural nuances, humour and other subtle elements of a piece of work. Some go as far as to say that literary translations are not really possible. In 1959 the Russian-born linguist Roman Jakobson went as far as to declare that â€Å"poetry by definition [was] untranslatable†.In 1974 the American poet James Merrill wrote a poem, â€Å"Lost in Translation,† which in part explores this subject. Medical translation A medical translation will cover anything from the medical field from the packaging of medicine to manuals for medical equipments to medical books. Like legal translation, medical translation is specialisation where a mistranslation can have grave consequences. Technical translation A technical translation has a broad meaning. It usually refers to certain fields such as IT or manufacturing and deals with texts such as manuals and instructions.Technical translations are usually more expensive than general translations as they contain a high amount of terminology that only a specialist translator could deal with. According to Brislin (1976: 1) translation is a general term referring to the transfer of thoughts and ideas from one language to another, whether the language is in written or oral form, whether the languages have established orthographies or not; or whether one or both languages is based on signs, as with signs of the deaf.Another expert, Wilss (1982: 3), states that translation is a transfer process which aims at the transformation of a written source language text (SLT) into an optimally equivalent target language text (TLT), and which requires the syntactic, the semantic, and the pragmatic understanding and analytical processing of the source text. Syntactic understanding is related to style and meaning. Understanding of semantics is meaning related activity. Finally, pragmatic understanding is related to the message or implication of a sentence. This definition does not states what is transferred. Rather, it states the requirement of the process.Nid a and Taber (1982: 12) see translating as a process of reproducing in the receptor language the closest natural equivalent of the source language message, first in terms of meaning and secondly in terms of style. In other words, translation is a transfer of meaning, message, and style from one SLT to the TLT. In the order of priority, style is put the last. Here the things to reproduce (transfer) is stated, message. Newmark (1991: 27) defines the act of translating very briefly. It is the act of transferring meaning of a stretch or a unit of language, the whole or a part, from one language to another. The discussion on meaning can be seen at sub-point F. Meaning, Message, and Style. ) According to the purpose, translation can be divided into four types: (a) pragmatic, (b) aesthetic-poetic, (c) ethnographic, and (d) linguistic translation (Brislin, 1976: 3-4). Pragmatic translation is the translation of a message with an interest in accuracy of the information meant to be communicate d in the target language form. Belonging to such translation is the translation of technical information, such as repairing instructions.The second type is aesthetic-poetic translation that does not only focus on the information, but also the emotion, feeling, beauty involved in the original writing. The third is ethnographic translation that explicates the cultural context of the source and second language versions. The last type is linguistic translation, the one that is concerned with equivalent meanings of the constituent morphemes of the second language and with grammatical form. Seen from this classification, the translation of literary work should be the aesthetic-poetic one.The other kinds of translation or translation approach important to review are the ones related to the concept of dynamic translation, semantic translation, communicative translation, and artistic translation. Dynamic translation tries to transfer the messages or ideas into a target language and to evoke in the target language readers the responses that are substantially equivalent to those experienced by the source text readers (Nida and Taber, 1982 :28). A definition of dynamic translation centers on the concept of dynamic equivalence, that is the closest natural equivalence to the source language message.Hohulin (1982: 15) notices that the definition of dynamic translation contains three essential terms: (a) equivalent, which points toward the source language message, (b) natural, which points toward the receptor language, and (3) closest, which binds the two orientations together on the basis of the highest degree of approximation. Dynamic equivalence approach can be used in the level of translating sentences or group of sentences, because the whole message lies here. Similar to the above concept is the idiomatic translation developed by Beekman and Callow (in Gutt, 1991: 68).It resembles the dynamic equivalence approach in the sense that it rejects the form-oriented translation and emphasizes that a translation should convey the meaning of the original. A translation, according to this approach, should be faithful to the ‘dynamics’ of the original, or the SL’s ‘naturalness’ of language use and ease of comprehension. The idea of dynamic translation was first proposed by Nida and Taber and the semantic and communicative translation was by Newmark. He even states that the concepts represent his main contribution to general theory of translation (Newmark, 1991: 10).It seems to be a reaction to the concepts of formal and dynamic equivalence, literal and free translation. In the above dichotomy, the first â€Å"pole† of the dichotomy (formal equivalence and literal translation) seems to be condemned for being not be able to transfer the message. Semantic and communicative translation seem to be in the middle of the two poles formal and dynamic translation. (Here formal translation is understood as translation that pursues the formal equivalence and dynamic translation is the one that seeks for the dynamic equivalence.Discussion on the issue of equivalence can be seen in the next sub-point. ) Semantic translation emphasizes the â€Å"loyalty† to the original text. It is more semantic and syntactic oriented and, therefore, also author-centered. On the other hand, communicative translation emphasizes the loyalty to the â€Å"readers† and more reader-centered. The two concepts are not to be contrasted with literal word-for-word translation which is criticized in the concept of formal translation and literal translation. He sees it as a translation procedure.He states that literal word-for-word translation is not only the best in both communicative and semantic translation, but it is the only valid method of translation if equivalent effect is secured (Newmark, 1991: 10-11). He further maintains that, in fact, there is no pure communicative or pure semantic method of translating a text. The re are overlapping bands of methods. A translation can be more or less semantic as well as more or less communicative. Even a part of a sentence can be treated more communicatively or more semantically.Anyhow he maintains that the more important the language of the text or units of text, e. g. in the sacred texts, the more closely it should be translated. Finally he points out that meaning is complicated, many-leveled, a ‘network of relation’. The more generalization and simplification is done, the less meaning is gotten. From this discussion, it can be argued that the choice between semantic and communicative approach is done in the level of translating sentences or even parts of sentence (Newmark, 1991: 10). In the area of literary translation, Chukovsky (1984) offers the concept of artistic translation.Like the other types of translation, meaning is a very important point to consider. Yet, style is taken as importantly as the other aspects for style is the portrait o f the author; so when a translator distorts his style he also distorts ‘his face’ (Chukovsky, 1984: 20). Besides the meaning, impression on the readers should also be kept the same. This translation expert states that it is essential that the readers of the translation should be carried into the very same sphere as the readers of the original, and the translation must act in the very same nerves (Chukovsky, 1984: 80).To compare, formal and dynamic translation center on the message of the original, the semantic and communicative translation on whether author-centered or reader-centered, and artistic translation does on the consideration of literary aspects: ideas and style. The concepts are based on different ground. It is clear that the concept of dynamic translation is suitable for translating the Bible. It is so because the concept of dynamic equivalence itself was developed from the practice of Bible translation. As it is known, there are many kinds of text some of w hich are with the characteristics different from the Bible.The semantic and communicative ones, on the other hand, can be applied at any kinds of text. The case of style is also discussed by Newmark in his hint that â€Å"the more important the language of the text or units of text, the more closely it should be translated. † Finally, artistic translation is probably most appropriate for translating certain literary works, like poetry. Maintaining the author’ style accurately is very difficult in certain novels as the translator is confronted with the syntactic system as well as literary convention of the target language. 1) Communicative classification of translation ) Genre classification of translation 3) Psycho-linguistic classification of translation 1) Communicative classification of translation is based on the predominant communicative function of the source text or the form of speech involved in the translation process. Translation can be literary and informati ve. Literary translation is the translation of literary texts. The main function of literary translation is to produce an emotional or aesthetic impression upon the reader. The informative translation deals with rendering into target language the non-literary texts.The main purpose of the informative translation is to convey a certain amount of ideas. 2) Literary works fall into genres. The technical translation the main goal is to identify the situation described in the original. In official documents every word must be carefully chosen. Publicistic texts include the translations of newspapers, magazines, ect. To other genres belong the translations of film scripts, where the main problem is to fit pronunciation and the choice of words. The translations of commercials are those, the main goal of which is to attract the attention of the audience. ) The  psycho-linguistic classification  of translation falls into written and oral translation, consecutive and simultaneous translat ion, compression and text development. In written translation the original text is in written form as well as in target language. Written translation is continuous, oral translation is commentary (one time action). There are two main types of oral translation. In consecutive translation the translating starts after the original speech of some part of it has been completed. In simultaneous interpretation the interpreter is supposed to be able to give his translation while the speaker is uttering his message.The difference between consecutive and simultaneous interpretation – in simultaneous interpretation the interpreter is much more limited in time. The length of the text translated is much shorter than in consecutive translation. Unlike consecutive interpretation, were the interpreter may correct mistakes and slips of the tongue, simultaneous has no time for corrections and redoing. Text compression is aimed at saving interpretation time and removing source text redundancy, which allows the interpreter to keep in pace with the source text, not sacrificing the context. It is more often used in simultaneous interpretation.Basic comprehension devices in the Ua-En translation are: 1) Transformation of the nominative structures into the verbal ones 2) Conversion of prepositional constructions into noun clusters 3) Omission of transformation of words and word combinations typical to Ukrainian style and considered redundant according to English speech standards. Compression is more often used in translations from Ukrainian into English because the English way of expression is more concise. And often English text contains no redundant words, which is explained by the analytical structure of the language.Text development is more often used in consecutive translation. It is reflected in the note-taking procedure. Text development in the course of interpretation is the restoration of the full composition of the source sentence, starting from its syntactic and sem antic core, accompanied by compliance with syntactic and semantic standards of the target language. The note-taking procedure includes main ideas (skeleton outline, subject-predicate-object), links and separations, viewpoints of the speaker, tenses and modalities, proper and geographical names, dates and numbers.