Voucher programs: Tuition Subsidied for Public School Students

Vouchers are tuition subsidies for students in public schools to attend private schools and/or for students already in private schools. Proponents for publicly funded school vouchers see them as a way for poor parents to leave a failing public school system and allow their children to go to the school of their choice. Opponents fear that school vouchers would take money away from public schools, causing grater segregation while not helping the majority of students remaining in the public school system. The Catholic Church supports school vouchers and believes that every person should have equal opportunity to send there children to the best schools regardless of there financial situation. This paper will attempt to explain the complex arguments around the issue of publicly funded school vouchers, so that one could understand both sides of this issue. Voucher programs allow students to take a portion of funds reserved for public education to put toward private education. The major supporters of school vouchers are poor parents, and the Catholic Church. Before 1999, the Catholic Church had been one of the chief enemies of all federal grants for education. Then the Hierarchy gradually changed direction, and it decided to support federal aid in principle on condition that any specific measure should include auxiliary services for Catholic schools. The condition has never been met, and the failure of agreement has created the longest and most caustic church-state controversy in the history of Congress. According to the Church and Catechism it is the obligation of the state that â€Å"public subsidies are paid out in such a way that parents are truly free to choose according to their conscience the schools they want for their children. † Supporters of such a program believe that allowing students to choose the school they will attend will result in a better education and a more level playing field, where not only middle- and upper-class students dominate the private school system. Some proponents of vouchers see the public school system as promoting atheist views and denying the freedom to practice a religion other that atheism. School vouchers would allow parents to send their children to religious schools and allow them to assert the right to practice the religion of their choice. Cavailer Daily, a scholar and leader in the voucher movement states, â€Å"Freedom of Religion should allow students to attend a parochial school, rather than prevent them. † Vouchers allow choice for all people not only the ones wealthy enough to afford a religions education. The current system has allowed students â€Å"to be rigorously secularized† striking down â€Å"most forms of public assistance to parents who desire to protect their children from an educational system that is often actively promoting values that are profoundly at odds with religious convictions. The net result has been that a crucial aspect of religious freedom is exercised only by families wealthy enough to afford private education after paying taxes for public schools. † Mary Ann Glendon, a constitutional scholar and professor at Harvard University. Many proponents of vouchers do not want to eliminate the public school system; they want to use . School choice means better educational opportunity, because it uses the dynamics of consumer competition to drive service quality. As students leave the public school system and choose private school they will take there voucher money with them causing profit loses for that district. Many proponents of vouchers feel that this will cause the public schools to reform and offer a better educational program, so they can also become competitive in the schools market. Public schools currently account for 90% of the educational institutions, thus cornering the market. Proponents of vouchers believe that the short term benefits will allow students to get a better education, and in the long term public schools will be forced to radically change there programs in order to compete with a growing school market. The advantage of voucher programs is that parents can spend their money how they see fit. Public schools are funded with taxes-often property taxes, which partially accounts for better schools in richer districts. Each district gets a different amount of money per student so in the poor areas of the country the schools get less money per student resulting in lower quality teachers, and inability to buy adequate materials. People must pay these taxes regardless of the quality of local schools, or where they want to send their child. Even if you send your child to private school, you are still required to pay taxes to fund a public school system that you do not use. The voucher system, then, acts as a refund system for parents who wish to educate their children elsewhere. Leading the charge against publicly funded school vouchers is the American Teachers Union, American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, as well as The National Council of Churches and many constitutionalists. Opponents of school vouchers believe that while vouchers might seem like a good idea on the surface, a deeper investigation reveals its fatal flaws and irreversible social implications. The biggest argument against vouchers is that they are unconstitutional. It has been decide that according to the establishment clause of the 1st amendment giving any funds to private school that promote religion is against the law. Vouchers also have the ability to hurt the majority of students in public schools by taking away their funding. According to expert on the subject of school vouchers, Henry Levin, â€Å"not only are vouchers unconstitutional but they completely undermine the public education system, thus threatening our system of democracy. † The issue is one of separation between church and state. Under the establishment clause of the 14th amendment, may public money be used for sectarian schools? During the 1940†³s, the high court decided that all direct appropriations for the central expenditures of such schools would be unconstitutional. No federal or local tax funds may be used for building costs, teachers† salaries, or other regular operational expenses. These perimeters were established in the Everson v. Board of Education ruling in 1947. In this case, a New Jersey town had allowed local tax funds to reimburse Catholic parents for busing their children to school. The Court, speaking through Justice Black, said: The â€Å"establishment of religion† clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws, which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief of disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or dis-beliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, what ever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice or teach religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against the establishment of religion by law was intended to erect â€Å"a wall of separation between church and state. † For the past 50 years the Supreme Court has held up the â€Å"wall of separation† in such high profile cases as the Nyquist decision in 1973, which invalidated a New York State program that provided tuition reimbursements to poor parents whose children attended private schools. Although the court found that New York had attempted to ensure the secular effect by making the payments directly to the parents, it ruled that the program had a primary function of advancing religion, and there for was unconstitutional. This ruling affirmed Justice Black†s decision in making publicly funded school vouchers unconstitutional. Opponents of school vouchers believe that not only are they unconstitutional; they also hurt students and the Public School System. The United States Public School system was founded during the mid 1800†³s to promote economic and social well being. The United States prides it self on being one of the only countries to provide a free and equal education to all children from kintergarden too high school. There is an apparent connection between public schools and the common good in democracy because as our country becomes increasingly diverse, the public school system stands out as an institution that unifies Americans. Research from the United States and abroad show that vouchers lead to greater segregation of students by socioeconomic status and race. Countries such as Ireland and Canada are divided because their governments provide education for each different religion, and consequently a deep cultural division in the population has been accentuated. The public school systems serves the majority of people and most are satisfied and don†t want to change where they go to school. Opponents of school vouchers believe they do not help the majority of poor and underprivileged and benefit more advantaged families. In Milwaukee, for example, parents who accepted vouchers, on average, were better educated, more involved in their children†s education, and had higher expectations for their children than parents of public school children. Only 1% of public school students are currently participating in a school voucher plan, so the majority of children are left in the public school system to fend for themselves. Voucher advocates often claim that private school education is cost effective because these schools can operate for less money. However, looking at the record of accomplishment of the only two experimental voucher schools, Milwaukee voucher program started in 1990, and Cleveland voucher program started in 1996, shows a very different story. In Milwaukee, analyses indicate that voucher schools received about $1,000 more per student than comparable public schools for the1996-97 school year. In addition, private schools are not required to have mandated services such as, special education, ESL, transportation, breakfast and lunch programs, which is accounted for in the money that the public schools receive per pupil. The most reasonable conclusion,† notes researcher Henry Levin, â€Å"Is that voucher schools in Milwaukee are receiving at least comparable allocations per student to those of the Milwaukee Public Schools, once the service mix is accounted for. † Voucher schools do not cost less to operate and in many cases, they cost more, taking precious funds away from public schools that are trying to reform. Voucher money likely would end up in the hands of private-school parents, essentially subsidizing those who already have fled the public school system, instead of creating incentive for public-school reform. Cleveland last month joined Milwaukee as the only school systems with vouchers. However, 27 percent of the 1,864 low-income kids in the Cleveland program were already in private schools. Private schools often charge high tuition. Since vouchers usually will not cover the full cost of tuition, the wealthy, who can already afford to pay private school tuition, will benefit the most. Low and middle-income families, who will not be able to afford the difference between the voucher and tuition costs, will be less likely to benefit. Even if poor families could come up with the full tuition amount, few private schools are located in the nation†s inner cities or other economically depressed areas. Fewer still are likely to admit children from disadvantaged backgrounds. For this reason, 45% of students participating in the Milwaukee program attend Catholic schools because they cost less. In any event, no voucher plan will benefit more than a small number of poor children. A voucher system also will not work if kids who want to leave public schools have no place to go, as many will not. Voucher supporters claim new private schools will spring up to meet new demand. However, this may be wishful thinking. â€Å"Many private schools believe government money means government regulation and do not want to take it,† says Joe McTighe, executive director of the Council of American Private Education. Proponents of vouchers feel that they are being unfairly taxed or taxed twice but â€Å"Double taxation† does not exist. Private school tuition is not a tax; it is an additional expense some parents have chosen to pay. All members of society are expected to support certain basic public services such as the police and fire departments, libraries and the public schools, whether they use them or not. Childless couples and single people, for instance, must still pay school taxes. ) We all have a vested interest in maintaining a strong public school system to make certain that our people are educated. Under a voucher plan, all taxpayers will face double taxation. They will have to pay for public schools, then pay-increased taxes to make up for funds being channeled too parochial and other private schools. The heavily contested issue of whether public money should be used to subsidize private, religious schools has raged on for over 50 years and will continue to as long as people challenge the constitution. Proponents believe vouchers will give opportunities to the poor, freedom of religion to all, and help begin a trend of reform in public schools. However, opponents fear that school vouchers will blur the lines separating church and state, and cause undue harm to the public school system. If nothing else it works for its designed purpose of creating a neutral environment that fosters learning. This neutrality has made possible the spread of tolerance to other institutions in our society. Children who learn to live together without religious distinctions are prepared as adults to build a more cooperative world.

Mexican Peso Case Study Essay

1. Take a look at Mexico’s balance of payments over the past few years. Use the schedule I have attached to the case – it is in the same format as we used to examine the U. S. balance of payments. What do the trade and current account balances suggest about the likelihood of a potential devaluation of the peso? Why? a. It suggests that because Mexico is importing twice as much as they are exporting that there is a strong chance that the peso will lose value to counter the constant increase in imports. It is also important to point out that the exports in 1974 and 1975 are practically the same. The current account balance is negative 4 billion U. S. dollars which is 4 times larger than it was in 1972. All this leads me to believe that the peso needs to be devalued in order to raise the amount Mexico exports. 2. What does the private capital account suggest about the need for a devaluation of the peso? Why? a. The private capital account is a positive 3 billion which indicates that there are a lot more imports than exports suggesting that Mexico is either borrowing a larger portion of money or selling some of its assets. Consequently there is a need for the devaluation of the peso. 3. What does the private transactions balance suggest about the valuation of the peso and whether a very large devaluation was imminent? Why? a. By looking at the private transactions balance it suggest that there was not a dire need for a very large devaluation because it is a positive 172 million where as it has been no larger than 222 million and no smaller than 39 million. That is not to say that the peso did not need to be devaluated however. 4. Take a look at Exhibit 5 in the case – Mexico’s international reserves. What has happened to Mexico’s total foreign exchange reserves since 1970? How would you interpret this trend in terms of evaluating the strength or weakness of the peso in the foreign exchange market? Would you conclude that the peso was likely to be substantially devalued from this data? Why? a. With a gradual increase in Mexico’s total foreign exchange reserves since 1970 it looks like they were preparing for the devaluation of the peso for some time now. The increase in reserves is them trying to prevent or delay the devaluation. From just this data alone however I would not believe that the peso is at risk of being devaluated. 5. Take a look at Exhibit 7 and the forward discounts on the peso versus the dollar. On June 18, what did the market think the peso was likely to do over the next three months? On August 27, what did the market think the peso was likely to do versus the dollar over the next three months? Between June and August, what was the market saying about the magnitude and/or probability of a devaluation of the peso over the next three months? a. On June 18th it was believed that over a 3 month period that the peso would depreciate 20% vs. the U. S. dollar and on August 27th it was believed that the peso would only depreciate 9. 08% over the same time frame. During that time frame the market thought there was a less and less chance that the peso was going to get devaluated. 6. Look at the commercial bank lending rates to prime borrowers in Exhibit 8. Based on these nominal prime borrowing rates, would you expect the peso to appreciate or depreciate against the dollar and by how much? Why? a. If using the December 1975lending rates, the peso would depreciate against the dollar by 5. 9% because Mexico’s interest rate is nearly twice as high as the United States’. 7. What should be the PPP Mexican peso/U. S. dollar exchange rate based on price level changes in Mexico and the U. S. between 1954 and 1975. Given your calculation, is the Mexican peso reasonably valued at the new exchange rate of MP20. 5/U. S$? Briefly explain why. a. The PPP for the Mexican peso/U. S. dollar exchange rate should be MP13. 29/$ and I believe that the new exchange rate is too high, especially when compared to the 13. 29 PPP. Another reason to believe that it is not reasonable is that looking at exhibits 5 and 7 indicates that the peso may not have needed to be devaluated much at all considering the increase in Mexico’s reserves and the decrease in the forward discount from June to August. 8. Suppose the Mexican government had decided not to devalue the peso. What would have been some of the economic and financial policies it could have implemented to defend the currency? How would these policies affect employment and income levels in Mexico? a. Financial policies that could have been implemented would be to limit the number of imports and/or raise import taxes and loosen up their taxes on corporations to encourage new business in Mexico. It would raise employment while having a positive effect on income levels compared to if the peso was devaluated. 9. Please evaluate the future of the peso based on your answers to the above questions as well as the following information: (1) Oil production is likely to come on stream shortly and oil is priced in the world markets in dollars. (2) Foreign oil companies will be making substantial investments in Mexican oil fields. (3) The Mexican government will be able to control inflation. a. The future of the peso is going to look bright because they are increasing jobs by having companies invest in their oil fields. Although other countries will be making money so will Mexico. Since the dollar will be stronger than the peso, the money being made off oil would be equal to more pesos since it was devalued. This will increase exports and since they are able to control inflation it gives them greater control

Moliere the Misanthrope

The Misanthrope Moliere’s play The Misanthrope is a comedy that represents social satire, satirizing the conventions of the society which Moliere lived in and observed. Perhaps the character of Alceste best demonstrates the elements of comedy and tragedy that co-exist in Moliere’s play. Alceste, after all, realizes his jealous nature makes him a comic figure. In fact, humankind’s tragedy as expressed by Moliere is that it cannot admit how funny, hypocritical, and ironic most of its actions and views are.Because of this, Moliere’s play is much more comedy than tragedy. Alceste represents an â€Å"everyman† of his social milieu and culture in Moliere’s perception. He would like to be honest but knows he lives in a social system that is dishonest. Alceste chastises Philinte because of his hypocritical behavior toward strangers, who he hugs and professes great love for but then reverses his position the minute they are gone. As Alceste tells him, â€Å"Once the man’s back is turned, you cease to love him, / And speak with absolute indifference of him! By God, I say it’s base and scandalous / To falsify the heart’s affections thus; / If I caught myself behaving in such a way, / I’d hang myself for shame, without delay† (Moliere 17). While the above treatment of one’s fellow man may seem tragic, Moliere seems to be suggesting in a humorous way that all humans are often guilty of such behavior. In fact, it is Alceste’s failures to recognize his own foibles that makes him so comical and his reaction to others hypocritical. Alceste is indignant and humorless with others like Oronte, who writes a poem about his beloved Celimene.He fails to realize his jealousy makes him just as guilty of treating others poorly as does Philinte’s hypocrisy. He is a jealous lover. He is a jealous friend. And he is hard on all those around him but himself. Moliere is maintaining this lack of se lf-perception may be man’s tragedy but from it springs much of the humor and comedy in life. We see this humor when Alceste maintains he would get rid of all those who wooed Celimene were he his beloved, â€Å"Were I this lady, I would soon get rid / Of lovers who approved of all I did, / And by their slack indulgence and applause / Endorsed my follies and excused my flaws† (Moliere 68).In essence, Alceste endorses his own follies and excuses his own flaws. In conclusion, though there are definitely tragic elements that co-exist with the satire and comedy in Moliere’s The Misanthrope, overall the play is much more of a humorous and funny comedy than it is tragic. Though lack of insight and self-perception may be a tragic condition of humankind, Moliere sees much more humor and comedy stemming from it.Work Cited Moliere, Jean Baptiste. The Misanthrope and Tartuffe. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1965.

Construction technology Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Construction technology - Coursework Example e however very complicated in residential areas where several requirements have to be considered and put in place to ensure that the people residing in these areas are well catered for with regard to their needs. These needs will often include comfort and aesthetic requirements among other needs. The environmental concerns are as well a dire factor that has to be taken into consideration in order to avoid its pollution and mishandling in various ways opposed to the regulations put forth by the environmental watch bodies. For this reason, one has to ensure that the available space designed for developmental purposes are well established and planned in order to cater for all these needs and concerns. Changes in the use of the formally planned region often call for fresh planning and construction ideas which would call for the demolition of the pre- existing structure to create space for the new structures which comes with its own requirements, different from the previous ones. Effective planning areas such as the lounges, car parks, pavements as well as other important regions in any residential region have to be well established to promote their aesthetic value, longevity/ duration of stay as well as the reduction of flooding problems especially on car parks (Allen Burton & Pitt, 2001). This can effectively and efficiently be won by using the soft designing features such as planting of trees, meadows, shrubs and other related live protections around the delicate and stringent areas. This paper will look at the planning mechanisms to be employed by the residential housing developers at a site located in Chester-Le-Street, Durham formally owned by a transport company. The paper w ill also look at the various ways of effectively planning the region taking into consideration the need to avoid pollution and flooding in the residential areas besides observing the aesthetic value of the place. Given the limited scale of the space available for development purposes and the

Part 1. 1500 words Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Part 1. 1500 words - Essay Example In addition, I make mistakes while choosing the right methods for the projects. I am sure that I can overcome from these problems and turn these weak points into my strengths by conducting a research on the basis of certain criteria. The topic of the project is â€Å"Human Resource (HR) Issues Related to Cultural Diversity Faced by Marks and Spencer in China†. I have chosen this topic for this particular study to evaluate cultural diversity of Wu Han, where the company Marks & Spencer (M&S) wants to expand business operations (Alon, 2000). This particular study has facilitated in elaborating the issues of cultural diversity and the implications that these issues would have on the work environment and culture of M&S. Accordingly, I have ascertained the importance of Human Resource Management can be identified for resolving these issues on the basis of strategies (Lauby, 2005). This particular research aims to study about the issues of the employees regarding cultural diversity in Wu Han, China. It is the core duty of the company i.e. M&S to ascertain that issues that may be faced by the employees, so that effective measures can be implemented with the intention of mitigating these issues for better sustainability of the company in the long run. Employees’ individual growth is related to M&S overall growth. In this respect, it is important to recognize critical issues related to work environment of M&S to meet the objectives of the company (Albrecht, 2010). Accordingly, I have related the subject of the study on the consumers as well as the employees of the company to determine the issues associated with cultural diversity in Wu Han, China. In addition, I have conducted a survey about the services, which are provided by the company to have a better understanding about the perceptions of the customers about their preferences, so that quality products can be offered on the basis

Explaining a Concept Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 2

Explaining a Concept Research Paper - Essay Example The act of illegal immigration is increasingly becoming common in the United States and the authorities this has rang an alarm to the natives concerning the overwhelming presence of aliens in the country (Kimmel and Alan 54). The controversy with the situation is that others are of the opinion that most of those who are in the US illegally do no pose any threat to the people and it should not be blown out of proportion that they compromise the security situation in the country. This has sparked a heated debate on whether the stay is actually against the law or not, even with the spirited debate, there are stringent policies that guides entry into the US and those found without a legal document that backs their stay in the US are charged in the courts of law. How the illegal immigrant come to the US Just like any other country, for one to get immigration to the US legally, there are processes to follow, these processes constitutes quotas that will review the individual applications to allow one to go to the US or decline it because of factors that they always cite. For one to be cleared then, it means they have passed all the criteria that are set by the country, in this particular case the US. Some of the factors that are considered include reason for the visit to US. The immigration department is always very particular about the reason as to why some one want s to go to the US and will evaluate the sustainability of the reason to keep you in the US among other things before you can be given a green like to make your visit. Getting US citizenship is through the greed card, this is the sure way by which those who are want to be legal citizen of the US from alien places can consider. The problem with the green card is that most of the people are considering going to the US as citizen that the green card alone cannot grant all of them a chance given the limited number of the slots (Kimmel and Alan 59). It therefore means that most of the people who has the wish to go to the US cannot make it on competitive grounds and have to look for other option available. The fact that greed card is competitive and not all the people can be served by it, that situation has made it possible for these unqualified persons to be in the US illegally. Given the competitiveness of the green card, most of the applicant who does not succeed opts for the temporary visas to be in the US after which they get a job with the temporary visa and eventually apply for the green card. The concept of illegal immigrant in the US is totally misunderstood, people tend to think that when we are talking about illegal entry into the US we are referring to a number of people who have hid themselves behind the big tracks at the borders of the US to get into the country illegally. The picture of how illegally people are accessing the US according to most people is that in which one is hiding or using other faulty means to get into the country, this is not the case. Actually, in the r eal sense, most of the US illegal immigrants use a legal system initially to go to the US. In most cases, these people use the temporary document to go to the US, they obtain temporary work visas, and sometimes it is the touring visas. The problem is that they do this under disguise; their actual intention is not to return to their home country but to stay in the US for unforeseeable period. In this relation, most of the people

Applying Open Innovation Where Your Company Needs It Most Assignment

Applying Open Innovation Where Your Company Needs It Most - Assignment Example The article goes on to further mention that innovation processes may be further classified into three main states of idea generation, idea development and commercialization. The manner in which open innovation entails managing external partnership has been detailed by providing a broad framework which may help leaders in identifying the type of open innovation which best suits the company. The article discusses specific proactive measures which must be followed by leaders while taking the path to open innovation. The article further describes the external associations including the manner in which partnering, transactions, acquisition’s benefits and risks and venture partners have to be considered prior to finalizing a decision on an open innovation project. Finally the article briefly mentions about the benefits acquired by firms with successful open innovation. It does mention that the trepidation regarding the protection of the interests of the organization are highly valid and holds good. Despite this, open innovation has helped firms to garner path breaking success. CRITIQUE Applying open innovation where your company needs it most The article on open innovation has provided us valuable insight on the manner in which correct choices should be made by leaders for embarking on the daunting project of open innovation. It has detailed the three main stages of innovation, namely, idea generation, development of idea and commercialization. However, it has failed to mention the criticality of attitudes displayed by management and leadership which may lead to decline in performance despite adapting open innovation in business frameworks. Moreover the term open innovation has just been touched upon by mentioning its proponent. It does not mention the types of open innovation and the conditions required for them to exist. It directly jumps to examine the three steps of innovation. The article again touches on the fact that open innovation is not possible to i mplement in an environment governed by negative attitudes like â€Å"not sold here† or â€Å"not invented here†. However, it never describes the significance of positive attitudes in facilitating open innovation. For the management to implement open innovation in their organization, one of the prime prerequisite is to openly engage in successful communication of open innovative plans to the employees, formulate required incentives and create an organizational culture encouraging and supporting open innovation. This will help in facilitating this context by garnering the engagement and attention of employees thereby making open innovative strategies successful. The term open innovation needs to have its people to have an open mind which facilitates creative thinking without any bias whatsoever and accordingly invite external partners to use those innovative processes of a firm which lie unused. This not only helps in optimizing unused notions but also aids in excelling in products and business processes and a plethora of areas where innovative ideas may be adequately utilized. Open innovation is basically a process which helps outsiders to join a particular process to engage in making creative inventions and discoveries. This is usually true

The Conflict between Profit-Making and Business Ethics Resulting in Essay

The Conflict between Profit-Making and Business Ethics Resulting in the Claims Made within the Article - Essay Example The report claims that by having the Olympic Branded products made within abusive sweatshops it makes a â€Å"mockery† of the claims made by London 2012 organisers that this summer’s Olympics will be the most ethical ever. 1.2- Who is the report intended for? The report is intended for the owner’s of the following six factories, PTShyang Yao Fung, Shyang Yao Fung, PT Parnarub Industry, PT Pancaprima, PT Golden Castle and PT Golden Continental. 1.3- Who asked for it? The Independent conducted the investigation. 1.4- What is the following report aiming to find out? The following report is aiming to examine the conflict between profit-making and business ethics whilst finding out if the claims made by The Independent’s investigation into the alleged sweatshops in Indonesia are making a ‘mockery’ out of the London summer Olympics and whether it is ethical. 2.0- Terms of reference: The report is intended for the owners of the Indonesian factories t o give findings and recommendations following an investigation from The Independent. The investigation was carried out because of claims from London Olympic organisers that ‘’this summer Olympics will be the most ethical ever.’’ 3.0- Procedure. ... 3.5- In total there were eleven people questioned within the article. 4.0- Findings: 4.1 –Indonesian factories have been contracted to produce Olympic branded clothing and shoes for the official sportswear partner of the London Olympics, which is the German company Adidas. These products are to be worn by athletes of Team Gb as well as games volunteers. 4.2 The German company Adidas hopes to make ?100 million pounds from its Olympic products. 4.3 An investigation carried out by The Independent has uncovered wide spread violations of workers rights in Indonesia. 4.4: From the investigation, The Independent has found out that the German company subjects its employees to long working hours, that is, they work for 65 hours which is 25 hours longer than what should be the case for a standard working week. 4.5 The employees of the German company are paid a very low pay and are mostly young females. 4.6 The German company is alleged to subject its employees to physical and verbal abu se and are punished in case they fail to achieve the production targets. 4.7 The Independent also found out that not a single factory among the nine factories of the Germany based company ensures that it pays its workers a living wage. 4.8 The report by the Independent unravelled that the Olympics Organising Committee (Locog) had adopted the base code set by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) that a living pay should be approximately 20 percent more than the officially recognised minimum wage of a country. 4.9 The investigations also revealed that the employees in the nine factories live in deplorable conditions where they have to skip meals to save money. 4.10 The working conditions have affected the families of the workers where some are separated from

ABC Orange Juice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

ABC Orange Juice - Essay Example They ought to understand their aim of advertising, the target, media and competitors. ABC must actively involve the public, customers or not, in any activity which presents a forum for the customers to make comments about their Juice. This helps develop referrals and positive word of mouth from satisfied customers. Stake holders are very vital for the overall performance and success of the business hence they must be involved too. The public relations team must make available this forum by participating in community activities and sponsorships, producing annual reports, brochures and newsletters. In addition, they may also initiate educational programs to enlighten the public on the need to use their juice instead of others. ABC Orange juice in a move to market their product will employ sales promotion techniques such as sales force promotion, trade promotions, business promotions and consumer promotions. They will give appropriate commissions to their sales agents to motivate them. They may also involve them in sales competition with prizes or awards. In business promotion, they need to organise seminars and workshops and trade show displays. They can as well appease their customers by offering on-pack offers, bonuses and loyalty

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example Studying organizational behaviour helps to explain, predict and control organizational development, and overall its performance. Organizational climate, on the other hand, ascribes to the observable, powerful force that defines the organization, thus, it can be said to stem from organizational behaviour as it sets the pace for the force. The customs, procedures, policies and practices are what define the organizational climate as these are perpetual. It is important to identify how these come about as such an understanding will help develop models that positively impact performance, behaviours and attitudes of among individuals and groups within the organization. For managers, understanding organizational climate becomes crucial when planning to undertake transformational change. This is because it is more measurable and definable than organizational culture as a tool for driving change. In gaining this understanding, management may gauge the perception of the employees by asking how they feel working there; weighing their level of morale and finding out if there is any goodwill in the business. By asking how the employees feel about working there, management can also deduce their sense of loyalty and belongingness to the organization. This will facilitate designing a strategy for change that will be easily embraced by the employees making it effective (Griffin and Moorehead 2010, p.472). Broken down, organizational climate, following the micro organizational theory, is defined using two relationships between the people and the organization; and between the superiors and subordinates. This lays emphasis on leadership as the most significant determinant of organizational climate. Other determinants include organizational culture, historical forces, standards of accountability, standards of behaviour, rewards, communication, trust and commitment, organizational networks and vision and strategies. Looking into these makes the concept of organizational culture more definable and facilitates modelling to improve performance, attitudes and behaviours. Often, managers focus on organizational culture, which is rather detached from the actual situation (Srivastava 2005, p.42). Leadership is the most significant determinant since a leader will influence the behaviour and expectations of every person within the organization. This may be outlined in two ways, the course followed by management and styles of leadership. A leader sets the climate within an organization going by how he engages with employees to gain their commitment as well as strategizing on the changes that need to be made in order to improve performance. The process of management ascribes to the relationships set by the organizational structure; that is, how superiors interact with their subordinates and vice versa. In addition, it refers to how management initiates change, bureaucracies, policies and procedures. For example, an organization that is reluctant to reward well-performing employees or invest in team-building activities will reflect a negative attitude from employees as they will have no commitment (The Kennedy Group n.d). Of importance as well, leadership practices employed when fostering a desirable organizational climate, that will in turn breed good organizational performance, should focus on competition as an external goal. That is, guiding employees to be better than their counterparts

Structure Of The Human Powered Aircraft And The Industry Literature review

Structure Of The Human Powered Aircraft And The Industry - Literature review Example 1 – 5). Thus, a capacity for flying over the longest possible distance on limited power available from humans is a critical measure of performance for small human powered aircraft and jump type hang gliders, which must maintain a low weight while ensuring a degree of stability, safety, controllability and structural soundness. Because one of the largest weight components of an aircraft is its primary structure, the proper design of aircraft structure for human powered aircraft and hang gliders remains a challenge that decides about the success or failure of a design. The appropriate design flight conditions and the structural loads caused by a flight are variable and not immediately apparent, with flight regime and manoeuvring requirements placing additional demands on aircraft structures. Thus, for hundreds of years, if not thousands, the idea of man-powered flight has inspired many brave men to design strange contraptions with which to rival the birds (Grosser, 2004, Pp. xvi i – xix). The International Worthing Birdman Competition is an annual event held in the picturesque Worthing Town, located on England’s South Coast that encourages creativity in design and innovation for human powered / glider type flying machines (Worthing Birdman, 2011,† Worthing International Birdman Festival†). ... Because of the limitations imposed on designs of aircraft that are eligible to participate in the Worthing International Birdman Festival, no single entry to date has succeeded in gliding over the required 100 m distance. This literature review presents an examination of designs for human powered aircraft and hang gliders that will most likely present a winning entry for the Worthing International Birdman Festival. An emphasis exists for deciding about the structure of the aircraft, and the literature review should appeal to all those with an interest in human powered aircraft and gliders. Because Para gliders are gliders with no rigid form and only a simple fabric wing, with a pilot attached to the wing with high-strength cords, these designs cannot meet the specifications mentioned for the Worthing International Birdman Festival (Demand Media, 2011, â€Å"What Are Three Different Glider Designs?†). The length of the high-strength cords in a Para glider design connected to th e pilot will not permit pilots to travel far after a jump from the pier before they land in the sea. Thus, this literature review only considers hang gliders and other human powered type structures, excluding human powered helicopters (which do not have a wingspan) that are more likely to provide a pilot with the maximum height to travel before landing in the sea to present a win in the competition. It is important to note that human powered helicopters must lift the weight of the human and power engine as well as the weight of the entire aircraft structure to demand exceptionally large and lightweight rotary wings that present great complexities to render such

Earthquake in Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Earthquake in Pakistan Essay Earthquake activity in Pakistan is mainly concentrated in the north and western sections of the country, along the boundary of the Indian plate and the Iranian and Afghan micro-plates. The Chaman Fault runs along Pakistans western frontier with Afghanistan from Kalat, in the northern Makran range, past Quetta and then on to Kabul, Afghanistan. A fault also runs along the Makran coast and is believed to be of the same nature as the West Coast fault along the coast of Maharashtra, India. An active subduction zone exists off the Makran coast. The great 1945 earthquake was centred in this region. This zone forms the boundary between the Arabian and the Iranian micro-plate, where the former subducts or dives beneath the latter. Thrust zones run along the Kirthar, Sulaiman and Salt ranges. There are four faults in and around Karachi and other parts of deltaic Indus, and Makran coast. The first is the Allah Bund fault that passes through Shahbundar, Jah, Pakistan Steel Mills, and runs through eastern parts of the city and ends near Cape Monz. This fault, in fact, has caused extensive damage in the past many centuries in the deltaic areas. The destruction of Bhanbhor in the 13th century and damage to Shahbundar in 1896 were caused by this fault. The other one emanates from the Rann of Kutchh. The third one is the Pubb fault which ends into Arabian sea near Makran coast and the last one is located in the lower Dadu district near Surajani and falls in the vicinity of Karachi. Tsunamis or tidal waves have also affected the coast of Pakistan. The worst case was in 1945 when an earthquake of magnitude 7. 9 struck the Makran coast, waves as high as 12 meters were reported.

Beowulfs Pagan and Christian Elements

Beowulfs Pagan and Christian Elements The unknown poet of Beowulf wrote about the Geats and the Danes, Germanic tribes who lived in pre-Christian times on the continent.   The plot of the story, therefore, has many references to pagan beliefs and superstitious customs. On the other hand, a man who lived in Anglo-Saxon England composed the poem; therefore, there are examples in the poem of Judeo-Christian beliefs. The poem, therefore, speaks of both Wyrd and God of both the Germanic Fate that directs mens lives to inevitable destruction and the Christian God who cares for the lives of His children. The poem fused Christian and Pagan ideals to reflect on the time and place in which it was written. Brodeur, the author of an article states a period in which the virtues of the heathen Heroic Age were tempered by the gentleness of the new belief; an age warlike, yet Christian. As a good Christian, the poet found himself faced with the task of treating this originally pagan material in a manner acceptable to a Christian audience (183). Brodeur helps us understand the context of the poem and begins to help answer they question, why it was written like this and how this plot was formed. Another important statement in the article was when Brodeur says a Christian perception of the insane futility of the primitive Germanic thirst for vengeance; and the facts that Beowulfs chief adversaries are not men but monsters and that the king of the Geats did not seek wars with their neighboring tribes may reflect a Christian appreciation for peace among humans (22). It was also a period in which people such as Hrothgar and his Daneswere punished for their idolatry (207). Throughout this poem, we see the cross between striving for a Christian God and fighting for pagan vengeance. Christianity and Paganism combined together created a holy ground on which Beowulf was built. Paganism is a belief defined as a person holding religious beliefs other than those of monotheistic. Some basic customs go along with this belief. One is the custom of worshipping a profusion of Gods. More than ninety percent of the time, it was in the form of a sacrifice. Another custom believes in fate and that is it supposed to control your destiny or duties in life. This is known as Wyrd. Another custom is beliefs in imaginary things like dragons and magic. In addition, they lived in a desolate tone. They believed in earth-bound view on life. Paganism came to be compared by Christians with a feeling of indulgence, speaking to the individuals who are arousing, materialistic, liberal, unconcerned with the future, and uninterested in religions that are more standard. Pagans were set out with admirable sense, to enjoy earth or himself. Again, believing in fate, if they were going for the worst they would look at it without bitterness. Lastly, they believed that fame was the only way for one to reach immortality. As you can see, majority of these customs are a little far-fetched. Some of these irrational ideas explains a lot of part we see in Beowulf.   Some pagan elements we see in Beowulf are Hrothgars peoples actions and basic pagan beliefs along with cultural importance and old tales. Christianity is a religious belief defined as one who received Christian baptism or is a believer in Jesus Christ and his teachings. This belief like Paganism, come with some basic customs. First, they believe in one God. They believe that afterlife exists and it is like a utopia. They also believe in prayer as a way to give thanks to God for helping us avoid evil. Lastly, they have an optimistic outlook that is centered on a man who devoted himself to overpowering evil to create a better world for his followers. Again, these rules play a major role and effect the use of Christian elements in Beowulf. Some examples in this poem are the narration, Hrothgars speech, the Queens speech, and Beowulfs speech. Again, these points in the poem are very important to the plot and it is impacted by religious beliefs. Narration was impacted heavily by Christianity and is found throughout the text of the poem. An example straight from the poem is when the narrator said A comfort sent by God to that nation (13-17). Here the narrator is talking about Beo. He is the son of Shield Sheafsons. He is also Hrothgars great-great grandfather. Another example is when the narrator says, The clear song of a skilled poet tellingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦how the Almighty had made the earth (81-98). Here, the narrator is describing scenes at Herot and it refers to God as the Almighty. They believe that he created the earth and that is derived from the Bible. These few examples of narration help prove other documents statements thinking how this poem has Christian elements. In Christina and Pagan Elements Edward B. Iriving Jr. states There are references to Gods creation of the universe, the story of Cain, Noahs flood, devils and hell, and the Last Judgment (177) Here, Edward B. Irving Jr. is telling us that they made referen ces to monumental moments in the catholic churchs history. The one that sticks out the most is Noahs Flood. It is a part in the church bible that represents the freedom our religion has fought for and gained. In the same article, the author also said, The date of Beowulf is much controverted, but are no conclusive arguments against dating the poem to the age of Bede, a date which was favored by a majority of Beowulf scholars of the last generation (179). Again, the author is providing critical facts helping us date the time of Beowulf and comparing it to the timing of the peak of Christian practice. Therefore, this could help us differentiate the reasons for creating the poem. Personally, one like myself could think that is poem is more centered around the Christian faith because there are just more facts proving it. Going against that, I believe there are only a few theories that prove hints of pagan faith because again, there are fewer facts in Beowulf and the pagan faith was a sh aky practice during the time and there are some confined and complete documents of practice, but it was not as strong as the Christian faith. In 1960, Margaret E. Goldsmith published The Christian Theme of Beowulf and continued along the same lines in several articles culminating in her 1970 book, The Mode and Meaning of Beowulf. She finds teachings of Augustine and Gregory in Hrothgars sermon and views the poem as a kind of Christian historical novel.   Here is just another documented book providing correct and accurate information based on research within Beowulf and based on the portion written by Edward B. Irving Jr. On the other hand, there are some possible and documented facts that compare to the Pagan faith that need to be mentioned. The Christian Language and Theme of Beowulf provides a good amount of information on this. Thomas D, Hill mentions a crucial element when he says Pagan is a word used in at least three different senses in discussing this problem: the literal, the vestigial, and the ethical (199) The first sense is more realistic than the others and refers to documented practices of pre-Christian religion in which Germanic people participated. Beowulf contains documented pagan rituals and the ritual that stands out the most are three accounts of pagan funeral rites. The second pagan area involves how pagan rituals and practices are preserved through poetry. This section is not as clear as the previous area, but it still does bring a good point to the table. For example, the soldiers in Beowulf wore helmets with painted boars on them and the boar was a sacred animal that belong to the Germanic God Freyr. The third area revolves around the ethics and morality of this practice. Therefore, this is actually the real cause of most arguments involving Christian elements and Pagan elements in Beowulf. Thomas D. Hill gives us the background of it when he says The fundamental ethical code of the poem is unmistakably secular: it is the warrior code of the aristocracy, celebrating bravery, loyalty, and generosity with the hero finding his own immortality in the long-lasting fame of great exploits carried out in this world (180). The archetype of the code is not word for word, but similar to the code of Iliad which is part of the Pagan religion. As you can see, there are both Christian and Pagan elements being fused into this poem and they are clearly separated. However, both Christian and Pagan elements are being fused together to form some representation of both religions into one object, person, or place. First, Beowulf can be viewed in multiple ways. He can be viewed in both religions, but he comes together to for one. A Christian figure and a Germanic Warrior are two ways that Beowulf could be looked at in this poem. He can be viewed as a Germanic Warrior for his constant fights. He is having his big brawls with a big monster Grendel, Grendels troll mother, and a big fire-breathing dragon. It is somewhat strange that he is doing all of this fighting because he grew up as a very mature boy. He was known for having great kingly qualities. He develops into a wise and effective ruler as he ages. A great way to put it is he starts out as a heroic monster fighter and transitions to a dependable king. That looks and sounds li ke a very impressive accomplishment. Likewise, it can be looked at as a transition from a Germanic Warrior to a Christian figure. The poem states Beowulf was quickly brought to the chamber: the winner of fights, the arch warrior, cam first-looking in with his fellow troops to where the king in his wisdom waited, still wondering whether Almighty God would ever turn the tide of his misfortunes. This great quote is from lines 1310 to 1315.   This is great to prove the point that he is a Christian figure because he is asking for the forgiveness of God. He wants to be forgiven and know that all of his wrongdoings are forgiven. These wrongs were mostly of him fighting. This passage suggests that the culture of the Anglo-Saxons had a touch of both Christians and fierce warriors. Therefore, this fits in perfectly to that question of which one was he. Overall, Beowulf can be seen within this culture because it has so many direct connections with it. In The Christian Language and Theme of Beowulf Thomas D. Hill talks well about the combination of the religions when he says Many scholars, and perhaps most ordinary readers, have simply accepted this odd blend of pagan story and Christian teller as perhaps illogical and somewhat puzzling on purpose and implications, but nonetheless the way the poem is (200). Here the author of this portion of this research book is explaining how to combination of these two religions to form Beowulf is a way to cause problems for the reader. Scholars feel the author intentionally tried to confuse the reader so they can pick a side between Christian and Pagan meanwhile; the author could have tricked them and combined the two. That is why it is necessary to read in between the lines. In conclusion, Christian and Pagan elements play an immense role in Beowulf. This poem offers many options for the reader to choose. It allows them or gives them the power to create their own version of the poem. It gives clear hint and examples of both religions and that is what makes it difficult to separate or decide where this poem originates. Maybe that is something that we should not find out. The author could be trying to leave the readers a message based on these facts. These examples of religious practices could be the key to finding what we know beyond our history. It keeps your mind open and gives the reader the right away to let their mind race and think about the composition of Beowulf. It is obvious that the Christian, Pagan question is tightly connected and that it will most likely not be fully proven or solved any time soon. However, based on what scholars know, the best guess to this author would have to be a Christian poet with a Pagan past. The thing that would hel p the most would know the date. This would lead to almost every unsolved question about Beowulf. Scholars have favored in educationally guessing the time during the later period. This later period is around the late tenth century going into the early eleventh century. On these grounds alone, however, scholars can make no firm decision about the birth date of Beowulf. Work Cited: Bjork, Robert E., and John D. Niles. Christian and Pagan Elements. A Beowulf Handbook.  Lincoln: U of Nebraska, 1997. 176-92. Print. Donoghue, Daniel, and Seamus Heaney. The Christian Language and Theme of Beowulf. Beowulf: A Verse Translation: Authoritative Text, Contexts, Criticism. New York: Norton, 2002. 198-201. Print. Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur Vengeance the Pagan and Christian Inspiration. Christian and Pagan  Elements of Beowulf. Pace University, Web. 19 Jan. 2017.

Monopolized Water Industry Advantages and Disadvantages

Monopolized Water Industry Advantages and Disadvantages Background and Development Under the Constitutions of Malaysia, water is the state matter and is one of the human needs to survive. The source of water usually comes from river, lake, wetland, oceans, ground water etc, but without a good filter or water quality controller, we cannot drink water which is unfiltered from the source of water. Every country or state has its own water industry to help in water quality control and water supply to all the resident area, industrials area etc. By 1950s, Malaya (Malaysia) had 100 treatments plants which produced 195 million litres of water to supply the population of 1.15 million daily. Demand for water had increased sharply during the years after independence in 1957, especially in the capital city. To cope with the rising demand for water, Malaya decided to build Klang Gates Dam and the Bukit Nanas Treatments plant in 1959 to end the water rationing and the long period of water shortage. Water development had since figured in Malaysia plans. During the period, the foc us was put on urban and suburban supplies. By implementing the 3rd Malaysia Plan (1976-1980), which was to redress the inequalities of policies, the water supply received a much needed boost. The number of household in Peninsular Malaysia received treated water in urban and rural areas, and the figure of household raised sharply from 23% in 1950 to 85% in 1990. By the mid of 1980s, due to the rising of the demand for water, there was not only a raising in household area, but also a new demand for water in a new sector – industries. The water industry called for water transfer from state on the other side of range, which was from Pahang to Selangor. At the end of 1999, there were a total of 69 dams in Malaysia. 35 dams have been developed for water supply usage. Dam in the Pedu, Kedah and Terengganu, which had combined storage capacity exceeds more than 20,000 million cubic metres. Terengganu corporatized its water supply industry in 1995, while Selangor, Kuantan and Johor cho ose to privatize its water supply. Looking through the current 8th Malaysia Plan, the development of water resources as in Water Resources Master Plan for the country will be up to 2050 which involves 62 major water projects such as raising the existing dams, build new dams, inter-state water transfer, new treatments plans, and identifying or exploring area for development (cited in A Glimpse at water supply in Malaysia (n.d.)). In Selangor and the Federal territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur, water supply distribution has been privatized. Selangor water supply is control by Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas). Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor has officially taken over operation and management of Perbadanan Urus Air Selangor, and Syabas is responsible for the water supply distribution and service in Selangor. On July 8th 1996, Syabas was incorporated under the Malaysian Companies 1965 to agree with the privatization of water supply services in the state of Selangor. Syabas is ever since responsible on the supply or distribution of water to over 7.8 million people and 1.9 million out of it are domestic consumers, commercials, factories, and industrial buildings in Selangor. Syabas operates have a stretch of about 26,705.79KM water pipes which were made by ductile iron, mild steel, cement, HDPE, asbestos, cast iron and UPVC ranging around from 100mm – 2200mm diameter. Besides, according to its offi cial website, Syabas owns 1528 of tower reservoirs, suction tank and service reservoirs. Syabas also owns about 589 booster pump stations in Selangor and 121,871 valves. The developments of Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) are Development Plan Submission which is eDPLAS System. Syabas as the water industry in Selangor is responsible to supply clean and high quality water to all the Selangor citizens. After the approval of Syabas to be a monopoly, Syabas proceeded with the development plan. All the applications submitted by developers and consultants were managed and monitored by eDPLAS system according to Syabas official website. It centralized the database where Syabas can district offices to view the same information. Besides, Syabas introduced Migration as an option for the apartment or condominium to migrate to individual water supply on certain conditions. Consumer can enjoy the tiered domestic rates of water charge which is RM0.57 for the first 20 cubic metres, RM1.38 per cubic metre for condominium and RM0.80 per cubic metre for low cost apartment. Characteristics SYABAS is the only water supply firm to households in Klang valley. The reason is because it has acquired a license from the government which is a legal barrier for it to function as a monopoly. SYABAS also invested a huge amount of money for its capital to start off as a monopoly. For this reason, there have been a lot of water companies trying to develop a business like how SYABAS does but they fail. Besides, the patents and licenses owned by SYABAS and were also the reasons why Syabas remains strong as the only water industry in Selangor. (Yuan, 2013) In this case, the monopolized water industry could use the power of economic profit to get the approval from politician. Politicians’ preference will lead to the problem of inequity for the consumers. (World of Economies , 2013) Since SYABAS is the only water supply firm in Klang valley, this will make it function as the price maker. SYABAS increased water tariffs up to 72% off the normal rate because there has no close substitutes for it. From here, it is making a good profit because they will only keep on providing enough water supply to be a steady profit producers and be the leader of this industry. (Selangor Kini, 2013) Besides, price discrimination is likely to occur when there is a monopoly such as SYABAS. The monopolized company targets and segments group into, for example, low class and high class. In this case, SYABAS charge different price according to different class to maximize it’s total revenue. It will charge RM0.80 per cubic metre for low cost apartment which is low class segment and RM1.38 per cubic metre for condominium which is high class segment. This is also a pricing strategy from SYABAS because there is no close water substitute for the consumers in Klang valley. (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) Benefits There are several benefits of having a monopoly in the water industry in Selangor, as they are highly motivated and publicly spirited as much as competitive industry. First, let us look at the economics of scale.( (Tejvan R Pettinger) When comparing a monopoly company such as Syabas with other water supply firms, Syabas has the advantage over firms due to their larger market territory and infrastructures. Example, if a smaller firm tries to compete with Syabas, it will have to invest in capital and infrastructures which will lead to heavy investment. By the time these firms start selling their water, the cost will be very high due to the repayment of the initial investment. Most household or office industry will avoid it, since there is an alternative to Syabas which will provide them with a cheaper price since the infrastructure has already been there. In the long run, these companies will face difficulties and may start making losses. It would be best to leave Syabas to monopolize the market, to avoid wasteful duplication of infrastructure. The second benefit that can be seen for monopoly is privatization , it was better off for the water supply to be manage by private companies such as Syabas rather than being handled by the Selangor state chief minister. Before Syabas was created in the year 1996, the Selangor state government was handling the water supply for the state very poorly as there were many issues such as fiscal constraints, inefficient administration, poor standard quality of water and inconsistency supply of water. Nevertheless, both the Selangor state government and federal for Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya granted Syabas to operate, manage, and distribution on clean water for a period on thirty years. Since then, Syabas has been responsible for distribution water supply over 7 million consumers in the federal territory and Selangor state. The third benefit of a monopoly is being a successful firm, though being inefficient and dynamic. (Tejvan R Pettinger) Syabas has delivered quality water by complying with government regulatory during the Concession Agreement in 2004. Moreover, Syabas has put in place a mechanism that respond to customer’s criticisms of poor quality water within the hour. The firm is also trying to change the public perception of water into instils public that the water is safe for consumption and is clean though its Water Quality Improvement Master Plan. Beside, that Syabas has put a mechanism called Standard Operating Procedures, which they improve their respond to pipe burst, leaks and monitoring and inspection of the Mains and Reservoirs. By following this sequence, Syabas has fewer breakdowns a, water supply distribution and it shows that Syabas is capable in handling any water crisis. Drawbacks While having a monopolized water industry— Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (SYABAS) brings a couple of benefits to us, there are also a few drawbacks of having a monopolized water industry in our state Selangor. First of all, when SYABAS is the only permitted water industry to supply water to areas around our region Selangor, it functions as the price maker and charges at a price above its marginal cost. For that, those whose willingness to pay is below the increased price wouldn’t value the change. Consequently, these people may choose to use lesser water to cut the cost. Therefore, the quantity produced and sold is allocatively inefficient at the monopoly price. In the context of Economics, when the inefficiency of allocation is presented in a graph, there will be a triangle region which is the surplus consumers and produces would’ve enjoyed if the allocation is efficient. This triangle region is called the deadweight loss. Besides of the occurrence of deadweight loss, the inefficient allocation of a monopoly would cause a part of the consumer surplus to become the producers’ surplus. That being said, the producers of a monopoly will always enjoy more surplus than the consumers do, theoretically. Furthermore, SYABAS knows well that since they are the only water industry in Selangor, the Selangor citizens wouldn’t be able to get any other close substitute (another water supply). Therefore, the company can easily exploit their consumers as the majority of the people would still buy their product (water) regardless of the price. A good example for the exploitation of consumers by SYABAS functioning as the monopolized water industry was the imposing of 72 percent increased water charges off the normal rate upon the residents of Pangsapuri Cendana (flat in Shah Alam, Selangor) on 21st January 2013. According to Selangor Kini (2013), the water charges were supposed to be RM0.80 per cubic metre for flats, but SYABAS had charged the residents of Pangsapuri Cendana at RM1.38 per cubic metre which seemed to be the water charges for apartments or condominiums. SYABAS tried to get away from the issue and refused to address any statement even after the residents involved made a few attempts to contact the SYABAS Officials. Moreover, a monopolized company usually has less incentive when it is the only firm and doesn’t have any competition in its market. SYABAS had been receiving tons of complaint calls from the consumers since the start of year 2013 according to Malaymail Online (2013). It was accused of being ‘unprofessional’ and ‘doesn’t give a proper answer’ by many consumers as Kishven Sirinezan, one of the consumers, claimed that the call operators of SYABAS had given him the reason of â€Å"burst pipes† when he had no water supply for three consecutive weeks. Besides, when a company is a monopoly, there is always a tendency of not taking the consumers’ welfare into account. For example, there has been a lot of water crisis happening in Selangor every year. As a monopolized water industry, it is SYABAS’ responsibility to make sure there’s always enough water supply for every household or industry in Selangor. However, SYABAS doesnà ¢â‚¬â„¢t seem to be focused on solving the problem nor does it try to cut down its cost and charge the consumers at a lower price. In addition, a monopoly can bring negative effects to households. In SYABAS’ case, when the monopolized water industry cannot afford to supply enough water and causes a water crisis at a certain period of time, the daily routines and budgets of people would be severely affected because we cannot drink, cook, and shower without water. Water crisis also brings inconvenience to the people affected. Besides, those who happen to run out of water have to spend extra money on buying mineral water and laundry service throughout the water rationing period. Last but not least, SYABAS as the only water industry in Selangor can also affect businesses in terms of their productions and profits during a water crisis. When the water supply is in shortage, some affected industries such as food processing industries might not have sufficient water to make enough productions during the time period. Therefore, they make losses. According to MySinChew (2014), 30 companies in Selangor such as Nestle, Monin Asia, and Panasonic (to name a few) suffered from huge losses due to the water crisis earlier this year. Among these 30 companies, Nestle was arguably facing the worst as the company made losses of RM15 million daily from the crisis. Conclusion As a conclusion, a monopoly is a single firm functions as the sole seller in its market without any competition. When it comes down to monopoly, different people have different opinions whether a single firm taking over the market is good or bad to the society. Based on the research that we did on Syabas, there are more drawbacks than benefits from the monopolized water industry. According to our research, it was reported that Syabas tried to exploit its consumers, has less incentive to improve its quality of product and services, and brings negative effects to households and businesses during a water crisis due to its inefficiency. For that, there are a few solutions suggested to solve these issues. First of all, since Syabas as the only water industry in Selangor is experiencing an economics of scale, the company should consider on improving the quality of its products and services. The monopolized water industry shouldn’t be using low quality materials to build the pipes wh ich distribute the water to us because these low-quality pipes will eventually be broken and cause leakage. When this happens, Syabas has to fix the broken pipes, and this subsequently leads to high-cost repairing. Furthermore, Syabas should frequently monitor the water dam level by investing in proper research and development. By doing so, they can prevent water crisis from happening and take a proper counter-measurement. Lastly, since Syabas is the only water contractor, it is highly unfair and unjustified for the company to exploit its consumer by charging them at an irrational price. For that, Syabas has to review its business strategy by making a proper budget arrangement and take the welfare of Selangor residence into account. Reference list 30 companies in Selangor suffer huge losses due to water crisis Mahdzir News Selangor water issue My Sinchew. (2014, November 10). Retrieved from http://www.mysinchew.com/node/103228 A glimpse of the water supply in Malaysia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.jba.gov.my/files/Semenanjung%20Malaysia.pdf Asset Management  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-asset-management#0 Development Plan Submission (eDPLAS System)  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/e-services/edplas-system Flat Residents Protest Against Syabas Increasing Water Charges By 72 Percent | Selangorku English. (2013, January 22). Retrieved from http://en.selangorku.com/3049/flat-residents-protest-against-syabas-increasing-water-charges-by-72-percent/ Ghani, A. (2014, April 21). 7 Things Malaysians Are Spending On This Water Rationing Period | CompareHero Yahoo News Malaysia. Retrieved from https://my.news.yahoo.com/blogs/comparehero/7-things-malaysians-spending-water-rationing-period-104011679.html Migration  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/highlight/migration-intro Monopoly | features, advantages, disadvantages. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dineshbakshi.com/igcse-gcse-economics/private-firm-as-producer-and-employer/revision-notes/1306-monopoly Murthy, A. (2013, July 2). Consumers hit out at Syabas complaints services | Malaysia | Malay Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/consumers-hit-out-at-syabas-complaints-services Operations  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-syabas-operation#0 Our Mission Vision  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-our-mission-vision#0 R Pettinger, T. (n.d.). Advantages of monopoly. Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.economicshelp.org/microessays/markets/advantages-monopoly/ SMS Data Logger  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/sms-data-logger# Water Quality Improvement Programme  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/consumer/water-quality-improvement-programme Water Quality  » Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn. Bhd. (1-800-88-5252). (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2014, from http://www.syabas.com.my/corporate/about-us-water-quality#0 World Of Economics: SYABAS a NATURAL MONOPOLY. (2013, July 8). Retrieved from http://worldofeconomics.blogspot.com/2013/07/is-syabas-monopoly.html

Why I Think They Should Legalize Pot :: essays research papers

Why I Think They Should Legalize Pot By Hagbard Celine There has recently been lots of contreversy over whether they should legalize marijuana, or not. I think they should, and there is lots of important evidence and reasons to support this. If drugs were legalized, this country would be a much nicer place to inhabit and for this reason and others, the government should stop cracking down on harmless pot users. Here are the reasons why weed should be legalized in the United States: First, our prisons are so full of drug users like harmless pot smokers and such that we do not have any place to stick real criminals. A friend of my brother's was killed by a drunk driver about three years ago when he went off to college. The guy who did it got community service time, and a year without his liscense. This is not justice, and changes need to be made. We can't throw every little pot head in jail just because they like grass. After all, it's not like it's cocaine or something, which should still be illegal. Second, marijuana is not even as bad as some of the stuff that's legal. You are more in control of your senses than when trashed, and not nearly as violent. Nobody has ever died directly from getting stoned. Smoking a joint is not as likely to cause cancer as a cigarette, and weed isn't addictive. In fact, there are very little bad sides to smoking marijuana. It doesn't even burn your throat as much when you smoke it in a bong as do cigarettes. Thirdly, if the price of pot went down quite a bit, then there would be no crime because of it. Pot would be very good for our economy, and pot farmers would make lots of money. It's easy to grow, hence the nickname "weed." And the price would drop so much that a dime bag would be a penny bag, and a 100-

Great Gatsby Essay -- essays research papers

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby is about a man named Gatsby, in love with a woman, Daisy, who is married to Tom Buchannan. He dreams that one day he and Daisy will get together. Gatsby has worked hard to become the man that he believes will impress Daisy. Even though he has an extravagant house, lots of money, and wild parties, he is without the one person he wants, Daisy. Even befriending Nick deals with Gatsby getting Daisy, because Daisy is Nick’s cousin. In a meeting arranged by Nick and Gatsby, Daisy is invited over for tea and she sees Gatsby. It seems as if time is suspended for a moment, as they look at each other both thinking something. Then Gatsby tips over Nick’s clock, symbolizing that he is running out of time to try to capture what he and Daisy once lost. Through the lonely and careless characters of: Jordan Baker Jay Gatsby, Myrtle, and G. Wilson, Fitzgerald is able to illustrate the lack of spirituality in this novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main place in The Great Gatsby that shows the lack of spirituality is the Valley of Ashes, where Myrtle and her husband, George Wilson live. It is a bleak, desolate valley including only one building, a car garage. One day while driving around Tom and Nick stop off at the valley to see Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Nick describes this valley as being: â€Å"about half way between West Egg and New York... a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens† (27). The co...

Disaster Recovery Plan Essay

This document outlines our policies and procedures for technology disaster recovery, as well as our process-level plans for recovering critical technology platforms and the telecommunications infrastructure. This document summarizes our recommended procedures. In the event of an actual emergency situation, modifications to this document may be made to ensure physical safety of our people, our systems, and our data. Our mission is to ensure information system uptime, data integrity and availability, and business continuity. OBJECTIVES The principal objective of the disaster recovery program is to develop, test and document a well-structured and easily understood plan which will help the company recover as quickly and effectively as possible from an unforeseen disaster or emergency which interrupts information systems and business operations. Additional objectives include the following: †¢The need to ensure that all employees fully understand their duties in implementing such a plan †¢The need to ensure that operational policies are adhered to within all planned activities †¢The need to ensure that proposed contingency arrangements are cost-effective †¢The need to consider implications on other company sites †¢Disaster recovery capabilities as applicable to key customers, vendors and others BACK UP STRATEGY Battle Creek, Michigan is susceptible to various natural disasters such as wild fires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. When it comes to data backup and restoration for the servers at DLIS after any given natural disaster, we recommend using the services of Carbonite for offsite vaulting. Their services include automatic backup, anytime anywhere access, easy file recovery, web-based dashboard, automatic video backup, free valet Install, U. S based support, unlimited computers, external drives and NAS devices, HIPAA Compatible, and unlimited Windows Servers. For email services we recommend using Outlook: email cloud. Migrating email to the cloud offers substantial financial savings and eliminates on-site mail system infrastructure. The company can avoid email server backups, shrink email support time, off-load maintenance, and bypass the need for server-based anti-virus, anti-spam and email filtering products, For email security, we recommend using Barracuda’s Email Security Service. They offer business continuity, security, data loss prevention, encryption, and optimized email. When a disaster strikes, Barracuda is prepared to forward emails to a secondary email server and spooling emails for up to 96 hours which ensures emails are delivered during disaster recovery situations. Their security uses the most advanced technology to block the latest spam, viruses, worms, and DoS attacks. For DLP (Data Loss Prevention), they scan emails and attachments for keywords like social security and automatically block or encrypt sensitive emails. Lastly, they provide the option for users to encrypt their emails while administrators can enforce encryption policies on classes of email. RISK MANAGMENT There are many potential disruptive threats which can occur at any time and affect the normal business process. We have considered a wide range of potential threats and the results of our deliberations are included in this section. Each potential environmental disaster or emergency situation has been examined. The focus here is on the level of business disruption which could arise from each type of disaster. Potential disasters have been assessed as follows: Potential Disaster Probability Rating Impact Rating Brief Description Of Potential Consequences ; Remedial Actions Flood 3 4 All critical equipment is located on 1st Floor Fire 3 4 FM200 suppression system installed in main computer centers. Fire and smoke detectors on all floors. Tornado 5 Electrical power failure 3 4 Redundant UPS array together with auto standby generator that is tested weekly ; remotely monitored 24/7. UPSs also remotely monitored. Loss of communications network services 4 4 Two diversely routed T1 trunks into building. WAN redundancy, voice network resilience Probability: 1=Very High, 5=Very LowImpact: 1=Total destruction, 5=Minor annoyance PLAN TRIGGERING EVENTS Key trigger issues at headquarters that would lead to activation of the DRP are: Total loss of all communications Total loss of power Flooding of the premises Loss of the building ASSEMBLY POINTS Where the premises need to be evacuated, the DRP invocation plan identifies two evacuation assembly points: †¢Primary – Far end of main parking lot; †¢Alternate – Parking lot of company across the street ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM When an incident occurs the Emergency Response Team (ERT) must be activated. The ERT will then decide the extent to which the DRP must be invoked. All employees must be issued a Quick Reference card containing ERT contact details to be used in the event of a disaster. Responsibilities of the ERT are to: †¢Respond immediately to a potential disaster and call emergency services; †¢Assess the extent of the disaster and its impact on the business, data center, etc. ; †¢Decide which elements of the DR Plan should be activated; †¢Establish and manage disaster recovery team to maintain vital services and return to normal operation; †¢Ensure employees are notified and allocate responsibilities and activities as required. DISASTER RECOVERY TEAM The team will be contacted and assembled by the ERT. The team’s responsibilities include: †¢Establish facilities for an emergency level of service within 2.  0 business hours; †¢Restore key services within 4. 0 business hours of the incident; †¢Recover to business as usual within 8. 0 to 24. 0 hours after the incident; †¢Coordinate activities with disaster recovery team, first responders, etc. †¢Report to the emergency response team. EMERGENCY ALERT, ESCALAT ION, AND DRP ACTIVATION This policy and procedure has been established to ensure that in the event of a disaster or crisis, personnel will have a clear understanding of who should be contacted. Procedures have been addressed to ensure that communications can be quickly established while activating disaster recovery. The DR plan will rely principally on key members of management and staff who will provide the technical and management skills necessary to achieve a smooth technology and business recovery. Suppliers of critical goods and services will continue to support recovery of business operations as the company returns to normal operating mode. EMERGENCY ALERT The Emergency Response Team (ERT) is responsible for activating the DRP for disasters identified in this plan, as well as in the event of any other occurrence that affects the company’s capability to perform normally. One of the tasks during the early stages of the emergency is to notify the Disaster Recovery Team (DRT) that an emergency has occurred. The notification will request DRT members to assemble at the site of the problem and will involve sufficient information to have this request effectively communicated. The Business Recovery Team (BRT) will consist of senior representatives from the main business departments. The BRT Leader will be a senior member of the company’s management team, and will be responsible for taking overall charge of the process and ensuring that the company returns to normal working operations as early as possible.

Islamization Under Zia Ul Haq Essay

When General Zia-ul-Haq took over as the Chief Martial Law Administrator on July 5, 1997, Islamization was given a new boost. General Zia-ul-Haq was a practicing Muslim who raised the slogan of Islam. The Islamic sentiment has always been fully alive in Pakistan. Various governments have used this to their benefit. There are people who doubt Zia’s reasons for raising the Islamic Slogan; whether it was for political purposes to counter balance Bhutto’s appeal or was it to enforce Islam in its true sense. In his first address to the nation, he declared that Islamic laws would be enforced and that earnest attention would be devoted towards establishing the Islamic society for which Pakistan has been created. General Zia wanted to bring the legal, social, economic and political institutions of the country in conformity with the Islamic principles, values and traditions in the light of Quran and Sunnah, to enable the people of Pakistan to lead their lives in accordance to Is lam. On December 2, 1978, General Zia-ul-Haq delivered a nationwide address on the occasion of the first day of theHijra calendar. He did this in order to usher in an Islamic system to Pakistan. In the speech, he accused politicians of exploiting the name of Islam, saying that â€Å"many a ruler did what they pleased in the name of Islam.† After assuming power and arresting former leader Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on charges of murder, the task that the government was facing was how to gain legitimacy. Since the Islamist parties were already against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, they had the most influence on Zia-ul-Haq’s government. It was announced the government would enforce Nizam-e-Mustafa (Islamic System), a 180 degree turn from Pakistan’s predominantly parliamentary law, as a preliminary measure to counter what he saw as a lack of true Islam in Pakistan. Sharing the ideology of the Wahabi sect, Zia advocated purging Islam of what he considered to be impurities and innovations. He wanted to create a hard line Sunni Islamist state. His reforms were popular with Hanafi and Shia sects who faced widespread discrimination and human rights abuses during his rule. Significant and systematic changes aimed at Islamizing the legal system were initiated in 1979 and carried out under General Zia-ul-Haq. This process not only introduced religious and gender biases in Pakistan’s laws but also brought about far-reaching institutional changes in the country’s judicial system. Zia’s Islamization drive was ardently supported by religious parties,  particularly the Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), which emerged as one of his regimes key coalition partners. JI’s founder, Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, endorsed Zia’s Islamization efforts and described them â€Å"as the renewal of the covenant between the government of Pakistan and Islam† (Haqqani, 2005, p.139). In turn, Zia’s support and patronage of the JI allowed the party to gain a foothold in the government so much so that crucial ministries, such as the Ministry of Information, were allocated to JI nominees. However, state sponsored Islamization intensified sectarian divisions between the Sunnis and the Shias 1 who opposed the application of the Hanafi fiqh in areas such as Zakat (Islamic tax) rather than Ja’fari fiqh, which they follow. The Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh-e- Jafari (INJF-Movement for the Establishment of the Shia Fiqh) was formed in 1979 and led Shia opposition to some of the measures instituted by Zia (Talbot, 2005). The Islamic conservatism and the Islamic state became Zia’s primary policy of his military government. Intensified Islamic Policies to radicalize the country had the West worried. The secular socialist orientation and socialist economics process was an attempt to upset to Pakistan’s order of operation on a routine life, as Zia maintained. General Zia rejected Bhutto’s philosophy and was reported to highly hostile of Bhutto’s philosophical rationale, â€Å"Food, Clothing, and Shelter.† General Zia defended his policies in an interview in 1979 given to British journalist Ian Stephens, as he puts it. â€Å"The basis of Pakistan was Islam. The basis of Pakistan was Muslims in the subcontinent are a separate culture. It was the Two-Nation Theory that carved out of the subcontinent as Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto’s way of flourishing way of this Society was by eroding its moral fiber. Mr. Bhutto eroded the moral fiber of the society by pitching students against teachers, children against their parents, landlord against tenants, workers against mill owners. Pakistanis not incapable of economic productions. It is because Pakistanis have been made to believe that one can earn without working. We are going back to Islam not by choice but by the force of circumstances. It is not I or my government that is imposing Islam. It was the 99 percent of people wanted; the street violence against Bhutto reflected the people’s desire of wanting just as the campaign for Pakistan Movement. I am just giving the people what they want.† In 1983, Nusrat Bhutto reasoned General Zia’s policies as she puts it: â€Å"The (scream) and the horrors of 1971 war†¦.  are (still) alive and vivid in the hearts and the minds of people of [Pakistan]†¦. Therefore, General Zia insanely†¦. used the â€Å"Islam [card]†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. to ensure the survival of his own regime†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The Government of Zia-ul-Haq took a number of steps to eradicate non-Islamic practices from the country. He introduced the Zakat, Usher, Islamic Hadood and Penal code in the country. Prohibition Order Drinking of wine (i.e. all alcoholic drinks) was not a crime at all under the Pakistan Penal Code. In 1977, however, the drinking and selling of wine by Muslims was banned in Pakistan and a sentence of imprisonment of six months or a fine of Rs. 5000/-, or both, was provided in that law. Under the Prohibition Order, these provisions of law were replaced by the punishment of eighty stripes, for which an ijma of the companions of Muhammad ever since the period of the Second Caliph Omar was cited. However, the law does not apply to non-Muslims, who can possess a license to drink and/or manufacture alcoholic beverages from the government. Prayer timings Instructions were issued for regular observance of prayers and arrangements were made for performing noon prayer (Salat Al Zuhur) in government and quasi-government offices and educational institutions, during office hours, and official functions, and at airports, railway stations and bus stops Reverence for fasting Ordinance An â€Å"Ehtram-e-Ramazan† (reverence for fasting) Ordinance was issued providing that complete sanctity be observed during the Islamic month of Ramazan, including the closure of cinema houses three hours after the Maghreb (post-sunset) prayers. Definition of Muslim By amending the constitution, General Zia also provided the following definition of a Muslim and a non-Muslim * (a) â€Å"Muslim† means a person who believes in the unity and oneness of Almighty Allah, in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophet hood of Muhammad, the last of the prophets, and does not believe in, or recognize as a prophet or religious reformer, any person who claimed to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description, whatsoever, after Muhammad. * (b) â€Å"Non-Muslim† means  a person who is not a Muslim and includes a person belonging to the Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, or Parsi community, a person of the Qadiani Group or the Lahori Group [i.e. Ahmadis] or a person belonging to any of the scheduled castes. A Federal Shariah Court was established to decide cases according to the teachings of the Holy Quran and Sunnah. Appeals against the Lower and High Courts were to be presented before the Shariah Court for hearing. Blasp hemy of the Holy Prophet (S. A. W.) would now be punishable by death instead of life imprisonment. Zia-ul-Haq selected his Majlis-i-Shoora in 1980. It was to be the Islamic Parliament and act as the Parliament of Pakistan in place of the National Assembly. Most of the members of the Shoora were intellectuals, scholars, ulema, journalists, economists and professionals belonging to different fields of life. The Shoora was to act as a board of advisors for the President. A number of other Islamization programs were carried out including the teaching of Islamic Studies and Arabic, which were made compulsory. Pakistan Studies and Islamic Studies were made compulsorily for B. A., B. Sc., Engineering, M. B. B. S., Commerce, Law and Nursing students. For professional studies, extra marks were given to people who were Hafiz-e-Quran. General Zia-ul-Haq wanted to make Pakistan the citadel of Islam so that it could play an honorable and prominent role for the Islamic world. The steps taken by General Zia were in this direction and had a long-term impact; the Zakat tax introduced by General Zia still holds and so does many of his the other laws. On the other hand Islamization was sometimes used as a political process. Zia’s interpretation of Islam may have contributed to the rise of fundamentalism, obscurantism and retrogression. Since the death of General Zia in 1988, inconsistency and instability has prevailed in Pakistani laws. Instability means that the law is frequently changing or is under threat of change because of differences of opinion among the ruling factions. Three of the most obvious inconsistencies in Zia’s Islamic law are: * Those between legal norms and socially observed norms; * Those between statutory legal norms and the norms applied in practice in the courts (e.g. Hadd is difficult to implement as confession, retraction of confession and strict standards of proof make it difficult to execute); *  Those between different formal legal norms (e.g. non-compliance with the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance is compromised by the courts but is strictly punished under the Zina Ordinance). Another example of this contradiction is that the constitution assures women equal status on the one hand but, on the other hand, they are greatly discriminated in criminal law. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008316story_16-3-2008_pg3_3 http://ijazulhaq.com/zia/biogrophy1.html http://www.rationalistinternational.net/Shaikh/blasphemy_laws_in_pakistan.htm

Mis at Coca Cola

Management Information Systems at The Coca-Cola Company Lewis Bianco Professor Rampersad CMS 315 Due: 12/7/10 As a world-wide leader in the soft drink and beverage industry, Coca Cola maintains a vast corporate and industrial structure which serves to run the business as smoothly as possible, and enhance all around internal performance. To make this happen, and to grow to where Coca Cola is as a business today, they have amassed a large variety of products, and reached deeply into the global market with these products.Some useful stats which help to realize the corporate landscape of The Coca-Cola Company are as follows: as of 2009 the company employed 92,800 people, featured a line of 3,300+ beverages, boasted 48 consecutive years of increased dividends, and had its products being sold in over 200 different countries (The Coca-Cola Company, 2009). However, all of this expansion and growth as a business could not take place without significant internal structuring.The corporate struc ture of Coca-Cola utilizes a mix of high end technology and computer systems, collaboration with bottling companies and retailers which exists on a large and impressive scale, as well as a massive focus on advertisement that is constantly on the competitive edge and the horizon of social developments in order to represent their products most efficiently to customers.Customers are of course, the final and most important link in this chain, and Coca-Cola has excelled at finding new and creative ways to reach its customers, while at the same time growing and expanding as a business in order to retain its position as the global leader in its industry. An example of Coca Cola’s extremely large dominion over the beverage industry comes in the form of a statistic, one of several important statistics found on the Coca Cola corporate website which states that according to a 2009 study, people worldwide consumed an average of 1. billion servings of Coca Cola products per day (The Coca- Cola Company, 2009). In order to manage all of this capital effectively, Coca-Cola employs a highly technological, highly structured system that includes 300 bottling companies independent of Coca-Cola. The company works essentially by producing the syrups, concentrates, and base products used in Coca-Cola beverages. This is the main purpose of the Coca-Cola Company, along with advertisement and management. After the syrups and bases are manufactured, they are shipped to any of the 300 bottling companies, who finish and package the final product.In this way, Coca-Cola is able to exist on a global level, while still working with local bottling companies. This is an efficient way to manage such a huge distribution operation, and although corporate oversight obviously still exists to a certain extent, it breaks the huge process of distribution up into smaller, more manageable chunks which improve the over-all efficiency of the company. Bottling partners are for the majority not owned b y Coca-Cola, and the company prides itself on allowing bottling partners to work completely independently in most cases.An important stat which highlights this corporate relationship between Coca-Cola and bottlers can be found in the Coca Cola 2007 Investor’s Review, where in a pie graph entitled â€Å"Company’s 2007 Worldwide Unit Case Volume by Bottler Relationship† it shows that a majority 54% of its bottling operation is in non-controlling equity interest. The other portions of Coca Cola’s unit case volume are as follows: 25% – no ownership interest, 10% – controlling interest, and 11% – â€Å"other† which includes foodservice operations as well as the production of juice and sports drinks (The Coca-Cola Company, 2007).As we can see, the importance of these â€Å"bottling partners† cannot be underestimated, as it is their responsibility to manufacture the product and package it to vendors, who are the next key member in the structure of The Coca-Cola Company. The vendors are less intimately involved with the workings of the company as a whole but are equally important as it is their job to actually sell the products to customers. In this way, we see that the organizational structure that exists from within and without The Coca-Cola Company is elegantly simple, and is prosperous for bottling companies who are allowed to take part in the ompany without being owned by it. This is definitely something that most consumers don’t know about Coca-Cola, but it is a defining factor that makes the company what it is today. It is obviously important to understand how this relates to management information systems and in the sense of that term, without such systems in place the process by which information is gathered that is needed to make decisions on behalf of 300 independent bottlers as well as retailers would be a much less easily manageable task.The Coca-Cola Company also has a unique relations hip with its retailers and vendors, the people who actually sell its products. Through Coca-Cola’s superb information management, they are able to reliably track information about their products and make adjustments to their business strategy accordingly online accordingly. We see that management information systems are perfectly suited to a task like this as it allows Coca-Cola to gather bulk data on sales and details on the nature of those sales.This insight into the market is a big reason why it is possible for Coca-Cola to operate on such a large level with independent businesses working together in this way. The information gained through the use of management information systems is utilized by Coca-Cola in several different levels of the business structure which was mentioned in detail earlier.A simple and effective way of summing up this process is laid out in the publication â€Å"Management Information Systems, Controller’s Handbook† by the where it sta tes â€Å"MIS also enhances job performance throughout an institution. At the most senior levels, it provides the data and information to help the board and management make strategic decisions. At other levels, MIS provides the means through which the institution's activities are monitored and information is distributed to management, employees, and customers. (Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks). With this information, and general knowledge on the matter it is easy to see that this method of gaining large amounts of data is becoming an industry standard by necessity and those businesses who utilize management information systems will have a competitive edge in their markets. This is due to the foresight that this data offers into who is buying products, how many are being bought, and where they are being bought.Another important area where management information systems come into play with The Coca-Cola Company is that of online sales, and especially in to day’s market no major business can afford to disregard this tool. As many companies do in today’s industry, Coca-Cola chose to find another business to help organize and run their e-commerce sector. This company’s job is to essentially serve as a massive inventory center for Coca-Cola, in order to help with their distribution and shipping of products that customers may buy online.The shift towards the importance of e-commerce created a change in the marketplace that successful companies were able to adapt to early on. The most noticeable change that companies had to undergo after the rise of e-commerce was the fact that focus and control shifted from the retailer to the customer in online markets. No longer were retailers allowed to choose the hours during which customers could purchase things, and the demand could not be affected by how much any given retailer ordered for stock.With the online shopping experience, the companies themselves had to bend to the wil l of the customer in an even more in depth way than ever before. With this challenge of course came the necessity for increased data from online sales. A company like Coca-Cola has prospered very well from a combination of using all possible information to react to the changing market, as well as utilize some of the same practices that make them so successful with offline sales.Perhaps the biggest perk to having the internet at Coca-Cola’s disposal for the purposes of collecting and utilizing data is the fact that the speed of the internet can make for a much smoother over-all operation. As it is stated in the book â€Å"E-Commerce† by Ritendra Goel, â€Å"delays in inventory tracking and management can ripple from the cash register all the way back to raw material production, creating inventory shortages at any stage of the value chain.The internet promises to increase business efficiency by reducing reporting delays and increasing reporting accuracy. Speed is clearl y the business imperative for the value chain† (Goel, 2007). This is a very important concept to understand as it shows how important the collection of up to date data is for a company like Coca-Cola, especially when the nature of their corporate structure contains over 300 independent bottlers and even more numbers of vendors and retailers. Effective management of all of this data is what allows this unique structure to prosper.Being a global leader in its market, The Coca-Cola Company is in a unique position as a business. It has over 80 years of history behind it, and in that time has grown to become one of the most recognizable names in the world when it comes to beverages. Because of this, they can accelerate past much of the research and development that younger, less established companies must undergo. However, with such a huge business, the need for effective and fast data collection and storage is absolutely imperative.The unique structure of the business, with Coca-C ola primarily making syrups and concentrates, while 300 bottling companies make the finished product calls for even more careful management and analyses of this data in order to turn these numbers and figures into profit. After researching into what makes this company tick it is easy to see how Coca-Cola has become so successful in today’s market.Bibliography Comptroller of the Currency Administrator of National Banks. (n. d. ). Management Information Systems Controller's Handbook. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from Office of the Comptroller of the Currency : http://www. occ. gov/static/publications/handbook/mis. pdf Goel, R. (2007). E-Commerce. New Age International . The Coca-Cola Company. (2009). Growth, Leadership, and Sustainability. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from The Coca-Cola Company: http://www. thecoca-colacompany. com/ourcompany/index. html The Coca-Cola Company. (2007). The Language of Refreshment 2007 Annual Review . Executive Communications, The Coca-Cola Company .