SWOT Analysis Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SWOT Analysis - Case Study Example Prior to the implementation of this strategy, the company had been in financial trouble. The admission of this issue had lead to a decrease in the employee's happiness, and then eventually, this lead to a labor relations issue. Acme, because of its business type, had to employ a wide variety of different workers because of its use of highly skilled technology. Therefore, it had geologists, geophysicists, engineers, (referred to as "the brains")as well as semiskilled labor (referred to as "the brawn") working together to create a functional business. In 1994, these two different levels of employees clashed in a very serious way that also became distressingly public. Engineers at the plant in Wichita locked out union workers and left them outside in the hot Kansas summer. The press got a hold of the story and the media went awry with the issue, and most employees felt that the press went far overboard with its push of the story. However, the bad publicity caused a change of the chief e xecutive, and Bill Daniels was brought in. Daniels displayed talent previously and had experience with teamwork and change. He wound up being a very good selection for the company. Daniels was good with the media, for one, so he was able to deflect some of the bad publicity. Second, he was able to restore the hurting company within his first year by getting rid of unnecessary parts of the business to save money. He was able to change management's tactics and created a shared-services department which focused on total quality management, and Jimenez became in charge of this group. Daniels had wanted Jimenez to improve the moral at the company's five extraction sites, as morale was low all around. Wichita was the only site where things had come to such a head, but the two individuals still felt that all sites needed to be considered in this re-organization project. Jimenez was ready to go; she had an M.B.A. and had also worked with a consulting firm prior to coming to Acme. She had worked at Acme for ten years, and had much experience with the company. She was provided with a team to assist her and she focused on a morale strategy. First, they team focused on Wichita, which had been the company's severe problem area. The plant had other issues other than the "brains" and the "brawn" infighting in the company; the plant was also performing below average, and the former CEO had considered getting rid of the plant altogether. All the change programs the old management had tried had failed, but Jimenez felt that these program's failures were fairly predictable since they had posed unrealistic expectations in the first place. With this in mind, Jimenez was able to fix the labor relations problem. Things were not as smoothly as they could have been, but the plan still worked and things were successful overall. Daniels had bragged about this early suc cess to the stakeholders and ensured that this success could be performed at the other plants. When moving the strategy to Lubbock, Jimenez could have been overconfident. She sent one of her people out there with two other staff in order to implement the strategy. Several problems began to occur after that. In Lubbock, issues that hadn't occurred in Wichita began to occur. The employees seemed reluctant to participate in any of the problem-solving and team-building concepts the company had put

The programme for the harmonisation of Company Law in the European Essay

The programme for the harmonisation of Company Law in the European Union - Essay Example The first Commission Proposal for a Publicity Directive can be traced back to the year 1964, and the beginning of the EC harmonisation in Company Law is marked by the issuance of this First Directive in the year 1968. The first directive aimed at harmonising publicity prerequisites applying to companies, the conditions under which company transactions will be considered valid and the rules relating of the nullity of companies. The Second Directive, issued eight years later, deals with the establishment of public limited liability companies and the maintenance and adjustment of their capital. Also, it had an approach different from the first directive— many of the provisions lay down elaborate procedures rather than simply directing the Member States to make legislations to a certain end. Thus, for this reason, it has been the object of criticism in some circles. However, undeniably, this directive is of immense importance, represents a significant step towards company law harmonization in the European Community. Soon after the Second Directive, the Third and Fourth directives were issued. The Third company law directive presented a new framework for conducting cross-border commercial activities. It had provisions for co-ordination of the procedures applying to internal mergers within Member States. The Fourth directive was concerned with disclosure of financial information and the contents of a company’s annual accounts. It acts complementarily with the First Directive and is supplemented by the Seventh Directive, which deals with group accounts.

Pricing and the UK Supermarket Industry

Pricing and the UK Supermarket Industry In this chapter the background of the topic and the discussion about research problems of the thesis are introduced as well as the purpose and delimitations of the study. They will be described and examined in order to enhance the understanding of our intention for the research and its boundaries. 1.1 Background Pricing is an exercise ,rather an integral part of economic decision making regarding what the seller or the producer can expect to receive in exchange for the manufactured products or the intangible services. (reference) In economic sense, a lot of micro and macro factors go into bearing their consequences for price determination vis a vis the level of demand in the particular market. Pricing theory ,since its inception has researched the absolute and evolving nature of pricing decisions to be made and executed by various stake holders in the economic system.(reference) In business enterprises ,the pricing decisions are no doubt the most significant decisions which not only have consequences for marketability, ability to meet or not to meet the current levels of demand ,the level of competition ,the sustenance and survival of the entity, but also in turn determines the cash inflows, business viability and the very economic supply chains, value chains and virtually the entire economic system and its performance over periods of time as well. The financial modeling in financial analysis as well as the marketing mix, all insists on just the right pricing to capture consumers surplus and in turn generate the monetary resources for enterprise to sustain and evolve . The pricing is the sole decision which brings in money, everything else is just cost  [1]  . The British Super Markets A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments. It is larger in size and has a wider selection than a traditional grocery store and it is smaller than a hypermarket or superstore  [2]  . (journal/book reference rather than Wikipedia) Supermarkets have their roots in the 19th century Co-operative movement through which groups of local retailers would come together to sell affordable food under the control of consumer members (reference). The first co-operative was founded in Rochdale, Lancashire in the 1840s. Subsequently co-operatives across the North of England came together to form the Co-operative Society in order to allow the purchasing goods in bulk  [3]  . In the United Kingdom, first supermarket emerged under the new Premier Supermarkets brand in 1951, taking ten times as much per week as the average British general store of the time. Other chains caught on, and after Galvani lost out to Tescos Jack Cohen in 1960 to buy the 212 Irwins chain, the sector underwent a large amount of consolidation, resulting in the big four dominant UK retailers of today: Tesco, Asda (owned by Wal-Mart), Sainsburys and Morrisons  [4]  . (reference apart from Wikipedia) The major chains have been opening ever-larger format stores, with Asda and Tesco in particular opening hypermarkets. The major grocery retailers have diversified into non-food retail, online shopping, and other activities unrelated to shopping.The industry structure has now evolved. The on going consolidation and mergers and acquisitions as well as development of monopoly is rendering a new shape to the industry. The bigger the supermarket chain, the more ability it has to abuse its market position and put pressure on other parts of the food chain  [5]  . (reference apart from tescopoly) The Leading supermarkets Tesco – Tesco became the market leader in 1995 and has continued to increase its market share ever since, reaching a staggering 31.5% market share in 2006 Asda – Asdas business is more focused on hypermarkets and out-of-town stores than the other UK chains, in the model of Wal-Mart, which bought it in 1999. Sainsburys – neck and neck on market share with Asda, Sainsburys slipped since being the top retailer in the UK but is now doing well. Morrisons Morrisons became the fourth supermarket chain when it acquired the majority of Safeway stores in 2005. Marks Spencer – MS has 450 stores in the UK, and a further 150 worldwide. The Co-operative Group – The Co-op has a total market share of around 5%. Retailers today face many challenges: keeping costs low and supply chain efficiencies high; protecting their brand and reputation; responding rapidly to changing consumer tastes; expanding their reach to penetrate new markets and compete from a position of strength; and greening their operations . (reference) Approaches to pricing Change has become the universal constant. There were times in British organized retail industry ,when the economic dominance over global economic systems was unchallengeable. In the post-recession period since the 2008,the economic realities have undergone transition. The same pricing decisions now needs re interpretation in wake of emerging economic complexities and financial crisis. The economic questions remain the same yet environment is different .The most basic question is regarding the quantum of allocation of manufactured product or the service or the probable creation of value for consumer. Then comes the objectives and the motives before cornering on a specific price.(reference) Profit maximization or cost-plus pricing or demand based or value-based pricing or rate of return pricing, or competitor indexing. The intentions to provide local flavor-different prices at different locations can be another strategy.(reference) The efficient market mix calls for market share development ,incorporating the information and demand based asymmetries as well as cornering the competitor. Marketing age and dependency of consumers herald yet another dimension in pricing. Oligopolistic attempts to retain market share can be visible in form of price maintenance, price collusion, or price discrimination. More than that the microeconomic factors like production costs, extent of competition , role of state and demand elasticities do creep in.T he value chain costs and methods of payments as well as associated lateral costs can also figure up. (reference) After all , a well-designed pricing strategy needs to help the organization achieve the economic objectives and financial goals. Along with this it should make the business motives achievable .In addition to this it needs to support a products positioning and be consistent with the other variables in the marketing mix . Evolution and Prevalence The capitalistic – socialistic economic divide is no longer feasible. The market structure is in itself much more complex than ever. The attempts to single out one strategy no longer seems to be practical.Thinkers and philosophers are coming up with new theoretical inputs to the change. The law of one price (hereafter LoP) , one of the most basic laws of economics and yet it is a law observed in the breach  [6]  . Demanding two prices for same product in one market for exactly the same good—is so simple as to invite complication. Changes in ways to approach the problem do happen. Economists come up with new theoretical rationale behind the current problems . LoP has undergone restatement  [8]  .The dynamics of information availability or non-availability seems to be the under current behind price variability. The philosophy of price variation seems to have revolutionized after the Barzels innovation. Most commodity exchange agreements consist of an explicit, objectively measured contractual component enforced by the state, and an implicit, subjective component enforced by reputations. Becoming informed about the former is relatively easy, but becoming informed about the latter is not  [9]  . Buyers do not fully adjust for differences in the reputational component of similar commodities. This gives sellers discretion in setting prices, and we expect prices to diverge even at equilibrium. Costless information, along with competition, yields the LOP. LoP is based on greed , homogeneity of goods and speed to equilibrium  [11]  : A. Multiple sellers at one spot to ensure competition at each location. B. Standardized, bulk sale commodities with specialized traders, for which ready credit is available. C. Rapid attainment of equilibrium. Yet the practical observation clearly suggests that , even if all commodities were goods, the sheer volume of goods makes the collection, compilation, storage and transmission of data so costly that we will never get individual data, only indexes and aggregates. Then the trend of modern consumerism is toward more personalized products, which not only increases the number of goods to be considered but also makes price discrimination more likely. Further , all modern economies are moving away from mass produced manufactured goods and toward services. This clearly complicates the pricing tactics . it appears to be in the interest of sellers to acquire one degree of information beyond that acquired by consumers—-hence there will always be some room for the sellers to manipulate consumers and violate the LoP in the process  [12]   1.2 Problem Definition The master thesis covers the topic of how same product-†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. being priced at three different retail chains(†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦) , in †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..area in †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. In todays environment customers are becoming more demanding in terms of better service, including reliability and faster delivery. Pricing in itself is being viewed with competitive advantage aspect. Yet the availability and non-availability of information can bring about the LoP. There seems to be no validity for the argument that increasing information processing capacities will bring about the end to price variation across the considered retail chains in †¦..area in †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. An underlying reason for the importance of the chosen topic lies in evaluating the reasons behind the price variations across the †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦as well as providing superior pricing strategy inputs which is the main foundation for a sustainable competitive advantage. 1.3. Research Methodology In this paper, the researcher will investigate into product differentiation used by the retailers to charge different prices for same products to different customers, using the case of supermarkets†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. in †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Area across †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..city. The study will adopt triangulation method to carry out the research. Given the time and resource limitation, a convenience sampling method will be used. Observations regarding the prices of different products sold by the three leading supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury and Waitrose will be made and analyzed. The final result will be achieved by combining the existing qualitative theories with the observation and analyses of the data collected. 1.4 Research Objectives The paper intends to carry out an assessment of product differentiation used by different supermarkets in order to charge different prices for the same products. The basic research objectives of this study are: To understand the rationale behind pricing To understand what affects pricing in the chosen supermarkets in the designated area of study To discover different pricing strategies To critically evaluate previous academic studies on pricing theories To understand what theories retails use To understand the extent to which retailers use product differentiation to charge different prices from different customers. To understand the limitations in this study However, the main objective of the study will be to understand the pricing theories that exist in writing and the observation made about the pricing theories used by the supermarkets in reality. 1.5. Thesis Organisation Chapter 2 Literature Review 2.1 Price Variation .. . . . . Real economies are subject to a succession of exogenous shocks. The discovery of new products, new processes, new sources of raw materials, new demands, and new ways of organizing production are, as emphasized by J. Schumpeter (1911), the driving forces of economic development and growth. It is unreasonable to suppose that such Schumpeterian shocks are all foreseen and can be incorporated as part of equilibrium. 2.2 Factors affecting pricing . . . . . . 2.3 Theoretical framework Chapter 3 Research Methodology Chapter 4 Data Analysis Chapter 5 Findings Chapter 6 Conclusions Appendix

Kripkenstein: Rule and Indeterminacy :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Kripkenstein: Rule and Indeterminacy ABSTRACT: Indeterminacy theories, such as Wittgenstein's and Kripke's indeterminacy principle on rules and language and Quine's indeterminacy of radical translation, raise some fundamental questions on our knowledge and understanding. In this paper we try to outline and interpret Wittgenstein's and Kripke's indeterminacy, and then compare it to some other related theories on indeterminacy of human thinking, such as raised by Hume, Quine, and Goodman. Quine's indeterminacy differs from Wittgenstein's in several aspects. First, Wittgenstein and Kripke's indeterminacy applies to a single individual in isolation and this indeterminacy disappears when the single person is brought into a wider community. Thus, this indeterminacy is only logically possible or hypothetical. Second, in Quine's problem, two translation manuals are distinguishable; while Wittgenstein's hypotheses, such as 'plus' and 'quus' and many others, are indistinguishable for the subject's past and the subject would never aware of the distinctions. Third, in Wittgenstein's view, whether a member follows the rules or not can be determined by 'outward criterion'. Quine's indeterminacy denies the existence of such 'outward criterion' for his two translation manuals. Goodman's hypothesis of 'grue' is quite different from the above two indeterminacy in terms of both objective of introducing the concept and the usage of it. Goodman's issue is to search for the rules in screening out 'bad' assumptions in induction. This induction issue is not indeterminacy of Wittgenstein's skeptic arguments or Quine's radical translation. Wittgenstein and Kripke's conclusion that that rules are brute facts seems to be questionable. Form of life is one of Wittgenstein's key concepts in his theory on rules and is linked to rules in some crucial ways. A community cannot agree on arbitrary rules and rules other than some highly selected ones cannot bind a community together. What a community agree or disagree is not an arbitrary game. Kripke presents Wittgenstein's theory on rules in his book Wittgenstein on Rules and Private Language. The topic is difficult and the presentation seems to inherit some characteristics of the original work, which "is not presented in the form of a deductive argument with definitive theses as conclusions,..." (Kripke, 1982, p.3). Kripke tells the reader: "The point to be made here is that, at the same time the second part is important for an ultimate understanding of the first.'' (1982, p.84) "In this way the relation ship between the first and the second portions... is reciprocal." (1982, p.85). We find that a reciprocal reading helps me to understand and absorb the main points and arguments.

Deliberative Democracy Essay

To what extent is deliberative democracy an appropriate approach for resolving public policy problems? Definition of democracy. Deliberative approach as a type of democracy. Types of cases, when deliberative democracy is substituted by other types of democracy. The power of majority or the power of nation The power of minority or the power of representatives of interested parties The power of elite or power of professional politicians Deliberative forum as an important instrument of deliberative democracy. The deliberative democracy as continuation of traditions of former concepts in legal government. The deliberative democracy in works of Dewey, Cohen and Rippe. Cohen and his postulates of discourses. Habermas and his approach to deliberative democracy. Critical opinions regarding deliberative politics. Conclusion. Definition of democracy. We hear word â€Å"democracy† quite often in our everyday life. The main meaning of this word is easy to understand. But still, there are a lot of types of democracy. Let’s examine the most interesting kind of democracy – a deliberative democracy and find out, to what extent is deliberative democracy an appropriate approach for resolving public policy problems. Deliberative approach as a type of democracy. It is well known that democracy as a kind of organization of social-political life of the society is a preferable policy for any country. Still, we need to underline that democracy, as well as any other social-political system, is able to show it in different forms, depending on conditions. One of such forms is so-called deliberative democracy. It is such kind of â€Å"democracy, where citizens play the main role in political processes of society† (Barber Winter 1998-1999, p.588). Quite often it is called also a civil democracy. Actually, almost any nation in the world knows what it is, because such social-political system is quite ancient. Almost any nation had tradition of community, where they discussed problems and the ways how to solve these problems, as well as discussion and adoption of practical ways out. The role of citizen starts exactly from this point – from mutual discussion and action in politics within the limits of deliberative democracy. Such type of democracy supposes that a citizen is the effective political actor at the political scene of his country. It is also supposed that active citizen has a number of qualities, which are determined to define quality of his effectiveness. Such citizen has to be able to find out, to discuss and to feel responsibility for problems of his society and to be able to unite with other citizens in order to take decisions. It is also important to take into account all sides of political events, interests and values of other citizens and to find a common base to take effective and preferable decisions. Nevertheless, although such kind of democracy is very interesting, it is very difficult to develop and to maintain its vitality. Types of cases, when deliberative democracy is substituted by other types of democracy. One of the main conditions of existing of deliberative democracy is high level of political and legal competence of its citizens and their desire to participate in political process of their country. Deliberative democracy is changed into other types of problematical democracies when it is impossible to have such conditions. Let’s examine several types of such cases. a) The power of majority or the power of nation One of them is the power of majority or the power of nation. Such type of democracy is often called a direct majority system. The decisions are taken on the base of opinions of majority. The elements of such democracy are referendums, different kinds of Gallup polls and one-stage elections. As a result, process of politics becomes simpler and ability of society to solve difficult social problems is decreased. The power of minority or the power of representatives of interested parties The other kind of democracy is the power of minority or the power of representatives of interested parties. The main demand of this type of democracy, which is called a representative democracy, is that all layers of population have their representatives in the institutions of governing. The problem is that such kind of democracy often becomes anamorphous. In particular, separate groups, who have their interests, start to dominate in political system. As a result, politics, which is brought into society, becomes highly specialized and oriented on only those groups, whose representatives were able to lobby their interests at the governmental level. The power of elite or power of professional politicians Another type of democracy is the power of elite or power of professional politicians. Such type of democracy means that citizens â€Å"almost don’t take part in politics and become cynical in relation to political process† (Finley 1972, p.78). Such politics seems to be the matter of chosen (professionals and specialists) – politicians, managers of election campaigns, image-makers, lobbyists, sociologists, pressmen, etc. Technocratic approach makes this kind of democracy different and almost displaces the citizens from political scene. Deliberative forum as an important instrument of deliberative democracy. Deliberative democracy in comparison with these types of democracy is completely different. It brings into politics voices of citizens, which are ale to change something in political processes of their country. This voice is not associated with simple public opinion, defined by the Gallup polls, simple voting or protesting. Instruments, which help deliberative democracy to function in the modern society, are various. The â€Å"most important instrument of deliberative democracy is so-called deliberative forum† (Honig 1993, p.2). Such forum represents not a simple discussion of a problem, but strictly regulated discussion accordingly to a definite form. Before such forum takes place, its organizers – often it is a kind of initiative group from the number of active citizens – work out the form of problem’s discussion. Participants of this forum obey to the form of discussion with help of qualified moderators (people, who are responsible for the forum). The stages of forum are as follows: The participants share their experience of personal attitude regarding to the problem discussed. Moderator explains to the participants the essence of problem and gives three-four main approaches to solve it. He explains also possibilities to solve it practically, advantages and disadvantages of each approach as well. We have to note that approaches of variants of problem solving are prepared before the forum takes place and are made on the basis of dozens of small forums, Gallup polls, interviews with citizens, governmental authorities, different organizations and other parties, who are involved in problem, etc. The participants discuss approaches of problem solving and reach consensus basing on the most preferable position. It is also very important that participants of such a forum listen to discussions of their partners and can â€Å"change their opinion in the process of discussion† (Bohman 1997, p.343). The practice of such forum shows that situations, when participants of forum change their opinion and prefer other approach, represented by other working group, are quite often. It proves once more that deliberation (discussion) is very strong and important instrument of political influence on citizens and is very important in resolving political public problems. We need to note that deliberation is different from debates. Debates are based on principle that it is very important to prove your own opinion, your own point of view by proving ineffectiveness of your opponent’s opinion. Deliberation presupposes enrichment of your own opinion and gives possibility to reexamine it in the light of discussions and opinions of other participants. The participants work out practical actions for realization of chosen approach and decide when they have to meet the next time to continue chosen practical measures. Moderators make report on results of the forum and present the report to the parties which can be interested and which are able to influence resolving problem. Such report is presented to mass media as well. The deliberative democracy as continuation of traditions of former concepts in legal government. The deliberative democracy is opposed to the kinds of aforementioned democracies. It is also opposed to aggregative democracy, which reflects the results of compromises between the group interests. It is based not on the â€Å"balance of interests, but on the power of arguments for the sake of the good of all citizens† (Bohman, J. & Rehg 1997, p.IX). The public sphere is examined as the scene of wide discourse of citizens and reproduces the base for idea of public sovereignty. This civil reflection is not limited by any pre-determined principles. It acts only within the limits of known procedure rules. Actually, the deliberative process is used as the democracy, which allows discovering the sense of taken decisions and their consequences for society in common. Such concept represents a reaction on crisis condition of modern forms of Western democracy. The model of deliberative democracy seems to be idealistic and very interesting. Such concept arouses the question of organic interaction of society and government. It focuses attention on modification of public sphere as the important point of civil activity and influence of civil activity on the governmental politics as well. The deliberative democracy continues traditions of â€Å"former concepts of legal government and is examined as democracy of rational discourse, discussion, conviction, argumentation and compromise† (Connolly 1991, p.1). It is based on the statement that a modern human is a citizen, who takes active part in the life of society. His roles in society as a client and consumer are mixed together with roles of participant in political and public processes. The modern human has tendency to non-belonging to any political party, because he is ready to make compromise and to refuse from his preferences to reach compromise. When we use tradition of legal government conception (particularly, the conception of Kant), we suppose that governmental-legal sphere should be examined to the maximum flexibility. It should be possible to take into account any new theme of discussion, opinions and re-examination of results. First of all we need to solve such problems as role of majority, opinions of minority, parliamentary responsibility and corporatism. The deliberative democracy in works of Dewey, Cohen and Rippe. Deliberative democracy is a concept, used by J. Dewey, which is examined in the modern political theory by such authors as Cohen, Rippe, Habermas, etc. Dewey proposed to refuse from usual understanding of democracy as political domination of majority and to examine the process from the other side, as way to obtain power by the majority of citizens. It can be done with help of public discourses and lobbying interests by social groups and minorities in different discussions and forums. â€Å"The rule of majority is as stupid, as critics speak about it. Still, it had never been only the rule of majority†¦ The means with help of which the majority becomes the majority, – are much more important: debates, modification of opinions, discussions with minority, etc†¦ BY the other words, the efficient necessity of democracy is in improvement of methods and conditions of debates, discussions and forums†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Dewey 1954, p 207) So, the very concept of publicity of politics has more important results that the results of politics itself. The idea of deliberative democracy is based on intuition of publicity. It became an independent concept, which doesn’t understand the aim of politics to satisfy interests of all people separately as liberal doctrine. On the contrary, it is the model, oriented on forum, where â€Å"concepts about â€Å"good† for all people is discussed by means of mutual discussion of citizens† (Rippe 2001, p.141.). Cohen explains the method of constitution of the political society. He explains the concept of deliberative democracy by means of a definite ideal procedure of consultation and taking decisions in political institutions. â€Å"The concept of deliberative democracy is based on the intuitive ideal of democratic association, where the justification of rules and conditions of such association is made with help of public arguments and reflexion between the equal citizens. Deliberative politics stipulates that the parties should present grounds for their proposals, support or criticism†¦ The grounds should be presented clearly, and all participants can accept the proposal or refuse from it, presenting their critical points of view by means of free discussion between the equal† (Cohen 1989, p.25) Cohen and his postulates of discourses. In such a way, we can define a number of discourses, which are examined as political function and are able to constitute political public society. Cohen speaks about several postulates of such procedures: Such consultations should be made in argumentative form, i.e. by means of well-ordered information between the parties; Consultations should be open and public. Nobody can be excluded from the number of participants; Consultations are free and nobody can force the partner to accept a proposal, except by force of arguments; Consultations have the aim of rationally motivated agreement and can continue as long as possible. Still, the majority can take decision to stop them temporarily; Political consultations first of all should be the subject of discussion of problems, which are the most important and interesting; Political consultations also can be used for â€Å"interpretation of demands and pre-political postulates† (Cohen 1989, p.22). They shouldn’t be limited by valuable consensus, based on common tradition and practice. Habermas and his approach to deliberative democracy. We can see that postulates of deliberative democracy are, actually, the reflexion of discourse theory into politics. So, it is no wonder that the concept of deliberative politics was accepted by Habermas and examined in his book â€Å"Faktizità ¤t und Geltung†, basing on the concepts of discourse theory (Habermas 1998, p.35). Habermas examines new concept of civil society, taking closer concepts of civil society and political public. He retains world orientation, which is resulted on liberal political culture. At the same time he focuses attention on forms of communication, organization and institutionalization of people in communities, where they form opinions, ideas, ideals, motives, values and orientations of different kind. Such conception allows forming new civil society, – â€Å"plural, effective and responsible†. Habermas tries to find the principles and values of new civil society in many-sided communication of individuals, groups, countries and regions. We can find also the motive of ambivalent attitude (inheritance and refusal at the same time) to Utopian tradition of modern as consensus of free individuals being the basis of righteous civil order, and with institutional problems of real capitalism. Habermas examines ideals of bourgeois humanism, such as self-organization, rational forming of political will, personal and collective self-determination, self-organization of society – at the background of cynical reality of the modern society. He changes the conceptual pair ideal-reality by the search of potential of rationality in everyday communicative practice. The last one is the basis of ideas, which finds expression in ideals of classical philosophy and continues to be important nowadays. He examines the concept of â€Å"public opinion† as formal structure of communication and presupposition of possibility to reach consensus. What are the ways to form political consensus, which is important for society self-organization? The model of deliberative democracy, supported by Habermas, supposes the ideal of society, consisting of free and equal individuals, who determine forms of mutual life in political communication. The concept of discussion and procedure of political problems and taking decisions is taken as criteria of democracy of the real political process. The procedure of forming opinions and will of the nation should be understood as democratic self-organization. The decision, which is supported by the majority of citizens, should be understood as the legal. Political communication should rationally form the will of participants. The problem of relations between the government and civil society should be examined through the prism of liberal and republican political traditions. The concept of society as a political value (societas civilis) equalizes democracy with political self-organization of society as the one body. It is based on republican tradition, which supports the ideas of Aristotle and Rousseau. The government as bureaucratic administrative mechanism should become a part of society as a whole. Deliberative democracy is not a simple power of citizens’ opinions. It is rather the possibility of power of reason, which is a result of citizens’ discussions. Coordination of plans of activity among the citizens supposes the constant standards of behavior, which stipulate and stabilize mutual social expectations. Stabilization of social character is executed thanks to mutual participation of citizens as well as communication, which coordinates activity of individuals. The aim of communication is to reach consensus. Critical opinions regarding deliberative politics. Still, there are some critical opinions regarding deliberative democracy. Let’s examine some of them. Critics write that the discussions can focus attention on different problems, which are found in the process of discussions. Those problems can influence on â€Å"positive taking decisions, because they can worsen situation by arousing different disagreements† (Held 1995, p.92). Even if the discussion helps to reach agreement, sometimes there are cases when such agreement is undesirable. People are able to get satisfaction from feeling of their â€Å"unevenness† and â€Å"difference†. And, on the contrary, they can think that consensus can lead to mediocrity. Such participants of discussion can understand the competition of ideas – dispute – to be vitally important for their personal freedom. Such institutional embodiments of thought lay on the basis of different attributes of democracy. So, we can resume, that the discussion not always leads to consensus. Also, when a discussion leads to consensus, it is not always can be examined as the advantage. The deliberative approach is criticized also because its aim is based on optimistic pre-suppositions regarding the government. Nevertheless, any theory has its weak points. Conclusion At the same time deliberative model of society focuses attention on personal rights of citizens, the principle of equality and practice of government. The ability to actualize those rights can be understood as ability to be a citizen in such deliberative society. Sharing position of Habermas, we can suppose that democratic society prepares the establishment of status of a liberal citizen. Such kind of participation in political processes of society is very important and actual in forming of â€Å"conscious† citizen and gives him possibility to participate in taking politically important decision and resolving public problems. In such a way, deliberative democracy presupposes education of responsible citizen, able to estimate difficulty of problems. Such citizen is able to accept legal interests of other interested groups (including traditional opponents). Principle of deliberative democracy generates the feeling of united nation and can be called an appropriate approach for resolving public policy problems. Works Cited: Barber, B. (Winter 1998-1999). Three Scenarios for the Future of Technology and Strong Democracy, â€Å"Political Science Quarterly†,vol. 113, â„â€"4 Bohman, J. (1997). â€Å"Deliberative Democracy and Effective Social Freedom: Capabilities, Resources, and Opportunities† in Deliberative Democrac, Essays on Reason and Politics, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts-London Bohman, J. & Rehg, W. (1997). (ed.) Deliberative Democracy, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massach.-London, England Cohen, J. (1989). Deliberation and Democratic Legitimacy, Hablin A., Pettit B. (Hrsg.), The Good Polity, Oxford Connolly, W. (1991). Identity / Difference: Democratic Negotiations of Political Paradox, N.Y. Dewey, J. (1954). The Public and its Problems, Chicago Finley, M. (1972). Democracy, Ancient and Modern. New Brunswick Habermas, J. (1998). Faktizità ¤t und Geltung, Frankfurt a.M. Held, D. (1995). Democracy and the Global Order, From the Modern State to Cosmopolitan Governance, Cambridge, Great Britain Honig, Ð’. (1993). Political Theory and the Displacement of Politics, N.Y. Rippe, K.-P. (2001). Ethikkommissionen in der deliberativen Demokratie, Kettner M. (Hrsg.), Angewandte Ethik als Politikum. Frankfurt

Poverty In Canada

IntroductionAlthough Canada is considered as a materially affluent country with impressive performance in industrial and economic growth since past 50 years, it has been unable to forsake poverty as a social problem. In fact as the Canada’s social security net has weakened and income inequalities widened, the issue of poverty has worsened in the Canadian society (Shewell, 1998, 45;).Presently 14 % population of Canada is living under conditions of poverty (Reutter et al., 2006, 1). Various researches and studies in issues of poverty in Canada have shown that poverty is the result of social exclusion and marginalization factors that deprive certain individuals from benefits of mainstreams institutions and mechanism thereby increasing inequality in the society whereby these individuals are no longer able to participate meaningfully in the social process (Williamson and Reutter, 1999, 1).Canada’s economic reconstruction due to globalization and free trade affected its indu strial structure and resulted in hundred of thousands of jobs loss that adversely affected the social composition in Canada. The new postindustrial economy that replaced the earlier system failed to create adequate number of opportunities. The jobs in the new system are either highly specialized or low paid that does not compensate the losses of the previous system. With the simultaneous decline the social welfare system in Canada, lack of government support to family allowance programs and doubtful ability of pension plan to support ageing population, the issue of disproportionate income distribution and poverty has emerged as serious matter of concern both from individual and social point of view (Barlow and Campbell, 1995).This paper discusses the impact of poverty on individual and society. This paper evaluates effect of poverty on youths, single parents, aboriginals and immigrants in Canada.   It will also examine the role played by poverty in creating a system of alienation and denial where people are forced to live a life of deprivation. Scope and effect of povertyEffect of poverty on individualsThe traditional attitude in Canada towards poverty has been dismissive. People often associated poverty with laziness and more corruption and accepted its deservingness for those affected by it (Shewell, 1998, 51, Reutter et al., 2006, 1). However, the facts show that poverty cannot be generalized or dismissed as a wayward incident in the Canadian society. Rather, it is a disturbing phenomenon that adversely affects many vulnerable sections of the society.   According to Shewell (1998,58), children under age group of 18, single parent mothers, socially excluded persons, and immigrants faces highest rates of poverty in Canada with the rates of poverty being especially high in urban centers.Poverty profoundly affects the capacity of individuals to survive and negotiate with general conditions of life in a positive and constructive way thus rendering them highl y vulnerable from the social perspective. From the broader point of view poverty is the cause of falling health standards, increased rates of illness, heightened percentage of crimes and drug abuse among youths, rising homelessness and loss of ability to participate in the social process. The individual and group effects of poverty are mentioned in the following sectionsYouths: Poverty has long term and damaging effect on youths rendering them homeless and pushing them in vicious cycle of bad health, crime, drug abuse and sex crimes, destitution, mental illness and higher suicide rates (Kidd and Davidson, 2006, 44). Youths, especially in urban areas, in the age group from 12-24, are most vulnerable, mostly living in temporary shelters, without any fixed source of income thereby being forced to settle for irregular ways of earning and living. The uncertainty and unhealthy life conditions results in extremely high mortality rate among urban poor youths (Kidd and Davidson, 2006, 45).On e of the most dangerous fallout of poverty and lack of government support structure for youths is increasing youth crime. Increasing income inequality and social divide force poverty stricken youths to submit to illegal activities, mugging, and narcotics trade. Poverty thus creates most compelling conditions that lead youths in crime and corruption. Poverty also create conditions where youths are unable to utilize their capabilities, lack access to education, health facilities and social support structure due to the stigma that is associated with poverty (ibid).Single parent: Single parent face greatest risk of poverty and the consequent effects are often disastrous for their life (Shewell. 1998, 58). The rate of poverty for single non working parent was 73 % in Canada in mid nineties, much higher than other developed countries like UK, US and Australia (Curtis and Pennock, 7). Poverty poses enormous health risk for health of both mother and child, where inadequate income forces the m to abandon health services and insurance plans while creating conditions of perpetual stress and deprivation.Aboriginals: The aboriginal and native population of Canada lacks the same social benefits and economic advantages that other sections of country enjoy. Rates of unemployment and poverty are generally very high in the native population that result from absence of government supportive policy, cultural disparity, absence of social development conditions such as education, health facilities, equal employment opportunities all of them causing lack of self determination and independence among them, creating the conditions of poverty and resource denial (Kendall, 2001, 43).Immigrants: Immigrants in Canada have traditionally shown high rate of poverty, the exact indices of which varies from region to region. As the most of immigrant in Canada are from third world country, they face cultural and social problems in assimilating with the Canadian system. Further, as pointed by Halli and Kazemipur (1997, 12 ), most of the immigrants arrived in Canada in 1970s when government’s social support structure was breaking down, and economic opportunities had started to shrink. Due to lack of any outside support and additional sources of income, immigrants became especially vulnerable to hardship and poverty.The adverse circumstances forced these individuals in ghettos where a culture of poverty was born, alienating these individuals from conditions of healthy and sensitized conditions of living (ibid).  In general poverty reduces the ability of individuals to implement themselves constructively in their personal as well as social life. It leads to breakup of family system, causes relational disintegration, and absence of consonance between individuals conditions and society’s economic progress.Social Effect of PovertyPoverty has far reaching effects that influence not only individuals but also the whole society and economy in the longer analysis. On the one hand the society looses its significant number of population who could have been otherwise included in the mainstream economic, educational and health institutions but who are left on periphery in damaging clutches of poverty that reduces their functional capacity to participate in society. On the other side, poverty puts enormous strain on resources where the government is required to support poor with various welfare programs and financial concessions (Shewell, 61 ). along with instituting rehabilitation measures for socially excluded people, drug addicts and homeless people.Poverty weakens the family structure, which is the basis of social stability (Cheal, 1996, 55). Consequently it creates a culture of economic hardship, deprivation and emotional stress that enervate society to function as a integrated whole. Dissatisfaction, inequality, isolation, conflict, discrimination, marginalization, exclusion and rejection are some of vices of poverty that threatens Canadian societ y. The greatest danger associated with poverty is that it has the tendency to self perpetuate and expand its domination and its feared that if left unchecked it can cause significant socio-economic damage to Canada by creating rift within social order.ConclusionPoverty is a stigma and a bane that needs conscious effort by government, civil society and individuals to combat and obliterate. As stated by Tanner (2003, 125), education, employment and avoidance of untimely pregnancy are three of the surest measures to break the cycle of poverty and create conditions of equitable living condition. As unemployment is one of the chief factors causing poverty, it’s the responsibility of government to introduce policies that increase employment opportunities.  However, it’s also the responsibility of civil society and individuals to take conscious effort in defeating poverty by understanding that poor are more in need of psychological support and acceptance than financial gran t. This can be achieved by encouraging them to participate, creating conditions for their collaboration in social building process. It should also be ensured that political, economical and social institutions are oriented in specific ways to provide poor with opportunities to return back to mainstream society, integrate with it and cooperate with others to create a system free of poverty.ReferenceBarlow, M. and Campbell, B. (1995) Straight Through the Heart: How theLiberals Abandoned the Just Society, Toronto: Harper CollinsCurtis, L.J and Pennock. 2006. M. Social Assistance, Lone Parents and Health: What Do We Know, Where Do We go. Canadian Journal of Public Health, Ottawa. Vol. 97.Cheal, D.1996. New Poverty: Families in Postmodern Society: Praeger Publishers. Westport, CT.Halli, S.S, and Kazemipur, A. 1997.   Plight of Immigrants: The Spatial Concentration of Poverty in Canada Canadian Journal of Regional Science. Volume: 20. Issue: 1-2. Page Number: 11-28Kendall, J. 2001. Circl es of Disadvantage: Aboriginal Poverty and Underdevelopment in Canada. American Review of Canadian Studies.Kidd, S.A, 2006. Davidson, L. 2006. Youth Homelessness: A Call for Partnerships between Research and Policy. Canadian Journal of Public Health.   Ottawa: Vol. 97,   Iss. 6,   p.  445-447  (3  pp.) Love R. Makwarimba E. Mcmurray S. Raphael D. Reutter L.I. Stewart M.J, Veenstra G. 2006. ‘Public Attributions for Poverty in Canada’. The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. Volume: 43. Issue:1Mitchell, A. and R. Shillington. 2002. Poverty, Inequality, and Social Inclusion. Working Paper Series: Perspectives on Social Inclusion. Toronto: The Laidlaw FoundationShewell, H. 1988. Poverty: A Persistent Global Reality. (edit) John Dixon,   David Macarov. Routledge. London.Tanner, M.D. 2003. The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society. Washington, DC.Williamson, D. and L. Reutter. 1999. â€Å"Defining and measuring poverty: Implications for the health of Canadians.† Health Promotion International, Vol. 14, No. 4, pp. 355-64.

Coal Power essays

Coal Power essays Currently Americas main source of electric energy is coal, which accounts for 1.97 PW per year or 52% of Americas electric energy. We are currently extremely dependent on it for a number of different reasons. Coal is a reliable source of energy. Which is very abundant in the United States, one fourth of the worlds supply of coal is found with in the borders of the United States. This supply will allow America to remain independent from other countries for energy, for at least the next 250 years. Coal also gives Americans a stable and cheap source of energy. Allowing Americans to run business and meet utilities needs for the home, without having to worry about fluctuations in prices. Coal also creates huge amounts of money and jobs into the United States economy. Last year coal brought in $161 billion dollars into the U.S. economy, while supplying 81,000 people with jobs. Despite this, Coal also has a large down side, its mining and byproducts created when burning; cause an eno rmous strain on the environment. The process of creating coal energy leads to environmental problems such as global warming, smog, acid rain, poor air quality, radioactive materials in the environment, and soil degradation. Our policy on coal is reducing this percentage from 52% to 44% over the next 25 years. Although, we expect over the next 25-year the electric energy needs in the United States will rise by 50%, causing our overall use of coal power generation to rise from 1.97 PW to 2.5 PW per year. So to meet this large demand we are going to have to continue using and renovating old power plants. These power plants will be force to meet our new and much more strict set of emissions regulations standards. We will also have to build new power plants to meet our additional needs. The current power plants in the United States are extremely inefficient. They only convert one third of the coal they burn into energy while producing...

Roman Family and the Exposure of Infants

Roman Family and the Exposure of Infants One aspect of Roman society that tends to horrify modern people, an aspect that isnt limited to the Romans, but was practiced by many others, excluding the ancient Jews* and Etruscans, is the practice of abandoning their infants. This is generally known as exposure because the infants were exposed to the elements. Not all infants so exposed died. Some Roman infants were picked up by families in need of a slave. In contrast, the most famous case of exposure of a Roman child ended not with slavery, but the crown. The Most Famous Roman Exposure of Infants The most famous exposure occurred when the Vestal Virgin Rhea gave birth to twins whom we know as Romulus and Remus; however, the babies did not then have those names: the father of the family (paterfamilias) formally had to accept a child as his and give it a name, which wasnt the case when an infant was tossed aside shortly after birth. A Vestal Virgin had to remain chaste. Giving birth was proof of her failure. That the god Mars was the father of Rheas children made little difference, so the boys were exposed, but they were lucky. A wolf suckled, a woodpecker fed, and a rustic family took them in. When the twins grew up, they got back what was rightfully theirs and one of them became the first king of Rome. Practical Reasons for Exposure of Infants in Rome If infant exposure was suitable for their legendary founders, who were the Roman people to say it was wrong for their offspring? Exposure allowed poor people to get rid of extra mouths to feed, especially the mouths of baby girls who were also a dowry liability.Children who were imperfect in some way were also exposed, supposedly, according to the dictates of the Twelve Tablets.Exposure was also used to get rid of children whose paternity was unclear or undesirable, but the exposure wasnt the only method that was available. Roman women employed contraceptives and received abortions, as well.The paterfamilias technically had the right to get rid of any infant under his power. Christianity Helps End Exposure of Infants Around the time Christianity was taking hold, attitudes towards this method of destroying unwanted life were changing. The poor had to get rid of their unwanted children because they couldnt afford them, but they had not been allowed to sell them formally, so instead, they were leaving them to die or to be used to economic advantage by other families. The first Christian emperor, Constantine, in A.D. 313, authorized the sale of the infants [Child-Exposure in the Roman Empire, by W. V. Harris. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 84. (1994), pp. 1-22.]. While selling ones children seems horrible to us, the alternative had been death or slavery: in the one case, worse, and in the other, the same, so the sale of infants offered some hope, especially since in Roman society some slaves could hope to buy their freedom. Even with legal permission to sell ones offspring, exposure didnt end overnight, but by about 374, it had been legally forbidden. See: Child-Exposure in the Roman Empire, by W. V. Harris. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 84. (1994). Did the Ancients Care When Their Children Died?, by Mark Golden Greece Rome 1988. The Exposure of Infants in Roman Law and Practice, by Max Radin The Classical Journal, Vol. 20, No. 6. (Mar., 1925). Exposure comes up in Greek and Roman mythology in a slightly different context. When Perseus rescues Andromeda and Hercules Hermione, the princesses, both of an age to marry, had been left or exposed to avert local disaster. Presumably the sea monster was going to eat the young women. In the Roman story of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is also exposed to avert local disaster. *

Auditing and Ethics Independent Operation

The major responsibility of the auditors is to find out that if there is any materials misstatement in the accounting operations of the audited organization. There are some responsibilities of the auditors. They need to be ethical and honest at the time of audit operation (Louwers et al., 2013). In this regard, Accounting Professional & Ethical Standards Board Limited (APESB) has issued the APES 110 article that states the responsibility of the auditors. On the other hand, this article also includes the details of threats that an auditor can face and its safeguards (apesb.org.au 2016). The second situation indicates that Fellowes and Associates have valued the intellectual properties of HCHG on 1 March 2014 that is worth 30 million. Another important factor is that the intellectual properties are shown as material to HCHG. On 30 June 2014, the consolidated balance sheet of HCHG includes that same amount of intellectual property. This act of Fellowes and Associates has created a possible threat for Fellowes and Associates. As per the rules and regulations of Fellowes and Associates, an auditor needs to appropriately evaluate the results of previous judgment made by another audit partner. This process demands the revaluation of various assets of the audit client. When the auditors fail to do this, it creates the Self- Review Threat (Ojo, 2015). In the case of second situation, the auditors of Fellowes and Associates have taken the same amount of the intellectual properties on 30 June 2014. However, as per the rules of APES 110, the auditors need to revaluate the inte llectual properties. Hence, this act of Fellowes and Associates has created the Self-Review Threat for the audit firm. This threat is considered as a major offence in audit profession (Dobler, 2014). According to the first situation, the activity of one of the audit associates of Fellowes and Associates has created the threat of Self-interest. This type of threat is occurred when any member of the audit team has financial interest in the property of the audit client. In this particular incident, the corrective action will be to replace that particular account associate with another one. This only corrective action can be taken. However, some safeguards can be adopted to avoid this kind of situations. First, some policies and procedures need to be implemented that will help the organization to identify the staffs having financial interest in the properties of the audit client. Second, the non-audit services to the audit clients need to be minimized in order to prevent this. Last but not the least, there needs to be effective policies and principle that will prohibit the audit employees to establish financial relationship with the audit clients (Tahir, Idris & Ariffin, 2014). The second situation indicates that there is a Self-review threat by the wrong evaluation of the intellectual properties of HCHG. The rule states that other auditors must evaluate the valuation of assets. In the case of Fellowes and Associates, the only safeguards available are that the valuation of the intellectual properties needs to be evaluated by another audit team. There are some safeguards available to prevent this kind of incidents. First, it is necessary to minimize to provide non audit services to audit clients. Second, it needs to be made sure that the audit client takes decisions based on non-audit services on their own responsibility. Third, there should be a cooling off-period time before a senior auditor takes the responsibility of the audit operations. These safeguards can be taken to avoid these kinds of situation (Lawson, Spencer & Turek, 2016). As per the above discussion, it can be seen that the auditors need to maintain the rules and regulations of APES 110 at the time of audit operation. The above report states that there are major two kinds of threats in the audit operation. They are self-interest threat and self-review threat. These two are the major threats that have minimum number of safeguards. However, corrective measures are available to reduce these threats. On the other hand, APES 110 provides some safeguards that can be used to reduce the chance of the occurrence of these threats. APES 110 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants. (2016).  apesb.org.au. Retrieved 29 December 2016, from https://www.apesb.org.au/uploads/standards/apesb_standards/standard1.pdf Bosse, D. A., & Phillips, R. A. (2016). Agency theory and bounded self-interest.  Academy of Management Review,  41(2), 276-297. Dobler, M. (2014). Auditor-provided non-audit services in listed and private family firms.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  29(5), 427-454. Lawson, B. P., Spencer, A. W., & Turek, M. (2016). Developments in Ethics Guidelines for CPAs.  Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance,  27(6), 63-71. Louwers, T. J., Ramsay, R. J., Sinason, D. H., Strawser, J. R., & Thibodeau, J. C. (2013).  Auditing and assurance services. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Ojo, M. (2015). Audits, audit quality and signalling mechanisms: concentrated ownership structures.  American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences,  1(2). Svanberg, J., & Ãâ€"hman, P. (2013). Auditors' time pressure: does ethical culture support audit quality?.  Managerial Auditing Journal,  28(7), 572-591. Tahir, F. A., Idris, K. M., & Ariffin, Z. Z. (2014). Dimensions of Auditor Independence: A Pilot Study.  International Journal of Business and Management,  9(6), 72.

See the dise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

See the dise - Essay Example Its economy is strong and prosperous. This country is regarded as one of the finest place for the tourism. It holds almost 80% non- nationals as stated by Boleat (2012). One of the cities of U.A.E, Dubai is known as ‘city of Gold’. Boleat(2012) also reports about the economy of this country by saying â€Å"Dubai has a highly developed economy†. With increasing living standards and lifestyle people have become conscious about their lifestyles and looks. The rapid economic growth of the country has also contributed to improved diets and thereby obesity (Faust, 2012). This information from different resources suggest that population of U.A.E due to the availability of different fast foods and high scale income is directing themselves towards obesity. This fast growth in the obesity in U.A.E ‘s population has made them consious of their health. Different researches in this field have proved that people of U.A.E are becoming health – conscious and they are demanding for clothes that are specifically sports-outfits in which they can easily work out. This information about the need of opening sports clothing company in UAE is provided by Nasser who is form United Arab Emirates. He translated the local papers from there and provided the relevant information which was needed for the research. His information was a guide to study about the living standards, lifestyle, population, education, religion, language etc.Before analyzing the fitness adverstisements in the local megazines and the newspapers, the ethnographic research on the people of U.A.E was necessary. The conclusion drawn upon the information about the people was done with the help provided by Nasser. As U.A.E’s population consists of 80% of non – nationals; multi – cultured people live there. People are mostly Asians, mainly from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. The languages spoken in this country are mixed Asian languages by the people. Apart from those languages English also

The Analysis of a Joke Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Analysis of a Joke - Essay Example Although we think of the joke as a cultural constant, it is a form of humor that comes and goes with the rise and fall of civilizations.†1 The joke that was chosen was the following: A doctor walked into a bank. Preparing to endorse a check, he pulled a rectal thermometer out of his shirt pocket and tried to write with it. Realizing his mistake, he looked at the thermometer with annoyance and said, ‘Well thats great, just great... some asshole’s got my pen.’2 The category that this particular joke probably belongs in is the scatological category, because it deals with a reference to the rectum. It’s unsure why, but these types of jokes can be particularly compelling—because excrement seems to be something that humans find very funny. Of course, a simpler way to say that is to just say, â€Å"Poo is funny.† But why? What is so funny about our own feces? Fundamentally, excrement is elemental. If we didn’t have it, there would be no jokes. But why is humor about feces, farts, and, in fact—the entire range of human bodily functions, fodder for jokes? One must wonder. What makes this particular joke funny is that, through a play on words, we imagine the pen being stuck in some patient’s behind. That seems pretty funny that there would be a mix-up like that. Thus, there is a play on words and we find this joke, for the most part, funny—if not at least a bit crude. ... Now, it’s not using very polite language either. This is where the aggressive element demonstrates itself. It’s not a polite joke, and it probably wouldn’t be polite to share in mixed company, unless the mixed company were to be as foul-mouthed as the language used in the joke. Although the joke’s language is not overly offensive, it does say something about the medical profession as well. Doctors are sometimes inept, and it’s easy to make jokes about doctors and lawyers because they both have high-stress professions. Humor can be a wonderful way to deflect problems, as well as provide a platform for expressing one’s personality. This is why comedians like Jerry Seinfeld did especially well with his show Seinfeld, and why, subsequently, comedians like Larry David did so well with his show Curb Your Enthusiasm. Many times, these humorous shows have something in common—they use real-life situations as fodder for something called situatio nal comedy (or a sitcom). Situational comedies bring real-life problems to light. Who could ever forget the following bits: â€Å"Are you sponge-worthy?† â€Å"She’s got man hands!† Pig Man. The Soup Nazi. â€Å"You double-dipped the chip.† â€Å"Serenity now!† â€Å"Give me that, you old bag!† Who will ever forget these classic moments in Seinfeld history? These, and a series of other vignettes in his subsequent spin-off hit HBO comedy series--Curb Your Enthusiasm--were brought to you by none other than comedian, writer, actor, and executive producer Larry David. Larry David was the head writer and executive producer of Seinfeld, winning him a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Outstanding comedy series in the run of the show’s fourth year. Seinfeld made

You Decide-Scenario 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You Decide-Scenario 1 - Assignment Example The consumer goods manufactures will need to reach to this target market by introducing and developing the products that promote the healthy and fitness attributes (Lee, 2004). The young generation also needs to be addressed by providing them the goods that will help them in getting stronger and fitter. The young people need to be given guidance on finding their paths and encouraged to bring new and fresh ideas in the market. Regarding the marketers who are selling to the government, they need to tell the concerned authorities that now they have abundant human capital and they need to be utilized in the right way. Since the children are heavily dependent on their parents, the children need to be encouraged to bear their own expenses and help their parents so that they can acquire the education in timely manner and even start their families soon (Longman, 2004). According to Retherford and Ogawa (2005), the marketers need to help the government in designing the policies that will make right use of the available human capital and ensure that the aging population is given proper health benefits. The government and consumer goods’ marketers will have to create awareness in the young generation about the issues regarding proper planning and implementation of their quality education acquiring phase and early starting of their families. The growing population is a major concern for the developed countries and the number of old aged people is increasing at an accelerating rate. Lee (2004) has rightly stated that the old population is reluctant to take risks and try new ideas and hence, they are less willing to start new ventures. According to Longman (2004), the developed countries have abundant supply of human capital and it is better that the young generation is provided adequate guidance and resources so that new ventures start in the countries which will

Local Economic Development Project Case of Walsh Ranch Study

Local Economic Development Project of Walsh Ranch - Case Study Example The area designated for the mixed-use growth community in Fort Worth has also been merged into the Walsh ranch project (Walsh ranch). Development Vision The Walsh ranch aims to be the first planned mixed use growth community model; a balanced and planned community that will have an identity of its own, it will be the model community for others to follow with places of work, playing, shopping, praying, learning and recreation all incorporated into one community (LDR, HNTB 2). With its open and park space, the Walsh ranch will also contribute to and enhance the ecological features of land, water and air (Walsh ranch). Walsh ranch aims to be a technologically smart community with investment protection and enhancement for ensuring a flourishing economy for the community at large (Walsh ranch). History of Walsh Ranch A piece of land rich in natural beauty and known for the Walsh family name, Walsh ranch, a cattle ranch has been at the centre of ranching operations for the Howard Walsh fam ily for 60 years (LDR, HNTB 1). Mr. and Mrs. Walsh are known philanthropists in Fort Worth, with Walsh ranch now to be another example of their commitment and love of the community, traditions, and environment of Fort Worth (Walsh ranch). Purposes Served by the Walsh Ranch Mixed-use Community Walsh ranch will serve to strengthen the community by addressing the needs of the community and the people; it will aim at providing multiple sustainable solutions within one community (Walsh ranch). The project will focus at (Walsh ranch): Economic growth Expanding population needs Development of centres for multiple growth 1. Economic Growth Economic growth will be... This paper outlines numerous economic advantages of the realization of Walsh Ranch project. Benefits of sustainable economic development include innovative use of all possible resources, that leads to jobs increase, new income sources, and high rate of productivity for the people. For the ecology the benefits result from the promotion of use of clean and renewable energy. The economy benefits from all the above leading to growth in economy, which will improve the living standards, jobs, incomes and will provide opportunity to expand businesses The objectives that are attained or are to be met by such economic development are known as the four greens namely; savings, opportunities, talent, places Walsh Ranch is a master planned community that is aimed at achieving sustainable economic development. It is the largest planned community in north Texas; the ranch is located west of Fort Worth. Walsh ranch will retain most of the resources and natural features of the ranch by the use of native landscape treatments; the natural environment of the ranch will be retained to deliver a unique living experience. Walsh ranch will serve to strengthen the community by addressing the needs of the community and the people; it will aim at providing multiple sustainable solutions within one community The Walsh ranch with all its other utility provisions should also look into providing, medical facility, fire extinguishing facility and a library within the Walsh ranch area. Such initiatives will ensure the convenience and health of the community.

Comparison -contrast essay army vs airforce Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparison -contrast army vs airforce - Essay Example One of the main differences of course lies in the defence regulations of each branch. It is usually assumed that the air force is the only primary air defence whereas, it is often overlooked that the army also has a large number of defensive aircrafts. The basic difference is that the air force has more aircrafts devoted to research and development wherein new and latest technology is used to make more powerful aircrafts, while the army is always in preparedness and maintains constantly a battle ready fleet of aircrafts. The army when compared to the air force is capable of deploying its own massive air defence if required at anytime. The air force is however focused on maintaining a larger scope and geographically distributed air defence with its fleet, the army on the other hand concentrates on short range and more of emergency support which explains the functional designs of the aircrafts used by them. This reflects why the army uses short range aircrafts as opposed to the long range ones used in the air force, as they are mainly used for the in and out missions which does not require the long distance and high altitude defence strategies. This clearly defines each unit’s role in the defence function and its goals in general. When we take aircraft as the criteria the most general difference is the fact that aircraft focus or specialisation is a part of a very small function of these units when compared to the military as a whole. Stealth aircrafts are more for long range purposes which is why the airforce posses them while the army focuses more on maneuverability which is the main issue when it comes to the capabilities and functions of the aircraft. The airforce which concentrates on airpower therefore focuses on a combination of stealth, maneuverability and super speed with letahl exponents. Thus we can assume that the airforce jets don’t focus on the survivability factor while the the army tends to carry out more

Diversity Programs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Diversity Programs - Essay Example William Sonnenschein also talks about this problem in his book, The Diversity Toolkit: How You Can Build and Benefit from a Diverse Workforce. â€Å"The demographics of the workplace are changing and will continue change rapidly...Workforce diversity... presents one of the greatest challenges facing todays organization†. As different humans could only create a different working culture, the success rate to form a single working culture will be minimal. But, if a common and winnable working culture is ‘operationalised’, through out the organization, the organization will be a success story. And, the script for this success story can only be scripted, by an effective leader or manager. So, if I have been a manager, I would impose my own assumptions as a form of single work culture and thereby will suppress the prevailing different cultures. One of the important first tasks of a leader in an organization is the creation of a common working culture. That is, the task of the leader is to create a working culture, embed the working culture in the working group and environment, sustain it and also rectify it, when faults occur. As leaders are the man in lead, they usually have a major impact on how the group initially defines and sets into an organization. Typically, the leaders or managers will have strong assumptions about the nature of the world, the role that organizations play in that world, the characteristics that make up human nature and relationships, how truth is arrived at, and how to manage time and space. They will, therefore, be quite comfortable in imposing those views and personal cultures, on their partners and employees as the organization copes with challenges and targets. This imposition of founder’s assumptions, as a form of good culture is one of the good leadership traits. The workers mind will always be receptive to the leaders’ or managers’ views, orders, suggestions etc

Comparison -contrast essay army vs airforce Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparison -contrast army vs airforce - Essay Example One of the main differences of course lies in the defence regulations of each branch. It is usually assumed that the air force is the only primary air defence whereas, it is often overlooked that the army also has a large number of defensive aircrafts. The basic difference is that the air force has more aircrafts devoted to research and development wherein new and latest technology is used to make more powerful aircrafts, while the army is always in preparedness and maintains constantly a battle ready fleet of aircrafts. The army when compared to the air force is capable of deploying its own massive air defence if required at anytime. The air force is however focused on maintaining a larger scope and geographically distributed air defence with its fleet, the army on the other hand concentrates on short range and more of emergency support which explains the functional designs of the aircrafts used by them. This reflects why the army uses short range aircrafts as opposed to the long range ones used in the air force, as they are mainly used for the in and out missions which does not require the long distance and high altitude defence strategies. This clearly defines each unit’s role in the defence function and its goals in general. When we take aircraft as the criteria the most general difference is the fact that aircraft focus or specialisation is a part of a very small function of these units when compared to the military as a whole. Stealth aircrafts are more for long range purposes which is why the airforce posses them while the army focuses more on maneuverability which is the main issue when it comes to the capabilities and functions of the aircraft. The airforce which concentrates on airpower therefore focuses on a combination of stealth, maneuverability and super speed with letahl exponents. Thus we can assume that the airforce jets don’t focus on the survivability factor while the the army tends to carry out more

Toyota’s Accelerator and Public Relations Crisis Essay Example for Free

Toyota’s Accelerator and Public Relations Crisis Essay One of the world’s top automakers, Toyota was once one of the leaders in automobile and business improvement and manufacturing. However, in 2009 the top builder of reliable and high quality cars went through one of the largest recalls in the history of the United States. Consumers had considered Toyota one of the top in the race for automobile and automobile selling among car manufacturers. They have always had a reputation as being a leader of quality and efficiency in terms of their production and manufacturing standards. Since the recall Toyota has taken a tremendous blow to its reputation and its loyal customer basis. Consumers are questioning whether Toyota was hiding the truth from the public regarding their well know accelerator issues and why they were trying to fix the problems after the issue became serious and not immediately. Some may question if this incident will permanently affect Toyota’s reputation or if Toyota handled this situation properly. In this paper we will discuss these questions as well as the cause of the problem. Several different Toyota and Lexus models were reported to have gotten in accidents regarding acceleration issues. The accelerator’s in some of the Toyota models were getting stuck, which did not allow the drivers of these vehicles to slow down or stop in time to prevent an accident. When this issue was originally brought to light Toyota claimed that â€Å"faulty floor mat placement† was to blame and that the gas pedal would get stuck behind the floor mats which would cause the inability to slow down or stop. According to Bob Carter, general manager of the Toyota-brand division of Toyota Motor Sales USA â€Å" The risk of the accelerator getting jammed is strictly a problem of unintended loose or ill fitting floor mats ( Niedermeyer)†. â€Å"Toyota refuted speculation in the press that other defects might be causing its vehicles to accelerate uncontrollable, citing its own and federal safety studies (Niedermeyer)†. After further investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration the actual problem may not have anything to do with â€Å"faulty floor mat placement† but with several model’s accelerator  mechanism. They found that â€Å"the design of the accelerator pedal (â€Å"one-piece, nonarticulating†) allowed it to become easily entrapped in the groove of the rubber all-weather floor mat if the rubber mat was not properly secured with at least of the two retaining hooks (Jensen)†. Toyota finally issued a consumer safety advisory to all Toyota and Lexus owners at the end of September 2009 and at the end of October 2009 mailed certain Toyota owners safety notices to alert them of the potential problems. It is still unknown the exact date that Toyota knew their models were faulty but it is known that reports of the faulty vehicles began arising as early as 1999. The initial problem was not made public until problems persisted over the next 10 years. Even then it took the death of 4 individuals in California driving a Lexus with a stuck accelerator to final discuss Toyota’s accelerator issues. Toyota then announced they would be recalling millions of models of Toyota Vehicles. There were several Toyota models effected which include the company’s three best sellers- the Camry, Corolla, and Rav4 SUV. â€Å"Between them, they accounted for more than half of the Toyota brand’s U.S. sales in 2009 (Isidore)†. Although Toyota should have taken this situation more seriously years ago when the problem first happened, are they really to blame? When the accelerator problem happened to only a few vehicles throughout the years it’s hard to say that Toyota is to blame. I think the fact of the matter is that they tried to pass the buck blaming the floor mat placement instead of really investigating the issue. Had they investigated the issue more carefully consumer’s confidence in Toyota may not have been tarnished. People are not buying a Toyota for just their looks, they are buying the Toyota brand because of the fact they are known to be a reliable and safe vehicle that can last â€Å"forever†. Chris Isidore says it best when he says† For years, Toyota Motor was the automaker that could do no wrong. Now it’s made a major mistake likely to have a lasting impact on the company (Isidore)†. Not only did the recall effect some of Toyota’s best selling vehicles it caused five North American plants to halt production which affected about 14,000 employees. To halt production to its vehicles is tough in an economy where there is strict competition. Erich Merkle, president of Autoconomy.com, an industry analysis  firm says â€Å"American rivals like General Motors and Ford Motor have similar vehicles to the ones recalled by Toyota, which are far more competitive than they’ve been previously. Loyal Toyota customers who decide to look at other offering are more likely to find something they like than they might have been in the past. Toyota fending off those rivals was going to be enough of a challenge without the safety issues.† Toyota does realize the negative impact this recall has is definitely not positive but they are determined to restore consumer’s confidence in their products. Many experts think that â€Å"the damage to the Toyota brand and the company’s sales may already have been done (Isidore)†. Toyota’s stock prices have gone downhill ever since the news of the recalls went public. Although the company is trying to resolve the issue with their floor mats and accelerator issues the media and customer dissatisfaction have put the company in a tight spot to respond to its troubles. This has cause competitors like Ford and Hyundai to react quickly and offer Toyotas customers incentives to trade in their Toyota’s for one of the competitor’s models. Some are even offering incentives of $1,000 and 0 percent financing to attract Toyota’s customer base. Every brand has its strengths and weakness. Toyota focused on a sub branch approach, in which most of its cars are linked to a single corporate brand. For Toyota that means that a problem with any vehicle at Toyota will not only affect sales of the effected model in question but to its entire inventory of vehicles. Therefore it comes as no big surprise that several of their vehicles were included in there recall. Audi was another car manufacturer that went through a very similar recall issue with accelerator problems. The overall impact this had on Audi was crucial. The resale value of the Audi 5000, which had been involve in a number of fatal accelerator accidents declined significantly as a result of the recall. This also had a snowball effect on other Audi vehicles such as a the Audi 4000, which lost significant resale value, and to a lesser extent also effected the Audi Quattro all due to the fact that they were a part of the same company. Any technical hitch with one car can als o mean problems with others when the auto world in known for using shared parts and technologies across multiple models. Another recall that that was notorious in history was with the Ford Pinto. This was definitely not one of the largest recalls because it only  affected about 1.5 million vehicles but some considered it the most dangerous. With this recall a driver could be subject to an exploding gas tank in the event of an accident. Initially Ford didn’t even want to recall these vehicles and would have rather dealt with lawsuits, which sparked a huge public outcry. In 1995 Honda another car manufacturer that is know for its reliability also had a recall on the Honda Accord and several other Honda and Acura models. This recall affected about 3.7 million vehicles. The main cause of the recall was the seat belt chassis, which had become either broken or unreliable in many cars. Chevy, Ford, and GM have also had their fair share of significant recalls throughout the years. These recalls affected millions as well. Most people realize that at one point or another something is going to wrong with their car. Repairs are to be expected and for the most part most cars and trucks will at some point have a recall. Recalls address safety problems, whether they are minor or major. Toyota’s recall was not so much a part had to be recalled but more of the fact they tried to blame it on the placement of a floor mat. When companies try to bush issues under the rug that’s when people remember. Although at this time the recall may affect Toyota negatively overall I think its customer’s will remain loyal. When bad things tend to happen, companies need the right strategy for talking their way out of a mess and avoiding a tarnished reputation. Choosing the best way to respond is not always easy but can make a difference towards the company’s survival. Toyota was aware there were issues with the accelerators and waited until they were in a crisis to resolve this issue. Toyota response to the recall not only affected its consumer base in the US but may have had the same negative impact with its Chinese consumers. One report indicated that â€Å"the large majority of Chinese car consumers (74 percent) are aware of Toyota’s present difficulties. Almost every two out of three of these consumers acknowledge that their confidence in the Japanese car maker has been affected (62 percent) and that the current recall practice degrades their image perception of Toyota. Among the owners, the impact is much less important though, as only a little less than one in every seven Toyota cus tomers strongly agree on a degraded image perception and decrease in trust (15 percent), compared with one out of  every four car owners of competitor brands (27 percent and 25 percent respectively) (WPP)†. The real question is did Toyota handle this situation correctly? The most important thing Toyota did was keep their customers informed, even if it was what some considered a delayed response. They issued recalls on all affected vehicles and they stopped production on their vehicles which shows consumers they are willing to correct the problem. They are also not willing to restart production or release any affected vehicles before the problem is correct. They have been working with dealers to manage the process of the recall as best as possible to limit customer dissatisfaction. With all of these positive approaches Toyota is trying to make, the concerns consumers still have are the overall reliability of Toyota and the potential effect this recall may have on the resale value of their vehicles. Several people have commented on their feelings towards Toyota after the recall. The majorities have been loyal Toyota customers that have owned one or more Toyota vehicle and the others have never owned a Toyota. Many of the Toyota customers felt that the media made a monster out of this recall and caused fear and panic in consumers. They also felt that the media created this perception that Toyota’s were no longer a reliable vehicle. Other people who never owned a Toyota feel that the Toyota name will be tarnished and that these problems were to be expected. If people really looked at the whole picture they may find these comments to be true. For several years car manufacturers have been sending out recalls. This is not the first one in history to happen and it will surely not be the last. Most industries anticipate for supply and demand. Toyota sales may have gone down since the recall but that is to be expected. Car industry forecasters do not anticipate that Toyota’s loss will cause a drop in overall demand. As long as Toyota continues to make new cars, people will buy them. May reports have indicated that people who initially thought about purchasing a Toyota before this major crisis would still purchase one. They realize that this recall is no different then other recalls that have happened through out history, with maybe the exception that Toyota did not act as quickly as the media and some consumers expected they should have. Toyota is a well known company. They will bounce back from this crisis eventually and may even try to offer its  customer’s incentives to purchase vehicles through one of their dealers that other car dealers may not be able to offer right now. Overall this recall just like anything else will pass and Toyota’s sales will be among the top again. People realize that the perception the media creates can sometimes have a long lasting impact, but then something else bigger will happen and things will return right back to normal for Toyota. It is a vicious cycle that we all live in. What people may lose now in resale value is really nothing major. People can actually benefit from this by purchasing a used Toyota at a lower price than what they would have had to pay years ago. Overall Toyota has a long history of loyal customer. This and the fact that Toyota is know for being a good quality car will allow it to bounce back from some mistakes they have made during this recall. Although its reputation may have been tarnished to some extent, they still have several loyal customers that will continue to purchase their vehicles through Toyota. This is just another obstacle they will get through. They will be able to use this incident to improve on their vehicle production and rebuild the Toyota brand and image. Works Cited 1. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/toyota-floor-mat-problem-was-known-two-years-ago/ 2. http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/27/news/companies/toyota_sales_halt/index.htm?postversion=2010012718 3. http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2009/11/toyota-fllor-mats-absolutely-positively-100-certainly-the-problem/ 4. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/opinion/09wed2.html1?_r=1 5. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national.2010/01/29/106990.htm

Project Risk Management Process

Project Risk Management Process Introuction To Project Risk Management A recent investigation into the recent rise in failed projects, financial meltdown and the deadly environmental hazards occurring globally have proved that non-inclusion of risk management in the planning and entire stage of the project, poor and total neglect of project risk management practices and overlooking minor risks account for majority of them. While experts have stated that a proper and strong project risk management process can reduce project problems by as much as 75 90%, combining it with concrete project management plans, defining a proper scope, managing change and communication, a good project risk management helps in reducing and eliminating surprises and unexpected project risks. A good project risk management process can also help with resolving problems when they occur. To have a better understanding, ability to structure, implement and execute a good project risk management practice; we need to understand the processes involved in â€Å"PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT† properly. What Is Project Risk Management? Project risk management according to the project management body of knowledge book, chapter 11, Pg. 111, it is a term that encompasses and involves all processes concerned with identification, analyzing and response to project risk. It also consists of maximizing the results of likely positive events and minimization of the impacts of negative events. Also according to Vicki Wrona, a project management professional, before we begin a project risk management process, we must have a justified knowledge of major key definitions. Project risks according to the Project management institute perspective are â€Å"at their core, unknown events†. These events are often positive or negative. This makes â€Å"RISK†, neutral though most time is spent on tackling negative project risks (threats) rather than the positive (opportunities). Processes Involved In Project Risk Management A proper project risk management includes the following four processes: Risk identification Risk quantification Risk response development Risk response control These processes are often implemented with different names though they all arrive and achieve the same goal. Also they are often renamed and combined as stated below: Risk identification and quantification are often treated as a single process and the resultant process is called â€Å"risk analysis† or risk assessment. Risk response development is also often referred to as â€Å"† risk response planning and risk response development often referred to as â€Å"risk management†. Whether they are referred to individually or collectively, they usually maintain their requirements, tools and output. A proper analysis of these processes is stated below. Risk Identification involves the identification and determination of the possible risks that are more likely to affect the project and properly documenting the properties and effect of each one. This process is not a â€Å"once in a project† affair. It is meant to be carried out regularly as long as the project is being carried out. It should also include both internal (activities that can be controlled or influenced by the project team such as cost estimation) and external (risks beyond the project teams control such as business laws or government action) risk. Risk identification could be achieved by either identifying â€Å"causes and effects† (events likely to occur and what will be the result) or â€Å"effects and causes† (outcomes to be avoided or appreciated and method of occurrence). Risk Quantification This step involves evaluation of the risks identified in the first step and risk interactions to assess the range of possible project outcomes. Its primary aim is to determine which risks need response. It is complicated and affected by a number of factors but is not limited to them. They include: Threats and opportunities can interact in unforeseen ways such as regular delays could cause consideration of a new strategy thereby reducing total project duration. A single risk could trigger multiple effects such as: a late delivery of a vital part of the project could result in penalty (fines and payments), over run cost, delay in schedule and often a poor quality product. Reduced cost may favor a stakeholder at the expense of the other. (opportunity for one, loss for the other). Mathematical principles used may create a false impression and negatively affect reliability and precision. Risk Response Development This step in the project risk management activities involves clearly defining enhanced steps to utilize opportunities and respond to threats. Threat response usually fall into one of three categories:- Avoidance which has to do with eliminating a threat by eliminating the cause. All risks cannot be eliminated but certain ones can often be eliminated. Mitigation which deals with reducing the expected cost of a risk event by reducing the occurrence probability, buying insurance and using proven technology. Acceptance which deals with acknowledging the occurrence of a risk and developing a plan to tackle the risk in cases when it occurs. Risk Response Control This step involves execution of the developed risk management plan in response to the risk events during the course of the project. Whenever there are changes made to the project, the first three risk management processes (identification, quantification and response) are repeated. It is a good practice to bear in mind that even the most comprehensive and thoughtfully structured analysis cannot point out all risks and likelihood of occurrence correctly. This makes the project risk management processes an activity to be repeated often. After a clear definition of all the activities project risk management entails, it is best to have a â€Å"step-by-step† approach for proper execution of all involved activities as a (PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT). Project Risk Management Process Vicky Wrona again outlined a possible â€Å"7 step† outline as a project risk management process. They are: Step 1: this step states that everyone involved in the project planning process should list at least 10 possible risk items. This also helps tackle assumption because some risks that are believed to be known are often neglected and they end up occurring. Scope creep is a perfect example because even with a perfect management process, it could still arise and cause problems. It is best to tackle it rather than ignore it. Step 2:- involves collection of all the listed risks and compiling them into a single list (master list) with duplicates removed. Step 3: assessment of the probability and impact of the risks outlined in the master list is the third step. This can be achieved by giving each risk a rating (numerically) or otherwise in order of vulnerability (low, medium, high). Detectability is also important because risks that are not detected or hard to detect e.g. scope creep are even more risky. Step 4: involves dividing the planning team into smaller groups and dividing the master list into portions and giving it to them. They are then to find out the warning signs for the risks. These warning signs (triggers) should be documented and none should be overlooked. Step 5: involves the small groups that identified the risks to also structure out preventive measures. Step 6: here, the small groups created from the planning team develop a â€Å"contingency plan† for majority of the risks. This plan should include response to be taken if a risk occurs. This is usually done for risks with high vulnerability so as to give room for proper management of the risk management process because if the risk management process takes a lot of time and couldnt be executed, then it is a futile effort. Step 7: this is the final step in the risk management planning process. It involves giving each risk â€Å"an owner†. This owner is usually responsible for tackling the risk should it occur and utilizing the approved contingency plan. Though other members are advised to also be vigilant for all risks. At the end of the above steps, a risk register is created. It is advisable to have this register in tabular format so that it could carry enough information on one page. Golden Rules For A Successful Project Risk Management. According to Bart Jutte, managing director of Concilio, a consultancy specialized in project risk management; these 10 steps usually result in proper project risk management implementation. They include: Make risk management part of your project. Identify risks early in your project. Communicate about risks. Consider both threats and opportunities. Clarify ownership issues. Prioritize risks. Analyze risks. Plan and implement risk response. Register project risks. Track risks and associated tasks. Benefits Of Project Risk Management It contributes to the overall success of the project because it points out threats and opportunities which are either eliminated or utilized. It results in better business outcomes through more informed decision making activities achieved from corrections made after the risk management activities. Uncertainties are recognized and a forecast of possible occurrences is provided. Gives room for better control, tackles time wasting and has greater focus on benefits. It influences innovation and positive thinking. Effects Of Negligence And Poor Project Risk Management (Using Real Life Scenarios) Catastrophic Example  · The â€Å"hurricane Katrina† is an example of negligence of project risk management by the government. During the construction and development of the country, the then government didnt focus on the risks this project (development) would cause. Even after this, the current government ignored weather reports and warnings of failing levies and the damage that floods could bring. This led to the death of 1300 people and loss of over 250,000 homes with property worth billions being destroyed. If project risk management had been implemented at the development period, the effect of weak levies and flood would have been identified and tackled and this would have prevented this risk (hurricane Katrina). Loss Of Market, Customers And Brand Trust  · Chrysler Corporation introduced the â€Å"PT CRUISER† in 2000, with hopes of delivery via dealer showroom in 2001. At the supposed â€Å"available date†, it wasnt available. Chrysler and its dealers encouraged its customers to deposit for â€Å"a guaranteed delivery†. Eager customers did this but only few cars were produced due to manufacturing constraints and poor production efforts and conditions. This resulted in a refund of all deposits to the prospective customers and a further loss of faith in Chrysler by its customers. They decided that instead of waiting for the PT Cruiser, they decide to patronize other vehicles from other manufacturers. If Chrysler had included project risk management in their project (PT Cruiser), the production and delivery constraints would have been discovered and tackled and the goals of the project (delivery of the PT cruiser by 2001) would have been met. Conclusion Project risk management as simple as it may seem and less regarded by many is a key component for a better project plan, time management, cost estimation and project scheduling. An effective project execution is also achieved through inclusion of risk management at all stages of the project starting from the planning, to implementation and finally execution. Finally if project risk management is properly understood and a stepped approach included in this book is followed with application and adherence to the 10 golden rules for a successful project risk management, there is possibility or a very successful project because the risk management points out and gives you room to tackle, correct and utilize problems that could have risen at the execution / completion of the project. References 10 Golden rules of project risk management. Bart Jute Founder and consultant at Concilio. http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/10-golden-rules-of-project-risk-management.html Your risk management process: A practical and effective approach Vicki Wrona Project Management Professional (PMP) President of Forward Momentum, LLC, instructor with Westlake Training and development. http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/your-risk-management-process-a-practical-and-effective-approach.html Project management Risk Management CJ Williams Tutor Mgt. Consultant Brighton School of Business Mgt. in the UK. http://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-management-risk-management.html A Guide to the Project Mgt. Body Of Knowledge (PMBOK) PMI Standards Committee William R. Duncan Director Of Standards. Risk Analysis Risk Management Evaluating and Managing the Risks You Face Mind tools website http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_07.htm Basics of Managing Risks Neville Turbit IT consultant / Principal of Project Perfect. http://www.projectperfect.com.au/downloads/Info/info_risk_mgmt.pdf Bibliography Project Risk Management chapters 1, 3, 8, 9, 10 By Bruce T. Barkley Copyright 2004 Project risk management: a proactive approach Chapters 1, 3, 5 By Paul S. Royer Copyright -2001 Practical Project Risk Management: The Atom Methodology Chapter 1, 2, 3 6 David Hillson Peter Simon Copyright-2007