Primark and Blockbuster Describe the main aims and objectives of the business

– Describe the main aims and objectives of the business and the external factors which have affected the ability of the business to achieve its aims and objectives. -Analyse how marketing activities, enterprise skills and teams have contributed to the success of the business Task 1 – Aims and Objectives All Businesses have a variety of goals that they aim to achieve and most businesses do achieve their goals. When they do they set their business with a much bigger goal that they will then try and reach. The common aims of business are to aim to make profit so that the owner can expand the business even bigger and which will influence the way that they behave. Some of the common aims are stated above and also explained in details below. The business I have chosen is Primark. First Primark store was opened in June 1969 in Mary Street which is where the Headquarter is also located. The business sells a variety of clothing, shoes and home ware such as curtains, pillows/cushions, rugs and simple bathroom equipment e.g. toilet seats. Primark has 238 and 156 store just in United Kingdom, 38 Stores in Ireland and etc. Also read The Story of an Eyewitness Essay Analysis Primark’s goals are mainly to provide what the public needs in a good quality and a low priced way. Seeing as Primark does not charge much money for any of the products that they sell, people should be realising that the product would not last very long as more expensive products that we would get from other store. The prices for Primark’s Products are all based on the quality of the product and its use which will all be taken into account when they price their products. Primark’s business aims and objectives Primark aims for increased sales by placing sales on a daily basis such as at the end of every season. For example, at the end of winter they place the winter products on half price sales which is a good strategy for a business to use because people will try to save money on products that they will be needing for the next winter and they want to be a step ahead and prepared for the arrival of the next winter. They objective here would be to make sure that they do not price their products at a higher cost rather than a reasonable and affordable price. Primark sell goods at a reasonable price and they want their customers to have a variety of options to them, so Primark are offering their customers good quality products at reasonable prices. This will be achieved by looking at their competitors and other stores, selling similar products, and making their prices lower than their competitors. Primark mainly aims to provide good quality products for their customers because they want their customers to realise that Primark is a good company. Just because they sell products at a very cheaper price, this does not mean that the products they sell are not good or at a bad quality. The main objectives in order to reach this aim will be to satisfy their customers and gain more potential customers. This will be done by making sure that they provide the customers with good quality products in order to grab potential customers. This will also help them to grab more potential customers as well as letting their customers know that they sell good quality products. Primark makes sure that their aims and objectives are linked to SMART which includes their aims and objectives being specific meaning that the goal can be accomplished than a general goal and measurable meaning that they can measure the progression that they are making to achieve the goal. Achievable, realistic and timely meaning that the aims and objectives can be achieved, realistic and can be achieved in the time they want to spend on achieving the aim. Primark aims to provide their customers with an excellent customer service which involves them being friendly and helpful towards customers and staff. Primark wants the public to think that they are a friendly company, so that this makes their customers want to come back to their store if they feel welcomed. Primark’s objectives for this are to make sure that the staff treat and greet their customers properly. They are trying to achieve this by greeting customers as soon as possible and making them feel welcomed at Primark and they also ask if they want any help in case they are shy to ask for help, just to make it easier for their customers. This will also help them grab potential customers and which will mean that Primark will be benefiting from a range of areas such as increased sales, potential customers and etc. Primark has a policy to treat everybody the same and everybody have their own rights. Primark wants to make their regular customers to feel like everyone is treated the same. Each and every customer are the same to Primark whether they have less money or lots of money with them, Primark intends to treat all their customers as equals. Primark will achieve this by having an objective to making everyone in the store feel individual and also by making everyone feel like they are ‘special' and no different from one another. Primark aims to target young, fashion-conscious under the age of 35’s, offering them high quality and fashion basics at a reasonable pricing, so that it could be afforded by everyone and are value for the amount of money they pay. Making a profit is one of Primark’s main aims and the objective to achieve this aim would be to make sure that they get increased sales instead of decreased sales. Increased sales will help Primark to make a lot of profit and will also show them if they have gained any new potential customers for Primark. This will also help Primark know the performance of their staff such as if they are providing an excellent customer service because this will increase sales. Primark comes up with their own designs for clothes that would attract their targeted customers which would be the under 35 year olds and the young who like to be up-to date with the latest fashion. Gaining more potential customers would also ensure Primark making more profit than usual. Making a profit will also help Primark to expand their business Total revenue is the total amount of money that comes into the business, Primark from selling products or service that were originally designed by the business. The total revenue can be calculated by: PEST Political Factors: There are several political factors that could affect the entire firm of Primark. One would be that if they were sued by their competitors for copying their similar products this will bring the market to a downfall for Primark. Primark was brought to court and sued by many of their competitors for copying designs of their products. This has a major effect on Primark as a whole firm because if they keep getting sued that will bring their market to a downfall and that is not great. In May 2004, Monsoon also took legal actions against Primark. Monsoon claimed that Primark had copied their  £44 butterfly skirt, selling it at  £11, as well as copying the Brittany top for girls. Primark charged around  £23,000 by Monsoon which was also an out-of-court settlement and this was after Primark admitting to the copies. In April 2005, Monsoon accused Primark of copying the designs of six more items that they claimed to have created. Primark was once again forced to remove all of these products that monsoon sued them form, from all the Primark shops when Primark was threatened by Monsoon to take legal action. Primark was not sued just by Monsoon because in 2009, Primark was sued by Superdry for making a cheap imitation of their ‘Brad' jacket. Primark got an out-of-court settlement with high street fashion brand Superdry, after Primark was accused of copying one of the Superdry’s leather jackets which was originally priced  £174.99 at the Superdry store and the imitation was sold for  £30 at Primark stores. This lead to Primark being sued which exposed that they were copying their competitors’ products which would have brought suspicion to all their other competitors on Primark. Primark was made to suffer the financial consequences of their illegal action that lead to a downfall of Primark. Political Analysis relates to the ability of the organisation to adopt or follow on the different governmental initiatives that might affect the performance of the entire firm, so basically this will affect Primark as a whole not just one Primark company the entire Primark companies and this will also include the headquarters. The government might establish certain policies for Primark and these policies that are established by the government might divert the local priorities of all the Primark companies. The government has a role to contribute in estimating and also forecasting the success of downfall of the Primark. The government might regularly take action in the changes of financial and economic policies in at a certain point on how the economy reacts. As the government also holds the regulations that should be part of the business’s cycle. Examples of the several acts that the organisation needed for compliance included the health and safety act, sex discrimination act, disability discrimination act, data protection act, sales protection acts, consumers’ protection act and so on. It is highly recommended that the organisation should be reacting to the impact of any increase or decrease in taxation or even to the impact of the acts in their business. Economical Factors: There are many Economical factors that may affect Primark and which may cause Primark to fall behind of their competitors. Primark targets the young Customer’s specifically the under 35 year olds. In 2008, Primark opened over 12 new stores and has now moved its business around Europe. This is a successful event that took place for Primark in 2008 and this could be affected in the future if they don’t make sure that they keep up with the forever changing economy. This will have an effect on few of the aims and objectives that Primark aims achieve because Primark’s potential customers would not have faith in them due to them copying products of other retailers. The business environment is ever-changing, and it is crucial that Primark analyses the environmental factors correctly in order to allow them to adapt to changes that may arise in the future. If Primark fails to analyse the environment changes correctly, or if they do not pay enough attention to observing the environmental changes then there are chances of Primark missing out of vital opportunities and will certainly fall under massive threat. This will also help their competitors to get ahead of Primark and it would not be an easy matter to handle. It will take Primark a very long time to get back on track and make sure that they handle things properly and to compete with their competitors on the same level. Economic analysis will help the Primark answer the increases and decreases in interest rates and its impact on their business or how a recession in the business cycle can affect their business as a whole. Primark has been recognised as one of the strongest businesses that can contribute a lot in the country’s Gross Domestic Product or GDP. In order to make Primark able to stand indifferent economic changes, there should be a strong financial fund that holds in the effects of recession as much in low exchange rates made by the import and export operations. Unemployment began to level off towards the end of 2011, and the beginning of 2012 saw the first fall in almost a year. This would have affected Primark due to the fall of Unemployment it would have made it harder for Primark to recruit appropriate and suitable staff for their companies which means less staff and it would have put more pressure on the staff that are employed at Primark because they will have to complete two people’s tasks in a day. Inflation could possibly be one of the factors to affect business. Inflation is actually a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a specific period of time. I don’t think Inflation would affect my selected business, Primark because their products are a mainly fast-fashion and a decent cost and that’s one of the main reasons that Primark makes a lot of profit and has many potential customers. Interest rates could also be a cause that affects the business. An interest rate is like the fee that you would have to pay as an interest which is paid by a borrower for the use of money that they borrowed from a lender such as the Bank. So basically the charge for borrowing money which is called Interest and Primark has also paid interests for the amount of money that they have borrowed of the bank. Primark has made sure that they pay back all the money that they have borrowed with the interest. Social Factors: Primark has received several awards for being value retailer of the year and UK retailer of the year. This will mean that Primark has an advantage of going abroad to other countries that they have not opened a Primark street store in those certain countries. Primark can now also easily expand and diversify, giving its competitors such as Next, H;M, New Look and so on, a competitive environment with the large amount of financial power that they hold. Primark now operates from 5.4 million sq. ft. of selling space which gives them the advantage of providing more goods and services for their potential and usual customers. Primark has many competitors and the competitive rivalry is â€Å"VERY HIGH† as there are a number of similar sized companies in the market who are offering similar kinds of products and due to high cost on exit (Exit barrier). The threat of substitutes are also â€Å"HIGH† for Primark because other company are offering similar products that are offered by Primark with a lower price and now it is very easy for customer to switch from one product to other as they have a variety of products to choose from for cheaper prices. The threat of new competitors for Primark is ‘LOW’ due to the high cost setup because new business cannot afford the amount of setup costs. Now-a-days banks tend to give loans for only larger businesses due to the smaller businesses not succeeding and failing to pay them back. Primark have number of smaller ones rather than relying on one big supplier. So here the negotiating power of suppliers is ‘LOW’ with Primark and amount of Buyers power is ‘HIGH’, as the market has many multi companies in them and now customer have become more sensitive than before towards the price that they pay for the products they purchase so they tend to visit every similar shores and then they come to an conclusion on where to buy the product and this would include the switching cost which is also not too high. The economies of scale may also have an effect on certain businesses. An economy of scale is the increase in the effectiveness of production as the number of goods that are being produced by Primark increases. In general, a company such as Primark that achieves economies of scale lowers their average cost per unit through increased production seeing as fixed costs are shared over an increased number of goods. There are two types of economies of scale; one which is an external economy, which means that the cost per unit depends on the size of the industry, not the firm. The second type of economies of scale is internal economies which meaning the cost per unit depends on size of the individual firm. The taste and preferences of the buying population is on the priority of the business. If there are newly-marketed products, the organisation will surely find many other ways that they could develop their own design which would make them be on the leading market. This would show the ability of Primark in different social changes and challenges mainly when they have many competitors. There are lifestyle factors that may affect Primark because they will also have to think about what the customers want. Most customers expect to have the latest fashion with the cheapest demands, meaning they would like to keep up with the latest fashions and be able to get them for cheaper. This could also affect the aims and objectives of Primark because if the customers decide not to shop at Primark t would decrease their sales. This would have a major effect on one of their aims, which is to get increased sales and they business would be on a downfall. Technological Factors: There are few technological factors that may affect the success of Primark and there are a number of technological factors that may help Primark succeed against their competitors. In Primark's bid for world class, cutting edge management of its ethical auditing programme, it has signed a deal with BSI Management Systems for the provision of Entropy Software. The investment in Entropy Software is a key part of Primark's ethical trade strategy, which will help calculate all supplier audits, non-conformances and remedial actions and also allow it to be managed through the Entropy Software platform, with much greater global visibility and management control. This means that Primark would either be on the same level or ahead of most of their competitors with this software installed at their stores. However, Primark lacks on online shopping whereas M;S have an online shopping which gives M;S a head start and gives the leading position to them. This affects Primark because they do not own an online shopping system which most people shop on. Online shopping is one of the most essential things for Primark as most people are lazy now-a-days and shop online. Moreover, most people tend to check out the new products that Primark has and customers will also want to find out if any products are on sale at Primark through online as well as shop. Environmental factors: Environmental factors can affect the business because if there was certain changes in the climate and environment. For example, if there was a sudden change in the sea levels, which would certainly have an effect on the transportation of supplies for Primark. If the goods are delayed for some time, this would decrease the sales for Primark and making them lose their potential customers that they have worked so hard to gain. Marketing activities: Marketing mix Blockbuster has been applying huge amount of effort in achieving their aims and objectives and in being successful. Factors such as marketing mix, they are providing the best product they possibly can. The products are high in quality, and original. The pricing they are keeping it fair. They are not ripping of customers, the customers feel safe with them because the customers know keeping a link with blockbuster mean they are happy with their pricing and the quality of their products. Furthermore, the placing is extraordinarily well; they have situated their store in a place where the customers are able to find it easily. Blockbuster is situated in a place where they are closer to wherever the customers are. The blockbuster organization knows what the best is for their customers, because of the carried out primary and secondary research. E.g. some primary research which blockbuster looked into was test marketing and focus group. Test marketing involved a certain product being tested in certain market to an individual age groups and seeing where it fits the best. Secondary research was looking at their competitors work, how they are getting all their customers and trying to expand in that idea and link it to the ones which blockbuster already has. So these types of secondary and primary research which blockbuster carried out and managed to gain the success in reaching their aims and objectives. To prove or disagree with that statement on the next page are graphs and charts of a questionnaire on the customers who shop at blockbuster asking how well blockbuster are doing in their 4ps and the overall business itself. Team working collaboration How the blockbuster team has effectively managed themselves in receiving their organisational aims and objectives. The meaning and importance of groups and team work in a business is essential. Work is a group based activity and if the organisation is to function effectively it requires collaboration and co-operation among members. In other words meaning any number of people who interact with one another are psychological aware of one another and perceive themselves to be a group. Group are characteristics of all social situations and almost everyone in an organization with will be a member of one are more groups. The working of groups and influence they exert over their membership is an essential feature of human behaviour and of organisational performance. So one event which blockbuster team has collaborated is the bankruptcy moment. Despite having the worst time and getting sued by Netflix, they were looking into their research more effectively. They looked at the 4ps carefully. They looked at the competitors’ way of gaining customers. The pricing, the productivity the quality of it and so on. The team work or the groups have co-operated with the business so well from going bankrupt they made the position of the business become number 1 in the rental retailing world. Questionnaire questions asked in the two different questionnaires are shown below for both questionnaires. Question on questionnaire audience What are your thoughts on the pricing on the products which blockbuster are holding them on? Public The qualities of the products are they up to the standards and are they up to your satisfaction! Public The promotional activities which blockbuster holds on occasions are they the best! So meaning should they reduce the price further or add additional accessories on to that deal and have it for longer periods of time. Public The placing of blockbuster is it situated in a place where you can easily get to it and find it easy to find! Is it the best place to reach the audience so customers? public Overall, blockbuster how good are they doing in their business, so are they achieving the best, most customers, and good quality products and so on? public The top questionnaire is a public based questionnaire which I handed out to those who shop at blockbuster and are working in place. The bottom questionnaire is a student based questionnaire. Why I chose to do two different questionnaire is because they will help me get the view of two different classes. Public side will tell me what they think of blockbuster rental industry, through what they can afford because they work. The student questionnaire is a based questionnaire on what they think of blockbuster rental industry because they buy mostly from blockbuster, e.g. games. The students will be saying what is good about blockbuster by not thinking of what the price of the products are, and how they are given out. Because they don’t work Questions Audience What are your thoughts on the pricing of blockbuster products? Students What are your thoughts on the products of blockbuster? Students What are your views on the promotional activities on the blockbuster deals? Students What are your views on the place where blockbuster store is nearest to you? Students What is the overall view on the blockbuster rental industry? Students The two questionnaires are compared at the bottom, which shows what they have in common and what they don’t and there you can see why I chose to do two different questionnaires. The different in minds and the classes they are in. Question 1) pricing of blockbuster? School public What the questionnaire found out for me from the students is that positive feedbacks may include something along the line that it is the value the pricing should be for their products because the value of the product is in high quality, the gaming renting and the buying of the movies or games are up to the customer s expectation. Furthermore you can buy membership for rent, so the students thought that that was a good deal. The public replied by the same sort of answer. The pricing for games as an example, is that high because firstly they are high quality, online severed, amazing graphics and the game modes. The movies are high definition. So the public graph shows the nearly the same sort of positivity and the amount of numbers which they thoughts was the right pricing. Negative feedback may be along the line of that it is expensive. So opposing what the positive feedback all concluded to. They don’t think the quality is up to what they think is right and so on. Negative feedback which I got back was that they are expensive. Again opposing the positive feedback. Some say that due to their pay they can’t buy it but overall, it’s good. The two pie charts above show the difference in views in acknowledgment of blockbuster from the students in Drayton manor high school and the people in workplaces or outside in public. The pricing of blockbuster utilizes where the faults and the goods are for this company or blockbuster. In general terms pricing is simply what the company gives their products in order to sell the most goods from their stores. In the bottom table you can see how the two graphs show the differences in themselves and the similarities in them self selves. Or moreover the disadvantages and the advantages blockbuster got in their pricing strategies. Overall, blockbuster has a good quantity of numbers supporting the goods of pricing. E.g. blockbusters are becoming global leaders through this. More and more people are renting their movies and games and buying them also. So blockbusters have been doing fairly good with their pricing but however. More people are downloading the movies and games of online for free. This put blockbuster into gaining loses of customers. So their profit level went done by miles. This also gives a bad impact on them reaching their aims and objectives. Question 2) quality of productivity? School public Firstly, products are simply what the market provides to its target audience. The charts above show the different thoughts on what they think of the productivity of the blockbuster products. The positive feedback which I concluded to get from the students was that they are up to what they expect to get. But some thinks that the products that blockbuster provides are of other companies like Disney or other game software companies. So it doesn’t actually count to what the products of blockbuster are up to high standards. What the positive feedback which I gained were that they were not scratched up, they worked properly. So you can see in the chart everyone ticked yes so full 10 people agreed that the blockbuster provide the best productivity they can offer. Negative feedback which I received about the products were that they are angry with the quantity of how many of the same product blockbuster has got. Some students went to buy fifa they get the response of `we are out of stock for that product’. So the quantity of the product matters when dealing with the productivity of any company. As you can see that the negative feedback which got was nothing. Because everyone I asked ticked yes. They did not objective with the productivity of the product of blockbuster. Overall, the productivity of the product from blockbuster is too what the customers expect. Blockbuster never had any complains about their products and they got positive feedback about their products. Blockbuster however, been unable to get the most amounts of people to buy their product. Because their competitor has been stealing their customers with their online movies watching site. With amazing quality and the best they can provide. So with the productivity blockbuster has been doing great but Netflix beats them by an inch of better nests. So competition is a main obstacle in reaching their required aims and objectives, so blockbuster must know what to do in order to restore its profit levels Question 3? Promotional activities? School public Promotion is type of communication that uses various methods to reach its target audience in order to sell the best and still gain the scene profit. Positive responses which I had been given by some of the students were the promotion types which blockbuster gives out are pretty effective. Why? Some say that it attracts the customers in varies different ways. Firstly, the deal itself. What it is? Secondly, the pricing, so what the deal is ended up adding to and how much of amount disc for movies and games can be bought. Positive feedback which was given to me by the public was as follow. The deals which blockbuster gives out are always amazing to look up to. They don’t give a slight dissatisfaction of what the deal disapprove them by. So any bad faults. Negative feedback such as they don’t have the best for their deals. They are simple. In order to gain more customers they need to promote their promotions through TV and billboards maybe. Negative feedback which I received back where they were still high in pricing. They may have some deals which give out 5-10 DVDs but people just download it from the internet for free and for high quality. The promotional activities for blockbuster have been effective in gaining various customers. However people just download the movies or get pirate copies for  £2. They can get cheapest games from gaming sites such as steam. Steam is an online gaming site where you can buy games including the latest ones like fifa 13 and mw3 and play them on your pc for the same type quality on the gaming consoles. So blockbuster may have great deals but, people don’t buy from them they download it free of the internet and or buy it for cheaper room online gaming sites like steam. Again blockbuster must research the competitions. There is not only Netflix or game, but online gaming sites like steam so this is a let-down for blockbuster they got ruined by an online gaming site. Question 4) the placing. School public Blockbuster which I looked at is in west Ealing the nearest blockbuster to my house and to those who I have asked to fill out my questionnaire. Positive feedbacks were basically as simple as the blockbuster store is near my house. Or it is around the corner. Blockbuster is on high street of west Ealing so they are seen without having the people for them or their store. They are easy to find. But most importantly they are close to their houses. Positive feedbacks were the same as the section for the students. Some whys which were the response were they are closer to their housings and in the main shopping centre to where they live. So in this case it is west Ealing. People say they can just walk to their nearest blockbuster so it’s great for them. Negative feedback not given because nobody though blockbuster had a bad placing. Negative feedback was they are not more than one blockbuster around their housing area. So in west Ealing there is only one blockbuster, none in Ealing Broadway and other towns. So they need to extend their store to further reaches. Blockbuster placing of their stores in fact done great for them, because whenever you enter west Ealing that is the first store you see. Most importantly it is the only blockbuster store you will find. Why this is a good thing, blockbuster will get all of its customers to that coming store so they will receive the great deal of profit and customers. However not having a blockbuster everywhere or every town, such as Ealing Broadway customers or consumer will go to their nearest gaming store. So Ealing Broadway has Argos or game or other stores like him. So blockbuster has lost in profit and customers due to this point. Question 5) overall view of the business. School public Overall view of blockbuster, means it include the 4ps and the whole business layout itself. Meaning the staff, the stores and what the business should, does provide. Some positive feedback which I got back from the students was that the students thought that the deals which blockbuster gave were amazing. E.g. game like call of duty, if you pre order it and get at midnight on the day comes out you get it for  £2. So the students enjoy these kinds of deals and that’s why the students think that blockbuster is the best store. Positive feedbacks are simple being just a great shop and the place for to rent and buy DVDs. The staffs are helpful; they tell you about any unsure products, they will give you feedback and their personal views on the product. So you if are buying it you won’t regret buying it. Negative feedbacks were that they weren’t enough stores in London. They need to build more stores in order to gain that max profit and take on their competitors like Netflix or game. Or as I previously said online gaming site named steam. Negative feedbacks were as follow, they said that it was slow on customer service and the stock levels. What that means whenever someone goes to buy something, blockbuster don’t have it or it’s for viewing only. Overall, the business has done great but for them to reach their aims and objectives they need to build more stores to reach their max profit and not go bankrupt. Blockbusters have gone bankrupt by Netflix. Blockbuster has been sued for coping Netflix ideas which concluded the future of blockbuster into bankruptcy. No customers went with them. No nothing bought and rent. So overall blockbuster has been having difficulties in life of its stores but blockbuster still managed to achieve the aims and objectives it has dreamt of. So global leadership is still highly stated with blockbuster, they still are in front of Netflix, they are still the best rental type. All this because they knew what they were doing. The 4ps were defined well. So the right pricing, good quality products, and so on. Blockbuster may of have been deflected in many ways but they stood their ground and did achieve their biggest aim of global leadership in the rental retailing world. Manager response to the success of business in achieving their aims and objectives In order to reach the aims and objectives, the manager gives me an answer of management and control. In the discussion the role of the manager attention was drawn to the motivation of staff and importance of control over the performance of other people’s work. Organisation implies control. A social organization is an ordered arrangement of individual human interaction. Control process help keep them conformant to the rational plan of organizational. Organization requires a certain amount of conformity as well as the integration of diverse activities. It is the functional of control to bring about conformance to organisational requirement and achievement of the ultimate purpose of the organizational. This shows that team work is an important factor in running blockbuster rental retailers. Control and management is essential in order to get the best out of the staff as a manger. In order to reach the max potential to gain the organizational aims and objectives you will need control on the staff. Furthermore you need control over the 4ps in order for the business to succeed in their aims and objectives. Control over the 4ps is essential. Control over the 4ps meaning full success on the business profit lines and aims and objectives. 4ps meaning control on place, product, promotion and price. The business needs to know what has the best meaning of customer needs is. They need to find out their expectation and what they can afford. This can help the business achieve their aims and objectives.

Inustrialized Food Production

Industrialized Food Production: A Dangerous Path When visiting the grocery store, shoppers are bombarded with pleasant photos of farmers in their fields. This idyllic agricultural way of life may have existed in the past, but today’s farms are much different. In our modern era, a revolution has taken place and food production has changed dramatically. The industrialized method of food production has created a dangerous and unsustainable system. Choosing locally sourced foods is beneficial to the planet, health, and local economies. The 100 mile diet has brought attention to this important subject and made people aware of the impact of food choices. Humans began farming over 9000 years ago, and many technological advancements have occurred since that time (Mintz, Du Bois, 101). Most significantly in the modern era, the green revolution changed the way food was grown. The green revolution allowed for intensification of food resources, intended to alleviate world hunger (Bourlag). Lead by Norman Bourlag, hybrid variations of wheat were bred to produce higher yields and be two to three times more resistant to disease. Success was achieved, but has created more issues. From 1950 to 1999 production on the same size acreage increased 170%, producing 1. 9 billion tonnes of grain (Bourlag). However, copious amounts of fertilizers need to be added to the soil to support this production; this leads to more chemical run-off and contamination of water sources. Another major problem is that the hybrid seeds lead to development of genetically engineered seeds. These grains are patented by large corporations, causing costs to rise and taking control away from farmers. The local farmer no longer has control over how they grow crops or run their farm. Large companies like Monsanto hold all the power. The genetically modified seeds that are needed for the high yields are patented, and farmers are forced to purchase new seeds each year (Food Inc. ). For centuries, farmers have been able to save seeds from their crops for planting the following year. With the introduction of patents, farmers now face massive lawsuits if they try to reuse seeds. Even though many farmers do not want to use the modified seeds, it is nearly impossible because of cross contamination. Mark Anslow provides an example of one Canadian farmer: Percy Schmeiser. He found that sixty percent of his crop had been contaminated by Monsanto engineered seeds carried onto his land by the wind (12). Even though Schmeiser did not plant or want the seeds, he still faced intimidation and lawsuits from the giant biotechnology company (Anslow, 13). The power held by these agribusiness giants controls what farmers can do. The control held by corporations is not limited to grains and seeds, it extends into poultry and livestock. The high demand for meat created by the multitudes of fast food restaurants has completely changed the way animals are raised. Factory farming techniques produce plump animals from small areas. About 10 billion animals are raised and killed for food every year in the United States, many of these inhumanely (â€Å"Humane Eating : The Humane Society of the United States. â€Å"). Laying hens are kept in cages so small they cannot even move. In addition, animals have been bred for meat production, leading to chickens with breasts so heavy they can barely walk; chickens often die from their own weight (_Food Inc_. ). Cattle are raised in small pens with no area to graze. Instead, they are fattened up with corn (Nierenberg, 22). These feedlots are seas of manure and disease. Farmers are pressured by that large companies they hold contracts with to have the latest technologies. This means taking on massive debt that forces farmers to continue producing for that company, even if they do not agree with the practices. For example, poultry producers working for Tyson, one of the largest companies, have been forced to â€Å"upgrade† chicken houses to be large sheds with no natural light, with thousands of chickens packed inside (_Food Inc_. ). As with grain producers, livestock producers are caught in a debt cycle by powerful corporations. Major health issues are caused by industrialized food production. The close quarters and filthy conditions where the animals are raised are perfect conditions for the spread of disease. Animals raised intensively arrive at slaughterhouses covered in feces, which raises the risk of contamination during the processing (Nierenberg, 22). As well, a variety of antibiotics are used to as feed additives to prevent disease and encourage growth in livestock and poultry, which are then ingested by humans, increasing antibiotic resistance worldwide (Sayre, 78). The crowded, stressful conditions of intensive farming, combined with ammonia released from waste and lack of sunlight facilitate the spread of disease among animals and to humans. As well, the manure from these animals is contaminated with the antibiotics; if a manure lagoon bursts or seeps into the water supply, anyone using the water to drink or bathe can be infected (Sayre, 77). One way to reduce these issues is to eat less meat, reducing demand and the need for intensive factory farm operations (Pollan, 33). Another solution is to choose locally raised meat. This allows consumers to get to know the farmers and practices used to raise the livestock. In addition, it is more likely that the meat has been processed in a smaller slaughterhouse, reducing chances for cross contamination from many sources. Local food increases the amount of information available to consumers and provides food security. Factory farming not only harms the animals and the farmers, it has huge environmental impacts. The production of livestock and dairy actually contributes more greenhouse gases to the environment than vehicles (â€Å"From Field To Feedlot To Fork. â€Å"). Globally, 18% of greenhouse gas emissions are created from feedlot to dinner table. Animal production creates emissions at every stage. Fossil fuel is required to run equipment, grow crops, transport animals, and distribute products. The production of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides alone require the equivalent use of over 123 million barrels of oil (â€Å"From Field To Feedlot To Fork. â€Å"). Factory farming centralizes production areas, meaning that in order to slaughter and distribute the meat, long distance transportation is required. Aside from the fossil fuel use, greenhouse gases are created by the animals themselves. Grazing animals, like cattle, release methane. While this is natural, the huge amounts of livestock being produced are massive contributors to global warming. As well, the manure produced by these animals exceeds amounts that can be used as fertilizer for fields. The excess amounts are stored in ponds and lagoons, where more gases are released as it decomposes (Nierenberg, 23). By choosing to eat local, consumers negate the creation of much of the pollution. The most obvious reduction is in transportation emissions. On average, a meal travels 2414 km from farm to table. This is over a 25% increase from 1980 (Roosevelt, 78). Shopping at a local farmers market or farm stand reduces the distance considerably. A study in Iowa found that a regional diet consumed 17 times less oil and gas than a typical diet based on food shipped across the country and around the world (Smith, Mackinnon, 65). Another way local eating reduces environmental impacts is though more sustainable practices. Local farms are usually operated on a smaller scale; livestock can graze on grass, and the manure produced fertilizers the field. Another benefit of small farms if the diversity they provide. Agribusiness operations focus on monoculture. One crop is grown over hundreds or thousands of hectares. A small farm features more diversity, attracting and providing habitat for a range of wildlife (Pollan, 62). As well, smaller farms require far less chemical additives like pesticides and fertilizer, both produced with fossil fuels. Recently, the 100 mile diet has brought attention to choices consumers can make and why local choices are important. A couple in Vancouver undertook a year long challenge to only eat food that was grown or produced within a one hundred mile radius of their home (Smith, Mackinnon). At first, this seems like an overwhelming task, but is actually achievable. Some luxury items, like coffee and chocolate, must be given up, but most essential items are available. While it may not be possible for everyone to follow the 100 mile diet completely, choosing local products as often as possible has many benefits. As well as reducing transportation costs and emissions as mentioned earlier, purchasing food from local farmers helps the local economy. The income stays in your local area instead of being absorbed by a multinational corporation. A British study found that money spent at a local farmers market had twice the economic value for the area than money spent at a supermarket chain (Smith, Mackinnon, 112). The reduced transportation time also has health benefits. Produce is not picked until it is ripe, and often sold the same day, so the nutrients are not degraded when it reaches the dinner table. Food production has undergone many changes since the rise of agriculture thousands of years ago. The rise of factory farming practices has brought many negative changes to food. Rates of pollution and disease have risen dramatically, and conditions for animals and farmers are very poor. The recent popularity of the 100 mile diet has brought raised public awareness about food choices. By choosing locally produced food consumers get a more nutritious product, reduce environmental impacts, and support local economies. Works Cited Anslow, Mark. â€Å"Farmer warns: ‘GM will destroy organic industry'. † The Ecologist 38. 10 (2009): 12-13. General Science Index. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. Bourlag, Norman. â€Å"Biotechnology and the Green Revolution (ActionBioscience). † ActionBioscience – promoting bioscience literacy. Nov. 2002. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. http://www. actionbioscience. org/biotech/borlaug. html. Food Inc. Dir. Robert Kenner. Alliance, 2009. DVD. â€Å"From Field To Feedlot To Fork. † Cool Foods Campaign. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2009. http://coolfoodscampaign. org/your-tools/global-warming-and-your-food/from-field-to-feedlot-to-fork/. à ¢â‚¬Å"Humane Eating : The Humane Society of the United States. † The Humane Society of the United States. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2009. http://www. humanesociety. org/issues/eating/. Mintz, Sidney W. , and Christine M. Du Bois. â€Å"The Anthropology of Food and Eating. † Annual Review of Anthropology 31 (2002): 99-119. Print. Nierenberg, Danielle. The Commercialization of Farming: Producing Meat for a Hungry World. † USA Today (Periodical) 132 (2004): 22-4. Readers' Guide Abstracts. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food. New York: Penguin Paperbacks, 2009. Print. Roosevelt, Margot â€Å"The Lure of the 100-Mile Diet. † Time 167. 24 (2006): 78. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. Sayre, Laura. â€Å"The Hidden Link Between Factory Farms and Human Illness. † The Mother Earth News Feb. /Mar. 2009: 76-83. Readers' Guide Abstracts. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. Smith, Alisa, and J. B. Mackinnon. The 100-Mile Diet A Year of Local Eating. New York: Vintage Canada, 2007. Print.

Miller-Urey Experiment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Miller-Urey Experiment - Essay Example There is no denying the fact that this experiment till date is regarded to be a classic experiment pertaining to the origins of life. This experiment was carried on by Harold C Urey and Stanley L Miller at the University of Chicago in the year 1953. The scientific community was in doubt about the chemical components that constituted the atmosphere of the early earth. Thereby in their experiment, Miller and Urey selected Water, Hydrogen, Ammonia and Methane, considering them to be the salient components constituting the atmosphere of the early earth, when the life was still not there (Willis, 2000). These chemicals were made to circulate in an array of flasks and glass tubes which were completely sterilized. These glass tubes and flasks were connected together in a loop as is shown in the above figure. One of the flasks was half filled with water, while the other flask in this loop was fitted with electrodes. The water in the half filled flask was heated to create water vapors in the loop and the gases so created were circulated through the loop to simulate the atmosphere of early earth. The water vapor so produced represented the water in the lakes and rivers on the early earth which eventually evaporated and consequently precipitated down as rain. The electrodes in the other flask were intermittently fired to create lightening storm like effect, which was believed to be pervasive on early earth (Willis, 2000). After carrying on the experiment for one full week, Miller and Urey found out that that almost 10 to 15 percent of the carbon existent in the system they contrived in their experiment had turned to organic compounds (Willis, 2000). They also discovered that nearly 2 percent of the carbon now constituted 13 of the 22 amino acids that went into the making of proteins in living cells (Willis, 2000). Glycine was found to be the most abundant amino acid in this protein soup (Willis, 2000). No doubt the

Steve Jobs management style Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Steve Jobs management style - Essay Example Unlike most successful managers, Steve Jobs was not famous for his approach of consensus building or consultation. For the most part, he could be defined as a high-maintenance coworker that required the staff to show excellence in their work. Steve Jobs was famous for offering blunt criticism. The sheer genius of Steve Jobs together with his skill of bringing the investors, customers, and staff members on the same journey and of articulating a vision as well as the lessons he learnt from a main setback in his career took his management style to a level where it has gained global recognition for success. The main qualities that helped Steve Jobs achieve a unique style of management and leadership included but were not limited to vision-mindedness, drive for innovation, foresightedness, passion-mindedness, and drive for engagement and excellence. In order for a company to be successful, it is imperative that all of its employees are well-versed with the vision of its management. Steve Jobs placed emphasis upon recruiting innovative people who had a drive to create something out of nothing. Steve Jobs selected applicants for their willingness to create. Apple’s employees are driven by the vision of the leader. Each employee is owner of the market’s future because of their knowledge of their ability to create it. Steve Jobs looked for passion-mindedness in the employees. â€Å"Applicants who do not demonstrate a genuine passion and â€Å"love† for the company’s purposes and business philosophy will never make it† (Valtin, 2012). Jobs placed a lot of e mphasis on excellence. One very important lesson that can be learnt from Steve Jobs’s style of leadership and management is that one should never give up no matter how hard the circumstances. Rather than being affected by his getting fired from Apple in a negative way, he drew positive lessons out of it as it reflects from this statement that he made, â€Å"I didnt see it then, but it turned out

Self Analysis Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Self Analysis - Personal Statement Example I just wanted to experience the culture of the United States. I had been fascinated by American movies since I was a kid and something just clicked. And thanks to the strong Japanese Yen (not good for our exporters, but good for me); I had more than enough funds. So I spent the next year applying to colleges and planning for the next few years in the United States. The big day finally arrived; I took from the Tokyo Airport and landed in Los Angeles Airport. I was very excited. I had meticulously planned everything, my first visit to the United States was nothing like I expected. It was extremely exciting. My housing was already arranged. It was a house, off campus and I had three room mates, one from California, one from Singapore and one from India. It was a most interesting combination and it seemed we had a little U.N. going. My room mates were very helpful. Naresh from India was pursuing his Masters in Engineering; Li Kwon from Singapore was also doing his Phd in Biotechnology. And Chris Adams from San Diego was a fifth year senior pursuing his degree in liberal Arts. I had already arranged for a purchase and pick up of a car before I left from Tokyo. Chris dropped me of at the dealership. Though I had an international driver's license1, I decided against driving the car out of the dealership that day. I took some driving lessons for a week and got accustomed to driving on the opposite side. Having such a varied group of room mates also was a learning experience and various perspectives. I had taken a few cultural orientation classes in Tokyo before coming here, and there was some preparation given to us to expect a few people in the U.S. (a very small minority of people.) who could be xenophobic or racist. It did stick in my mind; however I could not find these xenophobic racist people at the classes I enrolled for and even at the cafeteria where I joined to work a few hours a week. After the first week I wondered if such people existed or if they were relics of a bygone area. I asked my room mates. Naresh said that most people he met held Indians in high regard. One time someone did yell at him out of a driving car when he was trying to cross the road calling him a "camel jockey" which was slightly misplaced racism as that is a derogatory term for Arabs. Lee Kwon said, he definitely did not encounter any. Chris who was a Caucasian said, generally African Americans encountered a lot of racism, but most of it was overt and not too blatant. It was of course illegal to discriminate on race at work or school. But Chris said an over proportionate percent of the African American Population would be arrested or sent to Prison.2 "There is a long and bitter history between blacks and whites in this country" he said. "Perhaps like between us and the Chinese or us and the Koreans". Both Nar esh and Chris almost exclaimed at the same time, how can you tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese and a Korean. I was taken slightly aback. I told them that the difference between Japanese and Chinese was like between Night and Day. Chinese tended to have smaller features, while the Japanese had a much redder tinge; the Chinese had more of a yellowish tinge. However one day as I was walking in the park, an older gentleman walked by me and just said "go back jap" I was shocked , this gentleman must have been in his eighties, he lived a couple of blocks down

What is the Strategy of Annandale Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 8

What is the Strategy of Annandale - Assignment Example The reason that I arrived at the conclusion that Annandale Water Ltd is using an exclusivity strategy is because its products are not available for sales at supermarkets or convenient stores. The company has control of the distribution of the product which ensures the product is sold at the locations the firm desires. The business model the company utilizes is to sell its water products to exclusive location and to provide a full service to its customers. The company delivers the water to its major customers. The main markets of the company are weddings, two exclusive catering companies in London, direct sales from the bottling plant, direct sales to five exclusive hotels located in Edinburgh, and long-term contracts with Harrods and Fortnum and Mason in London. The company has a fleet of ten 40 ton articulated trucks; 15 smaller delivery vans, and 17 cars for the speedy and responsive deliveries. The transportation department has 15 full-time employees. The model the company used has lost value due to the fact that it has become extremely expensive to deliver the goods directly through its own trucking and vehicle fleet. The strength section of the SWOT mentioned a lot of the positive aspects of the business. The strength section failed to mention that the company has a superb executive management team. Companies with great leaders have a better chance to succeed than the firm that lacks human capital. The branding value of the product is its greatest strength. The company can capitalize on its brand by expanding the number of places that distributes the water products of the company. One of the main weaknesses identified in the SWOT analysis is the transportation costs. Gasoline is one of the main cost drivers of transportation costs. An issue with gasoline prices is that they are very volatile.

Employment Law and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employment Law and Practice - Essay Example In unfair dismissal claims costs are rarely recoverable. By contrast,  it is reverse a successful employer or employee may recover legal costs in a wrongful dismissal claim in the normal civil courts. 2 The method of how compensation is to be calculated is also different. In wrongful dismissal claims, the measure of damages is calculated upon comparing the employee in such a position they would have been in had they received payment for the proper notice to which they were eligible under their contract. In unfair dismissal claims, the calculation is based on the basic award based on a mathematical formula, and also includes a compensatory award, which will usually encompass loss extending beyond the end of the notice period. A dismissal can be both wrongful and unfair at the same time, so compensation paid by the employer for wrongful dismissal will usually be set off against the compensatory award granted of an unfair dismissal award. 3 Another important difference is that in wrongful dismissal cases  the employer can rely on facts, which he finds out or gets; intimation after the employee has been dismissed (see Boston Deep Sea Fishing v Ansell [1888] 4. In unfair dismissal cases, what is the important factor to be taken into account is that the employer knew at the time the employee was dismissed. The difference between the concepts of unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal can be illustrated by example where an employer has dismissed an employee who has committed a breach of contract, example can be, an act of gross misconduct which occurs in respect to the heart for the contract. In a wrongful dismissal claim, the employee will not be entitled to pay in respect or lieu of notice or notice pay at all, here as the employee has broken the contract and cannot therefore rely on it to claim notice pay. With an unfair dismissal claim, the employer

An evaluation of competitive advantages of electronic advertising to Dissertation

An evaluation of competitive advantages of electronic advertising to companies in UK - Asda and Tesco - Dissertation Example This analysis is primarily an evaluation of the market potential of electronic advertising for businesses in the UK, with case-studies of notable examples. The relevant findings that necessitate studies such as this include data that portrays as many as 14 million households in the United Kingdom going online to discover current details about goods or services in September of 2009 – 14 million within just one month. (Office of Fair Trading, 2010) Other relevant findings indicate an ongoing growth rate in the subsequent advertising revenue that can be achieved for those that take advantage of online advertising opportunities. The percentage of advertising revenue generated from online commerce has grown 17% in the five years between 2003 and 2008, for example. (Office of Fair Trading, 2010) There are additional complexities to this form of advertising, but there is strong evidence to suggest that electronic marketing/advertising is a growth area which must be pioneered by any c ompany that does not wish to be left behind by history. As of 2010, the practice of behavioral advertising through online targeting is responsible for revenue as high as ?95m. (Office of Fair Trading, 2010) This represents the fraction of possible online marketing revenues known to be possible within the United Kingdom, to say nothing of the global market, but even within the UK there is potential for further growth. Online marketing allows for an element of behavioral tailoring which is more difficult in other forms of media – even other visual media. The competitive advantages of electronic advertising through online sources allow the vendor to maximize the relevance of an advertisement by adjusting content pertaining directly to the consumers’ desires. This potential is far greater than what might be achieved through less responsive media. Television advertisers for decades have sought to generate programming specific to a selection of the demographic most likely to be watching a given program at a given time, but this method has its limits. A television station attempts to acquire as many advertisers as possible, and must negotiate its scheduling to satisfy all of them, and the most popular programs may have a diverse demographic. Some commercials may be relevant to any particular viewer, but in the course of satisfying all advertisers inevitably there will be much content there any particular view or will not find worthy of attention. Television is not responsive in the way that online navigation could be. The television viewer has already responded by selecting the channel, and no further customization is possible. The situation is similar with radio. Electronic advertising through online sources allows the advertiser to adapt their message in a way that capitalizes upon the very personal nature of website navigation. In front of the computer or mobile computing device, the user has access to an ever growing network of information and enter tainment, far more options than could ever be feasible for the programming of a radio or television company. The range of options is dizzying, but provides a golden opportunity for advertisers. Those who attempt to market to individual website users do not need to cater to the totality of need for an audience of (hopefully)

Disaster preparedness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Disaster preparedness - Essay Example FEMA has reported that most people are either trapped in buildings or homes without a way out because the earthquake has caused the doors and windows to either jam or be blocked and therefore cannot be opened from the inside. Emergency Services are unable to get to the disaster areas due to the severe road conditions that involve open gap roads and landslides. The public is in a state of near panic and hysteria because the normal avenues of communication such as the internet, mobile phones, and landlines have been taken out by the disaster causing local calls to be cut off. 2. Identify the detailed events for your scenario. In the event of an earthquake disaster, the likes of which Japan has just seen, FEMA would involve the state and local officials of the affected areas, as well as the following agencies in their rescue efforts: a. Emergency Services b. Fire Department c. Public Works d. Red Cross e. Public Schools Immediately after the quake, the USGS will release information rega rding the intensity of the quake to FEMA. This will serve as the basis for their action plan and priority actions to be undertaken. As FEMA awaits this news, the agency is already coordinating with local and national emergency services units and readying them for dispatch to affected areas.

Operation management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Operation management - Essay Example Another perspective of operations management comprises: overseeing, controlling product designation process and redesigning business operations in the production of goods and services (Heizer 2010). Thus operation managers have the task and responsibility of ensuring that organizational operations are efficient (Slack 2010). This involves effective utilisation of the resources as well as meeting the client or the customer requirements. Ascribing from this explanation it can be argued that operational management is vital in developing plans as well as strategies in maximizing the organizational opportunities and challenges. Notably is the operating environment which should be focused as effective operations management ensures that quality goods and services are produced and that demanded quantities within the acceptable timeframe is met by the organisation. OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF 2 SISTERS FOOD GROUP 2 Sisters Food Group is a chicken meat processing company in Englan d. According to Heizer (2010) the company started being a retail operating company, it is notable that in the past years the company has expanded tremendously through acquisition and establishing manufacturing sites in UK and other countries it has expanded into, notable acquisition is the Dutch-based chicken processor Storteboom Group. With the expanded operations it offers employment to over 5000 people and having annual sales of over six hundred and fifty million pounds annually. How the company operates The company comprises of three divisions which include: The primary division where slaughtering and the primary processing takes place. The second division involves chicken cutting and removing of bones. The third stage involves preparation where breading and roasting of the chicken takes place (Heizer 2010). This stage is attributed to final products including savoury liquids, ready to cook chicken and the component meat. 2 Sisters Food Group produces owned-brand products which are supplied to the supermarkets and established retailers. Notable brands associated to this company include Buxted brand and the Devonshire Red free range chicken. Therefore attributed to the notable expansion of this company and the complexity of the operations involved, the company ought to have a well established and effective operational management. The company has been successful because of the dynamitic operation management aspects, measures and controls it has develop in its operations (Slack 2010). Attributed to this effective and efficient operational management are the analysis, development, design and implementation of these important aspects of operational management by its management team. In order to achieve this, the company has emphasized on the following aspects of operations. Operational strategy These are the strategies that the company adopts in their day to day production and delivery of goods and services. In the context of 2 Sisters Food Group the operationa l strategy process is mainly used to formulate operations strategies. These strategies have been instrumental in the market positioning of this company. These strategies define the short-run and the long-run operations of this company.

How the Role of Women Has Changed Essay Example for Free

How the Role of Women Has Changed Essay How much has the role of women changed in the last 30 years? Since the introduction of the pill on the NHS and the equal pay act we have seen massive changes in how women are viewed in society. In this essay I will be looking at how these have changed societies views and how they have affected women. I want to research this topic as I believe that there has been great leaps forward in how women are able to live and how this is now affecting the rest of the world. I will be analysing some of the recent changes in polices and attitudes that have taken place that have allowed women to become more productive members in the professional working environment. Over the last 30 years of feminism we have seen women shaking off the stereo typical attitude of females being second class citizens. Women are now able to go into higher education and thus allowing them showing great determination, will power, stamina and courage to apply and take on the role of many high powered jobs that were once only seen as a job for males. And now women have greater opportunities than ever before. But they are showing a lower sense off well being this seems to come as quite a shock as women have managed to liberate theme self’s from the traditional view.(http://www.dailymail.co.uk) Women have never had so much equity that they have now and we are now seeing female miners ,doctors and dentist which shows that they can get on any single job that they want. Women are still able to have children some as much two or three and are still managing to keep up a balance of family and work life.(http://www.dailymail.co.uk) The introduction of the pill has had the biggest social and family impact that has been seen in our time. When it was first introduced the government was not happy about providing it to all women as they did not want to be seen to promote promiscuity so they mainly issued it to older women who already had children and did not want to have any more. But in a controversial move in 1974 saw family planning clinics give the pill out to single women which made it a lot easer for theme to decide if they wanted to have children. It is now estimated that two million women in England and Wales take the pill and 70% of all women have at some stage been prescribed the pill.( http://www.bbc.co.uk)This was revolutionary for women at the time now they have a greater freedom than ever before. Women could now decide when they got pregnant which means they could go on to higher education and become a career woman not just a mother and house wife. The introduction of the Equal Pay Act 1970 ,now the Equity Act 2010, was supposed to close the gap on the amount that men got paid compared to women for doing the same job. But recent statistics show that men still earn more in 370 out of 426 job classification than women who earn more in only 53 job classifications. Ruth Sealy, Deputy director of the International Centre for Women Leaders at Cranford University said â€Å"it’s appalling how can this be when we have equality laws?†(http://www.guardian.co.uk) The government has made a decision to change one of it’s polices in the Equality Act that would have made companies disclose the percentage of pay differences between men and women by 2013 .Sealy believes that this policy is responsible for the 2 % decline in the pay gap between men and women in 2011 and now it is not in place the pay gap may start to increase again.(http://www.guardian.co.uk) Although this dose sound like the Equality Act is not working as it was intended to there is light at the end of tunnel. Lord Davies independent review into woman on boards has given Britain’s 100 biggest companies until 2015 to increase the amount of women who sit on boards from 12.5% to 25%. There has already been a marked improvement since the report has been published the figures have went up by 2.5% to 15% Lord Davies said† this is amazing progress†. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Family life has changed over the last 30 years we are now seeing more women going into work which means that there are now two incomes coming into the family home and people are now living better that they once did. Women are now living like men once did they are going out to work meeting new people and enjoying a social life away from the husband. And it seems that men are staying at home and spend more time with the children.(http://www.guardian.co.uk) A recent study carried out by the Equal Opportunities Commission found that 69% agreed that there life’s are becoming more similar in rearguards to how much time they can spend between work and family life. Now women are spending more time at work it means that they have to rush home to see the children before bed time or to care for a relative. Due to this change people are becoming more worried about family life how is it going to turn out if this sexual revaluation is going to continue we will need to start looking at the policy that are in place for the elderly and disabled so we can give them more of a say on how they want to live if the availability of family care is going to reduce.(http://www.guardian.co.uk) Women have moved dramatically forward in the last 30 years there have been so many changes in the attitudes of society that have enabled women to feel more empowered about the choices that they can make in their own life. The attitude that people have towards women is far from the typical attitude that people had in regards what role women should take on as they are no longer expected to be the house wife or the mum. Women are now becoming professionals and are now sitting on the boards of some of the most powerful companies in the world. This is all great but how is this affecting the way in which parents bring up families if men and women are now living similar life’s how will be able to bring up our family and give the parental support to the children if both the parents are out trying to promote there careers. If this is going to continue people will need to start thinking about the future of family life. We will have to find a way in which family’s will be able to function at a normal level and still be able to support women to carry on and progress even further. Is it going to be a case some fifty years down the line that the gender revaluation has went so far that the roles of men and women will have completely turned around. Our will the gender revaluation reach a point where both sexes are able to work and provide a healthy family life. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15984258 (Date accessed 20/03/2012) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1189894/Women-happy-years-ago-.html (Date accessed 25/03/2012) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1189856/M-S-boss-Stuart-Rose-Glass-ceiling-Women-good-workplace.html (Date accessed 02/04/2012) http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/mar/08/four-decades-on-equal-pay-yet-to-come (Date accessed 03/04/2012) http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2005/nov/23/equality.socialcare ( Date accessed 04/04/2012) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9090327/Lord-Davies-shakes-up-Britains-boardrooms.html (Date accessed 06/04/2012) Richard D. Gross (1994). Key Studies in Psychology. 2nd ed. London: Hodder And Stoughton. 100.

Wilfred Owen War Poet Essay Example for Free

Wilfred Owen War Poet Essay The first Word War which took place mostly in Europe from 1914 to 1918 left millions dead and shaped the modern world. After World War I poets started to write about their experiences. Most of these poets had been soldiers who wrote the poetry to reflect the horror of their experiences in an immediate and realistic way. Trench warfare in particular and the chaos of war in general were the source of the poems indignation and disgust. The high death rate and the horrific conditions suffered by those fighting in the trenches meant that the concept of ‘heroic sacrifice’ in service to one’s country became meaningless. Patriotic poetry was therefore replaced with poems that were to symbolize the futility of war, protesting against the waste of life and forcing its readers to engage emotionally with reality. Within this essay I will look at the effects the war had on soldiers who fought in the trenches and how they dealt with the unimaginable numbers of deaths they encountered daily. I will explore the way they were able to cope with the grief and loss and how attitudes towards death and mourning changed as a result of the war. Throughout this piece I will focus on one particular soldier, Wilfred Owen, and the poetry he wrote about the loss of lives and the effect that his writing had on the mourning and memories of those left behind. In writings on World War 1, the enactment of grief is often overshadowed by the drama of battle, as in the wider conflict where loss is born; grief leaves no one unaffected by its devastation. Writing, whether in the form of poetry or letters, allowed the soldiers to share their anguish as a way of coming to terms with their harrowing loss and sense of guilt as survivors. Before the war there was a system of both public and private grieving and mourning. Mourners wore black and the period of mourning was dependent upon the relationship to the deceased. Funerals could be elaborate affairs depending on social class and many of these conventions were shaped by religious and Christian beliefs which enforced a public respectability in the grieving process. After the war broke out however, death in combat demanded that soldiers and their relatives express their grief in a new way. Without the remnants of a body, or the ritual of a funeral, their descriptions through their writings were more than just words. The details of death which soldiers conveyed, offered an emotional comfort to families, but at the same time their words would also scar those families for life. Surrounded by unimaginable numbers of their comrades who had died prematurely, soldiers fumbled to find a voice to convey the meaning of such circumstances. Letter writing for many became a way they could attempt to control the chaos which surrounded them, but a few soldiers began to make sense of it all through poetry. Some critics believed Wilfred Owen to be the most individual and best of the war poets. He forged a new kind of elegy upon the anvil of modern industrialised warfare. The best of Owens poems were to be written between the summer of 1917 and autumn 1918 after meeting another poet, Siegfried Sassoon, at Craiglockhart Hospital. Owens poetry after his experiences in the trenches moved his poems towards a powerful realism where the observations are disturbing, for him the war was a tragedy and beneath the surface disgust, lays a pity and compassion that raised his poetry above simple propaganda. Some of his poems from the war help us to rethink the elegiac triad of; mourning poet, mourning reader, and mourned victim, suggesting that even in war elegies; both poet and reader may partly create the victimisation they mourn. He brought a profound but sceptical understanding of the resources available to the mourning poet in the sonnets ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘Futility’; he resisted the traditional conventions of an elegy. ‘Anthem’ is a collective elegy for the nameless many and ‘Futility’ an elegy for a single man. Critics often treat the elegy as a therapeutic device: working through grief, creating an aesthetic substitution for loss, the elegist masters or at least manages pain. Many of Owens elegies do not fit this therapeutic model. Their task, it seems, is to maintain a certain amount of suffering, not to effect a cure; they produce not a yield of pleasure but an aggravation of pain. Some of Owens critics accuse him of consolatory mourning in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ suggesting that Owen participates in the religious ideology of compensatory exchange, urging us to accept memory as a substitute for human lives. The enormity of the loss of lives precludes any of the traditional rituals of consolation mourning; all that remains is the suffering of unfocused grief down an endless recession of time, and ‘each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds’. ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ was written whilst Owen was in Craiglockhart with the encouragement of Sassoon. It is in sonnet form and is an elegy where he relates to the youth, these were very young men whose lives were most definitely doomed. Owen immediately engages readers with the use of questions as though interrogating them. He asks a question in the first line of each stanza, following with his answers for the remainder of the stanza. His first question ‘What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? ’ (1) suggests he feels the tribute made to dead soldiers is insufficient. Are they merely cattle being sent to slaughter whose lives of little importance? His second question, ‘What candles may be held to speed them all? ’ (9), shows his belief that people do not understand the nature of these deaths as he looks at how the community responds to their loss through ritual. Where we might expect the religious lexis to offer hope in a time of despair, he sees it as a mockery of the sacrifices being made. For Owen, it is not the outward show of public rituals, ‘the candles’ and ‘flowers’ that is meaningful, but inner reflection. The first part of the poem contains words made to sound like the war and weapons, ‘guns’, ‘rifles’, ‘shells’ which are ironically linked to religious imagery – ‘bells’, ‘orisons’, ‘prayers’ and ‘choirs’. In line 8 things switch from the fighting to Britain’s ‘sad shires’ where loved ones mourn, changing the tone to rueful contemplation from bitter passion. ‘And bugles calling for them from sad shires’(8) the Bugler’s ‘last post’ was traditionally interpreted as a strain of farewell at a serviceman’s funeral, whereas here Owen hears it as an unanswerable call to return to the alliterated ‘sad shires’. Owen being from Shropshire, thought of the typical Englishman as a ‘Shropshire Lad’ and the traditional, united country life where each individual was know as part of the community, his loss would be grieved by all. Owen carefully sets the chaos of the trenches against the subdued atmosphere of church. Phrases like ‘passing-bells’ (1) and ‘holy-glimmers’ (11) and ‘voice of mourning’ (6) symbolise the sanctity of life – and death – whilst suggesting also the inadequacy, the futility, even meaninglessness of organised religion against the cataclysm of war. Once again in lines 9 – 14 religious images and illusions are dominant. The ‘candles’ in the ‘hands of boys’ and the ‘pallor of girls’ brows shall be their pall’ suggesting that these things are meaningless, you just need to look into their eyes and the pale faces of the women left behind to learn the truth about war, their silent minds stand as the most fitting tribute to the sacrifices made. Owens poem begins to envisage the chaos of war as an unending condition of modern existence with every individual bearing somewhere its scars. The constant reference to religious imagery seems symbolic, representations of the spiritual, which he sees as a ‘mockery’(5), just as in his eyes, ‘candles’, ‘flowers’ and the ‘drawing down of blinds’(14) are no more gestures in a public mourning which bears no resemblance to individual experience. This moving image of closure brings the sonnet to a quiet close. The ‘drawing-down of blinds’(14) is linked to the English tradition of closing curtains or drawing down blinds in a house of mourning. As ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ ends with the sun at dusk, the end of a day and a representation of the end of many lives, ‘Futility’ begins with the sun at dawn, the beginning of the day yet still the end of a life. Shortly after writing the poem ‘Futility’, Owen categorised his poems, placing this one under the heading of grief. Although Owen appeared to know the dead soldier written about, the anonymity allows it to be universal; it could be describing any soldier as he ponders nature’s power to create life, setting it against the futility of extinction. It takes the form of a short elegiac lyric where he uses the sun as a metaphorical framework. ‘Move him into the sun’(1), the poem begins with an instruction which seems a gentle command especially as many of the words throughout the first stanza reinforce this softness of emotion, ‘gently’(2), ‘whispering’ (3) and ‘kind’ (7). The sun is personified ‘gently its touch’(2), ‘whispering’ just as he uses personification in ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ to give a powerful images to demonstrate the lives that are ruined through war. Once again in this poem, along with ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’, he refers to how young the soldiers were that died, ‘fields half sown’(3), a metaphor for lives not fully lived yet, they had not had time to experience life before they died at war. War for Owen was senseless, for so many men to lose their lives, especially at a young age, made him question the purpose of our existence. He was convinced that many of the people, who remained in England and hadn’t experienced the warfare, didn’t understand how the soldiers were suffering and therefore couldn’t express true sympathy. He felt by writing ‘Futility’ he would be able to portray the worthlessness of war, the uselessness of human life and arouse pity and grief in those who read it. (Mahmud 2008) The dead soldier in ‘Futility’ is not given a name perhaps to represent every soldier who was killed in the war. C. W. Gillam (1965) states that ‘the sight of the dead soldier makes the writer wonder why creation ever happened if it was to end only in such futility’. The persona wonders if we were created for this, and if this is the case, then our existence seems meaningless. Consequently, the experience of loss is universalised, the reader imagines this soldier to be a potential close relative or any human who is caught up in a chaotic world. The ‘O’ indicates the bitterness of this discovery, the poem produced an initial emotion of hope, but ends with the feeling of hopelessness. The contrast between the peacefulness of the first stanza against the grief and anger of the second makes this a poem that conveys its message of the meaningless of life and a protest against the wisdom of creating people only to have them die in such horrific circumstances. The First World War had a drastic effect on the poetry of many poets of the twentieth century. Poets like Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, as well as many others gave us their firsthand experience of war and described the fatal effects whether physical or mental upon those who participated and those left behind. Many of the poets suffered from psychological problems during and after the war due to shell shock and the horrible mutilation they witnessed on the battlefield. Some of the poetry can help us understand the sense of grief and anger at the pointlessness of war and the anger at the sheer numbers of soldiers sent to battle to be massacred like ‘cattle’. Early on the morning of 4th November 1918 Wilfred Owen was killed by enemy fire. When the telegram arrived to inform his parents of his death the local church bells could be heard, ironically linking him to his own poetry ‘passing-bells for these who die’ even though the bells were in celebration of the Armistice. Owens’s poetry is not for everyone as it combines graphic descriptions of war and the reality for those involved on the front line. He is generally acknowledged as being both the most successful, and best, poet of wars reality. The reason why may be found in the preface to his poetry, of which a drafted fragment was found after Owens death: Yet these elegies are not to this generation, this is in no sense consolatory. They may be to the next. All a poet can do today is to warn. That is why the true Poets must be truthful.

Managing Business Ethics Effectively Management Essay

Managing Business Ethics Effectively Management Essay The main purpose of my paper is to explore ways to manage business ethics effectively. To achieve this, first of all, I reviewed the concepts and importance of business ethics together with its components, such as corporate ethics codes and corporate social responsibility. Next, I revealed five ways to manage business ethics efficiently. Based on these suggested ways, I recommended four practical actions for managers to have good management skills in this field. These recommendations are setting up an effective corporate ethics code, acting and behaving ethically in any circumstances, setting up rules and regulations, and advancing CSR in a very wise way. My paper concludes with two issues for future researchers. These issues are whether corporations need a business ethics manager or specialist and how companies motivate their employees to act ethically. Managing Business Ethics Effectively Business ethics was such a new concept that not many people were concerned about it (Garone, 1994; Mitchell, 2003). Things have changed over the time, and now business ethics plays a very important role in doing business (Garone, 1994; Mitchell, 2003). The need to manage business ethics becomes essential. In addition, not all cases related to business ethics management are successful (Cooper Nakabayashi, 2010; Garone, 1994; Pedersen, 2006). Therefore, how to manage it effectively is very important to managers. My research paper helps to answer this question above. Before addressing ways to help business people manage business ethics effectively, the research describes the literature framework and importance of business ethics together with its components, such as corporate ethics codes and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Next, five ways to manage business ethics effectively are listed: building an effective corporate ethics code (Mitchell, 2003), improving codes of ethics to change behavior (Buckhoff Wilson, 2008; Lere Gaumnitz, 2007), protecting against deception (Adler, 2007), making an ethical program work (Grace Haupert, 2006), and advancing CSR (Porter Kramer, 2006). The remaining part of the research reveals my four recommendations and two questions for future researchers. A final part summarizes all of the above. Review Section Brief History Garone (1994) stated that It is not difficult to remember when the concept of business ethics was a novelty to most people. It was taken largely for granted by business executives and it attracted little public attention (p. 9). Not many people were concerned much about business ethics. In addition, according to Mitchell (2003), there were many CEOs who focused on taking care of their own individual importance rather than their corporations functioning and profit. Apparently, these presented above show us that business people were not fully aware of or ignored the significance of business ethics. However, things have changed over the time, and ethics has recently played an important role in doing business (Garone, 1994). Moreover, corporations of all sizes, especially multinationals, are more attuned to the bottom-line value of being a good corporate citizen and playing by the rules, and individual business people are seeking to do what is right rather than anything to close the deal' (Mitchell, 2003, p. 2). In other words, most business people have changed their minds and attitudes towards business ethics because they have figured out the close relationship between being ethical in doing business and achieving profitable goals in operating their companies. Although business ethics is already considered to be significant these days and corporations ethical standards and morals have been set to manage it, not all the cases are successful. For example, the NYNEX Corporation confronted an ethical dispute for many years (Garone, 1994); Chinese corruption is so popular all over the world that many foreign companies with operations in China have to find ways to deal with this phenomenon (Pedersen, 2006); the scandal of melamine in milk in China revealed the unethical aspects in doing business (DeLaurentis, 2009); additionally, the U.S. and Japanese life insurance markets faced up to serious ethical turmoil in the marketing and management of insurance products, resulting in an erosion of public trust in the industry (Cooper Nakabayashi, 2010, p. 64). From these cases presented above, the significance to know how to manage business ethics effectively is really needed. Literature Review Before figuring out the ways to do this, let us have more understanding about what business ethics is: Business ethics defines how a company integrates its core values such as honesty, trust, respect and fairness into its policies, practices and decision-making. Business ethics, of course, also involves a companys compliance with legal standards and adherence to internal rules and regulations. As recently as decade ago, business ethics consisted primarily of compliance-based, legally-driven codes and training that outlined in detail what employees could or could not do in regard to areas such as conflict of interest or improper use of company assets. (Mitchell, 2003, p. 9) As what we have seen in the definition above, honesty, trust, respect and fairness are considered to be very important values to the company. They can be called the spine of formulating business ethics. In addition, the companys rules and regulations must be set to manage business ethics. Without rules and regulations, the company has almost nothing to follow and distinguish what goes right and what goes wrong in case of something related to business ethics happens. More importantly, the code of ethics also plays an important role in letting business people know what they should or should not do. Understanding the concept of business ethics, now we move to its significance in the business world. Epstein (2007) said that ethics contributed to ever-escalating standards for corporate performance (p. 217). In relation to this matter, Mitchell (2003) stated the following: More and more corporations see business ethics as a bottom-line issue not an optional one of morality. The acceptance of ethics as contributing to corporate operating profits or losses means they are receiving unprecedented attention. It is for this reason that behaving ethically and responsibly may be the wave of the future, if only because the right thing to do can also be the profitable thing to do. (Mitchell, 2003, p. 2) From this point, we can see that companies did not pay much attention to business ethics before. Many companies perceived that it seemed to be not a necessary part in running a company. An optional one of morality (Mitchell, 2003, p. 2) means that corporations so far did not care of business ethics at all, or they only thought of or concerned themselves about it whenever they like. However, things have changed, and the world of business has been changing, too. Corporations now have the ability to figure out the significance of business ethics. Even more, they are aware of the connection between business ethics and their bottom line. Corporations have to admit that there is a relationship between the two listed above, so Mitchell (2003) pointed out that the right thing to do can also be the profitable thing to do (p. 2). Let us move on to the code of ethics that is included in the definition of business ethics (Mitchell, 2003). Kitson (1996), Blodgett and Carlson (1997), Moyes and Park (1997), Hume, Larkins, and Iyer (1999), and Schwartz (2001) defined codes of ethics as tools that are commonly used as one of the efforts to encourage ethical behavior, and pointed out there may be a great deal of room for improvement of existing codes (as cited in Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, p. 7). Moreover, Frankel (1989) lists the following potential reasons for the existence of codes of ethics: 1) provide group guidance for an individual when that individual faces a novel situation, 2) provide a basis for public expectations and evaluation of the organization, 3) strengthen the sense of common purpose among members of the organization, 4) enhance the organizations reputation and public trust, 5) preserve entrenched organizational biases, 6) create an environment in which reporting unethical behavior is affirmed, 7) provide support for individuals when faced with pressures to behave in an unethical manner, and 8) serve as a basis for adjudicating disputes among members of the organization and between members and non-members. (as cited in Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, pp. 15-16) Apparently, without a specific tool to evaluate and motivate ethical behavior, corporations find themselves hard to let their staffs and employees follow the right way or avoid the wrong one. And the code of ethics helps them to do that. Personally, I agree with the reasons why companies have to have their code of ethics like what Frankel (1989) listed above (as cited in Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, pp. 15-16). When business people come up with any new circumstances that they have to make a decision but they do not know how to do it and what guides to follow, their companys code of ethics lightens up their mind. Thanks to the code of ethics, the staffs and employees can overcome the pressure of perceiving what they should do to follow the ethical standards and keeping off the unethical ones. Generally, the code of ethics is like a basis for companies to formulate their rules or regulations to orient themselves and their personnel. Another aspect of business ethics is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which is considered to be very important to build a companys reputation (Porter Kramer, 2006). Prieto-Carrà ³n, Thomsen, Chan, Muro, and Bhushan (2006) specified CSR as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (p. 978). Furthermore, Prieto-Carrà ³n et al. (2006) also perceived CSR as an umbrella term for a variety of theories and practices all of which recognize the following: (a) that companies have a responsibility for their impact on society and the natural environment, sometimes beyond legal compliance and the liability of individuals; (b) that companies have a responsibility for the behavior of others with whom they do business (e.g. within supply chains); and that (c) business needs to manage its relationship with wider society, whether for reasons of commercial viability, or to add value to society. (Prieto-Carrà ³n et al., 2006, p. 978) These definitions cited above show us that companies and societies do have a close relationship with each other. Chung, Eichenseher, and Taniguchi (2008) stated that businesses have a social responsibility beyond making profits (p. 131). Providing more detail, Davies (2003) points out that corporate responsibility is a pact for mutual benefit between society that needs business for economic and social development, and business that needs a supportive business environment (as cited in Gugler Shi, 2009, p. 5). Sharing the same thoughts, Mitchell (2003) affirmed an interesting point that the more common view today is that societies can and do have the right to expect business to function at certain levels of ethical standards (p. 10). Furthermore, Mitchell (2003) emphasized the following: With large mergers and the development of new markets around the world, major corporations now wield more economic and political power than the governments under which they operate. In response, public pressure has increased for business to take on more social responsibility and operate according to higher ethical standards. (Mitchell, 2003, p. 10) To me, I consider this matter as a fair one because this is a two-way benefit: the societies create markets for corporations to trade their goods and services to earn profit, survive, and develop, so in exchange, the companies have to do something good and beneficial for their societies. We cannot say it is a must for companies to do that, but they themselves have to be aware of CSR as a fair and good tendency to stick with. I like the way Mitchell (2003) used the phrase in response (p. 10) as presented above because it completely tells us that this is really a two-way relationship between corporations and societies. We usually call business people who have contributions to their society philanthropists, but more significantly, when they do something good for the societies, they also show their responsibility and obligation to appreciate what the society gives them. After understanding the basic elements and significance of business ethics, now we come to the ways to manage it effectively. Followings are five ways to do that: build an effective corporate ethics code (Mitchell, 2003), improve code of ethics to change behavior (Buckhoff Wilson, 2008; Lere Gaumnitz, 2007), protect against deception (Adler, 2007), make an ethical program work (Grace Haupert, 2006), and advance CSR (Porter Kramer, 2006). First, building an effective corporate ethics code must be taken into consideration because according to Mitchell (2003), not many companies have a written code of conducts and ethics although they have already known about the significance of corporate ethics (p. 90). For instance, seventy one per cent of companies in Australia and seventy per cent of companies in Japan do not have a written code of conducts and ethics (Mitchell, 2003). However, when recognizing that a code of ethics fulfills many purposes within an organization and in order to compete effectively, global companies must ensure that their ethics codes and codes of conduct are culturally coherent to all employees (Mitchell, 2003, p. 88). How might companies do this? Mitchell (2003) showed us the following interesting point: A corporate ethics code needs to be more than the rules of the road; it should include a statement of the companys core valuesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Code of conduct must provide clear direction about ethical behavior when the temptation to behave unethically is strongestà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In a nutshell, the code should be: Easy to read Practical and relevant for each business or geographic market Sufficient but not excessive in detail Well written and accessible in tone (Mitchell, 2003, pp. 94-95) According to what I am thinking, what Mitchell stated looks like a magnetic needle, a very clear way, to build an effective corporate ethics code. More significantly, it was emphasized that corporate ethics codes have to be clear so everyone, even in the smallest unit of a company, can understand and follow. This is logical because if a company sets up an ethics code that sounds very well and interesting but is ill-defined, not everyone can understand its basis and what to do. In this point I think, the set code of ethics is useless and has no meaning, and even more seriously, it can make business people confused. Second, we can manage business ethics effectively by improving codes of ethics to change behavior. In detail, when we talk about changing behavior, we would like to mention about changing perception, which is formally described as changing the decision makers beliefs (subjective probability distribution) as to whether an action is ethical (Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, p. 9). In general, the purpose of improving codes of ethics to change behavior can be achieved by careful (1) selection of code content and (2) design of enforcement mechanisms (Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, p. 7). Personally, I want to focus more on designing enforcement mechanisms: An organization choosing to have an enforcement provision in its code of ethics is providing additional incentives (disincentives) to encourage (discourage) selection of certain actions. Although enforcement mechanisms can provide both incentives and disincentives, they seem to generally rely on penalties imposed when an unethical action is takenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Two ways the organization can increase the expected value of the penalty are to increase 1) the size of the penalty and 2) the probability that the penalty will be borne. (Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, p. 12) Sharing the same idea above, Buckhoff and Wilson (2008) said that the costs of dishonesty must exceed the benefits derived from dishonest behavior, so people will think twice before doing it (Buckhoff Wilson, 2008, p. 55). In this point, I want to analyze the reason why corporations should have something that we call enforcement mechanism, or more specifically, penalty (Lere Gaumnitz, 2007, p. 12). First, human beings are very diversified. We have many different kinds of people, including good and bad ones. Second, different kinds of people have different behaviors when faced with a particular issue. For example, in a travel agent, a tour guide can perceive that he deserves to receive tips from his customer because he has taken a good care of the customer. On the contrary, the agents board of management can perceive this differently that taking good care of customers is the tour guides responsibility and vocational ethics, and of course he has to follow that. Here the problem appears, or we can say, this makes the related people confused. Therefore, if the agents board of management wants every tour guide not to receive any tips from customers, they have to set regulations to let the tour guides know that. This is a must, but it is not enough. Together with the regulations, the management board has to impose a penalty on their tour guides who receive tips from their customers. The penalties can be eliminating ten per cent of monthly wage, three days off, or five percent of yearly bonus. To me, I believe that such kinds of penalty can let all tour guides think more seriously and carefully before receiving any tips or presents from their customers. On the whole, when we see this in a big picture, we can be aware that business people will be discouraged to do something violating ethical principles thanks to thinking of penalties they would suffer. Third, managing business ethics effectively can also be achieved by protecting against deception (Alder, 2007). Nowadays, we are living and working in an informative technology period of time, so we know for sure that information plays a very important role in doing business, especially making decisions. However, wrong information can be approached by business people because of deception, such as telling lies. Unfortunately, one of the enduring truths about human beings is that we lie frequently and often quite casuallyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Lying is a central aspect of human behavior (Adler, 2007, p. 69). There is a fact that according to the most conservative estimates of human resource managers, 25% of all rà ©sumà ©s contain significant lies (Adler, 2007, p. 69). Especially, lying is extremely pervasive in the negotiation process. According to Adler (2007), although we do not have any perfect tool to protect ourselves completely from this pervasive phenomenon, we can greatly minimize the risk of lies in bargaining through a series of steps designed either to expose lies and liars before negotiations begin or to provide protection from lies (p. 71). For example, before negotiations begin, preparation is particularly critical when facing opponents for the first time and the stakes are high, and this preparation can be researching the other sides character and bona fides, and participating scenarios that might play out in the negotiation (Adler, 2007, p. 71). How about during the negotiation process? Adler (2007) advised us eight ways to detect lies. In person, I pay attention to ask questions in different ways, take notes during negotiations, and trust but verify (Adler, 2007, pp. 72-73). The reasons I want to raise this issue are that the negotiation process is usually a part of doing business, and telling lies is considered to be violating business ethics. An ethical negotiator or an ethical business person participating in a negotiation process cannot allow himself/herself to tell lies to provide inexact information only in order to achieve his/her personal goals. As I have mentioned above, the phenomenon of telling lies happens often. Moreover, according to my own experience in the negotiating environment, I recognize that we should have some tips, or ways, to protect ourselves from deception. And thanks to the advice above, I have the opportunity to pay more attention to preparation and in negotiation process. Here, I want to generalize this issue, or I want us to see this issue in a big picture. That is, when we want to protect ourselves from deception in doing business, it is a must that we have good preparation and skills to reveal deception. First, good preparation in thinking of everything that can happen, checking our business partners before cooperating with them, and investing in ways or solutions to deal with any problems can help us be more confident. Second, skills in revealing deception need to be learned and practiced more often so that no one can tell us a lie or cheat us in doing business. Next, let us move on to the fourth way to manage business ethics effectively. That is, making our ethical program works (Grace Haupert, 2006). There is a framework called ESD that encourages everyone to work ethically, supports those inclined to work ethically, and deters those who may be tempted to veer from the path of ethical behavior (Grace Haupert, 2006, p. 66). Or, we can say that the ESD program is a combination of encouraging, supporting, and deterring. Three conditions are needed to run this program. First of all, a risk profile needs to be set up. Risk profile is developed by public accountants, internal auditors, risk-management and legal staff, and perhaps outside help from consultants and error-and-omissions carriersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ once the risk profile is created, checks and balances to mitigate these risks can be developed (Grace Haupert, 2006, p. 67). Then, the board of management needs to be a mirror for every staff can look at and follow: management must follow t he lead of the board by acting ethically and insisting that the staff do the same (Grace Haupert, 2006, p. 67). Last, staff must also have confidence that management will fully support those who report malfeasance by others, including their superiors (Grace Haupert, 2006, p. 67). As we can see in the ESD program above, all important criteria are listed. Personally, I have a high evaluation of this program. Let me tell you the reasons why. This program emphasizes preparation and checks. The preparation appears at the risk profile. It requires top management to think of every kinds of risk that can happen to their corporations. Only when they are aware of these kinds of risk, they can have strategies to deal with and check what is going on in this process. Moreover, the program points out a perception that if top management wants everybody in their company to follow the rules not to violate business ethics, first of all, managers have to do that. They have to be a bright mirror for everybody in the corporation to look at and follow what they are doing to protect and practice business ethics. This is an important point to me. Furthermore, this ESD program creates a two-way close relationship between top management and staffs. Let the staffs have a chance to talk , to raise their voice, and to announce what is going wrong to their top management. This is very beneficial for a corporation to know what is happening inside the company and inside every staff members mind. Thanks to these kinds of open talks and discussions, corporations can be aware of what to do to keep business ethics running in a good way. The last in the five ways to manage business ethics effectively is advancing CSR (Porter et al., 2006). The interesting point is that Corporations are not responsible for all the worlds problems, nor do they have the resources to solve them all. Each company can identify the particular set of societal problems that it is best equipped to help resolve and from which it can gain the greatest competitive benefit. (Porter Kramer, 2006, p. 92) The idea is interesting, and I myself share the point of view of Porter and Kramer (2006). Corporations are not completely social philanthropists, so they do not have to worry about or take care of all social concerns, problems, or requirements. Perceiving that doing something good for the society that companies are running in is also doing something good for the companies, top management can choose some social issues only and take care of them. Focusing like this is enough, and this will help corporations have enough time and resources to deal with many other issues. What is presented above shows us that there are copious ways to help improve business ethics management. Thanks to these methods, top management can have a frame of what needs to be done to take care of business ethics. However, sometimes when standing in front of many ways like this, corporations boards of management find it hard to choose which one to follow. The followings are recommendations of some practical ways for managers to deal with managing business ethics more effectively. Recommendations Before giving recommendations, I want to sum up some significant points. So far, we have gone through what business ethics, code of ethics, and CSR mean and their importance to business people. In addition, we have figured out the close relationship between doing something good for business and doing something good for society. However, how can companies be successful in managing business ethics? This is a big question to those concerned with this issue. Being deeply aware of the significance of these elements, many scholars pointed out five ways to help manage business ethics efficiently. Among these methods presented above, personally, I feel interested in four practical ways that can help. First, managers have to set up an effective corporate ethics code. This recommendation comes from Mitchell (2003). How can we know if the corporate ethics code is effective or not? It is effective when written carefully, simple for everybody to understand, and applicable for every company member from top managers to staff to follow. Moreover, I want to add one more practical criterion: the corporate ethics code set has to be as detailed as possible. This set of code must include all ethical business aspects of a company, so it can be considered as a concession of all matters related to business ethics between all staff members and the company. Second, managers have to act and behave ethically in any circumstances. In this point, I base my opinion on and totally agree with Grace and Haupert (2006)s idea. When managers want their employees to go in the same ethical way in doing business, they have to be the first ones to do that. As I have mentioned before, top managers are considered to be bright mirrors that reflect their actions to their staffs to look at. We can easily imagine what would happen if the staff members always see their manager act and behave unethically, but the managers always ask for ethical behavior from their staffs. Apparently, the employees will perceive that it is very unfair for them to follow business ethics while their top managers do not. From this perception, the purpose of managing business ethics from top management cannot be reached. Third, managers have to set up rules and regulations to manage business ethics in a corporation. This recommendation is accumulated thanks to the ideas of Lere and Gaumnitz (2007) together with Buckhoff and Wilson (2008). Human beings are all different people, so some usually stick with behaving ethically, but the others may not. Therefore, how can managers follow up what is going on related to their actions without rules and regulations? The rules and regulations, in another way, are set to force everybody to follow ethical actions. Furthermore, I want to add my own idea and recommendation. When talking about rules and regulations, we are usually concerned about punishments, or penalties, to treat people when they break the rules or have unethical actions. This is a must, but not enough. I want to emphasize that if we have punishments, we also need to have awards. The awards are to encourage business people to act ethically all the time they are doing business, or we can say in anot her way, that the awards are set to add more motivation for business people to stick with business ethics. Managers should pay more attention to this. Finally, managers have to advance CSR in a very wise way. This recommendation comes from the ideas of Porter and Kramer (2006). Once again, corporations are apparently not social philanthropists. Hence, they will not have enough resources to concern themselves with every little aspect of society. Knowing the close relationship between doing something good for society and doing something good for corporations, managers have to select some, not all, social issues to work on. When they are concentrated like this, they will have enough time and resources to invest in making it run well. This is beneficial for both companies and society. These are my recommendations of four ways managers should manage business ethics more effectively. One more issue I want to mention in the following part is that after going through the researching process, I would love to raise two questions that we need to look at to advance business strategy knowledge related to this business ethics issue. The first one I want future researchers to take into consideration is the following: Do corporations need a business ethics manager or specialist? The one in this position will have the responsibility to take care of all the issues and problems that relate to business ethics. For example, he/she will set up business ethics codes, rules and regulations, strategies, and plans for CSR programs. The second question that I want future researchers to think of is this: How do companies motivate business people to stick with acting ethically? We did have research about penalties, but we are lacking research about awards and motivation to encourage busin ess people. I believe that having this knowledge of motivation, managers will be more confident to know how to encourage their employees to follow the corporations business ethics. Conclusion Unlike what happened in the past, business ethics now plays a very significant role in doing business. More and more people are taking care of this matter seriously. With the purpose of discussing more about the topic, my research paper concerns about ways for managers to manage business ethics efficiently. Beginning with the literature framework and importance of business ethics and its components, such as corporate business ethics and CSR, the research step-by-step comes to the five ways to manage it effectively. Additionally, knowing the importance of business ethics but not knowing how to manage it in a good manner is a hard problem for managers. My research helps to solve this by giving a set of guidelines including four recommendations: setting up an effective corporate ethics code, acting and behaving ethically in any circumstances, setting up rules and regulations, and advancing CSR in a very wise way. Finally, this paper comes to give my two issues for future researchers to take into consideration, in hopes that they would help. They are whether corporations need a business ethics manager or specialist, and how companies motivate their employees to act ethically.