Early and late industrialization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Early and late industrialization - Essay Example These late industrialized nations assumed the role of learner ‘instead of the inventor & innovator’ as their economic and industrial development resulted through â€Å"borrowing and improving technologies which has already [been] developed by experiencing firm in more advanced nations† (Do the theories of ‘late industrialization’ explain national differences in the institutional and organisational characteristic of contemporary business? How do these ideas help to explain variations in economic performance?). However, one can notice that the economic growth of the late industrialist nations have been more rapid as they heavily depended on the successful models of institutional and organizational foundations tested by their forerunners. It was the American economist Abramowitz who coined the terms ‘forging ahead’, and ‘catching up’ to refer to the industrial and economic progress achieved by early and late industrial nations. Even though Britain forged ahead in the late 19th century with the new industrial revolution, USA, Germany and Japan caught up and even surpassed Great Britain’s achievements in many respects. According to Shin (1996), â€Å"the existence of forerunners has both complementary and competitive aspects to late comers’ development†: the late comers can benefit heavily from the successful models of the forerunners, but â€Å"they have to develop facing formidable competition from existing forerunners† (p. 2). The author is of the opinion that there have been only two instances of forging ahead in the modern industrial history-one by Britain in the late eighteenth century and the other by USA during the first half of the 20th century; he believes that the process of ‘catching up had a much greater impact than forging ahead’ in the growth of the world economy (Shin, 1996, p. 2). There is a close link between the nature of corporate governance and the industrial or economic development of a nation.

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits Essay Example for Free

Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits Essay As you may know there are two types of pension plans that are most commonly used: a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan. â€Å"A defined contribution plan sets forth a certain amount that the employer is to contribute to the plan each period (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). â€Å"A defined benefit plan specifies the amount of pension benefits to be paid out to plan recipients in the future. Companies that use this plan must make sufficient contributions to the funding agency in order to meet benefit requirements when they come due† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The defined contribution plan makes no promises on what the ultimate benefits are to be paid. â€Å"The benefits received by the recipients are determined by the return earned on the invested pension funds during the investment period† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). When you account for this plan the risk for future benefit is the employee and the employer’s only cash outflow is the annual contribution to the pension plan fund. â€Å"The pension expense is equal to the amount of promised annual contribution†(Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The financial statements should disclose the plan, what groups are covered, the basis for determining contributions, and any significant matters affecting comparability from period to period (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). Accounting for the defined benefit plan is more complex. â€Å"The pension benefits to be received in the future are affected by uncertain variables such as turnover, mortality, length of employee service, compensation levels, and earnings on the pension fund assets† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The risks lie with the employers because they must make large enough contributions to meet what was promised and the amount of pension expense may not be equal to the cash contributed to the plan (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). Employers are also required to disclose the following information if they chose to use the defined benefit plan: â€Å"1. A description of the plan, including employee groups covered, type of benefit formula, funding policy, types of assets held, significant matters affecting comparability or information for all periods presented, 2. The amount of net periodic pension cost for the period showing separately the service cost component, the interest cost component, the actual return on assets for the period, and the net total of other components, 3.  A schedule reconciling the funded status of the plan with amounts reported in the employer’s statement of financial position† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). APB Opinion No. 8 states that there are some basic problems with the accounting for the defined benefit pension plan. The problems identified are: â€Å"1. Measuring the total amount of cost associated with a pension plan, 2. Allocating the total pension costs to the proper accounting periods, 3. Providing the cash to fund the pension plan, and 4.  Disclosing the significant aspects of the pension plan on the financial statements† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). SFAS No. 87 â€Å"Employers’ Accounting for Pensions† maintains that pension information should be prepared on the accrual basis and retained three fundamental aspects of past pension accounting: 1. delaying recognition of certain events, 2. Reporting net cost, and 3. offsetting assets and liabilities† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). The components of pension costs reflect different aspects of the benefits earned by employees and the method of financing those benefits by the employer. The following are required to be included in the net pension cost recognized by the employer sponsoring a defined benefits pension plan: 1. Service cost, 2. Interest cost, 3. Return on plan assets, 4. Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost, 5. Amortization of gains and losses, 6. Amortization of the unrecognized net obligation or unrecognized net asset at the date of the initial application of SFAS No. 7† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). There are other postretirement benefits that are addressed in SFAS No. 106 â€Å"Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other than Pensions. † SFAS No. 106 deals with other postretirement benefits other than pensions which includes a variety: tuition assistance, day care, legal services, and housing subsidies, the most significant are retiree health care services, and life insurance. Although on the surface OPRBs are similar to defined benefit pension plans that have characteristics that necessitate different accounting considerations and that have been the source of considerable controversy: future cash outlays for OPRBs depend on the amount of serves that the employees will eventually receive, additional OPRBs cannot be accumulated by employees OPRB with each year of service, OPRBs do not vest† (Schroeder, Clark, Cathey, Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits, 2011). As noted the two most frequent pension plans are the defined contribution plan and the defined benefit plan. However, APB Opinion No. 8 has identified that there are some basic problems with the accounting for the defined benefit pension plan. There are also other postretirement benefits that include retiree healthcare benefits and life insurance.

Heineken out of Burma :: essays research papers

Heineken out of Burma The action groups 'A Seed Europe' and the Dutch action group 'XminY' started a campaign in February 1996, called "Heineken out of Burma!". The investment plans of the Dutch brewer Heineken Inc. in Burma (Myanmar), were said to provide material support and legitimacy to the violent dictatory rulers of the country. Heineken sees Burma as an emerging market, that must be entered without delay. Western beer markets are becoming saturated and the potentials for growth in Asia are enormous. Competitors, such as Carlsberg and San Miguel, are likewise turning their investments towards Asia. The political opposition in Burma, lead by Nobel Price laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, calls on foreign companies not to invest in Burma for the time being, however. International embargoes can support the internal opposition against the regime, she says. Heineken has a 42% share in the Asian Pacific Brewery Ltd (APBL). This, in turn, owns 60% of the shares of the Myanmar Brewery Ltd (MBL). The remaining 40% of the shares belong to UMEHL: the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. UMEHL is lead by the military rules of the country. APBL wants to invest 15 million US dollars in a brewery in Burma. That can only be done in the form of a joint-venture with UMEHL. The military rulers force this construction onto APBL. Forty percent of the profits that the brewery will yield in the future will thus flow towards the dictators. Heineken did not deny that the Burmese regime is guilty of gross violations of human rights. On the contrary, Heineken shared the analyses of the action groups and said to be very concerned about the human rights situation in Burma. There is one difference, however: the action groups concluded that Heineken should cancel its investments in Burma, but Heineken did not intend to do so. "We sincerely believe that we can reconcile our policy in Burma with our corporate values and norms", so Heineken's press officer before the Dutch media. The action groups say: "By investing in Burma at this moment, and by embarking on a joint venture with UMEHL, Heineken makes itself an accomplice in the tragedy of the Burmese people". This complicity consists in particular of two points.

Ralph Vs Jack Leader Essay

There are always people who prove to have better leadership skills than others. The strongest of these people can often influence the weaker people into following them. However, the strongest person is not necessarily the best leader as it is proven in William Golding’s novel, The Lord of the Flies. Although Ralph is the weaker person, he is still able to demonstrate a better understanding of people than Jack who is stronger. Ralph demonstrates his excellent leadership skills throughout the novel by keeping order among the group, treating everyone with respect, and having the sense to keep his focus on getting rescued. While the boys are under Jack’s control, they quickly turn into uncivilized savages. However, Ralph manages to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. At the meetings, a sense of order is brought on to the boys because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch. â€Å"l will give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.† (p. 31) By enforcing this sense of order, he gains respect from the boys and becomes more confident as a leader. Ralph uses his power to make the boys feel more comfortable on the island.

Can We Speak of a ‘Classless Society’

Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Stratification is a concept we are faced with on a daily basis, whether it is a conscious or subconscious element of our lives. Class has been a dominant form of stratification in traditional views of society, but man’s evolution in thought, behaviour, outlook, organization and culture has led to critical criticism questioning the very existence of class itself: Does class still exist? Can we speak of a ‘classless society’? Analysing the role that class does or doesn’t play in modern society is interesting because we are our very own sources.Through first hand experiences of class we can determine the role it plays in our everyday lives. Class can be viewed both subjectively depending on how we think of ourselves, or objectively dealing with how we are structurally located in society. (Milner, 1999) Therefore, combining our subjective, micro-level understanding of class with a macro-level, objective analys is of class, we can determine the degree to which class persists in modern society. The idea of stratification and class will continuously persist as it provides a foundation for organization and identity in society.Although the word ‘class’ will never die, the traditional role class plays in society has certainly died. ‘Social Class’ is the class of today; it has followed the death of the rigid, traditional and intolerant class of yesterday. Today people are more empowered and can take control of their social standing, an idea supported with the current social mobility and emergence of the middle class. ‘Social class’ classifies people in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, age, culture etc. Naturally, economic class continues to play its role in society, but it does so in harmony with other aspects of ‘social class. Class is disintegrating because people are becoming more individualistic. What matters today is how people see themselves, a s opposed to how they are viewed by society. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). Traditionally, society consisted of inherited classifications between masters and slaves, and lords and peasants etc. , which constituted the ‘natural’ way of association. There are certain parts of the world where people still live by their inherited class. In India for example there is a Caste System, in which every individual is categorized into divisions (colour, ancestors, rank).There are four main castes with various sub-castes and each have a large amount sub castes within them, furthermore outside the caste system are the ‘Untouchables’ who are oppressed and viewed as impure all the time. The four main castes: Brahmins–priests Kshatryas–warriors Vaishyas–traders Shudras–laborers A significant classical view of class is that of Marx. His traditional view of class contained two distinct classes: Bourgeoisie or the capitalist class, who own their own mea ns of production, and the Proletariat or working class, who own their own labour. Marx, et al. , 1848) Exploitation between these two social groupings in the capitalist production process defined Marxist class (Pakulski, et al. , 1996). The Marxist view is ‘real’ and ‘objective, furthermore its concerned with the different strata as a whole rather than the individuals within them (Saunders, P. 1990). For Marx, social power was achieved purely through economic class. He viewed class as a rigid and positional aspect of society. Hence, his interpretations of class failed to account for the fluidity of modern class.Conversely, Weber’s view of class is much more synonymous with the role class plays in modern society. He looks at class in terms of the cultural and social roles it plays in society and focuses more on stratification through consumption rather than production. (Pakulski, et al. , 1996) He juxtaposes class as an economic relation with class as a soci al relation, unlike Marx who predominantly focused on economic class. Weber analysed class in terms of status and stratification in the light of: property, ownership, occupational skills, religion, legal rights, lifestyle and consumption.This view of class is still relevant in today’s society and therefore Weber’s view of class is not wholly classified under the ‘dead’ or dated outlook on class. Weber did also look at class in terms of economic relations and the possessions of economic goods, as well as market position. He believed that life chances are determined by how one is positioned in the market. (Weber, 1922) This relates to the Indian Caste systems where members of a high caste (Brahmans) enjoy more wealth and opportunities; members of a low caste (untouchables) perform unwanted menial jobs.The ‘Untouchables’ being the lowest stratum are regarded as underprivileged, demoralized and ‘backward’, hence given the jobs such as sweeping, garbage collector and regarded as impure individuals- the idea that once they touch another individual there needs to be a cleansing as the ‘untouchables’ are ‘dirty’. Individuals were relatively powerless, as they could not acquire wealth or status through changing position in a market place. Today, however, hard work and merit allows for social mobility and people have a stronger influence over their position in society. Milner, 1999) Having said that, some individuals do not get the opportunity of social mobility- due to the fact that they are either uneducated or the fact that they do not have the right social networks.Gandhi named the Untouchables â€Å"Harijians† (Children of God)- by doing this he tried upward mobility by trying to elevate their status through different means (befriending and eating with the impure). ‘Underclass’ in general tend to suffer multiple deprevisation, as they are dependent on state welfare (i f given) and have low levels of education hence making it harder for upward mobility (Saunders, P. 990) Social mobility and individual control over social standing has been greatly strengthened through the modern preoccupation with education. The increased priority given to exposing larger proportions of society to education has empowered individuals, allowing them to use their educations as a tool to overcome ‘class’ barriers. Overall, the ability to move up and down the social ladder in present day society makes class that is classified purely in an economic sense irrelevant. Economic’ class is no longer a steady, inherited, and ‘life-long’, concrete concept, as people can change their economic standing within their own life span or across generations. The concept of the ‘middle class’ has also arisen through the idea of social mobility and empowerment through education, and does not concur with Marx’s traditional view of class. Today, the ‘proletariat’ of traditional Marxism is being replaced by machinery as the advancement in technology has made some manual work redundant.Furthermore, the idea that many modern companies do not solely rely on legal ownership of a company, but instead hire people due to technical competence, gives people the opportunity to hold managerial positions that have a lot of power. This is the idea of recruitment via ‘meritocrality’ and hints at the death of classical conventions of class. Therefore, the idea of objective class being defined as the relationship between the ownership and non-ownership of productive resources has greatly dissolved (Lee, et al. , 1996).Having said that in India the opportunity of mobility is limited it all comes down to the status, power or class of the individual- this is due to the fact that India is still developing and full of politics, an individual would have to have the right connections in order to do or acquire anyt hing but most important factor in accomplishing anything in India would be money. Furthermore if an individual is a Shudras they would have less capital compared to the Brahmans, hence decreasing their chance of opportunities they can take.Within the Indian caste system most people remain in one caste their entire life and marry within their caste. Although class is viewed differently today, it does not necessarily mean that modern views of class are more ‘equitable. ’ In fact, there is still a strong lack of equity within the different classifications of gender, ethnicity, sexuality etc; furthermore there are parts of the world where class is a vital aspect in their everyday life and interaction. The difference being that in contemporary society people are more attached to individualist and consumerist forms of discrimination and inequality.It can be said that today consumption is more important than production, class is no longer a ‘lifetime experience’, but instead thought about as an ‘individual biography’, and exclusion from the labour market is the more appropriate way to think about poverty. Although the concept of class is ever-present, the objective and subjective role it plays in society has been greatly transformed within the western society, thereby accounting for the death of classical class theories.Having said that India could never be a classless society as people are not acting constructively to escape class divisions, this is due to the fact that most ‘underclass’ cannot undergo upward mobility, as they do not have the opportunity or resources. Class is a social relationship that invades each individual’s lives. There has been a death of traditional class within the western society as individuals are acting constructively to escape class divisions and go towards a classless society, however an evolved definition of class continues to dominate the 21st century.Bibliography Saunders, P. 1990. Social Class and Stratification, USA, Rutledge. Pakulski J and Malcolm W. (1996) The Death of Class. London: Sage. Milner, A. (1999) Class. London: Sage. Weber, M. [1922] ‘Class, Status and Party. ’ Extract from Economy and Society in W. G. Runciman [ed. ] (1978) Max Weber: Selections in Translation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. 43-56. Giddens, A. (1994) Beyond Left and Right. Cambridge: Polity. Pp. 139-48 Marx, K. and Engels, F. [1848] ‘Bourgeois and proletarians’, section 1 of The Communist Manifesto, in D. McLellan [ed. ] (1977) Karl Marx: Selected Writings. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 222-231. Prandy, K. 2002. Ideal Types, Stereotypes and Class. The British Journal of Sociology, Volume 53 number 4, page14. Brahman. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved October 06, 2010, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www. britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/77093/Brahman â€Å"Harijans. † The Columbia Encyclopedia, S ixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved October 06, 2010 from Encyclopedia. com: http://www. encyclopedia. com/doc/1E1-Harijans. html

The Second Anglo-Afghan War in the Late 1870s

The Second Anglo-Afghan War in the Late 1870s The Second Anglo-Afghan War began when Britain invaded Afghanistan for reasons that had less to do with the Afghans than with the Russian Empire. The feeling in London in the 1870s was that the competing empires of Britain and Russia were bound to clash in central Asia at some point, with Russias eventual goal being the invasion and seizure of Britains prize possession, India. British strategy, which would eventually become known as The Great Game, was focused on keeping Russian influence out of Afghanistan, which could become Russias stepping-stone to India. In 1878 the popular British magazine Punch summed up the situation in a cartoon depicting a wary Sher Ali, the Amir of Afghanistan, caught between a growling British lion and a hungry Russian bear. When the Russians sent an envoy to Afghanistan in July 1878, the British were greatly alarmed. They demanded that the Afghan government of Sher Ali accept a British diplomatic mission. The Afghans refused, and the British government decided to launch a war in late 1878. The British had actually invaded Afghanistan from India decades earlier. The First Anglo-Afghan War ended disastrously with an entire British army making a horrendous winter retreat from Kabul in 1842. The British Invade Afghanistan in 1878 British troops from India invaded Afghanistan in late 1878, with a total of about 40,000 troops advancing in three separate columns. The British Army met resistance from Afghan tribesmen but was able to control a large part of Afghanistan by the spring of 1879. With a military victory in hand, the British arranged for a treaty with the Afghan government. The countrys strong leader, Sher Ali, had died, and his son Yakub Khan, had ascended to power. The British envoy Major Louis Cavagnari, who had grown up in British-controlled India as the son of an Italian father and an Irish mother, met Yakub Khan at Gandmak. The resulting Treaty of Gandamak marked the end of the war, and it seemed that Britain had accomplished its objectives. The Afghan leader agreed to accept a permanent British mission which would essentially conduct Afghanistans foreign policy. Britain also agreed to defend Afghanistan against any foreign aggression, meaning any potential Russian invasion. The problem was that it had all been too easy. The British did not realize that Yakub Khan was a weak leader who had agreed to conditions which his countrymen would rebel against. A Massacre Begins A New Phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Cavagnari was something of a hero for negotiating the treaty and was knighted for his efforts. He was appointed as envoy at the court of Yakub Khan, and in the summer of 1879 he set up a residency in Kabul which was protected by a small contingent of British cavalry. Relations with the Afghans began to sour, and in September a rebellion against the British broke out in Kabul. Cavagnaris residence was attacked, and Cavagnari was shot and killed, along with nearly all of the British soldiers tasked to protect him. The Afghan leader, Yakub Khan, tried to restore order and was nearly killed himself. The British Army Crushes the Uprising in Kabul A British column commanded by General Frederick Roberts, one of the most capable British officers of the period, marched on Kabul to take revenge. After fighting his way to the capital in October 1879, Roberts had a number of Afghans captured and hanged. There were also reports of what amounted to a reign of terror in Kabul as the British avenged the massacre of Cavagnari and his men. General Roberts announced that Yakub Khan had abdicated and appointed himself military governor of Afghanistan. With his force of approximately 6,500 men, he settled in for the winter. In early December 1879, Roberts and his men had to fight a substantial battle against attacking Afghans. The British moved out of the city of Kabul and took up a fortified position nearby. Roberts wanted to avoid a repeat of the disaster of the British retreat from Kabul in 1842 and remained to fight another battle on December 23, 1879. The British held their position throughout the winter. General Roberts Makes a Legendary March on Kandahar In the spring of 1880, a British column commanded by General Stewart marched to Kabul and relieved General Roberts. But when news came that British troops at Kandahar were surrounded and facing grave danger, General Roberts embarked on what would become a legendary military feat. With 10,000 men, Roberts marched from Kabul to Kandahar, a distance of about 300 miles, in just 20 days. The British march was generally unopposed, but being able to move that many troops 15 miles a day in the brutal heat of Afghanistans summer was a remarkable example of discipline, organization, and leadership. When General Roberts reached Kandahar he linked up with the British garrison of the city, and the combined British forces inflicted a defeat on the Afghan forces. This marked the end of hostilities in the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The Diplomatic Outcome of the Second Anglo-Afghan War As the fighting was winding down, a major player in Afghan politics, Abdur Rahman, the nephew of Sher Ali, who had been Afghanistans ruler before the war, returned to the country from exile. The British recognized that he might be the strong leader they preferred in the country. As General Roberts was making his march to Kandahar, General Stewart, in Kabul, installed Abdur Rahman as the new leader, the Amir, of Afghanistan. Amir Abdul Rahman gave the British what they wanted, including assurances that Afghanistan would not have relations with any nation except Britain. In return, Britain agreed not to meddle in Afghanistans internal affairs. For the final decades of the 19th century, Abdul Rahman held the throne in Afghanistan, becoming known as the Iron Amir. He died in 1901. The Russian invasion of Afghanistan which the British feared in the late 1870s never materialized, and Britains hold on India remained secure.

African Slave Trade essays

African Slave Trade essays There are three documents that explain the African Slave Trade. Document seven, The Life of Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, The African, is a primary memoir written by Olaudah in1789. Equiano wrote this document to describe his life in Africa and explain what it was like being a slave. This document, which was written for people involved in the English antislavery movement and anyone else who wanted to know about his experiences as a slave, relates to the slave trade from Africa and the sugar plantations in the West Indies. Both the document and the text talk about Equianos life as a slave and some of what he went through. Document eight, Commerce, Slavery, and Religion in North Africa, is a primary memoir written by a member of a caravan headed by a Tuareg guide called Cheggeun in 1860. This document, which was written for General E. Daumas, a French officer serving in Algeria, explains trade, slavery, and religion in North Africa. This document relates to the Atlantic trade syste m in sub-Saharan Africa. Both the text and the document explain the tasks that African slaves performed in Islam. They also talk about how Muslims were like Christians in that they saw no reason for trading slaves. Document nine, Slavery and the Slave Trade of Brazil, is a primary memoir written by Thomas Nelson in 1846. His purpose for writing it was to describe the conditions of the Africans he came into contact with while aboard slave ships. This document, which was written for people who wanted to know about the Africans aboard the slave ships, connects to the eighteenth-century. The document and the text both tell a little of what the slaves endured. They discuss several diseases such as dysentery and malaria, which took the lives of many slaves.These documents are similar in that they are all primary memoirs written to explain the African Slave Trade and discuss the ...

Varying Degrees of Stupid

Varying Degrees of Stupid Varying Degrees of Stupid Varying Degrees of Stupid By Maeve Maddox As I browse the Web, skimming comments on various topics, one word comes up again and again: stupid. There’s no end of people or things that some grump somewhere is calling stupid in speech or in writing. For example: The government is stupid. Women are stupid. Men are stupid. April Fool’s Day is stupid. Handwriting is stupid. Classical music is stupid. Riding a bicycle is stupid. What a waste! English speakers are blessed with dozens of words that convey numerous shades of stupidity. First, let’s look at the meaning of stupid. Some speakers regard it as the opposite of intelligent, but that’s misleading. Intelligent people often say and do stupid things. Stupid derives from the Latin adjective stupidus, which in turn comes from the Latin verb stupere, â€Å"to be stunned or benumbed.† English stupid is still used with that meaning. For example, a person might be â€Å"stupid from a blow to the head,† â€Å"stupid with grief,† â€Å"stupid with sleep,† â€Å"stupid from lack of sleep,† or â€Å"stupid with drink.† In these contexts, the stupidity is temporary. It refers to an impaired ability to think and react normally. More commonly, applied to a person, stupid means â€Å"slow of mental perception.† A stupid person is slow-witted, lacking in quickness of mind. Applied to an idea or a thing, stupid means that the thing is dull, uninteresting, or ill-considered. Numerous synonyms for stupid exist. When the intention is to point out a lapse of judgment or careful thought, these are useful options in serious discussions of literature, personal relationships, and public affairs: unintelligent foolish vacuous vapid obtuse nonsensical unwise injudicious inane absurd fatuous asinine unthinking ill-advised ill-considered ludicrous ridiculous laughable risible Some terms common in colloquial speech are considered inappropriate for formal use because they derive from terms once used to describe types of mental deficiencies. For example: idiotic imbecilic moronic cretinous Note: The words ignorant and dumb are also used colloquially to mean â€Å"mentally slow,† but they are unfortunate choices. Everyone is ignorant in some areas. All ignorant means is â€Å"lacking in knowledge.† Likewise, dumb has a meaning unrelated to intellectual ability: â€Å"unable to speak.† An intelligent, well-informed person may for some reason lack the ability to speak. Some words that name impaired thinking also connote ridicule and disdain: dense doltish thick, thickheaded dim, dimwitted dopey dozy pea-brained half-witted brain-dead bone-headed daft crazy cracked half-baked dimwitted cockeyed harebrained lamebrained nutty batty cuckoo simple-minded loony loopy Finally a few adjectives convey the idea of stupidity without the sting of ridicule- among friends, at least. Here are some: daft dopey dozy scatter-brained nutty batty cuckoo loony loopy Admission: Even with all these options, sometimes stupid is the only word that satisfies the feelings of the speaker. For example, â€Å"This stupid app keeps crashing!† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SHow to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors15 English Words of Indian Origin

Discussion on Evidence Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Discussion on Evidence Law - Essay Example Evidence must conform to certain rules in order to be admissible. At the trial of A, witness W1 indicated that A and another person was seen packaging white powder. Witness W2 indicated that A was heard telling to someone that B and A would be selling stuff in a few months. W1 again testified that A and B met H on a trip to Sydney who sold amphetamines and wanted A and B to sell these in Canberra. W2 further testified that A and B were seen injecting amphetamines. So the evidence for the cases can be summarised as follows: 2. W1 - seen A and B on a trip to Sydney where they met H who sells amphetamines and asked A and B for partnerships. This evidence may be relevant as it provides as clear lead that A and B were having business plans with H who sells amphetamines Here some of the elements of evidence are excluded as items 3 and 1. According to the evidence given here, it may be suggested that the other items of evidence are relevant as the facts of the issue are more or less likely (see in Odgers, 2004). Evidence that on four consecutive days in February 2005 A purchased packets of 'Polecat' brand pseudoephedrine to a total of twenty packets from three chemists in various Canberra suburbs. It is accepted that pseudoephedrine is a core constituent of amphetamines. EFTPOS records showing that various pieces of apparatus which can... 4. W2 - seen A and B using and injecting amphetamines. This is a relevant evidence as it suggests that A and B were habituated with the uses of amphetamines. The evidence is strong against A and B who are suspected of selling and encouraging the use of narcotics that is illegal and severely punished. Here some of the elements of evidence are excluded as items 3 and 1. According to the evidence given here, it may be suggested that the other items of evidence are relevant as the facts of the issue are more or less likely (see in Odgers, 2004). QUESTION 2 (10 MARKS) The prosecution will seek to lead the following evidence at the trial of A: Evidence that on four consecutive days in February 2005 A purchased packets of 'Polecat' brand pseudoephedrine to a total of twenty packets from three chemists in various Canberra suburbs. It is accepted that pseudoephedrine is a core constituent of amphetamines. EFTPOS records showing that various pieces of apparatus which can be used in the production of amphetamines and which closely resemble, but are not identifiable as, some of the items found in C's premises were purchased from a wholesaler in Sydney using A's EFTPOS card on December 13 2004. Evidence from a witness, W3 who worked at the wholesaler's Sydney premises, that J, with whom A has been living in a de facto relationship for some years, was the person who purchased the items. EFTPOS records showing that A's EFTPOS card was used to purchase petrol in Sydney on five occasions in November and December 2004 including on December 13 2004. Evidence from a witness, W4, that A habitually gave J his EFTPOS card to use. Is this evidence admissible and if so on what

Qualitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Qualitative Research - Essay Example Students who go to teach abroad have experience and deal better with diversity issues and hence when it comes to employment, employers prefer these students as they can be able to handle students better as students are not the same. The interview has yielded three different coding after undergoing in depth analysis of the themes mentioned above. The first is that teaching abroad leads to a re-evaluation of an individual’s personal values having experienced the lifestyle of other people different from what one is used to. The second is that this experience of different cultures eventually leads to acculturation and this marks the end of stereotypes against people and communities. Lastly, there is the issue of the student having a broader perspective not only on the issues of teaching but about life in general as they get to live another life totally different from theirs and get to understand what life is really about as well as know the importance of not taking things for

Intercultural Communication in Phoenix Management Services Essay

Intercultural Communication in Phoenix Management Services - Essay Example The Foreign Service Institute was then in charge of handling cultural information in the United States. Intercultural communication did not have any resources for use in the 1960’s (Condon & Yousef, 1975). It is in the 1970’s that sources,  journals  and societies specializing in intercultural communication emerged. Hall looked at communication using the concept of low and high context messages depending on the importance of the context of the message. In a low context  message  the information in the message is explicit with no unspoken or implied information. While in the high context message most of the meaning is understood and passed on by the circumstances, relationships and  non-verbal  messages (Hall, 1976, Habke &  Sept,  1993). In the low context cultures, everything is communicated by explicit information while in a high context culture communication depends on the subtleness and circumstances. This theory by Hall lowers the chances of causing offense in intercultural communication for if one has a view of a culture; they are able to take measures to adjust to another culture thus improving the chances of precise communication (Hall, 1976)Other researchers who have contributed to the intercultural communication theory are William Gudykunst and Young Yum Kim. As a  navy  specialist deployed in Japan, Gudykunst came up with  he  theory on intercultural communication while training others.  

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT OF YEMEN Research Paper

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT OF YEMEN - Research Paper Example The Joshua Project uses two percent of an indigenous population as the minimum percentage of a population that can impact an entire nation (Hoskins, 2005). Yemen unreached status stems from their topography which varies from hot coastal plains to cool mountains, and scorching deserts. This climatically challenges missionaries willing to spread the gospel there (Joshua, 2009). Secondly, their social and tribal structure has prevented penetration by Christians since all persons and goods passing through their towns are strictly controlled. They have various tribes which are ruled by Arab Chiefs who often fight each other. The belief system is the third reason for their unreached status. Despite being predominately influenced by Islam religion, the different Islamist sects complicate evangelism even further. Zaydis which is the largest sect is obsessive and warrior-like. They view all wars as a crusade against all non-Muslim believers to the extent that any Muslim converting and professing faith in Jesus Christ can be killed (McCarthy, 2004). This belief system and antagonism towards the Gospel creates major challenges to any evangelizati on efforts to this unreached group of people. The Great Commission forms the basis of missions in the Christian faith. Christ Himself commanded his followers in the Great Commission to go out and spread the gospel to the ends of the world. In a bid to obey this commandment, Christian missionaries travel to the furthest corners of the world so as to reach the unreached groups with the gospel message (The Yemeni Arabs, 2012). They have devised creative ways of reaching such groups for example extending hospitality, sinking boreholes, providing health care amongst other ways. Despite all this well intended cause, the missionaries experience unspeakable challenges as they try to reach out. They face rejection, persecution, battle with doubt and even death. On the

Corporate Planning Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corporate Planning - Coursework Example The manager can then postpone the decision or take no action. The second reason why managers may fail to make a decision is need to maintain the status quo. The company may be performing extremely well and the manager may wish to pursue existing strategies to maintain good performance. Alternatively, the manager may be undergoing high pressure to comply with existing rules, policies or procedures. Consequently, the manager will have little room to introduce change. Therefore, maintaining status quo becomes better option. Sales forecasting is one of the core functions of the sales and marketing department. Sales forecasts must be realistic and inspiring to the sales and marketing department as well as to other departments of the company. Inspiring and achievable sales forecasts can be achieved by considering internal and external factors that affect company’s performance. The first issue is the internal environment of the company. Internal environment of the company is comprised of key personnel in the sales and marketing department, finance department and production department. The key personnel in the above key departments should be involved during sales projections. According to Haines (2008), sales executives should set their own sales targets. The managers of key departments proceed to discuss the targets and check if they are achievable. For example, the production managers confirm if sales targets are in tandem with the production capacity and finance managers confirms if the targets ar e in line with company’s revenue targets. The second factor to be considered when a company makes sales forecast is the external environment. External environment include the competition, purchasing power of the consumer, political events, fashion and styles, changes in population, and the state of the economy. The sales forecast team should make use of facts from the

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT OF YEMEN Research Paper

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP PROJECT OF YEMEN - Research Paper Example The Joshua Project uses two percent of an indigenous population as the minimum percentage of a population that can impact an entire nation (Hoskins, 2005). Yemen unreached status stems from their topography which varies from hot coastal plains to cool mountains, and scorching deserts. This climatically challenges missionaries willing to spread the gospel there (Joshua, 2009). Secondly, their social and tribal structure has prevented penetration by Christians since all persons and goods passing through their towns are strictly controlled. They have various tribes which are ruled by Arab Chiefs who often fight each other. The belief system is the third reason for their unreached status. Despite being predominately influenced by Islam religion, the different Islamist sects complicate evangelism even further. Zaydis which is the largest sect is obsessive and warrior-like. They view all wars as a crusade against all non-Muslim believers to the extent that any Muslim converting and professing faith in Jesus Christ can be killed (McCarthy, 2004). This belief system and antagonism towards the Gospel creates major challenges to any evangelizati on efforts to this unreached group of people. The Great Commission forms the basis of missions in the Christian faith. Christ Himself commanded his followers in the Great Commission to go out and spread the gospel to the ends of the world. In a bid to obey this commandment, Christian missionaries travel to the furthest corners of the world so as to reach the unreached groups with the gospel message (The Yemeni Arabs, 2012). They have devised creative ways of reaching such groups for example extending hospitality, sinking boreholes, providing health care amongst other ways. Despite all this well intended cause, the missionaries experience unspeakable challenges as they try to reach out. They face rejection, persecution, battle with doubt and even death. On the

ANZ Bank Based on Porters Five Force Model Case Study

ANZ Bank Based on Porters Five Force Model - Case Study Example Substitutes are those products which are quite different in form but which offer a real alternative to the industry competitor’s product (Michael E Porter and sustainable competitive advantage, Chapter 4, p.40). A threat of substitute products means the easiness in changing consumer behavior to opt for substitute products. For example, ANZ is facing stiff challenges from other prominent banks domestically and internationally. Competitors always try to produce goods of the same quality at cheaper prices. The availability of more attractive substitute products will drive away customers from ANZ. ANZ is currently focusing more in the Asian market. â€Å"In a number of Asian countries, foreign banks cannot enter the market on an unrestricted basis† (Lewis, 2007). The restrictions in this region are a big handicap for ANZ. For the ample, Indian national banks can offer many products to their customers like mutual funds, term deposits, etc whereas it is difficult for ANZ to o ffer such products to Indian customers. The threat of new entrants depends on the barriers to entry. Barriers to entry depend on economies of scale, product differentiation capital requirements etc (Michael E Porter and sustainable competitive advantage, Chapter 4, p.35). The threat of new entrants in the second element in the analysis of an organization with respect to Porter’s five force theory. New entrants always weaken the power of an organization. In the case of ANZ, globalization has raised many concerns about the entry of new international banks in Australia and other countries. It is easy for an Indian or Chinese bank to establish the business in Australia at present because of the liberalized market conditions. In fact, the recent recession has destroyed the backbone of many of the Australian banking organizations like ANZ. On the other hand, China has not faced much trouble with respect to the recession and hence it is easy for Chinese banks to enter the Australian market and raise challenges to ANZ.

Paddy Power Case Study Essay Example for Free

Paddy Power Case Study Essay Alina Wheeler defined branding as a disciplined process used to build awareness and extend customer loyalty (). Branding is about seizing every opportunity (), a desire to lead, outpace the competition and give employees the best tools to reach customers. Paddy Power has accomplished to adhere to all those principles, all through their accession to becoming the largest betting firm in Ireland. The company had to rebrand, to become a broader-based entertainment company and to this extend a number of changes took place to establish their new identity and service brand. The image of a fun, friendly and fair was promoted to differentiate them from the competition and they made changes in their structure to facilitate each one of those elements. Making it fun entailed broadening the appeal of betting, bets on celebrities, elections, stocks, and anything people where interested in became available. They enhanced the customer’s experience with bigger brighter and better designed outlets, audio and video equipment and interaction terminals. They invested in training their staff to improve the customer’s experience and support their friendly image. They promoted their image of fairness through money back specials, putting emphasis on the circumstances rather than the rules. All those steps where aimed in enhancing the Paddy Power brand. Additionally by creating controversial advertisements and consistently denying to ‘playing by the rules’ they created a buzz around their brand, they became a topic of conversation and that led to enhanced brand recognition and awareness by the public. To demonstrate this we can consider the fact that the Paddy Power brand recognition in Ireland has now reached 90%. All those decisions changed the perception not only of the Paddy Power service brand but the perception of the betting industry. The closer we examine the company it becomes clear that they are determined to disassociate the brand from the ordinary, to create new rules instead of adhering to the existing ones, and this is what makes Paddy Power unique. When faced with restrictions on sponsorship they got a player to change his name to Paddy Power by deed poll, when their outdoor campaign of the Last Supper was deemed offensive and had to be removed they instead covered the poster with a sticker that read â€Å" There’s a place for fun and games. Apparently this is not it†. The company has also capitilised on opportunities to connect with different segments of the market. The launch of websites such paddypowerbingo.com directed at the female customer is an example of this. What is so unique about this approach is that the combination of fun, fair and friendly has set the company apart from the competition. The element of differentiation is really strong in the brand as no other betting firm approaches the market the same way. Paddy Power established their service brand by changing their image, coming closer to the consumer and by cutting through the proliferation of choices as in the mind of the consumer they became synonymous with providing an exceptional service, in every way.

Independent Cafe Leadership Strategies

Independent Cafe Leadership Strategies Coffee express started as a very small cafe; shop with only 6 tables however in the past 4 years it has made a huge progress. Coffee express started on the 1st of February 2013. It is located at Sylvia Park, Mount Wellington, and Auckland. We started with only 4staffs. Our main focus on was takeaway coffees and fresh and toasted sandwiches only. Our signature sandwiches such as classic clubhouse sandwich, choice of fish, chicken, vegetarian, grilled chicken sandwich, and grilled fish fillet sandwich.Our authentic sandwiches became very popular and famous among the kiwis. Its freshness and crunchiness were enjoyed by all. Due to our sandwichs, customers started to spend more on coffees. From takeaway coffees, it soon started with have it in coffees. Coffee express became more hectic and demanding and was a challenge to keep up with only 6tables in the shop. After a year of huge progress, I decided to invest in the shop, extending the whole area and adding 10 tables which meant more st aff as well. The whole expansion became a huge challenge for me. For the new success we considered ourselves a learning business that is growing which responds to changing customers, employees, and system. New rules, procedures, mission, and vision statement of the cafe was initiated. As a sole trader it is totally my duty and responsibility to run my own coffee express. These duties involve acting as an owner, stock controller, floor manager, and food service manager as well. Maintaining and controlling a constructive work environment by planning, direct, coordinate and check all accounts of the cafà ©. The vision statement   of the cafe; is to spread the spirit of rock n roll by creating genuine experiences and delivering kiss ass service that rock your world. The value statement of the cafà © is to commit on ensuring a long term success by ensuring a family fun and nurturing work environment.   Moreover, in order for my team to understand visions and values, they need to have a genuine interest in serving customers. For them to have these certain interest they must acquire hospitality qualification and trade. For a long term success of the cafà ©, my team must obtain that authentic rock and roll experience that customers would be attracted to come back f or. Furthermore, I know that my team have understood the visions and value for the cafe; because I have now managed to expand the entire cafà © to 10 serving tables now.   The success of the cafà © speaks for itself and i am assured that the authentic genuine are given to customers as they come again for the same vibe. The cafà © is generally a busy place from morning till lunch time. As a sole trader 2 behavioral expectation observed were autocratic and laissez fair. When coffee express was setup I opted on practicing autocratic leadership which had worked out quite well enough for me in the past 4years of my business. Having to hold the ultimate power as the owner and taking no account for others opinion has molded me and my business thriving. Being able to have individual control over all decisions has helped me achieve all my goals and objectives in these years. My own ideas and judgments have been accepted by my followers and have resulted in a huge success. My goal was always to expand my business and through autocratic leadership I have managed to accomplish it. For example, when it came to making of sandwiches or coffee, first in first out strategy was imposed and was being followed by my staff. I.e. whoever orders and pays first shall be served first. All customers were given equal priority. For the existing accomplishments, this strategy seemed glowing. Customer satisfaction developed and clients expectation boomed. Having to perform so many responsibilities, I happened to acquire laissez fair qualities as well. Usually I delegate my responsibilities to staff. I.e. asking them for their corporation in getting work finished or sometimes even to update register files and all. It was not possible to do all work by myself with such a hectic environment. For example, at the end of each month I used to assign two staff for stock take. They would count and record the stocks available in the shop and report back to me. I would then record i t in a computer data system and order stocks that are needed as soon as possible. Without my two staff I would not have been able to complete this task. As a leader being able to show laissez fair qualities makes a team stronger and brings in unity. Moving on, as a sole trader it is totally my duty and responsibility to run my own coffee express. These duties involve acting as an owner, stock controller, floor manager, and food service manager as well. Maintaining and controlling a constructive work environment by planning, direct, coordinate and check all accounts of the cafe. Influencing and keeping staff motivated at all times when it comes to interacting customers. At the cafà © we always try our best to meet the customer expectation and ensure that we commit on ensuring a long term success. This can only be achieved when we put our customers first regardless of whatever issues that need attention. I look after customer complaints or dissatisfaction if there are any. I always explain and apologize to my customers. On behalf of my staffs if they have made a mistake or even when I know that customers are wrong at times but we dont argue with them. At the back of my mind I know that my customers are always right. To amend this feedbacks are always taken from them to improve in our service and also we also give few items

Management :: Business Management

Management Past Structure Marks and Spencer used to be structured under a Functional or U-Form design which works by breaking the company into departments like operations, marketing, finance, human resources, and research and development. This design works well with smaller companies but with bigger companies there is too much information for the top manager to handle and deal with. This is exactly what happened to Marks and Spencer. In 1991, Sir Richard Greenbury took over Marks and Spencer for seven years and structured the company to fit the Functional design. He made the company very aristocratic and rigid where by â€Å"Head office knows best† (The Economist). This created an atmosphere where by the company focused on their products instead of focusing on their customers. Although Marks and Spencer grew and made huge profits within this time, in 1998 their profits fell very quickly and sharply. Marks and Spencer closed a chain of stores which they owned in Canada and rumours were spreading th at they would also close two chains of stores which they owned in the United States. The combination of Marks and Spencer’s quick expansions and the aristocratic rule had definite visible implications on Marks and Spencer’s well-being. The combination of Marks and Spencer’s aristocratic rule and structure just couldn’t handle everything that was going on. Another one of Marks and Spencer’s weaknesses stemmed from their heavy reliance on inside promotions. The company would hire college students and have them work their way up the ladder. Very rarely did the company hire outside candidate for senior positions. This prevented outside innovations from coming into the organisation. Reformed Structure In 1998 Marks and Spencer needed to do something drastic because it was losing out on its market share and their reputation was going down the tubes. The company decided it was time to restructure. The new structure of Marks and Spencer would be more like the Conglomerate or H-Form design. In this design the organisation is set up basically as a holding company comprised of unrelated products. The new Marks and Spencer would have seven different business units: women’s swear, men’s wear, lingerie, children’s wear, food, beauty, and home. This would allow the company to create a more flexible structure which could respond to the fast changing environment. This flexible structure would give autonomy to individual business units helping them tailor to their customers better.

Grade 9 Geography Exam Review Essay

Geography Exam Review Grade 9 1) Unit 1- Introduction to Geography a) What is Geography? * Geography is the study of the Earth’s physical and human systems/features and the relationships among them. * Physical Features: rivers, mountains, etc. * Human Features: buildings, cities, etc. b) The Five Themes of Geography * Location (Absolute and Relative) * Absolute and relative locations are 2 ways of describing the positions of the Earth’s physical and cultural features. * Ex: Mogadishu, Somalia, is at 2 degrees north latitude, 45 degrees east longitude. * Place (Physical and Human Characteristics) * All places on Earth have special features that distinguish them from other places. * Ex: Lake Baikal is 25 million years old, more than one mile wide, and contains 1/5 of the Earth’s fresh water. * Human-Environment Interactions (Relationships Within Places) * People interact with their environment and change them in different ways. * Ex: 90% of America’s garbage is buried in landfill sites, the cheapest option to waste disposal. * Movement (Mobility of People, Goods, and Ideas) * How things move from one place to another (information, objects, people) * Ex: AIDS is believed to have started in equatorial Africa. It has been transmitted to other parts of the world via tourists, immigrants, and military personnel. * Regions (How They Form and Change) * Regions are areas on the surface of the Earth that are defined by certain unifying characteristics. * Ex: Mexico and Germany are subdivided into states; Canada and France call their subdivisions provinces. c) Mapping * What is a Map? * A map is a representation of the Earth’s features drawn on a flat surface. * Types of Maps * General Purpose Map * Provides many types of information on one map. * Ex: Water, roads, railways, lines, parks. * Thematic Maps * Shows specific information about one particular topic. * Ex: Canada’s populations, Canada’s wonderland. * Topographic Maps * Shows a variety of features of land. * Ex: Mountains, rivers, landforms. * Large Scale Maps * Shows a large amount of detail of a small area. * Ex: Cities, towns, residential communities. * Small Scale Maps * Shows a small amount of detail of a large area. * Ex: Countries, continents. * Map Requirements (BOLTSS) * B= Border * To keep map within boundaries * O= Orientation * Shows direction * L= Legend * So people know what colours/symbols mean * T= Title * What your map shows * S= Scale * Shows distance on a map compared to real life distances * S= Source * To show where info is from

How Well Does Parliament Perform Its Various Functions? Essay

How well does Parliament perform its various functions? There are several important functions that Parliament must perform. The word Parliament derived from the Latin ‘parliamentum’ and the French word ‘parler’ which originally meant a talk- which is what Parliament does most of the time. Parliament consists of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarchy. Parliament is the highest judicial, legislative and executive body in Britain. A parliamentary form of government acknowledges that it derives its power directly from the consent of the people. This sort of system ensures democracy and an active interaction between the people and their representatives. The three functions that I am going to focus on are Scrutiny, Representation and Law Making. Scrutiny is carried out in four main ways- Prime Ministers Questions, Select Committees, The Back Benches and The House of Lords. Prime Ministers Questions is a weekly opportunity for backbenchers to scrutinise the Prime Minister. This happens every Wednesday and is an opportunity for the leader of the opposition as well as other MPs to highlight government failings or ask the Prime Minister a question. This is a good way to scrutinise the Prime Minister as it puts them under pressure to justify their actions and normally with potentially no pre-warning of what topics will have to be defended. The element of surprise allows opposition MP’s as well as backbenchers and sometimes members of the cabinet to catch the prime minister out with an awkward question. The relative performance of each of the main party leaders is closely watched and each is under great pressure to get the better of their opponent. The main weakness of this form of scrutiny is that it is often accused of being more like ‘Gardeners’ Question Time’ as many believe the questions are â€Å"planted† and therefore the Prime Minister and Opposition can prepare their answers beforehand. Select Committees in both the House of Commons and the Lords investigate the work of government departments and produce reports of policy proposals. They have the power to call witnesses in the course of their proceedings. Their role is multi-faceted and includes many tasks such as investigating the work of the government departments to determine whether they have acted efficiently and effectively. This is a strong form as scrutiny as it reports back to the public what is happening behind the scenes in the government but the Select Committees lack resources, expertise and power to create damage if the government weren’t doing their job properly. Select Committees have been described as a â€Å"mere irritant†. The government relies on backbenchers in providing services to their constituents and relaying the opinions of their constituents. Although backbenchers do not hold power, a concerted revolt could topple the ruling party through a â€Å"no confidence† vote. An example of a successful rebellion occurred during November 2006 over the Terrorism Act 2006 when a large number of backbenchers voted against the 90-day detention provision of the anti-terror legislation in order to stall the bill. This provided to be the single largest defeat for then Prime Minister Tony Blair since his government. Recently David Cameron faced a threat of a fresh backbench Tory revolt as traditionalists lined up to oppose government plans to legalise gay marriage but many debated that this in fact could not be counted as a rebellion as backbenchers would probably be given a free vote in any vote on legalising gay marriage. This therefore is a strong form of scrutiny as it has been proven extremely powerful and has even overthrown past governments for example Margaret Thatcher and James Callaghan. One of the main issues with scrutiny and backbenchers is that they are often under the control of the Whips (MPs or Lords appointed by each party in Parliament to help organise their party’s contribution to parliamentary business) and one of their main responsibilities is making sure the maximum number of their party members vote the way their party wants. Unless the backbenchers have enough people to rebel they will not succeed and therefore it is not often that a government is defeated, for example Blair’s government was only defeated in the Commons four times over their three terms in power. The House of Lords is the second chamber of the UK Parliament and is independent to the Commons although it complements the work of the Commons. Members of the Lords play a vital role in scrutiny, there are two main reasons for this, the first being that they are independent to the Commons and in many ways have increased power which they often use to stand up to the Commons by blocking reforms. Lords also have a better balance of parties so no government has a majority. The Government however can override Lords by using Parliament Act; this was used when the fox hunting ban was being put through under Blair’s government as there were too many in opposition of the ban in the House of Lords. The Parliament Acts, although rarely used, provide a way of solving disagreement between the Commons and the Lords. The Parliament Act of 1949 also prevents Lords from delaying bills for more than one year. The second function that I’m concentrating on is Representation. In the Commons MPs are elected every five years to represent local constituencies. The link between the House of Commons and the local constituency is very important as it provides information to the government on how the public is responding to their policies and ideas for new laws, reforms and ideas. In recent years there has also been many attempts to make the government more diverse – for example more women and ethnic minorities. This was especially pushed by Tony Blair as it was obvious to him that the UK was far behind the US in being diverse, he started by pushing for there to be more women in government and these became known as â€Å"Blair’s babes†. The Lords are also a large part in representing the ‘national interest’ as they are less party political and many have had long careers in public service, business, arts and culture, or another area of activity. Therefore the members of the House of Lords contribute their expertise and knowledge to Parliament and its work and consequently able to take the bigger picture into account. However there are many downfalls in representation in the government. The most often referred to is how First Past the Post (FPTP) does not produce a very accurate representation in the House of Commons as it produces many ‘wasted votes’. In the Institute for Public Policy Research report, which looks at the ratio of votes to MPs under FPTP for the main parties in the 2010 general election, it was shown that it took 33,468 votes to elect a Labour MP, 35,028 votes to elect a Conservative MP and 119,780 votes to elect a Liberal Democrat MP. This therefore is an interesting piece of evidence showing the unfairness of the FPTP system as it strongly favours some parties over others. However there was a referendum in May 2011 which asked the public whether the Alternative Vote (AV) system should be used for general elections instead of FPTP and more than two thirds of those who voted said to keep the FPTP system- although many of those in opposition to FPTP says this in itself was unfair representation as the turnout was less than 65% of the population. The lack of women in MPs has also been blamed on the FPTP system; there are currently 504 male MPs and 145 female MPs nationwide. Therefore the House of Commons is unrepresentative of the UK as there are roughly 28. 6 million males in the UK and 30. 2 million females. The House of Lords is also seen as unrepresentative as it is unelected and even more out of ratio with the population of the UK as it has many old, socially elite members. Another one of Parliament’s main functions is Law Making is debating and passing statue law. The Government introduces most plans for new laws, with many included in the Queen’s Speech at the opening of each session of Parliament. However new laws can originate from an MP or a Lord. Parliament passes about 100 laws each year and every law goes through several stages and is debated continuously in much detail before being passed. Emergency issues such as the threat of terrorism all contribute to the need for the new laws. Before draft laws, known as bills are introduced to Parliament there is often consultation or discussion with Standing Committees and as these consist of MPs from every party they guarantee that every view point is reflected in discussion. The House of Lords main role when it comes to the function of Law Making is to amend bills or make suggestions of improvements. The Lords also have the power to reject bills that appear unworkable or undesirable (for example the fox hunting bill and identification cards bill). The governments’ majority always ensures that its proposals are passed as they have ‘elective dictatorship’ and can also use Parliamentary Acts to override the House of Lords. Also the House of Lords is also limited to only one year of delaying bills and therefore the government can pass new laws fairly easily after one year. Standing Committees also generally reflect the composition of the House of Commons and therefore the party in government will always have a higher majority. Government often imposes time limits on Standing Committees discussions. In my opinion Parliament performs its various functions- scrutiny, representation and legislation (law making)- well. Although there are many weaknesses to each function it would be extremely hard to remove these weaknesses without making the executive separate like they have in the United States.

Border and Coastal Security (Criminal Justice) Essay

`Hardened Border Paradox’ and `Open Border Paradox. The `Hardened Border Paradox’ refers to the situation when tougher border controls fail to achieve their objective – stop illegal migrants and smuggling. Instead, it is argued, these tougher controls create an atmosphere ripe for spread of criminal activity. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, in his written testimony before a hearing of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate noted that â€Å"draconian measures to police the border invariably provide incentives for informal arrangements and criminal conspiracies to overcome cross-border barriers to commerce and labor movements†. There appears an industry for helping illegal migrants, whereas the cooperation of law enforcement bodies is reduced when one side unilaterally pursues strict policies. The border becomes more â€Å"chaotic†, and tough regulation â€Å"creates a demand for those who are in the business of arranging the illegal crossings† (Kirkpatrick, 2004). This paradox can be resolved by combating illegal groupings and promoting cooperation at the border between authorities on both sides. The ‘Open Border Paradox’ includes the need to combat the movement of terrorists and smugglers across open borders without damaging the free flow of goods and services that benefits the economies of both nations. This paradox exists, for example, on the US-Canadian border where the flow of goods and services is in dependence on anti-terrorist measures. To overcome this paradox, authorities from both sides can create special projects targeting terrorists without jeopardizing trade flows. Kirkpatrick in his testimony points out the example of a bi-national â€Å"Integrated Border Enforcement Team (IBET)† created on the US-Canadian border to overcome smuggling in 1996. Is it cost effective to spend millions and millions of dollars in an effort to stop a handfull of people` who are bound to terrorize the United States? Counteracting the bunch of people bound to terrorize the United States is worth millions of dollars and perhaps even more. This number is commensurate with the devastating impact September 11th and other events had on the development of the American economy and national security. Efforts to combat terrorism within the United States are also costly. The negative effect of terrorist activities on the economic activities of Americans can hardly be overrated. Terrorism poses a risk to the United States and all of its business. Foreign partners contemplating a deal with US companies will be more reluctant to do so if they perceive the state as being in continuous danger of an external attack. This means loss in indirect costs from dangers to the national security, with the effect similar to that political instability in developing nations has on their ability to attract and retain direct foreign investment. The costs of failing to keep the terrorists out are therefore serious issues that have to be addressed in order to prevent the possible danger to the economy. In this way, these efforts are similar to risk management in business. The risk averted may never materialize, and all the costs seem to have sunk in vain; however, if the risk did materialize, the impact on business would have been much greater. Speaking of the need to avert a terrorist attack through anti-terrorism campaigns, one need not forget that it is not only economic prosperity that is at stake. The negative impact on the quality of lives of Americans from September 11th attacks cannot be measured in dollars alone, for here one must factor in the pain, the grief, and the fear that affected even those who only saw the attacks on TV. The government has to deliver public goods to the people, and national security is one of them. Therefore, spending large sums on anti-terrorist measures is a sound idea as long as helps to prevent the terrorists effectively from getting into the country and perpetrating their crimes.

Clarifying your goals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Clarifying your goals - Essay Example Wisdom and knowledge will help me to make suitable decisions in my personal and professional context. Knowledge and wisdom will ensure my contribution towards my profession significantly (Por & Molloy, 2000). In order to enhance my wisdom and knowledge level, I am required to identify a rational objective of my goal. In this regard, the milestones for achieving my objectives will be time management and innovation. The milestones will aid in developing my creativity skills to develop and enhance my personal as well as professional knowledge base (Por & Molloy, 2000). I will need around four months to enhance my wisdom and knowledge level. During this four months period, I will learn more about the changing technologies of modern era, which will ensure my efficiency level by possessing adequate knowledge about the modern technologies used in different business operations. In a similar manner, the time management skill will assist in building my creativeness. I am required to look for a mentor, who will assists me in developing my competencies for accomplishing mu objectives effectively. Moreover, I have developed an action plan in order to ensure that I accomplish my goal successfully (Por & Molloy, 2000). I have identified that to ensure my goal, I will require a mentor to teach me the techniques based on which I will be able to accomplish my objectives successfully, so that I become competent for my MBA program and professional life. Accordingly, I have developed a time line, which will aid me in accomplishing my desired objectives and goal within stipulated

M&M Project Report Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

M&M Project Report - Research Paper Example The objective of this report is to write in a layman’s language, all the parts involved in the M&M project. The report will lead to an explanation of what was done in each part, as well as the result. Presentation of the data and the results will be on an excel worksheet. Part three will involves analysis through construction of confidence interval to find out the distribution of candies per bag as well as the proportion for each color, and then recording of the results in an excel worksheet. Different claims of color proportions will be tested in the fourth part. Finally, the claim there is no difference between the number of brown and red candies will be tested in part five. Introduction: M&M Project Report The purpose of this report is to explain what was done in each part of the M&M project, as well as analyzing the results. In addition, the report will lead to investigation of quality control. The five parts of the project included sampling method, the sample mean and pro portion, testing of different M&M candies’ claims, and using 95% confidence interval to do testing. In the end, the report will lead to a better understanding of the process and methods of packaging M&M candies. M&M candies were randomly obtained from different stores. A random sample was used to make sure that the sample was a true representative of the entire population. The population here means a collection of all the subjects that are to be studied – all the M&M candies for that matter. Different colors in each bag were counted and recorded in an excel work sheet. ... On the other hand, the number of candies per bag will use the data in the bag column. To obtain the proportion for any color, the number of candies for that particular color will be divided by the total number of candies. A separate excel sheet will be used to create a histogram for the number of candies per bag. The descriptive statistics for the total number of candies per bag will be computed in another sheet. The summary of all the important information will be made in another worksheet titled â€Å"Part 2 Summary." The descriptive statistics and the summary were as follows: Table 1: Descriptive statistics Num. of Candies in Bag    Mean 56.02222

Macroeconomics Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Macroeconomics Analysis - Essay Example This is after the government incentives towards installation of solar panels as a way of reducing environmental pollution and provides a cheap source of energy. However, this project draws a great attention to the macroeconomics Analysis, its resultant outcomes and impacts to the economy. Generally, the beginning of the whole project will impact on the GDP. GDP simply refers to Gross Domestic Product, which is the monitory value of the goods and services produced within a country at a particular period of time, probably one year. The GDP comprises of the domestic consumption - the consumer spending, government spending, sum of the county’s business and the total net exports. There will be a general increase in the GDP of the country. On the introduction of the solar panel project, many industries will emerge to produce the solar panels. This will give an additional product in the list of goods produced within the country. A production of excess of the panels will also add to the country’s exports. The government, because it is its initiative to run the project, will also invest in the solar panel project. Many people will also be motivated to get the solar panels installed on their roofs, hence spending on the project. The whole project will create an expansion in the service industry. People, the likes of Cindy will specialise installation of the solar panels. The same specialists may also export their services to other countries who are importing the solar panels. The product of solar panels in substitution to the electricity among other sources of energy will come with intensive support and high demand in the local, domestic and international markets. This demand will be as a result of the product being cheap. Comparing the purchase, installation and maintenance of the solar energy among other types of energy such as generators and

Extraordinary rendition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Extraordinary rendition - Research Paper Example This was after a terrorist attack in the country during the reign of President Bill Clinton. The CIA agency went to the height of detaining and interrogating foreign suspects without bringing them to the United States or charging them with any crimes they committed (â€Å"Extraordinary Rendition, Extraterritorial Detention and Treatment of Detainees† Web). The solution was to move a suspect to another country which sometimes meant the detention of the suspect to the CIA’s secret prisons in places such as Romania or Thailand. From there, CIA would interrogate him or her. The suspect will either be detained or interrogated by the U.S (Katja 34-8). personnel at the detention facilities outside the sovereign territory of the country or, on the other hand, dispensed over to the custody of foreign agents who will then interrogate him or her. The foreign suspects are subjected to torture and brutal interrogation methods that are illegal under international or federal law, applied so as obtain information from the suspects. The use of extraordinary rendition has proved success in the fight against terrorism. Arrest and detention of terror suspects have helped the Government to dig into the roots of the terrorists’ plans and strategies from the terrorist suspect put under interrogation (Murray 9-11). However, administration officials, in collaboration with the Department of Justice legal memoranda criticized this act. A forum was held in 1992 that was ratified by the U.S (The United Nations Convention against Torture and other Forms of Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment) (Murray 20). The congress made it clear that, it is the policy of the U.S not to:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"expel, extradite, or otherwise effect the involuntary return of any person to a country in which there are substantial grounds for believing the person would be in danger of being subjected to torture, regardless of whether the person is physically present in the United State†

Why Obama Won Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Why Obama Won - Assignment Example By taking into concern the current situation of this contemporary world, it can be stated that the political parties need to become market-oriented, by recognizing public demands and most importantly, by designing an effective party product. In this similar context, the party product may comprise certain important factors including policies, constitutions, symbols, organizations and ideologies. It has been apparently observed that an effective political marketing imposes significant impacts upon several important aspects which include political decisions, market orientation strategies, online association marketing and media coverage initiatives (Marshment & Rudd, n.d.). Besides, the notion of political marketing is also viewed as a sort of commercial marketing that emphasizes upon forming, preserving as well as improving long-term interrelation with the voters for the purpose of attaining significant success and expected objectives (Shaughnessy, 2001). In addition, an effective polit ical marketing is all about shaping and delivering accurate message to the key audiences in order to obtain considerable success, especially in the political field (Ren Scott Creative Marketing, n.d.). In this discussion, a detailed analysis will be taken into concern regarding how an effective political marketing supported US President Barack Obama succeed in defeating Mitt Romney to earn a second term. Analysis Brand Difference of Obama and Romney Considering the recent changes in the US political environment, it can be stated that it is the democratic brand which mainly differed Obama from Romney who possessed republican brand. A major difference that can be viewed in this regard is that Obama largely supported the ideas as well as the policies based on Democratic Party while conversely, Romney deciphered strong concern towards Republican Party’s theories and concepts. Furthermore, US President Obama, from the very beginning, was observed as much keen towards introducing a s well as developing significant democratic policies concerning international relations, supporting legalization particularly for illegal immigrants and augmenting employment opportunities among others. These quality facets of democratic policies can be viewed as a significant factor which contributed to the success of Obama helping the common people to interpret the policies as mainly formulated for the interests of the nation (Carothers, 2012). This significant aspect, i.e. the democratic brand of Obama might have significantly assisted him to attain success and win for a second term as US President by a large extent. The democratic branding of Obama evolved over the course of the campaign when he included republican idea into his proposal relating to health insurance reform. According to the proposal, a few of the initiatives based on republican ideas have been taken into concern under the guidance of Obama. In this regard, the initiatives included facilitating varying health ins urance premiums on the basis of participation in programs relating to employer wellness, establishing standardized mechanisms to enhance healthcare quality and superior access towards different community based health centers (The White House, n.d.). Conversely, the republican branding of Romney evolved over the course of the campaign when he acclaimed prior to the election that it is possible to mitigate the loss of revenue resulting from tax cuts by eradicating different deductions as well as exemptions, especially for the upper-income individuals of the US. However, a few of the republicans were significantly criticized regarding the viewpoint of Romney regarding the

Internal Control Essay Example for Free

Internal Control Essay The LBJ Company is currently making a decision to go public or not and with that The LBJ Company will also need to become knowledgeable about their internal controls within their systems, specifically in regards to Accounting and also Human Resources and how it will affect them and their employees and of course how they conduct business. There have been some positive and negative issues arise in regards to their internal controls. However, the LBJ Company needs to be acknowledged for what they are doing right, but will also need to address the issues that are negatively affecting them and their business and will continue to negatively affect them if they decide to go public, which will drive down the cost of their shares etc. This case study will review these items as well as make recommendations for what the LBJ Company can do to tighten up their internal controls. Part 1: Internal Controls Requirements Inform the President of any new internal control requirements if the company decides to go public. Internal controls are mechanisms, policies, and procedures used to minimize and monitor operational risks. In order to deter employees from committing a dishonest or fraudulent act the controls must be thorough and comprehensive. However, internal controls by themselves are not enough. They will be effective only if they are reinforced through culture, policies and procedures, information systems, training, and supervision of staff. * The primary objectives of internal controls are to: Internal controls help to provide reliable data by ensuring that information is recorded in a consistent way that will allow for useful financial reports * They also help prevent fraud and loss by safeguarding assets and essential records. * Internal controls promote operational efficiency by reducing unnecessary duplication of effort and guarding against misallocation of resources. * They encourage adherence to management policies and funding source requirements. Internal controls can be broke down into two categories- accounting and administrative controls, which is exactly what the issues are with the LBJ Company. (Internal Controls Checklist) According to the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, all publicly traded U.S. corporations are required to maintain an adequate system of internal control at all times. As LJB Company President, he or she should be aware that a controlled environment must be present at all times, and â€Å"that unethical activity will not be tolerated.† The LBJ Company must identify and analyze the various factors that could create risk for the business and how the team can manage those risks. The overall internal control system needs to show and communicate all appropriate information within the organization, to ensure that the communicated information has reached the organization. According to the textbook, â€Å"It is very important to have testing and auditing of controls to build a long lasting organization. (Kimmel, 2009) Part 2: What the Company is Doing Right? Advise the President of what the company is doing right (they are doing some things well) and also recommend to the President whether or not they should buy the indelible ink machine. When you advise the President, please be sure to reference the applicable internal control principle that applies. The company has been doing well by creating a balanced environment for employees, due to the long-term employees that are currently there is an excellent thing for LBJ Company. From what is being shown, the managers and employees have a great balance, which keeps good control and promotes a team oriented environment within the company. Another good thing is that the accountant is in charge of the checks and also stores them into safe in his office, but the manager should have the only key to the safe to increase the monitoring of the checks and would also create a checks and balance system. Plus if the accountant is not there for whatever reason and an employee needs their check, the manager can handle that and not violate any employment laws by not giving an employee their check in a timely manner. The President of LJB Company, has also done a good thing for wanting the employees to be aware of any new regulations required of the company if they decide to go public. It is incredibly important the President have different individuals serve as an Accountant, Treasurer and Controller which will help streamline many of their processes. This way, the Accountant will not be responsible for all financial dealings and again this will create checks and balances which are required to go public. Part 3: Advise the President of what the company is doing wrong (they are definitely doing some things poorly). Please be sure to include the internal control principle that is being violated along with a recommendation for improvement. (20 points) This situation for LBJ Company has shown that it is in clear violation of the internal control principle and is running significant risks by not including more oversight and checks and balances. First of all, that they have one accountant who plays the role of both Treasurer and Controller is an area of great risk. The Controller and Treasurer are meant to play opposite roles in which they provide oversight and checks and balances to the other. The two positions should be filled by separate employees, and this change should be implemented as soon as possible. In the current setup, the one accountant has too much power over the processes. Another issue is the cash drawer principle also leaves the company vulnerable to fraud and manipulation of funds. For example, even if a company employee were to act independently, an employee could easily remove a substantial amount of unauthorized funds, and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find who did it as any of the company employees could have been culpable. An example of the problems that arise from the anonymity that company employees have within the organization, is clearly exemplified in the case of the worker who was fired for viewing pornography on the company computer. Not only does this introduce risks of damaging corporate reputation, and download viruses, but it also highlights how the lack of individual user accounts and accountability makes it so that one employee can hide their malicious actions with anonymity. Below are some recommendations for the LBJ Company. Recommendat ions: 1) To introduce a culture of corporate responsibility, the CEO should begin to implement individual user accounts for its computers, as well as a formal cash withdrawal system, that requires that company employees register themselves with another person or a computer system. 2) The role of the one accountant who acts as Treasurer and Controller must be separated into two so as not to violate the internal control principle, and in order to minimize the likelihood of fraud. 3) The checks should not just be left at the accountants office, but in a safe where only two people have access such as the accountant and the manager. That way more than one person is responsible. 4) The accountant taking checks home over the weekend is a security issue as well as introduces more opportunity for fraud. This practice must be stopped and more safeguards put in place. This also is an issue regarding personal identifying information on the checks of the employees and if the checks become lost or stolen, then that information is available to the public now. 5) The accountant also being involved in the interview process for new employees is disturbing because of the level of control he has over critical aspects in the companys day to day business. If he were to hire an accomplice, he could easily use that individual and his position in order to manipulate accounts and withdraw significant funds from the company before he is ever caught. 6) The HR Departments should also run more thorough background checks as part of their hiring processes. (Bell, 2010) Conclusion Now that the LBJ Company has received the recommendations to fix the issues with their internal controls, they will no doubt be able to go public and be successful. The LBJ Company should also re-evaluate their processes every so often to make sure that these new systems for their internal controls are successful. They should re-evaluate every so often in case they need to make changes as well.

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors

Green consumer behavior and influencing factors This chapter literature review is presented by using review of previous studies. The literature explains green consumption, green consumer behavior and factors influence consumer behavior. During the past decade environment become a serious issue that leading to environmental problems have been concerned from public and the environmental awareness has occurred. Environmental knowledge from media, society, or education are boosting that lead to consumer behavior have been changed (Wagne,1997). Many companies consider about environmental issue force and start to take it to be part of corporate management (Reinhardt and Vietor, 1996). It causes the demand of green products is increasing. Many studies found out that green consumption pattern in variable factor widely base on consumption decision that partly on the environmental attributes (Krarup and Russell, 2005). In 1970, many companies were pressured by society and consumer; therefore, environmental marketing involves offering consumer with more socially acceptable product(Peattie, 2002).There is evidence that in 1988 many countries in the world have adopted the green label in order to support environmental behavior (Peattie, 2002). Green label is the label that shows the reduced environmental impact over the product life time (Rex and Baumann, 2006) and this lead to an increase of green consumption because green label also help some consumer who cannot distinguish green product from conventional product(Morris, 1997). Sheth mentioned that in 1990 almost 10% of new product was launched in form of green or environmental friendly. Although Bleda and Valente (2009) suggested that green label can use for solving the environment problem, Blair (1992) claimed green product cannot stop environmental harm. It only can be less harm which green product characteristics is less impact global environmental problem, design to be re-used or recycle, non-polluting, minimal packaging, local obtainable materials, no test animal. This is supported by Alwitt and Berger (1993)s reported that 70% of consumer concern about environment issue (Vantomme et al., 2004). Moreover, Tnsglobal (2007, p11) conducted survey in 12 countries around the world. It was found that for automobile, 53% of respondents said the environment has a significant or large influence on their day-to-day purchasing decisions. For food items, the figure is 49%. Household goods at 43% and then health beauty products at 41% come next. It can be seen that there are green consumer in all of products type. Besides, Eco-electrons (2009) reported that 81% of U.S. con sumers are willing to pay on green product, and 79% have a positive brand image with green brand. 2.2. Green consumer Green consumers is one who avoids products that are likely to endanger the health of the consumer or others; cause significant damage to the environment during manufactory, use or disposal; consumer a disproportionate amount of energy; cause unnecessary waste; use material derived from threatened species or environment; involve unnecessary use of, or cruelty to animal; adversely affect other countries (Elkington,1994 cited in Strong, 1998) While Moisander and Peronen (2002) mentioned that green consumers are the consumer who has morally oriented behaviour that is reinforced from their need or other, aiming to make better life of society. Wagner (1997) said that green behaviour cannot occur though only general environmental concern, the actual behaviour will be take place when specific environmental exist. In other word, green consumers who have green consciousness will have green behaviour, while Peattie (1992) observed that green consumer in one market is not necessary to be green c onsumer in other. This depends on their own behaviour attitude toward specific products, and the linked between green information and product information. Some consumer cannot separate between green product and general one, this lead to available green information and green label that help consumer make purchase decision. Moreover, an increase of green information also lead to the rise of green consumer and cause many companies behave environmental performance. However, there is no study about green consumer in Thai cosmetic market. Many researches characterise on green consumer that they are female, high education, high income, high social class (Peattie, 1992; Wager, 1997; Barr, 2003; Chen, 2007). There is no evident of Thai green consumer demographic. This research will investigate green consumers demographic, namely gender, age, status or income in Thai green cosmetic market in order to ascertain the exits potential segmentation. 2.2.3 Green consumer decision process Generally, consumer decision process consist of 5 stages ,namely, motivation, information search, evaluation of alternative, purchase choice, purchase outcomes. Understanding the determinant of each stage from beginning through the last stage is need in order to run the campaign or marketing mix which is suitable target consumer. Consumer can skip the stage or reverse some stage; it is necessary to pay attention in all stages (Wils n, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Kotler and Armstrong, 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan, 2008). Peattie (2002) explained the step of green consumer decision process as same as general consumer decision process; however, green consumer behaviour is not simple as general consumer behaviour because green consumers tend to behave as environmental responsible that involving buying or avertable consumption. Moreover, green consumer behaviour pattern are easily changed. It can be said that green consumer behaviour is the consumer behaviour that concerning about environm ental issue or social criteria, and lead to the purchasing and non-purchasing decision (Peattie, 2002). They might not purchase the product and do alternative way that respond green challenge such as replace, maintain or dispose of product. Figure4. Greening the buying process model Source: Peattie,2002,p.84 First stage: Recognition of a need or want Generally, all needs can be explained though Maslows need hierarchy. Physiological needs or the lower need in the hierarchy aim to be satisfied first and the need will turn to next level such as safety needs, esteem needs and self-actualization. However, it is not necessary that the lower need is fulfilled as first, some people might want to meet the higher level need as first, for example, some people forgoing food and buy other product that meet their higher needs(Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007; Fan, 2008). Peattie (2002) said that during 1980s green issues become significant issue to drive certain need at each level of Maslow model. Ordinary, consumers have physiological needs as basic needs. They need food, clothes and house, however, green consumers tend to consume as small proportion in order to reduce resources. Moreover, in safety needs level, green consumers concern about safety and health. They interest about either production of packaging or product, how is come from t hat this contribute the secured package such as tamperproof container (Mackenzie. 1990). This cause people trust more in green product because they think that green product is safety for them. Many people consume organic food or natural cosmetic instead chemical ones (Peattie,2002). The is evident that demand of cosmetic in Thai market is required nature ingredient that means that product are not tested on animal, recyclable package (Falk, J ,2007 Ponbamrungwong and Chandsawang, 2009 ). Moreover, green consumers needs are shaped from recognition of problem that is influenced from media coverage, advertising or pressure group about environmental problem (Wilson, Richard and Gilligan, 2007). Some cosmetic company using emotional appeal in their advertising that represent how they help the world ( bodyshop,2010)This lead to people is looking for alternative green product and become the generic desire to buy other green product in their life. Second stage: Information search When consumers aware their needs. Finding information is important for them (Sheth and Mittal, 2004). There are many sources which consumer can have information either personal source from friend and family, public source from media and magazine, commercial source from staff or brochures and experimental source by trying product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Regarding Green consumers, they need much more information about product that relate to environment, particularly, household product. They seek information beyond the given-information from company. Consumers also look for their guide, therefore; many organizations and pressure group activity become important because they truly inform the information in terms of product, and suggest about situation that consumer face involves environmental issue (Peattie et al.,2002).This kind of organization such as Greenpeace, Earthwatch and PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals). They provide the information on their website that people can easily access. This can be shown that internet source becomes the importance source for consumer. Sheth and Mittal, (2004) stated in cosmetic market, internet are significant source because they can compare the price and share opinion about product. Although, Grubow (2010) found that in some Asia countries such as china, consumer still seek informat ion from cosmetic store as the first choice, they will go back to internet to find furthermore information. There is no study about significant source in cosmetic market in Thailand. The examination on this point will be occurred in order to benefit the companies that doing in this firm. Third stage: Evaluation of alternative stages The study of Thai consumer decision-making styles on imported cosmetic brand products by Chaisitthiroj (2007) found that Thai women have many characteristics that cause the different evaluation of alternative such as brand conscious characteristic, quality characteristic. Brand conscious characteristic refers to the consumer who appreciate brand as the first factor, they seem to be insensitive in price. They believe that brands represent the quality of product, and the brand that represent frequently in public can effectively influence their decision making. In cosmetic market, Green cosmetic brand might be best choice for green consumer that respond their desire and encourage them to switch from other brand (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Price conscious characteristic account for consumer who prefers the low price, they make buying decision making on the product that lower price. Green consumers look for alternative product that can help environment, for example, they use bicycles in stead of car in short distance. However, green consumers do not evaluate only between products or brand, they consider on the way of alternative purchase behaviour. Some consumer might not consume new product and repair or maintain old product instead. Borrowing is alternative way that consumers believe that after they return product to owner, it will be conserved. Buying second- hand approach becomes popular. Green consumer can fulfil their need without use more resources. Brand loyalty also can be green consumer by using refill product rather than buy the competed package product (Peattie,2002).. Forth stage: make purchase choice Euromonitor International showed that the highest company value in Thai colour cosmetic market is Mistine Brand (This brand sell an item around 50 pence) while the body shop (green cosmetic brand) was ranked at top 20. This can be questioned that Thai women use price factor or income factor to make purchase on cosmetic product. However, there is no study of influence factor in green cosmetic consumer. Therefore, green cosmetic market need to understand Thai green consumer buyer pattern. Peattie (2002) explained that green consumer will buy the product in where can help environmental problem or welfare of society, for example, green consumer might purchase the cosmetic that be made from the developing area that represents reinvestment and environmental protection. Moreover, green consumers purchase when product is creditable that have eco-behaviour, Those products can be shown by using green label or eco-performance. They might not purchase the unreliable product. Regarding quantity, green consumers tend to buy product at the less level in order to reduce the resources or buy refill pack of product (Peattie,1992 Peattie,2002). Fifth stage: post purchase behaviour stage After consumer purchasing the products, companies need to know the consumer perception in terms of product meet their exception or not, because it can lead to a repeat purchase behaviour. The seller need to make consumer are satisfied. It is because present consumer can leads to new consumer or become loyal consumer (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Peattie (2002) mentioned that in this stage green consumers have different behaviour from convention consumer. Therefore, marketers should understand green consumer post purchase behaviour. Peattie (2002) divided post- purchase of green consumer into 5 behaviours. Product use change. Green consumers use the same product in different ways. They might act as environmental organization guide. For example drive at 50-80 km/miles in order to reduce car emission. Reuse of product. Green consumer will reuse the part of product that serves their other needs. They might use cookie container to keep other food. Product disposal. Green consumer carefully use the product in order to though the where can be useful, some green consumer sell it as second hand products or donate them. Recycle of waste packaging. Green consumers consider about recycle packaged. Many green consumers said that natural material of package can be the factor that influences their buying decision. Care and maintenance. Green consumers pay more attention to use product in order to extend product life cycle. Therefore, the products that are easily maintained will be the choice for them. 2.4. Factor influence consumer behaviour Figure. The framework consumer behaviour Source:Lancaster,Massingham,Ashford ( 2002,p.75) 2.4.1 Cultural factors It is difficult to deny that cultures generate behaviour norms, and it is important to connect culture and consumer behaviour. Understating culture is needed. Brassington and Pettitt (2006, p.127) explained that culture is the personality of society within which an individual lives. It manifests itself through the built environment, art, language, literature, music and the products that society consumes as well as through its prevalent beliefs, value systems and government. It also includes traditions, taboos, value, and basic attitude of society, nationality, religious and geographic. Wilson, Richard and Gilligan (2007) mentioned that this factor is the fundamental factor influencing buyer behaviour. Kotler and Armstrong (2004) supported that different society has different culture. Asia culture varies from western culture; it leads to different behaviour. This research will be conducted in Thailand where is located in Asia, hence understanding Asia culture is necessary. Buddhism has been in Thailand more than 2000 years. It can be said that Buddhism unwittingly becomes a part of Thai people life and it is a national religion of Thailand. Although these days many Thai people change their religion to other, more than 90% of Thai people still is Buddhism (Department of Religious Affairs, 2010). Buddhism teachings avoid persecute all animal, other people and society. They search for peaceful life. This concept is similar as green consumer concern in terms of avoidance of animal (and) environmental damage. However, it cannot judge that culture can motivate Thai women behave as green behaviour and buy green cosmetic. The finding of Johri and Sahasakmontri(1998) found that Thai consumer did not buy cosmetic because no tested on animal as the important factor. However, this finding is obsolete, when data was collected Thai people did not have sufficient information about environmental which differ as present. According to Hofstedes demission of cultural value Asia countries have high uncertainty avoidance. Uncertainty avoidance refers to uncertainty acceptance culture. In high uncertainty avoidance culture people tend to avoid the risk, change in their life that lead to the social risk of trying a new product is very high (Fan ,2009) Although, many studies examine the factor influencing Thai women behaviour in green cosmetic market, it is surprising that many studies did not use culture factor to measure in their studies (Prapakamol, 2001; Namsanguan, 2007, Chaisittiroj, 2007). As it can be seen from review that culture is significant factor that influence buying behaviour. , this research cannot overlook culture factor. This research will investigate the positive relationship between culture and buying behaviour in green cosmetic market in Thailand. H1. Culture is significant factor influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic 2.4.2 Group and reference group There are many theories stated that consumer behaviour is reinforced from social group. This is evident that the social group can influence consumer behaviour by group which each consumer belong (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). Chen (2007) mentioned that people perform a behaviour that is related to people in their life (eg, family, friend, and other). Schutte and Ciarlante (1999) claimed that family is the fundamental group in Asia people life because family is the first place that giving experience of life. Family will transfer the traditional and the building block of a harmonious society. for example, if green cosmetic are believed as a good product from people in their family, the consumer will have high intention of buying green cosmetic, whereas if member of consumers family think that green cosmetic is not good, consumer will not buy green cosmetic (chen, 2007) Moreover, Fan (2009) said that Asians always follow the crowed in the consumption because Asians are collectivism that always interdependent on each other and the way they act follow and believe the group than individual. In other word, if green cosmetic is the popular product in Thailand and chemical one is rejected, Thai women will purchase green cosmetic instead chemical one. However, it is also important to reach the opinion of leader group to find out the characteristic which influence other member so as to easily access other member (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). The study of Summers (1970) found that the opinion leader in cosmetic product is influence consumer behaviour. In USA opinion leader are younger, high educated. Similarly, opinion leader in Hungary are younger, high educated and they have been to Western Europe or the USA in recent year. Although their finding found that leader group characteristic is similar, there is a small difference that might cause from demographic (Coulter, Feick and Price, 2002). Furthermore, Brassington and Pettitt (2006) added that environmental friendly trends are quickly spread from reference group, peer-group or social group, and they affect on their member buying decision. Strong (1998) examined that in green market, children are significant key that influence on family buying decision because children are important source in family that can encourage or discourage buying power. Furthermore, Lee (2008) claimed that green consumption is a form of symbolic consumption. Therefore, there is possible that people will buy green product in order to be accepted from group. As green cosmetic products are quite new topic in this area that no enough guidance. However, Cosmetics are fashionable product and green products are acknowledged as environmental friendly in Thailand. There is a possible that group, opinion leader are significant factor that motivate Thai consumer when buying green cosmetic. H2. Social group is significant factor that influence Thai women to buy green cosmetic. 2.4.3 Status Solomon et al (2006) said that the product or services we purchase often will represent to other people know what our social class. Therefore, consumer behaviour always is influenced with this aspect because consumer the products as status symbols. Status also display to education and income, for example, wearing high price suits can display the individuals professional or career position. Similarly, Fan (2009) said that Asian people are the most status-conscious in the world. The important of status makes it imperative to project the right image, which usually means up-market and prestigious(Schutte, 2010,p.658).To be accepted from social Asians will buy product that express status, normally expensive product. Although, products display status, it does not mean that social class can influence all kind of product. Chao and Schor (1998) claimed that social visibility is a key of status consumption. Status will be important when consumers purchase only the products are always showed to public view. In cosmetic products, they found that women buy expensive lipstick and do not care about relationship between price and quality because women only want to show their status though lipstick brand which normally women carry lipstick with them everywhere ,while facial cleaner are perceived as non-visible product because consumer keep it at home. When they buy they always consider about relationship price and quality. In contrast, the study of pungpumput and ngamsanguan (2000) in buying cosmetic behaviour in Thai students shows that the relationship between price and quality is a significant factor influence student buying decision and they did not mentioned about relationship between status and buying behaviour. It cannot be summarised that status is not influence factor when Thai women buy green cosmetic. Therefore, this research will find out that status have positive relationship with buying green cosmetic product or not. H3. Status has positive relationship with buying green cosmetic behaviour. 2.4.4 Attitudes Attitudes refer to peoples feeling, tendencies, evaluation toward the object, idea or concept. People actions and learning are affected from attitude. In the other word, attitudes affect consumer behaviour (Kotler and Armstrong 2004; Ouwersloot and Duncan 2008; Pickett and Ozaki, 2008). That is reason why many marketers try to change consumer attitude. However, it is not always that attitude become behaviour. Sometimes positive attitude cannot generate the behaviour, for example, consumer want to buy green cosmetic but she may not have money to buy because green cosmetic is more expensive than chemical one (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).In terms of negative attitude, it cannot automatically stop a purchase as can see from example of cigarette smoking. The behaviour will be occurred, if strong attitude overcome negative aspect. It can be said that if the importance of purchase is high, the importance of attitude toward product will be high. Attitude will less influence in case the purc hase is a part of habit or routine (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Kotler et al (2004) mentioned that attitudes are difficult to change, therefore, company should try not to change consumer attitude but the companies should design the message about their product or service which is suitable to their attitude. Pickett and Ozaki, 2008 argued that marketer can change consumers attitude by adapt consumer evaluation through inputting new belief. 2.4.4.1 Environmental attitudes Fisgbein and Ajzen mentioned that attitude is one significant aspect that creates behaviour. Environmentally friendly attitude causes eco-behaviour such as purchase green product this can confirm from many studies (Kim et al., 2005; Chen, 2007). Kim et al (2005) found that the environmental attitude or concern directly influence on green purchase behaviour, explaining that consumer who has strong environmental attitude concern will interest in the product that connect to their concern. Chen (2007, p.1016) also examined that consumers attitude to organic foods purchase is in turn positively. However, Barr and Gilg (2007) found that people who have environmental attitude tend to do green activities (recycle, reuse) rather than purchasing green product. Similarly, Peattie (1999) said that green consumer seek for alternative purchase behaviour such as borrow or repair instead of purchasing. In contrast, Baker and Ozaki (2008) claimed that belief shaped attitudes toward behaviour that become to behaviour intention. However, their finding showed that environmental attitudes are not important factor that generate environmental behaviour. They explained that actual behaviour is not necessary occur from what they think is good because consumer might consider other factor such as subjective -interests. Baker and Ozaki (2008) added that providing green information is less effective on consumer attitude than educate them. It indicates that environment education is significant key that influence consumers attitude. Marketers should concern this point in order to choose the best way that affect on consumers attitude. Although some studies said attitudes have negative relationship with behaviour, there is study in cosmetic area. Therefore, this research will investigate that positive attitude toward environmental can influence Thai women buying green cosmetic. H4. Environmental attitudes are a significant factor influence Thai women buying green cosmetics. 2.4.5 Perception Perception is the way in which individuals analyse, interpret and make sense of incoming information, and is affected by personality, experience and mood (Brassington and Pettitt, 2006, p.118). Consumers always make decision or behave base on their point of view or perception (Peattie, 2002). The term of perception in marketing is consumers view toward to product, services, package, smell, taste, message or company. Perceptions will be differently modified by individual interpretation and that influence on decision making process. Even the same individual might have perception varies in different times. 2.4.5.1 Brand perception Creating brand awareness or placing information into consumer mind is important to consumer perception because it can be linked to brand image of company (Lancaster,Massingham and Ashford 2002). Especially, Strong brand name can influence consumer perceptions. It causes people feel familiar with brand and then purchase the products. Once consumers are satisfied the product, the brand will be on the top of consumer mind. This make consumers become loyal consumer and continue to purchase the products. For example, Wu (2003) stated that consumer do not stop purchasing current brand and change to environmental alternative brand. Ouwersloot and Duncan (2008) added that loyal consumer always communicate positively about company and brand to other consumers. It is called word-of- mouth. Pickett and Ozaki, (2008) stated that word of mouth is valuable tool that influence on consumer perception rather than other tool such as sale promotion. The finding of Pickett and Ozaki (2008) illustrates that some consumer trusted certain brand than other. This is showed that brand affect on consumer perception that transfer to emotional preference. Wu and Lo (2008) study the influence of core-brand attitude and consumer perception on purchase intention towards extended product found that consumer perception can increase consumers purchase intention. They experienced that brand awareness and product perception lead to purchase intention while Yam Ting and Chans study (1998) found that no strong relationship between green purchase behaviour and self- perception. They explained that this is because (1) consumers have gap between attitude and behaviour and (2) respondents do not perceive that purchase behaviour can improve environmental condition. 2.4.5.2 Corporate social responsibility perception Corporate social responsibility activities are the way to create consumer positive perception. West, Ford, Ibrahim (2006,p434) said that CSR is the actions of the company to act in a socially responsible manner to protect and enhance the various stakeholders that have an interest in company, the community in which it operate, the environment which surrounds it, and society. According to MORIs research (2003) found that 74% of British people accept that behaviour of company on social responsible would affect their buying decision ,and 86% suggest that community activities should be actively announced- 59% said it is grateful to see company profit from social activities.. The performance of CSR leads to good brand image and productivity and profitability in long time (CSR of British government, 2010). When consumers perceive the information about evidence of firm. They decode the message into 2 types of motive to the firm-self serving (to enhance profits, sale, brand image) or public serving (help people or develop society) that it can be called as profit-motivated or socially motivated respectively. The attribution is fundamental of perceived motivation affect consumers judgement on firm. Once consumers perceive the firm action as self-profit, the positive attitude on firm will be reduced. On the other hand ,if the firm is perceived as socially motivated, the positive attitude on firm will be increased (Olsen et al.,2005). From the review, it can be concluded that consumer perception either brand perception or CSR perception can generate buying behaviour. However, there is no evident that perception cause Thai women buying behaviour in green cosmetic product. This research will examine that there is positive relationship between perception and buying green cosmetic behaviour. H5. Brand perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics. H6. CSR perception is a significant factor influencing Thai women buying green cosmetics.