Plastic bags Essay

Plastic can be defined as: any group of synthetic or natural organic materials that may be shaped when soft, which will later harden. Plastic has been around for more than 150 years. In 1839 Charles Goodyear accidently discovered the process of vulcanization, the process of making rubber more durable, which evolved into the creation of plastics later on. In 1846, Swiss chemist Charles Schonbein discovered how to produce the plastic polymer known as celluloid. In 1909, chemist Leo Baekeland created Bakelite, the first true synthetic polymer that could be molded and shaped into a solid object. Due to the scientific discoveries of these men, one of the most used materials in the world to this day was created. In the United States plastic materials are used in both industrial and commercial life. It is a material that is largely integrated into today’s common lifestyle, and can be used in many product areas. The creation of plastic was scientifically ground breaking, however there are consequences to using this moldable material. New York is a city that generates a lot of revenue for the state. With many stores, businesses, and busy people the use of plastic materials is a luxury. Without even realizing it, the people of New York City use plastic materials more than they think they do. Such as, the early morning business man who commutes to Wall Street to go to work. He takes the subway within the city, using a metro card. He then sits on the plastic seats inside the train, then gets a coffee in a plastic cup at a nearby cafà ©. He goes into the office and then sits on his office chair which can be made up of plastic material. Since plastic materials are used frequently in our daily lives, I believe it should be banned as a good first step in reducing the use of plast ic materials. New Yorkers should strive to lessen the use of plastic by replacing plastic bags with other material alternatives, such as biodegradable or reusable bags. Plastic bags are very popular with both retailers and consumers because they are inexpensive, sturdy, lightweight, functional, and hygienic in means of carrying food as well as other goods. Even though they are modern conveniences that make our lives easier, they are responsible for causing pollution, killing wildlife, and using up the precious resources of the earth. Americans use up to a billion plastic bags per year. However, we do not realize the harm that plastic bags emit. For instance, plastic bags are among the items that are non-biodegradable. It can take up to thousands of years for plastic to decay  into small pieces. This is because decomposing bacteria cannot feed on plastic. Companies that produce plastic bags deplete Earth of its natural resources. Most common plastic bags are made from polyethylene. This material is made from crude oil and natural gas. These resources need to be conserved and the production of plastic bags does the opposite, thus lessening the already limited amount of natural resources. Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most of the time ends up on landfill sites where they take a long period of time to decay. They b reak down into toxic particles that contaminate the soil, they also impact the waterways by clogging up gutters and drains causing water and sewage to overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. It is also easy for plastic bags to enter the food chain when animals accidentally consume them. Plastic bags are amongst the top items of debris most often to be found along coastlines. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed by discarded plastic bags because they mistake plastic bags for food. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others can become entangled in plastic bags and drown. These are all-important factors that have a profound effect on our environment and the organisms we share our planet with. We should not put our own selfish needs before the needs of everything around us, and the lives of future generations. Society’s involvement with plastic bags is harmful to humans and the environment. This can be looked at as a chain effect because eventually if one factor of an environment becomes greatly affected then it will affect many other factors, all leading up to catastrophic effects. Such as, if plastic bags are overused in the future, there is a chance of reduction of the fish and wildlife population. This can contribute to the v arious diets that humans have. Also, if plastic bags are continued to be overly manufactured and take up a lot of natural resources, it will take thousands of years for Earth to naturally replenish these natural resources. Thus, society will have a decrease in the use of natural gas. For example in New York, some city buses are run on natural gas. This is why plastic bag banning should be a public concern. If New York can reduce the amount of plastic material it uses, then why not? However, one might say that no one has the right to tell New Yorkers that they cannot use a plastic bag. There is a misconception about plastic bag ban regulations. Some feel that a plastic bag ban imposes on  individual rights. However, they do not take away individual rights. Instead, a plastic bag ban regulation ensures individual rights. Individual rights can be defined as the rights held by individual people. Being able to choose and have choices in certain situations fall under having individual rights. The plastic bag ban regulations ensure individual rights because a bag ban forces the retailer to give a choice. The laws prohibit retailers from giving you a plastic bag. By prohibiting retailers from giving away pla stic bags, society then must figure out another way to get their goods home. As an individual you can go buy all the plastic bags that you want. No law prohibits you from doing this. However, you will pay for those plastic bags. Society has been given plastic bags by the merchant when we purchase their goods. It has become a convenience. However, in reality, we have always paid for those bags. The merchant has to figure the cost of the bags into the stores budget. They add a few cents to the goods to pay for the bags. For example, if the cost of milk is $3.26 the retail merchant will increase the price by a couple of cents to pay for his profit for the plastic bags. The retail merchant has to pay a cost when they buy the plastic bags from the factories that produce them. In fact, one statistic says you pay around $50 per year for those â€Å"free† plastic bags. With a plastic bag ban, everyone has a choice. Without a ban, everyone pays. If you want a bag, then you pay for it. That is what makes it a choice. Dozens of countries and cities around the world, including 47 towns in California alone, have adopted laws for banning plastic bags. The factors that convinced them to ban the plastic bags were that cities must spend a lot of money to clean up the bags and the damages caused by them. This is money that would be better spent elsewhere. Also, plastic bags are a threat to the environment, polluting waterways and other natural areas and killing off animals. Many activists say that banning plastic bags will redirect funds to come up with alternatives to plastic. In San Jose, California, it costs about $1 million a year to repair recycling equipment jammed with plastic bags. San Francisco estimates that to clean up, and recycle landfill plastic bags costs 17 cents a bag, or approximately $8.5 million a year. A ban would save approximately $18 to $30 per person annually. Bans are often considered a government attack on private business. With plastic bags  it is a product that is naturally flawed. The bags are lightweight, aerodynamic, indestructible, and made specifically to be easily discarded. Hence the reason why they can easily be found floating in the streets. The universal plastic bag serves many purposes, but it is not irreplaceable. With a ban on disposable plastic bags, consumer demand will shift toward alternatives, such as biodegradable bags, this will lead to opportunities for entrepreneurs. Companies that manufacture reusable bags will continue to grow and expand their product lines, and will create environmentally friendly jobs. The sale of reusable bags will also generate sales tax income, unlike the disposable bags, which are given away. It is time New York City joins the banning of plastic bags, and uses its money on education, roads and firefighters and not cleaning up the plastic industry’s mess. Many people who feel strong about the banning of plastic bags are able to influence others and show them the harm that the innocent looking plastic bag produces. Special interest groups such as Ban the Bag, established in Portland, Oregon has such a powerful message for getting rid of plastic bags that it was able to make huge strides in the cutting down of plastic usage. These types of organizations give a positive outlook for advancement in the reduction of using plastic products. Not only do these interest groups bring awareness to people, they help influence certain debates persuading why plastic bags should be banned. They also bring success stories. In the United States, attempts by legislators to ban or restrict the use of plastic bags have been derailed several times in recent years by the lobbying efforts of the plastic manufacturers. But recently, as of October 15, 2011, the City of Portland has banned single-use plastic bags at major grocery outlets. A similar ban has gone into effect in cities such as San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In Washington D.C., as of January of 2010 a five-cent fee went into effect, the result was seen in only five months with a 60 percent reduction in plastic bag litter in the Anacostia River. The more people know about the effects of plastic bags through interest groups the faster we can get New York City to ban them, and add New York City to the list of success stories for banning plastic bags. Plastics are one of the world’s most commonly used materials. Everyone has seen, touched, smelled, and used plastics. It is so commonly used that many don’t think about what life would be like without plastics. Since plastic is so heavily produced it makes sense to reduce the production of it. New York has to take the first step for the benefit of people, animals, the environment and the future and ban plastic bags.

A Brief History of the Jews of Brazil Essay

The history of Jews in Brazil is a unique case, because we do not know of many other countries in which they have been significantly present in the very first movements of that nationrsquos history, continuously participating in its economic and social development. In fact, since the ldquodiscoveryldquo of Brazil to the present time, the Jews, almost without interval, openly or disguised, have been integrated into the processes of formation of Brazilian nationality. My aim in this paper is to provide a summary of Jewish history in Brazil by highlighting four major historical periods The First Portuguese Period (1500-1630) The Dutch Period (1630 -1654) The Second Portuguese Period (1654-1822) and The Cosmopolitan Period (1822-1966). br / The First Portuguese Period (1500-1630)br / ?When Portugal was at the height of its expansion in the world, in 1500, Brazil was ldquodiscoveredrdquo by the kingdom. It was then simply military glory, coupled with the desire to enlarge the Catholic faith, that compelled the Portuguese to their grand maritime expeditions (Grinberg 15). But just these reasons alone would not have sufficed to promote the extraordinary expansion of Portugal. The great cycle of the Portuguese conquests would not have been achieved without the long period of scientific discoveries and improvements that preceded it, in which the Iberian Jews played such a key role. As a prime example of this involvement, in Henry the Navigatorrsquos quotNautical School of Sagresquot, the first Portuguese academy of navigation(founded in 1412), was employed one of the most famous cartographers of the fifteenth century, the Jewish Yehuda Cresques, whose main task was to teach Portuguese pilots the basics of navigation well as the production and handling of nautical instruments (Serebrenick and Lipiner 7). br / ?The Jewish contribution to the discovery of new routes and new lands to the Portuguese crown was not limited only to the scientific field, however, but also translated into direct participation in these dangerous travels, including the expedition that resulted in the discovery of Brazil. The fleet led by Pedro Alvares Cabral, included at least three Jewish advisers the astronomer Master John, Pedro Nunes the navigator, and Gaspar de Lemos, an interpreter and ship commander, rightly regarded by historians as partly responsible for the discovery of Brazil (Serebrenick and Lipiner 9). br / ?With increasing incentives of the Portuguese government towards the occupation and settlement of the Brazilian territory, more and more Iberic Jews began migrating to Brazil. Because the wealthier Portuguese and Spanish Jews sustained a lot of the territoryrsquos early economic progress, they were able enjoy considerable freedom of worship and custom (Grinberg 21). This panorama of tolerance contrasted sharply with the wave of hatred and discrimination that swept Portugal, where, like neighboring Spain, persecution was widespread. It is thus understandable that many Jews of 1 / 3 Portugal, affected by overwhelming religious persecution, felt compelled to try a new life in Brazil,which to them seemed like a safe haven where they could materialize their aspirations for peace and freedom. br / ? The Jewish community, thanks to strong immigration and natural growth, reached a reasonable proportion in comparison with the general population, enough to counter the risk of assimilation. Around 1570, however, things took a turn for the worse, as there began to appear signs of restrictions on freedom, which only grew with time (Serebrenick and Lipiner 12). The circumstances soon forced the Jews to return, much like those in the motherland, to a life of great caution and alertness. The first official manifestation of intolerance was found in 1573 in the city of Salvador, which installed an auto-de-fe. Paradoxically, but perhaps on purpose, the first victim was not a Jew, but a Frenchman who was accused of heresy, condemned and burned alive. In Bahia, the Inquisition remained (though inactive for many years) until 1593 (Grinberg 29). br /?In 1618, Bahia was the target of a new visitation of the Holy Office, during which time many Marranos were reported and pursued, among them many wealthy men of the sugar mills. This fact that prompted the first large wave of immigration of Jews within Brazil they left the Northeast in search of the more tolerant South, especially the captaincy of Satildeo Vicente (Satildeo Paulo), which was the most liberal region (Serebrenick and Lipiner 15). Because of the growing persecution of Jews in Portugal in the last decades of the sixteenth century, they began to emigrate not only to Brazil but also, inlarge numbers, to several countries of Western Europe, especially to Holland, where flourishing trade and religious tolerance prevailed (Grinberg 32). This allowed for the rapid formation of a large Jewish community, centered in the city of Amsterdam, rightly nicknamed the quotNew Jerusalemquot. The simultaneous emigration of Portuguese Jews to Brazil and the Netherlands, led to the establishment of a commercial and affective link between the Jews of Brazil and those of Holland (Serebrenick and Lipiner 15). br / The Dutch Period (1630-1654)br / ?The hope of the Brazilian Jews that their lot would improve due to some form of Dutch intervention did not fail. Through a series of attempts at the conquest of the Brazilian Northeast in the years 1624 to 1627, the Dutch finally succeeded on February 15, 1630. The city of Pernambuco was attacked by a powerful fleet of 70 ships, effectively beginning the occupation of the Northeast, which would last until 1654. The years of peaceful Dutch rule were few, but enough to enable the Jews to rapidly flourish economically, socially and culturally, building in Northeast Brazil one of the most thriving communities of the time (Grinberg 35). br / ?With the advent of the Dutch and the consequent deployment of a great religious tolerance, the landscape was changing. Uninterrupted waves of Jews flocked to Pernambuco from several countries, especially from Holland, bringing commercial experience and a wonderful spirit of achievement. These Jews from the Netherlands ndash who were largely former refugees from Portugal,Spain and France – had the further advantage of speaking several languages Spanish, French, Ladino, Dutch, besides the most important, Portuguese, which was the language spoken in Brazil (Grinberg 35). A great number of them served as interpreters for the thousands of men in the Dutch army and navy, consisting of mercenaries – Dutch, English, French, German, Polish and others – who did not speak Portuguese. From simple interpreters, they increasingly became businessmen, merchants and landowners, coming to, in effect, virtually control the economic life of Brazilrsquos New Holland. The main street of Recife (in Pernambuco) was known as quotStreet of the Jewsquot and the port was called quotpier of the Jewsquot (Serebrenick and Lipiner 17). br /. The Second Portuguese Period (1654-1822)br / ?With the fall of Recife and subsequent surrender of the Dutch, the Jewish community in northeastern Brazil became largely scattered. A small portion of the people resigned to staying in the country, dispersing through its territory, while the majority opted for emigration. Of these, one group – consisting of the richest and probably most connected in the Netherlands – decided to return to Holland, while most preferred to face the unknown, venturing into more distant stops throughout 2 / 3 the Americas – Guyana, West Indies and New Netherlands in the United States. Numerous Jewish settlements began to appear to the North, one of which would eventually lead to the extraordinary Jewish community of the United States of America (Grinberg 52). In North America, a group of 23 Jewswho left Recife immediately after its fall, camped on September 12, 1654, on the margins of the Hudson, in the village of New Amsterdam (now New York). br / ?As already mentioned, the exodus that took place after the expulsion of the Dutch did not cover the entire Jewish population of Northeast Brazil, since a good number of Marranos resolved to remain on the land they had learned to love. These remaining Jews eventually were able to peacefully spread throughout Brazil, including in areas of the Northeast itself, minimizing the appearance of their Jewish origin (Serebrenick and Lipiner 23). Unfortunately, the flames of persecution were to be once again fanned by the Inquisition. This new wave of terror unfolded for about 70 years, especially violent in the periods 1707 to 1711 and from 1729 to 1739, making the first half of the seventeenth century perhaps the darkest period of Jewish history in Brazil (Serebrenick and Lipiner 26). Only after 1770 would the conditions come to place that would forever eradicate the cancer of the Inquisition. To this day no one knows for sure how many Jews from Brazil fell victim to the Portuguese Inquisition. br / The Cosmopolitan Period (1822-1966)br / ?Once the country was made independent from the Portuguese crown, in 1822, full freedom of conscience was established. In the second half of the century, Jews from various countries of Western Europe – French, English, Austrians and Germans ndash began to come in force to Rio de Janeiro and its neighboring states, especially in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais(Serebrenick and Lipiner 31). Another large group emigrated from Morocco to the Amazon region. The two settlements – the Amazon region and Rio de Janeiro – did not seem keep any significant relations and had, moreover, some different characteristics (Grinberg 61). The Amazon community was more stable, while in the South, the Jews originating in Western Europe came in order to flourish and then return to their country of origin, although many would end up staying in Brazil (Grinberg 61). br / ?In the last decade of the nineteenth century Jewish immigration grew, multiplying the diversity in countries of origin and also the in regions where immigrants came to settle. Whereas until then the Jewish immigrants came almost exclusively from North Africa and Western Europe, now there were waves of Jewish immigrants from the Eastern Mediterranean – Greece, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine – as well as Russia and neighboring countries. These settled mostly in the Southeast (Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais), but also spread out in smaller groups to many other states, both to the South and Northeast. br / ?Though the scope has been very limited and many details necessarily left out, I have sought to give a brief account of Jewish life in Brazilian history. The history of Jews in Brazil is a long and honorable history, dotted undoubtedly suffering, but also full of success, translated into positive and fundamental contributions to the development of the country and the training of its people ndash and that history that is still being written. /body /html POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Meeting of minds Essay

In what ways does this scene represent 2 characters crossing boundaries and understanding each other – a meeting of minds?  The scene automatically has a sense of irony, as both Yolland and Maire both cannot understand a word each other is saying, this means communication was needed to be made in an alternate way, these ways are through the use of identifiable feelings and emotions, as well as paralanguage to indicate the feelings and emotions that the character is trying to express. Throughout their conversation, it would seem unlikely to a person who has just picked up the book that Yolland and Maire do not speak the same language, and therefore cannot fathom what each other is trying to say. This is due to the similarities of speech between the two of them; they always seem to have a vague understanding about what the other person is trying to say. An indication of this is where Maire says, † The grass must be wet. My feet are soaking.† straight after Yolland points out, † The grass must be wet your feet are soaking.† It is clear to see the similarities in their speech, although the context is just flipped around, but apart from that it is almost identical. Emphasising this collision, linguistically speaking, is the stage directions, expressing the characters body movement. The way they seem very immature when they realise they are holding hands, then immediately disengage and move apart. Another way that they can be seen as immature is through the basic communication, such as pointing. Knowing that the other person cannot understand what they are saying might be a factor in the characters lexis, especially regarding Yolland where he says â€Å"I’ve been watching you night and day for the past†¦Ã¢â‚¬  because if Yolland was to say this to Maire and she understood it, she could take it two very different ways, and decide that in fact Yolland is a bit weird. Without the aid of a similar language the characters find another way to communicate, which involves Maire saying English words, which she knows, and Yolland encouraging her, â€Å"Yes-yes? Go on- go on- say anything at all- I love the sound of your speech.† This shows although they cannot understand each other Yolland is fixated by Maire, and there is this chemistry, a bond between them, which they both know, are there but just can’t explain it to each other. The communication between the two of them become so intense that Yolland starts reeling of whole sentences, without realising that Maire does not have a clue what he is on about, she just stares at him unknowingly and wondering. It becomes clear that they need some common ground to try to relate with each other this occurs, when Yolland starts saying Irish place names, Maire reciprocates and this carries on as though they are flirting, which leads them back to the way they were, when they ran together, as once again they were holding hands, at this point they exchange their raw feelings without the satisfaction of being understood, they hold each other and tremble in one another’s arms, the lexis leading up to the kiss is very heated, there is a mutual understanding of the word ‘always’ I believe this to be significant as this is one of the final words before they kiss it just shows the compassion they hold for each other. Unquestionably above everything the connection is a meeting of minds as the only way of really communicating was through paralanguage, and the fact that they are very similar people, with similar thoughts and feelings, about the way they act, the way they speak, and the way they feel for each other. In a way their relationship could be seen as an example to be followed, as if individual Irish and English people can get along and fall in love, what’s to say England and Ireland should not at least be able to tolerate each other. Yolland and Maire, by not understanding verbally, will have an extremely deep understanding of each other mind, in turn this may lead to a significantly compassionate relationship, or just a passing phase, however I believe there is a meeting of minds, and the kiss only emphasises the coming together of these two foreign bodies into one.

Compare and contrast the role of New Public Management in health care Essay

Compare and contrast the role of New Public Management in health care reform in Germany and the UK from the 1980s onwards - Essay Example The planning of health care reform by the New Public Management (NPM) emphasized several targets including public/ private partnerships and a concern for quality through total quality management (Thomas & Lakhani, 2006: 141). Most reforms and improvements in the health care sector were based on NPM principles and took place during the late 1980s and 1990s, which was the decade of the welfare state retrenchment. New public management principles were considered to be more appropriate for analysing health care reforms than other concepts like privatisation, though NPM emphasizes â€Å"both market-based reforms and the use of private management styles in the public sector† (van Essen, 2005: 3). Since the Second World War, two main types of health care systems have developed in Europe. Firstly the national health service type that is present in the United Kingdom, and secondly a corporatist, insurance-based type of health care system as found in Germany (van Essen, 2005: 7). Health care is not only highly valued by all individuals in society, it is also a social right. Hence, there is a requirement for equal accessibility of health care for all citizens, without exclusion. The undesirability of exclusion and market failures in financing and provision give legitimacy to state intervention in health care. Thus, in order to solve the market failures in health care and and to ensure universal, equal access, two different systems are developed in Europe. In the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS), providers are mainly public organizations; for example most hospitals in the U.K. are led by the local governments. On the other hand, in the insurance-based system found in Germany, hospitals and other health care providers can be both public and private organizations. For instance, German hospitals are voluntary organizations which operate on a private basis (van Essen, 2005: 10, 12). The National

Organizational Turn Over, Empowerment Dimensions, Performance Dissertation

Organizational Turn Over, Empowerment Dimensions, Performance Improvement, and Job Satisfaction - Dissertation Example If the information isn’t perceived in the correct manner, then it may relate directly to the employee turn – over rate, job performance and satisfaction. This research study will examine the several dimensions of employee turn – over, what this relates to and how this is also potentially based on the amount of information which is retrieved from a company. Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 1.1 Background†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 1.2 Problem Statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.7 1.3 Purpose†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...8 1.4 Significance of the Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.10 1.5 Nature of the Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..12 1.6 Hypothesis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 1.7 Theoretical framework†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.13 1.8 Assumptions†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.15 1.9 Scope, Limitations, and Delimitations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.15 1.10 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦16 2.0 Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.17 2.1 Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..17 2.2 History of Organizational Turn – Over and Empowerment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦18 2.3 Individual Relationships to Turn – Over†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19 2.4 Cultural Behaviors in Organizations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...21 2.5 Leadership Roles in Turn – Over Rates†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..22 2.6 Motivational Theories†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.24 2.7 The External Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..26 2.8 Communication, Information and Job Performance†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...28 2.9 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..30 3.0 Research Methods†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦31 3.1 Research Method and Design Appropriateness†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...31 3.2 Population, Sampling and data Collection Procedures†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦32 3.3 Validity – Internal and External†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...32 3.4 Data Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦...33 3.5 Summary†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..33 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..34 1.0 Introduction Organizational turn – over is a difficulty that most businesses face, specifically because it leads to gaps in the work flow, changes the pace which many are working in and alters the way in which businesses are able to develop and grow. Organizational turn – over becomes detrimental for the overall production of a company and can create lapses with those who are interested in

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Letter to an Editor of the Campus Newspaper - Essay Example It was not so much the revision of my own thoughts but revising my expression of them. Argumentative submissions and genre interpretation is always difficult because my writing is subjective. I can distinctly recall worrying about â€Å"coming across† the right way. I think that there is a line between conveying your message and censuring it for the eyes of others so I was always careful to not cross it. I find that in the argumentative process, I become easily lost which demonstrated my total lack of discipline. Thus my first decision was to make a concerted effort to not inject myself too much into my argument. I had a problem identifying my audience for the genre translation and as a result found myself consistently revising but to what end? Ultimately I would begin again and again because I kept identifying different targets and it took quite some time before I came to the realization that the interpretation could be generally applied. 2. Describe the rhetorical situation as you see it for both your argument paper and your genre translation. Be sure to discuss both audience and purpose for both documents. A rhetorical situation is far easier to convey when it is applied to an argument because the sense of urgency is raised by the issue being argued. The audience is hopefully automatically compelled by the tone and terms of the issues presented in the argument itself. Moreover, one tends to become personally involved in their arguments which also is revealed in their writing. An argument is an attempt to convince whereas genre translation is equally subjective, but without the force or conviction behind it. I find that the audience and purpose of genre translation is far harder to convey than that of the argument. Argument is an imperative whereas genre interpretation seems to be an attempt to bridge a gap without conviction. With genre interpretation it is difficult to contemplate whom it is that

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Entrepreneurial Competencies And Business Performance Commerce Essay

Entrepreneurial Competencies And Business Performance Commerce Essay Entrepreneurship is an independent activity carried out at ones own risk, aimed at gaining regular profit from the use of property, sale of goods, performing works or services by persons registered in the manner prescribed by law (Peters, 2006). Entrepreneurship is an essential attribute of a market economy, penetrating all its institutions. Establishment (starting) of a business entity a legal entity, as well as corporate rights ownership are not business activities, except cases provided by law. An English professor Alan Hosking states that an individual entrepreneur is a person, who runs a business at his own expense, personally manages the business, is personally responsible for providing the necessary means, and makes decisions independently. His reward is a profit received as a result of business activity, and satisfaction he feels from running a free business (Rowley, 2010). But along with this, he also has to take the risk of losses in case of bankruptcy of his company. There is no generally accepted economic theory of entrepreneurship, although the need for such a theory has long been very urgent. The development of scientific understanding of the practice of entrepreneurship could be roughly called the three waves of development of the theory of business function. The first wave, which dates back to the 18th century, was associated with concentrating on the risks of an entrepreneur. The second wave in the scientific understanding of the entrepreneurship is associated with determination of innovation as its main feature. The third wave is specific for the focus on the particular personal qualities of the entrepreneur (the ability to react to changes in economic and social situation, independence in choosing and decision-making, management skills) and the role of entrepreneurship as a regulating principle in the balancing of eco system (Peters, 2006). The current stage of development of the theory of business function can be attributed to the fourth wave, the emergence of which is associated with the focus on the management aspect in the analysis of actions of the entrepreneur, and therefore on the interdisciplinary level of analysis of business problems. Currently, theoretical studies pay attention not only to entrepreneurship as a way of running business on the independent basis, but also to internal entrepreneurship, or intrapreneurship (Pinchot, 2000). The emergence of intrapreneurship is associated with the factor that many large industrial structures overtake the entrepreneurial form of organization of production. Since entrepreneurship implies the compulsory right for creative freedom, the units of integrated production structures get the right for the freedom of action, which implies the existence of intracapital the capital necessary for the implementation of the ideas lying in the base of the intra-company entrepreneurship (Pinchot, 2000; Teece, 2009). Entrepreneurship is a specific kind of economic activity (by which we mean a purposeful activity aimed at profit-making), which is based on self-initiative, responsibility and innovative entrepreneurial idea. Entrepreneurship is characterized by the presence of innovative moment whether it be manufacturing of a new product, change of the profile of activity or establishment of a new enterprise. The new system of production and quality management, introducing new methods of organizing production or new technologies are also innovative moments (Jones, 2003). Entrepreneurship represents a specific type of economic activity, since its initial stage is connected, as a rule, only with the idea the result of intellectual activity consequently gaining the materialized form. 1.2. Small and Medium Sized Enterprise The classification of small and medium-sized enterprises is usually based on the recommendations of the EU Commission of 3 April 1996, which suggests the following parameters (Jeppesen, 2005): Small and medium enterprises are the enterprises having less than 250 employees; or having an annual turnover of no more than ECU 40 million; or have a total annual balance sheet not exceeding ECU 27 million; satisfy the criterion of independence. A small business is defined as an enterprise which has less than 50 employees; or has an annual turnover not exceeding ECU 7 million; or has a total annual balance sheet not exceeding ECU 5 million; satisfies the criterion of independence. If a company initially operating as a small (medium) business within two years exceeds the criterion for the number of employees or capital structure, it loses its status as a small (medium) enterprise (Jeppesen, 2005). Modern socio-economic situation in the world is characterized by (Jones, 2003): Globalization of production and markets, high rates of technological development and modernization, increasing share of high-tech products in the market; Short life cycles, high degree of diversification of products and services, sharp fluctuations of demand for different types of products; Increasing value of intangible production, creative capital and knowledge economy in the global economy; Limited material resources and increasing requirements for environmental friendliness and safety of products; Increased demands for quality of goods and services, introduction of unified international quality standards. In these circumstances, SMEs are more flexible in responding to constantly changing market conditions, providing high efficiency of investment. As the engine of innovation, small firms provide a rapid generation of new jobs and self-employment of population when employment in traditional fields falls, thus weakening the social tension in depressed regions. Increase of the number of economically active citizens helps establish civic awareness of the population, increases creativity and willingness of society to social partnership, reduces the budget social loading, increasing opportunities to invest in development (Bhat, 2004; Jeppesen, 2005; Jones, 2003, Pinchot, 2000). Small Medium Entrepreneurship is the basis of a stable civil society. SMEs not only play a huge social role in supporting the economic activity of most of the population, but also provide significant tax revenue. In the current difficult situation, it is the SMEs that can act as a stabilizer, and therefore are worth the appropriate attention of society and government (Peters, 2006). World experience shows that if the state wants to develop dynamically and steadily, its socio-economic programs should always include measures to encourage small and medium businesses. Today, in developed countries, SMEs provide 40% to 90% of the gross domestic product (GDP) (Jeppesen, 2005). And so, it is natural that the governments of these states give priority to support the sector, providing high guarantees of private property preservation, broad economic independence and freedom of action, support of fair competition and anti-monopolistic activities, preferential loans and financing, substantial assistance in investment. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are recognized as an important part of the world economy and its economic structure, increasing flexibility, adaptability, enhancing stability at the expense of attracting new workers. The growing importance of small and medium-sized enterprises in industrial development, exports and employment is proved by the data of the labor force participation rates of non-agricultural SMEs (China 84.3%, Hong Kong 63.0% Indonesia 79.2%, Republic of Korea -78.5% Mexico 58.5%, Philippines 32,0%, Taiwan 68,6%, Thailand 73.8%) (Jeppesen, 2005). In the 90s, it was typical for TNCs to use the form of small business to expand their production and marketing networks. Such involvement of small enterprises is determined, above all, by the extent of their distribution. Small business is a kind of an antipode to orientation on a standardized large-scale production, which certainly played a role in the 50s and 70s creating in developed countries the basis for their welfare (Peters, 2006). The decisive role in the reassessment of SMEs was played by shifts in the socio-economic structure of developed countries, the change of orientation in consumer attitudes, motivation of labor. A differentiated point demand started to form. Individualization of consumption has changed the paradigms of service provision, stipulated the emergence of small flexible units able to rapidly respond to consumer demand (Bhat, 2004). Partial modernization that helped SMEs to fix in the world economic structure, and most importantly, rapidly changing consumer demand have created a new principle of production and sales, named customization. Its meaning is the orientation of manufacturer to the universal satisfaction of buyers requests, constant appeasing of consumer, and his binding to manufacturer. So the increase in the number of SMEs and their forms are directly dependent on industrial policy in general: small businesses are closely related to large ones, which updates the SMEs. Governments of the newly industrialized countries have managed to create competitive conditions in the economy, despite the strong position of major national conglomerates. Achieving a critical mass of SMEs in the national economy may be a factor of self-sustaining growth. 2. Entrepreneurial Competencies and SME Performance In the study The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises. A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competencies, Man, Lau and Chan (2002) developed and analyzed a conceptual model describing the relationship between the specific characteristics of SMEs owners and their companies effectiveness. The presented pattern is built out of four concepts competitive scope, organizational capabilities, entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance, which will be analyzed in further subsections. Fig.4. A multi-dimensional construct of SME competitiveness Source: Model of (Man et al, 2002), The competitiveness of small and medium enterprises: A conceptualization with focus on entrepreneurial competences. 2.1. Competitive scope The competitiveness of the enterprise is a relative feature that expresses the difference between the development of the company from the development of competitive firms in the degree of satisfaction of peoples needs and in the efficiency of production. The competitiveness describes the capabilities and dynamics of the companys adaptation to the conditions of market competition. The competitiveness of the enterprise depends on several factors: the competitiveness of goods in a domestic and foreign markets, type of goods produced, market capacity (number of annual sales), simplicity of market access, homogeneity of market, competitive position of companies already operating in the market, competitiveness of the industry, ability of technological innovation in the industry, competitiveness of the region and country (Man 2002; Jeppesen, 2005; Jones 2003). As the world practice of market relations shows, the general principles that provide a competitive advantage to producers are (Jeppesen, 2005; Jones 2003): -Aim of each employee to act, to continue the job once it started. -Closeness to the customer. -Establishment of autonomy and creative atmosphere at the company. -Increased productivity through the use of peoples abilities and their desire to work. -Demonstrating the importance of common values. -Ability to hold ones ground. -Simple organization, minimum of management levels and personnel. -Ability to be both soft and hard. Keep the most important issues tightly controlled and pass less important ones to subordinates. The competitiveness of product and competitiveness of manufacturer relate to each other as part and whole. Companys ability to compete on a certain commodity market is directly dependent on the competitiveness of goods and the range of economic methods of the enterprise, impacting the results of competition. In the entrepreneur-consumer relations, the consumer acts as an indicator of the business process. The entrepreneur, in planning and organizing his activities cannot ignore consumers interests, expectations, and estimates. However, this situation does not mean that the entrepreneur is obliged to act only in strict accordance with the identified interests of consumers. He himself can form consumer demand and create new shopping needs. Thus, the entrepreneurs aim is the necessity to win consumers, to create his own range of consumers. The main means of entrepreneurs influence on consumer are the following factors (Jones, 2003): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ novelty of the product and its compliance with consumer interests; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ quality; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ price, availability of goods; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ degree of universality of goods; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ presentation and packaging; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ positive characteristics differing the goods from other producers; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ access to after-sales services; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ conformity with generally accepted or government standards; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ prestige and attractiveness of advertisement, etc. Competition is an adversary activity between producers for the most profitable markets. The competition serves as a motivational force that compels manufacturers to improve product quality, reduce production costs, and increase productivity. Market competition and competition of countries they are located in have a mutual influence. At the heart of these main aspects of competitiveness is something that can be called soft components of competition, which cannot be evaluated in monetary terms and are difficult to quantify. In the industrialized countries, these components are usually more important than in developing countries. At the same time, soft components cannot be politically manipulated, and changing them requires more time than, for example, increasing productivity or building infrastructure. Despite the lack of developed methods of study, this group of factors of competition cannot be ignored. They include the following (Pinchot, 2000; Man 2002; Steenkamp 2010): work ethics, flexibility and willingness to self-improvement, willingness to work in the service sector, level of claims, openness to the outside world, labour mobility, spirit of competition. 2.2. Organizational capabilities Obviously, the stock market is ready to appreciate the value of some businesses higher, while the value of these estimates exceed than the indicators that reflect the real results of their activities. The gap between market and balance value of equity can be explained by the influence of those resources that are not included in the balance. These resources can justify the high market valuation only in the future when they start to work effectively, providing the company a substantial increase in profits. Such expectations are largely associated with intangible organizational capabilities (Man, 2002). Considering organizational capabilities as dynamic units, D. Teece (2009) defines them as the possibility of firms to integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competencies in response to rapid environmental change. In fact, we are talking about controlling processes, which occur at all organizational levels of the enterprise. These processes in turn can be regarded as taking place in the time sequence of actions to meet the challenges. Each process can be controlled good or bad. Quality of control depends on the organizational capabilities of the enterprise. Dynamic capabilities of an enterprise can be narrowed to controlling three types of processes integration, reconfiguration, and training (Teece, 2009). The purpose of the integration process is to ensure efficient and effective coordination of resources. Moreover, these processes are the re-treatment of the already known tasks. Therefore, organizational capabilities, associated with the control over the integration processes, can be characterized as the replication capacity. Numerous case studies indicate the presence of a positive relationship between replication capability of the enterprise and the growth of business. The ability to control reconfiguration processes can be described as the ability to recognize the need of reconfiguring the structure of corporate assets and carry out the necessary internal and external transformation. This requires continuous monitoring of markets and technologies and the willingness to use the best practical experience. Reconfiguration processes lead to broad changes in the resource equipment of the enterprise (Bhat, 2004). The organizational capability to control the learning process includes the processes which through repetition and experimentation are helping to solve problems better and faster. It also allows the entrepreneur to identify new industrial opportunities. These organizational capabilities are seen as an important part of the replication and reconfiguration ability of the enterprise and are effectively expressed in them (Pinchot, 2000; Teece, 2009). D. Teece (2009) also distinguishes two types of training analytic (learning before doing) and experimental (doing before learning). Consolidation of organizational capabilities in the enterprise is the important factor in the calculations on the extended growth of the company, which requires the right balance between exploitation of existing and new capabilities. The essence of exploitation is to improve and expand existing skills and experiment with new alternatives (Steenkamp, 2010). Thus, the excess of market value of the enterprise over the balance value is due to the influence of its intangible resources, particularly organizational skills. Following the approach described by Man and Lau (2002), the potential organizational capabilities include innovative ability, ability to maintain or achieve high quality; cost effectiveness; and organicity as the ability to create organic organizational structures. The better the company codifies and transfers the knowledge of the staff, the higher is its efficiency, and thus the market value of the company. Generally, the market value of the enterprise grows, if it is well controlled processes of abstraction and absorption of knowledge and skills. 2.3. Entrepreneurial competencies The main economic goals of the SMEs in the market conditions are improving production efficiency, profit maximization, conquest of new markets and meeting the needs of the team. However, with the growing of influence of economic risk factors, there appear the advantages of free pricing, the possibilities of self-selection of suppliers and consumers. Entrepreneurship as a process is a complex chain of targeted actions of entrepreneurs, possessing certain entrepreneurial competencies (Table 1), since the inception of entrepreneurial ideas and ending with their embodiment in specific business projects. Table 1 showing Entrepreneurial competencies, their behavioral focus and preliminary elements. Adapted from (Thi, 2009) This process requires large expenditures of all factors of production, it is often doomed to a temporary setback, but eventually the entrepreneur is satisfied with the income. Consequently, entrepreneurship as a process involves the search for new creative ideas, their analysis and evaluation from the perspective of market needs and economic benefits, the formation of goals to implement the ideas, turning ideas into a new enterprise, the development of new products, improvement of the production organization, i.e. in implementing and translating ideas into concrete results (product, technology, services, etc.), bringing the entrepreneur the profit (Rowley, 2010; Steenkamp, 2010). Development and implementation of enterprise strategy consists in managing the economy at the micro level (Steenkamp, 2010), which requires the construction of an appropriate system that performs the following functions: directing (justification of goals and choice of ways of achieve them); coordinating (balancing of the major resource constraints and coordination of conflicting interests of all participants of production process); stimulating (activation of the driving forces of development). Experience shows that with the complexity of implementation of all tasks, one of the most difficult to implement is the last of these functions. It aims to motivate the employee to the success of the common business and the realization of his abilities and opportunities. Typically, traditional methods help to solve such a problem in practice only partially. According to experts (Jones, 2003; Bhat, 2004; Man, 2002; Rowley, 2010), most national economies now use less than a half of the creative potential of its employees (and this is obviously one of the root causes of the current crisis situation). Therefore, the way out of the deadlock should be sought in the motivation of people, in the first place, that is, in the sphere of interaction of their interests and benefits. But this requires a clear understanding of the composition and structure of economic interests in a managed team, it requires knowing and taking into account the interests not only common to the whole enterprise, but also the specific ones those of teams units (primary, ancillary, administrative, etc.), as well as of different categories of workers (by gender, age, skill level, etc.). The internal mechanism of economic management, the mechanism of stimulation and motivation cannot operate without such knowledge (Bhat, 2004). However, the external outline is equally important the mechanism of interaction between enterprises with different agents and contractors, partners and competitors in the region, country and abroad. This mechanism is even more complicated because of its novelty and the set of largely unfamiliar requirements introduced today by the market. The development of the models of behavior of enterprises with entities of external outline of relationship requires continuous analysis monitoring tracking the status of the external outline and timely identifying the emerging problems. First and foremost, it is the problem of marketing. Thus, the tasks mentioned above can be divided into two levels: macroeconomic (development of rules of the game by public authorities) and microeconomic (direct adaptation of concrete businesses to the new conditions of production and consumption of goods). According to the conceptualized model of the authors (Man, 2002), Strategic and commitment competencies, competitive scope, and organizational capabilities will positively influence the performance of an SME through their interactive effect. 2.4. Firm performance Firm performance or efficiency is the most important qualitative characteristics of management at all levels. It is a measure of production activity on the distribution and processing of various resources (tangible and intangible) (Man, 2002; Peters, 2006; Phusavat, 2007). Performance can be measured through the coefficient the ratio of results at the output of the resources and at their entrance. The problem of performance is in general is not new; it exists in varying interpretation from the period of appearance of material production and reflects the relationship of production relations of a particular type of production. Under the conditions of market relations, when the results of one market actors depend on the clarity and coherence of other actors, the problem of efficiency is a decisive one. The system of performance indicators should provide a comprehensive assessment of the usage of all enterprise resources and contain all the general economic indicators. General indicators primarily reflect the final results of production and implementation of strategic tasks. Functional indicators are used to analyze and identify the effectiveness of reserves, eliminate bottlenecks in production. As a multidimensional phenomenon, performance can be measured by the following 4 groups of indicators (Phusavat, 2007): 1. General indicators of economic efficiency (the rate of output growth, overall profitability and its growth, etc.); 2. Labor efficiency indicators (growth rate of labor productivity, share of growth in output as a result of productivity growth, etc.); 3. Indicators of fixed assets, operating assets and capital investments (capital productivity ratio, growth of operating assets to the growth of commodity output, the relative savings of production capital funds, working capital turnover, payback period of capital investment, etc.); 4. Performance indicators of material resources (relative savings of material costs, decrease of specific consumption of materials, etc.). Table 2 showing mostly used financial performance measures Source: taken from the research of (Thi, 2009) Table 3 showing financial and nonfinancial measures The provided indicators reflect the combined result of entrepreneurial activity. They are aggregated by many factors and may, in fact, be called generalizing. However, entrepreneurship includes a number of relatively independent activities: industrial, financial, commercial, communication, each of which has a direct impact on the results and thus, largely determines the performance of the entire business system. Each activity creates its own results, calculated in the indicators, reflecting the performance of individual business subsystems. If for evaluating the performance of the financial subsystem it is possible to use a set of indicators and parameters such as income from operations, cost of sales, net income excluding share of profit of associated companies, net tax before taxation and others, for a subsystem like the manufacturing one it is appropriate to suggest the following additional indicators (Peters, 2006; Phusavat, 2007): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ production efficiency calculated by the type of resource output; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ labor productivity; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ profitability; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ measure of the effectiveness of industrial relations; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the efficiency of production management; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the efficiency of HR management; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators characterizing the efficiency of use of production and marketing information and others. The effectiveness of commercial subsystems can be assessed using ratios that make up the volume of product sales and expenses for the organization of its marketing and promotion, as well as indicators expressing coherence, interdependence and complementarity of the various elements of supply chain: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the effectiveness of various sales channels, marketing systems, and intermediaries; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the effectiveness of sales network; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ index of reliability of intermediaries selection; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators reflecting the effectiveness of sales and marketing information; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicators of the extent to which supply chain goals comply with objectives of marketing; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ duration of the implementation period (in relation to the cost of the marketing); à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ indicator of the relative value of the profit in the total turnover. Speaking separately on the effectiveness of communication subsystem, it must be emphasized that it is, in this case, not the whole system of market communication (effectiveness of various communication links is evaluated in different subsystems), but the communication between producer and consumer. This subsystem can use the following additional performance indicators (Steenkamp, 2010): à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of advertising (economic and socio-psychological); à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of sales promotion; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators of exhibitions; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of use of various means of advertising influence à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effectiveness of motivation study; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ system of indicators that reflect the information components; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ effective use of tools for creating public opinion about the company and its products. The index image of the enterprise deserves special attention. It can be used as an indicator of the result not only in the communicative subsystems, but in some cases and in relation to the entire system of entrepreneurship. For example, if a business entity is guided by the concept of socio-economic marketing and suggests operating in the long run, it can build target settings based on the need to strengthen consumers trust, to acquire the necessary social status and public recognition. In this case, the assessment of its performance can be performed through the characteristics that reflect its image (Steenkamp, 2010; Bhat, 2004; Man, 2002). The disadvantage of such assessment is unavoidable conventionality of the resulting indicators obtained with the help of the expert method. It can be reduced by the full use of norms and rules pertaining to expert modeling. In general, business performance can be evaluated not only by the size of the profit, but also by changes of the market value of the enterprise. The economic efficiency of production refers to the degree of utilization of productive capacities, which is indicated by the relation of the results and costs of social production. The higher result at the same cost, the faster it grows in the calculation per unit of socially necessary labor cost, or the less the cost per unit of useful effect, the higher is the production efficiency. The generalized criterion of economic efficiency of social production is the level of labor productivity.

Analysis of Unethical Practices in Banking

Analysis of Unethical Practices in Banking The essence of this essay on management and ethics is to analyze the unethical practices in the banking industry with an aim of assessing the level of honesty in the banking activities as well as the extent to which they affect the ethical atmosphere in banks. A number of banking industry employees were interviewed, and a general conclusion that emerged in all the interviews indicated that there were various issues that required evaluation as well as. Foremost, the banking sector should to comply with the integrity principles, neutrality, dependability, transparency, social obligation, and finally on the control on money laundering. However, the manner in which this compliance is achieved arouses serious concerns as to whether it really exhibits the expected ultimate objective. Moreover, the management structure of the banking sector, like most other blue chip companies is very strict and hierarchical. In addition, the strictness results from the underlying principle of accountability, as well as transparency in the various operations within the banking industry. Nevertheless, the banking sector pays close attention to the ethical practices of various employees and customers partly as a way of creating a positive image to the public as well as to their regulators, and partly because of the need to offer services to customer in a manner that reflects ultimate respect for our creator (God). For instance, try to have an honest discussion with an employee regarding the various banking practices. in theory, the employee in question can indicate how much he/she values the ethical practices been implemented, but in terms of personal belief, a lot of employees will accept that they carry out some of those practices out of duty and not out of care for the society. T herefore, the role of this essay is to explicate the unethical issues in a bid to come up with proper recommendations. The Issue of information non-disclosure and interest rates determination Over the years, banks have undergone tremendous growth in many aspects of their operations, starting with the type of customers they deal with to the manner in which information is received, recorded, transformed, and finally used. Ultimately, banks have unraveled the whole mystery of discrimination as to what customers to offer services to or not by categorizing their clients in terms of their income structure. This classifying of customers is meant to assist in the decision making process as to what customer receives what treatment, but it is also meant to assist the banks in understanding the type of customers to offer better services to. Therefore, regulated by their policy of information non-disclosure, banks would obtain very crucial information about various customers (their age, sex, race, employment status, as well as income level) with a notion that they are adhering to the Know Your Customer policy. This information is supposed to be private and confidential. However, on c lose examination, one would realize that banks need such information to make decisions aimed at enabling them to remain in the global market while at the same time, maintaining their traditional banking principles. Consequently, the objective of this essay is to analyze the various unethical practices the employees of the bank practice, and their relevance to the community at large. Moreover, the unethical practices will be addressed in a manner that relates to ethical dilemma and decisions regarding management. Thus, to understand the conflict in terms of globalization and traditional practices, one needs to call to focus the approach exhibited by Thomas L. Friedman regarding the Lexus and the olive tree (2000). According to Thomas Friedman, the Lexus designates sustenance, affluence as well as modernization, development, computer technologies, and the burgeoning of the global markets (Friedman 51). In addition, all these principles represented by the Lexus are positive and very instrumental in the current global economy. However, on the other hand, the olive tree designates the attachment of individuals and societies towards their traditional comfort zones, or rather values of higher course; and this is where the ethical standards take presidency. Consequently, banks operate in an economy that is very volatile, and they need to ensure that various practices are done in the traditional banking manner, provision of financial services in a legal manner. This information is thus democratized, in the words of Friedman (81), and the level of privacy expressed to customers is thus questionable. This is because, they only way in which this information can be protected is by using access codes. However, any employee can be able to access this information based on whether he/she has this access codes or not. In addition, most employees in the banking industry would want to access customer information based on various reasons. One, employees are evaluated in terms of their performance to the bank; this requires that they obtain crucial information about customers in a bid to decide on what services to offer them or not. In so doing the employees end up violating the information privacy requirement that clients would wish to have. Secondly, because of the current market trends in the banking industry, services have been made available even to the lowest income earner in order for banks to exploit all possibilities in terms of lending and customer deposits. In addition, the sales team works diligently to acquire customers both in terms of deposits taking or loan advancement. Moreover, of great significance is the manner in which they obtain information about clients before they can influence them to accept the services offered by the banks. Information is actually retrieved from the database by whoever lays hands on access codes, and customers having good credit history, and huge income are contacted in order to take up loans or open up other accounts with the bank. Further, these customers are treated with respect and they are offered what has been termed as superior services, premium services. These services could range from dedicated management assistance, special separate banking premises, and other service s such as internet, meals, to name but a few. On the other hand, those customers with a lesser income level, their treatment is more general and the banks credit advance to them is highly scrutinized compared to the premium customers. A question that arises here is whether these activities are conducted in the view of the Lexus, or olive tree. On the one hand, the information obtained from customer plays a very significant role in enabling management to understand the nature of their customers in a bid to offer relevant services to them. For instance, a customer who has a higher income level could be given alternative solutions as to how he/she could better use his/her income effectively in order to generate more income. Well, this attitude implies that the bank would wish to enable the employee benefit from the global economy in terms of investment and finance. However, the manner in which this process is attained is through privacy violation, which again touches on the whole issue of values; are banks really promoting ethical values as they seemingly purport to show in their terms and conditions, or they are merely doing trying to convince customers? A question like this one could seem obvious but it is a triple bottom line question. In addition, it concerns the balance that is required between being ethically oriented and at the same time acting as a role model in the global economy. Another aspect of information disclosure relates to issuance of bank services to customers. This is done in a manner that customers should receive full information as to the commitment they are about to engage in. Besides, some information if well known to customers could send these prospective customers away from the banks. Nevertheless, withholding this information seems to be the only way out for banks to maintain their customer base. Therefore, bank employees tend to give customers critical information only when they request for it, and in case they do not, then this information is withheld. Which kind of information could banks withhold in order to maintain or attract customers? Information regarding bank charges, loan processing fees, salary processing fees, insurance coverage fees, loan payment default repercussions, interest rate computation information, to name but a few. Most of this information, if disclosed to some customers, could lead to disastrous results. Therefore, d riven by their desire to generate increased revenue and reduced costs, banks find it confortable to offer services to customers behind closed doors. Therefore, these behaviors arouse serious debate as to the role of the banking sector in promoting social wellbeing. Whereby, customers would like to maximize their utility of services from the banks, while banks on the other hand would want to maximize revenue in order to cater for the costs incurred in technology and other services rendered. Information disclosure does not have to relate to customers alone, but also to competitors. Nevertheless, there is some information which is so important to the progress of banks, and if this information goes to competitors, then the bank whose information has been violated, stands to loose. There have been instances of insider information ending in the hands of competitors without having a clue as to whoever supplied that information, and the impetus for doing so. This situation occurs in cases when some people are employed in some banks not because they want to work there but because they want to obtain important information about the organization in question. This has been deemed to occur in certain banks, which end up loosing customers because of their information usage by the competitor financial institution. On the one hand, this practice could be considered a business strategy, which could provide resourceful information for the management decision-making process. On the other hand, this could be deemed an unethical practice owing to the fact that such a practice violates banking practices of fair play. Another area of unethical endeavor is on the issue of interest rates determination. Whereby, banks usually operate in a manner that they use the base lending rates that stipulated by the banks governing body (Central Bank). These rates represent the lowest value possible for advancing loans to customers. However, banks also engender to generate maximum profits because that is their essence as business enterprises. Nevertheless, because of technological advancement, competition has become the most common war in the current society. Thus, in order for banks to come up with sound decisions pertaining interest rates, they call to focus many factors, which are of course logical. For instance, blue chip companies are given lower rates compared to the standard companies. Furthermore, companies are approved based on their performance over a certain period of time as well as their level business trend. Employees in these banks are encouraged to pursue those high-end customers, more than the r est. The banks management does not directly encourage employees to pursue high-end customers; they rather use reduced interest rates to lure these customers to obtain bigger credit from them so that the final interest rate value remains higher. On the other hand, customers with poor credit history, low-income level, and unknown business practices, are offered highly scrutinized services. For instance, their loan advancements are denied on various bases, but the bottom line is that these banks do not want to make commitments to individuals who might end up generating losses. However, when evaluating this trend from banks to offer credit to individuals with high credit worthiness, and deny credit to customer with low-income levels, issues of ethics come in. First, one could see these financial institutions offering services to individuals who do not take a damn about whether they are offered finances or not, while treating those who really need financial assistance with caution. An institution with greater social responsibility should not behave in a manner that contradicts their practices, but a balance has to be maintained between the two sides of ethics and development. Moreover, too much overreliance to ethics could lead to negligence on sustenance, opulence, technological advancement, and financial progress, which could as well offer more support to the society through social responsibility services. On the other hand, overreliance on globalization could lead to negligence of the ethical standard to treatment that banks are required to follow. The steps taken to protect customer information Information is a powerful tool for controlling individuals. Once one is in possession of crucial information, he/she can decide to do something drastic and detrimental to the other party concerned. Therefore, banks in line with the current technological advancement have fostered various mechanisms that offer more confidentiality that is appealing to its customers. This has been through the installation of new management information systems, which are highly structured and monitored. For instance, access codes are provided in a manner that each code offer access to a certain level of information to the banks employees. Employees at the top level of management are offered access to a wider range of information access because they are the major stakeholders in the decision making process of the companies. In addition, tactical level managers have authority to oversee the various progress reports of other employees. Thus, this form of management fosters accountability and responsibility in the manner in which employees treat customer information. Furthermore, this use of access codes has been facilitated by information systems that track and record various issues regarding the daily operations of the banking industry. For instance, individuals accessing computers are monitored by a system that indicates their time of access, the type of information they were accessing, and the reason as to why they were accessing this information. Hence, this management information system leads to responsibility and protection of customer information, because whoever tempers with information is dealt with accordingly. Moreover, employees are required to access only information that relates to their line of duty. Another manner in which banks are responding to efficient information management is through video monitoring. Whereby, in this manner of information policy, employees are monitored by a well-protected computer video recording system, which records the various employees and their locations as well as time. In this case, access to information on various systems is traced back quickly. Recommendations According to Thomas Friedman, there should be a balance between spiritual worthiness and the role model, which involves the olive tree and the Lexus (Friedman 512). Therefore, banks should ensure that as much as they are responding to the changing environment, they should also adopt an approach that is of social concern and ultimately, of a Godly value. Therefore, it is in the due course of responding to this ethical challenges that banks are expected to restructure their strategies in a manner that ensures that they obtain credibility with their major stakeholders, who need high return on investments, and customers who expect good services from the financial institutions. How responsive are specific banks to management restructuring? This question is well calculated owing to the impetus to discover the way forward in cases when unethical practices are observed. For instance, in most banks, like many other organizations, it is the role of the top management to foresee the process of decision-making and policy implementation in the banking industry. However, even though other employees down the line are given an opportunity to provide recommendations regarding the best course of action, their information could only be accepted or rejected based on the manner in which the tactical manager sees these recommendations. Thus, the decision-making process in the current globalized society has been, in the words of Friedman, democratized (Friedman 109). This means that most of the practices within the banking sector only reflect the perspective of the managers per se. in which case, managers have an obligation to deliver results based on the stakeholders interests as well as their interests. In addition, this might crowd off their judgments because, they might decide to use all means necessary to achieve results without bearing in mind the end result of the means in use. Moreover, employees are governed by their contractual agreement to foster the banks missions and objectives. Nevertheless, as they engender to achieve this contractual responsibility, unethical practices may ensue as mentioned above. Thus, there is need to re-evaluate their behaviors in order to recognize that no matter how much one would wish to retain his/her job, God exists, and that He requires that all actions be of value to socie ty and of value to the greater good. There are better ways of addressing issues of unethical standard that are more appealing even though risky. For instance, in the case of interest rates disclosure, individual employees in the banking sector could be required to offer their recommended interest computation strategies that do not reflect unethical practices. These recommendations could include having interests lowered but increasing penalties on defaulters, increasing interest rates and lowering processing fees, offering preferential services to high-end customers as well as ensuring that the standard customers are also given dignified services. Sometimes, issues of serving standard customers are delayed compared to those of premium customers. This level of discrimination should be reduced because it counters the whole aspect of human rights and fair treatment. The Impact of Information and Interest Rate Disclosure to the Business World Ethics plays a crucial role in our society today, not because of the immediate feeling that individuals feel after experiencing ethical practices, but because of the ultimate role, ethics plays in the society. Besides, the banking industry plays a significant role in ensuring that business practices prosper in line with the advancement in technology. Thus, it is within the banking sector that businesses derive their standard of operations. Hence, unethical practices resulting from banks signify negative role modeling. Stable business can never operate without having access to banks. In return, these banks receive important information that relates to the operations of the businesses concerned. Therefore, the information received should be kept secure and only disclosed to the government in cases when there is need for investigations as to the business practices as the government deems necessary. Furthermore, information relating to the various charges the banks make on individuals are co-operations, the disclosure of such information is important for business planning and cost estimation. Therefore, it is important that this information be readily available so that other businesses may thrive in the global economy.

LATIN AMERICA :: essays research papers

LATIN AMERICA When someone talks about Latin America the first thing that usually comes to head is a beautiful place that is mostly occupied by poor peasant farmers who don’t know much about anything. Maybe the only thing that comes to mind is that its just a nice place to go for vacation, but that is because Latin America is probably unfamiliar to us Americans or we just think we’re to good for them. Whatever the reason being for not knowing much about Latin America is just about to change as well as the way you view Latin America. Latin America is rather large and kind of difficult to pin point since it starts from Mexico’s border with the United States of America all the way to a small island called Tierra del Fuego, but I can tell you that it’s south of the United States. Latin America also includes all of the Caribbean islands where almost all the countries are suffering of hunger and bad leadership. Brazil and Argentina are two of Latin America’s strongest countries because they make up most of the common market where other nations come to trade, buy goods and buy cash crops. There is a lot of fertile land and plantations in Latin America that produce goods such as sugarcanes and tropical fruits. There are places like mountain ranges where people do live, but eventually have to leave because of the conditions so most of those people end up living in the cities and have to find work which is very hard and leads to poverty in the cities. The cities are one of the weirdest places in Latin America simply because of the people and way of life. In the city you can see Lexus parked right next to a donkey and see a millionaire right next to a woman walking barefoot carrying her child and a bucket on her head. These are everyday life occurrences that give you a clue on how things are in Latin America. Human Life is actually put second in Latin America to working and because of this there is lack of educational and future opportunities. That is a reason for so many emigrants in the U.S; people see that there is no hope for their children so they save up money and come on boats that will free them from their depression. Latin America is a dominant Roman Catholic region though Protestants are on the rise.