Monday, September 30, 2019

Assignment: Fee Setting Essay

The government benefits seminar for children and families was a major success, so Advocates for Children will carry out a similar seminar in a nearby town. The executive director has decided that this second seminar should make the highest possible amount of money. For this reason, they will not offer a reduced fee schedule, and all attendees must pay the entire fee. This seminar will happen in a smaller room than the first one did, which can only leave space for 45 trainees, at most. Here is the seminar’s proposed budget: Proposed Seminar Budget 1. Conference room rental $175.00 $ 175.00 2. Audiovisual equipment Rental $75.00 3. 4 presenters @ $500 $2,000.00 4. 45 workbooks @ $15 $675.00 5. 45 lunches @ $12 $540.00 6. 45 coffees @ $3.50 $158.00 Subtotal $3,623.50 7. Indirect costs @ 25% of $3,622.50 $ 906.00 Subtotal $4,529.00 8. Profit margin @ 5% of $4,528.13 $ 227.00 Subtotal $4,756.00 You are the executive director. Following the checklist in Figure 11.1, perform all the computations necessary to set a fee. What will your fee be? What is your break-even point? What is your go/no-go decision point? Fixed Costs 1. Conference room rental $175.00 $ 175.00 2. Audiovisual equipment Rental 75.00 3. 4 presenters @ $500 2,000.00 4. Indirect costs @ 25% of $3,675.00 $ 906.00 5. Profit margin @ 5% of $4,594.00 $ 227.00 Total Fixed Costs $3,383.00 Variable Costs 6. 45 workbooks @ $15 $15.00 7. 45 lunches @ $12 12.00 8. 45 coffees @ $3.50 3.50 Total Variable Costs $30.50 Breakeven point I would put my breakeven and go/no go point at 30 attendees. I have set it lower to make up for margin or error, and when more than 30 people attend the profits will also increase. This is the revenue maximization strategy that I will use. XP= A+BX 30P= 3,383 + 30.50(30) 30P= 3,383 + 915 30P= 4,298 P= 143 *Fee will still be set within the standard bracket. Exercise 11.2 As the executive director of Advocates for Children, you have had a change of heart. You decide not to attempt to maximize revenues in this second seminar. You decide to exclude a profit margin in the fee computation, but you will include indirect costs. Additionally, the local United Way in the community hosting the seminar has guaranteed 45 participants. If fewer than 45 participants register for the seminar, the United Way will make up the difference. In exchange for this guarantee, the United Way has asked you to set the seminar fee as low as possible. Following the checklist in Figure 11.1, perform all the computations necessary to set a fee. What will your fee be? Fixed Costs 1. Conference room rental $175.00 $ 175.00 2. Audiovisual equipment Rental 75.00 3. 4 presenters @ $500 2,000.00 4. Indirect costs @ 25% of $3,675.00 $ 906.00 Total Fixed Costs $3,156.00 Variable Costs 5. 45 workbooks @ $15 $15.00 6. 45 lunches @ $12 12.00 7. 45 coffees @ $3.50 3.50 Total Variable Costs $30.50 45 participants 45P = 3156 + 30.50(45) 45P = 3,156 + 1373 (rounded-up) 45P = 4549 (rounded-up) (Divide both sides by 45) P = $101.00 (rounded-up) For 45 participants,the fee is $101.00 (100.63 if not rounded-up). * I chose to use the number 45 because the United Way has guaranteed that they will make up the difference if less than 45 people attend. Reference Martin, L. (2001). Financial management for human service administrators. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Baltimore (Maryland) As A Transportation Network And Sea Port

Baltimore is located in North central part of Maryland state, on the Patapsco River, 40 miles (60 Km) North East of Washington D. C. and 75 miles (125 km) South West of Philadelphia (Holcomb, 2005). The city lies in a humid sub-tropical climate zone and experiences very high humid summers around July and warm winters around January (Ogle, 1996). Baltimore towns were founded in the 17th Century as commercial ports. The town was established on July 30, 1729 and was named after the first proprietary governor of Maryland province Lord Baltimore (Holcomb, 2005).Baltimore grew rapidly from â€Å"mid to late 18th century as a granary for sugar-producing colonies in the Caribbean† (Ibid, 2005). Since the distance of Baltimore from the Caribbean is shorter as compared to other large ports such as New York City port and Boston, it was popularly used because it reduced transportation time as well as reduced spoilage of goods (Starr, 1991). After the British forces had burnt down Washingt on DC, they invaded Baltimore in 1812 but the US forces won in that war (Ogle, 1996).Afterwards, development grew explosively due to increase commerce in America and abroad. This lead to construction of federally-funded National road, privately-funded Baltimore and Ohio railroad (Oslon, 1997). This boasted Baltimore as a major shipping and manufacturing centre (Ibid, 1997). On February 7, 1904, great Baltimore fire gutted down more than 1,500 buildings in about 30 year and brought down city to ruin (Ogle, 1996). But two years later, through the help of city council the buildings were set back. The city grew in area as more suburbs were founded (Higham, 2004).From late 1970s, the Inner Harbor was revitalized in a bid to modernize the port to increase the capacity and make it more competitive (Ogle, 1996). In 1979 the Baltimore convention centre was opened (Higham, 2004). In 1990s it was revamped and expanded as it became a major tourist destination. In the 21st century there has been development of Inner Harbor with sites like sport centre, ESPN Zone and Baltimore World Trade Centre (Martin, 2003). During the 19th and 20th centuries, Baltimore served as a ship building and transportation hub for the Mid Atlantic states due to its large natural harbor.In the 20th century, the city competed vigorously with New York and Philadelphia in developing and maintaining large port facilities to attract merchants (Oslon, 1997). Baltimore port which was originally developed to â€Å"transport crops, today the port moves more than 30. 6 million tons of cargo annually from automobiles to zinc† (Anuta, 1983). This port has a major economic impact on Maryland state and neighboring states like Virginia, Washington DC and New York (Starr, 1991).The state is an industrious town with motor manufacturing and steel processing forming its economic base and backbone (Ogle, 1996). Nevertheless, shipping and transportation is a major economic engagement due to its strategic locati on as well as its developed and networked transportation system. Baltimore city has a number of interstate highways. These federally-funded state highways link Baltimore with other states (Robert, 2005). There are also two tunnels that pass through Baltimore harbor within the city. These are the four bore Fort McHenry Tunnel and two-bore Harbor tunnel (Ibid, 2005).Baltimore is well served with passenger rail. Amtruk’s trains serve between Baltimore and major cities in US, for example, just outside the city Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport Rails Station is a renowned traveler’s stop (Oslon, 1997). Besides, MARC commuter rail services connect Baltimore’s two intercity rail stations; the Camden Station and Penn Station with Washington DC’s Union station and stops in between (Robert, 2005). Maryland Transit Administration provides people in Baltimore city with public transit.The bus network in the city is comprehensive and efficien t. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI) and Martin State airport serves Baltimore with air transport services (Anuta, 1983). Baltimore is a preferred transport hub and sea port that is very important to Maryland State as well as neighboring states like New York and Virginia (Higham, 2004). This is because it has a well-defined road network that gives it great comparative advantage. Its deep water port facilities are modernized and handle bulk goods conveniently.There are various advantages of Baltimore port as compared to other ports around that region. These include geographical advantage. Baltimore has interconnected multi-model system of transport and it offers one of the low cost shipping and transportation services (Starr, 1991). It also has well-maintained state roads connect Baltimore to the rest of the US. Baltimore Beltway surrounds the city and other interstate highways connect Baltimore to all directions (Robert, 2005). People can easily make across Baltimore metropolitan area through the city’s extensive local road system.Due to its central location in the densely populated North West corridor of US, Maryland state and Baltimore in particular has geographical advantage over other ports as a distribution centre (Holcomb, 2005). Baltimore can be accessed by overnight tracks that haul goods to major markets of North East, South East and Mid West due to the strategic location (Ibid, 2005). According to Maryland Distribution Council (http://www. mdc. org) the consumer market that is within overnight reach of Maryland state represents a whooping 80 million people (32% of US population), $1.2 trillion in effective buying income (35% of the US total) and $566. 2 billion in retail sales (33% of US total) (Anuta, 1983). According to MDC the private haulers number over 5,000, common and contract carriers that serve within Maryland and its environ (Ogle, 1996). Baltimore port handles in the ranges of 30. 6 million tons of c argo every year and it is ranked number one in Poll-on Roll off cargo in the East coast (Starr, 1991). Another comparative advantage is the technological advances in the port that has computerized its operations.The port boasts the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), hand held computers, computerized gate computers and scanners which in a great way have had a positive impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the port (Ogle, 1996). Economically, Baltimore has large skilled labor force that is important in running of its vibrant economy. It has large tracks of warehouses, that is, over 23 million square feet and cold storage space (Starr, 1991). It has developed in service industry and has comprehensive international banking services (Robert, 2005).Baltimore still has other comparative advantages over other ports surrounding it. These include excellent inter-model connections by water, rail and tunnel, rail service that is on-dock at all terminals provided by CSX and Norfol k Southern, is rated as one of the safest and most secure ports in the world, presence of advanced and electronic cargo data system which makes the process of clearing and forwarding efficient and time-saving, cargo consolidation, export parking and crating services. It also has excellent tracking services whether it is a local dray or a long haul (Robert, 2005).Baltimore harbor’s importance to neighboring states like New York City and Virginia are numerous. With the well-maintained interstate highways one can drive to Baltimore from New York City for only two hours, and less than one hour from Washington DC (Higham, 2004). There are also options to use trains or fly into the city. The city offers exciting tourist destination. Ellicott City is a charming village with restored historical sites with art galleries, quaint shops, gift shops and restaurants (Ibid, 2004). Baltimore offers a great investment destiny for businessmen and businessmen have identified the city for invest ment.Investors from New York and neighboring states are investing in hotels, transport and other services (Ogle, 1996). The Baltimore port ahs become a magnet for development that has spread outside the city to nearby states like Virginia (Oslon, 1997). This is because of the ability to handle large bulk of goods that are shipped into these states for development and also serving as exporting port to these states economies (Starr, 1991). The Baltimore port has contributed to growth of nearby regions such as Virginia and Philadelphia through provision of jobs.Direct related jobs, induced and indirect jobs have increased due to increased cargo movement in the port (Holcomb, 2005). Out of these 16,500 are direct jobs and about 34,000 induced and indirect jobs and other jobs that are directly related to activities at the port in nearby states are in hundreds of thousands (Anuta, 1983). Through taxes paid by businesses that engage in shipping, handling, transporting, importing and export ing goods, Maryland State and neighboring regional states, get tax revenues that greatly help them fund their budgets (Higham, 2004).Baltimore port has enabled growth of service sectors in Maryland state and other states (Oslon, 1997). These sectors that developed include banking, insurance, admiralty, law, maritime services, consignee service and surface transport (Ibid, 1997). This has impacted an increased business income of participants like national trucking firms, freight forwarders and bankers. The value of the port of Baltimore to neighboring states has increased due to increased due to increased cargo moving via the port into these states (Martin, 2003).Through the port goods are exported and imported into these states that generate about $50 billion of their economic activities in 2007 (Ibid, 2003). Some of the challenges that Baltimore port faces is environment degradation due to material waste disposal (Starr, 1991). However, legislation was passed to control waste of dr edge materials. Environment Trust Fund was set up to fund building of a site for the disposal of the material dredged from the shipping channels leading to Baltimore harbor (Anuta, 1983).Environment impact statement was prepared after public hearing, where citizens proposed provision of commercial shipping by maintaining channels approaching Baltimore port, which in turn saw an outright prohibition to open water disposal and recycling of waste for agricultural and other purposes (Robert, 2005). Traffic congestion is another challenge that faces the city and Maryland state in general. There was a bill that proposed state local and regional transportation plans to reduce vehicle mileage by at least 10% by 2020; however the US senate rejected the proposal (Holcomb, 2005).The assembly has approved removal of the annual state sidewalk funding capital which amounts to about 2 million dollars which will see increased funding of state in sidewalks that will manage transport in the city stre ets (Oslon, 1997). Crime situation in the state is a major challenge to this city port (Anuta, 1983). The crime statistics for 2005 revealed approximately 269 homicides which is about seven times the normal rate (Starr, 1991). Generally overall crime rate have worked hard to reduce crime activities and give the city a safe environment (Martin, 2003).Conclusion Baltimore port is a very important not only to the Maryland state but to the whole region. This port serves as a major entry and exit point of goods and people from Atlantic to Mid West and the whole of United State. Its strategic geographic location has given it a comparative advantage over rival ports. Many of businesses around the region use these ports to export or import their goods as it is cheaper considering the short distance to the coast. Increased activities this port has translated to economic growth in the region.The impact of the use of the Baltimore ports on the regional economies can be identified in sectors su ch as, tourism sectors, transport and haulage sectors, banking and other financial service sectors as well as public sector. More service industries are developed in Maryland and nearby estates to support the growth brought by enhanced use of this port. Despite these positive influences the use of ports has on the region there are some negative impacts that can be identified as having came out of the use of the ports.Drug importation through these ports has been a challenge not only to this state but to the whole nation. Drug barons use this as sea entry point to US market. They disguise their consignment as legal trade goods to get clearance and access to their intended markets. Maryland Port Authority has stepped up and taken measures like use of scanners to scan contents in containers and use of drug detectors. The state security forces together with federal security agents should help reduce crime in the city.Insecurity has been recognized as a major force that can greatly decel erate the rate of development in the city. Investors flee areas that they know their investments are not safe. Maryland Port Authority should implement ways of improving harbor management and services for instance, ensuring that there is sufficient safety from hazards like fire, theft, accidents in the work place as well as ensuring that information technology system is up-to-date and fully functioning.In turn, this will radically enhance Baltimore harbor transportation network, thus reducing obstacles such as delayed transportation, drug trafficking and traffic congestion. References Anuta, Michael J. (1983). Ships of our Ancestors. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. , Inc. Higham, Eileen. (2004). Tuscany-Canterbury: A Baltimore Neighborhood History. Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society. Holcomb, Eric L. (2005). The City as Suburb: A History of Northeast Baltimore since 1660. Santa Fe, N. M. : Center for American Places. Martin L. Millspaugh.(2003). The Inner Harbor Story. Th e Urban Land Institute. Washington, D. C. Ogle, Maureen. (1996). All the Modern Civilization Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University Press. Olson, Sherry H. (1997). Baltimore: The Building of an American City. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Robert C. Keith (2005). Baltimore Harbor: A Pictorial History. Third Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore and London. Starr, J. (1991). The Port of Baltimore: Off the Beaten Track? Maritime Policy and Management 18, 171-181. http://www. mdc. org

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Economical and Biological Importance of Rice Research Paper

Economical and Biological Importance of Rice - Research Paper Example Rice is found in different varieties, with each variety responding to certain species of weather and climate. In essence, rice has often been used by different civilizations to determine their degree of cultural influence over others. In the course of history, some communities have used Rice as a means of exchange by trading it with other material goods and services with other communities (Rost, 1997). For instance, the long-distance traders in West Africa and Central Africa relied on rice as a means of exchange during the Trans-Saharan trade. In terms of nutrition, rice is a carbohydrate that nourishes the energy requirement of humans at all ages. Its consumption varies in terms of accompaniments just as the cooking methods vary across communities and individuals. Modern agricultural systems have engaged in value addition practices meant to increase the nutritional value of rice. However, nutritionists have linked unbalanced consumption of rice to diseases such as pellagra and other diseases of malnutrition. Nevertheless, rice remains one of the most common and most important foods for the global population, times, cultures, and geographical spaces. The earliest consumption and cultivation of rice has been traced to the year 2500 B.C., (Chang, 2001). Historians have explored multiple sources of evidence, which show that rice was first cultivated and consumed in China. It was from China that this food commodity found its ways to places such as Sri Lanka and India (Rost, 1997). It remains imprecise as to the exact nature of influence and contacts that contributed to the spread of Rice from its original land to other geographical regions of the world.  

Friday, September 27, 2019

Compare and contrast the four great errors Essay

Compare and contrast the four great errors - Essay Example Incorrectly treating an event as the cause or the effect could obviously worsen a problem. It could not help someone to solve his or her dilemma in life. The proper solution to the problem could not be discovered due to this mistake. The second error refers to false causality. In this error, people tend to invent ideas to explain their actions (â€Å"The Four†). They do not want an event left unexplained or to remain a mystery. In other words, humans tend to provide reasons for their actions if possible. The third of the four great errors is the imaginary causes error. In this error, people formulate ideas which are far from the truth just to overcome their fear of the unknown (â€Å"The Four†). They always want to control a situation. As compared with the third error, this one has no basis. It is simply a product of one’s imagination. The last error is called by Nietzsche as the free will error. It is his contention that this concept is an illusion, suggested fo r the purpose of guilt imposition and punishment (â€Å"The Four†). On the other hand, Chomsky’s â€Å"necessary illusions† involve the illusionary ideas that the media offers to the public specifically in the United States. He believes that these illusions are sometimes needed to prevent an excess of democracy to happen (Chomsky 2).

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Corrections- Strategic Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Corrections- Strategic Plan - Essay Example The Tasmanian Correction prison institution’s mission is to make a valid contribution towards a safer and better Tasmania. This it aims achieving through the ensuring of a secure and safe containment of inmates and the provision of opportunities to the inmates for rehabilitation community engagement as well as personal development (Taylor, 2009). The Tasmanian Correction Prison’s values are direct. They require that the institution continue committing itself to the best principled leadership as well as embracing sets of core values that are directed at guiding the stakeholders’ behavior. This the institution aims to achieve through: Collaboration: to enhance a communal sense of belonging, everyone at Tasmanian is expected to support a mutual understanding of ideas, an open exploration of all our differences, as well as works together constructively and cooperatively with all the stakeholders alike. Technology: this is aimed at develop and ensuring the best information technology strategy, as well as implement systems that are capable of managing the current and the anticipated growth needs (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Crime prevention as well as safety: this is aimed at the development of a comprehensive crime prevention program, which aid in the establishment of evidence based. This will then aid in the determination of the impact of offender and related programs within the institutions as well as the community, in order to reduce victimization and criminality (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Transparency, outreach and partnerships: the institution is open to entering partnerships, as well as the development of meaningful programs alongside the processes of promoting a shared responsibility for the safety of the community (Richards & Lyneham, 2010). Tasmanian institution is known to be a secure facility, in which minors are dedicated as delinquents. The institution’s aim is prepare convicted people for a successful community

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Taxes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Taxes - Essay Example The country moves forward on account of the government and the government moves because of the income tax. The income tax is a way for the government to acquire money for the country and the money that is collected as the income tax is used to make country brawnier in every manner. A country is conceived to be powerful if it has a rapid growth process in every field such as Science and Aeronautics, Information Technology, Army & Navy Forces, Education, Civil Services, Film industry and many more. If it seems like the taxation laws are changing every second you around, it's not your imagination. If you see, over the past eight years, changes to the Tax Code have been made at a rate of more than one a day. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate office, there were 500 alterations in 2008 solely. Many of them concerned to the 2009 tax year. Amongst countries that serve as the base location for significant global businesses, the US now stands alone as the only country with both the worldwide taxation system and the corporate taxation rate over 30%. The Administration’s offers would further cut off the US in terms of taxation policy and further disadvantages US businesses competing in the global marketplace. At a time when the rest of the world is cutting down the tax burden on the foreign operations of domestic parties, the Administration’s proposals would importantly raise the taxation burden on the foreign activities of US companies, which would have substantial implications for all stakeholders and the US economy more largely.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

SABIC products i Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SABIC products i - Assignment Example This company is involved in the manufacture and marketing of fertilizers, metals and petrochemicals. It operates through strategic business units, each headed by a vice president, including: intermediates, polymers, metals, basic chemicals SABIC specialty products and Innovative plastics, as well as fertilizers. The chemicals unit includes: ethylene, benzene, propylene among others; the specialized products and intermediates: ethylene glycol and vinyl chlorides, while the plastics produced include: PVC, polyester and melamine. Moreover, fertilizers produced include urea and ammonia while the metals include: aluminum and steel products. SABIC’s business is operated across Africa, Pacific Asia, Europe, America and Middle East regions, while headquartered in Riyadh, south Arabia’s kingdom (Riyadh, 2011). SABIC fulfillment involves requirements as set out in the management system certificate. SABIC is committed to employees, the environment and communities, including dedication of resources for evaluation of health and safety aspects of products and their raw ingredients (Delgado, 2012). Risks assessment and management is carried out by stewardship and toxicology personnel who develop programs to mitigate risks on humans and the environment; as well as communication of the information to the responsible personnel. In order to meet its commitments, SABIC develops internal programs and processes as well as complying with chemical restrictions and regulations, and the complex product. The company has its belief on the stewardship of natural resources as well as the development of processes and materials that meet sustainability criteria in a responsible manner. This will facilitate business growth, support the growth of businesses of customers and solve the challenges of the environment. An understanding of impacts across the life cycle of the product helps in focusing

Monday, September 23, 2019

Structural analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Structural analysis - Essay Example Assuming the average mass of adult to be 70 kilograms. Therefore, his weight shall be given by Weight= mass* acceleration due to gravity Weight= 70Kg*9.8N/Kg =686N The system is designed to carry three adults but the distance from each one is not specified .Therefore I treat their net weight to acting on the beam as a load equally distributed at 7.5 cm from end R1 indicated by force F1 which is technically equal to F2. Force F1 is given by; [? (the average weight of the three adults)] ? 2 (686?3) N ?2=1029 N Shear forces at the extreme ends of the beam are equal to the opposite reaction forces. The shear forces at any point on the beam is calculatable by using the formula F(x) = Rl –qx= qL/2 –qx= q [L/2 -x] whereby x is the distance from the left end of the beam, L the length of the entire beam and q the load on the beam F (0.075) =1029[1.8?2-0.075] = 848.925 The shearing force (SF) within any given party of the beam illustrates the tendency for the section of the beam on either side of the cross-section to slide or shear laterally in relation to other ends. The diagram shows the sitting beam in which the weights are distributed across it. The three adults will be assumed to be of load W1, W2, and W3 W1 W2 W3 The swing is supported on both ends by the other beams placed vertically to the sitting beam. The two ends in which the beam is supported is of reaction R1 and R2. Assuming the beam is split into two sections at point p. the resultant of the loads, reaction acting on the left of point p is F vertically upwards, and because the entire beam is uniform, the resultant force to the right of P should be F downwards. In this case, F is refers to the shearing force at the reaction P. usually the shearing force at any given part of the beam gives the algebraic sum of the lateral elements of the forces acting on each part of the beam. For bending moments, in the same approach it may that when the bending moments (BM) of the forces acting to the left pa rt of point P are clockwise then the bending moments of the forces on the right side should be in anticlockwise direction as indicated. Bending moment at given point is stated as the algebraic total of moments about a part of the entire forces acting in opposite directions. In a swing the bending moments are taken to be positive because when three adults sits on it, the total weights acts downwards and this is balance by the upward force from the two support chains on either side of the beam. The adults force gives the beam a clockwise push while the side chains give it an anticlockwise force. The results of this system are known as a sagging bending moment because it attempts to make the beam concave at the center. Fixing moments has to be determined in this system and work on the types of loads acting on it. It is also necessary to note that it is not possible to achieve a faultless fixing moment or the joining moment used will be associated to the angular movement of the supporti ng or reaction forces. Assuming that the adults sit adjacent to one another at point x of the beam We will let the shearing force at point X be F and at x = dx be F + dF. Equivalently, the bending moment is at M at x and M + dM at x + dx. Taking w as the mean estimate of loading of the beam length, the sum load is wdx,

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley Assignment

Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley - Assignment Example The names island is situated eight miles from Georgia. Since the 1850s, archeologists have been reviewing the site and eventually proved that the site is one of the utmost significant locations in the history of United States (Sassaman 79-104). Over the past 140 years, more than 12 excavations have been conducted on the island by archeologists and looters. The existence of intensive prehistoric habitation, shell mound, and archeological deposits makes Stallings culture as important. The author, Kenneth E. Sassaman has tried to focus on the activity of the people of the Shoals. The first argument of the author is to present a story about the fall and rise of the Stallings culture. The second argument is to discuss the story of archeology which helps to enlighten the history of Stallings. The author wants to highlight the Stallings culture and bring it back to life with archeological interpretations and excavations. The Stallings culture has gained attention for many decades by archeological. This is mainly due to its setting within a place and time of many archeological deposits such as soapstone artifacts and fiber-tempered pottery. The author vividly described the reason behind the importance and flourish of Stallings culture for over 300 years. The author initiates with the argument of the population of the South-east coast and America. Kenneth explains the history of the Late Archaic culture of the Savannah River valley with a chart. The chart is based on the radiocarbon age. The Stallings fiber-tempered pottery and its technologies are introduced by the author to provide evidence on the importance of Stallings culture. Kenneth also focuses on defining the geographical, typological and chronological parameters ceramics as an evidence to focus on the Stallings culture. Several controversial theories of the people of Stallings have been offered by Kenneth.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Pakistan Flood Essay Example for Free

Pakistan Flood Essay The Pakistan flood of 2010 happened on Monday the 26th July 2010 in the villages Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Causes The heavy rains were caused by a monsoon depression (also called a monsoon low) that formed over the Bay of Bengal on July 24, crossed over India, and reached Pakistan on July 27 Climate change – There was unusually heavy monsoon rains which caused widespread flooding in Pakistan, whilst coinciding in Russia unusually high temperatures ( resulting in a heat wave). Both of which were attributed to global warming. Poor river management Impacts Over 500,000 or more people had been displaced from their homes At least 1,540 people died, 2,088 people had received injuries and 557,226 houses had been destroyed. Infrastructure was destroyed. The Karakoram Highway, which connects Pakistan with China, was closed after a bridge was destroyed. Floodwater destroyed the health care infrastructure leaving people vulnerable to water-borne disease Millions of crops were destroyed leaving a severe shortage of food across the country Responses * petitions were immediately launched by international organisation, like the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)– and the UN (United Nations) – to help Pakistanis hit by the floods * the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided support in disaster management authorities to assist evacuate populations from affected areas of southern Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, * Many charities and aid agencies provided help, including the Red Crescent and Medicines Sans Frontiers * Pakistan’s government also tried to raise money to help the huge number of people affected * But there were complaints that the Pakistan government was slow to respond to the crisis, and that it struggled to cope * Foreign Governments donated millions of dollars, and Saudi Arabia and the  USA promised $600 million in flood aid. But many people felt that the richer foreign governments didn’t do enough to help * The UN’s World Food Programme provided crucial food aid. But, by November 2010, they were warning that they might have cut the amount of food handed out, because of a lack of donations from richer countries Effects There were both long-term and short-term effects, they include: Short-term:- * At least 1600 people died * Aid couldn’t get through because of the failing infrastructure 45 major bridges and thousands of kilometres of roads were destroyed or badly damaged, limiting the aid supplies reaching the areas badly affected * loss of cattle resulted in loss of dairy products * Access to health care, such as maternity care was difficult due to the damaged infrastructure Long-term:- * 20 million Pakistanis were affected (over 10% of the population), 6 million needed food aid * Whole villages were swept away, and over 700,000 homes were damaged or destroyed * Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis were displaced, and many suffered from malnutrition and a lack of clean water * 5000 miles of roads and railways were washed away, along with 1000 bridges * 160,000km2 of land were affected. That’s at least 20% of the country * About 6.5 million acres of crops were washed away in Punjab and Sindh provinces Future Local authority-run disaster management forums, including local men and women were set up to assess future flood situation and created Community Rapid Response Teams to plan search and rescue activities. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) produced a plan to  employ local tradesmen to help reconstruct shelters, etc which in turn provided an income for those people this will encourage the local economy to grow. Reconstructing and strengthening the irrigation band was deemed crucial to protect villages in the future. A plan to rebuild embankment and well maintain them was created.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Carlsberg International Strategy And Prospective Partners Commerce Essay

Carlsberg International Strategy And Prospective Partners Commerce Essay Beer is one of the worlds most consumed alcoholic drinks. Nelson (2005) stated that it is the most popular drink after water and tea. There are lots of brewing companies though emphasis will be made on Carlsberg in this instance. The Carlsberg Group is the worlds fourth largest brewery group. The Group is distinguished by a high degree of variety of brands, markets and cultures. Its activities are centred on markets where the Group has the strength and the right products to secure a leading position. Due to the variation of the markets, the contribution to growth, earnings and development within the Group differs, both at present and in the longer-term projections (Carlsberg, 2012). In countries where Carlsberg has no breweries, the Group sells its products through exports and licensing agreements. It aims to establish and develop strong market positions for their international premium brands through dynamic partnerships with licensing, export and duty-free partners around the world. The Carlsberg beer portfolio includes more than 500 brands. They differ significantly in volume, price, target audience and geographic penetration. (Carlsberg, 2012). Carlsberg International Strategy and Prospective Partners The company operates using an international strategy which implies that it takes the beer first produced for its domestic market and sells them internationally with only low local customization. This highlights that the beer it sells meets a worldwide need and at such do not face substantial competitors which implies that it is not confronted with pressures to cut down its cost structure. It tends to centralize the beer development functions such as research and development in its home country and establish manufacturing and marketing functions in each country it operates. Carlsberg chose an international strategy for the following reasons: To increase sales and profit growth by entering new markets and also selling in existing markets (Hill, 2009). This is achieved because it exports its products to destinations like South America where it has no breweries and in some cases through licensing agreements like it did with Charrington and Tetley in Britain by giving them right to brew and bottle Carlsberg beer and in return get a royalty fee. It also formed joint ventures with Scottish Newcastle and a brewery in Honk Kong which it now fully owns. The Group also formed mergers with Danish rival, Ruborg and Orkla of Norway which it later owned fully. From the case study, it is very obvious that they go into these markets at a slow but cautious pace by using the services of the partners and this is to avoid information costs and risk and some other uncertainties such as trade barriers associated with foreign involvement. It also gets to learn about the foreign market in cases where it formed joint ventures and mergers and la ter take full control of the company. Another reason is to protect Carlsbergs home market share because operating in foreign countries takes away business from its competitors by offering customers other choices and it lets the competitors know that they would face the same response if they attack the home market (Rugman Collinson, 2009). Furthermore, it is a tactics that Carlsberg could use to diversify themselves against the risk and uncertainties of the domestic business cycle (Rugman Collinson, 2009). This implies that by operating in other countries it can often reduce the negative consequences of economic swing such as recession in its home country. Despite Carlsberg seemingly predatory instinct for 100% control and ownership, prospective partners engage with Carlsberg because of the following reasons: They will benefit from its intangible properties (Hill, 2009), like in the case of licensing where the licensee has the right to Carlsbergs intellectual properties such as patents, processes and trademarks. This also applies to joint ventures as the partner gets to know about its processes as well. They would be able to offer their clients a wider range of products and services (Mcpheat, 2010). For example in licensing where Carlsberg gives them rights to its intellectual properties, the partners tend to take advantage of more market opportunities (newly identified demand) as they will not only sell their own products but also that of Carlsberg, which means that their customers have variety of products to choose from. They might also have an opportunity to get endorsed into Carlsbergs advertisements (Mcpheat, 2010). That is Carlsberg might support their products in its advertisement in cases where it forms a merger or joint venture with partners. They share fixed costs and financial risks with Carlsberg which implies that they can succeed in dealing with failure to meet a certain standard or lack of resources (such as land, labour or capital). An example of an instance where this occurs is in joint ventures. Cooperating with Carlsberg creates room for pooling ideas and generates more creative solutions to problems (National Association of Conservation Districts, 1994). This is applicable when partners form joint ventures and mergers with Carlsberg. Thus, customers will be happier as their problems would be solved at a faster thereby improving customer service experience (Mcpheat, 2010). Potential acquisitions targets and strategic responses to acquisition bids According to the case study, Carlsberg has a global share by volume of 7.5% making it the fourth largest brewing corporation after AB Inbev and its market capitalization was over 80 billion Danish Kroner (Dkk). Its sales in 2009 were 59.4 billion (Dkk) on which it achieved 15.8% operating profit margin. This makes it a potential future acquisition target for other brewing groups such as AB Inbev for the following reasons: The larger brewing group would want to increase their companys portion of sales within the market in order to increase pricing power (Campbell et al., 2003). If a company doesnt have much pricing power then an increase in their prices would lessen the demand for their products (Investopedia US, 2012). Carlsberg has knowledge and marketing expertise about the local markets in which it owns breweries and so other brewing groups would want to acquire it as entry mode to these markets. Besides it would be a quicker way for them to make their presence known in these markets. Carlsberg is a valuable brand and as such is a target for other bigger groups as they would want gain its intellectual property such as patents, trademarks, production processes, databases that are difficult to re-create, and research development laboratories with a history of successful product development (Bragg, 2012). Its being the fourth largest brewing corporation in the world makes it is a major competitor in the brewing industry and in order to reduce competition a brewing group such as AB Inbev may want to purchase it. Furthermore, it is difficult to get costumers to change brands because customers are fiercely loyal to local brands and the only way of tapping into these markets is by purchasing the brewery (Rugman Collinson, 2009). For example in countries where Carlsberg markets its products that the larger groups havent entered yet, they could tap into these markets by purchasing the brewery since the customers are familiar to Carlsbergs products. The larger brewing group will want to gain preferential access to Carlsbergs sales and distribution channels. By acquiring it, they can use it to distribute its own products. Some of examples of sales channels they would benefit from are telemarketing or a well-trained-in house sales staff (Bragg, 2012). However, there are some barriers that a brewing group such as AB Inbev might face if they sought to acquire Carlsberg this could be: Clash of culture between both groups in terms of high management turnover which may possibly be as a result of Carlsbergs employees not liking the acquiring groups way of doing things and may decide to leave the company. This can materially harm the performance of the brewery because management talent and expertise will be lost and as such Carlsberg might reject an attempt to be bought (Hill, 2009). Integrating with other companies is difficult as a result of differences in management philosophy and company culture. This tends to slow down the integration of operations. National culture differences could even worsen these problems (Hill, 2009). For example language barriers between Carlsberg (owned by a Danish speaking company) and AB Inbev (a Dutch speaking company) may make Carlsberg decide to reject a bid. Also, Carlsberg is a big company as well and might reject an attempt to be bought because it doesnt want to lose its identity. They could go as far as responding to any acquisition bids by purchasing other breweries as a form of defence. Due to its having good market shares purchasing other breweries will make its shares bigger that it cannot be bought within the brewery industry without anti-trust (this refers to specific laws protecting trade and commerce from unfair business practices (Merriam-Webster, 2012)) thereby making it difficult for companies like AB Inbev to acquire it (Bragg, 2012). Global brand portfolio management and consolidation A global strategy that sustains 500 brands cannot possibly be right because this strategy focuses on increasing profitability and profit growth by reaping the costs reductions that come from economies of scale and learning effects in other to have a low-cost strategy on a global scale. This implies that this type of strategy suits where there are strong pressures for cost reductions and demand for local responsiveness are low. Carlsberg has 500 brands and they customize their product a bit to meet local conditions and this customization involves shorter production runs and the duplication of functions, which tends to raise costs. They wont reap the benefits of economies of scale as there wont be reduction in the unit cost achieved by producing different product in large quantities. Also, they wont be able to save costs that come from learning by doing in terms of producing the same brand over and over again i.e. their labour productivity may not increase over time as it is not easy f or individuals to learn most efficient of performing tasks when a large volume of different products is involved. Hence, production cost will increase due to a decline in labour productivity and management efficiency, which might decrease the firms profitability (Hill, 2009). Carlsberg should rationalise its facilities and focus on far fewer brands because it would be much easier to control and manage fewer brands and also implementing a global strategy would be easier compared to when it has 500 brands. By doing this they would be able to benefit from a bit from economies of scale and learning effects. Furthermore, the cost of advertising so many brands is relatively expensive. The customization of the brands would even make it more expensive if they have different advertisements for different brands in different countries. So they might want to consider focusing on fewer brands because the fewer the brands the lesser the price of advertising. Individual Reflection and Self-Analysis Expectations: I had always wanted to learn more about the world of business and management and as such my expectations for this module prior to beginning was to gain knowledge about business and management in an international context as the key to a successful business is how well the business is managed. This expectation has been met because I have gained the preliminary knowledge on how firms or organisations carry out their operations internationally for example the strategies on how firms enter a foreign market. It has also given me an introductory knowledge on how to identify a good business opportunity, have good plan of action to run and also manage a firm successfully. Challenges: I had some challenges during the module and this was because I studied Electrical/Electronic Engineering in my first degree and knew almost nothing about business. Having to do case studies wasnt something I had done in my previous degree and so I struggled with how to critically analyse and answer the questions that usually follow suit. I wouldnt say I have completely overcome this challenge as there are still some cases where Im still not able to comprehend a case but I know reading ahead of the lectures and paying attention during lectures has helped me to a certain extent. Preparation for Masters: I feel prepared to begin a Masters level programme and this module helped me prepare for it. This is because, I have learnt the basics of international business and management and also how to do extensive researches and structure a report, and my referencing skills have improved as well.

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Walk A Mile With A Disability :: essays papers

Walk A Mile With A Disability Disability Experiment As of 5:00 p.m. on October 1 I became a hard-of-hearing (as opposed to deaf) mute. I achieved the hearing impairment simply by wearing earplugs and became mute simply by not saying a word for the rest of that day, as well as the following morning. The first discovery that I made was that my family (and probably everyone else) listens to the television at a ridiculously loud volume. Even though both of my ear canals were blocked, I had no problems understanding what was taking place on the programs that we watched. However I did run into some trouble around dinner. We (my future in-laws) were saying the blessing, but I had to keep one eye open so I would know when the prayer was over. Another interesting thing was that while driving with the ear plugs in, I became more aware of the vibrations of my truck, the tires, and the bumps in the road. My tires are not the â€Å"normal† highway tire-even though they are perfectly legal-and they generate quite a bit shaking. This shaking is odd to me though because it isn’t so obvious that I notice it any other day, but only when my hearing is impaired. The music in my truck also took on a new role. Usually I use my speakers to drowned out the moaning of the tires, but now I have discovered that they can be used as a massage. I have felt them thump against my back before, but that thump absent from sound became an aggressive back pounding. As for my driving experiences as a mute, everyone should try it as a way to defeat their road rage. It certainly stopped my meaningless comments, not to mention I felt better about myself when I got home. My biggest, yet far from profound, discovery in this experiment is related to speaking. Since speech was no option for communication, I opted for the dry erase board as a form of communication. When writing is the only available form of communication ( I am ignorant of sign language) I tend to pick and choose carefully what is important enough to write down, as well as what is not. This procedure eliminates useless conversation such as sarcasm, small talk, and meaningless comments, which I have always wanted (I thought) to get rid of anyway.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

James Joyces A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Flann OBrien

James Joyce's 'A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man' and Flann O'Brien's 'At Swim-Two-Birds' and Modernist Writing The Twentieth Century found literature with a considerably different attitude and frame-of-mind than had the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Two hundred years is, of course, a long time to allow change within genres, but after the fairly gradual progression of the novel as a form, its change in the hands of modernism happened rapidly in comparison. Explaining how texts within the framework of modernist writing are â€Å"different† require laying out from what they are different, how, and why. A direct cause of, and coinciding with, literature’s abruptly changing face was the Industrial Revolution and its subsequent changes upon the world. The largely realist approach to literature had served its course in widening the scope of the literary audience to classes other than the ruling—mostly to the rising middle class with its increasing leisure time and importance as a market. This, hand-in-hand with the new ways of exploring, changing, viewing, and recordin g the world, signaled that a change was bound to occur in art, particularly in the literary arts. Victorian writers began to express their distaste with class systems and their fears of science but overall kept a fairly straight-forwardly linear approach to narrative. Those fears of science and how people interpreted its discoveries, combined with the decreasing necessity of near-journalistic novel-writing because of telegraphs and cameras, the dwindling power of Britain as an empire, and wars with deadlier outcomes than ever before stripped away many of the charms of realist writing. The change that had begun in the Victorian age led to the more drastic ... ...ames. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 2004. Joyce, James. Occasional, Critical, and Political Writing. Oxford: Oxcord UP, 2000. 104-107. Klages, Mary. "Structuralism and Saussure." University of Colorado. 6 Sept. 2001. Dept. of English, U. of Colorado. 28 Oct. 2005 . Lye, John. "Some Attributes of Modernist Literature." Brock University. 1997. Dept. of English, Brock U. 14 Oct. 2005 . Morris, Pam. Realism. London: Routledge, 2003. O'brien, Flann. At Swim-Two-Birds. Normal: Dalkey Archive P, 2005. Ryf, Robert S., ed. A New Approach to Joyce. Berkeley: University of California P, 1962. Schutte, William M., ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Watt, Ian. The Rise of the Novel. London: Pimlico, 2000.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Fight :: essays papers

Fight At a huge party in Long Beach Island, locals show up at the party. The house is small, but it has a front lawn that is a nice size to throw a party. The house and lawn is surrounded by a fence that is sharp at the top to prevent anyone from climbing over it easily. The house is between several other houses that are owned by families. The party is being thrown by kids that only go there for the summers. There is high tension between the locals and the summer kids. Therefore, when the locals showed up, the summer kids immediately threw them out. They were all talking about the incident and laughing. However, it was not over with. The locals came back with more numbers to start a fight. Act I Scene 1 The scene begins with three car loads of local kids pulling up to the house. Jason Gorski, Jeff Storms, Eddie Frost, Rich Mickens, Rob Philops, and Jake Collins are the tough guys that are at the party. The rest of the party is compiled of sailors and girls. The six see them getting out of there cars and start walking fast over to greet them. Jeff: (As he walks counts how many there are. He finds there are well over twelve of them and only six of them, so he makes a strategy of taking as many as he can out quickly.) Rob: (He clenches his fists as he walks, getting pumped up.) Jake: He waits behind the rest because he is not too sure what is to come. Jason: (He is behind the rest with Jake, but doesn’t want to miss any action, so he speeds up to the front.) Jeff: (He goes directly up to one of the locals and head buts him.) The kids nose busts open and blood is poring everywhere. Jeff must have broken the kids nose. Jeff: (After he head buts the one kid, he takes another kid down to the ground with a head in the chest double leg. He repeatedly punched the kid in the face.) The kid was bleeding harshly from his face. Jason: (He walks up to one of the guys and just starts hitting him in the face.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ethics and Leadership in Nigerian Universities: a Study of Staff-Student Relationship at the University of Lagos

This article examines the problem of ethics and leadership in Nigerian Universities from the perspective of inter-personal relationships between staff and students, and the implications for attaining the goals of the Universities and the wider society. In a broad introduction, it laments the crisis of state and society in Nigeria, while locating and explicating ethics and leadership as crucial elements of a university. The findings from the study at the University of Lagos indicate that it is possible even in the midst of the social vices pervading the institution for principled lecturers to positively influence their students in the course of their interaction. The article argues that this will ultimately have a positive impact on the wider society. It therefore calls for greater emphasis at upholding ethical conduct at all levels of University administration. Nigeria is a society bedevilled by all kinds of social vices in spite of the numerous social institutions put in place by the government to check vices and unethical conduct in the society. The country has been undergoing a monumental crisis of state and society beginning from the 1970s (Agbu, 1995). A worrisome dimension to this development is the rather silent attitude by many at addressing this problem which portends a grave danger not just to individuals and groups, but also the survival of the Nigerian State. In this inquiry, the focus is on the possible interplay between ethics and eadership in Nigerian Universities, with particular emphasis on staff-student interaction. The University of Lagos serves as our case study in order for us to concretely situate our analysis. A key observation made is that within the university system there are different layers of leadership and expected standareds of conduct by both members of staff and students. However, the experience in respect o f this has been most unpalatable and tending towards what may be regarded as a total moral crisis in Nigerian Universities. In the light of the above, there is the need for us to address our minds to certain pertinent questions arising therefrom. For instance, What types of behaviour do we really expect at the level of staff-student relations? To what extent do the manner of ethical dispositions by academic supervisors influence their students? What are those moral and ethical values that we all share which can help build a decent university community and society? And lastly, how can these ethical and moral imperatives be made part and parcel of the goals of the wider society? Indeed, it is unarguable that there is a minimum of ethical and moral standareds that is required of a society if it is to survive. There are laws that guide human relations based on the need to have order, harmony, peace and progress. When these basic laws are neglected, the result is total disruption in the social life of a people (Kukah, 1999:14). Again, it is generally recognized that these take their initial roots from the family as a socialization unit and additionally from the educational institutions as a formal context for acquiring wider knowledge. Though, it has been generally acknowledged that we now live in a knowledge society, it is however lamentable that this same society appears to be totally bankrupt of ethical and moral values. For Nigeria, it has been suggested that one of the missing elements in its over forty years of existence is the absence of leaders with the requisite weapons of knowledge and character (Anya, 2002: 22). On the university system in particular, the crisis of values appears to be the most prominent malaise assaulting the essence of education in the country. It is believed that the situation has degenerated to a point where virtually every cherished principle and ideal of the university system has been violated or eroded (Ujomu, 2002: 58). Indeed, a recent World Bank study carried out in collaboration with the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), and widely reported in the Nigerian press noted the factors responsible for Nigeria's educational crisis as including – inadequate funding, insufficient and irrelevant learning materials such as outdated equipment and anachronistic journals, poorly trained and paid teachers, outmoded managerial structures, arbitrary expansion of enrolment leading to oversupply of graduates and irrelevant curriculum (Obi and Agbu, 2002:46). The point here, is to recognize that the erosion of values in our universities should not be addressed in isolation, but in tandem with the general decline in university development in the country. Therefore, in examining the issue of ethics and leadership in Nigerian universities, there is the need to factor in the political economy of the environment within which the Universities are expected to operate. We need to interrogate and understand the social and security environments which have turned the university into what it is currently. However, this is not to say that all hope is lost. In the example from the University of Lagos, the study sought basically to determine whether ‘ principled ‘ and ‘positive' leadership at a community level could significantly contribute to good leadership in terms of transformatory impact at the national level overtime. Drawing from the findings of this study, this article argues that it is possible for transformatory leadership that is based on proper ethical conduct to positively influence students engaged in official interaction with members of the academic staff. This assumption if proven, has the propensity of being translated to the wider Nigerian society. A conceptual overview of ethics and leadership What do we really mean by ethics on the one hand and leadership on the other as these relate to each other, and as they manifest in a particular social context. Indeed, an examination of a particular social structure can show how certain kinds of behaviour will be expected of individuals, and certain possibilities will be foreclosed because of the features in the social situation. As observed by Sills (1968:160), to study the nature of ethical systems for example, in relation to the social structures in which they are embedded may help us understand why certain actions are thought of as right or wrong in particular societies. Ethics as a concept is basically concerned with standareds of conduct among people in social groups. Hence, ethical values are those norms which are based on sound reason. They refer to the basic human feelings and sense of right and wrong. They lead to the recognition of certain fundamental principles of morality, which are common to all human beings by the very nature that they are humans (Onaiyekan, 1999:15). In effect, these ethical norms of human relationship do not depend on culture, race or creed, but simply because they are rational norms that regulate human relationships. This is why it is a great insult when some people give the impression that general norms of decent behaviour do not apply to them. Whilst the ethical gives an intelligent basis for our actions, the moral and spiritual gives it a divine confirmation and validity. The ethical and spiritual indeed are not contradictory but are mutually reinforcing in protecting and promoting decent norms and values of human existence. Ethics can also be conceived of as the science of morality or the science of examining the nature of moral values, while moral values refer to those things in human character, conduct and social relations which could be judged as good or bad, right or wrong and so on (Uzuegbunam, 1989). On the other hand, values are standards which guide one's behaviour toward the attainment of one's desired goals (Rokeach, 1973). Values make us desire to have or to do something and thus influence our choice of what is worthwhile. Indeed, it is the view of experts that the transmission of values that are desirable to society is the primary objective of education (Peters, 1972). This view highlights the importance that should be given to issues of values and indeed, morals in our educational system. Ethics and morals are therefore two positive social phenomena that should be kept on the front burner, and debated vigorously, failing which a society gradually decays. Suffice it to say that one cannot really understand the basis of ethical practices or moral values in a society like Nigeria, unless one is able to understand the level of social organisation or development of that society. The structure of economic production, distribution and exchange also go a long way in determining the level or types of ethical practices that exist in the society. In otherwords, the mode of production and consumption patterns, in addition to lingering traditional practices all combine in either evolving a morally sound society or the rapid degeneration of existing values. To what extent ethical misconduct and moral decay in the Nigerian society is a function of the economic system, is left to every one's imagination. Closely related to the issue of ethics, is the notion of leadership in our universities. Again, it has been variously recognized that leadership is the most crucial factor in the development of any nation. Lamentably, Nigeria has been identified as facing a leadership crisis. In effect the erosion of ethical values and morals have combined with the attendant leadership crisis to form what may be regarded as a ‘crisis of state and society' in Nigeria. Leadership as a concept has varied perspectives and definitions. On the whole, it is extremely difficult to give a precise and agreed definition to leadership, because it appears to be a multifaceted phenomenon. However, in very simple terms it could be interpreted as ‘getting others to follow', or ‘getting people to do things', or understood more specifically as the ‘use of authority in decision making' (Mullins, 1999:253). While Krech et. al (1962), defined a leader as that individual within a group who outstandingly influences the activities of a group, Mullins (1999), understood it essentially as a relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people. However, a more logical conceptualization of leadership is possible when we realize that within a particular context, such as a university community, there exist different levels of leadership all contributing towards the stated goals of the university. Therefore, the nature, success or failure of university governance have very much to do with the personal attributes, leadership qualities and management styles of the various leaders within the different levels of responsibility in the system (Obikeze, 2003). Therefore, leadership should not be understood as a unifocal phenomenon, around which aspirations are aggregated, it is rather, a complex web of people working together within a social context. A crucial point to note is that leadership can be invested in persons, groups, networks and institutions. It is a relational process involving leaders and followers, who though form a continuum, still remain separate entities in their effort at attaining certain defined goals. It is therefore, necessary to be alert to the contradictions inherent in this relationship. Since no leader emerges or endures outside of an institutional framework, it is important to invest in institutions often defined in terms of principles, values and norms that give meaning to and provide the context for leader-follower engagement. Thus within the university environment, leadership should not be construed only in terms of those in certain positions of power or authority such as vice-chancellors, deans, professors, heads of department and heads of functional units such as the registry (Middlehurst, 1995:75). It is rather, to be understood as a function that is more broad-based and extending beyond the formal roles and responsibilities of senior post holders. Observations from the universities in Nigeria indicate that a restrictive view of university leadership may not be acceptable or suitable for the harmony, well being and progress of the institutions (Ujomu, 2002:57). Rather, what is more practicable is a genuine, viable and inclusive approach that offers a more effective and functional university leadership. It is only from this perspective that ethics and values can better be protected and promoted within the universities. The character of the Nigerian state However, we cannot really understand the origin, extent and manifestations of ethical misconduct and moral decadence in the Nigerian society, without first understanding the character of the Nigerian State. This is one political entity that has been assailed by political, social and economic problems of immense magnitude since it became politically independent in 1960. It has experienced military autocracy and generally bad governance, which have had serious negative impact on the entire society. Positive traditional and family values and norms have been eroded with grave implications for all. Since leadership and followership are part and parcel of the system, there is therefore the concomitant decay in expected performance, as evident in the universities. What has been a great cause for concern is the magnitude of the social malaise in the universities. A term that has appropriately depicted this malaise is what has generally been referred to as the ‘Nigerian Factor', which simply put, is the inability of Nigerians to do things properly the way they should be done, and transparently too. This phenomenon appears to be writ large on all aspects of Nigerian life, and basically leaves very little room for matters of ethical considerations and merit. On the whole, a rather false impression is given that the lack of ethics and morals in the Nigerian society is something peculiar to it. Indeed, what we have in our hands is a systemic problem that requires something akin to a social revolution to clean up. Added to this is the fact that the poor state of the economy makes it extremely difficult to preach ethics and morality to a people that not only feel cheated by the system, but also are indeed, hungry. Subsequently, corruption and a lack of accountability constitute two very prominent cankerworms eating away the Nigerian society. Indeed, the rampant corruption is precisely as a result of a lack of accountability in the system. Oftentimes, those who divert public funds to their own use escape the proverbial long arm of justice. This has given others the courage to attempt what has become a rather easy feat. A case therefore, has to be made for a closer attention by all to issues of ethics and values as these relate to leadership at both the political and non-political levels. This is because most key institutions of the Nigerian society have become victims of corruption and moral decay. Examining the problem of ethics and leadership in Nigerian universities is therefore, just an aspect of this systemic failure, and has serious implications for the social health of the country in the near and distant future. The State of the universities The universities like the other segments of the Nigerian society are undergoing immense changes in character and output. Unfortunately, most of these changes tend to be negative. This development is in sharp contrast to the important goal of inculcating the right moral standareds in the students. In fact, it is not that there is no stated policy on the inculcation of values in Nigeria's educational system. It does exist. In brief, these include the respect for the worth and dignity of individuals; faith in man's ability to make rational decisions; moral and spiritual values in inter-personal and human relations; shared responsibility for the common good of the society; respect for the dignity of labour; and the promotion of emotional, physical and psychological health for all (National Policy on Education, 1981). There is therefore, a policy provision for value education in Nigeria, and it is very clear that both education and values are closely related as positive social phenomena (Anameze, 2002:94). However, recent cases of all kinds of social decay within the universities indicate, that there is a missing element in the approach to education in the country. This is the ‘character' element, a very important component as oftentimes, it is the educated cadre, those who had received higher education that go on to form the relevant segment of national leadership (Agbu and Agbu, 2002:3). Generally, the problems identified with Nigerian universities which have some bearing on matters of ethics and leadership are legion, and include the sale of academic handouts by lecturers, and the selling of admissions and marks by staff of the universities (SSAN, 2000:32). Others include, scandals, bribery and graft, victimization, sexual harassment of female students, the proliferation of male and female cult gangs, persistent incidents of rape, female prostitution, obscene dressing and soliciting for favours, homosexuality and extortion, murder, intimidation of lecturers by students, rumour-mongering, examination malpractices and other anti-social activities (Ujomu, 2002:59). These unethical practices cut across all sections of the university community. At the universities in the southern part of the country, in particular the University of Lagos, a gamut of unethical practices abound. Kindly allow my use of colloquial language at this juncture. These unethical practices include the â€Å"inflation of marks† for students by some lecturers for financial gratification. Inflation of marks by lecturers for what is referred to as â€Å"perusing†, which simply means a student agreeing to have sex with the lecturer in exchange for favourable scores. At the Delta State University, the students practice what they refer to as â€Å"blocking†, which means quickly preventing a lecturer from giving you your correct scores which may be unfavourable by offering money or other inducements to the lecturer before the results are made public. Some other lecturers use agents to collect or extort money from students for the inflation of their marks. Others allow students to take the same examination in their offices, which they had earlier taken in the examination hall for unspecified favours. In some of the departments, as was the case at the Accountancy department of the university of Lagos, students engaged in what has been dubbed â€Å"mercenary activities†, by hiring other students to write examinations for them. Indeed, some lecturers go as far as giving blank writing sheets to students to prepare their answers in advance. Some of those supervising examinations look the other way while their friends, relations, and student clients blatantly engage in cheating. In addition, some lecturers unashamedly plead on behalf of students who had failed their courses. However, these litanies of vices are not limited only to the lecturers. Were the students not willing to bribe, cajole, tempt and threaten the lecturers, these vices will not have been possible. Though, difficult to prove, there have also been instances in which the students use â€Å"black magic† not only to confuse supervisors during examinations but also to threaten them. This is in addition to the occasional threats by student members of Secret cult groups against lecturers. Even the non-academic members of staff are not left out of this orgy of ethical misconduct. They also engage in the alteration of marks in the computer or score sheets where the total scores have been computed for either material or sexual gratification. In addition, they also connive with ‘mercenaries' in their clandestine campaigns of cheating during examinations. I have deliberately catalogued these unethical practices in our universities not only to document, but also to graphically bring to our consciousness the magnitude of the problem before us. Whilst these vices did not all manifest in one day, it is very worrisome that very little concrete measures have been devised to checkmate these vices. Let us recall that the pressure on existing universities to take in more students led to the serious problem of population explosion which put pressure both on university governance and existing infrastructure (Wohlgemuth, 1998:125). The situation invariably gave rise to corruption and sharp practices within the university system. Ethical considerations and cherished values of many years standing have now been seriously eroded. However, all hope is not lost in the sense that there are still individuals – non-academic staff members, lecturers and students who have over the years refused to be sucked in by this whirlwind of social decay, as indicated by the report of a study instituted at the university of Lagos in 2002 (Agbu and Agbu, 2002). Supervisor – Student Relations at the University of Lagos In the study carried out at the University of Lagos in 2002, the object was to determine whether ‘principled' and ‘positive' leadership at the community level could significantly translate into good leadership at the national level overtime (Agbu and Agbu, 2002). This was done through a questionnaire survey of final year and post-graduate students at the university. A basic assumption upon which we worked was that in spite of the rot in the university system, it was still possible that certain individuals, in this case, some lecturers, may have succeeded in impacting positive leadership values to the students they had supervised, mainly due to the fact of their being principled persons. By principled, we meant a leadership that is characterized by good conduct capable of positively influencing followers or those engaged in a relationship with the leader within a social context. In this case, the University. By positive, we meant behaviour or actions consisting in or characterized by the presence or possession, and not merely by the absence or want, of features or qualities of an affirmative nature. It is therefore, that leadership that is derived from principled leadership, and which is capable of being extrapolated to the wider society. Two hundred students participated in this survey selected through Stratified Sampling Technique made up of 100 final year and 100 post-graduate students from the faculties of Art, Social sciences, Education and Law. The mean age of the participants was 30 years. The questionnaire was designed to measure the perceptions of students in terms of their lecturers' leadership potentials and ability to influence their worldview. This was in the form of an Academic-Supervisors' evaluation scale, which comprised twenty items to which participants responded on a four-point-likert-type scale. For the Design, a 2x2x2 ANOVA design was employed with independent variables being sex, age and year of study, while the dependent variable are participants' reactions obtained with the instrument. The results from the study showed that while the proposition that supervisors do significantly influence their students over time irrespective of whether they were post-graduate student or final year student was positive, there were subtle differences in responses with respect to the other variables of age and sex. However, the post-graduate students probably because of their longer association with their supervisors and of their being more socially conscious than the final year students, exhibited more awareness of having been influenced by their supervisors. Age and sex were statistically weak as variables determining the kinds of responses, indicating that age and sex had little to do with the possibility of being influenced at a certain age. The implications of this study for the wider Nigerian society was that it is possible to identify individuals, indeed role models, in certain positions of authority who could positively influence those with whom they interact. Since Nigeria is in need of leaders that are not only learned and have character, what better place to groom these leaders than from our institutions of higher learning. Conclusion It is obvious that there are serious ethical issues to be addressed in Nigerian universities. However, it is not as if all hope is completely lost. On the whole, it appears that addressing the problem will have to be done at different levels of the wider society, namely family, institutional and national levels. At the national level for instance, is a recognition of the systemic nature of the crises and how this has a linkage with the state of Nigeria's economy, and the imperative for Nigerian elites to lead by example. At the institutional level, is the necessity for morally accountable university governance that is at the same time effective. Also, at the family and institutional levels is the need to encourage good family values and those individuals who had displayed the virtues of principled and positive leadership from which others could learn. For our universities, the teaching staff who constitute one of the most important inputs towards achieving qualitative education need to be better encouraged. A lecturer-student ratio of 1 to 19 as opposed to UNESCO standard of 1 lecturer to 10 students is unacceptable. With forty-three federal, state, and private universities; forty-five polytechnics and sixty colleges of education, it is logical that there is a need for an informed rationalization of our institutions, especially with respect to curriculum (Opatola, 2002: 201). Though it is recognized that the morale and motivation of academic staff are grossly inadequate, this does not necessarily justify the grave unethical practices perpetrated by some of the lecturers. The sale of handouts, sale of marks, admission racketeering and assorted examination malpractices are vices that need to be urgently addressed. Ideally, lecturers are supposed to act as focal points of reference for those things that are principled, honourable and worthy of imitation. What is required now in our universities is the transforming kind of leadership that embodies the characteristics of a focused innovativeness, high moral standards, and a humane and deep understanding of the environment in which they operate. The cardinal task of the university education should be the transmission of positive values to the young so that they may learn and acquire character necessary for a legitimate engagement with the wider society. This point need never be forgotten. Finally, every university should endeavour to delineate and present to its staff and students a code of conduct with sanctions as part of their induction into the particular institution. The moral dimensions of their jobs as academic or non-academic staff and as students should be clearly spelt out and popularized through frequent sensitization measures. This will go a long way not only in ensuring a modicum of ethical conduct, but also in attaining the goals of the university.

The News of the World Phone Hacking Scandal

The News of the World Phone Hacking Scandal from Business Ethics and CSR Point of View Date: 21 June 2012 Executive Summary The focus of the project you’re about to read is on the recently phone hacking scandal of famous UK News agency, – The News of The World. The report include a brief explanation of what has happened based on pre-selected online articles, analysis of the scandal from Business Ethics point of view by using various CSR theories discussed during the CSR course in period four and provides conclusion and recommendations on what could have been done.The research is built on identification of the moral problem identification, analysis of the scandal, optional actions which could have been taken to avoid the situation, evaluation of the scandal from business ethics perspective by using business ethics theories. To make sure that the scandal is analyzed realistically the report covers different stakeholder perspectives. Nonetheless, the report addresses one o f the most important scandals of the news industry and aims to handle the issues from Business Ethics and CSR point of view.Contents Introduction3 The News of the World and Phone hacking Scandal background4 1. What the dilemma is about5 2. Stakeholder Analysis6 2. 1. Who acted and who had to act? 6 2. 2. Stakeholder and their interests/actions7 2. 3. Moral values9 3. Theoretical analysis10 3. 2. Sustainability10 3. 3. Ethical Value Judgment11 3. 4. Virtue Ethics (Phone Hacking)12 3. 5. Utilitarianism: Consequentialist approach13 3. 6. Universalism: Deontological approach14 4. Conclusion and recommendations15 Bibliography16 IntroductionThe scandal analyzed within this report is one of the most discussed and complicated scandals the news world has ever faced. In order to be able to realistically present company and adequately evaluate this whistle blowing journalistic research which revealed the greatest journalistic scandal ever the following criterion were used: * Business Aspect of the scandal * Moral aspect of the issue and public reaction * Political aspect of the problem * Ethical theoretical relevancy * Social elements of the scandalAll the gathered data is analyzed according to the theoretical knowledge gained during the course. Company Mission Statement: †Our practice is the fearless advocacy of truth. [We] will seek for the patronage of no party †¦will conceal neither the merits nor the faults of any party, but†¦ will aim alone at doing good service to old England by maintaining her glory and security, the prosperity of all classes of the people. † (Hinton. (2011). After 168 years, what changed?. Available: http://hintonandco. com/tag/mission-statement/. Last accessed 14 June 2012. This in itself is a very powerful mission statement which was left as an inheritance from the company’s founding fathers. After 168 years they first have been in business, the staff were empowered by these powerful words. The culture that was ini tially â€Å"advocated for truth† was left to run uncontrolled even if it was for the cost of breaking the law. The News of the World and Phone hacking Scandal background For the first time being published in 1843 the News of the World was one of the most read Newspaper in the United Kingdom, until 2011.During the period of its publication it was the biggest selling English language newspaper not only in the UK but also globally. The company initially was established by John Browne Bell in 1843 and later was sold to Lascelles Carr in 1891 and last was bought by News Corporation in 1969. News of the World was the Sunday sister paper of The Sun. The newspaper main focus was on its specialty on celebrity-based scoops and populist news. Its â€Å"extraordinary† scandal news earned the company various names, including but not limited to famous News of the Screws and Screws of the World slogan. UK: BBC. (2011). News of the World to close amid hacking scandal. Available: www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-14070733. Last accessed 14 June 2012. ) The company was famous for exposing celebrities as drug users, sexual peccadilloes, or criminals, setting up insiders and journalists in disguise to provide either video or photographic evidence, and phone hacking which became obvious in 2011. With its paparazzi style and delivering personalized news, the paper was selling over 2 million copies on weekly basis up until 2010.Though the phone hacking allegations started back in 2006, accusations reached to its top level on the 4th of July 2011, when it was revealed that the newspaper staff had intercepted and deleted the voicemail of missing British teenager Milly Dowler, who was later found murdered. As a result of the intense allegations News International announced the closure of the newspaper on July the 7th 2011. However the scandal did not just end there by closing the company, it got deepened as the investigations got intensive.The most horrible news was that the comp any had hacked the phones of the British service personnel killed in action, their families, people who died during 9/11 and their families. However ethical dilemmas do not just end by the phone hacking scandal, but also secondary dilemma starts with the speech of the owner of the News Corp. Richard Murdoch’s announcement on February the 17th 2012 in London that they were soon to launch a Sunday edition of The Sun as a successor to the News of the World and they were planning to employ a number of former News of the World journalists. . What the dilemma is about When the investigations initially started in 2005 it was concluded that the company’s phone hackings were only limited to celebrities, politicians and a few members of the British Royal Family. However when it was revealed in July 2011, that the phones of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s , relatives of deceased military members, victims of the 7/7 London bombings and some of the 9/11 victims were a lso accessed. As a result of those unethical actions a public outcry against News Corporation and owner Rupert Murdoch culminated. (UK: BBC. 2011). News of the World to close amid hacking scandal. Available: www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-14070733. Last accessed 14 June 2012. ) Even though the public relatively calmed down after the company was closed, the anti-Murdoch and anti-News Corp. protests culminated once again after the owner of the company announced that they are planning to start a new newspaper agency by hiring the same staff under different name. 1. Stakeholder Analysis 2. 1. Who acted and who had to act? Phone hacking scandal covered multi level stakeholders. The following were the major stakeholders:In this case the main responsible stakeholders were the News Corp Management, Richard Murdoch; – the owner of the company and the British Government/monitoring institutions within the government. These stakeholders were legally responsible for making it sure that the news paper was operating within the legal borders. Once the company was suspected for its fraud activities the governmental institutions did their job by starting an investigation on the newspaper’s operations. However these institutions did fail to monitor the newspaper activities prior to the scandal.Both the News Corp. and the owner of the company, Richard Murdoch claimed not to be knowledgeable of those hacking activities, however they did apologize those harmed as a result of hacking activities and subsequently shut the company down. Meanwhile, the holding company did fail their promises when they announced about their plans of re-starting the newspaper’s successor under different name. 2. 2. Stakeholder and their interests/actions The stakeholders given in the stakeholder map can be divided into two: * Internal * ExternalThe following could be classified as internal stakeholders: 1. The News of the World: It was in the newspapers objective to deliver interesting news at on weekly basis. The company was profit oriented and would do almost everything to achieve its targets. They also had the campaign to expose pedophiles rings rather hollow. That was a dangerous path to go on: we could imagine them asking the question, ‘Will this sell us lots of copies? ’, and if the answer is ‘Yes’, they would do it, no matter if it’s illegal, immoral or indefensible.The culture that was initially â€Å"advocated for truth† was left to run uncontrolled even if it was for the cost of breaking the law. 2. The NotW management: The management had the responsibility to make strategic decisions to run the company profitably. It was in their interest to give the staff as much independence as possible to bring the most sensational news in the news industry. However it was also their responsibility to make sure that the staff’s actions were within the legal boundaries. 3. The staff/journalists: The employees’ main duti es were delivering the news that no other paper delivered.However it was morally their responsibility to act responsibly. 4. Richard Murdoch: It was in his focus that the company was profitable. It was also him as primary responsible person when the company was subject to investigations. He was the one apologizing in public on behalf of the newspaper, which created a good image of the company in short term. However, his announcement about new company being launched again put the News Corp. as holding company in the frontline subject to criticisms. 5. The NOTW shareholders: This group of the stakeholders was the people who invested in the NOTW.It was in their interest that the company was profitable and was running that way continuously. It was definitely out of their focus that the company was engaged such harmful activities. The external stakeholders: 1. The UK government/regulatory institutions: It was government’s/regulatory institutions duty to check the activities of the newspaper and act upon necessity. 2. David Cameroon: The prime minister was criticized for his former director of communications Andy Coulson was an ex-editor of News of the World at the time much of the phone hacking occurred. (Luke Buckmaster and Amber Jamieson. 2011). ‘Hacked to death’: Murdoch kills NotW. Available: http://www. crikey. com. au/2011/07/08/the-latest-24-hours-of-the-NotW-phone-hacking-scandal/. Last accessed 14 June 2012. ) 3. Victims: The victims who were alive or the relatives of the victims were interested in NotW management’s apalogizes. 4. New industry: The industry got harmed by one representative’s action, and the eyes turned towards other news agencies asking one question â€Å"Are they also using same or similar method? † 5. The community: The majority was interested in NotW to apologize and even shut down.However there were small group of people who could potentially be against these and these people were majorly the No tW employees or their relatives. In addition, the community was the main reason why the company did those actions as the demand was very high for such news. The dilemma in the case which makes the stakeholder interests collide: * The NotW company interests for higher profitability * The NotW management objective to bring news at any cost * Possible corruption within the government * High level of public demand for scandal newsSumming it up, there are over 10 major stakeholders being divided into two parts, internal and external stakeholders. However the most interesting part is that some of the stakeholders have mixed interests. For instance, the government who used the information provided by the newspaper, used and sought more news without checking the source of the news and later on accusing the NotW for fraud. In addition, the community who which was the main drive for the hacking due to the demand also had mixed interest levels. 2. 3. Moral values The question â€Å"What is Mo ral† in itself is debatable.However one can accept that moral values are values shared by the majority. If there would not have been any value in common in the community, it would be impossible or extremely hard to decide on what is moral. In fact, one can see that some values are shared with higher acceptance late than others. The phone hacking scandal covers various moral values’ elements: * Responsibility * Accountability * Cooperation * Honesty * Commitment * Integrity * Equality The actions taken by all the stakeholders must meet at least one of the above given elements in order to be considered moral. 2. Theoretical analysis . 1. Carroll’s Pyramid Based on Carroll’s pyramid a company has four levels of responsibility which are Economic, Legal, Ethical and Philanthropic responsibilities. Analyzing the NotW’s overall operational structure we can conclude that their major focus was on Economic responsibility, making more profit in shortest time p ossible. Their mission statement did touch Legal and Ethical responsibilities as well, however it was not very much clear what their major Ethical responsibilities were. They tried to create ethically responsible image of the company by donating money and hosting charity events.However this in itself was not enough. One can conclude that NotW was settled at the base line of the Carroll’s pyramid. 3. 4. Sustainability Evaluating the NotW from sustainability curves point of view one can spot the target of the management. 1- Ethical Responsibility: The company website and their PR representatives always mentioned that their mission is to bring reliable and honest news. While they were often giving large money donations for good cause. However for the concept of the Phone Hacking Scandal, we can say that one action overcame all the â€Å"Ethical† actions of the company. – Economic Responsibility: This was the main responsibility of the company as they were the large st selling English Language newspaper of the world. 3- Legal Responsibility: The company and the staff were held legally responsible for their actions however the management did not act legally responsible prior to the scandal outbreak. Summing it up we can conclude that the company did not meet all the sustainability elements and lacked sound CSR policy. 3. 5. Ethical Value Judgment We inherit ethical standards suiting our community the most.As people, the companies are as well judged upon firm views about right and wrong. Some of those ethical views are so strong that, shaking them will shake the whole fundamentals. Reliability and trust are those of major elements in these ethical standards that any news company would be judged upon. Looking at the NotW, we can confirm that, the company not only ignored the prevailing norms of the industry but also shook the fundaments of the ethical expectations from a news agency. (James Griffin (2006). Value Judgment Improving Our Ethical Beli eves. 2nd ed.New York, the USA: Oxford University Press. p 60- 98. ) However finally the management took the right psychological decision by stopping the company operations. NotW NotW Phone Hacking Scandal Prevailing norms of News industry Value judgments and perceptions of the audiance ETHICAL? 3. 6. Virtue Ethics (Phone Hacking) â€Å"Virtue ethics† is shortly the development of a person or a company into an ethically responsible one to lead ethical and responsible life/operations. To achieve that level it is important to develop responsible character traits which are called virtues.In Phone Hacking Scandal both the government and the management had to determine specific virtues and play the role of Virtue Ethics Agent. Based on virtue ethics, to determine whether an action is morally acceptable, the action must be chosen responsibly making the virtue equal to responsibility. In most of the case the agent must choose the virtue on the victim and help them. We could see that the British Government acted virtuously and increased the investigation on the hacking scandal, which eventually lead to the end of the NotW.This is mostly due to the fact that NotW as a company lacked major news agency virtues which are being trustworthy, reliable, and honest and one can conclude that the government played an important virtue agent role. 3. 7. Utilitarianism: Consequentialist approach According to the consequentialists it is morally right to do anything if it results in the greatest amount of good for the greatest amount of people. However the main issue becomes the consequence of the theory which would allow any action to take place under the name of a good cause. Even actions hat would be considered as â€Å"morally wrong† can be accepted within this theory. However according to the utilitarianism, the NotW has created more harm in the community than benefit by hacking people’s private voice mails and, for this reason they are considered to be guil ty for taking morally wrong actions. Looking at from different perspective, if the scandal was not found out, and people enjoyed reading the hacked news, one could say that as long as nobody finds it out, everybody is happy, the consequence is good. Happy & satisfied customer, revenue generating company, taxes received at the government, positive consequence.Once again it is confirmed that this theory can not clearly formulate satisfactory rules for decision making and can easily breach justice/legislation. For the above given reason, one could conclude that the Utilitarianism is not the best way of assessing an action by means of morality. 3. 8. Universalism: Deontological approach Kant's deontological ethics theory is based on Deon – duty. If the scandal is approached from Kant's categorical imperative principle point of view, we can conclude that it is the duty of any News Agency to deliver the news to its customers within the given standards without violating the otherâ⠂¬â„¢s private lives.Since this theory is built on the actions that lead to the outcome, then we can conclude that it was not only the NotW but also the regulatory institutions who acted immoral by not monitoring the NotW properly and providing the ground for the company to take such actions. 3. Conclusion and recommendations Failing almost every Ethical Theory, not having sound CSR system, being majorly financials’ oriented firm, the News of the World’s Phone Hacking activities were completely against not only the British Business ethical standards but also the international ethical standards.The NotW management had various mistakes, including but not limited to giving power to their staff without monitoring them on according to the standards. Which consequently lead for the largest scandal of the news industry. However, the management did take the right step by announcing the NotW closed which created a caring image in the community, and saved the holding News Corp. company. Meanwhile, Mr. Murdoch’s announcement of News Corp. launching a new successor of the NotW created more aggression within the public. The following would be final recommendations for the News Corp. s the NotW is no longer exists: 1- Give your staff power, but do not let the aggression take their power over 2- Corporate Social Responsibility is not donations, but acting. After such incident, the management should start different volunteer activities not only in the UK but also the other parts of the globe. 3- Define a sound CSR policy covering both your internal and external activities 4- Add learning objectives which you have acquired and which you are missing from your mal-management to your website to let your customers understand that you are aware of your mistake and have learnt from it. – Do not hide your history 6- Engage with your customers via different tools, including but not limited to Social Media means and ask for their opinions where they would li ke to see you as a company. 7- Make sure that you have decent reporting system set, and are on track of every single development within the company. Realizing the above given recommendations, the News Corp. will slowly, however soundly be restoring the customer confidence and rise back to their previous levels once again. Bibliography * http://www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-14070733 * http://www. crikey. com. u/2011/07/08/the-latest-24-hours-of-the-NotW-phone-hacking-scandal/. * http://www. csrquest. net/default. aspx? articleID=12770&heading= * http://www. ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/corporate-social-responsibility/reporting-disclosure/swedish-presidency/files/media-csr/corporate_responsibilty_and_the_media,_david_grayson_en. pdf * http://www. goodcorporation. com/documents/Corporatesocialresponsibilitymorethanaluxury. pdf * http://www. guardian. co. uk/news/blog/2011/jul/11/news-world-hacking-scandal-live * http://www. guardian. co. uk/sustainable-business/bl og/csr-now-hacking-scandal *