The Victorian Law Reform Commission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Victorian Law Reform Commission - Essay Example Under the present law factors that reduce a person's blameworthiness for an intentional killing may be taken into account in one of three ways. In some situations where people intentionally kill another person they may be charged with and convicted of an offence which attracts a lower sentence than murder (for example, manslaughter). In this case they will not be 'labelled' as a 'murderer'. In other situations they may not be guilty of any offence (as where they killed in self-defence) or they may be convicted of the lesser offence of manslaughter because they have a partial defence (as where they successfully argue they killed as the result of provocation). However, different legal systems take account of levels of blameworthiness in different ways. When law reform bodies have reviewed defences and partial defences to homicide, they have frequently reached different conclusions on how factors which affect the culpability of the accused should be taken into account by the criminal law. ... This allowed the courts to take into account certain human frailties. One such frailty involved the idea that the accused had been provoked into committing the act, because the victim had said or done something that caused the offender to loose control--as was deemed to be the case in the instance of a "chance medley." For the provocation defence to be invoked, the nature of the provocation had to fall into one of four categories: (1) grossly insulting assault; (2) attack upon a relative or a friend; (3) unlawful imprisonment or restraint of an Englishman; or (4) a man coming upon his wife engaged in adultery. In order to benefit from the defence, the accused had to prove that, during his response to the provocation, he was sufficiently deprived of self-control and had acted without malice. Historically, the criminal law system has justified and condoned male violence against women. It allowed a man to use "reasonable" force to ensure the respect and obedience of his spouse; it immunized husbands from prosecution for rape of their wives; it did not sanction the rape of "bad girls;" and it ignored most forms of child abuse. Our law did not even recognize the existence of sexual harassment until the mid-eighties, and the use of professional and religious power to sexually exploit subordinates has only recently been acknowledged and condemned by our justice system. More specifically, special evidentiary and substantive rules were developed for cases of wife-assault. Indeed, a woman cannot be compelled to testify against her husband, even in a case where he is accused of assault against her. This principle of "marital unity" historically "privatized" her complaint and forced her to bear the

Human Development Paradigm and Human Happiness Paradigm

Human Development Paradigm and Human Happiness Paradigm ANALYZING THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM AND THE HUMAN HAPPINESS PARADIGM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CONCEPT OF INDIVISIBILITY OF HUMAN RIGHTS INTRODUCTION The term development is determined in different aspects. One could say that rich countries having high financial capabilities are developed whereas another would say that a country with social values is developed whereas Recent United Nations documents emphasize â€Å"human development,† measured by life expectancy, adult literacy, access to all three levels of education, as well as people’s average income, which is a necessary condition of their freedom of choice. (Worldbank, 2004) With advances in development presently development is not only economic development it should be development of social factors, environmental factors, human development and economic factors. The World Bank report further expands to refer to sustainable development and the relationship of equity to sustainable development. â€Å"Sustainable† development could probably be otherwise called â€Å"equitable and balanced,† meaning that, in order for development to continue indefinite ly, it should balance the interests of different groups of people, within the same generation and among generations, and do so simultaneously in three major interrelated areas–economic, social, and environmental. So sustainable development is about equity, defined as equality of opportunities for well-being, as well as about comprehensiveness of objectives. (Worldbank, 2004) According to the reports definition sustainability covers every aspect including human rights. But the issue arises where human rights are neglected in the development process because sustainable development is a new term which is not much practiced. Human rights development paradigm and Human happiness development will be discussed in depth separately. Looking further to what human rights are, Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible. (Rights, 1996-2015) Human rights have the qualities of universal and Inalienable, interdependent and indivisible, equal and non-discriminatory, and they are both rights and obligations. When considering human rights it clearly shows that human rights are indivisible. Whether they relate to civil, cultural, economic, political or social issues, human rights are inherent to the dignity of every human person. Consequently, all human rights have equal status, and cannot be positioned in a hierarchical order. Denial of one right invariably impedes enjoyment of other rights. Thus, the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living cannot be compromised at the expense of other rights, such as the right to health or the right to education. (UNFPA, 2005) Next will consider the human development paradigm and the human happiness paradigm in the light of indivisibility. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM When considering the human development it mostly consider the aspect of economic development keeping other development factors ranked lower. The question arises whether human development should be mainly backed up by economic development. With the recent concept of sustainable development other aspects of human development should be given a similar rank but does this happen in reality and is sustainable development so widely grown among the world population. Amartya Sen comes up with the capabilities approach to answer the following complication in the development process. We would say before Amartya Sen’s capability approach it was a basic needs approach but Amartya Sen has come forward with the capabilities approach in order to achieve the human rights of people. The people’s freedom should be provided and they should be given space and access to opportunities. The concept of a capability has a global as well as local character such that its definition abstracts from particular circumstances, but its realization depends on specific local requirements. For example, the same skill can be compared for different people although it may require different amounts and kinds of food depending on one’s age, state of health, and so on. This makes the Capability Approach applicable across political, economic, and cultural borders. For example, Sen points out that being relatively income poor in a wealthy society can require ab solute povertyin some important capabilities, because they may require more resources to achieve. For example, a richer society may require more years of education for better employment. Many capabilities will have fundamental requirements that vary strongly with social circumstances. For example, a capability that people might generally be said to have reason to value such as the ‘ability to appear in public without shame’, but its requirements vary significantly according to cultural norms from society to society and for different groups within each society (such as by gender, class, and ethnicity). For example, Presently in Saudi Arabia, women must have the corporation of a close male relative to appear in public, and require a private car and a chauffeur to move between private spaces (Saudi Arabian women are not allowed to use public transport or drive a car themselves). The Capability Approach leaves open whether such ‘expensive’ capabilities, if well thought-out significant enough to be assured by society as a matter of justice, should be met by making more resources available to those who need them (chauffeurs and subsidized cars), or by reviewing the relevant social norms. The Capability Approach only identifies such capability failures and identifies their causes. However, if there is general agreement that such capabilities should be in the same way assured for all, there is a clear basis for disapproving undoubtedly unfair social norms as the source of relative denial and thus as inconsistent with the spirit of such a assurance. The capability approach takes a multi-dimensional approach to assessment, thus it is more sustainable and provides space for human rights. Time and again it may seem that people are generally well-to-do, yet a closer study reveals shortfalls in particular capabilities, for example, the sporting icon who can’t read. Capability analysis discards the belief that unusual attainment in some dimensions pay off for gaps in others. The capability approach’s relevance here is to argue that if people are falling short on a particular capability that has been collectively agreed to be a significant one, then justice would require addressing the shortfall itself if at all possible, rather than offering compensation in some other form, such as increased income. Capability assessment is informational demanding and its precision is narrow by the level of arrangement about which performances are appreciated. However, Sen has presented that even where only basic assessment of quite basic capabilities is possible (for example, life-expectancy or literacy outcomes), this can still provide more, and more relevant, action-guiding information than the normal changes. In particular, by making perspicuous contrasts between successes and failures the capability approach can direct political and public attention to neglected dimensions of human well-being. For example, countries with similar levels of wealth can have dramatically different levels of collective achievement and inequality on such non-controversially important dimensions as longevity and literacy. And,vice versa, countries with very small economies can sometimes score as highly on these dimensions as the richest. This demonstrates both the limitations of relying exclusively on economic m etrics for evaluating development, and the fact that national wealth does not pose a rigid constraint on such achievements (that GNP is not destiny). (Wells, n.d.) Amartya Sen’s capability approach has some draw backs such as information gaps and It contains only three dimensions – longevity, literateness (average years of schooling), and Gross National Income per capita – which are weighted equally. The Capability Approach is supposed to be concerned in evaluating how people charge on many magnitudes of life including some which seem very difficult to obtain information about, such as people’s real choice sets or such complex competences as the capacity to appear in public without shame or to form relationships with others. Human development paradigm shows well the concept of indivisibility in human rights. All rights should be given equal importance and it depends upon cultures norms and countries of different countries, there cannot exist tradeoffs for example a country having high economy does not mean that law literacy rates could be acceptable. Equal importance should be given to all human rights and human rights are always interrelated such that neglecting one human right would lead to a decline in the development of a country. HUMAN HAPINESS PARADIIGM Human happiness is considered as a new aspect of development and also it concerns with the human rights. People would be happy if there human rights are fulfilled, therefore happiness seem to have a direct relationship with human rights. The human happiness could be fulfilled when all the needs are fulfilled rather than only the wants. With the more accurate focus on actual needs, the human happiness paradigm is able to identify the devices that can help protect Mother Nature, achieve unbiased and sustainable socio-economic development, promote culture, and ensure good governance. To achieve these goals the policies must draw on existing natural, human, social and economic resources, which then have to be managed sustainably and responsibly to ensure this wealth remains available for used by future generations. Societal wellbeing as the desired outcome of these structures and policies. That certain skills and processes are also needed to transform these wellbeing outcomes to the higher goal of human happiness which will enhance satisfaction of the needs identified as the basis of development. (Bhutan, 2013) Human happiness considers wants and needs and these are also components of the human rights. In my opinion if human rights are fulfilled most people would be happy, therefore human rights are indivisible. In conclusion the human development paradigm and the human happiness paradigm are two paradigms which go in line with the human rights. When we talk about human rights as discussed above human rights are indivisible they are interrelated and if one human right is given less importance and if it is violated with the opinion it would not affect development that would give an adverse impact on the development process. Human happiness paradigm is a new aspect of the human development paradigm and it is also an improvement to move towards sustainable development in the development process. Therefore, I would conclude that the new human happiness paradigm which is and addition to the human development paradigm along with the indivisibility of human rights would support sustainable development to reach higher and make the sustainably developed rather than economically developed. Bibliography Bhutan, R. G. o., 2013. HAPPINESS: TOWARDS A NEW DEVELOPMENT PARADIGM, s.l.: s.n. Rights, O. o. t. H. C. f. H., 1996-2015. United Nations Human Rights. [Online] Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/WhatareHumanRights.aspx [Accessed 26 06 2015]. UNFPA, 2005. United Nations Population Fund. [Online] Available at: http://www.unfpa.org/resources/human-rights-principles [Accessed 26 06 2015]. Wells, T., n.d. Internet Encylopedia of Philosophy. [Online] Available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/sen-cap/ [Accessed 15 06 2015]. Worldbank, 2004. What is Development , s.l.: s.n.

Nietzsche : God Is Dead Essay -- Philosophy Atheist Atheism Friedrich

The Question: State your understanding of the philosophy of F. Nietzsche. What does he mean by saying "God is Dead"?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nietzsche's philosophy is that of a radical view as it calls for the complete reevaluation of morals and blatantly attacks the Judeo-Christian tradition in modern society. He believed one should dare to become who they are. In order to ascertain one's full potential as a human being, the ethic system of which by society runs, must be changed as it only hampers one's will to power.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Nietzsche, philosophy is not the pursuit of truth, for there are no truths, only interpretations, instead it is an attempt on the creator's behalf to interpret reality in their favor. To illustrate this point he examines master morality as opposed to slave morality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Master morality simply defined is a system of what is good and what is evil, set up by and based on those who have power. So it is not surprising that it would regard the attributes of a noble to be inherently good and those of a weaker peasant to be evil or, rather, undesirable. Since it is the rich and powerful who define this morality, it is built to their benefit.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Contrary to master morality, there is slave morality and likewise it is built with the same biases only differing as it leans to benefit the poor. This system of ethics overturned that of the master, by twisting all virtues hailed as good by noble aristocrats, into evils, slowly over the course of time. Then goodnes...

Inflation and Unemployment

Macroeconomics help Name: Institution: Inflation is the rise in general prices of goods and services over a specific period of time. Unemployment is a state where people are able and willing to work at the ongoing market prices of labor but they are unable to secure a Job. According to the Phillips curve, there is a consistent relationship between inflation and unemployment (Nevi, J. W. 1981, peg 3). When the rate of unemployment is low, the level of inflation is high and when the level of employment is high, inflation level is low.Since majority of the Americans regard inflation to be a bigger threat than unemployment, they will ether stay unemployed but to let the value of a dollar stabilize. Therefore they will rather be employed during stable prices than rising prices. The Americans favor unemployment to inflation. When 10% of the workers are laid off, it will imply that unemployment will increase and an Increase in unemployment Implies a decrease In inflation. If the wages are r educed by 5%, it will mean that even more worker can be employed due to the reduction of labor cost.This will lead to an Increase In employment thus the level of unemployment will go down. A decrease In unemployment leads to an increase In level of inflation. Therefore they will rather go for 10% of workers being laid off than a 5% cut In their wages. They will vote for 10% workers being laid off. Their knowledge of who will be laid off won't affect their decision in voting because they are all against Inflation. They will rather not work than work for a wage with low purchasing power. Therefore they are after their purchasing power than Just a Job.Fiscal policy Is an attempt to manipulate government expenditure and taxation so as to affect aggregate demand and aggregate supply to achieve full employment and price stability. Monetary policy Is a policy that affects money growth (Landing, F. K. 2009, peg 34). Therefore when the government uses monetary policy, the money supply will I ncrease. The government will cut taxes to treat the deficit. When the Fed will prevent growth In reserves, It Implies that the borrowing will be constant thus no preventions on borrowing from commercial banks.This will result to an Increase In money supply as the government too Is borrowing. According to the ELM curve, when the two polices are used, at the point where the Interest rate Is low, monetary policy has no power. When fiscal policy Is used, Increase In supply of money has no effect on the Interest rate. Therefore when the IS-ELM equilibrium Is low, fiscal policy Is the suitable policy to use. When the Fed Increase the supply of alienable funds through and expansion of commercial banks, the supply of money will Increase at the same ongoing Interest rate.The Fed will not succeed to prevent the Interest rates from rising. Interest rate Is assumed to be flexible according to the classical economists. This Implies that the Interest rate will rise In order to attain the previous equilibrium. Therefore a lower Interest rate trap as advocated by the Keynesian economist is where inflation will be set. When he economic resources are idle, the output is always low. The reason the government will borrow will be to stimulate the economy. Inflation and Unemployment INTRODUCTIONInflation seems to be a chronic problem in many parts of the world today and unemployment, a phenomenon, true for Pakistan, and valid for United States and other western economies. Even the fastest growing Chinese economy is not totally immune to it. Thus this research project deals with the analysis of unemployment and inflation in Pakistan. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationship that exists between these two macroeconomic variables, which affect every nation as well as an individual.The Phillips curve shows a historical inverse relation between the rate of unemployment and the rate of inflation in an economy. It is the trade-off between inflation and unemployment (Mankiw, 2002). The lower the unemployment in an economy, the higher the rate of change in wages paid to labor in that economy.LITERATURE REVIEWThe relationship between unemployment and inflation the two macroeconomic variables is usually summarized by the Phillips curve. Different studies have been conducted related to these variables in order to see whether any relationship between these two macroeconomic variables exists or not. While analyzing the trade-off between inflation and unemployment in Asia, (Dua 1996), takes inflation as the function of expected inflation, unemployment gap/ output gap, exchange rate, import inflation and oil price inflation. In India and Philippines the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment does not exist, whereas, in Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong it does. (Rafael, MacCulloch, & Oswald 2000), on the other hand, suggest that welfare  and life satisfaction level is a function of inflation and unemployment and people are happier when rates of both are low.However unemployment in comparison with inflation depresses people more than inflation. Thus while controlling country fixed-effects, year effects, and time trends, it is estimated that people will trade 1% increase in unemployment for 1.7% increase in inflation. A strong positive relation between unemployment rate and inflation rate lagged one or two years is also shown, which is inconsistent with both Philips curve and NAIRU. In other words the trade-off between inflation and unemployment rate does not exist, except in the same year, and in the long run unemployment is a positive function with inflation (Niskanen 2002). Namibia, using the time series data from 1991-2005, exhibits the presence of stagflation in its economy.In other words he found increase in both inflation and unemployment at the same time, which contradicts the traditional short-run Philips curve (Ogbokor 2005). (Furuoka 2007) using the data of Malaysia from 1975-2004 shows and existence of co-integrated as well as casual relationship between inflation and unemployment. That is the study provides an empirical evidence to support the Philips curve.Likewise, Philips curve also exists in Japan, with negative coefficients of linear link between inflation and unemployment. Also there is a generalized linear and lagged relationship between labor force, unemployment and inflation in Japan, which is confirmed by the fact that the driving force behind unemployment and inflation is the change rate of labor force level (Kitov 2007). In this paper, a Philips curve with linear link will be calculated for Pakistan to see if the negative relationship between the variables exists or not.Problem Statement: What is the likely relationship between inflation and unemployment in Pakistan? Hypothesis: If unemployment increases, then inflation decreases.Data Source: Secondary data for the purpose of this research has been obtained from the year 2000-2011. The data on unemployment rate (percentage of total labor force) and inflation rate (general not adjusted for food and energy) for Pakistan, has been taken from the Economic Survey of Pakistan.ObjectiveThe objective of this research is to determine the relationship between inflation and unemployment for the economy of Pakistan. Phi lips curve is based on the equation where unemployment is the function of inflation.METHODOLOGYHere, a regression is run for inflation rate and unemployment rate for Pakistan. The functional form of the model which is as follows: Y = ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ¿ + ÃŽ ²1X1 + ЄSubstituting the above inflation function in the equation INFt = ÃŽ ²ÃŽ ¿ + ÃŽ ²1Ut + Єt Where U is the unemployment rate and INF is inflation rate for a given time â€Å"t†. The Equation obtained after running the OLS model is: INFt = 30.96981 – 3.306067 UtDependent Variable: INFMethod: Least SquaresDate: 08/01/13 Time: 21:49Sample: 1 12Included observations: 12Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob.C 30.96981 6.078158 5.095263 0.0005 U -3.306067 0.882942 -3.744377 0.0038R-squared 0.583686 Mean dependent var 8.549167 Adjusted R-squared 0.542055 S.D. dependent var 5.344512 S.E. of regression 3.616718 Akaike info criterion 5.560023 Sum squared resid 130.8065 Schwarz criterion 5.640841 Log likelihood - 31.36014 Hannan-Quinn criter. 5.530101 F-statistic 14.02036 Durbin-Watson stat 2.038825 Prob(F-statistic) 0.003819While interpreting the regression line, the negative sign with the coefficient of unemployment shows that in Pakistan Inflation and unemployment are inversely related at â€Å"t† period. One percent increase in unemployment in one year will bring a decrease in inflation of 3.306067 percent. Unemployment in this simple regression model is statistically significant as the probability of t-stats is less than 0.05 and so we reject H0. The intercepted value 30.96981 of B0 shows the inflation rate when unemployment is zero. The R2 for this model, which lies between 0 and 1, comes out to be 0.583686 which shows that 58.36 percent of the variation in inflation is explained by unemployment.The adjusted R2 statistics comes out to be 0.542055. The Durbin-Watson d statistics test, which is done for autocorrelation, is 2.038825 for Pakistan, showing that there is no auto or se rial correlation. As this is simple regression model multicollinearity is not present. As the probability of F-stat is less than 0.05 we will reject H0 which means that the model is overall statistically significant. The Scatter Plot for Inflation and Unemployment somehow depicts the same relationship as above.CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONThis study is conducted in order to make an analysis of inflation and unemployment in Pakistan from year 2000-2010. It has employed a simple regression analysis technique. The main conclusion derived from this study is that the tradeoff between these two variables, the Philips Curve, is observed in Pakistan. When unemployment is high, the cost of goods will increase during an inflationary period, but firms will be able to hire cheap labor, as labor will be in surplus.Wages will not rise while unemployment remains high. Workers will have to borrow money or reduce the amount of goods they purchase. If workers cannot get loans, firms will have to lower prices to continue to sell products, thus reducing inflation. This study makes the following recommendation in the light of its analysis. Easy fiscal policy can be used to decrease unemployment at the expense of inflation, as mild inflation is desirable in every economy. However in Pakistan the inflation rate is much higher than the unemployment rate. Thus Pakistan has to focus more on policies which lead to reduction in inflation but the  Government should also control unemployment at the same time.

Balco Employee’s Union V. Union of India

BALCO Employee’s Union v. Union of India – Significance in Administrative Law. Administrative decision making has been a subject of great discussion since long. The application of a mind, which is in not a strict sense judicial, the presence of arbitral preferences coupled with the fact of discretion allowed to the executive in decision making, more often than not, carries the impression of whims and caprices being involved while such decision has been taken. Related essay: AK Kraipak CaseThe question of why at all this is so, is to be answered not from a legal but from a humanitarian standpoint. Each human differs from other and when subjective satisfaction of a group of individuals is concerned, the executive wing of the state in the present case; it is bound to happen that one there will be a number of groups who do not agree with the decision so taken for they have their own criteria’s and yardsticks to measure the same. Possibly, the same is the case with administrative decision making.When the Government is satisfied, based upon the material considered and issues involved, that a given decision is appropriate for a circumstances, it may equivocally be true that it may not satisfy each and every individual concerned with the similar set of issues and therefore there may arise a conflict. History is full of examples and is enriching day by day of the instances in which executive decisions have been challenged on grounds of they being arbitrary, suffering from mala fide, based on non-satisfactory grounds, irrational, to name a few of them.The study of one such instance forms the essence of this paper. The decision of the Government of India to disinvest M/s Bharat Aluminum Company Limited, popularly known as BALCO was challenged by the employees of BALCO , State of Chattisgarh and by some public spirited individuals before various High Court and finally before the Supreme Court . It was challenged that the decision to disinvest BALCO was contrary to the legal and social interests of the employees as well as certain other legal issues were raised by different parties .The present study is to analyse the judgment of the Supreme Court in the instant case with a critical angle and also trace its legal impact with a special focus on the impact it has made upon Administrative law. To introduce the case, it would be advisable to dwell in the broad frame the case dealt with rather than to deal with the precise fac ts and issues. To categorize, the case dealt with a challenge to the administrative power of the Government on the matter of disinvestment of its stake in a government company as regards the procedure followed while so deciding and also the provisions that needs to be examined while deciding the issue.On a broader level, an administrative policy was under a challenge before the Court. The precise impact that this decision, therefore, had was on the level of administrative discretion that the executive enjoyed in the selection of and following of a policy which had a vital impact on the economic position of the country . Nevertheless, the answer of the Supreme Court has been affirmative and it was categorical in mentioning that unless the policy adopted by the government suffered from the vires of illegality or malafide .Not stopping at this, the Court also gave a substantive reflection on the aspect of natural rights and their applicability as regards the choice of administrative po licy . For a detailed analysis and to have a diverse perspective, the study has been divided into different chapters which deal with a host of issues involved in the case and for having a varied dimension. II. A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FACTS OF THE CASE The case arose to challenge the validity of the decision of the Union of India to disinvest and transfer 51% shares of M/s Bharat Aluminum Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as ‘BALCO’).The case was filed by way of a writ petition by the BALCO Employees’ Union by filing Writ Petition No. 2249 of 1999 in the High Court of Delhi when upon the recommendation of the Disinvestment Commission, the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment approved the sale of 51% of the shares of BALCO to private ownership and thus reducing the status of the company from a Government Company to a private enterprise . Further, upon the same issue, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by one Dr. B. L. Wadhera in the Delhi High Cou rt and similarly writ petition filed by Mr.Samund Singh Kanwar in the High Court of Chattisgarh wherein different steps of the disinvestment procedure were challenged. With the filing of the writ petitions in the High Court of Delhi and in the High Court of Chattisgarh, an application for transfer of the petitions was filed by the Union of India in the Supreme Court and by Order dated 9thApril, 2001, the writ petitions which were pending in the High Court of Delhi and Chattisgarh were transferred to the Supreme Court . CONTENTION OF THE PARTIES (A) On behalf of the BALCO Employees' Union.Before disinvestment, the entire paid-up capital of BALCO was owned and controlled by the Government of India and its administrative control co-vested in the Ministry of Mines. BALCO was, therefore, a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution . Therefore, by the reason of disinvestment the workmen had lost their right and protection under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. This was an adverse civil consequence and, therefore, they had a right to be heard before and during the process of disinvestment .The type of consultation with the workmen which was necessary was, whether BALCO should go through the process of disinvestment; who should be the strategic partner; and how should the bid of the strategic partner be evaluated. It was further submitted that the workmen had reason to believe that apart from the sale of 51% of the shares in favour of Sterlite Industries the Agreement postulated that balance 49% will also be sold to them with the result that when normally in such cases 5% of the shares are disinvested in favour of the employees the same would not happen in the present case . B) On behalf of the Union of India It was submitted that disinvestment had become imperative both in the case of Centre and the States primarily for three reasons: a. Firstly, despite every effort the rate of returns of governmental enterprises had been woefully low, exclud ing the sectors in which government have a monopoly and for which they can, therefore, charge any price. The rate of return on central enterprises came to minus 4% while the cost at which the government borrows money is at the rate of 10 to 11%.In the States out of 946 State level enterprises, above 241 were not working at all; about 551 were making losses and 100 were reported not to be submitting their accounts at all . b. Secondly, neither the Centre nor the States have resources to sustain enterprises that are not able to stand on their own in the new environment of intense competition . c. Thirdly, despite repeated efforts it was not possible to change the work culture of governmental enterprises .As a result, even the strongest among them have been sinking into increasing difficulties as the environment is more and more competitive and technological change has become faster. Further it was submitted that the wisdom and advisability of economic policies of Government are not am enable to judicial review . It was not for Courts to consider the relative merits of different economic policies. Court was not the forum for resolving the conflicting clauses regarding the wisdom or advisability of policy.III. A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DECISION Besides the dispute that arose between the employees and the Government of India, the major controversy that arose as regards the Union’s decision to disinvest was on political lines. It was an accusation by the state Chief Minister that there were irregularities committed by the Union in coming up to disinvestment decision as well as the decisions suffered from arbitrary exercise of power and malafide .Another important factor which can be observed from a careful reading of the decision is that though the case was primarily to challenge the policy of disinvestment as being adopted and followed by the Union of India, the matter, as decided by the Supreme Court, revolved primarily around the rights of the employees an d their consequent protection after BALCO had actually been disinvested . The Court declined to review the policy decision of the Union Government on the adoption of a policy of disinvestment though in fact it was tried to be justified on behalf of the Union as reflected from the submissions of the Attorney General .Thus it can be said that the Court actually did not, at any stage, examine the correctness of the disinvestment policy for India. The Court tried to evade deciding upon this issue and thus giving it a name of administrative policy, it was approved. It is also important to note while laying down the decision the significance of the judgment far transcended the specifics of the BALCO transaction as it enunciates far-reaching principles that will influence the tenor of jurisprudence on economic affairs for long.The most pertinent example is of the case of Centre for Public Interest Litigation v. Union of India wherein the disinvestment of Hindustan Petroleum Company Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Company Limited (BPCL) was approved on the grounds that since the disinvestment of BALCO was already allowed therefore there is no case made out whereby it could be proved unsuited to the Indian context though, in reality the process of disinvestment was never in fact approved in the BALCO case based upon the merits of the case .It is important to note that in the specific case of the alleged malfeasance in the case of BALCO, the Court categorically stated that â€Å"the facts herein show that fair, just and equitable procedure has been followed in carrying out this disinvestment. The allegations of lack of transparency or that the decision was taken in a hurry, or that there has been an arbitrary exercise of power are without any basis. It is a matter of regret that on behalf of the State of Chattisgarh such allegations against the Union of India have been made without any basis.We strongly deprecate such unfounded averments which have been made by an officer of the said State. † Thus the judgment was not simply a strong rebuke to the credibility of the Chief Minister Mr. Ajit Jogi, it also served to forestall further challenges by state governments on the federal government’s prerogatives on privatization . Also, the Court circumscribed the extent to which matters of economic policy and disinvestment in particular, and consequently matters of policy, shall be scrutinized by courts .The Court was categorical in stating that ‘‘it is neither within the domain of the Courts nor the scope of judicial review to embark upon an enquiry as to whether a particular policy is wise or whether a better public policy can be evolved. Nor are our Courts inclined to strike down a particular policy at the behest of a petitioner merely because it has been urged that a different policy would have been fairer or wiser or more scientific or more logical. Parliament is the proper forum for questioning such policy. Thus the Cour t held that such disputes were beyond the realm of judicial determination and were left to the legislature to have circumspection over such executive policies. Also, aware of the economic costs of the plant closure as a result of the judicial intervention, the Court for the first time declared that, ‘‘No ex parte relief by way of injunction or stay especially with respect to public projects and schemes or economic policies or schemes should be granted.It is only when the Court is satisfied for good and valid reasons that there will be irreparable and irretrievable damage can an injunction be issued after hearing all the parties. ’’ As a sort of warning, the Court sought to deprecate the excessive use of PILs as a medium to thrash government policies which were prima facie genuine and correct. It thus added, â€Å"the Petitioner should be put on appropriate terms such as providing an indemnity or an adequate undertaking to make good the loss or damage in th e event the PIL is dismissed. ’ It categorically held that ‘‘every matter of public interest or curiosity cannot be the subject matter of PIL. Courts are not intended to and nor should they conduct the administration of the country. Courts will interfere only if there is a clear violation of Constitutional or statutory provisions or noncompliance by the State with its Constitutional or statutory duties. ’ In regard to disinvestment specifically, it held, ‘‘The decision to disinvest and the implementation thereof is purely an administrative decision relating to the economic policy of the State and challenge to the same at the instance of a busybody cannot fall within the parameters of Public Interest Litigation. ’’ The Court also specified the contours of the rights of labour when policy changes were affected, for instance when the Government disinvests its equity in an enterprise.While holding that in the BALCO disinvestment case, the Government had exerted itself to protect the interests of employees of the company, more generally it was open for the Government, like any other employer, to take workers along, to keep them informed about prospective changes and to allay their apprehensions but, labour could not claim a right, either on the basis of natural justice or any other foundation, to be consulted, or the right to receive prior notice, or to be consulted at every stage of the process .The Court also specially held that ‘‘even a government servant, having the protection of not only Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution but also of Article 311, had no absolute right to remain in service’’ and therefore the decision to change the control of the company from government to private hands was the sole prerogative of the government and could not be challenged by the employees. IV. IMPLICATIONS THAT FOLLOWED THE JUDGMENT It is true that the decision given by the Court in the BALCO cas e was based upon a sound appreciation of arguments, yet there are many implications which may follow pursuant to the decision.The major emphasis is on the policy of disinvestment. Though the Court did not go into the merits of the disinvestment policy per se yet, it did silently approve the policy to be followed by the Union . Thus the court supported the revival of the national economic with the support of private lines. The earlier policy of socialist economy, as upon which the Constitution was based and is as well enshrined in the Preamble, read with the State’s duty to avoid concentration of wealth in private hands as envisaged under the Directive Principles was not considered an appropriate solution for meeting the present day need i. . boosting the national economic growth . The observations of the Court on the aspect of natural justice may have been insignificant in terms of words spoken on it or portion of the judgment dealing with it yet; the impact which it has crea ted is enormous. The Court held that the principles of natural justice did not apply even in case the rights of the employees were affected as regards the change of their employer . They were not even given an opportunity to be heard and this was the sole bone of contention.For the very reason that Sterlite industries (the buyer) had given an undertaking that no employee of BALCO would be removed and the government had taken sufficient steps towards the protection of the employees, they had no reason to be heard. Employees, being connected with the manufacturing and other process in a much closer manner than any other body had, at least, the minimum right to put their views before the Court. Thus the participation of employees in the betterment of their organisation at the Board level was also discouraged.An important fact that may have evaded the critics was the method of computation of BALCO’s capital. Of the three different methods, the accounting method adopted for arrivi ng at the reserve price for the sale of BALCO was the one with the lowest result . It was never questioned by the Court. Thus it can be used in later cases before the Court that the method adopted by the Government is beyond judicial review too as it falls within the ambit of administrative discretion too . It may seem to be a remote issue nevertheless may be raised in the Courts.Further, the Court never did accept or uphold that disinvestment as a policy per se was a good policy to be implemented in the pursuance of national economic growth. Yet it was so stated in the later case wherein the disinvestment of HPCL and BPCL was challenged and it was contended by the Union of India that the policy of disinvestment was upheld by the Supreme Court in the BALCO case . These are some of the implications that may arise pursuant to the decision of the Supreme Court in the matter of the BALCO disinvestment process, as being conceived by the researcher.V. CONCLUSION The Supreme Court, in the celebrated case of Ram Jawaya Kapoor v. State of Punjab, observed thus, â€Å"the executive function comprises both the determination of policy as well as carrying into execution. The evidently includes the initiation of legislation, the maintenance of order, the promotion of social and economic welfare, the direction of foreign policy, in fact the carrying on or supervision of the general administration of the State† . Thus we find that the determination of policy has always been within the domain of the Executive.Therefore there remains no doubt that the government had the power to decide as to the adoption of a policy of disinvestment. It is this very precise reason that the same could not have been challenged successfully before the Court. Thus, it was challenged indirectly by taking the stand that such a policy would under the legal and constitutional rights of the employees of BALCO . Thus we find that the litigation, the reason for challenge and the motive behind such a challenge were flawed from its very beginning. The success of the petition was, therefore, never guaranteed.The main reason seems more of so political rather than legal, which initiated the present litigation. Nevertheless the Court was categorical in dealing with the issues. It laid to rest its critics while also issuing a stern warning that Public Interest Litigation should not be used as a means to invalidate policy decisions of government which in ordinary course were beyond judicial review. The Court also severely deprecated the action of the State officials who accused the Union Government of malafide and abuse without stating firm grounds for the same.On the aspect of the impact that the decision has created on administrative law, it can be said that it was not much except for the fact that it reiterated certain fundamental principles which had already been incorporated in the Indian legal stream. The fact of the administrative discretion and power to adopt and implement po licy decisions being beyond the scope of judicial review unless it suffered from illegalities or malafide was upheld .Further the Court upheld that there was no violation of principles of natural justice by non-hearing of the employees in the entire disinvestment process as it was purely a matter of administrative choice wherein the employees had no stake. It may be hard to adjust but seems to be a sound legal principle indeed. After all the rights of the employees were protected under different labour and industrial legislations no matter who the employer was. Thus accepting the fact that they had an interest in the management of the company yet, it was not incumbent or essential to take their views before deciding the entire process.The silent approval of the disinvestment process by the Apex Court also symbolizes the fact that the Court also feels it in the interest of national interests and the economy on the whole. This the Court expounded in a later case when it approved the s ale of HPCL and BPCL on similar lines as BALCO. Thus, on a whole, though the case may failed to give any novel concept, yet it is landmark of its own kind. It was an attempt on the part of the Court to define its own limits on judicial review. It also stretched the scope for the exercise of administrative powers in making policy decision. REFERENCESARTICLES: 1. Devesh Kapur and Ravi Ramamurti, Privatization in India: The Imperatives and Consequences of Gradualism, (Center For Research On Economic Development And Policy Reform, 2003, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 2. Presentation on Disinvestment, as presented by the Union of India at the OECD CONFERENCE on Privatisation, Employment and Employees, 10-11 OCTOBER 2002, Turkey, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 3. Shankar Acharya, India’s Macroeconomic Management In The Nineties, (As Prepared For Indian Council For Research On International Economic Relations, 2001, ; http://www. crier. org/; Last visited on September 7th, 2011). 4. T. N. Srinivasan, Economic Reforms and Global Integration, (Policy Paper, as presented to Center for Research on Economic Development and Policy Reform, Stanford University, 2001). 5. V. Sridhar, Battle over Balco, (The Frontline, Volume 18 – Issue 06, Mar. 17 – 30, 2001, Last visited on September 7th, 2011). BOOKS: 1. Jain & Jain, Principles of Administrative Law, (Wadhwa & Co. , Nagpur, 4th edition, 2003). 2. I. P. Messy, Principles of Adminstrative Law, (Eastern Book Company, Lucknow, 2003).

6 steps HR can take that will make employees motivated and happy

6 steps HR can take that will make employees motivated and happy Employee morale and motivation can be a tricky thing. Happy employees are usually far more productive than unhappy employees. But with a diverse range of people in your organization, how do you maximize those factors for as many people as possible? After all, people are motivated by different things. Let’s look at some best practices to get the good motivation flowing.Offer solid benefits packages.Make sure that employee compensation is at least in line with what others in your industry are offering. If people see that your rival, Company B, is offering a similar salary but has medical, dental, and vision insurance while you just have medical, you risk disgruntlement and turnover.Remember that employees are not a faceless mass.They’re individuals, so they should be treated like individuals. Make an effort to get to know the people in your company- not just the executives, or the department heads, or the people who come into your office for help on an issue. Something as simple as learning everyone’s name can help them feel more at home. This can be difficult if you work in a large, corporate environment, but the effort you put into greeting people individually will pay dividends when it comes to employee satisfaction.Getting to know your employees also helps you refine your practices in real time as you get to know people better, what their challenges and priorities are at work, what they value, etc.Remind employees that they have a stake in the company’s performance.If your company offers stock options or profit sharing, that’s a direct way to involve employees; but if even if your company doesn’t offer those things, there are ways to engage employees. Regularly sending out announcements about how the company is doing and emphasizing how employee contributions are driving success can help create a feeling of productive teamwork.hbspt.cta.load(2785852, '9e52c197-5b5b-45e6-af34-d56403f973c5', {});Set realistic goals.When setting employee goals, make sure they’re both meaningful (specific) and achievable (realistic). Goals that are too vague or too far outside of the realm of possibility will likely fall by the wayside. Specific, actionable goals (preferably with milestones set against them) improve motivation by offering smaller, trackable successes along the way.Reward good performance.Nothing is quite as demoralizing as doing a great job and then feeling like no one cares. Providing recognition (with tangible awards) or performance incentives can help nurture employees to reach for successful outcomes. We’re human. We like rewards- it’s the part of the brain that reveled in getting star stickers in elementary school or getting a treat for good behavior. We may not need a cookie, per se, but a token to acknowledge hard work and success is always appreciated.Make sure employees have the resources they need to do well.This may seem like a no-brainer- after all, aren’t you their resource?- but people are motivated and more productive when they feel like they have all the tools they need to do a job. Comprehensive training, educational opportunities, leadership seminars†¦these are all tools that can help employees feel better prepared to do their jobs and grow their careers at your company.

The Right to Clean Water Essay Example

The Right to Clean Water Essay Example The Right to Clean Water Essay The Right to Clean Water Essay he Right to Access Clean Water Only 2% of earth’s water is available for human consumption because 98% of the earth’s water is frozen in ice caps, flowing in the ocean, and even in animal bodies, etc. More than a billion people have no decent water supply, adding to that about 2. 4 billion people do not have proper sanitation; therefore more than 60% of global illness is linked to the lack of healthy water. Water is a natural source of nature and access to clean water should not be used as a traded or withheld good in economic markets. While a developed country is using water to water their gardens, golf courses and swimming in their pools, the problem only gets worse because of income inequality increases between the countries. South Africa specifically has been having many problems when it comes to water privatization. Everything needs water, therefore it should be a common good shared by everyone and is the responsibility of governments to help their people access clean water and should not be looked upon as opportunities to make money. This problem is for the government who are held responsible for their people and not private companies around the world who want to make money of whatever they can. Water is an essential source of life, but there are categories of water which includes fresh or salt water. Most of earth’s land roaming animals needs fresh water for survival, including 6. 7 billion people and their crops. The lack of fresh water makes a chain reaction of bad factors like illness, bad crops and unsanitary living conditions. Without water people cannot water their crops which leads to hunger, then bad health, and soon after illnesses that prevents them from working and going to school. It is easy to see why water is treated as an economic good because it has to be collected, managed, processed and supplied; it is a very expensive process that water goes through before it is clean and can be giving out to people to drink. Most private companies will provide water for a commercial return, but not without investment that will be much higher than publicly funded. The institute’s fear that private, bottom-line-driven companies will not supply water to those who cannot afford to pay high prices is nevertheless clearly stated: ‘The water needs of the poor should not be left in the hands of profit-driven, transnational water corporations,† (IRIN). On the other hand, governments because of the interested in keeping their people safe usually prefer privatization so they can target places that ar e in the most need against money lucrative opportunities. Water companies have a tendency to play monopoly because they do not want to drive prices down or have the pressure to drive up equalities. Water is something everyone needs and should not be treated as a game of how to make the most money of it, but should be thought as how to help people with it. There is so much water yet only a small percentage can be used, so it is very precious and cannot be used as a way to make money of what is needed most. Companies are taking full advantage where they can within developed countries to make water a purely economic good, but that is 78% that does not live in poverty. It is only 22% of people who absolute need water yet the water subsidies are not essential to them. Women in South Africa would rather walk long distances to get water than pay for water that they could get for free even if it harmful to drink. Not that they do not want to pay for the water but do not have the money to do so. 1. 7 billion People live in poverty, where will they get the money to buy water, if they did have money, then what about all the other things that need to buy for a living? This is not to say that water should be completely free, but it should be made affordable to all. In South Africa alone there are more than 20 million people without sufficient sanitation services and another 15 million without a safe water supply. Most private companies do not care much about the environment because their worries are more about their shareholders. To have maximum profits they are more likely to find every way they can do reduce cost even if it means less care for the environment. The well being of the ecosystem and biodiversity is almost impossible to calculate so private companies’ would rather just use it as just another resource to be exploited, which is easier than protecting it. It’s hard enough getting fresh water in South Africa, but it gets even harder when some of their water is filled with acid because of the left over and abandoned mines in South Africa. â€Å"A study by Naicker et al. (2003) revealed that the groundwater in the mining district of Johannesburg, South Africa, is heavily contaminated and acidified as a result of oxidation of pyrite contained in the mine tailings sups, and has elected concentrations of heavy metals. The polluted groundwater is discharging into streams in the area and contributes up to 20% of stream flow, causing an increase the acidity of the stream water. The affect of the contaminated water from the mine can persist for more than 10 km beyond the source,† (Naicker et al. , 2003). This problem is all due to the fact that companies do not care about the ecosystem, but they were to prevent this in the first place there would not be a problem now. To clean this problem wastes even more money that could have gone to bringing more water to the needed. South African governments have taken actions into their own hands with a strong commitment to serve water to those who need it most, which is everyone. There have been many improvements with accessing water supplies from the urban to rural areas. There has been a significant increase in supplying water to rural areas from 1990 to 2006; it went from 62% to 92%, but within the same time frame there has only been a 55% to 59% increase in achieving sanitation. The problem is a very complex and expensive solution and it all has to do with maintenance. The government can fix the problem, but finding enough funding for the problem is a large concern. Why should this even be a problem because more than 60%t of illness can be traced back to lack of clean water? Having that knowledge that un-sanitized water is the problem, it should be the number one concern and should be fixed right away, but yet it is not. There are only a handful of private companies that manage a water and waste utility in South Africa the Siza Water Company, Greater Nelspruit utility Company and Johannesburg Water. Even still, all three of the companies’ focus on bringing water to the land, but are not fully concentrated on achieving sanitation. It seems South Africa has some of the most horrendous experiences when it comes to water privatization. South Africa, in August of 2002 had the worst outbreak of cholera in history that started outside of Empangeni and this is all due to the lack of clean water. â€Å"ANC Water and Forestry minister Ronnie Kasrils has admitted that the outbreak would not have happened if free water had been available. ‘The problem is that when we try to implement cost-recovery, any of the poor cannot pay,† (wsww). Even with access to government-provided water, if it is not free the poor cannot pay the $4. 80. People died and got even sicker; Now they need health care to become better, which costs more money. This could all have been prevented if only water was free, a price anyone can afford. Water is a precious resource of life for everyone, but companies take the time and effort to make it only so they can make money because it is something that is needed. People are getting sicker because of the lack of clean water that the government should provide because it is an essential eed and it is the government’s responsibility to their people to give them what they need to keep healthy. More than 60% of health problems can be traced back to water, therefore it is an easy problem to prevent, but it’s not. With clean water we can reverse the cycle because with clean water illness levels decrease, therefore people can go to work or school. With work or school they can then take care of themselves and their family. Therefore water is a human right not a human privilege; everyone should have access to clean water for their health and for their future. Cited â€Å"Running Dry: the humanitarian impact of the global water crisis. † IRIN In-Depth October 2006. November 16, 2010 lt; irinnews. org/pdf/in-depth/Running-Dry-IRIN-In-Depth. pdfgt; Naicker, K. , Cukrowska, E. , amp; McCarthy, T. S. 2003. Acid mine drainage from gold mining activities in Johannesburg, South Africa and environs. Environmental Pollution 122, 29-40. Marshall, Leon. â€Å"Water Crisis Looms in South Africa. † National Geographic. November 5, 2010. November 15, 2010. lt;http://blogs. nationalgeographic. om/blogs/news/chiefeditor/2010/11/water-crisis-looms-in-south-africa. htmlgt; â€Å"Water privatization in South Africa. † Wikipedia. November 15, 2010. lt;http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Water_privatisation_in_South_Africagt; â€Å"Private Vs. Public† Food and Water Watch. November 16, 2010. lt; foodandwaterwatch. org/water/private-vs-public/gt; Mason, Berry and Talbot, Chris. â€Å"What water privatization means for Africa. † Wor ld Socialist Web Site. September 7, 2002. November 15, 2010. lt; wsws. org/articles/2002/sep2002/wate-s07. shtmlgt;

The Setting for Williams A Streetcar Named Desire

The Setting for Williams' 'A Streetcar Named Desire' The setting for A Streetcar Named Desire is a modest, two-room flat in New Orleans. This simple set is viewed by the various characters in sharply contrasting ways- ways that directly reflect the dynamics of the characters. This clash of views speaks to the heart of the plot of this popular play. An Overview of the Setting A Streetcar Named Desire, written by Tennessee Williams is set in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The year is 1947- the same year in which the play was written. All of the action of A Streetcar Named Desire takes place on the first floor of a two-bedroom apartment.The set is designed so that the audience can also see outside and observe characters on the street. Blanches View of New Orleans Theres a classic episode of The Simpsons in which Marge Simpson lands the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical version of A Streetcar Named Desire. During the opening number, the Springfield cast sings: New Orleans!Stinking, rotten, vomiting, vile!New Orleans!Putrid, brackish, maggoty, foul!New Orleans!Crummy, lousy, rancid, and rank! After the show aired, the Simpsons producers received a lot of complaints from Louisiana citizens. They were highly offended by the disparaging lyrics. Of course, the character of Blanche DuBois, the faded Southern belle without a dime, would completely agree with the cruel, satirical lyrics. To her, New Orleans, the setting of A Streetcar Named Desire,  represents the ugliness of reality. To Blanche, the crude people that live on the street called Elysian Fields represent the decline of civilized culture. Blanche, the tragic protagonist of Tennessee Williams play, grew up on a plantation called Belle Reve (a French phrase meaning beautiful dream). Throughout her childhood, Blanche was accustomed to gentility and wealth. As the estates wealth evaporated and her loved ones died off, Blanche held on to fantasies and delusions. Fantasies and delusions, however, are very difficult to cling to in the basic two-room apartment of her sister Stella, and specifically in the company of Stellas domineering and brutal husband, Stanley Kowalski. The Two-Room Flat A Streetcar Named Desire takes place two years after the end of World War II. The entire play is staged in the cramped flat in a particularly low-income area of the French Quarter. Stella, Blanches sister, has left her life at Belle Reve in exchange for the exciting, passionate (and sometimes violent) world that her husband Stanley has to offer. Stanley Kowalski thinks of his small apartment as his kingdom. During the day, he works in a factory. At night he enjoys bowling, playing poker with his buddies, or making love to Stella. He sees Blanche as an intruder to his environment. Blanche occupies the room adjacent to theirs- so close that it impinges on their privacy. Her garments are strewn about the furniture. She adorns lights with paper lanterns to soften their glare. She hopes to soften the light in order to look younger; she also hopes to create a sense of magic and charm within the apartment. However, Stanley does not want her fantasy world to encroach upon his domain. In the play, the tightly-squeezed setting is a key factor in the drama: It provides instant conflict. Art and Cultural Diversity in the French Quarter Williams offers multiple perspectives on the plays setting. In the plays beginning, two minor female characters are chatting. One woman is black, the other white. The ease with which they communicate demonstrates the casual acceptance of diversity in the French Quarter. Williams is presenting here a view of the neighborhood as having a thriving, exuberant atmosphere, one that nurtures an open-minded sense of community. In the low-income world of Stella and Stanley Kowalski, racial segregation appears to be nonexistent, a sharp contrast to the elitist realms of the old South (and Blanche Dubois childhood). As sympathetic, or pathetic, as Blanche may appear throughout the play, she often says intolerant remarks about class, sexuality (in the case of her homosexual husband who was devastated by her negative comments), and ethnicity. In fact, in an ironic moment of dignity (given his brutality in other contexts), Stanley insists that Blanche refer to him as an American (or at least Polish-American) rather than use the derogatory term: Polack. Blanches refined and disappeared world was one of brutal racism and denigration. The beautiful, refined world she longs for never existed. In the present as well, Blanche maintains this blindness. For all of Blanches preaching about poetry and art, she cannot see the beauty of the jazz and blues which permeate her present setting. She is trapped in a so-called refined, yet racist past and Williams, highlighting the contrast to that past, celebrates the uniquely American art form, the music of the blues. He uses it to provide transitions for many of the plays scenes. This music can be seen to represent the change and hope in the new world, but it goes unnoticed to Blanches ears. Belle Reves style of aristocracy has died away and its art and genteel customs are no longer relevant to Kowalskis post-war America. Gender Roles After World War II The war brought innumerable changes to American society. Millions of men traveled overseas to face the Axis powers, while millions of women joined the workforce and the war effort at home. Many women discovered for the first time their independence and tenacity. After the war, most of the men returned to their jobs. Most of the women, often reluctantly, returned to the roles as homemakers. The home itself became the site of a new clash. This post-war tension between the roles of the sexes is another, very subtle thread in the conflict in the play. Stanley wants to dominate his home in the same way males had dominated American society before the war. While the main female characters in Streetcar, Blanche and Stella, are not women who are seeking the socio-economic independence of the workplace, they are women who had money in their youth and, to that degree, were not subservient. This theme is most evident in Stanleys well-known quote from Scene 8: What do you think you are? A pair of queens? Now just remember what Huey Long said- that every mans a king- and Im the King around here, and dont you forget it. Contemporary audiences of Streetcar would have recognized, in Stanley, the male side of what was a new society-wide tension. The modest two-room flat that Blanche disdains is this working mans kingdom and he will rule. Stanleys exaggerated drive for domination indeed extends, at the end of the play, to the most extreme form of domination, rape.

Apple iPad Mini Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Apple iPad Mini - Assignment Example Apple Inc. is one of the largest producers of electronics, computers, and software manufacturers. The company is among the top ten mobile phone production companies of 2012 (Gartner, 2012), and it was recognized as the most powerful brand in 2012 (Badenhausen, 2012). To determine the quality level, iPad Mini must be reviewed from three different aspects. The first is its build quality. iPad Mini has a tough body made from aluminum making it lighter than its predecessors. The second aspect is its screen resolution. The screen resolution of iPad Mini is 163 pixels per inch; whereas the resolution of the tablets provided by Apple’s competitors is 216 pixels per inch. The 163 ppi resolution fails to deliver the display quality standards that have been set by iPad third generation. The third feature is the battery time of iPad Mini. The iPad Mini does a fair job when it comes to the battery life. Compared to the size and resolution of the device, iPad Mini does quite a decent job. However, when the battery life is compared with other products in the market the battery life of iPad Mini is quite disappointing. As with every Apple product the packaging of iPad Mini is always attractive. The box measures 5.75x8.25x1.5 inches. The iPad Mini’s box comprises of a USB cable, wall socket adaptor, and iPad quick start sheet. Apple Inc. is known for the beauty of its products and like all other Apple products iPad Mini has high visual appeal, which makes it highly trendy. The dimensions of basic iPad Mini are 200Ãâ€"134.7Ãâ€"7.2 mm. The sleek design of iPad Mini makes it comfortable for the user to hold in his hand and operate it. The difference between iPad and iPad Mini is the size of the screen. The size of the iPad Mini has been significantly reduced from 9.7 inches to 7.9 inches. Smaller size of iPad Mini allows users to carry it around with ease, using their favorite applications from anywhere they like. The

HNC Counselling. Graded Unit F1M 34 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

HNC Counselling. Graded Unit F1M 34 - Coursework Example (150) The main problem is Fritz seems to be somewhat of an underachiever. He is giving up because his business is not going well, and now it is threatening to break up his whole family. Additionally, he has communication issues with his wife, not really knowing how to express himself well or share his feelings about what he wants to do with the business, when he should ideally let her know what he is thinking—especially wanting to make such a big life decision about selling the business and moving out of the city. Anna is right to want to have a divorce, as Fritz is being unreasonable. Further, he is not taking his parenting responsibilities seriously, and this is also a concern. Fritz, therefore, has three main problems: communicating with Anna, decision-making, and taking an active role in the development of his childrens’ upbringing. He needs work on these issues. Explanation of the theory. (250 words) The theories introduced here are humanistic theory and psychodyna mic theory, with Egan’s three-stage model as a way of understanding the theory. Humanistic theory is a very common theory which helps people understand one way to counsel others. â€Å"Many models of group work and organizational development have drawn heavily on humanistic theory† (Strawbridge, Woolfe, & Dryden, 2009, 142). Humanistic theory also has another name. ... There are â€Å"†¦verbal and nonverbal behaviours that enhance effective listening and communication† (Rennie, 1998, pp. 32). Psychodynamic counsellors notice behaviours and try to adapt these behaviours into more socially acceptable reactions. In the course of psychodynamic counselling, â€Å"†¦some behavioural patterns, and some feelings are unconscious [and the client may not be made aware of these until they are mentioned]† (Jacobs, 2004, pp. 101). Gerard Egan of Loyola University in Chicago developed a three-stage model, where the counselled individual must realize the present (â€Å"Where am I?†), the preferred (â€Å"Where do I want to be?†) and strategies for the future (â€Å"How do I get where I want to be?†). â€Å"Egan’s three-stage model can serve as a useful and practical map in counselling and a means of bringing structure to the process of counselling† (Burnard, 2005, pp. 127). Completion date and milestones. (65 words) The completion date for Fritz should be based on what he can do in how much time. Perhaps he should be given a finite date, a few months, in which to fix at least two of his problems—the communication issue with Ann and his inability to express himself well. The problem with Harry should be resolved sooner; Fritz should be encouraged to discipline him. Ethical principles in counselling. (100 words) In counselling, it’s important that the client’s boundaries are respected and that, obviously, one would not call Anna in order to let her know details of the counselling sessions unless Fritz allowed it. It would also be uncouth to offer parenting advice, tips, or admonitions, or otherwise tell Fritz outright how to run his life or manage his marriage. Those actions would be outside the

Conflict Scenario Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Conflict Scenario - Assignment Example The Myers-Briggs indicator has sixteen personality combinations and each represents differently. For example, Jane’s personality is an ESFJ type, which makes her helpful, friendly and very suited to her current job. However, although Brandon works in the same department and company as Jane, he has a different personality from Jane. The mode of handling conflict used by both Jane and Brandon is competition. This mode is assertive and both Jane and Brandon show they have a forceful personality. Because of this, conflicts arise, as they do not give way to cooperation. There is no win-win situation. To resolve the conflict between the two, there must be some form of cooperation and positive change that would benefit both sides in the future. This mode is collaboration and ensures cooperation is achieved by understanding the needs of one another. The supervisor ought to discuss the matter face-to-face with Jane and Brandon. When an agreement has been reached, the situation must be regularly monitored to ensure the method is going smoothly. The supervisor must remind the employees that each of them is important to the company. This is to ensure there is no jealousy or favoritism amongst the

Model Arch Bridge and tha Design Improvement Essay - 2

Model Arch Bridge and tha Design Improvement - Essay Example Bridges are designed to withstand both live and dead loads. Dead loads are loads that do not change, such as the structure’s weight. These include the sidewalks, deck, railings, and the concrete or steel load-carrying members. Dead loads account for the considerable and significant percentage of stress in load carrying members. The second load, live load, changes; the change can be due to decreased or increased pedestrian and traffic loading. When designing a bridge, safety and strength of the structure are the most important considerations. The shape and overall design of the bridge were decided by the group. The shape of the bridge was sketched to full size on a white piece of paper. The sketch was used in to guide the popsicle sticks as shown in figure 2. The last step was to glue popsicle sticks on beams of the deck in order to come up with a bridge deck. The final structure is shown in figure 4. The whole procedure was carried on the first and second final structures. The first bridge weighed 193.6 grams while the second one was 245.1 grams. The first bridge supported a maximum load of 6,613 grams, concentrated at mid-span, while the second was 21, 818 grams. The loads to weight ratio of the first and second bridge were 34.2 and 89.0 respectively. Arch increase stability as it provides resistance to the forces that act in the bending of the bridge. The weight is redirected from members to ends of the bridge by arches; hence forces are evenly distributed for the better structure as shown in figure 5. The second bridge was strengthened in areas that loads were concentrated, that is at abutments and load points. The second bridge was also reinforced to increase their strength triangular shapes were used in preventing rectangles from leaning. A top lateral bracing was used in the prevention of buckling sideways during loading due to compression members like the top chord.

Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China Essay

Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China - Essay Example Japan’s victory over China strengthened national cohesion in Japan resulting in the renegotiation and eventual supersession of the unequal treaties with Western powers and Japan’s appearance as the supreme economic power and chief imperialist authority in East Asia. From the economic aspect, its win over China encouraged resources that Japan could activate in the growth of its military-industrial apparatus. â€Å"The acquisition of Chinese territory, most notably, Taiwan, as well as China’s recognition of Japanese suzerainty over Korea, endowed Japan with valuable outposts from which to launch future attacks on China, as well as with more secure overseas supplies of cheap food†. Moreover, Chinese indemnities which amounted to over one-third of Japan’s GNP aided Japan to fund the further growth of heavy industries and to put the currency on the gold standard. In this way there was improvement in Japan’s credit rating in London along with its a bility to tap additional finance for industrial expansion at home and imperialist growth overseas. Politically speaking, its victory over China placed Japan in a respectable position in the imperialist game. For long, Korea remained the principal client state for China. However, its strategic location opposite the Japanese islands and its natural resources always tempted Japan. Hence, Korea became a common target for both China and Japan. By 1893 a religious issue turned into a political movement involving innumerable peasants under a common umbrella of anti-foreignism and anticorruption (â€Å"China†).

Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Management - Assignment Example esponse, my cousin summed up nearly all what my sister and uncle had told me with slight addition, telling me that HR also assigns tasks and activities to individual workers. I agreed the most to my cousin’s response because I personally think that assigning activities to the employees is one of the fundamental tasks of HR. From the responses of all three of them, I could assess that they generally try to maintain a very nice relationship with HR professionals. They do not happen to see the HR professionals on a regular basis, though whenever they do, they talk to them very nicely and tend to remain in the good books of the HR. Specifically, my cousin’s response was somewhat interesting. He said, â€Å"Either you don’t see the HR professionals too much or you interact too often, but in the second case, you should be sure that you know what you are doing!† I think one should maintain a balanced relationship with the HR professionals and should interact when necessary, but obviously nicely. They had mixed perceptions about HR. My sister said she was like friends with them. My uncle said, â€Å"They interfere too much but you don’t mind since they are only doing their duty.† My cousin said he thought of them as monsters that often hammer his head in his dreams. He said he got nervous whenever some HR professional passed by because the HR professional might be spying on him in which case, the result would show up in the performance appraisal process. I agreed more with my uncle’s response to the question of perceptions about HR professionals. The function of HRM is extremely important for an organization because it serves as the skeleton of the organizational system. I personally feel interested in the authority and superior impression of the HR professionals on other workers. HR department is the second name for quality control (QC) department, which is â€Å"the terror† for most people. Since, I am quite skilled in planning softwares, I know how to organize

Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China Essay

Acquisition of Empire. Japans wins due to its victory over China - Essay Example Japan’s victory over China strengthened national cohesion in Japan resulting in the renegotiation and eventual supersession of the unequal treaties with Western powers and Japan’s appearance as the supreme economic power and chief imperialist authority in East Asia. From the economic aspect, its win over China encouraged resources that Japan could activate in the growth of its military-industrial apparatus. â€Å"The acquisition of Chinese territory, most notably, Taiwan, as well as China’s recognition of Japanese suzerainty over Korea, endowed Japan with valuable outposts from which to launch future attacks on China, as well as with more secure overseas supplies of cheap food†. Moreover, Chinese indemnities which amounted to over one-third of Japan’s GNP aided Japan to fund the further growth of heavy industries and to put the currency on the gold standard. In this way there was improvement in Japan’s credit rating in London along with its a bility to tap additional finance for industrial expansion at home and imperialist growth overseas. Politically speaking, its victory over China placed Japan in a respectable position in the imperialist game. For long, Korea remained the principal client state for China. However, its strategic location opposite the Japanese islands and its natural resources always tempted Japan. Hence, Korea became a common target for both China and Japan. By 1893 a religious issue turned into a political movement involving innumerable peasants under a common umbrella of anti-foreignism and anticorruption (â€Å"China†).

Organ Transplant Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organ Transplant - Research Paper Example The determination of the process of organ transplantation is an important subject matter in organ transplantation. It increases on consciousness and awareness on the issue of organ transplantation. There are different phases in the process of organ transplant. These include the determination of organ facts, the possible diseases, the devices, organ allocation, the waiting list and the hospitalization and surgery (United Network for Organ Sharing, 2011). Determination of Organ Facts First is the determination of the organ facts. This includes the defective organs of the patients needing replacement. The common organs transplanted are liver, kidney, pancreas, heart, lung and intestine. Kidney is one of the organs susceptible to damage which can lead to the lost of function specifically the removal of waste from the body through filtration then urination. Regulations of blood pressure, blood volume and chemical or electrolyte composition of the blood, are included in the main functions of the kidney. Included in the kidney diseases that can lead to the need for organ transplant are polycystic kidneys, nephrosclerosis, chronic pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis, diabetes mellitus, kidney stones, renal cell carcinoma ad Wilm’s tumor (United Network for Organ Sharing, 2011). Liver is another organ susceptible to failure since it’s one of the largest organs with important function such as processing of carbohydrates, fats and proteins, and storage of vitamins. It is responsible for the substance in blood clotting. ... It is responsible for the substance in blood clotting, bile for fat digestion and can break down toxic substances in drugs and alcohol. Diseases such as primary sclerosing cholangitis, acute hepatic necrosis, cirrhosis, metabolic diseases, portal hypertension, hepatitis, liver tumors and biliary atresia (United Network for Organ Sharing, 2011). Pancreas is another organ with the main role of producing enzymes for digestion as well as insulin which functions as a regulator of blood sugar in the body. A need for organ transplant can be caused by diabetes mellitus type II. Heart is another organ of importance commonly transplanted. It pumps blood that distributes nutrients and oxygen and gathers wastes and carbon dioxide from different parts of the body. It can acquire diseases and malfunctions caused by coronary heart disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital or valvular heart diseases, and hypertensive heart disease. Also located near the heart is the lung which is described as a spongy org an in the chest that functions for breathing. A person needs organ transplant when the lungs are damaged through COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, emphysema, primary pulmonary hypertension, cystic fibrosis, and alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Intestines are also included in the organs transplanted. It can be damaged through short gut syndrome and other malabsorptive bowel problems (United Network for Organ Sharing, 2011). Waiting List of Organs One of the most important factors in the process of organ transplantation is the waiting list. In the study of the United States waiting lists of candidates by organ released on April 1, 2011, the largest composition is composed of people who needs kidney transplant, which

Budget Information Problem Based In Metroline Travel Engineering Accounting Essay

Budget Information Problem Based In Metroline Travel Engineering Accounting Essay This report outlines a budget information problem based in Metroline Travel engineering and logistical function. The report also presents a discussion and analysis of a budget information problem with reference to the problem solving frame work. The project also includes the 4 Ps within the marketing mix, limitations of incremental budgeting, 10 criteria which are proposed for good-quality information and a financial analysis of the logistical function overtime cost. These analyses are necessary for competent decision-making. In addition, the report concludes with an investigative examination of these problems and plausible recommendations to address the companys deficiencies. Also noteworthy, advantages and disadvantages using the SMART framework with recommendations and implications will also be outlined. Contents Assignment 02 1 A budget information problem within the logistical function 1 B629/BZX629 Managing 2: Marketing and Finance 1 Report Prepared by: Kelemn Wyllie 1 Senior Material Support Manager 1 Metroline Travel 1 Tutor 1 Mr. Jay Naik 1 1 Date of the Report: 25-08-2010 1 Contents 3 TMA Part 1 5 Introduction 5 Stakeholder Analysis 6 Problem Statement 7 Figure 4 Internal Engineering Value Chain Analysis 7 Analysis 9 10 Conclusion 14 Recommendation 16 Figure 12 recommendations within the budget control loop 16 Bibliography 21 Appendix 22 TMA Part 2: TMA Activities 38 Activity 1: Week 6 Table 6.1 Three new tasks you could do at work 38 Activity 2: Week 6 Table 6.2 Costs Rewards associated with the proposed 3 new work 39 Activity 3: Week 6 Table 6.3 Communicating your proposed idea to peers in the organisation 40 Activity 4: Week 7 Table 7.1 How I currently deliver the service and how it could be improved 41 Activity 5: Week 8 Table 8.1 Focus group research on a marketing problem 42 Activity 6: Week 9 Table 9.1 Investigate marketing planning in my own organisation 43 Activity 7: Week 9 Table 9.2 The Marketing Plan 44 Activity 8: Week 10 Part A What financial information do you deal with at home and at work? 45 Activity 8: Week 10 Part B Share with other students what you hope to achieve by studying finance 46 Activity 9: Week 10 Table 10.1 Stakeholders financial information needs 47 Activity 10: Week 10 Table 10.2 Financial information requirements 48 Activity 11: Week 11 A completed version of Table 11.1 Garden Furnishings: solving the problem 49 Activity 12: Week 12 A Word Document noting your/your line managers budgetary information requirements 50 Activity 13: Week 12 Part A A completed version of Table 12.2 Template for cash budget 51 Activity 13: Week 12 Part B A Word document discussing practical application of master and cash budget information to problems of Garden Furnishings 52 Activity 14: Week 12 Resolving a budget information problem 53 TMA Part 1 Introduction As senior material manager in a public bus company called Metroline Travel. A subsidiary company owned by the Singapore based ComfortDelGro Corporation. See Appendix for profit and loss account and other related financial information as of 31st march 2010. The worlds second largest listed land transport company. The senior material manager supervises a team of 15 material support managers across London. These personnel are the logistical team and their core responsibilities are the supply, storage and procurement of parts to engineering (core activity). The logistical hierarchy is illustrated in figure 1. Figure 1 Metroline Organisational Structure (Logistical Department) Stakeholder Analysis Stakeholder analysis is a useful technique used to identify the key people within the logistical function framework. These key personnel are very important to the organizational structure because they have tremendous power and influence which affects the performance and future resource planning allocated from senior management. Managers should consider the organisations responsibilities and commitment to all its stakeholders. (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 196) According to Mendelows matrix these can be grouped into to 4 categories which are illustrated figure 2 in Metroline Travel below: Figure 2 Mendelows matrix High Low C- Keep Satisfied D- Key Players A- Minimal Effort B-Keep Informed Low HighPower Level of Interest A- Drivers B- Operation, Suppliers C- Finance department D- Engineering (Core Activity) Assumptions To make the problem more bounded: Material managers have complete autonomy over their overtime Material manager received invoices on a Friday in May, June and July Budgets are formed outside the control of the logistical function Cost can be divided in to fixed and variable cost The material managers are constraint to 19 hours per week overtime (limiting factor) in line with the EU working time directive Problem Statement Budgets are used for detailed planning in the allocation of resources in a business. This information is important to management and stakeholders alike in assessing the activities and performance of an organisation, illustrated in Figure 3. The logistical function overtime budget is based on an incremental budgeting principle with an absorption costing approach for allocating cost per material managers. The incremental budgeting principle is based on 9% of their base salary plus current inflation. However, the material mangers overtime for May, June and July allowance were over budgeted which would affect workers long term motivational level working on a weekend. This over-budget affects the controlling, planning and decision-making of its activities. This overtime process is very important in maintaining a reliable service to engineering. Figure 3 Information direction Senior material support manager Material mangers Engineering The value chain consists of a series of activities that create and builds significance in maintaining a bus. An organisation can consider the activities in its value chain and assess if they are value added activities or non-value added activities. (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 190) This is illustrated in figure 4. Figure 4 Internal Engineering Value Chain Analysis EQUIPMENT ENVIRONMENT OTHER OTHER INPUT MACHINERY OUTPUT TOOLS QUALITY CHECKS REPAIR REPORT ENGINEERS BUS REPAIR MANAGEMENT PARTS GARAGE OVERTIME OTHER MATERIAL MANAGERS OTHER PROCESS PEOPLE As their line manager; I was tasked by the head of purchasing and logistics to investigate and place corrective actions to bring this over budgeting back under control. This over- budget is illustrated in figure 5. Figure 5. Material Managers Overtime budget as of the 31 July 2010 MONTHS January February March April May June July USER Material manager 1  £800  £900  £100  £100  £445  £520  £549 Material manager 2  £0  £220  £200  £220  £458  £612  £323 Material manager 3  £0  £100  £500  £461  £552  £144  £66 Material manager 4  £0  £50  £100  £110  £100  £222  £366 Material manager 5  £0  £60  £631  £100  £223  £141  £316 Material manager 6  £200  £100  £211  £250  £300  £44  £342 Material manager 7  £0  £600  £0  £54  £642  £335  £559 Material manager 8  £102  £0  £200  £0  £452  £500  £445 Material manager 9  £200  £0  £130  £0  £452  £900  £498 Material manager 10  £500  £0  £45  £0  £100  £626  £613 Material manager 11  £100  £200  £115  £225  £100  £225  £889 Material manager 12  £0  £200  £25  £445  £252  £225  £789 Material manager 13  £200  £0  £255  £235  £231  £995  £145 Material manager 14  £0  £120  £22  £122  £85  £452  £445 Material manager 15  £0  £100  £12  £144  £200  £100  £112 Total =  £2,102  £2,650  £2,546  £2,466  £4,592  £6,041  £6,457 Budget  £4,000  £4,000  £4,000  £4,000  £4,000  £4,000  £4,000 Cost variance  £1,898  £1,350  £1,454  £1,534 - £592 - £2,041 - £2,457 adverse adverse adverse Total Budget-  £48,000 Monthly allowance  £4,000 Daily rate-  £12.60 Weekend rate-  £20.23 Analysis Market segmentation is an important marketing task described by Bonomo and Shapiro (1983), cited by Sargeant (2009). It has a number of advantages which can be used to identify existing and potential customers. By placing customers into different groups by successful targeting their needs and managing their expectations. Figure 5. Organisational market segmentation criteria (Operating variables) Engineering (core activity) Heavy user Suppliers Medium user Finance department Medium user OTHER Light users After speaking with the material managers and investigating their overtime sheets for the months for May, June and July submitted to payrolls. The investigation using; the problem solving framework (The Managers Good Study Guide, PG 69). I found that the material managers were working more on a weekend to incur the over budget this is illustrated in figure 6 in appendix, which the daily rate is  £12.60 while the weekend rate is  £20.23 The budgeting system can seriously influence the level of motivation and culture of an organisation, because budgets play a central role in (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 155). This was because of an increase of activity; 40 plus financial invoices received from the finance department over May, June and July were received on a Friday and could not be completed that day because of day to day activities. These invoices needed to be resolved as soon as possible and took some time to process on the data base system for payment for the following week from finance illustrated in figure 7 . In addition, the limitation of the incremental budgeting, this budgeting type has inefficiencies and imperfections which were not noticed, until the increase of activity. Figure 7 total financial invoice hours to completion Using the 4 Ps- Price- Was the increase in the usage of overtime to complete the receipt of engineering invoices which will affect the material managers long term motivation coming into work allocating resources and imposing constraints on activity (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 155). Product- Was the volumes and frequency of the engineering invoices given on a Friday identifying those areas that require corrective action (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 155). Promotion- The finance manager; a senior manager requesting this activity be completed as soon as possible assessing how well managers have carried out their responsibilities (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 155). Place- Is material managers working location assessing how well managers have carried out their responsibilities (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 155). Budgeting is needed to provide managers at different levels with useful information to keep on the right road. This is illustrated in 11.2 the pyramid of purpose. This information is received for decision making. Corporate level- Provide a bus service to Transport for London Material manager overtime Support engineering Provide a bus service to Transport for London Provide parts and technical information Business level- Support engineering Operational level-Provide parts and technical information Operating Level-Material manager daily overtime Analysis of information criteria not being met There are 10 criteria which are proposed for good-quality information for decision-making; this is illustrated in figure 8. However the material managers overtime sheets were being sent directly to payroll, which added to the budget information problem. 1 Relevant- Their line manager had no knowledge of Material managers overtime 7 Timely- No Knowledge of Material managers overtime being over budget until at the end of the month 8 Communicated to the right person- Overtime sheets were sent directly to payrolls Figure 8 10 criteria which are propose for good-quality information for decision-making 10 Less costly than the value of the benefits it provides 9 Communicated via the right channel 8 Communicated to the right person 7 Timely 6 Concise 5 Trustworthy 4 Complete 3 Sufficiently accurate 2 Clear 1 Relevant Good-quality information for decision-making Analysis of the absorption costing approach From the cost analysis, the logistical function has a total budget figure of  Ã‚ £48,000. This is calculated by applying the  normal budgeted hourly rate of  £12.60 which is the budgeted man (direct labour) hours per manager according to normal capacity illustrated in figure 9, by the using the incremental budgeting principle. Figure 9 cost assignment is both Indirect cost- variable Overtime brought on by finance invoices Cost object Bus repair Direct cost- fixed Weekly overtime to provide parts and technical information to engineering The indirect and direct costs are equally distributed illustrated in figure 10, using the absorption costing approach which all cost is allocated to the main budget. This prevents monitoring of actual hours against the  actual spend within the budget. The resulting variances  should have enabled the logistical function to monitor the productivity and efficiency of all the managers. Hopefully, you can then see if there is a pattern or a reason for persistent adverse variance. The analysis will provide you with some clues about incentivize or modify  such behaviour via the budget building process. Figure 10 Relationship between costs Direct cost Variable cost Overtime brought on by finance invoices  £20.23 Fixed cost Weekly overtime to technical information to engineering  £12.60 Indirect cost Break-even analysis Break-even analysis identifies the level of activity and risk at which an organisation can generates no surplus or deficit. In the case of an over-budgeting issue; it relates to the point where the logistical function is in budget and will not be penalized for being over spent illustrated in figure 11. TotalJanuary February March April May June July  £2,102  £2,650  £2,546  £2,466  £4,592  £6,041  £6,457 Over BudgetNet Total =  £26,854 Total Budget- £ 48,000 Monthly allowance  £4,000 =  £48000- £26,854 =  £21,146 21,146(Fixed cost)/ 6 months =  £3,524 per month in overtime remaining  £3,524/ 15 material managers=  £234.93 per manager Direct cost  £234.93/  £12.60 = 18.64(Contribution) weekly hours per month or Indirect cost  £234.93/  £20.23 = 11.61(Contribution) weekend hours per month Figure 11 Break-even analysis Conclusion From the analysis, there is a clear budget information problem within the logistical function; the problem solving frame work has identified several problem areas. By Using the 4 Ps to illustrate Material managers working more on a weekend which has a higher premium rate than daily working. The limitations of the incremental budgeting; as an effective forecasting tool. 10 criteria; which are essential for good-quality information for decision-making. In which 3 criteria are not being met. In addition, not identifying true cost drivers within the budget. In which material managers that are working more on a weekend are not identified. These factors combined have affected the logistical function staying within their overtime budget. Recommendation Budgeting is part of the control process in organisations: the control loop (Understanding marketing and financial information, P. 134). The setting objectives, planning and implementing tasks, monitoring progress, reviewing results and adjusting tasks are crucial in staying and planning budgets illustrated in figure 12. Based on the investigative examination and analysis of the problems; these recommendations should improve the over- budget situation and return productivity. Figure 12 recommendations within the budget control loop Check against overtime sheets past weeks If not working- restart from the begin of the loop Operational level Provide parts and technical information Use recommendation outlined in action plan to control material manger overtime budget- budget building process Using the SMART framework from (Understanding marketing and financial information, Pg 122) the action plan will be outlined as the following Recommendation Timeline Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats (Price) Material manager weekly overtime sheets sent to senior material manager 1 week to start Giving back control to the line manager by improving the Relevant, Communicated to the right person and Timely elements of information Increase of Senior material manager workload To start a new process, which can be adapted throughout the company and monitor usage for next year budget review Material managers might feel disempowered which might affect there motivation (Place) Weekend overtime needs pre-approval 1 week to start Giving back control to line manager by improving the control element of the budgeting loop. In addition the material having to work on a weekend might increase their morale Increase of Senior material manager workload To start a new process, which can be adapted throughout the company and monitor usage for efficiency of material mangers Identification of cost drivers Control of weekend working (indirect labour) Material managers might feel disempowered which might affect their motivation (Product) + Promotion Finance manager giving the invoices on a Monday instead of a Friday 2 weeks to start Spread the work load of the material manager Direct labour cost Increase of material managers weekly workload Weekend overtime can be used to complete other essential engineering task Build up of daily work that carried over from day to day Rolling budgets Next financial year Flexibility is built into the budgeting system to deal with any changes arising from day to day activities Updated much more frequently increasing work load It encourage a high level of learning and flexibility Rolling budget can be expensive in terms of management and administrating time. Which might affect management morale and less time to manage Activity based costing Next financial year Understand what and where is driving costs Very time consuming, checking each material managers overtime sheet for cost drivers Understand of cost drivers  before an informed decision can be reached If inappropriate drivers are selected. then it could lead to incorrect decisions  resulting in loss of efficiency,  de-motivation of staff and eventual failure of the business Work shredding to engineering administration clerks 2 weeks Reduce in material manager weekend overtime- It asserts, on quite strong evidence, that 80% of our results are generally produced by 20% of our effort and that the remaining 80% of our effort is swallowed up in achieving that last 20% of our results Increase in administration clerks workload Training have to be provided- cost Training and development Increase in errors by new users. Responsibility still remains with material manager 1640 Words References B629/BZX629 Managing 2: Marketing and finance Understanding marketing and financial information by Produced for the course team by Andrew Lindridge and Haider Ali (Marketing) and Graham Francis and Michael Lucas (Finance) The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA 2010 The Open University The Managers Good Study Guide by Academic Editor: Sheila Tyler 2007 The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA Booms, B. H. and Bitner M. J. (1981) Marketing Strategies and Organization Structures for service firms in Donnelly, J.H. and George, W. R. (eds) (1981) Marketing of Services, Chicago: American Marketing Association, pp. 47-52. Hope, J. and Fraser, R.(2003)Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap, Boston, M.A., Harvard Business School. Francis, G. Et al, (2009), B629 Managing 2, Marketing and Finance, Understanding marketing and Financial Information Part 3, the Open University, Milton Keynes Lindridge A et al,, (2009), Understanding Marketing and financial Information, B629/BX629, Managing 2: Marketing and Finance Part 2, Chapter 6, The marketing Mix, Managing Channel Conflict ,Communication difficulties / Expectation Role Incongruities pg21, the Open University, Milton Keynes Johnson and Scholes (1993) Mendelows matrix, Exploring corporate strategy PG. 177 New York: Prentice Hall, 1993.   Bonomo, T. V. and Shapiro, B. P. (1983) Segmenting The Industrial Market, Lexington, Lexington Books, cited in Sargeant, A. (2009) Marketing Management for Non profit Organisations, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Bibliography Examples, Francis, G (2009), Understanding marketing and financial information, B629/BX629 Managing 2: Marketing and Finance Part 3, the Open University, Milton Keynes Lindridge, A et al, (2009), Understanding marketing and financial information, B629/BX629 Managing 2 : Marketing and Finance Part 1, the Open University, Milton Keynes Lucas, M et al (2009), Managing 2: Marketing and finance, Course Activities 3, the Open University, Milton Keynes Francis, G (2009), Understanding marketing and financial information, B629/BX629 Managing 2: Marketing and Finance Part 3, the Open University, Milton Keynes Tyler, S. (2007), The Managers Good Study Guide, 3rd edition, the Open University, Milton Keynes.