Monday, September 30, 2019

About Edumentor

About eduMENTOR This is a very small firm. Its full name is edumentor educational services. It provides coaching to students for cracking entrance exams of B. B. S. ; B. B. A. ; B. B. E. Promoter of edumentor is Vikas Jain who is Shaheed Sukhdev College of studies passout. At the moment, edumentor is a partnership firm run by Mr. Vikas Jain and Mr. Manuj Arora. Although it is a small firm but it is fastest growing coaching centre ever (according to data provided by them). Edumentor is just three years old and is now threatening the business of IMS (temple of learning); T. I. M. E. ; Career launcher and many smaller coaching centres. Members of eduMENTOR Mr. Vikas Jain and Mr. Manuj Arora (owners of the firm) Mr. Aashish and Mr. Saurabh Mr. Deepak Sharma There were 3 more employees who were sitting in the office, but I don’t know the name of them. I am assuming there name as A, B, C. Level of management There is no middle level management in this firm. There is only low level management and high level management in edumentor. My project is based on high level management of edumentor. My history with eduMENTOR There is a history of mine with edumentor. I have worked here as a trainee. Last year (March, 2008), edumentor was conducting counseling for commerce students who were appearing for 12th class board exam. They appointed more than 250 trainees for this purpose. I was supervisor of 7 trainees. Among those trainees there was a guy named Deepak Sharma. We became very good friends at that time. After the completion of counseling project, I left edumentor, but Deepak still worked there and today he is project manager of edumentor. I also know Vikas Jain, Manuj Arora, aashish, saurabh because of last year training done by me. My observation in eduMENTOR I have spent 3 days in edumentor for doing organizational behaviour project. On day 1, as I entered the office, aashish sir greeted me, I felt very much delighted because aashish sir always talked me rudely last year. On next 2 days no one greeted me. On all 3 days both of them wore informal clothes. According to my 3 days experience in edumentor, I come to know that there is a very good relationship between all the members of edumentor. In my presence, 5 students have taken admission in edumentor. Whenever any student takes admission, they all start celebrations. Deepak is the guy who literally loves edumentor. Whenever I talk him about edumentor, he always starts praising it. Deepak also got a job offer from Brilliant Tutorials with a better salary but he opted to stay at edumentor. I asked him why he rejected the job, he said â€Å"in edumentor everyone knows me, I am getting better job designation here and as edumentor grow, I will also grow! † This was his answer. Edumentor had also provided 0% loan to Deepak. Because of this loan Deepak purchased new scooty. I loved this type of helping employee management. Aashish sir is a professional counselor. He does counseling of students who come to edumentor office. Bringing the students in edumentor office is the responsibility of Deepak and to let them enroll in edumentor (admission in edumentor) is the responsibility of Aashish sir. Responsibility of Saurabh sir is almost same as responsibility of aashish sir. Saurbh sir does the counseling in coaching centres. Aashish sir is also responsible for keeping cash. Mr. A is responsible for for making question paper and Ms. B & Ms. C are responsible for telephonic calling. Although designations of A, B, C are small, but they are all treated cordially. They are considered as a important member of edumentor family. Like Deepak, Aashish sir is also very desperate for the success of edumentor, although he is just an employee. When I first met Aashish sir last year, I thought he is the owner of edumentor. Aashish sir had done post graduate in finance from a very good university. He is also getting finance related jobs but like Deepak he opted to stay at edumentor. A, B, and C are also good employees but they are working for money. I had seen Ms. B and Ms. C reading ‘situation vacant’ in the newspaper. Mr. A generally didn’t talk to anyone. Whenever he talked it was related to his work. Last year Saurabh sir faced a bike accident. After 6 months, he recovered. Edumentor sponcered half of his medical expenses. I liked this type of sponcership, this type of management. Because of this, Saurabh sir is very loyal to edumentor. Saurabh Sir is also responsible for board activities under which he recruits trainees. These trainees do small counseling of commerce students who are appearing for board exam at their board centers. Counseling here implies pursuing students to take admission in edumentor and also telling them the future aspects of BBS, BBA, BBE. Mr. A’s job is to make question paper. He does this job under the supervision of Manuj sir. Manuj sir is actually responsible for managing question paper. Manuj sir also offered me the job of making question paper. He asked me like this â€Å"Raghav if you want to prepare for CAT entrance exam then do this job, you will automatically get prepared for CAT! † This is called true management. With a style he convinced me to do this low paid job and I also agreed to his offer. Manuj sir is also responsible for overall management of edumentor. There is no specific HR department in edumentor. Manuj sir, Aashish sir, Saurabh sir, Vikas sir and Deepak all are performing HR job. They all trust each other very much. Because of this trust, there is no room for confusion. Vikas sir is the guy who started edumentor. According to my observation Vikas sir is only investing in edumentor. He is simply an investor. As he is the main stake holder of edumentor, final decision related to management is taken by him only. Although he does not participate in day to day management, but he is the only guy who motivates every employee, make them feel that they are the owner of edumentor. The meetings held in edumentor are informal. Sometimes they even crack jokes. On day 2 of my observation, they were discussing about recruiting trainees from school of open learning. Although their topic was serious, but they were discussing it informally. Meetings held there were spontaneous. Whenever there was an issue either it was small or big, they immediately conduct meeting. I loved this quick management in edumentor. When there is no meeting, then also they generally talk informally, although their talks are related to their work. Vikas sir, Manuj sir, Aashish Sir, Saurabh sir and Deepak are like the pillars of edumentor. Vikas sir and Manuj sir are obviously concerned for edumentor as they are the owners of firm. But Saurabh sir, Deepak and Aashish sir are also very concerned for edumentor, they all are getting better job, but they opted to stay in edumentor. According to them edumentor is going to become no. coaching centre and working in edumentor is like investment, they will grow as edumentor grows. The environment of edumentor is too good. This is the type of office in which I can spend my whole life. Here everyone is interested in success of edumentor. I would love to work here as growth of edumentor is proportional to growth of mine. There is positive vibration everywhere in the office. Small conclusion Edumentor is the best place to work specia lly for beginners as there is big room for growth. Vikas sir is a dynamic leader, student who wants to be a great leader should work under his guidance.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Chik-Fil-a Case Analysis

{draw:frame} CASE ANALYSIS Principals of Management December 11, 2008 Abstract Chick-fil-a restaurant is a family owned chain. Truett Cathy has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. {text:bibliography-mark} . As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . Table of Contents I. Introduction and Background Abstract †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 II. Literature Review†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4-7 A. Major research area one: History of Chick-fil-A†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 B. Major research area two: Mission Statement†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 4 C. Major research area three: SWOT Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5-7 D. Major research area four: Industry Environment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 7 E. Major research area five: Financial Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 E. Conclusion:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. 7 III. References †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Literature Review History of Chick-fil-A: In the small Atlanta suburb of Hapeville in 1946, Truett Cathy opened the Dwarf Grill and later named it Dwarf House. In 1961, Good Brothers Poultry offered Cathy to come up with a chicken sandwich that met up to airline size requirements. He then invented the original Chicken Sandwich in 1964 when his regular customers finally told him â€Å"We like it. Don’t change it again. † {text:bibliography-mark} When he was deciding on the name to trade mark, he thought about the chicken filet he used. He then shortened it with a capital â€Å"A† at the end to stand for top quality. In 1967 he opened up his first mall restaurant in the Greenbrair Mall in Atlanta. In 1973, he offered $1000 team member scholarships for his employees to further their education. In 1982 it was the 1st fast food chain nationally to sell chicken nuggets. In 1992, Georgia Tech and Clemons University were the first Universities to have a Chick-fil-a restaurant on campus. According to Truett Cathy’s biography that I looked up on his website, he has been in the restaurant business for 62 years and now has 1,400 restaurants in 37 states including Washington D. C. text:bibliography-mark} . Mission Statement: â€Å"Be America’s Best Quick-Service Restaurant† {text:bibliography-mark} . *S. W. O. T. ANALYSIS*: Strengths: Name Brand Recognition: Chick-fil-A officially opened in an Atlanta mall in 1967. In 1995, Chick-fil-A introduced the infamous renegade cows known for the â€Å"Eat Mor Chickin† campaigns. {text:bibliography-mark} . Customer Service:Chic-fil-A, prid es itself on pleasing the customer, and it shows. Anytime I have ever visited any Chic-fil-A restaurant, I have been served with the greeting ending in â€Å"my pleasure†. They have won 30 customer service awards in the past 12 years, and among those the Business Week/J. D. Power has awarded them top 25 â€Å"Customer Service Champs† {text:bibliography-mark} . Employee Retention: Regarding the Closed on Sunday Policy, Chick-fil-A mentioned in a press release online â€Å"there must be something special about how Chick-fil-A feels about its people. † I do believe that being closed on Sunday’s gives their employees the opportunity to spend quality time with their families and/or go to church. Community Involvement: Chic-fil-A does not stop with the employee or the customer, they also help charities such as the â€Å"Chick-fil-A Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America† which raises money for various children hospitals. Nutritio_n: _With chicken being the main thing on the menu, Chick-fil-A uses trans-fat and cholesterol free peanut oil to deep fry their chicken and French fries. They also have 10 menu items that have 10 or fewer grams of fat {text:bibliography-mark} . Weaknesses _Closed on Sunday Policy_: Although Mr. Cathy prides himself and does not regret the â€Å"Closed on Sunday Policy†, this is still a potential day to make revenues. In 2007, sales reached $2. 64 billion {text:bibliography-mark} , and I can only imagine how much sales would be if they were open on Sunday. Religion at work: Since Mr. Cathy has such strong Christian beliefs, some people who are not religious may find that intimidating or awkward to work for. For example, in October of 2002, Chick-fil-a was slapped with a lawsuit for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 {text:bibliography-mark} . The lawsuit came after Aziz Latif was fired one day after training in which his attorney claims that the following events took place: â€Å"’_Everyone said a prayer, one at a time, to Jesus Christ’he said’When it came to our client, who is Muslim, he didn’t say anything. There was an awkward silence. Then eventually the next person started praying to Jesus Christ. The next day he was fired. ’† {text:bibliography-mark} _ I could not find the verdict of this trial, but this is one way that religion at work can be a weakness to the company. Only selling chicken: Chick-fil-A sells only chicken which is another weakness. By not offering beef, pork, or fish Chick-fil-A is not expanding their target market to the people who choose not to eat chicken. The people who choose to eat these other meats are lost customers that could have been potential customers had they offered them these other products. Opportunity Growth: In 2007, Chick-fil-A had more than 1,380 restaurants in 37 states, and with a unique $5000 sub-lease franchise opportunity, I do not see this number getting any smaller any time soon. Innovation: Chick-fil-A has definitely grown since their one mall restaurant. They now have approximately 375 major mall restaurants, 728 stand-alone locations, 29 drive-thru-only restaurants, 11 Chick-fil-A Dwarf House Restaurants, and 2 ‘50s diner-themed Truett’s Grill Restaurants {text:bibliography-mark} . Education: Chick-fil-A also has several employee scholarship programs available that date all the way back to 1973. They have offered more than $23. 5 million to over 23,300 employees. The scholarships are the Team Member Scholarship program, S. Truett Cathy Scholar Awards, and also the WinShape Foundation. This to me says that they want valuable team members who can bring new ideas to the table, and not have to outsource for more educated personnel to fill the shoes of the high command positions. Threats: Lower Priced Fast Food Restaurants Meat Variety Restaurants C. Industry Environment: Chick-fil-A is a fast food chain constantly striving to be the top of its game. Although it only serves chicken on the menu and is closed on Sunday’s, it has no problems keeping up with its competitors in revenue. *D. Financial Analysis*: As of 2007, Chick-fil-A’s reached sales of $2. 64 billion which showed an improvement of 16. 09% increase in sales from 2006 {text:bibliography-mark} . E. Conclusion: In conclusion, I think Chick-fil-A is a successful family owned restaurant chain. I believe that an egger entrepreneur could make a big profit from its initial franchise startup cost of $5,000. I believe that Truett Cathy is a generous owner who gives back to the community. I have learned a lot from this case study and would probably start my own Chick-fil-A restaurant if I had the money at this time. References:

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Art Museum Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art Museum Assignment - Essay Example It captures a man by a boat at the river and the tranquil surroundings. Analyzing the elements of the painting shows that horizontal lines dominate the painting indicating the calmness of the scene. The colors used are mostly tones of blue and green with hues of brown, red and yellow. The painting simulates the textures of the textile and the reeds at the river and the artist created an illusion of proximity by using the varying values of the colors. The boat and the man appear nearer to the viewer since the artist used darker values of green, brown, blue and red. In contrast, the trees and the house on the right part of the composition appear to be distant because of the lighter values of green, yellow and blue used on the forms. A River in Normandy exhibits the fine technical skill of Bonington. The artist’s precision and mastery of techniques earned the respect of his colleague Eugene Delacroix. The painting is also one of the examples of en plein air artworks at the time that artists were usually inside studios to paint. Another painting from the Dallas Museum of Art is the Sheaves of Wheat by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The oil on canvas work is 50.483 centimeters x 100.965 centimeters and was completed in July 1890, the same year that van Gogh died. The piece was painted during the period that the painter was experiencing physical and mental health problems. It was also during this time that van Gogh was assumed to develop problems with his eyesight thus the colors he used were lighter in value. The Sheaves of Wheat is a non-representational painting showing bundles of freshly harvested wheat. Typical of a non-representational painting, van Gogh’s artwork does not fully resemble the heaps of wheat because of the color and daubs of paint that make up the form of the wheat stacks. Diagonal lines are prevalent in this painting, signifying movement and suggesting

Friday, September 27, 2019

Project 2 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Project 2 - Research Paper Example This study aims at providing a guideline for the development of a code of ethical conduct in a Police department through analysing how the ethical policy will be established, resources to be used, and communication to members of the organization. Other facets to be analyzed are an inspection for compliance and reinforcement. The establishment of the ethical policy will follow certain guidelines including the establishment of a committee to guide  the ethical policy development and implementation process (Hendrikse & Hendrikse, 2003). Setting the goals and objectives to be achieved by the code of ethics forms the basis for the development allowing the committee to have a set aim in developing the ethical policy. The committee tasked with the development will be compromised of a representative from all levels of responsibility of the department from the management to the lowest ranking. The representatives will discuss with the members of their teams and present their views on the code of ethical conduct for deliberation to ensure all the employees are involved in the development of the ethical policy. After the committee comprising of diverse organization members in terms of responsibility, position, leadership role, among other characteristics, data collection will begin. All stakeholders, management, employees, leaders, commanders, Sherriff, sweepers, secretaries, suppliers, tea-girl, and each person who will be affected from the development of the code of conduct will be required to have an input on the ethical policy development. The use of focus groups among members of the same level of responsibility and leadership in the Department and in-depth interviews and surveys by the committee will allow for a comprehensive, all-encompassing code of conduct development. The committee will then present the issues, views, and opinions obtained from data collection for deliberation and discussion to tailor the code to the goals and objectives of the

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Skoda Auto Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Skoda Auto - Case Study Example Globally, Skoda Auto commands significant brand recall. Their claim to fame was always their pedigree. Skoda Auto realized the need to communicate information about its product features. The recent print campaign attempts that. In June last year, the company played the safety card. The advertising strategy is pitched on safety. So there is a mother and kid print ad, and the copy reads we fill our airbags with life.' The proposition was centered on the fact that Skoda automobile comes with six airbags - a feature that safeguards the owner and his little one. This feature targets customers who are safety conscious. "We use television commercials as part of the corporate branding strategy, while the print advertisements communicate the benefits," explains Vaid. The recent well built' television commercial is a 30-second film shot in exotic locales in Goa. It says that the car needs to be well built to carry one's loved ones. However, the contemporariness of models has a big impact on purchase decision. The perception of the car in terms of its performance and design, quality, sales and after-sales, cost of ownership, apart from brand image, all affect the purchase decision. Product quality has the highest correlation with brand image, Bhatia says.

Leadership in the NHS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Leadership in the NHS - Essay Example It is in this regard that application of the effective leadership quality is necessary to upgrade the operational skills of the employees and to achieve the desired objectives. Emphasizing similar value attributes concerning its leadership roles, the Local’s Children’s Centre hosts an interactive session with respect to the progress of wean process as a measure to reduce obesity rates among children. This initiative has been undertaken by the NHS to create awareness amidst the society with respect to child obesity and its dreadful implications. The study intends to discuss about the various measures undertaken by National Health Services (NHS) to ensure about the nutritional benefits to the society, especially the children (Bevan, 2012). In addition, the NHS healthcare service organization attempts to practice various leadership qualities in order to manage the change with respect to the wean process that results in childhood obesity. Accordingly, the study discusses about the various initiatives been undertaken by NHS to create awareness within the society with respect to the nutritional benefits. NHS needs to mitigate various changes, likely to occur while transforming the traditional processes pertaining to weaning into progressive for deriving better nutritional benefits for reducing the risks of childhood obesity. In general, the ‘weaning’ process conveys about the process of involving the nutritional, biochemical and immunological adjustments by providing complementary food items in the child’s diet. Contextually, it has been noted that the breast-milk has been traditionally perceived as the most essential as nutritional food diet for infants. Traditionally, the children in their early years were provided only with breast milk. Feeding breast milk to the children has always been considered as the best source of providing nutrition. However, changes observed in the lifestyle choices in recent scenario have apparently influenced the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The killing of US citizen Anwar al Awlaki in Yemen Research Paper

The killing of US citizen Anwar al Awlaki in Yemen - Research Paper Example President Obama sought to justify the killing by stating that Anwar and his Al-Qaeda affiliates guided a failed trial or attempt to bomb an airplane in December 2009 during Christmas celebrations. Further, the president stated that Anwar also directed a failed trial to bomb an American cargo aircraft in 2010 (CBSNEWS.Com, 2012). The killing of Anwar al-Alwaki by a missile assault elicited a heated debate on the U.S justification of using lethal force against American citizens. For the first time since the end of American civil war, the U.S government had conducted an intentional and deliberate killing or murder of an American resident or citizen as a wartime foe and in absence of trial. The American government tried to keep the matter a secret but the choice to hunt and murder Anwar became an issue of public debate and scrutiny. Some American wondered the limitation of the powers of the president if he can order the killing of Americans abroad based on secret intelligence. It is significant to note that the killings of Anwar in Yemen brought in new information about the intelligence, military and legal challenges that the U.S government faced. This is because it shows the risks or perils of war, depending on missile strike from drone rarely recognized by the U.S citizens and intricate justifications written for only a selected few officials to read (The New Times, 2013). It is believed that Anwar al-Alwaki and Samir Khan who killed in the drone strike were al-Qaeda operational leader in Yemen. The two were U.S citizens who had never been accused by the American government nor indicted with any crime. The secrecy behind such drone strikes emerged as major issue because of the legal and ethical issues involved in the killings (Wilson Center, 2012). Information from the U.S department of Justice asserted that the drone missile

Monday, September 23, 2019

Strategic Corporate Finance. All about IPOs Essay

Strategic Corporate Finance. All about IPOs - Essay Example Another option is to raise capital from the public. A corporation is a legal entity separate from the lives of its owners and if conditions are favorable, it can raise capital through an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the equity market or alternatively through issuing bonds in the debt market. Obviously the public response would depend on the viability of the company, its future prospects and line of business, as well as the reputation and business acumen of its management. Types of IPOs, Advantages & Risks Generally speaking, at the present time there are two options as to how an IPO can be made. The first, as indicated above, is to make a public offering so that all interested investors can read the prospectus and apply for the shares through the stock market. However nowadays things are a little bit more complicated as the IPO is usually conducted by investment banking firms in return for commissions and fees. One of them acts as an underwriter, guaranteeing to take up all share s not applied for. This helps the company raise the required capital regardless of the amount of public response. An underwriting fee is charged as per agreement made with the IPO company. With the large size of corporate entities and the phenomenal sums involved in share flotation, it is not surprising that there could be a number of investment firms involved in the IPO process and they then direct the flow of ownership to popular and moneyed entities so that initial funds to the firm are ensured. However this could lead to lack of diverse ownerships and control problems in later years. The second option in vogue today- and that chosen by Google and Morning Star- is to raise initial capital through an open auction process. As can be imagined, almost anyone interested in bidding can do so by applying for the minimum amount of shares offered in a lot. This can truly diversify ownership as there is no telling who will make a bid for shares (Carter, 2005). It is then up to the registra r to decide who gets the final allotment of shares. However a competitor or an unscrupulous individual or firm may also get hold of a sizeable number of shares this way, so it sometimes makes sense to use the services of investment banks. It could cost a little more to organize road shows, seminars and the like to get people interested, but in the long run more diverse ownership in the hands of the public is guaranteed. It also leads to greater liquidity and the company may not have to resort to stock splits later to dilute values and promote marketability and capitalization (Rao, 2011). A Brief History of Avaya Avaya is a spinoff of Lucent Technologies. Lucent Technologies is itself a spinoff from AT&T. Alcatel-Lucent is the parent company of Bell Laboratories, and like Bell, Avaya is also involved in providing networking, communications and information technology solutions to its worldwide customers. It is considered by experts to be a world leader in hardware maintenance, enterpr ise messaging, range audio conferencing, operating a contact center and using Unified Communications and Enterprise Telephony. The company was created in 2000. It is headquartered in New Jersey, USA. Avaya has offices in 145 countries (Avaya Group, 2011). Since its creation, Avaya has successfully bid for a number of companies such as Tenovis, Nortel, Ubiquity Systems, Sipera Systems and Aurix. The company is at present privately owned by TPG Capital and Silver Lake Partners, who acquired it on 26 October 2007 for $8.2

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Sophisticated narrative review of Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret life of Essay

Sophisticated narrative review of Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret life of Bees - Essay Example is a major character or merely an asterisk to the action, the white woman is, by virtue of her symbolic importance in Southern history and culture, a significant presence in novels about the Civil Rights Movement. This might be counterintuitive since the white man would seem the likely arch-adversary in the civil rights dilemma—or worse, focus on the white woman might appear as an attempt to usurp the centrality of African Americans in favor of the group furthest removed from civil rights issues. And yet, the white woman was at the center of those issues. The white woman is central to civil rights issues and to fiction that specifically and substantially depends upon the Civil Rights Movement for material because she was the supporting beams and pillars of the culture the Movement sought to dismantle. That the relationship between the white woman and the Civil Rights Movement has been neglected suggests only that the significance of this relationship has been somehow overshadowed, not that it is insignificant. In 2002, a novel hit the New York Times best-seller list. The setting was the rural South in the late sixties, just after the passage of the Civil Rights Act. The main characters, take refuge with a family of women who live in a house on the outskirts of town. The book is Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees. Its heroine, Lily Owens, thus achieves spiritual transcendence through communal living with a family of women, self-styled religious rituals, and racial integration. Kidd’s novel exemplifies the two trends that have emerged most clearly in American women’s fiction over the last quarter of the twentieth-century: the move on the part of women writers to a creative and individualized religious practice rather than a traditional institutionalized one, and the examination of the intersections of religion, gender and race as they shape identity. Everything from the novel line to the references of the Civil Rights Movement occurring in 1960’s

Saturday, September 21, 2019

East of Eden Essay Example for Free

East of Eden Essay In John Steinbeck’s novel, East of Eden, the deprivation of a sound conscience is a theme that is associated with Cathy Ames, and afflicts the people around her. The author uses foreshadowing to portray the future of Cathy and her multiple victims. By doing so, the author builds onto the characterization of Cathy, revealing how truly malevolent she is. From birth, Cathy is foreshadowed to develop into something monstrous. The author claims that he â€Å"believe(s) there are monsters born in the world to human parents† (72). Even though she has not been physically presented to the reader yet, Cathy is about to be portrayed as the main evil in this novel. This prelude to Cathy’s characterization foreshadows the evil that will come with her presence. Cathy’s reign of terror begins when she burns her own house down, and â€Å"the frightened talk ran through the town that the whole Ames family had burned† (87). This action corresponds to the foreshadowing presented by the author’s description of monsters being born to human parents. By committing such an inhumane act, the reader gains the knowledge that Cathy has no conscience. Cathy’s tirade did not end there, and after giving birth to Adam, and possibly Charles’, babies and trying to leave him, â€Å"she shot at him. The heavy slug struck him in the shoulder and flattened and tore out a piece of his shoulder blade† (202). Cathy’s ability to kill the father of her children without even considering the severity of her actions shows how much of a monster Cathy truly is. The actions performed by Cathy at such an early stage in the story only foreshadows to the reader that she has not yet ended her path of destruction. Cathy’s inner evil is revealed at birth, and, at a young age, she discovers that she holds powers that can be used to manipulate others. From birth Cathy is foreshadowed to be pure evil, and she â€Å"learned when she was very young that sexuality with all its attendant yearnings and pains, jealousies and taboos, is the most disturbing impulse humans have† (75). It is disturbing that Cathy realizes her sexual capabilities at such a young age. The way Cathy’s thought process is presented, it can be seen that Cathy plans to abuse her powers, foreshadowing conflicts to arise in the future. It did not take long for Cathy to utilize her powers, and â€Å"at ten Cathy knew something of the power of the sex impulse and began coldly to experiment with it† (75). Cathy’s ‘experimentation’ with sexual power at such a young age helps further depict her as a malevolent being with no conscience. The fact that she begins abbling in sexual activities, at an age where most don’t even know what sex is, foreshadows that there can only be trouble to come from involvement with Cathy. Years pass and, as foreshadowed, Cathy becomes a major contributor to her local brothel. When speaking of her regular customers with the brothel’s owner, Faye, Cathy tells her to â€Å"look at the heel marks on their groins†¦ I’ve got the sweetest set of razors all in a case† (236). Cathy has been secretly sodomizing and extorting extra money from her regulars, showing she is not content with the amount of control she already possesses. Her actions foreshadow that Cathy’s search for power is never ending, foreshadowing she will continue her malicious acts until someone is capable of stopping her. At birth Cathy is depicted to be monstrous, which is proven true by the actions she displays while growing as a child. The realization of the many powers she possesses are developed and abused by Cathy, showing she disregards all others well being in her search for total control. Such actions can only be performed by those who have no sound conscience, and have no fear of the consequences posed by society.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Comparison of Flow Patterns of Rivers

Comparison of Flow Patterns of Rivers Introduction Comparing the flow patterns of rivers in different regions can be most revealing to the contemporary geographer. As Veissman and Lewis have emphasised, all waterways are influenced by the six components of the hydrological cycle.[1] These are: precipitation levels, infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, surface run-off and ground water flow. Such factors, along with topography, often vary considerably within relatively small geographical boundaries. For the purposes of this investigation the flow duration curves (FDCs) of the rivers Owenmore, Funshion, Rye Water and Fane, which are located in the Republic of Ireland, shall be subjected to inspection and comparison. The Flow Duration Curve As Singh has noted ‘the flow duration curve (FDC) is one of the simplest but most informative tools in hydrology’ and ‘shows the percentage of time during which specified flows were equalled or exceeded during the period of record.’[2] In essence, the FDC is a model which can be utilised by hydroelectric companies and other agencies in order to determine the energy capacity of a river, normally on an annual basis. The vertical, or Y, axis represents the flow rate (Q) measured in cubic metres per second (mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s) and the horizontal, or X, axis represents the percentage of time over a specific period in which flow exceeds the value on the Y axis. Thus, the area below the curve shows the potential energy capacity of the river. The shape of the FDC is influenced by the six components of the hydrological cycle and also the topography and shape of the river’s catchment area. As Ward and Robinson have highlighted, a steeply sloping FDC is typical of ‘highly variable flows with a large quick flow component.’[3] Such a trend is associated with waterways in the Mediterranean region due to extremes in precipitation levels, high surface run-off and a low storage capacity of the soil. On the contrary, a gently sloping curve indicates a ‘large delayed flow component.’[4] This is typical of many rivers in temperate climates which continue to receive through-flow during periods of low precipitation from water stored in the surrounding soil and bedrock. The lower end of the FDC is indicative of ‘perennial storage in the basin.’[5] Thus, if the FDC ‘flattens out,’ the catchment area has a considerable degree of water stored which will flow into the river during d ry periods. A Comparison of Rivers The Flow Duration Curves of both the rivers Owenmore and Funshion are similar in shape and exhibit a much steeper trend in comparison to the FDCs of rivers Rye Water and Fane. However, the curve of the Funshion flattens out more than that of the Owenmore. Flow rate never decreases below 1.8mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s on the Funshion whereas on the Owenmore it can be as low as 0.8mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. This shows that the Funshion benefits from a greater level of through flow and storage capacity within its drainage basin. Indeed, this is understandable when one considers that the total area of the Funshion’s catchment exceeds that of the Owenmore by 64 Km . Specific run-off is also 0.9 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s higher in the area of the Owenmore which accounts for the river having a higher maximum flow rate of 20.90 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. In only 5% of the time, 17.3% of the total annual flow rate passes through its water channel. Mean flow rate of the River Funshion is 8.14 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s, the highest of all the rivers. Flow rate exceeded for 95% of the year (Q95) is 0.495 and emphasises that the Funshion has the greatest minimum river flow of all the waterways. The rivers Rye Water and Fane have a flow range which is less than that of the Owenmore and Funshion. Maximum flow rate is 11.8 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s on the Rye Water and 8.0 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s on the Fane. This is due in part to the lower drainage area of both basins. The Fane’s is only 234 km and the Rye Water’s is the smallest of the four at 215 km . The flow rate exceeded for 95% of the year (Q95) of the Fane is 0.085 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s to the Rye Water’s 0.046 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. The Fane’s catchment exhibit’s a greater degree of storage capacity than that of the Rye Water as flow rate never drops below 0.20 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. However, the Rye Water’s flow rate drops considerably and levels off at only 0.10 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /s for 15% of the year, contributing to the lowest mean flow rate of all the waterways at just 2.16 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. The specific run-off rate of the Rye Water is 0.4 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s higher than that of the Fane. Of all the rivers, the Funshion exhibits the highest base flow rate whilst the Rye Water’s is the lowest. The Owenmore has the widest range of flow rate from 20.90 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³ /s to only 0.80 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. The Fane has the gentlest FDC and ranges from 8.00 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s at high flow to 0.20 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s at low flow. Geographical Locations and Factors of Influence The River Owenmore is located in the north of the Republic of Ireland and flows from north central Mayo to Sligo Bay. Precipitation levels are high in this oceanic coastal area and average 1163 mm per year. As Mitchell and Ryan have noted, this zone is also dominated by poorly drained peat and gley soils.[6] Thus, during periods of heavy rainfall, a large amount of surface run-off flows directly to the river channel. High upland plateaus, which dominate the region to heights of up to 2113 feet, contribute to this phenomena. This explains why the flow rate of the River Owenmore can reach 20.90 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s during periods of high rainfall. The course of the river traverses terrain utilised for grazing and dairying purposes. Such an expanse of grassland further exacerbates surface run-off during the winter months. The River Funshion is a tributary to the Blackwater River in south west Ireland. This region is also overlooked by uplands which can rise to heights of 2000 feet at the source of the Blackwater. The steepness of the surrounding topography is a potent factor in generating a top flow rate of 20.20 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. Heavily forested slopes also ensure that a higher degree of subsurface water is retained within the basin than in the sparsely wooded catchment area of the River Owenmore in the north. The Funshion thus receives a higher level of through-flow at times of low precipitation due to this vegetation factor and flow rate never drops below 1.80 mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s. Rainfall averages 1190mm per year in this catchment area, which is the most of all the four drainage basins. The rivers Rye Water and Fane experience lower levels of precipitation due to their location further east. The Fane is situated in the drumlin belt close to the town of Monaghan in South Armagh and the Rye Water is a tributary of the Liffey River which traverses the city of Dublin. The terrain influencing both drainage basins is not as dynamic as that of the west and altitudes rarely reach 655 feet. The highest flow rate of the Rye Water is just 11.80mà ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ³/s which is testimony to the lower eastern topography. However, urbanisation around the river channel has contributed to increased surface run-off; the river passes through the settlements of Kilcock and Leixlip before entering the Liffey. Orme has noted that the drumlin soils of catchments such as the River Fane are often poorly drained and prone to water logging.[7] This factor explains why the lower end of the river’s FDC does not drop as abruptly as that of the Rye Water. Clearly the Fane has a higher degree of surface storage in its catchment area. Bibliography HAUGHTON, J. P. GILMOUR, D. A. Geography of Ireland, The Department of Foreign Affairs, 1979 MITCHELL, F. RYAN, M. Reading the Irish Landscape, Town House Dublin, 1997 ORME, A. R. Ireland, Longman, 1970 SINGH, V. P. Environmental Hydrology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995 VEISSMAN, W. LEWIS, G. L. Introduction to Hydrology, Pearson Education Inc, Fifth Edition, 2003 WARD, R. C. ROBINSON, M. Principles of Hydrology, McGraw-Hill, 2000 WHITTOW, J. B. Geology and Scenery in Ireland, Penguin Books, 1974 Footnotes [1] W Viessman, G L Lewis, Introduction to Hydrology, Pearson, 2003) 2 [2] V P Singh, Environmental Hydrology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1995) 113 [3] R C Ward, M Robinson, Principles of Hydrology, McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 2000) 258 [4] R C Ward, M Robinson) 258 [5] R C Ward, M Robinson) 258 [6] F Mitchell, F Ryan, Reading the Irish Landscape, Town house Dublin, 1997) 308 [7] A R Orme, Ireland, Longman, 1970) 61

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Understanding the Social Contexts in which Art Works are Created :: essays papers

Understanding the Social Contexts in which Art Works are Created When analyzing artwork, in any form, there are often times social contexts in which can be interpreted. Not always does the history behind the painting need to be revealed to fully understand the concept of the artwork, yet it is helpful in determining if the artwork is truthful in its representation. Although in analyzing artwork it is likely that there are drawbacks to considering the social context. To illustrate this point, I'm going to use the visual arts as my medium of choice. Understanding the social context can be an important tool. An advantage of knowing the history of the painting or sculpture can really enrich our knowledge, being in the 21st century, about some of the social periods from previous times. It can demonstrate how traditions were carried out, how they had an impact on the different social classes. It's a visual teaching aid of a sort. Even in the time period of which the artwork was created can be used as a tool to show how the life was in different parts of the world. It was also used as a hammer in the realist movement to show the upper classes that life for the poor was horrible. The visual arts is the only medium in which the pictorial image creates a universal language in which anyone, regardless of nationality or social class can interpret. The text which is created by this language often creates a context which is left open to interpretation. Contexts are created by the artist, critics, judges, the public, essentially, any one who views the work and forms an opinion relating to it. The contexts stem from subject or content of an artwork, and are usually facts regarding the content. Yet, the contexts almost always have backgrounds themselves, therefore making the original contexts, texts. This will be more clearly illustrated later. The chain is seeming to be a never ending process. There are always more conditions to the previous ones. All context, therefore, is in itself, textual. This concept of all context in itself textual i s a post-structuralist strategy. A man named Derrida is a man who has developed this idea that the post-structuralist concept of every statement made, can be interpreted in infinite ways, with each interpretation triggering a range of subjective associations. Every statement has an association, therefore it's a sort of domino effect.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Impact of the Writers of Antiquity on Modern Times Essay -- History Li

Impact of the Writers of Antiquity on Modern Times History is riddled with the names of various intellectuals and descriptions of their theories. Born of brilliant men like Marx and Machiavelli, to name a few, these theories are preserved in books, illustrated in day-to-day domestic and international affairs, and immortalized in modern theories and documents. They are the predecessors of present theories that have been reinterpreted for a different era and reapplied in a new context. In his most famous work, The Prince, Niccolà ³ Machiavelli discusses the ways in which to not only attain, but also retain, political power. His works deal heavily with methods for creating and maintaining a defensive state—one that is capable of withstanding attack—and the ways in which a ruler can rule. According to Machiavelli, a ruler may violate the moral norm—throw away the ethical rulebook, so to speak—so long as it benefits his state. These theories still resound in many modern policies. Cruel birth control practices, like those of Indira Gandhi in the 1970’s and those of China much more...

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Fried Green Tomatoes :: essays research papers

Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Café "HER ORIGINAL NAME was Patricia Neal"(Reynolds1), but the author of Fried Green Tomatoes is better known under the alias: Fannie Flagg. In the novel Fried Green Tomatoes she uniquely compares the modern day world to the world in the early and the middle 1900’s. As the novel shifts from the 1930’s to the 1980’s the significance of life is seen through two of the main characters, Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode and Evelyn Couch, as life ends and begins. Fannie Flagg shows that living life to its fullest indeed has its consequences, but is the only way to live a happy life without regrets. From her start in the late 1920’s Mrs. Cleo Threadgoode knew a little girl by the name of Imogene but everyone called her Idgie. Idgie was one of the Threadgoodes and back in Whistle Stop the name Threadgoode was a good name to have. They were the basic life of this little town in Alabama. The Threadgoodes were people known and well liked by the rest of the sparsely populated area. The name she carried did not stop Idgie from doing whatever she wanted to do whenever she wanted to do it. "Idgie used to do all kinds of harebrained things just to get you to laugh. She put poker chips in the collection basket at the Baptist church once. She was a character all right†¦"(12). This shows that nothing would stop Idgie from doing her pranks and having her laughs. Maybe she was lectured by her priest or by her parents but she didn’t regret it. Idgie was concerned with the present, not the past or the future. Of course she had her hardship that wouldn’t let her forget, like when her brother Buddy died, and she even looked forward to a day, but she lived in the present. She lived life for the moment. "Now, seriously, Idgie, I’m not trying to run your business or anything, but I just want to know if you’re saving any money, that’s all. What for? Idgie said. Listen, money will kill you, you know that"(31). This shows that Idgie was not concerned with what tomorrow will bring and if she is prepared for it or not. It also shows that Idgie is not concerned with wealth, she is more concerned about the well being of others. This next passage gives a better impression of her pure unselfish heart.

Nationalism in Italy during the 1900’s Essay

By 1871, the separate states of Italy had finally become a unified country. Nationalism played a ver large part in this unification process. If it hadn’t been for the people of this region having a strong sense of pride for their country, Italy would still be split up into many nations as it was in the early 1800’s. There were certain people who helped move this process along tremendously, including Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi. All these great men helped form new movements or ideas. Then in the late 1800’s, the people of Italy had a growing sense of nationalism, which led to many changes in the future of their states. Feelings of nationalism arose while Napoleon I was in rule and then later, developed into large movements. Even more importantly, thinkers and writers who tried to create interests in the Italian traditions, ended up bringing up the Risorgimento, which in Italian means – † the resurgence†. Risorgimento was a nationalistic movement aimed to liberation and unification. Patriots of the Risorgimento worked together in their aims of liberation and unification, however, they disagreed on what type of government that would come into place after this unification. Secret societies called Carbonari, which was created and led by Mazzini, who furthered nationalistic feelings and was even imprisoned for the uprisings he caused. Mazzini was an idealist and envisioned a united Italy and devoted his entire life to this goal. Mazzini is also well known for creating another movement called â€Å"Young Italy†, where he called all Italian patriots to join. Cavour, the chief minister of Sardinia, was the man who brought many of these ideas together by using the establishing of new banks, factories, railroads, ships and treaties to lessen the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, and create and united, industrialized Italy. Unlike Mazzini, Cavour was a realist and was always determined to get results from the movements that took place under his rule. These strong feelings made new movements and wars inevitable. Another man that was devoted to Italian freedom was Giuseppe Garibaldi. He  was in and out of the country with exiles and revolutions, but his most important revolutionary plot was that with Cavour. This plot was forming an army, later called the Red Shirts, to free the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, invade Sicily and seize Naples. The inner conflicts of Italy were crucial to the fight for independence, but the wars with the outside countries were the ones that truly determined the fate of the nation. In 1855, Cavour and Napoleon III secretly met to plan a war against Austria to free Northern Italy. The war began in 1859 and was successful for the first three months until Napoleon decided he didn’t want Italy to be united after all, and signed a secret armistice with Austria. During those first three months, many states overthrew their Austrian rulers and requested an annexation to Sardinia. However, after this major shift in power, many rulers returned to their states that they had originally governed. All throughout the battles fought, the people still embraced the hope they all had for Italy as a free, unified nation. In 1860, a long awaited election was let forth to all the states excluding Rome and Venetia, which were still under Napoleon’s rule, and it was nearly unanimous that the Sardinian king, Victor Emmanuel II would rule the kingdom of Italy. The Italians had nearly achieved their aims of unity and had a parliament representing each state. Their ambition was satisfied when Napoleon III had to pull his troops out of Rome and Venetia for the Franco-Prussian war and they were captured and completed Italy. Even though this was wonderful for Italy to be united as a whole, they were inexperienced with government and were still very much divided by traditions and independence. The Mafia and heavy taxes caused a lot of tension on the country. Although, these were not the results of an earlier disunity, because before uniting, they could have easily had internal conflicts, but when united as a country, it really brings out the problems that certain parts of the country have with one another. Nevertheless, by 1871, Italy had finally reached the point of a unified country, but it still had a long way to go before it became the strong, stable nation it is today.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Human Rights and Food Security

A PAPER ON: ‘Human rights and food security’ _______________________________________ PRESENTED BY: SHASHANKA KUMAR NAG LL. M- THIRD SEMESTER HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY RAIPUR, CHHATTISGARH Address: Shashanka Kumar Nag LL. M (Third Semester) Boys Hostel, B- Block, Room No. F-32 Hidayatullah National law University Uparwara Post, Abhanpur New Raipur – 493661 (C. G. ) Mobile: 09804513485, 08817104782 E-mail- [email  protected] com DECLARATION I declare that the work submitted by me for this seminar is a result of my own effort.I affirm that there is no plagiarism and copying, either partially or entirely, from someone else's works, without giving proper credit and acknowledgement to the source(s)/author(s). INTRODUCTION â€Å"There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. † Mahatma Gandhi Human rights are commonly understood as â€Å"inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherent ly entitled simply because she or he is a human being. Human rights are thus conceived as universal (applicable everywhere) and egalitarian (the same for everyone). These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national and international law. The doctrine of human rights in international practice, within international law, global and regional institutions, in the policies of states and in the activities of non-governmental organizations, has been a cornerstone of public policy around the world.Many of the basic ideas that animated the human rights movement developed in the aftermath of the Second World War and the atrocities of The Holocaust, culminating in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Paris by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. The ancient world did not possess the concept of universal human rights. Ancient societies had â€Å"elaborate systems of duties†¦ conceptions of justice, political legitimacy, and human flourishing that sought to realize human dignity, flourishing, or well-being entirely independent of human rights†.The modern concept of human rights developed during the early Modern period, alongside the European secularization of Judeo-Christian ethics. The true forerunner of human rights discourse was the concept of natural rights which appeared as part of the medieval Natural law tradition that became prominent during the Enlightenment with such philosophers as John Locke, Francis Hutcheson, and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui, and featured prominently in the political discourse of the American Revolution and the French Revolution.The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, partly in response to the atrocities of World War II. Although the UDHR was a non-binding resolution, it is now considered by some to have acquired the force of international customary law which may be invoked in appropriate circumstances by nati onal and other judiciaries. The UDHR urges member nations to promote a number of human, civil, economic and social rights, asserting these rights as part of the â€Å"foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. The declaration was the first international legal effort to limit the behaviour of states and press upon them duties to their citizens following the model of the rights-duty duality. The right to food, and its variations, is a human right protecting the right for people to feed themselves in dignity, implying that sufficient food is available, that people have the means to access it, and that it adequately meets the individual's dietary needs. The right to food protects the right of all human beings to be free from hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.The right to food does not imply that governments have an obligation to hand out free food to everyone who wants it, or a right to be fed. However, if people are deprived of access to food for reasons beyond thei r control, for example, because they are in detention, in times of war or after natural disasters, the right requires the government to provide food directly. Right to Food and right to be free from hunger are the human rights which are protected under various international human rights and humanitarian laws.Right to food is explicitly mentioned in the Article 25(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948; and the Article 11 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966. It is also recognised in the Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Right to food of indigeneous people is implicit in the ILO Convention No-169 which is approved by 17 countries. Approximately 20 countries in the world have incorporated the Right to Food for their people. THE CONCEPT OF FOOD SECURITYWorld Development Report (1986) defined food security as â€Å"access by all people at all times to enough food for an active, healthy life. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the UNO, â€Å"Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient and nutritious food to meet the dietary needs and food preference for an active and healthy life. † Staatz (1990) defined food security as â€Å"The ability to assure, on a long term basis, that the food system provides the total population access to a timely, reliable and nutritionally adequate supply of food. Thus food security may be of short-term or sustainable. In case of short-term food security we consider food security of the present population only. But in case of sustainable food security we consider the food security not only of the present generation but also of the future generation as well. According to Swaminathan, â€Å"Sustainable food security means enough food for everyone at present plus the ability to provide enough food in future as well. † In the long-run sustainable food security is very important. ELEMENTS OF FOOD SECURITY Food security is a state of being.Like literacy or good health, food security is a state that everyone wants to enjoy. Governments have decreed that every person has an inalienable right to food. The fundamental purpose of economic activity is to ensure adequate access to food for oneself and one’s family. The primacy of food security as an objective for human activity is reflected in the frequency with which the term â€Å"food security† appears in UN declarations and NGO advocacy efforts. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture acknowledges the legitimacy of food security concerns.South Africa, Brazil and Norway have all enshrined the right to food in law. There are basically three principle elements of Food Security. These are: Supply: Global food production has by and large kept up with or exceeded demand over the past century. The application of new technologies to agriculture, including mechanized vehicles to till, plant and harvest crops; improved seed and breeding stock; and the use of herbicides, pesticides and inorganic fertilizers, has vastly increased productivity.At the same time , one third or more of agricultural land used to be dedicated to growing fuel (wood to burn) or feed for the animals that provide muscle for transportation and production (hay for horses and oxen). Much of that land is now available to grow food for humans instead, adding to the total overall supply. Distribution: Distribution depends on such things as markets, transportation, infrastructure, relative purchasing power and the source and nature of the supply.Where the food is traded commercially , the volume and type of food traded is related to purchasing power and the ease with which the trader can reach a market. Access: Food security is about individuals , families and communities, not about regional and national aggregates. That is why, supply is only one piece of the food security puzzle. Only rarely does a whole country face hunger or famine. Rather, when the food supply is insufficient, those with greater purchasing power get food while those without sufficient income or entitlement go hungry.CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS FOR ENSURING FOOD SECURITY In India there is a deeply rooted tradition of respect for food – it stresses the importance of growing and sharing food. Sharing or offering food is a universal tradition shared by all religious entities that have roots in the Indian soil. Accordingly, in 1950, India adopted a very progressive Constitution aimed at ensuring all its citizens social, economic and political justice, equality, and dignity. Therefore any law to be valid in Indian Territory must be within the constitutional framework.Like in many countries of the World the â€Å"The Right to Food† in Indian Constitution is not recognized as a â€Å"Fundamental Right†. Therefore, there is no constitutional m andate to have a claim over it. Regarding right to food, one has to look for relevance in Article 21 of the Constitution, entitled â€Å"Protection of life and personal liberty† and Article 47 â€Å"Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living [†¦]† as well as in judicial interventions of the Supreme Court and various Acts, which have cumulatively strengthened the right to food in India.Knowing the constitutional and legislative framework in India regarding the right to food is crucial for identifying right to food violations and supporting victims in realizing their right to food. Indian Constitution Part III, Article 21 â€Å"Protection of life and personal liberty – No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except to procedure established by law. † The phrases â€Å"Protection of life† and â€Å"personal liberty† have called several times for interpretation. A series of judicial inter ventions and interpretations have deepened the normative content of this fundamental right.Indian Constitution Part IV: Directive Principles The right to food or in general the economic, social, and cultural rights are defined in Part IV of the Constitution as Directive Principles of State Policy, which are guidelines to the central and State Governments for framing laws and policies. The provisions are not enforceable by any court, but the principles laid down therein are considered as fundamental in the Governance of the country. There are several Articles under the Directive Principles offer remote relevance for the right to food, but the clearest statement regarding the right to food is provided by Article 47.Article 47:   Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health. The State shall regard the raising of the level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavor to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs, which are injurious to health.Putting together Article 21 and 47 and various interpretations of the Supreme Court of one can safely say that the Government of India has a constitutional obligation to take appropriate measures to ensure a dignified life with adequate food for all citizens. The right to food can be regarded as a fundamental right by virtue of interpretation. NATIONAL MEASURES TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITY There has been a continous appeal to the Government for passing a legislation on food security.The government is likely to accept most of the recommendations of Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) on the proposed food security law despite warnings that the suggestions would add to subsidy burden, increase dependence on imports and distort the country's food economy. The food ministry has s et out plans that are in line with the NAC's proposal to widen the scope of the legislation, which seeks to provide legal guarantee of subsidised grains to the poor.Several experts have warned that the NAC recommendations would force the government to substantially raise its grain procurement, which in turn would lead to a larger subsidy burden on its already stretched finances. The council had proposed legal subsidised food entitlements for at least 72% of the country's population in Phase-I by 2011-12. The NAC had also proposed legal subsidised food entitlements for 75% of the country's population, covering the ‘priority' (below the poverty line) and ‘general' (above the poverty line) households, in Phase-II by 2013-14. National Food Security Bill, 2011The government has introduced the much anticipated National Food Security Bill — a legislation aimed at shoring up the UPA's support base — in Parliament. The â€Å"landmark social legislation† will guarantee grain at extremely cheap rates to more than half of the population. Food minister KV Thomas, who introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha amid thumping of desks by Congress members led by party president Sonia Gandhi, said that it would ensure that all Indians â€Å"live a life with dignity†. The bill marks a shift in approach to the problem of food security — from the current welfare paradigm to a rights-based approach.The proposed legislation confers eligible beneficiaries the legal right to receive grain at highly subsidised prices. The National Food Security Bill, 2011, considered to be the world's largest experiment in ensuring food security to poor, has been a key project of Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The bill brings under its purview 63. 5% of the country's population —75% of rural households and 50% of urban households. The bill classifies all entitled households as â€Å"general† and â€Å"priority†. At least 46% of rural house holds and 28% of urban households would be designated as â€Å"priority†.Every person belonging to a â€Å"priority household† will be provided with 7kg of grain per month, comprising rice, wheat and coarse grain. Rice will be provided at Rs 3, wheat at Rs 2 and coarse grain at Rs 1 per kg. Others belonging to the â€Å"general category† would be entitled to not less than 3kg of grain per month at a rate not exceeding 50% of the minimum support price. Once passed, the food subsidy bill is expected to rise to Rs 95,000 crore. Initial estimates pegged the increase in subsidy at nearly Rs 28,000 crore.However, on Thursday, the government made a downward revision of the additional burden on the central government — between R 21,000 crore to R 23,000 crore. The bill's financial memorandum estimates the total annual expenditure on food subsidy under the targeted public distribution system at about Rs 79,800 crore. â€Å"The estimate of food subsidy is however dependent, among other things, upon economic cost, central issue of price of grain, number of beneficiaries covered and quantities of grain allocated and lifted, and therefore subject to change with changes in any or all of the variables affecting food subsidy,† the memorandum states.Experts maintain that the annual increase would be to the tune of Rs 27,500 crore. However, Thomas said â€Å"an additional amount of not more than about Rs 20,000-21,000 crore annually would be required by way of subsidy. † The minister argued since the food bill merges many ongoing programmes meant for women, children and the poor, there would be no additional financial burden. The total financial liability to implement the law is expected to be Rs 3. 5 lakh crore, with funds being required to raise agriculture production, create storage space and publicity.A sum of roughly Rs 1,11,000 crore would be required to boost farm output with grain requirement increasing, on account of this inter vention, from 55 million tonne to 61 million tonne annually. Thomas stressed that â€Å"this Rs 1,10,600 crore is not an additional burden. We need to invest in agriculture to boost production anyway†. The proposed law entitles every pregnant woman and lactating mother to meal free of cost during pregnancy and six months after childbirth. Cash benefits of Rs 1,000 per month to meet increased food requirements of pregnant women would be provided for the first six months of pregnancy.At Rs 1,000 per month and covering 2. 25 crore women, an expenditure of nearly Rs 13,500 crore has been estimated. This will be borne by the central government and the states. Schemes to Ensure Food Security: There are also certain central food schemes and other assistance programmes for the poor in India. These are: * Targeted Public Distribution System; * Antyodaya Anna Yojana; * Mid-day meal scheme; * Annapoorna Yojana; * Integrated Child Development Services; * National family benefit scheme; * National maternity benefit scheme; and National old age pension scheme. The Public Distribution System (PDS) Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security system. Established by the Government of India under Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution and managed jointly with state governments in India, it distributes subsidised food and non-food items to India's poor. Major commodities distributed include staple food grains, such as wheat, rice, sugar, and kerosene, through a network of Public distribution shops (PDS) established in several states across the country.Food Corporation of India, a Government-owned corporation, procures, maintain and issue food grains to the state. Distribution of food grains to poor people throughout the country are managed by state governments. As of date there are about 4. 99 lakh Fair Price Shops (FPS) across India. Annapoorna Yojana This scheme was started by the government in 1999-2000 to provide food to senior citi zens who cannot take care of themselves and are not under the targeted public distribution system (TPDS), and who have no one to take care of them in their village.This scheme would provide 10  kg of free food grains a month for the eligible senior citizens. The allocation for this scheme as off 2000-01 was Rs 100 crore. Antyodaya Anna Yojana Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) is an Indian government sponsored scheme for ten millions of the poorest families. It was launched by NDA government in December 2000. It is on the lookout for the ‘poorest of the poor' by providing them 35 kilos of rice and wheat at Rs. 2 per kg. Mid-Day Meals Scheme The Midday Meal Scheme is the popular name for school meal programme in India which started in the 1960s.It involves provision of lunch free of working days. The key objectives of the programme are: protecting children from classroom hunger, increasing school enrollment and attendance, improved socialization among children belonging to all caste s, addressing malnutrition, and social empowerment through provision of employment to women. The scheme has a long history, especially in the state of Tamil Nadu. The scheme was introduced statewide by the then Chief Minister K. Kamaraj in the 1960s and later expanded by the M. G. Ramachandran government in 1982.It has been adopted by most Indian states after a landmark direction by the Supreme Court of India on November 28, 2001. The success of this scheme is illustrated by the tremendous increase in the school participation and completion rates in Tamil Nadu. Status of the Food Schemes in India The framework of the right to food is one of the basic economic and social rights that are essential to achieve the â€Å"economic democracy† without which political democracy is , at best, incomplete. The right to food is nowhere being realized in India.The schemes introduced by the Government are well designed, yet their implementation has been poor. In India, food security exists at the macro level in terms of physical access to food. Economic access is far from satisfactory, both at the micro as well as the macro level. The statement that economic access to food is far from satisfactory is confirmed by the fact that a significant proportion of the society lives in poverty and is malnourished. This section of the society is underprivileged and has less voice. INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS TO ENSURE FOOD SECURITYThe right to food imposes on all States obligations not only towards the persons living on their national territory, but also towards the populations of other States. These two sets of obligations complement one another. The right to food can only be fully realized where both ‘national’ and ‘international’ obligations are complied with. CONSTITUTION OF FAO, 1965 Preamble The Nations accepting this Constitution, being determined to promote the common welfare by furthering separate and collective action on their part for the purpos e of: raising levels of nutrition and standards of living†¦ and thus†¦ nsuring humanity's freedom from hunger. WORLD FOOD SUMMIT PLAN OF ACTION, 1996 Commitment Seven We will implement, monitor and follow-up this Plan of Action at all levels in cooperation with the international community. Objective 7. 4 To clarify the content of the right to adequate food and the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, as stated in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other relevant international and regional instruments, and to give particular attention to implementation and full and progressive realization of this right as a means of achieving food security for all.To this end, governments, in partnership with all actors of civil society, will, as appropriate: a. Make every effort to implement the provisions of Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Covenant) and relevant provisions of other i nternational and regional instruments; b. Urge States that are not yet Parties to the Covenant to adhere to the Covenant at the earliest possible time; c. Invite the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to give particular attention to this Plan of Action in the framework of its activities and to continue to monitor the mplementation of the specific measures provided for in Article 11 of the Covenant; d. Invite relevant treaty bodies and appropriate specialized agencies of the UN to consider how they might contribute, within the framework of the coordinated follow-up by the UN system to the major international UN conferences and summits, including the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna 1993, within the scope of their mandates, to the further implementation of this right; e.Invite the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in consultation with relevant treaty bodies, and in collaboration with relevant specialized agencies and programmes of the UN system and appropri ate intergovernmental mechanisms, to better define the rights related to food in Article 11 of the Covenant and to propose ways to implement and realize these rights as a means of achieving the commitments and objectives of the World Food Summit, taking into account the possibility of formulating voluntary guidelines for food security for all. UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS, 1948Article 25 Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food†¦ INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS, 1966 Article 11 1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food.  · The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right, recognizing to this effect the essential importance of international cooperation based on free consent. 2.The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international cooperation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed: a. To improve methods of production, conservation and distribution of food by making full use of technical and scientific knowledge, by disseminating knowledge of the principles of nutrition and by developing or reforming agrarian systems in such a way as to achieve the most efficient development and utilization of natural resources; b.Taking into account the problems of both food-importing and food-exporting countries, to ensure an equitable distribution of world food supplies in relation to need. Article 2 1. Each State Party to the present Covenant undertakes to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, to the maximum of its available resources, with a view to achieving progressively the fu ll realization of the rights recognized in the present Covenant by all appropriate means, including particularly the adoption of legislative measures.UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD, 1989 Article 24 1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health and to facilities for the treatment of illness and rehabilitation of health. States Parties shall strive to ensure that no child is deprived of his or her right of access to health care services. 2. States Parties shall pursue full implementation of this right and, in particular, shall take appropriate measures: c. o combat disease and malnutrition, including within the framework of primary health care, through, inter alia, the application of readily available technology and through the provision of adequate nutritious foods. d. to ensure that all segments of society, in particular parents and children, are informed, have access to education and are suppor ted in the use of basic knowledge of child health and nutrition. Article 27 States Parties, in accordance with national conditions and within their means†¦ shall in case of need provide material assistance and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition.Apart from these the Right to Food has also been recognized in many specific international instruments as varied as the 1948  Genocide Convention  (Article 2), the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees  (Articles 20 and 23),  the 1989  Convention on the Rights of the Child  (Articles 24(2)(c) and 27(3)), the 1979  Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women  (Articles 12(2)), or the 2007Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  (Articles 25(f) and 28(1)). JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS 1.KISHEN PATTNAYAK VS. STATE OF ORISSA, In this petition, the petitioner wrote a letter to the Supreme Court bringing to the court’s notice the extreme pover ty of the people of Kalahandi in Orissa where hundreds were dying due to starvation and where several people were forced to sell their children. The letter prayed that the State Government should be directed to take immediate steps in order to ameliorate this miserable condition of the people of Kalahandi. This was the first case specifically taking up the issue of starvation and lack of food.In this judgement, the Supreme Court took a very pro-government approach and gave directions to take macro level measures to address the starvation problem such as implementing irrigation projects in the state so as to reduce the drought in the region, measures to ensure fair selling price of paddy and appointing of a Natural Calamities Committee. None of these measures actually directly affected the immediate needs of the petitioner, i. e. to prevent people from dying of hunger. More importantly, the Supreme Court did not recognise the specific Right to Food within this context of starvation. . PUCL VS. UNION OF INDIA, This is a landmark case relating to Right to Food and food security. This case, technically known as â€Å"PUCL vs Union of India and others (Writ Petition [Civil] No. 196 of 2001)†, is handled by an advisory group consisting of a few members from the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), former support group of the RIght to Food Campaign and other active individuals in the campaign. Supreme Court hearings have been held at regular intervals since April 2001, and the case has attracted wide national and international attention.Although the judgment is still awaited, significant â€Å"interim orders† have been passed from time to time. For instance, the Supreme Court has passed orders directing the Indian government to: (1) introduce cooked mid-day meals in all primary schools, (2) provide 35 kgs of grain per month at highly subsidized prices to 15 million destitute households under the Antyodaya component of the PDS, (3) double resource allocations for Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (India's largest rural employment programme at that time, now superseded by the Employment Guarantee Act), and (4) universalize the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). . CHAMELI SINGH VS. STATE OF U. P. , In this case, it was held that right to life guaranteed in any civilized society implies the right to food, water, decent environment, education, medical care and shelter. The method in which the constitutional social rights or the DPSP have been enforced or made justifiable by the Supreme Court has been through an expansion of the existing fundamental rights, particularly the Right to Life guaranteed in Article 21. CONCLUSION Starvation deaths and high prevalence of hunger clearly show that India needs to wake up.The judiciary cannot monitor the implementation of the schemes forever. The government needs to review policy from time to time and take corrective measures for effective implementa tion of different schemes and programmes, establish effective mechanisms of accountability and ensure the right to food for all. As the problem of food insecurity relates to both the demand and supply of food, a solution could be to empower people towards greater purchasing power, as well as addressing the inadequacy of the distribution system, and checking corruption and leakages.Awareness among the people with regard to their right to food can escalate the process of equitable distribution and thus help to realize the right to food for all citizens. The right to food is not just a basic human right, it is also a basic human need. It essentially requires the state to ensure that at least people do not starve. Implementation of the right to food does not imply that impossible efforts be undertaken by the states. The obligation to protect and respect the people compels the state to implement the right to food effectively, without recourse to extensive financial means. — Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 2 ]. Food Crisis and Sustainable Food Security in India by Jaydeb Sarkhel [ 3 ]. Right to Food- Reforms and Approaches, 2007, The Icfai University Press, pp5-6 [ 4 ]. Dev, S. M, and R Evenson (2003) ‘Rural Development in India:Rural, Non-farm and mitigation’ SCID Working Paper No. 187. [ 5 ]. See available at http://socialissuesindia. wordpress. com/2010/08/05/human-rights-to-food-in-indian-constitution/ [ 6 ]. See available at http://articles. economictimes. indiatimes. com/2011-05-23/news/29574365_1_nac-recommendations-food-security-law-food-entitlements [ 7 ]. See available at http://articles. economictimes. ndiatimes. com/2011-12-23/news/30550903_1_food-subsidy-national-food-security-bill-grain [ 8 ]. Right to Food- Reforms and Approaches, 2007, The Icfai University Press, p. 230 [ 9 ]. As amended in 1965. [ 10 ]. Adopted by the World Food Summit, Rome, 13 to 17 November 1996. FAO. 1997. Report of the World Food Summit, Part One. Rome [ 11 ]. Adopted by the General Assembly on 10 December 1948. UN doc. A/811. [ 12 ]. General Assembly Resolution 2200 A (XXI), Annex, of 16 December 1966. [ 13 ]. General Assembly Resolution 44/25, Annex, of 20 November 1989. [ 14 ]. AIR 1989 SC 677. [ 15 ]. 2001. [ 16 ]. (1996) 2 SCC 549.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

The Ethics Of Outsourcing At Mattel

In addition, this article will address how corporate culture played a role in the decision to outsource the manufacturing process to facilities, which were not following legal standards. Keywords Matter, corporate culture, ethics, Fraud, product safety. JELL Classification MIM. BRB / BRB / Introduction / Corporate culture is defined as the shared values and / beliefs of individuals within an organization (Statistics / and Satanist, 2009). Corporate culture is an important / span classmate/acceptances to examine when researchers attempt to explain unethical behavior within an organization.Previous research in the area has primarily focused on the positive aspects culture that is related to firm performance (Deal and Kennedy, 1982 Peters and Waterman, 1982 Dimension, 990). It is also important to considerer/ BRB / that the corporate culture can have negative impact knob / a firestorms operations if the culture supports unethical and / illegal activities. This study examines how one com pany, Matter, developed a culture which allowed the unethical and illegal actions of its suppliers to negatively affect its operations. R / BRB / fixated only on the low price of production of the Chinese suppliers. By allowing the quality standards to drop to potentially dangerous levels, Matter manageress / focused only on their own self-interests since their / pan classmate/spermatozoon was directly linked to the financial performance of Matter. Therefore, Matter managers ignored potential safety issues with the production of the toys in China since lower levels of production orb / BRB / higher costs per unit would have a direct impact knob / their total level of income for the year.As a result, Tiber / does not matter whether the lack of quality controls / were deliberate or not. Since Amateurism's name goes knob / the final product, its managers were accountable forbs / the actions of their suppliers (Hegiras and Sims, bribe / Shanghaiing and Vital, 1990 Granite, 2003). BRB / 1 . The first recall of toys / In 2006, 75 percent of all toys manufactured worldwide came from China. Within China, one province, Gudgeon, is the location of 5,000 of Chinaware's 8,BRB / span classmate/Spartan manufacturing plants.It is estimated that 1. 5 million workers are employed in Gudgeon toys manufacture (McLeod, 2006). Matter makes approximately 65 percent of its toys there. The corporation states tabor / BRB / it demands that the toys that are outsourced to other / manufacturers must comply with the safety standards / established by Matter. Raw materials that would beer / used by an outsourced manufacturer are first sent Toby / the Matter control facility in order to verify they matter / all safety standards.Matter has been manufacturing inborn / China since the first Barbie was made there in 1 959. BRB / The corporation has developed a number of longer / standing relationships with China manufacturers,BRB / which may have lead to more relaxed monitoring and / control of it s operations (Story, 2007). Furthermore,BRB / Matter was a major customer for these suppliers, so Tiber / should have absolute control over the manufacturing / recess as it relates to the level of quality and compliance with government regulations and standards.However, Amateurism's top level managers appeared to beer / BRB / On August 1, 2007, Matter had to recall almost 1. BRB / million toys that were made in China. Over 80 toys / contained potentially dangerous levels of lead in thebe / paint on the toys. A long time supplier of Matter had / span classmate/spanked non-approved paint pigment which violated Amateurism's and the toy industriously standards (Bugaboos, 2007). On August 2, 2007, Matter issued a press release in which it explained its course f action to correct the problem.Matter worked with the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies around the world to pull the toys off the shelves and halt the distribution of any toy that contained the unacceptable levels of lead. Robert Cocker, Chairman and CEO stated that liquored apologize to everyone affected by this recall, especially those who bought the toys in questioningly realize that parents / BRB / trust us with what is most precious to atmospherically / children. And we also recognize that trust is earned. R / Our goal is to correct this problem, improve orb / yester and maintain the trust of the families tabor / have allowed us to be part of their lives by acting / responsibly and quickly to address their conquistadors / (Matter, 2007). BRB / Sarah D. Satanist, Peter A Satanist, 2010. BRB / This recall was despite the fact that Matter was rabbet / of the potential lead hazard at least a month earlier,BRB / BRB / Problems and Perspectives in Management, Volume 8, Issue 4, 201 For / BRB / when one of the European retailers that sold Matter / products in early July discovered lead in some of its / toys.On July 6, 2007 Matter stopped production inborn / he factory, which they believe was the origin of thebe / lead paint. Commenting on the supplier using thebe / lead paint, CEO Chart stated that this was a supplier which had worked for Matter for 1 5 years and lectureships question somebody that just started making toys/ span classmate/sponsor slithered understand our regulations, they understand our program, and something went wrong. That Herodotus. It is a requirement established by Matter that those outsourced factories making Matter toys must use paint and other material from certified suppliers.As a result, Matter was not sure whether the manufacturer bustiest paint from bar / BRB / supplier who was not certified or whether the leader / paint came from a certified supplier. In 2007, BRB / percent of Amateurism's total revenues were based knob / the toys that were manufactured in their 11 factories in China which they owned and operated (Story, AAA). BRB/ 2. Why lead painter / Lead is added to paint in order to increase thebe / span classmate/sp anked in which the paint dries, to increase the durability of the paint and to enhance the ability of the paint to resist moisture which could cause corrosion (Wisped).Lead paint is also easier to apply on hard reface and can produce a richer / BRB / color than paint without lead. The net result is tabor / lead enhances how the paint is used in the production process, but the lead is not allowed to be added to the paints. Therefore, paint in which leader / has been added is sold ATA Custodianship's price of ennobler / third of the cost of paint that does not include leader / (Barbara, 2007). BRB / Matter had allowed the local suppliers to implement their own safety testing which resulted in the shipping of tainted toys from the factories in China / to children around the world.The suppliers had / darted to use cheaper paint which contained leader / to reduce manufacturing costs. The supplier tabor / made the toy Lee Deer Industrial Company was / investigated by the Chinese Governmen t for its / role in the use of tainted paint. The supplier stated / that it was cheated by its own paint supplier, whoop / sold Lee Deer Industrial the paint which included / the lead. Lee Deer Industrial claimed that they were / not aware that the paint was contaminated wither / span classmate/spangled (Zamias and Casey, 2007).The Chinese government banned Lee Deer Industrial from exporting any more toys until a full investigation was completed. The net result was that Lee Deer Industrial had to stop its operations, which led to the suicide offer / BRB / its founder Ghana Shogun. Amateurism's response in bar / press release to the suicide was that liquored were / BRB / troubled to hear about this tragic encephalitis is bar / personal misfortune not a corporate event. Any losses / of life is a tragedy and we feel for the family during / this difficult timorous (Cody and Joe, 2007). BRB / 3.The second recall / On August 14, 2007, Matter issued a second major / recall of toys manufact ured in China. The seconded / call include additional toys made with paint contaminated with lead as well as millions of other toys which have magnets which could become loose and / could be swallowed by children. An estimated / 436,000 toys were being recalled due to lead painter / An additional 18. 2 million magnetic toys were being / recalled after reported injuries and death of children / span classmate/Spanish had swallowed the magnets after they had become loose from the toy.Matter stated that the magnetic toy recall included 63 different varies of toys including such well known brand names as Pillory / Pocket, Batman, and Barbie. The lead paint recalled / toys included brand names such as the characters offer / Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer and Disingenuous Carobs / (Story and Barbara, 2007). The senior vice-president of worldwide quality assurance at Matter, Jim Walter, stated that Matter had ldquostrengthenedrdquo its / three-point check quality system to ensure that toy s / with lead would not enter the marketplace.Thebe / three point system includes verifying that only certified suppliers of paint will be used to manufacture the toys, a mandatory testing of every batch of toys / produced, the tightening of quality controls including random inspections during the manufacturing process and the testing of every production run offer / completed toys (Barbara and Story, 2007). As was / the case with the first recall, a subcontractor was / used to supply the paint to Amateurism's contractor inborn / China.Hong Lie Dad supplied the paint to Early / Light Industrial which was not aware that the painter / had been contaminated with lead. Early Light had / been a contractor for Matter for 20 years. Matter / had used between 30 and 50 contractors in China / and many subcontracted out part of the production / process to a subcontractor. Lee Deer, the contractor / of the original Matter recall lost its license to export and subsequently went out of business (S tory and Barbara, 2007). Lee Deer had been a Matter / contractor for 15 years. R / Matter executive vice-president for worldwide operations, Thomas Deflowers, stated that Matter realized that there were continuing rising costs offer / production in China which was squeezing the profit / margins of the Chinese manufacturers. He stated / that Solution the last three to five years, yourselves seen / labor prices more than double, raw materials prices / bubble or transplanted think that thereabouts a lot offer / pressure on guys that are working at the margin Toby / try and save moneywort.However, Deflowers stated / that Matter does not take the blame for putting / downward pressure on the pricing of the toys despite the rising manufacturing costs. Quoin, absolutely endothelial insist that they continue to use certified / paint from certified vendors, and we pay for that,BRB / and horsepower perfectly willing to pay for deathward (Story,BRB / 2007). It was during this time period that t he Consumer Product Safety Commission (COPS) excused Matter of not following the mandated requirement / to notify the COPS within 24 hours after the company has made a decision to recall any products.Amateurism's CEO, Robert Cocker, admitted that Matter / did not follow the COPS requirement because thebe / should have the right to discuss the problems on BRB / their timetable because the 24 hour time limit sibs / unreasonable. The COPS had already fined Matter / twice since 2001 for knowingly withholding information regarding products that could create loquaciousness risk of serious injury or deathtraps (Casey and Passport, 2007). . The third recall / span classmate/Spanish following day, September 4, 2007, Matter announced their third major recall.It was recalling approximately 775,000 toys with lead paint which included a number of Barbie accessories. Amateurism's CEO, Robert Cocker, stated that Sequoia apologize again Toby / BRB / everyone affected and promise that we will contin ue Toby / focus on ensuring the safety and quality of our distributors / (Casey, 2007). In a letter to The New York Times,BRB / Cocker commented that liquors a father of four, I amber / intimately aware of the expectations of parents. Thebe / ant safe toys, and they want assurances that those / toys have been tested to make sure that threescore safe. R / Currently lead paint is topmost on apparentness minds. Birr / want parents to be assured that we are taking action heliport toys are overwhelmingly safe. To date, our lead-related recalls of toys produced in the past BRB/ span classmate/ expansions represent less than half of 1 of our production. Iroquois rather the number was chroniclers was a young man growing up in suburban Chicago, my father encouraged me to earn his trust through my actions rather than just talk about what I was going to do.Today, tell my children locoweeds, not wordbooks. And it sibs / BRB / on this principle that Matter will move forward. Weber / will earn ba ck your trust with our deeds, entrust wither / our wordbooks (Cocker, 2007). BRB / On September 1 8, 2007 a subcommittee of thebe / United States Congress announced that some of thebe / toys Matter had recalled contained 180 times thebe / allowable levels of lead in the paint. Therefore, upper / to 1 1 percent Of the paint was lead or 110,000 parts / per million.The federal law in the United States / allows only 0. 06 lead or 600 parts per million inborn / paint (Resoundingly, 2007). R / span classmate/spoon September 21, 2007, Amateurism's executive vicissitude for worldwide operations, Thomas Deflowers, apologized to China for harming the reputation of the toy manufacturers in China for the 17 million toys Matter recalled in 2007 not because of lead paint but because of flaws in the design of some offer / BRB / their magnetic toys.Deflowers commented tabor / liquated does not hold Chinese manufacturers responsible for the design in relation to the recalled magnet destroyed (Story Bibb). By admitting to a design flaw,BRB / Matter could face numerous product liability lawsuits / y biblically announcing a product defect.Debonairness's apology included taking full responsibility for the problem with the magnetic toys liquated takes / span classmate/spoonful responsibility for these recalls and apologizes personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the dessertspoonful's important for everyone to understand that the vast majority of those products that we recalled Were the result of a designer / BRB / flaw in Amateurism's design, not through a manufacturing / flaw in Chinese infrastructure's (Casey, Zamias and / Passport, 2007).The Chinese product safety chief, Libra / Changing, reminded Matter that liquidation large part offer / your annual profitableness from your factories inborn / Chancellorship shows that our cooperation is in thebe / interests of Matter, and both parties should value orb / cooperation. I really hope that Matt er can learn lessons and gain experience from these incidents and that Matter should improve their control masqueraders / (Olsen, 2007). BRB / 5.The consequences of the recall / In October 2007, shareholders filed a lawsuit against / span classmate/supplemental for withholding timely announcements of recalled products. The lawsuit alleged that top management at Matter produced misleading financial statements since they were PRI; to potential recall notices and yet did not make them known biblically until / BRB / months later. The lawsuit claimed that this has been bar / general practice at Matter for years.In addition, thebe / lawsuit charged Matter with breaching its fiduciary / duties by not abiding by the consumer protection laws / including the 24 hour notice statue. In addition, thebe / lawsuit claimed that executives at Matter were involved in insider trading by selling 33 million of Matter stock before the announcement Of the recalls / came public (Tab, 2007). In October 2009 , Matter / settled a consumer class action lawsuit for over BRB / million to pay to consumers, who had purchased thebe / toys containing the lead paint.The settlement willow / resolve 22 lawsuits that were filed against Matter and / its subsidiary Fisher Price and major retailers on behalf / of the millions of families who had bought Matter / products that had been recalled (Anderson, 2009). BRB / Therefore, it appears that the quality issue was deliberately avoided by many employees within Matter. This 181 BRB / BRB / supports the view of Miller and Thomas (2005),BRB / ho state that peer pressure of colleagues would / support and reinforce unethical behavior even if Tiber / is in violation of the individualism own personal / code of ethics.The net result of a corporate culture / that support unethical actions was that the employees, which developed, maintained and supported this type of culture would not be penalized for their / actions. The top level executives at Matter were / on ly indirectly Goddaughter's for their actions since thebe / continued to assign blame to the suppliers. It was / only after extreme pressure from stakeholders suburb / s the United States government, the customers and / the media that Matter finally Idquoadmittedrdquo that thebe / would take some responsibility for the unsafe toys. R / Bass and Streamside (1999) propose that top leveler / executives can manipulate the beliefs of their subordinates into believing their own altered state of reality. This could explain, in part, why it took sobs / long for Matter to react to the claims made by its / stakeholders. BRB / Conclusions / This case highlights a number of important concepts / related to unethical behavior within corporations. BRB / The actions by the top executives at Matter supporter / span classmate/Spanish belief that unethical actions influence the corporate culture of the firm.Through, the use of group norms at Matter, unethical behavior was not discouraged by top level managers and was actually / BRB / supported by the actions of the managers and their / lack of action with their suppliers. As Terrine,BRB / span classmate/sportsman and Brown (2000) state, top level executives must be both a moral person and a moral manager in order to develop an ethical leadership role within the firm.